Now that Karai and myself were living under the same roof, trying to keep our secret hidden was even more difficult than before. But living with three sneaky brothers meant that our secret wouldn't stay so secretive for much longer...

I awaken the next morning to find Karai still sleeping soundly on the couch. I quietly sneak past her, and into the kitchen to make some breakfast. Oddly, the lair is dead quiet. I look up at the clock on the wall - 9:07 am. Where are my brothers, and Splinter?

I suddenly spy a note on the kitchen counter, clearly addressed to me. Starting to worry, I pick it up and scan over it, freaking out that they've been taken captive by Shredder.

Leonardo,

I have taken your brothers out for an early morning training session. I did not want to wake you, and you also need your rest after some of the events of the past few days. Keep an eye on Karai, and make sure she feels welcome and protected.

- Splinter

A wave of relief washes over me just as I hear Karai stir back outside. As I'm quietly walking back, she yawns and stretches. I stand in front of her, a comforting smile on my face. "Good morning, beautiful." I say.

She rubs one eye. "Morning, Leo." I smile happily and crouch down to reach her height.

"Do you feel like some breakfast? I think we have a few eggs in the kitchen I can try and cook?"

Karai's face suddenly looks turned off. "Um... no thank you."

I give her a confused look. "Are you allergic?"

"No, no." She says, ruffling her slightly messy hair. "It's just that... I'm a vegan."

I'm taken aback. "You're a vegan?" I echo. "As in, nothing that is or from an animal?"

She nods timidly. "I know, I know, I'm a supreme overlord's daughter and I'm a vegan. Sew me!"

I chuckle quietly and brush a rogue strand of jet black hair out of her face. "I think it's cool." She looks up at me in surprise. "It means you're different. I like different."

She smiles as I cup her face and slowly draw it closer to mine, making our lips softly touch but only for a few seconds. When I move backwards, she smiles happily at me. "You know we're completely crazy, right?" She says.

I chuckle. "Absolutely nuts."

...

A few hours later, Splinter and my brothers have returned. I'm in the dojo with Karai, sparring each other. Splinter is meditating quietly in his room, Donnie is working on the TurtleMech, Mikey is having a marathon comic book session and Raph is... well, somewhere being Raph.

She grunts as she throws a strong punch which I narrowly miss. I try to roundhouse kick her, but she dodges it with a back handspring. We fight back and forth like this for a few minutes, until she gains the upper hand, knocking me back with a surprise tackle.

I land on the floor, staring up at the concrete ceiling. Karai walks over and offers me a hand up. "How does it feel to be beaten by a girl, Leo?" She jokes.

I dust myself off. "You've been taught well." I say. "But I was going easy on you." She playfully rolls her eyes. "I didn't want you to break a nail."

She chuckles. "Please, you couldn't beat me if I had one hand tied behind my back!" She places a hand on her hip, and a smirk crosses her face.

"How about a rematch?" I ask, my eyes narrowing.

"You're on, blue bo--" I cut her off as I throw myself at her in a strong tackle, pinning her to the ground. She grunts as she struggles to get out of my tight grip, but it comes to no prevail.

"You were saying?" I chuckle, a smug smirk crossing my face.

She gives me a sheepish look. "I wasn't ready."

"It doesn't matter." Still having her pinned on the ground, I stand on my knees to imitate Splinter. "As a ninja, you must always be ready. Know your opponent and his next move, and always be one step ahead."

She rolls her eyes. "I'm not a ninja. I'm a kunoich."

I chuckle before leaning back down on top of her. "You're amazing."

A small smile crosses her face just before our lips touch again. She wraps her arms around my neck, and pulls me closer. My hands are cupped around her face, gently rubbing her cheek as she runs her fingers through my hair. Just as the moment couldn't get any steamier...

"Hey Leo, I found one of your Space Heroes comics in my pile. Do you want me to--" I jump to my feet as I hear Mikey's blood curdling scream. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" His mouth hangs open and his pile of comic books fall to the ground. His face is as white as snow, and his baby blue eyes are the size of small plates.

"Mikey..." I say calmly, starting to approach him.

"DONNIE! RAPH!" He screams, running down the hall.

I sigh deeply, knowing that our secret is most definitely no longer a secret. I turn around to face Karai, who is now sitting on the floor, a smirk pasted on her face. "Space Heroes comics?" She giggles.

I roll my eyes and grunt. "Shut up." I take off after Mikey. "Michaelangelo!" I shout. "Mikey! Come back!"

I race into the lounge room, where Mikey is standing behind Raph and Donnie. Raph has a smug look on his face, and Donnie looks somewhere between confused and surprised. Raph folds his arms across his plastron, the smug look still firmly plastered across his green face. "Well, well, well." He says. "Look who it is. Lover boy."

I shush them. "Please, can you keep it down! I don't want Splinter to overhear!" At that moment, April wanders into the lair, unaware of the current situation.

"Hey guys. What's going o--" She's cut off as Mikey races towards her in a panic.

"April!" He shouts. "Leo-- and Karai-- and yuck!!" She calmly places her hands on his shoulders.

"Mikey, slow down. I can't understand a word you're saying."

He draws in a sharp breath. "I saw Leo and Karai kissing in the dojo!" April's eyes land on me, and I can feel my face turn bright red. She places both hands on her hips, as a surprised smile crosses her face.

"Well, it's about time!" She says. Raph, Mikey and Donnie all look at her in complete surprise.

"Wait, you knew about this?" Donnie asks, astonished.

She chuckles. "It was obvious!"

Karai suddenly walks out of the dojo, tying her hair into a little ponytail. "Hey guys." She says calmly. All four pairs of eyes follow her as she walks past them and gracefully sits the couch.

Raph points to her and mouths the word: What?

I sigh and take a seat next to her, my brothers and April following. Mikey sits the furthest, still obviously scarred from earlier. I sigh, and finally manage to make eye contact with everyone. I'm about to explain everything. The night we met, our flirtatious fights, the kiss, her biological ties to Shredder, stopping her from robbing that store, saving her from Shredder, Frank's lab... everything.

By the time that I'm done, everyone is rendered speechless. The silence is deafening, and it's making me lose my mind. "Someone please say something!"

"What are you going to tell Splinter?" Donnie asks.

"I'm not going to tell Splinter." I reply. "He wouldn't understand."

"Listen Leo," Raph says, a serious tone in his voice. "You're playing with fire here." He points to Karai. "You're dating a highly-trained assassin who is Shredder's daughter, who is also the enemy. How can you trust her?" His eyes suddenly shift to Karai. "No offence."

She waves her hand in front of her. "None taken."

I gently place a hand on her knee. "Because I can trust her." He grunts and reclines back into his position, arms folded aggressively. I turn to my brothers. "Please, please, please do not tell Splinter. You have no idea what it would be like for Karai to go back there."

April mimes zipping her lips shut. "My lips are sealed." She looks over at my brothers, her eyebrows knit tightly together.

"Come on!" Donnie says. "She's the enemy's daughter!"

"He's your brother!" She sasses back. "And Splinter wouldn't have chosen him as leader if he hadn't thought to trust Leo's judgement."

Donnie rolls his eyes. "Fine, I won't say anything."

Raph growls. "Me neither." He says reluctantly.

Everyone looks over at Mikey, who still looks pretty petrified. "I will never be able to unsee what I just saw, dudes." He says. "That sort of thing is messed up." Raph knocks him over the head, and Mikey whimpers. "Okay, okay! I'll keep quiet!"

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks guys."

As everyone disperses to do their own thing, Karai turns to me. "But seriously," she says. "Space Heroes?"