So, I already know that our friendly neighborhood turtles are a New York-thing. But one day, I had an idea as to what if the whole TMNT adventure happened in Japan instead, so this fic is born. You can take this as an AU or a re-imagining, if you like. Just opting for a more 'traditional' environment, you know?
For now, I'm intending this to be a series of one-shots which focus on particular instances in life for the cast. Might include battles with some famed and not-so-famed enemies too. Expect most one-shots to take place in Tokyo, though I've also dabbled with the idea of an alternate version/continuity where the cast lives in Osaka, but that'll come later.
Also with this change, I've changed the main characters' names to fit in with the new setting, so here are their new Japanese-versions:
Leonardo = Hamato Hokusai (濱戸 北斎) / Leo = Hoku
Raphael = Hamato Hiroshige (濱戸 広重) / Raph = Hiro
Donatello = Hamato Basho (濱戸 芭蕉) / Donnie = Basho (name stays the same)
Michelangelo = Hamato Monzaemon (濱戸 門左衛門) / Mikey = Mon
April O'Neil = Uzuki (卯月), last name – Onishi (大西)
Enjoy!
Tokyo: Mutant Ninjas' Takoyaki
It was a warm breezy night in downtown Shibuya. As it was every night in this colorfully lit advert-saturated district of Tokyo, the buildings and its thousands of residents sprang to life once the sun had gone down completely. Crowds walked out and about, looking either at their phones or what the electronic billboards above were showing and audibly announcing from their built-in speakers. Displays went from showing some cute company mascots to what the latest little handheld product was. Though that was quite common regardless, it allowed most of the citizens present to lighten up a bit. The younger ones lightened up a little more than others especially, considering this was a Saturday night.
But with all the upcoming day-off excitement, no one noticed the peculiarity on top of the glass-covered building which stood at the vertex of Shibuya's scramble crossing. Just underneath the Q-FRONT sign that stood atop the building with a soft white glow, four pairs of eyes were silently assessing the activity on the streets below. Each pair scanned intuitively in directions separate from one another until one stopped in the direction of one area downwardly ahead.
"Doesn't look like the upward stares are coming down," a youthfully mature voice came quietly from one of the pairs of eyes, dark blue irises staring down with anticipation. They looked to the pair of brown eyes right beside them, "You found an opening yet?"
The pair of brown eyes being asked stared down with heated concentration at a glowing screen, tapping at a bunch of digitally displayed buttons on what looked like a small handheld device. "The big screens stop showing the special ads and switch to the everyday ones every once in a while. We should be able to zip by with most of their heads down in the next fifteen minutes or so."
The blue-eyes narrowed and nodded in affirmation before turning back to look down at the scramble crossing. The amount of time that was proposed had ticked away steadily, but when it was finally time to move, a green-skinned arm rose beside the pair of eyes, appearing faintly within the shadows. The hand, which only had two fingers and a thumb, was balled up in a fist, the rest of the arm bent at the elbow. The arm remained raised with the other three pairs of eyes waiting in anticipation, and watched the people walking below.
"Counting down," the brown eyes whispered, "in three, two, one…" Just like that, the walls of extravagant ads that were playing on every building blinked and were replaced with images of simpler stuffs. Crowd after crowd of people steadily began dropping their heads down from looking at what was now playing again in an endless cycle. But for the four hiding in the shadows above, it was a moment to be alive.
"Now's our chance," the blue eyes whispered a little more loudly and commandingly, "let's move." In a flash, all four raced to the edge of the building's right rooftop corner away from the Q-FRONT sign and took a powerful leap. Without any civilians being the wiser, four shadows were flying over their heads in an arc between rooftops, descending from the glass building toward the next building's rooftop, even taking a moment to do a trick along the way. Landing directly onto the brownish pavilion that stood above the DHC-Channel advert screen, the four's features became distinguishably more noticeable under the aquatic lights of the Hisamitsu-Salon Pass sign that shone from behind. They were turtles, specifically turtles that stood on two legs like humans, had the bodily proportions of humans, and had color-coded bandanas wrapped around their eyes like masks, with eyeholes allowing their eyes to see through, of course.
One turtle wore a blue mask, its two tails fluttering in the night breeze. He had momentarily been kneeling on the rooftop surface after landing before standing up to broaden his view of the cityscapes once again. His deep blue eyes did not betray his focus.
Another turtle, one who was slightly shorter and stockier, stood a little further behind the blue-masked one, his green eyes angled into a gruff expression behind his red mask. His mouth was faintly curved downward into a frown. "Hey leader, when are we getting to the park?" he audibly called to the blue-masked turtle, his arms raised to indicate that he had asked a question, rather demandingly. "This is taking too long!"
