We don't talk about Jouno

A certain bomber

When they reached the agency's office, Jouno followed Fukuchi to the elevator, and tried to make it look like he'd never been there before. It was hard, though. Jouno had already been there on multiple occasions in the past timeline, so he knew where he was going. Fukuchi pressed the elevator button, and the doors closed. Jouno was greeted with the same overly loud and annoying music that played whenever he used this elevator. Jouno was sure this was done on purpose, to try to encourage people to use the stairs. But the music was nothing compared to the person he was going to be meeting. Fukuchi opened the doors. "So, just a small reminder, you'll be on your best behavior, right? These are my friends." Jouno nodded. Of course he would be. Fukuchi knocked on the door to the main office. Jouno took a deep breath, and played with the end of his earring. He could already hear Fukuzawa coming to the door. In a few seconds, it would be time to meet Ranpo.

"Oh, hey, Fukuchi." A very familiar voice, and one that wasn't Ranpo's. "You brought company." An enthusiastic young woman, one who sounded like she was the same age as Jouno now. Before, she had been in charge of the United States government. Now, apparently, Maya was fulfilling Ranpo's role as Fukuzawa's detective kid. It made a certain amount of sense, in a way. Maya could replicate people's abilities. Even if the bad-tempered detective didn't actually have a power, he had something that was 'close enough.' Part of Jouno wondered where Ranpo was, considering he wasn't there. But, Jouno just had to accept that the book had shuffled things around, and that nothing would be the way he expected it to be. Not that Jouno was complaining about getting Maya instead of Ranpo, though.

"My name's Maya. Maya Angelou." Maya said, and grabbed Jouno by the hand. "We're friends, so you can call me Maya." Jouno allowed himself to smile. In the previous world, he and Maya had been good friends. She was one or the few people who could stand up to Teruko, and escape unscathed. She was a charismatic leader that rivaled Fukuchi, but unlike Jouno's old boss, she was someone he could actually get along with. Maya was also one of the very few people Jouno would actually consider a friend.

"I'm Jouno." He managed, while she pulled him into the office. "I'm blind." He felt the need to mention, in case she pulled him into a desk or something. "Oh, cool." Maya said. "I'll make sure to tell you if you're about to trip on something." She didn't exactly slow down, though. "You two have fun." Fukuchi called over his shoulder. "Fukuzawa and I are going to go for a walk." Maya closed the door behind them. "Okay." She said. "Talk." This could be interesting. She was talking like Ranpo did while in detective mode, even if she was less grumpy.

"You clearly have something to say." Maya said. "Let me guess. You're replicating the ability of a great detective?" Maya vehemently shook her head. "No, I'm not. My ability is that I'm very smart. It's the greatest gift in the agency, and I'm the reason the whole business got set up in the first place." Huh. So, maybe mimicking Ranpo's power meant that Maya had absorbed his way of thinking about it. "Okay, you're right and I'm wrong, my bad." Jouno said. "You just remind me of someone I used to know."

He could practically hear Maya's triumphant grin. "Yeah, I remind you of Ranpo, right?" Jouno nodded. "It makes sense you know him, thanks to all your past criminal contacts and everything." Okay. Clearly the book had changed some major things in Ranpo's character. "Just don't tell Fukuchi or my dad you're even remotely connected to Kamui, though. They spent years hunting him before he went underground. It was a whole thing."

Jouno froze. Ranpo? Ranpo was the great criminal puppeteer now? Before, he'd just been annoying, but now he was downright supervillainous. If this was true, it was more than just a bit bad. Fukuchi had been a dangerous villain because of his sheer power, but he wasn't exactly the smartest individual ever. He needed people like Fyodor to strategize for him. But an evil Ranpo? That...would be actually terrifying.