yuwin ✧ animus

One

Sicheng kicked pebbles scattered around on the dusty road as he walked leisurely.

The boy's tan skin and clothes were covered in dirt and debris, as was practically everyone else's. Ever since the Japanese Imperial Army had invaded China, things were never for the best. A prolonged famine never seemed impossible and the fear of being beat for simply walking next to a Japanese soldier coexisted within almost everyone.

The abrupt loud sound of vehicles humming alerted Sicheng to move to the side, watching as two trucks passed both carrying a load of Japanese soldiers. He moved his head back down and kept walking down the dirt roads.

His stroll lasted for a short while before reaching an area where people crowded around for bags of rice. Sicheng maneuvered around the group until he reached the inner and front part. He slapped down the small amount of currency he had and exchanged it for the bag before moving out of the crowd and walking back the way he came. His arms tightly grasped around the bag, keeping his head down but not forgetting to be weary of soldiers.

Eventually, he reached a building that was blatantly familiar. He walked under the stone stairway and into the door of the first floor. Shutting the damaged door behind him, he sat in the pile of rubble that bestrewed the floor. Sicheng set the bag beside him and walked over to grab the clay pot that rested in the corner of the room.

It hadn't been long since Sicheng had been living like this, ever since his parents left the house for an errand they never returned from. Nevertheless, he managed to survive in the harsh conditions that presented themselves.

Sicheng emptied the bag of rice into the clay pot and secured the lid, shortly after placing it back in it's place. He slouched back onto the stone wall, his head leaned to one side uncomfortably before he eventually drifted into a light slumber.

~~~~

The boy's eyes fluttered open, his senses immediately drifting to the sound of Japanese and putting him on edge.

Sicheng lowered his body into the corner of the room, holding his knees against his chest as he attempted to suppress his now hitched breathing.

The door creaked open, footsteps against the pebbles following. The voice from the man sounded, though Sicheng was unable to understand.

His body shook as while he peeked through the spacing in his arms, his eyes observing the man's face. The unknown man's face was undeniably attractive, the thing that made him appear immediately ugly to Sicheng was the uniform he wore.

The soldier placed the gun latched onto his back down, his hand holding out to Sicheng then asking something in Japanese.

"Are you okay?"

Once again, Sicheng failed to understand and replied to what ever the man was saying with a,"Leave me alone."

The soldier gazed at Sicheng with a confused look, figuring this conversation was a dead end. His head turned to the clay pot in the corner of the room, standing up and walking to it. He lifted the lid, seeing how little uncooked rice was in there.

Abruptly, Sicheng's hand forced the lid down and he grasped the pot with his body, looking down as if he was waiting to be hit.

The soldier began in Japanese,"I'm not going to hurt you. You need more food, don't you?"

Sicheng slowly lifted his head up, his eyes meeting the latter's.

The soldier kneeled down till he was at eye level with Sicheng. Pointing to himself he said,"Yuta."

Sicheng stared at him for a while longer before catching on and hesitantly pointing to himself,"Sicheng."

He received a soft smile from the so-called "Yuta".

Yuta pointed to Sicheng, then mimicked the action of eating and pointed the clay pot in an attempt to ask Sicheng if he needed more.

Sicheng gazed confused as he watched Yuta repeat the action several times, then nodding an unsure 'yes'.

Yuta stood up, picking up his gun and latching it over his shoulder,"I'll be back later with food."

Sicheng watched as Yuta left the small building and the noise of his footsteps became nothingness. He had no idea what the last thing the man said was, it could be a death threat for all he knew.

The boy crawled over to the shattered window of the building, assuring himself the man had left and sped out of his "house" to down the road.

He reached another desolated building, knocking on the slightly better quality door. The door swung open a few seconds after Sicheng knocked,"Yes?"

"Kun, you're not gonna believe what just happened."

~~~~

"A Japanese soldier... was nice to you?"

"I think. He didn't try to hurt me at all but, I couldn't understand anything besides his name."

"Which is?"

"He said it was Yuta."

Kun hummed in thought for a few seconds,"Did you see how many stars and red stripes were on his uniform?"

"What do you mean?"

"Depending on how many stars and stripes are on it, it'll tell you what his rank is. He has to be high rank though if he was able to converse with you for that long and not get caught."

"Oh," Sicheng dryly responded.

Kun picked himself up from the floor, dusting off his pants,"You should get going before it gets dark. And, uh, maybe not stick around any of the soldiers."

Sicheng stood up, stretching his arms,"I still hate them, Kun. One soldier isn't going to change my mind."

Kun silently nodded,"Me and Xiao Jun are working tomorrow. Are you going to be there?"

Sicheng walked towards the front door,"I'm not sure yet. You'll know if I'm there. Goodnight."

In a delicate manner, Kun smiled at the younger,"Goodnight, Sicheng."

~~~~
this shit probably gonna be historically inaccurate as fuck but i was rewatching captain america earlier and the idea popped into my head so here we are