Raph was worried.

Athira had locked herself in her room for two days until today's Keeper training had forced her out. Since that game of Rainbows, she'd barely given anyone a handful of words. He didn't know what it was, but something about her was off. She'd played with her usual thought, but it'd been like she didn't want to play. Like she was playing because they wanted her to, not because of any enjoyment she drew from the activity.

It hurt, realising that Athira might have outgrown it. He'd always enjoyed Rainbows, even when his mum had kicked their butts each and every time. They'd learned and grown together because of it, and Athira's sudden dismissal of it felt like something of a betrayal.

Still, he couldn't help feel like there was something else to it. Athira wasn't one to do things she didn't want to. Rather than annoyance, there'd been a dead look in her gaze. Like she hadn't been there at all.

Keeper training seemed to at least be drawing her out.

Raph stole a glance at her as he twisted his stance. Her cheeks were red, more colour in them than he'd seen in days. An alert glint flickered in the depths of her grey eyes, but it was utterly focused on her movements, like instinct was at the controls. She moved, but he had a feeling she wasn't thinking. Or if she was, it was somewhere deep inside her mindscape, hidden away from the outside world.

Her usual fire surfaces when Noah corrected her stance for the fifth time.

"If you pull through like that, Athira, you aren't going to be able to turn in time to avoid the blow," said Noah. "If you do it more like this, you'll be able to avoid it."

"If I do it like that," said Athira bluntly. "Then the whole point of this exercise is moot. I may as well be performing the twir--position six, which is infinitely better at avoiding blows."

Raph's ears perked. It was the longest sentence she'd managed in forty-eight hours, and she seemed ready to add more if necessary. This was something, at least.

Both instructor and student stared each other down before Noah said, "Are you implying that I've been teaching the incorrect uses for the hand-to-hand combat?"

"Not on purpose," said Athira. "But yes. They're wrong."

"Okay," said Noah. Raph heard the exasperation in his breath. "Team, gather around. We're going to get into sparring early, starting with Athira versus myself."

Oooh's and aaah's came from the rest of the team as Athira made her way to the centre. The other times Noah had demonstrated a form or figure or why a certain fault was so critical, it'd ended with one of their team flat on their behind, but Raph had a feeling that was about to change. He'd faced Athira. Even after she'd taught him most afternoons after school, he still couldn't match her. He hadn't seen anyone that could--and that was when she'd been holding herself back in training.

Noah turned to Athira. There was nothing smug about his expression, merely a teacher who believed their student to be misguided. "No Colour. No blows on the neck or above. First one to disable the other will be declared the winner. Raph, on your count, we'll begin."

Raph nodded and took his position, holding his arm between them.

"Three. Two. One. Begin!"

Raph lifted his arm and fell into line with the others, all glued to the sparring pair.

Athira adopted the same position Noah had just tried to correct with slight modifications. Her arms were lower than he'd wanted, too far apart, and her feet held her balance to one side.

It was like this she waited for his first strike. Noah resigned himself to a first attack, almost predictably, a lunge into one of their well-rehearsed strikes at her exposed chest, aimed to knock her off balance.

Raph already knew what Athira was going to do. She'd done it to him a million times over every time he'd fallen for it, thinking he'd seen an opening in her flawless defenses.

Where Noah's strike should have hit, Athira's modifications kicked in. She swayed to the side, grabbing his outstretched arm in one of her hands, pulling him around as she stepped behind him. Without the expected force to stop his momentum, Noah overcalculated, instantly losing his balance.

Now behind him, Athira placed her hand between his shoulderblades and pushed him forward.

Athira didn't follow up her advantage. Her point was made.

Noah rolled over and propped himself up on his elbows, looking more than a little surprised.

"You know," he said, rubbing his chin. "That wasn't what I expected at all. How'd you figure that one out?"

"It's not a true avoidance maneuver," said Athira. "It's a trap. You leave yourself open, the opponent goes in, and you counter it. Its original name was the 'broken wing', because you're leading your opponent to believe that you're vulnerable."

Noah stood. "How'd you learn that?"

"I was lucky enough to have a dedicated teacher."

"Well, I think that's something worth teaching to the rest of your team, if you'd want to take the lead?"

