Chapter Text
The light evening breeze that brushed his face brought with it the air of possibility. He breathed it all in.
Crouching on the edge of the rooftop, he took in the sounds, the smells. Even in Manhattan, spring was taking hold of whatever curated nature was growing between cement buildings. It had been a few days now that the days were growing longer. Soon, night time would be far too fleeting and time would pass way too fast between sundown and dawn. He hated that. He resented that he’d have to spend less time with-
“Leo! Come on, bro! We’re heading home!”
He turned his head to look at Mikey, waving him to follow, as Raph and Donnie were already running several rooftops away, having decided the night is too still for action and therefore perfect for a night in. Leo closed his eyes and sighed. He didn’t like lying to his family, he didn’t even think he was that good at it. They were bound to grow suspicious eventually, but he tried to keep his secret affairs sporadic and hoped no one would decide to follow him wherever he was going.
“You go ahead, Mikey. I just need to… I’ll have one final look around. Just to be safe.”
Mikey shook his head smiling. “And that’s why you’re the leader”, he said, clearly more convinced than his older brothers would be once he caught up to them. “I’ll save you a slice of pizza!” He yelled as he lunged and jumped off the roof, disappearing from view. Leo already knew there would be nothing but pizza crusts when he got home, but he didn’t care. His stomach was tied into a painful knot anyway and by the time he got home, he’d probably just be too exhausted to do anything but sleep.
He grabbed his phone from his belt pocket and looked at the screen. 21:53. It was almost time. She didn’t like when he kept her waiting. His heart fluttered with anticipation. Taking one deep breath to calm his nerves, he made his way towards their unofficial meeting point, at the top of the Byerly Building.
As he landed on the roof, he treaded around carefully and drew his sword. He couldn’t tell if Karai was there already, but she loved a sneak attack and she was damn good at it too. He wanted to hold his ground and outsmart her this time. He had studied her moves and was beginning to grow familiar with her game, but she was still skilled in ways he’d never be. Her slender form allowed her to creep from the tightest corners and hide just as easily, her light footsteps could go undetected until it was too late to react. But he was stronger and faster than she was, so victory or defeat came down to the slightest details sometimes.
He stopped to listen, but caught nothing. She was probably running late. The thought did little to alleviate his anxiety, but he didn’t want to stand around yielding a katana for who knows how long and look stupid until she showed up. He dropped his sword to the side and stood in the middle of the roof, keeping his eyes peeled in the dark and paying attention to the shadows around him. She wasn’t gonna catch him off guard this time.
Leonardo loved these little meetups. Not only did he get to train with someone whose fighting knowledge came from someone other than Splinter, but there was something special to them too. Their duels awakened a feeling in him in a way that sparring with his brothers or battling an enemy never did. There was an ebb and flow to their movements, a synchronicity. “Chemistry” he thought, shaking his head sheepishly.
He could not even admit it to himself, but deep down he knew this wasn’t only about training. Their blades swaying and crashing against each other was the closest he ever got to dancing with someone. Getting each other just hurt enough to call it quits, but not so much they are actually in any danger; there was an intimate kind of care there that was more than just in the spirit of fair play. And their teasing remarks to each other, over time evolved to questions being asked and stories being shared… On occasion, they would quietly decide training was over and sit next to each other with their legs dangling off the edge of the roof. At first reluctantly, but more freely with time, they talked about their days, their struggles, their little secret and how they pretended this whole thing wasn’t happening whenever the turtles and the Foot crossed paths.
That was one aspect of their… friendship? That he could not easily come to terms with. And his family would most definitely not approve of their hangouts. But the way he saw it, at least how attempted to reconcile the whole thing in his mind, it wouldn’t hurt to get all the training he could get. What Karai knew, the Foot knew. Her training was theirs. He tried not to reveal all his own moves, even though there wasn’t that much left to hide after all this time.
He knew he was only kidding himself not admitting there was a reason his heartbeat was a loud drum in his ears when it came time to see her. But he pushed all these thoughts deep, deep down, swallowed them whole and never let them see the light, because he was afraid of what would become of him if he stopped pretending. She was his family’s enemy, after all. And these are not the kinds of things you play with, although he was inching closer and closer to her fire. He did not like to think about it, but if it came down to that, he was not so sure Karai would hesitate to kill him if the Shredder ordered it.
