Lord Warumagi's School For Human Hybrids

I would have done this last night, but I had to go to bed... where I didn't actually sleep. z_z So I'm a wreck... ha ha ha... I fell asleep at 10 in the morning, and now it's 12pm or so. Oh well...

The older version of this used to be here, but I deleted because it would ruin the plot of this, though this one's a bit different.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5896951/1/Lord_Warumagis_School_For_Human_Hybrids

In case you want to review there. Reviews are awesome.

T! M! N! T! They don't belong to me!

New York…

It was exactly like the books in the library had said it was…

Big, dirty and loud.

I sniffed, compressing the can of drink in my hand and throwing it at a wall. It ricocheted off it, smashing into the ground before rolling into the road. I glared at it, before hunching up my shoulders and continuing my journey along the sidewalk. Trust me, given the choice I wouldn't be here. I would be in my warm bed, curled up under my duvet. I wouldn't be scouring the streets at who knows when. The only reason that had forced me to come here was that-

"Oof!"

"Get 'im, Carl!"

I turned my head. The shouts were coming from the alleyway next to me. It was dark, so I couldn't see what was happening, but it doesn't take an idiot to realize that a fight was going on. Now, most people wouldn't even glance twice at a brawl in case they got involved…

But let's face it.

I'm not most people.

I dodged into the alleyway, shuffling down it with my back against the wall. The voices were getting louder, and as an added bonus I could hear the sound of flesh hitting flesh. It was definitely a fight, or else my name wasn't Foxglove.

Please refrain from commenting on my name.

I could see a group of shadowy figures attacking a solitary figure. And by the looks of it, the guy they were fighting was outnumbered. I tried to get a good look at the people, but it was too dark for me to be able to distinguish any of their features. Argh… why did he have to prefer going out at night? Life would be so much easier if he wasn't so nocturnal. But then again… it must have been hard for him to go out in the day, what with him being a-

"No one goes on our turf, got it?" one of the figures smirked, standing over their fallen enemy. "Especially someone like you."

The guy on the ground seemed to have lost. I curled my lips downwards. I had hoped that he was there, fighting all those people. It was in character of him. But losing… it couldn't be the person that I was looking for. It was too pathetic, being beaten up by humans. I suppressed my bitter disappointment as I made my way out of the alleyway by trying to bite through my tongue.

"Ya ain't the boss of me," a male voice growled.

I stopped and turned around.

The figure jumped back up, kicking two of his opponents in the face in the process. Then, he stuck out his hand, beckoning the others to fight him. I smiled to myself and slowly crept back, my footsteps in time with his heavy breathing.

A man sailed past me, narrowly missing me. He landed in a pile on the ground, his left sleeve ripped. I ducked down and examined the strange dark patch on his arm that had caught my attention.

It was a tattoo of a dragon.

Call me someone who points out the obvious, but I immediately knew that he belonged to the 'Purple Dragon' gang. I had done a fair amount of research about this city, but I could still work out by myself that the other dudes with him were Purple Dragons as well. I stood up and went back against the wall, continuing to watch the violent struggle.

The loner was beginning to win now. He had knocked down at least five of the guys. It was pretty impressive, seeing as he wasn't exactly the biggest fighter I had ever got the chance to lay my eyes upon. In fact, now there was a pretty good chance that he would win. He was either a really good fighter or… I felt my heart thump…

He wasn't human.

"That's it," one of the gangsters snarled, crouching on the ground, "No more playin' around, freak."

He raised his arms, aiming something that looked vaguely like the letter 'r'. It was only until after I heard a loud bang that I realized that the 'r' was actually a gun. I saw something long and thin fly through the air, landing in the sole warrior's arm. The person shook slightly and fell flat on his face.

His attacker laughed, "I got 'im! Now lezz take 'im back to the boss. Ooh… my family are gonna eat tonight!"

I had to do something, so I jumped over a Purple Dragon and landed neatly in front of the other men. I wanted to get a closer look at the unconscious short guy, but the idiots were blocking my view of him. I scowled, raising my fists. Then, I tossed back my head so that my ginger hair wasn't in my eyes. I couldn't fight if I couldn't see.

"Where'd the squirt come from?" one of the gangsters sneered. I growled. I wasn't a 'squirt'; I was seventeen for goodness sake.

"Hey, she looks like she wants to fight us!" someone who was out of my range of sight remarked.

"She's a skinny shrimp," another piped up. "Who does she think she's kiddin'?"

"You don't want to mess with me…" I said in a low voice, hoping that I sounded threatening. "You really don't…"

"I think she reckons that she's scarin' us," a nearby gangster chortled.

"Don't say I didn't warn you…" I closed my eyes, a wave of pleasure sweeping over my trembling body as I doubled over. My skin tingled as strands of fur, the same colour as my hair, exploded out of my body and covered me from head to toe. It wasn't visible, but I felt my tail popping out and pressing against the back of my tight jeans. I grinned, raising my hands to flaunt my pointed claws. They stared me in horror, as if I was a bad TV show that was so appalling that they couldn't help but watch. I straightened up, winking one of my hazel eyes.

"Didn't see that coming, did you?"

"What the heck did she turn into?" gasped one of the Purple Dragons, his voice satisfyingly high. He started to say something else, but I swiftly stuck out my fist and knocked him off the ground. The others recovered from their shock and began to jump at me one by one. I cracked my knuckles and spat on the ground, wiggling my hips.

I tried to vary the techniques I used. I did the classic 'punch in the face' on one of them, and I ducked down and tripped another over. I elbowed one in the stomach before banging the back of my head against his face, and I struck gold on another, smiling as he fell to the ground, clutching the front of his ripped jeans. It was too easy taking them all down; the guy from before had done a great job tiring them out. When I was satisfied that they wouldn't be awake for a while, I knelt down next to their victim. A shiver went up my spine as I caught sight of his face.

Just as I had wanted...

Just as I had sought out to find…

He was a giant turtle.

On the internet, I had read that there was a group of them. A lot of the information about them had come from some pretty dodgy sites, but they all said that they lived somewhere in New York… and they were right.

I stroked his cold cheek. He didn't flinch, but I knew he was alive because I felt my hand rise and fall repeatedly as he breathed. My other hand skimmed over his chest as I moved it towards a tall pointy thing in his arm. I gave it a gentle tug and pulled it out.

It was a dart.

I couldn't be sure whether it had poisoned him, or whether it had just knocked him out. I prayed for him to stay alive. He had to, or else it wouldn't have been worth it. I got out my cell phone, dialling a number. I waited, my fur preventing my body from growing too cold.

"Hello?"

I smiled when I heard the voice on the other end. I put on a sickly sweet voice, "Fangy? Is that you?"

"You called me," Fang growled, "So you tell me."

He had a habit of acting cold and tough so he appeared intimidating, and that's what I found endearing about him. But I knew that beneath his cold exterior was a heart that could melt ice. "Fang, I need you to come here ASAP. We can go home now."

He groaned, "We only just got to New York and you want to leave? It was your idea to come here in the first place, even though it's totally against the rules."

"It's important," I told Fang, "I… I found another one."

"Another what?" Fang tried to sound casual and ignorant, but I could hear the curiosity in his voice. He knew what I was talking about… well, he thought he did.

"Another one of us," I whispered for dramatic effect.

There was a pause.

"You're sure?" he asked me quietly.

I laughed, "How many giant turtles are there?"

"There's Blossom," he replied. Good point. "But still… it's odd, especially if they're in the middle of a busy city. And about that... the Lord's going to have our heads when he finds out that we're where the humans can see us. I hope for your life that you ain't in your hybrid form."

"'Course I am," I rolled my eyes, before recalling that he wasn't able to see me. "How else would I be able to beat up fully grown men that used all their brain power in muscle growth?"

"Foxglove, you're a dead girl walking," he moaned. It thrilled me to know that he cared about my existence. "The Lord is going to kill you."

"Look, we'll go back to school with the turtle. I need you to help me sneak him in."

"Use your head," Fang scolded me, "The Lord's going to realize that there's a new student. What's the point of sneaking him in?"

I shuddered. I hadn't seen the Lord get angry before, but I didn't really want to find out what it was like. "Fang… You're right." He was the only person I would admit this to. "Can you at least help me get him into school? I'll take all the blame, if there is any… but the Lord will be happy, trust me."

"Fine," sighed Fang, "Give me your coordinates and I'll go to you."

I smiled, "40, 47, 73, 58. Track my scent. I'm above ground."

He hung up, and I put my cell phone into my pocket. I lowered my face so my snout was touching the turtle's beak. I was careful not to breathe on him too much, in case it woke him up. He wouldn't come nicely if he was awake.

I noticed that he was wearing a mask around his eyes. I couldn't see what colour it was, due to it being so dark, but I could guess what it was.

After a few minutes, a silver haired teenager appeared at the opening of the alleyway. I smiled as he came over, watching him kneel down beside me. He examined the turtle, hiding his surprise very well. I didn't blame him. It was peculiar, seeing a human sized turtle in a human city. I felt my heart flutter as his hand brushed over mine as he checked for a pulse. Then, after discovering that he was indeed alive, he put his hands under the turtle's armpits and lifted him up. Fang stood up in the process, bringing the turtle up with him.

"There we go," Fang stood up completely, the turtle now slung over his shoulder. "He's heavy for such a little guy."

"Blossom ain't much taller," I remarked, getting up too. I held onto the turtle's feet, not wanting Fang to hurt himself. Well, deep down I knew that Fang could easily carry him by himself, but I didn't want to look useless. I reached into my pocket and got out a small silver object that resembled a watch. I pressed the green button on its face, and a few feet in front of us a swirling pool of colours appeared.

Fang tugged the turtle's body and I let myself be pulled along through the portal. I could hear the thugs begin to wake up behind us, but I suspected that the portal had disappeared before they woke up.

The portal was sort of like an ordinary doorway, only you couldn't bang your head or your elbows when you went through it. One second we were in a dodgy alleyway in America, the next we were in the school grounds, thousands of miles away.

Fang lay the turtle on the ground, before shaking violently. Silver fur sprouted all over his body and his face lengthened into a snout. After the transformation, he straightened up, sniffing the air. "The Lord's close."

I shivered. I didn't have as great a smelling ability as him. "How close?"

"Very close."

"Good work, Fang," a voice said coldly.

I spun around, dropping the silver teleporter in surprise. Behind us was a tall pale man, the moonlight bouncing off his bald head. His cloak was camouflaged, so all I could see of him was his pointed face. His dark thin eyebrows furrowed as he examined the two of us, "Foxglove? Fang? What are you doing out here at this late hour?"

… Darn, it was the devil himself.

Fang turned to me. It looked as though I was going to have to explain. "Well, sir, you see… Fang and I went to New York and-"

"New York?" the Lord widened his eyes, "How on Earth did you get there?"

"With the teleporter," I dropped to my knees and held up with the teleporter I had 'borrowed'. To my horror, it was cracked and when I tried to turn it on, it fell apart. I smiled up at him. The Lord was glaring down at me, enraged that I had broken the school's only teleporter, which I wasn't supposed to have in the first place. I gulped, hoping that he would cheer up once he saw who we had brought with us. I pointed at the turtle, "But sir, look who we brought with us."

The Lord fell to his knees, examining the newcomer. I could see his face brightening as he realized who I had found. "Oh my… Could it be… him? The legendary muta-" he coughed suddenly. I wanted to pat him on the back, but I didn't know whether I was allowed to touch him. The Lord looked at us, "He must go inside. Foxglove, Fang, bring him to the infirmary."

We picked up the turtle, draping his arms over our shoulders. The Lord glared at us, "Don't hurt him. He must be in perfect shape."

Walking slowly, Fang and I entered the main building. The Lord walked ahead of us, nearly disappearing from view. We followed him into a corridor, finally bathed in light. Everything wasn't in black and white anymore. I could finally see that the turtle…

Turtle…

Turtle…

I widened my eyes in dismay.

No…

No…

LOL I reviewed this on FF.Net! Still love it! =^.^=

Thank you. :}D

So far, it's gotten 2 reviews. Hopefully it picks up when Raph wakes up. xD

I´m sure that it will! I reviewed it too on ff.net and I just wanna say again that this chapter´s awesome!

Aw... thank you. <3

'What the shell?'

The first thing that came to Raphael's attention was the throbbing pain in his arm. He groaned, clutching it tightly in an attempt to cut off the pain.

"He's waking up!" a female voice cried out.

Raph's eyes snapped open at the unfamiliar voice. And, when he looked at the ceiling of the building he was now in, he realized that the voice wasn't the only thing that was new; he had no idea where he was. Raph made to sit up, but before he could the pain in his arm suddenly amplified and he flinched in pain, unable to become upright. He clenched his teeth, moving his head in as many directions as possible in an attempt to get a good look at his surroundings.

A fox-like woman, who looked like she was in her late teens, was an inch from his face when he looked to his right. He recoiled, slipping off the bed and onto the floor. The fox woman crawled over his bed to get a good look at him. Then, when she caught sight of the expression on his face, she grinned. "You look surprised."

