#brook was counted among the dead but he was just out cold and left where he was

[bugslap]

The Humming Gunslinger, Brook — the West's most notorious bank robber with a trick up his sleeve if you try to disarm him

[psychedelic-ink]

Easy Prey // Among Us AU

Pairing:  Vinsmoke Sanji x fem!reader

Genre: Angst/horror (kinda not really) NSFW

Word Count: 1982 k

Warnings: Blood, murder, face fucking 

Summary: Traveling in space can be hard, especially if one of your crewmates has been replaced by a parasitic shapeshifter. One by one the crew members are being found dead and in the end identifying the imposter is up to you.

“Sanji I really don’t think we should be doing this…” 

Your skin burned as his hands greedily explored every crevice of your body. His breath was warm and damp on your neck, nibbling on the soft flesh and leaving his marks as his hands cupped your breasts. Silent moans left you, your mind now feeling numb, you tried to remember how the two of you ended up in the dark corner of the electrical room. 

“Why shouldn’t we be doing this?” he whispered, his voice dripping with lust. “We might die at any moment shouldn’t we celebrate that we’re alive?”

His voice was like warm honey, you couldn’t say no to him. Everything he was doing to you just felt so good, your heart threatened to leap out of your chest as he lifted up the upper part of your pink suit, were you really going to go with this? While there was an imposter among the crew? So many had already died, you could be next maybe he was right.

Sanji’s head dipped in the valley of your breasts, planting open mouthed kisses he took your right nipple in your mouth. You threw your head back and shivered. The inside of his mouth was warm, his tongue went in circles around your sensitive nub. You let out shaky breaths as you wrapped his blond hair around your fingers. He hissed when you pulled his hair, your nails dug in his scalp. His mouth felt so good on you, Sanji bit, licked and pulled your nipple, driving you absolutely crazy. 

He parted away from you, he had a smug grin plastered on his face. A grin that made your heart skip a beat, your face felt warm and you averted your eyes. He placed his hands on your shoulders and pushed you down, you knew what he wanted and you were happy to deliver. 

You stared at the bulge that was visible from the outside of his blue suit. Momentarily your eyes widen, licking your lips, your hands fiddled with the zipper. Sanji took in a sharp breath when you wrapped your fingers around his throbbing cock. He was already leaking with precum, gingerly you licked the tip, tasting him. You enjoyed the bitterness he left in your mouth, you wrapped your lips around the tip, your tongue going in circles. You were enjoying the way he groaned as you continued to taste him. 

Your breath hitched when Sanji placed both hands behind your head and pushed your forward. Feeling his cock at the back of your throat made you gag, he seemed to enjoy this since you could hear him let out loud moans. Your eyes watered, Sanji snapped his hips, thrusting into your mouth as if he was fucking your pussy. Spit mixed with precum dribbled down from your chin. You tried to relax your throat but he was giving you no room to breathe. His hips continued to mercilessly snap forth and back. Your chin ached, despite your mouth being strained you couldn’t help but moan as he fucked your throat. You felt wetter with each thrust. 

“-ah fuck, your mouth feels so good,” he panted. “You like it don’t you? Being used like a fleshlight?”

With half lidded eyes, you looked up to him and groaned when you saw that he was staring down at you. He wrapped your hair around his fingers and buried himself deep into your mouth, he came right down your throat. 

Sanji’s cum tasted bitter and felt thick as it slid down your throat. His hand held you in place as he continued to splurt his seed into you. Not wanting it to go to waste, hungrily, you swallowed every bite. When he finally released you, you coughed and took in deep breaths. 

You looked back at him only to see him smirking down at you, his eyes dark by lust, you knew he was far from done. 

That is until the alarm went off. The alarm that you feared the most. The alarm that signalled that someone was found dead. 

Lowering your helmet back down, you glanced at Sanji. For a moment his eyes flashed a hint of annoyance. But he was quick to hold your hand and pull you towards the cafeteria, you dismissed the look as your paranoia playing tricks on you. A soft smile tugged at your lips. You were happy that he was with you. 

