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Leo first saw the rabbit in the black cloak when he was seven.
It was a harsh, cold winter afternoon. In hindsight, probably not the best time to go off wandering the sewers alone. He had his hoodie and beanie though, so he thought it was fine! Plus, he was worried about Dad. He said he’d be back from the supply run an hour ago, which was way too long in Leo’s opinion.
So, after making doubly sure that his brothers were still sound asleep, Leo bundled up and headed out through the main tunnel. He followed the usual trail, until the walls started to look less and less familiar. The cold gradually seeped into his skin, his sneakers getting damp and his breath coming out in large puffs of air. But he had to keep going. He didn’t know how long he’d been walking. He probably should have brought a watch with him.
And without a whisper or a warning, a bone-deep shiver wracked the slider’s tiny body, and his vision went spotty as he convulsed with the cold. He felt the pain as he fell to the ground, but it felt echo-y, like it was happening miles away from where he could feel it. His thoughts were mush, and Leo couldn’t even muster the energy to retch at the way his face was smushed into the stagnant mud. He tried to move, but his body remained stubbornly still. He let out a weak cough, ashamed when hot tears slowly slid down his face, whimpering in vain for Dad, Raph, April, anyone.
His eyes had almost slipped closed when a sudden, inexplainable warmth washed over him. Leo jolted at the feeling, burying his face into something soft and cosy, allowing himself to be picked up by strong, secure arms.
After he regained some awareness, Leo lifted his head slowly and let out a tiny, awed gasp. A white rabbit, with piercing red eyes, draped in a long black cloak. By all accounts Leo should be scared. But for some reason, he wasn’t. The rabbit smiled softly and adjusted his cloak so that Leo could warm himself up, using the edge of said cloak to wipe away the worst of the grime and mud.
“It’s not your time yet, Blue. Your family needs you.”
Leo stared up at the stranger in confusion. He had a lot of questions (why are you here, are you a mutant too, are there others, who are you?) but he was abruptly hit with a wave of exhaustion that made it extremely difficult to think.
His eyes slowly slid closed, and he was vaguely aware of the rabbit huffing an amused chuckle before they began walking further down the tunnel, and he quickly slipped into unconsciousness.
By the time Leo woke up, his dad was crouched over his shivering body, panic all over his furred face as he quickly scooped the small turtle into one arm and the supplies into the other, hurrying back towards the lair as fast as he could.
Days later, Leo told Donnie about the rabbit, but his twin didn’t believe him, saying he was probably just imagining things. Leo wanted to argue, but he knew a hopeless cause when he saw one. Plus, Donnie was still a little shaken from having woken up and found one his brothers missing. He felt kinda bad for sneaking away and worrying the soft-shell. But he was back home with his family now, and that was all that mattered!
Still, he could never quite forget the rabbit in the black cloak. He wished he’d asked his name. Maybe one day he’d have the chance to ask.
Death (Usa--, my name is Mi------ Usa--, don’t forget, I won’t forget, I won’t forget) watched the rat man cradle his turtle son in his arms as he ran back to their home. Rather unusual circumstances, a mutant rat with four turtle sons, but who was he to judge. He knew the little one would be fine. He still had many years in front of him. He’d have to keep a special eye on this one though.
Death had a feeling this wasn’t the last time they’d meet before the slider’s true demise.
Leo didn’t see the rabbit again until he was fourteen.
Fourteen and being dangled over a multi-storey drop by the very man (or sheep yokai, whatever) that created them. He’d be lying if he said that didn’t sting a little bit. His heart was practically pounding out of his throat, and honestly, he was only half-aware of what was going on, most of his attention focused on the bustling rush hour traffic and unforgiving concrete below.
Before he fully registered what was happening, the vine’s grip loosened on his mask tails, and he was plummeting towards the ground. He had the thought to yell out a cheeky quip, hoping that Raph couldn’t hear the raw terror in his voice. Everything was a blur around him, colours and shapes blinding him and his blood rushing in his ears, when a vaguely familiar form appeared next to him.
White fur. Crimson eyes. Black cloak.
Leo only had mere seconds to acknowledge the rabbit’s presence and his reassuring gaze, before he was seeing a giant red light in the shape of his big brother plummet towards him. After that, he put the rabbit to the back of his mind, slightly more occupied by the revelation that apparently Baron Draxum created them (and the fact that he was alive, he survived getting thrown off a building holy hell) than the fact that he had maybe hallucinated a very cute rabbit boy in an edgy grim reaper get-up.
Death could feel the mystical power of the red-banded brother simmering just below the surface. He knew that he’d be powerful enough to save the blue one.
But maybe not fast enough.
It was rule one of his job not to interfere with the living, and yet he’d broken that rule once already for this turtle. Why was he so different?
(He knew, he knew very well why, Usagi could never resist a kind and brave soul)
(Usagi is gone, he’s long gone, stop it, STOP IT)
Death leapt off the roof after the red one. He reached his hand out, pushing with all his might, and giving the eldest brother a needed boost as his mystic form rocketed towards the blue one’s flailing figure.
