Chapter 3: A Tagalong Miki

After a nice date with a boy, it was time to be Iori for another week. The class subjects were pretty easy for a male that had graduated ages ago, but it was a good refresher, remembering the basics was always good.

However one thing came to mind, why and how did Miki managed to get these syringes? Where did it come from? Did she know where it came from as well? The final day of the school week, which wasn’t Saturday in this school, let Toshiro free to ask his wife about the syringe.

Miki assumed the role of being his wife rather quickly but being a housewife took some adjusting. She used to cook only for herself so cooking for more was a bit of a learning process. Her food wasn’t that bad and eventually got it better. But once Koji and Iori were born, her job being his secretary didn’t leave her with enough time to cook it went back to takeouts.

But after taking over for a week or so as both the owner and secretary made her think she wouldn’t have more time to deal with things, but she actually did. And as such, once Toshiro used a syringe to go back to his normal self and redressed, he could see Miki making food for the family.

Koji wasn’t home, he went back to college and Iori still had her leg up, inside her own room, meaning the two had some time to talk and discuss next steps and other things. If there was any time that was perfect for them to discuss the syringe itself, that time was likely going to be now. Especially since both of their kids wouldn’t be able to eavesdrop into this conversation…

“Hey, uh… honey? You got a sec to talk?” Toshiro said as he stepped into the kitchen, taking a seat on the dinner table. “We can just talk while you’re cooking if you don’t mind it.”

“Yeah, we can. I just started cooking.” Miki said, chopping some vegetables. “What’s up?” She looked back at him with a kitchen knife, a rather large one too.

“Oh, uh. The company is doing fine. I’ve been replacing you for a few days too, so things are well, and no one suspects anything so far. Just to let you know.” She said, informing him that she was more active than the role she agreed with.

“Oh! Well… If that’s the case, then I definitely appreciate the news.” Toshiro said, his eyes widening in surprise.

But then again, guess he should’ve expected it earlier. The both of them have been together for so long, that Miki should already know what to do when trying to imitate him. Even including managing the company itself, if only for a couple of weeks. Regardless, that’s not what he was here for. There were more important things for them to discuss by comparison.

“There’s something I wanna ask though, since it somewhat relates to that… have you ever thought about where these syringes even came from?” He asked, frowning in uncertainty. “Not only that, but… how did you even know about them? This feels unknown enough to make me think you must’ve heard about it through word-of-mouth.”

Miki stopped to look at him. Her face had a bit of confusion in it, as she didn’t expect such question but the answer came naturally.

“I didn’t really ask where it came from, initially. Other than the stuff I told you, I guess.” She shrugged a bit. “Ogami-san was the one that told me about it, you remember her, right?”

Hama Ogami was the video editor for the online posts for Miya-Mirai agency. A woman in her 40s no less! She was probably looking at some internet brainrot and found the link to it.

“Considering it works, they might running a reverse scam or something? I don’t know how it works, maybe you could ask her for more details?” Miki wondered and resumed preparing the food for dinner.

‘A reverse scam’ is such a wild claim considering the effects they had experienced from those syringes. In fact, doesn’t that mean it’s basically working as advertised? Which makes him wonder that much more about the syringes’ origins.

And the fact that it came from their video editing team was unbelievable as well. Of all the women to have found out about it, it just had to be Ogami-san herself. Did nothing within her mind screamed out in suspicion, even after looking at the front page of the product?

“Considering I’ve already got my phone right here, then I guess I could send her a message.” He said, opening his phone’s text app before pausing midway through.

“Wait… do you think the police even knows this thing exists? This sounded like the sort of thing they’d probably outlaw.” He said.

“Honestly, honey… If they post it as a scam, people most certainly are not gonna find it. It’s kinda wild to be begin with, so only the really curious would go after it. And I guess people wouldn’t go to the police about it, since they are gonna say ‘stay away from scams’ or whatever.” Miki shrugged.

With the phone up, he could see that Hama used an avatar picture of an orange instead of her own face or an cute anime face. And it was like that as long as he could remember.

It’s an oddly charming part of Ogami-san that he’s noticed so far. Most men or women his age would at least make their own face as their avatar, or just something they felt interested in. Meanwhile, here was Ogami-san whose profile picture was just ‘orange’. No context or additional info, just the photo of an orange.

Toshiro

Hey Ogami-san. Are you there?

If you’re there, I wanna ask you about the syringe thing that you told my wife about.

It’s baffling that it somehow works as advertised, which makes me wonder how in the hell did you even find it in the first place.

After a few minutes, the reply came shortly. Or rather several of them.

Hama

Hey boss! I’m here, yeah!

That syringe thing? That shit was wild! These guys are like really strange, I told her about them. A company that started selling doujins and went to the medical business for some reason!

I found them while browsing MikMak, you know that brainrot vertical scrolling crap? It was an ad, and they just had it

Then an interesting reveal.

Hama

Turns out that the ad was not for changing bodies, it was for making nails grow longer! I watched it and it was exactly as mentioned, you don’t actually inject the thing into your body, you just put it on the nails and it’ll grow in seconds!

I looked the composition for the thing and found out that it was not harmful to humans but I had to test… So when I did, I was able to modify my body after vocalizing and it really worked! I have no clue how or why but it does… I didn’t mention that to them *at all* and kept doing orders. Then I commented to your wife and she asked a few then I had to order more… I think I have like 3 or 4 thousand of them in my house…!

Was that how they’ve been staying under the radar for a while now? By keeping the syringe’s effects as nothing more than cosmetic products? Again, how had no one notice this thing by now? Surface-level advertising or not, someone other than Hama would’ve experimented with it enough to make a viral demonstration of it on social media. Were they just lucky so far?

Toshiro

Even then, don’t you think the fact that this thing works in of itself, much less at a cheap enough price to be bought in bulk isn’t suspicious in of itself?

Something this significant would be a clout magnet for anyone looking to get followers on social media. Especially if they want a fast track to become an influencer.

I’m pretty sure something like this would be something those kinds of people would *kill* for.

While Toshino was right to be suspicious about the whole thing, Hama kept talking about it.

Hama

I personally think they don’t suspect a thing. Or they do and decided to not a raise a stink about it.

Because if this thing goes out to the public, it’ll be insane, they’ll get a lot of money and lawsuits, and I don’t think any company wants to be immersed into the sea of being recognized for the wrong reasons.

