Chapter Text
The glow of flashing lights and the multitude of screens slowly began to tire Leo's eyes. He blinked a few times, trying to get rid of dryness and burning, but after spending so many hours in the arcade, it was futile. The place where he’d recently been hanging out so often was enormous, filled to the brim with arcade machines, both from the human world and magical ones from Hidden City. The human machines had a retro feel, and it was obvious they weren’t always replaced with newer models. Meanwhile, the local machines, powered by something beyond mere electricity, were often too complicated—or, conversely, too boring—for Leo to bother with. Some even required less human-like appearances just to boot up. In other words, there was something for everyone here.
Leo preferred to stick to what he knew—what he had grown up with—so the things he played the most were retro pinball, standard shooters, DDR, or racing games. For some reason, this place never bored him, even though he came here almost every day. Perhaps it was the atmosphere, the overwhelming mix of digital sounds and yokai conversations, the tasty snacks served at the bar near the entrance, or maybe it was the friends he’d made here.
“Leo! Come on, let’s try this machine!” said an otter-like yokai. Leo hesitated for a moment, struggling to recall his name. He rubbed his eyes again, trying to shake off the persistent ache. It didn’t help. It was a clear sign that it was time to head home.
“Thanks, but I’m gonna head out. I promised my brothers pizza for dinner.” The otter yokai gave him a thumbs-up, though there was a hint of disappointment on his face. Guilt gnawed at Leo. He tried even harder to remember his friend’s name. “See you tomorrow... Remy?” He crossed his fingers behind his shell, silently praying he got the name right. Thankfully, he did, and Remy nodded with an encouraging smile.
Leo left the arcade and made his way toward the portal to Run of the Mill. With his head down and his hands stuffed in the pockets of his oversized hoodie, he walked down one of the city's main streets. He moved automatically, knowing exactly where he was. Hidden City had started to feel like a second New York to him, a second home. Both places had their pros and cons, but Leo appreciated that here, at least, he didn’t have to hide. He could hold his head high (though he didn’t always do it) and proudly, without embarrassment, flaunt ‘this whole situation'.
The small bell above the door jingled as Leo entered the restaurant. The waiter immediately recognized him. He glanced behind the turtle to check if he was alone, then scanned the restaurant for a free table.
“I’m just here to pick up an order and I’m out,” Leo informed him.
“Ah, I see. I’ll head to the kitchen to check if it’s ready.” The waiter spun on his heel and started toward the kitchen when he suddenly stopped and looked back over his shoulder. “Um, Señor Hueso also wanted to talk to you before you leave. He’s in his office.”
“Talk? To me? Willingly? Are we talking about the same Hueso?” Leo joked, prompting the waiter to roll his eyes. “Tell him I was in a hurry and couldn’t—”
“Couldn't what, Pepiño?” interrupted another voice. Leo bit his lip and let out an awkward, forced laugh. The waiter quickly slipped away, sensing the tension building.
“—couldn’t wait to see you, of course, Tío!”
The skeleton looked on in disbelief at Leo's feeble attempt to wriggle out of the situation. Shaking his head, he firmly invited the turtle to his office, earning a quiet but heavy sigh from Leo.
Although Leo had never been to school, he imagined this must be how kids felt when they were sent to the principal’s office—stressed and consumed with guilt. Leo hated feeling like this. He shouldn’t feel like this. He hadn’t done anything wrong.
“I talked to your brothers... They’re worried about you.”
“Pfft, as usual, they're overreacting. I don’t know what else I can do to stop them from acting like overprotective moms. Donnie’s got my tracker, and he knows exactly where I am. On top of that, I always bring them something tasty when I come home.”
“You know, not every problem or worry can be solved with pizza...”
Leo let out an resentful gasp. He considered continuing this friendly argument, but the piercing stare from Hueso's hollow eye sockets quickly discouraged him. The turtle had known from the start that Señor wouldn’t fall for his nonsense, but he still clung to the belief that sidestepping issues and turning everything into a joke would help him maintain his image as a carefree, fearless teenager. It’s not that he didn’t want to face his... minor difficulties. He just didn’t want to burden others with them. As far back as he could remember, his mind had always been occupied by not-so-pleasant thoughts, but he’d always managed them in his own way—and, most importantly, he managed them completely on his own. And it worked, so he didn’t see why things should be any different now.
Leo took a deep breath, and after gathering his thoughts for a moment, he looked at Hueso with a gentle expression. “Tío, you don’t need to worry so much, seriously. I just need a change of scenery and some company—people I can talk to without them looking at me with worry or pity.” Hueso opened his mouth to say something, to refute that no one looked at Leo that way, but before the words came out, the teenage turtle continued. “I’m not running away from anything or anyone. I just need to cut myself off from the fights, from the chaos happening on the surface, and take a break, you know? And for me, there’s nothing better than hours spent staring at retro arcade machines, am I right?”
