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Chapter Text

raphael had been waiting by the courts for almost two minutes.

one minute and forty seven seconds if you wanted to be precise.

he didn't know how much longer he could go on... he could feel his skin getting tingly and he was sure it wasn't because of the cool breeze passing by.

when they had left the lair together, and began on the trail to the nearest court together, his brothers decided it was a good idea to go off route and went to go see if april wanted to come run some games with them.

leaving raph all. by. himself.

he'd realized that he was all alone once he had finally arrived, clapping his hands and cheerfully turning around to speak with his brothers, but they were gone! they hadn't even thought about shooting a quick text to raph to reassure him!

two minutes was way too long. raphael constantly checked his phone and talked aloud to mind raph, theorizing where his brothers could have gone.

he stood from the nearby bench and huffed out an anxious sigh as he crossed his arms behind his head, beginning to pace around the concrete court to try and calm himself from his anxious thoughts.

something bad could happen to his brothers when he isn't there! they could get hurt, or even worse! DIE! he began to mindlessly gnaw on his bottom lip, all the worst case scenarios playing in his head like some horror movie.

amidst his wild thinking, he didn't catch the lone figure staring at him from across the metal fence, their fingers interlaced around the metal linings and face centimeters away from it, careful not to get too close to the cold silver. they had been watching him for almost a minute, eyes squinted and lips pursed in curiosity.

they had heard the turtle's anxious whispers. well... they weren't exactly whispers, more like anxious exclamations, which filled the person in on raphael's dilemma. "hey!" the lone figure called, which instantly caught raphael's attention.

the snapper immediately whipped his head around, looking like an owl with how far his neck had turned. his facial expression went blank at the sight of the teenage human boy staring at him from across the fence. he was tall. super tall. he had a good figure, obviously toned due to athleticism. but what caught raph off guard was the almost child-like smile on the boys lips and the fogginess in his eyes.

it was like he was looking right through raphael and not at him. his eyes looked completely unfocused—it confused raph.

"i could play wit'chu until ya friends get here!" the boy shouted, standing on his toes as if it would get his voice to travel farther and reach the turtle he was talking to. "one-v-one!" he added on, a playful tone coating his words.

from this distance, the boy could no doubt tell that raphael was not a human, so why was he speaking with him instead of running away? was there someone else here at the court raph had failed to see? and how did he even know he was waiting for someone? could he read minds? oh, my god, was this kid a psychic?!

raphael looked from side-to-side, before pointing one of his big fingers at himself with a confused and fearful expression. "y-you... you tawlkin' ta me?" he spluttered out, watching the human boys face contort into an amused one at his response.

"yeah, i'm talkin' ta y'u." he pointed an accusatory finger at raphael, smile never leaving his face. "so what'dya say? down ta ball?" he was practically beaming as he said those words, hopping on his toes which flexed his defined calf muscles.

there was a long moment of silence. raphael stood there gaping like a fish, words caught in his throat before he gulped down the gathering saliva in his mouth with a nervous chuckle. he hesitantly nodded his head with a loud affirmative hum, tucking his head in between his shoulders bashfully when he saw the humans face light up at his response.

the boy quickly jumped over the fence to meet up with raphael, pulling a ball out of his backpack that now lay empty on the sidelines. the ball was black and white in color, obviously having been faded after years of use.

a name was written in big bold letters on the white part of the ball, as well tiny signatures written in the other white parts. white marker was used to write on the black leather, and from where he stood, raphael found the ball quite cool-looking.

the human turned to raphael, his lips upturned into a grin that didn't quite seem to meet his hazy eyes and bounce passed the ball towards his big figure.

the turtle fumbled to catch it when it collided with his lower plastron, and curiously examined the ball in his hands, getting a feel for the rough leather. he spun the ball in his hands to read the writings he was eyeing earlier and read the big bold letters aloud. "[y/n]." he whispered, looking up at the human whose eyes were formed in crescents at the reading of his own name.

"thas me!" [y/n] exclaimed, throwing his hoodie off to the side, the article of clothing landing perfectly on his bag. he turned to look at raphael over his shoulder, smile suddenly turning playful and mischievous. "check-up." he tilted his chin up at the snapper, pulling his shorts up as he readied himself to play.

raphael bit down on his lower lip, having trouble holding back the smile that threatened show itself. this kid was bold, he thought, looking back up at him with a chuckle. "yer goin' down, [y/n]!" he aggressively bounce passed the ball to the boy who stood on the court, waiting.

the human caught the ball with ease, his foggy eyes never leaving raphael's. he spun the ball in his hands, getting his fingerprints used to the leathery touch of his ball before passing it back to raphael. "bring it on, big man!"

the game had commenced, raphael being quick to attempt a spin move around [y/n]'s much smaller figure, but the teen was fast, snatching the ball from his fingers and bouncing it down the court to his own hoop. raphael let out a loud shout of jumbled gibberish, confused at the absence of the ball in his hands before quickly hurrying down the court to swat the boy from making a basket—but he was pump-faked.

[y/n] went in to lay it up and successfully landed himself a point not even a minute into their scrimmage. he smiled at raphael, catching the ball when it fell through the net and tossed it his way. "thas one."

raphael let out a chuckle of disbelief, obviously not expecting such a quick point from the boy this fast into the game. he span the ball in his bandage wrapped hands before nodding his head in the humans direction. "yer fast, li'l dude. we'll go ta fifteen n' that'll be game. sound good?"

[y/n] nodded his head, his eyes narrowing yet his competitive smile never left his face. he bent his knees while pulling up his shorts to ready himself, bouncing the ball back to raph to check it before rushing up to him and defending him with incredible form. he obviously practiced daily with how fluid his movement was.

he was a better player than his brothers! don't let them know that though.

raphael could learn a thing or two from him.

———

the turtle stood with his hands on his hips, chest rising and falling as he huffed for air, sweat dripping down the side of his face and down his neck. [y/n] was in the same state, his loose tanktop clinging to him and colored a darker shade from his sweat. he was hunched over, hands on his knees before standing straight up to look at the taller male with those foggy eyes.

this was a good game, raphael thought. he was finally playing a game that was all about using technique and getting into the competitive spirit, unlike his playful and deceitful games with his brothers. he didn't know he could feel so unbelievably happy around a human that wasn't april...

he couldn't help the way his chest felt tight when he noticed this boy didn't flinch away from his body. [y/n] didn't bat an eye at the three fingers that waved around in his face, trying to distract him from making a shot and he didn't look at raphael in disgust when his body pressed against his for defense.

but raph began to feel a little silly when he remembered that's what basketball was all about—you're supposed to be all up on people and this kid obviously played a lot, so maybe he was used to bigger guys defending on him.

but why was he so nonchalant about the mutant thing?

"thas thirteen-fourteen." [y/n] turned to raph and gave a smirk, breaking him out of his thoughts. he looked a little fatigued, but that was probably due to them resting for a little which made his adrenaline wear off. "if i make one more point thas game." he huffed out a breathy laugh.

raphael rolled his eyes, his usual snaggle tooth sticking out of his lips with his closed smile. "not unless i make a three!" he protested, picking up the ball that was in between his legs and warmed his fingertips up by passing it back and forth between them in the air.

[y/n] immediately cackled. "y'u wish ya could make a three! y'u missed all tha ones ya went for!" he cackled, which earned a loud whine of protest from raph. before [y/n] could continue teasing the turtle, a loud ringtone cut him off, causing the both of them to turn their attention to the sidelines where a phone buzzed inside the loose hoodie on the ground. "aw, man..." he muttered disappointedly, jogging over towards his belongings.

he crouched down, pulling out his phone before pouting and looking back at his friend. "'m sorry, big man. i gotta get home." he kept his sentence vague, hoping the turtle wouldn't ask any questions as he stood up straight. he shoved his hoodie into his empty backpack and slung it over his broad shoulders with a pout.

raphael mirrored the pout on his lips, his shoulders sagging as he watched the boy begin to walk off. when [y/n] was about halfway over the fence, raphael suddenly gasped out of realization, outstretching his hand towards the boy who hopped down onto the concrete. "wait! what about yer ball?!" he held said ball in the air with one hand and pointed at it with the other.

[y/n] turned to look over his shoulder and flashed him a smug smile. "keep it. i'll be back here t'morrow!" he said, calmly, as if he wasn't just letting a stranger keep one of his prized possessions. he lifted a hand to wave at the snapper and began his journey home. "bye, big man! le's hoop again soon!"

raphael held the ball gently in his hands, eyes attentive on watching the boy jog away. once he was out of raph's eyesight, he let out a disappointed sigh, the ridges above his head upturned to show the obvious disappointment he felt at the human's disappearance. he'll be back here tomorrow. raph repeated those words in his head.

he felt his heart suddenly picking up pace, a gentle smile settling on his lips and he fought back the urge to giggle under his breath. raph made a new friend! he looked down at the ball in his hands, turning it so he could see the big bold letters that spelled the boys name. "[y/n]. . ." he hummed out happily, a churring noise emitting from the back of his throat.

raphael perked up with a gasp when he remembered that his brothers had still yet to arrive, his fingers gripping onto the ball tightly as he scrambled on his feet to look at his surroundings.

instead of being worried about their whereabouts like the good big brother he is, all raphael could think of was 'how am i going to hide this from my brothers?'

Chapter Text

raphael's brothers could read him like a book—and by that i mean if the book was a comic that had easy to read dialogue and no complicated to look at pictures. they all grew up with each other, what kind of brothers would they be if they weren't able to tell when something was up with each other?

raphael was never one to be a good liar, always telling the truth and speaking his mind about things. he also had a distinct liar stink... one that made their noses want to sink into their face from such a tart smell.

telling the truth is one of raphie's many good traits, and while his brothers and their father found it cute that such a big guy like him had trouble lying straight to their faces without feeling guilty, it had became a problem when he didn't own up to his lies like he usually did. that's when they knew something was up.

it all started that day when the brothers and april came back to meet him on the court, only to see he was covered in sweat, huffing and puffing while nervously looking off in a certain direction a vast amount of times. they figured it was just him going through brother withdrawals after being alone for a while—which was their fault, they admit—and paid no mind to it after they started their scrimmage.

everything after that was fine for the most part, until a few days after he had started to go to bed early, missing out on brotherly activities and was always busy on his phone when he thought nobody was looking. michelangelo even found an odd basketball with writing all over it under raphael's mattress, and when he asked the rest of his brothers if they had gotten a new ball, they shook their heads "no" with suspicious furrowed brows.

then, they began to question the snapper on his weird behavior.

"don't worry, guys! i jus' have a new workout schedule i wanna follow 'n i need ta wake up 'n go bed early fo it!"

donatello scoffed at his words. he knew his brother wasn't training or working out that early in the morning. one night when the soft-shell had come out of his lab at around midnight, he found his eldest brother clumsily sneaking back in to his room, wearing his usual human disguise.

donnie wasn't the only one to catch raphael acting suspiciously. splinter had managed to catch raphael trying to sneak into his room in the very early mornings at around four or five.

the rat had heard an array of objects crashing to the floor in the other room, which had awoken him from a nice dream. splinter laid in bed for a few moments, angrily trying to come up with an outcome to his dream before huffing and getting out of bed to see what all the ruckus was about. when he had placed on his robe and gone to the living area to see what was happening, he found his oldest son laying on the floor (in a very painful position, might i say) dressed in human clothes and smelling of cologne.

"red? what are you doing out here so late?" he had asked his son. "and why are you on the floor? are you getting enough rest?" he continued hounding him, tilting his head curiously.

"don't worry 'bout it, pops. i'm getting plenty of rest! i just... wanted an... early morning snack!" raphael hastily replied, with a nervous smile and a single head of sweat running down the side of his face.

being the man he is, splinter decided to continue egging on his lies, trying to get the truth out of his son. it was quite amusing how raph began to sweat and stumbled over his words. raph then let out a muffled scream into his big hands before he clumsily scrambled off to his room, shouting that he had to hop on his workouts before it was too late.

which brings us to current day. finally being fed up with the constant lies, leonardo took it upon himself to assembl his brothers—minus raphael—and came up with a plan to end this once and for all.

"tonight, when raph goes off to bed, we'll all go to bed after him like normal—"

"by which you mean us going to bed like normal." donatello interrupted, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the back of the sofa. "we all know you can't sleep for shit." leo's big hand slapped over donatello's mouth all while seething incoherent gibberish through clenched teeth out of rage.

leo took a deep breath in, fingers pinched against his thumbs as he composed himself before he flashed his usual smirk. "as i was saying," leonardo said in a gentle voice, which earned a giggle from his younger brother at how quickly his brother switched emotions. "we'll go to bed after him, except we won't be sleeping! we'll be waiting until raph sneaks out and then... we follow him and see what he's been up to!" he smacked his fist down onto the palm of his hand, an overconfident smirk on his face. "BAM! how's that for a plan?"

"awesome plan!" michelangelo squeaked, practically buzzing in his seat.

"hm," donatello hummed while thinking his brother's plan over. "additionally, we'll have to put on human disguises, 'cause apparently whatever raph is doing requires it." he pointed out, looking down at his arm before tapping on the screen of his tech that lay on his wrist. "and wherever he's going is always around the basketball court, so no old lady disguises for tonight." he said with a bit of disappointment.

leonardo and michelangelo stared at each other with furrowed ridges before looking back at their purple-clad brother with pursed lips. "how do you know he's by the courts?" leo questioned suspiciously, his younger brother backing him up with a quiet 'yeah!'

donatello deadpanned looking off the side before looking back at his brother. "don't worry about it." he stood to his feet quickly after and began to trudge his way to his room. "come let me know when the plans about to start. i'll be in my genius lab doing average genius boy things."

michelangelo sucked in a sharp breath while he turned to look at his blue-clad brother. "i thought he said he got rid of those tracker things." he whispered, cupping a hand beside his mouth as if that would help his words not escape into donnie's eardrums.

leo couldn't help but squint his eyes and suck his lips into his mouth in thought, looking at his younger brother who also had the same facial expression. "let's just believe that he did."

———

it was now seven in the afternoon and the entire mutant family was relaxing in the living area, watching as mikey played the horrible pixelated lou jitsu game he almost sacrificed his life for. splinter was incredibly happy while watching mikey play, shouting when the pixelated version of himself would fight the villains in the game.

leo and donnie couldn't help but cackle at this display, leaning on each other against their makeshift sofa. raph was sat behind mikey, a gentle smile on his face as his little brother would ask him what he should do when he came across a troubling part of the game.

raphael took a deep breath in, peaking at his phone to glance at the time. 7:05 pm. his eyes lit up, but he hid his excitement with a faux yawn and stretched his limbs out. "alright! goodnight, family." raphael hopped on his feet, scratching at the back of his shell as he began to back out of the room. "it's time for raphie to hit the hay fer t'night."

"what? but it is so early!" splinter exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. he was always disappointed when his son would leave early, since he enjoyed the whole family being together even if they weren't doing anything too big. he just liked spending time with his boys.

raph shrugged his shoulders, looking off the side a bit too suspiciously. "ah, well... ya know, i woke up real early! so, i get tired when the sun hasn't gone down?" he scratched at his chin, questioning his own logic and missed the deadpanned looks his family was giving him. "anyway, goodnight!" he then rushed off, his heavy footsteps disappearing when he had reached his room.

leo and donnie gave each other an all-knowing look before they both faked yawns themselves. "y'know what, pops? we're gonna go bed, too." leo was way better with his acting, although it was overdramatic, at least he could make it look real.

donnie didn't do much to even pretend that he was tired, standing up and beginning to walk away with leo following behind him. the blue-clad turtle was making hand gestures to his youngest brother, trying to subliminally tell him to follow along with their act.

"wha-? o-oh! me too, dad. i'mma go lay down." mikey placed his controller down, turning off the console and began to follow after his brothers.

splinter watched in disbelief, a loud whine of betrayal leaving his throat. "i can't believe this! my own sons!" he exclaimed, clawing at his head and dramatically dropping to his knees.

he knew his sons weren't really going to bed, but whatever they were doing obviously didn't involve him, so he wouldn't push it. he'd ask about it later, though. for now, he could only wait.

———

raphael knew it was wrong of him to keep secrets from his family and he did feel incredibly guilty lying straight to their faces when they knew he wasn't telling the truth. but in this moment, where his ribs ached from bountiful fits of laughter, where his smile ached his cheeks but couldn't seem to wipe it off his face, and where this boy didn't make him feel like monster. right now, he is just a regular teenage boy, doing regular teenage boy things.

it was a little embarrassing for raphael. how he craved to be with his new friend almost every second of the day, thinking about him even before he went to bed. this was his first friendship outside of april and his brothers. someone he had all to himself, someone he could tell anything to, someone who shared the same ideals and even talked about them with him.

it was a great feeling—one that raphael never wanted to get rid of.

passersby's would stare at them oddly for cackling like hyena's and pushing each other so hard they'd fall onto the busy pavement, but that didn't matter right now. it was their world and everybody else was just living in it.

finally, a little calmed down, [y/n] leaned into raphael's side while looking over towards a food stand that happened to be on the other side of the street. "yo, we should go get whatever dat stands sellin', allat laughing made me hungry." he growled out that last bit, clutching onto his shirt that lay over his abdomen.

raphael chuckled, placing a firm hand on [y/n]'s shoulder to ground him when he began losing his balance. "ooh! they have pizza! c'mon, i wan see how much it costs!" he basically drug his friend alongside him like a ragdoll, crossing the street without a care in the world which halted cars from hitting them head-on. they didn't seem to care when drivers stepped out of their cars to shout and say every curse known to man.

they only continued to walk and talk about food prices. they were big boys with big appetites. nobody could stop a big boy from getting what he wants.

[y/n] dug in his pocket when they made it to the stand, only pulling out two dollar bills and a balled up piece of lint. "shit, mane... i only got my life savings right here."

raphael pursed his lips, digging in his own pockets to reveal three dollar bills and an unwrapped cherry-flavored cough drop. he looked back up at the stand's sign, reading that a pizza only costed three-dollars paired with a drink that costed one-dollar-and-fifty-cents. "ya wan' put our money together to split a pizza 'n a drink?"

"shi', i'm down." [y/n] replied with a smirk, smacking his two dollars and piece of lint into raphael's big hand.

raph stared down at his friends smaller hand, relishing in the tough callous that mingled with his bandaged hands. he beamed at the touch, and turned to look over his shoulder to smile down at his friend. "be right back!" he exclaimed, skipping up to the stand to set their shared money on the counter and quickly recited their order.

"name?" the man asked, voice monotonous and rasp from fatigue.

"er—phil." raph lied about his name. he didn't know why. he just thought it was silly.

"ok, phil. just give us a quick minute and your order will be ready." the man took raphael's crumbled bills and placed them in the cash register, not bothering to hand back his change. "we'll call your name up when it's ready."

raphael muttered a quick 'thank you' before skipping back over to [y/n] with a wide grin on his face. "where d'ya wan' go after this?"

[y/n] furrowed a brow, looking up at the night sky in thought and leaned backwards. "we could check out the park maybe? heard they set up some pretty lights for halloween time!" he smiled, his hazy eyes looking right through raphael.

he wondered why [y/n]'s eyes were so foggy—they were beautiful in a way, and it was always so alluring to raphael when they'd lock eyes with each other while playing ball. everything about his new friend was so interesting—he was unlike any other human he'd seen or even interacted with.

the turtle rapidly nodded his head, his eyes turning into crescents from his big his crooked smile was. "yeah, that sounds like fun!"

the two boys then began to converse about any other plans they had for that night, brainstorming on what they should do before raph's fake name was called for their order. meanwhile, upon a dark-lit rooftop stood three crouched figures who glared down upon the sight of their eldest brother at a food stand.

"yo, what?! he came all this way just to get pizza?!" leo laughed out, and although his tone sounded amused, his expression showed nothing but rage.

"WITHOUT US?! i knew he was doing something suspicious... he only came to the surface to be gluttonous!" mikey shouted, dramatic crocodile tears welling up in his eyes.

the three brothers had lost raphael a good amount of times on their secret mission, but they were lucky enough to find him again each time with donnie's excellent intuition! (he had a tracker on raphael). this was the first time raphael had sat still throughout the entire time on the surface, and the brothers were getting a little tired at having to keep up with their eldest brother.

they watched as raphael politely bowed his head to the young worker at the stand before fully turning around and adjusting the single pizza and fountain drink in his hands, holding them gently with care. donatello scoffed, standing to his feet while crossing his arms over his chest and put all of his weight on one single foot. "there's no way he actually came to the surface just to get some food."

mikey hummed in agreement, dramatic crocodile tears threatening to leave his doe eyes. "was my food not good enough!?" he wailed, hiding his face in his small hands.

donatello grimaced, petting the back of his brothers shell with his tech bō from a short distance, doing his best to comfort his brother in these dark times.

"maybe... he just wanted some surface people food?" leo spoke in a high pitched voice, his shoulders shrugged and hands gesturing to the pizza his brother held. he really wanted to give raphael the benefit of the doubt, but there was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that told him he was just saying that to reassure himself.

"we literally have pizza at home. we have it every night." donnie said, monotonously, obviously not having it with his older brothers shit. he shut his eyes in exasperation, tilting his head to the side as he growled his words out. "and he didn't have to come all the way to surface just to get some pizza when an actual hidden city of yokai exis—who is that?" donatello cut himself off once he opened his eyes, only to land on the slightly smaller figure that stood next to his disguised mutant brother.

this caught his brothers attention.

down on the pavement, a tall and lean figure wrapped his arm around raphael's shoulder, bringing the six-foot-four turtle down to his size. they said some incoherent words to each other before raphael fed the mysterious person the pizza in his hand with a teasing smile on his face.

the turtles jaws dropped, leaning over the rooftop to try and get a closer look at the mystery human raph was with.

"is it good?" they heard raphael ask, voice high-pitched in genuine curiosity.

the boy he was with hummed in delight, mouth full of pizza and chewed on the food with his eyes closed shut. "fuck yeah." he had a raspy and squeaky voice, much different than raphael's.

leo pressed his hands against the rooftops ledge, eyes never leaving the scene that played out before him. "who... is that?"

"you really think we know the answer to that?" donnie replied with a snarky comment, leaning against the ledge as well with narrowed eyes. "who does raph think he is to keep such a mystery man from us!? i demand answers!" he slammed his fist down on the concrete, only to squeal and shake his hand when a burst of pain travelled up his arm.

"guys, they're leaving!" mikey exclaimed, pointing down at raphael and [y/n] who began to strut down the pavement, conversing loudly with one another and doing nothing to even quiet their voices or wild cackles down.

leo quickly hopped on his feet running alongside the rooftops to keep up with their path. "we have to see what this guy looks like!" he exclaimed a little too excitedly, earning an eyeroll from his twin who was having trouble keeping up with leo's pace.

"why is it so important on what this mystery man looks like to you?" he inquired, monotonously.

leo turned to look at donnie over his shoulder, eyebrow raised and a smug smirk lying on his lips. "do ya really want our brother to be friends with an ugly guy? we certainly can't have that, 'cause one way or another that guy will be associated with us! it'd throw off my whole mojo as the face man!"

"that was just insanely rude, but somehow i agree with you."

Chapter Text

raphael had celebrated holidays before. independence day (which for some reason donnie was heavily against, but never went into detail about it), halloween, thanksgiving (another one donnie was super against), christmas and some japanese holidays splinter wanted to celebrate were some he had celebrated, for example. but he'd only celebrate them in the comfort of his home with his family.

he'd never gone to the surface on those holidays, so seeing how the people of new york decorated their streets and the park with beautiful lights and even had halloween themed food stands on the side for people to approach was so baffling to him. he still held the cold fountain drink in his big hand and the leftover grease from the pizza they had already swallowed up almost made him drop the cup onto the cold pavement.

raph heard an amused chuckle from beside him and he turned to look at [y/n] who stared up in his direction with a cheeky grin. "isn't it pretty?" he inquired, looking back at the array of halloween themed lights that decorated the park.

there were arches of light fixtures decorated with pumpkins and candy corn that went framed the sidewalks, letting guests of the park walk underneath them to get a magical experience. on the side there were tall witches, skeletons and characters from creepy show franchises set up as light figures. halloween music played on the speakers of the lights overhead, and raphael was able to identify them to the movie 'the nightmare before christmas.'

"yes." raph barely managed to breathe out, eyes dry from not blinking and his lips were parted in shock. he was forced to break out of his stupor when an arm wrapped around the lower part of his shell to push him forward and he let out a yelp at the unexpected movement.

"if yer dat amazed jus seein' tha halloween lights y'u should see tha christmas ones!" [y/n] began to drag the snapping turtle alongside him, finally beginning to walk underneath the light fixtures. the lights shined down on them and painted their skin tones a bright mix of orange, green and white.

raphael was amazed, eyes twinkling with child-like wonder before he gasped, leaning down to look into at his friends face. "there's christmas ones?!" he exclaimed. when [y/n] raised a brow at his surprised shout, he backed away with an embarrassed chuckle and felt the blood rush to his cheeks.

"ye-hes, bro." [y/n] laughed out, turning to look at raph with a wide grin, his eyes formed into crescents. "have ya never seen them before?" he questioned, the corner of his lip twitched upward and he tilted his head to the side to show his curiosity.

the turtle let out a noise from the back of his throat out of nerves. "no..." he admitted like a guilty child, looking off to the side. he felt a little reassured when [y/n] chuckled and rested his hand on the turtles bicep as a small form of reassurance.

"looks like we have somethin' planned fer christmas then."

raph whipped his head over to look at [y/n]'s face, but the boy was staring ahead already. it seemed like he was glowing with the way the lights were shining upon his skin, accentuating his facial features. raph couldn't help but gnaw on his bottom lip to hold back a smile, and turned his head to look forward at the lights to admire them just as his friend was.

they walked in silence, too engrossed in the lights and each others presence to even speak. it gave raphael a moment to reflect, to think about tonight, think about how lucky he was to have a friend like [y/n], and to think about the three lone figures following closely behind them in human disguises. he knew this would've happen sooner or later, but he couldn't help but panic when he saw those same figures trying to get closer than they already were to try and catch a glimpse of the hooded boy he was walking with.

the larger turtle hooked an arm around [y/n]'s shoulder, leaning down to talk nonsense into the boys ear as some form of a distraction, hoping that the boy didn't know about the turtles following behind them. raphael made small talk, simply asking about how [y/n] felt about tonight, how long the halloween lights have been a thing in new york... anything to distract him from his brothers.

as the boy responded to his questions, he lifted his hand to run his fingers through his hair and shivered when it slightly brushed against raphael's cold one. "man, yer cold as fuck." [y/n] couldn't help but grumble, quietly hissing out laughter through his teeth when he heard raphael's offended scoff.

raph's retaliation was caught in his throat when [y/n] leaned into his side, placing his veiny hand on top of raphael's that rested on his shoulder and gave it a good squeeze, lightly massaging his scaly skin. "if ya need me to warm ya up, lemme know." he turned his head to blow hot air onto raph's knuckles and placed his warm hand over it to keep the heat there.

he thinks i'm cold because of the weather... raphael sucked in his bottom lip, eyes watering from the gesture. he's so thoughtful!

he couldn't dwell on the gesture though, because he saw a familiar blue pop into his peripheral, to which he turned his shoulder and faced his torso towards [y/n] more as they walked, effectively leaning against the human.

[y/n] didn't seem to mind this, keeping his eyes locked on the path ahead with his usual careless smile. the turtle thanked whatever gods there was that he was given such an oblivious friend, relishing in the warmth that began to travel up his arm.

that same familiar tightness swarmed his chest and it felt like tiny sparks began making his heart tremble with the unfamiliar tightness. in the back of his mind, raphael couldn't help but wonder, is this what friends felt when they first started getting to know each other? he didn't like it.

———

"tonight was fun."

the turtle smiled down at the human that stood in front of him, choosing to stare at his nose instead of his hazy eyes. "yeah. it was." he rasped with a gentle smile, his shoulders tensing a little when it finally kicked in that they were parting for that night.

leonardo, michelangelo, and donatello were getting a little antsy by now. their eldest brother was about to return to the lair and they hadn't even caught a full glimpse of the human's face yet. it didn't help that raphael was always standing in the way and every time they tried to move and glance at the boy, raph's big muscular form was already blocking their line of sight. it was like he knew!

leo began to sweat in anticipation, leaning forward while dragging his hand down his face, trying to hone some coincidental magical ability of telekinesis to move his brother out of the way. "c'mon, c'mon, c'mon," he chanted under his breath, eyes widening in suspense after every second.

donnie and mikey were in the same boat. mikey had his hands pressed together in a silent prayer and donnie anxiously fiddled with his fingers, eyes never breaking away from the scene before them.

"catch ya t'morrow?" [y/n] reached a hand forward, his eyes half-lidded with fatigue and his lips twitched into a lazy smile which raph mirrored with his own crooked smile.

the turtle took a discreet calming breath in through his nose and took [y/n]'s hand in his, dapping him up quickly before colliding their fists together softly. "y'know it, bud."

the human's smile spread a little wider, shoving his hand back into his pocket before he took small steps backwards, refusing to fully turn his back to his friend. "g'nite, big man!"

"g'nite, lil dude."

they shared a quick laugh together, before raphael turned away and began to walk towards an alleyway that was nearby. now was their chance!

"QUICK! look at his face!" leo and his brothers shot forwards, donnie pulling down his goggles to get a closer look at the boy (and maybe take a few pictures for analysis), and mikey banging his fists against leo's open palms out of excitement.

that was until their lines of vision were blocked again.

"WHAT'DYA THINK YER DOING?!" raph jumped in front of them, his hood finally falling off of his head, revealing his mutant form. his little brothers jumped backwards, screaming girlishly at the sudden appearance of their eldest brother.

"what do you think you're doing! popping up like a five nights at freddy's character... y'know my heart is weak!" mikey placed a hand over his chest, trying his best to catch his breath from the sudden jump-scare.

leo held onto mikey's arm tightly, still a bit startled but tried not to show it, not wanting to be further embarrassed by his brother in purple if he were to look at him. "how did you know we were here...?" he trailed off, lips pursed and a single drop of sweat rolled down his cheek.

"ya think i can't hear yer loud babbling?" raphael crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes down at his brothers. "i can't exactly ignore three mut'nt turtles singing tha james bond theme, wearing bright clothes, 'n hopping on rooftops!" he hissed, throwing his arms behind him to show his anger. his anger didn't seem to faze them in the slightest though, his eye twitching when he heard quiet snickers coming from all three of them.

"we only did it 'cause you were acting all sus!" mikey defended, raising his arms up as he talked. "we just wanted to make sure you weren't in trouble!"

"yeah, you're not exactly the best at keeping secrets." donnie furrowed a brow, mimicking his elder brother by crossing his arms over his chest. "for all we knew, you could've been getting blackmailed and needed help."

raphael let out a sigh, dropping his arms at his side and looked at his brothers with gentle eyes. "i know. thas all on me. i ain't mean to make ya guys worry. i shouldn't have lied." he spoke, shoving his hands into his pockets, bashfully. "i didn't mean fer t'is to carry on dat long..."

"well, whatever. we know now that you're not getting blackmailed or somethin' weird like that, but—" leo shot forward, eyes twinkling with mischief. "who was that guy you were with?!" with those words being spoken, mikey and donnie followed their brother suit, crowding raphael by clinging to him and bombarding him with questions.

mikey had managed to crawl up his shell, sat on his shoulder and hugged his head. "tell us! tell us!"

"please, tell us! yer mah favurit bruther." leo's words were muffled when he pressed his cheek against his brother's hard plastron, dangling off his shell with a tight grip.

raph stared ahead blankly, reaching up mindlessly to hold onto mikey and kept his other arm wrapped tightly around leon, making sure he didn't lose his grip and fall onto the harsh concrete on the roof. "that's kinda... nunya business." he rasped.

"uh, scoff. it kinda is all of our business? you're running around up on the surface with another human who knows there's a mutant turtle running around new york." donnie replied, shifting his weight to one leg and placed a hand on his hip. "who knows? this kid could suddenly turn against you and reveal he's working with a mastermind criminal who's out to get us."

it went silent after that, raphael darting his eyes around the area before he let go of leo, letting the turtle fall to the ground with an 'oof.'  "portal us home, leo."

"on it." he strained from his position on the ground.

"hey..." donnie drawled out, his shoulders slumping down. "don't ignore what i'm saying!"

"what'dya say?"

"raph!"

———

[y/n] made it home safely, quietly sneaking back into his mother's apartment by climbing the fire escape and through his unlocked window. he cringed at the sound of the squeaking when he opened and closed it, hoping nobody else in the apartment heard the loud noise.

he sighed in relief when he heard nothing coming from outside of his room, luckily not awakening his mother or any of his siblings. he began shrugging off his letterman jacket and took off the sleeveless hoodie he wore to reveal his bare chest, shivering when the cool air in his room met his skin.

as [y/n] began taking off the rest of his clothes and shoes, he let his mind wander back to raphael. he wondered if he had made it home safely, too. he'll have to text and check up on that. he couldn't stop the smile that stretched across his face when he recalled that night's events, free-falling backwards onto his bed and letting himself shimmy underneath the covers to get comfortable.

as fatigued as he was, he fished out his phone from underneath the thick quilts and opened his messaging app to shoot a quick text to raph. his eyelids were threatening to close at any second, his thumbs lazily dancing across the screen, and he hoped autocorrect would do its job to fix any of his typing mistakes.

[y/n]2cool
yo big man
did u make it back home safe?

raphael.h1984
yes i did!!! did u??:)

[y/n]2cool
sho did
jus got bck a second ago

raphael.h1984
thts good:)
u still down to link tmr? ^o^

[y/n]2cool
yahhhh
ball or js hang?? idc which one we do

raphael.h1984
me too
we could just hang maybe
link at tha mall? (°▽°)

[y/n]2cool
bet
i'll see u there aftr skoo
im hella tired rn so ima pass out
gn bro

raphael.h1984
good night lil dude!٩(^‿^)۶
sweet dreams

"what a weirdo." [y/n] laughed tiredly into his plush pillow, his heavy eyes finally closing after seeing raphael's good night text. his body began to go slack against the mattress, his phone slowly slipping downward as his grip loosened on the device. "night, big man..." he slurred without thinking, lips pushing out from the pressure against the pillow and finally his breath began to slow down.

his body rose up and down gently from the rhythmic breathing, the sleeping boy barely missing the three dots that popped up on his phone to indicate that the other was typing. it disappeared and then it reappeared, before it disappeared again.

raphael was on the other side, struggling to word out his thoughts over text. he laid on his side, frown pulling on the corners of his lips as his big thumbs threatened to press the send button.

why don't you treat me like a monster? |

he hesitated, taking a deep breath in before quickly backspacing on his message to get rid of it. he shut off the device and set it on his nightstand, turning his back to it and huffed out an irritated breath while pulling his blanket over his shoulder.

raphael didn't need to ruin the friendship he just gained with a silly question.

Chapter Text

[y/n] stared ahead at the white board smudged with blue and black ink from the dry erase markers being messily erased, hazy eyes going unfocused causing the blue and black to mold together right in front of him like an aurora borealis.

the teacher began writing upon the board with a red dry erase marker, which rudely broke his daydream apart. the man resumed the discussion of the lesson at hand, which fell upon deaf ears. [y/n] huffed out a sigh, staring down at his notebook page which held no writing, except for the messy encryption of his name and the date written at the top corner of the page.

twenty minutes into the lesson and he still hadn't taken any notes. it wasn't his fault! the teacher was so boring to listen to, and the board was too smudged for [y/n] to even see the writing placed upon it. he could feel the irritation build up in his chest from having to sit still for so long, pursing his lips to the side and tapped his pen harshly against the blank page in a rhythm, which caught the attention of his classmate sitting next to him.

"again, [y/n]?" she sighed in exasperation, leaning her body to the side to give him a questioning look, her curly space buns bouncing with every movement she made.

said boy turned his head to look at her only for a second, before scoffing and shaking his head with an annoyed expression. he knew he was about to get scolded to hell and back, because that was what always happened when they had a class together. she was ruthless.

she used to tutor him when he was still in middle school, and once he made it to high school she made sure he stayed on top of all of his classes.

"you can't keep doing this y'know." the girl paused her note-taking, setting down her pen to lean forward and rest her elbows on the table. "one of these times i'm not gon' be here to give you my notes, and you know damn well nobody in this class take pretty notes like me." she teased. her remark got a laugh out of [y/n], which she returned when she found his chuckles contagious.

he sighed, leaning back against his chair and began to scribble mindlessly on the blank page. "i know, april." was all he responded with, voice croaky with fatigue. the more he began to scribble the more his hazy eyes locked in on the page, his pupils dilating as he began to lose his focus and started to daydream.

[y/n] was never one to be on top with grades or keep up with any schoolwork. he had more important things to worry about than finding out the answer to how much soap bottles daniel bought. fuck daniel.

"why can't you focus, [y/n]?" april's inquiry broke him out of his zoned out state, and he turned his head to look at her with a curious expression.

"what?" [y/n] whispered, leaning his head forward with a furrowed brow.

april leaned her chin against the palm of her hand, staring at him with an all-knowing look. "can you even read what's up on the board right now?" her squeaky voice rang in his ears, and he was taken aback by her words.

[y/n] looked at the board out of the corner of his eyes and looked back at her, shrugging his shoulders. "what's dat gotta do wit' anything?" he questioned with a smile, feeling his smile begin to drop when he heard the deafening silence coming from april.

"so, you can read it?" she asked, tilting her head with a teasing smile.

[y/n] looked back at the board, only seeing blobs of words mixed together. he couldn't read it. "am i s'pposed ta be able to read it?" he looked back at april, genuine confusion written on his face as he leaned forward.

he heard april let out a hefty sigh, her shoulders slumping down. "you have to get'cho eyes checked, babe." was all she said before she turned her body back towards the front of the class, picking up her pen to continue taking notes.

"that doesn-that doesn't answer anythin', man." he muttered, throwing his hands up in the air slightly. "can y'u see da board?" he whispered, leaning forward on his forearms to look at her face.

"yes, [y/n]. i can see the board, and judging by how surprised you are, i'm guessing your glasses are gonna be pretty thick, boy."

"what? i don't need glasses."

april side-eyed him, narrowing her eyes with pursed lips. at the sudden silence, [y/n] scoffed and leaned back on his chair, rolling his head back to expose his prominent adam's apple which bobbed up and down when he groaned.

"this some bullshit, man."

———

another school day, another eventful basketball practice.

[y/n] loved basketball with a passion, it was something he wanted to go into professionally if he was given the chance! but his grades were holding him down. he was one more 'F' away from being kicked off the team. some of his teammates were in the same boat, and they were all given a long lecture about the importance of their education.

basketball was one of his big distractions. whether it be to distract himself from his home life, his shitty grades, cassandra... he couldn't lose it all now. not when his little brothers and sister were so excited to watch his first game of the season which was a month away.

with the sudden news of his status on the team, [y/n] felt his world fall apart. he just wanted to stay home and mourn over the news in bed and maybe cry about it to mac demarco. but he wasn't a li'l bitch like that! "mom ain't raise no girl." is what he told himself when he walked home, slapping his cheeks to stop the quivering in his lip.

[y/n] only had a month to get his grades up. that was enough time in hindsight, but he knew something was going to come in between him and his goal.

he pulled his bulky headphones over his ears to distract himself, pulling out his phone to put on a song that would get him in a good mood. but why is it that when you're in the worst mood possible, everybody wants to talk to you? text messages rolled in like an ocean wave, some from his teammates, some from kids he was partnered with in classes, april... but no raphael. and when you're in the worst mood possible, the one person you want to talk to isn't there.

"fuck," [y/n] growled, opening april's text message first since she was one of his pinned chats and immediately rolled his eyes after reading what she sent.

aprilspov
you should really get your eyes checked babes
it'll do you good! your grades will improve if you could finally see
just lmk if you're down. yk i got you covered bae!

as much as he appreciated her offer, there was no way in hell [y/n] was going to wear nerdy ass glasses. he held his phone with both hands, ready to type a long heated message to april, only to see a notification pop up at the top of his phone.

raphael.h1984
wspppp! u still down to hang today? ^ - ^

[y/n] paused in his steps, a gasp leaving his lips at the message. he forgot about whatever he was going to text april, tapping on raph's banner quickly and his thumbs danced skillfully across the keyboard to reply to his friend.

[y/n]2cool
YES |

no, that sounds too desperate.

[y/n]2cool
yeah!!

no! you're typing like a girl!

[y/n]2cool
yh im down lol

nailed it.

meet at the mall?

[y/n] paced around in circles on the pavement, biting down on his finger nails while anxiously waiting for a response. he almost jumped out of excitement when he saw the three dots pop up at the bottom of his screen, indicating that raphael was typing.

raphael.h1984
yes! i'll be getting ready (^o^)
i'll lyk when im there

[y/n] shot a quick 'ok' telling raph that he'd be waiting at the food court for him. the mall was about a seven minute walk from where he was currently standing, and he pumped his fist in excitement while hopping on his toes in a little circle.

he was conflicted though. he turned to look over his shoulder, eyes locked in the direction to his home and pursed his lips as he had an inner debate with himself.

his siblings would be waiting for him right about now. he felt a little guilty that he hadn't been able to spend as much time as he wanted to with them. his heart ached, telling his brain to cancel the plans with raphael and just go back home.

but his mom was home today.

raphael had been like [y/n]'s little happy pill as of late and maybe he had gone a little overboard by hanging out with him almost every single night. [y/n] hissed inwardly, his head moving back and forth as if thinking about his choices before he huffed out a guilty groan, pulling out his phone to send a text to his brother that he would get home late.

his siblings would be fine. his mom was home today so they had someone to watch over them!

he didn't bother to check for his response because soon after he sent that message to his brother, he started running towards the mall, light on his toes and taking long strides to get there faster. he could feel his heart racing just from the very thought of hanging out with raphael and he wondered if he looked a little crazy in the eyes of the people he ran passed.

he made it to the mall in a blink of an eye, finding an empty table in the food court to sit at until he got a text from raph. the mall was exceptionally busy, the many voices of people ranging from all ages mixing together and managed to ring against [y/n]'s eardrums, even through his loud music playing in his earbuds.

he took this time to analyze his surroundings, pursing his lips when he saw what he usually did. blobs of blended colors walking around and the blurry glowing signs of the nearby food places in the mall. was what april said right? did he really need glasses? he couldn't imagine a world being clearer than this—probably because he'd never seen a clear view of the world since his eyesight was always this blurry. but he didn't think it was that bad. he didn't need those damn glasses.

[y/n]'s phone pinged, to which he quickly pulled it out and perked up when raphael said he just made it to the food court. he told the turtle which table he was sitting at and impatiently waited, his knee bouncing anxiously and his bottom lip was being devoured by his teeth.

[y/n] wondered what they would do together. he had some money on him... maybe they could buy some food and just talk, or walk around and go on those little kid rides that were randomly placed in the middle the mall just for fun. they could possibly check out his favorite shops and see what they had for sale. there was so much to do!

"hey, lil dude." he heard a gruff voice speak in front of him, breaking him out of his thoughts and looked up at the red and gray blob in front of him.

[y/n] gave raphael a big smile, raising his hand for raphael to dap up. "hey, big man." he rasped. they dapped each other up and raphael took a seat in front of [y/n], his big figure hunched over to rest his elbows on the table.

"how was'yer day?" the other teen inquired, mirroring [y/n]'s gentle smile with a tilt of his head. "anythin' new at schoo'?"

[y/n] hummed, leaning forward in his chair while bringing his foot up to rest on the chair. "not really... jus' da same as any other day." he hugged his knee to his chest, resting his chin against his kneecap while looking down at the table.

raphael could see the solemn expression on [y/n]'s face which made the corners of his lips tug downwards into a frown. just seeing the boy in a bad mood left an ugly taste in raphael's mouth. he was always one to feel the emotions of others and when his brothers would cry, it would make his eyes start to tear up as well. it was like he could feel the aching in their heart in his own.

"what's tha matter?" raphael spoke softly, tilting his chin down in an attempt to meet [y/n]'s eyes. "i know taday wasn't 'tha same as any other day,'" he paused, perking up when he noticed the boy's eyebrow twitch at his words. "y'know ya can tell me if somethin' went wrong. it's alright ta talk 'bout yer bad days."

[y/n] let out a little chuckle, as if he was thinking about it. he sucked in a sharp hiss through his teeth, before he hummed in thought. "jus' some stuff with da basketball team 's all." he pushed himself off his knee, hands cupping underneath his chair to scoot himself closer to the table.

raphael hummed in understanding, not forcing anything out of [y/n]. if he wanted to go more in depth, he would. raphael wouldn't dare force his friend to be uncomfortable by forcing him to talk about something that happened. "anythin' fun happen taday?"

it felt like the turtle was a mom inquiring her child about their day at school, which [y/n] was unfamiliar to. he was usually the one asking these questions and looking after people, making sure their needs came first. raphael had such a nurturing feeling to him, it almost felt natural.

it was like [y/n] was talking to himself.

"i got ta beat my coach one-v-one." [y/n] laughed, his shoulders quaking with his laughter. "i broke his li'l old man ankles."

this ruptured a hefty laugh out of raphael, the both of their laughs mixing together like a perfect harmony. "wish i was there ta see it." he chuckled, hiding his mouth with a fist to conceal his expression from [y/n]—not like he could see it anyway.

they conversed like normal after that, their conversation not sounding forced or awkward—it was natural. their words rolled right off their tongues with ease as if they had no need to think about what to say, and they both retaliated at each other quickly when they went into a teasing fit. they gestured wildly with their hands as they talked loudly, their laughs beginning to sound like cackles from a hyena. they didn't care about the grimacing people that stared at them with worry, or how the food court quieted down a little when their voices began to get louder and louder as the more time went on.

they had calmed down a little, [y/n] recovering from a laughing fit with his hand placed over his aching ribs, thumb massaging the harsh bone to relieve it in a way. raphael was in the same boat, leaning against his arm that rested against the table, his shoulders still quaking from silent laughter. they let out breathy sighs, using that as a way to tell their bodies to pause the laughter.

[y/n] perked his head up, his foggy eyes focused on the blob that was raphael in front of him. he wet his lips with his tongue, tilting his head to the side as he thought about what to say next. "raph?" he said his friends name, effectively catching his attention. "what'dya think 'bout people with glasses?"

"i think they're cute." raphael didn't miss a beat, responding with such certainty that it startled [y/n]. "somethin' 'bout those glasses dat only have frames at tha top or those clear framed ones..." the red-clad teen trailed off, resting his cheek against the palm of his hand. "i like how they look. they're really nice. kinda attractive." he nodded his head affirmatively at his own words, then averted his gaze to look at [y/n] with an oblivious smile. "why'dya ask?"

[y/n] gulped, looking off to the side while shrugging his shoulders. "oh, uh-it's jus... somethin' fer an essay. i'on know." he croaked, side-eyeing the turtle as he nervously scratched the back of his neck.

for the rest of the time that they visited, the boy couldn't help but let his mind wander back to raphael's words, his heart picking up pace when he thought about it.

[y/n] bit on the inside of his cheek, rolling his head back to play off his flustered expression. well, if raph thought glasses were nice he should probably give the eye exam a try, right?

just because he thought they were nice. no other reason.

Chapter Text

[y/n] was so incredibly frustrated. he stayed home from school to watch his younger siblings who were sick with a common cold, cook everyone breakfast, lunch, and was currently cooking dinner. he was trying desperately to keep an eye on the sick little ones, all while cooking with another sick child in his arms who was dead asleep on his hip.

it didn't matter how big any of his siblings were. he'd hold them like they were newborn babies even if they were grown adults. the love he had for his siblings was special. no matter how stressed he got looking after them, he made sure they never received the brunt end of his temper, because it was never their fault that he had to look after them like a father.

today was just one of those days where he was so overwhelmed with everything and his mother talking his ear off wasn't helping. she had gotten home early from work, immediately pointing out the mess in the living room and kitchen as she took off her shoes.

[y/n] could feel the pounding headache slowly coming with how his ears started to ring and he bit back a pained grunt that threatened to leave his lips when his eyes stung from the headache.

his mother kept pointing out the number of dishes that needed to be done, the twins' dirty laundry that needed to be taken down to the laundromat, and even critiquing how [y/n] was cooking.

"ma, i'm a li'l busy, ya think ya could jus' shut. up? i can't even think." he desperately tried to speak over her loud voice and when she went silent while slamming her hand on the counter, he knew he was in deep shit.

"excuse me?"

[y/n] pursed his lips, looking over his shoulder to quickly glance at the woman before gazing back down at the food he was cooking, getting straight back to work. "what?"

"don't act like you don't know what ya jus' did. ya wanna talk like that? do it at yer dad's place. here, ya don't tell me to shut up." she gestured to herself, looking appalled when she saw him roll his eyes at her words. "don't roll your eyes at me, boy!"

[y/n] shook his head, his arm working harder on the food he was cooking while he tightened his jaw. "so, ya can tell me ta shuddup whenever ya want, but when i do it issa probl'm." he scoffed, not even caring about watching his tone. he was too tired to think.

she pursed her lips setting a hand on her hip while hardening her glare at her son. "it's not like that. i am your mother, you are my child. when i tell you to do something, i expect it to be done."

[y/n] clicked his tongue, setting his spatula down on the counter while turning to face his mother. "'nd what do y'u do?" he growled, tired eyes narrowing at his mother while he tilted his head. "y'know, ya always threaten ta send me ta dad's, but being anywhere dat's not here is relieving. 'n what exactly're ya gon' do when i'm not here? cook? watch after ya kids? clean the house?" he gestured to the dirty dishes that were beginning to stack and the countless toys that laid in the doorway to the kitchen. "ya always tell me ta do shit, but never have i once seen you doin' the chores! it's always me. i stay home when da kids are sick. i cook them dinner. i help them wit' their homework. i take them out ta shop fer clothes 'nd school supplies. i. do. everything!"

it was silent. [y/n]'s mother stared at him through narrowed eyes, lips pursed and hands glued to her hips. "so, what do you want me to do?" she finally broke the silence, tilting her head with a furrowed brow. "i work all day, you want me to just drop everything when one of you are sick? how else am i supposed to get money on the table, hm? how else would you be getting that food that you are cooking right now?" she gestured to pots and pans on the stove.

