Chapter Text
Who would’ve thought that the Hidden City had the yokai equivalent of an indoor/outdoor mall? Not Leo. But he wasn’t complaining. This was awesome.
It was huge . Several stories tall (or deep?), with countless little shops dispersed among the larger stores. Food stalls and merchants and a million things to do and buy and look at - including the enormous water fountains that were scattered throughout. They’d been there less than an hour, and Leo and Donnie had come upon four already.
They were standing by the most recent one, watching as colorful lights shone through the streaks of water that danced in a coordinated pattern. He elbowed Donnie next to him, smirking when his brother looked his way, and asked, “ Water you thinking about?”
Donnie blinked at him, unimpressed. “Wondering if there’s a map or something somewhere. Surely there’s some kind of organization to all this.”
Leo doubted it, for some reason. He shrugged, then spotted his next destination. A candy shop close by with a tall, blue yokai twirling multi-colored fairy floss out front. He started ooh-ing excitedly and pulled on Don’s arm, pointing. Donnie followed his finger, but when his face lit up it was because of something that looked like a scrap shop a little ways away.
“Yeah, yeah, candy, go have fun.” Donnie started toward the scrap shop, then paused to turn back and stare at Leo and point at him accusingly. “I’ll see you at the meetup spot. Three o’clock sharp , Leo. Don’t leave us waiting around like that time we went to the museum.”
Geez, Don was never gonna let that go .
Leo smiled innocently, batting his lashes a few times for effect. “Mmhm, yep. Three sharp. Got it!” He shot a double thumbs up, and Donnie narrowed his eyes but ultimately lowered his hand and turned again to go. Leo let his smile drop and hesitated, glancing between his retreating brother and the candy shop. The others had gone off on their own way earlier, and he honestly didn’t want to be alone in this unfamiliar, enormous place, but. Come on. Candy shop vs. scrap shop? It was a no brainer.
He swallowed his trepidation and went to the candy shop. It was fine. He had his swords if he got lost, right? He could always teleport back to the meetup spot. Yeah. It was fine.
And it was. Hours passed, and there was so much to explore he easily got caught up in it all and forgot about his initial worry. It wasn’t until it was almost time to go that trouble found him.
Leo was in one of the larger, more put-together stores on the third floor, staring at a shining white pendant. This store seemed to sell mostly mystic artifacts, tokens, and spell components, and he had been in here a while. He found that he really liked reading the little labels and explanations of what each thing did, though the vast majority of the items were simply labeled as a “common spell component.” This pendant wasn’t a component, though. It supposedly protected the wearer from “burns of all kinds, including those from both magical and non-magical sources.”
Huh. Cool.
He glanced at his phone, noting that it was just about time to meet back up with everyone, when someone shoved past him to snatch the pendant off of the velvet pillow it rested on. Leo stumbled, fumbling with his phone and almost dropping it, and let out an indignant squawk. The person paid him no mind, though, and he watched them book it out of the store as one of the attendants yelled after them. A split second later, Leo was sprinting after the thief, trying not to lose sight of them in the crowd as a burst of adrenaline pumped through his veins.
It was some sort of yokai - obviously - shrouded in a long, black coat that flapped behind them as they ran. The thief was agile, weaving quickly between the various yokai wandering around the mall without so much as bumping into a single one, but Leo tracked their movement with relative ease. He followed without worrying about dodging through the meandering shoppers, ignoring their startled noises as he pushed and shoved his way through the crowd. Leo was almost close enough to grab the thief’s coattails when they abruptly vaulted over the safety railing, falling down to the ground floor and rolling as they landed.
Okay. No big deal. Three stories was nothing.
Leo backed up and took a few quick breaths before getting a running start and leaping over the railing himself. For a thrilling moment, he felt his heart rise into his throat as the ground rose up to meet him. The landing was jarring and he felt his bad knee twinge with the force of it, but he still managed to roll into a run and keep his eyes on the thief. They were heading straight for one of the large exits near the north side of the mall that led further into the Hidden City.
Go faster. Faster. Gotta catch up.
He was getting close again when the thief ducked into an ally. Leo followed right behind, seeing the yokai skid to a sudden stop and look around frantically.
Ha! A dead end.
The yokai turned to face Leo, hissing, and Leo laughed when he saw their snake-like face.
“Dude, are you serious? Really playing up the snake bit, here, huh?”
