100 Themes Challenge - 029 -Keeping a Secret

“I founded a story!” Michelangelo screeched as he sprinted into the dojo toward his father and three older brothers who sat in a circle.

“You did?” Splinter responded, but then Mikey nearly knocked the wind out of the poor rat when he thrust himself into his lap.

Raphael crossed his arms in a huff. “It's 'bout time.”

Splinter helped Mikey to find a comfortable position in his lap. “What did you choose?”

Mikey pushed the book just inches from his muzzle. “Nurs'ry Rhymes!”

“No! That's for babies.” Raph protested.

“Well, Mikey's still a baby,” Leo argued. “He still likes the Nursery Rhymes!”

Mikey gave Leo a death glare. “I'm not a baby, Leo! I'm a big boy too! I like da rhymes 'cuz I'm smart, right Donnie?”

Donnie nodded. “I still like the rhymes! Am I baby too, Leo?” he challenged.

Splinter took the book and grinned. “That is enough boys. None of you are too old. I'm older than all of you and I love them too. Now, before I begin, does anyone have to use the bathroom?”

Leo and Donnie shook their heads.

“No,” Raph said.

All eyes turned to Mikey in his father's lap.

Mikey noticed the attention and grew uncomfortable. “What?” he said.

Splinter sighed. “Do you have to use the bathroom before I start reading?”

“Hmm...” Mikey paused. “Uh...no, I'm good.”

“Very well, then,” Splinter said. “Which rhyme shall I begin with?”

“Hump'y Dump'y!” Mikey cheered.

Splinter ruffled his head. “Very well.” He flipped the correct page effortlessly, having practically memorized the book at that point.

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall...” Splinter led.

“Hump'y Dump'y had a great fall...” Mikey continued enthusiastically.

“All the king's horses and all the king's men...” Splinter went on.

“Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again,” Donnie finished confidently.

Splinter applauded them. “Very good, Michelangelo and Donatello,” he praised. “Donatello, why don't you pick the next rhyme, hmm?”

Donnie tapped his chin decisively. “Little Miss Muffett!” he suggested.

Raph made a gagging sound.

“Raphael,” Splinter warned. “Very well, Donatello.” He flipped a few more pages.

“Little Miss Muffetsat on her tuffet...” he began.

“Eating of curds and whey...” Donnie continued.

“Along came a spider who sat down beside her...” Splinter started again. “Leonardo, Raphael, why don't one of you finish this one?”

Leo nudged Raph, urging him to continue for their father.

Raph turned and glared at him.

Splinter sighed. “Raphael, why don't you finish for us?”

Raph groaned. “And frightened Miss Muffet away,” he finished with a complete lack of enthusiasm.

“See? That was not so hard,” Splinter praised. “Why don't you choose the next one, then?”

Raph whined. “But these are so...”

“Daddy!” Mikey shouted. “Look! A spider!”

Sure enough, a small black spider crawled toward the center of their circle.

Splinter chuckled in amusement. “What a coincidence.”

The spider crawled once more and approached Raph. Raph instinctively flinched and squeaked as he backed away.

Splinter picked up his green staff and crushed the spider with the end of it. “The activity of spiders in our home has certainly been on the rise as of late; a sure sign that autumn is upon us.”

Mikey laughed. “Along came a spider who sat down beside her, and frightened little Miss Raphie away!”

Donnie and Leo both shared in his laughter.

Raph felt his blood pressure rise. “Why you...” he leaped to his feet and charged at Mikey.

Splinter grabbed the back of his shell with one arm, stopping him before he could attack.

“Boys, that is enough,” he scolded. “Michelangelo, that was not a nice thing to say. You all have things that you are afraid of, and there is nothing wrong with fearing spiders.”

“I'm not scared of some stupid bug!” Raph shouted.

Splinter firmly grabbed hold of Raph's chin and sternly looked into his angry emerald eyes.

“Raphael, watch your tone when you are speaking to me,” he growled and then released him.

Raph shook his head and then pouted. “I wasn't yellin' at you, Sensei, I was yellin' at them. I'm not scared of bugs. I'm not scared of anything.”

Mikey snickered. “'cept spiders,” he cracked.

Raph growled and attempted to lunge at him again, only to be stopped by his father once more.

“I said, that is enough!” he demanded. “Michelangelo, you are to stop teasing your brother! How would you feel if he teased you about your fear of the dark?”

Mikey shamefully looked at his socks. “Bad...”

“Exactly, so stop it.”

“But I'm not scared of spiders or bugs or anything,” Raph protested further.

