Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s a peaceful day of relaxation, the four turtles are sprawled out in the lair's main room, each doing their own thing as their father watches his shows on the projector nearby. They may not be directly interacting with each other, but they are definitely enjoying each other's company nonetheless.

"Aaand done! I think my hands aren't as twitchy anymore. What do you guys think?" Michelangelo asks as he holds up his latest piece to his family; a simple graphic illustration of fruit. It'd been a while since he did an art study. The tremors in his hands had prevented him from doing any. In fact, he hadn't drawn much of anything since this issue started.

His brothers immediately drop their focus on their respective activities to inspect it. Splinter doesn't respond to this, due to him having fallen asleep in his chair – which was expected.

"Outstanding work, Angelo! Your line quality has really improved.” Donatello notes as he takes a closer glance with his goggles on. He takes them back off. “Artistry aside, it looks like your physical therapy is paying off."

He does some gestures with his hands, as if making some calculations. "You should be back to normal very soon, dare I say in a week? So long as you keep things up of course."

"Yeah what Donnie said! I'm glad everything's coming back to you lil bro." Raphael beams at him.

Michaelangelo's demeanor shifts a bit, still not enjoying reminders about him being the youngest and smallest. Raphael always struggled with this and it sets him off easily. This time he'll let it slide, as this is a big moment for him.

Leonardo is the only one who doesn't say anything, stuck in thought. He isn't paying attention to the drawing at first, but rather the left over scars that are still visible on his brother’s hands.

"Uh...Leo? Do you not like it?"

Upon hearing his name being called, he snaps his attention to his little brother who's looking at him, waiting for his approval.

Right, he wants thoughts on the drawing.

He quickly glances at it, it's great. But not as great as his works previous to his tremors.

He won't bring that up though. Obviously...they're all trying to move on from the events that happened with the Krang. They need to focus on the brighter side of things.

"Do you even have to ask Miguel? You’re the best artist I know! I was just a bit confused. Why strawberries?"

The excuse for his silence was hastily thought of, but it works. The box turtle didn't usually draw simplistic things like fruits or nature. Michelangelo typically drew his loved ones: his family. Those were always his main sources of inspiration. So it would make sense for him to be confused.

Leonardo didn’t actually need an answer for this though. He knows why he went astray from his usual theme.

With his drawing abilities weakened, he wouldn’t want to subject any of his loved ones to portraits of lesser quality. Ever since he messed up drawing his beloved brothers once...he stopped and shifted to other subjects for his artwork.

He actually never told anyone about it, but Leonardo noticed. He had gone into the younger’s room one day, trying to locate him for a quick question. However, instead of finding his brother, he found multiple crumpled up and shakily drawn pictures of him and his family in the trash. They were all blurred and smudged by tear stains.

Naturally, he wouldn’t expect his brother to touch upon his ongoing struggles with having his creativity dampened.

And he doesn't.

"Oh Leo, how dare you question an artist. We create whatever comes to us at the moment!" He eyes Leonardo. "Annnd your face reminded me of strawberries…? I guess my tum tum decided what to draw for me.”

Leonardo rolls his eyes and smirks, time to play along.

"Listen Miguelito, I get it. I truly am a snack." He gestures to his face with lots of bravado. "But, no, you can’t eat me. This beauty is priceless. I may be the leader now, but I still double as the face man. So you better not be getting any funny ideas!"

Donatello groans, unimpressed at his responses.

Raphael on the other hand, chuckles in amusement at his brother's antics and then glances over at the projected screen in front. The news is currently on and with it comes the time in the corner, indicating it was late in the afternoon.

"Don't worry, Mikey, it looks like dinner's soon so we can all grab something to eat. What are we all thinking?"

"We've been kind of repetitive with our choices lately; I've been keeping track. I'd say we go for something new. How about pasta?" Donatello suggests with a bit of salt. "My refined pallet needs variety, pizza every other day is overkill."

"Actually I was thinking we could maybe do a small celebration for my hands getting better? I haven't been able to do clean line art in a while." Their younger brother requests quietly.

Donatello's attitude changes in a beat, remembering how important this is to the younger.

"Oh, yeah that sounds great too. Let's do it. Just please don't choose pizza for this. Please, I beg of you." Their brother pleads with amusing desperation.

"No, no you're right, that's too often. We can't let it lose its charm!" The orange one states, then looks at his hands. "I think I can make stuff again, I know I should wait a bit longer just to make sure...but I just feel like I can now."

A hand is placed on his shoulder, he looks up to Raphael having a concerned look on his face.

"Are you sure about this? I don't want any accidents. We can't have you getting worse on us."

"It'll be fine! I got this, besides I won't go too crazy in the kitchen. I was thinking of something simple. What's a celebration without cake?"

The three go on about what to eat and the limits the youngest should have as Leonardo stays abnormally quiet on the side. He doesn't necessarily enjoy the topic.

Of course he felt happy for his brother getting most of his stability back in his hands, but it should've never been an issue to begin with. It frustrates him, but he can't make this about himself. Trying to distract himself, to his surprise, he finds himself gazing at the news channel.

Nothing of interest there...just the ol' weather forecast...small talk between the hosts...and a mutant attacking the city.

Boring.

Wait, a mutant attack?

Now that's something interesting.

"Breaking News, New York City's Time Square is under attack by some strange looking bunny mutant creature! We advise everyone to stay indoors until the authorities can capture this monster and restore peace."

A live recording of the square is shown and a shadow darts past with what appears to be a sword in hand. Trying to keep up with the so-called mutant, the cameraman changes positioning to follow. This attempt proves to be futile as the swing of a sword is seen and everything goes static.

Yup, the perfect distraction to get my mind off of...things.

"Uh guys, I know you're all in the middle of figuring dinner out and all, but you gotta see this!"

The rest instantly turn and look at the broadcast.

"Another evil mutant? We can't let them hurt anybody. We have to stop em!" Raphael says as he pounds a fist onto his palm.

The others nod and look to Leonardo to initiate the mission.

For a moment, this catches him off guard. He got so caught up in spending time with his family he briefly forgot hero missions now comes more responsibility than it once did. He has to take initiative.

He straightens up and gives them a smirk of confidence.

"Right, time for the teenage mutant ninja turtles to pay this guy a visit!”

Yuichi didn't understand how everything went downhill so quickly.

It was just this morning that he and his friends were enjoying a peaceful day outside. They were planning to celebrate the anniversary of their friendship. It was on this very day when he decided to take the necessary step into furthering his samurai training. It was the day he set out into Neo Edo and changed his life forever.

But instead of having a good time with everyone, he was cornered, pushed against the Ki-Stone with all sorts of bruises spread across his body; his fur has began to stain from his bleeding wounds. None of his friends are able to help, being unconscious. Even if they weren’t all their weapons have been snapped and crushed into pieces.

This wasn't how their day was supposed to go.

"You have meddled with the state of this city for far too long. I thought that with Miyamoto out of the picture, things would finally fix themselves. For a while it was getting there...then you came along."

The wolf's steps closer, spear aimed at his throat.

"At least your ancestor was decent at combat, you...you're just some kid."

Yuichi's mouth twists in offense. He may be young and had a rough start, but he's grown to be a great warrior.

"Yeah and you're just some random bad guy who walked in out of nowhere and ruined my plans for today! Who even are you?!"

"I am Jei, the Blade of the Gods. You are a sorry excuse for a samurai. Having you be this generation's savior is an insult and we will not stand for this."

The spear inches closer along with the angered wolf in front of him.

His blank eyes pierce into Yuichi's soul. His mouth goes dry and his heart rate quickens. He can sense this being the end.

"I will bring this world justice and cleanse it of the mistake the Ki-Stone made in choosing you!"

The spear swings up, preparing to strike down and marking the end of Yuichi's legacy and he shuts his eyes.

…

…he's still alive?

Surprised, Yuichi slowly opens his eyes again to see that he's been protected by the Ki-Stone; a grand barrier of mythical energy surrounds him in a bubble. It's protecting him.

This is his chance.

He gets back onto his feet, stumbling a bit due to blood loss. He wastes no time in recovering his sword, Edgewing, from the ground.

"Listen, I really don't know what your problem is with me, but I'm not letting you win! You've hurt my friends and now I'm gonna hurt you."

He tightens his grip on the hilt of his sword and narrows his eyes in anger, fury from earlier events bubbling up.

"There goes the foolish stone again, does it not realize that such an inexperienced sinful creature does not deserve such power?!" Furious, he lunges at the barrier and strikes it with his spear; not a single scratch is left. The Ki-Stone glows bright, its energy keeping Yuichi safe.

Snarling, Jei steps back and points his spear at the wounded rabbit.

"This stone is disobeying the Gods by siding with you over us. If it will not cooperate then I have no choice but to deal with this evil as well."

Quirking an eyebrow at this statement, Yuichi looks at him in disbelief.

"You're going to fight the Ki-Stone? It's literally invincible, nothing can break it."

He pauses.

No actually that's not really true is it?

"Well aside from Willow Branch, but that sword is locked away safely where no one can get it." He states triumphantly, sporting a dorky grin of pride.

That triumph doesn't last long as the reality of what Yuichi said hits him.

Uhhh on second thought maybe I shouldn't have just revealed that so easily-

"The Gods desire for justice will always overcome any obstacle." The wolf snarls. His white blank eyes glow as he chants out a series of Japanese spells, and the floor beneath him shines. Several swords begin to materialize at his feet and circle around his figure as they rise up. Slowly, the weapons are lowered one by one before his grandfather's sword is singled out and glows before him. It's almost as if it was straight up telling this fiend it's the weapon he seeks.

"What?! But we had that put away with max security! It’s like impossible to steal it--"

The spear the wolf once held disappears and instead now wields the one that belonged to the rabbit's ancestor. The blade turns pitch black and he approaches with a sadistic glee in his eyes.

"You clearly have no idea what power the gods have granted me.” He gloats, sinister grin widening. “You have wasted enough of my time, it's time for you to be eliminated."

His arm is raised and the sword is flung up in sync with his movements. They both swing back down together and the blade smashes against the Ki-Stone. A piercing crack spreads throughout it and the stone's light begins to flicker.

Yuichi flinches upon watching this, almost as if he can feel the pain the stone is experiencing. He desperately faces the spearman, eyes pleading.

"NO! Stop! The Ki-Stone protects all of Neo Edo, without it everyone will be in danger!" Yuichi begs, this is no longer about his own life. Other innocent ones are being put in the line of fire and he can't let this happen. He bangs his fists against the barrier surrounding him, trying to make it dismantle.

Jei ignores him, his mind is made up already. With another quick movement, the Ki-Stone receives another blow. The crack spreads.

Horrified, Yuichi looks over to where Tetsujin’s otherworldly form lies. With him being knocked out, he has no way to truly communicate with the mythical stone, but he needs to try anyway.

"Ki-Stone please, listen to me. You have to let your force field down. I can't let you be destroyed!" He pounds against the translucent pink walls around him.

The barrier doesn't go down.

“Ki-Stone please, I’d rather it be me than you-”

CLASH! Another hit against the Ki-Stone, more cracks splatter across its surface and small bits start to fly out everywhere. One more and it's over.

The mythical crystal won’t listen, it wants to keep him alive.

Come on Yuichi, think. The world is at stake here!

His eyes dart around before finally landing on the sword by his side. Yuichi grabs his sword and throws it against the barrier. It clanks against it pathetically, dealing no damage.

That didn’t work…what else can I use?!

Then it hits him, his yo-yo! It's mythical and it should work, hopefully.

He grabs it and prepares to swing it at the forcefield...only for it to dematerialize in his hands, evaporating into small little energy whisps. His jaw drops, appalled. The Ki-Stone hums, as if confirming it's responsible for this.

Yuichi doesn't understand, why? Why won't it let him save everyone?! That's what he's meant for! If he has to sacrifice himself, then he’ll do it. No one should have to die because of him.

Feeling hopeless, his eyesight begins to blur and his vision is warped by tears. The samurai falls to his knees and watches helplessly as the twisted wolf powers up yet another swing and strikes it against the Ki-Stone with full force.

The cracks all over it deepen instantly all across it, before shooting out everywhere. The stone has been shattered.

The pieces plummet to the ground as the room is filled with beams of bright light, energy shockwaves being blasted out. The barrier surrounding Yuichi flickers then fades out.

The Ki-Stone is gone.

The light only intensifies as the seconds go by and Yuichi can only meekly watch as Jei now draws his attention to the roughened up rabbit. His mouth sports a sinister crooked smile as he dashes forward to deliver one final blow. All he can do is raise his arms up in a meek attempt to shield himself.

He closes his eyes and embraces for impact as everything is flooded with blinding light...

The ninja turtles leap through the rooftops of the city, making their way to the center of havoc. Their weapons are drawn and they are confident they can stop whatever comes their way, nothing compares to their encounter with the Krang.

And with Leonardo no longer fighting against the leadership as hard as he once did, they can finally get things done properly.

"Any sign of the mutant? I can't really see anything, it looks like the place has been cleared out!" The red brother exclaims with worry.

Michelangelo's eyes then widen with a hint of fear.

"Do you think it already got to them all?"

Donatello shakes his head, quick to shut down the younger's worries. His hands fiddle with his goggles, scanning the area as they search for their target.

"No, there's no signs of a real struggle anywhere, just a lot of debris and glass. Looks like our criminal is just looking for something and scared people away in the process."

"Well that's good. It's just all bark and no bite. We can take them easily." Leonardo remarks with confidence.

Then they hear a civilian scream.

The turtles all turn towards the direction it came from, ready for whatever will come their way.

"The mutant must be over there, quick!"

Leonardo lunges off the building and hurries towards the source, his brothers trailing close behind.

As they close in, they leap their way up to higher ground in order to get the advantage and scan the area once more. They notice the harassed civilian that was responsible for the scream fleeing the scene.

That's good, they're unharmed.

Leonardo squints, trying to get a better look at what's within the shadowed areas of the square. His gaze scans the rubble and disheveled scenery before finally spotting something in the distance.

They’ve spotted their target.

"I'm only going to say this one last time, where am I?!" The rabbit spits out through clenched teeth, holding a random innocent civilian by the collar. A shriek escapes their mouth, squirming about in a futile attempt to break free. It doesn't seem like they'll be talking. In fact, they just look terrified, but not in a "I won't tell you anything" sort of way.

This is useless. No one is giving me any answers!

He grunts in frustration and lets the civilian drop back onto their feet. They waste no time running away in fear.

Using intimidation isn't bringing any results, neither did barging into random shops in hopes of finding any one he knows. Whoever took him here made sure he wouldn't get out easily.

He sure wasn't going to let them think he can't escape though.

"Listen whoever you are. I KNOW you're out there, I don't know where you've taken me, but I will find my way out." He cries out to the emptying city square. No one is seemingly listening, everyone fleeing in horror. "And once I do, I will find you! I'll make you regret taking me away from my friends!"

He wasn't supposed to be lost in the middle of some weirdly modern and overly flashy looking city. He was supposed to be back at home preparing for the anniversary of the day he met his friend group.

Now he's stranded in some unfamiliar place. He can't remember how this happened, but he knows someone is behind this. He needs to figure out who and make them take him back immediately. He can only imagine how confused his friends will be if he doesn't show up. If he doesn't escape this trap soon he may miss the day completely, but he refuses to accept that possibility. He needs to make it back.

"You hear me?! I'll find you!"

He huffs right after shouting that out, his throat getting tired from yelling so much. He had to though, he can't let himself come off as scared or lost, even if both of those things were exactly what he was feeling. And with the state he was in, all mangled up...

He wasn't sure how long he'd last in a fight. That doesn't matter right now though. He has to get back to the others.

Who knows if they're even safe?

His worries only heighten as he realizes there really is no trace of his kidnapper anywhere. Everyone around just seems innocent and just as afraid - if not more - as he is.

Come on! You have to be out here somewhere, it hasn't been that long since I regained consciousness. Don't bad guys appear right after their prisoner awakens? What if this is some kind of test...maybe I'm being watched right now!

Before he can spiral into a ball of paranoia, he hears someone shout at him.

"HEY!' Leonardo swiftly positions his sword in front of him and shifts into a fighting stance. "I think it's about time you picked on mutants your own size!"

The shadowed figure steps forward, revealing a beat up young looking rabbit. It looks like he's some sort of warrior? Can't be too good if he got this messed up already.

The blue turtle's eyes examine him further and notice he has his own sword as well, that's interesting. He'll just have to be given a rude awakening so he finds out who the superior swordsman is.

"Well will you look at that? It's just some tiny little rabbit!" He points out with amusement and lowers one of his swords so he can lean on it.

"Nothing new here, we've dealt with those before and won." His purple brother responds, unimpressed.

Michelangelo nods in agreement.

"True! He's also a lot smaller"

"And less hipster like." The oldest chimes in. "Definitely not much of a threat. It'll be a simple battle, piece of cake."

"Like what we'll be having once we finish him." The softshell chimes in.

The rabbit's face twists into an angered expression, scowling. Clearly he isn't enjoying what they have to say about his appearance.

"Ninjas! I should've known. There's always some up to no good." He bares his teeth at the boys and points his katana at them. "I don't care if there's four of you and only one of me, I've been trained by the best and I will defeat you!"

Leonardo can't help but make a sound of amusement at that, throwing a cocky smile his way.

"Oh yeah? What, are you just gonna try to kill us with cuteness? Sorry, but that won't be enough, bunny rabbit."

"What? Come on, are you seriously just saying that because I'm an usagi?! I'll have you know that us Usagi have tons of historical importance. You guys are nothing special, just some strange ninja kappas following commands!"

His demeanor tenses and appears to tighten his grip on his blade.

"I'll beat you yokai easily and have you sealed away back into the Ki-Stone in no time. We'll see how your master likes that."

Now that was confusing to say the least. The brothers share a look with one another, not quite understanding what the rabbit samurai is going on about.

Unfortunately for them, he sees this as an opening and quickly dashes forward and jumps at them.

The sword is swung right at Leonardo, targeting him first. He must've taken his remarks personally. It narrowly misses as he quickly scrambles out of the way in a panic.

"Oookay, looks like bunny is angry." A bead of sweat rolls down Leonardo's face from the close save.

"Whatever, we got him for sure. It's beat down time!" His older brother wastes no time, and goes after the other.

Due to them not taking the rabbit samurai seriously, there isn't as much effort being put in as usual. His swing isn't timed nor given much thought and that gives Yuichi the opportunity to throw him off balance.

"Ikuzo!"

The attack misses as he dodges swiftly and then shoots out a leg, jabbing the large red turtle in the knee with immense force. Losing his balance, he crashes down onto the ground. The shock loosens his grip on his sai, clanging to the side.

The slider's eyes widen upon seeing the amount of strength within such a harmless looking animal.

How did he do that?! Raph is literally the most sturdy one!

"Ow! Where'd that come fr-" His older brother is silenced mid sentence. The samurai jumps up and delivers a series of blows to his skull, his own weapon included in the fire. It all happenss fast that his brother falls to the ground in seconds, unconscious.

One turtle down.

This is definitely not going like they thought it would. Their opponent is much more skilled than it seemed.

"Raph! That's it, get away from my brother!!" The orange turtle is riled up and charges at the rabbit, winding up his nunchaku and preparing to utilize his ninpo.

As his body lights up, energy surging, the other strikes. The rabbit being on such high alert notices that whatever Michaelangelo is trying to do, it's something ethereal and he can't let it activate.

He yanks his Yo-Yo out and flings it towards the orange turtle, which coils around one of his weapons. The samurai snaps his arm back, pulling. His strength outdoes the box turtle’s grip, his still healing hand not having enough endurance.

The yoyo is whipped back with the weapon.

The recoil damage stings, by reflex making Michaelangelo drop his remaining weapon to grasp his hand. Losing focus the ninpo activation stops, the highlights on his spots flickering out.

Upon almost getting directly hit in his still recovering hands, his confidence in battle wavers. Michaelangelo is no longer sure about this.

"My hand…” He mutters in frustration.

He doesn't get enough time to lament as the samurai winds up to yank away the next. Michaelangelo’s face pales. He can't let his recovery progress get set back. It took too long to get here. Too many tears, too much pain. There's no way he's going to go back to square one.

He steps back, clenching his fist. All he wants right now is to distance himself from the other. His opponent quirks his nicked eyebrow, taking this as a challenge. He switches tactics. He jumps and throws some kicks his way, and looming closer; he's ready for the one on one.

This is not what the turtle wanted.

“Nope. No! I'm not doing this. I'm sorry guys!” He jolts back and retreats into his shell, skidding away just in time to miss a kick to the gut.

Leonardo notices his younger brother's fear and to get his brother behind him, dashing to get him.

"Mikey!”

The rabbit doesn’t hesitate to toss the orange turtle’s weapons out of range, preventing any of them from being able to retrieve it safely for battle, before skidding over in front of Leonardo. The red slider jolts to a stop, startled.

“Haha wow, rabbits really are quick on their feet huh?” He jokes, swallowing.

“Stop with the usagi comments!” He jumps and swings. Leonardo manages to duck out of the way just in time, but not without a nick to his bandana. The turtle unsheathes his second sword and slashes them in front, preparing for the next strike.

Donatello's mouth contours into a grimace, and he pulls out his staff.

"This fight’s gone on for long enough. I’m ending this now."

He whirls his staff around, before lurching forward and speeding off, going after the rabbit. The rabbit switches his attention to the softshell, directing his next attack towards him. Leonardo doesn’t assist, having been frozen with a mixture of fear and awe. The skill level this samurai has is captivating and the turtle can't help but just watch. His grip on his weapons goes limp.

His brother puts up a good fight, using his staff to block hits all while firing up his ninpo to try landing attacks with missiles. The agility of the rabbit proves to be difficult however, dodging every shot at him with what seems to be ease. Donatello’s face begins to sweat as he realizes his attempts at defeating his opponent are proving to be fruitless, the endless slashes begin to tire him and his weapon out. The wood chips more and more with each blockage of the sword's sharp blade.

"Nardo! I could use a little help here- augh!"

The staff is knocked out his hands and he's left with a puzzled look on face. This was supposed to be easy. Perhaps they should’ve taken the situation more seriously, but the last rabbit mutant they faced hadn’t been this difficult.

They're looking like fools. Speaking of fools...

His neck snaps over to glare at his brother as he's thrown to the ground and he scowls. He's the only one capable of fighting now.

Due to this, the rabbit's attention is switched over to the blue turtle and his gaze turns to him.

Oh no. Looks like the spotlights on me again.

Snapping back to reality, Leonardo fumbles around with his swords and tries to go into a fighting stance.

"I totally got this, I can do this." His hands feel sweatier than usual. "I- uh-"

The samurai runs to him, ready to take down his final foe. He lifts his blade and jumps. Leonardo clumsily counters with his own sword and they clash together, both fighting with all their might to throw the other off balance. After some struggle, they realize their strengths are just too matched and it goes back to slashing. Their swords dance about, the two fighting with extreme focus.

Leonardo does great at keeping up with him...at first. As more time passes his hands moisten more, the close proximity with the other starting to get to him. His roughened face and fierce determination was entrancing to him to say the least.

What is going on, why am I doing so bad?! I should be winning. I should be-

His thoughts are interrupted as he gets goosebumps everywhere. One of his swords has been flung out of his hands. The sheer shock and strange mix of feelings bubbling inside gets to him, his mouth dropping. He shakily attempts to lift his remaining sword and rely on just the one. It's useless, the rabbit swings at his weapon, noticing his grip is close to none and now he's left with nothing but the threat slowly closing in.

