"It's strange," Barnaby says. "I never believed in ghosts."
Tomoe smirks. "Not many do."
He loses track of time for a while. There's just so much to get used to about being dead, and so much of what makes it strange and wonderful are things that Barnaby will never in an eternity be able to describe in human language. And between that and the people he wants to see, the people who want to see him, it takes him a while to, as they would say, come back down to earth to look at the world he left behind.
Barnaby's not sure how many years it has been since he died and left Kotetsu in the hospital, but Tomoe's there to point to some 'signs' in Kotetsu's life. The way he stays home most every night. The way he stares at the ceiling for hours on end. The way his hero rank is falling. The way he maintains a fun-loving smile until the very instant others leave the room, and not a second longer. Tomoe mentions that these are the conditions under which she staged her intervention.
"Intervention? Ghosts can intervene?"
No, not majorly. Ghosts depend on a sort of butterfly effect, pushing a single, small detail in a certain direction with the hopes of sparking a larger chain reaction. They don't have the power to cure Kotetsu's depression, but they do have the power to pull people toward him. Good people, kind people, loving people, who can cure his despair for them. People he might love in return.
"You don't mind?" Barnaby asks.
"Please, I'm the one who made your first catch into a princess carry," Tomoe dismisses his concern. "The real question is, are you all right with Kotetsu falling in love again?"
Barnaby tries to weigh logic against emotion. It never balanced, not even back while he was alive. "Do you know how long Kotetsu has left to live?"
"No, sadly."
After following a week of Living Time, Barnaby comes to the conclusion that Kotetsu without love is worse than Kotetsu with someone else, so he and Tomoe begin hunting. They search through Kotetsu's current acquaintances, through people's lives who run in sync with his, like the bartenders at his favorite haunts, through people with lives on trajectory to collide with Kotetsu's soon.
"Who are we actually looking for?" Barnaby asks.
"Someone who would understand and treasure Kotetsu, the way we do. A little lost, a little lonely, a little stern, a little kind. And hot wouldn't hurt."
They settle on one person as their first shot: Laura Lindquist, breaking into the Hero TV scene and basically taking Agnes' job. The studio needs an executive producer to make such a long-running show fresh and exciting again, and with a strong bloodline of actors, directors, and producers in her family and credentials to match, she's a top pick for the job. That close proximity to the heroes, coupled with some history-digging—finding an old childhood crush on Wild Tiger (quickly ridiculed out of her, but it existed) and a long-buried sense that the entertainment industry is about giving happiness rather than taking profits—quickly makes her a candidate above the others to Barnaby and Tomoe.
Not to mention she wears glasses.
She gets the job just fine with minimal influence from Barnaby and Tomoe, just giving her smile and extra shine and her eye a prettier sparkle, and she joins Hero TV just as Wild Tiger: Eternal's seventy-five year diamond anniversary appears on the horizon, an event that has everyone absolutely besides themselves trying to ensure it's a magnificent occasion to resonate through human memory for ages. Everyone is excited. Everyone but the man of honor.
"The problem is getting Kotetsu to do something, take initiative," Tomoe says. "You two had fallen in love within a year of meeting, but it took you twenty years to even kiss. It's a waste of time, and frankly, it got boring watching you two dance around each other."
"Are you doing this for Kotetsu's happiness, or your own entertainment?" Barnaby asks, though he knows Tomoe isn't that selfish.
"Take a page from Laura's book. Kotetsu's happiness is my entertainment." Though Barnaby is placated, the problem remains. How to keep Kotetsu from wasting time with his own obliviousness?
Barnaby thinks up an answer, and for the next episode of Hero TV, he curves Kotetsu's wrist just a little bit, and his nanosteel talons rip two ribbons of destruction and damage fines all the way down a skyscraper, absolutely shattering forty floors worth of plate glass and steel beams.
And Laura Lindquist is not pleased.
