Chapter 6: Different

Leo and I were just having a late lunch. We both hoped Mikey and Raph would come home at some point but they haven't showed up yet. Eventually Leo and I decided we were tired of our growling stomachs so Leo made us a bunch of sandwiches, leaving a couple on the counter for when Mike and Raph would come home.

Every time I look at their lunch I feel nervousness churning through my stomach. My own sandwiches don't even taste half as good as they normally do and I know it has nothing to do with Leo making them. Something is wrong, i just know it. And Leo feels it too. He has hardly said anything for two hours my now and I know he expected Raph and Mike to have been home by then.

On the other hand, Leo always worries. He worries over his job, he worries over us, he worries about school. Well, he worries about Raph in school. Mike and I are doing just fine. No, Leo worrying is nothing out of the ordinary. But this time I'm worried too, and not to sound conceited or anything, but usually I'm the voice of reason around here, telling the others to calm down and think about things rationally. I try to do the same now, but every time I tell myself Mikey and Raph should be just fine, that they've been out on their own plenty of times, even at night, something inside my head tells me they're not. I sigh and place my head next to my plate on the table. I really feel sick now.

When Leo's phone suddenly starts ringing, I jump up, startled, and slam my head against the lamp overhanging the table. I probably should be ashamed; Master Splinter has been training our reflexes for years after all, but I can't bring myself to care too much at the moment. I quickly lean over to where Leo holds his phone and take a look at the caller's id. It's Raph.

Leo's face grows concerned when he answers the call with shaky fingers. Sure Mikey and Raph stay out all the time, and often till late. But it's nothing like them to miss out on a meal without informing us first that they made arrangements to eat somewhere else. And if that isn't worrisome enough, Raph never calls. He thinks it's a waste of time and often just texts either me or Leo. After the text that he found Mikey, we hadn't heard from him. And now a phone call?

Leo's face grows paler by the second. His eyes narrow with each word Raph speaks to him and his forehead ripples when they do. He drums his fingers hastily on the hardwood table, a nervous habit he picked up when he was a child. The conversation is very short but when it's over, Leo stands up so quick his chair falls backwards on the tiled floor.

"We need to go," he tells me, his voice serious and steady. "Can you fetch the medical kit out of the storage room, I'm going to get the car out of the garage and I'll meet you downstairs."

With that, big bro is gone. Leo all but kicks down the front door, car keys already in hand and no jacket on. I quickly make my way over to the hallway closet, fetch the medical kit and grab both of our jackets. My hands are shaking and it takes me at least three minutes to turn the key and lock the front door. I take the stairs instead of the elevator, not because it should be faster, but because I can't make myself stand still right now.

Leo is already waiting for me downstairs. When he sees me he quickly opens the car's door, allowing me to slip into the passenger's seat. I hand him his jacket which he indifferently throws in the back. I sigh but don't comment, fingering the handle of the medkit.

I know something has gone wrong. Raph called. Leo hardly even stopped to think, that's how fast he wanted to leave. I guess that either Raph or Mikey are injured. And not mildly either. The only way you can get either of them to openly ask for help, is to either knock them out or hurt them bad enough they can't get home on their own. Neither are scenarios I want to think about.

"Leo, what's going on? What did Raph say?"

I see how his shoulders tense slightly before he covers up the distress with a reassuring smile. His big-brother-smile which always helps me relax, no matter what. It's Leo's way of saying that he is going to fix everything, or at least that he is going to do his best. And that's enough for me. When Leo is determined, I know things will turn out alright. It used to do the same for Raph, but somewhere along the years he turned imune. For some reason,, Raph only truly counts on himself nowadays. Not like he doesn't trust us, he just doesn't want to rely on anyone else anymore. For Mikey, Leo's confidence has been a big help too. He has a hard time asking for help, and Leo showing him that he has everything under control, that he is able to protect his family and his friends, has made it easier for Mikey to accept our help, especially when he was younger.

