Chapter Text
Yuichi didn’t have nightmares that often.
Usually, he had dreamless nights or simple dreams that often include his family and friends, or, more recently, a certain turtle.
And he was grateful for those peaceful nights when he could sleep easy.
But sometimes, the stress and anxiety sneaked up on him at night, when he was back to that day.
He was no longer 17 years old, he was 8, with his 3-year-old little sister being shoved into his arms, his mom giving him a peck on the forehead, telling him that she loved him, and then, she told him to run.
He remembers the warmth of the fire around them as it consumed their village, how his aunt was pulling his arm away from his parents, and how his sister was screaming for them still in his arms. He knew how this memory ended, but his mind just wanted to play with him that night.
Suddenly he was alone, in the middle of the woods, and turned around to the screams of the samurai who fought those monsters. His parents were there! He felt himself running, his still-long ears flopping on the back of his head.
After what felt like ages of fear and panic, he reached the village, where he saw his parents looking at him with warm smiles, even with all the chaos around them.
His mom said something, but he wasn’t able to hear with the loud ringing in his ears as the tall robot towered over them, sword in hand.
Yuichi woke up.
The first feeling he recognizes was dizziness, he was confused, and the images were just repeating inside his head, the memories coming back to him and hitting him like a truck like they haven’t done in a long time.
He looked around, noticing the familiarity of his room, his Jupiter Jim poster, his fairy lights hanging on the ceiling, and the shiny little stars adorning the dark room. But no matter how much he tried to calm down it just wouldn’t stop.
Tears were rolling down his cheeks without his permission, his lungs felt like bricks on his chest as he was struggling to breathe. He couldn’t do this.
His hand wandered around the bed looking for something, whatever thing would help him come back to reality.
He recognized the texture of his phone case.
The device almost fell twice with how much his hands were shaking, but even with his sight blurry he managed to unlock it and called the first contact that he found.
“Hello? Babe?”
Leo . His mind was able to clear enough to recognize his boyfriend’s voice, and he held on to that.
Before he could say anything, his voice betrayed him and the only thing that came out was a sob and his breathing that he still wasn’t able to get under control.
“Shit- Chi, hang on, I’ll be there in two seconds love, don’t hang up, I’m right here.”
He didn’t trust himself to talk, as he was still crying and biting his lip hard, trying and failing to stop the tears
After that it’s all fuzzy, the lack of oxygen making him even dizzier, not hearing Leo’s voice for a moment was enough for his mind to start running again.
If he could only have been stronger.
If he’d only been better .
Everything was just clashing against his head, the fear that was planted in his stomach since they heard the first explosion, the stress from when his sister was put into his arms. He could feel the panic from when he was being pulled away from his parents as they were going directly to their deaths.
“-breath. Yuichi? can you hear me?”
That voice again.
“Chi, I’m gonna touch you, ok? you’re hurting yourself, love”
The voice was soft, and that’s when he suddenly felt his nails against his ears while his hands were firmly, but gently being pulled away.
He was slowly coming back, realizing that he had his knees pulled close to his chest and he at some point had moved to the corner of his bed against the wall. Still staring at the material of his pajama pants,
“Lee-“ his voice was cut by a sob.
“I’m right here babe, but I need you to breath with me, can you do that?”
It was easy to recognize the plastron of the turtle under his hand, where he could feel his chest rising and falling slowly, while also recognizing the strong beating of his heart. Clinging to that feeling like a lifeline,
It took him a while, but the soft voice of his boyfriend, always full of reassurance, was slowly bringing him back.
He could still feel himself crying a little bit, and that feeling of panic was still deep in the pit of his stomach, but his mind was clearing slowly.
His eyes finally moved up, where he could see sweet but sad eyes looking at him with a soft smile.
“There you are hun,” He said while slowly putting his hand on his cheek, and wiping some of the tears with his thumb, still holding his hand close to his plastron, feeling the slight cold of the metal prosthetic arm.
The lovely feeling broke him all over again.
The turtle immediately opened his arms and Yuichi couldn’t help but throw himself in them, hiding his face in the crook of his boyfriend’s neck, his shoulders shaking as he tried not to cry again.
“Babe, you don’t have to do that, not with me, you know that.” His voice was soft, almost a whisper, as he planted a small kiss on his head. “I got you”
That was all it took.
His tears just kept coming down as he sobbed on his boyfriend's shoulder, who held him in a tight and secure grip, whispering reassurances and slowly moving his hand up and down on his back.
He didn’t know how much he cried, he just knew that his eyes were heavy and that he was exhausted. His head was now on his pillow where he was able to see how Leo put his prosthetic on the floor beside his bed. The turtle's eyes widened a little seeing him awake.