Splinter sighed in defeat. “Okay, Raphael, you are not afraid, then.” He glanced at the clock. “Now, the hour is late. It is time for bed.”

-------

Raphael turned over under his sheets and stared at his concrete wall, blackened by darkness.

“The activity of spiders in our home has certainly been on the rise as of late...” Splinter's words played back in his brain, causing him to shift uncomfortably. He could not help but to think that perhaps somewhere in his room, at least one of those little critters was creeping around, watching him lie there and waiting for him to fall asleep so it could crawl under his sheets and suck his fresh blood from his flesh.

He shivered and swore he felt a light tickling on his leg. Afraid to scratch at the sensation and find what was there, he decided to just kick his leg and hopefully knock off anything that might be crawling on him.

The sensation returned seconds later, but this time on his arm. He roughly shook his arm, but then another sensation began on his chest and another on his other arm.

He finally reached over to scratch his arm, and sure enough, he felt the presence of a creepy crawly creeping up his arm.

He threw his blankets off of him to reveal his small frame covered in an army of black spiders, all nibbling at his dark green flesh.

Raph squealed in terror, leaped from his bed, and hit the floor running for the neighboring cot where his older brother slept.

He shook the covered lump frantically. “Leo! Leo, wake up, bro! Th-the spiders! They're...”

The blanketed form turned over under the sheets and looked at Raph, but much to Raph's horror, the face that was gazing at him was not that of his brother's, but a giant spider's and it was highly displeased by the disturbance. It hissed at him.

“Ahhhh!”

---------

Raphael woke with a start and found himself to be shaking and sweating profusely in spite of the slight chill blowing through his bedroom. Panting, he looked to Leo in the neighboring cot, and sure enough the blanketed lump breathed steadily with a green head poking out of the top.

He had the immediate urge to throw off his blankets and check for any unwanted visitors, but found himself afraid of what he might find, so he carefully slipped out from under his covers and kicked his legs frantically as soon as his feet touched the floor to be sure that any crawlers were sent flying. Then he leaped over to Leo's bed and shook him awake.

“Leo,” he whispered. “Leo, wake up, dude.”

Leo turned over with a groan and looked at his younger brother through drooping eyelids. “What do you want, Raph?” he grouched.

“L-Leo, can you check my blankets for me, dude?” he asked.

Leo looked at him quizzically. “Um...why?”

Raph paused when he realized he hadn't thought that far ahead. “B-because...um...” he looked at Leo's blankets for an answer. “...b-because I want to compare the softness of our sheets. Y-yeah that's it!”

Leo scanned him for a second, and then turned his back to Raph again. “Go back to bed, Raphie. This is no time for some stupid joke.”

“I-it's not a joke, Leo, I...”

The sound of fake snoring cut Raph off and shut him out.

He groaned. “Fine. I-I'll just...I'll just go get daddy to...t-to compare sheets with me.”

--------

Raphael stood before his father's shoji doors, debating whether or not he should pester him with this.

“Maybe I could trick Mikey into checking for me...” he thought and began to imagine the scenario, but as it played out in his head, he imagined, based on past experience, that if he woke Mikey in the middle of the night, Mikey would expect him to tell him a story or get him warm milk or something to help him get back to sleep. He shook his head and decided that it wasn't worth it, so he cautiously pushed the doors open.

He tiptoed to his father's giant bed and crawled on top of it, sitting beside his snoozing father. He placed a hand on his chest and firmly shook him.

“D-daddy...” he whispered. “Sensei...?”

Splinter sighed. “What is it, Raphael?” he asked without even opening his eyes.

“Daddy, can you come and check m-my sheets?” he asked. “I-I think there's...th-there's dirt in them; they feel dirty.”

“Raphael, I just cleaned your sheets two days ago; they are fine,” he reassured. “Please, return to bed, my son.”

“W-well...well, yeah, but I th-think...” he desperately racked his brain for a new excuse. “I think th-that, that Mikey must have crawled into my bed, and had an accident and then went back to h-his own bed w-while I was still sleeping. My sheets don't feel clean no more.”

Splinter sat up and turned on his bedside lamp. The light revealed him giving Raph a stern glance.

“Raphael, are you telling me that you...someone had an accident in your bed?” he questioned.

Raph nodded. “Uh-huh and I think it was Mikey. Poor little guy probably got scared, came in my bed to sleep with me, peed, and got embarrassed and went back to his bed,” he elaborated. “W-we better not ask him 'bout it though, 'cuz we don't wanna embarrass him...”

