the rabbit hole

“Rise and shine, Raphie boy!” He threw open the curtain that was supposed to give me some privacy, screaming like crazy.

Usa immediately got her gun from under her pillow and pointed to him. Too bad I didn’t get to see the look on his face! I’d pay to have that on tape! All I could hear was him stutter.

“Whoa! Hey, ma’am! No need for guns here! I come in peace! And… well… hum… your… I can see your… I will just leave.”

Later Usa told me she forgot she was naked under the sheets and when she pointed the gun to him, he ended up seeing her boobs. Damn, Mikey! I wouldn’t have saved you if she had shot!

“That’s okay, babe… It’s just my idiotic brother.” I said while turning to her. She didn’t turn to me though.

“Why didn’t you tell me you lived with your brother?” Her voice was sharp.

“Brothers. I have three.”

“Three brothers??”

“And a father… what’s wrong with it?”

“I don’t want to meet your family!”

“Then don’t.”

“I just pointed a fucking gun to your brother! Now I have to apologize! The poor thing almost peed himself!”

I giggled. “Wish I had seen that scene.”

I had no idea what could be so bad about meeting my family. I know we have some issues but all family does, right? Usa had finished getting dressed and I was still lying in bed, trying to understand what was going on.

“They will assume I’m your girlfriend now.”

“And you’re not?”

“Of course not! We just had some fun together and that’s it!”

That hurt more than I thought it could. After all that “fun” we were nothing? Not even friends? Just… acquaintances who have sex every time they meet? I couldn’t believe that.

“I thought we were… we had something.”

“No, we don’t. I don’t want to be in a relationship.”

“What’s wrong with being in one?”

“Commitment.”

Was commitment something that bad? I always thought that when you like someone you want to commit to that person’s well-being. Maybe I was wrong.

“You can’t have freedom if you are committed to a relationship.”

“Master Splinter always says that balance is the key to most things in life. I think you can have both in a relationship.”

“Ha! No way. One person always tries to force what they want on the other.”

“Not if you love the other person.”

“There’s no such thing as love, sweetie. Just passion and desire. They both fade, and the other person leaves you alone.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“Believe me, Red. You would. And you will.”

I wanted to tell her she didn’t know me well enough to make assumptions like that, but I decided to stay quiet and just led her to the kitchen.

When we arrived there, my brothers and master were waiting for us. Silence filled the place when we got in. I felt I was going to be grounded for the rest of my life, like Master Splinter used to do when I was like, 15 years old. Mikey couldn’t look Usa in the eyes. I decided to speak.

“Well, I guess you noticed I wasn’t alone last night. This is Usagi… erm… We met at Stockman’s Lab. She’s… my…”

“I’m Usagi Hoshino. I’m so sorry we had to meet under such an uncomfortable situation like this.”

“Nice to meet you, miss Hoshino. These are my sons Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo. I think you already know Raphael very well.”

Ouch, Master! I noticed that! Usa turned to Mikey but his face turned as red as an apple and he looked down.

“I’m sorry I pointed my gun at you, Michelangelo. It’s an old habit to point guns at the ones that get me startled. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I… I’m sorry I got you startled. I didn’t know Raph had company.”

“I just want to let you know we don’t use guns in this house.” Oh, Leo, the master of the Hamato house! Just shut up!

“Rest assured it won’t happen again.” Usa can be as dry as Leo. Why is it so sexy when it’s her doing this?

“Ahn… Raph said you two met at Stockman’s labs… Were you mutated by him? Or was your mutation an accident like ours?” I felt a punch in my guts when Donnie asked Usa about her mutation. It was clearly a subject she didn’t like to talk about.

“I was sedated, tied up to a lab table and injected the mutagen while having a rabbit on me.” Well… maybe I was wrong? She did answer him with no restraints.

“You had the mutagen injected in you?” Donnie sounded really concerned.

“Yeah, why?”

“Usually, the mutagen can be absorbed through the skin so it doesn’t need to be injected. I wonder why he did that.” He had me and Usa nervous at this point.

“What do you mean… Donatello, right?”

