Two more hours into this road trip from hell.
"I think we were supposed to turn right on that last road."
"I'm the one with the map. I know where we're going, so just focus on the road."
"Last time you said that, the map was being held upside down."
"Soul, shut your trap and focus on driving."
The weapon and meister were stuck in this old car of Spirit's with the air conditioning threatening to go out on them, having a war over what station the radio stayed on, and absolutely, utterly, completely lost, no matter how much Maka said they weren't.
"I've forgotten where we were even supposed to be going in the first place!"
"Black Star and Tsubaki wanted everyone to go with them to the lake for a week. Take a left."
"This looks like a street someone would get murdered on."
"I might murder you before this is over. Just be glad Blair didn't tag along."
"The damn cat probably wouldn't even bother with a swimsuit if she got in the water."
"Please don't give my brain that image. What does that street sign say?"
"Caffey Woods. We're going the right way, right?"
"...more or less."
"Woman, why did I ever agree to be your partner?"
Neither talked for the next few minutes, save for the occasional "Left," or "Right," from Maka and griping from Soul about how many potholes there were.
"Soul?"
"What?"
"...what's that clunking?"
"Shit!"
The two stopped at the side of the road, doors slamming as they got out.
"Didn't that father of yours think to fill this thing up before he let us take it for a trip?!"
"He doesn't think! Augh, we're just as stupid, not even checking... What do we do now?"
"We don't even know where we are, besides in the middle of nowhere, I'm never leaving you in charge of a map again-"
"You kept distracting me!"
"Haah..." Soul scratched at his head, trying to come up with even a sliver of a plan. "We just need to get walking. We could find a store somewhere and besides, clouds are starting to set in."
"What if it gets dark before we find anything? I don't want to walk around in the dark somewhere we don't know."
"You're such a coward."
"I still have my hard-cover book, you know."
As his hands instinctively covered the top of his head, Soul sighed again. "I don't understand why you're so scared. I'm a scythe and you're more than capable of wielding me. So what's the problem?"
"Idiot, I'm not concerned about Kishin eggs. I won't attack if a human tries to come at us like they did in Italy."
"You won't attack them, but you'll defend yourself. Now come on."
"Soul..." Maka was reluctant to give in, but he won in this match of stubbornness. "Would you rather be caught in rain or darkness?"
The two set off walking down the road, with Soul teasing Maka about them being stuck for forever and how they could die there, resulting in a cracking sound echoing through the trees when she brought her book down on his head (more than once).
It was dark and starting to sprinkle by the time they gave up and started heading back to the car- sure enough, they were in the middle of nowhere. As they got closer to the car, they were able to make out two figures.
"H- Hey! Get away from there!" Maka began running towards them, worrying they might be trying to take something from her dad's car. As she neared them, she was able to get a better look.
"Tsubaki...? Black Star..? What are the two of you doing down here?"
Tsubaki gave her a smile. "We thought you two might have gotten lost, so we just stepped outside to see!"
"How far off the mark did Maka hit?" Soul came walking up behind her, and Black Star gave him a confused look. "What do you mean? You're literally right around the corner right now. Come on, it can't be that hard to miss it with a star as big as me staying there!"
"...huh?" Soul and Maka were equally confused.
"We've barely been outside. You two were just walking in the wrong direction." Tsubaki was still smiling, but this time it was a little concerned.
"Soul, I'm never trusting you with directions again."