I'm sorry it's been so long since I've made a new chapter, I lied last time, I'm so sorry. I haven't written a chapter since last year!

Okay, enough of my comedic genius, I'll give you your first chapter of the New Year now. Enjoy!

This was also meant to come out yesterday when I started writing it, but I was struggling with ideas of what to do (funnily enough, whenever I can't write more than a couple hundred words is usually when I end up writing a large chapter), so most of it was written today instead. However in that time, the book has finally reached 1,100,000+ reads, so I'm beyond happy. That number is insane and I don't get how it's possible, so thank you all for making that possible!

(Y/N) POV

(Y/N) woke up in the morning to find himself stepping all over plenty of things strewn about the place. One of which was round and caused him to slip and fall back on his back.

Frye: HA! Walk much?

Big Man: Ay, ay. (Frye, I'd be careful if I were you, you're not the most careful about that sort of thing either.)

(Y/N): Okay, look, I understand all the rooms and areas that you don't even use, this isn't any of your houses, just a place to hang out. BUT CAN'T YOU AT LEAST KEEP THE SPACES YOU USE CLEAN?

Frye: Ugh, what a nag. If it bothers you so much, why don't you clean it?

Big Man: Ay, ay. (He did clean it, just the other day.)

Frye: See? He's already used to it and knows the place.

(Y/N): I've got more important things to do than clean up after three ne'er-do-wells every day who can't even take care of themselves.

Frye: We can too take care of ourselves!

(Y/N): I'm pretty sure Big Man is the only one of you three who knows how to even cook.

Big Man: Ayyy.

Frye: I can cook!

(Y/N): Just throwing something into an air fryer isn't the same as cooking.

Frye: Clearly you don't own an air fryer.

Shiver: Why would I need to know how to cook? I can either order something or have someone else cook for me.

Big Man: Ay? (Haven't I been helping you two learn to cook occasionally?)

Shiver: Stop proving his point, Big Man.

Big Man: Ay. (Sorry.)

Shiver: Look, you're boring me with this, if you just do the work around here, I'll count it towards your debt. Happy?

(Y/N) just stood in disappointed silence for a moment, knowing that he was never going to convince them, then sighed.

(Y/N): Fine.

He then got to picking up the trio's mess.

The three of them went back to doing their thing. Big Man was feeling kind of bad since he thought the three of them were being a bit too slobbish, and Shiver noticed Big Man's unease before turning over to look at (Y/N). She closed her eyes and let out a quiet defeated sigh and got up and walked over to him.

Shiver: You're clearly too stressed out.

Frye noticed the scene going down, got up with Big Man, and walked over.

Shiver: Let's go unwind.

(Y/N): Huh?

Shiver then started walking out of the place, followed by Frye and Big Man behind her, leaving (Y/N) confused and standing there.

Shiver: We're not going to wait up for you!

