Chapter 6 : Solo Flying Keizo

The vacation ended as good as it started, and the family plus the other two had a lot of fun. They did all sorts of things and thankfully managed to get some ice-cream. Sweet!

Sadly, all good things come to an end and it was time for both school and work continue. For Toshiro, he kept balancing his life around that this own children could mimic him or his wife. The weeks passed and that’s exactly what happened, considering that he woke up multiple times only to be greeted with Koji or Iori as Miki, sleeping in the bed as him. Probably as a prank that Miki kept doing it to him.

Keizo didn’t go to the family’s vacation as he was busy but he sent a message to Toshiro saying he was available again to help the family. Yes, Iori was better but she still had exams and some physiotherapy to go through, and one of these days, she had both the exam and recordings to do, so Keizo would still be needed.

It was a regular Wednesday, work was done from the home and Keizo was visiting the Miyaharas, sitting down at the couch as they talked.

“… and that’s what happened.” He finished explaining a situation. His ex-wife Eren Shiraishi was a half-Japanese woman with an Indonesian father that recently passed away. She traveled there first and then requested Keizo to travel to Indonesia to attend the funeral. Despite the two having split, he was still good friends with her and helped her immensely on that.

Miki and Toshiro were together (as their normal selves), sitting on the opposite side couch, watching the other man talk.

“Jeez… She cried for 3 days straight in your arms?” Miki asked.

“Yeah… She loved her father, and did her best to get him back to his country. The house they lived in back there was repurchased by her once she got her fame and money. After many years away, he was back to his own home, that was from his parents… Life can be really tough sometimes and Eren didn’t deserve the stuff that happened to her…” Keizo mused. “She’s better now. We both returned to Japan about a week ago and she’s back at doing her acting biz, while I’m still free to help you guys with anything.”

“Good god…”

That was a lot to take in. Whatever summers Toshiro and his family would spend, even from now, none of them could compare with Keizo’s in terms of emotional turbulence. Much less raw depression from what Eren had to go through.

It was at least good to hear that not only was Keizo’s ex-wife doing well, but that she still had amicable ties with him. But that didn’t alleviate how concerned he was with their mental health.

It’s not easy for one to try and do their acting or dancing chops, all while their real life issues end up mixing with their performance. A lot of unpleasant results could come out of such a situation.

“Help us? Are you sure about that?” Toshiro asked, raising his eyebrows at such an unhesitating offer for help. “If anything, you might be the one that needs some help. The feeling of loss probably still feels raw, but… we’re here if you need us.”

Keizo mused quietly for a moment, unlike how both Toshiro and Miki knew him. “It’s been eventful, yes… I saw him in our wedding, he liked me. When me and Eren split, he understood and supported her, from what she told me. A good man, I’d say.”

Miki interjected a bit to talk about. “Toshiro is right though, Miiyabe-san. You’ve been alone all this time, let us help you out. Either me or Toshiro can stay with you for a few days, maybe a month. You’re a good man who needs some real companionship, because I don’t think you’re as fine as you say you are.”

That made Keizo quiet again, seemingly Miki was right about it. But then, an inexplicable idea just happens to pop up within Toshiro’s mind. And idea that, if it works, would provide Keizo with some much longer-lasting benefits. Longer than a month, at least.

“…or, maybe we could try to get him to find some companionship while keeping him company? Maybe see if he could find love again?” Toshiro asked his wife, lightly nudging her. “Surely there’s still a girl out there that could get close with our Keizo.”

Keizo pondered for a moment. “I don’t think you sh-“

Before he finished his line, Miki spoke. “Nuh uh! You helped us a bunch of time, Miiyabe-san! Let us help you this time.”

She then looked at Toshiro. “You think Hama would like to meet him, honey?”

Ah, yes, the worker for Miya-Mirai that got them the syringes. She might be interested into him but they would have to arrange a date for the two.

‘Hm.’

Now that he thought about it, getting them to meet each other might be a good idea. There’s a good chance that Hama might be able to mentally click with him, maybe in no time at all if they were lucky.

“Well, she’s cute, endearing… and from what I could tell, she probably wouldn’t mind getting to know you a lot more.” Toshiro nodded in agreement, nodding as he thought of how their first meeting would end up going. “She’s the one that showed off the syringes to Miki, so chances are, she’s more of the adventuring type. You think you’re good with handling girls like her?”

“Ehhh… I guess?” Keizo shrugged. “I suppose we’ll find out when you two make your move to make me meet her.”

Miki nodded. “I’ll talk to her, see if she’s available.”

Keizo chuckled a bit. “Never thought I’d be in the receiving end of a arranged date, heh. I remember when Riki and Kaz tried to get girlfriends and I was the one that arranged them. Remember that, Toshiro?”

Toshiro couldn’t help but to grimace, looking back on his experience with getting their other boys from TKRK girlfriends of their own. Even from now, he could still feel the awkward atmosphere that hovered over the reserved restaurant table on that particular night.

