Journal entry N°1:
Sibling rivalry.
"While many kids are lucky enough to become the best of friends with their siblings,it's common for them to fight; it's also common for them to swing back and forth between adoring and detesting one other and, of course, it can be very frustrating and upsetting to hear -and watch- brothers fighting one another…"
…
9:30 am
Location: Dojo
…
"That will be enough. Training is finished for this morning" Splinter announced hitting his walking stick against the dojo mats.
"About time! Can I go back to bed now? I'm dead on my feet!" Mikey whined.
"You wouldn't be so tired if you hadn't stayed up all night for that movie marathon" Don replied.
"Hey, I couldn't possibly miss all the classics!"
"Michelangelo, a ninja in training needs rests if he is to succeed in battle" Splinter stated. "That goes for you too, Donatello"
"Wait, what? Why?" The genius turtle asked shocked.
"I am well aware that you were working on the BattleShell until late at night even though I told you not to"
"But Sensei-"
Splinter held up his paw and Donatello grew silent. "Tonight, you and Michelangelo will train an extra hour as punishment"
Mikey and Don lowered their heads. "Yes, Sensei" They said in unison.
Splinter's ears perked up at the sound of giggling coming from his red-clad son. "And same punishment goes for you as well, Raphael"
The sai wielder's brow furrowed. "Hold it, what did I do know? I wasn't sleepy!"
"Yet your moves were sloppy at the beginning of your sparring match and do not try to deny the fact that you were outside last night and came back past your curfew. For that reason, you shall train an extra hour as well"
"Shit" Raph cursed between gritted teeth. Unfortunately, Splinter's hearing was very sharp.
"Two hours… I have already warned you about using such foul language in our home"
"Sensei, that's not fair!" Raph replied.
"Do you want it to be three?" Splinter said in a serious voice.
Sighing in frustration, Raph looked downwards. "No, Master Splinter"
"Very well. You are dismissed, my sons" With that said, Splinter made his way outside the dojo.
"I'm guessing that means no pizza round tonight" Who said, receiving a negative head shake from Don and Mikey.
"I told you Splinter would be mad…but… no one ever listens to me as usual. I should be used to that by now" She added as she put the weapons back in place.
While the others cleaned up the dojo, a very angry Raphael approached Leonardo. Grabbing his brother by the shoulder, Raph spun him around in one swift move.
"It was you, wasn't it?" He hissed.
Leo looked at him in puzzlement "Say what?"
"Don't play coy with me!" Raph growled, pushing Leo hard against the wall. "You just had to tell Splinter, didn't you? Can't keep your mouth closed or even come up with a good story"
"If this is about your little escapade, then I'll tell you Splinter asked and I gave him a sincere answer" Leo replied. "Unlike you, I would never lie to Father"
Mikey glanced towards his brothers' direction. "Uh oh… this is gonna get ugly"
Don nodded. "Tell me about it"
"Oh, so now you're calling me a liar!" Raph spat out angrily.
Leo narrowed eyes. "It was you who said it, not me"
The sai wielder growled loudly and aimed his fist at the blue-clad turtle's face but before he could throw the first punch, he felt arms holding him back.
"Donnie, let go off me!"
"Hitting Leo won't solve anything, Raph"
"Yeah, you're just gonna get us in more trouble with Splinter!" Mikey seconded his genius brother.
Raphael shrugged off Don's hands roughly and glared at Leonardo. "I ain't done with you, Fearless" He threatened before living the room as fast as he could.
During the whole fight, Who remained frozen in the centre of the dojo, observing the whole scene develop before her eyes. She looked at the turtles brothers go parted ways with sad eyes.
"This is not exactly the way I wanted to start the day" She said to herself and minutes later, she left the place as well to get ready for work.
…
"…A houseful that's full of conflict is stressful for everyone yet often is hard to know how to stop the fighting and or even whether you should get involved at all.
While it may be common for siblings to fight, it's certainly not pleasant for anyone in the house.
And a family can only tolerate a certain amount of conflict.…"
…
19:45 pm
Location: Kitchen
…
The lair was strangely silent when Who came back from work. The only sound was coming from the kitchen where she saw Michelangelo preparing dinner. As she got closer to him, she noticed the prankster's face was gloom but also reflected fear.
"Hey Mikey" Who greeted him softly. The latter almost dropped the pot with scalding hot water because of the shock.
