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 II
Chapter III
Fight
Warnings: Self-Harm, Forced Fighting, Child Murder

Senichi glared down at the brand on his left shoulder. It was a simple brand: the number four. 'This isn't supposed to be here!' Senichi brought his right hand up to it and hissed once he started tracing the discolored skin. 'A brand means I'm an object! I'm not an object! I'm not a mere possession! I have no owner! I am a person!' He dug his nails in and the intense pain on the still fresh wound caused tears to fall. 'I don't want this! Make it go away! I'll tear the skin out! This brand shouldn't be here!'

Ahren grabbed Senichi's hand. "Stop. You're hurting yourself,"

"Let go!" Senichi ordered. "Let go of me Ahren! I'm going to tear it out!"

"Senichi, stop," Ahren did not loosen his grip. "Calm down,"

"I don't want this fucking brand!" Senichi snapped. "I don't want it so I'll make it go away!"

"Senichi, they'll just rebrand you!" Ahren warned. "Even if you tear out that patch of skin on your shoulder, they'll still just rebrand you! Do you want to go through that again!?"

"No…" Senichi choked out. "I don't want this…"

"Nobody does," Brendan said. "But you're gonna get hurt if you try to remove it,"

Senichi broke down. He just wanted to go home back to his warm bed and loving family. He wanted his belly to be full of delicious food and he wanted to make many more cheerful memories. 'Brendan's only four years old…yet he and Harimanna are handling this better than me, who's physically ten years old but mentally seventeen. Actual children who are suffering the same as I am are stronger than me…'

The number four had been burned onto his shoulder. It stripped him from his name, labelling him J4 in the eyes of his captors. Four…he was stuck with an unlucky number on his skin. In countries such as Japan, due to the pronunciation of four being the same as the pronunciation as death, four was considered a cursed number.

XXX

A funeral for Sable was held. The German shepherd's corpse had been mutilated and was a gruesome sight, leading to Tsutomu and Mary to decide on cremating him. The urn was set on the center of the table and surrounded by flowers and the dog's favorite toys. A board filled with several photos of Sable throughout the years that he had lived with the Akai Family stood behind the urn.

Shuichi tried to resist crying, but he sniffled and tears still fell. "S-Sable…"

Shukichi, on the other hand, didn't try to seem strong and let all his sorrows out. "Sable!"

It was a funeral for Sable, not for Senichi, just for Sable. Sable's corpse was confirmation that he had perished but Senichi's corpse had yet to be found. That meant that there was still a chance that Senichi was alive. They weren't going to hold a funeral for a living person.

XXX

How many days had passed? Honestly, it was still tough to tell time. There was no window to see the sun. Minutes and hours blended into days and weeks. The time of day was irrelevant. Everyone just stayed holed up in their cell, bread and water occasionally being given to them. They had nothing to do but live in fear. No, they weren't truly living. They were merely surviving. To live in constant fear was not living at all.

To pass time, Ahren spoke about their life before being captured. The three had a loving mother and a distant father. Their father would rarely spend time with them, much less acknowledge them. It was as if the man's wife and children meant nothing, which was honestly probably true. After Brendan and Harimanna had been born, Ahren took it upon himself to be a father figure, despite he himself being still a child.

"What about your mother?" Senichi asked.

"She loved us all dearly but she was constantly at work in order to earn enough to support us," Ahren answered. "One day, our father announced out of nowhere that we'd be going on a trip to England. Honestly, I was reluctant to believe him but we really did travel here. But…a few days later…we were kidnapped. I'm not sure about what happened to Mutti,"

'Judging by the timeframe and the way their father treats his kin, the bastard sold his own children!' Rage filled Senichi's tired body. 'I don't understand how people could hurt their own flesh and blood! It sickens me to the core!'

"What about your family?" Harimanna spoke up in a quiet voice. "I…I want to know what it's like to have a Vati who loves his family,"

"Manna…" Brendan whispered his twin's name. Although he never said it out loud, he too was curious as to how it felt to be loved by both parents.

