"C'mon, Raph! At least go a little faster, it's not like that'll turn me to dust, right?"
Raph rolled his eyes but didn't oblige his brother.
"No, but if I do, you'll start gripin' to go even faster and I'm not gonna run… I don't care how tough ya think you are, we still have to take it easy."
Leo let out an annoyed huff and slumped in the wheelchair, arms crossed as he sulked. Raph couldn't help but smile; the way the slider acted sometimes it was as if he still had the mentality of a nine-year-old. Annoying as it could be, it was also endearing in its own way.
"Sorry if I wanna have some fun," Leo grumbled. "'Specially since I've got no idea how long I'll be stuck in this thing."
Something about the way he said that made Raph's smile falter. Draxum had finally been able to get hold of a specialist from the Hidden City, and she was coming to look at Leo's broken leg. The slider gave no outer sign of being nervous, but everyone knew that meant he was. Despite his clearly increased sense of responsibility, Leo never lost his preference of using humor to cope.
Raph knew it wouldn't do any good to reassure him, so he just gave a short chuckle.
"Don't be such a whiner, Leo. We all know ya could use th' downtime anyway."
"You're not supposed t' order me around anymore, remember?" Leo huffed. Raph narrowed his eyes in a playful glare.
"Watch it there, brother. I'm still older than ya, so I got big brother privileges."
Leo tilted his head back to meet Raph's amused gaze and stuck out his tongue.
"Very mature of you, Nardo," Donnie said in an irritated tone. "Michael, have you heard from Draxum?"
"Yep!" Mikey said. "They're on the way now."
Leo looked at the youngest turtle with a grin, though the tension in it was just detectable.
"He happen to mention who this specialist is? The one he brought for Dee's seizure problem was… kinda weird."
Raph raised a brow.
"You mean he scared ya."
Leo's head whipped around to look at him again, a look of utter offense on his face.
"Did not!"
"He scared you," Donnie said flatly. "And this one is a female yokai, a rabbit. I think you can handle that."
Raph hummed, an exaggerated look of concern on his face.
"Gosh, I dunno… maybe we should have 'im find someone else."
Leo scoffed, drawing himself up in one of his favorite 'heroic' poses.
"I'm still the face man! I wasn't scared then an' I'm not scared now."
Despite his amusement, Raph felt a bit of sadness too, and no small amount of concern. He didn't need the fact that the wheelchair made Leo's bravado far less convincing to know his brother was lying. But now wasn't the time to call him out… that would just make it worse. Instead, the snapper reached out and rubbed Leo's head.
"Well, ya can lean on us anyway, tough guy," he said, his voice teasing yet gentle. His smile widened when Leo smiled back, gratitude clear in his eyes.
"Thanks, big brother."
By now they'd reached the dojo; Draxum said the yokai healer coming to check Leo's leg had told him she needed a large space. Raph wasn't sure why, but he didn't ask any questions. He'd seen far weirder things, after all. And Draxum had assured them she was qualified, he made sure of it.
Before Raph could say anything in reply, a faint but familiar whooshing sound came from outside, and he almost felt Leo stiffen as faint voices followed. Splinter and Draxum were clear, but the deep female voice clearly belonged to the healer. Raph hesitated a moment, then gave his younger brother's shoulder a gentle pat.
"Hey, it'll be okay." Leo looked up at him, and the snapper gave him an encouraging smile. "You'll see."
His brother returned his smile, and Raph noticed he wasn't trying to hide his nervousness.
By now, though, Splinter and Draxum were entering the dojo, and between them was an elderly rabbit yokai. She was wearing a simple orange kimono with embroidered badges that must be a clan symbol. Her white fur seemed to shine in the light, ears gathered in a ponytail with neat bangs that nearly reached her soft green eyes. Despite being noticeably lined with age, they were kind.
"Hey, Barry!" Mikey chirped with a wide smile. As always, his enthusiastic greeting never failed to soften Draxum's usual stern expression.
"It's good to see you all well," he said. Leo smirked and gave a two fingered salute.
"'Well' being in the general sense, right?"
Apparently choosing not to acknowledge that, Draxum gestured to the rabbit yokai.
"If I may introduce Himari Usagi."
The older yokai gave a small, formal bow, but her kind smile remained.
"Your names are well known in the Hidden City," she said. "It's an honor to meet you."
She then looked at Leo, and a gentle concern softened her expression even more.
"Leonardo. Draxum told me of what you endured in the invasion. I regret such suffering has befallen you again."
Leo's face had grown more solemn, but the corner of his mouth still quirked up as he gave a small shrug.
"Comes with the job, right? I'm just glad I didn't damage my face."
Himari's eyes widened a little, then her smile widened as a soft chuckle escaped.
"Stars, you already remind me of my grandson."
Her eyes moved to Raph and his other brothers again.
"If I may ask, is it possible that I be alone with your brother?"
Raph didn't even have to look to know Donnie had narrowed his eyes; the suspicion was clear in his voice.
"Why? We've been through an alien invasion, we're hardly overly sensitive."
"Purple," Splinter said in a stern tone. "There is no need to be rude…"
Himari shook her head, a sympathetic look on her face.
"No, I understand." She directed her gaze to Donnie. "My experience has been that in these kinds of situations, it tends to be rather overwhelming with others watching, and I want to make the experience as easy as possible. But if having you here is what Leonardo prefers…"
Raph saw Donnie tense and knew the softshell was feeling guilty at not thinking of that, but that was the only indication. Donnie had always been hard to read. Raph directed his gaze to Leo.
"Ya want us to stay, little brother?"
Leo's eyes were on the ground at first, but then he took a slow breath and looked up with a small smile.
"Nah, that's okay, bro. You guys go, I'll be fine."
Raph's brow furrowed; Leo's voice was steady, but behind the easygoing expression the snapper could see he was troubled, even afraid. He opened his mouth to counter, but then he saw something else in his brother's eyes… something that he'd learned to recognize during the difficult days of recovery after the Krang invasion.
Please don't make them watch.
As always, Raph wanted to protest, but he pushed it down. Leo had learned not to hide things from his family, but there were still things that he wanted to face alone. He still had his pride.
Giving a slightly sad smile of his own, Raph nodded and turned to the others.
"C'mon, let's give our fearless leader some space."
He saw the reluctance on the others' faces, but they moved for the door. Before following them out, Raph spared one more glance at his younger brother. His face seemed to combine those of a scarred veteran and a scared child, and Raph hated it. No one should wear that face, especially at just sixteen.
Please let it not be bad, he implored in his mind. Don't make him face that again.