#yokai watch overseer

[zerosocialskillz]

I’m thinking of a little post-canon tale of y academy where Mataro tries to deal with the overseer Soranaki who is sealed within him… except the guy isn’t trying to escape at all.

Like, dude’s just spending his days sulking and shit, and Mataro doesn’t understand why.

Turns out the guy is pissed that he did not reincarnate into some (semi-)normal-ass human like the rest of Mataro’s classmates and just wants to end his evil and hate schtick.

And then they become friends as Mataro’s days in America continue and stuff. Hijinks ensue.

[myloh]

Bitches be like :

“I am glad I was able to tell you the truth. I have no regrets now.”

My brother in Christ you almost drove the Yokai kind to extinction.

[shaotie]

Where You Belong - Outline

**WARNING** for lots and lots of **SPOILERS** below

I'm the kind of person who likes to read the entire plot of a movie on wiki before deciding if I'll watch it, so for anyone else out there who likes spoilers here's the entire outline for my Where You Belong au 😃🐢💚

Arch 1: Can Nobody Hear Me? - Chapters 1-23

The story begins a few years post krang invasion, when the turtles are adults. After Leo saves the life of a deer yokai the villain (an all-black doberman pincer yokai named Excalibur along with his mystical pet yokai, an oversized gecko named Geralt) is enraged at his meddling and hits him with a mystic attack, depositing mystic energy inside Leo's head. As a result, he is left is unable to use his ninpo, wield any weapons, and stripped of his ability to communicate - both verbally and non-verbally - so he can't tell anyone about the wicked yokai or what he did.

A series of unfortunate events results in Leo being taken by the dog yokai, mystically afflicted so he cannot escape or fight back, branded as a slave, put to hard work, severely abused by the temperamental dog with a quick temper, and kept locked away in a location deep underground inside a pocket of mystical rocks that blocks the signal from the subcutaneous tracker Donnie placed on him years prior.

The harsh conditions he is forced to live eventually results in the rise of dissociative identity disorder (split personality disorder) and come close to taking his life. Instead of tending to his injuries, Excalibur dumps him in a New York alley with the intent of purchasing another slave, where Donnie's tracker picks up on him and his family brings him home and does their best to help him heal from his many injuries - physical, mental, and emotional.

Although the mystic energy deposited inside his head was removed when he was left for dead, Leo is still unable to talk because of something else that mystical attack did to him, so his family learns sign language.

Meanwhile the alternate persona in Leo's mind (from the dissociative identity disorder) becomes an sentient life force connected to Leo's mystic powers (named May) who is evil because she was born as a result of the mystic energy Geralt deposited inside Leo's head and Excalibur's shocking abuses that tramatized Leo's mind, and she tries to take control of him so she can kill his family.

Eventually she succeeds in taking control, but once disconnected from the inner broken recesses of Leo's mind she becomes her own person separated from the horrors that gave birth to her, and no longer wishes to harm anyone - instead she wants to enjoy the simple things in life like feeling the rain on her skin and gazing at the stars, but worries that she's taking away from Leo's quality of life because of how they have to share a body and feels she was a mistake and shouldn't exist at all.

Meanwhile Leo's family know about the dangers and when they realize she has taken control they do a mind meld to get her out of his head, refusing to listen to Leo's arguments that she changed and is good now - thinking he only believes this because he is under her evil influence.

After removing her mystic life force, May (who left willingly for Leo's sake) dies and Leo is left bereaved without the extra person he had grown accustomed to talking to him in his head, and he mourns her loss because of how she had been a constant in his life and had changed to become a better person (like Draxum, who is part of their family now).

Meanwhile, to cover the many scars on his face and body from Excalibur's attacks Leo asks Mikey to make him a black hood and a new mask - one that symbolizes his connection to his family and May (whose mystic life force was a bright pink).

When he is well enough, Leo insists on resuming his hero work, but does so with Donnie in the Hidden City, where he fulfills a promise he made to May before she died by doing good with his life in helping to free others who have been forced into the life of harsh slavery (which is legal in yokai society because the powerfully influential Big Mama pushed for it to have slave fighters for her Battle Nexus).

Arch 2: Twists and Turns - Chapters 24-40

Because Excalibur reported him as a runaway slave, one of their Hidden City missions when Leo is by himself he is discovered by the police, tranquilized, arrested, and has his subcutaneous tracker and mystic powers removed by them.

Instead of being returned to that disgusting dog, Big Mama shows interest in the ninja hero and purchases him as another slave fighter for her Battle Nexus - having a shock device attached to the back of his neck (called a neuro-tech disruptor or NTD) as 'encouragement' for him to do as he is told and giving him the stage name Red Jitsu (while tricking his family into believeing the fighter 'Red Jitsu' is really a zebra yokai and not their missing son/brother).

Leo refuses to take the life of another but agrees to fight when he discovers killing in the Battle Nexus was made illegal by the Council of Heads. Now, when the killing blow was to be made, a mystical system automatically portals the loser out of the ring.

In the underground slave quarters, Leo befriends a fellow slave rabbit yokai named Usagi, who understands sign language (including his three-fingered adaptation), but is devestated when - a few months later - a fight is rigged and he is killed in the Nexus ring.

After that Leo become so despondent he gives up on life, thinking that his family weren't looking for him in the first place but not knowing they had been searching for him everywhere. On the night of a one-time-only Council-of-Heads-approved revenge match to the death against the yokai who killed Usagi, Leo gives up - deciding it would be better to die as an honorable hero than take the life of another and feeling he no longer has a reason to live - but his highly anticipated fight catches the attention of his family, who realize 'Red Jitsu' is really Leo and come to rescue him.

Leo can't simply escape with them however, because the NDT is programmed to repeatedly shock him if he tries (until he either returns or is killed by it), so their rescue plan ends up being foiled and he is sent away to a genius alligator by the name of Kaiman. But because he knows now that his family is out there searching for him, unbeknownst to Big Mama Leo has a renewed appreciation for life.

Arch 3: A Useful Warrior - Chapters 41 - ? (reformatting chapters, will post when done)

Since a 'broken' slave is not profitable in the ring Big Mama sends Leo to a business associate of hers named Kaiman to 'break him Big Mama style,' but the alligator discovers he is different from all the other slaves she sent his way because of retaining his Hamato honor. So he deviously keeps him for himself, separated from his family - not only on a different planet but in a different dimension - and forces compliance through such means as shocks, punishing hallucinations, and mind control (all from the NTD that is his creation), as well as manipulation and conditioning.

While there, Leo befriends an artificial life form named Cammie, who looks like a gray fox yokai and - despite being created by Kaiman - is a sentient life form who has free will and her own distinct personality, and is proved to be a living person (think Data from 'Star Trek: TNG' only female, a tangible holigram, looks like a cute fox yokai, and possesses emotions from the moment she was created).

Via a teleportation device of his own creation, Kaiman takes his ninja warrior on many dangerous outings to different planets and dimensions, resulting in them crossing paths with the 2012 turtles where he passes off the mute Leo as an associate by the name of Othello Von Ryan. But Leo manages to get alone time when he goes to the bathroom and secretly uses 2012 Donnie's security camera, revealing who he really is (via sign language) and that Kaiman is his captor but he can't escape because of the NTD attached to him. This results in an (unsuccessful) adventure where the 2012 turtles board Fugitoid's ship (2012 iteration) to try and save Leo.

When Big Mama discovers Kaiman tricked him and kept her useful warrior for himself she tries to get Leo back, but bumping heads with such an intelligent villain results in her death. Since the biggest avocate of slavery is now dead there is an uprising among yokai who are against slavery in the Hidden City, resulting in the Battle Nexus being destroyed and slavery abolished.

Although believing other life forms to be beneath his species and he harshly mistreats his warrior slave to keep him in his place, Kaiman views himself as an honorable person and releases Leo when he feels his services are no longer required.

Leo goes home but behaves differently as a result of the conditioning from Kaiman - who skillfully used his genius to force compliance. Eventually some problems on his home planet result in Kaiman making Leo assist him again, but he upholds his distorted sense of honor by not forcing him back into slavery providing he separates himself from his family and doesn't tell anyone about their arrangement. Leo feels he doesn't have a choice but to comply - partly because of his fear Kaiman will kill his family if he refuses and partly because of how he has been conditioned to obey Kaiman and doing so gives his life some sort of warped sense of direction and purpose (similiar to stockholm syndrome but not quite as severe).

Leo moves out of the lair to protect his family and in between doing Kaiman's bidding he starts fighting for a living under his Battle Nexus alias Red Jitsu in a place called the Cavern Games (communicating with those who don't understand sign language via a program in his wrist com Donnie made for him). But he can't keep his arrangement with Kaiman secret for long before Donnie finds out about it and his family fight to save him - ultimately resulting in the death of Kaiman and leaving Leo feeling like he is lost with no direction without Kaiman there to tell him what to do.

Arch 4: A Time for Healing

During his time being forced to work for Kaiman Leo professed his love for Cammie, who returns the gesture and after Kaiman's death her program is downloaded into Donnie's systems (with backups upon backups as a precaution) so she can live with him and his family in their New York sewer lair.

Meanwhile Leo discovers that back when May was taken out of his mind Draxum found reminents of invisible mystic energy leftover from her death so he put that energy into a vat of mutagen to find out what would happen, resulting in May returning in the form of an inquisitive cute kitten yokai (around 5 years old) and Leo takes on a fatherly role in her life. But Karai comes to him in a dream and tells him to make the most of their time together because it won't last long.

Coming to the wrong conclusion that May was destined to die, Leo becomes overly protective of her. But one day as their family are all relaxing on a beach, an amphiptera (snake-like alien with arms, fiery wings, and fire powers) - who had been seeking revenge after Kaiman and his ninja slave previously attacked her people - finally finds Leo after searching through outer space for him, resulting in a fight that ends in his death.

Leo is welcomed with open arms in the mystic realm by Karai, Usagi, and his ancestors, but despite having a place there and feeling a sense of inner peace (which he is told is a gift for earning a place in the mystic realm) he still misses his family on earth and longs to be with them.

His desire becomes reality when Karai discovers Raph and Donnie are helping Mikey open a portal to the mystic realm to get Leo back after Draxum helped them mystically heal the mortal wounds on his deceased body. Leo chooses to return with them and Karai sends him home with a gift, so that when he wakes up in the med bay he is able to talk again and the story ends with a happy reunion between him and his family.

🔹🔹🔹

🔹Where You Belong Masterpost

🔹My Main Masterpost

[obsidiancreates]

Out Of The Shadows and Into The Neon (Part 17)

Draxum pulls the small vial of Leo’s blood out of cold storage (AKA the minifridge Splinter got him as an apology  for the Hidden City Teddy Bear Incident) and pulls a few drops into a syringe.

