The next day Cori woke up at nine. She ate some cereal and met Leo in the living room. She stood behind him while he watched TV. "Hey Leo?" "Mhmm…" "Could you train me?" Leo turned around on the couch and stared at Cori. Leo shook his head. "I don't think Sensei would want us teaching our ninja skills to others." "No, I mean, just the basics. Nothing fancy. Just how to dodge and stuff." Leo scratched his head and turned towards the TV. "I think that's fine, I suppose." Crow perked up. "Great, let's start now!" Leo looked at her. "Uh, I guess…"
He looked back at the TV with big eyes. He hasn't finished the episode of Space Heroes. Cori rolled her eyes. "C'mon. That show ended like five years ago. You can always watch it online." Leo stood up. "I highly doubt that. Donnie would bite off my hand before I even got near his computer." "Doesn't Mikey have one?" "More like stole one from Donnie." Leo opened the sliding door to the dojo. Master Splinter was standing next to the wall. Cori tried to see what he was looking at but couldn't see past him.
"Sensei?" Splinter turned around to his son's voice. Cori saw that he was staring at a photo of a man and a woman holding a child. "Yes, Leonardo?" "Well, uh, Cori asked if it was okay, I mean. If it's okay for you, that I can teach Cori basic stuff." "I will allow that. If you need me, I'll be out to get some food." Splinter left the room without another word. Although Splinter was gone, Leo was still tense. "Nervous much," Cori teased.
"Ha ha. You're hilarious." "It's a natural gift." Cori cracked her knuckles as she approached the tree in the room. She looked up at it then back to Leo. "How do you grow a tree in the sewers?" Leonardo shrugged. "I don't know, ask Donnie. Now do you want to start with defense or offense?" "Best defense is a good offense, or maybe it's the other way around." Cori took up a fighting stance and put her arms up.
She smiled up at Leo. "Defense it is. Now first we'll start with basic blocking." Leo walked over to her. "Now, how do you block?" Cori gave him a quizzical look. "I don't understand." Leo sighed. "I'll throw a punch and I want to see how you handle it." Cori nodded. Leonardo got into a fighting stance. Minutes ticked past until Leo finally attacked.
He threw a punch which could be easily blocked. Cori gracefully shuffle to her right in a quick motion and pushed his fist away with the side of her forearm. Her left leg slightly hesitated while moving. Leo did it again and she blocked the same way. Her left leg slightly hesitating. Leo punched again but this time tripped Cori's left leg while she was moving. She gasped in surprise as she tumbled down. Cori looked up to see Leo's outstretched hand.
She grabbed it as she pulled herself up. "Your left leg hesitates when you move. Try to fix that." Cori tightened her lips and nodded. They took their original stances again. "Ready?" "Born ready." Leo smiled. At least she had enthusiasm which his brothers lacked. Again Leo threw a punch and again Cori blocked it. Leo examined that her left leg was still hesitating. He went to trip he when Cori surprised him and jumped so his leg harmlessly slid on the ground.
He drew back his leg before she crushed it. Cori landed crookedly almost making her trip. Leo pushed her to the ground. Cori fell on her back with a loud thump. She propped herself on her elbows and looked up at Leonardo. His hand was yet again held out for her. "You almost got me." Cori blew some of her hair out of her face. She opened her mouth to reply when Raphael burst into the room.
"Are you guys all right?" "Fine just fine." Raph looked at her with a worried face that neither of them had saw before when Cori grabbed her side where her wound was. 'My back hurts," she groaned. She pushed herself up and stumbled towards the door. Raph immediately followed along with Leo. All Leo could think about was why Raph looked so worried.