女面 - Bungo Stray Dogs Fanfiction

第一話

She let a silent yawn with a hand hovering over her mouth, not wanting to appear rude to the bespectacled man walking next to her along the banks of a river. 'I'm hungry.' she thought with a little inward whine. 'What shall we have for dinner?' The young woman placed a finger on her chin as she began to think for an answer to her own question. 'Hm... How about ochazuke? It has been a while since I've eaten one.' Albeit a simple dish, it brought a spark of joy to her as she began to daydream with imaginary stars around her. 'Warm rice topped with few slices of umeboshi and salted salmon; all doused in hot dashi, then shoveled in with salted kelp or slivered seaweed. Ah~ Now I really want to eat one!'

"Oi, Enchi-san!" The said woman snapped out of her thoughts upon hearing her name, forcing her to snap her head at the bespectacled man. "Did you hear what I said?"

The young lady with a pale complexion was Enchi Fumiko. She had long soft dark brown hair cascading past her shoulders and ash-grey eyes enhanced by the slight dark circles around them. She wore a grey plaid blazer with a black turtle underneath, matching black pants, and black suede ankle boots.

Fumiko looked at him with a gentle closed-eye smile and, quite bluntly, responded, "Not at all."

Of course, the man wasn't impressed by her reaction. But he couldn't bring himself to yell at her. Instead, he heaved a sigh and repeated what he told her a few moments ago. "I said if you see that idiot, don't hesitate to reprimand or hit him." He lifted one hand to scratch the back of his head, clearly expressing his annoyance towards whoever they were looking for. "Seriously, what kind of idiot abruptly drops everything and goes off his merry way on a suicide marathon?"

"You mean that kind?" she asked. The man immediately stopped walking and traced his gaze to where she was pointing. There, on the other side of the riverbank, stood two young men facing each other. Her partner's attention immediately went to the tall and slim man dressed in a long sandy-brown trench coat. Letting out an exasperated huff, he rushed down the staircase and stood with his arms crossed.

"There you are, blockhead!" he yelled from across, immediately grabbing both men's attention.

But the tall man responded in a lighthearted and cheerful manner. "Kunikida-kun, thanks for your hard work!" he yelled back while raising one of his hands, revealing his bandaged arm.

"Thanks for your hard work?" repeated the said man mockingly. "It's all your fault, you suicidal maniac! I've had enough of you disrupting my schedule! And thanks to you, Enchi-san had to do double work! Can't you be a bit more considerate?!"

The said woman, who finally caught up to him, looked at him with a sheepish smile. "It's okay, Kunikida-kun." she assured. "This is Dazai-kun we're talking about."

His gaze soon landed on the young woman, and he gave the widest grin he could ever muster. "Fumiko-chan!" he called excitedly with two round pink blush on his cheeks, raising his hand higher to wave at her to which he earned a small one in return. "You look even more beautiful than the last I saw you. Let me treat you to a nice dinner, alright?" He then faced the confused man standing in front of him. "Oh, right! I just had a good idea. The other guy's a colleague, so maybe he can pay for your meal!"

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO WHAT I'M SAYING?!" yelled Kunikida, clearly not liking the idea proposed by his colleague.

'Sometimes I really admire Dazai-kun's carefree nature.' thought Fumiko with a sheepish smile, coupled with a sweat drop on her left temple. 'Also, we just met like a few minutes ago before you dived into the river.'

The said man then asked the one still standing across him. "So, what's your name?"

"Nakajima Atsushi." was his reply.