"So it was just a joke, then."
The middle-aged woman looked faintly embarrassed, unwilling to admit her earlier shock—or the tiny sliver of seriousness with which she had taken it.
Not far away, Catherine's emotions finally settled after the roller-coaster plunge. She patted her chest and murmured, "A joke, huh… that scared me half to death. I really thought Japanese people were that open." The expression on her face was hard to read—neither quite relieved nor quite disappointed—and when she accidentally glanced at the women watching nearby, she noticed that some of them actually looked a little let down.
No—astonishingly, there were even men in the crowd who seemed regretful?!
Asou Akiya kept his stiff smile in place, grinding his teeth as he said, "Sorry. He's only thirteen."
Animals!
Trying to keep a boy that young!
The middle-aged woman immediately understood what the gentleman meant and flushed with shame. Fortunately, as the president of Yokohama's S·K Trading Company, her sense of moral outrage wasn't particularly lofty. After taking a few seconds to adjust her state of mind, she found an opening to strike back. "Sir, why would you make that kind of joke with a child? I was only startled for a moment. As a guardian, don't you think you're being rather irresponsible?"
Edogawa Ranpo protested loudly, "I'm almost fourteen!"
Asou Akiya grabbed Ranpo's wrist, forced to shoulder the blame of being labeled the "guardian." "I'll be more careful next time."
The woman found the whole turn of events unbearably awkward and sneered, "Is your family that poor? Teaching a child to live off others without working?" Only after speaking did she cool down enough to really look at Asou Akiya—at his handsome face and his seemingly ordinary yet, in Japan, strikingly rare pure black eyes. She couldn't help suspecting that he might be a male escort.
That suspicion made Edogawa Ranpo itch to speak, but Asou Akiya shot him a warning glare before he could open his mouth.
Shut up! Do you really want to expose my past that badly?
"Our family is not poor," Asou Akiya said calmly. "His mind is richer than anyone else's. From nothing more than a joke between the two of us, he was able to pick out from the crowd women over thirty, from good families, unmarried, and willing to take him in. That alone is proof of a talent for deduction." He deliberately omitted Ranpo's real name, preventing anyone from spreading dubious stories about him.
He would not allow anyone to slander Ranpo, or to treat him as some boy selling himself simply because of a joke he had made.
Edogawa Ranpo was a treasure of the Bungou world!
"President Shiraishi, I have already apologized to you and explained the situation clearly. What you should do now is accept my apology and then leave, and refrain from discussing this matter any further. In this city, there are only two kinds of people who wear black suits in broad daylight."
Asou Akiya's face still held a polished, professional smile, one that looked uncannily like that of a high-end club host.
Yet beneath that smile, his presence radiated danger.
Two members of the Port Mafia arrived in black suits and dark sunglasses, pushing aside the crowd and positioning themselves at Asou Akiya's side.
"There are people you can afford to offend," one of them said calmly, "and people you absolutely cannot."
"..."
The moment her surname was called out, the middle-aged woman's momentum collapsed. She swallowed the words on her tongue and hurried away.
She had realized who he was.
Asou Akiya turned to the onlookers and spoke evenly, "Please continue with whatever you were doing before. I apologize to everyone and hope this incident hasn't affected your mood while you're out today. I also ask that you not discuss this matter any further."
The citizens of Yokohama were already used to such scenes. The Port Mafia did not casually harm ordinary people. The crowd dispersed, no longer gossiping, bound by an unspoken rule of silence shared among them.
"Wow," Catherine murmured, her eyes lighting up at the tacit understanding between this young mafia man and the people of Yokohama.
With the trouble settled, Asou Akiya pulled Edogawa Ranpo along and led him back into the car.
Ranpo was brimming with excitement—Port Mafia cars! Port Mafia people!
The black-haired boy craned his neck inside the vehicle, touching everything within reach, boldly even reaching out to brush against a mafia member's gun, completely ignoring the chill creeping into Asou Akiya's expression and the fist he was very much tempted to swing.
You did it on purpose.
You absolutely did it on purpose, Ranpo!