Leo’s blood is very interesting– the sample he’d looked at from Donnie back when the tots were first discovered a decade ago was mixed with saliva, diluted and difficult to work with. As a result, there were a few things that, had he had a pure sample, might’ve tipped him off to how truly unusual his grandsons are a bit sooner.

Such as the blue-green hue to Leo’s blood, making it a somewhat sludgy muted purple color rather than pure red. In small amounts it’s impossible to tell– whenever Leo has had a scrape or lost a tooth in the past, the blood was thin enough to appear normal in color. But in this thicker, purer concentration, the discoloration is noticeable even to the naked eye.

He drips the blood onto a microscope slide, then uses a vine to fetch a bubbling mix from the stovetop in the kitchen. He pulls some of it into a separate syringe, and adds one drop to the blood on the slide. He leans his hulking form over the tiny human-sized microscope and watches for a reaction.

The blood cells themselves are also interesting. It’s been clear since the boys were babies that, like most mutants and Yokai, most human illnesses didn’t really have any effect on them. But whereas with Yokai it was simple biological differences, or with Draxum’s mutants it being a result of purposeful strengthening of the immune system, Leo’s blood suggests something… more concerning.

There’s an almost corrosive element to it– not enough that it could be actually harmful to anything, even fragile human flesh, but enough that Draxum theorizes their resistance to sickness has little to do with Immune System, and more to do with viruses not being capable of surviving long enough to infect in the toxic environment.

As he watches the concentration of about a dozen human and Yokai virus cells alike mix with the sample, his theory is… given weight. Leo’s white blood cells– which aren’t white as much as they’re a teal-tinted gray– don’t even have time to react before the viruses disintegrate.

Where his ooze is based in mystic science, the mutating agent in Leo’s blood– and assumedly his brothers’ as well– is based in a science unlike anything Draxum has ever encountered. And what’s more, it’s… almost a hostile substance, based on his tests. A chemical that corrodes DNA more than simply changes it. A chemical that has a somewhat random structure in and of itself, almost like it’s the unrefined version of itself. A chemical that doesn’t seem to have been designed for purpose so much as just…

Exists, and alters whatever it comes in contact with just because it Can. 

In theory.

He’s hesitant to try and isolate the agent to confirm that theory.

He notes down his findings, then pulls out a smaller, pale purple notebook and notes the findings in a more… softened, way. The blood isn’t corrosive, it’s… potent, and the mutating agent isn’t hostile, it’s… 

It’s…

… Unique.

He puts Donnie’s notebook back in the drawer and pulls out a new clean slide.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“VOILA!” Donald throws his arms wide in front of the observatory. Leo, in an oversized hoodie and baggy pants that have such wide ankles his feet are entirely covered, has to push the hood back before he can see what the surprise is. His eyes widen, mouth dropping open, as he looks upon the building and the giant telescope rising from it.

“The observatory?” Leo’s little voice is hushed as though he might scare the whole adventure itself away by speaking too loudly. 

“Not only the observatory, my space-faring nephew, but their state-of-the-art simulator!” Donald tosses Leo up and catches him on his shoulders with ease. “Now you can view space and experience it! And no matter what my dum-dum brothers may say, simulations are as good as the real thing!” Better, even, because simulations don’t drag you down into fleshy depths, don’t crawl up your shell, don’t sink into your nervous system–

“Let’s do the other stuff first.” Leo crosses his arms on top of Donald’s head. “Um, to… save the best for last?”

Donald blinks, taking a deep breath to realign himself with the present and his own body. Nothing is on his shell but his battleshell and a hoodie. Nothing is surrounding him but silken fabric. Nothing is putting pressure on his spine but his nephew. He clears his throat and lifts his arm so Leo can see the schedule on his wristpad. “As I’d already planned. First, we go to the twenty-minute projection show about constellations, followed by a visit to the small museum they have displaying real asteroid chunks.”

Leo’s eyes go as wide as they can physically handle. “You’re kidding!”

“I do not kid about science, my dear nephew.” Donald slowly shakes his head, a very serious expression on his face, making Leo laugh in both amusement and excitement. He starts walking again, Leo still up on his shoulders. “Now, to set our expectations and make sure we have the best day possible– do you want to learn the real science behind everything, or just enjoy the incredibly awesome results of said science?”

“Real science!” Leo leans forward, throwing Donald’s balance enough that he nearly slips and has to scramble for footing again. How this still happens after well over a decade of being a master ninja, he has yet to figure out. Leo doesn’t seem phased by the slip, though. “We might need it someday, if we go to space and something goes wrong.”

“Good thinking.” Or is it? Donald steals a glance at the little list of anxiety attack triggers Leon texted him earlier that morning. ‘Malfunctioning spaceship,’ isn’t on it, but… better safe than sorry?

“Of course, if you ever went to space it’d be in my GeniusTech shuttle, which would never be sent up with failure points.”

“What about if aliens attack?”

“Then we’d have a perfectly intact functioning spaceship and an excuse to test a few experimental weapons!” He’s impressed with his own voice, it holding a steady and confident quality to it that doesn’t match the one in his own head. Alien attack. 

If an alien attacks their family ever again, it won’t end well. No matter who wins.

Leo is about to posit another worst-case-scenerio to plan for when they finally enter into the observatory itself. It’s a sort of hybrid observatory-planetarium-museum-amusement park, the grand entrance highlighting a replica of a real NASA shuttle right in the center. Leo stares up at it, mouth agape, and then without warning he swings down from Donald’s shoulders and onto the floor! He grabs his uncle’s hand on the way down, going straight into tugging Donald along as he runs to get a closer look at the craft.

“Leo! Slow down!” Oh, if that isn’t a familiar sentence to be saying. “We have all day to explore the wonders of this bastion of science and overpriced commemorative mugs! LEO!”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mutants And Yokai Welcome

“That’s a thing?” Donnie clings to Raphie’s side. Raphie has on his white sleeveless tracksuit, while Donnie is basically swimming in light purple fabrics of a hoodie and sweatpants. Donnie reads the sign above them, over and over. “Mutant, Yokai, and human events?”

“Didn’t used to be, but, they’re gettin’ way more common.” Raphie keeps one hand behind Donnie’s back to gently pushing him forward as he walks in. “I actually didn’t know this was, though. Sorry for makin’ you wear the disguise.”

“It’s okay.” Donnie only breathes the words as he takes in the sight around him– humans, Yokai, and mutants alike all gathered, chatting and socializing like it’s the most normal thing in the world, sitting together in the stands all intermingled and excited. He’s never seen it outside of his own home and family before. Somehow it feels… impossible.

But it’s not.

Only one thing matters here, and it’s the Wrestling.

“Oh, nice!” Raphie is handed a program by a young opossum-man. “Let’s see, uh… whoa! They’re havin’ mixed fights! Ha, hate to be the human havin’ to wrestle this guy, huh?” Raphie shows Donnie a picture of one of the wrestlers, a rhino (mutant, according to his brief description by his photo) with a wrestling mask only on his horn, his face otherwise uncovered. 

Donnie tugs on the strings of his hoodie. “Uh, doesn’t that seem… dangerous? The human could get really hurt.”

“Some humans are mutant-strong without bein’ mutants.” Raphie pats his shoulder, and Donnie climbs up so Raphie doesn’t lose track of him in the crowd as they make their way to the back row. There’s already a few other Incredibly Large Mutants and Yokai taking seats in the back as well. 

“Like Uncle Casey?”

“Exactly! So, it’s probably fine. And if not, I’m gonna call your aunts so they can tell the guys runnin’ this to fix it.”

“... Uncle Raphie? Are we a Mutant Mafia?”

“Wh-what?! No! Why would you even ask that?!”

“Well–” Donnie counts it out on his fingers as he lists his pieces of evidence. “You have peace accords with enemies of yours as part of a tenuous coexistence, you all use intimidation and your superior power to get people to act in certain ways on an organized level, Dad has used illegitimately-gained money to lobby politicians–”

“None of that is crime stuff, Little Man. It’s just… ninja clan stuff!”

Donnie frowns a little. “I don’t think those are mutually exclusive.”

“Well, they are for the Hamatos.” Raphie is sweating a little. Donnie’s points are a little too compelling for comfort, and he knows he’s emanating his ‘Crisis About Life Choices’ stink.

“If you say so.” Donnie doesn’t sound convinced at all. Raphie’s never been sure if Donnie’s very-hard-to-hide emotions are a good or bad thing, really, and that’s no different now. The kid wears his heart on his metaphorical sleeve, and on his literal face, plain as cheese pizza.

“Let’s just focus on the wrestling, huh Little Man?”

“Is it true Uncle Leon once won a bunch of wrestling matches?”

“Actually, we both did! We totally mopped the floor with my favorite wrestler Ghostbear!”

“ Your favorite? ... Isn’t he a bad guy?”

“Yeah, well, he wasn’t before we mopped the floor with him.”

“So you made him a bad guy?!”

“Uh… hey, look, the announcer’s coming out! Ha-ha, better stop talkin’ about this totally-not-our-fault story!” Raphie sucks a breath in, cheeks puffed and eyes going in slightly opposite directions as a single bead of sweat rolls down his temple.

Donnie is clearly unconvinced. “You know, it’s actually good for children to learn from examples or stories of mistakes and bad behavior along with good ones.”

“But a good example is always better! Like, you know your dad, do you think he’d be a serious hero and ninja without me setting an example when we were kids?”

Donnie thinks about it as the first match starts, a pitbull-adjacent Yokai verses a jacked swan mutant. Donnie’s eyes are on the match, but his mind is clearly elsewhere as his eyes delay in tracking the movements. Raphhie worries for a moment that he’s ruined the whole experience by giving Donnie something to overthink about–

“I think Dad needed you,” Donnie says around the middle of the match as the Pitbull Yokai is trying and failing to pin the agile Swam Mutant. “But, you all needed each other, too.”

“That’s right.” Raphie sags with relief as Donnie seems satisfied with his conclusion, smiling in a smug little copy of his Dad’s smirk and fully paying attention to the match. “Families need each other, for lots of reasons.”

He can help rubbing his cracked shell as he says that, or the way his eye aches with the memories. Sometimes he can’t help but lay awake and wonder what would’ve happened if… if he hadn’t been able to be there for them. Or if Leon hadn’t. If he hadn’t blocked the spike fast enough for his younger brother, or if his younger brother hadn’t gotten through to him in time… He needs them so much, all of them, his brothers and Pops and April and the Caseys and now the boys. What if he can’t always be there for them like when he got take–

“Whoa!” Donnie tugs on Raphie’s arm, eyes wide and sparkling. “The Swan won! But-but how?! The Pitbull had so many advantages!”