She did have a point there.

Hama

And maybe, just maybe, people that want to have this already do and aren’t making a stink about it either, so no one will ever know it works and everything works out.

Do you need more syringes? I got *so* many, boss.

Toshiro

Honestly, considering how people are just hungry to become popular in social media, I genuinely doubt people aren’t gonna kick up a stink about it eventually.

Come on Ogami-san. You’ve seen what some people would do, even for a small chance of fame. Someone’s gonna scream out eventually.

And as for the syringes… yeah. I might need more of them.

Because why wouldn’t he? They were cheap as hell to pick up, and they were safe to use thus far, why wouldn’t he stockpile more of them?

Hama

I’ll send them over to your wife, boss!

Hama didn’t reply anymore after this, maybe the other woman didn’t share Toshiro’s opinion. And considering that only hearsay was heard about it, like with Hitoshi in the previous Sunday, everything was mostly fine.

“What did she say, honey?” Miki said, now stir-frying the food.

Even with her assurance, there’s still no way everything’s mostly fine. As optimistic as as he is, Toshiro could smell bullshit from a mile away when every hint of common sense was pointing him towards it. This was going to explode in the future, and not in the way this doujinshi-turned-pharmaceutical company may have hoped.

“If you want the short version of it, honey, well… Turns out they’re advertising this thing as a cosmetics product. For growing nails within seconds, of all things.” Toshiro said, setting his phone down on the table. “Either the company’s not making a stink about it or they’re just as oblivious as everyone else about this. Which I genuinely refuse to believe, even for a second. Something like this would be a massive phenomena on social media, both in good and bad ways. Someone’s gonna come to the same conclusion as her and spread the word as soon as they could.”

“Hm.” Miki noted. “I suppose that will be the case, assuming that there are some ill effects. I’d very much assume that people using this would love to be the other gender to begin with and probably keep quiet…”

“Like, imagine buying something and it does exactly what it says it does. Sure, they would want to make it known but what would they gain from it? The company can insist that things don’t work the way people say it does. Yeah, you can record yourself doing it, but how many fake things have you seen nowadays? There’s people doing fake videos with Iori’s face and voice using those generative AI things. Yeah, I had to be you this week, so I know it now. And this sort of thing can be easily faked.”

Which made Miki realize something. “Hm. Maybe that’s exactly why they pushed this out now. If anything can be faked in, this too could be seen as special effects and dismissed as just another slop creation thing.”

“…honey…” God, was Toshiro so tempted to facepalm right now. Even in spite of being his secretary, Miki doesn’t really seem all that familiar with the internet just yet.

“When it comes to fame, even for just a few hours, that’s all certain people would care about. Sure, some people might initially wave it off as fake, but others might believe it as true and order the syringes themselves. Then those others would report their findings on social media, thus being followed up by even more others on social media trying it out… rinse and repeat, and you’ll inevitably have celebrity attention, followed by the government themselves.” He said. “Come on, Miki… you’ve seen some of the attention-grabbing tactics everyone resorts to, just so they could get eyes on their posts. Do you really think they wouldn’t see this as free content?”

This made Miki pause. “You do have a point… But here’s the real question, why isn’t it a bigger thing?”

She turned to Toshiro to speak, thinking on why these people were like this. “If it is like how you’re saying, then we would have this thing to blow up by now. Koji did say that they were super underground so many… Just many… They didn’t serve any ads? And Ogami-san is lying? Or maybe she’s an industry plant? Or even, just curious after finding some random ad on the internet? I’d assume that’s the case since she’s always posting stuff online.”

If Toshiro were to be honest, all of those possibilities sounded a bit more far fetched compared to what he was sure of. And knowing the internet, chances are, someone else who couldn’t keep their mouth shut is going to find it eventually.

“Well, the reason it’s not a bigger thing is that it hasn’t happened yet. But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen at all, honey.” He said, looking at her with a considerable amount of doubt. “I can’t say for sure how someone wouldn’t open their mouths about it, or how it ends up gaining the attention of wider world itself… but this is the internet we are talking about. I can guarantee you, someone is going to find out eventually.”

He would then proceed to raise an eyebrow at her. “And besides… no ads whatsoever? She already said that they’re showing ads about this thing allowing you to regrow your nails within seconds. People are guaranteed to buy something like that, even if they intended to just make fun of it for content.”

“Oh.” Miki said, after he pointed out.

“That is weird… And changes that I said. I suppose that whoever finds it, makes good usage of it. And hopefully won’t get the company shut down.” She said, before turning off the stove. “That means we should stockpile the syringes as much as possible.”

With dinner ready, it was time to get some food.

---

With Koji back to college again, Toshiro was the one that took food to Iori.

“Thanks dad… Hey, how is it being me? I hope my girl stuff didn’t get on your head yet…” She chuckled. “So uh… I don’t think I told you, but Kasumi is into older guys…” An ominous sentence from his daughter.

The moment Iori had finished her sentence, Toshiro immediately paused midway through setting the food down on her bedside. So abrupt was his surprise, in fact, that his fingers slipped on holding the chopsticks just as he had managed to pick them up.

A slight feeling of dread crept up his spine as he turned to look at Iori. “E… Excuse me?”

“Well… I know it’s a weird thing to say, but I’d rather say it now than keeping it hidden.” Iori said. “She had gushed about you for ages, so imagine knowing it’s you whenever she sees ‘me’ walking around at school…”

More ominousness from Iori, but at least she was being honest. The implications though, those were terrible. The fact that he now knew what sort of men Kasumi is into had made such thoughts considerably uncomfortable. Especially if one were to account that girl’s age as half of his own.

By this point, maybe it was best for him to watch out for any potential ‘ambushes’ from her. She was already pretty crafty, getting him to do an impromptu audition with a few of her students.

“Okay, sorry for sounding creepy… Changing subjects: Are you getting me a new phone soon?” She asked, while eating her food. “I need to talk to Hitoshi… He commented with me when he was here that wants to help you with whatever you need.”

Quickly waving the subject out of his mind for now, Toshiro would blink for a moment before replying to her request. “Oh, uh… yeah. I’ve been planning to get one for you this weekend, since that’s when I’ll be free to pick one up. Any sort of specific model you’re eyeing, sweetie?”

