Author Notes: Lol, DisasteroftheDivine, I never think it's bad to like Ren. But I love jerkass characters so I'm probably not the best judge xD I enjoy him for his … complexity, intensity, and shock value.

Blogger9999, thanks so much for the lengthy review and the praise. I'm pleased as punch that you enjoy this story so much. I'll speak more to your review at the end of the chapter, as I try not to make the top of the chapter heavy with too much A/Ns.

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So in this chapter, everyone is trying to figure out everyone else! It's kind of a lot of talking and thinking, but I hope you all find it as interesting as I did writing it.

These walls are paper thin
And everyone hears every little sound
Everyone's a voyeur, they're watching me
Watch them, watch me right now

~Paper Thin Walls, by Modest Mouse

Chapter Twenty-One:
Missing Pieces

Leo set down his phone after hanging up with Donnie. He was in the breakroom for the college janitors. His lunch was untouched, because the first thing he did when he went on break was text Donnie and stare at his phone until he got a response, rapping his fingers on the table. But even after having talked to his brother, he was still staring fixedly at the table, deep in thought.

It was all … strange, what Donnie told him. He just didn't know enough about Kuza or his grandsons to make heads or tails of it. However, his gut told him that it wasn't something wrong with Kuza. He might seem like a strict older man and while he hadn't been particularly affectionate with his grandchildren, there had been love in the way he had reprimanded Ren. It seemed to him that Kuza truly cared about their well-being.

But who were the people who had the skill to harm his very talented grandsons? What was their relationship exactly? How could it affect his brothers if they engage in training with Kuza?

Leo probably wasn't going to be getting the answers he would like soon enough. He hoped to get enough to be sure his brothers would be safe. He would wait to hear back from Donnie. That left him with figuring out how they were going to get inside Kuza's dojo.

He certainly hadn't given them enough time to do any reconnaissance. Leonardo didn't even know the layout of the building. All he had was the address and the instructions to find it that he had been given previously. Of course, Kuza had to be aware of that. He didn't give them any time to plan anything. This had to be what he wanted. He wanted to see how well they could work on their toes and in less than favorable conditions. Leonardo knew from experience that it was a miracle if anything ever went according to plan anyway, especially when it came to coordinating his brothers.

Yet, Leonardo was almost more interested in what this told him about Kuza. He was pushing them hard without confirming if they even had any training at all in the discipline of Shinobi-Iri. This meant that Kuza was extremely confident that they had some kind of training in it. That was what confused Leo the most. Why was Kuza so confident? Shinobi-Iri was completely different from the combat disciplines, so their knowing hand-to-hand shouldn't denote it in any particular way.

It reminded Leo of his little parkour adventure with Karai. She claimed she had a hunch that he could free-run, but he had no idea what would have even given her that idea in the first place. They had barely spoken. She also knew his surname as well as Mikey's name when he hadn't told her either one. Maybe she had looked into him and found out he once had a father who taught martial arts? That would be unnerving for a first date, but it didn't explain her knowing about Mikey, and Karai didn't seem like the type to do that. Unless it was part of some mind-game she was playing with him.

Leo glanced at his phone again, pressing his lips together pensively. She hadn't called him since their date; nor had he called her. He was still considering Kira's advice. He supposed he didn't see the harm in starting as friends at least while he was still in college. He admitted that part of him liked the games she played, but things were so stressful with all this Ren stuff going on. He also had a paper for his criminology class due that week. His lack of working as much was going to take a bite out of the money he had saved. Even though he saved that money for situations like this, it still bothered him when he had to use it. So it was no surprise he was lacking the energy to puzzle Karai out. He already had enough puzzles. She would have to wait for a while, at least until this whole training and Ren business leveled out.

Who knows, maybe she would even grow bored of him if he took too long. If that was the case, Leonardo supposed it was just as well. He didn't have time to chase after her, even if that was exactly what she wanted. Karai had dropped those names on purpose in order to keep him chasing her. When he didn't, what would she do then?

"Leo, are you trying to absorb food through your eyes?"

He looked up to find his co-worker, Rick, raising an eyebrow at him.

Leo smiled softly. "Ah, just thinking …"

"Yeah, I could tell. I think you were about to burn a hole through that table."

Leo chuckled and reached for his lunch. He did need to stop spacing out and eat if he wanted to have any energy for tonight.

April wasn't hungry when lunch rolled around. It wasn't like this was going to be the most comfortable thing she would ever have to do, but Casey flirted with her enough that she knew it would definitely bother Donnie. So, she had to make certain that sort of thing stopped. This new transition in their relationship was … still terrifying, if she was being honest with herself. She didn't need Casey making it more difficult than it needed to be. But she was also being honest with this new change. It was almost alarming how easy it was to kiss Donnie. How right it had felt. How disappointed she was when it stopped. How much she wanted to keep going.

It surprised her how her heart lifted and puttered in her chest every time she saw him or thought about seeing him afterward. Excited little butterflies made a commotion inside her, even though it was just Donnie who she knew since they were awkward barely-teens. Reliable Donnie who was always there for her. Donnie who she always knew she loved like she loved Mikey, Raph, and Leo, but now that love was so different.

They had been friends for years, so how had she missed this before? It snuck up on her so suddenly, and yet …

She shuffled more slowly than usual through the hall and the mass of students going to lunch, deep in her own thoughts. She folded her arms over herself as she picked through her memories. Had it really been that sudden? Irma had seen it coming.