[y/n] let out a shaky sigh, running a hand down his face to get rid of the stinging feeling behind his eyes. "all i want is for y'u ta care! ya don't need ta drop everything, can't ya jus'... can't ya jus' show a li'l bit of worry?" he wanted to cry, clenching his hand into a fist right in front of his chest to showcase the intense emotion he was feeling. "they ask for y'u, ma... they ask fer y'u, ask where ya are, ask when yer comin' home, 'nd ask when yer gonna come tuck them in!" his voice began to shake and he swallowed as if it would rid the shakiness in his voice. "da least y'u can do is show them y'u care! puttin' money onna table doesn't do that. they don't understand. they need ya to at least smile in their direction 'nd they'll know... but as soon as ya get home, ya run yer mouth, y'u complain! ya don't even acknowledge them, y'u just go straight ta yer room!"

[y/n]'s voice began to rise higher in pitch, something that usually happened to his voice when he got angry. he did his best to keep his voice hushed so his siblings wouldn't hear, but he couldn't help the last exclamation shoot across the room. [y/n]'s younger brother twitched in his arms, not fully waking up from the volume of his voice and his body fell limp again when a long pause carried through out the kitchen.

when the long silence only continued to carry out, [y/n] was quick to jump on it first before his mother opened her mouth. "y'u always claim to be tired as soon as ya get home, so dat leaves me to take care of yer kids. clean da house, cook dinner, give da kids a bath, 'n i even wash dirty clothes... yer dirty clothes!" he exclaimed, shaking his fist angrily at his side. "i take care o' da kids so much dat they cry fer me instead of you...! kian don't even call you mom... he calls me dad!" he let out a shaky breath, adjusting his brother on his hip before continuing. "don't ya wanna have a relationship wit' yer kids, ma?"

he stood there in silence, nostrils flared and jaw tight. he held a protective hand against his younger brother's head when the silence of his mother became too long. [y/n] knew he struck a nerve with his last few words, knowing how sensitive his mother was when it came to her youngest son.

the first time she heard kian call for "dad," and [y/n] came running to him, she wanted to sob. the little boy had attempted to walk on his own with no assistance, falling straight to the ground and immediately wailed at the scrape of his tiny knees. he refused to go to her. he only wanted [y/n] and hid his tiny face in his shoulder as the older boy kissed his cheek.

the first thing she did when she came to, was grab the child out of [y/n]'s arms and pushed him against the stove, causing him to burn his forearm against the hot surface. but he didn't focus on the pain, too caught up with what his mother said next.

"get the hell out."

———

this is usually how most nights went when his mother came back home from a stressful shift. [y/n] would be sitting out in the darkness of new york because of his mother's temper tantrums, only to return home hours later because she'd cry over the phone and beg him to return. she didn't mean it really... she loved him very much.

he's her first child, she could never hate him.

she was just stressed. had her own issues to deal with. [y/n] understood completely... but it still hurt when shit would hit the fan between them.

[y/n] huffed out a sigh, the tip of his nose and his ears beginning to tingle after being exposed to the cold. he placed his warm hands over his ears, in hopes to warm them up a bit as he trekked the surprisingly empty streets of new york.

it was quiet. there was no sight of oncoming traffic or even the diverse amount of people he usually saw when he went outside. it was a bit scary... but [y/n] thanked whatever gods were watching over him for the silence as his headache begun to worsen due to the cold air hitting his skin.

maybe he could quickly run to the gas station nearby... get a tylonel and something to snack on while he waited for his mother's call.

[y/n] dropped his hands from his ears, shoving his cold fingers inside of his hoodie's pockets to shield them from the stinging cool air. he loved the cold weather... but he hated it when he had no one to enjoy it with. maybe he should text april? never mind, if he went to her house, she'd make him start doing the homework he missed today at school.

maybe he should text raphael? ask him if he was free to hang for a few hours before he went back home? maybe he could even hang at raphael's house! the thought made him perk up, and he begun to theorize how raph's house would look. what were his parents like? any siblings? would his house be warm or cold? he hopes it was warm... his fingers are so locked up from the cold he doesn't even think he can pull out his phone and text.

[y/n] was too caught up in thinking about raphael, going into a state of oblivion as his mind swarmed with questions and plans on how to pass the time. he was so distracted, [y/n] didn't even notice the dark blue blob that had suddenly appeared by his side, matching his steps, quietly, and walked with a little pep in their step.

"it's pretty quiet out here, huh, stranger?"

[y/n] let out a screech of incoherent gibberish, swinging a fist at the figure and landed a good blow to their cheek, sending them flying backwards and onto the pavement. he gasped, pressing his hand against his mouth in shock when he heard the figure groan from his spot on the floor.

"i am sooo sorry! oh my fuckin' god, dude!" [y/n] quickly ran up to the figure, extending his arms out to help them stand back on their feet all the while profusely apologizing. "i swear i didn't mean to hit ya dat hard, bro! oh my god, fuck. are you alright, bro? does it hurt? i'm so sorry!"

the stranger just laughed, pressing a hand against his aching cheek while waving off [y/n] with a snarky grin. "it's alright, bro. it didn't even hurt all that bad! i've been through worse!" a cheerful voice rang through the air, flamboyant and boisterous. "it's my fault anyway, i snuck up on you on a quiet street! i expect ya to do nothing else."

[y/n] grimaced, taking a step back while staring at the blurry figure's face trying to make out a distinguishing bruise that the person could've had. "still... i ain't mean to hit ya, man." he threw his arms in the air with a gargled scream, hands digging into his hair. "BRO! i feel so bad! i'm so sorry!" he hunched over in an apologizing bow, almost dropping to his knees to show the stranger how sorry he was.

the stranger began to splutter, bringing [y/n] back onto his feet while making flustered noises. "you don't have to bow, man. i know you didn't mean it!"

"bro, please just lemme humiliate myself in front of ya... i fuckin' socked ya in the face."

"please, don't."

"well, den... lemme buy somethin' for ya!" [y/n] suddenly beamed, extending his hands forward a bit to show how genuine he was. "i'm goin' to da gas station... i could get ya somethin' ta drink maybe? or jus' get what'ver ya want!"

the figure seemed to think for a while, before mischievously chuckling under their breath and wrapped an arm around [y/n]'s shoulder who looked down at the figure's blurry side profile with a confused expression. "who am i to evade free stuff? now, vamonos, mi amigo! onwards to this gas station!"

ooh... [y/n] did not like that laugh that escaped the stranger. he was starting to regret his offer a little. "before i buy ya somethin', whas yo name?"

the boy brought [y/n] closer to him, leaning the sides of their foreheads together before lowering his voice to talk to him. "it's leonardo... but you can jus' call me tu futuro marido, mi vida."

[y/n] resisted the urge to grimace and pulled his head away with a stink expression. "i'll pass, thanks."

———

[y/n] glanced down at his empty wallet with an exasperated sigh, pocketing the leather object into his hoodie before looking over towards leonardo, who was slurping three blue razz slushee's all at once. this stranger took all of his life savings in one gas station run... which wasn't much, it was quite literally only sixteen dollars and a singular penny.

they were currently sitting on some swings that were near the gas station, choosing to eat their snacks there and to hang out to kill time.

"how's them blue razz's taste?" [y/n] grumbled, resting his chin against his shoulder as he eyed the blue blob in front of him.

leonardo popped his mouth off of the straws with a loud exhale, deflating after he broke away from the cups. "sho good!" he grabbed one of the slushee's and waved it around in front of [y/n]'s face. "ya want one?!"

"hard pass." the boy lifted up his hand to halt the cup from coming any closer to his face. "ya might have da herp or somethin' 'n i'm not down ta catch dat from a random guy." he rasped, his eyebrow twitching slightly.

leo went silent after those words, pursing his lips in thought before he gasped loudly and held a proud smile on his face. "ohhh! herpes!"

[y/n] spluttered random gibberish out, scooting away the best he could on his little swing as a fearful expression took over his face. "don't jus' scream dat shit out loud! muffuckas gon' walk by 'n think we have dat shit!" he began to dart his head around left and right to scope out the area, luckily finding that no citizens were around.

leonardo didn't seem to care, only obnoxiously laughing with a half-hearted apology. when the boy's panic was settled, leo's eyes trained on his side profile, plopping one of the slushee straws into his mouth. he let a smile come onto his lips and tilted his head forward with analyzing eyes, trying to get a closer view of the boys face.

[y/n] noticed leo's adamant staring, only because he could feel the boy burn holes into the side of his head. he furrowed a brow at the blue blob, hands tightening around the chains that held the swing he sat on. "what'chya lookin' at?"

"you." leo responded quickly, chuckling under his breath when he saw [y/n] turn his head away with a click of his tongue, obviously flustered from the comment with how he pursed his lips. "you're really handsome, y'know."

"shut up." [y/n] muttered under his breath, beginning to play with the cold chains his hands rested on. "ya don't mean dat..."

leo shot forward with all his slushees, smiling directly into [y/n]'s face. "of course i do! someone as handsome as me knows beauty as soon as he sees it." he teased, pressing his palm to his cheek as if showcasing himself. "so... you goin' into modeling? i'm sure you have a bright career in that!" leo continued to gas up [y/n], enjoying how the boy writhed and made flustered gestures. "you have a face made for vogue!"

"um..." [y/n] let out a nervous laugh as he shook his head, flashing leo a smile. "respectfully, no." the boy said after his nervous fit of laughter, which earned a genuine one from leo at such a nonchalant response.

"so, what are you interested in for the future?" leo was quick to ask, leaning forward in his swing and pressed his cheek against the swing's chain.

"i'm more focused on, like, basketball right now?" [y/n]'s voice became raspy due to the cold air hitting the back of his throat. "i already have some colleges lookin' at me right now 'nd they want me ta come play fer them after i graduate... and that's just all i have in mind. i don't have a set degree i want to go into. might jus' make a living off ball."

leo perked up at this, tilting his head forward curiously. "hey, that's pretty cool, though! i bet ya i could beat you one-on-one." he teased, lowly, watching [y/n]'s face darken at the competition and the slider bit his bottom lip when the boy shot him a snarky smirk.

"is datta challenge?"

"hell, yes!" leo shot up from his spot on the swing, jumping in front of [y/n], clutching the slushees tightly against his chest. "so, you should, like, y'know... give me your number.~" leo cooed, wiggling whatever nonexistent eyebrows he had towards [y/n], who immediately dropped his smile and looked away.

"y'know, what? i think i hafta go. bye."

"NO, WAIT! i was just kidding!" leo quickly shot forward, preventing [y/n] from getting up from his swing.

the boy groaned and leaned back, hands holding on the chains to keep him sturdy as he dangled his upper body off the swing, his head nearly touching the ground with how far back he leaned. "yer like some pervert. keepin' me trapped, asking fer my number and forcing me ta buy ya an entire gas station..." he complained, debating whether or not he should just let go of the swings and fall onto the ground to knock himself unconscious.

"HEY! you offered to buy me somethin' because you punched me!"

"'cuz y'u was bein' a perv!"

"i was not!"

their little debate continued for a minute, with just then repeating "was, too" "was not!" for the entirety of it. eventually they settled down, neither of them actually winning and decided to just sit on the swings and stay silent to prevent any nearby pedestrians from calling the cops due to them being quite loud.

after a while, [y/n] sat up from his hanging on the swing and broke the silence by coughing out a chuckle of disbelief. his throat was dry from the cold but he didn't seem to care about it. this caught leo's attention, who furrowed a nonexistent brow and popped his lips off of the straws to his slushees.

"what's so funny?"

[y/n] waved off leonardo, shaking his head and quieted down his laughter. "it's nothin' really. it's jus' lately i've been meetin' some weird people,"

"you saying i'm odd?" leo retorted in a defensive tone.

"yes, 'n don't even try ta deny it, cuz ya are." [y/n] chuckled when he heard leo seethe quietly underneath his breath. he sighed through his nose, watching the warm air create a little cloud before disappearing. "being weird is coo', though. i met t'is hella cool guy last week, right?" [y/n] swallowed, craning his neck to look up at the foggy night sky. "he got t'is cool ass name, too. raphael." he laughed out the name.

leo flinched a bit at the name, eyes widening when pieces of his mind began to click together the more he listened to [y/n]'s rambling.

"the first moment i saw him, he was talkin' to himself all crazy like. saying some off shit 'nd lowkey i thought he was tweakin' on somethin', but i ended up talkin' to him anyway." he and leo shared a quick laugh before he continued. "so i played ball wit' him, jus' cuz i thought he was weird! 'nd guess what? he is. super weird. but that's what makes him cool." he looks towards leo, his hazy eyes finally holding some sort of shine that made the turtle melt. "i made my first friend that's jus' like me."

leo wanted to coo at the boy. this was the same boy his brother snuck out to see almost every day. the one he and his brother's weren't able to see fully that night they followed raphael.

leonardo stared at [y/n]'s face, drinking in every single detail of his face before he let a genuine smile rise to his lips, feeling something heavy sit on his heart. his brother had made a friend who liked him for who he was... no wonder he kept it all a secret. leonardo would've done the same. "you must really like him, huh?" his usual teasing tone was gone now. it was now full of genuine curiosity.

"yeah, i do." [y/n] ran his tongue over his teeth before looking over at leo, letting the turtle see his bashful smile. "i like ya too, though, man." he whispered, not catching how leo's face became a darker shade and how it contorted into one of a shocked expression. "yer so fuckin' weird... like my friend. 'n sure ya might be a perv or what'ver, but yer still cool, i guess."

ah, there it was. leo felt his expression fall blank, rolling his eyes while turning his face away from [y/n]. "wow, thanks." he monotonously droned, voice laced with heavy sarcasm that could rival his twin brothers.

"don't mention it." [y/n] replied, and leo could practically hear the cheeky smile with how he said his words.

leonardo went quiet, lips planted on his straws before he began taking big gulps out of his slushees, going deep into thought. his brother was meddling around with a human on the surface, but the human wasn't a threat to him or his family. he genuinely liked raphael, leonardo could tell... the way [y/n] brightened when he said his name and talked about how they first met. leonardo felt his heart grow heavier and heavier the more he thought about it.

he felt jealous.

"ya good, leo?"

"yes!" leo shot up off his spot on the swing, hands hugging the slushees so hard that they indented under his tight grip. he cleared his throat, turning towards [y/n] but refused to meet the human's hazy eyes. "i have to go. you think i could get your number...? for real this time?" he barely managed to whisper that last part out, suddenly feeling a bit shy.

[y/n] stared at the blue figure in front of him before pursing his lips to hide his smile. "don't get no crazy ideas, blue." he pulled out his phone, handing it towards leo for him to type his number into. "i better not be gettin' sent somethin' weird at, like, three in da morning..."

leonardo shook his head with an amused huff. "no promises." he quickly took the device, typing with a bit of struggle due to the slushees in his arms, but managed to get all his digits correctly, putting down his contact name and decided not to settle on a picture for himself. he handed [y/n] his phone and bashfully bowed his head towards the boy. "thanks for the, uh... the slushees."

"yeah, yeah." [y/n] waved him off, tilting his head to the side with closed eyes. "if ya want to max out my credit card again jus' hit my line."

leo laughed obnoxiously at this, his attitude returning within mere seconds. "don't gotta tell me twice!" he began to strut away, refusing to take his eyes off [y/n] who smiled at him while waving goodbye. leo waved the best he could with the slushees in his arms, feeling a bit of dread for leaving so early... but he needed to get home. he was feeling a bit conflicted with himself and he didn't want [y/n] to see his thoughts running wild.

once leonardo was officially gone and out of sight, [y/n] let his smile drop and looked down at his phone that opened up on leo's contact. he stared at the name for a bit before pressing the edit button and began typing away. once he was finished with his work, he proudly pressed 'done' and admired the new contact in his phone.

blue pervert.
212-xxx-xxx

"suits you well, don't ya think, leo?" [y/n] spoke aloud to no one in particular, shutting off his phone and pocketed the device. he stood from his spot on the swing, stretching his back out before he began to trudge out of the playground, hazy eyes locking on the wet footprints leo left behind after stepping in a wet puddle.

"huh... he has some weird shoes..."

Chapter Text

donatello was never one to clean up his lab, preferring to have the usual organized mess he was accustomed to, but today was a little different. april had texted him practically begging him to do an eye test on her beloved friend, even going so far as to bribe donnie and offering him anything he wanted. and who was he to pass such an opportunity to get anything he wanted?

how april was going to obtain uranium for him, he didn't know. but he expected for her to uphold her side of the deal!

donnie did his best to make sure everything was in place, pulling out his makeshift eye test equipment and got everything he needed just in case he needed to make a pair of glasses for the poor blind soul.

the softshell turtle huffed out a heavy "sigh" (he said the word aloud at a very loud volume) and clapped the dust off his fingers while admiring his makeshift eye clinic. he had no need to worry about disguising himself in front of this newcomer, as april said his eyesight was pretty bad. donnie felt a little sympathy for the friend of april, having to live in such a world where he couldn't see a thing! this person was practically seeing the world as if he was watching a low quality youtube video!

"hey, dee.~" a sinister voice rang in his eardrums and donnie felt his shoulders sag at the sound of his twin brother's voice.

"hello, nardo." he seethed, turning to look over his shoulder to see the slider leaning against his desk and staring at him with a cocky smile. "what brings you here to my genius boy domain?" he turned his attention back to his eye clinic, making sure he had everything he needed one last time. "lord knows a dum-dum boy like you needs help from moi."

leonardo pursed his lips in shock, darting his eyes to the side before he scoffed out an offended laugh, resting his cheek against his shoulder. "okay, ouch. as much as being called a dum-dum boy hurt my wittle ol' feelings." he spoke a baby voice, before raising his hand to pause donnie's retort to his words, looking at his brother with such seriousness that made the softshell halt his movement to give his brother in blue all of his attention. "i have something to tell you... and it's like... super fucking important."

donnie gnawed on his bottom lip before gesturing to leo that they sit in some nearby chairs, which they did and sat in silence for a moment as leo gathered his thoughts.

the slider finally took a deep breath in and said his words all in one breath. "i met the guy that raph sneaks out to see."

"you WHAT!?"

leo shot forward, shushing his brother vehemently and pressed his big hand over his twins' mouth, stammering out gibberish to try and get his brother to silence himself. donnie did his best to evade his brothers touch, shaking his head from side-to-side violently while screeching unintelligible words that leo could tell were curses to his well-being.

"shh! donnie, donnie! i didn't meet him on purpose!" leo hissed, which seemed to successfully silence the softshell. donnie furrowed his eyebrows up at his twin brother, obviously waiting for an explanation. the slider sucked in a sheepish breath, pulling away from his twin brother and turned his shell to him, hanging his head low. "i snuck out last night to avoid chores..."

donnie shot up with an offending gasp. "I KNEW IT!" he screeched, pointing his big finger right at leo and continued to spit curses at the slider. "i had to clean the bathroom because of you! do you know how dirty a bathroom only used by four little turtle boys and one rat man gets?!" donnie sucked in a breath to compose himself, feeling a single tear slip through his eye. "it was horrible... it smelled like a pig sty..."

"sounds like a you problem, tee-bee-h." leo said under his breath, saying the abbreviation aloud like the little silly guy he is. "anyways... he was so fine!" leo punched the air in front of them and immediately donnie tuned everything out. "he's such an asshole but he's so beautiful... maybe even more beautiful than don suave but i couldn't, like, y'know get on my hands and knees and—"

"PAUSE!" donnie shot up from his seat, a flustered expression on his face. "please... i'd prefer you not spill your weird fantasies onto me again, my dearest brother. last time i had to use guided meditation to help me sleep just to get rid of those sick thoughts of don suave out of my head." he then began to walk away towards his contraptions he just set up, tinkering with them a bit to get his mind off whatever his brother was about to say.

leo laughed obnoxiously, standing to follow donnie suit and watched the softshell rearrange a few things at his makeshift eye clinic. "dude, i'm telling you if you saw this guy, you'd be just like me!" he halted himself from moving any further, furrowing an eye down at the familiar contraptions in front of him. he looked over towards donnie, furrowing a nonexistent brow. "did your eyesight get worse?" his voice was laced with such genuine fear and worry that donnie felt his heart pang painfully.

donnie stood up straight, stretching his arms over his head to play off the heavy feeling in his chest. "no, thank god. april just needed it set up 'cause she wanted me to check out her poor friend's eyesight." he said, gesturing towards the array of tests he had set up for the guest. "hence why i pulled out all of the old eye tests i have! with the way april talks about their sight, i'm assuming they need a lot of my help."

leo whistled down at the lit lamp that was obviously stolen from a hospital due to its pristine condition and poked at it with his finger before sucking his lips in. "and they're coming here? to the lair?" he droned, voice laced with nerves at the thought of an unknown human visiting their beloved home.

"yeah, but don't worry about it, i'm making april uses a completely different trail to the lair to throw the guest off. the trail itself is quite confusing because i set up some things, but with the persons horrible eyesight there's no way they'd be able to remember the way here. especially with all my obstacles." donnie spoke confidently, perking up when he heard a ping rattle the tech on his wrist and lifted it to his eyes to check. "and! they're almost here!" donnie exclaimed with a little too much excitement.

"can i stay 'n watch, donald? i think my little dum-dum boy brain needs to watch a genius boy at work to get smarter!" he teased his brother, earning a loud "groan" from donnie, to which he laughed obnoxiously in return.

donnie whipped his arm to point at the chairs they previously used and moved his finger to point at a corner for him to sit at. "you can watch as long as you sit quietly and say no vile comments about my genius boy work!"

leo saluted his brother and gracefully spun like a ballerina towards the chair, to which donnie rolled his eyes and began to speedily walk towards the entrance of his lab, waiting on april and her new friend. he just hoped he had the right prescription for someone as blind as this anonymous guest.

———

"april, i told ya i don't need glasses, man." [y/n] seethed under his breath, holding his palm against his warm forehead.

april rolled her eyes with a frown, tired of having to hear her friend complain about getting his eyes checked for the umpteenth time. "okay, let's say you don't need glasses... at least you get your eyes checked?" she shrugged her shoulders, looking off to the side and noticed familiar purple lighting. "and besides, having glasses won't be as bad as you think it is! you won't look like a nerd, babe!"

"i literally will, april. i put on my dad's glasses one time 'n them shits did not look good." he shivered when he remembered the memory, running his hands down his face. "i looked like i aged fifteen years in one sitting!"

april huffed out a heavy groan, grabbing [y/n] by the shoulder and shoved him in front of her while straining a smile on her face. "oh, look! we're here!" she tried her best to sound enthusiastic, but she couldn't when the boy in front of her attempted to turn around and leave.

donnie stood at the entrance with a furrowed brow, lips pursed while staring at the boy who lay limp in april's arms, having given up on escaping when the girl threatened his life under her breath. "so, this is the friend?" he inquired, finding the whole scene in front of him amusing yet couldn't bring himself to smile or laugh at it. he wasn't too keen on showing emotion.

"yeah, sorry he's a li'l crabby right now..." she trailed off, patting [y/n]'s back in reassurance.

the boy stood and turned towards donnie, said softshell feeling his breath hitch at the sight of the miserable teen in front of him. [y/n]'s eyes narrowed towards the doorway, completely oblivious to donnie's star struck state and began to shuffle towards the door with april following closely behind.

donnie broke out of his stupor quickly, clearing his throat and began to waltz inside beside the boy who kept his chin held high. "if you'd so kindly follow me, i'd like to start with a snellen chart to test how far you can see." he looked over his shoulder, blank eyes staring into hazy ones. "okay?"

[y/n] ran his tongue over his teeth, glancing off to the side before nodding his head in affirmation and if donnie were like his brother, he'd let a bashful smile rise to his lips. but he was a bad boy. one that never showed emotion no matter how intense it built up.

leo stared down at his phone, chin resting against the back of his knuckles and curiously peered upward to glance at the newcomer his brother was about to perform tests on. he felt his eyes widen and his jaw drop against his will, body going rigid against the chair when he saw who had plopped down angrily into a seat in front of donnie.

it was the boy he met last night... in all of his handsome glory. he could feel himself become antsy at the sight of [y/n], hands gripping the handles of the chair and hid his head in between his shoulders, shyly.

no one had quite noticed his bashful state—or even knew he was sitting in the corner in general. donnie placed a chart on the wall, turning to look at [y/n] who glared at the letters with much animosity.

"could you read the letters on the chart for me? which ones can you see?"

[y/n]'s eyes rose to look at the biggest letter on the chart, his knee bouncing anxiously. "z." was all he said, his deep voice rumbling in his chest.

april stood at his side, arms crossed and moved her gaze between her friend and the chart on the wall. "can you read the letters below it?" she asked, only to be met with silence.

[y/n] sat in the chair stiffly, hands clenching and unclenching on his loose tanktop. he squinted his narrow eyes; teeth devouring his bottom lip and tore the skin off the delicate flesh with how sharp his teeth were. he took a shaky breath in, chest puffed out from how much air he held in his lungs. "i-i, um..."

april, donnie, and leo turned their attention towards the boy, the once angry and glaring teen gone and now replaced with an anxious and trembling one, his eyes clenching shut as he lowered his head in shame.

"i can't read da rest of 'em... 'm sorry."

———

donnie stared down at the prescription he wrote down for [y/n], eyebrows furrowed upward in concern for how long this boy was walking around without having a clear view of the world.

"is it bad, dee?" april whispered to her turtle friend, eyes locked on [y/n] who was currently chewing on his nails, knee bouncing quickly and anxiously.

"really bad." donatello responded, letting out a "sigh" as he began to get to work on the glasses he was making for the boy. "he has astigmatism in both eyes, incredibly nearsighted and somehow his right eye is worse than his left." he gestured to the two different lenses he held, turning them to the side to show april the width. "hence why the one in my right hand is relatively thicker than the one on the left."

april hissed inwardly, placing her hand against her chin and leaned away from the sight of the right lens. "poor baby... i knew his sight was bad, but not that bad."

donnie hummed in response, going back to making the glasses for the miserable teen. while he began to make the frames, leo quickly skipped up to donnie, tapping the table in front of him to show his brother that he wanted his attention.

the softshell turtle pursed his lips, promptly ignoring his brother knowing that the slider would tell him what he wanted anyway.

"donnie... listen! dee, oh my god... that guy over there! that one! in the chair! the one that you just did a bunch of tests on—!"

"yes, what about him, nardo?" donnie monotonously droned out, tilting his head towards his twin to show him that he was listening. he had finally screwed together one temple onto the hinge.

"that's the guy from last night!"

donnie dropped the unfinished glasses on his desk, head shooting up to stare ahead at the wall with wide eyes. the sound of the clutter caught [y/n]'s attention, the boy whipping his head upward to stare in the general direction of april and the turtles, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

he tilted his chin up, craning his neck to the side as if that would help him get a better look at what happened. "y'all good?" he inquired and april sauntered off to go sit next to him, just as confused as he was about why donnie had dropped the frames.

"y-yes, everything is good! no need to worry!" donnie stammered, picking the frame back up and got right back to work. [y/n] glanced over towards april who sat across from him, the both of them shrugging with smiles before they made conversation with each other to pass time.

leo then began to make wild gestures with his arms, looking like a monkey with how he hopped on his feet and waved his arms about. "do you see what i mean?" the turtle whispered, a wide grin on his face as he gestured between donnie and [y/n]. "if you ask me, i think raph is trynna keep this fine man a secret from us so he can have him all to himself..." leo conspired, pressing his fingertips together as if he were planning something evil.

donnie "groaned," leaning his body away from the slider and kept his undying focus on the glasses that were almost finished. "i have no idea what you mean, nardo."

"yes, you do." leonardo retorted, leaning against the desk to look at his brothers' face. "don't think i didn't see how you closed your eyes when he whispered something to you.~"

"that was because his breath was horrid." donnie swiftly lied, trying his best to keep a strong composure. truth was, donnie liked how whispers sounded... it just did something to his brain that made him feel primal. so when he heard [y/n]'s words rumble from the bottom of his chest, donnie did his best to shake off the shivers that threatened to tremble his body.

leo huffed with an eye roll, peering over towards [y/n] and stared at the boy's oblivious figure with a cheeky smile, bringing a hand up to twirl with his bandana tails. "i should text him later..."

donatello stiffened and made a gurgled noise at leo's comment, hands tightening on the screwdriver he held in his hand. "you have his number?!" he hissed through clenched teeth, doing his best to keep his voice hushed.

leo gave a cat-like smirk towards his brother, leaning forward to giggle mischievously in the softshell's ear. "jealous?~"

donnie let out a loud "scoff!," pushing leo's face away and felt a little delight when he heard the slider choke on his spit from the unwarranted gesture. "no... i am not jealous."

"i think you are."

"well, i am not."

"you can't lie to me, dear brother. ~ i can tell when you're lying."

"i literally lie to you every day."

"wait, what? are you serious?"

———

[y/n] stared down at the glasses case in his hands with distaste, glancing up at the purple blob in front of him then moving his gaze back down to the leather case he held. "thanks... what'ver yer name is." he muttered, twisting the black blob in his hands around to analyze it the best he could.

"donate-"

"yeah, cool. thanks, donna." he pocketed the case, not even bothering to wear the glasses inside of it and went over to april, grabbing her by the arm and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "can we go now?"

the girl rolled her eyes at her friend, pushing his face away, smiling at the grunt that left his lips. she gave donnie a genuine smile, bowing her head to show her appreciation. "thanks, dee. sorry about my dogs lack of manners... i haven't fully trained him yet."

[y/n] smacked april's hand away from his face, revealing his harsh glare and pouted lips. "oh, haha! yer so funny!" he exclaimed sarcastically, wrapping an arm around april's shoulder before turning them both around, not bothering to say goodbye to donnie or give him a proper thanks. "now, le's go. i gotta cook a big dinner tonight, girl!"

april turned to glance over her shoulder and waved at the two turtles behind her, giving them a wide grin. "see ya boys later! text me!" she shouted at the two brothers, and [y/n] sucked in his lips when heard the plural version of the word in her sentence. he chose not to talk about it though, just wanting to leave this place so he could go back home.

"okay, bye!" donnie shouted back, turning his shell to the girl and began to walk over to his makeshift eye-clinic, beginning to take it all apart. leo didn't bother shouting a goodbye, waltzing behind his brother with his hands on his hips and looked down at the equipment with a furrowed nonexistent brow.

april then turned to look up at [y/n], who was already staring in her direction. she gave a disapproving stare, placing her hand on top of his which rested on her shoulder. "now, are you going to wear those glasses, boy?"

[y/n] said nothing, turning his head to stare forward to watch the trail they were walking on, face devoid of emotion as if april hadn't asked him an important question. the girl scrunched her nose at the boys rude antic, smacking him in the chest gently and shrugged his arm off her shoulder. the boy let out a wheeze at the rough contact that met with his heart, placing a shaky hand over his chest.

"why do i even do things for you if you don't even appreciate it?" april sighed out, massaging her temples with her fingers.

[y/n] managed to keep up with her after the fatal blow to his heart, peering down at april through his roughed-up bangs. "cuz ya love me?" he strained, a smug smile settling on his lips as he uttered those words.

april let out a chuckle, her shoulders shaking from the laughter. "you wish!" she retorted with a smug smirk, shoving her hands in her pockets. "only the baddest guy's bag someone as a cool as me."

[y/n] looked taken aback, darting his eyes to the side with a grimace and clenched his hands together to fidget with his fingers.

"more like someone as lame as ya, cuz ya haven't had any boyfriends ye—OW, april! dat shit hurts!"

Chapter Text

[y/n] never liked admitting that he was wrong. he was always supposed to be in the right and maybe that was one thing he picked up from his mother, as much as he hated to say it, that drastically made things difficult for him. he was stubborn. he liked proving others wrong

so, as he glared down at the glasses in his hands, he trembled and gnawed like an animal on his bottom lip. he was wrong and april was right. he had horrible vision and that's probably what affected his grades most of the time, since he'd take one look at the blurry board and zone out because he couldn't see it. he shut his eyes with a heavy exhale, bowing his head down as he closed the glasses in his hands and held onto them tightly. he was going to wear these glasses, even if it hurt the fuck out of his pride.

[y/n] perked up when he heard a gentle knock on his window, setting the glasses down on his nightstand quickly before rushing over to the window frame and opened it as quietly as he could.

there standing before him on the fire escape was raphael in all his glory. he could see the man's big frame crouching down so he could glance at [y/n] through the window, being too tall to do so while standing. "hey, lil dude." raphael spoke softly, pressing his hand against the window frame to get closer.

[y/n] couldn't help the smile that rose on his lips, not even bothering to bite it back down. "hey, big man..." he whispered, stepping aside for raphael to get in his room. he had a bit of trouble getting his big frame through the window, but managed to gracefully fall on the floor which earned a hearty laugh from [y/n]. he stepped over raphael to shut the window, before he knelt down to his friend and gave raph a big grin. "how's da floor?"

"so comf'table..." the man replied sarcastically, feeling his heart skip a beat when [y/n] quietly chuckled at his response. he sat himself up with a grunt, standing on his feet and helped his friend off the ground as he spoke. "so, what'dya call me here for? somethin' wrong?"

he saw [y/n]'s demeanor deflate, a frown settling on his lips and the center of his eyebrows wrinkled with a scowl. he hummed lowly, gently pulling his hand away from raph's and turned to look over his shoulder at something. raphael tried to follow his line of sight, but couldn't see anything which made him purse his lips in confusion.

"i, umm... i called ya here 'cuz i want ya ta be da first thing i see."

raphael hummed in confusion, staring down at the back of his friends head. he almost didn't hear what [y/n] said because of how quietly he spoke and before he could even get the chance to respond, the boy went over to his nightstand and picked up a pristine pair of glasses that shined brightly underneath the fluorescent light.

"i found out dat—my eyes aren't as good as i want 'em ta be." he turned to look back at raphael, his hazy eyes glossed over to show his sadness. "i still haven't put 'em on yet, but... i wanted ya ta be da one i see first." he spoke, his voice cracking a bit when he talked about his vision.

it still hurt his pride to say his vision was horrible aloud. and not even just a little bit, it hurt a lot.

raphael felt his heart drop. [y/n] didn't know that he was a mutant because of his horrible eyesight all this time. dread began to settle in and the turtle let himself grimace and dart his eyes around the room nervously, trying to think of words to say to [y/n], but they were caught in his throat. he gulped and took cautious steps forward, standing in front of [y/n] with the same look of sadness, although it was for a different reason. "are-are ya sure ya want ta look at me first thing?" his voice was shaky, his bottom lip quivering a bit when he stared down at the glasses in [y/n]'s trembling hands.

"yeah, 'm sure." the boy craned his head up to look at raph, a smile settling on his chapped lips. "i look up to ya, man... like, a lot. 'n ya've been a good friend ta me, so lemme do dis, bro." he sucked his lips in when he was met with silence from raphael and shook his head once with a pleading expression. "please?"

raphael let his shoulders sink and sighed heavily, anxiously tapping his finger against his gray joggers before nodding his head enthusiastically. "y-yeah... ready when y'u are, lil dude." raph did his best to keep a smile on his face, feeling the sweat begin to drip down the side of his face as [y/n] smiled gently at him in return and lowered his head to place the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

raph made a gurgled noise, body tensing and shot his hands forward to grip onto [y/n]'s wrists to pause the boy from putting on his glasses. shocked at the action, [y/n] shot his head upwards, only seeing the gray hoodie that covered raphael's head instead of the blurry blob that was his face. the turtle was holding his head down with shame.

"[y/n], b'fore ya put on those glasses..." he paused, swallowing thickly before shaking his head with clenched eyes. "i want ya to know, i-i'm not normal. i don't look like everyone else." raphael lifted his head, coming face-to-face with [y/n]'s confused expression. "i jus' wanna let ya know now... dat i understand if ya don't wanna be friends with me after ya see who i am." his grip on [y/n]'s wrists loosened and let his arms drop to his side like a ragdoll, his hands trembling tremendously as if he were shivering from the cold.

[y/n]'s foggy eyes glossed over and the boy quickly held his head down so raphael couldn't see his frown. he took slow steps closer to the bigger man, resting his forehead against his clothed chest. "don't say dat..." he muttered, bringing a hand up to clutch at raphael's hoodie. "i could never stop bein' yer friend, raph... i became friends wit'chu 'cuz 'f who ya are as a person. not 'cuz of how ya look, so why would i leave?" his voice was squeaky, voice rising in pitch the more he talked. he was getting frustrated.

raph placed a hand on the back of his head, bringing the boy in for a hug and rested his chin on top of [y/n]'s head. "i know, but... i guess i'm jus' scared dat i'll scare ya away..."

"if anything would've scared me away it'd be yer shot form, cuz that shit is awful, but i still stayed."

raph nudged [y/n] away with an angry grunt, earning a laugh from the boy as he caught himself from stumbling. "shut up, man!"

"'m serious, though!" [y/n] laughed, his hand loosely holding onto the glasses which caught raph's attention. raph didn't shove him too far, the both of them still standing mere centimeters from each other.

it went silent again, the both of them looking at each other before raph clicked his tongue and nervously played with his hoodie's strings, shifting his weight from one foot to another. "ya can... ya can put them on now." he whispered to [y/n], his hot breath hitting against the boy's forehead.

he saw how the shorter boys eyebrow twitched, his eyes softening under raphael's nervous gaze. "ya sure? i don't have ta put them on now... i can do it another time."

"no! no... ya need to. ya've missed out on so much, 'n i don't want ya ta suffer any longer jus' 'cause of me." raphael was quick to respond, earning silence from his friend as a response.

[y/n] shakily sighed, looking down at the glasses in his hand before he opened up the temples and slowly leaned his head down to meet his hands halfway. he placed the glasses on the bridge of his nose, squinting a little due to the strain the lenses brought to his eyes. the first thing he noticed was how sharp everything was and he lifted his head up, blinking rapidly as he craned his neck upwards to glance at his friend.

and there raphael was... nervously looking down at [y/n] while chewing on his lip. his wore a red mask over the top half of his head and even with it on, [y/n] could see the crease in between where his brows would be. he was green and scaly. yet he glowed brightly in the eyes of [y/n] even if he was shaking and nervous. the human rose his hand up to softly place underneath raphael's chin, comparing the differences of their skin with analyzing eyes.

raph had rough scaly skin like a reptile and he was... sharp. he had a little snaggle-tooth that brought a bashful smile to [y/n]'s lips when he saw it. raphael was right, he wasn't normal, but he was beautiful, big and strong, and everything [y/n] pictured when he thought about him.

raph couldn't help but smile, too, at the sight of the bashful one on his friends lips, letting out a nervous chuckle that made him duck his head in between his shoulders. "how do i—how do i look?" he stammered, eyes searching for a negative reaction on [y/n]'s face.

the boy turned his gaze to look directly into raph's, pursing his lips to hide his aching smile. "ya look cool..." [y/n] said, shakily, his eyes glancing over at raphael's big muscular arms. he dropped his hand from raphael's face and let his fingers trace over the details on his green skin. he traced over the scar tissue and every vein, narrow eyes widening at the sight of so much detail on another person. "what are ya?"

raph couldn't help but let out a hearty chuckle, bringing his arm up slightly to flex his bicep in front of his chest. "i'mma turtle." he whispered to his friend, moving his arm to the side to flex in front of [y/n]'s face instead. "an alligator snappin' turtle... as my brotha says." he spoke quietly, still a bit nervous now that he knew is friend could see every little detail on his body.

[y/n] gaped at raphael's flexed muscle and pressed a flat palm against the side of his bicep, but ended up staring at the details in his own veiny hand instead. for something he looked at almost every single day, it looked so unfamiliar now with glasses. his fingers were long and skinny, knuckles red from his previous outlets of anger and he could see the indents of scar tissue that littered his hand. he and raph were alike in that way... covered in scars to show hard work and determination.

he then looked back at raphael's face, feeling his eyes form into crescents the more he analyzed his friends looks. his snaggle-tooth peeked out between his lips when he smiled which made the human bite back a snort. the red mask he wore over his eyes felt natural against raphael's green skin, like he was meant for the fiery color. come to think of it, raphael embodied the color red. it was like he owned it.

the turtle—alligator snapping turtle, he remembered—met his eyes and pursed his lips curiously. "what's da matter?" he questioned, tilting his head to the side slightly to squint his eyes at his friend.

[y/n] said nothing to raphael's inquiry, turning his head to look back at his hand against raphael's arm and squeezed the flesh, watching how the veins in his hand bulged out. he then moved his line of sight over towards the scars that peeked out of raphael's bandaged hands, feeling his heart warm at the small connection they had.

"yer beautiful."

———

raphael wouldn't know what to do if he couldn't see new york in all it's glory. the city that never sleeps was always beautiful during the night time because of all the lights... it was one of the reasons why raph looked forward to patrolling. he loved the city a little bit more when he saw how [y/n]'s eyes twinkled in awe, his lips parted with shock and pressed his glasses closer to his eyes to get a closer look.

"isn't it pretty?" raph asked, sat on cool cement of the rooftop and held his knees close to his chest.

"yes..." [y/n] breathlessly responded. he couldn't believe he missed out on so much stuff... stuff that people see on a regular basis. were they just as amazed as he was just looking at some lights from the city? when he looked at raph he could see how much the turtle enjoyed the view, so maybe they didn't take their vision for granted like he did.

wow, he couldn't believe how much he missed out on life. he couldn't even see raphael the first time they met and with his horrible vision, he schooled this big turtle up. come to think of it, how did he make it this far with basketball with such horrible vision? he hoped his glasses would help with shots in game. but the thought of having to wear glasses out on the court made him cringe... maybe he'd ask april for contacts.

raphael noticed the boy's silence, turning his head slightly to the side so he could look at the boys side profile. the turtle's cheeks ached from how much he was smiling that night, but didn't dare wipe it off his face. having the pain in his cheeks was worth it when he stared at the child-like amusement on [y/n]'s face. to him, [y/n] was more beautiful than staring at the array of new york lights. maybe he'd invite the human to come look at the view more often.

they sat in silence for who knows how long, actively scooting closer to one another for warmth as the wind scratched against their exposed skin. pretty soon, they were arm-to-arm, and didn't bother flinching away when one leaned into the other. [y/n] hugged his knees to his chest, resting his chin on his forearms and was completely engrossed with the city he grew up in because for the first time in fifteen years, he was seeing the world clearly.

raphael chose to ignore the vibrations of his cellphone, discreetly putting the device on do not disturb before returning to stare at [y/n] with the usual gentle smile on his lips.

[y/n] tilted his head to the side, flinching when his glasses pressed hard against his nose bridge and grunted, sitting his head back up to relieve the discomfort on his nose. raphael laughed, his body swaying into [y/n]'s as a reflex to which the boy embraced it, finding himself laughing alongside his friend.

he propped his elbow up on his knee, resting his chin against his palm instead, finding it a bit more comfortable than the position he previously went into. "y'know... i almos' didn't get glasses." he broke the silence between them, which caught raphael's attention. "i thought i didn't need 'em... but holy shit was i wrong."

raphael blew air out his nose as a sorry excuse for a laugh, shaking his head at his friend's swearing. "what made ya think ya didn't need 'em?"

[y/n] hummed, pursing his lips and furrowed a brow as he went deep into thought. "i guess i always had bad eyesight 'n my parents ignored da signs 'n didn't tell me nothin'. i asked my ma 'bout it yesterday 'n she goes 'oh, yeah. but i thought ya'd get over it', like what?" he mocked his mother's voice, while wildly gesturing which earned a giggle from raph.

"'m sorry 'bout that... but are ya glad ya got them?" raphael responded, tilting his head forward with a kind smile.

[y/n] bit the inside of his cheek to hide back his own, averting his gaze from raphael and chose to look at the city ahead. "yeah... 'cuz i got ta see y'u..."

this made raphael suck a sharp breath in, looking taken aback at his friends comment. his eyes stayed glued to the human, feeling the heat travel to his cheeks as those words repeated in his head. he laughed through his nose, leaning forward to press his forehead against [y/n]'s hair before bringing him in for a firm side-hug. "yer such a dork!" his voice was muffled against the human's hair, which tickled him so.

"am not!" he retorted, ducking his head in between his shoulders when he felt the turtle's breath against the shell of his ear.

"yesh y'u are."

"stop, bruh! that shit tickles!"

raphael didn't pull away even when [y/n] pleaded, the both of them leaning against the cement fixture behind them while laughing obnoxiously, the sounds of their laughter being drowned out by the busy new york streets.

as they rested against one another, [y/n] jumped at the vibration in his pocket, discreetly pulling out his phone to read the notification he got.

blue pervert.
> so how ab buying me sum slushees again? :P

[y/n] scoffed out a quiet laugh, his one thumb going to work to send back a text to leonardo. once he sent his message he pocketed his phone, widely grinning and clenching his eyes shut when raphael began to retell a memory of his into the shell of his ear.

raphael bit back the laughter that rumbled in his chest when [y/n] broke out into giggles, feeling ticklish when raph's whispers hugged his ear.

[y/n]
busy rn man<
maybe later lol<

down in the sewers, the blue-clad turtle huffed, immediately shutting off his phone at the response he got, glancing up at the room he was currently standing in the doorway to. the vacant room of his eldest brother. he turned his back to the room and stomped off to his own room, unable to stop the jealous feeling rising in his chest. he knew what [y/n] was busy with and when raphael didn't respond to his or his brothers messages, he felt the bile creep up his throat.

he wished his brother was better at keeping secrets.

Chapter Text

raphael doesn't know what he did wrong.

what did he do to receive such rude and snarky comments from his brother, leonardo, after he made the slightest mistake? what did he do to receive the cold shoulder from both leo and donnie? what did he do for him to barely even talk and see them roll their eyes at the sound of his voice?

was it puberty? maybe. they were around the same age, so it could be plausible. but raph doubted that option.

mikey was the only one who didn't ignore raphael and was the same as always, but the snapper could tell that their brothers' attitudes towards him was beginning to affect their youngest brother. he had tried talking to the slider and soft-shell, wanting to fix whatever was going on but was laughed off and the topic always changed.

"what did you do to them?" mikey asked, looking up at his brother with such sadness behind his big eyes.

raphael stood there, stunned. he felt his lips part in shock, and he gaped like a fish before stammering out a response. "what... what do ya mean?"

"did you make them mad?" the box turtle questioned, fidgeting with his fingers and looking over his shoulder to glance at the lab where the two brothers resided.

raphael huffed out a sigh, feeling the crease between his brows form and leaned against his weight bench, sadly staring at the dumbbell in his hand. "i dunno..."

mikey said nothing after that, pursing his lips in a pout before he stood and made his way over to donatello's lab, obviously going to talk to the twins about whatever was going on. leo had been spending more time with donnie in the lab lately.

raphael only sighed, continuing to finish his last set of hammer curls before he moved the next workout. he hoped that whatever it was he did to the twins wasn't bad. he hoped he didn't say something to hurt their feelings or was being negligent to their needs... he hoped he was a good brother. he knew he was a good brother.

with a final rep into his set, he dropped the dumbbells onto the floor with a grunt and wiped the sweat from his chin. he could feel the lump rising in his throat when he thought about his brothers, their smiling faces flashing in his mind. he did his best to swallow down the lump that formed and let out a shaky breath, leaning forward to rest his head against his hands.

he wasn't a good brother.

———

raphael lifted his fist up hesitantly, his knuckles barely brushing against the cool glass before he grumbled and dropped his hand back down to his side. it was stupid to come to the surface just because of this. he was acting like a child... he's supposed to be the oldest!

what kind of older brother is he? running away from the problem instead of confronting it like the strong big boy he is. he huffed out a sigh, beginning to pace around on the small fire escape balcony to gather his thoughts. he was in the wrong of this one, wasn't he? he knew he'd messed up a little by keeping a secret from his family, but nobody brought it up after that night his brothers snuck out after him.

it wasn't a problem anymore, right? his secret was over. they knew he was on the surface to hang out with a friend... so why was this happening?  

the sound of a window opening made raphael snap his head over to see [y/n], who looked just as shocked when he saw a big blurry blob of gray in front of him.

he let out a startled yell, squinting his already half-lidded eyes and leaned his head forward to get a better look at the blob, since his face was bare of his new glasses. "big man?" he questioned aloud, his face looking stupidly funny with how his nose scrunched and his mouth hung slightly open.

raphael nervously chuckled, scratching the back of his neck as he peered down at his blind friend. "hey, lil dude..." he trailed off, his voice getting quieter as he spoke.

"what're ya doin' here?" the human asked, leaning both arms against the window frame as he leaned his body out of it, doing his best to try and make out his friends features through blurry vision. man, he had forgotten how blind he was.

raph rocked back and forth on his heels, holding his arms behind his back bashfully. "i-i jus' needed ta be wit' someone... what were y'u doin'?"

[y/n] looked a bit suspicious with how he darted his eyes to the side, scratching the back of his head with pursed lips. "i was jus', uh..." he smacked his lips and started nodding his head. "jus' chillin, y'know?" he gave raphael a cat-like smile and a very odd thumbs up. it was only then that raphael noticed his friend wasn't wearing a shirt and was only clad in a pair of sweatpants, which sagged lowly on his hips revealing his name-brand underwear.

he also noticed how one of [y/n]'s arms was wrapped in tight bandaging but chose not to speak up about it. nervously, raphael darted his eyes back up to his friend's eyes and nodded his head with a shaky smile. "cool, cool..."

[y/n] scratched the back of his head at the silence that came thereafter, looking back into his room before stepping aside and nervously gestured to his bed. "ya wanna-ya wanna come in?" he stammered, voice squeaky and rasp.

