[Fic] Hide → Seek
Title: Hide → Seek
Groups/Pairing: KAT-TUN, NaKame; multiple appearances by Team Miracle, Sho (and his hard life) and Sparkly!MatsuJun
Rating: G
Summary: Nakamaru finds himself trying to survive for a million dollars. Emphasis on the trying, with his impromptu caffeine junkie partner confusing him more than helping.
Notes: Many thanks to my beta for looking through despite the thousand and one things on her to-do list ♥ It was a challenge writing this since I don't watch a great deal of non-trashyvariety shows... Written for je_otherworlds. Also, Happy Belated 10th Nakame Anniversary ~ \o/
Dear Nakamaru Yuichi,
Congratulations for making it to the cast of Hide → Seek, the upcoming hit survival-themed reality show. The 20 of you now have the opportunity to win for yourselves one hundred million yen, so get ready for the hide-and-seek game of your life.
This will span a maximum of 20 days, with cameras monitoring the entire island we will ferry you to. Transport will be provided back to Tokyo, Japan for contestants eliminated in each round.
Below is the list of rules and instructions, which contestants must familiarise themselves with before filming commences.
We look forward to meeting you at Hinode Pier along Tokyo Bay on the 23rd of August, 2015, at 0700h.
Just reading the list made Nakamaru tired. Why had he even signed up for this?
Oh right. He was 31, retrenched, and still in debt from college fees. That’s why.
When he was still employed in that dingy publication firm, Nakamaru had thought being 31 and single made for a tough life. Now he knew better.
“I’ve just the thing for you, my friend.”
If Nakamaru wasn’t trying to drown his sorrows in beer, maybe he would have been alert enough to realise something was up. As it was, he let Taguchi, one of his friends from back in college, blather on about some amazing opportunity to win enough cash to clear Nakamaru’s outstanding loans.
His solution? Winning Hide → Seek, some crazy sounding game that reminded Nakamaru uncomfortably of the Survivor show he had once watched.
“You’ll discover things you never knew about yourself and earn a hundred million yen if you’re lucky,” Taguchi encouraged, contagious smiles and all, “you might not be needed in the office but the wild is calling out for you.”
And the moment Taguchi took a stack of forms out of his oversized man bag, completely filled in with Nakamaru’s details, he knew sadistic Ueda had been involved. Oh joy.
The call came one month after Taguchi helpfully sent the forms out.
“Hello, is this Nakamaru Yuichi? Congratulations! We have considered our applications carefully and shortlisted you for our face-to-face auditions! We’ll be forwarding relevant information to the email that you’ve listed so please check your mail shortly.”
Since Nakamaru didn’t manage to get a single word in edgewise besides a ‘yes’ in response to his name, he missed the chance to reject the unwanted opportunity. Perhaps he was still tired from the graveyard shift he had just worked at the nearby convenience store. The email arrived in less than a minute, and finally it dawned on Nakamaru that it was now or never.
His father did always tell him that it was rude not to turn up for scheduled appointments without valid reasons, after all.
The waiting room was huge and Nakamaru shrank back at the fact that men who were double his size dominated the place. Yet opposed to what he saw on reality television, everyone seemed friendly enough, with most sharing on how they would love to spend a hundred million yen if they won it.
Wondering if it would be easier to befriend someone before the competition became intense, Nakamaru tried to look for the most harmless-looking person. However, when he attempted to strike up a conversation with a short dark-skinned man named Ohno, the other man fell asleep instead.
“Am I that uninteresting?” Nakamaru mumbled under his breath.
Someone snickered, and Nakamaru heard a “he does that to everybody”. The speaker identified himself as Aiba (who was then strangely convinced by a fellow contestant wannabe Ninomiya to not reveal his full name lest Nakamaru knew sorcery and used his name to jinx his chances of getting the prize money).
Ninomiya then strolled away without glancing back, and Nakamaru wondered if this programme was looking for oddballs.
“Nakamaru Yuichi, you’re up!”
Bidding farewell to Aiba, Nakamaru mused the futility of Aiba’s decision to keep his name secret since the representatives will holler his full name anyway when it was his turn.
The lights blinded him when Nakamaru took his first step into the audition room.
“Every word you say from this point will be recorded,” a bored voice informed as Nakamaru fumbled his way to a chair positioned in the centre. Nodding, Nakamaru tried not to squint against the bright lights pointed his way. He was by no means a pro photographer but surely such harsh lighting was bound to lead to overexposure?
“What’s your reason for signing up to be part of our cast?”
“I needed a means to pay for my university loans since I got fired from my job.”
“Do you have any allergies or medical conditions that we should know about?”
Besides a cowardly heart, Nakamaru would think not.
“I hate green peas so I would like to imagine myself to be allergic to them.”
He laughed nervously when no one cracked a smile.
“You’ve met some of our other contestant hopefuls outside?” At Nakamaru’s nod, the interviewer (the placard in front of him stated him to be Producer Kitagawa) continued, “How would you rate your chances against them? Especially since some of them are just big buffoons...”
“It’s mean to call them ‘big buffoons’…” Nakamaru protested automatically.
At the same time, he wondered if his words would be quoted out of context. For example, splicing the words “I hate” and “big buffoons” could turn out real nasty. Nakamaru hadn’t even made it to the cast, and he was already jittery. How do participants of game shows deal with the embarrassment after the show was aired?
But back to the question. Highlighting how hard-to-read people like Ninomiya unsettles him more instead, Nakamaru rambled on on how build wasn’t everything and a good mind might make for more dangerous competition instead. Kitagawa nodded at the end like he was satisfied, but Nakamaru remained on edge.
The following questions were those Taguchi and Ueda had predicted; Ueda in particular had watched seasons of Survivor for the girls in bikinis and claimed to be qualified enough to give Nakamaru mock interviews. Nakamaru was interrogated on his talents (nil and unworthy of even a voice-over narration), his philosophy in life, his struggles and a whole barrage of questions that made his head spin from the attention. Before he left the room, Nakamaru swore he saw his name card being tossed into a box.
Was balloting how they would make the final decision? Nakamaru blinked, and then he was being ushered quickly out of the room and into the stairwell leading to the exit.
When Nakamaru told Taguchi and Ueda of the confirmation letter he had received, Taguchi grinned while Ueda scowled.
“That would be ten thousand yen, Ueda,” Taguchi informed the other man with a smirk, “told you they would need a token plain, boring person.”
Ueda aimed a kick at Taguchi’s shin, but eventually handed over the money to get Taguchi to stop gloating. Nakamaru remained silent throughout the exchange, inwardly seething at how his lousy friends were not sincere in helping him at all.
“But,” Taguchi slung an arm over Nakamaru’s shoulder, “we do want to help you too. Even if you don’t get the hundred million yen, think of those hot, muscular men you’ll see over there. I’m sure some of them will like you back,” Taguchi finished with a wink, knowing Nakamaru would be annoyed by it. Nakamaru could never wink that well.
“That’s not the -”
“And, in the off chance you do win,” Ueda spoke over Nakamaru, “you’ll be rich! And splendidly in our debts forever.”
Why were his friends such terrible people? If it was true that birds of the same kind flock together, it was time to seriously reflect on himself.
The countdown to 23rd August passed in a blur, yet felt like forever to Nakamaru’s increasingly tensed self. Ueda had (out of the self-proclaimed kindness of his heart) provided Nakamaru with free training sessions at the gym where he worked, though Nakamaru felt more tired than rejuvenated at the end of each day.
“You’ll thank me when you have to run from nine seekers chasing you,” Ueda had said, and privately Nakamaru wouldn’t have minded being eliminated from the competition early on to return to civilisation.
“Or from your angry partner when you get sent home early.”
Oh right. There would be a partner. His knees shook a little at the thought of living on an uninhabited island with no one besides a stranger for support, and so Nakamaru opted not to think about it.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, Nakamaru reasoned. Maybe his partner would be like him, who would understand if they both tried their best and not blame him when they fail.
He would soon find out that he was only half right.
On the 23rd, Nakamaru was glad to see a familiar face at Hinode Pier. Ninomiya, albeit much paler and looking slightly peaky, was friendly enough to wave as Nakamaru boarded the ship that would take them to the island. Aiba was more enthusiastic in his greeting and Nakamaru felt himself smile involuntarily. It’s comforting to know his fellow contestants were nice people.
“The things I go through for money,” Ninomiya cursed under his breath.
Before Nakamaru had a chance to question Ninomiya, the latter leaned overboard and hurled.
“Nino, really? We haven’t even left the pier!”
The rest of the ride passed without much incident. Ninomiya remained miserable but Aiba was more than willing to talk, and by the time the island came into view Nakamaru knew where Aiba came from (Chiba), what his parents did for a living (they owned a Chinese restaurant), and all the pets that he had owned over the years.
The staff issued each of them a tracking bracelet then, and the contestants found themselves gathered on deck for a briefing by the host of Hide → Seek. On an average day Matsumoto was someone who would have intimidated Nakamaru, intense look and all, but now Nakamaru could barely glance away from the purple sequined suit Matsumoto was wearing. It took courage to wear something like that.
“All you have to do, is push off from the deck,” Nakamaru swallowed at Matsumoto’s words, “grab one of the bags filled with different supplies, and swim to shore as quickly as you can. You need to make contact with that lone stone there to be considered on shore. The fastest man or woman then gets to select his or her partner first.”
Nakamaru watched Ninomiya turn a shade whiter at the prospect of having to swim to shore, and crew members hurried over in time for more footage of Ninomiya throwing up into the waters.
The plunge into cold water sent a shock up Nakamaru’s system. For the next few minutes, all that occupied Nakamaru’s mind was how much his nose was hurting - was it because he had a big nose?
Someone brushing by Nakamaru roughly returned him to reality, and Nakamaru made for the pack nearest to him. He thought he spotted a swiss knife set in the transparent bag, and congratulated himself for having obtained something of much use.
Upon reaching the shore (he placed sixteenth), Nakamaru took stock of his supplies and was rather pleased with himself - he had the swiss knife set boasting of 16 functions, three bottles of water, a couple of cup noodles, a coil of rope and a torch (Nakamaru wasn’t fond of creeping around in a jungle at night without light). Pretty good haul for someone like him, right?
