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afreakingdork · 1 year

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As Luck Would Have It

RotTMNT Donatello x GN!Reader One-Shot

Warnings/Tags: Aged-up Turtles, Death of Past Life, Soulmates, Reincarnation, Violence, Happy Ending

Synopsis: A glimpse into another lifetime leads to a wish being made that spans the ages. When Donnie happens to activate said parameters, he is sent on a quest to find someone that he's been waiting his whole existence for.

Also avaliable on Ao3

Hopefully not too long coming, but here she is: the fic requested by my one-shot giveaway winner @anxious-cyanide !!!! 🎉🎉🎉

Also huge shout-out to the illustrious and incomparable @unknownfanartist for supplying a cover image to go along with the fic! I seriously can't thank her or anyone else who participated in the giveaway enough for all the kindness and generosity you all have shown me! My life is filled with so much love I can't stand it, but I'm sure you aren't here to listen to me go all mushy; please enjoy!

“Which means loser Shion has to get water.” From atop a fallen log, a man balanced his odachi on two fingers.

“That hardly seems fair.” Shion scoffed, folding his arms.

Below the first, another man wrinkled his brow as he attempted to fall back into his zazen. “We all agreed to the bet.”

“There were extenuating circumstances!” Shion snapped and turned his head away bitterly.

“Shi’s right!” The third man chimed in from where he was reclined on his back. “It’s not like it’s his fault he lost his weapon!” One of his hands raised up and with an expert flick, a kendama ball landed on its spike.

“That is the definition of his fault.” The first man responded flatly. In one fluid movement, he rose from a sitting position and threw the odachi into the air before catching it by the hilt. “You look like a baby playing with those kid's toys.”

“And you look like a show-off.” The second man huffed as he squeezed his fingertips together more tightly.

“Yes, let's continue to pass judgement on one another since we all accounted for that kama actually being a kusarigama!” Shion’s voice dripped with venom.

The first man stuttered. He reached unconsciously up and rubbed at the bare, bandaged shoulder that was exposed. He twisted, his blue patterned hakama pooling at his elbows.

“Ok, ok!” The third man groaned before bending backwards and snapping into a kip-up. The motion caused the ball to spin wildly on its string. With only minor adjustments it landed on its spike as he his feet. “Aoi is just grumpy he got injured and can’t play with this sweet baby himself.” The man made a show of flicking the ball off the spike and then onto the two cups in three rapid clacks. “Hisato, weren’t we gonna train some more with those sweet weapons we got in Ryukyu? Why are you meditating?” Not waiting for an answer and taking several leaping strides, he hopped over to Shion. “Will you get the water just ‘cause I asked nicely instead?”

The wreckage of the statements caused a palpable shift. Aoi pulled half his hakama up and puffed out his cheeks in annoyance. Hisato dropped out of his stance and lolled his head. Shion’s shoulders tightened as he scrutinized the question.

“I swear the toys are all part of the act, Toju.” Shion relented, leaning back. “Somehow the youngest and most formidable.”

Toju chuckled breezily, but there was an unmistakable air of malcontent.

“You wanna spar, let’s spar.” Hisato rose up, his aura flaring as he readied for a fight.

“Bring it!” Toju twirled around Shion’s back and brought his fists up around him.

“I am not a human shield!!” Shion shrieked as Hisato ran full tilt towards him with a prepared punch. Trapped, Shion winced until no impact came.

“Gotcha, bro.” Histao lightly tapped Shion’s nose.

Shion tried to bite his brother’s finger, but he pulled back too fast.

“Aoi, want to watch?” Toju giggled, placing his hands on Shion’s shoulders and rocking him side to side to prevent further nipping.

“We should make camp.” Aoi grumbled, his mood ever souring.

“Upset you can’t spar too?” Hisato craned his neck to see Aoi. “Aw, don’t be like that. You’ll be back up to it in a few days!”

“Let him stew. My question is why aren’t we staying in town? We have the money.” Shion dropped down low out of his youngest brother’s grip and rounded Hisato.

“We’d have to travel after dark, remember?” Hisato murmured, instantly on edge.

“This again?” Shion sighed. “We aren’t deep enough in the mountains to see bears yet.”

“I-I wasn’t worried!”

“We’re fine here. We can stay in a town tomorrow.” There was a finality to Aoi’s voice as he dropped down from the log.

Shion sneered.

“We’ll get pretty thirsty…” Toju mused, holding out his kendama to Hisato.

“That’s two.” Shion rolled his eyes to where Hisato took the toy and tested the string. “What about you?”

“It would be a big help. I’ll set everything else up while you’re gone.” Hisato beamed Shion a reassuring grin before attempting to flick the ball onto the spike. It missed completely and whacked him in the sternum.

“Fine! Use the crafty one to do menial labor! See how disorganized everything gets when Hisa’s big clumsy mits toss everything about without a single care!” Shion threw his hands up and took a few slow steps into the tree line. He listened for one of his brothers to stop him after his poignant fact drop, but he was irritated to find they just resumed their weapons talk. Grumbling to himself, Shion stormed towards the river they had passed earlier.

His path carved straight through forest they’d been strolling through. Little branches picked at the dark purple of his hakama and he tugged at the fabric harshly to free it. With spring nearly at full bloom, the foliage vibrated in a way that meant his struggle was nearly useless. It brought his knees up in retaliation as he took stomping steps to cross the green underfoot. The buzzing vocals of bugs and birds slowly fell to the backdrop static of the rushing water. Clomping on the ever moistening soil, Shion broke free from the thicket and moved his eye along the rolling bank that lead to the water’s edge.

With twilight ever approaching, the sun threw off colorful shades of sky off the river’s flowing surface. Twisting tall lengths of needle thin greenery at the shore reached high to garner as much sunlight in competition with their brethren. This towering wall scaled its way down the water in both directions. Scowl ever deepening, Shion continue to storm forward as he arbitrarily chose to head right along the river’s edge. The clinical regions of his mind reminded him that if he had instead wound the path back that he and his brothers had taken earlier than there was a clear designated bank where the water could be accessed. Shoving the thought away, he watched his steps as rocks and undergrowth dappled the rarely trodden trail. The soothing running of water begged to soothe his agitation, but Shion steeled his brow instead. As the river curved, so did he and just down the way he spied several lengths of cattails crushed to the mossy ground.

If they had curved inward toward the river he would not have been given pause. Instead, they were pressed flat heading in the direction of the trees. Dropping his stance, Shion reflexively palmed at the air to his side before his scowl shifted to a bitter sneer. He’d lost his weapon in a skirmish earlier that day. If that were simply the case than it would be one thing. With their reputation and ever constant stream of offers, the brothers had more than enough funds to replace their weaponry when necessary. Instead, he already had an alternative in the form of the bō he’d picked up in Ryukyu. He’d become rapidly attached to the expertly crafted thing which made it all the more frustrating that he had simply neglected to grab it. It was the type of fatal mistake that a sought after samurai would never make.

Resisting the urge to grumble, he continued to creep towards the foreign outlet. As mad as he was at himself, there was no way he’d trudge back to camp empty handed. His pride and brother’s chiding simply wouldn’t allow it. The river filled the sound void where his footsteps no longer echoed. Drawing close, he followed the line from where the trampled grasses lead to broken branches. Whatever had done said damage appeared to have burst from the water itself and plowed directly into the forest. It made no sense. Finally reaching the downed blades, Shion dropped all the way down to hand and knee. There was a chance that said position were vulnerable, but he had confidence in his hand to hand combat capabilities. Head barely peeking out from the brush, Shion froze as he saw the green expanse of a back.

Or rather, the jumbled network of scutes of a green turtle shell.

Head marginally shifting in surprise, he craned his neck further and watched the human sized carapace rocked gently as its huddled shape fiddled with something out of sight. A memory of a warrior who had made his armor out of turtles came to mind. Wondering if he may have stumbled upon such a being, Shion crawled forward until he could plant his feet on the ground once again. Stowing a flattened rock against the heel of his palm, he rose up incrementally. As he did so, a shock of wet matted hair appeared just beyond the shell’s top edge. Refusing to give credence to the errant thought that this was the creature that had burst from the water, he steeled himself.

“You.” Shion’s voice sliced through the ever present run of water. “Identify yourself.”

The shell jolted and froze so still that for a moment Shion wasn’t sure if he had ever seen it move.

He usually wasn’t one to doubt his own brilliance.

“I said identify yourself.” Shion repeated, authority taking reign of his vocal cords.

The body dipped slightly and Shion’s muscles flexed as he considered that the person could simply dive out of his grasp. Instead, he watched as the shell hunched forward slowly and turned.

His breath hitched as being turned to face him.

The dark green of the carapace gave way to a skin in lighter shades of moss that ran acros the visible body's expanse. Fear laden golden eyes matched the hue of the plastron that encircled the humanoid’s torso. Gangly limbs seemed to sprout from it and between webbed phalanges was the half eaten body of a very small fish.

“A yokai.” His lips moved without his permission. He had, of course, heard tale of such creatures, but only his brothers ever entertained mysticism. Reason and rationale ruled Shion’s mind which made being faced with exactly such a creature grind his gears to a halt.

“H-human!” The being stuttered before rising up to match the voice.

Shion took a tentative step back.

The creature shined with a moment of unbridled pride before resuming a cocky air. “You l-look quite plump! Give me your rations and I will spare you.”

Shion dropped his lids and gave a bored stare. In the time he’d adjusted his stance, he’d cataloged a hundred little ticks and notes about his opposite. From the way they still clung to the little fish carcass to their weak stance, it read as an obvious conclusion. “If you’re so powerful than why are you starving?”

The yokai's arrogant air falted and they stumbled back water's edge. A webbed foot dipped into the water causing the creature to shudder.

Staring down at the appendage with light curiosity, Shion brought his bored stare back up to those large eyes. “You’re aquatic, right?”

“Y-yeah?” The yokai stammered.

Making a little noise of interest, Shion shoved down any debate and stepped forward. In exchange, the creature stepped back until their heels were almost touching the water. Watching for a sign of attack and only seeing anxiety in response, Shion reached out to snatch one of the yokai’s elbows.

“H-hey! What are you doing, mortal f-fool!?” The creature all but squawked out of its pointed beak.

The beings protests were far too easy to circumvent. Lip quirked in study, Shion found the creature's arms reduced to near sinew. Grabbing a green wrist with his other hand, he used it to bring up hand up for similar examination. He found dulled claws with distinct ridging that often attributed to poor nutrition. He had seen it many times before, but preferred not to look on too long at such people. “I have a game I’d like to play.”

“What?” Finally finding enough energy to pull free, the yokai took a step to the side. “I am not here to amuse you!”

“Exactly, if you’ll indulge me I think I know why you’re here.” Shion watched the creature move carefully. Almost every tale about yokai spoke of their power and yet before him stood a thing that looked as if it would blow away in a light breeze. It bred a thousand questions. Though the stories were told far and wide there was no concrete evidence about these beings. The precipice of discovering stretching out ahead of him was so tantalizing his mouth could almost water.

“You know nothing!” The creature continued to shuffle away incrementally.

Shion squared his shoulders in an imposing manner. “I have an ongoing bet with my brother about analyzing an opponent.”

The move worked and the yokai seemed to realize that chances of escape were low. Shion watched as the creature came to terms with this and then searched his person rapidly. He failed to conceal the rock in hand before the being caught sight of it. “If you’re going to kill me, just do it already. I’m not going to entertain you until then!”

“What a waste that would be.” Shion gave a frustrated sigh.

“Waste?” The creature shook its head in confusion.

“Look.” Shion dropped his stance in a show of amity. “There’s a lot of fearmongering between yokai and humans and I don’t know what your transgressions are, but I’m not interested in senseless violence.”

Those huge golden eyes surveyed with him wary curiosity.

“Allow me to guess your situation and answer some of my questions and I’ll give you my rations. A more even trade then whatever empty threats you were throwing around before.”

The yokai gave a distinct snort of indignity before their eye turned away. Shion watched as the being blatantly debated his offer. A hungry gaze won out before it returned their attention to him. “It better not be rotten or anything.”

“It’s rice and dried fish.” Shion clarified with a dry tone.

“Koi!?” The yokai surged forward and Shion reflexively brought up a hand to block. Instead the creature grabbed his appendage and their eyes nearly sparkled at this range.

“No. What? Why would we eat koi!?” Shion twisted his head up in disgust.

“Because you’re rich?” The yokai asked with a confused expression that said that should have been obvious.

“Nobles don’t eat koi, they keep them as pets.” Finally remembering he was being held, Shion wrenched his arm free.

“Pets!?” The yokai reeled with surprise. “You’re joking!? Those fat things!?”

