Come On! Koibito! 8/21
Aiba was fully aware that he fell in love easily. It had been a problem since childhood. He could distinctly remember talking to his parents at the age of six, fretting over the fact that he loved both Yuka and Taeko from his class and asking their advice on which one he should marry. His mother had laughed at his earnestness and his father had expressed his gratitude that Aiba had brought this, his gravest of concerns, to his parents first but neither answered his question, much to his frustration. All his cares were to be proven pointless, however, when Mariko transfered to his school three weeks later and his heart was off again.
So, it had come to no surprise to Aiba that he had fallen for Sakurai Sho, the host of CoKoi. It wasn't that Sho was the kind of person Aiba went for; Aiba didn't have a "type". As far as Aiba was concerned, he liked people, not types and everything else was arbitrary. Sure, the first thing that had attracted Aiba to Sho were the other man's looks (who could be immune to them?) but over the past two weeks, Aiba had done his best to get to know more about him. Now Aiba could say with confidence that there was more to Sho than that. He knew that Sho was smart, as he was always reading a newspaper or two when Aiba found him in the makeup tent before shooting. He knew Sho was kind, as whenever Aiba barged in on his prep time, Sho put those newspapers down and talked to him. And he knew Sho was loyal, since it was very obvious that he didn't particularly care about CoKoi itself but loved all the staff and crew. The more Aiba found out about Sho, the more time he spent with the other man (however fleeting it was), he found that he liked him more and more. And in this sea of people that Aiba found himself immersed in lately, it was frankly kind of a miracle that the infatuation had lasted this long.
He knew that was all it was: infatuation. Nino had taught him that word long ago, telling him with a very serious face that Aiba shouldn't call all these fleeting feelings "love". 'If you think you're in love with everyone,' Nino had said, 'then you won't know what real love is when you finally find it.' They were surprisingly serious words out of his friend's mouth and when Aiba tried to question it more, Nino would have none of it, telling Aiba to mind his own business and rattling off complaints about stupid, romantic fools that hadn't gone grocery shopping in weeks.
Nino had taken to teasing Aiba about his wandering heartstrings years ago, of course. If anyone was allowed to, however, it was his best friend who had seen him through every crush, relationship and break up. Nino had held his hand when Eriko dumped him in middle school. Nino hadn't been disgusted when Aiba confessed his attraction to their friend Ryota in high school. Hell, during his relationship with Ryutaro, Nino had taken to grabbing bouquets of flowers on his way home, since Ryutaro was always angry with Aiba for some reason and Aiba always forgot to apologize.
It was things like this, Aiba felt, that proved that even though he was more open about his feelings than his friend, Nino probably felt things deeper than he did. Although Nino would never say anything, Aiba had always felt that Nino was looking for the one person who he could open up to, the one that he could be himself around. Of course Nino had always had Aiba and they were as close as two stupid boys could be but there would always be something that Aiba couldn't give to him, something more that Nino needed.
Nino had dated enough people, Aiba supposed, in his search for that something missing. Nino's little black book couldn't hope to compare with Aiba's but it wasn't nonexistent. The only thing was that Nino tended to have horrible choices in men. Aiba still shuddered when he remembered Nino's tragedy of a relationship with Ryo, the man who seemed to think that Nino was his personal pet that others couldn't even look at. Nino was smart, of course, and dumped him the minute he figured out what was happening but it didn't change the fact that Nino didn't see it coming from the moment Ryo had bought him a collar on their second date. Aiba might be a little flakey but even he knew that was a warning sign.
And that was why Aiba had decided that he needed to get Nino with his cameraman, Ohno. It was a perfect plan. Ohno was harmless, a good guy from what Aiba had seen. The most important thing was that Nino let his guard down around him. The only other person Aiba had ever known Nino to lean on unconsciously was himself. Those two had some kind of connection, Aiba knew, and he was going to take it upon himself to make sure that those two kids got together, some way or another.
It was going to be hard, though. Nino was stubborn as anything and it was obvious to his oldest friend that he had joined the competition for the money. Since they were kids, Nino had always had a keen eye on the cost of things. Stingy was a harsh word but it described Nino pretty well. It wasn't surprising, Nino's family had been poor after all, but Aiba knew that it meant that, regardless of his feelings for Ohno, Nino would remain in this competition until the bitter end. Even if it hadn't been the money, it would be the fact that Nino hated to lose. There were so many aspects of his friend that he'd have to go up against.