“I was there to help out, and looking back at it… I’m honestly amazed that they’re still married, even after how much of a trainwreck that first date was.” Toshiro said, rubbing his eyes to wipe away the fresh, unfiltered cringe that filled his emotions. “It’s good for them that it went well, but it goes to show that arranged dates need to have concrete plans if you want it to work. Just improvising it like we did made me want to die.”

“Haha, yeah…” Keizo chuckled more. “I loved how they were so stupid about it and somehow the groupies I found for them became their wives, to this day too! I kept in touch a bit and yep, same people as before, just older. I think Kaz got a kid and Riki got two, like you do, Toshiro.” He smiled.

Miki, who wasn’t around at the time, got a bit confused. “Wait, was it really that bad?”

Keizo nodded with a laughing. “Miki-chan, you have NO idea. Imagine trying to get someone at your daughter’s age on a date with a guy. But your daughter is as dumb as a brick.”

“Ah… The classic.” Miki chuckled, understanding what he meant.

“Yeah… Wild. Anyway, we should get the boys back for one last thing… Show them the syringes and maybe do a video, with a new song? I’d reckon they would enjoy being young again.” He proposed to Toshiro.

“Oh, definitely. There’s no doubt about it.” Toshiro nodded, already considering such an option to be a no-brainer for them. Both Kazuo and Rikiya had definitely solidified their lives as proper dads, including growing out a set of beards for each of them. But there’s a nonzero chance that the both of them were hankering for the times when they were young. Maybe even wishing they’re able to do certain activities in their high school days, rather than nearing their late 30’s like they are now.

“None of them gonna have any problems with their joints anymore, and chances are, their wives are gonna love it. So they’re also gonna get pulled in on the fun, too.” Toshiro said, before starting to look rather contemplative about the option itself. If the four of them are gonna get roped in on their little arrangement, then that brings up a rather important question.

“How are we gonna introduce these to them? Just show them what these syringes can do?” He asked, unsure of their reactions in the first place.

“I’ll handle that part.” Keizo nodded. “I’ll get in contact with them and yank them from their jobs for a week or so.”

Miki was looking at her phone for a moment, seeing if Hama was free to be contacted. “I’ll send her a message, maybe we could do something, all four of us.”

“Perfect, Miki-chan.” Keizo nodded. “In the meantime… I remember I had to be Iori for a commercial…”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right…” Miki nodded. “Can you do that for us, Miiyabe-san?” And Keizo simply winked at the two.

And now Toshiro wanted to cry, even if he’s doing his best to keep it internal. He completely forgot about the TV commercial! Another thing that he had to do that he forgot, enough to make him frustrated.

“Noooo, you gotta be kidding me…” He groaned, slumping himself back on his seat from such a terrifyingly embarrassing thought. “I wished today wasn’t going to be a commercial filming, but I guess not. My brain’s going to be filled with mental pain by the time today’s over.”

“Don’t worry, man. I’ll do all the acting.” Keizo nodded. “Seeing I’m the only actor here between all of you… Plus, Isn’t Iori-chan at school? We’ll need to wait for her to come back so it doesn’t look like she’s in two places at once.”

Yes, Iori was at the school at the moment, and likely had to be picked up soon.

Keizo got off the couch to sit next to him. “You’ll treat me like I’m the real Iori-chan, right daddy?” He chuckled.

That nickname did not work, even when Keizo hasn’t even turned himself into Iori just yet. Right now, he just looked like someone his own age that decided to call his friend ‘daddy’ all of a sudden. That already gives him a few uncomfortable implications.

“Yes, yes I will honey… mmrrgh…” A shadow loomed over his face, whose expression tightened from thinking over what he should do, to wondering if he could survive Keizo’s newly found Iori-ness.

“Being serious for a moment, you said that I could just make clothes now?” He looked at Miki. “I ordered so many bikinis for myself!”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “We can. We did that when we were on vacation. It was fun!”

Keizo smirked a bit. “Then… I guess I could ask her for what I could use! Very handy.”

Considering how Keizo was, this was either gonna be the best thing ever or Toshiro wouldn’t be able to find a hole deep enough to bury himself into.

Which was why it might be best to remind Keizo with his limitations for the syringe. Else it’s going to give Toshiro unending stress, just from thinking about it.

“Hold it, Keizo… you can have as much fun as you want with the syringe, but that doesn’t mean you can do so without any rules.” Toshiro said, holding out a hand as if to cut any of his unfitting thoughts short. “Even with me and Miki, we still made sure we didn’t go too far at the beach. Just be careful with what you’re transforming into, else you’d get your ass in trouble.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Gentlemen’s rules and all. You think I’m not a gentleman, Toshiro?” He smiled. “Anyway… Miki-chan, can you lend me a few syringes for today?”

“Mhm! Come with me.” She said, standing up. “Can you pick up Iori at the school, love?” She asked Toshiro.