The snake didn’t answer, instead tensing and backing away slowly as Leo advanced.
“You know, because you’re a criminal? And when someone is, like, a bad guy, you might call them a snake? Oh, come on!”
The thief was still glancing around, searching their surroundings for an escape, no doubt.
“Okay, okay, how about this? What kind of shoes does a thief wear?” Leo shifted his stance. The yokai focused on Leo at the movement, clutching the pendant tighter in their hand, and a faint light shone through their fingers. “Sneakers!”
Their eyes narrowed into a glare as their scowl deepened. Eh. Everyone’s a critic. Leo lunged for the pendant, his hand closing around nothing as the yokai dodged nimbly.
“Slippery, aren’t you?”
“Talkative, aren’t you ?” they snarled, feinting left before going right. Leo was quick enough to cut them off before they could get past. He stood still for a moment, debating. He didn't want to pull his katanas out on a random civilian, even if they were a thief.
“So - genuine question, here - what’s it like being a snake with arms and legs? The monthly snake meetups must be awkward, huh? Is everyone else jealous or is it more of an odd-man-out situation?”
“Shut up!”
Leo barked out a laugh, still blocking the thief’s exit. “Ooh, struck a nerve, did I? Don’t get hiss-terical.”
Leo lunged again, this time catching the yokai around the middle and pulling them both to the ground. They grappled, rolling over each other a couple times, and Leo almost managed to grab the pendant from them, but then a strong kick sent him flying through the air and bouncing against one of the alley walls. He pushed himself up quickly, watching the snake do the same, and he maneuvered between them and the exit again.
“For goodness snake, man, I’m just trying to do my good deed of the day, here.”
“That's enough!” they hissed, eyes darkening.
“Heh, touchy. Wait, oh man, okay, you’re gonna love this one! Am I… hissing you off?”
Snake let out a frustrated yell. Leo watched them stuff the pendant into their jacket and pat their hands over various other pockets. They stilled for a moment, a wicked smile crossing their face.
“Oh, this is perfect,” they muttered. The yokai reached into an inside coat pocket and held their hand there for a few seconds. “I think you’ll appreciate the irony of this, kappa.”
Leo didn’t have time to reply. The yokai pulled out a fistful of something and jumped forward, throwing it at Leo. He caught a brief glimpse of it - a fine powder, shimmering a vibrant, sparkly purple as it flew through the air - before it hit him straight in the face.
Leo staggered backward, crying out at the sudden burning in his eyes, in his nose, in his mouth. He started coughing and spitting and swiped blindly at his eyes, trying desperately to dislodge the powder all over his face. A wave of ice flushed through his veins, and he shuddered and fell to his knees.
He sensed the yokai moving, but he couldn’t stop coughing and he couldn’t track them through the purple haze that clouded his vision. Leo blinked rapidly as the world around him blurred more and more, shifting from purple to black. Sparks of white light dotted his vision. He vaguely registered the yokai’s retreating laughter, a strange combination of hissing and rattling, but he didn’t have the mental capacity to feel relieved that at least the yokai was running away instead of taking advantage of him while he was like this. He was too busy trying to fucking breathe .
Leo’s lungs stuttered in his chest and his throat tightened. Nausea rose up, sudden and intense. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t, he couldn’t , he - what was happening to him? His head spun, and he continued wiping frantically at his face, trying to brush the powder away, but somehow there was nothing to brush away. It was already gone. Leo couldn’t feel anything but his own face, his own tears. He tried to inhale, but it hurt, and his chest ached, and his throat convulsed, and he still couldn’t breathe . He was dying. He was dying-
And then it was over. All at once, he could see and breathe again, and he shakily sucked in a greedy breath, coughing again on the exhale. He wiped at the tears streaming down his face and glanced around to see that, yes, he really was alone. The yokai was gone.
What the fuck?
His phone was buzzing in his pocket. After a few more breaths, he pushed himself up and pulled it out. Donnie was calling. He saw the time - 3:11 - and cursed under his breath. He didn’t bother answering, knowing he’d just get yelled at by a pissed-off Donatello if he did, and tried to compose himself a bit.
Eugh boy. Heh. That was embarrassing. He had panicked over nothing, and the thief had gotten away, and now he was late. Again. What kind of ninja was defeated by fucking pocket sand? God, he’d never live it down if his brothers found out. He took some more steadying breaths.
Okay. Calm down. It’s fine.
