Alrighty team! Once again Sunday is here which means UPDATE! Wohoo! Anywho We getting closer and closer to a chapter I'm really excited about you guys reading! I want to post it now so bad, but there is still more to go! XP Anywho enjoy and please let me know what you think!
Leo groaned as he rolled over to the sound of a very annoying alarm. He cracked his eyes open to see the time; 6:30. He sighed, time to get up for school. Rolling over he got out of bed and started walking into the next room. Mikey was snoring on the bed the sheets all over the place yet somehow still covering him. Leo smiled, he was glad he had invited Mikey over, last night had been so bad they sent out storm advisories over the TV.
"Mikey, time to get up." Leo said walking into the room. Mikey rolled over away from him with a mumbled something. "Come on Mikey, if you don't get up we'll be late for school."
At once Mikey shot up, "School!?" He cried startling Leo.
"Yeah, we have to get ready-"
"Yes!" Mikey cheered before jumping out of bed, "It's time for school!"
Leo couldn't help, but laugh, "Come on, we need to get ready."
They then took showers and ate breakfast and Leo gave Mikey some new clothes to wear. A new pair of jeans with white shirt and an orange sweatshirt. Finally they were headed out and to the bus stop. "Thanks for the new clothes bro. You really didn't have too."
Leo shrugged, "It's no big deal. I hardly ever wear those anyway, besides orange is more your color than mine." Leo added with a smirk thinking about when Mikey used his Chi energy.
Mikey seemed to catch on and smiled with him. They made it to school and were greeted by none other than Donnie and Raph. "Hey guys!" Mikey said excitedly. "Look what Leo gave me!" He said happily holding out the sweatshirt and pulling on the jeans.
"Very nice." Donnie said with a smile before handing Mikey a binder. "Here, I put everything you're going to need in there and I signed you up for classes last night. We just need to go check in."
"Cool. Where's that?" Mikey asked as he started looking through his new binder.
"In the office. We'll show you." Leo said before leading the way.
"Is every school this big?" Mikey asked as they traversed through the halls and around students.
"No, but we do have a lot of students." Leo answered.
"We actually have 1,024 students that attend this school." Donnie supplied. "Including you, Mikey." He added with a smirk.
"Sweet." Mikey smiled. They then got to the office and Donnie went to work signing Mikey up and talking to the office personal.
When he was done he walked back over to them and handed Mikey his schedule. "Okay, Mikey here is your schedule. I put you in classes with us so if you have any questions we can help you. Unfortunately most of the classes you have are with Raph."
Raph's head popped up, "Why do I gotta babysit 'im?" He asked looking unhappy.
"Because Leo and I have mostly honors and collage classes." Donnie answered.
"Oh so I'm stuck wit' de baby because you two are better den me?" Raph snapped glaring at them.
Leo and Donnie looked at each other. "Yep." Donnie said.
"Pretty much." Leo agreed. Raph clenched his fists and growled. He then started turning green and Leo saw his fist start to transform. Quickly, he grabbed his hand and yanked it getting his attention. "Raphael calm down." Leo hissed. "You're starting to change." Raph looked down at his hand saw what was happening and his eyes got bigger. He ripped his hand away from Leo's and forced himself to take a breath, his transformation leaving him. Leo could tell he was still angry so he continued, "Mikey's in my English class and we all have P.E. together. We all also have the same lunch."
"Yeah how did we not notice each other before?" Donnie asked thinking about it.
Leo shrugged, "I don't know. I guess we never really needed to before." Just then the bell for their first class rang. "I'll see you guys later." Leo called before racing off.
After a few hours it was his 4th period class; English. He got there a little surprised to see Mikey already there sitting right in the center front row seat. When he saw Leo enter he smiled widely and waved him down, "Come sit over here, bro!" He called. Leo could only chuckle and smile good-naturedly at him.
Leo took his seat next to him and got his stuff out, "So how's everything going so far? What do you think of school? Has Raph tried to kill you yet?" He added as an afterthought.
Mikey smiled knowingly, "Naw, he's fine, though I do believe I saw steam comin' out of his ears when I asked him why his assignment was graded so low." Leo barely held back a snort when he laughed. "As far as school goes? It's totally awesome! I love it! I get a locker all my own where I can put stuff in it and people won't take it! And I learned about the Civil War! I didn't know African Americans fought with the Union soldiers that's just totally rad!"