"We need to make sure we get there by the best route possible," the blue-masked turtle answered, having not even turned to face the other. "We're ninjas, so we've got to stay quiet and unseen."
This earned him a huff from his red-masked compatriot. "In Tokyo? Well, in case you haven't looked around," he remarked sarcastically, "Shibuya isn't exactly Mutant City."
"Well, maybe not Shibuya, but if you want to be technical about nonhuman names, there is the nickname 'City of the Beasts' that's attributed to Shinjuku," a more scholarly-toned voice interrupted. The red and blue-masked turtles both turned to look at their fellow turtle wearing a purple mask pressing away at his touchscreen phone. He looked leaner than either of them but stood taller than both by a few more inches. "But that's mainly just manga stuff. Shibuya, on the other hand, is usually called 'the town for young people.'"
Listening to the purple-masked turtle's exposition made the red one glower even more, having already turned his shelled back with his arms crossed. "Oh sure, that fits," he muttered under his breath.
"How much further until the park, Basho?" the blue-masked turtle asked the purple one, taking care to stay updated as the field leader of his group.
"Not too far," the purple-masked turtle known as Basho replied, "We'll follow the Yamanote Line until we reach the Badminton Association building, then we'll cut across the exit street and past the stadium into the nearby trees while avoiding the lit areas." After doing a final calculation on his phone, the gadget gave a jingle to confirm his thoughts. "We'll be deep in Yoyogi Park's foliage cover before anyone sees us and we'll be right on time."
"Hey Hokusai, can't we go say hi to Hachiko-san first?" a youthful voice rang out. The three turtles looked back at the Hisamitsu-Salon Pass sign toward the origin of the voice. Lying down on his shell in a relaxed posture was the fourth turtle, having taken up a temporary spot below the lit sign. Out of all four, he was the shortest. A bright orange mask was wrapped around his pale blue eyes and secured by a bow-like knot, not having the long tails as the other three's masks. His face was boyishly round and his cheeks were faintly sprinkled with freckles. His form had been given a greenish tint from the light emitted by the sign's Salon Pass section, which was as static as the white katakana characters composing its name, 'Salon Pass.' The Hisamitsu section above, on the other hand, was composed of white English letters over a blue screen instead, with the 'H' being stylized.
"No time, Monzaemon," said Hokusai, the blue-masked turtle. "We're too far away from Shibuya Station and we'll be late if we do anyway. Besides, there's nowhere around there we can hide."
"Aw," the orange-masked turtle Monzaemon groaned. He rolled back onto his front and did a forward flip onto his feet. "But I wanted to tell him all about that new anime that came out a few weeks ago. Now he's going to miss out!" Monzaemon skittered over to his older brother and bowed a little bit, his hands together and eyes like they were watering. "Please?" he begged, his clasped hands shaking.
Hokusai looked down towards the little one's face, feeling a bit hesitant to tell him how it really is. Taking a breath and readying his hands to place them on Monzaemon's shoulders, he readied himself to speak, "Well, Mon, you see –"
"He's a statue," interrupted the red-masked turtle.
"Hiroshige!" Hokusai scolded before turning his eyes back to Monzaemon, whose eyes got really wide with the expressed shock of a child whose imagination had just gotten smashed to bits. "Um, Mon, you okay?"
"Hey," Mon immediately protested, "He's a good dog. Someone's got to tell him what's up. Why can't it be me?" Seeing him so adamant left Hokusai at a loss for words since the littlest turtle was quite emotional most of the time and the older one had no time for these shows.
"He's kind of with his owner now, so," Hokusai thought. Opening his mouth, he assured Mon, "Well, to tell you, Mon, Hiro does have a point in that Hachiko is a statue." Detecting Mon's eyes widening a little more, Hokusai was quick to clarify his statement with a joking smile, "But as a statue in public, he's got tons of people who talk to him, and…" he gently pushed Mon off himself until they were both standing a few inches apart, "…he's got a nice garden where he never gets bored in, plus he's asleep most of the time, so he won't get bored, not tonight, not anytime."
Monzaemon looked up at Hokusai like it was the weirdest thing he had ever heard, his lower lip tensed like he was about to recoil from a rather confusing thought. He still felt like he ought to go down there and pay dear Hachiko a visit, tell him about that anime, even sneak in a copy of another manga he had gotten into reading recently to show the dog statue. He just hoped Hiroshige wouldn't be around if that happened, since the tempered turtle was not above ever-expanding his far larger collection of manga that he kept stockpiled in his room back at the lair. But he also knew that when Hokusai said no, he was almost always serious, and the former trusted the latter's judgment and reasons for each course of action issued. "Well okay, if you say so, Hoku," Mon shrugged. Hoku took his hands off Mon and turned back to look at the next rooftop ahead of the group. It was time to keep moving.
