They sat in the middle of the courtyard, sipping on the fresh tea just served by Gen. Except for Goo, who requested chocolate milk.
Mikey got a better view of the courtyard from the bench he sat at, seeing that were a few paths that also lead to the center circle. He saw some worn patches of grass as well, mostly by trees, likely places where people often sat.
"I would like to apologize for my sister," Usagi started, "She has had some bad habits since we left New York, and I apologize that you were a victim of such an act,"
Kit huffed beside him, setting down her tea.
"I already told you, I had a good reason!"
Usagi didn't acknowledge her, instead looking over at Mikey and Goo.
"If I may ask, how did you two meet Kit?" He set aside his cup. "She said she saw you at the shop?"
"Yeah, at Spencer's. Me and Mikey went to the mall today, and I guess, Kit?" Kit nodded at them. "Noticed that Mikey was a mutant. She gave us a real scare, though, showing up with my wallet out of nowhere,"
"You took him to the mall?" Gen asked. Goo nodded.
"The one on Marshel, connected to Kohl's,"
"I assumed as much, that's where Kit works," He chuckled, "Awfully bold to go to such a crowded place, though. Unarmed at that,"
Mikey frowned.
"I'm not unarmed,"
"You aren't?" Gen was taken aback. The Usagi siblings also looked a bit shocked.
"You aren't?" Goo asked, giving him an appraising look.
Mikey set his tea aside and began to remove the couple of smoke bombs he had in his hoodie pocket. Then he removed the hoodie and took out the kunai he had stashed in his utility belt, which he wore under his human disguise. He took out the shurukin and the blinding powder from his belt as well, before finally shedding his pants and pulling out his nunchucks.
He placed all his items in a pile in front of him for all of them to see.
"Wow, man's strapped," Goo mumbled, eyeing the weapons on the ground. They nudged the small bags that held the blinding powder with their foot. "What's that?"
"Careful! That's blinding powder," Mikey gently picks up the bags and puts them back in his belt. "I got that from Karai, said it works really well on 'those who've wronged me',"
Goo nodded, still studying the weapons Mikey set in front of them. Gen looked at him in awe, jaw a bit slack from the display. Usagi looked at him strangely
"Hamato... as in the Hamato clan? I thought they were wiped out by the Foot many years ago," The rabbit sat up straighter, "The Hamato clan was known for their ninjistu, strictly disciplined and honorable, despite being ninjas,"
Mikey nodded, reminiscing on his training.
"My dad, Spli-err, Hamato Yoshi, barely survived the attack," he said, "He lost his wife and thought he lost his daughter too, so he flew to New York to get away."
Mikey stared down at his hands.
"When he got there, he adopted four baby turtles, but then he ran into the Krang and got mutated into a rat. And the turtles got mutated into me and my brothers!"
"Oh! You were a turtle first?" Gen looked surprised, "How long have you been a yo-guy?"
"We've been mutants for, like, seventeen years,"
"Hmm, that checks," Kit said, "That's about how long our clan had been in New York,"
"Oh yeah," Goo piped up, "How do you know the Hamato's? Are you guys from a clan like that too?"
"Our clan was very secretive," Usagi responded, "We were the last Samarai clan in Japan, before we were ambushed by the Foot. I was but a baby when the Hamato clan was massacred, my family one of the few that made it out of Japan before the attack. We had been in New York since then,"
Usagi looked away sadly.
"Until recently, anyway,"
Kit leaned into her brother, solemnly laying her head on his shoulder. He nuzzled her head appreciatively.
"Um, can I ask how you turned into a mutant?" Goo asked tentatively, watching as Gen flinched.
"We use yo-guy, less, uh, negative connotations, y'know?"
"Oh! Uh sorry," Goo quickly said, turning to talk quietly to Mikey, "You never told me that 'mutant' was a slur!"
"I didn't think it was!" Mikey responded under his breath, "We never used anything other than 'mutant'!"
Usagi quietly laughed at that, glancing up at the two.
"It's not that it's offensive, it's just that I was mutated after the first invasion, when mutation became associated with invading aliens," He grimaced, "Most people don't remember it fondly, so I went with Yokai instead,"
Mikey looked back at him, offering a gentle smile.
"My family had managed to stay away from the Krang during that invasion," He continued, "And we had...been attacked before the second,"
He sat up straighter, eyes looking far away.
"I had been captured by a group called the Purple Dragons, and they turned me into this," He gestured at himself, "I had escaped soon after and when I sought out my family, I had found...I had only found Kit,"
His hands gripped his sweatpants.
"She...told me what happened, and how she escaped. We were the only two left of the Usagi clan," He refocused his gaze on Mikey and Goo, "There was nothing left for us in New York, so we decided to flee. And we ended up here,"
The group sat in silence for a few moments, all mourning what was and what could have been. Finally, Goo looked over Gen.
"So, how do you fit into all this?" They gestured at him with their empty cup. Gen smiled solemnly at them.
