Chapter 8: A Thousand Needles
A/N: I'm back with another chapter, and this time it's Mikey's turn again. What will our orange-banded Turtle go through this time? Well, you'll have to read on to find out. Thanks to all of those who have read and reviewed thus far. It means the world to me that you love this story.
Disclaimer: TMNT belongs to Nickelodeon. I only own the plot and nothing more than that.
Mikey felt excitement course through him as he headed over to Murakami's noodle shop. Murakami had called him and told him that Oyuki had come to New York and wanted to see him. He and his brothers had returned to New York yesterday after Kirby had been called in to cover someone else's shift, which had cut their vacation short. After Don had received an A note, the Turtles were going to confront Lynn about it until Kirby had to tell them it was time to go back.
But Mikey wasn't thinking about A, Lynn, or anything else. He was concentrating on having a good time with Oyuki and catching up with her. Sure, he knew she was with someone else now, but he was happy for her and wanted to still remain friends with her despite that. He approached the noodle shop and was pleased to see that all of the lights were on. He entered and greeted Murakami with a smile.
"Hey, Murakami-san, what's shakin'?" he asked.
"I suppose you are referring to my well-being, are you not?" Murakami guessed. "I am doing fine, Michelangelo-san. How are you?"
"I'm okay," Mikey answered. "I'm glad to be back. Where's Oyuki?"
"She is out getting some spices I'm low on," Murakami replied. "She should be back soon though. Can I get you anything?"
"Just the usual," Mikey told him.
"Coming right up," Murakami said. He gave the orange-clad Turtle a soda and began preparing some pizza gyoza. He talked about how things had been going in the shop, and Mikey told him about their vacation and why they'd had to come back early. It had been such a treat to leave the city, ad Mikey had been sad to leave so soon.
"So why is Oyuki back?" asked Mikey.
"Her mother passed away, and Oyuki wanted to remain in Japan, but her father insisted that she come back here and resume her studies."
"She never told me she was in school."
"She isn't, but that's what she wants her father to believe," explained Murakami. "She wouldn't have been allowed to come to America unless it was for schooling."
"Oh. But won't her dad find out the truth if he comes out here?"
"No, he refuses to come to America because he feels Japan is a superior country. He was angry when I chose to come here and he wanted Oyuki's mother to have nothing to do with me. She refused him and talked to me anyway."
"Well, that dude sounds harsh," Mikey commented. He tried to think about Splinter hating America and not wanting to come here. If that had happened, he and his brothers would never have mutated. He tried to imagine Oyuki living with someone like that and couldn't bear the thought. Had that been the reason Oyuki had returned?
Murakami hit a button on his watch that told him the time, startling Mikey out of his thoughts. "Hmm. Oyuki is talking a long time to get those spices," he noted. "She's never this long."
"Maybe she ran into someone," Mikey suggested.
Murakami shook his head. "I feel like something's not right," he said.
"I'll go down to the store and see if she's there," Mikey offered. A weird feeling was settling in his stomach, and he didn't like it one bit. Murakami gave him directions to the store, and Mikey hurried to see if she was okay.
As he neared the store, he saw some cop cars parked out front. Had there been a robbery? Was Oyuki being held hostage by some crazy guy? He leapt to the store's roof and saw that there were more cops in the back of the store near a Dumpster. Mikey peered over the roof and saw that the cops were standing by a body. Some detectives were there, taking pictures of the body, and as they stepped back, Mikey got a glimpse of who it was. He gasped, and tears filled his eyes.
It was Oyuki.
It was like a thousand needles were piercing his heart. How could this have happened?
"So what happened?" one of the cops asked.
"One of the employees went to empty the trash and found the body in the Dumpster," another officer replied. "He identified her as a customer who had been in the shop just minutes ago. We questioned other customers, but no one saw anything. We're trying to find her family to contact them."
