𝚁𝙰𝙸𝚈𝙰


The air was still.

I inhaled. Sweat, sewage, candle smoke, metal.

Exhaled, released tension in my shoulders, neck, arms.

I moved, spinning sharply and striking out. Displaced air fanned against me as he moved. There you are.

I didn't hesitate, tracking his soundless movement and striking again, again. The air hissed and whispered against my skin, but I was never quick enough to understand it before he was gone again, dodging all my attacks.

I gritted my teeth, straining to see past the threads of the dark blindfold.

"Don't try to see," Splinter chastised almost instantly. I lunged forward, swinging my arm toward his voice but the air was empty.

"Listen."

Suppressing my frustration, I moved again, dancing after him. Feeling his movements translated through the shifting of the air between us.

"Listen," he repeated sharply, "to your mind." He was right in front of me, dodging every one of my moves while still lecturing. "How will you fight an enemy in darkness?" He demanded. "You cannot rely only on your sight in battle."

I could feel the brothers—save for Leo—watching from the sidelines, still and quiet. Their gaze was a burning presence in the back of my head—an incessant reminder.

"Listen, Raiya."

I struck right at him, but he so effortlessly evaded my attacks it was like he simply didn't exist past his voice.

"Sutoppu."

He must've sensed my building annoyance.

"I'm not fast enough," I said, clenching my hands partway into fists. "By the time I can tell where you are, you're already gone."

"It takes practice," Splinter responded softly. "Expanding your senses is not easy. You must be aware of where your enemy is, not where he was. You understand how to fight, you understand how to move. Now understand that your enemy is not stationary. He doesn't wait for you."

I bowed. "Hai, Sensei." I straightened, exhaled, expanded my mind outward and into the training circle. The brothers remained in the same spot, occupying that same space in my mind with a burning presence. And there was Splinter, right in front of me.

"Hajime."

I feinted, then spun and kicked outward. I didn't stop, following through with my spin, carrying the momentum into a quick blow Splinter dodged as well. I was still striking at thin air, unable to land a blow on the rat. Though such a feat without a blindfold was nothing short of a miracle as I'd learned over the years, I still couldn't help my disappointment. Air rushed over my skin and through my hair as I moved without pause, striking repeatedly, trying to predict Sensei's movements.

Splinter dove and I acted on my instincts, quickly spinning around without a second thought, striking at an empty space that was suddenly occupied and then I was stopped, Splinter's paw grasping my hand, effectively preventing the blow he wouldn't have been able to dodge.

I didn't need my sight to know he was smiling proudly at me.

"Again."

─── ─ 影の啓示 ─ ───

I heard Leo return to the lair before I saw him. He moved silently as ever, but the anger in his voice when he called for Mikey made me tense up immediately. I spun around in my chair at the monitor wall, catching Leo's gaze immediately.

Don't you dare, I warned, narrowing my eyes at him threateningly as Mikey peeked his head out fearfully from his room. The youngest turtle didn't deserve his brother's harsh rage, the incident with J.T. was an honest accident.

Leo clenched his jaw but I sensed a semblance of acquiescence in his blue eyes. Satisfied, I returned to my homework displayed on one of the tv screens, Red perched on my head, chewing and pawing at my hair tie. I could hear their hushed conversation across the lair, and I tried my best to focus on completing the work in front of me instead of attempting to decipher their words. Though I really wanted to know what Leo was saying—an unavoidable urge, Raphael told me, developed between siblings.

"He's not getting mad at him."

I glanced up at Raphael, who'd clearly just returned from a long hour in the holey wall's workout rooms. "You stink."

He ignored my teasing. "He's just telling him to be more careful, nothing he hasn't heard before."

"Good. It was an accident."

He crossed his arms and leaned against the desk. "Did she freak out?"

I shrugged, tapping absently at the keyboard. "A little. She was pretty cool about it after I explained some stuff though." I sighed. "She's leaving the city in a few weeks, so there's nothing to worry about."

"You know her or something?"