"Where…?" Raph sat up, ignoring the pain in his arm. His head felt slightly foggy, but he was awake enough to be aware of the fox woman staring at him. "Where am I?"

"Foxglove, I think you're scaring him with your face," a male voice said. Raph couldn't see what he looked like, but judging by the looks of the fox woman he didn't think that he could look any worse.

"Ha ha," Foxglove rolled her eyes, her skin pink with embarrassment under her fur. "It won't be funny when the Lord comes back and sees the turtle on the floor, Fang."

Raph saw a wolf man appear next to Foxglove. Fang bent forwards and pulled Raph back onto the bed. Then, he straightened up and flexed his muscles. "Piece of cake. I can lift anything, no matter what weight it may have."

"Are ya callin' me fat?" asked Raph angrily, jerking the upper half of his body upwards before falling back down.

Fang widened his eyes in surprise. "He can talk?"

Raph would have chuckled at this statement if he hadn't been so mad about… everything. He had no idea who they were, where they were, and why they were where they were. The pain in his arm was dying down, so he allowed himself to sit up and lean against the wall his bed was against. Foxglove and Fang began watching him curiously, waiting for him to do something else. This made Raph even angrier. "What?"

"What?" repeated Foxglove.

"Quit starin' at me like dat," snarled Raph. "Now, are ya goin' ta tell me why I'm in this bed, or am I gonna have ta make ya tell me?"

"Ooh, he's got attitude," smirked Foxglove, nudging Fang.

"Foxglove!" a thin man in a black cloak walked into the room. Foxglove and Fang ignored Raph completely, falling to their knees and bowing at the newcomer. Raph stared at him, wondering if he was in the first aid room of an anime convention. The man went to Raph's side, kneeling next to him. He looked at Raph apologetically, "I am terribly sorry if my students were rude to you. Please, find it in your heart to forgive them for their ignorance."

Raph was taken aback, but he decided to play along until he understood what was happening. "Uh… sure… But it ain't nothin', really."

"Such politeness…" the man smiled. He grabbed Raph's hands and began shaking them. "But I have gotten ahead of myself. I am Lord Warumagi, owner of the school that we are in now."

"School, huh?" Raph remarked. Having been homeschooled by his rat father, Master Splinter, he had never actually gone to a school before.

Warumagi mistook the surprise in his voice for interest, "Yes yes, this is indeed a school… a phenomenal one at that. There is no other school that quite compares to mine, if I do say so myself."

"Yeah…" Raph looked at Foxglove and Fang out of the corner of his eyes. "I can imagine dat. Uh… if ya don't mind me askin', what's up with yer two 'students'? They're… not human."

"What do you mean, what's up with us?" Foxglove glared at him, offended. "You're a giant turtle, you stupid hypocrite!"

"Enough, Foxglove," said Warumagi sharply, jerking his head at the fox teenager. He turned his head back to Raph slowly, a much softer expression on his face. "You must be severely confused, wondering why you're no longer in New York."

Raph blinked, remembering his last few conscious moments. He growled, "Ya bet I am. Why the shell am I here? What do ya want with me?"

"Ah yes, waking up in a new environment can bring on many questions," Warumagi told him. "Foxglove brought you here, but I cannot imagine why. I declare a late midnight feast, where we can discuss what the future holds. I dare say you are hungry. Come, the three of you." He left the room immediately, not bothering to look over his shoulder to make sure that they were following him.

As soon as Warumagi had left the room, Fang rounded on Foxglove, poking her chest angrily. "The Lord doesn't get why you brought the turtle here and neither do I. You said he would be pleased... and did you hear what he said? He ain't got a clue why you did what you did." He lowered his eyes, storming out of the room. "And if the Lord expels us, I swear I'm gonna make you pay."

"He won't!" Foxglove called after him, her ears drooping. She added in a hushed tone, "He can't."

"Hey… Foxglove?" said Raph, getting slowly to his feet. "That's yer name, right?"

"Right," stated Foxglove coldly.

"Don't get mad at me 'cos yer boyfriend's ticked off," replied Raph, losing most of the sympathy he had for her. He clenched his fists, rubbing them together in a bid to get rid of his frustration. "I didn't ask ya to take me here. I was fine by myself until-"

"Until you got hit by that dart and fell unconscious!" finished Foxglove. "Those creeps would have given you to their boss if I hadn't come along. You're so ungrateful."

"Alright! I'm grateful ya saved me back there," admitted Raph, "But I ain't happy dat ya dragged me to this freaky school of yers afterwards. Why couldn't ya have left me to wake up?"

"I didn't know how long you would be unconscious for," shrugged Foxglove. "Look, I have my reasons. The Lord is pleased to see you! When we brought you here, he smiled. He never smiles. He's usually strict and unforgiving, but… Come on, I'll take you to the lunch hall."

Raph didn't want to follow her; he wanted to find a way out and go back home, but he didn't really have much of a choice. He didn't know where the school was, and he certainly didn't know how to return home. As he passed through the door, he kicked the doorframe. He was going to go along with all this and see what happened… for now.

Raph tried to count the number of doors they passed, hoping that it would pass the time, but he found himself losing interest at fifteen. He was contemplating whether he should try and find a phone booth when he found himself in a grand, high-ceilinged room. Raph whistled in approval at the hundreds of tables that had been pushed together to give the impression that there was only one table. At the far end sat Lord Warumagi, who was drinking from a silver cup. Fang was sitting next to him, looking into space. Foxglove motioned to Raph, and the pair joined the other two. Foxglove made to sit next to Fang, but the disgruntled wolf person put his hand on the chair beside him. Foxglove grabbed Raph's hand and the two went round the table, sitting down next to Lord Warumagi.

"Now..." Warumagi clapped his hands. "Katrina, serve my guests some refreshments. Something hot; they've been in the cold for a while."

A young girl, who Raph hadn't noticed up until then, nodded and quickly departed from the room. Raph pointed after her. "Who is she, yer servant?"

"You could put it that way," answered Warumagi. He leant forwards, wanting to change the topic. "Now that you know our names, I think that we should know what your name is. It will make things more comfortable."

"I'm Raphael," shrugged Raph, watching the servant girl, Katrina, re-enter the room with a huge tray of snacks. She couldn't have been more than about eleven years old, judging by her appearance. She looked far too fragile to be carrying such a large tray, but the other three didn't seem to care. Raph got off his chair and took it from her. There was no way that he was going to let Katrina struggle with it. Warumagi raised his eyebrows as he watched Raph place the tray onto the table, as if he hadn't expected him to help her.

He placed his cup onto the table. "Raphael… that is an interesting name, I must say. Have you got any family? They must be wondering where you are."

"Yeah…" replied Raph. He wondered what time it was. It had to be way past midnight, which was when he was supposed to be back home. "I have to go home now. Thanks for all the nice hospitality and stuff, but Sensei's gonna kill me if I'm late home from my patrol run. Where's the exit?"

"Go?" Lord Warumagi exclaimed, surprised, "You simply cannot go, Raphael. Why, the very thought chills me. You cannot just leave."

"What?" shouted Raph. Warumagi raised his eyebrows once more. "Ya can't just keep me here. I have a family back home, who'll be wonderin' where I am."

"Yeah, can't he go?" piped up Fang. "We've already been expelled 'cos of him."

"Don't be daft, Fang," Warumagi laughed. "Where ever did you get that silly notion from? I do not know why Foxglove felt impelled to bring him here, but I must say that I am pleased that she did. Raphael, I insist that you stay here… at least for the night. I will inform your sensei. Now feast!"

Raph reluctantly took a piece of pizza from the centre of the table. He didn't want to be there at all, but he didn't see what he could do about it. He wasn't sure if he could do anything if they made him stay there forever. Sure, he could start a fight and demand to go home, but he wasn't a match for however many students there were. Raph chewed it slowly, before taking a large mouthful. He was suddenly starving, and soon he was gulping down his glass of hot chocolate. Warumagi watched him, smiling faintly.

After they had eaten until they couldn't eat any more, Warumagi said, "Now I think it's time for bed. Foxglove, Fang, you can go to your rooms. Katrina, please take Raph to Room 95. I believe it's unoccupied."

As Raph was led out of the room, he heard Fang remark, "That was the best meal we've ever had, and it was only a snack!"

Raph waited until the others were far behind them before smirking at Katrina, "So, yer their servant, huh?"

"I am only Lord Warumagi's," Katrina replied, walking in front of him. Her long blonde hair swung from side to side like a metronome. Raph watched it, entranced. After ten seconds, he realized that he was being distracted and tore his eyes away from her.

"Good thin', 'cos those two punks from earlier would be rubbish masters," Raph told her, trying to lighten the mood. It was dark and depressing in the corridor they were walking through. Katrina didn't answer, so Raph tried to make conversation once more. "What animal do ya turn into? A cat?"

"I am not a Human Hybrid," stated Katrina, either not understanding the pun or purposely choosing to ignore it. She sounded offended.

Raph stopped walking for a moment. "Uh… what did ya call them?"

"Human Hybrids," repeated Katrina, stopping as well and facing him. Her light blue eyes closed for a few seconds. "It is very complicated and I do not have the time to discuss it with you. I expect the Lord will talk to you about them in more depth in the morning."

"Hey, yer pretty serious for an eleven year old," commented Raph.

Katrina glared at him, her face pink with humiliation. "I am fourteen, if you must know."

"Geez, sorry," grumbled Raph, refusing to make any more conversation with her.

He stalked after her with his arms crossed. Bored, he stared at the paintings that hung on the walls either side of him. Most of them were of Lord Warumagi, which made Raph think to himself, 'Big ego much?' However, he was rarely alone in the paintings. Sometimes he was accompanied by a young woman with bright red hair, and other times he was with her and a young child, who had very similar hair to whom he presumed was her mother. He guessed that Lord Warumagi was related to them, and judging by the amount of portraits, Raph could tell that he loved them very much. He couldn't think of another reason as to why he would have so many.

"That's the late Mistress Warumagi and their daughter," piped up Katrina, gesticulating towards the never-ending row of paintings.

"What, she's dead?" exclaimed Raph, referring to the mother. She looked like she was only in her late twenties or early thirties. It was hard to believe someone who looked so beautiful and innocent was dead.

"It is said that they're both dead," commented Katrina, shaking her head pityingly at the paintings.

"Both of them?" Raph turned his head and widened his eyes. "But… both of them? For real? Geez… poor guy… Do ya know how they… ya know?" He felt sorry for Warumagi.

Katrina shook her head sadly. "He doesn't talk about them."

Raph gave her a cynical look. "Not even to his slave?"

"Not even to his slave," Katrina murmured, stopping outside a polished wooden door. "Here's where you will stay for the night. Then, you will talk to Lord Warumagi about what will happen to you."

"I thought I was goin' home."

"He will try and make you stay," Katrina said and she opened the door, bowing to Raph as he went in.

The room was very grand, especially when you considered that it was a guest room. The walls were painted sunshine yellow, while the carpet was a royal red. It was a palace compared to any of the places he had stayed in before. Raph took off his mask and placed it on the carpet. His mask looked filthy against its flawless cleanliness. He quickly scrunched up his mask and threw it on the pillow that was on his vast bed, before falling onto it. He squirmed a little, surprised at how soft it was, but he managed to sit up and look back at Katrina. She was watching him, still in a bowing position, gazing at him through her wispy blonde hair.

"I have only one thing to say to you," she said.

"Yeah, what?" asked Raph, crossing his legs over and putting his hands behind his head. His sais were on his belt, in case someone tried to attack him in the night.

"Please…" she stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. Raph was startled to see fear in her eyes. "Once the morning comes; run. Run away and never come back. Run while you still can…" she backed out of the room, firmly closing the door.

Raph didn't avert his gaze after she left. Instead, he began thinking about what she had said.

He decided that he might take up Lord Warumagi's invitation after all.

This chapter was LEGEN...wait for it...DARY!

Thanks. ^.^

As for your question on ff.net...

Foxglove and Fang aren't treated badly as such. Warumagi might tell them off, but he doesn't shout at them or hit them (which I can't say for Katrina ;_. Besides, they have their friends and stuff... and nowhere else to go (Warumagi explains about all this in the next chapter).

As for Katrina... she has nowhere else to go, and she's a bit scared of Warumagi and wouldn't dare go against him.

Thanks for the explanation Livi. Poor Katrina

I love it! Sorry, my computer wouldn't let me review it on ff.net, but I will once it gets fixed!

Thanks! And don't worry. I hope your computer sorts itself out soon.

Raphael got out of his bed in the early hours of the morning, when the first rays of morning sunlight were creeping in through the room's clear window. He had hardly slept that night, but he was as awake as he was halfway through the day. His mind had refused to rest, forcing him to reflect on the previous day's event. He didn't understand why Warumagi would want to try and persuade him to stay, assuming that Katrina had been telling the truth. Warumagi had a whole load of Human whatevers; it wasn't as though he needed him.

Raph searched for his mask, thinking for a horrifying second that he had lost it. He tossed himself out of his bed, before nearly tripping over a small table. His knee banged into one of its legs, and he was glad that he had forgotten to take off his knee pads the night before. He growled, casually sweeping his gaze over the table. He saw red and did a double take.

