Prey and Predator [Ranpo x Reader] + Bonus ✓

Bonus: "Candy" dealer, Ranpo

'You never told me you were pregnant before, [Y/N]!' Ranpo gasped as he set eyes on the little girl behind me. 'Or did you adopt without telling me?'

Sighing, I leaned my side towards the door frame of the entrance and felt the child's clutching of my tee tighten as she hid behind me. 'Neither. An acquaintance of mine asked if she could spend the night with me; the rest of the family has errands to run that go past her bedtime, so it's best she's left in the company of an adult, you see.'

He squinted at my explanation and stuck his tongue out to the child mockingly, this which she returned, and between them, were exchanged glances of suspicion as they attempted to recognise each other after years of only having met face-to-face once. 'Do I know you?'

'I remember you! You tried to steal a lollipop from me once!' she responded, hissing at him while cowering further behind my back. 'I called you a "Messy Middle-School Delinquent" and you got angry! You got angry because I told you the truth - Did he track us down, [Y/N], like those people you tell me about? Is he trying to steal from me again?'

'I'm not a delinquent! I've already told you I'm a detective!' he argued back, shaking before her eyes a paper bag he'd been holding since he had arrived. 'Besides, I don't need your sweets because I have my own!'

I turned to the girl and explained that the Messy Middle-School Delinquent as she called him had not come to steal from us nor had he stalked us home (though I did not know why he had chosen to visit at such a late hour - after dinner, that is), and I allowed him in the apartment while confiding on the child that Ranpo and I had been dating for a few years now - How many times had I had to inform people of my relationship even after all these years?

He invited himself to the couch and sulked as he watched the girl sit on the furthest end of the same furniture, occasionally sharing a glare of distrust; feeling the tension of the silence, I sat between them as Ranpo opened his bag and reached for a taiyaki (That I assumed he must've bought on his way), and munched pettily in the presence of a child he did not seem to favour wholly.

The girl looked at the clock set over the door and sunk back into the couch. 'Can you tell me a story, [Y/N]? Like those you always tell me about?' - she smiled as I nodded to the request, then proceeded to confide in Ranpo about my weekly storytelling (giving me time to select a case) - 'This one time she told me she was able to find a kidnapped boy of a couple of days and all evidence she collected was so important - even the little seemingly "irrelevant" details! [Y/N] is so smart and brave!'

There was a blank look on his face as he stopped chewing to listen to the girl's enthusiasm, then smiled to himself as he deduced the case of the "unnamed kidnapped boy" she referred to, fluttering his eyes open as he continued chewing. 'Sounds fun. Do you have stories for me too, [Y/N], or are they only for Roze's ears?'

The girl gasped and furrowed her brows. 'I never told you my name! How do you know my name?'

'Ranpo associated it; he knows you by the name though he hasn't seen you since that "lollipop incident" - in a way, you know him too, just discreetly since I don't usually throw his name out there,' I explained, letting her relax to a comfortable position against my shoulder for the guaranteed story I was to tell. 'Also, watch this:' I whispered to her, pointing a hidden finger at Ranpo while he chewed on the fish-shaped cake. 'Ranpo only bites pastries, chocolates and sweets, so you're safe, okay?'

She nodded upon understanding my attempt to soothe her suspicion of him and lay quietly waiting for me to begin, watching the male beside us selfishly satisfy his taste buds to a late-night snack; she wanted one too by the looks of it, and he gave her one reluctantly after I'd shot him an indicative glance. "I'm not sharing any more after this one," his eyes told me, "and I expect to be rewarded with something nice for my kindness!"