He took a few more minutes to compose himself, then opened his camera app to confirm that there was no evidence of tears or powder on his face before unsheathing one of his katana and portalling back to the meetup spot.
His brothers and father turned to glare at him in unison. Shit . He gave them a sheepish smile, immediately opening another portal home. Splinter cracked his tail against Leo’s leg as he passed, muttering something about punctuality being lost on younger generations, and Leo jumped at the sting but didn’t protest otherwise. He did manage to dodge when Donnie reached out to smack him as he, too, passed by Leo to enter the portal. When everyone else was through, Leo blew out a sigh and followed.
It was an immediate relief to be back in the lair, and luckily everyone else was already caught up in talking about the things they’d seen and done. Normally he’d be right there with them, gushing about his favorite spots, but. He was still feeling a little shaky. Leo cleared his throat and turned to go to his room, calling out that he was tired and needed a nap. No one responded, but that was fine. Hopefully he’d get some time alone to get over whatever the hell just happened.
Feeling safer in his room, Leo took off his gear and pulled on a hoodie. He grabbed a comic book to flip through and laid in bed. He’d read it multiple times in the past, and it usually held his attention pretty well, but this time he had trouble focusing. He ended up tossing it to the side and pulling out his phone, scrolling through different social media feeds until he got bored and moved to the next. He got comfortable, curling up on his side facing the wall, and let himself be distracted by memes.
At some point, he heard a knock at his door.
“Leo?” It was Raph.
He sighed, still scrolling. He was really not feeling up to a conversation, but he knew staying quiet would definitely make Raph think something was wrong, so he spoke up anyway. “Yeah, what’s up?”
There was an odd beat of silence, and Raph spoke again, his tone different. “Leo, what’s wrong?”
Shit. Was it that obvious that something happened? He thought he’d sounded normal when he responded. Leo stopped scrolling, staring at the wall in front of him instead of his phone. He swallowed, putting in more of a conscious effort to keep his voice light and neutral. “Nothing, why?”
There was another strange beat of silence, and Raph sighed loudly. Shit shit shit .
“Leo.”
“What?”
“Leo.”
“What? ”
Silence reigned for several tense seconds, and Leo could hear Raph shifting on his feet. Then Raph let out an annoyed huff. Leo rolled over, catching the tail-end of Raphael storming off. He rolled his eyes, focusing back on his phone and scowling. What exactly did Raph expect him to say? Damn. He must’ve been in a bad mood or something.
Maybe Leo showing up late again to portal them all home really had pissed everyone off. Like, for real.
Whatever. They’d get over it.
Leo got bored of scrolling after a while and put on some music, snuggling into his pillow and trying to breathe through the sour feeling in his stomach. Maybe he’d feel better after a nap.
He let himself drift, eventually falling into an uneasy sleep.
---
When Leo woke three hours later, he most certainly did not feel any better. It was one of those naps where you woke up groggy and disoriented, and that sour feeling in his stomach hadn't gone away. He pushed himself up, scrubbing a hand over his face, and tried to focus on his surroundings. He could hear Mikey in the kitchen, probably making dinner. He might join him.
After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling, he stood and stretched. His playlist had finished at some point, so his phone was quiet when he picked it up and slipped it into his hoodie pocket.
Leo made his way through the lair, pausing on his way to the kitchen to lean in the doorway of the lab. Donnie was there - shocker - soldering some wires on an interface of some kind. He didn’t glance up, but he did speak.
“Nardo.”
Leo pulled a lopsided grin. “DonTron.”
He sauntered into the lab, poking randomly at the various bits of tech scattered across the tables.
“Can I help you with something or are you just in here to be annoying?”
Leo gasped dramatically, holding a hand over his chest in mock offense despite the fact that Donnie was still staring intently at the interface. “Me? Annoying? Never.”
Leo expected the usual - a scoff and a sarcastic retort - but Donnie just kept working. Ugh, was he still mad? Leo hopped up on the table directly behind Donnie and stared at the back of his head. He swung his legs back and forth a few times, glancing around but not really looking at much of anything.
“What, so I can’t just hang out with my favorite twin?”
Still no response.
“You really missed out on that candy shop, Donnie. The fairy floss was actually magical. Like, literally enchanted to change colors and flavors while you ate it, and it didn’t make your hands sticky or anything.”
He heaved an overexaggerated sigh when Donnie still didn’t respond and put on the whiniest voice he could manage.
