"Good luck to you!"
After offering his blessing, Kohei turned and walked in the opposite direction.
"Huh? Where are you going?"
Iori quickly stopped him, asking in confusion.
"Huh? Obviously to look for that bastard Kamishiro. I'm not interested in any Momo-whatever."
Heh, just a real-world girl!
"But we've got two tickets. Since we're already here, how about we go take a look?"
Tadakuni, Hidenori: ???
Isn't there a possibility that you don't have any tickets? Those are our tickets!
Kohei shook his head anyway. "Nope. I'm going to stop Kamishiro and protect the purity in my heart!"
Whether it was JuJu, or Mafuyu-chan, he couldn't accept it!!!
Let alone if it might be Maya sama!!!
Hearing that, Iori rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I see… but Kamishiro will probably come to this place too, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I just thought of it. Don't you think Kamishiro's behavior today has been a bit abnormal?"
"Abnormal?"
Kohei thought about it carefully. Compared to usual, Kamishiro today did seem…
"A bit rushed?"
"Exactly! Even when an old flame calls him, he's never this hurried. He didn't even pack properly before running out!
Why today? At this exact time?"
Iori's gaze drifted toward the venue. "So… I've got a bold guess!"
Kohei stiffened—he'd clearly guessed what Iori was about to say.
"You mean…"
"That's right. There's a high chance he's there!"
"Soka!" Kohei's face lit up with a grin. In that case…
"Hey, hey, hey! Where are you going now?!"
Seeing the direction Kohei was heading, Iori stopped him again.
"The venue's this way!"
"I know that, I'm not going!"
"Aren't you looking for Kamishiro?"
"Wait a second. The whole point of looking for him is only if he's together with Maya sama, JuJu or the others.
Right now… if he's at an AV actress meet-and-greet, is there even any reason for me to go look for him?"
Kohei shrugged, looking at Iori with an utterly innocent expression.
If Kamishiro wasn't triggering him, why bother going after him?
Wouldn't it be better to just go enjoy Akihabara with that time?
"..."
Iori's mouth twitched.
Damn it, what this guy said actually made way too much sense.
There wasn't a single flaw in his logic.
Fine. Iori admitted it—he'd said all that simply because he was too nervous and wanted someone to go with him.
After all, coming to a place like this alone was seriously awkward!
Seeing Kohei about to start walking away again, Iori made up his mind.
If reasoning didn't work… then he'd tempt him with benefits!
"Wait! I'll throw in one more day of the 'Shiori's big brother experience card,' how about that?"
!!!
The moment those words left Iori's mouth, Kohei froze in place.
Not only that—his body started trembling uncontrollably!
The next second, Kohei swung his arm, turned around, and his whole vibe practically shifted into full JoJo style.
"Let's go! Target: the meet-and-greet!!!"
Iori: (???)
Sometimes, he really, really wanted to beat this bastard to death.
And also… was being Shiori's big brother really that desirable?
Both Kamishiro and Kohei wanted it.
Iori felt like he needed to reevaluate this identity of his—maybe it was way more useful than he thought!
"Wait!"
Iori stopped Kohei again—this was already the third time.
Unlike before, this time it was to deal with some loose ends.
"There are still two caterpillars over here~"
Hideyoshi and Tadakuni, who were hunched over and wriggling like caterpillars as they tried to escape, stiffened when they heard that.
They immediately stood up and bolted like crazy, trying to get out of the alley before the two could catch them.
As long as they escaped the alley, they'd be safe—and could even get their tickets back!
However—
Too slow~
Just as they were about to reach the light, the two demons appeared in front of them once more.
An evil hand gently brushed over their heads.
"Be good kids, go to sleep~"
"Just sleep it off~"
Tadakuni trembled all over, tears sparkling in his eyes as he tried to resist the force coming from above.
"N-no… don't!"
Bang! ×2
With two crisp sounds, Tadakuni's consciousness slowly sank into darkness.
Momo… M-Miss Momo…
Be careful…
There are beasts!!!
Backstage at the venue
At this moment, Kamishiro was sneaking around on tiptoe.
Even though he could have walked in openly with his gold ticket, the cautious Kamishiro chose an even more careful approach!
