If April had met Karai instead of the Turtles.

The bell rang and school was let out.

April O'Neil was struggling to stuff all of her books into her bag as her friend Erma was prattling on about the sexist implications of a jock she was definitely crushing on, but refused to admit it.

As they were let out into the concrete jungle fo New York at the end of the school day, Erma bumped into April. The red-head was agape in surprise with the person blocking her way.

Standing, or rather, leaning against a black chopper decorated with white snakes on the engine, was a Japanese girl only a year of two her senior. She was dressed in a pair of jeans, a black leather-jacket and a pair of sunglasses. Her hair was short, black on top and bleached in the back. As if to complete the look, the punk girl blew a pink bubble from her gum and popped it between her teeth.

"Hey Red," said the girl. "You glad to see me?"

"Hey April, do you know this person?" Asked Erma.

"Uh, yeah," said a confused April. "This is Harmony. She's a friend from Japan. Harmony, this is Erma. She's from Midtown."

Erma adjusted her glasses in suspicion. Harmony lowered her sunglasses to give her a matching look.

"So Harmony, what're you doing here?" Asked April, already feeling the bad vibes between the two.

"My dad gave me the day off, so I'd thought we could hang."

April saw the look in Harmony's eyes and knew what she was inferring about.

Erma squinted at her, as if she was trying to shoot her suspicion like eye beams, before shrugging and walking away, leaving the two to go about their own business. Right as Erma's sight was off of them, April squeaked in surprise. She had felt a hand graze her butt and gave Harmony a dirty look, her freckled-face bright red.

Harmony just couldn't help herself.

---

It was barely her first week in America when Karai had discovered something suspicious.

It wasn't Hamato Yoshi or whatever new ninja clan her father thought he was trying to make under New York's nose. Instead, she stopped a ****.

Karai didn't care all that much that three suspicious individuals were trying to kidnap a middle-aged man and his daughter - really, didn't care at all - but when the kidnappers were all completely identical Men-in-Black types wielding some rather gnarly looking fire-power, the kunoichi couldn't help but be curious.

She leapt down, using one of them as a cushion and slicing another's fancy gun down the middle with a Wakizashi, the weapon giving off an oddly-pinkish arc of electricity before dying. She was about to slice the third one in half like butter, only for the kidnapper to catch the blade in between its palms, its expression deader than a doornail. He kicked Karai in the stomach, sending her flying off of the mook she landed on into a nearby wall. While her armor took most of the damage on both ends, Karai marveled at the wallop she felt from this unassuming man's fist.

"That's gonna bruise," gasped Karai.

"Ah! Let me go!"

She saw the red-headed hoisted over the shoulder of the man who's weapon Karai destroyed , ready to throw her into the van like her dad, only for Karai to regain her wits and kick the man into a nearby street-light, catching the red-headed girl in a bridal position.

"You all right?"

Karai didn't actually care about the answer. Or at least she didn't until she had a good look at the girl. Her freckles framed her blue eyes perfectly.

She blinked when she caught herself starring and let her down gently before leaping over to pummel the three, managing to chase them off before they could load up their cargo.

---

When she brought a chunk of the alien-machines back to the Lair, the Shredder deemed it irrelevant and Karai got yelled at for wasting his time.

It didn't take long for Karai to find the red-head again. There was only one high school in the area and she stuck out as far as the kunoichi was concerned. She was walking with what she could only assume was her friend, some girl with a denim skirt and glasses until she made it to her front door. The poor thing look like a caged rabbit, shaking and hyper-aware of her surroundings, convinced that her kidnappers would come back and snatch her back up. She probably asked her friend to walk her to her door for security.

Not that Karai cared. Nope.

She just thought that this girl might be useful to learn more about those weird guys with the laser-guns. And while she had no proof, she had a weird feeling that they were in some way connected to the Hamato Clan sightings that brought the Foot to New York.

After a week or two of stalk--err recon, she had learned a few things. Her name was April O'Neil, she had a thing for chemistry, and once a week she would visit a hole-in-the-wall noodle shop called Murakami's. Karai calculated her timing to the second and walked up behind April, who seemed confused by the vending machine that was installed just a few days ago.

"Hmm. This is new. What is this thing?"

"Oh, that's how you order."

April spun around, almost gripping the vending machine behind her in alarm before relaxing when she saw that it wasn't the kidnappers out to finish the job. Karai was dressed in her causal attire, studded leather jacket, acid-washed jeans and fingerless gloves. She had to stop herself from laughing at April's embarrassment.

Karai stuck a quarter into the vending machine and pushing the button for Miso soup. "They have these in Tokyo." She pulled out the bamboo-chip. "You give these to the chef."

