"Leo? Hey, Leo!" Raphael yelled.
Sensei Splinter looked up with a frown. "Son, you must learn that silence can be a virtue, too."
Raphael cringed, noticing that he had interrupted the old rat's meditation. "Sorry, sensei... it's just... have you seen Leonardo? He agreed to do some training with me."
"Leonardo? Why, he just left. Didn't Donatello tell you? We had a phone call just half an hour ago. It was the third sister of the two ladies Michelangelo and Donatello met. What did she say again her name was? Ah yes, Nabiki. She asked if one of you could meet her to discuss our further ties. Leonardo instantly agreed."
"I don't believe this!" Raphael grumbled. "I told Don that getting a new phone is not necessary. That's what we have our Turtlecoms for, right? Sensei, I don't like this at all. What do we know about these girls? Nothing at all!"
"That's why Leonardo wanted to talk to her first," Splinter smiled.
"Yeah, and he forgot about our sparring on top of it," Raphael frowned.
"Why, Raph, are you jealous?" Michelangelo grinned as he entered the room. "Would you have preferred to go instead of Leo? Oh, wait, I forgot: You already have an amphibian girlfriend!"
"Mike!" Raph shouted angrily. "Leave Mona Lisa out of this!"
"Raphael!" Splinter scolded gently. "What did I say about silence and patience being a virtue?"
"Sorry, sensei..."
"Hey, has Leo already left?" Donatello then asked as he looked inside.
"Yeah, you just missed him," Michelangelo nodded. "Don't worry, he took your present for Kasumi along."
Raphael frowned. "Present? What present?"
"Mike!" Don sighed. "I told you that was a secret!"
"What? So Leo and Mike are allowed to know about this but I don't? What is this about? What kind of present are you talking about?"
"It's just a new map of the sewer system," Donatello explained. "So Kasumi doesn't get lost the next time she comes down here."
"Oh, just a map? Is that all?" Raph asked in a sarcastic voice. "Well, it's not as if you've marked our place on the map..."
Donatello fidgeted around nervously with his fingers. "Well... actually..."
Raphael stared at him. "You DID? Don! What is it with you guys? Not every mutant is our friend, you know that? What if they are secretly working for Shredder?"
"No way!" Mike proclaimed.
Don shook his head as well. "Raph, I'm a keen observer of the human nature. And I'm telling you this: Kasumi Tendo is the nicest girl I've ever met. I don't think she's actually able to have any thoughts of deception. She would NEVER rat on us."
Raphael crossed his arms. "Well, that's what YOU'RE saying."
Splinter was stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Tendo..." he murmured. "Tendo..."
"Sensei, is something on your mind?" Michelangelo asked.
"I... might be wrong, but... I believe I have heard that name before... before I came to America..."
And the past began to unveil itself in front of Splinter's eyes...
"Kimiko! I won't allow you to meet that man again!"
Kimiko Yoshi angrily glared at her brother, who was blocking the doorway. "Why can't you just leave him alone, Hamato? He is a good man, I know that. He's just... in questionable company."
"Questionable? Kimiko, you told me yourself that the old man he follows has been trying to sneak into the woman's bath FIVE TIMES this month. The fat fellow that is his friend ate all of our food the one time he stayed at our house. And they are all a bunch of liars and thieves! No, Kimiko! Being with that man means nothing but bringing dishonor to our family! I won't allow it!"
"Wake up, Hamato! This is twentieth century! It's not about honor and dishonor! This is about LOVE! Yes, I love him! And I will run away from home if I have to, only to see him."
"Sister, no..." Hamato suddenly looked very worried. "You know we can't... Saki's still looking out for me, and when he learns I have a sister... he will harm you just to get through to me."
"I don't CARE! I've been a prisoner of this house for far too long, brother!" the t young woman cried. "If mother was still alive, she'd reprimand you for keeping your sister at a leash like a dog!"
Hamato had enough. "Well, then stop acting like one!" he yelled. He regretted these words as soon as they left his mouth.
But he realized it was too late when he saw the expression of hurt on Kimiko's face. "If... if that's what you think about me... then you are nothing but a RAT!"
For a moment, nothing was said, while the two Yoshi siblings were staring at each other.
Then somebody was knocking at the front door. "Kimiko, it's me! Are you home?"
"That's him!" Kimiko said with joy.
"Kimiko, no..." Hamato murmured. "If you leave this house... I can't protect you..."
"Well, good thing I have a good protector in Soun!" Kimiko huffed. She then went to open the front door.
A young man with shoulder-long hair was standing in front of her, a bouquet of flowers in his hands and a nervous smile on his face. "H-hello, Kimiko..."
She smiled back at him. "Hello, Soun! Are these for me?"
He nodded and, with shaky hands, gave her the flowers. She took a deep sniff. "Why, they smell just wonderful! Thank you so much, Soun..."
She then took a closer look at his face and giggled. "Soun, your lips are fuzzy."
"W-well, I'm starting to grow a mustache..."
"I think that's quite enough!" Hamato angrily said as he stepped next to his sister. "Kimiko, he needs to leave! Now!"
"Hamato, don't be so rude! He's our guest!"
