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5.
His tears are scalding on the dirty, scratched skin of his face. He feels them but it’s like feeling nothing at all. It’s like all and every sensation he’s feeling is running on the background, relegated by the sense of loss, of emptiness. He registers pain on several places as he doubles over Kotetsu’s body, still warm, so warm, but it’s dull, it’s irrelevant, it’s nothing at all, as if it wasn’t his own pain.
He holds onto Kotetsu’s body for an eternity. He hears steps, distantly, and then closer, and then voices of people he knows, and there’s— there’s Kotetsu’s daughter, Kaede. She falls to her knees next to her father, her hands quiver over the exposed darker skin of him, and Barnaby knows he should be doing something, something for this child that’s been left orphaned at such a young age, but all he can do is be selfish, be miserable, and hold on. Kaede’s hands ground themselves on one of Kotetsu’s arms, and she curls into herself, collapsing with grief.
When they’re facing off against Maverick, he tells the man, “you took away my parents, and aunt Samantha… and now you’ve taken Kotetsu”.
It’s the cruelty of fate that it’s in that moment, with you’ve taken everything away from me clinging to his throat and wanting to get out, when Barnaby comes to accept what he’s known for months. He’s in love with Kotetsu.
Kotetsu lies, broken and lifeless and nothing like himself, on the grimy floor of this godforsaken place, while they all go to war, and Barnaby’s mind is a medley of sorrow and all the ways he loves this old man, all the ways he’ll miss him, all the ways he’s lost him.
Barnaby is on the brink of death, and all he can get himself to do is face Kotetsu’s way.
He’s about to close his eyes, Kotetsu as the last thing he’ll ever see, as the one thing he wishes he could carry with him on to death, but then nothing happens. The androids come to a halt as one, and death doesn’t come.
Just like that, the battle’s over.
Maverick tries every dirty trick he knows and if Barnaby wasn’t hollowed out already, he’d feel nauseous at the sight of this man he’d grown to love, to respect, to rely on over the years as if he were a father using a child as a human shield to save his own unworthy ass.
Maverick hits the ground and the world stops with the loud noise of his head banging against cool hardness, at the feet of the one man Maverick’s the most unworthy to be in the presence of. At the feet of the man whose stupid smile lights up something akin to fire in Barnaby; the man Barnaby loves. The man that was supposed to be dead .
The man that’s making a joke out of this miracle. A bad one. A terrible one.
A lousy old man joke that Barnaby can only smile at as he rushes over, everything else be damned, to hug the man awkwardly but close, as close as he can; he wants to be closer still, as his arms go over Kotetsu’s shoulders, wants to be close enough to hear his heart beating. Kaede joins in, and Barnaby finds something out at that moment. With the three of them together, hugging in the midst of a terrible man’s greedy ambitions’ wasteland, Barnaby finds a place he wants to belong to.
Things happens extremely fast after that, Agnes’ big reveal, Maverick’s final move, his arrest.
Time only slows down for Barnaby when Kotetsu announces he’s retiring.
You can’t leave now that I know that I love you.
“Then I’m retiring too. There’s no point in being a hero without you, Kotetsu.”
Kotetsu spends a week or so in the hospital. He recovers swiftly enough, and is in good spirits the whole time he’s there, with his daughter letting him dote on her and his mother and brother making a short visit.
Barnaby’’s there as much as he can get away with, even lets himself hold Kotetsu’s hand once while he’s asleep and Kaede’s off with Anju-san to get lunch. He brings it to his lips and presses a chaste kiss to the back of it, watching Kotetsu’s nose scrunch from the faint tickling. He mouths I love you against the dark skin, and feels like an idiot immediately after.
Following Kotetsu’s release there’s a farewell party; the histrionism of it makes Barnaby cringe at times, and feel oddly touched and warm at others.
Kotetsu keeps his arm slung over Barnaby’s shoulder all night, even as he gets progressively drunker and weepier. Once Kotetsu’s flushed from the alcohol and the atmosphere, Barnaby lets himself lean in.
