ᴅᴀʏʟɪɢʜᴛ || ʀᴀɴᴘᴏᴇ

• 9 •

"Hey handsome, are you single?" A lady at the bar purred, biting her full, red lips and pouting. Ranpo and Yosano were drinking at a bar near the office, it wasn't too late, so there wasn't many people around. This lady seemed already plastered, and Ranpo was stone cold sober.

"Uh-"

"Yes he is." Yosano chimed in, lightly pushing Ranpo towards the woman. The lady tugged at his hand and took him to a booth in the corner and she was chatting to him about something he didn't really care about. She was pretty, with light blue doe eyes, long blonde hair and she was wearing a skimpy black dress.

"How about I give you a dance." She giggled, already straddling into his lap and grinding against him. Ranpo glanced over to Yosano, who was giving him a thumbs up and recording on her phone. This was the first time anyone had actually paid attention to Ranpo. Usually if they went to a bar, Yosano would be the one being hit on - Dazai too if he tagged along. The movements the woman was making were stimulating sure, but Ranpo wouldn't say he was aroused. This dance continued for several minutes until the lady got bolder and planted a sloppy kiss on his lips, she tasted like whiskey. Again, he felt nothing.

What was wrong with him?

Surely, he should be feeling something, anything. He tried to think of something that would interest him. He thought of Dazai, is this what Dazai liked doing? He couldn't see the appeal of kissing. He pulled away, from both the kiss and this thoughts and the woman looked green.

"I'm gonna be sick." She scuffed her heels against the floor as she madly sprinted to the bathroom. Ranpo saw this as an opportunity to run to Yosano.

"You womaniser Ranpo! What did you think?"

"I think I'm gay."

Ranpo woke up with a startle. His breathing was erratic as he vaguely remembered the events. Nikolai Gogol, Edgar, the paralysis. It was slowly coming back to him, but he found it hard to pinpoint exactly what happened in which order.

"Oh thank god you're awake Ranpo! We need your help at the agency!" Atsushi cried, pulling the dazed detective to his feet. Ranpo stumbled as he tried to gain his footing. Atsushi gripped his arm as they staggered to the agency. "Naomi has a bomb, the Decay of Angels visited while we were all out. They were silent, even the President didn't hear them from his office and they taped her mouth shut so she couldn't scream."

The office was only a mere ten metres away when Ranpo's legs gave out. Atsushi had to carry him into the office, and if the others weren't stressed, they were now.

"Ranpo! Are you okay?" Kenji asked, aiding Atsushi in moving Ranpo onto a chair.

"I'm fine. Let me see the bomb." Naomi crept forward, the bomb was strapped on her chest, with a blue and a red wire entangled in yellow wires.

"Please save me Ranpo! I'm too young to die!" Naomi wailed, Junichirou patted her back.

"You'll be fine Naomi." The device was counting down sure, but the beeping was irregular, and every 0.7 seconds, not every second. It's clear this is a fake, and not a very good fake either. It was served as a fear factor to get Edgar to join them.

"It's not a real bomb."  Ranpo concluded, and everyone sighed in relief.

"How can you be so sure? This is my life on the line!" Naomi screeched, sobbing harshly. "You were probably drugged and it's affecting your thinking!" Ranpo rolled his eyes.

"Are you questioning my intellect?"

"She's scared, Ranpo. She's allowed to question things." Kunikida said, although even he knew not to question Ranpo. "You can take the bomb off Junichirou."