I frowned in confusion and met his gaze. "No."

"Then why are you depressed?"

I bit my lip and shrugged again. "I dunno. She seemed like someone I might like." I glanced at the monitor and my excessive social homework. God, I need a break. "Hey."

Raph looked up at me. "What?"

I grinned. "Wanna see something cool?"

He eyed me warily, and I took that as a yes.

"Come on." I pushed the skateboard chair back and stood up, transferring Red from my head to my hoodie pocket. With a resigned sigh, he followed me to the holey wall. By now, Mikey had retreated to his room and Leo was likely talking with Splinter about J.T.. Donnie, as always, was working on his secret project in the garage.

I looked up at the workout room I was too short to reach on my own, then at Raphael expectantly. He smiled and helped me up, following a few moments later. His amusement was soon replaced with horror.

"Tell me you haven't been practicing while we were gone," he demanded, watching as I began lifting weights off the bench press. When I didn't answer right away, he stormed over, stopping me from grabbing another weight off the barbell. His eyes were dangerously fierce. "You know how dangerous it is to bench without a spotter!"

I gave him possibly the most shit-eating grin ever. "I know, I haven't."

He faltered, watching me with rage and confusion.

"Casey was my spotter; I went to the gym with him a few times." Raphael was still glaring at me. I rolled my eyes at his attitude toward Casey. "I wasn't gonna let all the training we did go to waste while you were gone, I need to keep it up. And if I went with Liv she would've been super suspicious." He was still upset behind the mask of false anger he wore, so I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him firmly, effectively lifting his mood.

"Don't worry about Casey," I murmured, lowering myself back to my feet. "He's got nothing on you."

"Still don't like him," Raph muttered. He jerked his chin to the barbell. "What are you lifting?"

"One-ten." I returned to lifting weights off. "I think you guys would get along well."

He scoffed and helped me switch around the weights. I knew he didn't like Casey in the slightest, if only for the simple fact that he was human while Raph was not. And no amount of reassurance from me seemed to convince him that his being a mutant made me like him any less. It, of course, didn't help that Casey had at one point been interested in me and that I actually enjoyed his company, but he also happened to be one of my only friends, and a good one at that. And our friendship wasn't something I was willing to uproot.

"You sure you can lift this?" Raph leaned his forearms on the barbell as I laid down on the bench. "You were benching a hundred when we left."

"That was a month ago," I shot back, smiling up at him.

Raphael grinned crookedly and stood up. "Ready?"

I wrapped my fingers around the cool metal barbell and shifted my body on the bench. "Are you?"

He laughed and I grinned, lifting the weights off the stand and making sure to extend my arms completely before lowering it to my chest. Raphael kept count, and I managed four reps before Raph had to grab the barbell and help me get it back on the stand.

"Killed it," I announced breathlessly, earning myself another laugh from the mutant. I reached my hand up, wiggling my fingers until Raph grasped it and pulled me up off the bench, right into a breathless, unexpected kiss.

"Ew, dudes! I thought you were bench pressing!"

I froze.

Raphael pulled away instantly. "Mikey!"


author's note

I'm so sorry it's been so long since the last update, and also I'm really sorry for the short chapter, I just wanted to give you guys something!

I decided to forgo J.T.'s POV for this chapter mostly because it would have been really similar to when Raiya and Leo first met and it seemed kinda useless to do that. Plus, Raiya is still the main character and J.T. will have many more appearances later on (soon)!

I finally finished high school you guys and I refuse to look at my exam marks because I'm scared BUT I didn't die wearing heels all day but I got a killer blister that's still not healed so that's fun. Also, I feel like I'm living through a second winter here in motherfucking Canada because it hasn't stopped raining for literally two weeks and nobody knows when the fuck it's going to stop so pray for me because the next two months are all I have left before it starts to snow again. Bonus: I am getting sick I can feel it

Lmao anyways that's my TED Talk for today

Thanks a ton to my reviewers you're the best! Keep reviewing! :D