A few days after, Kotetsu and Kaede go back home to Oriental Town.
Barnaby doesn’t see either of them for a year.
4.
Barnaby stands on the hood of an expensive, antique, totaled imported car, holding Kotetsu just like he did back when they first met, and he can’t keep himself from smiling and bantering with him, and trying to rile him up as the metal creaks pitifully under their combined weight.
It’s ridiculous.
It’s the best Barnaby’s felt in a year.
Lloyds is ecstatic about him coming back.
...He’s less ecstatic about the damage fees on their way from the car and the glass ceiling.
Ben berates Kotetsu for a few minutes and Kotetsu acts half contrite and half like a spoiled child the entire time, being sullen and goofy by turns. Ben ends up sighing and patting Kotetsu’s arm in a fatherly fashion. Then he looks at Barnaby.
He and Ben never had much of a relationship until now, business or otherwise, but Barnaby felt indebted to the man for all he’d done for Kotetsu, for refusing to give Kotetsu up when the whole world was turning their backs on him.
They hold each other’s gazes for a moment, the room falling into a confused silence around them. Barnaby doesn’t much know what this is, what he’s waiting for, until Ben gives him an ample, warm smile, and then a strong, firm squeeze of a shoulder.
Barnaby smiles back, feeling somehow both gutted and relieved.
The moment gets cut short by Kotetsu flinging himself bodily over Barnaby, talking his ear off about all the stuff that’s happened while he was gone, and then piling question upon question about Barnaby’s days while he starts dragging him towards the door; Lloyd shakes his head at them both from his desk, and Ben looks happy and indulgent as Barnaby turns his back on them to follow Kotetsu.
Barnaby joins the Second League, and settles back into a routine with Kotetsu as if they’d never parted ways, both infiltrating each other’s lives in ways that Barnaby hadn’t taken the time to notice before. Things like Kotetsu’s new contact picture on his phone (an unflattering selfie with poor lighting and Kotetsu all dirty and unkempt, still half in his uniform, smiling at the camera), like a souvenir from Oriental Town sitting on Barnaby’s desk, a card attached to it with Kaede’s neat handwriting, sending him her regards with three happy faces next to her name; things like Barnaby going out with Kotetsu after work, sitting next to him at some bar, shoulders touching, knees bumping, as they blow off steam. things like Barnaby emailing Kotetsu a picture of his fried rice, nothing on the subject line, no explanation below it. Things like Kotetsu replying that he’ll make Barnaby feed both him and Kaede one of these days.
Things like Barnaby pressing his phone against his forehead and smiling, eyes closed and heart beating fast and aggressive.
Things like Barnaby drafting countless texts, countless half formed confessions that never go anywhere, and always end up getting backspaced into nonexistence.
3.
“Thank you for all this, Barnaby. I imagine after all that’s happened a few days ago, you heroes must be extremely busy, so I appreciate you taking time out of your day for the kids like this.”
Barnaby smiles at the elderly nun, and finishes stacking the boxes of toys he brought over in a somewhat secluded corner of the orphanage’s living room, between two old tall wooden bookcases. He’s planning to unpack them with the children later, but he still tries to make sure to stick them close to the wall, so none of the nuns or the younger kids can get themselves hurt by bumping into them.
Mother Catherine offers him some tea once he’s done, and he accepts. They sit at the relatively small table in the kitchen, and Mother Catherine pours him a cup of something faintly scented like lemon. She also pushes a plate of what looks like homemade oatmeal cookies in his direction. He takes one.
They sip their tea in silence, with the bustle of the children playing outside pouring in through the kitchen’s open window, with the afternoon sun warming up the leather of his jacket.
“How is Kotetsu-san— excuse me; how is Tiger-san doing?”
Barnaby hides his smile by taking a short sip of his tea. It’s bittersweet. He likes the flavor, citrusy and fresh.
“Tiger’s fine. He didn’t sustain any lasting or serious injuries.”
Mother Catherine smiles, staring at him from over the rim of her glasses as she takes a sip of her own tea.
