Chapter Text
What does it mean to be ‘normal’? Society would say it means that one is able to understand ridiculous social rules that are never openly spoken about—like some written manual that everyone seems to have gotten. ‘Normal’ is someone who would rather lie or keep quiet than to reveal the very obvious truth. ‘Normal’ is someone who blindly follows what everyone else says or does without a purpose. ‘Normal’ is the practiced art of performances—to cloak indifference in courtesy, to nod at such senseless things, to treat boredom as something impolite to reveal. ‘Normal’ is a negotiated existence, shaped less by who a person is and more who they are allowed to be, it is where standing out is equated to error of existence. However, is there really such a thing as normal? Or is it simply another elaborate lie society created to well-
Oh hell! Who even knows why anymore? This world is far too confusing to understand. So confusing in fact that it causes Ranpo to spiral for hours and hours on end, unable to talk to anyone about it—except Fukuzawa when he was younger—because absolutely no one would understand. At least…. that’s what he thought until he met a particularly interesting criminal 6 years ago—a tall young man with fluffy dark hair that was styled in a ponytail, his bangs covering one of his eyes—which were marvelously burning with passion and what seemed to be something deeper too. The man wore a plain, white long sleeve shirt with a cream colored vest and some dark brown pants. In all honesty he looked pretty strange and did not at all fit the social standards of “normal”. Which had intrigued Ranpo a bit, wondering if the man too was a social outcast.
However, that’s not all that had intrigued Ranpo—it was the man’s ability.
The young man’s ability seemed to be able to transport readers into the setting of any mystery novel, specifically any murder mystery novel he wrote.
6 years ago Ranpo had been challenged by the man to an “investigation competition”—which for some reason he had decided to accept….
—
“What do you say? Will you take the challenge?”
The man before Ranpo spoke in an overconfident almost eerie tone. Ranpo hadn’t been so interested in the “challenge” as it was a simple mystery novel that had just been handed to him. What did the young man take him for? A fool? A simple minded creature with absolutely no common sense? It was almost insulting.
(How is a simple mystery novel anything even close to being called a challenge? It’s so simple even a 5 year old child would be able to solve it within a matter of minutes.)
“Booooring! You really think some measly mystery novel could possibly be a challenge for me?”
—“The greatest detective in the world?”
Ranpo had mocked the young man’s challenge in the loud—and often obnoxious to others—voice that he always carried himself with—a bad habit that he had developed from too much praise.
(or probably as a facade to hide his unwavering insecurities and self-doubt).
“Well if you’re so smart then I see it no problem for you to take the challenge, right?”
“Of course, unless…. you’re bluffing”
The young man’s tone was teasing and challenging. His mouth curved into a small smirk as he added that last comment. He was trying to get under Ranpo’s skin—and it was working.
“Nonesense! I’ll show you just how great I am!”
Ranpo snatched the book from the young man’s hands with a slight pout and frustration at being underestimated yet again—he’ll show the man just how wrong he was!
As soon as Ranpo opened the book it omitted a bright golden glow that blinded him, causing him to look away despite his eyes already being tightly shut.
(Ranpo had never liked bright lights as he found them extremely damaging to his eyes and quite frankly overwhelming)
Before he knew it he was outside someone’s home, it was night, seemed to be around 4 o clock, however it was still dark as midnight outside. He looked around trying to analyze the situation he was in—there were 2 other people next to him—police officers he deduced from the uniform they had on. He looked down at himself only to realize that he too had the same uniform that the other 2 men had. One of the police officers knocked on the door and a few seconds later the door opened and there stood before them a seemingly calm man.
“Hello sir, apologies for the disturbance this late, but a neighbor reported hearing a shriek during the night, so we have been deputed to further investigate.” Declared one of the officers.
—Quickly Ranpo figured out what was going on, he had to solve this mystery before he himself became the victim.
“Oh my apologies, that shriek was my own. I was having a nightmare and I guess I accidentally screamed in my dreams.”
The man explained with a sheepish smile.
“The old man is currently not home as he has gone on a short trip to the country, but please come in and I'll show you around the place.”
The man stepped aside allowing entry to Ranpo and the officers. His smile warm and welcoming as if he had absolutely nothing to hide. Once they entered the home a wave of uneasiness fell upon Ranpo, except he couldn’t exactly pinpoint why—the house seemed relatively normal. In fact it was pretty clean, with pictures, and painting, and antique furniture all placed neatly in a way that made the home feel cozy.
