Prey and Predator [Ranpo x Reader] + Bonus ✓

Bonus: Responsible with kids

Ranpo sat himself up from bed and squinted his eyes lazily at the digital clock set on the bedside table next to him; though used to the lamp being left on throughout the night, his eyes had trouble adjusting to the light of the new day. He yawned as he looked at me sleepily, judging from the bed. 'Why are you up so early, [Y/N]?'

Reaching for a post-it note and a pen from the desk in my room, I wrote down an address and time, walking towards him quietly to stick it before the digital clock; I sat on the bed next to him and brushed his messy dark bangs away from his eyes, letting the effort go to waste as he lay his head on my shoulder and ruffled the hair again.

'My boss called me in earlier today; an error was reported on some files and they asked that I look at the issue and fix it,' I told him, massaging the back of his neck softly while his arms slithered around my waist and pulled me closer. 'Do you remember Roze - my acquaintance's daughter? She spent the night over, remember?' Ranpo paused for a while, digesting my question, then nodded slowly. 'Well, I'm supposed to take her back home today, but I might not be able to make it back on time; she's expected to be home by 1 p.m. the latest - after lunch. I've left a note here with the address on it; can I trust you to do that for me?'

'I'll get lost,' he admitted timidly, tightening his arms gently around me as I tried standing up from the mattress. 'Can you just not go to work?'

'That's not how employment works, silly,' I chuckled, pecking the tip of his nose as he turned his head to face me. 'She knows her way home, don't worry, but I just need someone whom I trust to accompany her; my brother will be tending the store for the whole day, so he won't -'

'How dare you see me as second-choice! I'll have you know I'm great with children!' he whined lazily, smiling softly as I scoffed at his attempt to lift the weight of concern off my shoulders. 'But I can! I read a parenting book recently and I can apply the knowledge to this situation!'

'You borrowed a parenting book from the shelf I have at home,' I rectified with a chuckle, helping him sit up from my shoulder to stretch his arms out, scrunching his facial muscles like a child reluctant to wake up for school. 'You read the first paragraph and called it boring, remember?'

'I deduced the book just by looking at the contents, that's all,' he excused, glancing at the emerald stone that sat on my chest. 'I'll show you - I will show you what a good and responsible father is like!'

That was Ranpo's challenge of the day: show [Y/N] he can be responsible with kids by using Roze as an example; he would have her home promptly before one in the afternoon!

If he succeeded, I'd owe him an apology and a trip to a place of his choice (a confectionary would do, I was sure), else he'd sit through the borrowed book and actually read it instead of snacking.

I dreaded every passing minute at the office. Drowning in a pile of papers and washing my coffee mug for the second time that morning was not an ideal workday, and every minor error on each record was as tedious to rectify as it was to find.

1 p.m. came by and I still saw no escape from this prison cell I call "my desk".

Piling up on my worries was the doubt of whether or not Ranpo had succeeded to show punctual responsibility. My hand sought to reach for my phone and send a text of confirmation - perhaps a call if there was enough noise in the office to mask my own voice - but I fought against both temptations, feeling a strange nausea swirl in my stomach as though a greater force was alerting me to stray from doubt.

What possible danger could there be to trust a sweet-loving man with a child? Neither of them poses any threat to the other...

I was dismissed at two in the afternoon. Bidding my colleagues a brief farewell and a bow to my seniors, I dashed from the office, checking for any new text messages or missed calls from Roze's parents regarding my absence at delivering their ten-year-old.