Disclaimer: I don't own Tiger & Bunny in any way, shape, or form. I just like to play with the characters.
Summary: It's the little things that help brighten other people's days.
Barnaby hit his alarm a minute before it was set to go off. Morning was one of the best parts of the day: peaceful, relaxing, and quiet. There were times when one of those three were missing, such as when Kotetsu slept over (dear GOD did the man snore!), when he had nightmares of Maverick coming back from the dead (certainly not relaxing), or when someone in the neighborhood decided to remodel their place, which resulted in construction starting at six on the dot (goodbye peace).
Today though, all three were present... which was strange because Kotetsu had been here last night. He turned to the other side of the bed, grinning at the messy tuck in.
"He was here at some point," muttered Barnaby, pushing hair out of his face and reaching for his glasses. Seeing clearer didn't help. The bed had clearly been slept in, and it hadn't been by him. Sighing, he threw the covers back so he could remake the bed properly, and froze. In the middle of the bed was a present, long and thing, wrapped in pink bunny paper.
"It's nowhere near my birthday..." The blond picked it up and walked over to his desk to get a letter opener. Nicking the edges, then slitting the side of the paper, he removed the paper, and placed it on the desk. A set of twelve tickets were bundled together. "January 16h 7:30 - Ice Skating Championships. February 6th 11:00 - Phantom of the Opera. March 22nd 14:00 - Fondue Lunch set at A La Fromage." He shook his head. Each ticket was meant for three people, two adults and one child, and he'd have to be thick not to know who would be going with him.
"... this looks like fun," he admitted, wondering if Kaede would feel any sympathy for the Phantom, or if she would be cheering Christine the whole way.
Both were panting after their morning jog, but John had the quicker reaction by a hair. The golden retriever balked at the front door and growled, unmoved by Keith's reassurances behind him. The Hero skritched his friend at the base of his tail, and when John was sufficiently distracted, moved forward to see what had caused the alarm to be sounded.
"John, it's just a package at the front door," he said, shaking his head and smiling. "See? Just a package... without a delivery notice... or any shipping labels..." Keith's smile slipped as he realized that only his name was on the box, written in angular letters. He grabbed John's leash and walked him over to the other side of the street. "You stay here, I'll go see about our mysterious gift."
Keith waited for a truck to go by, then he jogged back to the front door, looking over the box in question.
"I don't hear any ticking sounds." He took a step closer. Picked it up and shook it. "I supposed I'll need to open it." He grabbed his keys and tore through the tape, trying to figure out what he was holding. The flaps opened, and for a moment Keith was flabbergasted.
"Hey, John..." he looked at it again, then remembered that he'd kept John away just in case the package had turned out unsafe. "Huh... an activity mat for dogs and their owners to try Dog Yoga." He waved it at John, who barked and wagged his tail,, tongue licking the air. "This is just the thing to start the day right!"
Keith set the book and mat down, then went back to untie John.
"I'm not sure who gave this to us," he told his four-legged friend, "but I wish I could say thank you, and again, thank you!"
Karina slung her backpack into the corner of the piano room and refrained from kicking it.
"Ugh, I thought I was done with math when I graduated high school!" She walked over to the keys and pressed down harder than she normally did, enjoying the sweet notes. "I had no idea that music theory was more math and less creativity."
She pressed a few more keys, then winced at the sour notes that floated out to linger in the air.
"What's wrong with you?" Karina asked, opening the lid and taking a peek inside. There was a square box sitting on the sour-note string, wreathed in ribbon. "Is this... for me?"
Carefully, she snagged it and brought it into the light. It wasn't heavy, but it wasn't light either. A pinch and a pull took care of the ribbon, which fluttered to the ground as she unfolded the cardboard.
"Wow!" Eyes sparkling and mouth open in surprise, she took out two arm bracelets, holding the metal up to the light. Polished gold shone, and showed off the music notes; squinting revealed tiny lyrics written in cursive beneath them.
"I always have to go NEXT! Always go ahead-" she couldn't finish the rest of her song, instead wiping away tears from her eyes so that she could read the rest of the words. It wasn't one of her best songs, or at least, she didn't think so. But... this had been written after she'd left the bar early, trading her coveted stage time for her Hero outfit and running as fast as she could, desperate to make sure that her friends survived the oil rig fire. This was her reminder to be all of herself when she tackled whatever the next situation brought.
