Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK

A Curse Marked Fate

44: Marked

The Choice Foundation certainly knew how to paint a pretty picture, Shinichi thought as he and Kaito trailed after Sharon and Agasa, listening to the woman introduce their various facilities to the elder Edogawa. The organization had clearly put a lot of thought into their interior design, going for a simple elegance that was both comfortable yet professional. At the same time, they had added dashes of color in the form of the inner courtyard garden and the occasional piece of artwork to add a softer touch to what might otherwise have come across as a severe office space.

The key to their self promotion, however, was definitely their representative. If all of their new clients were welcomed into the fold by people like this Sharon Vineyard, all carefully crafted persuasion, then Shinichi could easily see how many a child and concerned family might be wooed and won over so that they were more than happy to throw themselves upon the good graces of these magnanimous and clearly well organized believers in the potential of the Marked.

Though he was loathed to admit it, he too could feel it. The draw. These people were offering those like him the hope that they might not merely be able to cope with their Curse Marks but to use them to create a real place for themselves.

Even knowing what he did about the true motives of the Foundation didn't, Shinichi found, render him completely immune to their siren songs. And he wondered… If he had truly been the child he appeared, wouldn't he be leaping at the opportunity these people were offering? He strongly suspected that he would.

It was a disheartening thought.

If only these people could have been what they claimed to be…

A light squeeze from the hand holding his drew Shinichi's attention back to the present, and he gave a guilty start. He hadn't meant to let his thoughts wander. Distraction could be dangerous, and the last thing he wanted was to put any of them in danger by letting something slip that should best stay hidden.

Glancing up, he met Kaito's concerned gaze with a sheepish smile.

"Is everything all right?" the Sky Mage asked quietly.

"I was just thinking," Shinichi replied, careful to keep his tone childish.

"There's certainly a lot to think about," Kaito said wryly. "We best hurry though. We don't want to fall behind."

They caught back up to the two adults just in time to hear Sharon explain that several of their older, more long-term clients volunteered with the Foundation as counselors and mentors. They all remembered their own trials when first coming to terms with their curses, and so they did what they could to assist the more nervous and wary children cope. In many cases, they also helped children with Marks similar in nature to their own to uncover and learn to master their individual, Mark-granted abilities.

"Suki is one of our most active volunteers," Sharon was saying as she pushed open the door to what turned out to be a classroom complete with a dozen desk chairs, a blackboard, and an open patio door leading out into the Foundation building's inner courtyard. "She's very good with children, and she has a knack for teaching. We are truly blessed to have her support."

The young woman on the patio turned at the sound of her voice and smiled. "I'm the one who's blessed that I found my way here when I did," she said. "If I hadn't, Touya and I would probably both still be a mess!" She cast a quick glance out into the courtyard where, they now saw, two young children were crouched in a flower bed. Apparently deeming them safely occupied, the woman who had to be Suki strode through the open patio door to meet the Edogawas.

"I haven't seen you three before," she said, offering Agasa her hand. "My name is Yurakami Suki. Are you a new client?"

"Edogawa Takashi," Agasa said, shaking her proffered hand. "And, well, my son…" he cast a quick glance down at Conan, who hid behind Kaito's legs.

The professor coughed lightly to draw the attention back to himself and offered Suki a wan smile. "I'm sorry. We're…still getting used to talking about… You know."

The girl's gaze softened as she nodded. "I understand. People don't like talking about Curse Marks. But if people don't talk about them then no one learns, and that just lets all the misunderstandings out there grow like weeds."

Sharon cleared her throat, and Suki turned a questioning gaze in her direction. Her demeanor immediately became more formal. "Was there something you needed, Miss Sharon?"

"I was hoping that you might share some of your experiences with young Conan here," the blonde said, gesturing at the child in question. "His Mark is, it appears, just beginning to manifest, and he is understandably concerned. His father thought that, as another Mark bearer, you might have some advice for him. Perhaps some guidance. HE has had a difficult time."

"I see." Suki's gaze grew a little sad, but her smile was pure sunshine. "I'd be happy to speak with you. Just give me a minute to take the children over to the clinic. I'll bring refreshments."

Ten minutes later, they were all seated at desks in the empty classroom, each with his or her own can of juice or tea and a cookie bar.

"So Miss Sharon said you teach here?" Agasa asked tentatively., glancing between the two women

"Oh, well, it isn't anything as grand as teaching, but I like to do what I can," Suki replied. "I mean, I know I would have appreciated having someone else with a Mark to talk to when I was little. So, well, that's what I do."

"Are there a lot of them?" Shinichi couldn't help but ask. "People with Curse Marks?"

"Not a lot, but more than you might think. Especially recently. Your name is Conan, right?" Suki asked, giving Shinichi a friendly smile.

