The Most Eligible Bachelor

by Delmire Hart

  The list went on.

  Only Takumi seemed to care less about appearance as they were all dressed to the nines in the hopes to impress the Bachelor. But it was currently 8am and pre-coffee Takumi had already given up. So, he stood alone in his pyjamas with bed hair still intact in the kitchen while everyone buzzed around, eager to get a glimpse of Mori. Jian was the only other calm one and he stood to the side of the kitchen in another stunning embroidered robe, waiting for his pickup. He seemed quietly smug over getting the first date and they would be out for the entire day, the date even going into the early evening.

  Speculations ran wild on what would be happening.

  Takumi had never actually seen the show before, not that it seemed to matter as they had already changed how it worked, and all their suggestions seemed so over the top. Was the show really going to fork out so much money just for one date? How many were still to come? They were called into a lounge area and everyone squashed together onto three couches. Jian stayed on the outer edge and Takumi gratefully sunk into the couch beside him, legs pulled up in front of him and coffee nursed in his hands.

  Nikolai swept into the room with as much flourish as Takumi recalled from the first night although this time he was dressed in a white suit. Wasn’t it too early for such things? Amused blue eyes lingered on Takumi’s pyjama pants that were covered in little cartoon dinosaurs.

  “Nice pyjamas,” the man said as he smirked at him. Takumi flushed slightly before mumbling his thanks and burying his face in his coffee. Too early for this. Thankfully he was saved further embarrassment as Nikolai moved his attention to Jian. “Now, today is the first solo date. Mori-san has picked out an excellent itinerary for the two of you, are you excited Jian-san?”

  The man in question gave a small smile and tossed his hair back, “I am very much looking forward to it.”

  Nikolai nodded and grinned, opening his arms wide. “Now, I know the rest of you will be keen to know what is going on so I will introduce you to another part of this show. We are livestreaming everything, as mentioned earlier, and this particular TV here is all set up so you may watch any of the camera channels from here.”

  He held up a remote and flicked through channels to demonstrate as he explained, “There is even a channel to go back and watch highlights from the day. These highlights will be picked out by our editing staff but also our viewers who tuned in during the day. These highlights will most likely be what makes it into the TV episodes that will be released weekly. Even more exciting is that the first group date will be tomorrow and for this first one, everyone is invited along!”

  The room erupted into excited whispers but were quickly shushed by Nikolai. “Tomorrows theme is history. I’ll leave you to think over that one, but without further ado, I would like to bring in our Bachelor, Mori-san!”

  The excited whispers came back along with clapping as the man himself entered the room. He was dressed as usual in a three-piece suit and tie. It was almost a shame, he would look totally hot in jeans. There were a few snorted giggles next to him and even Jian swung around to give him an amused smile. It took a moment for Takumi to realise he had spoken out loud and he tried to sink down and become one with the couch. How embarrassing.

  Thankfully he had spoken quietly enough that only those right beside him heard and then Jian rose to his feet after accepting Mori’s hand. He had to admit, they made a truly striking pair together. The Chinese man was slightly shorter with a slimmer stature, but they both had the same kind of elegant gracefulness and calm confidence. The glimpses he had of calculated cunning also suggested that Jian would not back down without a fight.

  But that was a thought for caffeinated Takumi later in the day. Slowly the rest of the people dispersed except for one or two that stayed to play with the TV. He watched disinterestedly until Kaneko crowed with delight as Mori and Jian came on screen. He seemed to be settling in to watch those two talk for the day and Takumi started in surprise as he watched them board a helicopter. Maybe the dates really were all over the top. When the bitchy narrative started, Takumi vacated the room with a roll of his eyes. No way he was going to sit and listen to that.

  Instead, he would work out how they did the food here because if he had as much time up his sleeve has he thought then he was going to cook at least some of his meals. The distraction would be very welcome. After that he might curl up with his hand-held gaming console.

  ***

  What ended up happening was that he supervised the most chaotic lunch preparation for over ten people before getting dragged into a girl’s gossip session with cocktails in another lounge area. He had been given the go ahead to cook for himself and put a list on the forum for any groceries he wanted the day before they were needed. A surprising number of people requested to join in as he cooked although some of the help was a little more enthusiastic than useful.

  After averting more than one disaster, good thing he never wanted to be a chef as he couldn’t handle running a kitchen if it was anything like this, Takumi was cornered by Miyara who grabbed both his hands in hers.

  “Please teach me how to cook, Taku-chan!”

  So now he had three ‘apprentices’ that apparently wanted to sharpen their ‘housewife skills’. He let the insinuation slide with a grimace. If that wasn’t the worst thing, being pulled in for an impromptu selfie with Miyara and her new BFF Riko was close. It topped the list of Worst Things Ever when he later saw that he was tagged once again as #SleepingBeauty. He was now certain he would never live that down.

  But the cocktails were tasty and the four girls he had been adopted by were relatively nice. Miyara was a little air headed but sweet and he appreciated Riko’s snark. She wasn’t malicious, just vocal in her commentary. Aoki was another model, a little more arrogant and aloof than the others but she wasn’t too bitchy either. The last of their little group was Chiyo, the oddball chicken owner that was a little too sweet and naïve.

