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 IV
Chapter XI
Reunion
Warnings: Suicidal Thoughts

"Eh?" Leo gave Vermouth an annoyed look. "I have to go to Haido City Hotel for a mourning party for Sakamaki Akiuji?"

"Pisco's mission is to eliminate Nomiguchi Shigehiko," Vermouth informed. "Since both of us have been invited, we are to provide support for him,"

"Can't you just go by yourself?" Leo whined. "Just say I'm sick or something,"

"That person ordered us to go," Vermouth responded. "So stop complaining or you'll end up with a bullet in your skull,"

"Fine, fine," Leo sighed. "I need to go find my suit. I haven't had to wear one in forever,"

"Just buy another one," Vermouth suggested. "You have the funds,"

"Yeah, yeah," Leo mumbled.

XXX

He absolutely hated suits. They were too suffocating and stuffy. The tie felt like a noose around his neck. He tried to distract himself and focused on the bright side. The alcohol and the food were pretty good. He conversed with other famous people but if he had to be honest, he didn't give a single shit about them.

He caught sight of Haibara and Conan entering and he mentally groaned. 'Those idiots should've at least worn a disguise! They've known Shiho since she was born so of course they'd know her appearance as a child! Glasses barely do any shit! And Kudo is way too arrogant! He has no weapons except for one tranquilizer dart and his sneakers. The crows will shoot him before he can even aim!'

He reached into his pocket and took out the red handkerchief he had been given. 'Red. Akai. How fitting of me. But I'm not one of the suspects so I guess I can leave without Vermouth. Gin and Vodka will give her a ride home,'

The lights turned off and the slideshow began. There was the flash of a camera and the sound of a gun firing with a silencer hitting the chandelier chain. The lights turned back on and people screamed at the sight of Nomiguchi crushed beneath the chandelier. It was a miracle that nobody else around him had gotten crushed.

XXX

The eight suspects that had received a purple handkerchief stayed back and were being questioned one by one. Leo had decided to take his leave, though he walked over to the yellow Beetle where Conan and Professor Agasa were. He knocked on the window. "Excuse me,"

"Y-Yes?" Professor Agasa asked nervously.

"Kudo," He addressed Conan who was in the backseat and had grown pale. "You are too cocky. You can't bring down the organization by yourself. Also, you should've at least worn a fucking disguise before coming here!"

"W-What?" Conan stuttered.

"You don't even have a gun," Leo pointed out. "Your watch only holds one dart at a time. You'll be shot dead before you can kick something to knock them out," 'It's only because of Plot Armor that you hadn't been killed yet, though you did get seriously injured during the Desperate Revival Arc,'

"How do you know—"

"I gotta leave before the others notice I'm talking to you," Leo glanced back. "Shiho's in a wine storage room, not sure where exactly. There's a fireplace and a bunch of booze,"

XXX

'Gin won't think to look in Beika anymore,' Leo thought as he tore off his suit. 'He knows Sherry would want to get away from where she has been seen, but Haibara will actually stay in this area. I'm really grateful that Gin hates his wolf abilities. Then again, our animal abilities are what chains us to Mad Dog Arena where we suffered and Ahren…Ahren died,'

'Reunion with the Black Organization. Pisco's dead and Irish hates Gin now. Pisco was a father figure to Irish. Now that I think about it…as much as I hate to admit it, Vermouth was a mother figure to me. Outside of organization stuff, she sometimes took me out to meals and shopping. When I got sick a few times, she checked up on me every few hours. I know that she doesn't truly care about me and that the act in public was to fool them into believing that Leo is close to Sharon, but it felt so real sometimes,'

Leo walked over to the martial arts dummy and furiously started attacking with a barrage of Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Martial Arts. He let out all his frustrations and anger. He hated how he had been torn away from his family. He hated how he and his friends had endured so much suffering. He hated how he had been forced to kill his friend. He hated how he had to become a crow. He hated how much Brendan and Harimanna had changed. They had become so cold and cruel. He had wanted to try to turn them kinder than their canon counterparts, but the three of them had been separated and trained by different mentors.

