Stranger Whistles

by TJ HECTOR

-Warnings:

Raphael. And, curse words.

-Disclaimer:

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!) and the lyrics I quote.

Chapter Two: Rooftop Salad And Miss M

[Michelangelo]

Funny thing about me and my bros. We weren't blood-related—not quite true, only Donnie and Raph were biologically related. They were twins. Really. Uh, I forgot the word, but they were not the kind of twins that one was exactly identical to the other. Still, it was hard to believe since they were nothing alike—Don was, intellectually, a genius while Raph flunked almost every subject (he did great on art, sports and music though, like me); Donnie was patient and easy-going while Raph was all grouchy and moody. Donnie was the tallest and leanest among us, while Raph was barely two inches taller than me, the shortest one (I hated it sometimes that I still looked like a child); but Raph was the brawniest. The only thing they shared was their almost obsessing passion, Donnie in engineering and Raph in whatever-that-is, and the blazing red crimped hair—though Donnie's was of a darker shade. Despite Don and Raph, we all came from different backgrounds. Master Yoshi, martial artist and owner of the Hamato dojo, took us in and had raised us as brothers since infancy.

O-O-O

"Good mornin'." I said drowsily, stepping into the kitchen. I had expected that nobody would be there, instead I saw Leo, looking like he was ready to leave.

"Hey, Mike." Leo glanced at me. He was dressed in his hakama already, with his backpack and kendo gears on his shoulders. "Morning practice in gymnasium. Seven o'clock. I'll see you there."

"I thought we don't have to practice on Tuesday?" I protested.

"Yes, we do. You didn't pay any attention when I was announcing this at the end of our last training session, right?"

Leo always gave his little encouraging words (which, in my head, were equal to boring blah-blah-blah) to us after each practice. He really enjoyed this kind of stuff, playing sensei. No offense. He was really an awesome swordsman and leader and big brother and all, but…it was so hard to focus on his painfully endless speech.

"I guess your right. Sorry." I smiled sheepishly.

Leo sighed. "You need to pay more attention to things, Mikey."

"Hey, I do!"

"No…I mean, seriously. You have to be more wary of things happening around you, because…sometimes…you lose track of the succession of things and…things fall apart." Leo said slowly and thoughtfully, more likely to himself than me. He was a lot like dad when he said stuff like this; I didn't know whether he did it on purpose or not.

"Yeah." I stared at him as he sighed once more and brushed his black hair out of his sight.

"Your sandwich's on the table." He motioned the table, and left the kitchen. "See you later, Mikey."

"Bye, Leo." I said. Why does he have to leave so early? All right, he's going jogging—even as we had to go through the whole suburi and stuff…He's one hell of a trainiac.

I went out of the kitchen. Since Leo, so rarely, had made breakfast, there's nothing left for me to do. Should've gotten up later. I yawned.

It was boring to be up so early with no one to talk to and nothing to do. I went back into the bedroom I shared with Donnie. He was still asleep—a heap under the purple blanket with regular rise and fall—it seemed like he finished his work sometime during the early morning.

"Yo DONNIE!" I yelled at his ear, plunging onto him. "WAKIE WAKIE BRO!"

Donnie was startled, sitting up instantly in the bed. I laughed as I rolled down to his side.

"I finished it professor!" He cried, his eyes still closed, "I swear! I just forgot to bring it. No. I wasn't mocking you, but there's really a mistake in your equation…" He blinked several times in confusion, rubbing his eyes. A hint of realization came into his sleepy gaze. "Mikey?"

"Nightmare huh?" I smiled.

"That's uncalled for!" He frowned, moaning. "You scared me Mikey. What time is it?"

"Six thirty."

"God. Give me a break. I only lay down, like, ten minutes ago." Donnie fell back heavily to the pillow.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Go annoy someone else."

"Leo is already at school."

"Go to Raph."

"He's not home."

Donnie sighed. "Alright, I forgot."

"Go back to sleep." I said apologetically. I was really sorry. Honestly.

"Good night Mikey." He mumbled.

So I went out of the room. Not fun.

When I closed the bedroom door behind me and entered the living room, a shadow crept in from the front door.

"Raph?" I uttered in surprise.

He raised a finger. "Shhh."

"It's okay." I said. "Leo's not here."

"I know. Saw him leave." He said.

"What? You're watching us? From where?" I said, staring at him.

"I wasn't monitorin' you or somethin' okay? I just didn't want to run into him."

He said. I noticed there were some darker shades on his black t-shirt.

"You're hurt?" I gasped.

"No. Get out of my way Mikey."

