Complicated
Chapter 7
Raph and Don have their first big fight. Mikey helps Raph put a few things into perspective.
**
Raph woke up alone on Donny’s bed and looked up to find Donny at his computer. “What time is it?”
Donny looked up from his work, “Twelve o’clock. You haven’t been asleep long.”
“Why aren’t you in bed,” Raph sat up. “I thought the whole point of me sleeping in here was that we sleep together.”
“I… can’t sleep,” Donny answered, backing away from his computer. “I have a lot of work to do and I can’t sleep until I get it done.”
“How long,” Raph yawned out, stretching his arms above his head.
Donny cringed a little, “All night.”
“All night?” Raph’s eyes went wide. “You’re not gonna sleep?”
“Sometimes my mind won’t slow down enough for me to get to sleep.” Donny shrugged, “I’ll get a few hours when I get too tired to function.”
“Won’t you be tired tomorrow?” Raph asked, a little taken back.
“That’s why I drink so much coffee.” Donny admitted with a nervous giggle. “I do this all the time. I haven’t had more than a few hours of sleep a night in years.”
Raph glared at Donny, “No.”
“No?” Donny raised an eye ridge.
“I’ll be right back,” Raph got up and stormed out of the lab. He walked into the kitchen, where Donny kept some of the medical supplies, and grabbed one of the bottles of whisky used for a quick warm up on cold days.
He broke the seal as he headed back to the lab. As he passed the common room, Raph saw Leo sitting alone, reading a book. He looked up as Raph passed and his eyes fell on the open bottle in Raph’s hand. “None of your fucking business, Leo,” Raph rumbled, not wanting to get in to a fight with Leo.
Slamming the door behind him, Raph made sure it was locked so Leo wouldn’t be able to bother them. Donny was still standing where Raph had left him and his eyes fell on the bottle in his hand. “Why do you have that?”
“You need your mind to slow down enough for you to get to sleep.” Holding up the bottle, Raph smiled, “This will help you sleep.”
Shaking his head, Donny took a few steps back. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“A night cap isn’t going to hurt anything.” Raph used the hand holding the bottle to point at Donny. “You said the reason you wanted me was because I can get you to do things that you normally wouldn’t.” He walked up to Donny then pushed him down on the bed. “You’re taking a drink and you’re getting a full night’s sleep.”
Don’s eyes went wide as he watched Raph fill his mouth with the warm liquor. He tried to get up but Raph pushed him back onto his carapace then pressed his whisky filled mouth against Don’s. Grabbing Donny’s cheeks, Raph squeezed them enough to part Don’s lips then forced the liquor into Donny’s mouth.
Raph didn’t let up until he felt Donny’s swallow, keeping his mouth pressed to Don’s even when he started to cough as the alcohol burned. Lifting his head but keeping Donny pinned, Raph filled his mouth again and repeated the process.
He got Donny to drink four times before releasing him and Donny laid there as the alcohol took effect. Raph looked down at him, “Feel relaxed?”
Donny nodded his head, “Yeah.”
“Good,” Raph smiled then placed the bottle on a nearby table before pressing in for a kiss.
Donny returned the kiss with enthusiasm, bringing his hand up to the back of Raph’s neck to hold him in place. They stayed lip locked for several, long minutes before Raph pulled up and placed his forehead against Don’s. “I’m glad I gave you a chance. I haven’t been this happy in a long time.”
“That’s wonderful to hear,” Donny slurred. “I love you so much.”
Raph chuckled. “Maybe I gave you too much. My goal was to relax you, not get you drunk. I forget that you guys are lightweights compared to me.”
Donny pursed his lips together and blue out a raspberry. “I’m fine.” He giggled and cupped Raph’s face. His glossed over eyes seemed to sparkle. “You’re so wonderful to me and I didn’t even have to try all that hard, you did most of it on your own. You’re such a good boyfriend. Everything is going so much better than I had planned.”
Raph pulled back a little, “Planned?”
Donny’s eyes were drooping and were staring off at nothing. “My plan so you would love me and I made sure to give you rewards so that you would desire me.”
“So you’ve been… training me to love you?” Raph’s sharp words had Donny rolling his to look up at him.
“What?” Donny squinted up at Raph.
Raph got up off the bed, “I gotta go.”
“What?” Donny tried to get up to but only managed to fall to the floor. “Why?”
