Come On! Koibito! 6/21
"You've been on that website for hours," Ohno observed, rolling over onto his back, eyes gazing up to Nino's ceiling. He tossed the half of his jacket that had flopped open back onto his person. During the act, he felt something in his pocket and reached in to grab the awkward shape. To his delight, he pulled out a candy bar and began to munch on it.
"Not done," Nino called back in a sort of grunt, his back hunched over his laptop at the desk. His eyes were glued to the screen, as they had been for the past three hours since Ohno had come over. The cameraman had tried to film but, seeing that Nino probably wasn't going to move for awhile, had figured he had enough footage of Nino sitting with his back to him. The camera lay on a chair in the corner and Ohno had retired to the bed, waiting for Nino to do something interesting. That had been two hours prior.
It had been two days since the party. The results ceremony was that evening which meant the day before had been, effectively, a free day. SInce it would take time for the producers and PAs to sift through all the footage before airing, everyone (including the cameramen) got to take the in between day off. Then, that night, the episode would air, phone lines would open, and the next day, a live results show could be filmed. A live results show that Nino was, obviously, kind of nervous about, if his actions were any indication.
"I don't know what you're trying to gleam out of that website. It doesn't really matter what they say; it matters if they called," Ohno murmured from the bed. Nino turned around and scowled at him but Ohno knew the unhappy face was due to the fact that Nino knew he was right. That was the biggest problem with shows like this: no matter how much people professed to like a contestant, it didn't matter if they didn't call in and vote.
"The online poll might tell me something," Nino muttered, clicking somewhere on the screen. Ohno watched as the monitor changed from light blue to light lavender, a new webpage loading slowly. He sighed and leaned back on the bed again.
Ohno had taken full advantage of his day off. After saying goodnight to Nino and dropping his equipment off in storage, he had made his way back to his parents house in Omiya (thanking everything that he had made the last train). The following day, his mother had made pancakes for breakfast and Ohno spent the entire day painting. It had been nice to sit in his studio and think about nothing but oil on canvas, not worrying about missing shots or being to the studio on time.
He had come in fairly early on results ceremony day. He hadn't planned on it; that morning he had just woken up kind of early and had nothing better to do. Maybe he'd ask Nino how his day off had been. Maybe he'd run into Tamaki or Taka and see what they were up for that evening, not that Ohno had any doubt that this night would be any different from every other results ceremony.
The first people he had run into, however, had been Aiba and Yoko, grabbing food in the kitchen. Yoko waved Ohno over as Aiba grabbed a bowl of fruit from the refrigerator. Aiba was stuffing his face with watermelon when he finally noticed Ohno.
"Hi!" he smiled, shaking Ohno's hand while trying to digest all the food he had just stuffed into his mouth at the same time. "You're Nino's guy, right? I'm Aiba. Although you probably knew that." Ohno smiled, nodding.
"Ignore him, Ohno," Yoko stage-whispered to him. "He's just trying to work off all the sugar he just consumed. His idea of a fun day off was to raid the kitchen of all its sweets."
"Not true!" Aiba whined, whacking Yoko on the arm. "Nino just said it might be a good idea if we had some food in our room, you know, in case of emergency, and I agreed with him."
"It's not a bad one," Ohno agreed, amused at the idea of Aiba and Nino rooting through the mansion's kitchen like scavengers. "You do know they'll replenish things every few days, though, right? It's not like you'll go hungry."
"I'm pretty sure Nino was aware of that," Aiba grinned slyly. "We only took our favorite foods, after all. He already said we'll have to raid every day off if we want to make sure they keep buying the good stuff."
Ohno couldn't help it; he laughed out loud.
"Nino's a cheapskate," Aiba laughed, his smile turning affectionate, "but that's what makes him Nino. But don't tell him I said that. He'd hit me."
"My lips are sealed," Ohno replied with a smile. Aiba grinned back.
"I like you, Ohno. I'm glad you're Nino's guy. I can only take so much care of him by myself." Aiba's face had become warm, almost serious. Ohno could tell that Aiba meant every bit of what he said and thus bit back his chuckle at the idea of Aiba taking care of Nino.
