Archive of Our Own

Yuichi is restocking the supplies behind the bar (because it doesn't look like anyone else has done it all week, and he's brand new at this job but even he can see a prime opportunity to waste time while looking productive, and so he pounces on it while he has nothing else on his plate) when one of his coworkers slumps against it, face-down, and groans in despair. The sound makes the tip of Yuichi's bound ears twitch. He glances up and sees that it's the fox yokai who started here a few weeks ahead of him.

Boneless, she lets out a dramatized sob into the countertop.

"Is something… wrong?" Yuichi asks reluctantly.

He peeks over the counter to scan the restaurant - he didn't hear an altercation.

Kitsune lifts her head and groans again, throwing out her arms this time, "Yes! I wanted to leave early tonight so I'd have time to get to the theater for the last showing of my girlfriend's play, but I just got a huge table and it's those guys so they're gonna be here forever and Yoh isn't here yet…!!"

She drops her face onto the counter again, her auburn hair fanning around her, and Yuichi rocks up a bit more to look past her into the back section where her tables are. Sure enough, the booth in the corner is full of a bunch of rowdy-looking kappas. Yuichi was fucking off to scratch his boredom itch since his own tables were pretty much empty or taken care of, so he sighs and shoves the box of napkins whole into the shelf where he was painstakingly placing each individual one.

"I'll cover for you," he says as he stands, swatting the wrinkles out of his apron, "Go see your play."

Her head lifts at once.

"Yuichi, are you serious?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks!! I owe you one!!"

She really doesn't need much convincing - Kitsune tosses her notepad and pen onto the counter, throws her apron off with flair, and sprints for the magical barrier in the lobby, weaving seamlessly between the tables. She doesn't even tell Hueso she's cutting out early.

Yuichi decides that's none of his business. He swipes her stuff off the bar and onto a stool out of the way and grabs some menus. He checks the other tables first, refills some glasses, takes an order for dessert, and then sidles over to the corner booth. He'd been mistaken earlier - they're turtles, not kappas. The four of them have distinct shells and markings.

They also seem to be color-coded.

The red one is enormous.

The orange one is standing in the booth with his hands on the purple one's shell - which looks… artificial? They're bickering as Yuichi walks up; "Angelo, please, you're breaking my concentration!"

"Just place the bid, Donnie! The clock's running out here!!"

"If I place the bid too early someone else will have the opportunity to jump in with another bid, thus raising the price potentially out of our range!"

"What's our cap??"

"127.49."

"That's a horrible number," the blue one says, leaning into the purple one's shoulder to see the phone, "Just round up! We can scrounge fifty more cents!"

"We could barely scrounge that."

"Are we even gonna be able t'eat if we buy this thing?" the red one asks cautiously.

"It's a limited edition!" the other three exclaim.

"I know, I know, but -"

"Do you guys need a few minutes?" Yuichi asks helpfully, unable to keep the smile off his face.

The red one chuckles and gives Yuichi a sheepish look, and anything intimidating about his size and sharpness is immediately negated, "Uh, maybe? What's the cheapest thing on the menu?"

Yuichi shrugs. "Bread and water are free."

"Well, hang on now, hang on," the blue one says quickly, "What kinda mood is Hueso in?" He sits back and looks away from the phone, turning to Yuichi with a broad, charming smile, resting his elbow on the table. "Buddy, is your -?"

Boss around? is probably what he's going to ask.

It doesn't get out of him – or Yuichi doesn't hear it - because as soon as Yuichi locks eyes with the blue-coded turtle, he feels a jolt in his chest and swears he goes deaf for ten whole seconds. It feels like grabbing an electric fence. A punch of racing heat spreads through Yuichi from ear-tips to toes. His fur fluffs as a shudder rolls through him, and Yuichi would be mortified if he wasn't so busy being thankful that his white fur saves the heat rising in his face from being so obvious.

The turtle looks as shocked as Yuichi feels. There are red markings on his face, half hidden behind the blue mask - a mimicry of the blush creeping up in earnest as he sits back sharply. His brown eyes flash a hot blue, so quick Yuichi thinks he must've imagined it, but then the pale markings on his shoulders and those on his face also start to glow.

That's - Yuichi's brain plays a frantic game of roulette. Weird. Neat. Interesting. Hot? Oh no shut up!

Whatever the blue one was going to say gets snatched away in favor of a wavering laugh, "Wow, if this is what taking psychic damage feels like, I'll have another!"

His bale riots -

"C'mon, man, that was lame."

"BOOO."

"I just took psychic damage from that horrible attempt at a flirtation."

- Yuichi, on the other hand, laughs so hard he snorts.

Partly because it was funny. Mostly out of hysteria. He just zinged. And, alright. The turtle is handsome. Yuichi could have noticed that on his own. He has nice, almond-shaped eyes. His biceps look great. There are two katanas with blue hilts across his shell. Yuichi realizes his mistake the second the laugh barks out of him, however: the blue one smiles broadly - this surprised, giddy smile, like no one ever laughs at his jokes – like the dudes eyes literally sparkle - and the entire spectable has Yuichi's heart thumping wildly.

So, Yuichi panics.

He cracks the blue one in the face with the stack of menus and bolts, internally screaming all the way to the break room.

Why!!

Why did he do that!!!!

Yuichi slams the door shut and flips the lock, throwing his back against it. He rocks forward and paces across the narrow room, along the wall of lockers. He pulls in deep, measured breaths. He flaps his hands. He bounces on his toes. That heat is lingering and his hand trembles slightly as he rubs his chest, trying to calm his rioting heart, the weird sensation blooming in his chest that makes him want to open the door and run back to the table even though he would rather die than have to go back to that table now and look at that guy's face.

He didn't think it would feel like this.

He's heard other yokai talk about their zings - an instantaneous emotional tug, a red string of fate that tethers soulmates together. His auntie told him it was like getting kicked in the chest by a horse. Yuichi agrees. He'd almost rather be kicked in the chest. He can't -

A sharp knock on the door makes Yuichi jump.

