Chapter 6

Jayden stared out the window of the classroom as he waited for the last bell to ring. He found himself doing that a lot lately. His mind was on Raph's mental breakdown last week. He sighed quietly before his teacher caught him. "Mr. Hamato?"

"Hm... what?" Jayden's gray eyes locked on the source of the voice.

His teacher, Mr. Johnson, had stopped his lecture on Joan of Arc and was looking right at him. "Is there something interesting going on outside?"

"Um... no." Jayden quickly shook his head. "Sorry." his gaze then moved to his younger cousin, Ethan. Ethan shot him an 'Are you okay?' look. Jayden nodded and faced the board to catch up with what he missed. Before he knew it the bell rang signaling school had ended.

Jayden let out a heavy sigh of relief as he stood.

"Don't forget to take your tests back before you leave." Mr. Johnson quickly passed out everyone's tests as they walked out the door.

Jayden and Ethan took their tests and walked out the door into the crowded hallways of the school. Jayden looked down at his test and quickly folded it up. "Didn't do so well , huh?" Ethan asked as walked beside him.

Jayden smirked "Now there's an understatement." he sighed.

"Don't worry, I didn't do well either."

"Really? Arguably the smartest kid in the family and probably this whole school, didn't do well on a test." Jayden chuckled.

"Hey, just because I'm super smart doesn't mean I don't have off days. Especially after what happened last week with Uncle Raph." Ethan pushed his purple rimmed glasses back up the bridge of his nose then awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "We've still got to try and stay focused."

Jayden looked to his younger cousin and gave him a knowing smile. "I know, but that's easier said than done."

"Right, it must be rough for you. I get to leave after visiting him, so I can't imagine what being there all the time is like."

Jayden stopped at his locker to get his backpack "It's definitely not easy."

"How do you handle that?" Ethan asked. "How do you get through the day?"

"I just try to keep my mind on other things, but that never lasts very long. Sometimes his panic attacks get so bad that I have to leave the house."

Ethan and Jayden continue making their way through the crowded halls as middle schoolers continued to make their way out of the building. The boys eventually came to a stop in front of a door that read 'Guidance Counselor'

"Hey Mom." Jayden greeted as he opened the door to the room. Jenna looked up from her desk when her son and nephew walked in.

"Hello boys." she greeted with a warm smile. Her smile seemed to melt off her face she noticed how sad and exhausted they both looked. "What's wrong?"

Jayden didn't answer and tried to avoid making eye contact with his mother. Jenna stood and walked over to Jayden. She placed a hand under his chin and forced him to look up at her. Jayden still refused to say anything so Ethan spoke up. "We just found out that we didn't do very well on our history tests."

"Is this true, Jayden?"

He sighed and nodded

Jenna knew her son well. "Is it because of what happened with your uncle?" she asked.

"Yeah." he nodded.

"Oh sweetie, I know it must've been hard hearing all of that. Raphael was always your favorite uncle."

"It's not just that, Mom. Something else has been bothering me."

Ethan and Jenna waited patiently for him to finish. Jayden paced around the room. "Be honest with me. Do you think that they are actually dead?"

Ethan gave him a weird look and Jenna responded. "By 'they', do you mean the twins?"

Jayden nodded.

Jenna sighed and leaned up against her desk. She knew this conversation was going to come. She and Leo had told their children about what happened to Aiden and Jonah, but they just omitted some of the information. One bit of info they left out was the fact that they were found dead. Choosing, instead to tell them that they could never be found. They were way too young to know about what actually happened that night. And to Jenna, they still were. "I don't know, sweetie. I mean your father and uncles have searched and it's been ten years. It's hard to tell at this point."

"Well, I don't think they are." Jayden didn't know what, but he knew that something wasn't right. He had a feeling that she was keeping something from him and he's felt like this for a while.

"Well, it's good that you're staying positive, I guess." Ethan said.

"And what about you? What do you think?" Jayden asked Ethan "You're not thinking the same way, are you?"

"I don't know Jayden. It just doesn't seem possible at this point. It's been ten years. I'm sure that would've been back by now."

"What if they can't? What if they're being forced to do something that they don't want to do and they can't come back?"

Ethan ran his hand over his dark brown hair. "I mean, I guess it's possible, but I don't think we should get our hopes up."

Jayden sighed in defeat "Right, well it was just a thought."

Just then Kayla walked in the room. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, I believe we are." Jenna said while collecting her bag. "Come on, boys." Jenna led her two kids and nephew out the door to her car in the parking lot. Jayden hopped in the front while the two youngest jumped in the back.

As they made their way home, Jayden kept his attention out the window. He wasn't paying any mind to anything that was going on in the car. When he noticed what block they were on, he tapped Jenna on the shoulder. "Hey Mom, can you stop at the dojo?"

Jenna looked to her son then sighed. "Okay hon."

Jenna drove up another block and parked in front of a building. "Thanks Mom, I'll see you at home."