Raph rounded on Donny and the anger in his eyes had the smaller turtle freeze in fear. “I’m leaving ‘cause I just found out that you’ve been training me; manipulating me so that I would fall in love with you. I don’t know if my feelings for you are real or just something you manufactured.”
“Nononononono,” Donny scrambled to his feet and held his hands out. “That’s not what I meant. I know that’s how it sounded but that’s not what I’ve been doing. Just let me explain.”
“Why?” Raph snapped back. “So you can spin your words to explain it all away?”
“I don’t do that,” Donny sobbed as he felt it all start to fall apart. He tried to calm himself so he could think clearly but the alcohol was making his mind fuzzy. He reached out and managed to grab Raph by the arm. “Please, I do love you. All I wanted was for you to love me too.”
“Let go of me,” Raph yelled, pushing Donny off.
Unable to control his fall in his condition, Donny fell on to one of his workstations. Beakers fell around him as he collided with the desk. Hissing in pain, Donny lifted his hand to reveal several small shards of glass imbedded into his palm.
Raph stood frozen for a moment then took a step toward Donny but a pounding on the door had Raph stopping again. “What’s going on?” Leo yelled through the door.
Raph’s features darkened, “What a surprise, Leo’s here to rescue you. I guess he was right about me.” He turned and opened the door to find Leo ready to pick the lock.
“What happened,” Leo glared up at Raph. “What did you do?”
“What you were hoping would happen,” Raph pushed past Leo. “He’s all yours.”
Deciding to deal with Raph later, Leo rushed into the lab and saw Donny trying to step away from his workstation while avoiding the glass on the floor. His hand dripped with blood and it was obvious that he had been drinking. “Don’t move,” Leo told him then went over to get the broom.
He carefully swept a path to Donny then guided him to the sink. While running some warm water over the wounds, Leo removed the glass from Donny’s hand. Donny didn’t move or say anything while Leo worked. He simply stared off at nothing.
Once Leo was done, he wrapped Don’s hand in a towel. Donny didn’t put up any kind of fight when Leo moved him over to a chair and started to bandage the cuts. “They don’t look too deep.” Leo looked up into Donny’s eyes. “Are you okay?”
“I screwed up,” Donny mumbled. “I handled that situation all wrong. I couldn’t think.”
“He hit you,” Leo said as he wrapped Donny’s hand. “There is no excuse for that.”
“He pushed me,” Donny corrected, his voice so quiet Leo had to strain to listen. “I shouldn’t have grabbed at him when he was angry.”
“Donny,” Leo tried to get his attention. “You didn’t do anything wrong. He hurt you.”
“I don’t feel anything,” Donny whispered to himself as tears fell from his eyes. Closing his eyes, Donny took a deep breath and repeated. “I don’t feel anything.”
“Donny?” Leo reached out to him but Donny pulled away.
“Please go,” Donny choked out then took a shaky breath. “I wanna be alone.”
“Okay,” Leo stood then looked at the mess of broken glass. “I just want to clean that up first and then I’ll go.”
“Leave it,” Donny shook his head. “Please, just go.”
Leo hesitated for a moment then nodded. “I’m here if you need me.” When Donny didn’t respond, Leo turned and headed for the door. He turned back to see Donny curl up in the chair as he continued to mumble to himself.
**
Mikey heard Leo yelling and got up to see what was going on. He opened his door in time to see Raph push past Leo and make his way upstairs. Raph had to pass Mikey on his way to his room and Mikey reached out to grab Raph’s arm. “What happened?”
“Leo got what he wanted,” Raph forced out between clinched teeth. He looked at Mikey and he shook as he fought to hold back his tears. “I’m sorry Mikey but I think Donny’s gonna be afraid of me not too.” Pulling his arm free from Mikey grasp, Raph continued on his way to his room.
Needing to know more, Mikey followed. “What happened? Everything was going great between you and Donny.”
Knowing Mikey, Raph decided to get it over with and told him everything. He rambled it out, not knowing if Mikey could even fallow rage filled recap of the last half hour. Flopping down into his hammock, Raph looked up at the ceiling. “I was falling in love with him, Mikey, but now I’m not sure if that was real. Like that even matters any more. I hurt him. Leo was right and now he’s there to play hero, just like he wanted.”