“I’m not!” He couldn’t figure out when he had lost control of the conversation. “I am the one who is supposed to be questioning you!”

“I haven’t agreed to the deal yet. I want to make sure it’s worth my time.”

Shion made a indignant face. This creature’s pride was off the charts. The demonic facsimile of Aoi appeared in his mind and joked about how only his own was larger. Scowling to dissipate the thought, Shion narrowed his gaze. “I told you what you’ll get. It isn’t spoiled. It was meant to be my meal tonight. Now do you agree or not? I’ll leave otherwise.”

At the mention of losing food the yokai went rigid.

Shion folded his arms as a show of how serious he was.

“O-ok! Fine! That’s fine! I accept! Ask your questions!” The being scrambled.

It took quite a bit of effort to keep the satisfied smile off of his face. “Excellent.”

“You said it was some game?” The yokai mumbled, resentment dripping from their words.

Though the creature had conceded, Shion took in the tone carefully. He had to filter it through a mental apparition of Toju, but once it came out the other side he seemingly realized the issue with the statement. “Ah, I see, allow me to rephrase.”

The being tilted their head.

“I don’t see you as a notch to be garnered in some contest. Rather it would be for my own self satisfaction to see if my guess was correct.”

The yokai’s head continued to further loll, unconvinced.

Refusing to give in to the nervous prickles in the back of his neck, Shion straightened. “Fine, how many humans have you conversed with?”

“Ones that lived?” A little wicked smile grew on their lips.

Shion’s lids came down in an unimpressed fashion.

The yokai held strong for several moments before rolling their eyes. “Not many if I can help it. Usually kids or a particularly desperate villager giving an offering.”

Shion perked up at that note and logged it away into his ever evolving list. “And I, who have traveled across this great land, have never once actually come in contact with a being such as yourself.”

“Ok?” The creature took a bored bite of their fish.

“Cultural exchange!” Shion clarified, his hands coming up in excitement.

“Huh?” The yokai squinted.

“That is what I am after. I’m far more interested in a factual record on yokai.”

“Y-you’re going to tell others?” The being twisted into themselves and Shion was once again reminded that they could flee into the water at any moment.

“Wait!” Shion lunged and caught the creature’s wrist. “I’m no fool! If I were to try to share what I learn here with no evidence than I would be no better than the mindless geezers that pedal their yokai folktales as if they were truths.”

Not realizing the implication of his words, the being surged in his grasp. “Let go!”

Noting the sudden spike in fear, a mental version of Hisato shook his head. “Oh. Oh.” Shion made a slow show of bringing up his free hand before carefully releasing his grasp.

The sudden change caused the yokai to slow, but their feet were still positioned in a way that prepared for escape.

“I have no intention of capturing or hurting you.”

“How can I believe that?!” Taking a small wary step back, the yokai’s hands squeezed into fists. “That you won’t go get that supposed dinner and bring your brother back with weapons!? You’ve said exactly what you want! Just like all those humans! All you do is take for your own gain!!”

In spite of himself, Shino’s lips parted momentarily before he pressed them into a thin line.

“Well!?”

“I have no way to convince you.”

The yokai jolted at his quiet tone. The river continued to drone on through the long held pause before the being moved to break it. “You aren’t going to defend yourself…? Make up a lie even?”

“No.” Shion took his own step back, his hands still held up in accord. “It would make no difference. All I can give you is my word.”

“What’s the point of your ‘cultural exchange’ if you can’t tell anyone?”

Breaking eye contact, Shion searched the crushed greenery for a long moment. “It’s hard to say. Usually, proving others wrong is what I live for.”

The yokai made a sharp snorting noise.

“Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing I find sweeter than tearing someone’s moronic false ideas to shreds, but…”

Again, the water filled the void.

“I don’t know!” Shion growled, voice suddenly spiking. When he brought his gaze back to the yokai, he found them watching him curiously. “You’re unprecedented! A truly unique specimen and for the time being all I am interested in is gathering information about you.”

It was the being’s turn to look away. Through the waning light, there was a rosy quality to the green skin of their cheeks. “Fine, but I want to change the deal.”

“Again?” Shion sighed. “What now?”

“While I’m still not sure about the concept, doesn’t exchange go both ways?”

“Yes, it does. I’d also be happy to explain the concept and length if you-”

“We will each ask a question.” The yokai cut him off with a fold of their arms.

Shion sneered, but when the creature didn’t relent he gave an even headier sigh. “Fine, I suppose I was the one to use the terminology.”

“Great, go ahead then.”

“I wanted to begin with a ventured guess about your status.”

“That’s not really a question.” The yokai shook their head.

“Not yet.” Shion smirked and brought his chin up high. “From studying this scene you’ve left-” He made a show to pointing along the crush reeds up to the broken limbs in the treeline. “-In addition to your sorry state and resistance to initially fleeing…”

The yokai’s beak parted as if they were going to protest, but nothing came out.

“Along with the scant information you’ve mentioned, I believe I can make a credible hypothesis on your standing.” Without waiting, Shion lowered his gaze which sparkled with excitement. “I postulate that you were ousted from your home which I presume was a body of water you presided over as a local kami down south. You’ve traveled the waters up north, but the chilly overnight temperatures make it so you cannot stay in the water. The trip alone probably drained any resources you took with you, leaving you near destitute and unquestionably starving. As for my question, I’m asking if I was correct?”

Eyes somehow growing even larger, the creature gawked. Their beak opened and closed a few more times before they settled for falling out of their crossed armed stance to sulk. “Is it that obvious?”

To keep a lid on his surge of satisfaction at being right, Shion settled for shuffling his shoulders side to side. “I’m not interested in speaking for most people.”

The yokai huffed.

“I’ll count that as your question, moving on!”

“H-hey! That’s not fair!”

“Be more careful with your wording in the future!” Shion tutted with an air of amusement. “Could you tell me about your domain in length?”

The being shook their head hopelessly before making a show of taking a seat. Shion followed suit onto his knees and listened in rapt attention as the yokai described their lake in Funai. Nodding furiously at the information, he then supplied the creature with more information about his occupation. Breaching the culture in this regard seemed difficult as yokai hierarchy was left as broken as the warring states. Once he thoroughly translated the concept of samurai, Shion moved on to ask about their journey. Moonlight glistened off the water and made for just enough light as the creature went through a laundry list of hardships. Having lived a life of not quite luxury, but without exceeding want, Shion tried not to let pity cloud his account. The yokai seemed to catch on to this and was just asking about his human status when a snapping twig seemed to reverberate through the whole forest. Shion immediately took to his feet and his hand again went reflexively to his hip. This time he couldn’t keep the curse off his lips at his lack of weapon. Beside him, the yokai curled up, pressing into the cattails and blending in well with the shaded greens.

“I’d recognize that big forehead anywhere!”

For a split second, Shion relaxed at the sound of his brother’s voice before fear brought his muscles tense once again. Setting his jaw, Shion cast his eyes down to the creature and found them staring back at him with horrified expression. Shion mouthed for them to stay put and stepped in close, using his body as barrier as Aoi’s form approached. “You only see the signifier of my genius every single day.”

“Mhm, sure, sure.” Shion watched as Aoi came in, his brother’s eye taking in all the same detail that he had. “Forget something?”

For a moment, Shion scrambled mentally.

Aoi caught on immediately and brought rope with several carved bottles hanging off of it.

“The water.” Shion balked.

“Find something?” Aoi craned his neck curiously, following the environmental story telling.

Shion waffled and prayed for one of the few times in his life that his terrible lies would for once persuade someone. “I came across this strange display and got caught up in studying… what kind of creature had done this.”

Aoi swept his gaze up from the reeds to his brother’s face.

Shion thanked the moon for being behind him as it hopefully hid any sweat forming on his brow.

“You fell in didn’t you.”

“What?!” Shion shrieked.

“You didn’t want to come back all wet!” Aoi burst out laughing and the move caused the strung gourds to clatter along with his barks.

“I certainly did not!!” Shion hissed. It took some stretching, but he was just able to shove his brother without moving from his spot.

Aoi languidly walked off the move before circling back. “I can’t wait to tell Hisa and Juju!”

“You’ll tell them nothing!” Shion tried to make a swipe for the bottles, but Aoi outmaneuvered him.

“Nothing better than when you’re off you’re game.” Aoi continued to chuckle. “We’ll get the water together and then we can get you all toasty by the fire.”

“I-It’s fine! I’ll finish my assignment while you get back!” Shion internally screamed when the chirpy quality to his voice suddenly brought his brother’s curious brow up.

Before he could dodge, Aoi shot forward and fisted a bunch of Shion’s sleeve.

“W-wait-!”

“Bone dry.” Aoi frowned and leaned in close to his brother. “What have you been doing all this time?”

“Studying the scene!” Shion’s pupils rapidly scanned the close proximity before breaking away. “Yeah, that’s what I said earlier.”

“Are you telling me or yourself?” Aoi’s voice dropped its usual levity.

“You.” Shion set his features along with his will.

As Aoi’s gaze narrowed and Shion wasn’t going to be circumvented a third time. Both brothers moved in tandem. Aoi twisted to look behind Shion but before he could do so Shion intercepted by trying to catch his sibling in a headlock. The two then grappled with lightning fast reflexes before the engagement shifted Shion’s stance. Kicking out his brother’s feet, Aoi wrapped an arm around Shion’s waist to keep him from falling while also getting a look at what was behind him. “AH-ha…!”

Shion squirmed from where he was caught around the waist. “If you would let me-!”

“Seriously?!” Aoi huffed and let go.

Shion fell to the ground harshly, but snapped onto to his hands and knees. A dozen excuses formed on his tongue only to dissipate when he found nothing amongst the reeds he was once blocking. “What…?”

“You’re such a nerd.” Aoi griped, swinging the string of bottles into Shion’s face. “Fine, fill them up by yourself if that’s what you want!” Shion weakly reached up to take the rope. As soon as it left his hands, Aoi, turned and started walking away. “I can’t believe you actually got so distracted just looking at some smushed grass! Hurry up already or I’m gonna let Hisa eat your portion.”

“Alright!” Shion gripped with learned snark. Hobbling, but keeping to the ground, he twisted around searching for the yokai. Not finding them, Shion listened until his brother’s steps had retreated. “Are you…?” He bit down on the question as he wondered if his brother was somehow still listening. Caught between thoughts, Shion crawled forward until he was at the water’s edge. He then dragged up the string of bottles with a frown and started to fill them. As his finger’s dipped into the cool water, the tension of the surface bubbled several feet away. Freezing, he retracted the gourd in time as the shape rose up.

Instead of bursting out, the yokai’s head breeched the water in near silence. “That your brother?”

“Yes.” Shion clipped. He could feel how wide his eyes were, but was helpless to stop it.

“I see why you play that game with him.”

Shion made a noise of affirmation and lowered the bottle to keep continue filing it. “How’d you get away?”

“Wasn’t it my turn?” The yokai gave a bobbing giggle.

Shion let out a single dry chuckle of his own and moved to fill the next gourd. “I don’t believe I have enough time to accurately answer your question.”

“Then I’ll say ‘it’s kinda my thing.’” The yokai’s hand broke the surface next and expertly squirted a spurt of water at Shion that landed just shy of his person.

“Aquatic.” Shion responded knowingly, shaking his head.

“So I’ll never get my answer?”

“As if you were the only one with more to ask.” Shion hummed, moving to fill the penultimate bottle. “I won’t penalize you for it. I’ll be sure to bring your food as soon as everyone’s asleep.”

“Can we continue then?” The yokai floated forward, but gave breadth for Shion’s work.

“I wouldn’t risk it…” Shion mused, bringing up the gourd prematurely with a loud popping bubble. “You. I wouldn’t risk you.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the yokai dip slightly below the surface for a moment.

Slipping the gourd back into the river, Shion racked his brain. Trying to subdue the part of his mind that spiraled anxiously about missing his chance, he tried to sort out reasonable solutions. He’d barely scratched the surface of this cultural exchange and wasn’t about to let it slip through his fingers. Corking the third bottle and moving to fill the last, Shion felt every droplet that cycled in as if it were counting down time. The movement of which, thankfully, sparked an idea. “Was this your destination?”

“I don’t have a specific place in mind, though, like you said, the north is too cold.”

“It will continue to warm with spring here. Would you consider making an exception?” Keeping his eyes on task, Shion silently pleaded.

“Why do you ask?”

The bottle filled and he brought it up along with his gaze. “Keep following along the river; it’s the same route my brothers and I are taking to collect our payment. I’ll keep supplying you with food and we can continue to meet.”

