"Daddy, what does erotic mean?"

Shinichi simply looked at his child. Where had this come from? Usually, he would at least make an effort to deduce the answer, but today he was just too damned tired.

"It's a euphemism," he lied.

"What's a euphemism?" Why had he raised such an inquisitive child in the first place? When had this seemed necessary? Did it strike him as a good trait when he began teaching his child to question everything? Now, he had to deal with this when he was certain that there was more coffee in his blood than was really healthy or even possible. He sighed.

"It's a word you use when you don't want to say something else."

"Why wouldn't you want to say the first thing?" This question made him want to glare but he refrained because, 'This is a kid, Shinichi. Your kid. You raised him. Answer the question now, before he decides to find out himself.'

"It's like saying someone passed on instead of they was killed." Because they were almost always killed in Shinichi's life. This was one of the examples he was certain his child understood. Ran would kill him if she could hear this conversation. Thank goodness she was at her office right now.

"Oh. What's it a euphemisc for?" While usually he would want to coo over his child in a way that reminded him scarily of his mother, today was not the day for it.

"Euphemism," Shinichi corrected absentmindedly, while struggling to think of a way to explain this that wouldn't make Ran accuse him of traumatizing their child. That would be a very painful accusation and he refused to have to deal with an angry wife later because of a comment made in a half-asleep state.

"Euphemism," the boy parroted. He said it a few more times before nodding and asking, "What's it a euphemism for then?"

"… Violence," he said flatly. Did that work? He looked at the boy's face. Understanding was dawning there. It was all okay for now. He really had no basis for those type of things.

Yuusaku had given him free reign over the library when he was a child and Shinichi occasionally read the books his father had been carrying with them when they were traveling. That had lead to the unfortunate incident of Shinichi read a few books that were too mature for his age and learning all the answers to questions he had never ever thought of yet. While the pictures of certain diseases had been vaguely scarring, he guessed they were there to scare anyone who saw them into abstinence.

It had worked for him, so he supposed he couldn't fault them.

His father for leaving such a book out though…

"Thanks daddy!" Shinichi made a mental note to correct the definition of that particular word when two things happened; his child had to be older and Ran had to be there. He was not doing that alone.

Then, his child ruined it all by doing something he always did when he learned a new word; he used it in a sentence. "Wrestling is a very erotic sport."

… Oh, god. Ran was going to kill him. His mind was screaming at him, 'Fix it now!' while his body was saying, 'Shut up and go to sleep before you do any more damage. Regroup later!' Of course, that was when the call of, "I'm home!" came from the door. "Shinichi, are you here yet?"

"Yeah, I'm heading to bed though," he called back before hastily going to the bedroom. She wouldn't kill him if he was already asleep!

"Momma, I learned two new words today!" he heard his child say as he ran up the stairs.

A/N: I'm not sure where this came from. Nor am I sure I would like to know.

Ja ne!
~J. DCF