Disclaimer: Still don't own it :P


To her complete surprise, Karai found herself cherishing her time with Raphael and Michelangelo, the latter in particular, a lot more than she had expected. Much of this derived from the fact that neither were very controlling of her actions, so she felt like she had more freedom around them. She didn't love her other brothers or Splinter any less, but the protectiveness... got to her after a while.

In fact, it was getting to her so much, that when training ended, she refused a private session with Leo and Splinter for the first time since she came home. Leo had seemingly sensed her annoyance, because he stayed behind regardless, leaving her free to go to his room and get his skateboard. She was more than willing to remind him that he had given her unlimited rides on it if he objected.

Of course, skateboarding alone was no fun, especially when she was admittedly still quite shaken over her almost-kidnapping. Which is what led Karai to seek out Michelangelo.

He was in the kitchen, playing a card game with Ice Cream Kitty, and it didn't appear as if the game was in his favour. "Aw, man! Not again!"

Karai watched the mutated cat scoop the cards up in amusement. "Are you seriously losing a card game to a cat made of ice-cream?"

Mikey pouted. "It's not my fault!" He leaned close, his voice dropping into a whisper. "I totally think ICK's cheating!"

Electing not to point out that a cat probably wasn't capable of cheating, Karai just rolled her eyes. "Sure she is. Well, if you get sick of losing to a cheating cat, I'll be skateboarding on the subway tracks."

She had turned to exit, already planning to enlist Raphael in her scheme instead, when Mikey's tentative voice rang out. "Uh, sis? So not trying to tick you off here or anything, but, uh... are you allowed to do that?"

Karai shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"Well..." Mikey twiddled his thumbs nervously. "Yeah, kinda. I mean, won't Master Splinter get all worried and stuff?"

"Not if he doesn't find out," she said with a wink. When her brother didn't mimic her mischievousness, she frowned. "He won't find out. Right, Mikey?"

"No..." Mikey shuffled nervously in his seat, "... 'cause we're not going."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

The little turtle nodded. "Y-Yeah. Sorry sis, but it's not safe."

Karai's mouth twisted into a frown. "Fine." She turned on her heel and stomped out, ignoring whatever Mikey had said behind her.

She plugged her headphones into her T-phone and cranked the music up as she made her way to her room, swinging the door shut behind her and collapsing on her bed. The girl could go alone, but truth be told, she just didn't want to. She knew she would have more fun with a companion, and anyway, the idea of being out there alone was worrying. Besides, nobody ever came into her bedroom, so she got enough alone time as it was.

"Karai!"

She whipped around in surprise, noting that she couldn't leave her music that loud again if Mikey could walk in silently. 'So much for nobody ever coming in here', she thought to herself. "Michelangelo, don't sneak up on me like that."

"Aw, man. Michelangelo? I really did tick you off."

"What do you want?" Karai asked. She knew it was childish, but it had been a while since somebody flat-out rejected her like that and it was an all-too-familiar sting.

"Well…" Her little brother bounced over to her, leaping onto her bed with a grin. "You can't leave the lair, can you?"

"Thanks for rubbing that in."

"But that doesn't mean we can't go skateboarding." He winked at her.

A devious grin spread on her face. "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"Uh-huh," he chirped. "But you're gonna have to help me set up a half-pipe."


Once they had cleared a space in the living room and Mikey had given Karai some basic lessons (skateboarding turned out to be a lot harder than it looked), the fun really started. Mikey had set up a cooler for Ice-Cream Kitty so she could keep a look-out for Splinter for them, and the cat watched excitedly as Mikey demonstrated a flip on his board.

"Not bad," Karai conceded, leaping slickly onto her – well, Leo's – board, "but I'm sure I can do better."

Mikey moved to stop her, but by that point Karai was already going. She flipped herself and the board into the air easily enough, but soon learned that keeping control of the board was difficult with no ground beneath her. The board was sent careening into the air, but Karai executed a perfect flip herself and landed with no issue.

"Okay, that could've gone worse," commented Mikey cheerily as he caught the falling board inches from his own head. "Although it's probably a good idea to keep the board with ya."