“You can’t make someone fall in love with you.” Mikey climbed into the hammock with his feet towards Raph’s head. He watched Raph as he struggled with his emotions somewhere between anger and heartbreak. Mikey took a deep breath. “This is Donny we’re talking about. He has a plan for everything. Every move he makes is calculated and thought through. It’s just the way his mind works.”
Mikey waited for a moment to let that sink in before continuing. “He’s a problem solver and he saw you rejecting him as a problem. We all give little rewards to others when they do something we like. It’s just that everyone else does it without realizing that they do it. But Donny…, well, there isn’t much that he doesn’t realize.
“And you have a temper. So of course Donny is gonna watch his step around you. He’s not gonna jump in your face whenever you do something that makes him mad. He knows that would only piss you off. ”
Raph glanced over at Mikey, “How do you know everything he’s done?”
“Because he’s told me,” Mikey answered. “The morning after I made the dumplings, he told me I needed to back off Leo because I was driving him away. He told me how he’s been… handling the delicate situation with you. He knew that if he went after you then you would pull away.”
Raph thought back to that morning when Donny had first asked him out and how he had pulled away. Donny barely spoke to Raph in the weeks that followed. “I remember.”
Mikey nodded, “Then he tried to come up with ways to get you to come to him.”
“Like pointing out my stretch marks and offering cream to reduce them,” Raph said bitterly.
“Uh,” Mikey ginned sheepishly. “The cream worked. Your stretch marks are barely noticeable now.” He grabbed Raph’s knee and gently shook it. “Look at the positive. When’s the last time you had a drink?”
Raph sighed as he thought. “Not including tonight, it’s been weeks. It was before my date with Donny.”
“Because, you haven’t had the need for it. And another thing, you said that he said that you did it all on your own,” Mikey pointed out. “That alone speaks volumes. You were working ahead of his calculations, meaning that you were truly falling in love with him. You did things out of the blue just to see him smile. You were the one who decided where to go on that first date. You wanted to do things that made him happy.”
“I don’t know,” Raph looked away.
“Damn it, Raph, he’s loved you longer than I’ve loved Leo.”
Raph looked at Mikey, “How long?”
Mikey went on to tell Raph about how Donny had realized that he had feelings for Raph when they were thirteen but didn’t say anything out of fear of what Splinter would say. He held it in until they were fifteen and, needing to confess to someone, told Splinter then begged for forgiveness. To his relief, Splinter gave him his blessings. Donny had planned on approaching Raph but then the mousers attacked. Their life was turned upside down and there was never a good time, in Donny’s eyes, to tell Raph.
He tried subtle things to get Raph to notice him and to build up a good relationship with him; he built Raph the motorcycle and started watching sports. He tried showing off at times, developed a level of sass, and spent more time out of his lab in hopes of being able to interact with Raph. Every chance he had, he put himself in a position to be near Raph in hopes of getting his attention. “He changed himself for you Raph. “He used to be a recluse, with his nose in a book, but his desire to be around you had him coming out of his lab.
“Your crush on Joi was devastating for Donny. Then you pulled away from the family when Leo was in South America and Donny thought that, maybe, you had feelings for Leo.
“I noticed my feelings for Leo when we were still fifteen and didn’t say anything for the same reason as Donny. I confessed to Donny when we were sixteen.” Mikey thought back to all the nights he would stay up with Donny talking about Leo and Raph. “He told me that Splinter was okay with it but we were still afraid to let you guys know. We finally built up the courage and then it all fell apart.”
“Donny’s been in love with me for seven years?” Raph sat up and looked at Mikey.
“He wasn’t being manipulative,” Mikey shrugged with a smile. “He was being… meticulous. He finally had his chance and he didn’t want to blow it.”
“The brainiac sure can be an idiot sometimes. But he probably doesn’t want me now.”
“I doubt that,” Mikey smiled. “He loves you.”
Raph managed a soft smile but it faded when Leo entered the room.
“What happened?” Leo demanded. “What did you do to Donny, he’s devastated.”
“We had our first fight,” Raph answered with a scowl. “From what I understand, all couples go through them.” He got up and tried to leave the room but Leo blocked his path.
“Where are you going?”
“None of your fucking business.” Raph glared at Leo, “Move.”
“Leo, just let Raph go,” Mikey pleaded.
“Stay out of this, Mikey,” Leo snapped.
Raph shoved Leo, “Don’t talk to him like that, you fucking prick and get out of my room.” Using his superior strength, Raph pushed Leo out the door. “I’m going to talk to my boyfriend and get all this sorted out.”
