Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s been a month since the New Agent 3 defeated Mr.Grizz and saved the world from an apocalypse and about a week since Agent Four had last messaged her. She already messaged him that letting Octavio escape wasn’t his fault, and she forgave him for that. Three swore to herself that if that idiot missed the weekly meeting again, that she would issue a search party for the agent.

As the Captain got out of her bed, she noticed the irritation of her eye. After dressing herself with her Choco Layered LS and Fry Tops, she knew that she couldn’t ignore the irritation for much longer, and started to apply ointment to her eye scar, courtesy of TarTar. After finishing her treatment of her eye, the Inkling reached for her bag, right as the doorbell rang.

No one ever rings the doorbells here, besides the apartment manager. Payment isn’t due till two weeks from now, and the landlord isn’t THAT greedy. So, who could it be?

Three opened the door, careful to not let the door open enough to show how much of a mess her room was.

On the other side of the door was an Octoling in nursing attire.

“I am terribly sorry but is this house Hannah’s?”, the nurse asked.

Three hid her shock behind a poker face. How does someone know her name? The only people who knew her name were the other agents and her direct family. Three knew it was heavily dangerous to confirm her identity, so she examined the Octoling before she answered.

The Octoling looked like Agent Eight. She had a rich brown skin tone and bright yellow eyes. She looked like she was tired yet energized in a way that reminded Three of finishing an essay after a long night. After some consideration, Three decided it was a safe gamble to confirm her name.

“Yes, that’s me. Do you need something?”, Three responded.

“Oh, thank goodness! A patient of ours had been carrying a note with your address written on it, and that was the only lead on any possible relatives to the patient! I will go get the patient here, please wait for a moment longer!”

Three watched as the nurse speedily walked down the corridor. After waiting a minute or so, she soon returned with an Inkling by her side.

The Inkling wore white cloth wrapped around his head, covering his right eye in the process. On his left cheek a large bandage was visible, covering some dripping ink. His neck was wrapped in white cloth, like the one on his head, yet some ink was bleeding through, though barely. The Inkling was dressed in a yellow gown, with white-colored bandages covering his arms, yet his hands were free. The rest of the body was covered with a blue medical gown. He looked confused.

“So… Do you know me?”, the male Inkling replied.

Three couldn’t shake the feeling he looked familiar, yet she couldn’t fully remember who this Inkling was.

Three sighed. “Sorry, I don’t know who you are. Nurse, you said this patient was related to me?”

The nurse replied “Yes! This Inkling had some clothes, but they were very damaged. He was wearing this strange jacket.”

As the nurse pointed towards the Inkling's jacket, Three’s eyes widened.

It couldn’t be… that was Agent Four’s jacket… but that would mean!

As Three looked into the eye of the Inkling one more time, she caught a glimpse at his left eye.

Yellow. As yellow as Four’s were.

“Y-… You’re Four!” Three exclaimed.

The bandaged Inkling looked into Three’s eyes with a sense of wonder, as he asked, “My name is Four?”

“Your name is F-? Where have you been? We were worried sick about you!” Three said, nearly yelling.

Then the nurse said something that chilled Three to the ink sack.

“This patient suffers from memory loss, we found him off the side of New Albacore Hotel, in a trash bin bleeding profusely. It’s a miracle we were able to save his life.”

That… that can’t be! He lost his… no…

After thinking, she calmed down and looked at the nurse.

“Thank you for bringing him here. I can take care of him.”

The nurse thanked Hannah. She was about to walk off, but she turned around suddenly.

"I just remembered! I was suppose to grab a box and return it here, but I forgot. If you come back to the hospital, I can get the box back for you!"

Hannah nodded, and the nurse went off.

“Come inside a bit, I can’t have you walking around that dirty, Four.”

Four nodded and headed inside. After a moment of hesitation, Four spoke up.

“Do you happen to have any clothes I could wear? Sorry if it’s a hassle.”

Three looked around for some clothes, but ultimately failed to find any.

“Sadly no. Just take a shower before we head to Altern- to meet some of your friends. Also put that jacket on your back. It belongs to you.”

Four looked into Three’s eyes and replied “Of course.”

… this is going to be rough explaining to the rest of the group...

Chapter Text

Hopping off the train, both began their walk to Alterna.

“So, what was I like?”

Three avoided looking at Four. She sighed. “You were my… my best friend.”

Four frowned, saying “I’m so sorry that I worried you so much. You seem so important, and I’m sorry that I forgot about you. I’m sorry if I’ll never remember you.”

Three sharply inhaled. She knew Four. Four was energetic, positive. For him to put himself down so much after a single statement, it was unexpected.

“Please don’t put yourself down like that, I ha- I don’t like seeing you do that”, Three caught herself saying.

“But how could I not? I did make you worry, did I not?”

