Chapter Text
“So,” Dazai began, “Where would the Great Ranpo like to go first?”
Ranpo scoffed at the question, “Are you kidding me? I can’t think on an empty stomach.”
Dazai raised an eyebrow, “I mean, I don’t know about you, but I personally am broke. How in the world do you plan on buying the candy?”
Ranpo grinned mischievously, “Oh please. Do you really think a shop clerk getting paid minimum wage is going to deny a poor mentally ill kid who doesn’t know what he’s doing?”
Oh, so Ranpo was familiar with the art of manipulation then. Dazai certainly wasn’t expecting that. Not that he minded of course. People never knew how to react when they find out that someone is mentally ill, so might as well use that to their advantage.
“Let’s go there!” Ranpo said, pointing to a rather run-down looking gas station.
Dazai squinted at the gas station, “Are you sure that’s where you wanna go? It looks pretty worn down, so I doubt it has anything good.”
Ranpo tsked lightly, “You truly are an amateur at this Dazai.” Dazai raised an eyebrow. What exactly was he an amateur at? He didn’t know, but clearly it was important enough to offend Ranpo. Then again, that didn’t really seem difficult to do. “Places like those,” Ranpo clarified for Dazai because clearly Dazai was a senseless boy who needed as much help as possible, “always have the hidden treasures.”
Dazai shrugged in agreement since he apparently didn’t know anything about candy shopping.
Ranpo and Dazai left the gas station with a giant bundle of junk food.
“You, Ranpo, are an evil little genius,” Dazai said as he carried all of Ranpo’s newly acquired snacks. It mostly consisted of bottles of ramune, chips, and different assortments of candies. Ranpo sent a smirk his way before marching forward. “Where are we going now?” Dazai asked, struggling to look over the haul he was carrying.
“To the library obviously. Jeez, aren’t you supposed to be smart? Everyone’s so slow,” Ranpo shook his head in disappointment. Dazai frowned, he is smart. What did Ranpo know?
Dazai shrugged and smiled, “Whatever you say, Ranpo!”
As they walked through the town, Dazai looked around. It was a rather old town with plenty of history. There were all sorts of plaques to state what had happened in certain areas. As Dazai and Ranpo walked across the sidewalk and passed the town center, a certain plaque caught Dazai’s interest. He walked over to it and read it.
October 1877:
Shibusawa Eiichi died here. He was murdered by one of his patients from the Shibusawa Psychiatric Hospital. Shibusawa-san helped many men and women recover from mental health. He will always be remembered. He is honored here in this town and at the local Shibusawa Psychiatric Hospital. Fly high, Shibusawa Eiichi.
The plaque was held up by a carving of an angel. Dazai let out a little snort. Ranpo stood on his tiptoes and peered over Dazai’s shoulder to read. “Interesting, he was killed by one of his own patients, huh?” Ranpo commented
“I guess,” Dazai nodded, “not before reproducing though.”
Dazai and Ranpo continued their walk until they finally made it to the local library. It was made of limestone and had an old fashioned look. On the sidewalk leading up to it, there was a carving of 1843. It was honestly impressive how old it was, Dazai thought.
Dazai and Ranpo headed in. There was a large lobby with books lining the shelves all the way up to a little indoor balcony where people on the second floor could peer over and look at those on the first floor. There were little tables and cushiony chairs for private reading as well as larger tables for groups of people. Along the wall was a charging area for electronics. There were multiple different doors leading to other parts of the library as well as stairwells. The whole place smelled of homey must and aging books. At the checkout counter was a boy who looked around their age. He had long dark hair that covered most of his face. He was typing away on a laptop while waiting for visitors to check out books.
“Ah! Fantastic!” Ranpo rushed over to the counter, “Hey you!”
The boy jumped and slammed his laptop closed. “D-do you need something?” he asked shakily. Dazai’s pities went out to the boy. Ranpo was every introvert’s nightmare.
Ranpo stuffed some chips in his mouth before speaking again, “We neef buff on ba hoshpal!” The library boy cringed as some chip crumbs flew out of Ranpo’s mouth.
“S-sorry, could you repeat that?” the boy hadn’t understood Ranpo’s words.
Ranpo swallowed before speaking again, “I said we need books on the hospital!” Ranpo let out a huff as though the librarian’s question wasn’t perfectly valid. Ranpo had a terrible habit of thinking he was better than everyone else while at the same time wishing that everyone would understand him.
The librarian tilted his head, “T-the hospital? Do you mean Shibusawa Psychiatric hospital?” When no reply came, the librarian nodded his head quickly and got out from behind the counter. “The library has books related to that in a few places. Are you looking for a more m-modern summary or are you looking for patient related info that has been released?”
Ranpo looked at Dazai and raised his eyebrow. Dazai quickly took the hint, “Ah, Ranpo-san and I are looking for patient related info. Where can we find that?”
The librarian nodded and pointed to the map of the library on the wall, “That would be downstairs. W-would you like me to show you the way?”
The expression on the librarian’s face clearly showed that he did not want to show the way, and in fact would like to avoid all possible human interaction. Dazai shook his head, “No thank you, thanks for the help.” He bowed and then looked at the map to see where the nearest stairwell was. Once spotted he turned and headed to it, Ranpo’s feet sounding behind him.
“O-oh, I’m sorry but no foods or drinks are allowed past the main room…” the librarian mumbled just loud enough for the two to hear.
Ranpo let out a sigh, “Oh well, I’ll wait up here. You find what you need, Dazai. Hopefully it isn’t too boring!” Ranpo flopped into one of the cushioned chairs and waved Dazai off.
Dazai let out a pitiful sigh for the librarian before opening the door to the stairwell. The double doors closed behind him and he began down the stairs.