Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Hey, uh… Leo?”

Leo perked up from the floor of his brand new train cart. Well, okay, “brand new” is a strong term. It’s new to him. 

He peaked over the few stacked boxes in front of him to look at the one sliding door that still worked. The contents were the most he could get from the wreckage of their old home — really just a pitiful amount of his life stashed away in cardboard, light enough to carry by himself. Any posters, action figures, comics, or trinkets he had found with minimal to no damage were a small miracle, but nothing compared to the mountains of crushed debris that had been all around them. 

He didn’t really want to look in any of the boxes yet, leaving them safely sealed for now. Currently, he was trying to remove the worn down subway seats from the wall so he’d have enough room to fit his new mattress (actually brand new this time). It was getting pretty late, and Leo really wanted to be able to sleep on something soft and warm today. The last week or so of sleeping bags and pillow forts and turtle piles had been nice, but ultimately nothing like having his own bed all to himself. 

April stood in the doorway, looking just as nervous talking to him as she had been for the last few days. He wasn’t really sure why, but not too long after the final battle with the Shredder, their sister had suddenly gotten very skittish around him. 

Or, maybe “skittish” wasn’t the right term… Uncomfortable? Quiet? Awkward? Really, a combination of all three. 

Whatever. The point was, she was acting weird, and it was only around Leo. It made him wonder what on earth he did to wig her out so bad. 

Maybe, from the looks of it, he’d get that answer today.

Raising an eyebrow and plastering on his usual cocky smile, Leo leaned back on his feet and greeted her, “Heya, Apes! What brings you to my humble abode?”

She smiled, amused but still a bit shaky. “I don’t think you and ‘humble’ are very synonymous."

“Wow!” he gasped, pressing an offended hand to his plastron. “Rude! Don’t worry, the place will be radiating Neon Leon energy before ya know it. Just have to…” His smile faltered for only a moment. He gestured vaguely to the long subway bench that was still partially connected to the wall. Half of it laid slanted on the floor. The bolts were old and rusted, so it was taking a lot longer than he’d anticipated to get it off. Leo was starting to consider just getting Raph to rip it from the wall instead. Patching that mess might just be easier. “Y’know. Redecorate in here a bit. Maybe throw up some curtains. I need my privacy, obvi.”

She nodded, leaning against the side of the doorway, only to stumble as the sliding door jerked at the slight weight of her shoulder. He cringed. “And get better doors.”

With a grimace, April stepped fully into the room, glancing around aimlessly. Leo snuck a peak outside of the train cart, noting that none of his brothers were in the area. Understandable, of course. He wasn’t the only one stuck with a fixer-upper of a room. They hadn’t even found a decent abandoned cart for Dad or Raph yet… From the sounds of it, Donnie was still across the way loudly reinforcing his own bedroom cart, and Raph was helping tear the insides and trash out of Mikey’s. 

At least theirs didn’t have any… questionable needles and burnt up batteries to dispose of. Leo was quick to portal all of that junk to Repo’s without touching it. Yucky. 

Pops already had a living room space set up for his shows. Leon couldn’t really blame him for relaxing, this time. Splinter has been just as much help with moving as all of them, but he lacked the same youthful energy. For once, he deserved the chance to sit in the butt imprint of his chair (which, of course, out of everything in the old Lair, actually survived) and watch a cringey reality show or whatever. 

After seemingly finding nothing of further interest to distract herself, April shrugged, dropping down onto one of the subway chairs Leo hadn’t gotten to. He raised a brow at her, considering that he may leave that bench attached to the wall for his family to use in the future. It would be easier than getting a whole new chair, he supposed. And it would fit the vintage, repurposed vibe of the room. It felt familiar. Kind of retro. He liked it. “Dee got everything out of his place and is working on sealing off the windows,” she said. “I’m not really needed for that part, so I thought I’d scoot on over here, see what you were up to…?”

Leo rolled his eyes. “Yeah, not everyone has advanced tech that can do all the work itself in no time flat.” A crash was heard across the old station, followed by a hurried “we’re okay!” from their eldest brother that had him chuckling. “Or super strength to just rip it all out.”

April nodded. She kicked her foot along the floor absentmindedly, a little furrow between her brows. Feeling increasingly worried, Leo sat back onto the floor, crossing his legs. “You alright, Apes? Something bugging you?”

Biting her lip, April shuffled then nodded her head. “Uh, kinda. Yeah. Can we talk?”

He hummed, sensing her discomfort. Quickly hopping to his feet, Leo walked over to the doors and jerked them as closed as they could get. They screeched loudly in their tracks, but no one in the new Lair seemed to care, considering they were all making a lot of noise right now. Then, he made his way back to where he was, flopping down in his own seat. It creaked, barely holding on to the wall by the bolts he’d partially gotten out, but still held his weight okay. 

“All ears, sis. What’s up?”

She watched him silently for a moment, so intently Leo could almost see the gears turning in her brain. Her eyes traced over his face as if she were looking for something in particular. He briefly wondered if he had a smudge of something on his cheek, which was a disgusting thought, but her heavy gaze suggested it wasn’t that simple. Leo tilted his head curiously, but allowed her to find her own words without pressure. He had a feeling this was going to be more of a “Dr. Feelings” kinda chat, unfortunately, so he didn’t really want to push her. Instead, he leaned back and offered what he hoped was a comforting, but still a little lopsided smile.

After fiddling with her hands a bit longer, April finally took a deep breath and started, “It’s… about the fight with Shredder… Kind of…”

He nodded, figuring as much. “Is this about the whole leader thing? ‘Cause I’ve already talked with Splints and Raph a bit. We decided giving it a try wouldn’t hurt, and if we both still didn’t like it or whatever, we could—”

“No no no,” she interrupted. “Nah, that’s, I don’t really care about that. You’d be a good leader, though, FYI.”

He paused, processing that for a moment, then laughed lightly. “Eh, thanks. We’ll see how it goes… Sooo…” He trailed off, gesturing vaguely.

Nodding absentmindedly, April waved her hand around a bit and tried again. “No, it was, actually during the battle. What I wanted to talk about, I mean.”

“Oh.” He furrowed his brows curiously, racking his brain for what could possibly have set her off like this. He had figured it would’ve been something from the aftermath, considering she only started acting strange a few days later, but whatever. When nothing came to mind, Leo shrugged and said, “I mean, I’m assuming it isn’t about how badass you and/or I were?”

That successfully got a little giggle. “No.”

“Drat. Then I’m totally lost, O’Neil!”

She hummed, bobbing her head and crossing her arms to lean onto her knees. After another moment of thinking, April finally just decided to rip off the band-aid, he supposed, since her next words chilled him down to his very core.

“That little turtle that was in front of you, when we summoned the giant Hamato ancestor spear thingy… I uh… Well, I mean, I saw him. Obviously…”

Any lightheartedness that had been in his frame seemed to be sucked out in an instance. His muscles tensed and his thoughts seemed to simultaneously freeze and scatter all at the same time. He was pretty sure he stopped breathing. 

April seemed to finally find herself, at least, as she just continued to ramble on without acknowledging his wide eyed stare. “I didn’t really want to bring it up to you guys immediately, because, I mean, I didn’t know what I was bringing up, y’know? He looked younger than even Mikey was when I first met you guys, and you just seemed so upset when he smiled at you, so I kinda thought…” She grimaced. “I originally thought maybe he was another brother that just… passed away before I came along? And I didn’t want to bring up any bad memories. But you never brought it up with the others later, and clearly they hadn’t seen him at the time. And no one seemed to be keeping anything from me... You’ve all been pretty open about what’s been bugging you lately. So, I… I did a bit of… digging.”

“Digging,” he repeated numbly. His scales felt cold.

“Yeah,” she breathed, her voice softer. She finally made eye contact with him again over the rim of her glasses. “I still have that spiritual connection to Gram Gram. And the rest of the Hamatos, additionally. Not, uh, not as closely as that day, but still. So… yeah. I reached out to her a few days ago…”

Faintly, Leo could feel his fingers digging into the palms of his hands. 

His claws weren’t supposed to be so long right now, but he couldn’t bring himself to change them back. It was almost grounding for him, in the moment. 

The moment where he really felt like his whole world was crumbling around him, so quickly, so suddenly. Way too soon, but far too late at the same time. 

His mind just kept screaming at him, ‘You’re too late, you waited too long, hesitated for years, she’ll hate you, she DOES hate you, they’ll all hate you—’

(They felt like they might throw up.)

“I didn’t get the full story,” April continued, watching him carefully. “Gram Gram didn’t know much, and Blue…” She laughed breathlessly, humorlessly, because nothing about this was funny. Hearing his name come from someone else’s mouth actually made Leo flinch. “He’s still a kid. I got a little bit from him, though, I think. I got enough…”

“You… He… What…” He choked on his words, his hands shaking. He clenched them in an attempt to stop it, but it only made them shake more. “What did he… tell… you?”

She looked at him softly. There was no anger in her eyes like there should be, no matter how hard he tried to find it. That was even more sickening.

“That you saved Dee,” she said, her voice a soft whisper. “That you did your best, and that you protect them with everything you have. That you talk to him all the time, and apologize a lot, and make him still feel included in the family every day.” Pausing for only a moment, she added with a little bit more conviction, “That you’re not a turtle.”

A suffocating silence followed her words, as if the very sound of the truth had sucked the air right out of that train cart. Leo couldn’t feel his body. The muscles, tendons, bones, nerves, all of it just felt numb. All he could feel was the mystic smoke churning underneath his skin, struggling to keep his mutant form steady as his thoughts wavered and his concentration cracked. He wanted nothing more than to laugh this all off and wave away her concerns, somehow play this all off as one huge, extremely elaborate prank — but he couldn’t. He knew he couldn’t. There was no way out of this anymore.

“Yeah,” he croaked, breath hitching but refusing to let himself break. He didn’t deserve that. “I… Yeah.”

(It was all they could say. What else were they supposed to say? How were you supposed to admit to something as horrible as this? They never did figure it out by themself, and they definitely weren’t able to figure it out now that the problem was staring them in their face. A face they spent years delicately crafting and tweaking and aging with little to no reference to guide them. A face that wasn’t truly their’s, but likely wasn’t even Blue’s now, either.)

April’s brow furrowed worriedly before she quickly added, “He also said he wasn’t mad.” Leon’s gaze jerked up, gold eyes wide in disbelief. “He’s followed you around all these years, Leo. He’s not upset. His… His opinion is honestly why I’m not, either.”

