by Delmire Hart
“What?” She whispered, her lower lip trembling as her eyes misted over. Mori traded an alarmed glance with Jian who reclined next to him and Riko reached over to snatch the phone from the now teary idol.
“Oh, hell no! What the fuck is this?!” Riko practically roared in rage as she glared at the phone. “This is bullshit, what does he think he’s doing?!”
Mori’s eyebrows were virtually in his hair at the language but Jian beat him to the punch.
“What’s happened?”
“Hisato’s posted all this nasty shit about everyone here. Something about how he’s finally letting out his ‘true’ feelings. What the fuck.” She was still scrolling through, so there must be more than one little rant. He noted the use of Takumi last name instead of the usual ‘Taku-chan’. Riko was fiercely protective of her friends and Yume’s tears seemed particularly potent.
Still, something seemed off about the situation as Takumi didn’t have a mean bone in his body. He could be blunt and too honest but not nasty or calculating. Kaneko took that moment to waltz into the room and he had to fight down a groan of annoyance. The man was in work out gear with a towel wrapped around his neck as though he had just come from the built-in gym.
“What are you screeching about?”
“Oh, that’s rich coming from you,” Riko sneered back, “but Hisato’s posting shit about everyone on our twitter. No one’s been left out. I kinda agree with him that you’re a slimy little bitch though.”
Kaneko snorted and went to sit down on the small footstool on the other side of the room. “So, his true colours have come out, huh? I didn’t think that cutesy, happy persona could be his real personality. No one’s that nice. And I return the sentiment wholeheartedly.”
Mori bit the inside of his cheek to stop from commenting as they traded sneers, instead making sure his blank expression was in place. Something was wrong, and he would not get involved until he figured it out because Takumi’s personality was genuine, Mori had no doubts on that account. He couldn’t lie to save himself and truly placed others welfare above his own.
Also, why suddenly start using the twitter program now after all this time? Riko was shrieking again, and he noticed even Jian looked troubled.
“He better had a damn good reason for this or I’m going to beat his ass!”
Yume’s watery voice spoke up, “Am I really vapid and useless? He is always so nice, is that how he really feels?”
“Oh, honey. No, don’t let those nasty comments get to you. Just treat it like those nasty people online that don’t know you.”
“But he does know me! It hurts worse because I thought he was a friend…” Yume looked like she would start crying again and Kaneko snickered in the corner. Mori was going to have to have a good look at the cameras from the last few hours.
He had just stood to go in search of Kugo whose team was in charge of monitoring the cameras for security when the man in question stumbled into the room. Takumi stopped just inside the doorway and seemed to sway on the spot as he stared at everyone in apparent confusion. There was complete silence, and no one moved for a long-extended moment before the entire room suddenly erupted in uproar.
Riko launched towards Takumi screaming while Jian jumped forward to intercept her. Yume yelled hysterically in the corner through her tears, demanding answers and Kaneko had actually started to laugh.
What concerned Mori the most however was Takumi’s lack of response. He stood there, barely standing straight and looking around in confusion. It seemed like he couldn’t see what was going on. Jian successfully intercepted the yelling young woman and Mori strode forward to take Takumi’s face in his hands.
His clothes reeked of alcohol but his breath didn’t and even more alarming was that his pupils were different sizes. Large blue eyes blinked owlishly at him but there was no recognition in them, it was like he had trouble focusing on anything at all. Mori pulled his phone out from his pocket to make a call for medical help when more people burst through the door.
Kugo barrelled through first and Mori blinked in shock; the giant man looked positively livid. He didn’t think he had ever seen such an outward showing of emotion than what was on his face right now. One of the mansion’s medical staff pulled Takumi to sit onto the nearby couch while talking to him softly. Mori forced down his want to follow and instead turned his attention to Nikolai who brought up the rear looking grim.
“What the hell is going on?” he demanded.
Nikolai’s reply was interrupted by Kaneko squealing as Kugo roughly forced him to his feet and restrained his hands behind his back.
“Let go of me! I haven’t done anything!”
Kugo grunted and started bodily hauling the other man from the room. “Hisato-san is a good kid and you’re getting in the way of the boss’s happiness. Now it’s time to take the trash out.”
Somewhat amused over his chief of security’s gruff words, Mori turned back to raise his eyes at the presenter who snickered at the trash comment. Nikolai coughed then cleared his throat loudly, and the room fell silent other than the person assisting Takumi.
“We were contacted online by a concerned viewer who saw what appeared to be Kaneko slipping something into Hisato’s morning coffee. Kaneko stood with his back shielding most of his movements from the camera but he moved right at the last moment, just enough to give the camera a quick view of a packet in his hands. Around ten minutes after that incident Hisato was caught swaying and stumbling before he was assisted from the room by Kaneko. Neither of them are seen for the next hour. The cameras were taken offline in part of the mansion however they were still filming to their back up security feeds that are separate from the livestreams.
