Kotetsu set the house vidphone down and turned to look at his mom.
"I can't believe how lucky that was! The people renting my place found a nicer one on Silver Stage for the same price. In a better school district, closer to the parks. Way better for their family. They are moving out at the end of the month. I won't even have to find a new place to live when I go back to work," he sat down in front of her at the kitchen table.
"That's great dear, I'm glad you don't have to search around anymore," she was smiling at him, but he had seen that look on her face before. She hadn't liked the idea of him going back, the risk to his life, being away from his family, and the pay decrease for being in the second league were all things she didn't like. But she stopped fighting him on it when Kaede piped up saying she was the one to tell him to go back to Sternbild.
"Don't worry so much mom, I'm in the second league, they chase cats and help old ladies across the street," he took her hand as he spoke.
"I know, but I just worry about Kaede being left alone out here again…"
"She won't be alone mom, she has you and Muramasa. Besides you heard her, she doesn't want me out here being a lazy bum anymore," That was the excuse she had given grandma, not wanting to out her father for being depressed, though he was sure she already was well aware.
"I know, but I'm not as young as I used to be, and Muramasa is a busy man, he can't always come running when I need help," the same speech she had given the night he told her he was thinking of going back.
"I know, and I won't be as busy in the second league, Agnes promised if I needed to come home I would be able to. My contract is going to be a lot more tailored to the lifestyle I want from now on. I promise to come home for Kaede more often," her hand gripped his tighter.
"Alright alright…"
"Besides Kaede knows my secret now so she can come spend more time with me," he slid from the table and went to the fridge pulling out a Legend's Cola.
"That stuff will rot your gut, have some tea! You better not go back to only eating fried rice and mayonnaise again!" her voice cracked a bit as she said this, obviously covering up her worry with her chastising.
"Aw, mom you know it'll be alright. I promise ok! I'll even send you pictures of whatever I'm eating, okay?" He cracked the can open and took a few sips. "Besides, Legend's Cola is like a special treat, it's not like I drink it all the time!"
He walked out of the kitchen heading up to his room. He had about two weeks to get his belongings sorted out and packed before he went back to work. Agnes had sent over the paperwork for him to review, he had glanced it over looking for the main changes he wanted added and was overall happy with it. He would go in and sign as soon as he had all of his belongings settled in.
She had requested he be ready to come back for the new season, but that he be in town beforehand in case they wanted to do any pre-recording specials about his return from retirement. That meant being back before Christmas as the new season started in the New Year.
Kaede had been a little unhappy that he wouldn't be in Oriental Town for Christmas but had relented when he promised to have her out in Sternbild to celebrate the New Year and to watch the new season ceremony live with him.
He had never fully unpacked his belongings, his mother's house much too small to fit all of his and Tomoe's belongings. As he went through the boxes his mother's words rang through his mind.
"Kotetsu why don't you go through those boxes and get rid of some things. You've been putting it off for years. It's time to say goodbye," She had said while holding up some of Tomoe's old clothes from a box.
He opened the box she had been digging in and sighed. He really should get rid of this stuff, it's not like anyone would ever use it, it was outdated. He closed the box up. He would ask Kaede if she wanted any of it, it was her mother's things, maybe she wanted to keep something.
He started organizing things that he knew he could for sure get rid of. Old clothes of his own, his brown suit he had worn to Gala's. Barnaby had teased him relentlessly and called him an Old Man for wearing it. He would get a new suit when he went into Sternbild for the new season.
As he went through the boxes he found his photo albums. He flipped through them quickly. He loved seeing Tomoe pregnant and then holding Kaede. The pictures of them together before she fell sick were the best memories of his life. The pictures of Kaede alone broke his heart though and he closed the book. He would leave these here for Kaede, he didn't need to live in the past any more. He needed to move forward and he couldn't do that if he clung so tightly to his old ways.
By the time Kaede was home from school, Kotetsu had created three huge donation boxes that could be taken to the local charity to be donated. He had also created three smaller boxes labelled "Tomoe" he would let Kaede decide if she wanted anything from them, if not he would take them to the charity bin as well. Overall he would be going back to Sternbild with a lot less baggage than when he came home, both literally and figuratively.
He dusted his hands off and climbed down from the attic storage space, he could hear Kaede's voice coming from the kitchen where she was on the phone with Muramasa. The two had been discussing how she was going to get to the train station to come visit him in Sternbild. Muramasa kept insisting he take her all the way to Sternbild, she had insisted she was more than capable of going on her own, as she had done so already. Kotetsu had agreed with her, she was more than able to travel on the train by herself, she would only be on the train by herself, she would be picked up by him on the other side.
Muramasa had relented at the time but it sounded like he was at it again.
"Kaede it's no problem for me to come on the train with you, I won't even get onto the platform with you, I'll head straight back to Oriental Town," Muramasa said through the kitchen Vidphone.