“Maybe something that isn’t as bad as the previous one. Nothing too fancy, we’re not incredibly rich.” Iori replied. “Speaking of him… He’s back at school and knows you are being me for the time being so he’ll might ‘ambush’ you as well, just to talk. He needs some interaction, so if you could be a sweetheart Iori and help him, I’d be more than happy…”

Two different talks but merged into one. Clearly a great skill that Iori had considering that she could do it with ease.

“I’ll try to make sure he’s not too annoying, though…” She added, as she kept eating.

“Oh, that’s just good to know…” Toshiro rolled his eyes, knowing just how much said news was not doing his concerns any favors. Now he had two teenagers looking out for him. And the both of them are absolutely vying for his attention. They’ll get it one way or another, he just wasn’t sure how they were going to do it, much less when they’ll make their attempt.

“Already feels like I’m back in high school again… Now I’m wondering what Miki’s gonna think about this.” He grumbled, shaking his head as he left the room.

Miki was just a short distance away, thankfully. He could ask her but instead, she had something else to talk about.

“Honey, we got a problem… Turns out that I’m also required on the photoshoot.”

Miki was sat down on the couch back at the living room, with a bunch of papers as she was checking something again. Iori’s photoshoot was coming up soon, and she wanted to confirm whatever was needed to go on.

“So, get this. The company that will do the ‘shoot asked for a few things, paperwork, etc. But one thing that I didn’t check until now is that we need a ‘legal representative’ and a ‘legal guardian’ to be around. This is fine, normally. The issue is that those two can’t be the same person. Don’t ask why it is this way, I just found out about it when I went to check the paperwork. Since we agreed that I’d be Iori for it, we need both me and you there. Koji is not home and assuming he’s even free for it, so we need someone that could come over and help us, quick.” Miki said, looking a bit distressed.

Despite her seemingly jovial and slightly flirty attitude, when she had her mind set on business, she was really on it.

‘Oh for the love of– Could today get any worse than it is right now?!’

Resisting the strong urge to groan in annoyance, Toshiro would mutter the quietest of expletives under his breath before pulling out his phone.

“This is going to send our schedules in a bit of a mess, but ‘needs must’ when it comes to something like this.” He said, scrolling down his contacts to see which one of them would be willing to fill in for them. Hitoshi could be an option, but he might be overwhelmed by the staff that’s going to be present. And since he wasn’t sure if Kasumi could really handle an impromptu photo session just yet, that pretty much left him with one particular option.

Toshiro

Hey, Keizo.

You got some free time? If so, we’re gonna need your help.

Mainly by acting as a fill-in for an extra person.

The message that he sent was replied within seconds.

Keizo

Yooo

I got lots of free time, man.

Just tell me when, I’ll do it. I’ve been using the syringes in private, it’s so handy! I even ordered some bikinis… Hehe.

He could have used without that last line but Keizo was free, which was good.

‘Whew…!’

That pretty much guaranteed their problem would be resolved. Now he had to just hope Keizo was good enough with his impressions of them.

Toshiro

Alright, good.

Then we’re gonna need you to pose as either me or my wife. This photoshoot’s gonna need either a ‘legal guardian’ or ‘legal representative’, and my wife is going to pose as Iori.

You think you can act as one of us at that time?

The new replies came in soon, was Keizo using his phone all this time?

Keizo

Sure thing. I think I’ll take the wife role.

Hopefully no one notices it.

Keizo was gonna be Miki for the photoshoot. Speaking of Miki…

“You messaged Miiyabe-san, right, honey?” Miki asked. “If you can get him onboard, he’ll be a huge help…”

Had Keizo been hanging around to know his wife enough? He sure hoped so, since he was gonna pose as her later down the line… That line of thought came out a bit wrong in his head. And if he was being honest, he wasn’t really sure if his wife was freaky enough to be morbidly curious, or be unsure to the idea itself.

“Yep. He already said that he’s up to do it.” Toshiro said, showing the string of messages passed between him and Keizo. “You think he could pull off acting like yourself? Even if it’s just for a day?”

“Ah.” Miki said, and nodded. “Whenever we’re in public or doing business, I ‘behave’ and you know that, honey.” She chuckled.

That chuckle was not a good sign…

---

A few days passed, Toshiro kept being Iori for the following days. Due to the fact that Hitoshi was essentially the official boyfriend, he started to hang out more with ‘Iori’. A nice sight to see, he was using proper school clothes this time. But nothing much would be added to conversations. Toshiro did get a lot of dirt from people at the school, and it was so hard to keep track of! It was literally him back at high school days, but without the people chasing him or sending love letters. Iori did get a few over the week.

But that mattered little as Thursday came, the day of the photoshoot.

Keizo arrived early in the morning and both Toshiro and Miki gave him a bit of a crash course on how to act as Miki, from both perspectives.

“Got it. A bit flirty when in private and serious business while in public.” Keizo said with a nod.

“Yes. I got you some of my clothes, Miiyake-san. They are at the master bedroom.” Miki said, before kissing Toshiro in the cheek. “I’ll get changed, honey.” With that, she went away to Iori’s room, with a syringe in hand.

With a moment with just the two, Keizo nodded. “Man… Miki is such a good woman… You got mega lucky.”

Toshiro in turn, would puff his chest out from a sense of personal pride. “Oh, you’d bet. It made me glad I managed to retire as early as I did. There’s no telling I still would’ve been able to met her if I didn’t.”

That sense of pride would slightly melt away however, replaced with a reluctant blush as he looked away from Keizo. “But in some cases, living with her could get rather… Let’s say, interesting, at times. Not gonna go into specifics as to what she’s into, but lets just say that her inner youth still hasn’t faded away just yet. She’s still got some fire left in her~”

“Oh, I bet… I really do bet that.” Keizo chuckled. “Anyway, I’m gonna get dressed too. Wait for a bit, husband~” He said with a chuckle.

Now, the moment of truth: who would take less time to get changed? Probably not Keizo, since being a woman was already difficult enough, especially with more clothes to wear than being a normal boy.

A few minutes went by. Nothing, not even the birds were chirping outside. Toshiro turned on the TV to check the news, same old as the previous day. No mention of the syringe being discovered by the world at large or anything suspicious like that. It was still a bit odd as to how no one hadn’t noticed the serum’s existence just yet. But chances are, it might end up happening eventually. So there’s no point in expecting when it’s going to inevitably happen. Just that the moment it did, he probably shouldn’t feel too surprised about it. But surprisingly, the first one was to come out was Keizo. Or rather, ‘Miki’, using a business outfit.