"uh, yes! sure!" raphael then waited for his friend to plop onto his bed before he went through the window, cursing at his big shell for being such an obstacle for getting through tiny spaces like this. once he made it into the room, he clumsily stumbled on his feet hands outstretched to halt himself from hitting anything in the way.

he heard a silly chuckle echo in his eardrum, turning his head to see [y/n] sitting at the edge of the bed by his nightstand. the human boy was going at work with something in between his fingers and threw his chin over his shoulder to gesture to the bed. "go ahead 'n lay down if ya want, big man." he rasped, licking the paper in his hands before folding it over to create a perfect wrap.

raph simply ignored whatever his friend was doing, cautiously crawling on the bed and softly leaned his shell against the plush bedding. he wasn't too afraid of ripping his friends' bedsheets with his shell since he was wearing his hoodie that acted as a shield of some sorts. after the turtle was comfortable, he curiously tilted his head to see what his friend was up to, only seeing the boys toned back muscles that flexed when the boy rolled his shoulders back uncomfortably.

[y/n] suddenly perked up, hazy eyes brightening at the wrap in his fingers and took the empty spot beside raphael, shimmying his body comfortably into the turtle's side. he looked up at raph, pursing his lips before motioning to the wrap in his fingers. "ya don't mind if i.." he held his finger and thumb up to his lips, moving it back and forth.

raph blinked twice in confusion before nervously shaking his head with a little enthusiasm, not entirely sure what he was agreeing to. "uh, i don't mind!"

[y/n] seemed to brighten at this, leaning himself more into the turtle's body as he began to do his work. he lit the edge of the wrap for a good few seconds then brought it up between his lips to take a big hit.

raph watched curiously and looked like a child with how he blinked owlishly at the scene before him. he scrunched his beak a little in distaste at the smell that came from the wrap but didn't speak anything of it. it wasn't too bad to deal with, he supposed.

[y/n] finally blew the smoke out after holding it in his chest for a good while, dramatically wrapping his arm around raphael's shoulder and brought the turtle closer to him so they could lean their heads together. "so, what's been happenin', big man?" he questioned, roughly rubbing his hand up and down raph's big shoulder. "i can tell somethin's botherin' ya."

raphael went frigid at that last question, shrugging his shoulders while looking off to the side. "it's nothin' re'lly. jus' raph bein' sensitive."

[y/n] paused a little at this, his hazy eyes staring into nothingness before he hummed and set the wrap between his lips again. "why'dya think dat?" he inhaled deeply, turning to look at the turtle as he held the smoke in his chest.

raph pursed his lips, playing with his thumbs on his clothed plastron as he thought of how to word his thoughts. "i'on know... my brothers are always, like, sarcastic and playful people, y'know? it's funny, i got used to them bein' like dat, but lately it's jus' been—" he paused, blinking harshly before letting out a deep sigh. "it's jus' been too much fer me, i guess." he whispered.

the human hummed and nodded in acknowledgment to what the turtle was saying, turning his lips to the side to blow the smoke away from raph. "is da way they acting normal or is it, like, different?" he spoke softly, no judgement whatsoever in his voice.

"it's different." raphael quietly muttered, noticing how his friend stayed silent for him to explain. "they're kinda, like, ignoring me er what'ver 'n i'on know what i did ta make them avoid me." he took a deep breath in to continue his words, but faltered and just bit his lip to stop himself from saying anything more. "i t'ink 'm jus' over dramatic 's all."

"hey." [y/n] snapped his fingers which caught raph's attention, jumping a bit at the sharpness in his voice. "ya ain't sensitive, 'kay man? we all got different ways of feelin' emotions, 'n yers is jus' way stronger than others. ya feel so heavy for other people 'n ya hurt even more when it comes to yaself—'n theres nothin' wrong with dat." they stayed silent for a bit, and raph watched as the smile slowly stretched across [y/n]'s chapped lips the more they looked at each other.

raphael gulped, shakily letting a breath go that he didn't know he was holding. "how... how can ya tell?"

"ya have a big heart, raphael. ya love hard." [y/n]'s hand slowly traced from up raph's shoulder and to the crook of his neck before he began to play with the tails of his mask. he wet his lips with his tongue, foggy eyes spacing out a bit before refocusing and piercing right through raphael's soul. "i like that about y'u." he whispered, and raphael felt his heart begin to pound against his chest.

it was completely silent, the only sound being the two of their breaths fanning against each other from their close proximity and raphael could hear the blood pumping in his ears.

[y/n] blew air out of his nose with a smile. "don't let whatever ya brothers are doin' bother ya right now... yer wit' me, 'kay?" raphael nodded, feeling the crease between his brows lose a bit of tension. [y/n] giggled, rubbing raph's shoulder, gently this time. "good." he whispered, before extending his hand out that held his joint. "ya wanna take a hit?"

raphael worriedly looked down at the wrap, nervously biting on his lip and couldn't help but hesitate to reach for it. "does it make you forget?" he asked quietly, staring down at the little object with a bit of fear.

[y/n] hummed, nodding his head slightly. "it makes ya feel really good." he droned, leaning his head back which left his adam's apple to protrude through his throat. "ya forget about all yer worries... yer body goes numb 'n yer left floatin'. it feels like everything starts slowin' down, y'know? like its only y'u in da world."

raphael liked the sound of that. he looked down at the wrap in his hand and bit his lip nervously. "what do i... what do i do?" raphael's voice was high-pitched, which he felt very embarrassed of. he hoped his friend wouldn't say anything about it.

[y/n] felt his lips purse at the thought, and let a low hum roll it's way up his throat, feeling the effects of a high begin to settle in his bones but shrugged it off to try and help his friend. "so," [y/n] started, licking his dry lips and paused trying to think of how to word it. "you, like, breathe it in."

"mhm." raphael nodded his head, bringing the wrap closer to his lips.

"'n then you breathe it in more 'n, like hold it in yer chest." [y/n] was wildly gesturing with his free hand, his other hand mindlessly reaching up to play with raphael's mask.

"got it."

"'n then! just breathe it out." he breathily moaned out, extending his arm out to act as his breath.

raphael nervously looked down at the joint in between his big fingers, a little nervous to try. he's never smoked before so of course he's going to be a little nervous! he's seen it on movies, and seen other people smoke cigarettes when he came on to the surface—but this wasn't a cigarette he suddenly remembered. cigarettes don't smell like a skunk's ass.

not wanting to seem like a pussy in front of [y/n], he set the wrap between his lips and breathed it in, only to immediately stop and cough it out, quickly rising his elbow to cough into.

[y/n] began to chuckle under his breath, leaning into raph as the turtle coughed his lungs out. he set his free hand on the turtles clothed plastron, patting against the gray fabric as if it would help his friend. "ya don't have to smoke it if ya don't want to, big man." he laughed out.

"naw! i-i want to try." raph quickly retorted in between coughs, dropping his elbow from his face and began catching his breath as he leaned his head against the headboard. he swallowed loudly, letting out a dramatic breath and [y/n]'s shoulders shook from laughter.

"don't force yaself if it's too much."

raphael nodded, mentally preparing himself before he brought the wrap to his lips again and repeated the same process. he fought against the urge to cough, sucking in the smoke in his mouth to let it sit in his lungs. after a good few seconds, he blew it out with a little cough and handed the wrap over to his friend.

[y/n] was already falling into his high, leaning his head against raph's and lazily took the joint into his hands. the world began to slow down, suddenly becoming more aware of the numb feeling in his body and let it consume him. he wanted this high to last if it was with raphael so he took another big hit, letting his body quake with quiet giggles that rumbled from the back of his throat.

raph had to let the smoke burn his lungs a little longer before he mustered up the courage to take another hit. [y/n] began to babble, trying his best to guide his friend through with how to smoke once more, but eventually just gave up and dropped his arm against raphael's clothed plastron like a ragdoll, chuckling goofily.

"what'ver, man. jus' do what ya want... 'm fuckin' gone right now." [y/n] growled out with a wide grin, limply waving his hand around before he let it drop on raphael's chest again.

raphael seemed hyper-aware of everything at that moment, eyes darting from the bandaged arm on his chest and the smelly joint that rested in between his fingers. if this little thing could make [y/n] feel that good to the point where he just let his body go loose, raphael became more eager to take a hit. he took one hit after the other, ignoring the burning feeling in his lungs and the cough that literally made him want to die, but soon enough he began to feel it.

like really feel it.

"woah..." raphael began to feel his body tingle, the world slowing down and suddenly moving like layers. it was like watching a stop-motion film, and [y/n]'s clattered room made the experience even more crazy. "woah..." he emphasized, suddenly feeling a wave of euphoria hit him at the realization that he was finally going into his high. "woah!" raphael's eyes darted around the room and it felt like he melted into [y/n]'s body. for some reason he couldn't stop the smile that stretched across his face, and he felt his eyes become dry from how long he had kept them open to watch everything before him.

"how's it feel?" [y/n] whispered into his ear and was in the same state of mind his friend was in. raph slowly looked over at him with the widest grin ever, his eyes formed into crescents from how big it was.

raphael bit his bottom lip and felt his chest rumble with muffled laughter. he felt so good right now... was it even possible to feel this good? as he stared at his friend, his vision slowly closed in on him and [y/n]'s face was all he could see. he couldn't stop the smile that ached his cheeks so, but didn't bother trying to fight it. smiling felt so good.

he must've been staring at [y/n] for too long, due to how the boy scrunched his lip to the side to withhold a laugh, his hazy eyes glossing over from how hard he fought back his laughter. "why ya lookin' like dat?" his voice sounded strained, suddenly deeper with the laughter pooling up in his chest.

"i'm just... so happy." raphael slurred, and the two began to go into a fit of crazy giggles, all their troubles going down the drain and their minds only focused on each other—nothing more, nothing less.

raphael couldn't keep his eyes off of [y/n], his eyes darting from one feature to another while his friend did the same. [y/n] leaned his forehead against raphael's, laughing at how his eyes crossed to stay focused on him. "'m glad yer my friend, big man." he croaked, sluggishly blinking and felt raphael's breath fan against his lips due to their close proximity.

"raph's glad yer muh frien', too..." he slurred back, his eyes rolling to the back of his head when he felt [y/n] gently massage the knots in his neck. he churred, his big hand coming to grasp [y/n]'s bandaged wrist and softly traced circles in the palm of the boys hand with his thumb.

this felt so right. every moment spent with [y/n] felt so intimate and raphael couldn't help but wonder why it did. his emotions were so strong when he was with him, and the more they hung out the more intense they got. he's glad he was practically numb right now or else he would've been practically shaking on the floor by being this close with [y/n].

how could people say drugs are bad when they made him feel this amazing with his best friend? if he thought about it even deeper, he would've considered [y/n] a drug. with how he kept coming back for more and wasn't even able to stay away from him for too long—if this made raphael an addict, then he'd proudly claim that title.

he couldn't help the churrs that left his throat and the soft purring noise that he would make when their bodies became more intertwined on [y/n]'s bed. he was practically drowning in the skunk-y scent and [y/n]'s cologne that somehow stuck to his skin constantly. he was unable to stop himself from taking as much breaths as possible within a second just to smell the cologne, finding himself melting more and more and began to feel tired under the weight of his own body.

raphael should do this with [y/n] more often.

———

donnie felt a little guilty about treating his brother the way he did. he knew him and leo got a bit too carried away when he'd see raph's smile falter at their words, before he forced it back on and just walked away like nothing happened. perhaps... they let their feelings get the best of them. but how could they not? donnie and leo saw how raph had a little pep in his step when he came back to the lair, practically glowing as he greeted each one of his family member's with a wide grin.

it was that night that donnie happened to see the text on leo's phone—the one where [y/n] said he was 'busy'. he didn't mean to snoop, really! but when he could see all of his brother's text and call history on his logs, it was pretty hard to miss. he saw raphael's text with the boy next, saying how he was glad they were still friends, even if he saw who he really was and that's when donnie felt the bile rise in his throat.

he never went to look at raphael's messages again, especially after leo came in to angrily rant about their eldest brother and [y/n]. leo was so undeniably jealous. raph got to see a different side to the snarky [y/n] that leo met that night—he got to see it everyday. of course he'd be a little jealous. but so was donnie.

they wanted a friend, too.

mikey had come in a few hours ago, clearly upset and wasted no time as he told donnie about how he noticed him and leo's behavior. michelangelo did his best to keep the dr. feelings persona, but when he talked about raphael's dampened attitude he broke and turned his head away from his brother.

"please, donnie... i know it's hard for you to talk about how you're feeling, but—i really want my brothers back." and with that mikey left, head held down and shoulders slumped down, heavy with the weight of his sadness.

donnie gulped down the gathering saliva in his throat, only being able to stare at the lab's doors with fogged over eyes after going into his own state of mind. he knew what he had to do—him and leo. they needed to apologize, no matter how jealous they were of their brother and his new friend.

he was going to apologize to raphael tonight, with or without leo. at least, that's what he wished to do.

here he was, blankly staring ahead at raphael's closed curtain and was intently listening to the snapping turtles quiet snores as he slept soundly with his big hand resting on donnie's knee pad.

earlier, he had found his brother stumbling into the lair, covered in pizza grease from his big fingertips and had chip crumbs on his lips. he had an even more unbearable raph stink that stuck to his clothes, which he took off almost immediately after donnie pointed the smell out.

donnie didn't know what was wrong with raphael, but he needed to get him into his room before anyone else could see him. he'd hate for his big brother to humiliate himself further in front of their family, especially leonardo. he picked up the turtles clothes after he clumsily slipped out of them, pushing his brother into his room and immediately made him lay in bed to which the snapper happily did.

the turtle in purple tried to bring up the topic of his apology every now and then as he tucked his brother into bed, but raphael only slurred out incoherent, happy babbles and squirmed underneath his blanket to get comfortable. eventually, donnie just gave up on the apology altogether since his brother was completely out of it for whatever reason. he wanted to go back to his lab, but it felt wrong to leave his brother all alone so he stuck with him until he fell asleep.

in the midst of his tired state, raphael rested his big hand on donatello's knee pad, making sure his brother was still next to him and let out a quiet sigh of relief. "i love y'u, dee." he slurred, before he began to softly snore.

donnie felt his heart ache at those words, feeling relieved that his brother went to bed immediately after because he would probably freeze up like an idiot just trying to say those three simple words back. gulping down the gathering saliva in his mouth, he hesitantly rested his hand on top of raphael's and let his head hang off his shoulders in shame.

apologizing to raphael was going to be harder than he thought.

Chapter Text

splinter was no fool. he may be old and losing his memory a bit, but he certainly remembered smells that reminded him of past memories.

when michelangelo brought a candle home from one of their missions on the surface, the smell had taken him back to a memory of one of his long-lost loves who smelled tart and sweet.

when he smelled a certain perfume that was too hard to describe with words, he remembered his mother.

a certain smell would also take him back to his young parenting days when his sons would climb on him and cry for him to sleep with them when it got too scary.

yes, all wonderful smells.

⚠️

especially the smell that was coming off of his eldest son right now—a smell that took him back to his lou jitsu days. he was a big movie star! one that would be constantly busy with going to parties and having a woman under his arm. that meant he was no stranger to drinking and smoking, and one he heavily favored more than the other, one that wouldn't give him a searing headache when he awoke in the morning. but he was a full-grown adult at those times and knew damn well what he was doing when he chose to be under the influence. he was always sure to be careful, never getting too carried away with himself.

so, why? why did his eldest son, who was only sixteen, smell like weed?

raphael was blissfully unaware of his father's angry presence, too deep into his slumber to even notice how the rat dangerously held his hand above his head to smack him right out of his peaceful state of mind. splinter halted his movement though, sitting next to his sleeping son's body and instead rested his gentle hand on raph's warm forehead.

the snapping turtle was laying on his side facing towards his father, his hands laying limp underneath his chin and his lips were pursed from his cheek laying against the mattress. how cute splinter's son was... his oldest son who could never hurt a fly, the son who would cry when he'd realize his dad was getting older, the same son who he never thought would experiment at his young age.

it wasn't like splinter forbade them from doing anything like that—they lived in the sewers! where could his sons ever get such things? he never really educated them about it either and he also knew he'd be a little hypocritical if he ever told them to never do these things. he should've told them he wanted them to smoke or drink once they were well over twenty-one when they were conscious adults.

⚠️

the rat let out a hefty sigh, his thumb caressing the side of raphael's face and instead of being mad, he let a gentle smile rise to his face. "my darling son," he muttered, feeling his eyes sting when raphael's lip twitched into a sleepy smile before it dropped as quick as it came.

splinter wished he was big enough to hold his son like a baby once more. he is cursed to live the rest of his life as a short rat man—one who can't even properly hold his son like a newborn infant. if it was up to him, he'd be ten times the size of raphael, just so he could hold his sons in his arms all at once.

with a heavy sigh, he finally decided to take his leave after a good few minutes of contemplating, leaving his son to his much-needed rest. he was going to have to teach his sons a new lesson once his eldest woke up.

raphael had awoken just hours later, lucky enough to awake before the time hit noon. once seeing the time, the turtle had never shot out of his bed so fast, spitting out gibberish as he fumbled with his heavy comforter to throw it off of his body. once he clumsily stood to his feet, his head was pounding with fatigue, but he fought against the tiring feeling and quickly forced himself to wash his face with cold water, hoping that would wake him up a little more.

memories of last night's events played through his head as he leaned his arms against his sink, looking into the mirror to gaze into his heavy eyes. he recalled smoking for the first time, how at peace and happy he felt when he looked at his friend once the high hit. but suddenly, he realized he didn't remember how he got home. the only thing he knew was that he and [y/n] had a hay day trying to push his big shell through the window frame through wheezes off laughter and hushed whispering.

man, was that the best sleep he ever had in his life though. he had the craziest dreams ever and with the way his head kept pounding, he'd surely succumb to his bed once more and sleep for eternity. he knew he couldn't do that though. he had responsibilities to uphold, he needed to make sure his brothers were all well accounted for training and had to check in on his father.

blowing a raspberry, raphael exited the restroom feeling a little more awake and waltzed into the kitchen to find... nobody. obviously, nobody would be here since breakfast was already over. he then moved on to the training room where his brothers should be training at this time—still nobody. was he a little disappointed that his brothers weren't training as they were supposed to? yes, but no matter. they'd make up for it later.

he then moved on to the living room and only his father was there, laying comfortably in his recliner while watching his usual japanese soap opera. his brothers were nowhere to be seen which most likely meant they were in their rooms, enjoying their time away from training.

raph let out a quiet sigh of relief, walking into the room and placed a gentle hand on his father's head to let him know he was there. this was something he'd picked up on doing over the years, knowing that if he called his father's name, he would refuse to look over his shoulder in fear he'd miss an important scene on his tv show. splinter jumped at this, looking up to see his eldest son smiling down at him gently with heavy eyelids.

"hey, pops." was all raphael muttered, before he retreated his hand and began to walk away, but before he could reach the doorway, he heard his father kindly call out his name. curiously, he sluggishly turned his head to look over his shoulder and flashed a gentle smile at the silhouette of his father. "yeah, dad?"

"come here, please."

so he did. raphael turned his body around and began to take soft steps towards the recliner, peering down at the top of his father's head with a bit of worry. "need anythin'?" he asked with a tilt of his head, his hand coming up to rest on the recliner's armrest. his body was ready to move at his father's next command, his mind running all over the place to prepare for whatever his father needed.

"who do you see on the surface?"

raphael halted, suddenly feeling his heart drop at the question. he nervously laughed, darting his eyes to the side out of habit. "i-i don't know what ya mean."

"you are a terrible liar, my son." splinter rested his hand on top of his son's and there was no teasing in his voice as he spoke—only softly speaking as to not scare raphael away. "so, who is this person?" he insisted, finally looking up to meet his sons' eyes.

the snapping turtle was nervous, his lips pursed to the side and the skin above his eyes was creased with worry. he took a deep breath in before he started blinking rapidly and slumped his shoulders down with a sigh. "how did you know?" he inquired, voice barely above a whisper.

"the boys are very loud. they like to talk as if i am not here." splinter quickly responded, which made raphael laugh softly. it wasn't that he was laughing at him, but the way his dad spoke sometimes mixed with his accent made things sound a little funny.

raphael sighed, decided to just take a seat beside the recliner and retreated his hand to rest on his lap. he stayed silent for a moment, eyes darting all over the place to think of how to put his thoughts into words before he grunted and rested his head against the armrest. "i made a friend." was all he said, churring softly when his father rested a warm hand against the side of his face.

"anything more?"

yes. so much more. raphael thought, smiling softly when [y/n] popped into his mind. "he's nice. he likes ta play basketball."

splinter nodded his head with a hum. so, it is a boy! that he mostly knew. he didn't know how his son was around girls... he didn't have very high hopes for that.

"he's funny, too. my stomach always hurts from how much i laugh when 'm wit' him..." he closed his eyes shut, finding comfort with the way his father gently massaged his head. "he's really warm... like you."

splinter felt his heart skip a beat and let out a giddy chuckle at his sons' words. warm was always associated with good for his sons and when the cold-blooded boys were younger, they always needed some sort of heat which meant they stuck around their father—a warm-blooded man—most of the time.

"did you go to see this boy last night?" he asked softly, his hands pressing against the side of raphael's face to keep the heat there. the turtle was silent for a moment before he hummed and nodded his head. "red, my dearest boy, i need you to be honest with me now," his voice was still soft as to not scare raphael, but that didn't stop the sinking feeling the turtle felt in his heart at his father's words. he lifted his head to rest his chin on the armrest, eyes looking upward to gaze into his father's eyes as he waited for a response. "did you do anything with this boy last night?"

raphael pursed his lips at the suggestive comment, his lips twitching into a 'v' shape and his eyes formed into crescents to hold back the laugh that rumbled in his chest.

"no, not like that!" splinter scolded, chopping the top of his son's head which earned a grunt in response.

⚠️

"i know... i know that kids are very fast these days. a lot of them are doing things that i have only done as a grown man. so, i ask you, red, did you smoke last night?"

that was when raph dropped his devious smile and suddenly looked nervous under the gaze of his father, quickly turning his head to lay it against the armrest to avoid eye contact. his heart pounded against his chest, and he refused the urge to run away under such confrontational pressure. "is it bad if raph did?"

the rat sighed heavily while shaking his head but remembered his son couldn't see his expression so chose to speak quickly. "no—i know you boys will grow up to do these things, but i just ask you to be careful, my son. people are very dangerous... they like to sell these things to children and lace them with horrible drugs that kill you in an instant. i don't want my son to fall victim to such awful acts. even if you boys are not fully human, who knows what could still harm you!" splinter's accent grew thicker the more he talked, which was a clear sign to raph that he was very passionate about what he was talking about. "do wait a little while longer until you are older to do these things... please, red. i don't want to lose my son."

⚠️

the fear left raphael and he lifted his head to look up at his father with a hesitant smile. he stood to his feet and wrapped a big arm around his father, pressing their foreheads together so he could feel the warmth of his fur against his bare skin. "i will, pops. love you."

"i love you, too, my boy. but, eh... next time you go to the surface to meet your friend, do tell him about me. i'd like to meet this warm boy one day."

"okay, pops. i will." raphael pressed a soft kiss to splinter's furry head and bid farewell to the rat as he walked out of their living room, hearing his father's chuckles as he left.

he took slow steps back to his room, dwelling on his father's words. he wanted to meet [y/n]. raph couldn't stop the smile that stretched across his lips as he thought of his best friend meeting his father. it would be a chaotic meeting for sure, but he couldn't wait for the day that it would come. maybe it was time to introduce the whole family to [y/n]. he had already proved how trustworthy he was in raphael's heart, and he seemed like a genuine kind-hearted person... his brother's needed someone as good as his friend in their lives, too.

when he had slipped past his red curtain that blocked the entry to his room, he froze upon seeing donatello standing in the middle of the room. he didn't seem to be doing anything, just mindlessly staring at the posters on his eldest brother's walls with that usual judgmental expression. upon noticing raphael's entrance, he noticeably brightened and turned to face his entire body towards the older turtle.

"there you are! i was just about to leave to come looking for you!" donnie exclaimed monotonously, arms outstretching a bit to emphasize his surprise of seeing raph.

said snapping turtle kindly smiled at his brother, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "ah, 'm sorry, don. did i keep ya waiting fer long?"

"nah, i just got here like a second ago." donnie waved his brother off, shifting his weight to one leg as he crossed his arms over his plastron. "anyway, i came because i needed to talk to you about something."

at the mention of a talk, raphael perked up and excitedly smiled at his younger brother. "wait, don! there's somethin' i wan' tell ya, too!" he didn't give donnie a chance to finish what he was saying, motioning for his brother to sit on the bed where they both plopped down simultaneously. "y'know how i've been going to the surface a lot to see someone?" raph continued his words, smile visibly growing and body leaning towards donnie's direction.

the softshell curiously watched, a drawn-on eyebrow furrowing at the odd behavior. "yes?"

"well, i think it's about time y'u guys meet him, too."

donnie froze, his eyes widening and jaw going slack when those words finally processed in his mind. raphael looked so happy, his smile so big that it looked almost unnatural, and his eyes were glossed over innocently. donatello suddenly felt very guilty.

"i think it'll be good—for all of us! he's a really nice person and he's always been such a good friend... and i feel like you guys need that kind of support in your lives." raph spoke, unaware of the tremble that quivered donnie's bottom lip the more he talked. "we've always just had dad and april to count on, but i don't think one more person'll hurt, y'know? 'n he's a really good guy, i feel like havin' a guy friend around will help, a lot, too—" raphael then began to ramble, eyes twinkling like a child's would on christmas day.

donnie only listened, shoulders slumped, and eyebrows furrowed upward to express the guilt he felt in his heart. he would bite his lip when he felt it tremble, focusing on the feeling of dry skin tearing away from the force of his teeth instead of the harrowing heavy weight that rested on his chest.

raphael finally finished his little ramble, peering into his brothers' eyes and was oblivious to the disdain his brother was in. "doesn't dat sound cool? havin' another friend?"

donnie swallowed harshly, forcing a smile on his face even if his eyes so desperately wanted to spill out all of the venom that pooled behind them. "yeah... that sounds really fun, raphael."

said turtle smiled wider at this, before it suddenly dropped, and he gasped guiltily. "ah, man! i jus' completely cut ya off earlier! what were ya gonna say?" he asked, tilting his head at his younger brother. he was ready to listen, and he had even softened his tone when addressing his brother—it made don's heart ache.

donatello wished his brother wasn't so understanding. he wished his brother would get mad at him and call him all the horrible names he deserved. he wished his brother would be selfish for once and get angry.

"i don't know... i must've forgot."

donnie wished he wasn't such a cowardly brother.

———

leonardo had known his twin went to go apologize for their off behavior to their eldest brother. he chose not to go with him, deciding that he shouldn't have to apologize when he didn't want to. he felt no need to. he was acting the same as ever, so what would raphael need an apology for?

the slider continued flipping through his comic book, only glancing at the pictures and not even reading the dialogue out of pure frustration. he thought about [y/n] and raphael, feeling that same aggravating tingly feeling pinch his nerves. he was incredibly jealous and maybe he had acted a little rash and rude towards raphael, but he'd rather shit in his hands and clap then tell his older brother that he wanted to be in his place so he could keep [y/n] for himself.

he let out a growling noise from the back of his throat, discarding the comic book to the side so he could run his hands down his face out of frustration. leo lifted himself up on his elbows when he heard his curtain slide to the side and perked up upon seeing donatello walk into his room.

"so, how'd it go?" he smugly said, leaning his ear against his shoulder with a big cocky grin. "did our dear raphie-waphie forgive you?" he cooed with pursed lips, kissing the air for dramatic effect.

donnie said nothing, expression looking distraught as he plopped himself down to sit at the edge of leo's bed, facing his battle shell towards his brother. leo began to get a little anxious at the silence and sat himself up fully, worriedly glancing at the softshell in front of him. "i didn't do it." was all he said, before the silence wafted in and weighed on their shoulders heavily.

"wh-what do you mean you didn't do it?" leo furrowed a nonexistent brow, crawling forward so he could sit right by his twin.

donnie sharply inhaled and turned his head to leonardo, his glossy eyes on fully display for his brother to see. leo was never good at reading emotions on other people and was always oblivious to social cues. but right now, he could read every emotion on donnie's face, he could see the conflicting thoughts running around behind those glossy eyes, he could see the guilt that made don scrunch his beak up in distaste.

"[y/n]..." donatello broke the silence, watching as leo perked up in confusion at the familiar name. "raphael wants us to meet [y/n]."

Chapter Text

waylie was [y/n]'s little princess. she was his only sister, so of course he spoiled her the best he could with all the girliest things that he could find.

when she came home talking about cheerleading, he wasted no time to smash open his piggy bank and bought her everything she needed. when waylie came home talking about a bully at school, he'd put those boxing gloves on her and teach her how to fight so they could both kick that little kids ass the next day (he didn't actually fight because he didn't feel like getting arrested, but he encouraged his sister).

then on one fateful day when she came home talking about being a girl scout, [y/n] wasted no time to sign whatever forms she needed and bought her uniform that same day. she had been a girl scout for almost two weeks now, and when she'd tell [y/n] about everything she does as a new scout he couldn't help but feel a little... let down? he felt like she wasn't getting enough action as she usually would as a girl scout.

"do ya even like givin' out brownies, baby? t'at sounds really borin'..." [y/n] spoke his mind, holding tightly onto waylie's hand as she lead him along a path she was familiar with. "i feel like maybe ya should stick wit' cheerleading? ya got a lot more action in wit' dat than jus' standin' around all day."

"i can do this and be a kickbutt cheerleader! 'n i don't stand around all day 'cause grandma cj even teaches us how to fight!" waylie exclaimed, promptly letting go of her brother's hand to violently punch the air with loud war cries to show him what she had learned.

[y/n] laughed at the action, gently setting his hand atop of his sisters head to ruffle the hair he worked so hard to detangle that morning. "well, tha's good! as long as yer movin' yer lil body around." he said under his breath, reaching his free hand up to adjust the glasses that rested on his nose.

"i move around a lot! trust!" waylie retorted, shoving her tiny hand back into her brother's calloused one. he chuckled at her words, noticing how she mimicked his voice when picking up his vocabulary. she really was his little princess.

"YOU'RE LATE, WAYLIE! what have i said about being on time?!"

oh, god. [y/n] quickly dropped his free hand to his side, eyes widening upon seeing a familiar figure standing in front of him and waylie. oh, my god. i wanna die.

"sorry, grandma cj! i'll be here on time tomorrow!" the oblivious little girl let go of her brothers hand to salute to the woman that stood in front of them. [y/n] had never done a 180° so fast, his body as stiff as a board when he heard the name his sister had called out.

grandma cj huffed and rabidly bit the air in front of her with clenched fists. "you better! or else i'm knocking your training time off by an hour!"

"sir, yes, sir!"

this is barbaric! [y/n] thought, feeling the sweat run down the side of his face. i signed my sister up for a plan to world domination! he sobbed in his head, wanting to drop to his hands and knees right then and there and cry his eyes out. he tearfully put a hand to his mouth, hanging his head off of his shoulders to wallow in his shame. what has he done?

"and who is this?!"

"oh, that's my brother!"

[y/n] wanted to die. he wanted to die so bad. he could feel his beloved waylie grab ahold onto his baggy joggers and turned him around to face grandma cj, who let out the worlds most dramatic gasp upon seeing his pitiful face.

he was sweating profusely, his lips pressed into a thin line and his eyebrows were furrowed into a big crease. one would've thought he had just gotten done working out with the tanktop and baggy joggers he wore, but he was just sweating from being in the presence of a girl he thought he'd never see again.

cj narrowed her eyes at the boy and he could practically feel the knives that dug into his skin from her sharp gaze. "hello, [y/n]." she spat, arms crossing over her chest.

"hi... cassandra..." [y/n] stammered, eyes darting from left to right to avoid making even the slightest bit of eye contact with her. man, he really did it now. he realized he signed his little princess up for a barbaric girls scouts troop and that his crazy ex-girlfriend ran the place? he felt like he was going to have a heart attack.

cassandra narrowed her eyes further at the boy she once used to date, forcing a strained smile on her face. "waylie, head inside. your brother and i need to have a talk about your rising status in my brownie clan." waylie obliviously listened to cassandra, excitedly hugging her brother goodbye and ran inside of the building they stood outside of, leaving her dearest older brother alone with her advisor.

an awkward and tense silence took over as soon as waylie was gone, cassandra making her distaste very obvious as they engaged in a tense staring contest. [y/n] shoved his hands into his pockets, slowly rocking back and forth on his heels with pursed lips. "so... how's waylie doin'?"

"you look like a nerd."

"wow, okay. rude." [y/n] said all in one offending breath, chin tilted back with a grimace to show his offense.

cassandra grumbled, pointing an accusatory finger right into her ex's face. "did you sign your sister up for my brownie clan to ruin my plan for world domination!"

the sweaty boy threw his hands up defensively, eyes crossed as they stayed focused on the finger that was centimeters away from touching his nose. "trust, if i knew dat ya were runnin' this place, i wouldnt've signed my sister up at all. mainly 'cuz i wanna stay far as fuck away from y'u."

"what was that?!" the girl spat, which made [y/n] shrink and bite back a squeak that threatened to leave his lips.

"nothing! nothing." he let out a dejected sigh, dropping his surrendering hands at his side and finally built up the courage to make eye contact with cassandra. "look, i know we ended t'ings on some pretty shitty terms, but my baby really likes yer brownie clan—er what'ver da fuck it's called—'n i don't wan' pull her away from somethin' dat makes her happy so..." he could feel the heat rising to his face the more he talked and it didn't help that the girl in front of him was staring so intently at him either. "so, let's—let's try ta get along from now on for waylie. deal?"

cassandra seemed deep in thought, her black-stained lips pursed and a crease formed between her brows. she took in a deep breath before standing up straight to stare directly into [y/n]'s eyes. "i accept this deal—but only because waylie has risen my sales by thirty percent!"

this seemed to good enough for the boy due to breath of relief he let out, although he chose to ignore that last part. he wouldn't want to know why waylie had much success in making sales rise—he hoped it wasn't due to his influence. "thank you, cass." he let his tense shoulders go loose, not noticing how the girl tensed at the familiar nickname that left his lips.

"whatever! just get the hell off my property now!"

———

april could tell something was off with [y/n] as soon as he dropped by to visit her cookie stand. he stood there quietly, eyes unfocused and wasn't teasing her for her horrible salesmanship. "everything okay, boy? you've been staring down at your feet ever since ya got here." she decided to speak up, smiling softly when the boy rose his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye.

his hazy eyes quickly formed into crescents once they landed on her and he gave april a goofy grin as he leaned against her stand. "yeah, don't worry 'bout it. jus' thinking 'bout somethin' is all."

that was only the half truth and april knew it, but she wouldn't push him to talk about whatever was on his mind. she'll let him do that on his own time. "when did you go to bed last night?" she inquired, setting a hand on her hip.

the boy winced and looked to the sky as he began to think. "i think maybe... three-ish? i'on know. it was really late though." he trailed off, scratching the back of his neck.

"jeez, [y/n]..." april groaned while massaging her temples, which earned a laugh from the boy. "i need to start giving you some melatonin, cause this is not it."

"tuck me into bed, too, while yer at it." he teased, leaning his face towards april's with a dopey grin.

the girl only scoffed at his words and leaned away from the close proximity, pushing his face away which earned a muffled grunt from him. "tuck your own grown ass into bed." she spat, though she said it with a big smile which let [y/n] know she was playing with him.

he couldn't stop the big grin that spread on his lips, aching his cheeks the more he stared at april. the more he stared at her, the more weird he felt that the two of them became friends. it was quite funny how they met—he needed a tutor and april was the only one available to help his grades, but she beat the learning into his brain with rolled up pieces of paper. man, she was a nerd... like a big fucking nerd, but he loved that about her.

so, when he felt his heart tug painfully when he saw her frown at the amount of cookies she attempted to sell, he knew he had to do something. [y/n] sneakily pulled out his wallet, fingers skillfully grabbing a single bill from the large wad of cash he had. he stuffed his wallet back into his pocket, picking up a box of cookies that was on display and gave april a cocky grin. "mind if i take one o' t'ese back home fer my siblin's?" he began to back away, hopping on his feet in front of the stand so he and april could be face-to-face with one another.

april furrowed a brow, pursing her lips at the boy. "as long as you pay for that." she sighed with a frown, pressing her ear against her shoulder.

"don't worry, girl. i got'chu." he sang with a smirk, pulling out the cash he had folded on his thumb and handed it over to the girl. once she took the money from his fingers, he began to quickly jog away but it looked as if he was in pain with the way he limped and kept his arms tightly to his chest. april liked to call it the classic basketball player run. "see ya later, april!" he loudly exclaimed, waving his hand lazily behind him.

"see you, [y/n]..." april dejectedly sighed, glancing down at the boxes of cookies she still had on her stand. she looked down at the single bill in her hands to place it in her funding jar only to gasp sharply and did a double take at the money in her hand. it was a single hundred dollar bill.

[y/n] had always won money from participating in basketball tournaments and even gambled with some shady people to get the money he had, so seeing this amount coming from the boy april felt her eyes sting with tears. one hundred dollars might not be enough to some people, but to april? it meant the whole god damn world.

it was the first and only bill to be place in her funding jar, and when she had gone down to the lair to wallow in the amount of sales she had, she reminded herself of [y/n]'s generous act. she was going to give him some more cookies for that, knowing that his siblings would appreciate the gesture due to their untreatable sweet tooth.

she held the jar in her hands, smile never fading from her face the more she looked at it. splinter had come in to check on her, furrowing one of his hairy brows in confusion at the girl. "what's got you so happy, april?" he inquired, receiving a look of pure joy from the girl.

she shrugged her shoulders, her smile turning bashful as she traced circles into the jar in her hands. "a friend just did something for me after a tough day of no sales is all." her voice was quiet and flustered, and splinter had recognized that same look and tone of voice from his son the day before when he talked about his new friend.

it seemed as if all of his children were gaining new people in their lives. he was glad that these new friends were having a good influence on their lives, due to how his children's eyes seemed to glow brighter as the days went by and splinter thanked whatever gods were watching them for the people they sent to his children.

deciding to tease, splinter rose his brows twice at the girl with a crooked grin. "was it a boy?"

"ew, splints!" april hid her flustered face with the jar that did nothing to conceal it due to the clear plastic.

the rat only laughed and slapped at his knee as he walked further into the living room to stand right behind the sofa she laid on. "i'm just kidding, april!" he then hopped up on the back of the chair, peering down at the curious girl with a mischievous grin. "so, what was this thing about no sales?"

it was time to put his j.i.t.s.u technique to good use with his adopted daughter!

———

after a long and tiring day of cookie sales, april did in fact remember to keep a few boxes of the treats for [y/n] and his little siblings. splinter's technique had worked perfectly and she almost sold all of the cookies she had on her stand, but luckily she was able to hide a few from the crowd of people that surrounded the stand.

until, she was kidnapped by a bunch of little girls and brought to their headquarters where they attempted to beat her down for being a rival to their brownies. it sounded like a crazy and made up story, but she promises it was true.

with a fatigued sigh and a massage of her temples, she held the boxes tightly to her chest and lifted a hand to knock on her friend's apartment door. she could hear the scrambling of feet and the muffled shouts of the [l/n] family from beyond the walls and felt a nervous smile rise to her face as she listened to the chaotic conversation.

"brooo, someone's here!" a boy yelled, who she recognized as the second oldest son.

"well, answer it!" [y/n]'s muffled voice sounded annoyed and even more muffled. april figured he was probably in his room.

"i ain't answerin'! i did it last time!"

"well, do it again, yer closer!"

it was silent for a while before the boy attempted to speak in a hushed manner. "waylie, go open the door."

"don't make her do it, ya bum!"

but alas, nobody listened to their eldest brother because a little girl had opened the door, her and april both gasping loudly once they saw each other. memories of the countless girl scouts she had fought earlier within that day came flooding into april's head and she sheepishly smiled at the familiar little girl who only glared up at her taller form.

"hey... little girl. is your brother here?" april said through strained teeth, doing her best to keep a chirpy tone.

"which one." waylie spat back, her little hand ready to slam the door shut on april at any moment.

right, [y/n] mainly had brothers and only one sister. april remembered, laughing at herself for her mistake. "[y/n]! i gotta give something to him." she smiled, her hands tightening around the boxes she held.

waylie squinted her eyes, looking her up and down before sneering up at the girl and turned to look over her shoulder. "[y/n]! your girlfriend's here!"

"WHAT?!" both april and [y/n]'s voice echoed throughout the entirety of the apartment complex.

the boy had stumbled out of his room, making sure to close the door behind him and sprinted to his sister with a fearful expression. "don't be so fuckin' loud, waylie! mom's her—oh, april!" he instantly brightened upon seeing his friend, and moved waylie out of the way so he could take her place against the doorway. "what'chya doin' here?" he asked, his hand coming up to grip the door that waylie attempted to slam shut.

april paid no mind to his shirtless appearance, already knowing that the boy preferred to be half-naked at home and it wasn't like she hadn't seen him shirtless before. "i just wanted to stop by and give you some cookies... you paid more than one box costed. take this as a thank you! you helped me, a lot." she bashfully muttered that last part under her breath, extending the boxes of cookies in her hands.

she could see waylie seething at the boxes from behind her older brother and april couldn't help the smug smile that painted her lips when [y/n] excitedly took the boxes out of her hands. "it ain't no problem, april." the boy gave her a crooked grin, leaning his shoulder against the doorway and folded one of his feet behind the other. "just glad to help... did ya raise anymore money?"

april put a hand on her hip and furrowed her eyebrows together, sending a discreet glance at the little girl behind him. "i did... but i lost the money to a little thief." she resisted the urge to grimace at waylie when she stuck her tongue out at her.

"aw, man. 'm sorry 'bout that..." [y/n] frowned, genuinely looking upset by the news. "hey, how 'bout t'is? 'm competing in another tournament in a few days! ya could come 'n watch me win ya some cash for yer charity, huh?" he smiled, not noticing how his younger sister gawked in his direction, her little fists clenched and shaking at her sides.

as much as april loved hearing that and felt her heart warm at the gesture, she shook her head while crossing her arms over her chest. "you don't gotta do all that, boy... but i will come 'n watch you break some ankles."

the boy laughed heartily, leaning forward to give april a soft smile. "well, let me take ya out to eat with my victory money after?" he tilted his head, his messy bangs perfectly falling onto his face.

april hummed, her own smile rising to her lips. "sounds good, [n/n]." she said softly as she gently pushed the boy's face away from her, relishing in the cheery smile [y/n] gave her as she squeezed his cheeks.

"later, april... thanks fer da cookies." he muttered, backing away into his apartment.

"see ya, [y/n]." she waved, watching as the boy descended into his room with the vast amount of cookie boxes in his arms. she glanced down at the little girl who kept her stance by the door, giving one last glare to april before she spoke.

"my brother could do better..."

before april could even react, the door was slammed in her face and a series of locks were heard right after. her jaw went slack as she stood there in shock, blinking owlishly at the door. "damn, these little kids got no respect." she clicked her tongue, stuffing her hands into her pockets before he began to stride away, grumbling underneath her breath.

meanwhile, [y/n] stepped into his foggy room, quickly closing the door behind him and stuffed the towel back underneath his doorway. he messily set the boxes on his desk with a sigh and belly flopped onto his bed with a loud groan.

he propped himself up on his elbows, bringing a pillow close to him so he could rest his chin against it and pulled out his phone, quickly making his way to raphael's contact.

raphael.h1984
ay bro
i gtta ask u sumn its real important

confused, [y/n] let out an audible 'huh?' at the text and his thumbs quickly went to work to send a message back.

[y/n]2cool
wht is it bro??

[y/n] began to get a little anxious when he saw the three little dots appear, indicating that raphael was typing. they appeared, then they disappeared, and reappeared again. he pursed his lips, hiding the bottom half of his face into his pillow as he watched his phone intently.

raphael.h1984
would u be down to meet my dad ???
and like the rest of my family
tomorrow
or wtv
maybe
hahaaaa
♪( '▽｀)
(⌒-⌒; )

[y/n] couldn't help the laugh that left his lips at raphael's texts, watching as more nervous looking emoticons popped up on his screen. he didn't even notice how his legs began to kick in the air when he shot a text back to raphael.

[y/n]2cool
im so down big man
what y'all doing tmr??

raphael.h1984
yay omg!
we're going sightseeing tmr
n my dad was just talking ab meeting
u so i think this could be the perfect
time for y'all to meet
cuz the rest of my fam will be there too:))

[y/n]2cool
ay.
u talk ab me to ur dad?

raphael.h1984
erm
no
（^人^）

[y/n]2cool
boy quit playinn
but im free tmr so jus lmk what time n
i'll be ready 😈
does ur fam know im coming?

raphael.h1984
only my dad :)
my brothers can just be surprised lol
and i think we're leaving later in the
after noon so be ready around three?? maybe

[y/n]2cool
lmao wrap me up in a gift box
but alr i'll be ready by then bro 🤗

raphael.h1984
yayayayay
see u tmr then lil dude ٩( ᐛ )و

[y/n]2cool
see u tmr big man

[y/n] shut his phone off with that final message, throwing it to the side and rolled off of his bed to walk to his closet. he swung open the door to be met with the smell of his usual cologne and his eyes immediately darted across the numerous pieces of clothing with a curious hum.

if he was going to meet raphael's family, he had to make sure he did it in style.

Chapter Text

today was the day.

to say [y/n] was nervous would be an understatement. he would immediately start trembling and get the chills when he thought of meeting raphael's family and he distracted himself by pacing around the house all day (he started pacing at around five in the morning.) he started on his family's daily routines once the clock hit seven—he had woken up every single one of his little siblings, even taking time out of his day to awaken his mother and get her work uniform ready to go when she was a little sluggish once getting out of bed.

he had taken the active siblings to their extracurricular activities once it was time and even ironed their uniforms or clothes like a frantic mother when they had told him they had a game or a big event coming up soon. he started on the laundry, the dishes, and got his youngest sibling, kian, out of bed to make him eat breakfast.

arden, the second oldest child, was the only other person in the house but [y/n] let him sleep in because he knew the boy had no plans for the day. so, being the good older brother he is, he laid with kian on the couch watching cartoons to pass the remaining time left until he met up with raphael.

something about being with a quiet child who uses you as a personal pillow passes time quickly, because [y/n] almost didn't notice how the early morning had turned into the afternoon in a blink of an eye. once he had seen how it was almost two in the afternoon, he felt his heart sink down to his stomach and his expression quickly dropped.

"oh, shit." [y/n] cursed under his breath, shooting him and kian off the couch and began racing down the hallway towards arden's room.

"thit." kian quietly repeated with his lisp.

"don't say dat. da's a no-no word." [y/n] scolded while pointing an accusatory finger in his baby brother's face.

kian smiled at the scolding, ducking his head down to his chest while looking up at his brother with his big doe eyes. "thit." he repeated, not knowing the severity of the word.

the eldest brother inhaled sharply and shook his head, earning a mischievous giggle from the one-year-old in his arms. "i'll just let yer other brother deal wit ya. sound good?"

"good, dada." kian recognized that word and repeated it in a soft voice with a wide grin, pairing it together with a thumbs up from his chubby fist.

[y/n] nodded his head harshly, leaning forward to nuzzle his nose against his baby brother and use his bangs to tickle the sides of his face. "good!" he didn't seem to react to being called 'dada', and skipped right into arden's room.

the fourteen-year old was still deep in sleep this late into the day, laying on his stomach and his arm hung off the side of the bed frame. his cheeks were mushed together from being pressed against his pillow, his saliva dampening the once pristine white pillow cover.

"ah-den." kian gasped quietly, pointing his chubby finger at his brother.

[y/n] smiled down at the child, adjusting him on his hip as he walked near arden's bedside. "stay wit' big brother, 'kay, baby? [y/n]'s gotta change inta big people clothes." he referred to himself in the third person, kneeling down so his brother could crawl out of his arms and onto the bed.

kian had no protests, practically flinging out of his eldest brother's arms and onto arden's queen sized bed, excitedly crawling over his body to cover up with his abandoned quilt. arden snorted himself awake at the movement on his bed, sloppily running a hand down his face and turned his head to the side to squint at kian who already made himself comfortable against his shoulder. smacking his lips, the sleepy brother pulled kian closer and adjusted his position to the child's liking.

[y/n] smiled at the gesture, staying for a while to watch his brother's quickly fall into slumber and quietly snuck out to go change in his room. it wasn't that difficult to change since he had already chosen an outfit the night before and made sure he had everything he needed for his outing with raphael.

his wallet, his phone, his trusty pocket knife, chapstick, bluetooth headphones for the journey there... yup. he was all set.

once he had slipped on his socks and shoes, he did the best he could to quietly sneak back into arden's room. when he was at his bedside, he brushed aside his younger brother's bangs from his face and pressed a soft kiss against the side of his temple. arden began to stir awake from the peck, turning his head to the side to squint at his older brother who loomed above him.

"hi," [y/n] cooed with a soft smile, earning a sleepy one back from the other boy. "i'm gonna be out fer a while... it'll jus' be y'u 'n babyboy home, 'ight?"

"'kay." arden croaked out, turning back over to hug kian to his chest and fell back asleep.

[y/n] smiled down at his younger brother's, standing upright to leave the room as quietly as possible. he made sure to grab the house key before he left just in case he were to get locked out. he didn't know how long he would be out with raphael... he hoped it wouldn't be too long. he still had to get back home to make dinner. just as he was about to leave the apartment, his phone pinged loudly. with pursed lips, he fished out his phone and quickly typed in his password to read the notification he had just received.

raphael.h1984
hey! im jus now heading towards the place
we agreed to meet up @, so lmk when
ur coming:)
my dad is so excited to meet u!!

[y/n] could barely even type a response from how shaky his hands got.

