CHANE
Chane let out a breath, finally relaxing as she exited the courtroom. She could sense Ceci, the lawyer Casey had found to take her case pro bono, coming up behind her.
Ceci placed an encouraging hand on Chane's shoulder, her puffy fro bouncing with each movement. "We presented a lot of good points. It'll play well in our real case, so don't let today get you down."
Round, short and cheery in her pastel purple skirt suit, she seemed out of place in the stiff formal setting. It hadn't escaped Chane's notice that Ceci leveraged that perception into taking her legal foes by surprise with her razor intelligence and unrelenting ferocity, a strategy Chane respected.
"How could you?"
Ceci gave Chane a sympathetic look as her mother stormed over. "I'll leave you to it then."
"Your father put you up to this, didn't he?" Her mother demanded, face flushed with fury, though she hadn't missed the opportunity to do herself up in business-chic.
"No. I haven't even told him that I'm doing this yet." Chane explained, knowing full well it wouldn't matter.
"Then it's his influence that drove you to this." Her mother huffed.
Chane looked around, seeing only her mom's slick legal team. "Your new beau isn't here. Did he realize you weren't the wealthy cougar he mistook you for?"
Her mother's lips pursed as though she'd tasted something sour. "No. He wasn't what he pretended to be and I couldn't tolerate such deceit."
Translation, they'd both realized they were gold-diggers and split.
"Don't change the subject. Why would you want to hurt me like this?"
Experience told her that her mother's histrionics were only beginning.
"Whether or not you believe me, I'm not doing this to hurt you. I love you, but I wouldn't trust you with the life of a plant, let alone a child. Your custody isn't just a problem for me, it's a huge flaw in the system. One I intend to fix."
Her mother's jaw dropped. "How...of course I'm responsible. I save you from dressing like a hobo when I can. Besides the judge ruled in my favor."
Chane nodded and winked. "I know. And that's how I will demonstrate that the system is biased and broken. Thanks, mom."
SHEN
Shen, leaned back in the swively conference room chair, flanked on each side by Nik and Jem, enjoying the show. The transformation had been remarkable.
The executives, who had come in obviously looking to take advantage of some kids and their greedy promoter moms, were now quaking in their boots and signing the most disadvantageous deal of their careers.
Watching their moms work was unreal. Aunt Denim sat silent and implacable, every bit the soldier they typically forgot she was, putting the execs on edge each time they tried downplaying the talent to give themselves bargaining room.
Then Aunt April, so sweet and friendly, lulling them into a false sense of security, wheedling out all the little details that her own mom, slick as oil, would pounce on like a predatory cat. Aunt Zoe would be proud.
They'd all gone over the shit deal offered that essentially proposed to own them and come up with a counter deal, guaranteeing financial solvency, artistic autonomy and full ownership over their work. Their moms were nailing it point by point.
With all that they focused on stealth, stamina, acrobatics and combat, this was an equally legitimate and badass form of battle. And she could not help but respect the tag team takedown happening before her eyes.
"Damn. This is really happening." Shen chuckled.
"Yeah. It's like whoa." Jem added in awe.
Nik canted his head to the side, following the proceedings in fascination. "You should see it the way I do. It's pretty crazy."
Shen grinned. "Looks like we've got ourselves a record deal."
DREA
Drea was a little lost as she reached for her kamas and stepped into one of the private dojos. Her dad would be there shortly, wrapping up something with Uncle Aries. She glanced at the clock. He was late. She'd already stretched, done some warm up katas. Now for a weapons warm up. She extended her arm, twirled her weapon over the back of her hand, her mind wandering as her movements flowed…
Mimi usually bounced around her every break at school, introducing a montage of cheerleaders and other beautiful girls, dressed in name brand shit and smelling like the perfume counter at the mall. It had been that way since the fall of Luke. But the blonde was conspicuously missing today.
Anyway, while Drea was happy that a small support group formed and girls were sharing stories and educating others on how to spot a jerk, it just wasn't her thing.
Which got her thinking. What was her thing? Chane was vying to change an actual law! Nik, Jem and Shen were opting for fame. Scout, while meeting some pushback from Uncle Leo, was well on her way to putting this very dojo on the map. But what was Hamato Andrea doing? What goals did she have? What talent?
