Chapter Text
Popbase @popbase
[20260201] Miyuki Kazuya to guest in the next episodes of I Live Alone Seasons 30.
[Insert the previews, no face of Kazuya but only his voice.]
17.1k Likes 231 Quotes 3k Retweets
Comments:
abby 🍓@bratzuya
wtf??? that’s actually him?? not a scam?
.
rue @mswow
omg.. Kazuya in variety shows,, what possessed him to do this
.
cath˚˖𓍢ִ໋❀ @nekoeyes
this sudden meal?? Im not used to this,, is there something goin awn at home,,, is he okay?
.
molly @miyuckerz
the comments mostly being concerned is keeling me
izzy @1711times
none of his fans has a single faith in him im cryinf
adam @redvelvetswmr
u know what, theres a chance we’ll be seeing dada shirtless in the show
69 Likes
Comments:
june @nattomura
behave
adam @redvelvetswmr
🤤🤤🤤🤤
.
🥽@glassestits
a wet shirtless kaz*ya to be exact 🤤🤩
adam @redvelvetswmr
wait… ur mind….
.
🤓@nerdcatcher
and then you wake up
adam @redvelvetswmr
shh lets all be positive and ask them to not edit anything and give us all the raw footage to make their work easier
Miyuki Kazuya was not the sort of man who willingly did something that did not interest him, even if there was a considerable benefit waiting at the end of it. To him, interest came first, if something failed to hold it, no amount of benefit could drag him towards it. He had never been particularly good at pretending to care. If he did not want to do something, he would say so. Variety shows sat at the top of that list.
He avoided them like the plague.
The last time he had been forced onto one, it had been his first ever appearance, and somehow, within the span of a single episode, his life had become considerably more complicated. A single clipped exchange had been cut into something it was not, and before he knew it, there were headlines, rumours, and an entire scandal attached to his name.
That had been the beginning of the infamous Eijun-ghosting-him situation, which Kazuya would rather not remember. Ever since then, whenever management called him about another variety show, his answer was immediate.
No.
He would politely decline, and tell them jokingly that he would rather do a thousand brand deals than sit under studio lights while talking about his personal life on national television.
He probably should not have said that.
Because you see, his management never once mistaken his joke for a joke, instead they took his words seriously. Within a season, his face was everywhere. On billboards, television commercials, posters outside convenience stores, advertisements on trains. Everywhere he went, he would see his own face. Even when he stopped to buy a sports drink, there it was—his face plastered across the bottle. Sometimes, he felt like a narcissist. His face was practically impossible to escape.
Sometimes he would see his own advertisements next to Eijun’s. Once people found out that they were, well, ‘friends’, their management teams had apparently decided that putting them beside each other on every available advertising space was a wonderful idea.
This was not what he had expected when he signed the contract to become a professional baseball player. He expected his life to be full of baseball. Or maybe doing some photography and interview sessions here and there.
He did not expect to become so popular.
Then again, he supposed it was a silent agreement that came with being a professional athlete, especially if one happened to be exceptionally attractive. Kazuya was not conceited, he was simply aware of reality.
Still, none of that explained why he was currently sitting on the set of I Live Alone, surrounded by familiar faces that he had only occasionally seen on television. The set was brighter than any field he has stood on, and there’s a lot of people walking around.
He stared ahead, contemplating his life choices. Because, of course, there was only one person who could have gotten him into this situation. Sawamura Eijun.
Kazuya was definitely not the type to do something he had no interest in just because someone asked him to—not even if his management insisted it would be good for him and his image. He simply didn’t care enough to do things he didn’t want to do.
For Eijun, though, he would.
It all started on an ordinary afternoon. That particular day, Kazuya had been in the middle of reviewing a baseball scorebook when his manager placed another stack of papers on the table.
“Just look at it,” his manager said. “Tell me if you’re interested.”
Kazuya barely glanced at the papers, “I’m not doing a variety show.”
“I didn’t ask you to do one. I asked you to look at it.”
“You do remember I’m an athlete, right?”
“A popular one.”
Kazuya looked up and rolled his eyes, “What even is the difference?”