“Dooooonieeeeeeeeee. Come onnnnnnnnn.”
Silence. Ugh. He was going to have to apologize, wasn’t he? Gross. Leo took a breath, letting out another sigh that morphed into a groan.
“I’m sorry for being late at the mall, okay? I got caught up in something.”
…Hm. An apology usually did it. Leo swallowed, pushing down a twinge of anxiety at the thought of Donnie being truly upset with him. He chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment, quieting his voice to something sincere.
“Really, Tello. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kept you guys waiting. There was just this-”
“Seriously, Nardo. Stop hovering.”
Leo stilled. That was a… weird dismissal. It kind of stung, to be honest. He floundered for a moment, wanting to say something to make it better, but he couldn’t really think of anything. And he knew from experience that, if Donnie was still mad even after an apology, the only thing left to do was to give Donnie his space.
So he pushed off of the table and left without another word.
Well. There was still Mikey.
When Leo made it to the kitchen, Mikey was rolling dough and absolutely covered in flour. Upbeat music was playing, and Leo instantly recognized Mikey’s happy playlist. It made Leo’s mood lift a bit to see his brother swaying along and smiling easily. He quickly found some free counter space and jumped up to sit there and watch as Mikey worked. Mikey glanced up at him, offering a quick greeting and Leo smiled in response. After a few more rolls he placed the rolling pin to the side and turned away to pour pre-measured ingredients into a big silver bowl resting on the opposite counter, bobbing his head to the beat of the song. Leo couldn’t quite tell yet what he was making.
“Whatcha cookin’ Mikes?”
No response. That was… odd. Surely Mikey wasn’t mad, too. He didn’t seem mad. Like, at all .
“...Angelo?”
Leo was just about to speak up again when Mikey slowed in his stirring and stopped moving to the music. He peeked over his shoulder at Leo, his face sobering into an odd expression, but he looked away too quickly for Leo to really examine it.
“Uh, Mikey, what-”
“You okay, Leo?”
Huh? Had Raph said something to him? Or was Leo really acting that off today? He tried to keep his tone carefree.
“I’m fine. Just curious about what you’re cooking, bro.” Yep. Carefree. That was Leo’s middle name.
Mikey didn’t respond, but after several seconds he stopped stirring completely and turned his head to stare at Leo, who held his gaze and tried to keep an easy smile on his face. Mikey’s expression flickered between confusion and worry, and then he turned his entire body to face Leo. His brows furrowed, and Leo was finding it very hard to keep smiling. This whole interaction was starting to feel really weird. And he really didn’t like the way his little brother was examining him.
“Leo, what's wrong?"
Okay, enough. This was getting ridiculous. Leo dropped the smile and opened his mouth, about to snap an annoyed nothing! back at Mikey, but instead he took a slow breath and hopped down from the counter. He felt Mikey’s eyes follow him as he walked to the doorway, but he didn’t want to see that look on his face again, so he just paused in the doorway without turning back when he spoke.
“I’m fine.”
He didn’t wait for Mikey to dispute that, going straight to his room and flopping onto his bed.
He felt restless, unsure how to spend his time. He ended up replaying the odd interactions he’d had with his brothers over and over, a strange jumble of emotions ricocheting around in his chest as he thought.
They were the ones being weird, right? It wasn’t him.
Right?
---
About an hour later, Leo heard Mikey yelling that dinner was ready. He was still feeling off, still not really wanting to face his brothers, but he was hungry. So he tried to breathe through it. He could do this. Face man, right? Right.
By the time he made it to the kitchen, everyone else had gotten their food and made their way to the living room. Leo spotted the dish - an enormous meat pie of some sort - and started to make his plate. He grabbed a drink and followed the sounds of his brothers to the living room.
A Jupiter Jim movie had just started, and all three brothers were sitting on the couch. Raph sat on one end, loudly devouring his portion, and Donnie sat on the other, his not-yet-touched plate sitting on his crossed legs while he stared at his tablet. Mikey was squished between them, still wiggling in his attempts to get comfortable. He seemed to sense Leo’s arrival and turned to watch his approach, then sent him a hesitant wave. Leo waved back and made sure to smile like nothing was out of the ordinary, feeling a little guilty at his behavior in the kitchen earlier.
He really hoped Raph and Donnie weren’t still upset with him.
