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There’s something about Kotetsu that Barnaby cannot stand.
No, it’s not his nosy, meddling nature. It’s not his silly beard, or his lame jokes, or his stubbornness. It’s not even his adorable bumbling fool routine. No, no, Barnaby could handle all of that. Enjoy it, even. But there is one thing that drove him up the wall.
Kotetsu’s socks.
Yes, really. The older man always wore these colorful, patterned socks. It didn’t matter what the occasion, or the outfit; they were always there, peeking out of the space between the end of his pants and the top of his shoes. They weren’t even professional patterns, like argyle or stripes. They were always something wild or silly, like taco dinosaurs or bananas or gorillas holding kittens.
It made Barnaby’s eye twitch to see flashes of bright blue and purple and yellow during television appearances. It made his temple throb to catch glimpses of flamingoes and sloths in inner tubes and hamburgers during meetings. It made him insane to see stars and flowers and cupcakes as Kotetsu kicked off his shoes at galas and parties.
It’s just so unprofessional, isn’t it? Could the man not wear solid, neutral colored socks, even just for work? Did he even own any? Or did every pair look like he stole them from Kaede?
It was just so frustrating! Barnaby didn’t know why; he just knew it made his face heat up and his heart race. Obviously, it was because he detested them! Loathed them! Hated them with a passion!
After all, what else could cause such a feeling?
However, those ridiculous socks had led Barnaby into a department store as he passed by on his morning walk. He walked through the shoe section, to the back wall. It would have been heaven for Kotetsu; it was lined with socks both short and long, all colorful and boasting patterns from simple dots and hearts to dumpsters that were on fire. Barnaby looked at them with an annoyed pout. He reached out to grab a pair. They were kind of cute, he supposed. The red fabric was soft, and the maneki-neko pattern seemed exactly Kotetsu’s speed.
Just like that, Barnaby was back outside, socks safely tucked away in a shopping bag.
Rushing home, Barnaby shoved the socks in his workout bag. He’d give them to Kotetsu tomorrow. Yes, that would be fine. Kotetsu gave him silly little presents all the time, and Barnaby couldn’t bear the thought of the hideous little foot warmers in his home for more than a night.
That’s why his chest felt so tight, right?
*****
When Barnaby arrived at the training facility the next morning, Kotetsu was already there.
“Hey, Bunny! Look!” Kotetsu greeted cheerfully, putting his foot on the bench.
Against his better judgement, Barnaby looked down at Kotetsu’s feet. Today’s socks were tall and green, with bunnies and carrots. Barnaby huffed. Apparently, his partner thought he was funny. He crossed his arms over his chest, giving Kotetsu an unimpressed look.
“I see you’re wearing socks. Congratulations.” Barnaby said.
“Aw, come on, don’t be like that! They’re bunnies! I picked ‘em out just for you~” Kotetsu said, waggling his eyebrows at Barnaby.
“You thought about me while buying socks?”
“Uh, well…”
“Is it because you find me sweaty and smelly?”
“What? No, ‘course not! I mean, you’re always practically perfect, even after working out! It’s pretty impressive, actually…”
Barnaby sighed. “You’re rambling.”
Kotetsu pouted. “Come on, you could at least say they’re cute or something…”
Barnaby’s mind briefly wandered to the socks hidden in his gym bag. Cute. Is that why Kotetsu wore them? Because they were cute? Or because they made him feel cute?
Would he like the pair Barnaby had picked out? Barnaby had thought they were cute when he had chosen them.
Before Barnaby could respond, the doors opened and Nathan, Keith, Antonio, and Karina walked in. Kotetsu waved to them, and all sock-related talk was forgotten as they came over. Barnaby turned away and walked back towards the locker room. He couldn’t give those socks to Kotetsu. It would be too weird.
Barnaby slipped inside of the locker room and grabbed his bag. He fished out the socks and tossed them on top of Kotetsu’s open bag. There. It would just be some random surprise. That was fine; Barnaby didn’t want to be connected to Kotetsu’s sock addiction, anyway.
*****
Barnaby discreetly watched from the corner of his eye as Kotetsu picked up the socks. The older man’s brows furrowed as he turned them over in his hands, fingers tracing the maneki-nekos. A little smile tugged at Barnaby’s lips.
“Wonder where these came from…” Kotetsu said, holding up the socks, “hey, anyone lose these?”
The other heroes in the locker room shook their heads. Kotetsu shrugged and put the socks in his bag with a little giggle.
“Well, everyone else’s loss. These are cute!”
That warm feeling pooled in Barnaby’s chest again. Well, at least Kotetsu liked them. And Barnaby would never have to see them. They’d be hidden by his shoes.
*****
Barnaby took a sip of his champagne, watching Kotetsu on the dance floor with one of their sponsors. She was laughing at something he was saying - a terrible dad joke, if Barnaby had to guess - throwing her head back as Kotetsu spun her around. As Kotetsu moved, his pants rode up slightly, revealing a bit of baby blue, pink, and white. Barnaby pinched the bridge of his nose.
Great. The “you make miso happy” socks.