He took them on a small tour of the house, first showing them the living room, then the kitchen, the dining area, the bathroom, and a small guest room. Ranpo inspected all of these places carefully looking for any slight hint that something had happened, a blood stain, scratched or broken objects, etc, but he found absolutely nothing out of place. Next up, The man led them to the old man’s bedroom where he showed them all of the old man’s treasures—a watch, some cash, a few gold items, and a small ring that looked to be of high value. Nothing seemed to be missing or out of place.
“As you can see everything is within its place, there is absolutely nothing to worry about”
“As a matter of fact, it’s so late at night, I bet all of you must be absolutely exhausted! Rest here I will bring some chairs for you guys to rest”
The man gave no indication of being nervous, in fact he seemed quite calm and even friendly—overly friendly. This only further raised Ranpo’s suspicions, but he had to find some evidence of the old man’s murder.
Where could the man have hid the body?
The man soon brought out four chairs. He placed three near the door—one for each of them—and one for himself right in front of them.
The man and the two other officers engaged in some friendly chatter, while Ranpo stayed silently observing the man and his own surroundings. The conversation was extremely boring and quite bland to Ranpo—he has always hated small talk with a deep passion, it is the vain of his existence. He’s always felt that way about small talk, even as a child—he would get in trouble for cutting others off, saying the conversation was too boring or simply walking away from the person or people that were talking to him.
I mean it’s so pointless right? I don’t care about the weather, your family, or anything as meaningless as your day! Why! Just why do people talk about such meaningless stuff? And worst of all, why do they pretend to care? Or is it simply I who doesn’t care? I’m not trying to be rude or anything, I'd just rather talk about more interesting topics. I just don’t get it! I mean why does society have so many unspoken rules about how to follow a conversation? I just don’t get it. Is there really any sense to all of this? I know Fukuzawa said otherwise, but maybe-
Ranpo takes a deep breath focusing back on the mission at hand as he realizes that he is starting to spiral—not the most appropriate time for that. As the years have passed, and especially after he met Fukuzawa, Ranpo has learned not to spiral as much—it’s simply because of his ability—however despite this he still has his moments where he questions exactly what is wrong with him, and why? Why only him? “It’s just his ability” is what he tells himself, but….is that really the reason?
He continues to observe the man for any slight hint of nervousness or something that could reveal the man’s true identity—nothing. After a while however, Ranpo noticed the man’s face was getting slightly pale and he noticed the increasing discomfort the man was starting to face. Why only now though? The signs weren’t that noticeable—at least not to the normal person, but Ranpo could easily see them as if they were flashing red lights on the man. The man’s talking was still fluent, but his voice became heightened and he started talking quicker—almost as if he wanted us gone. At last though, the other two police officers did not seem to notice this as they were still happily chatting about random things.
The man let out a desperate gasp, as if reaching for air, which Ranpo pretended not to notice.
“Ah well yes, I have got work in the morning”
This seemingly innocent comment made by the man did not pass by Ranpo—he was trying to subtly tell them to leave.
He was starting to break
Ranpo took out his glasses that were very conveniently transported along with him into the book. He gave a quick flick at his wrist to open them and then put them on. The glasses fit his face perfectly—of course they did, they were designed for him. Quickly he started observing everything around him—including the man’s mannerisms, every breath he took, and slight movement—just a little longer.
Bingo!
“Well we’ll be on our way” Ranpo says calmly as he stands up slightly stretching about to leave.
He could see the man visibly relax a bit as he thought he had won.
“Just one more quick question though”
Ranpo grins, a mischievous look in his eyes.
“How did you manage to place the floorboards so perfectly after hiding the body?”
The man rises from his chair and freezes, his eyes widening as he tries to come up with an excuse. The other police officers look at Ranpo like he’s lost his mind.
“W-whatever do y-you mean?” The man starts defensively.
“What are these bizarre acussa-”
“Oh skip the theatrics, you’ve been caught”
Ranpo says unamused, cutting the man off as he walks over to where the man was sitting, moves the chair, and tears off three floorboards revealing the dismembered corpse of the old man.
The last thing Ranpo hears as he is teleported back is the agitated screams of the man.
