Chapter Text
The brisk night air was typical in its lack of extremities, the cold neither too sharp nor too forgiving for the two black-clothed kunoichi rushing through the streets. The wind tugged at their hair, whipping through their masks and the tight leather like a translucent rope around their limbs. But not even the glare of streetlamps, half-hearted hawking of late-night merchants, or chilly breezes could distract the two from their mission tonight.
Karai took great pains to trod as lightly as possible on the concrete, windswept sidewalks before them. While it was usually no great task for her to silence her footsteps and become a shadow, only visible through the mass of streetwalkers around her through purposeful observation, she was hampered slightly this time. Not by Shinigami…her friend had just as much experience in hushed movements as Karai and was oftentimes even more indiscernible than the Foot clan leader. But with the heavy backpack around Karai’s shoulders, clinking with the sound of metal and various articles of war, it was harder than usual to sustain an inconspicuous presence. Three passersby had curiously turned to look at them while they walked, and that was three more eyes on her than Karai would have liked.
Shinigami was looking down at her phone, following the GPS signal on her screen. Kurtzmann had sent them the address for the plane’s hangar only an hour ago, and while there was technically no rush, Karai wanted to ensure the group was able to leave quickly and without issue. Considering they already had a long, tedious boat trip ahead of them once they reached the West Coast, they needed to save as much time as they could.
“How much longer till we get there?” Karai whispered under her breath to Shinigami, glaring at yet another busybody who was staring at them. They turned away when she locked eyes with them, and Karai returned to focusing on running beside Shinigami at a rapid pace.
“Seven minutes…we have to turn left at Christopher Street, keep running for about five blocks, then take another right and we should be there.” Shinigami panted, answering in jolted bits of breath so she wouldn’t tire herself out by running and speaking at once. While she wasn’t carrying a heavy backpack like Karai, she had one hand on her phone and the other carrying Karai’s suitcase, which made her footsteps more awkward than usual. It was hard to focus on running discretely while a bulky suitcase was banging into your legs, and Karai appreciated that Shinigami’s pace was swift and lighter than a feather even with the added weight.
The two continued to run on in silence, and a minor pang settled over Karai’s heart as they turned the bend at Christopher Street. Each tiny pitter-pat of their feet meeting the sidewalk was like a clock, ticking down the minutes they had together before she had to leave. Even though she knew only Shinigami could take her place, and she was confident in her decision to have Shini lead the Foot in her absence, a tiny part of Karai really wanted her best friend to come along too. Not only did Shinigami have technical understanding of Japan’s culture, topography, and language, but she was Karai’s closest friend. During childhood years of merciless training, brutal disciplines and harsh words knocking her down, Shinigami had been the only one there to help pick her up. Shinigami had always been there to listen to her crying, to rub her back when training left Karai with twisted muscles, to comfort and advise and just be present. In many ways, she had been both friend, sister, and even surrogate mother, and Karai knew she was going to miss Shini just as much as Shini would miss her.
Reaching the end of the block, Karai saw the distinct shape of the large rectangular building of the hangar before them. There was a grey brick wall surrounding the entire premises, along with a locked gate carrying numerous cautionary signs. Leaning closer to Shinigami, Karai casually pointed at the hangar, and the kunoichi witch turned off her phone. Now that they were here, they no longer needed directions; and Shinigami extended her hand to take the open one of Karai’s. The two girls smiled up at each other, squeezing fingers and skipping towards the gate hand in hand. Though they both knew the moment couldn’t last, for a second it was like they were children again, running down the streets of Shinjuku avoiding their responsibilities.
They arrived at the gate far too soon, Karai releasing Shinigami’s hand with a look akin to regret.
“Is this where I leave?” Shinigami asked, a pained smile on her face.
Karai nodded heavily, leaning from one foot to another awkwardly. Then, all at once, she rushed forward and enveloped Shinigami in a hug, throwing both arms around her friend’s shoulders. Her feet were on edge slightly, Shini having always had a height advantage over Karai. But Karai wasn’t going to let that stop her from giving Shinigami one last embrace.
