The girls quickly got used to living with the turtles. They had been there for two weeks since the attack on them. They had met Karai, and found out that she was Splinter's daughter. She had been turned into a snake mutant at one point and then mind controlled by her false father, Shredder. The guys had secretly removed the mind control from her, allowing her to be their spy in Shredder's company.
When she heard what had happened to the girls she said she would do her best to find out what happened to them, but so far she hadn't turned up any leads. The girls noticed that Karai and Leo had something special between them, which while it surprised Lianna, Mattie said it made sense. They were both very disciplined, but they had enough differences to make the relationship something unique.
Mattie teased Leo, after Karai had left the first time, about it. He had turned beet red, surprising since you wouldn't think a turtle could turn that shade, and mumbled something like it wasn't like that. But they could tell he really did feel something for Karai, he was just in denial. They also learnt the name of the boy and girl away on the trip, Casey and April. They couldn't wait to meet them, but they wouldn't be back until school started.
"What are we going to do about school? It starts in two weeks." Lianna asked one day. Splinter said, "I will help out with the necessary paper work to get you in if you wish, or we can wait in case we find your parents." Lianna smiled and said, "You go ahead and do it, they can fix it if we find them by then." The boys had been brushing the girls up on their self-defense moves and they had been sure to keep up with their fencing.
"Great school." Said Mattie. She didn't say much, even as she grew more comfortable around the turtles. This made Lianna sad, for she remembered how her cousin had been back before her parent's deaths. She had been so bubbly and outgoing, not like this sad, sullen girl that had replaced her. Would her cousin ever be happy again? She wondered sometimes.
XXX
The next two weeks flew by with preparation for school, Sensei had allowed the turtles and girls to return to their house to gather the supplies they would need for it. On the first day of school, Mikey awoke extra early so he could make a big breakfast before their first day of school. When the girls arrived they found a huge stack of chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and eggs, with chocolate milk to drink and toast if they wanted any.
The girls practically inhaled the food, Lianna praising Mikey for his cooking prowess as they did so. Mikey was practically beaming by the time the two girls rushed off to school, Lianna hugging the turtles and Splinter before following her cousin down the sewer to the nearest man hole. They hurried to meet the school bus, glad that they had timed how long it would take them over the past few days.
The arrived just as the bus did and climbed in, taking the first two seats available that were side by side. They could feel the stares of kids on the bus, but they also noticed others keeping to themselves, at least this wasn't a small town where they had to worry about being the only new ones. Once they got off the bus, they headed to get their student id before hurrying on to their first classes of the day.
They hadn't made it far from the student id booth however, when a group of tough looking guys surrounded them. "Hey look, fresh meat." Said one. "Back off!" said Mattie. "Ohh a feisty one." Said another, "Dibs on her." "We don't want to hurt you, just let us through." Lianna stated. The group of five guys burst out laughing while the one that seemed to be the leader said, "You, hurt us?! I don't think so sister." "I'm not your sister." Lianna spat back, "Last warning move out of our way…"
"Slapshot, are you bothering these two girls." Came the voice of another girl from behind the guys. As the group spun towards the new comer, another voice to their side said, "I believe the lady asked you to move." "Jones!" growled the one called Slapshot. "Oh look is that the vice principal coming our way?" The girl spoke again. The guys, minus the one called Jones, hightailed it out of there.
"Nice one O'Neil!" Jones said. "Naturally." The red head girl said. Then she turned to Lianna and Mattie and said, "Don't mind Slapshot. He and his gang are mostly all talk. Mine name is April and this is Casey, and you are?" Lianna and Mattie's jaws almost dropped, could these be the same ones that the turtles knew? Lianna found her voice and said, "I am Lianna and this is my cousin Mattie, thanks for the assistance…" "But we could have handled them." Mattie broke in, glaring.
"Mattie! Better to end it without violence, especially on our first day here." Lianna admonished. Turning to April and Casey, she said, "I believe we may have some mutual friends. Know anyone named Mikey, Donnie, Raph, or Leo?" April and Casey's eyes widened and then narrowed as Casey asked, "Who's side are you on?" Just then the warning bell rang.
Instead of answering Casey's question she asked, "Do you guys have first lunch?" At their hesitant nods, Lianna continued and said, "We'll tell you then, we can't be late on our first day!" She grabbed her cousin's arm and pulled her along, her cousin smirking at the thought of the other two teens expressions when they had left them, a bit of curiosity mixed with some annoyance and maybe a hint of trouble.
