Hi guys! Back when this episode aired I was hoping so badly for the turtles and Yoshi to interact (didn't expect that much angst but that was okay) but sadly they never interacted but that's what fanfiction is for right?! So here's my take on Tale of the Yokai, with Yoshi and the turtles interacting and lots of angst/fluff/hurt comfort etc
TMNT
I could feel body freeze, anger totally forgotten. My bright green eyes stared right up at Shen. It was so fucked up, in front of us was our.. mom essentially. One that never knew us, one we never saw in person in present time. But here she was, and she was staring down at us with fear in her eyes.
"Yokai!" She exclaims, taking a careful step backwards. Miwa cried in her arms. I scramble upwards and off Mikey, raising my hands and taking a step backwards as well.
"I-it's okay Shen" Leo calls out, running up to us. For a quick second he waved at us, but I could only focus on Shen and Miwa. Miwa who was still so innocent, and not tainted by Shredder. "It's okay, we're not gonna hurt you" He continued, putting his hands in the air.
Don did the exact same thing, and I could see Mikey stick his hands up as well, but his form was tense.
"Yea, we're friendly yokai" But Shen didn't seem to listen at all. Miwa cried out harder, sensing her mother's fear probably. I instinctively take a step backwards, and my brothers all did the same. We knew this wasn't going to end like we had wanted it to.
But no one did expect the figure jumping in front of Shen.
I exclaim, just barely jumping out of the way to avoid Yoshi's sword catching my side. My eyes widen, staring at the human version of the man who had raised us for 16 years.
"Shen, you must get Miwa and yourself out of here" Yoshi ordered, eyes travelling from Leo to me. Shen immediately obeyed, scrambling away and running into the opposite direction. Miwa's cries grew more quiet, but before we could react, Yoshi struck out. We all darted away, running into the woods and hiding behind the trees.
Immediately my eyes turned white, clenching my weapons.
"Mikey we need an exit" Leo hisses.
"I'm all out dude" Mikey hisses back, his voice tense. I brought my weapon up, and the tiniest sound originated from it. I gasp as Yoshi's sword stuck through the tree. Without hesitation, he charges. I grunt, feeling my face connect with the ground harshly.
"I will not allow you to hurt my family" Yoshi spoke, the voice so familiar to the voice that sang lullabies to us. I could hear a chain rattling, wrapping around something. Mikey. A grunt came from dad, and a slashing motion followed by the sound of chains breaking.
I could hear a tanto being thrown, and I tense. But before I knew what was happening someone slung my arm over his shoulder, helping me hide again. I never felt the tanto hit, but I could see Don darting into the trees with me.
"What should we do? We can't hurt 'im?" I hiss, glaring at Leo. But before anyone could respond, Don was suddenly snatched backwards. He cried out, landing on his shell and chains wrapped around his arms. Dad.. Yoshi didn't waste time, pulling his arm back and striking Don harshly.
My immediate little brother's head snapped back against the ground, slumping to the ground.
"Donnie!" Leo and Mikey simultaneously cried out. We only needed a quick glance before we darted forwards. My thoughts were scrambled as we ran around Yoshi, the man that had raised us for 16 years, now believing us to be the enemy instead of what we really were. His sons.
Yoshi, I refused to call him dad, watched us warily, suddenly charging at Mikey. The latter exclaims, jumping out of the way. I could feel fear spreading through me, Yoshi was holding back, it was so clear. My eyes widen slightly, he was testing our fighting abilities.
"Leo, we need to retreat" I hiss, and Leo nods, understanding my train of thought. Or he didn't at all, but we trusted each other too much to question each other in such a situation.
"Go get Donnie" He ordered, and I darted over to him without a second thought, without hesitation. I grasped his shoulders.
"Time to go" I hurriedly called out. He was still in his chains, he could probably get out of them if it wasn't for the limited amount of time, and the blood trickling down the side of his head.
"RAPH!" I could hear Mikey cry out. I whirl around, crying out at the sword approaching me. But before it could touch me, something barrelled into Yoshi, sending his sword off course.