When the two of you arrived your heart stopped. Only Nami,Usopp and Robin sat around  the table. Nami was biting her lip clearly trying not to break down then and there. Usopp looked pale and was shaking. Robin seemed calm as always but she was clearly bothered as she didn’t look at you. 

“I-I saw Zoro,” he whispered as he made eye contact with you. “He was impaled.” 

“İmpaled?” you asked, trying to wrap your mind around it. 

Your legs trembled and you were hardly able to take a seat. Zoro… he was gone, along with Luffy, Chopper, Franky and Brook. They were all gone. 

“Where?” Sanji asked, breaking the silence. 

“He was in medbay.” Nami answered. 

“I was with Nami.” Robin said. “Where were you Sanji?”

“I was with y/n.” 

“T-That’s true.” 

Why were you hesitating? It was the truth. Fear engulfed your heart as the conversation continued. 

“That means only Usopp was alone then?”

“W-Wait!” Usopp stuttered. “Don’t look at me! I’m the one who reported it besides we don’t know when he was killed.” 

“I just asked a simple question.” you could feel the smugness radiating from Sanji. “Why are you suddenly so on edge?”

“Because you’re clearly blaming me!” Usopp shouted. 

“Robin asked a simple question and I just stated a fact. You were alone weren’t you?”

“I...was.” 

“Well after that outburst I vote that Usopp is the impostor.” 

“I..agree with Sanji.” 

“Nami?!” 

You hated how Usopp genuinely sounded and looked hurt. You couldn’t believe that it was him. But maybe it was?

“I think that Sanji is the impostor.” Robin said. 

You felt your blood freeze when she said that. Sanji squeezed your hand reassuringly, snapping you out of your shock momentarily. 

“I think it’s him too!” Usopp shouted, crossing his arms in front of him. 

“Then that leaves only y/n.” Nami said, looking directly at you.

All eyes turned to you. Usopp was sweating and Sanji just seemed a tad bit nervous. Darkness fell upon you. Who would you choose? Your friend or your lover? Which one was the imposter? Sanji was with you the whole time. Sanji’s thumb grazed the top of your hand, you could feel the warmth he radiated. He felt so secure, so safe. You just wanted him to hold you and never let go. 

“Do I have to choose?” you asked. 

“Yes.” Nami’s voice was ice cold. 

Swallowing you looked down at the table. You felt cold. 

“Usopp,” you took in a deep breath. “Usopp is the impostor.”

“What!?” he screamed. You bit your bottom lip, it felt as someone was squeezing your heart. 

“You heard her,” Sanji’s voice made you shiver, it even sounded colder then Nami’s. He stood up, ready to kick Usopp out. “Get off the ship impostor.” 

“N-No! It’s not me!” 

Usopp’s pleads didn’t stop Sanji from grabbing him and throwing him out. All of you watched as he wiggled in the endless voice of space soon to be motionless. You couldn’t look much longer and buried your face into Sanji’s chest. Nami touched your shoulder. 

“We should go and do the repairs.” she said, clearly starting to regret her decision. 

You slowly nodded. Sanji followed Nami to the navigation, you were going to tag along but you were stopped, when you turned you noticed that Robin had held your hand. 

“You made a mistake.” she simply said and left you. 

A chill went down your spine among hearing those words. But you knew she was wrong. There was no way you sent Usopp to his death by claiming that he was an impostor. Your stomach churning you went to navigation. Your hands felt cold and sweaty at the same time. You felt absolutely sick. 

“Y/N RUN!”

With full force Nami bumped into you. Knocking out the breath in your lungs the two of you fell down. You took in a deep breath, trying to comprehend what was going on you managed to open your eyes. You could see Nami’s terrified face through her helmet. Her eyes wide, cheeks glistening with her tears, you held your breath as your pulse quickened. 

Breathing became easier when Nami was lifted, she shouted as she was being lifted by two black tentacles, at least you assumed there were tentacles. Nami kicked the air and tried to free herself, you stood there frozen with fear. 

The last thing Nami did was reach out to you. 

Blood dripped down, staining your pink suit with red. You couldn’t take your eyes off of her, a sharp object had gone through her chest, warm blood pouring down from her wound, her body now dangling, lifeless. 