“No matter what happens, to me or to you,” Karai whispered tightly, holding back the knot of emotion in her throat which threatened tears, “Osewa ni narimasu.”
Thank you, for taking care of me. For being the best friend I could ever ask for, for having my back when the world was at my throat. For teaching me so much and asking nothing but friendship in return. Thank you, for your love.
All this and more were carried through in Karai’s simple Japanese words of farewell, and an even higher depth of emotion showed in Shinigami’s “O genki de, imoto.”
Karai detached from Shinigami with a too-cheery smile, obviously trying to hide the pain of their separation. A thrill had come over her senses when Shinigami referred to her as sister…she had always known they shared a close bond, but to see Shini address it aloud was something else entirely.
“Don’t forget your promise.” Shinigami said as Karai hefted her suitcase over her shoulder and started to climb the gate. “You’ll call me every day?”
“Of course.” Karai responded, landing smoothly on the other side of the gate with a soft thud. For a second the two continued to stare at each other through the diagonal holes of the metal-wired fence, but after a few tense seconds, the two shared one last look and with a plain “Ja ne!” Shinigami turned and started to head back, her ebony hair disappearing down a dark alleyway in the span of a three minutes.
Now alone, Karai sighed and spun around, getting a close look at the surroundings around her for the first time. Worn yellowed grass poked out here and there across the ground, but for the most part, it was caked with an arid dust that looked more natural in a desert than in New York City. Stacks of metal components and machines, which Karai didn’t care enough to distinguish, were laid haphazardly throughout the fenced in land. A tiny shed stood to her far right, with cracking white paint and chipped blue shutters and a roof that showed it had been cared for at some point. It was about twenty paces away from the huge steel hangar that she and Shinigami had seen on their way in, which was where Karai presumed the airplane was hidden.
Walking towards the shed, Karai made sure to avoid the muddy ruts in the ground along with the deep tire treads that dotted the terrain. She pursed her lips, already having doubts about the safety of their plan. If the landscape around the hangar was so unkempt, then how was she to know the airplane would be in any better condition?
She gently knocked on the shed door, then blinked as Mikey opened the door much faster than she anticipated, eagerly taking her hand, and leading her in.
“Welcome Karai! You’re the last one here, I’m so excited!”
“What, you’re excited to leave, or excited that I’m not punctual?” Karai quipped sarcastically, taking a second to gather in her surroundings. There was a dearth of black wires and old-fashioned television monitors, some being held up on wooden tables and shelves while others were just stacked on the floor. Sure enough, all the turtles were waiting inside along with April, who was laughing lightly at Mikey’s antics. Leo was leaning against the tiny bit of empty space on the wall, rubbing his head with a groan. Karai could only guess at the gathering headache he probably had. Raph was idly flipping a shuriken around his fingers, looking bored, while Donnie was chatting excitedly with an older human she didn’t recognize.
When Karai stumbled in, the man turned to look at her, a friendly smile showing through the long laugh lines and crow’s feet wrinkles on his face. “Nice to meet ya! I’m Allen Steele, your pilot, and the owner of this hangar. Kurtzmann has told me a lot about you.”
“I wish I could say the same.” Karai said, only a slight edge to her tone. She sent a look Donnie and Leo’s way as she shook the man’s hand, Donnie being just a little bit quicker to fill in the gaps.
“He’s an experienced aviator, apparently he used to fly Kurtzmann around during the Vietnam War. He’s also been a silent benefactor and supporter of Kurtzmann’s projects throughout the years, I think we can trust him.” Donnie said confidently, his brown eyes alight with knowledge. Karai can tell he must have been picking the senior’s brain earlier while they waited for her.
“Glad to have you with us, then.” She said to Steele, a more genuine smile on her face. “When can we take off?”
