fic for astrangerenters

[nino_mod]

For: astrangerenters
From: :3.

Title: The Bachelor
Pairing/Focus: Sho x Nino, Aiba x Nino (friendship), Sho x various Johhny's/Jactresses and a few surprise side-pairings^^
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Long long story ahead^^;;;
Summary: Japan's most wanted bachelor is looking for a partner in the new TV show “Will He Pop The Question”. Ten candidates will be fighting for him. Who will he choose? And how did Nino end up in this show? Stay tuned!
Notes: Dear astrangerenters! Don't ever give me that “Reality TV” prompt again XD My brain went wild with it and this story got out of hand. I hope it hits your nerve! Oh, and I hope you like Sho's butt as he's making quite an appearance in this story^^
Many thanks goes to my beta who did not only save this story from horrendous mistakes (Screw you, tenses!) but also made sure that the story made sense in itself. <3
Thanks to our dear mod for organizing this event again!!!


“Do I really have to do this?” Nino asked, shifting back and forth on the chair Aiba had told him to sit down on.

“Of course!” his friend replied, already looking through the viewfinder of his camera. “What's an application without a picture?! Now, smile!”

Not left with any other chance to respond or complain, Nino tried his best to smile. Now that he was in this situation he actually began to doubt that it was a good idea to accept Aiba's suggestion. But let's start from the beginning.

About three months ago Nino's life was suddenly turned upside down. He had received a message from his bank telling him that he overdrew his account.

Nino couldn't believe it. He treated money really responsibly. He was spending way less money than he got monthly and had slowly, but surely accumulated a nice sum.

He didn't have any specific goal that he was saving for. He simply liked to have some money on his account that would be there for emergency cases. As a simple waiter, his salary was quite low so in case something in his flat needed to be repaired or he got ill, he had some money to use.

Quite angry, Nino had turned up at his bank to tell them that he'd never overdrew his account but when they checked it again, Nino had to see with his own eyes that he was indeed running a deficit.

He told the bank clerk that he didn't do it and that some hacker must have taken all his money. The bank investigated into this matter but they couldn't find any traces and therefore, they couldn't refund his money.

Desperate about what to do, he went to his best friend who immediately offered his help. That's why Nino was living in Aiba's small apartment since two months. He was saving rent, electricity and internet costs, which already helped him a lot. To thank his friend, Nino tried to do the housework as often as possible although Aiba had told him that he didn't had to do it.

Despite the fact that Nino was really depressed since he had lost all of his hard earned money, he soon decided that he should not drown in self-pity. Again, he began to save money and he restricted himself even more than before. He never went out and only bought the cheapest food at the supermarket. He was always looking out for bargains and taking really good care of his belongings in order to not break them. He didn't have the money to buy new things.

Aiba had become worried about Nino's restricted lifestyle. He tried to take him to a bar a few times, even offering to pay, but Nino didn't want his friend to spend more money on him that he already was.

Still, Aiba was convinced that Nino should not go on with this any longer and being Aiba, he had tried to find a way to help his friend. Therefore, one day, Aiba came home with a flyer in his hands, announcing that he had found the answer to all of Nino's problems.

After reading the piece of paper Nino had declared his friend insane, but Aiba can be really persistent. He explained that taking part in this TV Show would earn Nino a lot of money without him having actually to do much. He only had to look cute which, based on Aiba's declaration, he was anyway.

However, taking part in “Will he pop the question” - in short, “WHPTQ” wasn't exactly what Nino considered to be a way out. It was true that he'd get a lot of money for each single day he was in the show but the whole nation would watch him fight for a rich bachelor together with 9 other candidates.

Nino had never been the type of person who'd fight for someone. Also, probably due to his money problems, he wasn't exactly fond of rich people, either but thought of them as pretty arrogant. He was terribly unsuited to become a candidate for this show.

However, and Nino had no idea how it came to that, in the end, Aiba had convinced Nino to take part. They had filled out his profile and the only thing missing now was his picture, which Aiba was currently uploading.

His friend was in high spirits, beaming at the screen while he added the picture with one click to Nino's profile. Content, he then nodded and turned to his friend.

“It's finished. I'm going to send it now,” he announced. Nino, suddenly convinced that he was going to make the biggest mistake in his life, leaped forward to stop his friend.

However, he was too late. As if Aiba had sensed Nino's doubts, he had clicked on the “Send” button before the other one could tell him not to do it.

“Done~,” he cheered while Nino only groaned in despair. “We will have so much fun together in this show,” Aiba went on and Nino only huffed.

In fact, Aiba had already sent his own application just a few minutes ago. He wanted to be part of the show as well, though he had a completely different reason than Nino. Apparently, Aiba had set his eyes on the stylist of the TV Show. He was fanboying over him ever since he had seen him for the first time on TV and was now seeing his chance to get closer to him.

“We have to be accepted first,” Nino reminded his friend, clinging to his last hope. There were tons of people applying for this show, so their chances of getting accepted were incredibly low. They would most probably never hear from this again...

- ~ -

When Nino opened the postbox and saw the two red envelopes, he knitted his eyebrows. One letter was for him, the other one for Aiba. After a glance at the sender, Nino finally dawned what he was holding in his hands right now.

Of course, he hadn't forgotten about Aiba's crazy plan that involved both of them taking part in a stupid TV show that was currently advertised all over the country. Posters with an extremely good looking young man were hanging everywhere, explaining that he was still single and was looking for his better half.

Although Nino had to admit that the man was indeed very good-looking, especially his lips were more than kissable, he had hoped that after they'd sent their application, they would never hear from the agency again. Being watched by hundreds, maybe thousands of people how he was running after that man was still definitely not on Nino's bucket list.

Furthermore, Nino had been quite surprised about the fact that male participants were allowed, even welcomed as it had been advertised on the web page of the show. Japan wasn't too open to couples of the same gender and it was quite a risk that the TV producers were taking to allow men as candidates.

Still, Nino thought that this was actually just another PR tactic, because having men in the show would cause a lot of discussions about “WHPTQ”, which was a great advertisement. Therefore, they would probably pick just one or two male candidates to at least appear open-minded and the chance that Aiba or he would be that ONE was vanishingly low.

All in all, these letters could mean all or nothing. Nino was still convinced that neither he nor Aiba were interesting enough to be considered to take part in that show.

Nino wondered if he should simply throw these letters away but this would bring Aiba's wrath on him for sure and right now he was pretty much dependent from Aiba. Furthermore, Aiba was his friend and he was really looking forward to meet the stylist of the show, so Nino figured that he should at least let Aiba open the letter by himself and see it with his own eyes that meeting that guy would have to stay a fantasy.

With heavy steps, Nino walked upstairs to the shared flat. Work had been hell today as it was Friday night and people didn't seem to have better things to do than go out drinking. His feet were hurting as well as his back and Nino was currently cursing Aiba for living right under the roof in a house with no elevator. Aiba had told him once that he had chosen it to keep fit. If Nino had as much energy as Aiba, he probably would have liked the idea but he had not – not even half of it.

“I'm back,” he panted, when he had closed the door behind himself, hanging his keys next to Aiba's.

The light coming from the living room told Nino that Aiba was still up. A wave of warmth rolled over Nino's body, who, despite cursing Aiba some seconds before, was just grateful to be his friend.

“Have you been waiting for me?” Nino asked when he entered the living-room. Aiba, who was already in his pyjamas, turned away from the TV.

“Welcome home!” he cooed, before he answered Nino's question. “I thought you want to chat a bit before going to bed.”

With a happy, fuzzy feeling in his stomach, Nino sat down next to Aiba who immediately shared his blanket with him.

“Indeed, we have to chat,” Nino said and finally showed Aiba the red envelopes.

With something that sounded like a squeak, Aiba grabbed his and immediately opened it. He began to read and Nino already started to think of a way to comfort him. However, before he could form any decent sentence, Aiba's arms were around his neck.

“I'm in!” his friend shouted, nearly choking Nino. “Seriously, I cannot believe it. They took me in. I'm a candidate now. I can finally meet HIM!”

Aiba was beaming like crazy and although it was night, Nino had the feeling the sun had just risen. He threw his arms around his overly happy friend, seriously happy for him.

“Congratulations,” Nino smiled and gently patted Aiba's hair.

Suddenly, the taller man pulled away and looked at Nino with big eyes.

“What about you?” he asked and Nino shrugged, showing his friend the still sealed letter.

“Open it!” Aiba demanded. “If you're not in, I won't go either,” he declared.

Shocked, Nino reached for Aiba's hands. “That's stupid! You waited for this chance to come and now you're not taking it?” he tried to talk logic into his friend. “You will take part, no matter what happens to me, did you hear me?!”

But Aiba just stubbornly crossed his arms and shook his head. “I only go if you're going, too,” he pouted.

With shaking fingers, Nino began to open his letter. He really didn't want to take part in this TV Show, but if this was the only way to make Aiba finally meet his crush, then he would do it. He owed Aiba a lot already and he didn't want to be the one who was standing in the way of Aiba's happiness.

“Please let me be in too,” he whispered while he pulled out the paper. After taking a deep breath, he unfolded it and started reading.

Aiba was creaking his neck to be able to read as well and before Nino could even say something, his friend's arms were around his neck again.

“You're in, too~,” Aiba cheered and pulled Nino close.

This time, Nino didn't feel as euphoric. However, he had made his decision to join for Aiba's sake a few seconds before and he would stick to it. He just hoped that he wouldn't have to be on screen so much...

“I don't get how we made it in,” Nino mumbled, more to himself, but Aiba caught in anyway.

“I told you, you are cute,” Aiba stated and grinned at Nino who just huffed.

“That explains MY acceptance into the show but not yours,” Nino gave back, feeling the need to mock his friend who had brought him into this situation.

“I am cute as well,” Aiba pouted, but Nino just tilted his head to one side and clicked his tongue.

“And I am sexy,” Aiba went on. This time, Nino just laughed. Aiba WAS sexy – the natural kind of sexy when he didn't think about it and the hot kind of sexy when he was really trying. However, he would never tell him. It would get into Aiba's head too much.

Aiba, who had decided to let Nino's mocking go, pulled another paper out from the envelop. It was the explanation of how things would go on from now and he elbowed Nino to red through his as well.

Upon reading, Nino was more and more convinced that this TV Show was one of the most stupid ones he'd ever come across. However, he could see that it would become super popular among Japanese people.

Still, now that he was part of it, he would have to arrange himself with all of it. At least, he could arrange himself with the main person of this show – the extremely good looking Sakurai Sho with those extremely kissable lips...

- ~ -

“Just look at this,” Aiba screamed and gaped at the house in front of them.

Nino, who got out of the taxi after him, was as much in awe as his friend. The building was huge. It wasn't a simple house nor a villa – it was actually a palace. A huge wall was enclosing it and several cameras were installed to make sure to only let people in that were allowed to be there.

When Aiba and Nino carefully made their way towards the huge gate that got a cherry blossom painted on it, the petals opened. A straight path lead towards the front door of the building. On both sides, green lawns were covering the area.

There were banks along the ways, that were carefully raked and here and there little fountains were placed, the sound of the burbling water helping the tense friends to calm down. In the huge trees, birds were singing and a soft breeze caused the leaves to swish softly.

Slowly, they made their way to the front door. Although the estate gave off a feeling of an old European Royal Court at first sight, it was more than modern.

The glassy front door was just a tiny detail of the asymmetric and stylish main building. Apparently, the architect must have loved the see through feature of glass because he used it quite generously. Still, the light, stable wood between the crystalline material gave the hint of constancy and some grounded owners.

“We're going to live here for the next weeks,” Aiba whispered and Nino nodded slowly. He had had his troubles to come in terms with being part of a nationwide TV Show but he had not wasted much thought on the fact that their “target” was rich and therefore luxury would accompany them every day from now.

“Welcome, gentleman,” a voice next to them suddenly said and the two jumped back in shock.

An elderly man in a suit and a bow-tie had appeared right in front of the door. None of the two had seen him coming and were cranking their necks to check if more of those people would appear.

“I am Ogura Tomoaki and I am the manager of this house,” the man introduced himself with a deep bow. “I will guide you to your rooms now while the servants will take care of your luggage,” he explained further and Aiba as well as Nino remembered that they had left all their bags in the taxi.

They followed Ogura who lead them though an endless labyrinth of corridors. Nino had long lost tracks of where the entrance was located and he was sure that he'd get lost whenever he would leave his room the next days.

Finally, Ogura stopped in front of a white door that had a name tag on it.

“Mr. Ninomiya Kazunari,” Ogura said and turned around to Nino. “This is your room.”

With this, he opened the door and Nino's eyes became as huge as golf balls. The room was just absolutely amazing.

A big glass front was guaranteeing a breathtaking view over the valley and the coast behind it.

The bed on the opposite side of the room was king size and Nino wondered if he was supposed to sleep in here with Aiba together because nobody needed a bed that big for himself. Other than that, the room was equipped with a table, a night stand and a huge wardrobe.

“I will guide Aiba-san to his room now,” Ogura interrupted Nino's inspection. “Your luggage will arrive shortly, so please make yourself comfortable until then. In about an hour one of the servants will come to get you so you can meed the other candidates.”

Nino managed to stutter a “thank you” at Ogura. He was too overwhelmed from all the luxury around him to form any coherent thoughts. Smiling, Ogura closed the door behind him and Nino just caught a short glance at his waving friend.

Being left alone, Nino once again let his eyes run over the room. He spotted a vase on the table with a pretty bouquet made out of yellow roses. A little card was standing in front of the vase and Nino took it.

When he opened it, he saw a welcome message in very accurate writing:

Dear Mr. Ninomiya,

Thank you for taking me into your consideration. I am looking forward to meet you.

Sincerely,

Sakurai Sho

Nino huffed but inside he felt a bit guilty. He wasn't here because he “took that man into consideration”. Basically, he was here because of his friend... and the money...

Suddenly, Nino heard a knock at his window. Surprised, his head shot up and he saw a hand that he recognized as the one of his best friend.

He quickly went to the window to open it and when he leaned out a bit, he found himself looking into the beaming face of his friend.

“I'm in the room next door,” Aiba grinned and although Nino rolled his eyes, he was actually relieved. All these expensive things around him intimidated him to some extent. Furthermore, he hadn't been good with coping with new situations so he was more than glad to have someone he'd known for ages close to himself.

“Did you get a bouquet, too?” Aiba asked and Nino nodded. “The welcome message was cute,” Aiba went on. “Though I am not here because I want Sakurai Sho...,” Aiba offered an apologetic grin.

Now, Nino began to pity the man for real. They were already two that weren't interested in the man at all, so he really hoped that the other candidates were considering Sakurai Sho for real otherwise this whole show would turn into a disaster, not to think of the poor man himself.

A knock on his door interrupted Nino's thoughts.

“Seems that our baggage is here,” Nino stated. “See you later,” he dismissed himself and closed the window after Aiba had waved him goodbye.

Indeed, a servant with a friendly smile opened the door when Nino called him in. He carried his bag inside and asked if he needed assistance but Nino declined the offer. Somehow, his old bag looked pretty out of the place compared to all the new furniture in the room and he really didn't want the servant to take a look at his washed-out underwear.

Nino opened his bag and went over to his wardrobe. When he opened it to put in his clothes, he nearly got a heart attack. His wardrobe was already filled with clothes – from the underwear (not washed-out) over shoes, shirts and trousers to suits in all possible colours. When Nino took a closer look, they were all having exactly his size.

After he had taken in the huge amount of clothes, Nino stubbornly crammed the twenty different ties into one compartment and packed his own clothes in the now free ones. He would not succumb to the charm of luxury, he decided.

While he was unpacking his bag, Aiba barged in once when he had also realised that his wardrobe was full of clothes. His friend was already wearing one of the suits and presented himself in front of Nino in order to gain an praise of how good he was looking but of course he was barking up the wrong tree.

Still, Aiba told Nino to think about what to wear when they'd meet the other candidates soon because the first impression was always important.

Nino couldn't care less what the other candidates would think of him. He didn't want to charm them. His only aim was to stay long enough in the show to be able to pay off his debt to the bank and save up to lead a normal life afterwards. For this, he only needed to charm Sakurai Sho and meeting him was only scheduled for the next day.

Therefore, Nino decided for jeans and shirt from his own clothes as he felt most comfortable in those.

- ~ -

“Seriously, Neen, couldn't you have chosen something fancier?” his friend asked him when they were on their way to meet the other candidates.

A servant had come to fetch him and Aiba, who had changed into another suit (dark green velvet jacket and trousers with a white shirt underneath and a ridiculous purple bow-tie).

“I am looking fine, I think,” Nino gave back, pointing at his shirt that showed a gorilla with some quite explicit genitals. Actually, Aiba had given him this shirt as a present.

His friend only snorted. “I just act as if I didn't belong to you,” he stated and walked faster. However, Nino just caught up to him and linked arms with Aiba, grinning widely at his friend.

Being as good-natured as always, Aiba let it pass and instead focussed on admiring the hallways and rooms they passed. Just like the outside, the interior was modern and luxurious, though in a very subtle way. The dominating colour was the light brown from the wood that was framing the big glass walls, holding them together effortlessly, giving the house a light character.

Once in a while, they passed modern paintings and sculptures in different shapes and sizes. The floor was simply white with grey twirls, though Nino had a hunch that this was actually marble. They passed the entrance but there was no sight of Ogura.

The servant lead them outside, aiming for a garden house that was basically just one huge parasol. The white fabric produced a comfortable shade on this warm day and Nino spotted several people on the greyish rattan furniture.

“Mr. Ninomiya and Mr. Aiba,” the servant announced them and a tall man with an exceptional long nose looked up to them.

“Perfect! Now we're all here,” he beamed at them and Nino immediately ranked his energy to be on the same level as Aiba's which caused him to groan silently.

“Please take a seat!” the man gestured towards the last two empty chairs and Aiba as well as Nino followed his invitation.

The man looked around at the ten people in front of him. Nino tried to let his eyes wander inconspicuously as well. He quickly figured out that they were 5 men and 5 women. It seemed that this Sakurai Sho hadn't decided to which side he was leaning or he simply liked both genders.

Suddenly, Nino felt a prickle at his neck, an obvious sign that he was being watched. He turned his head and looked straight into some brownish eyes. An amused twinkling was lying in the man's look when he nodded his head slightly as if to greet him.

Confused, Nino nodded back, wondering what had caught the man's attention. However, before Nino could go on thinking about the matter, the man with the long nose began to speak.

“My dear candidates,” he began and all heads turned to him. “A warm welcome to all of you that have decided to try and win our dear Sakurai Sho's heart.”

He let the words sink in and again, Nino felt his guilt bubbling up. He wasn't here for Sakurai Sho's heart. However, he quickly suppressed the feeling and told himself to focus on the man.

“I am Ikuta Toma and will be the host of this show. If you have any questions or problems, please come to contact me as soon as possible. I want to make sure all of you will feel comfortable,” he explained with a serious face and some of the candidates nodded.

“For today you will have to put up with me because you will meet our handsome bachelor only tomorrow,” Toma grinned and tried to look apologetic. “However, let's use this time to get to know each other better.”

Nino groaned silently. He hated such introductions where you had to tell an amount of facts about yourself. He never found enough interesting things about himself to match the predefined number.

Toma have seen to caught his misery because he already waved his hands calmingly.

“We're not going to have each of you stand up and speak in front of everyone here. We want to make this more casual, so let's just grab one of these delicious house-made lemonades and just chat way,” he offered and sat down next to the woman closest to him. “Just don't mind the cameras. They are instructed to stay as unnoticed as possible but we need some footage on how the candidates met for the first time.”

With this, he turned to the woman again and finally Nino noticed the men with the cameras. They were standing a bit aback but Nino was sure that they would come closer the moment they heard some interesting talk. From now on, he needed to be careful about what he'd say.

Anyhow, to introduce each other that way was more to Nino's liking. Due to his work as a waiter he was used to casually chat with people. After a short glance at his friend, who was already talking to the guy sitting on his other side, Nino decided to figure out whom he would have to compete with. He wanted to stay at least for a few weeks in order to gain enough money.

He turned around to the woman to his left. She was wearing a sun hat and a stylish dress. Her mouth was small but cutely curled up at the sides.

“Hi, I'm Ninomiya Kazunari,” he introduced himself and then offered: “You can call me Nino if you want.”

“Nice to met you, Mr. Ninomiya. I'm Horikita Maki,” she replied, smiling. However, her smile didn't reach her eyes and the way she addressed Nino even after his offer showed that she was not interested in making any new friends here.

“It's quite a nice sunny day,” Nino tried again to start a conversation but the woman just nodded while she nipped on her glass.

“It's actually too hot already,” another female voice suddenly joined them. “I should have gone for an airy dress like yours,” she said, pointing at her jeans.

Nino took a closer look at the woman who was seemingly the complete opposite of Ms. Horikita. She was wearing jeans indeed and a shirt, much like he did, and the cute kitten that was printed on it made Nino like her immediately.

“I'm Mizukawa Asami, by the way,” the woman introduced herself and flicked her ponytail, that had fallen over her shoulder, back.

“Nice to meet you,” Nino greeted her. “I'm...,” he began but was interrupted.

“Nino. I've heard you talking to Ms. Horikita before,” she explained. “You can call me Asami,” she offered then.

The way she immediately brought this conversation to a more casual, personal level caused Nino to smile at her. He decided that he'd get along with very well.

“The girl over there is, Kitagawa Keiko,” she said and pointed at another girl who was maybe a bit younger than her, wearing jeans as well but a sleeveless shirt with some English writing on it. He hair was also tied back in a tail but it was wavier than Asami.

“We met for the first time when we arrived this morning but we already had lunch together. She's really nice and it's a lot of fun to talk to her,” Asami said. “Did you already met somebody from the candidates before?”

Nino grinned. “I know Aiba since kindergarten,” he stated, pointing at his friend, who had moved in the meantime and was currently entertaining a girl dressed in a skirt and a light blouse. Her lips were round and her brown hair was falling openly over her shoulders.

“It was actually Aiba's idea to join,” Nino added and Asami laughed.

“It sounds like you don't want to be here,” she joked and Nino decided to not to tell her how close she was to the actual truth.

“Anybody who just came here to joke around and does not honestly wish to become Sakurai Sho's partner should better leave now,” Horikita Maki suddenly said and Nino as well as Asami were a bit taken aback by the harsh statement.

“Ah, I am sure everybody is honestly interested in him,” Asami tried to calm the atmosphere and Nino nodded. He made a mental note to make sure that nobody would ever found out that he was here for the money and to cheer for Aiba. From now on, he had to act as someone longing for Sakurai Sho, the man he knew nothing about except that he was handsome and had wonderful lips.

“Are you talking about me?” a male voice suddenly drew their attention towards himself.

It was the same man who had already made eye contact with Nino before. Nino hadn't heard him coming closer but now that he was standing in front of him, he had to admit that he was quite handsome, though in an unsettling way. He was also quite a few years older than he, Nino guessed.

“We were talking about Sakurai Sho,” Asami explained. “As if we'd be checking other candidates out,” she added then, knitting her eyebrows.

“You need to know who you are competing with,” the man replied and looked intensively at Nino, who couldn't quite cope with the piercing look and therefore turned to Asami again who just shrugged.

“May I know whom I am competing with then?” she asked, looking at the man who flashed her a smile, amused by the way she turned his words against him.

“I am Okada Junichi, nice to meet you.”

Asami took the task to introduce herself and the other two. When it was Nino's turn, Okada looked at him again with open interest. Nino managed a cocky smile that caused the man to chuckle.

