Greetings, readers! Before we begin:

This is to serve as the only warning for those who have any inclination to flame: this story will be YAOI (male x male romantic relationship). Please leave now if you do not wish to read this sort of thing.

Also, it will be long. I am still not sure how long, but likely between a dozen and two dozen chapters. (Apologies to the ever-impatient xNarUkeUchiMakix - I just hope you think it's worth it in the end, my dear.) I plan on releasing one chapter per week, every Tuesday.

Reviews are always, ALWAYS appreciated! Thanks for visiting, and enjoy the story~!

Title: A Borrowed Life

Rating: T

Main pairing: Tiger x Bunny / Kotetsu x Barnaby

Chapter One: Retirement

Wild Tiger had had a good run as a hero. Of course he was torn, since anyone could see how much he loved his job, but between bursts of private anxiety at his own shortcomings, he had accepted his loss of powers with as much grace as he could muster, and he retired with pride.

"A friend of mine taught me an important lesson about trust, when I needed it most, and I've had faith in people ever since. I now put that trust in the hands of our young heroes, for the future of Sternbild!" The crowd had roared, cameras had snapped blindingly left and right, and his partner had flashed a smile just for him from beneath his raised visor in knowing appreciation beside him. But that night, a Monday, Wild Tiger had become Kaburagi Kotetsu for good, and Kaburagi Kotetsu had found it harder to deal with his inadequacies than Wild Tiger had in the days prior to his team's formal resignation. The alcohol had come out under the premise of celebration, but he'd ended up drinking alone, trying not to think about his last words to his wife and the loss of his powers.

Plans were made for him to move back to Oriental Town to be with his family. Kaede's overall attitude toward him had improved so much that it was unreal to him, and her daily phone calls to him always made him genuinely smile, thinking that nothing could be worth prolonging his return to her. Kotetsu found renewed strength every time his daughter smiled at him excitedly, asking how the packing was going or how Barnaby was doing since they'd made their retirement official.

But then his full attention was turned to his partner and his hero rivals, his friends, who had started doing a good job of protecting the city without the ace team of Tiger and Barnaby. When he thought of leaving them, he felt like he was letting them down. Would he ever really come back to visit them? Would he and Antonio go drinking again? Would he learn new dance moves with Karina again? Or would he just be watching Rock Bison and Blue Rose on HeroTV?

Barnaby, on the other hand, would be different. Visiting his partner from time to time would be perfectly acceptable given the platonic relationship that they had in addition to their professional one, and both would welcome the other's company. They had become such close friends through their shared experiences that when Kotetsu thought about living daily life without him, he knew it would take some time to accept.

What would Barnaby do with himself after their retirement? He was so young, and still so capable. He was famous, too. The money he had inherited, he'd assured Kotetsu, was plenty to get him by for the rest of his life, without even considering his income since becoming the city's newest hero and his subsequent popularity. It wasn't what he would do to make ends meet that Kotetsu was curious about, as much as what he would do to pass the time. What else did he have, when all was said and done? Besides being a hero, all Barnaby had was a big, empty room and an even bigger and far less manageable female fan base. (Although, Kotetsu thought, it was not completely female. Young boys saw him as an ideal, and some older boys were guilty of the same fanaticism - even romantic - as his teenage girl fans. Kotetsu had nothing against that. He just had to keep himself from giggling too hard when Barnaby had gotten hit on by an especially suave young man, and the blonde had had no idea what to say. Wild Tiger was not willing to interrupt his partner's book signing just to rescue him, and was much less able to contain his mirth.) Barnaby Brooks, Jr. would not have any problem securing a career in the spotlight, given his existing popularity, that was for sure.

It just seemed odd that he had not announced his intentions. Everyone knew that Wild Tiger would be returning to a quiet life, and those who knew him as Kaburagi Kotetsu knew he would be moving away from the city. But not even Mr. Lloyds knew what Barnaby was planning on doing, and Kotetsu thought that Lloyds surely would be the one to whom Barnaby would go to announce his intentions, if only for business purposes. But if neither he himself nor their former manager knew… well, Kotetsu was stumped.

But it would have to wait. He'd surely find out in time, but for now, he had a week to vacate his house.

Wednesday before the move

"Ten bucks says I can make it from here." Without waiting for an answer, Kotetsu tossed a shampoo bottle in the vicinity of the box marked "BOOKS," only for it to plop on the ground right next to it. "Whoops," he muttered from the doorway, shrugging off his partner's smirk and lumbering off to the next room.

Barnaby rose from his perch on the stairs, considered against picking up the abused bottle, and did so anyway despite his annoyance at Kotetsu's carelessness. The other boxes that littered the wooden floor were just as half-packed and unorganized as the one that did not actually contain any "BOOKS" other than the one entitled Rice Cooking for the Connoisseur. He knew the brunette owned more books than that - as dim and dense as he could be at times, he was actually more well-read than most. The blonde-haired man sighed once more at the thumps and the strangled exclamation that came from the next room and went to investigate.

"Kotetsu-san, are you alri- Kotetsu!"

Kotetsu had found his books. Most of them were currently on top of him. "Damn - oi, Bunny, help me outta here, will ya?" He extended a hand that Barnaby took and used to pull him out. "Thanks. Knocked down a whole shelf." He scratched the back of his head, none the worse for wear.

"Kotetsu-san, you ought to work on packing the things you've already piled up in the other room before you die in a book avalanche. What are you going to do after I leave this afternoon?"

