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"Why the hell did you two pick the hottest day of the year to move?" Antonio groused.
Kotetsu scowled and dragged another box out of the back of his car. He'd been awake since 6am and moving things since 6:15. Every single square inch of his clothing was soaked in sweat. Antonio's complaining was not helping his mood. "We scheduled the van weeks ago. How were we supposed to know?"
Antonio, who had a large box labeled "Books" in his arms, just glared at him. "It's August."
"We didn't know it was going to be the middle of a heat wave. If it bugs you so much, you can go." Kotetsu swiped a hand across his forehead, for all the good it did. "Hey, have you seen Bunny?"
"Not since I helped him get the dining table in there." Antonio hefted another box on top of the books he already carried and stalked up the front walk into the house. "You owe me for this."
"I already promised you beer!" Kotetsu yelled after him.
"Not enough!"
Kotetsu grumbled under his breath and went back to unloading his car.
All right, yes, he and Bunny could probably have found a better time to move into their new house. But Bunny's lease had been up two months ago, and obviously he hadn't wanted to renew for a whole year when they were in the process of getting a house together, so he'd moved in with Kotetsu instead. And Kotetsu had learned that as much as they loved each other, they really needed to have more than 800 square feet of livable space between them.
So, yes, Kotetsu had jumped at the chance to move in as soon as they'd closed on the place. The weather hadn't even crossed his mind. Then again, maybe it should've.
Still, all their friends had showed up to help them move in with minimal complaints. With their help, maybe they could actually finish everything today. He was pretty sure they only had one more load left at his apartment.
But first, he wanted to find Bunny.
Kotetsu hauled two more boxes into the house, dropped them into the perilous stack they'd built in the living room, and went looking for his partner.
Bunny wasn't in the living room or the kitchen, and he wasn't in the sunroom or out on the little back patio. Which was strange, because that's where all his plants were, and Kotetsu had been positive Bunny would be fussing over his plants after they'd been carted across the city.
He headed up the stairs. "Hey, Bunny!"
No answer.
Kotetsu had about five seconds to work himself into being concerned when he opened the door to the main bedroom and saw Bunny sitting on the floor beside one open box. He was staring pensively at something in his hands, and Kotetsu was pretty sure he hadn't heard anything.
He walked in and stood under the ceiling fan for a solid fifteen seconds before he joined Bunny on the floor. Damn, it felt good to sit down. "Hey, been looking for you."
Bunny blinked at him, and now Kotetsu could see that he was holding a framed picture. "Sorry. I just... needed a break."
"Yeah, it's boiling out there." Kotetsu tapped his foot against Bunny's leg. "Everything okay?"
Bunny nodded. "Yes." He set the photo back in the box beside him. It was the one with his parents. "I just needed some time to think. A lot is changing."
Kotetsu looked around the mostly empty bedroom—two other boxes and a framed picture were all they had in here right now—and hummed in agreement. They'd decided almost a year ago that they wanted to get a place together, but it was one thing to decide it and another thing to actually be moving in. "Moving's a pretty big change."
"Not just moving in." Bunny set one hand on the floor next to Kotetsu's, their fingers just brushing. "If you'd told me five years ago that I'd be here, I'd have said you'd lost your mind. I didn't think I'd ever..."
"Ever what?" Kotetsu prodded him.
Bunny didn't answer for the longest time, and Kotetsu wondered if he was mentally running through a list of things he'd thought he'd never do. Hell, he was mentally running through a list of his own; he'd never considered being with another person after Tomoe. But Bunny had turned that on its head.
Before he could prod again, Bunny finally answered. "I didn't think I'd ever be happy."
And if that wasn't one of the most heartbreaking things he'd ever heard. "Bunny," Kotetsu said, at a loss for anything else.
But the corners of Bunny's mouth tipped up, one of his small smiles that Kotetsu had gotten to see more and more over the past couple of years, and there wasn't a trace of sadness on his face. "I'm glad I'm here with you, old man."
Kotetsu grinned at him. "Me, too, Bunny-ch—"
Bunny kissed him, cutting off the endearment, and Kotetsu immediately got busy kissing him back. It wasn't often that Bunny initiated kisses, and Kotetsu wanted to encourage that as much as possible.
Someone banged on the door and Kotetsu nearly jumped out of his skin.
Antonio leaned against the doorframe, eyeing them both judgmentally. "Stop making out and get back to helping!"
"We're taking a break!" Kotetsu protested. "We were moving stuff for two hours before you even showed up."
Antonio did not look impressed by that argument. "We need someone to tell us where to put all your crap and we're ready to move Barnaby's giant bed out of the van. Unless you want to sleep on the floor tonight."
Kotetsu wanted to tell him where to shove it, but Bunny pulled away from him and stood up. "We'll be right there, Bison. Come on, Kotetsu."
Kotetsu grumbled and dragged himself back up, his legs screaming the whole way. "I wasn't done kissing you."
Bunny smiled. "You can kiss me again later, when everybody's gone... and we've both had a shower."
"I'm holding you to that." Kotetsu caught his arm before they walked back out to their friends. "You sure you're okay?"
He thought he knew the answer, but. Well. He wanted to check, anyway.
Bunny glanced at his arm, then back up at him. "Yes, I'm okay."
The frank statement made Kotetsu's heart flip, and he kissed Bunny's cheek. "Let's go finish moving in, then."