“Hi, honey.” She said, smiling. “How I look? Like the perfect wife?” And span around to Toshiro to check her out.

Regardless, Keizo was already done dressing as his wife and… She was actually looking pretty nice here! Even showing off her sultry attitude whenever they’ve got some alone time. It’s almost like he was made for the role itself!

“Just as perfect as ever, ‘Miki’.” He gave his ‘wife’ a quick, affectionate peck on the cheek. “Y’think today’s photoshoot is gonna go well?”

“Mhm! Today is going to be perfect, Toshi~” She chuckled, kissing his cheek back, just as affectionate.

With a bit of roleplay done, she sat next to him, crossing legs like a real woman, which was what she was at this moment. “This syringe thing is wild, honey… We could do so much with it…!”

“A lot of things are possible with this syringe, honey… It’s likely we haven’t even scratched the surface with this serum.” He grinned, all while being silently impressed as to how easily Keizo’s slipping into his role. Guess his acting chops are coming in clutch for this one.

‘…actually, wait…’

“Now that I think about it, since you mentioned the serum… Just what have you been up to with the serum so far? I hope it’s not anything too… Well… Weird.” Toshiro said, unsure if Keizo really is just as intense as his own wife.

“Nothing much, honey. I’ve tried doing some things. I’ve looked at images of girls online and decided to check them out, so to speak. Several of them felt like they had implants… I believe this syringe is able to copy that as well, considering the results were exactly as I expected: implants.” ‘Miki’ replied.

It didn’t seem as intense as the real Miki, but still something to ponder.

“Don’t worry, it was all in private. I’ve ordered some bikinis because I’m thinking of heading out to a beach soon. And it would much better to go as incognito, if I’m honest…” She added, crossing her legs again.

It was oddly ironic that Keizo thought of coming into a beach while wearing an eye-catching bikini set, all while having chosen an hourglass female figure (because he knew for a fact that would be the sort of appearance he was thinking of) would be far less conspicuous than heading there as just himself. Knowing the sort of cat calls her wife used to get at the beach, it doesn’t exactly sound like a fun time.

“Are… Are you sure that’s a good idea?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at the woman. “Keep in mind, you’re heading to a populated beach as a single woman. I don’t think I need to tell you where this is going.”

“I’m not gonna go as a beautiful girl, what, do you think I was born yesterday?” She chuckled. “I’ll be a plain girl in a bikini that makes me look worse using it.”

That was certainly a plan, maybe it could even work. Perhaps Toshiro could invite him to the beach once Iori was on school vacation.

“Coulda fooled me, considering the tempting thought of it. If someone younger than us had access to this thing, they probably would’ve gone in as a beautiful girl.” Toshiro said, smirking at his ‘wife’. “Oh yeah, speaking of beautiful girls… how’s your wife right now? Is she doing well?”

“What wife?” ‘Miki’ said, shaking her head. “We split several years ago. I’ve been on my own for quite some time. Nothing bad, I was busy, she was busy, we were barely around each other, the love just faded, you know?”

The tone that ‘Miki’ used was exactly how Toshiro remembered when Keizo had some sort of regret.

“We still talk and all. She enjoyed a fat check I gave her when we split, legal reasons by the way. But I don’t love her anymore. She’s probably doing well, to answer your question. I haven’t found my girl yet, like you found Miki… I mean, how you found ‘me’.” She chuckled but continued. “Perhaps at some point, I could give you the details.”

‘Ohhhh…’

Toshiro wasn’t even aware that he already separated from his wife, and that was several years ago, too! Since when did that even happen?! Maybe it was probably not a good idea to bring up Keizo’s love life. Time really did fly by when he was focused on his family. That just made him wonder what the other former members of TKRK are up to. Are they doing just as well as himself in their personal lives? Or did their future ended up deteriorating in someway?

‘…hm.’

Maybe he’ll consider checking up on them later in the future. For now however, he was gonna try his best to reconnect with Keizo. And, well… Trying to resolve his current situation with his daughter first and foremost.

Once she finished talking, the two would see ‘Iori’ coming around to the living room.

“Sorry for being late, I was picking my clothes…!” She said, smiling.

“Then we’re ready. Honey, you drive.” ‘Miki’ said, standing up.

Speaking of his daughter, seems like she’s all ready for the photoshoot. Best to get to it, then. “Alright. Guess I’m driving.”

He stood up from his seat, leading the other two girls right behind him. “This might take a while, but thankfully, it’s going to be one session. I think.”

The two ladies nodded.

---

Sumiteru Photo Studio. Toshiro used the GPS of his car to drive around. The talks inside the car were about ‘Miki’ behaving as the wife and how ‘Iori’ was gonna behave as the real one after receiving some pointers.

The studio itself was very professional, as they were waiting for the three to arrive. Toshiro had to sign some paperwork and so did ‘Miki’. Thankfully, she could write as good as the real one, her name and all! Impressive for a guy that had her look for a couple of hours at best.

Then it was time for the photoshoot. ‘Iori’ gracefully followed the instructions. It was like Toshiro was with his real wife and real daughter, there was essentially no difference between Keizo and Miki being Miki and Iori. It was quite impressive to see. No way it would be this easy… Right?

A couple of hours later, the three left the building, photoshoot done.

‘Huh…’

For a moment there, Toshiro was expecting something to go horribly wrong. But from the looks of it, they managed to go through the entire shoot without any hang-ups in terms of the process. No clashes in terms of dressing, or the poses, or maybe even the lighting. Overall, it was as painless as a simple walk down a quiet street. It was highly unlikely these photoshoots could get so bad that it ruins their schedule, but it’s just as unlikely for it to go off without a hitch too. Now he wasn’t really sure on where he could expend his energy towards.

“Those syringes are incredible, honey.” ‘Miki’ said to him.

“I told you, mom and dad! They are incredible!” ‘Iori’ replied.

“Well… Now that we’re clear of that… We should have the day free, right?” ‘Miki’ said, as they all returned to the family vehicle.

“Well… pretty much. I thought the shoot was gonna go for an hour longer, but I didn’t expect the photographer to be that easy to work with.” He said, looking back at the slowly shrinking building from his rearview mirror.

But now, that pretty much left an important question for them…

“What should we do now? The sun’s still up, so we might have some time to spend out here.” He asked.