“WHY WON’T THE BEATING OF HIS HIDEOUS HEART STOP!?”
—
Ranpo teleports back to reality absolutely ecstatic, he had never seen such an interesting ability. He looks in front of him where the young man was standing, absolutely stunned as he drops to his knees in defeat. However, despite managing to make it out of the mystery novel Ranpo didn't see it as a win for himself. In fact it was the only time another detective’s ability managed to give him chills. When Ranpo looked at the young man all he saw was the man’s overwhelming potential. An ability so great that not just anyone could be able to manage it let alone utilize it—it’d have to be someone intelligent, someone calculating, someone like him. But did he actually just find someone who could understand him—someone who wouldn’t look at him weirdly or like he was from a completely different planet? Ranpo was sure that in a few years the man would even be able to get close to defeating him—obviously only get close as no one would ever be able to actually defeat Ranpo.
“W-what, b-b-but how! No one has ever been able to defeat me. Not once….in my life”
The young man stuttered in utter disbelief. This was the first time someone had ever managed to beat him, and so easily too.
“Well, that’s easy to answer! I am The world’s greatest detective ”
Ranpo said confidently with a grin of excitement. He was about to ask more about the young man, however, once Ranpo had finished introducing himself and looked up the young man was gone.
—
Poe hated that man—no hate was too insufficient of a word to describe it. Detested, loathed, despised and if language allowed for something harsher, still, Poe would have found it. He knew such words existed—he was a writer after all. However, even the mere thought of that man stirred something rotten in his chest and filled him with a visceral abhorrence that clung to him like the smell of smoke. His hatred was not a passing emotion but an unquenchable fire that consumed him, slowly, relentlessly, from the inside out. Poe absolutely hated Edogawa Ranpo
Poe’s hatred for him was so overwhelmingly intense that it drove him to insanity—which led him down a 6 year rabbit hole of intense hatred, obsession, and depression.
6 years ago he had been defeated and absolutely humiliated by the so-called greatest detective in the world, Ranpo Edogawa.
—
“Of course, unless….you're bluffing”
Poe was starting to get slightly irritated by the detective’s cocky, almost arrogant attitude. However, simply from the past few minutes of knowing the detective, Poe guessed he was most likely the type of person who hated being underestimated—so he knew calling his so-called great ability a bluff would get him to immediately take the challenge—Poe was right.
“Nonesense! I’ll show you just how great I am!”
And just like that the detective took the book falling into Poe’s trap. As the detective opened the book Poe’s ability was activated—the book emitted a bright golden glow causing the detective to turn away as he's teleported into the story. The book landed on the ground with a slight thud and Poe picked it up—all that was left to do was wait until Poe could no longer hear the detective’s heartbeat from the book. Which Poe was ever so confident that would happen within the next hour or so. The detective had been so confident that it got on Poe’s nerves, he could just imagine it now—the look on the detective's face when he realized that he was unable to solve the mystery and free himself.
Poe waited—keeping his eyes on the book as he stayed there sat against a brick wall. While waiting Poe decided to use his time wisely and pulled out his unfinished novel along with a pen. He had been experiencing some writer’s block recently so it took him a good five minutes before writing down a single word. However, before he even got one sentence in he scratched it out—it didn’t seem good enough, but he just couldn’t get the right words written down. Writer's block was not something Poe was unfamiliar with, given his ability and passion, but it was still a huge inconvenience and something that made him feel vexed. He had an idea of what he wanted to write—like the words were trapped but he had no key to free them from their cage.
Poe continued to try writing something—anything, but after 15 minutes of just staring at a half blank paper unable to write something down he decided to put his unfinished novel away. He would finish it later—once he no longer had writer's block—once he got some more inspiration. Or so he told himself. Instead he decided to just relax while he waited for the heartbeat of the detective in the book to come to a stop—actually it had already taken a bit longer than usual to stop, however this did not concern Poe since the story he had written wasn’t meant to kill off the person until way later in the story. However, having nothing to do Poe was left alone with nothing but his thoughts to keep him busy—scary.
