Oroku Saki

Putting down his fork, Shredder looked a last time at Bebop and Rocksteady. The two morons didn't look like a threat. Yet. His eyes went to Krang. The little brain was happily explaining how he had managed to salvage some energy from burnt batteries and April was listening, a very serious look on her face.

This was actually very strange. When did those two begin the peace truth?

He hadn't told anyone about his research. He preferred to keep it for later. It was true that they still could go see on the planet if there was something to do or someone to meet. But this could lead to a big fight with dimension X residents as Krang was a search after criminal here, and a running April.

He would wait for one week. One week to find a way to get back to earth.

"And by hydrolyzing the burnt residues of the batteries, I managed to salvage more than 100 000 megatons of electricity!", Krang finished his sentence on some sort of demonic cackle as April, Bebop and Rocksteady wooed in awe.

Shredder got up, "I'm going back to my room."

Hopefully, Krang didn't comment on that. Today, Shredder could do with some rest as not more than a few hours earlier did he found out they were fucked.

As he headed to the corridor, he saw that April was following him.

They walked in silence.

Until halfway through.

"Hey, uh… Can we go by the kitchen a minute?"

"Why would we do that?"

"I forgot something."

He gave her a look. The same morning, he had decided he wouldn't give in her fantasies and until now it seemed it had worked: she had calmed down. She even had been nice to him. So, in some way, it seemed to him that his best option was to keep heading down the same path: "I don't have time for this."

She had the strangest look for a moment; halfway between surprised and terrified. But he had to keep up with his choices. So, he turned around, heading straight for their room.

"Hey! Come on! Just for this once! I'll be real quick!"

"If you made a mistake, then you should fix it by yourself."

He wanted to add that, finally, he had enough faith in her to let her go on her own without creating him some problems but he refrained at the last moment. He shouldn't show her he that after a few nice acts he was already going soft on her.

Instead, he headed down the corridor and didn't turn around but he felt her fiery eyes fix him until he disappeared from her sight.

She didn't come with him back to the room and went to the kitchen. Obviously. Must be. He hoped because if she was, in fact, going somewhere else to sabotage the Technodrome, Krang would skin him alive.

He got in the room and as soon as he laid down on the bed one question came to his mind. What if they really were about to die? Looking back at his life, all he could see was poor choices and too many twists of fate for one life.

Also, if they were about to die and of the others knew it, what would they do? He wasn't sure he really wanted to dig too deep in this one…

He wished he had some alcohol to drink right now. It looked cliché but he felt like he just wanted to go to a bar and drink until he would blackout.

But there was no bar here.

And definitely no alcohol he knew of.

"Hey"

He jumped in surprise. He had been so deep in his thoughts that he hadn't heard April come back in. She was now standing next to the bed, hiding something behind her.

His ninja skills had been lacking a few moments ago but he quickly rose in a sitting position on the bed, ready to move if he had to. She was definitely hiding something behind her back and he really wished she wouldn't be the first one to turn on him but if it was the case, he was ready.

Seeing his reaction, she recoiled a bit.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"As good as I can be Miss O'Neil."

"You don't look good to me. You've been strange all day."

He crossed his eyes suspiciously. She was smarter than he first had thought which meant that if he wanted to keep his secret, he had to hide better.

"I am merely a bit stranded lately."

"Yeah."

"I'm the one working to save us. It's very demanding."

He turned his face, trying to look like he was upset but in reality, he was mostly trying to hide his embarrassment. As a matter of fact, his costume had a helmet-mask for the fact he had trouble to hide his feelings.

"Then you should like what I've done for you."

April sat next to him on the bed. He immediately realized he had again lacked in his ninja ways. She obviously wasn't planning to kill him, or was hiding it very well, but he still should be on his guard.

She suddenly revealed what she was hiding with a triumphant Tadaaa and one of her magnificent smiles.

It wasn't anywhere near a knife as he had first thought. It was a lot closer to … to a strangely shaped cake.

"I know it's not beautiful, I had to make it in a bowl. But it's still good."

Well, that explained the shape.

"You know, if Krang learns about this he will kill you for using up our food."

"Then it will be our secret."

She smiled at him like this was the most normal thing on earth. Since when did they get so close?

"I'm not sure I can trust you."

The words had spilt out without him thinking about them. And the instant they were out, he knew he shouldn't have told her. It was a sign, a weakness sign.

"Come on! It's only a cake. And I'm the one who made it. You shouldn't be afraid like this."

He looked at her carefully, trying to decide if it was really a good idea to trust her. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized he had at least a thousand reasons why he shouldn't believe her. The first was she had lied to him. More than once, and very recently.

Understanding him in some ways, April took his left hand and trusted the cake in it.