“I'm looking forward to competing with you,” Okada then said and although he looked at all three of them, his eyes stayed longer on Nino. “Now please excuse me, I have to check out the other candidates to see if I find someone else who might be dangerous for me,” he grinned and winked at them before he turned around.

“He seemed to be quite interested in you,” Asami remarked when Okada was out of earshot. Nino smiled apologetically, but of course he had realised that too. He began to wonder about the meaning of Okada's weird behaviour.

Before he could make any logic out of it though, he heard his best friend yelp. He turned around to Aiba to check upon him, but his friend was simply starring at something behind Nino.

“Oh, here he is,” Toma suddenly screamed joyfully, reaching out his hands. Finally, the “something” that made Nino's friend loose all his ability to think straight, came into Nino's sight, swatting away Toma's outstretched hands.

“This is our stylist,” Toma introduced the man before he put his hand on his shoulder. Obviously not fond of the touching, but accepting it for now, the man bowed slightly.

“My name is am Matsumoto Jun and I am looking forward to working with all of you,” he introduced himself. Not that Nino needed this introduction. He had been informed by Aiba about all interesting (and also quite a huge amount of uninteresting) facts of this man.

“He's here today to check on you and maybe underline your beauty with a few changes here and there,” Toma explained the presence of the stylist. “We will send one after another to Jun so you'll be able to shine tomorrow when you meet our Sakurai Sho for the first time.”

Jun offered the candidates an encouraging smile and Nino realised that not just his best friend fell for the stylist's great looks. Also Asami was quite excited about the idea to have Jun give her a make-over and the girl next to Aiba was clapping her hands really furiously.

Suddenly, Nino realised a movement next to him.

“I will not go with him,” Horikita Maki who had stood up, declared. “I am confident in the way I look right now.”

With this, she bowed politely towards Jun and Toma before she turned around, making her way towards the house. A servant was immediately by her side to lead her to her room.

“Less to do for you, Jun,” Toma joked and the tension that had suddenly build up, derived into thin air. “So, who wants to go first?”

Immediately, all the women's as well as Aiba's arms were up.

Toma grinned. “Don't get me wrong. Jun is not the one you're supposed to make fall for you,” he said, causing the candidates to chuckle.

The stylist chose the girl that had been talking to Aiba before first and left the others. Bereaved of his dialogue partner, Aiba made his way back to Nino.

“Shihori-chan is so lucky,” Aiba sighed when he let himself fall on the chair next to Nino.

“It'll be your turn soon as well,” Nino tried to push Aiba's mood, which worked, judged by the way his friend's eyes began to sparkle.

“I will ask him to give me a total make-over, so we can spend a lot of time together,” Aiba planned, rubbing his hands in anticipation.

Nino just shook his head. He suddenly worried that Aiba would end up with a blond perm.

They chatted a bit about what they had learned about the other candidates. Apparently, the other two guys were brothers, the one with the brownish hair called Maru whereas his stepbrother had black hair and was called Yoko. They both seemed to be, according to Aiba, quite energetic and funny.

The girl that went with Jun just now, was Kanjiya Shihori. Aiba hadn't gotten much out of her except the fact that she had quite lot of brothers and was pretty blunt for a woman.

The last woman was Fukiishi Kazue. She was a teacher and had a crush on Sho ever since she had seen his face in a magazine. According to Aiba, all the other four were pretty nice and relaxed.

Nino had to agree that except for Okada and Horikita, everybody seemed really laid-back and nice. He hadn't expected that because after all, they were fighting over one of Japan's most coveted bachelors. Sakurai Sho was rich AND good-looking, smart and at first impression quite a nice guy. The fight over him would be a tough one.

However, they were still at the beginning and Nino knew pretty well that people could change. He simply hoped that this would be not the case as he was quite content with all the people around him. He could live with some bitchiness as well, only Okada confused him quite a bit.

Surprisingly, Nino was the second to go to Jun and so he had to leave his friend behind , who now had turned into a bundle of nerves. He patted Aiba's shoulder to encourage him before he left for his meeting with the stylist.

Jun worked on Nino quite efficiently without much talking. He cut his hair a bit shorter, making him look a bit older – although, according to Jun, Nino looked still way under his age.

He also showed Nino how to style his hair backwards with gel to make his, as Jun called it, cute face stuck out more. The worst part was when he put Nino's eyebrows in shape, pulling some of the hairs out and Nino was sure that never he came across something more painful.

In the end, Jun advised Nino to wear a jacket over a shirt tomorrow because it would make him look a bit broader, which wouldn't do him any harm, as Jun said quite dryly.

Thanking Jun for his work and his advice, Nino left. However, before he closed the door behind him, he turned around again.

“If my friend comes in and asks for a whole make-over, please don't give him a blond perm,” he asked and left a slightly confused Jun behind.

- ~ -

“Oh, Neen, he is so perfect,” Aiba sighed and let himself fall dramatically on the bed, squishing his just styled hair.

Nino, who had been sitting on his chair, admiring the calming view out of his window, turned around to his love-struck friend who started talking about the charms of the stylist without giving Nino a chance to reply.

Nino realised that Aiba didn't have a blond perm and send his silent thanks to the stylist. He had dyed Aiba's brown hair black, cutting it in a way he could tuck the right side behind his ear while his left side was quite short. Aiba's new style suited him very well.

“Did you make a move on him?”, Nino asked.

Blushing, Aiba shook his head. “I couldn't,” he mumbled.

“But that's what you came here for,” Nino reminded him and sat down on his bed next to his friend.

“I know,” Aiba whined. “But when he was there, so close to me, I couldn't form any logic sentence anymore...”

Nino took Aiba's hand to comfort him. His friend seemed to be really in love. Nino had thought that the real Jun might be different from the picture Aiba had build for himself after watching him on TV. However, Aiba's feelings for the man seemed to only have become stronger.

“And you know, he was close to me so often,” Aiba said thoughtfully.

“Tell me more about it,” Nino edged him on, knowing this would push Aiba's mood dramatically.

“You know, when he was finished, he softly pushed my hair behind my ear and his face was really close to mine,” Aiba began and indeed, the tinkle in his eyes was back.

“Sounds good,” Nino encouraged him.

“And when he showed me how to make my lips look more kissable, he brushed his thumb over them,” Aiba went on, enthusiastically.

Nino raised one brow. Either, the stylist was taking his work very seriously, checking upon the candidates body really well or, and this was way more conceivable as he hadn't been so thorough on Nino, he came to like Aiba's figure.

“Before I left, Jun pulled my bow-tie straight again and told me that it is really cute though I am not sure if he was talking about the tie or... me?” Aiba said and blushed.

Nino bit back a comment about Jun's and Aiba's questionable sense for clothing because the bow-tie was just ridiculous but if Jun had indeed referred to Aiba, things looked quite bright.

“To me it seems that he quite likes you,” he therefore said and Aiba beamed. “You just need to be a bit braver next time you see him.”

Aiba nodded determined. However, then he realized something.

“I don't know when we'll meet him again...,” he threw in.

“Aiba-chan, he is our STYLIST. You just need to go and ask him something about your outfit or your hair,” Nino reminded him, slapping his friend at the back of his head.

“Ah, you're right. You're the best!” Aiba cheered and hugged his friend tight.

“Now get yourself some sleep so you will look smoking hot for your Jun tomorrow,” Nino grinned and Aiba hugged his friend again.

“Do you want me to stay the night?” Aiba asked but Nino shook his head. He was thankful that Aiba remembered how badly Nino adapted to new surroundings but knowing that Aiba was sleeping next door should be enough. He was grown up and further, he was sure that his friend wanted some time for himself to go on dreaming about his Jun.

“Have a good night, Neen, and thanks for coming here with me!” Aiba said before he closed the door.

Nino lay down on his bed, letting the happenings of the day pass in his mind. The wealth that was presented here was overwhelming him and he was seriously wondering if it was right to be here. His guilty feelings of betraying a man he hadn't even gotten to know yet had become stronger as well and he had already played with the thought of leaving the show before it even started for real.

However, the talk with Aiba had reminded him why he was here. He had to make sure that his best friend found the happiness he deserved. When this task was fulfilled, he could leave, hopefully with enough money on his hands to start a decent life again.

- ~ -

Sho was pacing his room. He felt restless and nervous. He never felt nervous. He hated to feel nervous. Actually, he didn't even want this...

“Sho-chan, please, sit down,” his friend said.

Ohno was sitting in one of the chairs, his legs casually crossed while he was holding a glass of whiskey in his hand. He was as cool as a cucumber but apparently his calmness didn't swap over to Sho. Well, Ohno wasn't the “most wanted bachelor” after all.

Sighing, Sho sat down as he'd been told and began to rub his temples. He was already in the suit Jun had chosen for him, his hair styled and if Jun would see how Sho was tousling it just now, he would explode. Luckily, he was busy checking upon the candidates just now.

“This will be fun, trust me,” Ohno tried again, patting Sho's back lightly.

Huffing, Sho reached for his own whiskey as well and took a long drink. He was pretty sure that this was NOT going to be fun. He was still cursing his parents to come up with such an idea. Though, partly it was his own fault. He should have read the signs better.

His parents, two incredibly successful businesspeople, who were working in so many different fields that even Sho had troubles to recall all of them, had always been in love with each other. Although their work was tough and they had been separated for long times during their lives, their feelings for each other had never faded. They also had tried to shower their one and only son with it, flying back from another continent just to spend one evening with him.

Sho was proud of his parents and admired them. They were his idols and he was working hard to stand on an equal level with them. Looking at work and success, he was even on a way to surpass them, which his parents were acknowledging with happy faces. However, there was one point in which he just couldn't even come close to them – relationships.

Of course, Sho had been in a few relationships but none of them lasted longer than a few months. It was mostly Sho's fault, who simply didn't have the feeling to have found the right one yet.

His parents had been overly supportive. They wanted their son to experience the happiness only a relationship with a suited partner could give. Therefore, they had asked him to join them at parties or events where lots of young bachelors and bachelorettes were present as well. However, Sho had declined their offer as he was rather spending time with his best friend, or alone, reading.

As he knew now, this had been his biggest mistake. Although his parents had accepted his decision, they hadn't been happy with his solitary lifestyle at all. They had accepted it for a few years already, but about six months before, they had finally decided to take things into their hands.

Sho still remembered that evening when they told him that they wanted to expand their business. Interested, he listened to them when they explained their plan about a TV Show where a bachelor would chose among 10 candidates to find a partner.

Although Sho was not really fond of such shallow shows, he could see the potential behind it. He agreed, that this TV Show would most probably bring their company a huge plus in their finances.

Sho's parents had been acting relieved upon his approval. He would be the bachelor everybody was fighting for after all.

It had taken Sho quite some seconds to understand and of course he had told his parents that he would NOT be part of the show. However, everything was already settled, the producers, staff members and advertisement companies were already paid. If they would cancel the show, their company would have to deal with heavy loss.

It was such a clever move from his parents. They had known that they would only get Sho to agree if their company was involved as it was Sho's policy to make sure their company would not suffer any loss, even if he had to cut back on his own personal life.

That's basically how Sho had ended up having to face 10 people that were looking forward to becoming his partner. He couldn't imagine that there was even one of them that would suit his taste, because, let's just face reality, 10 was just an unbelievable small number. Sho was meeting more people in an hour at work, but he wasn't falling in love every sixty minutes.

The chance to meet someone who he actually liked was so small that Sho was convinced that the whole show was just huge nonsense. He couldn't believe that his parents were actually thinking he could find a partner here.

He knew that the candidates had been carefully selected by his mum and dad but they had been proven themselves to have quite different taste than their son. Sho didn't even want to think about this one meeting with a girl his parents thought might be to his liking. It had ended in a disaster.

At least, knowing their son very well and respecting him, they did not choose only female candidates. That was basically the only thing they had told him. When Sho then had voiced his worries that the Japanese people weren't ready for some gay interaction on national TV, his parents just brushed them away. They told him that their biggest aim was to make Sho happy. He shouldn't worry about the critics from outside, but should rather try finding the partner he would be willing to spend his life with, no matter which gender and social status, while they would handle everything around the actual show.

“You're so lucky to have found your partner already,” Sho suddenly said and Ohno raised an eyebrow.

Ohno Satoshi was the manager of one of the biggest hotel chains in Japan. His hotels belonged to the most expensive and most luxurious ones and were always fully booked. Due to some accidental circumstances, Ohno had fallen in love with one of his employers and after quite some ups and downs, he had managed to convince his current partner of his honest feelings.

Furthermore, Ohno was Sho's friend since kindergarten, so it was essential for Sho to have him by his side on such a day. The problem was that Ohno was more or less pretty amused about Sho's situation and was teasing his friend about it most of the time, rather than being helpful. However, Ohno knew when his friend needed some real moral support and Sho knew that if it was necessary, his best friend would give it to him.

“You never know what life has in stack for you if you don't take a risk once in a while,” Ohno gave back, not really responding to Sho's statement.

Sho grimaced at his friend, knowing that he was indeed right. However, there were so many things that could go wrong today, that he simply didn't manage to calm down. He hated if things were not going according to the plan or worse, if things could not be planned at all.

A look at the clock made Sho's insides cramp up. There wasn't much time left. Since he could not change his situation, he should focus on calming down in order to not be a bundle of nerves in front of the candidates. So he just began to breath deeply – in and out as he had done so many times before important business meetings would start.

Exactly, Sho suddenly realised. He should simply see this as a business meeting. He would have to figure out which one of the candidates was the one who was the most profitable, the one who would be able to keep the show running in order to gain high quotes so that the money would kept rolling in.

Relieved, Sho let out a shaky breath, earning himself a questioning look from his best friend.

Before Ohno could ask what Sho was up to, because he knew that his friend had just worked out a plan, as he knew him well enough already, the door opened and the stylist came in.

“The candidates are ready for you now, Sho,” he announced. However, with a look at Sho's tousled hair, he huffed, discontent, and moved over to put the strands of hair in their right place again.

“Seriously, Sho...,” Jun began but was interrupted by Ohno.

“And? Are there any cute ones among them?” he wanted to know. Just like Sho, he had no idea about the candidates. Sho hadn't been shown any picture or any information about them as the concept of the show was to let the viewers have the same insight as Sho. They should get to know the candidates at the same pace as Sho did in order to let it appear more realistic.

Furthermore, they wanted to emphasize the fact that it wasn't all about the looks. If Sho would have only been given pictures to choose 10 candidates from, he would probably have been called a shallow man.

The producers also took into consideration that social status or education could be considered as a plus depending on which level the candidates were standing. As Sho was a highly educated person with a high social status, he might have chosen candidates with the same features. However, this would surely be criticised by the audience because they wanted to see that everybody had a chance.

So, in order to avoid any assumptions about a candidate being Sho's favourite even before they got to know each other, Sho had been left in the dark about the 10 people he was going to meet soon. The fact that there were male and female candidates was the only information Sho had been given and this was causing enough ruckus, so Sho had agreed that they didn't need to know anything about them.

Still, it had been exceptionally hard to write a welcome message to someone you didn't even know and Sho had been struggling for days to come up with a decent text. He hoped that the message had warmed the candidates hearts a tiny bit. He really wanted them to feel welcomed.

“The girls are all beautiful in their own way whereas the boys are ranging from cool over hot to super cute,” Jun voiced his opinion. He was brushing some invisible folds of Sho's suit away, who let him do as he pleased.

He knew Jun only since his parents had dropped the bomb of Sho being the main personality of the TV show. Since he was the best in his field, his parents had hired the stylist right away for the show. However, Sho felt as if he'd known Jun for much longer. The way he spoke up, not holding back, was quite harsh and cold sometimes, but Sho appreciated people around him to be honest.

“Is one of them Sho's type?”, Ohno inquired further. He had put his glass down and was sitting on the edge of his chair now, making Sho realise once again that his friend was actually enjoying all this much more than he did.

Jun took some seconds to think about the question and then nodded.

“There is,” he grinned and showed Ohno a thumbs up, who pointed at Jun in return.

Sho, rolling his eyes upon his friends' behaviour, decided that it was time to change the topic.

“Is there someone to your liking?” he therefore asked Jun, who threw him an annoyed look.

“Seriously Sho, if I'd been the one who is allowed to chose from them, I wouldn't fix your hair for the umpteenth time today,” Jun gave back and Sho realized that he was dodging the question. “Now, stop rubbing your temples. Your hair is finally perfect,” Jun ordered him.

Then, he patted Sho on his back. “Your candidates are waiting for you. Let's go!”

With this, he opened the door and lead Sho outside. Ohno was showing him a peace sign. Sho knew that his friend would wait for him until he'd come back from his first meet-up.

Sho took a deep breath. This whole thing would start for real the moment he'd step in front of those ten people. He hoped that he was living up to their expectations. After all, they were here to fight for him, an actual quite intimidating thought.

Sho's heart began to race in his chest and Jun shot him a worried look.

This is all just a business meeting, Sho told himself and finally, he could feel himself calming down. He was ready to start the show!

- ~ -

Nino was, together with the other, sitting in one of the big chairs in the common room. As always, a huge glass front was allowing the candidates to look outside, showing them a beautiful sky.

The room was basically shaped like a piece of cake, so the walls to Nino's right and left were approaching each other. Before they could finally meet, they were stopped by a two-winged door.

Apparently, everybody was waiting for this door to be opened. They had been told by Toma, who was wearing a silver suit today and was in high spirit again, that Sakurai Sho couldn't wait to meet them and would soon enter through this door.

They already had been informed in the upcoming procedure. Sho would introduce himself to the candidates (when he finally managed to appear, as Nino thought slightly annoyed – they were waiting for about fifteen minutes already). Afterwards, the bachelor would talk to each of the candidates alone on the terrace.

Asami, who was sitting next to Nino again, had told him that she had already planned her conversation with Sakurai Sho through. She would end up blabbering nonsense if she wouldn't have a plan. She even showed Nino her notes.

Keiko had just rolled her eyes. She was convinced that a conversation should be flowing naturally and Nino agreed with that. However, when Asami wasn't looking, Nino caught Keiko scribbling down some notes as well.

It seemed like the two girls were pretty serious about this Sakurai Sho. Nino felt slightly relieved. At least some of the candidates were considering Sakurai Sho for real.

When Asami turned to Nino again, she brushed her hair out of her face. Apparently, Jun had thought that bangs would look great on Asami. They did but she had already told Nino that she was overly annoyed by the way they were tickling her eyes.

“If I weren't here for Sakurai Sho, I would totally go for your friend,” Asami suddenly told Nino. “I like his hair a lot. It makes him look so hot,” she began to rave.

Nino nodded. As he had realised yesterday evening already, Aiba's new hairstyle was just perfect for him. Even when he was laughing, which he was doing just now, he was still looking sexy.

“Though, I guess I wouldn't stand a chance since he's obviously interested in men,” Asami added thoughtfully.

“True, sorry, sweetheart,” Nino agreed, patting Asami's leg. She laughed.

“The great guys are always gay,” she stated and Nino shrugged. He liked the idea of great gay guys – he preferred men over women after all.

“I am just wondering about Sakurai,” Asami went on. “Since we're mixed in gender it seems that he hasn't decided on one yet.”

Nino had already realised this too. However, there was another possibility.

“Maybe he just doesn't care about the gender,” he voiced his idea, but Asami shook her head.

“Usually, you lean to one gender more than to the other one. For some the gap between their affection isn't that big, so they don't mind intimacy with both genders. Still, there will always be the one gender that they fancy more,” she explained and Nino wondered if she might be right.

Suddenly, a loud laughter resounded in the room. Aiba and Maru were obviously in a great mood today. Nino grinned at Asami and Keiko who giggled over the two guys. However, Ms. Horikita didn't seem too amused about the noise as she was rolling her eyes.

Apparently, Maru was the one who had ended up with a perm, giving him a somewhat wild appearance, which suited him quite well.

Yoko, who was sitting next to him hadn't changed much except for the fact that Jun had also cut his black hair in a way that it was falling into his eyes. It was giving him a mysterious aura. Still, whenever Maru was making a joke, Yoko's eyes started to sparkle and a smile appeared on his face, making him look quite handsome.

Looking at the other three candidates, Nino had to admit that Jun really had an eye for people. His work ranged from only slightly trimmed hair to a complete make-over.

As Jun had instructed him, Nino was wearing a jacket over his shirt today and had styled his hair back as well. He figured that he should show at least some effort.

Suddenly, Toma, who was standing close to the door, cleared his throat to get everybody's attention.

“My dear candidates,” he started. “I just got word that our handsome Sakurai Sho is now waiting in front of this door, overly happy to finally meet all of you.”

He reached for the doorknob and Nino thought that all of this was annoyingly exaggerated. However, as this was a TV Show, it was probably necessary.

“I don't want to let him and you wait any longer, so I present you our bachelor!”

With this, Toma finally pushed the door open. Nino could feel the candidates tensing up while he himself was pretty relaxed. He was not the slightest bit interested in this man who was most likely just another rich snob, aiming for the attention of the whole nation that, when the show would finally air, would be sitting on their sofa's, waiting for the pompous first appearance of the handsome bachelor.

Sakurai Sho entered the room with a soft smile on his lips. His posture was straight and he was radiating dignity and to Nino's surprise a subtle kindness. However, Nino didn't miss the slight shaking of his hands that gave away that even Sakurai Sho was a bit nervous at that moment. It made him appear much more human and likeable than Nino had expected.

He introduced himself with a bow and asked them to call him “Sho”. He talked about how happy and grateful he was that so many candidates were here just for him. When he said that he felt quite some pressure after seeing his pretty candidates just now, he actually even blushed.

Nino had to admit that Sakurai Sho – wait “just Sho” – was either a great actor or an honest soul. However, taking in account that he was rich and never had to deal with any problem in his life before, Nino lay his bet on the first option. Why should someone like him be intimidated by the fact that ten pretty people where fighting for him?

Toma had moved to Sho's side after the camera's had gotten their shot of the bachelor seeing his candidates for the first time.

“You're right, Sho-chan,” he said and Nino was waiting for the bachelor to scold him for the overly affectionate way of addressing him. However, surprisingly, Sho let it slip.

“All of your candidates are really beautiful and since I had the chance to get to know them yesterday, so I can tell you they are all really interesting and nice people. If I were in your shoes, I'd be at a total loss at who to chose,” the moderator went on.

Sho grimaced and nodded. “Right now, I share the same feelings as you,” he admitted.

Toma patted him lightly on his back before he decided to push the show forward.

“So, in order to help you out of your misery, I suggest you should get to know them better. We have prepared a nice little space for you on the terrace where you can have a short talk with the candidates. What do you say?”

“That sounds perfect!” Sho agreed. “I am thrilled to have a chat with you all,” he added then, looking into the round.

Then, he let himself be led outside by Toma, two cameras following him while two stayed inside.

Okada Junichi was the first one who was asked to join Sho on the terrace. With a smirk that Nino felt was directed at him, he left the room.

As soon as the terrace door was closed, the candidates let out the breath they had been holding and relaxed a bit. Aiba moved a bit closer to Nino.

“He's quite nice,” he said and Nino just shrugged. He was still convinced that Sho was putting on an act.

“I will tell him my true reason for coming here,” Aiba then said. Nino's head shot around to him.

“Are you crazy?” Nino tried to keep his voice down. “He will throw you out immediately.”

Aiba shook his head. “No, I just got the impression that he's a really nice person and it would be great to have him on my side when I am chasing after his stylist,” he explained.

Nino was convinced that Aiba had been blinded by Sho's acting just now and again tried to stop his friend.

“Aiba, this show's aim is it, to find a partner for Sho and not for his stylist. It wouldn't make sense to let you stay.”

“He will let me stay,” Aiba said determined and Nino just knew the look on his face well enough to know that he would not be able to change his friend's mind anymore.