“You’re much livelier when you’re on good terms with him,” she comments, offhandedly.
Barnaby’s cheeks grow hot. He makes a noncommittal noise.
“Take some advice from the great Ryan. You’re the only partners for one another!”
Mother Catherine says nothing back, but her amused and fond smile and the wrinkles showing next to her eyes speak volumes.
Barnaby’s teacup is almost empty when their quiet gets interrupted by a ball flying into the kitchen from the open window and slamming right into his face.
“Oh, dear,” Mother Catherine says, distressed.
Barnaby doesn’t get to reassure her that he’s fine. The impact pushes his chair backwards and it ends up on its hind legs and he loses his balance and ends up on the floor; he hears the dull sound sound of something impacting hard against it, and doesn’t make the connection until he starts feeling dizzy and drowsy.
Oh.
When he comes to, the first thing he sees is Kotetsu’s blurry face, inches away from his, domino mask firmly in place.
The second thing he sees is a stern looking woman in a white coat. He recognizes her as one of the doctors that work for Apollon Media, Gayatri Jones, MD. She asks him a couple of easy questions: his name, his occupation, where he lives, who Kotetsu is. She also tests his coordination skills and his reflexes, making him go through a small series of tasks. Barnaby has done them before, so he follows her instructions without asking questions, letting her evaluate him.
Finally, she sighs that he should be fine, and should probably activate his hundred power to heal anything that might be lingering, and that she’d still schedule a CT scan for him the following day.
Barnaby nods and does as told, calling up his ability right then, and watches her pack her things back into her bag, muttering about heroes and their propensity to get hurt in stupid ways and how she could be back home enjoying her day off with her wife but no here she is babysitting grown men. Barnaby grimaces.
Kotetsu, a few steps away from them, chuckles.
Doctor Jones leaves once Barnaby’s power runs out, still looking stern, and muttering low under her breath. He watches her go.
Kotetsu drags his eyes back to him by noisily dragging a chair next to the bed and plopping down on it unceremoniously, dropping a small black bag on the floor next to him. He stares at Barnaby with lips pinched tight and eyes full of mirth.
Barnaby closes his eyes and sighs.
“Go ahead.”
Kotetsu laughs at him. Laughs, and laughs, and laughs. Barnaby waits him out.
“Done?” He asks, tiredly, once Kotetsu starts gasping in between chuckles. “Where are my glasses?”
Kotetsu flashes an amused smile at him, and Barnaby rolls his eyes at him. Then he starts rummaging through the small bag next to his chair and takes out a black, faux leather glasses case to hand out to him.
“The other ones broke, buddy. These are the spares you leave on your work desk.”
Barnaby hums, and puts the glasses on. He blinks a couple of times to get used to them. He looks around the room. He recognizes it vaguely as the orphanage’s infirmary. He’s only been here once to help some of the nuns sort out donations. He knows it’s on the second floor, however. Kotetsu must’ve been the one to move him here.
Once his eyes have adjusted he looks back at Kotetsu. He’s still smiling at him, but there’s no edge to the smile, no ribbing intent; it’s one of Kotetsu’s warm, gentle, honest smiles that he gives Barnaby sometimes, when there’s no danger to fight, and no argument to be won, and he’s just smiling at him because apparently Barnaby makes him want to. It makes Barnaby want to smile too. So he does.
They spend a few minutes in silence, like that. Just smiling at each other, sharing the absurd and yet mundane feeling of the moment.
“Tiger-san?”
Kotetsu breaks eye contact with him to look towards the door. Barnaby follow his gaze to the young worried-looking nun poking her head around the door.
“He’s fine, Sister Paz,” Kotetsu says, and then he clasps one of Barnaby’s shoulders and shoots a cheeky grin at him, “aren’t you, Bunny?”
Barnaby nods at the young nun, what he intends to be a reassuring smile in place, and sees her sag in relief. She disappears from view for a few seconds and then her head pokes out again. She looks a little sheepish, but also fond.
“Can Elijah come in?”
