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Ranpo, age 14
Ranpo wakes up to the sound of rain against his window. He sits up and looks at the window as the rain rolls down it. After a couple minutes of watching the rain, Ranpo gets up and heads towards Fukuzawa’s room. He knocks on the door, but gets no reply.
Panic rushes through Ranpo as every bad thing that could have happened to Fukuazawa runs through his mind. He opens the door and runs over to him. He starts shaking him and Fukuzawa turns towards Ranpo.
“Yes, Ranpo?” Fukuzawa asks.
“Are you okay?” Ranpo asks.
Fukuzawa picks up on his increased heart rate and he sits up. “Yes, I’m fine. Are you alright?”
Ranpo nods, seeming relieved,” I want chocolate.”
Fukuzawa smiles, biting back a sigh. He gets up,” Come on, Ranpo.”
Ranpo trails behind him to the kitchen, where he starts making hot chocolate.
Fukuzawa looks at his watch and sighs. 4:13, only two hours of sleep. Ranpo’s been sleeping less and less lately.
Thunder claps and Ranpo squeaks.
Fukuzawa turns and Ranpo’s shaking in his chair. Fukuzawa walks over and puts a hand on Ranpo’s shoulder.
“It’s alright, Ranpo.”
Ranpo nods and after a minute, the shaking is gone.
“What troubles you about the rain?” Fukuzawa asks.
“There was that big boom right before my parents died,” Ranpo says.
Fukuzawa nods, frowning. He would definitely need to get Ranpo into therapy.
“Do we have a lot of boring meetings again today?” Ranpo asks, kicking his feet.
“Yes, we have several meetings,” Fukuzawa answers.
“Ugh,” Ranpo says, leaning his head back,” So boring.”
“Yes, but if we want to be able to take cases so everyone will give you praise, we need to go to them,” Fukuzawa replies.
Ranpo looks up,” Everyone will praise me?”
Fukuzawa nods, even though he knows it isn’t true. People will ridicule him at every stop for probably the rest of his life, but once he grows strong enough to bear the weight of that, Fukuzawa’s sure that he’ll be the greatest detective in the world. But for right now, he’s a fourteen year old boy who needs his hot chocolate and some more sleep.
He hands Ranpo a cup of hot chocolate, no whip cream because the consistency bothers him, and a couple of marshmallows on top.
Ranpo starts drinking it happily.
Fukuzawa looks at his phone and he has a missed call from Mori, but he didn’t text or leave a message, so it couldn’t have been important enough for Fukuzawa to call him back right now.
Once Ranpo’s done with his hot chocolate, Fukuzawa leads him back to bed. After covering him up and closing the curtains, he walks to the doorway.
“If you need anything else, let me know,” he says.
Ranpo nods, then covers himself fully with the blanket.
Fukuzawa goes back to his room and lies back down. A call from the police station several hours later wakes Fukuzawa, so he turns over and answers,” Yes?”
“We have a case for you and your junior detective,” someone says from the other end.
“Which station is this?”
“Only one that’s giving you guys a chance.”
“We’ll be there in thirty minutes,” Fukuzawa replies, then hangs up.
He goes into Ranpo’s room and pulls the blanket down so he can see Ranpo’s face.
He’s staring back at him.
Fukuzawa resists every urge to curse at the sudden shock. He expected Ranpo to be asleep.
“Hi, Fukuzawa,” Ranpo says,” Need something?”
“Do you ever sleep?” he asks.
Ranpo shrugs,” When I need to.”
“We have a case,” Fukuzawa says.
“Eh, pass today,” Ranpo replies.
“We can’t pass on it,” Fukuzawa reminds him,” We need the money to buy your candy.”
Ranpo thinks on it for a moment, then caves,” Fine, but only because I’m running low on lollipops.”
Fukuzawa walks out and shuts the door. After forcing Ranpo to go get a shower, the two leave for the police station.
Ranpo’s drowning out the commissioner and Fukuzawa’s old people chat. They haven’t even started talking about the case yet.
A bowl of lollipops catches his eye and he walks over.
The female officer who’s desk it was on smiles and asks,” Do you want one?”
Ranpo nods, then grabs one and starts unwrapping it.
“Is your dad boring you while talking to an officer?” she asks.
Ranpo shakes his head,” That’s not my dad and that’s not an officer.”
She turns to where Ranpo’s pointing and her eyes go wide.
“We’re supposed to be working on a case, but they’re spending forever talking about old people stuff,” Ranpo says.