Aiba was starting to chat with Maru again whom he seemed to get along pretty well with, so Nino was left with his own thoughts.

Actually, he decided, it wasn't such a bad thing if Aiba would be thrown out today. He would be able to leave the show as well then and all this nonsense would have an end. He would still be left with his money trouble but there was surely another way to get out of it.

The candidates were called one after another to join Sho on the terrace. While he was waiting for his turn, Nino was simply looking around the room, chatting with Asami or Keiko once in a while.

Aiba was still talking to Maru. After watching the two for a bit longer, Nino concluded that Yoko didn't seem to be much interested in Sakurai Sho either. His eyes were glued to his stepbrother and when Maru laughed loudly over Aiba's jokes, Nino got the impression that Yoko's eyes got smaller while his lips were pressed more tightly together.

After this had caught his attention, Nino decided that he had to watch the older one of the two stepbrothers a bit more closely. As he had learned from Aiba the two were absolutely not related by blood. Maru's father had fallen in love with Yoko's mum when the boys had been tennagers. Since then they were living together. Still, Nino had a feeling that there was something behind the bush with the two stepbrothers. Being in this show might become unexpectedly interesting.

When Aiba was asked to meet Sho outside, Nino tensed. If Aiba was really going to tell the bachelor about his true reason for being here, there might be a first unexpected incident.

However, Aiba came back about ten minutes later, showing Nino some thumbs up. The camera's caught the gesture and immediately Aiba was being cornered by Toma who wanted to know about the meaning of it.

Nino heard Aiba telling them that the chat with Sho had been fun and went really well. Relieved, Nino let out a silent sigh. For now Aiba seemed to be safe.

Before Nino even was able to speak to his friend, he was called next to go outside. His head full of worries about his friend, Nino just walked on the terrace where Sho asked him to sit down on the opposite chair.

While looking at the, admittedly, pretty face of the bachelor, Nino tried to figure out what he was thinking about Aiba. He didn't look annoyed or angry. In fact, Sho was only looking at Nino with a soft smile.

“Have you already tried the chocolate cookies?” Sho suddenly asked, pulling Nino out of his thoughts.

Sho pointed at a plate with several cookies with huge chocolate chunks inside and Nino remembered that there had been several trays with these inside as well. As he wasn't so fond of sweet things, he had not tried them and that's what he told the man in front of him.

“You seriously should try one,” Sho said and took one, taking a bite. “They are so delicious,” he added. As his mouth was quite full, lots of crumbles were flying around when he was talking, most of them settling on Sho's trousers.

When Sho realised the mess he made, he blushed and began to clean his clothes.

“That was not really gentleman-like,” he said embarrassed after he had gulped his cookie down.

“Not, it was not,” Nino agreed and Sho showed a miserable expression. “But it was quite amusing,” Nino added and Sho grinned sheepishly.

“I hope you'll still stay after seeing me being unable to eat a cookie without leaving crumbles,” the bachelor asked, his face slightly worried and Nino suddenly felt like hugging him. Seeing Sho so insecure triggered something inside of Nino that he quickly tried to push away.

“It takes a bit more to scare me away,” Nino said and offered Sho a smile who let out a shaky breath.

“I'll try my best NOT to find out what that might be,” the bachelor decided. “But let's not talk about you leaving. I rather want to know why you're here.”

Nino's mind quickly balanced his options. He could tell Sho the real reason why he was here but after seeing him being quite a bit shaken by Aiba's honesty, Nino ruled this option out almost immediately. This left him with either having to tell a lie, what was against his principles or avoiding to answer the question.

“Why are you here?” he finally asked, hoping that Sho would let this slip.

Indeed, the bachelor took a deep breath and looked as if he was considering this question. Then, he gave Nino an answer that surprised the other one.

“Let's say I have been forced into it.”

“Forced?” Nino echoed. He had been waiting for a long monologue about how Sho was looking for the love of his life and some other cheesy crap, but not for this.

“Well, although it might not appear to people, in my position it's quite hard to find a serious partner,” Sho explained.

Nino nodded. He could actually imagine. After all, he was also just there because of Sho's money...

“I think I can understand that in some way,” Nino said and Sho looked quite thoughtfully at Nino. Then, he seemed to remember his initial question again.

“But you haven't...,” Sho started but Toma had opened the door again.

“Time's up, sweethearts,” he cooed and gestured Nino to come back inside.

“It was nice to meet you,” Sho said before Nino was pushed into the room again.

He was taking his seat again and although Aiba was wriggling his eyebrows at him, Nino was too occupied with his own thoughts to reply.

Sakurai Sho had not been the man he had expected and it was shaking Nino quite a bit because Sho's honesty and clumsiness had opened a tiny door to his heart. Also, the image of Sho's full lips closing around the cookie as well his chubby cheeks munching was repeating in Nino's head over and over again.

Nino shook his head. He had to get rid of the image immediately. Lost for any option to distract himself, he began to imagine the butler Ogura, that had brought him to the room earlier, singing naked under the shower. That actually helped.

- ~ -

Nino had been the last candidate that had spoken to Sho. Toma had asked them to sit down again and just when Aiba leaned over to Nino to talk to him, Sho came back into the room.

He thanked the candidates for the nice chats and said that he was looking forward to get to know them even more. Then, his voice became serious.

“However, I had to realise that there is one person among you, that I don't think will suit me,” he said and the candidates looked at each other, shocked.

Nino closed his eyes for a second. He had known it. Aiba shouldn't have told Sho about his real reason for taking part in the show. The reason why the bachelor hadn't already made a ruckus on the terrace before was, that he wanted to drop the bomb in front of all the candidates because the effect was bigger.

Also, even IF he would have accepted Aiba's decision and wouldn't have mind at all, their conversation had been filmed. The audience would not understand why Sho would let someone stay that was not even interested in the bachelor. This would cause too much trouble and Sho had surely no nerve to deal with that.

Nino scolded himself for thinking for a short moment that Sho might be different from any other millionaire. He shouldn't have fallen for his clumsy act on the terrace. At least, he would be able to leave soon, but Nino was worrying about Aiba who had put his fate so willingly into the bachelor's hands.

“Therefore, I decided to part ways with one of you already,” Sho went on and Nino just hoped that he wouldn't prolong this too much.

The other candidates looked at each other with big eyes. Only Okada and, surprisingly, Aiba were relaxed and calm. Nino's friend obviously didn't know in which danger he was.

“I am sorry to have to do this so soon but I think it wouldn't make much sense to try something when I know from the start that this would not work out,” Sho went on explaining. He had come closer and finally stopped in front of a certain candidate.

“Mrs. Horikita Maki,” Sho began, offering her his hand to raise her up. “I am terribly sorry, but I don't think we are suited for each other.”

For a short moment, the woman looked surprised but she regained her composure within a few seconds. Without taking the offered hand she stood up.

“I hope you know what you're doing,” she just said before she turned around and left the room. When she passed Sho, Nino thought that she had reached out her hand and let it brush over his butt. Judging the bachelor's slightly shocked expression, he might have even been right with his assumption.

Nino was quite surprised about Sho. Contrary to what he had been expecting, Sho WAS a nice guy. For now, it seemed that he would allow Aiba to stay. Nino really had to give Sho some credit for that, though he also hoped that the bachelor had an idea about how to defend his decision for the audience. Furthermore, Nino was happy for Aiba who seemed to have gotten green light for his mission to make Jun his boyfriend.

After Sho had watched Mrs. Horikita walking out of the room, he turned around to the candidates with an apologizing smile.

“I didn't want to scare you away,” he began and Nino caught again that his hand was slightly shaking. He seemed to be nervous about having to explain this now but Nino thought that Sho had made the right decision. It was no use to try something if you knew from the start that it wouldn't work out. That Sho was brave enough to immediately take action was not something he had to apologize for.

The bachelor looked at the candidates with a slightly worried expression and when they smiled at him, he seemingly relaxed.

“As I said before, I am looking forward to getting to know you better. However, I fear that there won't be time for that today as I have a business meeting to attend,” Sho let the candidates know and grinned apologetic.

“That's true. Our dear Sho-chan is a highly coveted man. We should let him go before he will get scolded for being late,” Toma finally chimed in again, who seemed a bit surprised about Sho's decision to throw Mrs. Horikita out.

With another apology and a wave Sho finally left the room. Toma told the candidates that they would need to stay for an interview with him to talk about their first impression about Sho. Then, they would be free for the rest of the day.

Nino quickly began to think about any possible answer. He was a candidate whose goal it was to make Sho “pop the question” at him. Therefore, he should better appear quite fond of Sho.

Well, if he said that he was impressed about Sho it wasn't even a lie. Nino WAS impressed and surprised that he allowed Aiba to stay. More than that, he was thankful to Sho and decided to tell him the next time they had a chance to talk.

- ~ -

“Welcome back~”, Ohno chirped when Sho entered his room.

Without replying, Sho went straight to the table with the whiskey on top and poured himself a glass that he drowned the next moment.

Ohno snickered. “Was it that bad?” he asked.

Sho turned around to his friend. “I thought I'm going to die,” he just stated and finally sat down in his favourite chair Ohno had left for him while he was occupying Sho's sofa.

“It was so hard to act all tough and cool in front of them. Everybody is so pretty and nice, I cannot even understand why they want to become my partner. Though, one of them isn't here for me,” Sho explained and Ohno raised an eyebrow. “He told me that he is after Jun and saw this TV Show as his chance to get close to him,” he went on.

“So you threw him out, right?” Ohno said, but Sho shook his head.

“No, I was surprised by his honesty, but I adore it, so I told him that I would try to help him,” the bachelor replied and now it was time for his friend to shake his head.

“You're really too nice for your own good, Sho-chan,” he remarked but his eyes looked warmly at his friend. Then, he grinned.

“Does Jun know already?” Ohno asked.

“He has no idea,” Sho gave back, but his eyes began to sparkle as well.

“I told you this will become fun,” Ohno gave back,rubbing his hands and for the first time this afternoon, Sho laughed wholeheartedly.

“I think Aiba, they guy who is after Jun, might be a good match for him,” he laughed. “I hope they manage to get together.”

“I trust you in this,” Ohno gave back. “Jun is a nice guy and he deserves a caring partner.”

Sho agreed with a nod.

“But that's enough about Jun now,” Ohno went on. “What about you? Is there someone to your liking?” he inquired and Sho tensed now that he was the main topic again.

“All of them are amazing people,” he stated but Ohno shook his head.

“I don't doubt that your parents chose great candidates for you. However, I am not talking about them having great personalities or being overly pretty. I want to know if there is someone who interests you,” he made it clear in order to have Sho face his feelings properly.

Sho let all the chats with the candidates pass through his mind again. Even if it only had been a short chat with them, there were indeed a few candidates that had risen his interest...

“I think there are one, two, three interesting people,” Sho admitted and Ohno hummed content. “However, I need to get to know them better as this was only my first impression,” Sho went on.

“But you already threw someone out based on your first impression,” another voice suddenly joined the conversation.

Toma had entered the room with Jun on his heels.

“I was quite surprised for you to make such a decision on your first appearance already,” Toma went on and sat down next to Ohno, greeting him with a nod. Toma as well as Jun had gotten to know Ohno a few days later than Sho as Ohno was quite a frequent guest in Sho's house. The four quickly realized that they got along very well although Jun and Toma were merely just Sho's employees.

“I just didn't have the feeling that the two of us would have any chance to get along,” Sho explained his decision and his friends just nodded. “As soon as she had sat down, she began to badmouth the other candidates while she praised herself. I seriously cannot stand someone trying to score points with speaking ill of others,” Sho let his friends know the actual reason and they nodded.

“I can understand your decision and I agree that it was better to make her leave now before it would become more complicated in the future,” Toma said. “However, the other candidates are a bit anxious right now. Their mood has dropped and I fear we have to do something about it,” the moderator added for consideration.

Sho gaped. He hadn't thought about the consequences of his action so he was glad that Toma let him know. However, he was quite at a loss for what to do but Jun helped him out.

“Didn't you promise your friend DAIGO an appearance in your show?” he asked.

“Right! We could have a private concert for the candidates and the staff...” Sho cheered. He was glad that Jun had reminded him about his friend's offer.

He therefore asked Toma to start making preparations while he promised to call the rock star later. Toma, excited about the concert, rushed out of the room to start organizing.

“Thanks, Jun!” Sho turned to the stylist who just waved it off.

“Sooo, what do you think about the candidates?” Jun asked as well.

Behind Jun's back Ohno was gesturing and Sho immediately took the hint. With a little sparkle in his eyes, he turned to the stylist again.

“There are quite some interesting candidates,” he began. “Especially Aiba is really cute,” he went on and when Jun tensed, Ohno showed Sho thumbs up. It seemed that he had hit Jun's nerve...

- ~ -

Nino was sitting on Aiba's bed while his best friend was pulling shirts, trousers and shoes of all different shapes and colours out of his closet.

“I have to look hot, so Jun will dance with me,” he declared and pulled a neon green shirt over his head.

Sighing, Nino tried to think of a good way to make Aiba choose darker coloured clothes that in his eyes looked way sexier than the dazzling ones his friend had been trying on for the last minutes.

Ever since Sho had announced that his friend DAIGO would hold a private concert just for the candidates and the TV Show staff, Aiba was in high spirits.

It was HIS chance to get closer to Jun, maybe to be able to dance with him and make “some body contact” on the way and since Jun had let it slip that he liked men during a styling session, Aiba was confident, that he would be able to stand a chance.

Nino tried to make Aiba understand that Jun would probably be a bit hesitant because officially Aiba was here as a possible partner for Sho. Even though the bachelor had let Aiba stay, what Nino appreciated quite a lot, the stylist surely didn't know about the agreement of Aiba and Sho, yet. However, Nino hoped that Sho might let something slip to Jun when the time has come.

“What about this?” Aiba asked and pulled Nino out of his thoughts who yelped at the sparkling figure in front of him. Aiba had found a white top with golden sequins all over that were blinding Nino. His green trousers were striped with a pair of suspenders.

Nino decided that it was time for a drastic measure to make sure Aiba would not end up looking like a sparkling Christmas Tree.

“I think you should go and ask your stylist for advise. That way you might be able to figure out what he likes the most,” Nino suggested and after a few seconds, Aiba's face lit up.

“You're a genius,” he exclaimed and rushed to his friend to throw his arms around his neck.

“You're welcome,” Nino grinned and quickly told his friend to change into normal clothes before he went to see Jun. When Aiba left the room, Nino just hoped that Jun was not fond of golden sequins either...

While he leaned back on Aiba's bed, simply because he was too lazy to walk over to his own room, Nino's thoughts wandered towards the bachelor.

Apparently, Sho had already started meeting the candidates. Asami had reported that Keiko had been on a so-called date with him. They had been having a picknick somewhere up in the mountains. On their way back Sho took the wrong turn and so it had taken them over an hour to find their way back. Still, Keiko had seemed to enjoy the time according to Asami.

Also, as Nino had been informed by the person himself, Okada had been on a date with Sho. They had been to a soccer match. With a smug grin, Okada had told Nino that after their team had scored a goal, they had fell into each other's arms and according to Okada, Sho was quite well-built.

Nino had just shrugged. He really didn't mind that Sho was getting closer to the other candidates and the bachelor could hug whoever he wanted. It was not that Nino wanted to be in his arms or anything...

However, the dates seemed to be really nice, well planned and Nino began to wonder what Sho was having in store for him.

Maybe they would watch a movie together or, since Sho seemed to be quite fond of food, cook something. Nino just hoped that Sho would quickly figure out that Nino was more of an indoor-person.

Also, Nino began to wonder when it would be his turn. Until now he hadn't figured out what system Sho was using to choose the order in which he invited the candidates for the dates – it could be based on sympathy or just Sho's type or simply on their birthday.

Nino decided that it didn't matter though. He would go to the date with Sho when he was being told and he would try to act as if he was really fighting for the bachelor in order to stand a chance to stay a bit longer in the show.

For now, though, he was simply looking forward to the concert. He liked DAIGO's music and he loved to dance, so he was expecting a nice evening.

- ~ -

The concert stage had been constructed in the backyard of the Sakurai residence. In front of it there was enough space to dance to the music or to simply have a good view on the musicians. Tables for a promising buffet were standing on the side as well as lots of little tables with comfortable looking chairs.

It was already getting dark and lots of tiny little lamps were lined up along the paths, guiding the candidates as well as the staff members towards the main area. The stage was already lit up but expect for the instruments it was empty.

Most of the staff was already there, standing together in little groups, seemingly excited about the concert. Aiba spotted Jun immediately, who was standing together with other members of the styling squad.

Nino elbowed Aiba to encourage him to greet Jun which his friend did with a light blush on his cheeks. Jun waved back, showing Aiba thumbs up for his outfit, which was in fact the one he had advised Aiba to wear when the other one had asked him about it.

With his ripped jeans and the light blue shirt of which the first two buttons were open, Aiba indeed radiated a subtle sexy aura. Nino had been relieved that Jun obviously had managed to dissuade Aiba from wearing something with sequins or glitter.

Nino himself had decided for black jeans which were of a very slim fit. His shirt was grey and a bit washed out. It was a bit too big, but Nino liked it that way. He had also found a black vest in his huge wardrobe, that went together nicely with the shirt and had gone for it. Instead of combing his hair back as he did the last time, Nino had let his bangs fall into his face and had just tousled his hair with a bit of gel.

All in all, it was a simple outfit but Aiba had told him that he looked quite alluring. His friend had joked if he wanted to impress Sho after all, but Nino said that it wasn't even sure yet, if Sho would appear or not. He hadn't said anything about it after all.

Furthermore, Nino simply wanted to have a nice evening. He was in the mood for dancing and in case Sho would ask him for a dance, he would not reject him.

Nino and Aiba were spotted by Asami and Keiko who had saved them two chairs at their table. Maru and Yoko were sitting next to them while Kazue and Shihori were already getting themselves some drinks. Okada didn't seem to have arrived yet as Nino noticed a bit relieved. Okada's constant teasing looks and comments were slowly but surely getting on his nerves. He had no idea why the man was so particular about him.

They chatted a bit with the other candidates and Nino realised once again that all of them were nice people. Kazue told them about her date with Sho. Apparently, they had been going to the theatre. The play had been in English and Kazue told everybody that Sho was speaking it fluently. Since she was also an English teacher, they had spent a nice evening together, holding conversations in that foreign language.

Again, Nino was impressed. Sho seemed not to be one of those rich snobs that only looked good, but also had some brains. He really wished all the best for Sho and the way Kazue was raving about him, she seemed to be really serious. They would make quite cute couple, Nino thought.

Suddenly, there was some movement on the stage and Toma appeared. He announced that the concert would start and invited the candidates and staff members to gather in front of the stage.

Excited, they followed his instructions and Nino realised contently, that Jun was standing next to Aiba, who beamed happily.

DAIGO appeared on stage a few seconds later and immediately began to rock the crowd. His energy jumped over to the audience and soon everybody was screaming and dancing along with him.

“He's so cool,” Keiko sighed and only Nino and Asami that were standing next to her caught it. Asami looked at her new found friend with a grin and also Nino didn't miss the adoring looks Keiko was throwing at DAIGO non-stop.

After rocking the crowd for half an hour, the musician announced that he had a surprise for them. He had invited a guest for his next song and he seriously hoped that the audience would like it.

Excited, the crowd started to whisper, placing bets on who the surprise guest could be. The staff members looked as surprised as the candidates, only Toma grinned knowingly.

When the first notes of the song resounded, everybody looked at the stage in anticipation. DAIGO performed the song alone for the first minute but then suddenly someone appeared behind him on the stage, wearing black jeans and a white shirt with a V-neck.

“Is that Sho?” Asami asked and Nino had to admit that the person looked indeed like him. But would a rich guy appear on the stage with a rock musician? Furthermore, would he be able to hit a note at all?

What followed in the next minutes surpassed everybody's expectations. It was indeed Sho, who showed DAIGO thumbs up before he started to… rap.

His voice was deeper than usual when he set a quick pace for his rap, the words flowing out of him in a liquid but sharp way. Nino caught himself staring at Sho with his mouth open while his insides began to tingle due to the soft bass of Sho's voice.

The crowd exploded after Sho finished his rap and joined DAIGO in the chorus of the song and also Nino let himself be swapped away by everybody's excitement. He screamed Sho's name, who was smiling and waving from the stage as if he hadn't done anything else before.

When the song ended, DAIGO declared the concert as over and asked the crowd to shower the bachelor once more with applause because the rap had not just been performed by Sho but also written by him. This earned the bachelor another really enthusiastic applause. Sho grinned shyly and Nino's heart twitched upon seeing his happy, blushing face.

Sho was full of surprises, Nino had to realise. He had been quite sure that Sho, having been forced by his parents to learn it, was able to play piano or any other high society instrument. He had not expected him to be able to rap and even write that by himself, though. Nino, having a thing for music and writing songs as well, had to admit that Sho had earned his respect today.

Toma joined the musicians and Sho on stage, telling them that they had been amazing. He invited DAIGO to stay for the evening, who agreed. Especially, when Toma announced that later a dance contest would be held, the musician declared that he was more than happy to participate as well.

When the musicians as well as Sho left the stage, the crowd slowly dissolved. Most of them stormed the bar in order to get themselves a drink. Nino had left it to Aiba to make his way through to the bar and sat down on one of the tables. He was quickly joined by Asami, who had a love-stricken looking Keiko in tow.

“He was so amazing,” Keiko said once again. Nino smiled, glad to hear another candidate being in awe with Sho (who had been amazing, indeed).

“The way he danced and played his guitar,” Keiko went on, obviously re-watching the scene in her head.

“But Sho didn't play guitar,” Asami threw in.

“DAIGO-chan did,” Keiko gave back and Asami's mouth fell open while Nino was sensing troubles ahead.

“Keiko-chan, you're not here for a rock musician that will throw you away after a one-night stand,” Asami tried to talk logic into her friend's brain. Nino tried to support her with nodding his head frantically.

“He's not like that,” Keiko defended DAIGO and Nino realised that it was already too late. Keiko had been fallen head over heals for the musician and when said person even appeared behind them, offering Keiko a drink, Asami and Nino decided it was time to leave them alone.

For now, they couldn't do much and considering the fact that DAIGO was Sho's friend, the bachelor might go easy on them in case something would happen this night.

They joined Kazue and Shihori who were still talking about Sho's great performance. When Nino checked on Aiba, he had to realise that his friend had forgotten all about him as he was currently on the dance floor, his hands on Jun's hips.

Also, Sho was there, dancing with a little girl, that seemed to belong to Toma. Nino didn't now that the moderator had a child, but seeing Sho twirling the little girl around, caused him to grin.

Kazue was also watching Sho and so, Nino encouraged her to join them. After a few minutes of persuasion, she finally went to the dance floor and soon she was dancing happily with Sho, the little girl between them.

Since Aiba had forgotten all about their drinks, Nino, whether he liked it or not, had to get one by himself. He lined up in front of the bar and while he was pondering what he should chose, someone appeared behind him.

“Do you think it's clever to encourage someone else to dance with the man you're after?” he suddenly heard a well-known, annoying voice whispering into his ear.

Without turning around, Nino shot back.

“I think it's way more clever than disturbing the peace among the candidates. As far as I figured out, Sho dislikes people that play off people against each other.”

“I see,” Okada replied, circling his arm around Nino's hip. “You're trying the sweet approach. Let's see if Sho likes it or if he rather enjoys someone fighting a bit more aggressively for him.”