Three bit her lip. If Four was like this, there was no way she could answer any of his questions without crafting a non-interpretive answer. Sadly, she couldn’t find an answer.

“… Well, how much longer till I see more of my friends?”

Three replied. “Right here, just through this manhole.”

Three took the lead, making sure Four followed behind her. The two popped out on the other side, and they sat their eyes on two cousins.

The purple one noticed the two. “Hey Captain! Who’s that person there?”

The green one narrowed her eyes, before getting up and looking at Three, asking “Is that… Four?”

Three nodded.

The green one had tears welling in her eyes and ran up to Four and grabbed him by his shoulders.

“It… it really is you! I thought you…

…

Why do you act as if you don’t know me?”

Four looked with curiosity in his eye.

“Can you tell me who you are?”

Three sighed heavily and looked at the green one.

“Marie, he lost his memory.”

Marie suddenly let go of Four.

“Do… do you really not know me?”

Four looked up at Marie, with a slight frown. “I- I don’t. Who are you?”

Marie backed up a bit, clearly shocked. She hesitated a bit, but Callie supported her, and looked at Four.

“We are the Squid Sisters, but with you and the captain combined, we are known as the New Squidbeak Splatoon! Well, at least most of the New Squidbeak Splatoon anyways.”

Four thought, and asked the Squid Sisters a question. “What did we do?”

Marie took the lead. “We mainly rescue the Great Zapfish from foes to help preserve the energy of Inkopolis, usually from battling Octarians.”

Four tilted his head, and asked Three “what are Octarians?”

Three replied. “They are the people with the ‘strange hairstyles’, but better determined by their non-connected black patches around their eyes.”

Four gasped, with his hand clenching tight near his chest. “Wait! Did I cause harm to them? Oh no… I can’t believe I caused harm to people who took care of me in the hospital. How awful of myself!”

Marie looked strangely. “You didn’t hurt good Octarians, only Octarians who were too influenced by propaganda to notice that they were doing wrong. You helped the Octarians.”

Four rebutted “Through hurting them?”

Three spoke up. “Four seems to think the worst when considering his value since losing his memories.”

Marie sighed and looked down to the side. “I should have known. If you can’t recall our experiences, I suppose I should show you your Sunken Scroll collection. Maybe that will revitalize some of your memories.”

As Marie went to grab the book, Four asked Callie the same question.

“What was I like?”

Callie laughed and smiled. “You were so Energetic and sweet and kind! You were just like me in a way! Oh! You were also the captain’s B-”

“Can it, Callie.” Three interrupted.

Callie gave Three a curious look. “Hm? But why not? Why don’t you want him to k-”

“Please Callie. I... I need to give Four some time.” Callie sighed, and looked over to Marie, who was carrying Four’s Sunken Scroll book.

….

As Four looked over the pages, Marie pulled Three aside.

“Ok Captain, what happened to my Agent? What happened to your Bel- your best friend?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that he was at a hospital, and the hospital found him in a trash bin near the New Albacore Hotel.”

Marie closed her eyes, thinking on the limited information that she was given. “Why don’t you go to the hospital to see if you can find some of his other belongings, or perhaps go to the New Albacore Hotel to possibly regain some memories. I heard that it’s hard to get into the hotel itself, but since Off the Hook is staying there, you can message Agent Eight and ask her to give you permission to go into the h-”

“What is ‘Grizzco’?” Four suddenly asked. Everyone suddenly directed their attention to Four.

Four whimpered a bit and started to stutter. “N-never mind… I suppose it isn’t imp-”

Three spoke up before Four could start self-deprecating again. “Grizzco is a company with the goal of obtaining Golden Eggs from Salmonids. Up until a month ago, we didn’t know exactly what they were supposed to be used for, until we found out that Mr.Grizz, who manages the company, was planning to br-”

Three caught herself. She knew that prior to his memory loss, Four was upset at the idea that the past 7ish years of working at Grizzco helped sped up the potential apocalypse. “...Mr.Grizz stole the Great Zapfish, but we rescued it from him.”

Four once again gasped and clenched his hand near his heart. “Did I lead to the Great Zapfish getting stolen?”

Marie quickly responded. “No, you did not help Mr.Grizz steal the Great Zapfish.”

“I see. I am very happy I didn’t help him.” Four answered.

…

After finishing the book, it was clear that Four did not regain any memories. Seeing this, Three put up her phone and looked at Four.

“Come on, let’s go.”

“Where are we going this time?”

Three responded “To the New Albacore Hotel. Where you were found.”

Chapter Text

————————-

Message Chat: Ag3nt, M8te.

Ag3nt: Hey, can you ask OTH to allow me and Four into New Albacore Hotel?

M8te: You found Four? That’s great news! I can ask them to open the hotel for the both of you, but where was Four?

