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Once he was sure that Yosano had left the hospital room, Ranpo lifted his head slightly to look at the unconscious agency president. He knew not one person in the agency, least of all Yosano, would say one word if they saw the way he looked. Yosano probably knew anyway but even if she did, she had been nice enough not to say anything about it. Still, he didn’t want anyone to see the tears forming in his eyes, some of them already rolling down his face.
Crying wasn’t something that others associated with Edogawa Ranpo, the childish genius detective. Even the agency rarely saw him being anything else but happy or bored. Even when it got serious, he could often be seen with his usual grin or a slightly bored expression at how easy a case was. But this situation wasn’t one he had been in before or expected to be in anytime soon.
That was what bothered him the most: Why couldn’t he have known that something was going to happen? He had gone over the last couple of days in his head several times while Yosano had been busy with her examination, trying to find anything that could have hinted towards an assasination attempt that he might have overlooked. An odd case, something outside of the agency building but every time, he came up empty.
‘Maybe it’s better that way…’, he thought while trying to wipe away the tears, only for them to be replaced by new ones soon after, ‘Yosano would probably only get angry at me for trying to blame myself…’
Looking back down, the detective tried to focus on what was going on instead of his emotions to deduce anything that might be helpful. It hadn’t worked the last couple of times but he didn’t want to give up. If he hadn’t been able to prevent this dilemma he had to at least help with the solution.
‘The port mafia will soon be here. They’ll be outnumbering us which will be a problem if we don’t plan around this. Additionally, we have one person to guard. We can’t risk losing Fukuzawa, even if the virus will stop. We can’t lose him. He can’t die. I can’t-’
Letting out a frustrated sound, Ranpo’s hands grabbed his own hair, pulling on it to stop himself from spiraling. Why couldn’t he focus?! The one time that everyone needed him where he was immediately willing to help, no matter what - and he just couldn’t focus on the facts. Something that was normally second nature to him now seemed almost impossible to do.
Once more, his eyes fell on Fukuzawa, who was getting weaker by the minute and immediately Ranpo’s sight blurred with tears once more.
…Well, at least his deductions weren’t wrong. The agency really couldn’t lose Fukuzawa. He couldn’t lose Fukuzawa.
If the agency lost a member in one way or another it would hurt all of them in some way, even though some would be affected more than others.
If the agency lost the president, the person that had given all of them something that felt like a home…it would hurt all of them and even break some of them. Especially him
Ranpo rested his head on his hands, wishing for some kind of sign or idea or even just a piece of evidence that could miraculously help them. It was irrational and dumb, he knew that, but at this moment, Ranpo was just desperate for anything that would just give Fukuzawa back to them.
Something that would give him back the man he considered his father. The man that had taken him in 12 years ago, despite him being an insufferable genius. The man that had gotten the closest to actually understanding him, besides his dead parents.
“Please…”, Ranpo whispered, honestly not sure who he was even talking to. Maybe Fukuzawa himself? Some kind of deity? Was he going mad? It certainly would fit everything else that had happened…
‘Get a grip…’
Suddenly, Ranpo sat up straight, blinking in surprise. What…had he heard? Ranpo was almost certain that it had been the boss’s voice but…this couldn’t be because the swordsman was still unconscious from what it looked like.
But even if he hadn’t woken up and the voice was just an imagination sprung from Ranpo’s stressed out mind and over emotional state, it sounded like something that the boss would say. Get a grip, focus on what’s at hand and not what you could have done or what might happen if you fail.
With those words in mind, the detective took a deep breath and tried one more time to work with the information he had.
‘Alright, the Port Mafia will be here any minute now to kill him. Negotiating with them is out the window, they won’t risk their boss dying even if we agree to look for the ability user together because there is just so little time and-’
All of a sudden, Ranpo’s thought process came to a halt. Of course, the answer had been so simple. If Yosano couldn’t heal Fukuzawa and Dazai couldn’t do anything against the virus right now, then they would have to find the source of all of this. Dazai was still in the hospital but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t capture the ability user and bring them here. Or even kill them if necessary. They didn't have all of the information yet but still the ability user couldn't be too far away if what Dazai had said before was true. Maybe they could convince the Mafia to help them but Ranpo wasn’t sure if they were keen on risking their boss’s life. Not that the detective could entirely blame them.
A commotion outside of the room got his attention. This could only mean that the port mafia was probably already here, so they quickly needed to make a plan and put it in action.
After having sat by the president's side for quite some time, Ranpo finally stood up again and put on his signature brown hat.
One more time, he turned his attention to Fukuzawa, somehow having the feeling that the voice wasn’t just an imagination. They really would be lost without the president sometimes, wouldn’t they…?
Not thinking much about his actions for once, Ranpo reached out and grabbed the older man’s hand, trying not to flinch at how unexpectedly cold it felt. He wasn’t good with emotions or words, except when it was about criminal cases, so this was the only way he could think of to show how important Fukuzawa was to him. He didn’t know if Fukuzawa could feel it or if he would even know what it meant but Ranpo just somehow needed to show what he couldn’t find the words for. Especially since there was still a chance that this would be his last chance to do so.
“We’ll save you.”
Those were the last words Ranpo muttered before letting go of Fukuzawa’s hand and leaving to make a plan with the other agency members.
They would save Fukuzawa. They would save his father.
No matter what it would take.