Author Notes: Am I the only one who is always a little disappointed that the name of the feared ninja clan has to be the "Foot" Clan? I mean, why "Foot"? I need to write Kevin Eastman or something about it. Because all I can think of are human feeties and I'm like, that's SO random. And I have a really hard time ignoring that when I'm writing about them. I wish they had a cooler and more Japanese-sounding name for a ninja clan.

So I actually did come up with a slightly different name for their clan: Ashikage. It means "shadow foot." It's more Japanese and it still has "foot" in it, so I don't feel like I'm totally messing everything up. But if anyone still totally hate this and just want me to call them the Foot Clan, leave a review to let me know. If you're silent I'll assume you don't care either way and I'll keep doing what I do. Also, usually people outside the clan will call them the Foot Clan still, unless they are more familiar with them. So it's not like the original name is going to totally vanish.

I want to address one of my reviewers who left a lovely and longer review for me, but I try not to make my chapters "top" heavy with author notes (which I have already failed at). So I'll respond at the end.

Chapter Ten:
Changes

It was strange having Leo home in the morning. He was taking the day off work to look after Mikey, who was staying home from school to recover a little more from his injuries. As a result, breakfast was far more simple than when Mikey would make it, but it was still edible which was the most important thing. Raphael was also somewhat glad to find that they didn't run into their neighbors on the way out to the van. Things were going to be awkward since he and Kira had their little shouting match yesterday. As for Donnie, Raphael wasn't sure he really recovered from April's visit the night before. He looked particularly nervous during breakfast and unusually awake, and yet there were bags under his eyes which told Raphael the only reason he was somewhat awake was probably because he couldn't sleep last night.

"Dude, I'm driving," said Raphael as they approached the party wagon. "You look like shit. I mean, the fact both our faces are black and blue was enough to begin with."

It seemed Donnie didn't have the energy to argue and handed over the keys with a less than amused expression. Raphael got into the driver's seat as Donnie climbed into the shotgun. It was quiet as he started the engine and they rolled out onto the road.

"I don't really get why you seem more bothered," said Raphael. "I mean, April kissed you, right? Isn't that … good?"

Donnie sighed, his tired reddish brown eyes staring out the windshield dully. "Raph, it's not that simple. I mean … when it happened she looked … shocked, and she was the one who initiated it. So … I dunno, maybe she didn't really mean to do it … Maybe she was aiming for my cheek and missed?"

Raph glanced over at him and arched an incredulous brow. "Brother, I swear, only you have mastered the art form of overthinking this shit."

Donnie decided to take a drink of coffee out of his Tardis mug as he pondered, nearly ignoring Raphael's remark. "… It was just so … awkward and sudden … Not exactly how I fantasized our first kiss would be … Or my first kiss, period."

Raphael chuckled. "Yeah, it's never exactly how you think it's gonna be. Don't worry, it gets better the more you do it."

It was quiet again as Donnie brooded over his Tardis thermos. Raphael made it sound like Don would be on his way to an increase in kissing frequency sometime soon, but, of course, Donnie thought it was entirely too soon to tell.

"… So, what are you going to do when you see her next?" asked Raphael.

Donnie half groaned and half whimpered painfully and stared with an agonized gaze out the window, terrified at the prospect. "I have no idea. I couldn't sleep last night because I couldn't stop thinking about it …"

Yeah, Raph figured as much. Donnie had a hard time going to sleep at a normal hour anyway, because of whatever nerdy thing he gets obsessed about and then tinkers on his computer for hours. It had encouraged his love/addiction for coffee.

"Heh, I noticed you didn't worry about sexual assault when it was April kissing you without asking for consent." Raphael smirked his smug shark-smile. "I told you the kissing would at least get shit started for you."

Donatello rolled his eyes and chose his retort well. "What are you going to do when you see Kira in shop class?"

Raphael's brow flattened slightly at the mention of it. He had been wondering a little how that was going to turn out. Because they argued on a regular basis in shop class since the day she transferred to their school. It was just … that kind of arguing was about cars, so neither of them really held a grudge … Not that he wasn't still intensely annoyed by her for it anyway.

He shrugged. "Nothing."

His younger brother arched that stupid superior brow at him that Raphael could just feel without actually taking his eyes off the road. "You know, you could actually apologize for once."

"What for?" snorted Raph, leaning his arm against the van door as he drove one-handed. "I still mean everything I said."

"Raph … you know, Mikey and Terrin are still friends, and Kira and Rontu are our neighbors. Mikey said Terrin was on board with this Ren thing … We're going to have to see each other whether we want to or not. It would … behoove you to be more diplomatic once in a while, especially since we're going to interact with them on a regular basis more often than not."

Raphael glanced over at Donnie after he finished and then looked back disinterestedly to the road. "So you want me to say something I don't mean just to play nice?"

Donatello sighed and narrowed his eyes with annoyed frustration. "Never mind, obviously, I forgot who I was talking to."

