Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT. Also, sorry for feels in this chapter.


Karai may not actively patrol with her brothers, but she still trained with her family six days a week. She wore her armour-reinforced training garb and had her shoulder-length hair scraped into a stubby ponytail. Most often, she sparred with Leonardo or April, but it didn't take Splinter long to realise she could get at them both via playful teasing within a matter of seconds. So this time, she found herself sparring with Michelangelo instead.

He bounced in front of her, grinning as he twirled his nunchaku. The girl smiled back, but warned him, "Remember Mikey, no water balloons."

The turtle smirked. "No promises from Doctor Prankenstein!"

In one swift movement, Karai drew her blade and gave him a steely glare. "Is that so?"

To her surprise, Mikey didn't even flinch. "Aw, c'mon, Rai; you'd never hurt me on purpose."

Her expressionless mask faltered. "I-"

"Hajime!"

The air changed instantly as three separate battles began. Mikey, of course, wasn't in full-on ninja mode, so he was primarily just jumping out of her reach and swinging his nunchaku around. "Can't catch me, sis!"

Quick as a flash, Karai swept his legs out from under him and shoved him down, kneeling over him with a smirk on her face. "Focus on the spar, Mikey."

He rolled his baby blue eyes. "Fine..."

Despite her honed instincts and attention, Karai didn't see Mikey's arm move until the water balloon was flying towards her face. She hurriedly shifted back, but it still burst in her face, water dripping down from her chin. She was suddenly very thankful that she didn't wear make-up to training. "Mikey!" She wiped balloon fragments and water from her face in annoyance. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Leo, who had paused in his sparring match with April to chuckle at her. Her skin prickled with embarrassment, but at least Leo was interacting with her.

A foot landed in her stomach, winding her.

"Miwa," called Master Splinter from his position at the base of the tree, "stay focused!"

"Yeah Miwa, stay focused," teased Mikey. He began to laugh, but it quickly petered out when she didn't respond. "Heheh, uh... Sis?"

A furious cry tearing from her lips, Karai launched herself at her little brother, using all of her weight to knock him to the ground again. This rage-fuelled decision inevitably backfired after a few brief seconds of wrestling, as Mikey's more muscular frame easily overpowered her slimmer one. He pinned her arms over her head and for a second her heart fluttered with fear, but then Mikey beamed proudly at his accomplishment and everything felt normal again.

"Gotcha!" the little turtle exclaimed excitedly. He then began to count the seconds he had her pinned for, "One... Two- Ow!" His hands left her wrists and flew to his tail. "You squashed my tail!"

Karai blinked in confusion. She had been aiming for a groin attack on the turtle, but had misjudged how much force she needed and had accidentally hit his tail. Maybe it was a turtle biology thing; she'd ask Leo later, or just look it up. For the moment, Karai concentrated on shoving hard on Mikey's plastron so she could slip out of his reach. When he didn't immediately follow, Karai asked, "Are you okay?"

Mikey pouted. "That hurt!"

Her eyes widened, and she extended a hand to him. "Wait, you're actually-"

"Booyakasha!"

He seized her arm and threw her over his shoulder to land against the dojo floor. She kicked his lower plastron to make him release her arm, then jabbed the hilt of her blade into his chest. Mikey fell back, and Karai leapt to him, one foot planted firmly on his plastron and her sword positioned above his head. A smirk curling her lips, she stated calmly, "I win."

"Not yet," he replied. The turtle bucked suddenly, off-setting Karai's centre of gravity just enough for him to wriggle out from under her foot, knocking her on her rear in the process. To add insult to injury he snatched the sword from her hand, playing with it as he had his nunchaku.

She pushed herself to her feet, frowning as she gestured to her chosen weapon. "Hand it over, Mikey."

"You would not ask for a weapon back during combat, would you, Miwa?" her father asked, before switching his attention to the other kunouchi in the room. "Mind your stance, April."

Growling under her breath, Karai darted towards her brother once more. She moved to kick his shoulder, but at the last second slid between his legs instead, swiping his nunchaku from his belt as he tried to work out a counter attack. They met eyes for a moment, before tossing each-other's weapons aside and springing back into it. Unintentionally, Karai sent Mikey's nunchaku exactly where Raph was about to stand, causing the hot-tempered turtle to trip and stumble. This gave Donnie the opportunity to land a good kick on his brother's plastron, then pin him down with his staff. Raph overcame the cloud of bemusement quickly, but not quickly enough.

"Well done, Donatello," Splinter commended.

Frustrated, Raph punched Donnie out of his way dismissively, then charged at Mikey, who he assumed to be the culprit. The larger turtle barrelled straight into their youngest brother, tackling him to the ground. Karai broke down in laughter when she realised why the two were brawling it out on the floor, drawing their attention to her.

"Stop fighting me, Raphie; Rai threw my chucks at ya!" Mikey protested eagerly, more than willing to take any way out.

