Better Eight Than Never

Chapter 6: Springboard Spyke

"Are... Are we going to do it? The thing we talked about?" Jill asked.

"Take her hat...? If we are, we'll have to be quick about it." Bato said. "This might be our one chance."

"Does it... have to be right in the open?" Toda asked hesitantly. "If we're right, people might start to panic."

"I... won't she get suspicious if we try to get her to go somewhere?" Jill asked.

"We still should try." Simon said. "I don't like the odds that she might have more of those weapons, and there are a lot of people here."

Bato nodded in agreement. "Do we have any sort of plan?"

Simon paused. "I've never seen a hat like that before. We can ask her where she got it, and if we can see it. If she's an inkling and lets us, we'll have our answer."

Toda nodded slowly. "... If we're asking for fashion reasons, I don't think I can pull it off... pun not intended."

Bato nodded, frowning a little. "I could probably do it... unless one of you two want to."

"I'm just fine with my hat thank you." Jill muttered.

"Alright, Bato you go. If things go wrong, we can sneak up on her and snatch it." Simon looked up, then grimaced. "I don't think she's seen us, she's on the move! Go go go!"

"Good luck." Toda said quickly.

Bato nodded, weaving through the crowd in an attempt to intercept Hachi. He saw her glance in his direction and then stiffen drastically, beginning to walk faster. She'd recognized him. He also began to walk faster, lightly tapping her shoulder as he caught up. "Excuse me!" Bato said, rushing to get her attention.

Hachi yelped, spinning around. She looked rather frightened, facing paling a little.

"Sorry." Bato said awkwardly. "You're that inkling that asked about Splatfest the other day, right? Hachi, wasn't it?"

Hachi nodded. "I-I... Yes. I remember you, hi."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Bato said quickly, rubbing the back of his neck in an awkward sort of way, his mind racing. "So, ah, what brings you to the plaza? Did you decide to sign up for Splatfest?"

"Oh ah... no." Hachi responded, taking a step backward. "It's not for me."

"Ah, alright then." Bato replied, shrugging a little. "Um... so, were you going somewhere?" He asked, trying to keep his air of awkwardness without sounding too forced about it.

"Yeah, I-I'm sort of in a hurry." She said, backing up even farther. "I-I... yeah."

"Oh? Where are you headed?" He asked, hesitantly taking a few steps forward; he didn't want to seem threatening– it looked like she was about to bolt as it was– but he didn't want to lose track of her if she did.

"Home." Hachi said a little too quickly. "My ah... Dog ate my grandma!!"

"Your... uh...?" Bato frowned confusedly.

"... My rations." Hachi corrected, sweat pouring down her forehead and... catching oddly around her cheeks.

"Oh, okay then." Bato said, and then caught sight of Simon creeping up behind Hachi. "Ah, before you go... could I ask you something quick?"

"Wh-what?" Hachi snapped.

"Do you remember where you got your hat? I, ah, have a friend whose birthday is coming up, and I wanted to find one like yours for her, but I can't seem to find one like it anywhere." Bato said, trying to avoid looking toward Simon.