𝕀𝕟 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕤 ☭ Leonardo Hamato

i

Huro stood at the convenience store's cashier area, his feet were killing him but he'd rather stand until his legs were numb than sit in one of the stained chairs for the employees. These were his good pants. The place was pretty much empty as it was the graveyard shift, the teenager rubbed his eyes, finger-less gloves warming his under-eyes. 

He sighed as he pulled out his test review notes for the umpteenth time, glad that he had left Suzanne with his friend, Loraine so he didn't have to run home and subsequently run into Mr. Jones or Casey at this time of night, by the time he gets back it'll be to freshen up, pick up Suzie, drop her off at school and hopefully meet up with Casey at their school. 

A burly man walks up to the counter with a white stained tank top, light brown shorts, some sandals and his arms were covered in thick black hair. He places a Heineken beer pack on the counter and looks through his phone as he waits. Huro silently checks the price of the item before asking the mandatory; "Have you found what you were looking for sir?"

The middle aged white dude grunts and Huro takes a deep breath. "Alright, that'll be 5.99 sir." The man slaps down a 10 on the counter and he quickly places it in the register and gives him his change, not bothering to watch him collect his purchase and leave the store, the bell ringing was enough indication. 

"So polite." He mumbles sarcastically, going back to his notes, he re-reads until he's bored again and instead decides to start on a fresh page and doodle. A small stick-figure appears on the paper with a gun and a small smirk appears on his face as he lets his mind wander. 

Time flies by with his mind creating colourful scenes, a whole story plays behind his eyes while he remains motionless behind the counter. Finally, he's snapped out of his trance when the bell jingles, he takes a moment to refocus himself in reality, missing the sight of the new patron. 

Huro sighs, stealing a glance at the clock, its almost 3 am, just 17 more minutes. Footsteps echo closer to the counter and he finally looks for the new customer only to find somebody he didn't expect. "Casey? What the hell are you doing here?"

The athlete looked surprised, holding a med kit and a pair of budweiser beers in both hands. His hockey gear was nowhere to be found and he was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Huro knew for a fact his little brother didn't have hockey practice tonight. "Oh, Huro, I thought you'd be at home." He replied sheepishly, his gap teeth showing with the nervous smile he's sporting.

The older brother sighs. "You'd know I was working here for the graveyard shift if you had been listening to me this morning, be glad that I took Suzie to Loraine's house. Now you're staying with me for the last few minutes of my shift so I can get both of our asses back home safe. You're also not buying those fucking beers, and whoever is the person you're with I want their parents' phone number so I can talk to them."

"Why do you think I'm with someone."

"Cause I know for a fact you're not stupid enough to go out alone at this time of night."

"Maybe I am."

"Casey Jones don't fuck with me right now, when you see them again -because I know for a fact you're going to practice tomorrow- you bet your ass you're gonna march straight up to them and ask for their parents' phone number or else I'll fucking find out myself." Huro argues, getting out from the back of the counter and snatching the beers from his adoptive brother's hand, placing them back where they belonged and placing in the money for the med kit. 

He feels pissed off by the time his co-worker arrives, exchanging pleasantries and clocking out before marching out with Casey in tow. The teen seems to glance up at the rooftops every couple of seconds and Huro has had enough at this point. "Explain." He demanded, looking forwards to where they were going while his little brother walks beside him, his face is painfully blank, containing the anger building up. 

"What?" The hockey player asks, clearly not getting what Huro wanted. Huro turns to him, stopping his walking and finally going off. "Oh my fucking god Casey, you can't be out here at this time, who knows what the hell could've happened to you! If you got killed have you ever thought of what you're leaving behind? Every time you walk out of the fucking door without telling me is time I spend without sleep. People worry about you, you know that Casey? That every night I spend it waiting in the living room, waiting for the cops to show up and tell me they found you dead."

"I get that Huro but you wouldn't get what I'm doing right now, I'm sorry that I worry you like this but I'm always safe and doing good things." Casey defends and Huro chuckles bitterly. "Good things, yeah right, getting beers is 'good things' look Casey, if you're desperate to be out here it has to be illegal shit to get your blood pumping. I get that, I've done it myself before but right now, with gang wars and shit going down? It's not the fucking time."

Finally, it falls silent between the both of them with Casey still looking at the rooftops, getting to the apartment never felt sweeter. Huro starts going up the steps and looks back at the teenager who doesn't follow. "Come on." He encourages, no way he was still going to be out right now, its almost half past 3. 

Casey sighs and trudges along, Huro lets him walk past him and looks around for anybody nearby only to find nobody who could be with his little brother. With a final exhale, he closes the door firmly shut behind him, not seeing the mutant turtle on a nearby rooftop with a red mask tied on his face,  looking down on both of them with pursed lips.