"Uncle Masa don't be silly, train tickets are expensive and you are the busiest at this time of year, you don't need to take time off work to take me, I can go on my own! We already talked about this," Kaede huffed, looking back at Kotetsu as he entered the kitchen. "Dad, talk some sense into your brother," she said before walking away from the phone in a huff.
Kotetsu couldn't help but smile, Tomoe used to sound just like that whenever Muramasa was being overprotective of her as well.
"Hey bro, I see you and Kaede don't agree again," Kotetsu said taking a seat in front of the phone.
"Not that you are any help agreeing with her that she can take the train alone," Muramasa said, his eyebrows drawn in, his expression sour.
"That's because she can take the train alone, she is eleven, has done it before, and most importantly, she is a NEXT if anything goes wrong she can literally stop that train with her bare hands..." Kotetsu said with a shrug.
"What if she touches someone after she touches you Kotetsu? What if she doesn't realise she doesn't have your power anymore? Or what if she gets one she can't control? You are too carefree, you don't ever think about what could go wrong," Muramasa was mad now, his voice was rising as he spoke, "What if Kaede hurts someone else Kotetsu?"
A pit formed in Kotetsu's stomach. It was true, he hadn't thought about Kaede taking on someone else's powers and not being able to control them. What if she did hurt someone else? It hadn't happened yet, but it could. Of course, Muramasa would worry about that, the incident between them was probably what fuelled his fear. Kotetsu still felt bad for hurting Muramasa.
"She isn't me Muramasa, she's better with her control. Besides if she doesn't bump into anyone she will be fine. I trust Kaede," Kotetsu said feeling much less firm about the subject than his bravado put on.
"Fine, she's your daughter, so you have the final say, but I still don't like it," Muramasa grumbled.
Kaede burst back into the room grabbing onto Kotetsu with a hug so tight it felt like she might crush his bones, and her powers weren't even activated. "Thanks, daddy!" she squealed. Obviously she had overheard what he had said about her and liked the praise he had given her.
"Anytime kiddo," he gasped out giving her a tight squeeze back. Even if she was crushing his ribcage he would never push her away, it was too rare for her to initiate hugs.
The next two weeks flew by. Kotetsu helped around the house, making sure every last inch of it was in perfect repair before he left. He also made a few trips to the shrine to ensure they were going to be fine with him gone. He had helped chip some ice away and shovelled the snow off of the main pathway. The snow in Oriental Town was already deep and would be for months to come. Sternbild would only just be getting its first snowfall soon, and it wouldn't stick.
He and Kaede had played out in the snow a few times, hundred power activated more than once to make giant snowballs and pile them on top of one another. It was the biggest snowman ever built, Kotetsu was sure. The two had taken a picture in front of it, the snowman towering above them some 5 meters tall, both had huge smiles plastered on their faces, cheeks rosy red from the cold and from the exertion. Kotetsu the picture set as his phone screen background.
Kotetsu had tears in his eyes as he pushed the bay door on the UTruck closed, securing the latch. He was both ecstatic and dismayed to go back to Sternbild and be a Hero, these last few weeks with Kaede had been some of the best of his life. She had actually wanted to hang out with him, the two of them had goofed around outside after school almost every day. She was even getting the hang of Hundred Power, much faster than he ever did. Though to be fair, he didn't have a teacher. She was already mastering using her heightened senses. He worried that she might abuse this power, but then again, who was he to talk? He had used his heightened senses to cheat on tests, listen in on private conversations, spy on people far away, but had given up on all of that after he met Legend. Kaede was much more responsible than him, he was sure she would be just fine.
He turned around wiping at his eyes. He wouldn't cry, not in front of his family anyways.
"Well, guys I guess this is it?" He said as he turned around, a smile plastered on his face. He looked at Kaede and his heart sank, she was obviously trying to hold back tears as well.
"You go and be an awesome Hero dad! You better not break a bunch of stuff!" she said and rushed forward smashing her face into his chest as she clung onto him. Kotetsu couldn't help but smile for real as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Will do baby," he said as he squeezed her tight before letting her go. She sniffled a bit and looked up at him.
"And you better phone every night like you used to! And you better not get hurt! And… and… you better come home and visit more!" she said before turning and running back into the house. Kotetsu stood there in shock but smiled easily to his mother who was chuckling.
"She is going to miss you, you know?" she said before walking over and hugging him. "Just like me, make sure you take good care of yourself Kotetsu," she let him go and he nodded.
"Will do ma, you know me, nothing keeps me down too long right?" he said giving her a thumbs up, trying to strike a cool pose.
"Ugh, go be corny in Sternbild, we have had just about as much of that as we can take here," she teased pushing him towards the truck door. His SUV was hitched to the back to be towed behind him as he went.
He climbed in and prepared for the long boring drive back into the city. The roads were in pretty good condition, it had stopped snowing and the ploughs had been out all week. The drive through the mountains wouldn't be too bad. "Ok Ma, love you," he said, leaning down to kiss her on the head before straightening back up into the cab of the truck. He closed the door and started it up.