Work Text:
"Yosano!",
The door flew open and the frail statue of a young man appeared in the doorframe. The girl at the desk flinched, her eyes wide and startled as she was torn out of her concentration while dissecting a doll. Wadding was pooling around her hands, the doll laid empty and faceless infront of her, the stitches of her stomach carefully cut open. So neatly that it looked as if she was made to look like that. Sure, her ability allowed her to heal people, but it wasn't what she wanted to rely on. She wanted to be the reason people didn't have to come close to death to be healed.
The young detective entered the room, his hands positioned on his hips while his face bore a wide smile. He pretended to ignore Yosanos surprised reaction, altough deep down he knew that he'd have to barge into the office loudly a few more times before she stopped being afraid of the interruption. And of him.
While he strode across the room, she lowered her hand that was gripping the scissors painfully tight. There'd be one day when she wouldn't be afraid and grab the nearest object to defend herself with. Atleast she wasn't hiding under the desk, as she had been before, so Ranpo was content enough with her current state.
"I!",
He bloated, raising his finger into the air.
"Won the competition?"
Yosano asked meekly, supporting her head in her hands. Her eyes were still wide, but no longer watery like Ranpo remembered them to be. And she spoke, albeit quietly, but the knowledge of the hard work he and Fukuzawa put into them gaining her trust made a strange feeling of affection curse through his body. An even better reason to boast.
"Duh, but thats not the point. The case was fine, but! I met someone, and-",
He leaned closer to her desk, as if admitting this to the world would put him to shame.
"He was reeeeeally smart. Not quite like me ofcourse!",
The shout-whisper blurred into a laugh.
"But almost so. And he got second place and we worked as a team it was-"
He took a deep breath, thinking for a moment. He hadn't thought yet of words to describe the chill he felt while seeing the man for the first time. Sure, he knew about his competitors beforehand, but this one- this one was different. He could picture the light vividly, falling over his dark brown locks and reflecting beautifully in the stormy grey eyes that peeked down at ranpo the entire time. His mind as sharp as a knife, sending thrills down Ranpos spine with every confident word he uttered, with every fact he stated. He slipped once, sure, but Ranpo was quick to correct him in that, and they figured the case out as a team. Throughout the whole ordeal there was something in his stomach he couldn't quite put a name to. It wasn't frustration or anger, things he usually felt while being surrounded by idiots on a crime scene. No, he enjoyed it. He had enjoyed every second he had spent in the mans presence. The hours they passed together were holy, something Ranpo would never let spent forget. The first time he felt a connection, something unlike the one he shared with Yosano or Fukuzawa. The mind of the man had enthralled him, but so had the careful fingers while he had examined the bodys state, or the posture so confident and glowing it almost put Ranpos to shame, or his face, his brows that crinkled ever so slightly with every new evidence uncovered, he eyes, going through all different stages, widening in surprise, glowing in confidence, narrowed in fear. To put it short, he was simply breathtaking.
"-thrillling",
Ranpo finished, not understanding why he was suddenly out of breath while the scenario still played over and over in his mind.
"Really? I thought you were the only one that smart!",
Yosano asked, curiously leaning further over the desk, not trying to hide her interest in the matter. She had never questioned Ranpo about his genius mind, and had never doubted him when he proclaimed to be the world's greatest detective. It was like law to her. Perhaps he'd tell her the reason behind his confidence one day, but right now she needed a role model, and Ranpo was happy to be such.
"Well, of course no one is. But he was, almost. There was a charm he had, he seemed so untouchable, so-",
Broken, insecure, anxious, disappointed.
"-fragile."
The light had played tricks on him, he was sure. Because there was no way that someone as confident and glowing could look so grieving. There was no way there were tears in his eyes when they met Ranpos, he just couldn't understand that. Someone so strong, so smart, so- so-
"Oooh did you talk to him? Do you have his number? Are you friends?"
Yosanos questions hit him like a truck, her young mind not yet sharp enough to read Ranpos feelings through the quietness of his voice. Ranpo hoped that wouldn't change, altough he doubted it, with how lively Yosano became in her rare moments where the missed childhood took control of her again.