The turtle dryly swallows in fear and looks him in the eyes. They lock eye contact for a brief second.

For a moment, his fierceness shifts momentarily to one of exhaustion. Seems like he isn't enjoying this, oddly enough. The look doesn't last as he squeezes them shut then glares at the other turtles.

"I prefer being a pacifist, you know? I always try to do things in a friendly way. I tried to swear off fighting once."

A deep breath before he continues.

"But I need answers and none of you are giving them to me. So I guess I have to force them out of you."

SHING!

Leonardo's eyes trail down and they're met with sharp metal. The tip of Yuichi's blade is pointed directly at his neck.

Sweat drips down his face.

"Either you all talk and take me back to Neo Edo right now, or this blue ninja turtle will learn what Edgewing is truly capable of!"

Chapter Text

Chills go down Leonardo's spine.

No way, seriously?! Dang it Leo, you're going to croak now because you couldn't make yourself focus?! I didn't even think to use a single portal. Ugh, I am such a stupid excuse for a leader.

“Listen you feral lagomorph, I don't know what you're talking about!” The purple one retaliates. “I've never heard of such a place, much less are we responsible for you being here.”

“LIARS!”

Leonardo notices the blade in front of him begin to shake ever so slightly. The rabbit’s huffs have become more accelerated.

“You're ninja, you have to have some part in this. I just know you're doing someone's bidding. Another bad guy that's trying to get even or…I don’t know, something!” He cries out in frustration. “So you all captured me! You're probably all another group that's after the Ki-Stone in our sacred temple, well I won't let it happen! I'm its chosen Samurai warrior and I have to live up to that role.”

His jaw tightens and eyes narrow, attempting to strike fear into all of them.

And while being up so close would make it much worse for many, for the slider turtle it did not. Being this close only made him notice things he hadn't before.

“My ancestor fought his entire life for his people, hundreds of years ago. Miyamoto Usagi stopped at nothing to do so. I, Yuichi Usagi, won't hesitate to do the same!”

Yuichi stiffly nudges the tip forward, almost grazing it against the turtle. Leonardo doesn't react, he's too busy studying the rabbit and his injuries— there's far too many of them. He hadn’t noticed how serious they were. Didn’t Donatello say he hadn’t actually fought anyone yet? The turtles hardly have gotten a scratch on him…these can’t be from them.

The forming bruises on his face, the small streak of blood that's running down from the inside of his ear, the stains of red under his nose, how one eye is slightly more shut than the other. The deep cut over his knuckles that's started to scar. Not to mention how worn down his clothes look.

Someone did all of this to him…

“I already told you this once and I'm not going to say it again.” He strains, frustration dripping with each word. “I don't know what any of that is!! You're out of your mind, threatening us with Leo's life won't make us suddenly know more information!”

His markings glow again, preparing to dive in again.

“i suppose we'll have to see whether you're faster than my mystic tech-”

“WAIT!”

Leonardo shouts before things fully escalate, he can’t let this go any further.

“Donnie, hold on! I think he's just confused!”

“Well of course he is! He's speaking nonsense, he's obviously out of his mind.”

“No, not that! Listen, I think… I think he needs our help. I mean just look at the poor guy. He looks so out of place.”

The brother raises an eyebrow at this, not understanding what he's getting at.

Yuichi's eyes soften, watching the blue turtle intently.

“Are you switching sides? You're going to make them take me back to Neo Edo?”

The questions almost sound as if he were pleading, hoping for the answer to be yes.

“I don’t think we are even on different sides.”

The purple ones eyebrows furrow and Donatello gets to thinking. His eyes scan the rabbit in front and slowly his face morphs from being pensive to shock. He must be on the verge of some kind of realization.

Then it hits him.

“Ohmigosh, you guys! It all makes sense now.” Donatello fully drops his guard and instead balls up his fists, shaking them in excitement. “He isn't from here, duh doy!”

The rabbit jolts his attention back to the other brother, startled by the change in tone.

“His clothes looking more dated, his weird demands, calling us yokai despite us obviously being mutants, the places that I've never heard of.” Donatello's whole demeanor has changed and now he's pacing about as he lists everything off with his fingers and a gleam in his eyes.

“I didn't think it was scientifically possible. I have absolutely no clue how it happened, but he must've been removed from his origin point and tossed into a different plane. In other words, he's stuck in our own world now, by some random chance. It explains why he doesn't know any more than we do!”

Leonardo's eyes widen, there is no way.

His purple brother then squats down and nudges at his younger brother’s shell. He still hasn't popped back out.

“Hey Mikey, you can come out now. We're not fighting anymore. It's safe.” He softly notifies.

Michaelangelo's head pops out and the two seem to be exchanging some words, but Leonardo's attention is now elsewhere. His focus is back to Yuichi, who now no longer has his weapon pointed at him instead is now holding his head with one hand. Disorientation is plastered all over the rabbits face.

“What?! So, you guys aren't...you have nothing to do with me being here…? Kuso, I guess I jumped to conclusions…” He mutters out, puzzled.

Leonardo repositions himself, now getting off the wall and taking a few steps closer with a hand out, trying to offer some comfort.

“Hey buddy, so that was a rough start…” He awkwardly grins at him. “But yeah, it seems like something tossed you into New York. Could’ve been worse, you could’ve been sent to Jersey.”

Yuichi doesn't respond or react to his joke, seeming to be deeply lost in his own thoughts. Perhaps now isn't the time to touch further upon this. He lowers his hand and checks back on his brothers instead.

It appears Michelangelo and Donatello are trying their best to wake their unconscious brother up.

“Man, our big guy is really out cold.” Donatello muses. “Didn't realize rabbit kicks were that much of a threat...duly noted.”

Michelangelo pokes his older brother's face softly, awaiting a reaction. Upon no response he releases fire, repetitively stabbing his cheek with both index fingers.

“Dang, this isn't working. Oh wait! I have an idea.”

The orange brother leans in and whispers in the snapping turtles ear.

“Raph wake upppp, there's a flash sale at Build a Bear! You're gonna miss it, everything's 50% off!”

Their brother immediately jolts back awake, rising up with wide eyes.

“Flash sale?!! We gotta go before all the good stuff is gone- wait a minute.” Raphael pauses and takes in everything around them. “We’re still in the square? Did we ...lose?”

“Kind of. That doesn't matter though, because…!” The softshell pauses for dramatics. “Our little rabbit friend here is a dimensional traveler!”

Raph scratches his head in confusion.

“Say what now?”

The softshell swoops back to Yuichi with glee.

“Oh this is going to be so exciting. This marks the confirmation of interdimensional travel. I'm going to need to do all sorts of tests.” Donatello has now entered his full on ramble mode, having pulled out his phone to jot down quick notes. “See with Casey and Michael here, we had proof of time travel, not quite as grand as the situation here. This marks endless possibilities, imagine all the things we could see!”

Yuichi looks at him blankly, having a bit of trouble understanding the other due to the speed he's speaking at.

“This could revolutionize things for the entire world, the resources, learning material, the communication with something so much bigger than ourselves!”

At this point the rabbit no longer only seems to have confusion, but is starting to show signs of fatigue. His eyes have become much more half lidded and his entire body seems to be slowly swaying.

Something tells Leonardo that this beat up rabbit's adrenaline rush is coming to an end now that he's realized he's not in any immediate danger. Which means…

“Uhhh Donnie?” The slider turtle tries to grab his spiraling brother's attention.

“This scientific breakthrough will drive our civilizations forward and I will be the sole pioneer, everyone will then all, finally, know of Donatello Hamato the founder of on command interdimensional travel-”

THUMP!

Yuichi has hit the ground.

“Aaaand the subject is now lying on the floor and passed out. Unguarded at that.” Donatello points out, mischievously. “Well that just makes things easier for me.”

“What're you talking about Dee?” The youngest asks, not having been following any of his rambling.

Shaking his head with a hint of annoyance he gestures to the rabbit.

“We gotta take him to the lair, for science.”

“And maaaaybe just maybe if you're feeling hospitable enough my dear brother,” Leonardo begins, judgment dripping with every word. “You'd even help the poor guy out in the medbay, before experimenting on him like some unethical mad scientist?”

“...yeah that too I guess.”

Donatello turns to their eldest sibling and points back at Yuichi with his thumb.

“You mind giving us a hand with this?”

“On it bro!”

Raphael lifts the unconscious one up and hoists him onto forearm and the turtles all set out to go back to their lair.

Ow...ugh man everything hurts!

Yuichi groggily comes to and slowly opens his eyes to him realizing he was no longer outside in the city.

He rubs his eyes to fully awaken himself and then notices he's been placed on a hospital bed. He looks to his right and notices a clock on the wall that states it's past midnight.

“Hm, you woke up faster than expected. Took some hours but with the state you're in it's still surprising.”

The beat up samurai turns to the source of the voice only to see the purple turtle from earlier messing around with some monitors and equipment.

“Uhh…why am I inside some kinda emergency room?”

“Because someone thought it would be too inhumane for me to skip right to doing tests on you.” A sigh. “I have to admit...you didn't look too well though.”

“So we, meaning mosty me, decided to check for anything too crazy. I've already fixed up some of your wounds, you're welcome!” The slider turtle states with pride.

Yuichi looks behind him to find the blue turtle entering the room with his arms carrying a box with what seems to be medical supplies and clothes.

“Oh wow, thanks.” He had to admit he really did feel a lot better now. These ninjas weren't so bad. This now makes two good ninja groups that he knows of.

“No biggie, anything for a fellow blue swordsman. You've got taste, amigo!” He gestures to Yuichi’s sword which has been put aside. “My katanas are still way better though.”

“No way, Edgewing is peak craftsmanship, well next to my ancestors’ Willow Branch. That thing is epic.” He states with admiration, before his mood drops again. “It’s too bad I can't show it to you guys... I still don't get how I got here.”

“Yeah you look pretty messed up. I wonder what happened?”

That's a good question.

His head lowers as he tries to think, but he can't recall anything. Not a single thing.

“I'm not too sure. I guess whatever brought me here hurt me in the process? I wish I could remember.”

Crossing his arms, the purple turtle gleams with determination. “No matter, for a genius such as myself doesn't need any clues. A few scans here and there, along with some investigative science, I will be not only able to figure out what brought you here, but also how to send you back.”

“Really? Just like that? So it won't take long?” Yuichi looks at them with awe. “Thanks...uh. I still don't know any of your names. Oops, should've asked sooner than this”

He sheepishly smiles at them.

“I don't know about it being super quick, but if anyone can send you home it's me.” He states proudly. “And of course, introductions. Name's Donatello, I am the most intelligent of my brothers...though that's not saying much. You get the point. I've got brains for days, they do not.”

“Hey! Ignore Donnie, he doesn't know what he's talking about.” The blue one scoffs and steps in front of his brother. “I'm Leonardo Hamato. I'm funny, stunning, and the leader of our team. I'm the whole package baby!”

Leonardo flips his bandana's tail ends and Donatello rolls his eyes, shaking his head. He is so tired of his brother's antics.

A laugh escapes Yuichi. The slider turtle’s boasting comes to a halt, taking in the rabbit's unexpected reaction. It's rare for people to laugh when he messes around.

“Pfft, okay then I guess it's my turn then? I kinda did this already buuut redo: I'm Yuichi Usagi. Trained samurai from Neo Edo; chosen Kaikishi warrior. I can slice rice in half. Impressive, I know.” He momentarily smiles with pride before going back to the matter at hand. “Really though...sorry about earlier. I appreciate all the help, even if it means I'm gonna be treated as a test subject. It’s deserved.”

“Not to worry, it was nothing. Speaking of my dubious plans for you…” Donatello points over at the box in Leonardo's hands. “Can you give him that already? We need him to get situated already.”

Leonardo shakes his head upon hearing that request, as if waking himself up.

“Oh right right right. Sooo uh Chi? Can I call you that? I'm calling you that now. Listen, your clothes look awful.” His breath hitches, realizing how that sounded. “I mean! Awful because they're all messed up, NOT that you have awful fashion sense, you look great! The outfit looks great. It suits you.”

Oh god I cannot shut up. I bet he thinks I'm stupid now-

His brother gives him a strange look. Leonardo can't tell if it's judgemental or one that's just perplexed. Could be both.

“Back to the point- I brought you some of my clothes to change into for the night. Mikey offered to fix yours up in the morning. He went to bed a bit early, baking for us today really took a lot out of him. Anyway, sorry if it’s not your style. It was either gonna be my clothes or Don’s and trust me you don’t want his. No taste there at all.”

“Hey!” Donatello furrows his brows at that comment, taking offense.

The blue one pays him no mind and tosses the box to Yuichi. Upon opening it the samurai finds a hoodie and some pants.

“I didn't even notice my clothes were damaged, I guess I was too distracted by everything. Thanks for these! Also... Mikey is your orange brother right? He was small.”

“Yes. He's the youngest one out of us. You'll get to talk to him tomorrow and all that. Now get yourself changed. We'll be outside and once you're done we'll move train cars to where you'll be staying. Come on Nardo, let's leave him to it.”

“Uh yeah okay.”

The softshell turtle then makes his way to the exit of the train car and a dazed Leonardo follows.

The two lean against the car’s doors and begin to wait. A small moment of silence passes by before the slider turtle erupts with his many thoughts.

“Man, I can't believe the universe just dropped a rad rabbit samurai into our world out of nowhere!” Leonardo chirps to his brother, rambling. “He kicked our butts! I mean, we really didn't try buuut still! How cool is that? Looks like he's about our age too, right?”

“Yes, he's another skilled animal humanoid like us, cool. Not like there's tons of those around.” Donatello sarcastically replies. “I don’t understand why you’re so amazed by him specifically, the possibilities that his presence brings, now that’s interesting.”

“But I mean he’s different, he's so much more appealing than any one of those guys. Just look at him, he's just so-”

The car door opens and Yuichi steps out in the clothes Leonardo gave him.

“These are a bit loose on me, but comfy. Thanks Leo!”

A small gasp escapes Leonardo’s mouth and he fumbles, switching to having one arm against the train door and the other on his hip.

“Y-Yup my clothes were definitely the right choice. No problem.” A drop of sweat drips down his face.

His brother eyes him suspiciously before deciding to shrug it off.

“Okaaay, now that you’re all set, we can finally move on and show you your temporary room before we head off to bed ourselves. It’s just a few cars down.” He waves his arm over as he turns to start walking, leading the way.

Leonardo follows, but then slowly trails behind to Yuichi who is busy observing their lair.

Dang it he looks so cute in my clothes I can’t stop looking! Maybe I shouldn't have offered...who am I kidding? He would look great in anything, even Donnie's nerd wardrobe!

The blue turtle is yanked out of his racing as Yuichi starts to speak.

“Wooow this place is huge, this is all yours?” Yuichi states with awe. “It just keeps on going.”

“Hm? Oh, uh, yeah! But we used to live in the sewers before it got trashed. We had to move then found this abandoned subway under some wreckage. No one was using it so we took it. It’s roomy for sure.”

“Your home was trashed?” He looks at the turtle with sympathetic eyes. “Sorry to hear.”

“It’s fine, it's been a long time since it happened.”

“Well...you guys really picked yourselves up. This place is still super nice, you gotta show me around sometime! I've never seen anything like this before.”

“M-Me? I mean sure! Yes, yeah, I can do that.” He softly promises.

He cheers, fist pumping the air. “Yes! You better not forget.” A smile is thrown the slider turtle’s way.

He can swear he just felt his heart skip a beat.

A comfortable silence takes over until they reach their destination.

“We have arrived. The train car was located a bit further back than I recalled, apologies. Though, the walk isn’t too bad if you ask me.” Donatello gestures to the car and then opens the door. “This will be your room until I figure out how to unravel the secrets of interdimensional travel once and for all…and how to send you back home.”

Yuichi steps in and looks around. The room has all the basic needs such as a bed with blankets and a pillow, a small lamp on top of a dresser, a rug, clock, and some decorative posters over the walls. They all seem to be about the same franchise, but it isn't familiar to him at all.

“Nice! Simple, but homey. Kind of reminds me of my small room in the country with my Auntie.” He plops himself down on the bed with content.

“Glad to hear the bare necessities are all it takes to please you. Then that settles things for now, we’ll be going back to our own rooms and start studying you tomorrow. I tend to stay up far longer than my brothers so if anything happens you go to me. Farewell.” He waves and leaves, wasting no time to go back to his lab.

Leonardo lingers for a while. Mentally he fights himself on whether or not to try sticking around. There isn't really any reason to though — not a valid one.

“Uh…guess I’ll go too.” He taps his fingers together. “Night.”

“Good night, Leo.”

_____________

Back in his own room, Leonardo tries his best to sleep. But no matter how hard he tries he can’t. All he can do is stare up at the ceiling and keep thinking about Yuichi. He hardly knows the guy, but he’s got Leo’s attention somehow.

Maybe it’s the fact he’s just really good at fighting and really nice. Pretty fun too.

And sort of (very) attractive to him.

He feels his face burn up.

Leonardo sits up, deciding that sleeping is simply not happening right now.

I guess maybe I should check on Yuichi, for ...hospitable reasons.

He tries to think of a real reason to go over and not to just sedate his racing fixation on the rabbit. Lets see…maybe he’d need something and he could just bring it over in the guise of having forgotten?

He didn’t make it to dinner. I can bring him some leftover cake and water? Yup that works, you’re a genius Leon.

Springing out of bed, he dashes out of his train car and makes his way to the kitchen space. He swiftly yanks out the cake and slices a piece off then puts it back in record time. A fork and napkin are taken as well. He grabs a water bottle in the same movement.

He runs back carefully then stops right before the guest room to catch his breath. Strangely enough, he’s wheezing. It isn’t due to the speedrunning though, this much is obvious. He's done greater feats than this after all.

He takes a deep breath to compose himself and checks to see if the light is still on.

It is.

He extends a hand and knocks on the door.

It creeks open to a confused Yuichi.

“Leo? You’re still awake too? I thought it was just me.”

He lifts his hands up to show him the items he brought for him.

“I think I had too much to eat.” He lies. “Couldn’t sleep. Which actually reminded me that you uh didn’t get anything, so I brought you these. No need to thank me, I know I'm great.”

“Ooo cake!” The rabbit grabs the food and water eagerly. “I love sweets. Can’t live without them. I'd ask my Auntie to make them for me all the time, she had to set a limit!”

“Sweet tooth much? By the way, this is all Mikey’s doing. He makes the best food in the city I swear! I keep telling him to compete in more cooking competitions, but he gets too nervous about our whole situation.” He gestures to his entire body.

Yuichi has sat down to eat and listens intently while Leonardo remains at the doorway, leaning against it while speaking.

“What do you mean by your ‘whole situation’? I don’t see a problem, you’re just a regular kappa.”

“Kappa?”

“Y’know, a type of yokai. Sure some are bad, but the majority are just doing their own thing. Don't see why you being one changes anything.”

His eyes narrow in confusion. Seems like this is a difference between their two worlds.

“We aren’t yokai, we’re mutants. We started out as just turtles. Anyway, it doesn't matter if you're a yokai or mutants. We can’t just be up in the city without disguises. It scares everyone and causes problems. No bueno.”

“What? That’s weird. Yokai in Neo Edo only scare people when they start chaos. Otherwise they’re all chill.” He chews. “I don’t get why you’d scare anyone, you’re really cool. People should give you guys a chance.”

Leonardo tries to fight back the heat that rises and spreads across his face.

“T-Thanks. You're pretty cool yourself.” He shifts around a bit. “Really though, that’s just how it is here. Some villains don’t care, but that’s obvious. Unless we’re on the surface at night, we're covered up.”

He points to the hoodie on the other.

“You’ll need to keep the hood up at all times when you're in the city, especially after being on the news.”

A frown gets plastered on the rabbit’s face.

“Maaan really? Ugh, . I’ll remember that. Hopefully you guys can come over to where I’m from after all of this is sorted out. You won't have to hide there.” He pauses for a bit, tapping the fork to his chin while thinking. “But you’ll probably have to let everyone know you’re not a kappa too. They’ll be confused about it.”

“That’s fine, I'm down. It'll probably be a while till then though.”

Things go quiet and Leonardo looks around the room to distract himself, maybe he's been here for too long now. It's making him a bit nervous.

Maybe that’s an understatement, both of his hands are disgustingly moist from how much he’s been sweating.

“So uhh I guess I should go now so you can sleep, unless you still can’t-”

“No, no it’s okay! Honestly, the cake kinda made it worse.” He laughs, “The sugar made me even more awake than I was before.”

“Really? Dang, I didn’t think of that. Sorry.” He apologizes.

“No, no it's okay! I'm glad I got to taste your brother's baking. It's delicious! And um…” He looks down somberly. “It kinda makes up for things in a way.”

“What do you mean?”

Yuichi looks down at the plate in front of him and sighs.

“Well yesterday was the day I met all my new friends in my world’s main city: Neo Edo. It was also my birthday, I’m 17 now…I wish I could’ve spent it with them.” He musters a half smile, trying not to dwell too much on that. “It feels sucky, but the cake helps. Hard to be bummed with sugar in your mouth.”

“Oh…I would say happy birthday, but it wasn’t very happy was it?” Leonardo points out awkwardly. That’s awful timing. “I-I...but we can still do something for you! I can tell my bros and we'll-”

“Nah, it's okay. It just wouldn't be the same.” He turns his gaze away. “It's just something I couldn't get off my mind, don’t worry.”

The slider turtle almost insists, but he understands the other. He wouldn't want a birthday party without his brothers. Celebrating without them wouldn't feel right.

Still, he can tell it’s eating at his mind so he suggests something else.

“Sometimes when I feel lost I go out at night and practice my sweet skills, it gets my mind off of things. Everything's so quiet at night the sounds from my sword are pretty calming.” He starts off, fiddling with his hands.

“And since we both can't sleep...maybe you'd like to join me? On-only if you want! No pressure or anything.”

“Yeah I'll go! Sparring sounds fun. We also didn’t get to really fight one on one much earlier. Sorry about that by the way.”

“It’s fine.” He waves the whole ordeal off. “So you ready for a rematch?”

The rabbit places down his finished plate and stands up, grabbing his sword. He flashes a smile and his eyes gleam with excitement.

“You know it!”

Leonardo grins back at Yuichi and runs out of the car. He makes sure the other is still watching and he summons his katanas in front of the other.

“Woah! Since when can you do that?” He inquires, extremely impressed.

“That’s not all they can do.”

He lowers his blades and goes into a battle stance. It’s time he proved himself to the samurai. He was just off guard the first time. Now things will be different.

“How about you come down here so I can show ya?”

Yuichi lifts an eyebrow in amusement before accepting the taunt. He unsheathes his sword and jumps at the other, swinging his blade.

“Oh it's on! Ikuzo!”

Chapter Text

“Ack, Edgewing!” Yuichi cries out as finally Leonardo manages to knock the other’s sword out of his hand.

“Looks like I've got you now!” The turtle sings out cockily.

The rabbit's eyes widen, but he refuses to surrender. Quickly, he reaches into the hoodie's pocket and pulls out his Yo-Yo and rolls it out. He wraps it around one of the other's blades and yanks it away.

The turtle gasps in shock, thrown off guard for a moment before smirking at the other. He hasn't won just yet.

His arms swing his blade around and open a portal. Yuichi jumps, not expecting that.