"H-hi Whoey! You… s-startled me"
The girl looked at him in worry. "Are you alright, Mike? You look tense"
The orange- clad turtle put the pot in the counter and sighed. "I'm bracing myself for the explosion. It's gonna happen anytime soon"
"Raph is still mad at Leo, huh?"
"It's more than that" Mikey replied. "In breakfast, Raph was stabbing his apple and I could swear he was thinking that was Leo's face"
"O…k? That's kinda exaggerated" Who commented.
"Wait, it gets worse! They had to do the dishes together… and Raph wasn't letting go of the knives!"
The girl chuckled. "Uh, don't you think it's because they were really dirty?"
"No, no, no! You gotta listen to me, Whoey! I've lived with Leo and Raph long enough to know he's just fueling up for tonight's training session and to top it all… Raphie hasn't touched his punching bag!"
Who arched a brow. "And that's bad because?"
"HE'S GONNA USE LEO AS HIS PUNCHING BAG AND MAYBE AS A PINCUSHION TOO!" Mikey yelled while grabbing the girl by the shoulders and shaking her like a rag doll.
"I still don't get why you said you were waiting for an explosion" Who commented after freeing herself from Mikey's shaky hands.
"Thing is I put a spider on Raph's bed so when he finds it, he won't be able to bottle up his anger anymore and instead of half killing Leo, he'll just go after me" The young ninja gulped loudly. "I just hope I can survive the beating"
"That's a… sick but noble sacrifice. However, things doesn't have to be that way"
Mikey rolled his eyes. "Well, what else do you suggest I can do?"
"Not you. Me" Who smiled. "I'm gonna talk to them"
"Are you insane? That's suicide, girl!"
Who chuckled. "Nonsense, I'll be fine. Now, I'll just need Donnie's bo staff in case your brothers need a good hit up the head. Where is he anyway?"
"In his lab" Mikey said and then sighed heavily. "He's been moody and stressed all day"
"How so?"
"Every time those two get in a fight, his brain can't handle the pressure so he stays in there because is soundproof"
Who frowned. "That's it. I'm definitely going in"
She made her way to the dojo where she could hear Leo practicing his katas when suddenly she felt a three fingered hand taking hers, stopping her from moving further.
"I'm telling you, sis. It's a bad idea" Mikey insisted.
"And do you think pulling a prank on Raph so he can vent out on you will make things better?"
The nunchack wielder leaned his head to the side sheepishly; Who had a point, he knew, but sending the girl as peace liaison was too risky. A hand on his cheek made Mikey look back at the girl's dark eyes.
"Trust me, Mikey. I won't let things get out of hand" She said reassuringly.
Seeing himself defeated, the young turtle let go off Who's hand. "I sure hope so; I'm sick of those two arguing for stupid things"
The girl smiled. "Why don't you take Don outside for a while? You know, get some fresh air while I sort things out here"
Mikey nodded in agreement and went to find his purple-clad brother. "You sure you can handle it, sis?"
"Absolutely"
The turtles and girl parted ways: Don and Mikey got their Father's approval to visit the local junkyard while he went to O'Neil's place for her lessons. With them gone, it was time to get down to business.
But little did Who know that things weren't going to be as simple as she pictured them.
…
"…Remember that whenever is possible:
DO NOT GET INVOLVED IN A SIBLING'S FIGHT.
Seriously, you will only make things worse. But if you already did get involved and the fight is verbal, try to work as a mediator instead of a judge…"
…
After taking a deep breath, Who opened the shoji door.
The blue-clad ninja had blindfolded himself using his own mask and dodged the sandbags that came his way skillfully; this was definitely not exactly the best moment to disturb the clan leader but if it wasn't now, then when?
"Leo, I know you're busy and all… but may I have a word with you?"
"Sure" The sword wielder said while he stabbed the last sandbag. Then, he fixed his mask and re-sheathed his katanas. "Need something?"
"Yeah, we should talk about what happened this morning" Who started.
Leo tensed up. "I don't think that's a good idea"
"Please, maybe I can help you… and Raph of course"
"There's nothing to talk about; Raph simply hates my guts, Who! And only because I didn't lie for him" Leo replied. "He knows I can't lie to Splinter"
"Cuz you're the teacher's pet, you'll always be" A gruff voice came from the dojo's entrance.
"Bad timing" Who thought. "Leo, let me handle this"
"Raph, I honestly didn't know you were gone. What else was I supposed to say?" Leo said to his brother, pointedly ignoring Who.
