Chapter 10: The Sleepover
Leo with Yuichi alone in his room
The room was quiet. Only the soft hiss of the air conditioning could be heard. Yuichi sat on the edge of his mattress on the ground, his back to the door, shoulders tense as if he could break at any moment. He said nothing. Not when Leo entered the room. Not when Leo hesitated at the doorway.
Leo closed the door.
“Yuichi… are you doing okay?” he began, his voice cracking slightly.
No response.
“Yuichi… talk to me, please.”
The rabbit just looked at the ground, motionless, no emotion. It was like there was nobody there.
Hesitantly, Leo took a step forward, then sank down to the floor near him. His voice trembled as he spoke again, softer this time.
Then… Leo broke the ice. “I should never have said that to you, about you being a runaway. That wasn’t fair, it was cruel.”
Yuichi did not respond. He honestly did not want to have this conversation after everything that just happened. Still… he just had to hear what Leo had to say.
“If there is someone who is a runaway… It’s me, Yuichi. I ran away from my responsibility as a leader, as someone who cares about you, not listening, not understanding.”
Silence…
“And, even though we were so close, I didn’t see your pain… didn’t manage to calm you down when Big Mom came to the lair.”
More silence…
“It’s my fault I let you fight that monster all on your own…”
Tears started forming in the turtle’s eyes at this point, shivering from all the emotion he started to feel.
“Ever since 2 years ago, when my brothers and I faced the Kraang, I haven’t been fully myself.”
Leo sniffled a little bit.
“But you, being in my life, has been the thing that brought me so much joy, Yuichi. And I am so so sorry for everything I said.”
Yuichi’s lips trembled… his eyes starting to water as well. Leo was almost breaking down at this point, shifting closer to Yuichi’s back..
“I thought giving you space would help, hoping you would come to me when you were ready. But it has been a week, and it feels like you are slipping further and further away.”
The rabbit’s eyes didn’t just water anymore. Even though he did not make a sound, he was full on crying at this point.
Then it happened…
Leo completely wrapped himself tightly around the rabbit, his arms around his chest, his head on Yuichi’s shoulders. His tears were falling on the knees of the rodent and Leo started bawling his eyes out… completely letting himself go.
“I can’t take it anymore, Yuichi. I miss you, I miss you so, so much. You are just as important to me as my brothers, April or Splinter. And after everything you went through, I believe you are the strongest person I know and I would save your life a 100 times again, Yuichi.”
Yuichi was crying and shivering at this point, as he was shocked by Leo’s words… his embrace. Then, Leo calmed down slightly, yet tightening his grip around the rabbit.
He smiled, and then simply said the words: “I am so proud of you, Yuichi…”
Yuichi then turned around, letting go of Leo’s embrace. His face was wet from all the tears, as he gritted his teeth violently.
What seemed like forever, an entire minute passed and as he looked Leo straight in the eyes, he couldn’t withhold himself any longer.
A mix of screaming and crying ensued. Yuichi seemed like he exploded emotionally. He completely threw himself in Leo’s arms and just let himself go, Leo, still extremely tearful, started to close his eyes, hugging the rabbit.
“I FEEL SO ALONE LEO, EVERYONE I CARE ABOUT…” Yuichi cried out, his voice full of desperation and hopelessness.
“I JUST WANT TO BELONG SOMEWHERE…”
Leo was caressing Yuichi’s head at this point, while the rabbit was crying on Leo’s chest. They were still sitting together on the mattress on the ground.
“AND THEN, MORRIS… SEEING HOW HE… IF HE WASN’T MANIPULATED… WOULD USE THAT POWER TO HELP PEOPLE. THE FACT THE ONE WHO MURDERED MY PARENTS IS NOTHING MORE THAN A BROKEN MAN HIMSELF.”
Yuichi looked up at Leo, still in the turtle’s embrace, not wanting to let go any second. Leo was thinking about what Yuichi said about Morris. It must have been terrifying to see that a monster like that could have emotions and feelings of his own.
Yuichi started speaking more quietly, as if he didn’t want to say what he was gonna say.
“I don’t know what to do Leo… I just want to live a normal life. That manipulated man, and your family getting hurt. Just wandering inside his memories… with his illness. The fact that I understood where he was coming from when he asked ‘that’ about being in his shoes. I honestly just wish I was never born.”
Leo didn’t react to what was just said, still caressing the rabbit’s head. Deep in his mind, he wanted to hold Yuichi forever. He started realizing how much he really cared about him after barely talking after the crisis. And after everything Morris had done, and the confrontation they just had, how could Yuichi be so strong? Even though Morris was a monster, Yuichi acknowledged that he was facing someone who was manipulated.
But this was about Yuichi’s feelings. He was not going to let him go again, all alone.
