Hanami – Chapter 35

            'Damn it's cold out here.  Should've grabbed a coat.'  Cabbage huddled on the porch swing, trying to sort out her thoughts. 

            "Eh-hem." Leonardo switched the lights on.  "Is that ok?  Or would you prefer to sit in the dark?"  She shrugged and pulled her knees closer to her chest.  She only looked up when he draped a blanket across her shoulders.  He smiled gently, "Care if I join you?" 

            "Shinshi desu ne? A gentleman, huh?"  Cabbage lifted the corners of her mouth, mostly for his benefit.  'I feel like I've been awake for days.'

            Leonardo sat down on the other half of the swing.  "You know, I'm still not clear on what 'shinshi' means.  Pipes called me that; then Shima called me something else – similar, but not quite – like 'shinpai' or 'shinrai' or 'shintai.'   Splinter laughed an awful lot, but wouldn't explain."

            Cabbage blinked.  Then broke into peels of laughter.  She caught her breath and glanced at Leo, only to end up laughing again.  "Oh, quit with the Kermit-the-Frog face!  Ha ha… I'll explain… heh heh."

            "Kermit the Frog face?"

            "Yeah, you know when Kermit gets all mad and Jim Henson just kinda rolls the hand in Kermit's head into a fist… I wasn't laughing at you, really.  I – haha – ok, do you want the short or long explanation?"  Cabbage's dimples were back, but this time Leo was still grumpy about the "Kermit-face" thing, so he chose to ignore them.

            "Both."  He crossed his arms loosely.

            "'Anatawa shinshi desu.' means, 'You are a gentleman.'  Shinpai means 'anxiety,' so that doesn't make much sense.  Shinrai means 'trust,' which doesn't make much of a joke.  However, if she used 'Anatawa shintai desu,' she said, 'You are divine.'"

 Cabbage grinned.  "That was the short explanation.  Shintai has layers of meaning…"  Leonardo was shifting uneasily in his seat, but Cabbage pressed on mercilessly.  "It generally refers to earthly objects that have been possessed by a god: statues, shrines, scared trees, animals, or relics.  The form is blessed, but it houses that which is even more sacred.  Basically, my sister called your body a vessel of the gods."  Leo had never blushed so much in his life.  "Who's a hottie?  Leo's a hottie!  Even Oneechan sees it!" 

            "Quit it!"

            "Nope."  Cabbage smiled, her teeth flashing as she leaned towards him.  "Leo-nar-do brought me a blan-ket.  He's SOO thought-ful.  He BLUSHES when I tell him he's a cut-ie!  He's SOO mod-est!"  Her voice lowered to a whisper.  "Wonder what would happen if someone told him he was sexy?"

            Cabbage sat back, watching his reaction.  Leonardo's mind was playing a desperate game of '52 card pick up' with his thoughts, trying to put them into any order whatsoever.

            "I'm sorry."  He looked over at her.  She was staring quietly out across the yard.  "I didn't mean to panic you.  I just tend to babble when I'm tired."  She shrugged.  "If it makes you uncomfortable, I don't blame you.  Hell, we met two days ago.  There aren't any hurt feelings on my end.  I just know that, besides being cute, you seem so – it's the wrong word but -- calm.  I want to know you, even if only as a friend; see if maybe I can – I don't know -- learn to find that peace in myself."  Almost as an afterthought she added, "And I can teach you how to smile more often."

            Knowing full well that the conversation had moved on since his last coherent thought, Leo went back to the point where he first lost track of things.  "A hottie?"

Cabbage blinked.  "Yeah."  She looked at him as though he'd asked  'A turtle?'

"Wait a minute.  Me.  Cute?"  Leo checked the ends of his bandana: still blue.  "Cause last time I checked, everybody loved Mike, or Raph, or Donnie…"

Cabbage furrowed her brow.  "Who's 'everybody'?" 

Leo frowned at his feet, "You're joking.  Mike put you up to this and he's gonna pop out and laugh at me…"

Cabbage leaned back.  "You're awfully paranoid for being so serene."  She extended her hand.  "Look, I don't know about 'everybody's' preferences, but I'm an expert in my own.  I want to know YOU better.  If you really want, I can give you a list of reasons why NOT your brothers, but I'd like it better if the two of us just worked out all the specifics of why YOU."

"But you spent all day with Mike – and he –"

"Leo, you spent all day sitting by an apple tree.  You wanna date it?"  Cabbage shrugged.  "Mikey is fun.  Though talking with him is really strange.  There are so many things that I can identify with, and others that just -- WOOO…."  She smiled.  "I want Mikey for a little brother; he makes me laugh."  Her eyes caught his.  "It's you I want to know.  You've made me curious."  She squeezed his hand  "Take your time, I don't have an expiration date."

Cabbage stood and stretched.  "Sterling should be out of the shower by now, and Raphael and I owe each other some apologies."  Leonardo heard her slip back into the house.