Yuri wakes up before Kotetsu the next day, and he looks over at the man. Kotetsu snores softly, still. Laying there and sleeping the morning away. Yuri wishes he could sleep as peacefully as Kotetsu does, but he can't. And so, he gets up.
He slinks out of the room quietly, letting out a breath after he closes the door. Good, the last thing he wants right now is to wake Kotetsu. He'll be getting plenty of his attention later, anyway.
Apparently, though, he's not gotten enough attention from his daughter. Kaede is standing there, holding the poster Kotetsu had brought her awkwardly to her chest. She licks her lips and seems to think before speaking.
"Oh, hi Mr. Yuri!" She says with a forced cheeriness. "Is Dad up?"
"Not yet," Yuri says. "I wanted to get some fresh air while he's still asleep. Did you need something from him?"
"Well," Kaede drums her fingers against the back of the neatly folded poster. "I wanted to ask him to sign this."
"Oh? Did he not sign it?" Yuri asks, interest a bit piqued.
"Nope," Kaede frowns. "Don't tell him I said this, but I think he's taking the whole… not being a hero anymore thing really hard. But… he's my hero! I want his autograph, too!"
Yuri nods, he knows what it feels like to see your father as your hero. He only hopes for Kaede that Kotetsu continues to prove himself a better man than Mr. Legend was. "Well, I'm sure he'll be up soon."
"I wish he was up now," Kaede sighs. "I keep getting cold feet about asking him."
Yuri pauses for a moment. "Why is that?"
"Well, it's… embarrassing," she hides her face behind the poster. "And intimidating, I guess? I don't really talk to him as Wild Tiger the hero, but as Kotetsu the dad. You know?"
"I think you'll be fine," he says honestly. "Fathers… can be scary. But Kotetsu is about the best I've ever met."
"Wow," Kaede blinks. "Either you only know really bad fathers, or you really like my dad."
Yuri closes his eyes, thinks for a moment. "...I suppose it's a bit of both."
Kaede giggles a bit. "My dad does have a way of wiggling his way into others' hearts! He even wiggled into Barnaby's! One of his greatest accomplishments, according to him."
"Is that so?" Now, Yuri feels a bit awkward. He clears his throat. "Well, I wish you luck, then. If you'll excuse me…"
"Oh, sorry to keep you!" Kaede gives a small bow. "It was nice talking to you! Enjoy the countryside air! You won't find anything like it in the city!"
He mumbles a thank you and heads for the front door. The fresh air is different than anything in Sternbild, Kaede was correct about that. Almost sweet in a way. He sucks it in, eyes closing.
He doesn't think he'll ever get used to it, but for now, it's fairly nice. He sits down and soaks it and the sunshine in for now. He feels a bit naked like this, without a suit or the makeup that covers his first sin away… But there's so few people around, that perhaps that's alright.
There's a sound, and he glances back. Anju, Kotetsu's mother. She smiles at him and presents him with some tea and those cookies that remind him of mother. He wants to say no, but the words catch in his throat.
"Thank you, miss," he says instead. "How did you know I was out here?"
"Kaede mentioned you were going out for some air," Anju sits next to him, taking her own share of the tea and cookies. "I thought it would be nice to chat for a bit, learn more about my son's mystery friend."
Yuri hums, taking a sip of the bitter drink. "Do you do this often?"
"Usually, Kotetsu does the telling for me," Anju chuckles. "But I'd never heard of you, at least not in much detail. In fact, I think I know you better as the director than by your actual name."
"Ah, yes, after the… less than pleasant events, I did take over the direction of Hero TV Live," Yuri nods. "I didn't realize he'd mentioned that, though."
"He did, also mentioned the many times he saw you in court when he put more on his company in damages," Anju sighs, shaking her head. "I do apologize for that, he can be so reckless."
"I don't mind it, really," Yuri says. "He was just following his own sense of justice."
Anju laughs a bit, and Yuri looks at her with a furrowed brow. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just imagined most judges would be fed up with him showing up for the same thing over and over again."
"It did get predictable," Yuri admits. "At some point it became muscle memory to look through it and claim Apollon as needing to pay."
"That's more along the lines of what I was expecting," Anju smiles. "I think I'm already starting to see why he sees you so pleasantly, though."
"Oh?" Yuri asks, having not seen any himself. "Are you certain?"
She nods. "The way you talk about him. There's a warmth to it. You two must be closer than I thought."
"Ah," he looks away. "I… wouldn't say that."
"Well," Anju says. "Either way, I'm rooting for the two of you. It's always nice to see a friendship blossom."
"Ah-"
"There you are!" The door opens and Yuri doesn't even have to look to know Kotetsu is probably worried out of his mind. "I didn't expect you to get up so early."
"I've always been an early riser," Yuri replies, a bit glad the conversation was cut short."
"Well, you should wake me up, then," Kotetsu walks around him and sits at his other side. "I'd still like to keep an eye on you for at least a little bit, you know!"
"You don't need to treat me like a child," Yuri replies. "I'll be fine."
"Wh… I'm not trying to treat you like a child!" Kotetsu says. "I'm just-"
"Kotetsu," Anju's voice is scolding. "Give the poor man some space. You can't just smother him."
"Mom-"
"Come help me in the kitchen, now," she stands up with a grunt. "Come on, let's let him soak in the sun."
"Alright, alright…" Kotetsu stands and gives Yuri one more look. "You can come and find me if you need anything, okay?"
"Yes, I know."
They leave, and Yuri can't help but cry.
