Distant sounds of the city.

She stumbles towards the opening, feeling all but present. Her head is swimming, her stomach is-- oh God...
The nearest telephone pole is her support as she empties her stomach of the quick lunch she grabbed many hours ago. The hand she brushes across her tummy comes to a halt as she discovers there's definitely something wrong. Why is it so hard?

Swallowing, she goes limpingly over to the foul-smelling area which is her best chance for solitude and shelter here. For hiding.
The suspicion she has grows stronger, pounding in her head; she makes and effort of pushing it out. No help, that. It only increases.
She can't get rid of what's so close, what's so real...

Or is it...?

Almost choking as she enters the dark, feeling liquid envelope her boots, every sensation and smell squeezing her from all directions, she becomes aware and terrified that she's only seconds from passing out; she imagines her head impacting with the muddy ground, nostrils and mouth filling up with the thick liquid, conscience and life slowly dwindling away--

No.

She lets herself fall against one wall, feels the brick through her T-shirt; focuses hard on a rat eyeing her with hostility a few feet away from her boots.
Concentrating on squinting menacingly back at it, she begins to massage her temple while the other hand is still against the wall. She doesn't care why her skin feels so awkward; figures she just has to get rid of that headache and stay conscious and then she'll see what--

She freezes. Of course; someone else is here. They'd just have to be, what with her luck and-- she continues to glare at the rat. She's not ready to face anyone yet; better just pretend they're not there. Perhaps they aren't. But she knows-- that never fails. She can feel them there, hear them; a surprisingly quiet breath, might as well not be breathing at all...

She sighs with her teeth gritting, briefly closes her eyes-- now. She turns.

Calm, head throbbing, she beholds the shadowy figure lurking on the other side of the passage, too far away for her to catch its facial features.
She probably wouldn't have seen it properly even in broad daylight; there's a distorting blur hovering over her eyes. But still she can make out that it's bulky, dark, doesn't have ears...
She draws a soundless breath, leans heavily on the wall, scans her mind for possible weapons; nothing. Nothing to protect herself with. It was only a visit, nothing was needed, and--

"I'm pretty sure you've already seen me," comes a whisper.
She makes a strangled noise of agreement; edges a few inches along the brick wall.
"You need help," the figure states, voice soft.

She's too clouded to make some sarcastic remark; too close to the edge of throwing up again. She swallows five times. The creature is male, that much she's figured out. The bulky thing moves with a nervewreckingly slow pace; obviously not to scare her, but yet she feels more afraid than if he had jumped right out at her.
It's like a piece of  plaster being carefully ripped away from a wound; she would've preferred if they'd just got it over with.
She wishes for strenght to return, but she could even do with some cheap shot right now, perhaps even biting or clawing it, just to get away.

Even if it's moving slowly, it's already gotten closer than she can handle. She lashes out blindly; of course she didn't hit it, but she'd reckoned she wouldn't.
Perhaps it scares easily; that's what she hopes, but knows differently. Why would someone be scared of a girl who doesn't even know where she's hitting?

It pauses, puts up its hands defensively, "No sudden...movements, okay?"

She narrows her eyes at his hands and only her casual caution and pride keeps her from shrieking. Once more, the thought returns, goes, returns...
However, she's not sure if she can muster up the courage to-- no, I can do this! I will have to, sooner or later... nothing to it; lift the hand, open your eyes-- look at it.

She does.

The figure pauses again, listens. She sounds like she's doing a more silent version of hyperventalating; stares at her hand.
"Hey..." the soft voice is heard.
"Yome," she gasps; the shock has made her slip into her native tongue. I'm dreaming...
He quickly considers what she said. "Ie," he shakes his head, "Ie yome," Oy! Guess I'm better at understanding japanese than actually speaking it, he cringes.

"Hidoi...ie, osoroshi..." she moans.
"Let me help you," he proposes, and cautiously reaches out for her arm.
She swings wildly at it, and he backs away. "Yoshinasai!" she croaks. He takes a step forward, "Onegai shimas?" Please...I can't leave you here...
"Attchi e itte!" she hisses.
"No, I won't go away," he replies; meets her glare with a look of unyielding kindness, "come with me," he pleads.

