Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The light sound of a door locking could be heard as Leonardo sighed. He could finally close shop.

Leo was sixteen, and the sole employee of ‘Hamato supply shack’ even if his last name wasn’t Hamato, at least he was sure it never was. He didn’t know his last name, but that was a question for another day.

He walked over to a small supply closet in the corner of the store, passing a few wooden shelves along the way. He ran the odd of his fingers along the grooves of the shelf on his left, the wood felt sturdy under his touch even after years of use.

He paused for a moment, and stared up at the mighty red wood tree that sat in the middle of his shop. His ancestors built the shop around the red wood when it was a sapling, now it was a tall, mighty tree. He ran his hand down its bark, its beautiful branches and its red leaves gently blowing in the wind above the shop, as he saw the moon through the small area in the ceiling, a hole cut out in the celine to allow the tree to grow through. . His hand froze for a moment, as he brushed past the small groves carved into the bark from his ancestors, it was tradition to write your initials on the tree when you turned eighteen. He sighed, just two more years until he would come of age. He continued past the tree.

When he approached his supply closet he gripped the golden handle and twisted it open. As he opened the door, his eyes scanned the small closet for the broom, spotting a few miscellaneous items for the store, a mop sat against the wall, after a moment he found the broom, as he lifted it he felt every small groove engraved into it from years of use.

He began to sweep the isles of the small store, his brown poncho hanging over his shoulders. He had figured out the most effective way to sweep the store, not like it was too hard, big Raphie had helped him figure it out.

After around ten minutes he had finished up sweeping the store. Next was counting the earnings of the day he walked behind the counter and opened the small drawer that sat in the middle. He lifted the cash inside and sifted through it, around a hundred dollars in profit. He placed it back into the small wooden cabinet before closing it and walking through the back door.

As he stepped onto the deck, a cold breeze hit him as his poncho was lifted by the wind. He watched the bustling lights of the city, his family lived in the York woods for years. Yet the city was always nearby.

Grand yokai city.

He always dreamt of living there. But now, he has dedicated his life to his family’s shop. Like so many others had, he never thought he would end up at this point. But here he was. In the old deck, and all its knicks and scratches, wearing an old pancho, littered with stitching that had held it together over the years, with the sowing that held his pants together as they gently flapped in the wind.

He reached behind his head and removed his bandana. He held it in his hands, as the ends blew in the wind he slowly closed his eyes and let his hands absorb the feeling of the fabrics it was crafted from. The softness of it, and yet it was durable and ready for anything. He stood there for a moment.

As he opened his eyes, he sighed.
“Alright, guess it's time for bed. Best to open the shop early hehe” Leo chuckled to himself.

He held his mask in his hand as he re-entered the shop. Closing the wooden door behind him and listening for the soft click to know it’s been locked.

Chapter Text

Ok so ik it’s been FOREVER since I’ve updated this, I’m trying to make the second chapter but I keep falling out of motivation to do so

I’m also working on character sheets of all the turtles + April and uasagi

I also always feel as if I need to make chapter 2 way longer to make up for how long I’ve been gone which is just making the problem worse

I’ll have chapter 2 posted soon, I just wanted to update you all

Chapter Text

Leo sat behind the counter, a Jupiter Jim comic sitting in his hands as he waited for someone to enter the shop. The shelves were perfectly stocked, just as he had set them that morning.

Not a lot of people came to his family’s shop anymore, ever since Yokai City had really taken off. It was always a high and mighty city though, Leo used to dream of living in the city. Life had gotten in the way of that though.

He sighed, Leo set down his comic and rested his chin on the palm of his hand before glancing over at the clock that sat square on the wall to his left.

“Ughh” he groaned to himself,“When does this shift end” he muttered, annoyed

He reached over and picked up his Jupiter Jim comic, flipping it to the page he’d left off. Jupiter Jim finally found the enemy base, and he was about to go storming in! Just as he was about to turn the page to see what would happen-

DING

the door rang as it opened, right as he had gotten to the comics climax. He groaned and set down his comic before peeking his head up over the counter to see who had entered.