Not only was his mask on the table, cleaned and ironed, but his sai were on it as well, also clean. He blinked, picking up his mask and putting it on slowly. Someone must have come into his room and taken them from his bed while he had been sleeping for a small amount of time. Still, he didn't understand how they could have returned his things without him seeing.

Something else that Raph didn't understand was what he was expected to do. What time was he supposed to see Lord Warumagi? Was he supposed to find him? Raph sighed, walking towards the door.

"The Lord wants you to stay here."

Raph picked up his sai and spun them around wildly, his eyes unsuccessfully scanning the room for the source of the voice. Raph stepped forwards, his foot slamming against the carpet. "Where are ya? Come out!"

A pair of black marble-like eyes faded into view, a few inches from his face. Raph jumped back in surprise, falling back onto his bed. The eyes had a humanoid body now, though it had a long tail and was a swamp green colour. Its body was covered with thousands of tiny little scales, all slightly different shades. The creature's body looked like a mosaic. It grinned, sticking out its tongue cheekily. "Did I scare you?"

"No," snapped Raph, getting off his bed. "Ya just took me by surprise. What the shell do ya think ya doin'?"

"Making sure that you say here," the green thing said in a male voice. He leaned closer to Raph. Then, he reached out his hand and pinched his face. Raph yelled out, kicking the green thing in surprise.

Raph rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand. "What was dat for?"

"I was just making sure that you were still here," the green thing said, grinning like crazy. It was as if he hadn't felt the kick. "I'm a chameleon. Cool, isn't it?"

"Yeah, real cool. Did ya have to yank at my face so hard?" asked Raph, glaring at him.

"No, but it was fun!" the green chameleon teenager cackled, falling to the ground and rolling on his back. Raph, to his displeasure, suddenly realized that he was an awful lot like Michelangelo. Both were annoying and both were green. The green chameleon person sat up, gasping for breath. Then, he got to his feet and stuck out his hand. "You're really grumpy, you know. I'm Charles. What's your name?"

"Get lost," Raph got off the bed and shoved Charles to the side, before leaving the room.

"Okay. See you later, 'Get lost!'" called Charles, sniggering. When Raph was gone, he rubbed his face, wincing. He hadn't expected him to be such a strong kicker.

Raph was fully aware that he didn't know the layout of the building, but he refused to be stuck in some stranger's room with an idiot until Warumagi decided to show up. He had considered staying there for a bit, because the place had made him curious, but in less than five minutes he had changed his mind. Raph told himself that he would tell the first creature he came across to inform Warumagi that he was going home, whether he wanted him to or not. He was prepared to force him to let him leave. He would-

Raph crashed into someone, knocking him and the person to the floor. He groaned, opening his eyes slowly. Then, he gasped slightly and widened his eyes completely.

His victim was a turtle, just like him, but it wasn't one of his brothers. The only other mutant turtle he had met was Venus, but even then she wasn't exactly a new mutant turtle.

"I'm so sorry!" the turtle was female, judging by her voice. She grabbed Raph's hands and helped him up gently, Raph doing most of the work. Still, it had been a nice gesture. "I should have been paying attention to where I was going…" She blinked at him, taking in Raph's appearance, "Oh wow! You're a Human Hybrid, just like me."

"I ain't one of them," shrugged Raph. Well, he didn't think he was.

"Oh!" the turtle shook her head, smiling to herself. "Silly me… Foxglove told me about you last night. I thought she was making you up, trying to spread a rumour around to make Fang respect her more. But she actually left the school and found you! That's so cool. Hey, are you going to the lunch hall? They'll have started serving breakfast by now."

"I dun-" she pulled Raph along as she began walking, not waiting for him to finish speaking. He glanced up at one of the portraits hanging on the wall, a picture of Warumagi's daughter smiling kindly at him. He rolled his eyes at it, but allowed himself to be dragged along. Hopefully, the turtle would lead him to Warumagi.

"I'm Blossom, by the way," the turtle said. "You must be Raphael. Foxglove said that you were called Raphael, but she didn't say anything about you being so handso- Uh... I mean, nice. Yeah, nice."

She giggled nervously.

Raph didn't say anything. He was beginning to question whether the students had all been cloned from Mikey, because he couldn't think of another explanation as to why they all talked so much. He grunted in reply, suddenly wanting to enter the lunch hall. He wondered whether the students used the same room that he had used yesterday, or whether they ate somewhere else. It had seemed a bit too fancy to be a mere 'lunch hall'. Raph's stomach growled, reminding him that it was time for his breakfast.

"Hungry are we?" giggled Blossom. "Well, you're in luck. We're here!"

It turned out that they did use the same lunch hall, except that the collection of tables were littered around the room. Blossom led him to the end of a line, giving him a tray. Raph ignored her, looking around in the hope that Warumagi was there as well. Blossom pretended that she was examining something on the palm of her hand, but her eyes were on the other turtle. When the line shortened, Raph remained where he was. She smiled, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Come on Mr Curious, it's our turn to get breakfast," she said, going over to the serving hatch. Raph sighed, before following her reluctantly. He couldn't get home without Warumagi, no matter how much he wanted to. Disappointed, Raph put a piece of toast on his plate and sat down at a table. Blossom sat next to him, her plate jam-packed with various foods. She looked at Raph's nearly empty plate and spooned some of her fried egg onto to it. "Here you go. You don't want to become all scrawny."

"Whatever," mumbled Raph, staring around the room, disheartened.

"What's the matter?" asked Blossom, suddenly looking as miserable as he did. "Don't you like eggs? You can have some bacon if you want. I don't mind… just don't look so sad."

"It ain't that," Raph put his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his hands. "I just need to see that Warumagi guy so I can go home. This place ain't... cut out for me."

"Oh." Blossom looked at her tray, before pushing it away. She frowned for a second, but soon returned to her bright sunshiny self. "He has his own private place to eat, but don't worry! He does the weekly announcements in his office. That's where he'll be. In his office."

Raph's eyes lit up. "For real?"

"Yep!" Blossom stuck out her chin. "He does the announcements and says who graduates."

"Graduates?" Raph said, not understanding. "What do ya-"

He covered his ears, hearing a strange crackling sound. The room fell silent, everyone except Raph's head flicking towards a speaker hanging from the top west corner of the room. Raph poked Blossom's forearm. "What's happenin'?"

"The Lord's going to say who graduates this week. It used to be every few months, but now it's a lot more frequent," whispered Blossom excitedly, "Oh, I hope it's me!"

"What happens if it's you?" queried Raph, talking quietly. The room was too silent for him to want too speak loudly.

"The Lord says that it's a great honour," explained Blossom. "He says-"

"Good morning students," the speaker boomed. "It's me, Lord Warumagi. Now, first things first. I'm sure you're aware that we have a new pupil with us. His name is Raphael, and I hope that you make him feel welcome."

"Pupil?" shouted Raph, standing up and slamming his fists against the table. Blossom's glass of orange juice toppled over. She squeaked, tugging his arm in an attempt to get him to sit down. "I ain't no pupil."

"Raphael!" hissed Blossom, gazing around the room uncomfortably. Everyone was staring at them. "You're drawing attention to yourself."

"Now it's the moment you've all been waiting for," Warumagi said in a singsong voice. All eyes left the pair of turtles. "It's time for me to say who graduates today. So… this week, the lucky Human Hybrid is…" He paused dramatically for effect.

You could have heard a feather drop in the room. Raph, ticked off by Warumagi's earlier assumption, yawned loudly. Blossom hid behind her hands, hoping that no one was looking at them.

"… King!" he finished. Blossom groaned along with all the other students.

A lion Human Hybrid stood up, nodding mildly at the cheers that had replaced the disappointed moans. Blossom beamed, standing up and waving wildly. "Yay King!" She gestured to Raph. "Come on, Raphael. Let's go tell him how happy we are!"

They walked through a crowd of students that had surrounded King. Blossom asked people politely to move, but there was too much noise for any of the words she said to be audible. Raph shook his head at her, before barging into whoever stood in his way. Blossom jogged after him, saying sorry to his disgruntled victims. When she caught up with Raph, she found that King was in full view.

Raph nudged her and said at the top of his voice, "Does this sort of celebration happen every week?"

If it did, they were very easily entertained creatures.

"Not really," answered Blossom loudly, trying to make herself heard over the dozens of voices surrounding them. "It's just that King's the best student in the school. We've been waiting for this moment since forever!" She sighed before adding, "I'm going to miss him."

"So… when ya graduate, do ya leave the school forever?" asked Raph.

"Yeah," said Blossom, lowering her voice as the noise died down, "It's sad, but happy at the same time."

"Weird combination of feelin's," commented Raph, finishing his sentence as King began to speak.

"You've all been wonderful friends," King said, waving his hands at his peers. "I would never have gotten anywhere without you… you have helped me unleash my full potential, and now I have been chosen by the Lord to leave. I shall miss you all." The crowd parted so he could leave the lunch hall. He reached the exit, waved again, and disappeared through it. Everyone slowly returned to their seats, murmuring.

"Where'd he go?" asked Raph, not moving from where he was standing.

"He goes to the Lord's office," Blossom said, "And… well, I don't know what happens to him after that. He just goes. Maybe there's another school for advanced students. I don't know. It's been like that since I started," She waved her arms madly, distracted by something else. "Foxglove!" she called, hoping on one foot. "Come eat with us!"

Foxglove, who had been walking next to Fang, turned her head. She rolled her eyes. "We don't sit with losers."

"Then it's good we're not," smirked Fang, approaching Blossom and Raph. "Foxglove, bring our food over."

They all went and sat down at the table Raph and Blossom had been situated before, Fang sitting on the other side of Raph. Foxglove, seeing that there wasn't a spare seat next to Fang, settled herself opposite him. She put the trays onto the table vehemently, spilling some of the food in the process. Fang didn't say anything, taking a chicken leg and chewing it noisily.

"Ya have chicken for breakfast?" said Raph questioningly, "I mean, Mikey has pizza but he's a freak."

"Mikey?" Blossom tilted her head to one side imploringly. "Who is Mikey?"

"One of my brothers," said Raph, feeling something ping in his chest. He was actually beginning to miss Mikey. He missed Master Splinter, Leonardo, Donatello, April, Casey…

"You'll see him soon," Blossom told Raph, as if she had read his thoughts. She patted his hand, "I'm sure the Lord will…"

"Blossom."

Blossom jumped to her feet, bowing. Foxglove and Fang didn't move, having not been addressed. Raph turned his head, his eyes falling onto the man he had been trying to find all morning. Warumagi pointed upwards and Blossom stood up straight. "Sir, what have I done to attract your attention?"

"I noticed that you have made friends with Raphael," Warumagi said warmly, "As well as Foxglove and Fang. Raphael, it is nice to see that you are settling in so well."

"Look, I ain't stayin' here," Raph told him, stopping Warumagi from getting any ideas, "It was nice stayin' here for the night and stuff, but-"

"Ah yes," Lord Warumagi gestured to Raph. "I want to talk to you in my office."

"See you later Raphael," Fang nodded at him, getting up from the table. "Hey Foxglove, be a good girl and put our trays away." He walked out of the lunch hall without looking back once. Foxglove narrowed her eyes at his back, growling.

Blossom started to leave when Foxglove elbowed her as she got up from the table. Foxglove snarled at her, "You clear up, nerd."

Raph made to help her, but Warumagi shook his head. "Blossom will be fine. Now come with me so we can talk."

Grudgingly, Raph followed him out of the lunch hall. The students were leaving the room as well, but were heading somewhere else. Raph noticed that they all bowed to Warumagi whenever his eyes strayed to what they thought was them, however Raph could see that his eyes were gazing at the paintings decorating the wall. Halfway along a particularly long corridor, they broke away from the river of students and went down another corridor. Warumagi got out a key and unlocked the door at the far end, leading the way through it.

If Raph had thought there were hundreds of paintings before (which he rightfully had), then this corridor contained thousands. Raph could genuinely not see any blank areas of wall, which gave the impression that the hallway had 'Warumagi's family' wallpaper. At the end of the corridor was a door, which opened easily. Warumagi stepped inside, and the red-masked turtle followed him in.

The office wasn't big, but it was certainly cosy. There was a sandy coloured desk with a dark blood red chair hidden behind it. Light shone through the blinds hanging in front of the window, and Raph had to move so the sun didn't blind him. At the back of the office was Katrina, who was standing unusually still. Warumagi sat down behind the desk, waiting for Raph to sit. He looked around, trying to see where he could sit, before discovering a matching chair three feet in front of the desk. Raph settled himself onto it, waiting to hear if Warumagi would try to persuade him to stay.

"Do you want a drink?" asked Warumagi, "Katrina can get you one if you are thirsty. Katrina, get us something to drink."

"I had somethin' to drink at breakfast," lied Raph. "Look… Lord Warumagi, I appreciate what ya doin' but I have to go home. Ya can't enrol me here 'cos I can't stay. I have to get back to my family."

Katrina nodded, before pretending to stretch her neck. Then, she got out a tray of drinks and put it on Warumagi's desk. He took on of them and drank it slowly.

