A/N: Sorry for taking so long. I was stuck with morning shifts at work, and I've said this before, I do most of my writing in the morning. Also I've had some cases of writer's block in this chapter. Also this chapter ended up being a lot longer than I expected. But I was able to work through it and get it done. Hope you all enjoy it.

Fair warning, this chapter will address things like sex slaves and human trafficking. It won't feature any nudity or super sexual situations, but just a fair warning to anyone who is sensitive to these types of topics.

I do not own Batman Beyond or Persona 5. They are works of Warner Brothers animation and Atlus.

Ren couldn't believe what he was doing.

It had been a week since the Gotham Knights took down Brushogun and Yusuke had joined them. With Batman cleared of the murder charge, the police began to stay off his back, at least for the moment.

And a good thing too, because Ren and the others, with the exception of Morgana, had to buckle down on school work. Their time as vigilantes had started to affect their grades, mostly Ren's as he was the most active of the group, Ryuji's was already in the red so it didn't really change all that much. Though Bruce wasn't happy to hear that he was prioritizing studies over protecting the people of Nippon-Gotham, Ren pointed out that a condition of his parole was that he had to do well in school, and if he started to decline because of his Bat duties, then he could be shipped off to Blackgate. Also it could bring more attention to him and make others suspect his identity, Bruce seemed convinced when he brought up that point.

So, over the next week, the Knights began to keep a low profile as they went out on shorter patrols. This allowed the older members to catch up on much school work they had missed. Yusuke had even moved out of Wayne Manor a week after he moved in, claiming that he had spent enough time running and decided to live in the dorms. He did however donate the real Sayuri to Leblanc, claiming the small coffee shop could use some art to lighten up the place.

All in all, it was a pretty relaxing week, up until Ryuji had shown him the flier he found in his apartment's mailbox.

It was an ad for a maid service!

While Ren would try to claim he had no interest in those sorts of things, he was still a teenage boy, prone to hormones. But he needed an excuse. Thankfully, Mishima showed up and declared that they could use this opportunity to investigate the service, to see if anything suspicious was going on.

Ren jumped on this window of opportunity and used it to motivate the other two boys into investigating it. But the blush on his face gave him away. Mishima decided to in order to make this seem like an official investigation, they had to give it a name, and so they did: Operation Maid Watch.

They decided to keep it a secret from Ann, for obvious reasons. Yusuke because he wouldn't understand. Morgana because he was too young and he would rat them out to the others. And of course Bruce, because they really didn't want to hear a lecture coming from him about this.

Though now that he was on his way to meet with the other two boys, he began to regret it. He tried to distract himself by reading the news on his phone. The hot topic was obvious about him, Batman. Mostly speculation and fan theories were found in these stories.

While he ignored most of them, he did focus specifically on the ones written by this journalist named Ichiko Ohya. Her stories about him weren't as outlandish and crazy as others, in fact they were more tamed, in some cases anyway. It almost seemed as if she wasn't even interested in writing about him.

Ren then looked to see Mishima looking over some comics at the stands. Ren placed his phone back in his pocket and walked up to him.

"Hey Mishima."

"AHHH!" Mishima screamed at the top of his lungs, surprising Ren and the people of the street. As he saw how it was, Mishima began to take deep breaths to calm himself down. When his heartbeat mostly stabilized he then spoke. "Don't do that!"

"Do what?" Ren asked, confused as to what he did.

"Don't use those ninja-bat skills to sneak up on me!" Mishima said, still breathing heavily, a cold sweat forming over him.

"All I did was say hi." Ren clarified. Deciding to change the topic before Mishima said anything else that could give them away, he then asked, "What are you reading?"

Mishima's eyes widened as he put down the comic he was reading. "Oh! I was just researching some ideas for the Bat-site."

"Bat-site?"

"Yeah, the Batman Officado Website. It's actually gotten pretty popular since you-" He was suddenly cut off when Ren placed a hand over his mouth and brought a finger towards his mouth. Mishima's eyes then widened as he got the message and nodded. Ren then slowly removed his hand as Mishima continued. "Since Batman and the Gotham Knights took down Madarame. The interest in it exploded!"

Ren let out an uncomfortable groan that Mishima ignored as continued on. "To tell you the truth, I'm hoping it's a huge hit!" He declared, pumping his fist for emphasis. "It's my life's work! It's my mission!" He shouted as if he was declaring it to the whole world, which he would if he didn't quiet down.

"Sooo… it's still called the Bat-site?" Was all Ren was able to ask.

"Yeah!" Mishima said, his enthusiasm dying down slightly. "I mean, what else could it be called. You-I mean Batman, names all of his tools with Bat in it. Batarangs, Batsuit, Batclaw, Batmobile, BatShark repellent! So why not his official website?"

Ren had no words. After all, most if not all his gadgets did have Bat in their names. Seeing that there would be no convincing Mishima, Ren just dropped it.

"Sup guys! Were you waiting long?" Ryuji called as he finally arrived. He then smiled excitedly. "Time for the Operation! Time to Maid Watch!" He cheered as he posed his fingers in front of his eye.

"Maid Watch!" Mishima shared his enthusiasm and pose.

"Maid watch." Ren said, sounding like a tired old man as he held his fingers just below his chest.

'This is gonna be a disaster.'

The trio entered an empty apartment room in Ryuji's complex, deciding that doing it at one of their houses or a hotel would be suicide. Ren was chosen unanimously to do the talking. The phone rang a few times before it finally picked up.

"Thank you for calling Victoria Housekeeping for all your maid needs." The voice from the other end greeted them. "Do you have any requests for us tonight?"

"R-Requests." Ren stuttered, blushing nervously as he spoke, the confidence and determination that made him Batman seemed to vanish in an instant. The other two gulped nervously as they stood by him. He then looked at the others to see if they had any ideas. They just shook their heads frantically. They really should have planned this better. "Not… really." Ren managed to get out.

"Thank you!" The voice on the other end said, either not picking up on Ren's nervousness or completely ignoring it. "Would you mind sharing your address?"

The three of them all blushed as they did so.

10 minutes later.

"Oh man! I can't believe this is really happening!" Ryuji said, his voice a strange mix of excitement and nervousness.

"Hey guys, are high schoolers even allowed to do this?" Mishima suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Ryuji said as he and Ren looked at Mishima in confusion.

"What do you mean 'huh'?! You didn't check!" Mishima shouted in disbelief.

"How was I supposed to know?! Was I supposed to do all the research?!" Ryuji tried to defend himself. Him and Mishima then turned to Ren, who jumped at their gazes suddenly on him.

"Why are you looking at me?! How am I supposed to know?!"

"You're the one with more experience in breaking the law!" At Ren's glare, Mishima corrected himself. "I mean, dealing with those who break the law!"

"I deal with mobsters, murders, rapist, drug deelers, and the occasional supervillain. Hormonal teenagers looking for a little excitement are a little underneath my paygrade!"

Ding Dong

All three of them shut up immediately as the doorbell rang and they turned to face it, eyes widened and face paled.

"Good evening! Victoria's Housekeeping Service!" A sweet sounding voice came from the other side, which only made them more nervous.

"Man, my stomach's not feeling so good." Ryuji moaned as he held his stomach.

"Mine either." Mishima said as he too held his stomach.

"Oh my!" The voice on the other side said. "It looks like the door's unlocked. Mind if I come in?"

"I can't do this dude!" Ryuji whined as he then turned to Ren with a dead serious look in his eyes. "Alright, I'm passing it off to you. Don't let her find out you're in high school!" He said as he bolted for the window with Mishima right behind him.

"Uhh…"

"We got your back man! From out here!" Ryuji said as he went to the balcony with Mishima behind him.

"Totally!" The blue-haired boy said.

"But how do I…" Ren began, completely helpless.

"You're the freakin' Batman bro! You'll think of something!" Ryuji said as he shut the window, just as the door opened.

'Batman never had to deal with a maid before!' Ren shouted to himself as he immediately straightened himself out and tried to look away from the maid so she wouldn't see how old he was.

"Oh! There you are!" The maid said as she entered the empty room and had a pleasant smile on her face. "Good evening master, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Ren's eyes widened. 'That voice!' He thought as he recognized the voice. Turning to see her reflection in the window, his jaw dropped as he confirmed his suspicions.

"My name is Becky from Victoria, and I will be your maid for the evening." Ms. Kawakami, his homeroom teacher at Shujin, greeted with a bow.

'It sounds just like her, but there's no way!' Ren tried to tell himself as he broke into a nervous sweat. How could it be possible?! How could his homeroom teacher, who is always stern and strict when it comes to doing questionable activities, be moonlighting as a maid?! Though as he thought about it, it began to make sense. How she was always tired and exhausted when she would be coming into class, and that weird question she asked him when he was sleeping in class that one time.

"I'm here to fill your tired heart with all the lovely energy that I can muster!" 'Becky' declared as she formed a heart with her fingers and shot it out toward Ren. He then began to move further away from her into the corner of the room.

"Nice to meet you." Ren said nervously.