With this, Okada let go of Nino and vanished in the crowd. Nino clenched a fist while he tried to calm down. He simply couldn't understand why Okada was so fixated on him. And besides, Nino was not trying to approach Sho at all as he was not interested. However, he would not tell Okada who seemed to turn this into a personal fight against Nino, but he couldn't care less. He just hoped that Sho would not fall for Okada, so Nino made a promise to support the other candidates.

When he finally got his drink, Nino walked back to Asami. Kazue was back as well. After a questioning look from Nino, she pointed at the dance floor where Okada was grabbing Sho by his hips, dancing close to him. Anger welled up inside of Nino but before he could work out a plan, Toma was announcing the start of the dance competition.

They were put together in pairs by him. Nino ended up with Asami and was happy about it. He really liked her for being so honest about her feelings. She reminded him on Aiba with this character trait, who wasn't his best friend for nothing.

Aiba was beaming like the sun as his partner turned out to be Jun. When Toma announced their names, Nino caught Sho showing thumbs up to a smaller man with a round face. He had seen him on the concert before and a few seconds later Toma introduced him as Sho's best friend Ohno. It seemed that the bachelor was indeed helping Aiba out and Nino felt the urge to hug Sho for this.

Keiko and DAIGO ended up as a pair, though Nino had a feeling that the musician had been meddling with Toma before. Sho was paired with Shihori who was smiling happily at the bachelor. Kazue, Maru and Yoko as well as Okada were assigned to a staff member. However, when Nino checked on them a few minutes later, Maru and Yoko were a pair again, Yoko's hands sitting pretty possessive on Maru's hips.

During the competition different music was being played and they had to move accordingly. After each dance, Toma and his daughter decided for a couple that had to leave.

In the end it was Sho and Shihori against Ohno and his partner. However, Sho couldn't come up against Ohno's fluid dancing style, so Ohno could take the trophy home with him. Sho just laughed about it and thanked Shihori for making him look good as he was usually too stiff for dancing.

After the competition, the dance floor was open for everybody again and although Nino was supporting Aiba to the fullest, he wanted to have at least one dance with him. Aiba was a natural dancer and it was so much fun to swing him around on the dance floor. Judging the way Jun was watching them, the stylist didn't really like the idea of someone else rubbing his body against Aiba's and Nino took this as a hint that Aiba and Jun were moving forward.

Just when a new song was about to start, Ogura, the head of the servants came running towards the crowd. He was holding a piece of paper in his hand and looked terrified.

“Has someone seen Sakurai-sama?” he screamed and everybody started to look around. However, Nino hadn't seen the bachelor since the competition and nobody seemed to know where he was.

Upon realising that Sho was indeed missing, Ogura's face became pale. He went over to Toma and showed him the paper he was holding.

“I cannot allow anybody to dance with my daughter without asking for permission first”, Toma read and held the paper up, so everybody could see the emblem with three snakes, holding each other by their tails under the handwriting.

Suddenly, Shihori yelped.

“Oh no,” she mumbled and all attention was on her. “I need a car,” she demanded and after Toma nodded, Ogura went to get the chauffeur, Shihori on his heels.

“It looked like some kind of a yakuza symbol,” Asami stated thoughtfully and Nino nodded. He had thought the same.

“Does that mean that Sho has been kidnapped by the yakuza?!” Kazue asked, her face worried. “I hope he's all right,” she added, tears already forming in her eyes.

“Sho knows how to take care of himself,” DAIGO tried to calm her, but Nino didn't miss the way he was pulling Keiko closer to himself as if to make sure she would be safe. Also, Yoko who was standing next to Kazue had circled his arm around Maru's waist and was checking their surrounding.

When Nino checked on Aiba, he saw him standing close to Jun and figured that Aiba was safe too. However, somehow, seeing all these people trying to protect each other, Nino suddenly felt the wish to have someone who would pull him closer right now as well...

- ~ -

Sho was walking along the corridor, finally glad to be alone. These last 24 hours had been crazy and he simply needed some time for himself, to calm down his nerves. At times like these he would hide away in the music hall, playing some simple melodies on the piano. It's sound always soothed his mind and he would be able to think more clearly and logically afterwards – just what he needed right now.

However, when he approached the hall, he saw that the door was open, the lights falling into the corridor. A soft melody was floating out of the room as well, already working its magic on Sho's troubled mind.

Still, Sho had no idea who was sitting at the piano right now. Nobody in the household was able to play except for Sho who had had a hard time convincing his parents to pay for piano lessons, years ago. They didn't want to support the cliché that rich people had to play piano. However, Sho really wanted to learn it since he loved the sound and in the end, his parents had agreed.

He enjoyed the melody for a few more minutes before he decided to check out the player. Slowly, he entered the room, coughing, to make himself known.

A head with black hair shot up and the melody stopped.

“Nino?” Sho asked.

“I am sorry, Sho, I didn't mean to disturb you, Ogura told me, I can use this piano...,” the smaller man began, but Sho interjected.

“You didn't disturb me. I just wanted to calm down while playing a bit,” the bachelor explained and Nino immediately jumped up.

“Oh, of course. I will take my leave then,” he said and left his place behind the instrument. However, when he passed Sho, the bachelor reached out for him, softly closing his hand around Nino's thin wrist.

“Please, stay,” Sho asked and Nino stopped surprised. “I already started to calm down from listening to you. Would you mind playing for me a little bit longer?”

Nino looked at Sho, who indeed had a pale, tired looking face.

“It'd be my pleasure,” Nino agreed and went back to the piano, taking his seat behind it while Sho settled in a comfy looking chair.

With a tiny nod in Sho's direction, Nino began playing again. He had often played it in the bar he had been working before and as for Sho, the melody was able to soothe him. Nino lost himself in the music, forgetting about Sho's presence and only woke up from his dreamlike state when he hit the last key.

He looked over to Sho who had closed his eyes. His long lashes were laid out over his cheekbones whereas his lips stuck out from his profile. Nino once again thought that they looked very kissable.

After some seconds, Sho let out a soft sigh and opened his eyes again. He was greeted by Nino's shy smile.

“Thank you so much,” Sho said, sitting up in his chair.

“You're welcome,” Nino just gave back. “I am glad you made it back safely. Toma told us already that you're back in once piece, but it's good to see you being safe for real,” he went on.

After Ogura and Shihori had vanished, the dance party had come to a halt almost immediately. Everybody started to worry about Sho and his safety. Instead of leaving, the staff and the candidates had waited outside for any information upon Sho.

About an hour later, Toma had taken the microphone, telling everyone that Sho had been kidnapped by the yakuza, but with the help of Shihori had been found and was on his way back. He was safe and unharmed but rather wished to be alone for the rest of the evening.

Relieved, everyone agreed that Sho deserved some peace. The staff had started to take the stage down whereas the candidates had made their way back inside.

Nino had suddenly felt the urge to play piano, maybe he was inspired by the concert, and had asked Ogura, who had come back as well, if there was an instrument in the house. The butler had showed Nino the way to the music hall, allowing him to use everything to his liking.

Nino had never expected Sho to turn up in the hall as well but it had been a nice surprise.

“It must have been a pretty stressful evening for you,” Nino said thoughtfully, hoping that he didn't sound to nosy.

Sho, however, just chuckled.

“Yeah, you can call it like that,” he agreed. “If being tied up on a chair, surrounded by really grim looking men with huge muscles while a yakuza boss is accusing you for improperly touching his daughter is what you call stressful, then it was.”

“Actually, I would call that terrifying,” Nino admitted.

Again, Sho smiled and Nino thought that it suited him very well.

“Then we go with terrifying,” he decided and Nino nodded in agreement.

The situation Sho had found himself in some hours before, had really brought him to his limits. He had left the dancing crowd to use the toilet, when he had been hit on his head and blanked out. He had found himself in a hotel room when he woke up, indeed tied on a chair surrounded by men with lots of muscles. When he had spotted their tattoos, he had figured that he was in real trouble.

Luckily, before he could ponder why he had been brought to the room, the boss of the gang appeared. He began to scream at Sho why he had touched his daughter at her hips during the dance. He would not allow somebody to touch her like that without having asked for permission before.

Apparently, the man had had no idea that his daughter was a candidate for a TV Show. They had only found her today after she had left home. Now the yakuza boss was making Sho responsible for his daughter's running away, thinking that they were in a relationship.

Sho tried to explain the situation but the man didn't even listen to him. He was already thinking of how to punish Sho and the best idea to him had seemed to strip him naked and tie him to the balcony of the hotel room.

However, before any of the man could start undressing Sho, Shihori had barged into the room, Ogura on her heels.

She managed to calm her father down, and finally, Sho's bonds had been taken off. Shihori apologized to Sho for dragging him into this. She had simply wanted to escape her father's grasp and the TV show had been a chance to her. Of course, she also liked Sho, especially his cute butt as she explained while she slapped said body part of the bachelor. Talking about touching people improperly...

Sho, who had been overly relived upon getting out of this unharmed had accepted her apology but had asked her to not come back to the show because her father was still looking at him as if he wanted to throw him in the next river. She promised.

“I never thought that Shihori's dad is a yakuza boss,” Sho said thoughtfully. “She is really cute and looked so innocent,” he went on and Nino chuckled.

“Do you think daughters from yakuza bosses are tattooed all over as well?” he asked and Sho grinned at the idea.

“I don't know what they look like but I just didn't expect them to be like her,” he gave back.

“Well, she always told us about her “brothers” and she was pretty tough,” Nino said.

“You know the other candidates a lot more than I do,” Sho acknowledged Nino's explanation and suddenly seemed to be down again.

“I am spending more time with them,” Nino quickly reasoned. “Also, I never expected Keiko to fall head over heels for DAIGO,” he added, hoping to bring up Sho's spirits again but he seemed to have hit a sore point as Sho's expression got even more depressed.

“Me neither. I really liked her. She didn't make fun of me when we were completely lost in the wilderness because I took the wrong turn,” he explained.

Nino, not being able to see someone drowning in his depressing thoughts went over to Sho and patted his back.

“Now that I know that you actually liked her, I am really impressed that you let her go,” Nino remarked and Sho looked up to him.

“Really?”

Nino nodded. “You really care about your candidates and put their needs over your own. I appreciate this a lot.”

Sho looked at Nino and after a minute of silence the reached out for his hand.

“Thank you!” Sho simply said and pressed it, causing Nino to blush. The man's words soothed Sho's heart indeed that was a little bit broken, especially after Keiko had bid him goodbye with a joking slap on his butt too, saying that it was a shame that she didn't get to know “this” better. She had liked him as well...

“Again, you're welcome,” Nino gave back, wondering why on earth he was so gentle towards this man. Usually, he was known for being a bit snarky and if Aiba would have been in Sho's situation, he would have teased him a lot more for letting himself be caught by the yakuza or taking the wrong turn. However, maybe he was developing a soft spot for the bachelor.

“You know, I am so grateful that you let Aiba stay after that idiot told you that he's after Jun during your very first meeting,” Nino quickly went on before his brain could wonder about WHY he was coming to like the man in front of him.

“I really appreciated his honesty and simply couldn't send him away. I had the feeling that he is very serious about Jun,” Sho explained.

“He is!” Nino confirmed. “And what I saw until now, Jun doesn't seem to be hostile,” he went on.

“That's what Oh-chan and I figured out, too,” Sho agreed. “I try to give my best to make Jun understand his emotions but I don't think I have the right to tell him about your friend's feelings.”

“You're right. They have to take this step by themselves,” he nodded. “Thanks so much for helping out,” he said, wanting to convey his thankful feelings towards Sho once again. Then, however, his worries concerning Aiba came back and he decided that this was the right moment to ask Sho about it.

“I am slightly worried about Aiba-chan, though,” he began and Sho looked at him frowning. “When the show will be aired, the public will know from the very start that Aiba is not interested in you. Don't you think there will be some really bad bashing?” Nino finally voiced his worries.

“I can understand that you're worried about your friend,” Sho started and threw a friendly smile at Nino. “However, you have to trust me on that. I already made sure to tell the public that I really don't mind Aiba being here because he is after my stylist. I stated that I will support him to the fullest and that I hope for the audience's support as well. Furthermore, my parents, that I talked to just before, promised me to make sure to keep the bashing to a minimum and last, but not least, I think by the time the show will be airing, Jun will be Aiba's boyfriend and believe me, he will make sure nothing happens to him,” Sho concluded and Nino felt so relived upon hearing this, that he simply threw his arms around the bachelor's neck.

“You're amazing. Thank you so so much!” he shouted enthusiastic.

Sho returned the embrace, feeling his cheeks heating up about the praise. Although he had just let it sound like a piece of cake, it had been quite hard to convince his parents that letting Aiba stay was a good decision, who wanted Sho to throw Aiba out of the show.

After all, his parent's aim was to find a partner for SHO and not for his stylist. Still, Sho played the “I'd be happy if I can help my friend” card, knowing that his parents were weak against his wishes that started with “I'd be happy...”.

Suddenly, Sho's phone started to ring, causing him and Nino to loosen their embrace. Sho hadn't realized that he had still been holding Nino in his arms because it had felt so natural to him, as if the man had always belonged into that place. He hoped that Nino didn't find it awkward but since his phone was shouting for his attention, Sho didn't have time to explain it to the candidate.

After Sho cut the call, he wished he hadn't taken it. Nino also seemed to realise his troubles.

“Is something up?” he asked.

“New trouble came up,” Sho sighed, rubbing his temples. He felt Nino patting his back again and suddenly wished to take the other one into his arms once again as it had calmed him before. However, he held back, but decided to tell Nino about what he had just heard.

“Apparently, Yoko wasn't a candidate in the beginning. Just his brother Maru had been selected. The man, who should be here is called Inohara Yoshihiko. It seemed that Yoko went to him with a lot of money and asked him to drop out so he could take his place and watch over his brother,” Sho explained.

“Don't get me wrong but your parents should seriously have sorted the candidates more carefully,” Nino replied upon hearing the news.

“Apparently, they knew about Shihori being the daughter of a yakuza boss but they thought that it might be fun and bring the show some interesting scenes,” Sho gave back, his voice still bitter because being tied up on a chair was not interesting.

“It seemed that they knew about Yoko too but decided only now to spill the beans,” he went on, gnashing his teeth.

“They don't go easy on you,” Nino stated.

“No, they never did. However, I know that they think they're doing the right thing,” Sho said and a warm smile appeared on his lips before he went on with a determined look on his face.

“Anyway, there is no use to ponder about it now, I have to solve this problem first.”

“Actually...,” Nino began but stopped again, because he suddenly wasn't sure if he should tell Sho about his observations.

“Did you notice something?” Sho asked immediately.

“It's just an observation and I don't know if it makes sense. Also, I don't want to gossip or say something bad about the other candidates,” Nino tried to bring himself out of this situation.

“As far as I got to know you until now, I consider you as someone who cares about the people around him so I don't expect you to badmouth the others. I would really like to know what you observed,” Sho said with a soft expression on his face.

Encouraged by Sho's word, Nino told him about his feeling that Yoko was being overprotective around his step-brother and didn't want anybody else to come close to him.

Sho listened to him thoughtfully and nodded then.

“Thank you for letting me know. I hadn't realised yet. I think it's best to talk to Yoko about it before I take any action,” he finally said.

Nino agreed that this was the best way to deal with the problem. Once again, he was amazed by how much Sho considered the feelings of his candidates instead of just looking for the next camera and telling everybody about his findings.

Seeing that Sho was already thinking about a speech for Yoko, Nino decided that it was time to leave, so he wished Sho good luck with everything.

Before Nino could leave, Sho took his hand once again and this time, Nino was very aware of the fact that it was warm and incredibly soft.

“Thanks for playing the piano for me and listening to my worries,” Sho said and then he did something, Nino hadn't expected – he kissed Nino's hand softly before he wished him a good night.

Luckily, Nino managed to stutter a “good night” as well before he left the room.

On his way back to his room, Nino rubbed over the spot, Sho had just kissed, over and over again. It felt warm and his skin tingled and Nino wanted it to stop, but at the same time, he repeated the scene in his head over and over again. With a deep sigh Nino finally admitted that Sho's gentle character was growing on him way more than he had expected in the beginning.

- ~ -

“There you are,” Aiba greeted Nino as soon as he came around the corner. “I was waiting for you. Where have you been?” Aiba went on, standing up as he had been sitting on the floor in front of Nino's door.

“I was playing the piano,” Nino explained, unlocking his room to let Aiba in.

“Alone?” Aiba went on inquiring.

Instead of answering, Nino just pulled his friend into his room and closed the door behind him. He didn't want anyone to listen to their conversation.

When Aiba looked at him quite puzzled, Nino told him about his meeting with Sho, his thoughts on Shihori and Keiko as well as the rising problem with the two brothers. He left out the kiss at the end though.

“Maru doesn't seem to know that Yoko wasn't a candidate from the beginning,” Aiba said. He was interacting way more with the younger brother, so Nino trusted Aiba's judgement.

“I am sure Sho will find a way to deal with this problem,” Nino said then and Aiba grinned.

“You are putting a lot of trust in him,” he said, hitting Nino's shoulder playfully.

“I just think he'll handle this carefully, making sure to take everyone's emotions in account,” Nino quickly explained, maybe too fast, because Aiba's grin only grew wider.

However, before his friend could say anything, Nino changed the topic.

“Why have you been waiting for me?” he inquired and Aiba stopped smirking and blushed.

“I wanted to tell you that I'll have a date with Jun tomorrow,” he spilled the news and Nino clapped into his hands.

“Awesome! So he asked you out?”

“Well, it's more like a trip,” Aiba made clear. “During the concert I asked him where he always buys his clothes and he said he'll take me with him the next time he'll go, which is apparently tomorrow.”

“But that's better than nothing,” Nino cheered. He could totally imagine the two getting all hyped up shopping together. He was sure it would bring them even closer than before.

“I am super excited, Neen, what should I do?” Aiba suddenly started to become nervous.

“For now, you go over to your room and get some sleep so you will be full of energy and ready for your trip tomorrow,” Nino advised his friend and opened his door again.

Aiba, agreeing that Nino was right, wished him a good night before he leaned closer and whispered “Happy Sho dreams!” into Nino's ear. Before Nino could hit him, he vanished into his room, a content grin on his face, so he couldn't see Nino rolling his eyes at him.
- ~ -

Nino was woken up by Ogura knocking on his door. It had taken Nino quite a while to fall asleep last night as his brain was repeating his conversation with Sho and his kissable lips over and over again.

Now it was already late in the morning. Aiba was surely already on his shopping tour with Jun, hopefully getting even closer with the stylist.

Nino shuffled out of his bed to open the door for the waiting butler. Ogura handed him an envelope that carried Nino's name written in neat handwriting.

“Sakurai-sama asked me to bring this to you,” the butler explained.

Nino thanked him and quickly closed the door. While sitting down on his bed again, he tore the envelope open to find a handwritten letter.

Dear Nino,

Once again, thanks for the nice conversation yesterday. I enjoyed it a lot.

As planned, I went to Yoko yesterday and you were right. He is here because of his step-brother. His feelings towards Maru are somewhat confusing and Yoko himself has not figured them out completely yet.

I have a feeling to know pretty well what kind of feelings Yoko is harbouring for his step-brother but it's not my place to tell him. They have to work this out by themselves but I think that this TV show is not the right setting to do so. Therefore, I decided to let these two go.

I don't want the public to get any ideas, so I will have to find some good reasons for throwing them out of the show.

You might wonder why I am telling you this. Actually, I wanted you to be my next date. However, since I have to handle Yoko's and Maru's leave first, I have to have a date with them before in order to let their drop-out look plausible.

I hope you can understand this and won't be mad. However, I would be happy if we could meet in the music hall again. Maybe you could teach me the melody you played for me? Let me know if you're in for it.

Yours,

Sho

After he finished reading the letter, Nino let himself fall backwards. He looked again at the neat letters that had been written with a pen.

Nino hadn't received a handwritten letter in ages. In times like these, people rather send mails or just short messages in stead of sitting down and taking the time to write with their hand. He appreciated it very much that Sho had decided to write this letter to him.

Furthermore, he was once again impressed how Sho handled the problem. Although Yoko was here under false pretence, the bachelor tried to protect him from the public opinion, giving him the chance to sort out his feelings.

Also, Nino realised, Sho was putting his own needs behind. He was the one looking for a partner but he rather took care that his candidates found their happiness.

The guilt bubbled up in Nino again. He had been able to suppress it during the last weeks, but now that he saw what a great person Sho was, it felt wrong to betray him, so Nino made the decision that he would stay until Aiba managed to confess to Jun (or the other way round) and then he would leave the show, paving the way for someone who was truly interested in Sho.

Until then, he would be there for Sho if he wanted to talk or just calm down to his music. Nino decided that Sho, who was helping everyone as much as he could, needed someone by his side and he would take this role in order to soothe his own mind.

Nino called for Ogura, asking him if he could bring some paper and a pen as well. Ogura just smiled and pulled the wanted items out of his suit as if he knew that Nino needed them. He also offered to take the letter to Sho when Nino was done.

After thanking him for the support Nino sat down to write an answer. He agreed with Sho that giving the two men time to figure out their feelings was the best way to handle it and that they therefore had to leave indeed. He thanked Sho for not revealing Yoko's secret to the public but even trying to find plausible reasons for their leave.

At the end of his letter Nino wrote that he would be ready for another piano performance anytime and that it would be a pleasure to teach Sho whatever he wanted.

Then, Nino handed Ogura the letter who promised to hand it over to Sho the next suitable moment.

Content with the way he had dealt with his guilt and his admiration for Sho, Nino left his room. Since Aiba was away, he was looking for someone else to chat with – maybe Asami was in the common room...

- ~ -

Sho was writing another letter to Nino when someone knocked on his door. Sho was actually awaiting Ohno, who wanted to come over to get an update on the candidates, but when, after shouting a “come in”, he looked up and saw Yoko entering his room, he was surprised. Still, of course, he offered him a seat.

“What can I do for you?” Sho asked his guest after the had taken place in the opposite chair.

“I wanted to come over and thank you once more for what you're doing for us,” Yoko said and stood up again, bowing his head in front of Sho.

Flustered about Yoko's action, Sho went over to him, pulling him in an upright position again.

“I really don't want you two to regret something later,” Sho explained and looked straight into Yoko's eyes. “However, it's up to you two how you're going to use this opportunity.”

“I know,” Yoko nodded. “I just hope Maru won't hate me. He was really down when you threw him out yesterday. He had a lot of fun here,” the older one of the step-brothers said, a worried expression on his face.

Indeed, when Sho had gathered the candidates yesterday to tell them that Maru had to leave, the energetic man had looked quite shocked. Sho had explained that after their sightseeing date he just had to admit that he couldn't keep up with Maru's energy and the man would probably get tired of him quickly.

Maru had recovered from his shock slowly and when Sho said that the only person that seemed to be able to cope with Maru's energy was Yoko, the man had beamed at his step-brother, explaining Sho that he could not have Yoko then, as he needed him for himself.

“Yeah, your brother had extraordinary fun with my butt,” Sho retorted, causing Yoko to chuckle. After Maru had gotten over the news, he had demanded to be allowed to touch Sho's butt as a compensation. With red cheeks, Sho had finally allowed it and Maru had happily went to work.

“I can understand him,” Yoko said thoughtfully and suddenly, Sho felt a light slap on his butt as well. Before he could react to that however, Yoko went on talking.

“I am also here to bid my farewell,” he finally explained the real reason for appearing in Sho's room so suddenly.

“But I haven't announced your leave yet,” Sho gave back, perplexed.

“I know you planned to give the public another good reason for throwing me out. However, I don't want you to lie and wrack your brain over something that you're not supposed to take upon yourself,” Yoko said, smiling at Sho.

“I can take care of myself and I will also make sure nothing will happen to Maru if anybody draws the right conclusion in the end,” he went on.