“Any time you want.” Steele replied, raising his arm to casually emphasize his point. “The Challenger is all prepped and ready to go, we’re just waiting on your word.”
“I’m ready right now.” Karai said, then turned to the others. “I’m guessing your bags are on the plane already? I don’t see them with you.”
April nodded. “We figured it would make leaving faster to put them in ahead of time. Plus….” The redhead had the grace to look a bit ashamed. “We arrived about twenty minutes before you.”
“It’s not like you’re late, though!” Leo quickly interrupted, before Karai could respond with a snide remark. “April just happens to live close by, and Mikey was bouncing off the walls so much we had to get him out of the lair asap.”
“Hey! I’ve never been on a plane before!” Mikey pouted, crossing his arms as Leo singled him out. “Can you blame me if I’m super-hyped?”
“Mikey, we’ve been on a blimp, a submarine, and about five different intergalactic spaceships.” Raph interjected, rolling his eyes. “An airplane is kinda lame in comparison.”
“Don’t knock it till we fly it, Raphie!” Mikey grinned, not discouraged by Raph’s rebuke in the slightest. “After all, you were the one who got space-sick!”
“Oh, that does it!” Raph was about to march towards Mikey, fists raised, when Steele cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention.
“If we’re going to get going now, we should head to the hangar.”
“Right.” Leo responded immediately, taking the lead as always. “Everyone, let’s head out!”
The other turtles nodded, picking up on their brother’s authoritative tone and bringing their childish banter to a close. April also bent her head in deference to the blue-banded leader, walking in pace with Karai as they followed the pilot and mutants out.
“Hey Karai, I have a favor to ask.” The redhead muttered, barely louder than a whisper.
Karai raised an eyebrow, surprised that April would turn to her for anything. April had never exactly made her feelings for the more experienced kunoichi discrete…it had taken April the longest amount of time to begin trusting Karai, and the two still bickered on nearly everything. Karai knew April saw her as someone that brought danger and mischief towards the turtles, especially Leo; and while Karai’s past actions validated those suspicions, it made casual conversation between the two very difficult.
“What is it?” Karai finally asked, keeping her focus split between the hangar door approaching them and April both at once.
April bit her lip. “I bought this book, to help teach me Japanese…but I’m still having a lot of trouble, especially when it comes to reading or writing it. Can you help me?”
“Why can’t you ask Donatello?” The response is instant, brisque and just a little condescending. Karai doesn’t mean to be so harsh to O’Neil, which is part of the reason she didn’t add some snippy comment about Donnie being her ‘boyfriend.’ But she feels the question is still valid, all the same. Why wouldn’t April turn to someone who went head over heels for every little mishap or problem she ran into? Why would she turn to Karai, who returned her attempts at friendship with bitter jabs and cynicism?
Sure enough, April’s answer is slow, carefully uttered as if she was walking on glass with her words. “Well yes, I can ask Donnie…but I figured, since you’ve spent more time in Japan actually using the language, it would be more practical to learn from you.”
Karai can easily read between the lines in the hopeful gaze April gives her…she knows the redhead wants to mend the gap between them, to get closer to the more experienced kunoichi and possibly even become friends. It was enough to make Karai sick. Part of her liked having the advantage over April, knowing that she could connect with the turtles in a way the redhead never could. Plus, getting close to April right as she was leaving Shinigami behind left a foul taste in Karai’s mouth.
But she couldn’t argue against the logic of April’s words. It was important for her to understand Japanese for this mission, if they didn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb during their espionage missions.
So, Karai bit back a sigh and forced a smile on her face.
“Sure, I’ll help you out O’Neil.”
The inside of the airplane hangar was surprisingly clean, at least in comparison to the patchwork ground and dusty environment outside it. With one flick of Steele’s fingers, three rows of lights turned on, bathing the concrete floors and white metal surface of the plane before them in high-grade illumination. Miscellaneous canisters and supplies were lined up on shelves behind the tail of the plane, and a chipper eggshell white contrasted the harsh lightbulbs above them nicely. The plane itself, which was a Bombardier Challenger 300, was all white with a thin red stripe painted from the cockpit to the wings, dipping right under the six windows and then rising to meet the engine placed right above the wing. The door was already open on the right side, with a tan interior barely visible through the rectangle hole.