The yokai bobbed up enough that Shion could see the owlish surprise in their golden orbs.

“Aren’t you cold?” Corking the bottle, Shion’s brow came down around the question. He wasn’t sure where it had come from.

“A little.”

Picking up the rope, Shion retreated backwards and watched in awe as the yokai’s head floated toward the bank. The being then seemed to walk straight out of the water which was undisturbed by the loss of its tenant. With the moon pouring light around the sparkling droplets on the yokai’s skin, Shion breathed deeply from where he hadn’t realized he’d stopped.

“I guess if you actually drop the food off tonight, then I can trust you’ll continue to hold up your end of the deal…”

There was a tentative surge of joy in Shion’s chest. He stamped it down. “I swear it.”

The yokai blinked widely and then through their beak gave a little smile. “I look forward to a steady meal.”

“Is that all?” Shion feigned a huff, the strange feeling still lingering in his chest.

“Of course, why else would I bother with such a stuffy human?” The yokai approached him.

He stiffened and they brought their hands up in amity as he had done to them earlier.

“Quick learner.” Shion grumbled more to himself.

The yokai either didn’t hear him or chose to ignore the comment. “You’ll have to come to me at the river.” The being held out a webbed hand.

“Unless you want my brothers to see you…” Confused but curious, Shion looked between glowing eyes and the appendage several times before carefully offering his limb.

The yokai took it and turned it over so his palm was facing up. They then brought their other hand up with a single dull claw and dropped it to his skin. “To call me, just dip your finger into the water two times, then pause, then three times.” The being demonstrated barely scratching at his palm in the process. “I’ll know it’s you and the coast is clear.”

Shion nodded dumbly and watched as the yokai released him.

“You alright?”

“Yes.” He came back to himself and shook off the lingering buzzing in his hand by clenching it into a fist. “Yes.” He repeated more firmly. “From now on it will always be after my family is asleep.”

“Alright.” The yokai nodded with a bob.

It was the first time he’d seen an amicable air from them. Something about it made his chest surge with what Shion identified as pride. “I need to get back.” He pulled up the rope with the bottles.

The being hummed in agreement.

Shion took a stiff step back. “I’ll be back.”

“You said that.” The yokai gave that beaky smile again.

Several more bow legged steps were made.

“Bye.” The being gave a genial wave.

Shion dipped around it and finally made the turn towards where he had come. He made it approximately half a foot before something occurred to him. “I didn’t get your name!”

“Doremi.” The yokai nodded. “And what shall I call you, human?”

Resisting the urge to stare, Shion tried to swallow the ever pertinent odd feeling. “Shion.”

“Hurry up then, Shion-human. The sooner you return the sooner I can eat.”

“Sleep doesn’t work like that.” He called back before forcing himself to trudge forward. He cursed his idiotic parting and heard a small crop of laughter from the yokai he left by the riverside.

Back at camp, the evening banter with his brothers seemed to both fly by whilst drag on at a snail’s pace. The dying embers lingered longer than the even snores of his family. Though they didn’t know of the Doremi’s existence, part of Shion’s mind wondered how they could sleep knowing such a unique creature lay a short walk away. The moon had made it’s less noticeable trek across the sky by the time Shion was able to sneak away once again. This time he made sure footing through the underbrush and revealed his rations from the sleeve of his hakama. He left them at the water’s edge where the reeds were trampled and dipped his finger in the water as instructed. Against his better judgment, he refused to linger and hurried back to camp. With his brothers still collapsed on their rolls, Shion settled in and spent a sleepless night reviewing what he had learned again and again.

When morning’s light came, Toju found his rinsed container at the edge of camp. Shion babbled a line of excuses, but it was Aoi who laid down the agreed upon defense of late night snacking. It was a minor indignity, but nothing Shion couldn’t handle. After packing up, it was another day of traveling amongst his closest companions. There was both a learned air of family to their connection, but an unmistakable fondness that Shion wouldn’t trade for the world. Though they quarreled, he would pick no other occupation or persons to share his life with. Meeting with Doremi the first night was what he akinned to the rare spice in the pot. When it came to food, Toju did his best with dishes on the road and for the most part Shion couldn’t care less about the finished product. As long as a meal was palatable and gave enough nutrients, eating had always been more a necessity than a pleasure.

Doremi shifted his view on that as well. Watching the yokai partake in meals was an experience. They relished flavors they had never tasted before and regaled him in what humans usually offered. If the dish was good, then Doremi’s eyes would light up with enough sheen that it pushed Shion to make his first requests to the chef. It ended up being a win-win as Toju was over the moon that his brother had finally shown interest. It eased any guilt about Shion's ever mounting lies while the trope and yokai moved further north and into the mountains.

The nights spent in towns were the easiest to slip away from his brethren, but the hardest to easily gain access to the river. For whatever hurdles lay for Shion, they were always double that for Doremi. The yokai not only had to dodge humanity's vigilant eye, but they also had to navigate between multiple water ways while also keeping pace with a party they couldn’t see. The resilience wasn’t lost on Shion and neither were the changes in Doremi. Having a consistent and more balanced diet meant the yokai was rapidly on the mend. Though it wasn’t an overnight change, Shion’s studious eye noted every minute advance. From the enhanced green luster to fuller limbs, even Doremi’s claws seemed to sharpen themselves with good nutrition. Less to protect himself and more for his own comfort, he showed Doremi his new blade and bō. Shion was delighted to find no fear in place and instead curiosity at human construction. To say the cultural exchange was going well was by far an understatement.

When the brothers reached their destination to pick up payment, they were tipped off to their next job down south. The constant treks across the country had become commonplace and the group rarely complained about the backtracking. A night of celebration with overflowing wallets gave way to Shion’s first missed meeting. Carrying the veritable basket of apology confections and rations, Shion was surprised when he was met with blatant concern instead of anger. It twisted up that feeling that never seemed to leave him with Doremi was near. The scolding was light as he passed chewy delights to the yokai. Gushing about the flavor, Shion found the way the moonlight played off Doremi’s now glossy locks to be an image he wished he could immortalize in paint. It was one amongst a growing list.

Shion found he didn’t need and excuse to breach the topic of their next destination and his chest swelled when Doremi instead asked where they were going. His mind was quick to remind him that the noun could also include his brothers, but a hopeful part of his mind told him that Doremi instead considered themselves an unofficial member of the group. The sticky humidity of summer reared its head and the yokai was thriving in the weather. It wasn’t just the warmth of the sun that tingled in Shion’s cheeks at the thought of an extension to their partnership. Within a few days, the brothers and yokai departed.

As time stretched on, a rhythm was established. Shion knew with each meeting that he should be more wary that his brother’s would discover what he was doing, but in inverse occurred. Though he kept the same care in escape, he allowed his worries to wane. As they spent all their time together, it was inevitable that the group would need time apart. It wasn’t unusual to wake up and find someone had wandered off. Toju could often be found smearing berries on trees and Hisato’s faraway destructive punches could sometimes be heard on the wind if it blew in just the right way. It was Aoi that Shion feared the most. His twin’s perception and familial priorities were leagues ahead of the others. If Aoi did know, he thankfully had decided that it wasn’t worth his time to interrupt. Even if it was just his imagination, Shion was thankful.

In a similar vein, there was naturally a shift in the so-called cultural exchange that made the title less accurate. The countless hours spent discussing customs waned as the topics were stretched to their limits. From there informality grew and they moved on to discussing their personal lives. Though he’d gotten a taste for it, Shion never tired of Doremi’s attentive nature. They talked a haughty game, but had taken their responsibility as caretaker of their lake very seriously. The humans they had exposed themselves to were all done so in a means to help. From saving a drowning child to comforting a woman who lost her husband, Doremi even had been known to give back their own offerings if it meant a hungry mouth could be fed. Shion had long made adjustments so his own nutrition wasn’t at risk, but Doremi staunchly still tried to share every meal with him.

He’d indulged the yokai’s emphasis on food at first with an eye roll and eventually as a heady reminder. Though he never considered himself rich and there had always been times when a decent meal was scarce on the road. True hunger, however, wasn’t something Shion thought of. It revealed to him the deficits in society he tried to turn a blind eye to. It had taken some time, but guilt cropped up; not over their different statuses, though that was a given, but instead that she held a certain level of burden having to also explain them to him. It was a grounding he hadn’t realized he’d been missing. All that being said, he couldn’t help but still laugh at Doremi’s obsession with koi. Beyond eating it, if he happened to pass through a town that had some, endless questions were abound. He’d made sure to get a wooden carving, much to the confusion of his brothers. Overnight a necklace was woven out of reeds with the trinket dangling right at the upper edge of the yokai’s plastron. It brought Shion a satisfaction he couldn’t at first place. He began to jokingly refer to Doremi as such. He wasn’t sure if the yokai knew how selfish that thought was or the double meaning it entailed, but just their shiny locks were excuse enough to remind him of the ornate fish's fins. The nickname heralded a tidal shift that moved far beyond conversation alone.

The pair took to strolling through whatever path was afforded them near the rivers. Thousands of steps were matched as dreams were shared amongst them and the fireflies of summer. In time, an arm was offered and hips grazed with nearly every thought bubbling off tongues. It was on one particular night, when the cicadas screamed their loudest, that they found a forgotten boat docked on still waters of a connecting lake. Doremi pushed the boat out and Shion took helm on steering. When the yokai had turned, overjoyed at the ride and happiness sparkling in honeyed orbs, Shion finally pinned the feeling that had been ever growing. It left him awestruck and he nearly capsized at the identification. Doremi fretted and sent him to bed worrying about his health. The next morning his distracted state left his brothers in a similar fuss.

How could he tell them he wasn’t sick, but in love?

It was the culmination of a thousand tiny things he could both list in an instant and never in a lifetime. It crushed him within an inch of his life. It felt like he was the luckist man alive. He wanted to deny the feeling. He labeled it selfish. He despised how his heart had betrayed him. They were completely different species. He had no way to take his earnings and settle down. Their lives, Doremi’s life, would always be in danger. It already was, but adding his existence to the mix made it more so. Humans had only fear for yokai, as yokai feared them in turn. Years of bloodshed, confusion, and hate weren’t something that would change overnight no matter how many facts Shion would plaster even the whiff of a naysayer with. It had taken him months to see and he had an open mind. He had little hope for the stupidity of the masses. It left him hopelessly happy and disheartened. It didn’t matter if Doremi felt the same. He couldn’t put that on her.

Lost in these ever swirling thoughts, a billow of black smoke shot up into the otherwise unmarred blue sky.

“That’s a big fire…” Toju murmured to Shion’s left.

“We just passed the charred remains of a village, what? Two days ago?” Hisato added over his shoulder.

“Sounds like we’re going on a detour, eh guys?” Aoi shifted his stance toward the plume.

“From the wreckage and timing, I’d say we’re in for a group of at least seven bandits.” Shion tapped his arm absentmindedly as he did the mental math.

“Don’t’cya just hate when we can’t split them up evenly!?” Aoi huffed. In a few bounding leaps, he shot in front of Hisato.

“Do you wish there were more or less?” Shion sneered.

Aoi spun around and made a show of whipping both his odachi out to his sides. “It’s a 50/50 for one guess!” He then winked and turned into a run. The brothers pulled out their own blades and quickly fell into formation. As the village grew on the horizon, a villager stumbled towards them on the path.

In several bounds, Toju broke away to intercept. As soon as he got close, the youngest brother halted so quickly that the dust from the path kicked up around him.

The brothers readied themselves.

As the dust cleared, they watched in stunned silence as the man turned, covered in blood. The left side of his face hung off and he routinely choked on the steady stream of his life fluids draining from the wound.

“Aoi!?” Toju squeaked, reaching for the man. “Sir?”

“There’s nothing we can do for him… I don’t know how the poor bastard's on his feet…” Aoi’s voice dropped low, circling.

“T-they…” The man choked, his form teetering more and more.

“How many?” Shion pressed, pulling away from Hisato.

“The men…” Strangled by something in his windpipe, the brothers each took their own step back as the man dropped to his knees and then the ground, silent.

“No more jokes.” Hisato decreed. “These people need help.”

The others nodded and shot straight to the village. Within seconds the screams poured from the flaming shacks. Bodies littered the ground and mud was formed from the amount of viscera spilled. Hoofbeats soared above the chaos and an armored man on hoseback appeared. Aoi leaped forward and bounded off Hisato’s shoulders to made a clean cut through the man’s neck.

Shion rounded the fallen figure and snatched the banner from the fleeing steed. “It’s a clan army…”

“What do they want with this small place?!” Hisato shot to the right and stabbed through a man coming around the corner.