Splinter shook his head and hid his eyes in his palm.

Raph then realized that he may have inadvertently gotten his little brother in trouble for something that he didn't actually do.

“Please, don't be mad at him, though...” he squeaked.

Splinter rubbed his face and turned back to his son. He sighed and took his little hands into his own, looking him in the eyes firmly.

“Raphael, tell me the truth, and I promise to keep this between you and me,” he began, “but did you have an accident in your bed?”

Raph swore he felt his heart stop when he realized what he had accidentally implied to his father with his lie.

“No!” he answered quickly. “I...it wasn't...I-I didn't...”

Splinter cupped his chin. “It is alright,” he soothed. “We don't have to tell your brothers. You should not blame your little brother, so you need to tell me the truth.”

Raph pulled away and sighed. “Mikey didn't pee in my bed, and I didn't either. Nobody peed in my bed or anything like that.”

Splinter looked puzzled. “Oh? Then what is this about?”

Raph looked down at his hands and nervously fumbled with his fingers.

“If I tell you a secret, will you promise not to tell anyone?” he mumbled.

Splinter rested a paw on his shoulder. “Of course, child.”

“I...” he began with hesitation. “I'm...I'm afraid there's a spider in my bed...”

Splinter let out his held breath. “So that is what this is about. You are afraid of spiders, am I right?”

Raph nodded reluctantly. “Not just spiders though;...all bugs.”

Splinter smiled and gathered the dejected little one into his lap. “Come now, do not be ashamed, my son. Having a fear of bugs is very common, especially for children of your age, and even for adults.”

“Yeah, well, my brothers still tease me...” he grumbled.

“Yes, well, brothers just like to tease each other because it amuses them. Remember, you tease them at times too,” Splinter reasoned.

Raph shook his head and sighed.

Splinter felt a disappointment in his heart that he was failing to ease his son's mind.

“If this makes you feel any better,” he added, “bugs are more frightened of you than you are of them.”

Raph thought this over. Logically, that made sense; after all, bugs were tiny and to them, he must look like a giant, but realizing that still couldn't shake the perception that they were creepy, sneaky, and have an over-abundance of limbs.

“That's probably true,” he acknowledged. “They're still creepy, though.” He sighed. “You promise you won't tell my brothers about this?”

Splinter nodded and put a hand on his chest. “Cross my heart.”

“W-will you check my blankets for me?” he asked timidly.

Splinter chuckled. “Of course.”

He stood up from the bed and wrapped his kimono around himself before scooping up Raphael and heading off toward his bedroom.

“Did you feel something crawling on you under your blankets?” Splinter asked on their way.

Raph nodded. “Well, sorta,” he clarified. “I had a bad dream that I pulled off my sheets and there were spiders crawling all over me. I went to wake up Leo, but when he rolled over, he was a big spider too.”

Splinter smiled and tried not to laugh. “That was just a dream, my son. I'm sure there is nothing in your sheets.”

Raph frowned at him.

“But I will check for you if it makes you feel any better,” he reassured.

He tiptoed into the bedroom, being careful not to disturb Leonardo. He set Raph on the floor beside his bed and pulled his sheets down, thoroughly checking them for any unwanted visitors.

“All clear,” he confirmed.

“A-are you sure?”

He grinned at Raph and lifted him up onto his mattress. “I am positive.”

“Okay...”

Splinter snugly tucked him under the blankets. “You have nothing to fear, Raphael. There is nothing in here but you and your brother.”

“Okay, daddy...”

Splinter kissed his forehead. “I love you, my son.”

“Love you too.”

Splinter gave him one last comforting pat, checked on Leonardo as well, and then headed back to his own room for some much needed rest.

----------

“Come, Raphael!”

Raph heard his father's voice ring out from a few rooms away.

“It is time for your bath!”

Raph put down the toy truck that he had been rolling around on the floor and got to his feet.

“Comin', Sensei!” he called back as he sprinted to the other room with the involuntary energy that only a small child could have.

He burst through the bathroom doorway.

“I don't wanna bathe with Mikey this time,” he said, “he splashes too much.”

Splinter chuckled. “Not to worry, my son. You will be bathing alone this time.” He lifted the little one up under his arms and set him in the warm water.

“Where are my brothers?” he asked.

“Michelangelo is napping and Leonardo and Donatello will have their baths later,” Splinter explained as he lathered up a washcloth with soap. “I assumed you would be brave enough to bathe without a partner for this time, was I right?”

Raph beamed proudly. “Of course I am. I'm not scared of nothing.”

“Not even that?” Splinter pointed down toward the drain.

