Bungo Stray Dogs: Reborn As _______ Oneshots

Kenji: All Smiles *

Practice makes perfect. Practice makes perfect. I chant in my head.
Today, I have to fool Ranpo, of all people, that I am a genuinely happy-go-lucky person.
It's my first day at the Armed Detective Agency, but my jitters aren't explainable to anyone but me.
I mean, how do you explain to someone that you were reborn as Kenji Miyazawa, a character from your favorite anime Bungo Stray Dogs?
My smile falters, but only for a second! As per habit, I just smile harder.
I. Am. Kenji. I recite in my head. I. Am. Happy.
I check a mirror. As usual, the sight of my new face makes something jerk deep, deep inside.
Okay, enough about that. It's my first day! Hooray!
My first day of slavery to my own preconceptions.
I swallow. Hard. There's no getting back my smile this time, so going in without it is.
After one last try to muster up a small smile, I finally give up and open the door.
Ranpo looks up immediately, and I have to hide the wave of apprehension that crashes over me with a painfully fake smile. Obviously, he winces.
"First day jitters?" Fukuzawa says as he enters the room behind me.
Someone please tell me he wasn't standing behind me the whole time. Someone. Please.
I can't even keep up a fake smile anymore. Years down the drain practicing, and I can't.
God, I'm pathetic aren't I? I get the idea in my head that I need to do everything the original Kenji did, and ignore the fact that it's making me miserable.
I can barely see. I can't hear anything through the pounding in my head.
Just like when you died.
I cover my face, and race out into the corridor.
"Kenji!"
Not Kenji. I want to scream. I will never be Kenji.
I run down half a flight of stairs until I'm panting so hard, my chest is heaving. I can't go on running, so I walk quietly down the rest of the flight, wet tracks still running down my face.
"Kenji!" Fukuzawa shouts, and I want to screech.
"Stop... It..." I manage to whimper. "Stop... Calling..."
Warm arms envelop me, and I sniffle into his haori. Sobs still shudder through my short body, but it's not affecting me as much now.
"You're okay." He doesn't call me Kenji again, and I sob harder with pure relief.
"Is that your go-to reaction for when a child is crying?" A joking voice floats down to us.
Ranpo.
Why was I so afraid of him again? What's so bad if he figures it out?
I clutch the front of my shirt, feeling my body shake.
I hiccup, gathering my legs beneath me and trying to stand up. Fukuzawa helps me stand, and gently leads me back into the office.
"Are you okay?" He asks softly.
I nod furiously.
"You sure?"
I hiccup again. Nodding twice as fast. It's what I always do: deny, deny, deny. Don't let anybody close. You can't let anybody know. You can't un-tell someone, so it's better to never tell anybody.
Fukuzawa sighs. "You don't seem okay, Kenji."
A warm feeling spreads in my chest at his obvious concern, only to be destroyed by the simple word "Kenji".
"I think he doesn't want to be called Kenji." Ranpo says quietly.
"Is that true?" Fukuzawa asks me.
I swallow. There's no going back after this. "Y-yes." I stutter.
"Alright." Fukuzawa says. "Is there anything else you want us to know?"
"No." I say too quickly. Old habits die hard.
Looking at the disappointed faces around me, though, maybe I should try. What's the worst that can happen?