"Look, take this as a peace amend okay? I lied to you before, I'm not trying to hide it. But from now on and as long as we are stuck here, I won't lie to you anymore."

Well, it was nice to know she believed in him enough to say out loud she was planning to lie to him when they were back.

So very April. But he had to say in a way it warmed his heart. She saw he wasn't good and even though the cake had a strange shape, he felt better at the idea someone actually cared a bit for him.

Even if that someone obviously planned to stop caring for him as soon as they got back to their normal life. He would have to do with it. Obviously.

April O'Neil

That night, as April turned for the 19th time, she wondered how she would manage to grab the Turtle Com and why Shredder hadn't eaten the cake before her. She had taken time to do it, it had also been dangerous the man said it himself. And yet he didn't eat it. She turned her back to him, deciding he wasn't worth some sleepless night and thought again about the Turtle Com. The damn thing was hidden behind the bedpost and last time she tried to get it, Shredder had woken up. She had managed to find a credible enough lie, or Shredder was gullible enough to accept it, but next time wouldn't be the same.

She was now stuck, if she wanted to call, she would have to come back during the day which could be dangerous because it meant Shredder would be up and could perhaps see her on a damn camera.

Anyway, the Turtle Com hadn't worked since they got off Earth. Meaning they must have ended somewhere far far away from home.

Laying on her back, she looked at the very black ceiling and remembered how Shredder had reacted to her cake. For long, she had seen him as someone who knew -more or less- what he was doing. At least someone who had no doubt about his choice in life. But because of the recent event turns, she had discovered he had less assurance than she had initially given him. In the end, being stuck with him made her realise that he wasn't just a plain cartoon villain. The guy had a background, he had come to the US and learnt English. And he had a real name: Oroku Saki. She had no more information but little by little the image in her mind had plumped up and took a very human turn.

Which made her feel bad about how it had all begun.

She turned on her side. Trying not to think too much about it, hating the fact that for once she could have been the bad one.

O O O

The morning came too quickly for her liking. Normally, Shredder would go to the bathroom without saying a word but today, he had muttered a "Good morning" before he disappeared in the small shower room. April smiled stupidly when she realized he had eaten the cake in the night. It still was strange for her that he didn't eat it straight on but as long as he liked it she felt relieved.

She took off the clothes that served her as pyjamas and put another set of the same clothes as her day clothing. The terrible accident with Beebop and Rocksteady had at least given her the opportunity to have to set of clothes to use but sadly enough they were exactly the same. Didn't Shredder have anything different?

Time had passed by, and every passing day she felt nostalgic of Earth. She wished she could go home and watch TV. Or even just get out and eat at a restaurant.

But Shredder coming out of the bathroom made her realized she shouldn't be thinking about this. She should be focusing on doing all she could to get back home even if it was nothing more than cook.

She stopped him on the way out: "Hey, wait!"

He seemed surprised for a moment: "What do you need? I thought you were taking your shower in the evening."

"No, no. How was the cake, you liked it?" she said smiling.

"Ah, uh" he suddenly was looking away from her, red appearing on his ears, "yes it was good. Thanks."

He passed her quickly and disappeared in the corridor while April shouted silently a victory cry.

At least, this was working! She needed him at his best to get them back home quickly.

She went after him and went they arrived near the kitchen they said goodbye.

The day passed by quickly, and she was quite happy to have new ideas for food. It also looked like she had improved as she was more creative and successful in her tries. She also was quite happy that nothing too strange happened with Bebop and Rocksteady. Last time, Bebop had been a bit violent even though he hadn't done anything really bad. But still, she was now being more vigilant around them. Making sure she wouldn't give them any idea or any reason for something like that to happen again.

Strangely enough, at dinner time, the one to praise her food was Krang. Shredder stayed quite distant and cold. April didn't mind, he could do as he pleased. She had seen enough to know he was or faking or sulking.

It was quite interesting to note that the man looked more confident when he was trying to glue mutant turtles to the floor with gum than when he received a simple gift.

O O O

A few days had passed. Everything seemed to get smoother. She had improved in cooking, Shredder seemed a lot calmer than before, Bebop and Rocksteady had been real cuties to her and Krang had even invited her to look at some computer things that might interest her.

If she wasn't having a terrible pain ache from the lack of mattress, she would be quite convinced she was already dead and living in some strange Technodrome paradise.

But even though the back pain was as bad as ever, her mood was so good she felt perfect. Which meant she also began to feel like she wanted to entertain herself in a way.

But reality came back harshly when Shredder told her again he had no books nor magazines. She still had her exercise book, but what to write in it? She wasn't stupid enough to make some kind of personal diary which someone could use to know her inner thoughts. She had thought she could do some kind of "investigation book" but again, if someone was to read it things could take a bad turn. So she was stuck with an empty book and nothing interesting to write in it.