"This is not news to you, Tiger!" she lectures in her office. "You know that damages to public structures is the biggest drain on Hero TV's budget! Your stunt yesterday put your damage totals dangerously close to leeching on the gala's budget! Your gala!"
"I didn't ask for a gala," Kotetsu shrugs. "What's wrong with skipping it?"
"Are you kidding? We can't not have that gala! Your lifetime achievements outclass all the other heroes, and your loyalty to Hero TV is unparalleled by anyone in existence! This gala is a chance to recognize and reward that dedication!"
Barnaby can see Kotetsu's eyes glazing over, so he nudges Tomoe. "It's time. Follow my lead." Tomoe nods affirmative as Barnaby reaches out and grabs onto Laura's train of thought, dragging it ever so slightly in the direction that he needs it to go.
"Since your rebranding, you've filled a valuable niche and broadened Hero TV's viewing audience. The heroes are well-established enough that there's an element of nostalgia in a segment of the population, an emotion that resonates with you. You keep long-time viewers interested in the show, like a promise of the glory days."
Getting close…
"Of course, Hero TV has always had a strong element of sponsorship and promoting companies with the exploits of costumed superheroes, but the general trend is sliding toward open-identity heroes. Not everyone likes the change. You're a symbol of a golden age, mystery, excitement!"
Just a little further… Get to the point…
"Does your charm fall within the traditionally established boundaries of cool? No. But you don't understand what it is that people do see when they look at you! They see a true hero!"
Almost there…!
"And I know I seem like the bad guy, trying to make you do things that you don't want to, but having a gala doesn't make you any less of a hero! Because I know, a hero's job is to protect people—"
It's like whistling for a dog. Kotetsu's boredom evaporates and he stares at Laura like he's seeing her for the first time. Barnaby cheers, startling even Tomoe, as he hastily explains: Kotetsu saw those words as a link between the two of them, a cue that Barnaby was someone worth falling in love with. And now, Laura just gave that cue to Kotetsu, loud and clear, and as the third person to ever say those words to him, he had to recognize this pattern.
"—But that's not something that you have the… Hey," Laura trails off, suddenly noticing Kotetsu's intense stare. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Kotetsu says with a little smile. He looks down at his shoes, scratches his beard, and still smiling, whispers, "Glasses again?"
Barnaby and Tomoe gape at him, and then at each other. Was that… directed at us?
"What are you mumbling about?" Laura frowns, suspicious.
"Nothing," Kotetsu repeats, before he looks up. "I'm sorry for being selfish. This gala means a lot to everyone. And to you, right?"
"It—It does," Laura admits, decidedly more flustered with Kotetsu's warm, honey-amber eyes turned on her at full power.
"I'm the old-school hero, like you said, so I can't promise I won't break anything else. But I'll try my best to help, okay?"
Laura can't even speak she's so startled: by Kotetsu's sudden change in attitude, by the kindness in his face, by the feeling that something otherworldly just took place in the room.
He points to the door. "Am I dismissed?"
"…Yes. Dismissed," Laura echoes, and Kotetsu leaves the room, whistling a little tune. She stands by for a second, still in a daze.
"Do you think we pushed too hard?" Tomoe wonders. "We can't meddle too much beyond this point. And what are we supposed to do if they don't work out?"
"Everything will be fine," Barnaby said. "We've got time to watch this play out."
Tomoe smiles. "Yes, we do."
Dear Kotetsu,
Thank you for the thousands of things you've done for me throughout my life. You are the one who saved me from the darkness, and showed me friendship, love, and the future. I still cannot believe how unfair it is that, through your lifetime, you will get to meet and know so many wonderful people, but the price is to lose them all one by one. And I don't know exactly what direction your life is going to take, but please, continue to love regardless. Love everyone. Love with power beyond measure. Love with the heart of the true hero that you are, the truest hero in the world.
I'll be with you, Kotetsu, no matter how long the years last. I will always be with you.
Your Bunny,
Barnaby