"Wow, I can't believe it's already been two weeks since we graduated!" Ex-high schooler Nami giggled from the passenger seat of the huge blue van. "It feels like we just left home!"
"It kinda does doesn't it?" Beside her, Sanji kept his eyes on the road as he drove, smiling. "Hard to believe our trip's almost halfway over."
"Don't say that!" From behind them, Luffy glared at his friends. "Don't ruin it, we've got tons of time left!"
"More than three weeks!" Usopp chimed in from Luffy's right, glaring at the others as well.
"Yeah, I know," Nami laughed, turning over to glance at him in the seat behind her. "I'm just saying."
"Well don't," Luffy folded his arms, glaring at her, but a moment later turned to stare out the window again. "Where are we going next anyway?"
Nami looked back down at her map. "It's a surprise," she said after a moment. "You'll see."
"But I wanna know now!" Luffy pouted, but it only caused Nami to laugh again.
"Nope!" she said. "You have to wait."
"We should be there pretty soon," Sanji said, glancing down at the map before Nami covered it up again.
"No peeking," she admonished. Of course, Sanji already knew where they were headed - being the driver and all - but Nami was very protective of her hand-drawn maps, an Sanji chuckled as he turned back to the road. Luffy continued to stare out the window, and Usopp managed to stay quiet as Nami poured over her maps.
It had in fact been two weeks since the ragtag team of teenagers had set out from their hometown to go on a tour of the country. Come next September they were planning to go their separate ways, so they'd planned to spend their entire summer together, seeing the sights and enjoying their first and last days of freedom. They'd been planning this trip since they met in their freshman year; it was the last thing they would do together before the next chapter of their lives, and they were trying to cherish it.
They'd made it quite a distance from their tiny town- halfway across the country and traveling everywhere they could. Living out of their van, they didn't have to pay for rooms, and were able to be as loud as they wanted. There was no shortage of money either, as they'd been saving since freshman year too, so that was nice. Especially considering Luffy's appetite.
So far they'd been really enjoying their vacation- after final exams and graduation it was nice to get away from it all and act like responsible adults for once (or, most of them anyway). Truly, this was the adventure of a lifetime.
"Is Zoro still back there?" Sanji attempted to distract the others from Nami's lack of answers, glancing over his shoulder for the green-haired teen.
"He's in the back," Luffy said quickly, looking back as well. "He's taking up the whole seat!"
"Sleeping, no doubt," Nami muttered, and Lufffy nodded even though she couldn't see him.
"He's been out for hours," Usopp clarified, and Sanji laughed again.
"Stupid marimo," he said, clenching the wheel tightly as he made another corner. They were on the highway, and he was doing his best to keep from stressing about the large amount of traffic. Living in a small town they were unused to roads like this, and it was tricky to drive in. Of course, it wasn't helping that he wasn't allowed to smoke in the van (the decision had been unanimous), and he'd respected their wishes so far. That said, he would have to pull over if they didn't reach their destination soon- he couldn't remember the last time he'd had cravings as bad as this.
Nami, it appeared, was aware something was off, and thinly-masked concern flashed in her eyes as she looked over at her friend.
"You all right, Sanji?" She asked, adn he quickly nodded.
"I'm fine, Nami," he said, forcing himself to drop the "-san" he knew would only annoy her. "Just... craving. Thank you for asking though." It made him happy that she cared.
"Oh," her response was flat, yet contained some sort of sympathy. "Sorry."
"It's fine," he said again. "I can wait until we get there."
"Should be soon."
"I can't WAIT!" Suddenly Luffy was behind them again, leaned as far forward as his seatbelt would let him and grinning ear to ear. "It's gonna be so awesome, isn't it Nami!?"
"I bet it's a theme park!" Usopp jumped in from beside him, and Luffy's eyes lit up.
"A theme park?!" he shouted, causing Nami and Sanji to jump though Zoro didn't stir.
"Or maybe it's a zoo?" Usopp guessed, folding his arms and nodding as if he knew what he was talking about.
"Or a skyscraper!" Luffy added loudly, and Usopp just rolled his eyes.
"That's not impressive, stupid," he said, but then he paused and his eyes grew wide too. "...unless it's a five hundred story skyscraper!"
"Whoa!" Luffy grinned, imagining it, and in the front the others laughed. Nami was enjoying listening to their guesses, and Sanji was just glad for the distraction. It was starting to get darker outside, and headlights were beginning to come on around them. Flicking his own on, Sanji squinted at the road and the yellow lines speeding by. He was looking for exit 7, their stop, and he knew it should be coming up soon. Just one more corner and they'd be there, if memory served correctly.
Turning the wheel to the right, he started the sharp turn, paying little mind to Luffy and Usopp's ongoing guessing regarding their destination. However, Sanji would have done well to pay more mind to the lane on his left, where a transport truck was taking the sharp corner a little too sharply. Skidding, its driver turned to the left in an attempt to keep from hitting the van as he lost control, as well as his load.
Sanji noticed this a good thirty seconds too late, and found himself helpless to evade the cargo as an entire truckload of stripped tree trunks crashed into the side of the van. The last thing he heard was Nami screaming, and then everything went dark.