“Considering I’m stuck as the wife… Maybe a family outing is in order?” ‘Miki’ looked back at ‘Iori’ once they were inside the car. “Wanna swap places, Miki?”

‘Iori’ pondered. “Hm… Maybe? We could drop you off at your place and me and Toshi could have some free time. Unless you want to be around, and I wouldn’t mind it.” ‘Iori’ chuckled, sounding like the real Miki.

“Err… Okay? I wouldn’t mind being with you two. Maybe not as you, though. We should switch back, or something?” ‘Miki’ said, looking at Toshiro.

Surely, the real Iori could probably spend her time with Hitoshi, so they wouldn’t really have to drop at least one of them off. And since it’s been a while for Toshiro to have a proper adults-only outing…

“Yeah, maybe the three of us should just go ahead and spend the rest of the afternoon together. We’ve got the time, so why don’t we spend it?” Toshiro chuckled, “Go ahead and switch back, and maybe we could head to a bar afterwards. Or maybe the both of you have got something else in mind?”

“I don’t have anything in mind. Just drive to my place and we can swap. And I get some proper clothes too.” ‘Miki’ said.

With that being said, Toshiro drove off to Keizo’s place, a small mansion outside of the big city. Or just a rather large house, hard to tell.

Miki went back to herself, using the clothes she gave to Keizo. And Keizo got back to his normal self. He was a really funny guy and even after being back to himself, he kissed Toshiro’s cheek.

“It was fun being your wife, Toshi. We should do that again~”

Toshiro eyed him, with a bit of concern. Keizo might’ve enjoyed the experience a bit too much. But he wasn’t gonna refuse the invite. “Yeah, if you’re up for it, then go ahead and gimme a call next time.”

“Deal.” That was the reply from the man. Nevermind the fact that Miki, the actual wife was next to them… But she gave them a thumbs up.

And after that was done, the three went out on an adult-only outing that would be more like friends having fun. It was a date, technically, something that they missed for ages. Toshiro drove them back into town, to a little bar next to the Miyahara’s home, that was also owned by the Miya-Mirai Agency, at least partially. Because of that, they all got some discounts on the food and drinks.

“I didn’t know you owned the bar…!” Keizo chuckled.

“Actually, it was my idea. We needed a place to chill and the girls needed some place to do some recovery too. The place was near where we worked so I worked with the owner and we own it partially.” Miki replied, with a soft-drink in hands.

Of course, since Toshiro was the one that’s driving, he was also drinking some soft drink rather than the usual pint of beer after a hard day’s work. Not exactly soda in particular, since he wasn’t in the mood for some carbonation. Instead, some iced tea was enough to do the job for him.

“Since our girls are usually underaged, they don’t exactly get the alcohol that’s in store here. But hey, that’s why we’ve got more than that being served at this bar.” He said, taking a sip of his tea. “Of course, we’ve also used this place for business meetings as well, so you can bet that’s when one of us’ll be drinking a lot with our clients. Depending on the day, we’d switch on who gets to take the wheel, and who gets to drink.”

“Ooh.” Keizo nodded. “That’s really smart…!” He watched the two as he also drank an iced tea, very good ones too.

Miki proudly buffed herself up. “That’s what I had in mind when I got this place!” Then she looked at her husband for a moment. “Honey, wanna take my place tomorrow? A little break from being Iori for these past weeks.”

It’d be a really appreciated break from all the young adult hormones that he’s being made to deal with, he thought. At least he wasn’t being chased or followed around by creeps, but it made him really not miss his younger, late teenager days.

“Yes, please. I didn’t even realize how exhausting it is to live out Iori’s life.” Toshiro sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. “You wouldn’t even know how vicious a bunch of jealous teenaged girls could be, until you’re basically the most popular talk for the boys there. It wasn’t as bad as before we stepped in, but… Geez, is it stressful.”

Stressful, indeed. The experience made going out with girls like Kasumi to feel like rare drops of water within a saharan desert.

“Okay, then… Tomorrow you’ll be me!” She chuckled. “I hope you’re able to do both my and your jobs… I left clothes for you in your room so you can swap between being yourself and being me.” Miki said.

Keizo kept watching the conversation, but interrupted it for a moment. “Wait, doesn’t Iori-chan have like song recordings and a TV commercial like soon?”

“Mhm.” Miki nodded. “But those are few months out. And according to the doctor, her leg won’t be better until after that happens.” She looked at Toshiro. “Thankfully, I see in front of me two guys that can sing and one that can act.” And then chuckled.

Keizo had a sweatdrop. “S-Sure… I could do the acting part…”

“Oh come on, that’s an understatement and you know it…” Toshiro rolled his eyes, knowing in practice, Keizo had nothing to worry about. “Even before you joined TKRK, you were a bit of a theater kid. Plus, you were the best out of all of us in bullshitting whenever we got ourselves into trouble. If there’s anyone that could pull off this level of acting, it’s gotta be you specifically.”

Seriously, just what is he even worried about? This job’s basically made for him, just like how he’ll be in charge of the singing part.

‘…wait, doesn’t that mean…’

“Err… Now that I think about it a bit more… Are you also good when it comes to music production?” He asked. “We’ve got plenty of staff to help out on that end, but you’ll be the one fronting that part of the effort.”

Keizo nodded, now a bit more sure of himself. “Yeah, I’m good with those. I had a solo career for a while. As long you have a good sound engineer, I’ll work myself out.”

Miki pondered for a moment. “I suppose we could ask Nakao-kun. He’s our sound engineer…”

That was when a memory jolted back to Toshiro. During his multiple talks with Kasumi in the past few weeks, she let slip that Senzo was her half-brother, same father, different mother. What a coincidence it was.

“As for the acting bit, I’m not worried, man. I’m just thinking that it might be awkward because I might have to be bad on purpose, but not too bad so it’s not unwatchable.” Keizo said, sipping more iced tea.

“True… But it’s just a TV spot commercial, it won’t need to be an award-winning performance, Miiyabe-san.” Miki said, drinking her soft beverage. “Just enough to sound convincing.”

“I might have to practice in private…” Keizo replied.

That was weeks away but it was good to plan it ahead of time, saving a lot of headaches to Toshiro. He definitely didn’t need those at the moment. Even so, Toshiro couldn’t help but to show a pained smile, knowing of the ‘acting chops’ that his daughter has. Technically, she is capable of acting, since she wouldn’t be doing so well in her idol career if she didn’t. Keizo didn’t need to try too hard to be convincingly like Iori, especially for a 2 minute maximum commercial.