Why am I even doing this? What am I trying to prove? Ha, I guess Father was right, only thing I’ll ever be is a murderer. I never was good at anything other than writing, but with my ability no one will ever be able to enjoy my books without dying in the end. I guess that’s fine. That’s the curse that this unusual ability has bestowed upon me. I am cursed to forever be alone—and to forever be feared by others. Inhumane they’ve always called me. I remember my family used to call me the devil’s child—they never considered me family simply a burden in their life that they could not get rid of in fear that I'd hurt others with my ability. However, some part of me still holds on to the hope that one day I'll find someone that isn’t afraid of me or my ability—because we are two separate things. Or at least I wish that were true. On second thought that is a foolish hope—someone like me will never be loved by anyone. Or….is it really a-
Suddenly the book in his hands (the one the detective was in) omitted a golden glow that slightly blinded Poe and cut him off from his thoughts and out came the detective—alive. No! It couldn’t be—it wasn’t possible. There was just absolutely no way that the detective had managed to beat him? Did his ability glitch? How just how? In his whole lifetime no one had ever been able to beat Poe—once they were in his book they were practically already considered dead, so how?
Poe dropped to his knees in defeat glaring at the detective with pure hatred. His eyes were burned with a fierce, unyielding hatred—dark bottomless wells of hatred. However, besides the obvious hatred, his eyes were empty—souless. The detective had just taken his only reason for living—if he wasn’t even good enough for the one and only thing he has ever been adequate for, was there really any reason at all for him to live? After the initial shock that left him speechless Poe stuttered some words in disbelief which led the detective to start introducing himself—his name was Edowaga Ranpo.
“Now you’re probably wondering just how it’s possible that I managed to escape your novel” Ranpo stated confidently as if he knew exactly what Poe was thinking—no, he probably did know.
“Well that’s thanks to my brilliant ability that allows me to instantly uncover the truth of any situation, Ultra deduction”
An ability? That’s how Ranpo had managed to beat Poe? It almost seemed like cheating. Unbelievable, Poe needed to prove he was better than some detective with an ability like that. Ranpo was still rambling on and on about how amazing his ability was and who he was, but Poe didn’t care he got up and ran far far away, his thoughts all a huge mess of pure rage and desperation.
I have to beat him next time! No, I will beat him. I have to. Not only will I beat him, I'll kill him. He needs to die. He will die no matter what—I will make sure of it. I shall not be humiliated like this ever again. No not ever again. I will prove that I am good enough—at least for this. Edowaga Ranpo will die!
“He will die!”
Poe shouted that last part consumed by rage and the humiliation of being defeated—he was absolutely set on killing Ranpo no matter what. He was willing to do anything and everything to make sure of it. And so began his 6 year obsession with killing the world’s greatest detective. During those six years he fell down a rabbit hole of depression and a parasite-like obsession that fed off his mind, growing stronger each time and pulling him further and further away from reality to the point he questioned his own sanity and existence. It became the catalyst for everything he did and his sole purpose for living. He spent hours a day writing a novel he was sure would put a stop to even someone as “great” as the world’s greatest detective himself.
He even joined a criminal organization called “The Guild” in order to meet Ranpo again and challenge him yet again—but this time it would be different, this time he would win. When he joined he didn’t care about the leader, Francis’, motive, but if it meant getting closer to his own goal he would do anything asked of him. However, once he got to know everyone it wasn’t too bad, there were a lot of people there like him—people that were discarded and hated on by society simply because of their ability. There was one particular girl he met called Lucy who he saw as a little sister. Poe wasn’t exactly sure why but he figured it was because she reminded him of himself. She was alone and feared by others simply because of her ability, Anne of Abyssal Red. Her ability allowed her to create a pocket dimension called Anne’s room that traps targets, featuring a powerful doll Anne to chase and imprison them in a secret room, while also granting her limited time manipulation and teleportation within the dimension. It was a very interesting yet frightening ability which caused others to isolate themselves from her, but once Poe started talking to her he realized she was just a normal teenage girl—with a lot of attitude—that just wanted someone to talk to and understand her. At first she was very defensive and untrusting towards Poe, but eventually they managed to form a close bond with each other and even went on some missions together.
