Poe is a flower shop employee and Ranpo gets lost and somehow finds his way to Poe’s shop
It was a fresh autumn morning. Orange and brown leaves littered all over the ground and crunched as a tall man walked through. The man’s name was Edgar Allan Poe, an American immigrant who came to Japan for a new start. He currently worked as a flower shop employee and though the pay was small, he was glad that he could at least provide food and shelter for himself.
The flower shop came into view and he walked a little faster. He entered the shop and was greeted by the sweet old lady who was his boss. He waved good morning.
“Hi, Poe-kun, have you had breakfast yet?” Poe took his apron out of his bag and put it on, shaking his head to respond to the old lady’s question.Once Poe had finished tying the ribbons of the apron, the old lady handed him a croissant.
“Thank you, Mrs. Fukushima”
That’s how most of their mornings started; with Mrs. Fukushima giving him bread for breakfast. She knew Poe didn’t have enough money to buy breakfast so she always gives him bread to eat so the young man wouldn’t starve.
The next few hours was spent by attending to customers, wrapping up bouquets of flowers and taking care of the several plants and flowers in the shop. This is exactly why Poe stayed despite the small pay; Life as a flower shop employee was a peaceful one, no overwhelming rush of customers (except on Valentines Day), no violence.
Poe’s life was normal, quiet, almost too quiet.
“Hey, Poe-kun, don’t you have a girlfriend?” Poe flushed at the old lady’s question
“N-No, Mrs. Fukushima, you know relationships aren’t my t-thing..” He said. Mrs. Fukushima sighed
“You’re not gonna get any younger, you know. It’s best to enjoy your youth”
“R-right, i’ll keep that in mind”
At around lunch time, Poe just finished wrapping up a bouquet for a customer and then..
“Hey hey, could someone help me??” A young man barged into the shop. He looked to be around his 20′s. Dark, messy hair slightly covered by a brown hat, beautiful emerald eyes. Poe lightly blushed seeing the young man. The tall male kept staring at the newcomer till Mrs. Fukushima snapped him out of his trance.
“Poe-kun? You help that young man, I’ll take care of the customer” And with that, Mrs. Fukushima led the customer away to the cash registrar. Poe gulped and made his way to the young man.
“U-Um, how can I help you, sir?” Poe tried his best to get eye contact with the man but he just kept averting his eyes.
“I’m lost, do you know where the Armed detective agency is?” Poe thought about it for a second. The Armed detective agency’s the building where he passes by every morning, right?
“The r-red bricked building, right?” The young man nodded excitingly.
“Poe-kun, you can go lead him, and grab some lunch since it’s already lunch time!” Mrs. Fukushima exclaimed, waving. The tall man nodded and took off his apron and he placed it on a nearby table.
“I’ll be back soon, Mrs. Fukushima!”
“So you’re Poe?” Poe nodded
“I’m E-Edgar Allan Poe and you are?” The man looked at him strangely
“You don’t know who i am??”
“Why, I’m the greatest detective in the whole wide world! Edogawa Ranpo!”
The two finally arrived at the agency. Poe bowed
“Well, I should be off then, goodbye, Edogawa-san” Poe turned around to leave but Ranpo caught his sleeve
Ranpo dragged Poe to the Agency’s favorite cafe. They were both greeted by the waitress and the cafe owner. The two sat down on a booth and gave their orders to the waitress. Since Poe still couldn’t read Japanese well enough, Ranpo ordered omurice for them both and a parfait for Ranpo.
“So you’re a detective, Edogawa-san?”
“Mhm! Cut the ‘Edogawa-san’ call me Ranpo instead!”
“You’re a cute one aren’t you?”
By the time lunch was over, the two grew close, close enough to even exchange phone numbers. Poe even stuck around the agency and met everyone. He left 5 minutes later, saying that he still has work to do.
As he walked back to the shop, he felt a warm feeling within him. The feeling was nice, it made him feel really happy.
For the first time in a while Edgar Allan Poe felt extremely happy...
It’s been a whole month since the two met and became close. It was already December 23rd. Tomorrow would be the last day of work. Poe not only grew close with Ranpo but also with the other agency members, the tall male was even invited to the Agency’s Christmas Party.
The past few weeks have been a good one for Poe, he made new friends.
Poe looked at the clock on the wall and realized it’s almost time for him to get lunch and go to the Agency.
He knew today was gonna be a good day too
‘Ah..the last day of work! I’m definitely gonna miss this place while I’m on vacation..’ Poe thought as he swept the floors of the shop. The door opened and he turned around to see Ranpo, with a grin on his face
“R-Ranpo-kun?? How did you even get here??” Poe stuttered out as Ranpo pouted
“Don’t underestimate a great detective like me!” Poe sweatdropped as Ranpo entered the shop. Currently it was just the tall male because Mrs. Fukushima went out for groceries
“So..what brings you here today, Ranpo-kun? It’s quite rare that YOU visit me” Poe asked, emphasizing the latter YOU. What he said was not a lie, usually it would be the taller male who visits the Agency during lunch time, not the other way around.