At nighttime, because April felt that their relationship had had a good turn, she wanted to have a genuine discussion with him. So before they turned the light off and fell in their usual silence, April said: "Hey, Shredder."

Shredder just laid on his bed, answering: "What?"

"What do you do in the evenings?"

"What?" He turned to her, an eyebrow raised in a questioning manner.

"I mean, on a normal evening in the Technodrome. What do you do to have fun?"

He laid down again not replying and when she finally thought he wouldn't reply at all he said: "I read books."

"What?! But you said you didn't have any books!" April shouted, angry that she had been bored for nearly a month when she could have been reading all along.

"It's still true."

April glared at him, was the man mocking her? "Shredder, look at me straight in the eyes, do you have books?"

He looked at her, his eyes as serious as ever as he deadpanned: "Yes, I have books."

The silence was heavy as her face started to turn red and his eyes started to sparkle with mischief. He slowly added: "Alas, they are all in Japanese."

"Oh god, you're as bad as ever." Disappointed, she turned her back to him. Her anger had fallen as quickly as it had come. She was pretty sure he was smirking now, happy to have toyed with her. She didn't like it when he was the one having the last word and as he was about to turn off the lights she turned again: "I have an idea!"

"Come, enlighten me with your bright mind." She made a face, since when did he become so cocky? But this time, he wouldn't win. She was the mastermind at those game.

"You should teach me Japanese."

"What?", this time his eyes were as big as saucers.

"Yes, teach me Japanese. That way I'll be able to read your books."

"It doesn't work like this. You can't learn a language like that."

"Obviously, I have enough time to learn Japanese."

"It's not about time, it's about learning a language. Japanese is not like learning Spanish. It's difficult."

"But I have a personal teacher just for me!" She smiled brightly at him, not showing her disappointment in the fact he wasn't blushing at all and was actually taking this very seriously.

"I don't even know why I'm talking about this with you. Miss O'Neil, I'll be very clear. You are definitely not learning Japanese with me. Do as you want when you come back to New-York but I won't be the one to teach you. Also, if I remembered correctly, weren't you the one who said you desperately wanted to cook for everyone?"

"Yes, I remember that." Said April, knowing he had a point there.

"Than you should commit to your engagement."

Without waiting anymore, he shut the light and she heard him ruffling the bed as he got in it.

And that's when April remembered something important. Something that could be a good excuse not to be with the two morons, and to be having some kind of distraction at the same time.

"But Shredder, you do normally exercise too right?"

"Yes."

He hadn't answered directly, which meant he knew where she was going. She had to be very delicate with her sentences if she wanted to score.

"You know, when I was ten I learned judo." He wasn't commenting so she went on: "I really liked it. I got to the green belt but I had to stop for high school. Anyway, the point is you are a ninja, you should keep on exercising. And while you do this I could exercise on my own you know, have some sort of distraction. In the meantime, you would be sure I am not on my own trying to blow things up. It would be a win-win situation."

She could not see his face but she wasn't hearing him answer. He was probably pondering the pros and the cons. He finally simply said: "Okay."

"You'll see, you won't be disappointed!" she brightly answered.

"That is yet to be confirmed, Miss O'Neil."

April smiled as the silence came back. She was now ready to go to sleep, knowing things weren't as bad as they seemed. They were in their way back to New-York and her conditions were improving with every passing week. What could she ask more?

O O O

Starting stretching, April took a closer look to the room. She hadn't believed she was still in the Technodrome at first. Saying it looked Japanese would be diminishing. The room was a combination of everything she had seen in Martial Arts Movies. There were big Asiatic characters paintings on the wall, a picture of an Asiatic guy on one of the walls, weapons on the side, tatamis on the floor. The only thing that was a bit out of character was the mirrored wall. Overall, the room looked very nice.

"Hey! So how will we warm up?" said April as she turned to face him.

Shredder hadn't put on his costume and was wearing a plain black jogging and a plain back tank top. She looked at her too big for her jogging and her oversized pull-over dejectedly, why was he sexier than her?

"I never said we would train together." He said, giving her a nasty look while he started doing push-ups.

"Come on! It's better to train together than alone." She tried to do the same as him and not focus too much on his flexing muscles.

"Yes, it's better if the partner actually knows what she is doing. Look at you, you can't even do push-ups correctly."

He got back up and looked at her. "Your arms should be parallel to your body. And you should straighten your back."

She tried to apply what he had just said: "It's better like this?"

"Your… butt is still too high. Try to be as straight as your body can be."

Trying to not take this remark in a bad way, April straightened herself. "It's better?"

"Yes."

"How many should I do?"

"As many as you can."

