He felt his eye twitch. The shaking old man by his side certainly didn't help to appease his annoyance.

"Agnes-san, could you please explain to me why I have to wear this horrendous outfit once again? I'm afraid I don't get it." Tapping his foot on the floor to show his frustration was a bad idea. Barnaby begrudgingly admired women for being able to keep balance on those ankle-breakers. He had been standing for five minutes in hellishly high-heeled shoes and his toes already felt like ground meat, without mentioning the cramps spreading in his feet. Why did women wear heels? It was torture.

Agnes huffed, "Do I have to repeat myself? It's Easter, Barnaby. For the occasion, we decided to host a special event. Since your victory against Jake, your popularity has grown way beyond our expectations. You're Sternbild's favorite hero at the moment. It's only natural that you'll be this event's main focus."

Barnaby didn't agree at all. Wearing plain black shiny leather court shoes with fishnet stocking, being forced into a merry widow corset made out of black satin, with white floppy ears sitting on the top of his head and, dear lord, a white rabbit tail pinned to the top of his crack certainly hadn't been mentioned anywhere in his contract. Thankfully, he waxed so they didn't bother him with that.

However, he had to shave down there, against his will. Kotetsu had gleefully handed him one of his hair clipper, telling him through his hardly restrained laughter that "it was perfect for neat designs." Barnaby had angrily snatched it from his grip before hurling it against a wall. A razor would do just fine after all.

He had still managed to nick himself though. Shifting, he winced a bit as the thong's fabric rubbed against the small cut, constricting his balls in the process. That's what you get for listening to Nathan's advice. Barnaby had been at a total loss as to what he should put under the corset. Nearly going commando, he had screamed after Nathan had shrieked in horror at seeing him slipping it on buck naked. Thinking back on it, he really hoped he'd never know why the flamboyant man had had a clean black thong in his pocket.

At least, his entire costume was black and not some flashy color like pink. His hero suit was all the pink he could handle in his life.

"Do you realize it could be offensive to some?," he said, trying to reationalize the situation.

The blond wasn't going to say it but it definitely was offensive to him, and his pride. He should go back and read his job description more thoroughly one day. Not that he would sue Apollon Media or anything... But just in case. Next time, it'd be good to be prepared for any strange use of his free time.

"Of course. However, your fans are the target for this event," she distractedly looked at her hands, frowning when she noticed the nail polish had chipped off on her right forefinger. Damn it, it was supposed to stay for a few days, not a few hours.

Kotetsu took a shuddering breath, clasping one hand over his partner's bare shoulder and leaning against him a bit, he grinned to the point where his cheeks hurt, "You might as well just call yourself Bunny as a hero now. Rabbit ears suit you so well~!"

Barnaby felt his face flush, whipping his head to glare at the old man who erupted into peals of laughter after seeing his flustered expression, releasing him in favor of holding his hurting stomach. The younger male scowled in embarrassment. He was never going to live this down...

Shoving him as hard as he could without tumbling to the floor - those shoes really threw him off balance - he sighed, "What about the male part of it? Don't tell me they're interested in me in a Playboy bunny costume. If it was the case, my fanbase would be worse than Blue Rose's."

Feigning contemplation, she mockingly imitated the expression of remembering something, "Did I say fans? My bad, I meant fangirls."

All the blood drained from his face. He'd never survive the evening.


A massive ball room had been loaned for the event and lavishly decorated with soft colors in the form of ribbons, flowers and some grass to imitate a big garden. Easter eggs, chocolate fountains and other sweet and cutely presented delicacies were disposed on conveniently placed tables against the walls.
In the center of it all stood a high, round stage made entirely of pink plastic. On top of it, Barnaby was sitting in a golden seat looking suspiciously like a throne, with fuschia velvet pillows piling around him. Kotetsu had no where to sit so he just reclined againt the armrest, boredly eyeing the uncoming flood of females.

"Why am I the one wearing the pink, fluffy bunny suit? C'mon! Couldn't I at least be a cat?," Kotetsu grumbled.

Barnaby snickered despite himself, already used to the high heels as he swiftly uncrossed his legs before folding them one over the other again. Amusement sparkled in his eyes as he repeated Agnes' words, "It's Easter, Kotetsu."

Stiffling a chuckle at the pouting old man, he continued, "Also, you're my partner. Since I'm wearing black, you get to be the one wearing my colors. Which is to say, pink."

Lifting an eyebrow, Kotetsu looked Barnaby up and down, "I'm not sure what weirds me out the most. The fact that you're actually proud of that pink hero suit of yours or the fact that you got used to the Playboy bunny costume."

Barnaby snapped a curt "Shut up," returning to the swooning mass of teenagers and women histerically waving papers, books, clothes, brasfor him to sign.

After a few autographs, he noted that Kotetsu was still in a sour mood and he threw over his shoulder, "If the suit disturbs you so much, look into the bag behind the seat."

Seeing nothing better to do, Kotetsu glanced curiously to the side and indeed, a red bag rested against one of the seat's feet. Hopping over, he crouched and carefully opened it.

Picking up the first thing that touched his fingers, he stared at the satin clothes. Looking back down, he noticed there were shoes and other accessories.
It was, to make it short, the exact same bunny costume as Barnaby. A hot pinkone.

Lifting the bunny ears up to his face, he scrunched his nose and hollered in Barnaby's direction, "It's still not a cat costume! And it's pink! Tiger stripes would have been fine, you know! Why didn't you think of that?"

The blond couldn't help it. He laughed.