Dear readers, here is the next chapter of my fanfiction. No this is not the end. Yes I have already begun writing the next chapter. I have too many stories I haven't finished. I now plan on ending them one by one (or could I say terminate them?). Anyway, I you like my fiction please leave a comment and tell me about your feelings.
Have a good reading.
April O'Neil
The week had been completely empty. Compared to what she was used to, it was a void of fun. At first, she thought that Shredder was planning some sort of big trap for the turtles, but when she awoke in her bed Saturday morning, she understood she wouldn't see him at all. Nothing was happening. No kidnappings, no crazy plan to conquer the world or to kill the turtles.
She had only one word of that: boring.
The next Monday she got scared. What was really happening? Was he mad at her? On her way back home, she got to the turtles' HQ. She was greeted enthusiastically by her friends, Splinter gave her a cup of tea and they all sat in their living room.
Soon, Donatello spoke of his latest invention and its progression. Michelangelo discussed the latest film they had seen, which he had enjoyed a lot, and which Raphael obviously hated. Leonardo stayed quite silent, which made April guess that they hadn't seen Shredder too, or he would be speaking of their latest encounter.
"So, I guess you haven't seen Shredder this week? You guys seem to have a lot of free time."
"Yeah, I guess he took holidays or something." Said Michelangelo in between to mouthful of pizza.
"I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing this as something bad." Answered Leonardo with a gloomy look.
"Don't fear Leonardo, whatever is Shredder planning, we are ready to confront him."
April turned to Splinter: "But Splinter, it's strange. He always kidnaps me at least once a week. He never missed the Thursday night kidnapping."
Michelangelo burst out laughing: "Gosh, April, don't tell me you miss Shredhead!"
April blushed slightly: "It's not that! It's just … out of character."
"Do you miss your late nights out with Shreddie?" Michelangelo added, still laughing.
"Michelangelo, stop. You are embarrassing her." Splinter gave Michelangelo a grave look.
"It's not as if anything could happen between you two. He's evil and April is surely the best girl I know."
At those words, April felt bad. She hadn't thought of it like that. Yes, in the beginning, Shredder was just a bad guy to her but as time went by their relationship had changed. Or at least, her point of view had changed. Was she giving him too much credit?
Obviously, she must have made some face because all her friends were now looking at her silently.
"Sorry April, I just thought it was funny. I didn't want to bother you."
"You're always like that, come on, it was obvious you were embarrassing her." Raphael added.
"I am sorry!", pleaded Michelangelo.
"Anyway, I guess April is concerned that, if Shredder doesn't come back, she'll have to make an interview of that grandma's cat who is stuck in the tree every week or so." Leonardo gave her a small wink and immediately the atmosphere was pleasant again.
"Please, don't laugh about it. If Shredder doesn't do anything this week, I'll have to make an interview with the guy who beat the world record of "cracking nuts with his head". It's awful!"
They laughed cheerily together and then just spoke of other things. She had had her answer, Shredder didn't avoid her specifically, and in a way, she was glad.
Oroku Saki
He was waiting in her living room. He sat on the smaller part of the L-shaped couch, facing the corridor that led to the front door. He was in the dark as the sun began to set. It wasn't his first time in her apartment, but it was the first time he could lie down in her apartment.
Well, he couldn't really say he has relaxed in any way. He had thought about … He hadn't given "it" a name. He hoped, deeply, that it was as important for her than it had been for him. But obviously, it was not. Or else she would have stayed, as he had asked.
But perhaps she had no other choice?
He had thought about all week long but came to no reasonable explanation. Anyway, he had to speak to her. But to say what? He had no idea but a calm environment would be beneficial. No Krang, no turtles, just him and her. And some Chinese imperial duck. He had taken it on the way, he knew that she liked it and he somehow wished it would make the discussion easier.
He was tense but he tensed, even more, when he heard footsteps getting closer, and then the sounds of keys rattling. He heard her get in and, as she caught the sight of his shadow, dropped her keys as she took her umbrella and turned to him, menacing him with her newly found weapon.
"Don't move! I have a weapon!"
"Don't be ridiculous April."
As soon as she realized who she was facing, she was taken back. She switched the lights on, checking if it was really him. When he saw her face, he couldn't pinpoint her emotions, was it angriness, surprise, awkwardness? She had never been so hard to decipher but it was probably because he was too stressed about her reactions.
She looked him upside-down, still weighing if she could trust him or not. She obviously was puzzled by his lack of pointy armure. He had made the choice to come in shirt and jeans, trying to look as normal as he could. Trying to make her feel comfortable.
"Drop the umbrella already. I will not hurt you. I never have." He had whispered the last sentence and turned his face. He hated that feeling, why was he so shy with her all of a sudden?
She pouted before dropping her umbrella and her bag next to her door, she then walked into her kitchen. Ignoring him completely.
This was not going to be easy.
