Hi! It's been a little while since I got a new idea for DCMK and wrote it down. Today's idea was inspired by the recent addition to Netflix's library, "Old Enough." It's a series of stories where young children from 2 to 5 years old run errands for their parents. Some are nearby while others are far away that they need to take transport like the bus or train. If you're curious, you can look up a few examples under the name "Hajimete no Otsukai." I think I spelled that right. Anyway, I had already been into the Korean series, The Return Of Superman, so this fueled the story a bit more too.

So, this story idea is a one shot focusing on a Baby Kaito who is participating in running errands. It's bit disorganized in my thoughts in some places, but idea wouldn't leave me alone after I finished watching the series. So I'm sharing it as it is!

* Note: Before you begin, if any of you have a fish fear like Kaito, then, you may want to avoid this story. You can read it here in the ideas to get an idea of what I wrote. *

So for the rest of you, I'll let you get to reading!

Title: The Fish Is To Blame

Type: Story

Summary: We all know Kaito has ichthyophobia, but what in the world caused this to happen? Perhaps, the reason is more simpler than we think.

Idea: A story to show the reason for Kaito's fear. Inspired by the Japanese reality TV Show はじめてのおつかい - Hajimete no Otsukai (First Errand) or as Netflix calls it, Old Enough.

Sub-Ideas: Baby Kaito running errands for his parents.

- Refer to the Detective Conan episode where they have that errand competition. (Ep. 59: "The First Errand Murder Case")

- Kaito was a participant in this contest at the age of 4, he's been running errands for his parents since he was 2.

- One of Kaito's main items was to deliver fish on his list and have it prepared by the fishmongers to be sashimi and deliver it back.

- Kaito has never actually seen how the fish is prepared, Chikage or Toichi always bought it as slices, so seeing it for the first time scared him.

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Date: April 13, 2022

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Fish, they come in all shapes and sizes. In Japan, fish make up a majority of dishes. Raw dishes like sashimi and sushi or cooked dishes like grilled fish or fillet are commonly served. From the youngest of children to the oldest of elders, many enjoy the best meat and umami a fish can bring. Though, some refuse to eat this delicious protein from the seas and oceans either out of dietary reasons or because they are afraid. Yes, I mean the ones who suffer from ichthyophobia, the fear of fish. One such person who suffers this affliction is the young teen Kuroba Kaito, a magician in training and secretly second generation Kaitou Kid, the famous phantom thief.

Now, how bad can it be you ask? Why, the very sight of a fish, even if from far away, will cause him to do the most irrational of things. When his dear childhood friend Aoko presented the finned creature before him, he immediately went trigger happy, shooting his card gun in every direction, simply wishing nothing more than the finny thing as he calls it to be gone from his sight. So you may wonder, does this mean he's scared of sea creatures as well? No, one of his heist challenges presented by Suzuki Jirokichi tested him by obtaining a jewel strapped to the back of a turtle. He was successful and did not show any signs of fear. But anything to do with fish, even the thought of eating them, he breaks face and loses his cool.

This phobia is deeply scarring and one can't help but wonder, what caused this delightfully hyper-intelligent lad to be deterred from the sight of this particular aquatic animal? To find the answer, we must look back at Kaito's past, back before the accident, before he ever met Aoko, and even before he turned eight. We look back at a time when he was only a young toddler at the age of two. The Kuroba parents were currently settled into their home in Japan, taking several months to break from their endeavors around the world and considering the possibility of settling down since Kaito was soon coming of school age. But for the moment, they were in their temporary apartment, raising a young Kaito and teaching him everything he needed to know. Now Kaito was a brilliant boy, he had a wide vocabulary of both French and Japanese and could carry a conversation well with those around him. So because of this, his parents often entrusted him with tasks to visit the grocery store or run errands while they prepared the meals. Kuroba Toichi, a doting father he was, often tailed Kaito and watched as he carried out his instructed tasks. His years as the Phantom Thief had served him well in never getting caught by his own son as he watched him stop to talk with the kind ladies at the stores or try to cheer up a stranger with his magic trick. There were some moments when Kaito would forget what he came to the store for, and his father, disguised, of course, would immediately help him find what he needed. But those moments were becoming few and far between as he grew older and showed more responsibility. His father eventually stopped following him because of this.

Now, for all the errands Kaito had been on for his parents, the one thing he never got asked to take home before was a whole fish. The closest he ever got to it was sashimi slices, no head and no tail included. That didn't mean Kaito had no clue what a fish looked like, the cute images in books and the occasional mascot on snacks obscured his image of what he thought he was eating. He never had the pleasure of seeing its real face. So young Kaito enjoyed the fish dishes his mom or dad created in pure oblivion. When they started teaching him how to cook, he was placed in charge of vegetables and already pre-prepared meats that he would slice into small pieces for the dish, so he still saw no head or tail.