Ag3nt: Four had lost his memory. Currently I’m trying to find a way to get them back. He was spotted at a garbage bin near the hotel prior to him being admitted to a hospital.

M8te: Oh no! I’m sorry to hear he lost his memory. I know how important he is to you, so I’ll do anything I can to help!

Ag3nt: Thank you Oakleigh. I can always rely on you.

————————

Four looked at the hotel with awe in his eye and his mouth open. “Wow! That building is huge! I can’t believe I was found near this building, much less near a trash can.”

Three smiled slightly. She loved Four’s dopey smile. It was so full of wonder. Three’s smile turned to a frown as she reminded herself that Four doesn’t really know her anymore.

Three hopes that maybe this hotel holds what allows Four to recall his past, or at least some information of how he ended up here in the first place.

As Three and Four approaches the hotel, a doorman blocked the way.

“Sorry Ma’am and Sir. No one is allowed here unless they have a reservation.”

Before Four could take that as a sign of not being good enough to get in, Three quickly spoke to the doorman.

“We were invited by Pearl and Marina’s friend, Oakleigh.”

The doorman looked skeptical, before pulling out a notepad, and looked over until he found some words.

“You are acquaintances of Oakleigh? ‘Three’ and ‘Four’?”

Three nodded.

The doorman looked at Three for a moment longer.

“You do have the faint scar described by her. I will let you both in. Please, be respectful of all guests.”

As Three and Four walked up to the lobby, they spotted Eight, Marina, and Pearl.

Three waved at them and walked towards them, with Four walking behind.

“Is he Four?” Eight questioned.

Three nodded silently.

Marina looked at both of the two, “What’s going on?”

“My friend Four had lost his memory. Apparently, he was spotted near the hotel prior to going to the hospital.”

Pearl looked confused. “Hey, Eight, do you know Four?”

Eight smiled. “Yes! Three and Four were very close to each other prior to the memory loss.”

Pearl looked at Four, with an emotion that Three couldn’t decipher. It seemed like sadness, but Pearl didn’t know Four, outside of commentating on battles. It seemed like pity, but Pearl wasn’t known for being super sympathetic. Before Three could decipher the emotion, Pearl looked at Three.

“I’ll do everything I can to help you regain his memory. After all, I would never not help any friend of Eight!”

Three smiled, and before she could thank Pearl, Four spoke.

“Do… Do I know you?”

Pearl laughed. “Know me? Of course you would know me! I spent a lot of years commentating on your battles! I’d hope you’d know me!”

Four looked at Pearl a bit longer, before Marina cleared her throat.

“To figure out what happened to him, we would need to check the security cameras.”

“That’s my Gal! Always thinking technologyically!” Pearl spoke for support.

“I don’t think ‘technologyically’ is a word.” Marina countered.

“As harsh as ever, Marina! As harsh as ever.”

As the group walked towards the security room, Four asked Eight the same question as he did to all the other agents. “What was I like?”

Eight replied “You were really funny, and you stayed by Three’s side a lot!”

Four frowned, mumbling “I’m sorry I can’t seem to be funny anymore.”

Three had nearly enough. She grabbed Four, looked him in the eye,

“Can you stop self-deprecating yourself already? It’s driving me mad!”

Four mumbled a small apology, to which Three grabbed his head. “No! I don’t want to hear apologies! I don’t want you to be sad and sorry and all that! I just want you to be who you used to b-”

“STOP!” Pearl suddenly said, clearly using a louder voice than usual. “I know you must be very annoyed at him for forgetting his memory and for being self-deprecating and all that, but you are beginning to cause a ruckus.”

Three looked at Pearl, and nearly wanted to argue, but saw Pearl’s eyes and knew immediately it was better to stop arguing. Three never found Pearl to be intimidating, outside of people trying to fawn Marina, though this expression of intimidation seemed... different.

“And we are here!” Exclaimed Marina.

Marina opened a door to the security room and found several screens. Unlike most security systems, this hotel’s cameras seemed to be of high resolution.

“When was Four seen near a trash bin?” Marina asked Three.

Three thought for a moment. “Around a week ago.”

Marina nodded and started to mess with the computers.

As she worked on the surveillance, she started to squint.

“What’s up Marina?” Pearl asked.

“Nothing, besides this time frame.” Marina responded.

Three’s interest peaked. “Hm? What do you mean?”

“Between 2 and 3:30 AM a week ago, all surveillance cameras don’t have any footage. After 3:30 AM, at Camera D, we see Four in the trash bin.”

“The timeframe was erased?” Eight asked.

“Yes, it seems someone messed with the surveillance system.”

“Can I see 3:30 AM Camera D?” Four asked, quietly.

“Certainly! Here.”

