My Mutation (TMNT FANFIC) [UNDER EDITING]

Chapter 26: A Very Painful Demonstration

I sit beside Master Splinter, a notebook and pen in hand. My eyes are narrowing on Donnie, looking at how he's placing his feet, his posture, the movement of his hands, his face; anything that can tell me if he's struggling or not. Sometimes, I find myself looking to the other boys, watching how they're performing their katas, their movements. I feel a slight pang in my chest, missing when I was actually involved in my own martial art. I should be able to participate again soon...

"How is he doing?" 

I look back to Donnie seeing him practice simple movements with his bo. 

"He appears to be doing fine." I say softly. I glance down at my notepad where I've been running a tally on moments where I believe his balance was off or he looks out of it or there's a delay in his response. Looking to the other page there are a few comments I made. "Would you say he's performing normally?" I flip to another page where I've noted down all of the boys' names so that I can record their thoughts on Donnie's performance. My pen hovers beside Splinter's name as I turn and look at him. 

He looks composed, his eyes glinting in the soft light. A second passes and his whiskers twitch, "he's focused right now but I sense a weight in his mind." 

I scribble that down, "is that out of character?" 

Another pause, then a sigh, "no, not quite." 

I glance back to Splinter noting just how intensely he's looking at Donnie. He looks away briefly to his other sons, "Leonardo, extend further! Raphael I expect better posture from you! Michelangelo, straighten your legs!" He looks back to Donnie for a few seconds, "Donatello, you can go faster than that!" 

I watch as the boys adjust to their father's commands, I wait for a moment before speaking lowly so not to break their concentration, "I don't have any concerns for him as of now." I say "just by the conversation I had with him today I can already tell that he's miles ahead in recovery. He was out for a week or two and if he was a human he wouldn't be able to stand without help." 

I look back to Donnie making a quiet promise to myself that I'll tell Master Splinter everything, to keep him up to date about anything I find. I understand just how worried he must have been while Donnie was comatose. I guess in a way I can relate to that, what with my parents ghosting me out of nowhere. 

"I appreciate your help, thank you, Kayla." 

Not knowing how else to respond I give a simple nod, still very much concentrated on my task at hand. The boys then transition from their simple routines to sparring and it's now that I find myself unable to concentrate; the way they're moving now, with such agility and grace is so enrapturing. I find myself leaning forward unable to chose who to watch, the fight between Donnie and Leo or the fight between Mikey and Raphael? The sparring between Donnie and Leo is far more contained and I figure it's because Leo is giving Donnie an easier time. Yet that still didn't make the it less interesting; I watch enamored as Donnie spins his bo staff expertly before pointing at Leo, Leo stands his ground and grips one of his katanas, the other still in its' holster. Donnie makes the first attack, jabbing the staff in the direction of Leo's plastron which gets dodged, and then another one to the face which gets dodged again, Leo taking the chance to move in closer to Donnie. However, Donnie makes sure Leo keeps his distance, edging back as he tries to get his hits in. The speed picks up, Donnie seeming to grow more confident with what he can do, he dodges a swipe from his brother by using his bo to help vault over him. As soon as he lands his spins his bo again and tries to take the opportunity to hit Leo's shell to send him down. 

Before I can watch that outcome unfold I find myself looking to Raphael and Mikey, Mikey's quips and commentary taking ahold of my attention. 

"Oooh and Raph takes another miss!" Mikey cries as he lands from a flip, tucking his nunchucks in between his arms, bouncing on the balls of his feet to get ready to move again. Raphael moves sharply to look over to Mikey, green eyes narrowed and his face showing vague annoyance. "He doesn't know what to do! How can anyone handle someone as cute as the awesome Michelangelo?"