The Most Eligible Bachelor

by Delmire Hart

  Lunch was a surprisingly relaxed affair. Mori seemed to enjoy the food, complimenting him more than once, and the topics stayed a lot more neutral than earlier. Laughing freely and enjoying the small, genuine smile on Mori’s face, Takumi realised that it almost felt like a date.

  The thought left a warm, fluttering feeling in his stomach.

  This was not what he had planned.

  ***

  Mori had to go back to work after lunch so Takumi made use of his freedom to grab his camera and head off into the gardens that surrounded the mansion to snap off some photos. He even ventured off the edge of the property into the slightly forested area much to Watari’s obvious annoyance. The man wasn’t allowed to speak while the cameras were rolling but the glares made his opinion known just as well.

  Still, it had been a refreshing little adventure and Takumi was feeling a lot more energetic than before. Almost enough to be able to deal with Kaneko’s whining. Almost. He groaned aloud at the memory of earlier in the day and ran his hands over his face. Watari gave him an odd look from behind the camera and he explained in despair.

  “If Kaneko finds out about today, then I’ll never hear the end of it. I hope he’s too wrapped up in whatever he did today that he doesn’t check the day’s highlights.” Watari’s smirk suggested that he actually wanted Kaneko to find out. Of course, he wants to get back at him for the hike. “Don’t look so smug, if Kaneko finds out then you’ll have trouble finding me while I avoid his damn whinging.”

  That wiped the smirk off the other man’s face quickly.

  Thankfully when they returned everyone was so caught up in their own day’s adventures no one asked Takumi about his own day. Even better, everyone was too tired to want to ‘help’ cook and Takumi got the kitchen to himself once again after declining to join in on ordering takeout.

  He was just pulling out his ingredients when he remembered that Mori had been holed up all day except for their lunch. He was definitely the type of person to skip dinner or forget to eat completely because of work. Decided, he got out a slightly larger portion and set to making some for Mori too.

  Once done, he loaded it up on a little tray and ventured further into the mansion. He had a rough idea where Mori’s office and quarters were. Several contestants had spent the first day locating it and spread the word. Approaching the closed door, he held the tray in one hand so he could knock before carefully opening the door.

  Mori looked up at him with raised eyebrows when he poked his head around. Quietly, he entered and placed the tray down on the edge of the desk. He gave the man a little smile and wave before exiting the office, careful to shut the door as quietly as possible.

  Happy that Mori would at least have something to eat for dinner, he picked his own up from the kitchen. Any hopes of finishing the pleasant day with an equally pleasant evening were dashed as Kaneko careened into the room with a screech.

  “You!” he pointed and spat out the word with venom. “You conniving little bitch!” Takumi blinked, food halfway to his mouth. “You stayed back to get alone time with Mori-san!”

  “If you actually watched what happened you would realise that I didn’t plan anything,” he retorted before focusing back on his food.

  Kaneko’s face was red, and he looked like he could pop in anger. The kitchen quickly filled up as more people poured in. There was an equal amount of bitchy snark and amused smiles. Takumi ignored most of it and just kept trying to eat. Until the kitchen suddenly went dead silent and Takumi looked up to see Mori walking into the kitchen with the tray from earlier in hand. He noted with satisfaction that it was devoid of food. The man placed the tray in the sink and walked over to Takumi.

  “Thank you for dinner, Takumi.” Just the way the man said his name made his face heat up in embarrassment. “It was very thoughtful; my secretary is always getting on my case about forgetting to eat when I’m working.”

  Mori then lent forward, getting way too close, and Takumi tried to escape only to realise that the man’s hands caged him in place, one on the back of his chair and the other on the table. Warm lips missed their intended target and pressed a chaste kiss to the side of his mouth. Takumi watched, frozen in place, as the man left with a small smirk. He could feel his face burning, even the tips of his ears felt hot. He couldn’t even register the shrieking happening on the other side of the kitchen.

  Jian sidled over and gave him a frank, approving once over.

  “I would never have thought that you of all people would be the biggest competition here.”

  Shit.

  ***

  All the drama that evening was worth it when he woke up the next morning to a beautiful aroma and discovered a steaming mug of coffee along with a box of pocky on his bedside table.

  He drank his coffee in bed to the sound of Kaneko squealing in jealousy. It was a surprisingly sweet sound when paired with his perfectly sweet wake up call.

  Chapter Five

  Takumi practically quivered in excitement. They finally had a group date right up his alley. The theme for today was wilderness, and they were told to dress in athletic gear so he was feeling pumped up in his running gear. After being cooped up inside for most of the three weeks, he was itching to go for a real run.

  The arrival of Nikolai in flashy running gear that looked like it had never been worn disrupted his thoughts. He had the typical cocky smirk in place and looked over the assembled group.

  “I hope you are all looking forward to getting some fresh air today!” He chuckled as the group grumbled uneasily. “How is it that the normally early morning zombie Sleeping Beauty is the only one excited for this?” Takumi pouted at the nickname.