'I can't think of them as Brendan and Harimanna now,' Senichi unconsciously applied his polar bear traits and ended up completely destroying the training dummy. 'They're not Brendan and Harimanna. They're Gin and Curacao,' He paused once he started only hitting air and looked down at his annihilated training dummy. 'I might need a stronger training dummy, maybe one made of steel,'

In the safety of his room, he broke down into tears. He fell to his knees and sobbed, hugging himself. There was nobody to comfort him. There was nobody to assure him that everything would be alright. He was all alone. Brendan and Harimanna were long gone. In the cruel world of the organization, he had no one.

'Can I keep Brendan and Harimanna safe even though they're Gin and Curacao now? I promised Ahren that I'd protect them. Even if they're Gin and Curacao, I have to keep my promise,' He questioned himself. 'We used to have each other's back. We would look after each other and protect each other. But now, even if I protected them, they wouldn't hesitate to kill me if ordered to. I wanted them to get a lighter sentence when the organization falls. To do so, they'd have to help the FBI, NPA, and PSB. But I doubt they'd do it. They would probably immediately kill me if I even bring up the subject,'

"How much longer do I have to endure this?" Senichi whispered. "I miss my family and my nakama. I miss Mama, Papa, Shuu, and Kichi. I want to get to know Masumi personally instead of what I know from the anime and manga. I want to reunite with Uncle Yasu, Aunt Chi, and Kohji. I want my friends Alistair, Brendan, and Harimanna,"

'I want to die. I can't take it anymore. I want to get rid of all this pain. I'm so tired of this façade. I have to smile in public as if everything is okay even though nothing is okay. Death is the only way out of the organization. I know that at the end of the series, the organization will be brought down. But it's so hard to wait for that to happen. Not a single year passes since the Big Shrink but it's probably some kind of time loop that everyone else isn't aware of. How many months do I have to wait?'

'After the fall, I'll be sent to prison like everyone else. I don't even know if the FBI would be able to help me getting a lighter sentence since they're here investigating without permission. Rei might help me, but there's no guarantee. Even if I somehow don't get sent to prison…I can't just waltz back into my family's life. I've been gone for so long and they've changed and moved on. I've changed too. I'm a monster,'

"You're not a monster," Akai pulled him into a hug. "You're my brother,"

"That's right," Senichi recalled. "Both Shuu and Dad saw me in that form, but they accepted me. I know Shuu is trying his best to destroy the organization. I've come this far. I've killed so many people. I can't let my efforts go to waste either. I have no way of directly contacting the FBI, so I'll just have to do my best to survive and assist from behind the scenes if possible,"

'Jodie…' Senichi put his hand over the necklace he still kept with him. 'She will probably hate when she finds out that I am also Leo Vineyard. She might think I was only using her, that I never truly loved her. Maybe…just maybe…I can tell her who I really am. A-And then Shuu can vouch for me. Even if she will still hate me, if I can just have her hear out my apology, then I will be satisfied,'

Senichi started coughing up blood. 'I've been using my abilities more often than Gin and Curacao. It's no wonder why I'm suffering more of the side effects. Will…will I be able to survive until the organization's destruction? Ahren died months before Jenever found us, but that was because his venom was slowly killing him. Is my body breaking down from the continuous usage?'

XXX

"What!?" Conan exclaimed once he, Haibara, and Professor Agasa drove away. "Gin killed Pisco!?"

"Ai-kun forgot to turn off the bug on the glasses left in the fireplace," Professor Agasa informed. "Gin ran away up the fireplace after killing Pisco,"

'Why didn't Gin fall asleep after I shot him with my needle? If he was sleeping, the police would've been able to catch him,' Conan thought. 'And how did he know Haibara's every move? He seemed to be sure that she would go to that hotel with the only clue being her hair,' "Hey Haibara, do you know Leo Vineyard?"

"He's a friend," Haibara answered. "He was like an older brother to me and my sister. He knew my parents,"

"He was the one who tipped us off that you were in a wine storage room," Conan informed. "His mother, Sharon Vineyard, was a friend of my mother. Sometimes Leo babysat me,"

"Sharon and Chris Vineyard are one and the same," Haibara revealed. "Leo told me that. He's not her biological son. He was forced to join the organization. Don't…don't think of him as a bad person. He just tries to survive,"

"So the organization knows that we've shrunk," Conan cursed. "This isn't good,"

"I doubt those two will go out and expose our identities," Haibara told them. "Vermouth tends to be very secretive. I don't know what her motives are, but she won't tell unless absolutely necessary for her survival or benefits her greatly. At any rate, I've already been discovered in this area so Gin will be searching thoroughly for me here. Don't worry, I'll leave tomorrow,"

"Not in your condition!" Professor Agasa exclaimed.

