Chapter Text
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(Narrator - Poe ) POV :
Poe is not able to sleep. He isn't exactly sure what it is, from the stinging on his wrist to the loud silence. When Poe tries to sleep, he ends up just reading instead at some point. He only got about 4 hours of sleep within the last week. His thoughts didn't stop, twisting and taking over his mind like a possession.
He tried to visit Ranpo, who was busy, and the others, who are just themselves. He could read again, but reading is all he did yesterday. For a while, he's been in lassitude, but not seeing Ranpo made it even worse.
He walked into the library, looking around for things out of place. At first glance for him, everything was fine except some books out of place and spider webs. Once he focused and looked, he noticed things. There was a set of small glass angel figures, at least, he thinks they were supposed to be angels. A small ragged doll, which may be a rag doll? It does look like a Raggedy Ann. There was a small milking stool in the corner, which he placed elsewhere. In the corner is a box covered in mouse droppings, which he practically gagged at the horrid sight of. The cardboard box was sloppily labelled '寄付.' (Donations.) He gently opened it, taking a peek at the items inside. It had a small re-sowed plush bear, a few Yunomi teacups the colour on it was chipped and fading, and a small doll. The doll has pale ginger hair (not to be mistaken with blonde), light blue eyes, and a tiered black dress with white lace.
Once he moved the top layer of the items (the teacups, plush, and doll) out of the way, there was more. A slightly broken wine glass was the first thing he saw, along with the broken-off fragment of the glass, which he set aside. ‘I might as well bin it now.’ He thought, carefully standing up, being silent as he could to avoid waking up Karl, who was lightly snoring and looked adorable. (Not zoo!) He carefully sets everything except the glass back in the box. He picks up the broken wine glass and fragment and places it in the trashcan. He inspects the piece. It had a squiggly and jagged edge, which looked like an ocean wave similar to ‘The Great Wave off Kanazawa.’ Once he went to bin the fragment, it accidentally stabbed his finger while setting it inside the trashcan. He set it in and quickly continued to explore the room, ignoring his small wound.
It has a few candles, most of them a brownish white, and a few were a yellowish brown, which the brown is most likely from ageing. It now made sense of the smell. The room was decently old. It usually smelt of wet or soggy paper and something similar to dust, a bit like an old church or something similar to an old house, based on his experiences.
Clank! Came a noise from his kitchen, which flabbergasted him.
He walked towards the kitchen. His kitchen is a newer addition, built off the old living room. Though, the kitchen is still decently old. It had a tawny wine colour for the wallpaper, which was ripping in a few spots. It had a lot of white or silver candles, most half burnt with a scent of soap but a pale pink candle, almost completely burnt Cherry Blossom, and he can recall a green tea candle also. He looked around his clean kitchen, seeing nothing out of place. He opened the fridge, seeing if anything that fell made the noise. His fridge was almost bare except for a few (non-alcoholic) drinks and some food, but barely enough to cook. Due to how he typically eats at restaurants and is too socially awkward to go grocery shopping, he has nowhere near a healthy amount inside it. ‘Odd.' He mutters under his breath, returning to the library.
Does he desperately need sleep? Yes. But does he sleep? Nope. Not too far back in time, he heard others' rumors which kept him awake for a while, he may tend to call and talk to Ranpo a lot, but it surely does not mean he is in a state of limerence like some think he is. Poe isn't even a fan of Ranpo, the two of them are just rivals, and their relationship stays as is. He infatuates with Ranpo, but not romantically, does he? It makes him sick to his stomach to even think Ranpo would want to be with him. Ranpo is the World's Greatest Detective, so why would he be with Poe? He can't think of any reason why. But he trusts Ranpo to not mess with his feelings, but he still will never tell Ranpo unless Ranpo brings them up first. He is just scared Ranpo will use Super Deduction and prognosticate his feelings. He is starting to feel despondent with all going on.
Poe recently made a character based on Ranpo for his new mystery novel, a lovely lithe man with opulence. The man's name is Yami (闇.) Yami has darker brown hair than Ranpo, green eyes, and usually wears mature (but not revealing or inappropriate) clothing. Similar to Ranpo, Yami has quintessence, he also shares being overindulging on a day-to-day basis. Yami shares some traits with Poe, as well. Edgar is typically pauciloquent, which Yami is also. Yami is usually in solitude, which Poe finds himself in. Yami's not a bubbly person, nor extravagant or loud.
