Barnaby let out a sigh as the recording finished. It had gone poorly and Agnes was sure to be angry. But it was done and they would be free from each other until the new season started. Hopefully by then the dreams reminding him about wanting to have sex with Kotetsu when he was younger would have moved onto something new. Because remembering that he wanted to have sex with Wild Tiger when he was a teen and then having wet dreams about wanting to have sex with Kotetsu as an adult were starting to be the only dreams Barnaby had and it was nerve wracking being near Kotetsu.
Kaede was here which was a nice buffer to keep Kotetsu and him separated. She was just as adorable as Kotetsu always went on and on about, but she was also wickedly smart. Her eyes had been on them like hawks during the whole shoot, he was sure she was suspicious something was going on, the deep frown on her face said so.
He walked with Kotetsu, a good meter apart, back over to Kaede who had her hands on her hips.
"What were you two doing? You looked like you have never worked together before!" She sounded like Agnes, what was it about women and being able to cut right the point?
"This is how it always goes," Kotetsu cut in quickly. "I always get nervous in front of all these cameras, and then I make mistakes," he had gone to put his arm over her shoulder and she dodged him.
"Then why were you fine once you were in your suits?" Kaede continued staring her dad down.
"Well because I'm used to being in front of cameras in my suit," he answered scratching the back of his head. Barnaby felt terrible letting Kotetsu take the fall for their poor performance. It had been all his fault. Every time Kotetsu was anywhere near him he felt like he was going to leap out of his skin. Every mistake they had made was entirely his fault.
"Plus, we haven't worked together in over a year, we're a bit out of practice," Barnaby supplied with a smile moving over to stand beside Kaede. "So, you two have been having a lot of fun I hear, why don't you tell me all about it over dinner, Kaede?" Barnaby said with the most charming smile he could give. Kotetsu had hounded him between takes to spend time with them, dinner, anything, because Kaede was dying to hang out.
Barnaby had been worried to do so, being domestic around Kotetsu was dangerous. The last time they had been together at Christmas he had nearly kissed Kotetsu twice without any provocation other than being friendly and near one another. But Kaede was only in town once in a while, and he knew not only would she be devastated if he said no to spending time with her, but it would put a rift between Kotetsu and himself that may be unhealable. So he had agreed to dinner, it was the safest bet. He could use Kaede as a buffer at the table and keep Kotetsu a safe distance apart from him.
Kaede had practically leapt into his arms giving him a hug when he asked her to dinner. "Oh please can we go to one of those fancy grill places, pleaaase?" She begged as she still held onto his arm, he let her cling to him, he was used to it because of Kotetsu, whom she must have learned it from.
"Sure, as long as Bunny is up for that. What do you think, partner?" Kotetsu asked with a smile, he looked very pleased with himself; probably happy Kaede was in a good mood.
"Yes, grilled meat sounds good," he said and looked down at Kaede who was still holding onto him.
"O-oh, Kaede let go of Bunny, you're being rude," Kotetsu said, trying to separate them.
"But dad! We are going to have to walk through a crowd, can't I please hold onto Barnaby's hand instead of yours," she said, still clinging to his hand.
"Why would you need to hold either of our hands, aren't you a little old to get lost?" Barnaby asked and Kaede released him immediately looking offended. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" He asked in a panic looking at Kotetsu.
"She hates having to hold my hand, but it's not about age. Kaede won't take on a different NEXT if she is in contact with one already. So in crowds she holds onto me, or you or any of the Heroes really," Kotetsu explained.
Barnaby reached over and took both her hands in his, "it would be my honour to share my power with you while we walk, I'm sorry for not catching on sooner," he said as he gave her his princliest smile.
Kaede blushed crimson and nodded her head, "thank you," she whispered and he let go of one hand, still holding firmly onto the other as they began walking. Kaede was in between them, which made the buffer nice and easy, there was no chance he could accidentally turn and brush against Kotetsu this way.
Barnaby had brought his car to the photo shoot and offered to drive them all there, it was compact but it wasn't a far drive. Being squished in the back Kaede was more than happy to rattle on about how cool his car was.
They arrived at a Korean BBQ place down on Bronze. It was one he had frequented while incognito a few months ago.
"Hey, how'd you know this place was here, did you look it up or something?" Kotetsu asked as he stepped out of his car.
"No, I've eaten here before, they have the best Barbecue in the city as far as I am concerned," Barnaby said as he held the door open for them. Kotetsu had a curious look on his face as he walked past Barnaby into the restaurant and Kaede happily followed in toe. A kindly elderly woman bowed to them as they entered and took them to a grill in the back.
"Nice to see you again Barnaby," The lady said as she set a piece of paper and pencil down for them. This was his first time coming here since he had stopped wearing a disguise, had they realised it was him all along? He must have had a surprised look on his face because she followed up her comment with, "ah, when you visited before you clearly wanted to not be recognized, so we didn't comment. It's nice for you to bring your family with you this time," she bowed and walked away after that.
He was sure his face was crimson, not only had he thought he had gotten away with no one recognizing him, but she had mistaken Kotetsu and Kaede as his family. "I'm sorry, she must have confused you for someone else," Barnaby said, feeling awkward.
"What are you talking about, she was right, we are your family," Kotetsu answered without hesitation. "Right?" he said, turning to look at Kaede.