“Raph,” Leo moved to go after him but Mikey was there to stop him.
“Back off, Leo.” When Leo looked down at Mikey, the smaller turtle pleaded. “You have to accept that Donny doesn’t want you.”
“You’re one to talk,” Leo scoffed.
“You’re right,” Mikey said through the pain. “I don’t know why I’ve been holding on to the hope of being with you for this long. You’re not the same person I fell in love with five years ago. You must’ve left him in South America. Don’t worry, Leo, I’m done. I don’t want you anymore.”
Mikey ran into his room and slammed the door before Leo had a chance to respond. It took a minute for Mikey’s words to register then Leo stood, unbelieving. “Five years?”
Complicated
Chapter 8
The heart is a complicated thing, love can quickly turn to hate. The greater the fires of passion the hotter the resulting inferno and the kindest tend to fall the hardest.
**
Raph knocked before cracking opening the door to the lab. “Donny?”
He could hear the sound of sweeping and looked to find Donny, looking distraught and cleaning up the broken glass. He was mumbling something under his breath but Raph couldn’t make out what it was.
“Donny?” Raph repeated, a little louder as he walked into the lab.
Donny looked up and Raph could tell that he fought the urge to jump up. “What… what are you doing here?”
Raph shut the door and locked it, “Mikey talked me in to hearing you out, put a few things in to perspective.”
“Yeah?” Donny stood, the broken glass forgotten. “Okay.” He stood in place, uncertain of what to do and watched Raph.
Raph made his way to the bed and sat down, the scent of their earlier activities still heavy on the sheets. “How’s your hand?”
Donny shrugged his shoulders, “The cuts weren’t that deep.”
“I’m sorry I… I hurt you.” Raph patted the bed next to him, “Sit, please.”
“Don’t be.” Donny placed the broom against the wall and walked over to sit next to Raph. “It was an accident.” He couldn’t bring himself to look up into Raph’s eyes and instead kept them focused on his hands.
Raph didn’t want to fumble around with small talk. “Mikey told me that you’ve had a crush on me since we were thirteen.”
Donny flushed but kept his eyes on his hands. “He did?”
Raph placed his hand under Don’s chin and lifted his head so that they were looking each other’s eyes. Donny’s eyes moved back and forth but Raph’s golden orbs remained steady. “I want to hear everything from you,” Raph demanded. “And I want you to be completely honest with me.”
“Okay,” Donny agreed. “But, I haven’t lied to you,” he insisted. “I’ve been trying for so long to get you to notice me but nothing worked. You never saw me as anything more than your nerdy brother. I gave up for a while, Mikey and I wallowed in misery together. Then when Leo returned, we decided that it was time.”
Raph scoffed, “And your fears played out in front of you when I rejected you and Leo rejected Mikey.”
Donny nodded his head. “Yeah. We were devastated. That night we talked and gave each other support, agreeing that no matter what we would hold out for the one we wanted. We formed a united front.”
“You trying to control everything, was that your big secret?” Raph asked, tucking his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. “Did you tell Mikey to tell me that he was afraid of me, so you could get your chance?”
“Mikey decided that all on his own, I ju…just t… took advantage of it. I don’t try to control everything.” Donny scooted back so that he back was against the wall. “I plan for everything, as best I can but even I get thrown for a loop sometimes. I’m always thinking. Even now, I’m thinking of several different things, including several possible outcomes of this conversation.” He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, “It’s hard to think right now. The whisky is making my mind fuzzy.”
“It’ll keep you honest,” Raph said flatly.
“You want my secret?” Donny glanced at Raph then looked down at his lap. “I discovered early on that if I suppressed my emotions then I could think more clearly. It helped me in moments of stress when I had to work in a combative situation. It was hard at first but the more I did it, the easier it started to become. I shut it all out, even when I heard you guys call out in pain I had to stay focused on my work. After a while, it got to the point that I had to make the effort to feel. I started to become indifferent to things.
“I didn’t feel anything when I saw Leo in that pod at Winter’s estate. All that went through my mind was what I needed to do to get him out. I fake my way through the expressions, I understand them well enough so I can hide the fact that I’m apathetic. I can get frustrated or annoyed and I care for you all but… at the same time, I’m detached and everything is so dull.” He looked at Raph and his heart pounded in his chest. “Except for when I’m with you. I never tried to shut off my feelings for you. When I’m around you, I feel so much that I can’t think straight. It’s the reason for all the mistakes I’ve made.”