His manager ignored him but Kazuya continued to rant anyway, “I already have enough work outside of my real job. You people keep asking me to do things that have nothing to do with baseball. I’m not doing any—”
His phone rang. He answered before the second ring without even checking the screen. There was only one person he had set that ringtone for anyway—a loud, obnoxious tone Eijun had chosen himself and refused to let Kazuya change.
Not that Kazuya knew how to change it anyway.
Kazuya answered immediately, and Eijun’s face immediately filled the screen. “Miyuki Kazuya! What are you doing?” That was the first thing he heard. They lived far enough apart that calling each other at random hours every day had become a habit, one they had somehow developed without even thinking about it.
His entire expression softened. It happened so naturally that he barely noticed it anymore. There was something about Eijun’s voice that could pull him out of whatever mood he was in. Kazuya smiled sweetly before answering, “Hello to you too.” He still did not understand when exactly he had developed such a pathetic, sappy side.
Before Eijun, he had never considered himself particularly affectionate. He certainly had not thought of himself as the type to light up the moment his boyfriend appeared on his phone screen. Youichi had called him a lover boy once, and Kazuya had simply ignored it—until he found himself thinking back on his interactions with Eijun.
Well, maybe he was.
Whatever. That was his boyfriend, he could do whatever he wanted.
He saw Eijun rolled his eyes and chuckles lightly before answering again, “Noth–”
“Eijun-kun, help me…” A desperate and pleading voice came from somewhere behind the phone.
“What’s happening?” Eijun asked.
Kazuya’s smile disappeared. He slowly turned his head. His manager stood in front of him with the most pitiful expression Kazuya had ever seen on a grown man’s face.
“Please,” his manager continued, leaning into the frame until his face appeared beside Kazuya’s, turning his attention toward Eijun, who was no longer looking at Kazuya but at the man who apparently had no fear for his own life. “Can you ask Miyuki-san to consider doing variety shows again?”
Kazuya shot him a sharp glare, only to be met with a bored stare from his manager.
A few years ago, that glare probably would have been enough to make the man back down. Now, after dealing with Kazuya for long enough, he seemed to have either developed immunity or simply lost whatever survival instincts he had left.
Kazuya immediately reached for the phone that was somehow now in his manager’s hands. “Give it here.”
“No, Kazuya. Stay still and just hand your phone to him.” And the bastard in question had the nerve to look back at him with a smug little smile.
“I asked Miyuki-san to at least review the list of shows that were offered,” his manager complained, turning his attention back to Eijun. “But he doesn’t even want to look at them.” He looks at Eijun with a pity face. Eijun listened quietly from the other end of the phone.
Kazuya could tell he was paying attention. He always did that. Whenever someone spoke to him seriously, Eijun listened as if what they were saying was the most important thing in the world.
His manager noticed it too, which was probably why he decided to take advantage of it.
“I mean, of course Miyuki-san can refuse,” he continued, putting on an exaggeratedly miserable expression. “He’s the athlete. He’s not the one who’s going to get scolded by the higher-ups.”
Kazuya’s eyebrow twitched.
“It’ll be me,” his manager continued. “I’m the one who has to explain everything. I’m the one who has to handle all the work. I’m the one who has to—”
Kazuya looked at the man beside him in disbelief, briefly considering whether he should just fire him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in a position to do that. His manager, despite being an insufferable pain in the ass, was actually very good at his job. The fact that Kazuya had a manager who could tolerate him in the first place was already a blessing from God.
Or, as Youichi had once put it: “A miracle, considering your personality.”
Kazuya still remembered that.
“Kazuya!” Eijun’s loud voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
His manager immediately took that as his cue and handed the phone back to him. Kazuya shot him another glare, but the man looked completely unapologetic.
Kazuya took the phone and turned the camera back toward himself, “Baby…”
“DON’T BABY ME!” Eijun shouted. “Stop making other people work twice as hard and just accept the damn offer!”
“I don’t want you to stop talking to me…” Kazuya’s voice came out quieter than he intended.
The frustrated look on Eijun’s face faltered, “Why the hell would I stop talking to you?!”
