Disclaimer: Tiger & Bunny belongs to Sunrise.
I've found out something I shouldn't have
Chapter 5: Strike while the iron is hot
Subsequent days unveiled without incidents.
The low crime rates allowed the heroes to have a respite, occupying their agendas with charity programs, interviews and guest appearances. Bunny had a lot of photoshoots that Wild Tiger had to attend as well —most of the time it was just him in the backstage bored to tears. But at least he got the opportunity to see Yuri again in the Justice Bureau.
About the children who had hacked the elevator one month ago, even though they weren't going to prison, they had been recruited by the police as IT agents. Their absolution of charges had nettled the public, and the hero had been requested by Administrator Petrov himself to escort the kids to a safe house, because he was worried that Lunatic may appear.
The four of them looked miserable, they knew the vigilante was going to kill them, if not tonight any other in the future. He tried to give them hope by promising he'd be there whenever the palm-face appeared, protecting the innocent was what a hero was supposed to do. And those kids, they were going to serve Sternbild to atone for their mistakes. They had the same rights than any other citizen.
He reported Justice Petrov later that night that the children had been left safe and sound the state home that was going to raise them. The commuting in the patrols had taken place without conflict.
"Thank you for your support." Yuri finalized the call with his professional, detached tone. This was too much to bear.
"Wait." He spewed, but the rest of the phrase was glued to his lips. "D-Do you have some free time tonight? There's something I need to tell you."
The dreaded silence after the proposition lingered from a thin string that menaced to be cut out by hanging up. Papers ruffling in the background at the other end of the line, and much patience later, Yuri replied.
"Should I suppose you are speaking from a personal position, Wild Tiger?"
"Y-yeah, one could say it that way. I can meet you in the parking lot, in… one hour?"
More silence, as if it was too difficult to figure out the schedule for the night.
"I'm afraid I cannot be free in one hour. If it's genuinely important, could you wait in the parking lot by nine?"
And loyal to his word, Yuri arrived at nine o'clock to his car in the parking lot. Kotetsu thought it could be better if Yuri did the driving, since he didn't drink, and because his house was farther away in the suburbs. It was an odd experience to sit beside Yuri in his car, for some unknown reason the interior smelled like strawberries, and the backseat was brimming with documents and cardboard boxes. Not in a messy way, but in some fancy that gave the impression the judge was moving houses.
"Do you mind if we run some errands before heading to your home?" Yuri's voice resonated over the humming of the engine.
"Sure." Kotetsu shrugged. It occurred to him that none of them had addressed the reason of their meeting, Yuri had probably assumed it had to do with the puzzle. "You know, we could make this a custom. One night at my place and one at yours."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible. You see, my mother has a very fragile health, hence I cannot invite people at home."
Mr. Legend used to beat his wife and child. The fact that Yuri tackled that issue as part of his everyday life sent shivers down Kotetsu's spine, who gulped audibly before shaking his head to breeze away any thought.
"You look rattled." Yuri glanced at his copilot with a touching concern. He was not the kind to take off the eyes from the road. Not especially when they entered a tunnel leading to Eastern Gold Stage, where the speed increased. "I appreciate your invitation, but if you are feeling unwell…"
Kotetsu forced a laugh, perhaps one to himself for letting his emotions get the best of him. He tapped at his temple and proceeded to wag his hands. "It's nothing. I was just surprised for your mom; I mean, it's a good thing your dad is around to take care of her while you aren't there."
He felt his tongue physically burn as he pronounced the word 'dad'. That was low. He wasn't expecting Yuri to tense up, the grip of the wheel creaking from sheer exertion of pressure. He could swear seeing a glimmer of blue on the judge's eyes —although it could have been a play of light.
"My father died many years ago. Mama is bound to a wheelchair, but she's capable of taking care of herself." He kept a leveled tone despite the barrage of emotions his body language expressed.
"I'm… I'm sorry." And bowing, Kotetsu forced his watery eyes to keep the tears from showing. The fact that Yuri had shared such personal info spoke volumes about the relationship they were forging.
He probably had interpreted it in a totally different way, as Kotetsu only got from him a "Don't think too much about it, it happened long time ago", kind of response of someone who had overcame mourning. Even though Petrov's shoulders were sightly shaking.