“You’re going to be working the case?” she asks.
Ranpo nods,” I’m the greatest detective in all of Japan.”
He smiles and she half-smiles.
“Ranpo?” Fukuzawa asks, looking around for him.
“Here,” Ranpo replies, holding his hand up.
“Come here and don’t run off,” Fukuzawa demands.
Ranpo runs over, pouting.
“Did you thank the nice lady?” Fukuzawa asks.
“Thank you,” Ranpo says to the officer.
“You’re welcome,” she replies,” Just take care.”
“You’re going to go with this man and solve the case,” Fukuzawa says,” I have a meeting to attend to. Stay with him and don’t leave his sight.”
Ranpo nods,” Of course, I won’t go anywhere.”
“Ranpo, I’m serious,” Fukuzawa replies.
Ranpo nods again,” Me too. I won’t wander off.”
“Thank you,” Fukuzawa says,” Now listen to the commissioner and follow his rules.”
Fukuzawa walks out of the station and Ranpo turns to the commissioner.
“How are you, kid?” he asks.
“Don’t call me kid, I’m not a child,” Ranpo pouts,” and what’s your name because I’m not calling you ‘the commissioner’ the entire time I’m here.”
“Tanaka,” the commissioner answers,” and you’re a feisty one. You remind me a lot of my son.”
Ranpo takes the lollipop out of his mouth to frown at the man.
“Let’s get to the case at hand though,” Commissioner Tanaka says,” There’s been a murder out on the dock and it doesn’t have any ties to the Mafia.”
“How long ago was the body found and is it raining over there?” Ranpo asks.
“It was found right before you were called in and no, the rain stopped over there before we found the body,” Commissioner Tanaka answers.
“Is the crime scene still intact?” Ranpo asks.
“Yes, it is.”
“Then I don’t need a brief, just the scene,” Ranpo says.
“You sure?” Commissioner Tanaka asks.
“Commissioner?” a woman says.
“Yes?” he asks.
“Your son was suspended from school again,” she answers,” and your wife can’t pick him up because she’s stuck at a meeting.”
Commissioner Tanaka sighs,” We’re going to have to pick up my son on the way to the crime scene.”
Ranpo shrugs,” Long as I don’t have to make conversation.”
“He doesn’t like to talk either.”
Fukuzawa drives towards the building he bought to be the main headquarters of the Armed Detective Agency. He just has these last few meetings and then they can start working with the police and government officially as consultants.
He gets there with just enough time to open the doors before the people he’s supposed to be meeting with show up.
The meeting that was supposed to only last thirty minutes lasted well over an hour, so the next person was left waiting for twenty minutes.
“I’m so sorry,” Fukuzawa says as the other guy shows himself out.
“He always takes long,” the person in question, an older woman with bright red hair, says,” He’s a prick and enjoys wasting people’s time. We’ll make this quick because I know that you have other things to do today.”
Fukuzawa’s already met with this woman once, so she sits down on the couch and asks,” Where’s your son today? He isn’t running around like last time.”
“He’s helping the police with a case,” Fukuzawa answers,” He’s got someone with him that I trust. And Ranpo isn’t my son, he’s just in my care.”
“Had me fooled,” she replies, thinking back to how Fukuzawa fussed at Ranpo for running into the couch she was sitting on.
Fukuzawa laughs,” Yes.” His face darkens a bit,” His parents died and we stumbled across each other. I’ve been taking care of him for under a year.”
“Is he not sleeping?” she asks.
“How would you know…?”
“You look like you haven’t slept,” she says,” and if his parents died recently, he probably has some trauma.”
“He’s sleeping for a few hours sporadically,” he answers,” He’s also so worried that something will happen to me that he keeps waking me up to make sure that I’m okay.”
“Try a weighted blanket,” she suggests.
“Did, he said it felt like he was being crushed.”
“Wow, okay,” she replies,” That’s a first.”
Fukuzawa shrugs,” I think if he doesn’t start getting more sleep, I’ll have to do something about it.”
She nods,” He may have to be medicated.”
“He throws medicine up,” Fukuzawa says,” I learned that the hard way the time he got sick.”
“He’s a special case,” she says.
“That he is,” Fukuzawa replies,” So, onto the meeting.”
They talk for a half hour, when an officer runs in.
“Fukuzawa!”
He turns and he recognizes the officer as one of the men that work with Commissioner Tanaka.
“There was a shootout at the crime scene and Ranpo’s nowhere to be found,” he says, clearly out of breath.
