Chapter 1: Part 5: Thoughts of Our Fathers

Robin headed to the Prefectural Hospital. It was the same hospital Nagi had stayed in. Everything seemed to come back to her. He couldn't get her out of his mind. He was drawn to her. She was beautiful, but what caught his attention were her eyes.

It was a silly thing to be drawn to in Japan. Many Japanese people had brown eyes. But her eyes reminded him of John Grayson, his late father.

There wasn't a day that went by where he didn't think about his parents but being with Nagi Kirima and seeing her father complex made him happy that he understood his parents.

He'd read in the Japanese tabloids that Seiichi's wife Kyouko had an affair and divorced him. Seiichi Kirima was a love martyr if there ever was one.

It was quite clear that Nagi adored her father. She wouldn't have kept her father's name if she hadn't loved him.

Bruce Wayne was not his father, but Dick called him "dad" sometimes. It wasn't the same. His biological father had been a good man. Stern but fair. John Grayson's morality was something he could grow into while Bruce's was inflexible.

They were so different from each other, maybe that's why they butted heads so often.

Slade wanted to be like a father to him. He was both verbally and physically abusive and a horrible human being.

Dick always looked to his fond memories of John Grayson to seek guidance from the simple advice he gave him at the age of eight.

Nagi had lost her father Seiichi Kirima at the age of 10. Dick felt jealous, two whole years with her father. Since he was an accomplished writer she always had his words with her. He had an eidetic memory so he could use the memory palace technique to remember his parents. But to have her father's words written down, to always have a piece of him with her was a precious thing.

And knowing that Seiichi Kirima was revered the world over was amazing. His influence grew after his death and Nagi received royalties from her late father's writing.

Nagi Kirima could be anything she wanted but she chose a life similar to his.

The drive, the obsession, they were so very much alike.

He enjoyed watching her work, watching her fight. He wanted to keep watching her, to get lost in her lovely brown eyes.

"You can fall in love if you like. All I can do...is pray it does not destroy you both."

Seiichi Kirima's words echoed in his mind. Robin sighed, was it love that he felt for her?

He let his mind wander. Some women wanted meaningless flings while others wanted real relationships.

Seduction was easy for him, after spending time in a relationship with Starfire he learned what women liked to hear from a man.

His kind demeanor and charisma drew women to him. He could carry on a conversation that didn't involve physical intimacy, although he could insinuate that if that's what a woman wanted from him.

Being a rich foreigner meant that you'd get a woman's attention for your money. Honeypots that targeted foreigners in other countries were quite common and it was a safety risk when interacting with the locals.

He didn't carry large amounts of cash nor did he flaunt his money, such things weren't worth it. You could be beaten, robbed, or killed depending on where you were and Japan had a low crime rate but he had always minded his surroundings.

Fortunately, his experience in Japan had been good, and strange women had not approached him.

Dick turned his attention back to the matter at hand, he was looking into the serial murders from five years ago.

Stopping by the prefectural hospital, he discovered it had been abandoned. He was surprised. He wasn't expecting that. He searched the building and found Doctor Kisugi's old office. Robin rummaged through her things and found a strange vial with barely anything in it, but it was just enough that he could examine it.

He tucked it into his utility belt, he'd have Cyborg examine it later.

He headed to the Tokyo Police Department and requested the files for Masanori Sasaki, the perp behind the serial murders five years ago, along with the case file for the missing Doctor Kisugi.

He headed to a nearby MOS Burger and ordered a Truffle Mayo Double Beef Burger Combo

so he could eat while he studied the files.

He sat down when he heard a voice call to him, "Do you mind if we sit here?"

It was Keiji Takeda and his girlfriend Touka Miyashita.

"Please, feel free, are you two on a date?" He had to act like he didn't know them.

"Well, yes, but don't tell anyone at our school," Keiji laughed.

"I'm Keiji Takeda and this is Touka Miyashita," Jeiji gave their names in Western fashion to make it easier for him to understand.

"Good day," Robin stood up and bowed respectfully. "Takeda-san, Miyashita-san, it's nice to meet you."

"Such a polite foreigner; the Hero of Tokyo is impressive," Touka smiled.

"We were in the crowd when the mayor of Tokyo gave the Teen Titans medals."

"It was insane, Nagi Kirima was with us, the medal ceremony was one of our school trips and the students went crazy," Keiji smiled.

Robin laughed. The couple sat with him as they ate their meals.

"So what is the Hero of Tokyo investigating in our city?" Touka Miyashita asked.

"The serial murders from five years ago. Something doesn't add up so I'm looking into it."

"Masanori Sasaki's modus operandi doesn't line up, he was an assassin so why would he suck out five girls' brains?" Robin asked.

"Don't killers change their techniques to avoid getting caught?" Touka Miyashita asked.

"Not always, some of them are too fixated on their dark fantasies. They can't suppress their urge to kill. Some of them have signatures."