Yuri parked in a Presto supermarket —he was convinced that this branch was the only in the entire city that sold his favorite creampuffs. The errands consisted in groceries and mostly candy. It was another side of his friend Kotetsu was discovering, and after dropping that bomb about his past back in the car, he felt obligated to buy him something special as a present. He left Yuri in line with the butcher and headed to the Japanese candy section, wondering if the judge had ever tried the 'kinoko no yama' when a high-pitched voice reeled him from his mussing.
"But it isn't Wild Tiger!" Nathan and Pao Lin came to his encounter. Kotesu had to remind them he was not wearing the mask; they shouldn't reveal their hero identities. To which Nathan put the palms on his cheeks. "Oh, you are right. Sorry."
"I didn't know you buy your groceries in this store, Mr. Kotetsu." Pao Lin left the supermarket cart behind and crouched to pick a package or two of pocky.
"I don't. I was just… err, I was accompanying a friend." And suddenly he was too self-conscious that he was out in the open with the judge that presided his court hearings. That cannot be good. He started looking around, praying the gods that Nathan couldn't recognize him —Pao Lin was too absent-minded, and she haven't even been in court to worry about her opinion in the matter.
Nathan inspected every feature in Kotetsu's lying face with little to no personal space. His gorgeous make up shimmering all over the man's view. The scrutiny was lasting more than what's sociable acceptable when Kotetsu's phone rang. Relieved, he asked his fellow heroes for a minute to resolve the call and turned away.
"I'm already at the checkout line. Where are you?" Yuri was visible from the end of the aisle, which meant he had seen Kotetsu with the other heroes and didn't want to deal with that.
"Yes!" He stood up like a soldier and hung up. Back to his friends, Tiger made a half pray with a hand while the other scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry guys, it seems my friend is waiting for me."
"Before you go, who is this mysterious friend, hmm Tiger? Is someone you aren't supposed to be with?"
"Oh, I see. You are in a date!" Pao Lin peered curious as well, placing on the cart more senbei than what was humanly possible to eat.
"A- a- date!? Wait, wait just a minute, what makes you think that?"
"Take note Pao Lin, this is the face of someone who is hiding his feelings." Nathan illustrated to a nodding Dragon Kid.
"Just like Karina." The younger girl concluded with self-sufficiency.
"It's not a date. We are just friends, all right?" Kotetsu adjusted his hat, annoyed. He picked three packages of candy just for the sake of doing something while he rampaged. "You are too nosy. It's my private life and I can do whatever I want with my free time." He stormed to the closest register that had less than one customer in line and spun on his heels to yell at his two colleagues. "And have a nice evening."
He felt very stupid while walking out to the parking lot. Maybe going out with Yuri was a problem, considering the judge was legally bound to avoid personal relationships with people he heard in Court. Kotetsu hadn't dwell too much on it, and he may be creating trouble to his friend. While on the other side, what said Pao Lin shouldn't have flustered him to such degree. Was he really attracted to Yuri in a romantic way?
He had to admit Yuri had his fair share of attractiveness. Although Kotetsu considered Barnaby was more handsome.
But with Bunny, he had developed a familiarity that never felt like romantic love. The young hero was his partner, and he couldn't imagine how he had fought crime for ten years without him. He adored to spend time with him and watch him grow —and there was the word that changed everything.
Bunny had still a long way to flourish, and seeing him evolve was a sweet reward. Much like Kotetsu adored watching Kaede's achievements and his mother tending her crops. Bunny was already family.
But what about Yuri? Kotetsu longed to see more of those thin and hesitant smiles. He wanted to protect that shattered soul glued together in honeyed tea and formal speech. The judge had already plagued his thoughts for months, long before figuring out everything. When he learnt of his past, he had felt anger and impotency —if only he had been there to protect him. Perhaps Yuri was the person whom he craved to have near the most, and that was something Kotetsu wouldn't be able to do by staying just a friend.
"You look… unbalanced, and your face is flustered. Are you sure you are feeling fine?" Yuri pulled him to a side, he had been waiting for him in the parking lot instead of inside the car.
"Ah yeah, yeah… I mean, no. You saw I met Fire Emblem and Dragon Kid back there, I guess?" He waited for his interlocutor to nod. "They say the craziest of things."
"I see." And they started their way towards the car.
"Yuri wait." He knew there was no turning back from what he had started when his friend stopped to stare at him. "Actually, Dragon Kid said something that left me thinking. Do you… how do you find me?"