Karina looked at her backpack again. She put the bracelets on, then dug out her math book to go over those problems again.
Antonio drank the beer Kotetsu put in front of him, laughing as they reminisced about their old school days.
"I still don't know how Tomoe put up with us," he finally said, wiping away tears. "Let alone married a guy like you!"
Kotetsu shook his head.
"I've no idea either."
"One more?" Kotetsu nodded, but stood up.
"Just let me run to the toilet." He set off, and Antonio had to laugh as his friend swayed around the room.
"Mr. Lopez? Is there a Mr. Lopez here tonight?"
Antonio heard and raised a hand.
"Thank you sir. I have a package for you, but I'll need to see some identification before I hand it over."
Antonio snorted, but reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his driver's licence.
"Thank you sir..." The server handed over something that clinked. "This was left at the front desk with a note that a Mr. Antonio Lopez was missing it."
Antonio stared at the gift as the staff member left, then ripped the paper away. In front of him was a glass jar, full of metal keys.
"What the hell?"
Kotetsu came back to the table, then did a double take when he saw the jar.
"When did you start collecting keys?"
"I didn't. Someone left this for me."
The two of them looked at the jar.
"Is there anything else inside it?"
Antonio reached out and unscrewed the lid, shaking the jar so that he could peer around the shifting mass of metal.
"Yeah... a note or something."
He fished it out, then smoothed it against the table, grabbing his beer to take another drink.
"If you're reading this, then you've received your gift. Half to be precise."
Kotetsu snickered.
"Right now, your apartment is being filled with treasure chests. One of these keys will open one of the chests. Good luck."
The snickering grew into guffaws as Antonio blinked at the message.
"So... one of these many keys will fit one of the many chests being delivered to my place?" It took him a few seconds, and then a broad grin spread across his face. "Nice. I like puzzles."
Pao-Lin bounded into the training room, her eyes as wide as saucers.
"Guys! You won't believe what happened to me yesterday!"
"Something good we're guessing," said Ivan, putting down his dumbbells.
"So spill, what happened?!" said Nathan, crowding closer.
"I was studying at home, and the doorbell rang. Someone ordered a pizza for me!"
Barnaby's eyebrow quirked.
"A pizza?"
"Yep! And not just any pizza!" She took a deep breath, then let it shudder out with longing. "It was a Korean pizza, with kimchi and more on it!"
Karina made a face as Ivan shrugged.
"But there was another delivery after that - I got a free cake package! There was a range of cakes in it, chiffon, brownie cake, and even a tiramisu."
"But why?" asked Kotetsu.
"She was lucky, that's why," answered Keith. "Lucky once, and lucky once again!"
"I mean, they must know me, since they know I like new foods." She laughed. "I ate everything, and I felt wonderfully full afterwards. It was wonderful."
"That was nice of someone," Karina admitted, looking at the golden bracelets on her wrist. "I found these in my piano the other day."
"In the piano?"
"I got a weird gift of keys in the pub the other day," said Antonio. "And when I got home, there were about fifty chests scattered around my apartment, and supposedly only one of those keys that I got work. Haven't figured out which one yet, it's been fun testing them."
"And some of those chests have ten or more locks on them!" laughed Kotetsu, slapping his friend on the back. "Whoever thought that up was brilliant!"
"Hmm..." Nathan tapped their cheek. "I haven't gotten anything yet."
"Neither have I," added Ivan.
"Maybe you will?" Kotetsu shrugged. "I mean, I haven't either, so maybe the three of us won't?"
"Oh! And I almost forget the best thing!" Pao-Lin punched the air in excitement. "I got tickets to the Battle of the Foods happening next week! They've been sold out for weeks now!"
"What the 'Battle of the Foods'?" asked Nathan.
"It's when several cooks are given a theme, but they're missing a key ingredient, so they have to figure out how to substitute, or sometimes they'll chose to make something completely different. Even better, a few members of the audience are picked to be on the show and taste the food, and that's exactly what my ticket is for!"
Everyone gave their congratulations to the excited Pao-Lin, who beamed and promised that she'd take pictures, even if she couldn't bring any of the food back.
Ivan stood in his doorway, staring at who had rang his doorbell.