He was so distracted he didn't hear anyone approach; Hueso sounds offended, "Yuichi! Did you hit a customer in the face??"

Oh crap, he's going to lose his whole job.

He needs this job.

Yuichi wrenches open the door and meets Hueso's disapproving frown with a stammering, "I-I did. Sorry, Señor. It - it won't happen again. I'll go apologize."

Hueso's hand on his shoulder stops him from darting off.

"That sort of behavior is unacceptable," the skeleton says firmly, wagging a boney finger at him, "If it were anyone other than pepino, we would be having a much more serious discussion. Since it was pepino: What did he do? Or say, more likely…."

That trips Yuichi up.

"N-nothing, Señor. It was my fault."

"Are you certain?" Hueso looks skeptical. "His brothers said that he was being his annoying self. I will put him outside in the dumpster myself if his inappropriate advances made you uncomfortable!"

"No, it's - it's fine."

Hueso hums. "I will take you at your word. And I will take care of Kitsune's table until Yoh arrives so he does not disturb you again. But! No more violent outbursts, comprende?"

"Yes, sir," Yuichi says, relieved.

He thinks he might die of embarrassment if he had to go back to that table. Now he can put it out of his mind and pretend it didn't happen. He doesn't need something else in his life that he can screw up just by proximity, especially something like this. Jeez. Yuichi follows Hueso back out into the short hallway; the skeleton pauses and turns to give him an exasperated piece of advice, "For future reference, do not take anything pepino says to heart. He is a buffoon."

Yuichi nods, letting out a small laugh.

"Good to know…"

--

The bunny-guy doesn't come back to their table and Leo would be lying if he said that wasn't actually the most disappointing thing that's Ever happened to him in his entire life. IT easily beats out that time when Splinter Depression Napped through his and Donnie's 12th birthday after promising to take them to the skatepark. Leo's been carrying that one around for a hot minute, so the fact that it got punted off its pedestal says a lot, in his opinion.

Consequences of his own actions?

Maybe.

He's still trying to work out what happened. He has no idea what that guy did. Leo feels like he got hit with one of Donnie's defibrillators. His chest has this weird lingering tingle in it. It wasn't… isn't… unpleasant. It just caught him off guard, is all.

He's so distracted he can barely eat. He can't even invest himself in his brother's excitement when Donnie wins the bid for that limited edition Lou Jitsu Little Jacob's Ladder poster with change to spare. They're gonna hang it up in the dojo as inspiration, 'least they forget their roots'. Leo keeps glancing across the restaurant, watching the bunny weave between tables, and he gets his heart knocked out of rhythm every time the guy glances his way and they make eye-contact. It's not nearly as powerful as the first time. It's like a ripple of that; a warm, pleasant rush that floods Leo's insides.

Every time, the bunny scowls and turns away, and every time Leo feels flustered and shoves a whole slice of pizza or breadstick into his mouth without even tasting it.

His brothers are still giving him shit about it.

"Tell me why your heart rate keeps spiking, Leonardo," Donnie says with a hideously smug grin.

"Tell me why you can't mind your own business, Donathan," Leo shoots back after another shared, jolting glance with the bunny.

Why does the guy keep looking if he's just going to get mad about it?? What's even happening? This is driving Leo nuts. If Hueso wasn't hovering and hadn't already scolded him about Not Harassing His Employees, Leo would have already gone over there and confronted him. He doesn't think that's a fair policy, honestly. He feels like he's the one being harassed.

"Why don'chu try mindin' your own business, Leo," Raph says, his teasing tone a little lighter, "C'mon, man, you got to shoot your shot and you flubbed it. Time t'let it go."

"Okay, but I don't feel like a flubbed it," Leo mutters.

"The dude literally wacked you in the face with the menus, Leo," Mikey points out gleefully, "I think that's a pretty resounding No thank you."

Leo wants to say, but he laughed at my joke! But it feels pathetic to point it out.

"Besides," Donnie adds with a rolling hand gesture, "I'm not known for being good at picking up on other people's cues, but every time he catches you looking at him he seems that much closer to coming over here and thumping you like a grapefruit and while I would relish the entertainment, this is the one place where we're allowed to come in, sit down, and have a relatively peaceful meal and I, for one, really do not want to lose that."

Mikey and Raph voice their agreements, clinking their plastic cups full of soda together, and Leo is grappling with the thought that maybe he wants that bunny to come over and thump him - he's cute, alright? Damn Leo isn't blind. But he is a big gay idiot with apparently (ALLEGEDLY) no game, so Leo stops looking.

Well… he tries to. (He really does!)

If he doesn't at least find out the name of his new NEMESIS, he might literally die and he's only being a little bit dramatic. Thankfully the opportunity presents itself as him and his brothers are leaving. Hueso disappears into his office; and the bunny is leaning on the bar at the back of the restaurant, typing on a flip phone of all things. Leo slows his stride enough to fall to the back of the group without being noticed.

As soon as his brothers are through the barrier, Leo turns and heads for the bar.

He tries to make his approach seem casual and not at all desperate or aggressive, but it's like the bunny hears him coming - and maybe he does. He has his ears bound together like a ponytail and one of them twitches and without even looking Leo's way, the bunny pockets his phone and bolts off for the break room again. Most people would take that as a sign to back off.

Leo likes a challenge.

Also, he panics. A little.

He charges after the bunny and manages to catch him in the hall before he gets into the breakroom, "Woah, holdup there, skippy!"

That gets a glare thrown his way, but Leo will take it.

"Don't call me skippy, kappa."

"Alright, fair enough," Leo laughs, because his heart does a weird vibrating thing when he hears that guy's voice. He's got a slight accent that Leo clocks as familiar and yet can't for the life of him place. "Tell me your name and I'll call you that."

That was smooth as hell and there's a cautious smile spreading over the bunny's face to validate that and Leo inwardly falls to his knees and cheers. He does have game! His brothers are just haters!!! He folds his arms, trying to look cool and unaffected, suppressing the urge to fidget and ignoring the swoop of heat as the bunny's gaze climbs up and down him.