Raph looked and his stomach nearly jumped into his throat when he saw a large black widow spider crawl out of the drain and swim toward him.

Breathing heavily, Raph grabbed hold of the hands that scrubbed him, squeezing them in an iron grasp.

“I-I w-wanna get out now,” he stammered.

Splinter urged him back down into the water.  

“But you are not clean yet,” he said firmly. “Please, stay still.”

Raph returned his gaze to the creepy crawler; it was swimming closer and getting bigger. He leaped up from the water again, but Splinter caught him around his waist and held him firm.

“D-daddy! Please! L-let me out! I w-wanna get out now!”

Splinter pushed him back in the water, this time with a bit more force.

“Raphael!” he scolded. “Stop acting like a baby! It is just a spider!”

Raph wrapped both of his little arms around Splinter's arm and began to pout.

“N-no! Daddy, let me g-get out!”

The next thing he knew, a fist nearly as large as his own head thrust against his cheek. The fierce blow knocked him back into the water.

He looked up at his father in shock, holding his throbbing cheek with one hand.

Splinter glared down at him. “You are to stop being a baby!” he shouted. “I am not raising a wimp! Maybe leaving you alone with the little critter for a bit will toughen you up!” Splinter rose from the floor and stormed out of the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

“No!” Raph cried at the top of his lungs. “Daddy, no! Come back!”

He turned back to the spider, and much to his terror, this time it had not only gotten larger, but had multiplied and they were crawling all over his skin. “AHH! No! No! D-daddy! Come back! H-help!”

-------

“Raphie!” A cheery little voice cut through the sudden darkness. “Raphie, wake up!”

Big baby blue eyes stared back at him as soon as he opened his own. Instantly, Raph went from feeling relieved to annoyed.

“Mikey, get offa me!” he grumbled sleepily.

Mikey giggled and rolled off of him.

“But you gotta get up now!” he chirped. “It's breakfast time and guess what! Guess what! Guess what!”

Raph sighed as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“What?”

“I helped make it, so ya know it's gonna be good!” Mikey cheered and jumped up and down. “Come on! Come on! Get up!”

“Shut up,” Raph growled as his bare feet touched the floor, “I'm coming already.”

Mikey sprinted back to the kitchen ahead of him and almost knocked his chair over when he jumped into it. Splinter caught it just in the nick of time.

“Take it easy now, Michelangelo,” he said as he tried to stifle a chuckle. “Did you get Raphael out of bed?”

Mikey nodded, watching, with intrigue, his father cut up his pancakes.

“Uh-huh, he's comin'.”

“He didn't try to beat you up this time?” Donnie asked before shoving a neatly sliced square of pancake into his mouth.

Mikey shook his head. “No. Maybe that means he'll be in a good mood today.”

“You mean a not-so-bad mood?” Leo grumbled. “There are no good moods for Raphie.”

Mikey snickered. “Oh yeah.”

“Boys,” Splinter scolded as he moved down to Raph's unoccupied plate to cut his food, “it is not kind to talk about Raphael that way. He is just as sweet as any of you...”

“Stop talkin' about me!” Raph grouched as he stomped into the room and climbed up into his chair. “I heard my name...”

“Good morning, Raphael,” Splinter greeted as he finished cutting his pancakes for him.

Raph looked up at him with a  glare. “Daddy, what were they sayin' 'bout me?”

Splinter grinned and ruffled his bandana. “Just how much we all love you.”

Raph, though not convinced, decided not to push further and went to eating.

“Daddy, wanna hear what I dreamed 'bout last night?” Mikey asked, spewing chunks of pancake across the table toward Leo.

Splinter took a seat at the end of the table. “Yes I do, as long as you do it between mouthfuls.” He chuckled. “I don't want to wear your breakfast.”

Mikey swallowed. “Well, there was this guy living under my bed, and when he came out to meet me, guess what his face looked like!”

“Hmm...” Splinter humored him. “Did he look like a monkey?”

“No,” Mikey replied, “his head looked like a butt! He was a butt-head!”

Raph snickered. “Like you?”

Mikey blew a raspberry at him.

“Boys,” Splinter warned. “Don't start. What else happened in your dream, Michelangelo? Did you befriend this...butt-man?”

“No,” Mikey replied, almost with his mouth full, but caught himself and paused to swallow first, “he was a bad guy and he tried to poop on my family.”

Splinter gave him an amused grin while the others continued to try and drown him out.

“He did?” He replied under a chuckle. “That does not sound pleasant. Did you stop him?”