"Not...not exactly. I think he was busy, he had to go soon after the competition ended",
Ranpo mumbled. Yes, he had wanted to get his number, and yes, he had wanted to be friends, but the moment the man turned from him, the moment he was left facing his trembling back, he knew there was something that went wrong through the encounter that should have been the most beautiful connection of two lonely souls. Ranpo had been certain things were going smoothly. He even bit back some comments he had wanted to make, but it still didn't seem enough to make the other stay.
Grasping after him was like trying to catch a shadow. Visible, yes, but not really there. Not present, emerged in another wold. Perhaps protecting himself, altough Ranpo didn't know what he would need to protect himself from. The only one who truly understood him?
Edgar Allan Poe was a shadow, and Ranpo hated to admit that he was entranced by it, by the phantom of a person the other once was. Whether it was Ranpo who made him a shadow, or Poe himself, he didnt know, but it hurt to know that the other saw him as an enemy rather than an ally. They were on the same sides, him and Poe. Both of them against the norm of society. Both of them against the cruel world that labeled them as outcasts.
"Awh that's a shame",
Yosano sighed and averted her attention back to the doll.
"Yea...",
Ranpos mumble was lost in the warm breeze that swept through the office through an open window. Despite of the warm temperature, a shiver ran up his spine.
"Do you think I'll meet him again?"
Yosano lifted her eyes and was met by a thoughtful Ranpo staring out of the window. It was an unusual sight, seeing him so calm and almost- longing.
"Isn't he all the way from over there in America though?"
She asked, sinking her needle into the dolls head to sew on the new buttons fukuzawa had gifted her.
"Well yea but-"
"If he's as smart as you say, then he'll find you"
She shrugged, not even looking up as she uttered the words that would haunt Ranpo for longer than he'd like.
'if he's as smart as you say' and ranpo wasn't exaggerating in his tale.
'then he'll find you' that thought set a fire alight in his stomach, the though sounding ever so thrilling. Poe would find him, no doubt. The way they parted wasn't how it was meant to end, there was more to their story, much more. More than turned backs and teary eyes.
Ranpo still couldn't name the feeling, but he knew that he'd wait until the mysterious man showed up again.
Years passed, and while Yosano had probably forgotten about their conversation, Ranpo was still dwelling on the thought of his competitor, his equal. Sometimes he cursed his mind for it, for remembering every detail of events he'd rather forget. But he loved his mind for not extinguishing this one, the excitement as touching as it had been in the moment it all happened.
if he's as smart as you say, then he'll find you
He was still confident that this would come true, but waiting was a nuisance and his curiosity way too big to ignore the hammering of his heart whenever he got reminded of the the mind alike to his. To his disappointment, searching up his friends? Enemies? Name in the Web only stumped him further, making him face a bunch of newspaper articled describing his detective work and even more writing about the downfal of a prodigy. Ranpos stomach tightened at that, knowing it was him who caused this unfortunate event for the other. After numerous articles mocking his loss, there was nothing. It was as if the man had been swallowed by the world. Any other person would assume he had died possibly of suicide since some of the articles were even harsher than Ranpo could be.
But Ranpo knew better, becaus ea person doesn't vanish into thin air from one day to the other. There was something- someone else interfering in their game.
After repeating this cycle that always ended in the same disappointing conclusion, Ranpo had stopped checking. There were still moments where his fingers itched for more information, but he knew it was useless. The time wasn't right yet.
The agency was starting to bloom, more members joined, and before Ranpo knew it he was tossed into numerous more cycles of playing the role model for numerous more lost teens. This took up so much of his time, that he barely had a moment to think of the man that had impressed him years ago. His colleagues didn't know that the great edogawa ranpo was harbouring the knowledge of not being the only all knowing one. And he was fine with that, because they'd either tease or mock him, both which he'd rather avoid.
Work was piling up, and he started understanding why Fukuzawa bad become so stern. The numerous cases were easy, but serious nontheless, and he found himself missing the days where he could play on his mobile phone with Yosano all day without being troubled with responsibilities all day long. Speaking of Yosano-
"Hi? Hello? Earth to Ranpo?"