Oh right! Iori’s school day should already be over, so it was likely time for him to leave. She’s probably just waiting until he arrived to her school grounds.

Although, he still wasn’t sure if he should keep her in the loop for what they were going to do with Keizo. Chances are, she might get a little tempted to help out herself.

“Mhm. I’m gonna go ahead and pick up Iori for now, so I’ll be right back.” Toshiro said, standing up from his seat as he pulled out his car keys. “In the meantime, you can go ahead and keep Keizo company, Miki. Maybe you could even ask what he’s considering with the syringes, and you could decide whether or not you can do it too.”

“Yeah, that’s the idea.” Miki said, as the two left to the master bedroom, and off he went to pick Iori.

---

After picking Iori, Toshiro went back home with her. Then the switcheroo happened, Keizo turning into Iori, using the same outfit, which was apparently good enough, but not before carrying a small briefcase with additional outfits for him to use.

Good thing that they did this too as Iori had homework to deal with and wouldn’t have time because of this.

With that done, Toshiro drove ‘Iori’ to the studio. During the drive, the two talked for a bit.

“So… What’s the plan, dad?” Keizo spoke, being Iori. It was completely natural and if Toshiro didn’t know it was him, he would be completed fooled.

“Well, it’s the usual.” Toshiro shrugged, leaning back on his seat as their car continued to cruise down the road. “Get to the studio, talk with and get setup with the production team, figure out what the director wants out of this commercial, then film it. If they’re not gonna fight us too much on what they’re asking out of a take, then the recording might go pretty smoothly. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t… kinda hoping it’s more of the former, though.”

And knowing the person being Iori, she might be right at home in this case. Toshiro knew for a fact that Keizo starred in plenty of commercials, even back in the TKRK days.

“Commercials probably go smoother than imagined, depending what the recording is.” She replied, sounding more like Keizo than Iori.

“We could still get an annoying director, I guess but that won’t be as likely as I think.” She chuckled.

“Hey, uh, thanks for the talk back there, at your house. Maybe you could be my ex-wife for a bit, for me?” She asked, putting a hand on Toshiro’s thigh.

“…uh?” Toshiro only glanced at her for a moment, but the concern was still felt even if it was a brief second. It’s a bit of an odd request, especially when it’s asked all of a sudden.

“Are you sure about that? I mean, I wouldn’t mind doing it if it’s to keep your spirits up, but… what about Eren? She might be a little uncomfortable from knowing it.” Or in other words, ‘she might see it as a betrayal’. But there’s no way in hell Toshiro would say it that bluntly. It’s not exactly respectful for either parties.

“It’ll be just us, at my place.” She said. “Don’t worry about her. She’s not coming back to me at any point but the breakup was a little messy. Consider that a… Second chance for me.”

“Will you do that for me?” She asked, looking away a bit, clearly embarrassed for asking for it.

If it wasn’t gonna be any trouble for her, then Toshiro supposed he could give it a try. After all, his wife was pretty beautiful from what he remembered.

“If that’s what you want, then sure. I’m not gonna get hung up from you wanting it.” Toshiro nodded, patting ‘Iori’ on her shoulder. “And hey, chances are, I’ll be able to keep you company until you find your love again. I’m sure Hama would like you a lot.”

“Thanks…” She smiled. “Anyway, I’m gonna be Iori-chan until I turn back okay, so treat me like you’d treat her.”

She said, closing her eyes for a moment and doing something that can be described as ‘getting in character’.

“Let’s get this done, dad.” She sounded like Iori again, which was nice but also a bit uncanny.

Toshiro raised his brow and found a bit weird she did that, but since she was getting into it, might as well play into her intended character for a bit. Toshiro was sure she wouldn’t mind.

“This is gonna go by in a flash, sweetie. You don’t need to worry.” The man said, before giving Iori a kiss on the forehead and an assuring pat. Maybe he wouldn’t mind being doted around like a daughter in this sort of way.

She chuckled. “Yeah!” And smiled, giving him a wink. “It’ll be over very quickly, dad.”

She didn’t seem to mind it, in fact, ‘Iori’ felt a bit lighter after the minor serious talk.

The issue then became the actual recording. The studio they signed on decided to have one of the worst directors that both Toshiro and Keizo had seen in their lives. The man was absolutely buck wild, with many many demands over a simple commercial shoot.

First, ‘Iori’ had to change her clothes because he wanted something completely different for it, despite not requiring. ‘Iori’ was handled a script but every time she was reading it, the director kept asking for different lines, making her slowly more frustrated.

Then the big one, he started a fight with one of the cameraman, that had the camera positioning in a way that he did not like, but the fight got physical.

It got to the point where Toshiro and ‘Iori’ were asked to leave by the studio heads as they were gonna solve the problem by themselves. Absolutely one of the worst days in recent times for the two.

They both left the studio looking a bit drained.

