t&b+ mornings after [2/4]

[dreamship]

Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Title: Mornings After; part two [one]
Characters: Kotetsu Kaburagi, Kaede Kaburagi, Muramasa Kaburagi, Antonio Lopez
Genre: angst, family
Rating: G
Summary: The mornings following were always the hardest part. A father and daughter try to continue living, however hard it may be. (Pre-series fic.)



There was a whirring that woke Kotetsu from his slumber. He felt chilled, cold and disturbed at the soft blowing and the cool air blowing around the room. The fan? Was it the fan? Opening his eyes, his grimace quickly melted from his face as he tried to understand how he landed in the living room with a fan. They didn't have a ceiling fan out here...

The whirring stopped.

Kotetsu sat up, running a hand through his hair as he glanced around. Kaede was no longer next to him, or even in the room, and the blanket already on the floor. But why was the apartment so cold?

"Owww! You're pulling it!" came the young girl's whine from upstairs.

"Sorry, sorry," responded a deeper voice. "Give me one second..."

Silence followed, then a sudden: "Ow!" Kotetsu took that as his cue to figure out what his brother was doing. Crossing the living room, he felt a gust of cold air blow across his shoulders and turned to the source: the air conditioning was on far too high. He shook his head and just continued, chasing after the sound of Kaede's miserable mumbling of letting Papa do it even if it looked weird, and found the two standing in front of the mirror in the hall bathroom. Kaede held her favorite scrunchie while Muramasa held her comb, both of them looking quite sour.

"Oh, you're up," Muramasa said. He held out the comb. "We were trying to blow dry it better but--"

"Papa, can you brush my hair for me? Uncle Muramasa keeps pulling it," the child interrupted, holding the hair tie out for him.

Kotetsu couldn't help but laugh. That always happened, every time Muramasa tried to brush her hair. But the older man was trying to be a helpful uncle, so Kotetsu didn't tease him for it. Instead, he took the comb when Muramasa offered it to him. "You're trying to comb it straight off, aren't you?" he guessed. "Look, just pull this part off with the comb, then brush the rest." Parting a small section in the front from the rest, he set the comb down and picked up the pink and yellow brush, gently moving Kaede's hair back to a ponytail. She fiddled with the front part, blowing it up and away from her face while Kotetsu brushed the hair.

Doing Kaede's hair was one thing Kotetsu was--quite surprisingly--good at. It was part Tomoe's doing, and part because Kotetsu had been an odd kid back in junior high. Fashion had consisted of braids, corn rows, weird ponytails, jagged parts... and Kotetsu, desperate to fit in with his friends, found himself doing just about everything his little group of buddies did. Muramasa didn't think it would ever come in handy, but, ironically enough, he could still do a perfect little braid and a tight and perky side ponytail in his daughter's hair.

Once Kaede's hair tie was secured in place, she laughed and touched the ponytail, then glanced to both men. "Thank you! Now it doesn't look all messy anymore!"

With that, she climbed down from her little yellow step-stool and bounced downstairs.

Kotetsu actually felt rather accomplished. Muramasa smiled and pat his shoulder.

They decided to have curry for lunch, Kaede's decision. The apartment warmed rather quickly when the air conditioning was turned off, just as the sun chose to shine overhead. As Kotetsu chewed his spoonful, he stared, narrow-eyed at the window, wondering why it was such a beautiful day. With the pleasant temperature and the warm sun, this was perfect park weather.

It had been nice like this on the day of her funeral, too. He remembered Kaede asking to bring her sunglasses when he was putting her shoes on.

Just so nice, warm...

His eyes clouded, vision flooded with the memory of pale, ivory skin framed by straight, dark hair, and a gentle smile.

"Kotetsu," he could hear her whisper.

Tomoe...

A hand nudged his shoulder. "Kotetsu," Muramasa called softly.

He blinked, surprised to find his lids fluttering twice as hard to clear away a wet and blurry view. A warm tear slid down his cheek. That, he wasn't expecting... Still dazed, the young hero just turned to look at his brother, a melancholy expression etched on his face.

"What is it?" Muramasa asked softly. "Kotetsu, say something."

It took a few seconds, but Kotetsu quickly shook his head, brushing his cheeks with the back of his hand. "N-nothing," he whispered. Crying... he hadn't done that in a while, not since the funeral. God, he remembered that day; he was an absolute wreck that day. He could remember the pristine white coffin, and those lavender flowers resting in a soft bouquet...

Shaking his head, he brushed the back of his hand across both eyes. And with a soft sigh, he looked towards the floor. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me, aniki," he replied in a quiet voice. It was almost unnerving how soft his volume could get, especially with how loud and boisterous he was on a daily basis. "I just... I..." He shook his head. He just didn't know. His chest had seized up, strangling any further words from him. Sometimes it just hurt thinking about it. But he had to keep it together, he needed to keep it together. He wasn't doing this just for him--he still had his daughter.

