Raphael's P.O.V.-
I could hear Mikey singing in the kitchen from my bedroom. On my bed I sat with one of Athénaïs's crystal hairpins in my hands; my elbows rested on my kneecaps. I picked this up when it fell out of her hair after one of the rides. She said it wasn't real crystal and told me to simply toss it out. But I secretly held onto it instead. Don't ask me; I have no clue. I sat there listening to my youngest brother sing- badly- and staring down at the hairpin.
I don't want to see her. I don't want to see her. We went to the festival a couple of nights ago; I don't need to see her again so soon. I don't want to see her….. Dammit!
I tucked the flower-shaped hairpin under my pillow where I knew my brothers wouldn't find it. Then I left my room and walked out to the common room. Leo was absorbed in his episode of Space Heroes and Mikey was busy making something in the kitchen. "One and two and three and four, she dances all day long!" He finished whatever song he was singing only to spin around and beam over at me.
"Hi, Raph! Just in time! I made red velvet cake; only its green! You know, like us. It's almost done; wanna a piece?" He sure sounded cheerful. I inwardly grimaced; why did he have to act so damn happy to see me? It made it all the harder to sneak away undetected. "Not right now. I'm going out." "Out? Out where?" Leo apparently hadn't been as engrossed in his show as I thought.
"None of your business," I shot back annoyed. "Raph, we just a major run-in with the Foot Clan last night. You sure you should be going anywhere with those injuries you sustained?" Leo had his usual superior tone which drove me up the wall. "I already told you; it's not that bad. I don't even feel it anymore," I was referring to the sizable scrap across the shell on my chest. This was something Athénaïs hadn't seen before, and I didn't expect her to take it well. But what could I do? Just wait around here for it to heal? Who knows how long that'll take? And besides….. It's not that I was looking forward to seeing her again, but I didn't want to stay away for too long. The sound of her voice would do me better than any medicine, if you asked me. And that's not me being romantic or sappy or anything! It's just a plain, old, matter of fact- that's all.
Leo eyed me for a long, tense moment, but eventually let out a sigh and turned back to the tv screen. "Whatever, lunkhead. Just try not to do anything stupid." I snorted, leaving the lair without another word. I feared that if I hung around any longer, they'd ask more prying questions and I might get mad and, ahem…. Reveal more than I should. "I gotta be more careful," I ordered myself loud out in a whisper.
Before I arrived at Murakami-san's noodle shop, I did a quick sweep of the surrounding area; just in case any Foot Clan were still sniffing about. We ran into them last night nowhere near here, thank goodness. But I sustained my wound by letting my stupid emotions get the better of me. Donnie had the misfortune to mention April's name during the fight; I can't remember why. The second he did however, my eyes grew wide as my heart momentarily froze. "What if the Foot Clan learn about Athénaïs? They wouldn't… try to kidnap her like her uncle, would they?" I remember…. She said that not too long ago back in the lair. Sometimes I forget that April's also connected to Athénaïs also. The Foot Clan know about April, who's another link to her…. Which means that through her- just like with me- they could learn about…..
My brothers and all Foot Clan present blinked over to me suddenly as I knocked the ninja I was currently fighting far from me. He flew like ten feet ahead of me, not getting up once he landed. I'd never punched anyone that hard before; it was kind of an unconscious reaction to the thought of Athénaïs in danger….. For that single, solitary moment I experience real, unadulterated fear. Just the idea that something could happen to her and I wouldn't be there to protect her. I never experienced terror like that before, of that magnitude…. In the blink of an eye my mind went numb and my strength increased ten-fold.
But that was my mistake. I soon realized this when something slashed right across in front of me. "Raph!" I heard my brothers cry. It hadn't hit me what happened immediately, but the pain started to grow steadily. And I looked down to see an expanding patch of red.
I'm no wimp though! I lied to Leo when I said I couldn't feel it anymore, but it was certainly nothing I couldn't handle. I was more concerned with how Athénaïs would react when she saw it. Probably all worried and wanting to nurse me; girls like her are like that with these kinds of things. My eyes rolled but I couldn't supress this weird, elated smile growing across my lips.
