He was silent for a moment, as if wondering if he should even be honest about it. But hey, she'd bared her soul a bit, it was only fair he did the same. Besides, she'd seen him fighting. She'd seen him almost take a knife to those scientists in front of little kids.
It wasn't really giving away anything she hadn't already seen.
"Good upbringing by a really good father, right? And from when I was little, I was this little tiny ball of rage. Always picking fights with my brothers, always getting really vicious. I still sometimes let my temper go completely out of control. One time I kicked my brother in the back of the head when he wasn't looking just 'cause he beat me in training. And we're not talking when we were kids or anything, this happened a few months ago. Another time I lost my cool and almost -"
He paused.
"I almost put a sai through the head of the guy who's now, like, my best friend, I guess. Because I got mad at him during a fight the first time I met him. And that's all when I shouldn't be that way. I got hugs when I was a kid, I had a dad who loved me and taught me right from wrong, who was always trying to help me with that anger and it just...I don't know. It comes from nowhere and I don't know why. I might never figure out why, but one thing I do know is that I might need just the right kind of bad day, too."
He went on, "Because that's how everyone is. For everyone, all it might take is one bad day. That's a scary thing and everyone has to deal with it the way that's best for them, but you're not like some bomb waiting to go off either. Or...well, if you are, it's not different from how lots of people are."
He looked at the floor now, not really wanting to look her in the eye. "If someone raised in a good way by someone good can turn out like me, then it isn't just where you come from or how you were raised. Or from genetics - all my human DNA comes from Splinter and none of my brothers are like this. Anyone can be bad and anyone can be good."
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It wasn't really giving away anything she hadn't already seen.
"Good upbringing by a really good father, right? And from when I was little, I was this little tiny ball of rage. Always picking fights with my brothers, always getting really vicious. I still sometimes let my temper go completely out of control. One time I kicked my brother in the back of the head when he wasn't looking just 'cause he beat me in training. And we're not talking when we were kids or anything, this happened a few months ago. Another time I lost my cool and almost -"
He paused.
"I almost put a sai through the head of the guy who's now, like, my best friend, I guess. Because I got mad at him during a fight the first time I met him. And that's all when I shouldn't be that way. I got hugs when I was a kid, I had a dad who loved me and taught me right from wrong, who was always trying to help me with that anger and it just...I don't know. It comes from nowhere and I don't know why. I might never figure out why, but one thing I do know is that I might need just the right kind of bad day, too."
He went on, "Because that's how everyone is. For everyone, all it might take is one bad day. That's a scary thing and everyone has to deal with it the way that's best for them, but you're not like some bomb waiting to go off either. Or...well, if you are, it's not different from how lots of people are."
He looked at the floor now, not really wanting to look her in the eye. "If someone raised in a good way by someone good can turn out like me, then it isn't just where you come from or how you were raised. Or from genetics - all my human DNA comes from Splinter and none of my brothers are like this. Anyone can be bad and anyone can be good."