"Well? What's your thought on this?"
"Why me?"
"Someone told me that you would be a good teacher, both patient and fair. I've been your neighbor for a while now, and I would agree with that assessment."
"You've been watching me?"
There was a sigh.
"Not quite. They told me that you always say hello to your other neighbors, and I've actually seen you at the supermarket. You're kind to others, and I think that you'll make a great teacher.
"But... I haven't spoken Russian in a long time," Ivan protested.
"Then we'll start with Japanese." She smiled. "That's fine with me."
Ivan still wasn't quite sure what was happening. He'd been watching The Seven Samurai only a few minutes ago, and now there was an older Japanese lady wanting to offer him language lessons?
"Don't stare me in the eyes," she said, the cane she was holding onto striking the ground. "Many Japanese people dislike eye contact. Stare at my neck, or my shoulder instead. That'll allow you to read my face without boring a hole in me."
Not just language lessons...
"I can offer Russian cooking lessons," Ivan blurted out, a red flush climbing his cheeks.
"I accept," she said, nodding her head. "And I'll offer some Japanese cooking lessons too."
Ivan smiled and bowed, offering his arm to escort her into his apartment.
"My name's Ivan Karelin."
"Ota Keiko. And I can see that you've got a lot to learn young man."
Nathan spent the next few days looking closer at the people around them. They'd heard about Ivan's new Japanese tutor (who had mysteriously appeared on his front step), so now it was only him and Kotetsu who were without gifts. Nothing happened. Deliveries went as planned, nobody new came into their life, and for those few days everything behaved exactly as it should have.
And then... there was a cassette tape on their pillow when they arrived home after a late night of criminal chasing. Nahan looked at the "mixed tape" and turned on their heels.
"I've got you now," they said, hitting playback on the security camera. Eagerly, then leaned forward, then groaned. All they saw was a floating cassette. "Strange... I don't know anyone with that particular NEXT power.
Nathan shrugged, then sauntered back to where the cassette tape was laying.
"I guess there's only one way to figure out what's on this." A finger hit play, with them focusing completely on the crackle and pop of someone being recorded.
Then, a very familiar, very gruff, and very drunk voice began to speak. Nathan's eyes went wide, then filled with unexpected tears after a few minutes. The stood there, listening and grinning like a mad fool.
"Well now," they said when the tape clicked to a stop. "That was a balm to the heart, wasn't it?"
With care they extracted the tape, then placed it inside a keepsake box, closing the lid gently before putting it back in the corner of the room.
"I think it's time to give a little something back though."
Passing through the kitchen, they snagged a pink feather pen and a heart shaped notebook. Recalling the first incident, or at least the one that had been called to their attention, they began to write down all the little clues.
Kotetsu was on the roof, seeking relief from the office heat, and thankfully finding it.
"I should have known you'd be up here."
He turned to see Barnaby leaving the stairwell.
"If someone didn't keep the office so hot, I'd be downstairs. Instead, I've been forced to leave so I don't melt."
Barnaby looked up at the cloudless sky, turning his face to enjoy the sunlight.
"Such a burden," he teased, closing his eyes and soaking in the rays.
"Did you need me?"
"Mm... not me actually, Nathan was looking for you. I told them you were up here."
Almost as if on cue, the elevator opened and out spilled the rest of the Heroes, Nathan leading the pack.
"Everyone?"
"Oh yeah, Nathan may have gathered us altogether." Barnaby stepped back to be with the others, surrounding Kotetsu in a circle.
"Um... hi?" He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "What's going on?"
"We just wanted to thank you for all the things you did for us!" said Pao-Lin. "I don't know how you got those tickets, but it was awesome to go!"
"Why do you think it was me?"
"Because it was you, don't deny it." Antonio stepped forward. "You're the only one who knows the weird puzzles I like."
"And you're the only one who knew how much that gift meant to me," added Nathan.
"So what we're trying to say..." and there was Karina, joining in.
"Is thank you!" Shouted Keith, all smiles and windblown hair, "and thank you again!"
"To reward you for your kindness," said Ivan, bowing.
"We're going to take you to that all-you-can-eat fried rice place," finished Barnaby, a sly grin on his face. "So come on, let's go have lunch."
Letter from the Soup - K for Kindness
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