I landed on the fire escape around eleven o'clock. Peering in I saw her laying on her bed on her stomach. She had a book in her hands which she was reading with great interest. I could hear a male voice coming from the pink laptop on her desk; it sounded like a lecture or something dull like that. Not too concerned with breaking her concentration, I pushed open her window and climbed in. She gazed up at me and it was then that I noticed she wasn't wearing her pjs.
"How many times do I have to tell you to lock this thing? And what's that boring dribble you're listening to?" I made sure there was this annoyed tint to my voice. She frowned at me, sitting up and closing her book. "It's not boring; it's lovely. This is one of the great German romantic literary masterpieces," she explained while she paused the voice on her laptop. "Yawn," I brought my hand up to my mouth in a show of sheer boredom. It was her turn to roll her eyes at me. "At least I had the sense not to get changed in my pyjamas yet," I think she muttered more to herself than me.
"I gotta head back 'round midnight," I then told her. Athénaïs nodded. "Well, that gives us an hour," she hadn't noticed my injury yet, and I wasn't about to draw attention to it. Instead I hung my arms down at my sides a bit awkwardly; my eyes began to shift around. "So…. I'm here." "Yes, you are," this made her laugh softly. Unfortunately, it was around this point that her eyes caught sight of my chest. She froze, her eyes growing wider and wider. Her movements had this air about them like she was struggling to keep her balance.
The following minute was… awkward, to say the least. I was expecting something like this to happen but damn…. Did she have to act so shocked and alarmed? When she didn't break the stunned silence, I felt the sudden urge to say something. "W-What are you looking at?" I didn't sound confident at all. "Raphael!" I'd never heard her gasp like that before. My eyes immediately hit the floor; my cheeks sizzling a bright shade of pink now.
"Oh, knock it off. It's not that big a deal." "Here, let me have a look," Athénaïs took an anxious step in my direction, her hand extending out for me. "No, just leave it alone. I told you, it's nothing." "Clearly it's not. Now, let me look. Please…. I won't touch it; I just wanna see how deep it is." I didn't budge, giving her one of those "stay away from me" looks. Too bad she looked equally as determined to inspect me now. It didn't help when her eyes lowered in a worried fashion. "Please, Raphael. I want to make sure you're alright," her dainty hands clasped together. Nugh! Why did she have to say such idiotic things like that? It made my limbs go limp.
"F-Fine! Whatever….. D-Do what you want," I half-yelled, unable to look her in the eye. She didn't grin in victory like I thought she would. But then, Athénaïs wasn't that kind of person. I can't tell you how hot my cheeks burned as she approached me, getting on her knees to get a close view of the front of my shell. No, don't look at her…. No matter what you do, don't look at her. You'll go crazy if you do; she's too close…. Way too close for comfort. My heart beat at a speed I didn't know possible when I sensed her fingertips gently run over my chest. While I was losing my mind, she glanced up at my face with a deadpan expression.
"You're hurt. This is serious," almost as serious as her tone of voice. "It's not that bad! You don't need to over-react," I fired back, still trying to see straight. My vision was starting to blur, my heart was racing that fast. Athénaïs thought to herself for a minute, rubbing her thumb under his chin. "You can't go to a regular hospital…. Is there someone you can see about this?" She asked me, clearly concerned. I let out a desperate scoff; this was almost as hard as that fight last night. Almost….
"I'm fine! It's just a scratch. No big deal." "Raphael! You're the one who's injured. Take this more seriously!" "That's what you say. It's my body, after all," I smirked and crossed my arms in a power pose. After staring at me for a second, Athénaïs shook her head and muttered something under her breath. I'm sure she didn't want me to know what she was saying because she spoke in German. I watched her head to her bedroom door and shot me a look really quick. "You stay. I'll be right back," she ordered with finality.
