Barnaby woke up with a crushing sort of disappointment that he was still alive, which was completely eclipsed in an instant by the sensation of what was probably his brain exploding. He let out a loud and miserable groan. Something moved beside him, and he was suddenly struck with horror: had he gotten so drunk as to spend the night with a stranger? It certainly wasn't his goal to ever leave the bar, and now he was with a stranger-in his own bed, no less-it was impossible! Why, he'd never even really... He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that maybe the person would leave and he could forget this ever happened.
"Morning, Bunny," grunted a voice in his ear.
He bolted up until he was sitting, twisted sideways to look at the other occupant of his bed. "Kotetsu!" he cried. "What are you, ah, how did you-did I…?"
Kotetsu was laughing. He put his arms behind his back and propped himself up on his elbows. "Try to drink yourself to death? You did. I managed to find you before you succeeded. Why do you look so scared?" He wore an easy smile borne of pure relief. "I don't bite, you know. Well, not much, anyway." Kotetsu laughed at his own joke, and his eyes glimmered.
Barnaby blinked forcefully and took a deep breath, trying to make sense of the very obscure puzzle that was his memory of the previous night. "I don't… what are you doing here?" he exhaled.
"Making sure you come back with me, of course. We're partners. I don't want to do without you, and it has become apparent that you simply can't do without me." Kotetsu's voice turned serious even though a grin was still plastered on his face. The bastard probably thought he had 'sounded cool,' judging by his attitude.
Barnaby gulped. Part of it was because of the embarrassment that Kotetsu had found him in a state of absolute ruin yet again (and who knew what Barnaby might have done with that much alcohol coursing through his system?), but it was slowly coming to his attention that another, possibly equally as great part of his sudden paralysis was that Kotetsu was beaming at him from his own bed, wearing nothing but pants, explaining in his silly way that he wanted to keep him around... forever.
Barnaby barely caught himself from licking his lips and instead struggled out of the sheets quickly. "-going to be sick," he offered as an explanation as he dashed to the toilet and shut the door, locking it. He turned on the tap and pushed his face into the stream of cold water as best he could.
A voice called out from the other room. "Bunny? Are you okay?"
"I wish I knew," he murmured as he pulled his pounding head from the sink. Something red caught his attention in the mirror. He gaped at his reflection, which was sporting a prominent hickey right on his collarbone. His cheeks flushed red. Kotetsu must have seen it, too; he'd been staring at him just seconds before. Barnaby sat down hard on the edge of the bathtub and put his face in his hands, hissing furiously to himself. "Either Kotetsu thinks that I'm a… o-or he was the one who… who… Damn it! Why can't I remember?" Barnaby hit his fists against his forehead in vain. It was no use; he simply couldn't remember anything beyond leaving his flat to go to a bar.
Completely unaware of Barnaby's predicament, Kotetsu had gotten up and started to clean the flat. There wasn't much to do other than bag up the bottles and sweep up broken pieces of glasses, so he was done fairly quickly. He dressed himself, lingering in the bedroom a little, wondering if Barnaby was going to keep himself locked up in the loo indefinitely. "Maybe I'll ring Antonio," he said to himself, "let him know that Bunny is alright." He poked around a bit before he found where he'd put his phone before going to sleep and settled into the chaise-longue to make the call.
When Barnaby heard Kotetsu's voice conversing with someone in his living room, he decided it was time to leave his tiled sanctuary and slipped back into his bedroom undetected. He located a clean shirt and got dressed, ensuring that the heinous blemish was completely covered before slumping on his bed and, for a lack of a better word, eavesdropping on Kotetsu's conversation.
"…has had a rough time. I keep trying to invite him to stay, but-" Kotetsu was saying. "No! I didn't- Antonio, where do you get these ideas? I-I mean, maybe I… stop that! No, I think he just feels like he's intruding, or I'm not really sure what, to be honest."
Kotetsu fell silent, presumably listening to Antonio's response.
"Yes, of course! But try telling him that. He doesn't believe me. Look, I'm going to bring him back to Oriental Town with me today. We'll take the train, so we'll probably be there by about noon. He won't listen to me, so could you try to talk to him?" Kotetsu pleaded. "Antonio, you're the best. Just tell him… That's right. Yes, okay. Thank you. Oh! And tell Kaede that Bunny's feeling better and is coming to visit. Also, he feels terrible that he had to miss her show. Hah! No, that part is definitely true."
Barnaby felt his heart twist uncomfortably. He had forgotten about Kaede's show, and now Kotetsu was defending him, trying to preserve his daughter's idea of him. Kotetsu walked into the room just as Barnaby flopped with his face down on the pillow. "How's your head?" he asked.
"I'm dying, Kotetsu," Barnaby said without moving.
Kotetsu reached over and pulled him up almost roughly by the shoulder. "Too bad!" he chirped. "It's time for you to get your shoes on and get ready to go."
He feigned ignorance. "To go?"
"To Oriental Town. We need to leave for the train station soon. The taxi is arriving in ten minutes. If I were you, I'd use my Hundred Power to pack quickly. I won't be letting you leave for a flimsy excuse like 'I need my own clothes, I can't wear old man clothes, I look like an old man!'" Kotetsu mocked him, putting his fingers up like rabbit ears on either side of his head as he spoke like he did every time he was impersonating Barnaby, and then laughing at his own antics.
"Train? Why not take the bus?" Barnaby got up and went to his wardrobe to begin selecting clothes.
"Too slow. Plus, with a train we can get a private compartment. It's a real treat!"