“Call me Donnie. I think that maybe Stockman was working on a different kind of mutagen. One that needs to be injected. The last time we met mutants that had the mutagen injected into them… it didn’t work very well.”

“You mean those monsters we met a few years ago under the sewers?” Thanks, Mikey. Call the other mutants monsters.

“Monsters?” Now Usa is much more concerned than she needed to be…

“The mutagen injected in them wasn’t fully developed so it had some stability issues. That’s why those mutants looked like monsters. But they were just like us. Well… more like you, Usagi. They were all kidnapped and mutated.”

“And do you know what kind of problems I can have with this mutagen?”

“I can’t tell for sure but probably you might experience some kind of sensations, instincts or behaviors that you never had before. And they might appear over time.”

“Do you know of any cure for this, Donnie? A way to reverse this mutation?”

“I’m sorry but I don’t. I could try reverse engineering if I had a sample of the mutagen but even that could take months or even years to get to secure formula.”

“I see…” Usa looked down with a sad expression on her face and all I wanted was to hug her. But as I was about to put my hand on her shoulder she lifted her head and said:

“Well, it was nice to meet you but I need to go now. Once again, sorry for all the inconvenience.” She turned on her heel and went to the exit.

I went after her outside the kitchen and asked where she was going.

“None of your business, Red.”

“Please, let me go with you.”

“Just leave me alone, Red.”

And once again, she left. For someone who was afraid of being left alone, she went away very frequently. I bit too much for my liking. I thought of following her from a distance but Master Splinter called me back.

“She clearly asked to be left alone, Raphael.”

“But, Master… Why does she keep running away? I thought she liked me. At least a little.” Her voice saying we had nothing between us kept resonating in my head and it hurt too much.

“She’s been through a lot and feels confused, my son. If you really like her, let her go. She is clearly a free spirit and felt intimidated by our family.”

***

“Raph! Raph! Wake up, bro!” Leo’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. “You’re still waiting for her to come back?”

“Yes, Leo. I am.”

“Why? It’s been three months already! You know she won’t come back. Actually, you should’ve known this would happen sooner or later! I told you so.”

How could he be so arrogant? What did he think he knew about her? About us? She’d gone away many other times before and she’d always come back for me. Those words made my blood boil and I was about to lunge at Leo but… what if he was right this one time?

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When I got inside, I heard noises coming from Stockman’s office. Someone was turning it upside down, maybe looking for cash? As I was getting closer, the noises moved to the lab. I heard glass breaking, metal clanging, paper being scattered. This person was really determined to find whatever they were looking for.

I sneaked into the lab to see who was responsible for all that mess. There was a masked woman, dressed in black, scanning the whole place. She seemed to be in a hurry to find something so she didn’t care to be discreet or silent. “Fine. She’s alone. It won’t be that difficult.” I thought to myself. Couldn’t be farther from the truth.

I grabbed her from behind and asked what she was doing there so late at night. To my surprise, she easily got away from me and started beating the hell out of me! She was much faster and stronger than I had imagined. Master Splinter always says we shouldn’t underestimate our opponents. He was right, as always.

“Fuck! I can’t let this girl beat my ass so easily!” I tried taking the fight to the ground thinking that maybe it would make it easier for me to take control of it but again, I was wrong. What kind of woman was that? She could punch, kick and immobilize someone on the floor! I would be lying if I said that didn’t turn me on a little. Usually I engage in fights with all kinds of men but fighting with a woman that skilled was something new for me.

I was struggling and could barely move when I finally was able to use my shell to press her against the floor. That made her lose her hold of me and I took the chance to finally immobilize her under me. I used the weight of my body to stop her legs from moving but I hadn’t noticed that she had a gun on her thigh. She tried to reach it but fortunately I was faster that time and held her hands.

“Now let’s see who you are, lady.” I took off her mask to find out she was actually… a mutant? A mutant rabbit! My mind glitched for a second. I wasn’t expecting to find a mutant. Especially a rabbit. And a very beautiful one. She looked at me with her teal eyes, breathing deeply, her face red. We both were breathing deeply because of the previous fight but the pace of her breath suddenly changed. She sounded… excited. Also, there was an unusual scent coming from her. What kind of scent was that? It made me lose focus for a second or two.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” I asked. “None of your business, turtle.” She replied with a slight smile. I held her hands and legs even tighter. She started breathing harder. “You are mine now, lady, and you will give me answers!” I said getting my face closer to hers. Nothing could have prepared me for what came after that.