Another head pokes around the door then, lower than Sister Paz’s. Elijah’s blond hair is a little messy and his nose is streaked with some dirt. He looks fidgety and contrite, and it makes Barnaby’s heart clench.
“Sure,” he says, and lets Kotetsu help him sit up, even though they both know he doesn’t really need it.
Elijah walks in then, stumbling a little on his own feet along the way. He’s not meeting his eyes, stubbornly keeping his eyes on his hands, clasped around the fabric of his sweatshirt.
Barnaby waits him out.
“ I’msorry. ”
Barnaby smiles.
“It’s fine, Elijah. I know you didn’t mean any harm. You just need to be a little more careful while playing, since there are smaller kids in here who could get hurt.”
Elijah nods. He looks up and meets Barnaby’s gaze, and then Kotetsu’s too. He shuffles in place.
“C’mere kid,” Kotetsu beckons him over with a hand, cheeky grin still in place.
Elijah comes a few steps closer, slowly, and Kotetsu waits until he’s within grabbing distance to haul him over his shoulder. Elijah screeches as he’s manhandled, but he also looks happier than he did when he came in.
Kotetsu looks back at him, with Elijah still thrown over one of his shoulders, squirming around halfheartedly and attempting to hold in laughter.
“What do you say if we teach these kids a thing or two?”
“Sure, old man,” he says, smirk firmly in place, as he gets up from the bed.
They leave the orphanage late in the evening, when the kids are all worn out, being ushered by the nuns to get ready for dinner. A couple of the youngest ones have stuck themselves to Kotetsu like postage stamps, climbing all over him like a jungle gym, and poking him everywhere, and just joyfully enjoying Kotetsu’s attention. It takes Sister Paz a while to coax them away from him, and Kotetsu is absolutely no help at all, smiling at them indulgently.
Barnaby feels almost sad when they wave everyone goodbye and walk away into the empty streets.
Kotetsu seems to sense it, somehow, and flings an arm around his shoulders. Barnaby leans into the contact.
“Kids really do suit you, you know?”
Barnaby sighs.
“Again with that?”
Kotetsu hums.
They walk the rest of the way to Barnaby’s place in comfortable silence. Kotetsu’s arm stays on Barnaby’s shoulder until they’re at his door. When it retracts so they can say their goodbyes, Barnaby has to bite down on the urge to just ask Kotetsu to stay the night.
Barnaby almost feels like Kotetsu is expecting him to say something then, but Barnaby doesn’t, and once Kotetsu has left and he’s leaning his back against his closed door, his apartment dark and empty around him, he convinces himself that he’s just imagining things. Projecting his own feelings onto their interactions.
2.
“Are you ever gonna do anything about it?”
Barnaby frowns and turns away from his punching bag.
Karina’s face is set in a dark scowl. Her arms are crossed, fingers digging slightly into the flesh of her arms.
Barnaby weighs his choices: he can play the fool. Karina won’t be at all convinced, no matter how good Barnaby tries to sell his obtuseness. Of all the heroes, they’re the most alike. She’s probably going to get mad at him for insulting her intelligence by trying to deceive her, and it’s going to be a whole lot of trouble and effort to do damage control.
Barnaby sighs. He slowly walks over to the bench with his things, and towels the sweat off his face. He can feel Karina’s poorly contained energy behind him, making the room slightly cold.
He takes a slow sip of his energy drink, drags it out. The action is equal parts self defense and the manifestation of that one competitive, childish part of himself. If he’s gonna go through this, he might as well make this as uncomfortable for Karina as it’s bound to be for him.
“Well?”
He turns to face her. There’s a few feet between them, now. Karina’s gaze doesn’t falter when he meets it. She stands tall and proud before him, facing him like an equal. Barnaby suppresses a smile.
For all they’re the most alike between the heroes, she’s still far beyond from what he was like at her age. It’s laudable. He might not have been able to see it at the beginning, when all they did was butt heads; but he can see that now, competitive and childish and all.
“What are you expecting out of this?”
Karina rolls her eyes at him.