“N-Nami?” 

Her body fell to the ground with a loud thud as an answer. You crawled towards her, your hands trembling, you shaked her again and again and again. Nami never woke up. 

“Y/n-chan I don’t think she’s going to wake up.” you hear the voice of Nami’s assailant hum. 

Tears dropped down from your cheeks as you leaned over your friend’s corpse. You clutched her spacesuit, hoping that this was all just a bad dream. Knowing that your wish would never come true you straightened up and faced the killer. 

“Sanji.” you hissed. “It was you all along?”

“That’s right.” he replied with a smile. 

He took a step closer to you and you jumped back. Sanji chuckled when he noticed the fear in your eyes, he feed off of your fear as he took another step. You were frozen with fear, your breathing short and uneven. He stood right before you and with a quick motion he tore off your helmet and threw it to the side. 

“You were so blindly in love.” he cackled. “You just made it so easy.”

“Since when have you been imitating him?” 

Surely it shouldn’t be that far in time. Sanji kneeled down, his suit stained with blood, he took off his mask as well revealing the wicked smile he had. He was truly enjoying this. 

“Since you lot left Pluto.” 

“Pluto…?”

That meant…

“You started to fall for “Sanji” after that, right?” he asked, grinning. “You never fell in love with him though. You fell in love with me.”  his eyes flashed and became red momentarily. 

You felt sick. Sanji never fell in love with you, Sanji never cuddled you, Sanji never comforted you. It was all…that thing, the impostor, the alien. He placed a hand under your chin and lifted your face so that you would face him. You hated that he looked like Sanji, your body betrayed you as your cheeks started to heat up. 

“I really don’t want to kill you,” he said, sighing. “Thanks to you I managed to kill everyone and it’s really fun to play with you but I’m not sure how you’re going to feel after this.” 

“I feel nothing.” you lied. 

“Is that so?” he shrugged. “Then that makes my job easier.” 

His hand came down on your throat, his nails digging into your skin. Your eyes watered, slowly but surely your windpipe was getting crushed. The impostor that was wearing Sanji’s face flashed you a toothy grin. 

“Thank you for making me experience human pleasures y/n.”

Before you blacked out you wished you could warn Robin. You wished you hadn’t sent Usopp to his death. You wished you could warn everyone before any of this happened. 

You wished you could’ve saved the real Sanji. 

But all of your wishes quickly drowned into eternal darkness.  

[queenofmoons67]

something wild (calls you home): chapter five

Word Count: 4467

Thank you to my beta @bookdancerfics!

Chapter 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5: Kotetsu and Barnaby 2

Barnaby’s life had been thrown into chaos by Kotetsu’s disappearance, but as Agnes and Charlie pressured him and the other heroes into taking care of themselves and they failed to turn up more leads, he began to fall into a routine.

Wake up at six in the morning. Take Charlie for a walk. Turn around so his dog actually goes to the bathroom. Go home. Feed Charlie. Get ready. Refill Charlie’s water bowl. Be at work by eight.

Spend the next four hours alternating between hero work and going over the evidence again and again. It was still strange working without a partner, but the media had at least stopped bothering him with questions about what happened to Wild Tiger—half shut up by Barnaby and the other heroes’ pointed non-responses, and half shut up by Agnes yelling at them for an hour.

Go home to take Charlie for another walk and eat lunch.

Go back to work. Alternate between hero work, going over the evidence, and arguing with the police about their lack of involvement. Resist punching someone. Go to the gym. Spar with the other heroes and commiserate over how almost everyone else thinks Kotetsu is dead.

Resist working more and go home to take Charlie on his evening walk. Eat dinner together and refill his water bowl.

Resist Charlie’s sad face and go back out. Scour the streets for hours, sometimes by himself, sometimes with other heroes. Find nothing. Make it home by midnight to ignore the guilt Charlie’s face causes and take him out on his final walk. Crawl into bed thirty minutes later and ignore how calming Charlie’s warmth over his feet is. Fall asleep by one.

Rinse and repeat, until days turned into weeks.

