Ranpo Edogawa, As everyone already knows, he is the world's greatest detective. He takes extreme pride in his "ability" which can solve any mystery in mere seconds, with which he has solved countless cases already.
With his incredible intelligence, we commended him even more because it was an intelligence of his own without any sort of ability or being gifted. Ranpo-san is also shown to be rather childish, frequently teasing the other detectives in the Agency and sometimes refusing to do work or cases for trivial reasons such as laziness or spite. However, despite this demeanor, he becomes serious and calm when the situation calls for it.
We put our trust in Ranpo-san and he equally placed his trust in us. I know he recognizes how we all see him as invincible, so I know that he was convinced by himself to protect us, and to not let anyone inside the agency get hurt.
Dazai Osamu, he may not be here right now and everyone in this world knows that he was the late former boss of the Port Mafia, however, I know Dazai-san's heart will always be at the agency. His heart is settled in a place where he can help, protect, and save people.
He isn't perfect. Nobody could understand Dazai-san fully. He will always be a million light years away even if he appeared to be close by. But even though he's so hard to understand... to me, only one thing is for sure: Dazai-san is a good person.
He's the first person who helped me when I got kicked out from the orphanage. He is also the person who recommended me to the President and gave me a position among the Armed Detective Agency members.
Without Dazai-san, I might probably still be sleeping in the street right now, or maybe I would be long dead from starvation and from the cold weather outside. I want to be there when Dazai-san starts doubting himself whether he is truly a good person or not. I want to be by his side to remind him in a pure and honest way that he is, indeed, a good person.
His ability, No Longer Human, allows him to nullify others' abilities on contact. It relies on skin contact and is always active. As such, he can nullify any ability even while restrained as soon as it touches him. With that being said, Yosano-sensei can only heal Dazai-san in a short time frame and short amount of chances when his brain functions end.
Dazai-san is also a genius like Ranpo-san.
With them working together in the agency, no matter what problems come to us, it all will undoubtedly turn out well. They are both intelligent, but their orientations differ.
Ranpo-san is a genius problem-solver and out-of-the-box thinker while Dazai-san is a brilliant strategist and tactician. Dazai-san himself admits he is not capable of seeing all the threads in a case the way Ranpo-san can. In the same way, Ranpo-san can't easily react and adapt to external factors the way Dazai-san can.
Most of occasions, Dazai-san is overly dramatic. He takes most of his actions as a joke, and, although they are very well-thought plans, he does not credit himself for most of what he has done. Dazai-san likes to tease anyone and everyone, especially if it means that he can get a laugh out of it. As a suicidal maniac, he often attempts to commit suicide but he always fails or gives up on it when a methods are too painful. He hates dying from pain. I know I can't change that suicidal habits of him, but I could be there by his side to stop him when he tries to end his life.
In this world, Oda Sakunosuke and Akutagawa Ryūnosuke are also part of the detective agency.
Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, depicts an acute willingness to commit violent crimes to further not only the mafia's goals, but also his own agenda. He is merciless and blunt. He doesn't discriminate when it comes to his targets, having no qualms killing anyone from innocent civilians, children, and enemies alike. Hostile as he is towards the weak, he dislikes meaningless torture and prefers killing in one go whenever possible.
His ability, Rashōmon, can transform his overcoat into a dark monster capable of slicing through anything, its blade could cut even the space itself. He can also use it with other clothing. I can't count how many times I have been stabbed and cut by that ability.
Akutagawa's hatred towards me is enough for him to cut my leg and arms into pieces most of the time. However, I cannot lie that with all of the missions that I successfully completed, Dazai-san and the agency members are not the only ones who are there to help me... Akutagawa is also there. He might want to kill me so bad, but he's also the one who helps me defeat our enemies.
Earlier, he told me that one of the reasons why he's mad at me was because Dazai-san chose to pick me the night they met when Dazai-san said that he was originally planning on taking him to the Port Mafia. But Dazai-san left him and chose to take me instead.
Even in this world, Dazai-san still chooses to help and take care of me. He never stops helping me and it just made me want to help him more.
But I am not helping Dazai-san because he helped me. I think even if Dazai-san won't do anything for me, I would still be willing to help him because I know that he's a good person. Dazai-san is strong and he can protect his own self physically and mentally, but he cannot protect his own feelings. That is why I wanted to help and protect him all the time, even though I myself don't know if I could do well with that.
##
The sun was soon going to set but no matter how many times I searched for the photo that Dazai-san was searching for in the original world, I still couldn't find the photo.