“You’re not?” he muttered breathlessly, as if that was an unfamiliar concept to him. And it was, in a way. It really, really was. An outcome he didn’t think was even remotely possible.

She smiled at him. It was weak and sad and uncertain, but it was a genuine smile. “I’m not. I’ve thought about it a lot the last few days, and talking to Blue definitely helped. I’m not exactly psyched about it, and it’s not… it’s not right, necessarily… But, I mean, Leo, you were a kid. You still are! I… still have a lot of questions, obviously, but I won’t grill you on everything right this second. For right now, I know you… you did what you thought you had to do to save a child’s life, then spent all this time just…” She glanced around before looking back at him with such kind, understanding eyes. “Alone. Right?”

He clenched his jaw and swallowed whatever little bit of moisture was left in his mouth. Then he shrugged. “I’ve always had you guys…”

She shook her head. “That’s not what I mean and you know it.”

“Yeah…”

They sat there for a long, quiet moment, not really knowing where to go from here. But there was one elephant of a question Leo needed to know, and he needed to know now.

“Are you… going to tell them?”

(There was that feeling again, the overwhelming wrongness that strangled their guts every time they so much as thought about coming clean. It was suffocating, unnatural, and made the tears already brimming in their eyes that much harder to hold back.)

She didn’t respond right away. Each second that ticked by felt like an eternity. He ran through a million possibilities in his head all at once in what was likely just a few moments. If he had to leave, where he’d go, how he’d get food, where he would stay. The thought of going back to the streets was a nightmare he’d had for over a decade now (a decade, they’d been fooling this family for over ten years now, how horrible was that?), but he would leave in a heartbeat if they told him to. 

He’d leave before they changed their minds. He’d leave before they tried to hurt him, like so many other yokai would in their position. It’s what his kind always had to deal with. It was only inevitable that it’d happen here eventually. 

“No.”

The short, firm response felt like a punch to the gut. His head shot up in utter disbelief and nearly recoiled right back down from the intense stare April gave him.

“I’m not going to say anything,” she said. “It’s not my place, and ultimately, it’ll sound a lot worse coming from me. But Leo, you have to tell them. You can’t keep this a secret forever. It’s not fair to you or them.”

He wilted, a sob finally breaking through his beak. “I know…”

Her eyes softened. In one swift movement, the brunette had stood from her chair and gathered him into her arms. He jolted at the sudden touch, but melted into it all the same. “Thank you,” she whispered into his shoulder, kissing his cheek. “For this, and for saving Purple back then. You did good, and you need to know that. I know you’ve felt guilty for so long, but I promise you’re not alone, Leo. You never have been. Alright, big guy?”

Leo tightened his grip on her sweatshirt, burying his head in her neck. She rubbed his shell comfortingly while he shook, the only words managing to slip from his beak being continuous apologies over and over again. He wished the relief would be strong enough to ease his mind at least for the night, but the fear of what the mutants of this family would think was far more overwhelming.

He’d run out of time. He never had that time in the first place, procrastinating the inevitable for over ten years. He put himself in this mess, and now he had to get himself out. That was never a question. Just a matter of time. 

(For now, they just let themselves be happy that, at the very least, April wasn’t going to leave them. Not now, at least. Not yet. Not until she had to choose between them and her real family.)

Needless to say, his room had not gotten finished that night.

-:(o):-

Left once again with no bed of his own, Leo was stuck sleeping atop the turtle pile in the living room that night. After his and April’s little chat, it wasn’t quite as warm and comforting as it usually would be…

April must have realized this pretty quickly after guiding him out of his to-be room — looking like a hot mess, he was sure. Aside from a few concerned glances, she made it her mission to keep anyone from asking any questions, which Leo appreciated. Despite the place still being a mess and, quite frankly, a bit of a health hazard for a non-super-soldier-individual, April decided to stay the night with the Hamatos. Since she felt responsible for his lack of progress, she wanted to at least help him move his mattress into his train cart in the morning. 

Leo should have felt more grateful for the sentiment — and he was! Don’t get him wrong, he was definitely grateful for the help, even if April wasn’t quite as well coordinated in getting the thing through his doorway as he was. 

He just… still felt a bit shaken. As would be expected. There was a lot on his mind, and honestly, he didn’t remember much of the previous night at all. Everything from when April dragged him out of his half-made room up until they were flopping a brand new twin mattress on the dusty floor was a bit of a blur. He knew April had tried to be reassuring, but…

Well. Leonardo felt more on edge now than he ever had before. Like there were constantly eyes watching his every move; like every word he spoke and every action he took was being scrutinized down to the very core. 

And he wasn’t just talking about April.

He had been trying so hard to not think about the implications of actually seeing Blue as a Hamato spirit that day, knowing that he likely had been following Leo since day one. He’d always been worried that Blue could see… well, everything. The idea haunted him his entire life, and in the last few weeks, it seemed like the possibility had been amplified alongside the looming shadow of a turtle toddler that seemed to follow his every step. 

And now, April has confirmed that fear. This invisible, piercing stare felt sharper than ever.

 “He’s followed you around all these years, Leo.”

For as long as he can remember, the shifter had felt the weight of his actions threatening to pull him down, dragging behind him like a ball and chain locked on his very soul. But, after hearing April’s words, it felt like an overwhelming presence towered over him, trailing behind him, gripping his chest, never leaving him alone, just out of the corner of his eye, always there always knowing always judging—

“Nardo.”

Leo jolted, whipping around. He quickly schooled the look of fear from his face before Donnie could look up from his vambrace’s screen. With a practiced ease, Leo eased his stance to something a little less tense and crossed his arms, hoping to hide the tremble in his hands. “Well, hello to you as well, hermano,” he scoffed. “Nobody knock anymore?”

Donnie raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “You’re standing outside of your room.”

Ah. So he was. What was he doing again? Before his miniature spiral, that is…

“Anyway,” the other continued, either completely unbothered or just genuinely unaware of Leo’s moment of panic, “I need your portals for a few trips, two hours at most. Now that April is gone—” she is?? “—and our dear father and youngest are off hunting for more train carts, I want to gather as much scrap metal from the junkyard as I can. Between you and Raph, I think we can scrape together enough material to patch up the walls of our respective rooms.” Finishing up whatever nerd stuff he was typing, Donnie swiped out of his screen, lowered his arm, and looked back up to Leo. “Are you awake and emotionally recovered enough to do so, or should I find alternative means of transportation? I don’t particularly feel like going to China right now.”

Wow, okay, so Dee’s a little grouchy today. He supposed that was understandable, considering the bags under his eyes were visible from the moon. Ironic that he’d ask about Leo’s emotional state… but the shifter happily glossed over that in favor of snatching this opportunity to distract himself from his own spiralling thoughts. “Okay, first off: ouch. I haven’t screwed up that bad in a year—”

“Six months ago,” Donnie interrupted with an unimpressed look, “you accidentally took us to Italy rather than the mall because you were too busy thinking about the chicken lasagna Mikey was planning for dinner.”

“Secondly: Yes, we can go bug the bug man,” Leo grinned. “I wanna make sure his cat hasn’t eaten him yet, anyway.”

Aha, there’s that familiar, slightly unhinged twinkle in Dee’s gaze that Leo was so used to. “Would make it easier to get the materials I need.”

“Wow, Dee. That’s low, even for you.” 

“I’d argue it’s even lower to be a ruthless repo man taking things from people that are down on their luck, not to mention the many times he has tried to kill a group of teenagers — us — on multiple occasions, but to each their own. Now,” he spun on his heels and started to walk away abruptly. “Help me rope Raph into carrying the heavy shit.” Leo snickered, quick to follow behind him. 

Anything to take his mind off of the phantom eyes he can feel prickling at the back of his neck.

-:(o):-

The days following his and April’s talk had been… slow. Tense, in a way. Though April wasn’t as standoffish around him anymore, they weren’t exactly back to their normal, chaotic, friendly bond yet either. That newly shared knowledge hung around the two of them like a heavy fog: not exactly ruining everything, but making enough of a difference to throw both of them off balance. 

That’s not to say Leo was upset with her, or the other way around! Definitely the opposite, he thinks. It was just a bit overwhelming to suddenly have someone know the most life-changing secret he’s ever had, and then have to turn around and try to act totally normal about it. 

Thankfully, everyone was a little too busy trying to put their own lives back together to fully realize the brand new turmoil in Leo’s. 

(At least, he pretended they didn’t notice. It was hard to ignore the fact that he and April were being sent on more and more supply trips by themselves. These “spontaneous” plans were always accompanied with a few hopeful side glances between his three brothers. They may think they’re being sneaky, but Leo practically invented the term.)

Recently, the family had finally found two more subway cars that wouldn’t be missed, which meant Donnie could finally start working on blocking off the tunnels inconspicuously. Having a secret lair wasn’t exactly effective if some random old city explorer could walk right in. 

Along with a million other security measures Leo couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to, Donnie certainly had his hands full for the next few months or so. 

That’s not even taking into consideration the amount of new appliances they’d need to get and/or have him rebuild. The new home was turning out to be a lot of work. They’d expected it, but still. The other one had been built over the span of years, bettering it gradually as they learned what worked for them and what didn’t. What made it safer and what was dangerous. What kept them comfortably hidden, and what was too obvious to the outside world. What made it feel more like a home and less like a stinky sewer. 

It was a lot different to suddenly have to do all of that all at once with half as many materials. 

They’d make it work though. It was already starting to feel more like their lair, and it had only been a couple weeks. 

It would feel like more of a home to Leo if, in the last four days, he wasn’t constantly being reminded that he did not fit in. 

One look at their “sister” sent a shock of electricity down his spine, as if she was actively screaming to his face that he wasn’t a Hamato, he didn’t belong, and he needed to tell them soon. 

It’s funny how something he’s avoided for most of his life can so suddenly be all he can ever think about. 

April, of course, wasn’t doing any of that, though. She’d been nothing but unbearably kind. She hadn’t even brought it up again, though Leo knew the conversation was ultimately inevitable. Probably multiple conversations, if he were completely honest with himself. All he got for now were a few pitying glances or a warm pat on the shoulder. He’d be offended if it weren’t such a relief. 

Leo would gladly take pity over outright anger. 

(They’re pretty sure she was still talking to Blue, as well. Sometimes, April would just get this look in her eyes, like she knew something they didn’t, or like she found out something they did. And they knew they’d done some horrible things while trying to protect this family… but she never showed signs of any fear or anger, which meant that Blue was in some way… vouching for them… They just weren’t sure how they felt about that yet.)