"Oh, th-thanks."She grabbed her own chip for chicken potstickers.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Uh, okay."

April greeted Murikami, who was blind to Karai's surprise, and the chef greeted her right back, getting to work fixing their orders. Karai saw Murikami flinch when Karai started rubbing the chopsticks together, not impressed by the facility. She wasn't expecting a blind man to be all that concerned with decor, but still.

"So. You come here often?" She knew the answer, but she didn't have anything else to break the ice.

"Yeah. Murikami's in the best in town."

"I'll take your word for it. I just came into town a few weeks ago."

"Oh yeah? From where?"

"Tokyo. My dad's here to close an old deal and I came with."

"Oh yeah? What does he do?"

"He's in kitchen utensils. Knives mostly."

---

It was half an hour later and the girls were exchanging anecdotes and a few bites of each other's meals. April had offered to pay for both of their meals and Karai had noticed April's old school ID and snatched it out of her wallet.

"No way! Is this really you, or is this a sister I should know about?"

The picture was clearly April's, but her smile was cluttered with massive dentures and her big blue eyes were magnified behind massive square-framed glasses. She also got a long enough look to confirm the red-head's name just as planned.

"H-Hey! Give that back!"

With speed that showed potential, April snatched the card from Karai's hand, her face bright red from embarrassment.

"Sorry. Couldn't resist."

An awkward silence rung between them.

"So 'April' huh? Not a bad name."

"Yeah? And what's yours?"

Karai thought for a moment. Obviously she couldn't just use her real name. She thought up a lie, and she thought it up quick.

"My name's... Harmony."

---

April would be seeing "Harmony" again and again. She chocked it up to living in the same neighborhood, blissfully ignorant of the fact that the Japanese girl was stalking her.

"In some cultures, people would consider it flattering," Karai would tell herself.

It wasn't because she liked April.

Nope.

Those kidnapped with the cool guns might show up.

Any day now.

Yup.

While April was still on edge from the ****, she seemed to find "Harmony's" presence comforting. April considered herself to be a good judge of character, and the red-head always felt safe when she was around. If only she could convince her dad.

As paranoid as April was, Kirby was turning into a basket case. He's become rather agoraphobic these past few weeks, always keeping his blinds closed, only peeking out of the windows when he thinks that the kidnappers might be lurking outside. He's stockpiled boxes of mace, has been commuting his work, and he had to be talked out of pulling April out of school.

As the weeks blew by, April started loosening up. Aside from tabloid news about supposed "ninja sightings" and "crocodile men in the sewers", things had returned to normal.

Unfortunately for April, "normal" in New York still wasn't exactly safe.

"Hey Red," said a street punk, brandishing a butterfly knife. "How 'bout you empty your pockets and bag and no one has to get hurt, huh?"

There were three of them. Asian, garbed in black with purple bandanas. Purple Dragons. They weren't the mafia, but they certainly acted like they were. Why they weren't in Chinatown right now is a question she would probably ask another day.

April hugged her backpack, only to back into one of the bigger guys. He snatched the backpack, laughing at her feeble attempts at trying to get it.

Suddenly, the brute's eyes crossed and he made a pained squeak. April saw the sole of a shoe in his crotch, having been kicked from behind. He collapsed to the ground, revealing a familiar face had been standing behind him.

"Hey," said Harmony, her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket.

"You just made a big mistake girly," said one of the remaining gangbangers as he cracked his knuckles.

As the bare-fisted Purple Dragon swing a punch, Harmony had just barely dodged. The guy was wide open and it wasn't all that difficult avoiding his clumsy motions.

'This is one of Bradford's guys?' Karai thought to herself. 'Dad'll just let anyone work for him these days, huh?'

Like a viper, one of her hands whipping out, grabbed him by his hair and shoved him down into her knee, breaking his nose with an audible 'crack' before collapsing.

Suddenly the ringleader didn't feel very confident in his odds since this random chick took out two of his guys in two hits.

"Uh... this ain't over bitch!" And he ran the other way.

"H-Hey, wait up!" Said the second guy, trying to run after him with a bloody nose. The third guy limped afterward.

Harmony bent over and picked up a small chunk of concrete, guessed it weight, then threw it like she was trying to skip a river-stone on a pond. It hit the third guy in the back of the head and he fell on his face.

"Well that takes care of tha--" and suddenly she felt the red-head trap Harmony in a hug.

Karai felt her whole body seize up, unused to this kind of affection.

"Thank you," said April, her head buried in Karai's chest.

Karai said nothing. Her mind was a blank.

---

While April always liked Harmony, she could feel the whole world light up whenever she saw her. Saving a person from a mugging with the kind of style and flair as her really does something to a girl.

She's cool, she's witty, she's attractive...