Death fell past the blue one (Leonardo, Leo, his name is Leonardo, it’s a nice name, a familiar name, you know that name!) only having a moment to reassure him before he saw the recognition in those deep blue eyes.
After that, Death only allowed himself to stay long enough to make sure the red one succeeded in rescuing his brother, before phasing into the shadows and out of sight.
“U----, stay with me! Breathe okay, you’re gonna be fine!”
“L-------… my love. It’s okay.”
“NO! It’s not okay, you weren’t supposed to take that hit! It was supposed to be me! It should’ve been me! I should have… I should have saved you!”
The other swallowed a sob as he shook and swayed in the wind like a torn flag.
U---- chuckled, then regretted it as he coughed harshly.
“It’s not about me.”
A flash of watery blue eyes and tender green hands clutching his own, before the red took over and he began to sink.
Down, and down, and down.
Into the shadows, where creatures of the ether thrived.
When he awoke, his old name was gone and buried.
He was Death.
A new legacy, a new mission.
He hoped this time would be easier.
Leo saw the rabbit a few times after that. Only for brief moments though. He was always gone by the time Leo noticed his presence. Sometimes it would be in a reflection, or in the corner of his eye, or when a shadow passed over the moon, or during patrol when he’d nearly fall off a fire escape and catch himself just in time.
A part of him thought he was perhaps having stress-induced hallucinations, but the logical part of him tried not to think about the mysterious rabbit as much as possible. After all, he was the leader now, and he had a new purpose.
Be the worst leader in existence until Raph eventually caved and took the job back.
Easier said than done.
‘Well, mark this down as the official worst day of my life’.
Leo thought as he lay among the rubble of the prison dimension, agony permeating every pore in his body as every part of him ached and trembled. He’d seen the rabbit today more than ever, red eyes and white fur wrapped in a black cloak an almost constant shadow, one that he was forced to ignore to deal with… well, everything.
He could hear the faint screech of an alien mech as the Krang came after him, no doubt to turn him into turtle soup for stopping his Earth-destroying plans.
He thought this day couldn’t get any crazier when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. Leo forced his tired eyes to look up and met the watery crimson gaze of the rabbit, for the first time really looking at the silver scythe strapped to his belt.
Leo stared at it for a moment. Then it clicked.
Despite, well, this whole situation, Leo smiled.
“You know, in hindsight it makes sense. I always was a little reckless with my life.”
Death shook his head.
“Correction: Are. You are very reckless with your life. Present tense.”
Leo squinted at the faint freckles around his whiskers, at the brief flash of warm brown among the pool of red in his irises.
“Do I know you?”
Death hesitated, then nodded, a look of steely resolve entering his gaze.
“You did. And you will.”
Leo snorted, ignoring how it sent a sharp spike of pain through his chest. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
The rabbit shrugged lightly. “Maybe not. But it is not your time yet. And… if I’m lucky, I won’t be there when your time comes.”
With Leo’s vision getting dark and the adrenaline beginning to fade, it was getting increasingly harder to string a coherent thought together. But he knew he wasn’t imagining the tears soaking the white rabbit’s fur. He wished he had the strength to wipe them away.
For the first time, the rabbit pulled down the hood of his cloak. He leaned forward, cradling Leo’s aching head in his hands, and placed a gentle kiss on Leo’s forehead, a single word (a name) echoing in his mind.
Usagi.
And just like that, he was gone.
Right in time for a ray of golden light to tear through the darkness and pull Leo back to his family.
He did it.
He lived.
He was going home.
“Heh, took you guys long enough…”
Far away, in a space that was not-quite nothingness but just on the edge of everything, a white rabbit removed his cloak, wrapping his scythe in it. He dropped the objects at his feet and smiled.
Let another carry this mantle now.
I have a reason to go back. To live.
And his name is…
“Leonardo! I have a mango smoothie and large pineapple pizza for Leonardo?”
Leo perked up as the waiter headed towards the table. Grinning down at his usual Run of the Mill order, he looked up to thank the waiter and froze.
‘Oh. Oh holy woah he’s cute.’
A white-furred rabbit stared back at him, long ears twitching under his intense gaze.
Leo glanced at the guy’s name tag. Miyamoto Usagi. Huh.
His eyes were a warm chocolate brown, and almost seemed fixed upon him. And if Leo saw a brief flash of crimson in those gorgeous depths, he figured it was probably just a trick of the light.
Leo cocked his head slightly as he leaned forward, ignoring the piercing and curious stares of April and his brothers.
“Haven’t we… I mean, have we met somewhere before?”
The rabbit’s eyes widened (Usagi, his name is Usagi). Then he smiled fondly.
“I thought so too.”
“It’s not about me.”
Watery blue eyes. Tender green hands clutching his own.
“We’ll see each other again, Leonardo. In another life, or the next.”
A hitch of breath, a shaky sigh, and a stray tear falling onto his furred cheek.
“In that case, I-I’ll see you then, Usagi.”
… before the red took over and he began to sink…
Usagi smiled.