Fukuzawa gets up,” What’s the state of those found?”
“The two officers that were at the crime scene before they got there are dead and the commissioner is in critical condition,” he answers,” He was rushed to the hospital and his secretary said that his son was with them, but we didn’t find him either.”
“Who attacked them?” Fukuzawa asks as he grabs his coat.
“We don’t know for sure, but there were a lot of them. The lead is that the Mafia attacked them to cover up the murder.”
Fukuzawa storms out of the office and heads for the one person who will know what happened.
Commissioner Tanaka’s son is different from Ranpo in just about every way possible. The only similarity is that he has the same color of hair as Ranpo, even though it’s cut very short.
The car ride’s quiet, as promised.
Once they get to the crime scene, the trio gets out of the car.
Ranpo runs over to the body and the two officers stop him.
The commissioner waves to them and explains the situation. He leaves his son with the officers, then walks over to where Ranpo’s looking at the body.
“What do you see?” the commissioner asks.
“Nothing yet,” Ranpo says,” I’m taking a moment. Fukuzawa says it’s respectful.”
The commissioner nods.
Ranpo pulls out his glasses and puts them on.
Gunshots ring out and Ranpo’s head shoots up in enough time to see blood to bloom around a small hole in the commissioner’s shirt and he falls to the ground.
“Dad!”
Ranpo turns to see his son running towards him.
More gunshots and the other two officers drop to the ground before they have time to find out where the commissioner was shot from.
Ranpo barely manages to pull the commissioner’s son to the ground before another shot goes off.
Hitting the ground seemed to pull him back to his senses.
“We have to get out of here,” he says,” No doubt that more officers and medical are on the way.”
He pulls Ranpo up and starts running with a hold of Ranpo’s wrist.
“I don’t run,” Ranpo says as he stumbles along.
Several shots miss the duo before they make it to the sewer grate.
“This is so gross,” Ranpo says as he avoids the murky water.
“Yeah, but it’s the safest spot we’ve got.”
“What is your name?” Ranpo asks,” I just realized I probably should have asked before we almost got killed.”
“Just call me Tanaka, that’s what everyone does,” he answers,” and you are?”
“The greatest detective, Ranpo Edogawa.”
“Huh,” Tanaka huffs,” Anyway, who was shooting at us?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Ranpo asks.
“I’m gonna hate you, aren’t I?” Tanaka asks.
“It was the killer, or more specifically, the group the killer belongs to,” Ranpo says with his signature smirk.
“Is it the Mafia?” Tanaka asks.
“No, why does everyone assume that all crime belongs to the PM,” Ranpo answers,” Nah, this is a rival group. They kill in a different manner than the PM and are much messier. If the PM ever did something so recklessly, the leader would have their head. There were cameras in the area, but they weren’t taken out before they got to the scene. So the cameras caught at least some of the killer and his vehicle before he took them out.”
“You just stared at the body,” Tanaka says.
“I used my special ability,” Ranpo snaps at him.
Tanaka takes a step back, then frowns.
Ranpo cocks his head,” Do you get yelled at a lot?”
“No,” Tanaka answers,” Mind your business.”
“Is it the commissioner?” Ranpo presses.
“My dad would never,” Tanaka snaps, then cringes.
“So it’s your mom?”
“My mother is dead. Anyway, shouldn’t we be more worried about the people shooting at us?”
“I just have to call… I don’t have a cellphone,” Ranpo says.
“I don’t either because my dad took it when I got in the car,” Tanaka replies,” So what’s your plan, genius detective?”
“We need to get to one of the underground safe houses,” Ranpo answers,” Fukuzawa will have an easier time finding us if we do.”
“Do you know where any of those are?” Tanaka asks,” And if you do, why haven’t you told the police?”
“It’s neutral territory, and if we tell the police where they are, we lose valuable informants,” Ranpo says,” And to answer your question, I don’t know exactly where they are. I have a hard time paying attention to things I have no interest in, like where and how fast the car is going. Unless it’s really slow.”
Tanaka raises an eyebrow,” How close to the middle of town are they?”
“Fairly, at least some of them,” Ranpo answers.
“Then I know how to get us in that direction and then we can leave the sewer.”
“How?” Ranpo asks.
“Because you’re not the only one hanging around the wrong crowds.” He starts walking and Ranpo follows.
“Mori!”
Fukuzawa burst into Mori’s office.
Mori looks up as Elise gets up and hugs Fukuzawa.