He had both arms open as if he expected the judge to jump to an embrace, when in reality this one barely raised an eyebrow.
"You are an able hero, and a man who follows an interesting personal code of justice." Yuri fiddled with his stray lock of hair. "You have a healthy mind and body for someone your age. Is that what she asked you?"
Okay, he doesn't find me unappealing.
"Not exactly, no. I was just thinking… The time I've spent with you has been really fun and, to tell you the truth it's a shame we don't see each other more often. You are a great person and, now that I know you out of court, I have figured out a lot about you." He bit back his words to correct. "About your personality, and your hobbies."
"Where do you want to go with this?" Yuri was getting exasperated; he weighed the grocery bags on his hands to make a point.
"Arg, could you give me a minute? This is hard." He scratched his head over the hat. "What I want to ask it's… if you… if you want to go out with me?"
Yuri blinked a couple of times and proceeded to shrug, the contents of the fabric bags clacking against each other.
"What do you mean? We are outside already." He moved his shoulders around to highlight the parking lot. Some customers passed by and pried at the scene with curiosity. "Do you mean somewhere else?"
Kotetsu was redder than a new-born child at this point. He wasn't good with this kind of things, after all, it had been Tomoe's idea to go out as a couple. He had never had to deal with the romantic declarations before.
"Let me rephrase, please. And before you answer anything, it doesn't matter the outcome, our friendship is very important. Okay? Here I go again." He straightened up and looked straight at Yuri's emerald eyes. "Yuri, would you like to be my boyfriend?"
Yuri blinked a couple of times, again. He turned away to open his car, first the passenger seat to let know Kotetsu he didn't absolutely hate him after that half assed declaration, and then he put the groceries on the trunk and finally he sat behind the wheel. He turned the engine and kept driving in a dreadful silence for about two miles. His expression unreadable, and ignoring Kotetsu's presence as if he had become a ghost.
About to reach the Bronze Stage, Yuri cleared his throat.
"I'm not fishing for compliments here but, what do you find attractive about me?"
"I… the way you dispense justice is admirable. And, I haven't had the opportunity to geek-out with anyone else in ages." He succeeded to crease a grin in Yuri's face. "And… and you have a lovely smile."
He also managed to force the man to take off the view from the road for full two seconds, and his stunned expression passed as fast that one could wonder if it ever happened.
"Let me signal the obvious. You aware I am a man, yes?"
"Never bothered me." Kotetsu shrugged. "I mean, there's something good about everyone, right?"
"That is the problem with you, you are too trusting. You don't know how I am, far from our few outings."
"I haven't been wrong so far, and how can I learn more about you if this doesn't happen?"
Before he'd notice, they were parking on the porch of Kotetsu's apartment. Neither of them wanted to get down of the car. Despite the make-up, Yuri was blushing profusely.
"You have… seen my scar…"
"And?" Kotetsu tried to sound the most indifferent possible, he may have figured out how Yuri had gotten it, but he ignored the full extent, and he was not in a position to pry into the truth.
"Don't you find me disgusting?" He covered where his scar was with his hand, frowning as if trying to understand, his hoarse remark showed how his throat tightened from the thought.
Kotetsu reached out and the other man flinched like a scarred animal, it hurt to think how the judge's life was affected by that accident. At the end, he greeted the gesture after a hesitation that lasted a breath.
"Is that how you see it yourself?" Kotetsu grabbed Yuri's chin to force the man's gaze upon him.
"This is so unexpected." Yuri gaped, and turned away pushing the other's hand away. And then his shoulders slumped and he sighed, in defeat. Uh, déjà vu. "I… I have no idea of how to behave or react in this situation. Suppose I say yes, where do we take this from there?"
"I don't know either. The path we follow it's decided by the two of us, there is no correct or wrong way of doing it."
"What about your compromise?" He hissed, leering at the marriage ring in Kotetsu's fingers. Which suddenly felt like a burning coal against his skin. Tomoe would understand.
"I promised Tomoe I will always be a hero." The ring glimmered under the street lights when he raised it to showcase it to the other man. "This ring is my commitment to follow my own justice. I'm sorry if it disturbs you, but it's the only thing that won't change."
Against the expected reaction, Yuri seemed pleased with the response. Then, he extended his hand in the short distance that separated them, to perform a formal shake —it was unforeseen, but Kotetsu wasn't to complain about this.