She called out to him from outside, leading him to shake it off, drop what he was holding, and run after them.

~~~

The four of them were making their way to what felt like the edge of the city.

Frye: Oh I recognize where we're headed now!

Big Man: Ay? (Feeling nostalgic, Shiver?)

(Y/N): Am I missing something?

Frye: Not really. Just a super special place!

Shiver: Here we are.

(Y/N) looked around at the area. It looked like a bit of a rundown area on the edge of town with a bit of construction going on around it.

(Y/N): Wow, it's, uh... something.

Shiver: I said it would be relaxing, not exciting.

(Y/N): You've got me there. So what's so special about this place?

Shiver: It-

Frye: OOH! THERE! THERE!

Frye was already running off to one of the food stands. Big Man was also doing a brisk job over to her while Shiver just shrugged off Frye cutting her off before walking over with (Y/N).

Food Vendor: Well look who it is. I'm guessing you three want the same as always?

Frye: You know it!- Wait, no, make that four orders!

She said as (Y/N) and Shiver made it over, but gave a slight shove to (Y/N) instinctively, thinking he was going to try and cut in line with her.

Food Vendor: You three are bigger now, but are you sure you can handle a fourth one?

Frye: Nah, just need an extra one for this guy here.

Food Vendor: Well there's a face I haven't seen before. Are you ready to taste some dang good deep-fried tofu?

Big Man: Ay? Ay! (Good? It's the best around!)

(Y/N): Well how can I refuse such an offer?

Frye was chatting (Y/N) up about how good it tastes while Shiver and Big Man made conversation.

Food Vendor: Order up!

The food vendor said as they put out the four orders for them.

Shiver: Here you are.

Shiver paid for three of the orders before smacking (Y/N)'s hand reaching for his with her fan. She gave a little nod of her head towards the vendor.

(Y/N) got out the money for his order and paid for it.

(Y/N): Yeah, I should've expected that, that one's on me.

Shiver gave a smile.

Shiver: I never said I was treating you to a meal. Having a good time with the wonderful me should be more than enough compensation.

Frye: Shiver, you have tofu on your cheek.

Shiver: What?!

She quickly hid her face behind her fan before embarrassingly brushing off her face.

Frye and (Y/N) chuckled at Shiver's actions, before Frye turned to (Y/N).

Fyre: Here, try it already.

She grabbed some of his tofu and tried to shove it in his mouth. He tried to stop her from choking him by grabbing it himself and finishing the rest of the bite on his own.

Big Man: Ay? Ay? (Well? How is it?)

After he took a second to taste, chew, and swallow it.

(Y/N): Well, it's official... deep-frying everything always works.

Shiver: I don't know about tha-

Frye: -THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, BABY! A man after my own heart!

She said while wrapping one of her arms around his shoulder while holding her meal that was already halfway eaten in her other.

(Y/N) enjoyed Frye's enthusiasm as he kept eating away at his food with the rest of them.

Frye complained a minute later.

Frye: Aw man! I'm already out? BUMMER! I can never get enough of this.

(Y/N) looked at his own and noticed he still had one bite left, so he picked it up and tossed it over to Frye with a quick heads-up.

Frye nearly fumbled for a second before grabbing it.

Frye: Huh?! Are you sure? This ain't your everyday tofu, this is a one-of-a-kind gourmet meal.

(Y/N) gave a nice laugh to himself since it was just a food stand they could come back to at any time.

(Y/N): Yeah, go ahead.

Frye: I will cherish, this last bite always...

She said with her eyes closed and fist clenched with a singular happy tear going down her cheek.

(Y/N): Hey, where'd that last super cherishable bite go?

Frye: Hm?

She grunted out with the tofu already stuffed in her mouth.

Shiver: Sharing your last bite? You didn't even get a full meal to yourself.

(Y/N) just shrugged with a smile on his face.

Shiver: You're weird.

Just then, Shiver noticed something out of the corner of her eye, causing her to give a sharp smile.

Shiver: Hey, while you're busy being all mushy and being "kind to others", why don't you do something for me?

(Y/N): Which is?

Shiver: Nothing much, just throw away our finished stuff over there.

She said handing him their finished disposable plates as Frye was licking the crumbs off of her fingers still.

Shiver: Oh, and while you're over there, can you grab that bike for us too?

(Y/N): You want me to take some random person's bike?

The other two looked over at the bike Shiver was talking about.

Shiver: No no no, it's fine. It's one of those bikes people just leave around for anyone to pick up and use when they need to.

(Y/N): Really? It doesn't look-

Shiver: -Just go grab the bike already, it's fine!

(Y/N): Okay, okay, I get it.

He started walking over to throw away their plates and started heading for the bike.

Meanwhile, back where the other three were sitting, Shiver was once again giving her sharp smile while Frye was giving an evil snicker and Big Man just looked very nervous about the situation.

As (Y/N) approached the bike, he once again took a look at the bike just lying against the wall here, still thinking it looked like just a normal bike belonging to someone.

(Y/N): [I would question this more, but I don't want Shiver to chew me out anymore. Besides, it would have a bicycle chain if it belonged to someone, right?]

He decided to ignore his second thoughts and pick up the bike before riding it over to the other three.

(Y/N): Now why do we need the bike?

Shiver spoke up while walking to sit on top of the handlebars.

Shiver: Because it's quicker than walking, isn't it? Hop on, you two.

???: WHAT THE HECK? WHERE'S MY BIKE?!

The four of them looked in the direction of the voice they had just heard screaming out, which just so happened to be where (Y/N) had just taken the bike from.

Standing looking around for the missing bike that (Y/N) took was an Octoling boy who looked very upset before noticing the four of them on the bike.

Angry Octoling: WHY YOU-!

He started running over towards them.

Shiver: Time for everyone to hop on now!

She said with her fan out in front of her face with a devious smile still happily plastered on her face. Frye excitedly jumped onto the front pegs of the bike while Big Man nervously hopped onto the back pegs and held onto (Y/N)'s shoulders.

Shiver: Time to go!

(Y/N) knew that they had tricked him into stealing the man's bike but the guy really didn't look like he was in a talking mood so (Y/N) just listened to her and started pedaling as hard as he could, causing everyone on the bike to shift for a moment at the bike's movement.

They were out-pacing the man chasing after them, leaving him in the dust now.

Frye was holding herself far forward on the bike giving a hearty laugh, enjoying their getaway.

Now out of range of their pursuer, (Y/N) finally confronted Shiver about the situation that just transpired while still pedaling the bike.

(Y/N): So why did you just have me steal some random guy's bike?

Frye: Not random!

Big Man: Ay... (We knew that guy from when we were back in school...)

Shiver: He was a total jerk! So don't feel bad, he could use the lesson.

She said letting out a maniacal laugh.

(Y/N): I thought you said this was supposed to be a relaxing time, not an exciting time!

Frye: Oh, (Y/N), you can't always stick to your plans, you've gotta work with what life throws at ya! Otherwise, you're never gonna live your life!

Big Man: Ay. (That was actually a pretty inspiring quote, Frye.)

Shiver: I'm not one for impulsive choices, but maybe we can throw it on a shirt or something and sell it!

(Y/N): You can never stop thinking of a way to make a quick buck, huh?

Shiver: I'm just one for thinking through what's best for myself!

She said while leaning her head over backward to look at (Y/N) in the eyes as much as she could.

(Y/N) turned his head a bit to look over his shoulder back at Big Man.

(Y/N): Well those two have given one. Any words of wisdom about the Big Man's philosophy?

Big Man: Ay... ay? (Uh... Thank cod it's Friday?)

Frye: It's Tuesday, Big Man!

Big Man: Ay. Ay? (I can't think of something on the spot. Why'd you two have to go and get so darn deep with your words out of nowhere?)

Shiver: Because we're Deep Cut!

Frye and Big Man sighed at Shiver's pun, but (Y/N) actually let out a snicker at her pun.

Shiver: I'm glad someone here enjoys my perfect jokes at least!