Raphie grips his sweatpants and takes a deep breath. He is here. Right now. “Hey, Little Man, you’ve seen Pops beat us in training plenty a’times! You know there’s lottsa different ways to be, uh, advantage-us!”

“Advantageous.” 

“Like that! You knew how to say the word, even though you’re younger!” Raphie pats Donnie on the back. “Your dad has the same advantage!”

Donnie nods, watching as a human wrestler steps into the ring across from a Koala mutant. 

The matches pass quickly once Raphie focuses on them, cheering alongside his nephew no matter which way it goes. The human ends up winning against the Koala, thanks to some slick footwork and quick thinking. Then they watch a Bee Yokai win a fight against a Labybug Yokai, a Cactus mutant lose to a Treefrog mutant, so on and so forth until the first break.

“AAAND NOW!” The announcer cheers, flipping into the center of the ring without so much as a voice crack during the stunt, “TIME FOR A LITTLE LITTLE ACTION! WELCOME TOOOO! AMATEUR CHILD WRESTLING!”

“Uhhh.” Donnie’s pupils shrink, alongside his whole form as he presses closer to Raphie. “That seems kinda dangerous.”

“You kiddin’? You already fought a supervillain, kid!”

“I thought you were disappointed we did that.”

“As a Dad and Uncle, I am. But, as a ninja, I was impressed. So I thought this could be a good way to get some of that energy out! Y’know, safely!” Raphie stands up and puts Donnie on his shoulders. “Whaddya say? Wanna try it?”

Donnie looks down into the ring, into the crowd, watching other kids shout and jump and raise their hands. And… it is more supervised than the fight with Tweetie…

Donnie raises his hand. “Pick me! I wanna go! PICK ME!”

[larz-barz]

Oversized

——————————————————————————

Warning(s)/info: Fluffy cuteness, adorable couple things, Hideaki is @hotelcaliforniaenbydancer’s oc

Tagging: @hotelcaliforniaenbydancer @nothingtoseehere1-2-3 @rosalinastan1 @ayunakatsukiwolfhashira @pinkwisteria @nimmie-nugget @kimetsu-chan @frostburn-shoto @floofgryph

——————————————————————————

Hideaki is walking through the mall, getting ready to go home, and a bright smile grows on his face when he sees a hoodie his size that immediately reminds him of his adorable little girlfriend.

“Miki would love this…” He murmurs to himself with a big smile.

The hoodie is dark purple and the hood has cat ears that would be perfect for keeping Mikitama’s little ears warm.

He checks the price and smiles. ‘Worth it for my Mikita.’ He thinks as he goes to pay for the hoodie.

After paying for the hoodie, Hideaki heads home and washes the hoodie then sprays some of his signature cologne on it so it would smell like him.

He giggles as he puts the gift in a place that he knows Mikitama would see it and take it from.

Hideaki knows she’ll ask before taking it, but he loves the way Mikitama’s eyes light up when she finds things that he left lying around for her to take.

His smile grows when he hears a soft knock on the door and he rushes to open it. “Hi Mikita!” He exclaims happily as he hugs her and lets in, smiling lovingly from the sound of her happy giggles.

“Hi Hide!” Mikitama responds happily then comes in, her eyes immediately going to the purple hoodie on the arm of the couch.

After a few minutes, when Mikitama thinks Hideaki isn’t watching her, she discreetly grabs the hoodie and smells it then starts purring from Hideaki’s pleasant scent lingering on the fabric.

Hideaki smiles softly as he discreetly watches Mikitama’s happy expression.

He walks over to her and hugs her from behind, slightly startling her. “Go ahead and take it, sweetheart..” He says softly, slightly tightening his arms around her small form.

“R-really.? I can take it..?” She asks shyly as she turns around in his arms and he smiles and nods.

“Of course, Mimi!” He says happily, brushing her hair away from her precious face.

His smile grows when Mikitama’s gorgeous eyes light up. “Thank you Hide..!” She says happily as she wraps her arms around him and he smiles brightly as she pulls away to put the large hoodie on.

Hideaki’s eyes sparkle with so much love and affection for Mikitama as he picks up the tiny yokai, bridal style, and kisses her nose, then her forehead, then her cheeks, and finally her soft lips.

Mikitama blushes brightly as she shyly kisses him back then when they gaze at each other lovingly.

“You’re so adorable, Mikita… I love you more than anything…” Hideaki says with a loving smile as he sits on the couch, holding Mikitama close, in his lap.

Mikitama blushes brightly and smiles shyly.

“I love you too, Hide…”

~the end~

i hope you like it sibby!!🥺💕💕

[banana-pancake5]

Meet Seventy-Two! His nickname is Sev!

Info under the cut!

Sev originally lived in a Zoo (Hence the 72 marked on his back) but was mutated by an Oozeskito at a very young age and taken by the government.

Because Sev was raised in the lab he quickly learned the more interesting and intelligent he seemed the more they would study and experiment on him.

Sev learned how to speak but never talked loud enough for any scientists to hear. He saw one scientist who only spoke in signs, he observed what the signs meant. He learned a lot from watching and listening to the scientists, but never revealed what he had learned in fear that they would test on him more.

After he had escaped he would talk to himself but only when he knew he was completely alone.

Sev lived in the shadows of New York City, stealing whatever he could from citizens.

He has snuck into schools to attempt to receive a real education, but because he is still terrified nervous of being discovered and taken, he doesn’t go often and when he does he doesn’t end up learning anything because he’s too paranoid.

* He came up with the name Sev because everyone (the scientists) called him Seventy-Two which he thought was way too long

* He’s Very observant and curious

* Still scared of being discovered

* Hates the cold (reminds him of his room in the lab)

* Wears really oversized clothes (It’s comfy, warm, keeps him hidden and the only thing he could find)

* escaped the lab when he was 10yr

* Loves learning

* Doesn’t trust humans and isn’t aware of any other mutants or yokai

If you have any questions or just want to know more please send me an ask!!

[why-raven]

Endwalker, hands down. The Manderville Weapons were the only set of relics I actually bothered to complete for all jobs while they were still relevant.

It's really refreshing to make better use of the time to do a variety of contents in game rather than mindlessly grinding for just one thing... for hours or even days. I absolutely despise grinding, because I want to maximize my limited playtime rather than wasting all that on something so... mind-numbing and it didn't worth all that effort at the end of the day.

Aside from the straightforward system and efficient upgrade steps, I also enjoyed the side story attached to the weapon quest―that's what I call a real summer break from saving-the-universe shenanigans. Just goofing around on misadventures with the gentleman inspector and getting into all sorts of wacky chaos... actually did make the usually stoic Yiuno crack a grin from time to time.

You can't deny that Hildy's mom is hot. Both literally and figuratively. Also Godbert is best man. Playing as him in one of the instanced battles was so fun!

Cyberpunk aesthetics is my kind of shit. The DRK weapon is pretty cool because it's actually an oversized whip, ha.

Eureka and Bozja were a mixed bag for me:

Eureka Weapon designs, at least up to Pyros, are dope.

Some of the NM mechanics are interesting, I guess... when you consider the trend of fight designs in Stormblood. Ozma is still one of the coolest mounts in the game.

Fuck the maps. Especially Pagos. Fuck those sleeping dragons.

Resistance Weapon designs initially started out really good... but ended up being absolute trash (save for RDM).

The dungeon fights were fun and challenging when they were still fresh and uncapped stats... But now that it's optimized to death it's just another brainless grind all over again.

Anima is only easy when you can solo and cheese most of the steps now, or unsync and complete the grind quickly within an hour or two. I can imagine it being a chore when the relic was still relevant in Heavensward.

Zodiac? It's forever the worst, both in terms of the grind (fuck the books) and the amount of gil you need to get through certain steps. (Easier for me to just farm UWU and get all those weapons with better glow, lol.)

I forced myself to finish the Yokai Watch event when they rerun it a second time with inclusion of GNB and DNC weapons, back in Shadowbringers. While I don't understand why the devs brought it back again in Endwalker and there weren't any new weapons for RPR and SGE, at least I didn't have to go through all that hell again; just talk to the NPC to collect some adventure plate thing I'd probably never use at all. I cannot comprehend people who enjoy this kind of torture, but hey, I respect that this is fun for you, just not my kind of fun.

[personal-joy]

All The Things That Make Me Happy:

1. Lop Bunnies

2. Orchid Mantis’

3. Red Eyeliner

4. Cherry Blossom

5. Granny Smith Apples

6. Peach Juice

7. Melanie Martinez

8. Lipstick Marks

9. Funfetti Cake

10. The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.

11. The Birth of Venus

12. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

13. Hand fans, and their language

14. Vanilla

15. Handkerchiefs

16. Lace

17. Maneki-Neko

18. The Loom

19. Claw Machines

20. Arcades

21. Genshin Impact

22. Stuffed Animals

23. Sylveon

24. Cotton Candy flavored things

25. The Musical Chicago

26. Sweeney Todd

27. Cherry Scented Markers

28. Lazy Rivers

29. Carousels

30. Sea Bunnies

31. Harney & Sons Cherry Blossom Tea

32. TrashKittyArt (check them out on etsy)

33. Vox Akuma

34. Let’s Build A Zoo

35. Cinnamoroll

36. Cookbooks

37. Calico (the game)

38. Cookie Clicker

39. Okami (What a gaming masterpiece)

40. Yokai Watch

41. Pomegranates

42. Strawberry Puffs candy

43. Origami Lucky Stars

44. Teddy Bear Sunflowers

45. Fluffy White Kittens

46. Good Omens (the book)

47. The Language of Flowers

48. Luster Powders

49. (Faux) Fur Coats

50. True Crime

51. Oversized Sweaters

52. Chinese Lantern plants

53. Guys with long hair

54. Venus Flytraps

55. Gyspy Vanners

56. Fresians

57. Japanese Sables

58. Law and order: Criminal intent

59. Wisteria

60. Kintsugi

[bellatheinkdemon]

Saw this on Twitter that said share the most useless Yo Kai Watch info you know.

In Yo-Kai Watch 4, there is a Yo-Kai Tribe know as the Shinma Tribe with only three Yo-Kai in it. (Two if you don't count the anime exclusive one) These Yo-Kai are:

Harbinger (A anime exclusive Yo-Kai I'm pretty sure)

Soranaki or Overseer if you prefer the localized name.

And Shinmagunshin Fukurou (non surprisingly)

[mad4turtles]

~misinformed~

(A ROTTMNT One-Shot)

In which an upset outsider doesn't have all the facts. Donnie intervenes.