Till he saw what Ninomiya managed to find. Though he made it to shore last (Aiba thought the other man might have drowned and was about ready to return to the waters to look for him before someone spotted Ninomiya), his loot made heads turned. He had a whole box of food rations, a first aid kit and other stuff Nakamaru couldn’t see well enough - how had everyone missed that pack? Maybe Ninomiya would be much better at this surviving thing than he looked. Hadn’t Nakamaru said that build wasn’t everything?
“Nakamura Yuichi will be my partner.”
Nakamaru startled. He had been expecting to be picked last, memories of high school sports lessons igniting feelings of shame in him. He had always been more academically than physically inclined, and despite his love for soccer never once made it to the school team.
“Me? Nakamaru?”
Nakamaru stared at Kamenashi Kazuya, winner of the first challenge and the man stupid enough to pick Nakamaru as a partner. He could have any of the others! Even if Kamenashi was the charitable sort who wanted to help out the struggling types, there was Ninomiya with his far better supplies.
“Whoops, got the name wrong, have I? Nakamu- maru Yuichi, yes?”
There was laughter in Kamenashi’s eyes, but he seemed to be serious with his choice. Really? Kamenashi was fit; the swim to shore hadn’t winded him at all, and the wet clothing clinging onto him hinted of muscles. His pack contained better supplies than Nakamaru’s too, and he looked all set for this survival business.
“Are you sure you won’t regret this?”
Kamenashi nodded, and Nakamaru could hear the director going “get a close-up of Nakamaru’s face”. He hoped his expression wasn’t a funny one, and as he nodded back, Nakamaru wondered if his name would be wrongly displayed throughout the show as Kamenashi answered with a “Great, Nakamura!”
“Would you like a team name?”
Nakamaru shook his head. Some of the teams had opted for one, such as the Aiba-Ninomiya pair who named themselves “Team Miracle”. Or maybe Aiba (who came in second) did, when he selected Ninomiya to be his partner.
“Okay. Let’s get going then.”
After letting Matsumoto know of their respective roles (Nakamaru was the hider; he couldn’t imagine himself succeeding in catching someone on the run from him), the pairs were allowed an hour to go wherever they wished before the first hunting period started.
Kamenashi steered Nakamaru by his shoulders to whatever destination he had in mind, and even though Nakamaru felt it was too early for such physical contact (Nakamaru was thankful Kamenashi had selected him, but he knew nothing beyond Kamenashi’s name!), he obliged Kamenashi.
Fifteen minutes into their trek, their cameraman by the name of Sakurai tripped over a branch and fell into a pond. Grumbling under his breath (time is precious!), Kamenashi helped free Sakurai from some water weeds the unfortunate man had gotten tangled in, but refused to wait for a new camera to be delivered to Sakurai.
“I’m so sorry, but if you don’t wait we won’t have any footage of you!” Sakurai said in dismay, but fell silent when Kamenashi narrowed his eyes at him.
“I’m sure we’ll survive.”
And that’s how Nakamaru found himself alone with Kamenashi for the first time.
“Didn’t expect you to be so good with tent-pitching,” Kamenashi said, fastening the last of the ropes holding the tent upright.
“That makes two of us. I’ve… never really gone camping before.”
Nakamaru had initially wondered if the tent supplies that they had received in exchange from a ‘voucher’ in Kamenashi’s supply pack would be put to good use, but surprised himself when he found he had aptitude for pitching a tent.
“I see. Well, shall we do a short introduction?”
“I’m Nakamaru Yuichi, turning 31 this year.”
“When’s your birthday?” Kamenashi interrupted. “I’m 28, by the way.”
“4 September,” Nakamaru replied as he inspected his handiwork. Although the tent looked great, Nakamaru wondered if having a permanent shelter would be a dead giveaway when the hunters were on the prowl.
“Cool, you get to celebrate your birthday on national television.”
“You think we can last so long? 13 days is a lot of days. We’ll have to be in the top 4 or something.”
“Sure. You have too little faith in yourself.”
“You’re optimistic.”
“I’m confident. You should be, too,” Kamenashi replied. “Should I scout the surrounding areas before hunting period begins? Since we hadn’t encountered anyone, I wonder just how big this place is. Hopefully I can find some water besides the pond too. Our bottles wouldn’t last us for long.”
Like the coward he was, Nakamaru didn’t like being alone in this place. If only Sakurai hadn’t fallen into that pond…
A bell rang in the distance before Kamenashi returned. The signal that hunting period had started!
Nakamaru started fretting. Should he start hiding? Kamenashi might not be coming back now that he had people to seek. Where then? Would going up a tree be a good idea? Staying outside of eye level should make for a nice strategy, right?
Problem was, Nakamaru didn’t know how to climb one. He got a scratch when he fell off one at eight and never tried again.
“Well Yuichi,” he muttered under his breath. “It never hurts to try again. Even when you’re now 31. You may not recover as quickly if you do fall and break a bone… but… that means it will hurt.”
So much for words of encouragement.
Packing some of their food and water into one of the transparent knapsacks their supplies came in, Nakamaru struggled to find footing on a large tree several feet from their tent. Potential bites from huge red ants didn’t sound attractive but Nakamaru didn’t want to disappoint his partner. He had barely found footing on the lowest branch when he heard footsteps. The rush of adrenaline spurred Nakamaru upwards, and he managed to reach his third branch when Sakurai appeared in view.
“Oh shoot, I missed all the action. This pair wouldn’t be getting much screen time.”
Nakamaru continued to climb, making sure he could remain silent before he made each move. He had barely taken three steps when he spotted Ninomiya. The red tracking bracelet that Ninomiya wore, unlike the green one Nakamaru had, indicated that he was a seeker. And from the grin that Ninomiya sent their oblivious cameraman, it was obvious that Ninomiya had followed Sakurai here, where their supplies (and almost Nakamaru) laid unprotected in the open.
Crafty little bastard.
Ninomiya would have made away with most of their supplies too, if a whizzing stone didn’t barely miss his skull.
“I used to be a pitcher.” Nakamaru heard Kamenashi’s voice. “You don’t want to be hit by one of those.”
“What the hell! Are-”
“A scuffle is okay but violence and physical harm isn’t allowed!” Sakurai intervened, tone filled with anxiety, “I shouldn’t be speaking to ruin the footage of a confrontation but I don’t want to film bloodshed!”
“I wouldn’t kill him, maybe just leave a huge bruise or two,” Kamenashi reasoned but that was enough for Ninomiya to drop his loot and hightail it out of their campsite.
Nakamaru just made a mental note not to offend his partner.
The first hunting period ended with every pair remaining safe. Nakamaru spent the six hours watching Kamenashi pack up before moving out of his side, and nibbling on biscuits when his stomach started to growl.
When the ‘all-clear’ bell sounded, Nakamaru nearly slipped off the tree in relief.
“Didn’t realise you were up there the entire time,” Kamenashi grinned and gave Nakamaru a pat on the back as they updated each other en-route to their new location. It was nearer to a stream, and shielded from plain side by a cluster of small trees. Kamenashi had found the spot when he was seeking for hiders. “Good job!”
“Did you really mean to harm Ninomiya?” the question slipped out unbidden, having weighed heavily on Nakamaru’s mind, and he mentally winced at the slightly accusatory note it came in.
Kamenashi burst out laughing.
“Of course not! We’re on TV; I don’t want to get arrested or something.”
“You looked terrifying earlier.”
“Styling your eyebrows like I do tend to produce this effect,” Kamenashi looked oddly proud. “But it can’t summon food from nowhere so we’ll still have to do something about dinner.”
“Maybe it can,” Nakamaru said with a grin, gesting towards Sakurai who was taking a break and about to start on his company provided bento.
Kamenashi flashed a thumbs up, then narrowed his eyes, put on his nastiest look and approached the cameraman.
Although Kamenashi and Nakamaru were joking, Sakurai remained jumpy for the rest of the day, particularly whenever Kamenashi looked at him.
“I wonder how the footage will turn out,” Kamenashi mumbled nonchalantly around a mouthful of mushrooms he deemed safe to consume. Nakamaru had opted for sardines from a tin; unidentified species of fungi wasn’t his idea of “fresh and exciting flavours” that Kamenashi said they were. “His hands are shaking so much.”
“Rest will calm his nerves and do him fine. The next shift for the cameramen should be starting soon. We should get into our positions as well.”
“Positions? There’s hardly any light left and hunting period is over.”
“The cameramen will be moving. If we can note where they went, we will have a clue on which direction you should be seeking in during the next hunting period.”
“Ah, so you’re actually really smart! I thought the entire look you had was just for fashion or something.”
“Thanks,” Nakamaru deadpanned.
Why did Kamenashi even pick him when his expectations of his abilities were pretty much non-existent?
The moment his replacement came, Sakurai bolted with a shaky wave of his hand. Nakamaru wondered if he would see Sakurai again.
“Found one!” Kamenashi crowed. It turned out he was far better in tree climbing and had better night vision, though Nakamaru cannot be said to be surprised, “I can’t wait for hunting period tomorrow. Stay safe Yuichi!”
“When did we progress to given names?” Nakamaru protested. Moreover, Kamenashi was his junior; this wasn’t proper.
“We’re in the wilderness, so stop being so uptight. I’m going to take a shower before turning in for the night.”
“Shower?”
“The stream?” Kamenashi offered before sniggering and batting his eyelashes. “Would you want to join me?”
Nakamaru never imagined his first skinny dipping experience to come when he was over thirty.
But at least this was something he could strike off his bucket list.
Kamenashi said he liked sleeping naked but for Nakamaru’s sake, he would be kind enough to keep his pants on. Unidentified insects snacking on them as they slept didn’t seem to faze the other man.
Nakamaru thought he would be suffering from insomnia but the exhaustion from climbing a tree soon got to him. How much being thirty made a difference; he used to be able to go without sleep for 48 hours when a new game from the Call of Duty franchise was released. He was nearly drifting to sleep when he felt a hand on his ass.
Oh god.
Nakamaru lectured Kamenashi on the importance of one’s privacy during night time, but it was soon clear the cameraman had to try hard to hold his laughter in.
“I wonder how much of your speech will be featured on television. It’s hilarious.”
“Kamenashi Kazuya, I’m being serious!”
“Just Kame or Kazuya would be fine.”
“You’re missing the point,” Nakamaru sighed in exasperation.