Toju who had dropped down to check one of the bodies, rose up with an orange cloth fisted in his hands.

It was a marker they only implemented in battle.

Aoi stared at the younger sibling for a moment before setting his brow. “Let’s go!”

The brothers tied colored wraps up around their forehads and dove into the smoke. A cacophony of blades, shouts, arrows, and thudding hooves rose from every direction. Between the distinct flashes of his brother’s colors, Shion fell into the numbing rhythm of falling any other being that crossed his path. As his count soared above the double digits, the brothers broke free of the smoldering shacks and out onto a field bordering the village. There, nearly a hundred men sat idly with various stages of weaponry and horseback.

“What the hell are you doing!?” Aoi roared, flicking blood from his odachi.

“Ah.” A man on an ornately decorated horse strode free from the line. Shion identified him as the general. “Well this is a surprise.”

“Not what I would call it.” Aoi all but hissed.

“Blue.” The general chuckled.

Aoi bared his teeth.

“Purple.”

Shion spun away from a downed foe and held his blade to his side.

“Red.”

Hisato knocked two men back and glared down the line.

“Orange.”

Toju slit a man’s throat and let him down with a teetering thud.

“I’ve heard of your little samurai family group. Your father was quite revered and he seems to have trained you well.”

“You haven’t answered my question.” Aoi seethed, taking a single step forward.

The general’s horse threw its head at the move and the man pulled at the reigns to stop it. “Oh this? We asked the villagers kindly to share their harvest as we head out to our little… rendezvous. They were gracious enough with food, but were lacking in the entertainment department…”

Shion squeezed his blade and could hear the thundering steps as Hisato approached.

“Under stimulated men get too zealous in battle so I’m letting the ones that are pent up release their energy.”

Aoi glanced back as a shack collapsed under a raging fire.

“Who hired you? I’ll double the pay to have you all scurry off.”

Aoi’s return rotation to the general oozed malice. “You could say we’re between jobs at the moment.”

“Then why are you bothering my men?” The general scoffed, looking bored of the conversation. “Here.” He reached into a pouch hanging from his horse’s saddle and pulled out a bag. He then tossed it straight across the field. It landed out Aoi’s feet and rolled over, spilling coin into the blood stained dirt. “Take this and leave.”

“Aoi…” Hisato’s voice was thick.

Aoi bent forward and took a hold of the mouth of the bag.

“Shion…” Toju murmured, exchanging glances.

Aoi smiled. “I see…”

Shion nodded.

“Well? It’s more than enough considering I lost how many men?” Leaving the question rhetorical, the general pulled at his reigns to rejoin the ranks.

“The price of man…” Aoi said.

“Let’s regroup. Did we get everything?” The general addressed his men.

Hisato sighed.

“I think you owe us one more thing!” Aoi shouted, an unhinged buoyancy to his stance.

“Huh?” Before the general could fully turn, an odachi stabbed right through his neck. It seemed as if even the flames went silent as the man gurgled around his own blood before falling off his horse into a heap.

“Now we’re square.” Aoi hummed, twirling his remaining Odachi in hand.

“SELFISH INGRATES!” The man next to the general screamed and gave the signal. The full army surged to life and stormed right at the brothers as they fell in line with one another. If the earlier chaos in the village was a cacophony, then this was completely deafening. The sounds engulfed Shion’s ears until they were ringing and everything dropped to a cottoned muffle. Every single movement had to be precise. They were outnumbered in a way they had never been before. Twisting and pushing his body beyond its limits, he struck again and again. A blade behind him clipped his shoulder and he kicked off one man and slammed into a horse. The neighing broke through the fuzz and the horse kicked a series of screaming men. Twisting his sword out, another blade hooked his hand along with the hilt. The ensuing pull sprayed blood and took his weapon away.

Dropping down to avoid the next strike, Shion pulled the bō from his back. Its lethality was less, but his range grew to make up for it. With a swift spin, he carved himself out a radius where he could take a single breath before men and hooves were upon him again. From the ground, someone he thought was dead stabbing into the plump part of his calf. Hissing, he jut the staff back and heard the sickening squelch of it entering the man’s head. If he had time he would have gagged.

“Hisato!!!” Toju’s voice screeched through the battle.

Shion spun around with the sound and let his weapon lead the way. Grunts echoed where the bō moved and he tried to carve that radial path once again. No matter how hard he spun, he couldn’t achive the arch without both his legs firmly planted. The torn muscle refused to cooperate so Shion shuck the weapon back to stabilize a forward shot instead. A blade swung back just as he took off and it was a flash of blue that kept him from being inadvertently decapitated.

“Pay attention!!” Aoi seethed, his own face painted red which dripped down making Shion’s color around his collar.

“Hisato!” Shion protested as they instinctually went back to back.

“We’re no good to him if we’re dead!” Aoi growled before shooting forward again.

Shion twisted in learned synchronization and, in time with Aoi, finally carved a path. The two dove deeper into the skirmish, each swinging in tandem with the other. It might have been exhilarating had a sword not plunged right through Aoi’s right arm. Shion watched in seeming slow motion as the strike shot through his brother. The grimace on his sibling’s face twisted along with the blade as it then cleaved most of the flesh off in a single swipe. Screaming at the top of his lungs, Shion lunged at the attacker. Aoi choked on something beside him as Shion put all his force into a forward jut of his bō. His shoulders screamed in protest as the wood punctured the man’s wind pipe.

Spinning around to catch his brother, Shion found Aoi nowhere in sight. Twisting his staff around, he prepared his lungs for another shout when his heart seemingly skipped a beat. His blood pressure plummeted as his head lolled down. Right through the left side of his chest, a shiny red blade stuck out several inches. Blinking slowly, he felt a sting in his left arm. Unable to lift his bō any longer, Shion rolled his head in that direction to find another blade cleaving his arm in a similar way it had Aoi’s. It was a weird cosmic symmetricality that they had always shared. When he moved to jerk away from the strike, his arm came mostly free from him. The weight distribution suddenly shifted, Shion watched as the ground rapidly soared towards his vision. In another bit of cruel irony, it was upon falling on the ground that the sword in his chest was finally dislodged.

Shion had no idea how long he lay on the ground, but it was long enough that the battle came to an end.

At least, that’s what the silence indicated.

Through a slow blink, he opened his eyes from where he hadn’t known he closed them. Around him, there wasn’t a single sign that a skirmish had taken place. On two wobbly stems, Shion propped himself up and stared across the field. It lay with the summer’s growth of a crop he suddenly couldn’t identify. He was usually so good with plants too. With some difficultly, Shion looked back to where the village should be. In its place there was nothing but continuous rolling fields. He watched as the thin green blades flicked with wind that didn’t seem to be reaching his person. Curious, a numb hand reached up to touch his face. He wasn’t sure contact was even made because none could be felt.

Opening his mouth, Shion tried to force out a call for his brothers but no air escaped him. He pushed and pushed, but it was as if there were no lungs in his body to move the sound. Terror gripped him and he spun around in a crazed semicircle. Miles and miles of empty land surrounded him on all sides. Unable to decide, Shion took off in the direction his pivot landed on. He tore through the grasses, but with every step that should have trampled them, they seemed unwieldy underfoot. It caused him to slow once more. Unsure, he racked his brain for the immense knowledge he had collected throughout his lifetime. No explanation of this supernatural occurrence came to mind, but the mysticism of it tore a single image from him: Doremi.

Renewed, he again tried to scream. No sound came out and his face screwed up as he put all his force into it. Though he didn’t seem to have any oxygen, the move made him light headed and brought him to the ground once again. In a horrible slideshow he watched a simultaneous projection of all the times he had spent with the yokai amidst all the times he hoped would come. When the reel ended, he was struck by how little there was. There hadn’t been enough time. He needed more time. Abandoning his voice, he clawed at the earth, but found he couldn’t make a dent. He felt tears that didn’t exist prick at his retinas and he did the only thing left, the one thing he’d all but abandoned; he prayed.

He’d dismissed the ideas of some overseeing being around the age of nine. Between his training and what he watched his father go through, Shion swore there was no way some magical entity could allow such indignities on his creations. Shion himself was often cited as cruel, but the machinations of this world far exceeding anything he could stomach.

Still be pleaded. He begged the force and made no apologies for the time he spent not believing. He instead argued for his due.

For his brothers.

For Doremi.

For what seemed like an eternity, he kneeled. His mantra repeating in his brain at such a severe rate he might never have another thought other than that again.

No night came.

The sun continued to shine on a cloudless sky.

The grass continued to gentle jostle with a summer’s breeze.

His brothers.

Doremi.

He never even got to show her a real koi fish.

“You should have passed on by now.”

Shion jerked, the mantra still ringing in his ears.

“Why do you linger?”

Shooting to his feet, Shion spun around and was once again met with only rolling fields.

“A stubborn one.”

The plea continued to repeat as an earworm, but Shion was able to manage a single alternate thought. A question.

“Who am I?”

Shion blinked before opening and closing his mouth. There was still no sound.

“I can hear you just fine. No need to waste your time.”

Then why haven’t you answered my prayers?!

“Prayers?” The voice sounded genuinely confused.

Imaging a drum being played with exahsutive ferocity, Shion mentally turned up the mantra.

“Oh, that! You’ve been going on about that for so long that I’d gotten used to it!”

HOW DARE YOU-!

“Enough.”

…

“I meant more that you have already been granted one of those things.”

What do you mean?

“Your brothers. You are intrinsically tied to them. In fact, they are waiting for you now, but you need to move on.”

Shion spun around, searching the grasses once more.

“Not here, little one. You need to move to the next plane.”

Doremi!

“Doremi?” The voice again seemed genuinely surprised.

Doremi! Doremi! Green skin! Shell! Golden eyes! Hair like-

“Silence, allow me to see.”

Shion furrowed his brow. If this was some type of god, why didn’t they just already know? Why was he trapped in his inane conversation?

“It is not for you to comprehend.”

Spoken like someone who also has no idea.

“Aren’t you something.”

Far be it for a puny human to ask questions.

“I would call it amusing, but we don’t have to agree.”

Don’t we?

“We don’t. Tell me, what is it that you want with the kappa?”

Kappa?

“You didn’t even know what kind of yokai Doremi was? I see why you requested more time.”

Then you already know what I want!

“I didn’t say that. Your thoughts were too simplistic. You simply wished for your brothers and the yokai, but how? You already have one of those things. Why should I give you more?”

More?!

Shion turned, his chest aching painfully.

I barely got any time.

In quick repeat, he played the reel of his time with Doremi over.

Again, it ended in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

You can see, right?! You saw!?

“I saw.”

Then you know!

A long stretch of silence played out. Shion continued the mantra in a failed attempt to soothe himself.

“Do you want to know how many lifetimes it’s been since you found your soulmate?”

Soulmate?

“73.”

What do you mean soulmate!?

“It’s astounding in a way. It’s not like the system is rigged for you to not meet them. There’s free will to contend with, but the chance occurs in every lifetime.”

Answer me!

“Maybe it’s because you get coddled by your brothers in every existence…”

Don’t… Don’t you dare-!!!

“That’s not mine to undo. Do not fret.”

Not yours?! What does that mean!?

“It is a pity though.”

Hey!

“How about a compromise?”

…

“I can’t give you another gift. As I’ve said, you’re already tied to three beings, but I can grant you something else.”

Why?

“I find 73 lifetimes without true love to be a bit despairing. I guess I’m a romantic in that sense.”

Great. My life is in the hands of an being that doesn’t use reason.

“If I were then we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”

…

“The opportunity will occur in your next lifetime. If you make contact with your soulmate then I will allow you to glimpse a moment; a little gift so you may not let them slip through your clutches again.”

And what if I don’t? I’ve apparently failed 73 other times…

“Then you will be born again. My gift will be of one time use, but it will continue on until the meeting occurs.”

This is stupid.

A sharp ring of laughter echoed from the skies above.

It was so loud Shion’s knees buckled.

”You truly are something! I haven’t had a laugh in eons!”

Scoff.

“As much resentment as you hold, I can tell you're ready to move on.”

Something about the way it was said sent an icy cold shot of fear through Shion’s veins. He looked down to find his body rapidly becoming translucent.

Wait! I haven’t-!

“There will never be enough time. Just remember this moment-”

Shion winced as the image of Doremi eating a confectionery was forced into his mind.

“-and live your life to its fullest.”

Watching his hand, Shion found he could barely see his outline.

One! One final question!!!

“Hurry.”

Does that mean Doremi was-?!

“Good luck finding them in your next life.”

The breeze continued to roll through the unchanging empty landscape.

Cleaved by the earth in a continental divide.

Over and over in a gambit long tried.

A butterflies wings.