Leo chuckled again, "Yeah school will teach you all kinds of things." Throughout the class Leo was pleasantly surprised to learn that Mikey was enjoying himself. He asked questions and seemed to really want to learn. It made Leo feel bad for him. He knew Mikey was homeless, but how long had he been on his own and why was the big question. Leo wanted to ask, but he didn't want to seem rude and he had only known Mikey a few days now though if he was honest it felt like he has known him forever.
When the bell rang Leo led Mikey to the cafeteria where he then proceeded to eat nearly everything. Luckily Leo had enough cash on him to cover for his lunch. That was another thing they needed to discuss. Mikey's money problem and his living state. Leo then spotted Donnie and walked over to sit with him, Mikey following behind. "Hey." Leo said in greeting as he and Mikey sat.
"Hey." Donnie supplied. They then saw Raph walking out of the lunch line and Donnie raised his hand, "Raph over here!" He called. Raph froze for a second before they all heard laughter coming from another table. Leo recognized some of the boys Raph had been with when they first met.
"Look at the geeks!" One of them called, "Trying to act like they're important." This brought another round of laughter and Donnie lowered his head slightly an embarrassed blush coloring his cheeks. "Come on Raph, no need to hang with losers." The boy went on.
Leo looked over to where Raph still stood and narrowed his eyes at him slightly. Leo knew they had just met and barely knew anything about one another, but would Raph let that jerk talk about them like that?
Raph suddenly got a smirk on his face and raised his nose to them, "Commin' Joey." He called before walking over to sit with them. Apparently he would.
"Aww man." Mikey said sadly.
"Jerk." Donnie disagreed with a glare towards them. Leo only nodded.
"Aw sorry, dudes, but nature calls. I'll be right back!" Mikey said before walking away to the bathroom.
Leo took his chance. "We have to do something about Mikey." He said drawing Donnie's
Donnie blinked, "What do you mean?"
"I mean about his lack of money and proper place to live. He can't continue to live on the streets."
Donnie sighed, "I agree, but what can we do? Not that I wouldn't mind, but he can't stay at my place."
"I doubt Raph would put him up and if I brought him home my father would have a conniption." Leo agreed saddened by the thought.
They were silent for a moment, "What do we do?" Donnie asked eventually looking worried about him.
They once more thought, "Splinter." Leo blurted when the thought popped into his head.
"What?"
"Master Splinter. We could ask Master Splinter." Leo clarified. "Maybe he can help Mikey."
"It wouldn't hurt to ask." Donnie reasoned.
"He is teaching us Ninjutsu and helping us with our new abilities." Leo continued.
"What about our powers?" Mikey asked coming to sit down next to them once more.
"Nothing we're just getting better at them." Donnie answered smoothly.
Mikey smiled, "I know!" They spent the rest of the lunch period talking about their training and different things they liked.
The rest of the day was uneventful if you didn't count Mikey trying to use his powers in P.E. Leo and the guys were barely able to stop him before he started glowing all over the place and blowing their cover. Donnie nearly had to hold Raph down. However Raph was allowed to chase a screaming Mikey around the gym a few times.
They parted ways knowing they would see each other later that day. Leo headed off to Kendo practice. Kendo was went fine without any problems. However sensei Tsuyoi did pull him aside once more, "Leonardo, you seem… different." His sensei said looking at him thoughtfully.
Leo's head popped up nervously, "Bad different?" He asked quickly.
"No, just different." Sensei Tsuyoi said gently. "Has something happened? Is there something you wish to tell me?"
Leo relaxed glad his sensei didn't know anything. "No nothing, just… figuring it out." He offered with a small smile. "Ready for the tournament."
Sensei Tsuyoi paused for a moment before returned his smile, "I'm glad. You will bring much honor. Now go home and rest."
"Yes sensei Tsuyoi." Leo said before bowing to him and heading out. He went to the bus stop and walked to the little ally Mikey lived in, "Mikey?" He called looking around.
"Leo!" Mikey's voice called from back in the corner. "What's up dude?"
"I was just heading home before training, want to come over?"
"Yeah! Let's go!"
Leo laughed and they headed back to the stop just as the bus arrived. "So how was your first day of school?"
"It was awesome bro! The teachers answered like all my questions and let me help wipe off the white boards! I also got to go to the library Donnie showed me and they had comic books! I could read them for as long as I wanted too and no one got mad at me!"
Leo chuckled, "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."
"Is school always that fun?" Mikey asked excitedly.
"Umm…" Leo trailed off unsure of how to answer. "It can if you want it to be, Mikey." He ended up saying.