“That was…” ‘Iori’ had not words for what just happened.

“A live, full-motion trainwreck?” Toshiro answered for her, knowing full well what she was going to say. “I thought I made sure to do my homework when looking at the companies I’m doing business with. But I guess I ended up slipping with this one.”

More than slipping, now that he thought about it. This had to be the first time in his entire life where a commercial recording session devolved from a shouting match into a physical fracas between staff. It made him grateful that the director didn’t do it on his daughter of all people, instead focusing his anger on the cameraman, but still. Not exactly a good outlook for their current business partner. Or even future ones.

As they started to approach their car, Toshiro would let out a sigh of disappointment. “Next time, maybe I’ll give any future commercial directors a call and see if they’re not a pain to work with. Hell, I could tell you were about to strangle him when he kept asking for different lines. Does that happen often?”

“That’s probably the first time…” She replied sighing. “Thankfully I wasn’t the target today but I could feel he was ready to snap at me, at any moment…”

She sighed. “Anyway, good on them for stepping in and letting us out when things escalated but we definitely didn’t need to see that…”

Her tired face had a smile. “You’re a good dad, Dad… I love you.” She said, maybe clearly acting as the real Iori, maybe to fish for a reply, or maybe to ensure that Keizo was having fun as Iori and be around Toshiro again.

There was no need to worry about what just happened, all he needed to focus on now was just the present. After all, there would be more recording sessions like this one that wouldn’t be as messy by comparison.

“Love you too, sweetheart.” Another kiss on the forehead for Iori, followed by a frown as Toshiro still seemed a bit disappointed in himself. “Still though. You really didn’t need to see that. And what’s worse is that the director probably would’ve done worse if it was, say, another one of my talents instead of just you specifically. He probably knew he’d be in trouble if he tried anything with you.”

“I suppose…” She frowned a bit, playing the part of being a cute daughter. “What a jerk, if I can be honest, dad. Seriously. Why would he just do that?”

As the drive continued back to the Miyahara household, Iori continued to talk but this time as Keizo, since they were away from prying eyes.

“I take the vacation was fun? Mom was saying you all had fun, but ‘I’ wasn’t there, while technically I was.” She chuckled.

And just like that, they were back to talking like close friends rather than father and daughter. And it was as easy as being able to talk in the car, too.

“Yep. It was.” Toshiro agreed, winking at Iori for a moment. “I’m telling you, you should’ve been there. Turns out that ‘your’ boyfriend had more than enough time to not only learn English, but even speak it as fluent as an American would. It’s actually insane how much he committed to his blonde gaijin californian girl role.”

“No way, really? I should get him to Miiyabe-san! Maybe he could be a good actor!” She was surprised, even putting a hand on her mouth. “It’s so difficult to find people that know perfect English and also know Japanese and how to act…” She mused. “What are the next plans for the syringe though? Are you gonna be me for a few weeks, date ‘my’ boyfriend again? Or learn who made it?” She asked, curious of his intentions.

For a moment, Toshiro seemed like he had an answer prepared, before he immediately decided against it by going silent.

“…Okay, maybe not date ‘your’ boyfriend again. Or even learn who even made the syringe itself. That much is for sure.” Toshiro said, grimacing at the thought of it. “I would need to put a bit more free time into it. And since I got an agency to keep running, that would be completely impossible.”

Regardless, the question still did bring up a good point. He wasn’t really sure of what he should use for the syringe soon. Well, maybe besides the obvious.

“At most, I’ll just use it to help out with Keizo’s romance life. God knows he definitely needs it.” Toshiro said, seemingly unsure but not all that against giving it a try. Maybe it could even help his friend out rather nicely.

“But I’m sure mom or me could run it some days for you, dad~” She chuckled, keeping the pretenses. Maybe Miki told Keizo what the family was up to.

“But hey, Miiyabe-san is a nice guy, maybe helping him is not so bad of a plan…” She mused, before smirking a bit. “How was he like when he was my age?”

A bit of an remembrance exam for Toshiro about his old colleague, that was easy for him to answer. He could probably sum up Keizo’s behavior within one sentence.

“He was a teenaged, shortsighted, and horny womanizer. If you wanna know what he was like in my high school, then there you go. You pretty much know what was he was like back then.” Toshiro said, all while showing a knowing smirk just to see how much it would rile up Keizo. “Guy couldn’t stop hitting on a girl that was cute enough in his eyes. In fact, it got so bad that our manager had to step in and tell him to cut it out on the flirting. Dunno what they talked about in the conversation, but it was enough to set him straight.”

Of course, that was a highly dishonest claim, considering there’s at least one person in the car that knows the context. But Toshiro would prefer to keep his mouth shut for now.

“Wooow… So he’s like mom but with some restrain?” Poor Miki, still being the subject to whenever ‘horny’ came to the conversation. “Color me impressed, dad, he doesn’t look like the overly horny type. Or the horny type at all, just the ‘I like to tease you’ type.”