"So tell me," 'Becky' began as she suddenly appeared right beside him, causing him to gasp nervously, "What can I do for you today? I can do cooking, laundry, or cleaning." She popped up all around him as she listed the basic services. "Although if the Master wishes, I can provide special services." She whispered as she approached his ears.

Ren was now sweating enough to fill an entire ocean as a drop fell to the ground.

"That's some smooth skin you have, master." 'Becky said as she managed to get a good look at his face. "Uhh… how old are you exactly?" She asked as she backed away nervously.

"Uhhh…" Ren began with as he continued sweating, looking away from her so she wouldn't guess he was in high school. There was no way he was gonna be sent off to Arkham or Blackgate for this!

She had a suspicious look on her face. He had to act fast. "I um," He cleared his throat. "I'm a dad." She wasn't convinced.

At this point, he wanted nothing more than for Bruce to call him and tell him a crime was happening. He didn't even care which crime. Anything to get him out of this!

"Okay… maybe I should hold off on those special services until you've matured a bit." 'Becky' said as she backed away from him and wiggled her knees together. "I think it's best if I go. Sleep tight master!"

Looking in from the outside, Ryuji and Mishima overheard the whole exchange. After hearing that she was planning to leave, Ryuji then spoke up. "What the slag! She can't leave yet!"

"Who's that?" 'Becky' said, shocked at the new voice. Acting quickly, Mishima moved to cover his mouth.

"Shut up!" Mishima begged. But it was too late, 'Becky' began making her way towards the window.

"Slagit were blown! Run Mishima!" Ryuji ordered as he leapt off the balcony.

"Right behind you!" Mishima cried as he followed.

'Becky' stopped as she overheard the name and voice from the other side of the window. "Mishima? Wait, that voice… Sakamoto?!"

"So that means…" She froze as she heard her 'master's' voice, finally recognizing it and his appearance. "It is you."

She then turned to face him as he leaned in close to get a closer look at her face. "Ms. Kawakami, am I right?" He asked.

"I uhhh…" 'Becky' began, trying to find some way out of this situation, blushing in embarrassment. If a student found out, she would be fired. "Well, I ummm…" She was currently coming up with a blank. She then sighed in defeat. "Yes it's me. It's your homeroom teacher. And I'm in a maid outfit."

"Who put you up to this?!" She demanded with a glare, quickly shifting from the willing maid to the no nonsense strict teacher he knew her as. Ren backed away as she then got in his face. It was Miss Chinono wasn't it? She's always snooping around trying to find something to use against me."

Ren couldn't even get a word in to explain himself.

"Look, it wouldn't do either of us any good if someone finds out you called a maid service." She said as she held her arm across her chest before she began to walk away. "It's best if we both forget this ever happened."

"Oh, okay." Ren said, still both embarrassed and confused.

"I'll just treat this like you canceled and you won't owe a thing." Kawakami explained as she opened the door to the apartment. "Well, see you at school." She said as she shut the door, leaving Ren alone in an empty apartment.

After a long moment of silence, Ren asked. "What just happened?"

He then jumped when he felt his phone ringing. Looking at the caller ID, he gulped when he saw Bruce was calling him. Pressing the answer button, he brought the phone up to his ear. "He-" He cleared his throat. "Hey. What's up?"

"Armed robber at a jewel shop on Bale street." Bruce told him.

"Why couldn't you call and tell me sooner?!" Ren shouted into the phone.

"It just happened. And why do you sound so panicked and out of breath?" Bruce questioned.

"No reason!" Ren quickly said, hoping he didn't let anything slip. "I'm on it." He assured Bruce as he hung up. He then let out a sigh. "Hopefully punching out some teeth and breaking the bones of a few robbers will make me feel better."

The Next Day - Shujin Academy

As Ren sat in Ms. Chinono's class, he couldn't keep focus. His mind still played back his meeting with Ms. Kawakami last night, especially with what she said about Ms. Chinono looking for stuff to use against her. What grudge do they have against each other?

'What's the deal between them?' Ren asked himself. It was probably within his best interest to follow Ms. Kawakami's advice and forget about the whole thing, but his curiosity couldn't help but want to find out. 'Well, part of being Batman is being a detective, so let's do some detecting.' Ren thought with an excited smile.

When class ended for the day, Ren managed to find both Ms. Kawakami and Ms. Chinono in a secluded hallway, away from the eyes of most students. He peeked behind the wall to see the latter standing in front of the former, having her backed against the wall, berating her.

"We are not done talking Ms. Kawakami!" He overheard Ms. Chinono.

Ms. Kawakami tried to speak up. "Please, I just want to-"

"There have been all sorts of scandals on this campus lately." Ms. Chinono cut her off. "Each and every teacher is under incredible scrutiny. Yet you are always skipping out early. You barely even make it to the faculty meeting."

"It's true." Kawakami admitted as she refused to face her coworker. "But last time I was-"

"Ms. Kawakami! Do you have a moment!"

She stopped talking as she looked in surprise at Ren, who came out of his hiding place, walking towards her. Ms. Chinono looked over at him and recognized him. "Aren't you that transfer student from her homeroom?" She asked.

Ren ignored her as he looked at Kawakami. "So sorry to bother you, but I have another question."

Ms. Kawakami seemed confused at his words before she quickly realized what he was doing and played along. "Sure! I'll be happy to help out!" She said cheerfully.

"Another?" Ms. Chinono asked.

"This one's just full of questions." Ms. Kawakami explained. "And Amamiya always asks the most clever ones. So…" She trailed off as her bluff went blank.

"Giving lessons after school?" Ms. Chinono said in a surprised tone before her face lit up like a christmas tree. "You're so passionate! Truly I just had no idea!" She placed both her hands on Ms. Kawakami's shoulders in congratulations almost, her earlier hostility completely erased. "This is just wonderful!"

"Oh, it's nothing." Ms. Kawakami assured with an awkward smile, taken aback by this shift in attitude.

"I was wrong and I am so sorry." Ms. Chinono apologized as she let go of her shoulders. "You just keep working hard! See you!" And with that, she was off.

Once they were sure she was out of earshot, Ms. Kawakami turned to Ren. "You better not think I owe you for that." She warned him.

"Just looked like you could use a hand." His phone dinged with a message. "Night!" He told her as he walked off, Ms. Kawakami frowned at him as he walked away, annoyed at how cool he was just now.

As he walked out from the school, his inner detective began to work. 'Okay, so the conflict with Ms. Chinono seemed to stem from her belief that Ms. Kawakami was doing some shady business, which she was, in a way. But now that's all cleared up. But still, what could she need the money for? I know being a teacher isn't the most high paying job, but is it so bad that she has to moonlight as a maid. Could it be that she's in debt with a crime boss or something?' Ren thought as he sighed. 'Well the easiest way to find out would be to ask her, but there's no way she would tell it to me, especially at school.' Ren's eyes widened as an idea came to mind.

'I got it!'

Night - Leblanc

"Remember to lock up after I leave okay. I don't want anyone stealing any of my precious coffee beans." Sojiro told him as he stepped into the back of the store to get dressed out of his work clothes.

"Sure thing Boss!" Ren told him as he disappeared. When he was out of view, Ren acted.

'Now!' Ren grabbed the yellow phone at Leblanc and used it to call the maid service. He memorized the number after reading it off the pamphlet, a technique he picked up through his training with Bruce.

He could have used his own phone, but he didn't want Bruce to get suspicious. Because despite what Bruce said, he had a feeling the old man kept a close monitor on their texts and calls, and while he could overlook a few harmless, if carnal actions, he worried what would happen if Bruce found out he kept calling a maid service. So he decided to use the phone at Leblanc, as he was sure Bruce hadn't bugged the phone, hopefully.

He then dialed the number on the phone, took him a second or two to figure out how it worked, as it was an old one, a very old one. It rang twice before the other end picked up. "Hello Victoria Housekeeping! How can we help you today?"

"Hi uhh," Ren began, his voice nervous. "I have a request."

"Kid, let me just say you really are something." Ms. Kawakami said with her hands on her hips, dressed in her maid outfit, with a frown on her face. "I should just leave since I know it's you. But you did help me with Ms. Chinono. So out with it, what do you want?"

"What I want are answers." Ren said as he took a seat by the desk in the attic he called home, gesturing Ms. Kawakami to sit on his bed. She seemed hesitant, which Ren noticed. "Don't worry, I'm charged for physical assault against a man, not a woman." He thought that by making a joke of his record, he could calm her down. The tactic worked, mostly, enough that she decided to sit down.

"What kind of answers? Answers to the next exams. Cause let me tell you now, that's not happening, even if you blackmail me with this knowledge." Ms. Kawakami said his tone and spirit were absolute.

"Okay seriously, who do you take me for?" Ren asked, slightly offended by her accusations. "I just want to know why you're moonlighting as a maid?"

Kawakami seemed surprised by the question, but she looked away. "Why do you care? It's none of your business!" She said with a huff.

"Are you in debt? Are you being blackmailed for protection money? Do you secretly enjoy moonlighting as a maid?" Ren kept asking question after question, but Ms. Kawakami refused to answer. He then sighed. "Look, this is Nippon-Gotham, AKA the city with the highest crime rate in the world. You can't just be a maid for no reason in this city, and I just want to know why you need this money?"

