Going at a moderate speed, a bus was traveling down the road, doing its same routine it does everyday. Occasionally, it stops to let out passengers or picking them up and then the vehicle starts moving again. Inside, we find Grina and Bars sitting on clearly used seats.
The girl was listening to some music, while looking the bus window, using Bars's headphones. Her friend was sleeping for a while: the journey is longer than expected and Grina wanted to hear some music, so the boy got bored enough to take slowly a nap.
The place outside the bus was full of solitary houses, green grass, little forests and some distant small towns, usually near hills or on its sides. The girl doesn't seem much interested, judging from her unimpressed expression.
She got tired of listening, so Grina puts away the headphones and her smartphone: after a loud bored sigh, she looks at Bars.
"Pssss… Barsy…" Grina said in a low voice.
The boy starts grunting, but he doesn't seem awake yet since he comes back to sleep normally. The girl starts shaking him a bit, making Bars jumpscare a little.
"Aah! Grina…" He said, starting to stretch quickly after. "Did we arrive yet?"
"I think we're close, so… better stay wake." Grina answered.
The boy took a look outside the bus, through the window.
"Well, it looks like the farms… unless we ended up in a different dimension." Bars commented.
"Oh no! We got into the Sunken Zone!" Grina exclaimed.
Both the friends chuckled.
"Seriously, it does seem so… weird!" Bars took another look outside. "How can we even distinguish Hunter's house anyway? They all look the same!"
"You already forgot?! Come on, Bars! Hunry told us everything about that!" Grina exclaimed, in disappointment.
"Really? Man, then why I don't remember anything at all?" Bars said, trying to think on it.
Grina sighs, while doing a facepalm.
"He said that just after a tunnel, there's the bus stop we're looking for. From that point, we follow the path and Hunry's house would be right in front of our eyes." She explained.
"Huh… it seems surprisingly easy. Still, how did I forgot about that?" The boy wonders.
"Gee, maybe because you suck at paying attention?" Grina giggles a bit.
"It's not my thing, really… I kick turf at videogames, though!" Bars replied with proud.
"Are you sure about that? I can splat you in Fighting games, all day!" She smiles wide.
"Eeeehhmm… again, it's not my thing." He becomes a little embarrassed.
"Yeah, sure! Like I beat you 27 times in Squid Fighters X, while using a worse character than yours!" Grina said, while grinning a bit.
"That's because I'm awful with combos, pal! Like, how can you even do them all the time?! It's impossible!" Bars complained.
"Because I do my homework, scrub!" She jokes.
"Uuuuh, don't remind me of homework…" He shakes his head, while lowering it. "I think that my brain can't handle all those assignments I have to do…"
"Heh, I got my nightmares too, so you're not alone." She pats Bars on his shoulders.
"I don't even know if I'm ever going to get a C, this time. Funk this hardcore school!" Bars got frustrated.
"… how are your grades, big boy?" Grina asked curiously.
"Meh… I got some C's, many D's, sometimes F's. I guess to be just average." He said, without a care.
"What?! That's NOT average at all! Are you even trying getting a better grade?!" The girl said, getting a little upset.
"Of course I'm trying! But come on, I thought that I'd pass school with the D's!" Bars got upset too.
"Ugh… technically yes, but… no offense, I'd change my identity if I end with that score." Grina said, shuddering just by thinking about it.
"Oh, like you'd become NotGrinaatall?" Bars laughs a bit.
"Yeah, ha ha! But seriously, you should definitively study more, Bars! I'm saying this for your own good. It'll give you the edge, in the future. I can even help, if you can't do this all alone!" Grina advices, offering some help to the boy.
"Well… we'll see. But hey: at least, I do have a nice collection of notes! Wanna have some?" Bars asks.
Grina chuckled.
"No no, you can keep them for yourself!" She smiled.
"Aw, shucks… what about you, anyway? I bet you do get many Cs…" Bars guesses.
"Some As and many Bs." Grina replied normally.
Her friend couldn't believe that!
"W-what-a?! Seriously?!" He asked in shock.
"Yep! What? You mad, bro?" Grina catches out her tongue.
"Whoa… I-I didn't knew you were secretly a swot!" Bars was still surprised.
The girl giggles a bit.
"Nah, having B's doesn't mean that in the least. There is a certain girl, which could be called like that though." Grina smiles.
"Ah, yes! Mirii! She must have many A's and some B's!" Bars exclaimed with certainty.
"Uhm… actually, I think that she'd have a crisis if Mirii ever got something lower than A-."
"A crisis for that?! I'd throw the biggest party in Inkopolis with a B+!"
Grina laughed.
"I'd throw it for you, tall friend!" Grina said with a smile.
"Heh, tall friend all right! My height is just A+ material!" He said while boosting his ego.
"Then you get up and bonk the ceiling!" Grina does a taunting grimace.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! You wish, short stuff!" Bars taunts her too.
Suddenly, the bus drove inside a tunnel.
