Fade to Darkness
Title: Fade to Darkness
Rating: M
Fandom: Detective Conan
Summary: Reincarnation only existed in fanfiction, yet Michael Leo Field was reborn as Akai Senichi, the younger twin brother of Akai Shuichi. However, his new life takes a dark turn; at the age of ten he is kidnapped and at twelve, he is forced to join the organization. [OC Insert as Akai Sibling] [Family/Angst/Drama/Crime]
Arc I
Chapter III
Preschool
Warnings: Implied Animal Abuse
"Honestly Tsutomu, I think you're acting the most childish," Mary rolled her eyes at her husband's behavior. "And Shuichi and Senichi are three while you're a full grown man,"
"But they're our precious baby boys!" Tsutomu whined. "What if they cry when we drop them off!? What if they think we're abandoning them!? What if they ask for us but we aren't there!?"
Senichi walked up to Tsutomu and tugged on his pants leg. "Don't cry Papa. We'll only be gone for three hours twice a week,"
"Why is Papa crying?" Shuichi asked. "Is Papa a baby?"
"Yes, your papa is a baby who doesn't want you guys to go to preschool," Mary said.
"Papa and Mama not coming with us?" Shuichi began to tear up.
"Oh my precious baby boy don't cry!" Tsutomu hugged him. "Papa won't leave you!"
"Seriously, Tsutomu?" Mary groaned. "They need to interact with other kids their age,"
"I don't wanna go!" Shuichi sobbed against Tsutomu's chest. "I don't like preschool!"
'I still can't believe that this kid is gonna grow up to be the FBI's Silver Bullet!' Senichi sweat dropped. "Senichi, don't you wanna meet lots of new friends?"
"Friends?" Shuichi sniffled.
"Yeah, we'll meet lots of new people," Senichi smiled encouragingly. "We'll make a lot of friends. Don't you want more friends?"
"No!" Shuichi refused. "I have Sen and Ko!"
'I'm not sure how Mary and Tsutomu convinced him in the canon timeline, but Shuichi seems really stubborn,' Senichi walked into their shared bedroom and grabbed the polar bear plushy on his bed. While he didn't care about most baby toys, he loved his stuffed animals. The polar bear was the only thing he had refused to share with Shuichi, not that his parents forced him to. He returned to the living room and held it up in front of Shuichi. "Shuu-chan, don't cry! I'll protect you!"
"Fluffy?" Shuichi grabbed the plushy and hugged the bear tightly.
"You can hold onto Fluffy throughout the day, but you have to go to preschool, okay?" Senichi offered.
Shuichi hugged Fluffy even tighter. Senichi never let him hug it. Fluffy was really warm and soft. "'Kay," The older twin nodded.
"I'll stay by your side," Senichi added. "I'll protect you too,"
Shuichi pouted at that. "I'm the big brother! I'll protect Sen!"
"To protect me, you'll have to come to preschool with me," Senichi grinned.
XXX
They were in the front of the twins' classroom. Tsutomu was trying to stall for as much time with his kids as possible. "Do you have your backpack?"
"You can clearly see us wearing them," Senichi chuckled.
"Do you have your lunch and snacks?"
"Yes Papa," Shuichi nodded.
"What about your water bottle?"
"Yep,"
"An extra set of clothes?"
"Yep,"
"Indoor slippers?"
"Yes,"
"A comfort item?"
"Shuichi has Fluffy," Senichi replied.
"But what about you!?" Tsutomu panicked. "Mary, we need to go back home! Senichi doesn't have a comfort item! He needs it to help him stay calm!"
"I assure you, father," Senichi said. "I am perfectly calm,"
"Sen and I share Fluffy!" Shuichi added.
"Excuse me," The preschool teacher interrupted. "Class is about to start soon,"
"What about—"
"Mama, please knock him out," Senichi requested.
With a swift chop to the back of the neck, Tsutomu was out cold. "Bye Shuichi, Senichi," Mary kissed each of them on the forehead. "I love the both of you. Your father will be back to pick you up soon,"
"Bye-bye Mama!" The two waved as Mary dragged her unconscious husband to the car.