Ms. Kawakami stayed tight-lipped as she looked at him. He seemed earnest to know, and it didn't seem like his intention was to blackmail her with this information. He wasn't as bad as the rumors of the other students made him out to be, she knew that, but times like this reminded her just how wrong those rumors were.

So she then sighed. "My sister's ill." She told him. "It's just us, so I took this job to pay the hospital bills."

"If it's for something like that, I can help." Ren said as he stood up. "I got plenty of money. And my boss has numerous connections so you're sister could get-"

"NO!" Ms. Kawakami shouted as she stood up from the bed she was sitting on, her outburst shocking him. "I want to handle this on my own. I don't want to stoop to asking one of my students for money. My integrity as a teacher won't let me."

Ren wanted to try and convince her, but he knew she wouldn't budge. She was stubborn, almost as stubborn as he was. But then another idea came to mind. "Okay, but what if I pay you?" As her confused look, he explained. "As you can see, my living situation is a bit… messy." Ren said, putting it mildly. "If I pay you to come over and clean up every now and then, you won't be sacrificing your integrity as a teacher."

Ms. Kawakami thought about it for a moment. "Alright, but this seems so one-sided for me. So how about this? I know you tend to fall asleep in class, and don't deny it, I can always tell when you're sleeping!" Ms. Kawakami cut him off before he could say anything. "And I know you're struggling. So how about, at times, I tend to… forget to write to you in the reports, and forget to log your homework as late and mark you as absent. How's that, do we have a deal?"

Ren smiled. This was even better than he hoped for! Now he could have more leniency with his school work so he could focus more time into being Batman. It was perfect!

"Ms. Kawakami, you got yourself a deal!" He declared as she shook her hand.

Over the following days, Ren would call upon Ms. Kawakami came late at night to clean his attic room. It took a lot of work, and most of the time she collapsed on the bed after working for so long, but the room was looking better than ever. Ren would usually be with her as she worked, studying, which she would help with every now and then, or just messing around on his phone like a typical teenager.

Other times, he would get a call from Bruce and leave either mid service or even before Kawakami got there. He gave her a spare key, claiming he had a way of getting back in when she left and locked the door.

And with Kawakami being lenient with him at school, he was able to get his work done, and his grades didn't suffer so much while at school, leaving him more time to work as Batman.

However, behind the scenes, he took it upon himself to help Kawakami's sister. He knew her pride as a teacher wouldn't allow her to ask him directly, but he wanted to help however he could. He decided not to tell Bruce about what he was doing, not wanting to explain what happened to lead up to this. He also saw it as a way to practice his detective skills.

But strangely enough, he found nothing. He searched multiple hospital records for anyone with the name of Kawakami, but those he found were either doctors, nurses, or patients that didn't fit the bill.

Deciding to go in deep, he then looked through Ms. Kawakami's personal file he managed to find. And gasped at what he saw.

Leblanc - Night

"Greeting's master!" Kawakami greeted Ren enthusiastically, who had his back toward her as he glanced out the window of his room. "What can I do for you today?"

She was met with silence.

"Uhh, master! I'm here to do whatever it is you request of me to the best of my abilities." Again, silence.

"Amamiya," She spoke in her regular voice. "What's wrong?"

At that, Ren turned to face her.

"You lied to me."

Kawakami's eyes widened before they looked down in shame.

"You don't have a sister. Do you?"

She shook her head.

"Why did you lie to me? Did you really think it would take a sob story like your sister is in the hospital to convince me to help you? Cause I would've helped you regardless of the reason." Ren declared. He then took a step closer to her. "You need to tell me what's going on. I deserve to know, since it's my money."

Kawakami hesitated for a moment, trying to find anything she could to try and get out of this situation, but nothing came to mind. She sighed, and then she told him everything.

Apparently she had this former student named Takase who she was put in charge of looking after. The boy had worked several part-time jobs as a way to cover his living expenses. Kawakami had begun tutoring him, but stopped when rumors began to spread and when she was called into the principal's office.

Takase then died in a car crash after Kawakami canceled one of their tutoring sessions. She had felt so guilty about being responsible for his death that she agreed to pay the "apology" money to Takase's guardians so they wouldn't sue her and the Department of Education.

"You know they're just blackmailing you right?" Ren pointed out as she finished her story. "They don't really care what happened to Takase, they just want the money and see you as an easy way to get it."

"I know that." Kawakami admitted as she fiddled with her hands and knees. "But still, this is the only way I know of that I can atone for my sins." She then sighed as she stood up from the couch and bowed with a fake smile, trying to mask her pain at bringing up such horrible memories. "So it's probably best if you don't interact with me anymore outside of school, nothing good will ever come of it."

Ren stood up to try and protest, but Kawakami held up a hand to stop him from speaking. "It's fine. Besides, you've given me enough money to keep Takase's guardians off my back for a while, which I appreciate. Also my boss at the maid service said that thanks to my more frequent requests, he's planning on giving me higher paying services. So I have you to thank for that." She then bowed and entered her 'Becky' persona. "I'm grateful for the chance to serve you master, I hope you were satisfied with my services."

She then turned to walk away, but Ren wouldn't have it. He then reached out and grabbed her hand.

"You really think those people will leave you alone just because you give them more money?!" Ren asked. "No, they'll only ask for more, more than you could ever possibly give, and that will only run you dry! And how do you know those maid services won't force you to do something your conscious can't accept! Just let me talk to Takase's guardians. I'm pretty sure I can-"

"YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING!"

Ren was so shocked by Kawakami's outburst that he let go of her hand and backed away.

"I know that they will never stop. I know that I'll hate myself for the things I'll do for that money. But…" She stopped as she turned to face him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I don't want another student to die because of me."

Ren was dumbfounded, unable to say anything else as Kawakami went downstairs and left Leblanc, leaving Ren alone to ponder on her words.

The Next Day - Shujin

As Ren sat on a bench alone eating his lunch, he pondered over Kawakami's words from last night. He still wanted to help her, but he just didn't know how. He didn't even know the names of Takase's guardians, and he doubted Ms. Kawakami would give them to him.

"Hey Ren!" A familiar voice called.

He turned to see Mishima running towards him. The blue-haired fan boy stopped as he came up to him to catch his breath.

"Hey Mishima. What's up?" Ren asked, curious as to why he had run to him and was now catching his breath.

"I have to tell you something. It's about Operation Maid Watch!" Mishima said as he finally calmed his lungs down.

"No! No no no no!" Ren said as he stood up. "I already told you I'm not talking about what happened." Ren had made a promise to himself that he wouldn't tell anyone what happened that night, even Ryuji and Mishima who were there with him. Ms. Kawakami didn't need more people knowing her secret.

"It's important Ren." Mishima said as he began to follow Ren as the vigilante in secret began to walk away. "I really think something suspicious is going on with that service."

"Yeah I know. You used that argument before." Ren reminded him. "It won't work.

"But this time I think it's real." Mishima said as he grabbed Ren by the shoulder. Ren then cut a glare to Mishima that reminded the boy that this was Batman. He then gulped. "Sorry." He quickly apologized. "But take a look at this comment on the Bat-Site!"

Ren decided to humor the boy and began reading the comment he stared. "'Victoria claims to provide the best housekeeping service, but her real talents involve grooming young girls and women, then selling them off to the highest bidder to act as their own personal maids for life.'" As Ren read the comment, the more he saw the seriousness of the situation. He then turned to Mishima. "You sure this is talking about Victoria's Housekeeping?"

"It must be." Mishima said as he drew back. "The words the person used seem to allude to the service. And the maids comment? Something obviously must be going down."

Ren eyes widened with realization. Ms. Kawakami said that her boss was planning on giving her more "special service" jobs. Could that mean. "Uh oh." He muttered.

"What?" Mishima asked. Without saying anything else, Ren bolted away from Mishima down the halls of Shujin. "Hey Ren! What's up?! What's 'uh oh'?!"

"No time to explain. I'll look into this!" Ren assured, thankfully the halls were empty, so no student heard their conversation. "Good job Mishima! You might've just saved someone's life!" He told the boy as he rounded a corner.

Mishima's expression lit up like a Christmas tree at the praise he received. He then jumped up in the air with a triumphant exclamation. He did it! He proved he was valuable to the Gotham Knights! This was the best day of his life.

Mishima was so engrossed with his victory that he failed to notice Makoto Niijima was watching him behind the corner, pretending to read a manga, and holding it upside down which one would notice if they looked close enough.

She had heard the entire exchange between Amamiya and Mishima, or at least enough. Why was Amamiya so concerned about a maid service? Did he have a thing for girls in maid outfits? Should she wear one for him?

At that last thought, she blushed and shook her head. Why would she even think like that?! But his words and attitudes did seem suspicious, even if he did have a thing for maid outfits. It was almost like he was concerned personally for those girls.

All this and more fueled her theory that Ren Amamiya seemed to have some connection with the new Batman. But as to what that connection is, she had yet to find out.

"Ms. Kawakami!"

Said teacher turned to see Ren running up to her.

