Thanks for sticking around – hopefully the ending lives up to the rest of the story.

…

Kotetsu doesn't knock. Doesn't bother Antonio that night, even though Antonio's on edge, too wired up to sleep. He spends a good hour alternating between pacing, sitting on the bed, and lying down to stare up at the ceiling. He doesn't expect to fall asleep, but he's got his body trained too well, though, so that even when situations are tense, he can slip into a light sleep.

Between one blink and the next, he's out, and only wakes up when he hears banging in the kitchen.

Antonio jerks upright, palms curling into the sheets, and stares at the door like Kotetsu's going to burst in. After a few minutes, it's pretty clear that it's not, especially when Antonio hears sounds coming from the kitchen.

Was Kotetsu cooking?

Antonio climbs out of bed. He's not going to get distracted – he's going to explain to Kotetsu what is happening, come hell or high water.

Kotetsu's in the kitchen, alright. He's got one of Antonio's pans out and is shaking it about, like he's trying to flip a pancake. When that doesn't seem to work, he puts it back on the burner and pokes it with a spatula. All the while, there are giggles coming from the vid-phone.

Oh, no.

Antonio takes a breath. He was going to blurt something out, but now he just turns, takes what he thinks is a quiet step back to the bedroom–

"Cow!"

Dammit. Antonio turns around sheepishly, shoulders around his ears.

"Antonio?" Kaede's voice is tinny and small. "Hi, Antonio!"

"Did we wake you?" Kotetsu asks, not sounding very contrite. He mostly seems pleased, oddly enough. Side effect from talking to his daughter, Antonio thinks.

He shrugs. "No. It's fine. Not used to– " he starts to say, then stops.

Kotetsu doesn't seem to notice the slip. "C'mon, c'mon," he says as he tugs Antonio in by the arm.

Antonio turns pink at the touch and pulls his arm away. "Er, I should." He doesn't have a chance to finish before he's abruptly sitting down in a chair, looking at the small face of Kotetsu's daughter. "Um," Antonio says elegantly. He clears his throat while Kaede smiles. "Hi, Kaede."

"Morning, Mr. Antonio," Kaede says, more respectful than her dad ever was. She looks more mature than the last time Antonio saw her, though her face is still round and soft as she smiles, sweetly, like Tomoe. She peers at him, and suddenly she's more like Kotetsu. "We were just talking about you."

Kotetsu bangs a plate down in front of Antonio, and Antonio leans back before the miso soup slops over the side of the bowl and onto his lap. He darts a glance at Kotetsu, who does something urgent with his eyes, and then shakes his head minutely.

Antonio makes a confused face back at the man. "Talking?" He repeats Kaede.

"Dad said you were…"

"Very good friends!" Kotetsu claps Antonio on the back and beams. Not reassuringly whatsoever, but points for enthusiasm.

Oh, no.

"Dad, I know what that means," Kaede says, exasperation clear in her voice. "I'm not a kid."

What the hell!? Antonio mouths furiously, turning his head at an angle so Kaede couldn't see.

Bus juggle ostrich teeth, Kotetsu mouths, hands held up in surrender.

Huh? Antonio makes a face.

"Dad!" Kaede scowls, and Kotetsu spins to hold his hands up to her.

"Excuse us, dad." Now Kaede really sounds like her mom.

"Honey," Kotetsu starts carefully, then apparently gives up when Kaede narrows her eyes. "Don't hurt him, okay?"

Kaede nods solemnly. Antonio grabs onto Kotetsu's sleeve. What the hell, he's leaving me in here alone!?

Kotetsu shrugs but doesn't look the least bit sorry. He pats Antonio briefly on the back and steals Antonio's plate as he leaves the kitchen. Jerk.

Antonio pinches his nose and heaves a sigh. No rest for the weary. Or the wicked. He looks at the screen. Kaede is staring at him intently.

Antonio closes his eyes and prepares to apologize.

"Take care of him, okay?"