Sho let Yoko's words sink in. He wasn't really happy with Yoko's decision but he saw it in the eyes of the other man that there was no use trying to talk him out of it.

“I understand,” he finally agreed and heard Yoko leaving the breath he had been holding. “Would you be okay with explaining your drop-out with the insight that you and I are not suited for another?”

Yoko's expression softened. “As I said, you don't need to protect me, but I'd be fine with it,” he confirmed.

“Thank you for taking part in this show nevertheless,” Sho said, bowing his head as well.

“It was a real pleasure to meet you, Sho,” Yoko gave back. “I hope from the bottom of my heart that you will find a nice partner because you deserve it.”

With this, Yoko pulled Sho in a tight hug.

“Just make sure you'll listen to your heart - that's what you taught me,” Yoko whispered into Sho's ear before he released him.

Slightly confused, Sho watched Yoko walking towards the door. Before he opened it, he bowed once again, bidding him farewell. Sho returned the goodbye, making Yoko promise to keep him updated about things with Maru.

After the door closed behind Yoko, Sho sat down at his desk again. He really had no idea why Yoko had been talking about “listening to his heart”. Until now, Sho had been busy letting those people go that either were in love with someone else, didn't suit him or were simply too dangerous. His heart had not had much time to decide for anyone yet, as incidents had been happening way too fast.

But now that he only had five candidates left, from which one was after his stylist, he could finally start to figure out what he was thinking about them.

His eyes fell on the letter he had been writing and Nino's face popped up in his head. During the Maru/Yoko incident, Nino had always encouraged him in his letters or when they had been meeting in the music hall, telling him, that he was making the right decisions. Having someone supporting him even just in that subtle way had eased Sho's mind. He had been able to overcome the problem calmly.

Now, Sho wanted to thank Nino for being by his side and he was really looking forward to a date with him.

He had just taken the pen in his hand again, when the door to his room opened. Ohno entered, but he wasn't alone, Jun was on his heels.

“Was that Yoko that just came out of your room?” the stylist asked.

Sho told the two men about Yoko's decision to leave instead of waiting for Sho to throw him out. They agreed that in the end, Yoko was free to leave whenever he wanted and Ohno as well as Jun told Sho once again that he couldn't protect all of his candidates.

“Now there are only five left,” Ohno stated, wriggling his eyebrows. “Who will be the next you're having a date with?”

Sho already opened his mouth but then he saw Ohno gesturing behind Jun. Of course, he understood his friend's intention and pushing aside his own preferences, he joined the conspiracy.

“I really want to get to know Aiba better. He's fun and hot at the same time and his lips are just alluring,” Sho said, noting that Jun pressed his lips together after hearing that. “What do you think would be a nice place to go to with him, Jun?” he added more fuel to the fire.

Jun shrugged. “I don't know. He's your candidate,” the stylist replied in a cold voice. Behind him, Ohno was grinning like mad and Sho had troubles to keep a straight face.

“Hmm... maybe we go to a club. From what I saw at the concert, he's really good at shaking his hips. Don't you agree?” Sho went on teasing.

“Um, yeah,” Jun gave back. “Now, I have to check on the re-stocking of your wardrobe, if you excuse me.”

With this, the stylist turned around and left the room quickly. Finally, Ohno could laugh out loud.

“Was it too much?” Sho asked his friend who just shook his head.

“No, I think he needs such a push. From what I see, these two are still too shy to confess,” Ohno stated and Sho agreed.

Then, his eyes fell on the letter. He sighed. He would have to re-write it, explaining Nino why he had to postpone their date once again. Considering that it was to help Nino's best friend out, the other one would hopefully be able to understand.

While Sho had been lost in his thoughts, Ohno's eyes had fallen on the letter as well.

“What is that?” Sho's friend asked curiously, already reaching out for the paper.

“Nothing,” Sho was faster and snatched the paper away, crumpling it and throwing it in the bin. He was not ready yet to explain his relationship with Nino to his friend yet.

- ~ -

Nino was walking along the corridor to his room. He had been in the music hall, playing piano with the slight hope that Sho would appear. They hadn't promised to meet but still, Nino had been quite disappointed when Sho didn't appear.

He hadn't seen him since Yoko left a few days ago. Officially, Sho had let the candidates know that after their date Yoko had figured out that Sho was not suited for him and had decided to leave the show. However, Nino knew the real reason, but had only told Aiba about it.

Aiba was quite sad that Maru had to leave because he got along with him so well, but Aiba had agreed with Nino that Sho was handling this matter the absolute right way. During their conversation, Aiba had tried to make Nino admit that he liked Sho for his gentle character and although he had been surprised when his friend actually did, Aiba had concluded that from this point it wasn't far until Nino would fall for Sho. This, however, had Nino objected immediately.

Suddenly, Nino's thoughts were interrupted by two voices. He knew them very well, so he stopped, not sure what to do.

“This sounds quite tough,” Kazue said and after Nino peeped around the corner, he saw her sitting on the window sill while Sho was standing next to her.

“I only want Yoko and Maru to be able to find their happiness,” Sho gave back and Kazue hummed in agreement.

“You kind of sound like a teacher,” she then stated.

“I do?” Sho asked, obviously surprised about her statement.

“You know, as a teacher you are aiming to help your pupils growing up. You don't just want them to gain knowledge about numbers and facts but also grow as a person. You are going through ups and downs together with them, always trying to make sure to protect them while you want them to find the solutions for themselves,” Kazue explained.

“I am not like that,” Sho replied. “I am sure you are way better in such things than I am,” he went on shyly.

“No, I actually think you would be very suited for this job,” she gave back and Sho chuckled.

“I once thought of becoming a teacher indeed,” Sho admitted.

“Really? Why did you give it up then?” Kazue wanted to know, obviously getting excited about the idea of Sho as a teacher.

However, Nino didn't hear Sho's reason as he had turned around and walked back the way he had came. He didn't want to eavesdrop any further.

Also, while listening to them talking with each other so casually, a burning feeling had appeared in his stomach. Nino tried to fight against it by telling himself that believing Sho would talk about his problems with him exclusively had just been plain stupid. Of course, Sho was talking to the other candidates as well and he had every right to do so.

Still, the burning didn't stop and when Nino tried to remember if Sho had ever given away any private information about himself in front of Nino and he had to realise that this had not happened, it only got stronger.

When Nino bumped into Okada, his mood hit rock bottom.

“Oh, Nino, what are you doing here?” Okada asked. In any other situation, Nino would probably have explained it to him properly, but since he was still quite affected from overhearing Sho's and Kazue's conversation, he just wasn't in the mood to be nice.

“I could ask you the same,” he simply spat at Okada, who raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, someone is in a bad mood,” the older man stated, his voice mocking. “Could it be because your friend will be the next one to have a date with Sho and not you? As far as I know, you haven't been on a date with him yet...,” Okada let his voice trail off.

“This has got nothing to do with Aiba,” Nino shot back. “And as far as I know you only had a date with Sho at the beginning of the show and then never again. This should make you wonder,” he added before he stomped away, not being able to be around the other man for any longer.

Luckily, Okada did not follow him and so Nino finally made it to his room, although he had had to take quite a detour to not pass Sho and Kazue.

One minute after he had switched on the light in his room, he heard a knock and without waiting for an answer his best friend entered.

“Did you meet Sho in the music hall again?” Aiba asked, but Nino shook his head.

“He wasn't there,” he simply replied. His thoughts were still rushing through his brain and he had troubles bringing them into order.

Aiba, being his best friend, immediately saw that there was something wrong with Nino.

“Are you sad because you couldn't meet Sho?” he asked therefore but Nino shook his head again.

“We didn't arrange to meet, I simply went down to play the piano,” he explained. He himself and most probably Aiba too knew that this was a lie. Nino HAD BEEN hoping to meet Sho. Luckily, Aiba let it slip because another thought had hit him.

“Oh no, don't tell me you're mad at me because I am having a date with Sho before you,” he said and slapped his hand in front of his mouth.

Nino had to chuckle about the ridiculousness of Aiba's question.

“Of course not,” he replied. “I just met Okada and he was a pain in the butt, as always.”

Aiba seemed to let this count as an explanation.

“Still, I am sorry. Sho should have chosen you to be his next date, not me. I don't even understand it. He knows that I am not after him,” he wondered and Nino knew he had to be careful of what he would said now.

“Maybe Sho just wants to make a trip where he doesn't have to impress someone or has to appear flawless. He deserves a break once in a while,” Nino tried to explain and Aiba fell for it.

“You're right. He really had a hard time ever since the start of the show,” Nino's friend agreed. “I will make sure he can relax tomorrow, so he will have lots of energy for his date with you.”

“Thanks, but he doesn't need to impress me either,” Nino replied.

“Because he already did?!” Aiba threw in, teasingly.

“In a way, yes, but basically, because I am not here to become his partner,” Nino wanted to set right before Aiba could get any wrong idea. However, he wasn't successful at all.

“You didn't want to become his partner when you came here, but now...,” his friend pointed out but decided to leave it at that.

“I will tell you about our date when I'm back tomorrow,” he then promised. “Jun doesn't seem to want to know as he told me today. He was quite in a bad mood,” Aiba added thoughtfully and Nino nearly wanted to scream at Aiba that the stylist was jealous, but he could hold himself back in time.

“Thanks. Now go and get some sleep so you'll look great on your fake date tomorrow,” he said instead, pushing his friend out of his room. He only heard a cheerful “Good Night” before he finally closed the door.

Being left with his own thoughts again, Nino realised that the burning feeling in his stomach had disappeared. Quite relieved, he let his hand run through his hair. He probably had only been shocked about nearly running into Sho and Kazue who were obviously having a private conversation and therefore he had misinterpreted his feeling as jealousy before although it had only been the fear to be discovered by the two.

Content with his conclusion, Nino began to get ready for bed. When his brain brought up Aiba's comment that Nino's reason for being here had changed, he pushed it away. No matter the reason, Nino would still leave when Aiba was happily in a relationship with Jun and not stay any minute longer.

- ~ -

Nino checked his appearance one last time in the mirror before he left his room. One way or the other, Sho had finally managed to find time for a date with him. If no urgent problem would come up, he would spend the next hours with the bachelor.

Aiba had tried to make Nino admit that he was actually looking forward to the date. He had said that the face Nino was making every time he came back from the music hall, meeting Sho there, was proof enough.

Indeed, Nino enjoyed their time together in the music hall. Even after Nino had nearly run into Kazue's and Sho's private conversation, he had met with Sho, not mentioning to him what he had heard.

Still, they would only play some melodies and sometimes Nino would sing and Sho would rap. They also talked about Aiba and Jun who seemed to be having a little crisis since Sho's date with Aiba. The stylist was obviously overly jealous which resulted in him trying to avoid Aiba.

Sho felt pretty guilty about it, but Nino told him that this was only the calm before the storm. Aiba and Jun would soon be a couple. Upon hearing Nino being so confident about it, Sho had calmed down, thanking Nino for his support.

That's what all these music hall meetings were about – supporting Sho and in a way also Aiba. It was not “wanting to spend time with Sho and be close to him” as Aiba had called it.

Of course, Nino was looking forward to spend time with Sho together, simply because he knew now that Sho was not a rich snob as he had assumed in the beginning. The bachelor was smart and stylish but also empathetic and gentle – a perfect partner for a quality conversation, that Nino enjoyed having once in a while.

When Nino arrived in the entrance hall, Sho was already waiting for him. He was playing with his car keys but stopped immediately, when he spotted Nino.

“I like your shirt,” Sho commented, pointing at the gorilla. Aiba had tried to talk Nino out of wearing it, but he wanted to check out Sho's reaction. As he had expected, the bachelor was totally cool about his date's shirt showing gorilla genitals.

“Thanks,” Nino therefore replied grinning. “You look great as well,” he added and it wasn't a lie. In his slim jeans and his white V-neck shirt Sho looked quite breathtaking. The black leather necklace with a silver pendant accentuated his collarbones nicely.

“Let's go?” Sho asked and Nino nodded. Sho reached for the doorknob to open the door for Nino when they were stopped by a voice.

“Oh~ You're going on a date?”

Without having to turn around, Nino knew who was standing behind them.

“Yeah, we were just about to leave, Mr. Okada,” Sho replied but let go of the doorknob.

“I told you many times already to call me Junichi, Sho-chan,” Okada said and Nino rolled his eyes, realised however, that Sho didn't flinch at the overly personal addressing. “You know, I am also waiting for my next date with you,” Okada went on and Nino had to bite his lip in order to not tell the man that right now was a very unsuited time to point this out.

“I know, I'll schedule a new one soon,” Sho smiled apologetic. “However, today it's Nino's turn. I have been waiting for ages to have this date with him,” he explained to Nino's satisfaction and finally opened the door.

“I see. Have fun then,” Okada said, a smile on his lips, but Nino didn't miss the disappointed look in his eyes.

“Thank you. We will have fun,” Nino chirped and marched through the door, Sho was holding open for him.

Sho guided them to his car, a metallic black Volkswagen Phaeton. Again, he opened the door for Nino who came to like Sho's gentleman-like character trait. Then, he walked around the car and sat down behind the wheel.

“I checked our route for today about ten times, so I am sure we won't get lost,” he explained when he started the engine and Nino couldn't help but laugh out loud.

“I trust you on this. Where are we going anyway?” he wanted to know as Sho hadn't told him anything about their date yet.

“It's a surprise,” Sho said and smiled satisfied.

“I won't get any hint?” Nino went on inquiring but Sho shook his head.

“You're too clever and would figure it out before we arrive,” the bachelor explained and Nino felt quite proud about the praise. “Do you want to listen to some music?” Sho asked then, pointing at some CDs.

Nino took them and decided for a jazzy one. Then, he looked outside, wondering what Sho had prepared for him today.

- ~ -

Nino had already gotten a bad feeling when Sho had parked the car close to the ocean, but had hoped that they would simply walk along the shore. However, when Sho lead him over the pier towards a radiating new yacht, Nino had to accept that his intuition had been right.

Sho was in high spirits and when they stopped in front of the ship, he pointed at the name.

“When I bought this yacht yesterday, I needed to think of a name. I love the song you're always playing for me and since you will be my first guest on this ship, I decided that “Niji” is a great name for it. What do you think?” Sho beamed at Nino.

“It's really a good name for a yacht,” Nino managed to say. He was too shocked over the fact that Sho had went TO BUY A YACHT for their date. Telling Sho now that he was not good with ships and boats of any sort, was impossible.

“I thought so, too,” Sho smiled, not realising Nino's internal trouble. “Niji is really safe and her technical equipment is of the highest possible standard. She will bring us safely to the little island that I want to show you.”

Nino nodded. He didn't doubt the safety of the yacht, he rather had problems with the fact that it was already swaying lightly in front of his eyes.

“When I was a child, my parents bought the island for me, so I could spend some time without being interrupted by anyone. I have never brought anyone else with me, but I thought you will enjoy the peace and silence over there as well,” Sho explained and went on board.

He reached out for Nino who had felt a shudder of joy capturing his body upon hearing Sho's plan. He would be the first one to set foot on Sho's island, simply because Sho wanted to show it to HIM.

Nino decided that in this case he could endure the trip with the boat that hopefully wouldn't take too long, so he took Sho's outstretched hand and went on board as well.

Before he could feel insecure on his feet, he went over to one of the benches to sit down.

Sho nodded towards the captain that they were ready to depart and sat down next to Nino.

“I could drive the boat as well, but I wanted to fully concentrate on you. That's why he's here as well. I hope you don't mind,” Sho explained and Nino had to grin upon Sho's bragging.

“I don't mind. The cameras are way more annoying than him,” Nino gave back, pointing at the two men that had went on board as well, their cameras on their shoulders.

“I know,” Sho sighed.

“We could leave them on the island,” Nino suggested and Sho laughed out loud.

“That's a nice idea. We would get great footage of surviving in the wilderness,” he developed Nino's idea further.

A sulky shout from the two cameramen caused Nino and Sho to chuckle at each other and Nino had nearly forgotten that he was sitting on board of a swaying ship.

The boat was slowly but surely leaving the area of the harbour, making its way towards the open sea. Sho was talking about his island once again, telling Nino that he usually went there with a book to enjoy the complete silence.

“When it was a really hot day, I would just get out of my clothes and lay down on the beach,” Sho told him.

“What a shame that today is not such a hot day,” Nino gave back and tried to keep the image of naked Sho up in his imagination. He decided that right now it was completely plausible to do so because the boat started to sway more as soon as they left the bay.

Sho blushed slightly. He seemed to be searching for a good reply, but couldn't come up with something. Still, the soft smile around his lips indicated that he was quite happy about the hidden compliment.

“We just left the bay,” Sho changed the topic. “From now it'll take us about half an hour,” he let Nino know who groaned internally. He focussed on the horizon, having heard once that this was supposed to help.

Sho leaned back, obviously enjoying the scent of the air, the sun and the light breeze that was tousling his hair. He had closed his eyes, taking in the soft sounds of the waves hitting their boat as well as the cries of the seagulls.

Nino couldn't help but look at Sho. He looked calm and relaxed and Nino had to restrain himself from brushing a strand of Sho's hair out of his face.

While watching Sho, Nino didn't see the big ship that was about to pass them, causing quite some strong waves. When they hit their boat, causing it to sway stronger, he was unprepared.

Nino let out a groan and gripped the rail tightly. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on something that would distract him from his surrounding.

“Nino?” he suddenly heard Sho's voice, slight worry lying in it.

“I'm okay,” Nino managed to say but wasn't ready to open his eyes yet.

“You're not. You're all pale,” Sho gave back. “You're seasick, right?” he concluded then.

Nino decided that it was no use anymore, to hide it. Also, he was quite busy with making sure his breakfast would stay in, so he wasn't even able to pull of an act.

When he nodded, he heard Sho sighing. Nino knew that he had screwed up quite badly. He was well aware of the fact that he should have told Sho BEFORE they went on the boat. Of course, the bachelor would be mad at him now...

Suddenly Nino felt Sho's arms around him. His nose was bumping against the bachelor's chest and his scent made Nino go dizzy (well, even more than before).

“Try to concentrate only on me,” Sho whispered into Nino's ear while be pulled him a bit closer. “We will turn around and head back to the harbour now.”

Shocked, Nino opened his eyes and looked up to Sho.

“NO!” he screamed. “You wanted to show me your island. You bought this boat just for today and you even named it after my song,” he tried to make Sho understand that he really wanted to take this trip with him.

“Was this the reason you didn't tell me that you'll get seasick?” the bachelor asked and Nino, hiding in Sho's embrace again, hummed agreeing.

“I'm sorry,” he mumbled against the white fabric of Sho's shirt.

“No, no, I am sorry,” Sho quickly apologised as well. “I haven't taken you into consideration,” he added.

“You couldn't possibly know that I will get seasick,” Nino gave back and snuggled himself deeper into Sho's arms. If the bachelor was offering himself, Nino decided it was alright to accept. Also, Sho's warmth was calming him down and his stomach had stopped making one somersault after another.

“That's not what I mean. Sometimes I forget that my wealth is quite intimidating for outsiders,” Sho explained himself.

“It is indeed,” Nino admitted and more than he heard, he felt Sho snorting.

“I'm sorry,” Sho said once again, but Nino slightly shook his head to show him that it hadn't been his fault alone. “Is there anything I can do for you to make you feel better?” the bachelor asked.

“Stay like that,” Nino murmured and was glad that Sho couldn't see his red cheeks.

“Alright,” Sho agreed softly and laid his head on Nino's that was still pressed against his chest. Suddenly, Nino wished that their boat trip would take a bit longer...

They reached the harbour without any complications and Sho guided Nino back to the beach. Although Nino told him that he could walk on his own now that he had dry land under his feet again, Sho insisted on linking arms with him.

“Are we heading back now?” Nino asked, slightly scared because he didn't want their date to end so soon.

“I thought we could walk along the beach and have a picnic,” Sho said thoughtfully and Nino agreed immediately.

“But I really wanted to see your island,” he pouted then, causing Sho to chuckle.

“We could take a helicopter next time,” the bachelor suggested.

Nino looked at him with big eyes. “You're not going to buy it because of me?” he asked then, furrowing his eyebrows sceptically.

“No, I already own one,” Sho laughed and Nino agreed under these conditions.

They walked along the beach, their arms still linked and Nino enjoyed it to the fullest. Usually, he would complain about the sand that was making its way into his shoes or the wind blowing his hair into his eyes over and over again, but today he didn't even notice all of this as he was focussed on the man at his side.

- ~ -

It was already dark when they came back to the Sakurai residence. They had indeed spent the whole day together and it didn't get boring at all. As far as it came to Nino, they could also spend the evening together, but Sho was a businessman as well and had to do some work.

The two camera men had said goodbye, calling it a day and wanted to grab a beer in a bar in the town.

Nino and Sho entered the house and stopped in the main hall. None of the two seemed willing to be the first to say goodbye and so a quite irritating silence emerged between them.

Before it could get too uncomfortable though, a loud voice interrupted it.

“I already told you not to come to me and ask about your outfit anymore,” they heard the TV shows stylist's voice.

“But you are the stylist, who else shall I ask?” Nino immediately recognized the second voice as Aiba's. Furthermore, the voices seemed to come closer to them.

Before Nino could react though, he was pulled on his arm by Sho, who shoved him into a room next to the door. It seemed to be a simple storage room.

Sho left the door a tiny bit open so they were still able to hear Aiba and Jun but in order to stay undetected he resigned from switching on the light.

“Maybe you go and ask Sho,” Jun was answering Aiba's question.

“Why should I do that?” Nino's friend gave back confused.

“Because it's him you want to impress,” Jun shot back.

He had stopped in the main hall and Nino and Sho could see the two from their hiding spot through the crack of the door.

Aiba was carrying a confused expression.

“I don't want to impress Sho,” he stated.

Now it was Jun's turn to look pretty clueless.

“Why are you here then?” the stylists asked.

“Because of you,” Aiba answered truthfully and Jun's mouth fell open.

“Me?” he echoed quite unintelligently.

Aiba nodded.

“I told Sho the first time when we met that I am not here for him, but because of you. He immediately agreed to support me wherever he could,” Aiba started to explain.

“So each time you came to me to ask for styling advises were...,” Jun started to grasp the truth.

“... to be able to spend time with you, yes,” Aiba finished Jun's sentence. “And I tried to figure out which style you like,” he added.

Jun just stared at Aiba, before, finally, a smile spread over his face.

“You figured it out quite perfectly,” he began and took a step closer to Nino's best friend. “Lately you're looking so hot that I have a hard time to restrain myself from touching you,” Jun confessed.

“Was that the reason you avoided me lately?” Aiba wanted to know.

“Yes,” the stylist admitted. “I was so worried I might jump at you although you are Sho's candidate. Especially when he told me about your date and how much fun it was, I thought he might actually consider you as his partner,” Jun explained.

Sho groaned but Nino quickly slipped his hand over his mouth. Luckily, Aiba and Jun didn't seem to have noticed, though.

“I think he simply wanted to make you jealous,” Aiba said thoughtfully and Nino was proud about his friend being able to see through Sho's intentions.

“He managed,” Jun grinned. “But, now that I know you're free...,” the stylist started and moved even closer to Aiba, “I can claim you as mine,” he finished.

Before Aiba had a chance to answer, Jun's mouth was on his. They shared a long kiss, their hands reaching out for another, holding each other close.

Nino could hear Aiba sighing happily into the kiss and smiled satisfied. Finally, his friend's dream had come true.

“I'm only yours,” he heard Aiba telling Jun softly, who pressed another kiss on Aiba's lips.