—
The day had finally come, The Guild had just landed in Yokohama a few weeks ago and had put their plan into motion. Of course, as Master Architect Poe was tasked with mapping out and calculating several things along with Alcott—which he didn’t mind much since it only led him closer to challenging Ranpo to another battle of intellect. In addition the reason that he had been put in that particular rank was because as Francis had put it when first recruiting him, “He had the potential to be a valuable asset to The Guild by utilizing his ability and keen intelligence to strategize operations and lead them to success.” At last though, not everything was going exactly as expected—he had heard from other members that the Detective Agency and the Port Mafia had apparently teamed up and had already managed to defeat many Guild Members. He had also heard that Lucy had betrayed the Guild and let the tiger boy she was supposed to stop escape. As delighted as Poe was that she had finally made a decision on her own free will for once he knew the unfortunate outcome that awaited her for the betrayal if the Guild succeeded in this battle—death. He could try to negotiate some sort of agreement with Francis to lighten her punishment instead of straight up killing her, but he knew that the outcome of that would be fruitless. It was quite a shame, and in all honesty it saddened Poe more than he would ever admit—even to himself—after all, Lucy had been like a younger sister to him. Regardless of his own inner conflict though he didn’t have much time to ponder on it, as he had to get his own plan in motion—killing Edowaga Ranpo.
He had specifically designed this plan so that he would be the one to face off against Ranpo. The plan was simple, in order to completely stop the Detective Agency they only had to take out the heart of the body, which happened to be Ranpo. First Poe would lure the detective in with some sort of invitation with an address to his house—well more like his mansion. Based on Poe’s previous interaction with Ranpo he calculated that he would immediately take the challenge and come to the address left for him. And finally he would be sucked into Poe’s novel that he had been preparing for the past few years and just like that Ranpo would cease to exist. The plan was practically flawless.
Poe decided that now was the perfect time to start his plan. Poe knew that he had to provide Ranpo with some sort of incentive for taking the challenge, after all Poe knew the detective only took challenges that seemed worth his time. The Detective Agency must be desperately looking for a way to infiltrate the Moby Dick given the recent events, thus Poe decided to do something reckless and quite frankly unwise—he decided he’d make a folder with The Guild’s weakness and information on how to capture the Moby Dick as a way to convince Ranpo to take the challenge. Poe had not gotten permission to or even bothered to inform Francis about this “small” detail, as he didn’t really care about Fracis’ goal, he had merely done his bidding in order to pursue his own goal. However, if this were to go south and the Agency managed to actually get their hands on the folder—Poe was a dead man. He didn’t really care much about that though as he didn’t really value his own life, but that would mean Ranpo would have won and he couldn't let that happen, he wouldn’t be humiliated once again.
Thus Poe began to write the invitation for Ranpo with Karl—a raccoon he had adopted a few years ago after finding him abandoned and injured—on his shoulders. (Poe had never really been fond of people, but he loved animals. They filled his loneliness without the need for social interaction which he despised so much. In fact, as weird as it may have seemed to others, Poe would often talk to Karl—mostly about his hatred for Ranpo and his crippling depression; the poor raccoon was forced to listen to it on the daily. It was fine though as it was all compensated with all the snacks that Poe would buy him every week.)
“To Edowaga Ranpo, Invitation to a deduction game.”
He wrote on a black business card with a gold border, in gold text and then proceeded to mail it to the Detective Agency’s address.
Next he wrote a riddle that he knew that for ordinary people would be quite difficult to solve, however, for Ranpo? Poe expected him to only take around 10 seconds to solve it. Either way, Poe decided to include it as a simple warm up to what he really had planned and tapped it right to his door. And so concluded the first step of his plan, all he had to do now was wait.
—
Ranpo was spinning in his chair, completely avoiding all of his work—as he usually does—as he was so bored with absolutely nothing interesting to do. To his luck though, Yosano approached him with a small card in her hand.
“Ranpo, this was dropped off for you”
Yosano spoke as she was still walking to his desk with her hand stretched out to hand Ranpo the card.
Ranpo took it and read its contents out loud.
“To Edowaga Ranpo, Invitation to a deduction game”
On the back it had an address which Ranpo took an interest in.
“Seems like it’s from the Guild, they want to challenge me to some deduction game! Hah! As if anyone would ever beat me” Ranpo announced with a grin on his face and a cocky tone.
“So are you going to go?” Yosano asked with a curious look on her face.
“Of course I am! I’m bored and obviously I have to show them just how great I am and that challenging me was a grave mistake. Plus it’s a reason to get out of the office.”
Ranpo responded to her question as he was already getting out of his chair and heading for the door eagerly.
“Hold on now, I’ll come with you, It might be a trap- no, it’s definitely a trap. If anything happens I’d rather be there with you than not.”