However, the tense peace couldn’t last forever. He had a feeling this time, when it was quickly decided he and April should go looking for a new gaming console, that their mutual silence would be coming to an end. He almost called it off, but that wouldn’t be possible. A console was a very essential device in their household, after all. Besides, Mikey had managed to save a majority of their games from the last lair! They just had nothing to play them on right now. 

So, Leo didn’t try to talk his way out of the new mission. He simply cracked a joke, opened a portal, gestured dramatically for the “lady” to enter, and accepted the awkward conversation that was coming his way. 

As soon as they stepped out onto the nearest rooftop to their destination, that all too familiar quiet settled between them like a veil before the portal had even closed.

Fiddling with his katanas, Leo glanced down the building side to the game shop just across the street. He debated simply insisting they go about their duty quickly, continuing this same play of ignorance as if nothing happened, but April clearly thought differently. 

“Sooo… I’ve been wondering,” she started, rolling her shoulders and looking over at him in an over exaggerated movement. Leo didn’t get any time to wonder how deep of a question he’d be asked, as she immediately went for the kill:  “If you’re not a turtle, what are you?”

Leo flinched, grimacing a bit. He shouldn’t have been that surprised, considering April O’Niel never had been one for delicacy. It was one of the traits she shared with Raph: smash first, talk later. She just didn’t always “smash” with her physical fists. Or, well, bat.

Journalists, huh? Always charging forward with their words. No beating around a bush here. No siree…

Of course, she was also still his big sister (he hoped he was still allowed to think that). April immediately sensed his discomfort and started to backtrack, but Leo just shook his head and smiled shakily. 

“Uh, well, I dunno if you know what a tanuki is…?”

The human blinked blankly at him. He chuckled. “Yeah, I thought so. You guys haven’t really been around that many yokai, but uhh, tanuki are a sort of… raccoon-bear-looking-thing in Japan? And yokai tanuki are known for their shapeshifting and… mischief, really.”

“Huh,” she huffed, eyes sparkling with fascination. Again, he notes, her college major is truly shining through. “So you’re a cuddly teddy bear, then?”

Leo grinned, relaxing a little. “Not really. My dad was a tanuki, and my mom was a witch. I never knew her, and I only vaguely remember my father… but no, I don’t look like you’re average tanuki.” His grin shifted to a lopsided smirk. “Then again, since when have I ever been average?”

She nodded in agreement with an amused eye roll, glancing down at the store again. Then, smiling cheekily, she peaked at him from the corner of her glasses. “Can I see?”

He jolted, the smirk slipping from his face. “What?”

“What you really look like! I don’t know what a tanuki is, but I know one way to find out!”

Leo faltered at her enthusiasm, the grip on his swords tightening. He couldn’t help the fear that seeped into his heart like water in soil, so unused to any sort of positive attention when it comes to his yokai species. 

Logically, he knew she’d never hurt him. This was April O’Neil! She’s always worn her heart on her sleeve and saved the more sneaky stuff for when she was gathering information (legally or otherwise). Deception was Leo’s thing, not her’s. But still, this paranoid distrust of the world had been so ingrained in his very life that it was just second nature. 

Seeing his discomfort, April’s teasing smile slipped off her face quickly. “You don’t have to if you—“

“No no, sorry, it’s not… It’s not that.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, the smoke under his false scales curling. “I mean, it kinda is, I guess? I haven’t really… seen myself like that since. Uh. Since I found two little toddlers on my side of the sewers, heh…”

She nodded, waiting patiently for him to continue. He gulped. 

“I don’t really… know what I consider my, I dunno, ‘true form,’ I guess? It feels weird to think of anything but this carefully crafted body as me, y'know? Plus, uh,” Leo waved his hand uselessly, looking around as if someone were listening to them talk. He hoped not. “Tanuki aren’t… very well liked amongst yokai… especially not a mixed breed. They’re known for causing trouble, just for fun, and a lot of yokai hold on to all these bad stereotypes about them. And yokai are a bit… well, trigger happy, I guess you could say. I’m sure you’ve noticed…”

April nodded again, slower this time, before what he was implying seemed to click in her mind. Suddenly, she looked horrified. “What, you’re saying some of them would kill you just for existing?”

Leo shot her some weak finger guns. “Ding ding ding! Yeah! Was, uh, super fun, as a little kid, on the streets. Ten outta ten. Nine-point-five, actually. The sleeping sitch coulda been better.”

“Leo…”

“Sorry.” He winced. “What I’m trying to say is, I’m not used to someone being, like, actually interested in what I… am, with no strings attached. Been attacked for it a few too many times. That includes more recently, too. No one’s caught me as, well, ‘Leonardo the Turtle,’ but I’ve shifted a lot while in the Hidden City on missions or otherwise, and yokai just don’t take lightly to that. A lot of the time.” He thought of their group trip a few months ago, when he tried to relax in a well known yokai spa.  He’d shifted into a lynx-like creature in order to even be let into the damn place. Someone had seen him adjusting his height in the pool, when he thought he was alone, and the resulting ambush of so many hairy spa goers had not been fun.

Honestly, what spa had a rule on hair? Leo even looked into it later, and there wasn’t one for yokai without hair in this city! At least, not one that was credible, and not sketchy as fuck! Where were aquatic yokai supposed to go for a good soak? Ridiculous.

He shook his head of the thought. “Plus, I know of a few tanuki that have been forced to help the more malicious yokai groups get away with pretty shitty stuff, too… Tanuki trafficking is…” He grimaced. “Eh, nevermind, I’m just not too keen on showing it off all willy-nilly.”

“That’s… understandable,” she muttered. “Unfair for you, but understandable.”

“Eh, so is my life, I guess, huh?”

A heavy silence coated the rooftop once again. 

He shifted on his feet, then smiled brightly, easily slipping back into his usual act. “It’s whatever! I’m sure I’ll have to do something around you guys one of these days, so don’t worry too much about it, yeah? We’ve gotta mission of utmost importance to do, anyway! Hop to it, O’Neil, that console won’t buy itself!”

“...Right.”

Thankfully, April dropped it for the rest of the night. Leo was pretty sure she was just taking the time to digest what they spoke about so she could question him about it later — but either way, he was grateful for the topic change. 

Finally, the duo was able to get a brand new Playstation peacefully, normally, and with minimal damage to the gaming store. 

-:(o):-

“Can I ask you something?”

“You just did.”

April rolled her eyes, grabbing his sleeve to stop him from walking right into a group of teens coming out of a Hot Topic. They were currently in the mall for the first time since the Shredder, aimlessly wandering and messing around in the different shops. 

The rest of their group was somewhere around here as well, but honestly, Leo lost track of them a long time ago. Donnie (who had been more irritable than usual lately) hasn’t left the phone store since they arrived, choosing to argue with the poor employees over something-or-another. Last he saw Mikey and Raph, they were still fighting to the death in a game of air hockey at the arcade. Even Cassandra was running around somewhere, but she disappeared the second they walked past the Cinnabon. Apparently, she planned on stealing their cinnamon roll recipe, for some reason. Leo figured she’d show up again soon, either with her prize or in handcuffs. Both were equally as likely. 

Overall, it was a pretty normal day for the Hamato clan. They’d only broken a few things so far, mostly just displays — and really, that was impressive for the six of them together. The destruction was pretty minor, and they hadn’t had security called on them yet so… that’s a win, in Leo’s book. 

Honestly, he was just glad they were all out of the house. Lair renovations were going slowly, but they were definitely progressing, and Donnie in particular was clearly overworked. He’d been pretty silent lately, to be honest, hyperfixated on multiple projects at a time. He hasn’t even been coming to the kitchen in the middle of the night, where Leon, after making his own tea, usually has a pot of coffee ready for the softshell. 

He liked their insomnia/workaholic night meetings. It was lonely without his nerdy brother yapping his ears off about whatever project he was working on.

Now, Leo’s been forced to portal into the lab to bring Dee food when he doesn’t show up for meals (as was his own “Donnie-Duty” — Mikey was in charge of getting that boy to sleep, and Raph forced him to take a damn shower every other night). The brainiac is overworking himself so much, Leo has actually seen him working on three separate things at the same time: simultaneously coding on his computer and fixing the wires of two different camera components, all while on the phone with someone talking about mystic mumbo jumbo. When Dee finally notices him, Leo would have just enough time to drop off his meal before the other turtle was angrily waving him away, claiming to be busy.

It was impressive, but also very concerning. Leo didn’t like how quiet his brother was being. 

He was just happy to see him talking today, even if it was just to argue with an underpaid Apple employee.  

“A serious question, I mean,” April clarified, pushing Leo towards the food court. Since it wasn’t quite dinner time yet, it wasn’t nearly as crowded as the rest of the mall. 

“Mkayyyy…” Leo drawled. “If it’s about your body wash being empty, I had nothing to do with it and you have no proof.”

“No, it’s— what? Did you use all my body wash again? You don’t even shower at my place!”

“No idea what you’re talking about, what was your question?”

She glared at him for only a moment before sighing and slumping in a seat at the edge of the cafeteria. Leo slid into the chair across from her with a smug grin, but waited patiently for her to continue anyway. 

“… It’s about your whole… situation,” she started, gesturing generally to Leo’s entire self. 

“Oh.” Leo’s grin slipped briefly upon realizing exactly where this was going. He was honestly a little disappointed, considering how relaxing the day had been thus far, but he couldn’t get too mad at her, either. Recently, it wasn’t often that the two of them got a moment without the rest of the family around, and he knows she has a lot of questions on her mind. Blue wouldn’t be able to tell her everything, after all. The little guy may follow him around everywhere (which still made him… quite tense to think about), but he couldn’t exactly read Leo’s mind. “Alrighty, then… hit me. I’m a, uh, sort of open book?”

She snorted, shoulders relaxing ever so slightly. “Right, yeah, sure. You don’t know what an open book even looks like.” 

He scoffed, offended, but she continued before he could defend his illiterate honor. “I just wanted to know if… Or, why… haven’t you told the fam yet?” Eugh, boy. “Or, uh, done anything about it? It’s the one thing that doesn’t make sense to me, I guess. I mean, I can understand not coming clean to them yet, especially after what you told me about, uh, tanuki…ies? And their reputation. But, I guess I just would have expected you to run away the moment they took their eyes off you when you were a kid?” She shook her head and waved a hand. “I don’t know, that’s what I think I would’ve done in that situation, but I also just… don’t know your situation at all so—“

“I tried to run, yeah.”