“Are you ever gonna man up? Are you ever gonna do something? You know— You know out of us two, you’re the one with—”
She stops, bites her lip. He expects her to divert her gaze, but she doesn’t.
“You know between the two of us you’re the one who stands a chance here. And you’re gonna waste it?”
“I don’t know what makes you think it’s so easy.”
“I know . I know it’s not easy. Do you know how many times I’ve thought about confessing myself? How many times I thought to myself ‘just get it over with, Karina. Confess, get shot down, move on with your life’? I know it’s not easy. Some things aren’t supposed to be easy, Barnaby. Some things we are supposed to work for.”
“I could ruin more than our friendship here, Karina. I could— I could kill this partnership. I am not ready to lose Kotetsu as my partner. Not again.”
“Do you even know the man you’ve fallen in love with, Barnaby Brooks Jr.? At all?”
Barnaby frowns.
“Of course I—”
“Do you think that pushy, meddlesome, dumb, kind old man would let you go over this? After everything that’s happened?”
“Karina, you don’t—”
“You didn’t see him, after you came back to the First League without him. Of course you didn’t, both of you were too busy being stupid little kids and ignoring one another to—” she stops. She closes her eyes for a few seconds and then she puts her hands to her cheeks briefly, the tips of her fingers rubbing softly under her eyes. Barnaby can see the pink indents of her nails on the pale skin of her arms. He doesn’t say anything.
Karina’s hands come down from her face. Barnaby tries not to stare at the damp patches of skin underneath her eyes.
“He was devastated , Barnaby. I know a lot of it was him losing the job that’s his life. But a lot of it was also losing you. You are his family now. And you know this stupid old man, you know he doesn’t know how to give up on the people he loves.”
Barnaby swallows. He walks a few steps back and sits down on the bench, knocking a few of his things off. He looks down at his own hands, clenches them and unclenches them slowly.
Karina’s right. He knows Karina’s right.
Somebody’s weight lands next to his on the bench, limbs knocking against his own carelessly.
“I really fucking hate it when I have to play couple counselor to you two.”
Barnaby smiles at his fists, knocks Karina’s shoulder.
“I don’t think that vocabulary is befitting of the idol hero Blue Rose.”
“Fuck off.”
He laughs, loud and with his head thrown back, cathartic and a little painful, but mostly relieved, relieved and light. Karina mutters weirdo next to him, but she joins him after a while, with a soft peal of her own.
They get interrupted by the dull sound of something hitting the floor.
It’s Kotetsu. He’s flushed and smiling, and he’s rubbing the back of his neck in that way that means he’s at least a little embarrassed.
“Sorry, guys! Didn’t know you were, uh— didn’t mean to interrupt!”
“What are you talking about?” Karina huffs out.
Kotetsu winks at them. Barnaby’s heart fucking somersaults in his chest, even when all Kotetsu is doing is coming up with more of his stupid, baseless theories. Karina goes rigid next to him.
Kotetsu picks up his bag and gives them a warm, big smile.
“Let this old man find somewhere else to be, huh?”
“Wait, Kotetsu-san—”
Barnaby tries to get up and follow him, but he ends up tripping on his sport drink and falling flat on his ass.
“I hate him,” he says, voice flat.
“No, you don’t,” Karina replies, amused if a little bittersweet too.
No, I don’t.
1.
It comes out as less of an invitation and more of a demand.
Barnaby pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and then blinks a couple of times in Kotetsu’s direction.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re coming to Oriental Town with me, buddy.”
He frowns at Kotetsu, but it doesn’t put a dent in his mood at all, he’s still smug and smiling.
“I already talked it out with Ben and Lloyds. An overworked hero isn’t a good hero, y’know? Sternbild can manage a few days without Tiger & Bunny. And you could do with some solid sleep somewhere quiet and calm. And a few hearty, homemade meals.”
“I’m doing—”
“I know you’re doing fine, Bunny,” Kotetsu says, looking serious all of a sudden, “you don’t need to be on the verge of death to get some time for yourself.”