Yosano responded hesitantly as she went to grab her bag and caught up to Ranpo, who had just responded with “alright, I need someone to take me there anyways” and continued to walk out of the building, impatient to check out the challenge.
Once they arrived at the location they saw that it was in fact a mansion, which seemed like it costed a fortune. The mansion was painted with black and grey colors from the outside, with gothic-like decorations to it; despite its dark and eerie appearance to it though, it didn’t look like some old unkept haunted house, but instead like a lavish mansion that you would have found in the medieval era. Once they entered the place they caught sight of walls that were covered in multiple different paintings that looked to be worth at least 10 thousand dollars each. The floor seemed to be made of hardwood and it had a deep crimson red carpet that led to a staircase with golden railings. There was quite a lot to see in the mansion but before Ranpo and Yosano could fully take in its appearance and unique beauty they spotted some arrows that led them up the staircase. They followed the arrows passing by multiple different hallways, each lined with quite a few doors for different rooms—if it weren’t for the arrows they definitely would have gotten lost in this place. Finally, the arrows stopped once they reached a long hallway that was lined with arched windows that allowed you to take in the beautiful garden outside. Yosano and Ranpo proceeded to walk through the long hallway till they reached a door with a lock and a paper taped to the door—it seemed to be some sort of riddle.
“I guess he wants you to fill in the blanks, not that I have any idea.”
Yosano pointed out with a shrug as Ranpo began to examine the paper for a minute before smirking, letting out a slight chuckle, and grabbing his glasses.
“Yosano-San, do you have a pen?”
Asked Ranpo as Yosano reached into her pocket before taking out a pen and handing it to him.
—
At last after what felt like a whole hour of waiting Poe finally saw the door open and there, right before him stood a man wearing a dark grey blazer, a white button up with a light blue stripped tie, brown three-quarter length pants, white socks that seemed to go a bit below his knees, black shoes, a brown inverness cape which he draped over his shoulders, and a brown detective style hat. The man was without a doubt the same one that had humiliated him all those years ago—Ranpo Edowaga. Behind him though, there seemed to be someone else Poe didn’t recognize. It was a woman with straight dark hair cut into a bob with bangs. She wore a white button up blouse with puffy sleeves that stopped at her mid-forearms and she had a black tie too. Her shirt was tucked into a plain black skirt that reached just above the knee with black tights, she had on black gloves, and had a golden butterfly hairpin on the left side of her head. Poe assumed this might be a friend—or colleague of Ranpo, he didn’t mind anyways, since the outcome would be the same. He would kill Ranpo and finally get the recognition he deserved.
“It’s been a long time Ranpo-Kun, It seems you were able to solve the riddle at the entrance, ah I’d expect no less from you.”
Poe had Karl on his shoulders and was now looking back at Ranpo with a mischievous smile as he had been waiting for this exact moment for a long time.
Ranpo walked up to Poe as he took off his glasses.
“Alright, well now I just have one question. Who are you?”
Poe stared at the man in disbelief, he had spent 6 years completely devoted to beating this man after their last encounter and he didn’t even remember him?
“Eh?? All I’ve done these past few years was so that I could challenge you again and you don’t even remember me?”
Oh well, no point dwelling on it now, as long as I accomplish my goal
Poe thought before beginning to introduce himself.
“I am Edgar Allan Poe, 6 years ago you defeated me in a-”
Poe was suddenly cut off
“Your rant bores me to death, I’m going home now”
Responded Ranpo with a bored expression as he began to turn around and head for the exit. Which Poe quickly spoke up to stop him
“Wait! This is a detectives game, read this mystery novel and-”
“One point docked!” exclaimed Ranpo with the same bored tone as before, but at least he had walked back to Poe’s desk.
Just what is this guy doing? He’s taking points now??
Poe thought getting slightly irritated but, well he couldn’t exactly say this isn’t what he expected given his previous interaction with Ranpo.
“I expected you to say that so how about I sweeten the deal? If you win I’ll hand over the Guild’s weaknesses and how to capture the Moby Dick.”
Poe proposed as he slid a vanilla folder across his desk. At this both Ranpo and the woman’s interest peaked.
“One point” Ranpo announced as he took another step towards the desk.
“But why?” He questioned
“Well I have absolutely no interest in the Guild’s motives and goals, since I only used them to achieve my own, however, I believe that fascinating ability of yours should be studied, don’t you agree?”
