N. Chuuya X Fem! Reader: The Territory of Gravity

6 - Murder on D Street

"A woman..?" Ranpo gaped. 

"Three shots in the chest, that's all we know," the officer sighed. "We don't have a crime scene, time, or even bullets that we can examine."

"So... who did it?" Atsushi asked, only for you to slap him upside the head.

"If we knew, we'd be home by now!" You hissed.

"And from what I know from working with her, was that she didn't have a lover," the lead investigator added.

"Well, it sounds to me, like you know nothing," Ranpo snorted. 

"That's why we can't leave this case to an amature like you," Minoura spat out. "Just get out of-"

"Sir! We caught something in our net!" The team announced, hauling up the net.

"How much do you wanna bet it's reinforcements," you smirked.

"Oh definitely," Ranpo nodded along. 

"What's that?" Atsushi asked.

"We have a net in the river to ensure that no evidence floats away," an officer explained.

"It's a body!" Another one gasped. "There's a body in the river!"

"What?!"

"No way!"

"A second victim?!"

"Why, Atsushi-kun! Hard at work as always, huh?" The body trilled.

"Another drowing attempt?" Atsushi sweatdropped. 

"Dying alone is so old-fashioned, Atsushi-kun," Dazai began. "Our lovely visitor earlier convinced me. When it's time to die, nothing is better than a lovers' suicide. What could be more mournful than shuffling off this mortail coil alone!"

"Assuming you don't die alone, of course," you scoffed, untying the net around him. 

"Ah, but I shall still seek a lovely woman to perish with me," Dazai shrugged. 

"And your current condition?" Atsushi asked.

"Oh this? I was simply swept up by the river!" Dazai beamed, falling in your arms.

"Don't go falling for me again, now," you muttered so only he could hear, dropping him and dusting yourself off. 

"Mean!" Dazai pouted, but got up to look at the body nonetheless. "My God! A young flower, in the prime of her life... cruelly robbed of her very future! What a tragedy! Oh how this pains me.... if only we could have given up the ghost together..!"

"Who is this?" Minoura asked, concerned by the sight of Dazai.

"A coworker and an enigma, even to me," Ranpo introduced. 

"Fret not, my poor victim. The world's greatest detective shall wipe away your regrets!" Dazai beamed. "Won't you, Ranpo-San?"

"They have not yet requested my assistance," Ranpo huffed. "What a conundrum for a master detective."

Just then, his eyes landed on the meek officer from before.

"Hey you," Ranpo called. "What's your name?"

"Me?!" He gaped, continuing once Ranpo nodded. "Officer Sugimoto! I worked under the late Ms. Yamagiwa, sir!"

"Okay, Sugimoto-kun! You're the detective now!" Ranpo grinned. "Solve this case for us within sixty seconds!"