There wasn’t much room left on the couch, so Leo sat on top of the back of it and let his legs rest in the space between Donnie and Mikey. No one sent him any dirty looks as he settled in, so he let himself relax just a bit. He focused on his food, pushing it around a little to realize that the meat in the pie was crawfish.
“Ooh, crawfish pie? Very nice, Angelo.” He reached down to pat Mikey’s head, and Mikey startled a bit at the touch, but then he looked up at Leo and grinned. He sent Mikey a wink before digging in.
Man, that kid could cook.
The night passed quietly. They had apparently decided on a Jupiter Jim marathon before Leo arrived, but it was more subdued than it usually was, everyone seemingly still tired from the busy day at the mall. Leo tried to lift the mood from his perch, making a few jokes here and there, but no one laughed. He tried not to let that bother him. It had been a long day. But as the hours dragged on, he started feeling more and more unnerved. Were they still mad? He couldn’t really tell, because usually it was obvious when he was in the hot seat. But it really felt like… they were ignoring him.
No one acknowledged his comments. Not even Mikey. Which was… confusing. Several times someone would say something, and he’d start to respond just for someone else to talk over him like he hadn’t even said anything. At one point, he asked Donnie what he was reading about on his tablet, and Donnie didn’t answer. That was all fine. They talked over each other all the time. And maybe Donnie was still a little mad at him. That was fine.
But when the next movie ended, Leo made a request for Seven Galaxies. So when Raph put in a different movie without so much as a snarky comment about it, he knew - they were definitely ignoring him. All three of them. On purpose.
Seriously, what the fuck?
He felt himself start to sulk. And then Raph touched his knuckles lightly against Leo’s knee, craning his neck back so he could actually look at him.
“You okay, Leo?”
What the actual goddamn fuck. Okay, now he really was pissed. They wanted to ignore him like this and then pretend like he was the one being weird? Leo huffed quietly, scowling openly now, and hopped off the back of the couch. He debated whether it was worth it or not to get into it with them, but he still felt off from earlier and he just couldn’t deal with this bullshit right now.
Donnie spoke up next, a hint of exasperation coloring his tone. “Nardo, what’s wrong?”
He glared at all three of them, their fake confusion and concern making his rage burn all the hotter, especially Mikey’s, and stomped off, muttering a harsh “fuck you guys” under his breath as he went.
Leo paced furiously in his room. This was fucking stupid. Were they seriously that upset about him being late to pick them up at the mall? I mean it was, what, 15 minutes? And what was with Mikey being all hot and cold? Damn it. He picked up his skateboard and chucked it against the wall. It didn’t help.
Damn it. Damn it.
Leo didn’t get mad often. It was actually pretty difficult to get him truly angry. But they knew, they knew he hated being ignored. They knew how much it bothered him. Really bothered him. So for them to do this to him over being a little late? And then to, to pretend like they weren’t doing anything wrong? It was fucking infuriating.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, but he didn’t check it, instead pulling it out and tossing it on his floor. Let them be ignored for a while. A small voice in his head whispered that it was better like that, anyway. He only ever said things he regretted when he was mad.
The atmosphere of his room was suffocating. His skin felt wrong, itchy and writhing and hot. He pulled his hoodie off, but it didn’t help. He needed to get out. Leo grabbed his katanas and sliced at the air, a portal opening easily in front of him. He hopped through, breathing deep when salty sea air hit his face.
This was one of his favorite places to get away, a beautiful beach somewhere in Mexico that almost never had visitors. He'd been lucky to stumble across it one day when practicing with his portals.
Leo settled onto the sand and sat for a while. Watching the dark waves. Trying to breathe through the knot of fury in his chest. Everything was confusing and painful to think about, and he kept circling back to how unfair it all felt.
Hours later, he had deflated into something more somber.
Maybe he should stay gone.
He shook his head, trying to push that thought away.
Damn it. He hated this. This was why he didn’t get angry. Because he always got quiet and broody and then that always happened. Being mad always took up all of his mental and emotional energy, leaving him hollow and bitter and without his usual buffer against the stupid, constant, negative commentary in his head. And then his thoughts would eat him alive.
And fucking hell, they all knew that.
Maybe they just didn’t care.
He shook his head again and ran his hand back and forth through the sand, focusing on the feeling of the grains sifting through his fingers. He wanted to yell. He wanted to cry. He wanted to break something. He wanted to break himself. He wanted to feel better.
But he just sat, and ran his hands through the sand, and tried to think of nothing at all.