Chapter Text
“Will you do it?”
Of course he’d do it! He isn’t some measly reporter picked off the street - this is the Edogawa Ranpo that we’re talking about. Spying on a rival newspaper? Easy. Despite that, he found it odd that Fukuzawa had ordered this mission. The man was all about honesty, about transparency; he wasn’t one for secretive things like this. But what really bugged him was that it was clear as day that his boss intended on getting caught. So what was the point of this mission, and why wasn't he, the best detective in the damn field, told about it?
Ranpo refocused his attention to the task at hand. The Guild. Esteemed newspaper known even out of New York City - the Armed Detective Agency, despite its incredible local support, could only dream of reaching that level of power.
All Ranpo really knew about the project was that Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, the CEO of the Guild, had tried to buy out his place of work. Why, Fukuzawa hadn’t said.
Ranpo slows his steps as he approaches the building. The noise of the city traffic greets his ears; there’s a part of him that finds it comfortable. The building itself is huge, towering up to what he guesses is at least thirty floors. It’s a simple, concrete structure, though still intimidating. He gives it a nod of approval as he swings open the glass doors and strides confidently towards the front desk.
“Morning! I’m the new reporter. Hirai Taro.” He greets the woman cheerfully. Despite Fukuzawa’s mild protests, he’d insisted on adopting a fake name. She barely glances at him before replying.
“Thirteenth floor.”
Ranpo hummed quietly as he walked away. People in this building certainly were monotone.
He brushes it off as the elevator doors slide open. He steps in, then moves to the side for a girl with fiery red hair parted into two braids. He glances at the girl, giving her a once over before pressing the button to the thirteenth floor. The girl doesn’t press another floor. So she’s one of his new coworkers, Ranpo notes.
The detective idly taps his fingers against the elevator railing as it ascends, mind drifting for a moment. Now that he thinks about it, Fukuzawa never has had any issues with rival newspapers. Never even made a snide comment. The only exception would be, perhaps, the Port Mafia, and that - well. The Port Mafia was the Port Mafia. But what was so special about this one?
He could try to deduce it. But he’s well aware Fukuzawa wouldn’t exactly be fond of the idea.
He’d give the man 24 hours, then.
“You gonna get off?”
Ranpo blinks, mind snapping back into the present. He shifts his gaze back to the girl. She’s staring at him, expression mildly irritated.
“Oh. Uh, yeah.” Ranpo shoves his hands into his pockets as he walks past her, hearing her huff as she follows.
The office is… very underwhelming. It’s much smaller than Ranpo had expected, twenty or so desks splayed out across the room. A few reporters chatted by the coffee machine. It’s oddly comfortable compared to what Ranpo’s heard about the company. He looks around before his eyes land on what must be Fitzgerald’s office. He knocks once before stepping in, not waiting for a response.
Fitzgerald smiles at him. “Ah! Hirai, was it? Welcome to the Guild.” He stands up and holds out a hand. Ranpo shakes it, eyes scanning the room, expression vacant as ever.
“Let me introduce you to your new coworkers, then.” He says, his tone clipped. He already seems bored of the interaction, and though Ranpo can't exactly say he's any different, it's odd for someone who's supposed to be his new boss. Fitzgerald steps out from behind the desk, motioning for him to follow. Ranpo hadn’t even needed to say a word; he’d just met the man, and Francis seems to hate him already.
“Team!” Fitzgerald calls out. All eyes dart in his direction. He’s certainly got a powerful voice.
“This is your new coworker -”
“Ranpo?” Someone interrupts, voice filled with what Ranpo could only describe as fury. Fitzgerald pauses. Ranpo freezes, eyes instantly locking on the person who’d called out his name.
He was a tall, lanky man. He had curly black hair that covered his eyes and was tied with a ribbon in the back. He was standing, and his palms were pressed firmly on his desk. He was -
Holy shit. Really, really pretty.
“Poe?” Fitzgerald questions, voice irritated. Judging by the tone he holds, this type of outburst isn’t a unique occurrence. Poe must be quite eccentric.
“Mr. Fitzgerald.” He replies, voice full of exasperation. “It’s painfully obvious that that is Edogawa Ranpo. The famous reporter? The one that works for the ADA?” Already, Ranpo has decided he doesn’t like this guy, what with his stupid know-it-all tone and stupidly long hair and his oddly beautiful violet -
Ranpo’s eyes widen as Poe takes a few steps closer to him. It’s like he’s glaring right into the depths of his soul. This guy is smart. Ranpo would like to think he’s as smart as him.