I believed that the photo is in this world as Dazai-san was also here before, he might have left it somewhere here before he jumped from the rooftop. According to Akutagawa's story, Dazai-san was the former boss of the Port Mafia.
What if the photo was at the Port Mafia's place? Should I go there and check it?
But if the photo was there, then why did Paula-chan's ability send me here at the agency and not outside the Port Mafia's place? There might be a reason why 'The Conspiration' sent me here. I also could feel that the photo is just somewhere at the agency. I need to find it myself.
"Atsushi-kun, are you searching for something?"
I turned around to look at the guy who spoke. It's Ranpo-san. He's holding three lollipops in his hand while there's one piece of lollipop inside his mouth. Even in this world, he's still into sweets and candies. I hope he won't get his teeth broken from eating candies often.
"Ah, n-nothing.." I answered.
He heard me stutter so he stared at me for a while to study my expression, then he opened his mouth again to speak.
"You're not really good at lying, Atsushi-kun. Even the you in this world, or the you from the original world." said Ranpo-san nonchalantly.
I was taken aback and blinked twice.
Did I hear it right? He said that I'm not good at lying, the me in this world or even the me in the original world. How did he know about that? Did Ranpo-san know about this world being fake all along?
"How did you know that I came from the original world, Ranpo-san?" I asked him curiously. I was really shocked.
"It's so simple to guess. You didn't look like you're from this world because of your clothes." he answered.
My forehead creased. My clothes? I glanced at the clothes I'm wearing before I looked back at him, still curious. What's wrong with my clothes?
"When you and Kyouka-chan joined the agency last month, all the members decided to buy clothes for the both of you. Akutagawa, Oda-san, Tanizaki and Naomi-chan bought red kimono for Kyouka-chan... The white button-up with sleeves that you're wearing right now, Kunikida-kun is the one who bought it for you.
Yosano-san bought you that loose black tie while the old man, (the president) gave you that black pants. Kenji-kun is the one who gave you suspenders while I'm the one who gave you those black fingerless gloves in your hands. But you are wearing a long black belt and it's the first time I saw you wearing that. I don't think you're the one who bought that for yourself because if you would buy one, you won't choose an expensive belt like that, right?"
I look at the long belt I'm wearing and stare at it for a while. It's the belt that Dazai-san bought for me before I passed the entrance exam and joined the agency. Dazai-san is not a part of the Armed Detective Agency in this world so the Atsushi that they know here don't have any kind of belt like this.
But is that enough reason for Ranpo-san to guess that I'm from the original world? It was just a mere belt after all. How can he be so sure that the Atsushi in this world won't buy this expensive belt?
"I know you still won't believe how I immediately found out that you're not from this world so I would tell you the other reason how I guessed it. The clue is not just because of the belt you're wearing but also because of the length of your hair. The hair of Atsushi that we know here was shorter than the length of your hair from the original world. Yours was an inch longer than his hair that I saw yesterday. It's so impossible for a hair to grow an inch in just overnight so I know you are not the Atsushi that I met last night." he explained.
My curious face was changed into an amused face. Ranpo-san even noticed the difference in the hair length of the people he met. As expected to the greatest detective in the world. His eyes are sharp and he has a good memory too. But if it's impossible for the hair to grow an inch overnight, isn't it more impossible to believe that this world is fake and I am from the original world?
"Human hair grows depending on the person's age. It may grow faster or slower, but it grows at a fairly consistent rate of about half a millimeter per day or about half an inch each month. To say it more specifically, the study says human hair grows at 0.44 mm per day, so to grow your hair half an inch, it will take you a month to do so."
I could feel my mouth getting numb as it was actually open while listening to Ranpo-san's explanation. I don't know what to say as there is no point in telling lies at Ranpo-san. He will immediately notice it and find out the truth in an instant.
"You don't need to tell me if you don't want to. I already know what's on your mind anyways. I also know that telling it to me would bring danger to this world so you can be at ease because like you, I also don't want to bring any danger to anyone here. Just let me give you a clue and a piece of advice on how you could find the thing you are searching…" Ranpo-san looks at me before he asks a question.
"Atsushi-kun, are you a good drinker?"
Without waiting for my answer, Ranpo-san turned his back and left me there alone, dumbfounded. I don't know why he asked me that question. I can't understand the clue he gave me.
Is that even a clue?
I could feel my forehead crumpled as I got occupied by my cloud of thoughts. I need to find the photo Dazai-san is searching for and go back to the original world as soon as possible. I need to do it so I could also bring back the Atsushi everyone knows here.
The Atsushi from this world probably have gotten stuck inside Paula-chan's book. If I find the photo and return to the original world, that means he could also go back here.