She somehow got one of her hands free, grabbed me by the tail of my mask and kissed me hard. Whoa! My first ever kiss came from a mutant bunny that was kicking my ass a few minutes ago? And what a kiss it was. She put her tongue inside my mouth as if she would find what she was looking for in the lab inside it. My mind ran wild in seconds. Why was she kissing me like that? Was she trying to distract me and then take me by surprise? Leo would probably say I should shove her away and keep asking questions. Fuck Leo.

I just entered her game. She tasted so good and kissing her felt so right that no one could convince me it was wrong. Even if it were. Her warm body under mine made my blood hot and that scent… That scent was driving me crazy. When she finally decided to let me breathe, we heard noises coming from the corridor that led to the main lab where we were. “Shit! Someone is coming! It must be Stockman’s security staff!” I tried to get up but she pulled me back to her. “What are you doing? We need to get out of here!”

“Why leave now, Red? The things are just getting fun!” I couldn’t believe she was acting like that when danger was literally a few minutes away from us! “Are you crazy? We’ll get caught if we don’t leave!” She just giggled and replied “Doesn’t it make everything more exciting?” She was definitely crazy. I got up and carried her with me. We hid inside a small room, some kind of utility room or something.

Inside the room there was a faint light that came from a streetlight near the window. I put my ear on the door so I could listen to the sounds from the security outside. That crazy girl started caressing my shell with her fingers. She then moved to my plastron and started kissing my neck. “Really, lady? Right here, right now?” “My name is Usagi, not lady. And why not? No one will find us here…” She looked at me again and gave me a kinky smile. Damn! How did she do that?

Usagi started kissing me again, even harder than before. I had no idea what to do with my hands and body. I’d never been in that kind of situation before. Actually, never thought I would. She must have noticed how lost I was then she asked “How old are you?” Shit. My age? Will she want my ID card too?

“I’m 21. Why?” It’s 19, but she doesn’t need to know.

“You’re 21 and never had sex?”

“Sweetheart, take a good look at my face. Women aren’t exactly lining up at my door to be with me.”

“Fair enough. I’ll lead you then.”

She then proceeded to take off part of her clothes. I’m not sure if that room was that hot or if it was my blood boiling over that scene. My first time ever… was going to be with a mutant bunny I’ve just met? Is this how things were supposed to work? My mind was going wild, my head was spinning and my body was growing stiff from head to toe. Usagi took my hands and put them over her waist. “Now you hold me like this.” She locked her arms around my neck and her legs around my shell. I slid my hand under her butt to have a better hold of her and pressed her back against the room wall. “Now I think you know what to do, right, Red?” “Name’s Raphael.” And fuck, yeah. I knew what to do.

I still don’t know how we managed to do it in that dark, tight, awful room. Now that I think of it, I felt like a naughty janitor having sex with a hot woman in the utility room. Leo was so going to kill me if he knew about it. That made the sex feel even better. When it was over and we finally caught our breath, I went back to the door to see if I could hear anything. It seemed the danger had gone and we could leave the tiny room. I quietly opened the door and checked if anyone was around. Usagi came from behind, tying her purple boot laces. She kissed me and said “Well, seems it’s safe now. See you around, Red. Thanks for the fun. It was really good, considering it was your first time.” And went away.

I was so shocked and confused I couldn’t even say anything. She just went away like it was nothing. Maybe it wasn’t for her, since she’s more experienced, but it was really something for me! It was my first time, dammit! “Thank you” and “see you around”? What did she think I was? A toy? That she could just play with, give her pleasure and that’s it? The worst part was that I had no one to talk to about it. Maybe Casey? Nah, he would mock me for the rest of my life. I couldn’t tell it to my brothers. They wouldn’t know any better either. And father… God forbid I ever talk about this matter with Master Splinter!