Poe knew that complementing Ranpo would work, he had already deduced a long time ago that the man liked praise and attention.
“Five points granted!”
Ranpo exclaimed as he snatched the book from the desk and sat down to read it—Yosano soon followed, reading over his shoulder. Poe began the narrative and not long after both people were sucked into the book as it emitted a faint golden glow.
Poe was beyond ecstatic! There was absolutely no way they would be able to get out of this one. It was practically a guaranteed win for him.
All that was left to do was wait, the minute the 2 people entered the mystery novel Poe could hear two heartbeats. And so he proceeded to wait, almost impatiently as he was 100% sure he had finally won against Ranpo, afterall he had written the novel so that no abilities could work while in it. This means that Ranpo would be unable to use his ultra-deduction ability making it impossible for him to solve the mystery! While he waited he decided to pay some attention to Karl as the raccoon seemed to be begging for his attention as he pawed at Poe, thus the man decided to humor him and carefully placed him in his arms and started to pet him. His fur felt soft and had almost no tangles as Poe spent most of his money on his raccoon and made sure to take the utmost care for him.
After what felt like at least 3 hours Poe started to hear one of the heartbeats getting slower and slower—the woman's heartbeat he assumed—causing Poe to gently put the raccoon down and sit at the edge of his seat paying all his attention to the heartbeat. Finally after about a minute it stopped.
This was it….Poe had finally done it. He had finally beat Edowaga Ranpo! Based on how Poe wrote the story it shouldn't be long before the protagonist—Ranpo—kills himself. There was absolutely no way Ranpo would be able to figure it out in that short amount of time.
Is this it? Have I finally done it!? After all these years I have finally reached my one goal in life. My purpose has been fulfilled and I can finally get the recognition I so rightfully deserve!
“HAHA I HAVE FINALLY DONE IT I HAVE FINALLY KILLED THE SO CALLED GREATEST DETECTIVE IN THE WORLD! HAHAHAHA I HAVE FINALLY DON-”
Just as he was celebrating, a golden glow came out from the book and in front of him appeared Ranpo and the woman.
“We’re back!” Ranpo declared, grinning.
“W-what but how!? There was no possible way you could have figured that out!?”
Poe’s mind was now racing how was it possible that Ranpo had managed to solve the mystery novel if there was no abilities allowed in the-
That was it. Poe’s eyes widened in realization—Ranpo didn’t have an ability. The detective was simply that smart. No—he clearly remembered Ranpo boasting about his ability. Unless—Poe analyzed all his previous interactions with the man, and suddenly it all made sense. Ranpo had no ability, everyone knew that, possibly even Ranpo himself. It was simply a coping mechanism that someone had made for Ranpo in order to help him deal with the fact that he was so undeniably different from others. Even if false, having an ability provided at least an explanation for it, so it was easier to live in that lie than face the truth.
Poe just couldn’t believe it. Everything he’s worked for, lived for, the past 6 years all for nothing. Killing Ranpo has been his catalyst for everything he has done in the past 6 years. All those sleepless nights, the rabbit holes of hatred—for Ranpo, for hismelf—that he had fallen down over and over again and again, and AGAIN! He poured every fragment of his mind and his soul into it. He gave every last shred of himself—he bled himself dry to kill the detective until there was nothing left of him. He worked himself past exhaustion, past burnout, past the point where his efforts even felt meaningful—he even began to question why he was doing all of this, every time, his mind came to a blank. Despite this though he persisted, every breakdown, every crumpled and tossed page, every crossed out word, it was a reminder and proof of his devotion—and a reminder of his limits. And yet, none of it was enough. He wasn’t and never will be enough, this was his limit—and yet it still wasn’t even close to being enough. Poe thought he could just vanish right then and there. With his failure and no motive to live left he felt so empty—and maybe a bit relieved—like a lost soul just wandering around with absolutely no purpose in life.
He couldn’t even bring himself to hate Ranpo anymore. The man had no ability, yet he still managed to beat Poe. To be honest it was really quite admirable. The man was simply on a completely different level—far beyond Poe.
“It was honestly quite entertaining, you only made one mistake, which was challenging me”
“The story and the complexity of it was written much more beautifully this time though, I see you have improved. However, it seems you have met your match.”