Although Edogawa Ranpo was not the type to wallow in darkness or scheming malice, when someone who thought things through encountered someone who did not, calculation came effortlessly. Ever since getting to know Ranpo, Asou Akiya had stopped believing that anything involving him could possibly be a "coincidence."
When dealing with people who seemed to live inside a script, the worst thing you could do was cling to wishful thinking. If you could drag their intelligence down, then drag it down thoroughly.
"Ranpo, why aren't you at the construction site carrying bricks?"
"I ran away."
Edogawa Ranpo answered with complete righteousness.
The exchange left the Port Mafia members inside the car momentarily stunned. Were these two really relatives?
Asou Akiya finished organizing his work materials, deliberately keeping any written information out of Ranpo's sight, and then said, "Driver, please drop me off near the Port Mafia headquarters. He isn't my relative—he's a truant child who dropped out of school. I'll walk back to headquarters afterward, so there's no need for you to make another trip to pick me up."
He then turned to his bodyguards and added, "Guangu, Kobayashi, you two should head back as well."
The two hesitated.
Asou Akiya said calmly, "Near the headquarters, it's safe enough."
After a short five-minute drive, Asou Akiya got out of the car, followed by a reluctant Edogawa Ranpo.
Asou Akiya was not afraid of the Port Mafia learning about Ranpo, because he had already looked into his background. Ranpo's family information was simple: he came from a rural area near the city; his father's records were sealed and disguised as those of an ordinary police officer who had retired early to live a quiet life; his mother was an unemployed housewife. There was nothing there that the Port Mafia would find alarming.
Because Ranpo's academic record and social history were such an unmitigated disaster, anyone who finished reading his file would inevitably conclude that this kid was nothing more than a hopeless waste of space—useless mud that could never be molded into anything useful.
He had relied on his father's connections to enter the police academy, yet in less than two months he had managed to get himself kicked out.
After that, he wandered into a military camp to freeload on food and shelter, only to recklessly report his superiors without a shred of tact or foresight, earning himself yet another unceremonious expulsion.
Then, through the recommendation of a well-meaning stranger, he was introduced to work as a laborer at a construction site, but he couldn't even endure two full weeks of it before running away again.
Asou Akiya recalled these illustrious "achievements" of Ranpo's life, the corner of his mouth twitching uncontrollably. "So," he asked flatly, "what's the reason for your unemployment this time?"
Edogawa Ranpo looked at him with pure innocence and replied, "You understand, don't you, Uncle?"
No. I do not understand at all.
Asou Akiya felt a deep, bone-weary exhaustion settle over him. His gaze dropped to Ranpo's wrist, where a faint red mark stood out against pale skin. Reaching out, he gently rubbed the spot, carefully dispersing the bruise with practiced fingers.
"I pulled too hard just now," he said quietly.
"It's fine," Ranpo replied with exaggerated generosity. "Uncle's grip is way weaker than the people at the military camp."
Asou Akiya responded coldly, "You're mistaken. I don't feel guilty about that at all. One thing is one thing, another is another—and the trouble you caused just now could very well make you unlucky for the rest of your life."
Ranpo puffed out his cheeks, clearly unconvinced. "Uncle's got it wrong."
Asou Akiya stopped walking and fixed him with a severe look. "If she had decided to detain you—lock you up—do you really think you could have escaped?"
Edogawa Ranpo's reasoning stalled for a full second, his thoughts freezing like a system hit by a sudden bug. Rationally, he believed the middle-aged woman wasn't that dangerous, yet echoes of his parents' words surfaced in his mind: his abilities had limits, and he was no match for capable adults.
The black-haired boy lowered his head and admitted his mistake in a small voice. "It seems… I really wouldn't have been able to escape."
Asou Akiya let out a long, slow breath, as though finally releasing the tension lodged in his chest. "As long as you understand that. Don't ever do something like this again." Whether Ranpo was pretending to be foolish or truly clueless, Asou Akiya spoke to him with uncharacteristic seriousness. "The talk about seeking sponsorship from a wealthy middle-aged woman was a joke on my part. I hope you were joking with me as well, and that you never once seriously entertained such an idea in your heart."
