Author's Note: Hello~, just a few words before I get into this.

I'm not familiar with the drama CDs for T I'll get to them one day. I've also only seen the anime all the way through once. That being said, please forgive me for any mistakes made in characters, background details, and other things. If you see something wrong, tell me, and I'll do my best to correct it. Thank you! :)

Disclaimer: Believe me, I WISH I owned Kotet-ah, Tiger & Bunny.

Setting: After ep13, before the time skip.

Dedicated to a certain Kotetsu on Tumblr, who's awesome roleplay blog pushed me over the edge of my Kotetsu fandom to actually write a FANFIC, something I haven't done in at least three to four years.

Thank You (Part One)

Barnaby stopped walking to take a good look around the cluttered apartment. Alcohol bottles were everywhere; they sat on the coffee table, laid next to the couch and perched on top of the stairs, staring at him.

"He really was lonely," Barnaby thought, kicking a bottle lightly to watch it roll into another. Either that, or just downright lazy. Some of those bottles had dates from several months ago. He looked back at the culprit of the mess.

Kotetsu was propped up on the couch in sweats and a t-shirt, with his chin resting on his chest and soft snores coming from his throat. He had been released from the hospital only a day ago, and though he was a hardy man well on his way to full recovery, he still tired easily thanks to a couple operations and various medications. Running off to help Barnaby defeat Jake did more damage than Kotetsu expected, hundred power or not. Barnaby walked around the couch, and saw that his partner had been looking at the pictures of his daughter on his wristband. The pouty girl looked away from the camera and off to the side, reluctant to smile for her father.

"Antonio told me that she doesn't know he's a Hero," Barnaby thought. "Does she even know he's been in the hospital? Or that he came that close to dying? What about previous incidents?"

The thought disturbed the young man. Since the day they took Jake Martinez down, Barnaby had been given a few days off to recover, which in turn gave him plenty of time to think. He thought about his own actions, Kotetsu's, Jake's, his parents and his few memories of them; even the other Heroes come up, especially since Sky High, Rock Bison and Origami had been injured by Jake and his cronies. Seeing Kotetsu once again done up with tubes and bandages also added to the perpetual feeling that perhaps he'd been too self-centered and focused only on himself to see what really mattered. Barnaby hated to admit it, but without the goofy old man, they wouldn't have stopped Jake.

It was time to give back.

~ Next Day ~

Kotetsu sat at an outdoor café table, stirring his coffee idly. It was a bright, sunny day and people milled about him in a happy atmosphere. It was a good sight to see the city recovering from the terror that recently gripped the city.

"What's taking Antonio so long?" Kotetsu thought, feeling a trickle of impatience. His old friend wanted to treat him to a new restaurant to celebrate the victory and the two of them making it out of the hospital. He had originally planned on spending the day on his couch and/or in bed; he ached everywhere and while it was nice to be outside, he felt rather grumpy.

"Dad!"

Kotetsu whipped his head around so fast he swore he dislocated his shoulder again. He also wondered if those painkillers were at last affecting his mind, but there was the real Kaede, climbing out of a taxi and heading towards him. Kotetsu stumbled out of the chair and over to his daughter, who embraced him tightly. He felt alarmed at the willing display of affection in public.

"K-kaede, what are you doing here? Where's Grandma?" he choked out.

"Grandma said one of your friends called to say you were in a car accident." Kaede let go and looked at him with worry unhidden in her eyes. "She said that's why you couldn't come that day, because you were on the bridge that blew up because of the terrorists. Are you ok?"

Kotetsu's heart calmed, but he still reeled from the sudden panic he felt from thinking that Kaede knew his secret. Who called his mom? Whoever it was, they were getting a beating later; he deliberately told his mom not to tell Kaede that he'd been hospitalized.

"I'm fine, sweetie. It was just a few broken ribs, some bruises, I just needed some band-aids, ya'know?" He reassured his daughter with sheepish words that brushed off his injuries and gave her another hug. "Anyway, how come Grandma isn't with you?"

"The person who called her said it was a surprise, because you got out of the hospital the other day," Kaede explained, pulling back to give him a mischievous grin. "She didn't tell me who it was; said she didn't want you to murder him later."

"'Him?' It could've only been Antonio, then." Kotetsu thought. But, he could probably forgive him for this. His daughter had come to see HIM for once! And, it was out of her own free will. Out loud he asked, "When do you go back home?"

"Grandma would only let me stay 'till eight tonight, since I have school tomorrow. A cab is coming to pick me up. Hey, what time is it?"

"A quarter to eleven, why?"

"So late? We have to hurry!" Kaede pulled him to the curb and started waving for a taxi. "Grandma said the reservation is at eleven!"

"R-reservation?" Kotetsu climbed into the taxi after his daughter. How'd she nab one so well? Since when did Kaede take taxis? His little girl was growing up! He felt as if this was a drug-induced dream, and he pinched himself. Nope.

"Take us to the Taco Company on East Center Street, please!" Kaede told the driver. She sat back down and put her seatbelt on over her cute yellow sundress. "Yep! Your friend went and reserved us a table at some new Mexican restaurant. He said you liked Mexican food. I didn't know that."

"Uh…I didn't know, either," Kotetsu said, laughing. That was the name of the place he and Antonio were to go to. His sour mood was gone; his daughter's presence could make even his aches seem nonexistent.

"Ok, you're forgiven, old friend," he thought, as his daughter prodded him with questions about the "accident" and his injuries all the way to the restaurant.

End of Part One

Author's note: Thanks for reading! I'm a little short on time so this has been split into two parts in the event that I can't finish by this evening. I really want to get at least half of this up, lol. Rest assured, I'm not done yet. Comments and tips are appreciated!