Prey and Predator [Ranpo x Reader] + Bonus ✓

25. Prey and predator

'[Y/N],' brother called out as he hesitantly opened the door to my room after knocking, and I assumed he had stood by the doorframe in the absence of noise after entering. 'They've sent the report...' He paused and I heard the ruffling of papers in his hands. 'There's a letter for you, too.'

I did not reply nor look up from being wrapped under my covers, this having been one of the only two states I'd been in during that weekend: cuddled alone under the covers and only getting out to do the bare necessities. Thank God it was a weekend.

Brother walked in and sat by the end of my bed, and did not move for what seemed to be a handful of minutes. 'I know it's a lot to handle, but if we support each other, then -'

'You see that pebble on the desk there?' I pointed towards my desk and was assured he had looked in its direction when he hummed in acknowledgement. 'Do me a favour and throw it away; I'm done.'

'What did it do to you?'

I didn't answer, partially because I myself feared what I had meant.

I felt an empty void like this was a grave which the truth had dug to bury my heart and any emotions associated with my being:

"The agency was assigned a job to look after you. That's why I did it." - That was the truth that hurt.

Perhaps my heart had a mind of its own and already settled on trying to find common ground with the agents I was working with, accidentally going overboard by trusting its sensitivity onto the oldest of the bunch: Edogawa.

Edogawa, Yokohama's greatest detective. Nicknamed Mr Diabetes at first for his sugar addiction, and called a middle-school delinquent by a small child - I wonder how she's doing...

'I'll cook you your favourite for lunch today, how does that sound?' brother stated, lifting himself from the bed and letting the various papers drop on the desktop. 'Should I call your school and excuse an absence tomorrow?'

'I'll attend. I've missed enough already.'

He left my room shortly after patting the top of my head which stuck from the round shell of sheets, then his feet were heard dragging along towards the kitchen.

I reluctantly pulled myself up after what had seemed to be hours of hesitance, wrapping a throw around my frame and sitting at the desk. The pebble was still there, so I took it from its spot and hid it inside my drawer - I'll deal with it later.

There was a stapled pile of printed papers sat at the top, this possibly being another report which followed the same style and structure as all others I had read written by the agency.

Chie Ki claims she will plead guilty when her trial is to take place, and a lawyer will be hired suited for the narrative she has provided us.

I skipped the lines until I found the beginning of her narrative; I couldn't concentrate properly on anything else other than the straightforward, basic answer, so any other text simply flew by my mind.

"I worked for [L/N]'s mother to clear my family's stained name; my uncle, manager of the Intensive Care Unit at Yokohama's General Hospital - before I was born - had sexual relations with her, while being on another relationship himself.

"I'm not completely sure of the details, but she claimed he was obsessive over her - my parents agreed on the matter with shameful nods - and she brought back DNA test results done on the baby she had just had. She told us we could run a paternity test as we wished, but my family's sensitive state of mind then (after losing a son and a brother to my father) led them to avoid the risk and cooperate in compensation - or so my brother told me when I was younger.