"You're not going to jump."
Leo started at the voice and almost fell over the edge. He balanced himself quickly, biting his lip as he turned around.
"I am," Leo stated boldly. A snort came from the shadows of the building.
"No you're not. I have been here for the past hour, watching, waiting. But, here we are." Leonardo reached for his swords and gripped the hilts tightly.
"Who are you?" Leo called to the shaded figure. It took a step closer, spreading its hands palms up, as if showing it meant no harm.
"I am just another lost soul in a city full of the lifeless."
The blue clad mutant crept forward, stepping off the concrete half-wall. "What are you doing up here?"
The shadow didn't reply. The silhouette just scuffed it feet against the roof and looked down. The ninja became frustrated at the lack of response, so he pressed on. "And why aren't you scared of me?"
It didn't answer.
"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Leo poked the person harshly as he came to stand next to them. He came to realize the person was a small, young boy. He had almond shaped, amber eyes that looked at the terrapin, golden sparks in the irises glowing, his baggy, white clothing rippling in the wind.
"Because that's who I am, Leonardo," the boy said.
This left the mutant speechless as he watched the small child walk over to the ventilation shaft and jump on top of it, sitting down.
Impossible. That shaft was as tall as the turtle and he was over five feet tall, and that kid couldn't have been more than four feet.
"I work hard, Leonardo. I have to, or I'll fail. Just like you," the child said, smiling sadly as he stared at the mutant.
Leo started, how did he know his name? And how did he know what he was thinking?
"I told you. That's just who I am."
The boy hopped down and grabbed the turtle's hand, tugging him toward the edge. "Here, I want to show you something," the boy urged.
Feeling cautious, Leonardo did as the mysterious child asked. As the mutant stared over the edge, he felt his eyes widen to huge proportions. He wasn't looking down at a dark alley only seven stories down, but busy sidewalks, bustling with people at least a thousand feet down. Leo clutched his plastron, doubled over and nearly pitched over the metal fence that barely kept him from falling. Leo backed away, his shell hit a wall after a few steps back and the mutant slid down, his other hand over his mouth.
"Where are we?" Leo finally spoke as the sudden wave of nausea passed.
The pale boy looked back from his position, standing on the narrow railing that kept Leo from falling over, peering at the city with sharp eyes. "We're on the top floor of the Empire State Building."
The blue clad terrapin felt the urge to be sick again and groaned. He still hated heights, no matter what Master Splinter thought. And they were damn high.
"Uh, kid, why are we here? And could you get down, you're scaring me," Leo glanced at the unresponsive boy with concern as his brotherly instincts overriding his fear.
"You had a fight."
That comment threw Leo. How did he know?
"That's just who I am, Leo," the noirette looked at his startled companion and gave a thoughtful look. "It was with... your father."
The child nodded as the turtle gaped. "Yes, and it was about you position within your clan."
Amber spheres studied Leonardo, staring into the ninja's sapphire eyes as if peering into his soul, stripping away all protective barriers and knocking down all of his carefully constructed walls.
"You do not wish to be the leader of your brothers."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Leo's eyebrows drew together as he pensively stared at his feet. After a few moments he gazed into gold flecked eyes wise beyond their years.
"Because that's all I am. A leader. But I want to be a brother, a son. Not a weapon," Leonardo spoke confidently.
"But your sensei didn't see your point."
Green shoulders sagged as their owner's eyes took a pained tone. "Yes."
Silence blanketed the pair as the enigmatic youth closed his eyes and opened them with a snap. He leapt down and grabbed the troubled turtle's shoulders and yanked him down roughly.
The ninja stared a the stern face an inch away from his face. Furious orbs glared at Leo, the amber and gold irises glowing with rage and...agony?
"You are loved! Your father and brothers would gladly lay down their lives for you! You are not a weapon, to them you are a reptilian mutant, a respectable ninja, a courageous leader, and most importantly," the boy's eyes softened considerably. "Family.
Leo's domed skull shook slowly as his mind denied the wise words. "No, no I'm not. I'm nothing but a sharp blade that's worthless when it is not in use."
The ninja flew back as the small human punched him, snarling. "You stupid turtle! Do you know what I'd give to be alive? To have a family that cared?"
"I would gladly see the world burn and turn to ash if it meant I could breathe!" The boy ranted as he turned around and gripped the metal railing till it bent.
Leonardo could only stare as the adolescent displayed a massive amount of power. The wind whipped around his hair as the steel rods were twisted into an indistinguishable shape.
Minutes passed as the wind died down, leaving two broken beings. Leo reached out and pulled the boy into a hug. He may be suicidal and confused, but he knew when someone needed comfort.
The moment was broken when the younger boy pulled away, owning a sad, lopsided smile.
"I should go. Your brothers will be here soon," the noirette took a step back and jumped on top of the rail.
"Wait! How will I find you?" Leo whispered the last part, his heart breaking at the thought of never seeing the young boy again.
The noirette's mood flipped suddenly, and he grinned at the confused kame. "Just whisper 'Kyuseishu', and I'll be there. I promise," he added as good measure, making the turtle grin at the childish words.
Leo looked on in shock as his new friend walked off the railing into midair and disappeared.
"Oh, Leo!" A disembodied, youthful voice rang out. "Just remember this: your family would rather die than see you commit suicide!" A juvenile snicker was carried across the wind. "I mean, your version of seppuku."
The blue bandanna-d ninja smile as he envisioned a small grin on the face of his younger confidant, as he peered out to the spot the child disappeared from. He wondered what 'Kyuseishu' meant. It sounded Japanese, but Leo wasn't sure.
