Chapter 4: Saving Grace
A/N: And here's another chapter. I promised I would give you more, and I want to be true to my word on that. Thanks to all of those who have read and reviewed thus far. Your kind words mean the world to me.
Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters are property of Nickelodeon. I only own the plot and any characters you don't recognize.
Mikey was thinking about Angel as he doodled in his drawing pad. Since April disappeared, Mikey had stopped drawing, but after everything that had happened with Robyn, he had started doing it again as a way to distract himself from everything. He couldn't concentrate on anything right now though. No matter what Raph said, Angel needed a friend to help out and be there for her, and Mikey felt he was just the Turtle for the job.
With that in mind, Mikey decided to visit Murakami's. He'd been so busy with patrol that he hadn't had a chance to stop by and visit for a while. He wanted to know if Oyuki had written to her uncle and how she was doing. After telling his brothers and Sensei where he was going, Mikey grabbed his gear and headed off to Murakami's.
As he ran across the rooftops, the orange-clad Turtle felt so happy. It felt good to be out on the surface where he could just have fun and not worry about anything else. He wasn't even worried about Robyn anymore because he felt she was gone for good and that Lynn was just playing with them. Sure, he was worried about Leo, but his brother just needed to stop worrying and relax.
"Hey, let go of me!" a voice yelled down below, stopping Mikey in his tracks. He pulled out his nunchucks and followed the sound of the voice, ready to come to the person's aid. He saw Fong and the Purple Dragons surrounding a girl who appeared to be Mikey's age or a bit older.
"Look, girlie, your brother promised us some money," Fong told her. "But since he's a freak now, he can't pay up, so you have to."
"I don't have any money!" she protested.
Fong chuckled. "No, but your grandma does," he replied.
The girl gasped. "You leave her out of this! She has nothing to do with what my brother has done!" she yelled.
"If you can't do as we say, then you'll have to pay the price," said Fong. He pulled out a switchblade and held it in front of the girl.
Mikey had seen enough. With a yell of, "Booyakasha!" he jumped down into the alley, his nunchucks out as he hit Sid in the head. Tsoi saw this and went for Mikey, but out of nowhere, a hockey stick collided with Tsoi's head, knocking him out cold. Mikey gasped as a guy in a hockey mask stared down at Tsoi's limp body. Where had he come from?
"And that's what you get for messin' with a lady," he said. Then he turned to Fong. "You want some, too?"
Terrified, Fong grabbed Tsoi and dragged Sid away from the chaos, not wanting to get in a fight with the vigilante.
While the guy was looking at the Dragon's retreating figures, Mikey hurried over to the girl. "You okay?" he asked her.
"Get away from me, freak!" she snarled, pulling away from him.
Hearing her cry, the guy in the hockey mask hurried over to them. "You better get away from her before I try to teach you a lesson, too," he threatened.
"Dude, chill out," Mikey said, raising his hands in a polite gesture. "I'm not gonna hurt her."
The guy rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said and then turned to the girl. "What the hell do you think you're doin', Angel? Those guys are Purple Dragons. They only want one thing from the likes of you."
"I didn't do anything, Casey!" Angel yelled. "I was just walking by when they confronted me about money my brother owed them. Why are you even here?"
"I promised your grandma I'd keep an eye on you," Casey replied.
Angel bristled. "So you've been spying on me?" she demanded.
"Hey, somebody has to," he retorted. "You're a magnet for trouble, Angel. First your brother, and now you."
"I wasn't joining up with the Dragons," Angel told him. "They confronted me about some money my brother owed them, but since he's not here to give it to them, they thought I'd do it instead."
"She's telling the truth," Mikey piped up. "I saw the whole thing. Fong threatened to kill her and I came down to stop him. Then you showed up, and you know the rest."
"You need to stay out of this, freak!" snapped Casey.
"Says the guy in the weird hockey mask," retorted Mikey. "Why don't you take it off and face me like a man?"
"Hey, you're wearin' a mask, too," said Casey. "Besides, you don't need to see my face." He turned to Angel. "Let's go, Angel. I'm takin' you home."
"Maybe I should take her home instead," offered Mikey.
"No, you can crawl back to wherever you came from," answered Casey. "I'll take it from here."
Mikey stepped toward Casey. "I was here before you, so I should take her home." He turned to take Angel's arm, but Casey punched him in the face, causing Mikey to stagger back. "Dude, what was that for?"
"For stickin' your nose where it don't belong," Casey replied. And with that, he led Angel away.