"Stop Yoshi, we're not your enemy" Mikey growled, darting away and throwing out his chain. Yoshi narrowed his eyes, the chain barely scraping his shoulder. He whirled around, grasping the chain and pulling. Mikey immediately released the chain, running to the side and into the woods.
Without any hesitation, Leo jumped out of the tree, drawing his own sword. Yoshi struck out again, swords clashing with each other.
"I will not let you harm them" Yoshi glares at Leo, and I could see a glimmer of hesitation.
"D?" Mikey calls out, hands on Don's shoulders. "Go help Leo, I got Donnie" He continued, looking at me. I nod, trusting my youngest brother. Leo was so obviously losing, deflecting Yoshi's attacks with sweat trickling down his forehead. I ran at Yoshi's back, weapons drawn.
But in all honestly, I should've known that Yoshi would sense me. He turned around before I even finished the jump, lashing out with such speed. I saw his attack, and I raised my arm to defend myself. A glint of orange was the only warning I got before agonising pain spread through my arm.
I cry out, a shrill sound wretched from my throat. I could see black spot appear in my vision, dad punching Leo before turning to me again. The chain, Mikey's chain, wrapped around my wrist. I cry out again when he forced my arm behind me, tying my wrist to the other. He quickly took my legs under me.
I crashed down, I crashed down hard. I could barely roll over, landing on the side of my shell instead of my arm.
Without even a second of hesitation Yoshi charged at Leo. He ran around Leo, and when he turned around, something white was thrown into his eyes. Leo cried out in pain, stumbling back. It was so clear what the powder had been, temporary blinding powder. I growl, squirming in my binds.
It was also obvious that Yoshi wasn't trying to kill us, otherwise we'd all been dead yet. But that wasn't the most horrifying, it was clear that he wanted us alive, conscious enough to answer question. And all that it implied.
Dad took advantage of Leo's moment of distraction, but before he could reach Leo, Mikey jumped in front of him. I curse. Damnit Mikey, you said you'd get Donnie out. Yoshi spun around, and Mikey had to jump away to avoid his attacks. But Leo couldn't get away fast enough.
We were all trained to fight in the dark, and we could all hold our own without sight. But not against dad, not against the man who had taught us. All our knowledge came from dad, but not all dad's knowledge was known to us. And it wasn't dark right now, Leo had been blinded, not even a shimmer of light.
Leo fell to the ground faster than even I could process, but Yoshi wasn't interested in him anymore, turning to Mikey. The latter held up his last remaining chuck, but it was clear that he was, just like us, unsure of how to attack Yoshi. He may not know it, but in our eyes we were fighting dad.
And it caused Mikey to hesitate.
Then with immense speed, dad darted at Mikey. The orange banded turtle narrowed his eyes, jumping out of the way, darting under his arm before striking out. Dad stumbled to the right, but he quickly recovered, turning around and wrapping his hand around Mikey's wrist before even I could register what was happening.
Mikey's eyes widened suddenly, fear filling his baby blue eyes. And Yoshi's stance just changed. Without holding back, he struck out. Mikey stumbled back, blood trickling out of his nose after the blow. But dad wasn't finished, turned around. He bowed forwards, slinging Mikey over his shoulder before pushing him to the ground.
Mikey groaned, squirming away but Dad simply applied more pressure.
A crack.
Mikey cried out in pain, bringing his legs up and wrapping them around dad's arm. Mikey's wrist was immediately released, and he scrambled away. Yet, before he could do so, dad grabbed his ankle, pulling him to the ground. Mikey's head connected to the ground below him.
I don't even think Mikey was aware of where he wanted to go, but the moment his shoulders left the ground, dad grabbed his knife, jabbing it into Mikey's shoulder. A shrill cry as the blade went straight through Mikey's shoulder, embedding itself into the ground below. Dad moved.
His eyes went up, but his foot moved, standing on top of Mikey's broken wrist, the other arm stuck to the ground because of the knife. His weight rested on Mikey's chest, and before I could say anything, a tanto was drawn.
"Dad wait!" Mikey rasped out, squirming. "Dad" He insisted.
Dad growled lowly, bringing down the tanto… putting it against Mikey's neck. "Why did you call me father?" He hisses, pressing the knife deeper into Mikey's throat.