Raph paused in his assault. "... Oh, did she?"

Karai cocked an eyebrow. "So what if I did?"

Smirking deviously, Raph pushed himself off of Mikey and ran at his sister. Karai hadn't picked up her weapon yet and Raph had lost his sai when he first fell, so it was a hand-to-hand brawl. The two rolled on the floor for a few moments, kicking and punching and writhing, until a sharp "yame!" interrupted them. Raph sat up, still resting on his sister's abdomen, a sheepish expression on his face. "Okay, but in my defence, Sensei-"

But Splinter just clapped and gestured for them to kneel before him. "Michelangelo, spar with Donatello. Leonardo, April, continue."

"Hai, Sensei," they chorused.

Splinter turned his attention back to the guilty party. Raph scowled stubbornly in anticipation of punishment, but Karai just smirked. "At least we were fighting in the dojo," she offered.

"Yes," conceded Splinter, "though this was not what I meant when I said that."

"It's okay; we'll forgive the lack of specification."

She could feel Raph's astonished eyes on her, but Splinter didn't look angry yet so Karai wasn't worried. Sure enough, he was momentarily stunned, then shook his head in fond amusement. "Your wit never ceases to surprise me, child."

"Much appreciated," she remarked with a smile.

"However, rough-housing outside of designated spars is still not something I will tolerate," he warned them.

Karai turned to her brother and shrugged. "I tried."

"Nice job. Almost thought you had him for a second there."

Karai shook her head, laughing softly. "Maybe someday."

"Good luck with that; we've been tryin' for sixteen years," the red-clad turtle joked.


"Ugh, man..."

An hour after everyone else had already left, Karai was stumbling out of the dojo, alongside an equally pained Raph.

"I think my shell might fall off," the turtle grumbled.

Karai chuckled. "Haven't felt this bad in a while," she agreed.

Raph lightly nudged her shoulder, ignoring her wince. "Gotta be better than any of Shredder's punishments though, right?"

She licked her lips, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. "... Yeah. Definitely better."

Realising the error in what he had said, Raph evidently fought past his screaming muscles to wrap an arm around her shoulder. "Hey, you know I didn't mean... y'know, that."

"I know," she assured him. "It's cool. Nothing to do with you."

He left his arm around her a few seconds longer, then leaned away. "So... Who's showering first?"

"Me," she answered instantly, before shooting out of her brother's grasp.

After she had showered and applied her make-up, Karai was all set to have a cup of tea and do some stretches, but her plan was halted when she walked into Leo.

He grabbed her hand. "Sensei finally let you guys go?"

"Yep." Karai swung their hands between them. "Has the leader in blue got any free time you can waste with me?"

"It's not wasting time if it's with you," Leo said straightaway, "but I did purposely finish off the little jobs I had to do so I could spend some time with you."

"How sweet of you," Karai crooned, caressing the side of his face. "I think you deserve a reward for that."

"Of course." Leo pressed a kiss to her lips, which she gladly reciprocated.

He cupped her face in his hands as they kissed, holding her close. Karai was surprised to find him taking the lead this time, but she wasn't exactly complaining - after all, it was an interesting change. One of his three-fingered hands eventually travelled down to her waist, gripping her tightly.

She laughed against his lips as she broke their kiss for air. "Well, I don't know where that came from, but thanks for sharing."

"I'm not done yet," Leo murmured lowly. His lips were back as soon as she had caught her breath, massaging her own with a new ferocity. Their lips parted, and he moaned into her mouth, "I love you..."

Karai didn't respond, instead moving to slip her tongue into his mouth. Leo resisted, however, overpowering her tongue and filling her mouth with his own. It was a mere matter of seconds before Leo was guiding her somewhere. Content to let him keep control a little longer, Karai didn't bother fighting back.

She soon found out that he was taking her to her bedroom, when he began struggling to open the door while holding her waist. Oh, so Father doesn't catch us, she thought. Clever. "You aren't trying anything, are you, Leonardo?"

He chuckled. "What would you do if I was?"

"I'd have to teach you a lesson," she purred.

"Hmm..." Leo pretended to think. "Sounds good to me."

Karai chuckled; she wondered if their playful conversations would ever be less enticing. She enjoyed their teasing games far more than she would ever tell him. When he moved to kiss her again, she calmly let him.

The turtle guided her further into the room, shutting the door behind them. The back of Karai's knees hit the bed and she fell softly onto the edge of it, still kissing her partner. Leo kept advancing though, pushing her down into a lying position as he draped himself on top of her.

A scaled hand worked its way underneath her shirt, pulling it up. Admittedly, Karai was caught off-guard; Leo had seen her without her shirt before, but he had never assisted in its removal. Now, on the other hand, he took care of the job himself, with sudden confidence. Briefly, she questioned where said confidence had come from, but she was soon distracted.

