Chapter 9: A Stylish Prescription

Chapter 9:
A Stylish Prescription

 

IT WAS A PEACEFUL AFTERNOON, but Zeral had dropped in to complain for the seventy-eighth time in the past three days.

“Feris is obsessing about something,” he told me. “So, Reiji, pal—”

“Hrm…?”

My eyes were suddenly drawn to Zeral’s scalp. Wait. How old is he again? I’m pretty sure we’re around the same age.

“Why are you spacing out?” Zeral griped.

“Uh, sorry. It’s nothing. Anyway, buddy…how old are you?”

“What’s gotten into you? I’m twenty-six.”

“You’re two years older than me, sir?”

“S-sir?! Come on, don’t be so cold!”

I chuckled. “I’m just messing with you. Twenty-six, huh? So, is being the head of the Alonzo family at that age stressful?”

“Hmm, not really. Most days are pretty fun, and if something nasty happens, I have you to complain to!”

“What about Feris?” I continued. “Are things going well?”

“Yup. We’re head over heels in love with each other.”

“Okay, fine. Wait!” I remembered that Zeral said Feris had been complaining. “I think I know what’s on Feris’s mind.”

“Really?! I should’ve expected as much from the genius alchemist! Is she worried about having a kid or something?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. I’m betting it’s about you.”

“Wait, what? What could it be?” Zeral crossed his arms, tilting his head.

Behind him, Feris entered the drugstore. Noticing her boyfriend, she quietly backed away, watching things unfold from a distance.

I locked eyes with Feris. Want to talk to me about his problem? I mouthed, pointing at Zeral’s scalp. She nodded.

I guess she understood what I meant. Ugh…I knew it’d be that. Oh, well.

“I’m too busy to explain this,” I told Zeral. “Go home for now. Come back if you figure things out with Feris for yourself.”

“Dude, come on!” Zeral left the store, irritated.

“Hey, Feris,” I called.

She made sure her boyfriend was gone before coming to the counter. “Hello, Mr. Reiji. Um, I take it you saw Zeral’s problem?”

“Yup. It’s a shame.”

“That’s my line,” Feris sighed. “I noticed his hair thinning. I haven’t brought it up with him…but he’s definitely going bald.”

Zeral’s twenty-six, huh? Man, why is this making me gloomy? I sighed. “Feris, you haven’t been tying Zeral down lately, have you?”

“I mean, sometimes I tie him down with ropes, but…”

“I’m not talking about what you do between the sheets!” They’re seriously into bondage? Man, it’ll be awkward next time I see him. “I’m talking about stress. That could cause what’s happening to Zeral’s hairline.”

“I drink the tea you prescribed me every night, so I’ve been very even-keeled.”

“Good to hear. Hrm…well, is this really such a big deal? At the end of the day, Zeral is Zeral.”

Feris shook her head sadly. “When I first brought him home, I heard the maids talking behind our backs. ‘Is that lame guy Lady Feris’s boyfriend? How old is he?’ Even Father brought it up. ‘Has Zeral always looked like that?’ You should’ve seen his expression.”

“Not many dads are apathetic about their daughters’ boyfriends.”

“I honestly should’ve scolded the maids…but, instead, I found myself agreeing. I don’t want to break up with Zeral over something like thinning hair, though. I worship the ground he walks on!”

“Yeah, yeah. Enough with the lovebird stuff. I get it, you’re soul mates.”

If Feris and Zeral were in love, why did she care about anything else? I supposed that, since Feris was a wealthy merchant’s daughter, she had an image to maintain. And I could understand wanting your partner to be as cool as possible.

“Look, Zeral isn’t some lady-killer. He’s a normal guy, like me.”

“When did this become a competition?”

I shrugged. “Let me guess. You want a treatment?”

“Yes. Is it possible? Can you prescribe a miracle drug to make Zeral a hundred times cooler?”

