This chapter took FOREVER, we are very sorry! Please enjoy some Capriltello friendship development, and then Leorai shenanigans! A little interlude before shit starts really going down.
Relationships are hard, man...
The usual big thanks to our beta readers Queequegg and TheHeroComplex! *mwa*
The turtles were just clearing up the breakfast table when April arrived after school. Apparently they'd been trotting around Manhattan long after she and Casey had gone home last night—her father didn't look happy to see her arrive so late— and even then, there had been no luck finding the mutagen. But it hadn't all been pointless; they told her about a new ninja clan they encountered, and the way they described the mysterious newcomers made her a little jealous she hadn't been there. Mikey and Leo seemed particularly enraptured by their professed awesomeness.
She was thrilled to know the guys would be going out to meet them again at sundown, which meant she could come with. Until then, April figured it was the perfect time to have that study session Donnie had offered a few days ago—her big Algebra exam was approaching fast. Refusing to let the fact that she and Casey had gone on a secret date together change anything, she made herself act like it was just another study date in the lab. Before going through the big metal doors, April simply gave Casey a warning look, hoping he got the message. Not a word, Jones. He pressed his lips, but didn't protest.
Donnie seemed only briefly disappointed that he would have to set aside working on the portal, but immediately backpedaled, assuring them he could actually use the break. He cleared up his desk of all the portal entrails, wires and chips and other mysterious components, brought three stools from the kitchen, and they got down to business.
It went pretty well… for like the first fifteen minutes.
Not like Casey would ever pick up a textbook with any amount of enthusiasm, but at least he gave it a try. Now, almost one hour in, Casey's patience was long depleted, and there were still many, many equations left to go.
"Come on, Jones, focus! What's the value of Y?" Donnie asked for the jillionth time that afternoon, impatiently tapping the page, and April looked at Casey in search for a sign that any of this was sticking. Any at all. But Casey only let out an exasperated sigh.
"Who gives a shit, man…"
April groaned inwardly, trying to keep her frustration hidden. The study session wasn't turning out as fruitful as she had originally intended. This always happened: they got together to be productive and then Casey just… quit. It was as if she'd never really stopped being Casey's tutor, ever since she was assigned him last school year.
It didn't help that it was such a nice day out either. Spring was in full bloom and it showed even in the deepest corners of the lair. The warm air filtered through the grates, bringing in some pollen particles that floated about and got in their hair. Even a bee had made it down there somehow, looking terribly lost. And there they were, just like that bee, unable to move forward to the next set of problems.
Gathering all her patience, she leaned forward. "Here, remember what we have to do with this fraction?"
"I have no idea," Casey said, not even looking at the page.
"At least try to get this one equation," April pleaded, laying an encouraging hand on Casey's shoulder. Casey grunted and gave the problem a short glance, but then he shoved the book away.
"This is impossible! I hate algebra."
"You're almost at the end of the year, you know how important it is that you pass this," Donnie said in a parenty voice. April winced a little, because it was the kind of voice Casey despised.
Sure enough, he growled, "I know! Okay? I'm just… blank!"
Donnie's tongue clucked noisily, voicing his obvious despair. As much as she knew Donnie meant well, he wasn't the most patient teacher with a more challenging student, and wouldn't realize he was actually doing the opposite of helping. If she'd learned anything, it was that the more they pushed, the less Casey tried.
April decided to change strategies. Holding up a finger, she signalled Donnie to take a step back and let her try. He obliged, a little begrudgingly, and she scooched her stool closer to Casey. "Here," she offered kindly as she led him through the problem, writing it down step by step, from scratch. "See, we use this equation to solve for Z: fifty-two. And now we use that to solve for Y. So what's the value of Y, then?"
She left the last step open for Casey, who had reluctantly leaned forward, hopefully to try and follow. There was a twinkle in his eye that April recognized as a light bulb coming on in his head, and he picked up the pencil. She watched, holding her breath, as he scribbled the division in his chaotic handwriting, quickly as though he feared the solution would flee from his mind if he didn't hurry.
"Is that it?" he asked finally, lifting the pencil from the page and seeking approval in her eyes.
April celebrated before Casey was even done asking. "Yes! You got it!" She offered Casey a high-five that he met a little too enthusiastically, leaving a prickly feeling on April's palm even with his gloves on. She shook it off, laughing.
"Holy crap, I got it!" he proclaimed, throwing punches at the air. "Who's the block-head now?"
Donnie gave a cautious chuckle of celebration. "See? That wasn't so hard."
"That's right, foo'! Not even algebra can stop Casey Jones now!" Casey roared, shoving a finger at the solved equation.
"Great! Then Casey Jones can totally handle four more pages!" Donnie replied, smiling like a door-to-door salesperson and Casey faltered, looking somewhat less confident.
"Uh, I think we earned a little break, don't you? Huh, Professor D?" Casey countered, optimistically rising from his chair and nudging Donnie's side.
But Donnie had the face of a teacher who took no bullshit, no ass-kissing, and no bribes. "See that clock, Jones?" he said, pointing towards the aforementioned device hanging from the wall. "You can take a break when the hour is up like we agreed."