“I came today to buy a flower” That response piqued Poe’s interest
“Oh? Which ones?” Ranpo pointed at the Gloxinias. Poe felt his heart ache a little. He knew what those flowers symbolized; Love at First Sight. He didn’t know why his heart ached, so what if Ranpo is buying a flower that symbolizes Love at First Sight? It’s not like he loved the detective anyway...
“alright, hold on, I’ll get it for you” Poe walked away to the bundle of gloxinias. He grabbed one and walked to the preparation table
“Would you like a ribbon or card?”
“You can go pick over there Ranpo-kun” Poe pointed to the rack of ribbons and cards.
Ranpo came back with two small ribbons, one red and one white and of course, a little card that he can write in. Poe handed Ranpo a pen and he started writing away while Poe beautifully tied the ribbons around the stem. When Ranpo was finished writing, he handed the card to Poe and the tall man stuck the card on the stem with tape.
“And your total is 934 yen” Ranpo gave him the money and he was off with the flower
“Thanks, Poe-kun!” Poe waved him goodbye and when the detective was nowhere to be seen, he sighed
“My heart hurts...Do I really like Ranpo-kun..?” Poe could feel tears start to well up in his orbs. He quickly wiped them away
“No no! If Ranpo has someone he likes I should be happy for him!”
Lunch time finally came around and Mrs. Fukushima came back with a paper bag full of groceries.
“You can go get lunch now, Poe-kun” The tall man nodded and took off his apron. He then exited the shop after putting on a thick coat and a scarf.
On the way to the agency, Poe tried his very best to not start crying but he couldn’t hide it. The tears and heart aches just kept coming and coming. Halfway to his destination, he ran up to a tree and wiped his tears, making sure no one was around to see him in that state.
‘I can’t go the agency looking like this’ He took out his phone and sent a message to the detective
Hello, Ranpo-kun! I can’t go to the Agency today. There’s a lot of customers and I’ll be here for a while. I’m sorry
He felt bad for lying but what other excuse does he have?
He walked all the way back to the shop and told Mrs. Fukushima that he’ll skip lunch today. The old lady was suspicious but decided not to ask about it.
It was a long day, Poe had to admit. He was grateful that he did come back because suddenly there was a bunch of customers who all wanted bouquets who arrived but he was done for the day.
“Here, Poe-kun, your pay and bonus” Mrs. Fukushima handed him a small brown envelope that was slightly thick. Poe nodded
“Thank you so much, Mrs. Fukushima!”
“Well, you should head home now”
“Alright, Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas, Poe-kun”
And that was it. On the way home he bought a meal from the convenience store and finally made his way home. He arrived in his shabby apartment and flopped onto the small couch after placing the steaming hot food he bought.
“Agh..I’m tired..” But at least he could finally relax. He didn’t have to return to work till January 5 and so he had a 12 days to just roll around the apartment and sleep.
He shifted his position so his back was on the couch and he faced the ceiling. He sighed
‘Ranpo must’ve confessed to that person already..’ Again, the tears started coming but this time, Poe was comfortable with crying. He was in his own home after all. The only witnesses would be the little furniture he had.
Edgar Allan Poe spent that night crying and sleeping. It would be better to release the grief and sadness now than to keep it in.
Poe woke up with a slight headache which made him groan in pain
“O-Ow” He held his head and started regretting all the crying. He stood up and went to the bathroom to look at himself. He was a mess, a really bad mess. The dark circles beneath his eyes got even darker somehow, his eyes were red and puffy, his hair was sticking up in various directions and his lips were slightly dry. He sighed and turned on the faucet so he can wash his face.
As he was rinsing off the soap from hiss face, the doorbell rung. Poe finished up and headed to the front door to peek through the little peephole. There was no one
He opened the door and to his surprise, the Gloxinia he had prepared for Ranpo was on the floor a few inches from his door, along with a present. He picked up both items and went into his living room after closing and locking the door.
He first read the card that Ranpo wrote
Dear Edgar Allan Poe,
Bet you didn’t expect this, did you? I’m not only a clever detective but also clever with surprises! Haha, enough bragging though. I wrote this to tell you that I like you. We’ve only been hanging around each other for a month i know but i really like you. You should consider yourself extremely lucky to have won the heart of the Greatest detective in the world!
Let’s go out together, come to my place on New Years. I’m not taking no for an answer ;)
Love, Edogawa Ranpo
Poe needed to process this
dsfndshffheihfmvk irjep mrem rk onvnittuehwyew-
He opened the present next.
There was a box of condoms and a bottle of lube..
Poe blushed heavily and placed the lid back on the present.
Edgar.exe has stopped working
