yuwin ✧ animus

Three

Yuta's heels clicked against the pebbles on the floor as he entered a larger, somewhat less deteriorated building. Soldiers in smaller ranks rushed up in front of him, saluting before standing straight and stoic to the side of him.

He saluted to the General and the Field Marshal when they presented themselves to him. Yuta walked over to the Colonel, his head turning as he asked,"Where's the translator at?"

"I have no idea, sir."

Yuta left the short conversation and walked over to a small office where the army's translator sometimes stayed. Checking that no one else was present, Yuta walked in and silently shut the door behind him. He then scavenged through the aged wooden shelves and the tough desks till he found a worn down Chinese-Japanese dictionary.

At around the same time, soldiers were called in for food. Yuta his the book under the waistband of his uniform pants and left the room without much of a growing suspicion. Shortly after, he took whatever food he was given; simply contents from any canned food available, rice, pickled radish and a  steamed sweet potato.

Yuta finished the rice and left the potato and canned food untouched. He placed a metal lid on top of the container which he ate out from and sneaked out the building.

Through a series of turns and avoiding other soldiers, Yuta arrived down the rode that was only faintly familiar to him. He arrived at the building which Sicheng lived in, noticing the cooling pot that sat by the door way. He peeked through the shattered, dirty windows, catching a glimpse of Sicheng sitting in the center of the room with a rice bowl placed in front of him.

Yuta moved towards the door, softly knocking on the old wood and then pushing the door open.

Sicheng's attention immediately caught at the door. Eventually realizing it was Yuta, his body loosened and he unknowingly wore a pout. Yuta crouched down under the door and sat at the wall across from where Sicheng was. He grabbed the lukewarm container of food, opening the top and sliding it over to Sicheng.

The boy leaned over in curiosity, his eyes almost gleaming before looking back up at Yuta.

The Japanese softly nodded, them Sicheng curled his fingers around the steel container and hovered it over his lap.

Yuta pulled the dictionary out of his waistband, placing it on the dusty floor. Sicheng bit the sweet potato as he leaned forward once again, a look of confusion on his face.

"What is this?" Sicheng asked in Chinese.

Yuta picked the book up and flipped through it's pages till he found one word. He pointed at it to Sicheng. The Chinese boy gazed down at the page to see the word it's.

Yuta then flipped the pages again; so. Then again; we. Can. Talk.

Sicheng nodded frantically once he understood. He took the dictionary and flicked the pages over, landing on a simple response of okay.

Yuta grabbed and closed the dictionary. He flashed a smile at Sicheng which Sicheng unknowingly faintly smiled in response. He looked out the window, now just realizing how quickly the sky had darkened. Hurriedly, Yuta "said" goodbye to Sicheng and left from the road.

~~~~

As Yuta pushed open the doors of the building, he was met with the sound of impact from kicking and punching. He turned his head from where the sound emitted from, seeing a soldier lying on the ground being beaten.

He sauntered over to the the soldier that was beating him which turned out to be the Colonel.

He gripped the man's shoulder tight,"What did he do?"

"He didn't salute to the General properly, sir."

As much as he pitied the beaten man and as much as it aggravated him, there was nothing Yuta could do. Discipline by beatings was something common in the army.

After seeing the man jolt once more from receiving another kick to the stomach, Yuta pulled the man away,"That's enough, I'm sure he understands now."

The Colonal saluted to Yuta before walking away. Yuta looked down at the bleeding soldier, remaining stoic even though he felt immense pity,"Go clean yourself up."

The man forced himself up, through his gritted teeth he spoke,"Yes, sir."

Yuta espied as the soldier scurried away in pain. He sighed under his breath,"Can this war end already?"

~~~~

Sicheng flipped through the tan pages of the dictionary, his eyes panning over the writing of both languages. He traced his finger over the dusty floor, copying the word hello in Japanese.

His attention soon directed upwards when he heard muffled laughs behind his door which then soon turned into childish arguing.

Sicheng sighed as he got up, knowing exactly who it was. He swung open the wooden door to see a child choking another.

"Renjun, Chenle, why are you guys out this late? It dangerous."

The shorter boy, Chenle, replied,"Since it's dangerous I guess will have to stay with you for now."

Sicheng's eyes softened at the two youngers as he let them in. Chenle sat down at the center of the room, Renjun sitting next to him.

"You have a dictionary?" Chenle asked as he grabbed the open book.

Sicheng slid down against the wall then crossed his legs,"Yeah. You know what that is?"

"We had a lot of books like these in my house's library before Japan came in."

"I sometimes forget how big your house was," Sicheng grabbed few pebbles and sifted them with his fingers as he replied.

A small silence overcame the room till the sound of Renjun's stomach growling was heard. Sicheng slightly sat up in a hidden worried manner,"Are you hungry?"

Renjun simply looked down in embarrassment,"I'll be fine."

In disapproval, Sicheng shook his head. He stood up, dusting off his pants,"I have extra rice, I'll make you two some."

~~~~
imagine being me and writing a ff where the main ship can't even mf talk
to each other clearly