She purses her lips stubbornly, "Attchi e itte," she repeats. He sighs, "Onegai shimas? Guai ga yok nasado des ne. Kimas,"
"Ie," she answers, then considers it, "Toi des ka?"  Of course I don't look well...but what makes you think I wanna come with you?
The figure shifts his footing, "No, not that far...just inside the city,"

Her head starts dipping a little, then jerks up quickly; she's aware that she's going to fall asleep soon-- or lose consciousness in other words.
But what does that matter?
If it's a dream, then falling asleep here would only mean that she'd wake up again in the real world. Yet again, she has difficulty believing herself.
"Doko?" she says in a groggy voice, yawns.

"Uchi...ah, home," he says, sees she's off guard, yawning-- and takes the chance to scoop her up in his arms, so fast that she doesn't have time to hit him before afterwards.
She swings her fist at his face; her face is dominated by surprise and disbelief as his head seems to vanish, her knuckles only brushing the top of it violently before it's gone. His head appears again, emerging slowly from between his shoulders. He touches his scalp tentatively with his fingers, then looks her straight into her eyes.

"No sudden movements, remember?" he mutters.
Oh no? What was that, then? "Chotto! Sore wa nan des ka?" she points behind him.
"Huh?" he turns his head. Is someone else here?

She crunches her fist onto his jawbone, and they both pummel down in the mud. They roll around and onto their knees, facing each other, her with a challenging stare, and him with clenched jaws and a frown. He brushes his jawbone gingerly, regarding her tired grin of victory. Man, the oldest trick in the book and I--

"Hakchi," she grins, the mud squirting out between her fingers as she presses them against the ground. Idiot...
"Look," he says quietly, trying to sound as friendly as possible, "it was only an attempt at helping you, I promise--"
"Sore wa honto ja arimasen," she concludes accusingly.
"Ie! Honto," he persists, "it's true." He notices her head is starting to dip again-- it's obvious that she's suffered some hits on the head, or been drugged or--
"Come on, just let me help you," he tilts his head, "and don't be afraid." She snorts, sends him an incredilous glare; but he knows that she is frightened of him.

She's beginning to sway slightly, blinks to stay awake, now it's only a matter of time before...

"Hakchi," she mumbles and sags down in a pile on the slippery mud. He moves closer, still on his knees; he figures if he gets up, and she's only faking it, she'll try to trip him. He pokes her arm, shakes it, pats her cheek, and decides that she must really be unconscious. He places her arms across her chest, picks her up and carries her, her legs dangling in the air.

About a mile down the subterranean tunnels, she wakes up, green eyes watching him carefully.
"Stubborn, aren't you?"
"Let go,"
"Don't start that again,"
"Now,"
"Please,"
"Do it,"
"If you'd just list--"
She judo-chops his neck, and he groans with surprise and agony, almost losing his grip, but still holds on to her. She bites his arm. He ignores it, walks on. Her teeth sink deeper into his flesh, and he flinches.
"Stop that...you're just gonna make me drop you, and then we'd have to go through all that business again. Because I am going to help you. Okay?"
Her teeth slip away from his arm, leaving an oval-shaped mark behind.

"Domo arigato," says he.

"So, she gotta name?"
"I know just as much as you do,"
"Where didya say you met her?"
"Ah, just outside town-- she must've entered through that old passageway, the east one, you know, the one that's as tall as a door?"
"What were ya doin' there, Don?"

They speak in hushed tones, glancing over at the new, female addition to their home-- or at least temporarily.
She's curled up in a blanket, and she's eating ramen with an appetite nearly matching Michaelangelo's, while glaring at them with her beady eyes. In this ruffled-up state, and tight like a little ball under the blanket fabric, clutching her bowl of noodles, she resembles some spiteful orphan. They're sure she knows that she is the topic of their conversation. It's pretty obvious.

