Roommates

Chapter one

He let out a long sigh. How could he not have any food in his whole mansion? Truth is, Poe hasn't properly eaten in over a week. He was barely able to stand up without support. This wasn't something that he has planned, he simply had a habit of not paying attention to his own body while working. As much as Poe dreaded the idea, he had to go to a grocery shop, if he didn't want to die that is.

Poe decided to first force himself to take a shower, he hasn't done that in a while too. Poe placed Karl on the floor, much to the racoon's disbelief. Poe slowly walked up the stairs to his favourite bathroom, not really caring that much about the bathroom itself, but because of the fact, that he wanted to stretch the walk as much as possible.

But all good things come to an end. Poe stood infront of the big, dark door, a towel held close to his chest. After aimlessly staring at the door for good two minutes, he placed his hand on the doorknob, slowly opening the door. He hissed as soon as he turned on the light, accidentally blinding himself for a few seconds.

As much as Poe hated the process of actually going to take it, the shower itself felt nice. He suddenly realised just how much he dissconected from the world, he wasn't even sleeping properly, only passing out at his desk from time to time. The hot water hitting his skin made him feel so relieved, even closing his eyes, cherishing the moment. But he was rudely interrupted by his stomach making a noise. Poe cringed and quickly washed his hair.

When he opened the bathroom door, Karl looked up at him from the floor. He was laying on his back, almost as if to seem as cute as possible. Poe chuckled and bent down to pet his dear friend.

It was an hour later, that Poe actually made it out of the house. As soon as he arrived to the grocery store, Poe took out a piece of paper from his pocket, rereading the text. It was a list of everything he needed. He usually didn't take the time to make a shopping list, but that resolted in him forgetting most of the things he needed. Poe deffinetly didn't want to have to go back to the store, so he decided to focus extra hard on his shopping, so hard in fact, that he accidentally bumped into someone. As soon as realised that the other was now on the floor, Poe started to freak out.

He kneeled down to help the person up. ,,I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention and you're kind of small and I-" He finally looked up to see who he was talking to. ,,You're that one detective!" He said more to himself than anyone else.

The other just smiled up at Poe. ,,It's okay, I keep spacing out too." He giggled. ,,Oh- It's Atsushi, by the way."

Poe took some time to try and figure out if he's ever spoken to the detective, Atsushi-kun. He deffinetly saw him petting Karl when Poe was busy talking to Ranpo. Atsushi just stared at Poe as he was lost in thoughts.

,,Poe-san, aren't you like Ranpo-san's bestfriend or something?" Atsushi suddenly asked. ,,Or partner. Sorry, I'm not sure." He smiled.

Poe just stared at him, mouth agape, he was totally out of it now. ,,I- hehe. Well, I'm his uhh- rival." He tried to say it as calmly as possible, but Atsushi just tilted his head, confused.

,,That's what I said. Or are you two actually rivals? I can never figure that out, especially after whatever Dazai-san and Chuuya-san keep doing together." Atsushi seemed to be very talkative today. However, he wasn't always the best at expressing his thoughts. That is why he has just single-handedly broken Poe, who thought that Atsushi witnessed something scandalous, which was not the case, though you can never be sure when it comes to Dazai.

Atsushi finally noticed the silence and decided to speak again, not noticing that Poe's state was his doing. ,,Oh by the way! I was just buying snacks for Ranpo-san, maybe you'd like to see him?" Atsushi finally stood up, showing Poe all the candy he had in his cart. ¨

Ranpo didn't even give it a second thought before he responded. ,,Yes!" He seemed a little too excited to see Ranpo, his 'rival'. Atsushi just happily nodded his head and led the way back to the agency, Poe completly forgetting about the reason he was at the grocery store in the first place. They didn't say much on the way, Atsushi did occasionally try to start a conversation, mostly asking about Poe's work, but Poe wasn't the best at talking to people, so they didn't get very far.

After ten minutes, Atsushi stopped infront of the doors to the Armed Detective Agency. He took a deep breath before opening the door, preparing himself for whatever he was about to walk in on. When he did, noone even gave them a second look, being used to Poe. Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary, ordinary for the agency that is. Kunikida was yelling at Dazai, who was completly ignoring him and taking selfies, probably for Chuuya, not that he would ask for pictures of Dazai.

Kenji was asleep on his desk with a small smile on his lips. The Tanizaki siblings were, being themselves. And the rest seemed to be focused on work. As soon as Poe greeted them, a head popped out from behind a desk. ,,Edgar!" Ranpo jumped up and ran to him like a child. Poe just gave him a little wave and a sweet smile. Atsushi had to fight the urge to laugh at the two. For 'rivals' they sure were very affectionate.

,,Ah! Atsushi-kun, thanks for the delivery!" Ranpo turned his attention to the him. ,,Could you put it on my desk? We're going for a walk!" Atsushi just nodded his head and walked away, leaving the two alone.

Poe was just standing there, not sure what to do, even where to look, but Ranpo just grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the office. As soon as they left the building, Poe stopped making Ranpo stop aswell. ,,Where are we going?" He asked, but Ranpo didn't respond, just giving Poe a wink.

--

As soon as they arrived to their destination, Poe looked down at Ranpo. ,,So... You've figured me out, again." He said with a sigh.

Ranpo just giggled. ,,Sure I did, I'm hungry too though." He finally let go of Poe's hand and walked into the restaurant, Poe quickly following him. Ranpo told the waiter about their reservation and soon after that, they were sitting at a table, next to the window. It was the best table, in Poe's opinion. The others were quiet far from them, so they had privacy.

Ranpo looked up at Poe. ,,Do you like it?" He asked, already knowing the answer, it was quite obvious. Poe nodded his head and smiled at Ranpo, who was now thinking how worth it the reservation was.

,,Did you know that I would go see you today?" Poe asked. Ranpo shook his head.

,,I didn't, but I was planning on forcing you to go with me." He said cheerfully. ,,But you really need to take care of yourself." Ranpo added, now serious.

Poe just gulped. ,,Don't worry about me, I am doing perfectly fine." He tried to be as convincing as possible, but he still was talking to Ranpo, who just frowned.

,,It can't be helped." He stated out of the nowhere. Poe even jumped a little. ,,I'll be staying with you for now." Ranpo said it like it was copletly normal. When it was, in fact, far from that.

Poe tried his best to protest, but at the end of their lunch, he finally gave up and agreed.

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Hi there,

I wasn't planning on writing again so soon, but it's honestly the only thing keeping me from a mental breakdown, so I'll take that.

This is a short story, so that's... something you might want to know.

Any comments are very fun and stuff. So please, let me know anything you might think of.

Till next time, Kate.