A Fateful Reunion

[tigerhero]

WHO: Tiger & Bunny (Kotetsu T. Kaburagi & Barnaby Brooks Jr.)
LOCATION: The Hotel, Traverse Town
TIME: Early Afternoon
WHAT: From one unexpected surprise to the next, the dynamic duo from Sternbild are finally united again!
RATING: PG-13

Comments

[bunny_hero]

When Kotetsu is occupied with making fried rice in the kitchen, Barnaby remains acting dead on Kotetsu’s bed. He has been doing that since Kotetsu (and a blue-haired girl later) saved him from the Heartless attack, playing the role of damsel in distress. Thanks to his partner feeding him some water earlier, the blond feels somewhat better now. He is able to move, or roll on the bed when Kotetsu is not paying attention to what is happening in the room

[tigerhero]

While Barnaby silently protested against the darling little nickname Kotetsu gave him, he focused on cutting up the shrimp. The one thing he hated about preparing any dish that contains any kind of shellfish in it, deals with the fact of how long it takes to prepare it. Several minutes flew by easily as Kotetsu continued to remove the shell and veins. He tossed all the inedible stuff to the side before tossing the shrimps into the pan nearby. The entire room must've smelled like a Chinese takeout place by now, but at least the food gave off a good aroma.

"It's almost done!" Kotetsu mused happily as he stirred the food around with a spoon. "Just give me a few more minutes, okay?" He glanced over towards the bed when he said that. "Just five more minutes, alright? It will be done soon." Offering Barnaby a quick smile, Kotetsu turned his attention back to the mini stove.

[What tense are we in? xD]

[bunny_hero]

Boredom soon occupies the room as Kotetsu returns to work on the shrimps, compelling the blond to find something to do. In a typical hotel room there is always a bedstand that stores some type of sacred text. In Western countries it is always the bible and occasionally, Quran. Curious to see if this world has any religion, Barnaby rolls over and opens the drawer. Inside the drawer he can’t find sacred text or any kind, but instead, the game manual.

Seriously? Barnaby sighs as he takes out the thick book and begins reading.

When he is about to finish the 10-page-long introduction written by King Mickey and Queen Minnie, he hears a cheer from the kitchen. It must be Kotetsu finishing his world-famous fried rice.

[tigerhero]

Completely unaware of Barnaby's self-discovery, Kotetsu finally arrives carrying a plate filled with a mountain of shrimp fried rice. Grinning from ear to ear as he sat down on the edge of the bed, Kotetsu offers the plate proudly to Barnaby. "It's done!" He stated happily as he pushed the plate towards the blond.

"Bon appétit! You should start eating before it gets cold." Not knowing if Barnaby will actually like this dish or now, Kotetsu may have seemed a tad nervous here and there. He hoped the blond wouldn't reprimand him too much for his attempt at cooking. Kotetsu may not be the next Iron Chef, but he can hold his own in the kitchen.

[bunny_hero]

Barnaby did expect a large portion of food waiting for him, but he never knew he is going to finish a mountain high of fried rice. Even though he is a full-grown man, his appetite is quite small. There is no way he is going to clear the whole plate without five cups of water.

“…I wish your English is as fluent as your French,” Barnaby didn’t forget to add some sarcasm to enhance the flavour before taking the silver spoon and scooping up a spoonful of fried rice.

“Hmm…” The blond hesitates, not taking the food on. Something starts to bug him - oh yes, memories. The fried rice just recalled his memory of the bunny cake baked by Kotetsu.

The cake looked hideous but the taste was surprisingly not bad. Can this theory be applied to the fried rice, too?

After another few seconds of suspense, he finally takes in the food, and chews.

“Not bad,” he comments monotonously.

[tigerhero]

Kotetsu frowned almost instantly at that sarcastic shot at his verbal skills. It wasn't his fault that English is his second language. He comes from a Japanese household, but he picked up on the French and English while working at Hero TV for the last ten years. The old man might not be completely fluent in either languages yet, but his French was sometimes better than his English because he's used to hearing certain phrases said by Agnes and her team.

Still, even if Kotetsu tried to explain all this he was sure that Barnaby would just say something snotty to tick him off. So instead of arguing with the fatigued blond, Kotetsu decided to drop the issue all together. "Just shut up and eat already." He murmured in annoyance. Watching in pure suspense, Kotetsu nearly slapped his hand to his face when Barnaby went "Not bad."

"What do you mean by 'not bad'?" Kotetsu asked in a slightly annoyed tone. "That's my BEST dish ever! It should be 'Great' or 'Stupendous'! Not just "Oh, not bad'."

