-”This Kotetsu… That Kotetsu.”
Tiger slowly lowered himself, suddenly lifting Barnaby's collar with the strength that had been gradually worn down by the drunkenness. Once again, they pressed the two together, their eyes facing each other.
-”You always look at me like that.”
He continued.
“Is that disappointment in your eyes because a Tiger isn't quite a Boss, or is it regret that an old “me” is no longer here?”
The questions kept dropping down, as if Tiger didn't need any answers. He simply didn't realize that they were all just self-justifications for his own existence in the hearts of the person in front of him.
-”You always asserted things based on his own flawed judgment.”
-“Do you want Kotetsu?”
-”Are not.”
The sound of the clock hands falling counted each beat, causing the two men to oscillate. They didn't fight, but it was like a tug-of-war between them that never stopped in their minds. No one is letting go, they want to see who will endure it longer.
-“So you want me.”
-”Correct. Ouroboros needs a Tiger.”
Tiger laughed. That wasn't the answer he wanted, but he didn't know what he really wanted to hear. Nothing would be more ridiculous if his own ear could hear the phrase “I want you” popping out of Barnaby's lips.
-“Is it because of the organization? Or perhaps you just can't stand seeing Kotetsu defaced by me again?”
See? The pupils always fluctuate whenever the name “Kotetsu” appears.
The admirable qualities that existed in Kotetsu have faded into the past. Then Tiger will accept his own deep-seated, dirty feelings.
Tiger hated the way, even when Barnaby was standing before him, Barnaby would still look through him for a ghost that had died with his wife in the coffin twelve years earlier.
-”Will Tomoe want to see a Kotetsu like this?”
Kotetsu.
Someone Tomoe fell in love with. Barnaby, the only one who has never forgiven Tiger for the death of Kotetsu, a man he continues to search for.
Too obvious.
-”You know what? I can see right through you.”
Tiger's body weight suddenly fell on Barnaby's shoulders. His head was bowed low, losing his balance on the ideal support.
-"You are losing control.”
Barnaby leaned against the wall, his hand unconsciously supporting his back.
-”Tell me, what are you jealous about?”He never intended to stop. With sweat-soaked palms clinging to Barnaby's chest, Tiger struggled to stand firm.
-”Go back to bed.”
-“Tomoe?”
People often realize it all in their weakest moments.
Ultimately, it was Tiger who was always the outsider.
"You hide behind her every time you want to say what's truly true to yourself."”
Tiger's hoarse voice choked in Barnaby’s ear. Tiger's breathing and laughter lacked the sequence to involuntarily lunge into the hollow of his neck. But they all have a purpose.
In Barnaby's eyes, the silver ring flickered up in a dazzling light. He let his arms hang loosely, slipped off Tiger's back, and clenched into a fist.
-”Don't be complacent!”
-”Barnaby… Stop using Tomoe as a shield for your emotions.”
Tomoe knew him before Barnaby. Before a Tiger with black eyes and ink-colored hair, before the indelible scars imprinted on his skin, before the left leg he had replaced in that body, lay the snake venom deeply embedded in the body of the chosen one. Tomoe was kept all the best things, loved by the man Barnaby never had the chance to hold onto.
But none of them were ever the people in front of him.
What's left of Barnaby. Tiger.
-“You know what, Barnaby. Because it is “leaking” out.”
It was about something Barnaby didn't dare name.
-”That's how you feel about me—”
!!!
Tiger was immediately struck hard by the object, which pressed against the wall. The words that hadn't finished were choked by the force, causing blood to gush from their lips.
That back reflected the light. The shadow that fell upon Tiger's head gleamed with the greenish glint of unrestrained threat, a mere regret at not having devoured him.
Barnaby choked Tiger, pinning him at a point on the wall where his opponent had to struggle to drag his shoe across the floor.
There wasn't a single argument, confrontation, or rebuttal from Barnaby. But Tiger had the answer.
“Hahaha.”
There are some sayings that people don't want to hear because they're afraid they're true.
* From Antidote I *