Title: Mind's Eye
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Pairing: Barnaby/Kotetsu
Word count: 705
Rating: T
Tags: POV Outsider, Humor, Telepathy, Future Fic, Hero!Kaede
Summary: Kaede copies the ability to read minds and immediately has Many Regrets when she reads Barnaby's.

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Title: New Rings
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Pairing: Barnaby/Kotetsu
Word count: 831
Rating: G
Tags: Established Relationship, Fluff, Post-Wedding, drunk!Barnaby
Summary: "You have a wedding ring," Bunny informs him in a tone used only by toddlers and drunk people.

Kotetsu nods. "I do."

"It's a new one. It's not the same one you had before."

"Hey, don't tell me you already forgot how I got it." Kotetsu wiggles his ring finger. "I didn't think you had that much to drink."

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Title: All I Want for Christmas
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Pairing: Barnaby/Kotetsu
Word count: 1712
Rating: G
Summary:

He kicked his heel against the porch idly and stared up at the night sky. He'd invited Bunny to come to Oriental Town with him for the holidays, but Bunny had said no. Kotetsu wasn't too surprised; Christmas Eve was not exactly a good time for him and if he wanted to be alone, Kotetsu wasn't going to push.

Even so, it stung. It would have been nice to have Bunny here for the holiday. And maybe it would have been nice for him, too, to have a good memory to associate with Christmas Eve.

---

Kotetsu gets a surprise for Christmas.

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Chapter Title: In Which There Is Candor
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Pairing: Barnaby/Kotetsu
Rating: T
Word Count: 2824
Excerpt: Even though construction was finished, Barnaby found his days were no less busy. Between getting the house ready for a real party and making preparations to return to the city, he had very little time to himself, which meant very little time to think about Kotetsu and any lingering feelings he might have had.

Well, lingering was perhaps not the best word when said feelings continued to throttle him at inopportune times. He missed Kotetsu, even more so now that they had no reason to see each other on a daily basis. There would be no more sharing lunches or dinners, no more casual conversations while they worked side-by-side, no more drinks at the tavern. No more midnight rides home together.

The thought cast a pall to every day, which was certainly not helped by the weather turning dreary and cold as autumn made its presence known.

He thought he was doing a good job of keeping his feelings controlled until Samantha brought him tea in the office one day and didn't leave as quickly as she normally did. She seemed to be hovering.

Barnaby turned his attention to adding cream to his tea. "Is there something you need, Mrs. Taylor?"

"Do you mind if I speak plainly, milord?" she asked.

"Of course not."

"Well," Samantha sat on the edge of a chair on the other side of the desk, "we've noticed you've been in a bit of a mood lately."

That got his attention. Barnaby lowered the teaspoon to the saucer. "A mood?"

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Chapter Title: In Which There Is a Realization
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Pairing: Barnaby/Kotetsu
Rating: T
Word Count: 4561
Excerpt: Lord Bunny rested for all of two days before he was back to help with the construction on the north wing. Kotetsu was surprised he'd lasted that long. Personally, he'd never really been one to sit still unless he couldn't physically move, something which had gotten him in trouble more times than he could count.

Even though it was expected, his heart still gave a funny little pang whenever he arrived at Apollon Manor and didn't see Bunny out among the workers. Kotetsu hadn't realized how used he'd gotten to working with him until he wasn't there anymore. It was disappointing to be working by himself.

Well, not by himself, obviously; Antonio and Keith were still there, and Ivan and Pao-lin came out regularly. Plus, as they'd gotten further along with the project, more people showed up every day to help out as they could. But Kotetsu had been working mostly with Bunny since they'd started this project, and, well, they made a pretty good team.

So on the third day, when Kotetsu made his way up to the north wing—nearly half-bricked now, and the inside was moving even more quickly—and saw Bunny sitting outside in his work boots, hair tied up as it usually was, he couldn't stop the grin from spreading over his face.

He picked up his pace. "Bunny!"

Bunny stood up. "You're late."

Kotetsu balked. "I am not! I got here at the same time I did yesterday!"

Bunny dusted off his pants. "Then clearly you've been slacking while I've been resting."

Kotetsu opened his mouth to argue again when he spotted the faint smile on Bunny's face and the way his green eyes danced a little. He was teasing.