"Dad and I were—are—very close," Senichi refused to use the past tense. They would escape and he would reunite with his family. "Whenever I'm troubled, I'd go to him. I was closer to him than I was with Mom. Don't get me wrong, both of them are wonderful parents. Dad just understands me more,"

"That sounds nice," Harimanna said.

"It is," Senichi nodded. "I'll take you to meet them once we get out of here,"

For some reason, his words sounded hollow.

XXX

One day, the guard suddenly approached their cell. "One of you is coming with me,"

All four of them exchanged looks and before Ahren could volunteer, Senichi stepped up. He made eye contact with the older boy. 'Stay here with your siblings. If something happens to me, at least the three of you will be fine. Your siblings need you, Ahren,'

Senichi was terrified. He didn't what was going to happen. Were they going to kill him? No, it couldn't be. If they wanted him dead, they would've shot him while he was in Cell J. Many theories formed in his head but his thoughts were caught off when he entered an arena. As he turned to the guard, he saw that the hallway he had exited was blocked by heavy steel gates, separating Senichi from the guard who smirked cruelly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Mad Dog Arena!" A loud voice boomed throughout the place and blinding lights illuminated him. "In this corner we have J4!"

'What's going on!?' Senichi panicked. 'Mad Dog Arena? Is that some kind of illegal dog fight? But I don't hear or see any dogs! And…And they addressed me!' J4…he hated that label. 'Am I one of the fighters?'

"In the other corner, we have I2!" Another set of lights illuminated the twelve year old child who stood several feet away from him. "These two will be fighting tonight! All bets have been placed! Who will win, J4 or I2? It's anybody's game here at Mad Dog Arena!"

'No…' He couldn't attack the other boy. He didn't want to harm a child.

But the other boy didn't have such morals. With a desperate cry, the tween charged at Senichi with the thoughts that since he was older, he would win. Senichi was quick to react and blocked the blows, glad that he had taken martial arts classes. He knew he couldn't block forever and that they would both eventually run out of stamina sooner or later. He managed to grab the boy's arm and painfully twisted it behind the boy's back and pushing the boy's head to the ground with his foot.

"I-I defeated him," Senichi looked around at the people watching him. They all wore masks in an attempt to hide their identities from each other. Their sickening pleasure in watching people suffer disgusted him. They were all cowardly monster who refused to show the world their true face. How many of them were corrupt politicians? How many were corrupt celebrities? How many were corrupt businessowners?

"Oh you stupid, stupid child," The emcee shook his head. "It's not over because he is still breathing,"

"What?" 'No…it can't be…'

"These matches are fights to the death,"

He didn't want to believe them, but these people were monsters. Of course they'd have to fight to the death. They took great pleasure is seeing people, in seeing innocent children, harming each other. He looked down at the boy he had restrained. His opponent was a sobbing wreck and a puddle of urine had formed from fear. The boy's incoherent pleas were drowned out by the urging of the audience.

Senichi twisted the boy's neck with a sickening snap.

XXX

Once Senichi returned to Cell J, he ran over to the bucket in the corner and threw up. Once his stomach contents were all gone. He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt and staggered over to Ahren who hugged him tightly. "It's going to alright, Senichi,"

'No, it won't,' Senichi sobbed into Ahren's chest, soaking the older boy's shirt with tears. "I'm a murderer! I…I k-killed someone! I killed a child! I killed someone who was being held prisoner just like us!"

Ahren tensed up but did not push Senichi away. "We're all victims. You're not a murderer. It was in self-defense. It's kill or be killed here,"

"That doesn't change the fact that someone's dead because of me!" Senichi wailed.

Was anyone really going to save them? Was there really any hope for escape?

Hiyori:
Poor Senichi & the other children T T…

Skai:
It only gets worse for them too.

GabrielRavier:
Well, this is darker than Mitsuharu indeed… If the goal was to make the reader feel kinda sick, you've certainly succeeded with me
Good writing though, this fic looks like it could become really good.

Skai:
This is actually the darkest story I've ever written. I have been staying in the Rated T section since 2013 and decided to finally enter Rated M for violence territory.
Thanks. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story.