“I can’t control my sub-conscious. My hands go where they want to when I’m asleep.”
Nakamaru took in a breath, ready for his second round of tirade, when the bell for the commencement of hunting period sounded. As he scrambled up a tree, with Kamenashi kind enough to help before leaving for his own hunt, Nakamaru wondered how dark his eye circles would become by the end of the season.
With the cameraman following Kamenashi away from their campsite, Nakamaru found himself with only an unmonitored camera for his companion. Settling himself for a long period of boredom, Nakamaru was about to doze off when an unfamiliar alarm sounded.
“Yamamoto was found,” a message flashed on the little screen of his tracker, “Both Yamamoto Takeshi and Sato Miyuki are eliminated. Congratulations, Suzuki Kensuke. Your choice of prize will be delivered to you and your partner. The hunting period is officially over.”
Having no concept of time on this island, Nakamaru was alarmed; how fast did it take for a seeker to find someone? He had thought the lack of light would make things more challenging. How wrong was it for him to foolishly think that way.
It’s a hundred million yen. A little lack of light wouldn’t be getting into anyone’s way. If a seeker was to come his way, how should he react? Nakamaru knew he was getting too comfortable on a tree. He should devise a Plan B or C should the need arises, though he hoped to never use it.
Kamenashi returned in time, grumbling about smoke and red herrings, “I should’ve stuck to exploring westward.
“Something bothering you?” he asked when Nakamaru remained silent.
“If I hear footsteps, how should I react? Should I stay at the same spot and hope that it could just be a passing hider as well, or a seeker who hasn’t spotted me? Or should I assume that he is coming at me and I should try to run?”
“You would have to depend on your own judgement, Yuichi. I have faith in you, partner.”
When Kamenashi flashed him a smile that took years off his face, Nakamaru felt a new determination flood his veins. Much as he was missing Tokyo and was getting sick of wearing the same shirt, he would not let himself be caught easily, for doing so would mean letting Kamenashi down.
A fire Nakamaru never knew he had had just been ignited.
Said fire was extinguished the next day when all participants were supposed to gather at the communal area and Nakamaru and Kamenashi got hopelessly lost. The first to arrive would be given an advantage while the last would be punished.
“I’m not a walking, talking compass,” Kamenashi argued as he turned the map round and round, trying to figure out their location. “You can’t blame me for losing our way.”
“I’m not. Spinning the map around won’t help though. I suggest we just randomly explore the area till one of the filming crew come fetch us and then we’ll deal with the punishment. How does that sound?”
“Sounds feasible. We have tracking devices on anyway. And the crew can’t possibly start filming while they are missing a contestant or two. I’m sure we aren’t the only lost ones.”
Kamenashi had barely finished his words when he saw an oddly large pile of leaves. On closer inspection, someone had carelessly forgotten to hide their belongings well before heading off to the communal area.
“Maybe they got too comfortable during the ‘safe period’,” Kamenashi mused as he dug around the leaves and unearthed a stash of food. “Well, finders’ keepers’ losers weepers. We are going to have some sweet potatoes for dinner.”
The punishment turned out to be a handicap on their next games - a huge pillow with the word “loser” emblazoned across it.
Nakamaru had never been good on a tightrope (not that he had much opportunities to try), but having the huge pillow strapped onto his back made balancing on one much harder. When crew members finally hoisted Nakamaru out of the mud pool beneath the tightrope, mud oozing from his every pore, he wondered how his mother and sisters would willingly spend thousands of yen on mud wraps.
Mud was gross. He felt gross.
And judging by the way the cameras were closing in on him, Nakamaru was pretty sure he was going to get a chunk of screen time. Looking like Muk from Pokémon.
Perhaps this was karma from stealing the sweet potatoes, but at least no one would recognise him like that.
“I love sweet potatoes.”
Kamenashi proved to be very talented in roasting them, taking on the role as chef while Nakamaru concerned himself with scrubbing his shirt. It was a hopeless battle; the shirt wasn’t ever going to return to its original colour.
“Any particular reason?”
“I had them often at my grandparents’ place when I was younger. We weren’t very rich.”
“Was that what inspired you to join this game show?”
“Not really. Life got a little better when I got drafted for baseball.”
“I’ve never seen you before,” Nakamaru blurted. “But I don’t really watch enough baseball so I’m probably wrong,” he hastened to add. Perhaps he should try for a change of topic; Kamenashi had begun to look upset.
“I peaked early, got stuck as a benchwarmer, and was dropped when my contract ended. So I thought, why not do something crazy as I try to figure out what to do next in life?”
“I like your optimism. Good luck, Kame.”
And just like the skies clearing when the storm ends, Kamenashi’s eyes lit up and he visibly brightened.
“You just called me Kame. We’re friends now, yes?”
Sakurai eventually returned to follow the pair with his camera, though Nakamaru nearly sent him into another bout of anxiety when he choked on a fishbone.
“Don’t worry,” Nakamaru coughed as he finally felt the fishbone dislodge from somewhere in his throat, “it’s gone.”
“Maybe we should avoid fish from now,” Kamenashi said, glaring at the remaining fish hissing over a small fire they had built.
The concern evident in his voice made Nakamaru smile, and he felt a flash of alarm at that. Since when had Kame became so important?
The second elimination, and Kamenashi’s first successful hunt, was a total fluke.
Nakamaru had slipped down a short slope while looking for a suitable tree to climb, and found a man hiding at the bottom. In case he was a seeker Nakamaru left in a hurry, only to bump into Kamenashi who had been hurrying over to check if Nakamaru had been hurt by the fall.
Needless to say Kamenashi ended the hunting period in under five minutes.
“You’re one lucky guy,” Kamenashi beamed, though Nakamaru’s sore bum vehemently disagreed.
When it came to choosing prizes, Nakamaru opted for ‘enjoyment’ and obtained for themselves a baseball and glove.
“It seemed like a good choice at that time,” Nakamaru mumbled, “oh god, maybe I should have picked something more useful. I mean, it gets boring at times and I thought maybe we could play catch sometime. I was sure you missed baseball and oh god-”
Nakamaru found himself cut off as Kamenashi flung himself upon Nakamaru to give him the biggest embrace he had ever received in his life.
“That enthusiastic about baseball huh.”
All the years spent working in the office had left Nakamaru with little time to make himself happy, let alone someone else. It felt good; the warm fuzzy feeling pooling in his chest. If it would lead to such a genuine smile from Kame, Nakamaru would give up on a little shampoo, soap and detergent anytime.
The two of them fared much better in their next game, a round of dodgeball that involved all sixteen remaining contestants split randomly into two groups. The matches were intense, and from the way the director was smiling, probably provided for a lot of good footage. Nakamaru supposed much editing work has to be done too - many a times the ball went astray and the game had to be put on hold as people searched for the ball in the bushes and piles of leaves. Then there was the fifteen minute break too, from when Matsumoto’s expensive shirt got snagged on a branch and staff had to free him slowly and carefully.
Eventually, Ninomiya and Kamenashi led their pairs to victory, though for very different reasons. Kamenashi experience in baseball made him an accurate shooter and quickened his reflections, while Ninomiya’s smaller size and cautiousness made him a difficult target.
“What would you like?” Nakamaru probed when faced with the choice of three prizes once more.
“If there’s coffee it would be nice, but you’ve already given me my baseball and glove. What would you like?”
“Coffee it is then.”
“I thought you didn’t like coffee so much.”
“Well, maybe I just like to see you smile.” Nakamaru said, feeling his cheeks grow hot from embarrassment. What a cheesy line he had just said!
Kamenashi just beamed.
Coffee turned out to be a terrible choice because Kamenashi was a completely different man with caffeine in his veins. If he was active before, now he was just positively thrumming with energy, happily sharpening branches into makeshift spears with which to catch more fish (choking incident seemingly forgotten) and chasing down another hider once hunting period began again.
“Something wrong with him today?” A random crew member quizzed, watching as Kamenashi brandished one of his makeshift spear in victory.
“I should hope not.”
When Kamenashi came dashing up, eager to know what Nakamaru would prefer for their prize, the warm fuzzy feeling grew.
Over the days the numbers dwindled to twelve, and Nakamaru was surprised he was still on the island and not back in Tokyo receiving hate mails from his unfortunate partner.
“Getting the lighter was a wise choice Yucchi,” Kamenashi chirped, “no more having to rely on friction.”
“Maybe the soap would have been a better choice. I think I’m starting to stink.”
“Nonsense, you smell fine. And even if you stink I’ll remain by your side.”
“You flatter yourself,” Nakamaru retorted, smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
As the beginnings of a pout started to form on Kamenashi’s face, someone cleared his throat uncomfortably and Nakamaru was reminded of Sakurai’s presence.
“Are you guys… flirting? If you are, I’ll just leave the camera unmonitored and… move somewhere else.”
“Uh…”
“I always forget that it’s not just the two of us but that’s fine. Say, Sakurai, is it true that one of the other pairs are fighting?” Kamenashi changed the topic smoothly. “The one with the ridiculously tall guy and the really good swimmer girl. The one who rears ducks back home.”
At Sakurai’s look of recognition, Kamenashi continued, “the two weren’t talking during the group game, just glared at each other throughout. And duck girl just left without waiting for her partner when her game ended.”
Sakurai nodded. “Don’t quote me on this but apparently, tall guy is smitten by another contestant. You know the girl with the orange bikini? He keeps visiting her during the ‘safe period’ but duck girl thinks he is endangering her as the hider. One of the cameraman told me he let his crush go once without tagging her out.”
“Scandalous,” Kamenashi let out a low whistle, “Yucchi, would you get mad if I did that too?”
“I will just shove you into the mud pond and watch you sink.”
“How calm and collected you remain when saying such terrible things. You wound me Yucchi!”
As Kamenashi feigned shock and hurt, Nakamaru chuckled and decided that besides the bugs, lack of personal hygiene, constant starvation and unnecessary stress on his heart, the program was pretty cool.
He even briefly considered thanking Taguchi for the application forms.
Perhaps he was getting too complacent, but disaster soon struck once it was down to just eight.
Spotted by a seeker who proceeded to climb the tree Nakamaru was on, Nakamaru barely made it to the neighbouring tree and slid down the trunk, ignoring the burns and splinters digging into his palms. As soon as he hit the ground he started running, and the set of footfalls soon behind forced him to run even faster.
