Kaito was sitting in the house that he shared with Aoko, big surprise there, and his three year old twin boys, Koichi and Ginjiro. It had been nearly six years since he had teamed up with Kudo and Hattori to take down the organization. Kaito had been reflecting on it a lot lately because the sixth anniversary was the next day and he had a special magic show planned. Thinking back on everything that happened and the upcoming show made Kaito lose track of time, but he was soon reminded when Koichi and Ginjiro appeared from seemingly nowhere right onto his lap. He'd taught the boys how to do this as soon as they could crawl; even though, Aoko hadn't been too pleased about it.
"Daddy! It's almost bedtime. You haven't read to us in a long time, so we want you to read a story to us tonight!"
Koichi was usually the more outspoken child and he was definitely showing that side now as Ginjiro just nodded and agreed with his brother.
"Now, come on. It hasn't been that long has it? Just last night I told you the story about a detective and a thief teaming up to defeat an evil group of people, didn't I?
By this time Kaito had managed to wrestle both mini magicians up the stairs and into their beds.
"Noooo, we like when you tell us your stories, buuut…"
Koichi trailed off and Ginjiro picked up exactly where he left off, as if they had shared the thought.
"We like it when you read stories too. Mommy bought us a new book today. She smiled real big when she saw what we picked…"
Kaito never really believed in twin telepathy until after he and Aoko had the boys. It never ceased to amaze him how easily they could finish each other's sentences without even thinking about it.
"Yeah, she told us that you would like it a whole bunch. So we want you to read it to us!"
Kaito could feel a sense of dread building up inside him. He wasn't really sure why, but years of chasing after and running from murders told him to trust his instincts.
"Koichi, Ginjiro, what book did Mommy let you get?"
Kaito asked this question, silently praying to some God that it wasn't what he thought it was…Aoko walked into the room in time to see Koichi hold up a book and her husband turn extremely pale.
"It's this one Daddy!"
Koichi looked as innocent as any three year old could, but the book he held in his hands made Kaito want to run from the room screaming. He tried to cover up his fear when Ginjiro spoke.
"What's wrong Daddy? Don't you like the book? Mommy said you would, was she wrong?"
Ginjiro was the more observant of the two boys, but it only took a moment from Koichi to catch on to the fact that his daddy didn't really like the book but stayed quiet and watched the situation.
"N-no. I-I'm su-sure it's a r-really good book…"
Kaito looked between the offending book in Koichi's hand and Aoko, trying to decide whether he would take the book or if he would have Aoko read it to the boys and confess that he was afraid of something.
"Daddy, we really want you to read the book to us, but if you don't want to..."
"We could ask Mommy."
The disappointment in the boys' voices made up Kaito's mind. There had never been anything that he wouldn't do for the twins, but a little book almost ruined that. He looked up again and Aoko was taking to book from Koichi and tucking both children in. She sat down to begin reading, when Kaito held out his hand.
"Aoko, the boys want me to read it for them. Is that okay with you?"
His voice came out weaker than he would have liked and Aoko gave him a sympathetic glance.
"That's fine with me, I'm sure the boys are excited about it too. Are you sure you can?"
He didn't answer immediately.
"Yay! Daddy's gonna read to us!"
The boys broke the silence between the two adults. Kaito let a soft smile fall onto his face. There was still traces of fear, but Aoko was the only one to notice.
"Here goes nothing…"
Kaito muttered to himself as he took the book with the offending little creatures on it from Aoko, only hesitating for a moment before flipping to the first page.
"One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish, Black fish, Blue fish, Old fish, New fish…"
At some point while he was reading Aoko had moved closer to him. She could feel him shaking but couldn't even detect a hint of fear in his voice as he continued to read the book, only slightly faster than he usually would have.
"We like our bike. It is made for three. Our Mike sits up in the back, you see. We like our Mike, and this is why: Mike does all the work when the hills get high…"
The boys were already asleep, but Kaito read on. He and Aoko had learned quickly that if they didn't read a book all the way through, asleep or not, the twins would wake up soon after they left the room and the book reading would start all over again.
"And now, good night. It is time to sleep with our pet Zeep. Today is gone, today was fun, tomorrow is another one. Everyday, from here to there, funny things are everywhere."
He didn't hesitate at all, the moment he finished reading the book, he left the room and hid it somewhere, where hopefully the twins wouldn't be able to find it for a long time. When safely out of earshot of the twins bedroom, Kaito turned to Aoko.
"That wasn't very nice…I feel like I was set up."
He stated this very coolly, but Aoko could see that his hands were visibly shaking even though he tried to hide them in his pockets.
"I'm sorry, the boys really wanted to book. Since you told them a story last night, I thought that they would let me read it to them. It kind of took me by surprise when they insisted that you read it."
She looked truly sorry, but there was a hint of humor in her gaze as she stepped toward him. He wasn't mad, he had never really been mad at Aoko and she knew that. He glanced up when her hand brushed the side of his cheek.
"I think they both enjoyed you reading it to them, even though they knew you didn't want to…"
She didn't miss his questioning gaze.
They both take after you in so many ways. They know how to read body language, even at their age. They both asked me why you didn't want to read the book to them when I tucked them in. They may not know why you didn't want to read the book, but they were extremely happy when you did anyway."
"Well…Now I have a problem."
"What would that be?"
"There are now three people in this world that can read me like an open book."
Kaito grinned one of his big self observed grins.
"Oh, and who is the third. It isn't me, since I can't tell what is going through that thick skull of yours sometimes."
"Ah, but you are able to tell more than most people. That is more than even Hakuba can say."
Aoko let a small smile grace her features once more. She could tell that Kaito was still shaken, she felt bad about it, but it also made her want to laugh; because, it was a children's book that had him so nervous.
"Kaito, let's go to bed. They boys will be upset if you are too tired to perform tomorrow."
He knew she was right, but he didn't want to go to bed after reading something with such atrocious characters in it, but all those thoughts were thrown out the window when Aoko touched his hand and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.
"You're right; I wouldn't want to disappoint them."
The two walked slowly to their bedroom quietly talking about everything that had led up to their lives until now. Aoko fell asleep first and in the new silence Kaito had time to think about the day. His mind eventually wondered back to the book he had taken from Aoko. When he finally fell asleep, it wasn't a peaceful sleep in the least. One thing kept running through his mind all night long…One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish…
Down the hall, Koichi and Ginjiro glanced at the place where they knew their dad had hidden the book. They looked at each other with devious grins that could only belong to the sons of Kaito and Aoko Kuroba. They didn't need words to know what the other was thinking. The next night, after returning from Kaito's show, Aoko went to take a shower and the twins pulled Kaito into their room. They spoke in unison, with the most innocent voices that anyone would have ever heard.
"Daddy, its bedtime. We want you to read us a story."
Kaito looked at Koichi's bed in horror, there sitting in plain view was the book he had hidden yesterday, along with some drawing done by the boys. His dreams were going to have a field day with this…