"Yeah, you did."

"Still … maybe you should say something you don't really mean," said Don. "For Mikey's sake."

Raphael stayed silent, glaring at the road, feeling that uncomfortable twisting in his gut like he had the day before.

Ren hated meditating.

It had to be why Jiji wanted him to do it all the time. Usually after he did something "wrong." Of course, Jiji said it was part of Seishin Teki Kyoyo, one of the eighteen disciplines of ninjutsu, "spiritual refinement." Ren didn't really get what focusing on his breathing accomplished, but it was boring as hell. Just like when Jiji would also make him hold a deep horse stance for hours without moving. Jiji had to know he couldn't really force him to take meditation seriously. But that didn't stop the old man from making him sit still in a room for hours on end. Ren had to at least make it look like he was doing it on the outside. The consequences for being caught sleeping or fidgeting were severe.

Only Jiji could really make Ren sometimes care about those consequences.

All the same, trying to sit with perfect posture combined with cracked ribs was extremely painful and difficult to do. So much so, he didn't notice Karai in the room until she blew softly into his ear, causing him to spasm with disgust. This involuntary flinching also caused untold, hot sheering pain to shoot through his sides where his ribs were cracked and nearly broken from the beating he took from Bradford and Shigeo the day before.

"MOTHER FUCKING CUNT!"

"Oho," Karai chuckled, coyly raising her hand to her mouth as she smirked like the sly fox she was, sitting with pose on her knees. "Did you really kiss Auntie Lotus with that mouth?"

Ren glared through his black and blue eyes at Karai, sitting a good measure away from her now on the dojo mats. Even though his ribs hurt enough to make him feel sick, he didn't dare show it while Karai was around. The only signs that denoted his discomfort was the fact he was even paler than usual, breathing more shallowly, and clammy.

In fact, he almost looked like he was ill to Karai as she studied him. She knew he had to be hurting a whole lot more than he was letting on. Because she knew Ren. They grew up together. They were practically siblings seeing as she was raised by her late aunt and current uncle—actually, Karai wasn't really sure it counted as being raised by Saki. More like she was raised by Lotus and Kuza. Ren was probably just as averse to showing weakness as she was, if not more so. The little tiger cub really didn't know how to look after himself …

"What the fuck are you doing here? Don't you have university classes to go to?" retorted Ren. He had been immensely relieved when she started college. Saki had even sent her to America before them, just because logistically it was easier. Ren had gotten used to not having her around. It had been ... peaceful. Sort of. As peaceful as his life could get. After all, it wasn't like he had an overwhelming love for peace. That would be too boring. But Karai being around to try to toy with him was not what he considered a good time.

"Indeed, I do, little boar, but they start later in the day. So I thought I would drop by and see how my favorite cousin is doing after the spanking he took … Heh, you're so twitchy."

Ren flattened his brow at her, red-pink eyes smoldering. "Keep doin' that shit and I'll give you something to twitch about."

"Ooh, scary. Did you practice that in the mirror? And did you know that's not particularly intimidating when your face looks like it's been through a meat processor." She cocked a brow at him.

Ren's glower deepened. He hated her so damn much. Karai smirked happily, leaning back to sit in a more relaxed position on the dojo mats. Hot bitterness at the fact she was practically glowing because she got to mess with him boiled inside him. He wasn't her fucking toy to play with whenever she wanted.

"You know, if you actually meditated you might have noticed I was there."

"Or it could be that I don't acknowledge your existence in general if I can help it." He didn't want to let her think she was winning by getting under his skin like she usually did.

"Why aren't you at school, by the way? … Ohhh, did you get suspended again? Or did you get expelled? Is that why you talked back to Saki yesterday? Huh … I thought he didn't care," mused Karai thoughtfully.

Ren snorted. "Yeah, me too. But I guess he decided he hasn't told me what to fucking do in a while and it was about time for it again."

Karai sighed and rolled her eyes exhaustively at him. "Oh, sweet little cousin. It would seem like that to your young, boarish mind, wouldn't it?"

Ren rolled his eyes in return and leaned against the dojo wall that was now closest to him, stretching out his legs. He wasn't going to bite at her bait this time.

"Come on, little boar, just try using your head for once."

Ren sighed almost angrily out of his nose and looked over at her with a flat stare. "… You know you're just talking to yourself now, right?"

"Really, Ren, if you want to be worth anything as a ninja, you shouldn't take everything at face-value," Karai continued anyway. "I'm doing you a favor here by pointing it out. Uncle Saki didn't wake up yesterday morning and decide to give a damn about whether or not you behave in school like a regular person."

Karai reclined back on her hands, stretching out her legs too. "He moved HQ to America. We're in a new country. It's more important to him now to maintain a lower profile than it was in Japan. We won't be as secure as we were before until we settle into New York, set down roots."

"Wow, and I still don't give a fuck."

