The journey

"Screw this.", complains Naoe as he struggles to fit his luggage into the boot of his taxi.

"3 days of fun would be beneficial for you Higa!", Yuki retorted. "It isn't healthy to lock yourself up in your room all the time."

"Yes, yes. It's about time you made some actual friends," Ryoma snidely commented.

Naoe enters the car and curses silently under his breath, secretly praying that they would lose their ability to speak. Ryoma and Yuki are surprisingly good friends despite having polar opposite personalities.

One worships masculinity and sports while the other loves to flirt and enjoy being in the presence of women. What would they even converse about?

"Hurry up Ishida, how long do you want us to wait for you. Stupid four eyes.", Ryoma yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Don't be so mean Ryoma, he is busy packing his books. A nerd like him needs his books with him at all times.", laughed Yuki.

The small talk those two had suddenly transformed into loud obnoxious laughter.

"I-I-I am coming!", echoed a soft timid voice which everyone instinctively knew belonged to Ishida.

It is a sunny Sunday, much more sunnier than it should be. Despite basking in the cold air emitted by the air conditioning installed within the car, the three boys sitting at the back of the car were still sweating profusely.

Naoe wouldn't be in school if not for the fact that they had to gather here early afternoon and make their way over to Shirakosu island. The island was located on the other side of Japan. After all, an actually sane individual wouldn't be in school on a Sunday.

Naoe had to lunge his bag all the way from his house to school on foot without any help at all. Furthermore, his relatively small physical build isn't particularly helpful. No wonder he found it torturous to do so.

After a seemingly long wait akin to eternity, all five males were finally in the taxi and were on their way. The teacher; Takahashi, obviously sat in the front seat while the four students squeezed at the back. There really wasn't a choice, taxi fares in Japan are ridiculously high. Splitting into two groups would have blown their budget by a long shot.

"Narita airport please and make it quick. We have a plane to catch.", Takahashi commanded.

"Haah, can't this trip go any faster? How long is this car trip going to take?", moaned Ryoma.

"Roughly 20 minutes.", Takahashi replied sternly.

Instead of engaging in pointless conversation, Naoe decided to read. With a swift motion, Naoe lifts out a book from his back and proceeds to read it. The big words, "And then there were none" sprawled across the cover.

Naoe is a mystery fanatic. He enjoys brain teasers or anything in general that stimulates his brain at all. A man that values brains over brawn.

"Where the girls at?", questions Yuki.

"Everything that passes through his thick skull has to be related to girls...", Naoe sighs. It is definitely not pleasant to have your train of thought disturbed by a stupid statement.

"A separate taxi.", Takahashi swiftly replied. "It wouldn't make sense if some girls shared our taxi would it?"

Takahashi turned around and gave a bright smile as if he was taunting the boys for being cramped together in a small area. The term "packed like sardines" cannot describe their situation better.

Well, it could be either that or he is mocking the boys by subtly implying that the girls do not wish to sit with them.

Either way, it does not bother Naoe one bit, since all he cares about right now is how the murders in his book were committed.

Twenty minutes swiftly passes by without any further trouble. Upon arrival, the girls joined the boys at the airport terminal.

"Naoe looking sappy as ever eh?", Miyuki shrieked.

If it wasn't already clear enough, Naoe isn't really on good terms with his classmates.

Strolling behind his classmates, with a dead look in his eyes as if he hasn't slept for days, Naoe slowly dragged his luggage across the rough floor.

Kacha, kacha...

The sound created is akin to the noise a metal bat makes when dragged across the ground.

Despite his tough exterior, deep down Naoe probably wishes to befriend his classmates. Probably.

Then again if you have been through what he had you would empathize with him. His parents died right after his birth in an accident. He was single-handedly raised by his rich uncle after the accident, right until he was 14. People find it surprising how much Naoe changed over the years. Shocking as it may sound, Naoe used to be a cheerful and easy-going boy. That all changed though. On a particularly normal day, after Naoe woke up from his deep slumber, his house was empty. Creepily silent. The usual noises and cheers his uncle would create after watching the early Saturday football game was absent. Absolutely nothing. In the kitchen, everything was messed up. Plates were tossed on the floor, the refrigerator was emptied, the stove was missing, the oven was smashed to bits. The list goes on. It was an absolute mess.

The amount of noise generated from creating such a mess should have definitely reached Naoe's ears no matter how deep his sleep was. What was even more intriguing was the fact that child support services were outside the door precisely 30 minutes after Naoe witnessed the mess in his kitchen. It was as though the child support services were called pre-emptively.

From that point on, Naoe was raised in a foster home. Upon reaching 16, he ran from his foster home and returned to where he used to live. As a 14 year old, the disappearance of his only blood relative must have been traumatising. Adding on to that trauma is the loneliness he must have felt living alone -for two years- in what used to be a happy household. No wonder he turned into the anti-social, cynical being he is today.

The plane trip was uneventful as everybody was either focused on catching some rest or minding their own business such as playing their games or engaging in their small talk within themselves.

At 5.00pm they arrived on Nii-jima island, which is located extremely close to their island. They would still have to travel by boat for a good 40 minutes though, and the earliest ride they could catch was only available on 6 am the next day. The group found a cheap hotel nearby to rest for the night before proceeding for their journey tomorrow.

The day of the tragedy closes...

21 October, 8am

Shirakosu island.