Fifty Reasons to Stay (Book Three)

Chapter Twenty Nine- Village

(Leo's POV)
12.29.25
You are so lucky I love you enough to go to this village. I'm scared. Like.. really really scared.
You'll never read this, but I'm doing this for you. EVEN THOUGH I am terrified, I can barely focus...
Yesterday was fun. Mostly platonic, but still fun. I know you're frustrated I'm not being like a casanova and thrilling you with excessive romance, but... I'm saving that for now. It'll be all the more special when we are both ready. Trust me.
~~
The sun slowly slipped over the horizon but I wasn't ready to wake up yet, and I had a good reason to put off any movement.
Today, I was taking Donnie to the village where I was born. When I say village, I don't really mean like ancient Japanese ninja village, I mean like a really small town with lots of old houses and farms. And it kind of looks like an ancient Japanese ninja village, but forget it. It's not!!

Obviously I don't remember my birth, but I was born in a house with most of my family present, except my grandmother on my mom's side. She moved to America, her home country, because she was tired of my grandfather's side of the family constantly being cold towards her just for not looking like them.

Apparently that's where I get my blue eyes from.
I was told she "soiled" the bloodline.

Donnie began to stir, turning over so that he was facing away from me. His eyes opened slowly as he peeked at the clock. "We gotta go."
"Can't we just sleep for a while? I'm tired." I pretended I was exhausted and unable to go anywhere.
"Leo.." He said in a sharp tone. "Don't."

Ugh. Fine.

Donnie pushed the fluffy comforter off and stood up, stretching in the midmorning sunshine. I shouldn't have been staring, but I was. I like to stare. I liked the curves of his body and the little bit of skin that folded over his stomach. I liked the dimples on his cheeks that appeared when he smiled. And right now, I liked the way the sun hit him, illuminating him and making him seem like an angel.

I rented a car for the day and drove out of the big city. Donnie stared out the window, hugging his knees. He didn't ask any questions until we were on a highway, and I thought he would just let this be a quick, quiet and easy trip. I was wrong. "Tell me 'bout your.. fam.. family."
There was to be no protest. He wasn't having it.

"Well okay.. my dad is all Japanese.. all his ancestors were from Japan and his family prided themselves on that fact. My mother's father knew my grandparents well, and apparently he was set to marry one of their cousins. But.. on a trip to America, he met a girl named Marian, and... they fell in love.. got married and had my mother.. Akira.
"The family wasn't very happy about that. Everyone hated Marian, and my dad's family wanted nothing to do with her daughter either.. that is.. until their daughter.. met my dad."

Donnie smiled brightly at that. "Then they have you."

"Well.. no. Akira and my dad.. they called him Splinter as a nickname— they dated in high school. But Dad's family was just so vicious to her.. so they called it off. And my dad did something absolutely crazy– he moved to America, taking her with him. He became a citizen at some point, I don't know.. he tried to join the military but they weren't very kind to Japanese men back then, so he never got in, though he would've been a good soldier. Anyway, he started working for a phone company. He began making quite a bit of money in the years that passed, so he married my mom when he was twenty seven.
"And I was born in Japan during their summer stay with my grandparents, which did not end well. My dad went back to the USA for a long while, coming to see me every few months. And my mother was really done with him... so right after she got pregnant with Raph, they divorced...." I trailed off, because that's when my life started getting really, really bad. When my mom would stay with these people on drugs, when she'd leave for several nights and I'd be forced to stay with these people. I don't remember what they'd do.. But sometimes I see them in my nightmares, standing over the bed...