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His name is Edogawa Ranpo.
He is twenty-six years old.
He is 168 centimeters tall.
These are all facts.
His name is Edgar Allan Poe.
He is twenty-eight years old.
He is 182 centimeters tall.
Poe is in love with Ranpo.
These are all facts.
-
As a detective, Ranpo was always drawn to the truth.
It was literally in the name, 'detective', the job was to detect lies and to find the truth. He is the best detective, he could find the facts and separate it from fiction and lies within a glance.
So why can't he understand this one?
(Ranpo is a detective. This is a fact.)
-
Ranpo really doesn't know where or when it starts.
(He's lying, he still remembers that day.)
Ranpo is the self-proclaimed 'The Greatest Detective.'
And yet, why couldn't he solve this conundrum?
This must have been the only time he's confused.
No he isn't.
(He most definitely is.)
Because recently a certain someone was very-
how does he say it?
The certain someone was his apparent 'rival', Edgar Allen Poe.
And said rival was sitting across from him. Ranpo was on his lunch break and Poe had invited him to a nice bakery near the agency.
Of course Ranpo wasn't going to turn down free sweets. Who would?
But…
Poe seemed to be staring.
staring at him.
Karl, his raccoon, was munching on treats that Poe had brought along, while Poe was absent-mindedly playing around with a scone. The green-eyed detective was chowing down on a cookie with another pile of baked goods in front of him.
Ranpo was about to point the fact that Poe was staring at him, like it was so obvious-
"Your eyes shine like emeralds in this light."
Ranpo choked.
Poe started to panic asking if he was okay or not. Ranpo spewed crumbs on the table and finally took a deep breath.
"What did you say?"
Poe merely blinked, but Ranpo could totally see the joy of catching him off-guard in his eyes.
"What did I say?" Poe responded, amusement twinkling in his eyes.
Ranpo pouted.
"You said-"
And this was the first time the world's greatest detective stumbled.
He was wearing his glasses, he should be able to deduce what Poe was trying to convey in that sentence.
But all he saw was the truth.
"Ding!"
"Ranpo dear, I think your break is over."
Ranpo finally shook himself out of his funk and picked up the phone with greasy fingers.
Huh. It was over.
Did he spend his lunch break choking over cookies and psychoanalyzing Poe?
( Ranpo has green eyes. This is a fact. )
-
It wasn't the last time it happened.
Over a week ago Poe had visited the agency to visit him and share one of his new manuscripts.
This wasn't out of the ordinary at all.
But what was out of the ordinary was Poe sitting right beside him and staring intently at him.
While Ranpo's eyes were certainly reading over Poe's manuscript, he still could clearly see Poe's eyes on him out of the corner of his eye.
It was a quiet day at the agency today, no new interesting cases for him to solve in a few minutes, so he was more than happy to review Poe's manuscript.
Though the fact that he could practically hear Poe's light breathing might distract him from solving the manuscript in record time. He could only chew the gummy worm in his mouth.
Honestly, he already solved it, but there was another factor. This was rather romance based than usual.
Love is always a potential motive for any mystery. But Poe didn't do much romance based motives in his mystery.
Ranpo spun his chair around to face Poe and-
(Poe seemed so satisfied, like he was so happy.)
(Why was he so happy looking at him?)
(He was the best goddamn detective in the world and yet—)
(— he couldn't tell what emotion was in Poe's mind.)
"The motive was obvious," Ranpo started to say, "The lawyer friend was clearly jealous of the wife so she killed but made sure it looked like the husband did it so she could look like a savior when she defended him in court."
Poe simply gave him a small smile and said, "Wow! Ranpo-kun it only took you three minutes! Such a genius detective, I'm lucky to be your rival."
(The words 'lucky to be your rival 'bounced in his head like a dvd logo.)
(Before Ranpo found Fukuzawa, most people would look at him with angry looks. They never liked it whenever the young detective managed to tell them their life story with just one look.)
(The detective finally found his happy place in the agency and he wasn't going to let it go easily.)
Ranpo merely gave him a cocky grin and exclaimed, "Of course I am, It was as easy as pie!"
(Ranpo likes mystery. This is a fact.)
-
And after that the moments between Poe and him kept happening.
-
"Ranpo-kun!"
"Yeah Poe?"
"I rather like your hair, it's quite soft. Sometimes I wish you wouldn't wear your cap so often."
Ranpo stopped fiddling with the lollipop in mouth for a bit.
-
"I would get you snacks everyday if you would laugh more often with me."