As he prepared himself to chase her down in the streets, she got back and put a glass of water in front of him. As she sat on the longer part of the L-shaped couch, she said "some water", obviously not at ease with what was happening.
That made them two.
She was not turning her back to him or facing him, which was a blessing for him and the fact he was surely blushing right now.
He looked briefly at her before he pushed his grocery bag toward her. "Chinese food."
She gave him a questioning look, he felt obliged to add: "Every time I kidnap you at dusk, you are starving. And you seemed to like Chinese food." Well, she mostly ate his food. He was quite sure she did it to annoy him at first, but as time went by she also seemed to take a liking to it.
"Mmh, thank you."
She took the packet, which was still quite hot, and looked at it, thoughtfully.
"It's not poisoned." He said, pointedly.
For some reason it made her laugh. "I thought it was Japanese food. Never would have guessed you ate Chinese food."
"There's no Japanese restaurant near the Technodrome."
He felt more at ease and looked at her. She, on the other side, seemed a bit off. As if she was trying to understand what plan he had this time. He had to make her forget about the Shredder and think about him, Oroku. He suddenly realized that she might not know his real name. Anyway, he had to concentrate and go on.
"I saw your last interview. It was nice."
She was taken aback by his sentence but she still answered: "Thank you. It wasn't really fun to do but at least I got a sort of promotion for it."
Another silence. She was now looking at him directly in the eye. She didn't seem scared anymore. The instant seemed to stretch into minutes as they only looked at one another. She knew why he was here, and she was not scared. He felt relieved about that single fact. Feeling this was the right time, he chose to lean a bit closer and put his hand over hers.
"April..."
"No."
She looked away as he shrunk back to his original stance. He grabbed his glass and prepared for what he saw in her eyes; rejection.
"What?" His voice had already dropped to his habitual tone, giving her chills because she was suddenly facing Shredder again. He immediately regretted this, he hadn't planned to scare her.
Still, she faced him and said: "You and me. It's not possible."
It hurt him even though he knew he would have to face it. Face the fact that nothing was meant to happen between them. Whatever he could do would not be enough to change that.
He gave her an infuriated glare. And she shrunk back just a bit but enough to satisfy him.
"You didn't seem so resolute last time." His voice was now more menacing. He was now gripping his glass tightly.
"I… It's…" She took a deep breath before she spoke again, looking at him directly: "Last time was nothing."
He had mixed feelings. Anger, sadness… He had confessed to her. At the time, he thought he was in a dream. Before he could only wish they would have some gentle interaction between the kidnapping and the usual fight. And all of a sudden, not only did she kissed him, but she also let him make love to her.
The hurting he felt seemed to outstand all of his precedent deceptions. "Nothing? I should have known that you were that kind of women. The kind that just sleeps with whatever man is close enough."
He saw pain flashing through her eyes before it was replaced by some furious hatred. They were back to their first meeting when he was just an evil genius and her his hostage.
"You're a monster, that's why nothing could ever happen between us!" She had cried this sentence as she rose to her feet.
He heard nothing as he took the meaning of what she said. It hurt more than he thought. This was surely not what he had planned, as a matter of fact, he hadn't planned anything. But it was certainly not what he had sought.
He looked at her with the most hateful glare he could manage to give, she had a horrified look. He felt satisfied and grinned until he realized she was looking at his left hand, which was bleeding abundantly. He had shattered the glass he had been previously holding.
He got up as she spoke again: "You see! You have no self-control, you just do as you want. This is a difference between you and me."
"Self-control? Self-control?! Are you seriously saying this to me? You practically jumped me in the control room! Now tell me what it was for you."
She seemed taken aback, obviously she didn't want to answer that question.
"Tell me!" He had shouted, frightening her in the process.
"I already told you!" She whined while walking away.
"I want you to look at me and say it!" He had grasped her wrist. Making sure she would not slip away to avoid the end of the discussion.
"It was just a fling, a one-night thing!" She shouted those words at him, her look was filled with fear and hatred. He felt ludicrous, how could he believe that love could come from their relationship? He released his grip, letting her go in the process.
He had his answer. He pressed his left hand to try to stop the bleeding. He had the sudden impression he just got back on earth. As if he had dreamed all the rest. He walked to the door, passing before without even glancing at her. The newly found silence was oppressive. He stopped just before he was about to exit: "I have feelings you know."
He then went away.
Some mere seconds after he started to walk down the stairs she had gotten out. She looked like she was about to shout his name but stopped at the last moment. Yes, shouting the name of one of the most well-known villains of the town was not advised. And yes, she obviously didn't know his real name.
He proceeded to run for a reason. He now knew that his feelings were just… feelings. They would just go away the moment she would go away. He just needed her out of his life.
Still, she had run after him, hurtling down the stairs to try to catch him up. But he had been quicker. Whatever she wanted with him, he didn't want to know. His head was now cleared, he knew what he had to do. As he exited her building, he broke his shirt to bandage his hand as to leave no trace and then disappeared into the crowd.
Leaving her no chance to catch up with him.