"In that case it's yes. Yes Kotetsu, I like the idea of being your boyfriend." He let go of his hand to move the wild strand of his ashen hair out of his face. "Just to clarify, my schedules are tight and it is unlikely we will meet as often as average couples do. A-Also…" he stammered while the red colored his cheeks. "I am not very… predisposed to physical contact. Please bear with me while I assert the situation."
"Ph-physical?" And up to that instant he understood the full extent of his proposition. Of course, he would expect sex in a relationship! They were no high schoolers, there was more in a relationship than grabbing hands and chaste pecks. On the other hand, he had never done it with a man. His heart risked of getting out of his chest by the sole imagery. "Oh yeah, don't press yourself too hard. We have all the time in the world."
When they settled several minutes later on each behind the jigsaw puzzle, nothing seemed to have changed, and yet everything gave a different impression.
Yuri shot an annoyed look at Kotetsu upon finding the bent piece, but he resumed the task without any other complaint. They didn't discuss further about their new relationship, nor about their feelings. And even the occasional hand taps and sitting close to each other felt forced and procedural. After a while, Kotetsu went to the kitchen to prepare dinner —chahan, no doubt. This time he was adding sweet and sour sauce. And to serve tea.
When he got tired of the puzzle, or perhaps his back ached from a bad position, Yuri went to the table to pull out his briefcase and start reading at the files while nibbling absentmindedly at one of the puff pastries he had bought at the supermarket, the rest of his groceries were kept cold in the fridge before he'd take them to his house. Kotetsu wasn't one to complain about the man eating dessert before dinner, but he did when Yuri pointed out he shouldn't drink that much alcohol.
"I will quit alcohol altogether if you promise me to have a better diet." He smiled while serving his boyfriend a big plate of fried rice. Yuri's eyes went large as when he was a little kid.
"Do you mean it?" It was as if the sole notion of leaving the drink, just like that, seemed unbelievable.
"Sure! It will suck going dry the first weeks but it's something I've been thinking about doing for a while. Now your diet… you are going to get a diabetes with all the sugar that you put in your tea."
His boyfriend stared down to the honey doused tea he had been drinking, like a fortune teller reading the leaves, he got a resolve.
"Let's do it. I will quit sugar if you quit alcohol." And he shoved the tea aside to make a point he was going cold turkey right away. "That's what couples do, right? They support each other with their goals."
Kotetsu's chest puffed with joy and hope. He went around the table to give Yuri a kiss on the cheek. His startled boyfriend opened the mouth with inquiring perplexity but as words failed to leave his lips, he closed it back.
After that, they decided that keeping themselves company didn't required for them to be joint by the hips. So, Kotetsu went the living room to watch the weekly resume of HeroTV, while Yuri sorted back his documents again and started signing some of them.
From time to time, he peered back to find his shiny new boyfriend working on the table, until the commercial break ended and he discovered Yuri staring at the emission. When he was caught on the spot, he went back to his documents ashamed like a boy who had been caught with the hand in the cookie jar. It was as if he didn't like people to notice how much he liked heroes.
Yuri didn't accept the invitation to pass the night with him —he was worried about leaving his mother alone for too long. He promised to keep in touch with his partner during the week, and to find a time in his schedule to go get lunch or dinner.
"Tomorrow I will recuse myself from any hearings concerning you. It will be a nice breath of air to see you outside of my workspace forever." His brittle smile told Kotetsu his boyfriend still had a good way to learn in what concerns humor.
Waking up. He had gotten a message from Yuri one hour after he left, thanking Kotetsu for the outing and informing he had arrived safe and sound to his house. The hero didn't know if it was customary between couples to share that kind of information, but it warmed his heart to know Yuri was already missing him. Kotetsu included a "Luv u" at the end of his reply.
Yuri may be odd and enigmatic, but it was gleeful to have him in his life all together. He could see a bright future for them. Kotetsu wasn't too eager to take him to bed yet but, after that chaste peck he gave him before leaving, last night he had fantasied with kissing him all over.
Arriving at the Apollon Media office, his permanent goofy smile hadn't abandoned his lips all the way from home. That is until Bunny handed him this morning newspaper.
'Seven victims in one night: Lunatic's rampage'
"Why we weren't called?" He claimed, anger sweeping by the corner of his mouth.
"The bodies were discovered this morning. Even for Lunatic, this is unusual. Judging from the distance from one assault to the other, he must have been up all night." Bunny concluded.