The sweep of tree's shade.

Castle doors open to mist.

Whilst the sun bathed you in a gentle kiss.

The eternal dance of you and I.

Unable to seek.

Unwilling to hide.

“I just wanted a gazpacho burrito!” Leo whined as he rolled out of the way of a tenderizing mallet.

“What is wrong with you!?” Mikey turned up his nose in disgust.

“Honestly!” Rupert Swaggart huffed as he lifted his mallet again. “Food trucks are an affront to the culinary world!”

“No!” Mikey wrapped a chain around a light pole and swung around to kick Meat Sweats in the side of the head. The force launched the pig mutant across the park. “I am not agreeing with you on that! Food trucks have been instrumental in fusion shifts!”

“Perfect, I’d had enough of the banter.” Donnie clapped as his bō telescoped in hand. “I’d rather we get to lunch as soon as possible.”

“See! Donnie wants a burrito too!” Leo jumped excitedly to point.

“Eugh, no!” Donnie scrunched up his face in disgust.

“Et tu!?” Leo hissed.

“Ok, ok!” Raph scrubbed his face. “Isn’t that why we’re here?! ‘Cause no one could decide on one type of food!”

The others all paused to give it some thought.

“Huh, I guess so.” Leo shrugged. “Hey, how is there still a line!?”

“There can’t possibly be. There’s a mutant attack and-” Donnie looked as Leo gestured with an angry grimace. “Oh, wow, there actually is.”

Raph approached the slew of New Yorkers who were huddled down in fear but still queued at the various food trucks. “Uh, you guys ok?”

“I-I waited t-two hours.” A shaky voice rose up from the line. “I-I’m n-not going a-anywhere!”

“For the, and let me emphasize this, gazpacho burrito!?” Pinching the air to accentuate his point, Mikey dropped down onto Raph’s shoulder to loom over the person.

“Y-yeah?” The civilian choked.

“No taste.” Mikey sighed, crawling down from his perch. “So did Rupert just bail or…?”

“Maybe ya knocked him out?” Raph hummed in thought.

“That is a distinct possibility.” Donnie noted, tapping his staff to the ground.

Leo watched his brothers for a moment and then looked down the line from the trucks. “Uh… guys?”

“Huh? I can’t hear someone who no taste buds!” Mikey mimed a hand up to his ear and rolled his gaze skyward.

“Har har.” Leo retorted dryly. “Where do these trucks get their power?”

“Either from the truck itself or usually a generator.” Donnie walked over to one said square and gestured to it. “The output on this model is poor though. A few tweaks and…”

“No.” Raph stomped over and swatted Donnie’s flexing fingertips. “You gotta stop upgrading stuff without people’s consent!”

Leo started to walk down the queue. “But not like tapping into the city?”

Donnie rubbed his hand indignantly. “I believe that would invoke some kind of violation.”

“You’re basically stealing power.” Mikey nodded, slyly watching Leo out of the corner of his eye.

Leo reached down and picked up a thick orange cord. “Uh huh…”

“What is that?” Donnie slipped around Raph’s form and towards Leo.

Mikey seemed to catch sight of it too, but turned the other way. “It looks like there’s one going to every food truck…”

“One going to…?” Donnie spun around.

“Alas there’s bound to be causalities in the cutthroat world of cuisine!” Rupert’s voice rose up from above and the brothers turned to see the pig mutant perched on a nearby building with the end of the orange cord in hand.

“Donnie! Raph! Civilians! Mikey, on me!” Leo sliced open a portal as Mikey’s chains soared out towards Rupert.

Meat Sweats grinned manically and plugged in the cord.

“On it!” Raph shouted, turning back to the crowd. “Lunch times over! Y’all gotta-!”

A deep rumbling seemed to bubble up from somewhere other than the ground.

“Raph…” Donnie warned, wildly looking for the source.

“EVERYONE MOVE NOW!” Raph roared, his formed rapidly expanding with his ninpo. The line finally relented in an attempt to escape when the tires of the row of food trucks started to sway.

Donnie balked as the rumbling noise soared in pitch. He brought his staff up just as the metal roof of each truck burst open. Boiling oil shot straight into the sky and immediately hit an arch point where it curved to rain back down. Scrambling, Donnie activated his own ninpo and a giant purple umbrella formed out of the top of his staff. He bolted towards the civilians that had yet to escape and covered them as the oil rain down with a steaming sizzle.

“Hot, hot hot!!” Raph hissed as droplets dripped down through his projection.

Donnie planted his feet and increased the size of the umbrella. “Unless you want to be the ones deep fried, I suggest you move, people!”

Raph’s form winced as he ducked under the umbrella and urged the masses along. “Alright, no shoving…”

The crowd shuffled around Donnie, bumping him as he tried to keep the umbrella steady. "Honestly-!” He was cut off when someone shouldered him with enough force that one hand came free from his bō. Hissing, the throng of people rushed across his arm and Donnie had difficulty reigning the limb back in while still holding the oversized object steady. With a sharp tug he retracted the appendage and his vision whited out.

“Well?” Shion watched carefully as Doremi went in to take a bite.

“Don’t rush me!” The yokai giggled with a shake of their head.

“As slow as a lazy koi.” Shion smiled fondly as Doremi’s beak cut right through the chewy mochi.

From where the yokai’s eyes had fallen in satisfaction, they popped open as they went on to gush about the flavor. Time stopped as moonlight played off Doremi’s glossy locks.

A sizzling sound hissed in his ears and the image seemed to burn away as if it were on an old film reel.

“Donnie!?” Raph’s voice reached his ears.

Donnie croaked and felt small bits of oil sting his legs. Blinking free, he found that he was on the ground with his big brother hunkered over him in an attempt to protect him from most of the boiling substance.

“What happened?!” Donnie shouted, hand wildly searching for his staff.

“I don’t know!? You kinda just passed out!” Raph’s face contorted in pain.

Finally grazing titanium, Donnie reestablished the umbrella. “Are you ok? Was anyone else hurt?”

“Heh.” Raph’s shoulders dropped, unable to cover his wounds. “Don’t worry about ole Raph. I got everyone out. I’m more worried about you and why the others haven’t unplugged the dang… whatever it is yet!”

“I…I’m fine.” Donnie twisted around to look at the rooftop where Rupert had been. “They’re gone.”

“Fights moved so we should too!” Raph straightened and shook himself off. Donnie reigned the size of the umbrella in and together the two brothers left the splash zone. Once free, purple pixels flittered down and shifted to form a safety barrier in a radius around the gushing oil. Raph gave Donnie an assuring nod before the two moved to scale the building. Unplugging the cord and watch the oil slowly taper off, the pair were about to dart off when a portal appeared beside him.

“We gotta unplug the-! Oh, it’s done!” Leo stepped through with Mikey following close behind.

“Where’s Meat Sweats?” Raph wondered, rubbing a blister on his bicep.

“We knocked him down into Hidden City jail. Maybe ruining a prison kitchen we’ll keep him busy for a bit.” Leo shook his head.

“Oh, to be a prisoner…” Mikey sang wistfully.

“No.” Leo said simply before bonking his younger brother with the hilt of his odachi.

“I swear, Michael, you are one step away from a life of crime at any moment.” Donnie mused with a wry smile.

“I think you’re mixing us up dear bro-there!” Mikey hummed and stuck his tongue out.

“You ok, big guy?” Leo took several slinking steps forward and around Raph.

“Just a little burn…” Raph responded with a rolling shoulder.

“I thought D had you covered?” Leo looked back at Donnie who was staring at the oil pooling on the concrete.

“That… Well…” Raph tried and failed.

“Something happened?” Mikey filled in.

“I passed out.” Donnie said flatly and felt all eyes land on him. “I had a vision, I think.”

“That’s…” Leo started and stopped to think. “What? Like a new power?”

“Casey’s never mentioned one like that before!” Mikey jumped excitedly at Donnie and snatched his arm to study it.

“No.” Donnie tugged his limb free and eyed Leo. “Not like that. I’m not sure. I feel fine now. I need to do some research…”

“But…!” Leo teased, leaning into Donnie face before moving downward to poke the plastron covering his stomach. “Lunch, right? Coulda just been a hunger induced fainting spell.”

“Ah!” Donnie telescoped his tech-bō to a handheld size. “I’m all for ruling out easy maladies. Yes, let us gather sustenance!”

“So, I was thinking Spanish?” Leo chided, looking beyond Donnie to Mikey.

“You heathen! You are not making that monstrosity at the table!” Mikey prickled.

“Let’s just hit a food hall…” Raph sighed, shaking his head.

Leaning back, Donnie looked down the blurry pen balanced on his snout. This act was far more Leo’s speed, but he had reached a point where channeling his other brothers’ energies was the next best thing. Beyond him, many tabs sat up on his enormous monitor. They culminated in countless hours of online research that had been proceeded by at least a dozen medical and mystic analyses. The tests yielded a slew of normal data while the internet had thin estimations at best. Giving a sigh, he wrinkled his nose and allowed the pen to fall. In a flash, he caught the writing utensil and lurched forward in the process. He brought the pen down to an errant piece of paper and made a scribble before discarding the object all together.

A frustrating query with no apparent result was the bane of his existence.

Swiveling around, he walked out of his chair within the rotation and prepared to hit the library again. Though he’d already spent an unknown amount of time there, none of the literature on visions seemed of much help. There were at least a dozen scenarios that seemingly applied, but something about all of them felt inherently wrong. The inexplicable emotions attached to the seemingly nonsensical sight had been another annoying factor. It had brought him on a detour to Draxum’s apartment the last time he was out and there he found little more than tepid curiosity from the yokai.

Fiddling with other abandoned projects, Donnie grimaced as he caught sight at a digital readout that noted the date. It had been almost five useless wheel spinning days since the food truck debacle. It hadn’t been a constant, he had the years of experience to know that nonstop research rarely amounted to much, but good night’s sleeps and meals hadn’t brought their usual fresh clarity. Flicking a lose wire, Donnie pulled a half constructed surveillance bot out from under scattered blueprints. He had unconscious timetables for things of this nature. They had a neat little file folder that sat in the back of his mind, labeled for future reference. Whatever he had seen in the park was simply something he didn’t have the current tools to crack. He didn’t consider it a loss, but instead a project to be explored at a later date. His ever expanding intellect acted as a means. He’d eventually create some new technology that would inevitably solve his dilemma.

Satisfied, Donnie reached across the table to grab a screwdriver. The instrument was almost underhand when a wash of green swaying grass appeared where a workbench had been. Recoiling on instinct, he took a few steps back and found himself in his lab just as he had been. Blinking rapidly in an attempt to check his eyesight, Donnie hunkered down. He became very keenly aware of the hum of the overhead lights and the multiple running processors. Not ready to brush the hallucination off, he turned and reached across the short expanses to his computer’s keyboard. A few swapped windows found he had only been awake nine hours with an average amount of sleep achieved prior to that. There was no cause to question his sanity, but still he frowned.

“Hello?”

There was always a chance it was a joke or even some villain’s ploy, but all of his trained senses said he was certainly alone. Giving a long moment for anyone to reveal themselves, Donnie gave himself a little shake to get his blood flowing before deciding to return to his bot once again. Turning back to the workbench, he stiffened as his lifted foot came down on a lush field. This time when he drew back, the greenery didn’t disappear. Spinning rapidly, he found the landscape stretched on endlessly in all directions. His blood pressure bottoming out, Donnie tossed his head up and squinted directly at the gently beaming sun overhead. It warmed his skin and he brought an arm up to chase the sensation. Everything about this felt real, but so did Hypno’s more ridiculous spells.

“You forgot the brainwashing part!” Donnie gripped, slowly rotating to find any sign of a culprit. Reaching onto his person, he cursed as he found that while his wraps were still in place, both his battleshell and tech-bō were left charging on ports that seemingly no longer existed. Feeling very exposed, he readied his stance and waited as only a shallow breeze caressed his cheek.

It took what felt like several long minutes before he dropped his shoulders with irritation. “So, just nothing? Seriously?”

Only the rustling of grasses responded.

Bored, Donnie took several strides forward before looking back to find any plants he crushed underfoot seemed unaffected. The scientist in him reared its head as he purposely stomped. Each step would press down on the greenery, but as soon as he lifted off, they sprang back up in time. It was like a video game with little finesse. Crouching down, he made an attempt to pull the plants from the ground. A faint ring of laughter echoed from the skies above. Donnie jolted to his feet from where he had just wrapped his hands around a fistful of grass. Scanning wildly, he spied the figure of a black haired man in the far distance toward where he had just come. Staring, he reminded himself that he had definitely looked there previously and found nothing. A tingling sensation tickled the back of his neck. Craning an arm to rub at the spot, Donnie slowly started to approach the man.