"Where's the fire Amamiya?" She asked in a joking tone, making it seem like they only had a teacher student relationship, like it should be.

"We need to talk." He said.

"Well I'm sure a question about your homework can wait." Kawakami assured him. "I have an after school meeting with the other teachers I need to get to."

"It's about your part-time jo-" He was suddenly cut off when Kawakami covered his mouth with her hand and shushed him with the other. She then looked around to see if anyone was watching. Too many eyes and ears.

"Follow me." She whispered as she led him by the arm, which drew the attention of other students and teachers. Seeing the infamous transfer student being dragged around by his teacher, the students couldn't help but murmur.

"You see that?! He's being dragged off by the teacher. I knew he was bad news!"

"What do you think he did? Did he assault a teacher?"

"I think he killed someone!"

"Or maybe he's been taking drugs to give himself superpowers?"

Ren internally groaned as he heard the rumors. This wasn't gonna help his image at school.

Eventually the two of them stopped as they arrived at an empty room. Ms. Kawakami opened the door and looked to see no one was in there. Once she confirmed that they were alone, she shoved Ren into the room and locked the door behind her. She would have to give some sort of explanation to the principal when she got out of here.

But that could wait. She then turned and fixed a glare at Ren. Seeing the anger in her eyes, Ren tried to explain himself. "Ms. Kawakami-"

"We agreed that we wouldn't interact with each other beyond a teacher and student!" Kawakami reminded him as she cut him off fiercely. "And before that, we agreed we wouldn't talk about my part-time job at school! So tell, what possessed you to break your deal and almost out me as a moonlighting maid?!"

Ren gulped nervously before he answered. "I-I came to warn you." At Kawakami's unimpressed raised eyebrow, Ren continued. "You need to quit your job. Now!"

Kawakami sighed. "Amamiya-"

"I wouldn't be telling you so fiercely if it wasn't important." Ren cut her off. "Listen, that maid service your apart of, I think its really a sex traffic business."

Kawakami snorted. "That's rich!"

"I'm serious!" Ren said, raising his voice, but not too loud as to draw the attention of the other teachers and students. "You need to quit your job before you get involved any further!"

Kawakami looked at the boy from top to bottom several times. He seemed serious about all this. "Alright." She said, which caused Ren to sigh in relief.

"That's a relief-"

"But I want to know one thing." She then cut him off again as she stared him in the eyes. "Where did you hear this? From the proper authorities? From the police? From a credible source?"

Ren was silent for a few moments before he pulled out his phone and pulled up the Bat-Site and showed her the post. Kawakami snorted again.

"Of course you got it from that stupid website." Kawakami said. "Only a high school student like you would take whatever's posted on some website created by a lonely kid as credible evidence."

Ren was sure that if Mishima heard what Ms. Kawakami said he would have a heart attack. "But Ms. Kawakami, a maid service itself, is pretty sketchy. And this comment only makes things more suspicious."

"That comment could be referring to any maid service in the city, there is more than one after all." Kawakami pointed out. "Besides, this business is perfectly legal, I did my research before joining to make sure."

"Ms. Kawakami, with all due respect, I'm not an idiot." Ren said, his words surprising the teacher. "I'm not just some farm boy visiting the big city for the first time. I'm a Gothamite, born and raised in this city for the first twelve years of my life. I know that any legitimate business in this city ended twenty years ago."

Kawakami had to admit the kid had a point. But still, "I already told you that my problems don't concern you time and time again." She reminded him. "And yet every time you ignore my advice and try to involve yourself more and more. We'll have it! I'm gonna tell you for the last time right here and now: stay out of my business!"

She then turned to walk out of the room.

"I can't do that!" Ren's declaration stopped her. "I can't just stand by while injustices like this and the ones you're facing are happening around me!"

Kawakami then gave a shrewd laugh. "That's rich coming from you!" She said as she gave him a nasty look. "I'm already ticked off by a student telling me what to do. The last thing I need is some kid with a criminal record preaching to me about things like justice!"

It was then that she realized her mistake. She then looked over at Ren again. Gone was the determined and passionate face he held moments ago. Now only disappointment riddled his face as he looked down, his hair and glasses covering his eyes.

Kawakami looked down too, a great sense of shame enveloped her. She really didn't want to bring up his record like that. She had done her best not to judge him too much by what she read and what the other students said. She had gotten to know him in this weird time they had together, and she could tell that he wasn't at all like what the rumors said, or what she read in his file.

But it would seem like she just destroyed whatever relationship they had built in the worst possible way. She wanted the relationship they were building to stop, but not like this.

Overcome by shame, she then turned and opened the door. But stopped as she took a glance back at him. "Just, worry about yourself. Please." She then left the room.

Meanwhile, Ren was left both hurt and greatly disappointed. At first he thought Kawakami was like all the others, thinking only the worst of him because of his record. But overtime, he saw that she did indeed care, and that meant a lot to him that someone besides his friends at school saw him as something more than a delinquent.

But it seemed he was wrong. She too thought he was nothing more than some kid that should be sent off to Arkham or Blackgate, just because of what other people said. Anger began to build up in Ren's body, wanting her to suffer for her betrayal, clenching his fist as his whole body went tense

A part of him thought of just abandoning Kawakami to her fate. Leave her at the mercy of those scum and criminals. Why should it matter to him? She was just like all the rest of the people at this school!

But…

Ren then let out a sigh as he released the grip on his hand and relaxed his whole body. No. He wouldn't do that. That wasn't who he was. He could never abandon anyone in need, even if they thought the worst of him and/or hurt him in some way.

That's not the person–the Batman he wanted to be.

He then let out another sigh as took out his phone and made a call.

"Hey Bruce. Gather the other Knights. Tell them we got something big going down."

Later - The Batcave

"So wait, you think that a maid service is actually front for a sex traffic ring?" Ann asked for certainty as all the Knights gathered in the Batcave.

"Look, I know it sounds far-fetched and all, but we should investigate this." Ren stated.

"Might I ask how you came about this information?" Bruce asked, though already knowing the answer.

"I got it from the Bat-Site." Ren admitted, knowing how much Bruce hated when he relied on the website Mishima made.

"And once again I feel the need to remind you that using some online teenage platform as a way to learn about crimes is both ineffective and time-wasting." Bruce said, clearly they've had this argument before.

"Look, I know how much you hate relying on others like this. But remember, it was thanks to the site that we were first alerted to Madarame's crimes." Ren pointed out.

"I have to agree." Yusuke spoke up. "It was thanks to your intervention that I was able to face the truth regarding my former sensi, and break free of his manipulative chains."

"Yes, but that site also led us on several wild goose chases that wasted valuable time in tracking down real targets." Bruce pointed out.

"He's right." Morgana chipped in. "I've been on a lot of those. And while I don't mind helping people out, I also hate to be called out to handle something like fixing the TV."

"But still, even if it is a hoax, we should probably check it out." Ryuji pointed out, nervously stretching his head.

"I'm pretty sure all you want to check out is those girls in maid outfits." Ann said, a rare hint of jealousy in her voice.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Ryuji yelled.

The conversation then became an argument that lasted for several minutes before Ren's phone rang. He took it out and his eyes widened as he saw the caller ID. "Guys! Guys! Everyone be quiet!" He told the others as he answered and pulled the phone up to his ear. "Ms. Kawakami?" The Shujin members of the Knights looked in surprise.

"Amamiya! Thank God you picked it up!" Ms. Kawakami's voice, which sounded both relieved and panicked, came from the other end. "I didn't think you would answer after our talk."

"Water under the bridge teach! But what's wrong? Why are you whispering?" He asked, concerned.

"I don't have much time so I'll just cut to the chase. You were right!" Ms. Kawakami said, which caused Ren to gasp. Despite the vindication he felt at hearing her words, he also desperately wished he wasn't at the moment. "I couldn't get your words out of my head, so I decided to do some digging, and I found out that there is a sex traffic in this company."

He then turned to the others and turned the phone on speaker so the others could hear. "I tried to take some pictures of some documents to use as evidence then call the police, but I saw N.G.P.D. officers talking with the traffickers. So I couldn't call the cops."

"Pfft. Typical. Cops in this city are about as useful as a rat's dropping." Ryuji commented.

"Wait, that voice, Sakamoto?! What are you doing with Amamiya?! Did you know too?!" Kawakami cried.

"Know what?" Ryuji asked before Ren smacked the back of his head. "OW! Dude! What the-"

"Shut up!" He told his friend before he looked back at the phone. "Don't worry Ms. Kawakami. We'll help you as soon as we can!"

"No!" Ms. Kawakami cried. "I won't let you all put yourself in danger. I was gonna leave as soon as I got the evidence and turn it over to the police. But I'm currently cornered and waiting for an opening. Just wanted to let you know you were right."

"Listen Ms. Kawakami, stay where you are, we're gonna come help you!" Ren assured her.

"I already told you I don't need-"

CRACK!

A loud noise was heard from another end of the phone followed by a man's voice. "Hey, what are you doing here Becky? Are you talking to someone on the phone?"

"Uhh… no not at all, just checking my social media accounts." Kawakami tried to lie.