Nakamaru ran as fast as he could without heed of directions; so long as the enemy seeker couldn’t land a finger on him, Nakamaru would remain in the game. He no longer cared how much noise he was making, the crunch of leaves under his feet echoing in the forest. His only goal was to keep running until the signal for safe period sounded.
Until he was involuntarily stopped.
It could have been his own feet, it could have been some twig or stone but Nakamaru fell and a sudden sharp pain shot up his leg. It was not the time to bemoan his fate, however; Nakamaru had to try and hide himself somewhere at the very least. He had a maybe twenty seconds lead over the seeker, and he would put it to good use.
Limping, Nakamaru laid himself behind a large log and threw as much leaves as he could onto himself. His hands were shaking.
“I saw you, you can’t be too far away.”
Nakamaru chewed on his lips.
“Tomoya was found,” Nakamaru had never been happier to see the flash of message on his tracking device. “Both Tomoya Kei and Lindy Hoffman are eliminated. Congratulations, Ninomiya Kazunari. Your choice of prizes will soon be delivered to you and your partner. The hunting period is officially over.”
Saved by the bell.
“You got lucky but I’ll find you the next hunting period. There’s only three pairs of us left, you can run but you can’t hide forever.”
“What happened?” Kamenashi literally shrieked when he saw the size of Nakamaru’s ankle. “We need to find ice to bring down the swelling,” he muttered before stomping off to talk to one of the production crew members nearby.
“They are getting you a medic to access the situation so you’ll be okay in no time.” Kamenashi squeezed Nakamaru’s hands. “If things don’t look too good, we’ll pull out of the competition to return to Tokyo and get you treated.”
“Are you kidding?” Nakamaru looked up in alarm. “We have been surviving here for about a week! We can’t just give up midway.”
“Then what do you expect me to do? Watch as your condition worsens?”
“It’ll be fine!”
“That’s what I thought once too when I injured my pitching arm. I could never achieve the same speeds afterwards. Injuries should never be taken lightly,” Kamenashi huffed through gritted teeth. Sakurai, who seemed rather sympathetic towards Nakamaru’s plight, gave him a slight pat on the shoulder.
.“The medic will reach soon and then we’ll discuss the next steps,” Sakurai said, “As much as you might want to stay in this competition, the producer has stressed the need to always respect the doctor’s advice. I hope you can understand where we are coming from. In case you have to return to Tokyo, we’ll be sure to offer you an invitation to season 2.”
Nakamaru had no qualms about shortening his stay here. He just didn’t want Kamenashi to be eliminated too because of his clumsiness. The other man deserved better.
Kamenashi hovered around as the medic made his diagnosis, peppering him with questions that would have touched Nakamaru if it didn’t just make him guiltier.
“I’m sorry to bring such news but the swelling is a lot bigger than I expected. I can’t tell by mere touch if something is broken so an X-Ray will be advisable.”
“We’ll pull out of the competition,” Kamenashi announced without hesitation.
“You can’t Kame.”
“And why can’t I?”
“Because tomorrow is my birthday and you promised me we’ll spend it on this god forsaken island!”
Nakamaru would say anything to remain here.
“We can wait till midnight before we take a boat back,” Kamenashi spat back.
“Can’t we get a replacement partner for Kame?” Nakamaru turned to the producer pleadingly. “Like get one of the past eliminated participants to return?”
“I don’t want another partner. If you don’t go back for treatment right now, I’ll just pull out of the competition and we’ll both be automatically disqualified.”
“Don’t play dirty!”
Before Nakamaru could say any further, Kamenashi had left to sign the relevant papers with a staff member. He was adamant about Nakamaru seeking proper hospital care and treatment and nothing could sway his mind.
Days later Nakamaru would be touched, really he would, but right then he just felt like a party pooper, the most selfish kind too.
Kamenashi stayed with Nakamaru throughout the wait at the hospital, and faithfully wished him happy birthday when the clock struck twelve. The X-Rays did show a fracture and had treatment been delayed, Nakamaru could have ended up walking funny.
“You owe me big time,” Kamenashi jutted his lower lips out in displeasure. “You owe me your leg.”
“And how can I ever repay you for that?”
Nakamaru leant back against the pillows. Hospital bedding never felt like a five-star hotel till today.
“You could ask me out.”
“This is awkward,” Nakamaru paused. “You’re joking right? Are the cameras still rolling?”
The next few days would prove that Kamenashi hadn’t been joking - the man behaved as if a very very close friend would (why wouldn’t you just admit to the word boyfriend, Nakamaru?), visiting daily, getting things for him so he wouldn’t have to get up, buying him whatever food he wanted to eat, and showing more anxiety regarding his recovery progress than Nakamaru did.
And when Nakamaru was discharged, Kamenashi came to pick him up, under the pretext of “you need someone to help clean your place up. I like cleaning.”
“So… why did you pick me? On the first day.” Nakamaru said the moment both of them were settled on his couch.
This elicited Kamenashi’s laughter.
“ Don’t tell me this has bugged you since Day 1.”
“I have every right to know!”
Kamenashi mocked a look of deep thought.
“Because your nose is large and it’s cute how it fits on your face.”
“That’s it?” Nakamaru frowned in disbelief at how that was both a compliment and an insult but still very much endearing. “Most people laugh at it instead of becoming attracted to it.”
“I’m not most people. Besides, it’s their loss and my gain that they can’t appreciate it,” Kamenashi grinned and switched the television on. “Oh look, ‘Hide and Seek’s’ promotional trailer! I can’t wait for the season to show so I can start telling my friends how I lost my chance at a hundred million.”
Nakamaru could only give a wry smile when he saw himself introduced as “Nakamura Yuichi”, accompanied by a shot of him and his flailing arms as he leaped off the ship.
Hide → Seek lived up to its producer’s expectations, surpassing it even to become the hit programme of the year. With the ratings climbing, and discussions abuzz on social media platforms, Nakamaru found himself becoming something like a mini celebrity (mostly because of his series of unfortunate events, he was sure). Coupled with Kamenashi’s good looks, it was a fair statement to say that they were probably one of the most popular pairs of the season.
Which worked to Nakamaru’s favour because he landed himself an endorsement for “Sofy Comfy Detergent - Makes your clothes extra soft and clean” once the video cut of him falling into the mud pool went viral online. He had entered into negotiations with an insurance firm as well.
Kamenashi had done well too, becoming the star in a new advertisement for “Energizer Coffee - Who needs sleep when you have coffee?” The money received would tide them over till they find proper jobs to hold. Or when they start a small business together, should they choose to do so.
The netizens were outraged/heart-broken when the episode where they pulled out was broadcasted. Taguchi and Ueda showed no sympathy, only sending him a message “check out the sheer number of fanfiction that have popped up. Most people think you had make-up s** at the hospital” which sent Nakamaru’s face into shades of tomato-red.
The final winner of the competition turned out to be Ninomiya, much to Kamenashi’s surprise but within Nakamaru’s expectations. Nakamaru had always known Ninomiya to be more than meets the eye, after all. In fact, he completed the obstacle course a few full seconds ahead of Aiba - his steady hands helped in one of the mini-challenges that involved sending metal spheres into a tube.
Throughout the competition Ninomiya had kept people’s expectations of him low: not very athletic, a complete loser on the ship. When he finally displayed his full talents, even Aiba was slightly caught off guard (he still cheered for Ninomiya though when the latter was presented with the cheque for 100 million yen).
However, Ninomiya didn’t seem keen to remain in the media’s eye. “How I wish to spend my money is personal - perhaps I just like to see the figures in my bank account grow. Have a good day,” was how most of his interviews went. Eventually the reporters got bored of hounding for a reaction and moved on. Till rumour had it that Ninomiya was a brilliant psychologist who needed a sponsor and funds for his project. Also, he wanted the experience to help prove something, though it was never specified.
Nakamaru’s cheeks heated up as the familiar studio lights blazed upon him once more.
“Ready, cameras rolling and… action!”
Nakamaru and Kamenashi had both decided to sit in for a special Reunion episode with the other contestants of Hide → Seek. When they encountered Ninomiya back stage, they exchanged pleasantries before Ninomiya grumbled how he wouldn’t be free if it wasn’t for the excellent pay. Kamenashi called Ninomiya a scrooge, but Aiba informed them that Ninomiya would probably take it as a compliment instead.
Unlike filming on a deserted island, there was a live audience at the studio. Being the fan favourite, Nakamaru was flooded with questions (Team Miracle had a fair share of questions as well, and Aiba more than made up for Ninomiya’s reticence in speaking). It made Nakamaru self-conscious because he had never used to be the centre of attention.
The most popular questions:
“Did you know why Kamenashi chose you on day one?”
“You guys seem pretty close, what’s your relationship before the show?”
“How are you guys after the show? Kamenashi was really nice to choose your welfare over wealth!”
As the questions continued to flood in, Nakamaru grew flustered while Kamenashi maintained his composure and unleashed yet another of his hidden talents to save Nakamaru from the flurry of questions - tale spinning.
“I choose Yucchi because I felt compelled to. It’s an unspoken connection I felt the moment I first set eyes on him. And no, I didn’t regret my decision. I mean, we did make it to the top three pairs!”
“We were strangers, but we’re more than just friends now,” Kamenashi threw a wink in Nakamaru’s direction, sending more than one girl screaming. “We’re literally soul mates after such a gruelling experience.”
Nakamaru found more reasons for his cheeks to burn and this time, it wasn’t the extra studio lights directed at him.
When will Kamenashi find a new hobby that doesn’t involve embarrassing him?
But Nakamaru wouldn’t have chosen it to be any other way.
The End.
Groups/Pairing: KAT-TUN, NaKame; multiple appearances by Team Miracle, Sho (and his hard life) and Sparkly!MatsuJun
Rating: G
Summary: Nakamaru finds himself trying to survive for a million dollars. Emphasis on the trying, with his impromptu caffeine junkie partner confusing him more than helping.
Notes: Many thanks to my beta for looking through despite the thousand and one things on her to-do list ♥ It was a challenge writing this since I don't watch a great deal of non-trashyvariety shows... Written for je_otherworlds. Also, Happy Belated 10th Nakame Anniversary ~ \o/
Dear Nakamaru Yuichi,
Congratulations for making it to the cast of Hide → Seek, the upcoming hit survival-themed reality show. The 20 of you now have the opportunity to win for yourselves one hundred million yen, so get ready for the hide-and-seek game of your life.