Fukuzawa ruffles her hair, then walks over to Mori’s desk.
“There was a shootout at the crime scene that Ranpo was at,” Fukuzawa says.
“You left your precious child unsupervised?” Mori asks,” And anyway, Fukuzawa, we haven’t done anything today. We don’t have anything planned until this afternoon. Do you need help finding your boy?”
“Why are you offering?” Fukuzawa asks.
“Because I still owe you for the last time that I was stuck and you got me out,” Mori answers as Elise runs around coloring on the walls,” and I don’t like being in your debt. So, I’ll have my people figure out who attacked your baby and hopefully get him back before he’s killed.”
“And you don’t want anything in return?” Fukuzawa asks.
Mori shakes his head,” This takes me out of your debt. I enjoy when our partnership is mutually beneficial. I’ll talk with my people and get back to you when I have something,” Mori says.
Fukuzawa walks out, going to look for Ranpo himself.
Ranpo climbs out of the sewer and Tanaka follows after him.
“I know where we are,” Ranpo says,” We’re near the candy shop.”
Ranpo claps his hands excitedly.
“We can’t get candy right now,” Tanaka says.
Ranpo starts pouting.
A light seems to go off in Tanaka’s head and he asks,” Do you usually go to that candy shop after meeting with someone?”
Ranpo nods,” Mori.”
Ranpo’s face lights up, then he breaks into a run.
Tanaka follows closely behind.
The duo get several weird looks and whispers, but Ranpo doesn’t seem to notice.
He gets to the doorway of the candy shop, then looks around. He pushes Tanaka inside and shuts the door.
“Why is this place open if it says closed?” Tanaka asks.
“Hey, Ranpo,” the lady at the desk says.
“Hi,” Ranpo replies,” I need to get a message to Mori.”
“What do you want it to say?” she asks,” But I can’t guarantee that he’ll get it right now. Word is that he left the compound.”
“Fukuzawa must have already reached out to him,” Ranpo says,” Tell him that we’re here and waiting.”
She nods, then walks into the back of the store.
“Is this Mafia territory?” Tanaka asks.
Ranpo nods, then starts bouncing on his heels as he notices the smell of the sweets in the store.
She walks back out of the back and Tanaka walks over to the counter.
After a quiet word, she pulls out a cupcake and hands it to him. He hands her some money, then walks over and hands it to Ranpo.
Ranpo lights up and starts licking the frosting.
“Thank you,” Ranpo says,” I’m sorry if I bothered you earlier.”
Tanaka shrugs,” Not as much as my sister, so forget about it. Can we be friends?”
Ranpo nods,” I like friends, but I don’t have very many.”
“Well, now you have another one,” Tanaka says,” but don’t tell anyone because it will ruin my reputation.”
“What did you get suspended for?” Ranpo asks.
“I beat up a kid,” Tanaka answers,” but I won’t do that to you.”
“Thanks,” Ranpo replies,” but I wasn’t worried. Knowing what I know about your father and the way you obviously look up to him, you weren’t bullying the kid. Most likely defending yourself or somebody else.”
Tanaka rolls his eyes,” You are a know it all.”
“Thank you, I do know it all.”
A shot goes through the window and lands in Ranpo’s shoulder.
“What is it, Mori?” Fukuzawa asks.
“There was a shootout in one of the stores I launder money through, the one you always take your boy to,” Mori says,” The storekeeper is dead and there’s more blood that my people can’t determine who it belonged to, but once again there is no sign of your child. There is a half eaten cupcake…”
“And?”
“And it’s covered in blood,” Mori says,” If it was your child’s cupcake, he’s not doing well.”
Fukuzawa curses quietly,” Do you know who’s going after them?”
“Yes, I do now,” Mori answers,” It’s a small time group that’s been getting larger lately. They were actually my plans for this afternoon, so I’ve sent my team after them with a picture of Ranpo so they don’t shoot him.”
“Thank you, Mori,” Fukuzawa says.
“We should meet at the shop,” Mori says.
“Alright,” Fukuzawa says,” Is there anything else?”
He starts walking towards the candy shop, which is only a couple blocks away.
“A witness from outside put someone walking in with Ranpo, but they couldn’t accurately describe him. Do you know who that could be?”
“It’s probably Commissioner Tanaka’s son, Damian,” Fukuzawa answers,” He’s a troublemaker, but he seems genuinely harmless.”