The idiot palm-face could rant as much as wanted about the corruption and farse of the TV show, and yet he flashed before the cameras like a diva. He normally wandered around to be seen by the HeroTV cameras. But this time he just had gone from one spot to the city to the next. According to the note, the victims ranged from drug dealers to reformer murderers; they didn't have a connection.
The most aggravating part, one of them was the eldest of hacker kids Kotetsu himself had escorted the other night. The remaining three must be terrified.
"It seemed a desperate move from Lunatic, as if he wanted to leave a harder impression before doing something daring." Bunny theorized.
Kotetsu crumpled the newspaper in frustration. Seven people was a record for that maniac! He thought about discussing that theory with Yuri, until he remembered the interest the judge had taken for the action figure of the vigilante. He couldn't judge Yuri if he was a Lunatic fan.
One could only imagine how much Yuri prayed at young age for some external force to punish his aggressor. Victims of violence often feel happy when someone kills their abuser —it didn't matter if it was the one and only Mr. Legend.
"Urg, this certainly kills the mood." He bent over his desk; fingers interlaced above his hat. "What if he's making all this fuss because I still have his glove?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
With the bad news ruining his morning, Kotetsu couldn't find the moment to tell Bunny about his relationship with the judge. Even if it wasn't a secret, he preferred to keep the information far from the other heroes —specially Fire Emblem and Dragon Kid! And maybe Rock Bison, for the moment. But on the other side, his partner deserved to know. After all, what if he wanted to invite the two of them to an outing?
Kotetsu wasn't fan of superstitions, yet he found his way to Bunny's apartment that evening to retrieve the glove. According to Bunny, Dr. Saito had examined it and discovered the gloves' fabric was a made of a fire-retardant glass fiber, similar to those used for workers in the utility sector. There was no way such fabric could resist the almost 2000°C Lunatic blue flames reached to scorch his victims. Which meant the NEXT had the ability to manipulate the temperature of his fire.
"Do you remember when he punched you on the face? Consider yourself lucky, if he had been using all his heat your skin might have melted in the spot." Bunny was genuinely worried for that incident. He couldn't get over the fact that Lunatic had hit Kotetsu on the shoulder while protecting his partner as well.
So far, they had figured out that Lunatic could transform into fire too —remembering that surreal escape from the crumbling hospital two months ago. And that he wasn't immune to his flames' heat once they left his body; conclusion Bunny got after the vigilante avoided to use them during the storm out of fear of getting burned by the steam. Now, his partner was tracing the route Lunatic followed to kill the seven this morning, expecting to find a pattern that could lead them to a starting point.
"Do you mean his lair?"
"This is not a videogame, what makes you think he has a lair?"
"Which supervillain doesn't have an evil lair?"
"Anyhow, I'm figuring out his… 'lair' it's outside the city, maybe in the suburbs." Bunny turned on the huge screen in his apartment to project what was displayed in his laptop. The Sternbild three levels were traversed by a red line segmented in red points, jumping from a stage to the other but eventually leaving the area in the last point. "See? Lunatic made a circle of sorts to kill all the victims following a single path."
"This is great." Kotetsu was amazed by the deducting abilities of his partner, but something irked him on the matter. "Why are you suddenly interested in capturing him? I mean, I'd love to see that idiot behind the bars, but you hadn't shown an interest for him before."
"It's for Edgar Prince."
"The hacker boy?"
"So far Lunatic had growth a following, a fair percentage of the population saw him as another type of 'hero'. But this morning people changed their mind, because Edgar Prince had also gained a lot of popularity. This time, if we capture Lunatic, we don't risk to lose popularity with the public. And I doubt Agnes will only grant us the simple capture points we get from any other criminal."
Kotetsu scratched his beard, giving up on his partner's motifs for being a hero. That was how Barnaby was, there was not a point in expecting him to change.
He told Yuri his mussing by the phone that evening. The judge had a lot of work pending, but they had arranged to at least call each other every day. It was a habit easy to follow, especially since Kotetsu had timed the calls exactly after talking to Kaede —He also needed to tell his daughter about this new relationship, but he was afraid the girl would retaliate if she thought his father was replacing Tomoe.
"Nothing will ever replace Tomoe." He mumbled to himself, forgetting he was holding the receiver with his boyfriend on the other side of the line. Catching up in the slip, he corrected. "Because Tomoe was unique, and she will hold a special place in my heart as my first love. But that doesn't mean you and I can't create something new. Err, let's see, how would I call it? Something different."