“Like you are any better than me, Kotetsu,” he goads.
Kotetsu doesn’t rise to the bait, instead turning his chair back towards his own desk, humming softly under his breath as he shuffles through some of his paperwork.
Barnaby sighs again, and turns back towards his own pile of paperwork.
He’s immersed himself in editing a report, when Kotetsu speaks again:
“Oh, we’re leaving on friday morning, lil Bunny! Pack for the whole weekend.”
“I haven’t said yes.”
(They both know he hasn’t said no , however.)
He gets woken obnoxiously early on friday. His phone starts ringing at about seven am, and when he picks the call up, Kotetsu starts talking his ear off about how he better be up and ready to go because he’s going to be up there in twenty minutes, they don’t want to be stuck in the traffic forever.
Barnaby hangs up on Kotetsu, but he still gets up. He drags himself to the bathroom, and yawns his way through his morning hygiene regime, almost falling asleep standing in the shower, his forehead pressed against the wall.
When Kotetsu’s finally ringing his doorbell, so to speak, he’s impeccable, bags ready and a few boxes stacked next to them that Kotetsu stares at fixedly when he finally comes in.
“What’s that?” He asks, pointing towards them with his chin.
“Good morning to you too, old man.” He smirks when Kotetsu playfully rolls his eyes at him. “You aren’t expecting me to show up to your mother’s place with my hands empty, right?”
“You better not have gotten them something extravagant, mr. ‘I haven’t said yes’.” Kotetsu throws over his shoulder as he walks into Barnaby’s apartment like he owns it, kneeling down to inspect his gifts.
“Is this a portable holoscreen ? Bunny, what the hell.”
Bunny walks over to where Kotetsu is gaping at him to pick up his bag and one of the boxes. His cheeks feel hot, but he ignores that.
“Kaede could really benefit from it for school. And to communicate with you. It’s not extravagant , let’s go.”
“And what even is this, Bunny?”
Barnaby rolls his eyes at Kotetsu, and gestures with his chin towards the door. Kotetsu picks up the two remaining boxes, but keeps trying to read the labels on the one on the bottom.
“Gardening tools. Anju-san mentioned it was her hobby back when you were in the hospital. The other box is just an assortment of Godiva chocolates to share between everyone.”
“ Bunny .”
“It’s polite ,” he defends himself, and holds the door for Kotetsu with his free hand.
Kotetsu walks up to him and just stares at him. Barnaby’s face burns under Kotetsu’s scrutiny. Finally, Kotetsu’s eyes grow kind and he gives him a lopsided smile.
“You’re such a cute lil Bunny, sometimes.”
Barnaby lets the door close on Kotetsu’s face.
The ride to Oriental Town is uneventful, for the most part. Kotetsu drives with the radio on, some top 40s station that has ads for heroes every few songs. They both burst out laughing when Keith’s booming voice advertises Ustream to them, lines obviously read from a script and never even memorized.
At some point, however, one of Blue Rose’s hits comes on, and Kotetsu casts him a side-glance and a knowing grin.
“Stop it,” he says, and changes stations.
“Hey. I didn’t even say anything, lil Bunny, it’s totally fine to—”
“I don’t like Karina. Karina doesn’t like me . We don’t like each other, old man . Stop while you’re ahead. We’re friends.”
He knows he comes off way more aggressive than he intends, but the fact that Kotetsu is so oblivious to not only his feelings, but to Karina’s as well— and that he might think that he wants to— with someone other than him — when all Barnaby’s been able to think about for the last however long is him —
— It’s a lot. It’s a lot and Barnaby still isn’t doing one hundred percent on the communication front, even with Kotetsu, no matter how far they’ve come, so the whole situation just— grates on him.
One of Kotetsu’s hands lands on one of Barnaby’s own fisted ones, resting atop his thighs, and he gives it a gentle squeeze.
“Hey, it’s also totally fine if nothing’s going on, with Karina, or anyone else, y’know?”
Barnaby gets a lump in his throat.
“Hands on the wheel, old man.”
