I own nothing, but Rin, Gordy, and the Assassins Association.

The mutated rat looked downward open-mouthed. Actually, the sight wasn't impressive: a partially crushed in dumpster lid, bloodstains surrounded, and yellow tape hanging around it all in a loose square. He dared not get any closer, but his nostrils flared. Yoshi pointed his nose at the area. Smells, so many smells came to him from so many humans. He breathed in deeply again. Disinfectant lingered here along with other medical smells. So ... Since that blood down there was Rin's pursuer's ...

. . .

Rin watched from the shadows of the end of an alleyway the opposite end of which was directly across the street from another alleyway several medical professionals were busy in at the moment. There hadn't been a lot she could do for Gordy herself other than call them. She'd used another accent from an Asian nation that was not Japan in case a person or camera caught a glimpse of her and she was recognized as east-Asian if not Japanese. Other secrets she could not hide so easily.

If they were good at their jobs, the medical professionals should realize their patient had not just fallen. He'd been in a fight. Their were fingernail scratches across his face, bruises around his neck area, and more …

Of course, even if Gordy did die from his injuries, it wouldn't be homicide. He'd hunted her first. He'd approached her first. He'd chased her, grabbed her, tried to kill her … Then he'd fallen after pushing too hard against a weak guardrail. That was all. But ... she'd pushed him back. She'd set an ambush for him as he chased her. She'd followed through on an attack when she might have just escaped. All these things were possibly considerations legitimate, government authorities would sift through. She would not be answering to them, though.

Rin swallowed. When Gordy didn't call his sensei with an update, the older man would come. It wouldn't matter that his student had been going feral.

"She" was acting "against" orders. "She" had been in charge of filling a contract that could now never be completely filled. "She'd" lived through an Association execution attempt and defeated a fellow student doing so. And "she" had not avenged her sensei but joined her killer … and then quit his organization and run away from him too. All those things were stains on the Association's reputation. None of them would be forgiven. And where the student could not, the sensei would.

. . .

Yoshi blinked at her. He'd heard her coming a long way, though not as much as the sight of her now suggested he should have. She stared back at him over a mass of plastic bags. "Since it's my last time down here, I thought I'd stock you up."

"What 'is' all of that?"

The turtles were already ducking under what seemed dozens of bags hanging from her arms to hug her around the legs. However, she kept her gaze locked on the mutant rat's eyes. "Come over here and take them from me, so you can find out for yourself. I can't put them down on top of your turtle-babies can I?"

Yoshi approached cautiously. Rin could be hiding any number of weapons in those bags held in her hands even now. Yet, all he replied was, "I'd think anyone who could navigate their way through these tunnels carrying so many grocery bags should be capable of anything."

He saw Rin's eyes roll after she heard his words. He took each, plastic bag from her as gingerly as possible and placed them some ways away from her and his turtles without really looking into them, though he sniffed for explosives. Mostly, he smelled plastic of the non-exploding variety inside. His sons began going through them almost as soon as he set them down. This allowed Rin to put the rest down herself after she'd spied all four of them going through the ones their father had already set aside.

Then Yoshi peeked into one himself. He'd noticed it had been particularly heavy. His eyes widened. "Rice?"

"That is the main staple of our diet," Rin answered while looking down at his form bent over the grocery bag. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her face was still flushed from the long walk with the heavy load.

Yoshi took out pickled vegetables from another bag. The turtles found one filled with bags of chips. They crinkled the noisy packaging in their green hands. Their eyes widened at the unusual sounds.

There were a few bags of candy too, Yoshi found, of both Japanese and American varieties. Yoshi smiled upon finding a bag of "pizza" flavored things too, mostly chips. Rin's voice broke through his amused thoughts. "I tried to mostly get things you can eat right out of the package without needing to be further prepared in an oven or microwave or stored in a freezer or fridge beforehand. However, in the bottom of that one is a hotplate." She nodded to two more close together and theirs a small cooking pot and teapot for the rice and tea. You do have a source of 'clean' water right?"

Yoshi raised his head to scowl at her. "Indeed." He glanced at a bag that seemed to have one, round, wide and tall object inside. "What is that?"

"I figured with all the cement down here, they might help keep the turtle-babies occupied for you while you made your tea."

Yoshi reached over and peeled plastic bag straps aside. Then he peeked in to see a circular rainbow of large dots through a clear plastic lid protecting them. He reached in and drew out a plastic, yellow bucket. "Children's chalk?"

Rin shrugged. "I see kids on the surface making art with it all the time. I thought the turtle-babies might like to give it a try."

Yoshi tucked the tub of art supplies under one arm and stood. He stared at his sons playing with plastic and foil bags still. Then he nodded, "I believe they will enjoy it.

Rin gave a tired smile before looking up into his face. "Can I show them how?"

Yoshi nodded. She walked through the turnstiles and down the stairs. Michelangelo ran after her and grabbed, then clung to her leg. Raphael and Leonardo got up and chased their brother if not her. Donatello continued to play with, or perhaps, study the many different kinds of bags he'd discovered. When the pop of the see-through lid on the bucket of chalk echoed off the abandoned train station's walls, however, Donatello ran to them.

Rin took out a piece of green chalk and scribbled with it a little on the floor before handing it over to an open-mouthed Michelangelo who was still the closest to her. On her other side, Raphael grabbed a piece out of the bucket by himself. Michelangelo grabbed another one out of the bucket too, orange. Then he had one in each hand. He plopped down on his bottom, stuck out his tongue, and used both hands to made huge swirls on either side of himself as wide as his arms would reach. Raphael's eyes narrowed at the cement as he ground the end of his piece, its color a pink so deep it was nearly red, into it seemingly intent on completely covering all hint of the surface under his art with a thick layer of the colored dust. Leonardo sat, crossing his legs in front of himself, before leaning over them to make curving, undulating lines in front of himself that looked like ocean waves since the piece he'd picked out of the bucket for himself was sky-blue. Donatello made a dash on the floor with each piece of chalk still in the bucket after his brothers took theirs. A row of what looked like tallies, each a different color, appeared in front of his knees. The first had been purple.

Rin still sat up on her own knees in front of them all. She watched for a bit, and then shook her head with a weary grin. "Even now, each one of them is so different from all the others."

Yoshi watched with a smile of his own, agreeing. All he said, however, was. "Rin …"

She looked up at him. He moved his gaze to lock with hers before continuing. "Why did you say this would be the last time you came down here to supply us with food?"

Rin bowed her head and stared into her own lap then. She clenched her fists over it. "Please … Let me enjoy this for a while before explaining maybe after they've gone to sleep?"

Yoshi watched her another moment and then nodded.

God Bless

ScribeofHeroes