"I understand. One cannot compete with dead people." And it sounded as if he was referring more to his father than to their own relationship.
And while Yuri Petrov had never been close to any of his coworkers, it was inevitable that rumors spread like wild fire when he recused himself from any hearing related to Wild Tiger. The judge dodged swiftly any interrogatory, until an intern cornered him in the office kitchen, no less, to confess what was going on between him and the hero.
Everybody in the Justice Bureau congratulated him. Which could explain how was it that Lloyds called Wild Tiger to his office that same afternoon, pleading the hero to be discreet with his romantic life.
"Wait, does that mean more people in the justice bureau know my secret identity?" Kotetsu promptly sent a message to Yuri just leaving Lloyds' office.
"I'm sorry to tell you this but, the number of people who know your secret identity is bigger than you think. It's still classified information, though."
Kotetsu and Lloyds kept their mouths shut about the nature of the hero and the judge's outings —his boss being a tomb when it came to keep secrets. The hero felt a bit of guilt for not sharing it with Barnaby, but something inside him told the young man was not going to take it with the levelheadness his partner would prefer. So he kept it to himself, until the next opportunity to disclose it came in sight.
This happened one month into the relationship.
Kotetsu told Yuri it was the time to get physical. They hadn't had any problem with kisses and making out, but it was becoming frustrating how every single time they had his clothes removed, Yuri caviled to slide out of the bed. And whenever the hero gushed about how much he had hots for the judge, the last one balked the topic.
"You said you didn't see a problem with me being a man." Kotetsu sat on the border of the bed, defeated. Yuri was pacing in the room still in boxers, which was an improvement —other occasions he'd be dressed up by that time.
"I don't…" He massaged his temple, at least they had reached a point in their relationship where he felt at ease not wearing makeup to cover his scar.
Yuri had an amazing physique for someone who spends the day sorting papers and hunched over a screen, his morning workouts really paid off. Kotetsu's gaze inspected all the man's body. Pinpointing how at least a part of him was still interested in intercourse, made the other self-conscious.
"T-that thing you do with your tongue it's wonderful." Yuri rebutted, his decorum a counterfeit of what it used to be.
Kotetsu raised a suave eyebrow, his sly smile invited the other to keep going.
"It's just… It's just…" His pace quickened up into a stride, arms defensively folded on his chest, hair cascading over his shoulders in a messy way. "I'm… afr—nervous it will hurt."
"Hurt?" Now it was Kotetsu's turn to feel anxious. The thought hadn't crossed his mind, but putting it that way, it would be different than any other sexual experience he'd had. "Wait, wait, do you mean you want to be on the… ahem, on the receiving end?"
"No. But I thought that's would please you more."
"Really?" Kotetsu couldn't hold a chortle. "I thought I was going to be the 'bottom'." Honestly, he should ask Nathan later if this sort discussion was a real thing.
"Do you want to?" Yuri stopped his parade through the room, almost relieved.
"To tell you the truth, not exactly." He shrugged. "But one has to try everything, right? Who knows if I actually like it? After all, what matters is I'm doing it with you."
"We could… take turns…" Yuri took a big grasp of air.
"That sounds like a plan." Kotetsu reclined his head on his chin, elbow on the matters. With the free hand he beckoned Yuri back to the bed.
His boyfriend clenched and unclenched his fist and shook his fingers around. Then, he bent over Kotetsu to kiss him tenderly on the lips, pushing him down to make him lay on the back. The ashen hair tickling at his chest, Yuri formed a path by nibbing at his jawline and neck.
Yuri's slender fingers massaged downwards, and started pulling and rubbing. Kotetsu moaned, he reached out to cup the other's man chin —he was beautiful. But when he told him, Yuri disregarded with a self-deprecating chuckle, as if he didn't deserve to know it. His opinion didn't matter in the issue, the hero showered him with compliments, each sweeter and gentler, alternating kissing and nibbing at his earlobe.
"Let me try something." Kotetsu pulled back to circle on the bed to find his partner was completely aroused. He was pretty impressed, and it was curious how tempting it became to put his mouth to use with a single gaze.
The flavor was a bit fishy, yet the scent of Yuri was overwhelming and each moan from his partner encouraged to go faster and deeper. All the while his boyfriend massaged his back —frankly in this position it was hard to touch each other.
