Red, green and blue beams of light illuminate the array of glasses on the table, some empty while others remained untouched as of yet. A heavy baseline reverberated across the wood at regular intervals, causing the glass containers' liquid to release the carbon they contained, the amber drinks twinkling even in the low light of the crowded room. An empty glass in the centre of the table held an assortment of coins, another soon clinking its way in to join the rest after ricocheting off the table, propelled by an accurate toss from a clearly skilled hand.
"Yes! Drink!" The platinum haired beauty pointed one finger at each of her two companions, grinning from ear to ear at yet another successful delivery of coin-toss. This evening she seemed to be the undisputed champion, and her two friends were bearing the brunt of it in volumes of hard tac. Two shot glasses were lifted toward one another for a good-luck clink before the ladies tossed the bitter alcohol down their throats. "No more…please!" Miyuki dropped her empty shot glass back onto the table before pulling the glass of coins into her protective grasp, eliciting a pout from Shizuma's lips. "Don't look at me with those puppy eyes. You're barely tipsy!" Somehow her best friend's words registered as a challenge in the mind of the former Etoille and before the blunette could object, Shizuma had downed her glass of brandy and coke and swiftly reached for Miyuki's cider.
"Whoa! Who's driving again?" The hazy violet gaze of Shion enquired as she watched Shizuma down another drink. Granted, to any Astrea Hill student the trio would seem rather an unlikely mixture of personalities, yet here they were. The three ex-seniors had managed to find common ground after graduating and leaving the stress related to their school politics behind them. A few chance encounters on the campus they all attended soon lead to coffee dates and not long after, to social missions through the proffered nightlife. At their best the ladies painted the town red, and their various audiences adored the sexy sight more than should be considered acceptable. Shizuma had stayed true to her girlfriend since their reunion at the Etoille battle, still well before the three graduated from their alma maters, and proved to be a rather loyal mate when her heart was set on a girl. She didn't see Nagisa as often as she would have liked, but that probably added to the metaphorical leash she had twisted around her neck. After all, absence makes the heart grow fonder! "No one. Cab, remember?" The goddess winked at Shion and managed to tug a slight blush from the blonde's cheeks.
"Regardless, I think if Shion-chan had more to drink right now, she would no doubt do something she'd regret in the morning." Miyuki purred at her high school rival affectionately, causing the blush on Shion's features to deepen further, yet a sneaky smile quickly graced her lips. "Aw Miyuki-chan, I could never call you a regret." Shizuma rolled her eyes at the flirty pair and flagged down a scantily clad waitress to order another round of shots. She had grown rather tired of the games between her two friends after the initial amusement wore off. The two ex-presidents didn't waste too much time a few months ago in releasing the built-up tension from high school and since then they occasionally indulged in each other, though mostly out of boredom. Like Miyuki had expressed to her best friend before, the sex was violently fantastic, but emotions remained shallow and barely a whisper above a fond friendship.
Miyuki and Shion remained distracted as the blue-haired woman let a few fingers dance teasingly along the inside of her friend's thigh, until Shizuma interrupted them with a clap of her hands as their shots arrived. "Drink up, ladies. We are going on a little adventure!" The glint in Shizuma's eye was unmistakable as she glanced at her wristwatch, Miyuki noticed with an arched brow. "That means 'let's jump straight into trouble,' doesn't it?" Shion asked with a slight tinge of worry. Of course it did, they all three silently acknowledged the fact, knowing full well that when it came to Shizuma, there was no fun unless there was at least a hint of trouble.
"I can't believe you're dragging us into this!" Miyuki exclaimed in a rather loud whisper, the kind that conveyed her stern demeanour well when it was intoxicated. She tossed her high heels over the tall gate, purposefully aiming for Shizuma's head, before letting Shion give her a leg-up as she tried to keep her skirt from sliding to exposing extremes. Shizuma easily stepped aside and out of the way of the fashionable projectiles, clearly unperturbed. In fact, she was rather amused at the sight of Miyuki trying to balance her weight in Shion's arms as the heavily influenced ex-Spican ice queen comically swayed from side to side, nearing the inevitable loss of her balance. As she hit the ground with flair, she left Miyuki hanging over the top of the gate, wheezing, leaving it up to a cackling Shizuma to get the blunette over the rest of the way. "I told you to wear pants, silly." Shizuma grinned when she stepped back with Miyuki in her arms and gave her a playful pinch to her firm bottom before putting her down. "However, you do look sexy in all your dishevelled glory, Mi-chan." Miyuki waved her hand in a shooing motion at her best friend, blushing furiously as she turned to watch Shion clamber over the gate at her own drunken pace.
Once all three pairs of feet were firmly on the ground, the girls turned from the gate to behold the towering glory of Strawberry Hall in the light of the midnight moon." Nagisa-chan," Shizuma whispered to herself in excitement. "Hamasaka," Miyuki cringed and groaned in panic. "Unfinished business…" Shion's voice trailed off as her figure sauntered off into the darkness, soon disappearing around a corner of the old building.