April jolted, looking up to him in surprise. She had to fix her glasses before refocusing on him cautiously. “You… did?”

Leo nodded, fiddling with his hoodie strings. He pulled his hood a little further over his face, as if worried now would be the time someone in the mall crowd would realize he wasn’t a human. If his scales looked a little darker than usual, April didn’t mention it. “Yeah, of course. I didn’t plan to slither my way into their family. I was just trying to get Dee home safe, and then I was gonna leave. Dad grabbed me before I could slip away, and I just kinda realized… y’know, ‘Oh, great, now this guy also thinks Blue’s still alive, whoopsies! My bad,’ heh…”

She nodded, slowly but still with a kind of understanding. Even if it was tentative and awkward. “You hadn’t really… thought that far ahead, huh?”

He snorted humorlessly. “Nope! Gotta one track mind, I swear. Would lose this noggin if it weren’t attached to me! And wouldn’t that be tragic? To lose this handsome face?”

She didn’t speak immediately, just watched him laugh to himself and shove his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. 

Yeah, okay, he was deflecting, she didn’t need to make it so obvious. 

Not planning ahead like that hadn’t been like him at all, even way back then. Leo always had to have a plan A through Z when it came to absolutely anything, because if something happened that he didn’t predict — that he didn’t know exactly what to do and react immediately — it often led to him getting hurt. In the life he unfortunately was saddled with, that outcome could easily escalate to something more than just hurt. 

But then, he never had to look after another person’s wellbeing before. It had always just been him, alone, trying to survive by himself. He never would have expected to have a little toddler tagalong… 

The shifter realized his mistake the minute Splinter wrapped him up in his arms alongside Purple. He vowed to never make that sort of mistake again. Kiri couldn’t afford to. Leo couldn’t afford to. 

Thankfully, it became much easier to do so after integrating (infiltrating, their mind unhelpfully corrected) into the Hamato family. They couldn’t just think about themself anymore, after all. They had a whole team to protect, now.

Sighing, Leo leaned back in his chair until it balanced precariously on the two back legs. He continued to explain, “I tried to get away later in the night, it just… also didn’t work.”

“You got caught?”

He hesitated. “… No. Getting away was the easy part. It was my first Turtle Pile, and Raph had a pretty tight grip on me, but you can get out of pretty much any hold as a little mouse, heh… I had written out a letter and everything, left it right next to Splinter’s head. But…” 

Pausing, Leo thought back to that very first night with the Hamatos. He thought of his careful handwriting, something he had to teach himself from tossed and well used preschool books. Their note had been short and to the point, emphasizing their regret and apology with thick underlines. Begging the father not to hunt them down, promising they had just wanted to help Purple. Swearing they hadn’t hurt Blue. Trying to direct the adult to where they thought the body was, in… in case he wanted to retrieve it.

(They did not offer to lead him there. That was far too dangerous. The father would be way too close. It was bad enough that they had to worry about him following their scent trail now that they had been in his home…)

Leo had gently placed it on Splinter’s pillow, folded as neatly as they could manage. The mutant had been laid out on the floor next to his turtle children. He remembered the sight well. The nicer, thicker blanket had been carefully tucked around the little ones, leaving Splinter with only a pillow he’d pulled from his armchair and a ragged towel thrown over his shoulders. Thankfully his fur was decently thick at the time, considering how close to winter it was. Still, seeing this father curled up around his children, his tail resting across their shells, had been familiar and heartwrenching.

They’d shifted into a rat then (yes, Leo realized the irony of it now), and with a quick, guilty look at the newly broken family, they scurried away, back where they remembered Splinter had brought them through. They headed straight for the exit — at the time, it was only covered by large planks of wood and a dirty sheet of canvas fabric. 

They’d found a crack in the makeshift barricade, squeezed through it, and…

…And then they just… froze. 

Mid-step in the threshold, Kiri had found it impossible to place a single paw down outside of this strangely warm and cozy home in the sewers. 

Leo bit his lip uncertainly in the present, thinking hard on how exactly to describe what he’d felt at the time. He never had to before. He just… accepted it as something inexplicable, or maybe some sort of cowardice, a reluctance to go back to that lonely life — but that didn’t feel right either!

It was something more than that; a strong desire to stay and keep them safe, like his heart had decided this was his family before his mind even considered the selfish idea.

He wasn’t sure. He really didn’t know how to explain it. But that wasn’t the answer that April deserved, so he did his best.

“I just… I couldn’t do it,” Leo tried weakly. “My body froze before I could even get out of the Lair and this… overwhelming feeling of…” He sighed, running his hands down his face. “I don’t know. I don’t know! It was just this desire to stay, or… ugh, no, desire isn’t the right word. It was like I was suddenly obligated to stay. Like I wouldn’t… couldn’t leave them with that grief. I knew exactly how Dee had reacted to Blue’s death, and the idea of the rest of them having to feel that as well actually, like, hurt? Almost physically…? It was like I was suddenly overcome with this duty to protect them.” 

Titan, that wasn’t the right phrasing, either. Leo could see April’s head tilting further the more he talked. He groaned and waved his hands vaguely, as if that could put the words he needed in his mouth. “It was… it was like some kind of warning, or a bad ju-ju omen thing. Just, weird. And it wasn’t the only time I’d felt it, either. Any time I had planned to come clean or run away, this, uhh, wave of wrongness would rush over me, and I wouldn’t be able do it anymore.” 

He looked up to meet April’s eyes. She had a concentrated look on her face, leaning on her elbows and staring through him. Leo backtracked nervously, “Ugh, that probably makes no sense! I don’t know what else to—“

“I believe you,” April interrupted him quickly, shaking her head. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to make you worry. I don’t… understand, necessarily, but I don’t think you’d do anything to hurt them intentionally, or make a decision like this lightly. It could’ve been a trauma response to being alone for so long, just to find that familial comfort again, or… or maybe you just felt like you had to protect them for Blue’s sake! Who knows, the brain is a weird thing.” 

She raised a brow, eyes glinting with just a spark of playfulness. “Or maybe tanukis imprint on people… is that a thing?”

He huffed a surprised laugh. “Y’know, it may come as a surprise to you, but I don’t actually know much about my species. Shocking, I know.”

April smiled, softly this time. “Well, we can figure it all out now, huh?”

Leo blinked, taken aback for a moment before his mouth tilted up to match her expression. “Guess so, O’Neil. Gotta lot to learn.”

“Going to have to go back to that yokai library. Look up ‘turtle-bear hybrids.’”

He grimaced good-naturedly. “Ehh something tells me they don’t have a section for that.”

“‘Tanuki puberty signs.’”

“I unfortunately know exactly where that will go, and it’s hopefully not true.”

“‘Walmart raccoon.’”

Leo let out a noise somewhere between a scoff and a laugh, standing from his chair so fast it screeched on the tile floor. “That is offensive in so many different ways, I’m stopping you now. Let’s go see if the sunset duo finished their game yet. My bet’s on Mikey.”

“Psh, Raph’s the winner, for sure.”

He pointed finger guns her way. “Money where your mouth is! Next pizza’s on the loser!”

“Oh, you’re so on!”

-:(o):-

A few days later, Donnie announced (a bit rudely) that he was doing massive renovations to the new Lair. So, everyone was forced to leave for the day to get away from the noise — except for Raph, who stuck around to help with the heavy lifting. As far as Leo knew, Mikey was out spray painting and Splinter dragged Cass to the Hidden City with him. Or was it the other way around? Who knew with those two. 

Not really having much else to do, Leo snatched his Switch and called April to see if she was free.

For once, his sister wasn’t buried under school work. She readily agreed, thankful for a break.

So, there they sat in her apartment bedroom, in a concentrated silence filled only with soft music from their game. Leo was splayed out belly-down on her bed, chest and chin pressed into a pillow, and April was sitting sideways in her desk chair with her legs kicking idly over the arm rest. The two had a shared Stardew Valley file rightfully called The Punny Farm, where Leon claimed every guy in town and April claimed every girl. To be honest, he loved this save the most out of all of his shared farms, because he never had to fight anyone for whatever man he wanted to woo this time around. 

The fight for Sebastian on the Disaster Farm had been a long, heated, destructive battle. The fact the two of them hadn’t demolished that property entirely (or their respective Switches) had been a small miracle.

(Leon won. Donnie hated the fishing mechanics, so making sashimi everyday quickly won Leo the goth boy’s various hearts. Sebastian wasn’t even his favorite villager — he just really wanted to rub it in Dee’s face.)

All that’s to say, Leo was settled in for a long, relaxing afternoon tending to digital farm animals and absolutely crushing his way through the Skull Caverns. Titan knew he needed the break.

“Oh my god, I forgot Shane’s my bestie now, I’m getting us a blue chicken,” April said an hour into their gaming session. Leo huffed a laugh.

“Go for it, we have plenty of cash.”

She groaned a few seconds later. “Ugh, am I gonna have to buy and sell chicks until I get a blue one? That feels so wrong…”

He raised a brow, looking at her out of the corner of his eyes. “Just look at the top when you’re trying to place them in a coop. It’ll show what chick you’re getting.”

April jerked up in her chair. “What?! How did I never notice that?!”

“I dunno, sounds like you suck at this game, Apples.”

“You shush, Donnie probably had to tell you that!”

“Mikey, actually, but touché.”

They both chuckled lightheartedly. The atmosphere in the apartment was a nice, calm change from their new normal. Leon felt more at ease than he had in months. The initial reintroduction of mystics in his life wasn’t as fun to him as it had been to his brothers, after all. When the family first followed Draxum’s henchmen into the Hidden City, they didn’t understand the severity of the situation like Leo did. They didn’t understand how inconsistent and dangerous yokai could be.

Now, though, they had all settled in much more. And with April in The Know™, things were finally comfortable again. 

Not necessarily great… She pestered him about his plan to come clean to everyone about every other day, but… comfortable. 

Chilling on a digital farm for the first time since the Shredder certainly helped the fact.

“YES,” the human exclaimed after a minute of intensely staring at her screen. Leon laughed as she kicked her feet in excitement. “What do I name her?”