Casey had flirted with her a lot and for a long time, almost from the moment they had met when she started high school. April had even flirted back sometimes herself. It had been flattering and sort of fun. She admitted she was a little bit attracted to that uncouth idiot.

Which begged the question, if she knew he had been flirting with her and that she was kind of attracted to him … why hadn't she done anything about it? There had been plenty of opportunities, but she had always declined his invitations to go out for no particular reason—always stopped short of it developing into anything concrete.

"Hey, Red."

April looked up as Casey weaved through the crowd and grinned widely as he approached her. He had a black eye, broken nose, and a split lip. This was nothing new or shocking when it came to Casey Jones. He was always getting into fights, even more than Raphael now. When it wasn't fights, his bruises often came from playing too rough in his hockey games. Still, she didn't like the fact that him and all her Hamatos seem to be injured recently.

"Hey, Casey," greeted April flashing a smile of her own as they fell in step with each other, despite the annoyed itch she felt inwardly at the bruises on his face. This itch was followed closely by an uncomfortable squirm at the thought of what she was about to do. It was probably going to seem weird, pulling him aside just to let him know she was dating Donnie and to stop the flirting. But it had to be done.

She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but April wondered if it really would. After all, the great Casey Jones would find plenty of other willing ladies, right?

"So, yer finally askin' me on a date," began Casey. "It's been long ovadue, ya know."

April rolled her eyes exhaustively and just smirked in response. "Easy there, Jones. Don't get ahead of yourself. How do you know I'm not just going to lecture you about your latest test scores?"

"'Cause I did betta den last time, so it can't be 'cause of dat." Casey smirked back.

He opened the door for her as they entered the lunchroom. April picked out an open table and lead him straight over to it.

"Whoa, slow down," said Casey as he followed her over. "Doncha wanna get some food?"

"In a bit," said April pointedly. "This isn't a lunch date, Casey. I really just wanted to talk to you about something real quick."

Casey arched a brow in genuine confusion now and followed her suit to sit down. "What's up?"

April ignored her squirming insides. It was better just to get it over and done with. Quick like ripping off a band-aide.

"Well, the thing is … Donnie and I have started dating."

Both of Casey's dark eyebrows raised in surprise. Well, at least she wasn't the only one who hadn't seen that coming.

"And the reason I wanted to tell you this is so that you would … stop flirting with me." That sounded a little blunt, even while she knew Casey himself was a blunt person. So she followed up with, "It would bother Donnie, and it really wouldn't feel right to me either."

A sudden flood of second thoughts rushed her. She had assumed Casey wasn't that serious about her, but what if it still hurt him?

She raised a brow in a cautious and quizzical manner. "So … are we okay?"

There was a long enough pause to make her insides twitch again. He rubbed the back of his neck and just shrugged, which made her internal squirming intensify.

"Yeah—I mean, of course, Red. Ya know I'd neva hold somethin' like dat against ya." He smirked at her, his body suddenly relaxing into his seat, resting his arm on the back of his chair. This seemed a little too jarringly confident compared to the way he had shrugged and rubbed his head just a moment ago.

April typically knew when someone was putting on a brave face for show. Mostly because she did it so often herself.

"Guess I can't blame ya. Donnie's all smart like you."

She felt something itch uncomfortably at that remark. Almost like she could hear the unspoken thought running through his head: Unlike me.

"Ya guys suit each otha n'all dat."

April smiled only because she didn't know what to say. It was hard to shake the feeling that Casey was more bothered by this news than he was showing.

"Right … Thanks, Casey. It means a lot because you're an important friend to me."

"Yeah, I know," said Casey with his usual smug smirk. "Don't sweat it."

She really wanted to take that advice, but even while he was being perfectly cordial and accepting about it, that twisting ach in her gut wouldn't go away.

"Well, I dunno about you, but I'm starvin'." Casey stood up and gave her a wave as he turned away. "I'll see ya around, Red."

April sighed softly as she watched him go. She did what she needed to, but her instincts were still screaming at her. She had assumed Casey was just being a casual flirt for the past couple years that she had known him. The sinking feeling in her gut seemed to think otherwise now. April had prided herself on her intuition. She could usually tell what people were really thinking or feeling, but lately she was discovering all these blind spots she never knew she had.

She had been friends with Donnie for nearly four years, and she was only just now realizing he had probably liked her since they had met. More troubling was that she couldn't figure out exactly when she had started liking him too. All she knew right now were the butterflies and the sweet and new memory of his lips, and that this was what she wanted.

He was definitely what she wanted, and the warming in her chest seemed to agree with this thought.

It felt right and safe, and yet scary all at the same time.

Her eyes scanned the room as she had already unconsciously began searching for him. She spotted him sitting at a table with Tasuki, the oldest Oroku brother. Donnie was looking at the table that held Mikey and Ren with a solemnly blank expression. She watched him stand up and slouch away. There was something that seemed be sloping his shoulders down with an invisible weight.

A knot formed in her stomach as she stood up quickly to catch up to him. He stopped as a hand raised to his face. He muttered something to himself, but she missed it.

"Hey Donnie, you okay?"

He turned, just now realizing she was there. He put on a fake and practically translucent smile. Donnie was almost as bad as Mikey at hiding things, especially his feelings.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just … you know, all this Ren stuff—Raphael almost got into another fight with him already."