Eyes quickly looked around, trying to find the young girl. He just needed to see her, just to make sure she was alright. Thankfully, his moment of panic dissipated when he saw the small girl walking out of the kitchen, carefully balancing a cup. Kotetsu heaved a sigh of relief when he realized that she had missed his entire moment. That was good. Kaede didn't need to worry; no, that was papa's job.

Her bare feet took slow steps carrying her into the living room, and she set the juice down on the coffee table.

"What's this for, baby?" he asked.

"Not yet!"

She ran into the kitchen and reappeared with a plate that held three chocolate chip cookies. Setting those next to the juice, she smiled at him.

"When I was sad, Mommy always made me a snack. You looked sad, so I made you a snack too."

Kaede didn't expect for Kotetsu to pull her into his arms, but all she could do was hug back when he started crying. When he finished, she made him eat his cookies and Muramasa convinced him to take a nap.


+~+

Things were calm. Calm, so calm, and it hurt. Kaede was yawning, already exhausted from her wonky sleep schedule, but she didn't want to go to bed just yet. No one argued with her, especially as she sat with Uncle Tony, drawing on her new pad of paper. With his best pal, Antonio, and Muramasa both around to help watch Kaede, Kotetsu managed to take in a bit more leisure time. That was what landed him on the couch again, poking through an old Hero book.

They were calling him back to work.

Small jobs, just an interview and maybe one or two daily missions, just to show that he wasn't completely gone. Kotetsu knew Tomoe would have wanted him to work; she told him that at the hospital. He really didn't want to. Just the idea of running off to apprehend criminals and not knowing what to do with his baby girl now that she didn't have her stay-at-home mom watching her...

Thankfully, Ben said he had a few days to think it over.

As Kotetsu flipped a page, Muramasa poked his head into the room. "Hey, Kotetsu."

The younger man glanced to his daughter, who was ferociously scribbling on her current page, then to his brother. "Yeah?"

"Come help me with dinner?"

"Ah, yeah." Setting the magazine down, Kotetsu joined his brother in the kitchen. He was handed a knife and pointed in the direction of a few vegetables sitting on a chopping block. Meanwhile, Muramasa returned to stirring a pot of steaming rice. Judging by the man's stony but expectant expression, Kotetsu knew they were going to talk.

"So, I heard your job wants you back," the older brother started calmly.

Kotetsu didn't answer.

"Are you going to go back?"

The hero's cutting slowed down, as he spoke his next words with care. "She asked me to," he answered. "Right before I left, she asked me to. But... Kaede doesn't know."

Muramasa stopped stirring. "You never told her?"

He sounded surprised, though Kotetsu couldn't fathom why. Most heroes had families, didn't they? But not many had children, much less ones who knew. "We thought it would be better. We -- I... I can tell her when she's older. But... not now. She's too young."

"But what are you going to do?"

Kotetsu fell silent again. Besides the cutting, the young hero couldn't think of a proper response. He just didn't know. Sighing, he slid the first vegetables over and reached for another. Anything to keep his focus away from the stares he could feel from his right. Muramasa was staring at him. Arms crossed, the older man was no longer stirring the rice, but instead focusing most of his energy on the younger brother before him.

"I was talking to mom," he continued, his words spoken slowly. "We were thinking... What if she stayed with us for a little while?"

The cutting stopped.

"Just until she's ready to start school," he continued. "It'll be hard to keep this from her, especially if you're the only one caring for her. She's still too young for school and childcare, and with your schedule, it's too unsteady."

Those words hit hard. It was a subject Kotetsu had been avoiding, but he couldn't put it off any longer. The original reason Tomoe had become a stay-at-home mother in the first place was because they needed someone to watch Kaede. With Kotetsu's salary, just having Tomoe stay cut down on unnecessary daycare bills. But without Tomoe, he'd have to watch out for which missions he could take, and when. And watching his daughter all the time... He still had to work; he had to make money to take care of her.

Being a hero and raising a child wouldn't work that way...

Kotetsu shut his eyes as he felt the familiar sting of tears threatening to work their way down. "Aniki... she's all I have left," he whispered. "What... what do I do?"

Muramasa took a step forward, setting a hand on Kotetsu's shoulder. He didn't say anything just yet, just letting Kotetsu have a private moment to settle his feelings. He made sure to keep any sobs quiet so Kaede wouldn't hear. A few minutes later, as Kotetsu finally managed to bring himself down to a mere sniffles, Muramasa handed him a clean dish rag.

"Kotetsu, let's go back home for a few days. We'll both talk to mom."

With a slow nod, Kotetsu reluctantly agreed.


→ chapter three.