———

[y/n] could do this. he has played basketball in packed stadiums while unbelievably old men called him the most outlandish and offensive names anyone could ever think of. he has taken care of five children all on his own even when he wanted to break down crying from the sheer stress of it. he has dealt with a crazy ex-girlfriend who almost got him killed more times than he could count on his fingers in just the three months that they had dated.

so, why was meeting his mutant turtle friend's dad the only thing that made him want to run away and hide himself forever? what made his nerves worsen was the real-life portal that raphael had magically summoned in a dark and mysterious alleyway isolated from the rest of the citizens of new york. if [y/n] had a single logical brain cell in his cranium, he would've thought raphael had dragged him here to kill him under the guise of meeting his father, but he couldn't think so lowly of someone he smoked a joint with.

anyone he smoked with was automatically trustworthy in his eyes.

he smacked the sides of his cheeks harshly with the palms of his hands and turned his back to the portal, shaking his head from side-to-side. "fuck, man. 'm so nervous..." he muttered through clenched teeth, shaking his trembling hands by his hips to try and get them to lay still.

"hey, lil dude..." raphael had set his big hand on [y/n]'s shoulder, his expression going serious as he leaned down to reach the boys height. "don't be so hard on yaself... ta be honest wit'chya i have no idea if yer nervous 'bout da portal thing or meeting my dad thing, but either way yer gon crush it!" he clenched his other big fist right in front of [y/n]'s face, his usual snaggle-tooth smile spread across his lips.

ah, [y/n] was healed of his anxiety already. his friend had such a way with words.

raph cleared his throat, casually moving his friend to face him like a ragdoll and stood with his hands on his hips. "now... repeat after raphie—i look good." he deepened his voice comically, his eyes narrowing upon looking down at his friends smaller head.

[y/n] pursed his lips looking down at his feet before inhaling sharply and puffing his chest out with a determined face. "i look good." he repeated shakily, clenching his fists by his side.

"i am powerful!"

"i am powerful!"

"raphie's dad is gonna love me!"

"raphie's dad is gon' love me!"

"now shake it off!" raphael began hopping on his toes, shaking his arms at his sides which [y/n] mirrored while blowing a raspberry through his chapped lips and began to punch the air for dramatic effect. "how do ya feel?!" he exclaimed, his face centimeters apart from the boys.

"i feel good!" [y/n] exclaimed back into the turtle's face, still hopping on his toes.

"are ya ready ta meet my pops and da rest o' my family?!"

"'m ready!"

raphael nodded his head harshly in affirmation to the human's words, turning to face his plastron towards the glowing portal. "good! now we're gonna run through dat portal, ya got me?!" he pointed his big finger at the glowing light, his other arm ghosting over [y/n]'s smaller body to keep him close to him.

[y/n] smacked both sides of his cheeks harshly, turning his body to face the portal while running in place. "i gotchu!" he took quick deep breaths in as raphael began to count down slowly and dramatically.

"three... two... one... go, go, go!"

raphael and [y/n] sprinted full speed into the portal, screaming dramatically as they dove headfirst into the blue light, only to start screaming out of fear and started wildly flailing their limbs when they realized the drop was a little higher than they had anticipated.

raph was quick to swim in the air and grab onto [y/n], hugging him to his plastron as the scenery changed and they landed gracefully (that's a lie) onto the ground. they were both winded upon the collision and the backs of raph's shell dug deep into the ground due to the harsh impact.

[y/n] huffed out a wheeze while rolling onto his hands and knees off of raphael's plastron, lifting his head from his shoulders to glance around at his new surroundings. he didn't know what he expected when he fell through a literal portal leading to what raph described as a hidden city, but it literally was in definition—a hidden city. "oh, woah!" he suddenly felt as if he had whiplash, his head turning swiftly to cover every single piece of land with his vision.

this hidden city was a little dim in some areas, but was more, and i mean way more, colorful than new york in its entirety. the architecture and colors used were vastly different from what he was used to. the thing that amazed him most though was the people—they were just like raphael, but different. some flew and some walked on land, some were tiny and some were big. they took on many shapes and forms, and were even reptilian just like his turtle friend. [y/n]'s jaw went slack and his eyes twinkled as he looked around the new area, looking as if he were a child on christmas day.

raph's couldn't stop the dopey lovestruck smile that stretched across his cheeks, his body still laying against the ground limply as if he were a ragdoll. "isn't it cool?" he asked, letting his head hang and rest against his spiky shell.

this whole place is like an acid trip, he wanted to say, but clamped his mouth shut to think of something else to say. his mouth went dry and he swallowed to the best of his ability while turning to face raphael with a crooked smile and twinkling eyes. "it's really cool..." was all he could muster out, which earned a boisterous laugh from raph in return.

"well, yer gonna see a lot more of it today! it's even cooler on da inside!" raphael exclaimed.

excitement fueled the human's veins and he began to hop on his toes while shaking his fists by his hips. "well, let's get goin'! where's yer dad at?!" [y/n] whipped his head from side-to-side with a wide grin, before taking off in a full sprint in a direction he deemed was the right way. he only got so far before he realized raphael wasn't following and quickly turned around to sprint back to the turtle who was still laying on the ground. "aren't ya comin'?" he asked with a tilt of his head, his glasses sliding down his nose bridge.

raphael sucked his lips into his mouth and darted his eyes to the side. "i'm stuck, man."

———

leonardo was never one to be a patient person. he could wait, but that wouldn't stop him from complaining the whole time and asking questions like an annoying little kid. "ugh, what are we even waiting for?!" leo drawled out, leaning against his odachi that he planted firmly into the ground.

splinter only giggled like a little school girl in reply, glancing down at his phone before he lifted his chin back up with a wide grin. "your brother is almost here, blue! just need to wait a little longer.~" he sang, shaking his head from side-to-side.

splinter was obviously hiding something and leo did not like being left in the dark. he didn't like secrets. leo had nobody to complain about it to though since donnie and april had gone to the restroom just a minute before, leaving him with mikey and his father. leo wouldn't dare to complain about something so small to mikey (that was a lie, he complained to mikey all the time. he just didn't want to do it right in front of their dad).

soon thereafter, splinter's phone began to ring to which he quickly answered with one of the biggest grins his sons had ever seen. "hello, red!" he greeted the person on the other line.

"hey, pops! where ya guys at?"

"your brothers and i are waiting close by the hidden city map! you know where that is right?"

"oh, yeah, i see it! see ya!"

with that, the conversation ended quickly and splinter began to deviously rub his hands together while looking over his shoulder.

mikey and leo exchanged a quick worried glance at each other at their father's actions. mikey hugged the teddy bear in his arms a little tighter and pressed his lips into a thin line when he heard a warning squeak come from the stuffed animal.

"hey, we're here!" a familiar boisterous voice called out from behind them, which caused the two turtle brothers and splinter to whip their heads over to the voice, gasping dramatically upon seeing a human boy walking next to him.

raphael stood tall and proud with an equally tall human boy at his side, one of his big arms wrapped around the boy's shoulder while the other was in the air waving to his family. [y/n] pressed himself against raph's plastron once his friends family came into view and held a nervous grin on his lips, fidgeting with his fingers in front of his abdomen while occasionally biting down on his lower lip.

splinter ran in place for a few seconds before he finally broke free and rapidly made his way to the two approaching boys. "you are here!" he greeted them, his little pink hands quickly grabbing onto [y/n]'s trembling ones and squeezed them as a sort of reassurance. "my, look at you! you are almost as tall as my red—and very handsome, too!"

[y/n] couldn't stop the bashful smile that came to his face, feeling his cheeks flush with heat at the compliment. respectfully, he kneeled down on one knee to meet splinter's height and gave him the best smile he could. "thank you, sir." he bowed his head, his bangs moving forward from the movement and framed his face messily while his glasses slid down his nose bridge.

splinter cooed at the action, lifting the boy's chin up gently and pushed his glasses back onto his nose bridge so they wouldn't fall. the boy blinked owlishly at splinter as he muttered in a different language under his breath while brushing away the boy's bangs from his face. the rat just thought he was so precious and wanted to squeeze his cheeks.

meanwhile, leo couldn't describe the emotions that ran through him once he saw raphael and [y/n] approach them. almost immediately he recognized that toned teenage body that was hunched in on itself due to nerves. leo could feel his heart pounding in his eardrums, almost curling in on himself in a similar fashion when he realized he would have to introduce himself all over again just as his father was doing.

while leo was wallowing in whatever unknown emotion he was feeling, raphael had glanced over towards his and mikey's direction with an expectant smile, not moving his eyes away from his turtle brothers even as he helped [y/n] steady himself while he stood on his feet once more. splinter also looked over his shoulder, his small hands still holding onto the humans and rubbed his thumbs over the boy's knuckles reassuringly. "come here, you boys! introduce yourself to red's new friend!" the rat enthusiastically nodded his head towards the tall boy, gesturing his turtle sons to come closer.

leo felt like he was going to faint. he shakily extended his hand to place on mikey's shoulder so they could walk to the rest of their family together, but mikey had already wasted no time to leap forward with his teddy bear in tow, leaving his favorite brother behind to gape at the empty spot he once stood in.

skidding to a stop in front of the human, mikey craned his neck back to look up at him and raphael due to their towering heights and beamed up at them brightly, his eyes turning into crescents from how big his smile was, which made [y/n] audibly coo at the thirteen year-old's expression.

"hi!" the orange-clad turtle held the teddy bear in his arms gently, tilting its head back so it could look upright while it leaned against his plastron. "are you the one raph sneaks out to see every other night?!" he loudly exclaimed, looking between the two boys.

[y/n] gasped quietly at what the turtle had said, side-eyeing raphael who had already averted his gaze to hide his embarrassed expression. "am i?" the human questioned, a flustered grin slowly appearing on his lips when raphael had hesitantly nodded his head. embarrassed, the turtle covered the bottom half of his face with his hand and leaned onto the human, who didn't seem to mind. [y/n] turned back to face mikey, licking his dry lips as he nodded his head. "i guess i am." the human chuckled out, before he tilted his head to the side curiously. "what's yer name?"

"oh, my name's michelangelo, but you can call me mikey!"

"wow, y'u 'n yer brother got some cool names." [y/n] was genuinely in awe over mikey's full name, which earned some chuckles from the family he was surrounded by.

splinter proudly placed a hand under his chin, finally letting go of the boy's hands who had quickly folded them in front of himself right after they were released. "they are all named after renaissance painters!"

"all of 'em?" [y/n] tilted his head once more, a quirk he had for when he was curious or confused. he had been tilting his head a lot today.

"we have two more brothers! leonardo and donatello! pretty cool, right?!" mikey flexed, hopping on his toes in front of [y/n].

the human perked up at one of the names spoken, tilting his chin upward with a furrowed brow. "leonardo?" he whispered, mostly talking to himself, but mikey had nodded his head enthusiastically at the name and cleared a way for the boy to look.

"yeah! that's leo right there—actin' all shy!" he teased, pointing at the blue-masked turtle that froze up when everybody turned to look at him.

blue. [y/n] felt his eyes widen at the familiar color, but masked his surprise by sucking in his cheeks and hardening his eyebrows to not twitch under the turtles nervous gaze.

"come introduce yaself, leo!" raph encouraged loudly while waving a hand over, unaware of the intense staring contest his friend and his younger brother were currently engaged in.

"uh, how am i supposed to introduce myself when you guys already told him my name?" leo replied in a snarky tone, pairing it together with a furrowed eye ridge and a stiff teasing smile.

raphael rolled his eyes at the response he got while mikey laughed obnoxiously like leo had said the funniest thing in the world.

"just come say hi! it won't hurt to be a little polite, huh?" splinter spoke for his eldest son, flashing a bright grin towards the blue-clad turtle while gesturing towards [y/n] who kept his eyes trained on the slider, not even daring to move away his gaze.

leo huffed, feeling his hands begin to sweat against his odachi handle and tightened his grip on his weapon as a sort of reassurance for himself as he took big strides towards raphael and [y/n]. "i think it'll be polite of our new friend to introduce himself next, eh?" he teased, tilting his head when he stood in front of [y/n], flashing the human a smug smile.

[y/n] mirrored his expression, tilting his head to keep eye contact with leonardo. mikey hopped on his toes, looking up towards the humans direction with a curious look in his eye. "yeah, what's your name!?" he pointed an accusatory finger at [y/n], pouting his lips to try and look serious but it was to no avail—he looked like a little baby. he darted his eyes to the side to glance at leo, eyes searching for any sort of approval on the slider's face and beamed when he saw a glimpse of it there.

anybody could immediately tell who mikey's favorite brother was.

"my name's [y/n]! woulda thought raphie smartened up 'n told y'all by now." he teased, reaching a hand up to pinch the snapping turtles cheeks together which made his lips purse outward like a ducks would. if anybody saw leo scrunch his snout and roll his eyes at the gesture, nobody said anything.

"raphie likes to keep secrets." mikey emphasized the nickname, leaning forward and standing on his tippy-toes to whisper into [y/n]'s ear. "and he is such a bad liar! he told us he was working out anytime he went to go see you!" he attempted to whisper, but was speaking so loud that raphael had heard him crystal clear.

embarrassed, raph pushed mikey's face away with a squeal, the box turtle only laughing obnoxiously at the reaction he had gotten from his eldest brother. [y/n] smiled fondly at the interaction, being reminded of his own younger brother's at home. he loved his little brothers.

"hey, guys! we're back!" a feminine voice had called out in their general direction, which caught everybody's attention—especially [y/n]'s. he could recognize that voice anywhere.

the human perked his head up to glance over leonardo's giant cranium that blocked his vision, pushing himself more into raphael's plastron to get a better view of the two figures that were jogging towards them.

a loud gasp escaped [y/n] and the girl's lungs once she fully came into view and the purple-masked turtle that had just arrived shot his hands in the air in a surrendering motion with a fearful look as if they gasped upon seeing him.

"april?"

Chapter Text

if april could describe herself as one word at this very moment, it would be stupid. no, actually, that isn't the right word... maybe clueless? dumb? ignorant? the one brain cell wonder? ah, whatever. she was stupid to not even consider the fact that raphael's secret mystery friend could be her human friend. her only human friend.

when she had come back from the restrooms with donnie and seen a very familiar tall, muscular boy standing next to raphael, she wanted to smack her forehead and let out the world's most exasperated groan. of course [y/n] was the boy the little mutant family were gossiping about this whole time. hell, even she'd engaged in gossip about the 'mystery boy' alongside the turtles and splinter. they had teased raphael so many times when he was seen coming out of his room, asking him if he was going to play ball with his mystery friend until he would get embarrassed and run back to the safe confinements of his bedroom.

all the while, [y/n] had been going out way more than he usually would. he had been posting the courts by his apartment building a lot more on his story, being there almost every night with one other person who he wouldn't even tag—which was odd because the boy always tagged everyone he was with.

she was a fool to not put context clues together. she blamed herself for this... she had roped [y/n] into her not-so-average life when she brought him to get his eyes checked out by donnie! april could only think of one logical explanation—she had a curse and now [y/n] was here as a result!

"april?" [y/n]'s voice was quiet as he said her name. his lips were slightly parted out of shock, his eyes attentive and darting all over her figure as he took a curious step forward. it was like he couldn't believe she was standing here in front of him.

"[y/n]?!" she exclaimed back in response to hearing her own name come from the tall boy and felt herself tense when she saw him coming closer. donatello instinctively moved closer to her, not touching her but chose to keep a short gap between them as a small act of reassurance for her shock.

raphael let his hand drop from [y/n]'s shoulder and tucked his chin into his neck as he furrowed one of his nonexistent brows at the interaction. "wait, ya know each other?" raphael asked aloud, his head tilting to the side animatedly.

"i could be asking you two the same thing!" april exclaimed loudly, which made [y/n] pause in his steps and press his lips into a thin line.

donatello pursed his lips and looked off to the side to stop himself from laughing at the face the human made, his shoulders quaking in silent laughter and covered his mouth with a fist. donnie could only think of the silly looking cat that smiled when he recalled the human's face.

raphael nervously chuckled under his breath at april's words, moving his hand up to scratch the back of his neck out of nervous habit. he was starting to get a little anxious about how his friend and april would be on this trip now that he's seen her unexpected reaction... he would've planned this differently if he knew they were already acquainted, but how was he supposed to know? how typical of this to happen right at the last minute with raphael's luck.

michelangelo wasn't aware of the tension that arose between the two humans, clapping his hands happily with the biggest grin on his face as he looked between the two. "aw, yay! you already know each other! that makes things so much easier!" he set his hand on his hip, nodding his head in affirmation to his words as if he was the one introducing the new boy to everybody.

[y/n] couldn't help the nervous chuckle that escaped his lips at the tension that grew more after mikey's words, which had brought the attention back to him. he approached april soon after with a growing smile on his face, bowing his head to meet her short height. "so much easier." he echoed after mikey, the smile on his face turning into a teasing one to mock the girl in front of him.

april met [y/n] halfway with a hefty sigh, her hand coming up to place itself on his face to push it away. she hated when he'd lean down to meet her height—he wasn't even that much taller than her to be doing that. "i should've known you were the one raph was sneaking out to see." she said through clenched teeth, moving her hand to squeeze [y/n]'s cheeks together which made his lips purse outwards like a duck.

raphael made a high-pitched noise out of annoyance from her words while leo and mikey snickered under their breaths at his reaction. the snapping turtle disliked how his family kept bringing up his failed secrecy right in front of his friend.

[y/n] only blinked owlishly at the girl, furrowing one of his bushy brows at her to show his confusion. "wha'dyu mun bah dat." his speech was muffled from his lips being pursed together, earning a giggle from april as she squeezed his cheeks together twice before dropping her hand.

"who else plays basketball everyday as much as you do?" april teased, tilting her head to the side while dropping her hand back down from his face.

[y/n] let his neck hold his head's weight after april took her hand away, and pursed his lips when he processed what she said. "i'on play ball dat much."

april raised a brow and looked him up and down with such judgement, it made [y/n] shrivel into himself like a raisin. okay, so maybe he did play ball a little too much to be considered healthy... the chances of [y/n] being raphael's ball-crazed teenage mystery friend was basically a hundred percent.

[y/n] rolled his eyes, choosing not to humor his friend any further. "yeah, whatever. thanks for da cookies last night though, april. baby really liked 'em." he spoke casually, hoping it would ease away the awkwardness that was still trying to creep its way in the atmosphere.

april looked taken aback at the topic of the cookies and let out a hearty laugh, hiding her smile with her fist. "did he really?" she spoke between giggles and [y/n] hummed in response. "that's good. i was hoping he liked them." she softly said, her laughter dying down once she finally took [y/n]'s hand in hers and dapped the boy up. out of the corner of her eye she could see splinter putting pieces together, watching how a cheeky and mischievous smile spread across his furry features.

"ya still comin' ta my game inna couple days?" he asked, pulling her attention away from splinter.

she blinked owlishly before snapping back into reality and smiled up at him as she took her hand out of his bigger one. "of course! who you think i am?" she looked him up and down teasingly, earning a flustered chuckle from him.

the other turtles furrowed a brow at the casual banter that was being shared, having no choice but to stand and watch this boy desperately try to wash away the tension.

"yer right. i woulda dragged u there myself if i didn't see ya." he muttered, looking off to the side and that's when he saw him—the awkwardly standing purple-clad turtle that stood right behind april. he was just a few inches shorter than [y/n], and was glaring off to the side at his eldest brother like an angry cat. he must be the last member of the family he had to meet! mikey had said his interesting sounding name earlier before april had arrived... what was it again? othello? pueblo?

the purple-clad turtle had met his eyes, almost as if he could sense the boy staring and his breath hitched in his throat when [y/n] suddenly perked up, snapping his fingers in the purple turtle's direction with a bright grin. "abuelo!" he exclaimed, expecting a look of familiarity from the turtle but was only met with silence.

"hah?!" donatello broke the silence with his loud exclamation of surprise, furrowing his fake brows at the boy with a nasty scowl.

mikey, leo and splinter had the gall to laugh like a pack of hyenas at the softshell turtle's dilemma. donatello was repulsed. not only is he finally meeting his brother's bestest friend in the whole wide world, but the absolute fool had the audacity to completely butcher his name. how dare he! after all donnie had done for him! he eyed the human with a blank stare before quickly darting his gaze over towards his eldest brother and squinted.

this was all raphael's fault. what was supposed to be a nice family outing on a sight-seeing trip in the hidden city had now turned sour. how dare raphael surprise their family with his human friend on the day of this impulsively planned trip. of course, donnie knew he was going to meet the infamous [y/n] again from his talk with raphael that one night, but he didn't know it would be so soon. he felt betrayed. he was given no warning and his eldest brother should know damn well he hates surprises!

don sharply inhaled through his nostrils, straightening his posture while he pinched his fingers to his thumbs as a way to compose himself. he strained a smile towards the human upon opening his eyes and took big strides over towards the human with his uncanny grin. "although i would like to berate you for completely butchering my name, i will not, for you are my eldest brother's prized confidante. and it seems like april appreciates your presence just as much." he spoke through clenched teeth and let his shoulders relax once finishing his sentence.

[y/n] cluelessly watched the softshell in front of him, owlishly blinking as he tried his best to process donatello's fast paced way of speaking mixed with his outlandish vocabulary (he isn't very smart).

"i am donatello, not abuelo, and i am one of your dear friend, raphael's, many younger brother's." don introduced himself in a monotonous tone of voice, not even bothering to meet the boy's eyes as he spoke, only squinting his eyes at him when he had repeated the completely butchered version of his name.

[y/n] smiled at the introduction, nodding his head as he said the turtles name in a quiet whisper, accentuating the vowels to taste the name out on his tongue. "don-a-tel-lo... donatello." he echoed, looking back up at the turtle when he said his name with confidence.

"that's right!" donnie exclaimed, mirroring the human's actions and snapped his fingers back at the boy. his eyes shot down towards [y/n]'s extending hand, hearing him inhale deeply to speak further, but don quickly cut the boy off by swiftly chopping the air between them with a swift knife hand, somehow already knowing what the boy was going to say. "you don't need to bother introducing yourself, i already know your name."

the human made a noise of surprise, looking over his shoulder towards raphael who had the same shocked expression on his face. "ya told 'im my name?" he asked, not noticing how the rest of the group side-eyed donnie who remained nonchalant under their suspicious gazes.

"i don't recall..." raphael trailed off with a deeper tone of voice, his eyes squinting suspiciously as he looked off to the side before he inhaled sharply through his nostrils and smiled. "y'know what? i actually don't care anymore! anyway," he took big strides over towards [y/n] to wrap his big arm around the human's shoulders. "i think... it's time ta start the long-awaited trip. what'dya say?"

[y/n] pursed his lips, suspiciously side-eyeing donnie for a quick second before turning to look over his shoulder at the rest of raphael's family. "i guess we could start if everyone else 's cool wit' it..." he whispered, not wanting to make a finalized choice for a family he barely met.

mikey was quick to hop on his toes, holding his teddy bear up in the air as he skipped forward to meet them. "yeah! lets get it started!" he exclaimed.

april chuckled at mikey's enthusiasm, following his actions but kept a slow pace to visit alongside [y/n]. "you are gonna love this place, [y/n]. it's so crazy!" she spoke casually to him, deciding to ask questions about him and raphael later when they were alone. she just had to know how her only human friend met one her secret turtle friends, how long they knew each other... and how raphael even convinced the boy to step outside his house to do something other than playing ball.

"no shit?" [y/n] responded in a breathless whisper, his eyebrow curiously furrowing while he observed their surroundings as they began to walk towards the hidden city map. "ya been here before, april?" he asked, looking over raphael's big forearm on his shoulder to glance at the girl.

april sucked in a sharp breath between her teeth as she recalled a memory from his words and grimaced. "yeah... but i didn't really get to look around when i did. that's why we're sightseeing today!" she put on a smile, her and raph side-eyeing each other before they quickly looked away with sheepish expressions.

[y/n] didn't need know that they fought an evil alchemist man and stop crime within new york city... yet.

"oh, well da's cool 'cause now i getta look 'round dis place wit'chyu guys!" he proclaimed, oblivious to the odd expressions his friends were wearing.

raph pulled him closer with a grin, rubbing the bottom of his chin against [y/n]'s hair. "yeah, buddy! it's gonna be so much fun." his arm then moved to cup the small of the human's back instead of resting on his shoulder, which he didn't seem to mind with how he kept walking without faltering at the change.

"yeah, it is." [y/n] responded with a bit more gruff to his voice, clapping his hands together and began to rub them deviously like a fly as the group began to pile around the large map of the hidden city.

curious eyes danced over the colorful illustrations of landmarks within the city, and [y/n] found himself overwhelmed with how much stuff happened to be within the area. he made a humming noise as he adjusted his glasses when they slid down his nose bridge, squinting his eyes out of habit to read the text on the map.

"look! hidden city zoo!" mikey exclaimed, jumping on his toes as he glanced over the map, his finger pointing down at said location. [y/n] whipped his head over to look at the illustration and he mouthed a surprised 'wow.'

leo hummed happily while placing a finger to his chin, raising one of his eyebrow ridges. "ooh~ luxury resort?~" he sang, his other finger hovering over the luxury resort he was eyeing. [y/n] moved his gaze over towards the said luxury resort next, pursing his lips in thought as he debated whether or not to go there... he did need a massage after his grueling workout with his teammates the other night.

"battle nexus!" donatello was next, shooting forward to point with his big finger. now that was something new, [y/n] thought with a quiet snicker. the topside of new york didn't have one of those... he wondered if raphael would be willing to show him just what a battle nexus was.

april gasped excitedly and pointed down at a witchy looking illustration on the map with a grin. "ooh, witch town!" she exclaimed, and [y/n] tilted his head with pursed lips at the name. he weighed out the rest of the options in his head, and found he wasn't so willing to explore a witch town. he was afraid of witches.

everything within this hidden city was pretty normal, save for the battle nexus and witch town, and it made [y/n] a little curious as to how long this place existed underneath his city without him even knowing. he wondered if he could bring his little siblings to come explore this place as well after this whole trip... he's been meaning to take them out to a zoo for a while. he ultimately decided against it. this city must be hidden for a reason, and he wouldn't want to disturb its peace by bringing more humans.

"so, where to?" [y/n] questioned aloud, hands on his hips as he observed the map with his lips pressed into a thin line. his question was met with silence.

everyone side-eyed each other, all of them clearly wanting to go out on their own to sightsee since they knew each other all too well to know that they wouldn't agree on a place to go to first. raphael knew it might've come to this, so he happily placed his own hands on his hips with a proud smile. "why don't we all go our separate ways, and meet back up here after a specific amount of time. deal?"

"deal!" the rest of his family and april had all shouted simultaneously, all going their own separate paths right after to find where they wanted to sightsee.

right before mikey could depart, he had jumped to [y/n]'s side as quick as lightning and was looking more stylish than ever in his tourist gear even with the teddy bear close to his side. "bye, [y/n]! let's hang out 'n talk more when we're done sightseeing!" he waved in the boys face, proudly showing off his tooth gap with his wide smile.

the human nodded his head at the little turtle's words, waving back at mikey to mirror his actions. "sounds good, baby. i'll see ya later!" he let the name slip past his lips, but didn't seem to notice that he even uttered it in the first place. he found too much resemblance to his own little brothers in mikey to even differentiate the two.

mikey didn't seem the mind the name either, practically beaming at the nickname and skipped off to follow after his father. unbeknownst to the rest of the group, mikey hugged the teddy bear closer to his chest and hid his smile in the stuffed animal's soft fur, ignoring how a warning growl came from it.

he had seen the parents and siblings on movies call the younger ones 'baby' as a nickname, even if they were fully grown. his father never came up with a nickname for him, besides 'orange' and his brothers had only made nicknames off of different versions of his name. what [y/n] had said felt comforting... like a warm safe hug. he was looking forward to hanging out with this new boy even more.

[y/n] dropped his hand back to his side, watching michelangelo skip off with a soft smile. he turned his body to face towards raphael, but paused when he caught sight of leonardo staring at him from a distance. when the slider realized he had been caught, he froze and quickly averted his eyes with a faux thinking expression, rubbing his chin to add a little spice.

the human furrowed a brow and blew air out from his nose as a sorry excuse for a laugh, deciding to just stay silent about what he saw and turned back towards raphael who was already scouting the area for where they should go. "where're we headed to, big man?" he inquired, looking up at the turtle with his usual smile on his lips and wrapped a hand around raphael's bicep.

raph perked up and began to look around quicker before his eyes landed a nearby box of brochures just a few feet away. "wait, let's check those out real quick." he said, taking slow steps so his friend could comfortably walk alongside him.

leo side-eyed his brother and the human when they had walked away, and let out a quiet breath of relief. he hadn't realized he was staring so hard at [y/n] until they made eye-contact... he was a little embarrassed needless to say. he wanted to approach him but mikey had already beat him to it, and... he didn't know what to say when he'd get that chance to talk. with their entire group all going their own separate ways to explore the hidden city, it only further hindered his interaction with the human. he let out an exasperated groan, deciding to just head towards the luxury resort he had seen earlier to find some clarity within himself. lord only knows he needed some downtime.

meanwhile, raphael quickly snatched one of the brochures from the box and opened it right up with no hesitation. "police ride-along..." [y/n] stood on his tip-toes to read alongside the turtle, his eyes squinting to read the smaller text. "ride side-by-side wit' da hidden city police as they conquer crime in da underworld." he read aloud, his smile growing on his face the more he continued.

[y/n] hummed in thought, lips pursed as his eyes lingered on the word 'police' for a little longer than intended. he suddenly jumped up with a shout and excitedly pointed at the last bit of text that raphael had yet to read. "'nd ya get ta keep one confiscated item!" he exclaimed to which he and raphael side-eyed each other with cheeky grins. "we can't pass dis up, big man."

"y'know it, li'l dude!" raphael responded with an equal amount of excitement, bringing his fist up to aggressively fist-bump the boy.

neither of them spoke about the sting that ached their knuckles right after.

————

[y/n] couldn't help the gasp of awe that left his lips due to how huge the police station building was once raphael had escorted the way there. he whistled loudly once the door opened right on up with a loud futuristic hiss.

it was bright and pristine within the building, but he didn't bother to look at the banners that hung up since raphael had quickly began to stride straight down towards the front desk. what caught [y/n]'s attention though was the cowering police officers who aimed their guns directly at them and kept their fingers fearfully on the trigger. the human boy only chuckled at their scared faces, wondering why they all looked so scared. hidden city police must be pretty tough to keep their sights on people inside their own station, the boy thought to himself, even if it didn't totally make sense.

"hello, good officer sir!" raphael gleefully greeted when they had made it to the front desk, standing proudly with his hands on his hips. [y/n] craned his neck to look up at the muscular mutants that towered over them at their desk, squinting his eyes with a grunt when he was blinded by a red light that suddenly assaulted his eyes. "we would like to partake in your ride-along program!" raph showed them the brochure he had picked up earlier, not bothered by the bright red light that was shining directly into his face.

the officers seemed to do a double-take at their forms, picking up a couple pieces of paper that sat at their desk, glancing back and forth between the papers and the oblivious teenagers that stood in front of them. "uh—sure! right this way!" one of the officers spoke up, after a prolonged moment of silence.

they had hopped over their desk to quickly restrain the boys, [y/n] being picked up like a child from underneath his armpits and was thrown over the muscular woman's shoulder while raph was being dragged along like a ragdoll—but they didn't seem to mind. they both still had dopey smiles on their faces even while being carried away like criminals.

[y/n] could feel the blood rushing to his head the more he hung upside down and goofily giggled at the lightheaded rush that hit his brain. his glasses hung dangerously loose, only hanging by the strands of his tangled hairs, but he didn't bother to grab them and put them away like any smart person would.

"so, interested in crime are ya?" the woman officer spoke in a condescending tone as they continued to drag them outside of the police station.

raph perked up at the question and nodded his head. "oh, yeah! some say i'm an expert, but i say, ya could always learn more!" he shrugged his shoulders, letting himself be pulled to his feet before he was forcefully shoved backwards into a cell where he rolled onto his plastron with a loud 'oof.'

"wait, huh?!" [y/n] peaked out from behind the woman's thigh and was taken aback at what suddenly happened to raph. he let out a shriek when he was grabbed by his ankle and was hung upside down by the officer that was carrying him. "yo, what're ya doin', lady?!" his screams of protests were completely ignored, only being shaken up and down vigorously which had caused everything of value in his pockets as well as his glasses to fall right onto the ground.

he hissed inwardly when he saw his phone land face first onto the ground instead of being worried about any damage that was done to his lenses. he glared up at the blob of an officer through squinted eyes and growled. "ay, if my phone's cracked 'cause o' dat i'mma sue y'all, for real." he shook his fists like an angry old man at the officer to add a bit of threat to his words, but it didn't seem to faze the woman.

"yeah, right. like those scrawny arms could do any damage." she laughed as she tossed him like a ragdoll into the cell. [y/n] let out a goofy scream as he soared through the air, but was thankfully caught by raphael before he could hit the harsh ground. even by being caught, that didn't stop his breath from escaping his lungs at the force of which his back hit the turtles plastron.

starting to get suspicious, raphael reached for his one of his tonfas to threaten the officers that had just thrown them but was shocked to find that they weren't in their rightful place by his side. "wait, what da—where's my—" his grip on [y/n] had tightened in a panic, glancing up at the officers to find that the man mutant proudly held up his weapons without a care in the world.

"we'll hold onto ya sticks and other valuables for quote-unquote, insurance reasons!" and with that, the door to the cell had slammed shut dramatically, leaving them in darkness save for a single light source that came towards the back of the cell.

[y/n] groaned as he adjusted himself against raphael's plastron, bringing his hand up to rub the back of his head. "insurance?" he croaked, furrowing a brow up at the turtle.

"i don't even know what dat is..." raphael truthfully muttered in response, his head slowly shaking side-to-side to add emphasis to his words.

"then why'd he say ya have it—?"

the cell they were in suddenly jolted and the two quickly grabbed onto each other with sheepish expressions when they felt themselves sliding against the cool ground. "it's movin'?!" the human questioned aloud.

raphael kept a tight hold on the human, pressing him closer to his plastron as he used his other hand to search for something of value on the ground. he suddenly picked up a flashlight and turned it on to help observe their surroundings.

"where'd ya even get dat from." [y/n] asked all in one quick breath.

"i dunno. but it helps!" raphael kept a positive attitude, moving the flashlight upwards just to find three menacing faces glaring right back down at them underneath the shine of the light. raph and [y/n] let out blood-curdling shrieks upon making eye contact with them, hugging each other tightly to the point where the sides of their faces were mushed together.

[y/n] was beginning to think he wasn't going sightseeing after all. he never did have a good experience with the police. the police ride-along brochures should've been his first red flag when he'd seen it, but he was so happy to just explore with raphael that he didn't think about any other thing they could've done. his streak of successfully running away from the cops was now over... who would've thought he'd be thrown in jail in a completely different city hidden underneath new york. now who was going to take care of his siblings?!

somehow in the midst of the chaos, raphael and [y/n] had gotten seated in the middle of the criminals. there was barely any space on the bench to fit all five of them, but [y/n] didn't have the heart to just climb up on his friends lap to make some room for the others. mainly because he was practically smushed into raph's side to avoid the electric eel that was trying to get his attention... and also because the silence inside of the cell was so loud that he didn't dare move out of fear of drawing any attention towards him.

raphael gulped with sweat running down the side of his face, jolting fearfully when he heard the 'shing' of a piece of metal being unsheathed and side-eyed the blue-clad ogre mutant who began to comb his hair back with a switchcomb. the shrieking of metal being carved into caught their attention next, and [y/n] clenched his jaw tightly when he caught sight of the rat in a purple suit vandalizing their cell while keeping intimidating eye contact with them.

love... peace... he has the right idea. [y/n] nodded his head in approval at the message after squinting his eyes to read it. lord only knows he has no right to judge someone for vandalizing.

the feeling of a slippery, cold appendage had drawn him out of his thoughts and he quickly retracted his hand from the tail that had attempted to slid up onto his fingers. he darted his eyes upward, coming face-to-face with the electric eel that had been trying to get his attention since they had sat down. even with his horrible vision, he could see that the eel had a sly grin on his face and his eyes were half-lidded which told [y/n] all that he needed to know. this eel was trynna rizz him up.

raphael decided he had enough after noticing what was happening with his friend and quickly turned around to stand on his knees to peek through the jail bars that revealed the officers driving away. "um, excuse me! not ta question how ya do yer ride-alongs but dis is maybe a bit more hands-on than da brochure led me ta believe!" he exclaimed, voice cracking in the middle of his words due to how nervous he had become.

one of the officers had turned around with a growl, obviously fed up with raphael's ramblings and straightened out a piece of paper within her hands. "okay, drop the ride-along bit. you're ours now, heinous green."

that name had caused the three criminals to perk up and tower over raphael's seated figure with curious looks on their faces.

"heinous green..."

"woahh!"

"the heinous green?"

[y/n] furrowed a brow at their astounded reactions before he leaned in to whisper in raphael's ear with a furrowed brow. "who the bjork is heinous green?"

"obviously not me... like, look at dis guy! he looks nothin' like me! he doesn't even have my handsome snaggle-tooth." he held the flyer up by his face to compare their looks, and [y/n] nodded his head with affirmed grunts to let raphael know he agreed—even though he couldn't even see the man's features on the paper.

"tell it to the judge, slappy! ya thought ya could slip past us with an accomplice by your side?! ha! ya really are more brawn than brains!" the officer continued on his rambling, before slamming the window shut so raph couldn't complain to them anymore. his words only caused more questions to arise from within the cell.

the ogre mutant chuckled breathily, successfully catching the attention of everyone in the cell. "so yer heinous green are ya?" he croaked, completely manspread on the seat which took up most of their space and hung his arms loosely on the backs of the seat. "and yer here with an accomplice, nonetheless?" he went on with a suspicious tone, pursing his lips with a furrowed brow. "i thought heinous green didn't take sidekicks?"

raphael made a nervous sounding high-pitched noise, shrinking in on himself as he began to mutter quietly under his breath. he was talking to himself again, and [y/n] began to sweat the more and more raph's mumbling continued which only began to make the tension harder to breathe under. he knew there was no way raph could lie his way out of this. he was a terrible liar.

the blue mutant growled and suddenly rose out of his seat to roughly shove raph back onto the seat, closing the distance between their faces to snarl at him. "ya gonna keep mutterin' to yerself, or are ya gonna tell us if you is or is not heinous green?"

with that, the rest of the criminals crowded around the two innocent boys with menacing looks. raph and [y/n] sat as stiff as boards once they felt the criminals gazes burn holes into their still forms. "yes. yes, i am." raphael monotonously stated, with a single sweat drop gliding down his cheek.

satisfied with that simple answer, all criminals backed away from the two with evil grins. "the legendary heinous green!" the eel had sung while crackling electricity over his body. he moved forward to smile brightly right in front of raphael's face. "we gotta make him our leader! what'dya say, dastardly danny?" he looked back over towards the vandalizing rat in a purple suit.

dastardly danny leaned forward with a finger pressed to his chin, his menacing eyes analyzing raphael with a smirk. "yeah, i second that, malicious mickey." his voice was raspy and deep, and [y/n] wondered if he had a booger trapped in his throat to make him sound so ghastly.

the ogre from before made a sound of protest and looked hurt from their conversation. "what?! blue guy is always the leader!" he pointed his thumb at himself, desperately trying to defend his position.

the rat had scoffed and turned to glare at the ogre, showcasing his teeth to seem threatening. "ay, shut ya word-hole, loathsome leonard!" he growled, before he turned back towards raphael with a sly smile and straightened himself out. "so, uh, ya gonna introduce us to yer accomplice, new leader?" he darted his eyes towards the silent human, an amused expression rising to his features.

"new leader?" raph was broken out of his stupor, and whipped his head towards the side to glance at [y/n] who continued to sit stiffly with sweat dripping down the side of his bare face. "o-oh! uh, yes! this is my accomplice... nefarious... naji!" he stammered over the made up name pathetically, which only made [y/n]'s anxiety grow.

the human gripped the fabric of his pants tighter and gave raphael a nasty side-eye. "is dat really the best name ya could come up with?" he scolded the snapping turtle through clenched teeth, who only shushed him with a hiss when all eyes travelled to him.

"nefarious naji? there's no way you would team up with heinous green of all people." loathsome leonard spat, crossing his arms over his chest. "there's somethin' missin', 'cause ya always preached about riding solo!" he was passionate about whatever he was saying, and [y/n] wanted to collapse to his knees and cry once he realized nefarious naji was a real person.

but luckily for leonard, [y/n] was a fantastic liar. he stared at the ogre for a moment, before clearing his throat and forced a sly smile on his face. "i decided ta try somethin' new fer a change... my plans only got more 'n more difficult da more i went solo, so i figured i'd try my luck by convincing da one 'n only heinous green ta accept me as a partner so i could get around easier, y'know?" he shrugged his shoulders, hearing raph's nervous squeal to which he nudged him discreetly to silence him. "it took a lotta begging... but i finally got through 'n got him ta accept my offer."

dastardly danny and malicious mickey were satisfied enough with that answer and nodded their heads with hums of acknowledgment. leonard didn't seem to keen on accepting such statements, but he let it slide with a huff and a wave of his hand.

"so, what do we do now, new leader and vice-leader?" mickey spoke up, smiling and wiggling his eyebrows toward [y/n], who failed to notice such a gesture due to his blindness.

leonard let out a frustrated noise and angrily tugged at his hair. "vice-leader?!"

raph set his big hands on his knees and rubbed his thumbs over his bruises in thought. "er, uh... well, as yer new leader, i say we sit here quietly n' respectfully until we get ta our destination where we can get dis whole incarcerated situation figured out." he spoke confidently with his hands and smiled at the three criminals who stared at him with blank expressions before they all broke out into a fit of goofy laughing fits like a pack of hyenas.

dastardly danny slid his way over to rest an elbow on raph's shoulder and composed himself from his laughing fit by comically wiping a tear from his eye. "obviously he's jokin', 'cause what he meant was—let's bust outta this snail jail." he practically put words into raphael's mouth, but [y/n] wasn't opposed to the idea of busting out.

"yeah, and with heinous green's muscle on our side, it should be a piece o' cake!" malicious mickey further added on, before slithering his way to [y/n] to rest one of his fins on his bare shoulder, sending shivers down his spine at the cool touch of his slippery skin. "and with our new leader's accomplice's skills."

[y/n] side-eyed the eel, his lip curling into a snarl. "skill?" he growled, tilting his chin upward to threateningly show his teeth at mickey. the eel's smile only grew and he turned to look at the other two criminals who had the same sly expressions growing on their faces.

dastardly danny mischievously chuckled while rubbing his hands together like a devious fly. "we get to see nefarious naji's legendary serpent-style in person, boys." his voice was deeper than before, and [y/n] could feel that familiar sinking feeling in his stomach. the same feeling he'd get when he'd get anxious over his siblings safety, or when he could feel his team losing in one of their basketball games. he just knew whatever they had planned meant trouble, and there was no way he could lie his and raph's way out of it.

at least his streak of running away from the police wasn't broken just yet.

Chapter Text

waylie had started to get a little curious. she was just a child, so obviously she is going to be very confused by the minuscule things and question everything that comes her way, but this time—she was onto something huge.

first, her eldest brother had started going out almost every day to hang out with a new friend her and the rest of her brothers had yet to see or even meet properly. then, grandma cj somehow knows her brother and complained about it the whole day after he had dropped her off, which led to scouts all getting more training when they tried to ask her about it. then, she gets her hair french-braided into other girls' hair by a new teenaged girl that has beef with grandma cj and is also friends with her. brother.

notice how everything revolves around her brother?

waylie was desperately trying to connect the dots, but she couldn't come up with an answer as to how [y/n] somehow had ties with the whole population of new york. where did he have the time to meet grandma cj and that new girlfriend of his? just who was this new friend he was going out to see everyday?

that's when she finally got to her conclusion with a dramatic gasp and dropped the red marker she had been drawing with.

her brother was a homie-hopper.

grandma cj most likely had a past relationship with [y/n], and that's why his new girl had some beef with her and was trying to fight her when she was at their establishment! and this mystery friend of his must've been a new side-chick of his, too.

oh, my god... and his new girlfriend was trying to win his heart over by dropping off those cookies yesterday so he wouldn't have to think about grandma cj's brownies! she was trying to boycott their business!

waylie quickly rose to her feet and stomped out of her room, passing by [y/n]'s vacant one and went straight to arden who was sat on the couch with kian sitting comfortably on his lap. it was comical seeing her youngest brother sitting like a tired adult who came home from working a nine-to-five, but that wasn't what she came here for.

"does [y/n] have a girlfriend?"

arden rose a brow at his sister and grimaced while shaking his head. "no." was all he said while bringing kian closer to his chest, obviously being vague.

"you're lying." she shot back with a blank expression.

"no, i'm not." he retorted immediately after.

waylie wasn't going to give up, though, no matter how many times arden will shut her down. "who's the person he goes out with every day?"

"i dunno. some new friend." arden replied, scratching his chin to appear nonchalant.

waylie grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest at his attitude. "just tell me if he has a girlfriend or not! this is important!"

arden ran his tongue over his teeth in annoyance and pointed at her with an accusing finger. "if he did have a girl, i wouldn't tell you, 'cause i know yer spoiled ass is gonna snitch to ma." he growled, his teeth bared like a wild animal. waylie just realized how ugly her brother was.

"i'm not! i just need to know!" she whined with a pouted lip, her fists clenched at her sides out of frustration.

"sure. that girl ya saw yesterday is his girlfriend, now go away." arden waved her off, eyes glued onto the tv and with the tone of voice he had used with her, she knew he was lying.

"you're ugly when you lie!" she yelled, stomping her foot on the ground.

arden gasped dramatically, and his hand hovered over her head, threatening to smack her upside the head but with the way his fingers twitched and slowly retracted into a fist told waylie he was holding back. he inhaled sharply through his nostrils and turned his head back over to the tv, his chin tilted up and tongue pressed against the inside of his cheek.

waylie sighed through her nose at the lack of response and took a step closer with a pouty frown. "is he out on a date?"

"i promise you, sis, whatever yer thinkin' right now is dead wrong. i heard ya mumblin' all the way in here." he quickly shot her down, and if he was being honest, he was getting a little fed up with her way of thinking.

she pursed her lips out of embarrassment and kicked her foot against the floor. "then why won't you tell me anything?"

"'cause i got bro's back, man. if ya wanna know 'bout his business, ya gotta ask him straight up, 'cause i'm not gon' say anything." he was straightforward and stern, hoping that his words would get through in his little sister's head so she could leave and he could take a long-awaited nap. (even if he just woke up a few minutes prior).

"that's wack." waylie spat back at her brother, but ultimately sighed dramatically while dropping her shoulders as a way of accepting her brother's words. "so, when's he coming back?"

"pshh, i dunno. in a few hours?" arden scratched the top of his bushy head while glancing at the clock and nodded his head. "he should be back here any minute now." he turned his attention back to the tv and his eyes glazed over, telling waylie that he was finished with the conversation.

she grunted, walking over towards the other end of the couch to sit and reluctantly started watching the cartoon on the tv. it went silent. waylie began to feel the air get thicker the more time passed on, and wondered if her brother was being affected by the tension, too.

waylie played with her fingers, glancing over at arden before shooting her gaze back down to her feet. "hey, arden?" he grunted in response, which was her go-ahead to continue. "what do you think [y/n] does when he goes out with his friend?"

"pro'lly some dumb shit. it may not seem like it, but bro has a way of getting himself into odd situations." arden snorted, and rested his chin on the palm of his hand. "this one time when we went out to get groceries, he was fighting back-n-forth with an old lady for the last roll of hamburger, 'cause waylon wanted spaghetti that night." he recalled the story with a gentle smile on his tired face, as if he wasn't just telling his sister that his brother was ready to go muhammad ali on an old woman.

waylie looked absolutely distraught. she pulled her knees to her chest and began to ponder over her brother's words with anxiety running through her little girl heart. "i hope [y/n] isn't getting into too much trouble out there then..." she prayed, her brother's words playing on repeat in her mind.

———

i am so fucking dead. [y/n] thought to himself as he finally regained a bit of consciousness after flying out of the snail jail, barely being able to open his eyes due to the pounding in his head.

"HALT, CRIMINALS!"

[y/n]'s ears were ringing and his body painfully ached due to the sheer force of his body colliding with the ground after he flew out of the cell. he knew he had no time to try and continue registering the pain with the officers hot on his tail, so he fought through the aching in his bones with clenched teeth. he pushed himself off the ground and immediately swung his arms to run faster after hearing their shouting voices.

his eyes were squinted and he maneuvered himself blindly on the course ahead, silently praying and hoping that he wasn't running right into some mystic poison ivy bushes. he cursed under his breath at the officer who had confiscated his glasses and focused on ignoring the buckle in his knees when he'd run over a pothole.

"they're closing in on you, boss! run faster!" mickey's voice could be heard shouting from afar.

"no! turn around 'n use yer serpent style on them, naji! show us what ya got!" danny cut in, trying to get the boy hyped up in order to fight.

but there was no way in hell [y/n] was going to attempt to fight these mutant police officers with his blurry ass vision and with his raging headache. if i don't make it out of here and get caught, i'm gay. if i don't make it out of here and get caught, i'm gay— he motivated himself, chanting it inside of his mind as he sucked more breath into his lungs and began to run faster.

just up ahead, raphael had recovered from flying out of the snail jail, but unlike [y/n], he was able to quickly bounce back as if he hadn't been slammed against a rock at full force. just one of the perks of being a mutant, he supposed.