Kotetsu's heart did something twisty at that.

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Chapter Title: In Which There Is an Interrogation
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Pairing: Barnaby/Kotetsu
Rating: T
Word Count: 4047
Excerpt: Although getting the frame up was a huge milestone, the work was still nowhere near finished. Barnaby was getting up just after dawn every morning and going to bed near midnight every night. When he wasn't outside helping with construction on the wing, he was in his office, responding to letters and sending off payments when he couldn't plead his way into a delay. There was still more money going out than there was coming in. He hoped the beginning of the month would help with that; otherwise he was going to need to get creative.

On the bright side—if there could be a bright side to all this mess—the townspeople seemed to be happy about the adjustment in the rents, judging by the number of eggs, vegetables, and yarn Barnaby now found himself the recipient of. Three days after he'd given her the house, Mrs. Penny had left an entire basket of jams and jellies with Samantha by way of thanks. At least he was saving a bit of money on food, when all was said and done.

Barnaby found he much preferred the physicality of construction than he did the paperwork in his office. Yes, it meant he spent most of the day sore and sweaty and sunburned, and he was beyond exhausted when he collapsed into bed at night, but he could see progress. He felt like he'd done something. The same couldn't be said of dealing with paperwork, no matter how important he knew it was.

It also did not hurt that spending time working on the north wing meant spending time with Kaburagi. Barnaby was self-aware enough to recognize his attraction, even though he had no intention of doing anything about it, and it was both a blessing and a curse to have Kaburagi around as much as he was. A blessing, because the man was a hard worker and knew what he was doing, and without him, Barnaby knew this project wouldn't be half as far along as it was, if it would have even ever started at all. And a curse, because Kaburagi could be astoundingly annoying. He absolutely lived to needle Barnaby whenever he got the chance, and Barnaby could not stop himself from snapping back every time. Not that it ever appeared to bother Kaburagi when he did; in fact, he usually grinned in response.

And oh, that grin was dangerous. Broad and open and honest, it always made Barnaby's heart beat faster, hooking into his chest and drawing him closer. He liked seeing it, more than he should.

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Chapter Title: In Which They Share a Drink
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Pairing: Barnaby/Kotetsu
Rating: T
Word Count: 3333
Excerpt: Every part of Kotetsu's body hurt. Not surprising, since he'd been up at dawn to start clearing away the burned shell of Apollon Manor's north wing and hadn't left until nearly dusk, but knowing he should be sore didn't make it any less painful. He'd gone home long enough for dinner and a bath, and now he was riding into the village to meet Antonio, Keith, and Nathan for a drink and some more discussion. Helping Lord Bunny was good and pretty important, when all was said and done, but they couldn't give up their usual work for the summer.

He dismounted his horse with a groan and sent it off to the stable behind Muramasa's tavern. He was not really looking forward to having to ride back tonight, but they would be back at the manor in the morning and it would be a much shorter ride from his house.

Kotetsu paused before heading into the tavern, stretching his legs from the ride, and spotted someone leaving Miss Joubert's office. He frowned; it was pretty late for anybody to be leaving the lawyer's office.

He stopped when he realized it was Lord Bunny. The red coat and golden hair were unmistakable.

Kotetsu debated leaving him alone for all of two seconds before he decided against it. The man hadn't been here in twenty years; he couldn't have many friends. And even if he wasn't planning on staying, he probably needed something to do that wasn't poring over his accounts every night. Might do him good to grab a drink with them.

He did not think about it much more before he jogged over. "Lord Bunny!"

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Chapter Title: In Which a Deal Is Made
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Pairing: Barnaby/Kotetsu
Rating: T
Word Count: 3456
Excerpt: Kaburagi's eyes were the color of whiskey.

Barnaby had spoken to more than a hundred people at this point, talking so much that he was starting to go hoarse, and yet his mind had latched onto the few seconds he and Kaburagi had spoken with a frightening grip.

He almost hadn't recognized him without the flat cap and with a jacket on, but then he'd spotted the beard and the memory came rushing back.

The "Lord Bunny" had also helped.