Raph looked at Don and shrugged, “Wouldn’t that make you wanna stay away from me then?”
“No,” Donny shook his head. “When I’m around you it’s the only time I genuinely feel anything and I don’t want lose that. I didn’t want to tell you until you loved me so I knew you weren’t with me out of a sense of obligation or pity.” He covered his face with his hands, “It sounds so pathetic when I say it out loud. I was hoping that you could help me get that part of myself back or at least help me hold on to what I have left.”
Raph let out a deep sigh then lied down, resting his head in Donny’s lap. “I’m still kinda mad at you but not enough to put an end to this. I just wanted to leave and clear my head. I thought it was over when I hurt you. I was sure you were gonna see me the same way Leo and Mikey do.” His eyes locked with Don’s, “Just… talk to me from now on. If I do something that upsets you, tell me and explain why.”
“But, whenever Leo points out your mistakes, you get enraged,” Donny argued. “I was trying to avoid that.”
“That’s because it’s Leo,” Raph said as a matter of fact. “It doesn’t take much for him to piss me off. And he’s usually throwing my flaws in my face when I’m already upset so, yeah, I get enraged.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Donny quietly agreed, nodding his head as he wiped the tears away.
They continued to talk well into the night and Donny eventually fell asleep.
They had slept in each other’s arms and Donny was so drained that he slept better than he had in years. When he woke up, Raph was still slumbering so he decided to let Raph sleep a little longer. He had his own internal clock to wake him up.
It was still early when Donny entered the kitchen to find Mikey cursing under his breath. He walked over to see what had Mikey so frazzled and saw his younger brother pealing a pomelo. “Everything okay, Mikey?”
Michelangelo looked over at Donny and sighed. “I was preparing a bowl of grapefruit for Leo’s breakfast, since he doesn’t like cereal and I didn’t feel like cooking anything for breakfast. But this thing has the thickest, fucking rind ever.”
“That’s not a grapefruit,” Donny pointed out, a little taken back by Mikey language and headed to the sink to fill the coffee pot with water. When Mikey looked at him in confusion, Donny explained. “That is a pomelo, the… parent, so to speak, of the grapefruit. It’s not as bitter as the grapefruit but it’s hard to get to.”
“Well that’s just great,” Mikey said in an exasperated tone. “It’s from the stuff April brought. This is ridiculous. This is taking me longer than if I had made something hot.”
“Why aren’t you cooking breakfast?” Donny ventured to ask even though he was sure he already knew the answer.
“I was running late and I don’t want to be here when Leo wakes up. We argued and I confessed how long I’ve liked him before telling him that I was done.” Mikey answered. He slammed his fists on the counter, “Fuck! Now he’s gonna think I’m trying too hard again.”
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t,” Donny promised. He filled the coffee brewer with the water then set the pot back on the burner. As he measured out his coffee grounds he occasionally glanced over at Mikey. He could see the frustration in his brother’s movements. “Are you okay?”
Mikey glanced at the clock as he finished peeling the last of the pulp free of its encasing. “I’m fine. I’m just… I’m dealing with it.” He hurriedly placed the bowl of pomelo down where Leo usually sat then poured cereal in bowls for Splinter and Donny and placed glasses of milk with them. He quickly washed his hands and cleaned the small mess left behind by the fruit.
“Did you eat?” Donny asked as he sat at the table with his cup of coffee.
“Yeah,” Mikey answered as he dried his hands. “I’ll be in the dojo warming up.”
“Okay,” Donny managed before Mikey bolted from the kitchen.
Donny wasn’t alone for long before Leo entered the kitchen. Donny greeted him warmly and he could see the questions in Leo’s eyes. “Raph and I talked through our problems. It was just a misunderstanding. He really didn’t mean to hurt me. We were arguing and I was holding on to him then he pushed me away and I lost my footing.”
“I won’t press the issue then.” Leo picked up his tea pot and paused. “Where’s the hot water?”
Donny looked up and scanned the kitchen. “Mikey must have forgotten. The pomelo was giving him troubles.”
Leo turned to look at Don, “The what?”
Donny pointed to the bowl, “Your breakfast. He thought it was a grapefruit only to discover that it was not. He said April bought them.” He opened his latest science journal and started to read.