"I cannot force you to stay," said Warumagi, "And I am not planning on doing so." He angled his head so that Raph could see up his pointed nose. "But I am afraid that you cannot leave, unfortunately, no matter how much we both want you to."

Katrina's eyes flickered. Raph raised his brow, trying to keep calm. If he offended Warumagi, he definitely wouldn't be allowed to leave. "Oh yeah? Why's dat?"

Warumagi leaned forwards, resting his elbows against his desk. "Foxglove borrowed my teleporter last night, however when she returned with you, she broke it. Without it, nobody can enter this school… and nobody can leave."

"What does a 'teleporter' do?" asked Raph.

"It's like a watch, only instead of telling the time, it allows you to teleport to different locations. Seeing as this school is far away from humans, it's the only way to leave this school and go somewhere else," he explained, "So, if our only one is broken, no one can leave this school."

Raph boggled his eyes at him. "Ya only have one? Yer not very well prepared, are ya?"

"Well…" Warumagi looked him in the eye. "No, I'm not. I didn't expect it to be taken out of my office. I will have to get Wol to make another one."

"How long will dat take?" queried Raph suspiciously.

"A few weeks, perhaps."

"No way," Raph laughed sardonically. "No bleedin' way."

"I'm sorry, but you and I don't have any choice. Katrina has a built in teleporter, which allows her to leave the grounds, so she can deliver any letters you wish to send to your family," Warumagi said coldly. He sipped his drink silently. He drained it, before throwing it at Katrina. She jumped up and caught it without much effort, as if she did it on a regular basis. "You start lessons in the morning. You may leave. Katrina, take him to his room."

Raph followed her out, raging. If he kicked up a fuss, Warumagi would refuse to build a new teleporter. The man was good, Raph admitted to himself. He turned his head as the door closed, watching the Lord go through a door that was at the back of the room.

But not good enough.

If I needed to describe this chapter in two words, it would be AWESOME and HILARIOUS. I love that part where Charles pinches Raph. It was so funny.

I loved it! Why can't Katrina teleport Raph back to his family? Or is he too big?

Unfortunately, Katrina's teleporter only allows her to teleport. No one else.

Raphael trudged out of the dinner hall, glaring at any student that brushed past him. They were all hurriedly going to the lecturing hall for their next lesson, barging into the people that blocked their way. Raph wouldn't admit this, but he was slightly jealous that they had something to do.

He wondered whether he could find Katrina. Sure, she wasn't really his friend and she annoyed him a bit, but she felt the same isolation he felt. They were both stuck somewhere they didn't want to be, assuming that she disliked being Warumagi's servant.

He suddenly became conscious of the fact that he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going. He blinked and saw that there was a wooden door right in front of him. On it was a piece of paper marked, 'Keep closed or face expulsion'.

"Oh, that would be so horrible," Raph grumbled to no one, pushing the door. It refused to budge. He narrowed his eyes, shoving his body into it. Yes, it requested that he left it alone, but if the many notes on Michelangelo's room didn't deter him from going in and looking through his stuff for blackmail material, he didn't see what was so special about that door. If this place was to become his new home (for now), then he might as well treat it like it was.

After five body throws, he forced the door open. Raph coughed, breathing in dust. He stepped in, closing the door behind him. If the Lord couldn't expel him, he would probably do something worse, so he didn't want to risk being caught. On the other hand, a door that told you to go away or else just begged to be opened.

The room he was now in was very dusty, like it hadn't been cleaned… ever. The wallpaper on the walls was hanging loosely, deadly still. The flooring was practically coated in a layer of sand, so Raph couldn't quite make out what colour the carpet was supposed to be. What first caught his attention, however, was how dead the whole place seemed. He thought he could feel it pushing down on his chest, but it might have just been the dust that had settled in his throat when he had moved the door.

Raph looked around the room suspiciously, trying to find something that would cause Warumagi to close off the room. Judging by how eager the students had been to get to their lesson, he wisely decided that the punishment was severe to them.

The room, other than being covered in dust, looked untouched. The double bed in the far left corner was made: two grey pillows sitting on top of the plain bed sheets, which were hidden by the straight duvet covers placed on top. Beside the bed was a pair of dark pink slippers, sitting side by side. A large wardrobe was adjacent to a gold makeup vanity, which was opposite the door. He went to the vanity first and tried to open its drawer, only to find that it was locked. Facing away from it, Raph approached the wardrobe, his hands outstretched. Then, he slowly inched the door open.

It was stuffed full of various gowns and nightdresses, containing far more colours than there were in a hundred rainbows. At the bottom of the piece of furniture were dozens of shoes; some had heels while some were flat. He blinked, before being distracted by the sound of a piano playing. He jumped back, trying to find out where it was coming from. Then, deducing that it was originating from the wardrobe, he hurriedly shut it. The room immediately fell silent.

"Oh… kay…" mumbled Raph, backing away from it. He bumped into a bookcase, which shuddered and threw books down at him. He growled, picking them up and slotting them in wherever he could find a space. He doubted Warumagi would notice if a few books were out of place. The last book he picked up was royal blue, with golden lettering on it. He read the title.

Diary: Property of M. Warumagi

Raph's first instinct was to assume that it was Warumagi's, but he didn't think that he was the kind of man to keep a diary. Besides, going with the slippers and the clothes in the room, he suspected that the diary belonged to someone who was female. He knew of two females that had a last name of Warumagi- the Lord's wife and his daughter. The pieces of clothing were of a woman's, so it was apparent to him that the diary was Mistress Warumagi's.

He was slightly creeped out that he was holding a dead person's diary, but nonetheless he was intrigued. It might have explained how the headmaster's family died. Raph opened it to the first page, reading the neatly printed writing.

Entry 1

It's my first day living with my new husband, Benedict. I love him so much. We met at a café in Washington; I was a waitress and as soon as I took his order we clicked! He told me he was a scientist and he earned a lot of money, but all he ever wanted was someone to share it with. He is SUCH a sweet talker. By the end of our first conversation he was calling me 'Darling'. He asked me for my number and I gave it to him. I didn't think he was going to contact me, but he did!!

Now, just one year after we met, we're married. He bought us a giant house out of his salary. There is so much room here it's unbelievable. I would have gotten lost if he hadn't insisted on being with me wherever I went. He cares so much about me, and I love him equally as much… maybe even more. This is looking to be the start of something wonderful!

Raph raised his brow. He hadn't known that the school hadn't always been a school. He also hadn't known that Warumagi had been a scientist. Well, it explained how he could afford to set up his own school. He read the next few pages, but they all seemed to be variations of the sentence, 'I love Benedict'. He smiled at the name. Who would have thought that Warumagi's first name was Benedict? He chuckled, reading through the pages slowly. As similar as they were to one another, he didn't want to miss anything important.

Entry 36

I have beautiful news! I am finally pregnant. I have been neglecting you for the past few months but now, as Benedict insists that I do not do any work, I have found the time to catch up with what has happened.

Benedict told me that I am expecting a daughter. We have always wanted a little princess! Benedict says that the baby will be an angel if she looks anything like me. I can't wait for her to be born. Her birth will be a permanent reminder of our love. I am so excited that I can barely wait! Our family will be complete in a matter of time.

Raph curled his mouth downwards. Warumagi loved his family far more than he had thought he did, and Raph had thought he was obsessed with them when he had seen the number of paintings Warumagi had of them. Raph sighed, reluctantly closing the diary. He didn't know what time it was, but he suspected that it was time for him to go. He returned the book, making a mental note to come back and read the rest. He could have taken it with him, but he didn't want to be found with the diary in his possession. He went out of the room and hurried down the corridor, trying to remember where the room was as he made his way towards what he thought was the lunch hall.

The halls were deserted because the class hadn't finished yet. After coming to ten dead ends and a door that led into the girl's bathroom, Raph came across a door that seemed promising. Rubbing his now slapped cheek (the robin hybrid was tougher than he had thought she was), Raph opened it and stepped outside.

He hadn't seen the exterior of the school before, and he felt his breath escape from his agape mouth. It was a series of huge fields, extending as far as the eye could see. It was warm, and the Sun was hanging in the sky like a light bulb. In the far distance there was a glistening lake, as blue as Leonardo's mask. Raph closed the door behind him, gazing around. This was a completely different landscape to the one he was used to. It was also refreshing to be outside.

A small dark figure caught his eye. Someone was sitting next to the lake, leaning against a large tree that hung over the body of water. Raph walked towards the figure, and then he could see that the person was Katrina. He ran over to her, calling her name. She looked up at him, smiling faintly.

"Yo Katrina," Raph sat down next to her, kicking out his legs. "What are ya doin' here?"

"Not much…" she shrugged her shoulders. She slowly put her legs in the same position as him. "I'm just relaxing until I am needed by the Lord."

"What would he need ya for?" queried Raph, "I mean, what jobs do ya have to do for him?"

"General things…" Katrina said imprecisely, gazing across the lake. "Mostly errands…"

"Oh," said Raph, losing interest. It sounded more boring than the meditation lessons he had with Master Splinter. He shuffled forwards until his feet were hovering over the lake. Then, he dipped his feet into the water. It was quite cold, but that just made it all the more inviting. He turned back to Katrina, beaming. "Come on. The water's fine."

She looked down at her feet wordlessly. She was wearing a black maid outfit, with starch white tights and polished black shoes, each with a shining silver buckle on them. Katrina wiggled her feet, biting her lip worriedly. Clearly, she wasn't enthusiastic about taking her footwear off. "Um… my feet are fine."

Raph wasn't going to force her, so he ignored her and kicked his feet slightly. Little droplets soared upwards, before crashing back down on the lake's surface. He leant back and smiled contentedly at the sky, feeling the gentle rays of sun on his face. He closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them when he felt something brush past his arm. Katrina's tights and shoes lay abandoned behind them and she was lying on her back on the lake's edge. Her small pale feet sat upon the surface of the water, before slowly sinking downwards.

"It is rather refreshing…" commented Katrina, shuddering at the coldness of it. However, once she got used to it, she laughed quietly and kicked her legs a bit. Refreshing was an understatement of how her feet felt, now that they were no longer contained in her hot clothing.

"Ya need to relax every once in a while," Raph told her. He stood up before jumping into the water. He created a small wave, which drenched Katrina. She shrieked, leaping backwards and pulling a stricken face. Raph smirked at her, chuckling as she pinched at her dress in an attempt to get rid of as much liquid as possible. "Wazz the matter? It's only a bit of water."

"I'm wet!" gasped Katrina, spluttering and going onto all fours.

"I hadn't noticed," he replied sarcastically, bobbing up and down in the water.

"Why on earth did you do that, Raphael?" she asked, staring at him with an exasperated expression.

Raph didn't say anything for a minute, too busy floating along. Then, when he decided that she had had enough time to ponder about this, he said, "Ya have to stop bein' so serious." He flinched after he said that. It sounded like something Michelangelo would say. He continued, "Ya have to have fun every once in a while, or else ya will turn into Leo. Honestly, ya act like an old lady. It's weird. Besides, it was an accident."

"Oh…" Katrina's eyes glazed over. "I… I just remembered something. I have to help the cook make dinner." She stood up and shook her legs. Then, she stuffed her legs into her tights and slipped her feet into her shoes. Katrina moved her hair rapidly, hoping that it wouldn't remain wet for very long.

"Dinner's ages away," Raph told her, getting out of the lake and sitting on its edge.

"We only have one cook," explained Katrina, hurrying away and going towards the school. "And there are a lot of students to feed. It takes a long time, trust me. Don't stay out here for too long, and if you do choose to come here again make sure you are in your room by nine. It's the rules. I will see you another time, Raph!"

He frowned after her, annoyed that she had suddenly needed to go. He would have enjoyed teasing her for a few more minutes. He got up and went after her, feeling hungry. It was only when his hand touched the door handle that he realized what she had said.

"I will see you another time, Raph!"

Feeling slightly pleased, he re-entered the building.

***

"You can sit next to me," said Blossom excitedly, jumping up and down in her seat ecstatically. It was a wonder the floor didn't collapsed underneath her. "And… and we can share notes… do homework together… revise with each other..."

"Charmin'," said Raph, drumming his hands against the table. "I can't wait."

He had explored the school for an hour or two, trying to memorize where everything was. After a while, he had come across the lunch hall, where dinner was beginning to be served. He had chosen his meal and had sat down at a deserted table when Blossom and Foxglove had entered the room together. He had tried not to draw attention to himself, but Blossom had a built-in 'Raph-radar' or something similar to one, because she had spotted him immediately.

Apparently, their teacher had told the class that Raph would be joining their class tomorrow. If Raph hadn't been told, he would have guessed that Blossom had passed thirteen exams with full marks, she was so happy.

"We can be study buddies!" Blossom's eyes widened at the thought. She giggled, rocking her head back and forth slightly. Foxglove sipped her coffee, cocking an eyebrow. A robin hybrid was staring at Blossom, a confused look on her face. Raph looked away, hoping that she wouldn't recognize him as the 'boy that went into the girl's bathroom by accident'.