It was already 22:17. She wasn’t gonna make it. They both knew if the other was more than a few minutes late, something had come up and there was no point waiting around. Since they couldn’t exactly exchange phone numbers, what with her suspecting her phone was being monitored by her father and his own being easily interceptable by his brothers, every meeting was a gamble. He looked around for a note, as she would usually leave him, letting him know in cursive handwriting when the next time she could be there would be. And if he couldn’t make it, he’d scribble in chalk on the wall when he’d next be available. Only tonight, there was no note. He decided to go ahead and write his date, better not to take too long to return home if he was to repeat this little schtick of running off on his own in a couple days.
He dropped his head in defeat and walked towards the wall of the exit that led to the stairs inside the building. There was a little steel roof over the sides of the wall to the side and he would always write there, so his message would remain intact in case of rainy weather. He couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Honestly, he was starting to get a little hungry too. “Good thing there’s pizza crusts at home” he thought, scrunching his nose. A mocking snort escaped him. “It is what it is”.
As he was reaching for the chalk in his pocket, a loud thud came from the rooftop over his head. He took a few steps back, surprised and anxious, and spotted Karai standing tall with her hands crossed in front of her chest on the metal roof. “Sorry I’m late”. She jumped down. The light was dim, but even so Leo could tell she looked off tonight. “That’s fine, Karai. Everything ok?” he inquired softly. “Not in a talking mood” she responded curtly, drawing her short sword. “Ready to go?”
There was something cutting and severe in her glance and he instinctively knew this would not be one of their regular play fights. Tonight she had some steam to blow off and he’d better not underestimate her. “Ready whenever you are”. He stood with his legs in a wide stance, sword drawn, heart thumping inside his chest.
Without a moment’s hesitation she took off. Facing him head on, almost as if she wanted to hurt him or be hurt by him tonight, as long as she felt the rush of excitement from doing something exhilarating after a long day. She was moving fast, but acting recklessly. This wasn’t her best form, just her more intense one. Leo laid off her a bit, retreating, but still putting up enough of a fight so she wouldn’t call him out. “Don’t you go soft on me, Leonardo!” she grunted, pushing him further and further back, closer and closer to the edge of the ledge. He turned to look back, assessing his next move. Did she realize he was about to fall off the building? Or was she blind with her unspoken rage?
“Karai… maybe we could-” Her sword just barely missed his face. Leo reassessed his course of action and concluded that, alright, this was it, no more favors. What the hell was wrong with her tonight? She could have really injured him. He stood his ground and took advantage of her rushed moves and flawed technique. Before long, he had her stumbling backwards. At one low and quick swing of his sword, she jumped backwards and stumbled, landing flat on her back with a sharp exhale. Leo never meant to hurt her, no matter how frustrated he was. He just didn’t know how else to defuse the situation in time other than actually fight back. He dropped his sword, signaling he was done fighting her, and moved closer to check on her.
She was looking up at the night sky, her eyebrows furrowed and her lips in a pout, her whole body tense with anger and apparent annoyance at him. Actually, he was annoyed with her right now too. But in the dim light, with the cool breeze messing the bangs over her forhead, she looked so small and fragile. For all her attitude and meanness, he knew she was just under a lot of pressure and exhausted from always trying to please her clan. From bits and pieces of her stories he’d collected, he’d come to the conclusion that the only person that was harder on Karai than her father, was herself. So he shook his head, suddenly remembering she was not all bad, just a person, with a whole life outside of their meetings and problems he had no clue of. Though he’d love to know.
“Let’s call it a night” he offered, extending his hand out to her to help her up. She turned her gaze at him, narrowed her eyes and moving to sit up slapped his hand away. “Leave me alone!” she retorted to his attempt at de-escalation. Well, that settled it. He was pissed now.
“What the hell is with you tonight? No one is forcing you to be here! I’m just trying to help and be a friend”. Inwardly, he was reminded of how members of opposing clans could not really be friends out in the open, but she wouldn’t let him in under the cover of secrecy either. Screw this. He was too hurt to even look at her. “Whatever. I’m off” he said, turning to leave.
“Leo, no! Please”, she grabbed his hand and moved to stand up. “I’m a jerk. Nothing you did”. She seemed uncomfortable standing there, looking anywhere but at him. She dropped his hand and exhaled as if she’d been holding her breath. He was still hurt, but he had a feeling this was the closest he’d come to getting an apology out of her, so he lingered. Neither of them spoke for a bit, but he could see thoughts forming and crossing behind her eyes. She ran her fingers through her hair, then placed her palm in front of her mouth in concentration, until finally she turned to him, extending her arms, palms facing him. “Don’t move, don’t go anywhere”. She picked her sword from the ground, put it in its sheath on her hip and turning to him said “Let me make it up to you”.
