Hi! Some of you guessed correct about the mystery girl (though if you've read any of my stories, it's not a mystery), so virtual high five for you!

Enjoy!

Chapter 12 - Karai

I trudge down the hallway carrying my new backpack full of notebooks on my first day of American high school. I stop outside my first class, sigh, then walk inside. It's only 8:35, so I get first pick of the seats. I pick a desk by the windows and start staring at the clock. School hasn't even started yet and I already want to go home.

What a waste of time! I could be at home working on my katas or training with my troops, but instead I'm stuck here. Yes, I know the Foot clan needs new soldiers and, yes, I know that the high school is perfect place to recruit teenagers, but still? Couldn't I just hang out at coffee shops and skate parks?

My mind starts to wander, and as it always seems to do lately, it turns to Leo and his brothers. The turtles haven't been spotted in weeks, and that concerns me. Either they caught onto us and got better at stealth movement, (I mentally snort; not likely) or something's happened to keep them underground, or worse. I know I should only feel curious about what they're up to, but I also feel a bit worried. Stop that, I scold. Leo betrayed you, remember? He almost blew up your father.

He didn't know he was your father. Another voice, the worried one, says.

Yeah, well . . . He still betrayed my trust. The part of me that still wants to be angry says.

And you're completely innocent? You've never done anything to hurt him? And if you were presented with the same situation, you wouldn't have done the same thing? Try to take out two enemies with one swoop?

My angry voice can't come up with a good retaliation, so I banish that conversation to the recesses of my mind.

I look around the room and notice that people have come in. In fact, the seat next to me is the only one still vacant. I look at the clock, then the door just in time to watch a boy walk in. He's about 5'6" with dark black hair that almost seems blue in some places. I frown. Something about the boy strikes me. The way he walks, the expression on his face, it all seems so familiar, but I'm sure I've never seen him before. He looks around for an empty seat and finds the one next to me. He starts to move, then sees me and freezes. His face fills with shock and recognition. The boy looks frantically for another seat, but spying none resigns himself to his fate.

I scowl a bit more; I need to work on my lip-reading. The boy is muttering something under his breath and I'd almost swear he was mouthing 'Please don't kill me, please don't kill me.'

He sits next to me and says "Hello Karai."

"Do I know you?" I ask him. Maybe now I'll get some answers.

The boy smiles in a slightly bitter, slightly hopeful way. "You should. Or do you invite every guy you meet to steal the sword belonging to the greatest swordsman in the history of Japan with you?"

I start. I don't. I've only asked one person to do that, and I used those exact words too. I only asked...

"Leo?!" He smiles

"The one and only."

I stare at the boy (Leo?!) in front of me. Then I notice his eyes. Sapphire blue. Just like Leo's. They are Leo's.

"What happened to you?"

He grins sheepishly. "Let's just say Donnie happened."

Donnie? Oh right. His scrawny brother.

"So are all your brothers human too?"

"No, I'm the only one that was in the blast zone. Lucky me." He says, voice heavy with sarcasm.

Blast zone?!

"So now I'm here, experiencing the 'normal teenager life.'". He uses his hands to make air quotes and I laugh. My laugh makes Leo smile, but then it shrinks away as he seems to remember something. He looks down at his hands.

"Karai... I - I - I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I had no idea about - about Shredder and the guilt has been killing me. I thought you were just his general. I didn't know. I'm really sorry. Please don't kill me!" He adds to his apology in a rush.

I'm stunned, genuinely floored. Leo looks up at me and I see nothing but sincerity. Well, sincerity and a touch of fear. Everything my father has taught me tells me to hold my grudge, to hate him. But looking in his eyes, my heart tells me something else.

"I forgive you." I say softly. Leo looks surprised. Both of his eyes bulge widely. "What? Really?" He dares to look hopeful.

"Really. You couldn't have known." I tell him. He smiles so hugely, for a second I think he might explode from happiness.

"But don't you ever dare do it again." I warn. He just smiles even more.

The bell rings, and Leo's attention is drawn to the front of the room as the teacher (I assume) walks in.

"Well I hope you like who you're sitting next to because you're permanent lab partners this semester unless I decide otherwise. Now quiet while I call roll."

"What happens now?" Leo whispers.

Of course he wouldn't know. "Right now she's making sure everyone is here. When she calls your name, say here. Then we theoretically learn."

He frowns. "Theo-"

"Is there something you would like to share?" Uh-oh. Leo looks like a deer in headlights and his face starts to go red as he realizes the entire class is staring at him. He looks at me out of the corner of his eye and I slightly shake my head no.

"No ma'am. Sorry. It won't happen again ma'am." He apologizes. The teacher, Ms. Austin I remember, blinks twice at him. Guess she's never been called ma'am by a student before.

"What's your name?" She asks.

"Leonardo O'Neil, ma'am."

"Well. Okay then." She looks puzzled, then resumes roll.

I elbow him. "Nice work." He smiles and goes a little pink, not sure what I'm complimenting, but glad for the praise.

Leo reaches in his pocket and pulls out his schedule. Folding it so it covers his locker combination, he lays it on the table so I can see. I do the same and we compare. I see that besides this class, we have Algebra 1 (math is taught differently in Japan, so I'm taking a remedial course) and P.E. together. P.E. I smile. That'll be fun.

I glance at Leo and he looks concerned.

'What's wrong?' I write on his schedule.

'I have math with April too.' He writes back after checking to make sure the teacher isn't watching. Oh. April. Well that'll make things interesting to say the least.

"Okay class. Here is a pretest over what we're going to learn this semester. Don't worry, it's not graded, I just want to see what you know." The teachers starts passing out papers and Leo pales. I smirk.


50 minutes later, we pass back our tests as we walk out the door. Leo taps me on the shoulder and says "I have a class with April next. I'll try to give her a heads-up so we all get through this as painlessly as possible.

I nod. "Sounds like a plan captain." I smirk teasingly at him. And as pink creeps into his cheeks, I walk away, happier then when I walked in.

You know the drill! Review please!