(outsider POV. my first time writing in this style :D)

---

Your first mistake is thinking it'd be funny.

The mutant turtles—the Hamato's, your friends' supply—have been coming by Run of the Mill for about two years. Every time they show up, something happens, so much so that anyone not living under a rock knows who they are by word of mouth alone. Some of Hueso's newest customers come to see what spectacle the morons make of themselves this time. 

The normally straight-laced, no-nonsense bone man doesn't seem to mind. He'll roll his eyes and sigh whenever the Blue one loudly struts in like he owns the place, but he hasn't turned them away since that one time the purple one tried to flip a table and failed.

It's as if the owner has a soft spot for the freaks. You can't imagine why. Not when chaos follows them at every turn, dragging others into it against their will.

Like that time with the Shredder beast that tore up the surface. You could care less about the humans, but you almost felt bad for them once the turtles got involved.

And then there was the invasion.

You were on your way to class when rubble started raining from above. Tendrils of pink, slime-coated tentacles seeped through the cracks of the only barrier between the human world and yours. And you're a big freaking guy, a bull yokai that towers over most of your peers, and you were cowering in a corner until the shaking stopped, and the world went quiet after what felt like years.

You learn later that the fabled Krang had been released from their prison dimension by a group of human cultists called the Foot Clan. The turtles were right in the middle of it.

Some thanked the turtles for cancelling the apocalypse, saving the world in a feat of bravery and selflessness. Others, like yourself, who'd heard from the eyes and ears above ground about how the Foot Clan had released the Krang, wanted to wring their necks.

So when, after two months of no-shows, the Blue one shows up alone wearing an oversized blue hoodie, a brace on his left knee and that stupid grin, approaching the counter with a barely-there limp in his step, you and your friends grin.

Your second mistake is leaving your table.

You wait until Hueso leaves to get his order to approach the boy and tap him on the shoulder. He turns and cranes his neck to meet your eyes, smirk firmly in place as he leans against the counter. “Can I help you?” he asks.

You snort, folding your muscular arms. “You're one of those turtle guys, right?”

Blue raises an eye ridge at you like you're the stupid one, gesturing to himself with a wave of his arm. “I mean, I am a turtle, so...”

You fight to keep your grin. “Yeah. I heard you guys were a big help during that crazy shit with the Krang. Terrible stuff, that was. A miracle you made it out.”

The kid's face twitches in an odd way you've never seen before his grin comes back up like shutters on a door. “Yeah, you could say that,” he says, inspecting his nails. “We're basically legends now, my bros and I. I go by many names, Neon Leon, Nardo, The World's Greatest Ninja--but you can call me Leo, my good man. Need me to sign your napkin for ya? Your face, your shirt—?”

The audacity of this kid. You admit you feel more than a little satisfied when you slap one hand down on the counter, making him jump as you loom over him. 

“Sure. You're a hero, alright,” you sneer, drawing up to your full height as the kid bumps the back of his shell against the counter. “But I heard that you and your 'bros' were the morons who let those Foot freaks set the Krang loose in the first place. Ain't that right?”

You watch as the kid goes ridged, eyes wide, the smile wiped clean off his face. Finally. “How—I mean, I—I, uh—”

“What? Got nothing to say?” 

You feel eyes on you from other patrons, your friends chuckling from your table, watching the smug idiot under you start to sweat. 

“How about I help you? You can start with, I don't know, an apology. How many humans do you think lost their lives up there, hm? I don't give a shit either way, but since you're out here boasting about being their 'hero', I'd say that's a pretty big deal. Or what about the Yokai down here who thought they'd lose everything when the rubble fell and destroyed homes and businesses? You ever think about them while you were up acting like some big-shot playing pretend?” You chuckle. “Must've hurt like a bitch when reality slapped you in the face.” 

There's a light tremble in the kid's hands as he tries and fails to muster a smile that falls hilariously flat. “L-Look—look, man,” he stammers, looking away and clutching his wrist with the other hand, subtly trying to skirt around you away from the counter. “It was—I messed up, I know that, and I—”

You don't let him finish. You don't care for his excuses. Instead, you shove him in the chest hard enough that he topples gracelessly to the floor in a heap. Your friends laugh a little louder, and you almost join in. This is their supposed hero?

“Then you got a lotta nerve showing up here like you didn't nearly start the apocalypse, buddy.” You snort again, sending his mask tails flying as he shuts his eyes against your breath. You lean down, lowering your voice into a growl for his ears alone.

“I speak for a lot of us when I say we're sick and tired of you freaks barging in here. We were fine until you showed up, acting like you belong. You ain't even true Yokai—word is you're a bunch of lab accidents that mad bastard Draxum cooked up. You weren't wanted then, and you're sure as hell aren't welcome now, so you'd best be on your way and not show your sorry shell around here again, you freaking pest—”

You have just enough time to watch Blue's eyes snap wide open, haunted and unseeing before a voice stops you cold.

“Hey.”

You lean back and turn around. The Purple one with the fake shell is stomping the distance between you, a look in his eyes that almost makes you think twice. Almost.

Beneath you, Blue is shaking. “D-Don,” he forces out in a choked voice. “You-you're meant to wait out—”

Purple walks right past you, not even looking at you, and kneels beside Blue, taking him by the shoulders, eyes roaming him up and down. “Are you alright? Are you injured?”

Blue looks at you briefly before looking away, utterly cowed. “'m fine.”

“You certainly do not look fine, seeing as you're on the floor, and my scanners picked up an abnormal heart rate increase. Was this fine gentleman responsible or am I misreading the situation again—?”

“Just drop it, Don. Tio's comin' back with our orders soon, so we'll split.”

You watch as Purple's drawn eyebrows (seriously, who does that?) furrow as he helps Blue to his feet. “Don't you wanna talk to Hueso? He hasn't seen you since your rehab started—”

“I know,” Blue snaps, looks like he regrets it, then hangs his head again, staring at the hand holding his wrist. You notice a blue cast under the drooping hoodie sleeve. “I know. But I just. I wanna go home. Okay?”

Purple stares.

You huff. “Better listen to your 'bro', here,” you say. “It's probably the first good idea he's had.”

Your last mistake is opening your mouth.

Purple turns very slowly and finally looks up at you. His expression is blank, unreadable, and even with all your height and strength, you admit it's slightly unsettling.

“I'm sorry,” Purple says, “who the hell are you?”

Behind him, Blue tentatively reaches for his hand and tugs it, whispering frantically—“It's not worth it, Dee, come on, don't make a scene, it's fine—”

Purple whirls on Blue. You can't see the face he's making, but it silences Blue instantly, his eyes wide. Your friends suddenly start whispering harshly at you to back up. 

You ignore them, crossing your arms again so your muscles bulge. “Just a resident of the city your friend here nearly destroyed,” you say, riding the high of putting one more smug asshole in his place. It's high time he learned it.

Purple turns around again. He doesn't blink. “Is that so?” he asks.

“Donnie, please—“

“Nardo, I am invoking my rights as the eldest twin to silence you while I have a civil conversation with this good gentleman slash bull-guy,” Purple says in a clipped tone. He slips his hand from Blue's and steps forward until he's toe to hoof with you. He barely reaches your chest, and you almost laugh. “Would you care to elaborate on what you were talking to my brother about?”

You're more than happy to. “Just giving some friendly advice. You all talk a big game, but there's a thing called growing up and taking responsibility. Sooner or later, you'll have to put your toys away and realize real life isn't a game. You don't play hero and expect praise or thanks when things don't go how they do in your video games. That's how little pests like him get—”

Between one breath and the next, Purple grabs the edge of an unoccupied table, ripping it off its hinges and slamming you in the face.

The world goes white for a moment, a ringing in your ears. Warmth leaks down your lip and clogs your nose, and one of your horns feels worryingly loose. The ringing fades, and you realize the restaurant is silent. 

You blink once, twice, and on the third blink, you see Purple standing over you with a chair lifted above his head by the legs. His face is murderous. 

“Wait—!”

Purple brings the chair down on you with enough force to rattle the bones in your arms as you shield your bleeding face. He swings again, hitting your shoulder. He swings again at your knee, again at your head. Heedless of your cries or the shouts from the wait staff, the chair comes down again and again and again and again, each time a little harder, until the chair finally explodes in a shower of splinters.

You're an aching mess of bruises curled up on the floor, arms over your head like a child. You dare to peek, and Purple is panting hard, a single chair leg in his vice-like grip. Behind him, Blue stares with impossibly wide eyes.

Then Purple raises his head to pierce you with a glare. He stomps a foot on your side, and a pixelated wave of purple energy swirls around his arm, turning the chair leg into a glowing staff that he thrusts under your chin, right against your throat. You don't dare to move an inch even as breathing becomes difficult.

“You seem grossly misinformed, so allow me to do what is typical of my generation and educate you,” he says, his dead monotone belying the bloodlust in his gaze as he holds yours tighter than the staff in his hands. “My brother is sixteen. He is sixteen, and he made a mistake. One he would not have made had he known, had any of us known, what was at stake. But we didn't. He didn't, and he nearly died trying to make things right. Think about that for a second. My sixteen-year-old twin brother nearly killed himself to right a wrong and save not just New York or the Hidden City, but the whole freaking world.”

The tip of the bo presses harder against your neck. You splutter, fighting for breath.

“And you,” Purple hisses, “have no right to judge him. But alas, you were, as stated previously, grossly misinformed. So I will let you off with a warning.”

He leans in close enough that you can see the sparks of purple flashing in his golden eyes like lightning, and you're as stiff as a rabbit under the claws of a hawk. “If you ever come near my brother again—if you even look at him funny, you or your peanut gallery over there, I will hunt you down and reduce you to atoms. And I'll take your stupid freaking horns and hang them on my wall, or use them as mugs, as that seems to be popular with D&D fans. Either way, you will cease to exist, and no one will miss you when you're gone. Are we clear?”

You nod as best as you can, not trusting your voice—it's gotten you in enough trouble—and Purple finally takes the pressure off your neck, removing his foot from your side. You gasp greedily for air, sitting up on your elbows and rubbing your throat, your body throbbing.

Purple has already turned back to Blue, and Hueso's chosen now of all times to come running out, followed closely by one of the servers, a harried-looking dragon yokai. He takes one look at the room, one look at you, before whirling on Purple, speaking in rapid-fire Spanish that you couldn't understand if you tried. Purple wraps an arm around Blue and replies, also in Spanish, in that same dead monotone. Hueso looks at Blue, and something softens in his expression.