"No," the bunny says.

Maybe it's the flush of adrenaline talking.

Maybe Leo's crazy.

But that sounds playful and not like a definitive No.

The bunny seems to realize he's wearing a nametag at the same time that Leo does. He reaches up to unclasp it from the front of his vest before Leo can make sense of the letters, and then he smirks and shoves open the door to the breakroom and disappears.

Damn.

--

Leo is developing a love-hate relationship with his favorite pizza place.

Every single time he goes to Run of the Mill over the course of the next couple of weeks (which is basically every day), the bunny is always working, and he always looks at Leo as soon as he walks in, and it always feels like a punch to his tender insides. It's like psychic magnetism or some other cosmic nerd thing. The dude is living in Leo's head rent free. And it gets worse because every time Leo sees him, he misses the guy's name but notices some new devastating detail.

The bunny is actually a terrible waiter - he gets distracted easily and flits from one thing to the next, or zones out and forgets what he's doing. It's adorable and painful to watch. It's literally torture noticing the way the black slacks of his uniform squeeze his thighs, especially when he squats to pick up something that fell on the floor. Leo is classifying the bold desire he has to reach out and grab the guy's fluffy tail every time he spots it a violent, intrusive thought.

He's got a stupid, loud laugh.

Leo is obsessed with that one and making it happen. Their actual interactions have been tragically slim, considering, but the bunny seems just as interested as Leo is now that the ice has been broken. Every time Leo comes at him with a "lame" pun or "bad" joke, the guy laughs and gives him one right back. It's so easy to cut-up with him, it's just like talking to one of his bros. The guy is funny, and so unbelievably cute, and it flusters Leo more than he cares to admit.

"So, are those katana just for show or what?" the bunny asks, setting Leo's to-go pizzas on the counter and trying to look like he doesn't care about the answer.

Normally, Leo would belt out an Oh yeah, I saved the planet once or something similar, but he doesn't want to talk about the Invasion - he's having a great week. He doesn't want to trigger any nightmares and bring his mood down, and he has a rampant, vivid, overactive imagination that will latch onto the smallest thing and not let it go. Example A: When he shrugs and opts for a modest, "I know how to use 'em," he notices the way the bunny's nose wrinkles when he puffs out a laugh and smiles, and that's going to keep him up tonight.

Unfortunately, one of the other waiters trips and takes the entire dessert cart down with them, and the bunny darts over with a swear to help clean it up.

Hueso takes his place behind the register.

Leo sighs, thumping his fist against the counter, and is ready to admit defeat.

"Okay, I can't do this anymore, just tell me his name!"

Hueso lets out this long-suffering sigh that Leo doesn't think he deserves in the moment, "Do not involve me further in your childish infatuations. Pay for your pizza and go home, pepino. I have asked you not to distract my already-very-distractible waiter."

"Whose name is…?" Leo wheedles.

"If he wanted you to know his name, he would not take off his name tag every time you walk in the door," Heuso says, holding out his boney hand expectantly.

Leo sighs digs his wallet out of his pack, thumbing through the bills.

"Come on, bone man, gimme a hint!"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"What letter does it start with?"

"It starts with the letter U."

"Oh, for real??"

"Yes! As in: you are trying my patience."

"Hey, good one! Bone man's got jokes today!"

Hueso gives him a look.

"Okay fine!!!! But I am once again expressing my disappointment at the lack of care toward your favorite customer -" Hueso rolls his eyes and mutters madre di dios. "- come on, Hueso! The guy hit me with this weird psychic attack and then he hit me again in the face, and I get scolded about it? That's cruel! I mean, I'm not mad because we're sorta flirting now, but nobody's even gonna tell me his name? I feel like I should get to know, y'know? I'm so charming and lovable!"

"What 'psychic attack'?" Hueso asks impatiently, "What are you talking about?"

"When he looked at me the other day it felt like taking a bolt of lightning to the chest or something," Leo says, then adds indignantly, "I told you he hit me!!"

"Sí," Hueso says it sternly, but there is a chuckle beginning to bubble through his tone that catches Leo by surprise, "But you said nothing about this so-called lightning bolt to the chest." He reaches a full-blown laugh then, and slaps the counter with his hand. He struggles to recover, to ask, "You felt this when you made eye-contact?"

"Yeah…" Leo says cautiously, rubbing his chest reflexively.

Hueso doesn't get tickled very often. He is nearly beside himself now, leaning his elbow on the counter to stay upright, laughing harder than he probably ever has in his life. Leo has to stand there and just endure it, completely and utterly bewildered. After a moment, Hueso masters himself. He straightens, wiping a tear from his eye and chuckling.

"Ho, that explains some things," he laughs, which is funny because Leo was thinking that this exchange is doing the opposite of explaining things. More so when Hueso shoves his pizzas at him and bats a hand, turning away. "Take the pizzas. They are on the house today! Congratulations on your zing, pepino!"

Leo isn't gonna say no to free pizza, so he grabs them with an, "Uh…thanks…?" and flees the premises before Hueso can change his mind.

--

"Congratulations on your zing?" Donnie repeats with trepidation when Leo recounts the story less than ten minutes later, "You're certain those were his exact words? You're not paraphrasing?"

"That's what he said, Donnie."

"What in the name of Galileo does that even mean?"

Leo shrugs, plopping the stack of pizzas onto the middle of the table.

"Beats me," he mutters, "I mean - it felt like a zing, I guess. If you could call 4 million volts a zing…. I wanna point out that I got made fun of for this a week or two ago, by the way! This was a real thing that happened and you guys said I was being dramatic!"

His outrage goes ignored, of course.

Mikey is circling the table, setting out red plastic cups and paper plates. "Why does it sound like Hueso knows somethin' we don't and why's he bein' so cryptid about it?"

"Cryptic," Donnie corrects absently.

"I just took the free pizza and left, Miguel, I didn't ask him to elaborate."