Ranpo spoke calmly for once while walking to Poe’s desk and grabbing the file—which Poe was definitely going to get killed for, not like it mattered anymore though.
Suddenly Poe realized something and lifted his head in surprise to look at Ranpo.
“Wait, you remember our battle from 6 years ago?”
“Well of course, why would I ever forget a case I solved? Especially one that was as interesting as yours.”
“It was the first and last time another detective’s ability gave me chills”
Ranpo spoke like he was reminiscing about having fun hanging out with friends.
“I really look forward to seeing what you have for me in your next challenge though. Make sure to put your best foot forwards as I have high expectations for it”
And with that the detective and the woman left, leaving Poe to think.
—
It wasn’t long after his encounter with Ranpo that Poe found out that Francis had been defeated, thus the Guild was no more. Poe didn’t really care much about such matters though, after all the only reason he joined it was to challenge Ranpo again—which he did, just not how he expected. He didn’t really have any business left here in Japan, so he was contemplating just returning to America. He still had quite a lot of money to last him 3 life times, so he wouldn’t really need to worry about that. However, he really had no purpose anymore, he was defeated by Ranpo, his few friends disappeared along with the Guild, he had no family—other than Karl, and no real reason for living. What was he to do with himself now? He decided moving back to America was best, since he was almost positive he was probably a wanted criminal in Yokohama now, but he decided to at least stay here for another month. After all, he hadn’t really gotten to visit anywhere here and in all honesty Poe didn’t feel like packing everything just yet. Sure, he could just hire someone to do it for him, but that required him to find a reliable agency, sign some paperwork, and worst of all actually talk to people—just the thought of that filled Poe with absolute abhorrence.
With nothing else to do he decided to pay some attention to Karl—since the raccoon had scratched him last time Poe hadn’t pet him for 2 days straight as he had been too busy working on his novel. Poe then proceeded to pick the furry animal up then sat down on his couch placing Karl on his lap as he gently began to stroke the back of his head. The raccoon then closed his eyes and ended up falling asleep. Poe remained in that position for about an hour just thinking about what he was to do next.
Not long after Poe finally decided to get up—not that he had much of a choice considering his legs were becoming numb. He just walked around his mansion for a bit trying to find some way to distract himself from the emptiness he felt from losing. Finally he headed to the library and picked up a random book on the shelf with a pink-ish cover and a black person-like figure on the cover. The book was called No longer human. Poe shrugged and started reading the book, but after a whole 5 minutes he was still on the first page as he was unable to concentrate, forcing him to re-read the entire page. After around 30 minutes with only 10 pages read, Poe set the book down and headed to the bathroom instead. Once in the bathroom he stared at the mirror cabinet with a sense of contemplation and slight longing before biting his lip and shaking his head.
“No, I can't…I…must not”
Poe said to himself as he turned the shower on to the hottest setting possible. Once he took his clothes off, tossing them in the laundry basket without a second look to see if they actually made it inside, he stepped into the shower. The scalding hot water immediately hit his skin, slightly grounding Poe. He stood there just staring at the shower floor for a full 20 minutes. Thinking about what? Nothing. His mind was completely blank. Well not exactly. Actually, there was so much going on in his mind that Poe couldn't decipher exactly what he was thinking, so instead he started dissociating. Eventually Poe's head started hurting and he felt as if he was about to pass out, which he quickly realized it was from standing too long in a very hot shower. His body temperature had gone up by a lot causing him to feel dizzy. Poe then finally actually started showering so he could get out quickly and not faint. After 5 minutes Poe grabbed his robe and put it on himself before grabbing a towel to dry his hair off.
He reached his room where he pulled out a simple white, long sleeve shirt, a black vest, and some black pants. Not what he usually wears but doesn't matter, not like anyone was going to see him. His hair was still slightly damp, but Poe didn't bother styling it yet. This made his hair look way fluffier than usual. Just as he was getting ready to go watch some TV though the doorbell rang.
Who the hell would want to visit him? Even back when he was still in the Guild not even his friends would come over, they'd simply tell him to meet up somewhere instead. For a bit Poe considered not answering as he thought it was probably just some random door-to-door sales man. However, he went to open the door regardless since the person just kept ringing the doorbell over and over again.
As Poe opened the door his eyes slightly widened as he saw the person that he had least expected standing right there—Ranpo.