Chapter Text
The days were growing colder. That's what Elise first thought as she was tugged outside into the courtyard of the hospital. The man guiding her was also cold - his hands, his needles, his chemicals, his heart. She hated this place, these dresses and nurse scrubs, the pitying faces she always walked by. She didn't want to be anyone's property. It's not like this man had perfected her and she sprouted from the back of his mind. She was as much a person as he was. Right?
The man was saying something. Reminding her of the same stuff as usual, no doubt.
"Stay away from the Stray Dogs," he always said, "the scoundrels of this city. They'll bite your neck and drag you off as prey if you get too close."
But Elise knew better. She knew that that gang of kids only stole. The rest was rumors. Why? Because she had met one of them.
She had been a small girl, around the same age as Elise, or perhaps even younger. The girl's hands shook as she demanded Elise's money while holding a knife to Elise's throat. In all honesty, Elise found herself thinking this was the best opportunity to spite the dark-haired doctor, so she readily complied with a smile on her face. Kyouka, the girl said her name was. Elise had been nine during their interaction and Kyouka had been six - far too young to know how to wield a knife. That had been a little less than a year ago.
She had apologized as she ran off into the alleys.
Elise had just hoped that was enough to feed whoever she was stealing for.
It turns out that, according to records, there were nine of them. The couple thousand yen she happened to have in her purse at the time was probably plenty for them all for a little while.
Ever since she had watched Kyouka leave into the shadows, she wondered if they lived any easier than she did. Money can't buy you happiness, some say.
If they needed money, and she needed company, well . . . why not?
* * * * *
The day Elise ran away from the Portside Hospital she called home was the day her wishes came true. On her way out, she snuck into that man's office and broke open his emergency safe, stealing as much of the money as she could fit in her purse. Then she walked out the front doors. The staff didn't say anything; they never did when she tried to leave. Because every time she came back.
Well, she wouldn't be this time.
She softly hummed a lullaby tune as she walked through the streets of Yokohama, weaving around pedestrians' legs. The townspeople in this higher part of town knew her, and that wouldn't do. So, she took the bus as far as it would get her. The stop she got off at was near the bakery that had initiated her original interaction with the girl Kyouka.
(Now, dear reader, let us remember before we go through the next section of the story that she was raised under rich pretenses, has had minimal experiences with people outside of the hospital, and is, in fact, ten years old. She does not know any better.)
Elise waltzed over to the alleyway the girl had disappeared down a year ago, glanced around, then walked straight into it.
"Kyouka-chan?" she called brightly, interrupting her humming in the process. "I have a peace offering for you and your friends!"
"Are you stupid?" someone asked her incredulously. She turned toward the high voice. It belonged to a young child, probably no older than Kyouka had been when they'd met. They had dual-toned hair and held a mangled doll close to their chest. What interested Elise, however, was their curious grin. "Kyouka? She'd witerwawy kiw you." (Translation: She'd literally kill you.)
"Really?" Elise asked, bringing a hand to her mouth. "Oh, thank you for telling me! When I met her a year ago, she was afraid to do that. I didn't know."
The child raised their eyebrows in amusement. "Yeah, awrighty then. Wanna pway with me?"
"Of course!" Elise agreed, beaming.
"Weawwy?" the child asked, eyes widening in excitement. "No one evew wants to pway with me!" (Translation: Really? No one ever wants to play with me!)
"Well, I'd be happy to! What do you like to-"
"Now hold on a damn second, kid," a different voice said. The speaker moved out of the shadows from behind the child and placed a hand on their shoulder. He had sharp, angled features and flaming red, wavy hair. Elise thought he was fairly handsome for a boy who had been living on the streets. The newcomer continued, talking to her now, "You're looking for Kyouka? Why, rich kid?"
"Because I'm trying to find the Stray Dogs," Elise explained, gesturing to her purse. "I have a peace offering."
"Ya think you got somethin' to give us that we'll accept in exchange for the city?" the boy asked, but his eyes locked onto the bag. "Why was a pretty little girl like you sent? Are you that one government officer that can disguise herself as any age?"
"No, I'm just Elise," she replied simply, shaking her head. "I'm lonely. I've been stuck up in a hospital for years, at the mercy of whatever the doctor wants of me."
"You're the Portside Hospital girl?" he scoffed, tugging the small child back until he stood in front of them. "Get outta my sight. I ain't makin' no deals with that man."
"Oh." Elise nodded after a moment, as if deciding something. "Someone you love has been hurt by him, too, huh?"
The tips of the boy's ears turned the same shade as his hair. Then he grumbled out, "Three of us. But that's none of your business. Scram already."