Yuri pleaded him to stop before he exploded, which only teased Kotetsu to keep going. The discharge came unexpecting strong, and he pulled away coughing that itch that had ran up to the back of his nose. The apologies from his boyfriend came like a flustered machinegun.
Yuri said he wanted to compensate him, letting Kotetsu going inside him.
"Are you sure?" Kotetsu raised his concern, seeing boyfriend fret was practically sweeping through every pore.
"…yes. But next time it will be your turn." He committed, even though everything was said through a trembling voice.
Both got into position, seeing Yuri's back turned on Kotetsu harder. He massaged his boyfriend's butt —muscular and yet soft, and divided it to get inside.
It didn't go as he expected. To say it was tight it was an understatement, he pushed and shoved. He might as well thrust a wall.
"Uh… Yuri, it's not going in." His boyfriend looked back confused.
"What do you mean?"
"You have to loosen up. I don't want to hurt you."
"I'm loose." He scoffed, as if this was Kotetsu's fault. Then Yuri went back to position and exhaled against the mattress. "Just try harder."
He wasn't going to ram in, the point of making love with Yuri was to make him feel good. Kotetsu moved aside to sit beside his boyfriend, who was still in position. He massaged his back and kissed him on the cheek.
"Hey, you don't have to force it." He mollified his tone while the other man turned on his back, clearly rattled instead of aroused. Kotetsu's lips brushed Yuri's and they engaged again in foreplay.
Yuri's saliva was leaving a fresh trace over his neck, his hands were doing wonders with his most sensitive spot. They rolled around again, Kotetsu on top rubbing all over his boyfriend's body. The friction was driving him mad. Their mouths melted together, both burning with passion and urgency.
When the release came, he looked down at Yuri underneath him. The man was panting through a relaxed smile. He couldn't stop him to lock their mouths again, this time affectionally. It hadn't been the conventional, but it had been awesome.
They cuddled for a while in bed, nothing was said during that span of time. It was relaxing to just listen to the breathing of his significant other under his chin; feeling his warm hand on his chest —until Yuri announced he wanted to take a shower. It was kind of a spectacle to see his well sculped body walking naked towards the bathroom, doing slow steps as if tempting him to go for seconds.
Kotetsu wiped his belly with a shirt that definitely was going to the laundry basket afterwards, and tried to enter the shower. Yuri had locked it and the water was already pouring.
Disappointed, he threw a towel around his hips and went downstairs to grab a snack. There were some BBQ chicken wing leftovers from last night's dinner. He was starving, no time to warm them up.
He turned on the TV, it was broadcasting the evening news. He left the volume low to keep an ear on the water from the shower —he wanted to take a bath as well. He was devouring the chicken wings on the couch when the doorbell rang. Several times.
Such insistency only meant someone was in a true danger, and Kotetsu wasn't the kind to ignore anyone in need.
Antonio was about to howler when Kotetsu opened the door. His best friend had two large grocery bags on one hand, and an ice cooler on the other.
"About damn time, where have you been all day? You didn't answer any of my calls." And he invited himself to the house, putting the bags on the kitchen counter, he rambled about the importance of having the phone close by, and how that cute cashier had winked at him on his way out from the supermarket, and how excited he was for today's match —the Kangaroos versus the Blue atlas wasn't a common occurrence for a championship.
Only then, Antonio noticed his best friend was curtaining his even parts with a towel. His expression was priceless.
"Don't tell me." He gulped as the sound of the shower upstairs confirmed his suspicions. But this astonishment lasted two seconds, because for the third one he was already promptly submitting Kotetsu to a noggie. "Ata Tiger! You should have told me you had companionship for the night. She must be a beauty, like the one of your magazines, ain't her?"
"Stop. Stop. I was going to tell you. It's just, there hadn't been a right time." Kotetsu tried to untangle from Antonio's clutches, all the while keeping his towel on place with his free hand. "We've been going out barely one month."
Antonio let go, the mood suddenly going stale. The larger man spun Kotetsu around and put his sturdy hands on his shoulders. He inspected every feature in the veteran hero to discern if what he had just heard was a lie.
"So, is this truly a thing?" For Antonio, it was equally hard to accept Tomoe was no longer part of their lives. After all, the three of them had been inseparable since high school, and learning that his best friend was starting to walk far from her memory was —albeit unreasonable, hard to swallow. "You aren't playing around, Kotetsu?"
