[Text] means translated from a language

Edits will be made often, so please excuse them. I'm still quite new to Fanfiction and the way it works unlike Wattpad.

Daitan'na: Grit of Gotham

Chapter Two:

Trouble Follows

"Robin," A man wearing this weird black cowl calls. "Why would you bring a stranger in here? You were just on patrol. Take her back to where you found her."

Obviously he hasn't heard of discretion.

"Batman, look at her necklace," Robin answers. "The tattoos. The damn dragon. Doesn't it sort of remind you of someone we've been chasing after for the past few days?"

"I'm sorry," I say, realizing they must have mistaken me for someone. Probably someone dangerous. "I'm just here to look for somebody in the city. Um, Robin, thank you for the food and the kindness but I have to be on my way now—"

I turn around to a new face. A rather handsome face.

"It's rude to leave so abruptly, no?" He says.

"Uh…but…" Oh god, what have I gotten myself into now? "What do you want with me?"

"Have a seat," The man, Batman, says in his gravelly voice, gesturing the armchair across him. "Let's talk."

He gives me the impression that he's not someone to joke around with. His posture, the thin white slits in his cowl, and the dark outfit just tells I should do as he says. Besides, I'm outnumbered.

I drop myself into the chair.

"About what, exactly? I haven't been here in Gotham for more then three hours and there's already something I did? Look, the guy was really getting on my nerves and I didn't make Dokutokuna bite him—"

"Three hours?" He repeats. "It can't be. Tell us the truth. And what is your name?"

"Tomoe—and I am telling you the truth. I'm here to look for someone," I insist. "I don't know exactly if she's here but—but I can tell somewhat."

"How?" The handsome guy raises an eyebrow. "Enlighten us."

"Now, you have no right to be prying into a stranger's—"

"Okay, let us be more clear," The red helmet guy from earlier says calmly. He points a gun at me. "Enlighten us or I shoot you."

The handsome guy glares at him. "No, Red Hood."

"Shut up, Nightwing or Agent 37 or whatever, you know I'm not really doing it."

"If it's a fight you want, I can give it to you," I say, looking at this Red Hood guy. "You're not getting anything else out of me."

"You heard the lady," Red Hood suggests to the other three males in the room. "Shall we?"

"If you insist," I stand up and face him. "Let's go."

"A fight is completely unnecessary," The handsome man, Nightwing (I think I'll call him that), sighs. "We'll only ask a few questions."

"About what?"

"About…whom you're looking for."

"And why?"

"Because…we think we might—"

"Okay now who's asking the questions?" Robin blurts out. "If she says she'll speak if she's won over in combat, then so be it."

"You already know where I'm from and what my name is," I shoot a look at the glaring boy. "This has nothing to do with whatever you guys are involved with."

"You don't know that," The Batman says. "If you're proven innocent, you'll never see us again."

"So?" Red Hood crosses his arms.

"No, Hood," Nightwing says again. "She has experience."

"She does, indeed." Robin scoffs. I make a face at him.

"If there is no oth—" I cut myself off. My tattoos are burning.

Moretsuna wants to come out.

Oh, god, not now.

I speak to them through my mind in Japanese. [Guys, I'm in a middle of a situation, not now, okay?]

[Are you in trouble?]

[No! No—I—I'm not. Just stop burning me, will you?]

Now Gankona's tattoo is freezing up.

[Gankona, please not you too. Arrrgghhh.]

"Okay, what's happening?" Red Hood demands. "Why are…why are your tattoos glowing?"

"None of your…business," I bite my lip. I have to think fast. And act fast. "[Dokutokuna, smoke breath!]"

The room fills with billowing smoke. Harmless but thick enough to blind them while I flee. "I'm sorry but I really got to go!"

A hand latches onto my wrist but I elbow whoever it is in the face and slam the door after me. Oh, dear. I don't even know if I remember where the front doors are.

"Pennyworth! Lock all doors!" I hear a yell closely behind me.

I glance to my right. There's a window.

"Sorry for destroying your property—" I hurl myself through the window. Glass shards clutter the grass outside.

I climb up the wall of the house, using my mountain climbing skills. The surface is mostly flat so I have to really focus on my footing and handhold at the same time hurrying. I jump from window to window, shoving my finger through cracks and spaces. The rooftop should be enough. My tattoos burn and freeze me still. I knew Moretsuna and Gankona would realize the situation through the way I speak. They know me too well.

"Where is she?" Comes a faint shout through the shattered window. "What the—"

I smile victoriously as I reach the rooftop in a few minutes. I look down to check if anyone's coming after me.