After being dragged behind the counter, Ranpo watches Tanaka take the gun from under the counter and shoots both of the attackers with pinpoint accuracy. Ranpo takes his hand off of his injury and his hand is covered in blood.
He starts hyperventilating, so Tanaka looks at him.
“Don’t freak out,” he demands, then takes Ranpo’s jacket off.
The sharp pain snaps Ranpo out of his freak out.
Tanaka puts Ranpo’s jacket over his injury and says,” Put pressure on it.”
Ranpo holds the jacket down as Tanaka looks to see if there’s any more shooters.
“There doesn’t seem to be anybody else,” Tanaka says,” We have to get going.”
“There’s a tunnel that leads to… leads to one of the bases,” Ranpo replies.
“Bases?” Tanaka asks.
Ranpo gets up and heads towards the back.
Ranpo looks behind him to see Tanaka following him.
He pulls up the carpet with his good arm and opens the trapdoor. He points at it, so Tanaka starts climbing down the ladder. Ranpo follows suit.
“Where are we going?” Tanaka asks.
“The base,” Ranpo answers with a nod.
He loses his balance and runs into the wall.
“Easy,” Tanaka demands,” Are you still putting pressure on that wound?”
Ranpo nods,” There’s blood on the wall from my jacket.”
He starts walking again, but focusing more on his footing so he doesn’t lose his balance again.
“I wanna go home,” Ranpo whines.
Tanaka sighs,” Yeah, I’d also like to go home so I can change out of these clothes. They smell.”
“And I wanna take a shower,” Ranpo adds now that it’s been brought to his attention.
“Wow, I was asking for that one,” Tanaka replies.
“My shoulder hurts.”
“My brain hurts.”
“Like how?” Ranpo asks,” Like a headache or do you have a head injury?”
Tanaka blinks at him, then says,” Just a headache. You were complaining, so I was hoping that by complaining, you would stop.”
Ranpo pounders that for a moment, then huffs. He looks ahead again without a word.
After a couple of minutes, there’s the sound of footsteps.
Ranpo grabs Tanaka’s wrist and starts running. He looks behind them and there’s a shadow of a tall person coming around the corner, then looks back ahead of him and turns the last corner, finally seeing the door he’s looking for.
The door opens and Mori’s there.
Fukuzawa makes it to the candy shop as the Mafia is searching the shop.
“They can’t have been gone for more than twenty minutes,” one of them says to Fukuzawa,” The blood is still fresh.”
“The escape is open,” another one adds,” Once more people show up, we’ll start a search.”
“I’m going in,” Fukuzawa says,” Ranpo could be injured. Feel free to send people in once you can.”
He climbs down and starts heading for the Mafia’s safe house at the end of the tunnel.
“Ranpo!” he shouts as he walks.
He sees smeared blood on the wall and the tightness in his chest tightens. He stops calling to him and starts running. He sees what he thought was a shadow, but it’s gone when he turns the corner.
He hears the scream of the safe house’s door open and he hears Mori say,” Ranpo.”
Fukuzawa turns the final corner and sees Ranpo.
“Ranpo!”
Ranpo turns around and his face lights up. He runs over and throws his arms around Fukuzawa, then whimpers.
Fukuzawa pulls Ranpo away from him and looks at his shoulder, which is bleeding a little.
“We need to get you taken care of,” Fukuzawa says.
“Since I know that you won’t let me take care of him, I have another doctor on standby,” Mori says,” Let’s go.”
Once Ranpo gets bandaged up, he hugs Fukuzawa tightly.
Fukuzawa hugs him back. After a moment, he turns to Tanaka and asks,” Are you okay?”
Tanaka nods,” Is my dad okay?”
Fukuzawa checks his phone, then answers,” He got out of surgery and he’s recovering well.”
Tanaka smiles,” That’s great, but who’s the freak show?”
He points at Mori, who looks really offended.
“Not important,” Fukuzawa says,” Let’s get you to the hospital so you can see your father.”
Fukuzawa drives Ranpo and Tanaka to the hospital and Tanaka waves as he heads into the hospital.
Ranpo waves back.
“You aren’t going anywhere alone for a while,” Fukuzawa says.
“I don’t wanna,” Ranpo replies,” If you’re not available, neither am I.”
Fukuzawa nods,” Want to get food?”
Ranpo nods,” I haven’t eaten all day and I’m hungry.”
“Did you figure out who the killer was?” Fukuzawa asks.
“Of course,” Ranpo says,” You can send it in a text to the police so they can get the confession.