Karai chuckled. "You should. It means Uncle Saki wasn't being forthcoming about his reasons for caring. This can mean two things: he doesn't think he really has to explain himself or he doesn't want to expose the fact it's important to him because he thinks you would then actively use this against him. If you want to find Saki's weaknesses, you should pay attention to this stuff."

And that was their life as part of the Ashikage clan. Dissecting each other's words and actions for signs of weakness. It was no wonder she and Ren didn't like showing it if they could help it. Even Tasuki had his own method of concealing his, even if he was terrible at it by comparison.

Karai felt a sort of obligation in helping Ren analyze his father for such signs of weakness. Even if she wasn't sure if she believed Ren's claims about Lotus' murder. But he was the only witness to his mother's death, so Karai gave him some benefit of the doubt. Also, it wouldn't have surprised her if Saki had Lotus killed for trying to leave the clan—especially if she was trying to leave with his two sons, his precious heirs. But Karai wanted more evidence and confirmation before she allowed herself to become emotionally invested in that possibility.

If they found evidence, then she would happily help Ren kill Saki. After all, Lotus had practically been her mother too. She was the woman who had raised her, even if she had not been the one who birthed her. Karai had admired her—loved her as much as Ren had. But, of course, finding evidence was the hard part. After all, if they weren't good at assassinating people without a trace, then they weren't very good ninja. If Saki truly had Lotus assassinated like Ren claimed, then he especially wouldn't have made it obvious. He was too competent for that. But if Saki had had Lotus killed for defecting from the clan, then the higher members of the clan would know about it even if no one talked about it.

That aside, it's not as if assassinating Lotus would have been an easy thing for just anyone to do. She had been not only their most skilled kunoichi, but one of their strongest warriors in the clan all together. A fact Ren was very adamant in reminding everyone of, both as a matter of pride and evidence to his claims. Needless to say, her potential killer would have to be one of a very small group of people with enough skill to even have a chance at it.

Karai only knew one thing was certain. Lotus had been murdered. But it could have easily been one of their few rival clans or other various enemies of their clan that had it done. Still, that had been five years ago, and they still had no idea who had done it. All they had were Ren's testimonies from the closet Lotus had hidden him in moments before she had been attacked. He didn't even get a good look at who killed her. It wasn't enough to go on, and Karai wouldn't be surprised if Ren wanted to blame Saki for everything just out of spite.

Ren let out a breath from his nose after Karai finished explaining. "Whatever. You know that isn't enough."

"Maybe, but the point is to start looking for things like that."

"Ren …" They both looked up to find Kuza standing in the dojo entrance, his hawk-like eyes narrowed in fine points at his grandson.

Oh shit, he was caught not pretending to meditate.

"Jiji, do you really expect me to meditate with Karai here?" said Ren quickly.

She smiled up at Kuza and said sweetly, "Morning, Jiji."

"… We'll talk about it later," said Kuza, waving his hand as if to hesitantly wave an irritating fly away. "I just got off the phone with your school social worker. He said the Hamatos and the Evans have agreed to my proposal. Michelangelo-kun will rest today and over the weekend and return to school on Monday, as will you, and that is when you begin your duties in being his and Evans-kun's bodyguard, so to speak, during school. Krest-san is rearranging your schedule so either you will have the same classes with him and Evans-kun or your classes will be nearby. You will accompany them during lunch every day. You two will start training once you have both fully recovered. I will start training the rest of them as soon as we work out a schedule."

Ren stared up at his grandfather. His brow slowly knitted and tensed together as the reality of what he was told sank in. There was still a sort of incredulous shock added to the mounting outrage.

They … agreed to it? Why the fuck would they do that? They hated him, which was fine by Ren. Hell, it was great even. Ren had been fairly certain the puny kid's brothers wouldn't go for it at all. Especially that angry one.

What was wrong with these people? No one in their right mind would have said yes to a proposal like that. What was with that retarded one? The choice had been left up to him almost completely. And yet he still …

"… Son of a bitch," Ren growled quietly as his seething glare lowered. His lips pressed together as he felt bile rise in his throat and his teeth clenched with a sickening rage.

That little shit, Michelangelo or whatever, had to be doing this just to fuck with him. Just to piss him the fuck off. Because he could. Because everyone had given him the power to mess with Ren. Or he was just trying to prove he wasn't scared of him or some shit, like the stupid blond one said. Hell, it was probably both.

Well, Ren was just going to have to show him how wrong he was. He wasn't going to be the tiny little faggot's bitch.

Karai paused, looking back and forth between Kuza and Ren. "Bodyguard? That's … different. Why is he being a bodyguard?"

"To make amends with another boy he brutalized at school and others. He will also be training the two boys under my supervision."

Ren grimaced. Great. Karai hearing about this was the very last thing he wanted. He would never hear the end of it. At least she didn't know that those guys actually managed to land some hits on him. It was bad enough having Saki criticize him for it.

She chortled. "Poor little boar has to train the helpless American brats? How adorable."