She replied, as Toshiro parked the car inside the garage. “Here we are, back home…!”

Once the two were off the car, ‘Iori’ pulled Toshiro to a very warm hug, like his daughter was really hugging him. “Thanks for today, dad…! I love you…!” And smiled.

Again, if Toshiro didn’t know, he would be fooled by Keizo’s acting, he was really good. Maybe he was training in private with the syringes. That, or he was making use of his acting chops in a different way. Using these syringes to act like someone else already sounded like TV acting with extra steps.

“Mhm~ I love you too, sweetheart.” Toshiro smiled back, patting her blonde little girl while she was in the middle of hugging him. It’s like Keizo could slip into whatever role he wanted without needing to show much effort.

“Let’s go back inside…” These were the words of a very cute Iori that headed back inside the house, before Toshiro could enter. Maybe she wanted to not break the mental image of the disguise that she had for him. Whatever the case, the day wasn’t good so once he spoke about it to Miki, she couldn’t help but to hug him.

The day wasn’t exactly great, but it’s not the sort that would emotionally affect Toshiro, anyway. At most, it would just annoy him.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that, honey…” Her words were comforting, as a beloved wife should be to a husband that had a bad day. “I’ll talk to our industry contacts about that director, see if they can do something about him.”

“No, it’s fine honey… I’ve already made sure that I’m gonna reconsider future contracts with the production company. But for now, I’ll just live with it.” Toshiro sighed. He knows it’s not gonna be that simple, but he would like to think of it that way. Lest it provides him with many a gray hairs from stress.

Keizo showed up a few minutes later, back to his normal clothes. “Hey, man…” He smiled and gave the two a wink. “All done on my end.”

Miki looked at him then at Toshiro. “Wanna stay with him for a few days, honey? Iori will cover for us.”

The thought of sticking around with his friend sounded like something he wouldn’t mind doing, even if it’s for a few days.

“I guess I could, but wouldn’t that leave us with someone missing? Who’s going to cover for Iori, then?” Toshiro asked.

“Iori is gonna go to school normally, and I’ll cover for you. I could ask Koji to cover for one of us too. Don’t worry, we’ll sort it out.” Miki said, kissing his cheek. “Have fun with Miiyabe-san, okay?”

Keizo chuckled. “I’ll drive you, my car is parked on the other road.”

All Toshiro needed was a selection of syringes and then he could go with Keizo.

“Well… just as long as Koji wouldn’t mind it, then sure. I don’t know if he’s still working on his uni project…” Regardless of how conflicted he was in getting Koji involved, he still accepted the offer anyway, if while hoping he wouldn’t take the role of his own father’s.

Koji was still pretty good in terms of leadership, but not to the point where he could lead a privately owned talent agency. He would need to leave that sort of job to his mother.

Now where did he put those syringes? He would need around six shots at most, he thinks. Maybe 8? He doubted he was going to be away for long.

“He’ll be a good me, honey. I’ll put him to cook our food, heh.” Miki chuckled at her own words.

Before Toshiro could wonder any further, she pointed at a rather small briefcase on the couch. “I got you covered, honey. Ten syringes inside the briefcase. Take it with you.”

Keizo grabbed it and opened it, showing it to him. “One, two… Yeah, that’s ten.” He nodded.

Miki simply smiled. “Be a good girl to Miiyabe-san, okay?” And kissed Toshiro’s cheek again, disengaging from the hug.

“I will, honey. Don’t worry.” Toshiro responded, returning the hug and kiss with his own.

Although, the specific wording she ended up using had immediately given him pause. Mostly because he thought he misheard her at first.

“Wait. A good girl? What do you mean by that?” He asked, subtly narrowing his eyes at Miki. He’s got a good chance of guessing what his wife was actually thinking of.

Miki didn’t say anything and only winked at Toshiro. That sort of thing was usually dangerous, considering it was Miki saying it.

---

Keizo drove Toshiro to his place, an incredible mansion several kilometers away from the common and nice house that the Miyaharas owned.

“Here we are.” He said as the outside gate doors opened automatically, as he drove inside the main entrance. “Before you say anything, I’m trying to sell this place. After Eren left, there’s no reason to keep such a big place…”

“Ah ah. Don’t say it like that, Keizo. Soon enough, you’ll have a girlfriend that you’ll be more than happy to marry.” Toshiro said, assuringly waving a finger at him as he stepped out of the car. “You wouldn’t know if you’d end up getting kids, too. Maybe they’ll appreciate the extra rooms once they grow up.”

Sure, it might seem a bit presumptuous of Toshiro to think Keizo would get a girlfriend so soon. But it’s the intention as his friend that counts. Those sorts of downer thoughts wouldn’t be needed.

“What, you’re gonna give me kids?” Keizo joked. “I wouldn’t mind it, I guess, but I prefer a woman that was born as one.” He chuckled.