“The last time I did a variety show, you stopped talking to me for two whole weeks.”
The screen went quiet. Kazuya watched as Eijun’s expression slowly changed. His eyes shifted away from the camera, his ears turning red as though he had suddenly remembered something he’d rather bury in the deepest part of his memory.
Then he stammered, “W-Well, that was the past!”
Kazuya raised an eyebrow.
“Let’s stop talking about that and focus on the present.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“You know I’m the last person you can say that to, right?”
Kazuya stopped. He was right, Kazuya felt it land. Of all people, Eijun was probably the last person Kazuya could accuse of having it easy.
Eijun had been thrown into the entertainment world even earlier than Kazuya. As an idol, practically everything he did was visible to the public’s eyes. The way he moved, the way he spoke, the people he stood beside, even the smallest expressions on his face could be captured, recorded, dissected, and uploaded for thousands of people to see.
And Eijun had always been entertaining without even trying, his energy was too bright to waste.Of course variety shows wanted him. Despite already having a packed idol schedule, Eijun was constantly offered appearances on different programs. He had dealt with cameras and producers for years, long before Kazuya ever had to.
Telling him it was easy for him was probably the stupidest thing Kazuya could have said.
“I’m sorry,” Kazuya said eventually. “You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
Eijun’s expression softened, “That’s okay.”
Silence settled between them. Sometimes there were simply moments when neither of them knew what to say, and neither felt the need to force the conversation.
Eijun sighed, a long, exaggerated breath left his lips as his eyebrows scrunched together. Kazuya grinned before he could stop himself.
“Stop smiling.”
“You’re cute.”
The words left his mouth so naturally that Kazuya didn’t even think about them. That was one of the things that had changed after they started dating. He had become more straightforward. Not with everyone, obviously. Kazuya was still Kazuya, but with Eijun, he sometimes simply said whatever was on his mind. If Eijun looked cute, he told him. If he missed him, he said it. If he wanted to see him, he asked. There was no point pretending otherwise anymore.
Maybe Youichi had been right. Maybe he really was a lover boy. Kazuya couldn’t help it. He was dating Sawamura Eijun, for fuck’s sake.
“What are you even saying?” Eijun muttered, rolling his eyes.
“You’re cute when you’re annoyed.”
“Stop it.”
Kazuya smiled. Eijun stared at him for another second before changing the topic, “Whatever. Let’s review together what was offered to you.”
Now it was Kazuya’s turn to scowl. “I don’t want to.”
“Why not?!”
“I’m not good at it.”
“Then let’s pick the shows you’ll be good at!”
“I can’t.” Kazuya could hear how stubborn and childish he sounded, but he refused to back down.
“You haven’t even looked at them!”
“No... I can’t.”
“God, you’re impossible.” Eijun dragged a hand through his hair. Kazuya pouted and turned his face slightly away from the camera. “I’m hanging up,” he said, his tone unmistakably sulky.
His thumb hovered over the screen, but he didn’t press anything. Eijun knew he wouldn’t.
This kind of argument was nothing new. Distance had a way of making them bicker over the smallest things—arguments that could start over something as stupid as what to eat for dinner and somehow turn into twenty minutes of back-and-forth before one of them finally gave in.
But they never really minded. In a strange way, it was how they kept their relationship alive. When distance made it impossible to reach across the table and steal food from each other’s plates, they found other ways to annoy one another. When they couldn’t sit beside each other, they argued through video calls. No matter how petty the argument was or how stubborn either of them became, they always figured it out somehow.
And they always found their way back to each other.
“Why are you even trying to help my manager?” Kazuya said, “He works for me, not you. And he lied about getting scolded, by the way. The highe—”
“Let me help you.”
Kazuya paused, “How?”
“I don’t know.” Eijun shrugged, the irritation thinning into something simpler. “But let’s review everything together first, alright?”
Kazuya stared at him, at the messy hair and the simple offer made, and felt the rest of his refusal go quiet. It was such an Eijun thing to say. Even when he didn’t know what to do, even when he couldn’t fix something, he would still reach out his hand and say, Let me help. Kazuya felt something warm settle in his chest.