Her voice had matured with her, but her snickers were just as girlish as they had been. Additionally to that, she had quite the growth spurt, much to Ranpos dismay. That's why it was currently so easy for her to tower over Ranpo while he was spaced out in his chair. A sudden pinch in his side startled him out of his thoughts though.
"Ow! What was that for?"
He frowned up at her, to which she only laughed again, adjusting her butterfly hairclip.
"You were half asleep. And it was a dare"
She shrugged, not really apologetically. Yosano had grown into a woman, comfortable enough to tease Ranpo and make friends with new people even Ranpo wasn't putting up with. She marched back to the desk of their newest member. To be honest, Ranpo still wasn't used to his presence, or his piercing eyes. While Poes eyes had been just as observant, they didn't sting when they focused on Ranpo. Dazais though....
He narrowed his eyes while Dazai whispered something to Yosano, to which she giggled. Kunikida was sitting at his own desk, but it was obvious he was eavesdropping. As mature as their colleague pretended to be, he was just as interested in the gossip the two shared.
Kunikida was fun to be around, despite his strict moral compass, but Ranpo enjoyed his company. Altough he was younger that Ranpo and Yosano, he was by far the tallest, altough Dazai would certainly rival him in that, as Ranpo deduced. Yosano and him were the same height, but he bitterly acknowledged that this wouldn't stay that way and he'd end up being teased forever by the other three for his height.
He was proud of Yosano in a way an older brother was proud of his sibling. That's why his protective instincts kicked in whenever she took on a mission alone, or laughed a little too loud at Dazais jokes.
His deductions didn't work on the latter, which he blamed on the mafias antics, but it didn't stop him from trying to dissect him with his eyes.
He had long stopped in trying to entertain the idea of finding an equal for himself. It took numerous sleepovers with Yosano (which were later joined by Kunikida and Dazai, who, Ranpo figured out, wasn't that bad) to understand he was even more different to people than he thought. Behind on everything besides deduction, he constantly heard giggles and gossip about soulmates and lovers that he tried to tune out as well as he could.
There once was someone, someone he felt a connection to, but Ranpo had ignored the thought of the other for so long that it was hard to dig up the memory in mere seconds.
_If he's as smart as you say, then he'll find you_
Ranpo laid awake deep into the night, recalling the day his world was turned upside down. Overthinking details and implications. He had never mentioned it to Yosano ever again, and she had forgotten all about the competition in general. There was no use, six years had passed, he should let go of the fantasy.
"Ranpo"
Fukuzawas voice broke the silence that had previously only been interupted by Ranpos munching on a pack of pocky. He tore his gaze away from a fraud case he was supposed to document and faced Fukuzawa, who was outstretching him a file as thick as probably ten of the boring theft cases Ranpo was forced to solve.
"A new enemy has shown up. This is all the information we have on them, Yosano will assist you later, I'm counting on you"
Ranpo groaned loudly while snatching the case, not given any other option, he started briefly scanning over the pages, when suddenly a particular one caught his eye.
He sat up, his back slightly sore from the uncomfortable position he had been leaning against the back of his chair.
There it was, clear as day before him. He was staring right at him, a little different to their last encounter, but undoubtedly him.
"Edgar Allan Poe"
He whispered, his finger trailing over the outline of his features. There were deeper bags under his eyes, his hair was longer and messier, and the spark of confidence was gone. Instead he stared lifelessly at the camera.
"So that's where you've been"
'The guild' was printed on the front of the folder in big letters. Ranpo had heard of them, and suddenly a puzzle was pieced together in his head. The mysterious vanishing, the sudden threat on his city and Poes face in his files. He grinned to himself, not quite believing the boyish hope from years ago was fulfilling itself.
"Found something?"
Yosano peeked over his shoulder. She was now half a head taller than Ranpo, and due to that a whole lot harder to hide from. But right now that didn't hinder Ranpo from his excitement, that was doubled with another deduction. He jumped off his chair, sending it rotating backwards.
"Check my mail, I think I have received a letter. Yosano, we're going out!"