Midori: Chapter Twelve
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Leonardo called off practice early. He was getting sick of Mike's complaining and Raph's comments. Don had, thankfully, been quiet, but he seemed distracted. He kept glancing at Leo the entire time, and it had cost him a few blows. Leo was about to ask Don what had him so distracted but he stopped when he entered the kitchen.
Midori looked up from her glass of orange juice at the sound of their entrance.
"What's she doing here?" Raph asked as he moved past Leo. "I thought she was staying in the car."
Splinter set down his teacup. "I thought she would like to join us for breakfast."
Raphael mumbled something as he took a seat. Midori scooted her chair back. "I can go back to the car..."
Leo caught her chair. "No, it's okay. Raph's just being a jerk."
Raph glared at Leo before grabbing a piece of toast. Leo helped Midori push her chair back in, then took the chair next to her. Don pulled over an extra chair and sat on Midori's other side as Mike grabbed his apron from the peg by the door. "So, any requests?"
"You should use the rest of the eggs, Mike," Don suggested. "I need to fix the 'fridge before the summer heat rolls in and we don't want to waste those."
"Your request has been filed, Mr. Practical. Anyone else?"
"Yeah," Raph spoke up. "I'm gonna need a side of Tums with my eggs."
Leo and Don snickered, knowing very well how Mike liked to "improvise" while cooking. Even Splinter smiled.
Mike just grinned back at his brother. "Does that mean you'll be wanting extra hot sauce?"
Midori couldn't help but smile. It seemed weird to her that people could get along this well, but being here gave her a good feeling.
"Hey, Mike, do we have any more of those muffins?" Leo asked.
"Uh, I think so. They may be a little stale. Pop them into the microwave with butter and they should be fine."
Leo looked to Midori. "Would you like one?" He heard Raph snicker and ignored it.
"Yes, please." Midori sat with her hands in her lap. It would take her some time to get used to this situation, but she had a feeling that she wouldn't end up running away from this one.
"Hey, anyone home?"
Mike looked up from the scrambled eggs he was cooking. "Yeah April, we're in here!"
April O'Neil rounded the corner just as Leo took his seat again. "Morning guys." She spotted another face at the table and gave a friendly smile. "You must be Midori, it's nice to meet you."
April stuck her hand out and Midori just looked at it. "It's nice to meet you, too, Miss O'Neil," Midori replied in a polite tone.
April's smile faded a little and she pulled her hand back. "Okay." She turned to Leo, "I've got copies of all the reports you wanted."
Leo nodded as April pulled the files out of her bag. "Thanks April. Would you like to join us?"
"We've got plenty!" Mike chimed in.
April tilted her head, considering. "No thanks, I've got a full schedule today. I'll just leave these here with you." She handed the files over to Leo.
Midori curiously watched the transaction and gasped softly as she spotted the labels on the files. Leo quickly thanked April again and set the folders on the counter behind him.
Mike came over and set a plate of eggs and bacon in front of Midori. "Eat up." He went back and served everybody else before taking a seat next to Leo. "See ya, April!"
"Bye guys," she called out as she left. "I'll be back tomorrow."
Midori ate in silence, even though the others were chatting away between bites. She'd seen the labels and they were familiar. Some were names of places the Foot had hit just before she left, one was the name of a place she knew they were planning, and a couple she knew would be targets eventually.
This was not good. She knew the Foot usually used kids to bring in cash from pick pocketing, purse snatching, and other small jobs, but they were moving on to bigger things. She knew it was all adding up to something, but she just didn't know what.
"Hey, what, don't you like them?"
Midori snapped out of her thoughts to see Raph looking at her strangely. He pointed to her plate and she realized that she had stopped eating. "Oh. They're very good, I was just... thinking."
Mike smiled, then went back to his conversation with Don. Raph just rolled his eyes before going back to his meal. Midori also noticed he was reading the newspaper.
Leo and Splinter were the only ones not going back to eating. Midori started back on her breakfast and hoped they would just leave her alone.
"What were you thinking about?"
The question had come from Leo. She set her fork down again. "Why did you want those files? Are you planning an attack?"
Raph snorted behind the paper. Leo shook his head. "No, but we think they're planning one." He tilted his head. "You think so, too, don't you?"
"Not on us," she replied before going back to her meal.
"Then who?"
"Leo, give her a break," Don said.
"She'll probably just give us false information." Raph yelped as three feet kicked him under the table. "Hey!"
After breakfast, Midori helped Mike clear the table while Leo and Don looked over the files. Splinter retired to his own room to meditate and Raph went "out".
"Their hits are getting larger," Don noticed. "They'er not random attacks like before."
Leo agreed. "With Shredder, the Foot never would have gone after these places."
"They did a thorough job, though," Don added. "All the places were wiped clean. Everything of value that could be taken was, all the safes looted."
"They're definitely planning something. Do you have any information that could help?"
Mike tapped Midori on the shoulder and pointed towards the others. They were looking at her expectantly and she realized that the question was directed at her. "Not really."
"What about where their hideout is?" Mike asked. "That would be helpful."
Leo noticed Midori's discomfort. "We don't need that at the moment. Besides, an attack there would be dangerous." He caught Midori's gaze and held it. "I was thinking more along the lines of where they would strike next. And maybe what they're long term plans are."
Midori moved to the table and scanned the open files. "I don't know what he's planning, only that it was big. He said he would bring the Foot clan back to its original roots." She shook her head. "He never gave me details. Wait." She looked over the files, moving some that were overlapping.
"What is it?"
"There's something missing. A complex he was trying to get the security plans for."
Don shrugged. "I guess they haven't hit it yet."
Leo grinned "Perfect."
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