Little did he know—
That actually made him more conspicuous.
A backstage staff member noticed the suspicious figure and looked at him as if staring at an idiot.
Just as the staff member was about to call security, he noticed a tall, burly figure with a thick beard steadily approaching the sneaky guy.
Seeing that figure, the staff member stopped and looked on with a playful grin.
He's here!
The legendary muscle-bound director!
"Huh? Why are there all these guys here?!"
(°ー°〃)
In a corner, Kamishiro sighed in disappointment as he looked at the all-male staff.
"Has Momo not come out yet? Or did I come to the wrong place?"
"You're in the right place. Momo just went to the restroom."
"Oh~ she's in the restroom? Then I'll go take a look—maybe I'll run into her by chance!"
Kamishiro still hadn't realized anything was wrong. He even casually patted behind him without turning around.
"Thanks, bro!"
Only after doing so did he realize something was off.
Given his current situation… and outfit…
Maybe he really shouldn't have been discovered…
Crap, crap! I need to fix this somehow!
Cold sweat broke out on Kamishiro's forehead. Judging from the solid muscles he'd just touched, this was a ruthless guy—not weaker than the senpai from the karate club.
Totally impossible to fight head-on.
Think, Kamishiro, think! Use that clever brain of yours!
Karate… karate…
Got it!
Recalling certain "preferences" of some karate club members, Kamishiro instantly came up with a plan.
When discovered like this, there were usually two ways to resolve it.
One: make the discoverer lose their memory.
Considering that Kamishiro only knew the physical method of causing amnesia—and the huge gap in combat power—he chose the second option.
The second method was…
Make them "forget" on their own!
Of course, this wasn't real amnesia. It required paying a price.
In short—bribery!
Kamishiro turned around, looking at the man's massive chest and thick beard. His mouth twitched.
This guy looked even wilder than he'd imagined.
But hey, that might actually work better—his "gift" would probably suit this guy's tastes even more!
"Uh… big bro, take this."
Kamishiro pulled out a card from behind his back and placed it into the strong man's hand, giving him a knowing wink and a smile everyone understood.
Well, unfortunately, no one could actually see that smile—his mask was still on.
Still, from his actions alone, the nearby staff could more or less guess what this suspicious person was doing.
Bribery!
Not bad—this suspicious guy really came prepared.
But~
His preparation was a little… insufficient.
The staff member wore an amused smile.
If this guy had done a bit more research, he would have known—
Director Hase doesn't care about women at all.
That's right!
Despite being a famous director at IP Studio, Hase had zero interest in women.
Well… not exactly zero.
After shooting too many films, Hase developed aesthetic fatigue and lost all worldly desire for that sort of thing.
Instead, he fell in love with fitness.
He poured all his excess energy into gym equipment!
If you told the story of Director Hase's fitness journey, it would be incredibly inspiring—
A fat man whose body had been hollowed out by years of indulgence, gradually transforming into a muscle-bound beast.
That took some serious willpower.
During the process, Hase's mindset changed completely.
From hating exercise, to accepting it, to becoming obsessed.
He eventually turned into exactly what he used to dislike~
Now, he truly had no worldly desires left.
He could devote himself fully to his work.
Never again would there be incidents of "things getting hard during filming."
At this moment—
When Director Hase first took the card, he also assumed it was some kind of special service card and was about to scold Kamishiro.
But then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the image printed on it.
It was a muscular figure wearing nothing but a pair of briefs!
Those muscle lines made Hase's eyes gradually burn with excitement.
Yes!
This was it!
This was exactly what he'd been pursuing!
"Big Bird Spining Club!"
The instant he saw the name, Director Hase straightened his posture unconsciously.
That name… was magnificent!
He could already imagine a group of fitness enthusiasts sweating it out on gym equipment.
Gulp.
Director Hase swallowed, nervously asking,
"T-this… is it what I think it is?"
He looked at Kamishiro with hopeful eyes, afraid the suspicious man would deny it.
"Of course!"
"The kind where everyone can freely show off their muscles and sweat it out?"
"Exactly! This is the romance that belongs only to muscles!"
