the other side of paradise | bsd x gn!reader

thirty-one.

Edogawa Ranpo is special, but he wasn't always aware of it.

His parents were just like him, at least as far as he can remember. His father was a legendary detective, and his mother had a mind even sharper than his father. He was raised in the countryside, in a house secluded away from everyone else. Perhaps so his father's enemies wouldn't find them. Or maybe not. He doesn't remember much about his parents or his early childhood nowadays. Only a few flashes here and there. His mother often told him that he was "still just a kid". And if his mother, the smartest and most observant person he knew, told him that, then surely all adults must think and notice things just like he does.

After his parents died, he followed his late father's suggestion and moved to Yokohama. All on his own; barely a teenager. It was difficult. Desperately, he was looking for a place where he could belong, but as time passed it seemed like a lost cause. He was just like everyone else so why did they not behave like he did? Why did they keep quiet about obvious things?

He jumped from school to school, job to job, but it all felt... wrong. Everything he did or said was wrong for some reason he could not see, so he was thrown out or fired. Sometimes he simply felt so out of place that he left of his own accord. He did not understand why. Why was everyone pretending to not see the obvious? Why did they behave so differently? Maybe he was an alien, wearing human skin. Even in the most crowded of spaces, he was alone.

But then he met Fukuzawa Yukichi. The first one to make Ranpo realise just how special he is. Other people are not like he is - they do not see the world in the way he does. Fukuzawa Yukichi told him he is an ability user and gave him a pair of glasses to help control it. He still carries that pair everywhere. The two tackled plenty of cases together before Fukuzawa decided to establish the Armed Detective Agency, so he could protect Ranpo at all times. And with Ranpo leading it, the agency would solve crimes and protect Yokohama from any harm. Although deep inside the young detective knows he isn't really an ability user, the glasses and the president's praise give him the confidence he needs. He's different, but that is a good thing.

The second person was Yosano Akiko. The fragile and kind girl he first recruited that day into the Agency, who turned out to grow into an incredibly confident and strong individual. He never had a biological sister, but if he did he imagines her to be like Yosano. As a child, she was scarred and used because of her ability and her innate kindness. Helping her move past her trauma was a long and hard process, but he didn't mind. Both of them found a home and a family within the Agency - they were there from the beginning and have grown alongside it. To them, abilities don't matter. Even in Poe's book, in that world without abilities, Yosano used her last breaths to once again place her trust and life into Ranpo's hands. Only with that push was he able to regain a clear head and solve Poe's mystery. She knew he could get them out, just like he knows she'll have his back no matter what.

And third, you. He remembers the day you crashed onto his desk clearly. It was a beautiful clear morning after a night of pouring rain. The streets were still filled with puddles, so he was wearing his favourite yellow boots. He'd stopped in his favourite bakery on the way to the agency, taking his time and enjoying the refreshing morning. After he'd finally sat down to see where the cases would take him today, it happened. It smelled like rain again. He looked outside expecting the same dark clouds from the previous night, only to see the clear skies. And then you fell.

With a single thud, a tangled mess of limbs dropped onto his desk.

Yelping out, the detective fell off his chair in surprise. A few of the staff members dropped everything and ran out, others stood frozen in shock. Even in the Armed Detective Agency, a person appearing out of thin air wasn't a regular occurrence. Ranpo's attention snapped back onto the person that hit his desk. The petrichor smell was gone. The person tried to get up but instead managed to flop down, face forward onto the floor. He had to hold back his snickers. Maybe they heard that or maybe they simply wanted to look around; either way the mysterious person finally lifted their face for Ranpo to see.