Chivalry of a Dark Knight [Batman x Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry]

CH5: Rogue (prt 2)

He first felt softness beneath him followed by a dull ache at his temples which prompted him to scrunch and blink his eyes open. Stifling a groan, he push himself up and found himself lying atop of a bed spread next to a short table that had an ashtray on top. Looking around, he could see that he was in a Japanese style room complete with Shoji sliding doors and Tatami flooring. The doors to his left were slid open to reveal an engawa overlooking a small garden. It looked well maintained and was quite calming with the night air and the sounds of the shishi odoshi, a bamboo fountain.

For a moment he wondered where he was as he moved his hand to rub his head but when he felt his own hair, his eyes widened and his mind went on full alert at the realization that his cowl had been removed!

It wasn't just that; he looked down to see that the upper half was his suit was removed as well, including his gauntlets and belt. And there was something else that didn't escape his notice. He tentatively touched the spot on his abdomen, where he remembered being stabbed. Nothing, no stitches, not even a scar, it was like his wound was never there!

"As if I don't have enough unanswered questions." Bruce grumbled internally.

It felt to him that the more he spent time in this world, the more frustratingly perplexed he got. What happened to him earlier? And who unmasked him? He made a mental note for himself to install some kind of deterrent in the cowl to prevent this from happening again, perhaps something to induce an electric shock or disperse knock-out gas or maybe...

His thoughts were interrupted when the door to his right suddenly slid open, the one who opened it was the kidnapped boy from the park.

"Ah, Mister! Your awake!" Ayato cried excitedly.

Bruce was a taken aback a recoiled a bit when Ayato immediately scooted and knelt down in front of him.

"Thank you so much for helping me earlier! You were awesome! So you're a Blazer right? Does that mean you're a Mage-Knight? What's your rank? What do you call your device? Have you been in any Tournament?"

Bruce looked like a deer in headlights as the kid continued to bombard him with questions and ramblings. It was way too much spastic energy for him to keep up with. Just as he was about to open his mouth to say something, another voice came from the doorway.

"Knew I heard something."

He turned towards it to see a slender woman wearing a white shirt and dark pants with her medium length hair held up with a clip. He recognized her: She was that woman from earlier, she was wearing sunglasses, wielded two guns and she was the one who...shot him.

Kurono walked inside with her arms crossed and looked over him with a small smirk.

"Good to see that you're up and about."

She then fixed a stern glare towards her son.

"Though I can't say the same for you, young man! I know that you're concerned for our guest but you do realize it's way past your bedtime, don't you?"

Ayato rolled his eyes at his mother's chiding.

"Aw Mom, I just wanna..."

But what the boy was about to say died in his throat because Kurono's eyes and her overall aura turned scary to the point where it even made Bruce a little nervous. In a way she reminded him of Alfred when he was in one of his lecturing moods.

"Bed. NOW!" she commanded.

Ayato gulped. Both he and his father knew how intimidating Kurono could be and that once she puts her foot down, they already lost. With a defeated sigh, he rose and bade a polite goodnight to Bruce before making his way out. Kurono eyes followed Ayato with a warm smile till he left and then turned her attention back to Bruce before joining him at the table.