"She hasn't had her medicine," said Foxglove quickly. The robin hybrid shrugged her shoulders and walked away, sitting at a table that was full of people. Foxglove sighed, looking longingly at them. She would have rather been there than with the company she was with now. She was about to go join them when Fang and Charles sat at their table. Foxglove pretended that she had only been stretching, before straightening up and sitting at the table properly.

"We couldn't help overhearing that you are starting lessons here tomorrow," commented Fang, his eyes firmly on the red clad turtle.

"I bet ya couldn't," replied Raph, looking at Blossom. He wouldn't have been surprised if the whole school had overheard their rather one sided conversation.

Blossom smiled at him, laughing nervously. "I can't help it. I'm just so excited. You will love the lessons, believe me. We learn so much and-"

"Hey." Fang nodded at her. "Go get me some food. I forgot to get some when I sat down."

"Oh," Blossom's face faltered, but she was smiling again and soon on her feet. "Okay. Do you want me to get what you usually have? Or do you want to have something you've never tried before?"

"Yeah sure whatever," Fang shooed her away. As soon as Blossom was out of sight, he nodded at Raph. "Like I was saying... As you're starting lessons with us tomorrow, I thought that we could celebrate."

"Celebrate?" repeated Raph, not seeing what there was to celebrate about starting school. He would have thought that they should do the exact opposite.

Fang grinned at his expression. "Yeah… tomorrow night. Straight after dinner, we're going to go outside and have a little party. It'll be fun, believe me. Of course, you have to be there." He laughed. "Or else we can't really celebrate it, if you know what I mean. Can I count on you being there?"

"Lemme check my social calendar," retorted Raph sardonically. "Yeah, I don't have any other plans." He looked over at Blossom, who was humming as she chose various foods for her friend. He furrowed his brow and turned back to Fang. "Ya had ta tell me this without her nearby because…?"

Fang chuckled, thinking that Raph wasn't being serious when he had asked that question. He caught Raph's eye and saw that he wasn't joking. The wolf hybrid frowned. "You can't be serious, Raphael. She would completely ruin it. It's better if she doesn't come, trust me."

"She'd insist on playing pass the parcel and giving out party bags," piped up Charles, causing Fang and Foxglove to laugh harshly. Blossom returned with the food, laughing as well, despite the fact that she most likely had no idea what she was laughing about.

Raph felt his blood boil. The Human Hybrids were isolated from normal civilisation, and they were making Blossom more of an outcast than she already was. Granted, he found her annoying, but then again he found most of his family irritating at times. That didn't mean he ignored them. Besides, excluding Katrina, Blossom was probably the only other creature there that actually seemed like a nice person. She chatted happily, not noticing that no one else was taking her seriously.

Raph ate his food purposely slowly, letting Charles and Fang finish way before him. When they departed from the table, Foxglove did too and tagged along behind them. This left only Raph and Blossom, who had stayed at the table waiting for her friend loyally.

"Hey Blossom," Raph said, finishing his last spoonful of carrots.

"Yes Raphael?"

"Are ya busy tomorrow night?"

I think that this version of Lord Warumagi´s school for mutant hybrids is better than the other one you wrote. Poor Blossom. She´s also a mutant but she´s still an outcast. Keep writing! I wanna know what happens next!

It's definitely better. XD My writing skills took a massive jump of improvement after writing the first version.

Thank you!

The alarm went off.

Raphael groaned, slowly sitting up. He had no idea what time it was, and for a moment he had no idea why he needed to get up so early. After rubbing his eyes and stretching his arms, he remembered that today was the day that he started lessons with the students. He didn't think 'other students' because he refused to think of himself as one. He was only there until a new teleporter was made. Then, he would be out of the school and back home with family. He got out of bed before pulling a face at the shrill ringing of the alarm clock.

Raph blinked. There hadn't been an alarm clock when he had gone to bed the previous night.

He shook his head, trying not to be freaked out by the fact someone had gone into his room and put an alarm clock there… while he had been sleeping. Hadn't it been only the morning before that Charles had been in his room, waiting for him to wake up? He hoped it wasn't common for random people to go into people's room while they weren't awake.

He found the alarm clock on the table, sitting beside a piece of paper that was folded in half four times. Next to it was a small note. Raph picked up the note first and read it.

Raph

I delivered your letter to your family. Also I have left you a map of the school, so you aren't late for your lessons.

Katrina

PS One of the students, Blossom, found me and insisted that I give you this alarm clock.

Raph shook his head, grinning, before taking out one of his sai and stabbing the clock with it. Then, he twirled it and put his weapon back into his belt, before taking the map off the table and reading it.

A large red cross told him where his room was, and a small trail of red spots showed him the way to a large room. Also, there was a small sequence of blue spots that led to a room that was roughly the same size as the room the red dots led to. The last set of dots was green and led to a small room that was a fair distance away from the other two rooms. He didn't know where any of them led to, but he decided that he may as well find out. He held it to his face and left the room, trying to figure out which he should follow.

He wanted to go to the lunch hall and have breakfast. He assumed that one of the big rooms was the lunch hall, but he didn't know which one was that. Obviously Katrina had marked the three rooms with a reason in mind. He just wished that she had explained the reason to him, instead of leaving him to guess.

It certainly wasn't the smallest room. If it was then Raph would have to go right upon leaving his room, however he was sure that he had gone left the previous days. The two bigger rooms both required him to go left, so he figured that going that way would be a safe choice.

Raph, having followed maps plenty of times before, walked quickly from corridor to corridor, bumping into students without a second thought. Some of them shrugged it off, while some called after him angrily. This was the only thing that caused Raph to stop and talk back to them rather snappily.

He came across the room that was marked with a giant red spot on the map and looked up. He grinned, looking around the large lunch hall. He had reached it on his first guess. He lifted his chin slightly, proud of himself. He was so pleased that he didn't say anything when he sat down with Blossom and Foxglove. The fox hybrid was complaining about something, but he couldn't care less about what it was. He thought that women tended to complain about anything and everything. That was what Casey had told him.

"I swear that Raven is trying to get it on with Fang," whined Foxglove, slamming her spoon into her bowl of bran flakes. She created a mini milk explosion, soaking the table cloak around her bowl. She gritted her teeth before continuing, "She joined all the sport's teams and like, fusses whenever he's nearby. She isn't even any good at sports. She's an attention seeking brat."

"Oh she's not that bad," said Blossom brightly, chewing on her toast with a smile on her face. "Besides, you know that Fang hates her. At hockey practice he never passes to her or anything."

Foxglove leant closer, her eyes shining madly, "What if that's because he doesn't want to draw attention to her? If he passed to her all the time then people would suspect things."

Raph thought to himself how stupid the conversation was. He glanced over his shoulder, hoping that no one thought that he was part of it. He turned back and began to eat his breakfast, zoning out of the scene.

Warumagi had said to him that he was starting lessons that day. He didn't know whether he was supposed to get a timetable or a description of where he was meant to be and when. He looked back down at the map. It was possible that his classroom was one of the other labelled rooms, but he couldn't be sure. Even if this was true, he didn't know whether it was the large or small room.

He didn't notice Blossom rest her head on his shoulder until she said, "What have you got there?"

Raph jumped, knocking her chin by accident. He hadn't realized that the two girls had stopped talking. He shrugged, feeling guilty as she rubbed the bottom of her head. "It's… it's just a map of the school. I still don't know my way around…" He blinked. "Did I hurt ya?"

"No!" Blossom's face flushed. "No, of course not. You just… surprised me, that's all."

Foxglove leant over the table to look at his piece of paper. She pointed at the larger room. "That's where we have our lessons."

"Oh," Raph was surprised that she had actually helped him without being asked or bribed to. He pointed at the smaller room. "What's this then?"

"Nothing special," Foxglove sat in her seat properly. "It's… it's a bathroom. They're everywhere around the school… I can't see why it's marked. Just ignore it."

There was an edge to her voice that caught Raph's attention. He peered at her, observing the slight worry present on her face. He was about to chuckle when he caught it in his throat at the last moment. If she knew that he knew she looked suspicious then she would get suspicious of him. It was clear that she didn't want him to go to that room, which meant that he was going to go there as soon as he could.

After he finished his breakfast, he left the room with Blossom. She told him excitedly about the lesson they were about to have- maths. Raph exhaled slowly when he heard this. He didn't do maths. Back at home, Don did all the maths they could ever need. Blossom mistook his reaction as one of pleasure and talked about pi. She said the word so much that it made him hungry, even though he had just eaten.

They went through a pair of large doors and entered the lecturing hall. On one side of the room was a giant stage; while on the other was a series of desks. Blossom grabbed hold of his hand and dragged him up a small flight of stairs. His examined the hall as he went upwards. On either side of him were rows and rows of desks and chairs, getting higher and higher up as they got closer to the back wall. They stopped going up and went down one of the rows. They weren't near the back, but they weren't close to the front.

"Here is your desk, Raphael," beamed Blossom, sitting down behind one of them and patting the chair next to hers. "I asked Wol if you could sit next to me and he said yes! We can work together on the problems. Isn't that great?"

"It'll be the highlight of my life," Raph told her, plonking himself next to her.

"I know! Lessons are so fun," she beamed. "Did you see the alarm clock I asked the servant to put in your room?"

"Yeah…" Raph coughed. "I kinda broke it though. Sorry."

She giggled. "Oh… it doesn't matter! There are tonnes of them in the storage closet."

She rested her handbag on her knees and dipped her hand into it, searching for something. Raph rolled his eyes, drumming his fingers on the top of his desk. After a minute of shuffling, she smiled before lifting out two notebooks and a handful of black biros.

Blossom passed him a pen and a notebook. "Here you go. Now you can take some notes so you can revise from them later."

He took them silently, putting them down on his desk. Blossom was talking about some test they had to do at some point, but he wasn't really paying attention. After thinking about that morning and the oncoming day, he realized that she was still chatting happily.

"Ya comin' to dat party later, right?" interrupted Raph. He didn't want to hear the word 'test' and 'fail' for a long, long time.

Blossom nodded slowly. "Yeah. But are you sure I'm allowed to come? I wasn't invited."

"Yer comin' with me," he jerked his thumb towards his chest, smirking, "I'm allowed ta brin' who I want to this party, and I wanna brin' you."

"Oh," Blossom said, "So I'm like your date, huh?"

If Raph had been drinking something, all the contents of his mouth would have spilled out. He shook his head furiously. "Of course not. Yer just my friend… and I felt sorry for ya, 'cos none of the others like ya."

"They do like me," Blossom told him, her voice wobbling slightly. "How would you know what they think about me? You're not a mind reader."

"Ya don't need to be," snapped Raph, refusing to back down now. "Can't ya see how they take advantage of ya? How they think yer a nerd? They don't like ya as a friend. The only reason they hang out with ya is 'cause ya do stuff for them."

The door to the hall opened and a group of students walked in. Blossom stood up, looking furious for the first time he had met her. Raph looked up at her, wondering what was going to happen. It was hard to predict things if the thing had never happened before.

"You're wrong Raphael," she said, the wobble in her voice plainly obvious. "I do have friends. Don't expect me to come to your party. You… you can take one of your REAL friends."

Her hand smacked his cheek, and she stormed off before he could figure out what was happening. Raph rubbed his face, enraged and confused. He couldn't see how he had upset her. All he had done was point out the obvious. He invited her to a stupid party and she had shown her gratitude by slapping him. Shell, women were very strange creatures.

The students who were in the hall were looking at him, nudging each other and whispering. He glared down at them, daring them to say something to his face. One look at him made them fall silent and sit down, their heads facing forwards completely. Satisfied that they wouldn't turn around to peer up at him, he dared to glance at Blossom. Unfortunately, the room was nearly full by now and he couldn't find her.

He groaned, dropping his face onto the desk. He would have to apologize, and he knew that he was rubbish at doing that. It was like asking Hun to give back the money he had just stolen. They just didn't go together.

He heard someone sit down next to him. He raised his head, hoping it was Blossom. He would have preferred to apologize to her sooner rather than later. To his disappointment, it was Fang. There wasn't a spare seat next to the wolf hybrid, because Charles had taken it, so a disgruntled Foxglove had to make to with sitting next to Raph on his other side. He glowered at her, showing her that he didn't want to sit next to her any more than she did him.

He put his face back down on the desk.

"I think he's dead," commented Charles. "First dibs on his gardening forks."

"Nah, he's twitching slightly," said Fang, rolling his eyes.

Raph sat up. Foxglove elbowed him. "Oi, Raphael, why the heck were you slouching like that?"

He would have ignored her anyway, even if a short owl hybrid hadn't walked in. He was short, probably only just reaching Raph's elbows height-wise, with large brown spectacles that magnified his tiny eyes. He ruffled his wings, bobbing up and down as he walked onto the stage. He stood facing the larger, more populated crowd of Human Hybrids. Everyone fell silent as soon as they caught sight of him, facing away from their peers and watching the small figure.

It was a kind of power that you couldn't see with your eyes.

"Good morning, class."

"Good morning Mr Wol," everyone except Raph chanted.

