You are my comfort

Time to keep the promise

You can't blame Splinter though, missing the sight of the brothers back together would be his biggest regret of the year.

A week was dragging itself to the end in a painfully slow way that made Yuichi's bones tremble with anxiety. After that one meeting with Big Mama and a little visit to the turtles' lair he could not get his thoughts to stay positive. Sure, the boy was encouraged and supported by a new group of friends now, but his anxiousness just couldn't let him rest. His mind was filled with 'what ifs' and his body was constantly tense, making his muscles ache in a cry for some rest. The spider lady surely left a new, more alarming impression on the rabbit, making him feel like a slaughtered lamb (more like a hare in his situation) being offered as a sacrifice to the predator on a golden plate. He was only half wrong, being that his nerves were messing with his way of seeing the situation, kindly spotlighting the worst possible outcomes inside the poor boy's mind. Thanks to it, Yuichi's schedule got even worse: his sleep was reduced to 4 hours a day, because of his brain keeping itself alert all the time not without caffeine's help. For an outsider, his days didn't change much, only daily, or more accurately, nightly meetings with Leonardo becoming an addition to the hare's routine. Although the meet ups took the time of his sleep, he was looking forward to an every single one of them, being that spending time with Leo made him feel so much more relaxed. Yuichi wasn't ashamed of admitting that the blue clad turtle had all of his trust and the way Leo patiently listened to everything the hare to say made his body feel with warmth, while his impressively active brain seemed to calm down. In fact, one time it went so calm that Yuichi dozed off leaning onto the turtle, who did not seem to mind at all. Yuichi himself couldn't get his sleep-deprived brain to remember how and when he fell asleep, however it has captured the moment of the hare waking up and the embarrassment filling them in a perfectly accurate way. Fortunately for the samurai, he had a micrometric length for his attention span, which made it easier for him to let go of the situation. Obviously, the ninja had an opposite reaction to that, however Yuichi was masterfully oblivious to it, not noticing the way Leo's cheeks darkened as he joked about his shoulder being a comfy pillow. The hare lost his thoughts about his companion's eyes being somehow appealing with the way they squinted at him amongst his worries about his sister, which was the main and only reason for him leaving Leo first. Usually at about 1 A.M.

Today, Friday, was the day. Just like a week ago, Yuichi got up at 7 o'clock in the morning, the shivers never leaving his body, set Hana off to school and was at Big Mama's office by 9. His palms were sweating badly, leaving his fur uncomfortably wet, and his head felt unusually heavy, making their spine bend similar to a form of a question mark, elbows placed on his knees as support under their chin. They couldn't help their eyes fixating on a crack right on the wall he was facing, mind filling with 'what ifs' once again. The bench, enveloped in velvet, beneath the rabbit felt incredibly uncomfortable with the way its fabric folded under his weight, causing him to unconsciously shift in their seat. The palpitating heart inside his chest made him feel like each breathe he took was shorter, as if his lungs weren't big enough to fit more air. Overall, he looked anxious. The shaking of his form was considered default for them, whenever they were worried.

Yuichi checked his phone in his pocket, worried he might have forgotten it, which was proved wrong, when he felt it's shape in his front left pocket. They quickly pulled it out, turning it on in the process.

9:05 was the time revealed on the screen.

Awful. The speed of the minutes passing was slow, making Yuichi feel awful. A huff escaped his lungs, as he continued waiting in tension for Big Mama to call him in. What was taking her so long? It wasn't too long, being only 5 minutes from the time assigned for the meeting, but it surely felt much longer for Yuichi.

His head went to rest back on his palms, however as soon, as his chin touched them, he curled his body more, hands reaching the back of their head and scratching on it. His bangs hung down, followed by their ears, which blocked off the sight of the crack in front of him. It didn't help the restlessness of his hands, leading to them changing their previous scratching into tugging on his ears. Yuichi wasn't too aware of what he was doing with his hands until a tug on his ears caused pain to run along their length, which startled him for a moment and made him swiftly pull away, spine straightening. That caused a satisfying crack to be heard and reminded of another activity Yuichi could engage in. Which he gladly accepted, as he started cracking their knuckles and joints, filling the silent corridor with sounds for a short amount of time. A sigh of exhaustion escaped the samurai's lips after he finished with his little cracking session and they leaned their back onto the back of the bench, feeling the folds of the velvet fabric shift more underneath him. Yikes, he made a note for the future: never sit on fabric wrapped furniture ever again. Yuichi didn't feel any better in a new position, so he decided to stand up, in case that helped him. As the hare was about to lift his body from their sit, his ears caught on muffled sounds, no, voices. They were coming from Big Mama's office.