Following the Yamanote Line was easy, since it looked so much more obvious than the other asphalt roads that interconnected across the ward. Jumping from the Nippon Badminton Association building, the turtles made a nonstop dash across the nearby exit street and into the surrounding trees until they were making their way past the Yoyogi National Stadium. Looking at the massive ovular arena which had the suspended roof in the shape of two conjoined teardrops, all four couldn't help but wonder what sorts of matches were being held tonight. Maybe they could go in some other time, maybe next week.
Going deeper into the wooded areas of Yoyogi Park, the four turtles took care to go only where the lights didn't reach them, staying either in the tree branches or in the bushes to avoid going into areas where people happened to be walking around in. The whole park itself was a sea of trees, being large in hectares and all. But it was already hard given that it was Saturday and plenty of youngsters were looking forward to a whole Sunday off tomorrow…and they knew that someone was also one of those people, so they didn't want to risk drawing her displeasure by making her wait longer than they promised her. Hiding among the branches of one leafy tree, Hiroshige, Basho, and Monzaemon were hunched down and waiting for Hokusai's signal. The tree they were on happened to be standing on the edge of one of the park's large ponds which was sprinkled by the sprayed droplets of a fountain that stood on a rectangular base elevated just above the water. Ahead of them was a small grassy island with another tree standing on it.
"She's waiting for us on the other side of the pond," Hoku whispered. "On my mark, we get to the next tree on the island and then down to where she is." The four waited, only their eyes visible within the darkness. A few seconds had passed, and with the last audible sounds of other footsteps coming from the right of the pond having faded away, the blue-masked leader signaled the all-clear. Clearing the tree they were on, the four turtles prepared another dash and with a powerful push off the branches feet first, they flew into the air with the intent of landing on the other side without a drop of water getting on them. They succeeded when they landed on the little grass island past the fountain. After speedily climbing up the island's tree, they then readied themselves to take another leap to the grass-covered shore of the pond. The girl in front of them stood on the edge of the water, her back turned to the turtles soaring closer to her at the moment.
"Mommy, look!"
The voice that suddenly cut through the air was what shot the turtles down from their aerial leap. In an instant, their graceful maneuver broke down into a flying crash as they simultaneously fell into the waters of the pond in a perfect vertical. Yanking themselves back to the surface, with Mon even spitting out a little stream of water he accidentally swallowed, they all looked wide-eyed at the direction of the voice's source. Standing across from them on the grassy shore was a small boy with an older woman who could only be his mother. Seeing the boy's surprised face coupled with his mother's subdued look of apprehension was what got the turtles tensed up. The water most certainly did not do much to calm their hearts.
"Big turtle people," the boy exclaimed, "Are you kappa?" The turtles, especially Hokusai, knew that they needed to act fast. The boy was already talking loudly and his mother about to take off in the direction of nearby crowds, so the leader had to get their cover back as fast as he could. Noticing the boy's mother taking a step back while tightening her grip on his hand, Hoku made the first move.
"No, no, not kappa," Hoku replied sheepishly with a forced smile, raising both his hands just above the water in a defensive position. "We're just…turtle…people…in costumes. Yeah! That's it!" He didn't notice Hiroshige sinking down until only his eyes were above the water, said eyes closed tightly in an exasperated cringe while Hiroshige himself was loudly blowing bubbles.
Mon decided to help Hoku out and got in on the action. "Uh, yep," he added with his own wary but lighthearted smile, "we're just costumed turtle people…coming to you live from Harajuku…doing a practice swim for our show."
"You guys really need to make it to rehearsal," Basho remarked backhandedly, his deadpanned face masking his tensed feelings at the very moment, "why don't we just go back to Harajuku?"
"Good idea," Hiroshige bubbled.
A female voice suddenly cut in. "They are, and they're with me."
Everyone present turned their heads to the side to find a teenage girl walking towards the group. For the turtles, it was the same girl they had their eyes on when they were leaping across the pond earlier. She wore a yellow shirt that had a stylized black icon on it, a light grey hoodie overtop that was unzipped and open, a longer black shirt underneath and partly hung below to give the impression of a skirt, blue denim jeans, and black sneakers. Her hair, which had a tint lighter than most Japanese though not that light, reached down to her collarbone and was tied up into two straight pigtails.
She continued, "They're kame (turtle) performers who're part of a new mythical creatures-themed troupe. I was just supervising tonight's tryout here at the park." She ended her statement a bit apologetically.
The boy's mother spoke up, "So they're cosplayers? And why're they doing swim practice in the park?"