Kuza narrowed his hawk-like eyes. "I wouldn't have called them helpless. Well, not the Hamato brothers in any case. They had training of some kind. Otherwise they would not have given Ren as much trouble as they did."

No. Jiji did not just out him to Karai. Goddamn.

"What?" Karai perked like a cat that just spotted a new shiny toy. "They … gave him trouble? What does that mean?"

Ren grimaced and his shoulders curled further inward. There was no stopping it now, and if he protested too much, it would be even more pathetic. No. Ren did not beg Saki to understand that his opponents were not just any high school students. He would not beg Karai to understand that either.

"Did … did they actually land a hit on you?" Karai asked with incredulous glee. It seemed she took Ren's sullen lack of response and deepening glare as an affirmative and started laughing. "The normals landed hits on you … That's so sad, Ren."

Ren gave her a look of the deepest loathing, folding his arms cross his chest. If he wasn't so damn injured he would have done more than glare at her. But he wasn't going to let her know that.

"Enough, Karai," interjected Kuza briskly, losing patience with her games. "As I stated, I'm not sure they would have qualified as 'normal' individuals."

Karai pressed her lips together thoughtfully. She knew that was true. As much as she enjoyed mocking and teasing Ren, the kid was a ninja, Ashikage, like her. They were trained almost from the moment they could walk. And though she would never tell Ren this to his face, the brat was a gifted fighter. She supposed it might have to do with genes. After all, Lotus having been his mother and Saki being his father, the two arguably greatest warriors of their clan. It would have been shameful if Ren wasn't an excellent fighter, above the norm for his age even among their clan. Karai was pretty sure that was the only thing about Ren that Saki was really satisfied with.

And then there was Tasuki, who reminded her more of an obedient dog than a son. Tasuki was hardworking and extremely disciplined which really made up for whatever he lacked in natural talent. Most of the time. But there was one of those things in their family that everyone was acutely aware of but never said out loud. It was the elephant in the room, as the Americans often said.

Tasuki knew that Ren was the more gifted warrior and that eventually as Ren got older, his little brother would most likely pass him up in skill and prowess. Karai knew this was the reason that Tasuki would never be enough for Saki. She knew that on some level, Tasuki knew this as well.

And as for Karai herself? Well, she was just the bastard child of Saki's older brother. She was sure he always wished she had never existed. It didn't matter what a skilled kunoichi she was. All she saw was the cold resentment in his dark eyes that clearly said that some part of him blamed her for his brother's death. Or at least, that was all he could see when he looked at her.

In any case, while they were all skilled ninja even if not the most talented of their clan (yet), they should never have problems dealing with normal people outside of their clan in combat. So it did say something about the brothers who fought Ren if they could manage to hurt him at all. It meant they had some good training under their belts.

"… Their surname," said Karai, now that she really thought about it. "'Hamato' that's Japanese. Are they really Americans or are we talking about some other clan we don't know about?"

Kuza shook his head. "Their ethnicity appears to be American … Not that it matters. Bradford-san is also American, and he is a skilled martial artist … Evidence to that sits before us."

Ren scowled at the reference to his beaten face.

"I would need to see them fight myself before I could have a sense of where their training might come from, even then …" Kuza shrugged. "I may not find an answer … In any case, do not mention this to Saki. He's never been thrilled about my teaching outside the clan at all. If he found out I have arranged for his son of all people to facilitate it as well … Fortunately, yesterday he was only informed of the bare minimum details. We should keep it that way."

Karai smirked. "No worries, Jiji, you know we love keeping secrets from him."

Ren considered if telling his father about it would be better or worse … Definitely worse. Even if it got him out of teaching the stupid Hamato kid and the blond Evans, it wouldn't get him out of bodyguard duty. Though he resented the whole thing, he didn't really want to cause Jiji trouble within the clan. That aside, running to Saki for any kind of help wasn't something Ren was ever going to do. It was also only something a coward would do. Cowards were weak bitches, so that was a definite no for Ren.

"What about Tasuki, the perfect dog—I mean son," sneered Ren. Kuza did not smile at this. So Ren continued before he could get scolded. "He's Oto-san's little boy, so how are you going to get him to be quiet about it?"

"I imagine that he will do it for you," answered Kuza simply.

Ren stared and then let out a bitter laugh. "For me? Why would he lie to Oto-san for me?"

His grandfather's stare became particularly pointed. "Because, Ren, he does care about you, and he genuinely wants the best for you. If he believes that this might have a chance at improving the way you have been living your life then I am certain he will keep silent about it."

Ren wrinkled his face with disbelieving disgust and he slowly stood up, trying not to cause more pain to his ribs than necessary but he knew that was a losing battle.

"Bullshit, Jiji—all he cares about is being the best model son and ninja he can be to win Oto-san's favor. He only decided to help out for that reason, and that's the only damn reason. He likes sucking up to you too."