"officers! t'ere's been a big misunderstandin'!" raph was backing away, hands up in the air defensively while displaying a nervous smile.

through his blurry vision, [y/n] continued to run full speed at the snapping turtle and tightly gripped on the reptile's arm as he passed him to pull him along. "forget 'bout explainin' shit, big man! we gotta run!" his voice was a little louder than intended due to panic in his system.

raphael yelped when he was suddenly yanked along with the boy, having to take a moment to register what was happening before he finally began to move his legs. he freed his arm from [y/n]'s grip and scooped the human up into his arms so he could ran faster without having to worry about leaving his friend behind.

the human grunted when colliding with raph's plastron and shakily laid his palm against his scaly shoulder with an out-of-breath laugh. his eyes were closed and he rolled his neck back in attempt to catch his breath. "thanks, big man." he rasped, squeezing the turtle's shoulder with a wheezy chuckle.

raph kept his eyes on the trail ahead, but flashed his own snaggle-toothed smile in response to the boy's gratitude, hoping he'd see it. "don't mention it, lil dude."

[y/n] squinted his eyes once prying them open and glanced behind raph's shell, only to gasp when he saw something bright and shiny start flying their way. "ay, bro watch out!" he hugged raphael's shoulders with a loud scream and within that quick second of a warning, it had collided with the back of raphael's head with a hollow 'thunk!'

"EOW!" raphael comically shouted in pain as he flew forward off of the ground, and caged [y/n] safely against his plastron upon instinct to protect him if they were to fall, unaware of the mystical glass prison that was about to incarcerate them.

the whole event was only a big confusing blur for [y/n], who only let out a startled and panicked scream when they began to roll downhill at a fast speed. he dug his short nails into raphael's scaly arm to try and ground himself along this nauseating ride, clenching his eyes shut in attempt to lessen the queasiness.

raph tried his best to ground them both down into a safe position as they rolled along, his hand coming to cup the back of [y/n]'s head and pressed him safely against his shoulder. "don't worry, i gotchu!" he exclaimed, his voice bouncing off the glass walls and into [y/n]'s eardrums, hoping that his words added some comfort to the boy about the situation.

"heinous green and naji's been caught!" malicious mickey's voice exclaimed from afar, being muffled from outside their glass prison's walls.

loathsome leonard growled and bared his teeth at mickey as they ran. "jus' leave 'em! they're dead weight!" he retorted, his voice low in a growl.

raphael let out an exasperated groan at their arguing, his head already pounding from the blood rush due the incessant rolling of the prison he was in and was beginning to lose his temper. "yeah, good idea! leave us behind wit' da police!" he shouted, hoping the criminals could hear his voice from outside the ball he was in.

dastardly danny had caught up to the prison they were in and obnoxiously laughed raphael's words off, side-eyeing the ball they were in while he smirked evilly. "no way! yer one of the mud dogz now!"

"stupid name." [y/n] slurred through his haziness, the affects of motion sickness already kicking his ass. if any of the members heard his blow to their name, they said nothing about it, too focused on the fact that they needed to escape rather than argue over their gang name.

their prison ball had accumulated enough speed to go flying off a cliff and caught enough air-time off the ground below to make them stop spinning. the two incarcerated teens were harshly thrown against the glass surface and with pained groans they hastily opened their heavy eyes to glance at the ground below, only to let out startled shrieks when they realized how fast they were falling to the ground.

"oh, shit, RAPH! DIS IS HOW WE DIE!" [y/n] began to uselessly attempt to scramble away from the surface he laid upon, only to be held in place due to raphael's big self that laid on top of him. "WHY'D YA HAVE TA LAY ON TOPPA ME!?"

"i'm sorry, brotha, i'm sorry." raphael blubbered out through dramatic sobs, his hands being the only thing stopping him from completely crushing [y/n] with his weight.

"at least you guys are inside something to guard your fall!"

raph and [y/n] paused their screaming and crying to glance over their shoulders finding mickey, danny, and leonard all tightly hanging on to the outside of their prison, their bodies comically flailing with the wind as they fell. the two incarcerated boys only began to scream out of terror again, not only startled by seeing the criminals, but screaming out of fear knowing they were likely going to witness their deaths when they finally met the ground.

"would ya stop screaming?!" leonard growled down at the two, pounding his head against the glass to press his nose up against it.

before the boys could sob out a response, they were thrown against the glass when the prison collided with an oncoming worm yokai that emerged from the ground, almost causing the mud dogz to fly off from the unexpected collision. the prison had been caught by the ends of the worm's claws, narrowly missing the criminals fingers from being smashed by the sharp nails.

raph looked down at the yokai's claws below them and couldn't help but let out a crazed laugh of relief, leaning down to manically press kisses against the glass where the claw lay, thankful that he wasn't going to fall to his death.

all the while, raph was unaware that his full body weight was pressed on top of [y/n] now, and the human's desperate pleas were muffled underneath his hard  plastron.

————

"sorry, lil dude..." raph's voice was weak, but bounced back loudly into both of their eardrums due to their glass encasing. the snapper cradled [y/n]'s limp and tired form in his arms, a heavy weight of guilt sitting on his heart as recalled his friend's lifeless-like body from earlier.

after the worm had let go of the prison when they made contact with the ground, raphael was panicked to find [y/n] practically dead beneath him and blue from lack of air. the snapper had scrambled to start performing cpr but ended up making the ball go rolling for another few yards before the mud dogz stopped it in its tracks. they were screaming at raph—or heinous green—who was wailing loudly, to stop panicking and reassured him that [y/n]—nefarious naji—was very much alive and just needed some time to recover instead of cpr. it was very hectic.

"can ya breathe all right now?" the snapper inquired, leaning forward to glance at the human's face.

"'m fine, even t'ough 'm breathin' in yer anxious stink." [y/n] retorted, voice nasally due to his fingers pinching his nostrils shut.

raph squeaked out of embarrassment, which intensified the stink that swam around in their prison and [y/n] felt his face turn green from the smell. "do-does it really stink that bad?" he whimpered, shrinking his head into his shell.

"a little, yeah." [y/n] quickly responded, making no effort to comfort the turtle on his weird smells.

while raphael wallowed in self-consciousness, the mud dogz began to scheme away, choosing to completely ignore the two inside the hamster ball for the time being.

leonard was ecstatic, cracking open a mystic egg which had caused mushrooms to grow straight into the ground where it was opened. "now that we're out, we should pull a robbery!" he exclaimed, before glancing up at the sky with a thinking expression. "mm... somethin' exciting!"

danny gasped and snapped his fingers when an idea came to mind, and leaned forward towards leonard with an evil grin. "ooh, yeah what about a train? or a-or a bank!" he stammered, mouth working too fast for his mind to process. he then looked over towards the duo in the glass prison and raised a brow. "hey, what d'ya think heinous green? naji?"

raph jumped when danny had suddenly turned his attention towards them, and began to sweat nervously. "what do i think?" he spluttered out with a nervous grin, before he began to manically mutter to himself with a distant look in his eye. [y/n] grimaced and plugged his nose harder when the smell only began to grow stronger and more pungent the more raphael muttered to himself.

the snapper then froze and a mischievous grin that could rival the grinch's suddenly grew on his face. he hugged [y/n]'s body tighter to his and rolled them forward to get closer to the criminals who were at the edge of their seats waiting for his response.

"fellas, i have da crime of a lifetime." raphael spoke, voice gravelly and laced with mischief as he began to cackle to himself under his breath.

this was his chance to show off how good of a leader he was to [y/n]—how could anyone pass that opportunity up?

————

"we're gonna rob a police station?"

"raphie, what is you thinkin'?" [y/n] hissed under his breath, smacking his hand against his forehead. he had no idea where raph was going with this plan, but whatever it was he had a feeling something was going to go wrong—call it spidey-sense.

raph however was convinced he was a total genius! his plans never failed, not once! (they have failed many times) and this plan was sure to get these dirty no-good criminals caught and arrested for life! then he and [y/n] could escape and have a day to themselves once and for all!

"t'ink about it, where does all da money go when t'ey catch a gang o' robbers? answer: police station!" he exclaimed while gesturing to said building. "and it's always open. and etcetera!" raph finished with a proud finger pointed up to the sky, and the mud dogz all mumbled in agreement with his plan. he then gathered the criminals around and somehow had gotten them all disguises to wear to commence the plan.

"so, how do we look?" mickey asked with a sultry tone once they donned on their disguises, catching [y/n]'s attention and immediately blew air into his cheeks to prevent any noise from escaping.

the mud dogz all stood stiffly like little kids on their first day of school pictures with these huge helmets with faces on their heads. the eyes of the helmet glowed red, and there was nothing discreet about their disguises when the helmet literally screamed, "I AM A CRIMINAL!" for all of the whole hidden city to hear.

don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh. [y/n] pressed his forefingers to his lips and took a deep breath in through his nostrils, forcing a strained smile on his face after a few moments of silence. "ya guys look soooo good, mickey." he spoke through clenched teeth, feeling the laughter bubbling in his chest.

that only flustered the eel as he twirled his nonexistent hair while bashfully looking off to the side. "oh, stop." he waved his fin at the boy, rocking from side-to-side, failing to notice how the human let out a stifled giggle at his actions.

leonard made a noise while side-eyeing mickey, turning his shoulder to the eel before turning his narrowed gaze over at the incapacitated teens. "so, what's next?"

raph immediately perked up and set his plan into action, a bright grin on his face as he barked out orders for each of the mud dogs to follow. "alright, listen closely—danny, you create a diversion by confessin' to a crime. mickey, you bash da symbols while leonard dances his way into da evidence room! now go!" he pointed to the entrance of the police station with a hand on his hip, while [y/n] waved them off with a giddy grin, still struggling to hold back his laughter from before.

the mud dogz waved farewell back to [y/n] and happily skipped off inside the police station to commence the plan.

"dude, those guys're fuckin' dumb." he spoke all in one strained breath once the mud dogz were gone, finally letting the giggles escape him now that it was just him and raph.

raphael snickered alongside the human, and bumped their shoulders together before wrapping an arm around [y/n] to bring him in closer. "we got lucky, lil dude! my plan'll get t'ose bozos locked up fer sure." he turned them both around in the ball to face the path that left the police station, and [y/n] scrunched his nose at the smell of his pride stink. "we'll be heroes fer turnin' em in! then, we can clear up t'is whole heinous green 'nd nefarious naji situation once 'nd fer all!"

"wait, but... how're we gon' get outta t'is hamster ball?" [y/n] questioned, his buff arms crossed over his chest while staring outside of their prison. "it's, like, made outta magic er sum'n..."

raph sucked air through his teeth, dropping his arm from the human's shoulder and slapped the sides of his thighs with his hands while contemplating. "er... well, when we clear everything up 'n da officers see t'at we're innocent, they'll release us!"

"but dat shit's gon' take forever, mane..."

"IT WORKED PERFECTLY!"

raphael and [y/n] both shrieked at the sounds of their voices coming from behind them, whipping their heads around to find danny, mickey, and leonard all proudly holding cash bags of unicorns and loot. devastated, raph put his hands on his head with a shocked look on his face while [y/n] only solemnly hung his head in defeat.

"WHAT?! i-i mean—uh, great news, guys!" raph forced a sheepish smile onto his face, although it fell as quick as it came once he caught sight of danny looking him up and down with an amused grin.

the rat approached their prison, skillfully swinging something on his finger before he threw it up and caught it right in front of their incapacitated faces. "'nd we got these keys, too, to get ya two out. how bout that, eh?" he snickered, shoving said key inside of its designated keyhole on the prison and with a harsh twist, the hamster ball prison evaporated into thin air.

raph and [y/n] both clumsily fell onto the ground once the prison sphere was fully gone, the human gasping for air dramatically once fresh non-raphael oxygen met his lungs. "ohmygod, finally. i can breathe again." he set a hand on his chest, and inhaled deeply through his nostrils.

"hey! it wasn't even that bad in there!" raph barked at [y/n], shooting a non-malicious glare towards the human as he pushed himself off the dirty ground.

"speak fer yerself! y'u was stinkin' up da whole thing." [y/n] whipped his head towards raph to bark back, raising his hand to fan the air in front of his nose for dramatic effect. "ya stunk so bad, it's like yer stink is stuck in my nose now! i can still smell yer pride stink!"

raph pointed an accusatory finger at [y/n] with an offended look on his face. "now, don't you talk about raph's pride stink!"

leonard rolled his eyes at their theatrics and loudly cleared his throat to catch their attention. "so, where're we gonna stash this loot?" he asked loudly, voice startling the two out of their playful argument and turned their heads over towards the ogre with pursed lips.

raphael hummed in faux thought, looking off to the side with a single drop of sweat sliding down the side of his face. "uh... in da arms of its rightful owners?"

the mud dogz narrowed their eyes at the teens, a long silence falling over them all before they broke it by breaking out into a hysteric fit of laughter simultaneously.

leonard quickly recovered from his laughing fit and sat his hands on his aching stomach to clutch onto his shirt. "man, that is funny comin' from an accessory to a crime!" he wiped away a tear from his eye with a loud 'whoo' before smirking down at raph and [y/n]. "nah, we gotta stash this shit inna hideout!" he threw his thumb over his shoulder to point back at the loot that his comrades were holding.

raph glanced down at the bags full of unicorns and straightened up when another magnificent and genius plan came to mind. he looked up at the mud dogz who were looking at him expectantly, and gave them all a bright smile.

"i know just the place!"

and just when [y/n] thought raphael's plans couldn't get any worse, it did.

"ya want us to break into a prison?"

raphael proudly showcased the tall—and quite scary—prison building to the mud dogz with a bright smile. "it's the perfect hideout! they look for people breaking out of prison, not for people breaking in." he stated as a matter-of-fact, which had the mud dogz all glancing at each other out of the corner of their eyes before nodding their heads with mumbles of agreement.

the snapper then turned towards the human who sprung into action, snatching the bag of loot from off the ground and opened the sack with outstretched arms. "y'all hop in."

immediately, mickey slithered towards them and canon-balled into the bag of loot—but before he could fully disappear into the bag he winked at [y/n] who gave him an awkward smile in return. danny was after, tipping his hat down towards the human as he situated himself inside. leonard was last, giving [y/n] and raphael the stink eye as he placed his feet inside of the bag, but didn't sit.

raph reached over, pushing leonard's head down so he could sit and tied the bag of loot tightly after he was submerged. [y/n] stepped back and watched raphael effortlessly pick up the bag of criminals, his eyes widening in amazement when the snapper reeled the bag back and threw it high up into the air. the bag hit into the prison building with full force, breaking a hole through the wall it crashed through and [y/n] winced when a loud bang echoed from the impact.

raphael didn't seem to be too worried about it though, clapping his hands to get rid of the dust on his fingers and smugly laughed to himself. "t'is time they're caught fer sure." he then outstretched an arm towards [y/n], who happily skipped over to fill in the gap, the both of them proudly walking away from the prison. "now where should we go next?"

"all set, boss!" mickey peaked out and emerged from a manhole cover right before the two of them could step on it.

raphael and [y/n] jumped into the air like cats and screamed girlishly, fearfully wrapping their arms around each other from the jump-scare.

mickey was unbothered by their startled reactions, reaching forward to quickly grab onto the both of them and pulled them down the manhole. they both stumbled clumsily once their feet hit the ground, their wrists still in the grip of mickey who didn't seem keen on letting go anytime soon.

man, this eel is pretty weird. [y/n] thought, side-eyeing raphael as mickey happily began to drag them along the underground tunnels and up into their new hideout.

once they walked through the doors of their new lair, danny greeted them with a wide smile and opened up his arms to present the room to his bosses. "hey, check it out! we landed in a minimum security presidential suite! we can come and go as we please!" he exclaimed happily, unaware of the shocked expressions that rose to the human and snapper's faces.

raph made a gargled noise as he ran a hand down his face out of despair, eyes traveling around the suite in complete disbelief. [y/n] blew air out from his puffed cheeks, sheepishly slapping his hands against his thighs.

"ergh, every hair-brain plan i come up wit' works remarkably well..." raph began to mutter underneath his brain again, until suddenly his face turned sour. he reeled his arm behind him and punched himself square in the face.

[y/n] jumped back with a shocked expression, watching in disbelief as raphael began to punch himself in the face over and over. "bro, stop! y'u gon give yaself a concussion!" he waved his arms around wildly, trying his best to keep raph from throwing hands with himself. the snapper didn't pause one bit, still going in on himself and the human was fearing that his friend would get irreversible brain damage.

"y'know i felt at first y'all were put in charge just for change which actually hurt my feelings," leonard stepped forward towards them, completely unbothered by the vicious display put on by raph and continued woefully speaking his heart out. "but here—ya have a real nack for crime. i'm glad y'all were put in this position!" he outstretched his arms towards them with a proud smile.

"guess we know what we gotta do now, huh, boss?" danny stepped forward behind leonard and tilted his chin down at the two who stood finally frozen under their gazes.

raph glanced down to meet eyes with [y/n] who was tightly holding onto his fist to prevent it from hitting himself, and blew air into his cheeks awkwardly. he, in fact, did not know what to do now. "hehe, of course i do! but, uh, y'u go ahead n' tell everybody else." he sheepishly looked off to the side, and curled in on himself.

leonard raised a brow and cackled at his words, only furthering his nerves. "c'mon! y'know we gotta kick a share of this loot up to big mama, otherwise egh..." he gargled and shook his hands in front of himself with an ugly expression.

[y/n] sucked air in through his teeth and leaned towards raphael, one of his brows furrowed comically high. "who's big mama?" he inquired, picturing a woman in his head that wore lots of jewelry and makeup like those women that ran brothels in the movies.

that only made raphael make a squealing noise as he nervously brought his hands to his chest and began to sweat. "someone i do not want ya to meet." he brought the human to his chest protectively and anxiously chewed on his lip. "any chance me 'nd my sidekick here could stay behind?" he asked aloud to the group of criminals who were already gathering the loot.

danny turned around to face them with a wide smile and began to cackle evilly. "oh, man! you are heinous! but no, we die—c'mon." he reached forward to grab onto their wrists and began to drag them along.

raph only whined under his breath, ducking his head into his shell while looking down at the human who was blissfully unaware of what they were about to run into.

one perfect day... one perfect day out with [y/n] was all raphael wanted! and now he was putting the boy into danger by unknowingly dragging them into big mama's presence...

and for once, raph couldn't come up with a plan to get them to safety.

———

[y/n] followed behind the group of criminals and raphael who was walking backwards behind the group of men to hide his face from the woman they were about to meet. the human made sure to keep the snapper on track as to not bump into the mud dogz accidentally and kept giving him reassuring smiles when he looked a little too anxious.

he wondered why raph was so nervous, this place didn't look half-bad! it was colorful and bright, and looked like it was full of the hidden city riches. this person must be pretty nice if they had a cool place like this to rule, [y/n] thought. he'd have to get another look at it again once he got his glasses back.

once they had walked through big doors into what [y/n] presumed to be an office, he placed his hand on raph's bicep as a small action of reassurance when the turtle hid his face behind his hands.

"well, what brings you fine fuggydoodles to big mama?" a sultry sweet voice called from in front of the group, and the human peaked around raphael's big body to see who the voice had come from.

his eyes widened when he saw a purple-colored woman dressed in matching purple formal attire standing from behind a desk with a smile on her face. he couldn't see her face fully without his glasses, but he could tell she was attractive even from standing as far as he was from her.

wow... she's pretty. he thought, nervously hiding his face behind raph's arm. he felt his heart beat wildly behind his ribcage and felt his cheeks warm when she walked closer to their group. he always became nervous around pretty woman.

"we pulled off a big score, and we're here to give you your cut." leonard had broke the silence, proudly looking over towards mickey who stepped forward with the huge bag of loot.

"we robbed the police station!" he exclaimed happily, throwing the bag forward to land in between them and big mama.

said woman looked down at the bag of loot with surprise and covered her mouth with one of her manicured hands. "ooh... and how did you do that?" she inquired, eyes twinkling as she glanced back up towards leonard.

the ogre perked up under her curious gaze and set his hands on his hips. "with the help of the best criminal masterminds in the hidden city—" he paused dramatically, watching as the woman leaned forward to hear the rest of his sentence. "heinous green and nefarious naji!" leonard dragged their names out while waving his arm in front of his body.

all curiosity was gone from big mama and she pursed her lips with a doubtful hum. "hmm, that doesn't sound like them at all. heinous green is more brawn than brains, and naji prefers to go alone." she spoke matter-of-factly, crossing one of her arms over her chest and held a finger to her chin.

"are ya saying these guys aren't geniuses?!" leonard reached behind him to grab onto raphael, who then grabbed onto [y/n] and were placed in front of big mama like ragdolls.

big mama's eyes widened at the boys who were suddenly pulled into view and stepped forward while keeping her gaze locked onto the teenagers. an amused grin painted her red-stained lips upon seeing the snapper's poor attempts at hiding behind the human who looked down into her eyes with red cheeks. her face was only inches away from the human and turtle, and she giggled when raph peaked over the human's head to nervously smile down at her.

"err-uh... hi, big mama." his voice was weak and quiet, and his hands shook from their place on the human's broad shoulders.

[y/n] averted his gaze from the woman when she moved her eyes towards him and he shyly waved his hand. "hi..."

"hello, sweetums!" she sweetly called out the pet name as if it was nothing, and waved her petite fingers at the boy who almost crumbled upon hearing her voice. big mama leaned back and looked towards the mud dogz with an amused expression. "gentlemen, this is not heinous green and nefarious naji." she called out to the group of criminals who's jaws went slack at her accusation.

big mama then pointed her finger towards an inconspicuous corner of the room and nobly stated, "that is heinous green and nefarious naji."

[y/n] never felt his heart drop so low before, and slowly turned his head to ogle at the intimidating figures who stared back at him with piercing eyes.

one large yokai and a smaller one stood with their arms crossed over their chests, faces dark with an emotion he couldn't quite grasp but felt like prey under a predator's gaze.

immediately, the mud dogz all turned their heads over towards the two teens who began to take cautious steps back, raising their hands up defensively with timid expressions.

"okay, i owe y'all an apology! this has all been one big misunderstanding, but we tried to tell y'all we weren't who ya thought we were!" raph began to try and explain himself, extending a defensive arm out for [y/n] when all four criminals stepped forward in a dangerous manner while pulling out their weapons.

[y/n] held a hand out to press it against raph's forearm and blindly glanced around the room for an escape route, but his plans were abruptly cut short when a large gust of wind blew him forward into the snapper's arm.

raph quickly moved his arm to wrap around [y/n] to catch him and he turned them around to face big mama who had taken off her cloaking brooch to reveal her true spider yokai form. the human felt his jaw drop at her transformation and all attraction towards her was thrown out the window.

"ooh, yes! an amusing case of mistaken identity!" she towered over the two teens, and her grin widened at their fear-stricken forms. "destroy them."

that was all it took for the mud dogz to shoot forward, ready to tackle the two teens who immediately jumped out of the way, causing them to take down big mama instead.

raph kept a tight grip around [y/n] as he immediately ran for their escape, but instead bumped into heinous green and nefarious naji who blocked their paths. bouncing back, the two glanced up at their towering figures and pressed themselves closer into each other's side under their sharp eyes.

nefarious naji's lanky figure immediately got into a defensive stance while holding a sharp dagger, and heinous green let out a series of growls as his body began to scarily grow in size. the more he grew, the darker the shadow that covered raphael and [y/n] got, the only light that could be seen was the one that reflected off the sharp edge of the dagger in naji's hand.

[y/n] craned his neck back to watch as heinous green only continued to grow, frozen in place under the yokai's predatory gaze. the human was always one to never back down from a fight—he didn't take running as an option when he was faced with danger, but in this moment where he was possibly going to fight two large and incredibly strong yokai, he felt the adrenaline die down.

he was going to die here.

Chapter Text

"ya get into another fight today, boy?" a dark man had peered down at his own son, who was bruised yet showed no tears to his father and remained nonchalant.

the disheveled child hesitantly shook his head, his big narrow eyes darting to the right as he spoke up. "no..."

the man only chuckled, amused by his son's response. he kneeled down to be face-to-face with his splitting image, tilting his head to the side with an amused smirk. "i know when yer lying to me, brother."

the boy whined and kicked his feet at the ground below him, pursing his lips into a pout. "but how...?"

"pho① always knows, [y/n]." was all the man responded with before he gently grabbed the child by his shoulders and brought him closer so he could whisper to the boy. "did ya throw da first punch?"

[y/n] brought a finger up to his lips, shaking his head 'no.' his long unkept hair fell in his face, to which his father quickly brushed them aside and tucked them behind his ear. his son was telling the truth.

"good... y'u remembered, didn't ya?"

[y/n] nodded his head, averting his eyes down at the finger he was chewing on anxiously to avoid eye contact. "never t'row da firs' punch... an' never get cau-caught if y'u do." he recited from memory, stumbling over his words a bit as he tried to recall th e statement  he kept in the back of his mind.

his father laughed at the response proudly, reassuringly rubbing his hands up and down the sides of his son's arms. "doi, doi...② do ya remember da rest?"

"play dirty if i need to." [y/n] continued, bringing his finger back up to his mouth to bite on his nail out of nervous habit.

the man clicked his tongue and brought the boy's hand away from his mouth with an exasperated noise leaving his throat. "yuut!③ keep fingers out of yer mouth." he then readjusted himself and looked back towards his son expectantly. "and what else?"

"nev'r come back home if i lose a fight."

the man smiled, affectionately brushing his messy tresses away from his face. "so, yer gonna keep winning for pho❶?"

"yes."

"that's my boy."

———

[y/n] hovered his hand over his pocket when he had seen naji pull out his sharp dagger, only to wince when he had realized his pocket knife was confiscated by the police when they were captured. he quickly glanced around the room for anything that he could use as a weapon, but found nothing.

raphael had seen [y/n]'s eyes dancing around the room, but as heinous green continued to grow in size, he knew they had little time to run before the yokai would stop and attack. and with the way naji was eyeing them both dangerously while twirling his blade skillfully between his fingers, raph knew they had to run now.

"[y/n], we gotta move." he muttered as he began to back away with his arm wrapped tightly around the human's shoulder.

"but we were just starting to get to know you..." naji's voice hit their eardrums in a haze, his voice sultry and sounded as if multiple people were talking. "you're not thinkin' of runnin' now, are you?" he spun the dagger in his hands, taking a step forward every time the two would take a step back.

[y/n], in fact, did not want to run. he wanted to fight these bozos who he and his friend wrongfully impersonated to get their way! but what choice did he even have if he wanted to make it back home safe?

he inhaled through his nostrils sharply, puffing out his chest. "yes i am." with a sharp turn, his back was pointed to naji in a blink of an eye and he began to sprint. raphael followed closely behind while looking back at the looming form of heinous green.

raph let out a startled shout as numerous thundering footsteps starting gaining on their trail, and he began to run faster. he caught up to his human friend, leaning down to shove his head in between the boys legs and scooped him up onto his shoulders to continue running.

[y/n] shrieked at the sudden airtime he caught and hugged raph's head close to his chest to prevent himself from falling backwards, trembling as he looked down at the fast moving ground. "gimme a warning next time, man!" he exclaimed, feeling a shiver run down his spine when he heard heinous green's monstrous roar echo from behind them.

"i'm sorry!" raph cried, back straight and chin tucked to his neck as he continued to run like a track star. he took a sharp turn to his left once the hidden city markets came back into view, running past the confused yokai and looked for anything that could help him and his friend escape from being crushed by two criminals.

said criminals were hot on their tail, not even caring for the destruction they were leaving behind just to catch up to the teenage boys.

[y/n] grimaced at the trail of destroyed markets behind them, deciding to just ignore it and helped raphael by scouting ahead, gasping when a... horse-like creature came into view. "raphie, look!" he pointed towards the winged animals he had his eye on, using his other hand to grab the snapper's chin and force it in their direction. "we could ride on those things!"

"all right!" raphael exclaimed, quickly fist-bumping [y/n] as he plopped them both down on the saddle of a singular horse.

[y/n] blinked owlishly when he was settled down like a ragdoll in front of raphael. he looked off to the side to stare at the free horse next to them that paid them no mind and continued drinking water from his trough. "wait, raph. i could ride on that o—"

the snapper gave the human no time to finish his sentence, yanking at the reins which had signaled for the yokai horse to start flying at full speed. [y/n] was thrown back against raph's plastron with a startled shriek of terror, feeling the wind sting against his cheeks as they raced passed the marketplace and historical monuments nearby.

raphael was uncannily screaming in a high-pitched voice, doing his best to keep him and his friend balanced on the saddle. he was sure they were speeding over a hundred miles per hour on this weird yokai creature—he could feel his brain sloshing around in his head with every sharp turn and curve they took and was sure his brain was practically mush by now. he couldn't even imagine how [y/n] felt, as he was screaming like his life depended on it and yelling out profanities when objects flew past their heads.

the horse yokai didn't do a good job at avoiding any food carts or barrels that were in the way, crashing into every. single. one of them. [y/n] shielded his face with his arms, and raphael took every bouquet, coin sack, and wooden plank right to his face like the awesome boss man he was—he would never openly admit out loud that every single hit hurt his precious face.

the horse then took them over a cliff near the markets, bucking them off right before it started flying down the curved ramp that travelled down to the lower level of the hidden city. raphael and [y/n] barely managed to land inside of a wheelbarrow—the poor yokai who was pushing it along dropped to his knees and sobbed at the loss of his precious item—before they fell to their dooms on the ramp, the snapping turtle had managed to catch the horse yokai's tail which earned a pained screech from it as it pulled the two along.

thundering footsteps and loud growls still followed behind them, which caught their attention. they peeked over their shoulders to find that heinous green and naji had teamed up together to jump off the hill and sprinted after their fast moving wheelbarrow down the ramp.

naji's smaller form managed to catch up quicker, his serpent like face twisting into a devious smile as he got closer and closer to the two. [y/n] could see his face getting closer through his blurry vision and inhaled through his nose as he built up courage within himself to perform an impulsive plan.

"[y/n], no!" raphael scolded his friend as one would do to a scheming dog.

but the human would not listen. he rose to his feet, maneuvering around raph's free hand that tried to grab onto the collar of his shirt like a cockroach, and kicked himself off of the snapper's shell to propel himself toward naji.

the serpent yokai's face suddenly twisted into one of shock, his scream of surprise being cut off by [y/n]'s foot being slammed directly into his face. what the human wasn't prepared for was naji wrapping his scaly arm around his ankle to bring him down with him as he fell to the ground below them. it was a vast drop, and [y/n] felt his heart sink when the speed of their fall only accelerated.

raphael screamed in shock, that being the only thing he could do at that moment because he couldn't think of a proper plan with heinous green hot on his trail. he glanced ahead at the cliff in front of them, noticing how it was soon coming to an end and prepared himself quickly. he clung onto the horse yokai's tail tighter, feeling a shiver shoot up his spine when he caught air time without the wheelbarrow he was previously riding on supporting his shell.

the wheelbarrow has fallen down onto heinous green's face, creating a comical 'donk' sound as the metal reverberated off of the yokai's large cranium. raph watched the whole thing with triumph, relishing in how heinous green growled and snarled up at his escaping form. the snapper let out victorious cackles at his successful escape but right as soon as he got too cocky, the horse yokai kicked its hind leg onto raph's shell and flew off once the snapper let go of its tail.

raphael had landed directly onto heinous green's snarling face, his usual big self looking quite small now against the larger yokai. he nervously smiled at heinous green and tightly hugged his face as he tried to explain himself. "look, i really didn't mean to impersonate you, man. honest!"

heinous green growled and reeled his fist back, not even attempting to pay attention to what this liar was saying. he threw his fist forward to punch the snapper's shell, but raphael was fortunate to slide off of the criminal's face just seconds before his fist collided with his spiky shell. heinous green's fist collided with his snout, earning a pained grunt from himself and shook his head to shake off the stunned feeling.

raphael had stumbled when he landed on the ground, but laughed obnoxiously when he had realized what heinous green had done. "maybe we aren't too different after all!"

while raph did his best to hold off heinous green, [y/n] had used naji's bigger form to break his fall before they hit the ground, keeping his grip on the yokai tight. naji cursed and tried his best to switch their bodies so the human could break his fall instead, but [y/n] remained persistent, keeping his teeth clenched strongly as he focused on keeping his body still.

it was all for naught, for naji's body was protected by the large mushroom they had landed on and was only winded upon impact. (he was more winded by the human's elbows that dug into his ribs since he was used to break his fall).

[y/n] was mildly disoriented upon the crash landing, immediately pushing himself off of naji's chest and using the nearby mushrooms of this odd mystical forest to slide his way down onto the ground. he was a little clumsy without his glasses assisting his eyesight, but he was proud of himself for being able to make it this far without them.

maybe he should learn how to live his day to day life without them again? (he actually could not, his astigmatism would only get worse without the assistance of his spectacles).

"you... little shit!" naji screamed down from his spot at the top of the mushroom, and [y/n] whipped his head around in surprise at the sound of the serpent's voice.

through squinted eyes, he flinched when naji jumped down from the mushroom, landing harshly into the ground where he had left a crater in his wake. his breath was wheezy, a scaled hand pressing against his ribs with fangs on full display to show his rage.

"you have a lot of nerve for a human," he rasped, taking an inelegant step closer.

[y/n] took a hesitant step back.

"so moronic. that's all you humans are! just my luck a vermin like you use my identity... and use me like some toy to break your fall." he took another haggardly step forward, only to stumble a bit to the right with a wheeze. "i can't believe it... just when i meet heinous green, some absolute blockheads decide to pretend to be us."

"bro, are ya done?" [y/n] deadpanned up at the viper, biting the inside of his cheek when naji snarled at his disinterest. "izzit, like, a villain thing ta talk a lot b'fore ya try ta murder me er somethin'." his arms were crossed over his chest, trying his best to look uninterested, but his squinted eyes made him look comical.

naji's eye twitched in annoyance, a hiss leaving his throat to express his irritation. "how typical of a human to not fathom what i am saying." he muttered to himself, his forked tongue peaking out of his mouth as if to warn [y/n] of what was to come.

nefarious naji then rushed forward, quick and quiet on his feet as he approached the human's unprepared form. [y/n] yelped, shooting his hands up to block the serpent's quick hits and jabs, stumbling backwards with grunts when his blocks were ineffective to the hits. naji pulled out his blade, swiftly striking down at the human's arms that blocked his face, reveling in the way the human cried out when the blade cut through his skin.

"you are going to regret using my identity!" the serpent exclaimed, striking his blade down at [y/n] who squinted his eyes in annoyance at his words.

"dude, can yu get over dat already?!" [y/n] swiftly side-stepped to avoid the blade, rolling his already squinted eyes and narrowed them down more at the yokai. "i said i was sorry!"

"you. did. not!" naji clutched his blade's handle into his fist tighter, throwing it as a punch in desperate attempts to have one of his hits land.

the human sucked air in through his teeth as he narrowly missed the dagger by only mere centimeters and continued his snarky response as if he wasn't fighting a wanted criminal. "okay, well, I'm sorry for using yer identity!" he then ducked down with a 'whoop!' when the yokai tried to kick his head, quickly reaching up to grab onto naji's leg and threw the serpent over his shoulder with all his might.

naji wasn't going to let himself be overthrown so easily, dragging the human down with him as he fell and used his body weight to get the advantage. [y/n] tried his best not to let the yokai get the upper hand, but he was at a loss. he depended too heavily on his vision now, so he was rendered useless without his glasses. naji finally gained the upper ground and cackled as he towered over [y/n]'s disgruntled body on the ground below him.

"you humans are all so weak, no matter how frustrating you are." he muttered, mouth parting to show off his growing fangs that were already leaking with venom due to the anticipation he was feeling.

[y/n] squinted through hazy eyes, clumsily reaching his hand up to push on the serpent's face and turned his head towards the arm that caged him to the ground with a quiet whine of protest. he knew that naji had to be some kind of humanoid snake with arms, which made him reluctant to let himself get bitten by this criminal.

"play dirty, boy. don't let them win." he could practically hear his father saying. man, would he beat [y/n]'s ass if he had seen how easily he was being thrown around.

with the rush of courage that shot through him, he pursed his lips in disgust before facing the serpent again and launched himself forward to sink his human teeth into naji's shoulder. nefarious naji screamed and threw himself back off of [y/n]'s body, hand coming up to cup the bite mark that indented into his scales. the human took this as an opportunity to scramble away, all the while he spat and wiped the serpent germs off of his mouth.

naji looked up at [y/n] through eyes of pure hatred, and started to hiss like the man child he was. "you dirty cheat! you're cheating!'

"y'u was aboutta bite me, too, cheater!" [y/n] threw a punch at naji, successfully sending the serpent back when it connected to the side of his face. out of rage, the human threw himself on top of the serpent, kicking away his blade and began to let out all of his frustration on the yokai's face.

naji threw skillful hits back at [y/n]'s upper body and jaw, each of the punches landing since the human made no move to block any of them. he ignored the stinging pain that lingered from each of the hits he received, and only focused on punching naji harder after each hit.

".../n]! ...[y/n]!"

the human broke out of his entranced state and realized what he had been doing. he felt the bruises that were sure to come when he'd get home and let his body heal. he felt the fresh peel of layered skin that revealed the pinkness right underneath his knuckles from meeting naji's face. and finally, he realized that naji was dangerously staring back up at him, face swollen and teeth extracting venom, ready to sink into his skin.

[y/n] didn't even want to see how his face looked if naji's looked that bad.

raphael was coming closer—he could hear him. [y/n] looked over his shoulder, eyes widening and throwing himself back off of the serpent's body with a dramatic scream as raphael ran full speed towards them.

the snapper's long and loud war cry built up his strength to throw an incredibly large boulder at naji. "stay away!" raphael screamed, swinging the boulder right towards the yokai face, sending him flying back onto the ground and gave the two runaway teens enough time to run before naji freed himself.

raphael turned sharply and grabbed onto [y/n]'s wrist to pull him along as he sprinted away. he let out a sigh of relief, looking over towards the boy and gasped at the sight that was before him. "[y/n], are you okay?!" raph breathlessly exclaimed, almost stumbling while trying to look at the wounds on his friends face. he worriedly eyed the boys swelling cheekbone and his bruised lip, feeling his bottom lip quiver at the sight. "does it hurt?!" he whimpered, tucking his head in between his shell when he caught sight of a bit of blood.

"'m fine, dude! just keep running!" [y/n] showed no signs of pain, face devoid of any emotion despite the crease in between his brows that showed he was slightly irritated.

raphael did not just want to continue running. he wanted to stop and check over his human friend to make sure he didn't have any more injuries! it was all his fault that [y/n] had gotten hurt... (it was not his fault. [y/n] got hurt on his own accord). he didn't dwell on his thoughts for long though since his attention shifted over towards a familiar snail jail and a set of muscular guards.

it was the police and snail jail they had escaped from before!

"oh, thank god!" raphael cried, almost near tears when he realized just who they were. "it's the police!"

[y/n], on the other hand, was hesitant. "oh, he-e-ell no! jus' let those psycho criminals get they asses, man! they arrested us!" his words had gone unheard by raphael, earning an exasperated groan from the boy as he saw his best friend halt in his steps right in front of the police.

"officers! it's heinous green!" raph tried to warn them pointing behind himself towards the large yokai's figure, but with his tone of voice he made it sound as if he was announcing himself to them.

the muscular officers set the snail jail upright, and tilted their chins upwards to intimidate the smaller mutant and the human. "so it is." one of the officers reached behind himself and pulled out a capturing device.

[y/n] jumped back in a defensive position when he had realized it was the glass ball prison they were locked in before, and raph let out a girlish scream while waving his arms around frantically. "no, not me! him!" he fully turned his body to face heinous green's form, who was looking around the area with a glare, attempting to find the snapper. he had mud spread across his upper lip which [y/n] found humorous and stifled a giggle at his dirty face.

"hang on... i'm not so sure." the woman officer pointed a finger to her chin, looking heinous green up and down as she pulled out a wanted flyer that held the criminal's mugshot on it.

raph ran his hands down his face with a loud groan and sagged his shoulders. "oh, come on!" he quickly snatched the flyer from the officer's hand, uncapping a marker with his teeth and drew a muddy mustache onto the mugshot of heinous green. once he was finished, he showed his work off to the officers who immediately perked up with realization.

"oh, yeah... that's him!" the man yokai exclaimed, using the multiple capturing devices he had pulled out on heinous green, who fought back against the glass prisons that were forming on his face with loud growls like a wild animal. he fought back against the officers in attempt to escape, and when the female officer was hit by the yokai, raph's tonfas and all of [y/n]'s valuables fell from her pockets.

[y/n] and raphael exclaimed and high-fived each other in celebration, quickly grabbing everything of value off of the ground and back into their rightful places. [y/n] placed his unharmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, blinking owlishly to adjust his vision and smiled proudly when he was able to see again.

raph wasted no time to use his mystic powers once his tonfas were comfortably back in his hands again, a red glowing hologram version of himself grew from his original form and towered over heinous green who looked up at raphael in shock. he was twice the size of the yokai, causing heinous green to cower himself into his body.

using all of his pent up frustration from this whole ordeal, raphael finished off heinous green by making his hologram fist incredibly large to punch the large yokai and successfully knocked him out so that the police could restrain him and put him in custody.

[y/n] watched the whole thing in amazement, eyes wide and mouth agape as he saw raphael's glowing red hologram towering over his smaller figure. he looked so serious... and cool. an unknown emotion swam in his chest as he continued to stare at raph's larger form, and as if realizing he was being watched, the snapper's hologram tilted his head to peer down at the human and gave him a reassuring smile.

[y/n] never knew raphael had mystic powers that could make him that... huge. and powerful. his friend was so awesome. he raised his hand up to wave up at raph, a shaky smile twitching on his lips as he suddenly began feeling bashful under the snapper's gaze.

a slim looking figure moving around in his peripheral caught the human's attention, and he broke out of his stupor to find nefarious naji who freed himself of the large boulder that raph had thrown at him earlier. through his disheveled hair, he glared at the human and pulled out his sharp blade as if he was ready to fight but suddenly stopped when his slanted eyes landed on raph's large holographic form that stood over heinous green's restrained self.

green was quiet, softly snoring as he fell into a comatose state from being knocked out. naji winced, not wanting to share the same fate as his friend and snapped his head back over towards [y/n] to hiss before he slithered away into the vast amount of trees. the human's steps stuttered as he attempted to chase after the serpent, but raph grabbed onto the back of his tank-top and yanked him back despite the boy's protests.

raphael was mostly just glad he got the bigger yokai down. stashing away his tonfas, he shrunk himself down to his original size and clapped the imaginary dust off his hands while facing the officers with an annoyed expression. "now... does raph look like heinous green?" he asked them, aggressively jabbing his thumb in the criminal's direction.

"okay, well it was clearly a justifiable case of mistaken identity here!" the female officer defended herself, waving her hands in front of her chest in a surrendering motion.

the other officer beside her sighed, placing his hand on his hip and waved raphael off with his free hand. "you're free to go, slappy."

raphael perked up and stood proudly with his hands on his hips. "thank you! and just so you know..," he reached out, pulling [y/n] into the side of his plastron protectively and pointed an accusatory finger towards the officers with a scowl. "da other criminal bozos are hidin' out in da prison! raphie nd [n/n]—out!" he saluted, and his human friend childishly copied his salute with a nasty glare, before they turned their backs to the yokai while walking away.

"that snake dude is still out there, raphie..." [y/n] worriedly muttered, anxiously playing with his fingers.

the snapper leaned a bit more into the human, almost using him as a crutch to help himself continue walking. "it's okay, lil dude. he won't come back as long as the police are behind us." he rasped, eyes already heavy and ready to close. "let's head back to the map 'nd see if raphie's family is there, 'kay?"

they didn't even walk six feet away before they heard the officers gasp and whisper under their breaths again. "wait a second... you know who looks just like that guy and that other guy but doesn't have a mustache or long hair?! evil emerald and vile valko!"

[y/n] and raph both paused in their steps, looking behind them to see the officers already chasing after them with their capturing devices in tow.

"y'u gotta be shittin' me..."

———

chins scraped roughly against the cement of the cell, and groans of exasperation were heard from the two teens who were thrown head first into jail. the cell doors shut loudly with a 'clank' and left the two all by themselves to wallow in their rage.

"man, with our luck today we're gunna be locked up fer life!" [y/n] whined, sitting up from the ground while rubbing his scraped chin with a hiss. "i told y'u not ta talk to those damn officers, man!" he growled, whipping his head to the side to narrow his slanted eyes at the snapping turtle.

raph quickly sat himself up from the ground and returned the glare he was receiving from his friend. "me!? what about y'u? y'u jumped after dat naji dude 'nd fought his ass!" he jabbed his big finger into [y/n]'s chest, who gasped dramatically and placed his hand over his toned pecs where he was poked.

"he was gon' catch us! i did what i had ta do!" he crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from raphael to pout like a child.

"what'chya could've done was stay put wit' me 'nd run away!"

"well, i didn't wanna run away 'nd lose a fight!"

the snapper sighed, running a hand down his face and shook his head. this was the one time where they disagreed on things, and here they were arguing like children. it was obvious they both really didn't mean to argue since they were both toning themselves down and tried their best to make it seem playful.

raph dropped his arms to his side and plopped himself down on the prison's metal bench. "sit down." he rasped, patting the free spot next to him.

[y/n] side-eyed the mutant and the seat, before begrudgingly plopping himself down right beside the turtle and rested his full body weight into his plastron. his arms were still crossed over his chest and his hair was unimaginably bushy from recent events.

raphael cupped his arm around the human's body and relaxed into the seat as best as he could despite it being so uncomfortable. "runnin' away from a fight doesn't always mean ya lose, y'know?" he muttered, resting his cheek against the boy's bushy hair.

"how?" [y/n] grumbled, bottom lip pouted out as he bounced his knee anxiously.

"because if y'all didn't fight yet it doesn't mean either of ya won or lost... it's like a draw."

"but draws basically mean losing. even if i run away i still can't go home."

the snapper shut his eyes and blew air out through his nostrils, tightening his grip around the boy to bring him closer into his plastron. "what does that mean?"

[y/n] looked up at him out of the corner of his eye, furrowing one of his bushy eyebrows in confusion. "what do you mean?"

"ya can't go home if ya run away from a fight?" raph reiterated in a curious tone, a chuckle escaping his throat as he stared down at his friend.

the human seemed genuinely confused with the way his eyes slowly darted around the cell. "yeah? i wanted ta win so we could both go home after." he then turned back around and adjusted himself into raph's plastron. "but we can't anyway... since we're in jail."

"that doesn't mean that we lost, lil dude. we finished off heinous green! 'nd we were almost ready ta jus' walk away until t'ose officers caught us again." he reassuringly rubbed his hand up and down [y/n]'s bicep, trying his best to put an optimistic smile on his face. "even if we did lose, we'd still be able ta go home! i'm sure we won't be in here fer long... watch, my family'll be here any minute once they realize we're gone, 'nd they're gonna save us." he explained, looking down at [y/n]'s pout. he let out an obnoxious chuckle bringing his free thumb up to rub out the crease in between his friend's brow. "so, don't look so worried!"

[y/n] couldn't fight the smile that stretched across his face and pushed away raphael's hand with a laugh. "stop!" he and the turtle fell into a fit of obnoxious laughter before they calmed back down and rested into each other again.

it was silent, the both of them listening to the clanks and the sound of other jail mates grunting amongst themselves.

"how're y'u able ta go home even when ya lose?" [y/n] questioned, voice quiet and cracking from being tired.

raph furrowed a nonexistent brow at this, tilting his chin down in confusion as he pondered over the boy's words. "whad'ya mean? i just go home."

"'nd yer dad lets y'u?" [y/n] was taken aback, jumping up to face raphael with wide eyes. "he doesn't, like, get mad dat ya lost a fight?"

okay, raph was really confused now. "no? why would he?" he sat himself up and loosened his hold on the human, who only stared completely gobsmacked at the snapper. raph had an odd feeling in his chest. he didn't like where this was going. "does yer dad get mad if ya lose a fight?"

the human laughed. he laughed like raphael told him the most humorous thing ever. "what else would he do?" he tilted his head at raphael and scrunched his nose up, as if he was the weird one. "so, what does yer dad do when y'u lose a fight?"

raph's eyes slowly darted around the room, pursing his lips out of confusion. "nothing? he doesn't care at all, just as long as i'm okay."

just then, something in [y/n]'s mind clicked. raph could see the gears switching around in his head and how his eyes lost that playfulness and his smile turned sour. the boy swiftly turned his head away, leaning back into raphael's plastron and quickly looked down at his hands to play with his fingers.

the snapper found this odd. "are you okay, [y/n]?"

"yeah, 'm fine." [y/n] quickly responded.

it went silent the cell, the only thing being heard was the hesitant breath of air raph took to answer, but stopped himself from continuing. he leaned back into the human, arm cupping around his shoulders comfortingly as he began to put pieces together from their conversation.

"does yer dad make y'u leave when ya don't win a fight?"
"let's not talk 'bout it anymore, okay?"

[y/n] cut the snapper off in the middle of his sentence, his voice cracking ever so slightly but raph didn't catch it.

the mutant felt a pain in his heart at how his friend was pulling away right at this moment. it was different. a side he hasn't seen yet. he wished they were somewhere else other than this jail cell so he could comfort the boy properly, and that just made him all the more anxious when he realized other yokai could see them. hear them.

"okay..." raphael whispered, pressing his cheek against the bushy tresses that rested atop the human's head.

[y/n] said nothing in response, but placed his hand over raphael's to run his thumb over the bandages that were skillfully wrapped over the mutant's knuckles. just to show that he wasn't pulling away from the snapper, but just from the conversation.

"i hope yer family finds us here soon..."

raph jumped at the timid voice of his friend, startled, but nevertheless smiled while overtaking the boy's hand in his own to smother it with reassurance. "'m sure t'ey must've noticed us bein' gone any minute now. everything's fine, 'kay?"

the mutant leaned into the human more, his head tilting forward to glance at the boy's expression. [y/n] still had his eyes pointed down at his hands, his straight lashes painting over his high cheekbones like a work of art. but his lips formed a timid smile and let his smile lines come to light in their dim cell.

"okay, raphie."

in the back of their heads, though, they doubted those words. but if they were to be trapped in this cell overnight, they were glad they had each other.

everything is fine.

