AN: 2:10-4:18 shows the turtles' lair

"Can I ask you something?" I asked hesitantly. Raphael muttered something under his breath.

"You can ask me whatever the hell you want, Annie."

I swear to god I'm going to karate chop that scowl off his face once I learn how to.

"What does kunoichi mean?"

"A girl ninja, why?"

"Oh I forgot, you were asleep. Well, Donnie found out that I'm a descendant of this famous Samurai dude. Cool, right?"

"Super," he grumbled. I noted his disinterest but continued just to get back at him for being an ass earlier.

"So anyways, Splinter agreed to teach me ninjutsu and Mikey said he couldn't wait to see me in a 'badass kunoichi outfit.'"

"Oh great. Knowing Mikey he'll probably get you to dress up like Jade."

"Jade?" I asked, sidestepping a puddle of something nasty in the sewer tunnel. "Like from Mortal Kombat?"

He glanced over at me in surprise. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"My sister and I play it all the time," I grinned, "you guys play it too?"

"Yeah, when we're all bored."

"Oh cool, we should have a tournament tomorrow night."

I swear I saw a ghost of a smile flicker across his face.

"Only if you want to get your ass kicked."

"Oh, is that a challenge, Hulk?"

"You bet your ass it is."

It wasn't until after I'd burrowed under my bedcovers later that night that I realized I'd had a conversation with Raph without him exploding with anger and that I actually sort of enjoyed it.

I glanced through my window. Maybe he really is a softie, I thought hopefully.

••• 影の秘密 •••

"Reach deeper," Splinter's voice resonated through the darkness behind my eyelids. "Deeper."

"What am I looking for again?" I asked.

"Anything: a feeling, a smell, a noise, a memory; something ancient and untouched...alien." I focused and strained my mind further. When nothing happened again, I sighed in frustration.

How the hell can accessing ancestral memories even be possible? Has Splinter done this before? Does he even know what he's doing? I scrunched my face up tight for a few seconds, releasing all the tension built up in it. I attempted Splinter's method of retrieving the buried memories once more before giving up again.

It just doesn't feel right. This time, instead of focusing and trying to pull them forth, I relaxed everything, both body and mind, hoping that instead, I would just fall into them.

Or fall asleep, I thought as I felt the familiar sensation of slipping further from my body and curling up inside my brain, the blackness becoming more black.

I can't fall asleep during my first training session! In an attempt to bring myself back to reality, I flexed my fingers. But instead of feeling them clasp together, I felt a firm leather grip beneath them. I gasped, immediately jolting out of the mirage, eyes snapping open.

The rat lifted one eye open questioningly.

"I-I felt something. In my hands. A...like a round leather grip."

"The hilt of a katana I presume."

"A katana?" I asked.

He nodded, closing his eyes again. "See if you can figure it out through your memories."

I stopped myself from sighing for the millionth time and resumed the process of seemingly falling asleep, since it seemed to work so well before. I didn't know what I was looking for since I couldn't exactly Google my way through ancestral memories. So I just let it take me, kind of like laying back on a surfboard and letting the waves carry you out to sea.

I smelled fire;

Heard the swish of what sounded like Leo's swords cutting through the air;

Felt my body move fluidly through katas;

Saw a pair of grey eyes reflected back at me in the long blade of a katana;

It was like reliving a dream; remembering enough to see only flashes of it, and forgetting enough to comprehend close to nothing.

The taste of blood shook me from my reverie.

Splinter watched me with curiosity. "Did you find what you were searching for?" He asked.

If you count a mouthful of blood, then yes. I opened my mouth to say as much when I stopped to think. My mind had spoken the word without even thinking about it when I saw the reflection of the eyes in the sword blade; the katana blade.

"I think so. They're the same swords that Leo uses, right?"

"Indeed they are. How did you discover this?"

"I saw eyes reflected in the blade of one and the word kind of just came to me." I shrugged, then remembered another word I'd encountered as well. "What are katas?"