It was… it was different, but not in the same way that eating dog food or wearing a collar were. It was a good different: Taking comfort in the heat of Bunny’s leg pressed into his side, the sound of another person breathing. Knowing that, even though he was a dog, he wasn’t alone.

He thought it helped Bunny, too. His partner was quieter and more relaxed with him on the bed. There was the occasional nightmare, when all Kotetsu could do was burrow into Bunny’s side more and press his cold nose to his hand, even while doing his best to block out the nearly silent cries Bunny made. But they weren’t often, and even if that was all Kotetsu could do, it was still something. He would take that.

But last night had been different. Bunny had had a nightmare, and a single word had slipped out among his cries.

“Kotetsu!”

Kotetsu shivered and jumped out of bed. Hours later, the sound of Bunny crying for him still echoed in his head. He had thought Bunny was doing better. He had thought they both were. He had gotten used to being a dog, and his legs no longer slipped out from underneath him. He had formed a routine, and Bunny had been part of it. Sure, his partner and the other heroes still went out looking for him at night. But they didn’t do it obsessively. He—

Kotetsu shook his head, tail limp between his legs as he trotted through the hall into the living room. He had been fooling himself, thinking that Bunny and the others could recover from his disappearance and apparent death. Why had he thought that? Heroes had died in the past, and it hadn’t been easy then. Why would it be easy now?

“Charlie?” Bunny called. Kotetsu ignored him and nosed at the front door.

He had resigned himself to being a dog forever too soon. Sure, the other heroes had no leads. But he had something they didn’t: Knowledge that he had been turned into a dog, the little knowledge he had of the night he disappeared, and the dog senses to do something about it. He should never have given up when he did. That wasn’t what heroes did. That wasn’t what Wild Tiger did.

“Charlie, are you ready for your walk?” Bunny’s voice echoed in the hall.

A walk meant a leash. A leash meant Bunny holding tight to the other end. A leash meant Kotetsu wasn’t going anywhere.

Kotetsu worked his mouth around the door handle, thankful that it locked automatically and that it wasn’t a knob. Either would have stopped him before he even tried—or at least meant he would have had to try a different way.

“Charlie?!” Bunny cried, and Kotetsu flinched, but managed to turn the handle. Backing up, he looked behind him to see his partner staring at him, open-mouthed with tears already welling up.

“I’m sorry, Bunny. But I have to do this.”

Kotetsu ran out the door.

Barnaby ran after Charlie, but by the time he banged open the stairwell door his dog had already disappeared. This was the penthouse, though. Maybe—

Barnaby ran to the elevator and hit the down button, pacing back and forth and hoping it would come quickly. If he could get downstairs before Charlie, he could stop his dog from going outside. Or at least go with him. Maybe he was just really eager for his walk? What other reason—

Charlie had shown no signs of being unhappy. Barnaby had shared his bed, his food, and his home. He had been thankful to have someone else in his life, even though a dog could never fill the hole Kotetsu left. He had been— he hadn’t been happy, but they had been together. And Charlie had been happy.

Right?

“I’m sorry, Mr. Brooks,” the receptionist shook his head. “The dog ran out a few minutes ago. I’m not sure which way he went.”

It took Kotetsu three tries to find the right alley, but only a second to find where his call band had been—while his scent had been washed away by nearly a month of weather, his blood had permanently stained the ground. Kotetsu sat and stared at it, then looked around the alley. There had to be a clue here… something the other heroes missed… something like—

Kotetsu’s tail whipped back and forth, uncaring of how it quickly gathered the dirt it passed through. How had he missed it before? He had led Bunny and Nathan to where he woke up, but he’d had to walk in circles to find his call band. It had been destroyed before he fell unconscious—while he was still human! Which meant— 

Kotetsu leapt to his feet, pacing in thought.

Everything had happened so fast, he hadn’t really considered the blood. It had made sense that his call band would fall off when his human hands transformed into thinner dog paws. But that wouldn’t move it to a different spot or destroy it, and it wouldn’t coat the ground with blood. And unless the transformation had healed his injuries, he hadn’t been hurt besides turning into a dog. Which meant… which meant it’s not his blood.