Chapter Text

everything was not fine.

as time only continued to pass, it seemed as if luck was not on raphael's family side.

not even a few seconds after raph had reassured his friend into thinking they'd be found, donnie and april were thrown head first into their cell, sliding across the concrete and pausing in front of their feet.

raphael almost damn near cried, but [y/n] had to settle the snapper's nerves back down. the attempt was useless as leonardo was throw into the cell only seconds after the previous two. chaos only rose as everyone began to panic about their situation.

this was it. they were going to be stuck here forever.

it was only a matter of time before michelangelo and their father were to be arrested next.

after thirty minutes which consisted of horrible singing from the only human boy in the room, a poor game of "i spy" that ended 5 minutes in, and watching the humans shadowbox each other, it fell silent again.

each and every person in the cell was slumped against their seats, blinking like frogs and not even attempting to hide the horrible scowls on their faces.

leonardo felt as if he was the one that had it the hardest in the room (he's being overdramatic). he sighed and rested his chin against the palm of his hand while slumping his shoulders. "lame." he huffed. what great luck he had to find a luxury resort that only served yokai with hair. he liked to think his baldness is what made him handsome!

[y/n] glanced in his direction after hearing such a dramatic sigh, furrowing a brow at the sight of blond baby hairs that stuck out of leonardo's scalp and refrained a giggle at the sight. where did they come from? he had no idea. he couldn't help the image that popped into his head upon seeing those tiny baby hairs... he thought the slider looked like that one doll from the cartoon, rugrats.

heavy footsteps outside of their cell caught everyone's attention and they perked up when three silhouettes appeared in front of their cell, one of them comically smaller than the other. everyone immediately recognized the familiar female officer who stood behind the two figures though.

everyone automatically felt their hearts sink when they realized michelangelo and their father were arrested, too.

"okay, punks. your lawyers are here." she spoke up, causing the turtles and humans in the cell to do a double-take at her words.

raph scrunched his snout in confusion. "lawyers?"

[y/n] whipped his head around to look at the snapper, eyes wide and jaw dropped. "y'u guys have lawyers?" he inquired in a whisper, sounding genuinely amazed.

"dude, dat's my dad."

said dad in question, was dressed like the worlds best cowboy and spoke up in an attempted southern accent. "well, as a big city hotshot lawyer. i can assure y'all that y'all prisoners are entitled to one phone call and a giant birthday cake, part-ner!"

"oh, uh, right! i seem to remember something about that at the academy..." the female officer then proceeded to unlock the cell and wheeled in a large, and i mean, huge pink and white frosted stack-tiered cake. poor woman had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

a familiar orange-clad turtle, dressed in some slacks and a button up paired with suspenders, slid into the cell like michael jackson. "well, i reckon ya did!" he spoke in a southern accent as well, waving off the woman with pursed lips. "shmoo, shmoo!"

she made no comment, bowing her head respectfully and left the cell and went down the corridor without a care in the world.

once everyone was sure she was fully gone, splinter turned to his blue-masked son and mischievously smiled as he turned the cake to reveal a blue-handled odachi stabbed in the middle. "blue, lets do this!"

everyone jumped for joy at the sight of his odachi—save for [y/n], who thought they were just going to use the blade to cut the cake.

"oh-ho, yeah!" leo grabbed the handle of his odachi, and pulled the blade out of the cake with a mischievous grin. he swung the blade through the air, a blue portal coming to light right in front of where the turtle was standing.

everyone was swift to jump through the portal, letting out exclaims and whoops for joy as they ran through. soon, the last thing in the jail cell was the comically large cake, standing all by itself to catch dust. but a sneaky, green little hand reached through the portal to grab onto the handle of the cart that held the cake and wheeled it through the blue vortex.

the glowing gateway disappeared just as quick as it came, leaving the cell empty and devoid of any prisoners that caused the hidden city hell that day.

on the other side of the portal, the three other turtles and april bellowed at the sight of the cake, mouths watering and finally letting go of any nerves now that they were within their own home.

[y/n] smiled at everyone's excitement, quietly observing the mutant's and april who began to fight over who should get the first cake. even raph was amongst everyone, doing his best to make his brothers and april quiet down so he could get a point across but nobody listened.

it was just like his family, [y/n] thought, a quiet chuckle leaving his lips.

"everyone—oo—hey! settle down! we don't even have any plates ta put da cake on!" raph tried to settle his family down, grunting when his younger brothers jabbed him in the plastron.

mikey looked over his shoulder to smile at his brother while hovering his arms over the giant cake. "uh, what do you think we have hands for, raphie?" mikey retorted in a teasing voice, shaking his hands in his big brother's face who shook his head with furrowed eyebrows.

"mikey, no! that's too messy!"

raphael received no response, only wild laughter from the twins as they hovered their own hands over the large cake. april didn't seem to keen on joining on, even if it was to tease the snapper.

the eldest turtle ran his hands down his face, turning to [y/n] and slumped his shoulders. "do ya wan' come wit' me ta wash some plates real quick?"

the boy smiled up at the snapper, nodding his head kindly in response but froze when he felt a tiny hand grasp his own.

"actually, i was wanting to speak with your friend for a quick minute, red." splinter spoke, causing the room to go deathly silent and everyone to stare at the scene before them. "if that is okay, of course!" he was oddly cheerful, a wide grin on his face as he looked back and forth from his son and the human.

[y/n]'s narrow eyes were wide with shock, standing as stiff as a board with his hand still in splinter's. raphael was the same, hands outstretched and jaw dropped as he fought for the words to speak up. "u-um... yes, sure... that's fine."

splinter practically jumped for joy at the response and clapped his hands together. "wonderful!" he dusted off his robe quickly and looked over his shoulder at the young man behind him with a smile. "now, come along, boy. we have many things to discuss!" he began to skip along down their hallway, completely unaware of how nervous his son was.

"ooooh." all three turtle brothers and april managed to synchronize together, watching splinter walk off with [y/n] who marched behind him like a soldier with a nervous smile.

raphael nervously watched them walk away, biting his fingernails as anxious churrs rumbled from his chest. april was quick to be at his side, placing her warm palm against his tricep as an act of reassurance and paired it with a kind smile.

"it's gonna be okay, big guy. i'm sure splints just wants to get to know him!" her voice was quiet and calm, which was successful at calming raph's nerves.

"yer right... raphie's jus' nervous." he pressed his fingers against each other, staring down at the ground in embarrassment.

april shook her head with a quiet laugh, pulling the turtle along as she lead them to the kitchen. "it's okay to be nervous. let's just ask him what they talked about when they come back, okay?" she patted the snapper's arm softly, her other hand holding his forearm to guide him along.

"alright..."

————

splinter had led them to what seemed to be their living room. it was quite spacious, the boy noted. there was a wall that was devoid of any decorations, multiple cabinets and shelves set off to the side of the room and a singular sofa in the middle, paired with a little table that held a projector and a remote. on the other side of the sofa was another smaller table, but the only things on it was two teacups and a new shiny kettle.

now that he was fully inside of the room, he could hear music playing from a speaker that hung off the side of one of the tables. it sounded nice, whatever song it was. [y/n] couldn't quite figure out what the lyrics said because the whole song was in japanese.

splinter had sat himself down on the only sofa in the room, his small body molding into the chair perfectly like it was meant for him. [y/n] glanced at the other seats that happened to be in the room which was—three large beanbags and two other... beanbags that were in the form of a rocking chair without the legs and armrests. odd.

he glanced around the room, and grabbed any pillows he saw so he could sit on them. it was a force of habit he had when he was with an older figure—he was to never sit higher than the authority figure of the house. his dad's side of the family had this rule implemented and it was seen as an act of respect.

"you don't want to sit on the beanbags, boy?" splinter inquired, furrowing one of his furry little eyebrows at the younger man.

[y/n] looked over his shoulder at him and began adjusting himself so that he could face the rat. "no, i don't mind sitting on da ground." he replied quietly, shooting the older man a smile to show that he meant his words.

"mm, okay." splinter bowed his head to acknowledge his words, turning to the table on his left so he could begin pouring himself some of the tea that was left in his kettle from that morning. "so, how long have you known my red for?"

[y/n] watched the older man pour the tea intently, before meeting his eyes as he responded. "a couple weeks, sir."

"ah, so quite a while then. would you like some tea as we visit? or some other drink?" splinter inquired, hovering his kettle over the second cup on the table.

[y/n] pondered for a moment, his hand coming to scratch the side of his head before he nodded with a quiet hum. "yeah, tea is good." he spoke softly, working hard to make sure his voice sounded confident and professional.

the rat nodded, pouring the tea into another tiny cup for the boy as he hummed along with the music playing on the speakers. it was enjoyable. the boy smiled as he listened to splinter hum along to the song that was playing, feeling something in his heart swell at how cute he found it.

"声を落とした, テレヴィジョンの青い光,"

he wasn't quite sure what the song was called... and it sounded quite old if he said so himself. old as in it was probably released in the 90's or early 2000's.

"what's dis song called?" he asked tenderly, jumping forward to take the cup of tea out of splinter's hands when the older man handed it to him.

"it is called misty mauve. tatsuro yamashita made it in the early 2000's." splinter responded gingerly, sitting back in his sofa as he brought his own cup to his lips.

so i was right. [y/n] thought with a smug smile, proud of himself for estimating correctly.

"do you understand?" splinter asked, breaking the boy out of his thoughts. the older man tilted his chin up while inquiring the younger, and kept his eyes focused on him as he began sipping his drink.

[y/n] put context clues together and realized the man was asking about the language of the song. "oh, no." he answered, waving one of his hands to emphasize and the both of them broke into soft chuckles.

"so, do you only speak english?"

"mm, but i know some lao fr'm my dad."

"ah," splinter nodded his head in understanding, adjusting himself comfortably on his seat. "is your father laotian?"

"yes," [y/n] nodded his head enthusiastically with a smile while looking at splinter, getting a little more comfortable with the man to not speak as quietly. "he immigrated here from laos. i t'ink he jus' turned twen'y when he came here." he said, taking his own sip of his tea and humming happily at the taste.

splinter felt a little nostalgia at the boys words, closing his eyes as he reminisced on his past. "ah, i also came to america when i was very young. i had lots of dreams i wanted to achieve."

the boy nodded his head with a hum of acknowledgment, before curiously tilting his head in question. "so, how were ya able ta travel? were ya not worried about, like, being seen er somethin'?"

splinter boisterously laughed, setting his teacup aside on the nearby table and crossed his hands over his lap. "i never always used to look as i do now. i was actually born a human, did you know?"

[y/n] opened his mouth in a silent gasp and looked at the rat curiously. "really?"

"yes! i was quite famous back in my day, too!" splinter boasted, his posture straightening and chin held high. "i have many pictures from that time still. i would love to show you!"

"dat's so cool... i'd love ta see!" [y/n] voice was breathless from his shock, but he recovered quickly in order to keep the conversation going. "were ya a singer er somethin'?" the younger boy asked, all of his attention of splinter now.

this was it. the question splinter has been waiting for... "even better. i was an actor!" oh, how splinter relished in the shocked gasp that escaped [y/n]'s throat.

"no way! what kinda movies were ya in?"

"i was always in action movies, but once i did try to branch out and take a different role. that movie didn't do as good as my action roles, but i'm still glad i did it." okay... here comes the setup. "did you know i had my own franchise?"

[y/n]'s eyes twinkled in amazement, shaking his head slowly. "what was it?"

splinter grinned, from ear to ear and kept his attention on [y/n] to get his full reaction. "the lou jitsu franchise... i am lou jitsu."

it wasn't a secret anymore, obviously. his sons and april knew now and he liked to talk about each one of his stuntmen in his movies now that he had the chance to. so, it couldn't hurt letting this little boy know about his identity for a bit of fun, eh?

[y/n] went silent, staring at splinter with his lips parted and his eyes did a once over on his short body. his eyes were hazed over—like they weren't all there. he was in shock and most likely processing this information, splinter supposed.

"dude, no way..." he said after a prolonged silence, running a hand through his hair with a shocked smile. there was still a bit of denial in his tone of voice. "there's no way... ya gotta show me da pictures, man, i don't believe!" he laughed, running his hand down his face as splinter broke out into his own fit of laughter at his reaction.

splinter always loved taking pictures. he had many photo books stacked away on his shelf full of anything you could imagine. he had his own baby photos that his mother took of him in japan, the pictures he took of the clouds outside of his plane when coming to america, and many pictures of himself posed with every actor, stuntman, and backstage crew he everworked with.

and—just like any other father, splinter also had tons of pictures of his sons.

he set aside his teacup and pranced on over to the shelf by his 'do not touch' cabinet. he grabbed one of the many comically large photo-books on the lower shelves and swiped the dust off of the cover as he made his way back over towards the boy. [y/n] watched him as he did so, waiting until splinter sat back down on his sofa so he could scoot himself closer on his little cushion.

the older man cleared his throat, scooting closer to the edge so he could show the boy the pictures inside of the book. "i'm pretty sure this is the one full of pictures from my younger days..." he said slowly and thoughtfully, his tiny hand opened up the cover to reveal some grainy, coffee-colored photos behind a laminated cover. "oh, yes! it is!"

[y/n] blinked owlishly, leaning forward to get a better glance at the photos and quietly gasped.

the first pictures on the page were all of a young japanese man with fluffy, well-styled hair and a charming smile. he wore a tank-top in all of the photos, and at the very top of the page was a photo of him and a woman, posing while holding a paper.

lou jitsu; jitsu for justice official script
hamato yoshi and tang shen

"what..." he muttered, earning a chuckle from splinter as he turned to the next page where that same young man was seen wearing a familiar jumpsuit and those stylish visor sunglasses. "who took these pictures?" he breathlessly whispered, reaching one of his hands up to trail his finger over one of the grainy pictures.

"my co-star, tang shen always took backstage pictures for me!" splinter proudly stated, before turning the page again and pointing at a clearer picture that actually had more color but was still grainy. "this is another picture of us after we finished filming, 'jitsu for justice'!"

splinter then rambled on about each and every one of his his co-stars and the producers that helped him make his movies.

[y/n] had always prided himself on knowing pretty much everything on lou jitsu since he grew up watching his movies. he had watched his interviews that were posted on youtube almost everyday, and he liked to look up every single backstage picture that was taken of lou jitsu when he was on set.

but these pictures he was seeing now... they were never before seen. they were authentic. you could tell they were real because of the lamination that was on those old photographs and how it had the time and date printed on the bottom. they looked, felt, and smelled like how his own father's photographs did.

they just had that authentic old camera smell that made him want to make a candle out of it.

"dude... y'u took a picture wit' my dad once." [y/n] was still in shock, his eyes frozen on a picture of lou jitsu—er... splinter—cooking in an old liminal looking kitchen. "i, for real, thought ya were lying when ya said ya were lou jitsu, 'cause my dad was, like, yer number one fan 'nd knew everything about ya, but..." now both of his hands were on his head and he begun to laugh, but it was all out of shock. "it is y'u...! it's really y'u!"

splinter couldn't help the cheeky chuckle that left his throat, setting his hand on top of [y/n]'s head as he closed the photo-book with his other hand. "quite the shock, eh?"

"dude, ya have no idea!" he whipped his head up at the older man, sitting his hands on the sofa as an embarrassed blush settled on his high cheekbones. "y'u went missin', 'nd da whole world searched fer clues on where ya could've gone... this whole time, ya were here." he began to whisper towards the end, ducking his head in between his shoulders. "y'u were here raisin' raphie."

splinter felt his heart clench at the younger boy's words. he didn't quite like how his eyes stung and his throat formed a lump, but he blinked the pain in his eyes away and forced a smile on his face. "has anybody gotten a clue of where i went?" he asked, a teasing tone laced behind his words.

[y/n] returned the smile splinter gave him, eyes forming into crescents as an embarrassed heat flushed his cheeks. "no... but i did."

———

raphael had noticed some time had gone by. well... more than some. half an hour was already gone, most of the cake had already gone, and [y/n] was still gone.

he nervously paced, chewing on his nails as he kept glancing at the clock. he wanted to give his father some space to talk with his friend... he really did! but wasn't half an hour enough? nervous noises rumbled low within his chest, alerting his brothers and april who sighed at the sight of the snapper's anxious face.

"it's been a while now, you can probably just peek in 'nd see if they're done, big guy." april spoke up, earning a nod of agreement from mikey who shoved another bite of cake into his mouth.

whew... raphael would have to make sure he brushed his teeth later after eating all those sweets.

"ya think so? it wouldn't—it wouldn't be rude to just walk in?"

"my brotha, just use your awesome ninjocity skills to sneak in and see what they're talking about!" leo chimed in, peaking over his shoulder to give his brother a smug smile. "unless you're too scared!" he squinted his eyes, sending chills down raphael's spine as he squeaked like a dog toy.

now that motivated him. "raph's never scared!" he blurted out in response to leo, inhaling through his nose and quickly stormed off towards the living area, leaving his brothers and april behind in silence.

"wow." donatello monotonously said, scrolling through his phone with a disinterested look in his eye. "that got him moving quick."

raphael was, in fact, very much scared. he had no idea what his dad was visiting [y/n] about—he hoped it wasn't anything weird like scaring him away... or threatening his life. oh, he sure hoped his dad wasn't doing that. with quiet pleas to the lord above, he held his breath and peaked into the projector room, lips pursed and sweat running down the side of his face.

he could hear his father's favorite song playing from his radio as well as quiet chatter coming from beyond the sofa. raph couldn't see anybody in the room. usually he is able to see his father's tail or his legs resting on the armrest, but he couldn't see anything.

working up the courage, the snapper quietly tip-toed into the room, darting his head left to right in order to find the source of where the chattering voices were coming from. he peaked the corners and looked towards his father's shelves and found nobody.

with a nervous hum, raph tapped his fingers against his quads in thought, continuing to quietly move through the room and stepped closer towards his father's sofa.

the voices were louder now, but they were still hushed.

"isn't red just adorable in that little jumpsuit?"

"hah... he looks silly."

the voices were so. close. where are they?! raph looked from right to left again, a disgruntled noise leaving his lips when he couldn't see anything once again.

was he being pranked?

"oh, hey, big man." [y/n]'s voice broke him out of the snapper out of his thoughts, and he whipped his head downward to see that the boy and his father were both pressed against one another on the sofa.

oh... so they were sitting on the couch.

"h-hi..." raph stammered with a shaky smile, leaning over the sofa to slide his head in between [y/n]'s and splinter's like a nosey child.

[y/n] suddenly gained an evil looking smirk that grew on his lips, his bushy eyebrows furrowing as he did a once over on raphael's face before turning back towards the photo book on splinter's lap. "y'u were a cute baby, raph."

raphael felt heat travel to his cheeks and he kindly smiled down at [y/n]. "aw, thank you!" he cooed, turning back towards the photobook before he realized what he was looking at and what his friend had said.

there... in that god forsaken photo-book was a baby picture of him smiling crazily at the camera while dressed in a lou jitsu jumpsuit that his father had made for him after he begged for it for days.

raphael wanted to shrivel up and die.

"YOU SHOWED HIM MY BABY PICTURES?!"

———

after [y/n] was finished looking at the snapper's baby pictures (raph dragged him away and declared that he was done) they decided it was best for him to head home since he had dinner to cook for his siblings. april and mikey had done the honors of packing away the last pieces of cake for him to take home, wishing him a good night and that they should all hang out again soon.

mikey seemed to be the one who was most upset about [y/n] going home since he had no chance to talk with him after breaking out of jail. leonardo and donatello wished him a good night and headed to their rooms immediately after. they seemed like they were in a hurry. april had decided to stay with the boys a little longer since she wanted to help clean up so it would only be raphael who walked [y/n] home.

needless to say, the human was surprised to find that raphael and his family lived inside of the sewers when he had to climb out of a leaking sewer drain.

"sorry there was only two slices of cake left, li'l dude..." raphael apologized, lip pouted and eyes faced down in shame as he held a tupperware that encased said two slices of cake.

[y/n] laughed, taking the dish from his hands and nudged the side of his plastron with a teasing smile. "it's all good, raphie. my twin's were pro'lly da only ones who was gon' eat it anyway." he reassured the snapper, who gave a hasty smile in response.

raphael felt his cheeks warm when he felt their fingers brush against one another, but retracted his hand into a fist to keep the warmth of his friends touch there. "and 'm also sorry 'bout... y'know—us gettin' arrested. i didn't think dat's how today would go." he muttered, reaching a hand up to scratch the back of his neck. "i was hopin' everythin' would go by smoothly..."

[y/n] shook his head, a smile on his face as he took steps forward to place a hand on raphael's shoulder. "even t'ough i'm pretty sure we got, like, racially profiled... dat was still really fun." he felt how the tension released in the snapper's soldiers and chuckled while reassuringly rubbing the turtle's bicep. "don't even trip 'bout it, 'kay?text me when ya get home?" [y/n] softly spoke.

raph shut his eyes with a relieved sigh and gave his friend a shaky smile. "i will, li'l dude... see ya soon." raph extended his hand out for his friend to take, to which he gladly did and the two bumped their shoulders together before fist bumping. raph began to take slow steps back, eyes lingering on the human's figure before he finally turned his head around and jumped down from the fire escape.

"bye raphie." the human whispered to the snapper's fleeting form before he stepped inside of his room and closed his window immediately after he was inside.

after making it inside of his room, he kicked off his shoes while placing the tupperware of cake on his bed. he undressed from his day clothes, changing into a pair of basketball shorts with a new pair of clean socks on his feet. he didn't bother putting a shirt on. it felt like such a chore to even take his shirt off in the first place... so, why would he put one back on?

after deeming himself comfortable, he grabbed the cake on his bed and stepped outside of his room, his ears welcoming the sound of rowdy children playing in the living room down the hallway. everyone's doors were open—save for his mother's, as always.

as soon as [y/n] stepped foot into their living area, screams of excitement were heard from his little siblings who immediately crowded around him and jumped for joy.

"yer back!"

"what's fer dinner?!"

"is dat cake?!"

the eldest brother laughed, picking up his youngest brother who had crawled by his feet and gave the tupperware of cake to waylon, who gladly took it from his hands. "there's two pieces, one fer y'u 'nd one fer waylie, so share it, 'kay?" he said, his free hand pushing back his brother's bangs. waylon excitedly nodded and ran off to go and share the cake with his twin sister.

arden sat up from his position on the couch, eyebags worse than they were that morning and his hair all disheveled. "need more help?" he asked, voice croaky and raspy from lack of sleep, which was peculiar since he seemed to sleep all the time.

[y/n] laughed at the state his brother was in and threw his chin over his shoulder with a teasing smile. "go wash yer face with cold water 'nd help me chop some stuff up for dinner, 'ight?"

arden grunted like a caveman, his heavy footsteps corresponding down the hallway as he obeyed his older brother's orders.

meanwhile, the eldest began to lead his other brothers into the kitchen. he sat kian down at his high chair while josiah took a seat next to the babbling baby, pulling out his transformers coloring book and began to color with his worn out crayons. [y/n] kept kian busy with his phone, putting on a baby sensory video for the babe to stay focused while he cooked.

as the teen began to pull out pots and pans to start cooking, quiet footsteps entered the kitchen which caught [y/n]'s attention while he rinsed the dishes out. it was waylie! she entered the room with a sour expression on her face, pink frosting coating the side of her lip which she quickly licked off when she noticed her brother staring at it with a stifled chuckle.

[y/n] smiled her way after clearing his throat and he placed the now clean pot and pan on the stove. "'sup, babe? what'dya do all day?" he asked, grabbing one of the containers on the counter that held rice and poured it into the pot.

"what did you do all day?" waylie snapped back, crossing her arms over her chest while glaring at [y/n]. 

said boy furrowed a brow at her snappy behavior, giving the girl a questionable side eye before he turned his back to her and began to wash the rice inside of the pot. "what's wit' da attitude, girl?"

"because i know what you're doing!" she exclaimed, her eyes narrowing down and practically burning holes in the back of his head.

josiah glanced up from his coloring book and over towards his eldest brother with a questionable gaze, his big eyes curious and shining under the kitchen light.

[y/n] whipped his head over towards waylie, expression sour and nose scrunched up in confusion as he turned the tap off. "what're ya talkin' about?"

"who's your new friend, huh?" waylie then set her hands on her hips, her little foot tapping against the tiles of the kitchen floor. "is it a girl?"

"what? no."

"liar!"

josiah gasped and placed a chubby hand over his mouth, looking over at his older brother. "brot'er a liar?"

"no! cover yer ears, sayuh!" [y/n] scolded his younger brother, and the child did just as he said, but his eyes stayed attentive on his siblings. [y/n] sighed in exasperation, running his hands down his face as he knife handed the air in front of him and his sister. "what makes ya t'ink... dat i am a liar?" he inquired slowly, trying his best to be patient and to not let his emotions get in the way.

"because you are." waylie swayed her head, her hands still on her hips.

"yeah, i get dat. but why?" he pushed further, pinching his fingertips against his thumbs.

"'cause you're a hoe!"

silence overtook the kitchen. [y/n]'s jaw dropped as he stared down at his sister and sucked his lips into his mouth to prevent any noise from leaving his throat. a cough left his lips, then a giggle, before he broke out into a full on fit of laughter that had him hunched over and leaning against the kitchen stove.

waylie felt her ears warm with embarrassment, to which she covered them with her tiny fingers and stomped her foot. "this isn't funny, bro! stop laughing!" she whined, and pouted her lips when [y/n] stumbled his way over to pull her into a hug while he hysterically laughed. she writhed in his grasp, pounding against his chest with her fists in attempt to escape, but to no avail.

"wha-what makes ya say that?" [y/n] stammered over his words due to his laughter. he pulled away from his sister but kept his hands on her shoulders so she wouldn't try to run away.

waylie's cheeks were red and warm like a cherry, her eyebrows furrowed down and her lips twisted into a scowl. "'cause i know you dated grandma cj and you're with that new girl now!"

oop. [y/n] couldn't deny that first part. "wow, how'd you find that out?" he blurted out in one breath, before shaking his head with a neutral expression. "never mind... with who now?" he asked softly, not wanting to cause his sister anymore embarrassment by laughing anymore—but he bottled all his giggles inside even if it was threatening to come out at any second.

"that girl that dropped off those cookies!"

the elder furrowed a brow, darting his eyes left to right before staring directly at waylie again. "you mean april?" he gawked, hands firmly gripping the girls shoulders and began shaking her back and forth. "I AIN'T WIT' HER, GIRL, I'M SINGLE! who told ya i was wit' her... huh?!" he growled through gritted teeth.

"arden did!" waylie was quick to shift the blame on her other brother—her least favorite—voice wobbly and shaky from being shaken back and forth.

arden had come back into the kitchen at that time, face dripping with water, and his gray shirt was a darker shade underneath where his chin was from the water dripping down his neck.

[y/n] was quick to let go of waylie, hands clenching into fists and lunged forward onto his brother, pulling him into a headlock as they stumbled onto the ground. "y'u SNITCHED! who else did'ya tell, huh? did'ya tell ma? PHO?!" with each aggressive word that was spout from his mouth, he tightened his grip around his brother.

arden clenched his jaw and maneuvered his hands underneath [y/n]'s arms to release the tension around his neck, but he couldn't escape his hold when his older brother's legs snaked around his waist to keep him in place. "i ain't tell nobody shit, bro! alls i said was y'u was datin' april!"

"liar! how'd she know 'bout cass, den?!"

"she figured dat out on her own!"

"i don't believe y'u!"

grunts and exclamations were heard from the boys as they wrestled on the ground, and no one dared to stop it. waylie stayed with her baby brother, kian, in the kitchen to keep watch on him while josiah and waylon raced to their eldest brothers to hop in on the wrestling.

soon, giggles and rowdy fits of laughter echoed through out their home with dinner being completely forgotten.

they were sure to gain noise complaints from every single of one of their neighbors once again, but each of them were going to be ignored just as the last was.

Chapter Text

at times like this, [y/n] would think he'd be a good house husband. he knew how to take care of kids, he woke up early to make breakfast, clean around the house, and then he'd get the kids ready for the day. he tended to only think this every time he started washing dishes. something about scrubbing those plates always made him think about marriage... it was probably because of how boring the chore is.

he always hated dishes growing up, but as the oldest it was his civil duty! to pass the time of washing dishes, [y/n] used his wild imagination to help him pull through.

he hoped one day he would find someone who he'd love washing dishes with. it would make such a tiring chore more fun, no?

"what time is your game today, hon?"

[y/n] turned his head to look over his shoulder, surprised to find that his mother was the one to enter the kitchen at this early hour of the day. stunned, he stared at the woman for a moment before he snapped out of it and flashed her a shy smile. "at one. i leave at twelve." he responded curtly, resuming to wash the dishes.

his mother hummed, standing next to him at the sink and began helping him rinse off the rest. "got the day off today. was thinkin' i can bring baby and the others to come watch." she said softly, smiling when out of the corner of her eye she saw her eldest son whip his head around to look at her.

"what?" his eyes were widened, and when his mother turned to look up at him she could see the shine of hope in his eye.

"where's your game? the civic center?" she continued on, a teasing smile on her lips.

[y/n] gaped like a fish for a few more seconds, before he shook his head and snapped out of his stupor. "y-yes! it's in the arena that was just built."

"ooh! i heard it's really nice in the new arena, and your team get first dibs!" she nudged him playfully with her hip, releasing a chuckle of her own when she heard her sons.

"right? one of the teams who's in the tournament is from l.a... there's supposed to be a big turnout for that game i heard." 

"is it the one with a really long win streak? the boys on that team go to school at harvard-westlake." she set aside the clean dishes on the rack as she talked. "that school was number five in their state."

"ours is number six..." [y/n] paused, pursing his lips with a quick disapproving hum. he smacked his lips and waved his hand in the air dismissively, an annoyed expression on his face. "ah, whateva! we got 'em if we go against 'em." he practically growled out, earning a hearty laugh from his mother.

"you boys are good. practiced all summer long for the season! i know you boys got state this year."

[y/n] bit on his bottom lip and looked at his mother out of the corner of his eye. she looked happy. it was one of those days where she was in a good mood, so he assumed something good must've happened at work to make her so joyful. he wished she could be like this all the time... or for her to just get a job she liked.

but whatever happened, he's grateful for it. it was refreshing to see his mother less stressed and not wanting to rest immediately after work.

it was going to be a good day.

———

later that afternoon, [y/n] finished his final tournament with both his family and april watching. he wished raphael could've watched amongst the crowd, but he didn't know if raph ever went out in public during the day... so, he sent the snapper a link to watch his game. the turtle was still ecstatic about being able to watch him though and sent [y/n] all of his support from beyond the screen.

if you were to watch the live, you'd see someone named "red angel" leaving obnoxious comments every time a certain someone would make a point... with lots of emojis.

red angel
LETS GOOOO #0 ON TOP 🔥🔥🔥🔥‼️‼️💯💯💯

red angel
can't stop #0 once he goes up for a 3 😭🙏💯💯‼️‼️‼️ ALL NET BABY !!!!!

red angel
OHHHHHHH GET BLOCKED SON 💯💯💯💯💯💯🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

but moving on.

the human was so excited that all the people he cared for were watching his last game before his season started.

he just wished his dad could've watched.

[y/n] did send the man a link through facebook messenger, but when he checked his messages after the game was over, he found that his father hadn't even seen it. with a solemn expression, [y/n] shot a few texts after, ignoring the sharp pain in his heart.

--

[y/n] [l/n]
watch it if u want to pa
we won and i dropped 30 pts nd got 12 rebounds
my real szn starts in two weeks! 🙂

--

[y/n] hesitated to type after he sent his third message, his gut telling him not to send a fourth... but he resisted the ugly feeling and began to type away.

--

love u pa |

--

and before his gut could tell him to delete it, he quickly sent it and pocketed his phone to pretend he hadn't just done that. he didn't even get to look at his messages from april or raphael. he let out a shaky sigh, running his hand through his sweaty hair and kicked at the tiled floor of the locker room while biting down on his lower lip.

deep breaths. put that smile on your face and walk out that door like normal. [y/n] repeated like a mantra in his head. something he always said to himself after he would text his dad. it was practically normal to feel anxious after texting the man—not for any particular reason.

with a final huff, the boy shook his limbs about and pulled his hood over his damp hair as he pushed his way through the locker room doors and out into the big crowd of conversing people.

as he walked through the swarm of people, he got recognized by almost each and every one of them who made passing remarks when he'd walk by.

"can't wait to see you during your season, [l/n]!"

"yer a good baller, numba zero! can't wait ta see ya durin' the season!"

"i saw a recruit here earlier. they're probably lookin' at ya, champ!"

[y/n] responded to each comment with a big smile, beaming at the compliments he received and started walking with a pep in his step. it was as if he wasn't feeling anxious just seconds before all of this.

as he walked towards the concessions, he found april leaning against the wall with her phone in hand, her eyebrows furrowed as she typed away. with the buzzes that emitted from his back pocket, [y/n] knew she was texting him. with a mischievous grin, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and quietly stalked his way over to stand next to her, leaning his face closer and closer until his nose brushed against her cheek.

"who ya textin'?"

april shrieked and swiftly punched [y/n] in the chest, earning a wheeze from the boy as he clutched his heart dramatically. at the sudden realization that april was not in any danger, she let out a sigh of relief and clicked her tongue while setting her hand on her hip. "boy, you know better than to sneak up on me! why weren't you answering me?"

as if he hadn't been hit, [y/n] stood up straight like normal and smiled down at his friend like a child. "cuz i already knew where ya were. i got dem spidey senses." he wiggled his fingers in april's face, who scoffed and rolled her eyes at the boy's antics. with a final chuckle, [y/n] wrapped his arm around the girl's shoulder, leading her towards the exit of the gym and out towards lobby of the building. "now, c'mon! i want y'u ta meet my momma den we can go out fer celebration pho!"

april raised her eyebrows in shock, looking up towards the boy with disbelief. "wait, what—meet your mom? now?" she inquired, completely ignoring the last part of her friend's sentence.

"yes, now."

"is it just her? no one else?"

"uhh—no, my siblings are with her."

april then gasped, beginning to adjust her hair and smoothed out the creases in her clothes with disdain. "ooh, my god! i knew i should've wore my nicer clothes today!" she hissed under her breath as she pulled out her phone to look at herself in the camera, cleaning off her face and adjusting her hair more.

[y/n] furrowed a brow at her behavior, rubbing april's shoulder reassuringly. "it's okay! y'u look fine. my family isn't dressed nice either, it'ssa ball game, dude."

april clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth, running her hand down her face. "but still! first impressions matter, and i already know your sister's been acting up 'cause of me..."

the boy chuckled under his breath, shaking his head. "yeah, but she's good now... i think. 'nd 'sides my ma don't e'en know why she been actin' up lately, she jus' think waylie's boutta start her womanly time."

"oh, my god!" april whined, covering her mouth with her hand as her friend obnoxiously laughed at her reaction.

once finished his laughing fit, he shook the girl in his arm while rested his cheek against her head as an act of reassurance. "don't even trip, april. my fam'ly's gon' love y'u!"

with one final whine, she hugged herself and tried to wipe off the wary look on her face. april really hoped that was true...

———

"april o'neil?"

[y/n] and april stood straighter at the repeat of her name and hid their anxiousness with practiced smiles. "yes, ma'am." she responded, thanking god that her voice didn't crack from how nervous she was.

[y/n]'s mom did a once over on the girl again, humming to herself when her eyes traced over the jersey she wore.

[y/n]'s jersey.

the woman suspiciously squinted her eyes at her son with pursed lips. "ohh," she seemed to think first before she flashed the girl a genuine smile and reached her hand out for april to shake. "i'm irene. i don't know if my sons ever mentioned my name to you." she pointed at [y/n] accusingly with her other hand, which earned a snort from said son.

april suddenly felt relieved and reached her own hand out to shake irene's hand, giving the woman a kind smile. "he hasn't. i didn't know if he told you about me either." she went along with the teasing, side-eying the boy with pursed lips.

the women shared a laugh at [y/n]'s confused expression as he raised his arms to surrender himself from whatever animosity had raised between the girls. "man, y'all barely met 'nd y'all ganging up on me?"

irene rolled her eyes playfully. "whatever, you act like you 'nd your brothers don't do the same to me." [y/n] pursed his lips and sheepishly looked off to the side. "so how long have you two known each other?"

[y/n] looked over towards april as he inhaled to answer his mother, but he paused while he furrowed his eyebrows. "was it middle school?"

"you were in middle school. i was a freshman. i had to tutor you."

irene pursed her lips and tilted her head at april in surprise. "oh, you're older?"

the girl suddenly felt embarrassed.

[y/n], unaware of the girl's flustered expression, nodded his head at his mom in response. "yeah, she was fourteen when we met 'nd i was thirteen." he was oblivious to the way his mother slightly stiffened her lips to hide the smug smile that threatened to show itself.

"i see," irene's tone was clearly hinting something mischievous, which april quickly caught on to and almost screamed when she realized.

the girl waved her hands in front of her face defensively and shook her head, her cheeks warm with embarrassment. "it's not anything like that! we're just—really good friends."

"yeah, my best friend." [y/n] commented after, lifting up a thumbs up with a dopey grin.

he had no clue what was going on.

irene only chortled and waved a hand at the two, crossing her arms over her chest next. "it's okay, i'm just teasing!" she stopped her laughing fit and tilted her head at april with a warm grin. "have you met my other children?"

★☆★

as the two slurped on their celebration pho noodles quietly, [y/n] couldn't help but feel overjoyed.

[y/n]'s friendship with april felt... lighter. like a weight had been lifted.

he knew it had to do something with meeting raphael and his family, and he couldn't be more grateful by knowing that april felt no need to hold back in their friendship now.

all the little things she did, like lying about where she was going, what she was doing after school, and why she showed up to school a little more tired than usual all made sense now.

the introduction between april and his family brought closure to his siblings—especially waylie, who still gave her the stink eye after deeming that her brother, could in fact, not do better and april was perfect. arden had already known about april since he had usually seen [y/n] hanging out with her in passing at their school, so their meeting wasn't awkward.

josiah immediately took a liking to her, pointing at april with warm cheeks and shouted, "she's pretty!" with a cute lisp and tongue-tied words. he immediately felt bashful once the girl and his brother started laughing at the outburst, but they were quick to reassure the little boy and held him in their arms with giant smiles and warm ears.

as [y/n] and april parted ways with the family, they quietly celebrated when they were out of earshot, and clapped their hands together in excitement. no coherent words left their lips, but high-pitched gibberish spoken through gritted teeth left instead.

a notification ping caught both of their attention, lifting their heads up from their bowls of pho simultaneously and curiously peering at april's phone which began to ping numerously one after the other.

"hang on a sec," april lifted a finger and picked up her phone, immediately perking up when she saw all notifications came from the group chat she was in with the turtles.

red angel of protection
[ @ everybody ] dad told me he's thinking of seeing topside tomorrow! what you think? should we do it? ^ - ^

neon leon
YARDY KNOWWWW 😏

bootyyyshaker9000
i'm down

angie angelo
yesss!! more family bonding time for tha soul 🙌

it girl
yesss omg that's so fun i can help show you guys around!

bootyyyshaker9000
let's all try not to get arrested this time, okay?

neon leon
u were literally one of the first ones arrested...
😹
like who do u think u r?? LMAOOO

mikeylangelo
it was raph and [y/n] actually
they were the first ones😊

red angel of protection
alr bro
could've withheld that information from the council but okay
mhm
cool
(¬_¬)

neon leon
this dudes still mad ab being arrested first 😭
at least u didn't get arrested for public indecency, and that public indecency being BALD like ?????
istg they just wanted beef with me ughhh

red angel of protection
i wouldve preferred that actually...
being arrested for crimes i didn't commit and fraud is terrifying _:('ཀ'」 ∠):

neon leon
nvm wtf
i wasn't aware that was what you were being arrested for
i thought yall just scrapped with a random yokai 😭

red angel of protection
two yokai's actually!
both are wanted criminals
and almost getting jumped by their henchmen...

neon leon
holy shit it just keeps getting worse

bootyyyshaker9000
being arrested for being bald is actually way more better
i would prefer that over anything

it girl
lmao
you were the whole reason we got arrested girl... [ @donnie ]

bootyyyshaker9000
don't regret it tho lol

red angel of protection
Y'ALL!
sorry to cut this convo short butttt
do you guys mind if my friend comes again? (⌒-⌒; )

instantly, everyone behind their screens froze.

the way leonardo lips that were tugged into a snarky smile quickly fell into a giant 'O' as his jaw practically ripped open. he almost dropped his phone on his face, but he quickly came back to his senses after and cleared his throat as warmth travelled to his cheeks.

what would leo do if he saw [y/n] tomorrow? probably swoon and fall into cardiac arrest just at the sight of him because of how embarrassed he was from yesterday and also because he knows for a fact that the night about the slurpees will for sure be brought up this time.

unlike his insolent brother, donatello's relaxed lips suddenly turned tight, causing them to press into a thin line at the question he saw pop up on his screen. he faltered for a moment, like he thought he needed to say his answer aloud, before he ran a hand down his flustered face and held his thumbs over his keyboard.

he hated how reactive he was to that name.

michelangelo beamed with excitement, shooting up into a sitting position on his hammock and buzzed in his bones. he really did want to see [y/n] again... he was so cool! he had so many questions to ask, and he hoped that they wouldn’t separate during the trip like last time. he really wanted to know if he watched jupiter jim. that would lead to many fun future movie nights!

april looked up from her phone, eyeballing [y/n]'s unaware figure as he stuffed a large amount of noodles into his mouth was a satisfied groan.

she watched in utter disbelief for a moment before she shook her head, and glanced back down at her phone.

red angel of protection
???
guys ???
WHERE DID YOU GUYS GO(● ˃̶͈̀ロ˂̶͈́)੭ꠥ⁾⁾

with the three new pings ringing in their ears, they realized they took a little too long to respond to a simple question.

mikeylangelo
SORRYOMFG
im here! u should def inv him ive been wanting to see him!

came the youngest brother's response first.

neon leon
LMAO MY BAD u should do it! the more the merrier righttt?? 😜

bootyyyshaker9000
apologies. do whatever.
dad's been talking about bringing him to the house again for days

it girl
LMAOO YESSSS i'm with him rn!!
should i tell him!????

came just a second after all at the same time.

red angel of protection
oh no it's okay!
i already invited him before i asked u guys haha (=^▽^)σ

neon leon
...

mikeylangelo
oh

bootyyyshaker9000
😐

it girl
well ig that makes things easier😭

april then set her phone to DND and glanced up at her friend with a furrowed brow. "so, you're coming along with us and the guys tomorrow?"

[y/n] hummed, looking directly into his friends eyes as he slurped noodles into his cheeks which were stuffed like a chipmunks. he nodded his head with closed eyes, chewing on his noodles with a satisfied hum.

"when did raph tell you about it?"

[y/n] swallowed his food, casting her a bored look as he began to pick up more noodles on his chopsticks. "early t'is mornin' when i was doin' chores 'round da house. why'dya ask?"

april's eye twitched, and she let out a disgruntled hum. "no particular reason..."

it was obvious where raphael's favoritism lied. if he didn't invite his brothers and april first, it would obviously be the oblivious teenage boy in front of her that got the invitation in their stead.

[y/n]'s barely even known the man and he's got him wrapped around his finger...

nevertheless, april was grateful her only human friend had stumbled upon raphael and made friends with the guys.

she realized that living two different lives was straining in the end, and how cool was it to have such a big friend group to make plans with?

and you know what? being weird finally felt okay.

☆
THE NEXT DAY
———

raphael.h1984
i'm coming to get youuu!
be ready cuz i'm like 3 mins away
also mikey has ur number idk how...
I HOPE THATS OK (╥﹏╥)

[y/n]2cool
?????
WAIT WHAT
HOW
EVEN U DONT HAVE MY NUMBER 😭

raphael.h1984
THATS WHAT IM SAYING
IDK HOW HE HAS IT ????

—

(212) XXX-XXXX
our other dad draxum is coming on the trip
today, so i want u to know u must be on
ur best behavior around him.
he is quite serious.
૮꒰˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ꒱ა

—

[y/n]2cool
raphie...
who's draxum?😥

———

so, this is the guy..., [y/n] thought to himself as he stood face to face with a tall yokai who glared down at his shorter frame. the boy could feel the sweat drip down the side of his cheek and down to his chin as he tried to uphold a polite smile while holding eye contact with draxum.

wow, has [y/n] never felt so short.

it wasn't until he met raphael that he was finally the one being towered over in terms of height. this draxum guy easily took second place for being taller than him, but first place for making his height so intimidating that the human wanted to poop his pants.

the yokai sneered and held a hand over his nose, squinting his eyes at [y/n]. "ugh, why is there another one of you? i thought my creations have known better than to make friends with the likes of your kind..." draxum muttered.

[y/n] was completely oblivious to what any of that meant. he furrowed a brow and his smile turned stiff as he tilted his head curiously. "my kind?"

raphael made a startled noise at draxum's words, pressing his plastron against [y/n]'s back and placed his hand on the boys shoulder. "who was gon' tell me dat he was coming?" he harshly whispered through gritted teeth at his younger brothers, pointing his eyes towards the sheepman that continued to glare down at [y/n]'s form.

"he came on the trip with us to the hidden city, so i thought he could come with us to the surface!" mikey happily chirped, looking quite proud of himself as he observed his second father and the new human.

what lovely conversation they were having! they were bonding so well!

"bro, whaddyu mean 'my kind?'"

"your filthy human kind."

"oh, shit. yeah, dat's valid."

raph owlishly blinked. he turned his head towards mikey who continued watching the two with twinkles in his eyes. "draxum came wit' us to the hidden city...?"

his question remained unanswered as april suddenly came back with numerous pamphlets showcasing the entirety of new york's famous tourist spots. "i got the pamphlets, y'all! we're all set to go!" she cheered, punching the air.

splinter was right behind her, copying her movement and cheered loudly. it was obvious he was most excited about this trip, mainly due to the fact that he hadn't toured topside since he disappeared all those years ago.

raphael took this as an opportunity to snatch [y/n] away from draxum, squinting his eyes at the yokai and wrapped a protective arm around his friend's shoulder. "i'm watching you." he muttered under his breath to the sheepman, using his two fingers to point directly at his eyes then towards the yokai.

draxum rolled his eyes at his creations action. the older one was being far too dramatic, he thought... he would never do anything to such a feeble human. it wouldn't be fun without a proper fight.

but he was learning. draxum would no longer pick fights with humans for the sake of his youngest creation... err... son.

the first thing the family did was to overlook the entirety of new york city. the amount of time they spent riding the elevator all the way to the top of the skyline was atrocious, and [y/n] could feel himself getting queasy when the number on the elevator hit twenty, but luckily mikey was there to distract him from thinking about the height.

as soon as they made it to the top, that wait in the elevator was worth it to see the city they grew up in!

april pulled out one of her many polaroids and snapped a few pictures of the sights with a content smile, and even snapped a few photos of the guys who posed dramatically.

raph was overly enthusiastic about the pictures and the sights, gasping in delight and began running in place. "guys! guys! get a photo of me dropping a hibernator on big spikey! and big blinky! and—and jolly green torch guy!" raph performed the infamous 'hibernator' move mid-air with a loud screech, which resulted in him falling straight onto a trash can and spilled its contents all over him and his family.

leo instantly gagged when the trash's juices splattered all over his blue hoodie and made a strained noise when he noticed a banana peel was sitting on top of his head.

april let out a hefty sigh, dropping the camera from her vision and ran a hand down her face.

[y/n] cheered for raphael, despite all the attention being diverted onto him, and excitedly copied the moves that the snapper was doing right before he felt onto the floor. "can't stop red angel when he goes up for da hibernator!" he loudly boasted in a comical commentator voice, hopping on his toes and not even bothering to help raphael back on to his feet.

raphael was quick to jump on his feet, feeling encouraged by his friends cheers. "OOH! WHO CAN STOP ME?!"

"NOBODY, YO!"

they raised their arms in the air with loud synchronized "OHHHH's."

donnie rolled his eyes, feeling an embarrassed wave of heat flush his cheeks. "i can see why they're friends..." he muttered.

april rolled her eyes at their antics but smiled, nonetheless. she brought the camera back up to her eye and snapped a picture of the two boys. both of them sported big matching smiles on their faces and their eyes were practically crescents from how big their grins were.

it felt good seeing them so happy.

she dropped the camera from her face and turned to the rest of the family while pulling something out of her coat pockets. "hey, y'all! we better get a move on! i entered us in a city-wide photo scavenger hunt!"

that quickly caught everyone's attention and everybody excitedly gathered around april to get their own polaroids.

"oh, snap!" leonardo excitedly lifted his polaroid to his face and looked through the lens with childlike wonder.

"we're gonna win!" [y/n] cheered with april, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and bumped their fists together.

"you know it!"

mikey looked over the scavenger hunt list, and quickly took pictures of the statue of liberty to get it off the list. "first photo done!"

draxum grumbled under his breath at the thought of having to do something so time-consuming. he didn't want to waste his energy on some pictures to win a prize... he was a bit more worried about his Iovely cafeteria.

"ooh, shit. we gotta hit up coney island! we needa get on that ferris wheel after we take a picture of it!" [y/n] exclaimed.

raphael was already peering over his shoulder with a furrowed brow and pursed lips. "coney island? what's that? an island of cones?"

donnie snorted at his brother's words, snickering under his breath.

"dude... you don't know what coney island is?"

raphael stammered out of embarrassment, trying to find some words in order to save himself but his brain couldn't find any.

donnie was quick to pull up his gps and displayed the directions showing on his phone screen. "hey, coney island is closer to us than the rest of the sights. we can go to times square next to get that picture of a hotdog vendor." his monotonous tone caught the attention of his family who all began to pile into an elevator to carry out his quick plan.

as they walked to the elevator, [y/n] jumped up to wrap his arm around raphael's neck and brought him down to his size. "dude, i promise ya, y'u are gon' love coney island. i've only been once when i was younger, but dat shit was fire."

mikey quickly jumped into the conversation, a giant smile on his face as he brought his fists up to his chin. "what was it like?! was it fun?!"

