I’m Not A Kid.

Today was a stressful work day at the ADA. And unusually most of the stress landed on Ranpo. It was surprising, usually he wouldn’t even glance at the files. However, today he had no choice but to work on seven cases in total.

Everyone felt almost guilty for piling so much work onto their best colleague, and one case after another he seemed to be getting more and more irritated.

Of course, his quips and cocky remarks didn’t stop, but everyone noticed his “pouting.” It wasn’t too abnormal to see, but at the end of the day, once his cases were all solved everyone spoiled him as a reward.

That was the weird part. You’d worked here for a year, and all you ever saw were idiots underestimating Ranpo, despite his endless achievements, and then being forced to eat their words.

Usually that pattern excluded the agency, but today nobody thought that he could get all those cases done. He hated work after all, easy or not. But once he came back, with a file stamped with a big red “SOLVED,” everyone acted as if they hadn’t been talking shit about him while he was gone.

Mountains of candy handed to him, head pats and hair ruffles, Fukuzawa even stepped down from his throne of an office to give Ranpo some praise.

And yet, Ranpo still seemed... Off. He decided to stay behind late at the agency, and after everyone besides Ranpo had left you remembered you had forgot something at your desk.

The door creaked open as you stepped inside, your attention being brought to Ranpo sat on a desk, staring out the window, bathed in moonlight, gripping a lollipop in his hand with all his might.

Being the good coworker you were, you walked up to him, placing a hand on the back of the desk and asking him what’s wrong. His voice spoke up, echoing through the empty office.

“Why…. Why does everyone treat me like a little kid…? I’m not a kid. I’m twenty six. I’m smart, accomplished, and yet…”

His words faded off, his frustration bleeding through his voice, angry tears rolling down his cheeks.