Stormy Summer

A Series of Misadventures

"I think it's this way," Rose said, pointing to the left, while Anna glared at her, still pointing to the right.

The reception out here is worse than we thought, so we can't use our phones. Plus, somewhere along the way, Charlie's phone suddenly died and we don't have a power bank on us.

In the corner of my eye, I could see Charlie slowly lowering her arm as she had been pointing in the same direction as Anna, but she most likely didn't want to openly disagree with Rose.

I looked from Rose to Anna, neither of which seemed ready to give in.

Next to me, Charlie was fidgeting in her spot, seemingly unsure with whom to side. I sighed, looking around.

Nothing seemed even remotely familiar.

We were stuck at a crossroads. So it's either going right, presumably further into the forest or going left, which might be leading outside the forest. Except, if we somehow turned 180 degrees and the way to the right would lead outside the forest...

In which case...

"Why not just go left for now? We can always turn back and go the other way..." I trailed off as Anna's glare turned from Rose toward me. I raised my hands in mock surrender, "It's just an idea."

Anna let out an exasperated sigh and went to walk past Rose, going left.

Rose looked at me and Charlie for help, but I only shrugged, before following Anna, Rose and Charlie following close behind.

We should probably keep an eye on Anna... She's been going off the road more often than not, looking at bugs or trees, so we had to get her back on the road more than any of us would even bother to count. She seems focused most of the time, but she's got the attention span of a little child.

I wonder how she's made it this far without getting seriously lost.

"I'll wait outside," I said, the bell chiming above me as I exited the store.

Needless to say, we went the wrong way, and, apparently, we managed to end up on the other side of town. I have no idea how that happened. Normally, we only needed to walk straight through the forest. It shouldn't have been that hard.

But a few wrong turns had led us here.

I let out a sigh as I took out my phone, noticing that I finally had reception again.

I took a sip from my soda, before dialing the first number that came to mind, hoping that they wouldn't be busy with practice right now, as I heard the first ring.

I rang a few more times and I considered just hanging up and trying someone else.

Just when I was about to hang up, thinking that he's busy with practice, I was met with the distant sound of shoes squeaking and volleyballs hitting the court, "Yeah?" that voice didn't quite sound like his, though that might also be because I've never heard his voice over the phone before.

"Bokuto? Um... I don't mean to disrupt practice," I cleared my throat, and waited a few seconds to see whether he would reply something when he didn't, I continued, "I just wanted to ask... Do you know where the cabin of Kuro's family is?"

For a few seconds, there was more silence, but before long, I was met with a low chuckle, "Of course I know, Nacchan," the voice, I now realized must've been Kuro's, replied, "Why would you ask? Are you lost?" I heard him laugh, but when I didn't reply he cleared his throat, "Wait, really? Are you serious?"

"Why do you have Bokuto's phone?" I asked instead, trying to change the subject. I could use the help, but I somehow don't want to suffer Kuro's teasing afterward.

"Don't change the subject, Natsu," his voice sounded like he was scolding a small child, "the idiot has a match right now," he still answered my question.

"Oh. Well then-"

"Don't hang up. You called for a reason, right?" Kuro stopped me mid-sentence, "Where are you right now?"

"Good question," I glanced around trying to look for anything distinct, and my eyes landed on a building not too far away from here.

Worth a shot, "I'm in front of a Conbini and down the road is a... kindergarten?" I tilted my head, it looks like a kindergarten, anyway.

When Kuro didn't answer, I spoke up again, "Kuro-chan?"

"That's on the other side of town. Nacchan, how did you get there?" Kuro asked, incredulous.

"Do you remember the lake in the forest behind the cabin?" I asked, quietly, as I was slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah... But that's still the wrong side of town," I could hear him let out a long sigh as I could feel a small blush creep on my face. I have a feeling Kuro would hold this against me from now on.

"Yeah... Guess what? The reception in the forest is the worst," I let out a small laugh, trying to play it down in hopes of him just letting it go.

I could hear him sigh and the background noise becoming quieter, "I'll send you a map later. Go back to the cabin for now."

Silence.

I held the phone away from my ear to look at the screen.

He just hung up.

Without even saying so much as 'goodbye'. I stared at my screen.

"What's wrong?" I jumped as Rose suddenly stood beside me, "Sorry," she sounded genuine as she held up her hands, her eyes drifting to my phone, "you were talking to Bokuto-san?"

I shook my head in reply, "Not exactly..." when she kept staring at me I continued, "Bokuto was busy with practice, so Kuro-chan was on the phone..."

She nodded in understanding, "What did he say?"

"He'll send us a map later. We could try going there again once we have the map," I suggested, motioning toward her and my cameras, "at least we got good shots out of today," Rose nodded in agreement, grinning widely.

"I can't wait to see what the area around the lake looks like."