“Hey, love” He rapidly went back under the covers, using his left arm to pull him close, while Yuichi hid in the crook of his neck once again as took a deep breath, feeling relieved and, for the first time that night, relaxed.
They stayed like that for a while, in a comfortable silence as he could feel Leo's hand tracing patterns with the tip of his fingers on his back.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” He heard him ask softly. Considering it for a second until the panic started to ring an alarm in his brain and he just shook his head. “It’s ok, we don’t have to.”
“Stay” He whispered, even doubting for a second if the turtle heard him. But Leo’s arm was once again pulling him towards his chest in a hug where he just felt extremely loved and safe.
“I’m not going anywhere, I promise” Leo softly presses a kiss on his head, still holding him close. He couldn’t help but rest his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder, nuzzling his neck and wrapping his hands around him, and intertwining his legs with his. Getting a chuckle from the turtle, who passed his fingers softly through his ears in a way that he knew was relaxing for the rabbit.
“Thank you,” He said, still not much louder than a whisper, but knowing that Leo heard him as he pressed another kiss on his head.
“Anytime love” He whispered back as he kept stroking his ears, definitely trying to put him to sleep.
After nights like this, he always had trouble going back to sleep, if he even could. But now? A smile crept on his face just thinking about how happy he was that Leo was here for him.
With his heart full, he let his eyes close, completely relaxed under the safe and loving touches of his boyfriend.
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Insomnia is a bitch.
Leo has known that fact since he was around 12 years old. It has been his friend since and accompanying him like an itch that you’re not able to scratch. Prived him from a good night of sleep more often than not.
It was one of those nights, Donnie sometimes being his companion during this time as they re-watched some of the older Lou-Jitsu movies.
His twin was sitting by his side, tinkering with a small device while he “watched” the movie. It didn’t bother Leo at all, they all knew these movies by heart at this point in their lives, and not spending his sleepless night alone was enough for him. Being that they were more frequent than ever, even a year after the invasion.
The thought of the event sent a chill down his spine, and just a small weird feeling on the stump of his arm, so he just took a deep breath and tried to think about something else.
His mind tended to wander now that he was tired, a small smile forming on his face as he thought of his rabbit boyfriend, with who he was supposed to have a romantic date the next day in the hidden city, being another reason why he needed to sleep.
He was gonna get up to get another cup of tea, about to offer one to his brother, when his phone started to vibrate on the table beside the couch.
“Who’s calling you at 3 AM?” His twin wondered out loud.
Leo shrugged as he picked up the phone, frowning confused at who was calling.
Chi <3
He picked up.
“Hello? Babe?” He said and it would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little worried.
He didn’t hear anything for a moment, and after that, a sob and the sounds of his boyfriend struggling to breathe.
Fuck
His face should have given away that something was going on, because now his twin was on the edge of the couch, with a look that told him that he was ready to get up if something had happened.
Another sob from the other side of the line made him react.
“Shit- Chi, hang on, I’ll be there in two seconds love, don’t hang up, I’m right here” Without having time to stop to give explanations, he ran to his room to get his swords, knowing his brother was right behind him with a worried look.
“Hey- what’s going on?” He asked once they reached his train car.
“I don’t know yet, I just know that I need to go over there now” Leo quickly grabbed his prosthetic, and stuck it to the port in the stump with a hiss, the yellow stripes in the mechanical arm glowed for a second and he slowly felt it come to life as he grabbed his swords.
He wished to pizza supreme in the sky that it wasn’t what he was thinking. Yuichi had told Leo early in the relationship about what happened to his parents when Leo had asked him about the scar on his brow and was able to remember clearly when he told him that he still had night terrors about it, it was uncommon but when it did happen they were bad.
He took a glance again at his twin, who examined the look on his face for a second before nodding.
“Go, stay if you need to, I’ll tell Raph and Mikey, just take your phone and let us know”
Leo smiled thankfully to his brother before slicing the swords, creating the portal to his boyfriend’s room with practiced ease, and walking right in.
The light from the portal made it easier to see around the room that must have been dark before he got here, he turned his head to the bed and what he saw broke his heart.
Yuichi was shaking like a leaf in the corner of his bed with his back against the wall, his knees close to his chest, and his arms covering his face, breathing heavily.
He left his swords against one of the walls and slowly walked up to his boyfriend, sitting on the edge of the bed, now with only with the moonlight that came from the window to illuminate the room.
“Love? I’m right here, you’re ok, but I need you to breathe” He says as softly as he can, while still making sure that Yuichi could hear him. “Yuichi? Can you hear me?” He hoped the use of his full name helped to bring him back.