“April, if you do not name a blue chicken after me, I will move your bed into the shed.” This was a very real threat, considering the shed was on the way other side of the farm in such an inconvenient place that they often just ignored its existence entirely. Very unimportant items were stored there, like old weapons and decorations they forgot about. Actually, Leo was pretty sure he’d planted a good dozen pine trees in front of it, too. It was probably hell to get to the front door by now.

The shed was a necessary purchase, he swears. 

Scoffing, April started the strenuous process of typing on the Switch. “Fine, you dramatic bitch. I’m naming her Leon Jr.”

“My child, I’m coming home.”

She snorts, rolling her eyes dramatically. The two of them continued to click away at their gaming consoles for a good few minutes. Leo was still deep in the Caverns, but he knew he’d never reach level 100 on this particular day. He didn’t bring enough food, and he ran out of staircases, unfortunately. Still, he had a few more in-game hours before he’d have to high tail it back to town, so he was trying to—

“Oh my god, what is your name?!”

Leon jolted at the question that was yelled at him so suddenly, jumping to his elbows and nearly dropping his console off the edge of the bed. April had spun her chair around so fast she almost fell out of it, righting herself just to look at him with wide eyes. “Holy crap, I can’t believe I only just realized that!” she said, very loudly, throwing her hands in the air. Thankfully, the one had a good grip on the Switch so it didn’t go flying into the wall. That would be an expensive device for Donnie to replace. “You had a name before Leonardo, right? Before we picked one for you? Oh my god, wait, that’s why you were so excited for us to pick out better names, you didn’t want to be called Blue! I just thought you wanted something more extravagant!”

He opened his mouth to reply, but panic took over her eyes immediately after her words. “Wait wait, is that like, the equivalent of deadnaming you?! Am I asking for your dead name right now?! Shit, have we been misgendering you, too?!”

“April, chill!” He finally interrupted. He couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh. “Geez, girl, you’re panicking over nothing, I swear!”

“Don’t tell me to chill!” she hissed. “My whole world just got flip flopped and I’m worried I’ve been making my brother uncomfortable all these years! Sibling! Sister?! Ack! Whatever!”

He snorted, heart feeling a little warmed by her concern, but… admittedly uncomfortable with the change in topic again. He’s still not used to being able to talk about all of this so openly yet…

“Can you at least let me get my character home?” he asked sheepishly, half looking at the screen still. He had to maneuver his character away from the hoard of mummies still following him. “I gotta lotta shit to sell, Apes. I’m not losing all that because you made me pass out in the mines.”

She squinted at him suspiciously, then huffed and leaned back. “Fine. Hurry your butt up, though.”

Rolling his eyes, Leon sat up and focused back into the game for a bit. He chuckled when it immediately told him the other player was already in bed. It was still a while before he really had to worry about making it back to the farm, but he decided the tension in real life wasn’t worth exploring a few more floors of the mine and just made his way out of the desert. 

In only a few minutes, Leo’s character was walking back into their farmland, quickly dropping any items he didn’t need into the sales box. All the way to his digital bed he could feel April’s eyes on him. It was a bit unsettling, but at least the walk gave him some time to think about what he was meant to say. 

As soon as the screen went dark with sleep, he dropped it unceremoniously to the bed covers and looked up with a raised brow. “Alright, what did you wanna know first?”

“Can I ask what your name is?”

“Leo.”

She glared. “You know what I mean!”

He shrugged with a sly smirk. It wasn’t as strong as usual, but it was there all the same. “Hey, you asked what it is, not what it was.”

“Fine, what was it?”

“I dunno.” He laughed and held up a hand the minute April looked like she was about to yell at him again. “I’m serious! I really don’t remember. I was really young, I… think my dad had called me Kiri? But I honestly couldn’t tell you if that was my name name or just a nickname, or even if it was a nickname based on my name. Who knows? I only recently learned it just means ‘fog’ in Japanese, so it could’ve just been based on appearance.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Leo inwardly cringed, realizing April wouldn’t really know what that meant since she hadn’t exactly seen him yet… But, it seemed she didn’t want to press too far into that side of the conversation right now.

She blinked at him blankly. He could practically see her filing any and all information away in her brain for later. Eventually, she must have decided he was telling the truth. 

Nodding, April crossed her arms and added, “Okay, and is he/him still okay?”

He smiled again, a little more appreciative this time. “Yeah, April, that’s fine. What’s gender to someone who can change it at the snap of a finger, anyway?”

She squinted at him suspiciously. “So if I started using she/her, you’d be fine with that?”

Leo opened his mouth to say the expected “Yeah, duh,” but found himself… pausing. 

Would he be fine with that? 

Sure, he’s shifted into a woman plenty of times, human or otherwise. Especially after ending up in this family, with how often he went out to get food and supplies. Leo had to consider a lot of variables when he’s shifting to hide in plain sight, and gender is obviously a large factor. Blending in sometimes meant playing into stereotypes. It would be slightly more memorable if, for example, a woman was searching the isles of a hardware store, or if a male yokai was in a mystical herb and health shop. 

So, sure, he’s been called “ma’am” by store employees while sneaking out some food and toys for the brothers as a child. He’s experienced his fair share of cat calling on the streets while making his way to a rendezvous spot. He’s heard plenty of awed whispers about who “she” was when casually walking right through Big Mama’s lobby as a pretty yokai. That had never bothered him before. 

But he wasn’t… himself, in those times. 

Those women hadn’t been Leonardo, or even Kiri. They had been in disguise. And disguises sometimes means they had to take on a different character. 

Yet, the idea of April, right now, calling them her “sister” or “gal pal” or anything of a feminine nature?

No, they thought, still surprised by the answer. They wouldn’t like that at all, actually. 

April seemed to see right through him in that moment. She smiled, knowingly and a bit cocky, but still soft and kind in all the ways his big sister often was. “That’s what I thought, mister. You may not have cared before, but that doesn’t mean you can’t care now. So, which is it? He/him? They/them?”

He thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. “Yeah, either of those are fine.”

“Coolio. You can continue to be my little brother.”

His eyes snapped up to meet hers, wide and a little wet (even after everything she knew, April still considered him family. He had assumed so, but hearing her actually say it…), but he tried to play it off with a smirk. “Fair enough… I’ve gotten used to being the gay brother, anyhow.”

That got a surprised laugh from his sister. “Wow! You just wanna be fruity then?”

“What can I say? I’m pretty damn fruity without even trying.”

“Ugh, ain’t that the truth?”

“Says the woman who was just gushing over a female video game character.”

“Maru is an absolute gem, okay, leave her out of this.”

The two of them laughed together for a while longer, any residual tension leaking from his body gradually. As they continued to bicker and tease each other, Leo couldn’t help but think he got so lucky to have April on his side. She really was the best friend he could ever ask for.

-:(o):-

“Holy crap, and no one thought this was weird at all?!”

“I mean, no one really noticed…”

“Leo! Holding these two photos together, you are like two totally different turtles!”

Leo shrugged, looking between the two photographs April had shoved in his face. One was of Blue and Donnie when they were little, smiling gleefully at the camera with cake smeared all over their faces. The other was taken by April a year or so afterward, with Leo posing like Lou Jitsu on their old couch. Side by side, sure, you could see the differences between him and Blue. Leo’s scales were darker, less saturated, and his stripes were a bit more sharp, not to mention the yellow pads on his hands and feet, but otherwise…

“You have to remember,” he raised a brow at her over the lip of the polaroids, “Splints has pretty bad eyesight to this day, and the others were literal children. Aren’t there parents that convince their child their dog did not die, even though the new dog is a completely different breed?”

April dropped the pictures and threw her hands in the air. “That’s not the point! How have they not looked at these over the last few years?! It’s not as if the pictures have been totally inaccessible!”

He snorted, bending down to pick up the multiple family photos she had tossed to the floor. “Why would they need to, Apes? It’s not like they…” He paused, guilt eating away at his gut. “...It’s not like they suspected anything was wrong…”

She looked between him and the photos in his hands again, sighing softly. “Yeah… but… still. Ugh, I don’t know. Your eyes aren’t even the same color, what the heck?”

Leo took a short, calming breath before schooling his face back into something more loose and casual. “Eh, that’s the one thing I can’t change, actually.”

April looked up at him in surprise. “Wait, really?”

“Nope,” he shrugged, popping the ‘p’ dramatically. “I’ll always have the same eye color. I can change the shape, size, location, number, and even the sclera, but the actual iris will forever be golden.”

“Okay, first off, how the hell do you know the word ‘sclera’ but not ‘nigh’? Secondly,” April once again glanced down at the pictures, squinting between Blue and Leo repeatedly. “...Splints really didn’t notice that?” 

He huffed, an amused smirk crawling back on his face. “I mean, he did. The kid was named Blue for a reason, hard to miss when that changes. But I think Pops just brushed it off as that one baby thing? Where their eyes are blue at birth but darken later, or… something like that. Right? Humans are weird…”

“What?!” April couldn’t help but laugh as well. “God, he’s such a dork. That’s not something that happens to toddlers.”

“To be fair, they were mutant super soldier toddlers, so… normal rules don’t always apply.”

Rolling her eyes, April sorted through the old family photos more purposefully, scanning each of them intensely. Her mouth quirked into a half smile every so often, her gaze sweet and enamored with every bit of their childhood. Leo sat back on the couch with a little bounce, careful not to crunch any of the stray polaroids. 

Donnie had been in charge of going through these boxes when they got to their new Lair. It wasn’t an imperative task — placed far, far behind fixing their running water, electricity, and heat — but a necessary one nonetheless. It had all been tossed around in the Shredder attack, leaving many damaged and all of them unorganized. 

There was only one man for the meticulous job of organizing pictures in chronological order, and that man was obviously Donnie. 

… Donnie wasn’t done with that job, of course. Far from it. He briefly organized them by year when they first brought the boxes to the new Lair, when he was too overwhelmed to do much else, and he hasn’t touched them since. So, yeah, they probably shouldn’t be messing up his rhythm, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him!

He wasn’t even home right now, having run off to the Hidden City earlier in the day without much of a word. Assuming he never checked the cameras later, Leo figured it was probably fine.

Letting out a long, thoughtful breath, April sat back on her feet and stared at a slightly charred photo of Blue. This is part of why they were here, of course. She wanted to see pictures of the turtle toddler, and the progression of Leo’s form over the years. Leo wasn’t really sure where her intense curiosity came from, but there wasn’t anything that could keep a determined April O’Niel from her research.

While looking at Blue’s picture with a somber smile, April whispered a soft, “He looks different now. Not much, but...”