"Sweet."
They arrived at Leo's place and the first thing he did was head to the closet, "Mikey I meant to give this to you earlier." He said pulling out a backpack and handing it to him, "It's one of my old ones, but this way you can carry all your stuff around."
Mikey smiled at him and gave him a hug, "Thanks, Leo." He said before jumping off of him and racing to the kitchen. "Got any Pizza left!?" He called and once again Leo chuckled and headed into the kitchen.
They spent the rest of the time playing video games and watching an odd show or two. Leo's favorite 'Space Heroes'. Finally it was time to head down for training. As they traveled towards the station Leo thought about what he was going to say to Master Splinter about Mikey. Would it be weird to come outright and say 'hey can Mikey live with you?' 'Do you even have a place to live since you're a giant rat?' How would that sound?! It seemed they arrived at 11th and W. 47th too soon for as they hopped out and met up with Raph and Donnie, Leo still had no idea how to go about it.
..::-::..
When training had ended Leo took his chance and stepped away from the others. Walking up to Master Splinter, he nervously rubbed the back of his bald green head and cleared his throat, "Master Splinter, may I speak with you?"
Master Splinter turned to him a gentle smile on his face, "Of course you may. What is troubling you, Leonardo?"
Leo took a deep breath, 'Just spit it out.' "Do you know of someplace where Mikey can stay?" He said coming right to the point. Master Splinter narrowed his eyes slightly clearly confused. So Leo went on, "He's homeless."
At this Master Splinter's eyes widened and Leo swore he saw anger before it was replaced by sadness, "I see." He said gently, "Why does he not have a home? Do his parents not know where he is?"
Leo sighed, "I don't really know. Mikey hasn't told us anything, but I get the feeling he doesn't have any." They paused to look over to the other three where Mikey was laughing at something before Raph started chasing him causing Donnie to laugh instead. "We would let him stay with us except he can't and we don't feel right about letting him stay on the streets. It's too dangerous." Leo finished with a defiant look.
"I understand." Master Splinter said before raising his head, "My Students." He called to the other three and they turned to look at him.
"Yes, sensei?" Donnie asked as Raph let Mikey go at once.
"There is something I wish to show you all." Master Splinter answered before turning away, "Follow me." He command before picking up his paper lantern and walking away from the pool they knew so well and into the darkened tunnel. For a moment none of them moved before Leo all gave them a look and they all started forward somewhat warily. They all walked behind Master Splinter in silence until they finally came to an entrance of some kind. The four of them stared in shock at what looked to be the rest of the subway station they had been practicing in for a few days now. "This is my home where I have stayed for some time now. You four are welcome to stay here as well as long as you like. This may become your home as well if you so wish it." They looked around before excitedly jumping down from the ledge and racing around.
Leo went straight to a back corner where what looked like unfinished storage rooms were supposed to be, but just ended up being four rooms of sort. "We could make them bedrooms!" Someone called beside him and Leo turned to see Mikey smiling at him.
Leo nodded, "Yeah, we could."
"Okay I call this huge room for my lab!" Leo and Mikey both looked over to see Donnie standing just outside two ginormous metal doors smiling like a lunatic his gap tooth as plain as day. "I've always wanted my own laboratory, but never had the means to do it! Now I have the space! This is going to be so cool!" He cried before laughing somewhat maniacally.
"This pit could make a really cool entertainment area and I could put a practice dummy off the side!" Raph added standing in said pit.
They then all looked over towards Master Splinter who was smiling at them, "Do with this place as you will. As I said, this place may also now be your home."
Mikey then walked up to him a little hesitantly, "So I could stay here with you?" He asked gently then added quickly like he was afraid of the answer, "I promise to stay out of your way and to not be loud or noisy! And I promise you'll never even see me!" Leo blinked at that. Why did Mikey think he had to be invisible?
Master Splinter smiled at him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Michelangelo, you may stay as long as you wish and you do not need to be invisible to do so. I would be honored to share my home with you."
Mikey then smiled at him and enveloped him into a hug, "Thanks Master Splinter. If I ever had a dad, I'd want him to be just like you." He added somewhat softly.
Master Splinter was a bit thrown off, but quickly recovered and hugged him back, "You are welcome, Michelangelo. You four mean a great deal to me as well." He added looking at them.
Leo felt his chest swell with happiness and he looked around to see Raph smirking happily and Donnie smiling right back. They seemed pretty happy too.