It had been a few weeks since Tim found his sister. Ever since that first meet up in Aparo Park, the siblings had met quite often under Richard's arrangements of course since he hadn't yet told Bruce anything about her. However, on their fifth meet up Bruce had happened to pass by Robinson Square and saw the trio having a great time together.

He was a bit suspicious because even though it had become quite a normal thing for him to see Richard with a pretty lady every now and then, he couldn't comprehend what Tim was doing with them. And by the short time he had seen them, it seemed as if the girl was closer to Tim rather than Richard.

Making up his mind to figure things out himself, it didn't take him long to track her back to the girl's hostel where she was registered under the name Sayuri Drake. As she had the same surname as Tim's, Bruce assumed that she was probably a close family member.

He couldn't understand why both Richard and Tim had not bothered to tell him about it so he decided he would have to meet the mystery Drake girl himself. So one evening as he was coming back from work, instead of directly going to the Manor, he dropped by the girl's hostel near Aparo Park.

At the reception, he filed an application to meet Sayuri Drake according to the formal procedure and was led to the meeting room shortly afterward. A while later, Sayuri walked in through the door as well, taking a seat across from him.

"Good day, Miss Drake."

She shook her head in a low nod, "same to you, Mister Wayne. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"I have a few questions I need to ask of you," he vaguely replied.

She considered a little before nodding back, "so has Grayson told you anything yet or not?"

"I'm afraid I know absolutely nothing," he spoke, "and that is the reason why I had to come and ask you myself."

She controlled a sudden urge to burst out laughing; she hadn't known Richard would keep it all from Bruce Wayne for such a long time, "oh, my apologies. My name is Sayuri Drake, as you already know. And I am Timothy's half-sister."

He gave a slight nod for her response was exactly what he had initially expected, "and since how long have you been meeting him?"

"A couple of weeks I guess," she answered, "if I had known Grayson would refrain from telling you about me for so long, I would have contacted you myself. You should know that I don't intend to pose any threat to you or your family. And I'm not going to claim custody for Tim, at least not yet."

He was slightly impressed by her straightforward and professional manner, hinting that she was a direct sort of person; an aspect that was quite similar to Tim. 

"I understand. And when do you plan on claiming his custody?" He asked because the words at least not yet were enough to make her motives quite clear to him.

"When I have enough finances to support both myself and my brother. But he does like you guys a lot," her voice became slightly strained at the last sentence, "I think he would be fine with you."

Bruce hadn't failed to notice the slight change in tone and he assessed that she was probably not happy in letting her brother part from her. "Miss Drake, I assure you that even though I have your brother's custody, I will not impose anything on him and you may meet him freely."

"Thank you," she looked up, grey eyes shining in relief, "I'm grateful for the consideration, Mister Wayne."

"Since you are Tim's sister, it makes you just as important to us as he is," Bruce resumed in a much softer tone, "in fact, I suggest you come to the Wayne Manor this weekend. You should know about Tim's new family and I'm certain they'll all be glad to meet you."

"I am most grateful."

She would have left at that statement but his question stopped her, "Miss Drake, would you mind if I asked you to tell me a little more about yourself?"

She dipped her head in a gentle nod, sitting back in the chair, "of course, I don't mind. My father met my mother on his trip to Japan. He wasn't a very frequent visitor to Mum because, you know, long-distance relationships never really work out. My mother died in an accident a few years later and I came to Gotham to stay with Dad. Tim was just a newborn back then and Dad was facing a rough time due to his strained relationship with Tim's mother. Ever since then, I stayed in Gotham till I was 15 and had to go back to Japan for higher studies. After my studies, I found a job. This year I figured out about Dad's imprisonment and how Tim was given to a foster family and that's when I came back. To find Tim."

Bruce nodded, "were your father and mother..."

Even though the sentence was incomplete, Sayuri understood, "they were not married."

That piece of information made him more curious about Sayuri. He knew her story had some loopholes, she wasn't telling him exactly everything but then he hadn't expected her to do so either since he was a complete stranger to her and they were meeting for the first time.

"Anything else you would like to ask?" she rose an eyebrow quizzically at him.

He merely shook his head, "no. Thank you for your time. I really hope to see you at the Manor this weekend."

"Definitely Sir," she replied with a polite smile, "thank you for inviting me."

He stood up to leave and she did the same. His mind was rushing with all sorts of questions about her and about the version of her past that she had shared with him. But he could easily see that no matter what her past had been like, she had faced everything in her life on her own and he admired her strength for that.

"It was great meeting you," she gently bowed her head in farewell before stepping out of the room, leaving him to his thoughts.

Bruce had a lot of unanswered questions. He wanted to know why Tim had kept her existence a secret from them and more so he wanted to know about Richard's involvement with the siblings as well. To him, the Drake girl seemed apparently harmless but over the years he had learned to look past facades.

And what he saw hiding beneath the polite smile and welcoming features were the steel grey eyes of a warrior. Although she had projected a pleasant first impression, he couldn't mistake the fire raging in those irises for anything other than determination.

Sayuri Drake was the sort of person who shouldn't be messed with. And Bruce had clearly deduced that about her personality from just that first meeting.

***