  Unfortunately, their enjoyable late afternoon drinks were interrupted by a strangled screech. They all froze, but they didn’t have to wait long before an explanation came.

  “THAT SNAKE STOLE THE FIRST KISS!”

  Ah.

  “Somehow I doubt that was a first kiss for either of them.” Giggles met Takumi’s dry words.

  “Yeah, but he already stole the first rose. He’s just being greedy now,” Miyara said with a pout.

  Riko hummed thoughtfully, “Technically, it is a competition. He gets points for getting in quick but stealing a kiss means nothing at this point. I mean, isn’t this partially just an excuse for flashy dates and make out sessions? We’ll have a good opportunity tomorrow to win a rose and snag a solo date. If none of us get it, then let’s get drunk and make our own fun!”

  Well, there was always that.

  ***

  After listening to Kaneko wail and moan about a goddamn kiss all night, Takumi woke up far too early once again. Unfortunately, his nerves were no less frayed now than they were last night.

  Great.

  On the plus side, the petty man was thrilled with the chance of winning a solo date today but now he had holed up in one of the few big bathrooms refusing to let anyone else in.

  Takumi decided to avoid the entire fiasco by trailing down to the kitchen and getting a coffee in his pyjamas. He could throw something on just before they had to leave. By some act of god no one else had the same idea, and the kitchen was mercifully quiet.

  He shuffled in rubbing his eyes and yawning before sluggishly moving to boil the jug and loading up a mug with copious amounts of coffee and sugar. He wondered if anyone would notice if he stole cream instead of milk. The extra sugar sounded amazing right now. He poured the water in, stirred in the milk, and then leaned back against the counter with eyes closed. He took a moment to just inhale the beautiful aroma of morning wakefulness. Once the liquid was half gone, he finally opened his eyes to find that he wasn’t as alone as he thought.

  Mori sat perfectly pristine in his suit, h
air all slicked back with a coffee in one hand and the morning paper all spread out in front of him. He watched Takumi with a hint of amusement.

  “Morning,” Takumi mumbled while trying to ignore the blush slowly taking over his face.

  “Good morning.” That voice was so damn nice. Deep and silky smooth. He could listen to him talk all day. “I take it you aren’t a morning person?”

  Takumi shook his head violently and nearly toppled himself over. He managed to right himself and looked up in time to catch the ghost of a smile on Mori’s lips. The expression immediately smoothed back over and the man took a moment to appraise his appearance.

  “Cute pyjamas.”

  He nearly groaned. He was wearing the same cartoon dinosaur pyjamas from yesterday and made a mental note to see if he had anything less embarrassing for tomorrow. It was probably too late for that now though.

  “They’re comfy,” he mumbled petulantly and winced as a yell erupted from upstairs followed by a bang and swearing, “and that is why I came down here first.”

  Mori chuckled and the sound reverberated through Takumi’s being. It was way too early to be dealing with his gay tendencies.

  “That sounds like a smart move.”

  They were interrupted by Miyara bouncing into the room with an exclamation of ‘Mori-san!’. Suddenly more heads popped through door and Takumi cringed at all the noise before slinking away to finish his coffee in relative peace. He felt sorry for Mori who was now being bombarded by too bright for this time of the morning people. He glanced over his shoulder as he left and caught Mori’s gaze following him. He bolted through the door with a flush.

  Takumi really needed to wake up and get his bearings before trying to deal with that man.

  His mother would probably kill him once they talked next for failing so dismally when the man was right there, virtually served up on a platter. But it wasn’t his fault that he lost all ability to function in the mornings.

  ***

  Takumi had quickly decided that Jian wasn’t all that bad after spending over an hour seated next to him in the limo. He was a little smug and a bit too arrogant but didn’t carry on like some others and held a decent conversation once he relaxed a little.

  Currently he was trading hair care secrets with Miyara and Aoki which was more than a little amusing, except for the despairing looks at Takumi’s own messy blonde hair. Along with the decision to try to make over Takumi at some point when they were stuck at the mansion. He tried to talk them out of it in horror but he wasn’t sure how successful that was.

  Jian didn’t help.

  “You can’t really be called Sleeping Beauty with hair like that.”

  So, feelings of great relief met their arrival at Tokyo Nation Museum. Takumi fled the limo first and almost ran head first into Mori in his effort to escape. He yelped as he flailed, trying to keep his balance after coming to an abrupt halt to avoid collision. He scrunched his eyes up as he waited for the pain from hitting the ground but was surprised to feel arms wrap around his waist. He opened one eye to peek up and see who caught him.

  Familiar golden eyes looked down at him in amusement and Takumi’s own eyes flew wide in surprise. Mori had caught him in a mimic of a dance dip and he was far too close for comfort. He felt his face burn and stuttered incoherently as he was carefully righted.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes!” Takumi practically squeaked and flailed again as he tried to break free. “Sorry about that!”

