Bungo Stray Dogs Oneshots

Poe: Keeper of The Book

Au: Poe as Keeper Of the Book

Ship: Ranpoe.
-

Edgar Allen Poe. A messy and dark-haired writer and detective with an obsession of beating the world's greatest detective, Edogawa Ranpo. A few years ago Ranpo beat Poe and ever sense then Poe has been determined to write a book that Ranpo can't solve. This world is also a world of abilities, as you should know by now. Poe is one of the people who were gifted. His ability, 'Black Cat in the Rue Morgue', transports readers into the fictional world of any murder mystery novel(the ability does not work with any other genre and it has to be one they are currently reading). Recently however, Poe challenged Ranpo after going to Yokohama(the place in which Ranpo lives) as a part of the Guild(an American organization that caused trouble in Yokohama in order for their leader to get his hands on a magical book). Unfortunately Ranpo solved the mystery he had written to his dismay, however after that incident Poe has found himself admiring Ranpo. Rather then wishing for revenge Poe see's Ranpo in a more friendly light, as his rival that he strives to catch up too and maybe best one day.

Poe is an introverted man with a love for Raccoons. Even having a pet Raccoon that is often with him named Karl. Few people know many things about him besides his love for writing murder mystery's and his desire to beat Ranpo. Poe only has one secret(besides things that will happen in this story). That secret is as the title suggests. Poe is the keeper of the Book. The magical Book that many people seek to get their hands on. An ability user foretold it to be kept in Yokohama. And they were right. As the book is now in Yokohama following Poe. I won't get into all the rules of the book but essentially anything that comes to pass must be written as a narration and one page must be filled for it to activate. This was prefect for the writer. He had no issues using the book. Though he refrained from using it often. He somewhat disliked the idea of shifting reality in his favor. However the temptation was too great for him to discard it. So he resigned to only using it when he needed it, or for helping others.

Poe walked along, the Raccon Karl standing on his shoulders as he went. Poe has just finished a novel for Ranpo and was eggar to share it. Though recently he realized that if Ranpo were to be stumped by his book and be trapped inside forever he wouldn't really know what to do with himself. His whole life has grown to revolve around Ranpo. Though he was certain the detective would be able to make it out of this one, as much as it also pained him to know that he simply wasn't good enough to beat his rival.

When Poe arrived at the detective agency that Ranpo worked at and made his way up to the floor that served as their office, he became nervous as he opened the door. There weren't as many people present as there were during his last visit. That fact alone calmed his nerves enough to allow him to enter with as much silence as possible. No one batted an eye at the architect of the Guild. An enemy of the agency. He approached the desk farthest from the door. The desk where Edogawa Ranpo was sitting, eyes closed as per usual and munching on a bag of chips, also a usual occurrence.

Poe held the book firm in his hands, sliding it onto Ranpo's desk. The detective peaked open a single eye, looking at it as if it were nothing but a stack of blank paper. He snatched it up, reading the title. "The Tortoise and the Hare: A murder mystery." He read aloud. Poe gulped, his nerves setting on fire. Ranpo didn't sound the least bit interested. "An...interesting twist on a classic story I suppose...alright. Let's begin." He said, opening the book to the first page. Poe's ability activated and with a flash of bright light, Ranpo was sucked into the fictional world.

It didn't take but a minute for Ranpo to return. When he did he looked even more bored then before. "I'm disappointed. This wasn't anywhere as good as your other works. Not to mention you just twisted a pre-existing story. Did you even try?" The detective scolded. Poe frowned, letting the words sink in. Did he even try? He found himself questioning that himself. Usually he made up an original world, drawing inspiration from other fictional work or the real world. It wasn't like him to be uncreative.