A/N: Man, I got hooked on this chapter and wrote more than I planned. I wanted to keep chapters short so they could be read in chunks easily, but hopefully this makes up for the hiatus. Thanks for your patience, people!
Books! Books, books and more books. Colt moved his head amongst the tables and chairs that were strewn about the small college apartment. Rocky had gotten caught up in his college studies and obviously put cleaning on his "optional" list. Many of the walls were covered in detailed Japanese kanji symbols, and paper walls fitted the place like a small Japan home amongst their American atmosphere.
"Woah," Tum Tum exclaimed, while knocking over a pile of thick, dusty books.
"Careful!" Colt cried as he jumped to save them from hitting the floor, but he was too late, and they landed with a loud smack.
"What are you guys doing in there?" Rocky bellowed from the bathroom. His brothers had knocked on the door to his apartment, but caught him in the middle of shaving so they had let themselves in when he yelled at them to do so from down the hallway.
"Nothing, don't worry about it dude!" Colt fired back, picking up the books quietly and trying to place them back in order. Tum Tum sat down on the couch and began checking his phone and texting someone.
"Tell me you're messaging a new girl you just met," Colt inquired.
"Nope, Jimmy John's online delivery," Tum Tum said with a smug look. Colt sighed and rolled his eyes at his brother; he was obviously fed up with how predictable he was. He was about to make a quip about how he needed to find a girl that could cook so that he'd have the best of both worlds, but they turned their heads in the direction of the sound of a light switch in the bathroom being turned off.
Rocky came down the hallway with a clean shaven face, but Colt noticed his eyes were red. "What happened to you dude? Spending too much time studying like a four-eyed beast?!" Colt questioned, chuckling. Tum Tum smiled in agreement.
"No, I wish it were something like that, idiot, but I'm afraid it's more than just lack of sleep," Rocky replied.
"Lemme guess, a girl broke up with you?" Tum Tum mentioned, not even looking up from his phone.
"Yeah, me and Emily, we're taking a bit of a break-hey!" Rocky started, but was interrupted by Colt, who put his brother in a headlock and started pushing him towards the door, shaking his head and rubbing his knuckles into his scalp as he did so.
"I don't want to hear it, mister hopeless romantic. We are going out to the bar-like we originally intended-to get your mind off of this. And I don't want to hear any drunken lullabies about Evil-Emily either!"
"Don't call her that!" Rocky objected, flailing his arms wildly, accidentally smacking Tum Tum on the head in the process.
"Hey, watch it, you big goon!" Tum Tum yelled, while leaping over the couch and latching on to Rocky's back, further increasing his oldest brother's frustration.
"Okay, okay! Guys! Stop! Truce! Truce! Truce!" Rocky peeled out of his brother's headlock and slammed Tum Tum down to the ground. "Man, my neighbors are going to kill me," He muttered under his breath. After looking at both his brothers with a sly smile and with two light but swift punches, he nailed both of them directly in their crotches. "Now you have to beat me there!" With that, Rocky ran out his front door leaving the other two doubled over in pain.
"Hey! No fair!" Colt growled as he sped off after him, Tum Tum followed and slammed the door on his way out.