Kotetsu eventually stands and leaves without much of a word, and against his better judgement Yuri follows. At a distance, of course. Kotetsu being so quiet was strange, enough so he wanted to get a handle on this before actually saying anything.

He watches Kotetsu talk to his mother, and then head for the door. The only word he's certain he heard was graveyard, and… Well, he supposes he can't help himself. After all, if things had gone a bit differently, that's where he would be now.

"You're leaving, then?" He asks, making himself known.

Kotetsu looks at him, blinks twice, then nods. "Ah, yeah. I have someone I wanna visit, is all! Don't worry about it, you can hang out here! I'll be back before you know it!"

Given how much Kotetsu had hovered before, that certainly stands out. He frowns, but says nothing. At least, nothing for now. No point in arguing with someone as stubborn as Kotetsu, after all.

He leaves, and then Yuri looks at Anju. She looks back at him, and there seems to be a sense of understanding in her eyes. She sighs, though there's a small smile on her face.

"Let me get you directions, then," she finally says, moving to jot them down. "You want to follow Kotetsu, I'm sure."

"Yes, I am, thank you." It was nice not to have to say it.

She hands him off the written directions, and after checking them over a couple of times and giving Kotetsu ample time to beat him there, Yuri starts off. There's just something about this man that was always… interesting. And given his current position, interesting would be about the only thing keeping him going.

Not that Kotetsu was going to need to know that, no. He would keep that to himself, for as long as he could manage. It was too soon after everything to even risk being burned.

(Even if Kotetsu burning him was one of the unlikelier endings to the story. As long as there was even a chance, he couldn't risk it.)

(Or maybe, he just wouldn't.)

He shakes off the thoughts and continues down the path, looking at Anju's directions as he goes. It's strange, knowing Sternbild nearly as well as the back of his hand, but this small town throwing him off. It was so much smaller, less confusingly built, too… But, then again, Sternbild had been his home for so long.

The same goes for this place, in regards to Kotetsu, then… A piece of him wonders if he'll start getting used to it, too. He supposes it depends on if Kotetsu plans on keeping such a close eye on him he can't explore or not.

He decides Kotetsu leaving him be now is a good sign he won't be keeping that close of an eye on him in time. Hopefully following after him wasn't just about to ruin that for the both of them.

Finally, he makes it to the graveyard. It's nicely kept, few if any gravestones in disrepair. Different than graveyards in sternbild, where one could be pristine and the next nearly destroyed by the elements and time.

(He hopes mother's grave is well in his absence. He didn't even make it to the funeral.)

Kotetsu is talking to a grave, he forces himself to focus on that. Rather than the body on the table, cloth over her face. Forces himself back into the here and now, on the sun radiating light.

A sad light, but a light nonetheless.

He approaches, forces himself to move. Kotetsu doesn't even notice at first, but when he does, he stumbles over his words and stands. Yuri looks at the tombstone as he does so, reads the name on it.

Tomoe Kaburagi. The mother of his child, then? His late wife?

"Y-you followed me?!" Kotetsu croaked out. "How did you even find your way here?"

"Your mother gave me the directions," he replies, watching Kotetsu groan about it. "You were visiting a loved one, though. I apologize for intruding."

"No, no, it's okay," Kotetsu crouches down again. "I just figured you… wouldn't want a bunch of depressing stuff dropped on your lap. I kinda come here to ask Tomoe what she thinks and what I should do, you know?"

"I see…" Yuri hums and finally offers a little prayer towards Tomoe. "Putting stress on her even in death? Seems a bit rude."

"I tell her good things, too!" Kotetsu huffs. "She just always seemed to know what to say and what to do. Well, mostly, at least…"

"Was there a time she didn't?"

"Right before she died," Kotetsu says, voice somehow still steady. "She told me to go and that people needed me. Told me it would be fine… I didn't get to say goodbye."

Yuri swallows down the lump in his throat. Swallows down the pain enough to at least say the words to come to mind. Even then, it's hard. It comes out choked, strangled. Like he's not getting enough air.

"I understand what it's like to not be able to say goodbye," he hears himself say, but doesn't feel like he is. "My condolences."

"It's fine, it's ben years, so…" Kotetsu lets out a forced-sounding laugh. "I've gotten used to it. I, ah… I'm sorry you know what it's like, though. It gets easier with time, but…"

"If you're about to guess, then yes. It was recent," Yuri says. "Surely you remember the reappearance of Lunatic."

Kotetsu looks up at him, eyes widening a bit. "Those burglars…"
"Murderers," Yuri forces out. "My mother was one of the victims."

"I'm sorry," Kotetsu says. "I didn't realize, or I would have been less of an idiot when-"

"I didn't want anyone to know," Yuri replies. "I don't like letting anyone see my wounds."

"But then you shared that story about your dad," Kotetsu says. "Right after."

"It was stupid of me to," Yuri says, looking away. "I should have known better-"

"If anything, I probably should have known not to say all that stuff," Kotetsu rubs the back of his head. "I have a real bad habit of putting my foot in my mouth, and now I find out I did it right after you got such bad news! I… I'm sorry."

Yuri swallows. "Why are you apologizing to me?"

"Because it feels right to do," Kotetsu says. "I probably just added to your hurt. I'm sorry, Yuri."

Yuri says nothing. He simply looks back at Tomoe's grave and stands next to Kotetsu. He stands and he waits for the chatty tiger next to him to speak again.