Moments later she returned with a first-aid kit in her hands. "What are you planning to do with that?" My eyebrow rose suspiciously. "Sit on the bed," Athénaïs totally ignored my question, setting the box down on her desk and opening it. She pulled out this lotion tube and I was about to protest. But the anxiety and genuine concern in her face made me falter. She had that way of looking at me like she truly cared for my welfare…. With the world's longest sigh, I did as I was told. "Look, I'm only doing this for you. I still think I'm alright," I had to tack on, just so she wouldn't get the wrong idea.
Satisfied with my complicity, she brought over the tube and a couple of wipes. I didn't do anything when she held one wipe out for me. I merely blinked at her like she was crazy. "Use this to clean your chest, Raphael," she felt the need to instruct me, hoping it would prompt me to comply further. My cocky smirk reappeared. "I don't think so. I agreed to sit down; that's it. If you want to fuss over this tiny scrape, you gotta do it yourself," I said without thinking through the applications first. I soon caught on to what I'd just implied once her cheeks turned a deep shade of pink too.
She hesitated for moment, looking a little at war with herself. Her eyes drifted from side to side like she was thinking. I wasn't anticipating her hands to all of a sudden tear open the wipe and very awkwardly- yet carefully- reach up to dab the front of my shell. My whole body stiffened, and I had to remind myself to breathe. While I was struggling with that, she continued to clean and disinfect my wound with the upmost tenderness. Once that was done, she set the cloth aside and grabbed the ointment.
Again, Athénaïs faltered. Her stare was locked down at her hands; she was obviously reluctant to begin. This was proven by her last-ditched attempt to get me to participate in the process more. "C-Can you put this on yourself?" Her voice was shaky and shy. "Then it doesn't go on," I stated flatly. She frowned unamused. "You're such a child," she decided to murmur in English this time. My eyes grew at the sight of her squeezing some lotion onto the palm of her left hand. Then she slowly, slowly brought it up to my chest.
On went the hand and both our eyes winced shut. I initially twitched at the treatment; the dull sting overriding everyone. But the knowledge that Athénaïs's hand was pressing up against me quickly returned to the centrefold of my mind. Her hand didn't move for a brief while, staying perfectly still as if she wasn't sure what to do herself. Soon enough though her palm began to move, instantly relaxing me. This was also a brand-new experience; one I didn't know was possible to feel. I didn't know I could be this relaxed before. And I knew the second her hand removed from me.
"You done yet?!" I'm not sure why I yelled this. I'm honestly not sure if I wanted her to continue or not. A part of me was embarrassed beyond belief, being babied like this…. But another part of me…. I wouldn't say that I enjoyed it, but….. But….
My eyes reopened to find Athénaïs opening up a large Band-Aid. "What are you doing with that?" "I'm going to cover your injury. It'll heal faster this way," she justified her action. "Pass. I don't need it." "I'm putting it on, Raphael," she said, and I didn't have the mind to stop her anymore. I observed her apply the bandage, looking very keen as she did so. That done, she straightened up and grinned at me.
"There! All done; now doesn't that feel better?" "No." "Oh, Raphael. Now leave that on, otherwise you might get an infection," she sat down on the bed beside me. I grinned at her without thinking. "Sure, thanks…." Her eyes widened in surprise. "Thanks? You're going to thank me after putting up such a resistance?" "Hey! I never said I didn't want you to!" "….. Uh, yes, you did; several times." "Well I obviously didn't mean "don't do it"." "Oh, I thought that's what the word "no" meant," she giggled a little. I shot her a playful glare.
"I thought you'd know better by now." "I do, and that's why I insisted on treating you. I worry that you don't take good enough care of your health. Heh, like most boys your age….." "What was that?" My eyebrow raised up at her, still in a playful manner. "Let me guess? Health and wellness are "girly things"?" She asked and I chuckled. "So you do know better….." "Raphael," she then nudged my shoulder.
I found myself smiling without good cause or reason…. Just sitting here with Athénaïs like this. The way she looked at me and smiled that stupid grin of hers…. Needless to say, I was in no hurry to leave.