It was a sunny and unusually quiet day at the Armed Detective Agency. Edgar Allan Poe had decided it was the perfect opportunity to pay a visit to his longtime rival, Ranpo Edogawa.

As he stepped into the agency, his sharp eyes immediately landed on someone seated on the couch, idly munching on candy and giggling softly. A familiar sight, or so he thought.

"Ranpo!" Poe declared dramatically, his voice cutting through the stillness. "I’ve come to challenge you once again—to prove that my intellect surpasses yours!"

The person turned to face him, and Poe froze mid-sentence.

Wait. That wasn’t Ranpo.

His gaze locked onto the figure before him, and his mind immediately spiraled into overdrive. The resemblance was undeniable—the same sharp features, the same confident posture—but something was... different.

Poe’s heart raced as he took an involuntary step back, his usual composure wavering. "Ranpo... has a twin!?" he muttered aloud, his voice barely above a whisper.

The figure gave no reaction, simply continuing to enjoy their candy as if Poe’s outburst hadn’t even occurred.

Poe stood there, rooted to the spot, his thoughts in chaos. He adjusted Karl on his shoulder, the raccoon chittering softly as if mocking him for his blunder. Should he say something else? Leave? Pretend this never happened?

After a few moments of awkward silence, Poe finally turned on his heel and hurried out of the agency, his cape billowing behind him. As the door shut behind him, he could hear Karl let out a small squeak, almost as though it were laughing at him.

"Not a word, Karl," Poe muttered, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. "Not a word."