Shu was rushing around cleaning, putting away magazines and pulling out socks from beneath the sofa. He brushed the soft bangs from out of his eyes to wipe the sweat from his brow as he hurried about, spraying air freshener while spinning and twirling through the room. He managed to spray some on Keita, his dorm-mate, who came from the kitchen encumbered with bowls of snacks. As soon as Keita managed to drop the bowls down onto the wobble table in the middle of the living area, there was a knock at the door.
"Oh -- it's Maki. I hope she brought the booze." Keita called out to Shu as he went to get the door. Shu shuffled along to the door to greet her too.
Keita swung open the flimsy door to find a bespectacled short girl with straight black hair that shimmered like stars on a pond and two thin, glittering eyes. Her tight lips were curled into a warm smile that she always wore, and her lithe body was adorned with a black dress with lacy white frills on the seams around her neck and sleeves. She wore a matching collar with a little bell and lace bow, and had little konpeito earrings. In her hand she held a 7/11 bag filled with bottles and cans.
"Hiiii!" She yelled excitedly, shuffling her way through the doorway. Shu greeted her with a hug, throwing his arms right around her.
Her boyfriend was a simple looking guy with wavy bangs that almost covered his eyes and draped a little way over his ears. A little scruff across his face tried to age him, but not very well. He had a placid smile and mild manners, and had dressed himself in a pair of khaki shorts and a screen printed t-shirt with a yellow Vespa Super Sport 180 on it.
Shu gave her a kiss on the cheek and she toddled to the kitchen to put the drinks in the fridge. She'd grabbed a pack of Sapporo and Asahi for the boys, and a bottle of Yuzushu to mix with lemonade for herself. There was even a bottle of vodka sequestered in there. She slipped it all into the fridge and brought out a drink for everybody.
"So how are you both?" She asked as they slumped into the chairs facing the TV. They'd stuck on an old drama called 'Last Friends' to watch in the background while they hung out. Keita had brought out his set of Mahjong tiles to play later, when they'd gotten a few drinks in.
"Class is killing me." Shu replied, rolling his head into the back of the sofa with an exhausted look. "I've got far too much work to do."
"You're just too busy lying in bed with Maki to get anything done." Keita replied dismissively.
"Hey! Shu works hard." Maki huffed.
"Only when he's hard." Keita added with a sly grin, cracking open his beer and lifting it to his lips. He raised the remote and pressed play from his tattered armchair while Shu and Maki cuddled up on the sofa. Maki rested her head on Shu's shoulder and pulled a blanket over them that had been nestled between the sofa and the wall. Beneath the blanket, where Keita couldn't see, she ran her hand along Shu's thigh and slipped her slender fingers between his.
She chose to ignore Keita's comments. They were both used to them by now. She'd wished for a while that he'd gotten a better dorm-mate, or even a dorm to himself, but Keita wasn't a bad person -- just a little unfiltered.
"Look at this asshole." Keita thrusted his beer at the TV and pointed with one finger at a guy on the television. "Just pushed her down the stairs like that, what the fuck. I wanna push him down the stairs!" Maki winced a little at his language.
"Shu, if you ever push Maki down the stairs you'd want me to push you down there too, right?" Keita joked with a manner a little too serious.
"I wouldn't push her down the stairs in the first place. I might push you down, though."
"Let me get a few beers in first so I don't feel it so much." Keita replied, taking a big swig of his beer.
Together they watched a few episodes of the show, swigging drinks and having a good laugh together. They talked about their day at university and the things they'd learned, the problems they were having, and how shitty the dorms were considering how much they had to pay for them each month. They dipped into the snacks and filled themselves with junk quite happily, enjoying each other's company. When they'd had their fill of the show, they decided to play some mah-jong.
"I always get creamed by you guys." Shu huffed as he removed the tiles from their case, taking out the north wind, 2-8 of bamboo and four season riles to set the game up for three players, dropping the extra tiles back into their ornate wooden box.
"You know it's because of my grandma." Maki answered, gently sipping her Yuzu lemon. "She made me play for hours on end. It was either mah-jong or calligraphy..." Maki tended to win these games. She wished that Keita could find a girlfriend already, instead of just third wheeling like this but Shu lived with him, so he was difficult to get rid of. Another girl to even out the gender balance would have been nice though, she thought.
"I thought you were normally the one doing the creaming." Keita japed with a sly look from the corner of his eye coupled with a grin in Shu's direction.
Maki rolled her eyes. "Does it always have to be something lewd with you?"
"Not always, but I just like to see you guys squirm. You make it fun." Keita replied, eyeing the layout of the tiles.
"Speaking of fun, how about we make this a little more interesting?" Shu asked them both. "If I win..." He thought, looking up into the ceiling while he worked it out. "You'll both take me out skiing. Your treat." He'd always loved skiing in Hokkaido, but that was a little too far. They'd have to go somewhere a little closer, but if they were paying and coming with him, then all the better.
"Ah- If I win, then you both have to take me to the mall and buy me craft supplies." Maki added. She'd always been a fan of making little dioramas and diamond paintings, needle felting and scrapbooking. She always needed more felt or little bits of wood, fabric, glue, pens, stickers and washi tape among other things. Shu always worried every time they went to the mall together as there was a huge craft store five stories high, with each story dedicated to different types of crafts. It was her favourite place, but she always took forever in there.
Keita's face darkened and a grin washed over him as he realised what he really wanted. "Fine, if I win... I get to fuck Maki."
The other two instantly protested. "That's my girlfriend, you can't do that."
"Keita, really. That's not going to happen." She fumed, shaking her head violently.
"We'll see!" Keita beamed, getting up as Shu finished placing the tiles down. He returned with three shot glasses and the bottle of Vodka, slamming it down on the table. They both looked at the liquid within sloshing around. "Each time you play a meld, you take a shot."