Kotetsu gives his fist, now coming loose, a last squeeze.
Kaede is waiting for them outside the house, excitedly bouncing on her toes. She’s gotten taller since the last time Barnaby saw her, her hair’s longer too, even though she’s wearing it in an elaborate braid— he knows from what he’s been told, and what he’s seen the few times he was the one in Kotetsu’s place, that she takes more after Tomoe, but something in her screams of Kotetsu, whether it’s her smile or her energy, or something else entirely.
She looks like she wants to fling herself into her father’s arms when they step out of the car, but she holds herself, and waves at him instead.
“Dad!”
Kotetsu’s whole face lights up, and Barnaby’s heart melts . He pushes him towards her, and when he looks towards their stuff, still inside the car, he rolls his eyes at him and gives him another push— harder, this time.
He tries as best as he can to give Kotetsu and Kaede some privacy, but he still overhears parts of their conversation, and can’t help but smile to himself as he gets their things out.
Eventually both Kaede and Kotetsu come to help him; Kaede greets him brightly, and asks about all the hero stuff he’s been doing, and then about the other heroes, and then about the orphanage children (whom she knows about because of Kotetsu). Barnaby likes how comfortable it is to hold a conversation with her, how easy and uncomplicated it is to be where he is, surrounded by small town noises and sights, with Kotetsu’s arm pressing against his, and Kaede walking a few steps ahead of them, listening intently, but already covertly peeking at the boxes.
Kotetsu bumps against him with intention, and when he looks at him, there’s a glint in his eyes, and a tilt to his smile that makes his stomach lurch, and his chest feel too full.
He bumps back.
Anju-san’s waiting for them with a late breakfast and a kind smile. She invites Barnaby to sit down at the table and get comfortable and then tells Kotetsu to go get all their things to the guest room before sitting down, crossing her arms over her chest and looking strict. Kotetsu moodily mumbles yes ma’am like the actual child he is deep down and carries their stuff inside, dragging his feet and eliciting a mock disapproving tsk out of Anju, betrayed by the smile on her face as her gaze follows his steps.
The table is filled with chatter and noise and happiness as Bunny eats his share of food. Kotetsu has sat next to him, with Kaede in a chair opposite them both, and Anju-san at the head of the table, trying to remind father and daughter of their manners as they sometimes forget they’re chewing on something and attempt to talk with their mouths full.
Kaede tells them all about the weirdest NEXT powers she’s gotten lately at school, and Barnaby can’t help but laugh when she describes finding that once she bumped into someone in the school halls and then found out she could turn invisible… given that nobody else was actually looking for her.
“So I couldn’t do my hair by myself for like three days, dad stop laughing — Barnaby-san you too, this is serious!”
He tries to apologize to Kaede (even though he can see the amused glint in her eyes, and the smile she’s trying to contain), but he can’t seem to stop laughing.
“And then I somehow ended up becoming a walking magnet again! And I didn’t even notice, so I walked all the way home with, like, ten bucks of spare change stuck to my back, because I walked by a water fountain.”
He leans on Kotetsu’s shoulder and hides his face with one of his hands, tears of laughter streaming down his face. Kotetsu leans back against him, a hand landing on his head as his own laughter gets louder.
“You two are terrible , see if I ever tell you anything again.”
Kaede and Anju-san are both delighted with their gifts. Kaede takes out hers and starts toying around with it at once, oooh-ing and ahhh-ing at the numerous functionalities of her holoscreen. Anju-san marvels at the quality of her new tools, and takes them, and both Barnaby and Kotetsu, out for some testing.
Kotetsu plops down on the porch, and Barnaby sits down next to him. Anju-san tells them about the vegetables she’s growing now, and the ones she wants to try on the future too as she takes care of removing weeds and unhealthy looking leaves. She works slowly, tending to each one of her plants, touching them with reverence and care.
Barnaby loses himself in Anju-san’s soft words, enjoying the warmth of the day outside, and the warmth of the wooden floor underneath him, and the warmth of Kotetsu right next to him, fingers touching his own. Barnaby’s own fingers twitch slightly, and Kotetsu’s slide closer, his pinky covering Barnaby’s own.