This will span a maximum of 20 days, with cameras monitoring the entire island we will ferry you to. Transport will be provided back to Tokyo, Japan for contestants eliminated in each round.
Below is the list of rules and instructions, which contestants must familiarise themselves with before filming commences.
- If faced with elimination, contestants must return to Tokyo without fuss.
- Contestants will be paired up, with each taking on either the role of ‘hider’ or ‘seeker’. The roles cannot be reversed once the pair has announced their decision.
- In the final round, members of the winning pair will pit themselves against each other in a secret challenge to determine the ultimate winner.
- The first challenge will be the same for every contestant. Your performance in this will determine the order in which you can select your partner.
- The role of a ‘hider’ is to remain unfound by ‘enemy’ seekers throughout ‘hunting periods’. The hunting period happens once each day at random timings.
- The role of a ‘seeker’ is to find ‘hiders’ belonging to opponent teams. ‘Seekers’ need to come into contact with a ‘hider’ to tag him or her out.
- Once a ‘hider’ is tagged out, the pair will be eliminated.
- Each ‘hunting period’ lasts till a ‘hider’ is found, or for a maximum of six hours.
- Successful seeking will yield the pair an award from one of these three categories: enjoyment (comfort food/items), essentials (something useful for outlasting your opponents e.g. camouflage pain) or extras (power ups that yield you advantage in the next ‘hunting period’ e.g. ‘freezing’ a seeker of your choice for three hours).
- Every two days, pairs must convene at the communal area to participate in a series of games. This will be held outside of ‘hunting periods’. Winners of the games can select a prize from the abovementioned categories.
We look forward to meeting you at Hinode Pier along Tokyo Bay on the 23rd of August, 2015, at 0700h.
Just reading the list made Nakamaru tired. Why had he even signed up for this?
Oh right. He was 31, retrenched, and still in debt from college fees. That’s why.
When he was still employed in that dingy publication firm, Nakamaru had thought being 31 and single made for a tough life. Now he knew better.
“I’ve just the thing for you, my friend.”
If Nakamaru wasn’t trying to drown his sorrows in beer, maybe he would have been alert enough to realise something was up. As it was, he let Taguchi, one of his friends from back in college, blather on about some amazing opportunity to win enough cash to clear Nakamaru’s outstanding loans.
His solution? Winning Hide → Seek, some crazy sounding game that reminded Nakamaru uncomfortably of the Survivor show he had once watched.
“You’ll discover things you never knew about yourself and earn a hundred million yen if you’re lucky,” Taguchi encouraged, contagious smiles and all, “you might not be needed in the office but the wild is calling out for you.”
And the moment Taguchi took a stack of forms out of his oversized man bag, completely filled in with Nakamaru’s details, he knew sadistic Ueda had been involved. Oh joy.
The call came one month after Taguchi helpfully sent the forms out.
“Hello, is this Nakamaru Yuichi? Congratulations! We have considered our applications carefully and shortlisted you for our face-to-face auditions! We’ll be forwarding relevant information to the email that you’ve listed so please check your mail shortly.”
Since Nakamaru didn’t manage to get a single word in edgewise besides a ‘yes’ in response to his name, he missed the chance to reject the unwanted opportunity. Perhaps he was still tired from the graveyard shift he had just worked at the nearby convenience store. The email arrived in less than a minute, and finally it dawned on Nakamaru that it was now or never.
His father did always tell him that it was rude not to turn up for scheduled appointments without valid reasons, after all.
The waiting room was huge and Nakamaru shrank back at the fact that men who were double his size dominated the place. Yet opposed to what he saw on reality television, everyone seemed friendly enough, with most sharing on how they would love to spend a hundred million yen if they won it.
Wondering if it would be easier to befriend someone before the competition became intense, Nakamaru tried to look for the most harmless-looking person. However, when he attempted to strike up a conversation with a short dark-skinned man named Ohno, the other man fell asleep instead.
“Am I that uninteresting?” Nakamaru mumbled under his breath.
Someone snickered, and Nakamaru heard a “he does that to everybody”. The speaker identified himself as Aiba (who was then strangely convinced by a fellow contestant wannabe Ninomiya to not reveal his full name lest Nakamaru knew sorcery and used his name to jinx his chances of getting the prize money).
Ninomiya then strolled away without glancing back, and Nakamaru wondered if this programme was looking for oddballs.
“Nakamaru Yuichi, you’re up!”
Bidding farewell to Aiba, Nakamaru mused the futility of Aiba’s decision to keep his name secret since the representatives will holler his full name anyway when it was his turn.
The lights blinded him when Nakamaru took his first step into the audition room.
“Every word you say from this point will be recorded,” a bored voice informed as Nakamaru fumbled his way to a chair positioned in the centre. Nodding, Nakamaru tried not to squint against the bright lights pointed his way. He was by no means a pro photographer but surely such harsh lighting was bound to lead to overexposure?
“What’s your reason for signing up to be part of our cast?”
“I needed a means to pay for my university loans since I got fired from my job.”
“Do you have any allergies or medical conditions that we should know about?”
Besides a cowardly heart, Nakamaru would think not.
“I hate green peas so I would like to imagine myself to be allergic to them.”
He laughed nervously when no one cracked a smile.
“You’ve met some of our other contestant hopefuls outside?” At Nakamaru’s nod, the interviewer (the placard in front of him stated him to be Producer Kitagawa) continued, “How would you rate your chances against them? Especially since some of them are just big buffoons...”
“It’s mean to call them ‘big buffoons’…” Nakamaru protested automatically.
At the same time, he wondered if his words would be quoted out of context. For example, splicing the words “I hate” and “big buffoons” could turn out real nasty. Nakamaru hadn’t even made it to the cast, and he was already jittery. How do participants of game shows deal with the embarrassment after the show was aired?
But back to the question. Highlighting how hard-to-read people like Ninomiya unsettles him more instead, Nakamaru rambled on on how build wasn’t everything and a good mind might make for more dangerous competition instead. Kitagawa nodded at the end like he was satisfied, but Nakamaru remained on edge.
The following questions were those Taguchi and Ueda had predicted; Ueda in particular had watched seasons of Survivor for the girls in bikinis and claimed to be qualified enough to give Nakamaru mock interviews. Nakamaru was interrogated on his talents (nil and unworthy of even a voice-over narration), his philosophy in life, his struggles and a whole barrage of questions that made his head spin from the attention. Before he left the room, Nakamaru swore he saw his name card being tossed into a box.
Was balloting how they would make the final decision? Nakamaru blinked, and then he was being ushered quickly out of the room and into the stairwell leading to the exit.
When Nakamaru told Taguchi and Ueda of the confirmation letter he had received, Taguchi grinned while Ueda scowled.
“That would be ten thousand yen, Ueda,” Taguchi informed the other man with a smirk, “told you they would need a token plain, boring person.”
Ueda aimed a kick at Taguchi’s shin, but eventually handed over the money to get Taguchi to stop gloating. Nakamaru remained silent throughout the exchange, inwardly seething at how his lousy friends were not sincere in helping him at all.
“But,” Taguchi slung an arm over Nakamaru’s shoulder, “we do want to help you too. Even if you don’t get the hundred million yen, think of those hot, muscular men you’ll see over there. I’m sure some of them will like you back,” Taguchi finished with a wink, knowing Nakamaru would be annoyed by it. Nakamaru could never wink that well.
“That’s not the -”
“And, in the off chance you do win,” Ueda spoke over Nakamaru, “you’ll be rich! And splendidly in our debts forever.”
Why were his friends such terrible people? If it was true that birds of the same kind flock together, it was time to seriously reflect on himself.
The countdown to 23rd August passed in a blur, yet felt like forever to Nakamaru’s increasingly tensed self. Ueda had (out of the self-proclaimed kindness of his heart) provided Nakamaru with free training sessions at the gym where he worked, though Nakamaru felt more tired than rejuvenated at the end of each day.
“You’ll thank me when you have to run from nine seekers chasing you,” Ueda had said, and privately Nakamaru wouldn’t have minded being eliminated from the competition early on to return to civilisation.
“Or from your angry partner when you get sent home early.”
Oh right. There would be a partner. His knees shook a little at the thought of living on an uninhabited island with no one besides a stranger for support, and so Nakamaru opted not to think about it.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, Nakamaru reasoned. Maybe his partner would be like him, who would understand if they both tried their best and not blame him when they fail.
He would soon find out that he was only half right.
On the 23rd, Nakamaru was glad to see a familiar face at Hinode Pier. Ninomiya, albeit much paler and looking slightly peaky, was friendly enough to wave as Nakamaru boarded the ship that would take them to the island. Aiba was more enthusiastic in his greeting and Nakamaru felt himself smile involuntarily. It’s comforting to know his fellow contestants were nice people.
“The things I go through for money,” Ninomiya cursed under his breath.
Before Nakamaru had a chance to question Ninomiya, the latter leaned overboard and hurled.
“Nino, really? We haven’t even left the pier!”
The rest of the ride passed without much incident. Ninomiya remained miserable but Aiba was more than willing to talk, and by the time the island came into view Nakamaru knew where Aiba came from (Chiba), what his parents did for a living (they owned a Chinese restaurant), and all the pets that he had owned over the years.
The staff issued each of them a tracking bracelet then, and the contestants found themselves gathered on deck for a briefing by the host of Hide → Seek. On an average day Matsumoto was someone who would have intimidated Nakamaru, intense look and all, but now Nakamaru could barely glance away from the purple sequined suit Matsumoto was wearing. It took courage to wear something like that.
“All you have to do, is push off from the deck,” Nakamaru swallowed at Matsumoto’s words, “grab one of the bags filled with different supplies, and swim to shore as quickly as you can. You need to make contact with that lone stone there to be considered on shore. The fastest man or woman then gets to select his or her partner first.”
Nakamaru watched Ninomiya turn a shade whiter at the prospect of having to swim to shore, and crew members hurried over in time for more footage of Ninomiya throwing up into the waters.
The plunge into cold water sent a shock up Nakamaru’s system. For the next few minutes, all that occupied Nakamaru’s mind was how much his nose was hurting - was it because he had a big nose?