"That's really scary," Touka said.

"They caught the perp so you don't have anything to worry about."

"We can all breathe a sigh of relief then," Keiji Takada laughed.

"Don't worry about anything, I'm just looking for some answers. There was also a doctor that went missing, nobody ever found her."

"Well, good luck, Robin-san," Touka said. She got to her feet.

She turned away. She suddenly turned back to him and spoke in Boogiepop's voice.

"I could give you the answers but where's the fun in that?"

"I wasn't expecting a freebie anyway, Boogiepop," Robin laughed. He noticed that Boogiepop didn't laugh or smile.

It turned away and reshaped itself back into Touka Miyashita.

"It was nice to meet you, Robin," Touka smiled, her voice returning to normal.

Robin pulled out some money, "it's on me."

Even though they paid already. It was enough to cover their dinner.

The two students left and Robin continued looking over the case files. He separated the five girls from the other victims.

Wanting to learn more about the victims, he read their obituaries. All five of them were described as "fearless" and "brave".

He remembered Uehara Dauzo's fear and how he'd framed him for murder to protect his fraudulent hero persona. Fear was a powerful motivator and Batman harnessed it to frighten criminals.

"That's it!" He exclaimed. Fear is what made them a target, but they were from different walks of life so they had to have one common denominator: the prefectural hospital.

He was examining the old hospital security footage from the unexplained violent incident where Doctor Kisugi went missing.

He spotted a blur that was almost imperceptible on the screen but he realized it was Doctor Kisugi.

He could hear audio, "Scarecrow, you came."

Robin knew the woman wasn't referring to Johnathan Crane, the supervillain Scarecrow, but to someone else using that name. Crane was locked away in Arkham Asylum at this time.

"Tell me…Scarecrow…will I…go to Heaven?"

"No, you'll be going to Hell," the voice was cold as ice. The voice was Boogiepop.

"Of course I am…just like you…" the woman's voice was silent.

"So that's when he appeared," Robin said to himself.

"All that from the surveillance footage, took me a day to figure this out. I'm impressed," Nagi Kirima said.

"I've been doing this for a decade. You know what happened five years ago, don't you."

"Yes."

"You're not going to tell me anything."

"No, I'm not."

"You sure are stubborn," Robin said.

"I don't want to talk about it, and I know you have my hospital file. The fact that you hacked the hospital records is no surprise."

"Why were you there?"

"It was a real pain in the ass, growing pains, the doctors couldn't explain, they went away after a while."

"I see, have I satisfied your curiosity, Robin-kun?" Nagi asked, teasing him.

"You're teasing me with that honorific, aren't you, Nagi-chan?"

"It's a good thing you're cute, Teen Wonder, or I'd slug you."

"I'm cute, huh? How'd you know it was me?"

"Lots of teenage boys wear that costume but I recognize your dumb ass anywhere."

"You recognize my ass!" the Hero of Tokyo burst out laughing. "That's one I've never heard before."

"Let me buy you dinner," he suggested.

"Is this a date?"

"No, no, just let me buy you dinner," Robin smiled. "Haven't laughed like that in a while."

Nagi begrudgingly sat down.

Robin saw her expression, he understood it. Her father was famous and wealthy, especially after his death, she had become a Japanese billionaire.

She consistently received royalties for her father's work. It made her desirable to men, hoping to worm their way into her bank account rather than her heart.

Her father's friend, Gen Sakakibara, kept unwanted suitors away from her. Robin saw it in her facial expression.

"Don't worry; I have no interest in your money, Nagi-chan. I just want someone to spend time with."

"Where's that girlfriend of yours?"

"Gone, unfortunately, nothing I could do about it."

"Dead?"

"No, we parted on good terms."

"Care to talk about it?"

"Not now, not yet."

"Touche," Nagi laughed. "Eh, why not?

The two vigilantes sat down and had a meal on their "not-date".

This is Dick Grayson. He's been many things in his short life. He's the acrobat prodigy, the Boy Wonder. He's a member of the Flying Graysons, pulling off the Quadruple Aerial Somersault 50 feet up without a net night after night.

He is Robin, Gotham's Laughing Daredevil and the leader of the Teen Titans.

He has given up the ordinary life for a life that is the envy of many teenagers.

People see the skills, only the excitement, the thrills, but they don't see the hardships, the long, sleepless nights on patrol, and the brutal training by Batman. They don't see his scars. Not the emotional scars that created Robin, or the physical scars from his many battles.

The scars on his body are the permanent symbolism of the sacrifices he has made in the name of peace and justice. It is a badge of heroism he wears for the rest of his life.

There were many scars and many stories with them. A bullet hole from being shot by the Joker, a scar on his chest from Saiko-Tek, a scar on the middle of his back from when Starfire shot him in the back after he threatened the lives of his team when he was hallucinating about seeing Slade.

The world he lives in is different from everyone else's, but he wouldn't trade it for anything.