However, sitting up on Nino's bed, watching Nino's hunched back as his eyes scanned page after page of forum posts, Ohno was beginning to wonder if maybe Aiba was right. While Nino was definitely the one in the pair with more common sense, Aiba was the one with optimism and that was an aspect of a personality that should not be underestimated.
Ohno slowly picked himself up from the bed and made his way over to the computer where Nino still hadn't moved. The cameraman frowned and put a hand on Nino's shoulder. This broke the younger man's concentration and Nino looked up at Ohno, slightly annoyed but obviously nervous.
"Nothing you can do about it now," Ohno said simply. "Get dressed. We need to head over to the studio."
Nino nodded, not happy about it but having already accepted that Ohno was right. He got up out of the chair and headed over to his closet to grab clothes for the results ceremony. Seeing him leave, Ohno plopped down into the chair that Nino had just vacated.
He hadn't meant to but Ohno's eyes were soon drifting over to the website that was still pulled up on Nino's laptop. Throwing a look over his shoulder to see Nino still much in the depths of his closet, Ohno allowed himself to glance at the page.
Welcome to JTV forums. You are logged on as Guest.
JTV-->Shows-->CoKoi!-->Who's Going Home Tonight?
COKLuver56: First results show tonite! Who are u rooting for? I like that Aiba guy. He is soooooo funny!!!
MrsSaKuRaI: Yamapi is a qt! Let's get him out so he can get with ME. :DDDD
SIGJKSDF: That Jin is a a**. He better get voted out 2nite.
COKLuver56: MrsSaKuRaI - I thought u was married to Sho. Y u like Yamapi lol? SIGJKSDF - I HATE THAT JIN HE BETTER LEAVE TONITE WTF
JTVFan2246: Anyone else get the feeling that Tegoshi is going to get really annoying about halfway through this season?
COKLuver56: JTVFan2246 - But Tegoshi's soooooo kewt! lol
CoKoi763: I like Matsuda Shota! He's really hot!!!
Shunisnumberone: OGURI SHUN IS THE BEST. HE'S GOING TO WIN THE WHOLE CONTEST!!11!!!1
JTVFan2246: I ... I suppose. Anyway, who did everyone vote for? I voted for that Toma guy. He seemed pretty normal.
SIFJKSDF: I voted 4 Junno! He made me rofl
Shunisnumberone: OGURI SHUN OGURI SHUN OGURI SHUN
SunshineDreamer: Koike Teppei is adorable! I just want to snuggle him!!! :DD
Gamer83: I liked that Nino kid. Did anyone else like him?
7tropic: Mizushima was pretty hot. Let's see him go far.
"No one even likes me," Nino lamented from behind Ohno. Ohno frowned and turned around to face him. Nino had already changed into a nice pair of slacks and a dress shirt. The man certainly looked the part but his face betrayed worry and self doubt. Ohno was getting kind of sick of watching this charismatic kid put himself down all the time.
"That Gamer guy seemed to like you," Ohno offered. Nino wasn't taking it, though. He ran a hand through his hair, frowning and looking almost guilty.
"He better," Nino shrugged, sitting on the bed, looking down at his hands. "Since, you know, he's me."
"Nino," Ohno's voice was filled with warning. "You're not supposed to do that."
"I know," Nino sighed, dropping his face in his hands. "I know I'm not supposed to coerce the voters or however they phrased it in the rules. It's just," Nino paused and took a breath. Ohno waited for him to continue. "It's just that I feel like I'm not making an impression at all. Everyone else is so much more interesting. No one cares about some guy that works on Otome Road in an Animate. I'm just not cool enough."
All of that out in the air, Nino let out something like a frustrated yelp and fell backwards on the bed. Ohno couldn't believe Nino was actually this worried about it. He had it all wrong. Smiling softly at Nino, curled in a vaguely defeated pose on the bed, Ohno got up and crossed the room, sitting on the edge of the comforter.
"Do you know how many people have actually made an impression so far?" Ohno asked in a neutral tone. Nino didn't respond but he did turn to face Ohno, seeing only his profile as the camera man perched on the bed.
