Karai and Leo walked together in silence. She could sense that he was still mad at her. How could he not be? She hadn't exactly been straightforward with him…well, ever.
Even so, despite the anger, he still believed her. She was actually dumbfounded that he was willing to believe her at all, when two only weeks ago, she had gassed him and his brothers and put them all in terrible danger.
Not that she deserved his belief.
Why? Why hadn't she just told them the truth, the way she'd told Mei? Why couldn't she bear to tell Leonardo what had really happened? Was she really that desperate for his acceptance? Not that it did her any good to lie about it – if he found out that she had lied, he would be even angrier than if she had simply told him about it in the first place. And it's not like they wouldn't have understood her reason for doing it…
She should have listened to Mei, instead of giving in to her fear that the turtles would never trust her again if she told them about it.
When she had gone to see Mei, all bruised and bloodied, Mei had urged her to tell the truth to the others. She had practically begged Karai to tell them.
Karai drew a deep breath.
This was all under control. She was in control of it. In fact, this was even better than her original plan to destroy the device alone. She was much more likely to succeed with everyone helping. As long as Mei made good on her promise of silence and the Kraang didn't let anything slip before the team destroyed them, nobody would ever have to know that she had told the Kraang to start Ronin's project. The turtles would never even know that she'd gone behind their backs – they would believe that it was all the Ronin's doing, and eventually all of this would just be a blip in their history. Maybe, years in the future, she would be brave enough to tell Leo that she'd lied. Maybe they'd even laugh about it.
Karai sighed. No, they probably wouldn't. This was something she'd take to her grave.
Why did she care whether Leo trusted her or not, anyway? It always made her uncomfortable that he trusted her so easily before, so why was it ten times worse now that he didn't trust her at all?
"Everything okay?" Leo asked.
Karai couldn't bear to look at him. "Yeah." The silence between them that followed seemed like a massive chasm. "Leo, what's your favorite color?"
Leo raised his brow. "Take a wild guess."
"I just – I wondered if your mask was blue because of that, or for some other reason."
"Oh," Leo said, his voice softer. "Um, yeah. Sensei had found four colors of fabric, and I picked blue because I liked it."
"So is Raphael's favorite color red?"
Leo grinned slightly. "No. I'm pretty convinced that black and blue are his favorite colors, usually when on the person he's beating up. Mikey's favorite color is green, and Donnie's favorite is ultraviolet."
"Isn't that outside of the colors that humans can see? Wait – can you guys see ultraviolet?"
"No. That's why Donnie picked the purple. It's the next best thing." Leo's grin widened, then faded. "I really hope this stuff works. I miss him."
"It's going to work, Leonardo." It has to.
"Yeah." Leo sighed. "So, what about you? What's your favorite color?"
Karai thought for a moment; one color stood out to her as the one that brought her joy. She thought of all of the times that Shredder took her to see the beautiful blooming cherry trees in the spring. Those were always the best times between them. He would catch blossoms that fell and drifted on the breeze and give them to her, and he told her stories of how her mother always wore sakura in her hair during the springtime. "Pink. Pale pink."
Leo's brow shot up. "Pink? You?"
"Not to wear or anything like that," Karai snapped. "But…it reminds me of a happier time in my life. But I guess that was a lie, too. Shredder always told me that Mother loved to wear cherry blossoms in her hair, and he'd catch falling ones for me and put them in my hair. Once a year we would go out together…it was the only thing we did together besides ninjutsu."
Didn't he love me at least a little?
Leo bit his lip for a moment, then put his hand on her shoulder. "Karai…I never said this, but…I'm sorry for your loss."
Karai wrenched her shoulder out of Leo's grip. "Why? He was a monster. He deserved to die. He – "
"You loved him," Leo said softly. "I know how I would feel if I found out that Master Splinter had lied to me, and then he died before I had any chance to talk to him about it."
"What do you care? I lied to you. You don't trust me."
Leo frowned. "I still care about you, Karai."
Tell him the truth. Tell him the truth right now…
"Leo…"
Karai sat on her father's preposterous throne. Once Mei was healed so that they could all go underground, once the Kraang had finished making the retro-retro-mutagen for Donatello, she would never sit on it again.
She would burn this place to the ground.
