"All right, the pizza is ordered and should be here soon."
April turned off the vacuum cleaner and looked up at her dad. "What?"
"I said the pizza's ordered," Kirby said, shutting the door to Mei's apartment behind him.
"Thanks!" April said. She was trying as hard as she could to think about this evening as a fun opportunity for everybody to reconnect, ignoring the possibility of very bad news.
Kirby shook his head and lowered his voice. "You should be thanking Mei. She's just about the only one around here with any real money at this point. Speaking of whom…where is she?"
"In her room, resting. She said that she hasn't been sleeping very well. Dad, I'm worried about her."
Kirby gave April a sad smile. "It's hard to be in her shoes right now. We just need to give her space when she asks for it, and be there when she needs it." He surveyed Mei's apartment. "It looks great in here! You've been working hard."
"Yeah, I even dusted all her weapons off."
"Did you get your assignments for today done?"
April squirmed. "Mostly…but I thought since there was so much happening today…"
Kirby folded his arms and sighed. "Okay, I'll let it go today, but you seriously better start cracking down on your studies tomorrow. I haven't known Splinter that long, but he's got the right idea about studying."
"The guys don't study, Dad."
"They absolutely do. They study martial arts. You've seen how hard he makes them work – I'll be going easy on you compared to him."
April rolled her eyes. She was starting to think that this homeschooling thing wasn't going to be as much fun as she thought it was. "Fine." She noticed an assortment of envelopes in her dad's hands. "What's that?"
"Mei's mail. Looks like a lot of get-well-soon cards, based on the envelopes. I imagine they're missing her at work."
"They must. She got another delivery of flowers this afternoon."
Kirby sighed.
"What is it, Dad?"
"I know that from a logical standpoint, it makes perfect sense that the university filled my position on the research team. Between being held by the Kraang and then being…that thing..."
"You'll find a job, Daddy." April threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
There was a loud rhythmic tap at the window.
April glanced at the clock. "It's a bit early," she muttered.
Kirby set his jaw and placed his hand over his hip. April knew that was where he carried his gun.
"Seriously, Dad, you know that ninjas can dodge bullets," April hissed.
"Yeah, well, the Kraang can't."
"I'm sure it's fine." April went to open the window.
"I'll get it." Kirby pushed her out of the way and motioned her to stand back. Rolling her eyes, she obeyed. He laid the mail down on the table and tiptoed over to the window. Cautiously, he drew the blinds, unlocked it, and opened it.
Mikey jumped up like a Jack-in-the-box. "Howdy-ho, Mr. O!"
Kirby yelped in a decidedly unmanly fashion. "Mikey!"
"I brought some stuff," Mikey said excitedly, handing a cooler to him.
Red in the face, Kirby pulled the cooler into the apartment.
"What'd you make, Mikey?" April asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Only the best thing to be invented since the pizza gyoza!" Mikey put his hands on his hips.
Oh, no… April cringed internally.
"Pizza chumaki!"
"Pizza what?" Kirby said.
"Relax, my test subject loved 'em." Mikey bent down to pick something up. When he stood up, he was holding Donnie in his hands. "Idn't that right, bro?"
Donnie had a few pieces of sushi rice stuck on his face.
"Come inside before someone sees you, Mikey," Kirby said, in a voice that April recognized as impatient. After Mikey climbed through the window, Kirby pulled it shut, locked it, and pulled the blinds. "Why are you here so early?"
"I thought I'd help out with gettin' stuff ready." Mikey opened up the cooler and pulled out a package wrapped in foil. "Plus, I wanted someone's opinion other than Donnie's. That dude'll eat anything nowadays." He went to the kitchen and set Donnie down on the counter.
April cringed again as she followed Mikey to the kitchen. She picked Donnie up for a moment and pulled the sticky rice off of his face. He gave her finger an affectionate nibble. Maybe it's a good thing you're not sentient right now, sweetie. She set him back down on the counter. "Why didn't you ask Leo or Raph?"
"Are you kidding? They never try my stuff!"
"We'll be happy to try your pizza chew-mocky," Kirby said. April recognized the voice that he once used when she, at the age of seven, attempted to prepare him dinner. She giggled slightly.
"Chu-ma-ki," Mikey said, deliberately sounding out the word with perfect Japanese inflection. He opened up the foil package.