“It seems Kaneko traded sexual favours with the head editor and livestream supervisor to get the camera’s taken down for ‘maintenance’ for a few hours. He has then slipped Hisato what we assume is a date rape style drug and gotten access to his phone to post the incriminating tweets to try to ‘expose’ him. We had completed the investigation as Hisato came back on the regular cameras. The surveillance cameras show Kaneko soaking Hisato’s t-shirt in alcohol, no doubt to give an excuse for his behaviour.”
There was silence as the facts sunk in. Mori turned to sit beside Takumi as the medical staff called for someone to get a blanket and a bucket. Both Riko and Jian were gone in a flash to fetch the requested objects.
“Does he need to go to the hospital?” Mori asked the onsite doctor in concern.
“Not yet. We have enough qualified staff to keep him here under observation but given that it has been a few hours now, most of it should have worked through his system. We need to keep him warm, hydrated, and under observation until he comes back to himself. He will most likely be quite sick, something like a hangover for the rest of the day. He’ll need to sleep that part off.”
“The police have also been contacted and will most likely request a statement from him. Memory loss is common with those types of drugs, however.” Mori glanced over to Nikolai, catching the look of warning and give a small nod in return. His retribution would have to wait until Kaneko had been investigated and charged.
That was the only downside of this infuriating show being so public. Thankfully Kugo would already be aware to wait as it was no doubt him who authorised the contact with the authorities. They had to play above board for now but Kaneko would be easily dealt with soon and no one would even know about his involvement.
After all, Kaneko’s very unstable mentally and now unable to get the object of his obsession. Such a shame he would be found having committed suicide within a week of being kicked off the show.
***
Takumi woke slowly, and it took some time to realise the full extent of just how awful he felt. Head pounding, room spinning, and ears ringing type awful. He groaned and buried himself further into the warmth that surrounded him. Grumbling as what he was lying on moved, he tried to will it to stop moving before he bolted upright as his stomach churned.
A glass of water was held up to his lips once his retching subsided, and he sat up more. He eagerly tried to take it but his hand shook so much that the other person had to guide it to his lips so he could swill his mouth out. Finally feeling somewhat more stable and conscious, he looked around. He sat wrapped in a blanket while curled up in Mori’s arms with Jian sitting right beside him holding the glass of water carefully.
“I was going to ask how you were feeling but I think that has already been answered.”
Takumi pulled a face at Mori before burrowing back down into the blankets and curling up against the man’s chest.
“I’m going to sleep for a year,” he croaked out as he closed his eyes. He felt more than heard the deep rumble of the other man’s chuckle and the bucket was removed from his lap. Sleep claimed him quickly.
Takumi drifted for some time before a low conversation slowly brought him back to awareness. He listened before he recognised the voices and slipped one sleepy eye open. Jian sat above him and he realised that was whose lap he was using a pillow. He shifted slightly to look to the other side of the couch and blinked at a pouting Nikolai.
“Takumi, how are you feeling?”
He looked up to his Chinese friend before snuggling back down and closing his eyes again as a slender hand ran through his hair gently.
“Crap,” he mumbled.
Jian laughed. “The others are making you some soup, so you can sleep for a while longer. I’ll shoo off the jealous Russian that is disturbing you.” He heard Nikolai grumble and whine all the way to the door and silence descended again. The hand continued its gentled stroking. “You know, if you and Mori don’t work out you are always welcome in Hong Kong.”
At that, he swung around to blink sleepily at the other man in surprise. His brain struggled to process the implications of that statement when Jian brushed his fingers down his cheek and carefully pressed his eyes closed.
“Never mind, just rest, Takumi.”
The next time he was woken was by Riko and Yume who waited for Jian to sit him up before crowding in on either side of him. They pressed in close and helped him slurp down a thin chicken broth.
His quiet thanks was met with firm refusals. “It’s our turn to look after Taku-chan! You’re always looking after us, so it’s the least we can do. Also as apology for ever doubting you. We should have known you would never say such awful things.”
That was when they filled him in with what had happened. Honestly, he was drawing a blank from everything after getting up that morning. There weren’t even fuzzy memories, just nothing. Trying to think caused his head to pound even more, and he quickly gave up.
Once he had managed all he could of the broth, the girls vanished off to the kitchen and Mori took their place. Takumi found himself being bundled up onto the man’s lap still wrapped in his blankets. He was so securely wrapped in place with only his head visible he was like a human sushi roll.
“Are you feeling any better?” Mori’s deep voice was soothing and so very comforting.
“A little.”
“Do you remember anything?”
He shook his head but had to stop as the room spun at the motion. It took a moment for the spinning to stop so he could actually reply. “I don’t remember anything after getting up this morning.”
“Memory loss is normal with those types of drugs. Don’t stress about it.”
Takumi hummed his agreement and let himself be pulled closer so his head rested on the other man’s shoulder. Large arms wrapped tightly about his waist and he couldn’t help but feel safe. It was like nothing would happen while he was wrapped in his embrace like this.
“Could you read to me?”