Leo perked up suddenly, leaning forward to look over her shoulder. “Yeah?”

“Yeah…” Her thumb rubbed along the edge of Blue’s smile. “I can’t really see much of him when we talk, because he’s a spirit and he… looks like one. Like Karai was. Y’know, glowy and kinda greenish-blue. I honestly didn’t realize his eyes were really that color until just now, seeing him here. He was cute.”

Leo hummed. That familiar feeling tightened in his stomach again, slithering inside his shell like a sick snake. He hated seeing the child that he had basically replaced as nothing more than a transparent, never aging ghost. He supposed it was a bit of a selfish thought, but… Leo’s glad he only recently found out Blue has been following him. He didn’t know how he’d react to seeing the small spirit five, ten years ago. Probably not well…

Seeing Blue in the fight against the Shredder, his hands not big enough to properly wrap around the Hamato spear handle… it was heartwrenching enough as it was. 

But now…

(There’s so much they wanted to say, so much they wanted to ask. Why wasn’t he mad at them? Why forgive them? Why follow them around instead of his actual family? How much had he seen?

…Was he there on that day, after rescuing Todd? Did he see Leo at their very worst, see how far they’d really go, and yet still chose to admire them? To forgive them…?)

April looked up when he had gone silent leaning over her shoulder. She stared at him for a moment, before looking back down to Blue’s photo. “… I’ll have to help you two meet again one of these days. Properly,” she finally said, soft, and once again unbearably kind. 

Jerking back, Leo looked at her with wide, confused eyes. “What?”

“You and Blue! I’ve been able to talk to him and Gram Gram a few times now, and I know you guys could do it too. It’ll probably take a while to teach you, though. You’ve never liked meditation very much… which, I mean, me neither but—“

“You would seriously do that?” Leo asked breathlessly. 

She paused, setting the photo down with all the others. Then, she turned towards him directly to grab his face between both of her palms. It was a firm, but still gentle grip, one that spoke of her fierce care and dedication to her family. Leo almost teared up just thinking about it. “Leonardo, of course I would do that. I would do anything for you dorks. Plus, something tells me you and Blue are way overdo for an honest conversation. And a hug or two. I know for a fact he’s dying to be able to talk to you without the life-or-death bullshit, and I also happen to know that you don’t believe me when I say he doesn’t hate your guts. Seems like a win-win: he gets to really meet who he views as a literal hero, and you can hear exactly that from his own mouth.”

Okay, now he really was tearing up. 

“April…”

“Uhp-up-up!” She bapped his nose with one hand, glaring at him teasingly. “I don’t wanna hear any more self deprecation today! The plan is already set in motion. I’ll start looking into meditation classes online or… I don’t know, see if WikiHow has a page on how to teach someone to meditate when their mind doesn’t want to stay still. It was hard enough teaching myself, and I was in a bit of a hurry to get my answers… But! I’m sure I can figure out how to teach a stubborn ass like you, too.”

Laughing wetly, Leo smiled and leaned into her palm. “Sounds like a deal, Apes…”

“Good.” She patted his cheek before pulling away. Then, raising a brow and giving him a look out of the corner of her glasses, she added, “… after you tell the others.”

Groaning, Leon collapsed dramatically onto the couch. “UGH, I know, I know! I will!”

“You will!”

“I will!”

“You just have to get it over with, Leon.”

“God, it’s so much harder than that, April. This isn’t just something I can blurt out at the dinner table!”

She snorted lightly. “No, that’s probably not the best plan. You’ll have to set up an official Hamato family meeting. With me, of course. I can help ease the pain.”

“Yeah… Thanks.”

“No problem. Just do it soon. You have another motive for it now! Spiritual guidance! Reconciliation! Finding inner peace with your little shadow via weird, mystic ghost shit! Imagine I’m dangling a treat in front of you like a dog.” 

He snickered lightly. Leave it to his big sister to treat something as big as meeting Blue like it was some simple prize to be won. 

“I will, I… I promise.”

Golden eyes turned back to the plethora of family photographs splayed out on the table. His heart clenched.

“I will.”

-:(o):-

Donnie didn’t come home until way late in the night. 

April had just gone to bed not ten minutes earlier, after Leon and Raph convinced her that she may as well sleep over now. They didn’t have a guest bedroom yet, so Leo humbly offered up his own. She helped him set it up, after all. She may as well steal it for a night.

The human was so dang tired from hanging out in the Lair all day, playing games and watching stupid movies with them after putting away the family photos, she hadn’t even put up much of a fight. One warning text to her parents, a quick change of clothes Leo may or may not have portaled in from a Kohl’s, and the shifter really only had to push her down on the bed for her to decide arguing wasn’t worth it. It was pretty damn funny, honestly. She even stole his unicorn plush. What a mooch.

With his sister taken care of, Leo set off to make himself a simple bed of pillows and blankets on the floor next to her. April was hogging everything that he had in his own room, aside from one pillow gracefully shoved off the bed, so he planned on grabbing some cushions from the couch and went to see what Raph had readily available in his own room. Hopefully the snapper hadn’t immediately gone to sleep too, but Leo was far more comfortable waking him up than he was with disturbing April.

It was while he was carrying the cushions back to his room that Donnie walked past him. Leon nearly ran right into the softshell, stumbling to a stop and just barely catching the top of his cushion tower before it all came toppling down. “Yeesh, Dee, in a rush?”

Donnie didn’t respond.

He didn’t even look at Leo. The only sign that he even noticed his presence was the fact that Dee had to step around the shifter, like Leo was a mere obstacle in his path. Then, without a word, Donnie just readjusted a small stack of books piled in his arms, and made a bee line for his laboratory. 

Leo blinked in confusion, then jolted once again when a purple drone zipped by him next. It only took him a moment to register who exactly that was. He lit up immediately. “Shelly?! Holy shit, since when did Dee finish building you?”

Unlike his creator, Shelldon stopped in his path and spun around. He also had a few books held in robotic claws, much thinner than what Donnie was carrying considering his current physical body was a bit smaller than usual. Leo grinned at the turtle drone, tilting his head to the side. “So you guys went to the library? No wonder Dee was gone all day. Nerd probably buried himself in all those books. You guys didn’t get banned again, right?”

… The LED screens that made up Shelldon’s eyes looked at Leo for a hesitating second, the pupils glancing him up and down. “No,” he said finally.

Leo waited for any further explanation, but it seemed that was all the chatty robot wanted to give him.

Great. Okay. Why was everyone being weird right now? 

“Uh, right…” The shifter glanced down the subway. Donnie was long gone. The genius had been a little flakey in general lately, sure, but not to this degree. The rest of them had chalked his silent treatment up to stress and overworking. Looking back at where Shelldon awkwardly hovered, he wondered if Donnie finished a small drone body for his son just as a stress relief project or something.

His arms were starting to get tired holding these stupid pillows. Leo shifted them in his grip and gave Shelldon a soft grin. If no one else was going to be normal, he might as well do it for them. “Well, I guess I get why you haven’t been as responsive in texts recently… I sent you a lot of banger memes, didn’t even get a fire reaction from you. Ass.” He snickered. The action itself felt heavy with how thick the awkward tension was in the room. “Jeez, can’t believe Tello didn’t tell us you were back in physical form. It’s good to see ya.”

“Yup.”

Okay, sure, Shelldon’s a robot, but c’mon, since when were his responses so damn robotic?!

“... Cool, alright,” Leon squinted at the robot worriedly. “You’d tell me if something was wrong, right? You two aren’t in any trouble?”

“Nope.” Shelldon paused for a moment before adding a suspiciously more enthusiastic, “All good here, bro! Sorry, uh, just. Busy. With. Stuff.”

They stared at each other for a quiet second. Shelldon wasn’t able to sweat, but Leo could see it dripping from his processor anyway. Metaphorically, of course. “Rrright…” he drawled. “Well, this has been absolutely awkward, I’m gonna go to bed and doom scroll until my body shuts down. You guys have fun with. Whatever suspicious activities you’re up to. I guess?”

Taking that as a dismissal, Shelldon said a rushed,“Yep, cool, g’night!” before zooming off into the darkness of the Lair. He disappeared around the corner in a split second, leaving the slider there with his thoughts.

He’d have to talk to Raph tomorrow, Leo thought with a pinch to his eyebrows. Something wasn’t quite right, and he was worried Donnie might not be taking care of himself as well as they all thought. The family had been pretty good about keeping their brother on a somewhat healthy schedule, divvying up the roles of food, sleep, and mental health amongst them all, but it just seemed like the softshell was getting worse by the day despite their efforts.

He sighed. Hopefully Shelly would make sure Donnie at least got some sleep tonight. Leo would shoot the AI a text after he finished making his bed, just in case.

With that final thought, Leo walked back to his train cart, eager to set these stupid cushions down.

-:(o):-

According to the weatherman April saw on the news this morning, today would be the last warm day in New York for the year. After this, temperatures would start dropping, reflecting the autumn season more and more until winter weather started in November, most likely. 

Because of this, she decided it was a great time for everyone to take a break. They had been working on rebuilding the Lair for almost a month now, and they were all tired. Great progress had been made in the last week — everyone had rooms now, including a new spare, all of which had been almost completely remodeled and decorated to something more comfortable for each of them. Their kitchen has been set up to Mikey’s standards, the living room furnished and ready for movie nights, and the old public bathrooms had been cleaned and remodeled with showers and a good sized bath tub. Everything was now fully functional for all of the Hamato’s needs. 

All that was really left was some fine tuning! Well, and a few rooms that weren’t immediately crucial, like their game room/arcade, a fully stocked medbay, the dojo, and a skate room — the last of which would be the hardest to find room for. There’s not really any large areas in their abandoned subway station for it…

It may have to be a whole new space, which creates a new series of problems regarding water and power lines, structure, general construction, and, obviously, keeping it under the radar. 

Needless to say, they still had their hands full. They needed a good day off to take a break from all the moving and maintenance. 

They had a great time! Most of it was spent together, taking on New York City as the chaotic family they were. They got pizza, went to the pier, visited some markets in the Hidden City they hadn’t seen before, and even played some old fashioned basketball once it got darker. Hell, Mikey convinced Splinter to join their teams too! Which, alongside Sunita and Cassandra, led to some pretty interesting games and only mild property damage. 

All that was missing was Draxum’s boring drivel from the sidelines, given that he’s on some work trip or whatever.

