"And once he led her into the crawl space beneath the house… she saw the truth," Maiko holds her hands up and wiggles her fingers, trying to look spooky with her scary grin as she tells the urban legend to the younger of the raven-haired children she babysits. The boy gazes up at her with his mouth ajar, eyes growing wider with every moment of anticipation.

"W-what was it?!" Sasuke squeaks, clutching his fleece blanket around his shoulders.

"She saw the body of a teenage girl with a face still contorted mid-scream," Maiko leans toward him as her voice drops, the fire before them casting eerie flickering shadows over her features. "And she realized she was already dead!"

Sasuke stares up at her with a horrified look then tries to suppress it. "That… that wasn't scary at all."

"Oh it wasn't?" Maiko smirks at him and leans in. "Then why do you look so scared?"

"I'm not scared!" Sasuke crosses his arms, pouting just a little. "I'm… I'm creeped-out! Creepy is different than scary!"

Maiko grins at him and lightly pokes his nose. "If you say so!"

"I do!" Sasuke snuggles further into his soft fleece blanket, black with the Uchiha clan fan in the center.

"Alright, then it's bedtime!"

Her words make Sasuke gulp as he rises and goes back to his room, trying to convince himself that he isn't afraid.

"Do you need a night light, Sasu-chan?"

"No! I'm not afraid!" He crawls into bed stubbornly and curls up with his eyes shut.

The older girl chuckles and shakes her head. "Sweet dreams, Sasuke."

Sasuke yawns and rubs his eyes as someone speaks beside him. He finally looks up and mumbles. "Itachi-nii-chan?"

"Sasuke, you need to come with me."

"What's the matter, nii-chan?"

"Sasuke, you can't sleep here anymore."

"Huh? What did I do?"

"You need to see something, Sasuke."

"Okay, nii-chan." Sasuke slowly slides out of bed, clutching his blanket and yawning. His feet hit the cold wooden floor, and he follows his brother across the room. "Where are we going?"

"To your closet, Sasuke."

"Why are we going there? I know there aren't any oni. Those are baby stories!"

"You're right. Oni aren't hiding in your closet," Itachi pulls open the door, "but you did."

Sasuke's eyes widen as he looks into the floor of the closet, and he sees a little bundle with dark hair at the top. Horror fills him as he bolts from the room, a howl of terror clawing out of his throat. "MAIKO!"

The girl rises from her place on the couch and easily catches Sasuke as he throws himself into her arms with a sob. "Sasu-chan, what's the matter?"

"Maiko, I'm dead!" He cries, sniffling.

"What? Why would you think something like that?" She pets his hair, soothing him.

"N-nii-chan showed me my body in the closet!"

"… Oh did he?" Her emerald eyes flash with anger. "Why don't you show me, Sasu-chan?"

Sasuke points the way, still clutching his blanket and sniffling. Maiko flicks on the light and enters his room to see Itachi on his way out with a chuckle. She crosses the room to the closet and pulls it open and gazes down at the little bundle.

"See?!" He sniffles. Maiko leans down and tugs the navy blanket, out of which fall various toys and the raven feather duster from the hall closet.

Sasuke stares at the mess of toys that spill out then frowns. "… I wasn't really scared."