“I sure did,” Mikey beamed. “I used my ninja skills and kicked his butt, er...face! He went 'way.”

“Well good for you, my son,” Splinter praised. “That was very brave...and you have quite the imagination.”

“I had a cool dream too, sensei!” Leo piped up.

“Well, I would certainly love to hear about it,” Splinter encouraged.

“Well...there were...th-there were these n-ninjas, and...” Leo racked his brain for a dream that could out-do Mikey's. “...and I...I kicked their butts!”

“Oh my,” Splinter replied, “were they in our home?”

Leo hastily nodded. “Uh-huh! I saved us though!”

Splinter ruffled his bandana. “Well, I am very grateful. What about you, Raphael? Did you have any good dreams last night?”

Raph shook his head. “No, I-I can't remember what I dreamed 'bout last night.” He desperately searched for a new subject and turned to his brainy brother. “So, uh, Donnie...y-you learn anymore smart stuff lately?”

Donnie grinned. “Uh-huh,” he said. “I found this neat little specimen crawling around ]my bedroom.”

“I thought you said you found a beetle?” Mikey questioned.

Donnie sighed. “The 'specimen' I'm referring to is the beetle, Mikey!”

Mikey shrugged. “Why didn't you just say so?”

Donnie shook his head and returned his attention to Raph.

“I can show it to you later if you like. I'd love for you to...”

“Blah blah blah, Donnie!” Raph mocked. “Why would I wanna see some stupid bug? I don't care! Nerd.”

Donnie looked down dejectedly.

“Raphael!” Splinter scolded. “Your brother is passionate about his discovery; it is not kind to discourage him.” He turned to Donnie and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I would love to see what you have found, my son. Why don't you show us during your learning time, hm?”

Donnie looked up again and grinned from ear to ear. “Really? I could do that? Okay!”

Raph felt the flesh under his shell crawling at the thought.

----------

Donatello beamed with utmost pride as he held up the jar that contained his latest living discovery.

“His name is Robert,” he announced.

Splinter grinned. “I see,” he said, “and why 'Robert'?”

Donnie shrugged. “I like that name. It sounds smart.”

Raph crossed his arms. “Sounds like a nerd name,” he grumbled, hoping that a little negative reinforcement would coax Donnie to put the thing away.

Splinter lightly tapped him on the back of the head.

“Raphael,” he scolded, “it is a nice name. Your brother is proud of his new-found friend.”

“Oh he's not my friend,” Donnie corrected, “he's like my test subject. I'm just observing him to see what I can learn from him.”

Splinter stroked his beard with amusement. “I see, and have you learned anything interesting from him yet?”

“Well, not yet,” Donnie explained. “I only found him yesterday.”

“Can I hold him?” Mikey suddenly piped up. He and Splinter both looked to Donnie for permission.

“May he hold him, Donatello?” Splinter asked.

Donnie looked at the beetle and hesitated. “W-well...”

“I won't hurt him, I promise,” Mikey begged. “Just for a minute, please?”

“Well, alright,” Donnie agreed and sat the jar on the ground in front of him as he twisted off the lid. “Come here, Robert,” he said as he coaxed the beetle to crawl onto his hand.

Raph felt like his skin was crawling as he watched Donnie's hand retreat from the jar with the beetle clung to it. His spine began to tingle again at the thought of that critter crawling on his hand.

Mikey eagerly held out his hand and Donnie allowed the beetle to crawl onto it.

“Be careful, Mikey,” he urged.

Mikey giggled as soon as the tickling legs made contact with his palm.

“I will,” he assured and allowed the little critter to crawl back and forth between his hands. “It tickles.”

The beetle began to venture up Mikey's arm, making a beeline for his shoulder, but Mikey forced it to crawl back onto his opposite hand.

Raph cringed even more.

Mikey turned to him. “Wanna hold 'im, Raphie?”

Raphael steadily backed away. “Uh...n-no. Get that stupid thing away from me.”

“Why?” Mikey asked. “Don't you want to hold him? He can't hurt ya.”

“No!” Raph insisted. “I don't wanna hold it 'cause it's just a stupid bug.”

“He's not stupid,” Mikey argued. “His name is Robert. Donnie gave him a smart name, remember?”

“Maybe if you hold him, Raphael,” Splinter suggested knowingly, “then he will not seem so 'stupid' to you after all.”

Raph crossed his arms defiantly and inched away from Mikey further.

“No!”

“Oh, come on, Raphie,” Leo pushed, “stop being like that and just hold it for a minute! Big baby.”