"Oh, I don't know. How about… you could've just acted like a brother for once in your life and cover me up! Is that so much to ask for?" Raph replied, stepping inside the dojo.
"You could've been in danger!"
"I can take care of myself, oh Fearless one!"
"Guys, we won't get anything solved here if you start yelling" Who tried to interfere. "Raph, you may feel betrayed but you know how Leo is. He cares about you and-"
"-you wanna know what Leo really is? A snitch! He ain't happy enough being teacher's pet so he had to become a snitch!"
"How can I be a snitch if I didn't know you were out? Which means I didn't have any information to give to Splinter; I just told him the truth! Learn your words before you use them, hothead!"
Who glared at him. "Leonardo, that was so uncalled for!"
"I'll show you hothead, asshole!"
In less than a blink, Raphael pulled out his sais and charged towards his brother who waited for him, swords ready.
"GUYS, WAIT!" Who yelled but the brothers weren't listening anymore.
Grunts, growls and the sound of metal clashing against metal was the only thing echoing in both their heads.
"Stay out of this if you don't want to get hurt, Who!" Leo warned, blocking Raph's sais.
"For once I agree with Fearless" Raph grunted, locking his weapons with Leo's blades.
…
"…If things DO get physical, it's time to go to plan B: immediately separate them and send both to a time out.
Considering that once Leo and Raph start fighting not even Splinter can stop them, separating them can become a problem but once you manage to stop them, you have to make some sense into their heads. Another complicated task especially if your siblings are completely stubborn.
However, one must never stop trying…"
…
The girl ran out of the dojo leaving the ninjas brothers to their fight. She pulled out her cell phone; surely Michelangelo and Donatello wouldn't be so far away from the lair to come back to her aid but she quickly casted off that idea.
"I promised Mikey I could fix this, that things wouldn't get out of hands" She thought. "C'mon Who… think! There's gotta be a way to-"
Her eyes landed on the bo staff and the lone nunchack leaning against the couch. Who took the wooden weapons and read the note glued on top of it.
It's dangerous to go alone. Take this!
-Don & Mikey-
The girl laughed. "Oh, you guys"
Back in the dojo, Leo and Raph panted heavily while sending deadly glares at each other; the sweat had drenched their masks and made their hands slippery causing the grip on their weapons to not be as firm as before. Their limbs screamed in exhaustion but they stood their ground trying to look as fierce as possible until the other surrendered.
Once more they charged though not as fast as before.
Out of nowhere a flying nunchack knocked both sais and katanas off their owners' hands, the chain wrapping both weapons together and landing at the other side of the dojo. Leo and Raph stared at each other in confusion when they both felt a something hard hitting their middle section leaving them breathless.
"The fuck was that!" Raph gasped out.
Leonardo coughed a couple of times before lifting his head to see a feminine silhouette standing in between them, bo staff in hand. "Hey, what's the big idea?!"
"Is this the way Splinter raised you up? Did he teach you that beating each other will solve your differences? Is that it?!"
"Who, this is not your-"
"This IS my problem too, Leonardo" The girl replied, pointing the bo at him. "This family's problems became MY problems the moment I started to live here"
"You can always leave" It came the reply from the other side of the dojo.
"Raphael, that's not-!" Leo began but Who gestured him to be silent.
"No, he's right" She walked towards the red-clad turtle and pointed the bo at his chest.
"I can leave whenever I want, Raph. I could leave this place right now if I wanted to but I won't"
"And why the hell not if you're so sick and tired of this?" The sai wielder growled.
"For the same reason Don and Mikey hadn't left…yet"
The ninja brothers looked at her questioningly; Who lowered the bo staff and sat down between Leo and Raph. Just because she had stopped them now it didn't mean they couldn't resume their fight anytime soon.
"Your fights affect Don and Mikey more than you think they do. Why do you guys think Don hides in his lab or leaves to the junkyard the moment you two start arguing? And Raph, why do you think Mikey is always pulling pranks on you… besides the fact that he gets bored easily?"
"Don might be a genius and works under pressure in most of your missions but he gets stressed easily when it comes to family quarrels so he locks himself in his little world. And as for Mikey, he told me he had recently pulled a prank on you so you could vent out on him instead of Leo. If he did that today, don't you think he has probably used this method before?"
"I… I thought he was just being annoying cuz he wanted to" Raph said after a long moment of silence.
"And I thought… Donnie… Aw dammit! How I never noticed it?" The leader lamented.
