Hey guys sorry it's been so long everyone. I've just finished all of my end of the year exams! Yay! So let's celebrate with a new chapter! Please enjoy this chapter and be sure to review!

Ch. 26-Welcome to the Family

I assumed that Raphael had dragged Midori off to show her the room he'd been setting up for her. That's probably why he was in such a hurry. He practically completely ignored me. But that's okay. He had more…important things on his mind.

I smiled. Can't say as I blame him. She's quite a girl.

I discovered that I liked Midori. She was much nicer than I thought she would be, and we had a lot in common. I was no longer worried about how she treated Raph. I could see that her outburst the first day of her recovery was exactly that, an outburst. Overall, I think she'll be good for Raphael. If anything, she might be able to improve his social skills. Get him to open up a little. It would really help us if we could learn to understand him a little better.

I glanced up as Raphael returned. His face was red as a tomato. I raised an eye-ridge at him. Raph's eyes caught my questioning gaze and his blush intensified. That only made me more curious.

Suddenly pieces fell into place in my head and I smirked. "So…" I began. "Still think she's not interested?" I said, a shit-eating grin on my face.

Raph glared at me and I knew I was right.

"Oh come off it, little brother." I said with a chuckle. "Sit down, and tell big brother Leo everything." I stated teasingly.

Surprisingly Raphael sat down without making a fuss. There was a short silence before I prompted him. "Well?"

"Well what?"

My eyes narrowed. "Quit stalling Raph."

Raph smiled and it warmed my heart. Smiles like that were rare coming from my hotheaded little brother. "Alright, alright. I showed her the room."

"And?"

"And she liked it. She loved the clothes too."

I nodded, motioning him to continue.

"And then she—" Raph's face went beet red. I smirked. He shifted nervously. I watched with extreme amusement. "She k-k-kissed me." He blurted out.

"Congrats." I said with a smile.

Raph refused to meet my gaze. Obviously he was embarrassed enough as it was. Time to change the subject. "Where is she?" I asked, glancing around.

"She's changing. She doesn't like April's clothes much." Raph stated evenly.

I couldn't help but laugh at the truth of the statement. "Yeah. Definitely not her style at all. Honestly yellow doesn't suit her personality."

Raphael gave me a strange look and I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. A short silence spread between us until Raph asked, "So what were you two talking about? Ya know, when Casey and I got here?"

I rubbed the back of my neck nervously and let out a strange chuckle. Raph always made fun of me for liking Space Heroes, so I was kinda reluctant to mention that Midori and I were fan-freaking for over an hour and a half. Then of course we'd gotten started on the whole 'honor' stuff, and then…Raph came home.

"YO LEO! Earth to Leo!"

"Huh?" I said, belatedly realizing that Raph was calling me. "What?"

"I asked you a question, dumbass!" He growled, swatting me upside the head playfully.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. So um…well first we talked about cool stuff and then we talked about the nature of honor, and then I told her that I thought she was good for you."

Raph absorbed that for a moment before, ever so slowly, he asked, "What kind of 'cool stuff'?"

I'm pretty sure my face turned another shade of green. Oh well. No use hiding it now. "Space Heroes, alright? We were talking about Space Heroes."

His eyes widened and he stared. Finally he grumbled and groaned. Then he spoke up. "Great. Now there's two geeks in the same house."

I rolled my eyes. Then I smirked at the thought, "Yeah, and one of them is your girlfriend. So I'd be careful what you say about Space Heroes from now on."

"Stupid show." He muttered.

"It is not a stupid show!"

Third Person POV

About ten minutes later Donnie and Mikey appeared at the lair entrance to find the two oldest turtles rolling about on the floor like a couple of brawling children.

April stood between the two younger turtles, staring the rolling mass of red blue and green on the floor. "What's going on here?"

At that moment Casey Jones emerged from the kitchen with a coke in his hand. He glanced over at the others. April frowned and crossed her arms as she glowered at the other human teenager. "Why haven't you done anything about it?" She asked Casey angrily.

Jones shrugged. "They've been at it for the past ten minutes. I tried to reason with them, but they're completely ignoring me."

"Stupid show!" Raph growled and everyone turned their attention back to the wrestling turtles on the floor.

"I…said…it…is…not…a…stupid…show!" Leo retorted. His words were halted as he struggled to pin down his stubborn younger brother.

"What is going on in here?!" A new voice stated.

The two eldest brothers froze. Leo, who had pinned Raph down to the floor, let out a cry of surprise as Raphael pushed him off and stood up. Raph turned to face the speaker, and his jaw dropped. His heart rate skyrocketed and he could feel his face heating up. Unfortunately for Raphael, everyone saw the blush on his cheeks and turned around.

Midori smiled. Raph's green eyes were wide. She looked absolutely…stunning.

She wore a dark red top that was slightly see-through, and underneath she wore a matching bandeau. The shirt was long sleeved, with sleeves that widened on the way down. Tight black leggings with a dark red stripe down the side accentuated her lithe figure.

"Tatmotsu, what's going on?" She asked, addressing Raphael in Japanese.

"It's not important. Don't worry about it." Raph replied, also in Japanese.

"Tatmotsu?" Don asked, confused.

"It means protector or defender doesn't it?" Leo wondered aloud with an eyebrow raised. The eldest wasn't really seeking confirmation. He was trying to get an explanation by leading Raph to answer.

Raphael ignored his older brother's comment, focusing solely on the attractive young woman in front of him. Her hair was straight and glossy, tied loosely in the back with a hair tie.

Midori noticed the way Raph was staring at her and a blush rose in her cheeks. She whispered, "I don't know how to thank you."

"You don't have to. I told you, consider it a fair trade."