"One person. Akanishi Jin. And it was a horrible impression. 1000 yen that he's voted off tonight. There hasn't been enough show yet." And it was true. There were fifteen contestants and there had only been one episode.The only real impressions that would have been made on the audience right now were bad ones.
"But no one mentioned me on the forum. Not a single person," Nino mumbled, sitting up so he was next to Ohno. There wasn't much strength in his voice which made Ohno think that maybe Nino already knew what he was about to say. When Nino continued to just sit there and stare at his hands, however, Ohno kept talking.
"You do realize," he began, "on that forum that you just read, that everyone mentioned? Was only mentioned once. Sure, people might have already picked favorites based on looks alone but it is way too early in the game for there to actually be factions and fan groups." Ohno paused and looked over towards Nino. "You're just ahead of yourself."
Nino didn't say anything for a second or two, probably simply processing what Ohno had said. Ohno knew he was right; it took two or three episodes for fan groups to actually form around certain contestants. And Ohno was fairly certain that it was only a matter of time before Nino had one of his own. Finally Nino turned towards Ohno and slapped him on the shoulder, smiling weakly.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. "Enough blabbering. We have to get to that stupid results ceremony, don't we?" And without even waiting for a response, Nino got up and started looking for where Ohno had stashed his camera.
Ohno decided he had a new ranking: charming Nino was charming, nervous Nino was adorable but embarrassed Nino might be the best of all.
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"And now it's time for our very first results ceremony!" Sho announced to the lead camera. There was a lot of enthusiasm in his voice which Sho was pretty sure was just another clue that he was a ridiculously good actor. It wasn't that Sho didn't like hosting CoKoi; it was just that it was hard to be energetic at every little thing they had to shoot.
The contestants were lined up in a formation to Sho's right side, stage left, and most looked overly confidant. It was kind of annoying, actually. That was another thing that bothered Sho about the program: all of the contestants tended to be exasperating little hangers on. Most were in it for either the money or the fame that came with being on tv and were horrible people to work with.
"I'm sure you all know the rules for this ceremony already but let me explain one more time for clarification," Sho continued his speech. "Last night, we spent three hours collecting your votes from phones, mails and online submissions. The votes have been tallied and the contestant with the least number of votes will be asked to leave the program."
The contestants murmured among themselves like this was something new. Sho was pretty sure they were just trying to make for drama. He wished they would just shut up.
"Of course, there is one person who can save you. Let's bring him out." Sho motioned towards his left and out walked Jun, dressed to the nines. It amused Sho that production had decided that Matsumoto's image for the season would be that of the "unattainable prince" and as such, they kept dressing him in tuxedos and suits. The poor man had to be uncomfortable but he put up with it well. Sho honestly liked this season's bachelor; he seemed like a nice guy.
Jun waved to the contestants and most of them reacted as expected: by fawning all over themselves to make sure Jun noticed them. Almost on instinct, Sho's eyes fell on Aiba Masaki, the contestant who had tried to assault him with a strawberry a few days before. For some reason, he felt himself relax when he noticed that Aiba was simply smiling, seemingly amused by the ridiculousness that was going on around him. Calming a bit, Sho continued on.
"As you know, this is a search for Matsumoto Jun's future and as such, he is very much obliged to have a little bit of control over who the program sets him up with. In this case, we have equipped the bachelor with the power of the veto. If someone that Matsumoto is interested in ends up being voted off, he has the power to veto that decision and keep the contestant in for another week. However, Matsumoto is only allowed to use his veto once. So Matsumoto," Sho turned to look at Jun, "remember to use it wisely."
"Of course," Jun nodded.
"And now, with all the rules explained," Sho smiled once again towards the main camera, trying to invite the audience at home in with his eyes, like Kimura always reminded him during filming, "let's begin the results ceremony!"
Sho flourished his arms and one of the PAs made some grandiose music begin to play in the background. Sho snickered; he loved the live aspect of the results shows. It always made for ridiculousness. Pulling a piece of paper out of the inner pocket of his suit jacket, Sho turned to face the contestants.