“Keizo… trust me when I say this, but I feel like you don’t have to do too hard just to imitate my daughter.” Toshiro sighed, putting a hand on Keizo’s shoulder. “If you want, I could show you some of the past commercials she’s done, and you can give me some thoughts on whether or not you’ll be able to pull it off. Guys like yourself are always gonna need some source material to work off from, right?”

Keizo nodded. “Yeah. I was gonna look it up myself but if you have it easy, send it my way and I’ll try to match it as much as possible. Who knows, I might end up replacing her for real for a few weeks, even being at your home~” He ended with a chuckle.

With that, the three talked about random things. Miki finally found that Keizo was divorced and pretty loaded with money. More so than Toshiro and his family was, and they weren’t in a bad spot either, considering that they could pay for private tuition for Koji, private school for Iori, and still have a really good house for the family.

Might have been the acting contracts he got.

---

Later that night, Toshiro and Miki were back to their house. He was ready to not be Iori for one day, finally. But after looking at their calendar, Miki went to check something with Iori. The news she got after closing the door of the daughter’s room was a bit annoying.

Toshiro was already in his comfy pyjamas, before Miki in her babydoll joined him. “Honey… Iori’s parents meeting is tomorrow. I forgot about it… And I believe you forgot it too…”

That jolted his memory again, and yes, Miki was right. It was on the Friday one week after the festival. No class, which worked for him, but someone had to be Iori again.

“What’s the plan? Both of us have to go to it…” Miki asked as she sat down at the bed, next to him.

‘Oh, goddamnit.’

Just when he thought he could relax from being Iori for another day, of course he managed to forget that part. At least this meant it wasn’t a school day, meaning they wouldn’t have to deal with the school’s catty girls. At least, that was what he hoped.

“Damnit… Should’ve known that was gonna happen.” He sighed, facepalming in annoyance. “Alright, I guess I’ll be Iori for this one. You could just be yourself and say that I’m busy with a… ‘Business meeting’ to attend it. That’ll be a good enough excuse.”

“Wait, should I be you though? Or you wanna swap and be me? Or let me be Iori?” She asked, as the possibilities were possible. “This is what I meant when I mentioned the syringes were crazy good… They allow us to deal with many issues. Also I don’t think we should include Miiyabe-san into this, I doubt he’ll care about being any of us for this parent thing.”

With those words, Miki got up from the bed and went to the closet, now with many boxes of syringes, and with more incoming, apparently.

“Nah, of course I’m not gonna ask Miiyabe-san for this. That’d be ridiculous.” Toshiro said, shaking his head. “But then again, the both of us could be ‘present’ for the meeting if we’ve got someone to substitute one of us…”

Who would be the perfect candidate for it? Kasumi might be a little busy, and they’ve already shut down Keizo as an option. Which pretty much leaves them with…

“…ohhhh, wait, maybe Hitoshi would be able to help out with this one.” Toshiro said, a plan already forming in his mind. “He’s probably known both me and Iori long enough to pose as both, so if you want, we could try to bring him along for this one. Assuming he’ll be up for it, of course.”

“Hm. Probably? Wanna give him a call? I’m sure school meetings for him won’t be a proper thing, considering from what you told me, he was sick for ages and just started school again.” Miki said, nodding. “Hard to get your performance of school if you were missing of it from years, right?”

Iori’s old phone was still on Toshiro’s possession, time to give the boy a call.

“…Oh.”

On second thought, Miki may have brought up a good point. He somehow forgot that Hitoshi hadn’t really attended school in a while, meaning getting him to pose as a student might not be too convincing. Much less posing as his own daughter.

‘Aaaagh…!’

He had already known Iori for long enough to do a believable impression of her, right? Surely the teacher wouldn’t really notice. But since there wasn’t really any other choice for them…

“Maybe one of us could act as Iori then? While he takes one of our places at the same time?” He asked, all while pulling out Iori’s phone.

“That could work. Maybe you could be Iori, I could be you and he could be me.” Miki suggested a real switcheroo.

Ring… Ring… Click

“Oh, hi Miyahara-sensei.” The boy replied on the other line. “How are you? Do you need my help?” He sounded excited to get the call. That particular excitement from Hitoshi was making him feel really bad about this. Was he even capable of acting as either of them? Or even as a parent in the first place?

“Ah, uh, yeah. We’re gonna need your help for tomorrow, Hitoshi.” Toshiro said, trying his best to hide the grimace from his voice. “We’re gonna have a parents-teacher meeting tomorrow, and… For obvious reasons we’re going to need you to act as one of us. The others aren’t exactly available, soooo you’re my only hope for this one. Do you think you can pull it off?”

“Ah, that thing? My mom said I’m exempted from it, since I went back to school this week.”

He confirmed what Miki said, no point for him to go in specific.

“Yeah, I could do that. Should I be you or your wife?” He asked over the call. “I could be either of you two, no problem.”

Miki looked at him. “You’re gonna owe him, honey. Make sure to make it exciting too. And hey, as long as I don’t know what happened, I’m okay with anything.” She winked.

“Miki…” Toshiro sighed under his breath, pulling his attention away from the call. “Don’t get any funny ideas. We’re just doing this to solve a problem. Nothing more than that.”

Returning to his phone again, he would proceed to answer. “I’m going to need you to be my wife. My wife will show up as me, and in turn, I’ll also show up as Iori. You’ve probably met her long enough to know what she’s like.”

“Okay. I’ll be there early in the morning, so we could exchange notes and such.” Hitoshi said, sounding quite mature for his age, and hung up the call.

“Of course we are, honey.” She winked again. “Anyway, I guess I have to write notes about you and me down…” Miki said, standing up and getting a proper notebook and a pen to write some notes down.

Wait, would that really be necessary? They’ve been married for almost two decades now, so the both of them should at least be pretty familiar with each other.

“Ehhh… I don’t think I’ll be needing notes for this one. I’m probably good enough to improvise this.” He said, puffing his chest out in pride. “Plus, I’m sure the teacher wouldn’t notice any differences. It’s not like they’d talk to us often.”

“I don’t mean it for me, I meant for others.” Miki said.

