Chapter 25

"Honestly, I really understand his choice," Momo Nishimiya couldn't help saying. "If someone loved and cared for me that much, I wouldn't have the heart to expose it, even if it was a lie." Besides, that lie was meant to protect him.

Mai Zenin pressed her lips together. She said nothing, but inwardly agreed. Whatever else might be said, An Xinyi's treatment of Ranpo Edogawa was beyond reproach. If Maki had been like that back then... things between them wouldn't have ended up that way.

Kasumi Miwa was simply moved. "This is so sweet. They have to keep living happily together." Things had better not turn out like before again, damn it!

Everyone on the Bungo Stray Dogs side watched Ranpo's reaction, some openly and others discreetly, but the great detective had no intention of paying them any attention.

He just kept stuffing snacks into his mouth, sulking at who knew whom. Beside him, Yukichi Fukuzawa wanted to stop him, but these foods were only there to provide a taste anyway. Seeing how bad Ranpo's mood was, he decided to let him vent for a while.

Just as Ranpo was utterly terrified, An Xinyi suddenly looked away and said in his usual tone, "Welcome back, Ranpo. You're a little late today."

"Because I ran into that weird old guy from before. He grabbed me and kept telling the great Ranpo things I couldn't understand." Ranpo secretly breathed a sigh of relief and took his seat without being asked.

By unspoken agreement, both of them carried on as they had before.

Just as always, Ranpo chattered about what had happened that day, and An Xinyi listened and responded with endless patience.

Watching An Xinyi act so utterly normal only filled Ranpo's heart with sorrow.

No one in this world would ever love Ranpo Edogawa this much... and no one in this world would ever have it harder than An Xinyi.

"An'an, aren't you sad?" Ranpo suddenly asked. He shouldn't have asked, but the moment the words left his mouth, he no longer regretted them.

He was actually very sad.

Because Ranpo Edogawa had long since understood, with perfect clarity, his own cowardice and helplessness. He was only lying to himself.

The nightmares that had haunted him all this time were the plots of the games, and a reflection of reality.

Sanae Aoko, who had been forced to kill her friend after the player was possessed by a paranormal entity, ultimately could not escape her guilt and took her own life.

Ranpo gained a gentle math teacher.

Koji Fujiwara, who had resolved to sacrifice himself to uncover the rules and stepped into a paranormal trap, was torn apart by the entity. Even his body could not be found.

Ranpo gained a stern Japanese teacher.

Makoto Sato, who had taken a path to certain death to save his companions, remained there forever.

Ranpo gained an optimistic friend.

Kobayashi, who had been saved by a companion and survived only to lose that companion, eventually lost his life in his frenzied pursuit of paranormal incidents.

Ranpo gained a meticulous classmate.

But every time Ranpo Edogawa gained something, it meant An Xinyi was losing something.

"What do I have to be sad about?" An Xinyi shook his head. "I have you and everyone in the Small Town, don't I?"

It was their companionship that gave them the courage to face it all.

Yes, An Xinyi had always been losing things.

But he still had those feelings that remained in his heart.

Ranpo wanted to cry, but he still smiled at An Xinyi.

"Hey, An'an."

"What is it?"

"I love you more than anyone, An'an."

So nothing else mattered. Lies, falsehoods-even if I died the next moment, it would be all right.

He just wanted to stay here.

In this safe house An Xinyi had built for him, this prison An Xinyi used to confine him.

Ranpo Edogawa was only a child, a child who wanted to grow up but never could.

"A child who never grows up... how lucky." Chūya Nakahara couldn't help sighing. As far as he was concerned, he had never been a child, nor had anyone ever doted on him like one... Chūya Nakahara had been forced to grow up. He had never had a happy, innocent childhood.

That was why he could never forget what he owed the Sheep. At least in the beginning, the Sheep had accepted him when he had first come into being. But afterward... the Sheep's betrayal, his friends' deaths, his brother becoming his enemy-Chūya Nakahara had always been forced to lose things, forced to grow up.

I'm just a little envious of that Edogawa. A trace of bitterness crossed Chūya Nakahara's face.

Hidden away in a dark corner, Verlaine watched Chūya Nakahara's back, regret already stirring in his heart. But he didn't know what to do. He wasn't a life that had grown up normally either, and he had never received an elder's love.

He had never understood what Chūya Nakahara wanted... now, he was beginning to get a sense of it.

I'm so envious. Atsushi Nakajima's envy was simple and free of any negative feelings, while Kyoka Izumi thought of her parents and looked visibly downcast.

Ryunosuke Akutagawa felt little. All his emotional needs were focused on Osamu Dazai. Gin Akutagawa, on the other hand, was somewhat moved.

A child... Osamu Dazai lowered his eyelids. What was that supposed to mean? I hated children more than anything! He didn't even want to remember anything about that home. What Ranpo Edogawa had on the screen was the happy family an ordinary person ought to have.

It simply had never belonged to him.

Osamu Dazai curled his lip. Sure enough, a scumbag was a scumbag. Pah!

Ayatsuji Yukito's emotions were unsettled, and Fyodor's smile stiffened slightly. To be honest, if they had truly had happy, loving families, neither of them would have grown into someone like this. At the very least, both had flaws in their personalities and beliefs. Being forced to grow up early had made them extraordinarily clever, but heaven was fair: it had also stripped them of the happiness ordinary people enjoyed.