"Ah yes, your hamartia - or fatal flaw - of not asking detrimental follow-up questions truly coming in clutch."

"Donnie, that's what you're for!" Leo says.

"Alas, I was not there," Donnie sighs.

"Alas, I was not there," Mikey asserts. He jabs a finger in Leo's direction. "You need t'quit playin' around already if you really like this dude! Especially if somethin's up!"

"C'mon guys, it's just a silly crush," Raph says sensibly, pulling a large bottle of soda out of the fridge. Leo huffs, but his face is already heated from Mikey's accusation and he can't sputter out a response in time to deny it. "What's there to elaborate on? We been knew."

"But calling it a zing makes it sound somethin' big!" Mikey insists, throwing up his arms and accidentally tossing the rest of the paper plates. They fall in a flurry behind him, scattering across the cheap coral tile of the apartment's kitchen floor. "Isn't anyone else a little curious?? What's a zing?? How come none of us've heard that lingo before?"

"Despite it's phonetics, I imagine it's a somewhat archaic term, given Señor Hueso's age," Donnie muses, not moving out of his seat to pick up any of the plates. Instead, he pokes at his phone, probably googling the phrase. He hums, displeased with his findings. "It has an obscure love at first sight connotation attached to it, which can easily be inferred through context - though that doesn't seem worthy of free pizza, if you ask me."

"Sounds like a crush," Raph nods.

"Alright, fine, we been knew," Mikey agrees, "But -"

"It'd be great if we could change the subject now, actually." Leo says, clapping his hands together in a praying motion and looking at the ceiling, "I'm going to pass away from embarrassment."

"We agreed to not joke about your passing," Donnie reprimands in a bored but firm tone.

"Fair enough! All the more reason to move on - last one, I promise - so that I don't have to."

Donnie scowls but allows this.

Mikey laughs and concedes, "Okay, that one was funny."

He high-threes Leo, who pumps his fist in victory and then ducks beneath the table to help Mikey pick up the spare plates. Raph shakes his head and goes to grab the extra chairs out of the spare room. Their parental units choose this moment to return from their ice-run. Draxum pushes open the apartment door with the bag of ice tucking under his arm, appearing bored as Splinter follows him in, ranting, "Every Thursday for eight months like clock-work we sit down and have a nice family dinner, and you still haven't bought ice trays!"

"Must we have this same, tedious conversation again?"

"I don't know, must we? Buy some ice trays, you cheapskate!"

"My meager salary has gone toward renovations to make this hovel a live-able space," Draxum says imperiously. He gestures at the apartment, which has undergone some undeniably-mystic upgrades seen in the larger-on-the-inside room expansions and other mystic baubles rather than in the ugly tile floor and peeling wallpaper; then he gestures at the boys, "And toward your insisted-upon on child support! I do not have the funds to squander on absurd plastic trays to freeze water in just so your heathen offspring can crunch ice at the table."

"Funny how we're Splinters 'heathen offspring' when we do something he thinks is annoying, but any other time we're his 'beautiful progenies'," Leo muses ruefully as he stands from beneath the table, tossing the extra plates onto the counter.

Raph totes in the extra chairs, agreeing with a sharp laugh, "And he wonders why Splinter would win the custody battle!"

"We're more than old enough to decide who we want to live with and I am without hesitation choosing Barry," Donnie says unapologetically without looking up from his phone.

"Judas!" Leo laughs.

"You just want unlimited access to his cool mystic labratory," Raph accuses.

Donnie doesn't deny this.

"I dunno if I could choose," Mikey mumbles, looking genuinely troubled by the question.

"Between the guy who can't tell us apart sometimes and the guy who threw me off a roof once?" Leo asks, putting a consoling arm around Mikey's shoulders, "Yeah, I know. It's a tough call to make. Luckily, Big Raphie is officially old enough to get custody of all of us, so you don't have to worry about it. Plus they're not getting re-divorced anytime soon!"

Splinter huffs as he takes his seat at the table, narrowing his eyes at Draxum.

"We shall see."

Draxum scoffs, shoving the bag of ice into the freezer, where it is immediately converged-upon by Splinter's heather offspring, who do, in fact, love crunching ice. Leo initially does it just to piss the goat-man off a little bit. But even he has to admit, despite their ribbing and the occasionally bickering, it's kind of nice getting the core family together for an actual sit-down-at-a-table meal. Even if they were lazy this week and just ordered pizza (mostly at Leo's insistence, yes because he wanted to see the bunny again, no he's not going to admit that out loud to his brothers, who can absolutely eat shit about that stupid "silly crush" stuff).

"I have a question," Donnie announces suddenly, as the conversation takes a turn toward discussing the plethora of community college options in the Hidden City. Leo's twin senses are blaring an alarm because he knows revenge for his moving on joke is coming; and he's right, as always. "Is zinging by any chance a yokai thing?"

He kicks Donnie underneath the table. Donnie knows the attack is coming and yanks his feet up out of the way, so Leo ends up kicking the chair leg, instead.

"It is," Draxum says, lifting an eyebrow.

Splinter elbows in with a laugh, waving one hand as he lifts a glass of wine with the other and says dismissively, "But you are all too young for that!"

"Leo's zinged," this betrayal comes from Raph, who looks like he might have just been surprised into blurting it out.

Splinter spits a mouthful of wine all over Draxum, who closes his eyes and prays for patience.

"Leonardo! You have zinged?!"

"Uhhh, yeah, apparently?" Leo says cautiously, hating the way his face heats up just talking about it. This is not something he wanted his dad to know about. And especially not Draxum. Still - damn his brothers - he's dying with curiosity and the bunny's out of the bag, anyway. "Hold the phone, how do you know what a zing is!?"

"Of course I know what a zing is!" Splinter says indignantly, "Big Mama and I zinged!"

"Eww…"

"GROSS!"

Leo puts his hands up, raises his voice over the tumult, "Okay, first of all, please don't sully what I have with the adorable bunny guy whose name I don't even know by comparing it to whatever was going on between you and Big Mama -"

"Leonardo!"

