Chapter Text
It was a regular Friday afternoon— Or rather, as regular as afternoons came in the old subway station inhabited by a particular family. The adjustment to what used to be their regular before the Krang invasion was slow. But the spirit of the Hamato family was strong, thriving even as New York was still overcoming the invasion.
Music was blasting through the lair, the scraping of wheels from skateboards and the sound of some kind of drill echoing from Donnie's laboratory. A pounding of fists joined it while Raph battled the already beaten up punching bag. It was all so usual it almost melded into background noise for Splinter's daytime dramas.
"But Hugo, I cannot marry you!"
"Why is that, Mariana, mi corazon?"
"My father is against it, Hugo! You know he wants me to have a wealthier husband!"
"But Mariana, can you ever be happy without me?"
"I..."
As Splinter leaned closer to the screen in anticipation, a pop of something flooded his vision. The air exploded into color, forming an initially abstract shape.
"AHHHHHHH!"
It was surprising enough to have him, and the arm chair that had served him for so long, collapse backwards. A loud thud followed with the rat mutant rolling onto the ground. He was quick to regain himself and peered at the invader past the tumbled chair.
The original shape drew inward until it formed something recognizable: The shape of a pigeon.
"A letter for the mighty Lou Jitsu!" this creature cooed. It held in its beak an envelope. The bird placed said envelope right onto Splinter's nose before vanishing in another pop of color.
Curiously, Splinter moved to pick up the letter—
"WE HEARD A SCREAM!"
Raphael's shout made Splinter's fur stand up all at once. The tallest of the four turtles—all of them armed as they stood in the doorway—looked down at their father.
"Pops?"
As the mood eased, Splinter finally took it upon himself to check the sender. His brows shot up in surprise, and the next moment he was slicing open the envelope with his claw.
"Is that a letter?" questioned Leo, suddenly at his farther's side. His katanas were sheathed in favor of grabbing the piece of paper, which he turned away to try and read.
"Who's it fro— Hey!"
Splinter's tail had curled around the letter before Leo got past the first few words. It returned to slap his hands and draw a sharp "Ow!" from his son. Satisfied with the punishment, and the quiet laughs of his other sons, Splinter smirked before finally looking over the contents of this mysterious envelope.
He blinked several times while scanning the text. Suddenly he lowered it, barely holding back his sudden joy.
"Perhaps there is hope for you after all," mused Splinter with a mysterious smile. The turtles gazed at each other with a mix of confusion and offense.
It was one weekend later that the boys had been lined up by Splinter, dressed in color-coordinated ties and sweaters. Mikey squirmed in his, causing their single parent to fuss and straighten the clothing.
"Hands off, Orange. You need to look your best today," he insisted.
"But it's itchy! Why do I always get the old hand-me-down clothes?" cried out Mikey.
"Maybe you should try growing taller than us, Miguel," teased Leo, one arm resting over Donnie's shoulder.
"It did always feel wrong to wear orange," mumbled Donnie and folded his arms.
"Weren't you adamant it wasn't a phase?" chimed in Raph.
"I'm fully committed to my purple aesthetic, thank you very much."
"Are you finally gonna tell us the occasion? Having us all lined up makes me think you're about to sell us to the highest bidder," asked Leo in an effortless change of topic, addressing his father, "You're even wearing your "special occasion" -robe."
The red velvet seemed to glisten in response.
"Yeah, what's up with that?" agreed Raph.
"Blue, Red, do not worry about it. We are simply having over some—" he paused, as if choosing his words carefully, "veeeery special guests. That is all!"
"Why am I not convinced?" questioned Donnie in monotone.
"Because aside from you, dad is probably the worst liar in the family," whispered Michelangelo, probably a little louder than was necessary.
"Silence!" demanded the patriarch, possibly flustered. No one could tell.
The sound of a portal came at an ideal time to get him out of the situation. Splinter cleared his throat and turned on his heel. He folded his arms behind his back while his sons all straightened up, all nerves from anticipation.
Unsure what to expect until this very moment, they grew understandably intimidated as a large and imposing figure stepped into view through the sheen of the portal. It grew clearer over the seconds, revealing the shape and color of purple and gold feathers. Multiple pairs of wings spread out on either side of what appeared to be either a mutant or a yokai, then folded behind this serious figure.
Even taller than Raph, the bird man assessed everyone below his eyeline with a black gaze, shifting his attention in a manner that was equally sharp and quick. Then his beak tilted down to Splinter, and all at once his face lit up.