Raph felt his jaw clench at Leo's snark comment.

Mikey edged closer and pushed the beetle toward him again.

“Just for a second?”

Raph's frustration grew to a boiling point.

“No! Get away!” he screamed and pushed Mikey, causing him to fall on his bottom, and consequently startling the beetle and causing it to fly off of Mikey and out through the grate overhead.

“Robert!” Donnie cried. “Oh no!”

“That's what you get!” Raph shouted at him.

Mikey rose to his feet, rubbing his sore rump and glared at Raph.

“Nice goin',” he grumbled.

“Raphael!” Splinter demanded. “Shame on you! Just because...” he hesitated and sighed. “...just because you...lack interest in Donatello's discovery, does not give you a right to be rude and cause it to fly away with your aggression.”

Raph looked down at his feet and released a frustrated sigh.

“You will sit in the corner for the remainder of learning time and have extra homework later this evening, is that understood?”

“But...”

Splinter gave him a silencing glare. “Would you prefer to find him a new specimen?”

“No...” Raph groaned.

“Then I suggest you get moving to your corner,” Splinter growled.

Raphael stomped off to the other side of the dojo and hid his face in the corner.

Splinter returned his attention to his brainiest son and softened his stern glance.

“I am sorry, Donatello,” he said. “Maybe I could help you find a new specimen later on?”

Donnie shook his head sadly. “No, that's okay, sensei. I'm sure I'll find a new one sooner or later.” He sighed.

Splinter caught a glimpse of Raph from the corner of his eye and swore he sensed a hint of sorrow. He brushed it off nonetheless, and urged himself to get on with their daily lesson. This punishment was not about his fear after all, it was about instilling self-control and courtesy in him.

-------

Michelangelo and Donatello stood face-to-face in the center of the dojo, fists held up defensively. They stared with deep concentration into each other's eyes, hoping that they might somehow read what the other intended to do first. That was, until Mikey began watching his own fists move and then felt the need to constantly readjust their positioning.

“Focus, Michelangelo,” Splinter ordered.

“Hai, Sensei,” Mikey responded and obeyed accordingly.

“Hajimei!” Splinter shouted.

Immediately, Donnie swept his leg, but Mikey, quick to react, leaped over it and caught Donnie's flying fist in his palm as he landed back on his feet. Mikey then proceeded to throw his own punch toward Donnie's head, but Donnie ducked just in time and in his crouched position, tackled Mikey by his legs and took him to the ground.

Mikey came down on the rug-covered concrete with a painful thud and cringed at the dizzying sensation.

“Ya mei!” Splinter shouted. “Very good, my sons. It was very clever of you, Donatello, to initiate an attack while dodging one as well.”

“Thanks, Sensei,” Donnie said as he took Mikey's hand and helped him back to his feet, patting him on the shell. “Mikey did good too, huh, Sensei?”

“Yes, Michelangelo, you did very well,” he said. “However, my son, you must remember that just because you have fallen, that does not mean that you have lost. You must work on recovering quickly enough from a fall or misstep.”

“Hai, Sensei,” Mikey said with a slight withdraw in his tone.

“You will gain more resilience in time,” he added. “You must remember that you have only been training for a few weeks. You have many years of training ahead of you.” He looked to his two oldest sons. “Now, Leonardo and Raphael, I want the two of you to spar against one another.”

“Hai, Sensei,” the two said in unison as they routinely switched positions with their younger brothers.

Leo and Raph took the same fighting stance that Donnie and Mikey had and stared each other down intently, waiting for their father's call to begin.

Raph found himself trying to ignore the urge to squirm and scratch at his arms and legs. The feeling of imaginary insects crawling all over him was becoming more prominent and thus harder to ignore ever since the incident with Donnie's beetle.

“Hajime!”

Leo threw a punch, and Raph, struggling to focus, just barely avoided it by sliding to the right. He swore he felt a tingling sensation gradually move from his leg up to his plastron and under his belt.

Leo dove for his legs to sweep him to the ground, but Raph rolled to the side and ripped his belt off with a squeal and threw it on the ground, scratching madly at his tummy.

“Ugh, get it off! Get it off!” he screamed as he writhed around on the floor.

His brothers watched him in shock, unable to be sure if they should be laughing or concerned.

Leo finally looked to his stunned father. “D-does that mean that I won?”

Splinter shook his head. He'd seen quite enough.

“Raphael!” he shouted. “That is enough! What is the meaning of this?”

Raph, feeling confident that he'd knocked off any imaginary critters, rose to his feet and looked around at his family with shame.