The little detective nodded warily. What was her role here, he wondered. Was she truly just an enthusiastic volunteer? Or did she too have ulterior motives? She seemed genuine, but it was too early to draw any conclusions.

"It's always hardest at the beginning. Trust me. I know just how it feels," she told him, apparently taking his silence for a child's discomfort with strangers on a touchy topic. "When my Mark first started manifesting, I thought I was going crazy. I tried hiding what was happening from my parents—although I couldn't manage that for very long."

Suki's gaze grew distant with recollection. "I was hearing voices and seeing things that weren't there. There were times, when my body would seem to move on its own. Other times, I thought I was someone else. I'd feel bouts of fury and sadness and confusion and all sorts of other feelings out of nowhere. There were even a few times when I'd come to and not know what I had been doing or how I got to wherever it was that I found myself at. It was frightening. Like I said, I thought I was losing my mind. And it just kept getting worse."

"That sounds terrible," Shinichi said with feeling.

"I think it was even worse for my parents," Suki admitted. "They wanted to help me, but they didn't know how or even what was wrong. It wasn't like I could explain. It's difficult to do anything or even really think when you feel like you're in two completely different places and experiencing multiple, unrelated situations at the same time. I was all but catatonic. My parents took me to the hospital, where they said there was nothing physically wrong with me. As you can imagine, my parents were not particularly reassured."

"I should think not," Agasa exclaimed.

Suki gave a rueful shrug. "Fortunately for us, someone from the Choice Foundation heard about my case and contacted us. There was a doctor here who could…well. I suppose the easiest way to put it is that his Curse Mark allowed him to temporarily take control of mine. By doing that, he was able to help me clear my head and explain to me exactly what was going on. He then used his ability to teach me how to build the shields I needed inside my head to keep myself in and everything else out unless I wanted it otherwise."

"I didn't know there were Curse Marks that could do that," Kaito said, frowning.

"I've heard it's one that is, so far, completely unique in all the known history," Suki replied, obvious awe in her tone. "And, for me, it was a godsend. I could be myself and think my own thoughts again after he helped me sort out my own mind. And it wasn't until I could understand all that I could do and what was happening that I finally became able to function normally again."

"Excuse me, Suki-neesan," Shinichi interjected, all wide-eyed curiosity touched with a hint of childish eagerness. "Do you mean that you can read minds?"

Suki blinked at the child then laughed. "Oh, no, not at all. Or, well, okay, maybe sort of."

"What do you mean sort of?"

"I can only read Touya's mind. And he can read mine. It's our Marks, you see. We have identical Marks."

The realization hit all three Edogawas like a ton of bricks. Even Kaito couldn't keep the shock from showing on his face. Sure, they knew because of Ai that the Foundation had access to a pair bearing the Mark of Entwined Fates and even theorized that it lay behind the weirdness of the Matsuharas and others, but none of them had even imagined they'd actually meet one of the bearers of that Mark—let alone on their first visit. Kaito was, however, the quickest to recover and provide them with an excuse for their collective response.

"You mean you two actually have the Mark that Erika and Luke had in Fated?" he demanded, naming a hit movie that had been released just the previous year (a ridiculously sappy, Romeo and Juliet type romance that had made Aoko cry and Kaito roll his eyes. He was glad now that she had made him watch it with her though).

Suki laughed. "You're the third person to ask me that just this week. And yes, it's that Mark, but it's also not."

"What do you mean?" Kaito asked, both out of honest curiosity and a desire to give his two compatriots more time to regroup.

"Conceptually speaking, it's the same Mark," Suki explained. "Curse Mark pairs like ours create a bond between us. That part is like it says in the movie. But the exact parameters of that bond vary from pair to pair—or so our research has found at any rate. We haven't actually met another pair like us in real life."

"I remember the characters in the movie could sense each other's emotions," Kaito recalled. "And they understood each other when they spoke even though they spoke completely different languages."

"Right. And there are records of a Marked pair who shared those abilities. But there are others. There were twin girls born early in the twentieth century who could recover from any injury or illness so long as they were within a hundred yards of each other. For Touya and me, our Mark is sort of like a bridge. We can send and receive everything from emotions and memories to thoughts and sensations through that bridge."

"You must save a lot on phone bills," Kaito joked.

The girl laughed. "We do, at that. But before we got the hang of how to use our gifts, we were a mess. Touya's parents sent him to a mental institution. But once the training here had helped me to manage my thoughts and how much I projected and received, I was able to communicate with him more clearly and help him to learn what I'd learned. Eventually, we sorted everything out between us, and he checked himself out of the institution."

Suki smiled, eyes twinkling at a fond memory. "You should've seen the looks on everyone's faces. They couldn't believe the crazy boy who couldn't walk straight and was always babbling nonsense could be so sharp."

"Kaito grinned. "I take it you two are an item?"