"Chuuya, what's the hold-up?" someone drawled. Now there were three people sizing up Elise. The newest had brown hair so dark it was almost black, bandages around his neck and arms, and an eyepatch over his left eye. "Who's this?"
"The newest of our old friend Mori's toys, apparently," the redhead, Chuuya, replied, voice dripping with contempt. "We can't handle another mouth to feed, Dazai. She's gotta go back."
"Hey, we talked about this," the boy named Dazai said in a softer tone. "We can't just leave anyone. She came to us, right?"
"I don't trust the rich girl look of her," Chuuya argued, guiding the child over so both teenagers stood between them and Elise. "You just take Q back to the campsite. I'll handle this."
"No, let's swap that around. You take Q back, and I'll hear the girl out."
Chuuya eyed Dazai with obvious distaste before sighing and bending down for the child called Q to climb onto his shoulders. "Fine, then. But don't die - Akiko and Ranpo would hate me forever."
"Don't worry, I won't," Dazai replied as the redhead began to walk off, grumbling something about a “stupid mackerel bastard” under his breath.
"Well, I just wanted to see Kyouka so she could vouch for me to stay with you," Elise explained to Dazai, unzipping the largest pocket of her purse. "But I wonder . . . will this do the trick?"
Chuuya, who had apparently been curious enough to keep listening, stopped in his tracks with his mouth slightly open. Q snickered from on top of his back. Dazai raised his eyebrows as a smile slowly creeped across his face.
"Yeah," the brunet said, stepping forward to examine one of the notes that had fallen. "This is real? That's incredible. Alright - Elise, was it? - you're welcome here anytime." He turned to smirk at Chuuya. "Maybe you should get used to hearing people out, hm?"
The shorter teen merely scowled.
* * * * *
"Who's this?" an older girl asked when they reached the location that had apparently been dubbed a “campsite.” It was a dismal place, to say the least, but it felt warmer than the hospital. Elise wondered why.
"This," Dazai said, pulling Elise closer to himself, "is our newest member."
"You can't just decide that, Dazai," a boy that was evidently the oldest of them objected, but fell silent immediately when the brunet waved a hundred-yen note in the air.
"I think you'd have made the same decision, Ranpo," Dazai replied, handing the money back to Elise.
"What's your name, sweetheart?" the girl asked as she cradled a sleeping boy in her arms. "Where're you from?"
"Elise of the Portside Hosptial," she replied, suddenly finding herself growing tired. The sun was setting. It was almost her bedtime. When would the man notice that she'd left?
She hoped never, but she had never been one for pipe dreams.
"You're one of us, then," the dark-haired girl said immediately. A butterfly clip sparkled in her hair. "Welcome to the Stray Dogs. I'm Yosano Akiko. Feel free to call me whatever you like, though." She petted the hair of the boy in her lap. "This one's Atsushi. He's had a long day."
"How old are you? If you don't mind me asking," Elise said while trying to stifle a yawn.
Akiko laughed. "I don't mind at all, love. I'm eighteen, the second oldest of our little group. Atsushi's eleven."
"Name's Ranpo," the oldest said, sucking on a lollipop. "I'm nineteen. There's three more of us, but they're still out tonight, I guess."
"They'll be here soon," Elise heard Chuuya murmur consolingly to Dazai. The brunet nodded stiffly.
"I'm Kyuusaku! I'm six!" The child on the redhead's back giggled, clutching their doll's arm tightly as it dangled over Chuuya's shoulder.
"Chuuya, fifteen," Chuuya sighed, shifting Q's weight until he seemed more comfortable. "The kid with the bandages is Dazai. Sure is a hell of a job, getting new ones for him all the damn time. We're the same age."
Despite the redhead's evident irritation towards Dazai, Elise could tell that he really, really cared for him. Not just some passing feeling every once in a while that makes someone just barely tolerable - Elise knew that this was something no one had ever shown her. This was annoyance to mask genuine, heartfelt care. As soon as she saw it, Elise wanted it. Wanted the way Dazai's shoulders relaxed when Chuuya spoke soft, sweet words to him. Wanted the shine in the bandaged boy's visible eye when he looked on silently at Chuuya's face, as though he desired nothing more than to live his life beside him.
"I'm tired," Elise sighed, rubbing her eyes and blinking around. "Can I sleep here?"
"You can live here," Akiko replied sternly, as if her word was final. From the way no one spoke up to contradict her, Elise assumed that it probably was. "Come over here, love."
That night, Elise fell asleep curled up against Akiko's side. She had nice dreams that weren't about the man from the hospital or worries about what he would do to her come morning. This was a safe space for her. For whatever reason, Elise knew that. So, her dreams were filled with smiles and happiness and the new people surrounding her.
Because money can't buy happiness. You have to go out into the world and claim it for yourself.
So that's exactly what Elise will do.