Someone brushing by Nakamaru roughly returned him to reality, and Nakamaru made for the pack nearest to him. He thought he spotted a swiss knife set in the transparent bag, and congratulated himself for having obtained something of much use.
Upon reaching the shore (he placed sixteenth), Nakamaru took stock of his supplies and was rather pleased with himself - he had the swiss knife set boasting of 16 functions, three bottles of water, a couple of cup noodles, a coil of rope and a torch (Nakamaru wasn’t fond of creeping around in a jungle at night without light). Pretty good haul for someone like him, right?
Till he saw what Ninomiya managed to find. Though he made it to shore last (Aiba thought the other man might have drowned and was about ready to return to the waters to look for him before someone spotted Ninomiya), his loot made heads turned. He had a whole box of food rations, a first aid kit and other stuff Nakamaru couldn’t see well enough - how had everyone missed that pack? Maybe Ninomiya would be much better at this surviving thing than he looked. Hadn’t Nakamaru said that build wasn’t everything?
“Nakamura Yuichi will be my partner.”
Nakamaru startled. He had been expecting to be picked last, memories of high school sports lessons igniting feelings of shame in him. He had always been more academically than physically inclined, and despite his love for soccer never once made it to the school team.
“Me? Nakamaru?”
Nakamaru stared at Kamenashi Kazuya, winner of the first challenge and the man stupid enough to pick Nakamaru as a partner. He could have any of the others! Even if Kamenashi was the charitable sort who wanted to help out the struggling types, there was Ninomiya with his far better supplies.
“Whoops, got the name wrong, have I? Nakamu- maru Yuichi, yes?”
There was laughter in Kamenashi’s eyes, but he seemed to be serious with his choice. Really? Kamenashi was fit; the swim to shore hadn’t winded him at all, and the wet clothing clinging onto him hinted of muscles. His pack contained better supplies than Nakamaru’s too, and he looked all set for this survival business.
“Are you sure you won’t regret this?”
Kamenashi nodded, and Nakamaru could hear the director going “get a close-up of Nakamaru’s face”. He hoped his expression wasn’t a funny one, and as he nodded back, Nakamaru wondered if his name would be wrongly displayed throughout the show as Kamenashi answered with a “Great, Nakamura!”
“Would you like a team name?”
Nakamaru shook his head. Some of the teams had opted for one, such as the Aiba-Ninomiya pair who named themselves “Team Miracle”. Or maybe Aiba (who came in second) did, when he selected Ninomiya to be his partner.
“Okay. Let’s get going then.”
After letting Matsumoto know of their respective roles (Nakamaru was the hider; he couldn’t imagine himself succeeding in catching someone on the run from him), the pairs were allowed an hour to go wherever they wished before the first hunting period started.
Kamenashi steered Nakamaru by his shoulders to whatever destination he had in mind, and even though Nakamaru felt it was too early for such physical contact (Nakamaru was thankful Kamenashi had selected him, but he knew nothing beyond Kamenashi’s name!), he obliged Kamenashi.
Fifteen minutes into their trek, their cameraman by the name of Sakurai tripped over a branch and fell into a pond. Grumbling under his breath (time is precious!), Kamenashi helped free Sakurai from some water weeds the unfortunate man had gotten tangled in, but refused to wait for a new camera to be delivered to Sakurai.
“I’m so sorry, but if you don’t wait we won’t have any footage of you!” Sakurai said in dismay, but fell silent when Kamenashi narrowed his eyes at him.
“I’m sure we’ll survive.”
And that’s how Nakamaru found himself alone with Kamenashi for the first time.
“Didn’t expect you to be so good with tent-pitching,” Kamenashi said, fastening the last of the ropes holding the tent upright.
“That makes two of us. I’ve… never really gone camping before.”
Nakamaru had initially wondered if the tent supplies that they had received in exchange from a ‘voucher’ in Kamenashi’s supply pack would be put to good use, but surprised himself when he found he had aptitude for pitching a tent.
“I see. Well, shall we do a short introduction?”
“I’m Nakamaru Yuichi, turning 31 this year.”
“When’s your birthday?” Kamenashi interrupted. “I’m 28, by the way.”
“4 September,” Nakamaru replied as he inspected his handiwork. Although the tent looked great, Nakamaru wondered if having a permanent shelter would be a dead giveaway when the hunters were on the prowl.
“Cool, you get to celebrate your birthday on national television.”
“You think we can last so long? 13 days is a lot of days. We’ll have to be in the top 4 or something.”
“Sure. You have too little faith in yourself.”
“You’re optimistic.”
“I’m confident. You should be, too,” Kamenashi replied. “Should I scout the surrounding areas before hunting period begins? Since we hadn’t encountered anyone, I wonder just how big this place is. Hopefully I can find some water besides the pond too. Our bottles wouldn’t last us for long.”
Like the coward he was, Nakamaru didn’t like being alone in this place. If only Sakurai hadn’t fallen into that pond…
A bell rang in the distance before Kamenashi returned. The signal that hunting period had started!
Nakamaru started fretting. Should he start hiding? Kamenashi might not be coming back now that he had people to seek. Where then? Would going up a tree be a good idea? Staying outside of eye level should make for a nice strategy, right?
Problem was, Nakamaru didn’t know how to climb one. He got a scratch when he fell off one at eight and never tried again.
“Well Yuichi,” he muttered under his breath. “It never hurts to try again. Even when you’re now 31. You may not recover as quickly if you do fall and break a bone… but… that means it will hurt.”
So much for words of encouragement.
Packing some of their food and water into one of the transparent knapsacks their supplies came in, Nakamaru struggled to find footing on a large tree several feet from their tent. Potential bites from huge red ants didn’t sound attractive but Nakamaru didn’t want to disappoint his partner. He had barely found footing on the lowest branch when he heard footsteps. The rush of adrenaline spurred Nakamaru upwards, and he managed to reach his third branch when Sakurai appeared in view.
“Oh shoot, I missed all the action. This pair wouldn’t be getting much screen time.”
Nakamaru continued to climb, making sure he could remain silent before he made each move. He had barely taken three steps when he spotted Ninomiya. The red tracking bracelet that Ninomiya wore, unlike the green one Nakamaru had, indicated that he was a seeker. And from the grin that Ninomiya sent their oblivious cameraman, it was obvious that Ninomiya had followed Sakurai here, where their supplies (and almost Nakamaru) laid unprotected in the open.
Crafty little bastard.
Ninomiya would have made away with most of their supplies too, if a whizzing stone didn’t barely miss his skull.
“I used to be a pitcher.” Nakamaru heard Kamenashi’s voice. “You don’t want to be hit by one of those.”
“What the hell! Are-”
“A scuffle is okay but violence and physical harm isn’t allowed!” Sakurai intervened, tone filled with anxiety, “I shouldn’t be speaking to ruin the footage of a confrontation but I don’t want to film bloodshed!”
“I wouldn’t kill him, maybe just leave a huge bruise or two,” Kamenashi reasoned but that was enough for Ninomiya to drop his loot and hightail it out of their campsite.
Nakamaru just made a mental note not to offend his partner.
The first hunting period ended with every pair remaining safe. Nakamaru spent the six hours watching Kamenashi pack up before moving out of his side, and nibbling on biscuits when his stomach started to growl.
When the ‘all-clear’ bell sounded, Nakamaru nearly slipped off the tree in relief.
“Didn’t realise you were up there the entire time,” Kamenashi grinned and gave Nakamaru a pat on the back as they updated each other en-route to their new location. It was nearer to a stream, and shielded from plain side by a cluster of small trees. Kamenashi had found the spot when he was seeking for hiders. “Good job!”
“Did you really mean to harm Ninomiya?” the question slipped out unbidden, having weighed heavily on Nakamaru’s mind, and he mentally winced at the slightly accusatory note it came in.
Kamenashi burst out laughing.
“Of course not! We’re on TV; I don’t want to get arrested or something.”
“You looked terrifying earlier.”
“Styling your eyebrows like I do tend to produce this effect,” Kamenashi looked oddly proud. “But it can’t summon food from nowhere so we’ll still have to do something about dinner.”
“Maybe it can,” Nakamaru said with a grin, gesting towards Sakurai who was taking a break and about to start on his company provided bento.
Kamenashi flashed a thumbs up, then narrowed his eyes, put on his nastiest look and approached the cameraman.
Although Kamenashi and Nakamaru were joking, Sakurai remained jumpy for the rest of the day, particularly whenever Kamenashi looked at him.
“I wonder how the footage will turn out,” Kamenashi mumbled nonchalantly around a mouthful of mushrooms he deemed safe to consume. Nakamaru had opted for sardines from a tin; unidentified species of fungi wasn’t his idea of “fresh and exciting flavours” that Kamenashi said they were. “His hands are shaking so much.”
“Rest will calm his nerves and do him fine. The next shift for the cameramen should be starting soon. We should get into our positions as well.”
“Positions? There’s hardly any light left and hunting period is over.”
“The cameramen will be moving. If we can note where they went, we will have a clue on which direction you should be seeking in during the next hunting period.”
“Ah, so you’re actually really smart! I thought the entire look you had was just for fashion or something.”
“Thanks,” Nakamaru deadpanned.
Why did Kamenashi even pick him when his expectations of his abilities were pretty much non-existent?
The moment his replacement came, Sakurai bolted with a shaky wave of his hand. Nakamaru wondered if he would see Sakurai again.
“Found one!” Kamenashi crowed. It turned out he was far better in tree climbing and had better night vision, though Nakamaru cannot be said to be surprised, “I can’t wait for hunting period tomorrow. Stay safe Yuichi!”
“When did we progress to given names?” Nakamaru protested. Moreover, Kamenashi was his junior; this wasn’t proper.
“We’re in the wilderness, so stop being so uptight. I’m going to take a shower before turning in for the night.”
“Shower?”
“The stream?” Kamenashi offered before sniggering and batting his eyelashes. “Would you want to join me?”
Nakamaru never imagined his first skinny dipping experience to come when he was over thirty.
But at least this was something he could strike off his bucket list.
Kamenashi said he liked sleeping naked but for Nakamaru’s sake, he would be kind enough to keep his pants on. Unidentified insects snacking on them as they slept didn’t seem to faze the other man.