"Today, you will be learning about Pi. Now, Pi is an irrational number you will often see in relation to circles…"

Raph zoned out and began doodling on the first page of his notebook. Everyone else was writing furiously in a mad frenzy, but he wasn't the one to follow what everyone else was doing. He drew a crude stickturtle (for he wasn't the best artist in the world) that was beating up a bunch of stickmen. He hoped that there were physical lessons, and not just theoretical-sit-on-your-~ Censored ~-all-day lessons.

He didn't know how long he was there for, but by the time the bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson, he had made a short comic about him fighting a bunch of people he was annoyed with, filling up a total of fifteen pages. He stood up with the rest of the class, looking around for Blossom. He wasn't certain if he was meant to keep the notebook and pen or not.

"What's the matter?" asked Foxglove, pulling him back.

He growled. He had just picked out Blossom amongst the sea of students, and now he couldn't see her. Raph turned to Foxglove angrily, hoping for her sake that it was important.

"Did you fall out with Blossom?" she asked curiously.

"Nosy, aren't you?" remarked Raph. He could have stormed away, but his path was blocked by a thick clump of students. Deciding not to push past them, he refocused on Foxglove.

Fang and Charles, not caring about their conversation, joined the stream of people departing from the hall.

Foxglove grinned darkly. "Maybe. So, have you? Usually she's attached to your side with glue."

"She got upset 'cos I told her that she ain't got any friends," shrugged Raph. Now that they were the only students left in the room, he crossed the aisle and descended down the stairs to leave the hall.

Foxglove jogged after him. "Wow, Mr Put-it-Gently, you really outdid yourself."

"Shut up," growled Raph. He knew that he had been blunt. He didn't need to be reminded. "If she had friends in the first place, then I would never have said it. It's yer fault as much as mine."

"Don't pass the blame onto me," said Foxglove, irritated, "She was all fine being a friendless loser before. You were the one that upset her about it."

"Ya gave her somethin' to be upset about."

"But you were the one who made her upset about it."

"What, am I talking to a brick wall or somethin'?"

Raph raised his arms, thundering away from her. Foxglove reddened and started to say something in response, but she faltered out after a few words of each sentence. She sighed, leaving the hall with her hands in her pockets.

When the door shut behind her, Blossom dropped to her knees and sobbed quietly.

***

"And I feel bad, ya know?" said Raph, lying on his plastron in the grass. The afternoon sun beat down on his skin, making it require much more effort to move than usual. He wiggled slightly, the blades of grass tickling his bare skin.

"I know," said Katrina.

Raph had skipped out on lunch, using his map to find his way out of the building. He had been following the green spots on his map, but he had found the door from before on the way and had chosen to go outside instead. There, he had found Katrina near the lake. She had told him that Warumagi was doing 'important' business in his office, and she had been given the afternoon off.

Raph groaned, lifting his body up a bit so he could stare across the lake. "I can't help it. I don't try and be horrible, but it just happens. I never say thin's right. I never do thin's right. Everythin' just comes out wron' for me."

"You shouldn't be so down on yourself Raph," replied Katrina, patting his arm gingerly. "You're not wrong. I'm sure you'll be friends with Blossom again very soon."

"Whatever," shrugged Raph. He didn't really have a knack for making friends. Sure, he had a few, but they weren't necessarily his special friends.

Casey was a close friend, but they were close friends because of their tempers; something that prevented him from getting close to other people. Angel had been a good friend of his too, but she had moved away a while ago.

Sometimes his family thought he liked being angry. He had heard Leonardo say that many times to Master Splinter, and Michelangelo had copied his eldest brother and had said it too. In fact, even Donatello muttered it under his breath when Raph broke something he had spent a lot of time working on. Raph sighed. He couldn't help being angry. If he had his way, he would compress the emotion and lock it away.

"You could try and say sorry," suggested Katrina.

"I ain't the sort of person who does dat."

"Then maybe you should become that sort of person."

Raph glared at her before bursting out laughing. He ruffled her hair. "I like ya kid."

"I'm not a kid," Katrina told him, offended.

Raph chuckled, much happier than he was before. Katrina reminded him an awful lot of Leo: annoying as shell, but annoyingly honest.

"Yeah ya are, Katrina. Be a kid while ya still can. Don't try and grow up too quickly or somethin'."

Katrina glared at him, but there was slight approval hidden in her eyes.

They stared up at the sky with one another. After a short silence, Katrina murmured, "Raph?"

"Yeah?"

She smiled. "Call me Kitty."

***

It was a long afternoon. He had had another lesson after lunch, in which he was supposed to be read a book about a group of rabbits that left their home because one of them had a weird vision. As for what else happened in the first three hours of the book he didn't know, because he thumb wrestled Fang through most of it, occasionally hearing little snippets while he waited for Fang to stop basking in his own victory.

Raph had won for the one hundred and fifth time when the bell rang, signalling that the class had ended. He let Charles pass him when he saw Blossom talking to Wol on the stage. Her back was to him, which he was glad for because then he could catch up to her without her running away. He approached the stage quietly, one of the only two students in the room now.

"Yes Raphael?" said Wol, noticing him when he had only gotten halfway down the stairs. Blossom turned to him, surprisingly calm. In fact, she was grinning slightly at him.

He paused, blinking a bit. Did he have some food stuck between his teeth? He felt around his teeth with his tongue behind his closed mouth. He couldn't feel anything that shouldn't be there.

"I… I was just waitin' for Blossom…" mumbled Raph, not able to come up with an excuse.

"Oh, okay," Blossom waved at Wol, before descending off the stage and waiting for Raph on the ground. He finished walking down the stairs and the two left the room together.

They weren't due to have dinner for another three hours or so, and Raph didn't know what they were supposed to do now. He wouldn't know what to do with Blossom at any time of the day, after the incident that morning. He sighed, telling himself to say sorry or else he would have to kick himself later.

He opened his mouth to talk, but Blossom cut in before he could even say one word. "Don't. Please."

Raph was irritated. He hadn't said anything. "What?"

"You're going to say sorry for earlier," said Blossom, "And I don't want you too. I want to say sorry for slapping you in class this morning. I shouldn't have gotten so upset. You're right; I don't have any friends."

Raph shifted his weight from his right foot to his left, feeling uncomfortable. The fact that it was her stating this fact made him feel awkward. He coughed. "I… I didn't mean it. Yer my friend. I... I dunno what came over me."

"Really?"

"Sure," said Raph slowly. She sounded too happy for it to be natural.

"Oh Raphael!" Blossom gave him a giant hug, forcing the air out of his body in a sudden gasp. "You don't know how great I feel. I've never had a real friend before now. "

"Need air…" he choked, still being ignored by Blossom. He gulped, before tapping her on the back of her arm. She lessened her grip, looking at him curiously.

"Screw the party Blossom," he said, "We'll have our own one."

Foxglove rounded the corner, her timing awfully accurate. She put her hands on her hips, raising her eyebrows. "Did I just hear you say that you're not going to your own party?"

Raph nodded.

Her eyes glittered. She looked as though Christmas had come early. "Ooh… wait 'til Fang hears this. You… are cancelling HIS plans… wow."

Raph couldn't care less. He turned to Blossom, paying no more attention to the fox hybrid. "Hey, is there a trainin' hall here or somethin'? I could do with letting off some steam."

"Yeah, come on!" the pair ran off, leaving Foxglove by herself.

***

I find it strange, that on ff.net this isn't getting many reviews. :/ I'm not complaining, it's just my other stuff have, and this hasn't. I must be losing my touch. OTL

Livi you´re NOT losing your touch. Don´t ever say, think or write that. You´re an amazing writer.
This chapter was great and it was really cute.

I love it! sorry I can't review on ff.net at the moment, it's down over here cause it's getting updated or something :/

Don't stress it you two. XD I still have a lot of room for improvement, but I'm getting better. If you can't review, don't push yourselves and try to. I'm not in it for the reviews.

Thanks. <3

Coolest letters ever! I hope you write another chapter soon!

Thank you

Raphael yawned, sitting up in his bed. He rubbed his half-closed eyes, before widening them when his room began to scream at him. He jumped slightly, looking at the end table.

There, sitting on it like a queen sits on a throne, was an alarm clock. He smirked, getting out his sai and throwing it at the screeching object. It shattered, its pieces exploding and shooting off everywhere.

It was the sixth alarm clock he had broken. Blossom would run out of them eventually. Or, she would stop telling Katrina to put them in his room.

Raph got out of bed. The alarm clock was annoying, but it did a good job waking him up in the morning. He was practically wide awake now. He put on his elbow and kneepads, before tying his red mask around his eyes. It was Saturday, and he didn't have any lessons.

It was a good thing because he didn't exactly enjoy them. He did try to understand what Wol was saying, he really did. However, he couldn't comprehend many of the things he was being taught. Wol talked about things that were based on material the students had learned about before he had joined, and Wol didn't look as though he was going to go over these things. The students had the notes that they had written in previous lessons to revise from, but Raph didn't own any. Blossom did take the courtesy of rewriting some for him and sharing her earlier notes, but the sheer amount of them deterred him.

The only lesson he did enjoy was the practical lessons, because he was he was good at them. No one could run as fast as him. No one could lift as many weights as him. No one could beat his record on the obstacle course, which he had set only after two attempts. The lessons reminded him of home and it annoyed him that there was only a two hour lesson each week.

His athletic ability had made him more popular, and he had various team captains go up to him and demand him to be on their team. He had said no to each and every one of them. Lessons were bad enough. He didn't want to do any more for the school than he had to. He wasn't much of a sports person anyway… unless fighting counted as a sport.

Raph went to have his breakfast. He didn't bring the map with him, because he didn't particularly need it anymore. He had learned the way there off by heart, having walked that way for the past two and a half weeks or so.

There were only a handful of students in the lunch hall, because most of them liked sleeping in. Blossom was at one of the tables, eating her breakfast at an otherwise empty table. Raph went to get his food before sitting next to her. She smiled, not looking up.

"Hi Raphael," she said. "I knew it was you."

"Really? How?"

"Because who else would come and eat with me?" she rolled her eyes, eating some more food.

"Oh. Right," said Raph, feeling uncomfortable. He didn't like how accepting Blossom was of her unpopularity.

"Hey, Raphael, after breakfast do you want to go to the library with me?"

Raph looked at her. "I didn't know we had any homework."

Then again, it wasn't as if he had been paying attention in their last lesson. He had been playing 'tic tac toe' with Charles.

"We do, but no. That isn't my reason. It's not so we can do some homework." Blossom giggled. "I want to do some research about… dreams."

"Oh." Raph frowned, the thought of studying needlessly not appealing to him. He had something that he wanted to do that day, and going to the library certainly wasn't what he had in mind.

He had gone to the library with Blossom before, so he knew that he thinking it dull and pointless was justified. It was a giant room crammed with shelf after shelf of fat heavy books: books that were old, older and so old dust flew out of them when he brushed past them gently. There were a few desks to sit down and work at, which was easy enough because the room was so empty and devoid of life. The thing he didn't like, or rather the person he didn't like, was the librarian. She was either very well respected because there was rarely any sound in there, or hardly anyone ever went there because she was so ugly and nasty.

He didn't know her name; shell, he doubted that anyone knew her name. Blossom had just referred to her as 'the librarian'. She was a lizard… well, he thought she was one. She was so shrivelled up that he wasn't sure what she was supposed to be. She walked very slowly, doubled over, continuously ambling by him and Blossom so she could see what they were doing. Every single time he had said even one word, she had appeared out of nowhere to tell him off like he was a three year old who had done something naughty.

"Yeah…" Raph shook his head, rejecting her offer. "I'll catch up to ya at lunch. I have somethin' to do."

Blossom smiled. "I can come with you. I don't need to my research now."

He sighed. He liked her, he really did. A part of Raph wanted to say 'yes' and let her come with him, but most of him firmly didn't want her to accompany him. He wasn't sure that the goody two-shoes would approve of exploring the school. Besides, where he wanted to go, he really wanted to go by himself.

"No thanks." Raph stood up, picking up his tray. "I need to do somethin'… secret."

Blossom nodded enthusiastically, acting like she knew what Raph was doing. She got up with him, and they put their trays in a pile on the table near the kitchen. He grinned, finding it funny how she didn't ask him what secret thing he wanted to do. She skipped off through one of the doors. As soon as it closed behind her, he headed through a different door and made his way back to his room.

He opened the door and saw that his map was just where he had left it. He picked it up and studied it closely. He knew the places he usually went to off by heart, but there were some rooms in the school that he didn't know about.

Like the one on the map that had the green cross in it.

He had wanted to see what it contained since he had gotten the map, but he had never found a good enough time to do so. Blossom kept following him around, so he wouldn't have been able to go without her coming. When she wasn't with him, Fang and Foxglove were hanging around him. He had thought the pair would dislike him for ruining the party Fang had organized for him some time ago, but instead it had made Fang respect him more. He wasn't positive how that worked, but he put it down to the fact that Fang didn't usually get blown off like that, and Fang admired him because of this. And if Fang forgave him, then it meant that Foxglove had to pretend to.