Kotetsu whirled back around, stumbling slightly over his own feet for the first time in weeks as he raced to the dried spot and stuck his nose directly above it. Inhaling deeply, he closed his eyes and concentrated.

If he was right, this was the blood of whoever transformed him. His own scent was long gone, but the blood—the blood had become ingrained in the ground. The top layers had washed away, but there it was. The faint scent of someone entirely human, of black holes and pepper. Someone who wasn’t Kotetsu.

If this had been planned, he had no further leads. But if this had all been because he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, there was a possibility—however small—that he could find himself in the right place at the right time. The attacker could be nearby.

Raising his head, Wild Tiger set off at a run into the streets of Stern Bild, mouth open and breathing in the scents of the morning.

Barnaby didn’t go to work. Instead, he set out on the streets, looking for Charlie and asking people if they had seen a medium-sized dog with orange and black stripes.

“Like a tiger?” they would ask, and Barnaby would swallow, the ache in his throat growing stronger, as he remembered the last time he scoured the streets for a tiger.

But he always said “yes.”

Wild Tiger caught the trace scent of black holes and pepper when he rounded a corner a few blocks from the alley. His stride lengthened, becoming more purposeful as he tore through the streets.

Agnes called Barnaby thirty minutes after eight.

“Where are you?” she demanded.

“I’m only—”

“You haven’t been late in weeks.” Since Kotetsu disappeared.

“I’m sorry. My— Charlie got out this morning. I’m trying to find him.”

Agnes muttered something that Barnaby barely caught, something about “this is not what I told you to do,” but then said, “I’ll send the other heroes out.”

Barnaby’s heart beat faster. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t, but I will. Accept the help, Barnaby.”

He stared across the street, not really seeing. “Thank you, Agnes.”

She scoffed. “Thank me when we have Charlie back.”

Wild Tiger skidded to a halt, yelping as his paws scraped against the rough pavement in an attempt to not run over Sky High. The other hero had dropped out of the sky and landed right in front of him, arms open and beckoning.

“Come here, Charlie,” Sky High cooed, patting his thigh even while he reached up to his comm. “I found him.”

Wild Tiger backed away slowly, tail between his legs and ears back. He was cold, and dirty, and hurting from running all over the city—but the scent he’d been tracking had been growing stronger with every paw step, and it was so strong now that the pepper stung his nose.

“I’m sorry,” he said for the second time that morning. “But I have to do this.”

He darted forward, keeping his body low as he dodged Sky High’s hands and ran on. A few more blocks… just a few more blocks!

Barnaby ran through Stern Bild, heart pounding in his chest and echoing in his ears. He had been terrified the first call of the day would come in and interrupt their search. He hadn’t expected to find Charlie in less than an hour. He should have expected his dog to run. Why wouldn’t he, when that had been the cause of all the trouble in the first place?

“Charlie!” Sky High called, his boots thundering on the pavement.

Wild Tiger did his best to ignore him and keep running. He had followed the scent into a tight alleyway, which had the added benefit of making Sky High choose between running and flying into walls. The hero had decided to run, giving Wild Tiger the lead in the chase.

A door opened ahead of them, slamming into the brick wall with a clang as an average-looking man walked out. Wild Tiger got ready to dodge—and then the scent of black holes and pepper crashed into him, blurring the scent of anything else and making his eyes narrow on the new person in the alley. He pointed his nose right at him, ears pricked forward, tail raised high, and lip curled up. Sky High shouted something behind him, but Wild Tiger didn’t hear what he said over the rush of blood in his head and the pounding of his paws as he ran at his attacker.

This was the person who had turned him into a dog. The person who had taken him from his family. The person who had hurt his family. Kotetsu let him get away once—he wasn’t letting that happen again.

The man turned to face him, eyes wide and scent turning sour with fear, and Kotetsu leapt forward.

Barnaby arrived at an alley a few miles from Kotetsu’s apartment to the sound of sirens and people shouting orders. The Apollon Media van sat right outside it, and it was all shut off from the main street by crime scene tape. Antonio met him on one side.

“Whoa, Barnaby,” the older hero said. “You can go in in a minute, but I need to talk to you first, ok?”

