"I never expected him to just disappear!" Kotetsu howled with laughter, pounding his fist on the table after revealing the ending of one of his less successful exploits as a Hero.
Barnaby allowed himself a few hearty chuckles, not so much at the story but at the mirth of the man telling it. He had never really put forth the effort to be particularly social with the other Heroes, and now that he was quitting and his partner was moving back to his hometown, he regretted that decision deeply. Barnaby ordered yet another drink from the enthusiastic waitress that had been so excited to learn she was waiting on the famous Hero.
Kotetsu leaned over to the opposite side of the booth and said in a quiet tone, "Take it easy, Bunny! They're not going to run out of alcohol. Even Antonio couldn't drink that much without getting sick."
"At least I'm not having a drink marketed towards children," Barnaby retorted, looking pointedly at the Legend Soda on the table.
Kotetsu rolled his eyes. "I've had enough to drink if we're going to get back in my car. One of us has to keep his wits about him, and I don't like to drink water. Besides, Mr. Legend is-"
"Mister Barnaby!" a fan squealed, running up with a Tiger & Barnaby notebook. "Could I have an autograph, please? I bought this notebook for my daughter to use in school, it would mean so much to her!"
Barnaby laughed a bit too loudly and agreed, writing his name inside the cover. "Thank you for your support, ma'am!" he said. "The Heroes wouldn't be where they were today without fans like your daughter." The woman swooned slightly, thanked him profusely, and skipped out of the bar just in time to miss Barnaby groan and rest his head back against the wall of the booth, eyes closed. He suddenly remembered why he didn't like to go out.
"Here, Bunny," said Kotetsu.
Barnaby opened his eyes and saw something being handed to him. "What's this?" he asked.
"My mask. Put it on, so people will stop recognising you and bothering you!" he explained. "This is one of the reasons Heroes keep their names and faces a secret. You can't get a moment to yourself when you want to." He leaned further over the table and affixed the mask to Barnaby's face, who only protested slightly.
"This will never work," he said, adjusting the mask so he could see. "How could you wear this thing under your suit, anyway?"
The waitress came back with his drink and set it on the table. Her face flushed and she said, "Erm... Mister Barnaby, why are you wearing a mask?" Both men froze, and she looked between them anxiously before sputtering, "Never mind. Please enjoy your drink!" and scurrying away.
"I told you so."
"Hey, Bunny, don't say that!" Kotetsu cried. "She must have identified you by your hair; we need to mess it up." He leaned ever closer and raised his hands to reach the veritable mane atop his friend's head.
Barnaby pulled away in horror. "Don't you touch my hair, Kotetsu!"
"It's the only way! You! Need! Privacy! Too!" Kotetsu accentuated each word with another attempt to grab ahold of Barnaby's perfectly-groomed hair.
"No!" Barnaby yelled, evading the attacks. "Kotetsu, stop! You're going to spill our drinks!" He barely had the time to finish what he was saying before Kotetsu brushed against his own Legend Soda, and Barnaby dove to catch it before it tipped over completely.
"Hah!" Kotetsu used the opportunity to land both his hands in Barnaby's curls and ruffle his hair relentlessly. He only stopped when satisfied that Barnaby's hair was such a mess that he was completely unidentifiable. Barnaby sat back up and glared, raising a hand to try to fix the damage that had been done. "Don't," Kotetsu commanded. "Leave it alone." Barnaby dropped his hand and focused his attention on his drink. Kotetsu, still happily buzzed and now pleased with his work, noted how nobody else approached them.
A few minutes of silence passed, and Kotetsu crossed his arms behind his head and hummed contentedly, no doubt reliving the most exciting captures and fights of his career. Barnaby ducked his head and stared at the drink in his hand, lost in muddled thoughts and anxiety about his future. He thought about going back to school and learning more about robotics to continue his parents' work. He thought about traveling. He thought about going into business with Apollon Media and working with the other Heroes that way.