The footage showed a yellow tentacled male Inkling, with yellow blood rushing from his right eye and neck. The footage continued with the Inkling barely breathing, and then paramedics arrived. After they arrived, they rushed the Inkling into the paramedic, with it driving off, presumably to a hospital.

Three looked at the footage in horror. She wanted to look away, but her eyes were glued to the screen. Somehow, her boyfriend ended up like that. Someone did THAT to him. Three asked Marina, while trying to repress her fear. “Did anyone come by that area prior to 2AM?"

“It doesn’t seem so.”

“What about that paramedic? Do you know who it belongs to?”

Marina nodded. “That paramedic belongs to Crescendolls hospital.”

“Then that’s where I’m headed. Four and I will go there.” Three responded.

As Three and Four left, Eight tapped Marina on the shoulder.

“Can’t we use the Memverse to help him?”

Marina thought on that idea for a moment.

“I don’t think so. I programed the Memverse so that it would help those who suffered the sanitization process. I’m not certain if it would work for someone with amnesia. I’d have to run some tests first.”

Eight nodded.

Pearl suddenly sighed, and both Eight and Marina turned to Pearl.

“What’s wrong Pearlie?”

“Nothing. I just feel bad for the gal. Imagine if I lost my memory, and I didn’t recognize you. That’s the pain she must be feeling.”

…

“I hope he finds his memory back.”

Chapter Text

As Three and Four walked towards the hospital, Three couldn’t help but feel angry. She felt angry about how Four had lost his memory. She felt angry about how Four was constantly self-deprecating himself. She felt angry that Pearl had the gall to tell her to stop. But most of all, Three felt angry that Four was in that state for a week and Three didn’t know about it. Three tried to push that anger away as the two of them approached the hospital.

As Three and Four approached the entrance, the Octoling nurse from the morning spotted them and walked towards them.

“Welcome to Crescendolls hospital! I presume you’re here to grab the rest of his belongings?”

Three nodded.

“Great! Just sit tight, and I’ll grab the stuff!”

Three and Four sat down in some chairs inside the hospital.

“How was the experience here?” Three found herself asking.

Four looked with surprise and started to talk. “I don’t recall anything prior to the paramedic, or to the surgeries, but I recall waking up in a bed with one eye covered. When that nurse noticed me awake, she asked if I recalled anything, be it my name, or those who were related to me. I… couldn’t recall anything. The nurse was kind enough to tell me that she had an idea of where someone might live that was important to me. When I walked up to your door and saw you, I was frightened. You looked extremely intimidating, and when I asked if you knew me, and you said no, I was scared. I wanted to prove desperately that I knew… something. I don’t like feeling as useless as I do.”

Four started to tremble, and tears threatened to start leaking out his left eye.

Three grabbed Four and hugged him tightly.

“Four… I’ve been a terrible friend. I’ve been rude to you, asking you to stop speaking, and even yelled at you today for not being yourself. It wasn’t until I saw that footage that I realize how fortunate I was. When I saw that footage, I-I realized that I was lucky beyond belief. Sure, you lost your memory, but I realized that you could have died. If you had died, I... I don’t know what I would’ve done with myself. So let me make this very clear…”

Three brought Four’s head to her own, so Four could see Three’s eyes.

“You’re not useless, you’re alive.”

Four stared at Three. All day he had wondered how much of a burden he had been. Losing his memory, causing people to worry. But here she was, glad for him to be here, to be alive…

Four suddenly grabbed Three, bringing her head towards his shoulders. Three instantly brought her hands up in response, before hearing Four speak in a croaked, tear-filled voice.

“Thank you.”

Three might’ve not been able to see it, but she could tell. She could tell that Four had a pure, sweet, smile… a smile that only Four could make.

…

After a while, the nurse came back with some items.

“This should be everything!”

The nurse was carrying a broken Shellphone, a note, a towel, and a small box, alongside Four’s clothing.

The box was about the size of Four’s palm. The Shellphone was obviously Four’s, and the towel was a hotel towel.

The nurse then looked at Three and talked to her.

“This box seems to contain a combination. We couldn’t unlock it, but maybe he could when he gains his memory.”

Three nodded, and before the nurse could leave.

“Four received surgery?”

The nurse spun around quickly and answered.

“Yes, his wounds were healed, but the usage of his right eye was called into question. After the surgeons debated it, they concluded that the eye could cause an infection and had to remove it. I’m terribly sorry about that.”

Three found herself thinking about her own eye. Could she have needed to remove her eye due to sanitation? How much would removing the eye co-

Three’s eyes widened. After all, nothing in this world is free.

“What’s the bill?”

Three knew she couldn’t pay it quickly, but she hoped it wouldn’t be enough that it would worsen her financial situation.

“The bill has already been paid!”

What?