A tackle hug broke out him out of his thoughts as an orange bandanna buried itself into his plastron, sobbing coming from the green figure.
"L-Leo! Please! Don't ever do that again!" Mikey cried as he held his eldest brother in death grip. Sapphire eyes stared at the doleful figure squeezing the life out of him. What did he do?
A thought struck him. He had run out of Lair angry and near tears, he just had a huge argument with his role model and father, he was just looking at the city from the highest floor on the tallest skyscraper in New York lost in thought. If Leo saw one of his brothers do that, he'd be a mess like Mikey. He banged his domed head against the metal floor in frustration at his own stupidity.
"Hey, hey. Mikey, I'm not going anywhere," Leo rubbed his youngest brother's shell as he closed his eyes, trying to calm him down.
"You bettah not be," a gruff, Brooklyn accented voice came from above him.
Green eyelids cracked open as Leo stared at his immediate and second youngest brothers. Raph was burning a hole through his skull, while Don just stared, not blinking.
Raph pulled Mikey off of him and grabbed his elder brother's hand and yanked him up roughly.
"How da fuckin' hell could ya do somethin' like that, Leo!" Raph growled and jerked Leo closer. "You're a real asswipe, ya know that? You preach and teach and when every damn little thing doesn't go your way, you just up and decide to thro' yourself off a fucking skyscraper."
Leo looked down at his feet, not having the courage to stare his hot headed brother in the eye. "I mean, I'd get it if it were me, but Mr. Fearless Leader? That throws me, and not off a building!" Raphael poked a jade finger at Leo's chest.
"Shut up."
Jade eyes that matched the owner's skin widened in disbelief and narrowed quickly in rage. "Why I otta!-"
Leonardo's eyes snapped up and stared Raph into silence. He cleared his throat and shifted his balance. "I wasn't going to commit suicide, Raphael. I was just staring the lights of the city and reflecting."
"On what?"
The oldest turtle glanced at his genius brother. "On my life."
With those words, he gathered them all into a hug and squeezed as tightly as he could before Raph broke away. When the vermilion banded mutant did, Leo stole the extra grappling hook in Donnie's belt and fired it, swinging down to a much shorter building, his brothers right behind him.
Besides the occasional sniffle from Michelangelo or growl from Raph, the four ran in silence as they sprinted for the manhole closest to their home. After minutes of tension, they reached the grate. Don pulled it over and waved for his siblings to go ahead. Raph gave a short glare at his only older brother before hopping down. Mikey gave Leo a short hug afore climbing down the ladder.
Donnie stared at his brother, who was contemplating asking question. "Go ahead, ask. I can see it written all over your face, Leo," Donatello added after seeing his leader's surprised expression.
"Uh," Leo hadn't expected this, so he as a bit lost for words for a moment. "What does 'Kyuseishu' mean?"
The intellect eyebrow ridges shot up. He thought something completely different would come out of his brother's mouth.
"Aniki, why?" Don prodded gently, a bit... freaked out by the definition of the word that his elder wanted to know, considering the circumstances.
"Uh," Leo wasn't prepared for this either. He thought Donnie would just tell him. "No reason."
Donatello nodded slowly as he lightly pushed Leo down the manhole. "In Japanese, it means 'Savior'. Now tell me how exactly did you get up there without your grapple?"
That shocked the blue banded terrapin a bit, but not as much as it should have. The boy had had been his savior. His rescue from dea-
"Well?"
Leo shook his head briskly, clearing his thoughts. "Let's just say I had a very strange encounter." Don seemed slightly satisfied with this answer as he climbed down after Leo.
As the two walked down the sewer tunnel, Leonardo's thoughts couldn't help but return to his meeting. The mystical boy had appeared out of nowhere, talked to him, made him see reason(kind of), and the disappeared. That sounded like a savior to him.
As Donnie's eyes drooped without their host body's shot of coffee and his olive head resting against his brother's shoulder, Leo put his arm around genius' torso in a half-hug as they plodded along. He pulled out his T-phone and checked the time. It glowed the numbers, two thirty-four, softly.
The eldest turtle saw Mikey annoying Raph a few yard ahead, the latter wrapping his bulging arms around Mikey's head in a headlock. Leonardo looked at his dozing brother and looked up at the ceiling.
He realized what the floating child had meant. His brothers were torn when they found him, just looking at the city. What would have happened if they saw people crowding around his broken corpse on the sidewalk, scientists already planning to dissect his body. His brothers' wouldn't be sad that they lost their blade, they'd be sad because they lost their brother.
Leo spotted that his siblings had stopped, waiting for the pair to catch up to them. As he and a half asleep Donnie rejoined their brothers, Leo looked at the ceiling at whispered three words.
"Thank you, Kyuseishu."
Somewhere, a little boy smiled.
Translation:
Aniki: Older Brother.
;
This story was inspired by another fic, where Leo saves a girl from committing suicide. Ever since I read it, this has been stuck in my mind, distracting me from school, work and life. This took me roughly three days write. If you see ANY mistakes please tell me in a review or PM! Also, if you see a way that this could be done better or differently(therefore making it better), please tell me! I always keep my docs incase I need to fix something and the re-post it!
And while this is technically in the 2k12 verse, I'm kinda bendy. This is just an angsty Leo fic. Doesn't matter what category.
And yes, I called their cells 'T-Phones', which is 2k12...so whatever.
I am going to be making a cover for this, but it'll be a hand drawn cover, nothing CGI-y. If anyone would like to the future drawing and make it digital, I'd be forever grateful. Because I can't do shit with CGI programs. CorelDraw and MangaStudio are REALLY confusing.
I know my summary sucks, if you have any ideas- please review or PM them!
Please Review/PM!