He was falling in love with him all over again. It was almost embarrassing how often that happened.
“Okay.”
“It’s finally time to bring in the main character for today!” The studio immediately erupted into applause, the hosts turning toward the entrance as the excitement around the set noticeably picked up.
“Yes! I heard this is going to be his first time appearing on a variety show again after years.”
“In fact, this is only the third variety show he’s ever appeared on, so we’re really honored to have him here with us today!”
“Yup! When the preview for this episode came out, we received such a huge response from the general public. People couldn’t believe he was actually coming on the show!”
“Well, he is one of the country’s most beloved baseball players, after all!”
“Exactly! So, without further ado, let’s welcome the Yomiuri Giants’ main catcher, Miyuki Kazuya!”
The lights immediately found him as he stepped onto the set, and the applause grew even louder as he made his way toward the hosts. For someone who had spent years standing in front of thousands of people in packed stadiums, the number of cameras pointed directly at him shouldn’t have been intimidating, but appearing on a variety show was an entirely different experience from standing behind home plate.
Kazuya walked toward the hosts and greeted them with a polite bow, and one of them immediately gestured for him to introduce himself. He straightened himself before looking directly toward the cameras, “Hello. I’m Miyuki Kazuya, a catcher for the Giants. Thank you for inviting me today.”
He bowed once again, and when he straightened back up, one of the female hosts, Aoki, was already smiling brightly at him, “It really is an honor to have you here today! And wow, you’re seriously so tall and handsome in person.”
Kazuya had heard different variations of that sentence more times than he could possibly count throughout his career, whether from fans, reporters, or people he had only just met. Still, receiving those compliments directly to his face always left him slightly unsure of how he was supposed to respond without sounding either too confident or too awkward.
“No, no. It’s great for me to be here as well,” he replied with a small smile. “Thank you for having me today.”
One of the male hosts, Yamada, leaned forward slightly. “This is your third time appearing on a variety show, right? How does it feel being here?”
Kazuya recognized him almost immediately. Yamada was one of those familiar faces he remembered seeing on television years ago, back when Kazuya himself was still in high school, so actually sitting across from him now felt strangely surreal despite Kazuya having become a famous face himself over the years.
He gave a small nod before admitting, “I’m actually very nervous.”
“Really?” Yamada asked, clearly amused by the confession.
“It’s my first time sharing my day-to-day life like this, so…” Kazuya paused for a moment, seemingly searching for the right way to phrase it. “I’m not really sure if the viewers will find it interesting.”
Yamada immediately laughed. “Don’t worry about that! I’m sure people all over the country are curious about what a handsome athlete like you actually does in his daily life.”
The other hosts laughed along with him, while Kazuya could only smile awkwardly at yet another compliment being casually thrown his way. Before he could respond, however, one of the older male hosts suddenly spoke up.
“I’m also nervous.”
“Wait,” Hara immediately interrupted, laughing as she lightly smacked the man beside her on the arm. “Why are you the one getting all tense?”
That earned another round of laughter from the studio, “It seems like our Miyazaki-san is even more nervous than Miyuki-san over here,” Yamada pointed out.
Miyazaki immediately shook his head. “No, because this is my first time seeing him this close in person,” he explained carefully, but then, as though the rest of the sentence had been waiting far too long to come out, he continued in a rush, “I’m a huge fan of the Giants, you see. It really is an honor to see you here.”
However Miyazaki seemed to realize that everyone on the set was looking directly at him, but instead of backing down, he seemed to give up entirely on trying to hide his excitement, “I’m also a huge fan of you.”
The studio immediately filled with laughter again, and Miyazaki covered his face for a second, embarrassed by how his honesty had gotten away from him. Kazuya, however, simply smiled before turning toward him and giving him a polite bow.
“Thank you so much for supporting me,” Kazuya said, offering him the charming smile he had refined over years of interviews and public appearances.
Then, after a brief moment of hesitation, Kazuya held out his hand toward him. Miyazaki took it almost immediately, shaking his hand with a steadiness that did not match the nervous expression on his face at all.