"Second of all, you failed to mention that little tid-bit when you were recounting your whole torrid affair to me! You said it was love at first 'tire rotation', which I'm gonna optimistically assume means sight - and I nearly choked trying to get that out of my mouth without puking, so I think I deserve an award, and an explanation!"

"It is love at first sight," Splinter huffs, "In a way! But only yokai zing!"

"A trait evidently carried over to manufactured yokai, aka mutants," Donnie muses, looking more worried than Leo thinks the situation warrants, "What does this entail?"

"It entails nothing!" Splinter insists, "You are too young to zing!"

"Uh, I believe I'm seventeen so -"

"That is too young!!!!"

"What the rat is failing to explain," Draxum interjects now that he has dabbed the wine off his face and kimono, putting up his hand to forestall anymore sputtering on the rat's behalf, "Is that a zing between yokai can quickly become an unbreakable tether, of sorts. It is an instant attraction that connects soulmates. With whom did you feel this zing, and when?"

"A rabbit yokai at Hueso's," Leo admits, "Like… two weeks ago?"

Mikey is looking at Leo with his hands cupping his face and stars in his eyes, gushing, "Aww, Leo, he's your soulmate? That's so romantic!"

Leo's not sure how he's feeling about that, to be honest.

"You have got to be joking," Donnie asserts.

"Is it permanent?" Raph asks, kind of incredulous.

"It can be. Some people are able to zing more than once," Splinter says sourly. Draxum takes a deliberate sip of his wine. "It is not always a good thing!"

"Additionally," Draxum says, "Not all soulmates are of the romantic variety that humans are so fond of acclaiming in popular culture. Souls are not such fickle things. You may zing with someone with whom you will share a platonic or familial relationship, and you may find yourself with many whose souls find a kinship in your own." He motions at Leo and Donnie, who share a brief, bewildered glance. "It is safe to assume that you and the purple one are soulmates of a sort, given your at times almost-psychic emotional connection and your insistence upon being discerned as twins in spite of being different species."

Donnie opens his mouth, probably to say something scornful. And then just closes it, looking pensive. Leo finds that both encouraging and terrifying.

"Do not trouble yourself too much about it, blue one," Draxum says, waving a dismissive hand, "It is merely something that may be indulged if you so choose. If the initial bond that is struck is not nurtured, it will simply fade with time."

"And you should let it!" Splinter asserts, banging his fist on the table, "Do not trust your zing just because it feels good and exciting in the moment! She will lull you into a false sense of security and then sweep you into her web of lies and treachery and you will be a prisoner to her every whim! And that is not a clever metaphor…!!"

"Okay!" Raph says loudly with a nervous laugh when Leo says nothing, "Good talk! We will all definitely keep that in mind for the future. Right, Leo?"

"Right," Leo says absently.

He thinks he actually slid out of his body at some point during the conversation so he picks at the toppings on his pizza, lost in the abyss of his own whirling, staticky brain.

--

Something happened.

Yuichi doesn't know if he did something or what it might have been, but Leo suddenly isn't talking to him anymore. (Of course Yuichi has caught his name, his brothers say it all the time and Yuichi can hear a mouse sneeze four streets over even with all the noise pollution New York has to offer, when he cleans out his ears anyway. It's a blessing and a curse.)

Yuichi doesn't even know why it bothers him when Leo and his brothers come into ROTM a little over a week later and Leo doesn't even glance his way. First of all it's been over a week. Leo had been popping in on his own sometimes twice a day, buying anything from a single order of garlic knots to ten pizzas; and he comes with his brothers often enough to be Regulars. Hueso even noted how odd their absence was, but was 'counting his blessing'. Their usual table isn't in Yuichi's section, but he hurries over there with some menus anyway and flips off Yoh behind his back when he hears the angler yokai's rasping chuckle. Yuichi purposefully waits until he's at the table to unpin his nametag and put it in his apron pocket - and the motion goes completely unattended.

Leo doesn't lean on the table with a broad smile and deliver his now-customary greeting of, "Hey, guy who's name I'd like to know!" or some other endearingly cringy pick-up line. He hunkers down into his shell slightly and pretends to stare at his phone while his brothers side-eye him.

Raph is actually the one who greets Yuichi, almost nervously, "Hey, bunny-guy!"

"Hey…" Yuichi says, forcibly shifting his gaze away from Leo and putting on a smile that does nothing to make the uncomfortable squirming of his insides quiet. He feels his foot tapping rapidly and tries to stop before anyone else notices. "D'you guys want menus today, or just your regular pizzas?"

Leo doesn't pipe in with a cheeky smile and, "Does it come with a side order of Your Name?"

Mikey's arm shoots up. "I'll take a menu!"

Yuichi hands it to him across the table.

"If you want dessert, I'd avoid the chocolate lava cake. Someone thought it'd be funny to put mystic pepper flakes in the mix to make it more lava-y and it's been melting all the silverware."

Mikey salutes him as he sits back; "Good to know!"

Donnie murmurs, "Horrifying to know."

Raph says, "We'll take our regular pizzas."

Leo says nothing.

"I'll put it in and grab your drinks," Yuichi says.

He starts to say something to Leo, but doesn't feel like it would be welcome, so he just tries not to run when he leaves the table. His ears lift slightly, angling to catch Mikey's hushed, admonishing voice, which pipes up as soon as he thinks Yuichi is out of ear-shot in the crowded restaurant, "Come on! You shouldn't be lettin' Splinter get in your head, Leo!"

"No one's in my head, can we drop it?" Leo mutters.

"We'll drop it when you get some guts an' go ask him what his name is an' if he wants t'hang out," Raph asserts, "The guy sprinted over here when he saw you and looked like a kicked puppy when you didn't say anything! That's rude, Leo!"

"Just drop it, Raph -"

Yuichi is so focused on listening that he isn't looking - he hits a wet patch of floor where someone dropped some ice and didn't clean it up and wipes out with a yelp, landing right on his tail. His auntie would say that's what he gets for eavesdropping.