"I am not." He puffed out his chest. Every word weighting a ton from everything he knew about Yuri's past and his burdens.
Antonio recognized that familiar resolution. He showed his approval by a thunderous laughter and slam on Kotetsu's back. Then, realizing he had visited at a not so appropriate moment, the large guy became suddenly self-conscious. He gestured with a grunt to the grocery bags on the kitchen, scratching the back of his neck.
"I guess you were… you know, busy?" Antonio was a softie when it came to anything related to love, a blush was forming on his protruded cheeks.
"Well… yeah." Kotetsu sly pride made the situation more uncomfortable. "But it's mostly my fault. I kind of forgot the game was tonight." A great idea crawled to his head. In a snap of fingers, he had made his mind. "Hey, let's watch the final the three of us!"
"Are you sure? I mean, I'd understand if you prefer to have your time together during the weekend. I can take my butt somewhere else to watch the match."
"Nathan's?" Kotetsu mocked, and the frown in Antonio made it more hilarious.
"No." It didn't change even though Kotetsu repeated he was kidding. With the intention of changing the topic, Kotetsu asked his friend to get everything ready while he went to look for his boyfriend upstairs.
"Boyfriend?"
Kotetsu heard his friend's astonishment as soon as he had reached the last step of the stairs. He found Yuri was still on the bathroom, but the door was wide open and the man was applying makeup in front of the mirror. The man gaze was still glued to his image when he addressed his boyfriend.
"It seems you had plans for tonight." He brushed some liquid on his scar. Among the myriad of bottles on the countertop, Kotetsu wondered which use Yuri had for each one.
"It was something Antonio has been rambling about for months but… errr… I had actually forgot it." He shrugged. "And I was thinking it would be rude to shoo him out. But I still wanted to be with you. That's how I thought, hey, we could watch the game together."
Yuri put the brush down to figure out if the other was joking —Kotetsu was getting accustomed to that scrutiny. It didn't have to do with lack of trust, it was more a habit of him. Yuri had told him he was good at reading people's intentions, and that was something he practiced in his everyday routine.
"I don't mind, given one of you explain me the rules at least." He went back to the brush, this time covering his scar with a scary precision.
"Awesome! I'm going to take a quick shower and fix this bad boy." He smudged a finger on his trimmed beard. "You can go and hang around with Tonio until I finish."
"Wait. Aren't you introducing me to your friend?" Yuri spoke when Kotetsu had already entered the shower room and had the water running.
"It's Antonio Lopez. You already know him." He teased. "Rock Bison?"
"I know who he is, it's just… ah, forget it. I will do it myself." He finished his makeup when Kotetsu was still under the water. Kotetsu chuckled when the stunned, 'your honor!?" from Antonio's stentorian voice came from downstairs and resonated with the echo of the bathroom tiles.
It was quite a picture to have both his best friend and his mate on the same couch. Antonio helped them to move the puzzle to the floor —there was no other available surface big enough to put the whole project on while they carpeted their center table with snacks and beverages. Unfortunately, many pieces fell off and a large portion of their work went lost. Kotetsu reassured his friend it wasn't a big deal. After all, Antonio had gone through the trouble to bring everything like he had promised weeks ago. However, he wouldn't have predicted the compromise Kotetsu had made about quitting drinking.
Antonio knew how many times his friend had tried to quit alcohol for good. It seemed Kotetsu had succeeded when Kaede was born; sadly, Tomoe passing away made him relapse into the vice. It didn't help Rock Bison was a heavy drinker too, and hanging out with him consisted ninety percent of times in getting wasted. That's why the big guy didn't push Kotetsu to have at least one beer with him.
Nonetheless, Kotetsu had found very tempting to see Antonio open a cold bottle of beer in front of him. When his urges were taking the best out of him, Yuri threw the corny phrase that he no longer needed to add sugar to his tea, because Tiger was the sweetest thing in his life.
Antonio blasted in laughter from the comment. From thereon, any tension between the men dwindled.
Tonio was his best friend after all, and as the man's brand-new boyfriend squeezed the hand of his lover while they talked about their abstinence's struggles, Antonio understood how important this quest was for the veteran hero and for the judge.
Author's Note: Starting this chapter I changed the rating to Mature. I don't believe this single sex-scene is explicit, but just in case. Tbh, this is the first time I write smut, it was necessary for the character development though.