1 Month Later...

Leonardo trudged forward into his first period class and slumped over to his desk in the back of the room. He preferred to observe the class from a certain distance so he wouldn't be bothered by any nosy classmate. He melted into his chair and threw his head back, mouth opening wide to let out a yawn. Bags hung under his eyes from their nightly patrol, along with the heavy bruising on the left side of his face, nearly swollen. Raph seriously owed him big time. He barely gotten any sleep and he was already done with the day, too tired to lift a finger as his face collided with the desk, jostling the bruise slightly. He closed his eyes peacefully and planned to snooze all through the rest of class until he heard the shrill ring of the bell. Or maybe April would just wake him up.

He wasn't sure how long he was asleep for until someone gently tapped him on the shoulder. Leo shifted a bit but he didn't budge or open his eyes. Someone nudged his shoulder once again and Leo furrowed his brows and blinked open his eyes, glazed with exhaustion and mild annoyance. His dark eyes turned to meet April's teasing blue eyes as she tilted her head at him, one brow raised in question. "Hey, sleepy head." she greeted him in a teasing tone, smirking slightly. Leo shifted again and closed his eyes, "Hey..." his voice trailed off, ready to fall back into the beautiful chambers of darkness. A sharp pain emitted from the back of his head and opened his eyes again when they met April's narrowed blue eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked, tilting her head as she stared at him. "You look really tired." she observed. Leo rolled his eyes skyward, "Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious." he retorted sarcastically. April raised a brow and him a lopsided smirk, "What got into your pants this morning? No shut eye for your beauty sleep, your majesty?" she teased. Leo attempted to shift himself into a more comfortable position as he tiredly scowled at her, "For your information, I was doing other things that were actually worth my time and effort, O'Neil." he defended and April raised her hands in defeat, brows shooting up high as she smiled lightly. "I was just curious, Leonardo. But seriously. What happened?" she asked with a softer tone.

Leo shrugged, "I fell last night and I couldn't get any sleep." he droned, leaning back into his chair, crossing his arms tightly against his chest. April narrowed her eyes suspiciously and looked like she was trying to decipher whether or not he was lying. He liked April - she was really fun to hang around with. But he wouldn't call her a friend or anything just yet. They've only known each other for a month and she and Irma were bound to grow bored of him at some point. It was only a matter of time. Just like with all his past friends. Leo was just too silent and he never engaged into their conversations. He didn't mind; he preferred to be alone.

She hesitantly nodded and turned back to her seat, propping her hand onto her cheek as their teacher began the lesson and students shuffled in their seats to grab a pencil and paper while Leo opted to fall right back asleep and wait until class was over. He needed shut eye desperately and he wouldn't be able to survive the day if he didn't fall asleep at least through one class. He closed his eyes peacefully and let the sweet chambers of darkness swallow him whole.

The bell shrilled to life and Leo resisted the urge to throw his desk across the room as he peeled his heavy eyelids open. He lifted his hand to his face, rubbing the swollen bruise as he gathered his supplies and stuffed them into his backpack. The whole room shuffled as everyone chatted and they left the room. April patiently waited for him and he rose from his seat, leading the way as they headed to their next class.

"Are you sure you're okay?" April asked again as she eyed the bruise wearily as she sat across from him. She noticed with a keen eye that he had been unconsciously picking at the bruise every once in a while as he ate his food. The bruise looked incredibly painful and it was nearly swollen. "I could go get you some ice." she offered. Leo's dark eyes slid to her and he shook his head, "I'm fine, really," he insisted, taking a bite of his sub. "Raph just tends to get a little rough,"

"And does a 'little rough' translates into completely too far?" April challenged and she frowned when she spotted the scarlet haired boy from across the lunchroom, playing a game of arm wrestle with some guy named Casey Jones. Leo turned his head and followed her gaze, lifting a brow as Raph smeared his shirt with gravy and mashed potatoes. He rolled his eyes, turning back to April. "I appreciate the concern, but I promise. It's no big deal." he assured her.

April rolled her eyes at him, stealing a grape from his tray as she popped it into her mouth. "Fine. I'll let it go. For now." she relented, but her eyes held a promise for next time. Leo smirked but didn't say anything as he chomped into his sandwich, soft and sludgy in the middle. Without looking up from his food, "Hey, Irma," he greeted absent-mindedly and the girl who had just plopped a seat next to April raised a brow. Her expression was incredulous, "How the hell do you even do that? I just got here."

Leo flashed her a charming smile in return, portraying his pearly white teeth. A girl with no brains would've swooned under his sweet and charming grin. Irma and April rolled their eyes in unison, the red head chuckling in amusement.