“Like hell!” That wouldn’t be a miracle drug, it’d just be a miracle! “If we fix the reason Zeral’s uncool, it wouldn’t raise any eyebrows. And I guess he’ll be more stylish than before.”

That was enough to get Feris to agree.

Heading for the lab, I bumped into Mina and Noela doing the dishes. “Hey, ladies, I have a question. Let’s say I suddenly had a super-ugly face. Would you treat me any differently?”

Mina nearly burst into laughter. “That’s an odd question to ask out of nowhere.”

“No worries, Master! No become ugly.”

“This is a what-if situation.”

Mina stacked some plates and then finally answered. “No matter what happens, you’re you, Mr. Reiji. Nothing could change that.”

“Noela no change. Master no change!” There were folks, like Noela, who immediately rejected what-if scenarios.

Still, I hugged the two tightly. “Thanks.” My girls are the best.

“You’re such a weirdo, Mr. Reiji.”

“Lonely, Master?”

“Nah,” I assured Noela. “Ah—crap. I can’t keep Feris waiting too long.”

I got my butt into the lab and started the new concoction. I sympathized with Feris, and at the end of the day, I couldn’t just stand by as Zeral’s friend.

I shook the bottle, and its contents shone.

 

Hair-Growth Shampoo: Grows hair and promotes blood flow in scalp.

 

“It’s hard watching someone go bald so young,” I muttered. I was betting that Zeral’s hair loss was genetic; it likely had nothing to do with stress. With this shampoo, though, he would be fine.

I took the bottle back to the storefront. “Feris, if Zeral washes his hair with this—”

“He’ll be cool again?”

“Well, no. It’s a shampoo that promotes hair growth.”

“I’ll have him use it right away!” Feris snatched the bottle and ran out of the drugstore.

 

***

 

Several days later, a tanned stranger with gold highlights in his hair entered Kirio Drugs. “Sup, Reiji baby?!” He approached me with his hand raised.

Does he want me to high-five him? “Heh heh…hey.”

Slap!

“Yeah, bro!”

Who was this dude, and why was he so buddy-buddy with me?

“So, like, Feris totally got on my ass about using that shampoo stuff,” he told me. “Guess it’s your new thing, yeah?”

Wait—Feris? And he’s got long hair… No way. Is this surfer dude really…Zeral? I mean, I said he’d be more stylish, but I meant his hair!

“Oh, uh, yeah. That was me,” I chuckled.

“Right on!”

“I’m glad your hair regrew, sir.”

“Hold up! What do you mean, ‘sir’? Aren’t we best friends? Break down these lame walls between us, dude!”

“Sir, when you go back to normal, so will I,” I insisted.

“Wha…?” Zeral shook his head. “Anyway, this hair’s rad! How wicked am I? Heck yeah, dude! It’s like I’m the only one hangin’ ten!”

“You’re definitely something else.”

“I was getting hella worried about how much hair was wiping out. Know what I mean, man?”

You were getting worried? It was already game over for you!

“Then you whipped up that shampoo, bro! Once I used it, I woke up with a full head of hair! That crap is legit, for real. Did you make it just for me?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Thanks, bro!” Surfer Zeral raised his hand.

Fine, I’ll play along. I gave him yet another high-five.

Immediately, he gripped my hand. “Here’s to our bromance!”

“Please don’t say that. It’s embarrassing.”

“Reiji’s gettin’ all shy! Whoa!”

“You suck,” I muttered.

Sending him home, I headed back to work.

A few days later, I heard through the grapevine that Feris had requested Zeral’s surfer act. Once his hairline changed, she apparently wanted him to match everything else to his long hair, producing the beast known as Surfer Zeral.

I guess changing your hairstyle can make you want to change in other ways, too. But, seriously, what was she even shooting for?!

“Talk about going overboard,” I muttered.

A few days later, the usual Zeral dropped in, neither bald nor a surfer.

Looking at him, I thought to myself, Normal Zeral is much easier to swallow.