Tmnt X Readers And OCs

17.0 Raph x Nini

Raphael scoffed and crossed his arms. "About time you woke up. I was getting tired of hearing you snore."

"Raph!" Donnie warned. He turned to Nini. "You weren't actually snoring. Ignore my rude brother. What's your name?"

"Nini." She said with little emotion.

A little later, the turtles gave her the whole rundown of who they are and how they came to be. She still didn't say much, but agreed to keep their secret. Months had passed since then and she continued to come around. But she never let any of them know about the crippling nightmare and the depression that came with them. To make things worse, Nini began falling for Raphael just to find out he had a girlfriend.

"You have a girlfriend?" Nini asked, upset.

Raph rolled his eyes. "Key word is had. I had a girlfriend. We're not together anymore. She lives like a million lightyears away." He waved his hand to prove his point.

They were currently in the living room. Raph was in his favorite bean bag, while Nini was sprawled out on the couch. She raised an eyebrow at him. "But you never officially broke up with her. What if she shows up one day and.. I don't know.. kisses you or something? What are you going to do?"

The hot headed turtle shrugged. "I mean I don't know. I'm not really sure what my feelings for her are now. Can't know for sure unless I see her again."

Nini nodded. "So, why exactly did you bring this up?"

Raph coughed and visibly blushed. "Right, uh, I was going to see if you wanted to hang out with me. You know, just the two of us. Away from the lair and my nosy brothers."

"Are you asking me out on a date, Raphael?" Nini smirked slightly.

He stumbled over his words. Groaning, he facepalmed for sounding like Donnie. "I'm not saying it's a date. We can just hang out until we know what to call it. I know... I think I have feelings for you. I don't know. It's complicated."

"I get it. You have a girlfriend in space somewhere that you are confused about and now you might like me. If it helps any, I like you." Nini comments, much to his relief.

He guffaws. "What?" He says sarcastically. "Little miss no emotions feels something? There's a first for everything."

She wanted to explain to him that it's deeper than that. She has emotions, she just afraid to show them now since she was attacked by the Purple Dragons. Her depression keeps her feeling low, even when she longs to be happy. She just feels trapped in a spiral of emptiness. She just didn't know how to tell him that, so she said nothing.

After about four dates, it was as if Nini predicted the future. Mona walked into the lair as if she owned the place, calling out for Raphael. Nini eyed the alien, but said nothing as she took a sip of her drink out of her cup. The said turtle came out of his room. The moment his eyes locked with Mona's, they engulfed each other in a hug.

Mikey, who was sitting next to Nini, frowned and paused his video game. "That's got to hurt, dudette."

She shook her head. "Nope, I should've known this was coming. When does anything ever go right?"

The youngest brother wanted to say more, but was interrupted by the two warriors behind them announcing their leave. Nini watched as they scurried out of the entrance. She turned to Mikey. "Well, I guess that means I'm not hanging out with Raph tonight. Wanna play me in NBA 2k?"

Michelangelo inserted the disk for the game and handed her the opposite controller. "Don't you hate that game because of all the buttons you have to press just to pass the ball?"

She said nothing. She just watched the screen carefully and chose her team when the time came. Mikey sighed, giving up on talking to her.

One night, Nini was about to exit the lair so she could go home and finish her homework. Mona walked in and stopped her. "Can I talk to you?" Nini nodded and followed her to the guest room Mona Lisa had been staying in.

"I know Raphael and I have been hanging out a lot lately." She began as she sat on the bed. "But I do not want you to get the wrong idea."

"Raph likes you. We all knew that. There's nothing to get wrong." Nini crossed her arms.

Mona sighs. "You are correct. Raphael likes me, but he loves you. He doesn't know how to tell you, so I came instead. He doesn't know I'm telling you this."

Nini didn't understand. "Why are you telling me this? Don't you want to be with Raph?"

Y'gythba stood up again to emphasize her point. "I do not want him to be unhappy. My place in this universe is to be a warrior, not a wife. You are what he needs. You just have to tell him how you feel in your own way."

Nini sighed and agreed to talk with the red cladded mutant. She loved him, there's no denying that. She just had a lot of secrets she would have to unbury to tell him that.

When she walks out of the room, she encounters a frowning Raphael sitting on the couch reading a comic book. Sitting next to him, she searches for the right words to say.

He beats her to the conversation. "What's up?" He asks without looking at her.

Nini fiddled with her fingers for a moment before speaking. "Raph, I'm not good with expressing my feelings. You're like a slice of cake. You love it and never get tired of having cake."

She wanted to facepalm when she saw the look of confusion on his face. He placed his comic on his lap and looked at her. "So, are you saying you love me or that I'm just sweet. Because I'll accept either of those conclusions."

He was joking, but Nini couldn't tell. "I'm trying to tell you that I love you too! I just don't understand why you pushed me away if you had feelings for me."

"Mona told you?" He inquires. When she looks at him, he sighs and continues. "I didn't mean to push you away, Nini. It's just that you never try to open up. How can I be with someone who won't even talk to me? I love you, but I don't understand you! I want to understand you and be with you."

She huffed out a shaky breath, knowing it would be hard. "Ever since the night you guys saved me, I've... been depressed. I want to show my emotions, but it's like the only thing I can feel is emptiness. My mind always travels to what might have happened if you guys wouldn't have shown up. I have nightmares about it. I just spiral in sadness because I felt to out of control and weak that night."

Raphael placed a hand on her shoulder. "You should've told me. We could've helped you. It's okay to feel down, but you have to let us in so we can lift you up. I love you, Nini. I don't want you to suffer alone. Please, let me be there for you."

Nini didn't know what to say. She had to show Raph how important what he said was to her, so she kissed him. Raphael wasted no time placing his hands on her waist and pulling her close. All of the unsaid things were there in the kiss.

When they separated, Nini cracked a smile and waved the remote around in the air. "So, want to watch a movie since you missed our weekly movie night?"

He laughed and snaked an arm around her shoulders. "You're never going to let me live that down are you?"

"Nope." She laughed with him, laying her head on his chest. "Now, what do you want to watch?"