“Okay!” Yamada finally called out, clapping his hands together as he brought everyone’s attention back to the show. “Without further delay, let’s begin!”
The screen shows a footage of Kazuya’s bedroom, which was almost completely dark despite it already being morning. There wasn’t a single trace of sunlight coming through the curtains, and for the first few seconds, it was difficult to make out much of anything besides the faint outline of the furniture and the shape of someone buried underneath the blankets.
Then, the camera slowly zoomed closer toward the bed, finally revealing Miyuki Kazuya still fast asleep beneath the covers. More importantly, he was wearing an eye mask shaped like a raccoon.
“Why are you still wearing an eye mask when your room is already that dark?” one of the hosts asked, pointing toward the screen while laughing.
Kazuya glanced at the footage of himself, already looking slightly embarrassed that this was apparently the first glimpse everyone was getting of his private life.
“It’s a habit,” he answered simply.
“A habit? What do you mean?”
Kazuya thought about it for a moment before explaining, “Back when I lived in the dorms, I used an eye mask so I could sleep better. I don’t sleep well when there’s any light around, so I guess I just kept using one even after I started living alone.”
“But your room is already completely dark!”
“He said it’s a habit!” Hara immediately cut in, lightly smacking the male host beside her on the arm when he continued questioning the same thing.
—
Slowly, Kazuya began to wake up, though the raccoon eye mask remained firmly in place over his eyes while his hair stuck out in practically every possible direction, flattened against his head in some places and standing straight up in others. After lying there for another moment, he finally reached up and pulled the mask away from his face, blinking sleepily at the ceiling as though he needed a few seconds just to remember where he was.
For several moments, Kazuya simply remained there with a completely blank expression, staring into space while his mind seemed to slowly catch up with the fact that he was awake, before he eventually reached toward the bedside table and picked up his phone.
7 A.M.
The footage showed him staring at the screen of his phone for a few seconds, his eyes still heavy with sleep, before finally pushing himself upright.
A small reaction bubble appeared at the bottom of the screen, showing one of the hosts staring at the footage in disbelief.
“You wake up so early…”
“It’s a habit,” Kazuya answered simply.
Aoki immediately shook her head, clearly amused, “You really are a man of many habits, huh?”
The footage continued as he slowly climbed out of bed, still looking like he hadn’t completely woken up yet, before reaching for the raccoon eye mask he had just taken off and carefully placing it on the bedside table.
The camera lingered there for a moment, just long enough for the viewers to notice that the raccoon wasn’t alone. Several other eye masks were neatly lined up beside it. There’s a cat, a rabbit, a dog, and a few others, each one looking considerably cuter than anything people would have expected to find sitting beside the bed of Miyuki Kazuya.
Miyazaki immediately leaned forward and pointed toward the screen. “You have so many of them! Are you a collector or something?”
Hara leaned forward as well, looking absolutely delighted now that she had gotten a better look at the small collection. “They’re all so adorable!”
Kazuya stared at the screen for a second before rubbing the back of his neck, clearly not expecting that particular detail of his bedroom to receive this much attention.
“Some of them I bought myself,” he admitted hesitantly. “But most of them were gifts from other people.” He really hadn’t expected the camera to catch everything sitting on the bedside table too. In hindsight, he probably should have hidden them somewhere before filming began.
Rookie mistake.
“Do you actually wear the cute ones too?” Hara asked, her curiosity clearly not satisfied yet.
“I guess, sometimes?,” Kazuya admitted.
That simple answer only seemed to delight her even more.
Aoki smiled brightly as she looked between him and the collection still displayed on the screen. “That’s such an unexpected charm from you.”
Kazuya could only give them an awkward smile in response.
-
When Kazuya finally woke up enough to pull the curtains open, morning light immediately spilled into the room, and for the first time, the camera was able to properly show the rest of his bedroom, revealing just how minimalist the interior actually was. There wasn’t much decoration or unnecessary furniture around, and even the color scheme was kept simple, with a black bed frame paired with crisp white bedsheets, while the bed itself was noticeably large and took up a good portion of the room without making the space feel crowded.
