Chapter 16 Part 2: To Live → The Swimming Pool
The turtles and Yuichi at the pool, with April joining later
After putting on their swimming gear, everyone jumped in the water except Donnie, who was still working on his machines. He had more of a beach Hawaii style clothing on, with an open blouse and swimming trunks, whereas the rest only had swimming trunks on.
Raph jumped in, yelling ‘COWABUNGA’. He was going to do it with a blow, especially now that he used a mystic arm from his power to replace his old one.
The second Raph hit the water, a wave splashed over Yuichi’s face, annoying the rabbit a little bit, but his demeanor was still at ease, and he was generally having fun. “COME OOONN, Look at the fur on my face!” Yuichi yelled slightly.
“First time at the pool?” Raph smirked at Yuichi, proceeding to grab him with a large mystic arm and give him a noogie with his ‘real’ right one.
“STOOOOPPPP HAHAHAHA,” Yuichi yelled, not caring anymore about his fur, since it was wet already from the pool and the crashing waves of Raph’s jump in the water. He thought it was funny that Raph was teasing him with his knuckles on his head secretly.
Leo started yelling to Raph from outside the water. “It’s not fair that just because you have one arm, you can use mystic powers and we can’t!” Even though Leo really wanted to use mystic powers in the pool, he did understand that the pool would only let Raph use them.
How would he swim otherwise?
“This is the privilege of having the coolest battle scars, Leo!” Raph yelled back, his smile being wide and his teeth showing. He was having the time of his life!
Mikey charged down the side and leapt in with a cannonball that sent another surge over them. “Cannonballll!!!!!” he declared, laughing as Yuichi splashed him back. Even though the surge was big, it couldn’t surpass Raph’s, since Raph was a massive turtle in general.
Then, Leo slipped into the pool with a clean dive, surfacing near Mikey. “Or you could try elegance,” he said with a smirk, flicking water in his brother’s face. His brother laughed and splashed Leo back with water.
“Hey, only I can splash Leo!” Yuichi said, just loud enough so everyone could hear it. He didn’t realise, though, what opportunity he gave the remaining brothers…
“Of course, only you can,” Mikey and Raph winked, then proceeded to look at Leo, who immediately widened his eyes and swung his arms to the side, his body language screaming, “What did you just say?” Yuichi was oblivious, though. He was just focusing on the water and the fun he was having.
Donnie, seated under a large umbrella, looked up slightly from the half-assembled device on his lap. “Yes, by all means, submerge yourselves in a giant vat of chlorine,” he called. “Meanwhile, I’ll be over here preserving my neural capacity.”
“Booooring!” Mikey sing-songed, proceeding to ‘secretly’ use a chain to grab an orange ball from the edge of the pool.
“Let Donnie COOK,” Yuichi said loudly, especially putting emphasis on the word cook, causing the soft-shelled turtle to smile at the rabbit. He really appreciated Yuichi now, since Yuichi was always really interested in the things he developed.
“Dude, care! Your mystic powers… We don’t want to get kicked out!” Leo whispered to Mikey, who proceeded to roll his eyes towards the slider.
Then, they all heard a familiar woman’s voice… Everyone looked at the entrance of the pool.
“HEY GUYSSSS, ITS APRILLLL O’ NEILLLLL,” April said, immediately jumping in the water.
“LETS GOOO,” Mikey yelled, happy that everyone was here.
“How did your conference go?” Yuichi asked April. April just dismissed the question a bit with her hands and responded, sounding a bit tired, but her demeanor was still one of excitement.
“It was fine, I guess? I am like a celebrity now, but even I enjoy my rest sometimes, you know?” Everyone was so proud of her for how far she has come as a journalist. Even if it was during the crisis, she handled the fame she got really well.
After a moment of silence, with everyone looking at April smiling, Raph brought something up… “We can start now!” Raph said excitedly.
“Start what?” Yuichi said, unsure of what was going on. He never really played much as a kid, so he didn’t really have an idea of what games could be played.
“THAT SETTLES IT, YUICHI IS IT,” Leo teased the rabbit and proceeded to catch the ball.
“What am I now?!” Yuichi said, slightly annoyed but still in good spirits since he was with his friends and his lover. April proceeded to fill him in.
