Cracks in the Ship

Characters: Ran and Kaito
Theme: Four's too many

"Don't you think it's a little... disproportionate?"

Aoko looked up from her bowl of rice with a little cute frown, which may or may not be one of the reasons why Kaito married her for. She eyed him curiously for a solid five second before swallowing the lump of food down her throat.

"What is it?" She said cautiously. He couldn't really blame her for the suspicious tone when the last time he'd admitted something shitty he had done was by bringing up a random topic out of nowhere (He asked her if she loved their living room fur rug, which she replied with a positive yes, and that was when he'd told her he had something even better back at their garage; which was a cub he borrowed from the zoo because their precious older daughter adored it very much).

"It's quite lacking." Kaito gestured his head at the empty seat across the table.

"I don't understand- Oh Katsuo, you have gravy all over your mouth." Aoko shook her head and was about to take the box of tissue from one side of the table when the little boy wiped his mouth with the collar of his shirt, much to her displeasure.

"Hey! Aikiko just threw the broccoli on the floor!" Kanako, their eldest daughter, pointed accusingly at the food-thrower culprit, who was giggling on her high chair and whacking the plastic spoon on the table.

Despite how his family were noisily surrounding the table, Kaito's eyes were still fixated at the empty chair on the other side. The only time he looked away was when he helped to pick the broccoli from the floor when Aoko was busy feeding Aikiko her baby porridge meal.

"So as you're saying," Aoko finally gave her full attention to Kaito after he returned from dumping the dirty food away. "What is lacking?"

There was a moment of odd silence. Katsuo and Kanako were staring at him as well, their different shade of blue eyes were filled with puzzlement. Except for Aikiko, who was distracted by the sudden realization of the polka dot bib tied around her neck.

Kaito cleared his throat.

"We should have another baby."

.o.

Even if Ran could choose, she wouldn't ask for any changes to her neighbourhood. Since the first day she moved over to Shinichi and her newly bought house, she knew she would never want to move out from here. Throughout their stay, Ran had easily made friends with almost all the neighbours, which was partially due to her outgoing and kind personality, according to what Shinichi told her. But if it was about respecting the elders and being polite in greetings, Shinichi had done the same as her, though there was some exceptions.

And speaking of the exceptions...

"Kaito-kun?" Ran yelled outside her house and across the little road after tossing the trash bag into the garbage bin and letting the lid closed. She swiped her hands to get rid of the dust, eyes curious at what she saw.

The said man paused and turned around before slamming his car door shut as he watched Ran walking towards him. He gave a nod and a compatible smile, which Ran returned the same. After their acknowledgment, she focused back on the thing that caught her eyes previously; the large bouquet of red roses in his hand. She'd lost count on the number of stalks there were.

"What's that?" Ran asked before shaking her head foolishly to herself. "Ah, it must be for Aoko-san, isn't it?" Her smile grew even more sincere, if it was possible.

"Yeah." Kaito scratched the back of his ear and sighed. "I'd cultivate myself if this isn't needed for an emergency."

"Emergency?" Ran blinked.

He gave a laugh that was conflicting between embarrass and depress. "I need to convince Aoko to let me back to our bed. I've been sleeping on the sofa for four days."

Ran winced and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "That bad? This isn't good. What about the children?" Her heart slightly ached. She had witnessed her parents quarrelled when she was young, and it wasn't something she could forget easily even when two decades had passed. There were scars, and she didn't want those precious children to suffer the same as her. "Is there any way I can help?"

"Oh no, we didn't fight." Kaito waved his free hand while the other one was still holding onto the bouquet tightly to his chest. "It's just about the sleeping problem." His voice suddenly turned into a soft murmur, as if he didn't want her to hear him, yet he couldn't not say it at the same time. "She refused to share the same bed with me for the moment."

Confusion instantly struck Ran as fast as she blinked. "...What?" She didn't bother to hide her perplex tone.

He let out a huge desolated sigh and brushed his fingers through his wild hair. "I was considering having a fourth child to fill up that one empty space at the dining table. But Aoko wouldn't let me."