The scene then cuts to Kazuya during his solo interview.
“Hi, I’m Miyuki Kazuya, a catcher for the Yomiuri Giants, and I’ve been living alone for five years.”
“I think I’m naturally a pretty minimalist person. I don’t really have any particular ideas when it comes to interior design or anything like that, but I like keeping my home neat,” he explained.
The screen then cuts back to footage of the rest of Kazuya’s house, and just as he had described, everything looks remarkably neat and organized, with very little clutter anywhere in sight. One thing that immediately stands out, however, is the collection of trophies displayed on one of the cupboards, with awards dating all the way back to his school days sitting alongside those from his professional career, all carefully arranged across the shelves and quietly showing just how many achievements he had accumulated throughout the years.
“Woah, look at all those trophies,” Yamada said as soon as the camera showed the display, his attention immediately drawn toward one in particular. “Isn’t that the one from when you won the Central League MVP?”
“Yes,” Kazuya answered, looking slightly bashful now that everyone’s attention had shifted toward his accomplishments. “It’s one of my greatest achievements from last season.”
“You deserve it,” Yamada told him sincerely, and Kazuya gave him a small appreciative smile in return.
As the footage continued showing different parts of the apartment, Hara seemed to notice something else. “Your room is really simple,” she observed. “Actually, even your living room doesn’t have that many things in it.”
“Yeah, I don’t really like having a lot of stuff around,” Kazuya explained. “Maybe it’s because I got used to living in dorms, so I never really got into the habit of keeping that many things with me.”
Despite how simple the apartment looked overall, however, Aoki seemed to notice the few things that didn’t quite match the otherwise minimalist image, her eyes immediately catching the little objects scattered among the shelves.
“His home is so simple, but there are actually a lot of little charms and trinkets on the shelves!” Aoki pointed out, as observant as ever as she leaned forward to get a better look at the screen. “Do you actually like collecting cute stuffs in general too, Miyuki-san?”
Kazuya laughed nervously at the question, but instead of giving her an answer, he simply remained quiet.
—
Kazuya walked into his bathroom looking nothing like the polished athlete people were used to seeing on television, with his eyes barely open, his hair still sticking out in every direction from sleep, and a faint shadow of stubble visible along his jaw. He looked like he was barely awake enough to register what was happening around him, moving through his morning routine entirely on instinct as though his body already knew exactly what to do even if his mind hadn’t quite caught up yet.
Yamada burst out laughing the moment Kazuya appeared on the screen. “This is the first time I’ve seen Miyuki Kazuya like this!”
Kazuya glanced toward the screen at the sight of his half-asleep self, looking slightly embarrassed by how unfiltered the footage was.
“Even half-asleep, he’s still handsome,” Miyazaki said honestly, sounding as though the thought had slipped out before he had the chance to think about whether he should actually say it aloud.
Kazuya turned to look at him for a moment, seemingly unsure how else he was supposed to respond to that, before quietly saying, “Thank you.”
On the screen, Kazuya turned on the tap and immediately splashed cold water over his face, blinking rapidly afterward as he tried to force himself awake. He rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his palm before reaching for a towel and wiping his face dry, then opened the drawer beneath the sink and pulled out an electric shaver. The moment he switched it on, the familiar buzzing sound filled the otherwise quiet bathroom. By the time he was halfway done, he already looked considerably more awake than he had when he first stumbled into the bathroom.
Yamada watched the footage for a while before his attention seemed to settle on what Kazuya was doing. “Do you shave every day?”
Kazuya nodded. “If I have an official schedule, yeah. If I don’t, I’ll usually just let it grow.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s a hassle having to shave every day because my stubble grows pretty fast overnight,” Kazuya explained casually. “If I only have practice that day, I usually don’t bother shaving either.”
Miyazaki immediately glanced down at his own chin, rubbing it lightly as though he had suddenly become painfully aware of the difference. “I’m jealous. It’s really hard for me to grow stubble.”
Kazuya looked back at the screen for a second before turning his attention toward Miyazaki. “At least you don’t have to shave.”
