Kaede was bouncing full of excitement as she was getting bundled up by her grandmother. She was being picked up to be taken to the train by uncle Muramasa any minute, and grandma was fussing over her winter clothes.
"Now Kaede you need to make sure that you have perfect manners on the train, keep aware of your surroundings so you don't bump into anyone. Don't let anyone touch you either, be polite and bow if someone offers a handshake…" her grandmother continued on about safe train travel and not being kidnapped (for the fiftieth time it felt like) while Kaede stared out the window. She had her winter jacket, boots, scarf, toque, and thick mittens on. She was sweating in them but her grandmother refused to let her go without proper winter gear even though she was going to Sternbild where the coldest it would be was maybe -10°C.
The sound of Muramasa's old van honking outside signalling he was here. "Okay grandma, I'm off! I'll phone you as soon as I'm in my seat on the train and as soon as I'm in Sternbild with dad," she said as she kissed her grandma's cheek. "Ittekimasu!" And with that she bolted out the door, her little suitcase dragging behind her.
She threw her case into the back of the van before jumping into the front seat next to her uncle. "Let's go! The train won't wait for us!" She complained as she slapped her hand on the dash of the van, like she had seen cops do in all those movies.
Muramasa let out a sigh. "And hello to you too," he mumbled and put the van into drive, pulling them away and back out onto the road. Kaede couldn't wait to get to Sternbild. She had seen the recording of Barnaby blasting into the car dealership and catching her dad. It had totally blown Agnes' plans up, but it was so much better this way! Barnaby really did want to see her dad, he wouldn't have rushed in to see him if that wasn't the case!
Kotetsu had phoned the day after that to check in with her and tell her about Barnaby being alive and well, and that he was still a little mad at him. She had asked what he meant about being mad, he had explained that the two had actually fought a bit over the fact Barnaby never thought to tell him he was in town, but everyone else seemed to know. Kaede refrained from telling her dad she also knew Barnaby was in town.
Once she was in Sternbild she would get to see not only her dad and Barnaby but all the Heroes! She couldn't wait to see Blue Rose and Dragon Kid again. After the Maverick incident and her dad was in the hospital for a while, she had been allowed to stay in Sternbild until he was better. During that time she had gotten to know the other girls and had hit it off great with them.
They pulled into the Train station and Muramasa got her bag out for her, wheeling it behind him as they made their way across the station. "Whose powers do you have right now?" he asked her quietly as they waited patiently for the boarding call.
"I have Marco's ability to control soundwaves. I asked him if I could borrow it until I got to Sternbild since it's one I've gotten pretty good at controlling, and most likely won't cause the train to derail like Eli's magnetism…" she said while scuffing her foot on the ground. She wished she had her dad's Hundred Power, she was getting really good with it, and when she had it she felt invincible. She knew that at any given moment she could activate it and become the strongest person within a hundred miles.
"Good, make sure you don't use it unless for some reason the train really does derail. Even if the train is attacked, or a hostage situation starts, anything you don't use your powers to play Hero, you got it?" he looked so stern as he said this that she couldn't help but just nod her head in obedience.
The mechanical voice announced over the PA system "now boarding train B2287, express to Sternbild on Platform 4. Please, mind the gap."
Kaede snatched her bag from Muramasa's hand, gave him a hug and jumped up to kiss his cheek, "I'll call you as soon as I am pulling into Sternbild and I'll stay on the phone with you until I find dad!" it was the stipulation he had set for her to go on her own.
"Be safe!" he called after her as she made her way towards the train doors, her ticket safely tucked away in her purse.
Kaede got comfortable in her seat, gave her grandma a quick phone call to let her know she was safely on board. She then plugged her phone into the electrical port provided to her seat, the last thing she needed was for the battery to die while she was on the train. She took out her personal belongings and placed them on the little table provided to her seat. Dad had bumped her up to a first-class seat so that she wouldn't have to worry about bumping elbows with someone sitting too close.
She had a book, her phone, her headphones, and a packed snack from grandma set before her. She decided to plug her headphones in and listen to music on her phone as she read; the trip would take three hours to get to Sternbild, may as well settle in for the journey.
Three hours blew by as Kaede looked at the time on her phone; Sternbild was in view from the windows, the train speeding up onto the higher rails, shifting the train up onto the Gold Stage. Kaede pulled her contacts list up and hit voice-only before calling her uncle. He answered on the first ring, probably waiting for the call. "I'm pulling up to the Gold Stage Station now," she had her eyes peeled to spot her dad as the train slowed pace sliding along beside the platform. She caught a glimpse of him, though she couldn't be sure as the train moved past quickly. "Think I spotted dad!" she told her uncle over the phone.
"Just be careful when you are disembarking, you can still gain someone else's powers by mistake. Don't mess up now," came the stern reply. The train came to a stop and Kaede pulled her bag down from the overhead compartment, gathering up her few things and shoving them back inside her bag, she made her way towards the exit, keeping a wide berth between her and the next passenger.
She stepped onto the platform and spotted her dad, with a group of strangers gathered around him, he looked embarrassed rubbing the back of his head while he was saying something to them. Kaede pulled her bag along behind her as she walked, "Okay, I see dad, can I hang up now, I'm almost to him," Kaede asked.
"Fine, but get your dad to call me when you get home," he said before she hung up. As Kaede approached she started to hear what people were murmuring around her.
"Hey, isn't that that Kotetsu guy that murdered someone last year?" said one.
"No! That's that Kotetsu guy who is actually Wild Tiger!" said another. The crowd around her dad were all holding things out for him to sign.