"I might have to work on that," she admitted reluctantly. "But hey, my flip was excellent."

Mikey laughed as he handed her the board back. "Totally. Maybe we should try something a little easier now, though."

When Karai finally gave in, Mikey began teaching her some of the simpler skateboarding tricks. She was pleased to find that they weren't too hard to learn, especially with the impeccable balance a lifetime of kunoichi training had given her. They had set up a few little ramps initially, but were soon putting together a larger one.

They hadn't quite realised how much time had passed, until Leo and Raph exited the dojo, sticky with sweat but both surprisingly chilled out. "What the heck are you two doin'?" Raph inquired.

Leo, however, quickly spotted the skateboards, and sighed. "Mikey, you know we're not allowed to skateboard in the lair."

The orange-clad turtle shrugged. "Hey, she wanted to go outside. I figured this was better."

Leo raised a finger and opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, then folded his arms and nodded curtly. "Okay, yeah, this was better."

"Told you!" Mikey called after him as the older turtle exited.

Raph, on the other hand, was still eyeing up the scene. "Didn't know you could skateboard," he said to Karai.

Mikey snorted. "She couldn't until an hour ago. She got on the board and fell straight on her butt."

"Well, the Foot Clan training doesn't involve skateboarding," she muttered indignantly. She didn't even think about what she had said until she noticed the looks her brothers were giving her. "What?"

They exchanged a quick glance, before hurriedly answering, "Nothing."

She rolled her eyes, then rocked back and forth on the board. "Whatever. Come on, Mikey."

"Okay," he agreed with a grin.

Raph smirked at them before leaving them be with a warning of, "When Splinter catches you guys, I ain't bailing you out of trouble."

Mikey stuck his tongue out at their brother's retreating figure, then hopped agilely onto his own board. "Hey, wanna see something really cool?"

"Well, I'm not gonna say 'no', am I?" she teased.

The turtle smiled at her, before kicking off the ground and skating up the ramp, twisting and flipping in mid-air before landing smoothly on the ramp and rolling to an eventual stop at her feet. "Ta-da!"

"Actually, that was pretty awesome," she informed him. "Can I try?"

Mikey frowned. "Probably not, sis. Maybe just try skating up the big ramp and coming back down for now, 'kay?"

"That's boring," Karai protested, but she did as Mikey said anyway. She wasn't about to admit it to him, but it was actually quite fun, even if she was annoyed that she couldn't do the same tricks as Mikey yet.

Of course, while Mikey was only a year younger than her, his mentality was definitely much more childlike, and he almost immediately got cocky and started showing off. Karai ended up sitting on a couch cushion and watching with genuine interest, observing her brother's show.

"Don't worry, sis," Mikey called down to her from the top of the ramp. "One day, you'll reach this level of awesome one day!"

"Yeah, yeah." Karai rolled her eyes. "Just don't get too cocky, Mikey."

"You can't get too cocky when you're the best there- AAAH!"

Karai watched in horror as the board slipped ever so slightly, flinging Mikey completely off-balance and sending him tumbling down the ramp. She leapt forward and knelt beside him. "Mikey, are you okay?"

"Uhh…" he groaned painfully. "Is the world meant to be spinnin' like that?"

She swore under her breath as she slowly helped him sit up. "No, the world should not be spinning."

"Then, no... I'm not too good..."

Supporting the back of his neck with one hand, Karai quickly checked him over for visible injuries. Nothing appeared to be bleeding, but she could see several patches of skin darkening with bruises. "Okay, where hurts?"

"My left leg hurts." Mikey held one leg out with a wince.

She sighed softly. "That's your right leg."

"… My right leg hurts."

As gently as she could, Karai took hold of his shin and slowly helped him extend his leg. He grimaced and squeaked in pain but obliged, and Karai was relieved to see that there was no outwardly change in the leg when straightened. "Well, it most likely isn't broken, but there's some bad bruising. You should probably lay off it for a day or two." She carefully rotated his ankle, and was pleased to see that there was almost full mobility.

"My arm hurts too," he whimpered.

"Which arm?"

