A Series of Mysteries ~ Ranpo x Reader

⟡ 6) A Bump in the Road ⟡

"Am I just some fucking toy for people to exchange?" I shout, furious at the fact that I'm being treated as nothing more than a means of exchange. Again.

"Oh? What does that mean?" he asks me, seeming curious at my sudden outburst.

"N-Nothing. It's nothing" I say, mentally kicking myself for letting that spill out.

"It's too late to back out now. So tell me, what did you mean by that?" he asks while grabbing my hair and forcing my gaze to him.

I struggle to get my words out, not wanting to give this man any information but also being terrified of what would happen to me if I don't comply.

"T-There's someone that has my brother, and in exchange for his freedom, I need to give myself up. My adopted parents are working for that person and they were planning on exchanging me for their lives to be spared after they betrayed that person's parent, their previous boss. My brother was planning on warning me of this danger but my parents found out and they had him kidnapped," I explained, a slight stutter present in my speech.

"Interesting, do you know who the main person behind this is?" he asks, releasing his grip on my hair and standing up tall.

"No. I was in the middle of trying to figure that out at the Armed Detective Agency. The only clue I had was a symbol resembling a rat," I answered, knowing that the only information I managed to obtain would be of no use to him.

"I have another question for you, when I sent Chuuya-kun to retrieve you, you seemed to be running away from something. What was it that you were running away from?" he asks me, his head tilting to the side in confusion.

'So his name is Chuuya. Good to know.'

"My mother. She found out where I was somehow" I answer.

"Just your mother? Not your father?" He asks me, causing me to ponder his question.

'Wait, he's got a point. My father wasn't there when she showed up. If he wasn't there, then where is he?'

"Y-Yeah. Just my mom. I don't know why my father wasn't there with her or where he could've been," I explain, not quite understanding why only my mom showed up.

"Hm, that's quite the situation you've got. Anyways, it appears to me that you're a lot more valuable than I originally thought you were," he concludes, walking back to his desk.

'I don't like where this is going.'

"Chuuya-kun, escort Miss Y/n to her quarters," he informs the man standing behind me, receiving a "Yes, sir" in response.

"Follow me," he said, clearly annoyed at having to show me around.

Instead of waiting for me to answer, he immediately removes my chair restraints and grabs both of my wrists behind my back, pushing me to walk forward.

"Not that you care, but this position is very uncomfortable. Do you really need to hold onto me so tightly? You think far too highly of me if you think I'd be able to escape if you loosen your grip a bit" I complain.

"I don't recall asking for your opinion nor do I recall giving you permission to speak" he retorts back.

"Last time I checked, I didn't need your permission to speak. I'm just trying to spark a conversation instead of having to deal with this deafening awkward silence" I explained to him.

"Unless you want to be in a more uncomfortable position, I'd suggest that you shut your mouth" he threatens.

"Fine, fine. But I'd like to ask you a question and then I'll shut up. Otherwise you'll have to deal with my nonsense" I explained to him.

"Ugh, fine. What's your question?" he asks, completely done with me.

"How do you know Dazai and why do you hate him so much?" I ask.

"That's two questions, idiot. And I'm not sure you really want to know," he says.

"If I didn't want to know, then I wouldn't have asked," I explained.

"Alright, suit yourself. Dazai used to be one of the youngest Port Mafia executives before he left to join the Armed Detective Agency. During his time in the Mafia, me and him were partners. We had the name 'Double Black.' He was cold and ruthless; a demon. He was manipulative and killed without a second of hesitation. When I first met him, he immediately pissed me off. Everything about him was annoying" Chuuya said, leaving me speechless. "Heh. Told ya you didn't want to hear it" he chuckles slightly.

"You're wrong" I state.

"Excuse me?" he asks, confused by my response.

"You're wrong. I could already tell that Dazai had a dark past that he didn't want to talk about. I didn't go quiet because I couldn't believe what you were saying. It was because we had two completely different reactions to our first meeting of Dazai. You found him annoying while I found him comforting. Even now, that hasn't changed. Learning about his past doesn't change how I feel" I explained.

Chuuya suddenly stops, my head flying forward as my wrists are yanked backwards.

"Hey! What was that for? Warn me next time you want to abruptly stop like that" I say while turning to face him, wondering what caused him to stop so suddenly.

I wasn't expecting to see such an expression on his face. It reminded me of what I probably looked like when I got a bunch of information dumped on me. He seemed like he was trying to process something, trying to piece something together. He seemed puzzled, lost in thought, like I had said something absolutely foreign to him. He must've noticed my staring because that look on his face quickly went away as he gestured for me to keep moving.

'Who knew he could make such a face?'

~⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡☆⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡~