Chapter 2: Part 2: Dick Grayson and Nagi Kirima

It was Father's Day and it always bothered Nagi Kirima. Other students complained about how lame it was to spend time with their fathers, but she'd give up everything if she could get him back.

The only thing she could do was take an offering to his grave and say a prayer for him.

Nagi dressed in her nice clothes. She refused to wear a dress but chose something nice. She'd stop by the store and pick up Seiichi Kirima's favorite foods and visit his grave on Father's Day.

She headed to the convenience store to get her father's favorite food when she saw Dick Grayson, with three people she didn't recognize, waiting in line.

"Hello, Kirima-san, you can go first if you'd like, we can wait," Dick offered.

He let her have his place in line and she purchased her things. "Thank you," she bowed to him. She bought her things and decided to wait for them. While Japanese people don't usually approach strangers, she knew Grayson and knew he would introduce her to his friends.

She waited. They bought their things and approached her.

"Kirima-san, these are my friends, Garfield Logan, Vic Stone, and Rachel Roth," he gave their names in Western fashion.

"Logan-san, Stone-san, Roth-san, it's nice to meetcha," she said casually.

"Do you want us to speak to you in Japanese or English?" Dick asked, wanting to make her comfortable. Many Japanese students learned English as their second language but weren't always comfortable using it in a practical setting.

"I'm fluent in English, Grayson-san," Nagi said, smiling.

"What are your plans for today?" Dick asked.

"I'm visiting my father's grave."

"Well, you shouldn't spend Father's Day by yourself. Do you mind if we come with you?" Dick asked.

"No, it's fine."

"Are there any rules we should know?"

"No cameras and be respectful."

"Of course."

They headed to the cemetery and rented a pail. Nagi began the ceremony by washing her hands, the others followed suit and watched her wash Seiichi Kirima's grave, pouring water on it little by little.

She placed his favorite foods as an offering at his grave and also some Chrysanthemums. She asked that they take her hands as she said a Shinto prayer.

"Well Dad, I think you'd like my friends, they're weird, kinda like you," Nagi smiled.

The other teens didn't say much but remained quietly respectful.

They waited for a bit before they left.

"You can learn from the past, but don't let it hold you back, because if you get too obsessed, it'll curse you," Nagi told him.

Dick listened to her words and kept them in mind. Holding onto the past was something he did quite a lot. His obsessions were often his undoing, and it was a hard lesson for him to learn. He wanted to learn from her, and how she was able to not let her past hold her back, it was one of the many things he admired about her.

He could feel the students staring at him as he swam. He could see them gawking at his scars. They were whispering about him. Dick did his best to ignore them.

He headed to the locker room to change back into his school uniform.

Dick Grayson was horrified, his school uniform was missing. They'd been swimming at school for physical education and someone stole his clothes. He'd taken off his swimsuit when someone quickly grabbed it and took off running out of the locker room and down the hall.

He sighed, he'd have to find his clothes.

Kazuko Suema stared at him, "Grayson-san, what happened?"

"Someone stole my clothes!"

Seuema did her best to avert her eyes, unlike the others, she wasn't trying to stare at him.

He could hear the girls whispering.

"Grayson-san has to be a delinquent. Those scars have to be from street fights!"

"He's some kind of criminal! A real American gangster!"

"No, more like the Italian mafia!"

Dick bit back an angry reply to that accusation and kept silent.

He walked toward his locker, desperately searching for his school uniform.

The boys started their taunts, "Looks like his high grades are compensating for his average size. No wonder he has to pay for girls!"

"Probably never got laid! Ha!"

Dick said nothing. His sex life wasn't anyone's business, but he'd made love to Starfire. He and Starfire were intimately close and had consummated their relationship during their vacation in Tokyo since they were both 18 or her species equivalent of 18. His previous relationship had been with Barbra Gordon, but since they'd been underage when he was in Gotham, they hadn't slept together. Now they were old enough that they could but they hadn't dated for a long time. Babs and Koriand'r had met and they were nice to each other.

All his exes got along with him and each other, it was a cosmic miracle.

"Like any girl's gonna find a guy covered in scars hot! That's only in the movies!"

"Are we gonna have to stare at him all day in classes like this? He's gross!"

He had to ignore them, he wouldn't get into a fight, not today. Dick recognized a trio of students that had given him ugly looks ever since he started attending school. They began following him, and one of them prepared to throw something at him.

Kei Niitoki, President of the Disciplinary Committee stood, blocking the bullies' path. "Do you think you'd get away with this just because he's a foreigner? Did you even think about what would happen if he or Wayne-san sued the school?!"

The bullies' laughed, "It's his word over ours, and foreigners always start trouble!"

One laughed until someone punched him in the face, sending him sprawling on the ground. It was Nagi Kirima.

"Fire Witch!" he exclaimed. He looked to Niitoki. "You saw that, didn't you? She hit me!"

"You tripped and fell," Niitoki shrugged. "I saw nothing."

The students looked up as they heard footsteps, the school wasn't expecting any visitors. Some of the students gawked. The Teen Titans were visiting Shinyo Academy.

Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy had walked into the school in uniform to surprise their leader. They figured he could use some cheering up, especially today, but Beast Boy saw the "prank" and he wasn't laughing.

"Dudes, really?" he glared at them.

"B.B., find Dick Grayson's uniform will you?" Cyborg ordered.

"I'm on it, dude," he transformed into a dog and immediately began sniffing around for the clothes. He ran around the school, tracking down the clothing, the bullies made it difficult to find.

Raven quickly wrapped her cloak around Dick, covering him.

"You people think this is funny?" Raven snapped at them.

"What's the mascot of Super Twinkle Donkey Gum gonna do, hit me in the face, beat me up, and give me some lame anti-bullying lecture?" the student smirked.

"No, you're just going to experience the worst moment of his life, you'll see, hear, and feel everything. Maybe you'll learn some empathy," Raven said in a cold voice. She grabbed his forehead, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

She showed the student the memories of that day in Dick Grayson's life. The day of the Flying Graysons' death. She forced the bully to experience everything Dick Grayson felt that night.

The bully began shaking, Kei Niitoki stared at Raven, startled.

"What did you do to him?" she asked.

"Just showed him something from your friend's life."

"Isn't that private?"

"Dick Grayson is my friend, NOBODY hurts my friend!" Raven said, walking away. "He'll recover physically after a few hours. I can't guarantee he'll recover emotionally, however."

The other bullies fled in terror. They ran straight into Beast Boy, who was not amused.

"What do you think you'll do to us, Green One?" they asked.

"This is for humiliating my friend!" Beast Boy snarled, he transformed into Godzilla and charged after them.

Loud shrieks of, "Gojira!" were heard throughout Shinyo Academy as the terrified students tried to get away.

This scene brought students out into the hall and some of the victims of the school bullies shouted, "Go get them, Goji!"

They ran until they could no longer do so.

Cyborg grabbed the bullies and dragged them to the principal's office.

Beast Boy found Dick's school uniform and brought it to him.

"Thanks, Beast Boy," Dick said, putting on his clothes.

Suddenly, the teacher, Haruo Nakayama spotted Nagi Kirima.

"Kirima-san, nobody saw you come in earlier. Lift your skirt!"

"I wore white panties if that's what you mean, and I wasn't late today," Nagi said, lifting her skirt, showing that she was indeed wearing white panties.

She gave the students such an ugly look that they didn't even dream of peeking. Dick just kept his eyes down, focusing on putting his school uniform on.

Haruo Nakayama glanced at the students, "Get back to class!"

They all scattered back to their classrooms. Raven teleported the Titans away, as they whispered a quick goodbye to him.

Dick Grayson managed to finish the school day, but he could hear students whispering in class. The long day was over and he decided to meet some of the students at a popular restaurant that they were all excited to go to.

He got there and was about to go in when he saw the sign in English letters, "Japanese only".

He let out a sigh, "Don't feel you have to change your plans because of me, I can get something at the convenience store."

Even if he's shown up in his Robin uniform, he wouldn't be permitted in there.

He told them goodbye and headed to a nearby convenience store and bought some chicken and the ingredients to make waffles, he was going to have some authentic American comfort food and he was going to have to make it himself.

He imported some of his food to Japan, mainly coffee to have genuine American coffee during his breakfasts. He also had some snack food such as beef jerky.

Unloading his groceries he told the Titans he was staying home. No spiking his hair and donning his Robin uniform tonight.

The "no stylized hair rule" at Shinyo Academy made it much easier for him to live his civilian life in Japan since Robin spiked his hair with gel, it's all the girls searching for him remembered about his features. Unlike Nagi Kirima, who remembered his ass.

Nobody suspected he was Robin unless he spiked his hair in the fashion he used as Robin. Looking completely ordinary made it easier to hide his superhero activities.

Cyborg called him on the Titans' communicator. "Do you need us to come over?"

"No, I'm fine, I promise. You all did more than enough. You all should be searching for Uehara Daizo."

"Heard you loud and clear, Cyborg out."

Robin hung up, he needed this comfort food right now.

He went about preparing the Southern fried chicken because it'd take the longest. He enjoyed cooking and was quite good at it.

He was busy preparing his meal when he heard the doorbell ring. He answered the door.

There was Nagi Kirima, standing in front of him in the Shinyo Academy uniform, she wore a white suit shirt and a blue blazer with the school's emblem on it. The red tie around her neck was tied nicely and the gray skirt went down to over her kneecaps, she wore black shoes.

"Kirima-san, what are you doing here?" Dick asked, surprised.

"I came to check on you, you looked like you were having a hard time," Nagi said. "Can I come in?"

"Yes…Nagi, are you all right? Nakayama-san…"

"About the panty inspection, yeah, that's a thing here, they're too scared to come near me, but I put up with them."

"But they're using that as an excuse to look up your skirt."

"It's for the moral order of the students, heh, it's just another way they keep order here."

"It does explain why there's so many white panties in anime."

Nagi laughed. "I'm all right, really. I do appreciate your concern."

She stepped out of her shoes and followed him inside.

He showed her to the kitchen where he was doing his homework and making his dinner.

"You cook?" Nagi glanced at the food and saw the ingredients that were prepared for what he was making.

"Yes, I'm making Southern Fried Chicken and waffles."

"Amerian comfort food, I see. Homesick?"

"Just a little. Would you like to stay for dinner?" he offered.

"Is this a date?"

"I suppose it could be, I was half expecting you to take me somewhere to impress me," Nagi let a smile slip across her face.

"You're not the type to be impressed by a fancy restaurant," Dick said.

"If I stay, you'll cook me dinner?"

"Yes, if that's what you want."

"Why not? Never had a genuine American meal before."

Nagi sat at the kitchen table and glanced at his homework.

"You memorized the lesson, didn't you?"

"Yes, I have eidetic memory. I can remember everything I've ever learned. "

She smiled, "You're very impressive."

"Well, my talents don't make me popular around here. People become jealous."

"I respect your talent, that's just the way things are. They're a bunch of pathetic losers who are afraid of anyone who thinks or acts differently."

"My father told me something once, "You know, your friends respect how talented you are Dick. It wouldn't kill you to treat them the same way." It doesn't seem to happen much."

"Your father was a wise man."

"I know. I miss him, Nagi. I miss him a lot. Especially when I have my bad days. Bruce Wayne is a good man, but he's not my father."

"I understand, but your relationship with your father was better than mine. I could never understand my dad."

She sat down and pulled out her homework, she might as well get it over with. The reason she'd never get expelled from Shinyo Academy was that she was such an excellent student, not even her suspensions affected her grades.

Lots of the smart students tried to use their intelligence to ingratiate themselves with her. As if she cared about how smart you were. She was friends with Touka Miyashita, a student with less-than-stellar grades and they got along fine.

People thought they could earn her affection by doing and saying things they thought she would like, but she could tell when people didn't care about what she felt was important.

"Tell me, Grayson-san, do you believe in justice?"

"Which justice do you mean? The one under the law or my justice?"

"Either one."

"I believe that criminals should be punished under the law. I also have my own justice. People should get what they deserve. The law provides that most of the time but sometimes it doesn't."

"You're talking about Tony Zucco. If you could, would you kill him?"

"I'm world-famous, I'm not surprised you know about my parents' death."

"So would you kill him?" Nagi asked.

"Yes. That's justice. Even if it's not right under the law, it's the justice I believe in."

"If you caught him, would you turn him in?"

"No, I wouldn't want to, but I'd do it, but it's not what I want, not deep down. Turning him in is something Robin would do."

"I don't like the Hero of Tokyo that much," Nagi admitted.

"You don't like Robin, interesting. Tell me why."

"I see a man who is what Suema said he is, focused, serious, determined, and humble. He's also manipulative and selfish, in his own way, it's not something most people will notice about him. His humility pisses me off."

Dick kept his face neutral but she wasn't wrong. Perhaps it wasn't intentional, but maybe he was looking for pieces of Starfire in her, and she wasn't Starfire, she was very different from her.

"How so?" he asked.

"The most humble person is also the most arrogant."

"Who told you that?"

"My dad," she replied.

"Seiichi Kirima wasn't wrong."

The timer for the breaded chicken went off and Dick prepared the chicken by breading and frying it.

He prepared the waffles and served them to her.

"I hope you like it," Dick smiled.

Nagi took a bite and enjoyed it immensely. She eagerly devoured the chicken and waffles.

"No wonder you Americans are fat. Is the food always like this?"

"It depends on the cook."

Nagi glanced at him, "You're good. I had to learn how to cook when I was 10. My old man couldn't cook. My dad was always strange. Speaking of strange men, how 'bout my dad? He was an odd father–less of a guardian and more of a best friend. I can't quite forgive…his death."

"I lost my best friend when she had to go home and get married, it was political. Nothing I could do about it."

Dick ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm having a horrible day."

He cleaned the dishes and put them away. He led her to the living room and they sat on his couch.

"Normally…I wouldn't care about a stupid prank, I'd be able to laugh it off. It's just that today is the anniversary of my parents' death and that prank wasn't to cheer me up. It was cruel and spiteful. I'm not in the mood to be around people. Not today."

"Your three friends came by earlier, I ran into Roth-san, she said she was worried about you," Nagi said.

"She's the sister I never had, thank you for checking up on me." Dick managed a smile. "We understand each other don't we?"

"Yes, I suppose we do," Nagi glanced at him.

"I…I don't want to be alone tonight," Dick glanced at her.

"Is this a one-night stand as you Americans call it?"

"No, no, I…I do care about you, I do, could you console me?"

"Sure, but only because I like you," Nagi said.

"Really? You're not spending time with me for the free English lessons?"

Dick Grayson reached out and grasped the red tie around her neck, pulled her close, and kissed her on the mouth.

He hoped he hadn't been too forward.

He pulled away from her and ran his hand down her right cheek, stroking her face.

"Kirima-san, may I call you by your first name?"

"Just for tonight," Nagi said.

"Call me Dick, just for tonight."

He took her hand and led her into his bedroom. He went to the closet and pulled out the futon. He saw her glance at the expensive bedding.

He rolled it out and set down some blankets, Dick turned to her and leaned in close.

"Thanks, for everything, Nagi," Dick said, looping his fingers around the red tie she wore and pressing his mouth to hers as he pulled her red tie off in one smooth motion, carelessly tossing it away.

Nagi pulled him down as they collapsed in a needy, emotional heap onto his futon.