Disclaimer: I don't own Tiger & Bunny in any way, shape, or form. I just like to play with the characters.

Summary: Kotetsu and Ivan have a conversation about trolls. [Future Fic]

"Don't you get tired?" asked Ivan, his purple eyes focusing on Kotetsu.

"Hmmh?" Kotetsu's mouth was full of deliciousness, and he could only look at his fellow Hero with wide eyes, his wider mouth wrapped around pita stuffed with spicy-mayo chicken. "Mmph uu mmh?"

Ivan had to laugh at that, turning to look up at the sky with a heart already feeling a bit lighter. The two of them were out on the rooftop, having finished their gym workout earlier than the others, and the day could have been painted by a combined effort from Blue Rose and Sky High. The heavens were a thick scattering of clouds, scatted into wisps so that an icy blue peeked out from behind waves of pale grey. It looked as if someone had been playing tag again. Even the crooks must have though today was too beautiful to commit crimes, since Agnes had been suspiciously quiet. There'd probably be hell to pay later for that, maybe in the form of a Summer Special program.

"You're always so... so steady," Ivan continued, playing with the water bottle that he held, sakura petals tumbling beneath his slender fingers. "You have your beliefs, and no matter what people say or do to you, you don't give them an inch."

Kotetsu swallowed, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Trolls on your blog again?"

Ivan shook his head, turning his skyward glance to look out over the city. This high up, they couldn't see any individual people, but the rush, the crush of Stern Bild* reached with no problem.

"No..." He hesitated, then sighed. "Trolls in my head."

"Those are sometimes the hardest to ignore," admitted Kotetsu, chomping into the middle, saucy part of the kebab and motioning for Ivan to keep talking. "Mph nn."

"You've never cared about what others say, and I wish... I wish I knew the secret." Ivan looked up at his senpai and glared. "You're laughing at me."

Kotetsu shook his head, holding up a finger as he snickered, trying not to spray the younger Hero with half-eaten food..

"Not at you," he said immediately after swallowing. "It's just that you've misunderstood something."

"What?"

"I do care what other people think."

Ivan's mouth fell open.

"But... you..."

"I listen to other people, and as I said, I do care, but I just care more about what I believe." He paused, rubbing the back of his head. "Um... that came out wrong. Let's see if I can explain it a bit better..." Tiger scratched his chin.

"You overheard Llyods the other day, right?"

Ivan nodded. Everyone had. Tiger being Tiger, had accidentally destroyed an apartment complex, one that was thankfully scheduled to be demolished, but he'd been chewed out in the doorway as everyone had come in o the gym area, making a beeline for the shower room after a hard battle. Llyods had scolded him like a child in front of all the other Heroes. Barnaby, Antonio, Keith, and Nathan had all walked by, waving to Kotetsu, but the younger Heroes hadn't been able to face the embarrassment, choosing to look at the floor as they awkwardly skittered away, the man's admonishments ringing in the lobby.

"I understood what he was complaining about. What if it hadn't been empty? There could have been people inside." Kotetsu shuddered at the thought. "However, I don't regret blocking the car that criminal threw. It would have hit Pao-Lin, or if she had dodged it, then the civilians behind her."

"There's gotta be a trick to doing that though."

"There is." Kotetsu leaned back and smiled, kebab held to the side. "Ready?"

Ivan nodded, determination in his eyes.

"The trick is to care, and then to set it aside."

"Huh?" The shapeshifter shook his head. "I don't understand..."

"You get great comments on your blog, right?" Kotetsu smiled. "I'm sure you do. Maybe not in an equal number to the trolls, but, well, social media an' all that."

"Y-yeah, sometimes," stammered Ivan. "I, um... I actually just had someone tell me that I'm their favorite Hero. They always felt as if nobody noticed them, but when they saw that I was being more active, they thought they they could too. They told me they made their first friend."