"Raph told me he and Mikey got into some trouble. They're both pretty beat-up and he didn't think he could make it home. That was all he said but judging on how he sounded, I think it's pretty bad."

I nod slowly, my fingers moving faster over the smooth surface of the lid. I already knew it wasn't going to be good or Raph wouldn't have called. Heck, we're driving there. The car is officially of limits unless it's an emergency. We're tight on money and Leo doesn't want to spent it on fuel when we can perfectly walk or cycle everywhere. We get into public transportation when we really need to, but hardly ever do we take dad's car out.

"Where are they? They've been gone for almost four hours already," I half ask, half wonder out loud. Knowing my brother, Mike and Raph could be anywhere.

"They went to their old soccer field," Leo replies monotonously, the bitter undertone easy to hear. He despises the place because it's in a bad neighbourhood. Raph used to hang out with a gang, the Purple Dragons, and they got him into a lot of trouble. It all started out on that soccer field. Leo is still quickly angered whenever he is reminded of Raph's past. It's a harsh subject for both of them and they've never really talked about it. I get why Raph and Mikey want to be there though. There are memories attached to that place, and they aren't all bad. I feel the same every time I step into dad's office in the dojo.

Since Leo isn't the best conversationalist at the moment, I start thinking again. I wonder where Raph has left his motorcycle because leaving it near the field will be the worst idea. The motor will be stolen or vandalized over night for sure. And it isn't really Raph's motorcycle to begin with. It's mister Murakami's. He owns a small restaurant nearby or apartment and when he was younger he was a biker. A brain tumour caused him to become blind which sounds a lot worse than it actually is. See, mister Murakami once told us his disability was a gift, enabling him to see the world in a new perspective and make better decisions. His and other people's wellbeing became more important to him, rather than the kick and the thrill of riding his bike. Now he teaches Raph how to repair and maintain his old bike, and allows my brother to take it out for rides. Mister Murakami pays for the maintenance and the driver's licence because he knows we can't afford it ourselves. It's one of the few people Raphael has actual respect for and might look up to. It was partially mister Murakami who got him off the streets when he was younger.

With a rather sharp turn we finally arrive at the old soccer field. I'm pretty sure Leo just violated every traffic law that exists, which is immensely out of character for him, but it doesn't matter to us at the moment. We're here, safe as can be at the moment, and we didn't get into trouble whatsoever.

We both rush out of the car, jogging the last part through the industrial grounds, consisting mostly of old warehouses and a couple of flats along the sides. Right behind them lies a patch of dirt ground with two goals on both sides. Mikey has been offered a few times to join the school team but he always declined, stating that he doesn't like to play games. I know he just doesn't like to play anywhere but on this field. Only Raph knows why. And he never wanted to share it with us, stating that Mikey needed to come up with that reason on his own.

It takes us a while to find the two but eventually Leo sees them sitting underneath one of the very few trees growing on one of the sides of the field. Raph is sitting up against the trunk and Mikey's head is lying in his lap. Okay, this is bad.

When we come closer I can see blood streaming from Raph's face and a bruise blooming on his jaw and around his left eye. He probably won't be able to open that one for a day or so. Mikey's temple is bleeding like crazy and his eyes are closed. I hope he doesn't have a concussion or him not being awake might cause some serious problems. Other than the cut on his head his face doesn't look that bad. It's obvious Raph took more of a beating.

"What happened, Raph?" Leo demands our still conscious brother. His tone is soft and gentle though, one he only reserves for us when we are sick, hurt or afraid.

Raph roughly cards a hand through Mikey's hair, a motion he has been doing continiously since we got there. For a second I'm worried maybe it's Raph who is concussed and therefore confused. But when I squat to have a better look at his face, I can see only worry in Raph's eyes, and I understand. This isn't the first time Mikey was hit and left bleeding. And Raph had made a mistake that day.