The two walked inside the mansion and it was exactly how it looked like, a big lobby that led to big living rooms, plural, big kitchen, big dining room, big bathrooms, indoor pool, so on. Upstairs had only bathrooms and bedrooms, even the office part of the house was in the ground floor.

“Yeah…” Keizo walked Toshiro to the second living room, with a relatively small TV and a nice comfy couch. “So, what are we doing, Toshi? You gonna keep me company as a girl or as yourself?”

To be honest, even if Toshiro’s net worth was likely a bit mote than Keizo, his style of living isn’t exactly as extravagant as all this. Even when accounting for the two children he and Miki had to raise. This entire mansion felt like they were planning to nurture a big family.

It’d be a shame if Keizo gave up on the dream, even this long after his divorce.

“I’d saaaay… I could keep you company as a girl if you want. Any girl. Just go ahead and name her.” Toshiro said, sinking into the couch like it was the comfiest bed for him. “It might enough to keep your spirits up, I’d say.”

“Say, Miki said that you turned into a beautiful redhead. Maybe you could do that.” Keizo said, sitting next to Toshiro.

He smiled at Toshiro but he knew that smile, the smile of ‘I’m not doing too well’ that sometimes he saw in some of his idols and even with Koji one time when he was at high school. Thankfully the syringes would be very helpful here.

“Alrighty, then.” Toshiro said, putting the small briefcase on the living room’s table and taking out the syringe inside. He already knew which redhead his friend was talking about, and he had to admit, he has some pretty good taste.

“One beautiful redhead girl, sans bikini swimsuit, coming right up!” He said, sending the syringe’s compounds into his veins. He’s more than confident that Keizo’s going to love this.

Once he injected himself with the syringe, Toshiro got shorter than Keizo and turned into a really really beautiful woman with a nice vibrant red hair and beautiful blue eyes. If Keizo didn’t know any better, he would have said that he scored with a supermodel.

Toshiro would see Keizo’s face turn from a sad smile to confusion to his mouth left agape as he turned into this woman. “Good lord… You’re so beautiful…!”

And turned out that Keizo did love it.

Toshiro already saw that coming from far away. Chances are, Iori might’ve shared pics of her as a redhead, and Keizo couldn’t keep his thoughts away from how she looked, even long after their vacation was over and Toshiro was more than happy to indulge into such thoughts, knowing Keizo wouldn’t resist.

In fact, why shouldn’t she just play into a little bit? Maybe even get a little clingy like some girlfriends do. He might end up loving it.

“Fufufu… Why thank you, Keizo.” She said, knowingly using his first name as she leaned a bit closer to him. “So… whaddaya wanna do today, babe? Got anything in mind? Hm~?”

She’s being a bit unsubtle with her advances, what with pressing her chest against the man’s side. All to entice him.

This was the first time in a long time where Toshiro could see Keizo being caught offguard, turning into a blushy mess of a pretty man.

“I… I uh… I dunno, w-what do you want to do, b-babe?”

He even stammered his own words! Toshiro got the upper hand for a moment and it was pretty funny seeing him melt over it. Maybe Kasumi felt the same which is why she kissed Toshiro several time during their vacation.

“W-What’s your name…?” He asked, and that was a good point, but luckily, he already had a name prepped for this occasion. Probably ever since he used such an apperance those weeks ago.

“Ayane. Kanematsu Ayane.” She answered, all while still rubbing her chest against Keizo’s arm. “And as for what I would wanna do… ohhhh, I dunno…” One of her hands glided over his thighs while the other went around his back, gently carressing his waist. “Maybe a little TV time? We could even watch your shows if you want~”

“O-Okay, Ayane…” Keizo looked out of his element, considering how she was acting.

Toshiro noticed that despite being a carefree man, Keizo was being quite amusingly dorky and cute at the present moment. He was blushing and got a bit sweaty, and all it took was a personality change and some nice words to make him forget that it was Toshiro talking to him.

“We… We could do that, if you want…” He said, grabbing the TV remote next to him, at the sofa and turning the TV on, showing a few shows that he had saved (including ones he had acted on).

“Then TV it is~” She knowingly grinned, huddling a bit closer to him. Almost to the point where it seemed like they were hugging each other on the couch, but not enough to make it uncomfortable. At most, it just keeps Keizo’s mind alert from the lack of personal space she was giving him.

She might just be screwing with her best friend, or she was genuinely trying to be helpful to him. Or maybe it’s a little bit of both. Hard to say.

Regardless of what Keizo was thinking of, the two watched TV together. He had saved all the movies and shows he acted in, including really old stuff, and those were on a flashdrive since the current streaming apps on his big TV didn’t have them.

For the most part, Keizo and his acting was pretty good, and his somewhat youthful look allowed him to portray teenagers well past his own age and also young adults as well. And from what Toshiro saw, no matter the role he was given, he did an excellent job. No wonder why girls like Kasumi were fans of him. Toshiro’s life was so busy that he barely had any time to watch TV and doing it now showed that yeah, Kasumi had some merit on it.