When Starfire told him she was leaving he was stunned. He wasn't expecting that, especially when it was an arranged marriage she couldn't refuse.

He was heartbroken over the situation but he couldn't do anything about it.

They had parted in the city where they had confessed their love. He hoped for a respite, to catch his breath, but already he was pursuing a new case and a new interest.

Dick wanted to laugh, there was no way someone as stubborn as Nagi Kirima was going to be interested in him.

She was too driven by her Messiah complex to give heed to anything else.

Still, she did show interest in his alter-ego Robin, but he wouldn't push her for anything. She would probably stun him with her electric baton and throw him into a wall.

Still, he hoped to become friends with her in his civilian life but she didn't make that easy.

He understood her in many ways but rarely spoke to her as Dick Grayson.

Maybe an opportunity would present itself but he wouldn't hold his breath.

He decided he would wait for her to come to him.

He would be patient, there was no rush.

This is Dick Grayson for now.

Life is brief, young maiden, fall in love;

before the crimson bloom fades from your lips,

before the tides of passion cool within your hips,

for those of you who know no tomorrow.

Nagi Kirima sang "Gondola no Uta" from the movie "Ikiru". It was a song made famous by the film and even foreigners knew it if they were movie buffs.

It was popular but it was significant to Nagi because it was a song her best friend, the deceased Naoko Kamikishiro used to sing.

She was still grappling with the loss of her only friend from middle school and one of the few who knew of her secret hero activities.

When you lose your best friend how do you come to terms with the loss?

The students who knew the truth couldn't even hold a funeral for her because the Manticore ate her.

Nagi decided after that she wouldn't allow anyone to help her in heroics again.

But then Robin, the Hero of Tokyo, showed up at Shinyo Academy and offered to help her.

He'd offered to help her look for Uehara Daizo but didn't offer her a place on the team. The Titans had branches all around the world and Bushido was a member but the teen hero traveled all over Japan and hadn't made any particular city his base of operations.

She considered herself unaffiliated with any group and thought of Tokyo as her turf.

She'd been aware of the Teen Titans adventure in Tokyo due to Robin's mugshot being broadcast all over the news. She'd been dealing with her own "work" fighting off crazed men who had been injected with something that put them into a zombie-like state, causing them to go on a murderous rampage trying to recapture a kidnapping named Kit.

Only Nagi's superb martial arts skills had saved her life that night.

The incident resulted in the deaths of three teenagers who had given their lives to protect Kit.

Nagi had sent her to stay with her father's friend Gen Sakakibara who was also her martial arts instructor. She was safe outside of Japan.

The System, the Towa Organization had covered up the incident quickly, not that normal people took notice, the Teen Titans exposing Uehara Daizo as a fraud overshadowed the bizarre incident.

She'd gone to the medal ceremony, the crowd had been massive. She'd not been too close to the front, Beast Boy's fangirls had taken up several front rows, but she'd been able to see the Titans on the massive screen.

Nagi Kirima had been on patrol when she'd rode by the MOS Burger and saw the Hero of Tokyo sitting with two of her classmates. While she was friends with Touka Miyashita and Keiji Takeda she decided to wait until they were gone before approaching him.

They had engaged in small talk. She confirmed her suspicions that he was investigating the incident from five years ago.

She was surprised when he offered to buy her dinner, was this the "wining and dining" she'd heard so much about?

She was wary of men who were interested in her. Most men weren't interested in her for her beauty, they were chasing her wealth.

A few men she knew were chasing her for her looks, one of them was Kentarou Habara, her hacker.

Still, the man made no moves on her, despite clearly being into her.

Men were complex and when it came to their feelings and romance, she didn't like how complicated it was.

Whether men wanted a casual fling or a real relationship with her, Nagi didn't know, but she despised cheaters because of her mother's infidelity.

Robin was interested in her, she wasn't dumb, she knew he was into her. She wondered if she was becoming interested in him.

He was the talk of Shinyo Academy, the most extreme girls proclaimed they would become "gaijin hunters" for him, women who had sex with foreigners to have cute half-"kids" and dump the man later on.

Nagi knew that he probably wouldn't agree to anything like that if he was the sort to get into a casual relationship.

She did acknowledge he was handsome and very skilled, well-spoken, and polite.

But there was a hard edge in his voice when she refused to work with him. He was trying to control her. It was subtle manipulation and she disliked it.

She was free to do as she pleased when it came to her vigilante work.

He was very rigid, she could tell that much.

She wouldn't fit into his mold as a teammate or a partner.

She had kissed him impulsively, something she didn't normally do, and she found…that she had enjoyed it.

Did she admire him? Yes. Did she love him? She was unsure.

Still, sitting across from him and listening to him talk about his investigation was one of the most interesting conversations she'd had. She wouldn't forget to put him in his place if he got in her way, but it could wait. She could let herself relax for the first time in a long time. She let him see a side of her that few knew about and hoped that she wouldn't regret it.