She loved the arts. Had even competed with Scout when they were little. But she couldn't touch her, and after a string of seconds and thirds-
One of her kamas nicked her finger and she dropped it. "Ow!" She hissed, drawing her index to her lip. Her temper flared and she reached back, launching her other kama into a dummy.
"I wish I could do that," Mimi said from the door.
Drea shrugged as she collected her weapons, hanging them on the wall again. "Anyone can learn."
Mimi didn't say anything. In fact, she wasn't bouncing, and as Drea scanned the space around the tiny blonde she realized she was alone.
"Where's Jem?" Drea asked, tugging the first aid kit from the wall.
"A meeting. The record deal or something." Mimi lifted a foot to come in and Drea held up a bleeding hand, stopping her. "Shoes."
"Huh?" Mimi looked at her feet. "Oh, these? They're Jimmy Choos."
Drea inhaled deep then looked to the dojo ceiling. Why? Just. Why? "No, Mimi. Take them off. We respect the space we work in. We bow in, to our teacher, to our judges, our referees, and our opponents and we don't wear shoes in the dojo. So-" Drea gestured at Mimi's shiny heels. "Off. That is if you want to come in here. And, why are you here if you're not looking for Jem? If it's Scout you're after she's in some new level of conditioning hell right now."
"No. Uh. One of the girls in our support group was- Uh-" Mimi frowned, chewed on her lip. "She was attacked leaving the mall last night. Parking garage. The cameras were all busted. She doesn't know who they were... She... barely got away." Mimi stepped out of her heels and reached for the first aid box, helping Drea with the bandage.
The tiny blonde's eyes widened as she got a closer look at Drea's finger. "Does this need stitches?"
"No." Drea wiggled her other fingers, showing her scars. "Comes with the territory."
"Shouldn't they be dull, for practice?" Mimi reached for the antibiotic cream.
Drea laughed. "For everyone else that learns here and beginners everywhere, that would be the smart thing to do. Just not my thing." She pulled her hand away, finished closing the band-aid herself. "So, what am I supposed to do about your friend's problem?"
"Teach us?" Mimi whispered, a hundred watts less than her normally buoyant self.
Drea's back straightened, her head snapping toward Mimi. "Come again?"
"Teach us how to protect ourselves— to get away." Mimi nibbled on a cuticle, her brow wrinkling. "Nothing fancy. Just the basics."
"So, tell them to take a class here. The dojo offers women's self-defense, as well as a kids and teens basics. For that very purpose." Drea closed the kit, hung it back up, but Mimi was staring at it. The girl's eyes were glossy, red-rimmed.
Something was off. Drea looked Jem's girlfriend over, her eyes were averted, fingers in her mouth, the other hand rubbing her tips against her palms.
Drea was no fashion expert, but the two layers of heavy sweaters made Mimi look, lumpy. Her lips pursed. "What's going on, Mimi?"
The blonde swallowed, licked her lips as she lowered a trembling hand. "It was me. It was me, and I don't want anyone to know."
Drea's stomach bottomed out. "Know what?"
Huge tears poured from Mimi's eyes. "Just teach us, Drea. Please?"
She wasn't sure what compelled her, it wasn't in Drea to be touchy-feely, but she couldn't imagine being attacked and having no chance of protecting herself at all. That wasn't a known concept in her family. She drew Mimi to her, hugged the girl tight and heard her wince.
Guiding her back, Drea shoved one of her sleeves up, revealing green and black bruises on Mimi's arm. The question tumbled from Drea's lips. "Was it, Luke?"
"What?" Mimi gasped. Her wet eyes grew big. "No! No." Her chest shuddered as she crossed her arms over herself. "A man in a black van." Her brow furrowed. "Marves? No. Marco's. It said Marco's on the side."
"Mimi, how did you get away?" Drea's mind was churning. What did she do? Mimi couldn't hide this. Why would she want to?
But Mimi wasn't answering. She covered her face, started to cry again as she shook her head, her blonde curls bouncing.
Then it occurred to Drea. What horror couldn't a girl speak? One worse than she'd known herself. "Oh. Oh shit, Mimi. I thought- I thought you had a driver- bodyguard person- what- how? Oh gods. Mimi you have to report this."
"No. No. My parents can't know. I was driving Luke's car. I just- I wanted to do the things they let him do. I snuck out and went to the mall. It was the parking garage." Her voice fell to a shaky whisper. "Help me, Drea. Help us."