“WOAH!” He rubs his eyes and darts his head around in confusion. “Maybe the lack of sleep is finally getting to me-”

“Gotcha!”

Suddenly the rabbit feels a weight on his back and arms around him, he's sent tumbling down; the turtle has lunged at him with full force. The two tumble together on the ground before the momentum gives out and the turtle sets him free. The two share a look before erupting with laughter.

Their joy rings through the night as Leonardo and Yuichi lay there. They are both breathing heavily and glistening with sweat from their time spent sparring.

Their match had lasted quite a bit over an hour and the two had to move outside, not wanting to wake the others. Now they lay on the rooftops, taking it all in.

“Man, you got me. I didn't know you could do that!” Yuichi huffs out, with surprise.

“Yeah, portals are kinda my thing. Cool right?”

“Yes! Man, all I've got is this... definitely not dumb yo-yo that I can't trade for something that's not better at all.” He points at it with a forced grin then leans in to whisper. “It doesn't like it when I insult it.”

The turtle raises an eyebrow. His weapons did not have emotions, must be a dimensional thing.

“Really? Your yo-yo has feelings?”

“Yes really! Turns out Kaikishi weapons are sensitive, who would've thought?” The yo-yo jolts in response and the rabbit's eyes widen. “I mean, rightfully so!”

A chuckle escapes Leonardo. He couldn't help but find this funny despite how insanely weird it was.

“Uh so back to what I was saying...” Yuichi brings his attention over to Leonardo again. “Portals or no portals, that was intense! You're a really good fighter! I'm glad we got to have a proper rematch.”

Leonardo’s heart skips a beat and he almost chokes on his laugh. He sharply turns to face the rabbit with his eyes full of wonder, mouth slightly agape.

“You think so?”

“Yes, really! I couldn’t get a single scratch on you! You’re so awesome!”

The slider turtle’s face is plastered with a dorky smile as he tries to contain his flustered emotions.

“H-Hah, well you ain’t too bad yourself, you got some fancy moves with your katana.” His curiosity about the boy in front of him gets to him and he can’t help but want to learn more about this rabbit. “How’d you get so good anyway?”

“Thanks!” A toothy grin is flashed over Leonardo's way. “And I actually learned a lot from my Auntie when I lived in the countryside with her.”

“You’re from the country? I couldn’t tell.” The slider turtle remarks with intrigue.

The other playfully shakes his head at this. “What, you want me to wear a kasa all the time?”

“Hmm, no. It would cover your ears way too much. Would be a shame.” The slider turtle’s eyes dart to the side at his slip up. “A-Anyway! What was that like, is your aunt a samurai too?”

“Auntie used to fight, yeah, but decided she preferred farm life. That place was great.” Yuichi looks up at the stars, remembering. “Growing up there, she'd tell me stories about my ancestor and I wanted to be a samurai too! She taught me all she knew, but I needed more. I later got a sensei in Neo Edo, I learned lots of wisdom from her…which apparently I needed.”

“Let’s just say I was more reckless and less of an actual warrior. I caused a lot of trouble.” Yuichi sheepishly grins at the memory of who he used to be. “I jumped into things without really thinking or working things out with my friends.”

“What?” Leonardo blurts out with confusion. This was less from not understanding what he was saying and more about how close this hit to home. He’s starting to notice the way the similarities between them are just continuously racking up.

The samurai quickly changes demeanors upon his reaction, eyes wide as he pleads his case. “That was before though! I swear! I've matured...for the most part? I’m trying!!”

Now the turtle has to cover himself and hide the real reason for his response.

“Hmm, well I dunno conejito, you did attack me and my brothers out of nowhere and went after all those innocent citizens…” The slider turtles chimes back teasingly. He nailed it, perfect cover up.

“Hey, come on!” Then the rabbit raises an eyebrow, trying to process everything he said. “Uh...wait what's ‘con-ej-ito’ mean?”

“Rabbit, but in Spanish. I know more than one language, impressive I know.” The turtle flips his mask tails with flair.

Yuichi’s mouth turns upward with amusement and raises an eyebrow.

“Hah, you’re not the only one, kame!” He then crosses his arms and leans forward. “Also, low blow! I didn't know what was going on.”

Leonardo also leans forward, hands on his hips.

“Yeah, well, I'm a Hamato, I know some Japanese too, usagi.” He narrows his eyes. “And that’s no excuse.”

“Psh, only some? You're not fluent?”

“I-It’s a work in progress. You try being fluent in New York! Nobody speaks it here!”

“Now that's no excuse.”

“At least part of my name isn't just the species I am but in Japanese.”

“There's four of you, it wouldn't have worked!”

They glare at each other as a moment of silence passes… then they both break into laughter again, finding their faux anger to be too ridiculous. The two clutch at their sides, starting to feel the burn. Leonardo finds himself being more and more grateful about Yuichi’s arrival as the minutes pass. He can’t remember the last time he laughed this hard.

Yuichi has to take a deep breath to steady himself before talking again.

“Anyway, now you've got to tell me about you! How'd you get so good at fighting? You gotta tell me!”

Leonardo's smile drops and his face switches to one that's more pensive.

Huh, being asked about myself...that's new.

“Well...my dad was very skilled but he didn't really train me much at first. He mainly made us watch some Lou Jitsu movies.” The slider turtle pauses, wondering if he should mention Splinter’s past. He decides against it, that's kind of personal. Maybe some other time. “We got most of our moves from those. He wasn't very... available during our early years.”

He smiles awkwardly. “Or for most of them.”

“Oh…” The rabbit is at a loss for words. He shifts his body to face Leonardo. “Sorry, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to-”

He's interrupted as Leonardo waves him off.

“No, no it's fiiiine. It's totally cool. Pops did what he could. I mean, imagine raising four mutant kids on your own! Besides, he really came around later. He teaches me and my bros all sorts of things now, we train more often too.” He averts his eyes from the other as his tone shifts. “Honestly, before that I wasn't really that good, I just swung my mystic odachi around and hoped things worked out...which got us into trouble often...my bros would have to step in a lot.”

And all sorts of things happened to them because of this, because I couldn't be better.

Leonardo squeezes his eyes shut, trying his best to not sink into a bad mood. He's been fighting these waves of sadness, but it's been getting harder and harder.

The guilt eats at him inside, he tenses up remembering his past behavior and what he causes because of it.

If I just acted more mature, more leader like then the invasion wouldn't have happened. It's all my f-

A hand touches his shoulder and rests on it. Eyes flutter open, looking for the source. Leonardo turns to look at the source of it and sees a worried expression plastered on the samurai's face.

“Hey, uhm ...Leo? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry, it’s nothing.”

“It doesn’t look like ‘nothing’, you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

The turtle looks at the rabbit and lets his emotional exhaustion be seen for the first time. He feels like the other would probably understand where he's coming from, so he lets himself be open; just a little bit. Besides, it's not like he'll have to deal with the shame of vulnerability for long, the other is just a momentary visitor. He’ll be gone soon.

“It’s just…I don't really like remembering what an idiot I was.” He sighs and drags his hand down his face. “There ...was this alien invasion a while back, it could've killed us all and it was all because I just wouldn't cooperate. ”

It technically wasn't an almost, but timeline mumbo jumbo is too much to bring up right now.

“It's all my fault, they'd been telling me for so long to be a better leader, but I wanted the role taken away so badly I got my brothers hurt…I’m so stupid.”

“Oh, wow…” The other lifts his hand off of Leonardo, and retracts it. The red slider turtle’s mouth quivers and he turns to face away from the other.

Ah great, now he doesn’t want to even touch me. If he wants to stop being around me now then that’s fine. I get it.

However, Leonardo is proven wrong within mere seconds as he soon feels soft fur pressed against his skin. Warm arms are wrapped around his body, holding him tightly.

“Okay so crazy coincidence…but I also dealt with an alien invasion. So hear me out…I may not know all the details, but I don’t think you should take all the blame for it. Those things are planned for who knows how long by those bad guys. It would’ve happened even without your mess up.” He softly reassures the other.

Leonardo supposes the other has a point, but he still feels responsible for it all.

“Besides, you gained some nuggets of wisdom from this. I’m sure you won’t make any mistakes like that one again.” He pulls away a bit in order to make eye contact with him. “And you’re not stupid, you’re one of the coolest guys I know and I just met you!”

The turtle’s eyes water and a tear runs down his face. He really needed this, the comfort. He’s not sure if he can fully let go of the guilt he carries any time soon, but this is a start for sure.

Yuichi on the other hand is starting to panic at the sight of the other’s tears. His ears flop down and he tugs at them nervously.

“Oh kuso, did I mess this up? I didn’t mean to make you cry, s-sorry! I don’t comfort people often-”

A hand is quickly raised, wiping the tear away. “Just had something stuck in my eye. I’m good…thanks Chi. I needed that.”

The two share a smile as they realize the night is beginning to end. The sun's rays beginning to slowly peek out in the horizon and the sky has started to brighten up around them. Seems like they ended up pulling an all nighter.

“I can hear the birds starting to chirp. Man, we really stayed up that long? What time is it?” Yuichi asks, hoping Leonardo may know somehow.

The turtle reaches for his phone, something he carries with him everywhere, and checks the time. It’s just about to hit 5am.

“Pretty much already morning.” Leonardo gets up and puts his blades away, attaching them to his shell’s belt strap. He extends a hand out to the samurai. “I’m thinking of getting some breakfast, you down?”

He accepts the hand and is hoisted back onto his two feet. “Sure! What are we getting?”

“Well…..it’s not exactly a breakfast food, but since we’re nearby…have you ever had pizza before? I bet you haven’t, country boy!”

“Hey! But…yeah I've got no clue, what is that?”

“Oh-ho, just wait until you find out! Follow me!” Leonardo states excitedly and then waves the other over before running in the direction of where he wants to take him.

The samurai smiles and goes to put his sword away, reaching for its sheath. As he slides it on he swears he sees something gaze at him in the blade's reflection.

Confused, he pauses and gazes at the blade in his hands intently.

“Yu….ichi…”

Chills jolt through his body and he blinks, dumbfounded. Did he just hear it talk?

Yuichi shakes his head and unsheathes the sword to examine it more closely...but nothing is there — must've been his imagination.

“Yo Chi, are you coming or what?”

Quickly, the rabbit finishes up covering his weapon and hurriedly runs to catch up.

“Oh, uh yeah sorry, let's go!”

“Wow! What is this place?”

Yuichi's eyes dance around, taking in the lively restaurant's appearance and guests. He hadn't been anywhere like this before. Where he’s from the places are much more humble and traditional—unless it's a birthday venue of course.

“This my amigo is one of my go-tos for pizza: Run of The Mill. Here, my appearance doesn't matter and neither does yours!” Leonardo states with pride. “I know the one running the place, we go waaay back.”

Meanwhile the rabbit is taking in every corner of the establishment with fascination.

“Wooooah, are these the yokai in your world? They're so different! This is so awesome- ooo what is this?”

He stops, upon finding a hallway filled with photos leading to an area sealed behind a velvet rope. He steps back, looks up and finds it adorned with an eye grabbing golden plaque stating ‘Prove You're A Champion’. His eyes begin to shine.

He bounces over to the turtle, who was making his way to the booths, and drags him back and points.

“Look! A place to prove we're champions, I'm sure we can do that easily!” He stomps his feet with excitement before turning around and flexing. “A strong samurai and a skilled ninja working together, they'll never see what's coming!”

Leonardo's face stretches itself into a very forced grin accompanied by multiple beads of sweat running down his face. He absolutely loves the other's enthusiasm and finds it super adorable, but he needs to shut him down. Fast.

Oh nonono, I can't let him go down that hall. He's gonna see me on the Wall of Cheaters! I can't let him see that, he’ll think I’m a loser!

Which would be true, but Leonardo is doing his best to change that. Frantically, the slider turtle reaches out and grabs Yuichi by the shoulders. He musters up the most serious face he can make.

“Listen, Yu-Yu, this place stinks. It's a total scam. I did it before and let me tell you, it's soooo boring. It's not worth your time. The prize is trash too.”

“Aw man really?” The rabbit's energy drops and he lowers his arms in defeat. “Dang, I was hoping we’d be able to win and show off how cool we are together!”

Pink dusts over the turtles face at that comment.

He wanted to...show us off? Like, me and him...to everyone?

A nervous laugh escapes his mouth and he reddens even more because of it. He follows it up by a cough, but ends up in a coughing fit.

The rabbit opens his mouth to say something, but gets cut off instantly.

“Just choking on my saliva, give me a second-” He pounds at his plastron to clear his lungs up. The rabbit watches with concern as he composes himself. “All good, anyway… we don't need people to know that, we know we're hot stuff and that's all that matters.”

His eyes drift off while speaking and notices Señor Hueso walking about the tables. Perfect.

“And speaking of hot stuff, how about we go order already? You've got to try pizza, man! It'll change your life.”

It’s Leonardo’s turn to drag Yuichi around, directing him to the booth he was eyeing earlier. The two plop down in their seats, opposite from each other. The turtle twists his body around and waves the skeleton yokai over.

“Oye, Bone-Man!”

Señor Hueso turns around and raises an eyebrow before finally approaching the two boys. “Well if it isn’t my not so favorite customer.”

Elbows are placed on the table and Leonardo folds his hands together before resting his head on it and throws a smug look at Yuichi.

“He’s lying, he loves me a skele-ton.”

The rabbit freezes for a second, taking in the turtle’s joke before erupting into a small fit of laughter.

“A skele-ton! That's a good one, you're hilarious!” Yuichi pauses and then looks at him cheekily. ”Or should I say, humerus?”

“Haha yes! Dude, you totally get me!” Leonardo grins with pride as he feels his stomach flip flop. This is nothing, he's just pumped that someone likes the same jokes as he does, that's all.

Hueso shakes his head, not amused with either’s sense of humor.

“Well then...I see you are without your hermanos and instead brought a friend, Pepino.”

The turtle nods and Yuichi introduces himself. “Yeah! Hi, I’m Yuichi Usagi.”

The man eyes the samurai up and down before directing his attention back to the other. “Finally picked yourself up a yokai from the city eh? It's about time you got yourself a novio just as rowdy as you. Felicidades, but try to control yourselves. I don’t want a mess in my restaurant.”

Leonardo swears he almost felt his eyes pop out of their sockets. He dives into his hands, hiding his beet red face in them as he slides down his seat in embarrassment; plopping onto the floor.

Oh. My. God.

Yuichi watches with confusion and then faces the yokai with a puzzled look, hoping for some sort of explanation on why he is acting this way.

Yes, Leonardo found him in the city, what’s weird about that? Does it have to do with the word ‘novio’? What does that even mean? He’s seriously starting to consider learning Spanish. Maybe he can convince the turtle to teach him some later.

“Uh excuse me? I'm not a yokai actually.” The rabbit corrects politely. “Well I guess I am one here but-”

Unfortunately, the rabbit gets cut off and is only met with more questions as he witnesses Leonardo pop out from under the table. He awkwardly grabs Hueso’s wrist and leads him away to speak with him in private.

Crestfallen, Yuichi watches as the other two talk in hushed voices. Now, he knows eavesdropping isn't good, but he can't help wondering what the deal is.

Unfortunately, even with his more enhanced hearing he can't make out what they're saying. The overall chatter in the establishment is too much and their conversation gets drowned out.

So the rabbit samurai fiddles with his fingers to keep himself busy. He has no idea how long he'll be left alone for, but he doesn't want to be rude and ask. Actually, is he the rude one here? He was abandoned out of nowhere... although, maybe etiquette is different here.

Or maybe not. Maybe they are the rude ones. Can he really judge them though? Yuichi didn't exactly have the best manners either.

He shifts his position, opting to use his arm and hand as a means to rest his head. He's already feeling bored. Hopefully Leonardo comes back soon.

He tries to distract himself by people watching, but finds himself losing interest too quickly. There's not much to see, it's just a bunch of yokai eating.

Maybe I could try meditating now, that's kind of fun...sort of.

Closing his eyes, he lifts his hands up and gets into position as best as he can.

Okay how does this go again…? Oh right, I'm supposed to think about nothing. That's hard, but fine.

…

…this isn’t working.

The rabbit frowns, realizing this is harder than it used to be. His thoughts are way too muddled right now.

And why wouldn't they be? He's all alone. Sure he has new friends, but he doesn't know what's going on back home. Is Auntie okay? Is Spot okay? Are Chizu, Kistune, and Gen okay?

He twitches, starting to get stressed out by these thoughts.

No, no stay calm Usagi. I’m sure everything is fine, I probably just got into some dumb accident or something-

“You…are…wrong grandson. Everything is ...not….fine!”

Yuichi snaps his eyes back open in shock, there's the voice again. Where is it-

The table which once was so shiny that it reflected his own face, now had a different one. He jumps, realizing that it's none other than his legendary ancestor: Miyamoto Usagi.

“Ack! It's you!” He leans in surprise. “You're the voice I heard earlier, so it wasn't just in my head!”

“We are...in...danger! ...you must-”

And as quickly as he appeared, he flickers out of sight. Yuichi paws at the table in desperation.

“W-Wait! Come back! Danger?! ‘You must’, what?! What must I do?!”

But no matter how much he tries his ancestor does not reappear all he's left with is his own reflection once again. He groans and lets himself drop against the booth seat in defeat.

Aughhh, something's wrong back at home? This can't be good...and I'm stuck here. I’m letting everyone down…

The rabbit nervously gazes back over to where Leonardo is.

Should I tell Leo about this? ... probably not. I think it would just stress everyone out, they're already doing a lot for me.

All he can do now is hope they’ll all be okay until he makes his way back to them.

“Listen, he is not my…my uh..” Leonardo’s stomach twists and turns violently as he struggles to repeat the word the skeleton yokai used to describe Yuichi earlier. He bites his lip and looks at Hueso, hoping he gets the message from that alone.

He doesn’t let him get off that easily, he raises an eyebrow, waiting for the turtle to finish his sentence.

“My…n..novio.” He wheezes out, straining himself to say the word. His face burns from having to even correct the other about this.

“Is that so?” Señor Hueso asks with doubt, the turtle’s behavior seems to be working against his claims. “Then why was it so difficult for you to say it?”

The man shakes his head and rolls his eyes before speaking once more, not giving the other a chance to plead his case. “I swear, chamacos these days. Always dancing around their feelings, it’s not cute. It wastes time, time you could be using to be together already.”

“It’s not like that!” The younger whines. “Well, I mean it would be nice…I mean. No! It can’t happen.”

Leonardo grabs him by the sides, shakes him and stares at him pleadingly. “Don’t give me any ideas, I’m already struggling as it is! Ughhh, why me?!”

Grimacing, the skeleton peels the other off of him forcefully and pats himself down.

“Calmate niño! What are you going on about? You are making no sense!” He clenches his teeth, growing frustrated and tired with the turtle. “Escupelo!”

“Sooo my buddy over there he’s not actually from here.” Leonardo sadly explains.

“Yes and? I figured he was from The Hidden City.”

“Nooo…he’s not from there either…” The red slider taps his fingers together. “He’s not from …anywhere here. He’s from a whole different world. Random dimensional travel, crazy huh?”

“What? Are you serious?”

“Yeees…Don’s working on sending him home. He’s not gonna stick around for long…which sucks.” Leonardo mumbles that last part to himself.

“Ay dios, I haven’t seen you with many boys your age and now the one that you have most chemistry with isn’t supposed to be here? You are unlucky, Pepino.”

At this he feels all his emotions bubble up and rise at the surface, no longer being able to lie to himself. He didn't want to admit it since they had just met, but who was he kidding? Leonardo falls easily and hard.

The turtle dives onto Hueso’s chest and cartoonish streams of tears roll down his flustered face.

“I KNOOOW the world hates me, Señor!” He sniffles and wipes himself with the man’s suit. “Maybe this is karma for the Krang invasion. I'm doomed to be star crossed as punishment!”

Hueso’s face contours into one of disgust upon being used a handkerchief, but reluctantly lets it slide in favor of consoling Leonardo, who clearly needs it. He lays a hand on his head and pats it for a moment.

“Listen, there will always be other fish in the sea, no te aguites.”

“But I doubt I’ll ever find anyone else that’s as good as him…” Leonardo says hushed as his eyes look back at where the rabbit is sitting.

“Maybe not, but life goes on. Now how about you go sit down and I treat you to some pizzas on the house? Will that cheer you up?” Hueso offers, hoping the other will finally let him go back to work.

The truth is it won’t really, but he can’t let an opportunity for free pizza slide…especially since he forgot to bring some money with him.

“I guess…gracias Bone-Man. You really do have a heart, surprisingly.”

“Yes, great, now go already. You’re keeping your friend waiting.”

Hueso wastes no time shoving the other back in the direction where Yuichi waits and the turtle stumbles back to their booth with no time to argue.

Yuichi’s eyes instantly light up upon seeing Leonardo come back, waving at him.

“Hey! Leoto! Perfect timing, being left alone with my thoughts is starting to get overwhelming.”

Leonardo plops back into his seat, still mopey, but can’t help but feel joy from being around the rabbit again.

“Okay, Leoto? That’s new. Where’d that come from?” He beams at the other with endearment.

“Oh I noticed you were making a bunch for me so I thought of doing the same for you!” The rabbit explains. “I merged your first name with your last. I’m not really good at this kinda thing…you don’t like it do you?”

“No, it's great! I like it.” He earnestly replies. Sure it's a bit tacky, but it's sweet.

“Oh! Okay, your nicknames are so good I was worried it wasn't matching your efforts enough.” He admits sheepishly.

Leonardo doesn't get to respond as he's soon met with a delicious mouthwatering sight in front of him; a free Hawaiian pizza.

“There you go, enjoy.” Hueso states as he lowers their food onto the table and leaves them to it.

Leonardo rubs his hands together. His mood is definitely rising back up now.

“Oh yeah! Now this is what I'm talking about, time to see if you're team Hawaiian!”

The turtle reaches over and grabs himself a slice and Yuichi watches before mimicking him.

“Hmm well this definitely isn't anything like daifuku...but still looks good.” He brings the slice closer to him and finally takes a bite, his eyes widen.

The rabbit swallows and gasps.

“This...is...amazing!! I can't believe I've never had pizza before! I need to get someone to make this back in Neo Edo.”

Leonardo punches the air with immense excitement.

“YES! Take that Donnie, Team Hawaiian has another supporter!” He smugly crosses his arms. “I can't wait to tell him. He's a massive hater of Hawaiian. He only prefers it when pizza has pineapple only and no other toppings. What a weirdough, amiright?”

The rabbit chuckles at his joke then and shrugs. “I guess not everyone has taste like us.”

It's true…it also may be a sensory overload type of thing. Still, plus one on Team Hawaiian, he won't let his brother live it down. He can’t wait to let him know.

“You said it, Chi.” He replies as he digs into to his own slice.

As the two chow down on their meal together, Leonardo can’t help but sneak tender looks at the other across from him. The rabbit is so engrossed in his food he doesn’t notice and that’s fine. The turtle doesn’t mind, he just loves looking at the other.

It’s just a shame he won’t be able to for long.

Chapter Text

“Okay, rise and shine people, it's time to- oh you have got to be kidding me!” Donatello groans out loudly as he realizes the guest train car is empty. With a knitted brow, he rubs his temples. He barely got any sleep because he'd been preparing for tests and now the subject is missing. Isn't that wonderful?

“I swear, no one commits to plans these days! The nerve!” His eye twitches as his hands ball into fists and shake, his frustration getting to him. “This morning was to be dedicated to innovation, but here I am without my one and only source of data!”

The softshell doesn't get to lament his test subject's absence for too long as his younger brother calls him from outside.

“Yo Dee, what's the hold up? Am I giving the bunny dude his clothes or not?”

The older sighs and turns around to walk back out, sliding the door shut behind him. He crosses his arms and sighs.

“It appears not, Angelo, the rabbit's gone. Doesn't seem to be around either, he took his weapons with him. He's most likely a runaway.”

“Say what?! No goodbyes, no two week notice, just up and left? He was wearing Leo’s handouts too!” Michelangelo scowls and slams a fist into his palm. “I swear there's no appreciation for hospitality these days! If I ever see him again-”

“Uhh, now now, let's not get too hasty! I do have a suspicion…”

While Donatello may have just been a short stop away from a meltdown, he can't let his little brother blow a fuse. That’s never a fun thing to deal with and admittedly, he still has more to check. He was simply just getting ahead of himself.

He raises his geared up arm and fiddles with his tech. “Luckily for me I always plan ahead so while Leo was busy playing nurse I went and planted a tracker.”

He taps on the screen a couple times until a map of the city appears with several flashing icons. Each representing the location the respective being is in. He zooms in on where Yuichi is—sure enough his unofficial twin’s icon is there as well.

“Ugh, just I thought! I should've known Nardo wasn't going to just leave that guy alone! The man's an insomniac, there's a new mutant yokai thing around, they're about the same age, it’s a rabbit…the math adds up. I was just too distracted by science to see it.”

“Oh yeah that does sound like Leo, sooo what now?” Michelangelo asks his brother, unclenching his fist and instead raising one up to his chin, perplexed.

“What about Leo?” A groggy Raphael emerges from his room, still sporting his onesie and retained, holding a teddy bear in one arm and rubbing his eyes with the other.

“The man has taken my test subject!” The softshell replies with clenched teeth. “It's pushing back my schedule for today and you best believe he will get lectured once he’s back here.”

Donatello puts his hands together and takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “The day is still salvageable though, I just have to get those two back here in the next ten or so minutes.”

Raphael scratches his head, not understanding. “Why ten minutes? Does it really matter that much, Donnie?”

“Because…carpe diem!” The middle child crosses his arms, glaring at him. The truth is that’s how much longer he’s willing to suppress an outburst. “I'm not waiting any longer. Reminder, this is interdimensional travel we're talking about! So either you two stay here to man the fort or you're coming with me. What's it going to be?”

Michaelangelo and Raphael share a look that clearly is a means of judging their brother (which Donatello couldn't care less about) before looking back at their impatient brother and shrugging.

“Alright then, I’lll take that as compliance, let's go. We can’t waste a single second, you know how it gets once the sun is up.”

“Ay no, is that drool?!” Señor Hueso dashes over to where the two boys had been eating moments earlier, only to see the two knocked out with their heads now surrounded by a comically large puddle of drool. Between pulling an all nighter and stuffing their faces with free pizza they just couldn’t fight the need to sleep any longer and now the yokai has to deal with it.

The skeleton man winces, filled with disgust at seeing a piece of his restaurant subjected to something so unsanitary–even if it’s been faced with worse before.

“Eugh…I can’t let them just stay here…” He reluctantly extends a boned finger over the turtle, keeping the rest of his body as distanced as possible, as he pokes at him; he doesn’t stir at all.

Inching closer, the yokai now uses some more force, shaking the turtle harder in hopes he will now react. The effort proves to be for naught as he remains in deep sleep, snoring throughout it all.

Hueso grimaces at this. It’s typical Leonardo behavior, but he still wishes he had woken up from that. Despite what a pain the kid can be to him, he can’t make himself do more to him just in hopes that he’ll rise up and get out of his restaurant. It wouldn’t feel right.

The rabbit however…

CRASH!

Just as the man is about to move over to Yuichi the slider turtle’s brothers burst in through the entrance and tumble onto the ground, getting their limbs tangled with one another's.

“Mikey get off of me!” Donatello squirms around with a mix of discomfort and frustration, shoving a hand onto the younger's shell and pushing.

“Ow! HEY!”

The three swat at each other and struggle until one by one they free themselves and stand up. Each one is a complete mess. From top to bottom they’re littered with a mix of tomato splatters, some lipstick marks, splotches of tar with feathers, and flowers.

The softshell is the first to collect himself, patting himself down and approaching the restaurant owner as if there clearly wasn’t anything of the ordinary.

“I believe those two are ours and…yup okay they are out cold. Great, no wonder he wasn’t answering our calls.” He sighs and his battle shell’s metal limbs pop out, ready to hoist them up. Donatello moves over to the two, only to make a disgusted face at their mess. “Oh god no, is that Hawaiian?”

His battleshell’s arms extend over and lightly lifts Leonardo as to make sure and yes. It is indeed Hawaiian pizza.

“Gagging. I mean seriously I don't get the appeal. The pineapple? Fine. But with the ham? It's too much, eugh!” He turns his head away, sticking his tongue out at the sight as his clasps do the work of grabbing the two for him. This is one of those instances that makes his inventions feel like a godsend. He doesn't want to touch any of that.

“Dios mio, the crowd got you poor boys really roughed up.” Hueso comments as he watches them. The red and orange brothers are handed Leonardo and Yuichi while the other focuses on their booth. Donatello makes a face at the drool left on the table and takes out a spray bottle, not being able to just leave that there.

“Yeah, fame’s been rough.” Raphael responds as he cradles his sleeping brother in his arms. “There’s tons of crazy fans and all those haters! Themoment they see us they come running at us!”

“It’s terrifying! I kinda miss when we were just treated as just creeps, period. Now there’s just too many emotions to deal with out there!” Michelangelo shivers, remembering what they were just dealing with moments ago. His hands come up to his face, squishing his cheeks dramatically. “It’s a nightmare!”

“We wouldn’t have had to deal with any of that if these two had just stayed put!” Donatello complains, now having moved from the table to himself, wiping down every inch of his body with some sort of handcrafted cleaning substance. It must be some sort of creation he made in his lab, having been unsatisfied with what the world’s marketplace had to offer.

“But noooo, Leo just had to go and do his own thing. I should’ve locked him in his room. Maybe I'll install a secret automated lock soon..” The softshell turtle continues, grumbling to himself.

“Yo Donnie, pass some of that over here wontcha?” Raphael requests and he receives, now cleaning himself as Michaelangelo adjusts the rabbit on himself. Being an artist that isn’t afraid to get dirty, he doesn’t mind waiting to clean himself once they get back home.

Hueso watches as the brothers take a bit longer to ready themselves to go back out, now feeling more worried about this. Their run-ins with the public hadn’t been this bad before and he thought things would’ve died down a bit after a few months, yet he was proven wrong. Between this situation and the slider turtle’s own problems he can’t help but wish he could do more for them.

“Alright all set, sorry about this, we’ll be out of your hair…less self now?” The box turtle awkwardly grins and then waves as they make their way back out.

“Listen, take care of yourselves out there alright? I can lend you all some things from the lost and found if you need to try to disguise yourselves from all the paparazzi.”

Donatello shakes his head, now wearing his goggles on his face. “No need, but thanks. We’re just gonna high tail it out of here and use the shortest route back to the lair I can locate with my tech, buuut on the topic of disguises…”

He quickly reaches over to Yuichi and flips the hood over the boy’s head, now concealing him for the most part. Any person who just throws a passing glance at them would have no clue they’re carrying a rabbit mutant-yokai thing with them.

“Drama concerning ourselves is no real biggie, but we wouldn’t want the people freaking out over the assailant from yesterday being with us. I do not have the patience for that nor do I want to explain anything…yet.” He smirks after the last bit, but Hueso doesn’t comment on it.

“I understand, good luck.”

And with that they take off, preparing themselves for the outside world to bombard them once again.

Fear is all Yuichi can feel right now.

He isn’t quite sure what’s going on, it’s like a bunch of still images from a movie are playing, but it’s all too real and it won’t stop.

It started all sunshine and rainbows, one moment he’s with his friends having a fun ordinary day and it’s comforting. He misses his friends and it felt like he was just going to enjoy a sweet moment with them all again. He doesn’t question the logistics of how he’s suddenly back home due to how empty he’s felt without them. It’s only been a little over a day, but it feels like forever since he last saw them, he can't remember the last time he spent an entire day without at least one of them by his side. There's also the fact that for some reason he just felt incredibly relieved to see his friends again…and not just because he got whisked away from them.

Well that pleasant experience doesn’t last long.

Suddenly he’s on the temple floor in front of an unconscious Kistune, shaking her, tears running down his face and his heart pounding uncontrollably. He’s desperately begging her to open her eyes, but no reaction or response comes from her. Her bloodied body remains ever so still. He tries to rack through his brain for some sort of explanation, buthas no idea what happened to her, wasn’t he just having a nice time with her and the rest of the gang mere seconds ago?

Well how this happened isn't as important as figuring out what's currently happening to her. His hands tremble at the realization of one of the main possibilities on why she’s not moving, breath hitching. No longer does he focus his hands on shaking her anymore, but instead moves them out of the way and tries to listen to her heart beat.

Unfortunately, despite having incredible hearing his sheer panic prevents him from focusing. He lifts one of her arms up and moves to her wrist.

No…no please Kitsune don't be-

But before he can even check her pulse everything changes in an instant.

He blinks and when his eyes open he's no longer in front of that dreary scene, he's now slowly backing away from a street lamp with his beloved pet stuck to it. He's been wrapped around it with his Yo-Yo and tightly secured. Spot pleads to him, his round eyes glistening with sadness.

He can't resist the little tokage’s sweet face…but he has to. Yuichi shakes his head, sharply turning around and looking away, refusing to give in. He doesn't know why he's doing this but the need to do it is filling up his mind. He balls his hand into a fist and runs. He has no clue where he’s going, but that doesn't matter. All he feels is the need to go and quickly before…before it's too late? He doesn't understand his urgency or thought process, all he can do is grip his sword tighter, gulping as his feet move him through Neo Edo's streets as fast as they can.

The scene switches once more and this time he’s on the ground pressed up against the Ki-Stone and breathing heavily. Everything aches, he's completely beat up and sore. To make matters worse he's been cornered by a figure he just can’t make out, it’s like his brain just can’t remember what they look like. That’s the least of his worries though as he is too beat up to flee and completely defenseless.

His eyes widen as the shadowed figure's weapon comes hurling towards him. Yuichi braces himself and everything goes white.

…

……

“We need you, grandson.”

The rabbit gasps for air, jolting awake and lunging forward. His hands immediately going for his chest, immediately feeling the need to check for a stab wound of some sort…there is none. In fact there's no sign of any wear or tear anywhere.

Dumbfounded, he starts patting himself down, before remembering everything that's happened the past 24 hours. He's not in Neo Edo and he didn't die. He's safe and he's being cared for by some strange turtles. He's okay. He's alive.

The question is whether his loved ones are as well.

What…was all of that?! Is that what Miyamoto was trying to tell me about earlier…? It felt so real…but I was dreaming wasn’t I? Ugh this makes no sense and– woah! What is all this?!

Yuichi is dragged out of his mini spiral as he notices all the gadgets and gizmos around him, eyes widening and getting distracted from his dream dilemma instantly.

He hops off the examination table he was placed on and spots the genius soft shelled turtle hard at work, managing all sorts of equipment and clicking through all sorts of data and number popping up on various screens.

Yuichi opens his mouth to say something before being distracted once again, spotting smaller scaled inventions on a counter nearby.

“Woah…” The samurai walks over to them and leans forward, his head tilting with amazement as he tries to figure out what these are. He's had his fair share of fiddling around with technology due to his restlessness while living with his aunt on her farm, breaking her farmbottos often, but this is next level stuff.

He takes interest in a smaller gadget, it's more compact that the rest and seems to have a crevice that indicates if one were to tug at each opposite end it could maybe open up into something bigger. Well Yuichi isn't just going to sit around and wonder forever, he reaches forward and goes for the gizmo.

“You touch that and I'll make sure it's the last thing you ever get to touch with that hand, bunny boy.” A voice threatens him sinisterly.

The rabbit boy shivers and halts just before grazing its metal surface and his head turns to the obvious source of the voice. Donatello has creeped up behind him and is sporting a terrifying forced grin that means serious business.

“Ah, sorry I should've asked.” Yuichi quickly lowers his hand shamefully and scratches his head with the other. “Couldn't help myself. I know you're the smart guy of the group, but I've never seen this kinda stuff in Neo Edo! It just really got my attention.”

Donatello's previously menacing face now softens and switches into one of pride.

“Ah yes, my work is unique no matter the world or dimension that's up for comparison really, I'm extraordinary here as well. No one comes close to my genius.” He crosses his arms, grimacing. “Well Draxum claims otherwise, saying I got it from him since he technically ‘made’ me, but what does he know? I bet I could out genius him if given the chance.”

Yuichi gives Donatello a look that reeks of ‘I don't get it’ and it snaps the turtle out of delving into a long-winded rant.

“Anyhow, that's important. I'm trying to test out how far compact storage can go and I'm not done yet.” He scoops up the small invention and gently juggles it in one hand.“ This may seem like nothing but I've actually stored several different things inside, I've been messing around with vacuum pockets and compression. Rearranging of atoms and particles and having them restored in just the right way when the container is expanded.”

Yuichi nods absentmindedly, as the turtle goes on explaining every intricate detail. While he's sure it's a he's stating some very clever and intelligent findings, he just can't keep his focus on him for much longer. He finds his attention trailing elsewhere, eyes looking around the room again. Donatello continues rambling and Yuichi decides to sneak away and peak at the other things in the lab.

As he looks around and gazes at every nook and cranny he notices something in the bottom section of his work desk. He almost wouldn't have noticed it if it weren't for the speck of green that seemed to glisten out compared to the dull metallic backdrop of the room.

He tiptoes over and crouches, pulling out the item from the shadows. Slowly, Yuichi rises as he examines what he's found. It's…a tray of seedlings?

“... however these aren't tested. They're just stand ins for what really matters: the storage compressor. Now that's my money maker. Anyway, I-” Donatello's eyes widen as he realizes the bunny is no longer in front of him. He jumps and twists around, horrified at what he's found.

“Oh sweet Galileo!” He dashes over and yoink the plants out of Yuichi's hands. He lifts up the tray and smooshes his cheek against it, cooing at the vegetation. “My poor unsuspecting plant children, I apologize for leaving you susceptible to harm. Thankfully I got you just in time…or so it seems.”

He whips around and glares at Yuichi.

“You didn't do anything to them, right ?”

The rabbit tenses up, the softshells menacing look making him shiver slightly.

“What? No, of course not! I was just curious.” He rubs one of his arms as he explains. “Why do you have plants in here anyway? I didn't think you were a gardening type of guy.”

Donatello scoffs.

“Gardening? This is far more than gardening.” His demeanor softens before avoiding his gaze. “But you'd be right about the last part, that'd be the last thing people would guess after spending an hour or less with me.”

The seedlings are gently placed onto his desk. A drawer is opened and some contents from the front are pulled out, revealing a kit behind them. It contains a small watering can which he takes and uses. Each plant is watered carefully, giving them just the right amount before moving onto the next. Despite being so calculated, Donatello's expression is full of uncertainty.

“Hmm, it like you know what you're doing! These are looking really healthy. I'm sure it take long for them to fully sprout.” Yuichi comments, intently watching. “I guess you could say…you have a green thumb, huh?”

The rabbit smugly grins at the turtle who finds himself freezing in unamusement at the sudden quip. He puts the watering can down.

“How clever.” He sits down on the chair at his desk and swivels the chair to face Yuichi, folding his hands together. “Responding to your previous and more noteworthy words, yes I know what I'm doing. I've been dedicating a lot of time to studying botany. I had my interest piqued a while back actually.”

“That's cool, I grew up on a farm. I'm not an expert, that's my Auntie, but I can grow a lot of things like carrots, wheat, pumpkins-”

“Pumpkins…” Donatello grimaces. “One day I shall best you, Ethel.”

“Huh?”

“...ignore that. More importantly, I didn't think you were a farm boy. I suppose that adds up.”

“Yeah, it was really nice! If it's possible I'd definitely invite you over! You can look at anything you want!”

Donatello smiles, earnestly. His eyes glint.

“That's a tempting offer...free access to untapped agriculture. Hm. However, I didn't get to the good part yet my clueless friend.”

He pulls out some photographs, they feature the mutant hybrid of the corpse flower and botanical garden security guard.

“Not only am I interested in botony, I'm interested in GENETIC MODIFICATION!” His smile morphs into one much more maniacal.

Yuichi blinks.

“Wait… whaaat?”

“You see, the wonders of the world have always been of interest to me, including botony. However, seeing this mutant…it had me thinking. Stay with me, I've been... experimenting with mutagen properties and various sorts of flori.” He reveals flasks from his kit, contains green glowy ooze along with a notepad with frantic notes scribbled all throughout it's pages. “Now listen, I am aware that this is tampering with mother's nature. But I'd say I'm essentially admiring her work and, dare I say, improving it in gooth faith.”

He flips through his notepad as he explains his plans to the other who's jaw only drops more and more as the turtle continus speaking.

“For you see, I myself am a violation against nature, but I'd say my existence is a wonderful crime. So, obviously, I had to ponder, how much further can this go? Upon seeing the corpse flower mutation, I started hypothesizing how it'd go in a virgin state. Besides, there hasn't been enough advancement with vegetation, technology is overrunning it. So...I've taken it upon myself to fiddle with botony experimentationin my down time. It's nothing to write home about yet...but soon. Soon I'll master genetic modification and revolutionize botony for the entire world!”

He slams his notepad down.

“This starts with me making the world's most perfect and delicious pumpkin ever that the GourdFest will have no choice but to crown me the all-time champion. No amount of bribery or blackmailing will be able to sway them!” He shakes a fist, determined.

“Donnie! Are you kidding me?!”

The scientist is brought back down to earth, snapping out his spiral and looks over at the rabbit once more. He clears his throat and slumps back into his chair.

“Er…no everything I stated was factual this is genuine passion of mine.” He clarifies, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

“No I mean, this is incredible!” 

Donatello sheepishly musters a half smile at this. The reception was better than he expected, it warms his heart. 

Yuichi waves his hands around with excitement. “This could help with bad crops during bad season, oh my Auntie would be impressed. Who wouldn't be? Why’d you even have this hidden away all secretively?”

“Well…I don't exactly feel prepared to bring this up to my family yet. Which is what I was about to lead into actually.”

He stands up, his expression darkening. He slowly approaches Yuichi, closing the distance between them.

“You don't say a single word to anyone about finding this, in fact, let's pretend this never happened. Okay?”

“But I'm sure they'd love to hear about it-”

“ Okay? ” Donatello repeats more forcefully through gritted teeth, fake smiling terrifyingly.

The rabbit gulps and nods.

That was scary! He switched up so fast…I wonder what's holding him back…

He sighs and the turtle steps away and his threatening aura drops, going back to behaving nonchalant as usual.

“Great. No hard feelings…it's just something personal. I just want to reveal it on my own terms.” He grabs the botony related items and begins to put them away back into their respective places, putting them out of sight like they were before. “Moving on then. Remember how I mentioned energy signatures earlier?”

Yuichi blinks. He can barely retain any recollection of the things he does throughout the day and now he's expected to remember what happened before Donatello spoke about mind-blowing botony. 

“...I'll take that as a no.” The inventor slides himself back over to his multiple screens and scrolls through different charts and readings before finally stopping at what looks to be a silhouette of the rabbit.

“Here's the scans I did while you're asleep. Your vitals overall seemed fine, but your energy levels are what really stood out to me. I expected them to be different due to you not being from here, but this is insane! You're on a higher scale than radiation! Yet somehow are completely fine...strange.”

He swivels over to face the samurai again, looking at him with an odd expression. Yuichi can't pinpoint it exactly but it appears the turtle is focused now.

“Basically, I need to work with this data until I can figure out some sort of idea on why this is happening with you. In doing so I'll probably find a way to send you back where you came from. Can't promise it'll be any time soon though, but doing this quickly is still the goal. Have to set a personal challenge for myself after all.” The turtle pauses, catching himself and grins awkwardly. “…and it’s important to get you back home of course. That's definitely the most important part.”

Yuichi lifts an eyebrow up at that, he may not be the brightest, but that wasn’t exactly a smooth cover up. He sighs, it’s not like he can rush him. He hardly knows the guy and he’s already super nice for doing this, even if it is more for selfish reasons.

“Back to the data collection process, this is actually the second train car of my lab, I had to use two of them to store all the stuff I’ve got and made. So I have to step out for a bit, need to retrieve some more equipment…don’t get any ideas while I’m out. You try anything and you WILL be dealt with. Reminder that I know your fighting style now so you don't have the element of surprise on your side anymore.”

The rabbit nods slowly, with a look of terror plastered on his face. He says nothing. Perfect. He got the message.

Donatello turns and smirks on his way out, knowing it’ll be a long time before the other ever thinks of touching his things again.

“W-Wait! Before you go!”

He turns, shocked by the abrupt interruption of his departure.

“I w-wanted to say, I know you said not to, but this will be the last time I br-bring it up. I swear.” Yuichi stammers, tugging at his ears. “The invite to our farm is still open. I bet you'd be amazing with the crops. Just think about it.”

Donatello's face softens.

“...thank you. I'll keep that in mind.”

As Donatello makes his way to the first car of his lab he is interrupted by the horrid sounds of the typical playlist Leonardo blasts whenever going through one of his “Leo Moments”. His body tenses up and he grinds his teeth in annoyance, stopping in his tracks. Seems like his brother has woken up.

The equipment can wait, he needs to stop this now.

“Nardo I swear, I thought you were over this already!!” Donatello slams the train door open and storms into his brother's room, the sounds of his playlist now ringing in his ears from the volume it's playing at. Maybe he shouldn’t have entered after all, oh well it's too late now.

“Seriously, you finally sleep earlier than usual and when you get up you start doing this? Couldn’t you have tried getting more than a couple hours of sleep for once?!”

Maybe that last part was a bit insensitive. Insomnia doesn’t bend its will that easily, but he can’t help it. He hates when things are too loud and the repetitiveness of it all just doesn’t help at all.

Unsurprisingly, Leonardo doesn’t say anything; he's on his bed with a pillow pressed over his face and held down by his hands. He’s sprawled out dramatically, as he usually does.

The softshell scowls and goes over to the speakers responsible for booming out the same stupid heartbreak songs Leonardo listens to and jabs them with a device he retrieves from his shell. Instantly they go silent and at last Donatello can hear himself think again.

“Hey!” Leonardo finally moves, now sitting up and his face visible. He’s sporting eyebags nearly as bad as the ones he had during his recovery period after the invasion. “I was listening to that! What the hell did you even do?”

“I have a little contraption I made that can essentially short circuit anything, have fun replacing those. Seriously though, I thought you were done with all of…this.” He gestures to the slider turtle’s room. It’s an absolute mess, tear and snot filled napkins are littering the floor, his phone is still set to his dumb playlist, and his face is all flushed.

“We talked about this, Don Suave is not only out of your league, but he’s not even actually a real being! He’s just two old yokai, mid-looking ones at that.”

Leonardo frowns and glares at his brother.

“Don’t you talk about bone man like that! He looks great and is great…sometimes.” He pauses, thinking over his defense for the skeleton. He decides to leave it be, he did give Leonardo free food today after all. “Anyways I’m over …him, okay? Just leave me alone!”