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The friendship between Mikey and I continued growing. I liked the little guy, him being so upbeat, so carefree and always having something funny to say. He loosened me up some too. All of a sudden I didn't mind being around people all that much. I didn't even care what they would think of me when the saw me. According to father Mikey had a good influence on me, making me relax when I needed to. And he really did. Whenever I would feel the pressure of having to excel at school or when I was afraid I wasn't good enough, he would make me take a breather, reminding me that not everything is about school and grades. He even cheered me up when classmates started picking on me again.

The strange thing was that Raph's friendship with Casey also grew and that the effect Mikey's older brother had on mine, was the opposite of what Mikey did for me. Raph started to care about other people's opinion of him, namely Casey's. He wasn't home much anymore either, preferring to be outside and stretching his curfew as much as he could. That caused fights with father. He started talking back to dad and was getting into trouble at home and at school more often. But even though he wasn't around that much anymore, it doesn't mean Raph changed on the inside. He still treated me the same way. He cared about me. We are brothers after all, twins even. We are close no matter how much our personalities collide. However, that doesn't mean that Casey didn't try his hardest to drive a wedge between me and Raph.

"Mikey!"

Both me and the blond boy next to me look up. Casey comes running after us with a glare on his face. He holds up a torn wallet and starts waving it in front of his little brother's face as soon as he stops in front of us.

"Where is it?!" he screams, steam practically coming from his ears and nose, his face glowing a slight shade of red. "I know you took it! Wanted to get yourself that comic book didn't you?"

I glance from one brother to the other, frowning a bit, when Raph comes walking up to us. He probably had been walking home with Casey like I usually did with Mikey. Ever since Raph has been hanging out with Casey more, dad gave me permission to either walk home alone or go with Mikey. I look over to my brother and wait until he is by my side. I raise an eyebrow at him. Do you know what is going on here?

"Casey said Mikey has stolen all of his money. He's been saving it for days and now it is all gone. Mikey is the only one who could've taken it. Case told me about this comic Mike really wanted to have. He must have bought it. Have you seen him with it? Or with the money? It was like, twenty dollars."

A cold feeling spreads from the centre of my stomach down to my fingertips and toes. Mikey has stolen? Why would he do that? He doesn't seem like the stealing-type to me, especially because he is so young. He never talks about money either, or stuff he possesses. I don't think he has much to begin with. He always wears the same, one of the three sweaters I have seen on him, with either black or blue jeans. Both have holes in them, but I'm not sure it's because it's his style or because they're just really old. His shoes look like they've been old ones from Casey and I know he has a couple of T-shirts for underneath his sweaters. I haven't seen a jacket on him.

But he never complains. He even refuses to let me buy him an ice-cream or anything on a hot day. I just can't picture him stealing.

"Are you sure Raph?" I whisper back to my brother. I point to the scene in front of us. Casey is pushing his brother, taking fists of Mikey's sweater in his hands and thrashing him about. I can see how the little guy's eyes are darkening. He looks a little afraid for a moment but then the spark in his eyes is replaced by a strange, blank, greyish look. There is no emotion whatsoever. I wonder exactly how often Casey threatens his brother. "He doesn't look very guilty to me."

Raph turns around swiftly, his eyes locking into mine. For a moment, he looks at me the way he would look at one of my bullies. "He must have done it, no one else could have done it. You know how many soccer games we had to play to win that money? It took us ages to save it!"

I take a few steps back from my brother's aggressive shouting, my eyes darting towards the two other brothers dealing with their own fight. Things are getting out of hand. Casey has Mikey pressed against the wall and is still shouting in his face. I quickly look around for by-passers who might be able to help out like before, but the streets are empty. It's only two o'clock. We were lucky school was out early today. The street we're in now is never really crowded to begin with either. There are only offices here and they don't close up until, like, six.

I turn to the only one who might want to help me and luckily Raph also looks a bit shocked at how rough Casey handles his younger brother.

"Hey Case," my older brother starts. "Don't you think that's enough? You're hurting him."

The older boy gives his brother another violent push and I hear the sickening thud of Mikey's head hitting the wall hard. "That's the point here," he grumbles while holding up his brother a little higher, his toes barely touching the ground.

