"Sutoppu!" I almost fell over when I didn't follow through with my side kick, but managed to steady myself and turn slightly to face Splinter. It was too difficult to mask my heavy breathing, so I didn't.

"Your making very good progress, Raiya. Much better than I'd assumed you would. Your memories appear to be of great help to you and will allow your training to progress much faster than the brothers', which means you will be able to choose a weapon soon." I grinned excitedly, my chest and shoulders still rising and falling rapidly with my breaths.

"You've done well today, we'll continue tomorrow." I nodded and bowed, only stepping off the podium once he'd retreated to his room.

"What kinda weapon are ya gonna choose?" I turned to see Raphael walking in from his room.

You're shitting me.

"Were you watching me?" I asked, still a bit breathless.

"'Course I was, what else am I supposed to do down here?" I crossed my arms.

"That's rude, you know. And a violation of my privacy."

Raph snorted. "If you're so concerned about us ogling you then maybe you should wear something else."

I looked down at my white tank top that was more askew than appropriate during an intensive training session, showing part of my bra and quite a bit of cleavage. Okay, I may have forgotten to wear a sports bra, but I couldn't help that my memory was worse than a goldfish's! I hastily straightened my shirt in embarrassment.

Poor Master Splinter! I could've been flashing him the whole time and not know it!

"Okay, In my defence I did bring a jacket, but I couldn't exactly train in it." I retorted in annoyance. My leather jacket—along with my backpack—laid discarded on the corner of Raph's bed, but I was too hot to go put it on now. Raph rolled his eyes and went to the weapons wall. My curiosity got the better of me and I followed him over.

The wall held an assortment of knives, daggers, metal star-shaped things, swords, nunchucks, staffs, sai, pickaxe-looking things, small maces, batons and things connected with chains. There were so many items, I just couldn't take them all in. I knew that I knew what all these weapons were called, but the names were floating somewhere in the mysterious ocean in the back of my mind.

"Do you know how to use all of these?" I asked in awe.

"Yeah, but not very well."

"Really!?" I can barely shoot a basketball. He nodded and grabbed a small knife from the wall. It had a long, flat blade and a leather wrapped handle with a ring on the pommel.

"Know what this is?" He asked, holding it up.

"A throwing knife?" I guessed a little hesitantly.

"Sorta, yeah. It's called a kunai." I gasped as the word echoed through my mind and sent me to a place of rolling green hills and sunny warmth.

This is a kunai. The blade buried itself into a wooden pillar with a satisfying thud. The wind blew across my face, smelling of horse manure and cherry blossoms.

"Raiy?" I blinked a few times, my world coming back into focus.

"Sorry, I was pulled into one of my ancestral memories when you said that." He grinned devilishly, reminding me of Mikey when he agreed to help me pull that stunt on Leo not long ago.

"Throw it." I recoiled in surprise.

"You're kidding, right?" He flipped the knife in his hand so he was holding the blade, then held it out to me expectantly.

"Who do you think I am!?" I demanded, "Lee Christmas!?"

"Who the hell is that?" I groaned in frustration.

"Add that to the list of movies to watch. God, you guys make it impossible to reference anything." I crossed my arms, refusing to take the kunai from him.

"What?" He asked in a teasing tone. "Are you afraid?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"No." I scoffed, swiping the knife from his outstretched hand. It felt weird in my hand, alien and cold.

"Alright," Raph gestured to a round, wooden target hanging on the wall with only a black circle in the middle. "Throw it." I stepped up onto the dais and squared myself with my target, as Sensei always told me to do.

How do I do this? I closed my eyes, trying to bring forth the memories I knew I had.

Kunai...kunai...kunai...Where are you? I know you're here somewhere...

I flew through memories. Flashes of colour, smells, sensations and noises all melded together into a rushing stream. I kept searching. I knew it was there.

Kunai...kunai...kunai...kunai...There! I stood before three wooden targets. One kunai held loosely in my right hand and two more in my left, warm and familiar.

"Hajime!" I masculine voice barked from behind me. There was no hesitation when I drew my arm back and whipped my first knife forward. I didn't check to see where it landed, I just grabbed my next kunai and threw them in the same manner.

"Holy shit." The familiar voice of Raphael shook me from my reverie. I was about to ask what he was so surprise about, but then I realized that the kunai that was once in my hand was now embedded in the centre of the wooden target.