“This game is called ‘mooching’, just steal the ball from another player, and that player has to steal the ball as a result. It’s really fun!”
“That DOES sound fun,” Yuichi grinned, immediately looking at Leo, whom he was going to try and steal the ball from. Leo looked back, crossing his arms and smiling. He loved that his boyfriend had way less stress and was way more at ease since everything that had happened.
Mikey threw the ball at Raph, who proceeded to grab it with his mystic arm. Then… he threw it at Leo. Leo waited patiently because he knew Yuichi was extra ready to try to take the ball from him.
Leo threw the ball towards April… but to everyone’s surprise, Yuichi was able to jump so high from the water that he took the ball with ease.
“You really are something, Yuichi,” Leo said. Even though he knew how strong and talented his boyfriend was, Yuichi never seemed to amaze him.
“Your ball is MINE!” Yuichi said, laughing, not realizing the opportunity he gave Raph and Mikey again…
“Ball as in singular or plural?” Mikey and Raph both asked jokingly. Leo got red like a tomato again as a result… but he wouldn’t let it get to him.
“GUYSSSS OMG,” April laughed so hard again. Everyone except Leo and Yuichi laughed as a result, with Leo being embarrassed and Yuichi being slightly confused.
It’s funny because a year ago, he was the one flirting with Leo, especially when playing the Mario Party game. Now… he was oblivious to the jokes that were being made.
But then he got the joke and reacted ‘accordingly’…
“Both are true, obviously!!!” Then, Yuichi grinningly looked at Leo, who became even more embarrassed, but started smiling and swimming towards Yuichi… The slider could take any joke from his boyfriend.
They loved each other after all.
Then they became affectionate, with Leo putting his arms over Yuichi’s shoulders and their heads touching.
“Jealous much?” Leo said, winking.
Everyone just smiled, they couldn’t joke anymore… not when Leo and Yuichi acted so INSANELY cute with one another.
But Yuichi still had the ball, and he was not going to fall for Leo’s charismatic tactic. He had read the slider and immediately threw the ball towards April. Yuichi also just wanted to not have the ball in the way of them being affectionate with each other.
Now… with Raph and Mikey running towards April and the couple doing their thing… April immediately thought it would be funny to throw the ball at Leo’s head, not realizing…
He was ‘it.’
Leo’s plan worked after all, getting the ball back as a result! “I KNEW YOU WOULD FALL FOR IT, APRIL,” Leo yelled. April just laughed and teased Leo as a result. “Be lovey-dovey later! Play with us!” When April said this, Yuichi had to go to the bathroom.
“Nature’s calling! Be right back,” Yuichi said, leaving Leo’s embrace.
“I’ll miss you,” Leo said jokingly, since the rabbit would only be away for 2 minutes at least. Yuichi just laughed, smiling really wide at everyone. He hadn’t been this happy since forever… but there was still one thing…
The origin of the Usagi…
Donnie and Yuichi after doing their thing
Donnie also had to go to the bathroom and went the same way. When they both went to a separate stall, Donnie told Yuichi to wait for him outside.
“Of course, Donnie,” Yuichi said calmly. After Donnie was done… the real questions came from the softshelled turtle.
“Yuichi, did you tell him yet?”
Yuichi said nothing, slightly looking away.
“You need to tell him… It’s not like you are breaking up, you will only be gone for like 3 weeks.” Donnie said firmly, but still trying his best to sound empathetic.
“How?! I wanted him to come with me so badly… but seeing the culture of the hidden cities of Japan regarding ninjas, interspecies AND homosexual relationships, I can’t bring him into danger again.”
Silence arose, and then Yuichi talked again. “Seeing your technology gave me hope that I could finally find out where I came from… regarding what Morris said…”
Even more silence from Donnie, he just let Yuichi vent at this point.
“I haven’t even told April yet…”
Donnie sighed and tried to make eye contact with Yuichi, even though he usually did not. He stood slightly down to the rabbit’s level and started to talk. “You are doing this for YOU, Yuichi. And you can always call using my aaaamaaazinnggg technology, but you need to tell my brother.”
Yuichi then shed a tear… “You are right, I am going to tell him ASAP, but… I need to find the right moment.”