"uh, yeah!" [y/n] responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world, bringing his other hand up to rest it on michelangelo's head. "yer gonna love it, mikester. jus' don't eat nothin' before we go, though. when i went, i ate four big macs 'nd threw up, like, three times on each ride. after da third time they took my wristband away 'nd i wasn't allowed ta ride anymore."

despite the disgusting detail, mikey looked so amazed at the story and let out a quiet 'woah.'

draxum rolled his eyes with a scoff, feeling the dread settle in once the elevator doors closed shut. it was cramped... eight people smushed into an elevator wasn't the wisest choice. "foolish human."

"why did you eat four big macs?" leo questioned, furrowing a brow as he side-eyed the human.

"hey, man... i'm a big boy. i needed my food to grow big 'nd strong."

raph chortled at this, and lifted an arm to flex. "jus' like raph."

he and [y/n] both broke out into obnoxious giggles, leaving the mutant family confused at what their words entailed.

they wouldn't get it. they don't understand the big boy grind.

donnie ignored the two, pulling out his scavenger hunt list and read it over again. "where do we turn this in at, april?"

"ooh! and what do we win when we win?!" mikey exclaimed, wanting to jump on his toes, but there was barely any space available for him to move.

"street cred! the only currency that matters in this city." splinter boasted, adjusting himself in the cramped space, and his butt moved a little too close to mikey's head, who frowned at the contact.

leo was quick to jump in the conversation, his usual playful smile on his lips. "and we'll do it with our special brand of teamwork! where my brothers do all the work, but we share equal credit." he spoke quietly and quickly towards the end.

[y/n] snapped his fingers and nodded his head in agreement. "word, word. that's a good plan, blue."

leo couldn't help but giggle at the compliment, and if he had hair he would twirl it right about now. "eheh, thank you." he turned his back to the human and bit down on his finger with an ugly bashful smile.

donnie muttered a quiet 'ew' at his brother's reaction.

draxum fumbled with his camera, causing it to set off and a flurry of flashing lights blinded the group of teens as the polaroid snapped pictures. "ugh, can we hurry this along? i left sloppy joseph in charge of my kitchen..." draxum muttered once he caught his polaroid, and pouted when he thought about the state his kitchen would be in once he returned back to the cafeteria.

"yeah, that's on you, barry." april quickly retorted, showing no empathy for the poor yokai who seethed under his breath at her lack of support for his kitchen.

and as the elevator neared it's final stop, three beeps played in their ears, letting them know the doors were about to open.

————

the sun rays have never felt so good on [y/n]'s skin. he just hoped he didn't get a baby carrier tan from all this sun-bathing. he tanned so easily, it was basically a crime.

he leaned his arms against the cool metal bars of the cruise-ships railing, sunglasses donning his nose bridge to protect his retinas from the sun. his baby brother, kian, sat comfortably in the cooling baby carrier, his own tiny sunglasses resting on his face.

[y/n] was shirtless—when was he not?—and only clad in a pair of swimming shorts that had a palm tree paired with a sunset design on the right side of his leg. his baby brother wore the same outfit in his little carrier, a red pacifier in his mouth to keep him occupied as his brother sunbathed.

"would ya like some lemonade, friend?" 

[y/n] lifted his head to raise his sunglasses, peering down at a... capybara with curly blonde hair that held a platter of glass cups full of lemonade on top. he smiled brightly, plopping his sunglasses back down on his nose as he reached out to grab a glass. "thanks, man! mind if i poor some in my brother's cup, too?"

"of course! i'm afraid i made a bit too much lemonade so if you want seconds, don't be afraid to ask away!" the short capybara responded in a chipper tone, which made [y/n]'s own spirits raise at how happy this man was.

he loved people who were overly enthusiastic. they were so cool.

the boy plopped down on a nearby tanning chair by his family and began to pour some of the capybara's lemonade into the sippy cup. kian was eager to grab onto it when it was right in front of his face, and immediately began to drink from it once it was in his hands.

"and here is another cup!"

[y/n] took the drink from the mutant, flashing him a thankful smile as he brought the rim to his lips. he took a sip, just to taste test the lemonade, but that sip turned into two big gulps that left the cup empty in the end. he groaned loudly once he finished the drink, bringing his other hand up to wipe the liquid off of his top lip and turned his head to observe his family.

his mother, irene, sunbathed in the chair next to him, a content smile on her face. [y/n] moved his gaze over to his siblings—all of them also in their own little sunbathing chairs and enjoying the heat of the sun on their tanned skin. waylie seemed to be enjoying it the most, practically melting on the chair from how relaxed she was. even arden seemed to be enjoying himself, even though he wasn't much of an outdoors type of guy.

this was nice. when did they ever get time to just take a vacation and enjoy life?

then again... when could they ever afford a vacation?

that thought made [y/n]'s eyes snap wide open and he shot up in his chair to look at his surroundings. from the looks of it, he was on a cruise ship. never before had [y/n] even seen a cruise ship up close before... when did he get on this cruise?

he couldn't remember.

[y/n] lifted the sunglasses off of his face and pushed his bangs back with them as he rested them at the top of his head. his bushy eyebrows were scrunched in worry, his heart thumping against his chest when he noticed how they were in the middle of the ocean, with no sight of land nearby.

"ama? where're we going?" he asked, walking over towards his mother's sunbathing chair to peer down at her relaxed face.

"what do you mean, baby?"

"like—how did we get on a... cruise?" he squinted his eyes, resting one of his hands on kian's head that kept almost bumping into his chin.

irene only hummed, staying silent for a moment before she realized she was supposed to respond and came up with a quick excuse. "i don't know, babe. maybe we won the lottery!"

[y/n] quietly whined at the answer, lifting his head up and scanned the cruise ship for any clues of how they could've gotten here. of course his mother wouldn't give him a direct answer... she never did.

he turned his back to his mother, walking over towards the railing of the cruise ship and looked out into the vast ocean with a cold sweat.

he felt nauseous... [y/n] tightly gripped onto the railings of the cruise ship and glanced down to see the terrifying height distance from where he stood from the ocean.

he didn't feel safe standing here. especially with his baby brother strapped to his chest. "we gotta get offa dis cruise, baby..." he spoke aloud to the babe, his voice shaky but he did his best to say it with a smile, but it was heavily strained.

kian only babbled in response, kicking his legs which caused the baby carrier to shake on his older brother's shoulders.

[y/n] screeched, hugging kian to his chest inside of his baby carrier as if the child would fly out of it just from his kicking. "lets go!" he quickly sprinted away from the railing of the cruise, running towards the middle of the cruise ship where he wouldn't see any water.

deep down, [y/n] was a little fearful of the sea... and being on a cruise ship with no land of sight around was making him a little anxious.

just a teeny bit.

he tried his best not to think about all the possible horrible situations that could happen, because knowing reality, it wouldn't happen.

he swallowed the bile that threatened to rise in his throat, and plopped himself down onto a sunbathing chair while practicing deep breaths.

he tried to listen kian's confused babbles and felt the way the baby carrier continued to shake when kian kicked the air. his toned arms loosened around kian in the baby carrier, kissing the top of his baby brother's head to finally ground himself.

"dada?" kian babbled.

"'m here, baby. give [n] a second." he whispered, forcing a smile on his face and opened his eyes to see kian's big ones staring right back at him. "hey, baby."

"hay, baby." kian repeated, earning a chuckle from his older brother.

[y/n] kissed the top of his head again, and kept his back turned to the ocean so he wouldn't have to look at it.

right now, it was big brother time... and big brother time required [y/n] to be brave.

Chapter Text

[y/n] began to mindlessly wander the decks of the cruise ship with kian, but kept a safe distance between him and the ships railings so he wouldn't have to see the... scary drop to the deep blue sea.

it made him shudder when he even thought about nearing the edge of the cruise ship. he just knew that he would never have a nice romantic moment like how they do on the titanic movie, because he would actually start crying if he were to be near the edge of the ship like that.

who cares if he's built like a grown man who can crush someone's skull? he can cry as much as he wants to!

[y/n] had taken the baby carrier off, letting his baby brother walk freely but made sure to hold the little boys' chubby hands to insure he didn't wander off into dangerous places. he started getting a tan in the shape of the baby carrier, and quickly took it off after he noticed. getting an embarrassing tan was one of [y/n]'s biggest pet peeves.

"hey, friend!~ come back for another glass of lemonade?!"

[y/n] glanced up, breaking out of his thoughts and caught eyes with a familiar blonde capybara who was handing a glass of lemonade to his friend, april! and right next to her was splinter with his own glass of lemonade, that he happily sipped on.

"don't take it, human! you can't get distracted by such foolish temptation!"

and there was draxum.

rolling his eyes, [y/n] quickly picked up kian to sit the baby down on his hip while glancing over his shoulder at draxum. "maybe y'u should jus' let loose! yer on vacation, shouldn't ya relax?"

"i don't do vacations. and neither do you! look around! are these the people you want to vacation with?!" draxum outstretched his arms and an exasperated expression painted his features.

[y/n] followed his advice, glancing around at all the people and yokai sprawled out on sunbathing chairs, and hummed while pursing his lips. "ta be honest, i'on even know why 'm here? i don't even like the ocean so..." he began to trail off, scratching the back of his head.

"see?! WHY ARE WE HERE!?" draxum spat, almost pulling at his hair due to how frustrated he had become. "you must all stop consuming this citrus paradise and WAKE UP! this is an illusion!"

"dawg, don't do this to me." [y/n] grimaced, turning his head away and lifted up a hand to seperate both him and draxum. "i be sayin' that shit ta myself every mornin' and hearin' y'u say it is makin' me scared."

"YOU SHOULD BE SCARED! WAKE. UP."

"dude, stop. i'm gonna poop my pants."

splinter only let out a wheezy laugh at their exchange and lifted up his glass of lemonade. "don't you worry, my boy. if we were in an illusion, how could todd's special lemonade taste sooo good and sooo real?"

"AND MAGICAL! as promised~" cassandra came sliding in out of nowhere, holding up her own glass of todd's lemonade.

at the sight of his ex-girlfriend, [y/n] made a strangled noise as if the wind got knocked out of him and felt the cold sweats come back. kian only giggled at the noise his brother made and pressed his chubby hand against his brother's mouth.

draxum was getting fed up and felt the veins sticking out of his neck as he clenched his fists in front of his chest. "ugh, no! we are all trapped inside of big mama's mystic orb!" he proceeded to grab hold of april and splinter's heads, forcing them to look at their surroundings. "look at where we are, and who we're with. how did we get here?! where are the turtles?" draxum continued rambling on, before finally dramatically gesturing to cassandra who looked off into the distance of the deep blue sea while sipping on her lemonade. "who even likes foot recruit?!"

cassandra turned her head, cluelessly at the sound of her secondary name. "huh?"

"i did." [y/n] spoke up with no hesitation.

"HEY!"

april set a hand on her hip as she stood from her chair, finally taking into account of what draxum was saying but with a grain of salt. "well, i-i guess now that you mention it, it is a little odd." she stammered, but sipped on her lemonade nonetheless.

splinter, for one, was against draxum's attempt at making them wake up. "stop trying to ruin a good thing, draxum! i'm a parent of four teenage boys. i need this!" he sobbed in exasperation.

the sheepman pursed his lips, standing there in a moment of silence, before he rose his own glass of lemonade into the air with a smug smile. "then let us cheers to fun in the sun."

april, cassandra and splinter raised their own cups beside his with no hesitation, thinking he finally gave in and decided to relax. they were stopped when draxum's palm suddenly outstretched releasing purple magic which sent out a gleam of light from their glass cups.

just then, all around them were large purple holograms, revealing each one of the turtles who were paired alongside a bunch of other mutant men.

[y/n] gasped at the sight, his shocked expression slowly turning into one of horror when he realized they were pitted against large creatures to fight.

"my friends!"
"my sons!"
"my bff!"
"my enemies!"

[y/n] had never seen anything like this before, and neither had kian. he stood at a loss for words as he watched the holograms circle around them and pulled his startled baby brother closer to his chest when he heard a quiet whine come from him.

draxum rolled his eyes as he watched his family begin to scream and hop on their toes in distress as they watched the turtles on the screens. "told ya..." he muttered, slurping his lemonade out through his straw with a smug look on his face.

the sheepman noticed that the human boy was the only one not erupting into a panic. he only stood there watching one of the screens with a distraught look on his face and held his baby brother's head safely into the crook of his neck, as if to shield the child from looking at the same thing.

he was still panicking, draxum concluded. he may not show it through his bodily language, but in his eyes, he could see the crazed thoughts running amuck.

"raph's gettin' chased." [y/n] finally spoke, his throat dry. he turned to draxum, his eyes narrowed, and nostrils flared in anger. "how do we get outta here? we need to help 'em!"

draxum watched closely at how his hands trembled on the baby's body as he tried to keep his composure. the other four had noticed that the human was enraged, and the two girls stepped forward with furrowed brows, worry displayed on their expressions.

cassandra stopped herself from meeting him halfway, and her worry disappeared as quick as it came. she realized who he was talking about and set herself straight. her ex is siding with the enemy... she doesn't need to waste unnecessary feelings on an old lover.

april got to him first instead, resting a hand on his bare shoulder and brought him to lean against her shorter body as a way of comfort. "hey... the guys have fought before, they know what they're doing, okay?" she did her best to try and reassure the boy, placing her other hand over his which rested on kian's back. "we just need to put our trust in them for now. believe in them that they can do it!"

kian raised his head from [y/n]'s shoulder, placing his chubby fist over his mouth and his eyes began watching the hologram in front of them, where a big explosion went off. his brother didn't notice, since he was looking into april's eyes with a frown.

but just then, on the hologram, raphael and the bear mutant emerged from the sky to drop down on the yokai they were fighting. the yokai swung a large bat, covered in nails at their flying figures and hit them straight out of the sky and out towards the ocean where they descended down.

april gasped, and kian let out a wail at the display. [y/n]'s glare only hardened as he held kian closer to his chest, muffling his cries into his shoulder.

raphael's mask floated to the surface of the water. it was like a silent confirmation for [y/n], and he felt his heart sink. his hands continued to tremble as he held his baby brother, his breath hitching in his throat when a familiar looking woman showed up on the screen.

"ooh! we finally have our first victims! raph and ghost bear aren't only eliminated, they're destroyed." big mama announced, as pictures of raphael and ghostbear were shown on the screen with big red 'X's drawn over their faces.

[y/n] growled, shoving april off his body and began to stomp off from the group.

"[y/n]!" april shouted after the boy, outstretching her hand to him. "where are you going?!"

"i can't let kian watch this shit." [y/n] snarled back, and it was only then that april could hear the baby's wails.

she could only watch her friend walk away in pure shock. never before had he shoved her like that or even strayed away from her touch.

this was getting serious.

"barry, whatever you gotta do to get us out of this mystic trap, now's the time!" april turned to draxum, who was already staring at her fondly. "we got asses to kick."

———

[y/n] had managed to calm kian's cries down as soon as he made it to where his family resided, all of them blissfully unaware of the events happening outside of this mystic paradise.

it really wasn't real. all of this.

it fucked with [y/n]'s head, and he wanted nothing more than to punch the sky and free himself of this hellish paradise. he was sitting here doing nothing, while raph... nah. raph wouldn't get defeated so easily. he's strong. one of the strongest guys [y/n] knows. raph just fell into the ocean, he's still out there. he's just hurt. but the thought of raphael still being hurt made [y/n]'s heart ache.

he needed to help raphael and fast.

he shook his head, listening to kian's hiccups and stomped over to arden, who paid him no attention. "get up, bro." [y/n] knelt down next to arden, shaking his shoulder to grab his attention.

arden sneered at touch and shot his brother a tired glare. "ugh, the fuck ya want?" he whined, bringing a hand up to rub at his tired eyes.

"i need ya ta watch baby."

"tch, hell no, man. i'm tired." arden barked back, shutting his eyes again.

[y/n] stared at his brother in silence, his nostrils flaring and his eyes slowly widening before he brought a hand up to flick his brother's forehead. he wanted to do far more than flick his head. he could've punched him, slapped him, jumped up in the air and dropped a hibernator on his lazy brother—but he didn't. he had restraint.

arden let out a shout of exclamation at the sharp pain on his forehead and glared at his brother, pressing his hand over the area his brother flicked.

"hua ban!" [y/n] exclaimed at his brother, gesturing at his brother wildly with his arm. it reminded arden of their father. "i ain't playin, get yer ass up 'nd watch kian!" the oldest continued to speak through gritted teeth, which made arden quickly sit up in his sunbathing chair in the blink of eye.

there were only a select few times when [y/n] had gotten really angry. it happened quite often when he was twelve and thirteen, but once he turned fourteen, he had started to calm his temper down. he always tried to have a smile on his face when talking to his siblings, so, when he even showed the slightest bit of anger like how he did now, arden knew there was something serious going on.

he outstretched his hands for the baby, who was gently placed in his arms by [y/n]. the oldest's jaw was tense and his eyebrows were practically knitted together. arden knew he was stressing out. "what's wrong?" arden asked, eyes half-lidded as he stared up at [y/n] while bouncing kian on his knee.

it was only then that [y/n] relaxed his tense shoulders and let out a long sigh from his nose. "it's nothin'. i jus' have somethin' i need ta do, 'kay?" he opened his eyes, eyes gone soft but the tension in his jaw stayed. "i need ya ta watch over kian 'nd da rest of yer siblin's until i get back."

arden shot up when he saw his brother begin to walk away, and couldn't hide the worry that clouded his eyes. "wait! where're ya going?!"

[y/n] stopped and turned to look over his shoulder. "i won't be far, bro. i jus' need ta help a friend."

arden stared at his brother for a little while before he hesitantly nodded his head with a gulp. "be safe." he said with a smile.

[y/n] returned the smile, flashing his teeth at his brother. “i will.” then, he turned his back to the boy.

arden watched him until he turned a corner of the cruise, disappearing beyond the tall structure.

it was only then the second eldest looked down at his baby brother, and noticed the tear streaks running down his chubby, porcelain face.

———

splinter twiddled with his fingers, his shoulders tense and a sullen look on his face. he finally perked up when he saw [y/n]'s glowering figure round the corner and begin to walk to him with clenched fists.

"[y/n]," splinter started, voice quiet as the boy knelt down to his level and pressed their fists together.

"splinter," [y/n] acknowledged the rat back, lifting his head to glance around. "where'd da others go?"

"they are searching for an exit," splinter then took [y/n]'s hands in his own tiny pink ones and motioned for him to stand. "i was waiting for you... i didn't want to leave without you there."

[y/n] gave the rat a smile, and stood to his feet. "take me to them."

———

"the ship is surrounded by a powerful mystic membrane. that is why we descended from the ship so i could find an exit down here," draxum quickly explained to the human boy that joined them, kneeling down to press his hands against the cool blue surface.

[y/n] was deathly afraid when he had to climb down a ladder down into the cold blue ocean, but just like everything else in this place, the ocean wasn't real. he was able to walk upon the watery surface with no trouble, and it felt just like cool glass against his feet. but it did scare him knowing that below his feet was a deep, deep drop down to the depths of this fake ocean floor.

maybe there wasn't even an ocean underneath him after all. it was fake!

"so, what do we do? how do we find an exit down here?" asked [y/n], who crossed his arms with a single drop of sweat running down the side of his face. he tried to keep his eyes averted up to avoid looking down at the blue floor.

"there has to be a weak point we can somehow push through." draxum answered, standing up to roughly stomp against the surface which made [y/n] flinch and close his eyes.

cassandra had suddenly ran straight into a wall, an echo reverberating into all of their ears as her head flew back from the force of hitting it and a shrill exclamation ripped from her throat. "OW! THERE'S A WALL!"

"i see." [y/n] muttered, walking over to the blue wall that was painted to look like the sky and pressed his hands against it, pushing slightly to see if anything would happen. when nothing did happen, he let out a sharp "hm." and stepped back with his hands on his hips. "i thought da wall would've broke 'cause o' yer big nose."

cassandra didn't even have to look his way when she reeled her fist back to roughly punch the boy's arm.

"OW! FUCKER, DAT HURT!"

"GET OVER IT!"

splinter furrowed an eyebrow at the exchange, while april and draxum only rolled their eyes and continued looking for a way out.

a crack suddenly appeared on the hard ocean surface, catching everyone's attention. draxum was quick to stand up and widened his stance. "a weak spot," he whispered, before his eyes narrowed with focus and he outstretched his hands. "there's our exit!" he sent out purple tendrils to grip at the crack in the floor and strained as he began to pull. "stand back!"

the others quickly grouped up behind draxum in their own offensive positions and readied themselves as draxum continued to pull on the weak spot. when the opening was large enough, draxum didn't move his focus away as he shouted, "go!" to the others and they all jumped through. when they all made it out, draxum finally jumped through.

when they emerged on the other side, they descended from the sky in readied positions and looked down at the large creature, shadow fiend, that held the mystic orb they just shot out of.

standing below them, next to shadow fiend, was big mama and just across from shadow fiend, stood four turtles. four.

as [y/n] fell from the sky, he felt his heart be swarmed with a warmness as he spotted raphael standing amongst his brothers and raphael was the first to spot [y/n] among the flying humans. they both gasped upon making eye contact, and their stances faltered for just a second.

"raph!"

"[y/n]!"

and just as the two had noticed each other, so did the rest of the mutant family.

mikey's eyes lit up. "dad and draxum?"
"april?" donnie's jaw dropped in shock.
leo only squinted his eyes and pursed his lips. "foot recruit?"

draxum's tendrils finally escaped from the orb and returned back to him, but with the loss of support from the tendrils, the orb fell out of balance off of shadow fiend's hand and onto the ground.

[y/n]'s eyes widened, a fearful scream leaving his throat at the sight. "my family is still in there!" he cried, lunging after it alongside splinter, who quickly reacted on his fearful call.

splinter swiftly and skillfully kicked the shadow fiend back, and although he is a tiny rat, he had kicked the creature with enough force to send it flying back. this allowed for the human boy to dive for the orb and clutch it within his arms. hugging the orb to his chest, [y/n] rolled onto his back and slid into a kneeling position.

a blue portal appeared in front of shadow fiend, who had regained itself. raphael's energy constructed hand shot out from the portal to punch the creature and sent it flying back. immediately after, mikey used his kusari-fundo to throw a bus at shadow fiend to cage it to the ground and turned to his family. "guys, what's our plan?!"

draxum landed in a defensive position beside april and cassandra and glanced at mikey. "retrieve me the orb and i can free your people!"

big mama cackled evilly under her breath with a glare and shook her head. "i don't think so!" she cooed, shooting one of her webs out towards [y/n].

the boy noticed the webs coming at him with great speed and let out an unnecessary and ugly high-pitched scream. with his quick-witted and smart boy thinking, he tossed the orb high in the air, so the webs could wrap around his body instead of the orb. it wasn't the best idea, but [y/n] wasn't a thinker... he was a hitter. when he was restrained by the webs, he grunted as he flew back onto the ground. "cass! the orb!" he shouted out.

cassandra was already acting out on his call, racing towards the falling orb. "I GOT IT!" she lunged forward to hug her arms around it, but dove straight onto the ground clutching nothing, because the orb was snatched by another one of big mamas webs.

[y/n] gasped and ripped open the web's confinements off of his body with just a strong flex of his muscles. "shit! THE ORB!"

leonardo glanced over his shoulder at the human's loud cry and skillfully threw his odachi from afar to cut the web sticking to the orb. april, with her quick thinking, ran straight onto the scene to catch the orb midair. "i got it!"

as april brought the orb to her chest, draxum restrained big mama from getting to the girl with one of his purple tendrils, sending the spider yokai flying into a nearby building which created an opening for the group.

"barry, heads up!" april threw the orb towards the yokai, and draxum clutched the orb tightly once it was in his grasp.

"buy me some time!" he shouted to the group, but just then, shadow fiend had suddenly appeared behind draxum and reeled it's fist back to punch the sheepman.

draxum had no time to react or move out of the way.

shadow fiend's speed was otherworldly. demonic almost. draxum couldn't believe how fast this creature was. he didn't even feel the creatures' warning steps come up on him.

luckily, splinter slid in to kick draxum's feet out under him, bringing the yokai down to the ground to dodge the shadow fiend's punch.

the creature's punch was full of such unearthly strength. it sent a shockwave that circled around them, the wind coming from the punch had cut many buildings in half and sent the others on the outer scene to go flying back with startled cries.

splinter and draxum wasted no time in resisting the shockwave and quickly stood to their feet. "we'll cover you!" splinter exclaimed to draxum, before he was hit by shadow fiend and sent flying away. draxum took this opportunity to run away with the orb, evading shadow fiend's attacks as the creature chased him down with precision.

splinter was right. they were all covering for him as he ran away. he could feel everyone doing their best at holding off the shadow fiend, and as much as he wished to, he knew he couldn't look back and watch.

the scene unfolding behind draxum was full of chaos. raphael had already constructed a large energy construct of himself, using his great size to send a strong punch straight to shadow fiend's face to stop it from reaching draxum.

donnie threw his bo staff in the air like a boomerang and waited until it was floating above shadow fiend to send targeted attacks at the creature.

[y/n] sprinted up on a piece of stray debris, hopping onto raphael's energy construct, running up on his shell and used all of his momentum to jump towards the shadow fiend. he sent out his feet to land on the creature's shoulder and was quick to grab ahold of his robe to keep himself steady.

mikey used his chains to wrap around a large semi-truck and threw it down onto the ground behind draxum to serve as a wall so the creature couldn't reach him.

the intensity of it all didn't deter draxum's focus. his hands worked tediously, unwrapping and putting together the magic on the orb as if it was some rubik's cube while muttering quickly under his breath like a mantra, "c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon!"

[y/n] was still on shadow fiend and strained himself to keep his grip on the creature as it moved vigorously to shoo off his friend's attacks. he grabbed the creatures hood and pulled it down on the shadow fiend's face to block its vision, and laughed obnoxiously when the creature screeched at the loss of one of its senses.

shadow fiend reached its hands back to try and swat [y/n] off of his back, but the boy only let out a series of excited war cries while steering the creature like a horse on its reigns. he continued steering it away, and as he did so he began tying the hood into a knot so the creature could stay blinded.

[y/n] lifted his head up quickly when he heard donnie's warning call, smiling when he saw april running towards them with a green mystic bat. he jumped off of the creature's shoulders with an excited shout, and raphael caught him midair with his energy construct. just in time for april's mystic bat to fly right into the shadow fiend's covered face, sending it flying back with a loud screech.

with zero hesitation, mikey swung his kusari-fundo to throw fire at the shadow fiend with enthusiastic hollers. when the creature went to blindly punch the turtle away, leonardo quickly opened two portals to make shadow fiend punch itself instead.

cassandra was able to grab ahold of the green mystic bat before it could fly away and used the nearby rubble to run up on the creature to hit it straight in the face. shadow fiend blocked the hit with its arm and with an annoyed shrill cry, it ripped the cloth from his face to unblock its vision.

in just that quick second of it ripping the cloth, cassandra caught sight of the shadow fiend's face and gasped when she recalled the familiar sight. "master?"

the shadow fiend swatted her out of the air like a fly and it reeled its fist back to punch the ground, sending out a shockwave which caused the group to go flying into the air from the unexpected collision.

the shockwave was strong, catching draxum off guard and the yokai flew forward, hugging the orb to his chest and went rolling into the lobby of the grand nexus hotel.

big mama watched his body fly into her hotel and growled, turning her body to face the others with a glare. "ignore the turtles, follow the warrior alchemist!" big mama commanded the creature while raising her fist im the air, revealing a green-glowing ring on her finger. with no hesitation, the creature obeyed her orders and ran towards draxum with inhuman speed.

disoriented from the previous hit, cassandra could only watch in confusion as her supposed master ran off to obey big mama's orders. she tried processing in her mind what was happening, and it was only when she noticed the bright green ring on big mama's finger where pieces began to click together in her head. with a growl, she squinted her eyes in newfound anger. "so, that's how."

as draxum finally regained footing in the grand nexus hotel, he looked up from the ground to find shadow fiend already coming at him with great speed, his fist pulled back to punch the yokai. draxum gasped and commanded his tendrils to release from the ground and restrain the creature from landing a hit on him.

the tendrils wrapped around shadow fiend's arm, only causing so much restraint. it's fist only came mere centimeters away from draxum's chin, which he tilted his head back to avoid the hit. even though the punch hadn't landed on draxum, the force of the wind sent the yokai flying up in the air, hitting his back against the ceilings of each hotel floor that he flew through.

a guttural scream left his lips, still holding onto the orb even when his back was swarmed with pain as he continued flying into the hotels floors and finally came to a stop when he flew into the top floor of the nexus hotel.

his dramatic entrance caused all nearby patrons to scream as their tables and chairs were suddenly knocked into the air. draxum hit the ceiling, denting it in and landed on his side when he hit the ground. a strained groan left his lips and he blinked his eyes to rid his vision of the stars that blinded him.

directly after draxum landed, the elevator on that floor dinged loudly, and big mama came flying out of it with a high-pitched squeal of annoyance. draxum gasped at the sight of her, pushing past his disorientation, he got up onto his feet and dodged all of the webs she shot out at him.

the sheepman quickly got into an offensive stance and manipulated the debris of the building with his tendrils to cage big mama into the wall. she let out a pained screech when she was hit by the fallen debris, and neither of the two noticed how the ring on her finger slipped off and fell onto the ground.

with big mama restrained, draxum took the opportunity to continue working on the orb, breathing through gritted teeth to push through the pain that ached his body.

in just a few minutes time this pain would fade. he had quick regenerative and healing, he reminded himself. he's glad that human boy or the girl weren't in his position. they would be in way worse condition than he is.

before draxum could continue working on the mystic orb, a huge gust of wind blew from behind him, and he froze.

oh, god. it was shadow fiend again, wasn't it?

what was this creature made of? how was it so agile? so fast? so strong? draxum could practically feel its bloodlust drip over his frozen figure, and he felt his breath hitch in his throat.

how long could draxum keep running from this? he needed help. he needed help right now.

and as if the gods were listening in on his silent prayer, a large blue portal appeared in front of draxum's feet, and just mere feet away from his face emerged the red energy construct of his oldest creation. but something was different.

right there in raphael's red energy, was another energy construct, perched upon his shell and glowing black. draxum could feel the rest of the air leaving his lungs when he noticed it was the human boy, crouched down and hanging onto raphael's construct shell spike. in his other hand, which was readied behind him held a large black blade.

"shadow fiend!" [y/n]'s construct shouted with a devious grin, catching the creature's attention.

raphael's own mischievous smirk painted his lips as he reeled one of his fists back. "you messed with the wrong family!"

[y/n]'s construct tossed his blade to the side, which raphael caught and his arm was then wrapped in an orange chain, a ball of fire circling in his palm around the blade. purple rockets swarmed in and attached themselves to raphael's wrists, sending his fist flying forward once they were activated.

inside of raph's construct was his actual body, with all three of his brothers, splinter, april and [y/n] riding on his shell. all of them gripped tightly onto the snapping turtle as a huge gust of wind blew into their faces.

with a loud cry, raphael used the momentum of the rockets to punch shadow fiend with everything he had. raphael's fist collided with shadow's fiends face, the black blade outstretching to drag across it's face. "MYSTIC HOT SOUP HIBERNATOR!" raphael and his brothers simultaneously shouted as he punched the creature, earning an obnoxious cackle from [y/n] who raised his arm in the air, riding out the wind like he was a cowboy.

the fire-induced punch sent the shadow fiend flying back, the force of raph's strong punch creating a tunnel of fire that shot out from the top of the hotel building.

all of this destruction... big mama was gonna have to pay big money to have this all reconstructed again.

the said spider yokai let out a yell of annoyance as she squirmed underneath the debris she was caged with. "you stubborn bugglies think you've won, don't you?!" she screamed, using the momentum of her rage to remove the rubble off of her body.

raph turned his energy construct around to face big mama, with the black construct of his friend disappearing from his shell and into thin air. draxum stood by his feet, eyes intently watching raphael's energy construct with multiple questions swimming through his head and cassandra stood just meters away from draxum with a comical frown on her face.

raphael's construct glared down at the yokai, with a smug smile. "uh, i thought dat was obvious? it's over, big mama!" raph shouted to the spider yokai as a cocky chuckle left his lips. "yer bodyguard ain't here no more."

as raphael cockily boasted to big mama, cassandra spotted a gleam of light just a few feet across from her and had slipped away without anybody noticing.

big mama let out a sharp and condescending "ha!" while shaking her head. "my champion could never be beaten!" she seemed confident in herself. she raised her fist in the air and called out to her minion, "shadow fiend!" but nothing happened.

after that quick second, she squeaked in realization when she noticed there was no ring on her finger and outstretched her hand in front of her face. her eyes immediately landed on the bare space on her finger that lacked her beloved ring. "ugh! no!"

big mama's turmoil was cut short when an evil fit of laughter echoed throughout the crumbling building, and everyone's attention was diverted to cassandra who held a ring in her hands. the same glowing green ring that big mama was wearing. "there is no shadow fiend," cassandra announced as she slipped the ring on her finger.

the air suddenly got tense. [y/n] brought a hand up to his throat when he felt he couldn't breathe. raphael's shoulders tensing under the boy's feet made it no better, and they flinched when they heard rubble being moved in the direction where they left the shadow fiend.

raphael slowly turned his head, his breath shallow and hands twitching in anticipation. his family followed his sight after noticing his anxious breathing and they felt the air get knocked out of their own lungs when they saw shadow fiend's looming figure stand up straight.

"THERE IS ONLY THE SHREDDER!"

a sharp gasp left everyone's lips, and [y/n] could feel his heart pounding against his chest. his ears began to ring. his hands got clammy, and a cold sweat covered his body.

just as those words left her mouth, the robe covering the shadow fiend's body was blown off by the wind revealing the demon, shredder.

[y/n] stood in front of his girlfriend, body trembling with a mix of rage and sadness as he stared into the girl's eyes.  "cassandra, there's a possibility he won't even come back 'nd yer willing to put everythin' at risk 'cause of this!" [y/n] cried, hair disheveled and bags rested under his once cheerful eyes. "what about us? why are you doing this?" he sobbed, hiccuping when he tried to bring air back into his lungs.

once the air finally hit his lungs, he used everything to scream at his girlfriend. "WHY ARE YOU HURTING ME?!"

the shredder is real. that thing that caused his girlfriend to create a rift in their relationship is real.

the countless days of suffering and begging her to not throw him away just for a demon to reign havoc against the world. the days where he kept saying "no!" because he didn't want to be recruited in whatever organization she talked about.

the cause of it all was standing right in front of him.

raphael and his family felt the dread at the announcement of shredder's name, but [y/n] could only feel anger.

cassandra lifted her hand with the ring, and an evil smile spread across her face. "master shredder, DESTROY YOUR ENEMIES!"

"CASSANDRA, NO!" a desperate scream ripped from [y/n]'s throat.

splinter whipped his head over to his son, leonardo, who looked at him a locked jaw and eyes widened in fear. "blue, quickly make a portal!"

there was no time for quick thinking.

leo couldn't even process his father's words in his head. he couldn't think about unsheathing his odachi and slicing a portal through the air.

the shredder had lunged forward with his inhuman speed, clawing at raphael's construct and broke it to pieces. the mutant family went flying back, and donatello had been the only one to receive a hit from one of the shredder's claws.

they all lay sprawled out on the floor, fear overtaking their senses as the shredder's impending figure hovered over their bodies.

splinter had finally caught himself from sliding any further and sat up onto his knees. the scene unfolding before his eyes made his heart sink. "NO!"

the shredder had his eyes locked on a disoriented donatello, who lay flat on his plastron on the floor and [y/n], who hovered over his body, hurriedly trying to get him to stand to his feet. broken and shattered glasses lay mangled behind [y/n], and when the human boy fearfully looked over his shoulder up at the shredder, his face was bare of his usual lenses.

raphael had seen the shredder's scheming eyes land on the two boys and let an anxious scream rip from his throat as he quickly ran over to them, throwing his body on top of theirs to cage them in a protective hold. and just as he pressed wrapped his arms around them, he felt the shredder's foot clash painfully onto his shell.

the snapper bit back a pained grunt, reaching behind him and pushed his hand against the shredder's foot as if it would relieve some of the pressure on his shell, but to no avail.

[y/n] was sprawled out on his back, unlike donatello, who remained laying on his plastron. the boy squinted his eyes, sucking in sharp breaths through gritted teeth as he pressed his hands against raph's plastron. he then kicked a leg out from underneath raphael's body and began kicking at the shredder's foot, attempting to help his friend from the demon.

donatello in his hazed state, clenched his eyes shut with a quiet whine, hugging raphael's arm closer to his plastron when he felt the pressure building against his battle shell. he couldn't feel his legs or his hands. he desperately tried to wiggle his fingers and toes to try and get his blood circulation going again, but nothing was working.

just feet away from the three, mikey was tucked away inside of his shell, and leo protectively hovered over him. the slider watched the shredder attempt to crush raphael's shell with a lump in his throat, turning to look over his shoulder at his father with tears pooling in his eyes. "DAD!"

leonardo felt so helpless. he was so overtaken with fear he didn't know what else to do than to cry out for his dad.

splinter wanted to sob. "my sons!" the rat cried out in return, before his gaze landed on an odachi that lay just mere feet away from him. leonardo's odachi!

the shredder put more pressure on raph's shell with each stomp, and what was once a protective cage, turned into a trap. the outstretched corners of raph's plastron dug into [y/n]'s rip cage and the boy threw his head back with a pained cry. luckily, donnie's battle shell provided enough protection against raph's plastron, but all air had begun leaving his lungs. with the excessive pressure pressing him to the ground, donatello could not breathe.

"i'm sorry!" raph sobbed out to his brother and friend, putting his hand next to [y/n]'s head. he pushed against the floor with all his might, straining almost every muscle in his body to push back against the shredder's foot.

cassandra watched the scene from afar, the ring on her finger glowing green which confirmed that the shredder was following her commands.

but it felt wrong.

none of this felt as good as she planned for it to feel.

maybe if it was just against the stupid turtles, it would've felt exhilarating. maybe if [y/n] wasn't squirming underneath the red turtle with a pained expression. maybe if she didn't hear the cry leave [y/n]'s lips when the red turtle's body fell on top of his once more. maybe if she didn't see the mangled glasses laying there on the floor just inches away from [y/n]'s head.

she saw his head turn to her direction, and his eyes that were clenched shut from the pain had suddenly opened. they made eye contact throughout the chaos, and cassandra felt the oxygen get knocked out of her lungs.

for a split second, cassandra saw the little boy whose heart she broke just a year ago. but something in her mind had clicked when she realized that [y/n] was still that same little boy. he's just fifteen years old. he's just a boy who wanted a girl to love him the same way he loved her.

those pleading eyes that she encountered on the daily were piercing through her body. they were clouded over from his horrible vision, which only added more fuel to the fire. those eyes that could barely even see her stared at her... haunting her, tormenting her.

"cass!" [y/n]'s voice was loud. despite the screams of his turtle friends and the shredder's screeching, his voice projected the loudest. "cass, please!"

no... cassandra couldn't. she knew what the boy was wanting her to do. through his pleading eyes, she knew that he wanted her to command shredder to stop. to relieve the pressure from his ribs and to let his friend go without a cracked shell.

how long has she wanted this? how long has she wanted her master shredder to come back to this earth and spread the chaos the foot soldiers had told her about?

she hesitated, gulping down the gathering saliva in her mouth and a frown painted her black-stained lips.

is this really what she wanted?

cassandra couldn't make a choice.

just then, a blue-handled odachi flew through the air, hitting her master shredder directly in the head and sent him flying back from the simple distraction.

raphael had quickly lifted his body up from his brother and his friend, breathing a quick sigh of relief when he heard them both gasping for air. they were alive... they weren't knocked unconscious because of him, raph repeated to himself.

leonardo's odachi continued to fly around them, creating a blue outline on its trail. it came back around to splinter, who caught and swung the odachi through the air skillfully, creating a huge blue glowing portal beneath his family's feet.

it created a beautiful blue glow to emit from the ground, and one-by-one, they sunk through the portal. april and draxum sunk down together first, then leonardo and mikey who clung to each other on the way down.

all raphael could see below him was the pained expression on [y/n]'s face, eyes unfocused and chapped lips slightly parted. the glowing blue light of the portal beneath them reflected off of the human's cheekbones and made him look luminescent.

despite the situation at hand, raph couldn't help but think [y/n] looked beautiful.

he watched [y/n]'s muscular arms unwrap from his body, and how they wrapped around the snapper's neck to bring them closer. the boy buried his face into the crook of raphael's neck, and the snapper let it happen, closing his eyes as he protectively wrapped his arms around his brother and the boy to bask in their warmth.

they were the last of splinter's family to sink through the blue portal.

splinter himself had yet to go through, turning his body to big mama and outstretched his arm to her. "come with us, big mama! there is still good in you!" splinter called out. another naive man wanting to see the good in someone he once loved.

big mama looked up from the ground and let out a whine as she shot her web out towards splinter, who grabbed it and sunk through the portal while dragging her in tow. but before she could make it to the portal, the shredder had stepped on her wrist, breaking the connection to the web. the portal closed soon after, leaving big mama trapped on the other side.

cassandra let her arm fall to her side, stalking over to big mama with a hardened glare on her face. "the turtles are of no concern to us," she started, her voice rasp and deep as she knelt down to meet big mama's eyes. "but you enslaved my master. now you will lose everything!" she rose her hand once more, letting big mama see the ring that started glowing green once more. "i'd run if i were you."

big mama could only watch in fear as cassandra commanded the shredder to destroy her beloved grand nexus hotel.

as the shredder's eyes glowed green, big mama felt pain wash over her entire body. she weeped for the loss of her beloved shadow fiend, her hotel, and most of all... her beloved lou.

as the grand nexus hotel collapsed on itself and fell to the ground, cassandra climbed atop of the shredder's shoulder and laughed at big mama's demise.

"the foot clan will rise again!"

———

on the other side of the blue portal, the mutant family emerged and quickly sat up to look around their surroundings.

april and draxum stood to their feet quickly, april's hand being held by draxum to help her steady herself on her feet. they both let out sighs of relief as they glanced around to see that the shredder had not followed them through the portal.

the blue and orange clad turtles had materialized next to them. the turtle in blue looked around in a quick panic, before he let out a shaky sigh of relief as he hugged mikey's shell into his plastron. "we're home!" he wanted to cry.

at his brother's announcement, michelangelo popped out of his shell with his own cry of relief and clung to his brother in blue. "ohmigosh! i was so scared! how did the shredder come back?!"

"i don't know!" leonardo wailed, clinging his brother closer to his body as they both dramatically cried.

raphael, donatello, and [y/n] appeared before their feet soon after. after they had fully emerged from the other side of the portal, [y/n] slowly released his grip from raphael and the snapper hesitantly pulled his head back to glance down at the boy's face.

"y'u okay?" raph whispered, voice shaky which he internally cursed at himself for.

[y/n] hesitantly nodded his head, eyebrows knitted together, and lips pulled into a tight line. they both whipped their heads over to donatello, who tugged at raphael's wrist with a pained grunt.

"donnie!" raph exclaimed, quickly lifting his body up but continued to hover over his brother in purple.

[y/n] was quick to roll over onto his side and pushed himself up from the ground to hover his own hands over the soft-shell, who curled into a tight ball. "are y'u okay?!"

donatello pressed his hands against the ground, clenching them into fists to gain feeling in them before releasing the tension in them and pushed himself up to sit on his knees. "i'm fine... i just have a minor headache. it will fade in a few minutes time." he spoke curtly and monotonously, bringing a hand up to massage at his temple as he stood to his feet.

[y/n] and raphael were there to cage him under their protective gazes, hands held out by their sides just in case donnie needed extra support.

once he had stood to his feet without swaying or stumbling, the boy and the snapper let silent breaths of relief escape from their lungs.

raphael then turned his head to [y/n], eyebrows knitted together in worry as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "are ya okay? i didn't hurt ya too bad... did i?" he whispered under his breath, fully turning his body to face [y/n].

the boy shook his head with a quiet "no," raising his own hand to press it against raphael's cheek and brought the turtle down to his size. "what 'bout y'u? i saw ya get hit when big mama made ya fight!" his voice was frantic. he completely forgot about everything else, lifting up his other hand to turn raphael's head to the side roughly and began looking up and down the snapper's body for any injuries. "y'u got hit straight outta da sky... and the shredder almost crushed y'u!" [y/n] exclaimed quietly under his breath.

as the boy searched for injuries on raphael, he gasped when he saw a big rip on the turtle's red fabric near the side of his head where a red gash lay in the same shape as the rip and brought raph's face closer to his so he could get a better look.

god, he wished he had his glasses right now.

raph was quick to shoot his friend a reassuring smile, reaching his own hand to press over [y/n]'s that rested on his face. "it's okay, lil dude. it will fade here soon. i got big mutant boy regeneration." he attempted to put a twist on their little inside joke, and luckily it had gotten a quiet chuckle out of the human. "plus... it takes a lot more than dat ta take raphie out."

[y/n] attempted to hide his growing smile by ducking his chin down to his chest, and let his hands fall to his side. now, it was raph's turn to press his hand against the side of [y/n]'s face, thumb pressing against his cheekbone where his glasses would usually lay and pressed their foreheads together.

"how's yer eyes?"

"bad." [y/n] retorted quickly, his hazy eyes rolling in annoyance which earned a chuckle from raph. "i can only see ya when yer really close."

"hm... we'll get ya another pair." raph whispered, reassuringly.

[y/n] didn't respond, only staring at raphael for a second before he nudged his head to tuck himself into the crook of his neck. the snapper wrapped his arms around [y/n], understanding his silent need for a hug and rested his chin on the boy's shoulder.

the glowing blue portal beneath their feet brought forth one final figure who materialized in the middle of the room right in front of raphael. the snapper lifted his head just a little when he noticed it was his father who had finally come through, and the portal beneath their feet closed upon his arrival.

"dad," the snapper acknowledged his rat father, catching his family's attention.

the rest of raphael's brothers sighed in relief when splinter arrived and ran up to surround him with a swarm of questions.

"dad, what took you so long?!"
"dad, are you okay?! are you hurt?!"
"how did the shredder come back, i thought you said you took care of it?!"

april and draxum stood off to the side, waiting for the turtles to calm down before they went and talked to the rat.

splinter only solemnly shook his head at one of the questions and held his hand out to support himself against his blue-clad son's leg, who immediately crouched down to meet his height.

"i trusted the wrong person to rid of the shredder... and now we must all suffer the consequences."

[y/n] looked back at splinter with his head still tucked safely underneath raphael's chin, not wavering once when he felt the snapper's arms tighten around his waist after hearing his father's words.

if what they just went through now was harrowing, he knew what was happening next was far worse.

with that final thought in mind, [y/n] bit on his lower lip and turned his head back around to rest against raphael's neck, listening to how the snapper's heartbeat slowly picked up pace.

Chapter Text

———

2 weeks before [y/n] and cassandra's break up.

———

     "i have to go soon."

again. just like always. [y/n] retorted in his mind but didn't respond aloud, jaw tightening as he hardened his stare on the wall. he laid completely still against the mattress, using all of his willpower to focus on the feeling of slender fingers brushing through his hair instead of the irritation building within him.

"[y/n]?" the girl whispered, leaning down to try and glance at his face. he hummed in response, earning a quiet scoff from her. "you're ignoring me." she said with a scrunched nose, tone annoyed and irritated. her emotions were anything but that although; she was anxious.

[y/n]'s mouth ran dry, swallowing thickly as he parted his lips, trying to find the right words to say. he took in a tiny breath, eyes darting across her wall as he fought to speak the words, "i'on want'yu ta go." he rasped. "stay. please."

she chuckled through her nose. "we can hang out again another day," she leaned down to whisper in his ear, gently tucking the hair away from his face to plant a kiss on his cheekbone. there was no stain of her lipstick left behind this time. "i have more errands to run."

"cass." [y/n] growled, abruptly lifting himself from her arms and glared down at her figure on the mattress.

cassandra's eyes went wide at his sudden change of tone, leaning away from him. she hoped he couldn't tell that she was scared. "what?" she snapped in response, baring her teeth.

"what the hell did we talk about? huh?!" [y/n] spat, anger evident in his tone. cassandra didn't say anything—she didn't know what to say. she blinked owlishly at her boyfriend, and he tilted his head at her in return, condescendingly, squinting his eyes at her. "do ya jus' keep a list 'round full o' alla things i don't want ya doing, so ya could do them later?"

cassandra furrowed a brow and shook her head with an outstretched hand, letting out a laugh of genuine disbelief. "so, what? running errands is illegal now?" she dropped her hand from the air dramatically, slapping her thigh.

"it's not 'bout the fact dat yer runnin' errands, cass, it's about who yer doin' it for." [y/n] said in one quick breath, eyes narrowed at his girlfriend who didn't seem at all bothered by his outburst which made him angry. does she even have ears? is she capable of remembering? is what was running through his head, and he felt his heart shatter.

cassandra, however, knew exactly what he meant and the memory made her jolt. she knew it was her fault that day she found him with a busted lip and bruised eye.

this is the first time [y/n] has ever been mad with her, and she knew it was done. their downfall was unfolding right before her very eyes and she couldn't do anything to stop it.

[y/n] only gave cassandra a passive aggressive smile after a few more seconds of silence had passed. "some girlfriend you are..." he grumbled as he rolled off her bed, kneeling down to get his shirt off the ground and swiftly pulled it over his head.

of course this relationship wouldn't work out. all [y/n] does is let people run all over him, why would cassandra have been any different?

cass scrambled to stand on her own two feet after her boyfriend, eyebrows furrowed together and her teeth gnawing on the inside of her cheek. "what do you mean by that?" cassandra's shaky voice didn't mirror her angered face.