"Woah," I laughed. Did I do that?

"How did you do that?" He asked, completely dumbfounded.

Was it awesome? Judging by the look on his face, it must've been. Hell yeah!

"I have no freakin clue, but damn I'm impressed with myself! Up top!" I held my hand up for a high-five. Raphael seemed to be only half aware of raising his own hand in response. I enthusiastically slapped his palm, then went to retrieve the knife.

Oh if only I could've seen myself do that! I wrenched the kunai from the wood, stumbling back a little from the force.

"I need to do that again!" I turned and almost ran right into him.

"Woah!" Raphael grabbed my shoulders to stop me from ramming into him. "Don't run with knives!"

"Well don't get in my way." I shot back, shrugging off his grip and jumping back onto the dais. This time, I was aware of all my movements. I lifted my arm so it was parallel with the ground and pointed toward the target, then pulled my throwing hand back over my shoulder. Muscle memory immediately kicked in and my arm snapped forward, releasing the blade at a forty-five degree angle. The kunai rocketed into the wooden target again, only a few millimetres shy of the centre.

"Gurl how do you know how to do that!?" I turned to the source of the voice, finding Mikey standing in the doorway of their bedroom, totally blown away.

"Ancestral muscle memories," I announced, shooting Raphael a triumphant grin, "cool, huh?" He grunted and went to retrieve the knife.

"Yeah! You're better at that than me!" Mikey hopped over and held out his fist.

"Really!? That's sick!" I fist bumped him and turned back to Raphael, who held a short sword out to me. Tantō, my mind whispered. I grinned and took it from him, twirling it in my hand without a thought. My mind was flooded with sword fighting techniques I knew my body was capable of carrying out.

I felt a movement above me and I stepped back to thrust my blade up, meeting Raphael's katana with a clang. I smirked at him and took a stride backwards, keeping my tantō at the ready.

Raphael toyed with me. Any force behind his simple attacks were weak, and it wasn't due to the unfamiliarity of wielding a katana. He was as capabale with it as I was with was my blade. Mikey sat excitedly on the sidelines as if he were watching an actual Jedi duel. I was unsure if anyone else watched, but I could care less. My focus was on analyzing Raphael's every move, ensuring I knew how to react to his attacks before he even struck. The caution he exercised with me was frustrating, but I knew it was to ensure I wouldn't get an arm hacked off or anything, so I grudgingly appreciated it. But seriously, was it really necessary for him to swing his katana at me that slow?

"Come on, Raph," I said, taking a quick step toward him, "kick it up a notch." To prove I meant it, I swung my tantō up with more force than usual. Immediately, he caught the blade with his own, as if he'd known my intentions all along.

He smirked. "You sure you can handle it?" Techniques flashed through my mind and my body hummed with energy.

I grinned. "Try me." Raphael stepped closer, pressing harder against our locked blades. Damn, he's strong! Unable to handle the force, I stepped back and dropped my tantō long enough for him to lunge forward. I managed to quickly spin out of the way and swing at him while he was turned away. His katana moved with ridiculous speed and parried all my attacks, and soon I was the one playing defence.

It was exhilarating and challenging, but for as well as I could wield the tantō, I soon discovered it wasn't for me.

The duel ended with the blade of a katana at my throat and the smirking face of a triumphant turtle right in front of me. Mikey clapped loudly.

"Encore!" He called. I grinned over at him, then turned to meet Raphael's intense gaze.

"Rematch?" I asked hopefully. "I wanna try out some other weapons." He lowered his blade and took a step back, allowing me space to breath.

"Sure, I've got some ideas."

AN: Aaaaaand I'm gonna update on Thursdays now cuz Wednesdays are about to get real crazy for me lol.

I love Jason Statham in The Expendables cuz he's sick with all his knives so I decided to throw in some kunai stuff.

I also have this idea in my head that once Raiya's training progresses more, her and Raph are gonna be like the ultimate / cutest sparring partners eveerrrrr which is gonna be super fun to write about and I literally cannot wait! And I know their relationship is kinda really frustrating right now. I want them to kiss as much as you guys do lol. But I don't wanna rush right into that stuff cuz I really don't want my story to be one of those immediate 'omg I love you' scenarios, so just hold in there cuz I want to make his as real as possible and real relationships are super hard work and take a loooong time to progress.

AND MY REVIEWERS.

HOLY MOLY.

YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! THANK YOU!