"That's like 10 whole minutes!" Casey whined, plummeting back into his seat.
April released a snort. "Come on, 'Professor', it's only ten minutes, and we can all use a break."
The professor rolled his eyes, drawling, "Fine...", and at once Casey pushed himself away from the table. "But I hope you put more effort into the next hour, Casey," Donnie warned.
"Cut me some slack, Don. You know I'm not smart enough for this... junk," he said, motioning at the homework like a pile of manure.
"Don't give me that, you're just not interested." Donnie looked at him with his arms crossed.
"That too," Casey muttered, stretching. The sight was infectious, and April stretched in her seat as well.
"Man, I need some caffeine," Casey said, cracking his neck and sounding more exhausted than if he'd been out all night clubbing heads.
April wasn't surprised to hear Donnie's sound of approval at the mention of the word.
"That's one thing we can agree on! I think we have some Wake Up in the fridge," he said, starting towards the door, but then there was a sound of slipping fabric and something toppled to the ground with a resounding boom as Donnie stumbled forward a couple of steps. April almost fell off her stool from the start, and looked down to see her backpack on the floor, one strap tangled around Donnie's ankle.
"Nice goin', elephant feet." Casey laughed with zero delicacy, like he always did when he referred to any aspect of Donnie's unique mutant physiology. Luckily, a lot had happened since the old days when that would enrage Donnie, and the turtle only gave him a sideways glare as he righted himself, Casey bending down to pick up the backpack.
"Damn, what do you have in here, bricks?" Casey said to April, weighing the bag in both hands before dropping it in front of her with a dry thunk. Immediately, she could tell Donnie had caught sight of the contents, and before she could reply he was already stretching his long neck over their shoulders to get a closer look.
"Wait! Is that The Way Things Work by David Macaulay?" he said, big eyes intent on the cover peeking through the top of the bag. "I know that book, it's a classic!"
April hesitated for a split-second, because she hadn't planned to let him see it yet. A part of her wasn't sure about letting Casey see Donnie get a present from her, even when it was barely a present. But she tossed the thought aside. This was ridiculous! Was she not going to be able to be herself around either of them anymore? she complained to herself, wondering when she'd started worrying so much.
Determined not to let her anxiety dominate her, she took out the book, which was heavy enough to level asphalt, and handed it out to Donnie.
"Oh yeah," she said as though she'd just remembered. "I brought it for you, Donnie."
"For me?" Donnie said, open-mouthed as he hesitantly extended his hands towards it, like he couldn't believe it. April nudged the book at him so he finally wrapped his fingers around the edges, as gingerly as if he was holding a puppy.
"It's nothing, really," she said, trying to play it down despite herself with a swift side glance at Casey, relieved to see no signs of outrage on his face. "Dad and I were doing some spring cleaning and I rescued this from the bottom of a trunk. I thought you'd like it, and Dad said you could have it."
"Really? Wow! Thanks so much!" He gazed at the heavy book in his hands, holding it aloft like some priceless treasure found in an ancient tomb.
"It's pretty old," April said sadly, grazing a gentle finger against the cracks on the spine. "The edges are a bit worn, and I tried to straighten all the dog eared pages..."
"Trust me, down here this is considered 'like new'. Your dad's the best. Give him my thanks too!"
Donnie was beaming. He looked so happy, and April couldn't help the little prick of regret at his words, wondering if he would still think so highly of her dad if he knew what his opinion was on April hanging out with them. Once again, she had to shake the thought away, and watched as Donnie opened the book, flipping through some pages under the only mildly interested gaze of Casey. At one drawing of a mammoth wearing a pair of goggles much like his own, he let out a chuckle that gave April butterflies.
"This book is like the 'Where the Wild Things Are' of engineering. The level, of course, is elementary, but you gotta love the way it's illustrated."
"You're such a show-off, Donnie," Casey said with a grimace.
"And you're one to talk, Casey Jones!" Donnie retorted, only momentarily lifting his eyes off the book. "Besides, I'm not being a show-off when it's true. That's just being observant."
Casey retaliated with a guffaw. "You would get so many wedgies in school, dude."
But Donnie barked a laugh of his own, like that was never even a concern. "I'd like to see them try," he said cockily, picking up a nearby wrench and performing a few juggling moves before striking a heroic pose, flexing a couple of pretty impressive biceps. April shook her head, chuckling into the neck of her shirt, and Casey looked at him with a half smile.
"Trust me, dude. High school is fucked up. Especially for the nerds," Casey went on, and April made a little sound of agreement at the observation, which definitely had some truth to it.
But Donnie got up, book in hand, and she could tell he was pointedly ignoring their claims, as though he didn't want to taint his ideal image of school. He held the book to his snout and took a deep whiff.
"Mmm, I love it when books smell like paper instead of dumpster," he said, and the corner of April's mouth quirked upwards to see him so excited about something so simple. Sometimes she forgot the turtles had lived secluded in their sewers the first fifteen years of their lives. They were amazingly well-adapted, all things considered. "Lemme put it away in my room. I'm gonna give this bad boy a read tonight."