Barnaby felt panic rising in his gut. Staying at Kotetsu's house made him feel out of place enough as it was-though it was more like he felt so at home there that it made him uncomfortable for a reason he couldn't name. But sitting alone with Kotetseu in a small train compartment would be too much, he was sure of that. Too much of what, exactly, he didn't know, and Barnaby hated not being able to define things clearly. He glanced back at Kotetsu, who was sitting on the edge of his bed, leaning on his hands behind him, watching him expectantly. Barnaby definitely hated when he couldn't tell how he felt, and ever since he learned about Maverick manipulating his memories, all of his assumptions had been thrown into question. If he had been able forget Kotetsu (and not to mention idolise Maverick) so easily, well, that certainly didn't make him very confident in his perception of much of anything anymore.
They soon crawled into a taxi and arrived at the train station without spectacle, easily locating their car and the four-seated compartment. It was smaller than Barnaby expected, but not uncomfortably so, and both sat by the window: Kotetsu facing forward, and Barnaby facing backward. The train doors closed, the whistle blew, and the locomotive pulled out of the station, gaining speed once it got out of the city and into the countryside. Exhausted, Barnaby managed to fall asleep fairly quickly, but he awoke frequently, for mere seconds each time. He couldn't tell if he actually opened his eyes and saw Kotetsu watching him intently or if it was still a part of his dreams; however, he didn't sleep for too long before sitting up with a groan.
"Kotetsu?"
"Hmm?" Kotetsu was looking out the window.
"Could we switch places? I'm getting motion sickness."
Kotetsu smirked at him. "That's not motion sickness. It's being hungover. Here, come sit by me and have some water." He motioned to the plastic glass sitting in the cup holder between the seats. Barnaby moved next to him gratefully, taking the water and drinking most of it at once, not bothering to ask when or how Kotetsu had obtained it.
"Thank you, Kotetsu. And thank you for last night." He flushed slightly, looking down.
"Oh, no, Bunny. I'm the one who should be thanking you for last night!" Kotetsu said with a steady smile.
Barnaby's eyes widened, and he felt his face flame bright red, his eyes snapping up to meet Kotetsu's. "W-what? That didn't- you're lying, Kotetsu! That's not funny!" He was clutching the cup so tightly it was apt to break at any moment.
Kotetsu burst into laughter, clapping him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry," he gasped out before visibly calming down. "I was joking! I didn't think you'd take me seriously. Hell, Bunny, I didn't even know you were into men."
Barnaby's embarrassment turned into anger. He threw the empty cup on the ground, where it made a very non-threatening clicking noise as it hit. "So I'm a joke to you?"
"What?" Kotetsu's smile faltered. "No, I-"
"All this time, and you just made assumptions about me? You never even asked. I'm not, as you so crudely put it, 'into men.' Not that it's any of your business!" Barnaby crossed his arms and turned his entire torso away from Kotetsu with a deep scowl.
Kotetsu frowned. "I'm sorry, Bunny. I really didn't mean to offend you, I promise. I was just trying to, you know…" he faded out, looking down at his hands in his lap. "Looks like I put my foot in my mouth again. Is that why you wanted to leave Oriental Town in the first place? Because of me?" He looked back at Barnaby sheepishly.
Barnaby moved so he was facing forward in a more comfortable position, avoiding eye contact. "No, I told you it was because I didn't have any more clothes," he grumped.
"But you didn't come back." Kotetsu's voice was quiet. A long moment later, he continued, "Because of me."
"No!" cried Barnaby impatiently, turning wholly in his seat to face Kotetsu. "It wasn't because of you! It was because… because of…" He cut himself off with a lunge towards Kotetsu, and before either of them really knew what was happening, Barnaby was sprawled like a coil undone, laying across his seat, an armrest, and half of Kotetsu, pulling him closer by his tie and pressing their lips together, his other hand braced against the window that Kotetsu was leaning against.
He pulled away almost as quickly as he'd leapt, shrinking back into his seat like a frightened animal. Kotetsu stared haplessly. "Bunny…" he breathed.
Barnaby fought the urge to apologize. "So there. That. That is why," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose. He watched Kotetsu with furrowed brow, waiting for admonishment.
"But," Kotetsu finally spluttered, "you said you don't like men."
"I don't."
"But-"
Barnaby's explanation sounded almost robotic. "I haven't really been attracted to anyone. Ever. Just a crush one time, I guess, if you can call it that. I was a student, and I never… nothing happened. Therefore, it would not be fair to say that I were 'into' either men or women." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Just you, it would seem."
Kotetsu massaged the bridge of his nose for a few moments to collect his thoughts. "Well, thank god," he said when he finally lifted his head.
Barnaby's eyebrows flew up. "Excuse me?"
"Stop acting like I'm going to be mad," Kotetsu frowned at him. "I honestly thought you just got lonely when you drank. This makes much more sense now."
It was Barnaby's turn to stare. "Makes sense? It doesn't make sense to me, how could it possibly make sense to you?"
Kotetsu let out a low chuckle. "Probably because you can't remember how you act when you're drunk enough to pass out. Of course, nothing happened. I made sure of it. That wouldn't be right, not when you were drunk like that. But really, that's why you left? Why didn't you tell me what was bothering you?"
Barnaby sighed and hung his head. "Because I didn't know. I only ever felt this way before once, and it wasn't this- it wasn't this much. And anyway, you don't feel the same, and I didn't want to ruin our friendship," he replied lamely. "You're not simply my only friend, Kotetsu. You're the only one I have left at all. I can't lose that."
Kotetsu sighed and moved the armrest up so there was nothing between them. "You know, for a genius, prodigy, world-famous Hero, you can be pretty stupid sometimes."
"I know," Barnaby whimpered. "I'm so sorr-"
Kotetsu leaned forward, lifted his chin, and kissed him softly, cautiously. "Just be careful with this Old Man," he murmured against Barnaby's lips.
Barnaby pulled him closer with every intention of never letting him go.