"Brother!!!"
After confirming that everything was real, a sharp gleam flashed in Director Hase's eyes!
He needed this—desperately!
He kept slapping Kamishiro on the shoulder, finding the sunglasses, mask, and hat on this guy more and more pleasing to the eye the longer he looked.
He even felt an urge to swear brotherhood with him!
Anyone who could pull out a card like that had to be a kindred spirit!
Maybe beneath those clothes was a body of condensed muscle—
The kind that, once unsealed, would surpass his own!
A godlike existence!
After all his years of training, Hase had only ever seen someone like that once, in a single gym!
On the other side, the staff were completely stunned.
Damn it… were they the clowns all along?!
This guy's preparation was way too thorough!
…
At this moment, Kamishiro finally let out a sigh of relief.
Heh heh~
Living in Tokyo for so many years hadn't been for nothing—he could tell what someone liked at a glance!
╭?( ￣ ▽￣)╭?
"Big bro, this club is in Izu. You're welcome to come play next time—I'll introduce you to some friends then!
And when the time comes… you know~"
Kamishiro raised his eyebrows again, looking exactly like a madam soliciting customers in ancient times.
"Got it, got it! When the time comes, I'll definitely have a man-to-man showdown with them!"
The fire of battle burned in Hase's eyes. He had already decided—once this meet-and-greet was over, he was heading to Izu!
He'd shoot his next project there, and once it was done, go straight to that club for a real, no-holds-barred duel!
"Alright! I'll be waiting~"
Kamishiro patted his shoulder, then took advantage of the big guy being lost in his fantasies and turned around, sprinting straight toward the restroom!
Momo-chan~
I'm coming!!!
???????‵?
Not far away, a staff member scratched his head, unsure what to do as he watched Kamishiro leave.
By rights, he should call security and have the guy arrested… but—
If he got the director's newly made little brother arrested, wouldn't his own job be finished too?
After hesitating for a long time, the buzz-cut guy decided to leave the problem to the director. He was just a cameraman—he didn't want to be the scapegoat if something went wrong.
With that thought, the cameraman walked up to the bearded director and patted him on the shoulder.
"Hey, bro, what do you think I should bring them as a meeting gift… Yamauchi? Why is it you?!"
Hase looked to the side and realized his little brother was gone.
"Um, Director Hase—if you're looking for that suspicious person from earlier, he went toward the restroom. Momo san is over there too…"
The cameraman Yamauchi reminded him tactfully. If that guy was some kind of fanatic fan, things would be bad.
Hase caught the meaning in Yamauchi's words and said in surprise, "That's impossible, right? We're using tickets this time."
Because of the tickets, this event was insanely popular!
They were practically scooping up money by the sack!
And to maintain order, they'd hired the most experienced and toughest security team in Tokyo!
Normally, without a ticket, you couldn't even get in line—let alone break through security and enter backstage.
The only way into the backstage area was with that reserved gold ticket!
That's right!
There was only one gold ticket this time!
Which meant only one lucky audience member could be selected for the plan to collaborate with Miss Momo.
And—
That gold ticket was pre-arranged!
After all, they were shooting AV… there was no way an ordinary person could compare to a professional. Adding one was already pretty good—it wasn't false advertising.
Wait!
The gold ticket?!
Hase's body stiffened. He suddenly remembered—the gold ticket had already been given out.
So that little brother from earlier…
That's it—no doubt about it!
Dressing himself up like a suspicious person was clearly to avoid revealing his true identity!
A smile flashed through Hase's eyes. He waved his hand at the cameraman.
"Alright, alright, it's fine. I'll go take a look.
It's about time for Momo to get ready anyway—the meet-and-greet is about to start."
With that, Hase headed toward the restroom. No matter what, he needed to confirm it—what if he guessed wrong?
And if he didn't guess wrong, giving two young people a chance to interact wouldn't be bad either. Consider it a warm-up~
?(????)?
I really am too considerate~
Director of the Year, right here!
Other directors sometimes pull shady unspoken rules—look at me, even giving them a chance to bond!
The more Hase thought about it, the more excellent he felt, and his steps grew lighter and lighter~
…