About a dozen neatly formed rice rolls were inside.
"Wow, that's a lot," April said, trying not to let too much dread into her voice.
"Dude, I made like five of these things. They're awesome."
April picked one up. "Did you use the Tang's method of preparing the rice?"
"Yupperoni pepperoni," Mikey said. "I was gonna make 'em traditional, but we didn't have any cucumbers. Or daikon. Or…anything other than pizza stuff, really."
April examined it closely. The center appeared to be filled with a smear of pizza sauce, a thin stick of pepperoni, and a thin stick of mozzarella. Doesn't look half bad, she thought. Closing her eyes and bracing herself, she bit into it.
It was everything she loved about rice rolls and everything she loved about cold leftover pizza rolled into one sweet and savory package. "Mmmm—oh, yum."
"I know, right?" Miked squealed, jumping up and down. "It's like East meets West and they're having a swee-ee-eet party in your mouth!"
"Huh," Kirby said, after swallowing a bite. "That's really different, but I like it."
"You should try 'em with sriracha." Mikey produced a bottle of the violently orange-red liquid from the cooler.
"I'm not sure how Mei's going to feel about you tampering with cuisines," April said past a mouthful of the roll. She swallowed. "You know how she hates Americanized Japanese food."
"She doesn't hate it, she just thinks it's nonsense." Mikey re-wrapped the rolls and transferred them to the fridge. "If there's anything I'm used to, it's bein' told I'm full of nonsense."
Kirby leaned over and whispered in April's ear. "There's an understatement."
April stifled a giggle.
"'Sides, I brought some plain sushi rice and some extra nori—that's the seaweed stuff," Mikey said, in response to Kirby's puzzled look, "so that we can raid her fridge and make some stuff she'll like."
"She can't have anything that's not through a straw, remember?" Kirby said. "Her jaw is still wired."
Mikey's shoulders slumped. "Oh, yeah." He perked up slightly. "We can make her a sushi smoothie! I am such a genius."
Kirby grimaced.
"Speaking of Mei, I'll go see if she's ready to come out," April said. She paused, trying to think of something that might bolster Mikey's mood even further. "Mikey's nonsense probably woke her up from whatever nap she was trying to take."
Mikey grinned and blew a raspberry at April.
"Take her mail," Kirby said, pointing at the table.
April grabbed the handful of mail and walked down the short hall to Mei's room. She tapped on the door. "Mei? Can I come in?"
There was a pause. "Hai," a weak voice said.
April opened the door and walked in. "Are you okay?"
Mei said something hoarsely in Japanese.
"Um…what?"
Mei gasped, sat up, and looked around as if she was just remembering where she was. "Oh, April. I'm sorry. I was…asleep."
April frowned. She sat down on the bed and put a hand on Mei's shoulder. "Are you sure you're okay? You look like you've been crying."
Mei reached up and touched her face. She pulled away her hand and rubbed it on her pillowcase, which was damp in places. "Oh."
"What were you dreaming about? Were you having a nightmare?"
"No," Mei snapped. "Why do you keep asking me about nightmares?"
April sighed. "Because I'm still having them."
Mei's face softened. "I'm sorry, April-chan." She drew a deep breath. "I haven't been able to help you with your meditation very much lately. We've been focusing on this chemistry business so much…I've neglected you."
It sounds like you're neglecting yourself, too. "When was the last time you meditated?"
"This afternoon," Mei said. She was quiet for a moment. "This fractured rib makes deep breathing very painful, though."
"Why don't you take those painkillers they gave you?"
Mei shuddered slightly. "I tried them once. They – broke my concentration."
"What do you mean?"
"It is hard enough to find mental clarity without your mind being clouded by chemicals."
"I guess…but I hate for you to be in pain."
"Please," Mei said, her voice harsh. "If I could not deal with pain, I would have died a long time ago."
April held back tears of anger. A surge of hatred flashed through her.
You really should have shot him more times.
"What is that?" Mei pointed to the mail in April's other hand.
"Oh. This is your mail. Looks like there are a lot of get-well-soon cards in here."
"Thank you, April-chan."
"Well, um…Mikey's already here, and everyone else should be coming soon. You ready to get up?"
"Yes, that sounds good."
As April helped Mei into her wheelchair, she found herself silently praying that tonight would actually be fun, if only for a little while.
Mei deserved at least that much.