"Raiya."
"Agghhh!" My eyes shot open as I fell backwards off my chair, and into strong, green arms. I looked up at Raphael in surprise, then scowled and punched his shoulder.
"That was rude."
"You're welcome," he grumbled, pulling me to my feet.
I sighed and rubbed my face tiredly. "Why'd you wake me up?"
He nodded toward the window, where the sky could be seen, painted with the bright colours of the sun dipped low on the horizon. "The sun's setting." He was anxious to get back to the lair.
I nodded. "Alright, let's go."
••• 影の秘密 •••
Splinter stood before me, his hands clasped behind his back.
"You have done very well tonight Raiya. How did you overcome your fear?"
I glanced to the turtles' bedroom where Raph laid in his bed, carving and listening to music. "I got help from someone." I grinned.
The rat Sensei turned his head to see what I was looking at. "Ah, Raphael?" I nodded and he smiled, "it is good to hear that you two are getting along, it eases my mind knowing that he is occupied with watching you rather than antagonizing his brothers and training excessively," he sighed heavily, "I apologize that he watches you, but the only way in which he will truly believe you can be trusted is if he sees it for himself. I know Raphael can be angry and lash out, but do not let that cloud your mind with doubts about him, he may surprise you." Slightly taken aback by the sudden turn our conversation took, I found nothing to say. Splinter only smiled again and stepped off the dais.
"Rest well, we will start your real training tomorrow." I rubbed my temple with a sigh, an ache building deep inside my head from accessing my ancestral memories.
"Headache?" I turned to see Leo standing a few feet behind me.
I nodded. "Sort of, I don't think I've ever used my brain so much."
He laughed. "We don't have any Advil, but I can get you some water?"
"I'm good, thanks. I think I'll head home and catch up on sleep." I glanced to their bedroom where Raph still laid. "Do you think he misses the lair when he's aboveground?"
Leo shrugged. "He's never told me, but I think he likes being aboveground, just not during the day when people can see him. Why?"
"Just wondering. I felt kinda bad that he basically hid in my room all day today, but then I remembered that he asked for it." I nodded to their room. "Would it be dangerous to go over there right now?"
"Nah, just call for back up if you need it." Leo walked over to the weapon's wall and grabbed two katanas. He spun them in his hands and held the blades up to his eye, checking for imperfections. I hopped off the dais so he could solo train and headed toward the bedroom. I tapped my hand against my thigh to the music's beat once I came into earshot, it was some old rap song I recognized from a movie. I would've started singing to it if I had known the lyrics and it wasn't so fast. I noticed Raphael's carving hand falter and the muscles in his arms tense momentarily as I approached.
"How's the carving going?" I asked, coming up beside him.
He shrugged. "Fine." I could make out what it was now: a guy doing a back kick, with his arms bent at his chest and his body in the motion of turning on one foot.
YOU ARE READING
The Shadow's Secret│TMNT
Fanfiction❝𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴.❞ ━━━ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖'𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓 ✦⋆ the stars alight your eyes and in my heart I've found the light let me stargaze here ...