But, now that it was officially nightfall, the group split off. The boring adults headed home (Splinter was apparently missing his shows, and Suntia had work with her father in the morning), while Cass insisted on playing late night laser tag, which Mikey was all too happy to join. That of course meant Raph would want to come to keep an eye on the two of them (and also kick their butts at the game). 

And Donnie… just kinda left. 

He was probably a sore loser, considering his basketball team didn’t win. As usual, of course. One day, Dee will figure out how to play correctly. That day just wasn’t today. 

(It didn’t help that they put him on Cassandra’s team. Their former enemy had all the spirit, but none of the skill, considering she’d never actually played before. But hey, it was funny watching the two of them struggle to communicate while Leo and Mikey tried desperately to hold it together.. 

It was the most lively April had seen Donnie in a while. That was a relief to all of them. Donnie needed this outing much more than any of them.)

All in all, that left Leo and April, once again, to themselves. Neither were ready to call it a night, but also didn’t really have the energy to go search for a new activity. Instead, Leo teleported them off into the neighboring forest where they found a small cliffside and just… chilled. Watched the stars for a bit. 

God knew Leo needed a moment of relaxation. 

Plus, it was just so nice talking to her brother recently. Gone were all those walls and polished masks! She felt like she was actually talking to Leonardo now, instead of any of his many, many personalities, and she wouldn’t trade that for the world. 

“Alright alright,” April said, kicking her feet out over the ledge, “so you're super sneaky because of this whole shapeshifter thing, yeah?”

“Yup,” Leon replied. 

“Because you can turn into other people and casually walk around amongst a crowd.”

“I mean, ‘casually’ is a strong word. Yokai have a few methods of spotting shapeshifters that I have to account for… But for the most part, yes.”

She nodded fiercely, squinting at her shoes but really looking far past them. “So, like, what all can you turn into then?” she asked. “Do you have limits? Beyond the eyes, I mean. ‘Cause I’m not gonna lie, that’s a pretty OP power, Leo. There’s so much you could do with that! Have you ever thought of impersonating someone?” She jumped excitedly, eyes wide with wonder. “Oh my god, could you sneak into some places for me and get evidence of malpractice?! There are a few companies around here that I’d LOVE to bust for the shit they do, and I’m pretty sure there’s a lab in my school that’s making— AHHH!”

April flinched away violently from what appeared to be herself, sitting right next to her. This other-April sat casually with her legs drooping off the side of the cliffside too, kicking them with a shit eating grin that was so familiar, real-April didn’t need to see the golden eyes to know exactly who this was. 

“LEO!” she yelled, punching her double in the shoulder. “What the hell, man! I could’ve— You— What if I fell?!”

“I would’ve caught you,” he scoffs in her voice what the fuck. “How could I pass up on the perfect jumpscare, April? You would have done the exact same!”

“Not on the edge of a CLIFF!”

He waves a hand. “It’s fiiine, girl, don’t sweat it!”

April choked on a laugh. “Oh my god, do not say that in my voice, please. That is so disturbing.”

Leo grins again. It looks foreign on that face, which would probably be creepy in any other circumstance. “What? I’m totes fer-real, babe. Bro. Like, L O L, you feel me? Bitch, I’m, like? So fab. Let me cook. Six-seven, whatever that means—”

April shoved her hand into his face, covering his mouth and all the dumb words coming out of it. “Please, I am begging you to stop.”

“Oh. My. God. Becky. Look. At the size. Of her—”

“STOP.”

They laughed together for a while, the sound syncing together way too well and only making them laugh harder. Leo looked so at ease, showing off his true mystics so openly. It was such a relief to see, even as weird as this situation was. 

“Geez, you changed way too easily,” she accused through her snickering. “You’ve absolutely done this before. I don’t like that.”

“Puh-lease, I haven’t shifted into you guys at all, aside from maybe trying to replicate some of the turtle traits growing up.” He rolled his eyes, but then that human face twisted into something mischievous again. “I have used it to prank you guys sometimes, though…”

“What the what?! Are you serious?!”

“Yup!” He snickered as she slapped his shoulder again. “Been a spider in Mikey’s room a few times, just to freak him out. You have no idea how hard it is to keep it together when he can’t find it later. I’ve helped him tear apart his whole room looking for it once. And that one pigeon that Donnie swears has it out for him?”

April gasped. “That’s you?!”

That grin on not-her-face was down right evil. “Guilty as charged.”

“Oh my god, Leo! We tease him for that all the time! We just— There was no way the same pigeon has been alive for a decade, with its soul purpose being just… pissing Dee off!” 

“Well, you were right: there really was no way.”

She cackled, forced to lean back and lay down so she wouldn’t just laugh herself off the edge of the cliff. “That’s so mean!”

He shrugged, flopping back beside her. “I got a lot of free pizza from it.”

“Yeah, because you stole it out of his hands.”

“Exactly.”

“You are horrible,” April said between laughs. 

“Gotta keep myself entertained somehow.”

As soon as they both calmed down again, two Aprils staring up at the starry sky, a slow, dawning look of realization passed over the real human girl. Squinting her eyes and furrowing her brow, his sister slowly turned to look him in the eyes and grumbled, “And when was the last time you pranked me like this? Hm?”

Leo flinched from her gaze, but laughed it off. “Oh please, Apes, I’m not dumb enough to pull that crap on you. At least, not by myself.”

One brow shot up. “Mhm. You sure about that?” She scanned over his figure, searching for any of the tells she has learned to spot over the years that would call him out for lying to her face. Unfortunately, he was currently wearing her face. It was much harder to spot these tells on her own body. That was something she would have to think about later in greater detail. There was no way this big sister would let that slide, for Leo’s sake and her own, even if she had to study him in every form he can swap into all over again. 

However… Leo had one other tell that was completely separate from body language. One she could rely on ninety percent of the time. His desire to sound cunning with “fancy book words” has been his downfall countless times…

He smiled reassuringly, convincingly, but sealed his fate with a simple, “Indubitably. Todd Scout’s honor, O’Neil.”

…

“LEO, YOU ASSHOLE, WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

“OW WAIT APRIL, STOP—“

They tussled on the cliffside well into the night. And April only fell off the edge once, thank you very much.

She loved this dork so much, quirks and all.

(She really, really hoped the others would too.)

-:(o):- 

“When are you going to tell them?”

“I’m…still thinking about it. Soon.” 

“If you’re having that weird feeling again—“

“No, actually. Haven’t felt like that in a while, even. Strange, huh? Spent years feeling so incredibly overwhelmed just at the thought of them knowing, and now that I’m planning on it, it’s nothing but the regular ol’ anxiety! Heh…”

“You’re stalling, Leo.”

“April, I’m not, I swear, I— I have a real reason. This time.”

“… They deserve—“

“I know. Trust me, I’ve known for years. And I really, really am ready to tell them the truth now, before things get too bad… and that’s two whole ‘really’s. It’s just…”

“Just?”

“… Donnie”

“Oh…”

“Yeah. He’s been really stressed lately. Overwhelmed. I know most of that is because there’s so much he has to do to make this lair safe, and it’s really only something he’s able to do, no matter how much we try to help him! And with all this sudden change, losing everything he’d built, and Gram Gram… he’s… prickly right now. I don’t want to drop another bombshell on his shoulders quite yet.”

“… He has been acting extra cold lately.”

“Right? I don’t know what crawled up his shell and died, but he’s holing himself away and won’t even let me distract him. Especially me, actually. I thought he was getting better, but this last week… It’s weird and I just… I really don’t like it right now.”

…

“You know there never will be a perfect moment for this, right? You’re going to keep waiting for the best time to bring it up, and it’s never going to come. I hate it too, but you just have to do it and hope for the best."

“… I know. Soon. I promise, April.”

-:(o):-

Anyone who enjoys cold weather is absolutely insane and plain wrong in April's entirely unbiased eyes. Insane and stupid. And no, she will not be taking criticism — not until she is wrapped up in a million blankets and can feel her toes again.

“UGH," she growled, hunched up to tightly she wished she could just disappear into this stupid jacket. "This sucks!”

Leo snorted softly, watching his sister kick at the frosty ground as she rubbed her arms furiously. The two of them were walking through the alleyway near her apartment complex after a short, impromptu mission late at night. Since the weather was just starting to cool down, that unfortunately meant nighttime was even colder. Both of them were bundled up in thicker coats. 

Because of the chill, April refused to let Leo just portal her straight into her bedroom. Apparently, the heating in her apartment had been busted since late last spring, and their landlord had procrastinated fixing it all summer long. Now the problem was finally starting to rear its ugly, icy head, and the O’Niel’s were only one of many residents suffering from it. 

Her dad and multiple of their neighbors are fighting the asshole on it, of course. They should have it fixed in the next few days, before the winter weather really hit. And if not, April may just be desperate enough to introduce her mutant turtle brothers to her parents very abruptly just to get Donnie in there to fix it instead.

A heating system that had unnecessary weaponry additions was better than freezing to death. 

In other words: no, Leo, do not open a portal from the top of the Metro Tower directly into April’s already cold bedroom. Trying to keep it enclosed and as warm as possible was incredibly important to her, thank you very much. 

And you know what, don't portal her to the fire escape either! She'd probably fall off now that she was so tired from the fight, dammit. Cold, tired, sore, annoyed, stressed — April O'Neil was not having a good night, okay?

So, Leo portaled to the alley next to her apartment building — exactly where he picked her up for the mission in the first place. Now, he’s sticking around simply to escort her to her window, for whatever reason. 

Don’t get her wrong; she appreciates the gesture, but it was a little insulting. She was more than able to make the rest of the walk to her warm-ish room by herself. With her enchanted bat and ninja-like reflexes, April could take on any stupid villain or thug that tried to get in between her and her bed, by herself! She entirely expected Leo to just drop her off and head home. She didn’t need her sort-of-turtle friend to hold her hand all the way to the fire escape balcony, thank you very much!

… Okay, yeah, the cold is making April unreasonably cranky, she will admit. It was sweet that Leo wanted to be sure she made it home alright. To be fair, they do have a lot of enemies. 

She sighed, glaring at the way her breath fogged around her. Leo helped her up the fire escape ladders, which, admittedly, was a small blessing. She really didn’t want to remove her hands from her pockets for even a second. Especially not to grab the frozen metal rungs of a rickety ladder. Ugh. 