Athira just shrugged, retreating once more with her arms folded. "I'm not a good teacher." Her eyes lifted to Raph, and she jerked her chin towards him. "He is though, and I've taught him."

Raph's insides turned to ice as two sets of eyes in particular fell upon him.

"Raph?" asked Noah. "Think you'd be up to it?"

Have more confidence in yourself.

That's what Noah had said last session. That he had to trust himself more, that in the real world, he had to be able to stick up for himself, for the people he cared about. There was always going to be someone trying to bring him down, there'd always be things that went wrong, and as a Keeper, it'd be part of his job to figure out how to change that.

Raph steeled himself with a breath and nodded. "Sure, I'll give it a go."

Noah gestured him to the front of the group as Raph started leading them through the form, Noah included. He saw the slight trickles of power in the responsibilities Noah gave him, ropes that he had to use to pull himself out with, and he fully intended to use this one.

He already knew when he went to correct Jake's form that it wasn't going to be easy.

"Y'no, I don't think you should be the one teaching us," said Jake as Raph suggested that his hand be lower. Jake fell out of the position, hand on his hips as the other one jabbed a finger at Raph's chest. "I think you should probably prove you can do this at all before you go about telling us how to do it."

"Fine," said Raph, motioning for the group to back away. He didn't look at Noah for permission. He already knew he had it when Noah had given him command of the team. "You and me, sparring match. First one to disable the other wins."

Jake grinned. "Sounds good to me."

They took their positions.

Raph's heart hammered so hard his ribs felt it. If he screwed this up, everything was going to be worse. If he lost, if he backed down, he'd--

No. He forced himself to breathe. He had to think like Athira. Losing wasn't an option. He wouldn't lose, not to Jake. He'd practiced this move so many times. His muscles knew what to do.

"Scared, Raph?" said Jake. "I won't blame you if you back out now. Then maybe we can get back to the real teaching?"

At the sidelines, Noah's face tightened. He wanted to intervene, but he wouldn't. This was Raph's fight to win--assuming Athira stayed out of it, considering the look on her face said she was ready to murder someone.

"Noah, will you do the count?" asked Raph, ignoring Jake's questions.

"Certainly," said Noah. "Three. Two. One. Begin!"

There was no pause like there'd been between Noah and Athira.

Jake threw himself forward, hands outstretched and aimed at Raph's shoulders. Caught by surprise, Raph wasn't able to twist entirely out of the way. Jake grabbed his wrist and yanked him back, tripping Raph with an outstretched foot.

Raph's thoughts blurred as he crashed into the mats. His elbow slammed into the ground as instinct told him Jake's next move would simply be to sit on him until he was forced to surrender.

Luckily for Raph, Zoe had tried that more than once. Sure, Jake was heavier, but that didn't matter. With one wrist still caught in Jake's iron grip, Raph drew his knees to his chest as the other boy's behind descended on Raph's stomach, only to find his shins in the way.

Jake's weight settled. Raph bucked him off, throwing Jake to the side and driving a foot into his back. With his weight thrown forward, Jake released Raph's wrist, throwing both hands out to steady himself.

It was all the chance Raph needed to get back up.

Improvising, Raph hesitated. He allowed conscious thought to surface over the instinct that'd eliminated the pause between his movements. When he stepped forward, Jake's leg struck out behind him, catching Raph's thigh and removing any advantage he'd gained throwing Jake off.

Still, it left them even and on their feet, facing each other once more.

Jake sniffed, eyebrow raised. "Heh. And here I thought you were supposed to be teaching us. How do you teach things you can barely do yourself, Raphey?"

Raph didn't let the taunt get to him. He'd realised somewhere in the middle of it that he wasn't on Athira's level. He didn't have that subconscious ability to make decisions yet. His muscles weren't that honed, his instincts still too slow. Maybe he'd never be on her level, but he had other strengths.

Like planning.

He already knew how he was going to move as Jake lashed out with a punch. Raph's arm extended, locking at the elbow and catching Jake's arm at just the right angle to completely divert the attack. As Jake's body kept forward, Raph placed his other hand on Jake's shoulder and pushed.