“Hey!” Calling out, the man didn’t react and instead was staring at the sky above. At a distance where he couldn’t make out any facial features, he watched as the man swayed as if he were locked in some intense conversation. Shouting again, Donnie felt the tickling spread down his arms. It sent a fear response through his spine so he picked up the pace. Eyes locked on the figure, he narrowed his gaze as he didn’t seem to be getting any closer. With each passing stride, his limbs felt both heavier and lighter. He dropped his center of gravity to make a jump, but found that pushing off barely sent him more than a foot off the ground.

Knowing he had far more power than that, Donnie scowled as when he was about to search his person for the cause, he noticed the man slowly lose his opacity. Flexing his fingers, he felt a longing pull to gaze at his hand. Refusing to look away, he could sense his brain sending signals to his legs to keep running, but it didn’t feel like the action was being carried out. The man still loomed on the horizon, now looking down at his limbs as Donnie had just felt the call to. It felt like déjà vu and so much more.

Pushing so hard, Donnie could feel the veins in his neck grow taunt, he felt a whiplash sensation as all the ground he never covered suddenly rushed around him. Eyes unable to focus at the intense speed, he soared until his limp form was brought right up to the man; only the faintest traces of him could be seen. Only able to see the man's back, Donnie watched as his own hand came into view as he reached out to the now phantom. The figure disappeared just as a green hand had made contact with it and overhead buzz of lab lighting rushed into his ears.

“You aren’t going to give up are you? You finally almost had your chance.”

Gasping, Donnie jolted upright and found he was laying on the floor. Resisting the urge to scream, he scrambled to his feet. “Analysis! Scan the lab for intruders and playback the last 15 minutes!” Donnie rounded on his monitor and watched himself walk up to his workbench. After a few moments, he ran through pulling out the surveillance bot and recoiling at nothing. Grimacing until his lip pulled away from his teeth, he felt a cold chill as he watched tangible proof that there hadn’t been anything there. Dread reared its head as he watched as past him decided to table the issue and return to work. The footage changed from his memory as he watched himself collapse to the floor of the lab instead. Leaning in close to study the image for signs of seizure, he instead found his past self’s expression twist as he presumably ran through the dream-like state.

As the footage caught up to the present, Donnie swapped screens for the scan. There was no one else present. Brow coming down, he restarted the recording and watched as inevitably his past self mouthed the questions to the lab. The silence of the footage caught him and he quickly turned the volume up on his computer where he had at some point muted it. Starting the footage over once more, he stared numbly as he listened to himself question the empty air. He heard the thump of a crumpled body smacking onto concrete and then, just as his past self awoke, he heard a garbled statement. His head nearly bobbed as he rolled the footage back just a few seconds to hear the sound again. It was useless crunchy audio so he brought up a program to isolate it. Passing it through filter after adjustment, he could just barely make out a question about giving up and a chance.

Chewing on his lower lip, Donnie collapsed in his chair and set the still barely understandable audio on loop. It’s distorted sound had an odd rhythm to it that brought his lids down. Donnie let it echo as he recalled the only close up image he had gotten of the man in the field. Trying to recall as much detail he could about the person, a flash of a beak biting down into mochi appeared.

“Koi.” The syllable hit Donnie’s ears and took several moments before he was able to acknowledge it was his own. As registration occurred, he shot forward. His fingers flew across his keyboard and the measured hammering filled the air.

“Help me explain to the others that I need to find a single person in a city of almost 9 million people!”

From where Mikey was balanced on one toe atop a precarious several foot tall stack of knickknacks, the younger brother opened a single eye. “What?”

“Look-” Donnie shuffled in from the doorway of Mikey’s room, trailing continuous stationary with hundreds of lines of little black print on it. “I don’t know how to explain this. I guess it’s a mystic thing, so you would understand best! I need to find someone and I need to explain to the others because I need help.”

Shifting his weight, Mikey hopped off the stack and landed beside his brother only to have the pile crash to the ground as soon as he came up. “Dang…”

“I’ll help you rebuild it.” Donnie offered the sentiment along with a sheet of paper.

Mikey took it and read over the list of names. “Is this what you’ve been working on?”

“No. Yes. It’s not important.”

“Donnie…” Mikey warned, letting the page loosen in his hands.

“None of this mystic stuff ever makes sense!” Donnie reeled, trying to pull up the rest of the pages up and finally realizing he had been leaving a breadcrumb trail of them behind.

“I would say mysterious ways, but I don’t think that’s gonna be much help now.” Mikey rounded his older brother and started to collect the paper. “Maybe take a breath and try telling me what happened?”

Donnie groaned loudly before relenting. By the time Mikey had stacked all the paper back up neatly, Donnie had just mentioned the ominous carp phrase that had come off his lips. “-so I pulled surveillance from the area the day of Meat Sweats' attack and this is the culmination of identified persons who were waiting in line at the food trucks.”

“This many!?” Mikey ran a thumb through the pages.

“I was able to narrow it down to about 1000 people hence why I need-”

“The help.” Mikey winced.

“Interrupting, but correct.” Donnie sighed.

“Who do you think the mystery person is?”

“I have no idea, but they chose the wrong person to reach out to. Everyone should know apathy is my specialty.” Tilting his head to one side, Donnie put on his carefully curated aloof visage.

“Maybe it’s because they knew you’d have the tech to find them?” Mikey stared down at the first page with a furrowed brow.

“That’s as good a guess as any at this point.” Donnie shrugged and reached out.

Mikey catching wind of what was happening and handed over the top half of the stack. “Are they in danger? Cause this is uh… gonna take awhile?”

Shaking his head, Donnie looked down from the pages in hand to where they were still connected to the ones in Mikey’s.

Coming up to view the younger, Donnie watched as something occurred to Mikey and he set his portion on the floor. He then cascaded around his room in a sorting flurry with craft supplies flying around his wake. When he returned he had a slew of highlighters and plopped down cross-legged in front of his stack and started marking. “Let’s color coordinate by the boroughs!”

Donnie sat down as well and took an offered green highlighter from Mikey.

“That’ll be Manhattan.”

Nodding, the two flipped through the pages with only the soft scrap of pen to paper sounding in the room. After making substantial progress, Mikey blinked up to spy on his brother.

“Feeling a little calmer?”

“I knew what you were doing.” Donnie smirked and didn't look away from his work.

“You’re gonna have to pull the ‘trust me on this’ card.”

“Ugh, can’t you play into your skills? Say something like you found someone’s personal effect and you are in dire need of returning it!”

“Donnie.”

Donnie chewed the inside of his cheek and flipped over to a new line of names.

“You said there was a recording?”

Perking up only slightly, Donnie brought his cuff up and played the audio.

Mikey closed his eyes and leaned in close with a turned ear to the sound. Donnie replayed it several times before the younger brother’s eyes flew open. “Fate.”

“What?” Donnie soured, turning the sound bite off.

“’You finally almost had your chance!’”

Eyes blinking wide, Donnie slammed a finger to play the clip one more time. “You understood it?!”

“Only that last part.” Mikey hummed before taking a deep breath. “Oh man, why didn’t I think of it sooner?! You have fate stink all over you!”

“I most assuredly do not!” Donnie hissed, retrieving his highlight as a mock sword.

“A fated chance!”Mikey crooned, his excitement taking him to his feet. “You missed them before, but when?” Switching gears from romanticized cheer to curiosity, the younger brought an uncapped red highlighter dangerously close to his chin in thought.

“Only 20 years to sift through.” Donnie made a show of rolling his eyes and marking another name.

“Only…” Mikey mouthed before tapping the pen nib to his cheek. “Or more...”

“More, sure.” Not dismissing with a barb, but instead out of distraction, Donnie reached out and grabbed a discarded purple highlighter to continue working.

“A vision… A otherworldly voice… a destined meeting….” Taking counting steps, Mikey’s footfalls echoed loudly. “Uh duh!!!”

The sound brought Donnie’s head up and he watched his younger brother scrub his hands over his face.

“It’s gotta be your soulmate!!!”

Donnie dropped his jaw in disgust at both the sentence and the red lines that now smeared across Mikey’s face.

“Don’t give me that look! You were just trying to get me to act out some kinda romcom trope to trick our brothers!” Mikey turned and pointed the highlighter right at his brother.

Affronted, Donnie looked away nervously.

“Ha! Got you! Which movie was it?” Mikey chirped, dropping down to his knees in his original spot.

Before Donnie could open his mouth, a different voice floated in.

“We watching a movie?” Leo leaned languidly in the door frame before busting out laughing. “You look like if I went through a wash cycle and you know I’m dry clean only!!”

“Who? Donnie?” Mikey pondered, rapidly looking between the pair.

Donnie rolled his eyes. “We are not watching a movie, Mikey is helping me with some important work-”

“We’re narrowing down the list for Donnie’s soulmate!” Mikey nearly sang.

Leo who had almost recovered from his first bout of laughter broke down again.

“Mikey!” Donnie seethed, squeezing his two highlighters with bareful force.

The sounds of the blue brother wheezing seemed to summon Raph, who looked over each part of the scene curiously.

“What? You wanted my help and honesty is the best policy!” Mikey folded his arms, streaking red across his left bicep in the process.

“The cap!” Donnie screeched, grabbing said red hunk of plastic and throwing it right into Mikey’s forehead. “And you-!” Spinning around, Donnie launched the blue highlighter at Leo’s hacking form.

“Guys, we ain’t 10 anymore. Don’t throw art supplies…” Raph sighed, sidestepping Leo who only laughed harder at the implement thrown at him. “What’s going on?”

“Do-” Leo gapsed for air.

“Wait, did I get marker on me?” Finally capping the pen, Mikey examined his right arm carefully.

“Don-” Leo crawled forward.

“The other one.” Raph offered before looking around.

Donnie took a deep breath. “Glossing over the fact that I specifically asked you to help me ‘convince them’ and not just ‘tell them outright,’ you think you could have, I don’t know, called a meeting or something!?”

“We always have each other’s backs!” Mikey protested, still examining the wrong arm.

“Scoff doesn’t even begin to label my response to that!” Donnie reeled with annoyance.

Locating a box of tissues, Raph walked it over to Mikey. “Right arm and your whole face.”

“Oh!!!” Mikey crooned as if it were an epiphany. He then snatched a tissue and buried his nose into it.

“Donnie!” Leo finally managed both a word and to reach said brother.

“What?” Donnie responded flatly, hands ready to push him away at any moment.

“Did...” Leo sucked down another gulp of oxygen before laying himself out as if he were the picture of poise. “…you print out your online dating matches off some nerd website? Connect with local eggheads in your area?”

Raph moved first, but he wasn’t close enough as Donnie wrapped his hands around Leo’s throat. The three scuffled and Mikey stood up in an unhurried fashion. The youngest then took the orange highlighter and flicked the cap off with one hand. He smeared war paint on each of his cheeks and then tossed the marker aside. Planting his feet, he then flexed at his knees a few times and then breathed deeply.

“HOLD IT!!!”

The other three froze mid-fight with Donnie on Raph’s back clawing at Leo who was being held out by his arm pits at Raph’s front.

They watched as Mikey momentarily scrambled away, only to return wearing an orange helmet. “Sit!”

With a honed exchange of vicious glances, the other three brothers took to a line on the floor.

“As the resident mystic master, this is my domain. Now Donnie has been mystically chosen to find someone. I will not admit to jumping the gun because I do think it’s his soulmate, but I guess we don’t know that for sure.” Mikey shot Donnie a quick wink and then resumed his authoritative demonstration. “We are gonna help our dear brother out and-” He threw out a finger to the forgotten stack of pages. “-Narrow down this list because that’s what fate wants!”

Silence held for a moment before Raph looked to Donnie and then Leo flanking him on either side. Donnie pouted and sulked into himself while Leo looked on with growing confusion. Bringing his gaze back to Mikey, Raph raised his hand.

“Yes!” Mikey swooped his digit to point at the eldest.

“What the heck are we talking about?”

“Well, you see-” Donnie started, scotching forward at the chance to drop an explanation.

“Wait, I wanna tell it this time!” Mikey hopped forward a few eager steps.

“Wouldn’t it make more sense if I-” Donnie made out before Mikey came in close enough to press that same outstretched finger to his brother’s lips.

“It all started the day of the food truck meet up…!” Mikey threw out his other hand as if painting a picture.

“So…” Leo drew out the syllable in a manner that mimicked the last three days.