Almost, at least.
“Nonsense.” Fitzgerald says flatly, crossing his arms. “I’d know if he was a rival reporter. You know I run deep background checks.”
Poe clenches his fists, taking a deep breath before turning to Fitzgerald.
“It - it’s possible that the check wasn’t deep enough, isn’t it?”
Fitzgerald sharpens his expression, a clear warning. Poe sighs, head tilting back a bit before his focus shifts to Ranpo.
“I want to talk to you.” He snaps, pointing a finger at Ranpo’s chest.
Fitzgerald frowns. “That’s not -”
“It’s fine.” Ranpo interrupts, waving a hand dismissively. Poe doesn’t waste a second grabbing it and dragging him into the hallway.
He can't say he isn't a little worried about getting stabbed to death in broad daylight. But, more importantly, he had not a clue who this man was. He knew everyone in the Guild, and this was not a reporter.
An unchecked variable, Ranpo's found, is always a good plan's unraveling.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” The man whisper-shouts, eyes murderous. Ranpo blinks.
He doesn’t find this attractive.
He doesn’t.
“I’m walking into my first day at work.” He replies cooly, returning the glare. Poe pinches the bridge of his nose.
“Maybe you’ve fooled the rest of this office,” he says flatly, “but not me. Listen to me, Ranpo.”
His voice is surprisingly emotional, or at least that’s what Ranpo gathers from it. He could be wrong. Ranpo was never one for emotions.
“The Guild is practically my life. Don’t do anything to harm it. Or I swear I will -”
“Yeesh. Little overboard on that assumption, aren’t you? Whoever this Ranpo guy is, you must care about him quite a bit.” Ranpo says, a sly smirk on his face. Poe's face reddens.
He’s flustered, Ranpo notes, heavily amused.
This job seems like it’ll be a lot less boring than he thought.
Poe wants to throw his computer at a wall. Maybe at Fitzgerald. Definitely at Ranpo. All he’d wanted to do was come into a regular day at work. Not deal with this.
Karl chitters nervously, nudging Poe’s hands with his snout. He’s been angrily typing at his keyboard for a while now. He mutters a few curses under his breath, running a hand through Karl’s fur as he hits delete on everything he just wrote. It’s all garbage anyway.
“You have a raccoon?”
Poe braces himself as he swivels around in his chair, but seeing Ranpo in his office still sends a sharp burst of anger through his brain.
“Why are you over here?” Poe says flatly.
“Why do you have a raccoon?” Ranpo counters, smiling slyly.
Bastard.
“He’s my pet. Karl.” Poe admits, a small laugh escaping his lips as Karl climbs up his arm and takes his usual seat around his shoulders, hitting a particularly ticklish spot on his neck. When he looks up, Ranpo is watching him intently. Poe furrows his brow at the man.
“Now answer my question.”
“I need help with the coffee machine.” He shrugs.
Poe frowns. “So you came to me."
Ranpo grins. “So I came to the most interesting one. If I have to talk to any idiot in this office, it’ll be you.”
Poe feels his eye twitch.
“Idiot? I -”
Fitzgerald's words float through his head before he can finish.
If the new employee needs anything, do me a favor and cater to him, will you? He’s quite important. You can't afford to piss him off, hm?
Ranpo’s grin only widens. “What? Remember something?”
Poe would love to punch that grin off of his face. Instead, he stands, startling Karl. He quickly raises a hand to pet the raccoon, whispering soft comforts into his ear.
When he turns back to Ranpo, he’s looking at him with that same, slightly startled expression. Poe groans and rushes past him to the coffee machine, not bothering to check if Ranpo’s following him. He is, of course.
Poe angrily pushes a few buttons on the machine, grabbing a mug from a cabinet. He still looks (and feels) like he wants to choke out Ranpo, who’s still watching him with an annoyingly content expression.
“There.” Poe mutters, shoving the mug - now full of coffee - in Ranpo’s direction. A little splashes out and drips onto the floor. Ranpo cocks his head to the side.
“Where’s the sugar?”
Poe points vaguely to the counter, tapping his foot on the floor as he waits for Ranpo to finish.
