Chapter 7 Part 2

Chapter 7 Part 2

“Karai! You came!”

Aprils face somehow brightened from the last time Karai had seen her. That or Karai was still forgetting that most normal humans lived normal lives.With normal families and simple pleasures. They didn’t usually have a reason to be as harsh as the Foot were.

But besides her expression you could probably guess that her life was a train wreck. Her hair was messy, clothes were wrinkled, and her beanie was slightly crooked on her head. Please don’t be doing what I think you’re doing.

“And why wouldn’t I meet up with the news-dork I call friend?” Karai fully entered the dark room, dropping her bag on the nearby chair. The smug look on her face automatically formed without warning nor awareness.

“Hey! I didn’t call you any names when you walked in the room.” April responded placing her hands on her hips in her signature jokingly sarcastic pose.

“You were about to though.” Karai crossed her arms across her chest, leaning over April(whom was slightly shorter) as she narrowed her eyes. “Weren’t you?”

“Mhm. But only cause you fall for it.”

“Oh ho ho. Is that so?”

April straightened up her back and also narrowed her eyes before continuing.

“Yep.” April smacked her lips on the p.

A moment of silence fell between the two before April’s laughter erupted followed by Karai’s chuckles. It was so hard to not smile in the reporter’s presence. Once you got close enough to her.

“Haha! Man I don’t know what that was.” Her laughter slowed as she wiped tears of joy away from beneath her glasses.

Karai wasn’t quite sure either but the comment still made her smile. She hummed as she looked around the dark room. Faint red light tinted every crevice and corner of the room including all of Aprils research. Several empty bulletin boards laid askew on the floor. Few hung on the walls covered in sloppily cut out photos and news articles. Nothing bad yet. Please don’t be doing what I said stop doing.

“What’s up?” April had texted her before but not like this. At least not without a reason. And last time it wasn’t exactly a . . . comfortable experience. For either of them.

April barely held in a squeal, her hair bouncing in time with her body. “Okay! So you know how I may or may not have been researching about TCRI after their whole out of the blue disappearance?”

Damn it

Karai let out a low sigh like the ones she had heard countless times from her father. God how she hated that thought. Her acting like her dad. Her head hung low with her eyes tightly shut. Her mouth was drawn so tight she thought the lightest touch would break it.

“April. . .”

“Well I just found a massive lead. So I traced back to where their usual supply ports were . . .”

April kept on rambling excitedly. Any other subject would have left Karai at least amused by her friend’s enthusiasm. But fear flooded her thoughts.

“April.”

This time her friend heard her. April turned revealing a look of small shock on her face. Karai’s face softened slightly. She couldn’t hurt her feelings. She knew how much April toils over this kind of crap. But she also couldn’t let her walk straight into becoming a target of a super powerful company with enough resources and intelligence to kidnap the president. Or even worse hire their closest partner to do things even worse than death to the unsuspecting teen.

Stuck between the controversy that was her entire life at this point, Karai settled on massaging her forehead and releasing yet another sigh(that’s definitely gonna get old). “Come on girl. We talked about this.”

“Oh! Right.” April looked down disappointment fading onto her face. She rubbed the back of her neck as the look fully set in. With a hint of guilt adding to both of the girls emotional weights.

Great! What have I done now? My last night with the first new friend you’ve made since Jennika and you ruined.

“Maybe . . . I took it as a strong suggestion.” She looked up at Karai guiltily but at least smiling now. Yet again that meant she was trying to get away with this and still wasn’t comprehending how strong of warning Karai had made.

Karai let out a long groan. “April.”

“Oh come on! What’s the worst thing that could happen if I expose a toxic company?! Whom of which hurt some of my closest friends!”

Great! Now she’s mad too.

If Karai could be honest she would read off the entire list of bad things that could be done to the news girl for exposing them. But alas she was not supposed to be Karai the kunochi and double agent. Right now she was Karai the normal teenager. And even as a normal teenager she could not hold back her anger.

“Look. I’m just trying to look out for you. Believe it or not exposing a super powerful group of psychopaths may not help you as much as you’d think.” Karai‘s’s gritted teeth made the comeback sharp and silent but luckily enough to get the point across.

“And I appreciate that! But sitting around doing nothing isn’t how you change things! And that company’s existence is definitely a change that needs to be made ASAP!” April’s volume only grew with her anger. “My friends really need this right now!”

“Who?! The mutant turtles?!” Karai blurted, at this point she didn’t care about temper. Her thoughts had been straining against the barriers in her mind for too long. Especially in front of someone she thought she could down those barriers upon feeling her presence. “Why do they matter in this argument?!”

“What is up with you?! And why are saying it like that?!” April backed away slightly as if she was the one being insulted.“Yes they’re mutant turtles! So what?! They’re my friends and they need help! I would do the same for you!”

Karai wanted to puke.

A deathly silence fe over the room. Adding to the choking thickness of the sea of shock and regret she had plunged under.

She never seriously thought about how much April connected with the turtles. How much she cared. And for her too. They had just become friends less than half a week ago and April cared enough to risk her safety for her. That hit the nail to the coffin.

What are you doing?! GET OUT BEFORE YOU BLOW YOUR COVER!!

Karai quickly snapped up, escaping the very unwanted thoughts zooming around her mind. She quickly grabbed her backpack and opened the door. Before she could step out April broke the silence.

“Karai, I-”

“Nevermind April. Just-.” She looked up for second. Probably the worst mistake in her life besides the day they died, as she saw Aprils look. She looked so shocked and confused. Somehow in the short amount of time Karai had spent with April she had gotten to know her very well. Well enough to know she would blame herself for . . . all of this instead of the one who took up a tone first. “-nevermind, ok.”

She slowly shut the door behind her. She didn’t want to leave like this. But what choice did she have. It was either fight with April and give the police a good lead on who to start looking to for answers or do the job she was meant to do without hesitation and good leads for the police. And hopefully April.

Just as the door almost fully closed Karai peered through the crevice one more time. “Sorry. Sayonara.”

Karai made it longer than she had expected. A total of 3 blocks before finding a good alleyway. From their tucked into the little corner she locked into a tight ball and slumped to the ground.

A moment of weakness was highly frowned upon by the foot but they couldn’t see her here. She could be a disappointment all she wanted without bothering anyone else here.

Get up.

Listening to the voices in her head Karai quickly wiped her eyes careful not to smudge the eyeliner. Her oni mask slipped over the bottom of her face. The cool metal brought a chill into her body. The rest of her armor was strapped on just as the troops stalking the target area signaled her.

Withdrawing her twin wakizashi she was ready to end this.

Nothing left for her to hesitate over.

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So yeah sorry this took like over a whole ass month to write but stuff got crazy and I got distracted. Hopefully the next few chapters will come quicker. In this chapter I kinda wanted to take from the perspective of being in the passive position of one of those two second arguments you have with your friends that creates a grudge for the rest of the day before forgiving and forgetting completely the next day. But obviously Karai ain’t gonna forget this little talk. (Quick fyi when reading this I am not trying to ship Karai and April. Any of what you might think is that is just April having a bi panic and Karai struggling to figure how to do a healthy relationship) Anywho hope you like it. Cowabunga turtle fanz!