Barnaby frowned, trying to see past him, but it was impossible: The other man was just too tall. Giving up, he folded his arms and glared at him. “What is it?”

“Charlie led us to the man responsible for Wild Tiger’s disappearance,” Antonio said evenly, steadily, as though he hadn’t just rocked the ground beneath Barnaby’s feet.

“He— he did what?” Barnaby asked.

“Do you remember that blood sample we took from the call band, the one that turned out to not be in the system, but it had been so long we thought no one could track it?” Antonio turned slightly and nodded down the alley. “He tracked it, and Sky High followed him here and watched him jump the man. Didn’t hurt him or anything, just knocked him down and held him there till Sky High caught up with them. Charlie was apparently more than a little frightening, though, because the moment Sky High was there he was babbling all about what he did to Wild Tiger.”

Barnaby stared at him, wordless. Antonio took a moment, looking past him at where Barnaby knew the Apollon Media van was, then continued.

“Barnaby, none of us are at fault for not realizing, ok? We just… we have to be there for Kotetsu, and—”

Antonio’s eyes drifted back to the van when he said Kotetsu’s name, and Barnaby whirled around and dashed toward it. Antonio called after him, but Barnaby ignored him. Kotetsu. They had found Kotetsu. They had—!

The back of the van was open, but it was empty save for Agnes and Charlie. The two were sitting next to one another, not touching, and Agnes was in the middle of saying something when Barnaby ran up. He looked between them in bewilderment. He was happy to see Charlie, of course, but after thinking his partner was there, his dog was… not a disappointment, per se, but definitely—

Charlie knocked him to the ground in a whirlwind of paws and fur, tail wagging at mach speed, and pranced and danced all around him before deciding that shoving himself in Barnaby’s lap and leaning his entire weight on his chest was the best option.

For lack of anything else to do, Barnaby settled one hand in a half-hug around Charlie, braced himself on the other, and looked up at Agnes.

She smirked down at him. “I thought he was happy we finally figured everything out, but that was nothing compared to now.”

Charlie pulled away from Barnaby a bit and snarled at her. Agnes laughed. Barnaby looked between them, brow furrowed, then looked up at Antonio as the other hero caught up with him.

“He doesn’t know yet,” Antonio commented, staring first at Charlie, then at Agnes.

Charlie barked. Agnes rolled her eyes.

Antonio sighed, but explained, “Charlie is Kotetsu; he was attacked by a man with the power to turn an animal into a different species—even humans. It apparently wears off after a full month anyway, but he’s stuck like that for another few days.”

“I should have known from the beginning,” Agnes said. “Answers to Tiger and follows Barnaby around, who else does that sound like?”

Charlie—Kotetsu—barked again, and Barnaby looked down at him. “Kotetsu?” he said, and Kotetsu barked again, shoving himself back into Barnaby’s chest in what he was realizing was a pseudo-hug. He leaned into it for a moment, then back again. “I can’t believe this.”

For the remaining three days Kotetsu was a dog, he and Bunny gave each other space, but stuck to the same general vicinity. He himself was in disbelief that everyone knew who he was, while Bunny seemed in shock about all of it in general. He would call for Kotetsu, then blink down at him when he trotted up.

No matter how much the revelation rocked Bunny, though, it didn’t compare to how much it shook their routine. Kotetsu acted as he normally did, but Bunny hesitated to take him on walks with the collar—removed at the alley—and leash, despite the fact they both knew it was the law, and that Kotetsu couldn’t just stay in Bunny’s apartment. The food stayed the same because neither of them were sure what his body could handle otherwise, but Kotetsu sat at the table like a normal person.

And except for when Bunny called for Kotetsu’s attention, neither of them spoke to one another.

It hadn’t been loud before, but they had interacted. Bunny had murmured quiet musings and worries to Charlie, and Charlie had laid there and listened, tail wagging behind him and occasionally nosing at Bunny’s hand or barking.

Now, when Bunny turned to Kotetsu to say something, he would blink at his tiger stripes and turn away again. Kotetsu tried to trot after him the first few times, but after each one led to Bunny shooing him away with an exasperated “not now, Kotetsu,” he learned to stay away.