Considering that both Keizo and now Hitoshi were pretending to be Miki in different times, she was right to write down some notes, in case they needed to do things with others. A nice rest is what Toshiro needed to get the Friday started. Back he was being Iori again, and despite being a little strange, he could sense some familiarity from it. It became less of an annoyance and more of a neutral thing.

Hitoshi arrived about 7:00 in the morning, on the dot. Miki opened the door to see the young lad, with his long red hair in a bun. After a few syringes and a few pointers, Toshiro could see himself and Miki, next to him.

Now here he was, posing as Iori again… At least this time, they wouldn’t end up running into the school’s annoying gaggle of jealous girls, so this isn’t gonna be too bad.

The two in front had the traditional looks they normally had, ‘Toshiro’ with his blue shirt and jeans, while ‘Miki’ had her turtleneck sweater and also jeans on.

“Miyahara-sensei, this feels… Different.” ‘Miki’, Hitoshi underneath, said.

‘Toshiro’, or rather, Miki underneath, spoke. “Don’t worry. It’ll be feeling cozy in a few minutes.”

What was surprising was that the real Miki didn’t go overboard with flirts and funny words as she turned into the man. She clearly knew her husband well and could pass as him. Considering she did mention that during the weeks he was out, she had to be him a few times for a few things, the thought and mention of it did check out.

“Hm…” ‘Miki’ bit her lip. “O-Okay…” She grabbed the notes that the real Miki wrote. “Okay… I suppose I need to act serious but flirty? Not in public I assume?”

“Nope.” ‘Toshiro’ replied. “I really don’t do that in public. It’s just with me and him.”

“Professional and polite in public, and flirty when we’re somewhere private. So if we wanna keep things practical, just focus on the former.” ‘Iori’ said, tidying her hair once it managed to fully form. “Plus, it might not do us too well to be flirty if there’s someone with a camera following us.”

“Got it.” She nodded. “Until we switch back, I’ll do my role as much as possible.”

‘Miki’ closed her eyes and breathed in and out a few times. “Okay, honey. Let’s do this. You drive~”

‘Toshiro’ chuckled. “Yeah, that’s more like it. C’mon Iori, to the family car.” He said to ‘Iori’.

“Yeah, I know…” ‘Iori’ rolled her eyes, just like how the real one would.

Internally, it made her glad that Miki had chosen the role of ‘Toshiro’, since that meant she would be the one that’s driving here. She wasn’t really sure if she could entrust a disease-recovering teenager to take the driver’s seat.

---

Back again to the Professor Emiya Ando Private High School. It was weird seeing the place with more adults than teens around.

The three walked the hallways that was mostly empty, only cleaning staff and some teachers could be seen.

Once they got to Iori’s classroom, they were greeted by the homeroom teacher, Kata Omura.

“Ah, it’s the Miyaharas.” She said, smiling. “Welcome. Sorry for holding a meeting soon after the previous one, but there are things we need to discuss, and I believe Iori-chan was the reason why.”

‘Miki’ and ‘Toshiro’ bowed, before a puzzled face appeared on ‘Miki”s face. “Excuse me, Omura-sensei, but… What do you mean by that?”

Kata smiled. “It’s nothing worrying for Iori-chan herself, but instead, it’s for the parents of the other kids. You see, we all know that Iori-chan is a famous idol and that gets other teens a bit… Feisty, so to speak. Many students want to be around her but once the principal put that rule that even slightly coming across to her would mean immediate expel, students are now afraid of being around her. So to correct his mistake, he called upon the meeting, to tell to the parents that their kids should behave.”

Kata looked at ‘Iori’. “As far as I’m concerned, Iori-chan is a normal teen. Nothing to it. Yes, she is skilled, but so is the number 1 math student we have. And the girls that play volleyball. And the football guys. It’s no different to me. The fame didn’t get to her head and she doesn’t act like she’s bigger than anyone, so I really see it as the people thinking she’s more than she is.”

‘Toshiro’ stepped in to confirm something. “Yes, Omura-sensei, we have giving her the best education at school, but she knows her responsibilities in life. Being idol is not an easy thing, and I speak by personal experience. I’m trying to get her what I was unable to and keeping a level-headed attitude will get you further in life.”

Wow, that sounded exactly like what the real Toshiro would say in a situation like this.

‘Miki’ continued the thought, trying to sound like the real one as well. “Indeed. She’s a bright girl, but we insisted she went to school for that reason. Honing the craft can only work if you have more skills. What good will it be if she can sing but can’t do math, for instance? Math is a basic thing in my work so learning is important. So is Japanese, and other disciplines.”

And that sounded exactly like what the real Miki would say. Hitoshi was just as good as acting as Miki like how Keizo was. And to be honest? She’s been more than impressed with how well they’re able to keep up the act. The teacher didn’t really seem like she’s noticing any slight differences with either ‘Toshiro’ and ‘Miki”s personalities. In fact, she was more than happy to discuss where they should go with their daughter from here on, knowing she’s been doing well within her school. Even in spite of her issues relating to her status as an idol.

It made the real Toshiro glad that he raised her well. Being an idol was practically the dream of so many young boys and girls, but that didn’t mean she had to give up on her other responsibilities as well. Hell, knowing how underhanded the industry could be, those skills were definitely gonna come in handy. Negotiations themselves were a rather annoying pain point for him…

“I still kinda wish I could talk to the other guys normally, though… It gets annoying when they can’t even see me as ‘me’.” ‘Iori’ grumbled, pouting as she crossed her arms…

Kata had to chuckle. “It’s okay, Iori-chan. With this meeting, things would and should improve.”

‘Miki’ nodded. “Don’t worry, Iori.” And got closer to hug her very motherly. “You’ll do just fine.”

Certainly unexpected but welcomed.

‘Toshiro’ did take issue with what Kata said. “I assume the ones chasing her are boys?”

“There’s a decent amount of girls too. Not sure if they are sexually attracted or just fans. Hard to tell. Another reason to ask the parents. Oh and mind you, Miyahara-san, only your family wasn’t required to join us, but every single other parent was.”

Wait, what? Did the real Iori let that information out?

“Of course, that would mean that we wouldn’t be talking about her, so it’s good that I didn’t mention that everyone but you were required.” Kata concluded.

No, the teacher didn’t say it as it would be an excuse for Iori to not asked for them to go. Clever teacher…

It was so hard not to show any form of visible befuddlement on her face. No matter how much the information itself seemed to have came out of left field.