It was a snort at first and Ran managed to suppress the remaining chuckle for the pitiful man, but in the end, she couldn't held it in. She chortled at the back of her hand, the other clutching onto her stomach. "R-Really? And- And I'm sorry." She tried to fully stop her laughter and coughed between gulps of air when she noted how Kaito looked away with slight discomfort. She heard many things about this talented magician, mostly from Aoko, and for stoic man like him to talk more than two sentences about his troubles must be an agony to him. Ran quickly straightened her posture. "I shouldn't have laughed." She quickly added.

"It's fine. You're not the first." He muttered into the roses. "Jii laughed as well."

Ran remembered seeing the old man dropping by during the weekends for a family dinner occasionally. And if Jii really happened to laugh at Kaito's plight, it helped to give Ran a piece of mind; at least she wasn't the only mean person who think it was funny, and since the old man who sincerely cared for the family actually treated it as a joke, there shouldn't be a need to worry for the children. Perhaps they found it equally funny as well.

Not knowing what to reply, the only thing she knew to do was to sheepishly rub the back of her neck.

"Anyway, I should go." Kaito took in a deep breath as if it was going to be the last. Well, if Aoko didn't react positively with his plan, maybe it would be. Though who on earth could ever not flutter with happiness and be accepting to whatever favour or apology, when such a massive and beautiful bouquet of roses was being gifted?

Still, there's no harm in giving some more extra comfort. "Good luck." Ran subtlety pumped a fist as an encouragement.

"Thanks." He gave a charming wave before departing towards his gate.

.o.

It might have been a mistake to come alone. Or if she was prepared enough, she wouldn't need to trouble anyone else.

Ran sighed and stared at the wooden bed side table situated in the middle of her favourite furniture shop. She wanted to buy a new one since the one at home was getting old and chipped after a long use. But she was unsure of the length she should buy since she didn't measure the distance between the bed and the wall. It would leave an ugly gap if it was small, and it would be pointless if it was too big.

What a wasted trip.

Or perhaps not?

As she was making her way to the exit, her eyes glanced upon a familiar figure standing a few metres away from her, arms crossed with a heavy serious look on his face, as if he was in a cemetery. But maybe it wasn't that far off since this was technically a cemetery to all the trees that were cut down for the furniture.

"Is something wrong?" She spoke over his shoulder.

Kaito mindlessly waved a hand. "It's fine-" He paused for a moment, eyes widening by a fraction before turning to look at her in slight surprise. "Oh, hey. I thought you are the sales person."

Ran settled a grin before looking over at the large round table before them. "Changing furniture?"

"Yeah. Soon." He nodded, almost to himself.

After staring at the table for the next three seconds, Ran's eyes brightened and she spun her head over to Kaito with a newfound excitement. "I guess it's a good idea. I mean, if your rectangle table makes you feel like there's an empty space that needs to be filled in, a round one would do the trick."

Kaito didn't mirror her expression. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and looked at her like she was barking instead of talking. "What do you mean?"

"You might not remember," Ran licked her lips, forcing herself not to laugh at the memory. "You've mentioned a few months ago, about the issue when Aoko-san didn't want a fourth child to fill in the space of your table."

Barely a millisecond passed and confusion was instantly wiped off his face, replacing with comprehension. "Oh, that incident." He chuckled softly under his breath before staring at the round table. "Yeah, this would do the trick."

Even if Ran wasn't good with measurements, she knew this was a little bit exaggerated. "Maybe not so big." Ran politely offered and glimpsed around before pointing at another table at the far corner. "That size is better for a family of five."

Kaito didn't even bother to look, or maybe he did, she wasn't sure. He was a magician after all, stealth and steady. He simply shook his head. "It isn't going to work out."

This was the moment when Ran had to agree with Shinichi; that he couldn't understand this weird neighbour sometimes. "Not going to... work out?" She prompted, hoping he would at least explain what he meant.

His lips tugged into the shape of a capital U, eyes glimmering like a bright yellow sun despite how blue it was. "It's family of seven."

"...Seven?" Ran's mouth slowly creaked open.

"It's twins this time."

A/n: OMg okayyy hahah this is pure ridiculous. five children ahahha I'm actually finding myself crazy typing this idea out but anyway, despite it being supposedly focused on Ran and Kaito, I'm (not) so sorry for loving KaiAo so much that I have to put them in the fic somewhere. Still, I hope I made Ran and Kaito's interaction likeable. Hope you guys enjoyed it if you read till this far :)