Disclaimer: I don't own Tiger & Bunny in any way, shape, or form. I just like to play with the characters.
Summary: As much as Kotetsu doesn't want his friends hurt, they feel the same way.
Kotetsu groaned, his eyes not blurry enough to escape the color of the ceiling. Green. A soft, puke-green. With that acknowledgement his other sense began to report in. Steady sounds of beeping coming from multiple sources, along with a low murmur of noise that meant at least two other people were there. A too-bright, too-sharp smell in the air that tickled the back of his nostrils, along with a slight scents of ozone and fire. The sheets underneath him were cool to the touch, and gentle where his fingers brushed against it.
"He's waking up," someone said.
"Kotetsu, you here?" asked another, deeper voice.
Antonio. His mind supplied after a few seconds of thinking. And... Karina?
"Finally! Now we can concentrate on Handsome," trilled a high pitched voice.
Nathan. Wait, Handsome?!
"Bunny?" croaked Kotetsu, struggling to get up.
What happened this time?
"What happened... to Bunny?"
"You." Nathan said bluntly, their voice dropping to its lower tone, the one they used when they got serious.
Me?
"What?"
"You ran into a burning building," Karina chimed in. "Without waiting for me to put it out."
Ooooh. Yeah, now he remembered. A pretty high apartment fire, with several people leaning out over the railings and calling for help.
"There was... no time." Kottetsu squeezed his eyes shut, trying to erase the memories.
Is that where the smell's coming from? Or is Nathan worried?
"Bunny?"
"He went in to rescue you," Ivan spoke up, looking at the floor. "And... he'd already activated his powers."
Shit!
Kotetsu managed to turn his head, already knowing why there were other beeps and computer noises in the room. Sure enough, Barnaby was lying in a cot next to him, bandages wrapped around his head. Pinning down curls that should have been free.
"One of the floors collapsed," continued Pao-Lin, wrapping her hands together, then twisting them. She was never really good at dealing with emotions. "And he shoved you out of the way."
"...and got pinned," groaned Kotetsu, closing his eyes briefly.
"Hello, and hello again!" said Keith, poking his head into the doorway. "Are they both awake yet?"
"Kotetsu is," Antonio rumbled, getting up from the chair that had been barely holding the man. "Barnaby, not so much. Give me a second, I gotta make some phone calls."
He's probably calling mom and Kaede. He looked over at the still Hero. Oh Bunny... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have been hurt because of me.
"We need to pick up our school work," said Karina, grabbing Pao-Lin by the arm. "We'll be back in an hour."
"And I need to get my computer, I have a blog post due," added Ivan, following the two girls out of the room. Which left Nathan and Keith.
"Come on Keith," said Nathan, "I know you just got here sweetie, but I could really use something sweet to nibble on. Or a strong coffee. Maybe both? I haven't eaten anything since the fire."
Kotetsu squirmed in his bed.
"Sorry Nathan-"
"Don't apologize to me," they said, holding out a hand. Pink eyes stared, drilling into him. "You need to apologize to Handsome."
The Japanese man let out a sigh.
"I will," he promised, dropping eye contact with Nathan. "This... this was all my fault."
Nathan snorted, probably because this wasn't the first time they'd heard those words, then turned, taking Keith with them and leaving the room empty... empty except for the man lying next to him. Kotetsu simply watched for a few moments. The machines showed that the pulse was good, but even with all of the times he'd been hospitalized, he couldn't remember what the other numbers meant. On the other hand, he could see plenty of bandages wrapped around his partner, including the one around his pretty head.
"... Bunny," sighed Kotetsu. "Don't get hurt for this old man."
There was no reaction at the nickname, and Kotetsu's heart sank further.
"I'm sorry." The words seemed to echo in the room, and then drop, falling away into whispers that scattered to the wind. With a louder groan, Kotetsu sat up, his body aching everywhere, but specifically across the back of his shoulders and on his left leg. Gently untangling the wires attaching him to his machines, he began to move them across the few feet that separated him.
"Bunny."
Not a twitch.
"Barnaby," Kotetsu sighed, reaching forward to grab a still hand. He waited a few seconds, thinking that he'd felt it twitch, but there was no other movement.
"I never meant for you to get hurt. My choice is my choice; you're not supposed to do the crazy stuff, like running in after me. Though... I'm sure Kaede will thank you." Kotetsu's eyes began to water. "We're Heroes Bunny, not invincible. And you need to be having fun, making up for lost years."
Still nothing. No twitches, no sighs, no long, pretty eyelashes fluttering.
"Damnit Bunny. I swear, if you wake up, I'll stop being so reckless."
"Thank god," said Barnaby, opening his eyes and sitting up.
"Bunny!?"
"You stupid idiot!" Green eyes glared at him, then focused even more intently as Barnaby grabbed a pair of nearby glasses sitting on a tray. "You could have been killed!"
"Wha- how?" Kotetsu's mouth hung open.
"Surrrrrpriiiiise!" Nathan sang out, everyone crowding behind him and trying to get back into the room.
"You all heard him, right?" said Barnaby, getting off of the bed and ripping away the bandages.
"Wait, stay down, you're still hurt!" Kotetsu's head was spinning. "Wha- what's going on?"
"You're too reckless."
"You keep getting injured, trying to make sure that we don't," Ivan added to Antonio's bludgeoning sentence.
Keith came over to help Kotetsu back into his own bed.
"And we hope you intend to keep your promise," the wind Hero said, eyebrows drawing in. "It would be terrible for one to break a promise, and again, more terrible if that person were a Hero."
"...my head hurts," whined Kotetsu, getting back into his bed and leaning against the white pillow. "What the hell's going on?"
"How did you feel when you thought you had caused Barnaby's injuries?" asked Pao-Lin.
"... terrible."
"Now take that feeling and use it for us," commanded Nathan.
"Like the time you shoved me out of the way and got shot, without your powers!" said Karina, folding her arms over her chest. "Never mind that I was ready to block it with ice."
"Or when you attacked the bank robbers when they found out I was in disguise," said Ivan, sighing. "All I needed to do was lose them for a second, and I would have looked like one of the hostages. Instead, you landed in the hospital."
"Remember when you pushed me out of the way of that robot attack?" asked Antonio. "You'd already used your power, and I could've taken that hit better than you."
"But..." Kotetsu looked around the room, meeting not quite angry eyes, but determined ones. "I can't just sit back and watch you be hurt. Not when I can do something."
"Think of it from our side," said Keith, coming to sit down a the side of the bed. "You felt terrible when you thought Barnaby got hurt because of you."
Kotetsu turned to his partner.
"You're not, right?"
"No." Barnaby grimaced, pushing his glasses further up his face. "Not this time."
"Then, I don't see what the problem is," Kotetsu tried to laugh it off, grinning at the Heroes gathered around him.
"Shut up and listen to Keith!" snapped Karina, blushing. "Then maybe you'll get it."
Flinching, the bed-bound man turned back to the still smiling wind wizard.
"Think about how we feel when you get hurt because of us."
Kotetsu's mouth opened, but he didn't say anything.
"By jove, I think he's got it!" trilled Nathan, clapping their hands together.
"Better have," muttered Karina. "I'm sick of visiting him in the hospital."
"You can keep to the perilous path you've chosen," Keith assured Kotestu, patting an injured shoulder. "But make sure that that actions you take leave you less injured than we would have been had the action not been taken."
Letter from the Soup - P for Perilous
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