tease • edogawa ranpo

ten ; a (frustrating) demonstration of proof

"I'll stop."

The room was a lot more silent than I was hoping it to be.

Ranpo blinked. Once. Twice. He popped a spherical chocolate into his mouth. Then, he blinked once more, until eventually an eyebrow had raised in doubtful mockery.

"Really?" Oh, he was not having it.

"Yes, really!" His blunt honesty when expressing his suspicion set off a rampage of angry butterflies within the confines of my stomach, because although I also couldn't tell if I fully believed myself either, who was he to lay out his distrust in my words like a museum artefact on display?

"Yeah, not gonna happen." Was this man aware of his audacity? Clearly he was swift to notice the incredulous jaw-drop I displayed the moment he replied, a ghost of a satirical smirk playing on his lips when he tilted his head to the side as if I was the idiot. "You expect me to believe that, y/n?"

"Yes?! Why don't you?!" I was spluttering now, mouth opening and closing like a daft fish out of water. To my horror, Ranpo must've found it rather humorous since he started chuckling at an obnoxiously loud volume.

"You're asking me to trust the fact that you've had a change of heart within the last hour or so purely on your own accord? Seriously, what did Dazai tell you?" With flushed cheeks and a cheeky smile to match, it was obvious he never cared for concealing his taunting giggles - his disregard to social etiquette was noticeable from the get-go.

"I'm not changing my mind for Dazai."

"Well, if you say it's for me, I'm going to laugh harder. Right in your face."

Whilst he was rosy-cheeked and jolly, it was difficult not to admire how carefree and genuinely amused Ranpo appeared. Recently, moments of appreciation like this had often found a way to squirm into my thoughts regardless of my protests; like how the sun beams had gleamed down upon his complexion so perfectly on that train journey home, or the peaceful pout on his lips when I'd arrived at the agency that morning and discovered the boy asleep. The feeling was peculiar, however certainly not unpleasant. But alas, now was not the time to be noticing such trivial things, scoffing before responding, "I'd laugh with you because that would be my biggest joke ever."

"What a comedian you are. You sure he didn't bribe you?" I opted to ignore the initial sarcasm dripping in his tone.

"What the hell would he bribe me with?"

The detective scrunched his nose, a finger rhythmically tapping against his chin whilst he thought, though he was definitely incapable of coming up with anything.

"Okay." There was a pause as he furrowed his brows in contemplation. "Prove it then."

"By keeping my word? Because I was planning on doing that anyway-"

"No, prove it." Glimmering pupils were burning into my own whilst his posture straightened, holding my gaze hostage with an intense fervency. "Prove you're not lying to me right now."

"How?"

Before I knew it, he'd stood from his position on the floor, marching a few steps towards me until his hand had clasped around my wrist again. With a far from tender tug, I was lifted from my seat, almost sent tumbling smack-bang into the detective's chest and having to press my free palm on his shoulder in order to prevent me from doing so.

His fingers still encircled my wrist and made no effort of letting go, the touch burning hot against mine. Not even the delicate way he traced patterns like an artist on my skin delivered any assistance in calming my heart that had suddenly begun hammering wildly. Was he even doing it to sooth me? I ought to inform him how useless of an attempt it was, only fuelling the panic growing rapidly within me.