A pair of Katanas

10. who... is she?

  I crawled onto my mattress that night and shook out my blanket. Wrapping myself snugly, I fell onto my pillow and gazed out the window. I smiled contently, thinking about the evening's activities. I had never felt so alive, so close to other people before. Life was getting better, and I was finally stepping out of my shell (No pun intended). Snuggling deeper into my sleeping bag, out the corner of my eye I saw a turtle-shaped shadow run further into the horizon, skimming the rooftops, stopping once to glance in my direction, and then continuing on its way.
I grinned. Wonder who it was!

      ~•~

10 hours later, I finally stirred. April stood in the doorway, holding a mug of coffee.

"Damn. You can really sleep." She deadpanned.

Groaning, I turned around and groggily reached the for my phone. My day was obviously off to a productive start. I scrolled aimlessly through social media. I wasn't sure if it was just me, but tons of my classmates were getting into relationships and they weren't afraid it to show it. I couldn't help but feel so envious of them. I wished I could take stupidly cute pictures with someone and post them for the world to see. A wave of FOMO washed over me and I quit the app, for the sake of my mental health. I clicked on my chat with Leo, and began typing.

YOU: hey, when am I seeing you again? how about murakami's,  today 8pm?

I hauled myself off the mattress, and made my bed. Didn't want April to think I was a total slob, after all. I then dragged myself to the washroom to make myself look presentable for the day. I then made my way to the kitchen, and was greeted by a savoury aroma.

"Morning Mr O'Neil!" I greeted April's dad in the kitchen. "Whatever you're cooking smells amazing."

"Hey, kid." He smiled. "Have a seat. Your omelette will be ready in sec. You allergic to anything?"

Shaking my my head no, I took a seat at the dining table next to April, who was engrossed in a...map? Of New York City?

"What're you up to?" I asked curiously.

"Donnie asked me to scan the city blueprint and identify the connecting underground tunnels. You know, in case they need to escape or something."

"Cool, do you do stuff like this for them often? You're like their secretary or something."

"Actually" she said with a smug grin "I'm training to be a Kunoich"

"What's a- "

I was interrupted by a vibration from my phone that lay upturned on the table.

"It's from Leo" April peeked at the screen, eyebrows raised. "A heart next to his name? Really?"

"It's an inside joke" I muttered hurriedly before scooping my phone up and clicking on the notification.

LEO ♥ : Morning, y/n. I can't. We've just found a lead on a new mission and we're going to pursue it this evening. It'll take a few weeks before this blows over. Sorry :( .

"You know, you should just shoot your shot if you like him so much." April said knowingly. "You don't have much competition anyways."

Man, I may not see Leo a lot these next few weeks. This sucks.

YOU: Oh. Ok, it's cool.

"Listen" I put my phone down, deciding to entertain her. "What do you mean 'much competition' ? Are you talking about Karai?"

"Karai?" April put her mug down. "Oh, you don't have to worry about her." She said nervously.

I raised an eyebrow and glanced at the chat between Leo and I.