“I hope so, because I do not intend to let go of you soon,” the stylist teased and grabbed Aiba's hips possessively.

“That means I will spend the night at your place?” Aiba chuckled.

“That's exactly what it means. From now on you don't need that room next to Nino's anymore,” Jun made sure and linked his fingers with his new boyfriend.

Nino watched the two walking into the direction of the staff's rooms. Realizing, that his hand had slipped from Sho's mouth to his chest, he quickly took it away, blushing slightly.

“They made it,” the bachelor sighed, not showing any reaction to Nino's actions.

“I told you,” Nino said.

“But my actions nearly caused some complications,” Sho gave back, still not being able to believe that he had done the correct thing.

“If Jun wouldn't have avoided Aiba, he would never have tried to resolve this,” Nino explained. “You will see, they will come to thank you soon... after they made sure to make up for their lost time,” he added chuckling.

“I hope so,” Sho breathed out, but seemed to have calmed down. “Now we have two, maybe three couples that were formed in this TV Show. Only I am still without a partner,” he went on.

“You still have four splendid candidates to your service,” Nino reminded.

Sho chuckled. “Then I want to thank you for your service today. I had a lot of fun and I hope to be able to do this again soon,” he said and opened the door to step out of the storage room that had gotten quite warm and stuffy.

“You're welcome,” Nino replied, leaving the room as well. “Let me know when you're free and I will make sure to be available,” he added grinning.

“I will. Maybe we meet in the music hall before our next date,” Sho said, a hint of hope in his voice.

“I am down there quite often, so you're chances to meet me are quite high,” Nino remarked.

Obviously content about the hidden promise to meet again soon, Sho nodded. Then, he took a step closer towards Nino whose heart suddenly began to race. It felt like jumping out of his chest when Sho reached out to him.

“Good night, Nino,” Sho whispered and stroke over Nino's head softly. Then, he turned around, leaving Nino only little time to give back the wish.

“Sweet dreams,” Sho said before he vanished around the corner.

“Thanks,” Nino whispered with his still racing heart, knowing that Sho didn't hear it. However, he hadn't managed anything louder as Sho's gesture had made him breathless.

While heading back to his room, Nino was quite sure who would appear in his sweet dreams this night...

- ~ -

Nino was sitting in the common room, waiting for Sho to arrive.

A few minutes ago, Ogura had asked him to come down as Sho had an announcement to make. Of course, Nino knew what this was all about. Sho would announce Aiba's leave, presenting the candidates and later the public the happy couple.

Aiba had visited Nino in the morning to carry the good news. Nino had acted as if he didn't know because he wanted to let Aiba have this moment of Jun confessing to him to himself. His friend probably didn't appreciate having to remember Sho and Nino in the storage room while he was thinking back to that evening.

Technically, now that he had accomplished his mission successfully, there was no reason for Aiba to stay in the show any longer. However, he would be a guest till the end as he wanted to be by his boyfriend's side.

Sho entered the room a few minutes later with Toma by his side, Jun and Aiba walking behind them. The cameras were switched on and began to film the bachelor.

While Sho was presenting the other candidates the new formed couple, Nino watched his best friend beaming from side to side. Everyone, even Okada, congratulated Jun and Aiba and wished them all the best.

“Now he's really out of my reach,” Asami sighed. “I had the slight hope that if it wouldn't work out with Sho, I might still have a tiny chance,” she said.

Nino patted her knee comfortingly. “I am sorry to say this, sweetheart, but you never had a chance. Aiba was in love with Jun from the very beginning.”

Asami took another deep sigh and then shrugged.

“I still HAVE the chance to be chosen by Sho”, she remarked and leaned back in her chair contently.

Nino looked at her. She was watching Sho who took Aiba's and Jun's thanks for supporting them with an embarrassed grin. A smile appeared on her face while her eyes softened. She was pretty much in love with Sho, Nino concluded and she had been right – her chances to be chosen by Sho were 25% now.

A few weeks ago, Nino would have been relieved upon knowing that at least ONE candidate was seriously wanting Sho. However, now, he felt a bit uncomfortable about it.

Sho's sudden yelp caused Nino's attention to switch to him. He saw Aiba's hand on Sho's butt.

“I wanted to do this at least once,” Aiba explained and moved his hand over the curve of Sho's buttocks. However, Jun growled and Aiba quickly took his hand away before he was pulled to his boyfriend's side.

“I don't get this,” Sho began. “Why are you all aiming for my… behind?”

All the candidates started to laugh, causing Sho's face to turn into a deep red.

“Because it's so round and firm that it's only calling for us,” Okada explained, making Sho blush even more.

“And when we do it during a date you would probably get mad,” Asami went on.

Sho nodded furiously.

“But when we're about to leave, it doesn't matter if you get mad or not, so we just go for it,” Aiba added.

Sho let his fingers run through his hair.

“I shouldn't have asked,” he murmured then, cause everyone to chuckle.

“Yeah, our bachelor is quite a win,” Toma threw in. He seemed to enjoy embarrassed Sho quite a lot. “But I can assure you, there is more about him than just a cute butt,” he went on and the bachelor groaned.

“Tell us more,” Asami demanded and Toma wriggled his eyebrows. He glanced at Sho who was still looking like a tomato and opened his mouth.

However, the candidates should not hear about Sho's other great features as Kazue's mobile started to ring. When she looked at the caller's ID, she stood up.

“I'm sorry. It's an important call. May I take it?” she asked, directing the question at Sho who nodded relieved, glad that Toma had been stopped.

Kazue quickly left the room to take the call. When the door had closed behind her, Toma directed his attention once more at Sho.

“So, there are only four candidates left...,” he remarked and let his voice trail off.

“And all of them are wonderful people,” Sho said, having a hunch what Toma was wanting to find out.

“Let's just hope that none of them is after me or any other member of the team,” Toma laughed, getting Sho's hint that he was not ready to make a decision about a favourite yet.

“Yes, I lost too many candidates to other's already,” Sho agreed and pouted cutely.

“I am only here for you,” Okada suddenly said and Nino could see Sho blushing slightly.

“What a relief,” Toma laughed and winked at Sho.

Nino could see that Asami was about to say something as well when the door was suddenly pushed open. Kazue came running inside, her face wet while her body was shaken by sobs.

“Sho!” she cried and ran towards him.

The bachelor was barely able to catch her in his arms before she collapsed on the floor. Everybody was shocked while they witnessed Kazue burying her head in the crack of Sho's neck, not being able to stop crying.

“Shhh,” Sho soothed her while he stroke over her back, holding her firmly in his arms. “What happened?” he whispered then.

It took her a while before she was able to answer.

“It was my mum,” she started to explain between sobs. “My youngest brother had a terrible accident. He is in the hospital now, having an emergency operation.”

Sho's eyes softened in compassion. “So what are you still doing here? You should go and rush to him,” he said, his voice calm.

“But...”, Kazue started but another sob shook her. “But if I leave now, I will be thrown out of the show,” she managed to utter.

Sho took her by her shoulders, forcing her to look at him.

“This is the last thing you should worry about right now. Family should always be one's top priority,” he said in a serious voice. “And I think in your case, we can make an exception,” he added then, looking at Toma who nodded.

“Really?” Kazue asked, sniffing.

“Really,” Sho assured her. “Now I'll ask my driver to take you to the hospital,” he promised and helped Kazue to stand up. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” he inquired.

Kazue blushed and looked as if she wanted to say something but was obviously too shy to ask.

Sho, who was a clever man, took only a few seconds to guess what was on her mind. With pink cheeks he scratched his head before he finally offered,

“Do you... um... want to touch my butt as well?”

While the other candidates including Toma and Jun had a hard time to stop themselves from laughing, Kazue nodded happily and reached out her hand to softly caress Sho's popular body part.

The atmosphere became lighter when the other's finally chuckled and smiled over Sho's red head.

“Thanks,” Kazue whispered before Sho hooked arms with her to bring her to his driver.

“I hope her brother is alright,” Aiba said thoughtfully and the other candidates agreed.

However, one of them was looking a bit annoyed. “I don't understand why she will not be thrown out if she leaves this house. The rules had been stated clearly when we had arrived,” Okada remarked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“These are special circumstances,” Asami started to argue.

“Still, she is breaking the rules,” Okada replied stubbornly.

“You're a really cold man,” Asami said in rage.

“I am just making sure to boost my chances,” Okada replied.

“You...,” Asami said between clenched teeth and jumped up.

“Calm down,” Toma jumped in to prevent any troubles. “I think we should leave this decision to Sho.”

Okada shrugged and Asami let herself be pulled into her chair again from Nino.

Nino had been shocked about what happened. He didn't wish having to fear for the life of a family member to anyone. He hoped, Kazue's brother would be okay and he agreed with Asami on this, these were special circumstances and she should be allowed to come back.

- ~ -

Sho let his eyes run over the green garden. A few birds were singing and the wind was softly blowing through the leaves of the trees, but other than that, no sound could be heard.

He was once again pretty jealous of his friend's garden and was seriously thinking about asking his gardener if they could lay out a similar garden on their property as well.

Suddenly, a splash came from the pond to Sho's right. When Sho turned his head, he could only see a few rings on the watery surface.

“Henry is in a great mood today,” Ohno remarked, watching his biggest koi and handed Sho one of the glassed he had just brought. Sho took it thankfully and nipped on it.

He hummed approvingly, throwing his friend a questioning look afterwards.

“I am thinking of adding this wine to our stock in the hotel's restaurants, but I wanted to hear your opinion first,” Ohno explained.

“It's really delicious. I am sure your guests would approve of it,” Sho gave his opinion and Ohno thanked him.

Leaning back in his chair, Sho took another sip of the red liquid. As always, Ohno's garden as well as the settled character of his friend managed to calm him down.

He had just had a talk with his parents, that urged him to make a decision and throw one of the remaining three candidates out of the show, soon.

Sho knew they were right. He was having dates with them since the last two weeks and to keep the show going, he should indeed part with one candidate. However, he simply liked all three of them and couldn't bring himself to make a decision.

“Satoshi, how did you know that your partner is the right one for you?” he asked his friend, hoping to get an insight.

His friend took his time to answer.

“I couldn't think of anything else but my partner, no matter what I did and what I tried,” he explained.

Sho tried to figure out if he was thinking of one of his candidates more than the others but in the end, he couldn't reach a conclusion. Of course, he was thinking about them, but all three were so different in their personalities that he had a hard time to compare them and figure out if one of them was dominating his mind.

“You don't look as if this just helped you,” Ohno smiled over his friend's miserable expression.

“I think about all of them,” Sho gave back, smiling apologetic.

“I see,” his friend gave back thoughtfully. Then, Ohno sat up and looked straight into Sho's eyes. “Do you think one of them will become your partner at all? I mean, basically, this is just a TV show and you don't have to start something serious with the one you chose as the winner.”

Sho looked at his friend in surprise.

“You know me,” Sho began. “If I start something, I want to bring it to a proper end,” he explained.

Ohno nodded. “I know, but we're not talking about anything business related here. It's about you and your feelings and you cannot compare love with your work,” he remarked. “So you need to make sure if you consider them as possible candidates for becoming your partner for real.”

Sho took a few minutes to think about what his friend had just told him. He really wanted to make sure that he'd make the right decision and Ohno gave him all the time he needed, sipping on his own glass while he was watching his fishes swimming happily in their huge pond.

“I like them,” Sho finally said.

Ohno simply hummed.

“I like them all for different reasons,” Sho went on. “Okada is really straightforward and self-confident, but I don't think this is a bad trait. Further, he is handsome and, well, sexy.”

Ohno chuckled, but let Sho continue.

“No matter if we're on a date or together with the other candidates, he always makes sure to let me know that he's thinking of me. I like that,” he said.

“So, basically, you are quite fond of him because he makes compliments,” Ohno summarized.

“This sounds shallow, but yes,” Sho admitted. “Also, I know that I can rely on him. You know that, Satoshi, at work we have to appear flawless because every little mistake we make might be the end of a big deal.”

Ohno agreed. “It's quite stressful,” he added.

“When I am with Okada, I feel that I can let myself fall, I can make mistakes, because he will be there to make sure nothing happens to me,” Sho explained and his friend agreed that this is quite a good reason to make him stay. Sho needed to let down his protection once in a while and feel safe nevertheless.

“Asami and Nino are quite alike in the fact that they are really natural. I don't have a feeling that they are acting or pretending to be someone they are not. Those two are honest and really good souls,” Sho said, filling his glass once again with the delicious wine Ohno had provided.

“Being together with Asami is fun. She doesn't mind making jokes about herself and I never feel pressured to be perfect when I am with her as well. Still, she has quite a strong sense of justice and she doesn't refrain from telling people what she thinks. I admire her for having such a strong self-confidence and not minding what other's might think of her,” he went on, rolling the wine glass between his fingers.

“I have to admit I am impressed by her as well,” Ohno agreed.

“And Nino...,” Sho started, letting the candidate's face appear in front of his internal eye. “He has a big heart. The way he was supporting Aiba was adorable. Also, he never judges people for what they do or what they are, but accepts it and tries to help them where he can.”

“He's a lot like you,” Ohno remarked and Sho grinned shyly.

“True. We share the same values and this is something I appreciate very much. Also, we both love music and I really enjoy our time together in the music hall. In his case, however, I sometimes have the feeling that I need to protect him, like when we were on that boat trip together and he got seasick,” the bachelor went on.

“Does that exhaust you?” Ohno asked, remembering that Sho enjoyed being the one on the receiving end when he was with Okada.

“No, in Nino's case I'll gladly act as the strong one and take him into my arms,” Sho admitted and Ohno smiled softly.

“I don't want to say that he's like a child and that I have to take care of him non-stop,” Sho quickly made sure. “He is also very supportive and helps me to stay confident in what I am doing as he did during the Yoko/Maru incident,” he added. “I just... I don't know why, but sometimes, I simply want to make sure he is feeling okay...,” he let his voice trail off.

“That's maybe because he's cute,” Ohno remarked and Sho smiled.

“He is, indeed,” Sho agreed.

“It sounds as if you really like all three of them although they are so different,” his friend stated and Sho nodded quite unhappy. He was really in a pinch.

“Would it be different if Kazue was still here? I had a feeling that you got along with her pretty well,” Ohno asked.

Sho thought back on the teacher. He had liked her indeed very much as they had, alike Nino and him, many things in common. She was also a good listener and their conversations had always been inspiring to Sho.

However, fate seemed to have decided that they were not meant to be.

After Kazue had left to rush to her brother, she had kept Sho updated about everything. The operation had been successful and her brother had woken up the next day.

While he was in the hospital, Kazue had stayed with her family, supporting her parents wherever she could and Sho had always encouraged her to be there for them. He was convinced that the family was the most precious thing in the world and you should always put them in first place.

When her brother was release from the hospital, Sho had waited for Kazue to come back. However, instead of her, a letter arrived, telling him that she would not join the candidates again.

She reasoned that she had broken the rules of the show and even if Sho and the staff were allowing her to come back, she didn't feel as if she had the right to do so. It wouldn't be fair towards the other candidates that had stayed and were standing to the rules.

Sho had immediately called her, trying to convince her to come back, but she stayed stubborn and in the end Sho had to admit, that there was nothing he could do to make her change her mind.

Kazue had wished him all the best, promising to be his guest at the final.

Sho had indeed been quite down about the fact, that she would not come back, but he could understand her reasoning although he didn't agree with it.

He liked Kazue, but he didn't like her more than the other three and that's what he told Ohno who had been waiting for Sho's answer patiently.

“In this case, it's good that she left by her own will or you would even be more troubled about who to throw out,” Ohno stated and Sho admitted that he was more than right.

“So what am I going to do now?” he asked, quite desperate.

“For now, you need to gain time that could help you in getting to know them better and maybe figure out who might be your favourite,” Ohno started to develop a plan.

“Your parents want the show to move on, so you can give them something they will be content with but give you time as well,” he went on.

Sho looked at him so cluelessly, that Ohno had to suppress a laugh.

“You can announce this evening that you will throw someone out next week and that the candidates have the chance to prove themselves during this time, make you happy, maybe present you with something...,” he suggested.

“I should push my troubles on them?” Sho asked, obviously not too fond of that idea.

“Don't see it that way. If people are under pressure they might behave differently than usually. You might be able to see a different side of them. Who knows,” Ohno explained and Sho could finally see the advantage of this plan.

“I don't want to put them under pressure of having to think of presents for me, but you're right. I might be able to get to know them in a different situation which might help me to decide,” Sho agreed. “Thanks for your help,” he added then.

“You're welcome,” Ohno smiled. “I only want you to find the right partner for you as well!”

Sho smiled at his friend thankfully and they continued to enjoy the wine while they changed the topic and simply enjoyed each other's presence.

- ~ -

Nino was throwing his belongings into his bag. The quicker he would leave, the better it would be.

He had already decided to write a letter to Sho, explaining to him why he was leaving and that this was the best way to support Sho.

Furiously, he whipped away a tear that had been forming in his eye while he closed his bag. He hadn't brought much with him anyway, so packing had been quick.

He reached out for his bag but, when he turned around, his door was being pushed open.

“Ninomiya Kazunari, what are you doing?!”

Aiba was standing in the door, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He was looking at his friend with narrowed eyes and he had sounded pretty dangerous. Nevertheless, Nino had already made his decision and this time, Aiba would not be able to convince him otherwise.

“I am leaving,” he announced therefore, trying to pass Aiba.

However, his friend was way stronger than him and pushed him back into the room, closing the door behind them.

“You will stay,” Aiba said determined, taking the bag from Nino's hand.

“I don't think it's up to you to decide,” Nino gave back, trying to get his bag back.

“At this moment I am the right person to decide because you are obviously out of your mind,” Aiba gave back, putting the bag down on the floor. Then, he took Nino's arm and pulled him towards the bed. He forced Nino to sit down next to him but didn't let go of his friend.

“I am not “out of my mind”,” Nino defended himself. “I can make the right decision very easily,” he added.

“And the right decision is to leave?” Aiba asked, his voice indicating that he was thinking the complete opposite.

“Exactly,” Nino didn't let himself be affected by his friend's behaviour.

“Why is that?” Aiba inquired, glad that Nino had decided not to run away for now.

“You just heard Sho,” Nino began. “He said that he needs to throw one of us out by the end of next week.”

“Yes, but what has it got to do with you?” his friend asked.

“I need to go to make sure Sho will end up with someone who is serious about him,” Nino explained. “And Asami and also Okada are very serious about Sho.”

Aiba rolled his eyes. “You don't even like Okada,” he threw in.

“It doesn't matter if I like him or not as long as he can make Sho happy,” Nino gave back and a triumphant smile appeared on Aiba's face.

“So you care about Sho,” he stated.

“Yes, of course,” Nino said, not sure what Aiba was so happy about.

“And why is that?” his friend dug deeper.

“Because...,” Nino began but had to realise that he couldn't come up with a decent answer, at least not one he dared to speak out.

“Because you fell in love with him?” Aiba offered.

“I... I didn't fall in love with him,” Nino denied quickly. “I just like him for being so considerate and gentle.”

“Sure,” Aiba shrugged, but he still had that grin on his face.

“Can I go now?” Nino asked, rolling his eyes. Inside, he simply hoped that Aiba was satisfied because he wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep himself together in front of his friend.

Just the thought of leaving Sho brought him on the verge of tears. He had gotten so used to the bachelor's presence and their conversations that he knew he would miss him. However, he had a lot of great memories to think back, first of all the wonderful date when they took the helicopter to spend a whole day on that deserted island together.

Still, he was simply in the way of Asami and Okada who were thinking of Sho as their future partner, being so serious about him that Nino really wanted one of them to end up with Sho as he could be sure that the bachelor would be in good hands.

Nino wanted Sho to feel loved and be cared for, to have someone to lean on but also have someone he could pamper. He really wanted Sho to lead a happy life with his partner, maybe even start his own family.

He himself was not suitable for Sho as he had come here under false pretences, fooling Sho the whole time. He could be glad that he hadn't been exposed yet and he really didn't want Sho to find out. He wished that Sho would keep him in his mind as his music buddy and the one who had been supporting him as much as he could.

Another single tear rolled down his cheek and this time, it was Aiba who caught it. He softly stroke over Nino's cheek before he forced his friend to turn at him.

“Do you really want to leave?” he asked.

Nino didn't respond.

“Please, stay!” Aiba begged him instead of pressing his friend further for an answer.

“I have to go,” Nino whispered.

“Why?”

“Because I only came here to support you and for the money,” Nino explained. “You're a happy couple with Jun now and I have gathered enough money to pay back my debt. There is no reason for me to stay here anymore.”

“Oh, Neen,” Aiba sighed. “I think there is a really good reason for you to stay here.”

“But I lied to him,” Nino gave back, tears flowing down his cheeks again.

“He doesn't know and he never suspected it. What counts are the feelings you're having for him now,” Aiba tried to change Nino's mind.

“He likes honest people,” Nino stated and let himself be pulled into Aiba's hug.

“If you honestly tell him that you fell in love with him right now, I'm sure he would forget about the reason why you came here, if he'd know,” Aiba said softly and was happy that Nino stopped denying the fact that he came to love the bachelor.

“Do you think so?” Nino asked, quite hopefully.

“Of course,” Aiba gave back, patting Nino's hair lovingly. “He's not a resentful person and you know that.”

Nino hummed. Then, he snuggled against Aiba's chest.

“But I won't tell him today that I fell for him. It's embarrassing,” he murmured and Aiba's laughter shook his whole body.

“You still have some time, but make sure you're not too late. Asami and Okada are serious opponents,” he advised Nino who nodded.

“Now, let's unpack your bag again,” he offered then and after Nino had calmed down again, they did exactly that.

When they finished, Nino looked at his friend, a question burning on his tongue.

“How did you know I was going to leave?”

Aiba chuckled. “You're my best friend, Neen,” he said as if this was answer enough. “Now, go and wash your face! You need to look decent for the BBQ Sho is already preparing downstairs,” he ordered then and pushed Nino towards his bathroom.

“Thanks,” Nino whispered before he vanished to follow Aiba's order.

“Everything for you, sweetheart,” he heard Aiba shouting after him and a happy sob escaped Nino. He couldn't believe how he deserved to have a friend like Aiba...

- ~ -

Sho took a deep breath of the oceanic air. He loved the smell, he loved the sound of the waves and the fresh breeze coming from the sea. He was so grateful that the ocean was only a 30 minutes drive away from his home. Whenever he had time, he would come to the beach for a short walk.

This time, however, he wasn't alone. Asami had asked him if he had some spare time as she wanted to talk to him. Ever since Sho had announced that he would throw out one of them by the end of the week, she was behaving a bit weird.

Also, today, she wasn't as talkative as usual and Sho had quite a hard time to keep the conversation going. He wondered, if Ohno had been right with his assumption that the candidates would behave differently when they are under pressure, although Nino and Okada had been the same as always – Okada was throwing one compliment after another at Sho, while Nino was more subtle and gentle in his phrasing.

Sho had just picked up a shell that he wanted to show to Asami when he suddenly felt her arms around his waist.

“Asami...,” he asked, but she moved herself around so that she was standing right in front of him, her arms still holding him tight.

“I don't know if...,” Sho began again but Asami just raised herself to tip-toes until she was eye to eye with him.

Finally, it dawned to Sho what she was up to. He tried to think of a way to stop her without hurting her feelings but she was quicker and soon pressing her lips onto Sho's.

Sho panicked. He didn't want that. Asami's lips on his simply didn't feel right.

It took quite a lot of Sho's willpower to not push her away but take her gently by her shoulders to be able to separated from her. He didn't want to hurt her feelings although he could see it in her eyes, that this was exactly what had happened.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered and she seem to slip out of her trance, a sad smile appearing on her face.