She was his major interference. When Fang was too busy (or so he told her) to hang out with her, she went to be with Raph instead. He wouldn't have minded her company if she wasn't so annoying. She was offended that Raph had spoiled the party Fang had wanted to throw for him, but he wasn't sure that was the real reason for her behaviour. Whenever he went in the direction of the marked room, she followed him so that he couldn't. It was like she knew where he was going and didn't want him to go there.

He would have asked Katrina what the room contained, but he rarely saw her now. She was always rushing about, doing various jobs for her master. When she wasn't working, she was sitting by the lake, resting. Raph didn't ask her then, because he either forgot to or didn't want to disturb her. Also, she barely listened to him because she had taken to trying to learn to fight. Raph had once lent her his sai because she had asked what they were, and she had wanted, since then, to use other weapons. Raph had managed to get some out of the weapons cupboard in the dojo, and she had fallen in love with a set of swords. She wasn't allowed to use them, so she had had to make do with a pair of sticks. He had spent one or two few evenings trying to help her use them near the lake. He wasn't the best swordsman or teacher he knew, but she had gotten the gist of using them.

The only times he could confront her about the room was when she was with Warumagi, but Raph didn't want to ask her in front of him.

Warumagi had also distanced himself from the turtle. He hadn't spoken to Raph since their meeting in his office, and Raph only heard him talk once a week when he read the announcements. This didn't really bother the turtle, because he couldn't care less about the headmaster. The man was obviously too busy to talk to one particular student.

Raph slipped out of his room and began walking in the direction of the marked room. He didn't pay too much attention to his surroundings. Occasionally he went past a pair of students. He didn't greet them, and the students didn't greet him. They had gotten over the novelty of a new student and now treated him like he had been there for years. Raph was glad of this. He hated being treated differently. It made him feel like there was something wrong with him.

After a while he slowed down his pace, eventually stopping in front of the door that belonged to the marked room. He looked at the map, before transferring his gaze to the door. He blinked, looking back down at the map, wondering whether he had taken a wrong turning. He was sure he had followed it carefully. He didn't know how he could have ended up where he was.

'Keep closed or face expulsion'.

Raph shook his head, puzzled. Katrina must have known that he had been there before. He couldn't think of any other reason that would compel her to mark the room on his map. It also meant that she wanted him to go there. He scratched his head. There was a severe punishment waiting for those who got caught in the room… yet she wanted him to go there? It didn't make sense, but nothing there made much sense so he figured that it didn't matter.

What did bother him was that Foxglove hadn't wanted him to go there.

Did that mean that she knew he had been there? If that was true, then it also meant that she knew what the room was.

He didn't understand why she didn't want him to go there. She would have loved it if he got in big trouble with Warumagi. She didn't want him to go there not because of what it was… but because of what it contained.

Raph pushed the door open and stepped inside, making sure that it shut after him. The room was just like he remembered; it was dusty, old and seemingly untouched. He went to the bookcase and began searching it for the diary.

"Stupid thin'…" he mumbled, shivering whenever he felt his hand brush over a cobweb. He hoped there weren't any spiders in there. He wasn't afraid of them; they just unnerved him a bit.

He found the diary, pulled it out and opened it at a random page. Dozens of ripped up pieces of paper showered down, spreading across the floor like a second layer of dust. He gaped at it, trying to apprehend what was happening.

"What the shell?" he bent down and picked up some of the scraps. Many of them were so small they slipped through the gaps between his fingers. He dropped the bits of paper and examined the cover of the diary.

A few of the pages remained, but unfortunately they were the ones that he had already read. He groaned, throwing the book at a wall angrily. The one thing that had made him curious about the room… had been ripped up.

He returned the diary to the bookcase, before picking the paper off the ground. There were too many for him to try and piece them back together, so he figured he would just get rid of them. After he had put away the diary, he stamped his foot. He had a good idea who had ripped it, and he planned on finding her and demanding why, though he had a rough idea why she did it.

Because it had something important written in it; something she didn't want him to read.

He went towards the door, clenching his fists. Suddenly, something wooden hit his face, sending him backwards. His elbow slammed into something, and he heard a loud crack. He spun around and saw what had made the crack sound.

The vanity's mirror was disfigured by the fracture that was now in it. Raph gulped, turning around to see who had caught him. He sighed in relief at the person at the door. "Kitty… Ya scared me for a moment."

She ignored him, her eyes falling onto the broken vanity. She pointed at it questioningly.

"Oh dat…" Raph chuckled. "Ya took me by surprise. I'm sure Warumagi won't notice. I mean, it's not like he comes here…" He furrowed his brow. "Why are you here?"

"I thought you would be here," said Katrina, walking over to him. "I saw you come here a few weeks ago and thought that you might come here again. It's a very unusual room, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Raph found himself staring around the room, reminding himself why it was so unusual. It was the room of a dead person. That fact still freaked him out a bit.

"It used to be their bedroom before she died," explained Katrina. She didn't need to say the name of the owner in order for him to understand. "After her death, he couldn't bear to sleep here. His new sleeping quarters are on the other side of the school."

"Hey… Kitty…" said Raph. "I know ya said dat ya don't know how she died… but did ya ever meet her?"

Katrina shook her head. "She died long before the Lord found me. Now come, Raph, we should go before the Lord catches us."

Raph followed her out. He didn't have any other use for the room if the diary was unreadable. Thinking about this reminded him to go confront Foxglove. He had a suspicion that she had destroyed it, and he wanted to find out why.

"So…" He tried to not look at the paintings on the walls. "Uh… Warumagi found ya?"

"A few years ago." She bent her head, her eyes misting over slightly. "I… don't remember much, but he found me abandoned in a field. My life after that and before meeting you would take far too long to explain. The Lord came across me when I was eleven, so I've only been here for about three years."

They continued walking in silence. When they reached the lunch hall, which was full of students eating their breakfast, she scuttled away. Raph stared after her as she disappeared into another corridor. He thought that it was because she was embarrassed by his company. He didn't see why she would be, because he thought of himself as pretty popular here.

An example of his popularity made itself present. Fang saw him enter the room and left the table he was sitting at to greet him. Foxglove crossed her arms, snarling quietly. Raph glared back at her, remembering the diary that had been turned into confetti.

Fang went with him to get some food, despite the fact that Raph insisted he had already eaten. While they were waiting in the line, Fang nudged him.

"Raphael, have you… ever had a girlfriend before?"

Raph stared at him. He hadn't expected him to bring that up randomly. He shrugged. "Kinda."

"Oh?"

"There was this chick called Joi," he told Fang. "I met her at this… club."

Fang grinned. "I thought it'd be hard for a creature like you to get a girlfriend. She's human, right?"

"Right."

"Nice," chortled Fang. Raph couldn't help but think that he thought a non-human loving a human was funny. Raph scratched his chin. He hadn't really put much thought into the subject before. He didn't want to debate whether it was ethical, gross or cute, so he pointed the subject away from him.

"Why are ya askin'? Got a special someone in mind?" Raph smirked, motioning with his eyes at Foxglove. She was eating her cereal, talking to Charles.

Fang noticed this and rolled his eyes, irritated. "Pur-lease. I'd rather go out with the servant. She probably has a personality."

Raph blinked before realizing he was referring to Katrina.

Fang pressed on. "I wanted to ask you… I need your… your…"

"Help?"

He nodded. "Yeah, that word. See, Foxglove keeps hinting that we should get together. Only I don't want to get together with her. She's pretty, I'll give her that. It's just she doesn't have much else to her. She just pretends to be all tough and mean 'cos she thinks I like that sort of thing. She's like… adapting herself in an attempt to appeal me."

"Doesn't she?"

"Believe it or not, I have standards," he told him stiffly.

"Okay…" Raph wondered why Fang was telling him this.

Fang rubbed his hands together as Raph reached the front of the line and began to put some food on his tray. "This is where you come in."

"I ain't datin' her for ya."

Fang laughed. "I'm not that cruel! No... You said you had a girlfriend, right?"

"Not exactly. See, we were gonna get together but…"

This made Fang even more pleased.

"Perfect! So, what did you do so you didn't get together?"

"Hm…" Raph furrowed his brow. "We just got distant. Went our separate ways."

"So… you're saying that I should avoid Foxglove until she loses interest in me?"

Raph didn't remember saying that, but Fang was impressed at this piece of advice so he just nodded.

"Cool." Fang grinned as he and Raph went to find a place to sit down at. "Hey, how about we sit at that table over there?" He pointed. "There ain't enough room for Foxglove to sit there with us."

"Sure, but I just wanna tell her somethin'," said Raph. "I'll join ya in a moment."

Fang shrugged and went over to the table. Raph grinned at his retreating back. He liked how little questions Fang asked about his actions. They were going to get on very well. It was a nice change from living with his nosy family.

Family… Raph blinked. He wondered what they were doing right now. Leonardo would have already eaten his breakfast by now. Was he meditating, or was he watching the news? Was Michelangelo eating his breakfast, or was he still in bed? Was Donatello in his lab, or was he watching the news as well? There was something infuriating about not knowing what they were doing. For all he knew, he was completely wrong.

"Are you just going to stand there looking gormless, or have you got a reason as to why you're catching flies with your mouth?" asked Foxglove. Raph had reached her table without him realizing. Charles waved at him, balancing a spoon on his beak. "And where's Fang?"

"He went to eat over there. Charles, he wants ya to go sit with him." Charles followed his outstretched finger and left the table. It didn't appear that Charles asked many questions about what he was told to do either. Now Charles was gone, Foxglove and Raph were alone, staring at each other.

"What do you want," asked Foxglove, "Apart from wanting to annoy me?"

"Ya know that room on the map I had? Ya said it didn't mean anythin'."

"It… it doesn't."

"I've been there and I know what's in it, so lezz not play games," Raph snarled, showing the map to her and poking the room. "Lady Warumagi's diary. Why did ya rip it up?"

Foxglove blinked, confused. "Diary? What diary?"

"Don't play dumb, though I ain't sure whether ya are or if ya always this dumb." Raph slammed his hands onto the table. "Lady Warumagi had a diary in dat room. I found it ripped up so I couldn't read it."

Foxglove cocked an eyebrow. "I didn't know that reading dead people's personal belongings was acceptable."

"Don't try and change the subject. What are ya hidin'?"

"Hiding? Why would I be hiding something?"

Raph laughed sardonically. "Dat's what I want to know. What's in that diary dat's so bad? Why didn't ya want me to read it?"

"How charming; you've jumped to the conclusion that I knew anything about that diary." She got up, slamming her hands onto the table. "I don't know what you're talking about. Okay, I know what's in the room. I admit that .When I was twelve, I went in there because I had nothing better to do. But a diary? I didn't know anything about it, okay?"

"How can I trust ya?" asked Raph. "Yer the only other person who's been in there."

Foxglove's voice was quiet but deadly. "Don't trust me then. You can believe what you want for all I care, but it won't change the truth in any way."

She left the lunch hall, dumping her tray in the bin. Raph groaned, going over to Fang's table.

If she was telling the truth… then who did rip it up?

NEXT TIME: Raph dances.

raph dancing?! *rolls on floor laughing* this I gotta see!

Love it, btw :3

Thank you. Raph doesn't like dancing. ;_;

Raphael was in the dojo, seemingly by himself. The lighting in the room highlighted the creases in the punching bag he was hitting, making it look like it was leering at him. He leaped back and watched it sway, reminded of a metronome. He growled, launching forwards and stabbing it with his sai. Sand spilled onto the floor slowly. He breathed deeply, watching it fall.

It was Monday morning. Before coming here, he had never taken too much notice of the day. He hadn't really needed to. Back home, most of his days had been pretty similar. Get up. Have breakfast. Train. Meditate. Patrol. He had more free time at the weekend than during the week. That's what he split the seven days into. Week and weekend.

Here, it was different. He had certain lessons on various days. None of the days he had during the week were the same. Saturday was a day of relaxation. Sunday was a morning of peace and an evening of undone homework. He knew the days of the week off the top of his head now.

He withdrew his sai, causing more sand to pour out. He watched the leather punching bag collapse into itself, until it was a baggy piece of material hanging from a metal chain. He breathed out slowly, stretching out his arms. He felt better now. A lot better.

"Raphael?"

Raph jumped, turning towards the source of the voice. Blossom was standing at the dojo's entrance, gripping the doorway tightly. He exhaled in relief. She smiled at him, walking in.

"Blossom." He nodded at her. "Yer up early... Shell, I'm up early."

"I know," she replied. "I went to check to see if you'd broken your alarm clock but you weren't in your room, and the clock was still in one piece. I thought you would be in here. Why are you up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep. Why are you up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep either."

"Oh? Why not?"

She giggled, even though he hadn't said a joke or something embarrassing. It sounded like it was forced. "I had a bad dream. It…" She stopped and Raph could see a pained expression on her face.

He gazed at her, concerned. "What happened in it?"

She shook her head, her face scrunching up. "N-Nothing."

"Tell me what happened."

"I-I-I s-said n-nothing."

"And I'm the tooth fairy." He grabbed her shoulders. "What happened?"

He pushed her downwards so she was sitting on the floor. He didn't know what to do. He wasn't used to people falling apart and crying. It made him feel uncomfortable. He settled himself next to her on the floor, not commenting when she leaned her head against his shoulder and covered her face. He waited for her to calm down.

