Soukoku One-Shots

Sunrise on the Ocean

Some terms to know before you begin:
Mainmast - the big mast at the center of a ship
Boom - a horizontal pole that holds a ship's sails up
Helm - the ship's steering wheel
Quarterdeck - the raised deck where the helm is

Alternate Universe

"You good for nothing waste of bandages! Get down from there!"

Dazai leaned back against the mainmast, feet crossed as he balanced on one of the booms and held a hand up to block the sun. "That's no way to speak to your captain, Kunikida!" he hummed, glancing down at his partner.

"You have no right to call yourself a captain," Kunikida snapped, staring straight ahead with a white-knuckled grip on the helm.

"You? A captain?" His laugh saturated the very air with color. "Call me a god, then."

"Of course I do! This is my ship, after all." Dazai looked out on the deck, where the rest of the crew was lounging. It was midday and they had yet to encounter any troubles, so Ranpo and Yosano played cards near the head while Kenji taught Kyouka and the Tanizaki siblings some kind of dance he learned as a child back home.

This ship had only felt like his for around two years, though. It was left to him when he was eighteen by a friend long gone, and Dazai spent two desperate years after that chasing red sails with hollow grief and frenzy in his chest. That was when he met Kunikida on one of the islands he stopped at—a young opportunist trying to make the world a slightly more pleasant place. He'd practically forced his way onto Dazai's ship, agreed to help him on his—admittedly vague—mission, and suddenly they became partners.

The ragtag crew they had now was assembled not long after. They picked up Yosano and Ranpo, who bankrupted gambling houses for a living (if it could be called that.) With Ranpo's genius, they never lost a bet, and Yosano's sadistic side kept any angry folks at bay. Kenji, an orphan farm boy, was their next pickup, followed by the Tanizaki siblings and then Atsushi. Kyouka was the latest member, a runaway with a knack for murder.

The Stray Dogs, they were dubbed. A ship of peculiarities that, somehow, managed to become a kind of family despite them.

"Y'know, you're kinda like a stray dog."

"How dare you call me such a thing!"

He rolled his eyes, but there was a smile there too. "Shut up."

Dazai looked back out to sea.

"Anything to report, Atsushi?" Kunikida shouted from the helm.

Atsushi squinted as he looked out to their course with a shiny gold spyglass. "No!" he called back. "Clear skies and smooth sailing as far as I can see!"

"Such a wonderful lookout you are, Atsushi!"

"At least Atsushi actually does his work," Kunikida snapped in his direction, and Dazai could just imagine the deep frown and the stink eye boring into him from behind.

"Isn't it lovely?" Dazai hummed, and the angry sigh he received in return made something warm in his chest. There was something so indescribably satisfying about making people mad.

"Oh, yeah?" He arched a brow, crossing his arms over his chest. "Try me. You know I could snap your bones in half, right?"

"Here, put your feet like this, and point your toes out like—there you go! That's perfect!"

Kyouka flushed at the praise as Kenji held her hands and led her around the dock in the dance he'd been teaching her, and Dazai let himself smile a bit. Kyouka had been so empty when she'd stumbled upon them, and now there was something akin to life shining in those eyes.