“It's okay. I actually thought it would end like this,” she said, moving a step backwards.

When Sho looked at her in confusion, her trademark smile finally re-appeared.

“Don't look at me like that, Sho,” she laughed. “You haven't noticed yet,” she added then.

Sho had still no idea what she was talking about so he simply continued to look at her with big eyes.

“You don't think of me as desirable,” she explained and a crooked smile appeared on her face.

“But I like you,” Sho immediately gave back, taking one step towards Asami to reach out for her hand.

“Thank you,” she said, but pulled her hand back. “However, liking someone and desiring them are two different things, Sho,” Asami explained and Sho suddenly felt like being lectured by his mother.

“I am happy that you like me, but, as I assumed correctly, that is based on my character,” she went on and Sho nodded. It was true. He liked her for being the person she was.

“It's very honourable of you and it only shows what a sensible and gentle man you are. However, Sho, in order to lead a fulfilling relationship there must be some physical attraction as well,” Asami said and the bachelor finally understood what she was talking about.

“I wanted to see if my guess was right, that's why I forced this kiss on you. I am sorry,” Asami apologised, but Sho quickly shook his head.

“It's okay. I am sorry for not being able to realise this on my own and for having you to do this,” he said and pressed his lips together. He had failed miserably and he knew that. However, it wasn't him who got hurt in the end, but Asami and that's what he couldn't forgive himself.

“Well, I cannot even hold it against you for being slow sometimes,” Asami said and Sho opened his mouth in a silent outcry. “This is one of the things that make you so cute,” she added and Sho tried hard not to blush.

“Still, I wish I would have the same effect on you as Okada and Nino have,” she went on.

“What?” was all Sho could come up with after that statement and Asami cracked up, telling him what a cute idiot he was.

“Seriously, when Nino appeared in tight black jeans for the BBQ yesterday, your eyes were glued to his butt,” she stated her observations. “And you really like it when Okada opens the first two buttons of his shirt to reveal his trained, smooth chest. I am sure he has some nice abs hidden underneath the fabric as well,” she went on and enjoyed the way Sho's head turned into a tomato.

“I don't...,” he tried but was immediately brushed off by Asami.

“You do and it's fine. It shows that Okada or Nino are really the better partner for you. That's why I will announce my leave tomorrow to not be in the way,” she made clear.

Sho looked at her and sighed.

“I really like you,” he made sure once again and Asami smiled.

“Unfortunately, that's not all that is to it. That's why it's so hard to find the right partner,” she gave back, thoughtfully.

“Actually, this TV show has been quite a success already,” Asami said after they had walked a few minutes in silence. “Keiko found herself a cute boyfriend and Aiba and Jun are such a sweet couple.”

Sho agreed. Also, he had received a message from Yoko a few days ago that he and Maru had moved into an apartment together, so there might even be a third couple coming out from this show.

“But you and me are still without a partner,” Asami went on. “Although you still have two great guys you can chose from...,” said and pouted. “Say, Sho, don't you have a nice friend that's still single?” she asked then.

Sho laughed but then he remembered his friend who had complained about all the shy daughters from his business partners that were no fun. Asami might be quite suited for him then...

“I might know someone,” he said teasingly.

Asami stopped and looked at him with big eyes.

“Can you arrange a meeting?” she asked and Sho chuckled.

“I could,” he grinned.

“I think after opening your eyes today, I deserve a reward,” Asami pouted and Sho agreed almost immediately. She had helped him a great deal today, indeed. He had not only solved the problem of throwing a candidate out, but he also had gotten some new insight how to proceed with the remaining two men.

“I'll ask him if he's free next week,” Sho promised therefore and Asami cheered.

Then, a wicked grin appeared on her face.

“Now that I'll leave...,” she started. “There is something I should do...”

Sho looked at her in confusion before it dawned to him.

He sighed resignedly. “Go ahead,” he allowed then and Asami cheered.

She went to his side and put her hands around his waist. Then, she looked up to him, smiling, before her hand wandered south and stopped at the pocket of his trousers. She let her slip in before she started to walk.

With pink cheeks and a soft smile on his face, Sho put his arm around Asami's shoulder and they walked back along the beach.

- ~ -

“Asami is right,” Ohno said from the other end of the phone.

After Sho had brought her back to his residence and promised her once again to contact his friend, she had went to pack her belongings.

Sho had kept thinking about their conversation and Asami's arguments why she was going to leave. He had come to the conclusion that she had a point. Physical contact, in what way soever, was needed in a relationship and unfortunately, Sho wasn't attracted to Asami in that way.

Still, he needed to consult someone about the matter and in no second, he dialed the number of his best friend who had listened to Sho's explanation silently until he finally had agreed with Asami.

“So, are you attracted to the other two?” Ohno wanted to know then.

Sho remembered what Asami had observed and she was right. Nino had a really nice behind, but also his face was cute. Sho liked especially Nino's nose and had felt like placing a little kiss on it several times already. Well, he had felt like placing kisses on a lot of Nino's body parts, to be honest.

Okada was simply oozing sex. His broad shoulders were calling for Sho to lean on while he wished for Okada's strong arms to circle around his waist. Sometimes, Sho felt like kissing away the wicked grin on his face just to make him breathless.

“Yes,” he therefore answered his friend's question truthfully.

“That's a good sign,” Ohno cheered. “But I guess if I would ask you which one you are more attracted to, you will say that you don't know,” he stated then.

Sho sighed. His friend was, as always, able to see through him. Of course, he had no idea whom he was feeling more attracted to. Okada and Nino were two completely different type of men and until now Sho hadn't figured out which one of them was more suited for him.

“You're right,” he confirmed.

“Have you thought about trying it out?” Ohno inquired.

“Trying what?” Sho asked, not being able to follow his friend's thoughts.

“Trying whom you feel more attracted to,” Ohno explained.

“How shall I do this?” Sho was still not sure what his friend was wanting to convey.

“Well, actually GET physical,” Ohno finally made clear.

“You mean... oh...,” Sho stuttered and just the thought of it made him blush. Ohno chuckled at the other end about his friend's embarrassment.

“I think that way might be the easiest to figure out if you are more attracted to one of them or not,” Sho's friend explained. “And don't tell me that you are not willing to get physical with them,” he teased and Sho who would have hit his friend if he could.

“I can try,” Sho finally gave in, thinking that Ohno might actually be right, as always. Trying out would definitely give him an idea how things could be with Nino or Okada.

“Great,” Ohno said satisfied from the other end. “Then there is nothing left than to wish you lots of fun,” he teased and Sho told him to keep quiet.

Laughing, Ohno cut the call and Sho started to work out a plan for his next dates.

- ~ -

Nino was watching Sho out of the corner of his eye while the bachelor was driving them home safely.

Sho's full lips stuck out against his profile. It was already dark outside and the street lights gave them an appealing glow.

Suddenly, they moved when Sho broke the silence.

“I still have her last song stuck in my head. It was amazing,” he said and began to hum a melody.

Nino joined in and together they went on for a bit until they let their voices trail off.

“I didn't know that she was playing so close to us. Again, thank you so much for taking me with you,” Nino said thankfully.

“I am glad you enjoyed the concert,” Sho gave back and turned his head to smile at Nino before he focussed on the street again.

A day before, Sho had written Nino a letter to ask him out for another date. Like the last two times, he didn't tell him where they would head (but promised him that no boats were involved). He only had asked Nino not to wear the gorilla shirt as he didn't mind but other's might be affected by it.

Nino had immediately started to wonder where they would be going. Sho's message gave away that they would not be alone this time but rather surrounded by “other's”.

He had to fight down a small disappointment, because ever since Nino had realised his feelings for Sho, he wanted to spend some time alone with him as Sho didn't have time to meet him in the music hall during the last few days.

However, if Nino had known what Sho had planned for him, he would have jumped in joy. Due to the evenings they had spent together playing piano, they had talked about their favourite artists. Therefore, Sho knew how much Nino admired Uehara Hiromi for her skills.

Still, he had never thought that the bachelor would take him to one of her concerts. He even had no clue at all when Sho had brought him to a bar, wondering what the bachelor was up to.

Sho had had quite some fun, leaving Nino in the dark, but when the lights had turned down and the jazz pianist had entered the stage, all Nino had been able to do was gaping at her and then at Sho. The bachelor's face had shown a wide grin upon Nino's visible astonishment and it nearly seemed that Sho was really content with himself for making Nino so happy.

The concert had been a blast and Nino had the time of his life. He was still buzzing with joy when Sho had lead them back to the car to drive them home. He wasn't quite sure how he could show the bachelor how happy he had made him today, so he had thanked him once again.

“You look so happy,” Sho gave back.

“Shouldn't I be the one to make YOU happy?” Nino asked, thoughtfully.

“I am happy when you're smiling like that,” Sho gave back and Nino felt his heart melting away.

“But isn't there anything else, I can do for you?” he wanted to know, feeling the urge to DO something for the bachelor in return.

“There is,” Sho replied, mysteriously.

In the meantime, they had reached the Sakurai residence again and Sho was opening the gate with his remote to pass through it.

“What?” Nino asked, excited. He would do everything that Sho would ask of him.

Sho parked the car in front of the entrance door and stopped the engine.

“Close your eyes,” the bachelor voiced his wish.

Confused, Nino did as he was told, not quite sure how this could make Sho happy.

A second later, Sho moved next to him. His presence felt closer than before.

Leaving Nino no time to process what was going on, Sho kissed him softly.

The touch was electrifying and Nino's lips felt on fire. He couldn't hold himself back and moaned against the lips that he had been admiring so much, only a few minutes before.

Sho used this chance to let his tongue slip into Nino's mouth while his hand cupped the back of Nino's neck to pull him closer.

Finally awakening from his freeze, Nino began to move along with Sho's lips and tongue. The bachelor's taste spread into his mouth and Nino was immediately addicted to it.

They explored each other and Nino had nestled his hand into Sho's hair to make sure the other one would never stop. However, the bachelor was in quite an uncomfortable position, so he had to break their kiss eventually.

Nino gasped for air and licked his swollen lips.

“More?” he asked, before he could stop himself.

The bachelor chuckled, but his lips were red and wet as well, whereas his cheeks showed a nice pink blush.

“Let's get out of the car first,” he said, rubbing his overflexed side.

In no second, Nino was out of the car. The prospect of having Sho's lips against his own again, let him discover the ability to move incredibly fast.

However, also the bachelor was at Nino's side in nothing flat. He pressed him against the car's door before he resumed kissing his candidate.

They were holding onto each other to not loose themselves in the breathtaking kisses they were sharing.

Nino had no idea how long they had been kissing when it suddenly started to rain. They enjoyed the cold drops on their heated bodies but when they were quite soaked, Sho broke the kiss again.

“Let' go inside. I don't want you to catch a cold,” he said while he brushed the wet strands of hair out of Nino's face, placing a soft kiss on the tip of the other one's nose.

Reluctantly, Nino nodded. He wished that the kisses would never stop but the logical part of his brain told him that it would come to that.

Sho brought Nino to his room, stealing a few more heated kisses from him before he told Nino to take a hot shower and then go to bed before he would become hypothermic.

Happy over how much Sho worried about him, Nino promised to do as he was told and after another good night kiss, he entered his room.

When he closed the door behind him, his feet finally quit their service and he sank down on his knees. Sho's kisses had left him all shaky and out of breath. He replayed them in his head again while the bachelor's taste was still present on his lips.

After what seemed like an eternity, Nino remembered his promise to Sho and got up again to take a shower, heading to bed afterwards.

Surprisingly, he fell asleep very fast, his dream giving him the opportunity to relive their kisses once again.

- ~ -

Nino was walking along the corridor towards the music hall. He had received a letter from Sho in the morning who had asked him to meet and play the piano. Of course, Nino had happily agreed, letting Sho know that he would be in the music hall in the evening.

To be honest, Nino couldn't wait to see Sho again. Kissing him had been addicting and Nino was hoping for a bit more than just playing the piano.

He had told Aiba about his date with Sho and his best friend had been overly excited about the progress Nino and Sho had made. He also had said that it was a good sign that Sho initiated the kiss. Aiba had asked what Nino was planning to do next, suggesting he should just lie down on the piano without any clothes.

Nino had thrown his friend out of his room after that, telling him to save his perverted ideas for his own boyfriend. However, it would be a bold lie to say that Nino's hadn't considered that suggestion for some minutes.

For now, he had decided to see what Sho was planning but if the bachelor wouldn't take the first step, Nino was willing to steal a kiss from him... or two...

He hummed Hiromi's song from yesterday's concert while he looked out of the huge windows that allowed his view to take in the nice garden of the Sakurai residence. If he would have been an outdoor person, he would spend more time there, he thought, when suddenly his eyes caught someone...

Nino froze.

Sho was outside and he was not alone. Apparently, he was clinging to someone else, letting the other one push his tongue into his mouth. His hands were clasping onto the shirt of the other man, crushing the fabric.

Although the kiss lasted for only a few seconds, to Nino it felt like an eternity. He knew, he had to turn around and leave, but his feet simply didn't want to move and bring him away from what he had just witnessed.

Sho was the one who broke the kiss first and Nino saw a shy smile on his face. Okada leaned forward again and his brain told Nino that it was the best to close his eyes, but for some reason he just couldn't stop watching.

Sho closed his eyes when Okada came closer, but he only placed a soft kiss on the bachelor's forehead. Sho's hands slipped away from Okada's broad shoulders but settled onto his hips. They began to talk but that shy smile on Sho's lips stayed.

Finally, Nino's body decided that he had suffered enough and he turned around, running back to his room. He slammed the door behind him before he finally allowed his tears to run free.

Sho had kissed Okada, just now, just before he wanted to meet him. All the trust, Sho had gained himself during the last weeks vanished into thin air. The bachelor was one rich snob afterall, playing around, trampling on people's feelings, not caring about them at all.

Nino started to become furious – at Sho, but even more at himself. He had allowed to be fooled by the acting of the bachelor.

Again, he pulled his bag out and began to throw his belongings inside.

- ~ -

Sho was quite worried when he walked towards Nino's room. He had been waiting for the other one in the music hall but he hadn't shown up.

Hopefully, Nino was alright. Since he had not seen the man for the entire day, Sho feared that the other one might indeed have caught a cold after getting wet the evening before.

The bachelor began to scold himself. He should have stopped kissing Nino and bring him inside before he had gotten too wet but it simply didn't manage to break away from him. The kisses had been so alluring, so perfect, that he had wanted to continue.

However, if Nino was ill due to his selfishness now, Sho would never forgive himself.

Carefully, he knocked on Nino's door, ready to go inside if there would be no answer, but a few seconds later the door was opened.

Nino looked indeed pale and had puffy red eyes, setting Sho into high alert.

“Oh, my, Nino, are you okay?” he asked, reaching out for Nino's forehead to take his temperature.

The candidate, however, dodged the hand and looked at Sho with an unreadable expression.

“What do you want?” he growled, startling Sho who took his hand back.

“I was worried about you since you didn't show up in the music hall,” the bachelor explained.

Nino scoffed.

“So your oh so smart brain finally remembered that I exist as well?” he asked ironically. “I thought Okada managed to make you forget everything around you.”

Sho was confused. He wasn't able to follow Nino's way of thinking at all.

“At least you could have tried to hide and not let him lick your tonsils where everybody could see you,” Nino went on, before pressing his lips together in a thin line.

Finally, Sho had an idea what Nino was referring to and instead of getting angry or feeling annoyed, he actually had to suppress a smile. Nino was jealous and it made Sho happy to know, even a little bit excited because it showed that his candidate really cared for him.

On the other hand, Sho could understand that Nino was not too happy about Sho kissing both of his candidates. If he wouldn't be stuck in that TV Show, he would never have done it. However, in order to make the right decision he had to.

He had pondered about the fact if he should tell his candidates that he wanted to get more physical but had decided against it. He didn't want them to be prepared for the kisses because he was looking for their honest reaction.

Now, Sho hoped, he could make Nino understand his way of thinking.

“I hope it was worth it, after all,” Nino said, his voice cold and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Not as worth as kissing you in the rain yesterday,” Sho said truthfully and saw that he surprised Nino with that statement.

It wasn't even a lie. Sure, Okada was a great kisser, but the way Nino had mewled into their kisses, clinging onto Sho's body had set the bachelor way more on fire than Okada circling his arms around his waist possessively while he had been dominating the kiss the whole time.

“See, Nino, I was in a pinch,” Sho began to explain and although Nino looked as if he wanted to stay mad at Sho, a hopeful look appeared in his eyes.

“I really want to make sure that I choose the right partner,” the bachelor went on and reached out for Nino's arms to uncross them again. He couldn't stand this pose as it made Nino look so unapproachable.

The candidate let him do as he pleased and Sho felt relieved. Since their first meeting at the terrace, Sho had the feeling that he had gained Nino's trust step by step over the past weeks and he didn't want to loose it again.

“You know, in a relationship there are different layers that all need some attention in order to make it work. Of course you have to get along nicely, preferably have one or two common interests and the same values. But you also need to be compatible on the physical side,” Sho basically recited Asami's and Ohno's words.

“And you were working on the more physical side these days,” Nino remarked and Sho could still hear a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

“Yes, I wanted to find out if I feel physically attracted to you,” Sho answered truthfully. “Just imagine the chaos if me and my partner would find out later that we are absolutely not made for each other when things would get... hot,” he went on and tried to stop himself from blushing.

“So you didn't just play around just because you could?” Nino asked and Sho knew that he had to answer this question honestly, which was easy for him as he had just laid out his real thoughts in front of Nino.

“No, I didn't,” he simply stated and felt Nino's sceptic eyes on him once more. Then, the candidate sighed deeply and nodded slowly.

“It makes sense in a weird way,” he admitted.

Sho was feeling so relived that he took a deep breath. Nino's eyes weren't as cold as before anymore and he had turned his body towards Sho again. It seemed that he was indeed able to understand what the bachelor had tried to convince.

“Thank you for letting me explain and trying to understand,” Sho said and finally, the soft smile was back on Nino's face.

“After you kissed both of us,” Nino started and Sho tensed up, not sure what was about to come. “Have you been able to come to a conclusion?”

The bachelor grinned from ear to ear. He hadn't expected SUCH a question, but it was overly cute, especially the way Nino's cheeks turned a bit pink.

“Actually, I have,” he replied, not wanting to give away it yet, but having fun to tease his candidate.

“I see,” Nino just murmured. He had hoped for a more specific answer but the bachelor obviously didn't want to reveal more.

Then, a completely different thought crossed Nino's mind and he grinned. “It must be great to have the opportunity to test several guys. Okada is quite good looking and I can imagine him to be a good kisser. Maybe I should ask him for a kiss as well?” he said and leaned his head to the side as if he was truly considering this option.

“Not going to happen,” Sho growled. The thought of Okada holding Nino tight by his hips and pushing his tongue into Nino's sweet mouth inflamed a burning in his chest that he knew very well where it came from.

“Jealous?” Nino asked.

“Much!” Sho gave back, not missing the happy smile that flickered across Nino's face.

“Serves you right,” the candidate gave back, pouting.

“I know,” the bachelor agreed immediately.

Then, he took a step closer, brushing his arms against Nino's, finally able to be close enough to breathe in Nino's very own scent. THAT was addicting too.

“Now that I'm here already, I would love to steal a few more kisses from you,” he whispered and noticed satisfied that Nino had goosebumps on his arms. He would kick Nino's idea to kiss Okada out of his head now.

“Always to your service,” Nino whispered back and a second later their lips met.

Both moaned into the kiss as if it was the first one they shared after years though it was only one day since they last were at it.

They lost track of the time while their tongues were dancing with each other, their bodies pressed together tightly, their hands searching for contact, finding it either at the waist of the other or in each other's hair.

When logic finally kicked in, Sho remembered that he still had some business to do and let go of Nino reluctantly.

“Do we meet in the music hall tomorrow?” he asked, breathless.

Nino nodded eagerly and Sho kissed him one last time.

“See you tomorrow,” he said and forced himself to move away from Nino.

- ~ -

Nino was sitting in his chair in the common room, feeling quite nervous. Toma had asked for him and Okada to come down because he had something important to tell them.

It was really unsettling because Nino had no idea what the moderator was up to. Also, Sho hadn't told him anything although they had been meeting regularly in the music hall – they didn't do THAT MUCH talking, though.

When the bachelor finally appeared in tow of the moderator and had quite a confused expression on his face, Nino assumed that Sho had no idea what was going on either.

Toma asked Sho to sit down before he stood in front of the three men who were looking at him eagerly. The cameras started to roll and the moderator showed them one of his most beaming smiles.

“My dear bachelor and my lovable candidates,” he greeted them. “I asked you to come here because I have a surprise for you,” he announced, keeping on smiling.

Nino didn't like surprises, which was most probably Aiba's fault who had once arranged a surprise party in Nino's flat who, having no clue of course, had thought someone broke into his apartment. However, Sho suddenly looked interested and Okada showed his usual cool smirk.

“A little bird told me that our bachelor has gotten quite close to his candidates lately,” the moderator went on with a wink into Sho's direction who tried to hide his embarrassment. “However, he still seems to have some problems, to decide for one of them,” Toma went on.

Well, Nino had to agree that he had a point. Although he and Sho had gotten indeed quite close lately and Nino thought that he had an advantage on Okada, Sho seemed not to be ready to announce the winner of the show yet. This had bugged Nino quite a lot lately and he had wondered what Sho was still waiting for.

Maybe his obvious act of jealousy had been a turn-off for Sho. The longer Nino had thought about it, the more he had been ashamed of himself. Sho had every right to kiss whoever he wanted to as he was the bachelor, the one this TV show was about and the one who had to decide for a winner in the end.

Of course, body contact in every way was a selection criterion and after being able to think clear again, Nino was actually impressed that Sho had only started to get physical with the last two candidates. He could have jumped on his candidates from the very beginning, who all had been very pretty, but the bachelor wasn't a player.

Furthermore, instead of getting angry at Nino for behaving childish, Sho had tried to explain his reasons. It only had made Nino more secure in his feelings for the bachelor and he had developed a very strong will to end up as the winner, so he was hoping to be able to shine at whatever the moderator had prepared.

“Therefore, I have prepared this surprise – to help Sho to decide,” Toma explained. “I want to present our bachelor your reasons for joining the show.”

Nino's eyes widened in shock. Toma couldn't refer to the...

“Yes, I am talking about your applications,” the moderator confirmed as if he read Nino's thoughts. “Since Sho never saw them, he had no idea WHY you are actually here and what were your reasons for joining this show. Maybe he would like to know them, though,” Toma went on explaining and Sho nodded.

“It would be really interesting,” he confirmed. Indeed, he looked intrigued.

Nino, on the other hand, didn't think that it was interesting to have Toma read out his reasons for being here – it was plain horrifying.

Now that he was in that situation, he realised that it had been very naïve to think that Sho would never find out his reasons for joining the show. He should have told the bachelor already or simply should have taken measures to let his application disappear.

Nino was about to cry. If Sho would find out what shallow reasons had brought him into the show, he would surely be disappointed and throw Nino out right away.

While these scaring thoughts were running through Nino's mind, and he was fighting for his composure, Toma asked his assistant to bring in the applications.

“I hope you had a good reason for joining this show, Mr. Ninomiya,” Okada suddenly said and Nino looked up to him. “Because I had a very good one,” the man went on, showing Nino a confident smile.

Nino tried to regulate his breathing to stay calm. Of course, Okada, who was someone who used to plan ahead, had surely thought of something really appealing when he wrote his application. Nino saw his advantage, that he thought he had, slipping away.

