RYW 10

It was close to five in the morning when Leonardo took one final sigh and decided to head home. His bottom half had finally stopped bleeding, the pain so strong it had become almost numb.

After his shower he laid down, trying to relax his body's tension to no avail. His mind kept racing through the night's events; he wondered how mad Raph would be at him... Raph, every time he thought about the hot-head his face would unconsciously draw a big smile on his lips.

Shaking his head, he reached for his clothes. His shirt was slightly ripped up at the collar, his pants were fine, but it was his underwear which made him cringe as they portrayed the abuse he had received in a dark scarlet stain. He gritted his teeth and got dressed, avoiding the bled on garment. Finally he decided it was best to not leave them behind. He pushed them into his back pocket and walked out the door. When he passed by the front desk clerk, he noticed the young man was sleeping on his chair, which served him perfectly in concealing his identity. He placed two hundred dollar bills in the counter under his room key on the counter, and walked out to the street.

Back in Casey's apartment, Raph was snoozing on the couch when he heard light footsteps and objects shuffling. He slightly groaned and opened an eye to look at his friend. "Yo, Ape, ya move like a god damn burglar."

"Well good morning to you too, Raphael." The red-head smiled at him.

Raph sat up and stretched his arms. "Mornin'," he smiled.

"Hey, babe, where did ya put my-... Well, hello there, shell-for-brains!"

Raph smiled at his best friend as he stood up. "So you guys need any help with anything...?"

Casey walked next to April, wrapped his arm around her waist and said, "not really, bro. Little miss bossy-pants here wants to 'sort' through my shit cause she said the space ain't all that big..."

"Which means the Salvation Army is going to be happy people this week with all the donations they will receive from you. Bless your soul..." April pulled her boyfriend into a tight hug. "We got this, Raph... Consider yourself off the hook on this one."

Raphael shrugged his shoulders and went towards the restroom. "You got it, sis." Just as he was about to close the door, a sudden reality hit him. "Hey, guys... By the way... When is the move? Just realized I'm gonna be out of a roof soon." He grinned making light of the situation.

"Come on, Raph! Ya gotta give me more credit than that! I would never leave my home-boy stranded! My grandma said ya can stay here till she rents it out. Just keep it clean and shit for when prospect tenants come to take a looksie."

"Wow, thanks, Case! Man you're grams is a goddess. I'll make sure I swing by and spend some time with her at the farmhouse before I leave again." Raph went in the bathroom, leaving his friends with open mouths at his statement... When did he decide he wanted to leave for Japan again?

Casey shot April a look, to which she nodded and took her cellphone out. She immediately texted Donnie.

Donatello, being as OCD as he was, had set all his phone ringers at high volumes to ensure he would NEVER miss a call or text from Leonardo about band notices and such. When his text alert went off, the slim brainy turtle almost fell from his bed in a jolt. He grabbed his phone and brought it to his ear slit. "He-hello..?" He heard nothing for about a second, then the ringer went off again almost making him deaf. He groaned loudly and scrunched his face. That second one really woke him up. He sat up and swiped his screen to read the messages April had sent him. 'Hey, Donnie... Did something happen with Raph last night?' His frown tensed. He scrolled down. 'He said he's leaving back to Japan.' Donnie's eyes widened. This was the first he was hearing of this.

He stood up and reached for his glasses, realizing his eyes were stinging and felt very dry. He groaned again realizing he had forgotten to take out his contacts the night before... As he pondered about the recent news, he made his way to the bathroom to try and retrieve the contacts which at this point were pretty much fused to his eyeballs. He tried to remember details of the night before. He noticed a numb headache at his temples, making him recall he had drank a little too much. He remembered his brother on stage, rocking it out with Leo. He remembered Raph's smile. It looked sincere... Suddenly he heard the door open slowly. He peeked out of the bathroom which was adjacent to the main entry, and spotted Leonardo coming in, shoes in hand. "Leo?"

Leonardo's shoulders tensed lightly as he turned to face Donatello. "Hey Donnie, good morning."

"Well lookie lookie!" They both turned to see a cheeky grinned Michelangelo stretching from behind the couch cushions. He had obviously not made it to his bed room last night. "Little miss goodie-two-shoe just did the walk of shame! Good for you, bro... Good for you."

Don smiled lightly, trying to share the joke, but his mind was still preoccupied with the news about his brother. Mikey noticed that Don's eyes were elsewhere. Leo didn't notice since he just wanted to get to his room as soon as he could.

"Well, you guys heard Shredder last night. No more fooling around. As soon as I change we are hitting the studio and working on a couple of new melodies." Leo made his way painfully into his room, and was also noticed by the always very observant Michelangelo. As much as he tried to hide his limp, those keen baby-blue eyes could not be fooled.