"Gin knows your thought process," Conan said. "So you'll do the opposite of what you just said. You'll be safe with us from now on,"

This story's quality starts to go downhill but I'll still post all of the chapters. You can continue reading or you can wait for the revamped version to be posted as separate store which will take a while to finish as I'm making major changes.

Velgamidragon: (Ch 31)
Oooh, this chapter already feels like an emotional improvement! Just the simple act of Leo revealing to Bourbon that Hiromitsu is alive before Akemi's even killed already raises the uncertainty of how the future story will play out. And Akemi still being alive when that's later revealed to Shiho and Akai would completely rock their worlds. I'm actually VERY pleased to hear you recognize some of the story's weaknesses. Forty-six chapters for this draft, huh? Doesn't seem like there's much narrative time left, but now I'm gonna go back to those Arc III chapters you mentioned and see if I can figure out specifically what isn't working. I don't pretend to be any kind of professional at this, but I'll give it a shot, especially since you have plans for a second draft of this story. :)

Skai:
Just a heads up, there is a possibility of spoilers for the revamped version in my response to your comments.
I'm gonna be honest, this story's quality goes downhill towards the end. I felt that I started to lose interest in this version but wanted to at least finish it. Fade to Darkness will be used as a skeleton for Fade to Darkness (Revamped) but there will be major differences as well as more details in some parts. Thank you for the constructive criticism.
SPOILER ALERT
I'm getting rid of Alistair in the revamped version. I intended for him, Craton, and the Italian mafia to have a role in the final battle, but…the law enforcements wouldn't team up with Italian criminals. If anything, he'll have more of a background character role with cameo appearances.
END OF SPOILER ALERT

Velgamidragon: (Ch 19)
Alright, I went through all of the Arc III chapters and the first half was fine. It was a bit of a breather from the intensity of the previous arc with the Mad Dog Arena, but the tension still escalated because now they're in the hands of the organization and we know how bad that is. There's also some early conflict in dialogue and action which is good. Honestly, the arc really only fell flat to me once Senichi was separated from Brendan and Harimanna because while things happened, there was no tension to it. For example, in this chapter, you tell us how the training Senichi had under Vermouth was harsh, how much thinking about Brendan and Harimanna hurt, how he learned about how to increase his defense with his polar bear traits, and how he nervous he was about attending public school. These four things I would recommend showing as actual scenes in detail because these are conflicts that can show Leo's character and his relationships with others. There might be not a lot of "action scenes" so to speak in this arc, but there doesn't have to be as this arc seems to instead be setting up the transition from Mad Dog Arena to Black Organization and is the perfect point in the story to showcase the character development transitions you want to happen in Senichi as well.
Showing one of his training scenes with Vermouth can help shape some of the nuances of his relationship with her. Like, he's being "claimed" as her son, so he regularly spends time with her and what does that relationship actually look like? Especially since he just came from a place where he was punished severely for failure. How does he react to his punishments with her? Does he just meekly accept it? Does he resent her? Does he respect her? Does he silently glare at her? Does he fight back? Does his approach with the punishments or the training change as time goes on? Even showing one scene like that I think would really help give Senichi some depth and feel more concrete in the world.
A whole arc and the earlier chapters in Arc III have established very well that Senichi cares a great deal about Brendan and Harimanna and takes his promise to Ahren seriously. This seems to suggest to the reader that the friendships between him and the other two are important which is why it's upsetting that they're all separated from each other. Show that too! This is the first chapter since he met them in the Mad Dog Arena that he's not near them, so now he doesn't even have them for emotional support. He's alone with Vermouth in a way that he wasn't in the Mad Dog Arena. And his loss of them could feed into his self-isolation and loneliness in school, and you could show that as a scene too. People trying to be friendly, he ignores or blows off. People trying to pick on him, he glares and knocks their teeth in (or however you would want him to respond to these actions).
Having shown that kind of self-isolation, hatred, resentment, etc, you could then use his mission with the Miyanos to help build him back up by actually (much to his surprise) befriending Akemi who's such a force of positive energy and light and kinder than anything he's experienced in literal years that he struggles with himself over it, and she's the first real friend he makes since he lost Brendan and Harimanna which gives him more emotional investment in her survival since she's not just important to Shiho (a character he knows well), but she's also important to him personally. Now, a minor change I would personally suggest is that since he has the mission to befriend Akemi Miyano to observe her parents and he knows they own a clinic, he purposefully falls down some stairs to wound himself (while pretending it was an accident) and have Akemi drag him to her parents that way. Otherwise it makes me wonder what the point of all the harsh training Vermouth has been giving him is for if he really did just unintentionally trip down some stairs.