The bill had already been paid?

“By who?”

“No one knows. The party who paid this bill didn’t leave a name, nor an address.”

Great. Some mystery person paid the hospital. That was convenient. Still, she had some more questions.

“How did you know where I lived? More so, how did you know my name?”

The nurse suddenly turned a bit red and sputtered out “We knew where you lived and your name due to that note.”

“Could you… could you please erase my name from your hospital’s records? I… like my privacy.”

The nurse smiled. “Of course! I’d be happy to!”

The nurse walked off, presumably to take care of that.

As she walked away, Three thought to herself on how to get his memories back. There had to be some way.

“The top floor.”

Three spun around and looked at Four. Four was clenching the box tightly.

“I don’t know why… but I feel like I need to get to the top floor of some place. Maybe that hotel.”

Three figured it was a better shot than anything else.

“Ok, but first, I need you to change your clothes, I am not going to have you walk in that for any longer amount of time.”

The nurse came back, and clearly overheard the little discussion.

“I can provide you with a shirt and some pants!”

Three thanked the nurse, and Four walked towards a room.

…

Three picked up the towel. It was a New Albacore Hotel towel, and it has some of Four’s blood on it. But the corner of it had some water, and something that smelled remotely of alcohol. Alcohol could only have been obtained on the top deck of the hotel. Three shuddered. If Four… fell that height, did he do it himself? Did he feel guilty of causing the Mr.Grizz incident and j-

No. Three pushed those thoughts aside. While this Four may be self-deprecating, no Four would want a world without him… Three grasped the towel with such a strength an Inkling would have choked with. Three promised herself that no matter what, she would look after Four… even if Four never remembers the feelings she had for him and the feelings he had for her.

Three looked up to see Four with an eye patch, and he was wearing the regular blue shirt, alongside both the regular shorts he used to wear and his jacket on his back.

Three smirked. Four looked like quite a dork.

“Do I look good enough?”

“You look great. Now come on, let’s head to the New Albacore hotel.”

Chapter Text

The sun was starting to set, and Pearl was in the middle of reading her Shellphone.

She’s read the same message over and over for a week now.

She sighed. The problem was nearly resolved. Pearl heard Three and Four approaching, put her Shellphone up and spoke.

“Heyo! How are y’all doing? Has he recovered any memories yet?” Pearl shouted.

Four shook his head. “No, I haven’t. But I feel like if I could see the top deck, I might recall… something.”

Pearl’s face went dark with an emotion that seemed to mirror fear, or at least that’s what Three thought.

Pearl shot up. “Alright! To the top deck we go!”

…

As the elevator climbed the hotel, Pearl looked at her Shellphone.

Three caught a glimpse of the message chat.

————

Message Chat: MC Princess, New Messenger.

New Messenger: Hey, Pearl, could I talk to you?

MC Princess: Who is this? What do you need?

New Messenger: It’s… Cous’.

MC Princess: Oh! Of course! When do you want to meet?

New Messenger: Sometime ar-

————-

Pearl suddenly caught Three’s eyes and shoved her phone away.

Three thought to herself. There’s no way that Pearl is responsible for causing Four… right? If Pearl was responsible, Three would have some scorning words for her.

The elevator door opened.

The near golden sunset shown, and the group walked down to the bar.

As Four wondered around with Pearl watching him from a distance, Three pulled over the bartender.

“Did anyone buy a drink a week ago between 2 and 3 am?”

The bartender replied “Yes, I believe it was that one over there.”

Three saw the jellyfish tentacle point towards Pearl.

“Thanks.”

Three then let go of the bartender and started to march towards Pearl.

Pearl saw Three and noticed the expression on her face.

The expression? Loathing.

“PEARL!”

Pearl readied herself.

“Wait just a moment Three! I can explai-”

“FOUR NEARLY DIE-”

“I’m telling you to wait, or didn’t you hear me?”

“I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY! FOUR NEARLY DIED AND YOU CAUSED IT”

“No! You listen! I didn’t cause nothing! You’re throwing baseless accusations!”

“I DON’T #*%^#%^ CARE! YOU CAUSED FOUR TO LOSE HIS MEMOR-”

UUAAAAAGHHUUGHAHAGGHGAAAAAAAA

Three looked to see where that sound came from, and saw Four shaking with his legs collapsed, and his hands on his head.

Three’s animosity towards Pearl drained at the sight of Four. She immediately rushed towards Four and got down to his side.

“Four? Are you ok? Stay with me!”

Four’s eye lit up, and, for what felt like a mere moment in time to Three and Pearl, Four recalled what happened a week ago.

——-

One week prior

——-

Four sighed, as he looked off the hotel.

Pearl walked up to him.

“Heyo! What’s up, my number one cousin?”

“Nothing much. Just… I need your advice.”