"Get the Wake Up while you're at it, Donnie," Casey called out as the turtle made his way to the exit.
"Right, right. And for you, April?" he asked her. His face lit up when he looked at her.
"No, thanks," she replied with a smile. She wasn't much of a fan of that stuff, which she always found looked and tasted like pee.
Donnie nodded. "Be right back," he said before heading out the big lab doors to the common room.
And then it was April and Casey alone together, something which—now that April thought about it—hadn't really happened since their date.
They'd been around each other, and they'd exchanged a few words, sure, but the subject hadn't come up in these past couple of days. Not like they could've discussed with the guys around.
The truth was, April wasn't sure what to say. She was afraid Casey would be annoyed with her for her indecision, angry even. As for her… Well, the date itself had been a bit of a disaster, although she blamed a lot of it on Casey getting pummeled, consequently making them miss the movie, and her being in a dismal mood as a result. She couldn't really form a fair conclusion around those factors. The amount of excitement on her part might have been a bit underwhelming, but maybe she was just nervous...
Sure enough, once Donnie was out of earshot, Casey sat and leaned in close to speak in a low voice. "Hey, so I was thinking we could try that second date tomorrow or something," he said, topping off the words with a wink.
April shifted a little uncomfortably, glancing over at the lab doors in fear of anyone overhearing. She was happy to see Casey wasn't holding anything against her though, which left room for maneuvering. "Actually, I already said I would help with the portal tomorrow too," she whispered, shrugging, after making sure no one would hear.
"Alright, how about Wednesday?" Casey counter-proposed right away with that charming, audacious smile of his.
She chuckled under her breath, and the warmth in her cheeks was the reminder she needed to help her decide. Maybe this time there would be an actual spark, and hopefully Casey will keep his word of not getting into a fight during date night. She was actually looking forward to having another go at kissing, now that she knew roughly what to expect. "Yeah, Wednesday could be good, but can we talk about this later?" she said, pausing to listen for footsteps.
"Okay, so should I call you, or…?"
"Donnie, remember we have to meet the Lotus in two hours," they heard Leo say from the common-room.
"I know, Leo!" came Donnie's impatient reply, sounding dangerously close.
With one look, April ended the conversation.
Donnie must have been just passing by on the way to the kitchen from leaving the book in his room, because he didn't actually show up right away, but still. It was enough that they had dated in secret; arranging another one right then and there, in the lab, when Donnie was only two rooms away, felt even worse.
"How's hockey training?" she asked Casey, changing the subject to something more trivial. She couldn't blame him for not seeming entirely thrilled about it. He'd been cool enough to keep this whole situation between the two of them until she was ready, for which she was grateful.
"A nightmare." Casey huffed in reply to her question. "This punk Billy has been missing since forever. Coach is taking it out on all of us. If he doesn't show up in time, we're not gonna be able to play."
"Ugh, I know how that is," April commented. "I'm supposed to be doing a Chemistry project with this girl Janice, but she hasn't come to class in like three days, and won't even answer my emails."
"Maybe it's flu season." Casey shrugged disinterestedly.
April nodded absently and they chatted on about meaningless trivialities until a minute later Donnie reappeared through the lab doors, easily carrying two cans of Wake Up in one enormous hand, and what appeared to be a bowl of healthy, brain-stimulating snacks in the other—walnuts, mostly. He left the bowl on the table within easy reach and sat back down on his stool beside her.
He and April both grabbed a handful, but Casey took one look at the bowl full of nuts and blew a loud raspberry. "That's it? Not even some dip or anything?"
"This is brain food, Casey," Donnie said, and happily plopped a peeled walnut in his mouth. "You could use it; still got one hour to go and four pages to complete."
Casey slumped instantly as if Donnie's words were a thick lead plate falling on his shoulders. "Ugh. I wish I was a mutant turtle right now so I didn't have to take this stupid exam."
When hanging out with these two, April often felt like she was assisting a tennis match, following the ball back and forth to either side of her as they each swung ruthlessly at each other. Donnie obviously took offense to that last shot, judging by the way he straightened up on his chair, eyes wide and full of incredulity. "I'd give anything to be able to go to college and here you are completely undermining your education!"
April could testify to that: in his thirst for knowledge, Donnie had in fact compiled a series of titles through online courses. The printed-out diplomas hanging behind his desk were witness for that, and they were as official as they could get, bearing in mind the lack of a real ID or address.
"Well, that might be your lifelong dream, Donnie, but in case it wasn't obvious, it's not really mine!" Casey protested, glowering at the textbook.
"Ok, you insensitive moron, how about this?" Donnie said irritably, giving the metaphorical ball a mighty thwack back. "If you fail this semester, you're going to lose your hockey scholarship. Just like if you were a mutant turtle. April, tell him!"
April sighed, propping her head on one hand. "He knows, Donnie…" she droned, peering at Casey and the way he was pressing his lips and squinting his eyes.
