Catching Agnes Joubert alone proved formidable, but Kotetsu fought for a scrap of her time. He needed a complete answer about how he ended up in this Alpha-partner-mess before he could decide what to do next. He'd spent the last few days using every excuse he could to avoid being alone with Barnaby: when they changed clothes in the locker room, when the secretary took her break, when rode in the back of the transport to or from a crime scene. Kotetsu did his best to simply escape those situations, and barring that he kept his helmet on and visor closed. The first time Kotetsu stripped down to his under suit and helmet, Barnaby glared at him, but neither of them had to say a word. They knew exactly how stupid Kotetsu looked, but why he had made that decision. It did get stuffy in that helmet, though.
Soon, Kotetsu caught his lucky break and found Agnes in the middle of the hallway. He all but pulled her into someone's empty office and shut the door.
"Tiger, really," Agnes scolded. "I've got a meeting with the CEO."
"I need to talk to you."
"Then talk. Quickly."
"I need to know what you're planning with Bunny and me. Scenting-wise."
"Is that all?" Agnes flipped some of her hair over her shoulder. "I want tension."
"Eh?"
Agnes held her hands out, palms facing each other. "You and Barnaby are magnets. Strongly attracted, but never to touch. This will draw out the best reaction from the audience."
"But you can't force him on me. I'm not going to let you!"
"But I don't want to force him on you," Agnes promised more plainly. "I want you to be pursued by one Alpha: just one perfect Alpha who can obviously protect you and much more. I have to find some way to make the Untamable Omega fresh again. If Barnaby claims you, it will kill the romantic tension, and the subplot stops."
Kotetsu gritted his teeth, definitely offended that Agnes hadn't consulted him first about the setup, but to a degree reassured that Agnes was in favor of his unpaired lifestyle. Ben at TopMag had cared so much more about Kotetsu's image and marketing as an Omega on Hero TV; Apollon seemed content to give Agnes free reign of his hero 'character.'
"Well, do you have a backup plan for if Bunny and I get out of hand? What if this Scenting stuff keeps us from protecting the peace?"
"This won't get out of hand," Agnes dismissed his complaint. "Barnaby knows his role for the show."
"Would you mind telling him that? He's made a move on me, twice, and both with the cameras off."
"Have they really all been with the cameras off?"
"Wait, what?"
"You left the camera running on the Fortress Tower. You need to better learn how to operate video equipment." Agnes explained coolly. "But, I couldn't air the footage along with the explosion, so it's on file for now."
"Wh—Ah—Delete it!" Kotetsu protested. "Delete that video, right now!"
"I'm busy at the moment—and if this is all you wanted to talk to me about, I'm going to be late to my meeting."
"Wait, no—Bunny is still trying to claim me!" Kotetsu said. "If you told him about this subplot thing, then he should only be hitting on me during Hero TV! But he's only tried to claim me when the cameras are off—he's trying to kill your tension!"
Agnes frowned. "That shouldn't be happening," she said. "I'll bring it up in my meeting. Now, if you'll excuse me…"
Kotetsu stumbled trying to hold the door and let Agnes pass, but soon the executive producer left, and Kotetsu stood alone in the middle of the hallway. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Hero TV intended to respect his autonomy, even if they were doing it for all the wrong reasons. As for Barnaby's pursuit, he didn't know what to make of this set of orders: Barnaby wasn't supposed to claim him, but he'd either missed that memo or decided to ignore it. He wondered if upstairs pressure would be enough to make Barnaby back off.
Even with a dash of good news for once, Kotetsu couldn't help but feel a little regretful. This isn't what being a hero is about. None of this should even be an issue. Why wouldn't they just let him do his job the way he knew how? Bad romance subplots just took away attention from what mattered most. Protect the people, save the day.
Adjusting his hat, Kotetsu made his way back to his desk. He'd just have to fight this the best he could. In the meantime, he had paperwork to do.
By the next day, Kotetsu saw Agnes had talked to the right people. Office work followed the same pattern as before, but Barnaby's body language transformed. Whenever possible, Barnaby turned his back on Kotetsu, looking elsewhere and keeping himself busy. At first, Kotetsu thought that Barnaby had found a whole new way to be an asshole, but the deliberateness of this action seemed strange. As he studied the back of Barnaby's fluffy blonde head, he noticed little details in his posture, and it reminded him of someone trying to pretend they were oblivious to danger behind them. It occurred to Kotetsu that if he wanted to sneak up on Barnaby and jump him, his partner wouldn't even see him coming, which was the exact opposite of how Kotetsu was trying to be earlier: never letting Barnaby out of his sight. Not to mention, whenever Kotetsu caught a glimpse of his face, those green eyes had a sour tinge to them, like he resented acting like this.
Well, even if Barnaby was just acting under company orders, and even if he was being a huge jerk about it, Kotetsu would have to make the best of it. At least it put his worst fears of being claimed for reality TV's sake to rest. Barnaby had his relentless, possessive attitude turned up to eleven, usually while wrapping up an arrest, but so long as it didn't get in the way of saving the people he'd grit his teeth and bear it.
In the span of time following, Kotetsu's life on the job improved enough that he noticed the plight of another hero: Karina "Blue Rose" Lyle wanted to quit being a hero for good and take up singing instead. Kotetsu had heard her sing at the bar he and Antonio frequented, and she had talent, but he didn't understand. True, not everyone valued hero work to the extent Kotetsu did, but if Karina didn't care about the lives she saved or the criminals she stopped, why was she a hero in the first place? Karina's disrespect for her own career irritated Kotestu more than anything.