The dramatic blue turtle flings himself back onto his bed and dives his face into the pillow once more. Donatello narrows his eyes and raises a brow at this.

“Oh really? Then what’s all of this? Why are you Leo-ing out again?”

“Mmmphm mphmhm mphhmhm…” An inaudible response is mumbled out and the softshell frowns. He steps closer and yanks the pillow out of Leonardo’s face, forcing him to stop mumbling.

“One more time, but this time in English.” He demands.

“UGH! You never let me just ride things out naturally, this is normal y’know? I’m a teenager! I’m allowed to have crushes.” Leonardo whines and crosses his arms, glaring daggers at the other. “And I was saying; what do you mean by ‘Leo-ing’ out?”

“Oh please. You’ve done this since we were tots, you always roll around in your room all pathetic when it comes to some guy you’ve decided is the man of your dreams. You only play those Spanish love songs nonstop at times like these. You can’t tell me this is the one time you do this for something unrelated to your hopeless infatuation cases. I just know you must be back to the whole Don Suave thing and guess what? Nothing’s changed. It’s just not happening, so just drop it!”

“Listen, I already said I’m over it! It’s not about that! I haven’t even thought about that guy lately.”

And it’s surprisingly true, Leonardo hasn’t thought of him lately. His mind has been elsewhere, even after his visit to The Run of the Mill.

“Oh really?" Donatello responds, unconvinced. "Then tell me, what is it about?”

Leonardo averts his eyes and goes quiet. That’s oddly uncharacteristic of him…

That can only mean he’s been telling the truth and doesn’t want to say what is causing this now. Donatello takes a moment to think, because clearly he’s not getting the answer from his brother. He thinks and thinks and then it finally hits him...his eye twitches. He decides this is not worth his time.

“Never mind, you know what? I don’t care. I already took down your speakers, that was the main annoyance. You can just continue with your phone’s maximum volume if you want. I have research to do, arrivederci.” He waves his brother off and quickly leaves as he tries to keep himself level, not giving a chance for the other to reply. He knows what’s going on, but he is not going to open that can of worms right now.

It’s just going to make things more complicated.

Chapter Text

Leaving the very hyperactive Yuichi alone in Donatello’s lab chock full of shiny new gadgets wasn’t exactly the best choice to make. Not only is he now tempted with everything inside of it, but he’s left alone with his thoughts. It’s tearing his head apart.

Grounding himself is difficult at this point and it’s making him panic slightly. Either he focuses on the extremely unnerving dream he just had or he focuses on fighting the urge to touch Donatello’s things. Neither of these sounds fun–especially after what he was just told–and wishes he could bolt out of there.

But running out wouldn’t look very good, he has to act like a good guest especially since they’d been kind enough to let him stay with them after fighting them.

Yuichi sighs, there's been a lot of ‘have to’s thrown his way since waking up in New York.

One of his legs begins to bounce up and down from the lack of activity and overstimulating thoughts. The dilemma is killing Yuichi. It's hard to just sit down and stay put, especially for an unknown amount of time. He could be stuck here for hours!

He has to think of something to do to keep himself busy and quick.

Think Usagi, you have to keep yourself busy. …Ugh but there's nothing! Just one big room full of gadgets…shiny…cool…. gadgets….

He swears the invention filled room is calling to him, his hands about to touch the items he was told very strictly not to grab. Each one is just so tantalizing and mysterious, who knows what each one does? Maybe if he just takes a moment to find out…his hand reaches out towards the nearest gizmo, on the cusp of grazing the metal with one of his fingers.

“No! Bad Usagi!” He smacks his hand, using a free one against the other and alternating. He stopped himself just in time. It really wasn't easy though.

He sighs and sinks down to the floor, covering his face.

“Ughhh what I'd give to have Sakuran around right now. Having that distraction yokai here would keep me busy for sure! It would be so helpful, I couldn't concentrate at all around him! Wait…I guess that's usually how it is…?” A finger taps his chin as he thinks. “Anyway, I've got to behave! How do I do that? I guess I could try meditating again? I'm sure I can do it this time.”

He takes a deep breath and sits down, now much more determined to focus on drowning out the word around him. He closes his eyes.

“Slow breaths, closed eyes, proper stance, done. Now…time to think of…oh right a flower! Hah, it's been so long I almost forgot.”

And within only moments Yuichi has lost himself in a deep, deep, meditation.

“Alright the masterful scientist Donatello is now ready to get back to work…oh boy.” He freezes upon entering the room, having been met with Yuichi face down on the floor. There's a small red streak under his head.

This can't be good.

The softshell puts down the items in his arms and instead reaches for his bo staff laying nearby. He takes a few steps closer and pokes the rabbit, testing for any sort of reactionary movement. There is not.

His eyes dart from side to side before dropping his weapon and then resorts to staring at Yuichi before reaching a verdict.

“Well that is… unfortunate. The guy has gone and bit the dust on me. I wonder if he touched something…oh no.” Donatello blanches at the thought of being responsible for this. He did leave him unsupervised inside his lab, but he did warn him not to touch anything, but how effective is that really? He’s just as bad as Leonardo, he should’ve known he wouldn’t listen. “I have to cover this up.”

He jumps up, scrambling to take action. He rushes all over the place, picking up gloves and tugging them on, yanking out a large trash bag, and putting his goggles on. This whole time he's mumbling to himself trying to figure out what to do next. Having this be so sudden, Donatello’s thinking process is out of whack. The softshell didn’t expect this to happen nor to be the indirect cause of death.

Finally he goes over and opens up the bag, now prepared. The unconscious rabbit is swiftly placed in and secured, tossed over Donatello's shoulder and he creeps out his lab making sure no one sees him. He stops at the front, checking to see if anyone's around.

“Okay great, no one's noticed anything. Now I just have to dispose of the body outside then tell everyone how I got the guy back to his world with my genius and no one will suspect a thing–”

Before he can take a step away from his train car, he's stopped by a voice.

“No one will suspect a thing, huh?”

A yelp escapes his mouth. The purple turtle jumps at realizing his brother, Leonardo, is behind him and drops the bag. It opens, spilling out the bunny inside who upon landing snaps awake.

“Uh what is going on…?!” Yuichi groggily asks.

Donatello grins nervously and quickly steps in front of the rabbit on the ground and hides his hands behind his back.

“Leo! My sweet, sweet brother. How are you today? I see you've gotten back to your normal self, that's good; great even.”

The red slider suspiciously looks at his brother before responding.

“I'm fine. I was just trying to give Yuichi back his clothes. I noticed Mikey hadn't been able to give them back yet so I was gonna deliver them myself…only to see you both weren't in your lab. What are you doing?”

“Oh me? Nothing! Anyway, you sure you've had enough of those tunes? Why don't you go and listen to them for one more round-”

The other turtle's face tints pink for a second, embarrassed yet angry. He slaps a hand over the other's mouth before he can continue that sentence. One, Leonardo can't let Yuichi hear about his premature heartbreak’s woes. Two, he’s feeling better now and wants to just enjoy things as they are and would rather forget about his little dramatics from earlier.

“Shhh, you are not distracting me! What are you doing with Yuichi?!” Leonardo angrily questions, now peering over the side, getting a closer look, only for his jaw to drop at the sight. He shoves Donatello out of the way, diving down the floor to where the bunny is and wraps his arms around him protectively.

Yuichi still has no idea what's going on or why Leonardois doing this, but he's not complaining.

“Did you try to throw him out?! Donatello Tamato, explain yourself!” Leonardo exclaims, glaring daggers at the other.

Donatello gestures to the rabbit in exasperation.

“No! Not really…he was knocked out in my lab, with blood running out so y'know I thought he was…” He slashes a finger over his throat and then crosses his arms. “Also it's Hamato, please Leo if you're going to do the threatening full name drop do it right.”

Having been listening the whole time, Yuichi watches the two utterly perplexed. Then he finally realizes what's going on and he breaks into a fit of laughter.

“Pffft, oh you guys! I was meditating!” He explains as he gets up from the ground, the red slider turtle following suit. “It was a good one too. I was in this huge field with a bunch of watermelons. Reminds me of the ones in Auntie's farm, I used to wreck those all the time hah. Uhh where was I? Oh! I got some slices salted and chowed down. It was so good! Wish I had some now.”

“That quite literally sounds like you were just dreaming. You're telling me you decided to nap face down on my lab's floor?! That’s extremely unhygienic.”

“Hah, that’s something Gen would say too. Also no, I told you it was meditation! I've gotten kinda good at it, I'd say I'm an expert at this point. Maybe it's different in my world or something?”

Leonardo nods, not questioning a thing. “Makes sense to me.”

Donatello on the other hand cannot believe what he's hearing but resigns, not wanting to deal with this buffoonery further.

“Yeah okay, okay, sureee, silly me for thinking that was an REM cycle at work.” He sarcastically replies while taking off his plastic gloves and scrunching up the now empty bag, putting them both away in his battle shell.

“Well I would say I still need to do tests on ‘meditation expert’ over here, but I think I've had enough of all this for today.” He makes to leave then stops, remembering something. “ One last thing: make sure to check on the dude's injuries Nardo, looks like you didn't do a very good job.”

The softshell points at the rabbit's red streaked ear and then takes off, going back inside his lab.

Yuichi raises a hand up to touch his right ear and then immediately notices it has indeed been leaking, his fingers now stained with red. Leonardo grimaces at the sight.

“Oh wow, I hate to say it but Don was right. I guess I didn't focus on that wound enough.” The turtle admits. “But first…here you go. Your clothes are all fixed up now!”

Yuichi is handed his now fully patched up clothes, looking almost brand new. Michelangelo managed to make every little fix seamless and perfect. The rabbit gazes at the craftsmanship in awe.

“Woahhh, this is even better than how my Auntie does it and that's saying something, she's sewed my stuff back up for years.” He grabs them and grins with gratitude. “You guys are the best!”

“Pssh, it was all Mikey. But I'll take the compliment.” Leonardo beams. “Anyway I guess you'll want to change, yeah?”

“Oh right, about that…” Yuichi looks at him, on the verge of asking something.

“Huh?”

“It's okay if you say no, but I kinda like this…uh shirt thing?” He points at the hoodie he was given temporarily by Leonardo. “It's really comfy honestly, I'd like to keep wearing it with my kimono if you're okay with it.”

Leonardo's mouth goes dry and now his red markings are indistinguishable from the heat across his face.

He…wants to keep it?! Is that what I'm hearing? I'm not imagining this, right? That's what people do when they date…ooohoho yeah there’s still hope…maybe!

“Y-Yeah! That's fine, cool. Keep it hon-honestly. I've been meaning to get another!” He stutters while trying to act as if he doesn't care. He really does, he's thrilled.

“No way, really?” The rabbit asks, elated. “Thanks, Lee!”

“N-No problem. So uh your rooms kinda far so if you want you can change in uh mine? It's only two cars to the left of Donnie's lab.”

“Oh sure! Thanks!”

“Cool, I'll wait here while you do that then!”

With that, the turtle giddily leads the other over, trying not to get excited at the idea of bringing him to his personal space. He just doesn't get to have anyone over very often aside from the occasional barging in of his brothers.

Sure it's just for a quick moment, but still. He can now proudly say he's had a boy over and it wouldn't be a lie. Score.

The rabbit goes inside and leaves Leo outside to himself, trying his best not to make a big deal out of all of this. He twirls his mask ends with his finger while waiting for the other to return.

Some time passes and soon Yuichi exits the turtle’s room with a spring in his step. He's now dressed back in the apparel he was sporting on the first day.

However, now it's no longer all dirty and torn from who knows what he went through before the turtles found him. This time though, Leonardo’s hoodie is included underneath the bunny's cerulean kimono, layered with it. It actually goes together pretty well, the turtle would say. Along with this, the rabbit now sports some sneakers as well. That addition is confusing for a moment before he remembers that the rabbit’s previous footwear was pretty worn down.

“Look! It fits together perfectly!!” The samurai poses, putting both fists at his sides and grinning. “It's a nice mix of your world's fashion and mine. By the way…I decided to switch to some shoes I found in your room, sorry! I was going to ask first, but I got kinda distracted. I can put them back if you want.”

Leonardo doesn't respond at first, just taking in how great the boy looks. It's almost impossible to keep himself grounded about the reality of Yuichi’s stay at this point. He's completely his type and everything is just proving that even further.

“Uh, wow. No yeah don't worry! I just had them for decoration really, we're not really uh the shoe wearing type for the most part. And pssh, don't worry about digging through my room’s stuff or anything, mi casa es su casa!”

He slides a little closer to Yuichi, his demeanor a bit more needy now.

“What'd you think though? My room’s coolest, right?” He asks, seeking not only validation from him, but insight as well. He knows this is silly to ask considering the other hasn’t seen much yet, but he still wanted to see what the other thought.

“It’s definitely a lot more welcoming than Donnie's lab.” Yuichi laughs. “I like it! You've got good taste. I want to try getting some lights like that too someday!”

“Ugh yeah dude's very protective about his stuff, kinda get it, but still. Anyway thanks! You're always welcome to just pop in whenever. But right now, we've gotta take care of that.”

He lightly taps Yuichi's wounded ear and it twitches lightly at the touch.

“Oh right! Forgot about that, honestly it's not that bad. You don't have to-”

“But I want to.” The turtle realizes he interjected with a bit too much emotion. “I mean, I want to…make sure it's nothing too serious! Can’t have you actually dying on us. Look, we have some stuff in the kitchen and while we’re there I can find you something to eat.”

“Okay, okay, I guess I could eat.”

The two walk over silently and slowly Yuichi starts having his worries from earlier creep up on him again. He can’t stop thinking about his loved ones…what if they really are in danger? Maybe he should tell Leonardo? But what good does that do? He'd just stress him out…at least that's what he thinks. There's only one way to really find out.

“Uh…hey, random question, do you ever get like…weird dreams?”

“Sometimes, it's been a while since I got one though. I have trouble sleeping and when I do sleep it doesn't really last long enough for dreams.”

“That sucks…”

“Yeah… I think ptsd’s been beating me up lately? Uh…don't tell anyone I said that.” Leonardo nervously adds. “So…why the question?”

Yuichi opens his mouth but then closes it, biting his tongue. The blue turtle already is dealing with so much he can't just add more to that! If maturing has taught him anything, it's to think before acting and right now it's obvious he can't just drag Leonardo into his problems. But now he'd feel horrible about lying to him and pretending nothing is going on.

He'll have to downplay it.

“It’s nothing really. I had a …creepy dream about my friends. It's just stuck in my mind. I guess I'm just homesick and worried. It’s probably nothing.”

The rabbit fumbles with his hands and avoids eye contact. Leonardo notices this behavior, but isn't sure whether to press further or not.

“Don't worry, everything will be fine.” He reassuringly puts a hand on his shoulder. “Donnie has been spending all his time researching quantum energy and stuff, he'll get you home”

“...you're right. Thanks.”

But what if it's too late by then?

Yuichi doesn't get to dwell on that thought for long as the two reach the kitchen area.

Leonardo steps inside the kitchen not expecting to find anyone there since breakfast has already passed. However, upon reaching the entrance he spots his father digging through the fridge.

“Hey, look, dad’s here!” He gleefully points over to Splinter, who's in the middle of gathering some snacks for his couch potato time.

Yuichi blinks.

“What? Wait, you mean your father is a rodent? But you're a turtle! You all are!”

Confused by his response, Leonardo looks at the other with momentary confusion before his face eases up and he lets out a small chuckle.

“Oh, right. I didn't get to really introduce you to each other yet cuz of everything that's been going on huh? Yup Splinter’s a rat, long story. We love him though, we wouldn't have it any other way.” Leonardo thinks for a moment. “So I'm guessing your dad is a rabbit then, Chi?”

“Um, yeah as far as I know. I mean I don't remember his face or what he looks like, but I'm sure he's a rabbit too. Just makes sense.” He shrugs.

“...man.” The slider turtle facepalms, realizing how insensitive and assuming that conclusion was. “Sorry, I didn't mean to make you talk about serious stuff!”

“No, no it's okay!” The rabbit assures the turtle, frantically waving his hands to indicate it's no big deal. “Seriously, I don't mind, if it did I would've said so. It's just…the whole thing is complicated. Like you said, long story.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Leonardo smiles. “Origin stories, amiright?”

The other nods, smiling in agreement.

“Sooo am I going to talk to him or…?”

That's a great question. The turtle’s eyes look back over to where Splinter is who has now moved away from the fridge. The rodent is now preparing himself some tea with a teapot made by the youngest brother. Michelangelo sculpted the thing a while ago and decorated it with paint and little cute doodles. Due to it having been made when his hands were weaker it's not the most clean handiwork, but he was determined to make it when his father began complaining about the quality of a store bought one that just wasn't getting the job done. It's now Splinter's most prized possession.

“Dad’s just waiting on his tea, so yeah! Time for introductions.”

Filled with enthusiasm, the blue masked turtle leads the bunny samurai over to his father. The rabbit however stays close behind the ninja turtle, starting to feel nervous about this first meet.

“Dad! Good morning, making tea as usual, hm?”

The older man turns upon hearing his son's voice.

“Blue! Great timing, I was looking for those butterscotch cookies I like, but I can't find them anywhere! Did you see them or perhaps…eat them?”

“Nope, don't have them sorry. But on the bright side, I have a special someone with me right now!”

“Special…someone?” The father's eyes narrow in suspicion.

Yuichi peers out from behind Leonardo and finally steps out from him, now fully visible. He hastily moves closer and wobbles slightly, almost tripping in the process. He catches himself and straightens himself up.

“Hello! I'm Yuichi Usagi, great to finally meet you sir…uh Hamato-sama?” He scratches the back of his head. “Sorry, I'm not sure how you prefer me to address you.”

“Hm, you're a respectful young man. I like it.” He surveys the other up and down, looking him all over, deep in thought. “Either is fine, rabbit. Thank you. You could learn a thing or two from him, Blue.”

“Haha, very funny.” The red slider rolls his eyes before going back to business. “I'm surprised the others didn't tell you about him earlier.”

“Ohhhh, this is the guest they mentioned? I thought they just meant Junior. I was wondering why he hadn't showed up yet.”

“What? Oh right, Case. No, he hasn't come by in a while actually..” Leonardo points out. He understands why that may be the case. In fact, there's a chance his previous visit was to be his last. He wouldn't blame him if it was. “...anyways! This sweet bunny guy is the guest! He's been crashing here for a day now, you just kept missing him by a hare.”

He grins cheekily at his pun and his father rolls his eyes while Yuichi snickers at the joke.

“Again with the cheap cheeky humor, this is why Purple is the funniest.”

“Oh come on, it was funny!”

“True, give him some credit!”

Splinter rolls his eyes and goes back to eyeing the rabbit.

“So how'd you find this one?” He pokes Yuichi’s chest inquisitively, keeping a finger on his kimono’s mon. “He doesn't look like any of the yokai around here.”

“That's because he isn't. Tell him, Yui.”

“Uhh yeah I'm actually not really supposed to be here? It's confusing. I still don't really know what's going on.” He nervously averts his gaze. “I'm from a different world, but suddenly I just kinda POOF appeared here.”

“What, are you serious?” The rodent's finger raises off the other, his face getting more serious.

“Yup, he just got sent here out of nowhere. Don’s been going nuts trying to get answers.”

Splinter steps back and strokes his chin, thinking.

“I see…well that explains things. No wonder that clan symbol on him looked familiar.”

The rabbit now has all his attention on the eldest, all ears. “Wait, you know the Mifune clan?”

“Ah, is that what you call it? No not personally, I saw it once in our Hamato scrolls. There was some strange sort of prophecy type of entry in them. I read some of it when I first looked over those old things, back when I took it more seriously.”

Now Leonardo is paying attention as well. “Whaaat?! You’ve gotta tell us more!”

“I don't remember much. All I saw was that apparently you're all some kind of ‘sister’ clan to ours, but in a mystical distant realm type of way.” Splinter shrugs. “I never understood that, but it makes some sense now.”

“So…what else did your scrolls say?”

“That when fate calls for it we cross paths at some point, usually when one is in need. I thought it was a bunch of baloney. I mean, we had the Shredder, the world almost ended, and nothing like that happened. So much for fate and all that junk, bwahaha!”

The old man guffaws and holds his stomach while doing so, finding the whole thing funnier than the other two. “Looks like the scrolls were right about one thing after all, but you're a bit late rabbit. We took care of everything.”

Well that says a lot. Yuichi gulps, realizing what this information means for him.

“Uhh, so by one in need…do you think that goes like…both ways?”

“Who knows! I didn't read the whole thing and those are long gone now, I destroyed them ages ago. They're unreliable pieces of ancient garbage, I didn’t want to rely on them.”

“Riiight. Got it, okay.” The rabbit's foot starts softly thumping on the ground from stress, unsure whether to bring up his theory on why he's here. After hearing about what they all just dealt with and how they weren't around to help…he's just not sure if it'd be fair. “Well actually Hamato-sama, sir, I think-”

FWEEE! The kettle screeches, the rodent's tea now ready.

“Oh finally, I was starting to think Orange’s teapot wasn't working.” He reaches for it and pours himself his tea, blowing on it before taking a drink. “Ahh, perfect. So what were you saying? Make it quick, I've got my funny commercials to get to!”

“It’s…it’s nothing. Enjoy your…commercials.” Yuichi half smiles and watches the other nod and scoop his snack pile up, exiting the kitchen.

Leonardo watches Yuichi’s behavior with confusion.

“Hey…you were trying to say something, why didn't you?”

“I…I forgot what I was going to say, oh well. So what were we doing here again? My ear right?”

“Right…your ear. I’ll take care of that now.” The turtle makes his way to one of the kitchens drawers and rummages through its contents before locating every item he needs.

The turtle then approaches the rabbit with them. “Alright I got everything, sit down and I'll see what's going on.”

Yuichi nods and sits on one of the stools near the counter. The other places his things down and then gently grabs his ear. He examines it and winces upon seeing its state.

“Yeeesh, it's still bleeding. You must've hit yourself hard when you woke up here!” He starts using an ointment and slathering it over the insides of the rabbit’s ear. Yuichi shivers at the feeling, being more sensitive than he thought he would be.

“Something like that I guess? I still…don't remember how I got hurt.” His eyes gaze at the floor as Leonardo works on treating his injury.

“Mmm, listen Yuichi…I know we don't really…know each other that well yet, but…” Leonardo's voice turns more hushed and soft, as if not wanting anyone else to possibly hear. “I'm still here for you okay? I mean…I can't imagine being in your position right now. My brothers…my family, they mean the world to me.”

Yuichi closes his eyes, listening to his words.

“So if I randomly ended up somewhere away from them, told I was in a different dimension or something, I'd be freaking out. Bad.” He continues patching up Yuichi’s ear, now wrapping some bandages around it. “You’ve been holding up somehow but if I can make things easier just say so, okay?”

Yuichi appreciates this, he really does. It’s just that this is unintentionally making everything so much harder. He likes Leonardo, the guy has a lot on his plate and yet he’s still trying to be there for him? He just can’t let him deal with more. He has to at least be sure about what’s going on before even bringing anything up. So for now…he will have to continue hiding things.

That doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy his company though.

Sighing, he leans over onto Leonardo’s plastron, resting his head onto him and letting himself go. The slider turtle gasps lightly at this, surprised at the action, pink dusting his face. He decides to reciprocate by gently stroking the rabbit’s soft ears.

The rabbit stays like this for a while, taking it all in before finally opening his mouth to speak.