"Sit back down," commanded Kuza, sharply. His stern frustration hardening his brows and narrowing his gaze at his grandson. "I did not excuse you from the dojo. You will return to your meditation, and do an extra hour for using that tongue in the dojo. Karai, come with me and leave Ren to his practice."

"Hai, hai," said Karai, standing up and stretching.

Ren scowled sullenly as he slid back down to the floor to prepare to pretend to meditate again.

Donatello wandered back and forth from the door to his classroom to several paces down the hall, unable to decide if he was going to go to the cafeteria. Because that was where April was likely to be. Was she looking for him? Or was she avoiding the cafeteria because she didn't want to see him? Was she avoiding him now? He needed a plan for how to deal with this, but he had no idea since he didn't know what she was thinking right now …

"Hey Donnie."

He jumped and snapped around to find it wasn't April but Kira who addressed him. "O-oh, hey, Kira."

She smiled with light amusement at his reaction and raised a brow. "Kinda twitchy today?"

"Oh, well, yeah … you know, too much coffee not enough food …" Donnie tried to shrug and bob his head casually, but he was sure whatever jerky motion he did was not that. He decided to drink deeply from his Tardis mug.

"And maybe something about that cute little red-head in the hallway yesterday?" Kira smirked, blue eyes doing that mischievous glint again. At least her smirk wasn't as bad as Raphael's.

"Um, well, that's not—well, just one factor among a lot of possible factors that could maybe contribute to one's overall state of—"

Kira patted him on the shoulder. "Don, just spit it out. Come on, I don't bite. I could even give you some advice. You know, as a member of the woman gender … In any case, I'm full of untold wisdom aside from having a vagina and identifying as a girl. Romantic advice is not the only advice I'm good for."

Huh, the way she talked did sometimes remind Donnie of Irma, but that wasn't exactly comforting.

"Uh, well, I never said anything about needing romantic advice—"

"I mean, really, who else can you ask for advice on relationships?" She arched a compelling brow at him.

…Well, that aside, she did have a point. Raphael hadn't really been helpful. Leo didn't have any experience on relationships. And Mikey was Mikey. Donnie was clearly out of resources to deal with this on his own. It couldn't hurt to try a new source of knowledge.

He cleared his throat and then said, "Well … okay …"

"Walk with me," said Kira, nudging him down the hall with her. "So what's the deal with the cute red-head?"

Donnie swallowed and held his Tardis thermos with both of his hands. "Well … her name is April, and—and we're friends. Best friends. Been that way for years …"

"But you like her. Not just as a friend."

Donnie sighed and looked away, brow flattening. "Is it really that obvious?"

Kira chuckled. "Well, I figured since you looked so flustered … but something changed in the hallway last night?"

Donnie tried to bob his head and shrug again. "Uh, well, yeah … she—well, she kissed me sort of on the lips—It was quick though, and she looked like … like she was surprised that she did it—and I was surprised she did too. So it just sort of … well, I don't know what it means."

"Hmm," mused Kira for a moment. "She probably doesn't either. You guys have been friends for a long time, right? If she was surprised by her own actions that means she wasn't even aware of the feelings that caused her to do that until she just did it. She's probably freaking out right now too, because she probably doesn't know what to do with this new discovery."

Donnie blinked and swallowed. He supposed Kira's reasoning was sound. "But—but what if she just kissed me by accident and she's embarrassed?"

"Don, it really didn't look that way to me. She kind of had a good hold on your face there and you were like a statue. How does one kiss a statue by accident?" Kira arched that compelling brow at him again, imploring that his worries were ridiculous.

Well, when she put it that way … Donnie swallowed, lifting his Tardis mug to his lips, his eyes getting wider at the prospect of April having intentionally kissed him on the lips. "… What do I do?"

Kira put a hand on his shoulder again and made him stop and face her. She looked him straight in the eyes with a nearly stern sort of stare. "Now listen, Donnie, this is very important … It might be tempting to get excited about this new development in your relationship—but … you could ruin it all if you try to rush things along before she's ready for it. You have to let her decide what to do next. Let her make the first move. This is probably a scary thing. I mean, your relationship is changing from friendship to possibly romantic. There's a lot at risk with that. She's probably unsure if she wants to sacrifice what you already have in favor of those new feelings she's discovered. If you pressure her into it …"

Kira made a cringing sort of face as she tried to find the right words. "Iiit just won't go well. Never pressure a girl to change your relationship with her. It's just a dick thing to do anyway."

Donnie stared at her with wide eyes and nodded slowly. "Right …"

She chuckled then, all bright again. "Good, and don't worry. If you give her the space she needs, it will probably go well for you. And hey, even if it doesn't, be a good friend and get over it."

Donnie's eyes stayed wide at the end of Kira's statement. "R-right … just get over it."