Ranpo stopped stuffing chips in his face after the comment.
(And if he let all his laughs out more often, it was nobody's business.)
-
"You should eat more food than candies, I worry about your health."
"But food isn't as sweet as mochi or gummies!"
(But if Poe brought him to a restaurant he wouldn't mind eating at all.)
-
Ranpo was starting to get frustrated. He kept toiling over why Poe was saying those things, why he would look at the detective like he had hung the stars in the sky.
The detective groaned and buried his face in his hands.
He was the greatest detective goddamn it. He should be able to figure this out but he can't-
"Woah there Ranpo-kun, what's wrong?"
Ranpo peeked out of his hands and he could see his coworker Dazai sliding his chair over to him.
Yosano was leaning against his desk next and sipping a cup of coffee.
"Yeah Ranpo, what's gotten you so frustrated lately? This isn't like you, you barely touched the new flavor of chips on your desk today."
Ranpo removed his face from his hands and leaned his against the chair.
"That's the problem! I don't know what's wrong!" Ranpo shouted.
Luckily, the rest of the office was out and about on cases today so it was only the three of them. Yosano came out to get some coffee and Dazai was clearly avoiding his paperwork after Kunikida forced him to do desk duty.
"Is this about Poe-kun?" Dazai asked.
Was he that obvious?
"Very obvious." Yosano snorted.
He must have said that out loud.
Dazai scooted closer and stretched his arms out wide with a big smile on his face.
"Worry not Ranpo-kun, he totally likes you back!"
What.
They must have seen the utter look of shock and confusion on his face because they stared back and seemed to be holding back their amusement.
"You really didn't know?" Yosano asked, trying to help.
Oh.
Oh.
Poe liked him.
Poe was in love with him?
"Ranpo-kun, I won't lie to you, but it looked like you were both clearly pining for each other." Dazai added.
Did he even like Poe back?
Of course he did. Ranpo was in love with him too.
"Did we get wrong? Do you not like him? We really thought-"
"Don't finish that."
Poe likes Ranpo.
Ranpo likes Poe.
Huh.
"I do like him."
Yosano and Dazai gave him small smiles of support knowing he was going through some epiphany right now.
How long has he liked Poe?
For the greatest detective in the world, he still doesn't know this.
He doesn't know when it started but doubts it will end any time soon.
As a detective, he was constantly finding the truth, the details and every inch to satisfy himself.
But for once, he's satisfied not knowing the answer.
He loves Poe.
This is a fact.
-
Ranpo was currently on a mission.
Finally, a case was interesting enough for him to actually go to the crime scene.
It had been a week after his so called 'epiphany' (Dazai and Yosano kept giving him teasing glances whenever he spaced out like they knew exactly what he was thinking.) So why not screw himself over and invite Poe too?
When he arrived he could see the police surrounding a body, tape stuck around the area.
"Ah. Detective Ranpo, you've arrived," Officer Minoura said when he was in sight. "And you brought your fanboy too."
Poe looked away abashedly muttering, "He's my rival."
Officer Minoura seemed to care less and quickly told Ranpo the details of the case.
.
.
.
.
.
|
This was a rather easy case honestly, he already knew who did it. It was quite obvious, it was the sister who shot the victim, did the police even think?
Ranpo had told Minoura a few minutes of inspecting the body, and the Officer had told the rest to search for the sister immediately.
"Wow Ranpo-san! That was amazing!" Poe exclaimed.
"Of course I am, this is merely a game for the Greatest detective in the world!" Ranpo huffed.
(No, he did not turn away when Poe said that—)
(— and no, he did not turn red.)
(he's lying.)
-
Ranpo decided that Poe should bring him to the local bakery in the area, you know, as friends do.
The bakery sat beside a barber shop on the left with an alley on it right along a library. It was a quaint bakery, decked out in pastel colours with pretty flowers growing in the front.
"Poe, you go in and get me something first."
Poe tilted his head. (Kinda like a cat, it was cute.)
"Why Ranpo-san?"
"Bah! Are you doubting me? I just want to look around, is that such a crime?"
Poe just gave a chuckle and said "Why of course, I shouldn't have doubted you. Let me get us a table." And walked into the bakery, Karl sat around his neck.
The bell above the door chimed and Ranpo immediately set his sights on the dark alleyway. The detective walked casually into the alleyway like he was merely walking on the street. He walked further and further into the alley glancing around at the brick walls and the gunk between each crack.