Hueso noticed the shift in Leo’s tone and how his cocky, smirking face turned into a genuine smile that reassured him, saying, ‘everything is okay.’ He wasn’t sure if Leo had become such a good actor that he could convince Hueso without even batting an eye, but Señor wanted to believe him. He wanted to believe that his favorite customer (though he’d never admit that out loud) knew what he was doing and could take care of himself. He wanted to believe that Leo was safe and that his mind wasn’t clouded with dark thoughts. He wanted to believe that Leo would never lie to him...
“I’m not your father, so I’m not going to tell you what to do, though knowing you, even if I were, you still wouldn’t listen,” he added quietly. “But I just think you should talk to someone. If not me, then maybe...”
“I’m gonna stop you right there, dear uncle of mine. I really don’t know what you all are on about. We’re talking, right here and now, aren’t we? I talk to my brothers, I talk to my friends, to April. Heck, sometimes I even talk to Dad. I don’t understand why you’re all trying to make me out as some lunatic who’s on the verge of doing something... something reckless. Just because I don’t want to spend every minute in the sewers with my brothers who look down on me—”
“Oh, stop it! No one looks down on you,” Hueso interrupted. He could feel the tension in the room building. He noticed Leo’s left hand, clenched into a fist, trembling with anger. But that was good. If this was the only way for the teenager to stop hiding and finally open up, then so be it. “You always run away from conversations. You don’t let anyone help you, even though everyone can see that this invasion hit you harder than anyone else. Don’t you see that—”
“No! It’s you who doesn’t see that your ‘help’ isn’t helping at all! I’m not coming to Hidden City every day just to be constantly reminded of how I nearly destroyed the world!”
Leo didn’t wait for Hueso's response. He stormed out of the office, slamming the door like an angry five-year-old. He wasn’t proud of the outburst—maybe even a little embarrassed—but in that moment, he couldn’t hold his emotions back any longer.
Leo grabbed the pizzas from the waiter, opened a portal with his sword, and stepped through without hesitation.
The first thing he saw after crossing the portal was the dim lights illuminating the lair and the glow of the TV in the distance. He wasn’t sure who he would run into when he entered the room; it could be either Dad or Raph. Lately, the odds were 50/50. Leo listened for a moment to the sounds of the television. It wasn’t playing very loudly, which suggested that it was probably Raph sitting in the living room. If it had been their father, the echoes of Turkish and Indian soap operas or Japanese commercials would have carried throughout the entire house. Then he recognized a female voice, speaking in a steady and informative manner. Yep, it was Raph. That dum-dum couldn’t tear himself away from the news lately.
Leo decided to give himself two minutes to cool off before announcing his arrival to the family.
“I’m home!” he shouted, placing the pizza on the kitchen counter. “Anyone hungry?”
Almost instantly, Raph appeared in the kitchen, clearly worried, angry, anxious, and relieved. A storm of conflicting emotions churned within him that he couldn’t hide. Leo opened the pizza boxes, releasing steam and a delicious aroma.
“You should have told me you were this hungry; I would’ve come home earlier.”
“Leo—”
“Oh, look, they didn’t skimp on the cheese!”
“Leon…”
“Maybe next time they’ll throw in some extra salami or pineapple.”
“Leo!”
“They’ve been exceptionally generous lately, especially when it comes to—”
“Leonardo!”
Leo flinched at the sound of his full name. It made him want to avoid eye contact even more. He shifted his gaze around, focusing on his brother’s forehead, his shoulders, the wall behind him, the pizza toppings. He didn’t understand why he felt such unique unease today. The knot in his stomach and the racing heartbeat weren’t new to him, but at that moment, they were so intense and uncomfortable that they were hard to ignore.
“Can you stop rambling and listen to me?” he asked, a hint of irritation creeping into his voice. “Please,” he added, noticing the grimace on his younger brother’s face.
“I know what you want to say.”
“Leo, listen, you know that I just—”
“Drop it! Enough, please, not today! How many times do I have to explain to all of you that everything is okay? Why does it bother you so much that I spend time somewhere other than the sewers? I’m a good boy who isn’t roaming the city with just anyone. I only play arcade games and eat overpriced hot dogs at the bar. I have a few decent friends who don’t have a bad influence on me, and the worst thing we ever did together was beat a seven-year-old at Mortal Kombat and make him cry.”