Mikey listened to them talking, shaking his head in disbelief. This couldn't be real. Oyuki couldn't be dead. This had to be some sort of mistake. But as he looked down at her body again, he realized that this was real. An urge came over him to run to the body and to hold Oyuki. He wanted to tell her the things he'd been meaning to tell her at the noodle shop and how she really meant a lot to him. There was no way he could so, however, and he had to give up that notion. Then he remembered that Murakami was waiting at the shop for their return. Mikey had to go to him and tell him that his niece was dead, something that he really didn't want to do. With one last look at Oyuki's body, he went to her uncle to tell him the news.
Murakami was stirring a pot of something when Mikey came in. He put the spoon down as soon as he heard Mikeys footsteps. "Michelangelo, where is Oyuki?" he asked.
Mikey sighed. "I'm sorry, Murakami-san, but Oyuki's dead," he sobbed, tears falling from his face. "They found her body in the Dumpster at the back of the store."
Murakami's face turned pale, and he started to sway. Mikey hurried to his side to steady him. "I am fine, Michelangelo-san. But how could this have happened?"
"I think Robyn did it," Mikey replied.
"But Robyn is dead," Murakami reminded him.
"My brothers and I don't think so," Mikey told him and proceeded to tell him about Lynn possibly being Robyn. "We've started getting notes from A again, and that's why we think Robyn's still alive."
"But perhaps it could be one of your enemies playing a trick on you," suggested Murakami.
"None of our enemies know about the notes," replied Mikey. "It has to be Robyn."
"But why would Robyn kill Oyuki?"
"To get back at us. She's the one who encouraged me to ask Oyuki out when we met her. So by killing her, she's getting her revenge on me and on all of us. She'll keep on going and go for Madison, Lucindra, and Irma if we don't stop her."
"Michelangelo-san, please be careful," Murakami urged him. "If Robyn is back, then you know how dangerous she is. I do not want you or your brothers to get hurt."
Mikey knew Murakami cared about him and meant well, but he just didn't understand how the orange-clad Turtle felt. He had been devastated when he'd seen Oyuki's body. Sure, they had only been friends before Oyuki left, but Mikey had envisioned that it could be taken further when she came back. They would keep in touch and eventually become a couple. But now that would never happen, and it was all Robyn's fault.
"I'll try to be careful, Murakami-san, but I have to do this for Oyuki," Mikey told him. "I have to go home and tell the others what happened. I'll come back soon."
Murakami offered him some pizza gyoza to take home, but Mikey declined it. He went home and wasn't sure what he was going to say to his brothers. Now he knew how Don had felt when April's body had been discovered. Someone had killed Oyuki and thrown her in the Dumpster. Would that have happened if he'd been there? Had she cried for help before she'd been killed? Had her last thoughts been about Mikey, or about her family and the man she was leaving behind?
When he entered the Lair he found his brothers sitting in the living watching wrestling while Don was typing on his laptop. Mikey didn't even try to hide his tears from them because he didn't care what they thought.
"Mikey, what's wrong?" Leo asked him.
"Oyuki was killed," Mikey sobbed. "They found her body in a Dumpster!"
"Holy shit!" Raph swore.
"I think it was Robyn," Mikey said. "She's the one who encouraged me to ask Oyuki out when we met her." Just then, Mikey's T-Phone chimed with a new text. He opened it, and read it, his eyes filled with anger.
Poor Mikey! Love really bites, doesn't it? There's no such thing as a happy ending in my world.—A.
With a cry of rage, Mikey threw his phone, and it hit the wall.
"Michelangelo, come with me!" Splinter ordered.
Mikey did as his father asked him even though he didn't want to. How dare Robyn taunt him about Oyuki's death? She was definitely going to pay now.
"Michelangelo, I know that you are hurting," Splinter began once both of them were seated in his room. "However, being angry is not going to help you."