“Oh. I guess I’ll warm up my own water then.” Leo filled the pot with tap water then moved to place it on the stove.
Donny glanced up in time to see what he was doing and nearly fell over himself to stop him. “Don’t put that on the fire.” He snatched the pot out of Leo’s hands. “You heat the water in the kettle then pour the water into the pot. If you put this on direct heat it will explode.”
“It would?” Leo stood frozen, looking at Donny in disbelief.
“Yes,” Donny held up the tea pot. “This can handle hot water but not a heat source. The material that it’s made out of does not distribute heat evenly and the part that is touching the heat source would heat up much quicker than the rest of it and make it unstable. It would explode, spraying hot water everywhere.”
“Oh,” Leo flinched a little. “I didn’t know that. What would I do without you?” he ended with a chuckle.
“I haven’t been the one taking care of you all this time, Mikey has. It’s a wonder he lets you in here at all,” Donny teased as he poured the water into a kettle. “You’d probably manage to set the whole city on fire.”
Leo looked down as he tried not to pout. “I wouldn’t be that bad in the kitchen.”
“With the right instructions maybe,” Donny chuckled then put the kettle on the fire. “When it starts to whistle, the water is done. Pour it into your tea pot then add your tea leaves like you usually do.”
“Thank you,” Leo mumbled as Donny turned to sit back down.
By the time Leo had finished making his tea, Raph had entered the kitchen. He pulled what he needed from the refrigerator and started to make his protein shake. “Where’s Mikey.”
“In the dojo,” Donny answered. “He had his breakfast early then headed in to warm up.” He moved to get up and get some more coffee but Raph was there with the pot to refresh his cup. “Thank you,” Donny smiled up at him.
“Yeah,” Raph mumbled and returned to preparing his shake. “You’ve trained me well.”
When Splinter entered the kitchen, Donny could see the wave of sorrow that he quickly suppressed as he noticed that Mikey wasn’t there. He sat at the table and poured some of the milk into the bowl. His eyes fell on the bandages around Donny’s hand. “I heard the commotion last night.”
“The matter has been worked out,” Donny told him while Leo’s features darkened. “There was an accident.”
Splinter looked at each of his sons then decided not to press the matter.
Raph stayed in the kitchen, drinking his shake while the others ate. He would exchange glares with Leo every so often but that was nothing new. The only thing that ever changed was the subject of their fight. Donny often wondered if they would even know what to do with themselves if they weren’t fighting about something.
Raph stopped glaring at Leo long enough to look at Don, “You gonna help with my workout again?”
“Sure,” Donny nodded. “I’ve researched a few more techniques that you can use to improve the effectiveness of your exercises.”
“Good,” Raph said before downing the rest of his shake. “You almost done?”
“Yeah,” Donny finished the rest of his cereal then cleaned his bowl and cup. “See you at training,” Donny said as they left the room.
Leo watched them go and Splinter placed a reassuring hand on Leo’s wrist. “I know it’s hard but you have to let Donatello go. They are only growing closer as time passes.”
“Why did he have to choose Raph?” Leo sighed. “He’s a brute and is abusive. I will never understand what Don even sees in him?”
Splinter shrugged, “The matters of the heart are complicated.” He gave Leo’s arm a gentle squeeze. “Do not focus so much on what Donatello sees in Raphael. I want you to focus on yourself and why you are drawn to Donatello instead. Explore your own emotions and work through them.”
“Hai, Sensei,” Leo nodded.
They finished the rest of their breakfast in relative silence. When they were finished, Leo took Splinter’s bowl and washed it, along with his own. Splinter went to watch his morning shows, giving the Turtles about an hour of free time before their morning lessons.
Leo started to head for the dojo but then remembered that Donny had said that Mikey was in there, warming up. He hesitated a moment then decided to look in on Michelangelo to see what he was doing. Leo expected to see Mikey goofing off when he peeked through the dojo doors but instead he saw Mikey practicing with a kusarigama.
It was obvious that he was new to the weapon. He was working through basic moves, teaching his body to move with it and his eyes held a level of concentration that was rarely seen in the youngest turtle.
Leo watched Mikey, mentally correcting him at times, praising him at others. Mikey had a long way to go with his new weapon but Leo had a feeling that he would pick it up quickly.