Who sighed. "If you keep this up, soon they'll get tired and they'll leave you. Both of you need to learn to solve your problems in a civilized way"
She turned to the sai wielder. "Raph, we all know you're a great fighter. You're brave and the strongest of the team but even the greatest have fallen. Someday you will end up badly injured and your family will never know where to find you. So if you want to go out, at least leave a message"
The red-clad turtle tsked and looked away but clearly, the lecture was starting to sink in. Then, Who turned to face the sword wielder.
"Leo, I understand that as the eldest, you're responsible for your family's safety and you care about your brothers' lives even more than your own but you have to understand that your brothers are not helpless; they're trained ninjas and they can fight their battles. You need to have faith they will be safe when they're outside. Also, a white lie every now and then doesn't hurt anyone; next time Raph is outside and you don't know it, tell Splinter something believable and go after your brother. Ok?"
Leo sighed heavily and gave her a curt nod. Since Who felt it was safe to give both warriors a little time for themselves to think over her words, she stood up and walked away.
"I believe you two have some discussing to do. I'll leave you alone and after you have apologized to each other, you are free to come out"
Keeping her poker face, she left the dojo and closed the shoji behind her; just before that, she could allow herself to let out the breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding.
"Well, now it's all up to them" She said mentally.
…
Not much time had passed when Who heard the shoji doors opening again; she would've never expected Leonardo and Raphael coming out after the first 10 minutes but surprisingly, they did.
They didn't look angry but they weren't smiling either. The solemn expression in their faces brought out so many questions in the dark haired girl's head: Did her words fall in deaf ears? Did she do more damage than good?
"I… we… we've been thinking about what you said, Who" Leo said, taking a seat beside the girl.
"I know even with my strength, I can't take down all the scum in the streets" Raph continued. "But that doesn't mean I'll be reckless in purpose and die in some shitty alley without letting my family know where to find me; I know my limits… though it was pretty stupid to go out like that and make everyone worried" He admitted.
"And I have never doubted of my brothers' abilities" Leo carried on. "I trust them, have faith in them and know that their skills are superb. However, they're the only brothers I have. I could never live with myself if something happens to them… which brings out Don and Mikey's situation"
"We can't promise this won't happen again" Raph stated firmly. "Fearless has a tendency to push my buttons more than once in a day and well… I can't blame the guy" He smirked.
"But we promise to keep it not so loud or violent with Don and Mikey here" Leo added.
Who blinked. "So this means you're done arguing for today?"
Both brothers glanced at each other and smiled. "Pretty much" They said in unison.
The dark haired girl let out her breath again, now more calmly. "Whew, mission accomplished!"
Leo chuckled. "That sounded like something Mikey would say"
Suddenly the elevator's door opened and the loud voice of certain orange-clad turtle could be heard.
"And speaking of the devil" Raph muttered.
"Hello? Is it safe to come in now?" Mikey said, only his head showing behind the doors.
"I don't know, is it safe to put a spider on my pillow and pretend you won't get away with it?" Raph said cracking his knuckled and smirking evilly.
"Uh, back to the junkyard!"
"Come back here, you lil' twerp!"
Leo shook his head. "Not this again" He mumbled and went after Raph.
The dark haired girl stared at the chase in progress with a big smile on her face and soon, Donatello joined her in the couch.
"I'm guessing Leo and Raph are at peace?"
Who nodded. "At least for the next 24 hours and by the way…" She pulled out the genius' bo staff and handed it back to him. "Thanks"
"No, thanks to you" Don smiled back. "But now seriously, did you hit them?"
Who chuckled. "Not as much as I wanted to but it wasn't really necessary. I just had to act like a good sister"
…
"…Who knows! Maybe someday this sibling rivalry will come to a permanent end but for now, the Hamato household can be a peaceful place again"
…
"YOU'RE SO GONNA GET IT WHEN I CATCH YOU, MIKEY!"
"THAT'S IF YOU CATCH ME, SNAIL BOY!"
…
"… or at least as peaceful as place full of boys can be"
End of Journal entry N°1
...
First of all, I'd like to give a shout out to T-Girl. Today's her B-day.
Happy B-day, sis!
Also thanks to all of you who reviewed, I kindly appreciate them. Your reviews feed my muse!
Heh, it rhymed.
Now, this is not exactly a chapter-chapter story; it'll have some random topics and we'll get to see not only Who's journal entries but also the guys' journals entries so if you have suggestions for what should I write next, I'll gladly accept them.
Read you later!