Don tears her gaze away from her. "I dunno...just walking, I guess, thinking...it's not like I expected to bump into someone,"
"What was it you said, Don-- that she kept speaking japanese?" Leo interjects.
"Yeah, but then she switched to english again, so I figure she was trying to confuse me, or that  it came from some kind of shock-- either from seeing me--"
At the last second, Mike decides not to crack some nasty joke, and Raph has to bite his lip not to, either.
"...or from seeing herself."
"Herself?"
Now he's finally got their full attention.
"Yeah, she was staring at her hand for the longest time...even sounded like she was having trouble breathing...that's when the japanese started. Yome, she said,"
" 'Dream'," Leo nods.
"Wow...whaddaya think has happened to her?"
"Not sure yet, Mike, but it's pretty safe to assume that this one started out as a human,"
Mike and Leo nods, and Raph goes to sit in the chair next to the house guest.

Her eyes are darting from the others to him, when he asks; "What's yer name?"
She looks at him, puts another noodle into her mouth; after that, she brings the bowl to her mouth and starts slurping the boullion.
Raph draws his breath and stares at her. "I know yer not deaf,"
"Aww, c'mon, Raph...let her eat," begs Mike.
"Oh, sure, and we should let her eat the rest of our last ramen, and then maybe she wants our beds, too-- yeah, that'd be great! We could all sleep on the floor. Hey, Leo, maybe you should give her that money you've been saving? "
Leo rolls his eyes, "Geez...you can have my ramen, Raph,"
"No, Leo, s'okay, keep yer ol' ramen...this is just principle, yeah? Can't be givin' away our food to poor strangers when we're poor,"
"She's had it rough, alright? Can't you see--"
Don gives Leo a pleading look, and Leo chooses to take his advice to be the wiser, "Forget it,"
Don picks up where Leo left off, "Okay, Raph, let's put it like this; she's one of us, even if she's a stranger. It's not like she has anywhere else to go,"
"One of us? Hell, Donny, she's been hitting and biting you an' stuff, an' still--"
"Kiyouko,"

They turn to her. "What did you say?"
"Kiyouko."
"Your name is Kiyouko?"
"Hai."
Mike bares his teeth in a content grin, "See? Just let her eat, and she'll come around,"

They've pushed her into a side room, and she's not sure if she likes it. They're sitting right behind her, and it seems like they're waiting for something to happen.
A humanoid rat comes in through a curtain of beads, and she's only one step from hyperventalating again.
Calm, she remembers, sentered, she reminds herself, he doesn't seem hostile so far. Don't put any fear on display.

"Dare...?" her question comes out in japanese, and she clears her throat.
"They call me Splinter. Do not be startled, for we mean you no harm,"
"He's our sensei and our father," says Leo.
The rat settles down on a big pillow, in what she recognizes as a lotus position, and he directs his kind and elderly eyes at her. "Any questions are welcome, child,"
Her eye flinches involuntarily at the word "child", but she retains her inanimate composure. She's not certain what to ask, and if they can answer it...
She's frustrated-- stuck underground with strange creatures, discovering that she resembles them way too much-- fear of going home; of going up there at all...
Questions are swirling about in her head, and she's waiting patiently for them to form, so she can mouth them. Patience, said her father, is important. But only to a certain degree...

"You..." she begins. They wait. "What's happened to you?"
"Well," says Mike, "you want the short version or the long one?" This makes Raph snort, half smirk on his face.
She only looks at him. "Uhhkay," Mike makes a small grimace; the others are uncertain if it's at her, or at his own failed joke, "First off...we weren't born as humans-- we've kinda gotten the expression that you were, though,"
"Yes," she agrees.
"So, you still think it's a dream?"
She shifts uncomfortably on the floor, her lips tight. "I hope so,"
"At least you got to live some of your life like a normal person," Raph grunts, from the corner. Her head jerks around, complete with a menacing glare. They can hear the small, but clear growl growing, deep down her throat, from the gut. Naturally, Raphael takes this as a challenge, and narrows his dark eyes; equally menacing, but clearly more amused than angry.
She lifts her nose slightly, to indicate superiority, and turns once more, ignoring him--  and reminding Raph of Leonardo. Splinter watches this with a halfly concealed curiousity and interest; he has sat himself up a little straighter on his pillow. He makes his own, private mental notes on his sons reactions, and hers.