Mikey clenched his fists. How dare his father tell him he wasn't allowed to be angry? Didn't he know what Mikey was going through right now? "So I'm just supposed to forget that this ever happened and just smile? Is that what you did when Tang Shen died, Dad? Did you just pretend that it never happened?"
Splinter slammed his walking stick down, causing the orange-clad Turtle to jump. "Michelangelo! You will not speak to me this way!" he chastised. His eyes were filled with a rage Mikey had never seen before. "No, I did not forget what happened to her, but I knew that letting the rage and hate consume me was not the answer. It was then that I bought the four of you, and our lives were changed. I still mourned for Tang Shen, but I learned not to let the anger and hatred take over my life, and you four were responsible for that change. The point I am trying to make is that you can still mourn for Oyuki, but do not let the rage consume you for that can be a deadly enemy."
Mikey stared at his father, tears filling his eyes. "I don't think I can do that," he confessed. "It's hard not to be mad at what was done to her."
Splinter put a paw on Mikey's shoulder. "Well, what did you do after April died?" he asked him. "How did you distract yourself from what happened to her?"
"I visited Murakami," Mikey answered. "But that won't help this time because he knew Oyuki. It's just going to be hard to remember that she won't be there."
"Yes, but there are other ways to distract yourself. What else do you like to do?"
"I like to draw, read comics, play video games, and go skateboarding," Mikey replied. Then his eyes lit up. "Hey, I'll go skateboarding! I haven't done that in a while."
Splinter chuckled at his son's enthusiasm. "That is an excellent suggestion, my son," he praised him. "Perhaps it will help you feel better."
"And you don't think Oyuki would mind?" Mikey asked him.
Splinter smiled. "I think Oyuki would like to see you having fun," he replied.
"Then I'll do it. Thanks, Sensei."
"You are quite welcome, Michelangelo," Splinter replied. "Now run along and have some fun."
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Mikey did a front flip in the air before landing perfectly. He had been out in the sewers for two hours and was beginning to get hungry. Splinter was right that he needed a distraction to deal with the grief, and skateboarding had really helped. He still felt sad when he thought of Oyuki, but he knew the feeling would pass with time. He grabbed his skateboard and headed home. As he made his way there, he spotted a bag floating in the water. The bag floated close enough for Mikey to hear what sounded like an animal in distress. He grabbed the bag and slowly opened it to see an orange and white kitten mewing. The kitten stopped long enough to look at Mikey with sad eyes, shivering in terror. Mikey's heart went out to the kitten, and he felt sorry for what it had gone through. Why did people have to be so cruel?
"Don't be afraid, little guy," Mikey soothed. "I won't hurt you." He slowly reached in and put his hand under the kitten's nose so that he could get Mikey's scent. The kitten sniffed Mikey's hand and then nuzzled his head under Mikey's hand so that the Turtle could pet him. Mikey smiled as the kitten began purring.
"See? That wasn't so bad." He picked the kitten up and checked to see if it was a boy or girl. "Looks like you're a boy to me. I don't get why anybody would want to drown such a cute little kitty like you. Well, you don't have to be scared anymore. And I have the perfect name for you, too. I'll call you Klunk since I like the sound cats make when they play with toys, but instead of spelling it with a C, I'll spell it with a K 'cause it looks cooler. What do you think?"
"Meow," Klunk replied, as he moved up and touched his nose to Mikey's face.
"Glad you like it," Mikey said. Then he went back to the Lair, happy that he had found Klunk just like Splinter had found them. Maybe this was his distraction that he needed to help him with Oyuki's loss. Klunk was special, and Mikey knew he'd found a good friend and a great pet, too. He just hoped Splinter wouldn't mind and would let Mikey keep the cat. He felt that Klunk was just the thing to help distract him just as four baby turtles had helped distract Splinter from his loss and sadness.
A/N: And that's the end of another chapter. Yeah, Mikey got put through the ringer here, but now he has Klunk to take care of. Sorry that I killed Oyuki, but I kind of had to. Feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.