The hour passed without Leo even realizing it and Splinter joined him at the dojo door to look in. “He has been studding the kusarigama for a few months. He started just a few weeks before you returned home. He said he wanted a weapon with a blade that worked similar to nunchakus. He is determined to learn it before the next Nexus tournament.”
“It will take a lot of time,” Leo said as he continued to watch Mikey. “He is still a novice.”
“It is hard for him to find extra training time with his job and chores here in the lair.” Splinter stated. “But he works hard at it. He needs someone to spar with him but he does not yet trust himself enough with it. He’s afraid of hurting someone. He won’t even let me in there with him.”
“There seems to be a lot I don’t know about Mikey,” Leo said absentmindedly.
“There is,” Splinter looked up at Leo. “As his leader, you should know these things. You’ve spent nearly two years in seclusion and even now that you have returned to us, you have yet to fully incorporate yourself back into the family. You have remained aloft these past few months. A lot has happened in the time you were gone that you need to know about.”
Leo nodded, “I understand, father. I will take the time to familiarize myself with the others again.”
“It is just a pity that right after you and Raphael had finally started to work together and bond, something had to come between you again.”
“I will try harder,” Leo promised.
Splinter entered the dojo first and Mikey put away the kusarigama then knelt on the floor. Leo followed soon after and Mikey didn’t even glance up when Leo walked over and knelt down next to him.
Raph and Don entered the dojo together; Raph complaining about how much is muscles hurt after Donny’s new workout regimen. Donny shyly promised that he would make it up to him, blushing slightly. Leo felt the sting of bitter jealousy then glanced over at Mikey, who was still looking at the ground.
Leo wanted to say something but couldn’t think of anything so decided to stay quiet. He hadn’t realized before how much his family were like strangers to him. He didn’t expect them to change so much in the time he was gone.
He looked at Donny and saw a distance in his eyes that wasn’t there two years ago. The more Leo thought about it, the more he realized that there was a different look in Donny’s eyes as he spoke to Raph as opposed to when he was speaking to anyone else. His smile was different too, more genuine around Raph.
Raph, on the other hand, was tense and he looked haunted, making Leo wonder what Raph had done while he was playing vigilante as the Nightwatcher. He was also more obsessed than ever with his strength, bulking up to at least double his size from two years ago.
After Raph and Don settled and knelt down, Splinter started their training. It started the same as always, warming up with basic katas together then splitting up for the more complex katas, tailored to their individual fighting styles. Finally came one on one sparing. Raph and Don were granted a break while Leo and Mikey faced off.
Mikey stood facing Leo, his eyes lacking their usual sparkle and merriment. Keeping his eyes locked on Leo, Mikey moved into a basic stance. Leo moved into his own stance and waited for Splinter’s signal. There was none of Mikey’s usual razing and it seemed to make the atmosphere heavy, even Raph and Don looked uncomfortable.
“Begin,” Splinter struck his walking stick on the ground for emphasis.
Mikey moved first and Leo switched his stance to counter but Mikey was too quick. The smaller turtle was able to move in ways that the others couldn’t. He was able to duck under Leo’s counter strike and landed a low blow to Leo’s bridge while circling around behind him.
A month’s worth of pain was put in to the strike. He hit his mark dead on and the pain that shot through Leo cause tears to swell in his eyes. It took him a moment to recover, long enough for Mikey to begin his next attack. Though Leo had skill and strength, he couldn’t compete with Mikey’s flexibility and agility.
Mikey managed another blow as he rounded Leo from behind, deadening Leo’s right arm then he jumped and turned, wrapping his legs around Leo’s head. Using his momentum, Mikey moved his body to throw Leo off balance and took him to the mat.
Leo found himself on his back, looking up at Mikey straddling his chest with his fist ready to strike. It took seconds for Mikey to take him down and the gravity of that realization left Leo in a state of shock.
“Enough,” Splinter ended the match before Mikey could land his final blow. “Very good, Michelangelo.” Leo could hear a level of sorrow in his father’s voice. “You managed to stay focused throughout the fight.”
Mikey got up and Leo looked over at Raph and Don to see that they were equally shocked. They all knew that Mikey was quick, he would move in for a playful poke occasionally, taking his brothers by surprise. But none of them had ever seen him move with the intent to hurt before.
Leo managed to get his body to work and joined his brothers, kneeling on the mat.
There was no denying the change in Mikey. The jovial prankster was gone and Leo suddenly found himself missing him.