"Is that…blood on your shirt?"

"It's none of your business Mikey." He said while went past me into the bathroom.

I hear the sound of water; he was probably washing his face or something.

"Are you going to school, Raph?" I lifted my voice so he could hear me.

"Jeez, Mikey. Are you a mother or what? Leonardo Junior? Yoshi III?" He flung the door open, staring at me with impatient gaze.

He had taken off the bloodstained shirt. I saw there were bruises on his shoulders and over his chest, and some grazes, too.

"You have been fighting?" I gaped.

He pushed me aside and went into his bedroom. I followed him.

"Wasn't tryin' to poke around." I said slowly, "I just…." I sat down on Leo's bed, which was covered with blue mattress and neatly folded blue bed sheet.

Raph did not say anything. He grabbed a clean t-shirt from the closet and put it on.

"It's not my blood." He finally said.

"You joined a gang?" I asked dubiously.

To my surprise, he laughed.

"What?"

He just laughed harder, falling into his own bed.

"No, Mikey." He managed to say through his raspy laughter. "I'm not into gang or stuff like that. I can assure you."

I smiled. "I know. Just kiddin'. You can be their boss if you wanna."

"You must know," he said in a rare, serious tone, gazing into my eyes. "They are good fer nothin' Mikey."

He was serious. My smile faded.

"They are no tough guys. Just a bunch of cowards." He said. "You know?"

"Yeah…"

"Remember that Jake Prince from your class, sixth grade?"

I nodded. He was a big kid, who once cornered me in an alleyway after school. Raph saved me that time.

"He wouldn't dare if he was alone. He wasn't intimidating at all. Not without his friends." Raph said coldly. "And now, he's in the Purple Dragon."

"How d' you know?" I frowned.

"Casey told me. Prince's in the hockey team too." He shrugged.

I nodded, shooting a glance at the clock on the wall.

"Oh, I gotta go." I jumped. "Leo'll kill me if I'm late."

"I'll walk with you ta school." Raph said, standing up.

When he was half way to the door, I called. "Raph?"

"Hmm?" He turned.

"I'm really just…worried." I said in a small voice. "And dad, Leo and Don, too."

"Yeah." He said flatly, suddenly became leery.

"Why? I mean, you're not an outcast or somethin' in our home."

He shrugged, pausing for a moment. "Yeah, maybe yer right, little brother." He said lowly, and he went out of the room. I caught up with him.

On our way to school, I thought about the night Raph ran away from home. It was three days ago.

He had been arguing with Leo, as usual. But this time, Donnie had joined the fight—which was rare—and taken Leo's side. I guessed that's why Raph was even more furious. What was worse, Leo had made me choose side, too. I hadn't obeyed him. I knew deep down inside that Leo was right, that Raph should focus more on his grades and stop skipping class, and he should come home earlier instead of wandering off in the night. Leo was only worried about Raph. But his method was wrong. Raph was never that kind of horse you could just put a leash onto.

So they had fought. They had pushed each other. They had crashed into furniture. Luckily dad hadn't been there to witness the scene; he'd be infuriated. But he would have broken them apart before they really hurt each other—they had ended up with Leo's bleeding nose and knuckles and Raph's front tooth knocked loose. Donnie had been so upset that he locked himself in the kitchen. I could've joined Don, but instead I'd just frozen up, standing in the corner of the living room and watching them.

Leo had said something horrible, saying that Raph ashamed the entire family by breaking all the rules and we weren't able to walk around in school with dignity 'cause everyone knew Raphael, the infamous outlaw, was one of the Hamatos. Raph shouted back, saying that Leo was an egocentric son of a bitch.

Their faces were so unlike their normal self whenever they fought.

I wondered what was wrong and what was gone to make them so.

O-O-O

It was lunchtime. Raph met me outside of my classroom. He looked like he had been waiting there for some time. I could tell he hadn't been to any class judging by his vacant gaze and the grass on his jeans—he must have been to the park, sitting on the grass and smoking. On our way to the cafeteria, we didn't talk at all. It was like this with Raph. Sometimes he just wouldn't say anything; it all depended on his mood. So I kept the silence. I was happy to see him, though, considering he had not been home for days. I guess he missed us. Once we were there, Raph said, "Go on and get yer lunch. I don't wanna see Fearless in there."

Raph said he wasn't hungry, so we went straight to the rooftop afterwards—roof's Raph's favorite place. Sitting on the edge of the building, I ate my salad quietly while Raph sat beside me, observing idly the streets and pedestrians down there.

When I finished the lunch, I lay down on my back and stared at the sky.