Seen that way, Ranpo Edogawa was undoubtedly fortunate. The main reason his personality and mindset were the healthiest among the masterminds was that he had at least once had a loving, functional family, followed by a conscientious, upright guardian.

As for... yes, you, Mori Ougai. Look at the children you raised: Akiko Yosano, Osamu Dazai, Yumeno Kyusaku. Which of them had grown up healthy?!

Tsk. Scum.

"An'an, you absolutely, absolutely can't leave me." Even as he climbed into bed, Ranpo kept repeating himself. He clutched the edge of the blanket, leaving only his beautiful green eyes exposed.

"Of course. I won't leave you." Only after An Xinyi had reassured him for a long time did Ranpo finally close his eyes in satisfaction.

Before long, his breathing gradually steadied.

An Xinyi stood quietly beside the bed, gazing at Ranpo's sleeping face.

Which numbered An Xinyi was he, exactly? Probably no one but he himself knew.

Even the cleverest Ranpo could never guess.

But... did that matter?

An Xinyi lowered his head and gently kissed Ranpo's forehead.

"Sweet dreams, Ranpo."

Even if we had lied to you countless times, even if we had fooled ourselves until we no longer knew what was real and what was false.

There was just one thing that was absolutely true.

An Xinyi tucked the blanket around Ranpo, carefully withdrew, and closed the door.

An Xinyi most certainly loved you, Ranpo.

Even if An Xinyi himself didn't know what love actually was.

Feeling the touch on his forehead, Ranpo's eyelashes fluttered for a moment, but he did not open his eyes.

After An Xinyi left, Ranpo opened his eyes. His emerald gaze was perfectly clear, and tears slipped silently from their corners.

He was crying. He had been crying all along.

What was he supposed to do...?

Ranpo Edogawa hugged himself and curled up.

He knew. How could the great Ranpo, the cleverest person in the world, not know?

The "An Xinyi" who had truly been the first to reach out to him was long gone.

But what could he do...? His vision had already begun to blur, and warm liquid streamed down without stopping.

267, who had reached out to him; 268, who had carried him away from danger on his back; 24587 through 24620, who had built the Peaceful Small Town; 75724, who had sung him lullabies at night; and so, so many more "An Xinyi"s with different numbers...

He had been counting all along. Even after An Xinyi erased the numbers, he kept counting.

He wanted to remember every An Xinyi, because apart from Ranpo Edogawa, who else would remember those An Xinyi who had died in obscurity?

But little by little, he began to despair.

He could no longer keep count.

He could no longer count how many An Xinyi had died. Too many had died in corners he knew nothing about, places he couldn't see.

He was merely a clever person, not a god.

He could no longer keep count.

Who exactly was this An Xinyi who had given him a goodnight kiss? 745869, or 745873, or some number he hadn't managed to deduce?

There were so, so many more dead people he had failed to save.

Ranpo Edogawa thought with absolute clarity.

An Xinyi wasn't at fault.

For the first time, Ranpo Edogawa's face was so bleak.

The one at fault was him, his weak, guilty self.

He was too weak to save more An Xinyi.

He was the one dragging An Xinyi down.

The one who deserved to die was Ranpo Edogawa.

But An Xinyi had borne all the pain for him. However many times he had died, Ranpo Edogawa should have died that many times.

Ranpo Edogawa was a complete idiot. He couldn't clear every paranormal incident in a single life. He couldn't see through every incident's secrets at a glance.

He had no mystical superpower. He was only an ordinary person.

All he could do was wait here helplessly as one innocent Investigator after another, one An Xinyi after another, paid with their lives to obtain clues for him, then solve the mysteries with everything he had.

If only I had an ability that let me foresee the answers. He had prayed for that countless times.

If only I weren't an ordinary person, if only I could help An Xinyi more. He had agonized over that countless times.

As for anything else, he had never considered it.

In the end, he was just an ordinary person, a greedy ordinary person. He would rather retreat into his snail shell, clutching that shell forged from love and deceiving himself.

He lied to himself, telling himself that this was his entire world.

But that wasn't a lie either. It truly was his entire world.

Yes, this was a world filled with lies and falsehoods.

But within it, your love for me alone was absolutely real.

It was a lie, but I believed it.

This was my truth.

He was Investigator Ranpo, the cleverest in the world. His judgment could never be wrong.

Ranpo Edogawa closed his eyes. He would forget everything, absolutely everything. He was merely an ordinary middle school student in the Peaceful Small Town, and also its cleverest resident. He loved playing games more than anything and excelled at clearing them as quickly as possible with the fewest deaths. All the Small Town's residents liked him, and he liked them too.

Of course, the person he loved most was still his guardian, the mayor of the Peaceful Small Town, An'an, An Xinyi.

He loved the meals he cooked, his caring greetings, his meticulous attention...

For that alone, he could disregard everything else.

Was there really a lie in this world that Ranpo Edogawa couldn't see through?

There were only lies that Ranpo Edogawa didn't want to see through.

At least to Ranpo Edogawa, this false world was incomparably beautiful.

Ranpo gradually drifted into sleep, forgetting all the unhappiness of the day.

Tomorrow would be a new day.

An Xinyi & Ranpo Edogawa: "Beautiful World" loop ended

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