“Mikey! April!” Leo greeted

“Leo! Good to see you” April responded

“Say Mikey. About time you had your shift, I need a break” Leo said playfully as he jumped over the counter to greet Mikey and April

“Leo, your shift ends in half an hour, you can’t trick me into overtime!!” Mikey ecstatically responded, shoving a green digit in his brother's face.

“Oh wow I’m so scared of my little brother!” He said bending down to be eye to eye with Mikey

After a second of silence Leo broke out into laughter and leaped over the counter once again

He watched as the other two leaned against the Mighty redwood in the middle of the shop, awaiting the clock to strike the time required for Leo to finally finish his shift. He picked up the Jupiter Jim comic and flipped to where he had been before Mikey and April strolled in.

Jupiter Jim was about to blast his way into the enemy base. Leo turned the pages excitedly, awaiting what would happen next. Jupiter Jim plowed through the enemies as he neared the center of their base. Leo buried his head in the comic as he continued. Jupiter Jim was about to make his way into the enemy bosses roo-

SNAP

“leooo! Cmon Leo get your head out of that book!” April said waving her hands around dramatically

Leo looked up annoyed, he was so close to the climax of the newest Jupiter Jim comic of course!

“Yes, April?” He responded while trying to keep his eyes off the comic

“You still on for coming to town later tonight?” She said waving a flier in his face

Leo reached over the counter and grabbed the flier, he placed his Jupiter Jim comic down before squinting while reading the flier

“YEARLY MAKIN FESTIVAL” was scrawled across the top

“Center of yokai city, 3pm, may 15th” was written smaller below it. The large dragon drawn below it all stared back at Leo as he studied the poster.

He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked behind him at the calendar hung on his wall. He didn’t have anything marked on the 15th other then a supply shipment

“Well, other then a shipment for the store I’m free.”

“That’s perfect!!” Mikey ran up behind the 2 of them

The 3 burst out into laughter as Mikey struggled to keep his balance after bumping into April

Leo yawned before placing his elbows on the table and resting his head on his hands, clearly bored with his day so far. He decided to do anything but what was currently happening

“Hey mikeee?” Leo said with a smirk

“I’m not taking your shift Leo.” Mikey said sternly

“I’ll do your chores for a month!” Leo begged

“3.” Mikey said smiling

“Fineee” Leo groaned

Leo walked out from behind the counter as Mikey took his place. Leo quickly walked over to his room and opened his door and sealed himself inside

He had tons of knickknacks and figures strung around his small space, a twin mattress sat in the corner with posters hanging above it, his pillow was half on the bed and his blanket was thrown across the floor. Man his room was a mess, he really needs to clean it up sometime.

‘Man I need to take a break from the shop and clean it up in here’ Leo thought as he groaned

He dropped down to his knees and started digging through his dresser drawer. After a couple minutes he pulled out a shiny pin, it was a small drawing of a tree. It was just there to show he was a shop owner, specifically in the outskirts of town.

I slip it into my pocket before closing the drawer. I stand up and grab my messenger bag that sits on top of my dresser. It’s brown and has many stich lines from every time I’ve ripped it

I put it on with the strap over my right shoulder, I made one last look through the drawer for my pins, I applied the shopowner pin, a trans flag pin, and a gay flag pin. After I made sure the pins were secure, I made sure my poncho wasn’t uneven I went back to the counter where Mikey and April had been talking.

“Well I’m off mis hermanos!!” I said walking past them

“Where ya going Leo?” Mikey asked

“The yearly makin festival! I thought we talked about this a little bit ago?”

“Oh yeah!! I’ll be in town tomorrow for it if you wanna stop by my booth!!”

“You bet I will!!”

With that I rushed by the mighty redwood and out the door. I watched the large city