  “It’s because I already fed him two coffees.” Yume giggled when Takumi shot her a mock wounded look of betrayal and there was a general round of chuckles from the contestants.

  “Well, no doubt you are all keen to learn a little more about today’s theme! For the first part, we will partake in a hike up the small hillside out the back of the mansion. After that there will be a little contest but you’ll have to wait and see what it is!”

  More than one groan greeted the mention of a hilly hike but Takumi was bouncing on the balls of his feet by this point. A run was just what he needed to clear his head and get his enthusiasm back. The entrance of their resident bachelor caught his attention. His t-shirt was skin tight. Damn, those abs were drool worthy. Yume giggled while Jian snorted at his words.

  Takumi really needed to remember his brain to mouth filter. One of these days his mouth will get him in trouble.

  Thankfully no one else had heard his comment and soon they were trailing out of the mansion. The pace that Nikolai set was agonisingly slow even at the head of the group and Takumi had taken to running a little ahead now and then before returning to the group. The cameramen quickly got sick of trying to chase him around and left him on his own when he ran ahead. He had just returned to the front of the group and already he wanted to run off again.

  “He’s like an excitable little puppy straining against his lead.” Takumi scowled at Nikolai but the man kept talking over his head at Mori. “You need to teach him to heel.”

  “Somehow I don’t think he would take to well to a leash.” The stupid man sounded amused!

  “You’d have to catch me first,” Takumi grumbled darkly before dashing off ahead in a huff. Rude.

  He hadn’t gotten very far when the thin scattering of trees opened up into a clearing and Takumi whooped in excitement. An obstacle course! It was made up of planks of wood and ropes, partially on the ground and partially suspended between trees. This one was in the bag, finally a challenge right up his alley!

  The only problem was waiting until the rest of the group caught up. It wasn’t long before the front of the group caught up but they had to wait ages before those lagging behind appeared. There was more than one groan of apprehension at the challenge laid out before them as people arrived.

  “Physical fitness is an important
part of a healthy, active lifestyle,” Nikolai grinned at the gathered group, “and how you take on challenges out of your comfort zone is very telling of your character. Today’s challenge is the obstacle course behind me.” He gestured to the course with his typical grand flourish. “You will have thirty minutes to see how all the obstacles work and practise then you will take turns to run the course. The fastest time wins the next solo date with Mori-san. You can miss obstacles but a thirty second penalty will be added to your finishing time for each one missed. Your practise time starts now!”

  Everyone scrabbled forward and split into small groups to inspect the different obstacles. Takumi took the first five minutes scoping out the course and decide on a good route. All the obstacles were similar to things he had practised parkour with in his spare time and were rather tame to be honest.

  He moved back to the start and jogged past each of the obstacles in the order he planned to run them and made a few adjustments. Happy with his plan of attack, he moved to practise going over each of the obstacles and ended up demonstrating proper ways to cross a few of them to the other contestants.

  The sound of a whistle blowing lead them all back to the start of the course where Mori and Nikolai stood.

  “Time is up and now we will begin the races! By constantly running ahead during our walk here, the excitable puppy has volunteered to go first.” Takumi scowled at Nikolai as he stepped forward towards the starting line. “We saw you helping out some of the others with the course, you must be pretty confident if you gave up such a big advantage.”

  Takumi grinned. “Yeah, I am.” He flashed them both a look of fiery determination, no way would he lose this. He was going to go all out.

  Nikolai laughed and ushered him forward. “Alright then, show us what you’ve got.”

  Takumi lined up at the starting line and waited for his countdown. On go he took off like a flash and darted across a thin walk bridge then up a tree to a rope swing. He practically bounced from one obstacle to the next, utilising his high manoeuvrability and speed to take a route that wouldn’t work for anyone else here.

  He slid under an obstacle he had crossed earlier to get to one behind it, they had set up the course in such a way as to slow people down while they went around already completed obstacles to get to the final ones but that wasn’t a problem for Takumi. Well used to tricky parkour and freerunning courses that stretched one’s ability to plan and move, this was a piece of cake.

  The astonished look on everyone’s faces was well worth his slightly out of breath state once he finished. Leaving the person who had timed him to write down the results, Takumi made his way back to the starting line with a satisfied grin.

  “Well, who wants to go next to try and top that performance?”

  Silence met Nikolai’s words, baring the odd bird call, until Riko flopped to the grass with a sigh. “Can I just not do it and say I did? Because there’s no way in hell I’m beating that.”

  “Now, now Riko-chan, that’s not the attitude to have.”

  Leaving everyone to it, Takumi walked a little away from everyone and stretched out on the grass in a nice sunny spot. May as well relax and maybe nap a little while he waited, it would be at least an hour before everyone had run through the course.

  He was dozing when he felt a shadow falling across him and Takumi opened his eyes to see who blocked the warm sunlight.

  “Solar powered indeed.”

  Takumi recognised the deep voice just as his eyes focused enough to see the offered hand above him. He accepted the hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, stumbling slightly once up. Mori shook his head but there was an upward twitch to his lips that Takumi didn’t miss. He could only grin as a red rose held out to him.

