Disclaimer: Tiger & Bunny belongs to Nishida, Ozaki, Takeda, Hamada, and all those beautiful men over at Sunrise. I'm just a weird fangirl.

Mornings After

chapter 3

The father and daughter duo sat in front of the memorial in Muramasa's old room. Perched on their knees, they clapped their hands together and closed their eyes.

"What should we say?" Kotetsu asked, prompting his daughter.

Kaede opened an eye. "Maybe we should tell Mama about what we're going to do."

"Good idea." He nodded. "Tomoe honey, Kaede and I have made a very mature decision today. You should be so proud, she's so grown up already!" His voice took on a teary edge, but with his typical joking attitude, Kaede mistook it for melodramatics and elbowed him in the side. "Yes! Yes. Kaede is going to move to Oriental Town and live here with my mother. And closer to you."

"And Dad's going back to work," she continued. "His job is very important, so he has to be back."

"But Papa will call every single day," Kotetsu added.

Kaede nodded with enthusiasm. "Uh-huh! And Grandma's going to put me in preschool!"

It was good for her, he had to remind himself. School, learning, something to keep her mind going, along with a constant, watchful eye at home... It was safer here anyway. Kotetsu honestly wanted to cry, especially at how happy Kaede sounded.

The change of scenery sounded fun to her.

He put on a smile.

"Don't worry about us, Tomoe," he said softly to the photo on the memorial. "We're figuring this out."

The first night Kaede spent in Kotetsu's old room, she cried. Even with her stuffed animals and her night light, going to sleep in that lonely little room on the side corner of the house felt isolated and scary. Kotetsu understood; he could remember when the tree's branches used to scratch against the windows and he'd wake up terrified.

It was enough that both he and his mother had rushed to the doorway to console the poor girl. But as they approached, his mother told him to stand back and wait. And, while out of sight of the doorway completely, Kotetsu listened while his mother entered the room alone. She sat on the edge of the bed, and from a very careful peek from around the door frame, he could see her stroking the child's hair. It didn't take long for Kaede to quiet down, and even less time for the exhausted girl to fall asleep.

And that bothered him.

He was in the living room, can of beer in hand, when Anju returned. She sat on the couch next to him, reaching over to pat his leg.

"Kotetsu, are you sure you can do this?" she asked. "Don't you think you should get a more settled position?"

He sighed. "Mom... I can't. This is my job, it's how we made it this far. If I left..." Looking away, he remembered the hospital room. Pristine white walls, his pale beauty sitting before him, dark eyes staring right at him. A promise... He couldn't go back on his promise. He'd be a hero. He had to.

"I can't do anything else..."

Anju was quiet for a long moment after. But then she pat his leg again, looking at him with softer eyes. "Alright. You now I don't want to push you; I just worry."

"Me too," he whispered. "Mom... she's my baby girl. How can I leave her?"

"Parenting is hard." Her hand squeezed his knee. "Come now, no need to cry. You're not leaving her, you're just getting a long-term babysitter. And you're letting her visit grandma. It's okay."

"I guess so... I'm going to miss her so much."

Anju wasted no time pulling him over for a hug. And for the second time that day, he just cried until he couldn't anymore. But that was what he liked about his mother. She never brought it up after, and she always hugged him for a long time afterward.

Kotetsu woke with conflicting temperatures the next morning. The an in Muramasa's old room was blowing strong, colder than Kotetsu could remember turning it to, but he felt an odd pressing heat to his left. His first worry was that he had accidentally rolled onto his brother's futon, but he realized that he was still on his pillow. Had Muramasa rolled to him?

Glancing over his shoulder, Kotetsu noticed that the warm body next to him was actually quite small. Like four-year-old small. He peered under the blanket to find a sleeping Kaede curled up, fingers gently gripping the back of his shirt.

Did she sneak in last night?

With a sigh, he stroked her hair. "Oh, baby..." She was in a deep enough slumber that Kotetsu figured he could sneak away. After all, if she had woken up in the middle of the night, she wasn't sleeping consistently enough, which meant she could be more tired than usual today. And that wasn't a good thing, especially if he was trying to get her more acquainted with a stable lifestyle here.

She probably turned the fan down when she slipped in. These children, always so warm-bodied. He slowly slipped from the futon and turned the fan off completely, then spent the next five minutes just staring at his child. In his absence, she had rolled over, hands wrapping up in the blanket covering her. She didn't notice him gone. That was good. But... could he sneak away?

He managed to slip out once to use the bathroom, but he was right back in the doorway once he was finished, observing the girl. She was still asleep. Perfectly angelic, small and cute as a button, and completely out of it.

His second escape was to visit the kitchen for a glass of water. Still asleep. So, with glass in hand, he slipped out to find his mother - and the poor woman had to stop Kotetsu from running back to the room another time.

"Kotetsu, she's still asleep," she scolded him. "If you keep opening and closing the door, you're going to wake her. Goodness, you're so wound up today. Come, help me water the plants."

He quietly slid his feet into his slippers and joined Anju in the garden. She handed him the hose, and he just worked on spraying everything as evenly as possible. Childhood had given him a lot of practice with this. Sometimes he helped voluntarily; sometimes it was punishment.

"It'll be okay, you know," Anju broke the morning silence. "She's a strong child."

"She's only four and she crawled into my bed last night," Kotetsu argued, frowning. "Mom, I don't know if I can do this."

She took his hand, helping him guide the hose evenly. "You can. You're not abandoning her; you're just working long-distance. Remember, we're doing this for her sake. It's going to be hard, but you both need the stability."

"Mom..."

Her hand tightened around his. "Call every day, even if you're sick."

"Every single day," he said. He nodded affirmatively.

She smiled. "I mean it. No keeping to yourself. And don't try to skip a day and come up with some lie."

"I won't!" With a pout, he tried to mask his embarrassment over his mother already knowing his habits so well. Anju was talking about five years ago, when he found out Tomoe was pregnant and wouldn't answer his phone because he wasn't sure how to break the news without sounding really lame. And in the end, Tomoe told Anju herself. He doubted he would do something that dumb a second time, especially after the chewing out he got.

With a laugh, Anju helped him turn off the hose. "Good. Have you eaten yet?" At the shake of his head, she pat his shoulder. "Come on, then. Can't have you losing your strength from being sad all the time." Plus, she knew her baby boy needed a bit of coddling.

Kotetsu smiled, nodding at his mother as he set the hose down. He knew what she was doing, and honestly? He couldn't help but love the special treatment. His mother fixed him a fairly complex breakfast and even sat down with him while he ate. He felt like a child again.

Sorry about the delay, guys. I've been sick lately. I'm doing better, though, so here's a chapter! Any and all feedback appreciated. Thanks, guys!

- january sunshine