Jake crashed into the mats. Raph swung his leg over the other side of Jake's torso, holding his arms down as the rest of his weight kept him pinned. Jake thrashed and wriggled. Raph refused to let go. Jake refused to give up, pulling at his arms little by little until his fingers could touch.

When Raph saw the Blue at Jake's fingers, he knew what was going on, but he was too slow to stop it. Jake's right fingers brushed Raph's thumb holding down his left.

The rune went on. Raph's finger stuck to the mat.

Jake pulled his left hand out. Unable to adjust without ripping his thumb off, Raph was forced to let go. He caught Jake's smirk, the one that said he thought this was over.

Plan, Raph told himself in the seconds he had before Jake had his other hand free. Plan! What are you going to do? How are you going to win with one finger stuck to the mat?

Jake's right hand came free.

There was still one thing he could do, even if it wouldn't be exactly as Athira had taught it.

As Jake slid his hands under his chest and prepared to throw Raph off, Raph twisted. He threw his left shoulder forward until it was over Jake's and pulled back, going all but deadweight as he let himself lay on his side, the thumb stuck to the mat his anchor. As his right leg hooked around Jake's legs, Raph's right arm was already around Jake's neck, right under the jaw.

To his credit, Jake didn't give up. His one free, right arm scraped at Raph's arm around his neck, but he didn't have the strength to pull it away. Left arm trapped awkwardly under Raph's armpit and legs well out of range of anything kick-able, there was nothing he could do.

"Three, two, one!" called Noah. "Raph wins, with the help of some moves that I definitely didn't teach him!" His voice softened, hard eyes falling on Jake's crouched form as Athira freed Raph's finger from the ground. "And, might I add, despite his opponents rather obvious cheating."

Raph rubbed his thumb and got to his feet as Jake seemed to freeze.

"I--I mean, I didn't, I wouldn't have--"

Noah held up a hand. "No. You've been warned twice already about previous bending of the rules in sparring, and I'll have no choice to report today's incident. We feel that three strikes is more than fair warning in an environment that can be dangerous if they are not followed. You have become a danger to your team, and that is unnacceptable. I'd prepare yourself for expulsion from the program, Jake."

"Please--please, no, you can't," said Jake, words blurring together as the team stood around him. "My dad, he won't--he won't understand, he'll--"

Earlier, the words probably would have made Raph happy. Now, looking at Jake's stricken face, the worry in his eyes, he couldn't bring himself to smile. It should have been easy. One of his tormentors was out. Without his buddy, it was unlikely Liam would continue, too. So why wasn't he happy about it?

"I'm sorry, Jake," said Noah. "I really am."

"Actually, I think that was my fault," said Raph, voice sounding strange in his throat.

Noah looked puzzled. "How do you figure, Raph?"

"I outlined the rules for the sparring match, and I didn't specify no Colour," said Raph. "We've sparred with Colour before, and the only rule that's always in place, spoken or not, is nothing aimed at the head, and he followed that rule."

"This is true," said Noah, rubbing his chin. "Jake?"

"Yea, what he said!" said Jake, nodding. "I didn't know you didn't want Colour involved, promise!"

Raph was fairly certain Noah knew Jake was lying. With a sideways glance at Raph, Noah asked the final question. "Are you certain there was no ill intent involved, Raph?"

Raph nodded. "I'm sure."

"Good," said Noah. "Then we can get on with the lesson."

An hour and several sparring matches later--none of which involved Colour--Raph grabbed his bag from his locker. He still had his eye on Athira who was in the foyer with Zoe, and she seemed a little better than she'd been before arriving. Maybe her Colour had just flipped out at the bookstore, like she'd said.

He was mulling it over as a hand touched his shoulder.

Raph turned, expecting anyone but Jake standing behind him. His immediate reaction was to flinch, something he squashed as he held himself steady, meeting Jake's eyes with Athira's steel.

"What's up, Jake?" Raph asked as Jake remained staring.

"I... I just wanted to say thanks," mumbled Jake. "I don't really know why you stuck up for me before, but I know you intended no Colour for it. I really, um, appreciate it, and so does Liam. If I got kicked out of this course, well, my dad doesn't take kindly to it. His own father was a Keeper, and even though his own Colour isn't fit for Keeper work, he expected me to continue the tradition. So... yea. Thanks."