"Of course! Barnaby you are dad's partner at work, but also like his best friend. You are like Uncle Antonio! But better because you are cool, plus you make dad smile," she said before picking up the sheet of paper and pencil. "So, what should we order! I want the beef short ribs… dad you'll want the spicy bulgogi right?" Kaede started filling out their order sheet for them, ticking off the quantities of each item they wanted to grill. Barnaby answered on autopilot what he wanted while his mind reeled with what she just said. They think of me as family? I hardly know Kotetsu's mother and brother, or Kaede for that matter... I make Kotetsu smile? What does that mean? Kotetsu was always smiling even before he came along.
Kaede handed the sheet to the lady when she came back with drinks, a pot of green tea and water for the group. "So how often did you come here?" Kotetsu said as he flipped the grill over and started mucking with the gas.
"Stop that, they will come and light it for us," Barnaby said as he reached over and shut off the gas. "A few times, I came here when I first got back into town because it was one of the only things open late down here on Bronze that wasn't a pub," Barnaby shifted away from Kotetsu as he realised how close they were in the booth, having leaned over to stop the gas.
"Why on Bronze? Why were you even down here?" Kotetsu was staring at him now, like he had two heads.
"I thought I might be less recognized if I came down here to places I had never eaten at or shopped in before. I guess I was wrong," He took a sip of water.
"Why didn't you want anyone to recognize you when you got back? Weren't you excited to see all your friends?" Kaede chipped in while she started pouring tea for everyone.
"Well, that's complicated…" Barnaby tried to think of how to explain his brain was broken and he didn't think he had any friends.
"Kaede, we talked about asking too personal a question before, people have boundaries," Kotetsu chided her.
"Family isn't supposed to have boundaries, we are supposed to be able to ask or talk about anything," she countered, throwing his mother's words in his face. She had tried to teach him that all his life, he was still learning.
"Kaede is right, you should feel comfortable sharing things with family," Barnaby admitted as he took a sip of his tea. "I didn't tell anyone I was home because I didn't want them to worry about me; I was having a really hard time with my memories coming back. Your dad already beat it into my head how stupid I was being trying to carry all my burdens on my own," he smiled up at Kotetsu as he said this, feeling a little better. Sure he couldn't unburden himself with the fact he was head over heels in love with her dad, or that he was sexually frustrated to the point of not being sure he could control himself around the man. But he could admit he had been an idiot to try and deal with the memories on his own.
Kaede looked victorious at her dad. "See, Barnaby gets it, why can't you?" she chastised Kotetsu.
"Don't team up on me, that's not fair!" Kotetsu exclaimed, waving his hands in front of his face.
After that they were stuck waiting for their meat to come out, the younger waitress came out with the lighter and started their grill for them before heading back into the kitchen to finish preparing their order. Once the food arrived Kaede demanded Barnaby's version of some of Kotetsu's stories, such as the bomb in the elevator.
He had been more than happy to supply the truth that Kotetsu had found the bomb. He then teased and said that after that he had been entirely unhelpful. Kaede had laughed at that, ribbing her dad and making fun of him.
As the conversation continued Barnaby went to reach for the meat tongs to put more short ribs on the grill. At the same moment Kotetsu had gone to grab the same tongs and their hands touched for a brief moment. Much like when they were filming Barnaby felt a thrill run up his spine, straight to his groin. Kotetsu's hands were large, a little bigger than his own, and a little calloused from work. The feel of them, however brief, was enough to paint images of what the rest of Kotetsu must feel like. They both shot their hands back away from each other like they had been burned, the tongs clattering onto the table.
Kaede was eyeing them again, those clever eyes were sure to pick up his feelings for Kotetsu, he was positive of it. Would she tell her dad? He seriously needed to keep his feelings in check around this kid, or she was going to out him for sure.
Kaede picked up the tongs and used them to put the meat onto the grill before setting them on the plate. "You guys both suck at this," she commented before picking up her chopsticks and eating an already done piece of meat. Maybe she wasn't as observant as he thought.
Barnaby struggled through the rest of dinner with the two of them, doing his best not to accidentally touch Kotetsu again.
As they left the restaurant, Kotetsu had put a hand on his shoulder, before taking it back quickly. "Hey, thanks for coming to dinner, are you sure you don't want to come back to ours for a bit?" Kotetsu had an unreadable expression on his face, like he was intentionally trying not to look too hopeful about him coming over.
"No, I'm sorry, I really can't I told Saitou I would let him run some tests on the chamber with me in it and he wants to do it before the season starts. I'm heading to Apollon now for that," it wasn't even a lie this time, he really was busy.
Kotetsu nodded and turned to Kaede, "well it's just us kid, let's head home and rent that movie you wanted to see," Kotetsu said motioning to Kaede to say goodbye.
"Bye Barnaby!" she was latched onto him again, this time her arms wrapped around his middle, her face pressed into his chest. "Thanks for spending time with me! You'll be at the New Years party too right?" she said as she looked up at him, arms still wrapped tightly around him.
He nodded and smiled down at her, wrapping his own arms around her loosely. "Of course, I'll see you there," he let her go after that, and she followed suit.
Kotetsu waved to Barnaby as they turned to head towards their townhouse, which he was glad neither of them commented on being within walking distance of this place. It's not like he had purposefully gone to places near Kotetsu's old house to feel closer to him when he got back.