"what else could i possibly mean?" [y/n] laughed, turning to face cassandra with an unnerving bright smile on his lips. "ya wanna be offended so bad that i don't want you running errands for those foot faced, flame-head freaks that yer always hangin' out with!" [y/n] leaned over himself as he shouted at cassandra.

cassandra rolled her tongue over her teeth and tightened her jaw to prevent herself from saying something rash, because she knew she was in the wrong. so, what did she do? she avoided [y/n]'s scrutinizing gaze, by turning her head and closing her eyes.

[y/n] didn't appreciate that. he wanted her to look into his eyes and see the pain he was in to see her being used by grown men. grown men who should know better than to take advantage of a young impressionable girl. who tries to convince some kid that a demon exists? cassandra threw away her life for this thing, and it's not even real.

why couldn't she see that he was trying to save her?

thickly swallowing, [y/n] closed the gap between them. "cass," he whispered softly, leaning his head down to meet her height where his nose barely brushed against her cheek. he paused, breath shaky as he hesitantly brought a hand up to gently hold her chin, guiding her face to his. "just listen to me, baby, please." he muttered lowly against the corner of her lips.

he didn't sound angry anymore, instead his voice was breaking as his bottom lip began to wobble and his eyes began to shimmer. "what about what they did t'me?" [y/n] whispered, sniffling as he blinked his tears away to keep a stern face. "you saw how they treated me and you still go back?" his voice continued to shake, getting increasingly more unsteady as he spoke.

cassandra gasped, darting her eyes up to look at [y/n] and her heart shattered into pieces. her gaze was fixed on the single tear falling from his eye after he had blinked and pitifully, he sobbed, "do you not love me anymore?"

———

present day

———

    [y/n] couldn't get out of his head.

something begins to trick your brain the more you reminisce, in the way that when you focus too hard on a memory you could smell the air, feel the emotions that you felt on that very day; almost as if you were living it again. [y/n] couldn't pull himself away from it, letting his mind take over and replay every memory of cassandra that he wished he could just forget. it was hard to hide the tenseness in his jaw and the way he clenched his fists until his knuckles were white.

raphael was, of course, the one to notice the human's odd behavior. the snapper couldn't bring himself to be embarrassed about how attentive he was to the human, because he knew that he could never take his eyes off [y/n] even if he wanted to.

the red-clad turtle scanned the room to make sure no eyes were on them and moved quietly. cautiously, he wrapped his arm around [y/n]'s shoulder, using his strength to bring the human into his plastron and leaned his head down to whisper into his ear. "ya okay?" the snapper asked, a low growl evident in the back of his throat. the inhuman sound was proof of raphael's mutant genetics, and [y/n] did his best to focus on that quiet rumble instead of thinking about cassandra.

"yes." [y/n] had replied, mouth gone dry and pressed his cheek upon raphael's carapace. his eyes had a faraway look to them, added onto the fog they usually had when he didn't wear his glasses.

raphael knew that he was lying, but he didn't push the boy any further, only discreetly frowning before standing to his full height. as they both pulled away from one another, they began to observe draxum who was working, silently. the yokai had begun to draw a large intricate design on the ground, preparing to perform a mystic ritual that would allow the turtles to enter splinter's mind to retrieve the secrets in defeating shredder.

raphael ran his tongue over his teeth as the familiar weight of anxiety blanketed itself around him. if this were any other day, [y/n] would be excitedly hopping around draxum, pointing at the design and asking the sheepman questions like the uneducated human he was on yokai's and mysticism, but none of that was happening at all. with concern, raphael tilted his chin down to watch [y/n], who circled his toes on the concrete, finding that more entertaining than everything else that was happening in the room.

in said boy's mind, he had no clue of the snapper's trepidation. instead, he was still finding it hard to believe that the last few hours of his life were real; that this mystical creature, shredder, is a real demon when he had tried convincing cassandra so many times before that he was pure fiction. it was even harder for him to believe that raphael and his family were the ones who were supposed to stop that demon.

draxum had finished drawing out his design, looking over his handiwork proudly with a satisfied hum. he set his hand on his knee, using his free hand to beckon the mutant family to sit within the circle, which they followed.

raphael had sat down with the unneeded assistance of [y/n], who kept his hand on the turtle's shoulder and squeezed the scaly flesh there reassuringly when the snapper was settled. raph greatly appreciated the small gesture, running his tongue over his teeth to mask his smile as he reached over to place his large hand over [y/n]'s.

"how is everyone?" draxum suddenly asked out of the blue, voice monotone and face blank.

leo chuckled humorously under his breath at his emotionless face, while his twin brother had 'scoff'ed at such a question.

"this is the time you want to ask us how we are?" donatello inquired, one of his fake eyebrows raised condescendingly.

draxum shut his eyes with a shake of his head. "i'm just making sure you are all ready." he stated, opening his eyes again to see that his four creations all glanced at each other and their father, silently asking if they really were all prepared.

michelangelo was the one to break the silence with a sigh and looked back at draxum, nodding his head with a confidence he didn't have a moment ago. his brothers followed suit, and the only one who had lacked enthusiasm was splinter himself. draxum had expected this of the rat and thought nothing of it, because who would be welcoming to the idea of their children accessing their memories?

with a deep breath in, the sheepman squared his shoulders back to prepare his body for the use of his powers and shut his eyes. "i will be transporting you turtles into splinter's mind. once inside, the sands of time will guide you deeper into his memories... the sooner you find the memories, the sooner we can continue vanquishing shredder." he explained as he set a large hourglass on the smaller circle in front of him, letting the blue glowing sand fall to the bottom. "it will be taxing on your bodies. the memories do find ways to fight back against an unsuspecting visitor, so just be alert."

donatello stiffened and ran his tongue anxiously over his dry lips. "once we're in, we immediately need to find grandpa sho. leave no memory unturned." he spoke up to his brothers, pointing at each and every one of them to emphasize his point.

"okay, donnie." michelangelo had quickly replied in a soft voice, rolling his shoulders back and began popping his knuckles.

leonardo shook out his arms, adjusting himself in his seat as he nodded his head reassuringly to himself. "we got this, we got this," he whispered under his breath.

raphael only took a deep breath through his nose, glancing back over his shoulder to eye his human friend. as he turned around, he found [y/n] already expectantly looking at him and his chapped lips involuntarily pulled into a bashful smile when they made eye contact. with an extra beat in raphael's heart, he reciprocated the smile the best he could. "wait for me." he mouthed.

[y/n] lifted his hand to place it on top of raphael's bandana, trailing down to let his fingers tangle themselves in the tails of the ripped fabric. "i'll be here." he whispered, bringing his hand back up to the snapper's cheekbone to rub the back of his fingers there, gently. "be safe."

raphael's mouth had gone dry, eyes following [y/n]'s hand as it pulled away from his cheek and a quiet 'ah' left his lips, but it had gone unnoticed to the human's ears. "...i will." he managed to spit out, voice barely louder than a whisper. he knows he took too long to respond but couldn't bring himself to care.

they didn't utter another word to each other as the procedure had begun and raphael had no choice but to turn his shell to his friend, losing himself to draxum's power.

no eyes were on [y/n] anymore, with april paying attention to the turtles' well-being and draxum concentrating on moving them throughout splinter's mind. the turtles groaned and shouted in pain as their bodies were hit by unseen forces, strained whispers of "dad," and "why?" escaping their throats.

[y/n] stiffened, the breath getting punched out of his lungs after a particularly harrowing cry of pain came from raphael, and he immediately turned his back to the turtles. he covered his ears and ignored how his hands trembled the more the turtles screams got louder, clenching his eyes shut and taking himself to a faraway place.

it wasn't enough to stop the ringing in his ears and the lump growing in his throat.

———

     raphael knew what to do.

once he was free from the confinements of his father's brain, he immediately jumped onto his feet in revelation and proclaimed, "the twilight realm!" over and over to his family, who had absolutely no clue what the context of his exclamation was.

draxum came to the snapper's rescue, having known what the twilight realm was and raph had never been so glad to have the sheepman around. for now, draxum had a bit of glory from raphael—this would disappear in about five minutes.

the snapper let draxum explain what the twilight realm was to his family as he slipped away—the best he could, anyway, with his big stature—to stand beside [y/n]. the boy watched him the whole time, lips pursed before warily rising into a small smile that disappeared as quick as it came.

"ya okay?" [y/n] inquired in a whisper, extending his trembling fist out for raphael to fist bump.

a genuine smile stretched from ear-to-ear on raphael's face, giddy to see his friend again after successfully escaping his father's mind. he reciprocated the fist bump, knocking their knuckles together gently and kept them there so their knuckles stayed touching. "yeah, why?"

"was jus' wonderin'," [y/n] slurred, pinching one of his eyes shut nervously as he pulled his hand away from raph's to run a hand over his hair. "i saw y'all get hurt when y'u was in yer dad's mind 'nd i was jus'..."

raphael tilted his head as the human trailed off and the corner of his lip quirked up into a crooked smile as he tilted his head down to meet the boy's gaze. "and you was just what?"

[y/n] clicked his tongue in irritation, swinging his arm with an exasperated sigh. "man, i'on know. i was scared for you or some shit," he managed to spit out all in one swift breath, shrugging his shoulders as his cheeks flushed with heat. an alluring chuckle left raphael's throat, only further adding onto [y/n]'s embarrassment. "what'chyu laughin' for?"

raphael bit down on his lip to stifle his laughs, scooting closer to his friend with a smirk. "i can't laugh now?" he teased, earning a light-hearted "shit" with a roll of his eyes from [y/n]. raph blew air from his nose in response, turning his head to look down at [y/n] with a soft smile. "does raph look hurt ta you?"

[y/n] blinked owlishly, processing raph's words before he slowly dragged his eyes down the snapper's form, taking time to make sure there were no bruises or scratches littering his skin. "...no." he muttered, tilting his chin down and looking back up at raphael through his eyelashes.

the turtle's jaw tensed, the breath getting knocked out of him at such a sight before him. were human eyes always this beautiful? "then, 'm okay, so don't worry 'bout me." raphael dropped his voice down to a murmur, tone gentle to soothe the other's eardrums despite the growl lingering along.

running his tongue over his teeth, a long pause overtook the air before it was broken by [y/n]'s whisper. "...i can't help it."

"y'know, it'll take a lot more than my pop's mind ta take me down," raph offered a toothy grin, turning his body to face [y/n] and gestured to himself. "raph always bounces back. see?"

[y/n] didn't waste any time to drink in raphael's form the best he could through foggy vision, tilting his head back with his lips pursing into a tiny, flustered smile. "yeah," he looked back up into raph's eyes. "i see you."

there was definitely a lot more put into that then [y/n] let on, and raph knew. it made the turtle a little nervous to even insinuate his feelings into teasing words and he nervously gulped but played it off with a chuckle. "yeah?" he nodded, raising a nonexistent brow.

"yeah." [y/n] hummed, smile only growing when raphael tilted his head away to avoid eye contact.

———

     [y/n] had started to feel dizzy. the loss of his glasses had an astounding impact on his overall well-being, as he was anxious about the fact that he couldn't really see. his eyes had tried to adjust the best they could without the assistance of his lenses and even if he was squinting the whole time, it had barely done anything to help. his nerves about his vision only grew when he and raphael were caught up on draxum's plan.

draxum announced that everybody would have to travel inside of the twilight realm to retrieve the weapon once he opened the gates. once the sheepman had started preparing to open the vortex, [y/n] stood behind raphael's shell to observe, slightly peaking out to squint his eyes in attempt to watch the yokai.

draxum extended his arms out from behind him, then out in front with a skillful swiftness to send out his mystic tendrils. the tendrils quickly formed the portal into existence, and the group of observers behind the sheepman gasped at the sight of the twilight realm beyond the vortex.

it was an endless void, with an obscenely large version of the shredder's head inside with an unfamiliar glimmering object sticking straight out of it. [y/n] felt his stomach churn and breathed deeply through his nostrils, subconsciously shaking his head 'no' at the thought of entering the gateway.

"the weapon is on the edge of the vortex," draxum turned to look over his shoulder at the human boy in particular. "you all remember the plan?" a resounding "yes," was the sheepman's response, with a vigorous nod from [y/n] who couldn't bring himself to speak due to his nerves. with the confirmation he needed, draxum wasted no time to bark out the rest of his order. "hold onto each other as tightly as you can! you must breach the barrier and grab the weapon."

raphael wasted no time rushing towards the portal, his hand lightly slapping [y/n]'s back as an act of encouragement. "lets go, we got this." raph called out to the boy, and those simple words were enough to reassure him for the moment.

the snapper had quickly grabbed onto his father, jumping into the twilight realm's vortex with [y/n] following closely behind. the boy reached out to grab onto raphael's ankle with an iron grip, and made a startled noise when he felt cold hands wrap around his own legs. [y/n] looked over his shoulder to find donatello nonchalantly floating behind him with a slack grip around his calf.

"hey," donatello had monotonously greeted, nodding his head upward.

stunned, [y/n] could only stare at donnie, a hesitant smile stretching across his face. "hi." [y/n] shyly greeted in return, turning his head back around and donatello was able to see how the tips of the human's ears had gone red.

bad boy persona strikes again. donnie smirked to himself with a triumphant hum.

"hurry! if i don't close this soon, we'll all be swallowed up!" draxum had called from outside the portal once michelangelo had jumped inside, being the caboose.

"ooo, i wish i heard that before i jumped in." came [y/n]'s strained, apprehensive voice which had faded out into the portal, and draxum would have found it quite comical if he wasn't hellbent on keeping them all safe.

splinter's hands were outstretched, fingers curling around nothing as he searched for the weapon but could not see anything in front of him. "i need to get closer!" he shouted over his shoulder.

on cue, april had also jumped into the portal, holding tightly onto donatello's legs with leo following right after to catch onto hers. michelangelo was the last one to jump in with draxum hanging onto him while he kept his feet planted in their original realm, creating a large mutant/human chain in the twilight realm's vortex.

now, splinter was close enough to see something and he squinted his eyes in attempt to get a better look. "i see something, but i can't quite reach it!" he strained.

"jus' a lil bit further, pops!" raphael encouraged his father, his brows knitted in worry as he loosened his grip on splinter's ankles in order for the rat to get closer to the weapon.

splinter was now close enough to see the weapon, and his eyes widened at the sight of a sword. his fingers curled around nothing in an attempt to grab the handle and he began to sweat under the pressure. he needed to get the weapon to save his sons, april, [y/n]. if he didn't get this, the shredder would ruin everything. with a final push, splinter had finally grabbed onto the handle of the sword and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding out of relief. "i got it! pull me back!"

draxum, in the blink of an eye, pulled harshly on mikey's feet to bring the chain of mutants back through the vortex. the sheer strength of draxum's pull caused them all to whip out of control, and [y/n] let out a strangled noise when he felt his body get tugged upwards with raph in tow. none of them let go of each other, even as they were being pulled out of twilight realm and fell into an uncomfortable pile of sore limbs and awkward positions that hurt their shells and backs.

raphael was (unfortunately) at the top of the pile, with his father in his arms. splinter had shaken out of his stupor, recovering from the whiplash he received before he looked down at the weapon in his hands and let out a triumphant laugh, rising it in the air as he stood on his eldest son's plastron.

from below raphael, [y/n] let out a sigh of relief and rested his hand on the snapper's bicep, a shaky smile painting his lips as he listened to his friend and his brothers cheer alongside their father. he wished he could join in, but he was sure the air was knocked out of him with raph's shell digging into his ribs once again. but it wasn't painful like last time.

he was just relieved that they had the weapon to defeat the shredder. they could finally rest!

that was until the sword had sparked with purple light and disappeared in a flash from splinter's hands. the light trailed around them in a circle, and a hush fell over the group as they watched it fearfully. they huddled closer together after they stood back on their feet, and raphael placed a protective arm over [y/n], who buried himself against the snapper's shell, feeling vulnerable as the others readied themselves to fight.

the purple light trailing around them had disappeared with a crouched hooded woman taking its place as it burst, and a collective gasp from the huddled group broke the silence.

steam emitted from the strange woman's body, and she slowly rose to her feet while looking down at her trembling hands in shock, as if she couldn't believe it herself that she was here in this realm. she snapped her head up to the group, the hood flying back from her head revealing her face.

"you fools...!" the woman exclaimed in a hushed whisper. "what have you done?!" she continued to shout, her brow creased, and hands outstretched in front of her to express her terror. "now, what will happen?! it will all fall apart!"

at the sound of her anxious voice, everyone froze and the ones holding defensive positions faltered for a moment to look at her with worry.

just then, the purple lightning from before covered her hands and began trailing up her arms. she let out a fearful gasp, a pained scream leaving her throat as the lightning struck her entire body and she fell, unconscious, to the ground.

in the moment of shock, everyone froze while staring at her, unable to move their bodies or even process what had just happened right before their very eyes.

it wasn't until [y/n] pushed passed april and leonardo, squeezing through their bodies to rush towards the unconscious woman did everybody break out of their stupor.

draxum extended an arm out, stern voice booming across the room as he scolded the human, "don't go to her, boy! we don't know if she's dangerous!"

[y/n] stopped in his tracks, turning to look over his shoulder at draxum and seemed to be considering the sheepman's words before he clicked his tongue and waved the yokai off. he muttered incoherent words under his breath as he crouched down to the woman's level, rolling her onto her back and checked to see if she was breathing.

her breath was faint, but over time it was picking up and began to get louder. [y/n] hummed to himself, relieved she was still alive and began adjusting her to lay comfortably on the concrete ground.

donatello had one arm crossed over his chest, while his free hand pinched his lips together in a thinking gesture, closely watching [y/n] adjust the woman. "she seems fine." he said, waving his hand in the air dismissively.

mikey outstretched his arms towards the scene in front of them, frowning at his brother with clear disdain. "are you serious?" he seethed. "she was just electrocuted! she needs our help!"

leonardo winced upon making eye contact with michelangelo, averting his eyes and pretending he did not see. a random woman just got electrocuted in their home... surely, leo thought they would just get rid of her and go find the shredder, but obviously that wasn't happening.

mikey scoffed when he received no answer from his family, turning his shell to them and crouched down next to the woman. he was across from [y/n], who rushed forward to help the woman when he noticed a jolt of movement.

the unconscious woman's eyelids fluttered, another pained moan leaving her lips as she lifted herself to lean against her elbow for support. [y/n] placed a stable palm on her back, his other hand outstretched to catch her if she fell forward. "careful," he muttered, catching the woman's attention.

she perked one eye open, squinting due to the light straining her vision and gave him a hesitant smile, reaching her hand out to grab onto his to stabilize herself. "thank you." she breathlessly said, squeezing his hand that was outstretched towards her.

mikey swooped in, lifting her up by her other arm and helped her to her feet, letting her lean against his smaller body when he noticed her legs trembling as she stood. when she was finally upright, a gasp left splinter's throat when he caught sight of the symbol that was stitched to her robe, and quickly stepped forward in front of his sons.

suddenly, he was compelled to help this young woman who was hurt in his home.

"someone get a chair so she may rest!" he threw his arm in a random direction at one of his sons, and raphael wasted no time to rush out of the room to follow his father's command. splinter turned back around to the woman in [y/n]'s grasp, extending his hands out in a surrendering motion. "you are safe. you are in the home of hamato yoshi."

leonardo sucked his cheeks in, glancing at [y/n] with a confused expression as the human mouthed "hamato yoshi?" with an equally bewildered look on his face. "who?" the slider furrowed a brow down at his father as he tilted his chin downward into his plastron.

"that is me, you dumb dumb!" splinter scolded his son in a hushed tone, waving his hand around dismissively to excuse the young terrapin's actions.

"hamato yoshi... i am hamato karai." the woman rasped, standing as straight as she could to look down at the rat mutant. her legs trembled further as she tried to maintain her own weight and luckily, [y/n] wrapped his arm around her frame before she could fall, and slowly guided her back down to the floor where she sat on her knees.

splinter gasped upon hearing her name, his hands cupping his face as he exclaimed in shock, "that means you are my great-great-great-great-great—" great didnt even sound like a word anymore to the group, as they listened to splinter splutter out a lot more annoying 'greats' before he finished it off with "grandma!"

then, mikey gasped and looked at hamato karai with sparkling eyes. "then, that means you're my great-great-great—"

"please," hamato karai winced as she lifted an arm, pressing her fingertips against her temple. "i just endured five-hundred years of misery..."

"they're bringing you a chair soon." [y/n] reassured, and just as he said those words, raphael came rushing back in with a simple orange crate. unfortunately, in this house in the sewers, they believed in using every other object as a seat instead of an actual chair or stool. but it seemed as if hamato karai could care less, because as soon as she plopped down to sit on the crate, she let out a breath of relief and outstretched her legs to sit comfortably.

"hey, so gram-gram?" leonardo's voice broke the quiet tension. "can i call you gram-gram?" he outstretched an arm to her, but didn't wait for a reply as he continued anyway. "we thought we were getting a weapon from the twilight realm and not a... you."

"i am the weapon." karai seethed, fingers massaging the space between her brows.

mikey scooted a little closer to karai, tilting his head in curiosity. "how did you become the weapon?"

karai planted the palms of her hands on her knees, letting her shoulders drop as she sighed when the memories played in her head. "it is a long story," she whispered, lifting her head to look at the strangers in front of her. "many generations ago, oroku saki was the leader of a peaceful clan called the foot. for years, our clan prospered but there was a great darkness in the horizon. the foot was attacked and driven to the brink of destruction, when all hope seemed lost, oroku saki made a deal with a powerful oni. this demon offered him a suit of dark armor that would make him invincible, but it came at a cost. the armor corrupted his soul, giving birth to the shredder who led the foot down a path of evil. i had no choice but to rise up against him, starting a clan of my own; the hamato. no mortal weapon could defeat the shredder so i resolved to make the ultimate sacrifice—taking me and the shredder to the twilight realm," karai recounted, swallowing thickly as she brought a hand to her heart. "it was the only way to stop my father."

immediately, cries of shock escaped the throats of the strangers in front of her.

leo couldn't help the ugly squawk he let out, lurching forward to stare at karai with a wide-open jaw. "hold on—shredder is your dad?!"

"indeed, he is. so long as i was in the twilight realm, shredder would never reach full strength." karai continued, a strange calmness to her voice even though her words were so dire.

"so, us bringing you back kinda... ruined everything?"

"yes... it did." the woman grumbled, before a smile was quick to return as she looked back at the group. "thankfully, you have all been trained in the traditional hamato ninpo."

damn, that's cool. [y/n] nodded his head. he knew raphael was badass, but never this badass. like, his whole family been trained in some ancient family art? [y/n] was so going to brag about this to his brothers once this was all over.

but unfortunately, as [y/n] and karai waited for a response from the others, a long deafening silence overtook the room, leaving the two confused as they watched splinter begin to nervously laugh.

"uh... so, see what had happened was—"

"you haven't trained them?!" karai shrieked, her hands flying to her cheeks as a look of horror crossed her face, her cheeks slightly turning red in fear. "oh, no... and now shredder is terrorizing the citizens of this village!" one of her hands clung for purchase on [y/n]'s, squeezing the soul from his body and he shed a silent tear from the pain.

april stepped forward holding the mystic orb they had captured earlier, speaking frantically in attempt to divert karai's attention away from her terror. "actually, the people of new york are safe in this orb!" she displayed it, her nervous smile softening when karai let go of [y/n]'s hand. but something peculiar caught her eye... examining the orb further, april raised a brow and grimaced. "uh.. hey guys, was the crack in this thing always this big?"

just as april said that a human head, smiling stupidly, popped out from the crack and [y/n] screamed in disgust. "hey!" april yelped and shoved the head back in the orb.

draxum fearfully began to hover his hands over the orb, his blood pressure only rising the more this chaotic day went on. "people are leaking out. if we don't fix it the whole city could fall victim to shredder's wrath. o'neil follow me!" he sharply turned around, taking long, determined strides to another room of the lair while april struggled to keep up behind the yokai, legs moving faster than ever.

as the two walked out, splinter bowed his head regretfully in front of karai, hands folded in front of him. "karai, i have failed to prepare my sons for this moment," he thickly swallowed, clenching his eyes shut as he struggled to speak his next words through shame. "i humbly ask you to teach them how to defeat the shredder."

seeing his gesture, karai's eyes softened and she smiled the best she could through her fatigue. "i will, but first i must rest."

a tiny gasp left the rat mutant's lips, and when he lifted his head to look at karai, she stifled a chuckle at his star-struck expression. splinter completely did a 180, turning around to face his sons and pointed at the doorway. "EVERYBODY, OUT!" he demanded, and here came his son's immediate protest.

"whattt?"

"but we wanna hang out with gram gram!"

"no! gram gram needs her quiet!" the rat made an effort to jump and smack each of his turtle sons on the head, roughly. once he was done with his antics, splinter immediately turned to karai and bowed his head out of apology to her. "sorry for all this chaos..."

karai smiled and hummed as she gazed down at the mutant. "it's alright. i'm pleased to meet my family." she nodded her head in acknowledgement before she paused and her smile looked a little sheepish.

"although... i am wondering why you are a rat and four turtles."

Chapter Text

     it's been one day since the shredder has been released.

one single day and it has felt like an eternity.

[y/n] didn't sleep when night came... well, he couldn't really even if he tried. his mind was racing, trying to process the last twenty-four hours to give a logical reason behind it as if it could justify everything. his eyelids grew heavy with fatigue, but his body twitched and tingled with the need to follow his nightly routine of cleaning his house.

[y/n]'s house was empty. no mother, no siblings, no chaos.

despite his minds desire to rest, he began wandering throughout raphael's home and as if robotic, he cleaned along every trail he walked. scraps were piled in his front left pocket and he set aside junk that had no real purpose, besides being decoration. he began sweeping when he found a broom, and soon the common area was the cleanest it had ever been in years.

throughout his stress cleaning, the turtles had been pulled aside by draxum, planning their next move now that they had karai on their side, but she was still too weak.

she was resting in the projector room, melted into splinter's recliner with a heavy frown and furrowed brows. karai was having trouble giving herself the needed rest she so desperately craved. a sinking pit was left in her stomach with the knowledge that the shredder could be awakened at any moment and start searching for them. who knows what the shredder could do to them with his full capability.

[y/n], light on his feet as to not disturb her, came to do a simple check-in to make sure she was feeling alright. karai had opened her eyes, smiling softly and asked if he could prepare some hot tea for them both. since then, he found himself seeking out karai's presence throughout the night since the turtles and april were still no where to be found. [y/n] went above and beyond for karai's comfort like he would for his siblings. he made her tea, gently propped her feet up on a stool when she had no energy, even massaged them as he visited with her and stayed by her side even while she was napping just in case she needed anything when she woke.

after their meeting was over, the turtles had come in to show off each of their own individual skills to karai, who found the interaction to be quite humorous and egged them all on. as the brothers all fought for her attention, [y/n] stood off to the side watching the chaotic scene unfold with his hands folded behind his back, a polite smile on his face.

donatello had picked up the kettle [y/n] brought in and tossed it aside, having shelldon fly over a completely new kettle with teacups to present to karai. the boy wordlessly began cleaning the mess the turtles left behind, and sauntered off to take the trash elsewhere.

to the others, his behavior was... off.
to [y/n], this was his only distraction. taking care of others and cleaning is just what he liked to do.

if it weren't for all of this, he'd be home right now. chaos would drown into simple white noise as his siblings ran amok throughout their apartment. arden would occasionally help him if [y/n] asked (demanded), waylie would be bossing waylon and josiah around as her knights to her princess world, and kian would be perched upon his hip as he cooked for everyone, fist in his mouth while watching his older siblings play.

but there was no baby on his hip. there was no shouting from the other room and a toy being thrown at his back. there was no complaining when he started to clean, because they knew he'd ask for their help. his siblings were gone, trapped in an orb that was cracking more as the hours went on.

[y/n] wandered into the kitchen and threw the trash he was carrying into a large bin. with a heavy sigh he glanced around to take in his surroundings, his hands immediately twitching at the sight of multiple stacks of dirty plates and other dishes calling his name.

the perfect distraction.

———

     some time had passed since [y/n] was last seen by raphael. the snapper was having such a blast visiting with his newfound gram-gram that he hadn't even realized where his human friend had wandered off to.

as his brothers were still distracted trying to show off to karai, raph slipped out quietly and began his search for [y/n]. it was actually very easy to find the boy, who was boiling more water in the kitchen.

[y/n] looked stiff, tired. it was then that raphael had realized his friend had not slept once. the others had rested their eyes, even if was just for an hour or more, but not once did the human let himself rest.

"[y/n]...," raphael sighed in exasperation, startling the boy with a slight jolt.

the human shifted his gaze to look over his shoulder, finding the snapper standing across the kitchens island, brows knitted in worry underneath his mask. the boy loosened the tension in his shoulders, giving raph a tired smile that fell almost immediately. "hey." [y/n] turned his attention back towards the boiling kettle, trembling hands struggling to pull a single teabag out of its box.

raphael sighed heavily through his nose, almost in disbelief. the kitchen was cleaner than ever before, maybe even more than when shelldon cleaned it just a few months ago. the snapper swore he could see his reflection on places he never saw it before. "y'u should sit down, [y/n]." raph's tone was sharp, almost demanding as he closed the distance between his human friend.

even with the shadow of raphael looming over him, [y/n]'s fingers managed to grasp onto a teabag, slowly pulling it out. the snapper reached his arms forward, wrapping his big hands around [y/n]'s wrists, halting their movement yet he could still feel his hands shaking.

raphael leaned down to growl into [y/n]'s ear. "what did i say?"

"karai needs tea." [y/n] rasped.

the snapper clicked his tongue, shaking his head slightly. "t's not what i said."

[y/n] felt his breath pause, then swallowed thickly under the newfound tension in the air. something about this made him feel... uneasy. he then turned around the best he could with raph's arms caging him in his current position, eyes wide and lips pulled into a tight line. "i'on wanna sit down."

pursing his lips, raphael let go of the human's wrists only to replace his grasp with the human's shoulders and forcefully turned the boy around to face him. "[y/n], yer da only one who hasn't slept yet 'nd i can see it weighin' on ya, bro. ya expect ta help us when yer barely pullin' out a teabag?" raph tilted his head, his lip twitching upward into an annoyed snarl when his friend only rolled his eyes in response.

"'m not tired." said the boy with heavy eyelids.

"bullshit. donnie's gon' take her tea, but you," raphael pointed his finger directly in [y/n]'s face, making the boy go slightly cross-eyed when he focused on it. "need ta lay down."

"no, but—"

"now." raph growled, tightening his hold on [y/n]'s shoulder, leaving no room for protest.

gulp. [y/n] threw his hands up in surrender, clicking his tongue while shifting his eyes to the side nervously. "jeez, okay."

"go that way." raph nudged him roughly, pointing towards the kitchen's exit and began trailing behind him with pure authority.

"i am, shit." [y/n] muttered, letting the snappers hand guide him up the intricate sewer ledges and tunnels.

eventually, they stood in front of a tunnel that was covered with a red curtain which was faded in color. raph extended his arm out to push the curtain aside as they walked through. [y/n] immediately glanced over every part of the room, the scent of his old cologne he had gifted to raph instantly hit his nose, and his stomach began to do flips when his eyes landed on his basketball lying on the floor next to raphael's bed.

raphael watched [y/n] intently, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed to have the boy in his room and being the overly self-critical turtle he was, his mind began to spiral. was it too dirty in here? did his room stink? oh, god, is [y/n] going to laugh at his plush collection?

the human hummed in thought before speaking aloud. "ya got a marker?"

breaking out of his stupor, raph rubbed the back of his neck and looked upward. "uhhh, maybe," he trailed off, while looking off to the side. "why?" he raised a brow while snapping his gaze towards the human.

"so, ya can sign my ball." [y/n] flashed him a tired smile, throwing said ball up to spin on his finger.

the turtle huffed a laugh through his nose, digging in his drawer to find a sharpie and uncapping it with his teeth before spitting it out into a random corner of his room. "give it." he said.

[y/n] lifted his arms to gently shoot the ball in raphael's direction with a low whistle, and raph easily caught it with a single hand. raphael brought the ball to his face, searching for a clear spot to write his name, but as he turned the ball all the way around, he found that there was no space for him in what felt like [y/n]'s world. with disappointment masked under a chuckle, raph tossed the ball back to [y/n] with a heavy heart. "there's no more space." he said with a smile, hoping the human didn't notice how sad the whole thing made him.

"oh," [y/n] seemed genuinely surprised, reflexes fast as he caught the ball with both hands. instantly, he began searching for a specific name, which was easy to spot in its red ink that seemed to glow brighter than the other signatures on his lowest days. he never had the strength back then to erase it, but upon finding "CASEY" in those bold letters in the present day, something instantly shifted. all the love, heartache, and fear he experienced were suddenly gone, replaced with an eerily distant feeling.

licking his thumb, the boy began scrubbing away at the name, watching the paint chip away, only to leave a clean white slate underneath. with a satisfied hum, [y/n] passed it back to raph. "there ya go." he sighed, flopping onto raphael's bed with his limbs spread out like a starfish.

the snapper watched him get comfortable with a smile before he plopped himself down at the edge of his bed, big hands shaking over the ball as he began to write his name down on the smooth leather. "what did'ya erase on here?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"jus' some random's name. i'on really know dem." [y/n] said through a yawn, which caused tears to prickle at the corners of his eyes, and he exhaled dramatically as he wiped them away.

raphael hummed in acknowledgment while glaring daggers at his signature. with as much courage as he could muster, raph hesitantly drew a tiny heart next to his name, then swiftly rolled the ball towards the human before he could regret it. raph tossed the marker aside, instantly clenching his hands into fists to stop them from shaking.

that was stupid, raph thought. fuck, that was so stupid! i can't take it back now, i used permanent marker! the snapper bit down on his lip anxiously. this could either make or break them both. gosh, how could he? risking their entire friendship during a high-stakes shredder situation like this. what if [y/n] ridiculed him? laughed at him? rejected him? raph didn't know if he could handle such a thing right now. honestly, he'd probably die on the spot from embarrassment.

as the ball rolled its way on the bulky quilts, [y/n] palmed it with one hand when it got close enough, bringing it to his face and staring at the spot where raph signed with curiosity. his heart skipped a beat upon finding it, his lips parting ever so slightly in surprise as he kept his eyes locked on the snapper's signature.

"RAPHIE ♡"

a veil had suddenly lifted, and all of the feelings he had experienced alongside raph had come back tenfold, sending an overwhelming, yet familiar flush of heat throughout his body. [y/n] slowly lifted himself from the mattress to face the snapper who quickly hid his face with his hand and turned his head to the side. the sight only made [y/n] 's face get hotter.

the silence that filled the room was deafening, weighing heavily on both of their conscious.

a heart can be friendly, right? [y/n] thought, not wanting to get his hopes up.

well, in hindsight, their friendship hadn't been quite so normal at all. they had clicked instantly, taking time out of the things they enjoyed just to spend that time with each other and do nothing... it seemed normal at first, like they were just hanging out like bros. but—[y/n] never hung out with his school friends that way.

he didn't wrap his arms around his school friends and tell them how beautiful they looked. he actually could not stand his friends outside of school grounds, but he hung out with them anyway to play ball at their local courtyard. none of them gave [y/n] those weird, fluttery feelings he got when texting raphael good night, and he certainly didn't feel flushed with boyish hormones when he was given a compliment by them.

raphael had always felt familiar in a silly way, but [y/n] couldn't quite put his finger on why raph felt so good to be around. that was until he saw his ex-girlfriend and realized those familiar feelings had once belonged to cassandra jones. she made [y/n] obsessive, fueling his desire to be taken care of, and once she had him clinging to her side, she tore him up from the inside out.

raphael made [y/n] obsessed with his presence, causing a pit in the human's belly to burn when the snapper treated him so softly, as if he could break like glass when they both knew [y/n] could handle more than a little roughness.

[y/n] was strong, carrying the weight of a broken family on his shoulders and despite it all he hadn't fallen under the pressure, even if he shed tears wishing to be saved late at night. he thought he had found hope with cassandra—a way out—only for his trust to be shattered which broke him beyond repair, but he never let those moments of weakness stop him.

the thought of letting someone get too close was so scary to [y/n], but without realizing he had let himself be taken care of again, with not a single fear, and it was all thanks to the boy savior, raphael.

all it took was a single, poorly drawn heart for [y/n] to wake up.

[y/n] slid his tongue into his cheek, suppressing a bashful grin as he hovered his thumb over the heart, careful not to smudge it as it dried. "raph?" he whispered, his heart beating loudly in his eardrums. without even thinking, the snapper turned and laid all of his attention onto the human, his jaw clenching nervously when he made eye contact with [y/n]. "ya wanna lay down wit' me?"

raphael jolted and suddenly his ears began ringing. heat began to rise from his neck, to his ears, and shockingly, his face began to tingle and whew—he was getting lightheaded, really, really lightheaded. is he going to faint right now? "lay down on... on my bed?" holy fumble of the century. mind raph growled, hiding his face in his hands.

the human hummed, furrowing a brow as his eyes searched the room for nothing in particular. "i'on see where else?" he said, a teasing smile reaching his lips.

"w-with you? us? togetha?" raphael rasped in disbelief.

"uh-huh." [y/n] suddenly looked smug, setting aside the ball and letting it roll to the floor. the sound of its worn leather bouncing on hard concrete was enough to ground raphael to reality.

"like... like now?"

"mhm," the boy hummed, his lips pursing into a smile as he reached over to take raph's hand in his, leading him along as he inched further back to lie on the bed. "please?"

raphael wordlessly followed, mouth gone dry as he began to crawl over the human, caging him to the mattress and watched the way [y/n]'s hair perfectly splayed out on his pillows. [y/n] reached out to wrap his arms around raph's neck, his mind reeling at the fact that they were in this same position back during the encounter with shredder and he couldn't stop wondering if raph was thinking of the same thing.

raph was not, in fact, thinking of the same thing. the snapper was a little too occupied with the human's warm fingertips trailing over scales that had never been touched by another before and the way he looked up at the snapper through his eyelashes oh, so prettily. with every slow blink the human sent his way, raph's breath began to quicken, his heartbeat loud and erratic in his eardrums.

raphael swallowed dryly while lowering himself down onto his forearms, adjusting his legs on either side of [y/n]'s and tangled his fingers within the loose strands of the humans hair. now, with their faces just inches away, they could do nothing but stare into each other's eyes.

friends don't do this, [y/n] thought, caressing the snapper's face with the back of his knuckles, tracing along his bone structure. raph leaned into the human's touch, a deep purr rumbling from the back of his throat. the fact that raphael did not pull away only made [y/n] all the more excited, but his giddy feeling was quickly replaced with a burning pang of guilt.

they still had a lot more work to do. the people of new york were trapped within the orb, and karai was resting in a room across the lair. the gravity of their reality hit him in waves, each one stronger than the last, and without realizing, the human had begun to tremble.

"don't think 'bout it," the snapper whispered roughly, his breath fanning against [y/n]'s lips, and in return, he immediately moistened them with a quick swipe of his tongue. "there's nothin' else we can do. thinkin' 'bout what coulda been done differently will get ya nowhere," the red-clad turtle tangled his fingers deeper within the human's hair, gently pulling it in a way that made [y/n] sigh and press his nose against raphael's beak. "focus on raph."

[y/n]'s eyes had gone half-lidded, his gaze burning a hot primal fire in the pit of raphael's stomach. the human snapped his gaze down to the turtle's mouth, before slowly trailing them back up to his eyes again. "focus on you how?"

raphael gulped. shit. shit. shit. shit shit shit shit shit shit shit— the snapper opened his mouth to say something, anything, in return, hopefully flirting back, but the words died in his throat when he actually tried speaking. all that came out was a quiet noise.

the human chuckled, trailing one of his hands down to cup raph's cheek. "'m jus' kidding. we'on have ta do anything ya don't want," he cooed, finding the turtle's inexperience quite cute. "we can jus' lay here."

"i... i want to," raph trailed off, his fingers drawing mindless circles on [y/n]'s scalp. "jus'... y'know... when this is all over, i wanna do things right." his voice came out softer than it has ever been, causing the boy beneath him to hum.

"me too," the human whispered, leaning forward to press his lips gently against raph's cheek, and the snapper couldn't stop the dorky smile that immediately ripped across his face. "until then." he murmured against the turtle's scales.

"until then," raphael repeated in a flustered daze. [y/n] snickered at this, scrunching his nose as raphael nuzzled his beak against his face while flipping them both over so they could lay on their sides, facing each other. "how's this?" the snapper asked, softly.

[y/n] hummed and immediately began making himself comfortable. "'ts nice." he smiled, resting his head on the snapper's bicep, which acted as a pillow and started tracing random patterns in raph's carapace to keep himself busy. the snapper found this position to be quite domestic, and as he wrapped his free arm around [y/n]'s waist to keep him close, he let his mind wander to the future. he'd ask [y/n] out on a real date, a proper one, with candles and roses and it would just be them. only them. no interruptions.

raphael made a mental note to watch more romantic movies so he could find more ways to treat [y/n] his very best once the time came, not knowing the way he already treated the human was more than enough. it was beyond the kindness [y/n] has ever received in his life, which made raph so addicting.

sighing through his nose, [y/n] scooted closer to be flush against raph's plastron, letting his eyes flutter shut and focused on the heavy weight of the snapper's arm holding him tight. "'m really tired," he croaked, voice cracking with sleep as a tired laugh ripped from his chest.

with a prideful smile, raph hummed in response, mentally screaming in celebration. "dat's okay. raphie'll be here when ya wake up, a'right?"

the boy yawned in return, giving one final stretch before relaxing and letting the fatigue wash over him. it felt as if a blanket was thrown over his head, the hours of cleaning up everything and anything he saw finally catching up to him. "night..." he murmured, brows that were once full of tension finally softening.

"g'night," raph whispered against the crown of [y/n]'s head, leaning down to shyly plant a gentle peck there. the sound of raph's steady breathing was enough to lull the boy to sleep, body going slack against the snapper and the mattress.

it felt like a special duty—being able to watch the human sleep. the intimacy of it all made raph shove his face into a pillow to hide his shit-eating grin, holding his breath so he wouldn't make a loud weird noise that would wake his human. RAPH DIDN'T FUMBLE! YEAAAAAAHHHH! mind raph cheered, throwing his arms in the air and doing a celebratory jig.

biting down on his lip, raphael pressed his cheek against the human's head, letting the stray hairs tickle his beak as he listened to the rhythm of [y/n]'s steady breathing. occasionally, he'd rub along [y/n]'s hips to his waistline gently as a way to tell himself that this was all real, that they were safe within the confines of his room.

they are safe. nothing is going to hurt them. he repeated those phrases in his head like a mantra, until his anxiety vanished and fatigue eventually found him, pressing heavily against his muscles as they relaxed and molded perfectly against the human's sleeping body. raphael let out a heavy breath through his nose, closing his eyes as deep purrs rumbled in his throat.

while the two wandered deeper into slumber, their once dissonant heartbeats began to sync in perfect harmony and two breaths became one. as if they couldn't be similar enough.

———

    raphael didn't know how much time had passed when he woke up with a start in a puddle of his own drool. his eyes felt painful to open, body twitching uncomfortably as his slumber transitioned into a hypnopompic state, and he felt completely weightless. it was a momentary state of disorientation, observing his own room in bright swirling colors before they disappeared as quickly as they came and left him wide awake.

breathing deeply, raph stretched his legs and arms out before he nuzzled his head against the familiar tuft of hair and his hand tightly gripped onto the back of [y/n]'s shirt, who was quietly snoring against his plastron. the boy stretched and whined at the snapper's movement in his sleep, before he went slack once more and began smacking his lips.

the noise made raph chuckle, and the turtle mindlessly pressed himself against the human to plant a long kiss against his exposed forehead, then quickly pecked the same spot again with a smile. the heat of [y/n]'s body was comforting against his cold scales, a low animalistic rumble bubbling in his chest out of instinct.

"hey-y-y! look who's finally up!" a cheery voice squealed as a joyous capybara waltzed into the room with absolutely no shame, unaware of the tender moment he had just walked in on.

raph yelped girlishly, jumping violently and clutching the sleeping human to his chest as if he were his pearls. "todd?!" raphael shrieked. "when—how—?!"

"oh, how did i get here?" todd tilted his head innocently, not even batting an eye at the position he found the two boys in. "i slipped through the cracks of that li'l orb thing a while ago! it was getting too cramped on that cruise ship, hehe." the capybara giggled, waving his hand as if he was talking about the most casual thing in the world. "a-a-and i made y'all some lemonade before your special traini-i-ing!" he sang, presenting the platter full of lemonade glasses.

raphael's jaw had completely dropped the more he listened to the blissfully unaware capybara, an incredulous expression on his face as he tried to process if todd was real. "special training?" raph blinked owlishly.

"yup! the nice lady in green said she was well rested and sent me here to get'cha. everyone's waiting!"

raph woefully sighed, wishing he could spend a little more time in bed with [y/n], but resignedly nodded. "alright, i'll be there."

unbeknownst to them, [y/n] was beginning to wake up, and the girlish scream raph omitted obviously did not lull him back to sleep like he so desperately wanted to. "wha'ssa noise?" the human croaked, cheek smushed against raphael's carapace, and opened his swollen eyes to glare up at the snapper.

"ooh, boyfriend's cranky." todd mumbled, giving raph an all-knowing look, causing the snapper to squeak in embarrassment.

"h-he's not—"

"mhm," todd interrupted with a raised brow, placing two glasses of lemonade on his nightstand and waved his fingers at the snapper as he waltzed out of the room. "i'll let them know you'll be there after a bathroom break, so take your time, lovebirds!" he winked, closing the curtain to leave them on their own once more.

raph groaned, running a free hand down his face while the other still cradled the human, who hung limply in his arms with a grumpy expression.

"who wuzzit." [y/n] grumbled.

raphael did not answer. instead, he exhaled through his nose as he sat up swiftly with the human in tow, who protested at the movement by groaning. "just one moment to ourselves... is dat too much to ask for?" raph growled, freeing [y/n] from his grasp to swing his legs over the bed and onto the ground.

"yes." the human bluntly responded while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, even though he really had no idea what the turtle said.

the snapper pretended to choke someone by violently squeezing the air, followed by punching the air wildly while seething curses under his breath.

[y/n] swung his legs over the bed, standing slowly while scratching his abdomen and desperately blinked the sleep out of his eyes as raphael switched tactics to shadow-box the wall. the humans dreary eyes landed on the glasses of lemonade on the nightstand, practically glowing and shouting "DRINK ME, I'M DELICIOUS!" smacking his dry lips, he reached for the glass without so much of an afterthought and downed the whole drink in a series of big gulps.

he finished the last drops with a satisfied "ahh," slamming the glass down onto the nightstand. "whew, dat's good." [y/n] hummed while patting his belly, feeling the cold drink settle in his stomach. he threw a look over his shoulder, watching raph mutter cursed to himself and kick at the ground like a pouting child. huffing an amused laugh, the human sauntered over to the snapper, turning to turtle to face him so he could press himself against the turtle's plastron.

raphael let it happen, albeit a bit nervously. he gulped, his trembling hands finding purchase in the small of [y/n]'s back as he shyly trailed his eyes across the humans face when he couldn't hold eye contact. "did ya sleep good?" the snapper whispered.

the human nodded with his chin pressed against raph's plastron, dreary eyes shutting at the thought of slumber. "mm, i slept pretty hard." [y/n] chuckled, voice still gruff with sleep and his face was swollen still, practically glowing in this dim lighting.

"ya look like it, yer eyes are swole," raph giggled, bringing one of his hands to brush the hair away from [y/n]'s face.

heat flushed the human's cheeks as he cackled in embarrassment, hiding his face in the snapper's carapace to rub the sleep out of his eyes again. "ugh, no way! i'on know why my face gets swole like dat, bruh..."

raph nuzzled his beak into the humans hair with a mischievous grin. "mm, ya look so cute, li'l dude." he murmured, pressing an innocent kiss against the humans hair.

"tch," [y/n] leaned his head back to give raph an unconvinced look. "don't ya got training ta do?" he tried pulling away, only to be locked in place by raph's hands holding tightly onto his waist. biting his lip in disbelief, [y/n] ran his hands to rest upon raph's plastron, as the snapper leaning down to shove his face in the crook of his neck.

raphael lifted his face to cutely bat his eyelashes. "training ta kiss you?" he puckered his lips right in front of [y/n]'s face, earning a girlish squeal from him as the turtle kissed the air between them.

"e-e-ew, stop!" the human feigned disgust, but the toothy grin on his face gave away that he enjoyed this just as much as the snapper did. raphael released the human from his grip after they came down from their laughing fit, staring into each other's eyes shyly as if they had never held eye contact with each other before. "ya better get goin'."

wetting his lips, raph leaned forward with half-lidded eyes. "come watch me train." he wasn't asking, more like demanding in the softest voice.

"hmm, i won't distract you? make ya nervous?" [y/n] bared his teeth with a toothy grin.

"no..." raph unsurely trailed off, a crooked smile adorning his face. "you'd motivate me!" he exclaimed as if he was convincing himself.

[y/n] clicked his tongue with a cocky grin, throwing a look over his shoulder as he began to saunter away. raph's eyes slowly trailed over the human's body as he drifted further, gulping when boyish hormones began to send heat throughout his body. "then we better get goin', raphie." his voice was dangerously low, soft at the edges yet rumbling in the pit of his chest. "show me what ya got."

with that, the human slipped through the curtains as if he were water and raphael gave himself a quick moment of composure before he went to training. he knew once he and [y/n] entered the training room, his brothers would smell them all over each other. the thought made his heart beat wildly behind his plastron, and he couldn't stop the giddy giggle that left his mouth as he hopped on his toes and excitedly punched the air.

with a final jab, raphael shook his arms out and straightened his back with a contented sigh and walked out of his room with his chin held high as if he ruled the world.

and immediately, everyone could tell the air between the two was different. much different. raphael just had no idea what he had gotten himself into.