Too sick to feel embarrassed at the request, Takumi turned his face up to catch Mori’s eyes. The man chuckled and ruffled his hair.
“I’d have to let you go to get our book.”
“I’ll go fetch it.” Jian stood from where he had been reclining on the couch opposite and set off into the mansion once he received his instructions on where to locate the novel. He returned quickly with the murder mystery that Mori had started reading to him a few weeks ago.
Takumi settled in for the evening as did the other contestants who were sitting in the lounge. Mori picked up where they left of all that time ago and he closed his eyes, letting that smooth voice wash over him. It quickly lulled him into a deep sleep.
Chapter Twelve
Takumi still felt rather unwell, even a day later, but thankfully no one made him to do anything. The other contestants took over the cooking for the day and everyone kept a wary eye on him as though he might collapse at any moment. It would be annoying if he wasn’t feeling so tired after being drugged yesterday. As it was, he was just grateful to be left in his sunny napping spot in peace.
Still, it was the day of the second rose ceremony where four contestants would be voted off and only five will stay. Kaneko had been whisked away to not be seen again and Takumi could only assume he got kicked off for trying to sabotage another contestant. It was such a relief to have the bitchy drama queen gone for good though.
Now there was only one week left until Mori handed off the final rose.
Takumi had mixed feelings over the two months coming to a close. On one hand, it would be good to get back to real life and see his friends and family again. On the other hand, he would miss some of the people here and Mori… Well, he might have fallen for the man just a little.
What happens if he isn't picked? Mori and Jian seem to get along very well. Would that mean he has to return to his normal life feeling a little broken-hearted and never see him again?
Riko and Yume had both already made him promise to keep in touch after the show but he had also made friends with Jian and wanted to keep in touch with the Chinese man. But so far, he had felt too awkward to bring it up. Which was stupid because the ceremony was soon and Takumi could just as likely get kicked off as any of them.
He groaned and sat up from where he lay in the sun. This was stupid. He was going to make himself upset over something that may not even end up happening. Mori seemed to care about him judging from how concerned he had been yesterday. So there was a good chance that Takumi would get a rose and get one more week with the man and maybe even some of his friends. Even better, Kaneko was gone so it would most likely be a very enjoyable week.
***
“Please assemble for the second rose ceremony.”
Nikolai’s voice rang out in the lounge room and everyone got to their feet. The girls had helped Takumi get ready again and had been giggling over his nervousness. He wasn't sure why they found it so damn funny but they couldn't contain themselves. Riko even went so far as to call him ‘oblivious’ but that didn't help him figure out what he was missing. He noticed that they seemed to be another person short this evening, one of the girls was missing and gossip was flying around.
“Don't look so worried.” Jian patted his shoulder. “You of all people should not be worried.” Takumi shot him a confused look, earning himself an amused half smile. “Don't underestimate yourself so much.”
One final pat to the shoulder then the Chinese man moved away to take up his spot so Takumi nervously took his own as Nikolai walked into the room followed by Mori.
“Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the second rose ceremony.” Nikolai waited for a moment as the last person shuffled into place before continuing. “We have changed our plans a little. Kaneko-san has been removed from the show for wilfully attempting to sabotage another contestant and this morning Sugita-san left due to a family emergency. As such, there are only eight contestants left. In light of that, there will only be four roses handed out tonight.
“For the four who stay, you wi
ll each have a date over the next week where you will get to introduce Mori-san to your family. Usual Bachelor tradition dictates that Mori-san would then pick two people and they would meet his family however unfortunately our bachelor has no living family to introduce any of you to.” Gasps and murmurs met his words and Nikolai held up his hand for silence. “Instead this time next week, Mori-san will pick one of you from the remaining four to continue pursuing a relationship with outside of the show.”
Mori stepped forward holding one of the four roses and looked to each contestant in turn. “In no particular order, I will say my choices. It has been an enjoyable few weeks and I hope no one has any regrets spending their time here regardless of the outcome tonight.” He paused briefly before continuing in a lower, softer voice, “Miyara Yume.”
Having missed the previous ceremony, Takumi wasn't ready for the nerves of standing here watching others accepting the roses while his chances dwindled by the minute. Jian was picked next, then Riko. Silence descended while Mori stood twirling the last rose between his fingers. One of the girls started to cry and Takumi briefly wondered why, there was one rose left so there was still a chance.
“Hisato Takumi.”
He jolted slightly at his name and turned to face the other man in surprise. Stumbling, he made his way across the room to accept the rose and flushed as Mori hands lingered a little too long on his own. Mumbling quiet thanks, he hurried back to his spot and hid his pleased little grin behind the rose.
“Please say your goodbyes,” Nikolai intoned solemnly, but he seemed a little more interested in trading suggestive looks with Jian who rolled his eyes back. Takumi didn't miss the twitch of his lips as the Chinese man fought back a smile though.
There were a few tearful goodbyes as four people made their way out of the room leaving the others standing in far less tense silence than earlier.