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Doppo considered himself a private person. He shared his achievements with his coworkers and friends as anybody would. Though, when it came to his personal life, he liked to keep it under wraps.
He didn't like sharing his personal relationships with just the regular person, much less sharing the start of an intimate relationship.
Doppo hadn't planned on coming out with it in a big announcement, that had clearly never been something he wanted. Of course, Bram had been fine with that, citing that he felt the same way.
It wasn't that he was hiding it. He just never saw the need to prance the knowledge to anybody who would lend an ear.
If anything, he was more surprised that nobody had noticed. It's not as if his engagement ring was a small thing. It just seemed everybody was too busy with their own days, and with their own selves.
Even so, he had been prepared for the day someone did happen to notice, and follow up with their questions.
Kenji had appeared by his side suddenly, and before Doppo could give him a greeting, the boy was already talking. "Mr. Kunikida! I never knew you liked jewellery!"
His pointer finger was directed towards his hand, which he was occupied by his laptop.
"I don't particularly enjoy jewellery, but it's my engagement ring." Doppo explained, tapping away on the keyboard.
There had been silence for approximately three seconds within the agency room, before a switch flipped.
" Engagement ring?! " Akiko's head shot up, her mouth was agape. Within the seconds of her exclamation, she'd already appeared right next to Kenji, grabbing his hand. "Oh my god, it totally is."
He pulled his hand away, nodding to her. "Yes?" He made no attempt to get back to his work, there was no chance of saving it. "I'm engaged."
The sudden hands on his shoulder made him jump, he glanced to the side, Osamu was looking particularly upset. Squinting at Doppo in judgement.
"Why did you not tell us?!" Osamu whined, grabbing Doppo's hand, staring intently at the piece of jewellery.
"I didn't know you were in a relationship." Kyouka blinked, leaning forward over her desk. "... It looks nice."
"Thank you, Kyouka." Doppo took his hand back from Osamu, he didn't need the man to gawk over it any further.
"Wait, you're in a relationship?" Junichirou frowned, standing right next to Kyouka, also leaning over the desk.
"Yes." He adjusted his glasses, which had slipped off his nose when Osamu grabbed onto him, "I am."
"Since when?!" Akiko shook her head, her hands slipping to his shoulders, lightly shaking him. "Please don't tell me you proposed to someone after she met like half of your ideals."
Raising a brow, Doppo shook his head. "It is against my ideals to marry an individual within days of meeting them."
"Wait wait, so you've been in a relationship for awhile?" Atsushi ogled, having just crossed the room. "Why didn't you say!"
"Did anybody know about this?" Junichirou looked around the room, at the resounding amounts of shaking heads, he spun around. "Did you ?"
"Of course I did." Ranpo said, leaning back at his desk, he looked bored. "I'm Ranpo Edogawa ! Why wouldn't I know?"
"I'm going to strangle you." Akiko stormed over to Ranpo, now shaking his shoulders, albeit more aggressively than she had done to Doppo moments prior. "You knew and didn't tell us?!"
"Doppo wears his engagement ring everyday." Ranpo sighed, pushing himself out of Akiko's hold. "Why are any of you surprised?"
"Everyday." Kyouka copied, staring back and forth from Ranpo and himself. "How long have you been engaged?"
"By now…" Doppo glanced at the calendar, "A month?"
"Holy shit." Akiko's face fell, and she spun around, heels clicking as she walked back over to his desk. "You didn't tell anybody! And long enough for you to get engaged ?"
"Yes?" Doppo nodded, "I saw no need in sharing my personal intimate relationships."
"Blah, blah– 'personal intimate relationships'" Osamu threw his fingers up in air quotes before slamming his hands on the desk. "How could you not tell anybody!"
"Your ring is pretty!" Kenji smiled, holding Doppo's hand, which was the third time that had happened within minutes.
"Thank you, Kenji." Doppo nodded, letting the teen stare blatantly at the jewellery.
"Who is she, do we know her?" Atsushi questioned, sat back down on his chair. "Did you propose?"
"I did not." Doppo admitted, in turn leaving out the identity part of the question.
"That ring looks nice." Kyouka said again, staring blankly. "Is she rich?"
Doppo blinked, "Pardon?"
She pointed at his ring finger, still stuck in the ever so inquisitive Kenji's hand. "The diamonds, they look real."
"They are real." He confirmed, staring at the ring. Bram had insisted on going all out, despite Doppo's concerns about the costs. He'd been reminded that the man was rich after he started bringing up prices of diamonds like they were books.
"Fuck!" Osamu clapped, looking amused all of a sudden, "What kind of rich woman would go for you of all people?"
"Thank you, Osamu." Doppo sighed, closing down his laptop. No way of getting out of this, he just had to succumb to the questions.