"Tomoe."

"Holy—" I exclaim, almost tripping backwards and off the roof. The man with the cowl is right in front of me. "How…Who the hell are you?!"

"I'm Batman."

"Okay, you got me," I say as I hear more footsteps all around me. "But you have to promise me you won't report me to the police or drive me out of your country."

"Unless whatever you're about to do is dangerous," Batman says unflinchingly.

"It really depends on you, Batman sir," I shrug. "But they won't hurt you."

"They?" Damian demands.

I sigh. I can't believe I'm doing this. This wouldn't have even happened if I had just refused Robin's offer.

I push up the thin fabric and hold out my arms. "Moretsuna, Gankona, you can come out now."

My tattoos stop burning and freezing and white glows are emitted from both. They keep on growing and growing until they almost seem to block out the moon. Robin unsheathes his sword, Red Hood draws his guns out, Nightwing is reaching for some kind of sticks, and Batman is just watching.

"Well, Dokutokuna," I say. "This really wasn't what I had in plan. I guess we have to go crash elsewhere…if we don't get into anymore trouble."

"They're dragons," Robin says. "They're…beautiful."

I blink. I expected 'horrifying' or 'monsters'. I mean, they are beautiful but it takes some guts to see past their malevolent eyes and keen jaws.

The moonlight hits Moretsuna's brilliant red and grey scales. His eyes glare into them, as if anticipating an attack. That's Moretsuna for you. Always pessimistic. I see Gankona is less obviously bellicose for whatever that's going to happen. She observes the situation more but assaults at any form of threat.

"Explain. Now." Batman orders quietly.

"Um, they're dragons. My friends." I answer. I don't know what else they need to know.

"And?" Red Hood presses.

"That's it," I say. I narrow my eyes. "What, you think they have me under mind control to do their bidding?"

"Maybe."

"That's stupid. I raised them. If I tell them to rip your heads off, they will. No, Moretsuna, I said if. I didn't ask it." I shake my head.

"You said you were from China," Batman says. "These dragons are Japanese."

Hm. He's good. "I'm originally from Japan."

"You brought three dragons into China. Why?"

"I'm not here to tell you guys a story about my life—you speak now, about what or who you think I'm associated with. I've shown and told you enough."

Silence purses my words. I can see Batman thinking.

"Fine. Let's get back in."

"No. No, you're mistaken. Very much mistaken."

I'm shaking. There's a weird rumbling in my chest.

"She's a witch— at least that's the only word we can use, and she wears a necklace that looks like yours."

"This necklace," I say, trying to keep my voice even. "Holds my mentor, my caretaker's blood. It helps me find her when I lose her. It helps her find me when she loses me."

"What if it's so that you don't get away from her ever?" Batman says softly. I know he's taking it slowly but I can already hear his point. And I don't like it at all.

"I'm not sitting here and letting you accuse a woman who has fed and sheltered me for the past five damn years." I spit.

I stand up but they just close in on me.

"You have to listen," Nightwing says gently. "We're good people trying to save our city. We know you're good too. This woman…perhaps she is not your guardian and perhaps she is but you have to connect the evidence we have here."

"Evidence? All you've got are two necklaces that look similar and the woman being a witch."

"Your tattoos," Batman points at them. "Did she ink them for you? I didn't have to see the dragons to know they're magic. This woman we are tracking down at the moment leaves a mark. We don't have a clear shot of her face but it's something about what she does…she just leaves a mark and we know she's responsible. Your tattoos reek of it."

"Magic doesn't have smell," I sneer.

"Yes but her magic leaves a mark, I said. It's a tenor, a character very distinct and very unique."

"For the past six days, she has been causing mayhem all over Gotham. She flooded an amusement park, set fire to a school, and murdered about ten people in a mall. In broad daylight. The water was licked up and the fire diminished the second we showed up. She would disappear, her face still unknown. A few causalities but countless left injured. And left in the air was a certain…ambience. Vague but it struck a feeling, a thought directed directly to the same person."

I can't keep my voice from rising. "Stop talking as if they're the same damn person! My mentor is a witch but she's a good witch that only used her magic for good, for her wellbeing and mine. This woman you are talking about is a criminal, a murderer. Nothing like her. They're not the same person. You're wrong. I'll prove you wrong."

"Answer us a few more questions then we'll let you go," Batman steps forward. "How did you lose your…guardian?"

"She just left…she does that often."

"And the longest time being…?"

"A couple of weeks…"

"Has she ever done anything that made you uncomfortable or in pain?"