"Almost two years ago, my brother and I went on a trip to New York. We were taking a vacation, mostly 'cause Ryan was getting sick of managing all the businesses our parents left us," He said, "I was holed up in our hotel room from catching the flu, when a couple of thugs broke in and dragged me away, leaving a note for Ryan,"
He sighed, looking up at the ceiling.
"Now, Ryan wasn't the type to just let the police handle things, so he went out to find me on his own. And he did," He paused, taking a breath, "A little too late. The night before they said they 'had some new stuff to try out' and they splashed that stuff on me,"
He looked down.
"I was out while my brother was fighting them, and they nearly got 'im too, but when I woke up and saw what was happening, I just saw red," He shook his head, "Pretty easy to escape a cage when you've been turned into a rhino. I've never seen my brother look so scared before. At me,"
He stayed quiet for a few moments, and no one dared break the silence.
"Once everything was settled, and Ryan was sure I wasn't gonna attack him, we headed back to the hotel and trying to sneak me in wasn't easy," He chuckled, "And we didn't know what to do. Luckily, my brother's real smart, and he did some brainstorming on our way back home."
He sat up straight and looked around with pride.
"He figured that I wasn't the only one, so he found a place that was just sitting and bought it up. Then he had some work done on it to make it livable and moved me in," Gen smiled down at them, "Ryan went out on the look out for some yo-guy who might be running from New York, and so far, he's found quite a few,"
He pointed at one of the rooms.
"The Mendez's are live there, a cat and wolf and, get this, and a pair of twins!" Gen laughed at their surprised looks, "I know! Maribel, the wolf, had 'em a few months ago, and from what they told me, she wasn't pregnant before mutatin',"
"She had kids as a mut-uh Yokai?" Mikey asked, incredibly surprised. It just seemed like something that couldn't happen, they all had just assumed that they wouldn't be able.
"Yup! Even better, one's a cat and the other's a wolf! Just like their ma and pa!" Gen chuckled, "Ryan told me he nearly got an arm bitten off when he tried talking to 'em, had to show them a picture of me to let them know it was safe,"
He leaned forward, setting an arm on his knee.
"Most of the folks here have been yo-guy for two or three years, Yuichi here being our newest," He said, "And a couple of them can do weird things like him too,"
Mikey perked up at that.
"Yeah! I was gonna ask about that," Mikey turned to the rabbit, "How can you do that, dude? I've never anything as cool as that!"
"Oh well, you know..." Usagi rubbed the back of head shyly, "It just sort of...happened? It took a while before I was able to control it well enough to use it effectively,"
He looked back at Mikey.
"You can't do anything like that?"
"Man, I wish!" Mikey chuckled, "For as far as I can remember I've never been able to do anything like that!"
"Yeah, not everyone can," Gen piped up, "There are a few people here who have been yo-guy for a good number of years and they don't have any powers like that,"
Mikey frowned, rubbing his chin. This phenomena of random powers showing up in mutants could be a cause for concern, especially if the wrong powers end up in the wrong hands.
"Gen, how many Yokai live here?" Goo gestured to the rooms around them.
"Oh, about thirty er so, we got another couple expecting...speaking of-" Gen began to stand up- "We should get a room ready for you two, help ya get cozy,"
"Oh! No I'm not staying!" Mikey quickly said. Gen paused looking at him confused, the Usagi siblings also giving him looks. "I'm just visiting, I've got a home in New York with my brothers,"
"You're going back?" Kit straightened up. "So, you're not running from New York?"
Mikey shook his head.
"No- well, no. I left for different reasons, and besides Goo's lived here all their life," Mikey sighed, "I'm gonna have to go back eventually,"
The three across from him blinked, letting his words sink in.
"Oh, well, that saves me the work," Gen chuckled, leaning back into the bench, "Should've told us you were just on vacation!"
"What other reasons would have for leaving New York?" Kit asked, "Especially since you plan on going back!"
Usagi smacked the back of her head, nearly knocking her off the bench.
"Don't be rude, Kit," He said, "He doesn't need to tell you why he left New York,"
Goo chuckled, Mikey just noticing that they still had the flower Usagi grew for them. They carefully traced the petals.
"Mikey, it's getting pretty late, and as much as I like it here, I'd prefer to sleep in my bed." They turned to Gen. "It was awesome meeting y'all, and I hope we're allowed to come back,"
"Of course!" The rhino boomed, "I'd be happy to have ya! The more the merrier they say!"
Gen and Goo chattered happily, going through what Goo called a 'Midwestern goodbye'. Mikey took the time to redisguise himself and place all of his items back into his belt. Usagi kneeled down to help him.
"You're on an important journey, I can tell," He whispered, gently scooping up his smoke bombs, "I hope you find what you're looking for,"
Mikey accepted the bombs and nodded, smiling gently. Usagi returned the nod and walked over to his sister, guiding her back to their room. Goo reunited with Mikey, giving final waves to Gen and walking out into the cool night air.
The short walk to the car was peaceful, the crickets chirping as they made their way along. A breeze flitted past, stirring the trees, sounding like a far off celebration.