He went back to his own push-ups and they warmed up in silence. Thinking back to all their meetings, April realized it was probably the first time they were sharing something together peacefully. They had had some silent moment before like when they went to sleep or when they ignored each other in the bedroom, but those were nothing close to peaceful.

As they were starting to do abs, April found out something strange. She had seen him shirtless enough times to remember he was quite muscular. And even though he wasn't wearing his costume anymore, she could swear he still had the same crazy muscles under his tank top.

"Shredder?" she said in between to abs.

"What?" he said, not bothering to stop.

"You've been training without me?"

"I hadn't realized we had some training commitment going on."

She just pouted. It was true, this adventure hadn't started with the best turn. At least, they were now on good terms but if she was true to herself, two weeks ago this kind of activity couldn't have happened between them.

"You don't look like the sportive kind." He added, with a softer tone.

"I go to the gym every two to three days. You know, this body won't be this fabulous on its own." She answered with a smile.

"Yeah, and I guess it'll be harder for you to have fun on fun nights if your body isn't at its best."

He hadn't said it badly, but April knew it still meant something to him. It might be his way to tell her again he wasn't approving her ways.

But more was needed to spoil her mood.

"It's not only for that. I'm regularly on TV and I'm pretty sure I won't teach you anything if I tell you that the more attractive I am, the better the audience. So, we can say it's also for work."

Looking at back at him, she discovered he had stopped his abs and was looking at her.

"That's really the worst excuse I ever heard. Admit you like looking … hum. You like being good looking. That's all."

"Were you about to say I liked looking hot? Because from the look of your red ears I'm pretty sure that's what you thought."

"Oh, shut up. Time to start the real training."

It was quite out of character for them to be bickering so calmly. It was probably due to the fact they had been stuck together for a month. And from the look of things, it wasn't about to change. When she was in college, April had taken some socio-ethnical classes. In it, she had studied the case of people stuck together for long times, for example in submarines, or boats. And she vividly remembered her teacher explaining people would automatically adjust because, when survival was at stake, the rest could wait. So, was it what was happening with her and Shredder?

The man had just started to train his moves, quickly punching a punching ball. After several punches, he started training his kicks.

"Weren't you supposed to train too? Are will you keep on staring at me all the time?"

"Yeah, yeah, I was just thinking about what I was going to do."

She turned around, giving him some space but, still, she noticed he had blushed again. Which left her wondering, did he blush as much before? Well, she couldn't know as he was always wearing that stupid helmet. But she was now sure of one thing, Shredder could act very differently depending on the circumstances. And the "at home" Shredder looked a lot less confident than the "fighting" Shredder.

She could still hear throw kicks and punches and she realized she had now to face a fact. She had learned Judo for a year and merely had a yellow belt, nothing close to a green belt. Also, it had been more than fifteen years since she last had a class.

After racking her brain for a good ten minutes she had to admit. She really remembered nothing apart from the flips.

"What's happening to you? Having a blank perhaps?"

She didn't have to see his face to know there was a big grin on it.

"Well, … Maybe."

"I should have seen it coming."

Shredder came up to her and strangely enough began to teach her some basics moves. Punches, kicks, all easy enough for her. She soon felt at ease and had the feeling she was really capable of achieving something there. The man was far better at teaching than he was at trying to take over New-York. It suddenly hit here again, how she actually never really got to know him. And how he suddenly seemed to have more depth than she ever thought he had.

"Why are you smiling like this?" he suddenly asked.

"Why wouldn't I smile?" she sheepishly answered.

"I never thought you would be happy about doing ninja moves."

His tone hadn't been an angry one. It was more questioning than anything else.

"Well, I didn't know I would like it that much." She answered with a genuine smile.

Their training went on in the same atmosphere. In the end, it was much more enjoyable than she had thought it would be. They had trained, they had chit-chatted, even laughed some times. For a small hour, she had forgotten about their situation.

As their training session came to an end, she took a good look at the man next to her. A fine layer of sweating was covering his skin, making his muscles even more defined than they were before. He was slightly out of breath after he made a series of high kicks. She couldn't see his face fully as he wasn't facing her, but one thing was for sure, this was the closest to relaxed she had ever seen him.

April had to admit, in a month she had more than once changed her opinion on him. The scale was big as it went from absolute revulsion to kindness but she was sure of one thing. The man in front of her wasn't Shredder, that man was Oroku Saki and she probably still had a lot to discover about him.

Lately, someone asked me if there would be a chapter 7.
Well yes, here it is. Less than one weeks after you asked it lol.
I know I take time to update. It's not really because I'm stopping than coming back. It's more because life is full of surprises and I am sometimes not ready for them. But please, don't worry. I'm definitely finishing this story.
As always, if you like it, leave a comment! :)
Any kind of review is good for me. Good, bad, all can do.
Thanks for keeping up with my work.
Kisses to you all.