--

The rest of Yuichi's shift drags by at a miserable rate without improving. He's distracted by Leo's strange temperament. He keeps dropping dishes or carrying orders to the wrong tables or forgetting what he's supposed to be doing - more often than usual. Hueso approached him to ask what was wrong, spotted Leo "sulking", and decided not to bother. Yuichi waffles between wanting to say something and wanting to avoid an altercation because he needs this stupid job.

He takes the turtles their pizza, and starts to ask Leo if he's given up on catching Yuichi's name but chickens out at the last second. He brings Mikey his dessert and stands there to talk for a bit because Leo's brothers are genuinely friendly, weird, funny guys, but he has to endure Leo's silence, which is deafening in the face of his brothers' easy bantering. He refills Leo's brothers' drinks like five times, and after the third time begins to suspect that draining the glasses is a ploy to get him to come to the table more often (which only serves to make Leo more surly and quiet and Yuichi more agitated because he has no idea what the fuck happened when they were getting on like a house on fire and now? Whatever this is?? It's got his mind racing all the way back to the week before, but he keeps coming up blank. He barely remembers what he had for breakfast.).

Worst of all, Leo's brothers make a scene about abandoning the table as soon as Yuichi comes over to see if they need anything else before he brings them the bill - "Uh, I gotta go to the little turtle's room!" "Michael! Accompany me to the jukebox so that we may terrorize our fellow patrons with 12 consecutive It's Not Unusuals before we leave." – They leave Leo alone in the booth, and he is very clearly alarmed and seething about it. If Yuichi hadn't already arrived at the table wielding a pitcher of ice water, he would have bolted too. As it is, he's forced to commit.

So he laughs, more out of nerves than anything else.

"They're spunky tonight, huh?"

Leo actually smiles a little, but still avoids looking at Yuichi by fidgeting with the seasoning shakers. Yuichi wants to smack them off the table.

"Yeah," Leo says quietly, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Yuichi wants to dump the pitcher of ice water over Leo's head and has to tighten his grip on it to stop himself. He wants to be so annoying and mean if it will get this guy to just look at him. "Do you guys need anything else?"

Your name would be great!

"I think we're good. Thanks, though."

Damn!!

"No problem," Yuichi says.

He's ready to go home.

He can't even go home. He just gets to go from being stressed and annoyed at one location to being stressed and annoyed at another location. He doesn't have a safe, comforting place to retreat to, or people that treat him warmly.

This feels awful.

Why does this feel so awful?

Yuichi busies himself with clearing his other tables.

He's not doing so well in tips tonight, and that adds to his irritation even when it's his own fault for being clumsy and forgetful. He slams together a stack of dirty plates, bowls, and cups, and swears if he drops it or bumps into anyone or falls he's going to walk out - but he makes it to the kitchen unscathed and has to stay. He snags Kitsune by the arm and asks her to take the bill to Leo's table because he's pissed off now and if he goes over there he'll do something stupid.

He almost regrets asking because Kitsune narrows her eyes at him.

"You don't wanna go talk to your zing?"

"I'm just really swamped right now," Yuichi says. It's not a total lie. He tries to entice her, "You can keep the tip they leave, if you want."

She hums, considering this, then winks; "Fine. I owe you one, after all!"

Yuichi doesn't know how else to express his gratitude except with a bow, and he doesn't even care if the gesture is customary in America or not. Kitsune titters out a laugh and gives him one back, then flounces off to the table. He thinks about Raph's kicked puppy comment.

Is he really so transparent?

……Well, that's a stupid question.

His coworkers have been making fun of him for two weeks over how enamored he is with his zing, and Yuichi can't even deny it. Leo is funny. And he's cute. He quickly became a bright spot in Yuichi's otherwise shitty days and Yuichi looks forward to talking to him when he comes in - even if their interactions are brief and mostly exchanging terrible jokes. Yuichi enjoys that little jolt in his chest whenever he catches Leo's eye, and the way Leo always smiles and looks flustered about it. He even likes watching Leo interact with his brothers.

They all seem to get along exceptionally well and are comfortable with each other in a way that Yuichi can't fathom. He's an only child. He prefers it that way. He had close friends in Kyushu, but he had to leave them all behind. He hasn't really made any friends since moving to the States, but he got so much flack for his stilted english at first and for having "weird" habits and for being an airhead that it just became easier to distance himself than to try and convince people to like him.

That reflex doubled when he came to the City.

But Leo is his zing. Not some guy who just randomly decided to flirt with him - Yuichi is used to blowing most people off because they only want one thing, and Yuichi isn't interested. But Leo's never given him any unwanted compliments, or said anything or looked at him in a way that made Yuichi feel weird or like he was missing something. Yuichi has never really entertained the idea of having a soulmate, and his Auntie, ever pragmatic and stern in the wake of his parents' more relaxed upbringing, made sure he knew better than to romanticize a silly mystic bond that sprung up out of the blue.

Maybe Yuichi was sort of treating this whole thing like a game.

Maybe… Leo got tired of that.

--

Leo feels like a stalker, but he's pretty sure he fucked up and there's only one way to settle this so if it gets him decked in the face, well…

That's something he's just going to have to live with.

He crouches on the fire escape near the graffitied wall outside ROTM Pizza and tries not to jump every time the barrier flickers. Yokai file in and out over the next few hours, activating cloaking brooches or natural camouflage in the alley before entering the main thoroughfare and mingling unnoticed with the humans. It's interesting to watch. It just doesn't do much to occupy Leo's racing thoughts.

Donnie made a special trip to the mystic library with Mikey and together they dug up a bunch of books ranging from a pocket pamphlet called, Zinging for Dummies with bright illustrations and monosyllabic words to a 500 page Pulitzer Prize Winning novel: Learning How to Zing Again; a Widow's Memoir and everything in between. But Leo felt stupid reading them. He doesn't need a book to tell him how to feel, and he doesn't need a magical connection to do that, either.