Only for it to harden again when he turns to you, bleeding from the face, still on the floor and littered with bruises and splinters of wood. Your friends finally get off their asses and help you up just in time for Hueso to march over and give you all the tongue-lashing of your lives for harassing young customers. You almost fire back, but Purple is watching you. You see your death in his flashing eyes and shut your mouth.

You're escorted out with a warning of a lifetime ban, utterly cowed under the stares of the patrons and the resentful glares of servers as you walk out the door. You feel Purple's eyes on you the whole time, and only when the mystic door swings shut can you breathe again.

You didn't think anything would scare you more than the Krang had, though you never actually saw them. But Purple's threat looms over your head and echoes in your ears, and you wonder.

You don't go back to Run of the Mill again.

---

Thanks for reading <3 Feel free to send requests :3

[remmushound]

Bay/rise 19!! @brightlotusmoon @errorfreak88

Ten minutes should have been more than enough. Then ten turned to fifteen and Splinter started to worry. When sirens started to sound off in the streets below, he could felt as if he had swallowed his heart and it was still beating while still in his stomach. His being churned with a cold nausea as scenarios ran his mind into a painful war zone.

“April…?” Splinter peered over the wall, his twitching nose betraying his anxiety. It stopped just in front of a pizzeria and the rescuers ran in with a stretcher. Then like a speeding bullet, out they came with an unconscious young girl held on the carrier between them. “APRIL!”

His immediate reaction was to run out to his daughter's aid. He had slung almost the entirety of his body over the wall before his mind could catch up to the actions of his body. There were so many people down there. New Yorkers watching and whispering as they watched the poor girl be taken away into the wailing vehicle. Splinter watched helplessly as it drove away. 

Slow as if he were made of stone, he pulled himself to hide behind the wall once more and curled into a tight ball to hide in the shadow. It was barely big enough to hide him anymore and quickly being eaten away by the sun, but it was enough for now. He couldn’t catch up. Even if he gage it his all and ran himself to the ground. He was old. He wasn’t Yoshi anymore, and this definitely wasn’t a movie.

She was going to a hospital. She was going to get help there and return to him when she was better. But she couldn’t do that if she didn’t know where he was! That’s how he justified him laying there helpless and silently brewing in his hurricane of self-hatred. He just had to hide and wait, like he’d done for fourteen years. Why, then, did this time feel so agonizingly impossible?

The sun hurt. It stung his eyes and almost seemed to burn his sensitive pink skin. He felt uncomfortable in the very fur covering his body. In all of fourteen years in this body, he could count the amount of times he’d been exposed to direct sunlight on two paws. He would be able to move a lot faster come night, without the sun to burn and blind him. If she didn’t returned by then, he told himself that he would go find her. It couldn’t be so hard, and he’d certainly had similar trials of difficult endeavors. For now, however, he was so tired mentally and physically that he just wanted to sleep. His family would be okay… they were okay… they were okay…

He couldn’t have been in that state for very long before he heard a faint, familiar hum. He rubbed his ears and silently cursed tinnitus before sliding his paws to his eyes for additional shelter. A second of thought later, he recognized that it wasn’t tinnitus— it was familiar to him in a different way.

“Blue…?” He lifted his paws from his muzzle and squinted up at two shadows staring down at him.

“Pops!”

Splinter grunted as the smaller of the shadows ran and scooped him up, powerful arms crushing him in a hug.

“Orange!” Hugged the box turtle in turn, “Blue!”

Splinter closed his eyes and gave a content sigh as Blue hugged both him and Orange.

“Dad. You okay?”

“Yes, I am fine. Oh, my boys…” Splinter teared up as he brought his paws to both of his sons’ cheeks and stroked them gently. 

Blue let his cheek be pet a moment longer before taking Splinter’s paw in his hand with gentle rubs of his thumb on the rat's palm. 

“Dad— where’s April? We thought she’d be with you.”

Splinter’s ears perked up slightly, but then quickly fell in response to the question. “I… she was. I don’t know what happened…”

“Do you know where she is?” Blue asked, his voice still happy and calm as he addressed the old rat, “I mean, she’s probably better off than us in the city, you know with this whole… situation.” 

“She… went to get food.” Splinter explained softly, then quickly changed the subject. “Where are your brothers? Where are Red and Purple?”

“Relax. They’re safe I promise.” Blue reassured with a pat to Splinter’s shoulder. “They’re… in the sewer. And Raph’s all patched up. We can go meet them after April gets back.”

“Did she just leave her bat here…?” Orange picked open the engraved bat and frowned as he turned it around in his hand. “She never leaves her bat… she loves this thing!”

“Not like she could bring it into a sushi bar, Miguel. Not even a skeevy burger joint would let her bring in a weapon! Probably safer to leave it here with dad anyway. When do you think she’ll be back? Cause we got a quad squad of angry Shrek’s on our shell that mean business and are even uglier than Raph.”

“What?” Splinter said sharply. “What Shrek’s?”

Blue hummed while he considered his words, and then said, “Eh, long story. So April?”

“She… I don’t know what happened. The ambulance took her…”

“What?” Blue’s cheery voice quickly shifted down an octave and Blue’s grip on his fathers shoulder tightened.

“Omigosh!”

“Is she okay?”

“I don’t know— she was fine when she left here.”

“How long ago?” Blue interjected sharply, “How long ago did they take her?”

“I don’t know, maybe twenty minutes?” Splinter estimated. 

“Then she’d be at the hospital right now…” Blue put his odachi to his forehead to keep the sun out of his eyes as he looked around the city, “Closest hospital is… that one!” He pointed to a distant building that Splinter could barely make out. “I think. You stay here, pops. Mikey and I will go check on April.”

“None of you are going anywhere.”

At the new voice, Splinter felt his fur stand on end. He tried to push past Blue and Orange to put himself between them and whatever the massive four yokai were— big like Red, with an odd assortment of trinkets hanging from them like Orange usually had. Splinter see the outlines of shells— big, bulky shells. Kappa maybe? They were a bit oversized from the ones he was used to seeing in the Hidden City…

“Oh come on! Not these guys again!” Orange groaned. “I thought we gots rid of you!

“Pops, it's cool.” Blue said quickly, drawing Splinter from his thoughts of monsters. “They’re just egotistical show offs. Dad, meet the other turtles. Other turtles, my dad.”

One of the shorter shadows crouched down and offered a three-fingered hand. “Sorry to startle you, but your sons here have caused me and my brothers some trouble.”

As Splinter focused on the yokai’s face, he could start to make out the color of a blue mask and green skin. Other turtles? Splinter grunted, but accepted the hand. It was rough and callused from years of hard training and blistering skin, and the grip itself was firm.

“So, if you don’t mind, you and your sons really need to come with us.”

[zerosocialskillz]

Alright I’ll read some fics about Soranaki/Overseer Yo-Kai Watch

…

Who tf is T-Dus/Tidas and why is this one person shipping them both

[myloh]

People will probably hate me in the comments but eh

I have severe issues with Shadowside’s finale-

(Shoutout to Eve Chin on YouTube for allowing us to watch Shadowside content tho 🥹)

[gothvergilstan]

It Began Snowing.

GenderNetural!ReaderxCryptid!Taeyong

I based Taeyong off a bit on the yokai Yuki-Onna but I put my own spin to it. I didn’t know how to end this and personally I feel like the ending could be better. Also, it gets sorta yandereish

 Anyway, enjoy ^^

It began snowing suddenly.

You looked up at the gray skies, stopping in your tracks.

Lifting your hand up, you watched as the snowflakes landing on your red glove.

You drew your close to you, staring at the snowflakes that sat on your hand when suddenly, your ears twitched to the sound of crunching snow.

You looked to your side to see a young man walking.

You assumed he was going to pass by but when he stopped about a foot from you, you became slightly irritated because you knew he was going to talk to you.

You’re raised arm went to your side as he said “You know the blizzard is beginning to start. You shouldn’t just be standing out here.” causing you frowned a bit.

“A blizzard?” you questioned out loud.

The forecast only called for a light snowfall today. There was nothing on the news about an upcoming blizzard because if so, you wouldn’t have decided to explore the woods today.

The young man nodded his head.

“Yes. A blizzard and it seems to be picking up.” he said as the wind became stronger and the snowfall became harsher.

“Do you have any place to stay at during the storm? My place isn’t too far.”

“I-I uh, no.” you shook your head, the cold nipping at your exposed cheeks.

You lived in the town next to one you were currently in since this town was more of a farming town with woods while yours was simply a small factory town.

“You should come with me then.”

“N-no. I’m fine.” you told the stranger.

“Yet your shivering. You’d freeze to death out here… Come on. Come with me. I’ll give you some hot tea or hot chocolate, whatever you like.” he smiled at you.

You didn’t noticed that you were shivering, your teeth clattering as you said, “O-okay.”

The smile never left the man’s lips as he grabbed your hand.

“You don’t mind me grabbing your hand?” and you shook your head.

“Good. Let’s go.”

He began walking, leading the way, going further and further into the woods.

The snowfall became more heavy and the young man hummed as he took you to his home.

No thoughts crossed your mind as you let this strange man take you to his home, the nipping cold making it hard for you to think.

“We’re almost there.” he said as your eyes become blinded by the snow.

After some minutes, you walked out of the woods and soon you were in front of a yellow farm house.

Once you two walked up the steps and made it to the door, he let go of your hand and took out a pair keys from his pocket, unlocking and opening the door.

He looked at you and motioned for you to go in, a smile on his lips.

You walked into the house being hit with an immediate warmth but it wasn’t enough to stop the cold the had your body frozen.

The sound of the door closing and some locks entered your ears as you shivered in place.

“Oh. You must be freezing. Let me help you take off your jacket.”

The man was soon in front of you and watched as one of his hands unzipped your coat.

You found it weird that he was being rather close to you but you just chalked it up to him being helpful.

Once your jacket was off, he hung it on the coat rack on the wall.

“You think you can take off your boots?” he asked and you nodded, crouching down to untie your boots.

“Tch tch. Let me do that.”

He came over in front of you once more and you stood up, watching the young man crouch down and began untying your boots.

Once he was done he got up and watched as you took them off.

He grabbed your boots and put them to the side.

“Are you still cold?” he asked, walking into your vision once more.

You nodded, shivering heavily.

“You should take a hot bath. I’ll start the bath and give you some clothes and a towel.”

Your eyes widen and the young man chuckled.

“Don’t worry. I’m not a pervert if that’s what you’re thinking.” he said.

“Oh shit. I never told you my name, it’s Taeyong.”

“M-my name i-is Y-y/n.” you stuttered.

“Y/n. Hmm…” he hummed in thought.