The man on the other end began clicking his tongue. "You've been a very bad maid Becky, and now you know what happens to bad maids." The man said.

"Wait! Keep away! I said stay back! Don't come any clos-" Call then abruptly cut off there.

The majority of the Knights looked in horror and worry at the phone, save Ren, who had a righteous anger boiling inside of him, ready to burst out and beat the living slag out of anyone who dared to touch Ms. Kawakami.

He looked over at Bruce, who nodded.

"Gotham Knights." He began. He then looked into each of their eyes and saw that same fire in him begin to ignite. "Let's go save some maids!"

"Alright! Operation Maid Watch is on!" Ryuji cheered as all the Knights moved to gather their gear. However, Ann stopped abruptly when she registered Ryuji's words.

"'Operation: Maid Watch'? Where did you come up with that name" Ann's question caused Ryuji to freeze.

"Uhh…" Ryuji stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse. "It… uhh… just came to me. Hehehe." He laughed nervously as he went to put his gear on. Ann continued to look at him and Ren suspiciously before she shook her head and moved to grab her own costume. They could worry about that later.

Right now, they needed to rescue Ms. Kawakami.

"Are the goods ready?"

"Yeah. Hehehe! They're ready alright."

Those were the sounds a young teenage girl heard as she, along with numerous other girls, sat waiting in a shipping container, who knows where.

"Why did this have to happen?" The girl muttered. All she wanted was to find a job so she could help her parents pay for the bills. How did it end up like this. The thought of never seeing her family and friends again caused her to cry.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay." A kind voice said as she felt a warm coat draped over her shoulders. She turned to see an old woman, much older than the other girls in here anyway. Her age made her seem out of place among all of these girls, which almost prompted the girl to ask why she was here. But she then thought it must've been the same reason as them so she didn't say anything.

"It's gonna be alright. So don't cry, okay?" She soothed as she rubbed her hands across the teenagers back to calm her down, which helped greatly. "What's your name?" She asked, in an attempt to distract the terrified girl.

"Sayoko." The young woman, Sayoko answered. The older woman smiled warmly.

"Nice to meet you Sayoko. My name is Sadayo Kawakami. You can call me Ms. Kawakami." Ms. Kawakami said.

"Okay." Sayoko said as she moved to be closer to the older woman, feeling a great sense of safety and warmth from her. "Hey, Ms. Kawakami?"

"What is it, Sayoko?"

"We're gonna be okay, right?"

Ms. Kawakami hesitated for a long moment before she answered. "Yes. We're gonna be just fine. I promise."

Despite feeling as if she was giving her false hope, Sayoko couldn't help but hold onto it. This woman just had a way of making her feel safe and that everything was gonna be alright. She must be a wonderful mother.

For Ms. Kawakami, she felt bad for lying to the young girl. But she couldn't tell her the truth after looking into her pleading eyes.

'Why did I call him instead of the police?' She groaned internally. In all honesty, she had no idea why she called Ren instead of the cops. She just felt that he, of all people, could actually be the one to do something about this whole thing.

But in reality, Ms. Kawakami probably just wanted a chance to apologize for what she said to him earlier. Bringing up his record in an attempt to leave her alone was a step too far on her part. She had wanted to apologize to him on the spot, but shame stopped her from doing so.

She tried to do it when she called him, but instead she just told him he was right about his suspicion concerning the maid service. She hoped he took this information and contacted the police, but as she thought about it, going to the cops might just get him in more trouble.

Still, in some way, she was satisfied with this outcome. This was how she could be punished for what happened to Takase. She had no regrets, except telling Ren she was sorry for her words. However, while she was fine with this fate being placed upon her, the last thing she wanted was for these poor girls to suffer a fate that should be hers to bear.

Holding Sayoko close, she bowed her head and said a prayer. 'Please, if you're out there, listening, please come save these girls. I don't care what happens to me, but please don't let these girls suffer when they've done nothing wrong. Please send someone! I beg you!'

A group of guards walked along the main catwalk of the warehouse, surveying the area, looking for anyone foolish enough to break in.

Suddenly, a baton came flying out from the darkness and impacted one of the guards heads, knocking him out with an extra electric jolt. The guards saw the baton return to the thrower's hands as he stepped out from the shadows.

"Evening gentlemen." Nightwing said in a polite tone as he had out both his escrima sticks. "May I ask where you are keeping your captives?"

"It's Nightwing! Kill him!" The leader ordered as everyone rushed toward the newest Knight.

Nightwing sighed. "Well, so much for hoping you all were more civilized." He moaned.

As the guards rushed him, Nightwing took advantage of the space given to him by the narrow catwalk to take them down one by one. He struck all across their upper and lower bodies, zapping them with the electricity from his escrima sticks, taking them down in a matter of seconds.

At one point, he cockily sheathed one of his escrima sticks, as a way to make it seem like he was going easy on them. They fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. Nightwing made short work of them before continuing down the catwalk, pulling out his second stick once again.

He then placed both of them on the railings of the catwalk, sending an electrical current running down the metal surface, stunning his enemies who had now reached for their guns.

In another part of the warehouse, Robin was flipping off crates and the walls as he took down more of the traffickers. His small size and mobility helped him greatly as he climbed up on several guards and flipped them over his small body, knocking them out.

A trafficker pulled out his hand gun and opened fire on Robin. But the Boy Wonder of Beyond wall runned on a stack of crates to avoid the gunfire and delivered a spectacular kick to the gunman's face, knocking him out.

Robin then leaped over and landed down on the first floor of the warehouse, where he was met with two gunmen. "Shoot the brat!" One ordered as they opened fire. Robin pulled out his staff and activated the bullet shield on it to protect himself from the onslaught.

Another gun went off, but instead of bullets, miniature Batarangs came flying out from the gun. The projectiles hit the guns in the shooters' hands, disarming them.

"Sorry guys." Two looked over to see Red Hood with his modified guns aimed at them. "Only I'm allowed to shoot the kid." The two then charged at him. Red Hood met them, attacking them across their body with the butt of his guns before knocking them out.

A group of four heard the noises happening across the warehouse and circled up to make sure no one got the drop on them. However from above, a certain feline smiled as she pulled something out from her belt and threw it to the ground.

The Caltrops exploded and dozens of metal jacks went flying. The shock of the explosion caused the four to move around, leading them to step on the jacks. They cried out in pain as they tried to regain balance.

At that moment, Catwoman pounced. She leapt from her scaffolding and landed on one of the four, knocking him out as she landed. She then maneuvered her steps and bodies across the minefield of metal jacks with practiced grace and elegance as she fought off the remaining three.

"What's going on!?" The ring leader of the human trafficking ring asked as he and his second in command, a large statured man, came out of the main office.

"It's the Gotham Knights boss!" A lower level thug reported. "They found us and now they're-"

He didn't get to finish as suddenly a claw shot out from the darkness and grabbed him by the leg. He then screamed in terror as the initial tug from the claw caused him to fall before he was dragged off into the darkness, flailing around with his hands to try and stop himself from getting dragged off.

Both the boss and second in command looked at each other in worry, both deciding it was best to cut their losses and split.

They made their way to the exit of the warehouse where a car was waiting for them. They were about to enter when they heard something land behind them. Slowly, almost reluctantly, they turned around.

Rising from his kneeled position, his blood red wings retracting back into his body, was none other than the Batman himself, evident by the same colored symbol across his black body. His white eyes glaring at them, causing them to shiver.

The boss then looked to the brute, who had yet to take action. "Well what are you waiting for?! An invitation?! Stop him!" He ordered as he pointed at Batman before he got into the car to get it started.

The brute walked up to stop Batman from approaching the vehicle. "Hey big guy." Batman taunted.

The brute then extended a pair of high tech energy blades from his arms. "I'm gonna cut you up, freak!" He yelled as he began swinging his blades to try and hit the Dark Knight. Batman easily was able to dodge his first two swings with ease.

Ducking under the third, he then slid under his right leg, causing him to go down to his knees, before coming up and swiping him across the face. Then climbing up on the brute, giving him a knee to the face as he did, he then leapt off of him into the air before landing down on him with a hard punch to the head, knocking him out.[1]*

The boss heard a loud thump coming from outside his vehicle. Not wanting to wait and see who made the sound, he frantically dug into his pocket for his keys. He then dropped them on the floor of the car in a panic. After reaching down to pick them up, he rose and looked in shock to see Batman right outside his window.

"Hey there." He said before he punched a hole straight through the glass window of the car and grabbed the ring leader by his clothes. He then viciously pulled him out of his car by the window and threw him to the ground.

The ring leader struggles to stand and try to run. Impatient, Batman pulled him up viciously by the collar of his shirt and threw him against a metal pillar. He then grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up higher so that his feet were off the ground, coming face to face with Batman's soulless white eyes.

Seeing as he had the boss' attention he then said. "We have two ways we can do this. The easy way…" He then extended his fingers to claws for emphasis. "Or the hard way."

Ms. Kawakami and the girls were terrified.

They all of a sudden started hearing shouting, gunfire, painful grunt almost like people were dying, and then absolute silence.