That didn't surprise her to hear. But an excuse like that would probably have worked on anyone else. Everything with Ren and Mikey was stressful, but her gut told her it was something more than that. Donnie was adept at coming up with believable excuses, but that was about the only thing he did better than Mikey when it came to dishonesty.

She kept her stare fixed on him, knowing that it wouldn't take long for him to glance away from her eyes, and it would be just another sign that confirmed what she already knew. Something was really bothering him, more than what he was letting on. Like clockwork, his reddish brown eyes dropped from her blue ones.

"Right …" began April. "I saw you over at his brother's table …"

"Oh, yeah," said Donnie quickly, jumping at the chance to look anywhere but at her eyes. "Leo wanted me to try to get some more information out of him. You know, because of the weird comments this morning. I didn't really get much out of him though … I saw you walk into the lunchroom with Casey. How did it go?"

She arched an unconvinced brow. Still, she also knew that the thing with Casey bothered him more than he would ever admit out loud. So she decided to let whatever else was bothering him go for now and answer his question.

April shrugged. "Good, I think. I wasn't really sure how much Casey liked me anyway. But you know him, even if he is upset about it, he would play it cool. So it's a little hard to tell."

She was downplaying what her instincts were yelling at her, but she didn't want to give Donnie anything else to stress about. She knew how the wheels in his head could spin around and around with little worries and details, imagined or real.

Donnie arched his own disbelieving eyebrow at her. "Are you serious? You're really not sure how much he likes you?"

April squeezed her arms around herself a little more, but his words seemed to hit right into the notch between her armor. Because that was exactly what she was worried about. How bad was her blind spot? But this was also Donnie. He was likely to imagine that Casey's flirting meant a lot more than it really did. He had a tendency to worry. It didn't help that he had a bit of an insecure streak to top it off.

"What? So Casey flirted with me. I know that, but I dunno, he just seems like the kind of guy that just flirts with girls he thinks are cute. That doesn't mean it was anything deeper than that. I mean, if he really liked me that much why didn't he try harder?"

She had said it to try to convince herself, to make herself feel better, which was a mistake she realized instantly. Donnie himself practically flinched like she had stabbed him with a needle. It was a stupid thing to say, because he would take it personally even when it really had nothing to do with him.

She closed the gap between them quickly, touching his arm in attempt to reassure him. "Donnie, I didn't mean that or … any judgement on you."

He smiled that translucent smile again though it faded swiftly like a ghost. "It's fine—I know."

"No, really, I didn't mean it like you should have tried harder—" began April.

"I need to go get something to eat. Lunch is almost over and then we got training this evening, so it's really important to keep my energy up," said Donnie with entirely too much cheer in his voice, turning his face away. He slipped out from under her hand.

Her hand fell limply at her side. This was what scared her about this new change. She couldn't screw this up. Not with Donnie. He was too important to mess this up with. Reliable Donnie, she needed him more than she ever said. She knew he could be so emotionally fragile sometimes, and then she went and said something thoughtless because she felt insecure.

She could already feel the fear tighten around her heart like a noose around her neck. At the same time she felt a rush of hot frustration, at herself and even a little at Donnie. Why couldn't he just take her at her word when she really meant it? Why did he have to doubt her so much? Why did he have to make this so difficult?

Terrin watched Mikey and Woody drift away from their table to a more private part of the lunchroom. No doubt, Woody and Mondo did not approve of the Ren situation at all. Not that Terrin could blame them, since he agreed generally that their chances of success were very slim. However, he never believed that was ever a reason to not try. Besides, what fun was life if you always knew you were going to be successful in your endeavors? Granted this was probably the reason he always seemed to get into trouble, but Terrin was confident that it also made his life more interesting.

He spotted Rontu at a table, alone. When chances for success were low, it was good to use what resources were available to tip the scales in your favor.

"I'll be right back."

Mondo's face fell as Terrin stood up from the table, leaving him alone with Ren.

Terrin plopped himself down in the seat next to Rontu, smiling his cheery little fox smile as he leaned into his friend's personal space. "Sooooo … what are your thoughts?"

Rontu arched a brow without even turning his head to look at him. Instead, he stared down at his tray of food. "About what?"

"Oh, come on, what else except the elephant stomping around in the room," said Terrin, glancing over at Ren stuffing his face at his table. "I know you had to have deduced something from that fun interaction this morning."

It was really too bad Raphael disliked Rontu so much. He was quite the asset to have on your side. Terrin was good at noticing a lot of little things along the surface, but he generally lacked the analytical depth that Rontu mastered so naturally.

Rontu lifted his dark eyes to rest on Ren across the room. After a moment, they shifted and landed on Tasuki who was sitting not far from him.

"... Ren is more injured than he's letting on. If you need to, try hitting him in the ribs. You won't need a lot of force behind it—It'll drop him instantly, which will give you a better running start."

Terrin blinked, glancing back over at Ren. It was kind of nice to have a backup plan if he decided to turn violent again. It didn't surprise him at all that Rontu had first analyzed Ren for tactical weaknesses in a survival situation. Survival was just how his big friend was wired. "Okay, good to know, but that's not exactly what I was fishing for."

Rontu arched his brow, peering at his younger friend through the corner of his eye. "What are you looking for?"