"Alright, enough goofing around then. Time's a wastin', and we still got a lot to cover before going out," the turtle said, quickly opening the textbook again as if that was the answer to everything.
Unfortunately, Casey didn't seem to share the sentiment. He looked like he would rather have his fingernails pulled off with pliers than to have to touch that textbook again. "Listen, guys, how about we just call it a day? I mean I'm set for a C, definitely!" he said, feigning an expression of intense optimism, and April knew the only reason he wasn't screaming profanities was because he was so desperate to get out of there. "That's more than enough to keep my hockey scholarship."
Donnie looked about ready to head-bonk the table. "At this rate, the only C on your report card will be the one at the top of the document, in your first name."
"But his first name isn't even-" April said in a bit of a slur before a nudge from Casey interrupted her.
"Dude! April! Come on!"
She took a hand to her mouth in a silent "oops". She forgot he didn't like that name, and that he'd never told the turtles. In fact, he'd told close to nobody, and she only knew because she'd seen some of his school assignments. Too late now, because the look of shock had already been slapped onto Donnie's face.
"What… wait, you mean Casey's not your first name? So what is it?" he asked.
Casey shot April a glare.
"Thanks a lot, Red!"
"Sorry," she apologized, shrinking into herself, but she couldn't help the impish smirk on her lips.
"Oooh, is it really embarrassing?" Donnie said as his mouth spread into a grin, and he started trembling with anticipation.
"Like it could be worse than Donatello!" Casey mocked, saying Donnie's name like it was quite possibly the stupidest word he'd ever heard.
But Donnie did not seem at all phased by this, determination in his eyes. "So what's the problem, then? Go ahead and say it!" he challenged. "Or is the mighty Casey Jones chicken?"
"Forget it, dude. That won't work. I'm not telling you," Casey said with a look of warning at April, who decided to hereby wash her hands of the situation—although she was a kind of impressed that he was able to ignore that shot at his masculinity...
"Based on your silence, I'm betting on 'tiny and adorable'," Donnie speculated, clearly not willing to give up yet, and that seemed to do it.
"For your information, it's a thousand times manlier than any of your guys's stupid hipster names!"
"Oh, no, now you've hurt my feelings," Donnie deadpanned.
Casey seemed about to respond, but apparently had second thoughts. He crossed his arms over his chest, jaw clenched in a vow of silence.
"That's okay, don't tell me. You know I can find out on my own," Donnie said coolly.
"Yeah, right," Casey retorted, but April saw panic flash through his stubborn features. "I mean, how would you even do that?" His posture, perched at the edge of his seat, suggested he was threatening to crack Donnie's skull with his robust chin, but the effect was somewhat ruined by the slight waver of his voice.
"I'm a ninja. Basically a spy with martial arts skills. And there are plenty of places I can look. Like your student card?" Donnie stated thoughtfully, arms crossed and eyebrows high.
Then all three of them took their own glances towards Casey's backpack lying by the leg of the table.
There was a moment of silence in which Donnie's grin slowly stretched into a sneer, exchanging a look of mischief with April. She glanced to and fro at both boys sitting on either sides of her, staring down one another, and shrunk into herself in anticipation for what she knew was coming.
April gave a yelp when they attacked, both diving for the backpack at the same time. Casey managed to get to it first, but Donnie was soon on him like an octopus.
"No! Donnie, n-no!" Casey grunted, desperately trying to keep his backpack away from Donnie's quick hands, and suddenly it wasn't a tennis match anymore; it was basketball. The finals. And Donnie was the star player. The turtle broke into devilish cackles as they wrestled, a confusing tornado of limbs and curse words, as April watched from a safe distance with a mix of mild bemusement and apprehension, wondering if she should do anything about it. Of course, this sort of thing was the order of the day at the lair. Casey just happened to get the short end of the stick today.
"Okay, guys…" she droned, taking a step back when one of them—it was hard to tell who—bumped against one of the stools with a loud thunk. The stool swiveled on one leg for a bit and eventually toppled to the floor. "You're going to break something." Oh, but why would they listen to her?
Donnie moved so fast that April couldn't even discern what was going on exactly. His long arms seemed near impossible to contain as they flailed constantly out of Casey's grip, until suddenly the backpack was in his hands like some sort of magic trick. Casey looked just as bewildered as she was.
"Dude, what you're doing is stealing!" he threw a hand at Donnie, but Donnie dodged it with a graceful spin worthy of a Michael Jackson music video.
"Robbery is a perfectly acceptable practice in the ninja's curriculum so long as it's for a just end," Donnie said, rotating to keep his shell to Casey as the kid hopelessly tried to reach around it. "And I can't think of a juster end than this."
"Give it back, you scrawny fart!" But Casey's famous street savvy just couldn't compete with Donnie's ninja robbery skills. Maybe after this he would agree to take a few lessons from Master Splinter, April mused.
