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Kotetsu thought he must have misheard. Antonio - who had seemingly just offered to bring him a cake - was acting strangely overall; he spoke with such strain, it sounded as if he were lifting a car with his bare hands on the other end of the line. And it was far too early for him to be drunk; after all, it was the middle of the day.
"Huh? Why a cake? Did something happen? Did you break something of mine, or what?"
"Nathan told me..." Bison began, then stopped himself. "I mean, at first I didn't believe him, because he tends to jump to conclusions. But then Rosa, Origami... Sky High mentioned it twice. They all said that you and Bunny... So I decided to check— maybe they were just pulling my leg."
"Just spit it out already— what kind of gossip are they spreading?"
Antonio let out a heavy breath, as if bracing for a massive effort, and rasped:
"That you two moved in together."
Kotetsu gave a nervous laugh and touched his forehead.
"God, so that’s become news now, has it?"
"So it’s true?" Antonio asked, his voice strained after a moment's pause. "Kotetsu. I’ve known you since high school... We’ve been through so much together. Just know that I don't care at all! Honestly! In fact, I myself— you know, Nathan..."
Kotetsu hastened to interrupt him before they both sank into awkwardness any deeper.
"Hold on, hold on— that’s really kind of you, old friend. But before you say anything else, let me tell you how things actually are, okay, Antonio?" Without waiting for an answer, Kotetsu began to explain: "I had a nightmare recently— about how you all hunted me down back then because of Maverick. There was nowhere to hide, and I even had to blend in with the homeless. I mentioned it to Bunny, and after thinking it over for a couple of days, he came to me, looking all serious, with this plan to set up a hideout."
"A hideout?"
"Yeah, a place to go if something happened to both our apartments and the HQ. Somewhere to retreat to, heal our wounds, "assess the situation," and "regroup." A place to catch our breath."
"So, a place to catch your breath..."
"Yeah, for a breather," Kotetsu confirmed, nodding unconsciously for emphasis.
Strictly speaking, his words were the absolute truth. But his personal feelings about the matter were a bit more complicated.
After a pause, Antonio hummed thoughtfully:
"But you two live very different lives."
Kotetsu eagerly seized on the remark and began pacing the room, gesturing as he spoke.
"Exactly! Apartments like his are too quiet for me; apartments like mine are too noisy for him. There are other factors, too. That’s why we’ve been running around all week; we’re actually checking out our third 'property' right now." He peeked around the corner to see the real estate agent standing on the terrace, smoking and fiddling with her communicator. "I’m starting to feel bad for that woman from the agency. I feel like I should at least buy a pen from her or something."
Such ethical nuances didn't interest Antonio:
"So, once you finally make up your minds, can I come over and celebrate with a beer?"
"Here’s the thing..." Kotetsu rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Bunny says only the two of us should know where the lair is. The fewer people in on the secret, the less likely enemies are to find the place... you get it?"
"You think I’d give you away?" Antonio bristled. Kotetsu recalled how Bunny had cited Jake’s telepathic abilities as an example, arguing that others could reveal their hideout’s location without even realizing it. And someone as blunt as Bison, who was stubborn as a bull, posed a unique risk all his own.
"That’s not it! Look, you and Nathan could set up a lair, too. You should suggest it to him sometime."
Hearing his own words, Kotetsu realized he had chosen them poorly - in a way that invited all the wrong comparisons. And judging by Antonio’s reaction, he had drawn the same parallels:
"So, you two aren't planning to, *ahem*, date?"
Bunny came to Kotetsu’s rescue as he walked into the room.
"Kotetsu! Everything here is so big — don't get lost. So, what do you think of the place?"
"Antonio, I'll call you back... How about you? Do you like it?"
Bunny chuckled.
"No, no! I want to hear what *you* think first."
From the look in his eyes and his cheerful tone, Kotetsu could tell he was quietly pleased with everything. Kotetsu wanted to match that good mood - especially since this apartment felt far less alien to him than the other options they’d seen. But wanting to show there was more to it than just that, he opened his mouth and, to his own surprise, started with a negative:
"Well, whenever I hear the echo of my footsteps, I keep wanting to turn around."
Bunny readily raised a finger in a lecturing gesture.
"The acoustics will change once we put the furniture in."
"Oh... so I guess we should take it?"
Bunny grinned.
"Kotetsu, are you just guessing?"