"Well... Let me take care of these things before I end up going blind or something..." Donnie stood in front of the mirror and started to put some lubricant drops in his eyes, a sight that grossed Mikey out, making his decision to go after Leo first that much easier.

Mike knocked at the door and entered. Leo was halfway dressed, his dirty laundry laid on his bed. "Bro, what up with your shirt? Did ya get caught by another groupie or something?" As Mike pulled his shirt, the pants dropped to the floor, exposing the corner of his underwear out of the pocket. With a grin Mikey quickly picked it up before Leo could reach them. "Oh my, Leo! How scandalous! Never took ya for someone who was into taking souve-..." Holding the garments out, the big blood stain became very visible. Mikey's eyes widened with horror as he let them drop on the bed. Leo dove to snatch them, letting out a pain induced hiss. "Leo... Those, are they yours...? What happened?" Mikey's eyes softened. His voice was soft and comforting.

"Drop it, Mike." Leo said softly.

"Bro... Who did this to you...?" Mikey reached for Leo's hand, but he swiped it away.

"I'm fine. It's not a big deal." Leonardo stood up straight, but Mikey was not so easily convinced.

"Nuh uh, bro, you can't fool me. Someone foul played you." Mikey's temper was escalating, and Leo could see it...

Taking a deep breath, the leader sat on his bed and lowered his gaze. "Michelangelo, please don't think that I am trying to insult your intelligence. The truth is I can't really discuss what happened. Maybe one day I will... But today is not that day." Mikey's hands balled up into fists. "Please... Rest assured that if I felt I was over my head I would absolutely confide in you and Donnie... You guys are practically my brothers... But right now the truth would hurt more than help. Please, for our friendship, can you trust me on this?"

Michelangelo's body started to relax. He let out a breath he didn't even realized he was holding. "Ya promise...?"

Leo nodded and touched Mikey's hand gently. Mikey smiled emptily and walked out of the room.

The younger turtle's head was swimming with the image of Leo's bloody garment. He was very worried, he had never seen his friend wobble in the house in pain before. As far as he knew, Leo was mostly in the giving end of his love making... So who was this mystery man who had hurt him in such a way...?

Donnie finally exited the bathroom, his eyes red and fiery. "Yeah, looks like I'll be rocking my bottle-end glasses today... I don't wish to see another contact lens until my eyes stop feeling like sandpaper." They walked side by side towards the kitchen where Don started to make coffee.

"So what's up with you, Brainiac?" Mikey asked straight forward as he poured himself some orange juice.

"Hmm... Just feeling a bit confused... I received a text from April this morning asking about Raph... Apparently he said he's going back abroad." Don answered without hesitation. After all Mikey was one of his closest friends.

"He's leaving back to Japan? But i thought he was more inclined in staying... Specially now that you guys are becoming close again..." Mikey gulped down his OJ.

"She asked me if something happened last night with him... And I really can't remember anything other thang having a good time..." Donnie rubbed his eyes as he continued to think. He didn't notice that Mikey almost spilled his juice, his blue eyes wide opened in sudden realization.

Mike remembered now. The last time he saw both Leo and Raph they were together. They walked out together through the back. He then started to go through the night's events: he noticed the looks Leo and Raph where giving each other. He noticed when they performed how Leo being there for Raph had made all the difference for the hot-head to give it his all on the stage. Could it be... Could it be that Raph was the mystery man?

Leonardo walked out of his room. Donnie handed him a cup of hot water and a box of tea bags. Mikey observed Leo dip the tea into his cup, his chin trembling at the thought of Leo being held down by someone Raph's size, the image of Leo screaming in pain... "L-Leo, I... I don't feel so good, bro." Mikey felt his stomach turn, and made a quick dive for the bathroom where he emptied out his poor orange juice and as much bile as he could cough up.

"Mikey!?" Don rushed into the bathroom with his friend. "What happened? You were fine a second ago!" He rubbed Mikey's shell comfortingly.

"Don, stop being gross, bro. Get the fuck out and let a turtle puke, will ya...." He started to dry heave. Mikey gave him one last pat on the shell before he headed out to fetch him some water.

"Is he ok? Is it the aftermath from last night?" Leo asked.

"I don't think so... He was perfectly fine a moment ago..." Don poured water into a cup and went back to the bathroom.

Leo stayed put, wondering how he could make practice happen today without making Mikey strain himself. Suddenly Donnie's text alert went off, it was so loud it drew Leo's attention fully. Without it being his intention, Leo read April's text on the screen: 'Don, he's really going back to Japan. I thought he would stay since you guys are talking... Something happened, I can smell it.' Leo's eyes widened... Raphael couldn't leave. Why would he? He gritted his teeth in anger.