Of all the introductions he'd made, that was the single instance he hadn't been able to remain polite, where he couldn't help the sarcastic inquiry about the damn goose. Kaburagi hadn't seemed offended by it; if anything, he'd looked amused.

Barnaby kind of hated him.

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A Tumblr anon asked for a "drabble" of a Tiger & Bunny proposal, and unsurprisingly, I wrote way more than a proposal. Originally posted to Tumblr here.

Hello, who do you think would propose between Kotetsu and Barnaby and how would they do it? If you could write a drabble, that would be amazing, thanks~<3

I think the closest to my actual headcanon for them is mentioned at the beginning of “Platonic” (that is, Barnaby had a big proposal planned out and Kotetsu just spontaneously asked one morning while he was half-asleep; Barnaby got ticked about it and still went through with his own proposal and now they argue about which one counts), although it occurs to me now that the accidental proposal in It Could Be Yours is also high on my list of ways I think it would happen. But what the hell, let’s do another one for these two.A big thanks to @cobrilee for talking through ideas with me. This…is not exactly what you suggested, but that suggestion did help knock something loose! XD
Also, since this prompt came at the perfect time for fluffbingo, this fic’s going to fill the Love and Romance squares on my bingo card.


“I can’t believe Agnes wants me to propose to you on live TV,” Kotetsu muttered.

Barnaby shrugged. “She has a point. People have been following our partnership since we met. It’s not surprising she’d want to air it when we take it to the next level.”

Kotetsu continued to grumble. “It’s a marriage proposal. It’s not supposed to be for ratings.”

Barnaby reached out and took his hand, and Kotetsu threaded their fingers together and squeezed, although the frown on his face didn’t relax a bit.

It had been a delicate balance since they’d started dating, giving Agnes what she wanted for the show and the ratings while still maintaining some semblance of privacy. Barnaby didn’t mind elements of their private lives being public—it was part of the job, after all—but Kotetsu was still stubbornly old-fashioned about keeping his two identities separate, even though most of the city knew who he was now. It was stressful at times, but overall they’d managed to make it work.

So far, they’d only discussed taking it a step further hypothetically—Barnaby hadn’t even been sure if Kotetsu wanted to get married again—but Agnes had found out somehow, and now she was eager to get them to take that step while the cameras were
rolling.

Kotetsu’s initial response had been a much more colorful version of “absolutely not,” which had slowly migrated around to a “we’ll talk about it,” and Barnaby was pretty sure the only reason he’d relented at all had been because Barnaby had been willing to consider the idea. And he was, to an extent.

But Kotetsu had a point. A proposal was supposed to be about them.

Barnaby pressed the up button for the elevator.

Kotetsu raised his eyebrows. “You know, the parking garage is down.“ 

"I want some air before we head home,” Barnaby said. “Just for a few minutes.”

“We can stop at a park.”

“The roof is closer.”

Kotetsu rolled his eyes and groaned, but followed Barnaby into the elevator. “Do you just want to be up high, Bunny-chan?”

“The roof has a nice view,” Barnaby pointed out. “I thought you might appreciate it. Besides, like you said, we need to talk.”

( Read more... )

Herbert Knows Best
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Relationship: Barnaby/Kotetsu
Word Count: 4819
Rating: T
Summary:

The girl grinned. "This is Herbert!"

Barnaby blinked. Their power was a goose? Did they summon animals? Were they trying to give him a pet? He hoped the latter wasn't the case; he really didn't have the time for a pet. And if he did, he had a feeling a goose wouldn't be happy in his apartment.

"Herbert is our goose," the boy said. "He has special powers."

"He'll help you find your soulmate!" the girl said.

Herbert honked.

Barnaby had even more questions now, but the one that came out was, "My...soulmate?"

(Or, in which a goose is going to help Barnaby Brooks Jr. find his soulmate whether he wants it or not.)

This is not the first time I have written the Soulmate Goose of Enforcement, nor will it be the last, because if there's two things I love, it's soulmate AUs and crack, and this particular trope combines them wonderfully.

For those of you who haven't discovered the beautiful hilarity of this AU, it was originally conceived in the Check Please fandom and reads thusly: "Soulmate AU where one person finds a goose who leads them to the other person. The difficulty comes in not being mauled by a goose."

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