"The hell's going on?" shouted a voice behind her, and she turned around to see Raph standing at the door, looking at the scene with a lopsided grimace. His gaze landed on April in search of answers as the horseplay continued, and she merely shrugged in defeat. At this point, there was a fifty-fifty chance that Raph's intervention would either help break up the fight or just add fuel to the fire, if he decided to join the fun. April was betting on the latter.
"Raph, help! Grab him!" Casey cried, having managed to grab one strap on his backpack, but his hand was trapped under Donnie's armpit, subject to his strong armlock.
"Hold on, I gotta hear his side too," Raph said calmly, as if what was going on was a mere political debate. He waited for his brother's argument with raised eyebrows.
"Casey's-first-name-isn't-Casey-but-he-won't-say-what-it-is-so-I'm-going-to-find-out," Donnie rattled in a single breath, tipping his chin towards the backpack being held tightly against his own plastron.
"Yeah, I gotta go with Donnie on this one, Case," Raph said through a big grin, sounding really interested. April facepalmed and let out a loud, groaning sigh.
"You traitor! You ass turd!" Casey spat breathlessly as Donnie's grip slowly but inexorably dragged him downwards to the floor. His face was red with rage and April wasn't finding it so funny anymore. This was starting to go a bit too far even for these guys. Time to break it up.
She raised her voice over the shouting, once again feeling like everyone's mom, "Guys, that's enough!"
"Wait, I found it!" Donnie exclaimed, whipping out a tattered wallet as he suddenly let go of the backpack, causing Casey to stumble backwards a few steps before regaining his stance and bolting towards Donnie. But the turtle had surpassed Casey in height over the last few months and no matter how much the human tugged and hopped, the wallet was always just out of his reach. Donnie's nimble fingers opened and inspected the wallet for the right card.
"Guys, stop!" April insisted, but Donnie's expression told her he had found the jackpot.
"Wait, here it is!"
"It's Arnold, okay?" Casey yelled before Donnie could read the card and the scene froze like the digits on a deactivated time bomb.
"Arnold? That's the big reveal?" Raph said beside April with a look of disappointment. "I thought it was gonna be something like… I dunno, Hogarth, or Yanky."
"Eh, there's some pretty good jokes in Arnold, too," Donnie said through a satisfied smile, relinquishing the wallet back to its owner, who dejectedly snatched it out of his fingers.
Casey gave the front of his hoodie a firm yank and straightened his bandanna with a dignified huff. "If you dickheads are done making fun of me, I got things to do and scum to beat up."
April called after him, afraid he was angry for real this time. "Come on, don't be mad. They were just joking. And we're not done with this," she said, motioning at the pile of textbooks and papers splayed out over the table.
But Casey only kept walking past Raph, picking up the backpack on the way to the exit and yanking it on. "Well, I am! I'm done with all of you and I'm done with that crap. It's not like I was making any progress anyway," he fumed, apparently not even caring that he was leaving his textbook behind.
"Casey, wait!" Donnie called, and Casey stopped and turned, waiting. April looked on, hopeful, because it looked like Donnie was ready to apologize. But his eyes narrowed… "Hasta la vista, baby." His voice came out grave and manly—aided by the still present soreness of his bruised throat—and the two turtle brothers burst in loud laughter. Casey stormed off and Raph chased after him, still cackling loudly.
April wouldn't even attempt to catch up or try to bring him back, knowing it would be no use. Before their voices faded, she turned to Donnie and stared him down with severe eyes. His laughter died almost instantly, maybe because April was putting all her pent-up frustration into that look.
"What? We were just fooling around," he said, showing her his palms.
"It was mean," she corrected seriously.
Donnie looked taken aback. "It wasn't meant to be mean, it was… We were just messing around, he always does way worse," he protested, throwing a hand towards the doors, but with a tinge of regret in his evaporating smile.
April hesitated, because her concerns went deeper than a stupid brawl between hormonal teenage boys. It wasn't easy to talk about. This little fight was just a small sample of the thing she was so afraid of: what would getting together with Casey do to their friendship?
It had seemed like a good, simple idea to finally give Casey the chance he'd been asking for since the day they met. She'd get to see if it lead to something good, and simultaneously ease her dad's concerns. That latter had backfired somewhat, but still, if Donnie wasn't an option, she couldn't think of anyone else that could be right. Granted, she barely knew anyone else outside their little clandestine group, but on the other hand she didn't want to have to hide her friendship with the turtles from anyone, much less a boyfriend, or she could end up distancing herself from them. So who better than Casey in that regard?
But now, seeing the way her two best friends got along without a relationship with Casey being an issue yet… Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea. Maybe she should put off that date...
Unable to explain to Donnie why something as silly as the same old fight would bother her so much, she started clearing up Casey's things from the table. "It's just… When you guys get like this… ugh! Seriously, you're friends! You're supposed to care about each other!" she said, and turned her eyes away when she saw Donnie peering at her with a deep frown. He looked so disconcerted.
She didn't want it to show, but she couldn't help it: the future haunted her. She'd been trying not to think too much about it, but the questions wouldn't stop, and they were all sadistically inquisitive.