His head jerks up. "I – what?" Of all things, that's not what he was expecting.

"Promise? I'm not there, so…until I can be, will you watch out for him?"

Antonio had been asked the same thing by Kotetsu, once. When I'm gone, watch out for her. Like father, like daughter. Antonio can't quite hide a crooked smile. "Always."

Kaede beams. "Thank you!" And before Antonio can react, she leans closer to the screen, eyes filling up the screen, cheerfully terrible and dark. "And I don't even have to tell you what I'll do if you hurt him!"

The only thing Antonio can do is shake his head very slowly in agreement. That's the problem, isn't it?

Kaede leans back and her smile becomes something more normal. "I knew you were way cooler than dad."

A muffled "Hey!" comes from the living room.

"Stop eavesdropping!" Kaede yells back.

"You're not…" Antonio furrows his brows. "Weirded out?" He asks tentatively.

"It's dad." Kaede shrugs philosophically, like any teenager would. "As long as he's happy. I mean, I thought it'd be with a girl, but I dunno, maybe no one beats mom." She seems to think about that for a minute, then looks at him. "I think he's happy with you though."

Antonio absolutely does not lose an entire beat of his heart over that. "I don't…" When Kaede looks concerned, he hurries to finish. "I'm trying."

She nods. "And I don't think mom would mind. Not that it matters or anything…" She trails off, fidgeting her hands as she looks away.

There goes his heart. It's probably the nicest compliment she could give, and Antonio absolutely does not tear up. "Thanks," he says in a thick voice, then coughs. "So, how's school?"

"Good." She wrinkles her nose. "But if dad asks, it's boring and lame!"

Antonio smiles. "Okay. I'll go get your dad now."

"'kay. Bye!"

Antonio steps out of the kitchen, leaning one hand on the doorframe. He watches Kotetsu idly rearranging his photographs on the shelf. None of them are very new. Mostly versions of himself in costume, stock photos to sign and hang out, one of his parents, and a very old one of him and Kotetsu not in uniform. That one was in back, but Kotetsu brought it forward and placed it next to the most recent photo of their costumes, the entire line up of the crew. They'd stuck him at the end, and for once Kotetsu was in the middle with Barnaby. Antonio cleared his throat.

"Eh?" Kotetsu turns and notices him. "You really need to dust, man." He holds up one smudged finger and wrinkles his nose.

Antonio snorts. "You should see your place."

Kotetsu raises an eyebrow. "Well, if I'm never over there, what do you expect?" A tiny smirk plays at the corner of his lips, and instantly Antonio is reminded of last night, of them pressed against his lips, tongues sliding and – heat rushes to his face.

"Kaede's waiting." Antonio folds his arms together and moves out of the way as Kotetsu goes by him, chuckling.

"Too easy, cow."

Antonio nearly bites his tongue. Kotetsu didn't know how right he is.

Antonio waits for Kotetsu to finish talking with his daughter. He's not impatient, exactly – he doesn't want to do this, doesn't want to have to do this – but he can't seem to fool his body about that. His foot taps rapidly on the ground as he sits on the couch. His arms are still folded, but only so he doesn't pick a hole into the couch cushion. Take care of him. When Kotetsu's daughter is getting scammed, then the joke – the lie – has gone too far.

But how did she know? A little voice says in his head. Did she think they were already…?

He hears Kotetsu's voice rise in the background – placating his daughter about something dangerous he's done, probably.

Antonio shakes the glare off his face – he can feel the tightness between his eyebrows, another wrinkle to ignore – and takes a deep breath. And nearly has a heart attack when Kotetsu says in a low voice next to his ear, "Wanna go for a run?"

"Jesus, Kotetsu!" He spins around on the couch to glare.

Kotetsu raises an eyebrow. And ignores him, flopping over the back of the couch to face him, throwing his feet over Antonio's lap. "So? Wanna burn off that excess energy? Unless you wanna do it another way –" His foot nudges against the inside of Antonio's thigh before Antonio pushes it off. Kotetsu makes a pouty face, which would be hilarious in any other circumstance.