They all then jumped when they heard the lock on the door either being opened or broken. Holding Sayoko tightly to her, willing to die to try and protect her, she braced herself as the door opened to reveal…

Not who she was expecting.

"It's okay, you're safe now." Batman said to all of them. Each one looked at him in both awe and fear. He happened to glance and Ms. Kawakami, and gave an internal sigh of relief that she was alright. "Come with me. I'll take you home."

However, none of the girls moved, which Batman found understandable. These girls were held captive for hours, maybe even days by masked men. Why would they believe the words of another, even if he's the one who saved them.

Batman then looked to Kawakami, and saw that a young teenager was clinging tightly to her, and an idea came to mind.

"Look," He began as he kneeled in front of Ms. Kawakami and the girl, the latter clutching more tightly to the former. "I know you're afraid right now. But I promise you, I'm not here to hurt any of you. I'm here to take you home now. To your families. But I need you to trust me. Please." He then held out his hand for Kawakami to take.

Ms. Kawakami just stared at Batman in awe for a moment. She was still a young girl when the original Batman disappeared from the city's eye. She then grew up hearing stories about copycats and people dressing up like Batman. She always thought they, and Batman himself, were a danger to the city. She especially thought so when she heard her students idolizing him. What's there to admire about a man that dresses up like a bat and puts people in the hospital.

However, as she looked at his white eyes, which many people believed to be devoid of emotion, she saw a warmth and kindness in them. A kindness that was strangely familiar. One that she couldn't help but trust.

So she reached out, and took his hand.

The Next Day - Gotham Hospital

After the police arrived on the scene, Ms. Kawakami and the other girls were taken to the hospital to recuperate, most of the girls had bruises and cuts on their bodies that needed to be treated. Ms. Kawakami had wanted to thank Batman, but he vanished as soon as the police arrived.

Currently, Kawakami was being interviewed by an Inspector from the police as she sat in a hospital bed with an IV attached to her. The Inspector was a middle-aged man, probably around her age, with glasses and a goatee, taking notes on a notepad with him.

"And you have no further details you'd like to share?" Inspector Hasagawa asked for a final time.

Kawakami gave a sigh. "It's as I said Inspector, Batman and the Gotham Knights arrived and saved us from the kidnappers. I don't know where they went after you arrived."

"Okay then." The inspector said as he closed his notebook and placed it back in his jacket. "Sorry ma'am, just trying to be thorough. For what it's worth, I'm glad you and those other girls are okay. Guess this new Batman is doing some good for the city after all. Even if he's outside the law."

"Yeah. Guess so." Kawakami said as she looked down in thought.

The inspector looked at his watch. "Well, I think it's about time I head out." He said as he rose from his chair. "Was supposed to be off duty today, so I gotta get back to my daughter."

"You married?"

The inspector smiled sadly. "No. Not anymore. She passed away over two years ago."

"Oh I'm so sorry!" Kawakami quickly said, she didn't mean to bring up painful memories.

"It's fine." The Inspector waved off. "Stuff like that is common in this city after all. Though knowing that doesn't make it any easier."

The two of them just stood still in silence for a long moment.

"Anyway." Inspector Hasagawa cleared his throat. "I should go now. Take care of yourself Ms. Kawakami." He bowed as he turned and made his way to the door.

"Sadayo."

He stopped when the hospitalized woman spoke up, and turned around in confusion.

"My name is Sadayo. You can call me that… if you want to." The woman said, a small blush present on her face. Hasagawa looked in surprise before he smiled slightly.

"Okay, but on one condition. You can call me Zenkichi."

The woman smiled. "Deal."

Zenkichi almost thought that smile was the most beautiful thing he saw in a long time. But right now, he just wasn't ready to act on any feelings that may or may not be bubbling inside of him. Not right now, he first had a promise to keep.

So without another word, he opened the door…

And came face to face with a young man. A handsome young man with dark messy hair and glasses, wearing a Shujin Academy uniform. And holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand. The young man jumped in surprise to see a man standing in front of him, and almost looked like he was shaking slightly.

"Amamiya!" Sadayo yelled in surprise as she sat up straighter to address the young man.

"Ms. Kawakami! I'm glad you're awake." He said sincerely, snapping out of the trembling state Zenkichi saw him in. Did he imagine it?

He then looked back to Sadayo, pointing to the suspicious young man. "Is this guy you're…" He couldn't bring himself to say the next word, almost afraid if he did, then it would be true. Cause if it was, he may have to arrest the two, due to an adult dating a minor.

Both Sadayo and the young man blushed at his implication.

"No! No no no! Absolutely not! No!" Sadayo said, shaking her head profusely.

"No! Not at all! I'm just one of her students!" The boy said.

Zenkichi raised an eyebrow. That would be even more reason for him to arrest the two.

The young man seemed to catch on to what he was talking about and explained. "She's my homeroom teacher. When me and the other members of my class heard, we all decided to pitch in to get her something nice. And I drew the short straw on who would be the one to deliver it. I promise nothing illegal is going on here."

The boy seemed sincere, and Zenkichi could tell from a glance that this kid didn't have any ulterior motive coming here. However, there was something about him that seemed… off. Not necessarily in a bad way, but he wasn't sure in a good way either. His instincts as an Inspector were telling him so, but he just couldn't figure out what. So he decided to drop it for now.

"Well that's very kind of you and your classmates." He said with a smile as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. He then turned back to Sadayo. "See you around… Sadayo."

"You too… Zenkichi."

And without another word, he left the room.

Ren looked over at Ms. Kawakami, then to the door, then back to Ms. Kawakami. "Sadayo? Zenkichi?"

"Don't look into it! It's grown up stuff." Ms. Kawakami said with a pout as she looked away from him. Ren merely smirked as he placed the flowers in a vase and sat down in a chair next to the bed.

"I'm really glad you're okay, Ms. Kawakami." He told her honestly before he stopped talking.

An awkward silence enveloped them for a long moment as the two sat there, not knowing what to say.

Finally, Kawakami decided to break the ice. "Listen, Amamiya… about what I said-"

Ren held up a hand to stop her, knowing full well what she was gonna say. "You have nothing to apologize for." He told her. "I've already forgiven you."

"But still…" Ms. Kawakami began, struggling to find her voice. "I said such a harsh thing to you! I judged you purely based on what other people said about you! I don't even really know what happened!"

Ren was silent as he mulled over her words. "I admit that I did feel hurt after such a statement. I thought that you were just like all those other teachers and students who only judge me based on what they've heard, instead of just trying to get to know me. But I realized later that you were just trying to push me away, just so that I wouldn't end up like Takase."

Kawakami looked at Ren for a long moment before she asked. "Can… Can I know what happened… The night you were arrested?" She asked hesitantly.

"Do you really want to know?"

She nodded.

He then sighed as he took off his glasses. "Okay. It started off just like any other night…"

"... and that's how I ended up here." Ren finished, rubbing his eyes. Bringing up this story always made him exhausted.

When he looked Ms. Kawakami in the face, he was stunned by her reaction. She was crying. A look of sadness and shame covered her face.

"I… I can't believe they did that to you…" She muttered, struggling to speak through the tears. "All you did was try to help someone… and they punished you for it! That's not right! That's not right at all! And to think… I also contributed to the pain! I really am a pathetic excuse for a teacher."

"Stop it."

His words caused her eyes to widen as she looked at him. His hair covered his eyes.

"Stop it right now." He told her again. "What happened to me isn't your fault. It's not anybody's fault, except the dreg that sued me in the first place." His jaw and fists clenched tightly as he said that last part before they relaxed. "Besides, coming back to Gotham may have been the best thing that's happened to me in a long time."

"How do you figure?" Ms. Kawakami asked, confused.

Ren smiled as he raised his head, allowing Ms. Kawakami to get a good view of his eyes. "I've… met some good people since coming back to the city. Made real friends, people who know me and accept me. And more than anything, I've found a purpose. A reason for living. I've always felt something was missing from my life after I first left the city. Now coming back, I think I've found what I've needed for a long time."

Kawakami looked at him in awe. Not just by his words, but by his expression. She could tell that he meant every word he said just now. And not just that, it was his eyes as well. 'Those eyes… he has those same eyes…' She thought.

It could just be a coincidence. But her gut was telling her otherwise. Determination filled her being. She had to know for sure. "Amamiya," She said. "Are you-"

The opening of the door stopped her from speaking as she and Ren turned to it. At first she thought it was the doctors, or maybe more police. But to her surprise, it was neither.

"So this is where you've been hiding? I should have known." A tall, rude, middle-aged man said as he walked up to the bedside with his arms folded. A middle-aged woman was also standing beside him.

"Mr. and Mrs. Takase?!" She shouted in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"The school told us you were here." The man, identified as Mr. Takase answered.

"You contacted the school…?" Ms. Kawakami questioned in disbelief.

"You weren't answering your phone. So I then called the school, and they told us you were here." Mr. Takase said in a matter of fact kind of tone. "It's really an inconvenience for us when you miss a payment, you know."

"Now, now. It's not like she wanted to be kidnapped by a bunch of sex traffickers…" The woman, who Ren guessed must've been Mrs. Takase said in a seemingly peaceful tone. "But our credit card payment is coming up soon, so we'll need you to transfer the money."