"Well, just a few more, I really need to be watching out for…" he was signing things but kept looking up over the heads of the people around him, trying to see the people coming off the train. He spotted her. "Ah! Sorry, gotta run," he handed back the pen and paper he was holding, the fans parting for him as he motioned he needed to get through. "Sweetie! I'm so glad you're here!" he said happily as he jogged the last few steps to her.
He was going in for his traditional glomp hug and with all these people around Kaede didn't know what to do, she didn't want to embarrass her dad, but she also didn't want to be embarrassed by him. His arms were around her already. "Ahhh, my sweet little girl," he said before finally releasing her. "Shall we?" he said as he slid the suitcase from her fingers, other hand taking hold of hers. One thing they learned while her dad lived with them was that she couldn't take on more than one power at a time, as long as she was in contact with a NEXT she retained their powers. So the easiest way to get through a crowd was to hold onto another NEXT. She allowed her dad to hold her hand for that reason only, but she was sure that even without that reason he would have wanted to take her hand, like she was still little.
"How was the train? First-class is nice right?" he said as they made their way through the station, people were watching them as they went.
"People recognize you now, dad," she said, ignoring his question, eyeing the people as they went by.
"Ya, what a pain, I thought it was troublesome when Bunny and I went out, but now I can't go anywhere even without him. And everyone keeps calling me Kotetsu, Kotetsu, it's Wild Tiger!" he said shaking his head.
"I think it's kinda cool," she realised the mistake the second it came out of her mouth, because her dad's head swung around and he looked at her with such big doe eyes, tears in the corner and everything; she knew she was in trouble.
"Kaedeeeee!" he whined out, letting go of her hand to try and smother her with hugs and kisses instead.
"Ugh, now you are the most uncool dad ever, let's go." she grabbed her suitcase and kept walking; they were past all the major crowds she could be careful and not touch anyone from now on.
He scrambled behind her to catch up and they walked in silence for a while. "Is Barnaby going to be around much while I visit, I know I'll see him at the New Year's Gala, but will he be around before that?" she hoped he would be.
Her dad let out a sigh rubbing the back of his head. "I dunno, he's got a lot on his plate, you know the dreams everyone had a few months back? He's still having them and they leave him pretty worn out. If he's up to it he'll come visit I'm sure, but don't count on it," he had a bit of a frown on his face as he said this. What had changed since she last spoke to her dad a few days ago, things seemed to be getting along just fine, they had been doing pre-recorded interviews leading up to Christmas.
"Alright, we'll let him know that I hope I get to see him since it's been forever!" she said as they finally got to Kotetsu's car. They put her bag in the back and she climbed into the passenger seat. "So, what's on the agenda for today?" she asked happily, every time she came to town her dad always had a million things planned.
Her dad excited started listing all the things he had planned for the week, though he would be working some days she would still have things to do while he was busy, he had made sure she had security clearance at all of their buildings just to ensure she could come if she wanted to.
He talked about this all the way home, helping her take her bag inside he started making something for them to eat. Kaede looked around the house; it was clean, cleaner than she ever remembered it. A lot of the extra stuff that had been kicking around was gone; it felt a lot bigger now.
"Wow dad, this place looks great!" She said as she walked over to the mantel place where all his pictures were. The new ones they took she was happy to see there and was pleasantly surprised to see one of Barnaby and dad together beside the one of her, her mom, and her dad.
They spent the night out after they had a snack; her dad took her all over Silver Stage's mall district. They would go to Gold Stage to look at the Christmas decorations and lights later on, but for shopping Silver Stage was best, they had real stores that you could actually afford to buy things in, unlike Gold.
He let her buy just about anything she wanted if it was clothes or accessories, like usual but kept telling her no when she asked for crazy extravagant things that she didn't need. She came home with a big armful of new clothes, the hottest new trends, as well as a ton of hair accessories. When she went back to school she would be allowed to wear the accessories, and the clothes would be for after school when she saw her friends. She couldn't wait.
They spent the night in. For the first time since she found out her father was a superhero the two of them sat down and watched Hero TV together. It was a DVD she had brought of Barnaby and Tiger's greatest hits (literally, it was a video of their best smackdowns).
Her dad was a running commentary that was way better than the original with Mario. He told her what he and Barnaby had actually been saying to one another over the COMs.
"Ah! And with this guy, when we were chasing him, we were actually talking about where to go to eat afterwards because neither of us had time to eat before we got called out," he had the biggest grin on his face she had seen in a year. This is what her dad was supposed to be like. "But we kept disagreeing with the places the other chose! I think we ended up going back to Bunny's and he made us something," he said, still watching the screen in rapture.
There was that name again, Bunny. Her dad said it so casually now. Until he got back to Sternbild and actually saw Barnaby again she hadn't heard him say that name since he was crying in his room. He and Barnaby had to be more than friends for her dad to be that upset over his disappearance the year before. She had been following the fan sites and speculation had started back when they defeated Jake that maybe Barnaby and Tiger were more than friends, as they were always seen together.
"You and Barnaby were practically inseparable back then huh?" She said, looking sideways at her dad.
"Well yeah, Agnes had us booked solid with interviews, voice-over work, daytime television appearances. When we weren't out doing Hero work we were busy with all that other stuff. By the time we got done one thing, it was lucky if we had time to grab a bite to eat before we were off to the next thing. I think I lost a few pounds, to be honest," he said slapping at his stomach.
Well that made sense, maybe the fansites were just speculating too hard. But, with how her dad had changed, had been so much happier with Barnaby, she had hoped that maybe that had been the case. He deserved to have someone special in his life again. Then again, even if they weren't romantically involved her dad was still happier with Barnaby around, so maybe that was enough.