“Leo… I am freaking out a little. I’m just trying to do what samurais do and stay strong. It’s hard though. I never spent a day without Auntie or Spot before and now it’s been several...” He takes a deep breath before continuing. “But there’s nothing I can do about it. Honestly, I think I just need to do something to get my mind off of things. It’s what I usually try to do when there’s too much going on, any ideas?”

“Hmm… I’ve gotchu, but before I get into that, how about I get you something to snack on first? I promised you something after patching you up.”

“Okay.” Right on cue the bunny feels his stomach twist with hunger. He has no clue how long it's been since he last ate, but looks like it's been a while.

Leonardo stops what he's doing and moves away from Yuichi (which admittedly the bunny is a bit crestfallen about) and looks for something to give him. The red slider digs through several cabinets before stopping. He then tosses some random chip bags over to him. Yuichi wastes no time in ripping one of the back open and popping its contents into his mouth.

Leonardo takes this time to think about what to do next, it’d have to be something that keeps them busy for at least a good couple of hours…suddenly an idea hits him.

“Oh man, just wait, I’ve thought of the perfect thing!” He exclaims with excitement. Yuichi looks up from his snacks and gives him a puzzled look.

“It’s something we used to do all the time when my hermanos and I were younger, honestly I don’t know why we stopped…maybe it would’ve been too much nowadays? Dunno, but hear me out: we have a family fun night.”

The rabbit had never heard of such a thing before.

“Family…fun night? What's that?”

“Oohoo no way, you haven’t had those before? Well, you’re in for a treat!” Leonardo grins as he pulls out his phone.

“Uhh are you sure..? I don’t think I really fit the ‘family’ part of this…I don’t want to ruin the vibe.”

“Trust me, it’s fine and you're going to love it. But hey it makes you feel better, for today you’re an honorary Hamato.”

“Really? Yuichi Usagi-Hamato…wow it has a nice ring to it. Too bad it’s temporary.” The rabbit comments not realizing the meaning behind his words.

“Maybe it doesn’t have to be.” The turtle counters, not being able to let this opportunity slide past him.

“What?” The other looks at him blankly, not getting the memo. “N-Nothing!”

Embarrassed at his failed attempt to flirt, Leonardo snaps his head back down and looks at his phone screen once more. The taps away and quickly finishes up sending out texts out to everyone in the main group chat, alerting them of his new plans.

This is going to be a wild day.

Chapter Text

“Sooo it looks like I gotta give you the rundown on…Family Fun Night.” Leonardo announces, his face darkening a bit as he mutters the last bit.

Yuichi notices the difference in tone from when he last addressed this event and begins to feel a bit nervous. He doesn’t let this hold him back though. If Leonardo thinks this will help him keep his mind off of whatever is going on back home then he has to give it a try. It would be rude to back out now and so soon at that.

“Uhh okay, what’s it like..?”

A hand wraps around the rabbits side and before he knows it he pulls in next to the other, who now is leaned in with a cupped hand.

“Wellll, let's say it’s kind of been a buried tradition. Our dad used to be a bit more in the picture when we were younger, so he actually started this. It was his way of making sure he had time for us.” He smiles meekly. “Eventually that phased out when we had to be the one taking initiative and it slowly turned into the Lair Games…I’ll tell you about that later.”

He finally lets go and puts his hands behind his back as he casually strides down the subway, Yuichi tailing along.

“So yeah, Family Fun Night, aka FFN, basically was a time where we would just kinda do our versions of party games and whoever won go to choose what to eat for dinner. Simple times, simple stuff. But noooow…” He whirls around with his hands balled into fists, shaking them with excitement. “We can do so much more! It’ll be a chance for us to all let loose and have a good time.”

“That does sound nice, but I don’t know if I should participate.” The samurai raises an arm, putting his hand onto his neck, unsure of this. “I know you made me an honorary member, but…”

The excitement in Leonardo lowers as he realizes the other isn’t as on board as he thought.

“...but?”

“I don’t know…it’s just the history behind it, the invasion you told me about…wouldn’t it be better if it was something done with only actual family members? Besides I dunno if the others are okay with this like you are-”

“Woah I’m going to have to stop you there, Yuichi.”

The turtle interrupts him with no hesitation, pulling out his phone once more with the screen practically shoved into Yuichi’s face. The other’s eyes dilate at the sudden brightness before readjusting and squints.

“What am I looking at?” He asks, confused.

The red slider blinks before slowly lowering his phone and pulling it away from the clueless bunny.

“That’s right…you don’t have a phone. Your place is more traditional…I should ask Donnie to make you one like ours. Wait… would you even get reception back in New Eden?” He wonders.

“It’s Neo Edo, Leo.” Yuichi corrects.

“Pssh, that’s what I just said!” He shakes his head then flaps his hand, brushing everything off. “My point is, I already let them know in our group chat and they’re on board.”

“Really?

“Yep, so no need to worry amigo, a little reboot never hurt anyone.” He winks then grabs the rabbit by his shoulders.

“Actually…crap. What you should be doing is preparing yourself. Have you ever heard of Onu? Fabio Kart? Typhoon?”

Leonardo’s face looks at him with utmost seriousness and Yuichi freezes for a moment. Wide eyes gaze at the other and he breaks, snapping away from him with his face heating up. Maybe he’s getting a little too touchy.

Calm down Leo, he's starting to get suspicious! He's probably onto me.

But he doesn't seem to show it…can't be too careful though. I should stop the touching though. I'll keep my distance.

A cough is emitted from Yuichi and Leonardo is not only broken out of his thought process but finally gets a response to his questions after a seemingly awkward silence that felt like an eternity.

“Uhm… no, no, aaand no?”

“W-Well! I guess we’ll have to change that. Don’t worry, Neon Leon’s got this. Follow me.” He heads down a different direction of the subway lair.

Yuichi half smiles and follows, feeling unsure of what he’s gotten himself into.

“Come on Bootyyyshaker9000, it’s been three days and you still haven’t even managed to even open a small little energy rip to that rabbit guy’s location of origin! This should be a piece of cake, this is what you’ve been preparing for!” The softshell’s fingers speed away, rapidly pressing key after key, jumping from one device to the next within seconds. His chair rolls from one place to the other as he frantically tries to make progress.

He’s not lying either when he tells himself this.

After the incident with Michaelangelo’s powers causing so much damage to his hands…he wanted to make sure the next time they need to make a portal that it won’t be a fatality. The thing is the amount of progress that had been done was pretty low. With everyone dealing with recovery, thinking up more emergency protocols, and more extensive training, the project got set to the side often. However, he had thought this spontaneous mission would finally give him the chance to make major advancements.

Finally, for a second he sees his testing space light up for just a fraction of a moment. A small hum is heard…then silence. Everything goes back to stillness and dull failure.

He pulls off his goggles in frustration, tossing them onto the ground.

“I don’t understand! I’ve properly deduced that all I needed was, one, to determine the subject’s energy type, check, pinpoint the start of the subject's energy trail in time and space, check, and an energy source strong enough to connect our planes together! No check there. I’ve tried everything I could think of, even my precious supply of uranium…”

Donatello slumps down onto his work desk, face smooshed onto his hand in a state of defeat. He hates to admit it…but he may not be able to send Yuichi back after all. He may have met his match in terms of scientific advancement. It sucks to say it, but it feels like either he is missing some crucial piece or his calculations were just completely off.

It’s easier to believe it’s the former because if it were the latter…he’d rather not entertain that possibility. Still, he’ll have to double check and hope he can make this work.

Suddenly his phone chimes, screen lighting up. He picks it up with his spare hand and gazes upon the notification on screen. His brother has messaged the fam’s group chat.

‘LEO: guess whos bringing back ffn? this guyyy!! get ready people its gonna get crazy!!!

His eye twitches in response and not just from Leonardo’s classic habit of not using proper punctuation in his texts. He straightens up and spins his chair around while pulling the phone closer to him, now using both hands to hold it.

Now he’s digging up family history for that guy?! Come on, he hasn’t even been here a week.

With his inner fire being put out due to his current struggle all he can do is muster a sarcastic one worded response.

‘DONNIE: Great.’

His feet are planted firmly onto the ground as he hops out of his seat and puts his phone away, not bothering to check the rest of the notifications flooding in. A hand drags down his face as he groans.

Now he understands his brother may be needing some time to heal and that humor and fun has always been his method to deal with his troubles, but he compromised themselves into sending a stranger back to some other dimension yet all he can think of is lollygagging around with said stranger.

Not to mention the fact that Donatello is starting to believe it won’t even be feasible anymore.

He should bring that up to him actually. He winces at the thought. That would mean giving into the fact that he might be…a failure.

Horrifying. I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it.

To Leonardo’s surprise Yuichi was actually better at games than he thought he would be. For one, he wasn’t half bad at Typhoon, he was much more flexible than expected. He managed to touch each color no matter how impossible it seemed. When expressing this the samurai replied with a claim that it's nothing, everyone in his family is this stretchy. He supposes it’s a rabbit thing.

It was a relief that Yuichi wasn’t as clueless as he figured, he actually knew some of the games once he started explaining them. It turns out they’re just named differently where he’s from. This also confused Leonardo a bit though, as he had been picturing a more old fashioned state of living with how …simple Yuichi’s life seemed.

But then upon showing his friend the arcade section of their game room, the rabbit’s ears perked up unlike any way he’d seen previously and oh how his eyes shone unlike ever before.

Pining aside, this marked the moment where the turtle’s understanding of Yuichi’s world shattered. How can a place be so modern and ancient at the same time?!

That's a question he'll have to ponder some other time, he has bigger priorities at the moment. Right now he’s trying to beat the guy at a racing game and currently failing.

“Woohoo! Yes! Another power-up, I love this game!” Yuichi hollers as he swerves around the motorcycle seat he’s in, having the time of his life. He effortlessly makes perfect turns and manages to stay ahead of Leonardo no matter what he tries.

A bead of sweat rolls down Leonardo’s face. Admittedly, there's a bit of a reason for this. He kind of fell off from playing any games after the invasion. It just wasn’t his main focus, he was too busy trying to make sure he won’t make any mess ups like that one again.

Despite this, Leonardo swore he still had it in him to beat Yuichi.

Unfortunately, it looks like he might've underestimated the other. The finish line isn't too far and the red slider remains pretty far behind. He has to do something, It's now or never.

“Oh no you don’t!” He arches down, distributing his body weight forward and moving the motorcycle with him. This results in the in game vehicle speeding up and gaining on the bunny, only a hair away from surpassing him. “Eat this!”

Leonardo sends out a saved item –a bunch of banana peels – from earlier, tossing it at the other’s in game avatar.

However, instead of him hitting it and setting Yuichi back as intended, the other swerves out of the way. This makes them hit Leonardo instead, causing his vehicle to swerve out of control and crash off to the side. This gives Yuichi a free peaceful ride to the end, crossing the finish line.

“NOOO!” Leonardo whines pathetically at the sight of his defeat. Meanwhile the white rabbit jumps with joy at his screen displaying the classic words ‘YOU WIN’. He slouches and lets himself slide down the seat, his arms hanging off the sides of the game’s cycle. His face shows only dismay.

Yuichi on the other hand, whisks around and beams at the sulking ninja turtle. He then fist pumps the air with pride.

“I told you, Leoto! I’m a master at this, I spend all my time at the arcade. It’s so addicting, I step in and suddenly it's night time!”

“Noooooo, you've got to be cheating somehow. There's no way…I was always the pro at this one!” He turns to him with desperation in his eyes before clenching his fists. “One more rematch, best 18 out of 35, I'll get you this time!!”

“Oh come on, really? You really think this is going to be the one?” Yuichi questions, amusement in his eyes.

“I guess we'll have to find out!” Leonardo challenges with the same amount of vigor as his previous ones—surprisingly.

“Okay, okay. Fine, let's do it!” The rabbit flashes a toothy grin his way, enjoying this.

The turtle's heart squeezes at this.

Oh man, his buck teeth are so damn cute!

He gets lost for a moment, gazing at the other lovingly.

A while passes and Yuichi’s eyes dart around, puzzled. The turtle hasn't moved.

“Uhh, Leo…? Is everything daijobu? You look kinda out of it-”

“OH! Sorry, sorry! I, uh, sleep debt caught up to me. Yup. Yup…that's definitely it.” He lies, doing his best to straighten up and make things not weird.

“Oh yeah, I'm feeling our all nighter too, it was worth it though!”

“Yeah, anyways let's get this rematch started! Watch, I'm going to break your winning streak!”

“As if!”

The two immediately jump to grab their steering wheels once more and are about to slam down the start button when they’re interrupted by a loud holler.

“APRIIIIL O’NEEEEIL is here and ready to WINNN!”

Leonardo perks up from the faux vehicle and quickly goes to check the time on his phone.

Oh crap, he got so caught up with playing games with his samurai friend that he lost track of time. April’s already here for the games!

“Ah shoot, let’s put this on pause. It’s gotten late. I still have to go set up everything and April’s here already!”

The other looks up from the game and shrugs in confusion.

“April…?” The other repeats, trying to see if he can recall being told about this person.

“Hmm? Did I never tell you about her, she’s our sister. I’ll introduce you, let’s go!”

The turtle grasps onto Yuichi’s hand and leads out into the main sector of the subway lair.

April carefully tosses her bag onto a nearby sofa and sprawls over it, fists up in the air.

“Ohh I am so pumped!” She springs back up and swiftly looks around for any sign of her beloved mutant siblings.

She doesn’t see any of them around surprisingly, but she does however spot Splinter off in the distance, making his way down to a subway car.

“Hey, Splints!” She waves at him as she rushes over to the man. Once reaching him she places a hand on her hip. “What gives? I thought we were doing a FFN again?”

“Oh yes, the boys told me about Blue trying to run one of those again. If you ask me we’re good with just the Lair Games, we don’t need that competitive drama regularly.” He criticizes.

“So it is happening! Where they at?”

“Well Orange and Red are currently in the kitchen. Apparently they had something to take care of before tonight officially starts. Purple hasn’t left his lab since yesterday…and I haven’t seen Blue since he chatted with me during my tea time.”

“Oh. Well that’s weird I wonder what Leo is up to-”

“Never mind, spoke too soon. Here he comes.” Splinter turns and continues on walking to his destination.

“Aps! You made it!” Leonardo strides over to her, pulling the samurai behind him who is mindlessly letting this happen.

“Holy…wh-what’s going on here? Did I summon Easter with my name or something?! What is the Easter Bunny doing here?!! Who is that?!” She points at Yuichi like there’s an intruder standing right in front of her. If she were a cat her spine would be curled and have her fur standing on end.

Leonardo blinks and looks behind him and back at his bewildered family member in front of him. He laughs.

“Ohhh right, April this is Yuichi. I forgot you haven’t been caught up with this yet! Remember that one rampaging mutant in the city?”

“The one that was on the news?!”

“That’s him, We ended up having him stay with us.” “‘Scuse me?! You let him in here?! I watched that whole broadcast, he ruined the entire square! They’re still repairing all the damages he did!”

“Yeah but, he’s actually a great guy, it was just a misunderstanding. He was confused and scared. Tell her Yuichi.”

He jumps at the sudden prompt to speak and nervously laughs, tapping his fingers together.

“Uhh y-yeah, sorry about that. If I could go back to that day I wouldn’t have done all that. I swear on my family name.” He dramatically bumps a fist to his chest to really drive his words home.

“Hmmm, okay I believe you, you didn’t mean for that to happen.” She sighs and shakes her head. “You have to explain this a bit more later…but for now…if he’s still here then does that mean what I think it does?”

“Yup!” Leonardo wraps an arm around Yuichi and pulls him in. He immediately regrets this, remembering how he was trying to stop doing that. It’s too late so he tries to roll with it. “He’s going to be my plus one! Dude’s been feeling down so I’m including him. A little family fun always lifts the spirits, amiright?”

“Cant’ argue with that.” She walks over back to the sofa and lifts up her bag. “Then I’m guessing my plus one isn’t an issue either right?”

Her bag pops open and out comes a furry little yellow and blue head.

“No way, Mayhem, is it really you?”

Leonardo jumps over to where April is and she holds him up proudly.

“Ohh man, its been forever since we’ve seen this guy!”

“Yep, on my way out he tagged along and I couldn’t say no to that. I guess he was feeling pretty energized today!” She scratches behind one of his ears and he purrs, wagging his tail.

The two’s cheery attitude drops instantly upon hearing sniffles behind them.

Leonardo snaps around instantly and is face to face with Yuichi fighting back tears and his eyes shining. He’s frantically rubbing one of his eyes in hopes of stopping the upcoming flood.

“Oh my gosh, did I do something? Why is he crying…?” April asks, her voice hushed down to a whisper.

The turtle slowly approaches him, trying to find out what’s wrong.

“Hey, woah, what’s going on? I know Mayhem is a bit weird looking but you don’t need to be scared-”

“I’m not scared it’s just…” The rabbit sniffles loudly and clasps his hands together. “He’s so cute. He reminds me of my own buddy, Spot. I really miss him…I wish I had him right now.”

April’s eyes soften and she stretches her arms out, smiling warmly at the other.

“I don’t really get your whole story and I know it’s not the same, but want to hold Mayhem? It might help with those feelings. He seems pretty calm right now, I don’t think he’d mind.”

Immediately the rabbit’s demeanor lifts, eyes sparkling at the offer.

“R-Really?”

“Yeah, go for it!”

Leonardo watches anxiously as Yuichi extends his arms, going for the bag where Mayhem is in. Mayhem isn’t exactly open to anyone other than April getting affectionate with him, but he didn’t snarl or growl at him so maybe it’ll be fine.

To his relief, nothing bad happens. Yuichi grabs the bag and brings it closer, gazing at the little rascal in it. Mayhem actually starts wagging his tail and springs out of the bag. He jumps onto Yuichi’s chest and the samurai reacts by dropping April’s bag and putting his arms around the creature.

He’s met with nonstop licks.

“Aw hey, cut it out, haha, stop!”

April gasps.

“Wow look at that, Mayhem likes you!”

“I guess so. He’s so cute! Who’s a good boy? Whosa good boy?”

Leonardo softly chuckles at the sight. He supposes Mayhem now has two people in the world that he likes. After watching the spectacle for a while he decides to slip away and leave them all to mingle. Yuichi could use a chance to socialize on his own.

Meanwhile the blue turtle takes this as an opportunity to finally get the stuff he needs for tonight before he gets distracted again.

Leonardo hurriedly grabs the materials he visualized using in his head and overestimated his crafting skills. Sure he’s pretty decent at doodling stuff and even better at planning outfits due to the amount of times they had to disguise themselves, but he’s not nearly artsy enough for what he’s making. He manages to finish up, taking a step back to admire his work, wiping his glue stained hands.

He was able to put together a cardboard spinning choice wheel for the games they’ll be playing in FFN and a large chart to keep track of everyone’s points. He of course tried adding some flair to these kindergarten looking projects, but got glitter and paper everywhere. Everywhere.

He jumps over and grabs his “masterpieces” and rushes out of his bedroom car and slides back into the living room where he sees everyone has already gathered. There’s even already a small snack bar laid out, courtesy of Michelangelo. They’ll be needing it, he’s sure of that. It’s going to be a while before they eat dinner.

“There he is! Leo, it’s about time. You had us thinking you bailed on us.” Raphael comments.

“Yeah! I thought I made these snacks for nothing!” His youngest brother exclaims.

The blue turtle plants down the wheel and then sticks the chart up on the nearest wall and crosses his arms.

“Nope, I was just getting things finished up. So is everyone ready? I’m going to explain my revamped high stakes version of…drum roll…Family Fun Night.” He draws out the last few words to add some drama.

Everyone intently gives their attention over to Leonardo who pulls out a drawing pad where he’s drawn out his vision. Each page accompanies his explanation with a doodle that matches.

“Alright so, when we played as kids everything was pretty casual and chill. Just a fun pastime with our dad, but nooow.” He flips to a different page. “I’m bringing in tag team duos. We split into two person teams and play five rounds of games. The wheel decides what we’re doing.”

Everyone nods at this.

The drawing pad flips to another page.

“So first round we start off teammate #1 then the next is #2, it cycles. You gotta decide who is who before we start. You can tag out and swap with your partner, but you only get two. Aaand if one half of the team ends up placing last…they’re out. This continues until there’s only one person standing!”

“Wait, so does the entire team win if one of them makes it to the end?” Yuichi asks.

“Nope, you get to help each other make it to the end then it’s every man for himself!”

“Okay but pray tell what even is the point of this, what does the winner get?” Donatello presses.

“I’m getting there, hermano.” He flips to his last page where a drawing of a figure is shown. “I’m offering up my limited edition ‘The Fast and the Furriest’ Jupiter Jim maquette. Only 200 of these bad boys were sold. You also get bragging rights of course. In exchange for this, all I ask from my lovely family is that you let Yuichi in on the games. Is everyone good with that…?” He grins and pointing finger guns at them, sweating.

He didn’t actually state in the group chat that he wanted to have him join in, just that he would be there. They may have understood it as him being an audience member, so he hopes this is enough to persuade them.

“Ohmigosh, that survived the wreckage?! I thought it was gone for good!” Michelangelo exclaims with shock. “And you’re basically just giving it up just so Yuichi can join in? Seriously?”

“Yeah Leo, this is a lot. Of course we don’t mind. It’s not like he’s going to be here forever, it’s a one time thing.” Raphael adds on.

“I concur with them, this is an odd sacrifice, but that rare collectible...I must have it. I rue the day it sold out while I was checking out.” Donatello taps his hands together, a glint in his eyes. “I accept this offer. No take backs.”

Yuichi gulps at this and looks at Leonardo sympathetically. The rabbit had no idea he would be doing this, he thought everyone knew already.

“Awesome, then it’s settled. Time to get your partners!” He practically warps over to Yuichi. “I’ve already chosen mine, obviously.”

Everyone quickly splits up and divides themselves into two. The teams are: Donatello and April, Raphael and Michaelangelo, Leonardo and Yuichi, and lastly Splinter with Mayhem.

“I’ve got my eye on you…dog thingy. Don’t you dare mess this up for me.” Splinter glares at Mayhem and the animal returns the gesture.

Donatello seems to be whispering something to April, Leonardo figures it’s some sort of victory plan. Raphael and Michaelangelo on the other hand are amped up and ready to go, the younger on his older brother's back, game face on.

“Alright! Time for round one, people!” Leonardo goes up to the wheel in front and spins it, it circles around until it finally stops. The first game is karaoke.

A mixture of groans and cheers ring out in the crowd.

Leonardo starters to worry as one by one the teams cycle through their karaoke rounds.

They’re not allowed to select the song they sing, but as to keep things fair it always has to be one they at the very least recognize. Scores are done by keeping track of however many words you or lines you sing wrong.

This wouldn’t be an issue if Yuichi wasn’t the one active this round.

Leonardo didn’t really get to spend much time teaching Yuichi the various songs he listens to (none of the ones he knows exist here) so he worries that he won’t be able to do this. He suggested to tap out with him, but Yuichi was determined to do this. He adores singing karaoke and doesn’t want to miss out on this.

Leonardo actually loves his voice, especially when singing songs that are in Spanish. He sounds very dorky and sweet, but he knows he’s going to mess up more than everyone…he’ll be the first one out and that ruins the whole point of him setting this up.

Dang it, this isn’t going according to plan. I’m trying to cheer up the guy and keep his mind off of things, losing won’t help with that! He’ll just feel even more out of place and stressed…

Leonardo watches nervously as Donatello rises up to their makeshift stage. Yuichi is next after this, he has to think of something and quick.