"I dunno, anything and everything you noticed. I'm not sure what will be useful until you say it."

Rontu narrowed his eyes with slight annoyance. Of course, he couldn't be more specific. It was good thing he was already used to that with Terrin. Rontu returned his gaze back over to Ren. "... He's good at hiding how much pain he's really in. So he's used to it. He has a high pain tolerance."

"Right," mused Terrin. Foster kids were the best in pinpointing dysfunction, and he already had the scent. "... In your expert opinion, how does one get such a high pain tolerance and develop the ability to mask their pain?"

He smirked as he asked the question, because he already sort of knew the answer. After all, Rontu was practically describing himself right now. That's what made him such an expert on the topic. Though, it really wasn't anything to smirk about when he considered that.

Rontu narrowed his eyes as he turned his head to fix Terrin with the piercing look, as if silently scolding him for being cheeky as well as considering whether or not to give the expected answer. Terrin just smiled his sly little angel smile.

"Obviously …" began Rontu, deciding to answer, "from experiencing pain frequently."

Terrin nodded innocently. "Right, and how frequently would you guess Ren experiences this pain?"

Rontu paused, turning his piercing gaze back over to Ren, calculating the answer.

"Hard to say for him exactly. Experiencing pain often enough can build a tolerance for it, but I think power of will can also affect the ability to mask pain. Personally, I'd say his will is exceptionally above average as is his pride, which would be the driving force for his need to conceal any weakness. But I'd still say that he has been experiencing pain on a monthly basis from a young age, probably … age ten, maybe younger if you take into account a very strict and hard training style that his grandfather likely gives him."

"But you think that it's not just the rough training that gives him a high pain tolerance," stated Terrin casually, inferring what his friend didn't explicitly say. "So taking into account what we saw this morning and everything else, what do you think is going on?"

Rontu shrugged, not particularly impacted by what Terrin was suggesting, but also not wanting to indulge in the obvious direction that he was taking these deductions. Abuse was always an easy conclusion to jump to, but it didn't have to be the only conclusion. "The kid bit off more than he could chew for once. The older brother probably tried to protect him. Their grandfather finished the fight they couldn't. You missed when Donatello explained what they were saying in Japanese. Their grandfather broke the back of one of the two attackers."

"Right, Mikey mentioned something like that about two guys being the ones who beat Ren up," said Terrin thoughtfully. He turned his gaze back over to Ren across the lunchroom as he asked, "Who do you think they are?"

"The grandfather runs a dojo," said Rontu, taking a bite of his food. There was a pause as he chewed and swallowed. "They could be martial artists, maybe competitors, who have an issue with them for some reason, and Ren started a fight. That's probably all there is to it. Stop being nosy, imp."

Terrin rocked back, balancing on the back legs of his chair as he grinned. "You're forgetting what you said about the pain tolerance though. If he gets it from more than just the rough training, then what causes him that much pain on a monthly basis since he was proximately ten? I'm thinking there's more to it than these two guys that were mentioned."

"He gets into fights all the time, Terrin. It's not that hard to figure out." Rontu knew he was just avoiding it now. What did it matter? Children get abused all the time. He was a foster kid. It was the story of almost every foster child's life. It wouldn't shock him if the Ren kid was abused. His attitude seemed to match it easily enough.

"I really doubt it." Terrin was onto something here. He knew it. Rontu had to know it too. He just didn't want to get involved. "He's pretty skilled. Who could really hurt him that much on a regular basis? Even his grandpa said in the counseling office that it's rare for anyone to really hurt Ren as much as Raphael managed to—with our combined efforts, I'll add."

Rontu glanced at him again. "... Then I don't know. Because I know it's not the grandfather."

"How do you know?" asked Terrin, curiously.

"I just know," said Rontu, turning back to his food.

Spotting abusers was just was easy for him to do as spotting the abused. The grandfather didn't have the scent. He had watched him with Ren and Tasuki in the counseling office. While their relationships were obviously strained by something, the way Ren had at least somewhat respected his grandfather, at least more than he respected anyone else, it was not out of fear of him. But then he started thinking about Tasuki in this equation.

"Whoever it is, the older brother is probably always trying to win their favor, perhaps by trying to be the perfect child. He seemed a little too ready to help in the counseling office. Ren probably copes by doing the opposite. He seems to resent all forms of authority … which leads me to amend what I said before. If they have a father, it's probably him."

Terrin blinked at that. "Mikey said that Donnie said Ren has a father, and he's super rich. Ren did get kind of pissy when we were trying to ask him about his parents. But … he basically told me not to ask him about anything remotely personal too."

Rontu simply nodded. It sounded about right. Everything about Ren screamed aggression, but Rontu also picked up another scent. Ren was aggressively defensive. Everything he did was about posturing, threatening, and intimidating. Like he would bite in order to ensure no one could get close, physically or emotionally. Rontu had seen plenty of that before.

"Wouldn't that mean their father is skilled in martial arts too?" mused Terrin. "That would make sense if he was their grandfather's kid, but they have different last names, so obviously their grandfather comes from their mother's side."

Rontu shrugged, studying his food. "I would say, not necessarily if it was only Tasuki. If he's always trying to be the perfect son, he wouldn't likely fight back even if he was more skilled. But Ren is the type that would fight tooth and nail … So whoever it is, they have to be more skilled than Ren at least … I'm still not sure how it factors into the incident with the two men that Donnie mentioned. It could have nothing to do with the father, but the abuse could still be happening if these signs are at all correct. There's also plenty room for error here, Terrin. You know I'm just guessing."

