Rewritten Past

I coughed and whispered, "Miss Serena is Christian."

Tyrone blinked. Then he coughed too and said, "I mean, on my mama's name."

"...Fine." Miss Serena sighed.

After we made our orders with the waiter, Tyrone shifted his attention back to me and said, "So what kind of training do you do then, Little Homie?"

April's eyes lit up and she leaned in to listen. "Yeah! What do you do, Alex? You never show me your secret training!"

Miss Serena tilted her head. "Secret training?"

April nodded. "Mmhm! Alex gets up suuuper early in the morning to train too! I can hear it from our room!"

"Ah, it's not much." I paused, thinking about it. "Hm... I just spend four hours. One hour punching, one hour elbows, another with kicks, and then one hour with my rapier."

Tyrone blinked. "...What?"

Miss Serena blinked too. "...Four hours?"

April gasped. "That's why you can carry me around! Alex is suuuper strong! That's like what Batman did!"

I turned to look at April and said, "April, Bestie... Do you have like a stash of comicbooks or something? How do you know about so many superheroes?"

I could have sworn that April wasn't a comic book fan in my past life...

April nodded. "Mmhm! Miss Yue has a secret bookshelf with toooons of comics! I like reading them after school!"

"Mom does?"

I blinked.

That's...

Huh.

Makes sense, actually.

Mama Yue was the sort to draw far and wide for inspiration in her acting. I wouldn't put it past her.

Tyrone shook his head and said, "Four hours a day... damn. No wonder you look like that, Little Homie. I only train for two hours a day."

I blinked. "What? Two hours a day? And you look like that?"

Tyrone laughed. "I was already buff in high school, Little Homie. I'm not like you." He reached out and poked my arm again. "But maaan. You're going to be a monster when you grow up. You think about competing in anything?"

"Obviously." I crossed my arms and raised my head, putting on a deliberate condescending look. "You're looking at a future gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics."

Tyrone grinned. "Shi- Sheesh, Little Homie. Guess I should get ready to make it rich in a few years betting on you, huh?"

Miss Serena tilted her head and said, "How do you know it's going to be in Beijing?"

I froze.

Oh shiiit. Right. That stuff is definitely NOT public intel.

Not to mention it's two whole Olympics away. There's the 2000 one and 2004 one.

...Wait. I think I vaaaaguely remembered something about venues being selected years in advance.

I'll roll with it.

...Not.

I'm a kid, dammit. I have NO source of intel. And Mama Yue would definitely pick up on any irregularities.

So, putting on my best poker face, I smiled and said, "It's destiny! Just like being April's friend!"

Yep.

It was a cop out. But I'd said something like that before, so I'd just lean into the bit.

Thankfully, I seemed to have picked up on Auntie Yue's acting chops.

Miss Serena immediately relaxed and let out a chuckled. "Of course. More destiny, hm?" She looked amused and then pulled April into a one-armed hug, idly stroking her hair.

April squirmed, blushing. "Moooommy! Stop iiiit! You're embarrassing me!"

Miss Serena laughed and kept messing with April's hair, now braiding it into a ponytail.

Meanwhile, Tyrone looked between me and April. Then at Miss Serena. After that, he looked back at me and said, "So, is this one of those arranged marriages thing, Little Homie? Daaang. Set up for life with a wife already?"

...

===

The first day of filming for Yue went well. As with all first days on the job, it was mostly just orientation. Getting to know the crew, the set, and the scenes. But they managed to get some shots in and the reception to her acting was good.

'It seems like Alex was right. I'm not half bad at this.'

Yue hid her satisfied smile as she walked into the elevator of the hotel. Pressing the button for the fourth floor, she reflected on it a bit more.

'Too be fair though, I AM kind of perfect for the role...'

Being a Power Ranger required being able to actually fight and do stunts as well as act when the time came for it.

Now, the acting wasn't hard per se.

It was more keeping a straight face while acting since it was DEFINITELY very hammy.

But Yue had plenty of experience with keeping a straight face from the antics of her adorable little nephew.

Between ignoring how he was definitely training to be able to break people apart, his ridiculous boasts about becoming world class, his random skill sets, and how he had an uncanny eye for investments in tech, Yue had plenty of experience in staying composed with even the most outlandish development.

...Especially when the 'bad guy' for the episode was a man in a full rubber costume.

As Yue stepped out of the elevator, she hummed and murmured, "Maybe I should bring Alex on set one of these days?"

She noticed that there were a few kids around already anyway. Family and friends of the cast or crew. Said kids were also much more rowdy than Alex ever was.

Yue giggled and said, "Maybe I convince Serena to let April come too..."

April was definitely going to be trouble. That sweet girl looked calm with her innocent appearance, but she was a bundle of energy and curiosity.

Which would make it all the more fun since Alex would be reeling her in.

'Well. My adorable nephew DID say that he was going to make April happy.'

Yue smiled and then pulled out her keycard to their room. 497, just like when she left that morning.

And when she swiped into the room and walked in...

"But Moooomy! How come I can't marry Alex?"

"April. Bestie. We're like, five and six."

"So!? I like Alex!"

...Yue came across a ridiculous sight.

April was practically glued to Alex's side, pouting while waving a stick figure drawing of what liked herself and Alex at the altar.

Alex was desperately trying to get free and talk April down.

Meanwhile, Serena was taking pictures with a Kodak camera, smiling the entire time.

Alex noticed Yue and quickly waved. "Mom! Help me explain to April that I can't marry her!"

"Why not?!"

Yue sighed.

===

Okay, so. While Mister Tyrone was cool, never going to forgive him for putting the idea of marriage into April's head.

While it seemed cute and fine from the observer's POV, I was very much an adult in a child's body. A (dubiously) mentally adjusted adult too.

I wasn't like a certain jobless reincarnator who was a complete degenerate and took advantage of his childhood status to perv out on women as well as go full lolicon.

Big no from here. Too much like grooming. That was why I was trying to at least shift things into the platonic status and stay friends with April at LEAST until high school.

It would still be questionable... but it would also mean I had at least ten years to shift April's attention away from me and to someone more suitable.

...Though I had the feeling that wasn't going to really help me in the long run. The childhood friends trope was too strong and I don't think I could push myself to break her heart...

Welp, problem for future me.