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In the darkest of nights, two men find themselves lying side-by-side, gazing into the starry night sky. Despite their proximity, the touch of one another is forbidden, no matter how much the taller individual desires it. As Poe examines the star-strewn expanse above, his gaze falls upon the smaller detective that lay beside him. His eyes filled with longing, Poe slowly and cautiously reaches for the other's hand, anticipating that a touch could never come to fruition. With bated breath, Poe hopes for just a moment of contact with the gentleman he adores. Yet, this desire shall never come to reality, as Ranpo is not truly present. He is but a phantom, a figment of Poe's imagination, a projection of past experiences. Despite his vivid presence in Poe's mental eye, he eludes physical contact, remaining a fragment of Poe's troubled past. "He's dead..." Poe utters under his breath, silently wishing to not receive a response. "Supposed to be gone... But...you're here." A moment of disbelief and realization washes over him, as he tries to reconcile his perception of Ranpo with the reality surrounding him. "Ranpo..?"
Ranpo turned his head to meet Poe's gaze with a sly grin, a gesture that Poe had come to associate with the raven-haired detective's charming personality. "What are you talking about, Ed?" Ranpo questioned. "I'm here, aren't I? I have the flesh of a human being, and I have a beating heart, I'm real." Tears welled up in the taller man's eyes, confusion and anguish washing over him in an overwhelming tide. "Ranpo is dead!" Poe yelled, "He's been dead for ... weeks! He can't be here!" Poe bolted back in.. fear? Shock? Realization? Despite that, the risk of falling off the rooftop by his careless movements, lingering at the back of his mind. He was frozen in place, unsure of what to do about the manifestation of Ranpo's spirit before him. His thoughts were clouded with confusion and doubt, unable to fully accept the presence of the man he believed to be dead for weeks. With a pounding heart and perspiring brow, Poe tried to rationalize the situation, his gaze never veering from the grin carved across Ranpo's visage.
Ranpo's grin soften, his demeanor becoming more comforting as he reached out to gently touch Poe's hand, the touch feeling foreign and cold to Poe. "Careful now, Ed..." Ranpo whispered, his tone quiet enough to make Poe strain his ears to hear. "You wouldn't want to fall, now would you?" The thought of falling from the rooftop and meeting his imminent demise only added to Poe's growing anxiety. As his heart rate continued to rise, Poe realized how Ranpo's actions were out of character for the raven-haired detective. The situation was becoming increasingly unnerving. Reluctantly, Poe pulled his hand out of Ranpo's grasp, a part of him yearning to embrace the reassuring presence provided by the detective. Yet, his doubts and fears took precedence, a feeling of uncertainty filling his being. "N-no..." Poe replied, his words no more than a whisper. The weight of his conflicting emotions caused his mind to spiral, his anxiety growing with each passing second.
Ranpo's calming presence was comforting to Poe, slightly helping to assuage his growing anxiety. "I'm not going to hurt you, Ed..." Ranpo reassured the taller man, pulling his hand away and causing Poe to wonder how the supposed dead detective was able to physically touch him. In a quiet voice, Poe asked the question, "How are you able to touch me?" While Poe wanted to ask the broader question of "How are you here?" he decided to withhold it, fearing that Ranpo's answer would only deepen the mystery surrounding his presence.
As Ranpo chuckled at Poe's question and reiterated how real he was, Poe's anxiety levels surged again. "Oh, Poe!" Ranpo exclaimed, his jovial demeanor sending chills down Poe's spine. "It's because I'm real!" The detective proclaimed proudly, causing Poe to ponder whether the man before him was really there or if his mind was playing tricks on him. His words only served to increase Poe's confusion and disorientation. The raven-haired detective's chuckling has soon ceased, speaking once more, though much more composed. "—didn't I tell you that already?"
Poe's voice raised as he vehemently protested the claim that Ranpo was indeed real. "You did say that.. but I don't believe it!" Poe declared, unwilling to accept the concept of the detective's resurrection. "I saw you die!" Poe exclaimed, unsure of how to rationalize the presence of Ranpo's ghost before his very eyes. Fear and anxiety coursed through Poe's veins, his thoughts becoming more jumbled with each moment. "It's impossible that you're real, that you're really here!" He yelled, his disbelief and shock evident in his every word.