I stare up into Batman's steely eyes. He has concluded. But I have not. I turn and run. The hall seems to stretch forever. I hear Red Hood asking if it was safe for me to go. And Batman just says,

"Let her go."

My chest is tightening up. My face is growing hot. When I make it out of the manor I feel like throwing up. But I keep it in and drop to the ground. I feel the necklace in my palm. It's like ice.

And I don't even know if I want to feel warmth.

Do I really want to see her here?

"Tomoe! Come here for a while!"

I was sleeping on Gankona when she called. I've been training for the past two hours so the rest was well deserved.

"TOMOE!"

I jerked awake. Still drowsy, I rolled down the little hill to see what Ms. Wei wanted. "Sorry, I was sleeping. What do you need me to do?"

"I have a severe cold," She said, wrapping a shawl around her. "I require ingredients to prepare an elixir."

"Don't you think it's easier for me to just drop by the stores in the village and get you a cold medicine?" I asked her, confused.

"No, my dear," She insisted. "In exchange for my magic, I am extremely susceptible to diseases, such the common viral infection, the cold. I've been debilitated and no mediocre medicine can replenish me to my full capacity. I must use the remaining bit of my sorcery to whip up a cure."

"Alright then," I said, putting my gloves and boots on. "What do you need?"

It's getting really late and really cold. My bag feels heavy on my back now. I find a crummy hostel as I walk down the streets of Gotham, looking for a cheap place to crash. When I look up at the battered wooden sign I find myself imagining the coziness and warmth I had a slim chance at indulging in the Wayne Manor. But I would never stay under the same roof with those bastards. If I can find comfort out of a rock, I can take this for the night.

I managed to exchange the yuan for dollars and thank Tengoku Ryuu up there that I have enough for at least two nights. The receptionist is a middle-aged man with a nasty smile and a nasty smell. He hands me the keys to my room and asks me if I need to be ushered. I would have smacked him in the face if I didn't have to stay here.

I hear noises from behind the doors I pass. All kinds of noises. I knew the moment I entered the "lobby" that I'm in the bad spot of city but I don't really care at the moment. But then I don't think that anymore once I see that the door to my room isn't lockable. I swear if any of those lunatics next door come in when I'm sleeping, I'm burning this whole hostel down.

When I open the lights I see about six little and big black things scurry about the floor. The floorboards grate every time I'm on my feet. The whitewashed walls are blank and ugly. The bed is low and grey but I'm pretty sure it was white once. The pillow is flat and hard, as if there's a wooden plank in it instead of feathers or foam rubber. On the beat up nightstand next to the bed is an old clock I'm not sure is working.

I keep all my clothes on and don't bother touching the sheets.

It's freezing but nothing's colder than the locket on my chest.

SLAM

BANG

I stir and sit up to the sudden noise. My head snaps to the clock. It reads 2:02 AM. Wrong or not, it's late. And I'm angry. Two hours and thirty-two minutes of sleep is not enough for me to restore my politeness and sensibility. I woke up before around 1:00 and took off my top because it got really hot later on. And now I'm burning inside and out.

A man with a potbelly is lying face down on the floor, the door knocked off its hinges. There's raucous laughter outside. Another douche steps in and kicks the unconscious man, slurring and snickering.

"Heh! Get up, Jerome, you fat fu—"

My foot slams into the side of his face.

He flies back into the corridor and crashes into his friends. All of them as drunk as skunks. That'll give them a worse headache than the booze in their veins.

"You picked the wrong room to bust in to, buddy," I growl and advance towards them but stop at the sound of a gunshot. It came from behind me. The bullet embeds the wall directly above the lolling head of the man I just kicked.

"You!"

"Sorry for stalking but," Red Hood sighs. "I swear I didn't watch you undress."

A/N

So, yes, in the last chapter, Damian brought Tomoe Namakettei to Wayne Manor, in his full Robin costume. To address the confusion about his action, please remember that Tomoe is a foreign girl from China. And not even the cities of China, the remote mountains of China. She is suspected to be involved with the person the Batfamily is tracking down and Damian, finally getting a good lead on the case, didn't want her gone.

So he tried the nice, innocent offer although he didn't expect her to be so trusting (he surely had the beat down planned in his mind) and brought her to their home. She had no idea about who they are, in public or secret, so he felt safe doing what he did. And he thought, if she does happen to have connections with who they're after, they can take her in for interrogation. And he did not bring her to the Batcave because that's a top-secret place where they work and it was one or the other. He was uncertain so he needed confirmation from his father as well.

I hope this reasoning is acceptable and please continue to read. And don't forget to drop a review!