As for Keizo, he had stopped sweating and blushing and looked much more relaxed, getting comfortable with a beautiful girl on his arms.

“Y’know… now that I think about it, did you ever get the chance to watch your own content? Or is it just something you don’t really do all that often?” ‘Ayane’ asked, seemingly just as relaxed as Keizo was. She’s not even into charming her apparent boyfriend at this point, opting instead to rest her head right upon his shoulders. “I barely get any time to watch your stuff nowadays. Turns out, I’ve missed out on a lot.“

“I do that all the time. Watching my older stuff allows me to realize my mistakes and fix them for next things… I guess that only worked for my professional life…” He mused as they continued to watch things.

A few movies later and it was late enough for them to go to bed. Keizo looked pretty sleepy too, but didn’t pass out just yet.

“This is nice, Ayane… It’s been a while if I had someone in arms…” He said, kissing her forehead.

She didn’t even hesitate to give a kiss back, sending a peck right towards his cheeks. With a giggle, she would reply with whispers of her own. “Maybe you’d wanna get a little closer, then…? The covers are in your bedroom… not to mention the heater’s probably not strong enough.”

If Miki were to see her actions as a girlfriend, she would definitely approve. No doubt about it.

“You… You wanna share the bed with me?” Keizo asked with a tone of surprise in his voice, he was legitimately amazed that ‘Ayane’ would do this, going all the way to keep him company.

“Well, you’re not really saying no… That means we could give it a try, right~?” Ayane cheekily grinned. If they’re gonna call it for the night, then it’d be nice if they kept each other company.

Keizo then took ‘Ayane’ to the master bedroom, which was as big as Toshiro’s bedroom back at his place, and not huge as it might have looked like. What was big was the bathroom, that had its own bathtub in the middle of it and other cool facilities they could use. “I’m gonna take a shower before bed though…”

Upon being told that Keizo needed a shower, she would contemplatively hum and stand up on her own, stretching her limbs as if they sat still for a while. “Maybe I can get a shower too… do you have a second one here? Or maybe… We could share one with each other? I wouldn’t mind it if we did~”

He’s likely taking this pace so fast, it could give his friend’s sports car a run for its money. But it might be worth it, just to see Keizo’s reaction. Heheheh~

“If you want…” Keizo was back to blushing, considering how forward ‘Ayane’ was being. “We can use the bathtub.”

A moment later and both joined the bathtub, completely naked, and in a very mature fashion, no horny teenage deals or anything the like, just two adults enjoying each other.

“Hey…” Keizo said, and smiled at ‘Ayane’. “Thanks for this… The truth is, Eren and I had a messy life after we got married because we were never around each other… I remember when we watched TV together and such, back at her place, before I had this place. In fact, getting this mansion was because I wanted to build a family with her. I felt like I had found the one for me… But we started fighting over the most petty shit possible.” He said, opening up a bit in a very lucid and somewhat stern way.

‘Huh.’

Even after knowing Keizo for a while, this sounded like the sort of thing he would’ve told Toshiro eventually. But she supposed it was probably a bit too emotionally raw for him to recall. At least he’s willing to open up about it now.

“Shit… really?” ‘Ayane’ said, having not expected to hear such a reveal this late into the night. And especially while in a bathtub of all places. “Did you two fought daily? How did you even handle it?”

“Who said I did? We got divorced, remember?” Keizo replied, looking away a bit. “So I tried to focus on my job, so I didn’t have to fight, and she did the same thing as me… And once we realized, we’ve grown distant to each other. We decided to call it off and it all worked out. She still cares for me, I also still care for her, but love, romance, passion, all that? Gone.”

“So I’m going to sell this mansion, made mimicking the ones in Beverly Hills, in the United States. I have no need for a place this big and I can get some money back. Your home seems like a nice fit for me, cozy, doesn’t need maids to clean it every month…” He said, with a sad smile, looking at the side again, thinking on how much he had wasted not having a family with his ex-wife.

“So, yeah… Thanks for this, Toshiro. You and Miki are great people, I’ll be forever in your debt.” He said, this time with his face looking at ‘Ayane’, smiling happily. It would take long to get him emotionally stable again, but this was a good start.

“Hey, hey… c’mon. Don’t be like that.” ‘Ayane’ said, putting a finger on Keizo’s lips to gently shut him up. “I’m sure you’ll be able to get yourself a big family in the future. You just gotta keep trying. Gotta know where you should look.” She would then pridefully pointed at herself with a thumb, giving him an assuring look. “Which is why I’m here for you. Not just to get you back on your feet, but to also get you to find love again. Everyone deserves a shot at love. Including yourself.”