"Exercises for an individual practicing a form of martial arts, did you see this word as well?"

"Not exactly, I could feel myself doing one and I thought 'hey this a kata.' "

His dark eyes shone with excitement. "Interesting. How do you access these memories?"

"Well, instead of trying to pick through my mind, I relax and let myself be carried kinda like when you're floating in water, then it sort of feels like falling asleep and then I get small flashes of sights and feelings and it's really weird."

He nodded in agreement, then closed his eyes; a silent order to continue. I slipped back into the dreamy trance easier now, and soon enough, memories were flying past me like the flickers of a light bulb.

I heard the pounding of metal;

Felt the heat of a fire;

Tasted smoke;

Smelled the smelting of metal;

Saw the glowing orange of heated metal being pounded into shape;

I felt the soreness of my body following training;

Heard laughter;

Tasted warm gyoza;

Saw cherry blossom petals drifting through the air;

Smelled the sea;

I tasted dorayaki;

I heard the howl of wolves;

I felt the sharp bite of cold metal against my cheek, the skin open beneath the blade with a sting, the hot blood flow down my face;

I felt the realness of it all, as if embodying the mind of the victim.

Then, I felt the loss of feeling in my right hand, then the burning waterfall of blood around the fingers that clutched the stump where my hand once was.

I screamed, like they had.

I watched my life pour from my wounds.

I smelled blood. I tasted it, I saw it, I felt it.

I heard my pulse come to a halt at a painfully slow pace, giving me time to writhe and cry out in pain.

"–with her!? Raiya! Raiya! Wake up! You're okay!"

My eyes snapped open. A smirking Japanese man stood over me, his blades dripping with blood; my blood. I screamed again.

"Raiya! It's me! It's Leo! I'm not going to hurt you! Please, just calm down! It's alright! It's alright."

I blinked and he was gone; replaced by a familiar face with sparking blue eyes. I was cradled in his strong arms, my heart racing. I pushed strands of unruly hair from my face and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," I gasped, "I-It just looked so real, I felt it." I met his gaze, "you were a scary ass Japanese dude like two seconds ago, I swear to God."

He laughed lightly and helped me to my feet. "You scared me. It looked like you were having a nightmare."

"Yeah girl, don't do that again," Mikey said, appearing behind Leo. I noted the shakiness in his voice, "I thought you were possessed or something, like that girl in that movie."

No, it was worse. I rubbed my hand, just to make sure it was still there and forced a smile to my face. "Don't worry guys, I'm fine."

Splinter must have seen right through me because he stood and said that we would continue tomorrow.

Mikey nudged me with his shoulder once he'd disappeared into his room. "Wanna go play some MK?"

"Hell yeah! I got dibs on Kitana!" I called, dashing to the monitor wall and firing up the Xbox.

"Sweet we can all be girls and have a chick fight!" Mikey looked over at Leo, who'd followed us to the living room, "uh, you can have Leo."

I grinned and handed a controller to him while Mikey inserted the disk. "Don't worry, we're gonna kick his ass. So, here's the game plan, you grab Sheeva because she has a strong X-Ray attack. Once the X-Ray is charged, I'll tag you in, you hit him with the X-Ray, then tag me back in once he starts pounding you. Got it?"

"Who's Sheeva?"

I rolled my eyes. "The big, scary, four-armed chick. You'll know her when you see her."

"Alright dudes, we've got about two rounds, maybe three if we're lucky, before Raph shows up," Mikey said, rushing to set up the game and get it started.

"Is he any good?"

Mikey scoffed. "He's only the God of enhanced combos, and finishers, and special moves, and evasion, and–"

"Alright Mikey, we get it, he's good." Leo turned and whispered to me, "what's an enhanced combo?"

I groaned and Mikey laughed evilly.

AN: Sorry if any of this is offensive towards redheads! I don't mean for it to be! I actually love red hair so I think you're all beautiful lol

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