  “Congratulations on the fastest time, Takumi.”

  Hiding the shiver that hearing his name roll off that tongue caused, he accepted the rose and carefully cradled it in his hands.

  Looks like it was finally his turn for a solo date.

  ***

  Two full days he’d had to wait and now tomorrow was his solo date with Mori. Takumi was lying on the roof stargazing having ditched both the other contestants and the cameras. He was nervous about tomorrow but perhaps not for the reason most people thought. Sure, it was intimidating to have so much alone time with the man, especially after what he has heard from others about their dates, but that wasn’t all.

  Each time he thought about the next day his mind brought up the almost kiss from the beginning of the week before skittering away in nervous embarrassment. He wasn’t very good at the whole ‘think before you act’ thing and really needed to think of other things. Like the other reason he was nervous.

  There had been some kind of big emergency thing for Mori at work and he had to leave the mansion for an entire day after their group date. He spent the next day with everyone in apology but Takumi was concerned. Not about the man’s work, but about the dark lines under his eyes.

  Just how much of a toll did this show take on him? How late did he stay up each night to make sure all the work was completed even while he was away before then having a full day with the contestants? Mori looked exhausted. He was clearly trying to hide it, distracting everyone and brushing off any queries about it.

  Takumi wasn’t fooled.

  So he did the only thing he could think of; he went to Nikolai and requested to change the planned date. He had no idea what they had originally planned but now everyone else was getting kicked out of the mansion and Takumi would make sure Mori ate properly and hopefully even rest a little.

  ***

  “I have to admit, this was unexpected.”

  Takumi glanced over to Mori who carefully chopped the vegetables he had handed him. He didn’t reply at once, choosing to put a few things into a pot and making sure it was at the right temperature before speaking.

  “I’m not sure what was originally planned…”

  “Skydiving, a nice dinner, then dancing at one of my clubs.”

  Takumi paused, that sounded amazing. He sprang back into gear after a moment and packaged up the picnic food he had just finished preparing.

  “That would have been fun.” He gave a wistful sigh and Mori shot him a confused look.

  “I thought you might enjoy that, but Nikolai said that you requested to change the plans without even knowing them.” Takumi nodded. “Why?”

  He glanced up Mori who had stopped chopping and turned to face him slightly. Reaching up, Takumi ran gentle fingers along the lines under Mori’s eyes.

  “Because of these,” he spoke quietly, concern lacing his voice. “How late do you stay up to get all your work done before having to get up early to take part in this show? Do you get any sleep at all some nights? As fun as skydiving and dancing sounds, I can’t enjoy myself if you won’t enjoy it because you are pushing yourself too hard. And I can’t in good conscience ignore the state you're in just because I wanted to go.”

  Suddenly realising just how close they were standing, how intimate the gesture of running his fingers across Mori’s face like that was, he pulled back with a slight flush and returned to the task at hand.

  “And why this?” Mori gestured to the picnic food that they were preparing.

  “Because I can make sure you eat something good. You have said before that you often forget to eat when working,” Takumi gently chided.

  “I admitted I can barely cook yet I have to help prepare, even if all I’m doing is a slow and shoddy job of cutting some vegetables.”

  “Mhmm.”

  “What’s the reason behind that?” Mori sounded genuinely curious.

  “Something my mother always told me,” Takumi replied absently, “‘Love is in the details.’ The act of cooking together encourages cooperation and communication. It gives us the chance to talk freely but without the pressure of always being facing each other. We also have to talk to get everything prepared correctly and have the meal completed. So the conversation is always moving, chang
ing, but it lessens the pressure. It’s also fun. You must always go to these fancy restaurants and go through all the pomp of eating out for work, right? So this will be a nice change. You can relax, have a nap even. There’s no pressure at a picnic, just the sun, the grass, the sky, and whoever you are with.” He was quiet for a moment as he packaged up another selection of picnic food before he continued.

  “My parents have just had their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary so they are the example I look up to. I mean, they must be doing something right and the ‘love is in the details’ is the one phrase they live by. They cook together nearly every evening. Well, my father can’t cook at all and gets relegated the easiest jobs even after all these years, but he still makes an effort to get home on time to help out. Sometimes they bring home special ingredients that are in season or on sale to have something different and surprise the other.

  “Even if he has to go back to work afterwards when doing overtime, often my father will come home just for dinner and spend an hour or so with my mother. So, while it might seem silly to some, I would rather not have a big extravagant date or expensive present. What does that really show me? That you are willing to spend money on me? Anyone can do that. Not everyone would take time out of their busy day to spend time with me. To me, those details mean far more than anything.”

  There was silence while Takumi took over the rest of the preparation and finally loaded everything into a large wicker basket. He grabbed the basket and a large blanket before turning to Mori with a sunny smile.

  “Ready?”

  A large hand reached out and plucked the picnic basket out of his grip.

  “Love is in the details hmm? Just like how you changed the date today and missed out on something you wanted to do in concern for me?”