Summer Nights (Part 1)

Of the many practices that piqued Sakamoto Kouhei's annoyance, none were more offending than a lack of punctuality. He stood now on the platform of the local train station, periodically turning on and off his smartphone screen for a brief glance at the lock screen clock. Luckily for Kouhei, the strict adherence to schedule typical of the Japanese mass transportation system put a hard upper bound on the amount of time one could be late. But even still, the tendency of a certain type of person to arrive at the very last moment and leave no room for error was enough to give Kouhei a fit of anxiety.

"You can stop that now, Takahashi-san has already said in the group chat that she's right outside the station." Reika remarked from nearby, perched in a sitting position on top of her luggage bag. She sported a wide brimmed straw hat which shaded her from the midday sun directly overhead and a white sundress that made a sharp contrast with her jet black hair.

"It's about the principle of the situation." Kouhei paced in a counterclockwise circle.

"Prez. I know this is technically an official student council trip, but you're not going to have any fun if you're going to be this tense for the whole trip." Ono Misaki, the student council treasurer spoke up. She walked between Kouhei and Reika, standing with them in a line with her hand on her luggage.

"I know." Kouhei sighed. "I didn't abuse my power and siphon the funds just to have a bad time."

Currently, the student council was about to embark on their summer "team building" workshop. Though some looking from the outside might say this was a misuse of power and misappropriation of funds, the student council this year had run on an unprecedented surplus thanks to diligent work from all of the members, good planning for event supplies, and tactical reuse of signs, banners, and the like. In actuality, the expense for this trip was also much smaller than it appeared, as the lodging was to be a vacation home owned by Reika's family. These two facts did not stop either Kouhei from indulging in his 'getting away with something' smugness or Reika's objections to its questionably ethical nature, though Reika was not going to turn down a free vacation. She just wished it didn't have to be with Kouhei.

"Sorry I'm late!" A high pitched voice cried out from behind the trio. Ayaka stumbled onto the platform, panting for breath. "Alarm didn't go off."

"It's alright, Takahashi, you're right on time." Kouhei smiled gently and gestured towards the tracks with one arm. "The train's just arriving."

Reika glared at Kouhei, attempting to will him into feeling shame at the disconnect between his previous behavior and current coddling of the younger girl. Kouhei was having none of it, the man seemingly unable to feel shame. At least, not any that could be seen from his expression or body language. Misaki gently shook her head and looked away with a wry smile.

Soon the train arrived and the four boarded with their luggage. The seats they had booked were arranged in a similar fashion to a restaurant booth, two on each side facing each other, with a small collapsible table in the middle. The route taken by this particular train would take them right by the ocean, with the ocean view passing by directly outside of the large window on one side of the seats. Kouhei moved into the window seat with Ayaka behind him, while Reika and Misaki did the same on the opposite side respectively.

"I hope we have this view on the way back too." Misaki remarked.

"We would have to be on the right side of the train." Reika mused, searching through her bag and taking out a book to pass the time. Kouhei glanced at the cover, and noted that it was Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express and rolled his eyes.

"Christie is such a boring choice. Please don't tell me you only picked that one because we were going to be on a train." Kouhei prodded as the train started its journey.

"Sakamoto-san, I will not forgive you if you spoil the ending." Reika still had her eyes glued to the book. "And yes, I picked it because we were going to be on a train, but it's not funny if you explain the joke."

"Jokes are supposed to be funny." Kouhei frowned.

"Not all of them." Misaki chimed in. "They can just be a little peculiar, or interesting, like how the word 'funny' itself can be all of those of things. I thought it was a funny little piece of irony."

"I like jokes that make you laugh more." Said Ayaka, bouncing up and down on her seat with her hands gripping the armrests.

"I'm just saying, if you have nothing better to do then you might as well enjoy the scenery."

"I'm reading this book."

"Yeah, but Murder on the Orient Express doesn't really compare to this ocean view we've got just outside the window."

"What's that supposed to mean? Agatha Christie is one of the greatest mystery writers of all time." Reika glanced up from her book, indignant.

"Yes, but have you ever noticed how heavily she relies on red herrings? Every book has a billion characters with suspicious movements and motivations, but at the end of it all the actual crime is very straightforward and simple. Everything else is explained by completely unconnected plot lines that have their own resolutions, and if you take them away the whole thing isn't actually very mysterious at all."

"Well it's difficult to write a logically consistent mystery." Reika replied. "You can't just treat mystery novels like reality, there's got to be some suspension of disbelief. At least it's better than Sherlock Holmes' 'deductions' based on wild speculation."

"Besides," She continued. "Christie is an innovator for the genre. There are so many masterpieces that are possible because she pushed the boundaries of what detective fiction could be. And Then There Were None, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd-"

"Innovation? Those novels were only talked about because they broke golden age detective fiction rules. I don't consider breaking rules for attention as innovation."

"You should take that advice yourself." Reika retorted.

The remainder of the journey continued in much the same fashion. Kouhei and Reika were entangled in a heated debate on their respective tastes in mystery novels, while Misaki listened to music. Ayaka, on the other hand, was fascinated by the view outside and sometimes climbed onto Kouhei's shoulder to get a better view whenever the ocean peaked out from behind the trees. Kouhei acted troubled whenever this occurred, but he was internally patting himself on the back for this genius seating arrangement. After a few hours of this, the group arrived at their destination, ready for their time in paradise.