Nakamaru thought he would be suffering from insomnia but the exhaustion from climbing a tree soon got to him. How much being thirty made a difference; he used to be able to go without sleep for 48 hours when a new game from the Call of Duty franchise was released. He was nearly drifting to sleep when he felt a hand on his ass.
Oh god.
Nakamaru lectured Kamenashi on the importance of one’s privacy during night time, but it was soon clear the cameraman had to try hard to hold his laughter in.
“I wonder how much of your speech will be featured on television. It’s hilarious.”
“Kamenashi Kazuya, I’m being serious!”
“Just Kame or Kazuya would be fine.”
“You’re missing the point,” Nakamaru sighed in exasperation.
“I can’t control my sub-conscious. My hands go where they want to when I’m asleep.”
Nakamaru took in a breath, ready for his second round of tirade, when the bell for the commencement of hunting period sounded. As he scrambled up a tree, with Kamenashi kind enough to help before leaving for his own hunt, Nakamaru wondered how dark his eye circles would become by the end of the season.
With the cameraman following Kamenashi away from their campsite, Nakamaru found himself with only an unmonitored camera for his companion. Settling himself for a long period of boredom, Nakamaru was about to doze off when an unfamiliar alarm sounded.
“Yamamoto was found,” a message flashed on the little screen of his tracker, “Both Yamamoto Takeshi and Sato Miyuki are eliminated. Congratulations, Suzuki Kensuke. Your choice of prize will be delivered to you and your partner. The hunting period is officially over.”
Having no concept of time on this island, Nakamaru was alarmed; how fast did it take for a seeker to find someone? He had thought the lack of light would make things more challenging. How wrong was it for him to foolishly think that way.
It’s a hundred million yen. A little lack of light wouldn’t be getting into anyone’s way. If a seeker was to come his way, how should he react? Nakamaru knew he was getting too comfortable on a tree. He should devise a Plan B or C should the need arises, though he hoped to never use it.
Kamenashi returned in time, grumbling about smoke and red herrings, “I should’ve stuck to exploring westward.
“Something bothering you?” he asked when Nakamaru remained silent.
“If I hear footsteps, how should I react? Should I stay at the same spot and hope that it could just be a passing hider as well, or a seeker who hasn’t spotted me? Or should I assume that he is coming at me and I should try to run?”
“You would have to depend on your own judgement, Yuichi. I have faith in you, partner.”
When Kamenashi flashed him a smile that took years off his face, Nakamaru felt a new determination flood his veins. Much as he was missing Tokyo and was getting sick of wearing the same shirt, he would not let himself be caught easily, for doing so would mean letting Kamenashi down.
A fire Nakamaru never knew he had had just been ignited.
Said fire was extinguished the next day when all participants were supposed to gather at the communal area and Nakamaru and Kamenashi got hopelessly lost. The first to arrive would be given an advantage while the last would be punished.
“I’m not a walking, talking compass,” Kamenashi argued as he turned the map round and round, trying to figure out their location. “You can’t blame me for losing our way.”
“I’m not. Spinning the map around won’t help though. I suggest we just randomly explore the area till one of the filming crew come fetch us and then we’ll deal with the punishment. How does that sound?”
“Sounds feasible. We have tracking devices on anyway. And the crew can’t possibly start filming while they are missing a contestant or two. I’m sure we aren’t the only lost ones.”
Kamenashi had barely finished his words when he saw an oddly large pile of leaves. On closer inspection, someone had carelessly forgotten to hide their belongings well before heading off to the communal area.
“Maybe they got too comfortable during the ‘safe period’,” Kamenashi mused as he dug around the leaves and unearthed a stash of food. “Well, finders’ keepers’ losers weepers. We are going to have some sweet potatoes for dinner.”
The punishment turned out to be a handicap on their next games - a huge pillow with the word “loser” emblazoned across it.
Nakamaru had never been good on a tightrope (not that he had much opportunities to try), but having the huge pillow strapped onto his back made balancing on one much harder. When crew members finally hoisted Nakamaru out of the mud pool beneath the tightrope, mud oozing from his every pore, he wondered how his mother and sisters would willingly spend thousands of yen on mud wraps.
Mud was gross. He felt gross.
And judging by the way the cameras were closing in on him, Nakamaru was pretty sure he was going to get a chunk of screen time. Looking like Muk from Pokémon.
Perhaps this was karma from stealing the sweet potatoes, but at least no one would recognise him like that.
“I love sweet potatoes.”
Kamenashi proved to be very talented in roasting them, taking on the role as chef while Nakamaru concerned himself with scrubbing his shirt. It was a hopeless battle; the shirt wasn’t ever going to return to its original colour.
“Any particular reason?”
“I had them often at my grandparents’ place when I was younger. We weren’t very rich.”
“Was that what inspired you to join this game show?”
“Not really. Life got a little better when I got drafted for baseball.”
“I’ve never seen you before,” Nakamaru blurted. “But I don’t really watch enough baseball so I’m probably wrong,” he hastened to add. Perhaps he should try for a change of topic; Kamenashi had begun to look upset.
“I peaked early, got stuck as a benchwarmer, and was dropped when my contract ended. So I thought, why not do something crazy as I try to figure out what to do next in life?”
“I like your optimism. Good luck, Kame.”
And just like the skies clearing when the storm ends, Kamenashi’s eyes lit up and he visibly brightened.
“You just called me Kame. We’re friends now, yes?”
Sakurai eventually returned to follow the pair with his camera, though Nakamaru nearly sent him into another bout of anxiety when he choked on a fishbone.
“Don’t worry,” Nakamaru coughed as he finally felt the fishbone dislodge from somewhere in his throat, “it’s gone.”
“Maybe we should avoid fish from now,” Kamenashi said, glaring at the remaining fish hissing over a small fire they had built.
The concern evident in his voice made Nakamaru smile, and he felt a flash of alarm at that. Since when had Kame became so important?
The second elimination, and Kamenashi’s first successful hunt, was a total fluke.
Nakamaru had slipped down a short slope while looking for a suitable tree to climb, and found a man hiding at the bottom. In case he was a seeker Nakamaru left in a hurry, only to bump into Kamenashi who had been hurrying over to check if Nakamaru had been hurt by the fall.
Needless to say Kamenashi ended the hunting period in under five minutes.
“You’re one lucky guy,” Kamenashi beamed, though Nakamaru’s sore bum vehemently disagreed.
When it came to choosing prizes, Nakamaru opted for ‘enjoyment’ and obtained for themselves a baseball and glove.
“It seemed like a good choice at that time,” Nakamaru mumbled, “oh god, maybe I should have picked something more useful. I mean, it gets boring at times and I thought maybe we could play catch sometime. I was sure you missed baseball and oh god-”
Nakamaru found himself cut off as Kamenashi flung himself upon Nakamaru to give him the biggest embrace he had ever received in his life.
“That enthusiastic about baseball huh.”
All the years spent working in the office had left Nakamaru with little time to make himself happy, let alone someone else. It felt good; the warm fuzzy feeling pooling in his chest. If it would lead to such a genuine smile from Kame, Nakamaru would give up on a little shampoo, soap and detergent anytime.
The two of them fared much better in their next game, a round of dodgeball that involved all sixteen remaining contestants split randomly into two groups. The matches were intense, and from the way the director was smiling, probably provided for a lot of good footage. Nakamaru supposed much editing work has to be done too - many a times the ball went astray and the game had to be put on hold as people searched for the ball in the bushes and piles of leaves. Then there was the fifteen minute break too, from when Matsumoto’s expensive shirt got snagged on a branch and staff had to free him slowly and carefully.
Eventually, Ninomiya and Kamenashi led their pairs to victory, though for very different reasons. Kamenashi experience in baseball made him an accurate shooter and quickened his reflections, while Ninomiya’s smaller size and cautiousness made him a difficult target.
“What would you like?” Nakamaru probed when faced with the choice of three prizes once more.
“If there’s coffee it would be nice, but you’ve already given me my baseball and glove. What would you like?”
“Coffee it is then.”
“I thought you didn’t like coffee so much.”
“Well, maybe I just like to see you smile.” Nakamaru said, feeling his cheeks grow hot from embarrassment. What a cheesy line he had just said!
Kamenashi just beamed.
Coffee turned out to be a terrible choice because Kamenashi was a completely different man with caffeine in his veins. If he was active before, now he was just positively thrumming with energy, happily sharpening branches into makeshift spears with which to catch more fish (choking incident seemingly forgotten) and chasing down another hider once hunting period began again.
“Something wrong with him today?” A random crew member quizzed, watching as Kamenashi brandished one of his makeshift spear in victory.
“I should hope not.”
When Kamenashi came dashing up, eager to know what Nakamaru would prefer for their prize, the warm fuzzy feeling grew.
Over the days the numbers dwindled to twelve, and Nakamaru was surprised he was still on the island and not back in Tokyo receiving hate mails from his unfortunate partner.
“Getting the lighter was a wise choice Yucchi,” Kamenashi chirped, “no more having to rely on friction.”
“Maybe the soap would have been a better choice. I think I’m starting to stink.”
“Nonsense, you smell fine. And even if you stink I’ll remain by your side.”
“You flatter yourself,” Nakamaru retorted, smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
As the beginnings of a pout started to form on Kamenashi’s face, someone cleared his throat uncomfortably and Nakamaru was reminded of Sakurai’s presence.
“Are you guys… flirting? If you are, I’ll just leave the camera unmonitored and… move somewhere else.”
“Uh…”
“I always forget that it’s not just the two of us but that’s fine. Say, Sakurai, is it true that one of the other pairs are fighting?” Kamenashi changed the topic smoothly. “The one with the ridiculously tall guy and the really good swimmer girl. The one who rears ducks back home.”
At Sakurai’s look of recognition, Kamenashi continued, “the two weren’t talking during the group game, just glared at each other throughout. And duck girl just left without waiting for her partner when her game ended.”
Sakurai nodded. “Don’t quote me on this but apparently, tall guy is smitten by another contestant. You know the girl with the orange bikini? He keeps visiting her during the ‘safe period’ but duck girl thinks he is endangering her as the hider. One of the cameraman told me he let his crush go once without tagging her out.”
“Scandalous,” Kamenashi let out a low whistle, “Yucchi, would you get mad if I did that too?”
“I will just shove you into the mud pond and watch you sink.”