  Mori held onto him a moment longer before letting go and Takumi stepped back so he once again had his personal space bubble to himself. Those eyes were too mesmerising to be so close to. This entire endeavour was going to be bad for his heart rate, he was sure.

  Miyara and Riko interrupted his thoughts as they linked arms to drag him laughing into the museum. Ugh, he needed to get a grip.

  The event ended up being a race to find all the clues and the first person to locate Mori, who had been whisked away upon them entering the building, won a rose and the next solo date. Takumi had been off to a good start, getting the first few clues quickly and was moving to the next area of the museum when he was stopped by the sight of a small child looking around with tears streaming down her face.

  He carefully approached before kneeling down to get on her level and spoke gently, “Are you lost?” She nodded, lip trembling threateningly. He ignored the other show contestants flying past them without a second glance. “Did you want me to help you find them?” Another small nod. He held out his hand and after a moment the little girl took it.

  He walked slowly, carefully prying a description of her parents and siblings as they made their way to the front of the museum to the information desk. He passed over the information to the lady at the counter and sat by the little girl while they waited. She opened up to him and together they were spinning a large tale about dragons and knights and princesses when an older woman came running up with a tearful yell.

  By the time they had finished thanking him, Takumi was surrounded by the other contestants of the show, all finished and sick of waiting for him. Riko grinned triumphantly at him from her place hanging off Mori’s arm.

  Well, that answered who won.

  “Looks like Sleeping Beauty is actually a white knight in disguise,” Nikolai said with a laugh before continuing, “You came last but in reward for rescuing the princess.” He winked at the little girl who giggled at being called a princess. “I promote you to runner up. This means there will be a limo re-shuffle and you can join Riko-san with Mori-san in his limo.”

  Takumi barely held back a groan at that. Mori held out his other arm, and he dragged his feet as walked over to slip his own arm through it. He paused for a moment, relishing in the feel of steel muscles under his hands. Those where some nice arms, damn. He caught Kaneko’s death glare as they made to leave the building and sighed.

  Now he would have to deal with Kaneko once they returned.

  Wonderful.

  Chapter Three

  The limo ride back to the mansion proved to be a pleasant affair. It was just the three of them together and Mori’s limo was equipped with a mini drinks bar. So they sat and chatted and drank and the time flew by. Mori turned out to have a decent sense of humour and with both Riko and Takumi there, the conversation never really lulled.

  Takumi felt a little bad about raining on Riko’s parade and getting dragged along but at the same time he was relieved that he got to avoid the cramp and drama of one of the other limos. Mori had come out by himself in his own limo so he could use the travel time to catch up on work and Takumi almost felt bad that he was impeding on that.

  Not bad enough to request a limo switch though.

  He felt a little less awkward in the man’s presence after that. He apologised to Riko for stealing away her alone time with Mori but she waved him off with a grin.

  “It’s fine. It made it less awkward with you there actually, I didn’t know what to talk about! Anyways, I get a whole day to myself with him soon.” She looked like a cat with both the cream and the bird.

  And so, the first week rolled by. Kaneko took to snubbing him and glaring, something that made Takumi happy as it was much better than listening to him whine. Honestly, the man never seemed to stop whining. It was the worst. He spent the day of Riko’s solo date sitting playing games on his hand held in companionable silence with Jian and a man named Okuda.

  Until Yume, as Miyara now insisted he call her, gate crashed with alcohol. Kaneko’s loud screeching started up again soon after and any protest at the alcohol was gone.

  He slept well that night.

  They had another day free after that, although this time Mori was holed up on a long conference call for work. The contestants found themselves left to their own devices for the day with a warning that the group date theme the day after next was ‘talents’.

  Cue simultaneous groan from most of the contestants.

  On the plus side, they had a fair amount time to pr
epare for a possible talent show. How cheesy was that? Ugh. Takumi decided to turn some of his parkour moves into a kind of acrobatic dance. He had loved doing parkour when he was in high school and had joined a club to keep up the hobby when he got older. He was just one of those people that enjoyed being active and moving helped clear his head.

  He conferred with the creepy twins, who were dancers, to find a good song to use. They were a little less creepy now that Takumi had spoken with them more but the finish each other’s sentences thing still threw him off.

  His day was interrupted when he was dragged through the mansion to a small room with a computer with a webcam attached. A stressed looking man sat at a desk in the other corner with multiple screens set up in front of him and he gave his introductions without even looking up.

  “I’m Sakai, main editor and in charge of the cameras and livestreams. You get your hour of family time, we’ve already contacted them ahead of time so it’s all set up ready to go. I’m here to make sure nothing crazy happens but otherwise go for your life. Be warned that everything is still recorded and may appear online or on the TV show, got it?”

  “Okay.”

  Takumi made his way over to the computer and noticed a familiar voice calling program he had used before. It was already set to a contact called ‘Hisato Family’ and he clicked the call with video button. It picked up almost at once and he was engulfed in noise instantly.

  “TAKU-CHAN!” Both his parents were there along with most of his close friends.

  “Hi guys.”

  “Taku, darling.” He groaned, he recognised that tone of voice from his mother. “Just how awkward can you be?!”