Senyaichiri Takoba Season 1

Moving Into the Crazy House

“Are you sure you’re full?”

“I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t have anymore rooms.”

“But in the paper this morning you advertised there was one available...?”

“It was taken this afternoon.”

Kyuji glanced at his friend, Choi, who was sitting on a bench nearby, watching him speak on the phone. Choi looked irritated and exhausted; they had both been searching around Tokyo for days in hopes of finding an apartment close to work. Subways were nice, of course, but they were crowded, and the closer to the office they were, the better. They were both newly graduated, and had never before had so much trouble settling in before.

It was August, and they had spent their final carefree summers at home before leaving for Tokyo to start new jobs. “We’d be willing to take roommates.” Kyuji said hopefully. “Is there any way we could....?”

“I’m sorry, but we’re full. There are lots of students this year.”

Kyuji sighed and nodded in defeat. “All right. Do you know of anywhere else that might offer apartments?”

“Well, you could try downtown. The apartments are a little more expensive, but they're nicely build and there might be a few open.”

“Thanks.” Kyuji hung up the phone and trudged to the bench where Choi sat with all of their things, his head low. He clapped his hands together, trying to stay optomistic. “So, are you hungry?”

“You didn’t find one, did you?” Choi said quietly.

“No, but she said we could search downtown.”

Choi glanced at him skeptically. “Downtown? That’s a long way off from your office. I don’t have a car.”

“We’ll take the subway.”

“Aren’t those kind of apartments out of our price range?”

Kyuji plopped down on the bench beside him and readjusted his baseball cap, feeling tired himself. “It’s the only option we’ve got. Good stretch of the legs, I guess.”

“Yeah. Right.” Choi muttered.

xxx

“Actually, I think we might have a vacancy.”

Kyuji and Choi, tired and sweaty from their long walk, could not believe their ears. Their faces became bright and hopefully.

The woman they encountered laughed merrily. She was a dark beauty, at least twenty years old, dressed in a high class black suit. “If you don’t mind having a third roommate.”

“Oh, that’s fine, we can manage that.” Kyuji said, ignoring the look of alarm Choi gave him. “When can we move in?”

“Immediately, if you like.”

“Thank God.” Choi said, his weariness of sharing a room undermined by the heaviness of his luggage.

“I’m Sakumi Matsuo.” She said as she led them into the apartment, keys in hand. “And I’m the caretaker of this establishment.”

“I’m Kyuji Denbe, and this is Choi Lui.”

“Nice to meet you. Are you both students?”

“No, we just graduated.”

“Well, Mr. Denbe, and Mr. Lui,” Sakumi said with a smile, “welcome to our humble home.”

Sakumi Matsuo was very informal, and insisted they call her by her first name as she led them up three flights of stairs to the highest floor, where she said their apartment was. As they passed through hallways, however, Choi swore he saw some of the doors open, and heard whispering from within them.

“You’ll have to forgive the other tenants,” Sakumi said, mildly emberrassed, “We don’t get many newcomers, here. Those who do move in usually move out a few weeks later.”

“Wonder why.” Choi muttered, following Kyuji closely as he saw eyes through cracks in the doorways.

It was the last room on the right. Sakumi gave them a gentle smile and knocked. “Mr. Okawa? Are you home?” She paused for a moment, then shrugged. “Guess not. That’s not unusual, he’s often out at night. He's a film student.”

She opened the door and turned on the light; both boys felt relieved soon after. The apartment was nicely kept and smelled fresh and clean.

“Why is Mr. Okawa out so late? Does he drink?”

“Yeah, what about clubbing?” Choi said suspiciously. He was never fond of loud places.

“No, he never drinks, and he isn’t a party sort of person. It’s just the way he is.” Sakumi shrugged. “Be sure to make yourselves comfortable. The bathroom is down the hall and your bedroom is the room to your left.”

“Thank you.” Kyuji and Choi chimed gratefully as Sakumi left the room. They immediately dropped their things and looked around.

“Man, look at this DVD collection.” Choi said, admiring full shelves of movies.

“Yeah.” Kyuji said, going through the kitchen cabinets. “He obviously doesn’t cook too much, though.”

“At least he keeps this place clean.”

“I’ll hit the shower. You wanna call in some food? How about Chinese?”

“Was that a joke?”

“No, not at all.”

“I’m very hurt. You’re a very hurtful person.”

“Sure, sure."

"...I hate you."

xxx

After showering on fresh clothes, the two boys began to unpack their things and make themselves at home. Kyuji, who had just turned 22, was a writer, and hoped to be an author as he worked on an internship at a magazine company. Choi, on the other hand, was a master at art, as well as computer technology. In both he had exceeded far above any of his expectations, and was already making money off of several paintings and comissions.