Don makes a polite cough which results in everybody paying attention. "You still wanna know what's happened? Or do you prefer to tell us your story first?"
She sizes him up, tilts her head, "You're the one who carried me here, ne?"
Don's surprised she even remembers; she didn't seem too overly clear, rather dazed and violent. Plus, he looks close to identical to his brothers.
"Uh, that would be me,"
She takes his jaw-- his mouth twitches, he frowns-- and her hand lingers there; she leans in and squints at his jawbone, "Oh, yeah, just like I thought-- you've got a nasty bump, but nothin's broken," she runs her thumb over the bruise, pokes it gently.
Her breath reaches his skin for a second, then vanishes with her face as she leans back again. He swallows. Where's the hostile attitude?

His brothers are regarding them carefully. "So, ah, let's get to the biography, okies?" he laughs weakly. Her face is a mask of indifference as she studies the old, worn walls, while keeping an eye on them at the same time. "We can start with your story," she says.
"You wanna do the honors, Leo?"
"Sure." Leo straightens his back, "About 17 years ago, there was this boy who bought four turtles from a pet store,"
"Starts like your regular fairy tale," mumbles Raph.
With herself, Kiyouko completely agrees with this. So far, it sounds more like the opening to something out of The Brother's Grimm than anything else.
Leo continues, unprovoked by Raph, "But when he was walking out of there, a car accident resulted in him dropping the bowl of turtles into the sewer. We would've been goners, but Master Splinter, then a regular rat, gathered us up in a coffee can and took care of us. However, down here, we got in contact with a strange ooze, and the next day, we had doubled in size, as had Splinter...the mutation continued until we were humanoids. Our vochal cords developed, and we could speak, and-- Splinter taught us basically everything we know. 'Course, there was that old TV we dragged down here, we learned a lot of stuff from that..."
"Since then we've been livin' down here. Sucks, huh?" Raph says ironically.
"Raph!" hisses Mike, and nudges him.
"Well, it's true," he defends himself.

"How come you speak japanese, then?" asks she, after listening in silence, "Did you have any japanese TV-channels or something?"
"That's a different story...Splinter?" Leo glances at him with askance.
Splinter smiles, "I was born Japan," he begins, pauses, "are you sure you want to hear, Kiyouko?"
"Oh, I might as well, since-- I mean, yes, please." She's puzzled. How come I don't want to be rude to him?
"I was born in Japan," he repeats, "and I was the pet of my master, Hamato Yoshi, one of the finest shadow fighters in Japan. From my cage, I could see him practice, and I, in my own way, was his shadow, as I mimicked all his movements, and tried to learn them. When we were exposed to the ooze, or mutagen, I gained access to everything I had seen while in Japan-- ergo, I could remember Yoshi's ninjitsu, and pass it on to my sons. But now I'm getting ahead of myself."
Kiyouko still thinks their story to be an incredilous one, even if the evidence sits right in front of her.  But she's being convinced.

"My master had a rival, however," Splinter stops, his whiskers twitch a bit, "a man who competed with him in everything, even love. You see, they both loved the same woman, Tang Shen. But she loved only Yoshi. His rival got enraged, and one day when Yoshi came home, Tang Shen was lying on the floor, murdered.
Out from the shadows leapt her murderer, his rival, Oroku Saki--"

Kiyouko widens her eyes, her stomach grows cold, she swallows. "What?"
Splinter looks at her, "You look frightened, my child," he states. She straightens and shakes her head. "Ah, no, I just didn't catch his name,"
"Oroku Saki,"
"Okay," she says in her calmest voice. She nods at him, "Please go on,"
He glances at her before continueing. "Saki surprised my master, and killed him. I saw it all, and I shook my cage until I managed to get out of it. I leapt out on Saki and bit and clawed his face, but didn't do much damage. The last time we saw him, he had a scar down his left cheek. Anyway, when he brushed me off of him, I landed on the floor, and he swiped a piece of my ear off with his katana before leaving."
Kiyouko's beginning to feel ill, and takes a breath. She glances briefly at Splinter's malested ear, which has clearly healed a long time ago. But only half of it remains.