Raph watched his brother closely. He could see Leo avoiding his gaze, yet his voice was confident, and a typical smirk was on his lips. Leo picked up a slice of pizza, waiting for Raph’s response. But the truth was, Raph didn’t know how to reply because their conversations had almost always gone the same way lately. Since the invasion, he’d noticed Leo particularly avoiding his gaze. He wondered if it was because of his scar, but on the other hand, right after Leo had recovered from the invasion and had enough strength and clarity of mind to do a medical check-up on each of them, he had had no problem looking each of them straight in the eye. Perhaps he was searching for answers this way. It was no secret that each of them liked to lie a little about their health. Leo had taken care of them since they were young and had learned to detect when his brothers were lying. He had learned to read the lies in their body language and the truth in their eyes. Unfortunately, the other three brothers hadn’t had the opportunity to gain as much experience as their self-proclaimed medic, which was why Leo was still the best liar among them. It didn’t help that Leo joked literally in every situation.
“Seriously, Raph, drop it. I don’t need a second lecture in one day,” he said in a slightly more serious tone, starting to walk towards his bedroom. Only when he turned around did he notice Donnie leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He briefly considered asking his brother how long he had been standing there but decided against it. Did it even matter?
As Leo passed his twin brother, Donnie suddenly spoke up, “You didn’t answer your phone again.”
“It’s dead,” Leo shot back quickly without even stopping.
“Then charge it!” Raph and Donnie shouted at the same time.
“Love you too!”
Leo headed straight to his room. He had had enough socialising for one day. Besides, lately, conversations with his brothers felt more like therapy than casual chit-chat. Not all of them, but many ultimately boiled down to that one topic that Leo hated so much. He felt that his family didn’t even try to forget—or perhaps they just didn’t want to.
His dream of being alone for the rest of the day shattered like a soap bubble when he saw the youngest brother sitting on his bed. Mikey was leaning against the wall, holding a tablet. Whatever he was watching didn’t seem particularly important, as he immediately paused the video and set the device aside upon seeing his older brother.
“Leo! You’re back!” The teenager couldn’t help but smile at how much happiness the mere fact of Leo returning home brought him.
“What’s up, Miguel? Why were you waiting for me?”
“Do I need a reason?” he asked, feigning indignation. “I just wanted to hang out with you, maybe watch something… talk. We haven’t spent much time together lately.”
Mikey instantly noticed Leo tensing at those words. He began fidgeting uncomfortably, and his gaze drifted to the corner of the room. Mikey immediately recognised his mistake in wording and decided to fix it quickly. He reached for the tablet he had set aside and unlocked the screen.
“That channel I showed you last time just released a new compilation of funny cat videos. I was so tempted to watch it as soon as it was uploaded, but I decided to wait for you,” Mikey nudged his brother’s shoulder to get his attention. “You owe me one.”
Leo chuckled softly. “I owe you one? For waiting for me to watch a video online?”
“Exactly! You probably wouldn’t have been able to hold back. If it were a compilation of unicorns, you wouldn’t have thought twice!”
“Hmm, I won’t confirm, but I won’t deny it either,” he joked.
Mikey snuggled closer to his brother, clearly craving closeness, and started the video. He felt them both relax and melt into the pleasant moment. He also knew that this brainless way of spending time together would be good for both of them. Although Mikey wanted a heartfelt conversation with his brother, his brother's mental comfort was more important. He knew that sooner or later, an opportunity would arise for them to talk without Leo deflecting with humour.
However, three months had already passed, and their family had never felt more distant from each other.
The boys were halfway through the video when someone knocked on the door. The brothers didn’t say anything; they just waited in silence for the person on the other side to enter the room. The word privacy loses its value when you live with three brothers. Knocking, if it occurs at all, is more of a warning that someone will enter the room without waiting for a response. That’s exactly what happened this time. April peeked in from behind the half-open door. Mikey jumped up from the bed to hug her.
“Hey, ready for a movie night?” she asked.
While Mikey started nodding enthusiastically, Leo looked confused.
“Ah, right, you weren’t here when we talked about it. They’re airing all three parts of Lost on Planet X on TV today. It’s the series with Marcus Moncrief.”
“Um, thanks, but I’ll pass. I’m too tired today to watch commercials interrupted by a movie, but have fun! Eat the pizza I brought.”
Although April didn’t want to show it, Leo noticed disappointment flash in her eyes. He threw her and his younger brother an apologetic look, assuring them that he would join them next time, to which April nodded. They both left the room, leaving him completely alone.
Leo sighed deeply. He reached for the remote on his nightstand. He turned on all the LED lights that pleasantly brightened his room. He turned off the main light, leaving the room in comfortable dimness. He took off his hoodie and then removed the prosthetic from his right arm, placing it on the floor by his bed. He rubbed his tired shoulder and stump. He froze for a moment as a gentle shiver ran through his body. The new door to his room was surprisingly soundproof—so soundproof that he could barely hear the voices of his family from the living room. He considered slightly cracking the door but ultimately reached for his headphones and played the soundtrack from the fourth movie of Jupiter Jim on his MP3 player. Soon, the sounds of the piano and violin lulled him to sleep.