He's feeling things on his own just fine, actually.

That's sort of the problem.

The barrier lights up again and Leo's eyes flicker toward it automatically. He jolts to his feet when he sees the bunny - shouldering a huge duffel bag, wearing a cropped blue hoodie and a black long-sleeve and black joggers with a blue stripe down the legs, glancing up and down the alley as he pauses in front of the barrier. His ears twitch as Leo hops the railing and he turns fully just in time to watch Leo beef it and hit the garbage bins instead of landing on his feet.

Leo recovers quickly enough to see that the bunny has a sword, too. A katana in a blue saya that glints in the light from the street lamp. The bunny grips it defensively with one hand, his other hovering over the hilt as if prepared to draw it. He only relaxes a little as Leo staggers to his feet, kicking aside a heavy bag of garbage. The bunny looks irritated and unimpressed.

"You want to get cut in half?" he asks harshly, his accent more prominent, "Sneaking up on people's a great way to do it."

Leo bites back whatever reflexive, snappy retort that wants to pop out of him and just confesses - if he holds it in any longer it's going to rupture and cause more problems than it already has:

"I didn't know what a zing was."

The bunny looks at him like he's insane.

Leo spreads his arms and shrugs, and rambles on, "I didn't even know that was a thing until the other day when my dads told me about it. I didn't mean to be rude and I'm sorry about tonight, I just got really freaked out about the whole 'soulmates' thing and I didn't want to come, but my brother's are being - I dunno - like, weirdly supportive or something and I just wasn't in the mood, but then I felt like a jerk for pissing you off or whatever cuz it's not like it's your fault or anything, it's just, I dunno, it's just this weird thing that happened! Look, this whole situation got really weird and confusing for me really fast and I'm still processing the implications and I'm not sure if this is making sense any more, so if you could just jump with literally anything that would be great, actually."

The last several words sort of stream together as Leo uses every bit of air in his lungs to say them.

He pulls in a deep breath after.

His face is burning.

His heart is throbbing and he thinks he might puke? Why does this guy make him so antsy? And also make him want to spill his guts? Ugh he hates being this candid. The bunny's face gives nothing away. He looks just as critical as he did before Leo started talking and his frown doesn't ease up a fraction. His take-away is: "Everyone knows what a zing is."

"Nope! Surprise!" Leo laughs, clapping his hands together nervously, "Everyone does not. It's me, I'm everyone. And my brothers. Um, would you believe me if I told you we didn't even know yokai existed until like three years ago?"

"No," the bunny scoffs, "You are a yokai."

"Sorta! But… not really?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means we were like, super sheltered as kids. It's a kind of long story - look -"

"You really didn't know?"

"I really did not! I swear, pizza supreme in the sky, I literally said I thought it was a crazy weird psychic attack. I was being so literal."

The bunny snorts at that, and tries to cover up the slight smile that overtakes his face by lifting his fist to his mouth. Leo grins with absolute relief. He feels it sweep through his whole body, actually, and swears his shell is ten times lighter, even after the bunny regains his composure and looks at him with that same serious expression. It plants a cautious, budding hope in Leo's chest and makes him bold enough to sidle a few steps closer and ask, "Would you wanna go grab some coffee or something and, I dunno - talk? I should've maybe lead with that instead of being a dork."

Leo lets out a little depreciating laugh at that and scuffs a foot across the asphalt.

The bunny hesitates, thinking it over. He hums and adjusts the strap of the bag, and chews on his bottom lip with those adorable buck teeth.

"I can't drink coffee," he says after a moment, "Too much caffeine makes me nervous."

"Same," Leo laughs abruptly, "And I do not need help not sleeping, lemme tell ya!" He points over his shoulder with his thumb. "But there's a place just a few blocks over that's got a great list of tea options and a bangin' hot cocoa."

"I'm into that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." The bunny smiles, and it just about floors Leo, but there's a slight, mischievous tilt to it, "Did you give up on guessing my name?"

"It is Rumpelstiltskin, by any chance?"

That earns him a full blown laugh.

Leo grins.

"You were closer with bunny-guy," bunny-guy says.

"Psh! For real?"

"Mhm."

"Is it Bobby?"

"No?"

"Billy?"

"That's actually worse."

"Honey!"

"I'm not American, if that helps at all. This is painful."

A firecracker goes on in Leo's brain, "Ooh, I feel pretty dumb right now; are you Japanese?"

"Yeah," the bunny chuckles.

"Pizza supreme, I thought your accent sounded familiar, wow this is embarrassing! My dad is Japanese! Oh well, I guess that makes me Japanese, too."

"You guess?" the bunny asks with a smile, arching an eyebrow and tilting his head.

"I never thought about it before, give me a break. I mean, I'm a turtle, first and foremost, in case you didn't notice."

"I noticed."

"Is that a turn-off or a turn-on?" Leo asks compulsively, and wants to die a little when he's met with laughter again, though it sounds well-meaning enough.

"Neither? I'm asexual."

"Oh, word? I thought you were a rabbit."

"I - am? Both?" He laughs again. "Are you joking?"

"Yeah, that was a joke."

"It was in exceptionally poor taste."

"I'd apologize but jokes that don't land are kinda my thing, so. I got the stupid gene from being gay. Uhhh. Is this pursuit pointless or…?"

"No, same." The bunny gives him a peace sign, and another stupid laugh. "Stupid gene from being gay. Asexual just means…. Not. Basically. If that's not a deal-breaker."

Leo claps his hand over his heart, right in the center of his plastron. "Definitely not and, on my honor, was not even thinking about it."

"I've watched you lean out of the booth to check out my ass," the bunny points out with a grin that makes Leo's face feel hot enough to fry an egg on, "So."

"It's an objectively great ass, my man."

"Okay," the bunny laughs, "Anyway, I'm not opposed to a hot beverage and a talk and stuff." He makes an endearingly awkward little swinging motion with the sword he's still holding in his hand, "That's somewhere not in this alley surrounded by garbage. Also… sorry. If I did seem pissed off earlier. It's wasn't all you. I've just… got a lot of stuff going on."

