I paced endlessly in the empty sidewalk, going back and forth the closed laundromat. The reason? I'm actually quite angry, fuming rather. The reason of that? Kaburagi T. Kotetsu. Why? Well, because he broke the last thing my parents gave me, that's WHY! " Bakatsu!" I muttered, leaning against the wall. If you would like to know what had happened to us, I'll kindly rewind for you.
2 Hours Back.
I was busy making dinner, as it was my turn to cook. Kotetsu likes my cooking, so what the heck. He'd only cook his godsend fried rice every time...and too much of a good thing would make it taste bland. Then, as all scary stories start, a loud crash came from our room upstairs. Yes our room. I seem to sleep here more often than my empty flat anyways. Thinking the old geezer had somehow fallen down or broken his neck, I kind of rushed there. Only to find him sprawled on the floor, my toy robot somehow split in two.
My toy robot. The one my parents gave me for my birthday. The one and only thing I have left of them. Broken in the hands of Kaburagi T. Kotetsu. Of course I'd throw a hissy fit! It kind of turned into a one sided shouting match and well...here I am now. " There's a limit to being clumsy" I muttered as I traced my steps back to his... technically our house. They sky was grey and moody as the return went on, drizzling as I stepped into it. " Tetsu, I'm sorry I yelled at you and I know I was being stup-"
Thunder clapped as I noticed that he wasn't there. There was no sign of him anywhere in the house. Did he go out? He didn't leave a note or anything..did he get pissed and ran away? That's irrational. Pfft, what did I just do? Maybe he's with Antonio, he usually heads there. Completing the cooking, I dialed the Bison's number as it was second nature. This was because Kotetsu had a habit of getting drunk at Antonio's and I'd have to call to know if he was just punch-drunk or drunk off his ass so I wouldn't have to drag him back. Have you ever tried dragging a Next home when he could take your head off? Not fun.
" Barnaby, what's the matter?" came Antonio's voice.
" Nothing much, I was just calling to ask if Kotetsu's there
" Eh? He hasn't been there since that last drinking party. The one where Fire Emblem tried to dye your hair pink-"
" Don't remind me, it still gives me nightmares. Anyways, he'd not there?...Thanks anyway"
" Wait, what's the matter Barnaby?" I huffed and told him what happened " Well, I don't know. Like you said, he'd normally come here, but he didn't. Maybe he'd having a drink at Hero's Bar instead? Don't worry, he'd not the type to do something stupid"
I facepalmed and went " Antonio, you have just defined the man"
I tried all the numbers, no one saw him. It was just like...he dissappered or anything. Crap, I feel horrible already. But then again, he'd not some damsel in distress who constantly needs saving, right? He's Kaburagi T. Kotetsu, the Wild Tiger, in conjunction the Crusher of Justice, my partner and... I quickly seal ed all the food and placed it in the fridge, where I noticed his phone wasn't plugged into it's charger. It kept going to that annoying female voice saying that the calls going straight to voice mail. Seriously, I know I'm being ignored? And why the hell does this sound like all the manga Dragon Kid reads. The highschooler's comic choices are interesting.
I sighed, grabbing my car keys and heading, in the depressing rain. To look for Kotetsu. The man's reckless and impulsive, but at the same so am I. Only...I add on calculative to my personality, so that makes me the more reasonable part of the couple. Who am I kidding, I can be a spoiled brat sometimes. The radio channels were buzzing about Hero Awards and who's going to be this year's King of Heroes. Last year was Blue Rose's turn, as she beat me by only 3 points. Go to hand it to you, it kinda hurt. Just kidding~
After 3 hours of scouring the city and still no luck, I headed over to out favourite coffeeshop, Kaoru's Cake House. Even if it's a cake house, the baristas there serve the best coffee in the city. We, meaning Kotetsu and me, would go on dates there...where the others somehow manage to appear mysteriously and I'd end up buying drinks for everyone. I'm a good friend like that. Because we frequent the place, the waiters already whip up our drinks by the time we sit. Today I decided to go with a Hot Chocolate drizzled with mint instead of my usual order of a Double Decaf Latte, sipping the hot drink while watching the raindrops race each other down the window pane.
The rain turns everything sentimental. I liked sharing warm summer rain showers with Kotetsu, it relieves and sooths frazzled nerves from all those Hero jobs. Cold, hard rain in the months that near winter, like the rainstorm outside, turns the world a monochromatic arena, where rain can be a weapon or a foe. I hate it when it's this type of rain. All those bad mementos of my life happened on a rain day like this. It reminds me of the day I lost my parents, the false sense of security that I felt when Maverick took me in.
But...Kotetsu managed to break that mirage for me. Why was I so weak, not even able to defend myself from Maverick's charms? Why did Kotetsu have to risk his neck to save mine? Was I too young, too foolish? The scars, that large burn on Kotetsu's chest...all my fault. He sometimes teases me about that moment, when he 'died' in his arms, how I was crying my eyes out when I said that I finally learn how to make fried rice so that we'd be able to eat it together. That man is so sick for using that against me. I'm emotional, deal with it!