“There she is.” Allen Steele beamed, pride emanating off him in waves. “Everyone get in!”
“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Mikey laughed, running past the others, and leaping up the stairs in great bounds.
Like Leo had noticed, Mikey was even more energetic than usual, aflame with excitement like never before. While the turtles had technically visited Japan in the past, thanks to Renet’s time traveling antics, they had spent most of the time hiding from human interaction in the forest. They hadn’t really gotten to explore all their father’s country had to offer, and considering how long they had been locked underground, Mikey was overjoyed at the chance for a change in scenery. Just thinking of all the potential friends and adventures he could have was enough to have him bouncing with enthusiasm.
“Hurry up already, guys!” He called out the door, before plopping down into his front row seat with a grin. The interior of the plane contained six seats, separated into rows of three, and Mikey had made sure to put his belongings by one of the seats in the front row as soon as they arrived.
Steele was the next to head inside, followed closely by Donnie. “Mr. Steele, sir, I was wondering if I could help you…be your, ah, copilot, of sorts. I’d love to watch and learn how piloting works!”
“Why of course, Donatello!” The elderly pilot smiled, seemingly genuinely thrilled to have Donnie’s assistance. “You can sit next to me in the cockpit.”
“Yes!!” Donnie let out one of his rare exhalations of pure joy, a huge gap-toothed grin coming over his face. He instantly headed through the cockpit doors with Steele, leaving Mikey alone until Leo climbed in.
“Careful guys, this door is pretty low.” Leo called down, stooping his neck and then standing fully up once he entered the plane. He carefully took the seat beside Mikey, moving in a much more composed manner than his youngest brother had.
“I don’t see the problem.” Raph snorted, stomping his way into the plane without so much as ducking. “You’re just a big whiner.”
“Or maybe you’re just short.” Mikey retorted, grinning as Raph started to sputter and fume at the comment.
“I am NOT!”
“Suuuure.” Leo responded, casually joining in the banter with a wink at Mikey.
Raph opened his mouth then closed it, rolling his eyes with a barely audible “whatever” before taking his seat behind Leo. It seemed like their temperamental sibling was only willing to drop arguments when he was the one getting ganged up on.
“Yeah, I tried using Rosetta stone.” April’s voice came through, the redhead obviously in mid-conversation as she walked up the steps with Karai. “But a lot of their lessons haven’t been updated since the 90s, and their phrases seem a little out of date.”
“A little?” Karai snorted, following April as the two went to take the final seats left in the back. “It sounds like they got their lessons from a Jackie Chan movie.”
“Right?” April replied, but the rest of their conversation was drowned out with the hydraulic screeching of the plane’s door closing.
“Everyone, this is Captain Steele speaking. We’re going to initiate takeoff, fasten your seatbelts and stay in your seats.” Steele’s message played over the intercom, sounding scratchier than his normal voice through the sound system.
“Here we go!” Mikey grinned from ear to ear, clicking his seatbelt shut so fast he almost pinched his shell. “It’s finally happening!”
“Yep.” Leo responded in a calmer monotone, but Mikey could tell by the bright sparkle in his blue eyes that he was excited as well. Despite only getting two hours of sleep before heading here, and the obvious maturing Leo had suffered through in the past years, there was still a child-like energy that was a match even for Mikey. This was his first time flying too, and he was eager to experience it as all the others.
Mikey reached out his arm for Leo’s, and after a slight pause, Leo took it. The two shared a look, warm smiles and different shades of blue joined together. Leo gently squeezed his hand, and Mikey looked out the window with a silent thrill traveling through his shell. Whatever may come, whether it was fun or scary, amazing, or horrible, his brothers were here to face it with him. So, he was confident he could handle anything flying had to throw at him.
