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One could not say that 221B Baker Street was not a lively place.
“Poe-kun!” Yosano yelled as she pulled a raccoon off the kitchen counter. “How many times have I told you not to let Karl into my specimens?!”
Poe peeked into the kitchen from the living room. “Why do you have specimens on the counter?” He asked before dodging Yosano’s glare. “Shouldn’t they be in the ice box?”
“Ranpo-kun said he needed a couple for…” Yosano trailed off as she looked at Poe’s confused expression. “He hasn’t even bothered to look at them, has he?”
“Or he took one look and figured out everything he wanted to know.” Poe offered, not showing the usual enthusiasm he normally showed at the thought of Ranpo’s Ultimate Deduction.
“Ah,” Yosano realized, “so he’s just been…”
“Bored…” A whine drifted through the air from the corner desk in the living room.
“Yes…” Poe picked up Karl as the raccoon tried to move past him to where Ranpo surely had treats.
“I thought you were working on a new mystery novel to distract him?”
“Well.” Poe was clearly flustered. “The papers had requested my account on our recent case, and I only finished that yesterday. And with the manuscript, I…” He looked away. “I’m working on it.”
“Writer’s block at a time like this.” Yosano sighed in sympathy and picked up the parcel she’d picked up on her way back from the clinic. “Ranpo-kun, I bought treats!”
“Yay!” Ranpo shot up from his seat and snatched the bag from her hand, quickly diving into the pastries she’d bought.
She frowned though. “I thought you were supposed to have a client today, too.”
“Not interested.” Ranpo rolled his eyes and went back to his desk to leaf through the letters sitting there.
Poe sighed. “She had simply misplaced her necklace, so I handled it. The chain was broken and it had fallen into the folds of her pocket the entire time.”
“See?” Ranpo waved a hand at him, his mouth still full. “It didn’t even take Poe ten minutes to figure it out! It would’ve been a waste of the talents of a great detective like myself!”
“Of course.” Yosano sighed as she racked her brain for a decent distraction for Ranpo. “Nothing from Mushitarou-kun? Or Dazai-kun and Chuuya-kun?”
Despite turning over a new leaf, Mushitarou, given his connections and ability to cover up crime, could often pick up on cases and work that the police might brush off or not notice any subterfuge. He usually brought them to Ranpo’s attention as a way to make up for his past crimes, even as he still toed the line with his new work.
In a similar vein, Dazai and Chuuya used to be criminals too, though even Ranpo would be hard-pressed to find the evidence of it due to their skills and Dazai’s thoroughness in covering their tracks. Their feats were the stuff of legends, and during their reign, London’s underground had trembled before their combined might. Though no one could ever prove it.
However, they’d mostly retired from that life unless necessary. They’d taken over and started running one of the orphanages near the ports. It was one of the safest places in London for a child in need of a home, and one of the few places that wasn’t a complete scam. Dazai still acted as an informant though, both through his connections and whatever their kids picked up. And Chuuya was often willing to be hired for protection or other physical tasks and had friends all over who’d be willing to help any friend of his. For the sake of the orphans in their care, they kept a close eye on the underground, on stand-by should their devastating partnership need to once more raise its head and rip any danger to pieces.
So they too directed anything of note towards Ranpo and Poe if they didn’t want to deal with it themselves.
“No, they would’ve sent Atsushi-kun or Akutagawa-kun if anything had come up.” Poe pointed out.
“I want a murder.” Ranpo pouted as he pulled out another pastry. “Can’t you find me a nice one?”
“I don’t know of any murders at the moment and I’m not murdering anyone.” Yosano rolled her eyes. “And even then —” Her voice cut out as her eyes narrowed at Ranpo. “Wait, is that the special strawberry tart I bought for myself?”
Ranpo froze for a moment, said tart already halfway to his mouth, but he did not put it down. “It was still in the bag.”
“That’s not — Ranpo-kun, give it here!”
“Oh, dear.” Poe and Karl retreated back towards the door as Yosano tackled Ranpo in an attempt to get her pastry back, leading to the two fighting over it while trying not to smush it. He knew he couldn’t get them to stop once they got started.
Luckily, there was someone who could.
“Ahem.”
Yosano and Ranpo halted in their tracks and abruptly looked up at the small cough. They shot to their feet, brushing themselves off and setting down the contested tart.
“Fukuzawa-sensei!”
“Boss!”
“Not your boss, just your landlord.” Fukuzawa sighed, though Poe thought he’d be used to it by now. “Anyway, what are you two doing?”
Yosano and Ranpo exchanged looks like guilty children being caught misbehaving by their parents. “Nothing.” They said at the same time.
“I see.” Fukuzawa didn’t call them on it. “And why isn’t your doorbell working?”
“Ah.” Ranpo instantly knew what he was talking about. “The new doorbell kept scaring Poe-kun, so I disabled it.”
“Aww.” Poe was clearly touched by Ranpo’s actions to help ensure his comfort.
Fukuzawa not so much. “I see.” He sighed again. “I’ll try to find a less startling doorbell.”
“Why’d you bring that up though?” Yosano wondered out loud. After all, why had he even known about it?
“You have a guest, and he came knocking on my door when you wouldn’t answer.” Fukuzawa stepped to the side to allow the other through.
“Ranpo-san.” Inspector Kunikida greeted as he walked through the door, taking off his hat. “It seems we need the assistance of the Master Detective once more.”
Ranpo squinted at him. Then a grin broke out across his face. “A murder?”
Kunikida sighed, resigned. “Yes.”
“Confusing or unusual?”
“The doors and windows were locked, but there’s also nothing she could’ve killed herself with.”
“Oh ho!” Ranpo hopped about gathering his things. “Now, we’re talking!”
“Ah, perhaps this will be the inspiration I need for my new manuscript.” Poe went to get his coat. “I suppose we’ll see who solves it first, Ranpo-kun.” The normally shy man had his own grin on his face as he challenged Ranpo with a look.
“I’ll win like usual!” Ranpo confidently asserted, already rushing out the door with Poe and Karl right behind him. Then he poked his head back inside. “Yosano-san! Make sure to bring your bag of tools!”
“Yes, yes!” Yosano rolled her eyes, but her tone was undeniably fond as she grabbed both her doctor’s bag and her bag of tools. Then she followed the other two out.
Leaving behind, of course, the only person who knew where they were all going.
“Never a dull moment, huh sir?” Kunikida wryly said as he fixed his hat back upon his head.
“No, certainly not.” Fukuzawa agreed as he was left as the last person standing in 221B.
Certainly, one could say that 221B Baker Street was perhaps one of the liveliest homes in all of London.
But no one would rather have it any other way.