Perched in various trees, the brothers overlooked a gentleman sitting on a park bench. After an agonizing afternoon of back and forths over the purpose of the visions, Donnie was at his wit’s end. When he thought they finally understood at least that much, he’d let it slip how long he’d been studying the query which then triggered the annoyed protests of a week leaving them out of the loop. Disorganization followed before a plan was set. In a bit of cosmic cruelty, their first outing ended in them not able to locate a single person on their first list. The city that never sleeps earned its reputation as the four learned the hard way that an address does not always mean someone is home. The others had also annoyingly stopped him from activating a tracking network on all potential suspects. Invasion of privacy extended only to what was available in a phone book even though his argument that he’d already hacked surveillance cameras was more than sturdy enough. Still, he needed the help so he agreed. He just might go ahead and stumble upon more data if this night were to end in another failure.

“That’s him…” Mikey hummed checking his phone. “Number 23!”

Nerves oddly waning, Donnie gazed at the man through his goggles. A slew of tagging data appeared along with a telltale checkmark. “Correct.”

“That’s obvious, hermano. Didn’t you hear me before?” Leo huffed.

“We can always hear you, Leo.” Raph gave his brother a cheeky smile.

Leo played up his offense at the statement before smiling out of it. “I meant more what do we do now? Should he like glow or something when he comes in contact with D?”

Hearing the approximation of his name, Donnie flicked his head so his goggles snapped into their upright position. He frowned slightly and stared down at the man who seemed fatigued. The distance between them felt like miles of desert. “I’m not sure.”

“It’s ok to be worried…” Mikey dropped both his voice and body to Donnie’s branch. “It’s the first one.”

“Just think of him as some guy!” Leo added, kicking his legs. “The mystic connection thing will happen or not.”

“If it’s like our powers, it’s something we need to activate though.” Raph brought a corner of his mouth up in thought.

“Good point.” Leo closed his eyes in mock thought.

“Might as well talk to him in the meantime.” Mikey urged.

“We’re still mutant turtles. Am I going to just expose myself to 1000 people?” Donnie looked at Mikey’s out stretched hand with ever chasmed worry. He wasn’t sure if he said that because it was a good point or because his brain was scrambling at the prospects of this grossly uncharted territory.

“Ehhh…” Leo hissed through clenched teeth.

“Well…” Raph started and stopped. “They already saw us.”

“Yeah?” Mikey rolled on the branch causing Donnie to clutch on for dear life.

“These are all people from the food truck thing, right? They saw us save them.” Raph pointed downward to Mikey.

“Yeah!” Mikey tittered, shaking the branch more.

Leaves sprinkled down and Donnie wished he wasn’t already on thin mental ice. “That doesn’t mean they’ll be friendly. The amount of people who have watched us save their actual lives and still mix up which mutant side we were on has been astonishing.”

Leo stood up on his branch and walked toward the base. The other brothers stopped to watch his movements. “Well… you know how this goes…”

Donnie felt his stomach bottom out. Fight or flight kicked in and he slammed a hand to the tree in a desperate attempt to get to his feet. He watched as Mikey, already well balanced, shot away and a flash of a blade cut the limb free from its wooden attachment. Donnie stifled a yelp as he careened down and just barely managed to land on his feet before the downed branch bumped him. His momentum toppled and he landed in a bush with a resounding thud. Groaning off the fall, Donnie popped up to yell at his brother only to hear a timid voice instead.

“Uh… Y-you ok?”

Staring at the man who looked back at him with a similar owlish expression, Donnie glanced in the trees to find all his brothers now missing. Bringing his gaze back to the stranger, Donnie gave a fake grin and forced an awkward foot forward out of the shrubbery. “Yes, I’m fine. I apologize for…” He cursed himself as he’d already mostly walked into the Leo-level joke. “…dropping in on you like this.”

The man’s wide eyes dropped slightly.

“You see I was just-”

“I’ve seen you!” The man animated, the surprise taking him out of his seat.

“Yes-”

“You saved me from getting burned!” The man shot forward and Donnie barely resisted the urge to step back. Before the mutant could register what was happening, his hand was taken and being shook at a furious level. “Thank you so much!”

“You’re… welcome…?” Donnie staggered, the whole exchange leaving him empty. He watched as the man’s hand retracted from his own and there was a ghostly cold left in its wake. There was no scientific basis for it, but every one of his senses was telling him that this wasn’t the right person. All the ever-present dread evaporated as his usual sureness flooded in.

“Is there anything I can do for you? Did something happen? Do you need me to ID the guy!? He was a pig!” The man seemed to get progressively more excited.

“Not at all.” Donnie raised a hand to stop him and the gesture seemed to work. “I am simply… conducting a survey. How would you rate my heroic experience? ‘Very satisfied, very, very satisfied, extremely satisfied?’”

The man thought on this very hard before looking up. “Just very. It was fine, but the aftermath sucked because I never got any food.”

Donnie grimaced. “And how is that my fault?”

The man rebuffed the indignity with one of his own. “I don’t know. You’re the hero! Sure, you saved me, but you could stick around for clean up more!”

“That’s-” Donnie sneered. “We’re vigilantes! It’s illegal!”

“Nobody asked you to act outside the law.” The man shrugged, stepping back.

“You would literally be a battered if it weren’t for me!” Donnie seethed.

“I think I could have managed.” The man shrugged.

“Alright, alright!” Leo dropped down on the other side of the man. “We got his… response or whatever, time to go!”

The man gaped at Leo openly and then pointed. “You…”

“Yes, go on! More thank yous are in order?” Leo flicked his mask tails and waited for his praise.

“You’re the one that ran away with that other useless orange one!” The man gawked.

“Ran-!?” Leo seized up.

“Useless!?” Mikey’s voice echoed somewhere in the distance.

“Enough!” Raph dropped down behind Leo long enough to wrap an arm around him before shooting forward to snatch Donnie. “Thank you for your time, sir. Have an… ok day and maybe be less rude next time!” He parted the man with a final wave before soaring off back into the trees.

“Can you believe the nerve!?” Leo stewed as trunks flew around them.

“Let’s just-” Raph started as Mikey came into view and he dropped down beside him, depositing the other brothers. “He’s a jerk; people can be jerks!”

“Ungrateful!” Leo barked, storming in a small circle.

“Ingrate.” Donnie corrected, shaking his head free of the situation.

“Tell me he’s not your person?!” Leo looked to Donnie with pleading eyes before sweeping them to the left and talking out the side of his mouth. “Though he does match your personality.”

Donnie seized up for a moment before forcing the irritation out in one quick tensing of muscles. “No, he’s not my person.” Even with the exercise in restraint, the phrase still came out from beneath clenched teeth.

“Was there like a sign?” Mikey wondered, stepping forward to examine Donnie.

Donnie evaluated the youngest evenly for a moment before watching over the reel of the interaction again. He looked down at his hand and almost thought he saw an apparition of a translucent one over it. Turning the green appendage over, he seemed to remember his brother’s presence and looked up. “I think… I need to touch them?”

“That helps. So we got something to go off of!” Raph nodded, staring down at Donnie’s hand.

“You could probably get away with a little New York bump here and there instead of having to chat each person up.” Mikey bobbed with excitement.

“It’ll be a little touch and go for awhile, but at least we’ll be able to knock out the list!” Leo leaned forward with a bright smile.

The other brothers stood caught for a second before Donnie dispelled it. “Alright then, gentlemen! Shall we continue?” Tapping his cuff, he brought up a digital display of the list and the others crouched in close to see.

He had fulfilled his touch quota for a lifetime.

Donnie assumed he looked the definition of haggard, but couldn’t find the strength to glimpse himself in a mirror, front facing camera, or any of the like.

The past month had been an agonizing exercise in trials and tribulations. If he ever had so much of an inkling to take the most inane sample audience and test them against one of the most unknown variables of all time again, he now knew for a fact that he would take dip in a vat of slugs instead. Dragging a hand over his worn face, Donnie tried to force himself upright. The table he collapsed against wasn’t inviting in the slightest, but his plastron didn’t seem to care. Sighing, he relented and keeled over until his face pressed against the surface as well. There was a faint trace of stickiness that made his skin crawl, but even then he couldn’t bring himself to adjust. Instead he laid his arm cuff in front of his eyes and pressed the display on with his nose. It slowly ran a calculated cycle through the hundreds of red checkmarks that signified each and every failure. It was the digital count of exactly 1037 New Yorkers that were not this fabled person.

Groaning until the screen went to sleep, Donnie gave a slow blink. He could see the cycling of the different categories of people he had been forced to interact with. There was a good portion that fell under the header that Leo had frustratingly been able to make stick as the ‘touch and gos.’ They were the cleanest bunch data-wise by far in that he’d been able to tap them in passing and move on. Donnie had almost refined his technique to the point that he considered himself the candidate for a great life in pickpocketing were that something he’d want to cultivate. It had also helped, for once, that his brothers had made it into a game. They silently bet on whether or not a target would take notice as they were tapped in passing on the street. It was a nice little bolster to Donnie’s ego, not that he’d admit it.

From there, were the slew of typical New York talk-backs. They’d feel the touch and gripe loudly about it in a stereotypical confrontational manner. Donnie’s reactions depended on his mood. Either way he’d end up exercising a gross misuse of his skills whether it was to disappear without a trace or let off a little steam in a quick show of strength. His brother’s opinions on those interactions broke apart in a lazy divide.

After that came those who had to be creatively handled. They were a subset of persons that rarely allowed themselves open interaction on the street. It had been a fun utilization of Donnie’s costumed wardrobe that he rarely got to pedal out. In a play of sorts, he’d assumed the role of everything from bodega clerk to a businessman. There had been another split amongst the peanut gallery, but this time it was more for Donnie’s performance and less about the morality of his actions. The acting portion had been more of a distraction to the task at hand, but as time had worn on, it was almost necessary.

Though his brother’s would deny it until their last breath, Donnie saw that they were exhausted with the mystery. They vehemently stayed by his side out of a obligation he understood; if it was any of them that were cursed to find some person who was mystically calling out, he’d want to be right there whenever the exchange finally occurred. They had been through too much together to not worry about what could be any of a million outcomes. Still, filtering through a thousand people while also still maintaining their protectors of New York status stole away almost all their free time. When they’d checked the final person off in the wee hours of this same morning and found it to be another failure, the drop in morale had been palpable. Donnie loved them unquestionably, but watching the mixture of reactions from Raph’s weary pity to Mikey’s near tears was something he wished he could have shooed them off from. It was Leo’s look especially that still haunted Donnie; that let down of what should have been something of a Holmesian fallacy, but there was just a shred in Leo’s eyes that doubted the whole thing. If Donnie were in his brother’s place, he knew he’d feel the same. This intangible haunting occurring was something he’d love to write off too. Unfortunately, in addition to the ghostly reminder, there was this inexplicable ache in his chest that he had yet to solve.

In the end, Leo had called for a temporary parting to give Donnie his space. It had stung in its own way even if he had been about to ask for it. They all had heavy bags darkening their eyes and the weight of the supposedly loss was excruciating. All the time sunk with no apparent cost in sight. In another slow blink, he saw flickers of how he assumed they were. Mikey was presumably conked out after making breakfast for the others. Raph was either mediatating or in bed himself and Donnie just knew Leo was doing his own research. It had been something he’d caught an inkling of about halfway through the list. Leo seemed to know a little more about the target then the manifest noted. Donnie could almost laugh at the double standard. Leo was surely breaking some kind of law to get his information. Frowning, it was another similarity between the two had the shoe been on the other foot.

Bringing his lids up, the futility of the whole thing hung around Donnie’s neck like a noose. He wondered if he tried to file the problem away again if that mysterious entity would fling him back to that strange field. He’d idly tried to place it one sleepless morning, but they were indistinct grasses native to so many Asian regions that it left him with an exhaustive search area. It didn’t quite feel ethereal either and he didn’t want to begin to count the options if mystic realms were involved. Donnie debated the lesser of two evils between ignoring the headings of a mystic entity or asking Leo for help when between blinks a to-go coffee cup appeared between his face and his arm. The generic cup’s pale appearance was just jarring enough that it brought his head up.

“Sorry, um…!”

Giving the cup one last linger glance, he dragged his eye line up to the source of the voice.

You jolted as eye contact was established. “…How do I say this?”

He arched a brow.

“You looked like you needed a pick me up!” Your body bobbed as you brought your fists up in weak assurance.

You weren’t wrong. Donnie looked back down to the drink. He had almost forgotten he had wandered into a coffee shop in his defeated stupor earlier. It was surprising no one had thrown him out sooner. He had basically been darkening this corner spot for what felt like hours without purchasing anything.

“It’s just drip, but if you don’t like that I can get you something else.”