“Go take a seat on the couch. I’ll get the bath started.” he smiled before walking up the steps.

You went to the open living room and sat down on the couch, noticing how comfy it was.

You looked around the living room, seeing little knick knacks and a fire place, some black and white photos and paintings.

A bark made you flinched and soon you saw a white jindo dog who began growling at you.

The dog began moving slowly towards you.

You started shaking in fear when suddenly you heard Taeyong’s voice.

“Melpomene.” he said softly, walking up to the growling dog.

“It’s alright, I’m safe. They’re not a threat.” he pat the dog and soon its growling died down.

“She’s really overprotective of me.” he laughed, looking up at you.

“I fixed your bath. Let me show where the washroom is.” he said, his gentle eyes on your form.

You got up, your eyes on the dog as you walked passed the animal and followed the man upstairs.

He showed you the washroom and were your clothes and towel sat at before leaving and closing the door.

Your eyes left the closed door, moving to the bathtub and as you walked closer to the bathtub, you saw rose petals sitting on the steamy water and a flowery scent entered your nose.

This was rather strange but once again, you didn’t think much of it.

You undressed and slowly entered the bathtub, sighing from the warmth.

Leaning back, you closed your eyes.

It was so weird for a blizzard this bad to happen suddenly.

Then your thoughts went to Taeyong.

You’ve seen him on multiple occasions, the occasions usually being the local farmers market where he sold his produce and fresh meat.

You have never properly met the man until today and it shocked you how warmed he felt.

Though you still believed that this situation was indeed a strange one.

Local legends of your town spoke of a deadly creature who caused random blizzards during the winter whenever a someone was lost or stranded only to never be seen again, the creature being compared to the man eating siren.

So you knew that you could be in danger but honestly, what could you even do?

You’re small house was in the next town over.

You had no choice but to stay in Taeyong’s house and wait for the blizzard to die down.

After some minutes passed, your body felt warm again and soon you began washing up.

Once you were done, you dried up and put on the clothes Taeyong left out, which was an oversized white t-shirt and some gray shorts. You put the towel in a basket, believing it to be the dirty clothes hamper and left the room.

As you walked down the stairs, the smell of food alerted your senses and as you walked into the open living room, you looked to your side where the opening to the kitchen was and walked to it.

Taeyong stood in front of a stove putting ingredients into a black pot.

He looked up at you and a gentle smile graced his handsome features.

“You’re done pretty early. I was hoping you’d be finish when I was done cooking.” he said. “But that’s alright. I’m making sundubu-jjigae. That sounds good?” he asked, his eyes on you.

You nodded, making a slight noise.

“You’re not much of a talker huh?” Taeyong said and you bit your bottom lip in nervousness.

“I don’t really know you well.”

He nodded, his attention going back to the stew.

“That makes sense. I am a stranger after all.” he stirred the stew. “But I truly mean no harm. You’re too precious to me…” you frowned in confusion as you didn’t quiet catch his last sentence.

You looked pass him at the window, being met with darkness.

Walking up to the window, you saw snowflakes hitting the glass.

“The blizzard is still going strong. You should stay the night here.”

You turned around and saw Taeyong turning off the stove.

“Y-yeah…”

The young man walked up to you, his hand caressing your cheek. His face was very close to yours, his breathe hitting your lips.

Your eyes widen and you gulped as you saw the boy’s eyes glance at your lips before turning his intense gaze back to your eyes

You felt like you couldn’t move.

In fact, it felt as though you were genuinely frozen in place.

“Do I make you nervous?” he asked and you quickly nodded.

His breath smelt of peppermint and his body was too close to yours.

You felt as though you were going to pass out.

“I don’t mean to make you so nervous. I’m usually not this touchy with anyone but you make me feel… something.” he said, his face contorting in as though he was lost in thought, his eyes fixated on you.

“What d-do you mean?” you stuttered.

Taeyong’s thumb traced your jawline as he said, “Warmth. You make me feel warmth and warmth is something I never feel.”

“Why is that?”

Taeyong hummed.

“Let’s eat first and then I’ll tell you.” he smiled before removing his hand from your cheek and walked back to the stove. He picked put on some mittens and picked up the pot.

“Come on. I know you must be hungry.”

~~

You two mostly ate in a comfortable silence, Taeyong saying some things here and there.

After you two were finish, he cleaned up your bowls, telling you to sit on the couch.

When he came back, he started breaking some wood to start a fire in the fireplace.

Once he started the fire, he took a seat next to you on the couch.

“I’m making us some hot chocolate.” he said.

You nodded.

Taeyong leaned in close to you causing you to back up slightly.

“You’re a lotus.”

You tilted your head and he instantly knew you were confused.

“You’re beautiful. I can see it. Your soul is beautiful yet because of this world, it’s been damaged, muddied, polluted.”

“I don’t understand.”

“As I said before, you make me feel warmth and I can’t feel warmth yet you…” his hands cradled your face. “Every time I would see you, whenever you were near me, I felt a warmth that those of my kind simply cannot produce.”

As soon as those words left his mouth, it hit you.

Taeyong was the creature of your town’s legend.

He was the siren like creature that would cause snowstorms to whoever was unfortunate to fall upon its gaze.

“You… are my soulmate.” he said which shocked you immensely.

What did he mean by soulmate?

“Huh?” was all you could respond with.

“You are my soulmate Y/n. I caused this storm just to see if my feeling was right and it was.”

You wanted to move but you felt stuck to the couch.

You tried moving your head away from his hands but you couldn’t even budge.

“A lotus flower forced to live in such an impure and dirty world… you are never leaving this place.” he said.

Your eyes widen.

“What? I… I can’t stay here. T-this is crazy!” you voice became an octave higher.

“You belong here.” the creature said. “You belong in this house. You won’t be able to bloom surrounded by those humans.” he said with disgust. “Especially surrounded by those who have hurt you.”

A white light began swirling in his eyes.

“Stay with me. I’ll keep you safe. I will always protect you and I’ll give you all the love in the universe. Just stay with me.”

Your eyes began to glaze over as you looked into his eyes.

“Okay.” you said faintly, feeling your body going limp.

“Promise me that you’ll never leave me.” his gentle voice soon turned strong and dominate, a stark contrast from how he first appeared towards you.

“I promise.” you said in a dazed like state.

“Good.” he said, his pointer finger rubbing your bottom lip.

“If you ever try to leave me, if you ever try to hurt me like that… I will drag back to this house and punish you. Understood?”

“Yes.” you responded obediently.

The light in his eyes slowly dissipated and his intense gaze turned soft, a smile on his lips as he said, “Good. I should go check on hot chocolate.” he said before letting go of your face and heading off to the kitchen.

[halloweennut]

Break Up Blues

this has been sitting on my drive since August and I only just finished it. Oops. Anyway, post finale, Jitterbug leaving the Hotel and Big Mama. 

Breaking up with Big Mama and leaving the Nexxus Hotel had been one of the hardest things in Jitterbug’s life. But she had been done with the lies, the manipulation, the disregard for life...the fact that Big Mama was still in love with Lou Jitsu and the fact she was so alright with endangering so many lives. Jitterbug sang her last song and left, glaring at Big Mama as she did. It wasn’t until she was halfway downtown did she see the hotel crash. Her gut sank...but she knew everyone she was friends with would be okay. At least...Jitterbug hoped. Repo fortunately hadn’t been caught in the orb, being out of the city on a job, and was there when she knocked on the door to his trailer.  

“Have any room for a fly?” she asked. It was then and only then that tears sprung to her eyes, and Repo was quick to pull her in. 

“Aw fancywings, what happened?” he asked, carefully pushing her down onto a chair. “Who do I have to repo?” 

She told him everything, and made Repo promise not to do anything yet, not unless Big Mama tried anything. 

“At the very least,” Repo said. “You’re staying here until you’re back on your wings, got it? Once you’re all better, you can look into getting a job in the Hidden City or something.”

Jitterbug roughly wiped her cheek and faintly smiled. “Thank you, Repo.”

“Don’t mention. And don’t worry about rent, fancywings,” Repo said, reaching over for the phone receiver. “I own the place and I’m running off grid. City ain’t getting my money. You good with Italian? I don’t have enough groceries for two.”

“That’s perfect.” 

-

Two weeks later, there was another knock at Repo’s door. Repo rolled his eyes, and placed the shop paperwork down and walked over, opening the door. “This is private property and the shop’s closed. Beat it.”

“Rude!” Hypno said. The rest of their little league was with him. 

“Oh shit, sorry guys,” Repo said. “Uh, come in I guess?”

“Thanks mate,” Meatsweats replied, entering with the others. “I suppose you’re wondering why we’re here.”

“Well, yeah,” Repo shrugged. “You guys don’t exactly come over for tea and crumpets.”

“Considering the events a few weeks ago, we all decided that perhaps we should all get together more often,” Hypno explained. “You know, brotherly companionship, not knowing when we may be forced to fight death sports, that all.”

“Exactly!” Warren said. Repo hadn’t even noticed him, despite him being on Hypno’s shoulder. “Hypno almost died!”

“So did I!” 

“So did my brother!” 

Warren only shrugged. “I’m more concerned with him.”

“So what? You guys just came over to hang out in my house?” Repo asked. “If you haven’t noticed, it's a little cramped. And where’s Todd?”

“Todd wasn’t available,” Hypno replied. “And no, we actually were thinking something along the lines of-”

“Guys night!” Ben and Carl exclaimed, snapping their claws for emphasis. 

“And by guys night, we go out, raise some cain,” Meatsweats continued. “Eat, drink, be merry, steal and maim!”

“Come’on, Repo! What do you say?” Hypno asked. Repo shook his head.

“I don’t normally do that brand of skullduggery,” he replied. “Besides, I have a guest over, and I ain’t about to leave her alone.”

“Her?” Meatsweats raised a brow. “I hope we weren’t interrupting anything.”

“What?!” Repo sputtered. “No! She’s in a rough spot right now, and I’m doing her a solid.”

“Who are you even friends with besides us?” Warren asked incredulously. The answer came in the form of Jitterbug appearing, wordlessly walking by them to the fridge. She looked like hell in oversized pajamas and a pair of large headphones as she grabbed a carton of ice cream from the freezer, and high kicked the door closed before disappearing again. “Was that-”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t she in a relationship with the spider woman who kidnapped my Hypno and the rest of these people?”

“Was,” Repo explained. “Broke up with Big Mama because of everything and quit the Hotel. Y’know, before it got demolished.”

“Damn. At least she has good taste in ice cream,” Meatsweats nodded, much to the glare of everyone in the room. “What? It is sad about the situation, but she has taste that I can respect.” 

