Oh my, I haven't written in over a year. So lets see how badly I've lost my touch in writing ;_; But I adore this series too much not to contribute in some sort of way as a fan.

Pairing: Barnaby/Kotetsu

The malice in his eyes was more evident that it should have been, though Barnaby was too tired to hide it as he hung over Kotetsu's limp form curled beneath his sheets, face buried deep into the pillows. He seemed peaceful, even after being handled by an impudent man barely out of his teens. You could even say he looked happy, yet that could just be his mind playing tricks against him. He had changed once they were alone. The minute he had brought the old man to his apartment and shut the door behind him, he seemed to completely snap. Even the great Wild Tiger was forced to wince at some point.
All the pent up frustration he had been storing was soon lashed out against his partner, who had accepted it with a smile, saying that it would make him feel better afterwards. It may have been a good idea, though for Barnaby Brooks Jr. things seemed to have taken to the wrong turn, it was as if he had lost his consciousness trough ecstasy and came out anew.
Kotetsu only smiled, even with his wrists tangled behind him firmly, he only ever continued thinking of others "I can handle this" He had panted out, facing away from the blond as if to hide his current expression; whatever else escaped the older mans lips was now a haze in Barnaby's mind.
Had he been restraining enough frustration, to loose his composure so easily? A frown quickly formed but his face softened slightly with Kotestu scooting closer to him in his sleep. He sighed and brushed his fingers trough his shaggy hair and stays seated watching the mans sleeping face.
He didn't understand Kotetsu most of the time. How could any man handle being so...Noble? Was it even humanly possible? He sighs again, looking over the clock on his desk; one of the few items on in his dull apartment, and goes to stand up but is quickly stopped. Barnaby practically jumps but refuses to show any look of surprise when he looks back at the man poking out of the sheets, his eyes barely open though still focused on him "Where ya going bunny?" he yawns somehow trying to pull himself out from under the covers.
"...I was going to make breakfast" He points to the clock once he regains his composure.
Tiger looks over taking his time though seems reluctant to let go of Barnaby's hand. But he does anyways having nothing to say at the moment, he simply sinks back into the bed comfortably as he waits. Barnaby continues to the kitchen as planned and finds nothing to make other than cereal.
Was his house really that empty? Anytime the old man came over he constantly complained on how dull the condo was. Lately it was making the man more conscious of the fact.
It doesn't matter. He scoffs; it's not as if the old man was the type to complain about getting free food anyways. He serves the breakfast, slightly thankful he has yet to do anything that would actually consume his energy; he knows it's soon to be wasted if there's some delinquent causing trouble in the city.
Heading back he stops at the doorway, he's taken back by how different his partner seems. Kotetsu, sitting back up had his arms hung over his knees (still covered waist down by the sheets) was now staring out the window, almost in a state of melancholy, but then instantly bounces back seeing the other hero.
"Hmm? So what did Bunny make for me?" he teases with the usual goofy grin. Barnaby only stares, and then mentally slaps himself when it finally hits him. It IS impossible for somebody to be that noble. Nobody could ever be this happy about the dumbest things, Barnaby thinks.
It's not just him that holds his own frustrations. Kotetsus just better hiding it.
Barnaby was used to being all alone, he enjoyed the silence anyways, yet with the constant cheer of his fans and praises from the other heroes whenever he came along made everyday practically eventful and livid. For the old man it was practically the opposite. It wasn't that he craved for any particular sort of attention, but it showed that the man seemed almost alone when all the attention went straight to Barnaby. He never showed jealousy over the subject, but he always watched him when the blonde took all the praise as if convincing himself, that even without the praising he wasn't being left behind by everyone.
But, Barnaby says nothing. The morning seems too good to ruin just yet, he hands the older man the bowl and sits beside him putting a spoonful in his mouth as he kept watching his partner. His eyes focused on the light bruising on Kotetsu's wrists. It was a surprise the old man hadn't stated his complaints yet.
Why hadn't he? Barnaby frowns yet again, even if the other hero is rather selfless, it wouldn't mean that he would ignore something like this. Or was it because he had permitted this to happen?
That brought another question, why did he let Barnaby do with him as he pleased? Was it really because he wanted to help? Or was there something to it?
"Yo bunny, whatcha staring at?" Kotetsu lifts his head having already finished eating, breaking Barnaby's train of thought. He shakes his head though ends up speaking up without even thinking, "Why?"
"Huh?" His partner tilts his head slightly looking puzzled by how upset Barnaby sounded "Why what?"
"You know what." He hisses dryly "Why did you let what happened last night happen?" He doesn't raise his voice but sounds angrier with each word. Seems his patience had just run out even with Kotetsu doing absolutely nothing.
"You looked like you needed it," he replies, Barnaby doesn't want to take this as his answer and stands up glaring down at him. "I'm not blind old man! I know there has to be something else!" He doesn't want to believe that all that had happened was simply out of pity; he realized this to be the main cause of his frustration. Could Kotetsu be just like the rest? Looking down at him because of what he never got to have?
He didn't even realize his eyes were watery until he felt a dry hand wiping his eyes before any tears had threatened to fall. "Relax Bunny. I didn't do any of this out of pity," he replies practically reading his mind.
He only stares at him now, narrowing his eyes to look less like a frustrated child. The old man smiles, though this time not one of those large goofy grins, but a small sincere smile. Though as sincere as it was it was also tinged with some malice of his own.
"Actually, I'm not too proud of this, but I did it for myself." He tells Barnaby, watching his frustrated expression changed to a look of confusion and disbelief.
"It's so lonely you know, ever since my wife passed...But it really has nothing to do with that, I just needed someone to make me feel less alone. You always seem to get everyone's attention, somehow...When I have time with just you to myself, I feel as if that's for me too"
What he says is honest, Barnaby can tell by how he takes his time choosing his words simply, yet still a bit jumbled. Parts don't make sense but by now he can understand what the man means.
Their time alone together is the only time Kotetsu can feel as if the praise is directed towards him, it's the only time he feels that people actually see him as something other than a wreck less liability. Tiger's logic may not have made any scence at all but he knew that any praise from himself, was also led by all the people who had praised beforehand. Though, would he really sleep with him just for something like that? Or was there more.
"Maybe, nothing matters as long as I have someone to distract me from all those dumb thoughts," Kotetsu adds once he sees Barnaby having already taken in what he had said.
He doesn't understand why, but his cheeks flush once the sentence comes out, he turns his head trying to hide the uncharacteristic feature from the man. He is not too surprised when Kotetsu moves his head again so they face to face and chuckles. "You know bunny, I can't always be perfect. Sometimes even a great hero like me needs to be selfish about something."
By now, his anger is gone; it feels like it was never there in the first place. Maybe the old man was using him, and he was using him in return. But in the end isn't that what love really is?

Its really late, my eyes itch so i'm not even bothering to re-read this. If you actually like the story but have some ideas on what I can fix, tell me, I actually like when people see something wrong with what I've written because then I can improve myself.