“I at least want the option!”
—
The screen suddenly cuts to Kazuya again, only this time he looks completely different from the sleepy man they had just seen in the bathroom. He is already dressed in his fitted jersey and joggers, his face now fresh and fully awake with a pair of glasses sitting comfortably on his nose, and despite it only being seven thirty in the morning, he is already out of his apartment and getting his day started.
“Not even breakfast?” Hara asked, surprised that he was already outside so early.
“I officially start my day right after my morning run,” Kazuya replied simply.
The footage then shows Kazuya doing a light run around the small park near his apartment, keeping an easy and steady pace as he follows the familiar path, before the scene briefly cuts away to a clip from his solo interview.
“I usually do a light five-kilometre run every day. I’ve been doing it since I was in high school, so I’m already used to it,” Kazuya explained. “I feel like I can properly start the rest of my morning routine after I get my run out of the way.”
The footage returns to Kazuya as he nears the end of his run, his breathing heavier than before as sweat begins to gather across his forehead and his jersey clings slightly to his body from the workout. Even after running five kilometres, he still maintains a steady pace until the very end, and once he finally finishes, he makes his way straight back toward his apartment, ready to properly begin the rest of his day.
“Your body is really no joke. Look how good he still looks even with all that sweat sticking to him,” Miyazaki commented, sounding genuinely impressed as he stared at the screen, although the slight jealousy in his voice was difficult to miss.
“It’s actually impressive, though. Do you really run every single day?” Aoki asked before a teasing smile appeared on her face. “Is that another habit too?”
Kazuya let out a small chuckle, clearly catching onto what she was referring to. “You could say that.”
“Athletes really are a different breed from us,” Yamada remarked, crossing his arms over his chest as he continued watching the screen in front of him, nodding thoughtfully.
“No, Yamada-san. That’s just what a normal, healthy person would do,” Miyazaki corrected him with a teasing grin.
The rest of the crew, including Kazuya, immediately broke into laughter, while Yamada turned toward the younger man with an incredulous look before throwing a playful curse his way.
—
During his solo interview, Kazuya explained, “Since it’s currently the off-season, I don’t really have much to do besides occasionally going to practice. Today is one of my days off, so I planned to clean up my home after a while.”
The scene then cuts to Miyuki in his kitchen, where he starts by preparing his protein shake before opening the refrigerator to take out the ingredients he needs for breakfast. The camera slowly pans toward the inside of the refrigerator, which is surprisingly full compared to how simple the rest of his home looks, with various ingredients neatly arranged and stored inside.
“Do you know how to cook?” Miyazaki asked, sounding genuinely curious.
“Yes, I taught myself how to cook when I was in middle school,” Kazuya answered, explaining it rather casually, as if knowing how to cook was nothing particularly impressive to him.
“I didn’t expect even Miyuki Kazuya know how to cook.”
Kazuya smiled, “I actually quite enjoy it.”
The camera continues to follow Kazuya as he prepares the ingredients, showing how naturally he moves around his own kitchen as he gets everything ready. While he was in the middle of preparing the food, Kazuya suddenly reached for his phone and made a call to someone, briefly putting aside what he was doing as he waited for the other person to answer.
“Hey, when are you coming?” Kazuya asked through the call.
The person on the other end couldn’t be heard, but from the way Kazuya’s expression softened while he listened, it was obvious that it was someone he was close with.
“Have you touched down? Do you want to eat anything?” he asked, his voice noticeably softer than usual, revealing a side of him that the media had rarely, if ever, heard before. There was something surprisingly tender about the way he spoke, especially compared to how he usually carried himself in front of cameras. Looking at Kazuya like this, it was probably the most domestic he had ever appeared in the public’s eyes.
“Yeah, I’m making breakfast right now. You want to join?”
He paused for a moment to listen to the other person before giving a small nod, even though they couldn’t see him.
“Alright then, come safely.”
The call ends, and Kazuya simply puts his phone back down before returning to what he was doing, leaving everyone watching the footage even more curious about who had been on the other end of the line.