Yes, Barnaby knew it was terrible that he was starting to learn which socks were which without even seeing the full pattern. But, in his defense, Kotetsu did have a pattern when it came to his socks. Whenever they had charity events like this, he wore the miso socks. Something about them being lucky and making people smile. Frankly, that last part was silly. No one seemed to notice them other than Barnaby.
Karina walked up to Barnaby’s table, adjusting her shawl as she rolled her eyes.
“Did you see Tiger’s socks? They’re so ridiculous.” She said.
Fingers curled in a vice grip around the stem of Barnaby’s champagne flute. Something ugly stirred in his chest. He couldn’t understand it; he agreed with Karina. The socks were ridiculous. They were silly, and unprofessional, and they didn’t match Kotetsu’s suit in the slightest! They were tacky.
But Barnaby didn’t want anyone else to say it.
No, no one else was allowed to say it!
“He wears them all the time. As long as he’s dressed, I consider it a win.” Barnaby said boredly, taking another sip from his glass.
“Interesting coming from you. You’re usually the captain of the fashion police.” Karina said, raising an eyebrow at him.
“You know how stubborn he is. He’ll wear worse socks to spite me.”
“A good point. Push too hard and he’ll wear those ugly cat ones.”
Barnaby heard a crack as the stem of his glass broke between his fingers. He knew which socks Karina meant. The dark blue ones, with that cat that had the body of a toaster pastry. Kotetsu had gotten them when he’d taken Kaede back-to-school shopping. The girl had picked them out especially for Kotetsu; Kotetsu had even shown everyone the video of him and Kaede singing the cat’s song, hands on their heads to look like cat ears. Kotetsu had been so happy. He always wore those socks at least once when Kaede visited.
“Are you okay, Barnaby? I’ll get some napkins, wait here.” Karina said, rushing off.
Barnaby watched her go with a frown. He looked down at his hand.
Did he really hate the socks that much?
*****
Once again, Barnaby was looking at the sock wall of the department store. He really hadn’t meant to, but he was early for an appointment, and the store was right there. Plus, Kotetsu had just given him a nice succulent; Barnaby wanted to give him something in return.
It didn’t take long before Barnaby’s hands reached out and grabbed a bright pink pair of crew socks, spotted with donuts.
Yes, these would do. They were absolutely hideous. Kotetsu would probably wear them with a tan suit for maximum color chaos. Barnaby couldn’t help but smile at the thought.
*****
“Hey, Bunny, someone left me socks! I wonder who it was? I’ve been getting them a lot lately.” Kotetsu said.
“Have you?” Barnaby asked, feigning disinterest.
“Yeah! Like these!”
Kotetsu took off his shoe and put his foot up on the desk. On his feet were the maneki-neko socks. Barnaby looked down at his paperwork to avoid Kotetsu’s eyes.
“Maybe it’s a secret admirer.” Barnaby suggested.
Kotetsu scratched his chin. “Huh. I guess. But I got these in the locker room, so that would mean it has to be someone who uses the training facility, right?”
“I don’t know. Now do your work.”
Kotetsu sighed as he began filling out his damage reports.
*****
Okay. Barnaby had run into a slight problem on the sock front.
He was starting to like them.
Not in the sense that he wanted to wear them, but that he loved seeing them on Kotetsu. The feeling in his chest only worsened now when Kotetsu proudly showed off his socks, or when he smiled so wide at the pairs Barnaby sneakily hid for him. It was getting out of hand.
And yet, here he was, trying to stuff a pair of socks into Kotetsu’s coat pocket before he returned from the bathroom.
What? He’d run out of other places!
This time, he’d chosen a no-show white pair with a heart pattern. Nothing fancy. Barnaby had just…
Well, he’d chosen them because maybe he’d been thinking about the way his heart pounded when he saw Kotetsu now. He hadn’t meant for it to be so sappy, but what did it matter? Kotetsu didn’t know it was him, anyway!
“Ah. So a l’il bunny is my secret sock admirer.”
Barnaby’s face paled as he looked up. Kotetsu was standing there, smiling at him with that stupid smile. Watching him stuff socks in his coat pocket. Barnaby pulled his hands away as if the jacket had burned him, the socks falling to the floor. Kotetsu bent over and picked them up.
“These are cute! They for me?” Kotetsu asked.
“Y…Yes. It was a gift.” Barnaby said.
“Aw, don’t be shy about it. You have good taste. I wear the ones you left for me all the time.”
“I do have good taste. I had to turn it off every time I bought the socks! Do you know how frustrating it is to buy these things and know that you’ll want ones with strawberries and dumpster fires on them? To know that you’ll smile and call them cute and you’ll look cute and-“
Kotetsu blinked. “You think I’m cute?”
“That’s what you got out of that?”
“Yeah.”
“You are the worst.”
“But you think me and my socks are cute.”
“I said nothing about the socks.”
“Well, me and my socks are free Friday night.”
Barnaby huffed, a smile tugging at his lips. “Is that your terrible way of asking me to come over?”
“It sure is.”
“Fine. Friday. But I expect you to wear your new socks.”
“Of course I will. I like how warm and fuzzy they are.”
Warm and fuzzy. Maybe that was what Barnaby had been feeling all along.