He had no chance to win against Okada in this. The man was very good with words and he always knew how to make it sound appealing to Sho. Furthermore, even if Okada had not been interested in Sho but in his money or fame, he would never have written it down – he was too clever for that.

Nino, instead, since he never had the intention to get close to Sho, hadn't cared about his reasons at all. He had even hoped that if he wrote down that he was there for the money, he would not be chosen as one of the candidates to begin with, which had been his aim when Aiba had come up with that nonsense.

He had never expected his feelings to change. Never had he even just considered the idea that he might fall in love with the bachelor for real.

Nino realised that Sho was looking at him, waiting for his response on Okada's comment.

“Let's see,” he just said, because he couldn't come up with anything else. He wanted Sho to keep him in his thoughts as the nice and friendly Nino, even if just for a few moments longer.

Maybe, Nino began to conspire, he could excuse himself and try to find the assistant, taking away his application or he could simply say that this must have been a mistake as he never would write such shallow things down. Would Sho believe him?

Before Nino could decide on a strategy, the assistant came back, two pieces of paper in his hand.

“Here they are,” Toma announced happily. “Let's not keep our bachelor waiting for any longer,” he added.

Sho seemed to be really curious as he was sitting on the edge of his seat. Okada was watching him, an amused sparkle in his eyes. Nino, however, felt like throwing up.

“I will start with Mr. Okada's application,” the moderator announced and Nino wasn't sure if he should feel relieved about it or not.

Sho threw a shy smile at Okada, who nodded, smiling.

When Toma began to read, Nino had to acknowledge that Okada had known exactly what he was doing. He had written that he admired Sho for what he had accomplished at his young age and that he had fallen for his kind personality and his cute cheeks immediately when he had seen him on TV. However, he wanted Sho to have someone at his side whom he could trust and who would also protect him in any imaginable situation. He wanted Sho to realise the benefits of a strong partner and was offering himself for that position.

When Toma was done reading out Okada's reasons, Sho turned to him with a soft expression.

“Thank you,” he simply said.

“I still mean it,” Okada replied and his eyes, that usually had a mocking expression, suddenly became soft.

Nino gulped, feeling that he had just witnessed a very intimate moment between these two. Over all of his aversion for Okada, he had to realise that the other man was truly in love with Sho, wanting to be at his side to support and protect him.

“Let's go on with Nino,” Toma announced and Nino's nausea came back immediately. After Okada's words, his superficial reasons would stuck out even more.

He even considered leaving the room before Toma would start reading but then he told himself that he had to go through it. Maybe he had a chance to explain everything to Sho afterwards.

“I want to join the show and be a candidate because...,” Toma began reading and Nino closed his eyes, fighting the urge to run away.

“Because I think that Sakurai-san should not walk through his stressful life all by himself,” Toma read out and Nino opened his eyes again. He couldn't remember writing these line.

“I might not be a brave or strong person, but I want to support Sakurai-san from the background, be there when he comes home from a stressful meeting and simply create a calm atmosphere for him where he can relax,” the moderator went on and Nino was definitely sure that these weren't his words.

“Also, I like his sloping shoulders and I know I would feel secure when I can lean onto them,” Toma ended and grinned at Nino.

“My sloping shoulders?” Sho immediately echoed and Nino just shrugged. He was still too perplexed about what he had just heard to be able to come up with anything decent.

“But I appreciate your thoughts a lot. Thank you!” Sho went on, smiling at his candidate.

Nino just smiled back, although he still wondered WHAT Toma had just read out and where it came from...

“Well, Sho, it seems that your two candidates are seriously caring for you,” the moderator summarized.

“It is really touching to know that they were feeling this way before they even got to know me,” the bachelor replied, his face showing that he was indeed really happy.

“I hope I could help you with this, because we are awaiting your final decision very soon,” Toma reminded Sho who sighed dramatically.

“I will take this into consideration, thank you, Toma,” Sho replied, not giving away any hint on who he was going to chose in the end.

The moderator said a few more words to the candidates, congratulation them for making Sho happy,
before he hooked arms with the bachelor to lead him out of the room again. The cameras stopped rolling and the two candidates were free to leave as well.

“I'm impressed,” Okada remarked when he passed Nino.

“You were quite good as well,” Nino gave back and Okada acknowledged his statement with a nod, before he left as well.

Nino, however, didn't go back to his own room. He had a slight idea about what had happened here and he wanted to confirm his suspicion.

- ~ -

“Can I come in?” he asked when Jun opened the door.

“Of course,” the stylist answered and let him in.

Aiba, taking one look at his friend, immediately noticed that something was off.

“Are you okay, Neen? You're so pale,” he asked and quickly offered his friend a seat.

“I am not sure,” Nino gave back. Then, he told Aiba and Jun everything that had happened just now.

“And since I didn't write those lines, I suppose someone else did,” he ended his report.

“I see,” Aiba just said, but his eyes were already sparkling.

“Could it be that this “someone” is in this room?” Nino asked, already knowing the answer.

“The possibility is quite high,” his friend gave back and smiled brightly.

“How did you know this was going to happen?” Nino wanted to know.

“I had a hunch and after discussing this with Jun, he said, that Toma would surely draw this card,” Aiba explained.

“I have nothing to do with this,” the stylist threw in. He was still a member of the staff and he needed to stay neutral. His relationship with Aiba, who was Nino's best friend, was already a bit risky.

“That's true,” Aiba confirmed. “I went to the archive by myself and re-wrote your application. But Jun helped me thinking of these cheesy lines. He's really good at it,” he explained.

“Aiba Masaki!” Jun growled and Nino's friend just laughed.

“Thank you!” Nino said, reaching out for Aiba's hand.

“I thought it's better if Toma is not the one telling Sho your secret,” his friend said, tightening their grip.

“You think, I should tell him?” Nino asked. He had been thinking about it ever since he got away today. He actually didn't want Sho to make his decision based on a lie.

“What you do with this situation now, is up to you, Neen,” Aiba told him and behind his best friend, Nino could see the stylist nodding in agreement. “I just advise you to be honest with yourself and your feelings and I think it wouldn't hurt Sho to know what you are thinking about him.”

Suddenly, Nino felt as if Aiba had matured a lot within the last days. He never heard his friend speaking so many wise words before, but Aiba had always been full of surprises. And at the moment, he was more than happy about Aiba's advice.

He thanked his friend and was just about to leave when he felt Aiba's arms around his waist.

“I am rooting for you. I hope Sho will decide for you because you are a really sweet couple,” Aiba said and Nino pressed himself closer into his friend's embrace.

“I hope so, too!” he whispered, before he smiled at his friend once more and left the room.

- ~ -

Nino was waiting in his room. He had asked Ogura if he could bring him to Sho as he had something important to tell him.

For a second, a worried expression had flashed over the butler's face, but then he had asked Nino to wait so he could go and ask his master if he had time to see Nino.

While Ogura was away, Nino had once again thought about his decision. He was going to tell Sho about his initial reason for being here.

He simply couldn't live with the lie. He was still grateful to Aiba for faking his application because it had prevented him from being kicked out right away and he now had the chance to explain everything to Sho by himself.

Nino had been lying awake the whole night, thinking about his confession to Sho. He expected the bachelor to stay calm during their conversation, but he couldn't assess if his confession would disappoint the bachelor.

After all, Sho had always emphasized on how much he liked honesty. Nino had been lying to him for weeks. Until he had realised that he had actually fallen for the bachelor, Nino had just been here because of Aiba and for the money to clear his debt.

Nino simply hoped that Sho would not throw him out. Even if he might throw his chances of winning over board with his confession today, he wanted to stay until the final announcement of the winner, simply to be able to be close to Sho for as long as possible.

When Ogura came back to announce that Sho had indeed time for his candidate, Nino took a deep breath before he followed the butler. They went into a part of the house that Nino hadn't seen before, but he hadn't been to Sho's room yet. None of the candidate's had, at least not before they left or had been thrown out. Therefore, Nino kind of saw it as a privilege to be allowed to enter Sho's private rooms.

They finally stopped in front of a door but instead of knocking, Ogura turned around to Nino.

“My master likes people that speak honestly about their feelings,” he said and before Nino could make any sense out of it, the butler announced that they had arrived.

“Come in,” Nino heard Sho from the other side and Ogura nodded at Nino.

Carefully, Nino opened the door. Sho was sitting at his desk, that was overflowing with lots of papers. Along the walls were lots of shelves, full of books in Japanese and English. A comfy looking sofa was standing between them.

When Nino looked out of the window, he had the same view as from his own. Sho's room must be above his. A fuzzy feeling captured his body. He had been so close to Sho all the time.

“Nino,” Sho broke the silence. “Can I help you with something?”

The bachelor looked slightly confused at his candidate.

“I have to tell you something,” Nino explained his presence.

“Sure,” Sho nodded and finally laid down the pen he had been holding before.

However, a thought crossed Nino's mind and before he could think about the foolishness of his idea, he crossed the space between himself and the bachelor. He put his hands on each sides of Sho's chair and leaned down to kiss him.

Although Sho seemed to be surprised, he didn't pull away and even granted Nino entrance when he asked for it with a light nudge of his tongue.

Nino put all his feelings into the kiss and when he parted from the bachelor, Sho was panting, his lips wet and swollen.

“I like this way of talking,” the bachelor grinned.

Nino pressed his lips together. He hated to spoil Sho's good mood but he had made his decision and he would go for it. He wanted to set things right. After that, everything would lay in Sho's hands.

“I wanted to kiss you once more before I tell you my secret,” Nino started and the bachelor's expression turned serious immediately.

“What you heard yesterday wasn't my real reason for being here,” Nino spilled the beans before going into detail about Aiba's little meddling with the applications. However, he emphasized on the fact that his friend had just wanted to help him.

“I understand,” Sho said after listening to Nino's explanation. “But what was written on the application before?” he wanted to know.

Nino took a deep breath. The time for the truth had finally come.

“I only joined the show for the money,” he confessed. “I was in serious need of it. Also, I wanted to help Aiba with his hunt for Jun.”

Nino could see how his words worked their way into Sho's brain because his eyes grew bigger and a hurt expression appeared on his face.

“In the beginning, I thought that you're just a rich snob who wanted to make tons of money with this TV show. I hadn't expected you to be so gentle and caring towards your candidates. The way you helped them and just wanted the best for them surprised me,” Nino tried to explain, glad that Sho did not interrupt him or throw him out.

“You never let any of us feel as if we're just toys for your show and slowly, but surely, I acknowledged your good heart. When you didn't yell at me on the boat but tried to help me, I was crazily happy that it was YOU, who was the show's bachelor,” he went on.

“Before I knew it, I fell for you – hard and irreversible. I was looking forward to our meetings in the music hall way more than it was good for me and my heart. When you announced, that you had to throw one of us out, I hoped that it wouldn't be me,” Nino told Sho about his feelings, his voice urgent, because he wanted Sho to believe him.

“When you kissed me, I thought my heart would explode in joy. I got addicted to your kisses and I wanted them to never stop. When Toma announced his surprise yesterday, I was in panic. I didn't want you to hear everything from him and I am so grateful to Aiba for helping me out with this. However, I didn't want you to make your decision based on a lie and that's why I came here today to tell you,” Nino went on.

“I know it's a lot to take in right now and you might be angry at me, but please believe me when I tell you that you own my heart and that I don't care about any coin as long as I can be close to you,” he ended his long monologue and looked at Sho.

The bachelor's expression had become unreadable during Nino's talking.

“I see,” he suddenly said and Nino tried to calm down. “Thank you, for telling me,” the bachelor added then.

Waiting for more, Nino was looking at Sho. However, it seemed that this was all the bachelor was going to say about Nino's confession for now, so Nino figured it was better to leave before Sho threw him out for real.

“Thank you for listening to me,” he therefore said and made his way to the door. When he turned around one last time, Sho had already picked up his pen again and was looking down at the paper in front of him.

“Bye,” Nino managed to say and Sho only nodded without looking up.

When Nino closed the door behind him, he started to sob. Sho's cold way had been the worst. He would rather have had Sho yelling at him but seeing him so unapproachable hurt Nino's heart too much.

He let himself be guided back to his room by a really worried looking Ogura who asked if he needed something but Nino just shook his head. After reaching his room again, Nino wondered if he should start packing his bag again although Sho hadn't said anything about throwing him out.

Before he could decide on something, his door was opened again.

“Ogura just told me that you might need me,” Aiba said and upon seeing Nino, he immediately rushed to his side.

Sending a silent thanks at the butler, Nino let himself being pulled into an embrace by Aiba and finally started to cry for real.

- ~ -

Tomorrow is the big day. How are you feeling?

Sho smiled upon reading his best friend's message. Of course, Ohno would make sure to text him to check up on him.

Surprisingly, Sho was quite calm although he would have to announce the winner of the show the next day who would eventually become his partner as well. He had come into terms with himself and had made a decision, that he hoped to be the right one.

That's what he told his friend who immediately replied.

I'm relieved to hear that you're alright. Just keep in mind that you don't have to force yourself. If none of the two matches you, then you are allowed to say so!!!!!

The amount of exclamation marks caused Sho to let out a sigh. His best friend only wished for his best and Sho felt like hugging Ohno.

Instead, he wrote back that his parents had told him the same thing a few hours before. Grateful for their offer, Sho had told them, that he considered one of the candidates to be quite fitting for him.

Great! I am looking forward to your announcement tomorrow! Ohno replied.

Sho was once more impressed by his friend. Instead of forcing him to tell him about his decision right now, Ohno only showed his support.

After telling him, that he was thankful to be Ohno's friend and only received a blushing emoji as an answer before his friend wished him a good night.

Sho put the phone down on his night stand. He had no idea if he would be able to sleep. Sure, he had made his decision and was pretty confident that it was the correct one, but there was still a light chance that he could be wrong. Maybe he would find out that his chosen partner was someone different as the person had acted to be, after all.

The conversation with Nino on the previous day had shown him, how much you can be fooled by a person. People DID weird things in order to get what they wanted and what if Sho was too naïve, believing in the good of his candidates too much?

Sho scolded himself. His brain had provided him with “what ifs” the whole last days and he was simply sick of it. Of course, you could never be completely sure that that someone was absolutely honest, but doubts could also tear a good relationship apart.

Therefore, Sho would announce his decision the next day, and simply see what the future would bring. He did not have to marry his chosen partner right away, although he thought that the candidate would look pretty cute in a white suit...

- ~ -

Nino was trying to regulate his breathing. He was sitting in front of a crowd, consisting of staff and former candidates of the show, some of them with their partner. It was the same area that had been used for the concert a few weeks ago.

Aiba waved at him and pressed his thumbs. Nino nodded at him thankfully, convinced that he needed all the luck he could get.

Actually, Nino hadn't expected that he would be even sitting here today. Ever since he had told Sho the truth about his reason for joining the show, he had been waiting for a message that he had been thrown out of the show.

However, it never came. Still, Nino didn't dare getting his hopes up. After a few moments of wishful thinking that Sho might actually choose him as his partner even though he had such low reasons for joining the show, he had realised that since Sho had to throw out one of them anyway, he must not have bothered about forcing Nino to leave before the actual final. Now it had even been easier for Sho to decide.

That way, the bachelor wouldn't have to come up with any long explanation why he would choose Okada as his partner, but simply could tell the audience how Nino deceived him and everybody would be able to understand Sho's decision.

Nino had tried to prepare himself for the open rejection from the bachelor today, but he was still not ready to admit his defeat. He simply didn't want to part from Sho.

Although he had not seen the bachelor since he had been visiting him in his room, Nino had felt Sho's presence somehow. He had been living under the same roof with him after all and just this thought had been enough for Nino. However, being thrown out of the show meant leaving the house, not only being emotionally separated from Sho, but also locally.

Therefore, the last days had been a torture for Nino as he had been swaying between being scared of having to leave any second and joy for being close to Sho. However, he deserved this as a punishment for lying at him.

Suddenly, there was a movement at the back of the crowd and Toma made his way towards the front. Behind him was Sho, looking fabulous in his jeans, white V-neck shirt and dark blue jacket.

Out of the corner of his eye, Nino could see that Okada was devouring the bachelor with his eyes. That lucky guy had good cards today and judging his calm aura, Okada knew that as well. He had told Nino a few minutes before, that he had met up with Sho the day before. He didn't let any details slip though, but Nino didn't want to know any way.

When Toma and Sho reached the front, the moderator winked at the last two candidates and started the final selection. He welcomed all the former candidates of the show as well as the staff and, of course, Ohno, Jun and DAIGO as Sho's friends. Also, the crowd was able to see the bachelor's parents for the first time, who smiled happily.

“Now, I will stop talking and hand the word to our bachelor, who, in a few minutes, will hopefully not be a bachelor anymore,” Toma said, grinning at the cheering audience.

“I have no idea who will be the lucky man on Sho-chan's side and I am as thrilled as you are to finally find out,” the moderator went on and turned towards the bachelor on his side. “It's your turn now,” Toma said and handed the mic over to Sho. “Don't let us wait any longer!”

After taking the mic from Toma, Sho looked at the two candidates for the first time this evening. Again, his expression was unreadable, but it was not cold and Nino's heart started to sped up. He loved Sho's brown eyes and wished that they would stay a bit longer on him. However, the bachelor turned towards the audience again.

“I am so grateful to see everyone of you here,” he began. “Without any of you, this show wouldn't have been possible.”

The crowd cheered and Sho smiled brightly at them.

“Now that we're nearly done with this show, I can tell you that initially, I was a bit against the idea of choosing a partner like that. I couldn't believe that it would be possible to find the right one in such a setting. However, from the first moment, I met my candidates, I realised that all of them were wonderful people,” Sho said and looked at the former candidates one after another.

“Now that I am looking back, I am glad that due to some special circumstances I was not forced to throw all of you out, but some of you even left by themselves. I would have had a hard time to choose between all of you,” he went on and Nino could see tears glistening in Shihori's and Kazue's faces. Keiko was pressing her lips together and the two step-brothers were staring at each other. Asami and Aiba were sobbing in unison and Jun had a hard time to calm both of them down while handing out tissues at the same time. Even Maki, who surprisingly appeared today, had wet eyes.

“Now, there are only two candidates left and believe me, choosing between them was one of the hardest task I had to accomplish in my life until now,” the bachelor went on as he turned around to Nino and Okada.

“I wanted to make the right decision, to choose the one who would not only stay by my side the next weeks or months, but preferably years and even decades,” he stated and Nino wished nothing more than to be that person who would be allowed to stay with Sho for his entire life.

“In the end, I just thought about which traits I want my ideal partner to have. It was easy. I want an honest partner, whom I can share my thoughts and believes with and who never lets me down,” the bachelor explained and Nino was convinced that he did not meet any criteria of this.

“I want my partner to be strong and be my shoulder I could lean on or even cry when I feel like it,” Sho said. Well, Okada was clearly having an advantage here because he had broader shoulders than Nino.

“He should share the same values with me, consider other people's feelings and be there for his friends whenever they are in a pinch,” the bachelor went on, his voice soft and warm. Nino suddenly felt Okada's look on him and when he glanced up, he could see the man wearing a sad expression.

Confused, Nino began to wonder if Okada was misunderstanding something here. Sho was going to choose him as his partner for sure!

“My partner should be able to admit his mistakes openly,” Sho said and turned to the two candidates again, closing the distance between them.

“And I really like it if he plays the piano for me,” the bachelor smiled.

Now, Nino was completely confused. He didn't know that Okada could play the piano, too. Why did Sho never tell him about it?

“Therefore, Mr. Okada,” the bachelor said and Nino tried hard to breath in and out normally, “I sadly have to say good-bye to you today.”

All Nino could do was to blink while his brain tried to process the information it had just been given.

“I told you to call me Junichi,” Okada said with a smile and Sho was seemingly relieved upon his mocking response.

“Thank you,” he therefore said. “Junichi,” he added then and Okada nodded at him.

“So, if I get this right,” Toma jumped in, having organized himself a second mic from somewhere. “You partner will be Nino?”

“You get this very right, Toma-chan,” the bachelor gave back, emphasizing on the overly personal form of addressing the moderator, who just laughed.

“But why?” Nino was finally able to speak again. He simply couldn't follow Sho's way of thinking. Sho wanted an honest partner and he had betrayed him. How could he choose him now?

“Because you are all of those things I just mentioned,” Sho explained.

“I am a liar,” Nino gave back, his voice louder than he had intended.

“You're not,” the bachelor rejected this outburst. “Liars don't come and tell people the truth. They try to hide it. But you were ready to expose your secret, although there was the risk of being thrown out.”

“But...,” Nino said, still not able to believe that he had done the right thing.

“Don't make yourself a bad person. I don't fall in love with egoistic liars. You're amazing, kind, honest, gentle,” Sho began and with every word he said, Nino felt closer to tears. “And cute!” the bachelor added and Nino let out a mix of a sob and a laugh.

“You're awesome, Neen!” Aiba suddenly screamed from the audience.

“We love you,” he heard Asami's voice and finally, the tears were rolling over his cheeks.

The audience joined in and cheered, and Nino could make out the voices from other ex-candidates as well.

“It seems like they agree though you have to tell us about your secret later,” Toma stated. “But first we want to know what do you think about our bachelor's confession?”

His voice was a bit husky from the crying but Nino gave a prompt answer, nevertheless.

“I love it,” he shouted and let himself being taken into Sho's arms. The cheering went on and Toma had some troubles to calm them down.

“Thanks for your support,” Sho said, bowing in front of the audience. Nino followed him quickly.

“However, I want you to shower Oka... Junichi with a lot of applause as well. He had made it clear from the very beginning that he was honestly considering me as his partner and he never played any false games. He is a very reliable man and the way he is receiving his setback now just shows how mature he is.”

Immediately, the crowd began to cheer and even Nino clapped his hands enthusiastically. Sho was right. Okada had been open from the very beginning, maybe a bit aggressive and too self-confident, but he never had said anything bad about any of the candidates.

Okada thanked everyone for the applause and turned to Sho.

“So, now that I am leaving, I can...,” he began and after a few seconds of thinking, the bachelor nodded.

Okada closed the gap between himself and Sho and reached out his hand. But before he could touch the firm curves, his hands were slapped away.

“This is mine,” Nino growled, cupping Sho's butt with his own hands, making sure Okada would not even have the tiniest chance to sneak his hands on it.

After a few seconds of silence, Sho and Okada started to laugh. Their bodies were shaking and Nino was looking confused from one of them to the other.

“It's alright to claim what's yours,” Okada said after he had managed to calm down. “I knew from the very beginning that you would be my biggest rival and today I lost against you. However, knowing that it was indeed you who snatched Sho away from me, makes it easier to take,” he added and offered Nino his hand.

Immediately, the other one grabbed it. Suddenly, Okada pulled Nino closer.

“Make sure to take care of him,” he whispered into Nino's ear.

“I will,” he promised and Okada released him with a slight pat on his shoulder.

“Now that we have clarified the ownership of Sho's nice behind,” Toma jumped in, followed by a an embarrassed shout of the bachelor, “we have to make sure of one last thing.”

The moderator pulled Nino and Sho in front of the audience, moved a bit back and finally started to speak in a very mystic voice.

“Will you, Sakurai Sho, pop the question?”

The bachelor looked at Nino, who was taking in the beautiful face of the man in front of him. Suddenly, Sho got down on one knee and gently took Nino's hand in his.

“Will you, Ninomiya Kazunari, from today on, be my partner?”

Without having to think about the answer, Nino sank down next to Sho and threw his arms around the ex-bachelor's neck.

“Yes,” he whispered before they moved forward in unison until their lips met. The audience erupted once more but Nino did not really hear it. He was drowning in Sho's kiss, while the other one was circling his arms around his waist, pulling him closer.