“She’s barely left the trailer save for that, other than job hunting in the mystic city,” Repo replied. “But the whole thing was a personal blow.” 

“Poor bug,” Ben said. 

“Why don’t we take her along with us?” Hypno said. “Gives all of us a night on the town, avoids the skullduggery you don’t usually do, and gets her to have some fun.” 

Repo considered it. It would be nice to take a break, and Jitterbug definitely needed a night out. “Sure, why not. But only minor, minor crime. ‘Ey Jitters!”

Jitterbug peeked out from the bedroom she had gone into, eyes going wide at the sight of everyone she had just avoided. “Oh! Yes?”

“Come’on fancywings, we’re all going for a night on the town,” Repo said. 

“I don’t know, Repo,” she looked unsure of herself. “I’m not sure-”

Jitterbug yelped as her hands were grabbed, pulling her out into the main room. “Hey! Don’t tug a girl around!”

“Sorry love, but we insist you join us all,” Meatsweats said. “Besides, you’ll class this little party up.” 

“It’ll be fun! We’ll paint the town red and all that,” Hypno encouraged, pulling a ring from his jacket and extending it. He held it over her head and dropped it. As it fell to the floor, Jitterbug found herself dolled up in one of her nicer dresses for going out, hair neat and make-up in order.  “What do you say? You’re already dressed for it.”

“No pressure, Jitterbug,” Repo said. “But it might be more fun than eating ice cream and calling romantic leads liars.” 

“Well...I am dressed for it. Hell, why not!” Jitterbug smiled. There was a group cheer as the group walked in the night, ready to take on the town. 

“So where first? High speed chase downtown? Breaking and entering? Maybe getting into that glitzy place uptown?” The Shell Brothers listed in tandem.

“Le Chateau Mure?” Meatsweats said. “Impossible. It takes months in advance to get in, and we don’t all have cloaking brooches.” 

“Oh, they’re mutant and yokai friendly,” Jitterbug said nonchalantly. “Big Mama and I...we used to go a lot.” 

“Then maybe we should-” Repo started, but Jitterbug continued.

“But they do know my face, and I doubt they would know about the breakup…,” Jitterbug said with a smirk. “This can be my severance package from the Hotel.”

“Oh that’s devilish,” Hypno said. “Let’s do it.” 

Jitterbug was right of course - the maitre d’ recognized her and showed the group to one of the nicest tables amongst the high standing yokai. It was by far the swankiest place Repo had been in besides the former Hotel Nexxus. A waiter dropped off a complimentary bottle of champagne, and Meatsweats took over pouring glasses for them. “Cheers everyone!”

“Cheers!”

Jitterbug sipped her glass, leaning back into the plush velvet of her seat, laughing along as her cohort for the night told stories and caught up on everything they’d miss since they all had last been together. It felt...normal after a few weeks of absolute chaos, and Jitterbug loved it. The champagne was refilled and an extra bottle - or two, or three - were stolen from the bar on their way out, heading towards another hotspot for the group. They walked or drove through New York, passing their pilfered bottles around save for the Meatsweats - alcohol didn’t have much effect on him anymore, and he was the one driving. With each new stop and block driven, Jitterbug felt herself grow lighter. 

“Are all your nights out like this?” she laughed at one point after a run-in with the turtles. They narrowly avoided a brawl with a promise to do something lowkey for a bit. 

“This is the first one,” Warren said. “So I think it’s a pretty good idea of how the rest will be, especially if you can get us into the Mur.”

“I think that might be the last time,” Jitterbug replied. “They’ll all find out soon enough about me and...her, so unless they hire me, I don’t think I’ll be able to get us back in.”

“There are worse places to work,” Hypno said, taking the last champagne bottle from the Shell Brothers. “Besides, that place has ambiance, and far better suited for your talents than the Hotel!”

“You’ve seen my shows?”

“A few, but Repo told us about them,” he replied. “Said you have a very nice voice and are good at dancing. You were being wasted working for that spider.”

“I suppose…,” Jitterbug said softly. 

“Speaking of singing, and since we have to be lowkey,” Ben started to say.

“Why not karaoke? They have a few joints around here and Long Island!” Carl finished. 

“We’re sticking to Manhattan,” Meatsweats said. “I am not wasting my time on the L.I.E.. And I agree to that!”

“You, karaoke?” Repo said. “That sounds a bit wild.”

“I’ll have you know I can sing! Back in my culinary school days, I was in an underground punk band and I was lead!” the former chef bragged. “Now we definitely must go, if only to show you all up!” 

The cashier at the karaoke bar barely batted an eye at them, only taking their payment and handing them the room key. “Bar and kitchen menu are next to the door, bathrooms down the hall.”

“Ah, New York, what a town,” Repo shrugged as they settled in their room. “No one really gives a shit, huh?”

“I cried in Port Authority once,” Carl said. “Literally no one looked at me.” 

“I stepped over a dead rat without blinking,” Warren added. “You know, back when I had legs.”

“I’m a giant pig who runs a food truck,” Meatsweats added, scrolling through the song list. “No doubt, most people in the city have seen weirder.”

“I know I have,” Jitterbug replied. “So Meatsweats, what song are you singing for us this evening?”

“Just wait and see,” he said, pressing a number into the keypad and hitting enter. A loud guitar riff began blaring from the monitor. “Watch and learn.” 

-

By the end of the night, not only had they all learned that Meatsweats could sing, but Jitterbug felt the lightest she had in a very long time. 

           "We have to do this again," Jitterbug happily proclaimed. "I haven't had this much fun in forever!"

           "Agreed," Hypno replied. "Next month sound good everyone?"

            There was a cheer around the van in agreement, even from Repo. Truthfully, he had only been part way into the festivities. He was more concerned about Jitterbug and how she fared. She wasn't a villain like they were, and leaving the Hotel had hurt her more than she let on. But yet, this was the most he had seen her be herself in weeks. A little night of mischief and minor crime and karaoke. 

"And you were worried they would be too much," Jitterbug laughed once they got home. "That was nice."

"Eh, they're an okay lot," Repo smirked. "I don't know about you, but I'm hitting the sack, fancywings. See ya' in the morning."

"Heh, night Bugboy." 

The next morning, Jitterbug was surprised to see two messages on her phone. One from Warren about doing brunch at some point as “us bug mutants have to stick together and all that” which she happily responded with a “yes.” The other was a voicemail from Le Chateau Mure: they had recently, as in the past twelve hours, discovered her real situation with the Hotel Nexxus and Big Mama. But instead of forcing the bill at her, there was instead a job offer for their lounge. 

She had never been so quick to say yes. Her first night singing a few days later had her little mutated cohort in the front row seats on a legitimate claim. She felt her brightest under their lights, happily singing and dancing with a few band members, some of which had followed her once they heard the news. Jitterbug felt herself for the first time in a long time. Not Anais, not the Jitterbug of the Hotel Nexxus on Big Mama’s arm and payroll, just Jitterbug. And she was happy. 

It didn’t take long for Big Mama to hear about Jitterbug’s new venue, and once she had healed enough to walk in on her own feet, secured her reservation. Not her usual table at Mur, no, but one in the back, out of sight from the stage and other patrons. No one was to serve her or offer her anything at the table until Jitterbug had finished her set. As soon as she bowed, all glitter, gold and song, Big Mama slipped away from the table. The bouncers parted from her with a glare, and she wove her way backstage until she came to Jitterbug’s dressing room. 

There was no pause in her hand as she knocked, once again hearing the bug’s voice ring out an allowance for entry. Big Mama opened the door as Jitterbug turned with a grin, and time paused for a moment. Jitterbug stood, her arms crossing over her middle. “I see you’re better now.”

“I see you have a new stagelly,” Big Mama replied. “You certainly owned it.” 

“That’s my job.” 

Silence fell. 

“Why are you here, Big Mama? Going to buy the place and start terrorizing New York for money?”

“Pfft, please. We both saw how that turned out,” Big Mama scoffed. “I lost my hotel and was hospitalized. Not to mention-”

“Not to mention Lou Jitsu almost got killed because of it,” 

“Bugaboo-”

Jitterbug held up a hand to stop her. “I’m not your bugaboo anymore. I can deal with you still having feelings for Lou. Hell, if you had spoken to me about it, I would have been fine with it. It’s Lou Jitsu. I had a crush on him and I barely swing that way. But it was the fact that you hid that from me. Hid how you treated him. How we never officially made anything...official, for us. And then everything that you did to the city…”

She pressed a hand to her forehead. “I can’t do that. Not anymore. I prefer this life now. Don’t get me wrong. I had fun. You gave me a start fresh out of my mutation. But that’s over now.”

“Then I suppose I have really nothing to discuss,” Big Mama replied. 

“I suppose not,” Jitterbug agreed. “I’m...I’m glad you’re better. I hope you enjoyed the show.”

She received no response. Big Mama had left as quickly as she came. Jitterbug decided that it was for the best not to draw anything out further. And yet, she still wore the silver dress she had received, all that time ago after her first show, glittering and proud, for the next set of the night.

[fanfiction-ahoy]

First Kiss

A ROTTMNT Leo x OC blurb

After fighting alongside the turtles and becoming friends with them and April O'Neil, Minji felt like she had people to go to get away from some of her daily stresses. She was wary at first, not sure how she would fit in with their established dynamic. But months passed and it didn't take long to fall in stride with the group's antics.

She got nicknames like "pretty kitty," "foxy momma," and "hot shot" for her hero name (from Mikey), her lineage (via April and Leo), and for her talent (from Raph) respectively.

Hanging out with the turts always brought a smile to her face. Mikey made amazing food and she was always happy to lend a hand in prepping ingredients or taste testing new recipes. Donnie was great to challenge in video games and to discuss big brain topics with when she had the inkling to do so. Raph was the best for cuddles and venting, each other taking turns talking about shared interests to get their minds off the shared fear of letting their family down.

Finally, Leo; Leo was a wild card she'd yet to figure out. Minji knew that he was very fond of cheesy puns and definitely loved magic (she knew he enjoyed the fact that she can juggle balls of fire, at the very least). But what she didn't want to admit was the fact that, after so many one liners and casual touches, she might have grown feelings for the turtle. And she desperately hoped that he couldn't notice.

"What's up, Min?" A turtle greeted, popping into the girl's line of sight. She'd been deep in thought, sitting atop the skate ramp. It was a quiet day in the lair and she had dropped by when everyone was off doing their own things.

"Oh! Uh, hey, Leon," she smiled, waving a hand briefly. "I just came by to wind down after school, that's all."

The boy sat himself next to Minji, leaning back on his hands. Without looking at his friend, he stated, "I know your relatives are in town."