XXX
Preschool. Was. Boring. Senichi had to pretend that he was learning his numbers, shapes, and alphabet for the first time. He didn't want to garner too much attention or seem like he was an extremely smart child. That would result in him skipping grades and separating him from Shuichi, something he refused to let happen. It would be traumatizing to the toddler and who knows how it would affect his personality growing up? Would that make him jealous and grow to hate Senichi? Would he even become the FBI's Silver Bullet?
He made his handwriting seem messy by mimicking the way the other preschoolers held their pencils, pens, markers, and crayons. The only thing he refused to fake was his artistic talent for drawing. He was too prideful, one of his flaws, to force himself to draw messily. Once he finished the line work, he would add the color. Whether he was actually oblivious to the teacher's shock or just chose to ignore her reaction, he paid her no heed and waited for Shuichi to finish up the drawing he was doing before going to a different station.
Story time was actually enjoyable. Senichi loved listening to the preschool teacher read children's books. It felt so nostalgic. After story time was nap time. The kids all laid down on soft mats and slept. Shuichi made sure he was close to his twin brother so that he could "protect" him and share Fluffy.
It felt weird. After three years of living with the Tsutomu and Mary, it was odd to take a nap in a new place. He could also tell that Shuichi was a bit scared and heard his whimpering. Senichi moved closer to him and wrapped an arm around him, quietly humming a lullaby that Mary always sang to them. Shuichi calmed down enough to fall asleep.
XXX
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Michael! Happy birthday to you!"
Michael blew out the colorful candles atop the cake with a single breath. His parents took some frosting and put them on his face, something that they did during each other's birthdays. Michael laughed as he took the knife and cut the cake into pieces.
The three spent the entire day together, celebrating Michael's seventeenth birthday. Michael opened up his presents which was a body pillow he had been planning to buy with the money he had saved up. When he realized the character on the pillow was Gin in a seductive pose, he turned bright red. "Mom…Dad…how did you know that I wanted…this?"
"We asked you when you were half asleep," Adrien answered. "I had no idea what a dakimakura was or why you were mentioning an alcohol, but after some internet surfing, I thought you might've been referring to this. I mean, you do own action figures of him and several posters,"
"Th…Thanks…"
Senichi jolted up into a sitting position yet made no sound except for the gasp that escaped his lips. When he put a hand to his face, he felt fresh tears trickling down. He glanced around the room and his eyes fell upon the date written in large numbers on the top of the whiteboard. 'Today's date…it's my birthday. Well, it's Michael's birthday. Three years…I can't believe that it's already been three years. I would've been twenty,'
"Senichi, don't cry," Shuichi moved Fluffy's arms so that it wrapped Senichi in a hug. "Fluffy makes the bad dreams go away,"
'I miss my family but I have to move on. A man dies when he is forgotten. As long as I don't forget the memories I had with them, then they'll live on inside of my heart,' He wiped his tears away and smiled. "Thank you, Shuichi, Fluffy," For the rest of naptime, Senichi laid awake on his sleeping mat. He could tell that Shuichi was still very sleepy but was fighting it to comfort him.
XXX
The rest of the day had gone smoothly and soon parents were picking up their children. "SHUU-CHAN! SEN-CHAN!" Tsutomu scooped up his precious babies. "Are you alright? You both must've been so scared! Don't worry now, Daddy's here!"
"Yay, Daddy!" Shuichi hugged him back.
"Let's go home," Senichi said.
During the ride home, Shuichi told their father about all of the activities that they did. Thankfully, he didn't mention Senichi's tears from the dream he had during naptime. Once Tsutomu pulled into the driveway, he noticed a curled up figure in their yard. "Shuichi, Senichi, stay in the car," He ordered as he exited and slowly approached the figure.
It was a dog no, it was a puppy. It was small and skinny, covered in several wounds and missing patches of fur is some places. It looked like it hadn't eaten in days, its skin tight against its bones. The puppy was neither hostile nor aggressive. In fact, it shakily stood up and tried to back away, only to fall back down in exhaustion.