As they neared her apartment's floor (why do they have to live so far up, dammit?! It's not like they have a view!), Leo looked at her with a little bit more concern than she expected. He still had that amused smirk, but it was tense and betrayed by the way his eyes squinted and scanned her shivering form. “You sure you’ll be okay, Apes? You can still stay the night with us, you know…”

She groaned. “As much as I’d love that, my parents already think I went to bed… If they see that I’m not there in the morning before school, they’ll freak out.”

He hummed halfheartedly, climbing up the next ladder and reaching out to help her again. “Okay, well, I’ll try and find our mini heater and bring it to you in the morning, at least. I know Pops has it somewhere. I’ll pry it from him so you can have some warmth.”

Smiling, April bumped shoulders with him appreciatively. “Thanks, Leon, that would be amazing. At least then I can get my homework done without my fingers falling off.” She wiggled her fingers dramatically, gaining a chuckle from her brother. 

It only took one look at her bedroom window for all that joy to be sucked from her body. Apparently, it had gotten caught at the bottom when she rushed to close it earlier, leaving a sizable gap where the edge lay crooked in its tracks. April’s room had been completely vulnerable to the frigid air outside for the last however many hours she’d been out beating up a worm mutant.

“God dammit,” she hissed, running forward to jerk the window open and hop through. Sure enough, it was just as cold in here as it was on the balcony. Her shoulders slouched miserably, a chill shuddering through her body. The feeling almost brought frustrated tears to her eyes. “Dammit! Ugh, that’s just my luck…”

Leo swiftly crawled in through the window after her, his face pinched in concern. He made sure to close it quietly behind him — not that it would do much help now. April appreciated the gesture anyway. Best keep in whatever miniscule heat they could from their own bodies, she supposed. “You sure you don’t want to come over?” he offered again, his voice tight and hands fidgety. “I can teleport you back early, we could throw Dee’s heated blanket over your bed until then…”

She groaned, sitting down on her bed with her arms crossed. “No… it’s fine, I’ll… ugh! I’ll deal with it. I’ll just sleep in my jacket, I guess. Or move to the couch. Maybe Dad left the good blanket out there… and I bet Mayhem will come out if I try to call for him?” That last bit was said more like a question, considering the little yokai hated this just as much as she did. It was a fifty-fifty chance that he was curled up between her parents right now, or teleported to Mikey’s bed long ago. The traitor…

That didn’t seem to ease his concerns at all. “April, seriously. I’m not… I don’t really want to leave you here like this…”

Well, that just wouldn’t do. He shouldn’t have to fuss over her right now. Taking a deep breath, April mustered up a little smile for him. “I’ll be fine, Lee… Thank you for taking me home.”

He still stared at her, an odd, shaky worry creasing his eyes. His amber gaze looked her up and down again, scanning over how her hands trembled before shifting to where her comforter was bundled up at the foot of her bed, exposing the inner bedsheets to the cold. April tucked her hands between her thighs to try and hide her shivers, but with every breath fogging up her vision, she knew it didn’t do much good. Clearly, he didn’t like what he saw. 

It was rare to see Leo so openly upset like this. He’s usually the type to brush off problems with a joke and try to lighten the mood. They all knew he cared, of course, he just dealt with it through humor, and it usually worked.

So watching his face go through so many emotions all at once, every bit of that previous gusto long since melting away, his hands twitching in something other than a chill, it made her feel oddly guilty. Her little brothers did not need to worry about her like this. She’d be fine! She just wasn’t a cold kinda gal. April much preferred to be hot and sweaty than cold and shivering. They often joked that she was the cold blooded one in the family. 

That didn’t mean she’d freeze to death or anything. It wasn’t that cold. It was just bound to be a long night. Well, longer.

April tried her best to brush it off, not wanting to burden him any more. God knew this kid had enough on his shoulders right now. “Serously, it’s okay! You can go home, Leo. I know you don’t like the cold much either—“

It happened so quickly. 

One moment, she was looking into the amber eyes of her brother, framed in blue, red, and green, boring into her own with such care and worry it made her heart ache. 

Then, one blink later, and his whole form simply melted away.

April was a journalist at heart. Obviously, when Leo had first mentioned what kind of yokai he was, she had looked it up immediately. Tanuki — the non-mystical animals — were smaller critters no heavier than twenty-five pounds. She wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of that was their fur, too, from how thick it looked in the pictures online. When she imagined what a yokai version of that would look like, it was usually a bipedal, round, bear-like person, maybe her height, with a cute snout and rounded ears.

Now, she realized just how far off she really was. Apparently, that witch DNA of his really overroad the fluffy, raccoon-like features.

His scales faded into thick, dark smoke, curling around his figure as he took tentative steps toward her. April couldn’t help but gasp as it engulfed his entire figure, winter coat and all, until he was just a shapeless cloud of fog approaching her. It expanded, licking at her bedroom ceiling. Then, finally, two golden orbs emerged from the darkness, followed quickly by cute little ears, a pointed snout, and a longer face.

From there, the smoke took shape. Paws, legs, a large, thick body, and a swaying tail behind it. Suddenly, there was a very, very big tanuki standing in her apartment bedroom, its fur made completely out of an ever dancing dark smoke.

April could only watch in wonder as this creature clambered onto the bed with her. It curled around her body, gently nudging the girl to lay into its shifting fur — which, honestly, didn’t look like fur at all. It was far softer than she’d expected, feeling exactly how everyone would expect a cloud to feel like, but with a solid form underneath it. A little stunned, April let the tanuki shuffle her further onto her bed, tail laying in her lap and padded paws holding her hands tightly.

This… This was Leo. Actually Leo. And Leo was currently curling up around her like some big, warm, weighted blanket. 

Emphasis on warm. This was such a stark contrast to the frigid air of New York. Instinctively, she leaned into it. 

“Leo…?” April whispered, taken completely by surprise and still in a sort of awe. It was hard to connect this elegant creature with her little brother, if she hadn’t watched the transformation with her own eyes. She stared hard at the paws clasped around her fingers, watching the dark fur shift and sway around her skin. Even his paw pads felt soft to the touch.

When she looked up, it was directly into wide, glowing yellow eyes. Even without any pupils or sclera, it was still easy to pick out the nervous tilt and slight furrow between his brows.

Even without the green and red scales, it was easy to see Leonardo in that look alone.

“Leo…” she said again, with much more certainty. Gently, she pulled her hands out of his paws and reached up to run her fingers through the smoke of his cheek. “What… What’s wrong, Lee?”

He hesitated, eyes narrowing and ears folding backward. For a moment, she wondered if he could even speak like this. In just the light from her window, it didn’t look as though he even had a mouth.

After a long moment, however, the unmistakable voice of her brother still managed to reach her ears, “I just… don’t like seeing you cold…” His head ducked just slightly, tilting towards her and pushing her hands closer to their combining body heat. Anxiety swirled in his gaze like a whirlpool, along with something else April couldn’t quite name. 

It took her a few seconds to process, but when his words finally clicked, an uneven mix of guilt and sorrow seeped into her chest like water in soil. 

“Oh my god,” she breathed. “I hadn’t even thought… I’m so sorry, Leo… Geez, no wonder you don’t like… you…” She fumbled with her words. There was a miniscule flinch in Leo’s eyes anyway.

Blue had died in the cold. Donnie would have, too, had Leo not stepped up.

As much as Blue paints Leonardo as the hero that kept Purple warm, fed, and safe, it would have been beyond traumatizing for a child to have to fear for another’s life after who-knows-how-long of being completely alone — to have witnessed a toddler die and suddenly feel entirely responsible for another one. 

That fear had to be ingrained in Leo’s mind. Suddenly, all the snow days that Leo mother-henned them so much he wouldn't even let Raph leave without at least two layers on made so much more sense.

She hadn’t even considered…

“I’m sorry,” April said again, pulling him close in her arms. “I promise, Lee, if it was that bad, I absolutely would’ve told you. I’m just tired and frustrated and maybe a tad bit dramatic, I swear.”

“You’re still cold…”

“Oh, I’m fine.” She squeezed him, resting her chin on his head. “I got the warmest blanket in New York right now, anyways!”

Leo huffed, his tail twitching. “Don’t let Dee hear you say that,” he muttered. “He’ll take it as a challenge.”

“Dammit. You’re right. He’d burn my apartment down trying to make a hotter blanket.”

“Your neighbors would probably thank you.”

She snorted, patting his neck and leaning back further into his side. “Shit, a bonfire would be awesome right now.”

“Could make some indoor s’mores in the microwave.”

“Ugh, don’t tempt me…”

Silence fell between them, settling over the two like a thin blanket, and April basked in the quiet warmth enveloping her body. Even after her shivers died down and her bed had long since matched their combined body heat, neither of them moved. She had to go to school in roughly five hours, and her parents were likely to check in on her by then. April should probably tell her shadowy brother to leave now... but she found she really didn’t want to.

April was comfortable and beyond tired — physically, mentally, and emotionally. Judging by the deep sigh Leo let out as his body relaxed even more around her, he was too.

Forget it. Her alarm was already set, and if it didn’t wake her up, it would definitely wake up the nervous insomniac cuddled into her side. Surely, her parents wouldn’t come in unless she slept in too late…

After everything that had happened, both tonight and the last few weeks? The world could fuck off for a few hours. They deserved a little sleepover.

-:(o):-

When the annoyingly loud chimes of her alarm went off way too early in the morning, Leonardo was already long gone. For a moment, as April sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she wondered if it was all just a dream. She was pretty out of it last night…

However, as soon as she had her glasses back on, that thought was quickly put away. A bright blue heated blanket was thrown over her comforter, plugged in and still toasty. A familiar space heater was turned on right next to her bed, as if set up to fend off the chill from April’s side. There was even a thick blanket pinned to the wall with ninja stars, covering the window in order to keep any bit of heat inside the room as best as possible. 

And there on her nightstand, still fresh and steaming, was a hot cup of coffee in her favorite mug from the Lair. April picked it up with a grateful smile, peeling off the sticky note from its ceramic side.

“Thank you.”

-:(o):-

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.: apes you leaving soon?

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.: plz tell me you’re leaving soon

FlaminHomeRun: Just got outta class, yeah. Was heading to the science building to bust some crazy experiment they’re working on. Was just about to text Donnie to clear their cams and make my life easier lol 

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.: rain check dude

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.: lair now

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.: asap

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.: youre the closest one rn everyone else is out

FlaminHomeRun: omw what’s weong 

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.: it’s dee 

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.: he won’t listen to me

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.: I’m hopin he’ll listen to you