Her usual confident self—which was annoyingly absent as of late—would say she was a little young to be thinking about her long term love life. She wasn't even 19, for Pete's sake! But what with her dad talking about her future, and how she should start looking ahead and thinking about her career and her objectives…
And now they were going to actually meet their future face to face… It was like a sign. She wondered if the others thought about these things as well.
While she was putting Casey's things into her own backpack to give them to him later, she heard Donnie's footsteps coming up behind her. "April, you know us," he said in a soothing voice, bending so he was at her eye level and she had no choice but to look at him. It managed to help her resurface from her thoughts. "Fighting is kind of our thing. Doesn't mean I don't care about him."
She searched his chocolate eyes, earnest and sincere, taking a fleeting peek into his feelings for just a fraction of an instant. What she saw left her a little more at ease, but she couldn't rest assured quite yet. After all, he still didn't know that she and Casey had gone out and were probably going to go out again.
Donnie looked between her and the exit—Casey's and Raph's yells were still barely audible from the tunnels—and visibly deflated. He scratched his neck. "Look, I'll- I'll go apologize, alright? To be honest, Arnold really is only half as bad as Donatello." He said his own name almost in the same mocking tone that Casey had used, which was kind of endearing. "I'll get him back right now and we can all keep working on this until it's time to leave," he offered kindly, motioning towards the desk full of homework.
"That's alright," April said softly, slowly loosening the knot one loop at a time. "I don't think he could take another hour of this anyway."
Donnie scoffed, exasperation back in his eyes. But now April could hear genuine concern in his voice. "He's got to get his act together or he'll never get that scholarship. And then what's he gonna do?"
"You think I don't tell him that?" She sunk down onto the stool with a long heavy sigh. As she started flipping through some pages she felt Donnie sitting down next to her.
"Don't worry, we'll try again later," he said, and it sounded like a promise. But she must not have appeared convinced, because a moment later she felt Donnie's touch on her shoulder. "I'm serious. Casey's not going to lose that scholarship if I have something to say about it! I'll chase him around with the textbook if I have to." When she smiled, Donnie continued with added fervor. "I'll hack into his phone and set up an alarm to go off every half hour and it will only shut down if he solves the equation on screen. He'll be so confused! He won't be able to hide from me!"
By the end of Donnie's promise, April was laughing heartily, a huge weight lifting from her chest. She nodded, this time with honest relief.
Before she could come up with a way to thank him, he said, "Come on, let's finish these pages. That way you can pester him too. You're a lot better at it than me anyway. At least he listens to you."
"Yeah, right," she chuckled sarcastically as they both sat back down at the desk and she opened her textbook while Donnie gathered all the stuff that she hadn't realized had fallen off the table during the fight.
She smiled, grateful and reassured that, despite all the teasing and bickering, Donnie cared about Casey and Casey cared about Donnie. If nothing else, the thought gave her hope that whatever she chose, they would always be there for each other. And for her.
Leo hummed in concentration and overlooked the battlefield, remembering the Sun Tzu teachings. He scanned the terrain for the optimal way across the foreign territory as his army awaited his orders. The enemy watched him and his men quietly from the other side, her own forces poised and eager for battle. He cast a careful glance at his foe and extended his hand, picking up one of the little blue marbles and moving it to the next dimple. Leaning back from the board, he waited for his turn.
"'Bout time," Karai said, making a very obvious effort to sound bored.
Leo shrugged it off and watched her take one of her red marbles and make it jump over another two, getting it half-way across the board.
He'd gotten this Chinese checkers set for their last Mutation Day, a gift from April, and this was his first game with Karai. They had been promised relative peace and quiet, Raph playing hermit in his room and Mikey busy with his video games as Donnie, April and Casey went about their study date. So, of course, roughly half an hour later a fight broke out behind the lab doors.
Leo shot a fleeting glare in said direction before placing his attention back on the board full of little marbles, intent on ignoring the rest of the world if only for a little while. Maybe they should've chosen his room, instead of the little corner by the kitchen.
So far Karai had more of her pieces in her triangle, but he had played Chinese checkers enough times to know things could still take an unexpected turn. Besides, he was playing the slow burn strategy, setting up his plan of action covertly until it was time, when it would be too late for her.
"So how are you liking the book I lent you?" he asked after a couple more turns in which he only seemingly appeared to accomplish nothing.
"It's good! The ninja stuff is great," Karai mocked, referencing their conversation a few days ago at Murakami's, when Leo had talked about Kōga Ninpōchō while pretending not to be interested in its Shakespearean love story. I read it for the ninja stuff, not the romance, he had said.
He gave a hollow laugh, then picked up one of the pieces. He'd made it over a couple other pieces before the shouting and cackling from the lab intensified, and then out came Casey, stomping his feet and yelling profanities with Raph in his wake.
"Casey, come on, we were just messing around!"
"Shut up, Raph! You guys are such assholes!"
Leo called out to his brother when he saw them head for the exit, "Raph! Don't go too far. We have to go meet the Lotus in a couple of hours."