Still, she was young. Maybe she was just confused, in need of guidance. And he had to understand that not ever NEXT was cut out for risking their lives each and every day to save strangers. If she really didn't want to be a hero, it'd be best for her to quit and start a new path, before it was too late. But, when Kotetsu offered her a tip and a complement, rather than walking away, Kotetsu ended up sitting with her during Karina's break. He could tell she was out of her element, sitting in an establishment geared for adults, and seeing the Ice Queen Blue Rose look so uncomfortable reminded Kotetsu how young she really was.
"You know…" Karina ventured, timidly. "I'm Scented, too."
Kotetsu lifted his glass. He recalled her debut, when Titan Industries had 'outed' her. "A straight Alpha, right?"
She nodded.
Kotetsu sipped his drink. It was so easy to forget Karina was an Alpha. Never smelling her Scent had to have something to do with it. An Alpha cued for males would never be able to smell a gay Omega, and vice-versa. He wondered what the doctor's appointment must have been like for Kairna, when she found out. Maybe her sponsors had decided to make her a dominatrix to maximize her Alpha appeal.
"It suits you," Kotetsu said. "To be an Alpha."
Karina stared at the bar. "I don't think so."
"Hm?" Kotetsu glanced at her. She fidgeted with a cocktail napkin, sliding it around the counter.
"They made a big deal over Blue Rose being an Alpha becaust it fit her character," Karina explained. "The fact that she's an Alpha is just… perfect. But that's not the person I want to be." Karina looked to Kotetsu. "How am I supposed to live like this? Meeting random people, not knowing anything about them, and wanting to just… just tear them apart?"
He blinked. "T-Tear?"
"Yeah."
"That's…" Kotetsu struggled to stall. "That's a violent way of putting it, don't you think?"
"But some of my fans, the Omegas cued for females… Whenever I meet them for pictures or autographs, they try so hard to get close to me, make me… make me lose my cool…" Karina looked down again, her hair hiding her face. "And it's gotten worse. It never used to be this bad. When I was in middle school, I could barely tell who was an Omega, but now it's so hard to think straight when Omegas are too close."
"That's how it goes for everyone," Kotetsu said, confident in his advice now that the subject has strayed back to knowledge he possessed. "You get more sensitive to Scents, but it should settle down now. It won't get any worse."
"It's already too much. I get so tense and twitchy with Omegas. Like piano wire, or a rubber band about to snap. I don't feel like myself. I feel like an animal, and I hate it."
Were things really that different for Alphas? To Kotetsu, Scents always felt like a dream-world, slow and lazy, but that didn't match Karina's description at all. To her, Scents were a cue to get mad, get strong, and attack. Was there really such a fundamental difference in what Alphas and Omegas smelled when near each other? How the hell had Kotetsu not noticed?
Actually, if there is a difference, it explains a lot. Kotetsu thought. He definitely wouldn't forgive the Alphas for all the pain they put him through, but knowing they were nicer people in their day-to-day lives bolstered his faith in the world a little.
"How do you resist it?" Karina continued. "You've been Scented for, like, thirty years—"
Kotestu spluttered. "M-More like twenty, actually…"
"Why do Omegas throw themselves at Alphas?"
"You're asking the wrong Omega, you know."
Karina recalled Kotetsu's reputation, and blushed a little. "Then I guess… how can I be an Alpha and still be myself?"
They fell silent. Kotetsu certainly admired Karina's wish to be a kind, simple girl rather than a savage Alpha. And Kotetsu had never had this kind of conversation with an Alpha before, since he never had Alpha friends. Even if he did, they were incorrectly cued to his Scent and they never discussed this. Kotetsu had probably been asleep when they went over this in biology, too. A conversation like this was new, refreshing, enlightening.
As for Karina's question, Kotetsu knew it yet again boiled down to a choice, but at the same time, Karina didn't have two clear choices. While Kotetsu had always known the problem to be a case of "hero or Omega," Karina's question was framed as "Alpha, or giant question mark?" It had to be tempting to choose to be an Alpha when the other option was a massive void, but once again, Karina's determination to be a better person shone through, since she still considered throwing herself into the unknown just to avoid being someone she didn't want to be.
Whatever she chooses, she has what it takes to be a hero. She just needs to realize it.
"Can I ask you a different question first?" Kotetsu said.
Karina nodded.
"Why do you sing?"
"Because I love it. And I want everyone else to hear my singing."
"Same here," Kotetsu grinned a little. "I'm a hero because I want to save people. Isn't that enough of a reason? It doesn't matter if anyone acknowledges me or not."
Karina looked down at the bar, avoiding Kotetsu's eyes.
"Listen. We can't choose what we are. Man, woman, Scented, NEXT. But we can choose who we are. We can choose if we're good people or not. If we're singers. If we're heroes. That's a choice you have to make yourself."
Karina slid off the bar stool and turned back toward the stage. "My break's over," she said. "See you later."
With that, she skipped off back to the piano. Kotetsu pouted after her. Not even a thank-you? I just gave such cool advice…
Blue Rose made a fine Alpha; Karina, not so much. Hearing a testimony about the difference in response between an Alpha Scenting an Omega compared to Kotetsu's experience gave him food for thought, too. In a lot of ways, Barnaby played the part of an Alpha perfectly, but Kotetsu had to wonder what the blonde might be hiding. Even though Barnaby didn't use a hero identity to mask his life, he could still have those hidden pressures as he struggled to live up to expectations, both of others and his own.
Kotetsu finished off his drink and paid the bartender, Karina's light, peaceful song drifting through the air.