"Well … you care about her, right?" said Kira, arching her brow at him. "Don't over emphasize romantic love over unconditional love, or you'll ruin something great that you already have. Trust me, nothing was more frustrating or disappointing to me when a guy would tell me he's okay with just being friends … but then not actually be okay with it later. Women are not the only ones who do the passive-aggressive thing. Apparently, it's a trait common to all genders. Point is … don't be a dick, Donnie, and accept her as she is."

Don swallowed and nodded, trying to digest what Kira told him. His brow starting to furrow in thought. He believed he could do that. After all, he had spent over three years letting things just … flow with April. Though, he had spent much of that time looking for any signs that she might possibly be attracted to him, perhaps in vain. Especially since, until last night, he hadn't found any that were definitive.

He certainly didn't want to cause April any distress, so Donnie understood what Kira was getting at about not putting pressure on her to change anything. He didn't want to … lose April. Her friendship was important to him, despite his feelings complicating things.

Kira smiled and patted him on the shoulders. "Good man. Now let's go to lunch."

They continued on down the hall and turned a few corners before they ran into Raphael. The awkward silence hadn't even had a chance to sink in when April emerged from the flowing current of students, making a straight line for Donnie when she saw his head above the sea of students. It was a blessing he was so tall.

"Donnie …" she began quickly but then paused when she saw the others. She glanced at all of them quickly. Her eyes lingered on Kira, who she recognized not just from last night but from the fight yesterday.

"Hi," said Kira, breaking the silence between them and smiling like the tension wasn't there at all. "I was in the hallway last night. I'm Kira, Donnie and Raphael's new neighbor across the hall."

"Oh … Hello, I'm April, Donnie's—Donnie's friend."

"Right," said Kira soothingly and nodding her head. "Well, Raphael and I are just going to go ahead to lunch now."

She grabbed Raph by the elbow and pulled him along.

April and Donnie watched them leave for a moment before glancing back to each other and then proceeded to have trouble looking at each other.

"I … want to talk about last night," began April, her hands crossing over to grasp her other arm. She glanced up cautiously at him. "So maybe we could go some place … more private?"

Donnie swallowed, feeling himself starting to sweat already and his stomach turn with the anxiety. He just had to do what Kira said and not be a dick. "Y-yeah, that's—that's a good idea … Um, wh-where should we …"

April lead the way, peering into classrooms until she found an empty one. Don followed her into it, feeling his heart rate increase even more after he shut the door. And it was just them again, standing in an empty classroom, having a hard time looking at each other. Donnie tried taking a slow breath. Kira said to let her make the first move in all this.

"Okay—okay," started April, who paced for a moment before turning back to him. Her brow wrinkled in thought and distress. "First … I'm really sorry for just … doing that out of the blue. Especially since I didn't really know if you would have wanted that at all."

Huh. Well, it was kind of comforting that they thought similarly. Take that Raph. April cared about consent too. But it was also sort of … disheartening. Since she seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact he most definitely did want it. It seemed like everyone else except April was aware of his feelings for her. Like he had a big sign on his forehead that everyone else could read except her.

April paused, staring at him now, brow still furrowed but more like she was studying him, waiting for his reaction. Donnie swallowed. What did she want him to say now? His tapped his fingers against his Tardis mug and cleared his throat.

"Ah, well, it's—it's okay, so don't—don't feel bad …" He had a feeling there was more he should have said. Especially because she was still giving him that expectant and attentive stare.

"So … you don't mind that I kissed you?" she asked, her blue eyes keeping that steady beam on his face that really made him sweat. More so than usual because he felt like she was scanning him or something, and the tone of her voice and arching of her brow seemed to imply he didn't answer to her satisfaction.

"Well … well, no, I didn't mind … It was—it was nice." He cleared his throat again and drank from his Tardis, not meeting her eyes.

"Donnie …" Her hands came into his line of sight as they gently pried his thermos out of his hands and set it on a desk. He couldn't escape her now. She was standing a lot closer and looking up at him with eyes that were nearly concerned now and almost sad. He didn't like the sad in those blue eyes and eyebrows. But they also looked very intense as if she was trying to puzzle something out inside his eyes. He swallowed and tried to remember to breathe as they stared at each other. He felt like his heart was pumping in his ears. He watched as the look in her eyes changed from that intense searching to an almost tender and sad understanding.

She breathed softly, "Oh, Donnie …"

That tone in her voice was like a knife to his heart. This was like it always was when he imagined telling her about his feelings. That look was a pity look. That sad look when she would realize his feelings and not share them with him.

He cleared his throat again, plastered a fake smile on his face, and looked away, rubbing the back of his sweaty neck. "Heh, well, like I said don't—don't worry about it. It was just an accident, right? No worries."

He gave her that out. She could take it, and they could go back to being friends without this … discomfort. Well, for her at least, right now it felt a little like he was dying inside. He found that April probably wasn't the only one who was actually afraid to change their relationship like Kira said. It was in this moment that he realized he had been afraid all along too. Afraid to try to change things like Raphael said because he was afraid of losing her in the process. Afraid of ruining their relationship as it was just by making his feelings known. That his feelings could easily destroy everything. He had let himself stay in that safe and comfortable friend's zone, even if he knew he wanted more.