Yeah, but Rontu's guesses usually ended up being correct.

Terrin pressed his lips together thoughtfully. That was as far as he could deduce. He knew Ren and Tasuki were probably being abused by someone, most likely the father, on a regular basis from a young age. Though, the abuse might be isolated from whatever happened that got Ren and Tasuki beaten up. This sadly hadn't surprised him. Angry, troubled kids who take out their issues on other people described most of the kids in foster care. He didn't know when this information would be useful in his and Mikey's quest to reform Ren. These kinds of problems were complex. He didn't have enough information to do anything about it. That aside, Ren had made it quite clear that he didn't even want to talk about his father in passing, let alone discuss the possible abuse that he might be dishing out. Besides, sometimes even when you had all the information, solutions aren't always so easy to find.

He looked over at Rontu as he ate his food in silence. He and Kira knew everything about Rontu, but that didn't change how things ended up. Well … maybe they didn't know everything anymore either.

But that's why trying even when chances were low was important to him. That's why he had to support Mikey. Because Terrin was still fighting that battle too, and he had been fighting it for a long time. He still wasn't about to give up. Not ever. He would never give up on Rontu.

Still, even with what he had managed to deduce about Ren with Rontu, Terrin knew he couldn't really tell Mikey about it. Kind of like the situation with Rontu putting a gun in his mouth, Terrin couldn't trust Mikey not to say anything anymore than he could trust Kira not to ask Rontu questions he wasn't ready to face. In fact, telling Mikey would probably ruin their chances with Ren completely. So Terrin would have to keep it to himself for now.

"Why are you putting so much effort into this?"

Terrin broke from his thoughts and looked up at Rontu, who was now eyeing him almost cautiously. "Eh? Why else, I'm curious?"

It should probably bother him more that he could lie on a whim like that. Not that it wasn't a believable lie either. After all, he tended towards dangerous curiosities. Those were the most fun kind. But he had a feeling that he shouldn't tell Rontu the real reason he was rooting around for as much info as he could on Ren.

But he should also know better than to try to lie to Rontu, yet it never really seemed to stop him anyway. As if on cue, Rontu just stared at him with a completely unconvinced, deadpan expression.

"What?" Terrin tried again.

Rontu's dark eyes narrowed. "Did Mikey happen to tell you why he decided to agree to their grandfather's arrangement?"

Now that was just eerie. Terrin was with Mikey on that mind-reading theory. The benefit of Rontu's analytical depth could cut both ways. Good to analyze your enemies with, but it also meant Rontu could read him like a book.

He was fighting a losing battle. He should just fess up. "Weeellll … just that he thought it would help things if he and I made friends with Ren. I'm not sure why, but he seems to think it will make Ren less of a bullying jerk. So I want to help."

Rontu's gaze narrowed with the instant criticism that Terrin could practically hear in his head before he said anything. "You know that's completely stupid, right?"

Terrin grinned. "Yup."

His friend signed softly. "Of course … you're still going to do it anyway, even though it's not going to work."

"Yup."

Raphael turned away and practically smashed open the lunchroom door as he went. Kira arched a brow and followed him cautiously. Was he still pissed about Ren or what?

"Hey, so—"

"You know, I'm really startin' to get sick of your know-it-all attitude," Raphael snapped this at her just as they got into the lunch line. "You act like fuckin' Leo."

Kira arched her other brow. "And that's … bad?"

She caught a micro-cringe on his scowl that told her he said that without really thinking about it. Raphael continued to glare forward, arms folded sullenly across his chest.

"I'll take it from Leo, but no one else. Especially not someone who doesn't even know if they're sticking around for longer than a year."

Kira parted her lips to speak but stopped as she thought more on that. He was angry at her and her remarks earlier. She didn't miss his jab at her "not being around for more than a year" either. Did that really bother him so much?

But what could she say, that was just who she was. Not that she didn't understand how it could be annoying. He wasn't the first person to be rubbed the wrong way by it. But Raphael was also just so reactive and emotional. When he was in that headspace, he didn't really think things through. It was a normal thing. She got like that sometimes herself, just … less often than Raph. She still believed she was right about what she said, and she usually found she was right about most things, but sometimes when you win, you lose. After all, she had sort of criticized him in the process.

She sighed heavily and then said, "You're right … I tend to be argumentative, and I always have an opinion and advice about everything. I'm always sure I'm right, but that never means I actually am all the time. I'm just … stupidly confident, even when I'm wrong. So I'm sorry; I wasn't trying to demean you earlier or act like I'm superior. I'm just … confident in what I believe."

"... I hate that shit too," said Raphael ran a hand over his face and then up through his hair. He glanced at her with a still piercing but less angry stare.

Kira arched a brow while still smirking. "And what's that?"

"You're too fuckin' reasonable all the time," grumbled Raphael.

Her smile grew. "The trick is admitting when you're wrong and not being reasonable, and then everyone starts thinkin' you're super reasonable."

Raph didn't smile at her joke, even though part of him wanted to. Her expression grew more solemn in her thoughtfulness as she watched him. That annoyed him too. She always saw too much. He felt so … naked under those blue eyes. Sometimes, he really was afraid of what she could figure out without him saying anything at all. He never felt like he had the same advantage. Though her explanation had helped take the edge off. He had said she was like Leo without thinking, but that wasn't necessarily true.