[bunny_hero]

Instead of giving unnecessary reply back to Kotetsu, Barnaby rather spends his remnant energy to enjoy this delicious plate… yes, he has to admit that it is way delicious then he expected. He doesn’t speak until he finishes half of the plate, clearing all the shrimps and carrots and leaving all peas untouched - he is not picky at food normally but today he just feel like to be picky once in a while.

“Well, well. Now I say “the fried rice is delectable, thank you”. Are you satisfied?” He replies with a subtle peaceful that shows neither he is flattering nor jesting the other. Throwing the usual fake smile away, he is complimenting naturally with a genuine smile on his lips.

But the smile doesn’t last long before Barnaby realises what he is doing, and returns to his plate with his cheeks slightly tinted.

[tigerhero]

Kotetsu watched in content as the blond continued to eat. He was worried Barnaby wouldn't like his signature dish and just toss the food out, but it seems that all his worries were for nothing. It was kind of cute to see Bunny try to devour that mountain of rice in one sitting. He knew his partner wouldn't be able to achieve that goal, but at least he seemed content. With now half the meal successfully gulped down, Kotetsu's eyes widened once Barnaby thanked him again.

"Y-You really mean that?" Wow, he never expected to receive high praise from Barnaby. It made Kotetsu smile from ear to ear. "I am so glad! You have no idea how long it took to clean the shrimps. Talk about hard work!"

[bunny_hero]

"You could have brought the ready-to-eat shrimps to skip the tedious step," Barnaby blushes heavily after hearing how overacted Kotetsu was to his comment, as if he just gave him a five-star rating. He is not a great cook but he still understands how repetitive it is to clear the shrimps while maintaining their shapes intact. Kotetsu must be skilled at making fried rice for his friends and his family.

Friends and family, huh...Within his expectation, he cannot finish the whole mountain of rice. Taking two more spoonful of rice already fills the blond's stomach completely. Staring at another small mountain of rice, he sighs melodramatically and hands the plate back to Kotetsu. "See, you are wasting food by making a giant portion. Say, how should I deal with this?" He frowns deeply and casts Kotetsu a glance before returning to his manual reading. The tone sounds accusatory but Barnaby is not really mad of the other - more like, he doesn't really know how to express his gratitute for the delicious food

[tigerhero]

Kotetsu could've used already cooked and seasoned shrimps for the meal but he wanted to make this dinner extra special for Barnaby. Not that he would ever admit it honestly. He didn't want Barnaby to realize just how much he cared for him. Besides, the rookie would probably just tease him relentlessly if he knew. "Yeah, I could have." Kotetsu replied quietly.

A chuckle or two rang from him once Barnaby started fussing about the amount of food he given him. Assuring Bunny that he could always store it in the fridge, Kotetsu took the plate from him and wandered back towards the small kitchen. He didn't need to be thanked for anything, especially since he still owed Barnaby quit a lot. Yet, it felt nice to see some form of gratification from his typically standoffish partner.

It was a nice change.

[bunny_hero]

Barnaby continued reading the manual as his partner stored the remaining fried rice in the fridge in content. He finally finished the prolonged introduction from the King and Queen, and was reading the chapters about this universe and the concepts of darkness. Similar to typical hotel rooms, the dim bedroom did not create a comfortable environment for readers. The blond was compelled to turn on the bedside lamp that was way too bright while taking off his glasses - he had perfect eyesight and the glasses were merely one of his favourite fashion accessories.

The more he read further and further in depth, the more he realised how difficult it would be to achieve his goal of life in this world - it would be virtually impossible. Even though the book mentioned their previous world was destroyed due to the darkness attack, he was still not content with Jake Martinez’s death - that malicious criminal must be executed by his hands - he was not worth of such an easy death for killing his innocent parents!

“…Why. What unforgivable sin did

[tigerhero]

After placing the leftovers in the fridge, Kotetsu returned from the kitchenette to find Barnaby sitting there in tears. He didn't know what to say or do at this point, but it hurt him to see his partner so miserable. Kotetsu knew that no matter what he said or did, Barnaby wouldn't feel any better. The young man survived all these years in search of his parents' killer, only to be deterred yet again. He couldn't imagine how terrible that must've felt

[bunny_hero]

Barnaby rejected the offer at the beginning, insisting to wipe away his tears only with his hands, but another sudden overflow of tears compelled him to do so. He didn’t want Kotetsu to see him crying like this at all. Even though his partner knew about his parents’ death, he wouldn’t understand the agony he was currently suffering. Crying in front a man whom he didn’t really trust brought nothing but shame to the childish blond that he should have halted his tears by now. But something went wrong - he couldn’t control his tears leaking incessantly from his eyes with Kotetsu’s presence. He tried turning and scooting away from his partner, but his eyes just wouldn’t obey his orders, as if they want to order the Asian man’s order and flood the room until he was comforted