"Come on now, dude," Raph mutters, prying Casey's fingers off of the younger boy. "Let's go get something to drink, yeah?"

"Well ain't that gonna be hard with no money, huh?!" Casey all but shouts while still throwing Mikey back and forth against the wall. "Because this filthy shit has got it all!"

Only when I try and step in, he actually lets his brother go, spitting on his head when he hits the ground. Then Casey walks away, motioning for Raph to follow him.

"Bastard," I mutter while both me and Raph move towards Mikey, checking up on him. It was a foul move.

"What did you call me?" Suddenly, Casey was back, standing in front of me and a fist dangerously close to my face. But Raph is in front of me just as quickly and shoves Casey away. I can't help but smile slightly at the support. I can always count on Raph.

"You don't touch my brother, ya hear me?" he states seriously, keeping a safe distance between me and Casey. From behind Raph's shoulder I can see how the bully's face grows furious, then calms somewhat. He gives Raph a nod before taking a few steps forward. Without a warning he delivers a last kick towards Mikey who hasn't gotten up from where he is sitting on the ground. The boy shouts in surprise and pain but quickly grows quiet when he hears Casey growl.

"C'mon Raph," he mutters while shouldering past us.

I look pleadingly at Raph, begging him to stay with me and help me out. Why does he even want to be friends with this guy? He's a bully and Raph always protected me from them. Why does he want to hang out with them now too? But I can see my brother's eyes changing, going from worried, concerned, to indifferent.

"Please Raph, he's hurt," I use as a last resort. I understand that if Raph leaves with me and Mikey, his friendship with Casey will be over. This is more than a fight, this is a trial of where my older brother's loyalty lies. Deep down I wonder if Casey planned this, just to see what Raph would do. But Raph has always stood up for the ones who can't do it themselves. He's a protector at heart. And he cares about me. He won't choose Casey over me, right?

On the other hand, more has changed over the last few weeks since we met the two brothers. Before, Raph would never dream of fighting with father. He never came home past curfew. And even though he never was the best student in school, he never failed classes like he is now. A lot has changed and I'm afraid I'm losing my brother because of this stupid bully.

"Sorry Donnie, you're my brother. He isn't." He points at the slumped figure against the wall before turning around and meeting up with Casey down the street. I can see the smirk on the guy's face and want to scream. I don't however, because of the blood that slowly darkens the light blond curls of the stoic boy against the wall.

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That moment has never really been Raph's fault. He didn't know how badly Casey had hurt Mikey. Damn it, everyone makes mistakes in his life and Mikey has long since forgiven him for that moment; and every single one after it. But Raph has never forgiven himself. And now every time Mikey gets hurt, physically hurt, Raph feels guilty all over again. Like he should have prevented it somehow, or he is afraid he failed us again, somehow. It doesn't matter how often we tell him it wasn't his fault and that it's forgotten, Raph will always feel terrible about it. The first time of many that he let Mikey down, he says himself. And to be honest, it makes me feel the pain of my brother in tenfold when I see him like this. It isn't only Mikey who has been damage'd; we all carry the scars of what happened to us all those years ago.

"Can you help Raph?" Leo asks me.

I quickly nod and help him get a good grip on Mikey first. Mike is lucky he is still this small so Leo can carry him easily in his arms. I gently lay the young blond's head in the crook of my older brother's neck before turning around for my twin. He looks up at me and I give him a slight smile. He smirks back while taking my hand.

"Careful Don, I think I twisted my ankle too," my older brother hisses through gritted teeth once he is up. I mutter something incoherent about stupid older brothers not telling me where they're hurt until the moment it's too late while slinging Raph's arm over my shoulders.

"Now tell me tough guy, who were those guys that beat you up?"

I see how Raph's face grows grim and swallow a lump I hadn't noticed was forming.

"T'was Casey. Him and the Purple Dragons. They want their money back, Don. Soon. Very soon."

I immediately stop walking, staring into my brother's eyes. He isn't kidding. His face looks grave as he slowly nods to confirm what he just told me.

"Hell," I mutter.