"I don't know what I'm going to do, Kotetsu," he finally sighed.
Kotetsu blinked. "Eh?"
Barnaby pushed his drink away from him and slammed his fists on the table. "I don't know what I'm going to do! You have your family. You have Kaede. The only family I had left was Aunt Samantha and Maverick, and they're both gone. I don't have friends, not really."
"But you have the most fans of anyone." Kotetsu tried to console him.
"Fans aren't friends. I always could impress people, but I never made friends. Children don't want to be friends with a young NEXT whose only purpose for living is to avenge his parents' deaths! I don't have friends!" Tears fell against Barnaby's glasses.
"Bunny..." Kotetsu breathed. His mind worked sluggishly trying to find something to say that would help. He always knew that Barnaby, despite his fame and general status of a popular idol, had trouble understanding other people. His public persona was all an act derived from years of carefully studying how to win over crowds and deflect negativity, but when it came to forging friendships, Barnaby was at a loss. If only he could go somewhere else for awhile, Kotetsu thought, he would be able to decide what he wanted to do without the pressure of being in the city and seeing everything that reminds him of his past. "Ah! Bunny!" he said. "Why don't you visit me in Oriental Town? We have an extra room, and I know Kaede would love to see you again-not to mention I would get extra points for being a good father by bringing Barnaby Brooks Jr. to town!"
"No," Barnaby said after a moment. "No, I couldn't disrupt your family that way. You have been away for so long. I'm sure your daughter wants to spend time with you, and you with her." He ground his teeth and scolded himself. This was what he had wanted. It's what he was planning on asking Kotetsu at dinner, and now he was refusing it for no discernable reason. He couldn't take his words back now. He'd ruined his chance.
Kotetsu sighed impatiently, wondering if it was his pride that was stopping Barnaby from accepting his offer. He would have to come up with an excuse. He put an elbow on the table and leaned his chin on his hand. "Hey, Bunny, now that I think of it, I'm leaving Friday. If you're free, I could really use your help moving my things into my house in Oriental Town. My brother will be working, and my mother can't carry all those boxes. And Kaede! Oh, she would be so glad to see you!" he paused, thinking about what his daughter's reaction would be. "If you have other plans, I understand, but..."
Barnaby's head snapped up in surprise. "Kotetsu! Of course I will help! I would be more than happy to help you move!" He was met with a steady smile that doubled in front of him. He gripped the edge of the table to stop himself from falling.
"Great!" Kotetsu stood up and dug his phone out of his pocket. "You can spend a few days with us! Get some rest, escape from the city, see the sights, you know. I'll call my brother now to let him know-he's still at his store, I know he'll pass the message on to my mother. You stay here." Kotetsu took a few steps away before turning around. "Don't you dare fix your hair while I am gone!" he threatened, then walked to a quieter room to make his call.
It wasn't until Kotetsu had whisked out of sight that Barnaby realised what had happened. He didn't remember asking to spend several days at the Kaburagi house, but he couldn't see where Kotetsu had gone and wasn't confident he'd be able to walk even if he had. Finding himself thoroughly unable to protest-even though he didn't want to protest in the first place-he slammed back the rest of his drink and stopped a waiter to order another before slumping over in the booth.
"It's all settled, Bunny! ...Bunny?" Kotetsu returned to find the young man fast asleep. "Hey, Bunny, wake up. I told you to stop drinking. Bunny!" He shook his shoulder in a futile effort to wake him up. "You couldn't even wait until I was sober so I could drive us home, huh? I'll have to carry you home. Damn!" he grumbled, somehow forgetting that taxis were more than plentiful in Sternbild City.
He made his way up to the owner behind the bar, calculating in his head if he could carry Barnaby home using his Hundred Power in under four minutes. Deciding that it was probably possible, he asked the owner if he could leave his car at the bar like he had done so many times before. Since being sober was no longer a requirement, he bought a shot of shochu, downed it, and paid the tab. Kotetsu walked back to the table only to see one more drink that he couldn't identify. "Mustn't let this go to waste," he muttered to nobody in particular before drinking it and gathering Barnaby into his arms, cradling him against his chest.