Apparently, Leo didn't want any clothing to separate their torsos, so after a moment of blind fumbling the clasp, her bra joined her shirt on the floor. An unexpected chill rippled through her, but Leo seemed unfazed. He continued his ministrations, his mouth trailing down the exposed flesh. Although his hands weren't limiting themselves to the skin he had bared for her, and were tugging at the waistband of her jeans.

Now able to speak, Karai decided, "Okay Leo, that's enough."

He didn't seem to hear her as he lowered the denim garment to below her hips.

"I'm serious, that's enough," she said with more conviction.

Pure terror shot through her when it finally clicked: Leo wasn't going to stop. Part of her brain knew that was ridiculous, that Leo had never been anything but respectful to her, but the little part of her that was beginning to fear him won over.

In one fluid movement, Karai launched Leo over her head with a firm kick and recoiled so far that she dropped from the bed. Wishing she hadn't left her weapon in the dojo, she reached for her discarded shirt and wriggled into it frantically, suddenly short of breath.

Leo seemed to have snapped out of whatever had come over him, because when she glanced up at him, he had a look of horror in his eyes. "Karai... I'm so-"

"Don't," she whispered.

"But I-"

"Don't!"

He visibly flinched, as though she had struck him. Part of her longed to do just that, but the rest of her was practically paralysed.

His blue eyes watered, and she knew hers were doing the same. "I really am sorry," he begged.

A strangled cry escaped from her throat, and she felt herself beginning to sob.

Leo sighed, then slowly moved closer. He extended a hand to her, but she didn't acknowledge it. His breath caught and she realised he was crying. "I... I don't know why I... Karai, I'm really, really sorry... Please talk to me, Kiba."

"Leave me alone." Her voice was muffled by her arm.

His hand dropped, and he sighed again in defeat. "Can I come back when you've calmed down? I... I want to talk to you about this."

She didn't answer him, but he apparently took her silence as a 'yes', because he kissed the crown of her head and took his leave.

The girl didn't keep track of how long she stayed on the floor for. She only bothered to lift her head when her scratchy eyes ran out of tears to shed. Even through the fuzzy haze in her head, she knew that there was a reason why Leo had done that; there was always a reason with Leo. However, her brain was continuing to pump adrenaline and fear through her veins despite this, and Karai knew exactly what would help.

Which was why she decided to venture into the sewers unattended for the second time that week, this time with an ulterior motive.

Armed with her tantõ, the kunouchi clambered out of the sewers and up a fire escape, since some exercise and reckless behaviour had always calmed her down in the past. Though understandably, having had it drilled into her head that if she went to the surface Shredder would capture her, Karai soon felt fear start to creep over her again. An idea striking her, she pulled out her T-Phone and dialled.


Sat at her kitchen table, Angel was hunched in the same position she had been for the last two hours. Doing homework on a Saturday should be illegal, she decided bitterly. So of course, she brightened up when her phone rang, welcoming the distraction.

"Hey, Rai-Rai," she greeted her friend.

"Hey."

She could tell right off the bat that something was wrong; Karai's voice was choked, like she had been crying. "What's wrong?"

"Are you busy?"

"Algebra can wait. What happened?"

"... Something with Leo," she explained hesitantly.

"..."

"Angel?"

"Where should I meet you?"

A light chuckle. "Are you sure we're not related?"

"Maybe," Angel joked. "Seriously though, where are you?"

"I'm nearly at that old park - you know, the one near your apartment?"

"Okay, cool. I'll be there in like, ten, fifteen minutes."

"Thanks, Angel. I just really need to-" Static. Rustling on the other end of the phone. A gasp.

"Karai?"

A scream crackled through the phone, though it was muffled. The sound of blades clashing, feet landing, battle cries.

She cupped the phone to her ear. "Karai? Are you okay? What's going on?"

A sharp hiss of electricity, then a heavy thump not unlike someone falling over. Then the line went dead.

To the young girl's credit, she wasn't fazed for long. "Casey!" she shouted, thankful their father wasn't home. "Phone your turtle friends!"

Snatching her coat and shoes from by the door, Angel threw a bag of sports equipment at her brother and called that she would explain on the way. Her heart thudded in her chest as they ran down the stairs, and she barely got the story out. As Casey rang Raph and frantically explained, Angel felt her eyes begin to water, as she clung to the hope that they weren't too late.


So before everyone gets mad that Leo was really out-of-character, I PROMISE there's a reason, okay? You'll find out eventually, honest.

Also, please let me know if there are any proof-reading errors; I'm flying out to London on a school trip tomorrow morning (if you see 30 teenagers in matching blue hoodies begging for directions in London this week, it's probably us :P), so I kinda rushed this chapter out so you'd get one this week. Better than nothing, right?

Anyway, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed at least some of this feels-y chapter xD