"When I read your name, please come and join Jun on my left side. Feel free to grab a glass of Champagne. Whoever is left standing to my right when I put the paper away, I'm sorry but we'll have to ask you to leave the studio."
And so Sho began reading names. One by one, the contestants sighed in relief and rushed to Sho's other side, grabbing a glass and sidling up by Jun, who didn't seem to mind too horribly much. There weren't very many exciting reactions, beyond Ninomiya, who turned to where his cameraman Ohno was watching and gave him a thumbs up before walking over, and Aiba Masaki himself who, instead of joining Jun, decided to stand next to Sho instead. When Sho tried to shoo him away, Aiba simply smiled and said that he wanted to watch from the best vantage point. Not wanting to argue and waste more time, Sho let him stay there. He honestly didn't mind.
No one was surprised when Akanishi Jin was the last contestant standing, least of all Jin. With one last scowl in Jun's general direction (which Jun returned tenfold, something that made Sho like him even more), Akanishi stalked off, presumably to try and talk to Kimura like the time before. Someone (probably his manager or something) had told Jin before he sent in his application that it was a sure thing and that Jin would be getting lots of publicity from the show to help his singing career. It was obvious that being the first one off would not be the popularity boon he was looking for. 'But that's what you get for being an ass,' Sho smiled to himself before folding the paper up and putting it back in his pocked.
"Well, that's it for tonight's results show," Sho smiled towards the camera, back to his jovial announcer voice. "We may be down to fourteen contestants but the fun's just begun!"
"It has?" Aiba asked from his side, throwing Sho off balance a little. Contestants weren't really supposed to be helping with his monologues. But Sho was a professional and as such, he continued along.
"That's right it has, Aiba," Sho grinned to the smiling young man to his left. "There's plenty of excitement waiting just around the bend so come back next week for another episode of Come On! Koibito!" Sho threw his fist up in the air, ending with his characteristic end of show pose, which he noticed Aiba mimic out of the corner of his eye.
"AND CUT!" Nagase called from slightly off stage before walking up towards Sho and Aiba. "Aiba, what the fuck do you think you're doing? We're filming here!" Nagase didn't seem too angry but you never could tell with him sometimes. Sho decided to stick up for the kid.
"Calm down, Nagase. We've never done that before. The viewers might get a kick out of it," Sho began, watching Yokoyama, Aiba's cameraman, run up to him and try and pull him away. Aiba wasn't budging, though. "Plus," Sho added, "it might be good for his popularity."
Nagase looked Aiba up and down, the other man facing him with just his trademark grin. After a second, Nagase grunted and walked off. Sho knew that was probably not the complete end of it but it was the best possible outcome for the situation.
"Thanks for saving me, Sho!" Aiba practically jumped on him, his hug almost as large and warm as the man's own personality. Sho tried to back out softly.
"No problem. Just be careful in the future. Nagase isn't one to mess with."
Aiba nodded solemnly, watching Sho very carefully. It kind of unnerved Sho but he wasn't going to say that. After an awkward pause, Sho motioned towards the group that was surrounding Jun, drinking alcohol and looking like they were having a good time.
"Don't you want to join the other contestants?" Sho asked.
"Hmm?" Aiba responded, seemingly breaking out of a daze. He glanced over towards the group and his eyes lit up. "Oh, yeah! I probably should, huh?" With one last glance towards Sho, Aiba turned and headed towards the rest, throwing a "thanks again!" over his shoulder to the host.
And as bewildered as Sho felt, he had to smile. This was definitely going to be an interesting season.
~
Sorry that took so long, you guys! Really life is beginning to eat me and I haven't even started school yet. I do have to say, however, that writing those forum posts was possibly the most fun I've had in a really long time. xD Hope you enjoy this chapter!
As for the contest, it is still open! We all knew Jin was going so there is still no unfair advantage to guessing. Remember: guess who you think the last three and then the ultimate winner will be and you'll get a fic of your choice! ...because that's such a grand prize. Sorry guys. I know I'm lame. ;3
Thanks for sticking with me! Next chapter will hopefully be up sooner!