It was when Kaito turned four-years-old was when he would be welcomed to the sight of the creature he so fears with all his being. The Kurobas had been living in a rented apartment in a different part of Japan for a few years and Kaitou Kid's heists were becoming more frequent in Japan now, not that Kaito himself knew what his father was doing. He just knew his father was keeping his magic shows in the country for an indefinite amount of time. Well, while living there, they found out about a certain competition that Kaito was old enough to participate in. This event was all about children running errands around the city, and the first to come back completing it got a grand prize of tickets that were usable from any of the sponsoring stores. Chikage was enthusiastic about this since the tickets could help lighten the load of their grocery shopping, so with Kaito's eagerness to help out, she signed her boy up.

The competition took place on a bright and sunny day, the participants ranging from the ages of three to five years old were all with their parents or guardians waiting for the start. Each child was given a list, map, a few reusable grocery bags, and money to start. Once they received these items, their parents or guardians verbally read the lists out loud to clarify what they were supposed to do. In this year's competition, they explained that they were now adding a new task for the children to complete, pick-up-and-delivery. After each child came acquired all the listed items, they would need to head to a location to pick up this item and deliver it elsewhere. If there were any extra directions, they were going to be provided there. The parents weren't allowed to read this location out to them on this list, so the children needed to take initiative and be the ones to ask for help and directions.

Everyone was eagerly awaiting the announcement of the start. Kaito was extra determined, his mind completely focused on winning the grand prize for his mom. At the start, they waited, a bell rang, the person yelled start, and all the children were running down the hill on their way to their destinations. At the bottom of the hill, each child went in different directions and went to the stores that they needed to go to. For Kaito, he found his tasks quite easy. He obtained fresh fruits and vegetables, curry mix, milk, and butter from the different markets. Then he headed to a different store to purchase home and bathroom items on the list, such as toothpaste, toilet paper, and lotion. The clerks and people around to help out with the event were impressed with Kaito's abilities and how he carried a conversation with them. He clearly had done this before and it was evident he was no stranger to these tasks.

When Kaito had obtained the last of the items on the list, he was now ready to pick up the final item and deliver it wherever he was told to go. With the help of the kind clerk, he was told the direction of his next stop, and off Kaito went. He had a wide grin stretching from ear to ear. The few children who passed him by were mostly looking lost, eyes looking back and forth between the map and the street, trying to determine if this was the right store. The adults who watched weren't allowed to interfere, they could only help if the children asked for help, which the few that Kaito had passed did not think to do. The confidence in Kaito rose to a level of cockiness, believing this competition was an easy win. But oh how the mighty fall to the littlest of things, as Kaito would soon experience. When he arrived at his location, a park, a nice older sister who was a part of the event greeted him kindly. He in turn greeted her with a gentlemanly greeting his father taught him and magically presented a rose to her. She giggled and found it adorable, whispering to herself that he may one day be a catch with the ladies. Once she accepted the rose, she instructed Kaito on his task.

"Your task is to deliver this cooler filled with fish to the fishmongers. Their shop is close by the start, just almost at the top of the hill." The kind older sister took out his map and pointed at the shop before giving it to Kaito. "Once you get there, your extra task is to ask them to prepare the fish as well. Then you'll finish by delivering all your groceries back where you started. Think you got this down?"

Kaito smiled, "No problem onee-san, this will be easy!" She smiled as Kaito's chest puffed out confidently. Then she watched the young boy hold the handle and roll the cooler away."

As Kaito walked back toward the start, he had the bright idea to hang all his groceries on the handle and roll everything up there together. This made his journey to the hill easier and faster as he ran on the sidewalk while walking on the street crossings. He made it there in less time than he did walking from the last store to the park. Now the biggest challenge was in front of him, the hill. So he pulled the roller along with the groceries hanging. Midway on his journey upwards, he was struggling, the cooler that was light to roll was now feeling weighty. The groceries were of no help and only slowed down his journey more. Growing tired, he decided to remove the grocery bags from the handle and hold them. But this proved to be a bad decision since Kaito couldn't hold both the bags and the handle of the cooler. So the cooler went rolling down the hill. Without missing a beat, he picked up all his bags and ran after the cooler.