Poe was almost always a loner. He was socially awkward, often struggling to form meaningful connections with his co-workers. However, he found solace in his friendship with his rival, Ranpo. He quickly became extremely attached to Ranpo, even to the point of obsession. When he was with him, he began to get flustered at even small gestures such as giving him candy, but not meaning to be creepy. Despite his feelings, he still denied them to himself and Ranpo, claiming that he was just a rival. However, the more John denied his feelings, the more he spiraled into a bad mental place. His room is a mess and hasn't been cleaned for months. Clothes spilt from his hamper. Paper and pens are scattered on the desk. The mess is overwhelming to tackle, which is why it's still messy as a few months ago, maybe even worse. The air in the room feels thick and has a small undertone of smoke, which Poe never dared to do though he did keep. What once was a place of comfort has become a depressing room. The room is a chaotic mess, with blankets and dishes strewn about the floor, even novels and old CDs are across the room. Almost every surface was covered in a thin layer of dust. The air stinks of incense and the carpet underneath one's feet felt a bit hardened with age. It was almost impossible to imagine that someone could sleep in such a chaotic room. But, Poe didn't mind. Nobody saw it except him and Karl, and occasionally Ranpo if he's lucky. But if you were to ask him, he'd admit it's a bit messy.
His room is ineffably messy, but it's an effect of many months of depression did to him. He's lost in afraid, trapped in a void of issues. He can no longer call himself young or innocent. He doesn't want to be alone. He's terrified of being alone. He's almost always melancholic. He's afraid of being forgotten. He's rarely actually there. He's almost always dissociated, and if he's not then he's barely listening. Everything makes him want to scream, but he can't. He can't be free from hell. It hurts. It burns his insides, feeling like the moment before vomiting. He can't defend himself or fight it, so he lets it be. He accepts it. No matter what. He's terrified; of life, love, affection, heights, and even large amounts of people. 'They don't know what we go through.' His mind forms. He wants the thoughts to stop. He sniffs, just now realizing silent tears are falling down his face, his under-eyes and nose now pink. He was choking back a few sobs as the thoughts continued. 'We can't give up on being pretty because we wouldn't know how to live.' and others crowded his mind.
He was broken out of his trance by his phone ringing. He quickly wipes off his face and everything, collecting himself. As soon as he answers, Ranpo immediately starts happily blabbering.
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(Narrator - Ranpo) POV :
'And then... actually no. Guess!' Ranpo proudly chatters, munching on some strawberry mochi. He waits for a bit, letting Poe think.
'.. di-did you-' his voice slightly cracks 'use Super Deduction and bee-beat him?' he says, clearly a smile on his face while saying so, based on his tone. Ranpo's face quickly turns into a frown and fiddles with his fingers.
'Uh, nope~' he says with a small nibble on the mochi. 'But good guess, Poe-kun!' And with that, he continues the story. After a few hours, he hangs up the phone, but not without a goodbye to Poe. He knew something was wrong. His voice never cracks, he just stutters. He is surely suspicious. Ranpo could investigate more but decides against it, just shrugging it off.
Ranpo was currently sitting with Dazai on a bridge ledge, kicking his feet like a primary school girl. He was blabbering on and on about the mission and how easy it was, eating mochi and sharing it with Dazai. Once he took another bite of mochi, he continued talking but got met with a hand slapped over his mouth.
'Cover your mouth!' Dazai wails. Once Ranpo swallows, he licks the taller man's hand to show he's done. 'Disgusting.' He gags, then continues the conversation from earlier.
Somehow, the conversation drifts to finding a perfect woman for a double suicide.
'I thought that darling Sasaki-San would be perfect, but then she did it alone! It's a real shame that she did it alone because I looked forward to a double suicide! Ah, how it deeply wounds my heart!~' Osamu yelps, dramatically throwing his hands around to show his 'immense pain.' 'But I thought Kunikida-Kun liked her or something?' Ranpo mutters the question, which then the taller to look towards him. 'I mean, I think. I'm not sure.' Osamu answers with a chuckle, which Ranpo ignores and blabbers on, changing the topic to a more child-friendly topic about teddy bears or something.
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(Narrator - Dazai) POV:
'Oh, Ranpo-San, who was the angsty man on the phone earlier?' Dazai asks, which is off-topic. The shorter looks up at him, but not without a nudge from his elbow.
'Hm, why you wanna know?' Ranpo mutters, a look of suspicion on his face. 'Are you going to try to get him to do something dumb with you?' Dazai responds with a quiet "tch" sound and rolls his eyes.
'Me? What? Never.' He says with a smile.
'Hm. I guess I'll trust you. Anyways, his name is Edgar Allan Poe. I call him Ed or Poe though. He's American.' He smiles. Osamu immediately does the little twirly-hand gesture again. 'Can I have his phone number?!' He says with a fake expression of shock. Ranpo gives a small shrug and exchanges Poe' number with him.