Probably because Leo didn't like to admit being wrong. Well, when Leo "admitted" to being wrong, it was usually in some superior way. That was Leo, always taking the high ground even in defeat. Never admitting to being the same as the rest of them lowly mortals.

Kira was only like Leo in that, she generally thought she was right. But she could admit to being on the same level as anyone else at the same time. It was weird. She was more honest and authentic in that way. She was incredibly insightful, but there had been plenty of times she showed him vulnerability too. He might not always have the same advantage as she did in reading people, but he had managed to score moments and expressions she hadn't wanted to reveal to him. Yet, there were times she had also given him that willingly.

But with Leo, Raphael actually felt his brother had given him less of those moments and never willingly. Even with the whole Spike incident, Leonardo always had his brave face on. His calm, Zen monk mask. The only thing Raphael had really seen breakthrough that most of the time was when he got seriously pissed. Those moments were rare and far-between. Besides him being a dork sometimes, he was always their wise and fearless leader. That's why Raphael always had to capitalize on his dorky moments. Though he knew he was probably being too hard on Leo. The harder life got, the more painful the hit their family took, the more Zen Leo became.

It was annoying as hell.

They went through the lunch line with no further arguments. But when they exited with their trays, Kira spotted Rontu and Terrin at another table. There was an awkward pause as Raphael and she both looked at each other. Kira was under no impression that he accepted Rontu. He only seemed to tolerate him during shop class, work, and the brief moments when Rontu lingered silently with them. She did not expect Raphael to tolerate him during lunch.

Luckily, they both spotted Casey.

"Shit, those are new bruises again, aren't they?" snorted Raphael somewhat aggressively at Casey as he approached him.

"What happened?" asked Kira curiously. Then again, Casey had that slightly beaten look when she had first met him last week. But she also agreed with Raphael, some of those injuries looked fresher.

"This dumbass likes to go pickin' fights with Purple Dragons like he's fuckin' Batman," Raphael answered for Casey.

Kira's eyes widened slightly. There just seemed to be an infinite number of reasons not to ever tell Raphael—or anyone for that matter—that Rontu was a Purple Dragon.

She didn't really get to respond, because for the first time she watched anger break over Casey's expression. Though she hadn't known him long, she had never really thought of Casey as an angry person. He was usually just cracking jokes and making his own overly confident remarks. Casey had seemed pretty light-hearted. The new fact that Casey liked to pick fights with gangsters combined with the bruises on his face seemed to suddenly make a lot more sense to her as a burning glower tensed his usually smirking and cheerful face.

"Shuddup—I'm fuckin' sick of ya lecturin' me. You hate da shit Leo gives ya, but seems ta me yer doin' a fuckin' good impression of him right now. I don't need ya babysistin' me, Raph—I ain't your kid brother!"

A similar, angrily belligerent look widened Raphael's green eyes. "You fuckin' asshat! Don't come cryin' to me when you get your stupid ass shot!"

"Whoa—whoa!" Kira quickly stepped in between the two. "Come on guys, there's no need to go for each other's throats here. Just calm down."

"Whatever," snorted Casey as he turned to stomp away. "I never ask you for shit anyway. Why would I start now?"

Raphael was practically smoldering as they watched him go. He turned and slammed his tray on the nearest empty table, causing bits of food to leap off it. Kira sighed softly, mostly to herself, as she decided what to say next.

"I saw him talking to April before we came over … And you know, love triangle, so she probably had to tell him … I'm sure you just … caught him at a bad moment." And Raph himself was on edge ever since all this Ren stuff happened. So it seemed to Kira that he had been a little harder on Casey than he really meant to be. He had good reason to be worried, picking fights with gangsters was a very dangerous pass time, but calling Casey a dumbass was probably not the best approach.

Raphael didn't say anything, so she said, "I'll see you in shop class."

He looked like he needed some space for a while. Kira sighed heavily and sought out the table holding Terrin and set down her tray on the other side of Rontu. "What's up?"

"Oh, we were just analyzing Ren and Tasuki," answered Terrin cheerfully.

"Without me?" Kira put a hand to her chest as she feigned a hurt expression.

Rontu rolled his eyes. "Nothing you wouldn't have been able to figure out on your own."

"Yeah, you know, possible parental abuse from a father figure, but not the grandfather. Ren resenting authority, and Tasuki adhering to it almost religiously," said Terrin in summary.

Kira glanced over at Ren's table thoughtfully and then nodded in agreement. She had had that feeling since this morning. Ren had his tough-guy-bully guise and Tasuki had an his own icy-yet-model-student facade to guard against others. She sighed heavily. Same story, different faces from the kids she knew in foster care.

"We could analyze the Hamato brothers if you want," suggested Terrin with a grin. "Like what's up with Raphael all the time? What happened with him and Casey?"

Kira pursed her lips hesitantly. "I dunno, I don't think he would like it if I did that."

"So? It's not like he's gonna know." Terrin arched a brow with his smirk.

Kira sighed and chuckled at the same time. "That's not the point, Ter. It's the … spirit of the thing. I dunno, it just seems like honesty is important to him, and if I ever betray that I have a feeling he would never forgive me for it."