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you before," Raph said dismissively. "Hey, Arnie, wait up!" And he followed Casey past the turnstiles until they both disappeared down the tunnels, their voices taking a while longer to fade. Leo had no idea what that had been about, and wasn't all that interested either. Same old, same old...
"Anyway," he drawled, getting back to the matter at hand. Karai had already made her move, and it was his turn again. "What were your favorite books as a kid?"
Karai shrugged. "Kids' stuff. I didn't read all this super deep stuff you read, Leo-chan."
Leo had never talked about Karai's childhood with her, so he didn't know what her home was like, her everyday family life, or if she had had any to account for. He couldn't really picture a children's library at the home of Oroku Saki, to be honest, and just the thought of him reading the adventures of Poofy Bunny to little Karai while wearing the kabuto was hilarious—and also kind of disturbing.
At any rate, she was hedging, and Leo took good note of it.
"Okay, but what were they about?" he insisted, pointedly keeping the subject on literature alone.
"Who cares, they were just stupid past-times, you know, to unwind," she said, shifting in her seat like she was uncomfortable. "You gonna go or what?"
Leo smiled before making his move on the board, certain he had found a topic of discussion to use against her: just the right amount of compromising. It would seem he was getting the hang of making her nervous.
"Then why won't you tell me what they were? I told you about what I used to read."
"There are no rules saying I have to reciprocate," she said smugly, her eyes moving around the board, her resolve still tough as steel. She was going to make him take out the big guns. Fine by him.
He found there was a special kind of pleasure in making Karai nervous, probably because normally it was the other way around. The other day in the dojo, there had been many things left hanging that still haunted him even now, while partaking in the seemingly innocuous activity that was Chinese checkers. But one thing he learned: it turned out sometimes you could fight fire with fire, and he was willing to put that notion into practice.
He had a plan now, inside and outside the game board.
"You know, if you don't tell me, I'll assume it's something truly horrible..."
Karai made a noise of impatience in her throat.
"Fine," she said, then looked around the common room before leaning in over the board. "But you better take this to the grave, or I swear I'll give your mask a rainbow hippie dye."
He reeled, knowing Karai's threats were not to be taken lightly. "Alright, alright. I promise. Cross my shell and hope to die." He drew a cross over his heart and gave her a reassuring smile, happy that this was actually leading somewhere.
Karai took a deep breath. "I used to read this thing called 'Cherry Blossoms at Sunset'. Just during my free time between training sessions." Karai's voice was extremely casual as she reached for her piece, making it jump over two others and then waiting calmly for her next turn.
Leo moved his piece distractedly. "Wow. That sounds nice. What was it, like a haiku collection?"
"No…"
And since Karai didn't seem to want to continue, instead keeping her eyes on the board pretending to think, he kept asking. "Tanka? A kabuki play?"
"No and… not that I know of…"
"Then what-"
"It was manga."
Leo's eyebrows sprung up, smile spreading wider and wider as Karai shot him a quick glance before taking her eyes back to the game. But Leo could already see her resolve starting to crumble, her smug grin a little lacking.
"Was it…?"
"Shōjo," Karai admitted finally, closing her eyes, and Leo covered his mouth pretending to try not to laugh. It had the desired effect as Karai glowered.
"What? What's wrong with shōjo?" she demanded, a little too loud, and she turned around to check that Donnie and April were still immersed in their own conversation inside the lab. "Shōjo stories can be very deep!"
"Maybe," Leo said, inhaling to shake off the laughter from his body. "But they tend to be a little…"
"A little what?" she challenged, arms crossed.
"A little corny." He grinned and she scoffed.
"Oh, what do you know! Have you ever read any? Yeah, I didn't think so," she said without giving him time to answer as she moved one of her pieces across the board in five hops and got it all tucked in the farthest corner. Leo cocked his brows, impressed.
"I haven't actually read shōjo, okay," he admitted, picking up a blue marble and moving it one single spot. "But Mikey has, and he told me all about them, obviously. You know Mikey."
Karai released an amused giggle. "Mikey reads shōjo?"
Leo nodded. "So yeah, the stuff he told me… It gave me cavities."
"Shut up," Karai mumbled, but laughed under her breath and another marble clicked into place.
"Why? Am I making you uncomfortable?" Leo sneered.
"Don't make me laugh."
"Oh, no, I'm the one who's laughing."
Karai sighed, and suddenly she looked serious, all trace of her usual cockiness gone from her downcast eyes, hands hidden under the table.
"Look, I was a kid, and my life was kinda bizarre," she explained, and Leo felt very compelled to stop teasing her and listen, because anything having to do with her past was like a shooting star: rare and fleeting. Getting Karai out of her comfort zone, giving her a taste of her own medicine; that was his little revenge. But he had to be careful. He wanted to tease her, not make her angry. No one wanted to make Karai angry.
Well, maybe Raph…
"It was nice to imagine, you know, being a normal girl, going to school, crushing on cute guys, worrying about my grades of all things," she continued, and if he had had any hair, it would've stood on end, because as it turned out, using her own weapons against her was actually working. This new approach seemed to be offering Leo the insight that he had always strived for. He wanted to know her, wanted to dive into the vast, dark crevices of her mind, and she was leading him by the hand.