Barnaby welcomes the quivering in his gut, and thinks back towards his conversation with Karina some weeks back, remembers her words, “You know between the two of us you’re the one who stands a chance here” ; he inches his hand slowly underneath Kotetsu’s, and Kotetsu responds to the motion by entwining his fingers with Barnaby’s.
Ah , Barnaby thinks, as they hold hands on the porch of Kotetsu’s childhood home with his mother gardening a few feet away, and the sound of cicadas around them, emphasizing the peace of the moment. Ah, maybe Kotetsu is not the only one who’s oblivious .
Kotetsu goes out to help his brother with grocery shopping for dinner that evening, and meanwhile Kaede offers him a tour guide of the town, pointing out a few cultural landmarks, and places with good food, and places that sell good souvenirs to take back to everyone in Sternbild. Barnaby has fun listening to her detailed explanations of everything she shows him, like why the ice cream parlour she pointed out to him is so much better than the bigger one they walked by a little while ago.
She goes silent at a point while they’re heading back home, and Barnaby looks down at her. She seems to be thinking hard about something, so Barnaby doesn’t pressure her, just looks back up and takes in the sight of the town being swallowed up by the sunset.
Finally, she speaks:
“Don’t hurt him,” she sounds vulnerable but also determined, with a steel edge to her words. Barnaby is reminded of all she’s been through, even at her young age, and he admires her strength and her courage.
“I won’t,” he promises, earnestly.
Kaede nods, and Barnaby pretends he can’t see her rubbing her face.
“Good,” she says, firmly. Then she lightly touches his arm and says: “race you back home!” before taking off, enfolded in blue.
That night after dinner, Kotetsu sets their futons together with his help, and once they’re done Barnaby lies down, pliant with alcohol and a relaxing hearty meal; Kotetsu lies next to him, and Barnaby reaches out to him, hand landing on an elbow and stroking his way down to Kotetsu’s hand. He turns on his side to him, and Kotetsu does too. Their clasped hands rest between the two of them as they just look at each other, blinking sleepily, bodies raising and falling to the rhythm of their breathing, in perfect sync.
There are thousands of things Barnaby wants to say right then, but he feels sleepy, and full, and slow with alcohol, so he lets himself drift off like that: Kotetsu the last thing he sees, and the last thing he feels.
+1.
Barnaby sets the plate in front of Kotetsu. Kotetsu smiles up at him, and Barnaby has to draw Kotetsu into a feather light kiss, lips brushing for barely a second and then gone. Kotetsu closes his eyes anyway, because he’s nothing if not an absolute romantic. Barnaby keeps his open, because he wants to watch the fluttering of Kotetsu’s eyelashes, and the unveiling of his dilated pupils when they come apart.
He sets his own forgotten plate down, then, next to Kotetsu’s, and sits down. The table is a little small for two people, Barnaby knows, but it’ll work for now. Kotetsu grins at him and makes a show out of eating his first spoonful of rice, making sure to turn his body slightly towards Barnaby so he can appreciate the whole thing.
His whole face lights up as he chews.
“It’s delicious,” he tells him after swallowing, grin enormous and infectious, and proud .
Bunny leans into Kotetsu’s space, and eats a stray rice grain stuck to the corner of Kotetsu’s mouth.
“I know,” he says as he pulls back, and has the pleasure of seeing Kotetsu’s skin darken in a flush. “I practiced.”
Kotetsu’s eyes soften.
“You really are something, lil Bunny.”
“So are you, old man. Must be how you got me to fall for you.”
Kotetsu exhales a breathy laugh, and leans into Barnaby’s space, faces inches away. His pupils are blown and Barnaby can’t look away, couldn’t look away if he needed to, probably.
“Must be,” he whispers, his breath tingling against Barnaby’s own lips as he speaks.
The fried rice goes cold.
(But it tastes just as good the following morning.
At least according to Kotetsu.)