"Because you're our dad" I call out, and I could finally feel the chains unwrap themselves around my wrists. And now I was glad dad never locked them, only wrapped my wrists in chains to stall, make sure I was out of the fight for a moment.
"Impossible" Yoshi glares, pressing the blade tighter against Mikey's throat as I stood up. I swallow thickly, putting my arms up and ignoring the searing pain in my arm.
"He's right.. we're from the future" Don says softly. He was unsteady on his feet, blood now starting to dry to the side of head. And unlike me, he was still in his chains.
"Prove yourself" Dad turned to Japanese, and I knew what he was doing, testing us.
"17 years ago in our time you came to New York, you raised us four when we had no one else who would" Leo starts, and I whirl my head around. His eyes were bright red, swollen slightly, and he seemed to be staring at nothing… not being able to see.
I immediately run at him, wrapping an arm around him. Leo smiled, trying to search for my face with his eyes. I turn to dad again. The tanto had lifted from Mikey's neck, but was still way too close.
"How would I know for you to be truthful?" He asks. I swallow, it wasn't like we could just show him a picture. He was a rat, bearing no resemblance to his human counterpart. We still recognised him, but to show a human what he would look as a mutant?
"Because we know you, your name is Hamato Yoshi. Your father is Hamato Yuta, your brother Hamato Saki." Leo continued. "We know your favourite colour is yellow, you named your daughter Miwa after your grandmother, Shen's favourite time is the renaissance, and she vowed to take you around the world one day to show you"
Which was also the reason why dad choose our names for us. Miwa in honour of his grandma, and our names in honour of Shen… mom.
"You have just showed yourself to be admirable warriors, you could have easily gained this knowledge by spying on me" Yoshi defended himself, switching back to English again.
"Because we learned ninjitsu from you.. you taught us. Weren't the moves familiar?" Leo cries out, trying to take a blind step forwards but I stop him.
"You… you sang Takeda no komoriuta to us" Mikey suddenly whispers, voice laced with obvious pain. Dad whips his head down to Mikey.
"I have never sung that song" Dad retorts, and Mikey nods shakily.
"Your grandmother Miwa did, she told you the story about Burakumin. You sang it to us because we were outcasts, just like the Burakumin" Mikey explained. Yoshi reeled back slightly in shock, before his eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
"Mukou ni mieru wa, Oya no uchi" Dad sang softly, and tears appeared in Mikey's eyes.
"Mori mo ichi-nichi, Yaseru-yara" Mikey finishes softly. It was something only he would know. His mom had changed the lyrics when he was just a little boy, repeating the previous chorus again. There was no way we could've known, except if we were telling the truth.
"I-" He stops himself, closing his eyes for a split second. "I am terribly sorry" He slowly stood up, taking a few steps back in shock. But I didn't care, dragging Leo along with me, I ran over to Mikey's body.
"Mikey stop!" Don snapped shakily, but Mikey never released the knife that was in his shoulder, yet, he didn't try to pull it away.
"Do you have medical supplies?" I ask, releasing Leo's wrist and crouching down. "Hey hey, look at me. You're gonna be okay" I continue, grasping Mikey's broken arm carefully. Mikey groans, whimpering slightly in the back of his throat.
"I don't Leo.. I used it when you got injured before Renet" Don whispers, and I could feel my heart stop for just a split second.
"I would like to offer you my supplies" Dad suddenly whispers, and I whip my head around. Dad… Yoshi.. was standing just a few meters from us, looking guilty, and uncertain of the situation. I glare at him, shuffling a bit on the spot so I was blocking his view, so he wouldn't be able to see Mikey.
This was the man who raised us for fuck sake.
I glance at Leo, squeezing Mikey's hand. Leo frowns, trying to glance in my direction before turning his head towards Donnie.
"Without medical attention he won't make it Leo" Don whispers softly, and Leo nods shakily.
"We'll go with you" Leo decided. "Raph.. can you carry him? I still can't see" Leo speaks up hesitantly, looking like a lost puppy, standing there without having a way to know what was in front of him.
"I can-"
"You stay away from my brothers!" I snap, glaring at dad. The latter flinches, closing his mouth immediately.