What an attentive stranger. Swinging his gaze back up, he evaluated you closely. You didn’t seem to work here, so you weren’t taking pity on him in that sense. Instead you looked a sort of put together version of someone who rolled out of bed. It was early, there were any number of possibilities for your attendance. “What roast?”

That probably wasn’t the kindest thing to say to someone who just bought you a drink.

“House…?” You straightened your back and tried to hide the way you looked out of the corner of your eye to catch a glimpse of the menu board.

Donnie chuckled. “That should be fine. Thank you.”

Turning and confirming to himself that the interaction was saved, Donnie palmed the coffee. Through the sleeve, the warmth tickled at his palm. He almost smiled as he brought it to his lips and took a sip. It was just a touch burnt, but it went down smooth enough that his shoulders relaxed. Staring out the window at those passing by, he noted that his emotional bar had ticked a little bit closer to neutral. That was as much as he could ask for with the looming preparations for a whole new set of search criteria. Who was he if he gave up against insurmountable odds? That was just every other day for him. Eyes drifting shut, he thought on how much a few sips of caffeine had affected him and how food would surely compound the effect.

“Of course, you’re busy… or tired…”

You were still here; that was odd. Against his lids protest, Donnie opened his eyes again. Though blurry, he instantly made out a hand reaching towards his cup. His nerves tried to seize up, but it was too late. He really was off his game.

“I just wanted to thank you. Have a good day.”

He watched as your hand finally made it through the motions and gave the back of his the slightest brush with your fingertips.

Donnie wasn’t even sure he blinked when he felt the oddly familiar rush.

“Something this good should be savored!” Doremi threw up their chin, moonlight gleaming ethereal as their hair flittered around the motion.

“So it was good?” Shion looked down at his threaded hands to keep from staring any longer. He smiled to himself as the image had indeed burned itself into his mind.

“Of course, I mean, you got it for me!”

Coming out of the vision, Donnie spun out of his stool so fast his knees harshly slammed into the underside of the table. The sound was loud enough that several people looked on curiously as he watched you push open the café door. “Wait!!!”

You slowed, one foot still lifted.

Against stinging limbs, Donnie freed himself from his seat and staggered over. “It’s you!”

“Yeah?” You wondered, your brows traveling as far north as possible.

“You! I found you! Well you found me, but-” The feeling was overwhelming; he felt a thousand fireworks go off in his chest and it translated down his appendages. The radiating excitement converted into kinetic energy and before he could register what he was doing he scooped you up. You squealed at the motion and he sort of registered something falling to the floor as he spun you around.

“Stop! What!?” He could feel your protesting and finally the action caught up with his mind.

“Oh.” He set you down and surveyed the damage. It was your coffee that had been knocked to the ground and it’s leaking contents soaked through the pastry bag lying in its wake. Coming up with a sheepish bob of his shoulders, he noted the confused fear scrunched up in your features and body language.

That was certainly the right reaction to what just happened.

“I know how this looks…” He began.

“You-” You choked on the sound as an employee headed towards you.

Donnie watched you catch sight of them and then the unmistakable glance you then made to the door.

You weren’t on the list.

You were about to leave.

“Please.” He resisted the urge to step further into your space and trigger any more discomfort. “I know that was erratic and uncalled for, but there’s…” He trailed off realizing that he had no way of trying to explain to what was presumably a regular New Yorker something he barely understood himself. He shook the thought off and pleaded with his gaze. “I can’t explain it, but if you wouldn’t mind sparing some of your time. I’ll buy you another coffee and whatever else it is that I accidentally ruined… Just… If you could?”

Still curled in a defensive position you scanned his gaze for a long moment then took in his body language.

The employee appeared with a miniature mop cart. “Hey, you two alright?”

Donnie swallowed hard in an attempt to keep himself from taking control of the situation. He’d already crossed a line and, though it pained him to no end, he needed you to decide.

Your brows came together as you debated and you knealt down to pick up the cup. “Sorry about this.”

Donnie could feel his chest tightening as the employee clearly took note that their question was dodged.

“It’s alright. We have spills all the time.” The employee ducked down near you and though they dropped their voice, his ears still picked up what was said next. “Are you ok? I can stall him if you need to leave.”

The part of indignity it served him was harshly undercut but how much he deserved that. Stepping back to give the two more breadth, Donnie glanced at his forgotten coffee.

“I’m… alright actually. Thanks for your help.”

That vibrating excitement returned, but this time Donnie shoved it all the way down to his feet. He kept his chin stiffly set in its turn so as not to alert you that he was listening in. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw you rise up and give him a look that said you knew regardless.

“If you need anything else, I’ll be at the counter when I finish up here. How about a replacement?” The employee discarded the trash and moved to prepare the mop with a placed sign.

“That’s alright. He’s got it.” You tipped your head, pointedly staring at Donnie.

“Yes.” He hoped the excitement in his voice was kept to a decent level. “Order whatever you want.”

You moved back to the counter and he followed behind making sure to maintain a safety bubble of distance. You ordered and with a sly look added on a breakfast sandwich that could not have fit in the bag he saw. He could appreciate that you took advantage of the situation.

“You should get something to eat too.” You noted, giving him a flicking once over.

“Can we saw low blood sugar is to blame?” He bobbed his head at you before turning to the cashier. “I’ll have one of the same.”

“Not a chance.” You hummed and watched as he paid. You both traveled back to where he had been sitting at the window and slipped onto the stools facing one another.

Palming his lukewarm coffee, Donnie chose to drink the liquid with only a minor sneer.

“So… Did you mistake me for someone else or…?” You craned an elbow to the table and rested your cheek against your hand in lazy wait.

He forced the kickback burn of his drink down and chased it with a gulp of oxygen. “Something like that?” He followed it up with a wincing smile.

You seemed less than enthused.

“I want to explain, trust me, but it is…” He looked between the cup and you before setting it down. “You can trust me when I say it’s a complicated ordeal.”

You softened up a bit. “I guess that comes with the mutant hero territory?”

“Very much so.” He nodded approvingly.

You gave your own nod and the silence laid over the moment like a blanket.

With part of his mind still trying to find a suitable explanation for the mystic events, Donnie set a little processing power to some of the other unknowns from this chance meeting. “You said you wanted to thank me?”

“Oh… Yeah…” You tightened up in your stool and your arm fell from your face. “I was… uh…”

“At the food truck event?” He offered, using a sip from the cup as a means to hide his curiosity.

You snapped to attention. “Do you remember me from there?”

“Sadly, no.”

“But you-?”

“Order up!”

You both moved to get it, but you raised your hand. “Let me.”

Donnie nodded and watched as you slipped off your stool. You grappled slightly with the multitude of bags and to-go cup, but managed the handful and brought it back over. As if laying out a bounty, he smiled as you lined everything up and then slid his wrapped sandwich over like it was a payment for some misdeed.

“There were a lot of people there that day.” Donnie remarked as he picked at a sticker sealing the wrapping.

“It was crazy.” You huffed, taking a swig from your cup. “All that oil!”

“Which truck were you trying to order from?” Finally freeing his sandwich, he surveyed it before taking a handful. How you had fallen through the cracks of his pristine list making reared its head as an assaulting high priority.

“None of them!” You chuckled, mimicking his move with your food.

He froze, mouth still open from the bite he was about to take. “Then how?”

“How…?” You lead, watching him out of the corner of your eye as you kept your attention on your sandwich.

His lips made a thin line. “How were you there? Where were you?”

“Where was the event held?”

Your sudden airy attitude irked him. “In a plaza by the park.”

You nodded and took your first bite.

He watched you chew and then lolled his head back as he realized. “You were in the park.”

“Bingo.” You pointed at him with one finger that popped up from the bread.

“Where Meat Sweats was tossed into.” Donnie grumbled, vexation growing. “The park! Why didn’t I add that to my calculations!? It’s so obvious!”

He could feel amusement pouring off of you as you continued your meal.

Remembering his own, Donnie took a bitter bite of his sandwich. He paused as the flavors hit his tongue and with each subsequent chew his anger slowly dissipated. His earlier food assessment had been correct at least. He needed a little win.

“Calculations, ‘I found you,’ ‘sadly, no.’” You listed off before taking a sip of coffee.

Donnie stiffened as he realized where you were going.

“Think of a way to explain it yet?” You turned to him finally. “Why you were looking for me?”

He absolutely did not.

“You won’t believe me.” He left the last half of his sandwich and turned to you in show of opening up. “I still don’t quite understand.”

“You know…” You trailed off and gave a lingering glance to the window. “I have the day off. I think I have time for a crazy story.” You turned back to him with a bright smile.

For a moment, Donnie swore he saw gigantic golden eyes. It immediately disappeared, but spurned him to sink down in his stool. “If you insist…”

He went on to explain the past month leaving out very little detail as the story went on because the treading emotions crested as he recounted them. He had heard tale of how easy it could be to share a secret with a strange and while that rung true to a point, part of him intrinsically felt like he knew you. He also couldn’t shake the unmistakable flicker of joy in watching you. It stemmed from some deep recess of his psyche in a way that almost felt foreign. An never-ending line of people came and went with their orders. At some point you broke out a muffin and nibbled on it. Cups were drained and new ones were ordered by the time he caught up to the present.

Setting down your second cup, you had a haggard look on your eye. “That…”

“Yeah.” Donnie commiserated, sipping a fresh coffee.

“It’s a lot…” You swallowed hard.

“Yeah.” Setting his cup down, his eye chased it.

He wouldn’t blame you if you left now. At least he had gotten his chance.

In his periphery he watched you shake your head before bringing an arm up. It raked through your hair and stayed atop your head as you weighed the hefty connotations. The stretch pulled at your t-shirt and he caught a glimpse of a bit of color.

That little flicker exploded into a full blown flame.

“What’s that?” He pointed, glad he’d had freed his hands up.

“What’s what?” You murmured beside your arm. You followed his eye line and strained to see from your awkward angle. “Oh!” Finally bringing the limb down, you turned it towards him and rolled up your sleeve. “It’s my tattoo!”

His tongue went dry.

Skirting along your shoulder, a orange and white koi fish swam freely from somewhere behind your back and down your arm. Little droplets of water punctuated it’s lazy trek and shimmering scales reflecting in fine needlework.

A single chuckle escaped his lips.

“For as long as I can remember, I’ve always liked koi. I don’t know what it is, you know?”

Another single chortle.

“Woah! You ok?”

A few more dribbled bits of laughter came off his lips before the wetness chased them. Bringing a hand up, he touched the tears and could feel they weren’t his. As that recessed emotions gained form, he could feel someone else. They were both him and not at the same time. Their joy was so overwhelming. The crashing sensation brought forth more laughter to him. He wrapped his hands around his plastron to keep himself together. It wasn’t that he thought he was splitting, but it felt like there was too much inside for one body to contain. Outright sobbing and uncontrollably cackling, Donnie felt his consciousness pulled deep inside. In a dark space, his body seemed to free float and he watched that translucent man from the field appeared with a smile and tears on his own face. It was the first time Donnie had seen him so clearly, but at the same time he felt as though he'd always known. He gave Donnie a single nod before reality crashed back around him.

Donnie looked up through bleary eyes to find you had one hand on his shoulder and the other at his cheek.

He leaned your palm and tapered off the giggles until they formed a bright smile.

Mikey was right.

He’d have to tell him that later.

He’d have to tell them all about their fates later.

“I’m fine.”

“Yeah…?” You seemed pale and confused.

In this reality that made sense.

You couldn’t know.

At least, that wasn’t part of the deal.

Right?

“Can I ask you something that’s going to sound ridiculous?”

“I… guess?” Your voice peaked with frazzled worry.

“Have you ever wanted to eat koi?”

Your first reaction was to shake your head into a rollback of confusion.

Then there was a spark.

A blink and he would have missed it moment where something seemed to click; a hue of gold appeared to spin in your iris before disappeared. A single tear ran down your cheek and he watched as an odd calm seemed to wash over you. The hand on his shoulder left him before you brought it to touch the droplet in a similar manner as he had just done. Looking at it curiously, there was none of the similarly overwhelming follow-up that he had endured, but he didn’t want that for you.

“N-no.” You choked out, your voice thick. “I don’t think I have…”

He nodded and reached up to gently remove your hand from his cheek. He held it in his palm and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“What just happened?” You sounded breathless.

“Something a long time coming.”

It was slow, but through your conjoined hands, he felt you shake. He looked up in time to watch stifled laughter bubble up in you. He watched fondly as you shook what was certainly the exhausting length of emotions off before looking at him with lingering snickers. “What luck!”

If you liked this, there will be a whole list of behind the scenes notes posted on the membership tier of my ko-fi!

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