Edogawa Ranpo protested with clear grievance, his tone almost whining. "But carrying bricks at the construction site is exhausting, and the adults there are always ordering me around."
Asou Akiya replied calmly, without a trace of impatience. "Then what kind of work do you want to do?"
Edogawa Ranpo immediately rattled off his conditions without hesitation. "I want a job that isn't so tiring, doesn't involve too many people, doesn't require standing in the sun, and where I can finish everything early by myself and slip away!"
Noticing that Ranpo's skin looked slightly darker than before, Asou Akiya nodded after a brief pause. "Alright. I'll arrange something for you."
Edogawa Ranpo instantly lost all sense of decorum and grinned brightly. "Uncle, you're such a good person!"
Asou Akiya: "Heh."
If I weren't a good person, I would have dragged you straight into the Port Mafia as free labor a long time ago.
"Ranpo," Asou Akiya said, changing the subject, "I want to make a bet with you."
"Huh? Is Uncle going to motivate me to work hard?" Ranpo's eyes lit up at once. "Sure! I love playing games with my father and mother at home!"
In an instant, Edogawa Ranpo's gaze sharpened, burning with an unmistakable desire to win.
Asou Akiya chose his words carefully. "The bet is simple. I'll arrange a job for you that isn't exhausting, and the money you earn will be enough to cover your daily needs. In return, you must guarantee that you can hold the job for more than two months—without getting fired or chased away."
"…Huh?"
Edogawa Ranpo's confidence wavered, and for the first time, uncertainty crept plainly onto his face.
Asou Akiya caught hold of the restless boy and pressed his palm gently—but firmly—against the top of his head, grounding him in place.
"If you win—"
He hesitated, a string of possible rewards flickering through his mind, the lightest and most effortless among them being nothing more than a casual word of praise.
No.
That wouldn't do.
At this stage, Ranpo didn't need empty encouragement like that.
Meeting the shimmer in Ranpo's bright green eyes, Asou Akiya was suddenly reminded of his own state of mind whenever he gambled against Arthur Rimbaud—an unsettling mix of resolve, recklessness, and sincerity that left no room for half-measures.
"I'll help you find a long-term meal ticket," he said at last, his voice steady. "And if I can't find one—then I'll adopt you."
Sorry, Fukuzawa-san.
This child needs to stay with someone upright and proper, or he'll grow up crooked.
Asou Akiya silently made up his mind, his gaze drifting with practiced indifference toward a calico cat that was very obviously pretending to just be passing by.
Good.
There's a big shot secretly watching over Ranpo.
The calico cat observed the exchange between the two and felt quietly satisfied. Ranpo had found a temporary guardian who was decent enough—someone willing to correct his skewed values, someone who would help him find honest work instead of exploiting his personality and talents for wrongdoing.
Then, all of a sudden, the cat realized something.
The biggest problem was—
that the other party was a member of the Port Mafia!!!
If Ranpo's late father were to find out, he would cry in his grave.
If it wanted to sabotage this so-called "adoption ending," then did that mean it had to make this inspirational part-time job wager… end in defeat?
At this very moment, Edogawa Ranpo's potential enemies were no longer limited to the people he would meet at his next workplace. There was also Natsume Souseki, who had been silently protecting him from the shadows all along, a man who still owed his father a debt of gratitude.
Meanwhile, Edogawa Ranpo himself was brimming with ambition. He accepted the wager loudly and without hesitation, even taking the initiative to raise the stakes.
"I accept! If I lose, that's fair too—I promise I won't bother you anymore in the future, mister!"
Two months of hard work in exchange for a lifelong meal ticket to take care of him!
Edogawa Ranpo planted his hands on his hips, full of confidence.
"Mister, don't be all secretive," he said boldly. "I've already told you everything about myself, but you still haven't told me your name or where you come from. In two months, I'll be coming to collect my prize!"
"Heh, that confident, are you?"
The black-haired young man suppressed the urge to crush that confidence on the spot. Beneath his calm exterior, a faint yet unmistakable edge surfaced, something sharp and dangerous.
"Asou Akiya," he said evenly. "The Port Mafia's 'Analyst.'"