Heartbeats (Ranpo x Poe)

Girlfriend

"You know... I spoke to Poe-kun yesterday." Yosano said, hoping to start a conversation with Ranpo. The detective had been unusually quiet all day and she worried it had something to do with what she and Poe had talked about.

Ranpo simply nodded, "He mentioned it to me."

"Did he say what we talked about?"

"Not really, he just said he felt sick and wanted to know what you thought. He didn't tell me what you said but I already know."

Yosano raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"And what?"

"Well how do you feel about him?"

"I don't want to talk about this right now."

Yosano sighed at her friend's stubbornness. "That's fine but listen to me. If you can't return his feelings, let him down easy, ok? I can't imagine Poe handling heartbreak very well."

Ranpo furrowed his eyebrows at that. He didn't want Poe to ever be sad. Poe was never the best at taking care of himself and Ranpo knew something like heartbreak would only make it worse.

He was honestly a little offended that Yosano even felt the need to tell him something so blatantly obvious but he knows she means well so he doesn't say throw any insults at her. Instead he mumbled, "I know."

__________

The rest of the day was just as boring as Ranpo thought it would be. The only interesting thing was Akutagawa showing up upon Dazai's request and Atsushi's face turning red the second he saw him.

Atsushi's crush was so incredibly obvious that he was surprised Akutagawa hadn't just kissed him yet. While Akutagawa's feelings were more subtle, they were very clearly mutual which is why Dazai asked Akutagawa to come in the first place. Well, it was actually for some mission that really Atsushi could handle on his own but Ranpo knew Dazai was forcing them to spend more time together on purpose.

Ranpo wished Poe had been so easy to read.

It had taken the detective a frustratingly long time to realize that the writer had feelings for him. As to wether Ranpo felt the same way... he wasn't sure.

For the first time in his life, Ranpo didn't have the answers. To be fair, he knew next to nothing about love but it was infuriating none the less.

He wanted to spend more time with the writer to see if he could finally identify his own feelings but he also worried that Poe would build up the courage to confess to him. If he did, Ranpo wouldn't know what to say.

Well either way, Ranpo was bored so he texted Poe to ask if he could come over.

Ranpo:
I'm bored can I come over?

Poe:
I'm surprised you asked instead of just showing up but I'm afraid I already have someone over. You can come tomorrow if you like?

Ranpo:
I didn't know you had other friends Poe-kun!

Poe:
Yes, well, she's from the Guild.

Ranpo:
Is she your girlfriend?? 😏

Poe:
No! She's just a friend.

Ranpo:
Suuuuuurrrrrrreeeeee

Ranpo:
Anyway I'm coming over now! I want to meet your girlfriend