The way he said "relatives" made her shoulders bunch up. When her relatives came by, it was always a big kitsune party. "Who told you?"

"Your cousin sent me a pic of everyone and asked me where you were," he replied casually, shrugging as if it wasn't a big deal. Minji huffed. She knew it was a bad idea to tell anyone in her family about the turtles. But, what else could she have done when they barged into her apartment without warning? At least it was only her cousin that received the heart attack that night.

"Jiyoung shouldn't be dragging you into our crazy family business," Minji mumbled, slumping forward. "It's just that...with so many yokai under one roof, I just feel so awkward! Like, they can all change into foxes and I can't." As weird of a sentence that was, it was a fact she had yet to come to terms with. Her family was special and so was she, but the one thing that brought them together made her feel left out. Hell, she had to use a cloaking broach to make her feel like she was part of the fun family antics.

Leon placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, causing her to glance his way. "Yeah, but can all of them use mystic fire like you can?"

She hesitated. "No..." her cousins couldn't use the fox fire like she could. Even some of her older relatives sometimes struggled with the ancient technique. And she had unlocked this talent when she was a baby!

"Then stop moping about something you can't do and start embracing what you can! You're hot and they're not, Minji," the turtle teen announced, trying to get a laugh out of his friend.

Which it did. "I guess that's true, blue," she grinned, side-eying the boy. "But, I'm still not ready to go home just yet."

He nodded; he knew that hanging with them was a weird sanctuary she and April surprisingly enjoyed. "Wanna go on a walk, then? We can ditch mis hermanos y su familia and explore up top."

Minji suppressed the heat that started crawling up her neck. This wasn't a date, was it? They were just going on another one of their late night strolls. That had to be it, right? "Yeah, sure! I-I'd really like that."

Since he'd gotten up first, Leo offered his hand to pull her up. She'd taken it and once on her feet, got dragged to his room to watch him put on some human clothes. You know, to disguise his whole situation. As soon as he was ready, the two passed through the living room to grab Minji's hoodie before heading out.

Once out of the sewers, the girl took a deep breath and sighed. The air was crisp; a signal that autumn was near. That was probably another reason why the turtle had put on the outfit. Little did she know that he just wanted to feel like a normal teen hanging out with his normal crush.

Yes, Leonardo had realized his feelings for the girl were more than platonic after a couple months of getting to know her. It was a terrifying new experience for him, never really thinking that he'd have a chance at a relationship given that he was a mutant turtle. But, then Minji dropped into his life and he couldn't have asked for more.

Looking down at her, he smiled as she zipped up her tan jacket and pulled the hood over her head. It was big enough to fit him (he knew because he tried it on when asking why she insisted that she liked bigger hoodies to bundle up in) It amazed him just how much humans could vary in shape and size. She was short compared to him and his brothers; even shorter than April! But, that masked her mystic ninja background. Maybe that was what drew him in. The similarities and differences that caused their worlds to intertwine.

As the two walked along the sidewalk, they threw out jokes and talked about their misadventures. Since the streets were empty in the part of the city they chose, Minji conjurred a small blue flame and started flipping it between her fingers like a coin. Leo was amazed at how easy it was for her to use her mystic power. He still struggled with his sword and that was something he'd obtained. It wasn't something he'd inheritted through blood. He thought that made Minji much cooler in his eyes (despite the heat coming from the flames in her hands and in his heart).

There was a late-night cafe open that Leonardo had guided them to. It specialized in fresh baked desserts and milkshakes for those with a sweet tooth and habits of staying up til midnight. When the two entered, the scent of chocolate chip cookies hit them first. After getting a late night snack (and a compliment along the lines of "what a cute couple" from the cafe clerk that sent blushes to both of their cheeks), the pair decided to enjoy the rest of their night on the fire escape outside of Minji's apartment.

She'd grabbed a few pillows and blankets to sit on from her bedroom, the window of which they were situated outside of. Hunkering down, they both sipped on hot chocolate and munched on cookies for a quiet minute.

"Thanks for hanging out with me, Lee," Minji mentioned. She looked at him with a small smile, her cheeks still rosy from the clerk's earlier compliment (he dismissed her blushing, thinking it had to be from the cold and not over him).

"Hey, no problemo, chica," Leo smirked, holding his drink with both hands to keep them warm. "What are friends for?"

"Right; that's what friends are for..." Minji sighed. That comment unintentionally hurt both of them. Neither wanted to remain friends, but they were scared of how changing their dynamic might affect them and everyone around them.

A short silence filled the air, seemingly brought in by a harsh gust of cold air. The two shivered, not expecting a drop in temperature. "Hey, Leo? Do you maybe wanna go inside?"

They'd been sitting across from each other at first. With their knees up to their chests and their feet side-by-side atop of the blankets and pillows from Minji's room. He didn't realize that he was staring until she started to ramble. "We can go inside to get out of the cold and we can get more comfortable. Not that this isn't comfortable, but it is a little chilly. And we don't have to do anything! I know it's my bedroom and i-it's not like I'm expecting anything to happen but-"

Then he started his own clumsy reply, whilst standing up. "Yeah, no, totally! I-I got you; we should go inside and warm up because my feet are freezing."

Gathering up the stuff she'd brought out, making Leo trip by yanking a blanket from under him, they both scuttled through her bedroom window. Turning on a lamp, Leo got to see the simple layout of her space. A queen sized bed took up a corner of the room with a desk in the other. There was a small closet across from the bed, the fox mask he'd seen countless times hanging on the doorknob. The room was befitting of Minji.

"This is really nice, Min," he complimented, turning to look back at his friend. She was taking off her hoodie and shoes, thanking him with a soft smile.

"Will you be okay if I go change real quick? I'll be right back," she questioned, heading to the closet to change.

He replied that, yes he'd be fine, before she scurried inside the smaller space. Sitting on her bed, he tried to calm the fuzzy feeling in his stomach. Leon hadn't spent this much alone time with Minji without an interruption of sorts. Whether it be his brothers poking fun at him or something else. His train of thought was cut off by the girl walking out in an oversized long sleeve shirt, bike shorts, and fuzzy socks. With her hair tied up into a pony tail instead of her signature braid, she looked cute and cozy.

"Oh," Minji said, tilting her head at Leon. "I thought you'd change, too."

The turtle awkwardly looked about himself, quickly trying to come up with an explanation. "Oh! Ah, well, you see I didn't change because when I leave, I'll just have to put it all back on. Yeah, so, why not save myself the trouble, you know?"

"I guess you're not wrong," she agreed. "When are you gonna head out, then? It's getting pretty late and I would hate for Splinter to get mad at us."

He hadn't thought that through yet. Leo wanted to spend more time with his friend, but he also knew curfews were a thing now in the lair. "If you're feeling better, I can go right now," he smiled, gesturing to the window.

"Besides, I need my beauty rest. Do you think I look this good without a full eight hours of sleep?" He joked, striking a pose.

As she walked to her bedside, Minji chuckled, "you look good all the time, blue. I don't think it'd be that hard for you."

The comment caught the boy by surprise, literally throwing him off his game and balance. Did...did she just agree that he's good-looking? Was this an opening for a confession?

"Well, I, uh...thanks?" He recovered, placing a hand on the back of his very hot neck. "You look good, too; in fact, is it hot in here or is it just you?"

Finally sparing him a glance from a short distance away, Minji was doing her best at keeping her composure and firing back her own comments. "It's just me; thanks for noticing because I think I'm on fire," with that, she conjurred blue flames in the palm of her hand.

Breathing a relieved sigh, Leo laughed at her comeback. "If you're on fire, I think I'm at risk of burning up."

"Just don't stand too close then," she replied, putting the fire in her hand out as she sat on the edge of her bed facing the turtle.

"What if that's all I want, though?"

"Well, I-" she paused, watching as the blue banded teen approached her. "W-well-"

Standing over his friend, Leo leaned in close to her face. "Something wrong, Min? Kit got your tongue?"

"More like a turtle, but yes," she whispered, staring back at him. He was so close; close enough to feel his breath on her face. His hands moved from his sides and were placed on either side of her on the bed.

He could do it. He could kiss her right here and tell her all about his feelings. But, dios mio, was he nervous. I mean, she hadn't moved away after his advance, so that had to mean something, right? And she even shot back her own little comebacks! She had to share some of the same feelings, at the very least. Looking down at her lips, then back up, he silently hoped she got the cue.

What surprised him as he leaned in further was the fact that she did, too. Her lips met his briefly, in an awkwardly short first kiss. When they both backed up, Minji's face was bright red and she slapped a hand to her mouth. "I-I'm so sorry! I-"

She didn't get another muffled word out as Leon grabbed her hand away from her face and stole a second kiss. This one was more refined, as her other hand moved to his shoulder. This was it; he wasn't dreaming. He was finally kissing his crush! And she was kissing back! When they pulled away for air, he stated, "I'm definitely not sorry."

A text on Leo's phone interrupted the two, making the boy pull away with a grumpy sigh. It was from Donnie, letting him know that Splinter was making his rounds on the boys' rooms soon before going to bed. He groaned, wondering why something always had to ruin good things for him every time. Minji saw the text from the purple brother as the turtle placed his phone in her lap and his forehead on her shoulder.

"I'm guessing you have to go right meow, huh?" She giggled, nudging the side of his head with her cheek. He grumbled, moving his face into the crook of her neck. When he spoke, his lips brushed her hot skin. "I mean, yeah...but-!"

"No butts unless it's yours leaving my window, blue," the girl replied, trying to calm her nerves down and pushing on the boy to get him off her.

"I should take your butt with me..."

"Excuse you?"

"I said I should get going!"

"Uh-huh, sure you did," she rolled her eyes as Leo neared the exit. "I'll text ya later, okay? Gotta make sure you get home unscathed."

With his body already outside, Leo poked his head in to confirm that, yes, he'd text her when he got home. And before he could duck out, Minji bumped her forehead against his. An act that the two had grown accustomed to doing when saying goodbye after nights like these. It had been a running inside joke, since bonking heads into one another on a few occasions and once during a mission. But, it always held sentiment for the two. Now it was much more endearing than dangerous.

When the turtle got home, he was greeted by his disasterous twin. "Sooo, how was your date?"

"I-it wasn't a date! We were just talking," blue defended, failing to hide his blush. Purple rolled his eyes. "Riiight, and Galileo didn't discover the rings of Saturn."

"Did you do it, Leo? Did you finally confess to Minji!" Mikey gasped, poking his head around the corner.

"Or did she kiss you? You know, since you got that lovesick look on your face," Raph snickered, appearing behind his younger brothers.

"Ugh! Why can't you guys give me a break?!"