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The afternoon bell rang, signaling the end of school and freedom of all the students from that nightmarish prison.
Leo’s classmates ran out of the classroom, having put all of their stuff away in a hurry to leave. In contrast to Leo himself, who was still putting away his notebook and pencils.
It had been a long day for Leo. During first and second period, the teachers decided to give pop quizzes; in third period, Leo had to write a 20 sentence per paragraph essay for his exam, minimum five paragraphs; fourth period brought around new pop quizzes- three in one class this time!
Great.
He thought he’d catch a break during lunchtime, only for half the school to decide they really wanted a food fight. Half the school also meant half his brothers. As Raph and Donnie eagerly threw burgers and sauce packets at their friends, Mikey and Leo calmly sat under their table eating their lunch.
His last three periods would’ve been a bit calmer, if it wasn’t for the fact that apparently all three of his last period teachers had gotten together and decided to be absent, therefore giving him and his classmates substitutes, which meant a lot of yelling and not getting work done from his table partners.
So yeah. A really, really long day for Leo. His body felt like it was made out of bricks and no cement, ready to lose balance and topple over at any moment. The only thought making him move forward was the thought of his comfy bed.
Just the thought of the cold of the sewers being blocked out by a warm, comfy blanket and a smoothed out pillow below him made him want to drool. Not like he drooled in his sleep. Leo doesn’t drool in his sleep.
Reaching for the door handle, Leo thought of what playlist he’d listen to this time. Laufey? Conan Gray? Maybe Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour”, he hadn’t listened to her in a while-
“NARDO!”
Leo jumped at the horrible nickname and turned around with a grimace.
Raph stood cheerily a couple of feet behind him, a manic glint in his eyes as always. “I’ve called you like- five times! Where are you going? You promised you’d help me out with boxing today!”
…
Just kill him.
Really.
Just. Kill. Him.
“Raph. I know I promised but-“
“Ah. No buts. You don’t break promises. You’re too nice for that.”
Curse Raphael for speaking the truth. And curse Leo for being too nice. Curse everyone! CURSE EVERYTHING. CURSES, CURSES, CURSES!
“Raph, I helped you out yesterday!"
“Yeah, and now today as well.”
He’s going to kill himself-…actually wait. He shouldn’t think that…this is gonna ruin the tour…Yeah, that works.
The blue-clad turtle took a deep breath so as to not crashout like crazy. His brother was really, really testing his patience.
“Raph. Listen. Can’t I help you out tomorrow?” He groaned, sliding a hand down his face. “Plus, don’t you have a trainer?”
Raphael rolled his eyes as if Leo had just said the dumbest thing in the world. “Leo you gotta lock in. Spuds was evil, remember?” He crossed his arms and glared at his brother, although no actual malice was directed at Leo. “Part of the Purple Dragons and everything…not like I needed him anyways!”
Leo knew how much losing Spuds affected him. More than a trainer, Spuds was someone Raph could confide in when he was stressed about school, clubs, friends, or family. And him turning around and betraying him? God, Leo didn’t know how bad that must’ve made him feel.
But either way, he’s been helping Raph train with wrestling everyday after school, shouldn’t he have found a trainer by now?!
Leo voiced that thought out loud and Raph scratched the back of his neck embarrassedly before turning away. “About that…”
Leo raised an unimpressed eyebrow, willing his brother to continue.
“Look- I have been searching for a trainer, but it’s just that…how do I know they won’t turn out like Spuds?”
Leo sighed as his expression smoothed out. He didn’t know how he did it, but Raph had mastered the eyes of the big, sad, wet, kicked puppy look. And Leo was a sucker for that look. Curse him and his love for his brothers.
“Ok, fine-“
Raph cheered immediately and turned around, walking for the gym, presuming that Leo was following him.
Which he was not gonna do.
“Uh-uh.” Leo tutted, causing Raph to turn around with a confused expression. “I’m not gonna help you out anymore.”
“Leooo-“
“Look. I’m gonna recommend you a sparring partner, alright? I can’t keep doing this everyday. You know I like my after school naps.”
Raph’s expression changed to one of elation as his eyes seemed to glimmer. “You know someone?!”
“Yep.” Leo said, popping the ‘p’.
…
“Well? Who is it?”
“Oh! Yeah, right…” Leo stopped his random zoning out and took out his phone. Goodness, he really needed that nap.
A ding sounded on Raph’s phone as a contact number was sent to him, the contact being named ‘Koya 🍗’ with a picture of someone’s hair and a bandana. It was blurry, like those photos where you try to get someone’s picture without them finding out, but they still do.
“Uhhh…who’s this?”