" Where the hell are you now Bakatsu?" I groaned, curling in my soft plush chair at the end of the cafe " I'm sorry I yelled at you..." my mumbles turn into whispers as I slowly fell asleep, lulled by the hypnotic sound of rain hitting the windows. Our fight played on and on in my head, a bad nightmare scene. Then, Kotetsu looked me in the eye and said " Let's break up. I can't stand it with you and your pretty boy behaviour" I jerked awake to the hands of a waiter, Danny if I remember correctly. He pointed that my handphone was ringing.
Wiping a line of drool that had escaped my mouth, the ever flamboyant Fire Emblem's voice came on the line. " Bunny-chan, I think that Kotetsu went back to his hometown. Tomoe's death anniversary is today, after all. And knowing him, he probably got into some trouble and is to embarrassed to call for help" I uttered thanks, running to my car. The engines roared, hitting the highway in record speed. The words that Kotetsu said in the dream still disturbed me. What if it was true, he couldn't take my temper anymore. Well...it's not like I blow up everyday...but you know...gah, this is screwed up. And more importantly, why the hell am I acting like a girl?...God, I am screwed, I tell you.
The sky turned dark and the rain had thankfully lessed to a drizzle. I hoped that he wasn't at Tomoe's grave at this moment, he gets sick easily in this type of weather. The journey to Oriental Town took a little more than 2 hours, that's with me driving...not so recklessly and not so fast. You know what I mean. It was nightfall when I arrived in front of his mom's house. Kaede told me that I just missed him, he on the way to her mother's grave. Kissing Kaede's cheek, I left my car there, beside Kotetsu's and walked the short, winding read to the grave of my boyfriend's wife.
I wondered how Tomoe was when she was still alive. A cuter, less clumsy version of Kotetsu? Well...they kind of looked alike and Kaede wasn't as reckless as her dad...unless of course she used our power, as far as I could tell. The night air was crisp, the scent of hydrangeas high, blooming after the rain in shades of pink, blue and yellow. The gravestones stood sollum and still, guardians for those who were under them. I walked past a couple of rows of them, the grey stones, and finally came upon Kotetsu's skinny form. He stared at the tombstone of his wife, hand reaching to gently pat it.
I couldn't stop myself from running towards him and giving him a surprise bear hug. " Oi what are you-Bunny-chan?! How'd you-Why are you crying?!" The feel of his gangly yet strong arms surrounding me and the scent of his colonge was enough to send me babbling about how sorry I was for yelling at him and how I was an idiot for doing to. I felt him kissing the tears away, whispering " It's okay, I was never angry in the first place" over and over again. After a while, my tears finally stopped and we stood in the cemetary with only the light of the moon and the faint outline of the street lights illuminating the light.
" I'm sorry for leaving you like that. I suddenly recalled that Kaede had a recital today and zipped off. When I wanted to call you, my phone died and when I wanted to go back, my car did too. Crappy day huh? So I decided to visit Tomoe here, with it being her death anniversary and all" he said, arms still around me. That made me blush...but escape was futile. The man has arms of steel.
It still amazes me that although he's shorter and skinner than me, whenever he's got his arms around me like this, I feel safe and sound, content to just stay there all day long " And that" continues Kotetsu, " Gives me the oppertunity to ask her permission" Permission from who? " Tomoe, I am sollumly asking your blessings to marry Barnaby Brooks Jr. today. I'm sure that you'll like him. He's the young man I've got trapped in my arms now" he added, with a mischievous smile.
" Wait...WHAT?"
He knelt down and I kind of pouted because it was so cold all of a sudden. I change my emotions so fast I'm surprised I don't whiplash " Will you, Barnaby Brooks Jr, aka Bunny-chan, marry me, the awesome Wild Tiger?"
" Is this a rhetorical question?"
" I don't know, you tell me"
" I think it is, because you obviously already know my answer" I said with my most deadpan voice of all.
" No?"
" OF COURSE YES BAKATSU!"
Sometime, the Crusher of Justice can be so unwieldy. But that's why I love him.
OMAKE~
Tiger and Bunny finally got back home after hauling Tiger's car to the nearby workshop. Poor thing blew her gasket, so they had to go home using Bunny's car. When they got home, Bunny remembered the toy robot was still broken. Tiger fixed it back, gluing the two parts together. When he was done, he made a little flail, saying " Tada!" and accidentally knocked the robot's hand off.
" Tetsu, if you want to live, promise never to touch my toy robot ever again" Bunny said, menacing serial killer aura enveloping everyone's favourite rabbit.
" But I can fix it!"
" Never. Touch. It. Again. Capishe?"
" Okay, alright. Here, I'll just put it down-" as he did, the other hand came off.
" KABURAGI T. KOTETSU!"
" I'M SORRY BUNNY!"
Let's just say that the living room barely survived Bunny's temper.
HOW WAS THAT?
I pay homage to Kaoru's Cake House series of the ever awesome Kaoru-sama. It doesn't matter that it's a love manga/comic/graphic novel ( I kind of despise them because it's so cliched, especially here) as long as it's a work of the great Kaoru-sensei. Those who have the chance to read her work, please do so. It isn't a waste of your money.