"Raph" Mikey rasps, taking a shuddering breath. "He didn't know.. he's still dad" He continues, and I grumble, nodding.
"Don, can you help Leo?" I ask softly, and Don nods.
"I'm a bit shaky myself but I'll be fine" Don says, walking over to Leo. The latter seems to understand immediately, wrapping an arm around Don to support him. And because Don would be able to act at Leo's eyes, and Leo as Don's crutch, I didn't have to worry about dad having to help us.
Fuck this situation
"This ain't gonna be pretty Mikey, but just hang on okay?" I whisper, glancing at the knife still sticking out of Mikey's shoulder. Without waiting, I unwrap the bandages around my hands, using it to wrap around the knife to stabilise it. "Don't try to scream" I say, and Mikey chuckles softly, nodding.
I carefully place his injured arm on top of his chest, reaching over him to gently pry the knife out of the ground. Mikey groaned again, body tensing up at the pain he was no doubt feeling. Luckily, he understood what I was trying to do, leaving his shoulder lifted off the ground while I gently picked him up.
A soft hiss of pain was the only complaint I could hear from him. Blood was still slowly trickling down from his nostrils, but that was the least of my concerns right now. I turn around, facing Don, and purposely ignoring dad.
"Let's go"
TMNT
"Oh my.. Yoshi!" Shen cried out the moment we walked inside. "What have they done to you?" She continues, and I almost snort at her question. I was fucking carrying Mikey, who was bleeding, clearly in pain and still had a knife lodged in his shoulder.
But at the same time, her husband did come back with a distressed look on his face, after having sent her away to defend her from us. Only to come back with us trailing behind him.
"It is okay Shen, they did not intend to hurt me, but I have accidently hurt them" He spoke, the calm yet slightly distressed voice he had always used when we received minor injuries, or when something was wrong with us. He wasn't one to express emotions all the time, much like me.
But if one of us did get injured badly, he would of course. Seeing dad in rage, or pure panic hadn't been pleasant to be honest.
"I-I…" Shen starts, glancing uneasily at the four of us.
"Shen, can you fetch the first aid kit for me? I promise they are not out to harm us" Yoshi continued, and this time, Shen nods before running off. "There is a couch for you in the living room" Yoshi spoke, and I nod, walking over to the couch.
"Be careful with his arm" Don warned, helping the still blind Leo over to the chair.
"I know, I know" I mutter, gently lowering Mikey onto the couch. Still, Mikey cringes slightly, taking another shuddering breath.
"Stop worrying so much" He whispers softly, smiling. I shake my head with an amused smirk of my own. At least he was well enough to assure me at the moment. I glance up as Shen comes hurrying back into the room, before stopping hesitantly.
"Do you have medical knowledge?" Dad asks as he notices Shen's confusion.
"We do" Don says, walking over to Shen to take the kit. Shen watches him warily, flinching ever so slightly. "Raph, can you help Leo with his eyes?" Don asks, turning to me. I frown, shaking my head.
"What? No. I'm stayin' here" I protest, but Don shakes his head.
"Mikey will be fine Raph, Leo needs you right now" He explains, and I was about to protest but Mikey moves his arm slightly.
"Don's right Raph, it's just a flesh wound" He says, voice weak, and filled with pain but snickering slightly. I scowl, resisting the urge to smack him right now, but I could see he was genuine. I sigh.
"Ya better be okay when I come back squirt"
TMNT
"This sucks" Leo mutters, grabbing the towel I was holding out, and putting it on his eyes to dry off the water. He blinks a couple of times, and I smirk as his gaze fixes on me.
"There ya go" I grin, standing up. "How much can ya see?"
"It's still blurry, but at least I can see now" Leo mutters, rubbing his eyes gently. "We should head back, I don't like Don and Mikey being there alone, even if it's dad" Leo continues in a low voice, glancing at me. I nod.
"Right back at ya" I speak, glancing at Leo for a moment before heading back to the living room. I could sense Leo close behind me, but whether it was because he was walking blindly, or he could actually see again was a mystery to me. But I was too worried about Mikey to really question it right now.
The first thing I saw when walking back into the living room was Mikey, sitting on the couch with a blanket lazily thrown over his shoulders. Both Yoshi and Shen were standing a few meters away from the couch, but my gaze travelled to Don, or rather, his head.