Andrea's mind was spinning. "Mimi you have to report this."
"No! No. Please, I'm trusting you. Tell me I can trust you." Mimi grabbed Drea's arm, pulling on it. "Please."
"I can't." Drea shook her head. This was bigger than even what she'd been through. She had to tell someone.
Mimi backed away with fresh tears in her eyes, poised to run. "I thought I could trust you. I destroyed my brother for you."
"Wait." Drea grasped her gently, guiding her back. "Listen. I want to help you. I do. But, Mimi, I can't teach anyone without permission from my Sensei. I just- we're not allowed. I can't. But. I can ask."
"But you won't tell?" Mimi pleaded.
Drea's stomach turned. "You know what. At the very least you should tell Jem. In fact, I'll look into what I can do about setting up an after-school class or something. But you- you've got to tell him. And I'm sorry, I won't say your name, but I do have to be honest with my Sensei about what happened and why I want to do this."
Mimi threw her arms around Drea. "Thank you."
"You'll tell Jem." Drea repeated.
"I will. I promise." Mimi nodded.
"Okay then." Drea sighed.
"Uh, Drea?" Mimi was still hugging her and Drea wasn't sure what she was agreeing to.
"Yeah?" Drea breathed, patting the girl in her attempt to comfort her.
"Who's your Sensei?" Mimi mumbled into Drea's shirt.
Well shit.
Drea sighed. "My dad."
RAPH/DREA/LEO
Raph pushed into the dojo, ready to work out the kinks from a mind-numbingly boring stake out to protect some prima donna while he did his PR charity work in a neighborhood that he thought was unsafe. He generally liked his job, but some cases were definitely better than others.
He barely made it past the lobby, when he heard Drea call out, "Hey, Dad. Do you have a minute?"
He set his bag down and turned to face her. "Sure. What's up?"
Great. Okay. She had his attention and he seemed to be in a good mood. Yet her heart picked up pace as she tried to figure out how to ask his permission for this. What if he didn't trust her with this responsibility? What if he didn't think she was good enough? Or ready? She beckoned him into the private dojo, grabbing her kamas back from the weapons wall before he entered behind her. She needed something to busy her hands for this conversation.
Twirling one around her index finger she began pacing. "So, these girls at school formed a group, kind of looking out for each other." Her brow furrowed as she tossed her weapon, caught it and tossed it up again. "They mostly point out which guys are jerks." She tossed them both, caught them then resumed twirling one, still pacing. Here goes, just get it out really fast. "So, anyway, last night one of the girls was attacked in a parking garage. She came to me today and asked me to teach her and the other girls how to defend themselves." Up in the air went her kama, her eyes flickering to her dad's face for only a second before she reached up to catch it and cut her finger for the second time today. "Fuck!" She yelled. "How do I keep doing that?"
"Because ya weren't watching it." Raph pointed out as he took her hand to examine the cut. Not deep enough for stitches.
"Why ya juggling them anyway? That's gotta be your Uncle Mikey's influence." He muttered as he pulled her over towards the first aid station.
"So about teaching my classmates..." She started, but he held up a hand.
"You said someone was attacked. What're we talking here? A mugging or something more serious?" He began cleaning the cut as he waited for her answer.
She didn't really want to go into the details. Damn. And he was tough to distract. Maybe if she came at this from another angle he wouldn't focus on what happened. She hissed as he poured antiseptic on her fingers. "Ow. Shit, Dad! I only slapped a band-aid on the one I did earlier! Can't you just do that?"
His eyes shot to hers then to her fingers, locating the other band-aid, tugging it off. "You know better. An watch yer mouth."
She rolled her eyes, her shoulders slumping. "So, Nik, Shen, and Jem are opting for fame. Chane's out to change laws and Scout's going to compete again. And I'm just kind of like, what am I doing? You know? I'd do the whole competing thing again but let's face it I'm never going to beat Scout. I'm never going to touch a weapon and master it in three months. So, when this girl asked for my help I thought, I could actually do this."
Nellie was doing what now? Wait, never mind. He needed to stay focused. And the fact that she kept dodging his request for specifics did not bode well for the answer.
But he did like where she was heading with this. If she was here teaching, then she wasn't out at parties meeting losers. The problem was, thanks to the pole up Leo's ass, he couldn't just say yes.