Skai:
I'm surprised that you considered the first half of Arc III, Crow Academy, to be fine. I considered it to be the least interesting part of the story and after rereading those parts, it seemed a bit on the boring side. I'll do my best to write scenes that shows the characters' development as they grow up in the organization as well as Senichi's relationship with Vermouth.
SPOILER ALERT
In Fade to Darkness (Revamped), Senichi is going to be a bit more…unstable. He'll be slightly unstable in Arc I but it worsens throughout the story. Vermouth might become one of his stability pillars and a mother figure.
END OF SPOILER ALERT
"Having shown that kind of self-isolation, hatred, resentment, etc, you could then use his mission with the Miyano's to help build him back up by actually (much to his surprise) befriending Akemi who's such a force of positive energy and light and kinder than anything he's experienced in literal years that he struggles with himself over it, and she's the first real friend he makes since he lost Brendan and Harimanna which gives him more emotional investment in her survival since she's not just important to Shiho (a character he knows well), but she's also important to him personally." This is a great idea. Since Sen's gonna be a bit darker in the revamped version, Akemi as a stability pillar will help prevent him from becoming completely cold-hearted. As far the falling down the stairs…he was in the process of thinking of a plan and just took the opportunity when he accidentally tripped. But your idea of it being intentional sounds better.

Velgamidragon: (Ch 20)
To continue from my previous review: with having shown Leo to have a close friendship with Akemi, the kidnapping subplot should be a lot longer. This is a good conflict and this is exactly where I would place it if I was the one writing it, but it needs more. The very introduction to it is currently only two sentences long and Akemi's rescued in barely over 500 words. Show us in real time exactly how Leo finds out about the kidnapping (was it Elena and Atsushi? Another operative? Whom?), walk us through the discussion he has with Vermouth, follow him directly as he arrives at the clinic and hears the details (if he hasn't been given them already), and show his own emotional distress over his young friend being kidnapped.

Skai:
I'm not entirely sure if I'll keep the Akemi-is-Kidnapped idea in. It felt a bit unnecessary to the story. But if Akemi still getting kidnapped leads to more emotional distress to Sen…I might keep it in while expanding on the details.

Velgamidragon: (Ch 21)
The start of this chapter has good character conflict potential, but I think more setup at the beginning would really help flesh this out and give it some oomph. Like, he's just finished his sparring workout. He's sweaty, bruised, numb, distant. He leaves the sparring room with a towel over his shoulder, not thinking, not a care in the world, he turns a corner, and he hears a voice he recognizes that he hasn't heard in months calling his name. He stops dead and turns, staring wide-eyed at the shocked faces of Atsushi, Elena, and Akemi. His brain is spinning on wheels trying to think of something to say, but he's coming up empty. Of course they were here. Even if he didn't know how Detective Conan went, he'd overheard them decide to accept the Organization's proposal. It was natural to see them here. Inevitable even. So then why did he feel like he'd betrayed them? And then the conversation proceeds from there. In my personal experience, the setup of a scene is, to me, almost more important than what actually happens during the scene I want to write because that's where I can build up the tension.
Now recalling your reply to my review at the bottom of chapter 31, I think it would be an excellent idea to show a reunion of some kind between Gin, Curaçao, and Absinthe, even if the first reunion isn't in mission form. Because they have to meet each other again so that you can show the conflict of the differences in their old relationship with their new one now that they're all older and changed by the Organization. Admittedly, showing just part of a mission showcasing their new abilities and mindsets would work for that kind of character development, even with such a seemingly minor thing as showing Gin refusing to use his wolf abilities unlike Absinthe and Curaçao using their own animal traits, which could in turn serve as an early setup for why he won't use his wolf's sense of smell to hunt down Sherry later.

Skai:
The beginning of the chapter felt slightly rushed after I reread it so I do plan on expanding on the details of that scene. I'm not sure at what point in the timeline Gin, Curacao, and Absinthe will reunite, but I will write a scene that shows their differing personalities.