"Lou Jitsu!" he cheered in a happy tone, reaching down a feathered wing. Splinter grabbed it as if for a handshake, showing his teeth in a wide grin. The yokai could've bent down an offered an actual hand, and Raph guessed it was due to his height he did not.
"Asuka, what a pleasure! It's been far too long!"
"Don't I agree, old friend? I can hardly believe it's you!"
Though the turtles had relaxed seeing the friendliness between their father and Asuka, their confusion didn't lessen. They glanced at one another before Raph took it upon himself to speak up:
"Uh, Master Splinter, you gonna introduce us?"
"Oh, boys— This is Asuka! A yokai I fought many battles with on the Battle Nexus -arena, back in the day. He was truly one of my greater opponents."
The bird yokai stood straight and proud, his chest puffed out.
"Ohmigosh, that is so. Cool!" cheered Mikey with stars in his eyes.
"Oh, your dear father was the "cool" one. He was infamous for hogging the spotlight," said Asuka while bumping his arm against Splinter. He had to bend down nearly halfway just to do so.
"I was so excited to see him on the arena again. With his son, no less! He's truly raised some formidable warriors of his own."
Splinter's laugh quickly morphed into a cough as he tried to subdue it, and ended up covering it up with a fist. He tried to dismiss how happy Leo suddenly looked, looming in the back.
"As much as I am excited to recount past events, I believe there is someone you meant to introduce?"
Donnie furrowed his drawn on brows and met eyes with Raph and Mikey in turns. Leo seemed too distracted to pick up on the statement right away, but soon enough he was blinking in confusion, too.
"Of course!" replied Asuka cheerfully, glanced behind himself and stepped aside.
By the closing portal stood another person, much smaller than the bird yokai. This one was also adorned by wings, two pairs of them in echoing colors to Asuka's. She held her hands over one another at her front, her eyes cast downward. But when she lifted her face to look up, it became apparent:
It was human.
As heartbeats settled, but surprised eyes still fixed upon the winged human, Asuka gestured to her with one hand.
"This is my daughter, Wren," he introduced fondly.
Wren didn't say a word, but attempted to put on a smile. It came off nervous, which was undeniably how she was feeling. A green hood covered part of her head, and along with her hair, it granted her shadows to hide within.
"It is very nice to meet you, dear," said Splinter right before gesturing to the turtles, "These are my sons: Blue—"
"Leonardo," corrected Leo.
"Purple—"
"Donatello."
"Red—"
"Raphael. But call me Raph."
"And Orange."
"It's so nice to meet you!" cheered Mikey, barely noticing the misnaming.
"And that's Mikey," corrected Raphael with a gesture toward the youngest.
"Now! Why don't you. Get acquainted. While Asuka and I go catch up!" suggested Splinter in a tone that was definitely too excited, ushering the large bird man out of the room.
"Good luck!" called out Asuka, showing a thumbs-up and practically beaming before the pair disappeared around a corner.
The five teens were left to stare at one another.
Wren opened her mouth, about to say something. Mikey was quicker. He dashed the short distance between himself and Wren and caught both of her pale hands into his own.
"Are you our new playmate? We haven't met a new friend since Casey and—Well, even Casey is technically an old new friend. The point is I'm not sure if it counts! Do you like art? Who's your favorite painter? Mine is—"
Mikey was moved back from the wide-eyed Wren by a simple shove from Leo, who took his place.
"Leonardo! A pleasure to meet me, I know, I know. It's rarely you see so much awesome in one package," he announced cheerfully, "But don't worry: The World's Greatest Ninja™ is at your service!"
"More like the World's Lamest Ninja," sassed Mikey, who had been pushed back.
"Wow, a Mikey burn. Rare. I understand if you want to leave to cry it out, Nardo," stated Donatello, then squeezed beside his brother into Wren's personal space. Again she opened her mouth to say something, but out of thin air Donnie seemed to have pulled out a pair of goggles. He flicked them over his eyes and leaned ever so closer, causing the girl to lean back in turn.
"Fascinating! The levels of mystic energy on you appear much diminished in comparison to other yokai. Which in addition to your looks would lead me to believe..." he trailed off, flicking his goggles back to their usual place on his forehead, "You're a hybrid, aren't you?" His half-lidded eyes shone with interest.
Wren opened her mouth, but only a gasp was heard when Donnie was suddenly tucked back.
"GAH!"