Pearl looked confused, but then instantly realized the problem.

“Having a tough time trying to figure out how to do it?”

Four looked over to Pearl, and then to the night sky. He saw all the buildings around him and could hear the wind blowing through his ears.

“Yeah. We’ve been dating for roughly 5 years now, and I want to go even further… but I don’t know how to.”

Four looked at Pearl, and showed her a small box, the size of his hand.

“I know you aren’t any jewelry expert, but could you let me know if this is good enough? Hell, if I’m good enough?”

Pearl laughed.

“Anybody crazy enough to double check with me is good enough I assure you!”

Four blushed.

“Hey! I always double check with you!”

Pearl once again laughed.

Pearl then looked up at Four.

“Let’s take a little walk.”

As Pearl walked, Four described how strong Three was, how amazing she was at everything, and rambled on and on about her.

“Hey, could I borrow that towel really quickly?”

“Hm? Yeah, sure Pearl.”

“Thanks”

Pearl then proceeded to pour alcohol onto the towel.

“Thanks, this drink isn’t worth finishing, but I won’t dump it.”

Four knew this was one of the few ways Pearl tells others to get to the point.

“Just tell me. Should I be worried?”

Four turned to face Pearl, as he walked a bit backwards.

“No of course not! She’s dealt with you for five years! She’s not going to say no!”

As Four walked backwards towards the railing, he replied to Pearl.

“Thanks Pearl. I know how much I try and how much I worry about things... I really had no other person but you to talk with.”

Pearl responded.

“Of course, Orson! I’m happy to-”

Four slipped onto some water.

“Orson! Hol-”

Four slipped in the worst way possible. Off the building.

“ORSON!!!!”

As Four fell, he screamed.

His body turned.

One of the flag poles on the New Albacore Hotel hit his right eye.

Four screamed in pain as he fell further down.

Then, yet another pole seemed to hit him. This time, his throat.

Four couldn’t breathe. His throat was bleeding ink. The lights of nearby buildings turned a shade of yellow as Four’s right eye started to crack and bleed.

Four fell, with his last thought of how he was going to apologize to Three.

When Four hit the trash bin, his mind went blank.

Nearly three minutes later, Pearl found Four in the trash bin. She had rushed down the stairs as quickly as possible.

“Oh cod… What should I do? Think Pearl think… what would Marina do in this situation?”

Pearl’s eyes immediately lit up.

She held a voice changer (sometimes being in public needed one) and called the local hospital: Crescendolls.

“Hello! This is Crescendolls hospital! How may we help?”

Pearl, in a completely different voice, “There’s a boy near the trash bin of New Albacore Hotel. He looks like he’s bleeding a lot, and he needs to get to the hospital asap.”

Pearl closed the call. Obviously, it was an accident, but still, she felt responsible. If the hospital questioned the hotel, and they checked the cameras… Well, she didn’t want to cause Marina any grief whatsoever. Besides, Marina doesn’t even know she has a cousin. Breaking that to her would be difficult.

Pearl eyes widened as she thought of a solution. She should delete the camera footage. If she does that, then no questions.

Pearl raced towards the security room and looked at all the cameras. She knew that shifts didn’t start till 4, so she had to be quick.

After messing around, Pearl deleted all the data off the security cameras between 2 and 3:30 am.

Pearl sighed. She would need to pay for any surgeries her cousin would need. She reminded herself to have one of her assistants check in with the surgery every day until it was finished.

——-

One week later

——-

“Four? Are you ok? Stay with me!”

The memories started to flood back. Four felt like he was drowning in the tidal waves of recollections. Buying that ring for Three came first, then him choosing team Chaos for his cousin, then meeting Three with her cool scar, then fighting DJ Octavio, then meeting Marie. Four felt like he needed to gasp for breath.

“Four! Breathe! Please breathe and slow down!”

Right. Four could breathe. Despite the overwhelming number of memories he was regaining, he just needed to digest them. One breath. One breath per 3 years of information.

Breathe in One.

Breathe out One.

Four never recalled much of his childhood.

Breathe in Two.

Breathe out Two.

He recalls playing with Pearl, who was 13 at the time, at Black Belly Skatepark.

Breathe in Three.

Breathe out Three.

He recalled supporting Pearl on her music career.

“Or-Four? Are you ok?” Pearl asked.

Breathe in Four.

Breathe out Four.

Heh, Four. He’s Agent Four.

Breathe in Five.

Breathe out Five.

Four recalls going to Inkopolis Square, meeting Marie, and saving Callie and the Great Zapfish.

He then starts to remember meeting Three.

Wait. Three?

“DON’T YOU DARE COME ANY #%^*%#* CLOSER!”

He needed to stop Three before she pummeled Pearl for thinking she caused his memory loss.