"I think it's goin' to rain soon."

Raph shrugged. I heard the sound of the lighter clicking.

"You shouldn't smoke, Raph. Your breath will be shallow and you won't last long in a fight."

"Wow, now you sound just like Leo." Raph sneered.

"Ha." I smiled. "But I'm serious. Hey, you know what ringtone I set for Leo?"

"What song?"

"Fearless." I laughed, "I bet you don't even know who sang this."

"Who?"

"Taylor Swift."

Now he was laughing with me.

"…You take my hand and drag me headfirst, fearless..." I sang in a falsetto, mimicking girl's voice, "And I don't know why but with you I dance, in a storm in my best dress, fearless…"

"I bet Leo loves this." Raph was smacking his forehead, laughing breathless.

"I sang this every time he's practicing suburi and running kata alone in the dojo. And he doesn't notice or pay attention at all. He doesn't know I'm singing it to him."

"You idiot." Raph punched my head softly.

"Hey it's fun. I'm testing his ability to focus."

"Like he need it."

O-O-O

When Raph and I trod down the hallway to catch my next class, something happened.

We had been joking and laughing loudly before the door of an office flung open and a women's voice came out:

"Raphael Hamato? I hear you out there. Could you come in for a minute?"

Raph and I exchanged wary glances. The office belonged to Miss Morris, Raph's homeroom teacher I mentioned before.

"Shouldn't 've gotten in here." Raph's face sank.

"It'll be alright. She's cool." I tried to smile.

"Hope so." Raph grumbled, stepping into the office.

I remained outside. Raph didn't close the door behind him, so I could hear faintly the conversation exchanging inside the room.

"How are you lately, Raphael?"

"…Fine." I could easily imagine Raph's pouting expression, the one he wore every time he knew there was a lecture coming.

"Don't worry. I wasn't going to ask about your absence on my class."

"That'll be a big help." Raph mumbled.

"I just want to know…is everything going alright between you and your brothers?"

"Yeah. I guesso. If you wanna know this kinda stuff you coulda just ask Mikey."

"I think it will be more accurate if I just ask you."

"…Sure. Why not."

"I heard from Mr. Brennan that you quit the football team?"

A pause. "Yeah."

There was a brief silence. And Miss Morris said rather hesitantly, "…I'm really glad you trusted me enough to tell me, Raphael. But maybe, just maybe you should…"

"I'm not goin' to the police." Raph snapped coldly.

What does he mean? Police?

"For the poor kid…"

"They ain't goin' ta help Tim, or anyone. They'll fucking kill him if this thing went to the police." Raph's voice remained low but I could hear the raging edge in it.

"—And for you…they won't stop causing you trouble. But we can…I can help you…"

"No. And ya ain't tellin' nobody nuthin', is that clear?" Raph said nervously and harshly, and suddenly his voice softened as he noticed his temper was going off again. "Shit. Hey. 'M sorry, really, ma'am. Sorry. But…I don't care if they beat the crud outta me…and they won't be able ta do that I can assure you. It's just…the kid, Tim. They'd kill him if they know I let somebody know this, this thing…an' I can't stop 'em. They got guns. They'll fucking shoot him and me and nobody will be able to catch 'em. Nobody will care."

They'll kill him? What's he talking about?

"I understand, and I do care." Miss Morris sounded a little frightened, but her voice was soft. "I wish I can help you, Raphael. Maybe they have guns, but they are still-"

"I don't know." Raph interrupted, sounded undecided.

"And I hope you come to school more often. I mean, attend the classes."

"Yeah…"

"If there's anything, just talk to me, okay?"

"…Sure, ma'am."

"Take care."

"Thank you, Miss M.." Raph mumbled. I heard footsteps coming towards the door. I stepped back so as to look less suspicious.

When Raph came out of the office his expression looked grave and unsettling. His face was red, his brows pulling tight together.

I did not say anything. It's better not to disturb him right now.

"You'll be fine making it to classroom, right?" He turned to ask me.

"Of course. Hey, I've been studying martial arts practically since I was born."

"Yeah you big goofball master of ninjutsu." He loosened his features and smiled, ruffling my hair. "I'm gonna take a nap on the roof. I'll meet ya after school."

"Later." I sighed, watching him making his way toward the other side of the hallway.

But he didn't show up after school.

-End of chapter two.

-A/N: Maybe the ringtone joke didn't get you. One night I was at this stand buying a drink and they were playing that song. And it just kept saying fearless and suddenly I thought of Leonardo and I was like...frowning and smiling? Okay. That's just me.