You know what? Maybe he can get through this. No way Ranpo will be here for long. Probably less than a month, just to gather information. To try and ruin the Guild. Well, he’s not letting that happen. Not if -
“Apologies for my tardiness!” A woman’s voice calls from the door. Poe has to stop himself from sighing in relief. God, was that a voice he needed to hear.
“Louisa!” Poe responded, smiling.
Louisa May Alcott, a shy young girl with an internship at the Guild. One who did far more than she was paid for, really, and who did it all with a smile. Despite her young age, she was a grounding force for many members of the Guild, including -
“Louisa! Where’ve you been?”
- Lucy Maud Montgomery. Despite the two both sharing internships and similar positions, they were polar opposites.
“Ah, sorry! I got caught up with schoolwork.” She says, smiling brightly as she takes her seat at the desk besides Poe’s.
“Who’s that?”
Poe’s shoulders slump slightly. Right. He’d forgotten about Ranpo.
“Intern.” He says simply.
“You’re certainly a man of many words.” Ranpo teases. Poe watches in horror as he drops not one, not two, not even three, but four spoons of sugar into his coffee.
“Oh my lord.” He mutters. Ranpo raises an eyebrow at him.
“What? I like my coffee a little sweet!”
There's something horribly humorous about the sight. Perhaps he was just hiked up on emotions - because he seriously cannot think of any other reason for this - Poe practically doubles over laughing, insane, maddening cackles escaping his mouth.
“A - a little?” He manages to wheeze. Ranpo’s watching with a curious expression, his eyes opening. That’s the first time Poe’s seen them open. Bright, emerald green. If it wasn’t Ranpo, he’d say they were…
Pretty.
“Is it really that funny?” Ranpo questions, taking a sip of his mug, one filled with sugar and a little coffee. Presumably to hide the growing smile on his face.
“Yes!” He responds almost immediately, before he seems to remember who he’s talking to. His laughs fade into a little cough. Ranpo’s still watching him with an expression that looks horrifyingly fond.
When he looks up, Louisa’s eyes are glued to the two of them. Lucy stands beside her, the same shocked expression on her face. Louisa gestures for him to come closer. He walks over to her desk quickly without a word to Ranpo.
“Call me crazy,” Louisa murmurs, “but isn’t that the reporter from the Armed -”
“YES!” He practically screeched, hands slamming on the desk. He blinks, his outburst drawing the attention of the entire room. Including Ranpo. Though doesn’t take more than a second for his coworkers to look away.
“Yes. But Francis doesn’t believe me.” Poe says, much quieter this time.
“You seem quite agitated about it.” She notes. Lucy nods in agreement.
“Hey! I have an idea.” Lucy chimes in. “How about we go for a walk after work? I know you love exploring the city.”
Poe ponders this for a moment. He isn’t an idiot. He knows Lucy’s only really proposing this because she has some ulterior motive, one that probably involves dragging him along to some ridiculously priced café and what not. But it’s not a bad offer.
“That sounds nice.” Poe replies, laughing at the victorious look on her face.
“Ah, I’d love to come, but I have some classwork to catch up on.” Louisa says sheepishly. Poe only then seems to notice the sun setting outside.
“That’s alri-”
“Come on, Louisa! When don’t you have schoolwork?” Lucy pouts, crossing her arms. Louisa only laughs lightly.
“I’m sorry. Really.”
“Don’t worry about it, Lou.” Poe cuts in quickly. Then he turns to Lucy with a glare that holds no real malice.
“You should be focused on your academics too, you know.”
“Eh. I’ll be fine!”
Despite the fact that both of them went to the same university, one held her studies to a much higher priority than the other. Poe sighs lightly, a small smile on his face as he sits down at his desk. Karl quickly scurries to his usual spot on Poe’s shoulders.
“Aw, Karl! Hello!” Lucy coos. Karl chitters lightly before bounding towards her.
Poe reopens his laptop with a sigh. Editing this article was starting to get really, really boring.
“This was a horrible idea.” Poe shivers, arms wrapping around himself. Despite the coat and scarf he has wrapped around himself, the wintertime makes the simple act of going outside torturous.
Lucy waves him off. “I’m tired of your complaining. And it’s not even cold!”
“Are you going to look me dead in my eyes and tell me it’s not cold in December?” Poe hissed. “In New York, no less!”
