See guys! I told you I'd update soon!
Just as Raphael began to feel like he had his emotions under control, April had to go and get herself hurt again, like she always did. If he had a nickle for every time they had to save the red head from some sort of bad guy then...well...Raphael would have a helluva lot of nickels. She was almost a full kunoichi, yet she often found herself in positions where she couldn't take care of things on her own. She would pester the brothers, complaining why she didn't get to go on any solo or pair missions. But more often than not, she would just end up getting captured, or worse, hurt.
And, as much as he hated to admit it, Raph loved that about the girl.
Without the ultimate goal of saving her, missions seemed to be a little less interesting and he felt a little more useful. And just when Raph was starting to feel especially useful, he found himself in his bedroom, reading an old comic book, with nothing more to do than wait for April to make a mental breakthrough. He felt ineffective, and he hated it. It would've been easier if they were facing an actual person, Raph could take care of them with a few well-placed punches. But he was completely at a loss of what to do with a spirit. You can't punch a ghost Raph thought, mornfully.
Suddenly there was a curt knock at his already open bedroom door. Assuming that it was Mikey or Donnie, without straying from his magazine, Raph boredly asked, "what do you want?"
There was a huff in the doorframe. "Well if what you're doing now is so important, I can come back later." April spun on her heels.
Raph's face turned as crimson as his mask and he snapped into the sitting position. "Wait!" he called, trying not to sound desperate. "Sorry April, I thought you were Mikey."
She giggled and entered the room. "It's fine. Donnie does the same thing too, sometimes." Pulling a stool from the corner, April sat and looked around, admiring the room. Raphael figured it was the first time she had been in here. He suddenly felt embarrassed at the messiness of it.
"Have you figured anything else out about our Demon Guy?" Raph asked, sitting tensely on the corner of his bed.
April sighed. "No luck. However he took over my mind, he made it so I basically blacked out when he first took hold of it." She groaned and rolled her head, a curl of orange brushing across her defeated eyes. "It's incredibly frustrating."
Part of him suddenly wanted to put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll figure it out." He didn't mention that if she didn't figure it out, they would be at a severe disadvantage.
"Donnie said he didn't think all this extra strain was good on my brain."
Raph scoffed. "You're going to listen to him?" He was genuinely interested in her answer.
"I'm fine," April affirmed, she suddenly looked down. "He wasn't there when I told you guys Sensei's story. He doesn't understand how important this is."
Their conversation stopped there, and Raph began to internally panic. This was probably the longest conversation he had had with April, just one-on-one, which was, the more he thought about it, extremely sad. She continued to survey the room, obviously in no hurry to leave or continue the conversation.
Finally, he couldn't take the silence. "So," said Raph, awkwardly, "is there something I can help you with?"
The wide blue saucers of her eyes leisurely met his. They quickly widened as she remembered. "Oh, yeah! Have you seen Casey?"
Raph's gaze fell. Of course she wanted to know about Casey. "Not since after you were, like, possessed. He was kind of shaken up." She nodded and looked to the ground, as if contemplating what he had just said.
Suddenly, April looked up, as if she had just realized something. She met his stare and refused to let go. But the gaze wasn't sharp, in fact, it reminded Raphael of the look Mikey would give him when Raph would share his slice of pizza with the little brother. It was a look of surprise and endearment.
When April finally did speak, it was slow, as if she was putting together pieces of a puzzle. "So Casey didn't visit me at all when I was unconscious?"
She knew. Raphael began to panic again. He looked around the room, begging for a way to quickly change the topic of conversation. "Well," he stuttered, "I really wouldn't know, you'll have to ask Donnie-"
"It was you," she whispered, so softly Raphael almost didn't hear her. But he didn't need to know what she was saying. He was going against everything that he had worked for the past couple of years, building up walls to keep emotions out, or focusing his left over feelings towards the ultimate goal of defeating Shredder.