"Sir, I... I know I don't look like much in your eyes, but believe me when I tell you that I love your sister!" Soun said. "More than anything else in the world! And I'm not as poor as you think... some day, when I'm a good martial artist, I will open my own dojo! The Tendo Dojo of Anything Goes!"
Hamato frowned. "Does that include hoarding tons of woman's underwear?"
"Please, I'm not like my master! I'll prove it to you! I'll..."
Hamato Yoshi sighed. "I... I'm sorry. It's too dangerous..."
"What... what kind of danger are you talking about...?" Soun muttered, confused as heck.
For a moment, Hamato looked like he wanted to explain everything to Soun, then he just sighed. "Our clan is a ninja clan. You know that... and, as most ninja clans, we have our share of enemies..."
"But I don't wanna be a part of this anymore!" Kimiko protested. "I don't even want to be a kunoichi like mother was!"
"Do you think he would care?" Hamato shouted. "He'd kill you in the blink of an eye if he knew about..."
Suddenly, his keen ninja senses spotted something that was coming at them... something small, and deadly.
"WATCH OUT!" he yelled as he pulled his sister to the ground. Just a moment later, three ninja stars impaled themselves in the wooden frame of the door.
Soun twirled around. "What? Who... who's there?"
"Go in the house!" Hamato shouted as he pushed his sister inside. Then he narrowed his eyes as he looked into the direction where the deadly ninja tools had come from. Up there, perched on a rooftop, was the silhouette of his mortal enemy.
"Oruku Saki..." he muttered.
"I should have known you kept something secret from me, Yoshi!" Saki grinned as he stood up. "It was wise to keep her a secret from me... but it was futile! If you won't surrender to me, maybe I will have to pay your sister another visit some day."
"You leave Kimiko alone, you honorless bastard!" Soun yelled as he raised his fists. "Come down here and fight me like a man!"
Saki just gave him a sneer. "You are not worth my time..."
"Are you afraid of facing me? In the honor of Kimiko, I challenge you to a fight!" Soun shouted.
"Are you insane?" Yamato snapped. "He's going to make short work of you! Saki is not just any ninja, he's a KILLER!"
"Master Happosai might be an old pervert and a thief... but he taught me well in the arts of fighting!" Soun said in a serious voice.
"Well... if you want to die that badly..." Saki grinned. In a flash, he drew a tanto from his belt and leapt at Soun, as fast as a bullet.
Soun side-stepped the strike, however, and when Saki twirled around to slash at him, he blocked the attack with the palm of his hand. "HAAAH!"
Saki couldn't believe his eyes. "How did you..."
"A simple focus of my ki," Soun stated. "I've fought ninjas before... so what makes you so special, Saki?"
"You'll regret these words after I slit your throat," Saki grumbled. "Some time, during your sleep... but not today!" He stepped back with a grin, then he looked to his archenemy. "Mark my words, Yoshi... I will destroy all of your family, and if it is the last thing I'll do!"
And with a mighty leap, he was back on the roof. And then, he was gone.
Hamato closely watched Soun as he got from the ground with a weary sigh.
"I might have underestimated you, Tendo... but still, Saki is the most skilled ninja I have ever seen. You won't be able to beat him that easily. Not even I managed to beat him once in my life... Kimiko is not safe outside of the house. She can't be with you..."
"If that Saki is so skilled as you're saying, what stops him from killing her inside the house?" Soun shouted back. "You're treating her like an animal! She is an adult and can do whatever she wants. And I will protect her. And if that is not enough, I have my master and friend to back me up. And some day, we will have a big family on our own... and all of them will be skilled martial artists! Saki will think twice before touching her ever again!"
Hamato sighed. "I see... then there's only one thing I can do."
Expecting the other man to attack him, Soun prepared himself. But instead, Hamato just walked up to him and shook his head.
"I wish you and Kimiko the best of luck for your future. May your children grow up to be brave and strong. As for Saki, he won't bother you anymore."
"What... what do you mean?" Soun asked in confusion.
"I have thought about it for some time now," Hamato explained. "I will leave... and go to the United States of America. It has always been Saki's fondest wish of killing me... he will follow me there. Keeping track of me will be more important to him than staying around my sister."
Soun just looked at Hamato with wide eyes. Then he smiled, and nodded. "I... must rethink my opinion about you, Hamato Yoshi. You really only wanted to protect your sister. And believe me, I swear on my honor that I will do everything in my power to be a worthy successor of that task."
"Well, then I entrust you with the life of my sister," Hamato smiled. "But promise me one thing: Try not to follow the old pervert for all eternity. I don't want the husband of my sister to become like that little gnome..."
"Oh, believe me," Soun chuckled. "My friend Genma and I already ave thought of something to get us rid of the master... maybe forever!"
"I see," Hamato smirked. "Well then, I think I will leave tonight... the sooner you and Kimiko are out of danger, the better. I believe we won't see each other again... Tendo."
"Have a safe journey... Yoshi!" Soun nodded.
And then, the two men parted ways.
"Sensei?"
Splinter blinked. In front of him, he could see the worried faces of Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael.
"Are you all right?" Donatello asked with worry.
"I'm fine, my sons," the old rat said with a sigh. "Just... old memories... old memories..."
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(Posted Sun, 22 Feb 2009 14:06)
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