Down and down both Kaito and the cooler went. Kaito in all his energy was able to make it past the cooler and prepare to stop it, that was until it hit a crack in the sidewalk and all the content came flying out. Kaito was right in front of the cooler when it popped open and for the first time, he met the creature known as fish. Their eyes filled with a cold dead stare, their mouth wide and teeth visible for young Kaito to see. In his childlike mind, he saw terrifying creatures coming after him, probably about to eat him too. All too quickly, before Kaito could even let out a scream, the fish hit him one by one and he fell backwards with the groceries breaking his fall, including the milk. Now wet and smelly from both the milk and from the slaps of the fallen-out fish, Kaito finally let out a cry of fear. It lasted for a good few minutes before the sense of duty to his mom came popping back into his brain. So with bitter feelings toward the monsters, he picked up the ice and placed it back into the cooler. As for the fish, Kaito didn't want to touch the creature, but he had to. He found that the creature was so slippery when he picked it up by the tail. He jerked away from the fish when it slipped before shakily going back to pick it up. This time, he tried to pick it up by its mouth, but he got hurt by the little teeth that poked his tiny fingers. He cried both fearfully and out of frustration. It took him another five minutes to gather all the fish and learn he had to pick it up by the body and not by the tail or mouth. After cleaning it all up and putting back any other groceries that flew out when he fell on the bags, he slowly trudged up the hill, glad he wasn't seeing the fish anymore. To distract himself from that terrifying ordeal, his mind refocused itself on winning the prize and helping out his family.

Finally, close to the top of the hill and only a minute away from his starting point, he walked into the fishmonger's shop. An elderly couple saw young Kaito who was soaked wet and smelled of fish, smiling in sympathy at his situation. The elderly man comforted him with his words, "You did a good job, you're almost done."

The elderly woman came back with a towel and a replacement shirt for him, so he wouldn't stay wet with milk. She said that he could keep the shirt and told him that he deserved a good bath when he got home. Kaito, still teary-eyed and eyes still wide from the shock just nodded and quietly said his thanks. As he put on the shirt, he noticed that it had a design with cute fish, his eyes widened once again, tears welling up once again. But he pushed it back with all his might, thinking of his mom. Trembling, he asked the couple to prepare all the fish. The elderly man took the cooler and nodded, then he had a thought, "Say, young boy, why not come over back here and see how it's prepared. That'll cheer you right up."

Kaito wanted to say no and shake his head violently, but every part of him went stiff, and his body wasn't exactly obeying what his mind didn't want. So unwillingly, the kind couple led him back behind the counter and he watched as each fish was prepared by the two. Thus adding more shock and increased fear to Kaito's being. The monster was just as terrifying from the internal anatomy, bone, meat, and all. He couldn't do anything but watch, he became even more frozen from this new shock. Then once it was all over and became the sashimi he was more familiar with, his young mind still saw the beady-eyed creature in its glory, he could never look at sushi or sashimi the same way ever again.

Once he was handed the fish again and the cooler, he robotically said goodbye and thanked them. Then as soon as he was out, his body was now responding again and so he ran as if his life depended on it. He ran so fast to the starting point that he didn't realize he ran straight into his mom's arms who immediately wrapped him in a comforting hug. Feeling that embrace, that safety, Kaito cried and cried and didn't stop even when his father came and embraced him as well.

Kaito had calmed down a little more by the time all his groceries were handed to the judges and the award ceremony took place. He was quiet now, his usual boisterous self gone. His young mind was going in circles from the incident, still not getting over that fear. It was also made worse when he looked down on accident and saw his new shirt. The fish print looked menacingly at him, mocking him with their beady eyes and sneering smiles. Once Kaito was announced one of the winners, he was given his prize. Also, for being first to finish he was awarded a bonus prize. The judges agreed to overlook the spill incident. His mother who accepted the envelope with the extra prize asked what was inside of it, and the response?

"A prize of all-you-can-eat sushi from one of the sponsoring restaurants." At the mention of 'sushi,' Kaito screamed in terror, his parents tried to calm down their boy but it was of little success.

What started as a task that Kaito was overly confident he could complete, turned into the living nightmare that plagues his dreams. The simple little fish, became a fi-fi-finny flying fiend, of his fears. The image of their mouths open, teeth bared out, and eyes locked on him with a dead glare was seared into his young mind. This became his true enemy, one he vowed never to eat again, or own any of their mascot products, forever.

End

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So why did I decide to do a story about Kaito's fear? I did this because I was inspired by a particular episode with a brave boy who was scared of fish but pushed himself to finish the task despite his fears. I won't say more if you're planning to watch the series on Netflix. I thought, maybe Kaito's fear is simply just because of something simple that terrified him when he was young. Not necessarily scary or scarring as witnessing a dangerous situation, just a simple accident that his little child mind made an irrational fear.

The story was actually going to be simpler, with his parents taking him to the fish market to see how a fish was prepared for the first time, but then it changed as I typed it and became else. So yep, that's the end, thanks for reading! Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments. See you next chapter! :D