“…Koya?”
“Well, yeah. Duh. Who’s Koya?”
Leo looked at Raph incredulously and furrowed his eyebrows with his mouth agape. “My best friend. Koya.”
“…YOU HAVE FRIENDS?!”
“RAPH. ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”
——
Raph hit the punching bag, sweat already sticking to his forehead.
The studio felt empty. It was just Raph and a couple of other strangers, most in groups or paired up. Usually, Spuds would be here, either training by himself or giving tips. But he doesn’t come by here anymore. Probably moved to a new studio after the whole ‘mutant battle arena’ thing.
Even after everything, Raph didn’t know how to feel about Spuds. He thought he finally found someone who understood him and his energy, who understood and related to his love for fighting. Only for it to be all a dumb hoax.
But whatever, Raphael will find a new, better fight buddy! Someone who won’t turn out to be part of a gang that’ll threaten his and his brother’s lives.
Maybe he should call that Koya guy…
Raph took off his boxing gloves as he reached for his bag to find his phone. It slipped out of his hand a few times because of the sweat. Once the turtle got a good grip on it, he went to his contacts… And pressed the one labeled, ‘Koya 🍗’
Suspenseful ringing…
The unknown contact answered, low-quality sounds of crunching picked up on the speaker audio.
"… Yo, Who’s this???"
…This so called expert recommended by Leo was a girl??? Or they’re just high-pitched for a man. He swore the blurred photo looked like a guy, in the BEST way possible… Raphael had to answer before she decides to hang up already,
"Uhm, hey— uhh, are you Koya? Or like… His sister that stole his phone or something?"
"Why do you want me so badly huh? Who are you, bucko?" Koya already began interrogating.
"I’m Raph… Raphael, you know, one of Leo’s brothers…You know, Leo? Your BEST friend?"
…
"…Ohhhhh!" Koya had sarcasm in that sentence. It was even obvious through the crappy audio of the studio’s WiFi, "You’re that one brother Leon keeps complaining about lately. Also, to clarify, I’m only HIS best friend… It’s obvious."
… Leon? He finally got someone to call him that dumb nickname? Yikes…
"Uhm, Yeah yeah whatever, I’m Raph," He introduced himself, "Leo gave me your contact info to call you. He recommended you to me as a sparring partner! So, are you in or not?"
…
Audible crunching noises filled the awkward silence, once done. The mystery girl began speaking up again,
"Hold up, Leon got you, to call me, because," chopped coughing audio, "You want a partner..?"
"…Yup," Raph answered, "recommend by the man himself. Leonardo—"
"Respectfully, I thought you were like, gay? Or atleast have a preference for men—"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" Raph screeched through the phone, he heard his voice echo through the gymnasium. "SPARRING, partner, SPARRING!!! not like, dating and stuff!!!" He exclaimed, the sweat on his face was not helping him focus— cracked audible laughing was heard from the phone speaker,
"BAAAAAHAAHHAAHAAA!! I WISH I SAW THAT FAAACE!! AAHAHAHAH!!! OKAY.. Okay.. Yeah uh… Sparring partner…" Koya’s rest of her words were either muffled or not picked up by the mic, "Alrighty uhhh— I’ll call you back in 5, Randall. Just need some.. confirmation with some things—" And like that, the girl had hung up.
Raph definitely had many questions, and he was more of a punching first person! Like, first off, how did Leo end up with a girl like Koya? How did he convince her to be his friend? Nevermind being best friend… He guess he has to wait until he calls her back, if she ever does.
This Koya person, can she handle fighting someone like Raph? What made Leo even think of her in the first place? Raphael would have to vision her appearance as a sparring partner,,, to get the idea. She definitely had dark hair like in the photo… her facial features were unable to be defined because of the pfp.
Koya definitely had to have went to Raph’s school to able to meet Leo… Ugh! There’s too many dark-haired girls for him to decipher which one was her. Raphael doesn’t like thinking too much, but he has to for the sake of it. Koya definitely has to be buff, because, why else would his brother recommend her? Hopefully she’s strong-built like Hun, that’s a REAL build Raph goals for—
DING!
Raph got a text. It was from that Koya guy— or girl… It’s confusing.
Koya: 'Uhhh yeah uh I’ll be over soon 👍'
Well… That was quick.
Wow! A new trainer! Hopefully this person lives up to Raph’s expectations, and also isn’t a secret member of a gang. Like Spuds. Oh Spuds… You were so cool… Why did you do this to yourself??? ANYWAYS! Raph has MOVED on from Spuds, and is quite hyped to see what potential this.. Koya has.
… Hopefully, they’re a good fighter.