They got gas in Amarillo. Yumichika nearly cried as he watched the price of the trip continue to climb. Ikkaku was definitely paying him back for this later; at some point, it would be better to just get murdered. Nobody at the station had seen a bright pink half-pint on an oversized motorcycle come through, but again, there were plenty of other specks on the map to choose from. That, or she was stealing gas from cars parked in the street. Yumichika wasn't willing to place a bet either way. Ikkaku, who often bore the brunt of insults, drool and mandatory piggy-back rides, swore she was siphoning at every opportunity, starting with his car back home.

They were back on the road toward the New Mexican border when Ikkaku pulled out his phone. It had managed to survive the downpour and several crash-landings despite living in his pants. He poked at it and held it up to his ear, waiting. After a moment, he dropped it into his lap, disappointed.

Yumichika cocked a brow at him. "What's up? No reception?"

"It's not that. I was trying to call the captain."

Yumichika experienced a moment of sheer panic, but stopped himself at the thought that it hadn't worked. "Wait, were you trying to confess? We've practically got it under control. Don't do anything drastic!"

"It's not that!" That placating hand flap again. "I was just thinking, what if we finally got ahold of him? We could ask if she could go to the thing, just like she wanted. If he said yes, we could go home!"

"Isn't that a lot like... lying? That's not like you."

"It's not lying! It's just not... temporally honest." Ikkaku ducked his head and rubbed it in annoyance.

Yumichika replied with a deadpan stare. "I didn't know you knew words that long. 'Temporally.' Not as dumb as you look, after all."

"Shut up. I read it somewhere."

Yumichika dropped the deadpan stare and took his hands off the wheel for a moment to raise them toward the sky in a prayerful motion. "Reading, now! Who knew?"

"Jerk."

Back in standard driving posture, Yumichika gave Ikkaku an appraising glance. "It wasn't a bad idea, though. Too bad it didn't work."

"I know, right? He forgot to turn his phone on, for sure. I bet it's not even charged." He started to laugh. "Yachiru got it for him so he wouldn't get lost, you know?"

The laughter was contagious. Maybe they were desperate for any laugh at all. "Now we're all lost!"

They quieted down after a few minutes, descending through quiet chuckles into an uncomfortable silence. Yumichika spoke up again. "He's not actually lost, though, right? The guy he's supposed to meet would call the shop if he never showed up, right?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... who did you leave watching the shop? When you came to get the car, I mean."

"Um. Yeah. Somebody?" Ikkaku scratched his head, sorting through foggy memories of the distant past. The night before, rather. "That one guy? The one with the mustache? Him. Yeah."

"Mustachio? The really, really ugly one? I don't even remember his real name. Is he the only one there? I'm not sure he's actually competent."

"Nah, he's fine. Great guy. He's got it covered."

Yumichika scowled suspiciously. "You don't know his name, either."

"Nope. We went out for beers one time, though. I got him to pay. Great guy."

"For all of it? Not bad. Maybe we should learn his name some time."

"Yeah. If we're not dead."

"Yeah. So does he know he's gonna be alone today?"

"What time is it?"

Yumichika pointed at the clock without looking at it. That sort of question didn't deserve a verbal answer.

"Ten-ish. Yeah, he knows now."