She was already betraying that trust in some ways. She didn't want to do it anymore than she strictly had to. She wasn't sure it was really betrayal when Raphael knew she was hiding something. But when she thought of how she was on the receiving end of that with Rontu … Well, it didn't feel good. Not at all.

"It's not like you're not already doing it in your head anyway," said Terrin.

"Yeah, but sharing those thoughts with someone else is really different than having them and keeping them to myself."

Terrin pouted. "But I wanna know what's wrong with Mikey."

That got her attention. Her brow furrowed and one arched. "There's something wrong with Mikey?"

"Well, I think there might be," said Terrin a little hesitantly himself. "He kind of just wigged out on me once …"

Crap, he shouldn't say too much about that. Because that could lead to talking about Ren getting rough with Mikey that morning just before biology, and he knew it would be better not to mention that at all.

"Wigged out? What happened?" asked Kira with a soft frown.

Terrin shrugged and glanced away. "I dunno, he kind of just spaced out … and not like the usual way. Like, he looked too scared to move. It only happened once …"

He looked back up. "Anyway, I thought it might have to do with whatever makes his brothers so on edge, you know? Especially Raphael. He kind of gets the most aggro … if you hadn't noticed." Terrin ended with a smirk.

That had Rontu thinking even though he didn't really want to stick his nose in any of this. He had enough problems without including anyone else's. But, as usual, Terrin had this habit of dragging him into things. "It kind of does seem like he's overcompensating with all that anger. Not that he isn't really angry, it all just seems … magnified."

That was the feeling Rontu had when Raphael was practically snarling in his face outside of the counseling office last Thursday. They were complete strangers. That made it painfully obvious to Rontu that Raphael didn't really hate him personally. He couldn't, because they didn't really know each other. It was like Raphael was seeing someone else when he looked at him. It also had a little bit to do with self-loathing because Raphael's eyes were full of it. After all, Rontu had the same look when he saw his own reflection.

"Yeah, and you should have seen the look on his face when I kind of let your trick out of the bag," said Terrin, smirking sheepishly.

Rontu arched a brow at him. "What trick?"

"Oh, you know," said Terrin in an exaggeratedly casual manner, shrugging. "The fact you let Raphael blame you for everything so that the brothers wouldn't fight about Mikey keeping secrets from them."

Rontu snorted dismissively and went back to his food. "It wasn't a trick, and it's not as if I was doing it for them specifically. It just seemed better to roll with the resistance. He was going to believe what he wanted to believe anyway."

"No, I'm just going to go ahead and call you out on that one," said Kira with her own smirk. "The easiest thing for you to have done in that situation would have been to point out how much effort Mikey put into keeping them in the dark. That would have started them fighting with each other instead of Raphael directing all of it at you. But of course, you didn't do that …"

"Yeah, which definitely would have be better for you especially since it kind of looked like Raphael wanted to rip off your head," added Terrin.

His big friend just shrugged. "He's not the type I would want to take head-on …"

Terrin paused thoughtfully, pursing his lip. "Do you think you would lose?"

"Only if I fought him directly. If I wanted to fight Raphael, I would only do so carefully and with the right strategies … Though to be honest, I'd still prefer to fight him than Leonardo." Rontu was not unaware of that cold, quiet burning rage in the oldest brother's gaze last Thursday.

"No one is fighting anyone," said Kira with a slightly forceful and annoyed edge to her tone. "So it doesn't matter."

Rontu had nothing to say to that, and soon Terrin was saying, "... But Mikey really does seem worried about his brothers freaking out, especially Raph. So … I dunno, what's the deal with that?"

Rontu stirred his mashed potatoes without eating any. "If he's overcompensating, then it's probably due to something that made him feel like a failure in the relationship he has with Mikey—his role as an older brother—"

"Stop!" exclaimed Kira. "This is exactly what I said I don't think we should be doing."

"But Kira—" started Terrin with his usual whine.

"No, we're not doing this," she stated.

"I think it might be a good idea," said Rontu, looking up from his uneaten potatoes. "After all, we're getting rather entangled with them. It would probably be wise to analyze them and therefore the situation better, for our own good."

"Yeah, well, they probably feel the same way about us," argued Kira, again with a harder edge to her voice. "But everyone has things they—that they need to hide …"

It became quiet among the three of them, the sounds of lunch room chattering flooding over and yet still muffled by their own stillness.

Kira snorted to herself, finally breaking their silence, before saying, "After all, I could analyze you and Tilly again, if you'd like?"

Rontu's dark eyes narrowed with clear annoyance this time, his brows actually furrowing. "I'd rather not hear it again."

"See, it's not nice when people do it to you. We shouldn't … pick at our friends like that either." Feeling she made her point, she stuffed a fork full of her mashed potatoes into her mouth.

"You ever wonder why Casey has bruises all the time?" Terrin wondered out loud, not following any of the bickering he knew Kira and Rontu would fall into if the topic turned toward Tilly.

Kira sighed after swallowing. "Well, I just found out he likes to pick fights with Purple Dragons. God knows why."

She glanced at Rontu briefly. He only paused thoughtfully, still staring at his tray of mostly uneaten food.

"Apparently, some Purple Dragons burned down his father's shop when he was younger when he refused to pay protection money," said Rontu.

Kira blinked with surprise. "How did you know that?"