Without further explanation, she was gone. Before he had a chance to process the events that unfolded, his phone rang. It was Donnie. He cursed under his breath and picked up the call.
“Hey, Don. What’s up?”
“Uh, hey Leo… We were wondering when you’re gonna be back? Because um… Master Splinter is getting worried.”
“Umm…” He didn’t really want to leave yet, he’d barely seen Karai tonight and he was curious how she’d planned to “make it up” to him.
“Leo, you there?” Uh oh. It was Raph on the phone now. He needed to focus, otherwise he knew his brother would come out looking for him.
“Raph, hi. I stumbled upon some thugs, I was just making sure to keep watch until the police came to pick them up. No big deal, heh.” Man, he needed to work on his deception skills. Why did Master Splinter teach them everything except for how to lie? He cleared his throat.
“I’ll be heading home soon, promise. Just feel like clearing my head a bit after everything. OK?”
There was a long pause, until finally Raph conceded. “Sure.” Leo could sense his brother’s eyes narrowing with suspicion through the phone, but it seemed this time he’d let it go once more. “See you at home!” Leo said and hung up, relieved. On the bright side, he knew his brothers wouldn’t really rat him out to Splinter, at least not before they thought something dangerous was going on. Occasional head-butting notwithstanding, they always had each other’s backs. Poor Donnie, always one to be logical in times of uncertainty, at least he was trying to mediate between him and Raph. If only they knew the truth, how long would it be before Donnie lost his cool and sided with Raph, and why was Leo feeling it would be as quick as a tenth of a second?
A soft landing and brief footsteps that were getting closer and closer, and Karai was back almost as soundlessly as she’d appear on her good days. Maybe that meant her attitude had improved too. He eyed her suspiciously as it seemed she was holding something, but he couldn’t tell in the dark. He tilted his head and moved closer.
“You brought… alcohol?” He almost chuckled at the absurdity. Was this the natural progression of their relationship? From sparring buddies to drinking buddies?
“This is only the best wine that 9 dollars can get you around here” she teased. “And that’s not all.” She reached in her pocket and pulled out something else and held it out for Leonardo to see.
“You brought cigarettes?” She’d lost it, he thought. What next, pull out a deck and start gambling?
“Are you always such a goody-goody? Feel free to go if you’d like. But I thought you could use these as much as I could.”
“And why’s that?” he asked, crossing his arms defensively.
“You’re a mutant turtle for god’s sake, mastering ninjutsu while living in a sewer! You can’t convince me there’s not a single thing in your life you’re fed up with right now.”
He wouldn’t really call it being fed up, but he was starting to see her point. Still, he was hesitant. Drinking while out? With Karai? Who’s in the Foot? He was genuinely torn. He’d never smoked and he’d only ever had a few sips of alcohol. It never appealed much to him. But she somehow made it seem like a right of passage, of sorts. Something you do to connect with someone over shared struggles. Then again, was this really the type of connection he was trying to establish with her?
“Got this for you, too” she interrupted his thoughts and threw something in his direction. It almost slipped his grasp, but after some juggling he managed to catch it mid-air. It was a sandwich. “I can always hear your stomach grumbling. Thought you could use some food this time before you had a drink, unless you’re feeling adventurous. But you can just take it and leave if you want to. Don’t care either way”.
He was stunned. Underneath the layer of cynicism in her words, her actions were surprisingly… Thoughtful? “Hope you like egg and mayo” she finished as she turned and started walking away, towards the ledge. He looked down at his hands, considering the sandwich. Looking up, he saw her taking a moment to look out at the city, even taking in a deep breath, before settling down with her legs over the edge like she always did. He knew she smelt spring the way he had an hour ago. He wondered if she also felt emboldened by the sweet start of a new season and the tease of possibility lingering in the breeze. He felt himself give in to it too, wondered what new doors a few sips and a couple drags could open for him.
As if reading his mind, she turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. She was done playing, she seemed to just really need the company this time. She gave him a rare smile that contrasted her sad eyes. His heart caught in his chest. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he wanted more.
Well, now he had to stay.