~~~

Shiver POV

The four of them had just ditched the bike on the side of the street a little while back and were now just leaning up against a railing on the edge of the city out into the desert. They could even see where the desert met the sea since there weren't any buildings in the way now.

Shiver: Well?

(Y/N): Well what?

Shiver: Did this help to relax, Mr. Uptight?

(Y/N): I'm not uptight. But... yeah, this was actually a good time.

Frye threw her arm around (Y/N).

Frye: Good, now you can go back to being more fun again instead of boooooriiiing.

(Y/N): I'm not boring. I'm great fun! I've got fun coming out the wazoo!

Big Man: Ay? (Is that a thing Inklings and Octolings have?)

Frye: Pssh, says who?

(Y/N): My friends would've said so!

Shiver: Oh yeah? And where are these so-called "friends" then?

She said with a snarky smirk, hoping to beat him at this joke argument.

He looked down defeated at how she had a point there, but then he flashed a look of sadness for a second.

Shiver stopped her smirk, realizing she made a mistake with what she said, and even Frye and Big Man noticed something about the atmosphere slightly changed.

She turned away from looking at him and went back to just looking back out at the desert.

Shiver: You asked before what was special about that place?

He had tried to hide his expression after he let out a hint of how he felt before but then shifted his look back to Shiver at her response.

Shiver: Every day after school, the three of us would stop there and get a dish together, and just enjoy our time together. We weren't always friends, and school was dull-

Frye: -Ha. You can say that again.

Frye didn't notice how she broke the pace of what Shiver was saying, causing Shiver to look over at Frye a bit annoyed at it, but then gave a slight smile at Frye and Big Man as well.

Shiver: That place really wasn't all that special. But I guess you could say it's just a place where our friendship was strong since we would always go there every day together.

Big Man: Ay. (Aww.)

Frye: Hehe, Shiver going soft.

Shiver just shut her eyes and hid her face behind her fan.

(Y/N) perked up once again after hearing her say all of that. It might've sounded like she had just randomly brought up that topic again, but it was what he needed to hear right now.

(Y/N): No wonder that food stand's still intact then, you three alone have probably kept it in business.

Frye: Yeah, we should be lifetime members at this rate!

Big Man: Ay? (Do you think we could ask for complementary snacks next time?)

Shiver: Please tell me you two aren't hungry again already.

Frye: It was a nice holdover meal.

Frye said with a smile with her tongue out.

(Y/N): I could eat some more too.

Big Man: Ay! Ay. (Ooh! Me three.)

Shiver just sighed at the three gluttons with her.

Shiver: Let's get back so we can find something that can satiate you three then.

She started walking away with Frye and Big Man following after her.

Big Man: Ay, ay. Ay. (That's no fair, Shiver, I'm big and need more than that to eat. I'm not like Frye.)

Frye: My body is a pure machine made for eating, stealing, and splatting!

(Y/N) gave one more look out into the desert before turning back to catch up to the other three.

~~~

The four were walking back into the place.

Shiver: Okay, run off and find something to eat now.

Frye: I'll get the air fryer plugged in!

Frye was running towards the kitchen but slipped on one of the things they had left out on the floor.

Big Man: Ay... (I tried to warn you earlier that karma would get you, Frye...)

(Y/N): Ha!

Frye: Don't you laugh at my suffering!

Shiver looked around at all the stuff on the floor, noticing one particular thing at her feet, causing her to bend over and pick it up.

(Y/N) noticed Shiver looking at what she had picked up.

(Y/N): Something up, Shiver?

Shiver: Huh?

She snapped out of it and looked back over at him, while also seeing Frye throwing a random bag of food she pulled out of the fridge into the air fryer to the dismay of Big Man. She looked back at what she was holding, collecting herself.

Shiver: No, I'm not-... I'm not cleaning up any of this stuff, I just... thought of a better place for this is all.

She said as she walked off with the item she was holding.

2750 Words

January 2, 2024 - 3:16 A.M.