punkish furball – Hello, all! XD

Words to Ponder:

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I hope you all enjoy this short piece featuring our favorite leader in blue. As soon as I'm done with the final edits, I will post a new TMNT/InuYasha crossover titled Storm in a Teacup which will feature a Kagome/Leonardo pairing.

Also, pardon my shameless plug, but I recently updated my Hetalia/InuYasha crossover, Culture Exchanges. Check it out if you have the chance! X3

Installment 3: Jealousy

Leonardo's eye twitched as he watched Raphael shamelessly flirt with Master Splinter's newest student, a girl named Kagome. She was a pretty Japanese native with a strange affinity for trouble and an innate spiritual sensitivity which prompted Splinter to offer his teachings.

Leo confronted her several weeks ago in an alley holding a canister of Mutagen under her arm. After an extremely awkward and unprecedented conversation, she handed it over without incident and even made him blush she told him he was cute for a giant mutant turtle. One thing led to another and she ended up in the lair's dojo side by side with the Turtles and April.

Naturally with her charming personality and cheerful attitude, Kagome won over the Turtles, their sensei, and April.

'Some more than others,' Leo thought, bitter.

Since the day she joined their training sessions, Raphael one upped him during each one with more zeal than before, immediately bragging to Kagome afterward. The miko, as Master Splinter referred to her once or twice, was obviously impressed. It was one thing for the two of them to be rivals on the battlefield, but competing for a girl's attentions was a completely different type of combat, one that Leonardo consistently fell short in. Whenever he spoke to Kagome, they always ended up talking about the results of nightly patrols or upcoming mission specs, never anything personal no matter how much he tried to. When they were together, he couldn't help feeling too awkward to talk about anything else.

Now, the very sight of her and Raphael together could—and usually did—make Leonardo sick to his stomach. Then again, if Raph didn't do this, he would have never realized he liked Kagome so much.

He grunted when Raphael appeared and roughly clapped him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Leo!" he told him, "I'm sure you'll handle leading the mission next time without me bailing you out, okay?"

Exasperated, Leo pushed him out of the way and stomped to his room, closing the door with a loud slam.

"If you think you're so tough, you be leader. I'm out!"

"What did you do?" Donatello asked as he approached.

"Do?" Raphael angrily repeated, "I didn't do anything."

Kagome walked over to the two turtles and said, "Calm down, Raph. I'm sure Leonardo will come around soon enough."

"Whatever you say."

However, hours later when the time came for the team to depart for their nightly patrol, Leonardo still didn't leave his room. He remained reclined on his bed even when there was timid knock at his door. He only knew of two people who knocked before entering his room, and Splinter's would have been a bit more forceful.

"Come in," he instructed.

As he expected, Kagome walked inside and sat on the edge of his bed so he could face her.

"So I'm guessing you already know why I'm here," she began.

"Yeah, I know," he responded, "Did Master Splinter send you?"

"No, I decided to check on you on my own."

It surprised Leonardo that she thought of him, but he liked it. On impulse, he told her so.

Kagome giggled. "It's nice to know you value my opinion so much."

Leo huffed and rolled on his side so Kagome couldn't see the self-conscious look on his face.

"Not as much as you value Raphael," he countered.

He stiffened when Kagome sighed, clearly disheartened by his comment. He immediately regretted saying it.

"You don't get it at all," she begrudgingly said, "Then again, I guess boys are the same no matter what species they are."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, still not turning to face her.

"I've been in this exact situation before," she continued, "With no warning, you go off and brood without letting anyone else know exactly what's on your mind. Now we all have to sit around and try to figure out what you're thinking, worrying that we did something or said something that may have upset you."

Leonardo snorted. "I guarantee the others are not that hung up on this."

"Well, I'm not exactly speaking on their behalf," Kagome clarified, wearing a slight grimace.

"You mean…?" Leo immediately turned over and sat up, looking her in the eye.

"Kagome, I'm not mad at you."

"I know, but I can't help but feel somewhat responsible," she confessed, "You think I'd learn to be more direct by now."

"I don't understand. You came in here because of the mission, right?"