Antonio does not break out into hysterical giggles. Of all the things – Kotetsu wants him – wants him, of all people – but only because – because of the lie.

Antonio's lie.

"Look, I have to tell you something."

Kotetsu looks like he wants to argue. He frowns, pursing his lips, and then shrugs, fingers tapping impatiently on the couch cushion.

Antonio gathers his thoughts.

"It's about last night." Kotetsu interrupts. Can't keep his trap shut for very long, of course.

Antonio's about to say something along the line of It's more than just last night when Kotetsu keeps going.

"You didn't like it?"

"No. No! No, I mean yes. I – " He stops. Kotetsu is watching him closely.

"You did like it." He strokes his goatee with an air of thoughtfulness, eyes narrowed in contemplation. Antonio's always like the shape of his hands; thin with wide palms and fingers that looked like they could dance across an instrument or make music out of thin air.

It seems particularly quiet in the apartment. Antonio hears himself breathing, like he's hovering just outside his body, watching himself. He wonders vaguely if Kotetsu can hear him. He can't lie – can't keep lying. "Yeah?" He coughs, clears his throat. "Yeah." This is not how he envisioned the conversation going.

"Hmm." Kotetsu moves, pulling his legs off Antonio's lap and sliding over so he's right next to Antonio. When he lays a hand on top of Antonio's, it's slow, deliberate. Plenty of time for Antonio to move away, but everything is so messed up and weird that Antonio goes along with it.

Kotetsu's eyes flick back up to Antonio's and Antonio's pulse jumps. "It was weird, eh? But not bad?" Kotetsu says. He looks a little relieved when Antonio nods slowly in agreement.

And Kotetsu's right, it is weird. Definitely weird for Antonio, who'd occasionally had fantasies (when he couldn't help himself) of what happened last night (and er, maybe more). But it shouldn't be strange for Kotetsu since –

Antonio frowns.

"Weird?" What an odd word for Kotetsu to use. For him, there shouldn't be anything weird –

"Eh?"

Antonio watches Kotetsu's eyes dart around, not settling on anything, not staying on him.

"You...knew?" Antonio's heart is racing, his muscles tensing.

Kotetsu stiffens – it's miniscule, but Antonio can tell. They know each other too well. Then he relaxes, coming to some decision. He scratches the back of his head. "A drink sure would be nice," he mutters ruefully, and Antonio knows right then that he knows. "Although I suppose it's too early." He sighs and when he sees Antonio's stricken face, breaks out into a crooked smile. "Yeah."

"You…but you…you didn't say anything?" Words, so difficult for Antonio to express earlier, are threatening to leap, spill, hurl themselves out his mouth.

Kotetsu says very carefully, "I thought it might be nice."

"Nice!?" Antonio says hoarsely. He puts a hand to his forehead, rubbing the ache that is starting to build. Too many thoughts and feelings and who's lying to who now? Antonio's never been good at this.

"Oi, you started this! Don't get so stuffy, cow."

Antonio stands up. Kotetsu's hand falls from his. "You let me think – for days – that you had a serious blow to the head –"

"I did!"

"Serious trauma resulting in memory loss –"

"That too!"

Antonio stares.

Kotetsu fidgets. "For a couple days. Until the second blast."

Antonio turns on his heels. He needs space. Needs to think. Needs to get far, far away from his problems – from Kotetsu.

"Hey, hey – " Kotetsu grabs onto his wrist. "I can't believe I'm the one who's saying this, but don't do anything stupid."

"Stupid. Stupid?" Antonio rounds on him.

Kotetsu's eyes spark, like they do when he's about to get into a battle, and then they'll have a knock-down, drag-out fight like they used to back in high school, but instead he stands and puts his hands into his pockets.

"You lied."