"I-I'm sorry…" Ms. Kawakami said as she looked down in guilt.

Ren just looked between them and Ms. Kawakami. What the slag was going on?!

Noticing his confusion, Ms. Kawakami began to explain. "These are Takase's guardians, the ones I mentioned to you earlier. They took care of him…"

"Who's this?" Mr. Takase said, finally noticing Ren's presence.

"This is one of my students. He came to visit me…" Kawakami explained.

"Messing around with students, huh? Hahaha, you never learn, do you?" He asked with a small chuckle. "Tsk, tsk… And after all you did to him…"

"I'm sorry…" Ms. Kawakami muttered under her breath, the guilt and shame on her face were even more noticeable than before.

"So? When are you going to transfer the money?" Mrs. Takase asked impatiently, completely ignoring the other woman's plight.

"I should be able to send it by tomorrow…"

"Don't pay them!" Ren declared as he stood from his chair. He was glaring hard at them, his anger bubbling to the surface as he tried to suppress the memories of the worst adoptive home he was in.

All the occupants in the room looked at him in surprise.

"Amamiya…" Kawakami muttered in awe, surprised yet touched that a student was standing up for her.

"Stay out of this!" Mrs. Takase yelled, her earlier politeness gone in an instant.

"Don't act so though, kid." Mr. Takase said. "Our precious adopted son, Taiki, died because of this woman. Honestly, she should've been fired."

"That's not…" Kawakami tried to speak.

"And yet, she still doesn't know her place… and still continues to teach." He then looked down at Kawakami. "We're gonna need you to show some remorse for what you did to him…. In a material and undeniable way!"

"...I understand. I'll pay you."

"It's not like we're trying to extort you." Mrs. Takase said, her faux polite tone suddenly back. "But who was it that convinced Taiki to study when he should've been working? The school work on top of his part time jobs overwhelmed him–which led to that accident. It's so tragic… It's as if he was murdered!"

Ren was using all his willpower and self-control to keep himself from beating the crap out of these two poor excuses for guardians. They have no idea what real murder looks like. Part of him just wants to show them what it's like.

"So you no longer feel regret?" Mr. Takase asked. "If that's the case, maybe we should sue the Board of Education. Or should we contact the school? Either way, your days as a teacher would be over." Seeing the defeated and hopeless look on Ms. Kawakami's face, he knew that they had won. "Well, we'll be looking forward to our next payment."

SLAM

All three of them jumped as they turned to Ren, who'd had enough of this farce and slammed his hand on the wooden table at the edge of Kawakami's hospital bed.

"You despicable, greedy, piss poor excuse for guardians!" Ren said in a low voice before he then exploded in rage. "How dare you come here and demand money from her after everything she's just been through?! What gives you the nerve to do such a thing?!"

"You brat! What makes you think-"

"Shut up!" Ren violently cut Mrs. Takase off, which caused her to look in fear. "Ms. Kawakami is the best teacher I have ever had! She was even willing to take time to help me out and get my grades up so I wouldn't face so much stigma at school. And I won't sit here any long and watch you two insult her like this!"

"What right do you have to judge us?!" Mr. Takase demanded. "You didn't know Taiki! And you don't know us!"

"You're right, I didn't know Takase, nor do I know you." Ren admitted. "But what I do know, are crappy excuses for guardians! You say it was Ms. Kawakami distracting him from work that caused him to die. But I think it's just the opposite. If you two had just backed off and let him focus on his studies instead of making money, he wouldn't be falling behind in school and had this pressure and burden placed upon him. If you ask me, you're the real murderers!" He declared as he jabbed a finger at both of them.

Ms. Kawakami looked at him in even more awe than before. After she lied to him, judged him based on his criminal record, he still stood up to defend her so fiercely against the people who she felt she owed a debt to. He definitely wasn't what the rumors at school made him out to be.

The Takases, on the other hand, were furious. Mrs. Takase was too flabbergasted to even speak, while Mr. Takase looked ready to blow a gasket.

Before anything else could happen, the nurse came into the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt." She said with a small bow. "But we need to do another check-up on the patient. So if you all could please go outside."

The Takases were still angry, but they decided to leave without making a scene. Mr. Takase then looked at Ms. Kawakami. "Just make sure you pay us by tomorrow. Or say goodbye to your teaching career."

And with that the couple left.

Ren then let out a breath as he calmed his heart and released his fist. He tried to keep his anger under control, and it worked for the most part, but those people just kept talking. If that nurse didn't come in just now, he would've made them incredibly grateful they were already in a hospital.

'Gotta work on my anger still.' Ren thought to himself. He got lucky once when his anger went out of control. It won't happen again.

He then turned to look at Ms. Kawakami, who still looked at him in awe. "Sorry you had to see that." He said as he placed his glasses on his face as he sat down in the chair by her bed, all of a sudden becoming a different person with that one action. "I just went overboard." He said nervously, his tone much different to how he was a second ago.

"No! No, you did nothing wrong!" Ms. Kawakami assured, amazed that his whole mannerism changed in an instant. "I'm just happy that someone stood up so much for me. Though more shocked you had that much anger inside of you. Almost makes those rumors seem true."

Ren wasn't really offended by her comment, he knew she was slightly joking. "Just thought I try to channel some of that delinquent reputation right now. Can't believe that's all that came out."

"If you don't mind me asking, you mentioned having experience with 'crappy guardians'. What's that about?" Ren froze at the question and looked down uncomfortable. "Right, sorry. You're business. You already shared more than enough with me today. You don't have to."

Ren smiled gratefully. While he had been able to share the event that led him to be arrested, he just wasn't ready to dive into all of his other issues, not yet.

"Well, I should be off." Ren said, noticing the nurse's expression, telling him to leave. "I'll see you at school." He then stood from his seat and walked to the door. He was about to leave when he stopped, as if he just remembered something. "Oh right, what were Takase's guardians' names exactly?"

Ms. Kawakami looked at him with concern. "Don't worry. I'm not gonna do anything. I just want to know if there are any cases where they try to come after me." He assured her.

Kawakami seemed suspicious for a long moment before she answered. "The husband's name is Toshio. The wife is Hiromi." She then glared at him with a stern frown. "You promise you're not gonna do anything!"

Ren smiled as he held his hand over his heart. "I promise that I, Ren Amamiya, won't do anything to hurt the Takases. You have my word." He promised. He then left without another word.

Kawakami still seemed doubtful, but this kid did keep his promises. So she would believe him.

As he walked through the halls of the hospital, he took off his glasses. He was planning on keeping his promise. Ren Amamiya, wasn't gonna do anything to the Takases.

However…

He then pulled out his phone. "Hey Bruce it's Ren. I got another favor to ask."

He never made any promises about Batman not doing anything.

"I need the address of Toshio and Hiromi Takase."

That Night

"Do you think she's gonna pay?" Hiromi asked as her husband began making dinner. He was making burgers on an indoor grill.

"Don't worry, we have our claws deep within her." Toshio assured as he flipped a patty. "As long as we keep bringing up that dead brat Taiki, she can't help herself."

Hiromi smiled at her husband's assurance. "I must say, using her as a source of income is much more reliable than relying on that brat. Even working all those jobs, he still wasn't able to give us as much money that woman is giving us now."

"That's because for people like her, a clean conscience is more important than money. And those people are the best sources of income." Toshio smirked.

"I'm gonna go freshen up now dear. I can't wait to eat those burgers." Hiromi said as she moved down the hall and Toshio went back to focusing on their dinner.

He continued cooking, but frowned when he felt a breeze enter his house and he smiled. "Thanks for opening a window honey! Helps get all this smoke out!" He said as he got back to work, not noticing the shadow approaching him from behind.

"What are you talking about? I didn't open the window." His wife's voice came from the bathroom.

Toshio frowned. Then how did the window open? He then looked up at the microwave and saw a figure standing in the reflection. "What the-"

He then felt someone grab him by the back of his hair and slam him into the Microwave before they then slammed his head down on the grill. He screamed in pain as he felt the right side of his face burn.

Hiromi came running out at her husband's cry. "Toshio?! What's wrong?!" She gasped as she saw the intruder.

Sleek black body, long black ears, soulless white eyes, and a blood red symbol of a bat on his chest gave his identity away. She moved to the house phone to try and call the police, but a Batdisk[2] came flying and knocked it out of her hand.

"What do you want, freak?!" Toshio asked as he felt his flesh burning from contact with the grill. At his question, Batman just pressed his body harder on the burning grill, causing him to scream out in pain again.

"You blackmailed a teacher into giving you money." He answered.

"What's it to you?" Toshio asked. Gritting his teeth, Batman lifted the man the grill and threw him over the kitchen counter into the living room. He crashed onto the wooden coffee table, shattering it.

He was about to walk over to him when Hiromi got in his path, a large kitchen knife in her hand. "You break into our house and assault us!? You really are a criminal!" She shouted as she started frantically swinging her knife. Batman merely dodged her wild and uncoordinated knife swipes before he grabbed her wrist and twisted it to the side, causing her to drop the knife. He then delivered a kick to her stomach that sent her to the ground next to her husband.