Mikey wanted to go after him, but he knew that fighting that guy wasn't a good idea. The guy was a good fighter for sure. Mikey rubbed his cheek where the guy had punched him and headed to Murakami's where he knew he'd be welcomed by someone who didn't flinch at the sight of him. Then again, Murakami was blind, so that made all the difference. He couldn't wait to find out how Oyuki was. She hadn't written to him for a few months, and Mikey was beginning to get worried about her. Surely Murakami would know what was going on.
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"What's up, Murakami-san?" Mikey greeted the blind noodle chef as he entered the shop.
"Ah, Michelangelo-san, I'm so glad to see you," Murakami replied. "As for what is happening, not much. It has been some time since you last visited. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, we've just been busy with patrol," answered Mikey. "So have you heard from Oyuki?"
"Yes, she has written to me a few times. Has she written to you?"
"Not for a few months, and I don't know why," said Mikey. "That's why I want to know if you've heard from her."
Murakami sighed. "I think I know why she hasn't written to you," he said, a sad look crossing his face. "She has met someone and is now engaged to him. She has decided to remain in Japan with him."
"But why didn't she just tell me?" Mikey asked. He felt hurt that Oyuki hadn't bothered to write to him to tell him any of this. Weren't they supposed to be friends?
"Because she was afraid of hurting you," replied Murakami. "She knew you were fond of her."
"Well, I am hurt!" snapped Mikey. "We were friends and she just refused to be honest with me. Yeah, I liked her and thought that maybe she liked me too. And if she just wanted to be friends with me, the least she could have done was just be honest about it. If you write to her again, tell her I'm disappointed in her and I think she's a lousy friend." It felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. First Bradford had betrayed him, then Robyn, and now Oyuki. Would he EVER have a friend like April had been?
"I'm very sorry, Michelangelo-san," said Murakami, putting his hand on Mikey's and patting it. "I had no idea she wasn't writing to you. If I had known, I would have told her to write to you immediately. Do you want me to ask her to write to you again?"
"No thanks," said Mikey bitterly. "If she won't do it herself, then there's no sense in making her do it. Do you know who this guy is?
"His name is Jun and she knew him from when they were in school," said Murakami. "When she went back to Japan, she reconnected with him and has decided that she wants to be with him for the rest of her life."
"Did you know him, too?"
"Yes, and I thought he was very nice and a good friend for Oyuki. They were always very close."
"Well, it seems like she found who she wanted to be with. I guess I wasn't good enough for her since I'm a mutant freak."
"I do not think that is the reason, my friend," said Murakami gently. "She just found someone she really liked and wanted to try a relationship with him. She still liked you and I'm sure she still does. Before she left, she told me that you were a lot of fun to be around and that she was sad to be leaving you."
"And now she's found someone else and has moved on," said Mikey. "I guess that's that and there's nothing more I can do. I better go."
"Would you like to take some pizza gyoza home for your brothers?"
"Sure. Thanks, Murakami-san." Mikey couldn't blame the noodle chef for what Oyuki did to him He watched as Murakami prepared some pizza gyoza, making small talk about the noodle shop and asking about Mikey's family. Mikey told him about Leo's nightmares and how everyone else was holding up as best they could. He left out the part about Lynn because he wasn't sure how Murakami would react to that information.
"I'm sorry your brother is having bad dreams," said Murakami as he handed Mikey the bag with his food in it. "There is a special tea that can help to ward off bad dreams. I will give some to Leonardo so that it will help him sleep." He hurried to a cupboard and took out a few packets of tea and put them in the bag with the pizza gyoza.
"Thanks again, Murakami-san," said Mikey. "I'm sure Leo will appreciate the help."
"It is no trouble, Michelangelo-san," said Murakami. "I am always happy to help out whenever I can."
Mikey smiled at Murakami even though he felt so sad right now and promised him he'd visit again when he was able to. Just as he made his way to the rooftop, he heard a voice say, "Aww, looks like someone got his hart broken." He pulled his nunchucks out and narrowed his blue eyes, scanning to see who was with him.
"Who's there?" he demanded. "Show yourself."
A figure stepped out from behind a water tower, and Mikey instantly recognized that it was Lynn. She smiled as she came up to the orange-clad Turtle. "Trouble in paradise, Mikey?" she teased.
"You tell me," Mikey retorted. "Do you have Murakami's place bugged?"
She laughed. "Of course not," she said. "I can tell by the sadness in your face. I've seen that look before, and I know what it means. You've been hurt bad."
