He didn't want to live any more.

What reason did he have to live? His adoptive brother hated him and even tried to kill him, his wife and child were dead, his father was dead; he had no one to live for.

Why bother? He couldn't be happy again anyways. He'll never have either of them again

And to make matters worse? He had moved to New York like Tang Shen wanted, but now he was just consumed by lonliness. Everything reminded him of her, her, and his beautiful daughter. They were no longer in this world, and he hated how he forgot that every morning when he woke up.

Every morning his mind hadn't cleared yet, and he would think he was back in Japan, his lovely wife next to him; and then the chilling reality hit him. They were gone, because he couldn't protect them.

After almost two months of living in that horrible cycle, he decided maybe a companion would help, so he went to the pet store.

He looked at every animal they had, but nothing seemed right; until he saw four baby turtles. Tang Shen had always loved the story of the Koopa. Looking at those four baby turtles he could feel something had changed, he could feel a smile fighting to appear, and then he knew.

He bought them and bought many different things to put in their terrarium. He planned to drop them off at him and get them situated, then go to the grocery store and buy them fresh food, as well as go shopping for him self. He hadn't been taking care of him self very well, but now that he had those little guys, he could feel something changing. What it was He didn't know.

That changed when he was on his way home and he noticed an oddly robotic voice in an ally way. He of course became curious and decided to stick around and listen.

But then that damn rat screamed.

Those identical men came after him, and he tried to fend them off. He held the terrarium in his arm, trying to protect his new found hope from these odd men. Thats when it all went to hell.

Some odd liquid they had with them fell onto the ground and got onto him.

He screamed, it burned so bad. It felt like his body was melting, and then he could feel his bones snapping and reforming, his skull felt like it was being hit with a mallet. He was sure he was going to die. It hurt so much, more than he had ever hurt before.

And then it was over.

The pain stopped and he could think again, but that's when he noticed; he wasn't human any more.

The men had ran off, and he thanked god for that. He stared down at his hands, his fur covered hands. He was a rat. A god damn rat.

And that's when he heard a noise, babbling, like a baby; the sounds that reminded him oh so much of his passed daughter.

He froze when he saw what made the noise.

Baby turtles, but less turtle now, and more human. His mind was racing with thoughts. What are they? What caused this? What did those men have to do with this? Could he return to normal?

Then it hit him. No one could see him. Not like this. He was a disgrace. He gathered up the turtles that were once his beacon of hope, and the container that held the odd liquid that made them into what they were.

But where would he go? He couldn't go to his apartment, people would see him. If he ran out on the streets, people would see him. Then his eyes landed on a man hole cover.

He had some difficulty getting the cover off with his shaking hands, his shaking, furry hands. He went down into the sewers and seemed to wander for hours, before settling on an area of cross roads. He sat the turtles on the cement and set the container next to them. He moved a few feet away from them and sat down, his head in his hands.

He shouldn't live, he was a disgrace to his clan, and now to the human race. If he could get back to his apartment he had an assortment of weapons; to use on him self.

He so badly wanted to jump in front of a subway train, or a car, or something. He didn't want to go on anymore. He's a monster. Just like Saki.

But then he felt something touch his tail-

His tail

His eyes slowly opened and he turned his head to the source of the feeling. It was one of those baby turtles. It was playing with his tail, seeming to find it funny. The other three crawled over to their sibling and began to coo and laugh.

That's when he felt it, that feeling, that feeling in his heart and mind when he first laid eyes on Miwa.

He couldn't.

He couldn't leave them. They were his world now, they were literally all he had. The smallest turtle looked up at him with a freckled face and smiled. It warmed his heart, the heart he thought wasn't beating any more, and that he didn't want to beat-

It felt warm. He slowly moved over and gathered up the four turtles in his arms. His arms and body were shaking, and it was a little hard to breath, and for a moment his vision started to get dark.

Get ahold of yourself Yoshi.

he closed his eyes, then slowly opened his eyes, his body and breathing steady once more. He heads in a random direction of the sewers. There had to be a better place that wasn't filled with trash and..unsanitary things he would rather not think about. He knew the sewers was a terrible place to raise a child, let alone four-

He found it.

He found home. It was a dusty, trashed subway station, but it wasn't filled with sewage or trash. He could make that work. It would take lots of cleaning, and sorting through trash and things to find furniture for them, and plates and silverware and-

Oh dear, this would be a long first few months.

But he can do it. Because of them. He gave him his first sliver of hope, and now they were his world and reason to live.

He can do this. He can make a life for them-

For them.

He knew it would be a long and difficult road, but he knew he could do it. As long as he had them beside him.