“I-I...uh...” he stammered. He looked back to Leo. “I-I thought that L-Leo blew a boogie on me...” he lied. “Y-Yeah, h-he, uh...I thought I saw something fly out of his nose and land on me.”

Splinter sighed while Mikey and Donnie burst into a fit of giggles.

“Leo's a boogie monster!” Mikey teased.

“Michelangelo,” Splinter warned, promptly shutting Mikey up. “Raphael,” he began scolding, “I understand that having someone else's excretion blown on you is disgusting, but it is no reason to lose your focus in a fight.”

Raph looked indignantly at his feet. “Hai, Sensei.”

“I will let it slide this time, but next time there will be consequences for such irrational behavior, understand?”

“Hai, Sensei.”

“Good then,” he said with a nod. “That is all for training today. You may all have some leisure time until dinner.”

Leo, Mikey, and Donnie leaped up from where they sat and sprinted out of the dojo with utmost speed.

Splinter watched with concern as Raph lagged behind them, his head hanging in shame.

-------

Splinter turned the faucet handle to shut off the water in his makeshift bathtub. With his hand, he checked to make sure the water was at an appropriate temperature and once confirmed, he dried his hand with a quick flick of his wrist and stepped into the door frame.

“Michelangelo! Raphael!” he called. “Come here, boys! It is bath time!”

Almost immediately, he heard the sound of eager footsteps trotting closer and closer to the where he stood. Undoubtedly, it was Michelangelo, always eager for a bath.

Before the little one even got through the doorway, he was stripping off his bandana and belt and carelessly tossing them where ever they landed.

“Yay!” he squealed as he climbed over the edge of the tub and landed in the water with a splash. “Bath time!”

He was surprised to not see Raphael with him. Usually the two of them would be climbing over each other to beat the other into the water.

Seconds later, Raph slowly appeared in the doorway.

“Come, Raphael,” Splinter urged, “it is bath time.”

“But daddy, I don't need a bath,” Raph argued and promptly began to lick his arm, much like a cat, and lathered it into his skin. “See? I can clean myself.”

Splinter chuckled. “That is not going to make you cleaner,” he corrected as he lifted him up and placed him in the water beside his little brother. “Are you feeling alright, my son? You are never reluctant to take a bath.”

Raph settled into the warm water, watching Mikey splash around beside him.

“I'm fine,” he said under a sigh.

Splinter decided not to press the issue further, assuming that Raphael would not talk about his personal feelings in Mikey's presence.

He picked up the washcloth from inside the tub and lathered it in homemade soap that he'd kept in a plastic bottle he had salvaged from a dumpster years ago.

He took Raph's arm and began to scrub it while Mikey continued to play around.

Mikey put both of his hands to his mouth to make them look like pinchers.

“Look, Raphie!” he said. “I'm Robert...'cept I'm a water beetle and I can swim!”

“Quit it, Mikey!” Raph demanded. “Bugs are stupid!”

Mikey continued as if he hadn't seemed to have heard him.

“Roar! I'm gonna git ya!” he said, edging closer to Raph with his 'pinchers'.

“Stop it!” Raph whined. “It's not funny! You're getting on my nerves!”

“I'm gonna bite ya!”

“Stop!” Without further warning, Raph snatched the bottle of soap off of the side of the tub and smacked Mikey across his face with it.

Splinter instantly stopped scrubbing him and Mikey looked at him, holding his face with a look of astonishment.

His astonished expression contorted into tears.

“O-ow-w, Raphie!” he cried.

Splinter lifted Mikey out of the tub and wrapped his wet body in a towel as he held him against his torso.

“Oh no, Michelangelo,” he cooed, “let me see.”

Mikey gradually moved his hand away from where he was struck and revealed that there were no apparent marks left on his face.

“Aw, you are alright, my son,” he soothed. “There are no marks.” He placed him back in the tub beside his 'attacker' and immediately turned his attention back to Raphael.

“He started it...” Raph futilely attempted to defend himself.

“He was just playing with you, Raphael,” Splinter scolded. “That was no reason to strike him!”

“B-but...”

“I do not want to hear it! You are to sit in the corner during story time tonight, do you understand?”

“B-but, daddy...!”

“Your behavior is unacceptable!” Splinter persisted. “If you continue to argue, then I will make you sit in the corner even longer.”

Raph groaned. “Hai, Sensei...”

-------

Raphael stared at the cracks in the cinder blocks where they ran together to make that dreaded corner in the dojo where he found himself sitting far too often. He found himself twitching repeatedly with a start every few seconds, swearing that he kept seeing things crawling around him from the corners of his eyes.