She stopped crying and looked up at him tearfully. "If… If I tell you… Promise… you won't laugh at me. Maybe... you can tell me what it means."

"Geez Blossom, if it's makin' ya act like dat I don't see how it can be funny."

"Okay…" she breathed deeply. "In my dream, I was in this… white corridor. I… don't know why, but everything looked really big. I reached the end… and there was this door. I opened the door… and there was this other room, which I went into… then I was in this dark room. I was scared so I tried to leave… but a m-monster blocked m-my way. I tried to get past it but it… it was like a sh-shadow… It consumed me and I was drowning… I couldn't breathe. I was melting and I… I turned into the shadow."

Raph took it in and let her recover from recalling the dream. He didn't interpret dreams on a regular basis (or at all), but he decided that he should at least give it a shot. "Ya were dreamin'. Ya have to realize that it never happened, 'kay?"

She nodded somewhat reluctantly, like a part of her refused to believe that it meant nothing. "It has to mean something, though."

"Uh… I think… ya dreamed dat… 'cos yer scared." He was making it up for all he was worth. He couldn't just tell her that he didn't know what provoked her to have that dream. It would probably scare her, not knowing anything. "Ya were in a white room… white is like calmness and… knowledge. Yeah. But ya left it and went into the dark… Ya can't see in the dark… so… ya were scared. Then ya became the shadow…" He scratched his chin. "In the white place, ya were comfortable with who ya were bein'… but ya left 'cos… 'cos ya wanted to be somethin' else… only ya weren't, and ya became the shadow… someone else…"

There was silence.

She lifted her head and stared at him. "Wow, Raphael. That was… amazing."

"What?"

"You knew so much about me…" she squeezed her kneecaps. "Some of the stuff you said I haven't told anyone."

"What stuff?"

She looked away sadly. "Just… everything."

He couldn't help but feel proud of himself. If interpreting dreams was so easy, he was tempted to make a hobby out of it. Then he could trick Michelangelo and make Leonardo jealous. Breaking out of his very short daydream, he looked back at Blossom. She still seemed troubled.

He patted her shoulder. "Come on, it ain't like ya to be so down. Yer usually so…" He tried to find a suitable word. "… Happy."

"I can be happy, but sometimes I'm not. I… I just pretend that everything's alright. I'm scared, Raphael. I'm really scared. But if I get scared then everyone will get scared. Someone has to pretend that everything's alright."

"What's there ta be scared of? Isn't everythin' alright?" he asked her.

He was perfectly aware that everything wasn't normal, and that wasn't taking into account the students and the school in the middle of nowhere. There were the paintings on the walls, for starters. He had nothing against mourning deceased loved ones, but he was slightly creeped out by the amount of paintings Warumagi had of his family.

Then, there was Lady Warumagi's room. He could still visualize the diary's pages raining down onto the ground. Whoever had destroyed it knew he had been there and didn't want him to read it.

There were also the students. He had seen some students leave the school, and another would leave in about an hour. He hated how uncaring everyone appeared to be. They said goodbye and never spoke about the graduates again. They rarely queried anything.

'Someone has to pretend that everything's alright.'

"Maybe... I don't know," she lied quietly, staring into nothing.

Raph got to his feet, grabbing Blossom's hands and pulling her up. "When I think the world's against me, and trust me when I say dat I get dat a lot, I find dat takin' it all out physically really helps."

She nodded slowly. "… Physically?"

"Yer smart, don't ya know what dat means?"

"I know what it means… I just don't understand what you mean by it."

"I kinda broke the bag." He jerked his thumb towards the deflated excuse of a punching bag. "So how about I teach ya some moves?"

"I didn't know you danced."

He narrowed his eyes. "I don't dance."

"Everyone can dance, Raphael. Did you know that before this was a dojo, it was a dance studio? The Lord mentioned it once."

He wasn't sure whether she was doing this on purpose, but he decided to play along for now. "I must be an exception. I can't dance. I have two left feet."

"No you don't," she told him. "I can help you dance. Come on."

He started to protest but she grabbed his hands, ignoring him. "One of your hands goes on my shoulder, and the other holds my hand." She moved his hands accordingly. "And my free hand goes onto your shoulder. It would be easier if we had music… do you know what a waltz is?"

"It's ain't some lumps on yer foot, is it?"

She giggled. "Not warts. Waltz. It goes 'one, two three. One, two three'."

"Before we start, can I ask why ya suddenly wanna dance the warts?"

"Waltz. And because, Raphael, it is a very good way of escaping from life. Fighting an inanimate object is all well and dandy, but you don't need to concentrate all that much. It's easy to remember why you're fighting. When you dance, there are the steps you need to focus on... Besides, I really don't like fighting. It would make me feel horrible." She looked at him. "Please, Raphael. Can't we dance for a little bit?"

He groaned. "Fine. Only 'cos it's you. But if any of this gets out I'm gonna… be annoyed."

She rested a finger on her beak and nodded, before placing it back onto his shoulder. "Okay, now we cross our legs."

She crossed her legs. Raph copied her, wobbling slightly.

"Make sure your toes are pointing outwards."

He did so, feeling stupid.

"Now we move our front leg forwards. When you do that, move your arm here and I-"

"Look, Blossom," he said impatiently. "How about we dance my way?"

"You said you didn't da-aance!"

He pulled her along and they spiralled around the room. Raph had no idea what he was doing, and he was sure Blossom didn't know what he was doing either, but they continued going round and round. At one point, she raised her arm and Raph's with it, before letting go of his shoulder and spinning under the arch they had created. Then, she put her hand back onto his shoulder, grinning.

"I'm not gonna be able to top dat, unless ya want me to pick ya up and throw ya in the air," smirked Raph.

"I'd rather you didn't," said Blossom, quickly letting go of him. "See? Wasn't that fun?"

"But we didn't do it properly," Raph told her.

"You can never dance wrong, Raphael," she stated. "Now come on. Let's go get something to eat."

Raph followed her out and they went to the lunch hall. It was nearly full, and by the time they got their food there were only a few spaces left. They spotted two free spaces opposite Fang and a mouse hybrid Raph didn't know the name of. Foxglove was eating a fair distance away, a clear space around her. She ignored the fact that no one wanted to sit near her, looking like she was glad that she was all alone.

Don't feel sorry for her, Raph. She wouldn't be alone if she wasn't such a jerk.

"Hey Raphael." Raph turned to Fang. "I want you to meet Squee."

He patted the mouse hybrid on the shoulder. She giggled.

"Is she new here?" asked Raph.

"Nah, we rarely get any new students. She's been in our class for ages but I've never paid much attention to her before." Fang bared his teeth. "What an idiot I've been, eh?"

Squee giggled.

"Hey, be a doll and get me some water. You know… the clear stuff. And put it in a red cup." He winked at her. This made her giggle again. She got up and went to the serving hatch.

Raph gave Fang a sceptical look. "Doesn't say much, does she?"

Fang shook his head. "Quiet as a mouse… ha ha. I think it's because she doesn't know enough words to form a sentence."

"Yer pretendin' that she's yer girlfriend to make Foxglove lose interest in ya, aren't you?"

Fang leaned back in his chair. "It's that obvious?"

"Yeah."

Blossom stared at him in shock. "You're using Squee to help you get Foxglove off your back? That's… horrible!"

Fang opened his mouth to answer but Lord Warumagi's voice boomed out of the speaker.

"Good morning, everyone. It's time for the weekly announcements. Football club has been cancelled today due to all the footballs mysteriously turning pink and flat over night."

Charles high-fived a lemur hybrid.

"It will be on tomorrow instead, after Charles and Laurence have cleaned them straight after dinner in the sport's hall tonight."

"Real smooth," chuckled Fang, slapping Charles on the back.

"How did he know ya did it?" asked Raph.

Charles shook his head, a forced grin on his face. "Dunno. He has eyes in the back of his head or something."

"Security cameras, probably," Laurence the lemur hybrid piped up.

"There weren't any there. We checked, remember?"

"Maybe we missed one."

"Now it's the moment I'm sure you have been eagerly anticipating. It's time for me to announce who has graduated. This week's lucky Human Hybrid is…"

The same silence as before filled the room.

"Squee!"

"Oh you're kidding me," Fang said, his voice barely audible over the loud cheers. "You have got to be kidding me."

Squee, who had been walking back with a plastic cup of water, jumped and dropped it. Raph stayed where he was with Blossom and Fang as everyone else ran over to her to congratulate her. Squee nodded at everyone wordlessly.

"She'll do her little speech in a minute, if she doesn't just giggle," remarked Fang. "Honestly, I finally find the perfect hybrid to use for my plan and she leaves. Who am I gonna use now? No one's as brainless and stupid as her."

The cheers died down and everyone's eyes fell onto Squee, including Raph's. She gazed around, a broad grin on her face. Everyone smiled back, equally as wide.

"T'ank God," she said in a surprisingly gruff voice. "Ya don't know 'ow lon' I've bin waitin' ta getta way from ya losers. I've bin goin' crazy wit' ya pile of dunces. Now finally I can getta 'ell outta 'ere."

She walked out of the silent lunch hall.

TMNTNMT

"That was… weird," Raph said as they sat down at their desks in the hall. "I didn't see dat comin'."

"She…" Fang's mouth was hanging open. Raph wasn't sure whether it had closed since she had left. "She… Since when was she like… like that?"

Charles cackled darkly. "You sound like you're pining for her."

Fang's mouth shut at that. He glared at him. "Very funny. It's just… she's always so quiet. I didn't know that she was really like THAT. Dang, it would be like going out with Foxglove… dang."

"Don't judge a book by its cover," commented Raph, looking at Blossom. "There's probably more to it than meets the eye."

Foxglove, who was sitting in the row in front of them, turned around. "I couldn't help overhearing your conversation…"

'Bet ya could,' thought Raph.

"… But I totally agree with you," she finished. "First impressions are important, but they're not everything."

Raph was surprised. She… was agreeing with him?

"Someone got out of the right side of bed for once," said Charles, earning himself a few harsh laughs.

"Shut up," Foxglove curled her mouth. Raph relaxed. She wasn't an imposter posing as Foxglove after all. "Anyway, I'm glad she's gone. If she was like that, then it's a good thing she's not here anymore."

"Why do you think she's like that?" asked Blossom. She didn't sound curious, but like she had a point to make.

Foxglove looked at her like she was an idiot. "Um… because she was born that way?"

More laughs echoed around the hall. Foxglove smiled at the attention.

"Maybe it's because she was shy," said Blossom. "Everyone thought she was stupid, but she obviously wasn't if she graduated. She was upset and angry because we all thought she was something she wasn't. It built up and up and up until it escaped through the cracks and… boom! It was all let out. Maybe she would have said something nice if we had treated her nicely."

Fang whistled, impressed.

Wol entered the hall so everyone fell silent. Foxglove glared at her for a few more moments before facing the front.

While Wol talked, Raph ripped a piece of paper out of his notebook (which Blossom gave him to use permanently) and scribbled something onto it. Then, he put it on Blossom's desk and faced the front, trying to listen to Wol talk about something being inversely proportional to something squared.

Blossom picked up the note and read it quickly, smiling.

You owned Foxglove hard

She looked both ways before writing something underneath it. She put it back on Raph's desk and listened to Wol say something about finding the multiplier.

Raph read what she had written, observing how neat and fancy her handwriting was.

Thanks, but I bet she's going to make me regret it.

Raph passed her the note.

If she wants to do that she has to get thru me first

She passed it back.

Ha ha, thanks. But she can be very cunning… like a fox.

Raph passed it back.

She is a fox

She passed it back.

I knew that. So, Raphael, what are you doing after lunch?

Raph passed it back.

We have a practicall lesson, right? That's what I'm doing. And call me Raph

She passed it back.

Okay… Raph. After dinner do you want to go to the dojo and show me some of your moves? And then maybe I can show you some of mine.

Raph read it and chuckled. He wasn't sure whether she had written the innuendo on purpose or not.

"Raphael, Blossom, I hate to interrupt whatever you're doing…" Raph and Blossom looked at Wol, who had his wings on his hips. He had heard Raph's outburst and was frowning heavily. "... But this isn't the time nor the place for this sort of thing. Now give me that note."

Raph read Blossom's last comment again and stuffed the piece of paper into his mouth, before swallowing it. The students burst out laughing, clapping furiously. Foxglove saw Fang guffawing and smiled, forcing herself to giggle at Raph's action.

Wol was the only one who made it clear that he was not amused. "I'm watching you, Raphael. Get back to work please."

He continued the lecture. Raph glowered at him. Blossom ripped out a piece of paper from her notebook discreetly and wrote something down. She passed it to him. Raph waited until Wol had turned around before reading it.

What was so funny? I don't get it… Did I write something funny?

He wrote something on it and passed it back.

I'll… tell you later

Next time: Raph and Foxglove bonding time. ;D This will be... interesting.

Raph has some nice moves! And that part where he swallows the paper´s really funny. RaphXFoxglove....mmm....I don´t see it. XD