"Wow! What a dark alley! I sure hope I don't meet a murderer who killed her sister," he paused for a second and then turned around, "Right Suzuki Himari?"
A red-haired woman stood at the entrance of the alley, the light shining behind her leaving Ranpo in her shadow. In her hands was a gun.
"Now, let's not get hasty here-"
"SHUT IT!"
The woman seemed to be shaking, the gun in her hand trembling with each step she took.
"He was supposed to be mine! I met him first!" She exclaimed, jealousy reflected in her eyes.
"But he liked her! Loved her even! I couldn't take it. HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MINE!"
The woman's brown eyes watered and tears started to flow down her cheeks.
"It went perfectly, I shot while she was walking home from a date, she never saw it coming. I had an alibi and no one would suspect me. I pretended to cry when I found out and comforted him. Only for you to find out in a few minutes! I'M NOT LETTING YOU RUIN THIS FOR ME!"
Ranpo had his hands up in the air and tried to get a word in but the woman kept talking. When she was finally done with her monologue he said,
"It's really no use Suzuki-chan, I've already told the police."
"But you haven't told them the whole story, and if you die here how are you going to confirm your statement? You may pretend you have an ability but we all know you're just an arrogant wannabe child in the end."
Ranpo wasn't going to lie, the statement actually hurt him, but the other part was that she knew he was an ability user.
"You won't do it Suzuki-chan."
The woman hardened her glare and moved her pointer finger closer to the trigger-
A gunshot rang out in the alley.
The detective opened his eyes expecting to see a gunshot wound in his stomach, only to see Suzuki-chan's body fall to the ground, gun falling out of her grip. She was shot in the leg.
Ranpo quickly ran to her and kicked the gun further into the alleyway. He looked up only to see amethyst eyes looking right at him.
Poe.
The author held a gun in one hand and in the other was a paper bag filled with pastries. He was carefully poised like someone with experience.
"Ah, Ranpo dear, are you alright?" Poe asked calmly.
Okay, that was hot. Calm down Edogawa, get yourself together.
"I thought you were getting us a table Edgar."
Poe smiled, he looked a bit unhinged, amethyst eyes gleamed with somewhat of a sadistic look.
"I was just worried, you clearly wouldn't want to walk around with a promise of treats."
Ranpo gave a laugh, his emerald eyes shone with mirth. He quickly bends near the bleeding body pulling off his coat to stop the wound from bleeding anymore.
(He should have done it in the first place, but who was he to pass up such a nice talk with Poe?)
The detective was about to press his coat against the wound, when suddenly, Poe appeared beside him, handkerchief in hand.
"Use this instead."
Ranpo was now pressing down on the wound with Poe's handkerchief. He didn't even notice Karl climbing back onto Poe's back.
"The police will be here soon, I sent them a text message right after we left. Suzuki was clearly following us after we solved the crime."
"You really do think of everything, don't you think Ranpo-san? Very becoming of the Greatest Detective." Poe praised.
Ranpo looked at the stained handkerchief harder. His face was most definitely red.
(Poe had violet eyes, that was a fact.)
-
He and Poe were walking back from the station that dropped them a little ways from the ADA, they walked in comfortable silence with Karl swishing his tail around.
"How long are we going to dance around this Ranpo?"
No honorifics. So they were having this talk.
"You and I both know, don't we." Poe said, looking at him.
Ranpo looked up at him, still walking at a comfortable pace.
"What do I know, Edgar?"
The author's eyes gleamed with unrestrained interest.
"You're a great detective Ranpo, don't let her make you doubt yourself. I'm glad to call you my rival—"
Oh.
So it wasn't a confession. But Ranpo couldn't be , Poe was trying to help him with his insecurities.
Ranpo was about to actually sincerely thank him-
"—And I hope to call you my lover one day."
.
Oh god.
.
This was it.
.
What does he say?
"Ah. We're here Ranpo-san."
Fuck. When did they even get here?
Fuck it.
Ranpo pulled Poe down by the collar and pressed his lips against his.
God, his lips were so soft.
It was a short kiss but Ranpo really needed to say it.
"Edgar, I don't know when it started but I think I've been in love with you since forever and-"
Edgar gently lifted his chin, cutting him off—
"I, Edgar Allen Poe, are incredibly, irrevocably in love with you, Edogawa Ranpo."
—And sealed the message close with a kiss.
Once they both pulled away, Ranpo uttered,
"I, Edogawa Ranpo, the Greatest Detective, are very much also in love with you."
( Poe and Ranpo are in love with each other. This is a fact.)
-