He gestured to his left arm, and Karai could tell immediately that this was worse than his leg. The skin was much darker, and upon closer inspection she realised that his arm was twisted to a slight angle. Cursing again quietly, she lightly prodded it, causing Mikey to cry out. "Yeah, we're gonna have to get Donnie to look at this for you." She tried to touch it again but he wailed even louder. "Shit! I'm sorry!"

"Miwa, we do not use profanities in this household!" Splinter's stern voice rang out. Neither had noticed him materialising at the dojo steps.

"Sorry, Sensei," she said quickly, jumping to her feet and running to the lab. "Donnie, Mikey's hurt!"

"Michelangelo, what is the matter?" Splinter had immediately switched to father-mode and was at Mikey's side in an instant.

"I, uh, kinda fell," he admitted sheepishly.

His father surveyed the scene, noting the little ramps and the larger one, which had clearly caused his son's injuries. Spotting the two abandoned skateboards, he scowled. "I really did not think you would need multiple reminders not to skateboard in the lair."

He smiled nervously. "Heh heh…"

"Okay, okay, I can walk on my own, you know!" snapped Donnie as he was ushered out of the lab by a frantic Karai.

Once she was certain that he was following, Karai returned hastily to Mikey's side, setting a hand onhis uninjured shoulder. "You holding up okay?"

He grinned at her. "I'm fine. It doesn't hurt too ba- Ow, Donnie!"

"Mikey, I can't check if it's broken without touching it," the purple-clad turtle informed him.

Karai stood there anxiously, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She felt obliged to take control as the eldest sibling, but she had to just accept that Donnie would do a far better job than her in this situation.

Leo and Raph had gathered at this point, but the latter seemed as worried as she was when he noticed Mikey's swelling arm.

She felt arms wrap around her waist but didn't take her eyes off her little brother. "What, Leo?"

"Nothing," he answered calmly, resting his chin on her shoulder. "You just looked like you needed a hug." When she didn't respond, he tilted her face towards his. "Are you okay?"

"Leo, Mikey's the one that fell-"

"I meant up here." He tapped her forehead. "What's wrong?"

She pursed her lips stubbornly, before relenting and leaning against him. "I'm his big sister; I should have done something."

"You got Donnie, didn't you?"

"That's not what I meant. I should have stopped it from happening in the first place."

"Karai, there was no way you could've known he would get hurt."

"Yes there was! I'm the eldest, I should've been paying more attention." She huffed. "You don't understand."

"Don't I?" Leo raised an eye ridge. "I know exactly how you feel, Kiba. I was the oldest sibling for sixteen years; I know that feeling of failure and responsibility. But trust me, this isn't your fault. It's Mikey; he'd find a way to get hurt in a bubble-wrap factory."

Karai smirked. "Wouldn't there be all sorts of potentially dangerous machinery in place in order to make the bubble-wrap?"

The turtle chuckled half-heartedly. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah… Thanks, Leo."

"No problem."

"Oh, and… I'm sorry." Seeing his confused expression, she elaborated, "I forgot that you were the older sibling for so long before I showed up. I've just become so used to all this."

"That's good," he assured her. "After all, you've always been the eldest; I was just filling in for you while you weren't here."

She kissed him on the cheek. "You can stop now, Suck-Up."

"Hey, Rai," Mikey said from the floor. "Don't worry; once we take down the Foot and Shred-head, I'll take you out into the tunnels and show you some real tricks!"

Karai laughed. "You're on! But no sprained arms next time."

"Got it." He grinned. "Oh, and Don said I'm gonna have to lay off patrol for a week, so you've got yourself a new movie buddy!"

"How funny, you both seem to think you are getting away with this," stated Splinter, in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

As Mikey and Karai smiled awkwardly at their father, Leo leaned into the latter's ear and whispered, "Told you we aren't allowed to skate indoors…"


Artistic License - Skateboarding: I don't know a single thing about it, I just thought I'd make the unlimited skateboard rides thing from last chapter relevant :') Also, tvfan69 suggested that it would be nice to see Karai fussing over one of the guys, and I thought that would work best with Mikey because he's the youngest so she'd feel more protective of him? I don't know.

Anyway, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)