But Aiba'd do it, he knew, because Nino had always been there for him. It was time to return all those loving favors Nino had granted him over the years. So even if Aiba felt like maybe something was new this time, something about Sho hit him differently than his flavors of the week in high school, Aiba vowed not to do anything beyond flirt. He had to stay in this thing as long as Nino did, to make sure that he got his happy ending. For once.
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"Did they kiss or was it too early for that?" Ohno asked Tamaki in the breakroom (breaktent?) that afternoon. The elimination ceremony was looming over their heads in the evening and the older man had pulled Ohno aside earlier in the day, saying he wanted to talk about something. Ohno had reluctantly left Nino (surely the younger man wasn't going to be so nervous this week?) to discover that Tamaki's serious talk was in reality only leftovers from his charge's restaurant date. Ohno could never say no to food.
"Too early," Tamaki managed through a mouthful of food. "Plus, it feels like Jun's kind of a prude. I don't think he's going to make out with just anyone."
"Well, at least that makes him a step up from our previous bachelors," Eita commented from the corner where he was cleaning his camera. "That guy last season would bang anything that moved."
"I'm surprised we didn't have to keep a medic on set for STD backup," Okada chuckled, reaching over Ohno's shoulder to grab some edamame.
"He wasn't that bad," Gakki tried to pipe up, frowning at the other camerapeople, polishing her lens.
"You just say that because you thought he was cute," Erika smirked from next to her. Gakki opened her mouth to retort but shut it again in an instant, blushing and focusing more attention on the cloth that was now vigorously scrubbing the glass. Erika laughed.
"It'd be easier if he was sleazy, though," Saki sighed as she walked into the tent , setting her camera on a nearby chair and grabbing a water bottle out of the cooler. "I mean, we get way high ratings when our guy's hitting on the contestants left and right. This Matsumoto's way too good for our show. How did we even book him, anyway?"
"I hear his parents own some company that deals with farming or drilling or something important and boring," Tamaki threw in, a piece of fried chicken in his hand. "He's money; that's all that matters."
"He's classy money," Eita countered. "There's a difference."
"I suppose," Tamaki agreed, not particularly caring, focused much more on the food in his hand than the conversation going on around him. Ohno couldn't blame him; the food was delicious.
"Matsumoto's a nice guy," Ohno finally felt the need to contribute to the conversation. "He might actually bring a little class to our show. I think we should be happy to have him."
"Easy for you to say," Okada sighed. "Your charge is adorable and enamored with you. You don't have any stress right now."
Before Ohno had a chance to ask Okada to elaborate, Nakai popped his head in the tent, a scowl apparent before he even met Ohno's eyes. Inwardly, he grinned. It hadn't been his intention to train the older man to instant anger at the mere sight of him but it was definitely an amusing side effect.
"You lazy bastards," Nakai complained, "what are you doing? The ceremony's scheduled to begin in fifteen. Find your charges and get them down here."
"Aye aye, sir," Okada faked a salute to the other man but Nakai was already gone, no doubt trying to avoid the inevitable fight he'd get into with Ohno. He needn't have worried, however; Ohno wasn't in the mood to provoke the irritable mood as his partner in crime, Taka, was nowhere nearby. It wasn't worth it if Taka wasn't there. One would think by now, Nakai would realize that all the fights' common denominator was none other than his own assistant. The longer Taka got away with it, though, the more fun it became.
Ohno reached down to grab his camera and headed through the foyer, up towards Nino's room. His knock earned him a "come in!" and Ohno smiled to see a grinning Nino welcome him, dressed in suit that actually seemed tailored to him for once. Wardrobe must have gotten on him after last week's slightly too big blazer.
"You look nice," Ohno complimented him, readjusting his camera so that it sat on the right place on his shoulder. His attention focused on the apparatus, he missed the way Nino's face flushed and his eyes quickly looked down and to the left. The awkward tension only awkward for one of them, Nino decided to break the silence.
"So, I checked the forum again today," Nino began, fiddling with things on his desk so he didn't have to meet Ohno's eyes, which had looked up from his machine at the sound of the other man's voice. "Which I know I'm not supposed to do, yes," Nino added quickly, before Ohno could even open his mouth. Ohno blinked.