“How calm and collected you remain when saying such terrible things. You wound me Yucchi!”
As Kamenashi feigned shock and hurt, Nakamaru chuckled and decided that besides the bugs, lack of personal hygiene, constant starvation and unnecessary stress on his heart, the program was pretty cool.
He even briefly considered thanking Taguchi for the application forms.
Perhaps he was getting too complacent, but disaster soon struck once it was down to just eight.
Spotted by a seeker who proceeded to climb the tree Nakamaru was on, Nakamaru barely made it to the neighbouring tree and slid down the trunk, ignoring the burns and splinters digging into his palms. As soon as he hit the ground he started running, and the set of footfalls soon behind forced him to run even faster.
Nakamaru ran as fast as he could without heed of directions; so long as the enemy seeker couldn’t land a finger on him, Nakamaru would remain in the game. He no longer cared how much noise he was making, the crunch of leaves under his feet echoing in the forest. His only goal was to keep running until the signal for safe period sounded.
Until he was involuntarily stopped.
It could have been his own feet, it could have been some twig or stone but Nakamaru fell and a sudden sharp pain shot up his leg. It was not the time to bemoan his fate, however; Nakamaru had to try and hide himself somewhere at the very least. He had a maybe twenty seconds lead over the seeker, and he would put it to good use.
Limping, Nakamaru laid himself behind a large log and threw as much leaves as he could onto himself. His hands were shaking.
“I saw you, you can’t be too far away.”
Nakamaru chewed on his lips.
“Tomoya was found,” Nakamaru had never been happier to see the flash of message on his tracking device. “Both Tomoya Kei and Lindy Hoffman are eliminated. Congratulations, Ninomiya Kazunari. Your choice of prizes will soon be delivered to you and your partner. The hunting period is officially over.”
Saved by the bell.
“You got lucky but I’ll find you the next hunting period. There’s only three pairs of us left, you can run but you can’t hide forever.”
“What happened?” Kamenashi literally shrieked when he saw the size of Nakamaru’s ankle. “We need to find ice to bring down the swelling,” he muttered before stomping off to talk to one of the production crew members nearby.
“They are getting you a medic to access the situation so you’ll be okay in no time.” Kamenashi squeezed Nakamaru’s hands. “If things don’t look too good, we’ll pull out of the competition to return to Tokyo and get you treated.”
“Are you kidding?” Nakamaru looked up in alarm. “We have been surviving here for about a week! We can’t just give up midway.”
“Then what do you expect me to do? Watch as your condition worsens?”
“It’ll be fine!”
“That’s what I thought once too when I injured my pitching arm. I could never achieve the same speeds afterwards. Injuries should never be taken lightly,” Kamenashi huffed through gritted teeth. Sakurai, who seemed rather sympathetic towards Nakamaru’s plight, gave him a slight pat on the shoulder.
.“The medic will reach soon and then we’ll discuss the next steps,” Sakurai said, “As much as you might want to stay in this competition, the producer has stressed the need to always respect the doctor’s advice. I hope you can understand where we are coming from. In case you have to return to Tokyo, we’ll be sure to offer you an invitation to season 2.”
Nakamaru had no qualms about shortening his stay here. He just didn’t want Kamenashi to be eliminated too because of his clumsiness. The other man deserved better.
Kamenashi hovered around as the medic made his diagnosis, peppering him with questions that would have touched Nakamaru if it didn’t just make him guiltier.
“I’m sorry to bring such news but the swelling is a lot bigger than I expected. I can’t tell by mere touch if something is broken so an X-Ray will be advisable.”
“We’ll pull out of the competition,” Kamenashi announced without hesitation.
“You can’t Kame.”
“And why can’t I?”
“Because tomorrow is my birthday and you promised me we’ll spend it on this god forsaken island!”
Nakamaru would say anything to remain here.
“We can wait till midnight before we take a boat back,” Kamenashi spat back.
“Can’t we get a replacement partner for Kame?” Nakamaru turned to the producer pleadingly. “Like get one of the past eliminated participants to return?”
“I don’t want another partner. If you don’t go back for treatment right now, I’ll just pull out of the competition and we’ll both be automatically disqualified.”
“Don’t play dirty!”
Before Nakamaru could say any further, Kamenashi had left to sign the relevant papers with a staff member. He was adamant about Nakamaru seeking proper hospital care and treatment and nothing could sway his mind.
Days later Nakamaru would be touched, really he would, but right then he just felt like a party pooper, the most selfish kind too.
Kamenashi stayed with Nakamaru throughout the wait at the hospital, and faithfully wished him happy birthday when the clock struck twelve. The X-Rays did show a fracture and had treatment been delayed, Nakamaru could have ended up walking funny.
“You owe me big time,” Kamenashi jutted his lower lips out in displeasure. “You owe me your leg.”
“And how can I ever repay you for that?”
Nakamaru leant back against the pillows. Hospital bedding never felt like a five-star hotel till today.
“You could ask me out.”
“This is awkward,” Nakamaru paused. “You’re joking right? Are the cameras still rolling?”
The next few days would prove that Kamenashi hadn’t been joking - the man behaved as if a very very close friend would (why wouldn’t you just admit to the word boyfriend, Nakamaru?), visiting daily, getting things for him so he wouldn’t have to get up, buying him whatever food he wanted to eat, and showing more anxiety regarding his recovery progress than Nakamaru did.
And when Nakamaru was discharged, Kamenashi came to pick him up, under the pretext of “you need someone to help clean your place up. I like cleaning.”
“So… why did you pick me? On the first day.” Nakamaru said the moment both of them were settled on his couch.
This elicited Kamenashi’s laughter.
“ Don’t tell me this has bugged you since Day 1.”
“I have every right to know!”
Kamenashi mocked a look of deep thought.
“Because your nose is large and it’s cute how it fits on your face.”
“That’s it?” Nakamaru frowned in disbelief at how that was both a compliment and an insult but still very much endearing. “Most people laugh at it instead of becoming attracted to it.”
“I’m not most people. Besides, it’s their loss and my gain that they can’t appreciate it,” Kamenashi grinned and switched the television on. “Oh look, ‘Hide and Seek’s’ promotional trailer! I can’t wait for the season to show so I can start telling my friends how I lost my chance at a hundred million.”
Nakamaru could only give a wry smile when he saw himself introduced as “Nakamura Yuichi”, accompanied by a shot of him and his flailing arms as he leaped off the ship.
Hide → Seek lived up to its producer’s expectations, surpassing it even to become the hit programme of the year. With the ratings climbing, and discussions abuzz on social media platforms, Nakamaru found himself becoming something like a mini celebrity (mostly because of his series of unfortunate events, he was sure). Coupled with Kamenashi’s good looks, it was a fair statement to say that they were probably one of the most popular pairs of the season.
Which worked to Nakamaru’s favour because he landed himself an endorsement for “Sofy Comfy Detergent - Makes your clothes extra soft and clean” once the video cut of him falling into the mud pool went viral online. He had entered into negotiations with an insurance firm as well.
Kamenashi had done well too, becoming the star in a new advertisement for “Energizer Coffee - Who needs sleep when you have coffee?” The money received would tide them over till they find proper jobs to hold. Or when they start a small business together, should they choose to do so.
The netizens were outraged/heart-broken when the episode where they pulled out was broadcasted. Taguchi and Ueda showed no sympathy, only sending him a message “check out the sheer number of fanfiction that have popped up. Most people think you had make-up s** at the hospital” which sent Nakamaru’s face into shades of tomato-red.
The final winner of the competition turned out to be Ninomiya, much to Kamenashi’s surprise but within Nakamaru’s expectations. Nakamaru had always known Ninomiya to be more than meets the eye, after all. In fact, he completed the obstacle course a few full seconds ahead of Aiba - his steady hands helped in one of the mini-challenges that involved sending metal spheres into a tube.
Throughout the competition Ninomiya had kept people’s expectations of him low: not very athletic, a complete loser on the ship. When he finally displayed his full talents, even Aiba was slightly caught off guard (he still cheered for Ninomiya though when the latter was presented with the cheque for 100 million yen).
However, Ninomiya didn’t seem keen to remain in the media’s eye. “How I wish to spend my money is personal - perhaps I just like to see the figures in my bank account grow. Have a good day,” was how most of his interviews went. Eventually the reporters got bored of hounding for a reaction and moved on. Till rumour had it that Ninomiya was a brilliant psychologist who needed a sponsor and funds for his project. Also, he wanted the experience to help prove something, though it was never specified.
Nakamaru’s cheeks heated up as the familiar studio lights blazed upon him once more.
“Ready, cameras rolling and… action!”
Nakamaru and Kamenashi had both decided to sit in for a special Reunion episode with the other contestants of Hide → Seek. When they encountered Ninomiya back stage, they exchanged pleasantries before Ninomiya grumbled how he wouldn’t be free if it wasn’t for the excellent pay. Kamenashi called Ninomiya a scrooge, but Aiba informed them that Ninomiya would probably take it as a compliment instead.
Unlike filming on a deserted island, there was a live audience at the studio. Being the fan favourite, Nakamaru was flooded with questions (Team Miracle had a fair share of questions as well, and Aiba more than made up for Ninomiya’s reticence in speaking). It made Nakamaru self-conscious because he had never used to be the centre of attention.
The most popular questions:
“Did you know why Kamenashi chose you on day one?”
“You guys seem pretty close, what’s your relationship before the show?”
“How are you guys after the show? Kamenashi was really nice to choose your welfare over wealth!”
As the questions continued to flood in, Nakamaru grew flustered while Kamenashi maintained his composure and unleashed yet another of his hidden talents to save Nakamaru from the flurry of questions - tale spinning.
“I choose Yucchi because I felt compelled to. It’s an unspoken connection I felt the moment I first set eyes on him. And no, I didn’t regret my decision. I mean, we did make it to the top three pairs!”
“We were strangers, but we’re more than just friends now,” Kamenashi threw a wink in Nakamaru’s direction, sending more than one girl screaming. “We’re literally soul mates after such a gruelling experience.”
Nakamaru found more reasons for his cheeks to burn and this time, it wasn’t the extra studio lights directed at him.
When will Kamenashi find a new hobby that doesn’t involve embarrassing him?
But Nakamaru wouldn’t have chosen it to be any other way.
The End.