"Fuck Don" I curse, immediately walking over to my immediate younger brother and grabbing his head. I ignore the pain travelling through my arm, where dad struck me, eyes solemnly focused on the wound on Don's head.
"It's not bad Raph" Don insists, but the moment I touch it Don cringes, trying to get out of the touch.
"Is Mikey going to be alright?" I ask, glancing at Mikey. The knife was gone from his shoulder, instead gauze was wrapped around the wounded shoulder. The gauze wrapped around the top of his arm, and stretching all the way to the other side, under the armpit of the uninjured side.
His broken wrist was on the armrest, tightly wrapped to stabilise the limb. He was still slightly pale, but he looked calm.
"He'll be alright, I stitched the shoulder wound and put a splint on his wrist" Don explains, and I nod.
"Good, then you can sit your ass down" I order, gently pushing Don down. My immediate younger brother lets out a shout in protest, but he was too wobbly on his feet to stay standing. I could see Shen and Yoshi looking at us with wonder, but I ignored it.
"Raph I'm okay!" Don shouts, but I shake my head before I grab the med kit.
"Sit still" I order, grabbing the disinfect and carefully applying it to Don's head wound. It wasn't bad, but the skin was still broken. Don grumbled, and Leo snickered slightly at the sound.
"How's your vision?" Don asks, wincing slightly but ignoring the pain for the most part. I glance at Leo for a second, who walked over to one of the chairs.
"It's coming back" He tries to assure Don, but I could see him looking at Shen and Yoshi. I ignore them, grabbing the needle and gently pushing it through the skin.
"I am deeply sorry for hurting you four, but I wish to know more about the relation you think you have with me" Yoshi speaks up, and I scowl, not looking up. I knew I was being irrational, but fuck me. Like hell I would admit that right now, he hurt my little brothers, he hurt Leo.
"I don't know how much we can tell dad" Mikey mutters, glancing at Yoshi before directing his gaze towards Don.
"We shouldn't tell too much, though I'm afraid we already screwed up history enough" Don says lowly, trying to hide another wince as I pushed the needle through his skin again.
"You are truly from the future?" Yoshi asks, and after a few seconds of hesitation, both Leo and Mikey nod. "And you are my sons?" He continues, and again, Leo and Mikey nod painfully.
"You adopted us when we just became like this" Leo speaks up, glancing up at Yoshi.
"I am ashamed of myself, I should have never hurt you four. I should have realised you four to have good intentions" He says softly. "I should have realised you four to be mere teenagers"
"I mean, it's not like you're the first one to attack us" Mikey chuckles darkly, and I frown, glancing at Mikey. I mean it wasn't like he was wrong, countless humans have attacked us before for no reason other than our looks. Yet, I could hear the hurt tone in Mikey's voice. He was always the one to take it the hardest.
But our own dad attacking us made it even worse.
"I know it will not make this situation any better, but you have fought well for your age, you are evidently skilled and insightful" Dad spoke softly. "You obviously care for one another, both in battle and here, that much is obvious. As a dad.. I would be incredibly proud of you all" He continues, and for the first time, I glance at him.
But I didn't hear any doubt, or lie, in his voice whatsoever. As far as I could tell, he was speaking the truth. And it wasn't the first time dad told us he was proud, but at the same time, this wasn't our dad. This wasn't the man who raised us for 16 years.
"Well you trained us after all" Don chuckles slightly, glancing back at me when I chipped of the last stitch.
"Hold still, I'll wrap your head like a present" I smirk, and Don snorts out loud, nodding with an amused grin. Eventually I opted to put a piece of gauze on the back of his head instead, instead of wrapping his entire head.
But Don didn't verbally respond. We knew dad was proud of us, I mean he was our dad, he loved us. He has expressed it numerous times. But this wasn't our dad per se. This was someone else, someone who had yet to lose his daughter and wife. Someone who had yet to be betrayed by his brother.
And yet, he was proud of us.
He could see past our appearances. And I would never say it out loud, but that was the only thing I needed to know, dad being proud of us without knowing who we truly were.