He felt her arms wrap around him middle as she nestled in close, her face pressed against his chest. She squeezed him warm but firmly. "I'm so sorry …"

He wished she would stop. It just felt like that knife would twist with each thing she did. He hesitantly patted her head. His voice cracked a little as he said, "It's—it's fine."

April pulled back from her hug to look up at his face. He couldn't met her eyes, but he had seen that she looked almost confused with that tender and sad look in her eyes.

"You've had feelings for me for a long time, haven't you?"

He definitely couldn't look her in the eyes for that. He put his hands on her shoulders and created a little more space between them. He felt her grasp the sides of his jacket though, as if to keep him from pushing her away completely.

"April … it's okay," he said again, but his tone was heavier and firmer.

"No, Donnie, that's not it," she said urgently and pulling herself up close to him again. He looked down at her, and she had that burning and nearly fierce look in her eyes. "I'm sorry that I didn't … that it took me so long to notice. I'm sorry that I've probably been … hurting you … I'm such an idiot."

The fiercely tender look was really hard for him to tear his eyes from. "You're not an idiot," he said automatically.

"Yes, I am," she said more firmly, never breaking that eye-contact with him. "I'm sorry it took me so long."

"It's okay …" Don was pretty sure he could have waited forever, and it would have been okay.

She inched closer again. "So … if I kiss you now, you wouldn't mind?"

Donnie felt like the deer in the headlights again. "… I … wouldn't mind."

She stood up on her toes and kissed him. Well, he found out Raphael was right about one thing. The kissing got better the more you did it. Her lips were so soft. Their kiss the night before had been so brief he hadn't really gotten to feel it. His arms slipped around her and held her close, and she leaned into him more deeply as their lips pressed together again and again. Their breathing deepened, and Donnie felt like the rest of the world was some kind of warm fuzzy haze. It didn't feel entirely real. Just a very nice, really warm fuzzy dream he didn't want to wake up from.

He wasn't sure how long they kissed for, but eventually they pulled away, still breathing heavily.

April smiled up at him and then glanced down almost shyly. "That probably doesn't make up for it …"

Don shook his head. "N-no, that was—that was, um … just—just good—great … So—so what are we, um, going to do now?"

"Well, we can keep doing what we've been doing and … more," said April, looking up into his eyes. "So, we go … steady. Is that okay?"

Donatello bobbed his head. "That's … definitely okay."

"Oi, I know where the cafeteria is," said Raph, but Kira had already let go of his arm as soon as he said it. But it wasn't like he needed her to tell him to leave. He was perfectly aware of the atmosphere between Donatello and April. He was his brother, after all. He knew what was going on—probably better than she did.

"Good," was all Kira said as she walked ahead.

Raphael stared after her. It was weird because there was an utter lack of attitude in her tone when she said it. In fact, she lacked all the attitude she had shown him the day before. She wasn't even particularly cold with him. It was more like she wasn't … anything with him. Raphael didn't know what else he had been expecting … Maybe some sign of lingering resentment?

But there was just that simple … nothing. And somehow that was more disturbing.

Whatever. He didn't care. So he let her walk off, and they went their separate ways for lunch.

Casey found him alone at his table in the cafeteria and settled down next to Raphael. "Shit, man, your face … I mean, I heard about dat fight, but it's been a while since I've seen your face turn those particular colors."

Raph looked up to stare into the face of his friend to find that Casey also had a black eye and a broken and bruising nose. "Said the pot to the kettle … I don't even know half of where you get your face messed up all the time. You gotta stop pickin' fights with gangsters."

Casey snorted. "Dat scum has gotta be stopped by someone, and the cops can't seem ta handle it on their own. So what if I stop a coupla drug-husslin' Purple Dragons? I'm doin' da city a favor."

"You gonna start putting on a costume at night and callin' yourself Batman?" asked Raph, raising a brow. "Seriously, Casey, if you mess with those guys too much, they'll decide they actually need to do something about you. There's more of them than there are of you. One day they'll bring all of their friends, and it will be more than you can handle. Or they'll just drive-by you to make it quick."

"Dude, it's not like I go outta my way ta look for 'em, but if I see 'em doin' somethin' I do somethin' about it."

Raph sighed out his nose and dropped it. Though it did worry him. They had bonded over the mutual like of smashing heads and being hotheads. The love for a fight was strong in both of them. Maybe it was just because Raphael had to worry about a lot more things since Dad died, but it had been a while since he really lost his head like he did the day before. And these days, he was worried about Casey going off with a head full of steam and getting himself into hot water. He wondered if this was what a brief glimpse inside Leo's head was like.