“Please wait Three!”

He hoped saying that could calm her down enough to digest the rest of his memories.

Breathe in Six.

Breathe out Six.

Four recalls the final splatfest, and then his dates with Three. He was silly, but he cared for Three. Pearl anxiously spoke.

“Listen, Three, I just need to t-”

“I SAID DON’T COME AN

Breathe in seven

Y CLOSER!”

Breathe out seven.

He remembers Three’s name.

Breath in for the present.

He remembers HER name.

Shout for the past.

“HANNAH, WAIT!”

Three stops to look at Four.

“Four?”

“It’s not Pearl’s fault.”

“How do you k-”

“Because I know.”

Three stops. Her eyes widened.

“Four? D-... do you remember me?”

“Yes, Hannah, I do.”

Three’s eyes started to well up. She tried her best to hold her tears, but she gave in and wailed on Four’s shoulder. Her hands gripped the back of Four’s with such tightness to not let him go. He was back, and Three swore to herself to not let go. To not let go of that which she had lost and now regained.

… after all that time, he was back… Four was back…

As Three let her tears fall, Four thought of what to say, and noticed Pearl.

Pearl looked like she was on the verge of tears, yet too scared to come close. Likely due to Three.

“Three, I need you to believe me for a moment, but Pearl is innocent.”

“But how? How can she… how can you believe her?”

Four thought on his words for what felt like an eternity. To say this would be telling Three his deepest secret. He looked at Pearl’s eyes once more.

Pearl had an uncanny ability to make words without saying them. By simply looking at Pearl, Four understood what Pearl wanted him to say.

It wouldn’t be the first time Pearl supported Four.

“Pearl… she’s my cousin. I know that seems insane, but a week ago, we were talking about something important. I can’t say what it was about right now, but I promise I will tell you one day what we were talking about."

Three couldn’t do anything but continue to hug Four and cry. The wailing continued for what felt like hours. As the night made its entrance, Three spoke in a croaked voice.

“… H-How did you lose your m-memory?”

Four continued to hug Three.

“I slipped.”

Three’s wailing slowed down as she processed what he said.

“You ‘slipped’? W-What do you mean you ‘slipped’?”

Four found that Three was starting to get angry at him. Rightfully so. Still, it didn’t make it any less scary.

“I… uh… yeah. I slipped.”

Three lifted her head and stared back at Four.

Yeah… Four isn’t getting out of this without a bruise.

“YOU IDIOT! YOU ‘slipped’? HOW DOES ONE SLIP AND END UP HALF-DEAD?!”

“I’m… sorry?” Four sheepishly said.

“YOU’RE SORRY? YOU BLOODY-”

Instead of hitting Four, as Four felt he deserved, Three hugged him tighter.

“NEVER! Never, EVER, do that again!”

As Four looked into Three’s eyes, he finally understood. She had been waiting night after night for him to return. Even with half his eyes, he could see the red. The sign of multiple nights of wailing. She probably cried herself to sleep thinking about him. He... he couldn’t offer an apology. All he could do is continue to hug her as night fell upon them.

Chapter Text

It’s been a week since Four regained his memory. Two weeks since Four talked to Pearl about how to go further in his relationship with Three.

It was evening. The sun was starting to set.

As Three was walking back towards the train station to head to her apartment, Four realized it was now or never.

“Hey, could you wait just a moment, Three?”

Three turned her head slightly.

“Wait? Sure, just don’t take too long.”

Four grabbed his box. The box still had some of his blood on it.

Four recalled the words Pearl told him two weeks ago.

‘No of course not! She’s dealt with you for five years! She’s not going to say no!’

Heh. Pearl makes it seem so easy. Then again, she does have a point. She proposed to Marina without any hesitation, despite how unusual it seemed.

Four closed his eye and clenched the box.

No matter what happens, Four thought to himself, it’ll be worth it.

“Could you turn and face me for a moment, Three?”

Three sighed. “Sure, I’ll turn around. What do you wa-”

Four got down on one knee.

“Four, what are you-?”

“Three, could you make me the happiest squid in the world,”

He props open the box.

“And marry me?”

What felt like an eternity of silence passed.

“Three? Please say something.”

Still silent.

Four started to panic.

Questions began circling in his head. What if Three says no? What if Three refuses? What if Three no longer L-

No, Three does love Four, he reminded himself. He had to calm down.

“Listen you don’t have to accept, if it’s not the right time I c-”

The Captain let out a small chuckle as she got on one knee.

“Huh? Three, what are y-”

Three then brought out a box of her own.

Smiling, she tilted her head ever so slightly to the side, as the sun reflected off her scarred eye.

“It seems you beat me to it.”

Four was flabbergasted. She… was also proposing to him.

Four started to cry with his remaining eye.

