My Gangster / TMNT 2012 Reader x Raph

CHAPTER 10: Girl Friend

Y/N

Bold red lipstick, my signature color, black mascara, a bit of foundation to even my skin tone and cover up blemishes, and black eyeliner all beautify my face.

Staring at my makeup and (e/c) eyes in the mirror, I wonder if it's enough. I adjust my leather jacket and comb through my hair. What style to choose? Oh, I don't know how to perfect my hair. I lived with boys all my life for crying out loud! I whimper and stare down at the bathroom sink.

"Everything okay in there?" Raph asks, knocking on the bathroom door. My head tilts up and I turn to open to door. "Wow, you look smoking!" Raph exclaims with a grin.

"Really? I don't think it's enough. Will April care if I don't look like other teen girls? I don't even know what other teen girls look like! I just want to make a good first impression on her so she'll be my friend." I frown.

Raph chuckles. "Don't worry about April. She puts up with Donnie all the time, she has the patience of a saint!" I smile a bit, although still nervous.

Donnie hands me a phone in the shape of a turtle shell, the same type that all the turtles have. "Here's your phone t-phone, Y/N. It's much safer than your old phone. We can see your location here if you get into any trouble and you can call us anytime." I thank him and he further explains how it works. He points out that all the turtle's numbers are already in my contact list. I text each of them a hello text to make sure it works.

He leaves me to play around with my new phone. I stare in wide-eyed amazement at all the cool things I can do with it.

"April is here, dudette!" Mikey shouts out to me. I shoot him a 'be cool' look then turn to April, giving her a nervous smile. I jump up and walk over to greet her, shaking her hand.

"Hi, April! I'm Y/N, I don't know if you've heard about me at all." I greet her.

"Donnie's told me a few things about you. I hope you're feeling better after all that fighting!" She tells me. We chat a bit and she invites me to walk in the city with her. Her reasoning is that I've been in the lair with the guys for a while and need some girl time.

Raph is hesitant at first about letting me go out alone with April. He reminds me to call him at the first sign of trouble and never leave April's side. I give him a hug goodbye before exiting the sewers with April.

At the nail salon, April instructs me to pick out my favorite color out of all the nail polish. I spend at least twenty minutes sorting through them all. So many options, perhaps even too many options for me to handle.

I choose my favorite color and sit in the salon chair next to April. The strong scent of chemicals burns my nose and begins to make my head throb.

April asks me about myself and I learn about her too. Of course, we leave out a lot of information and talk vaguely about some subjects in public.

"So, you and Raph..." April begins.

"What about me and Raph?" I ask.

"You guys hugged and he's so protective over you," I giggled, glancing to the side and blush, "Are you two like a thing?" She asks.

"Well," I begin, "promise you don't tell the guys, okay?" She nods her head, a grin forming across her face in anticipation. My nails are coming along perfectly. Although, sitting still and smelling these chemicals for so long is a bit uncomfortable.

"You can trust me, I swear I won't tell them." She promises.

"Okay, well nobody else knows yet but the other night he asked me to be his girlfriend." April lets out a little squeal of excitement saying how cute that is and asks for more details. I tell her all about it and she congratulates me on the new relationship.

"Raph is a great guy, Y/N. I've noticed he's been such a sweetheart around you, that's pretty rare for him." She explains.

Our nails are dry so we pay and go for a short stroll around Manhattan. Buzz buzz. It's Raph.

'Hey, how are things going with April?' He messages.

'Great! She's super nice just like you said. We'll head back to the lair soon.' I promise then put my t-phone away.

"Woah, Donnie gave you a t-phone? It must be really serious." April says, pointing at my new phone. She then tells me she has some homework to do tonight and will drop me off at the lair soon.

"Will you guys stop trying to shake us down? We're not afraid of your little knives, you scrawny bastards." A familiar voice from the upcoming alley exclaims.

"Woah, I think someone's in trouble." April says, rushing over.

"No," I order, grabbing one arm with my left hand and placing my other arm out to block her. "I know that voice. We need to go. Now!" April is confused, but I grab her arm and begin running away in the other direction.

"I'm going to need some explanation, Y/N!" April demands, but I tell her there's no time for talking right now. We run a few blocks away then sneak discretely down the manhole cover.

We rush to the lair where I immediately call out for Raph. Leo, watching Space Heroes, turns to me and asks what's the matter then explains that Raph is taking a nap.

I shake Raph awake. "Ace was in an alley! Ace was in an alley!"

"What? Are you okay?" He jolts up. I nod yes. "If that stupid bastard even so much as laid a finger on you-"

"I'm okay, Raph. I'm okay." I assure him. We leave his room to go to the main room where all the turtles and April have gathered in confusion.

Leo once again asks for an explanation and Raph tells him that April and I stumbled across Ace in an alley. "The streets of Manhattan aren't safe for you! What if he saw you and tried to hurt or kidnap you? You could've gotten yourself killed. Until I know you can protect yourself, you're staying by my side." Raph demands in a frenzy of panic.

"Raph, you need to calm down." Leo says, receiving a yell from Raph. Master Splinter enters the room, asking what all the commotion is about. Leo and Raph shout an explanation, talking over each other.

"Enough!" Splinter demands. "You will calmly explain to me one at a time what happened."

"Y/N ran into her psycho brother in an alley while she was out with April." Raph says.

"Which is dangerous, but you, Raph, need to cool it before you lose your mind." Leo says, staring solely at Raph. Splinter strokes his long, white beard then asks for my side of the story.

I explain everything to him. "If you're going to be out on the streets, you'll need a way to protect yourself." He says.

"I have some training in self-defense and fighting." I tell him. He explains that it isn't adequate training for fighting such a powerful enemy considering my history of being beaten by them.

The turtles insist I train with them and that they'll help me get my strength back, fight harder than ever before, and become a powerful kunoichi.

'I guess I'm becoming a ninja now.' I think to myself.

"This will be the hardest thing you will ever do. Not just physically, but mentally, spiritually. Are you ready?" Master Splinter asks.

"Yes, Sensei."