“I couldn’t look into your eyes even if I wanted to with that ridiculous hair of yours!”
“Shut up!” Poe hissed, face flushing slightly.
“Oh. This is the place.” Lucy says, swinging the glass door wide open and stopping so suddenly Poe nearly trips over his own feet.
There’s a gentle jingle announcing their arrival. “It’s a nice cafe.” Poe says, slightly relieved at Lucy’s choice of location. She’s taken them to much more bizarre places.
“It is.” Lucy agrees. “Though, I took us here to meet someone, who happens to be running late.”
Wait. Meet someone?
“Lucy, I swear to god if -”
“Lucy!” A cheerful voice interrupts, followed by light pants. Poe turns around to see two men. The one who’d spoken is huffing softly, hands on his knees as he catches his breath. The black haired boy beside him sighs, crossing his arms.
“I told you not to run so fast.” He mutters. Poe cocks his head to the side.
“Poe, this is my friend. Atsushi Nakajima.” Lucy offers. “And this…”
“Akutagawa Ryuunosuke.” The boy - Atsushi - supplies. “I wanted him to come along. He needs to get out more.”
“I do not.” Akutagawa snaps back. His eyes land on Poe. Unnerving is the first word that comes to mind. Dark and lifeless. Then he turns back to Atsushi, and that darkness seems to vanish. At least partly.
“Anyway. I’m sorry we’re late. Byakko knocked over a plant, and that… took… a while…” He trails off, smiling sheepishly at the glare Lucy greets him with.
“Byakko?” Poe questions, trying to ease the sudden tension filling the room.
“My cat.” Atsushi replies, smiling. “She’s very, very energetic.”
Poe looks around the cafe. It’s a cozy place, though small. The wood floors creak in response to each step he takes. The walls are covered in framed paintings, and beside them a few booths are lined up. Lucy guides the four of them to the one closest to the door. Akutagawa and Atsushi sit on one side, Lucy and Poe on the other.
“Hey, Lucy…” Atsushi says after a long, very awkward moment of silence, “is there a reason you invited us out here? On such short notice, I mean.”
Lucy looks up from the table. “Well, I didn’t invite him.” She corrects, ignoring the glare Akutagawa’s expression shifts to. “But you’re in the agency, right, Atsushi?”
Oh fuck. He knew where this was going. “Lucy -” Poe tried, only to be interrupted.
“Why’d you send in one of your agents?" She continued. "Ranpo, right?”
Atsushi blinks. The corners of his mouth lift into a slight smile.
“The better question is,” Poe says, glaring sharply at Lucy, “why was it such a… such a superficial attempt? I know the esteemed Armed Detective Agency could do better.”
Atsushi sighs. “We expected you to figure it out, yes. Not this fast, though.” He pauses, gaze shifting to Lucy. “Can I ask which one of you figured it out? Not that it matters.” He adds quickly.
“...Why?” Lucy asks skeptically.
“Because they have a bet going.” Akutagawa replies flatly, ignoring the scowl Atsushi throws at him.
“Not that it matters,” Lucy repeats mockingly, “but it was Poe. He figured it out in seconds.” Poe has to resist the urge to elbow her.
Atsushi cocks his head to the side at that. “Poe, huh? Who’s that?”
There’s a beat of silence between the four of them before Lucy starts to laugh uncontrollably. Poe only buries his head in his hands, stifling the urge to groan.
“You - you don’t know who Poe is?” Lucy questions between giggles, conveniently leaving out that this mysterious Poe is sitting right next to them.
“I don’t.” Atsushi admits hesitantly.
“You fool!” Akutagawa hisses, a small smile creeping onto his own face. “You’re looking at him!”
Atsushi’s eyes widened. “Oh! I - fuck! I’m so sorry. It’s nice to meet you.” He says. Poe smiles, cringing slightly. Is he really that unknown?
“No worries.” Edgar replies, sharply jabbing a still giggling Lucy in the arm.
“Ranpo didn’t know about you either.” Atsushi says apologetically. And if that didn’t make his situation ten times worse.
“Of course he didn’t.” Poe grumbled, head dropping into the palm of his hand. His ego is severely bruised at the fact that a man he’d held a grudge against for years now had conveniently forgotten who he was!
“What I, er - what I mean is, you weren’t included when he was thinking about this… plan. It wasn’t supposed to be figured out for another few days.”