"He told me our first day at work." Angel had also told him that first, but now Rontu had a more direct source that he could admit to having without necessarily lying about it. He didn't want to have to mention Angel at school more than he had to. It might be his paranoia talking, but he liked to be safe rather than sorry. Angel didn't exactly make her connection to the Purple Dragons a secret with how much purple she wore on a daily basis to represent.

It got quiet again at their table. He could feel Kira's concern and worry without even looking at her face. So he said, "It's fine. Like Terrin said, what he doesn't know won't hurt him. It's not like he and I are friends or anything."

In fact, it seemed like Casey didn't want to be friends either. Casey had only asked more about him at work out of curiosity. It was the first and last personal thing Casey had ever inquired about. He was friendly during shop and the rest of the time at work, but there was a clear distance held between them.

And Rontu was fine with that. It would be better exactly because of what Casey had told him that day. Casey had no love for Purple Dragons, and that was something Rontu could understand perfectly.

Yet, he was still puzzled as to why Casey had so easily told him something that seemed rather personal and intimate. Even the way he told him as been almost casual. If Casey picked fights with Purple Dragons out of a deep-seeded need for revenge … Rontu wasn't sure that need came from the fact they burned down his father's shop. Something that personal didn't strike him as something that Casey would have told him, not when he felt him put up a distinct wall most of the time.

All that was clear to him was that Casey hated Purple Dragons. The reason why wasn't as clear. In fact, it also struck Rontu as odd that Casey wasn't particularly angry about them burning down his father's shop. He didn't sound or look angry when said it. Why?

"Do you …" Kira started but then stopped, shaking her head. "Nevermind."

But he could still hear the question she didn't finish. Did he do things like that? As a Purple Dragon.

In the past, he could have more confidently told her no. That the job he had chosen, while it involved unsavory tasks, it hadn't involved people who he saw as innocent. His job in the gang, for Shawn, hadn't involved terrorizing shop owners or dealing drugs. His time was spent killing other gangsters instead, and that had been something he could live with.

But he couldn't say that anymore. Not when he had just terrorized a cop last weekend. If that cop didn't stay scared enough, Shawn would probably green-light him and the order would probably be passed onto Rontu.

And if it came down to that, Rontu knew he couldn't say no. He knew what he would have to do. Detective Morgan's daughter, Abigail, would lose her father. That or something … worse. It would be by his hands, and he would have to do it. For the same reasons Detective Morgan may be compelled to comply with the Purple Dragons' demands.

That was why he found that cold anger in Leonardo's eyes as more of a threat than Raphael's hot, burning kind. Because Rontu knew that coldness himself. He knew what he could do with it when his people were in danger. That coldness was calculating and methodical. It could plan its actions with an icy precision, fully aware of what it's doing. Blind, burning rage like Raphael's was just a beast out of control. It didn't plan anything. It wasn't always aware of what it was doing. It was less dangerous to Rontu. He could use it to his advantage if he had to.

If that cold look in Leo's eyes was anything like he thought it was, Leo would do anything he had to in order to protect his brothers, and he would do it ruthlessly with a cold precision. Rontu knew that because he was the same.

Shawn knew this too, and now Rontu was nothing more than his weapon. A sword that cuts when it was commanded to. The sword doesn't have a say in who it cuts and why.

So was he any better than the Purple Dragons who burned down Casey's father's shop?

No. He was not.

Kira hadn't finished her question for a reason, and it was because she didn't want to know that answer. Or, rather, because she already knew it.

Leo was cleaning one of the men's bathrooms when he got Donnie's text:

Hey Leo, I didn't get much information out of Tasuki. But he did say that the guys involved weren't family members. He also swore on his family's honor that it's not something that will harm us. I hope this is enough for now. We can both keep trying, but I think that's all I'm going to get before tonight.

Leonardo stared at the text. Tasuki swore … He couldn't help but want to take the eldest Oroku at his word. He hadn't really seen much of Tasuki, but he had seen how he had conducted himself. He offered to help police Ren, took it as his responsibility, as the oldest. That was something he could respect in him. Leo always knew how much honor meant to families like … them. He believed Tasuki.

After all, he would have done the same. He actually couldn't help but see a bit of himself and Raphael when they were younger in the two Oroku brothers.

So he texted back: That is definitely enough for now. We can keep trying in the future. Thanks, Don.

Author Notes: Oh no, trouble in Apritello paradise already? I see there being some growing pains for the both of them to figure out. If you expected a smooth ride into that relationship, lol, that's not very realistic. On a side note, I went back and revised the scene where April first kissed Donatello. I've gotten better at writing her, so I went back and fixed it up.

Again, I hope the majority found these little investigations among the characters interesting. I suppose I'm a little concerned it would seem too boring to others. Just know that I write what I do because it feels necessary for the story.

Which leads me back to Blogger9999, who pointed out that, yes, there are connections between almost all of the characters. A little web of connections and secrets that if someone just mentioned a name or something, they would realize it as well. They can make guesses about certain things as they analyze each other but not about everything. So it does beg the question of how that will influence the future events of the story.

And yeah, Terrin is wondering about Mikey too, Blogger9999.

I'm pleased you enjoyed the music. I also liked the songs Dragula and Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie. In fact, Dragula as well as Super Beast will be showing up as theme songs in a later portion of this story. I most definitely welcome any song suggestions. I like music especially for inspiration and theme songs to share in chapters when I write. Please do send anything my way that you think is particularly good.