April had been enjoying her past month during her stay in New York so far. Irma had provided her a full tour of the magnificent city. The infestation of rats crawling along the sidewalks, the overcrowded roads that were lined with cars that continuously honked even when clearly nobody was moving anytime soon, and let's not forget that it's the center of danger in every superhero movie. Yep. New York was just awesome. The people here are just so nice! Oh, and if you didn't catch that, sarcasm people! Look it up! But the city was beautiful, April would give it that. The school itself was okay, the teachers were decent enough and she was blessed with the younger teachers, and some of the students were easy to get along with.

"So how was Journalism Club?" Irma asked as she dove into her own lunch. April glanced at the container that held her food and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. It looked like some sludge mixed in with cucumbers. Gross, she thought to herself. "It was okay, we're debating on whether or not who we would interview for the school's sportsman column. Lot of the students wanna know what their knight in shining armor are like when they're not busy tearing the field apart." she told them and Leo quirked a brow. "Well, I can definitely save you the trouble for my big brother, who likes to pick his nose and stick it into Mikey's ear when he's not looking."

Irma rolled her eyes at the mention of the younger Hamato brother. Distracted as always, numb nuts, she thought to herself in fond exasperation. Sometimes she would never understand how Mikey could be so daft. He really needed to pay attention more often.

April curled her nose and gagged slightly, shaking her head as she forced the mental image away from her mind, safely locked in an imaginary vault. "Well there goes one jock." she muttered under her breath, "Anyone else I should be avoiding?" she asked and Leo shrugged one shoulder. "Casey's not that interesting as he thinks," he said, "I think the school'll be safe not knowing his deepest, darkest secrets. Whatever the hell those are."

April nodded as she checked off the list, "Gotcha," she flipped her notebook opened and her eyes searched for the marked page and she took out her pencil from her headband as she began to scribble down and scratching off Casey Jones and Raphael Hamato. April skipped to a couple of more pages and her eyes perked with interest as she noticed the notes from last meeting during their discussion. "Hey, Leo," she gained the dark skinned boy's attention, "Isn't your brother Donnie the captain of the Robotics Club or something?"

"Yeah, and I think he's on the Decatholon Team, too." he answered as he lifted a brow, frowning in curiosity. He furrowed his brows, "Why?" he questioned, and April simply shrugged. "I'm writing an article about interviewing some of the resident geniuses that go to this school. They gave me a list on who I could interview about the upcoming robotics competition and I was hoping to interview Donnie about his creation so I can give our readers an inside scoop on what goes inside that brain of his."

Irma nodded as she listened with mild interest and an idea sparked her mind, "You could always ask him after school, we could meet with him at his house." she suggested with a mischievous smirk and Leo's dark eyes swept across her, frowning in disapproval, "Really?" he deadpanned but Irma paid him no mind. April's slid between the two and she narrowed them in suspicion. "Am I missing something here?" she asked. Leo rolled his eyes skyward, "She's trying to trick you into coming over at my house just so she could see what the place is like now." he explained in a dry tone. Irma rolled her olive green eyes and looked at Leo with pleading eyes, "Oh come on!" she drawled, clasping her hands together, "I haven't seen the place in years and I'm dying to find out whether or not your parents bust the party. Again."

April blinked in surprise as her gaze slid to Leo, a questioning expression in her freckled features, "What party?" she asked. Leo shrugged carelessly as he dug into his peaches. How could a boy in that great of shape eat so much and not gain a pound or two? "She's talking about this party Raph throws every year every time our parents go out of town. It's the same as always; they come back early, party's canceled, and somehow all of us are in for it." he explained.

April hummed wordlessly as she tilted her head, "Are the parties any fun?" she asked.

"Sometimes, I guess. Other times I wouldn't know since I sneak out and brood at Murakami's."

April perked up in interest as a faint smile cracked her lips, "Wait. Murakami's?" she probed excitedly, "Isn't that the place with all the Japanese food and those really good pizza gyozas he cooks?"

Leo nodded, "Yeah, they're not bad. Mikey actually gave the chef the idea when we...helped him out last summer. Since we're his favorite, we get them for free."

"Lucky."

Irma rolled her eyes and hugged impatiently, throwing her hands up in exasperation, "Uh, hello! I was asking you a very important question." she complained. Leo tilted his head at her and smirked lightly, raising a brow. "Is the party happening or not?"

His smirked widened, "Why the sudden interest in the party, Irma?" he asked with a low tone, smooth and sly. Irma pouted, and she crossed her arms as she lifted her chin up defiantly. "I'm simply interested in my friend's activities. Believe it or not, I do have other friends outside the two of you."

"You're forgetting that I don't have any friends." Leo deflected.

"Then why are we sitting here with you? And why aren't you telling us to go away, hmm, Leonardo?"

April watched in amusement as Leo's smirk vanished and he narrowed his dark orbs at the dark gothic girl, his features suddenly fiercer and a promise of murder. Irma smirked at him, hands tucked under her chin, and her eyes gleamed with triumph.

"I hate you." he said stubbornly, digging back into his food and Irma didn't look bothered. "You hate everybody. Now where do we stand on that party?"