Suki blushed. "We are—but it's not because of our Marks. That's one common misconception we hear a lot. The Marks don't generate love. They just…give you the chance to really understand another person."

"Well, that's more than most people ever manage with even one person in a lifetime," Kaito commented.

"That's true," Suki agreed. "And that's why, looking back, I'm grateful to have been born Marked. It was scary, and it means there are a lot of things other people can do and enjoy that I can't, but it also gave me something incredible. That's the thing about Marks. They're comprised of both a curse and a blessing. People often forget that."

They chatted for a little while longer before the eldest Edogawa asked what else the children who came to the Foundation did, seeing as they were clearly sitting in a classroom.

"And you mentioned something about a clinic?" he added.

"As I mentioned to you earlier, we have our own medical team and facilities," Sharon put in. "I recall that you said you had yet to find a stable doctor for young Conan. We do have two pediatricians on staff. Even if you decide not to enroll in our other programs, you could consider asking our pediatricians if they are accepting new patients. They do take regular patients as well as Foundation cases."

"O—oh, that's… I would have to meet them first. And talk to my wife, of course. But it would certainly be a weight off my mind to have someone we could call."

"Would you like to meet them now? I can call ahead and see if either of them has an opening in their schedule."

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble."

"No trouble at all," Sharon assured him only to be cut off by a whine of protest from Shinichi.

"I don't want to see a doctor," he complained, scrunching up his face in what he hoped was the expression of a distressed child about to throw a fit. "I'm not sick!"

Sharon frowned, but Suki stepped in.

"The boys can stay with me while you visit the clinic," she suggested. "I can show them the jungle gym and the game room and tell them a bit more about the children's and family programs."

Kaito lit up. "You have a game room? That sounds fun. Right Co-chan?"

"As long as it's not the doctor's," the child declared in no uncertain terms, making his older brother laugh.

Sharon turned to Agasa. "Would that be all right with you? I assure you, your kids are in good hands with Suki."

Agasa smiled at the sunny young woman in question. "I'm sure they are."

"That's settled then. Suki, please show the boys around and answer any questions they might have about our programs. Edogawa-san, the clinic is right this way. Just give me a minute to call them and let them know we're coming."

"Take your time," the professor insisted before turning to his sons and giving them pointed looks. "Now, don't cause any trouble for Suki-san, all right? And if you finish looking around early, you can wait for me in the lobby. That would be acceptable, yes?" he added, turning to Suki.

The girl nodded. "Of course."

Suki was as good as her word. She was also an excellent tour guide, full of funny stories and factoids about everything from the design of the Foundation's personal, indoor jungle gym to the painting on one hallway wall that had, she told them, been painted by a man whose Curse Mark meant that he remembered every single detail of every moment of his life as though it was the present.

The Foundation, it turned out, wasn't just a place where children came to have their Marks studied and identified and their abilities trained. It was also a place where Marked children were encouraged to get to know each other—to bond and build friendships that would open their eyes to the fact that they were not and never had been alone. To this end, the Foundation held various recreational programs like summer camps both for the Marked and their families.

"I gotta say," Kaito told the girl as she walked them back towards the lobby. "Everything you guys do here… It all sounds amazing."

She smiled back at him, eyes warm and soft with understanding. "It has been for me. And I'm sure it can be for your family too. You know what, here, let me give you my number." She fumbled around in the small beige purse she'd been carrying and eventually came up with a business card. "Here. If you think of any more questions—or if Conan-kun ever needs to talk to someone who's been in his situation, please, feel free to call."

Kaito accepted the card and caught Suki's gaze with his own, letting her see the sincerity in his eyes as he thanked her.

"By the way, we saw a park about a block from here. Do you know if it's open to the public?"

"Certainly," Suki replied. "It's got a playground that's quite popular with the local kids. If you'd like to take your brother there, I'd be happy to let your father know where you are."

Kaito beamed. "That'd be great. Thanks again. Your Touya really is a lucky man," he added, giving the girl a wink.

She blushed and waved him off with a laugh.

Feeling ever so slightly annoyed for no reason, Shinichi tugged a little harder on Kaito's sleeve than he had originally intended to.

"I need to go to the bathroom," he mumbled when both grownups looked at him, blushing from genuine embarrassment (not at the question, for that had been planned, but at his own irrational reaction).

Suki chuckled and patted him on the head. "That's nothing to be ashamed of. The men's restroom is right down that hall and to your right. You can't miss it."

Another round of farewells and a short walk later, the boys finally reached the sanctuary of the restroom.

Shinichi let out a whooshing sigh that made Kaito grin.

"Can't relax yet," the Sky Mage chided. "The hard part's just about to start."

TBC

A.N: Sorry this is a bit late. I've been and kind of still am rather stressed... But anyhow, thanks for reading!