XXX
The four teens met over lunch, and during that time the cousins gave a brief recap on how they had met the turtles, what had happened to Lianna's parents, and finally how they were living with the turtles and Splinter until they could find Lianna's parents. After the end of it all, Casey said, "Wow, it's almost like what happened with your dad when you first met the turtles April, only no aunt to take them in."
"Seems to be a terrible habit the turtles have with girls who join their side." April said dryly, though the girls could tell she didn't mean anything by it. "So you have been staying with the guys, that must be fun. How are they behaving?" April continued. "It's like having protective brothers." Lianna said, "Though I do like getting to know them and how they all tick. Mikey is hilarious, Leo is driven, Raph is hot-headed, but gentle when he needs to be, and Donnie is so studious."
At the mention of Donnie, April's cheek got a light blush on them and Lianna wondered if she shared Donnie's feelings. Just down the bell rang, letting them know it was time for their next class, so Lianna asked, "Do you want to meet outside the school after class and go see the guys with us? I know they have been anxious for your return." April and Casey agreed and then all four headed off to their classrooms.
XXX
Lianna and Mattie were the first ones to enter the lair later that day. They saw the turtles and Karai sitting on the couch, flipping through the channels, and Master Splinter walking towards the dojo. "Hey guys, you'll never guess who we ran into today at school!" Lianna said. Without looking up Raph said, "Why would we care, we wouldn't know them?" "Now I know we have been gone awhile but not that long." April said, teasing filling her voice.
All the turtles, Karai and Splinter turned towards her voice and when they saw both her and Casey standing there, they ran over to greet them. Lianna and Mattie stood there watching the exchange, both of them grinning. Soon the story of how they met was shared and Casey said something like, "Glad we showed up when we did, wouldn't want these two to get hurt."
Mattie and Lianna shared a look and Mattie grinned wickedly and nodded at her cousin. Lianna smiled back and said, "Say Casey, care to show me some moves in the dojo? It would definitely help if we run into those guys when you aren't around." The turtles, for their part kept quiet, as did Sensei, all wanting to see Casey learn a lesson about judging a book by its cover.
April, who was paying more attention to the turtles then Casey at this point, could tell by how they are acting that something was up. "Sure, I guess I could show you some moves." "Oh bring your gear, the guys say you fight with hockey sticks and such when you're with them and I want to see how you do it." Casey, who was feeling very flattered at this point, didn't see he was falling neatly into her trap. He went to grab his gear, while Mattie went to the room she and her cousin shared to grab Lianna's sword.
She kept it hidden as she joined the others in the dojo, just as Casey and Lianna walked in. The turtles sat as if they were getting taught a lesson by Splinter, and April had joined them. Mattie shrugged her shoulders and sat by April, while Master Splinter remained standing. Lianna allowed Casey to show her a few moves and pretended to me studying them carefully.
All of a sudden she jabbed her elbow into his stomach, causing him to double over as his air rushed out. She rolled over his back and held her hand towards her cousin, who tossed her the sword. Lianna pulled out the sword from its guard, tossing it to her side as Casey stood straight, having recovered his breath. His eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the sword in her hand, but when she held up her finger and motioned him to bring it, his eyes narrowed and pushed down his mask.
Reaching into his golf bag, he grabbed out a bat and shouted, "Goongala!" as he swung at her. She skillfully blocked his blows, allowing him to swing several times, before she gracefully unarmed him. Before he could reach into his bag for another weapon, she had her blade at his throat. She waited until he reluctantly lowered his arm. Then she lowered her sword and said, "Thanks for the lesson Casey." Before joining the others on the mat.
"I believe what we have here, is a very well taught lesson of don't judge a book by its cover." Sensei said, "While both you and April came to their aid, Casey, these girls could have gotten out on their own. They were just trying to avoid violence on their first day at school." Casey lowered his head at the soft rebuke, before looking up with a grin at Lianna, "I want a rematch someday." Lianna knew that was Casey's way of apologizing and so she nodded with a laugh.
Everyone headed back out to the couch as Casey and April started telling about their time away that summer. Everyone was surprised when Casey said, "I'm thinking about going back there when I graduate in the spring." April got a teasing look in her eyes as she said, "Casey met someone." As Casey cheeks grew red, Mikey asked, "What's that got to do with him going back. Ow!" Raph had slapped him on the head and said, "Not that kind of meet, genius."
"You promised you wouldn't say anything!" Casey said, as April laughed and said, "Sorry, I couldn't resist Casey! Boy you should see your face, it's almost as red as Raph's mask!" Everyone laughed at that, for it was true, and after a moment Casey joined it. Then the turtles pumped him for information on the girl, while Mattie and Lianna retired to their room to give them some time to catch up on their own. Plus they had a lot of homework to do and the day had been tiring.