The song starts and the softshell turtle raises the microphone up to his mouth, opening it to sing.

He immediately gets the first line wrong.

Wait, hold on that’s not-

The rest of the song continues and the crowd’s faces transform into a collective one of confusion as his brother continues to sing the song horribly wrong. Each line is uncannily similar to what the lyrics actually are, but still off completely.

The song ends and Donatello takes his seat like nothing happened.

Leonardo stares at him wide eyed. He got one of his top ten favorite songs and somehow got it completely wrong? This can’t be right. He watches as Yuichi goes on stage and the next playlist is shuffled through. The song starts and the speakers start to blare it out.

He hates what he’s about to do, but he has to do it. As much as it pains him. The red slider gets up from his seat and shuffles out.

“‘Scuse me, going to the restroom, everyone tell me what his score is when I’m back, mkay? Thanks!”

He briskly walks away from their event and goes down to the hallway leading into the restroom. Once he makes sure no one has followed he quickly pulls out his sword and swings it.

“Hachi machi!”

He opens up a portal and reaches in, pulling out his younger brother, Donatello.

“Augh, hey what is the meaning of this?!” He cries out as the portal wastes no time in sealing up, leaving him stuck with the older.

“That was so unlike you, Donnie. Don’t even try to deny it.” He states with utmost exasperation. “I thought you were chill with me including Yuichi, why would you do that?”

“Hm..? No idea what you’re talking about.” He lies through his teeth.

“You threw the whole match! I said don’t deny it! I’ve never seen you mess up that badly before, you have a great memory! Not to mention you’ve gone through phases where all you do is listen to that same song over and over-”

Donatello tenses up and glowers at him before finally snapping.

“Alright, fine! Yes, I did throw the match.” He spits out. “And no I am not ‘chill’ with him being part of this, I just wanted that maquette.”

“What?! You don’t like him..?” Leonardo deflates upon hearing him state this.

“...Leo, you know how I get with new people in general. I don’t know why this is so pressing to you anyway, it’s not like he’s supposed to stay here.”

“Right…but that still doesn’t explain why you threw the match if you wanted that prize so badly!”

“Because!” Donatello’s face scrunches up, trying not to say it.

“Because what? Spit it out!”

“BecauseIcan’topentheuniversalriftnomatterwhatIdoandit’sdrivingmenutssoIneededtoforfeit.”

Leonardo’s eyes go wide upon hearing this.

“Okay, I’m sorry, maybe all the bad karaoke singing clogged up my ears, so unless you said you can’t open the whatchamacallit to bring Yuichi home I’m going to need you to repeat tha-”

“No, that’s exactly it. I’m a failure. Me, of all people. A failure! I’m ruined, this won’t bode well for the Genius Built stock market.” Donatello slumps down against the wall.

“Wait, so you…you’re saying that he’s not going home?”

Donatello takes a deep breath.

“Maybe..? I’m still trying. That’s why I opted to get myself eliminated, I wanted to rush back to my lab. Every second I spend away from it makes me so anxious I feel like Vomitello.” The purple turtle gags a bit, fighting the urge to hurl. “I was going to tell you tomorrow morning, but you caught me. I suppose I wasn’t as cunning with this as I thought.”

“Yikes. Okay, got it. Sorry, I guess I should’ve checked in on everything. I thought you and that big head of yours had it covered though.”

“Offensive insult aside, I thought so too. I still have some workarounds in mind, but I might be at a definite stalemate. The problem seems to be not having an energy source strong enough to power a device to rip through space and time and establish a proper gateway to the origin point of Yuichi’s existence.”

“I see…that is no bueno.”

“Exactly, so I need to go. I’m going to spend all night on this, but it’s looking futile. If my entire stash of uranium won’t work then I’m afraid nothing on this earth will. You should probably break the news to the guy.” He reaches up and flips on his goggles. “Now that the cat’s out of the bag can I go now?”

“Yeah…go ahead. Hopefully something works. Good luck Don.”

He nods and turns halfway as to leave, making one last comment.

“Good luck to you too Nardo, not just with telling Yuichi, but with the games as well. You’ll need it. April is coming for that collectible, I made her a pretty sweet deal for it.”

Leonardo scoffs as the other exits his line of sight, leaving him to think about everything he was just told.

Yuichi might not be able to go back home.

Scratch that, he’s basically confirmed to be staying

He would be lying if he didn't say he was thrilled. Now he understands this sounds pretty bad, but hey, it's not like he can do anything about it. If he could, now that would be horrible. Except that's not the case, Leo has nothing to do with him being stranded here. So with that in mind…

The red slider silently cheers.

Chapter Text

As Yuichi belts out on the stage all the other pairs watch while awkwardly cringing and trying their best to look polite as they cover their ears.

While the rabbit is not the worst singer out there, he’s getting almost everything wrong. The rabbit is filled with gusto as he sings out every note with vigor, dramatically moving the mic around. Yuichi doesn’t care that he’s failing so terribly, he didn’t get that much time to memorize Leonardo’s song picks so he’s doing good for what he has.

Also he just enjoys karaoke way too much to be bothered by his score dropping. He just wants to enjoy this moment, it's giving him the break he needs from all the stress that’s been piling up onto him. Plus the lessening score isn’t a huge problem due to Donatello having practically dropped out of the game. No matter what, he and Leonardo will advance to the next round no problem.

As Yuichi tries to focus on his last few lyrics nearing the end of the song, he hears a voice.

“Y u i c h i … t i m e… i s … o f t h e e s s e n c e…”

The samurai flinches mid sentence, his eyes shooting open. Is he starting to lose it because that sounded awfully similar to-

His eyes freeze onto his microphone. The image of his ancestor is faintly reflected upon its metal grip. But he didn’t even try meditating this time, how can this be happening right now?

His hand lifts the mic up closer, trying to understand how he’s able to see his kin within it.

“Miyamoto?” He whispers out. The image simply fades and he blinks upon hearing a cough ring out from the crowd.

His song had finished up and now he remains on the stage, making a fool of himself talking to the microphone for no apparent reason. He carefully places the mic back onto its place and hops off the stage.

“Whoops uh I…I’ll be right back!”

Yuichi dashes off, his face flushed as he feels embarrassment creep over him. That certainly wasn’t the greatest impression he’s leaving onto all of Leonardo’s friends.

For a while the rabbit finds himself running a bit aimlessly, not knowing where to go except anywhere aside from the living room. He needs some time to figure out what he’s going to do. His grandfather’s words rang in his head, stressing him out even more.

What does he mean by that? Ugh, everyone probably needs me right now. What am I going to do?

He takes a turn down the subway station lair and runs frantically to his destination. He’s so caught up in his thoughts that he doesn’t notice the blue turtle in front before its too late.

CRASH! The rabbit slams into the other, knocking them both off their feet.

“OW HEY-” The blue turtle rubs his shell with a mixture of pain and annoyance. He turns to figure out who his attacker is and his eyes widen with glee, dragging on his words with more of a flirtatious tone. “-yyyyyyy, Yuichi. Fancy meeting you here!”

The ninja finger guns at the rabbit who is busy rubbing at an eye, recovering from the blow. His hand lowers as he processes the voice speaking to him.

“Leo!” The rabbit blurts out in astonishment, he didn’t think he’d run into him here. Wasn’t he back in the crowd already…? Actually, maybe not. He didn’t really scan it that well. He just wanted to get out of there.

But that’s not what’s important right now.

“Sorry Leo! I didn’t know you were there! Here, let me help.”

The rabbit shoots up onto his feet again and extends out a hand to the other, helping him get up.

The other turtle’s fake suave attitude drops, shattered by the rabbit’s hand in front of him. The gesture and opportunity to hold the other’s soft fluffy hand for even just a moment is enough to have him sputtering.

“O-Oh, uh no pro-problem. Thanks, Yu.”

The other turtle winces at his own delivery of his words before grabbing a hold of Yuichi’s hand. The rabbit doesn’t notice, being too caught up with helping the other up. With one strong tug they’re both back on their feet and brushing themselves off.

“Sooo…how’d the round go? I’m guessing I missed it since you’re here.” Leo points out. “Unless you left the stage…don’t tell me you did that!”

Yuichi promptly shakes his head, quick to refute this.

“No, I had fun. I got a lot of those…uh…what was it again? Oh! Spinach! I got the Spinach words wrong though.”

“...Spanish. It’s Spanish, Yuichi.”

“Oh. Oops…?” The rabbit grins awkwardly at having messed up yet another word, good thing the score tallying already finished a while ago. He shrugs and continues. “Well, anyway I finished my round. It was just kinda hard, but I owned it. I just uh…wanted to go wash up first.”

“Nice, we’re making it to the next round! Go ahead, I’ll meet you back there okay? Don’t take long, we’ll be up again soon. You don’t wanna miss out!”

Yuichi flashes him with two thumbs up and Leonardo walks away cheerily, looking in a better mood than he was earlier. The rabbit wonders to himself why that is.

He doesn’t think about that for too long before finally making his way over to the restroom, swinging the door open with one hand and stepping inside it. He directly goes over to the sink, switching the faucet on with no hesitation. The cool water begins to run and he lets it run over his hands as his mind trails back to his earlier scare.

Who knows how much has gone awry while Yuichi’s been missing.

He lets his face grow closer to the sink and he begins splashing water onto his face in hopes it’ll prevent him from crawling up into a ball and freaking out right on the bathroom floor.

His body straightens up with the frigid cold sensation spreading throughout his face and becoming a bit too much. He shivers and looks up at the mirror in front, taking note of it. He leans into it, hands on the sides of the sink while he gazes into the reflective surface. He needs to keep himself together, he needs to-

“Grandson. You have to focus.”

Yuichi jumps back, body tensing at the sight of his reflection morphing into one of his ancestor: Miyamoto Usagi.

“You again?!” He grabs at his ears with distress, unsure of how this can be happening. “But I didn’t even-”

“Listen, I don’t have much time. We both don’t. You need to stop wasting it by chasing around that ninja, the world needs you.”

“I know it does, I just don’t know what to do, I got these scary nightmares, but they felt so real and then– wait what?” Yuichi blinks at Miyamoto’s comment concerning him and the slider turtle.

“You heard me Yuichi Usagi. Your duties as samurai come first. It's one of the many burdens that comes with the path we've chosen.”

“But I’m not chasing him, he doesn’t really run much. Not unless we’re sparring, he’s pretty fast then. You know his sword lets him teleport? It’s so cool! One minute he’s right in front of me then bam! Now he’s behind me!”

“Yuichi Usagi.” The older rabbit blankly says the other’s name, unamused by the other going off topic to talk about the ninja. “I’m serious. While the turtles have importance in our lives, you have been goofing off too much. I need you to listen to me carefully, can you do that?”

“W-Wait, importance?”

“Please do not change the subject. Will you listen, grandson?”

The younger slowly nods, feeling a smidge of shame creep onto him. He’ll have to bring this up again some other time.

“Good. Again, I don't have much time. I can only speak to you through the Ki-Stones' lingering energy.”

“The Ki-Stone?”

“Yes. The stone, it’s how we are speaking. It’s barely holding our…our world together. Everything…is on pause to keep us safe. The Ki-Stone won’t…hold much longer. We need you back soon or…I fear the …worst.”

“W-What?! Wait, on pause? So my nightmares…”

“Use the stone… and defeat…”

The voice of the older samurai fades and starts to sound further away before fully being inaudible. His image follows as it slowly leaves sight and then finally fully flickers out.

The remaining rabbit reaches out to the mirror, fruitlessly trying to have the older stay longer. He has so many questions left, this only gave him so many more.

Defeat? Defeat what? Something? Someone?

Only silence is left behind along with a distressed Yuichi staring back at himself.

“Brace yourself, this is gonna hurt!” Leonardo slams down a card onto the table, a smug smile plastered onto his face. He’s winning this game for sure. That’ll boost his and Yuichi’s score for sure.

“Awwww what?! A plus four?!!” Michelangelo groans as his hands go up to his head in defeat, her body leaning back onto the couch. He had no idea Leonardo had that this whole time, just as planned.

Leonardo chuckles at his younger brother’s reaction. None of them had seen that coming for sure.

Now all that is left is to outsmart the soon to be reporter who’s down to only two cards as well. He has to play this right, consider what she’s put down earlier and-

Leonardo’s eyes leave his hand and notice a white figure coming into view.

“Yuichi, my man! You’re back!” Leonardo calls out to him with an upbeat attitude, raising one hand up to wave him over.

The rabbit looks up at him with a half smile, looking strangely tense and nervous. Was he having second thoughts about spending time with all the others? Leonardo will just have to do his best to get them all to feel like family to him then.

His friend reaches his side on the couch and he wraps an arm around him, pulling him close. Ever since the news he got from Donatello he's been feeling a bit bolder about making moves on the other. The rabbit doesn’t seem to have any objections to this, looking wide eyed but silent.

This only makes Leonardo feel cockier.

“Oho, it is OVER for you, Apes. One move and I win.” “As if! This isn’t over yet and you know it!”

April shakes her hand as she prepares what card to put down. Meanwhile Leonardo has made his decision, with the way the game has been going this has to be the right angle to go at. She has to have no more yellows, putting down this card will force her to grab another and he can lay down his final one.

The cards go down and it goes exactly as he picked.

“ONU!” He shouts out before April can even open her mouth. Everything falls into place from there and before she knows it Leonardo has his last card down, winning with a flashy grin on his face. She groans and throws down her cards and the others sigh, the match is over. The other turtles shake their heads. Splinter crosses his arms. Leonardo had been leading the game this whole time, he was bound to win.

“There’s no way, you probably cheated!”

“What can I say? I got a lucky rabbit’s foot by my side.” Leonardo gleams at the other, only to be met with a puzzled look. “What? You guys don’t have that expression?”

“Uh no? Would be nice if it was true, I could use some more luck…” Yuichi mutters to himself.

Leonardo moves to get his arm off of Yuichi and stands up, making his way over to the board where he’s been keeping score. He grabs the chalk and gets to adjusting placement and numbers.

As he does this the others start talking amongst themselves, going over parts of how the match went and bringing up hindsight. Yuichi remains quiet, not really speaking. April takes note of this and turns to face him.

“Hey, you good Tricks?” She asks, with a little bit of humor in her voice, to try to lift spirits. She then awkwardly smiles, realizing he probably didn’t understand.

Luckily he didn’t really pay that nickname any mind.

“I don’t know, I guess I’m just getting tired.”

The rabbit sighs and leans further back into the couch cushions, not having more to say. April silently nods and watches, not knowing what else to say. Her smile drops, feeling some worry for the outsider amongst them. Her pity is quickly overshadowed once she realizes the rabbit’s injury has reopened, his ear staining red once more. She lightly tugs at his hoodie sleeve, trying to get his attention.

“Hey, you got a little something on your…” She points at her own ear, trying to get the message across without too much alarm.

The rabbit reaches up to feel, the liquid meeting his fingers. He gasps and stands up.

Not this again…!

He stumbles a bit from the shock, unsure what to do before remembering Leonardo was the one to help him patch this up last time. He could get his help once more.

The samurai quickly moves from the couch, bumping into the table in front in the process and tries to make his way over to his friend over at the scoreboard. However, his movements cause a sleeping Mayhem to stir and take note of him. Before Yuichi is able to reach Leonardo, the fuzzy doglike creature collides with him, tackling him onto the ground.

The sound of him slamming onto the ground causes everyone to turn and Leonardo looks away from his work to witness the poor rabbit being drowned with drool from the nonstop licking Mayhem is hitting Yuichi with. He’s trying to get him off, but Mayhem isn’t yielding.

However, there is something else Leonardo noticed.

As Yuichi hit the ground a small shiny object seemed to get dislodged from him. At first he thought it was something from the rabbit’s outfit, like a button, only to see it leave a small thin trail of red behind as it skid across the ground. He follows it, his eyes stopping at its source: the rabbit’s injury from earlier.

It lands right next to him, just short of hitting his foot. The blue turtle picks up the item which seems to resemble a shard of sorts. It’s nothing like he’s seen before, just holding it feels heavy, not in weight, but something else…almost like some sort of energy.

As the turtle brings the unknown glowing rock closer, he feels his heart drop and the words his softshell brother spoke out moments ago come back to him.

This…this came from Yuichi. Questions on what it is and how he had it aside…this may be the final piece Donatello has been needing this whole time.

Leonardo doesn’t get much time to dwell on this revelation as the others have gone over to help with Mayhem and Yuichi has made it back onto his feet, though his ear is looking worse from the impact.

“Blue! Didn’t you see your friend fall? Why didn’t you do something?” Splinter questions, tapping the ground with his cane. An eyebrow raises upon seeing his son appearing to be holding something, though it's hard to say with his back facing them. “What’s that in your hand?”

Leonardo jolts upon being seemingly caught and swiftly gets up, moving to face his father with both hands behind his back.

“W-What? Oh! My hand?” He sweats, not feeling like actually coughing up the shard. He carefully stashes it into his shell, not wanting his movements to be seen as he grabs his chalk piece with another hand and holds it out. “Nothing, dad! Just…dropped my chalk, the sound uh made me drop it. Got distracted, sorry Chi!”

His father squints suspiciously at his son, not seeming to buy his explanation before switching into a more relaxed demeanor.

“Then hurry up so we can finish up soon. It’s getting late, I need my sleep!”

Leonardo nods as his father turns away and he sighs. He notices the others move back to chatting while Yuichi approaches him once more.

“Mayhem likes me a little…too much I think…” The rabbit whines while rubbing his aching ear, the red spreading further into his hand’s fur.

“Trust me, you prefer this over him scratching your eyes out.”

Leonardo makes to bring up the rabbit's injury before getting interrupted by a few knocks ringing out throughout the lair. He goes to find the source and is face to face with two familiar faces.

“CJ? Draxum? No way!” The words spill out of the blue turtle with disbelief and excitement, unable to believe the sight in front of him is real.

Coming in from the stair entrance is both Casey Jr and Draxum, both holding towers of pizza boxes in their hands, their aroma already hitting his nostrils and waking up his appetite.

He runs over to them, thrilled, completely missing the dejected look left on Yuichi’s face as he’s left aside for the newcomers.

The rest of the family gets up as well, all of them crowding around the surprise guests. They’re all buzzing with their unexpected visit and asking questions left and right.

“Case! Long time no see!” Raph states as he moves to help the boy with the food being balanced in his hand, taking them into only one large one of his own and lightly bumping one into him with a friendly smile.

“Ooo Donnie would be thrilled seeing you here, Science Dad!” Michelangelo playfully says while also helping with the boxes Draxum is holding.

“Well if it isn’t the guy who pushed me off a roof!” Leonardo leads in jokinging (and with some bitterness) and crosses his arm at the sight of the reformed villain in front of them. It wasn’t often that Draxum would go out of his way to stop by. The same could be said for future boy on the other hand too. “What brings you here and with Case at that! You guys been bonding without us?”

Draxum sneers, not wanting to give that an answer. Casey Jr fills in for him.

“Actually, we got asked by April to stop by. Individually, but I saw him on the way over here! I had stopped for some pizzas and then almost tripped and spilled them all.” He sheepishly rubs his neck at the memory. “He saved them with his plant stuff. Then I found out we were both headed here so yeah here we are!”

April smiles, hands on her hips.

“It’s true! I thought they deserved the honor of being part of the first game night we have in years, they’re part of the fam too! I wanted it to be a surprise and it worked.” She proudly explains, satisfied it panned out.

Then April slides close to Leonardo, lifting a hand to make it so only he can hear her whisper. “I also wanted to invite Sunita and Casey but…homegirl was busy and I didn’t want it to be weird for CJ.”

“Ohh…good call.” Leonardo nods, agreeing with her decision making. This would be fine for now, they could try organizing another night some time later.

April then moves to join in the little crowd, falling back into conversation and Leonardo catches eye of his samurai friend standing alone in the distance. His stomach constricts, frowning slightly upon being reminded of what he’s found.

But that’s not important. There’s also the need to help patch Yuichi up again. The shard will be for later.

Leonard clears his throat and waves his arms to grab attention.

“Okay guys we’ve got tons of people here, awesome! Biggest turn out in all of Family Game Night history. Crazy stuff. But we got some pizzas getting cold and adjustments to be made so I think it’s bout time we take a little intermission. Let’s eat and catch up before going back to games, sound good?”

Everyone in front of him hoots and hollers with agreement and starts making their way to the kitchen, the mixture of voices trailing off as they leave.

With that handled step by step Leonardo goes over to Yuichi once more, the lone rabbit’s eyes lift up from the ground and watch the red slider as the distance closes between them. He lifts his hand and reaches to touch the rabbit’s arm, but stops, hovering over it for a moment before moving it away.

“Hey, you…you okay? Sorry about that, got a lot of old friends we haven’t seen in a bit.”

“It’s okay. I get it.”

A lump forms in Leonardo’s stomach as the crestfallen way the other speaks these words out, his stranded situation coming back to poke at his mind.

“Hey, let’s get you looked at again and get you some pizza, yeah?” Leonardo suggest, a half attempt at cheering the other up. “They brought tons of different toppings, you’re going to love these.”

The turtle extends out a hand to the rabbit, trying to convince him to come along. The desolate samurai regards the offering, seemingly unconvinced, before finally raising a hand of his own and accepting it. Leonardo gives a small smile at this, but the other doesn’t return it.

The two walk together to join every and the one thing that eats at Leonardo’s mind is the way holding Yuichi’s hand felt nothing like he imagined it to, a guilt eating at him with every passing second.

Chapter Text

Chatter fills the room as everyone talks to one another. In each hand there's either pizza or some kind of beverage. For Leonardo it was both.

The blue turtle is currently devouring himself in as much food and drink as he can stomach, trying to keep his mind off of the shard he found earlier. Not to mention the obvious quiet state the rabbit of his eye is in. Yuichi has hardly spoken since being patched up, opting to play with the toppings on his slice.

Leonardo has been trying his best to lift his spirits, but the otherworldly samurai seems to have his mind elsewhere. Leonardo has a feeling that maybe he's not the only one keeping things to himself.

I should maybe try getting him to open up…ugh but that just makes me look bad! I'm hiding stuff too!

The ninja chews more quickly as he starts to sink into his own thoughts.

That flashy crystal is probably what he needs…I can't just hide it forever.

…But I really want him to stay. This isn't fair.

But it's not fair to him either.

What if I just hide it until the games are over? That's not so bad right? Then everything ends on a good note.

Yeah, that works.

As Leonardo is shoving his umpteenth slice into his mouth a hand plants itself on his shoulder, breaking him out of his train of thought and bringing him back to reality.

“Uh…hey Leo? Do you mind if I talk to you, uh, alone? I need to ask you something.”

With a quick swallow the turtle goes to face the speaker: Case, aka, Casey Jones.

The turtle blinks before looking back at Yuichi, unsure of whether he should leave him alone.

To his surprise, Yuichi notices his gaze and looks up from his plate and gives a strained smile accompanied by a thumbs up.

“Go, I'll be okay. I'm just tired.”

Leonardo feels the need to hesitate, but his own emotions get the best of him. He knows what he should do, but right now, he needs a breather…and a chance to not feel bombarded by guilt every second he spends next to Yuichi.

So he looks back at Casey and nods.

“Sure, let's go.”