The one thing that stayed the same was Kotetsu’s place on the bed, pressed up against Bunny’s legs. With everything that had changed, neither of them were willing to give up the comfort the other’s warmth provided at night.

The night Kotetsu should turn back, he and Barnaby sat on his couch and stared at one another. The other heroes had offered to be there, too, but Barnaby had told them no; he didn’t want to overwhelm Kotetsu.

With what they knew now, they figured his call band had either been taken off and destroyed during a fight or after his transformation, but his other clothes hadn’t been found, so they had probably transformed with him and he should at least be dressed when he transformed back. But dog and human senses were very different, even without the possible pain the transformation would cause and any walking issues he would have.

Barnaby looked away from Kotetsu, ignoring the concerned yelp his partner made. No matter what Antonio said, he should have at least suspected what had happened from the very beginning. Mobility issues with no injuries. Familiarity with him and their fellow heroes. Answering to ‘Tiger.’ But he hadn’t seen it. He’d been so blinded by the situation, so entirely compromised, that he’d ignored the most prominent clues.

“Bunny?”

“It’s Barnaby—”

Barnaby’s eyes widened and he whirled around, almost falling off the couch in his hurry only to be steadied by hands that he knew better than his own, even after a month of absence.

“Ko— Kotetsu?” he whispered, staring into narrowed brown eyes.

“Are you alright, Bunny? You seem—”

Barnaby has never known Kotetsu to be quiet, but throwing his arms around his partner, squeezing tight, and burying burning eyes in the crook of his neck and shoulder did the trick for a moment.

“Bunny?” Even now, Kotetsu’s voice was quiet.

Barnaby pulled back, shivering a little, and wiped at his eyes. Smiling, he said, “It’s good to have you back, Kotetsu.”

No matter how much it was his fault for what happened, Barnaby was selfish. He didn’t have it in him to stay away.

Kotetsu’s eyes hurt from all the colors, and he felt like he was underwater from how dulled his sense of smell and hearing was, but he focused on Bunny the best he could.

“You’re sure you’re ok?” he repeated.

Bunny rolled his eyes. “Yes, Kotetsu, I’m ok. Just glad to see you.”

Kotetsu didn’t say he never left; he knew it hadn’t felt like that. But still— “You’ve known I’ve been here for days.”

Bunny shifted in his seat, but kept staring at him. “Yes, well, it didn’t feel like it. Perhaps if I’d figured it out sooner it would be better. But that’s not the point right now, Kotetsu. How are—”

“That is absolutely the point!” Kotetsu interrupted, scandalized. “Bunny, what are you talking about?! I’m the one who gave up trying to show you who I really was—”

“It should never have gotten that far—”

“Bullshit—”

“Kotetsu!”

“What?” Kotetsu asked, jolting to his feet the best he could. He was a little wobbly after getting used to four legs, but he managed ok, planting his feet a little wider apart than normal for balance. “Are you going to scold me for my language, Bunny? For getting caught in the first place? Or was that your fault too? You can’t take credit for everything, Bunny!”

Bunny shot to his feet and, voice cracking, cried, “You were gone, Kotetsu! You were gone, and I was here, uselessly searching for you when you were right next to me the entire time! How do you expect me to feel?”

Kotetsu didn’t have a response. Instead, he swayed a bit on his feet, panting from his outburst and watching Bunny do the same.

They stayed like that for a minute, and then—

“I’m going to bed,” Kotetsu said. “I’m tired, and I want to see the others tomorrow.”

He went to bed alone.

He didn’t comment when Bunny climbed in thirty minutes later, just held the blankets up for him and then turned away.

He wouldn’t have been able to sleep alone anyway.

Barnaby woke up slowly without an excited dog jumping on his legs. Opening his eyes, he turned his head and stared at Kotetsu. The other man was still out cold, limbs sprawled everywhere and mouth open and snoring. Counting himself lucky that Kotetsu wasn’t drooling and that they weren’t tangled together, Barnaby slipped out of bed easily enough and went into the kitchen.