TMNT
Not going out on the streets when Leo got injured was hard. I remember the rage, boiling inside of me, and eating me up from the inside out. I wanted to get revenge, I wanted to find the Shredder and everyone one who had also injured my brother. Make them pay for doing so, and leaving us worried.
I remember when I was leader, and Mikey got hurt. It was so hard to retreat, it wasn't in my nature, like hell I would ever retreat, but Mikey was more important. I had to get him home first, so I pushed past my ego, and retreated. But it was hard.
I vowed to never hurt my little brothers, so when Don broke his arm and he told me to set it.. I almost didn't do it. It was so hard to hear Don yell and cry in pain when I set his arm. It was hard… but I had to do it.
It was hard seeing dad mentally confused, to see him behave like Shredder had always viewed him. A mere rat. It was hard to watch dad behave like that, not like the man who raised us. It was all hard, our whole life was hard from time to time. But nothing was harder than sitting there… just waiting.
I felt numb all over, Mikey pressed tightly against me as we watched the flames licking at every splinter of the home it could find.
A tear rolled down my cheek. Shredder was long gone, Miwa taken with him. And we couldn't do anything about it. I glance at Leo with teary eyes, but he was so much worse off. His connection with Miwa was different, he was closest to her out of the four of us. And he held her not an hour ago.
Tears streamed down his face in endless rivers, but his gaze was focused on the flames, numb to the rest of us. I drag my gaze back, blinking a few times to get the tears out of my face. The fire was still burning, tearing down the whole house without hesitation, burning Shen's corpse.
"We should go" Don mumbles, blinking sluggishly as well before taking his eyes of dad's sobbing figure, a flower cradled in his hands. I nod, standing up slowly and pulling Mikey to his feet as well.
"Leo" Mikey whispers, tears streaming down his eyes as well. He carefully reaches over to grasp Leo's wrist, but Leo didn't take his eyes of dad.
"We could've changed it" He whispers, but it was Mikey who shook his head.
"You know we couldn't have" He says softly, and Leo turns to him hesitantly. We all knew Mikey was right, there wasn't an option, without us the Kraang would have succeeded, without us there would be no earth. Every one of us would be willing to save Miwa and Tang Shen, even if we would never mutate.
But without us, there would be no earth for Miwa, Shen and dad to live on.
I don't think any of us felt like saying something… so we didn't. We slowly retreated, helping each other to a spot where we could safely call it a night. Leo's vision.. maybe it wasn't fully restored but I doubt we'd ever hear it if it was troubling him. He'd just assure us it was okay, and he could see fully.
Don had his head rested on Leo's leg right now, eyes closed and slightly frowning from the headache that was plaguing him surely. Mikey was leaning against me, eyes also closed but sound asleep. Even if dad had injured him the worst.. he seemed to be the one to fall asleep the easiest.
But that was just the exhaustion.
My arm was still throbbing, but I ignored it. I knew it wasn't fully broken, but probably cracked or something along the lines. It had hurt like a bitch at first at least, and a bruise was decorating the spot relentlessly. I close my eyes, feeling tears burn beneath them. Dad had attacked us.
Dad was the one to inflict all those injuries upon us. And yet, that didn't matter right now.
I growl lowly, but the screams he had let out weren't going away. The screams of desperation when Shredder attacked him, the screams of surprise when Shen was hit, the cries of sadness when he cradled her body, and the cries of anguish when he realised Miwa was gone as well.
They would forever haunt me.
So when Renet finally came through the portal, cheery and apologising with a grin on her face, I didn't even look at her. Mikey muttered something to her, but didn't say much either. I could see he was shaken from everything, both his injuries and dad's losses. Which were also ours in a way.
I didn't care what the others thought, I just remember falling into dad's embrace when we entered the lair again. He immediately sat down, taking all four of us in his arms. He didn't say anything, but he probably didn't have to… because he had remembered, of course he could never forget.
And I cried.. tears leaking down my face as I tried to block out the memories of his screams of anguish when he lost Miwa, when he lost Shen, blocking out the screams of anger when he attacked us, injured us….. instead focusing on his soothing apologies.
TMNT Hope you liked it! Lemme know what you thought ^^