A week had passed and I still had that bunny in my mind, haunting my dreams. More than I would admit. I still felt her warmth, her taste, her… scent. What the fuck was that scent, anyway? Why did it make me go so crazy over her? Why did she kiss me like that, I mean, totally out of the blue? What was she doing at the lab to begin with? And the more important — who was she?

I was listening to the police radio frequency (thanks for that device, Don), and I heard something about a fire at the Stockman Labs. Could it be? I immediately jumped on my motorbike and went to the Labs. The place was crowded with police cars, fire trucks and tv reporters. Fuck, how would I find her among all that mess? Assuming she was there.

I decided to climb a hill not too far from the place to have a better view from the scene when I found her, sitting on the grass, smoking a cigarette and appreciating the view. I sat beside her, while she still had her eyes on the fire in a distance.

“Did you do that?” I asked.

“Yup.”

“What about the thing you were looking for?”

“Couldn’t find it.”

“So you thought it was best to set everything on fire.”

“Yeah. But don’t worry. I took off all the animals from the lab.”

“I didn’t even know they had animals there.”

“They did.”

“Cool.”

We stayed in silence, just looking at the fire, for a few minutes more. I decided to break it.

“Wish I’d thought of that before.”

“Sorry, Red. I was faster. I’m taking the credits.”

“Fair enough. I just wish I knew what you were doing there that night when we… you know…

“Had sex in the utility room?”

“Yeah…” How could she talk about that as if it was a walk in the park?

“Well… I was trying to find a cure for… this.” She pointed at herself.

“A cure?”

“A cure, a way to undo this. To make me human again!”

“Oh, I got it.” It looked like she wasn’t a fan of being a mutant rabbit.

“That psycho, Stockman, turned me into this… creature because he thought it would be ‘fun’ to have a girl named Usagi turned into a rabbit! Now I look like a monster!”

She turned her head toward me like she had just realized who she was talking to.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“You didn’t. I’m used to that.”

Usagi buried her head between her knees.

“Look, I understand you being mad at Stockman for what he did to you. I’d feel the same if I were you. But you’re no monster! You’re a gorgeous woman!”

Usagi looked up at me, her eyes watering and reflecting the light from the fire.

“Thanks for trying to make me feel better.”

“I’m not! I mean it! You’re beautiful and… very hot.” I felt my face burn when I said that. She was probably thinking I was just a little turtle boy looking at a bunny goddess.

“Thanks, Red. You’re kinda hot too.” Man, that sentence made my whole year!

“I’m curious, how exactly did you know Stockman?”

“I used to work for Oroku Saki as an artifact hunter.”

“You worked for the Shredder?!”

“I had no idea he also went by that name. He’s a freak too.”

“If you worked for him, why did he let Stockman use you as a subject in his lab?”

“Because I was expendable. I found the last piece of his armor and wasn’t necessary anymore. So he let Stockman have fun with me.”

“The motherfuckers.”

“They sure are! My whole life I just did what I wanted to! Who do they think they are to use me like that and change MY life without my consent?”

Usagi sounded furious. And I felt my blood on fire to kill those motherfuckers!

“I fled Japan to have a life of my own in America. Father is the CEO of Hoshino Tech, a giant corporation in Osaka and he was always busy with work. My mom thought I should just obey my father without thinking and my little brother is a copy of my mom. Yeah, I was the classic ‘poor little rich girl’ and I just couldn’t take it.”

“So you came to NY just to get rid of your family?”

“Yup. Father sent me here to study International Trade at Baruch College. Poor man, paid for my uni for a year before noticing I had skipped after one week.” She giggled after telling me that.

“A week? So you never really attended uni!”

“Hey! I went to all the parties!”

Usagi moved her arms as if she was dancing as she was still sitting on the ground.

I laughed. “You’re a mess.”

She stubbed out her cigarette on the sole of her boot then turned to me.

“Wanna get messy with me?” She did that again. The kinky smile.

I just smiled back and kissed her. But the taste was so awful it almost made me puke!

“Ew! What is that taste?”

“Shit, it’s the cigarette! Sorry! Here’s a mint!”

“Thanks! How can you smoke? That tastes like dog shit!”

“Right? I won’t be able to smoke ever again! That fucking psycho took even that from me!”

At least one good thing.

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