"Partly. But there is another reason I wanted to talk to you."

-O0o0O-

Raphael growled as he continued to pound on Leonardo's bedroom door. At first, he thought it was a good idea when Kagome volunteered to retrieve him, but, as Leonardo's absence persisted, he was beginning to have second thoughts.

"Get out of there, you big cry baby!" he demanded.

"Raphael, relax!" Donatello urged him.

"Yeah," Michelangelo added, "Kagome went in there like ten minutes ago. Let her work her magic, bro."

"We should have been gone way before now!" Raphael shouted and turned back to the door, "If you're not out in the next five seconds, we're leaving without you!"

Soon after he spoke, Leonardo opened the door and emerged, a wide grin stretched across his face.

"Sorry for the wait, guys," he amended, still smiling, "Let's get going."

The trio of turtles remained still as their leader strode passed them as though nothing happened. Kagome followed after, pausing to stand in the doorway.

"What did you do to him?" Raphael abruptly asked her.

Kagome shrugged and replied, "I got him out of his room just like I said I would."

"But how?" Donatello pressed.

"I already told you." Michelangelo paused then whispered, "Magic."

"Hey, guys!" Leo called out from the Shellraiser, "If you don't hurry up, I'll leave you behind."

Kagome chuckled as the three turtles ran after Leo. Raph lagged behind for a split second, promising the two of them will speak later. She only nodded before she turned and slowly made her way to the dojo. He wouldn't believe what happened when she told him even though she actually took his advice. A subtle blush appeared on her cheeks; she could barely believe it herself.

-O0o0O-

Leonardo smirked as Kagome sat across from him, her head turned and her hands nervously twisting the hem of her skirt. She was absolutely adorable.

"You like me," he confidently stated.

"Don't rub it in!" she retorted as she looked back at him, "I wanted to tell you sooner, but the timing was never right before now. To be honest, I thought you would have figured it out."

"Well," Leo began to admit, "I actually thought that you and Raph were—"

"Seriously?" Kagome uttered, "Me and Raphael?" She chuckled at the look on Leo's face, thoroughly enjoying her chance at the upper hand.

"What was I supposed to think?" he countered, "The two of you are always talking and hanging out when you leave the lair. You seem really close."

"Of course we do. We are close," she stated matter-of-factly, "I also play video games with Mikey and help him cook his pizza creations and spar with Donnie after he helps me with my homework. It's what friends do."

"Okay. I get it." He paused and quietly added, "You spar with Donnie?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "He's a very patient teacher when he has a competent pupil. Besides, there's a lot of stuff I do that you're overlooking."

"Like what?"

She began her list, holding up a finger for each item. "I watch Space Heroes with you even though I hate it, I always make sure I'm here when you come back from patrol just so I can talk to you, I take care of your injuries even when you don't want me to, I find reasons to stay in the dojo while you're practicing with your katana so I can watch you, and a bunch of other things it wouldn't do me any good to name because I don't want your ego to get any bigger than it already is right now."

Leonardo smiled and replied, "I think I can figure the rest out on my own."

He wanted nothing more than to continue sitting here with Kagome, but, if the commotion beyond his doorway was any indication, their time together was quickly growing short. Leonardo reached out and placed his hand on top of Kagome's resting in her lap.

"I should probably get going before Raphael breaks my door down," he told her, "We can finish talking about…us when I get back."

"Sounds good, but there is one more thing I wanted to do before you leave."

Kagome slipped her hand from Leo's and placed one on each side of his face. In one fluid motion, she leaned forward and slanted her head, firmly placing her lips to his. Leonardo remained still until Kagome pulled away, too stunned to fully participate in the kiss. He was visibly disappointed when it ended.

"We can pick this up when you get back too. Until then, ganbatte, Leo-kun."

-O0o0O-

punkish furball – I hope you've enjoyed this latest installment. The next one will be Kagome/Raphael, a follow-up to Contagion. After that, it'll be Kagome/Chris Bradford as requested by Kole. Until next time, TCB! = ^.^ =

(edited 01.23.2013)