He wanted to make something nice for Kotetsu to eat. Even with their fight, his partner had been stuck with dog food for an entire month. He should probably avoid anything too rich for now, but he figured toast with butter and jelly should be ok.

Barnaby was just getting out the silverware when Kotetsu stumbled in, rubbing at his eyes and yawning.

Barnaby looked him over with narrowed eyes. “Are you feeling better today?”

“Hm?” Kotetsu slumped into a chair at the table, peered down at the toast already in front of him, and then squinted up at Barnaby. “Yeah. Just—” he yawned again “—just need to go for a good walk, stretch out the kinks.”

“So normal old man stuff?”

“Yeah, normal— hey!” Kotetsu yelped, pointing at him. “Normal person stuff, thank you very much.”

“Hm,” Barnaby hummed as he set down the silverware, then sat down across from Kotetsu. “Whatever you say, Kotetsu.”

Kotetsu squinted at him again, then scoffed and picked up his knife and the butter. “Yeah, yeah. You laugh. Just wait till—”

“I’m your age?”

Kotetsu audibly growled.

Barnaby looked at him, startled, and his partner clutched at his throat. “That was…”

“Yeah,” Kotetsu coughed. “I guess there are a few side effects, besides the whole—” he gestured with his knife, almost flinging butter everywhere.

Barnaby looked away, then back again. “I am sorry, Kotetsu. I know you don’t want to accept it, or even believe I’m at fault. But I am sorry.”

“I never thought it was your fault, Bunny.” Kotetsu dug into the jelly and smeared some across his toast, all while staring at Barnaby. Barnaby shifted, uncomfortable under the unusual weight of his partner’s gaze. “I’m not going to argue who’s to blame with you anymore than we already have, because I don’t want to drive us apart when things should finally be getting back to normal. But I— I want you to know that much, ok?” Kotetsu took a giant bite of toast, moaning in delight, and Barnaby finally let himself look down at his own plate.

“Idiot Tiger,” he muttered, and bit into his own toast, relishing the sound of his partner trying to protest and eat at the same time.

Kotetsu walked towards Apollon Media on his own two feet. Bunny had frowned while studying him on their way to his car, but Kotetsu absolutely refused to greet the other heroes leaning on his partner. They had been worried about him for a month, and it was bad enough Bunny saw him struggling and felt guilty about it all—he didn’t need the others like that, too.

“Are you ok?” Bunny asked quietly, walking calmly enough beside him, but still shooting him the occasional worried glance that Kotetsu then ignored.

“I’m fine.” Worried himself about Bunny, but Kotetsu meant it when he said he refused to argue about it anymore. It was time for them both to heal from the whole situation, and they couldn’t do it separately. Their partnership had grown enough that Kotetsu could willingly admit that, just as he could admit that it would take time before either of them forgave themselves for the mistakes they made. But they had the time, now. Time, and friends to help them through it.

“Tiger!” Nathan called, running out the door. Antonio followed them more sedately, but his giant grin gave away how excited he was. Karina walked next to him, an extra bounce in her step, and Keith, Ivan, and Pao-lin ran out behind them all, quickly catching up to Nathan and screeching into an excited half-circle around Kotetsu.

“Are you ok?” Pao-lin asked, peering up at him.

Kotetsu grinned down at her and ruffled her hair. “I’m getting there,” he reassured. “I’m at least at ninety percent already.”

Bunny coughed next to him, and Kotetsu shot him a glare even while stepping into Nathan’s hug, Antonio sweeping them both up a second later.

“I’ll be back to work before you know it,” he insisted.

“Good,” Agnes said, heels clicking on the pavement as she approached them all. “Ratings have been down without you, Wild Tiger. Everyone wants to know what happened to yours and Barnaby’s partnership.”

“Uh-huh,” Kotetsu laughed. Antonio set him and Nathan down, and he steadied himself on them both for a moment before letting go. “Are you sure you didn’t miss me for me, Agnes?”

“Positive,” she said. “Now get inside, all of you! At least pretend you’re going to work.”

Kotetsu grinned, threw one arm around Bunny, and walked into Apollon Media, his fellow heroes by his side. It was good to be back.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story! Please let me know what you think!