The two go to a corner of the dining room where there’s more distance between themselves and everyone else. The red slider notes how odd the other is behaving. Casey is visibly anxious, worry in his eyes. The two lean against the wall as Casey finally begins to speak.

“Sooo…that rabbit guy, you said his name’s Yuichi right?”

Leonardo raises a nonexistent eyebrow at this statement. He did indeed say this after Yuichi was properly tended to. Why is he asking about his new bud right now?

“Yeah, that’s his name. What about it?” Leonardo asks a bit warily.

“Okay, so, I know this is kind of weird but I have to know…is his full name Yuichi Usagi?”

Now this is really weird.

Since Yuichi wasn’t in the mood to introduce himself Leonardo saved him the trouble, except he didn’t drop his full name out to everyone in the same fashion the rabbit does.

The blue ninja turtle crosses his arms and squints his eyes at the other. This has to be another one of his future know it all moments, but that doesn’t make sense. Yuichi is from a whole different world…a different reality.

There is no way he was part of Casey’s timeline…right?

“Yes…how do you know that?”

Casey then seems to exhale sharply, his hands raising up to his head and then slowly start to trail down his face with an expression of disbelief.

“I thought it was! I mean, Yuichi isn’t like a very uncommon name, but for a rabbit to have it and he’s hanging out with you guys…not that you couldn’t have found another rabbit named Yuichi but the full name is just too much to be a coincidence and-” Casey catches himself rambling and stops, taking a deep breath before dropping his arms at his sides before swinging them up into fists and looking at the turtle with resolve.

“I knew him.”

There is no way.

“Okay that’s a lie…sort of. I knew of him.” Casey corrects himself before continuing, his voice becoming more hushed. “Sensei told me about him…once.”

Leonardo feels his stomach drop upon hearing this. “Case…what did he say?” Leonardo carefully asks.

Casey locks eye contact with the other for a moment before breaking it and bringing his hand up to his face and sliding it down, seemingly having a sort of inner battle with himself.

“I don’t know if I should tell you. What if I mess up this timeline from how much I tell you guys? I think we’ve been pushing it a lot already, I shouldn’t even be here and…”

“Please.”

It was just one word, but Leonardo said it so softly and with so much desperation that Casey stopped talking; he couldn’t say no.

“Well, it was this one night. I noticed he would always go out at night, when the moon was visible and just kind of…stare at it.” The boy starts, his eyes now locked on his fidgeting hands. It’s always been a bit difficult for Casey to talk about his now gone future. “I decided to ask about him while he was gazing at it. He got really…melancholy and told me it was because it reminds him of one of the fiercest warriors they had.”

“His name was Yuichi Usagi. He was a samurai rabbit that showed up out of nowhere one day during the early stages of the invasion. He explained that it was part of his destiny to assist his sister clan, so he was sent here. With him they were able to push back the Krang even further. Sensei and him were this unstoppable duo with an unbreakable bond…things were finally looking up.”

Casey then sighs, pausing for a moment.

“Then one day it all went wrong. They lost him. All that was left of him was his sword.”

Leonardo’s insides churn. He wishes he hadn’t eaten so much.

“From that day forward Sensei would only take his sword into battle in his honor. He had a tradition to always carry memories of those he loved by his side, even in battle.”

“How did…how did we…they lose them?”

Casey’s shoulders slouch and his head is lugged down with them. His eyes look up at the unsettled turtle with sorrow and pity.

“I don’t know much about that. From what I understand there was a miscalculation or something…Sensei wouldn’t tell me all the details. He seemed to blame himself? The face he had while telling me this…” Casey trails off, remembering the scene all too well. “Anyway…he told me he had tons of regrets…but what he regretted the most were all the words he never got to tell him.”

The boy mutters this part out more quietly, almost inaudibly, unsure of whether he wanted Leonardo to truly hear this.

He did. He heard every word, but that isn’t the most important thing to unpack.

“Do…you know anything else?” The turtle asks the other, a tinge of fear notable in his voice. He asks this slowly, trying to keep himself steady so as to not give any sign of the fear that is beginning to eat at him.

“No. He forbade me from ever asking about Yuichi again after that…it was a really sore subject for him. I was apparently around for a lot of it, but I was too young to remember anything.” The futuristic boy explains sorrowfully. “I tried asking others about it, but they’d just quietly dismiss me. The whole topic of him was kind of like banned. It was the one thing that would make Sensei snap at everyone. I never tried to ask about it again because of that…I was scared.”

Leonardo grows silent upon receiving this response. It wasn’t much, but it said a lot. He wasn’t exactly known for his temper. He rarely got genuinely angry at people. At least not in a way that was ever really that notable. Whatever happened…it couldn’t have been good if it had his older self pissed at whoever brought it up. More notably…he wouldn’t point a finger anyone’s way.

Despite not having much information, the turtle feels this is all he really needed to know.

For one, this isn’t really the first time Yuichi ends up with the turtles.

And it didn’t go well the first time.

His heart sank as the reality of the situation began to dawn on him. It was the same thing again. It was his fault, it had to be. Time and time again Leonardo constantly brings upon others danger and it’s all because he can’t be a proper leader. He just knows he must’ve been the one that messed up whatever calculations that were going on that day. Because of him they lost Yuichi in that timeline.

His hands begin to tremble at this conclusion, a whirlwind of painful thoughts consuming him. The weight of this information is making Leonardo have his own regrets. Maybe he should’ve never tried getting close to Yuichi. What if he inevitably causes him to get in danger in this timeline? He needs to stop hanging around him so much he needs to-

“Leo…? Leo!” Casey calls the red slider's name, placing a hand on his shoulder to try to drive him out of his thoughts.

Leonardo’s breath hitches upon being brought back down to earth, his breathing shallow. He brings a hand up to his face and realizes he had been sweating this whole time. So much for trying to keep himself steady.

“Are you okay…?”

That’s a loaded question, with an even more loaded answer.

He shakes his head.

Sometimes he finds himself wishing Casey would never say anything about his overridden timeline…but he knows it must feel suffocating to have to walk around with that kind of knowledge and not tell anyone.

“I’m fine. Thank you for telling me, Case.” The turtle earnestly expresses his gratitude to him as he softly brushes the other’s hand away, giving him a weak smile.

Despite how depressing the information was, he genuinely was glad to know it. Especially since he now knows what to do because of it.

“I needed to know.”

Yuichi has been having to do a lot of thinking lately, something he isn’t exactly the best at nor is it something he particularly enjoys having to do.

Every time he feels like things are okay, he gets slapped in the face with something worse.

He now knows for sure something is up at home and if he doesn’t figure out a way back quick they’re all probably going to be beyond saving.

There’s a ‘something’ or ‘someone’ out to destroy them and he has to be there for them. If he can’t do that then all his efforts into trying to be as great as his ancestor would have been for naught and he’ll have to deal with that for the rest of his life.

He wishes he could just ask the others for help and tell them everything, but with hearing about how he was never there for the turtles when they had an invasion…that’s not fair at all is it? But this is sounding to be a lot bigger than he is…

His breath hitches with fright and his finger that was previously toying with a pepperoni comes to a halt. He feels his heart rate pulsing faster by the second. The feeling starts to flood his senses, painfully apparent all throughout his body to the point it feels right inside his ears. As he tries to clear his head he squeezes his eyes shut.

Don’t freak out Yuichi, everything is going to work out. Soon you’ll be on your way home and then you’ll fight whatever you have to fight and win and everything will be okay. Yeah, I’ll save everyone…!

Slowly his breathing finally feels stable again and his heart as well, his environment finally coming back to him as he calms down.

Yuichi sighs and glances back at the food in front of him – there’s no way he’s going to eat right now. He feels bad, but if he eats he will probably end up upchucking and giving them a mess. He has to find something else to distract himself with. He might as well try to see if Leonardo is coming back soon. The rabbit eyes the whole dining area, trying to figure out where his friend could possibly be.

He finally spots him, still speaking to the guy who brought all the pizzas. Must be some serious conversation or something…maybe he wants to take some home?

Yuichi leans on one of his hands as he watches them speak, letting some nicer thoughts flood his mind this time.

Leonardo has been nothing but sweet to him. Every time he needs patching up or cheering up he’s been there. He’s been a great friend and one of the few things that is keeping him from melting from stress while being trapped in this place. He needs to express his gratitude to him somehow…

He jumps, suddenly remembering.

Oh kuso, the candy!

The rabbit springs out of his seat and dashes over to where one of the groups are talking. He cranes his neck around as he looks around before spotting them. He slides over to their side and gently grabs their attention by tapping on their shoulder.

“Uh…Mikey?”

The orange turtle’s face is one of confusion before he catches sight of the rabbit and switches to one of animosity. “Ayo, Yuichi! It’s about time you came over. Leo shouldn’t hog you all to himself!”

Yuichi nervously grins, unsure how to feel about that comment.

“Haha, yeah, so…remember the thing I asked you about? The secret thing?”

Michelangelo blinks before his mouth goes into an ‘o’ shape, realizing what Yuichi is referring to.

“Yeah I managed to make a few, I’m not sure if they’re perfect since y’know maybe the ingredients you guys have are a little different, but they’re as good as they’re gonna get.” Michelangelo warns the other while shrugging. “C’mon, I’ll show ya.”

The youngest turtle leads Yuichi away from the main area over to the kitchen once more, this time going towards the fridge. The box turtle opens it up and pulls out a small tray from inside, revealing a few rows of small circular candies each with a colorful wrapper. He proudly presents it to the other, awaiting his thoughts.

The rabbit's face brightens instantly upon looking at them. They’re perfect, they look exactly like the real thing. He hesitantly grabs one and opens it, popping it into his mouth to see what it tastes like. As it makes contact with his taste buds he swears his eyes had stars in them.

Earlier when Leonardo was caught up with his plans to have a game night, he was briefly left alone with April and Mayhem the others slowly piled in. Michelangelo had come in with a snack bar set up and it caught Yuichi’s attention immediately. He had been in awe of the turtle’s culinary skills and then thought of requesting a special little something. Yuichi didn’t doubt his craft, but he wasn’t sure he’d get it so spot on from just description alone.

“You nailed it! This is just like the ones at home! This is incredible!” Yuichi gushes at the other’s work as the flavor slowly dissipates. “Thank you, I just hope Leoto likes them-”

“Mmm yeeeah about that…” The orange turtle swiftly places the tray aside and grabs a hold of one of Yuichi’s arms, his head tilting as his expression slowly darkens despite the smile that remains on him. His heart skips a beat at this action. He has no idea what's going on right now, did he maybe anger Michelangelo by tasting one of the candies without asking?

“You’ve been hanging around my bro a lot, in a way I’m not sure I like.” Michelangelo starts, his eyes becoming more piercing and threatening while his voice remains somehow cheery in a way that is deeply unsettling. “I know I just look like the fun, artsy guy of the group…and I can be, but I can also be so much more.”

The turtle says those last words with a strained bubbly tone, his grip on the rabbit getting rougher as he goes on. Yuichi’s eyes widen at this and his ears flop down, his mouth falling open with fright.

What?! Me? Leo? Why do I keep getting weird attitude towards our friendship?!

Yuichis eyes dart around, panicking at the behavior the youngest is exhibiting, before finally settling back on the other's eyes.

“Now I don’t know what this whole situation you’ve got going with Leo is headed, but Doctor Delicate Touch is no fool. If you break his heart I will personally knock you out so hard you’ll see the light, cottontail!” The turtle shouts, now fully abandoning any hint of the fake sweet appearance he once had and fully threatening the rabbit.

Yuichi gulps silently, his mouth suddenly feeling extremely dry. Michelangelo finally releases him from his grasps and steps back, clasping his hands together and tilting his head with a menacing smile.

“You get what I’m saying, son?”

“U-uhuh…”

Michelangelo swings his arms up, thrilled at his response. A genuine smile is now plastered on his face.

“Wonderful! ‘Mission: Shovel Talk’ is a success!” Michelangelo grins and strongly pats the bunny on the back. The rabbit’s eye twitches a bit from the force.

“Okay, Mikey’s back. Just needed to make sure you knew what you were dealing with.” He then quickly moves to grab all the candies and plops them into a small little clear bag and seals it off with a twist tie before putting it in one of Yuichi’s hands.

“Here’s the goods.”

“I hope he likes them…”

“He better! I made them, if he doesn’t I’ll be crushed!” Michelangelo cries out, eyes watery at just the mere thought. “Okay, I gotta go back to the chit chat, good luck!” The box turtle chimes as goes to leave before stopping and going up to Yuichi one last time.

He lifts a hand to whisper.

“Listen, Donald is really smart and I have complete faith in him…buuut if there’s any trouble…I can try using some mystic magic to see if you can get home that way, as a backup. Don’t tell my bros that, they’ll get mad pissed.”

“Are you sure…? I don’t want to make them mad.”

“Pssh, they just baby me cuz I’m the youngest. My hands are doing way better these days, I can pull it off. Just keep it a secret, okay?”

“Okay, thank you.”

The orange turtle nods happily and waves as he finally rejoins the crowd back at the dining tables.

Yuichi looks down at the baggie in his hand and observes them. These really are some great craftsmanship…and tasted great too.

Really great.

Unable to control himself he opens the bag and pops just one more candy in his mouth and smiles. It almost feels like being home.

He seals the bag once more and puts it away as the young turtles words replay in his mind and his brows furrow upon recalling his more hostile behavior.

What was that about? And what did he mean by Mission Shovel Talk? He didn’t even have a shovel…

He shakes his head. There’s no point in overthinking this, if he adds yet another thing to the list of things on his mind it might actually explode. At least he feels like it will.

It grows darker as everyone is having a great time and eventually everyone is starting to look visibly tired. As they agree the night has finally come to an end, sleeping arrangements are figured out without too much trouble. If there’s one good thing about having a subway lair it’s that there are quite a few cars that can easily be fixed up to be makeshift guest rooms.

“Good night, Leo. Don’t stay up too late!” April waves her surrogate brother off as she heads off to get some rest. She knows he’ll be trying to rework the game night for a while longer.

But she doesn’t know that this isn’t what really is going to be keeping him up,

“No promises!” He flashes her a silly grin while finger gunning at her as she goes into her car.

The moment the door slides shut, Leonardo sighs and his entire demeanor shifts into one of gloom. It’s been really draining to keep his bright persona the remaining half of the night. All he has been able to think of is the tragic fate Yuichi met in Casey’s timeline. No matter how hard he tries, his mind always trails back to it and the guilt within only grows more.

As Leonardo moves to go to his room, he lingers just outside the entrance and gazes from afar at the car Yuichi entered only moments ago.

Part of Leonardo wants to just laugh at it all, how unfair and cruel it is that right when he had some hope that the one being that makes him feel like himself is the one that just cannot stay here. This isn’t even his first time here…technically. If the first one went so horribly, then how can he possibly just sit around and wait to find out if this one will be any better?

The answer is that he can’t.

He has to do something.

He has to make sure things don’t repeat.

With shaky determination he pulls out the shard from earlier and gazes at it for a brief moment before clasping it tight and walking over to Yuichi’s room.

He knocks on the door and clears his throat.

“Hey…Yuichi? Are you still up? I just…I have to tell you something and I just can’t wait until tomorrow. I mean, I was planning on it at first, well on a while, but that isn’t the point! I should’ve shown you right away, I just didn’t want you to go, but I know now that you have to. It isn’t safe here…”

The door slid open moments ago, but Leonardo had been so caught in his feelings he didn’t realize until he finished his heartfelt explanation. His eyes dart up from the ground to the inside of the room only to be met with an empty space. Yuichi was nowhere to be seen.

“...Yuichi?” Leonardo sticks his head in and looks at every corner in case he was just out of sight. He was not.

Confused, he steps out. That’s strange…he couldn’t have actually left the lair, he would have noticed.

The blue turtle walks away from the cars and back to the main room, slowly moving in order to not freak the other out if he’s here. He doesn’t have to for long as he quickly catches sight of his friend on the couch in the living room space. He lightly sighs in relief as he walks towards him.

“Hey Chi, you having trouble sleeping?”

“Leo?”

The rabbit turns back to face the turtle, body shifting towards him from his position. His face switches from a pensive one to one of surprise. Leonardo closes the distance and rests on the top piece, his arms folded over as his head lays on them.

“I was just thinking…I’m not actually sleepy yet.” Yuichi explains as one of his hands rub the back of the other. He’s been thinking back on the news his ancestor told him in the restroom mirror again. In truth he had been trying to contact him again through meditation, but it just wasn’t happening. Something felt off…like he was missing the right set up for this.

He wasn’t sure if he could tell Leonardo about all this though. The more he thinks about what his father said concerning the scrolls and their prophecy…he grows more ashamed.

“What’s on your mind?”

Yuichi’s hands go up to his ears and he tugs on them, unsure about what to say.

“So much.”

“Oookay, you gotta give me a bit more than that.” Leonardo half smiles while emitting a small chuckle.

“It’s just…I’ve been here for a while now and I’m…I should be home already.” Yuichi tries to explain before springing up again and waving his hands in a panic. “Not that it isn’t nice here! I like it, the city too. It all reminds me of Neo Edo, it’s really neat.”

Leonardo’s mouth opens to say something, but Yuichi just can’t stay quiet anymore.

“R-Remember what your dad said about our clans?!” Yuichi blurts out quickly, his eyes wide.

“Huh? Kind of? He said something about us helping each other…I think?” Leonardo mutters out, eyes squinting as he looks up while trying to remember.

“I…I feel really bad.” The samurai starts off, his chest heavy with remorse. “You guys seem to have been dealing with a lot and I was supposed to be here! What kind of samurai isn’t there to help out a fellow sister clan?” “What?” Leonardo blinks and looks at him with a blend of and distress. “Oh nono Yuichi, don’t… listen to that, you heard my dad it was all just some random meaningless garbage-”

“But it wasn’t! He recognized my clan symbol!” Yuichi grows frantic, not wanting Leonardo to just dismiss this like it’s nothing. It has to be something. “A-And my ancestor! He said you guys have importance! That can’t be meaningless.”

The turtle sighs and faces away from Yuichi, growing silent.

“Okay…maybe it does mean something. But you…you shouldn’t feel bad about not helping us.”

“But if it was my destiny then I failed by not showing up.”

“You didn’t fail.” “But I didn’t show up until now, I let you all down.”

“...Yuichi, trust me. You didn't let us down.” Leonardo quickly shoots this thinking down with a tone that makes him sound like he’s stating a fact. “You just…weren’t meant to show up until now and I’m glad. I’d rather have fun with you than have to fight for our lives together until the end.”

“I guess you have a point, but…” Yuichi mutters.

“But…?”

Yuichi breathes in deeply before finally erupting.

“I think my friends and family are in danger!” Yuichi’s eyes start to water. He isn’t sure if it’s the guilt, the stress, or fear. Maybe it’s everything. “I…I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tell you guys and then when I heard about the clan stuff I thought it was unfair to ask for help, but now my ancestor he was saying that everything’s on pause and my nightmares I think were real? I have to defeat something and what if I can’t be the samurai I need to be? What if I lose?”

The rabbit finds himself trembling slightly and the tears that were once brimming his eyes are now cascading down his face. Each drop feels like it burns against his soft white fur, being proof that he wasn't strong enough to handle this on his own. Ashamed he lifts a hand to wipe them away while attempting to regain his composure.

The red slider turtle is left stunned, speechless for a few moments. Leonardo moves away from the back of the couch and sits down by the white rabbit.

“Okay, first of all, Yuichi, you are a great fighter. You’ve got crazy skills and I mean it. I’ve fought you only twice and that was enough to tell me that you can really kick some serious butt.” Leonardo starts. “You’re …you’re a fierce warrior. I can say without a doubt that you’re a guy your world can depend on.”

“Really…?” The samurai asks, a little stunned at how confidently and earnestly the ninja expresses this.

“I mean, yeah I was um kind of distracted the first time,” Leonardo’s eyes dart to the side with a hint of embarrassment. “But you won! If you can beat a tough ninja like me then nothing can stop you. Seriously, you’ve got this, whatever you have to do when you’re home I know you can face it.”

“And if you can’t…sometimes you need help.” Leonardo says more quietly. “It’s kind of rough to admit that, I would know, but it’s okay. Sometimes you can’t win a fight alone. We will 100% help you out. Whatever is waiting for you back home, I’ll be ready to fight it with you.”

“Wow…that’s really wise. I really needed that.” Yuichi says, feeling brighter once more. He sniffs one final time before flashing the turtle a toothy grin. “Thank you, Leoto.”

“Y-Yeah… no problem.”

The turtle grows flustered upon seeing the other’s endearing gratitude, his mouth wobbling into a nervous smile in return. He taps his fingers together, trying to keep his composure. Yuichi fails to notice this, too caught up in processing everything.

“I wish I could show you how much this means to me…”

Then the rabbit snaps his fingers.

“I almost forgot!” The white rabbit reaches in his kimono uniform, digging into the pockets of the hoodie he lent him. He pulls out a small little clear bag with what seems to be sweets inside. “I asked your brother a while ago to help me out with recreating these really yummy candies we have back home. We call it Friendship Candy, it’s like a tradition of sorts to hand these out to people you care about. I wanted to give you some.”

“I was thinking of offering them to Mikey too, but he made them so that’s kind of weird right…? And it would be weird to hand them out to the others if he didn’t get any.”

Yuichi laughs, a hint of nervousness in his voice. He hopes his logic is making sense right now. He already cried in front of Leonardo, he doesn't need to go and make an even bigger fool out of himself than he already has.

“Besides, it doesn't change much. You’re my favorite, I would give you more candy than them anyway.”

The rabbit states this matter of factually as he moves to hand the other the gift, grinning at him once again. The turtle reddens at how casually he states his favoritism towards him, not taking in any of the other words that were spoken. Leonardo’s expression shows a sort of disbelief, but his eyes a sparkle of hope. Yuichi’s mouth suddenly feels really dry, a little self-conscious about being so honest. His hand extends, offering the other the treats in his palm. The turtle almost immediately goes to accept the thoughtful gift. As the bag is exchanged from one hand to the other, their fingers linger for a moment, taking in each other’s touch. Upon contact, their gazes meet one another’s and his heart skips a beat. And as quickly as it happened it was over.

“Oh wow…favorite? Thanks...” Leonardo repeats, a little dazed.

The fleeting touch still burns in the back of Yuichi’s head and he gulps, unsure how to behave in this situation.

“D-Did I say that out loud? Whoops..!” He tries to save himself, but he isn’t so sure it worked.

“They’re really good, I would’ve given you tons if I had more.”

The turtle looks at him silently.

He said too much again, didn’t he?

Yuichi feels himself growing warm and jittery the longer he spends around the other. Why was he still thinking about their touch? It’s not like they haven’t done several small touches before…but it was the first time he saw him with eyes full of wonder and red dusting his cheeks and…

Oh.

Oh.

“Oookay I uh…” Yuichi fakes a deep yawn, bringing a hand up for extra effect. “Oh wow, I am sleepy! I should go sleep… in bed…now. See ya, Leo!”

The rabbit dashes off to his guest car, leaving a spellbound and blushing Leonardo behind.

“Goodnight.” The turtle calls out softly.

Fingers tap away on the metal surface of the work desk in front, the screens in front displaying Leonardo sitting in the dark by himself. Eyes watch intently, waiting to see if anything comes of this.

It does not.

The blue turtle eventually gets up and goes back into his own room and doesn’t step back out. He’s turned in for the night.

This is all Donatello needed to see.

The softshell turtle head shakes in disapproval before shutting it off, frowning.