He didn’t say anything and pulled her for a very warm cuddle against his own body. Despite not facing him, she could tell he started crying a bit, or at least got tear eyed enough to make his tears roll down her body.

---

Next day. Both ‘Ayane’ and Keizo shared the bed and it was one of the most comfortable nights that Keizo had, while for ‘Ayane’, just another nice night, with someone at her side.

Once she woke up, she noticed that Keizo was going some morning stretches off the bed, in the middle of the living room, probably a daily routine. He noticed she woke up and smiled.

“Ah, good morning, Ayane! Did you sleep well? I had a great night… So I’m just doing some stretches. The morning maid will come with our breakfast, I told her I had a cute redhead guest and she was all giddy at me.” He chuckled. “You might be the first girl I had here since a year or so. Well, ‘girl’, but you know what I mean.”

“Ahh… That felt… Really nice. Mn.”

Good thing Keizo had the courtesy to keep the living room’s blinds drawn. Or else her head would’ve been pounding from the brightness by now.

Slowly stumbling herself forward, ‘Ayane’ would groggily rub her eyes awake as she waved at Keizo. “Mnn… Morning… I slept pretty well and–… wait, you’ve got a morning maid to take care of you?”

Since when? She didn’t know her best friend even had a maid in the first place!

“I did mention that maids come clean this house, right? I have maids for each time of the day, except nights, since they need some rest.” Keizo said, as he stopped stretching to talk to ‘Ayane’.

“She’s preparing our breakfast for now. Today I got nothing on the schedule, so whatever you want to do, I’m game.” He said, smiling at the redhead.

‘Ah.’

‘Ayane’ didn’t really think the maids would be around to take care of cooking for the day. In fact, she was more than planning to take up kitchen duty, just so she could surprise Keizo with whatever breakfast meal she had in mind. But he already beat her to it first. Maybe there’s something else they could do.

“Maybe we could go outside? Do something in your estate?” ‘Ayane’ suggested rather cluelessly. “I don’t know if we should go out in public, since there might be paparazzi journalists waiting for us. But maybe there’s something we could do around your estate?”

“Well, there’s a indoors pool downstairs, I have a garden in the backyard…” He listed a few options. “As for going outside, paparazzi are always waiting, but I’m like a minor celebrity, hell, buying this mansion went under the radar for 2 years!” He chuckled, now walking to the bed to meet her a bit closely.

“If you want just to hang out and go shopping, we could do that too, people might recognize me but only the most hardcore fans, like that Kasumi-chan girl would do as much…” He mused.

“Hey, just as long as you don’t end up on the front page of some gossip tabloid, anything’s fine by me.” ‘Ayane’ lightly smacked his shoulders, giggling a bit at how nonchalant he is.

Compared to their daily lives as teenagers, it almost feels like a wild contrast. Nowadays, they wouldn’t even need to go out in disguises or private areas. Well, most of the time anyway.

“Heh.” He chuckled. “Nah, I don’t think I’m that important just yet. I can still go around and travel like a common person, even though I’m kinda famous… I just don’t let it get to me.”

“But… Thanks for helping me out. Miki wouldn’t mind if you were my new wife, right?” He chuckled again. “Wait, can you even get pregnant as a woman? Does the change go that far?”

“Ehhhh…” ‘Ayane’ nervously looked aside, keeping up her grin as if the answer was lost on her tongue. Chances are, Miki would definitely be into it and allow such a thing, provided she also gets in on the action as well. But regardless of what either of them wanted, the syringe still had its inherent limits.

“…I don’t think so. At least I’m pretty sure.” She finally answered, crossing her arms. “Maybe we should ask the ones making the syringes about that first.”

“Oooor… We could try it ourselves!” He laughed, amused at the whole situation. “Never in a million years I’d imagine this to be possible. I know some people out there that would love this thing and fix their bodies.”

He got off the bed. “Let’s go get some breakfast, my girl.” And offered his hand to her.

“Eheheh… m-maybe we could, yeah…” ‘Ayane’ slightly stuttered on her words, unsure of what to say other than to laugh.

After all, Miki definitely tried with her. More than once. No, twice. Three times? Okay, maybe five times, and she didn’t get a bump in her belly when turning into a girl.

Yet.

“Right, right… Time for breakfast.” She nodded, trying to wipe away such thoughts of having to nurse another baby away from her mind.

And with that, ‘Ayane’ went to get some breakfast with Keizo. The two talked about many things, connecting back to a simpler time, where they were just friends. But with age comes experience and of course plenty of things thought in hindsight.

The rest of that day was uneventful, they went out to the nearby mall and had some fun walking around. Not they would need to get clothes (the syringe got them covered for that!), but just going out and being with Keizo was good enough.

As the date of the week, the two had plenty of cute kisses and chuckles, they were like teenagers again, and it was simply too fun to not do that in public.

And after several days together, Toshiro left Keizo’s home, but making sure that he was wanted and a part of the Miyahara family, a personal friend to everyone.