"You even hit a lady! You barbarian! Don't you know any restraint?!" Toshio said as he moved to support his wife.

"Believe me, I'm restraining myself!" Batman warned. And he was. Just hearing their words through his suit's enhanced senses made his blood boil. And it was taking everything he had, and then some, to keep himself from maiming these two.

"W-What do you want?" Hiromi asked as she clutched her husband.

Batman's eyes narrowed as his shadow loomed over them.

"Justice… and Vengeance."

They both screamed in terror.

A few days later - Leblanc

Ren had a rare moment of free time today, as it was a day off from school, so he took it upon himself to help out at Leblanc that day. Sojiro had declared he had been slacking in his training, so she declared Ren would need to put extra effort into working today. Which he did, as Leblanc surprisingly became busy today.

Speaking of his training, his coffee making and curry were also showing signs of improvement, but compared to Sojiro, they wouldn't even be worth serving to customers, according to him anyway. But Ren welcomed the work. He needed a break every now and then from his time as Batman and his school work.

"Glad you could come help out today." Sojiro said as he came to Ren, who was busy trying his latest batch of curry. The cafe was currently empty, so Ren worked to practice his curry without having to worry about serving it to any customers. "I know you're busy with school and working for Mr. Wayne. But I always appreciate it when you take the time to help around the shop."

"It's no problem Boss." Ren assured the older man. "Working here is a nice break from all that other stuff in my life."

"Now you know why I chose to open a coffee shop?" Sojiro asked with a smile. Before Ren could say anything, the bell above the door rang. Another customer. Sojiro turned to greet them. "Hello! Welcome to-"

He stopped as he recognized who it was.

"Evening Mr. Sakura." Ms. Kawakami said with a bow.

"Ms. Kawakami?!" Sojiro said in surprise before quickly correcting himself. They were still operating during business hours. "Um, what are you doing here?" He said in a more normal tone of voice.

"I have some things to discuss with my student Amamiya." She said in a cheery tone. Ren stopped working on his curry and looked at Kawakami in surprise. What did she have to talk about with him?

"He's not in any trouble is he?" Sojiro asked, worried about losing such a fine free helper.

"Oh no! Not at all!" Kawakami assured me. "It's just something that needs to be discussed between teachers and students, you don't mind do you?"

Sojiro almost wanted to protest. However, when he looked back at Ren, the boy gave him an assuring nod, telling him everything would be alright. He then sighed. "Guess I'm closing up shop early."

After Sojiro left, Ren had Ms. Kawakami seated as he set a cup of freshly brewed coffee in front of her. "Here you go. Enjoy." He said as he took a seat across from her. Ms. Kawakami eyed the cup of coffee for a long moment before she took a sip.

When she did, her eyes widened as she immediately removed the cup from her mouth. She almost wanted to throw up the liquid, but for the sake of being polite, she managed to swallow it somehow.

"It needs work." She told him honestly.

Ren had a defeated look on his face. "Sorry, I'm still in training. For what it's worth, that was much better than my first attempt." He remembered with his first cup of coffee that Sojiro couldn't even stomach the smell of the liquid and threw it away before he even took a taste. "I hope you won't treat that as the norm here. We usually have much better coffee than this."

"Don't worry. I won't judge." Kawakami assured.

"So how's everything going with you?" Ren asked as he took another failed attempt at 'perfect' coffee and dumped the liquid down the drain.

"Busy. A bunch of students have recently been asking me for advice." It sounded like she was complaining, but Ren could tell from her tone that she enjoyed it. "I need to work hard to make up for all the times I let my students down in the past."

"I'm glad to hear that." Ren said with a smile as he sat back down.

"Apparently they like that I'm not too serious." She said with a smile on her face. "I guess my laid-back personality is coming in handy."

"Guess so." He said with a chuckle before they both erupted in a bout of laughter.

After calming down, Kawakami then got serious. "So, um…" She hesitated slightly, wondering if she should say her next words. "Now this is coming from me as your teacher…" Ren straightened up as he listened. "An awful thought occurred to me the more time I spent with you. And I can no longer overlook such a grave 'danger'."

Ren froze at her words. What could she mean by that? Is it possible…

"You…"

'Here it comes.' Ren groaned internally.

"...Are waaay to lax when it comes to your diet!" Kawakami declared. "You need to be more serious about your nutrition."

'Huh?'

"And the state of your room! You need to stop slacking. I mean look how dusty this place is. I put up with the mess because you were my client but you need to thoroughly clean in here!"

Ren just looked at her in bewilderment. That's… not what he was expecting.

"I could say the same for you." He said, trying to recover from his confusion.

"I'm currently in the process of eating better myself." She told him with a sense of pride. "I only have cup noodles every other day now." She then switched over to a more concerned tone than a strict one. "There are just some things you have to prioritize over your studies, you know?"

Ren smiled at her concern. This was why he said she was the best teacher he's ever had. She knew the importance of studying, but also understood that if you put too much into them, then you'd burn yourself out. Not many teachers know that.

"Oh and one more thing…" She said, catching his attention as she leaned back and placed her hands to the side. "You're Batman, right?"

'There it is.'

"What makes you think that?" He asked.

"Don't play dumb with me." She told him sternly. "You've given off way too many hints. First off, all the sleeping you've been doing in class, that has to be from all the late nights your working. Two the fact that Batman returned around the time you came back into the city. And three, that whole thing with Takase's guardians worked out way too well for me. The day after you met them, I saw in the news that they were arrested for blackmailing an 'unknown' teacher and severely beaten, and the husband has a burn mark on his face that could rival Two-Face! And the only one who really knew about my situation was you."

Ren sighed, he should have guessed that would've tipped her off. After giving the Takases the beating they needed, Ren had turned in a recording of their confession to the police. The next day, they were arrested.

"Is that all?" Ren asked.

"Well, what really gave you away was your eyes." Ren was confused. His eyes? "When Batman–you rescued me and those girls, I could sense a sort of kindness in his eyes, one that I've seen before. At the hospital when you visited me, I sensed that same kindness from you. That's what allowed me to piece it all together."

Ren tried to initially come up with an argument to dissuade her, but nothing came to mind. So he just sighed. "You got me." He said as he raised his leg to rest on his knee.

"I haven't lived this long without learning a thing or two, you know." She said with a smug smile, before her face shifted into one of assurance. "Don't worry. I have no intention of telling anyone."

"Thanks. I appreciate that." Ren said sincerely.

"I've heard a lot of stories about Batman growing up in this city. As I got older, I mostly thought he was just as bad as the criminals he locked away. And a terrible influence on the younger generation of the city. I initially thought of you as the same." Kawakami admitted. "But now I know better. Despite all the stories there are about you and your Gotham Knights, in the end, they help people like me, right?"

"We try."

Kawakami smiled. "That's sooo you. I just thought you were a problem child with a criminal record… but now I know better. I'll support you 100 percent!"

Ren smiled. Hearing stories of how he and his friends were helping the people of this city, and how they promised to support him, they always reassured him that he was doing the right thing, and that he was making a difference.

"On one condition though." Ren looked back up at Kawakami to see a serious expression on her face. "Just… don't go and get yourself killed alright. You're not just a student to me. You're someone special who helped me realize my path as a teacher. A new path where I'll never abandon any of my students… And that includes you most of all."

Ren thought about her words for a long moment. He couldn't exactly make the promise that he would live through this life. After all, this had to be the most dangerous job in the world. But there was one thing he could promise.

"I'll make sure that I'll do everything I can to survive while I'm out there." He told her.

"I guess that'll have to do." Kawakami said with a smile. She knew how dangerous the life he lived was, so hearing this gave her some reassurance that he at least wouldn't be reckless and unprepared.

"OK let's get into it… Fifty terms! Go!" She suddenly shouted.

"What?!"

She smiled. "I don't want you to flunk your exams just because you were out punching someone in the face. I'm going to go the distance with you!"

Ren's sweat dropped.

A/N: And that's it.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Once again, sorry for the long wait.

I hope you all picked up on some stuff I did in this chapter. If you notice, when Ren has his glasses on, he acts more nervous and awkward when he does take them off. That's because I'm trying to show that Ren is in the process of creating his other personas(Haha). And the glass is a representation of him placing the mask of an ordinary high school student on, and when he takes them off, he's his true self. It's mainly a way for him to work on hiding his identity. He still needs work, but he's getting there.

*I believe most of you noticed when I did a [1] earlier in the story. That's because I think it's getting a little complicated when I describe the fight scenes. So I'll probably now be including these brackets with numbers in them. That way at the end of the chapter, you can look to see where you can find a more detail image of the moves I'm trying to get across. Hope that makes sense.

[1] Just look up the Blade Dodge Takedown used on the brutes in Batman Arkham Knight.

FYI, when I'm not going into details about their fighting moves, just imagine the other Knights fighting styles are similar to that of their moves in the Arkham games. Those games are awesome by the way.

Here's a preview of the next chapter.

Chariot:

As Ren and Ryuji work to strengthen themselves for more work at Batman and Red Hood, Ryuji is forced to confront aspects of his past.