“Who are you calling?” Hara asked curiously, clearly wanting to know every little detail about the popular athlete.
“Should I say it now?” Kazuya asked, looking around at the others as though he was genuinely considering whether he should reveal it, though he still seemed hesitant to give away the surprise.
Yamada, who was sitting beside him, immediately shook his head. “Is the person going to appear later on your episode?” he asked, and when Kazuya nodded, Yamada quickly continued, “Then it’s better to keep it a surprise!”
“You must be close with them. I can’t wait to see who it is!” Aoki said excitedly, clapping her hands as her curiosity only grew.
–
After ending the call, Kazuya put his phone back on the counter and continued making breakfast. Despite how full his refrigerator was, he kept the meal simple, preparing steamed rice, a bowl of miso soup and a small side dish, nothing particularly fancy since he was only cooking for himself.
“That’s surprisingly such a simple meal” Hara said when the finished meal appeared on screen.
“It’s only for me,” Kazuya said with a laugh. “I usually keep it simple when I’m eating alone.”
The footage then showed him sitting down at the table and eating quietly, occasionally checking his phone between bites. Once he finished, he brought the dishes back into the kitchen, washed everything he had used and wiped down the counter before moving on to what he had originally planned to do that morning—clean the apartment.
Kazuya started with the living room, picking up anything that had been left around before wiping down the tables and shelves, vacuuming the floor and putting everything back where it belonged. He was surprisingly rough, moving quickly from one thing to another instead of taking his time, though judging from how naturally he worked his way around the apartment, it was clearly something he was used to doing.
“You’re pretty rough when you clean,” Yamada commented.
After finishing most of the cleaning, Kazuya moved on to his laundry, bringing out a basket before gathering the rest of his clothes. The camera followed him until the entire pile came into view, and the studio immediately grew louder.
“Woah, that’s a lot of laundry,” Aoki said.
Kazuya only chuckled before the footage continued with him sorting through the clothes and getting the washing machine ready.
“Don’t you have a housekeeper?” Hara asked.
“No. I prefer doing the housework myself,” Kazuya answered. “During the season, I’m barely home anyway since most of my time is spent at work or traveling for games, so I never really felt like I needed one.”
“During off seasons, I’m home a lot more. Other than practice and whatever schedule I have, there’s not much for me to do,” he continued. “So if I’m at home and I notice something needs to be cleaned, I’ll just do it myself.”
“Of course you cook, clean and do your own laundry,” Hara said, glancing back at the screen. Before she could continue, Miyazaki shook his head, “You’re making the rest of us look bad.”
–
By the time Kazuya finished with the housework, it was already nearing lunchtime, and he found himself back in the kitchen once again. This time, however, when he opened the refrigerator, he pulled out considerably more ingredients than he had for breakfast, setting them one by one on the counter.
Still watching the screen, Aoki suddenly spoke up. “Do you ever use your sofa, or is it just there for decoration?” she asked jokingly.
“Now that you mention it, he really hasn’t sat down once,” Hara said.
The footage returned to the kitchen, where Kazuya stood in front of the counter, seemingly deciding what to make. Before he could get started, the faint beeping of the keypad at his front door sounded from somewhere off-screen.
Kazuya didn’t even flinch. He simply continued what he was doing, as though someone letting themselves into his apartment was completely normal.
“Oh, who’s that?” Miyazaki immediately asked, curiosity written all over his face. “Your manager?”
A few seconds later, the front door opened.
“Hello! Your saviour is here!”, The voice came before its owner even appeared on camera, loud enough to draw an immediate laugh from the studio.
When the mysterious visitor finally stepped inside, he was completely bundled up in a puffer jacket, with a cap pulled low over his head and a mask covering most of his face. Both of his hands were occupied with paper bags, as he dragged a suitcase in behind him.
“Hmm, you’re here,” Kazuya replied casually, his attention never leaving the counter.
“This has to be a regular thing,” Yamada exclaimed. “He didn’t even react!”
The others nodded along, but their attention quickly returned to the screen as the visitor set down the bags and pulled off his mask, followed by his cap.
“Is that Eijun?!”