Sister Hamato: TMNT Sister Story

Dad For A Day

Splinter's Perspective:

I slowly woke up to the morning chill in the room. My immediate instinct was to check on my sons as I did every day. My eyes fluttered open to the dark and I moved my hand back to support myself as I began to sit up, then lightly bumped something warm beside me. At first, I thought it was one of my sons that had snuck into my bed after a nightmare again, but when my eyes focused, I saw a head of hair.

-Ah, right. The lost child from yesterday… I suppose I'll need to find something for her to eat too.- I thought.

I pulled myself out of the futon, then tucked the blanket around her before turning on the lamp so they wouldn't wake up in darkness. I changed into my hooded yukata before leaving the children to go to the surface. The morning breeze ran through my whiskers as I climbed out of the sewers.

I looked up at a nearby church that had a clock.

-5:34 AM… perfectly dark for me to get around casually enough.-

The bitter cold seeping through the hood that was blocking half of my eyesight brought back memories of the turtles when they were only babies. Having to do this scavenge everyday was exhausting and dangerous, even more so with those robots searching for mutants like me.

I would die before letting anyone harm my children.

I followed the smell of a hot breakfast sandwich in the alley and saw a homeless man asleep facing the wall. Someone quietly approached him with a bag of fast food and left it behind him. When the person walked away, I stepped closer, tempted to take the bag home for my children, but stopped. It wasn't right.

-Food will come, Yoshi. Don't be a monster.-

Another scent came across my nose, so I followed it to the back of a café. I hid by the dumpster while an employee took out a few plastic bags of buns and pastries. They tossed them into the dumpster before going back inside.

-This will do.-

I quickly went to the dumpster and checked the baked goods for mould. Thankfully, they still seemed good enough for the children to eat. The turtles generally weren't too picky, but for a human girl that must have been used to cereals and American waffles with syrup in every divot, I feared she would not eat.

On the way back to the sewers, I spotted a woman using a payphone. I was tempted to wait and check if she left any change, but the sun beams began to peek through the buildings and onto my face. Trying today was too risky. Besides, with what money could I use to make any calls? All I had on me were some day-olds from a bakery.

-I have to get home before they wake up.- I thought.

After slipping away to the sewers, I made my way back to the abandoned subway tunnels to our home. I silently came back to my room to see if my children – er, the children were awake. Although the lamp bulb seemed to have burnt out, the turtles were still perfectly snuggled in their futons while the little girl was in mine. Upon closer inspection, tears seemed to have spilled from her closed eyelids.

I tucked the blanket around her shoulders and gently touched her hand.

"I'm sorry things are going this way, little one. Until we find your mother, I will protect you like my own."

Her little hand suddenly held onto mine and squeezed, letting out a little whimper. I kept her wrapped up in the blanket and laid next to her with a hand placed over her shoulder.

"Don't be afraid, (Y/n). I won't let anything hurt you."

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