Raphael held him by his shell, a couple feet in the air, looking apologetic.
"Sorry about these guys. They get a little too intense," he spoke in a sheepish tone.
"Unhand me or there shall be consequences!" demanded Donnie, writhing in Raph's easy grip. Mikey giggled at the sight. Raphael kept his hold, which made Donnie fold his arms and hang there like a plank.
"How about a tour of the lair?" suggested the eldest, the only one to remain calm and respectful of Wren's space. She breathed out, shoulders relaxing seemingly for the first time. She adopted a small smile.
"That sounds good," she said.
During the tour of their home, it seemed some of Wren's anxiety had dissipated. She seemed much more shy in comparison to any of the brothers, but all of them were inarguably on the louder side. And so it wasn't too shocking that she was often silent while they bantered. But over time she seemed to be picking up on the rhythm of conversation and began chiming in with her own thoughts.
"My father is a yokai," she confirmed, though it was the next portion the turtles were most curious of, "And my mother is a human." Mikey drew in a breath and slapped his hands to the sides of his face.
"Oh. Mi. Gosh! That's just crazy!"
"I have to concur with Michael. I wasn't aware that was a possibility. I mean, biologically speaking—"
"Biology schmiology," cut in Leo, to Donnie's frustration.
"That's so romantic! How did your parents meet?" enthused Mikey.
"My mother accidentally wandered through a hidden portal. It doesn't happen often, but it's not unheard of," told Wren with a shrug of her shoulders, "People like me are not common, I mean... I've never even met a human other than my mom."
"Fascinating!" repeated Donatello with more vigor, but this time didn't invade her space.
"Careful. You're gonna end up as Donnie's next science project," warned Leo with questionable levels of sincerity.
"Haha, yeah! He'll cut you open and replace your guts with machine parts or something," joked(?) Raph. Wren's face paled further from it's natural shade.
"Okay, first of all: She'd be lucky to be involved in my science. And second of all: Why would I replace any of her with machine parts? Cut her open: Sure, I could see how that may become necessary, but—"
"Oooookay. Who's feeling pizza?" cut in Mikey, noting Wren's growing nausea. It matched his own. She was quick to turn to him and nod urgently.
"And! We need to introduce Wren to April!" he exclaimed.
"Woooah, little bro coming in with the great ideas! One portal to Hueso's coming right up!"
Around the corner peered two adults, sharing a devious smile before looking back to the teens.
It was soon after that the mutants – half human, half turtle – and the yokai – half human – were seated around a table with several plates of pizza in between. While the brothers were happily stuffing themselves, it was the sixth person at the table who acted as the voice of reason.
"So... This, whole situation, doesn't seem suspicious to you guys? At all?"
April gestured to all five other teens around herself while referring to "the situation." She had been quickly invited and acquainted with Wren. And upon hearing the entire story of their meeting, she was immediately seeing some red flags.
"Oh, don't get us wrong," spoke Leo past his food, then swallowed, "It seems super fishy."
"My calculations are showing several levels of fishiness," concurred Donnie with a nod, then bit into his slice of pizza.
"Oookaaay," drawled April, uncertain of the atmosphere, "And we aren't trying to figure it out, why?"
"Because dad is a terrible liar," repeated Mikey with some confidence.
"Yeah. He's bound to slip up sooner or later," claimed Raph in that same relaxed manner. He picked up an entire slice of Meat Lovers and shoved it in his mouth.
"Uh huh," sounded April, still unconvinced. She folded her arms and turned to Wren beside her.
"I take it you don't know what this is about, either?"
Wren was holding a slice of pizza in the air, watching as the cheese stretched out between it and the rest. She looked apologetic when she turned to face April.
"No clue. My dad just said there were some people I should meet—" she paused, hesitating while looking at her slice, "He said I've been too much of a shut-in." There was some embarrasment in the admittance.
"You can't be a shut-in at our place. Trust me, I've tried," informed Donnie in between bites. Mikey took the opportunity to throw his arm around Donnie and pull him in for a half hug, smiling brightly.
"How long are you guys staying for?" asked Raph with casual ease. Wren finished chewing her bite and put down her pizza slice before speaking up.
"Oh, um, my dad is leaving tonight, but me—" she paused, blinking between them, "He said I'm staying for the month."
Leo choked on his pizza and coughed violently for a moment.
"A whole month?!"
April leaned back in her seat, eyes narrowing.
"Told you. Fishy."