Walking out into the street, he carried Barnaby into an alley where nobody would be around to see him activate his Hundred Power and leap to the rooftop. He bounded from building to building, taking the shortest path possible to get to the skyscraper where Barnaby lived. His Hundred Power faded just as he dashed inside and reached the lift on the ground floor. "Wow!" he mused. "What luck, right, Bunny?" He leaned forward awkwardly and pressed the lift call button, which buzzed angrily at him.
"What!" he yelled. "Out of order? No! No, don't tell me I have to carry him up the stairs without my Hundred Power! Bunny? Bunny! Wake up!" Kotetsu shook the sleeping man in his arms. "I won't carry you. I'll leave you on the floor for everybody to see your messy hair! Bunny, wake up, already."
The only response was a muffled and entirely unconscious groan.
"Fine," Kotetsu grumbled. "But I won't listen to another word about how you're always the one who has to carry me when I'm in trouble." And he set up the stairs, complaining loudly the entire way. He was sweating and more than a little out of breath once he arrived at Barnaby's door, feeling the alcohol's effects setting in. He stared at the door for a few seconds until he remembered he would need a key.
"Hey, Bunny," he whispered gently, "I need your key to get into your flat." He leaned his back against the wall for support and sighed heavily, then knelt down and set Barnaby on the ground to fish through his pockets to find his key. "Don't tell anyone about this," he insisted. "It's not my fault you won't wake up. Ah, here it is!" He opened the door and scooped up his friend once more, making his way to the bedroom and setting him on his bed. The motion reminded him of carrying Kaede to bed when she was little and would fall asleep on the journey home from somewhere bright and exciting.
"Stay here, I'll be right back," he promised Barnaby just like he would promise Kaede. He closed the door and took off his shoes and jacket and unbuttoned his shirt to try to cool down. He stumbled a bit on the way back. "I must have had more to drink than I thought," he breathed, sitting at the end of the bed and gingerly untying Barnaby's shoes and setting them on the floor. Next, he moved on to his jacket, managing to get one arm out. Leaning over him and trying to pull the other sleeve off with one hand while pulling the rest of the jacket out from underneath him with the other, he grunted, "Bunny, would you please just take your arm out of this sleeve?"
Barnaby's eyes opened halfway, having heard the request but being largely unable to make sense of it. He saw Kotetsu over him, glistening, panting, shirt unbuttoned, and he felt the bed underneath him and acknowledged now that his jacket was being taken off. His vision flickered and danced, he let out a low chuckle without understanding why he was laughing, and he fought to twist his torso enough to free his arm from the jacket sleeve.
Kotetsu felt Barnaby moving to help him get the jacket off and was about to let out an exasperated, "Thank you!" but was interrupted by both jacket-free arms being flung around his neck, pulling him closer into a kiss. "Bunny?" he mumbled, but the sound was silenced by the same pair of smiling lips. Kotetsu's head swam in a stupefying mix of alcohol and surprise as another quiet laugh emanated from Barnaby. He pulled away, unbalanced, before he even realised what had happened, and with those long arms still holding him nearly on top of the younger man, he told Barnaby, "Go to sleep."
Barnaby rolled onto his side just enough so that Kotetsu could lie down on the bed but not so much that he released him from his hold. Kotetsu wiggled slightly in a half-hearted attempt to slide out of Barnaby's arms, but the call of physical exhaustion and liquor-induced drowsiness was too great. Even if he did manage to pull away from Barnaby, he wouldn't be able to get to his flat, and sleeping on the floor seemed much less comfortable, he reasoned. Thus he was forced to remain where he was, how he was, not holding Barnaby, but not trying to escape, either. He succumbed to unconsciousness in a matter of seconds, and they slept, outside of the covers, moving closer to savour each other's warmth throughout the depths of their dreams.