"If you do not introduce me to her by tomorrow…" Akiko breathed in, then out. Her expression looked dangerous. "I swear to god."
Her expression changed once again, after the snickering in the background could no longer be ignored. "Okay." She turned around, "Ranpo what are you laughing at?"
The man practically had tears in his eyes, as a single finger wiped the side of his eye. "Doppo, Doppo. Can I say it?"
Doppo sighed, shaking his head in exasperation. "Yes."
For a moment, Ranpo did not indulge anyone in on the secret, simply laughing to himself. He no longer looked bored.
"Spit it out!" Osamu urged, "Come on Ranpo!"
"I just think it's really funny that you think his fiancé is a woman." Ranpo grinned, and even wider when the shocked faces of the people around shined back at him.
"He's a man ?!" Atsushi stared, mouth so agape spiders could've come and went and made a whole web.
"I am bisexual, yes." Doppo nodded, he hadn't been expecting to come out this day, but the confession rolled off his tongue with ease, like it was normal.
"Wait– You are ? All of your relationship ideals mention women ! Never a man!" Osamu waved his hands around, before they slid down his face. He looked dejected. "...I can't believe I didn't know sooner."
"Number 58.5 mentions that being a woman is completely optional." Doppo amended, glancing at Osamu. The man looked increasingly horrified with himself.
"Oh forgive me for not reading every single ideal, god damn."
"You are forgiven.”
"That's not– nevermind." Osamu shook his head.
"Do we know him?" Kyouka asked, blinking innocently in his direction, digging for further information. Doppo wasn't entirely sure, actually.
"Of him, yes." Doppo answered, he was confident about that part. They all knew about Ranpo's chat and deal with Bram during the vampiric invasion.
"That doesn't tell us anything!" Complaining, Atsushi melted into his seat with a sigh. "What's his name?"
"How rich is he?" Akiko asked.
"Do you only care about his possible wealth?"
"If you're not going to tell us who he is then that's the least you can do!" She responded, with her arms crossed. Doppo glanced over towards where Ranpo was, and he saw Kenji whispering in his ear. No doubt digging for answers.
Ranpo met his gaze, a silent question, Doppo nodded. The next couple seconds came by very quickly, just like this. Ranpo whispered something into Kenji’s ear. Kenji’s eyes widened, then they turned into sparkles, like a star personally came and gifted him with the comedic display.
“Bram Stoker?!” Kenji exclaimed, looking quite surprised, before slamming his hands over his face. “Oops.”
Unlike before, there was only half a second before chaos broke out, and there was so much chatter all at once, Doppo couldn’t quite understand anything within all the shouting.
“The Lord of the Undead ?!” Junichirou waved his hands around, “From our conflict with the Decay Of Angels? That Bram Stoker?”
“That is who you’re thinking of, yes.” He nodded, it did sound quite bizarre when you laid it out like that, he admitted.
“Why the Lord of the Undead ?!” Osamu shook his shoulders, looking positively horrified.
“Why not?”
“We didn’t even know he existed until a couple months ago— oh my god we met him what? Four months ago? And you’re already getting married to him?” Akiko slammed her hand over her mouth, “You said you didn’t—”
“It was against my ideal time frame, but he was very persistent.” Doppo sighed, looking down at his own hand. They weren’t actually having a wedding for a very long time, wanting to have a longer engagement, considering the short span of their relationship.
“Where did you even have the time to meet him?” Atsushi wondered aloud, before suddenly looking very startled. “Wait, every time you left work for lunch and didn’t come back at your regular time…”
“Doppo you bastard .” Osamu hit his fist in his palm, “That’s where you were going? To meet this guy and now you’re engaged ?”
The door to the Agency opened slowly, bringing their attention towards the door. Doppo almost stood up to greet him, but Fukuzawa was already speaking.
“What’s this about an engagement?” Fukuzawa raised a brow, standing by the door as he closed it behind him.
“President! Doppo’s getting married and he didn’t tell anyone!” Kenji was by his side, waving his arms about, he sounded more enthusiastic about it than anybody else in the room.
“You’re engaged?” Yukichi asked, directing his attention to the blond. Brows knitted into a surprised expression. At Doppo’s nod, he returned the gesture with a small smile. “Congratulations then, Doppo.”
Then he walked off to his office. Opening. Entering. Closing. Then—
“Oh my god he just said ‘congratulations’ and then moved on!” Akiko’s arms flew up in the air, before landing on her chest in a crossed position. “And here I thought he’d be able to get some answers out of you.”
Doppo sighed, shaking his head. “If you wanted me to, I would be fine explaining how we met. Perhaps I could go into detail on his propo–”
“Yes!” — Was the majority response immediately after, and Doppo didn’t even get to complete his own sentence. He sighed into his chair, raising his hand to adjust his glasses. This would be a long story (even if it was only four months).