"There's nothing fair about it. You sacrificed a lot to help me out. I owe a lot to you, Tatmotsu."

Raph smiled. "Why do you call me that?"

Midori smirked and walked towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug. "Because it's what you are. Isn't it?"

Raph returned the hug slowly.

Everyone else in the room stared open-mouthed. Raphael was actually hugging someone.

Mikey turned to Leonardo and waggled his eye-ridges suggestively. Leo face-palmed. Leave it to Mikey to see a friendly hug as a declaration of love. Still, Leonardo smiled. Things were looking up for Raphael.

"Protecting people is in my blood, or my genes, or something. I do it with everyone. My father, my brothers, April, Casey…" He went silent for a moment, avoiding her gaze as he added, "you. I'd do anything to protect the people I care about." Raph whispered. Slowly, his bright green eyes moved upward and their gazes locked. Midori smiled, her long thin fingers stroking a strand of her hair. The way she stared at him told the emerald green turtle that she didn't even realize she was doing it. Raph couldn't help but smile. She looked so cute. Internally, the hotheaded turtle couldn't believe he was even thinking that, but it was the truth.

"Your Japanese has improved, my son." Another voice said, interrupting the moment.

Raphael's face reddened with embarrassment and Midori smiled at her friend's flustered expression. "I've been practicing." He stated, his eyes never leaving her face.

"Indeed, I can tell. Even your accent has improved. I am very pleased to see you finally using your second language."

Raph shrugged and gestured towards Midori, "She started it."

Midori laughed heartily and the others looked as though they were waiting for an explanation. She smiled and obliged them, "One night, after a particularly hard run, Raph and I were in my hideout. I started saying some rather crude things in Japanese as I was tending my injuries and Raphael almost died with laughter." She sent the turtle in question a bland stare and slowly broke into a smile. "Once I learned he could actually understand what I was saying I just started talking to him. But after a couple of times, he still answered me in English so I just assumed he could only understand it." Midori crossed her arms and gave Raph a stern stare. "Imagine my surprise when he actually responded in fluent Japanese."

Raph shrugged it off and muttered, "I wouldn't exactly say fluent…"

Midori shook her head and punched him good-naturedly in the shoulder. "Yes you are." She moved her face within inches of his and whispered, "Don't be so modest." Raphael's cheeks reddened slightly. Midori decided to give the hothead a moment to compose himself, so she turned towards Master Splinter. "I like being able to speak both and know that the person I'm talking to doesn't mind."

The old rat smiled. "Well, rest assured my child, you are welcome to speak either. All four of my sons are fluent. Unfortunately for me, they do not speak nearly as much as I would like them to. It will please me to hear a little more Japanese around the lair."

Midori gave Splinter a respectful bow and a small smile. "I'd be honored to, Hamato-san."

"Midori, you may call me Sensei or Master Splinter."

Midori's grin melted into a full smile. Michelangelo squealed and all eyes turned towards the youngest turtle. He bounced over to Midori and put an arm around her shoulders, and squeezed her in a kind of sideways hug. Golden eyes widened with surprise and she stared at Mikey in shock. "Welcome to the family, cousin!" Mikey pulled her into a real hug and she stiffened.

Midori waited for Mikey to let go, but he didn't. She sent Raph a flat stare. "He always like this?"

Raph smiled, "Always."

She rolled her eyes and tried to push the orange-masked turtle off. It didn't work. "You mind helping me out here?" Midori said blandly.

Raph smirked and shook his head. "No, I don't think I will."

Honey-colored eyes narrowed and glared at him.

Casey grinned, "I don't know Raph, she looks pretty pissed."

Midori stared at the other human teenagers wonderingly, so Raph spoke up, "Midori, this is Casey and that's April."

"Thanks for getting me the clothes, and for lending me yours too." She said to April.

April brushed it off with a wave of her hand. "Don't mention it. If any of them don't fit let me know and I can exchange them."

"Thanks, but I think they'll be fine." She replied, still struggling to get Michelangelo to let go. Her attempt yielded the same results as before and Midori let out a growl of frustration. "Raphael, so help me, if you don't get your little brother off, I won't speak to you for a month!" He only smiled and Midori glared, "I mean it, Raphael."

"Fine." He acquiesced, holding his hands up in surrender. It took the red-masked turtle exactly half-a-minute to pry the youngest turtle away from Midori. "Idiot." He muttered as he whacked his younger brother upside the head before letting him go.

The Japanese teenager sighed with relief as she was freed and turned back towards April. "I really appreciate the clothes."

April smiled, "Trust me, the clothes were all Raphael's idea. I was just the go for. He sure does know your style; he was telling me exactly what kind of stuff to buy and what not to buy. You have a very unique taste in clothes."

Midori grinned and her eyes sparkled. Raph stared. Casey smirked at his friend. Man, he's got it bad, Casey thought. When Case returned from his thoughts, two golden eyes were sizing him up thoughtfully. "This one doesn't talk much, does he?" she said.

"Who says?" Casey snapped.

"Ah he speaks." She stated exaggeratedly.

"You have a pretty big mouth, don't ya?"

Midori smiled mischievously, "I dare you to lay one on me." She said, getting in a ready stance.

Two emerald green arms shot out, holding both of them back. "Stand down Case." Raph stated, sending his friend a bright-eyed warning glance. Then the second eldest turtle wheeled around to face Midori, "You throw one punch and I'll have Donatello sedate you. You are in absolutely no condition to be—"

"Don't tell me what condition I'm in. I know better than anyone. I'd be fine."

"Midori please just stand down. For me?" he asked, his neon green eyes gently pleading. Midori sighed and took a step back. There was no way she could refuse that face, or that voice for that matter.

From the sidelines, Leonardo smiled widely. Those two are perfect for each other.

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