If Antonio hadn't been so mad, he'd feel guiltier than he already did. "So did you! If I'd have known –"

"You wouldn't have done it." Kotetsu butts in, cuts him off, and Antonio falls silent. "And then we wouldn't have been here, spent the past few days together –"

"We would have anyways, you're my best friend." Antonio grits his teeth. It pains him to say that, for some reason.

"And you're still my best friend."

There's a wash of relief, that Kotetsu still thinks of them as friends – but something's still painful. It's better than he thought, though. Antonio can bury the misery for now and when this weird shit has passed, when Kotetsu has accepted his apologies, then he can let it out. Alone. Preferably with alcohol.

Take care of him. Damn those Kaburagis!

"But isn't it better this way?"

Kotetsu interrupts the beginning of Antonio's apology. Wait, what?

"The only reason you thought we were together is because I –"

"No." Kotetsu shakes his head. His cheeks look a little pink, but he doesn't seem embarrassed when he looks Antonio in the eye and says evenly, "it's not the first time I thought of it."

Antonio cannot shut his mouth. It dangles open, catching flies. "Wha-what?"

Kotetsu sighs, runs a hand through his hair. "I just thought it was crazy. We've known each other for so long…since the beginning." He waves his hands, encompassing the apartment, the whole situation, the city, their life.

Hadn't Antonio been thinking the same thoughts? He touches his head, wondering if he's taken a blow too.

"But then, because of your very…well timed…lie, we found out it's not so weird." Kotetsu shrugs. "Well, weird in a good way."

Antonio still hasn't found the words. Any words. The pain in his chest has gone away, to be filled with a lightness that he might, if he were poetic, call hope.

Kotetsu looks thoughtful, heading tilting to the side. "If I had asked you on a date, what would you have said?"

A smile breaks across Antonio's face. "I'd have laughed my ass off."

Kotetsu chuckles. "See? Me, too."

"So…" Antonio swallows and speaks after a long, awkward moment. He wants to put his hands in his pockets, but his pajamas don't have them. He wants to put his hands on Kotetsu's shoulders, hips. Neither of them are very good at this. In fact, they're terrible. "What are you saying? You – forgive me?"

Kotetsu frowns. "Yeah, it was kinda of a shitty thing, mostly because you lied, but you didn't do anything. If I remember correctly…" He looks at the couch with a smirk. "I made all the moves."

Antonio rolls his eyes, although he can feel his cheeks warming. "I didn't want to take advantage," he says gruffly.

"I know," Kotetsu says fondly. "That's what I'm saying." He steps closer, turning to bump his shoulder into Antonio, and stays that way, leaning into him. "We should go get that drink now, yeah?"

"It's 9 o'clock in the morning," Antonio points out. "And we haven't finished breakfast." Honestly he doesn't care what they do, as long as they do it together.

"I had breakfast," Kotetsu crows, and Antonio glares, because yes, he'd stolen Antonio's own plate. Kotetsu ignores the look and scratches his chin. "Or we could make out again," he says slyly.

Antonio makes an undignified sound, and pushes Kotetsu to the door with a palm on his back. "Breakfast for me. You can watch."

"Kinky," Kotetsu says, and Antonio punches his arm, lightly.

"Are you sure?" He asks quietly, as they pull on their shoes.

"More than I was a few days ago," Kotetsu says before he sets the mask in place. He's smiling, so pleased with himself and the the world that Antonio can't help himself – he charges in for a very quick kiss, pulling away before Kotetsu can do anything but make a surprised noise.

"Hurry up," Antonio blusters, and Kotetsu says as he follows him out the door, " Are you sure?"

"Huh?" Antonio's thinking about his earlier question, about them, when Kotetsu continues.

"Because I could make you breakfast…later." He winks.

Antonio tries not to smile – it only encourages Kotetsu. "You're gonna be like this all the time now, aren't you?"

Kotetsu links an arm through his. "I've been holding back just for you, buddy."

Antonio huffs a theatrical smile, and they make their way to a diner (which does not serve alcohol, much to Kotetsu's disappointment).

End.