the other side of paradise | bsd x gn!reader

twenty-five.

Three weeks. You spent the past twenty-one days closed off from the world, quite literally hiding under the covers. If Anastasia could see you now, she would be disappointed that you're not doing what she asked, and rather choosing to spend your limited time lying in bed. Or maybe not. You didn't have time to get to know her very well. Maybe she would be happy you finally took a break. For first time in a long while, you feel like you're able to breathe freely. You've been running and thinking and predicting and preventing the horrible fate looming above, all without proper rest. Time away from everything allowed you to clear your head.

You feel like a coward. No, you are a coward. A pretty pathetic one at that. Feeling bad for yourself and running away at the first problem without actually sitting down and having a conversation like a normal person – that's not something you would usually do. Three weeks is a long period of time and logically speaking, you knew on day two that you shouldn't be lying around, feeling sorry for yourself. No matter how much you wanted to, however, you couldn't bring yourself to get up. The stress of it all has clearly impacted your rational thinking and any motivation you had before. But you had time to think and sort things out in your brain, so you're back to your usual self. Mostly.

Your mind is clear now. Seeing how much the unpredictability of events messes you up and throws logic out of the window was a harsh wake-up call. You should really work on fixing that. You've been leaning into your knowledge so much, that at times you forget these are real people with their own personalities and minds – ones that you can't read or predict. Despite everything you've told Sigma, there are still moments when you're completely alone and everything feels like an intensely realistic dream.

Your only connection to the outside is Ango. Communication with him is limited as planned, but that's better than no communication at all. Each bought a separate phone just for that, an old flip phone – one only usable for phone calls. No texting means there is no written evidence of any plotting, and the old phone prevents anyone from listening in. Nobody knows you have it, after all. You can't bug something that you don't know the existence of.

Ango relays you some things Oda has noticed. Apparently, while most of the Agency is still in shock and denial, there are two members acting strangely. Dazai Osamu and Edogawa Ranpo.

Dazai is suspiciously calm and has mostly stopped pestering Kunikida. The blond is understandably concerned for him, worried that the bandaged detective has been completely destroyed by your "betrayal". He even forced him to sleep at his apartment instead. Perhaps he doesn't want Dazai to face the quite literal emptiness left by your departure. You know that's not the case. Osamu simply really trusts you and whatever the hell you might be doing.

Ranpo has mostly stopped showing up at the agency's office completely. He gets in, early in the morning, takes care of whatever case he is assigned within minutes, shuffles around your desk and runs off. Sakunosuke tailed him on a few different days; all the genius detective did was sit in a café, with a piece of cake in front of him and your favourite dessert in front of an empty seat. His glasses were on his face as he intently stared at the chair, with a gaze powerful enough to see through the cleverest of masterminds. This fact alone lifts a weight off your shoulders. He's trying to figure it out. He truly didn't believe the note, but he didn't have anything to disprove it with. But he's trying to understand everything. He doesn't play around with cases like he usually does, instead focusing all his energy into yours. It might be difficult, considering you're dealing with things unimaginable for the mind of an average person. But Edogawa Ranpo isn't an average person. If anyone could figure everything out, it's him.

The agency didn't believe the note at first – they were just scared. That's the conclusion you arrive to after the second week in the casino. But you messed everything up with panicked behaviour. A note and an explosive reaction like that – it's clear why someone would end up believing similar accusations. You would too. Nothing you can do about it now though, except move forward. Prevent the horrible fate looming upon everyone. You can apologize later.