"After this, I went to New York, and I have sworn vengeance over Hamato Yoshi and Tang Shen. Leonardo has told you what happened here. I lived in the sewers for a while, scavenging food, and then I found them."
Kiyouko nods, slowly.
"And now we've found you," Mike smiles.
"Heh," she gives a weak grin.

They've moved to the livingroom area; she's been fussing in an old bean bag chair before she finally gave up on being comfortable and sat down on the floor.
She's concerned about what to tell them and what not to-- should she tell them where she lived and all those things? She quickly decides against it.

"Erhm, if I don't tell you about myself, then I don't get to stay, right?" I have no choice but to stay, eitherway...I doubt there's many other secret mutant havens.
"Oh heavens, no! We'll just let some complete stranger right into our home, and when you're torturin' us with tweezers before you're gonna kill us one by one, we'll be thinkin' 'Gee, and she seemed like such a nice girl,'. Why, of course you don't have to tell us anything." Raph rolls his eyes.
Kiyouko glares at him. "I get the point,"
Splinter raises an eyebrow, "Raphael may have exaggerated a bit," here he looks at Raph, "but he is right. Trust is an important factor in this household. We cannot risk anything, and I believe you know why,"
Kiyouko stares down at her three-fingered hands and nods. She has no trouble whatsoever in understanding why.
"Will you tell us?"
"Okay,"

She takes a breath and starts to gather her thoughts a little. Where should I start? She knows there are parts she'll have to leave out, no matter what.
She moists her lips nervously, then regains composure.
"Hey, anytime yer ready," says Raph, just as she draws her breath to speak. She lets it out again. "What do you want to know, then?" she asks, stalling the inevitable.
"Anything that matters," Don says simply.
"What would that be?"
"Oh, like, say, perhaps how you came to be like that?" Raph helps her out, not too kindly.
She bites her lip frustratively. Of course she knew that, but she's not to keen on sharing-- or rewiving the memories. The dumb act doesn't seem to work.
Here we go, "Okay. Outside where ah..." she glances questioningly at Don, "you are...?"
"Don,"
They all suddenly realize that they haven't even introduced themselves.
"I'm Leonardo-- uh, Leo," says Leo and reaches out a hand, which she shakes awkwardly, and then she says hello to Mike, "My name's Michaelangelo, but please call me Mike," he smiles to her as she grips his hand, cautiously.
She glances at the only unidentified turtle, who seems to thrive in the corner. "Raph," comes a deep reply, almost like a growl, but softer. She doesn't move an inch.
"Outside where Don found me," she goes on, "there's a bus stop." she scans the rug under them, lost in thought, "The bus was late, as always. I was surprised by a group of men, all in black dogis."
There goes a mumbling between the turtles.
"They attacked, and I fought, but I was outnumbered and defeated. They pushed me down, and poured something on me.
It was sticky, and I felt sick. They had also beaten me, so I had a tremendous headache, and..." she frowns, picks at the rug with a finger, "I must've wandered around for I don't know how long..."
She stops for a moment. Gotta think strategically... Which is the best approach? To try to get their sympathy, or to just tell it with as little detail as possible-- not revealing any emotions? Sympathy...she decides, makes them trust me...
She gets images of five slewn bodies in the night; pushes them away, for the moment.

"I, uh, threw up, and then I saw this opening in front of me,"
"How do you feel now?" Splinter interrupts her.
"Ah, better, thank you," she nods, spares a quick glance to the corner, Got to watch that one, "So, ehm, anyway, I went in there to hide, struggling to keep conscience, and that's when I sensed that someone was there. Uh, him, that is," she points at Donatello.
"An' then ya decided to pull some nasty little tricks on the nice guy who was tryinta save ya," the corner-dweller comments.
"I'm sorry, okay?" she hoots.
"Look, she was hurt and confused, and, ah, probably scared, right? You would've reacted that way, too, Raph," Don retorts.
Bullseye. Hole in one. Raphael grunts and leans back in his corner.

Kiyouko squints at the back of Don's head, "And that's it..." she concludes.
Devastated...

Vehemence, TWO: Kesa, kyo no gogo ni, komban (coming soon)

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