"I get it," he said truthfully, turning to a more gentle tone of voice, hoping that would coax her on. "I think Mikey likes it for similar reasons."
"And I know the stories could get extremely corny at times, yeah," Karai went on, no longer focusing on the board. "But they were a nice way to just… escape. My everyday life was already a lot like shōnen, I didn't need more of it."
He raised his hands. "It's not that shōjo is bad, it's just… I never put you down as the type. Seems so... out of character, for you," he sniggered.
Karai huffed. "See, this is why I don't tell people this."
Leo paused, because for a moment he thought he may have actually gone too far. But Karai grinned, and he felt himself full of new confidence. What do you know, he thought.
"What's the matter, Karai? Afraid to show your sweeter side?"
"I do have a reputation to maintain," she said, and in her next turn she got another piece in the triangle. She was winning.
"Hey, you have a romantic side. I kinda like it, it's nice. Even I have a romantic side," Leo said, feeling a blush coming on.
"You? Please." She rolled her eyes, and for some reason Leo wanted to contradict her on that.
"Well, what about Kōga Ninpōchō?"
"I thought you only read that for the ninja stuff," Karai said, lifting one perfectly lined eyebrow.
"Well, you know… The romance stuff wasn't bad either," Leo admitted. He could swear the corners of her mouth had twitched for a second there, but she was keeping her eyes on the board.
"I also like that movie, Crouching Tigress, Hidden Panda," he added, a part of him screaming for him to stop giving himself away.
A loud guffaw was Karai's reply. "Okay, and what does that have to do with anything?"
"That's got romance in it!"
"And kicks to the face," Karai remarked. "No, it doesn't count. Plus, everybody and their grandma has seen that stupid movie."
And as she picked up another of her marbles and made her move, Leo smiled. There it was. Leo's moment. She'd fallen right into his trap.
He let out a low chuckle that seemed to get her attention. "Well, Karai," he said slowly, and witnessed the immediate effect of his change in tone in Karai's curious little frown. "I may not be the most romantic, but I know my strategy games."
And to prove it, he straightened up, cracked his knuckles, shot Karai a smug grin for emphasis and put the last phase of his scheme into action. The plan had worked, and Karai didn't seem to have seen it coming as Leo used his and her marbles as a road for his next piece, which made it all the way from one corner of the board to the other in a single turn.
He watched Karai for a reaction, but she only stared at Leo's heroic blue marble as though mentally adding it to her black list. She used her turn and then another one of Leo's marbles followed the first. And then another, and another.
Leo's pieces were slowly making their way across the board, one by one, taking advantage of Karai's troops, and already he was ahead of her. She gave an annoyed groan at her imminent defeat, and that's when he felt his entire body tense up.
When Karai lost a game, she didn't make a fuss. She didn't yell, or throw things or say "screw it, you cheated!" like Raph would. No, Karai was a lot scarier than that. Once the game was lost, she would just stare in silence, nod her head, give a little sigh—oh well, what are you gonna do—, and then you could see it in her eyes, her plan for revenge slowly unfolding inside that treacherous head of hers, for next time. And if you were lucky, that next time would be another board game, or your mask could end up the color of the rainbow.
But Leo hadn't come all this way for nothing. He was one piece away from victory.
It was Karai's turn, and she stared long and hard, eyes flickering to and fro, lips pursed in deep concentration.
"Forget it, Karai. There's nothing you can do. It's over," Leo said as tauntingly as he could muster, and was rewarded with a very slow glare. Her lips parted into a sweet smile. Suddenly he felt a primal urge to flee.
"Yes it is, but not like you think," she said, then casually picked up a red marble. Leo looked on as she hopped it around, but instead of taking it towards her own red triangle, she made it jump over his only remaining piece and the red marble took its place in the last vacant blue dimple.
"What are you doing?" Leo gasped.
Karai looked at him glumly. "I had no choice."
The very sight of red among all that blue was making him itchy all over. No, that's not how you're supposed to play!
"I don't- You... You know you can't win like this either, right?" he complained desperately. "This is as much of a tactical step back for you as it is for me! Neither of us wins!"
Karai nodded solemnly, closing her eyes and sitting back on her chair. "The important thing is I have restored my honor," she said, and the only thing missing was a black crown on her head and green fire lighting her from below.
Leo honestly didn't know what to say. He grasped for a way to make her rectify so they could finish the game, but he knew that went against her principles. So, with a sigh, he finally gave. What else could he do?
He looked her up and down, then back at his poor little hero marble standing before Karai's red infiltrator with resignation, and shook his head sadly. "Next thing you'll be setting the board on fire."
Karai gave him a level stare. "If that's what it takes…"
"You're insane," Leo laughed, even though inside he was shaking, memories of the old Karai, vengeful and terrible, flashing through his mind.
What did you guys think? Wherever are we going with this?
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