He could just barely make out his father's muffled voice telling his brothers their bedtime story, and he desperately tried to focus his paranoid mind on that.

“Raphael.”

He turned with another start when he unexpectedly heard his name.

“I told you that you are to sit in the corner,” Splinter said. “You are too far away from it. Fix it.”

Raph hesitantly moved only a few miniscule inches.

Splinter rose to his feet abruptly and marched up behind him.

“You are to have your nose to the corner,” he growled as he lifted Raphael up and sat him closer to the corner so that his nose was only inches from the cinder block. “You know this. Do not make me correct you again, or you will be sitting there longer.”

“Hai, Sensei,” Raph whimpered.

Splinter returned to his spot in front of his other three sons.

“Now where were we?” he thought aloud as he turned back to the page he had been reading.

“When he looks in the mirror, he might notice his hair needs a trim. So he'll probably ask for a pair of nail scissors,” he read on.

The closer that Raph was to the wall, the less that he could hear what his father was reading, and worse, the more limited his peripheral vision was. Now if any critters wanted to crawl on him, he could not see them before they made contact. He began to instinctively edge away, but reminded himself that he could be forced to sit there longer if he were caught again, so he reluctantly forced himself back into the proper position, and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to think of comforting thoughts that might slow his racing heart.

“When he's done, he'll probably want to take a nap. You'll have to fix up a little box for him with a blanket and a pillow. He'll crawl in, make himself comfortable and fluff the pillow a few times. He'll probably ask you to read him a story,” Splinter read and then turned the page again, but as he opened his mouth to continue, he paused when he heard the sound of light sniffling coming from the other side of the room.

He turned his head to look at his most wayward son and noticed his shell heaving up and down in a  non-rhythmic fashion.

“What is wrong, Raphael?” he asked.

Raph only sniffled in response.

“Come here, child,” Splinter coaxed.

Slowly, Raphael peeled himself from the corner and stood before his father sitting on the floor.

Splinter reached out and held his hand lightly.

“What is the matter, my son?”

Raph struggled to catch his breath so that he could get the words out.

“..s..s-s..c-car-ed...”

Splinter did not understand. “What?”

“I'm-m...s-sc-a-ar-red...”

“You are scared?”

Raph hiccuped and nodded as he rubbed his eyes with his free hand.

Splinter began to worry that perhaps he had frightened him with his punishment.

“I do not understand,” he said. “What are you scared of?”

“B-bug-g-s...” Raph shamefully choked out. “G-ge-et m-me-e i-in the-e corn-ner-r...”

Splinter sighed and took him into his arms.

“Raphael, there are no bugs in the corner,” Splinter soothed as he rubbed his shell.

“Th-they'r-re ev'r-ry-ywhe-ere...”

“Yes, we do have a lot of bugs in our home, but they cannot harm you,” he explained.

“M-my-y br-rother-r's...w-will-l m-ma-ake f-fun of m-me-e...”

“No we won't,” Leo piped up. “It's okay to be scared, Raphie. I'm scared of heights.”

“I'm hydrophobic,” Donnie added.

Everyone just stared at him.

He groaned. “I'm afraid of a lot of water,” he clarified.

“Yeah, and I'm scared of the dark,” Mikey said.

“See?” Splinter said. “Everyone is afraid of something, my son. It is okay to have fears.”

“N-not you,” Raph argued. “You're n-not s-scared of an-nything. I w-wanna be-e l-like y-you...”

“That it is not true,” Splinter corrected. “I, too, have an irrational fear. I am afraid of cats and have been since I was a child.”

Raph pulled away from his embrace to look at him.

“Kitties? Y-you're scared of kitties, sensei?”

Splinter chuckled. “Indeed. So much so, that when you boys were babies, a stray cat came into our home and I nearly killed it because I kicked it into a wall out of fear that it may harm one of you.”

Mikey gasped. “Daddy,” he scolded, “you hurt a sweet little kitty cat?”

Splinter ruffled his bandana. “I know it was not rational, but I will admit, I was afraid. Even daddies get scared.”

Raph sniffed. “So...I'm not a big baby for being scared of bugs?”

“Of course not,” Splinter replied. “You are the bravest little boy I know.”

Leo pouted. “What about me?”

Splinter grinned and gestured for him to sit on his lap as well.

“You too, Leonardo,” he confirmed as he wrapped his arm around his tiny shelled waist and pecked each of his oldest boys on the head. “I have the toughest little boys in the world.”