"And why should that matter to you?" Mikey snapped. He was tired of this person always being in their business.
"Because I'm curious about you guys," Lynn answered.
"Well, we're curious about you, but you won't tell us anything. How do you know about us? How did you get those scars? Was it from a fire or a car accident?"
Lynn's teasing expression turned cold. "I told you I don't want to talk about it," she said.
"That's not fair!" yelled Mikey. "If you're not gonna tell us about you, then I'm not gonna tell you what I'm going through."
"Fine with me," replied Lynn. "I could probably guess though."
"Good luck with that," countered Mikey. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going home. I'm not in the mood for playing games with anyone."
"I'm not playing games," said Lynn. "But go on home if that's what you want to do. Just know that I'm going to see you around. I'm not going away no matter how much you want me to."
Mikey didn't answer and ran away from her. He looked behind him, but she wasn't following him. Good. He was sick of her already. He made it to the Lair without any more incidents and saw Splinter waiting up for him.
"Hey, Sensei, I didn't think you'd be waiting up," greeted Mikey.
"I had some trouble sleeping so I decided to sit up for a while," replied Splinter. "Besides, usually one of your brothers would be waiting up for you but they have gone to bed. How was your visit with Murakami-san?"
"It was okay. He's doing really good and says hi. He even gave me some tea to help Leo." Mikey reached in and pulled out a packet of tea. "Do you recognize it, Sensei?"
Splinter took the packet and examined it. "Yes, I do," he said. "My mother would often give it to me when I had bad dreams as a child."
"Did it work?" Mikey asked him His blue eyes were filled with hope that maybe this would help Leo.
Splinter smiled as he saw his son's expression. "Yes, it did, and I am sure it will help Leonardo as well. I will put these in the cupboard so we have them when we need them. And what else did Murakami give you?"
"Pizza gyoza," answered Mikey. "I'll put it in the fridge for later."
"Well I was thinking you and I could have some with some tea," Splinter suggested. "There is no sense in letting something like that go to waste."
Mikey nodded and set out the pizza gyoza while Splinter prepared the tea. When it was done, the rat poured some for himself and his son. Mikey drank his and became surprised when he finished it so quickly.
"You put sugar and chocolate syrup in there," he noted.
Splinter chuckled. "Yes, I remembered that you are not fond of traditional tea and like for yours to have a bit of flavor."
"Thanks for remembering, Master Splinter," said Mikey gratefully.
"You are welcome, Michelangelo. You said that Murakami is doing well. Has he heard from Oyuki?"
At the mention of her name, a sad and broken look crossed Mikey's face. "Yeah, he did," he said softly.
"Did he tell you why she has not written to you?"
"She found somebody else and is engaged to them," Mikey answered dejectedly, tears filling his blue eyes.
Splinter's eyes filled with sympathy for his youngest son. ""Oh, Michelangelo, I am so sorry. I know how much she meant to you."
"I mean, I know we were just friends, but I thought that it could turn into something more. But now that'll never happen. Did you feel this way after you fought Shredder and lost Shen?"
Splinter nodded. "Yes, I did, and it took me a long time to heal. Even now, it is hard for me to remember all that has happened. But you and your brothers have helped me to remember that good things do happen, and that has been part of what has helped me to heal. You may feel badly about all of this now, my son, but I believe that you will find someone who will care about you just as much as you care about them. And remember that though you have lost Oyuki, you still have your brothers and me to lean on."
Mikey thought about what Splinter had said. He didn't have Oyuki, but he could still be friends with Angel and maybe help her along the way. "You're right, Sensei," he said. "Thanks for the pep talk."
"You are quite welcome, my son. And now I think it is time for us to go to bed."
Mikey nodded and went to the kitchen to put away the remaining pizza gyoza while Splinter put the tea away. Then Mikey headed to his room, feeling better after that talk with his father. He was ad about Oyuki, but he knew that it wasn't a good idea to dwell on her. It was time to move on, and that's what Hamato Michelangelo was going to do.
A/N: So that's the end of another chapter. I can't believe I finished another one so soon. I really want to get the chapters that I have written posted because I don't want any of you to wait anymore. Yep, Mikey's heart's been broken, but he'll heal soon enough. And I know that Lynn hasn't been revealed yet, so you'll have to wait and see where that goes, too. Yep, I also introduced Casey Jones into my little universe, and he will show up again so be on the lookout for more chapters. In the meantime, feel free to elave a review and have a shelltastic day.