Donnie said nothing. He didn’t like it when people got super emotional around him… but he did get it, though, in this case. Donnie then did the impossible… something he would only do with super close friends.
He put his arms around Yuichi, letting the rabbit know he was there for him
They then proceeded to walk to the others in the swimming pool again, having a mutual understanding of each other. Donnie just wanted not to let his brother be hurt again… and so did Yuichi. But it was hard for the rabbit, because he really wanted Leo to be with him during the relatively short journey he was going to take.
Leo, Raph, Mikey, and April during the others ‘ bathroom break
April looked at the two going to the toilets… her mind wandering off from the game she was playing.
“Hey… do you guys think Yuichi is acting slightly calm lately? He still seems happy, but like, something seems to be bothering our fluffy rabbit?”
“OUR FLUFFY RABBIT,” Mikey and Raph immediately teased, especially winking at Leo, who didn’t really find it funny this time. The slider just ignored those 2 and looked straight at April.
“I know my boyfriend is insecure about what… He… said about where his powers came from… Yuichi talked to me about it plenty of times, and he wants to find out really badly what the truth is.”
At the same time this conversation was happening, they were just throwing the ball around, with Leo not really trying to get it and more focusing on the conversation at hand. Raph and Mikey just looked at them, listening carefully, with Mikey secretly still eyeing Leo to see if he was planning on doing something to get the ball from April.
“Maybe we should talk to him tonight? I think something is up; it probably is not even something big. We should not let him walk alone… again… You know how Yuichi could be sometimes.” April said, her look being one full of seriousness, her eyes almost gazing into Leo’s soul at this point.
“Well then, it was different… with us not dating for a whole year at that time,” Leo winked, charismatically putting up his smile.
But even he realised… something was definitely up. He just hoped it wouldn’t be something severe. He just wanted to support his lover through everything.
After swimming, April, Leo, and Yuichi were going to walk home together from the hidden city to New York. They could easily use one of Leo’s portals, but they were not going to do that, as they wanted to cherish each other for longer and to just hang out in general.
April was planning to ask Yuichi at that moment, then and there, what was going on. She wasn’t going to do it too directly, though, as she was afraid it would catch Yuichi too much off guard.
When April was thinking about her plan, though, Yuichi and Donnie came back, and she immediately went back into her ‘social mode’.
The turtles, Yuichi, and April at the pool
“HEYYY BATHROOM BUDDIES,” April yelled, her voice loud and clear as usual.
“Donnie took him from you, Leo. You got a rival!” Mikey teased Leo, with Leo laughing this time.
“Donnie, got nothing on me, I’m too handsome,” Leo said, with Donnie walking towards Leo and blatantly saying.
“At least I can do the integral for master’s degree math students in 5 minutes.”
“Weird flex but okay!” Raph Said, smiling at his brother. Yuichi, on the other hand, actually stuck up for Donnie for once
“Donnie is way too smart for us, and he is also really kind, you should know that!” When this was said, Donnie first had a slightly uncomfortable look, but then he calmed down and just closed his eyes and smiled at the team, crossing his arms in the process.
“So you all want to go from the slide one more time with me?” Yuichi asked everyone after a moment of silence, and the ball was being thrown around, even looking at Donnie.
Everyone screamed yes simultaneously, with Donnie hesitatingly just saying, “Ok.” The slide was very long, even though it was an indoor pool. This made it super fun to all go together and just have a great time. As they all went down the slide, their fun was immeasurable. They all laughed and bumped into each other, with Donnie trying to stay at the back so he wouldn’t get too caught up in the mess that was the combined slide experience.
In the end, their picture was taken. There was a reason, outside of the fun of going down a slide. Yuichi wanted to go down the slide and especially wanted a picture…
If he went to Japan, he wanted to cherish every moment with his friends before he went.
As they swam again for a few hours, playing the mooching game again, and later just chilling on one of the benches with their towels, they got dressed again.
Leo, Yuichi, and April said goodbye to Mikey and Raph, who were both laughing really hard and were probably planning on going to a bar to have even more fun.
As the couple’s walk with April was going to happen, how would the confrontation happen?
Would it even happen?