They had met their senior year of high school and had been best friends ever since. As they unpacked they joked around and mused about their mysterious roommate; but most of all they were exploring their new apartment, trying to dig out his character.

“Look at all these action figures.” Choi smirked. “And you thought I was a geek, eh?”

“Samurai swords.” Kyuji whispered in awe as he took a katana off of its stand. He pointed it at Choi.

Choi sat down on the couch. “Don’t even.” He said flatly.

“Aw come on, it’d be fun.”

“No.”

Kyuji took it upon himself to prod Choi’s stomach with it until he was curled up in a fetal position on the couch, laughing helplessly. “No tickling! No! It isn’t fair! Dude, I can’t breathe, seriously!”

“Um, excuse me.”

Kyuji looked up and froze. “What kind of food did you order?”

“Chinese, just like you said, smartass.” Choi answered.

The delivery girl was small in stature, hardly over five feet, and she wore a plain, Chinese dress called a cheomsung. Her hair was long and brown, braided loosely and laying over one shoulder, and her eyes were a mix of dainty blue and green.

Choi thought she looked just as out of place as they did. Kyuji, judging by the redness of his face, thought she was cute.

“This is for you, right?”

“Yeah.” Choi said, still trying to catch his breath from the tickle attack.

“Did you both just move in?”

“Yeah, just today, actually.” Choi continued, as Kyuji could not really manage to say anything, although he was still holding the samurai sword.

She looked delighted and smiled again. “That’s wonderful. Mr. Okawa has always wanted roommates, but no one stays long. Are you both students?”

Choi waited for Kyuji to say something, and felt the sudden urge to hit him over the head to get him out of the ridiculous trance he had managed to get in to. Choi was shy himself and did not talk to girls very well. “We’re graduated.” He said with a nod.

“I’m sure you’ll fit in right with Mr. Okawa.” She placed the food on the table. “It’s on the house by the way. A new tenant’s first meal is always free. Welcome, um ....”

“I’m Choi Lui. That’s Kyuji Denbe.”

“I’m Ritsuko Takamori. I live downstairs, with Sakumi.” She smiled. “Have a good night.”

As soon as she had left, Choi, still in his fetal position, managed to stretch himself out. He smirked. “Beating up on the little Chinese guy. What a wonderful impression.”

“Shut up.” Kyuji said, going to the table and dishing himself out some food. “Is the chow mein yours or mine?”

xxx

At midnight, Kyuji and Choi finally gave up on waiting for their enigmatic roommate to come home, and decided to get some sleep. One bedroom was an absolute wreck and neither dared to venture inside it. There were three beds in the other medium-sized bedroom, and the bunk bed, they assumed, was for potential roommates. Choi chose the top bunk and was asleep within minutes; Kyuji, however, preferred to leave the lamp on and write what he could on his laptop.

Half an hour later, Mr. Okawa still had not come home. Kyuji sighed, shut off his light, and made himself comfortable. He was just about to fall asleep when he heart the wooden floor suspiciously creak. He opened his eyes and froze–surely this mysterious Mr. Okawa had finally come home!

He waited for a moment, but there was no sound. False alarm, Kyuji decided, closing his eyes again.

Another creak, this time in the room. Kyuji tried his best to ignore it, convincing himself that wooden floors can make those sorts of noises without any particular reason.

The floor creaked again, right beside the bed. Kyuji reached for his lamp. “Choi, if you’re raiding the fridge, say something and quit trying to freak me out–”

The light came on, and looming there with a video camera was a young man. Kyuji made a startled squeak and hit his head on the top bunk trying to sit up. “Ow! What the hell?!”

“Hello, roomie.” The man said quietly, peering at Kyuji through the camera.

“Who are–”

“Don’t kick me like that, man, that hurts.” Choi groaned, poking his head over the side of the bunk. He was half asleep.

“Aha! Another roommate.” The man said, pointing the camera up into Choi’s face. “Perfect. Two potential actors–they can’t refuse me this time!”

He was about to walk out of the room when Kyuji spoke up. “Shan? Shan Okawa?”

He turned and looked at them. “Yeah, that’s right, who are you?”

“I’m Kyuji. That’s Choi. We were in highschool together!”

"Wow, I can't believe it!" Shan laughed. "What a coincidence! Nice to see you."

“Pleasure to meet...shut off the damn lamp.” Choi said grumpily, shielding his eyes.

“Just call me Shan.” He said. “Welcome. Hey, get some sleep, we have a big day tomorrow.”

He strode out of the room, making gestures and talking to himself. After he had gone, Kyuji and Choi looked at each other. “What just happened?” Choi asked, confused and still sleepy.

Shan’s head peered through the doorway, his eyebrow quirked. “Have you guys been playing with my samurai swords?”