Poe arched an eyebrow. “And what, exactly, was the purpose of your plan?”
Atsushi shrugged. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Atsushi’s words were still stuck in Poe’s head when he arrived at his office. What the hell did that mean? It had been a week, and he still couldn't figure it out for the life of him.
That, or he just isn’t trying as hard as he should be.
There’s a momentary sense of relief that floods through Poe as he notices that Ranpo, thankfully, isn’t at his desk.
That relief quickly turns to dread when he hears a horridly familiar whiny voice by the coffee maker.
“Poe! You’re late!”
Poe bangs his head against his desk. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to open his laptop yet.
“Well, you’re certainly dramatic.” Ranpo says, sauntering over to Edgar with a cheeky smile. He gritted his teeth and thought for a moment before speaking. He would have to have this conversation eventually. Might as well be now.
“Ranpo.” He began carefully. “I met with one of your coworkers. Atsushi. He said -”
“Yeah, yeah! I know all that. Took you long enough to ask. He didn’t tell you why I was here, though, right?” Ranpo crosses his arms loosely, leaning against Poe’s desk.
So he’d finally dropped the act.
“No.” Poe admits. “He didn’t.”
Ranpo shrugs. “It’s simple. If you really thought about it, you could figure it out. You’re a smart man, Ed.”
Poe sighed, thinking for a moment.
“You aren’t here to locate any secrets. If you were, you’d have found them by now.”
“Yup!” Poe ignores how Ranpo seems to brighten at the slight praise.
“You’ve been here for a week now. Not once have you dropped your foolish, lazily executed charade. If you are now, then you’ve probably already done what you came here to do.”
“Right again.” Ranpo drawled. He already seemed bored at how long this conversation was taking. It made Poe’s eyes twitch.
“You didn’t come here to find something.” Poe paused. “You came to find someone.”
“Ding ding ding!” Ranpo exclaimed, far louder than he needed to. It made Poe wince.
“Who’d you come here to find, then?”
Ranpo grinned from ear to ear. He leaned down, face inches away from Poe’s. “You.”
Edgar, leaning back slightly. “I - me?”
“You.”
Ranpo finally leaned back, looking down at Poe with a gleam in his eyes.
Poe fought back the urge to punch the man.
“Are you going to elaborate?” He deadpans, crossing his arms. Poe doesn’t exactly appreciate the height Ranpo has on him while he’s seated.
“Nope!” Ranpo says happily. Before Poe can get out another word - or, more accurately, another insult - Ranpo grabs his wrist and drags him out of the office.
“Wha - Hey! Bastard, I have work! What are -”
“Shh!” Ranpo stops dragging him along just as they reach the elevator. It’s a little embarrassing how quickly Poe shuts up.
“Look. I’m not gonna force you to do anything, because that would be a really shitty move on my part.”
“Since when did you care about that?” Poe muttered under his breath.
“But the Guild hasn’t been producing good articles recently. Don’t deny it. And I was sure that that was because the staff is just terrible, but they aren’t.” He says, talking at lightning speed.
“They aren’t, because you’re there. You just aren’t writing articles. So, instead of working as an editor at the Guild…” He trails off, taking a deep breath before continuing.
“Come work for the agency. Er, more specifically, write an article with me.”
Poe almost can’t believe what he’s hearing. “You want me to write an article with you?”
“Yes. You’re not dense, so don’t act like it.”
Poe rubs a hand across his face. “So what if I’m not writing articles? I don’t need to be. I’m fine where I am.”
Ranpo crosses his arms. “But you aren’t. I saw you writing last week. You wouldn’t be writing if you were ‘fine.’”
His logic is ridiculous. But it’s all correct. He’s always correct, and it’s driving Poe insane.
“I can’t just quit.” He says finally. "Let me get one thing straight. I'm not leaving the Guild."
Ranpo just sighed.
“Yeah. I know. Just collaborate with me on this, and you can see how you like it. I -” Ranpo hesitates, like he doesn’t want to keep going.
“I didn’t plan for this to happen. I didn’t know you existed. I was honestly just going along with this for the Boss’s sake. But you’re interesting. And I actually want to write something with you. So. There.”
Poe lets out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He’s frozen in place, mind reeling.
“Okay.” The word slips out before he can stop it. “Okay. I’ll write something with you.”