Raph play-punched him in the shoulder. "No problem. Think you can cut me a little slack from now on?"

Jake had the modesty to look sheepish. "Um, yea. Sorry about that. Few of the guys in your class said you were a show off, had to be brought down a few pegs." He managed an apologetic smile. "Looks like you can back up the talk. Not that you did much of that. I kinda feel like a jerk."

"Apology accepted," said Raph. "It's all in the past now, don't worry. Friends?"

Jake nodded, taking his hand. "Friends--teammates. See you next time?"

"Yep!" said Raph, waving behind him as he stepped out into the foyer with a spring he hadn't had in several weeks.

The other two fell into step beside him as they walked out the door and headed home, their conversation picked up as they went.

"So, yea!" said Zoe. "I was just telling Athira about some ideas that our team had for our community project, Raph! Shilo suggested that we clean up the park and Anna wanted to set up a program for the elderly or something along those lines but I had a great idea!"

"And what was that, Zo?"

"Y'no those kids that are always hanging around the arcade and the park?" said Zoe. "The ones that don't really seem to go to school or anything--those ones? Well, I thought that we'd be able to do something to help them. Maybe help them get back on their feet, keep them off the streets type thing?"

Raph hesitated. "That seems like a pretty big task, Zo. There's more than a few of them, and you've only got two terms to get it up and running."

"And?"

"And you'd struggle to get all of them," said Athira, surprising them as she spoke up. "There's a lot of them, Zo. You might do better if you focused on a few of them first."

"That could be an idea," said Zoe, chewing her lip. "We'd probably need a fair bit of Colour, too... do you think you could chip in with that? We could even make it like a team-up project! Two teams working on the one thing--they didn't say we couldn't, right?"

Athira's face hardened. "I can't, sorry Zo. Still... saving for the house."

Zoe creased her brow. "Oh, right. That's probably important."

"Little bit."

Once again, Raph had that feeling that something was wrong, and from Zoe's reaction, she knew it, too. He was more certain than ever. There was something off about Athira, and he was going to figure out what, and he'd risk another one of her outbursts to do it.

The conversation continued, mainly with Zoe throwing ideas around about her project idea. Raph's ears were well ready for their rest as they rounded the final corner, only to find a Keeper vehicle outside their apartment block as they rounded the final corner.

Raph told himself not to panic as the bad feeling knotted his stomach. Zoe's glow disappeared, leaving the darkness to close in around them despite the steady streetlights above. The air felt colder, and he found himself jogging the final few steps with Athira and Zoe in step.

There was a Keeper on the front steps to their apartment block, typing away on a wristlet screen as they talked to someone in a dressing gown, looking more than a little concerned. Their gaze kept rising a few storeys up the wall, to a place where Raph knew their own apartment roughly sat.

The glass at the front of their apartment building was smashed.

Raph stopped just short of the shards on the ground, Zoe beside him. Neither of them wanted to move as the Keeper saw them and walked over, hands held out.

"Guys, I'm going to need you to back up. We're currently investigating and need space to--"

"We live here," murmured Zoe.

The Keeper hesitated. "What level?"

"Third."

"...Apartment 4C?"

Raph forgot how to breathe.

The Keeper crouched down to their level, wristlet screen closed. "How about you three come with me for a moment, and I'll explain--"

Raph moved with Zoe beside him in a daze, allowing himself to be directed by the Keeper when the sound of a single step onto the broken shards turned his head.

Under her cowl, Athira's expression was as harsh as the light from her runes. The Keeper barely had time to reach out before Athira launched herself into the air and disappeared through the wall to their apartment.

This time, Raph didn't have to think. He grabbed Zoe's hand and ran for the stairs, ignoring the Keeper's calls for them to come back. He saw it now--saw the cracks in Athira's control for what they'd been. The ruined book. Her silence. The increasingly common sight of her runes pressing through her sleeves and the outbursts that didn't seem to have a reason.

Athira was breaking.

They had to get to her before she did. 

*+*+*+*

A/N - Yay, fight chapters! 

Yay, Raph! 

Awh crap, everything else!