Heartbeats (Ranpo x Poe)

Poe's Tell-Tale Heart

For the past several months, Poe had been going to the ADA regularly to see his rival who he also considered a friend. Ranpo was certainly an interesting person to be around and Poe found their time together quite enjoyable. However, this bliss began to be plagued by an unknown source of anxiety.

When it had first started, Poe hadn't thought much of it. He's face would redden at the sight of Ranpo's smile and a sense of happiness filled him at the sound of his laughter. That wasn't too strange, was it?

But then his symptoms worsened.

He felt butterflies in his stomach when Ranpo spoke to him and his face became hot at almost everything he said. His legs felt like jelly whenever they were in close proximity to one another and he stumbled over his words more often than he was used to. And worst of all was his heart. Just thinking about the green eyed man caused his heartbeat to quicken which happened far too often as Ranpo also seemed to take over the writer's thoughts.

He recalled a time only a few days earlier when Ranpo had grabbed Poe's hand to drag him to a candy shop. The taller man's heart was beating so loudly he worried Ranpo would hear it or he'd have a heart attack. Or both.

It didn't take long for Poe to become frustrated by these seemingly random reactions to Ranpo. It made seeing the detective far more stressful and Poe didn't want that.

He thought about asking Ranpo if he knew why this was happening or even if he was experiencing the same thing but he worried he might somehow offend the boy by saying he caused him to feel uneasy.

The thing was, Poe already knew exactly what these signs meant. He was a writer after all, he knew what attraction felt like. But he refused to accept that as the cause. There was no way he liked Ranpo like that. Not at all. Not even close. Not even a little bit.

All he needed to do was find a different, more correct explanation and he'd be fine!

The only problem was he couldn't find a different answer.

So, he turned to Yosano for help. Yosano and Poe had met when Ranpo invited Poe to come with them for lunch. He had originally declined but Ranpo insisted and it quickly became tradition. He and Yosano got along surprising well, even if he was a little scared of her. He knew she was a doctor and a good one at that. Hopefully she would find the answer he was looking for.

He didn't want to bother her if she was busy so he texted her instead of showing up unannounced.

Poe:
Hello Yosano-san. I was wondering if it was alright if I headed over to the ADA to talk?

Yosano:
I'm afraid Ranpo is out solving a murder case right now. I can let you know when he gets back if you like?

Poe:
Oh that's ok, I actually was hoping to speak with you.

Yosano:
Of course, sorry for jumping to conclusions. I was actually about to take my lunch break at the café, care to join me there?

Poe:
Thank you, I'll be there in a few minutes.

As soon as Poe had texted her, Yosano knew something was up. He only ever texted her to ask if she knew where Ranpo was if he couldn't get a hold of him, never to make plans. Ranpo was the one to do that. Even stranger is the fact that Poe wanted to talk with just her. The whole thing was just very out of character for the writer.

The bell above the door to the little café rung as the doctor entered. She smiled politely at Lucy as she took her seat in the usual booth. She quite liked the café she and the rest of the agency often visited. It was never too busy or loud (unless Dazai was causing a scene) and she enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere.

"Will Poe and that detective be joining you?" Lucy asked as she started with Yosano's order. She didn't even have to ask what the purple haired girl wanted anymore because of how frequently the peculiar trio came.

"Just Poe today," Yosano informed her.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing else. A minute or two later, the bell rang again as Poe walked in with Karl sitting on his shoulders. He gave Yosano a weak smile as he sat down across from her. Lucy then brought over their drinks, "Do you two want anything else?"

"No thank you." Yosano said. Poe nodded in agreement and thanked her as well. As soon as she walked away, Yosano began to speak.

"Poe-kun," she started after taking a sip of her tea, "what is it you had wanted to discuss?"

"A-ah well... I've noticed I've been feeling a little strange lately and I wasn't sure if I'm sick, going crazy, or I don't know..." Poe stared into his coffee, feeling embarrassed.

"Oh? Could you tell me about these strange feelings?" Yosano was very curious about what the writer had to say.

Poe managed to explain to her the best he could about his weird symptoms. Yosano listened with great interest and started to get an idea of what the raccoon loving boy was experiencing.

"Tell me Poe-kun. Do you feel this way all the time or just around a certain person?"

Lucy was also listening in to their conversation and knew exactly what the doctor was hinting at. After all, she felt the same way around the white haired boy upstairs.

"Y-yes actually it only happens around R-Ranpo-kun..." Poe's complexion reddened as he took a careful sip of his coffee.

"Well, you definitely are sick. Love sick that is." She informed him with a smirk on her face.

Poe's eyes widened and he spit out his drink in surprise. That was not what he had wanted to hear. He quickly became a stuttering mess as he struggled to deny it. "N-no no that's not... I-I'm not... with R-Ranpo it's... it's not like t-that!"

Yosano rolled her eyes, "Deny it all you want, your feelings aren't going to go away." Poe refused to met her gaze but he knew she was right. "I think you should just tell him."

"I-I can't do that!"

"Why not? Ranpo isn't going to think badly of you because of it and who knows, maybe he feels the same way."

"I suppose you're right." Poe mumbled.