Teaching any of their combat arts, even self-defense, was different than yoga or conditioning. Leo expected to train and approve all instructors before they could potentially weaponize someone. That, and after having their dojo infiltrated before, he'd insist on having Don run background checks on all her prospective students. Drea would not be jumping into this headfirst like she wanted.
"That sounds like a great idea. I think it'll be good for you." He started.
She let out a relieved breath. "Thanks, I..."
"Jus' not right away." He added.
"What?" She ripped her partially bandaged hand out of his grip.
"Leo trains and approves all instructors of anything that brings the hurt. Way it is. He'll also wanna vet all yer students before they start. But we can talk to him tonight and see about speeding up the process." He explained.
"Grrrrr! Now I know how Scout feels! Uncle Leo is out of control!" As Drea huffed, a low rumble rose up from her chest. "So many rules!" She didn't seem to realize she was making the noise as she marched over to the dummy and yanked one of her kama free.
Then she glared at her dad. "You know none of us think that BS he laid down on Scout is fair. She could've demolished Grey McCoy. She didn't. That's self-control, isn't it? So, she defends herself and Leo puts her on lockdown! And now you're telling me I've got to wait for him to what, teach me how to teach? Then my students have to have background checks? How long is that going to take? Dad, one of those girls was- she was-" Drea's eyes widened as she caught herself.
She snapped her mouth shut, her teeth grinding together as she spun around releasing her weapon right back into the dummy. "It's not right! The bad guys aren't trained and background checked! Those girls need this now! What if- "
She turned to face him, her brain filled with images of Mimi- she'd seemed so- broken. "What they did to this girl was awful. Like-" She swallowed hard, didn't know how to even speak something so bad. "Dad, it was really bad. This- it can't wait."
What was going on with Scout? Seriously, how much had he missed since this morning? He'd have to table talking to Leo about fucking with the recovering addict's rehab. Right now, Drea had priority.
And, honestly, he didn't disagree with her. They couldn't have these evil bastards walking their streets, attacking innocents. But the bug up Leo's shell wasn't unfounded.
It didn't matter that it was over a decade and a half ago when one of their students attacked, and nearly abducted Zoe, using skills their school taught. It still boiled his blood. And even with the instructor training, there were still injuries with new instructors misjudging what a student was capable of or ready for.
But Drea wasn't any potential instructor. She was smart, seeming to have an intuitive grasp on reading her opponents. No reason she couldn't apply the same skills to reading her students. And, boyfriend issues notwithstanding, he trusted her judgement.
But Leo was Leo. Out of control rule-monger or not, they'd have to go through him for this. Of course, he wasn't opposed to pushing through Leo.
"I know. Because it's you, we should be able to get him to fast track you. And if you get the list of students together, your Uncle Donnie will drop everything to run it." There was an art to getting Don to do things he didn't have time for, at breakneck speed, one Raph had mastered. "Until Leo gives the all clear, they can get started in your Aunt Karai's class."
Unsurprisingly, Drea looked no less frustrated and crestfallen.
"In the meantime, you give me what details you can and I'll go out and shut this operator down personally."
His phone buzzed and he checked it. Bodyguarding rich asshole tonight. Be at the office by seven. Thanks Aries. Exactly what he needed. Fuck sleep. He'd make do.
"After I'm done working tonight. Now that we got a plan..." hopefully one his disgruntled daughter could get on board with "...we'll go see Leo about bending the rules and you can fill me in on this attack."
"Right." Drea retrieved her weapon, hanging it back on the wall, placing its mate alongside it. "I gotta go. Those girls are having a support group meeting I said I'd attend."
She ducked out the door, already forming her own plan. Her dad's words stuck in her head. Give him the details and he'd shut it down. Nah. She could do that herself.
Raph crossed his arms stubbornly. "You know, if you want to prove you're responsible, having a fit and stomping off ain't the best way to prove it."
She stopped, huffed out a dramatic sigh and turned around. "I agreed, didn't I? Now I have to find out who's in for this, so Uncle Donnie can illegally invade their privacy and make sure I've got all the details for your 'investigation.' Can I go get started on that, since this is all time sensitive?"
Trying not to blow up at the heavy dose of sarcasm in her tone and use of air quotes around 'investigation,' he gave a sharp nod. "Send the student names and the attack info to me when ya got it."