"No, they're not cosplayers, just trying a new look based on Harajuku-fashionistas," the girl answered the woman's first question. Moving on to her second question, "And what's wrong with practicing in Yoyogi Park? Everyone does it, at least everyone in Shibuya, right?" She didn't get a response from either the woman or her little son, so she improvised some more, holding her hands up as some form of laidback guessing, "They're like those Sunday rockabillies, only reptile." She waited, her foot tapping on the grass, hoping that she didn't need to do any more explaining. Finally, the woman looked down at her son and beckoned him to come along with her, walking away until they were nowhere to be seen among the throngs of people enjoying their evening.
As soon as the two were gone, the girl immediately let out a blow of exhausted air before bending down to put her hands on her knees, apparently stressed out from telling her cover story. After taking a moment, she stood up straight again and turned back to the four turtles floating in the water, giving a wry smile while placing her hands on her hips. "Harajuku costumers, huh?" she cheekily inquired of them.
"Thanks, Uzuki," Mon happily spoke first, both his hands raised and clasped together above the water, "you really saved our shells."
"I helped first, you know," Hoku was quick to speak up.
"Yeah, we know," Hiroshige, or Hiro as he was also called, quipped, "and that was a close call." All Hokusai could do at that moment was give him a look of irritation, which the red-masked turtle didn't seem to be fazed by.
"You're welcome," Uzuki responded to Mon in kind, "and by the way, you're late."
"Sorry about that," Basho chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "I was so sure we would meet just before the dot, but we got held up by external variables…of the people kind." He felt sheepish about explaining him and his brother's situation like that, but it wasn't his fault he liked being himself around her. He was a little nervous, but he couldn't help but keep trying to be free-spirited. "I trust you got that order?"
"Still warm," Uzuki pulled out a box from behind her. She held it out gingerly in front of her, prompting the turtles to move closer to the shore and further out of the water for a closer look. It wasn't very windy, so the aroma coming from the box had no difficulty making its way to the terrapins' noses. With a whiff, they were soothed. Hoku let out an entranced sigh, his eyelids briefly becoming heavy. Hiro held a closed smile, licking his lips and clapped and rubbed his hands together in anticipation. Basho had a widened toothy grin on his face, baring the diastema on his upper jaw for everyone to see. Mon let his mouth drop open, panting with his tongue hanging out like he was dying to have what was in the box. Uzuki was just enjoying the view as she took in her four turtle friends' reaction to what she considered to be a plain treat.
"Is that what I think it is?" Hiro asked, pointing at the box.
"Uh-huh, that's exactly what it is," Uzuki answered proudly. "Brought to you all the way from…" she humorously paused, "…and no, it's not Harajuku: Murakami-san's homemade takoyaki!"
"Yeah!" the turtles quietly cheered, their arms raised high. Uzuki sat down on the grass in front of them as they made their way out of the pond to sit around her and opened the box, revealing palm-sized balls of baked dough containing chopped pieces of octopus, tempura, pickled ginger, and green onion, all of which were steamed. She extended the box out to each turtle, allowing them to reach into the box to grab a takoyaki ball. Each of them were already popping one in their mouths, though it did alternate between casually eating one to rapidly finishing one at a time to even grabbing a handful, especially by Mon. Hoku was quick to discourage that from his youngest brother.
"Man, so good," Hiro mumbled while chewing. He called to Uzuki, "We really should go back to Murakami-san's place again sometime."
Uzuki was lying on her side on the grass while enjoying a takoyaki ball. "That would be good," she replied relaxingly. "Maybe sometime tomorrow morning, I'll bring crepes to your place."
Hiro and also Basho stared upward dreamily. "Yeah," they both thought, "I'd really like that."
The night went on as people played out in the park and walked about leisurely on the streets, even though they had not noticed that one little group privately enjoying takoyaki together in the shadows under the trees. But even if they were a bit more visible, none of the five seemed to mind anyways.
The night was still young after all.
Here's a fun fact:
The turtles' new names are based off the names of artists from Japan's Edo Period. This was as close to Italian Renaissance artists as I could find in a Japanese counterpart. Here's who they are:
Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎) – An artist, Ukiyo-e painter, and printmaker of the Edo period, creator of the iconic woodblock print "The Great Wave off Kanagawa"
Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川 広重) – He was considered to be the last great master of the Ukiyo-e art, specialized in woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga painting
Matsuo Bashō (松尾 芭蕉) – The most famous poet of the Edo period, recognized as the greatest master of haiku
Chikamatsu Monzaemon (近松 門左衛門) – He was widely regarded as the greatest Japanese dramatist, specialized in Jōruri – the progenitor to bunraku and kabuki
What did you think of this first one-shot of my new idea? Constructive criticism, along with any questions about this 'verse, is welcome.