Raphael knew what those gangsters could be like. He and his brothers had to deal with them a lot when they were younger and living on the even rougher side of town. It was a brutal part of the world, and they had always had to look out for each other and watch each other's backs. Even with the training they received from Dad, they still had been just kids. But so had been some of those gangsters. It seemed like the Purple Dragons were recruiting them younger and younger. But plenty of them had been older kids and teenagers, even adults, in large numbers that they had to be careful of. Some of them even had guns. Leo had a system worked out, and no one was allowed to walk the streets alone in those days. In fact, Leo still didn't like letting them go out alone on principle. It had been so ingrained in them, and their neighborhood now still wasn't far from those rougher parts.

Casey didn't have the training or the brothers he did. Raph didn't want his friend to wind up dead.

Donatello and April did not show up by the time he and Casey had finished eating. Raphael was going to assume this was a good sign. Donnie just needed to chill out. Good shit could happen, but it was like Don had to have bagged evidence before he would believe it. Yet he assumed the worst at the drop of a hat. Raphael decided against telling Casey about April kissing Donnie. If those two ended up dating, then Casey would find out eventually. And Raph thought it was better if he acted like he had no idea what was going on between those three.

Ugh, dramatic love triangles. He wanted no part of it, especially when it involved his brother and his best friend. Casey had to understand that.

Before he knew it, it was the last period of the day. It was time for shop class and more face-to-face with Kira and Rontu. Oh joy.

Rontu was his usual disinterested self. It kind of pissed Raphael off that he could say all that shit to his face and the guy didn't even blink. Well, Raphael did say that he didn't give a shit about anything, and it seemed pretty true to him. So Rontu acted as Raph expected—as if nothing had happened.

But Kira was a different story. He had partly been expecting her to argue even more with him about their projects.

But she didn't.

In fact, she just went along with most everything he said. It was the same as when they were going to lunch earlier. There was no heat, no anger, and no cold-shoulder either. She just was … there. Even when they passed tools between each other, she had no problem looking him in the eyes. But there was nothing.

Nothing at all.

No smug little quirk of her lips while she told him what method she thought best. None of that mischievous glint to her blue eyes while he talked back.

It was kind of eerie, and it made that uncomfortable twisting feeling in his gut reappear again.

They got a lot of work done, and soon class was over. He and Casey left together like usual. Casey tapped him on the shoulder.

"I told ya, you guys would yell it out and now everything is cool, right?"

Raphael flattened his brow in slight disconcerted confusion. "Actually, it's worse. We had a nice little shouting match the other day after the fight."

Casey stared. "Wait so … this is you guys still bein' pissed at each other?"

"I guess …" Was this what it looked like when Kira held a grudge?

Casey shook his head and sighed. "I don't get it."

"I don't either, man, and I'm in it."

Author Notes: I feel I need to apologize sometimes for the way Ren talks v.v;;; Just know that whatever he says about certain groups of people do not reflect my personal beliefs in the slightest. Ren just has a gift for finding the most offensive thing he could possibly say or even think. It's a strange experience having his voice in my head.

Now to respond to my anon-reviewer. First, thank you for the review. It was very pleasing to hear what you liked about the story and characters. I also have to agree about Leo and Karai and their dynamic. So I'm pleased their first meeting captured that for you.

As for the Hamato brothers and their personalities … Do you mean for in this story or IDW vs 2k12 specifically? Because I take things for their personalities from a variety of different TMNT versions depending on each character for this story (which I could rant way too long about).

But in comparing their personalities in IDW and 2k12 alone … I would say Mikey and Donnie are the most different in personalities. Donnie lacks a certain nervous/neurotic streak in the IDW that the 2k12 really brought to his character. Mikey's sweet side is probably more emphasized in IDW than in 2k12, and I would say he's also more intelligent than 2K12 Mikey. Leo is more serious in IDW than in 2k12, but that's probably because of the difference in audience that the 2k12 is written for. Raphael seems more or less the same angry hothead he usually is in both versions.

But if you're assuming their personalities are the same in IDW as in 2k12 based on this story, that might not be the best mode of assessment, lol.

Like I said, I mix and match for my version of the boys in this story. I would say I do primarily draw from 2k12 for Mikey and Donnie. My Leo would be primarily a mix of 2k3 and IDW. Raph is definitely a mix of 2k12 and 2k3. While I don't imagine him with the Brooklyn accent that they gave him in 2k3, the patterns of his speech are very similar (I DO imagine my Casey with that Brooklyn accent though; he would be a 2k3/IDW mix too). Though sometimes the way I imagine Raph saying things or what he says does have a little more of a 2k12 flair to it. I draw from other versions too for them in smaller ways, but those are the primary influences so to speak.

And yeah, lol, Donnie and Raph. Those two seem to end up spending more time together than maybe they would have if Yoshi hadn't died. They take on the task of managing Mikey at school and while Leo is busy working. I find I enjoy their conversations and arguments too.

Anyway, I've ranted way too much in my notes, even more than usual. So see you next chapter.