"Okay."

Jayden shut the door and watched the car drive off. He walked up to the front door and pushed it open. He could already hear his father giving out orders to his martial arts students. Jayden kicked off his shoes and put them in an empty cubby, then made his way through the main area where about a dozen teenagers were going through a series of punches and kicks. He quickly made his way to the back room careful not to distract anyone from his father's instruction. Leo noticed him though, but since he couldn't really step away from his class right now, he turned his attention back to his students.

Jayden shut the door behind him. There was a large punching bag in the middle of the room. He saw a pair of fighting wraps and gloves in the back closet and put them on. He turned to the bag and immediately began wailing on it. Every punch becoming more and more powerful and aggressive. This is what he did to relieve stress and now was a good time to release everything he was feeling. Frustration at knowing that his parents were hiding things from him, frustration at not knowing what really happened to Aiden and Jonah. Anger at the people that did this to Raph in the first place. He didn't stop until his wrists and knuckles were sore and he was drenched in sweat. He leaned up against a wall and slowly slid down until he was sitting.

That is how Warren found him. Jayden didn't notice as he took his gloves off and threw them across the room in anger.

"Rough day?" Warren asked leaning against the door frame.

Jayden looked up to see his cousin looking right at him "Hey Warren, what are you doing here?"

"I was helping out Uncle Leo with the dojo today. I was about to leave when he asked me to come back here to check on you." he walked over and sat down next to him. "What's going on?"

"I'm just..." he started then sighed "torn, I guess."

"Well, I'm here if you need to talk."

Jayden took a deep breath and decided to ask the same question he asked Jenna and Ethan. "Do you think they're really dead?"

"Who?"

"Aiden and Jonah."

Warren wasn't expecting that question. He instantly turned away from him and started absentmindedly playing with the dreads on his head. Jayden noticed his hesitation "Well?"

Warren didn't want to lie to him, but he felt like he had to. Warren was the only kid that knew what actually happened. After months of pestering his parents about it, they caved and told him everything. It was heart wrenching, to say the least, when he found out that the kids, the cousins he looked up to were actually dead. It hurt even more when he was told how they died. He was shocked. He wanted to throw up, he wanted to cry, but surprisingly he didn't do any of that. Instead he just stood there completely stone faced. How could anyone do that to children? He couldn't put that same burden on Jayden. Then again, Warren was the same age as Jayden when he found out and he knows how persistent his little cousin can be. Still, he had to at least try to deter him. "I mean, it's possible. They could come back."

"You're lying." Jayden stated.

Warren looked to him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I know you're keeping something from me." Jayden said. "Everyone is keeping something from me."

"No one is hiding anything , Jayden."

"Then why won't anyone tell me the truth?"

"Because you don't need to know."

"Why not?" Jayden exclaimed. "Why can't you just tell me?"

"Because they..." Warren had to stop himself. He almost let it slip out.

Jayden pushed to try and get the info out of him. "What? They what?"

Warren looked away, embarrassed. He had a feeling he was going to have to let out a secret that he wasn't supposed to. "Um, it's nothing."

"No, what were you about to say?" Jayden desperately grabbed Warren's shoulders. "I have to know. Please tell me."

"Jayden..." Warren sighed.

"Look, I can handle it. Just tell me."

Warren sighed again. He knew that Jayden was not going to let this go. "Fine. If you really need to know. Years ago, when they were out looking for the twins, they were able to locate them, but,"

"But...?" Jayden encouraged him to continue.

"They were already dead, they were killed."

"Killed." Jayden slumped up against the wall. "How?"

Warren thought about keeping quiet at this point, but he's come this far. Why stop now? "They were burned."

"Oh my God." Warren noticed that Jayden was getting visibly paler.

"Yeah, now imagine how Uncle Raph must have felt when he saw that."

"Yeah..." Jayden stood up and headed for the exit. "I... should head home."

"Wait up, I'll go with you." Warren started to follow.

"No... I'll go on my own. I need to think for a bit." When he opened the door, Leo was standing on the other end. "Oh, hey Dad. I was just heading home." he quickly moved passed him.

Warren stood up too. "Don't worry Uncle, I'll keep an eye on him and make sure he gets home."

"Thanks, Warren." Leo responded and stepped out of the way to let him through.

…

Somewhere in Japan

"Are you prepared to leave?" Karai asked when her two main Foot soldiers entered her room.

"Yes, we are ready to leave when you command." one of the ninjas said.

"Good." Karai said. "I have been waiting years for this moment. Finally, I will be rid of that wretched Hamato clan. After what they did to the Shredder." the two ninjas stood waiting for her to finish. "I will destroy the rest of their family just like they destroyed mine." he turned to the two ninja. "Go, you know what you need to do." she finally ordered. The two ninjas bowed and turned to leave. "One more thing." she stopped them before they could exit. "I hope that neither one of you will forget who you work for."

"Yes, Mistress Karai." they both answered before leaving.

XXX

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