Poe froze, shock and despair washing over him as he took in what Ranpo had just said. He remembered the events leading up to the detective's death. The conflict involving Poe's incapability to defeat Ranpo, the novel, Poe's ability, the ripped and torn up pages. He remembered killing Ranpo and the pained, yet distant screams he heard as he destroyed the novel with Ranpo inside, without a second thought. Yet, here the detective stood before him, a smile on his face. "You did see me die," Ranpo said, a confident grin on his face. "Because you're the one who killed me." The realization that the detective's spirit was the result of Poe's action tore at his psyche, the magnitude of his actions becoming too much to bear.
Poe swallowed, nodding his head slowly before responding. "I-I did..." Poe mumbled with slight reluctance, shame and regret filling his voice. "I would assume that no amount of apologies would make up for it..." Poe murmured, the full realization and weight of his actions slowly sinking in. Despite his past actions, Poe never actually wanted Ranpo's death - it was a mistake, a mistake he has come to regret. A mistake that was caused by Poe's smidgen of madness.
Ranpo let forth a hearty chuckle, his words tinged with a joyful exuberance that was unbecoming of the tragic occasion. "Of course," the detective uttered, his tone filled with amusement, "no amount of apologies would bring me back to life!" Ranpo's words echoed throughout the quiet night, providing no solace to Poe's wounded psyche. He wanted to make amends, to apologize until his voice was hoarse. But, it would not change the fact that he had been the one to kill Ranpo. Poe hung his head in shame, consumed by guilt and anguish.
In the stillness of the night, the lone sound of Poe's mournful voice broke through the air. With his voice filled with guilt and pain, he uttered his apology to Ranpo, the realization of his actions slowly setting in. "I do apologize for it, though, you do know that... right?" Poe softly spoke, his words barely a whisper in the dead of night. "I loved you, dearly... your death was nothing but a mistake..." The taller man uttered, his words accompanied by the unmistakable note of regret and sorrow. "Please... believe me," Poe pleaded.
Ranpo's sudden response to Poe's apology left the taller male utterly speechless. No longer was the detective's tone one of amusement and cheer; rather, his words were shrouded in a mocking and snarky tone. "Is that what you want to hear?" Ranpo asked in a taunting voice, his previous persona having evaporated into thin air. "I believe you?" He questioned, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Poe was taken aback by the transformation, unsure of how to react to this newfound side of Ranpo. This was not the Ranpo that Poe had come to know.
As the nighttime air quieted down, Poe finally mustered up a response, his voice much softer and hesitant than before. "What...?" He asked, confusion and uncertainty filling his tone. The transformation in Ranpo's demeanor had left Poe befuddled, unsure of how to navigate this new atmosphere. He had not expected to be forgiven so easily, of course, not after murdering the person he truly loved. The question of why he would kill the person he loved was one Poe could not answer for himself, a question that continued to gnaw at him as he attempted to process what had transpired. Did he kill out of anger? Sadness? Insanity?
Ranpo posed a question that caused Poe to feel a chill run down his spine. "Why would I love you after what you did?" Ranpo echoed, the weight of those words bringing forth a host of conflicting emotions within Poe. It was as if the young detective was speaking aloud the thoughts that Poe had kept deep within his psyche. Suddenly, Poe reached out in an attempt to grasp for Ranpo's shoulder, only for the detective to slip away from him, vanishing beneath his very fingers.
As the reality of Ranpo's disappearance set in, Poe's eyes widened, his mind scrambling to make sense of the situation. The realization that it had been a figment of his imagination quickly spread throughout his mind, creating a sense of uneasiness. Sitting alone in the dark, Poe quietly muttered to himself, "he... was never there... It was all in my head..." A chill ran through Poe's body as he tried to grasp the situation, the realization that he had been alone all along filling him with a profound sense of isolation.
He was alone, he had been the entire time.
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