"Right right! For sure. Uh, if you wanna raincheck or something, though -"

"Don't wanna raincheck. Just wanna walk."

"Okay! Cool. How do you feel about heights, by the way? They scare you or anything?"

"No. Why?"

"Cuz, this whole situation." Leo motions at his face and then between the two of them. "Rooftop's faster and people don't yell when they see you. Plus, no crowds, great view! You really can't beat it!"

"Alright don't oversell it," the bunny laughs, "You've convinced me. After you! I don't want to go first and be your cause of death."

"What, do you have a habit of kicking people down fire escapes? That's mildly threatening."

"No, but you have a habit of falling out of chairs when my 'objectively great ass' is in your line of sight and I think your brothers would miss you if you fell off a fire escape."

"My brothers would mock me mercilessly first if that's how I go, but point taken!!"

--

"Okay, you gotta give me another hint, man, I'm drowning here."

"No. You can keep calling me bunny-guy if you want. I think it's cute."

"I'll tell you my name if you tell me yours."

"I already know your name."

"Oh yeah? Who told you?"

"No one, Leonardo," Yuichi says with a smirk, "I listen."

"Ohoho WOW, I guess those ears aren't just for show. A brazen attack on my life. Point to the guy whose name I would love to know but he hates me, apparently."

"If I hated you I would not be sitting here on the edge of a roof having an amicable chat and drinking tea with you, so just jot that down."

--

"Why did the 'soulmates' thing freak you out? People are usually excited to meet theirs."

"Uh, you didn't seem very excited either. Glared at me the whole time, if I recall. So?"

"Right. Well…. it caught me off guard, I guess. And that didn't stop you from running me down, anyway, so it worked out, didn't it? Don't dodge my question, Leonardo. Why'd it freak you out when you learned about it?"

"Aha, you are a sharp little bunny-guy, huh?"

"Occasionally. So?"

"UuuhhhIiIiiI dunno…."

"Very insightful. Thank you for opening up to me."

"Shut up!" Leo laughs, "I guess it - I dunno, it freaked me out because it just felt like a huge fucking commitment that I didn't sign up for got thrown in my face again and I - I ….panicked. Or something. It gave me a bad case of dejavu."

"Oh. Have you zinged before…?"

"What? No! No, I - oh! I get why you'd think that. Well, I guess it's kinda hard to explain…"

--

"Put your phone down right now, that's cheating! Leo!"

"There's no way - there's no fucking way your name is literally Bunny in Japanese -"

"It's my family name!"

--

"I think it's so funny that you're a ninja."

"Really? To my knowledge, that's not a super comical profession."

"No, I mean. Sorry, I'm not laughing at you! It's just - my ancestor hated ninjas."

"Ooo, so it's ironic."

"Yeah!"

--

"Bonkers that you grew up on a farm. I've never even seen a farm. Wait - no, I don't think it counts. Never seen a farm."

"That's a damn shame, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart."

"Did you have a cow?"

"No... It was a vegetable farm in the mountains."

"So - sorry, sorry hang on I can say it with a straight face, I swear - "

"If you ask if it was a carrot farm, I'll knock you off this roof."

"..........I wanna risk it."

"No you don't."

"No I don't!"

--

"You don't have any cool mystic powers?? Seriously?"

"Nope. Sorry to disappoint you!"

"Not disappointing, just sorta surprising. I guess that's not actually super uncommon though, is it? I mean, I meet a lot of yokai with powers, but I guess they're outliers who shouldn't be counted because of oozequito reasons."

"Because of what reasons?"

"Y'know what, don't worry about it."

"Suss. But yeah, mystic powers – especially strong ones – are pretty rare. Humans and yokai are both able to wield mystic energy, but the trait is usually genetic, so I guess yours would be from your father more than it is from being…."

"Mutated as a baby?"

"Yeah. I guess. Jeez, you have a crazy life."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it, babe!"

--

"The sun's coming up, so I gotta bounce."

"What, are you allergic to sunlight?"

"No! Habit, mostly. But also, it's bedtime, cottontail."

"Fair enough, slider. I'm beat."

"Want me to portal you home?"

"No! Um. Thanks, but it's not far. There's an entrance to the Hidden City right down there. Can I have your phone for a sec? I'll put my number in."

"Oh, he just hands out his phone number for free but made me do backflips for his name."

"I could make you guess my number, too, if you enjoyed it so much."

"Look, I am handing you the phone!"

"And I am putting in my very real phone number."

"Under your phony baloney name."

"My real name. It's Usagi Yuichi, I swear!"

"I dunno, I wanna see the birth certificate."

"You couldn't even read the birth certificate."

"I can read just fine, thank you! What's with the insult?"

"Can you read hiragana?"

"Hear a what now?"

"Yeah," Yuichi laughs, "Thought so."

He hands Leo his phone back and Leo looks at the contact. [Usagi 💙]. Leo is going to pass out, he's smiling so hard.

--

Leo texts him literally three minutes after they part ways: Got home safely jsyk >3< Hope u do too bunny babe. ;] Lmk!!! Would you believe Yuichi laughs so hard he almost cries?

He wishes he could go home to his auntie. He wishes he could open the front door and hear her fussing at him for staying out all night. He wishes he could tell her, Okay, don't freak out but I met a guy and he's kind of stupid but I think I like him. He wishes he could hear her laugh about that, at least.

But he doesn't have the guts to call.

CODA.

"Donnie. Donnie, are you still awake?"

"Regrettably. Are you going to regale me with the intimate details of your presumably, judging by the hour, successful date with the rabbit? Because I'm happy for you but I'm not particularly interested, especially not enough to emote."

"It wasn't a date!"

"Semantics."

"I just had a question I wanted to bug you with."

"Well, what is it? These wires aren't going to strip themselves."

"What are our kids gonna look like, d'you think?"

"I think I'm alarmed and disheartened by your understanding of basic biology…."

.