(as this is a Stray Dogs fic in which Dazai is involved to some extent, there will be mentions of suicide)

There are times when Emily Machen wishes she could have a simple life, or at least a means to pretend it was simple. Unfortunately for her, she has no such luck, especially now that she's stuck in a strange country, no connections, friends, or anything of the like. However, she is fairly certain she can figure most of it out... Hopefully.

At least she is free and, to her, that's all that matters.

She stands on the pier, a mild wind was blowing through the harbor. Her skirt softly brushing about her knees, she feels that she may look rather picturesque, standing there with her hideous carpetbag in hand and a slight frown on her face as she observes the water with slight disdain... Of course, a good bit of her curly hair gets blown into her mouth and she's forced to slap it away in a very undignified manner before, once again, eyeing the water before her.

There was once a time when she'd loved the ocean, the sound of waves, the smell of the salty air... Yet, in an ironic twist of fate and a few weeks on a cramped, creaky boat, she has come to thoroughly loath all of it. Emily narrows her eyes at the offending vessel, and the water it oh-so-innocently sits on, before whirling about on her heel and sticking her nose in the air.

"Tch."

What a bother.

Stuffing her free hand in her pocket, she marches away. Presently, three major goals occupy her mind, and she makes it top priority to accomplish all of them.

First; get away from the blasted water.

Second; eat as much as she possibly could.

Third; sleep for three days straight.

It was a warm, Saturday afternoon and the streets of Yokohama were fairly busy, filled with people going about their daily business. Parents with their children, friends, couples holding hands, loners. All sorts.

Once Emily had gotten far enough from the harbor, she started to pay more attention to her surroundings... More specifically to possible dining options and finally she could feel some excitement. Japanese cuisine had always fascinated her, and she would finally be getting a taste of the real deal.

Oh, how she loved her food.

Soon enough she was seated in a promising, diner type restaurant. She wasn't quite sure what it was exactly, and certainly wasn't in the mood to be picky, since she'd been eating nasty ship food for weeks and was, quite frankly, too desperate to care. Anything would be better than that garbage.

As Emily ate her (absolutely delicious, in her opinion) tonkatsu and sipped at her water (ah, the joys of fresh, cold water), she finally allowed herself some time to marvel at the success of her plan. She honestly hadn't been expecting it to go through so smoothly, and now she was free. And in Japan, of all places! She'd wanted for a long time, and though she wished it would be on better circumstances, she wasn't going to complain.


Even though the three weeks on that horrid boat scarred her, she was exhilarated to be away from America and her... job. Her only fear was that they would seek her out, if only to kill her...

But she wouldn't think about that just yet.

-oOo-

It was a longstanding fact in Emily Machen's life, that there were few things more satisfying than a full stomach. While it didn't exactly improve her thinking and made her ten times more exhausted, she was certainly in a much better mood. She leaned against a wall, arms crossed, and a foot on her bag as she smiled happily to herself, blatantly ignoring the strange looks thrown by the occasional passerby.

She was pondering her sparse courses of action. More specifically, the three, most obvious courses of action.

Find a hotel.

or

Ask somebody where to find a hotel.

or

If truly desperate, seek out alleyway and cardboard box.

At this point, even the third option was appealing. That way, she wouldn't have to wander around for who knows how long and at least the box wouldn't be moving. Though, she wouldn't lie...

A real bed sounded like absolute heaven.

Emily eventually decided that the second option was the best one, though she wasn't too keen on approaching a stranger. At least it was better than getting lost, which would inevitably happen... not that she knew where she was to begin with.

Looking around, she tried to locate the nicest looking person she could see. Her eyes rested on a head of silver hair, just on the other side of the road. From what she could see, it was a boy, only a few years younger than Emily, and he was talking to a taller (certainly much taller than her) man in a tan trench coat, whose back was facing her. With a shrug she decided that the boy, at least, looked nice enough and made her way over to the pair, putting a smile on her face as she went.

The boy had noticed her approaching them, and said something to his taller companion, who consequently turned around.

Emily looked him over, taking in a mess of brown hair and a rather adorable face, before she decided he looked a bit too shady for her liking and decided to ignore him. Focusing on the boy, she cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I was-"

Emily certainly wasn't expecting her hands to be grabbed, or a face to stuck inches away from her own, so naturally she stopped talking and her eyes bugged out a bit.

"What enchanting beauty is this? Have you come in need of a Lover's Suicide? No need to ask twice, for a I shall comply without hesitation! Lead me to the river of your choice, and we shall die in each other's arms!"

The dark-haired man was staring at her in what she thought might seem alluring to some people. In the back of her head, Emily vaguely wondered what was with the bandages on his arms and neck, but was a bit more concerned with what had just come out of his mouth.

Lover's Suicide?

The woman squinted up at his over-enthusiastic face and looked purposefully down at her entrapped hands, before peering around his shoulder towards the boy, who looked horrified, mildly exasperated, and extremely mortified.

Emily realized the man was actually expecting an answer. "Uh... I'm good, actually..." Her sentence drifted off as she tried to tug her hands away. "I was just looking for-"

"Is it the river? Because I can personally vouch for that one right over there! Let's go!"

And... now she was being dragged towards the river.

"D-Dazai-san, hold on!"

The boy must've finally snapped out of his shocked stupor, and was now flailing after them, grabbing ahold of 'Dazai-san's' arm. Once the creep was momentarily distracted, Emily finally yanked her hands away and kicked him in the knee for good measure. She was pretty sure it shouldn't have hurt that much, but he began to hop about, dramatically clutching at his leg as the boy rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, his face bright red, and apologies tumbling out of his mouth.

"I'm so sorry, Miss!"

She looked suspiciously between the odd pair. "Does he do this often?"

"All the time," the boy sighed, shoulders slumping in exasperation.

The man had finally ceased his dramatics, and instead was looking pointedly between her and the river. With a grimace, Emily shuffled a few feet away, towards the boy.

What a creepy guy...

"I was just wondering if you could point me to the nearest hotel?" she asked, directing the question towards the other one, since she had decided the shady 'Dazai' wasn't worth her time.

He nodded furiously, probably desperate to make up for his companion's behavior in any way. "If you walk to the first intersection that way-" He pointed up the road. "-and take a right, there's a hotel about five minutes down. Only..." He grimaced a bit.

"It's not the best place...You know... I bet the riverbed would be much more comfortable," the dark-haired man interjected, tugging on the bandages of his left arm and winking at her. Emily ignored him, opting to give the boy a kind smile and resisting the urge to kick his friend again.

"I'm sure it'll do. Thank you!" she said, turning away from the pair. The faster she left, the better.

"Sorry about what happened!" the boy called, and Emily waved a hand dismissively.

"You're fine," she laughed, shooting the suicidal one another suspicious look. She'd known he looked shady, his face was just a little too cute. Once again turning away, she heard the man whining;

"I'm not that bad, Atsushi-kun! At least she didn't scream like the other one!"

Emily grimaced as she quickened her pace.

Atsushi, huh? The kid had a cute name to match his face...

'Dazai' on the other hand...

He was just weird.

A/N: RIP me I shouldn't be posting this. 

Let me know what you think! It will give me incentive to update lol. The possibility of a pairing in the future is very high, but I'm not fully sure. We'll see what you guys think as this goes on lol