He got up and ran towards Three, before tripping and falling.

Quickly getting up and she walked towards Four.

“Are you ok?”

Four couldn’t help but laugh and smile. Looking up towards Three, Four spoke.

“My leg still hurts, but it hasn’t ruined my mood in the slightest. It’s strange. Being alive is wonderful, isn’t it?”

Three smiled, as she got down to Four’s level.

“Yes, it is a wonderful thing.”

Chapter Text

First: Four (Orson)’s design. I based his design off of a character that loses their memory in Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Path. While the character does have large bandages around their eye, they do not lose either of their eyes. However, I wanted to change that, as I feel like Four should have some eye trauma. I never got to mention it in the fic, but his hair style is the Splatoon 2 Inkling Male promotional material hairstyle (the 6 tentacle hair thing).

Second: Four (Orson)’s name sake. I got his name from the game “Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones”. A character is named “Orson” in that game, and he quickly became my favorite character in all of fiction. I won’t talk too much about him, but suffice it to say, he loves the one he loves a lot more than what would be considered normal.

Third: Three (Hannah)’s design. I believe the area around her sanitized eye would be a faded, yet visible mint green. Her eyes are also the same green as in the hero mode in Splatoon 1. Her hairstyle is supposed to be the Splatoon 1 Inkling Girl hairstyle.

Fourth: Three (Hannah)’s name sake. I got her name from my best friend. Nothing too special about the name, but it felt like a name that wouldn’t be too confusing to remember when it was used.

Fifth: How I decided to start making the fic. I was talking to #1 3x4 enjoyer, Cinnabeep, about fanfictions with 3x4 elements. Surprisingly, when searching up 3x4 fics, I found a very few amount of them. I talked with Cinnabeep for a while and I decided to make a fic with the promise that I wouldn’t kill off any of the characters. I believe I kept that promise.

Sixth: How I went about planning the events of the fic. I didn’t exactly think of how Four would lose his memory until nearing the end of chapter 2. By the end of chapter 2, I also decided who would be ‘responsible’ (heavy quotations, it’s not Pearl’s fault) for Four losing his memories.

Seventh: Hinting at Pearl’s responsibility. After deciding Pearl would be ‘responsible’ for Four’s memory loss, I sprinkled hints in chapters 3 and 4. While providing these hints, I try to cover them up just enough to make the twist predictable, but not making the twist was too obvious. When Four recognizes Pearl, Pearl plays it off as a “oh of course you remember me! I commented on your battles”. When Three yells at Four due to his self-deprecation, Pearl tells Three to stop. While this was used to hide Pearl’s involvement with Four, it also hints at Pearl’s relation with Four (as she plays off her comment as telling Three that she’s causing a ruckus). The final hint I laid out was the mystery bill payer (Pearl is rich). So all of these clues help hint that Pearl is related to Four (the final clue being the new messenger saying “cus”, as it sounds a lot like “cous(in)”.

Eight: The hospital assistant. I wanted to include 8 as the hospital assistant, but that wouldn’t work with how I wrote the story, so the hospital assistant is just a random octoling. If I had to give her a name, probably Gemma (from Dragon Quest XI S) would be her name.

Ninth: The “Neo” Agent 3. I didn’t include Neo Agent 3 because I felt like they wouldn’t make a good inclusion in the story and affect the overall narrative well.

Tenth: Agent 8. To keep the story focused on Agent Four and Three, I couldn’t include much on Eight and the history between Eight and Three. I also feared that including some Three and Eight elements (beyond the message chat in chapter 3) would lean a bit too much towards 3x8, which I tried to avoid due to this fic being absolutely focused on Three and Four.

Eleventh: The final chapter (Something About Us). I got the idea for double marriage from Byleth and Dimitri’s S Support in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The reason why Three was silent was because she actually planned to walk a bit further than Four, just to turn around a drop to the knee. Four only beat Three by roughly ten or so steps. Also the line that Four says after tripping to Three is a direct parallel to Lyon’s castle quote in Fire Emblem Heroes.

Twelfth: Art update. I commissioned Cinnabeep to draw some art, which I hope you enjoy! Follow her for some amazing art!

Chapter Text

This is just an art chapter. Some of the art I just wasn’t sure where to place in the fic, so it goes here. But this has the full size art. I’ll post links to everyone’s Bluesky in the end notes.

And

and

were all made by Cinnabeep (Thank you!)

That was made by Skrbbs / Skrbbz, the very person who Beta’d the script (once again, double thanks to you!)

And finally, to celebrate the anniversary of this fic's creation, Cinnabeep drew this:

y’all this fic has been my life blood for a good long time. I've gone back and edited multiple sections due to my writing prowess improving, and you know what? Even after everything I've wrote, this might be my proudest work. 

Thank you for sticking around up until now.