Yes, the Ronin would still be a threat. Yes, they would still have to take down the Foot Clan some other way. But she would be done with all of that forever – no more of this hideous business of being a double agent. Trying to sort out her feelings over the discovery of her true parentage was difficult enough without having to act like she was still the Shredder's daughter.
And she would finally be able to settle into her new family and repair some of the damage she had inflicted six days ago. She had hoped that going to visit Mei would help – instead, she had just ended up asking Mei about Tang Shen and having tea, and then April had shown up. Then she had simply left, after telling April that nothing would be the same now.
And it was true. Leo would never trust her again.
She felt the loss of his trust more keenly than she ever thought she would.
She returned her focus to the papers that Bradford had given her a few minutes ago. What was all this garbage, anyway? Reports from the Purple Dragon and various other gangs that had been working for Shredder?
The next thing she knew, somebody had gripped her head and put a katana to her throat.
"I am deeply disappointed, Karai," said a horribly familiar voice. The blade of the katana just barely pressed into her flesh – it was so sharp that she could feel it cutting her already.
"Master Ronin," Karai whispered. "I – I thought you had returned to Japan!"
"No," the Ronin whispered in her ear. "You see, I thought I would stick around to ensure that my orders were being carried out. Apparently, they are not." He drew the katana away from her throat and punched her so hard she fell from the throne. The papers scattered everywhere.
Karai leapt to her feet, drew her tanto, and took a defensive stance.
The Ronin's eyes were a mixture of cold, calculating fury and pure madness. His whole stance was terrifying – his movements as he advanced toward her were slow and jerky, like a rabid animal. He bared his teeth for a moment. "Why are the Kraang not working on my project?" He swung his katana and knocked her tanto from her hand. "Are you afraid that you will be included in the great purging as well? Is this why you have not communicated my glorious purpose to them?"
Karai panted in fear as she ran to retrieve her tanto. But suddenly as graceful and agile as a swan, the Ronin flipped through the air and cut her off. He punched her again, laying her flat out on the floor. He poised the tip of his katana over her throat.
"If you can talk to the Kraang," Karai said hoarsely, defiantly, "then why don't you tell them to work on the project yourself? Why do you even need me?"
"Ah, that is a good question, is it not? The answer is simple. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to think that the Hamatos' demise comes entirely from within, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are the lowest, vilest form of human being on the planet – the kind of human that betray one's own family in the name of something so petty as self-preservation. I already know this to be true about the Hamatos – so why are you holding back, Karai? Do you think that I will kill you too? I have sworn to let you live if you do my bidding, and I am a man of my word."
"How – how can I know that you are?"
"Call the Kraang right now, and I will not paint the floor with your entrails."
"Okay. I'll do it."
Ronin sheathed his katana.
Karai hesitated. She could run now, but if she did, she wouldn't be able to continue communicating with the Kraang. The Kraang still hadn't finished the retro-retro-mutagen. But if she stayed and did what the Ronin asked, the turtles would never forgive her. Not even if she told them right away, not when only six days ago she had betrayed them.
On the other hand, if she stayed, there would be four turtles to hate her instead of three.
She had promised to get the retro-retro-mutagen for Donatello, and she was going to keep that promise, no matter what.
"Leo…" Karai said, her heart aching. Just tell him.
"What is it, Karai?" Leo asked.
The concern on his face was real. Genuine. And if she told him the truth now, she would lose that. He would hate her. He wouldn't forgive her this time, not even if she explained how the Ronin was ready to kill her if she didn't cooperate.
"I was just wondering…what's your favorite food?"
Leo looked confused and disappointed for a moment. Then he deadpanned. "You seriously have to ask that question?"
"Well, you have to like something besides pizza."
"I do. But you asked what my favorite was. So what's your favorite food?"
"I don't really have one," Karai said. "Though there was this one place in Tokyo that made the best green tea ice cream ever."
"Did Shredder take you there?"
"What? No. But I had a nanny for a while who did. Then her family got on the Foot's bad side…and I never saw her again."
They reached the access ladder that led up to the surface.
"Well," Leo said, "any idea where Xever is this time of day?"
"As a matter of fact, I do – he's exactly where I told him to be."
Leo grinned. "All right then. Let's do this." He started to climb the access ladder.
As she followed him, Karai felt a strange sense of relief. This mission – making sure the serum worked safely – this was something she could do to rebuild Leo's trust.
I swear I'll never lie to you again, Leonardo.