From the Heart
o2: Hair

Barnaby wasn't sure when it happened. Then again, that was only to be expected. The human brain was typically unable to pinpoint the exact moment when it fell asleep, being far too busy shutting down to pay great attention to its own inner workings.

All Barnaby knew was that one moment he'd been sat on the couch of the Hero TV headquarters, trying to snatch a quick handful of rest of relaxation, and then the next, he'd woken up…

With his head in Kotetsu's lap.

Kotetsu's fingers were threaded through his hair.

How on earth had that happened?

Kotetsu had a distant, unusually thoughtful look on his face. It made him look older than he was- and Barnaby couldn't help but think, despite his sudden start at being awoken in such a weird manner, that… it was kind of sad.

Not so sad that he wasn't going to flush and stutter and then get really quite angry at his personal space being invaded, though.

Pushing Kotetsu away (pleased at hearing the old man give an inelegant yelp of surprise), Barnaby pushed himself into a slightly-more-dignified-than-laying-in-Kotetsu's-lap sitting position and glared at the stupid old man.

He glared at him hard.

When he spoke, his voice was icy.

"Don't you have any concept of personal space?"

"U-um, yeah…" A nervous laugh. "I know it well enough, I guess, ahaha… ha…"

"Then why were you doing?"

At least Kotetsu looked suitably abashed; his own face just as flushed as Barnaby's. If his eyes grew any wider they were in serious danger of falling out of their sockets.

"H-hey, Bunny, I thought you were asleep?"

"I was, and then I woke up. It's the natural termination of a sleeping cycle, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Aha… O-oh yeah…" Another nervous laugh. "I-I must have forgotten about that part…"

"Honestly, what were you thinking?" Barnaby asked, fingers running through his hair- trying to smooth down his now-smushed curls into perfect order. His movements stopped, however, when the tips of his fingers brushed against something.

It was a half-formed braid, not tied up; now beginning to unravel.

Kotetsu had been… plaiting his hair?

Okay, that went beyond 'being an idiot with no sense of personal space'- which was something Kotetsu specialized in. That was honestly… kind of creepy.

It was official. Barnaby Brooks Jr. was creeped out.

"Kotetsu. What's this?"

"Well, I don't know… An alien device from another planet?"

Kotetsu pretended to play dumb (not that he needed to pretend most of the time), as he looked at the falling-apart braid Barnaby was tugging on gently.

Barnaby glared.

"D-damn, you're scary when you do that," said Kotetsu, trying to laugh off his obvious embarrassment, as he smiled nervously. "Have you been taking lessons from Agnes?"

"Stop stalling; I want to know what you were thinking when you did this- or if you were even thinking at all."

"That's pretty harsh. You make it sound like I've murdered somebody."

"Kotetsu."

"Alright, alright! I give! Don't pull that face anymore, okay, it doesn't suit you," said Kotetsu, holding his hands up before his face in a goofy self-defensive gesture. "I-if you want the truth… Well. Aha, it's a little embarrassing; surely you don't want to listen to an old man ranting about... nothing really… do you, Bunny?"

Glare.

"Oh, fine, fine. How could I refuse you when you're pulling a face like that? But you've gotta teach me how to do that, seriously. Nobody would ever insult me again."

And then- looking far more nervous than Barnaby had ever seen Kotetsu look before (that was a little worrying)- Kotetsu inhaled heavily…

And then began to talk.

Inelegantly babble, more like.

"You see, you were asleep, and… I don't know, you looked kind of a lot younger than usual, 'cause when you're awake you're all serious and 'I can never be happy look at me frown!', but when you were asleep you looked… kind of like a kid; o-or at least, more relaxed and… and… it made me think of… Kaede."

Barnaby had been prepared for any number of excuses, but he hadn't expected that.

He blinked at Kotetsu in confusion.

"Your daughter…?"

Kotetsu nodded. "I always used to plait her hair for her when she was a little kid- like, really little… And, I don't know… I just… felt a bit nostalgic. That was all." A wide smile. "It's no big deal. I just having a senior moment, I guess!"

But… that wasn't right.

Kotetsu was trying to shake off his brief moment of melancholy with bright smiles, using his usual airhead personality as an excuse for his sudden sadness; and that wasn't right at all! Barnaby didn't know why he felt so strongly on the subject- but, if it was true… then Kotetsu was trying to hide how he really felt- again.

He always did that- just because he didn't want other people to worry.

It was... okay… if other people worried, though, wasn't it?

"You miss her, don't you?" said Barnaby quietly; looking at Kotetsu intently.

There was a pause.

Then, with a movement so slight Barnaby hardly noticed… Kotetsu nodded.

"I guess… sometimes, yeah. A lot of the time, really. Heh." A lopsided smile. "I wouldn't be much of a parent if I didn't miss her. But I'm not going to saddle you with all that, Lil' Bunny- you don't need to worry."

"No. I do."

"B-bunny…?"

"Don't keep any more secrets from me, okay? I'm not so selfish as to think I'm the only person in the world with problems."

Kotetsu looked at Barnaby in shock; before, finally, his features softened. He smiled- though it was a little shaky- and nodded.

"Y-yeah… You're right. Thank you, Bunny."

Barnaby sighed. "You don't need to thank me, idiot. We are partners, after all."