The grey metal doors of the hangar slowly swung open, obviously being activated remotely in some way by Captain Steele. Mikey felt the plane starting to move forward, the wheels jolting forward as if suddenly alive. He heard Raph’s intake of breath behind him, and laughed lightly as the plane started to pick up in speed, rocking gently from side to side as it gained momentum.
Leo looked at him with confusion at first, wondering where his laughter was coming from, then smiled again in sudden understanding. Mikey was filled with so many tumultuous emotions, so excited and happy and alive, that he was overflowing with stimulation and needed to let it out in some way. He chuckled slightly as well, causing Raph to mutter darkly behind them.
“What the shell are you two laughing at?”
“You wouldn’t get it.” Mikey giggled, and then whooped as the rhythmic drumming of the wheels on concrete gave way to the sound of sweeping wind and humming engines. His stomach did somersaults, Mikey staring out the window with both eyes and mouth as big as saucers.
“We’re in the air! WE’RE FLYING!!!”
“We can see that Mikey.” Karai dryly responded from the back, but Mikey ignored her. He had his beak pressed firmly against the glass, mesmerized by the city lights of New York getting smaller and smaller underneath them.
“You can’t even see the Statue of Liberty anymore, or the TCRI tower.” Leo whispered, looking out the window on his side.
“Yeah.” Mikey nodded. “It’s so weird…. It looks almost like one of Donnie’s computer boards, just dark squares lit up by tiny lights. We’re not as far away as we were on Fugitoid’s ship, but it still feels like we’re above the whole world up here.”
Leo bent his head in agreement, then let out a weary yawn. “Well, we have five or six hours…might as well get some sleep.”
Mikey could barely believe his ears. “What? We get the once in a lifetime opportunity to fly in a plane, and you want to waste it sleeping?!”
“We’ll have to fly back eventually.” Leo shrugged. “And we won’t have many chances to sleep when our mission starts.”
“Hmph, well I’m not going to sleep. I’m going to stare out this window the whole night.” Mikey responded, crossing his arms.
“Suit yourself.” Leo shifted in his seat, resting his head against the right side of his seat towards Mikey, and then slowly closed his eyes. It didn’t take long before the leader’s breathing started to get heavier with sleep, causing Mikey to sigh.
He couldn’t really blame Leo…even though there was less crime in New York City for them to focus on, his brother never seemed content to rest with his victories, always doing extra training, more patrols on his own, and spending late nights with Karai searching out crime in other corners of the world. Leo was like Mikey in that way…Mikey didn’t like to just sit around, he wanted to do something, talk to someone, fill each second of his life with activities and people that made him happy. The difference was that Mikey knew how to focus on himself and take care of his mental health…and Leo clearly had never been given the chance to learn either of those skills.
Mikey cautiously undid his seatbelt and stood up, reaching into the overhead compartment quietly so he wouldn’t wake up Leo. Peaking over the chairs he could see Raph was also drifting to sleep, and the two kunoichi were looking through books and whispering together with bent heads. He smiled, happy to see they were getting along instead of fighting like they usually did.
Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a blanket and then zipped his bag back up, then carefully placed the soft fabric over his eldest brother. Leo unconsciously leaned into the blanket, the tired lines under his mask easing just a little bit.
Mikey sat back down; the corners of his mouth stretched thinner than usual. Seeing all the scars, wrinkles, and bruises on his brother’s skin made him realize even more how much Leo had been pushing himself. He was the same age as all of them, yet he shouldered so much responsibility it felt like Leo was five years ahead of the rest of his brothers. Mikey knew Leo acted like he didn’t mind and was always insisting on taking the toughest missions and only putting himself in danger, but he wished just once he would take some time for himself.
Thank you for everything, otouto. Mikey thought as Leo continued to sleep, then turned back to gazing out the window, letting the distant lights stun his senses completely.