"I still think those stupid interviews should be over now. You're as retired as I am, and they haven't asked me back for any exclusives."

"That's because they know I'm a pushover." Barnaby flipped a curl with his fingers absentmindedly. "It's not that they like you any less."

"Hmph."

"Lighten up, old man. Lunch before my appearance?"

Kotetsu's eye rested on a picture Kaede that hung on his wall. "Thanks… but I'll keep packing." He headed into the living room.

"If you say so." He smiled faintly and glanced at his wristwatch. "I guess there's no harm in showing up early. Be careful while I'm gone, okay?"

"Sure, sure." The dark-haired man had knelt to sift through some boxes on the living room floor and seemed distracted with their contents - was that a glimpse of silver? Ah, cutlery. Along with a rogue power cord and perhaps some memo notepads. "I'll see you later." He waved a casual farewell to the man behind him.

"I'll be back tonight."

"M'kay. Bye, Bunny-chan."

It was a few minutes after the door closed on his partner before Kotetsu realized he hadn't actually invited him to come back that night.

"...Freakin' rabbit."

He didn't have much to move, really. Furniture was all he found he needed these days, in addition to food. Books were one of his weaknesses, though, and it would likely take a lot of effort to get them packed away for the movers. It would be good to have Bunny helping him later that night, he thought, as he sipped at a fresh beer. Maybe he could finally ask his partner what he was planning to do with his life after they were separated. He told himself it was just necessary to sate his curiosity. It was nothing more.

Barnaby arrived at Kotetsu's house quite a bit later than he'd hoped. The talk show appointment had been pushed back by an hour at the very last opportunity, and just when he thought he was free, he was approached by the producer of the show. It turned out that she was a family friend of Lloyds's, so he was goaded by his boss into accompanying her to dinner and being civil with her. She was pleasant enough, and attractive to boot, but her personality wasn't the only thing about her that Barnaby knew was fake.

He rang the doorbell, heard something bounce down the stairs, a muffled syllable in Kotetsu's voice that could very well have been a curse, then footsteps down the stairs before the door was opened.

"Bunny-chan! Come on in. I wasn't sure when to expect you. You kinda invited yourself, y'know."

Barnaby just smiled faintly. "What were you up to just now, Kotetsu-san?"

"I think I got everything packed from upstairs that I don't need for the next few days, before I go. I just brought the last armful of stuff down the stairs and dropped a shoe. Which… you probably heard," he chuckled. The door was shut behind Barnaby as he stepped down into the living room, and Kotetsu moved to the kitchen.

The night wore on, and the two decided to take a companionable walk around town when it got late and neither really felt like sleeping. Conversation turned to their retirement, eventually, but the two mostly pondered their fellow heroes, what they likely thought about the duo, and how each thought they would miss the group and their social workouts.

Before they knew it, Barnaby was tapping the security code into the keypad by his door. Kotetsu thought nothing of it when he finally realized where they were, and walked inside the now-familiar room. The window always fascinated him - he loved the view, especially of the night skyline.

"You look like such a hero." Barnaby stood a few feet behind him, speaking quietly.

"Sorry?" Kotetsu didn't quite know what his partner was getting at.

"It's just, you know, you look like a sort of guardian. Watching over your city."

Kotetsu blushed in the faint light from outside, below the dark room. All he could think about was how wrong it sounded; Barnaby should be the one described as such. The younger man was much more vigorous and skilled than himself. But he remained silent, and the young hero's voice came to his ears, closer, quieter.

"I don't remember the first time I really recognized that I respected you. It kind of grew from those moments when, despite how reckless you were, you were willing to take personal risks to serve the greater good. I always shook my head at how careless and naive you seemed to me, but there was a part of me that maybe just didn't understand at the time how you could put points in the back of your mind in favor of what you just had to do. I came to appreciate that over time. Now every time I think about you like that, and that you've always just been like that, I shake my head because I can't believe you. I can't believe that you are that noble, for all your blundering and blustering about. For every window smashed, every car dented, every one of your own suits you've managed to mess up, there's a time when you've sacrificed material things for lives, for safety. That's something I still can't bring myself to do all that often. Maybe that's why we make a good team. You balance me out."

Kotetsu wasn't sure what to say. He was flattered. Here Barnaby was, standing right behind him, telling him that what he'd always been forced to think of as a personal flaw, due to endless scoldings and countless damage charges and trials, was what made the younger hero respect him. He didn't even know Barnaby respected him. Sure, he was older than his curly-haired partner, but they fought on what Kotetsu considered to be equal terms. Ever since he'd gotten accustomed to his partner's celebrity attitude and affinity for scoring points, that's all he thought they were - equals. Knowing Barnaby looked up to him, in any way, genuinely surprised him. "I… wow."

"What?" A curious gaze through crystal-clear glasses examined the side of Kotetsu's downturned face.

"I didn't know you had any respect for me, that's all."

A light chuckle was his only reply. They stood in silence at the window, surveying the city and sky. Kotetsu was just about to suggest breaking out the liquor, but was interrupted by another surprising remark from Barnaby.

"I'll miss you, Kotetsu."

The veteran hero didn't even notice that his partner had dropped the honorific. He turned around to face his partner, filled with a vague sadness. "I'll… miss you too, Bunny-chan." He couldn't help it; the older man wrapped his arms around Barnaby. "I'll miss you too."

Thank you for reading! Tune in on Tuesday for chapter two, and don't forget to leave some comments!