She shrugged and took off.
Ugh. Had they given Sensei this much trouble when they were teens? On second thought, he'd better not answer that. Best to just take care of business. So, he started towards the office.
Leo didn't even jump when he kicked the door open. He just set down his pen and looked up at Raph. "Can I help you?"
"Drea needs to teach some of her classmates self-defense." No point in dancing around it.
Leo raised an eye ridge. "And instead of signing up for the instructor training program, she sent you here because...?"
Raph scowled. "Ain't time for that."
Leo sighed. "Impatience isn't a great quality in..."
"One of her classmates was attacked, Leo. Bad. They're scared and they want to learn how to protect themselves from someone they know and trust."
Leo frowned.
"Come on, Leo. It's Drea. She'll be good at this. And I think she needs this, with all her cousins finding their thing." He softened, not yet willing to plead.
The corner of Leo's mouth quirked up into a half-smile. "Yeah, I know she will. I was hoping she'd want to teach, but was trying not to influence her. I'm happy about her decision, although I wish it were under different circumstances."
"Yeah, me too." Raph growled. "But I'm going to take care of it."
"Need any help?" Leo asked.
Raph snorted. "Against one of these cowardly losers? Please. So Drea's clear?"
Leo stood and stretched, joints popping. "Yeah, send the student list to Donnie and have Drea here early tomorrow morning. I'll review her for certification myself and give her a few hard-earned pointers on teaching."
Raph grinned, texting Drea. Wish granted. Meet Uncle Leo at the dojo tomorrow, 5 am. "That's what I'm talking about. And I've got my morning free to boot."
"About that." Leo burst his balloon. "I need you in with Mikey and Scout tomorrow morning."
Raph looked up from his phone. "Why? This have anything to do with you bustin' Scout's balls?"
Leo's beak crinkled. "That's not even...I'm not..."
"Drea mentioned you came down on her for nothing and she's off the competition. You know she needs this, right?" Raph cut into his brother's sputtering.
Leo rubbed his temples as he paced. "Of course, she does and she will. That's why I'm doing this."
Raph crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. "Care to let me in on your master plan?"
"She was sparring, not with her cousins, with a kid from school whom she apparently doesn't like. She paralyzed him with pressure points to take him down before it even started." Leo explained in irritation.
Raph snorted. "Big deal. And maybe she's got a good reason for not likin' this kid. Maybe he had it comin'." Thoughts of the loser who'd hurt Drea flicked through his mind.
Leo glared at him. "It does not matter how she feels about him. She needed to treat it like a regulation sparring match, regardless of provocation."
"But..." Raph started.
"No." Leo interrupted. "She is competing. In a real tournament. I have busted my shell to find one that's willing to accept her despite her age, ancestry and, surprisingly, gender. And the one I found, I'm pretty sure only took her to prove that she couldn't cut it. When she gets there and starts performing, it will get ugly fast."
Raph frowned. He hadn't thought about any of this when Scout announced her plans.
"Her opponents will do everything they can to antagonize her and no one will call them out on it. What they will be doing is looking for any nit-picky reason to disqualify her. Her behavior has to be perfect, no matter what." Leo continued.
Raph's fists clenched. "It ain't fair."
Leo shrugged. "Real life isn't fair. Just like when Anton first went to school. Everything he had to put up with without stepping a toe out of line, because he was the first to break a barrier. Scout's doing the same thing."
Raph hated it when Fearless was right.
"And I want to make it unfair in her favor. Let them get mad and thrown off when they can't faze her. But for that to work, she needs ironclad control over her emotions and reactions."
Ugh. That sucked shell.
"I'm not taking away her competition, but you should know better than anyone that this is going to take some serious motivation. So, I'm providing that. There's no way she's giving up. She'll work her butt off until she gets this."
Raph nodded. "That's true." No one did stubborn determination like Scout. "So, I'm supposed to be what, her temper coach?"
"Yup. So be there. Bright and early." Leo commanded.
Once again, fuck sleep. He wasn't going to be doing any of it in the near future.
Wasn't there something else? Oh, right?
"What's this I hear about Nellie changing a law?"
Leo blinked. "What? The shell. Why doesn't anyone tell me anything?" He picked up the desk phone and furiously pounded out a number.
Raph ignored the rhetorical question and ducked out the office, leaving the next round of aftermath to Aries.