Tsutomu felt pity for the pup, but his family came first. He didn't know if it would attack Shuichi or Senichi. The puppy may be weakened but Shuichi and Senichi were only toddlers and wouldn't be able to defend themselves. Tsutomu heard the car door open and he whirled his head around to see Senichi exiting the vehicle. "Senichi what are you doing!? Get back inside!" He wanted to keep the puppy away from his boys until dog catchers from the pound arrived.
Senichi ignored his father and carefully approached the puppy. "Hey there boy," He gently called.
"Sen!" Shuichi scrambled out of the car and towards his younger brother, intending on protecting him from the puppy.
Senichi gently petted the puppy's head. The puppy let out a soft whine and laid his head on Senichi's lap. Senichi could see the fear and pain in the canine's eyes. "Let's get you cleaned up,"
Tsutomu snapped out of his daze. "We're not adopting it,"
"Him," Senichi corrected. "I'm not leaving him out here to die,"
Tsutomu saw the determined look in his younger son's eyes and sighed. "We'll get him cleaned up and give him some food. Tomorrow we're taking him to the pound,"
Tsutomu brought the puppy inside and to the bathroom where he carefully cleaned the puppy up, cautious of the wounds. He could see numerous scars now that he had a closer look, scars that were made by weapons and not by the claws of other animals. His blood boiled at the sight but he forced himself to keep his temper in check. His sons were watching him from the doorway.
Once the puppy was cleaned and his wounds were tended to, Tsutomu could identify him as a black German shepherd with bright blue eyes. He brought the puppy to the living room and quickly went to prepare some food. He had heard of situations where a starved dog will end up getting sick if it suddenly consumes too much food. The safest bet he had read online was feeding the dog one-third of what they would usually eat. He chopped up pieces of unseasoned meat and placed them in a shallow bowl alongside another bowl filled with fresh clean water. He set them down in front of the puppy.
The puppy didn't immediately eat or drink. Senichi once again gently petted him. "Of course you're scared. It's only natural. After all, you've been brought to a new place all of a sudden with people you don't recognize,"
"It sounds like you're speaking from experience," Tsutomu noted how his words caused Senichi to slightly tense up nervously. 'I shouldn't push the subject. Mary said he'll tell us when he's ready,'
"At least eat one or two bites," Senichi pleaded. 'You're so young. At your age, you should still be with your mother. Did your abuser tear you away from them? I know what it's like to be torn away from family…' He fought back against the tears as he started recalling his original parents' deaths. 'The world, both worlds, aren't fair…'
The puppy started to eat a bit and drink some water. He then laid his head on Senichi's lap once again, let out a soft whimper. Shuichi crouched down beside his brother and started to pet the puppy too. "Puppy's sad and scared and lonely,"
Despite there being only one dog, Tsutomu was met with three pairs of puppy eyes. He groaned and gave in. "I'm not sure what Mary's going to think, but I guess we can keep him. He'll need a name though,"
"Sable," Senichi declared. "His name is Sable,"
"Yeah, he's Sable!" Shuichi agreed.
"Sable it is,"
When Mary came home a few hours later and was greeted by the sight of her husband and two kids sleeping in the living room with the new addition to the family. She smiled, took a quick photo, and then started making dinner.
Sable is derived from the word saber which meant sword. In old English sable meant black, which is the color of the puppy's fur.
Hiyori:
I just realized that Senichi is almost the same as Shinichi when pronounced lol xD poor Shuichi was jealous… also sad when Senichi think about his past life in the ferris wheel… now that the adults kind of know about Senichi's reincarnation, we'll have to wait for Senichi to break the news(?) to them
Skai:
I did not notice that Senichi had a similar pronunciation to Shinichi. *sweat drop* I just googled male Japanese names beginning with S and chose Senichi because it sounded similar to Shuichi. As for Senichi breaking the news? Hmm…you'll have to wait and see next week.
EDIT 1.28.20
Thank you Guest for pointing out the mistake in which I used Michael instead of Senichi.