April had never had a crush on a girl before. It was a surreal thought when she realized that was what it was.

One day, April was on her way back from school when Harmony rode right up to her in her motorcycle.

"Hey," said Harmony over the sound of her engine.

"Uh hi!" Said April. "This yours?"

"Yeah. It's new. Want to test it out?"

April couldn't say no. She gave April a spare helmet and they drove many blocks until they made it to their destination.

Central Park.

Harmony had been to New York City for over a month and she had a list of landmarks she wanted to visit while she was here. The Statue of Liberty, Grand Central Terminal, the Ghostbusters Firehouse.

April offered to pay the parking meter and the two strolled through. It was nice. An odd respite from the Concrete Jungle.

"You should see this place in the summer," said April. "Flowers everywhere! And the cherry trees are gorgeous in the spring."

"I've seen that sort of thing. We've got orchards of cherry blossoms all over Japan. Got a two week festival for them."

"It sounds beautiful."

Harmony avoided her gaze, blushing a little.

"I guess. Though the cleanup is a nightmare."

As April snorted a little from her quip, a man came out of hiding from a tree. Both April and Harmony sensed it and turned around. They were surrounded.

"Well well well," said one of the thugs, brandishing a lead pipe. "You two look a little lost. My buddies and I will be happy to oblige in escorting you both to a safer venture, but we've got a few service fees if you catch my meaning."

While April clung to Karai, Karai cocked an eyebrow.

"A lot of ten-dollar words in that thesis statement," said Karai.

April looked at her like she had lost her mind. Sucker punching three idiots was one thing, but there must have been ten of these guys, all carrying weapons that could kill the both of them.

"Oh I'm sorry," said the thug. "I'll dumb it down for you: hand over your purses and your car-keys and we won't break any bones."

"First of all, we don't have any purses and the fact that you thought that is real sexist of you. Second, I don't have a car. Third, fuck all of you."

"Your loss," said the thug as he checked his grip, ready to use his pipe.

It's hard to walk around anywhere with a katana when you're trying to remain inconspicuous. Thankfully, Karai had other ways, like the tanto she kept sheathed up her left sleeve. A real ninja never left home unarmed.

Behind her back, she pulled out a hollowed egg she kept in her right sleeve, crushed it in her hand and threw the handful of blinding powder into his face. He cried out in pain, dropping the pipe with a loud clatter as she kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying into one of his goons.

As the rest of the gang moved in to overpower the kunoichi, she unsheathed her tanto and proceeded to school them all in pain and humiliation.

April managed to get out of there way, the gangbangers seeing her friend as the bigger problem that needed to be dealt with. While she was afraid for her at first, as the fight went on, she went from being scared, to confused, to in awe.

Harmony wasn't just a badass. She was full-on deadly.

A familiar kind of deadly.

The way she moved and kicked and slashed with her blade which she now suddenly had.

She'd seen it before.

The thugs who hadn't been knocked **** ran for their lives (and their dignity). She didn't kill any of them. A pile of corpses would have brought a lot of unwanted attention and her father was an ornery bastard on a good day. She didn't need any more of their funds drained trying to pay off more cops.

She sheathed her tanto and slipped it back up her sleeve.

"Hey April, you okay?"

She saw that April was unharmed physically, but she was still concerned. She just starred at her.

"It was you."

"What?"

"You were there. You were that ninja-lady that showed up and saved me and my dad!"

"I don't know what--"

"And then you saved me against the Purple Dragons, and just now! And you kung-fu'd the shit out of them 10-1!"

She didn't know kung-fu, but Karai didn't feel like April needed to know that. Her cover was blown.

"Look, April, I can expla--"

She was cut off when April kissed her. She broke it off. Her blue eyes sparkled in admiration.

Karai put a hand behind her head and kissed her back.

"You saved my life," said April, almost in awe.

"Kunoichi."

"What?"

"You called me a 'ninja-lady.' The term is kunoichi."

---

Harmony had brought them to a playground in the East Village. It was almost always empty, which was perfect for their needs.

"Needs" being an intense make-out session.

April climbed onto Harmony's lap, Harmony balancing the red-headed on her with both hands on her butt.

Neither where sure if they would call the kind of relationship they had "dating". They were clearly attracted to each other, April felt safe around her, Karai thought she was cute, but she knew it wouldn't last.

As far as she knew, her father had no idea that Karai had a social life outside of the Foot Clan. She was supposed to be gathering intel about this new Hamato Clan, but she hasn't had much luck, so for all she knew she'd be shipped right back to Japan before the year was up.

April didn't even know her real name. She considered telling her, but Karai wasn't an amateur. She wasn't Batman, revealing her secret identity to every pretty girl she had an interest in.