It only made him move a little and revealing a bit of his face, but he realized something that made him want to cry.
He knew that one of his boyfriend’s nervous habits was tugging at his ears, but right now, he had a close fist around each of them, definitely digging his nails into them. His sight was on his lap, looking scared and unfocused, making clear that his mind was not here right now.
“Chi, I’m gonna touch you, ok? You’re hurting yourself, love.” He warned before slowly getting closer to the rabbit and firmly but carefully, unclenching his hands. Putting one of them close to his chest.
He then took a few deep breaths, keeping Yuichi’s hand on his plastron in an attempt to calm him down.
“Lee-” Chi’s voice was cut by a sob.
“I’m right here babe, but right now, I need you to breathe with me, ok?” He took a couple of deep breaths, coaching the rabbit into copying him, which seemed to work after a few tries.
“That’s it, babe, you’re doing great” He whispered
When his breathing finally slowed down, Yuichi looked up, his eyes still looked scared but he also seemed relieved to see him.
He slowly put his hand on the rabbit’s cheek, hoping that the contact could help ground him more as he still held his other hand close to his chest.
“There you are hun”
Leo just said the words and he saw the tears forming in his boyfriend’s eyes all over again.
He opened his arms without a doubt, allowing the rabbit to bury himself in them and as he could feel him shaking in his arms, he almost started to cry too.
He could feel him trying to force himself to stop crying.
“Babe, you don’t have to do that, not with me, you know that.” He whispered, putting his head on top of his and rubbing his back, rocking them side by side very lightly, remembering how Raph used to do that when they were kids (still does sometimes), hoping it would calm the shaken boy in his arms. “I got you”
He planted a soft kiss on his head as Yuichi started to sob, his head still buried in his shoulder. Leo focused on rubbing his back and whispering reassurances, repeating that they were safe and that his sister and Aunty were also okay, sleeping peacefully at this hour of the night.
It took a while, but he could feel how his boyfriend slowly started to relax, and his breathing evened out. Doing his best in the position that he was in, he laid him back on the bed already deciding on staying with him because there is no way he was just gonna leave him alone after this.
After he put Yuichi under the covers once again, he sat down, opening the hidden panel in his forearm and pressing the releasing code on his arm, cursing under his breath at the small beep that sounded every time he pressed a button, making a mental note to tell Donnie to mute it.
The arm detached with a hiss and he put it on the floor beside the bed, turning around to the surprise of seeing his boyfriend awake. Looking exhausted and kinda out of it, but awake.
“Hey love,” He said softly and got under the covers, while gently pulling him close.
He felt him taking a shaky breath, starting to rub his back gently, trying to get him to relax as much as he could. But he just had to ask something before letting the rabbit fall asleep again.
“You wanna talk about it?” His voice was soft, and the rabbit tensed but didn’t respond for a second, then he shook his head. “It’s ok, we don’t have to.”
Leo understands the feeling pretty well, because while yes, sometimes it helped to talk about his nightmares, sometimes it’s just too stressful to do so.
“Stay” He heard the rabbit whisper, his voice a little shaky from the crying.
He could feel a clench in his heart while seeing his normally loud and always happy boyfriend looking so small and scared.
“I’m not going anywhere, I promise” Immediately pulling him closer, he could feel Usagi wrap his arms around him and intertwine their legs, making sure that Leo wouldn’t go anywhere, Leo chuckled as he hugged him.
“Thank you” He almost didn’t hear him, but that only made him give the rabbit another small squeeze. Calmly passing his fingers through Yuichi’s fluffy ears, being this something that he knew could put him asleep in minutes.
“Anytime love” He whispered back, with his heart still hurting for his boyfriend. Knowing that even if he lived in the hidden city, he was working and sending money to his aunty and sister to ensure they had everything they wanted and needed.
He knew he was stressed recently because his aunty told him that Hana had a small accident in school, and needed a good couple of stitches on his forehead working a double shift at Hueso’s to send extra money so they could make sure to have all the medicines that Hana may need.
It was one of the things Leo loved the most about the rabbit, he loved fiercely and loyally, always insisting on maintaining honor in the things he does (the reason why he denied Donnie when he offered to hack an ATM for him). He just wished he could also look after himself more.
…Wow, he’s sounding like a massive hypocrite isn’t he?
To be fair he had been working on that, while also prompting Usagi to do so too, which has been working! They were getting better together and Leo could not be happier about it.
But right now, he had an upset boyfriend that definitely was not gonna be at 100% tomorrow and he had a plan.
Being glad of finally feeling the sleepiness in his brain, he gave up on it, still holding his boyfriend close.