“Good morning, this is your Captain speaking. We’ll be landing in Los Angeles California within fifteen minutes, please fasten your seatbelts and prepare for arrival.”
April blearily looked up from her notebook, trying to blink the sleep from her eyes as she awoke. She hadn’t meant to go to sleep…the first two hours of their trip, Karai had written necessary vocabulary words and grammar for katakana and hiragana, putting them on flash cards for April to use for practicing. Karai had also helped run through writing and speaking simple sentences, before succumbing to sleep when they were flying somewhere over Indiana. April had been reading through her notes determinedly, wanting to spend the whole night studying until she had gotten the phrases down, but apparently at some point her sleepiness had conquered her.
“Morning O’Neil.” Karai drawled from beside her, helping April steady her senses some more. “Feeling more confident yet?”
April shook her head with a sigh, looking at her notes with all the hopelessness of a drowning man at sea. “The kanas keep blending together for me…it’s so hard to differentiate them.”
Karai, while not necessarily understanding, did seem to have a small look of pity. “There’ll be more time to study together on the boat, don’t stress out too much.”
April nodded but couldn’t shake the frown on her face. She had gotten so good at studying things until she mastered them…after spending hour-long study sessions with Donnie, she had even started to excel at chemistry and trigonometry, classes that used to be in her worst subject quickly becoming her best. But when it came to a simple language, one that was arguably simpler than the rules of math, she was hitting rock bottom. It was just so frustrating.
“Yo dudes, I can’t believe you all fell asleep.” April was interrupted from her thoughts by Mikey, peering at them from over his seat with a mischievous grin. “You would never make it at a sleepover party.”
“Mikey, put your seatbelt on.” Leo chastised, and Mikey sheepishly turned back around and complied.
“We’re all a little too old for sleepovers, anyway.” Karai responded, causing a shocked outcry from Mikey in the front.
“No way! You can never be too old for sleepovers!”
“Oh really? What, you think Shred-head and Splinter could’ve had sleepovers?” Raph asked sarcastically.
Karai let out a squeaky laugh, hugging her knees to her chest. “Oh my gosh, could you imagine? That would be the most aggressive sleepover ever.”
“Yeah, sleep would probably be an analogy for death.” Leo remarked drily.
“Nooo dude, maybe they could bond that way! Like after sharing stuffed animals, me and Mondo became bros for life.” Mikey smiled, remembering happy memories with his friend.
Raph snorted. “Yeah, though the stuffed animals would probably be us. No thanks.”
Their inane conversation was cut short as Steele’s voice broke out over the staticky intercom again. “Ten minutes to landing, everyone.”
“Duuuuudes, this is so sick!” Mikey pumped his fist in the air, baby blue eyes alight with excitement.
“How does someone get no sleep and be this full of energy?” Karai muttered under her breath.
April laughed; her strained nerves being set at ease by the natural chaos of the turtles. After all her time having politely controlled conversations with college professors, classmates, and staff, with only the occasional conversation with Casey to add flavor to her life, it felt oddly comforting to hear their different arguments and quips. It reminded her of days spent in the sewers, poring over a yellow laptop for information on the Kraang, having pizza shakes and long movie nights while the turtle teens conversed around her. It was almost nostalgic, bringing forth memories that, while fraught with conflict and tense situations, were also filled with laughter and love.
April wasn’t an idiot…she knew whatever adventures lay in wait for them during the rest of their travels, they would surely be just as turbulent as the airplane currently jostling them in their seats. Green, blue, and brown swathes of color started to sharpen into distinct shapes of grass, water, and dirt, as if they had put on glasses and given the world clear definition. She knew they would land soon, and their current giggling conversations and random spouts of bickering would be replaced with the usual fears of hiding the mutants, keeping out of sight, and setting out to sea in safety.
But right now, with the shaking wings of the plane and rushed conversation washing over her like waves, April didn’t feel afraid.