"No? Well, maybe a little," Kotetsu admitted under the young man’s amused gaze, gesturing at the space - currently empty, yet clearly holding the potential for a beautifully furnished home. "But it really is a good compromise between our tastes."
Glancing back over his shoulder at the panoramic window, Kotetsu added quite sincerely:
"And the view is great, too."
"Yeah..." Bunny replied simply.
Gazing at the sunset skyline of Sternbild, Kotetsu suddenly felt that, after all, these property viewings really did mark the beginning of something good. Something he and Bunny shared. He shoved his hands into his pockets to suppress the foolish urge to take Bunny’s hand, or at least rest his arm on the younger man’s shoulder.
Letting the moment linger a little longer, Bunny concluded:
"It’s settled, then. We’ll go with this one; I’ll call Ms. Ildrim back now to ask about the contract."
Just then, a massive shadow cast by something drifting outside fell over them both.
Confronted by his own face plastered on the side of an airship, Kotetsu swore, his face instantly flushing a hot, stifling red - beating Bunny to the punch as the latter breathed a soft, stunned "Good God."
So, that was the news.
The advertisement accompanying photos of them in their Tiger & Bunny suits, swimming in a sea of hearts, read: "VTR Presents: Hero TV SPECIAL! BACK-TO-BACK, HAND-IN-HAND? DISCOVER THE FULL STORY BEHIND THE ROMANCE OF YOUR FAVORITE SUPERHERO DUO IN..." followed by the airtime for a talk show scheduled in just two hours.
Kotetsu swallowed hard, certain he’d see that airship in his next nightmare. He muttered dejectedly, just to say something and confirm he wasn't actually living that nightmare right now:
"It’s both impressive and terrifying."
Bunny didn't have an immediate reply.
"That’s exactly why I told you to come up with an excuse if they asked where you had to go after leaving training this afternoon."
“I remembered what you asked. I just answered earlier...”
Bunny shook his head, and Kotetsu, still feeling sheepish, was struck by a genuine sense of guilt and a deep, aching unhappiness. But a moment later, it turned out Bunny’s disapproval wasn’t directed at him at all:
“She didn’t even try to call us to double-check.”
“I guess it’s punishment for supposedly keeping a secret from her.” Kotetsu forced himself to slip that word - *supposedly*- into the sentence.
“Maybe we should go out somewhere instead of doing that interview?”
Kotetsu, who had been glancing sideways until then, spun around sharply and blinked rapidly. Without yet understanding the how or why - or even knowing how to phrase the question - he looked at Bunny, who was completely calm and even smiling slightly at him. Kotetsu knew, even then, that he would remember this moment with deep sentimentality: instead of chasing ratings or following the producers' orders, and even defying Agnes’s PR-driven hegemony, Bunny’s first instinct had truly been to choose... him.
The wave of relief was massive enough to fill another giant airship; Kotetsu felt like sitting down or at least leaning against something. If he’d had to explain that the whole thing was just a big TV blunder, and especially if he’d had to hear such explanations from Bunny, he would have gotten heavily drunk afterward; and, to be honest, it probably wouldn’t have stopped there.
“But Agnes...”
“I think a move like that could be interpreted both ways. We skipped the interview because the rumors circulating have no basis in fact - or because we’re far more interested in each other’s company. She ought to see the potential benefit in a move like that. What do you think?”
Oh, right. That was another way of looking at it. Kotetsu felt a bit sheepish again. Bunny’s reasoning sounded very sensible and very… neutral. Especially considering that Kotetsu himself hadn’t even been able to put his thoughts about the matter into words for quite some time - precisely because there was nothing neutral about the issue. Unable to broach the subject himself, he could only agree, trusting Bunny to know what he was doing for both of them this time.
“Me? Haha? I’d say… bowling and pizza.”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea. And since we don’t know which of the others blabbed those rumors to Agnes, none of them are getting an invitation.”
Their real estate agent returned from the balcony. She had surely just spotted the airship from the terrace - a sky-obscuring monstrosity like that was visible from practically anywhere in the city, after all - and was now staring at them quite openly, though thankfully she didn’t burst into congratulations. Bunny greeted her with composed courtesy:
“Ms. Ildrim, thank you very much for the tour! The place meets all our requirements. Please forward the contract to my address and my partner’s.”
And despite the turmoil of his emotions, Kotetsu couldn’t help but smirk to himself.
fin.