"The tunnel! We're close, Bars!" The girl said, getting excited.
"Oh boy! We better prepare ourselves for OW!"
Bars bonked against the ceiling, while getting up, making Grina laugh loudly.
"D-Drat…! You called it!" He massages his head.
The vehicle got out of the tunnel and was slowing down, getting near another bus stop. This time Grina and Bars came from it and immediately began to admire the scenery, while leaving the busy bus on its way.
"What a peaceful place." Grina commented, while inhaling some fresh air with her nose.
"Yeah, I'd say TOO much peaceful for mah taste!" Bars said, unimpressed.
"You know… I wouldn't mind living here." Grina smiled, starting to walk on a non asphalted path.
"H-How?! I'm already bored, by just looking at it!" Bars complained, following the girl.
"Well, I don't know why exactly… maybe because it's so relaxing." She explained, while enjoying the surroundings.
"Bah. I'd get the spray cans and give some art to this depressing world!" He said.
"That would be even more depressing: a beautiful landscape ruined by some stupid drawing jokes." Grina becomes serious.
Bars noticed how the girl changed her mood and decided to stop talking about it.
"Whatever!" He shrugs. "By the way, is that the house we're looking for?"
The boy pointed at an above-average sized house with a farm field near it.
"Seems like it!" Grina smiled. "Hunry's house is pretty nice, isn't it?"
"Uhm… sure… yeah…!" He said with a tone lacking enthusiasm.
Grina didn't appreciate that answer at all: she became a bit demoralized because of it.
"Soooo, what's the plan?" Bars asked.
"Knocking the door, Bars…" She sighs softly.
The two Inklings got near the main door, after getting inside the farmhouse's area without facing any conflicts. Grina knocks the door twice and both wait for a response. Strangely, no one opened the door or say something from the inside.
Grina knocks the door again, this time with decision. Still no answers…
"Ehm… there's no one at home, Grina." Bars pointed it out.
She turns towards him, with an annoyed face.
"Thanks for that deduction, Captain Obvious!" She said in a sarcastic way.
"Anytime, shorty!" He jokes, while chuckling a bit.
Grina was getting really tired of Bars's antics.
"Very well, Mr. Funnypants: do you have a brilliant Plan B about this little inconvenience?" She asks with her arms folded.
"Uuuuh… maybe… open the door?" He asks, while scratching his head.
"Oh sure! Because people here don't lock it down or anything: they must be more idiotic than you!" Grina complained.
"Hey! It could be a possibility, you know!" He tried to justify himself.
"Please… don't be such a moron." She shakes her head in disappointment.
Bars go near the door and opens it, like normal: the girl reacted in shock.
"Haaaa! Look at that! I was RIGHT, after all!" He does a fierce-like victory pose. "Not-so-dumb Bars did it again! Any more complains, brainy?"
Grina ignored the boy and rushes inside the house. She checks every room and opens every big closets: no living being was found.
"Oh no, this is terrible!" She exclaimed, in panic. "Hunry's parents are gone!"
"Chill out, Grina! They just got out for a walk…" He tried to calm her down.
The girl saw something very important, hanging on the wall: a pair of keys!
"Look! They didn't took a walk: the house keys are still there!" Grina points at them.
"W-wait! Let's check outside: maybe they are still working, you know." Bars proposed.
Both friends dashes out of the house and check the rest of the area: no Inkling was found!
"Nobody! There's nobody here!" Grina said, in shock.
"Well, that's not true at all…!" Bars replied. "Actually, there IS someone: us! Ha ha ha!"
SLAP!
Grina gave a huge slap to Bars, leaving her marks on his left cheek.
"WOULD YOU STOP ACTING LIKE A SQUIDBAG?! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY, YOU IDIOT!" Grina shouts at him.
Bars massages his left cheek, realizing to have been exaggerating a little more than usual.
"… sorry, Grina…" He lowers his head, ashamed of himself.
She looks at him: all the sudden, the girl starts feeling really sorry for that improvised attack.
"… oh shoot, I'm so sorry Barsy!" Grina puts her hands in front of her mouth. "Did you get hurt?!"
"Nah, it's fine really…" He smiled. "And besides, I deserve it…"
"What are you talking about?! You didn't deserve that blow in the least! I could have made you see the stars, with such a hit!" Grina feels even more sorry.
"Well… that slap didn't made me see the stars… rather the stalls!"
Grina laughed hard in front of that joke. Bars chuckles too.
"That was a good one, champ!" She winked with a smile.
"Ha ha, thanks! But let's get serious, now!"
"Yep!" Grina feels determined. "I think we should walk… uhm… walk… oh! That way! Yes, we'll go that way and we start searching for a house or something to ask informations!"
"All right, game on." Bars agrees. "Uhm… do you think that Hunter's parents are in danger?"
"To be honest… that's not a good sign. Let's cross our fingers and hope for the best!" She explained, trying to be more optimistic.
Both the Inklings begin to hike, hoping to have Lady Luck from their side.