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For the most part, Mikey believes himself to be a good brother. He thinks all his brothers are good ones, and anyone who says they're not can eat a knuckle sandwich, but he is under the belief that he is a particularly good brother. He makes snacks, he keeps the mood up, he's the cute one. The list is endless. Usually, Raph is especially nice to him, with him being the eldest and Mikey the youngest. They get along (as well as brothers can), and never in all fourteen years of Mikey's remembered life can he think of a time where Raph has said something genuinely hurtful to him.
Apparently, that ends today.
Mikey had said something about going out with Leo, a very important mission to procure dinner, and- with very little hesitation mind you, Raph had told him to kill himself. Or- well, it was in acronym form, but it still hurts.
Not to mention the fact that it is wildly out of character.
"Huh," Leo says, peeking over Mikey's shoulder to see what has him so shocked. They stare down at Raph's most recent text. "Did you… do something to piss him off?"
"I don't think so?" Mikey says, slightly hysterical. He puts his phone in his pocket. He isn't going to respond because what would he even say? He has come to expect that kind of joking intensity from Donnie who thinks it's the peak of comedy to respond to online trolls with aerial shots of their houses and every phone number they've ever had, but Raph? He's seen that guy cry through every toy story movie, which- well, Mikey did too, but his point stands. He's not about that type of humor!
Mikey can't stop thinking about it the whole time they're getting dinner. He is running through every interaction he's had with Raph this week, trying to find somewhere he had screwed up enough to warrant suicide baiting from Raph of all people. When he can't find anything there he starts thinking back to the past month. Still nothing.
He can tell Leo is starting to get a little worried, glancing at him sideways every few seconds.
"Hey, I'll talk to him when we get home, okay? I'll ask him what happened. He'll come around." Leo tells him, his smile as encouraging as he can make it.
"Okay," Mikey says, his voice small. He still hasn't taken his phone out, anxious to see more texts from Raph. He hopes Leo is able to sort things out with the snapper, the idea of his older brother being that mad at him for something he doesn't know about makes him horrifically anxious.
____________
Listen, Leo gets annoyed with his brother a lot. Like. A lot. But it is rare that he feels the genuine indignant anger that bubbles up in him now towards someone in his family.
Right now, seeing how upset Mikey is, not even angry with Raph, just anxious and hurt, he feels the anger grow. He watches as his youngest brother shrinks into himself further, playing with his hoodie drawstrings, and another stab of anger rocks through him.
Oh, he and Raph are going to have a talk.
They arrive back at the lair to find Raph and Donnie already in the kitchen waiting for them. Donnie raises his hand in greeting, not looking up from his phone while Raph smiles.
"Hey guys!, How was your brotherly bonding?" The snapper asks, not a trace of guilt on his face. Leo's indignation rises, twisting and hissing like an angry snake. Mikey ducks his head, his mouth quivering, before turning and practically running to his room. Raph blinks in surprise at their brother's quick departure.
"Donnie, why don't you go keep Mikey company." Leo says icily. Donnie looks up from his phone, eyebrows raised in surprise at his tone, before glancing between the two of them.
"Uh, okay." He says slowly, getting up out of his seat and following Mikey to his room. Raph looks confused.
"I don't know if this is like- your new bad boy comedy routine or what." Leo spits, crossing his arms. "But you really upset Mikey."
"My bad boy- wait, what?"
"Seriously?" Leo says, narrowing his eyes. "What could have possibly upset you so much that you'd tell him to kill himself?"
" Kill himself- I did not say that!"
"Yes you did! You texted it to him! You can't say that shit Raph, especially not to your younger brother!"
Raph has brought out his phone, frantically scrolling.
"Where did I say that?!" He says, voice rising in pitch.
"It was literally the last message you sent." Leo says, his anger slowing down. Raph seems to genuinely not know what he's talking about. Was this a particularly mean prank on Donnie's behalf? Leo leans in to see Raph's phone, pointing out the message at the bottom of the screen.
"Look! There!" Leo says.
"What? How is that- that means ‘keep yourself safe’!"
Leo blinks slowly.
"Raph." He says, trying really, really hard not to laugh. "KYS means ‘kill yourself’."
Raph drops his phone onto the table.
"Oh my God." He breathes, putting his head in his hands.
"You should probably go explain that one big guy," Leo says patting his shoulder.
_________________
Raph has rarely felt as guilty as he does when he steps into Mikey's room to see his younger brother fully has retreated into his shell, being pat on the back by an awkward-looking Donnie. As soon as Raph walks into the room Donnie shoots him a desperately confused look and mouths 'what did you do?'
'Later.' Raph mouths back, approaching the bed as Donnie retreats.
"Hey little man," Raph says as softly as he can. "I'm so so sorry, I didn't know- I wasn't trying to- I- I didn't know what it meant."
From inside the shell, Raph heads a sniffle that makes him feel like the scum of the Earth.
"You really didn't know?" Mikey asks, voice strained. "You're not mad at me?"
"No kiddo, I'm not mad." Raph says as Donnie edges out of the room, trying to escape the heart-to-heart. “I’m sorry I upset you.”
“It’s okay,” Mikey says wetly, finally emerging from his shell to wrap his arms around Raph. “You didn't mean to, I just thought I did something and didn't know and it made me really anxious.”
Raph squeezes his brother a little tighter.
“I promise if I’m upset with you I’ll just talk to you about it. I’m not ever going to say something like that.”
Mikey opens his mouth to reply, but before he can they're interrupted by Donnie’s hysterical laughter coming from the kitchen. Looks like their resident scientist asked Leo for context.
“We should probably get out there before they eat all the pizza,” Mikey says with a sly grin. “And maybe you can get Leo to teach you more acronyms that
don't
make me cry.”
“That sounds good.” Raph huffs, giving his younger brother one last squeeze before letting him go and trailing after him to the kitchen.