"Congratulations!" Kotetsu's grin got bigger and his empty hand clapped Ivan on the shoulder. "It sounds like you really reached out to someone, so we'll have to celebrate that later tonight. But, I have a question." The remaining kebab waved about in the air as he shook it at the younger Hero. "Do you write your blog for those comments?"

Ivan shook his head.

"No. They're nice, but I don't write to get them."

"Do you think Karina sings to get compliments? Or Nathan dresses... well, that might be true for them." Kotetsu laughed again. "They do like to hear how gorgeous they are."

Ivan's lips quirked, and he moved forward to sit down, slightly out of range of the kebab-possible-weapon.

"Or let me ask it another way. Do you stop writing because of bad comments?"

Ivan looked away. The clouds were starting to weave together; Keith would probably insist on flying through them.

"...I think about it sometimes."

"And then you set it aside, right? You don't let it get to you."

Ivan nodded.

"I can't. If I let every person's bad comments needle me, then I wouldn't write anymore." He blushed. "Edward had to remind me of that."

"And we all could use such reminders," agreed Kotetsu. "The others waving at me when Llyods was yelling? They're not brushing it off, they're just showing that they'll see me later. Barnaby usually gives me a compliment."

Kotetsu stood up, and brought his hands (and kebab) up to mimic Barnaby's suit ears, trying for a casual pose and a slightly-annoyed voice. "'I don't see why Llyods needs to yell; you brought the building down in one strike, and it didn't hit anything else. The demolishing company should be paying you.'"

Ivan put a hand over his mouth to cover up a smile; it was all Kotetsu's voice, but there was enough in there to bring the blonde Hero to mind.

"Antonio usually ribs me about the fine I'll be getting." Kotetsu puffed out his chest and took on a deeper voice, planting his feet firmly on the ground. "'Looks like I'm going to have to supporting Kaede. You're gonna be paying fines until she's as old as Anju.'"

Ivan chortled at the Antonio impression, now putting both hands over his mouth to hide his amusement. He was also very glad that he hadn't been drinking or eating anything.

"Nathan was all sweet syrup," continued the older man, a twinkle in his eye. "Rubbing up against me and brushing my arm. They told me, 'If you need cheering up, you can sleep with me tonight!' And Keith clapped me on the back, saying 'thanks for taking one for the team.'"

He did the arm gestures that the Wind master had perfected over the years; a little shredded lettuce escaped to land on the floor, giving up in the face of such exuberant movements.

"And probably 'thanks again,' grinned Ivan, shaking his head.

"I'm lucky," said Kotetsu, reverting back to his own voice and polishing off the last of his food. "I have people that help me silence the Llyod trolls in my head."

"But... I can ignore people when they attack me personally. If they have good advice though..."

"Like Llyods? That's when you listen, try to take what you can out of it, and then put it out of your mind." Kotetsu adjusted his hat. "It helps that I've probably heard every lecture about ten times by now."

"So, I should care... but I shouldn't?" Ivan let out a frustrated sigh. "If there was ever an example of zen..."

"That's a good way to think of it. Meditate, think about what you know to be 'right' and 'wrong'. Intuition can guide you in that. I can think, objectively, that Lloyds is right. I should watch out to make sure I don't take down random buildings. However, I was also right to protect Pao-Lin and the people behind her. In his case, only property was damaged. In my case, I helped keep people from injury. I'm happy with my intuition and action, which means I can set his lecture to go in one ear and out the other."

"I guess... I guess I can try that"

"Good!" Kotetsu ruffled Ivan's hair, grinning unrepentantly. "It takes practice, quieting the voices in our head. It also takes time, and friends. Sometimes years."

Ivan didn't remark on how Kotetsu's eyes softened, looking in the direction of the locker room. He did wonder, however, how he'd be able to cheer the man up the next time Lloyds decided to publicly berate him. Maybe a written message crafted into an origami tiger?

*Stern Bild is how it's marketed Japan, and in the anime car plates are in two words as well, so even though the online Wiki says Sternbild, I'm going to write it separately, like New York.

Letter from the Soup - U for Unwavering

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