"And?" Ohno prompted after a pause, waiting for the reason Nino had brought this up in the first place, although he thought he might have a glimmer of an idea. He smiled as Nino's eyes lit up, although his face was clearly fighting to stay neutral. There was no way he could hide the new spring in his step as he walked over the bed to grab his cell phone.
"Someone wrote about me!" Nino grinned, trying to open the internet on his phone to show Ohno the webpage. "I wasn't even going to look but I thought just maybe there would be something today and," he paused as he waited for the page to load, "there it was!"
Nino held the phone out for Ohno to see. The older man took it out of his hand, and scrolled through, reading the inane message board posts that meant both everything and nothing at the same time. And sure enough, there, at the bottom of the page, was a solitary post.
I'm really liking that Ninomiya guy. His chahan looked delicious! I wish I could have eaten it! Yum! ~~ :DD
Ohno smiled and handed the phone back to Nino, who took it with glee and read the message one more time, as if to remind himself that it had actually happened.
"Congratulations on your very first fan," Ohno chuckled at Nino's smile. "And while I'm very happy for you, if we don't get downstairs in the next two minutes, Nagase'll have our heads."
"Got you," Nino nodded, popping his phone in his pocket as they walked out the door. As they headed down the stairs, Nino took them two at a time, jumping from the third step up to the floor. It was almost adorable how much joy he was taking out of one silly internet posting. Suddenly, he turned around to look at Ohno very seriously, a grin pulling at the corner of his mouth.
"Think I should do a shoutout to my fan on air? I could say 'This is for FishingFool99!' or something."
Ohno simply looked into Nino's honest face and shook his head, reaching across himself towards the record button that would have to be pushed soon enough.
"I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure they already know how much you appreciate it."
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"I can't believe Junno got eliminated," Aiba sighed the following day, lounging by the pool. It was times like this that he was seriously glad that he had decided to pack swimming trunks. It was a long shot but the sun felt so nice and when it got too much, there was always the pool to jump in. It was a beautiful day, if only marred by the fact that a guy he was starting to like had just gone home.
"Believe it," Nino snapped back, reclined against the back of a chair, playing his DS in the shade of a lawn umbrella. Nino hadn't wanted to come outside in the first place, enjoying the comforts of the mansion far more than the outdoors. Aiba had been very persuasive, however, threatening to drop Nino's DS in the pool if he didn't try and get at least a little sun. Aiba had given up ten minutes later, deciding that being outside would have to be good enough.
"But he seemed so nice," Aiba sniffled, grabbing a slice of watermelon from the plate the two had brought out with them.
"He seemed a bit like you, which is terrifying. This program does not need two Aiba Masakis," Nino complained, fake shuddering and pausing his game to grab a piece of watermelon himself. "Besides," he added, "this means people like Aiba the spaz more than Junno the spaz. That's a good thing, at least."
"I guess," Aiba hummed, taking another bite of his watermelon.
Their conversation was soon interrupted by the annoying blast of their cell phones, alerting the two that they had a text message. Nino frowned, not really looking forward to another challenge. Aiba, meanwhile, was practically glowing, reaching towards the side table to grab his phone.
"Message from Sho~" he sang, hitting some buttons to bring it up.
"I got it, too, dumbass. It's not solely for you. It'll be the next challenge or something," Nino retorted, looking through his text messages, too.
"There might .. be ... a ... ps..." Aiba trailed off, reading the message a second time to make sure he had it right before glancing at Nino, a worried look in his eyes. Nino simply furrowed his brow, trying to make heads or tails of it.
'Hello everyone, Sakurai Sho here. I know everyone's still reeling from last night's elimination ceremony but I have some bad news. I regret to inform all of you that we just finished consulting with the doctor and it seems that Matsumoto Jun has come down with the flu, quite possibly H1N1. We'll keep you informed as more details arrive. All challenges are currently postponed.'
~
This chapter is about a day later than I wanted it to be but life happens, I suppose. I know I included a lot of camerapeople in this chapter that had never been mentioned before so feel free to check the cast list, as they've all been added there. The contest is also officially closed so thanks everyone for playing, I have a bunch of entries and we'll see who the winner is soon enough. :D Thanks for reading! I hope you liked this chapter!