Since when was she even told she didn’t have to bring her parents?! Not even telling them about the parents-teacher meeting until she was forced to was one thing, but not even telling them that the three didn’t even need to come here in the first place was another! He could’ve just showed up here by himself, finish up within half an hour, and not have to worry about either Hitoshi or his wife actually being capable in committing to their roles! This wasn’t that much of a waste of time, in the grand scheme of things but it was certainly annoying.

“O-Oh… err… Of course I knew that. I just wanted to make sure Mom and Dad would still join me here.” ‘Iori’ said, trying to act all defensive… All while trying to hide her inner annoyance of the situation itself. This would’ve been so much easier if it was just herself that showed up.

“Surely.” Kata chuckled. “In any case, here’s all the notes I had for Iori.”

The teacher began to talk about how Iori was at the school. Her own notes showed Iori to be an incredibly smart and sensible girl, never talked in class, always wrote everything down, answered all the questions correctly. According to the timeline she gave, this was before Toshiro took over and he just continued from there, which was surprising, Iori was doing exactly the same thing he was doing while posing as her. Quite the coincidence for sure but also made sure that the teacher didn’t suspect a thing.

Iori was currently enrolled in Drama, Dancing and Theater extraclass, a combo of things all in one. She usually skipped the drama lessons but Dancing and Theater? Immaculate. The teacher there couldn’t give her a higher grade if he tried.

Physical Education classes were a bit too boring for Iori but she was an expert volleyball player too, according to the teacher’s notes. Was there anything she couldn’t do?

Japanese and Foreign Languages? Easy as pie for Iori, even before Toshiro took over as her. She was already learning a fourth language, Italian, on top of knowing Japanese, English and Chinese.

Essentially, Iori was a model student, even if she wasn’t trying anything special. Smart, pretty and resourceful, could dance, sing and act somewhat. Omniglot too. Toshiro couldn’t have raised a better kid if he tried.

Yes, there was Koji which was smarter than Iori but he kept to himself. Maybe Toshiro could check how his son was doing next, assuming Koji would even show how he was doing with his grades. His college didn’t even require any teacher-student meetings, so it’s not like he was gonna bother to show how well he was been doing each semester. Unless if he got an email or a call from his professors about it. But that’s only if Koji had let his grades slip way too far. Unlikely for a boy like him, if Toshiro had to be honest.

But regardless, everything that he’s been hearing from the teacher has been pretty promising. Although he wasn’t really expecting Iori to be a theater kid. Had Keizo somewhat influenced her in her younger years? That’s another question he’s probably gonna ask her later.

“See, mom? Dad? These subjects felt like nothing for me to go through.” ‘Iori’ held her head up high, knowing the real one likely would’ve taken such achievements with pride. “Sooner or later, you guys might see me graduate with an almost perfect score. Although theater was a bit of a pain for me to get the hang of…”

‘Toshiro’ smiled. “That’s my girl.”

‘Miki’ nodded. “Our girl, honey. I raised her too!”

‘Toshiro’ chuckled a bit. “Yes, you know what I meant.”

Kata chuckled from the three. “Anyway, that’s all I have. Iori-chan has made over the best high-average score of our school, and that’s saying something. The bar here is usually high and she cleared it without any issues. I don’t have anything else to say other than…” She looked at ‘Iori’. “Keeping doing what you’re doing and you’ll go further in life, even if your idol business doesn’t work out.”

Kata then looked at the parents. “Well, with that, you’re free to go. I shouldn’t keep you two any longer.”

The three left the room and engaged into some talk as they returned to parking lot.

“Wow, that worked…!” ‘Miki’ pointed out. “And holy, you’re so smart, Iori… I mean the real one but you are too!”

‘Toshiro’ looked very proud from hearing that. “Yeah, we didn’t raise her like that for nothing. Right?” He just caught himself from saying ‘honey’, considering that the real Toshiro was being Iori and that would have been awkward.

‘…holy crap, they actually did it.’

‘Iori’ was amazed that the teacher didn’t even notice their differences in behavior. Not even once. Looks like he did well, choosing Hitoshi as his last minute extra for the meeting. Not to mention that Miki was way too convincing with her acting. She’s probably just as good as Keizo if she put her mind into it!

Still a bit of a shame that today could’ve been so much easier if he just showed up, all by herself as Iori, just so they wouldn’t have to worry about a panic attack the night prior. Regardless of that little tidbit, today’s outcome was still good nonetheless.

“Oh c’mon guys… It’s not as easy as you’d think.” ‘Iori’ rolled her eyes. “Someone’s smartness doesn’t just come out of nowhere, y’know? It takes actual effort to get there. Even for me.”

“Mhm. Of course… Still, I’m impressed.” ‘Miki’ said, watching the two entering the car.

‘Toshiro’ drove back to the family home, and after getting to feel how it was being in a family for a moment or two, Hitoshi smiled and had many good moments with the two disguised parents. Sure, his aim was to be with Iori, but knowing how they were was a pivotal moment for the relationship. And considering that the parents would see him around a lot, it was a good idea to him to be around them.

What he didn’t expect was to have a lot of fun doing this, something that he couldn’t hide in his face.

Once back home, the reverse switcheroo happened, everyone back to normal.

Hitoshi spoke, after pulling his shirt back on. “Perhaps I could do this more often, if you two give me the opportunity.”

“Oh certainly!” Miki said, smiling. “You did good today, Isayama-kun. Or should I say, Hitoshi.”

“Thank you… I’ll admit that after a bit, it just felt right to be you, Miyahara-san.” The boy replied.

“Please, you can call us by our names. You have earned my respect, Hitoshi.” She said, smiling a lot, causing the boy to smile a lot as well.

“Thank you two so much! I’m going to see Iori…!” He said, leaving the two and heading to the girl’s bedroom.

“Well, I guess we should head to our real jobs after this, right?” Miki said, smiling at her husband.

After saying that, the two drove to the Miya-Mirai Agency. The day there was fine, thankfully. Ah, the familiar scent of dealing with contracts with idols, angry parents that wanted more money and some other things that could only be described as ‘weird’. These idol contracts? The girls from Iori’s school. One of them was already part of the idol roster, but the others joined in after being quite good or good enough to be inside the selection process.

Compared to school, somehow this was far better to Toshiro, as he was used to it. And of course, no hormonal teenagers that needed some real parenting done while he couldn’t as he was pretending to be his own daughter.