It had only been for a little bit. He told Donnie he was just checking on her progress because Master Splinter wanted to know. Just his luck, the five minutes that he was standing by her side, away from the judgements of his brothers and prying eyes, she had to wake up. He knew he was pushing it by stroking her arm, but it just felt so right at the time, he couldn't help himself. But he knew better than to stick around while she was waking up, suspicions might arise. Raph did not come this far to crack at the first sign of affection.
But here she was, sitting in his room, and uttering the three words he had feared hearing ever since he visited her. Raph couldn't read the red head's expression well enough to tell if she was thrilled or disgusted. He feared it was the latter. Why would April want him when she had two perfectly good suitors attending to her every need?
Maybe April wouldn't think anything of the fact that he visited her; they were friends after all. Raph prayed that she wouldn't look too far into it, but he had to do something, she had backed him into a corner. If he confessed, April might be weirded out or revolted. But if he denied it, he might be losing his only chance to connect with the girl.
Finally, Raph sighed and dropped his head, signaling to April that her statement was correct.
She let out a soft laugh of disbelief. "Why?"
"I was just, y'know, checking to see if everything was okay." He was stuck, and April knew it. How could she stand to be so confrontational? Just as he began to panic to the point of sweating, Mikey burst into his room. Raph exhaled in relief.
"Raph, we're ordering pizza! What kind do you want?" He turned to see April sitting on the stool in the corner. His eyes widened in surprise, as he looked quickly between the girl and the red turtle. "Were you two-?"
"No!" Raph quickly stood up. "No way!" He started to head out the door. "C'mon Mikey, let's go get some pizza." He bolted out of the room, leaving Mikey in a cloud of confusion and April with her head in her hands.
It could not have been after 2 am, yet April couldn't get to sleep. She was afraid that if she retreated to dreamland, the spirit of Kaito Yoshiro would return, and she would have once again lost the only chance they had to figure out more about him. Her stomach churned nervously, and it wasn't just because Mikey had convinced her to try some of his anchovy and garlic pizza.
She couldn't stop thinking about her and Raphael's conversation. She had assumed right, it was his voice and his touch. Now that she had this information, April was at a loss of what to do with it. This wasn't a for sure sign that Raph had any feelings for her, after all, they were friends. But there was something about the whole way Raph conducted himself during her confrontation. He seemed especially stiff (well, more than usual) as opposed to his usual easy going, cynical nature. And the way he bolted out the door and refused to speak to her for the rest of the evening, seemed a little suspicious. Though she did see him throw some glances every time Casey or Donnie would offer her their slice of pizza.
Suddenly, April's train of thought was broken with a splitting headache, this one fiercer than the rest. This is it! She gasped and grabbed her head, determined not to blackout. The lids of her eyes felt heavy, and it felt like one of Snow White's seven dwarfs were slowly chiseling away at her occipital lobe. But there was no way she was going to lose him this time. She'd lost the connection two other times before, but April was determined to keep the connection between her and the demon. She put a finger to her temple, trying to communicate through her telepathic powers.
What do you want? she thought, concentrating on trying to stay conscious. She received nothing but the continuous sharp pain in her head. I know who you are. What you do want with us?
She began to break into a sweat, but April was determined not to lose to the spirit. The muscles in her upper body began to shake from all her exertion; her breath came short to keep from screaming and alerting this others, this time she would do it on her own. Little by little, she felt more overcome with the same dark feeling she had experienced during her first nightmare and she knew the demon was approaching. The air suddenly felt frigid, and when April opened her eyes, the lighting in her room seemed to be dimmer. Her body began to convulse in her bed as she felt the presence of the demon. I know you can hear me Kaito Yoshiro! she called out through her thoughts. Show yourself!
I'll do you one better, April O'Neil whispered a raspy voice. I'll bring you and your friends to meet me.
Suddenly, April opened her eyes and a dark fog began to surround her. With all her strength, the red head let out one painful cry, and she gave into the pain and passed out.
Thank you guys for the awesome reviews! I'll try to update soon. This story is so fun for me, I can't wait to show you what I have planned!