Leo started speaking, a slight smile returning to his face. “You know Yuichi, a mattress on the ground is not very comfortable, let’s take my bed.”
Yuichi looked at Leo. Even though he was slightly puzzled by what was just said, he didn’t want to let Leo go. The rabbit really needed comfort at the moment.
“Okay…”
As they both started laying sideways in the turtle’s bed, Leo held Yuichi tight to his chest… Not being able to sleep after everything, they both couldn’t help but feel that things were slowly going back to the way they were.
However… were they really?
After a few hours of laying in this position, Yuichi turned around, looking at the turtle he was sharing a bed with.
Trying to bring up a slight smile, he started to speak. “I really am a crybaby aren’t I?”
“Hey I am way more sensitive than you. If it were a competition, I would definitely win!”
Yuichi giggled slightly at Leo’s joke. Even when they both poured their hearts out, he still was the most charismatic of the brothers.
A brief moment of silence ensued.
“You never told me you… that you almost died 2 years ago…” Yuichi almost whispered, stuttering a little bit from the intense emotions that just occurred with both of them. Leo tried to say something, but he got interrupted.
“Splinter told me when he comforted me after we fought.”
Leo looked away, trying not to make eye contact. He then sighed.
“I thought it wasn’t important… Those aliens are gone now.”
Yuichi pulled a part of the blanket over his face, hiding its reddish tone. “You are important to me.”
Yuichi still felt vulnerable after everything that had happened, and when Leo pulled the blanket back, they just looked at each other… silently embracing each other’s company.
Their faces turned to each other… closer and closer…
They kissed… both initiating it.
For an eternity, they looked at each other. Yuichi started caressing the slider’s ear… After everything that had happened, with them getting to know each other, being affectionate with one another, the crisis that just happened, they truly started realizing that they were meant for each other.
Then… Leo kissed Yuichi again.
And then the other way around.
With deep breaths, Leo’s fingers traced along Yuichi’s back and chest, while Yuichi took more of a passive approach, letting Leo take control.
Their kissing wasn’t gentle. It was needed. All the emotional tension that was there, even from before the crisis, was let go.
Leo’s hand slid behind Yuichi’s neck, pulling him closer, continuing, until there was nothing between them but their bodies and their warmth.
At this moment, all their nightmares… their problems… they were gone. There was only passion, longing, and desire.
Even though the lights went out, something happened.
Not noticed by the lovers, Yuichi’s katana started glowing a green, dim light…
A small elite team
“We are almost ready to fly away from the United Kingdom,” a rodent-like creature with wings said. It was another Avali, but unlike Gabe, she had orange fur and was an elite fighter. Her wings also had dots on them unlike the male Avali’s. And she wasn’t speaking English, she was speaking Dutch to be precise.
And on top of it all, she wasn’t alone.
Two blue and two red furred Avali appeared from behind the orange one, who seemed to be the leader. All five of them smiled, ready to take on their next mission. They all wore sleeveless army jackets, and had several weapons with them. The two red Avali’s had special kinds of blades with some kind of liquid in them. The other two blue Avali’s had guns in the holders on their jackets, being able to shoot a special kind of bullet when needed.
They also had jet packs on their backs, as most Avali couldn’t fly for long this high in the sky. But with the jet packs, they were able to hold on for a long time. They were also surprisingly fast, comparable to the fighter jets they were standing on.
“To think that the turtles weren’t able to defeat him,” one of the blue Avali’s said, slightly worried. The other blue one was gritting his teeth in anger.
“We’ll make him scream louder than the one with the purple bandana. I can’t believe The Hague took so long to approve this mission.”
“Alex, New York is in disarray, it is a total crisis,” a red Avali added, sounding as smart as ever, with the other red Avali nodding calmly with his eyes closed, holding one of his fingers to his forehead.
“It’s okay, we are on our way, and will aid anyone who needs us. Thanks to the Avali support groups throughout the Netherlands advocating for our departure, despite discriminatory resistance from the opposition, they allowed us to come to New York faster than we thought. We were going there anyway to be honest, it was only a matter of time.” Alex said, grinning while looking at the sky above her.
When she spoke, everyone just smiled, they were confident in their abilities and especially confident in their leader. It seemed like she had no flaws at all.
“Looking at the fact that the neighbouring countries haven’t even dared to act yet… You know what they say right? America first, the Netherlands second!”
Everyone laughed at their leader. Alex was just like Leo in a way, always enthusiastic, keeping their team’s morale up.
But when push comes to shove… She is very… very capable.
They stood on top of their planes, and gave the signal… causing them to shoot off from the United Kingdom to New York City.
Was this elite-team going to be able to turn the tides in this battle against Morris? Or were their efforts going to be in vain?
