yuwin ✧ animus

Six

Yuta sharply winced as he was met with a sharp knee to the stomach, his body clenching and trembling as he coughed up on the floor. His hair was clutched before being hit against the ground three times.

"Where the fuck have you been disappearing to almost every night? You must assume your overseers are blind to think we haven't been monitoring your activity."

The man watched in a sort of a demeanor as if he expected Yuta to be able to respond. His tongue clicked,"How many stars and stripes did you go through to get your rank, Lieutenant General? Don't expect me not to remove those from you and kill you just as I would any citizen in this city."

Yuta groaned in pain as he heard the man's heels click against the floor and leave the room. He clutched his stomach with his right arm, trying to pick himself up twice before accomplishing the third time. He held his hand against his head, wiping the blood away from his mouth with his bare wrist.

He left the room, slightly dizzy as he sauntered across an open door, allowing him to unintentionally eavesdrop.

"We'll need to deploy soldiers in neighbouring areas to make arrests. I don't care what you arrest them for just do it. We can't assume how the public will react to knowing of the experimentation."

Yuta's eyes slightly widened at the last word. He pulled himself away from the door, his only intention now to warn and urge Sicheng.

He carelessly grabbed the first cleaned and loaded gun he could find, carelessly leaving the base with his uniform still tarnished and bloody.

He slung the shotgun over his shoulder, running lopsidedly to the area where Sicheng resided in. He sharply pushed open the door to Sicheng's "house", causing the Chinese boy to startle before realizing who it is.

"You could learn to knock first, idiot. This isn't your house but then again you Japanese love invading us-"

"You need to escape."

Sicheng observed Yuta as the sense of urgency in his voice didn't fail to showcase itself despite being in another language. His eyes scanned over the gun which was sloppily placed over his shoulder, his uniform which was dirtied, wrinkled, folded, and bloody. His skin was stained with dirt that seemed to stick because of the dried blood on his arm and face.

"What happened to you?"

Yuta became impatient, he looked around the room before grabbing the dictionary which was placed alongside an empty rice bowl. He flipped through the pages before finding the language equivalent of 'escape'. He pointed to Sicheng, then pointed him to the word.

"Escape? You want me to escape or I need to?"

It's almost as if they understood each other for a moment.

Yuta practically pleaded with his eyes,"You need to. Please."

A gunshot from afar ruined the slight silence they had.

"What was that?"

"Are they making their arrests right now? They already began?"

The sound of a group of irregular footsteps began to approach the area. Yuta pushed Sicheng against the wall, lowered his hands vertically then over his lips as if to tell Sicheng to crouch and stay quiet.

Yuta clutched the barrel of his gun from over his shoulder. He squinted through the darkness, barely being about to make out any silhouettes or figures. He looked down at the latter before perking up at a familiar, stern voice.

"Hello?"

Yuta hesitated before forcing himself to stand up and salute.

"Lieutenant General? What are you doing here?"

"The General sent me out here to make arrests of any Chinese which may be hiding."

The other man scoffed,"He's making you do dirty work, huh. I'm guessing the beating you endured earlier wasn't enough to atone. Very well, continue your work."

Yuta saluted,"Yes, sir."

He waited for them to walk away before sliding down the ground. He clutched the area over his heart and sighed in relief. He gazed over at Sicheng, mouthing,"You have to leave."

Sicheng crawled over to Yuta. Grasping the boy's rough hand, he stood up, bringing Yuta to the back of the room where the water bucket was at. He unbuttoned the front of the man's uniform, pushing it off his shoulders. He grabbed the bottom of Yuta's undershirt and lifted it over his head. The Japanese man sat on the floor where Sicheng bent down at.

Yuta watched as the boy softly grabbed the cloth which hung from the rim of the bucket. He submerged the cloth in the water before twisting it to squeeze, then placing it against Yuta's bruised torso.

"I don't understand how one can endure so many beatings and still do certain things which induce them. You Japanese are weird, or are you the only one like this? You're the only one I've met who I haven't grown to hate."

Yuta winced at the pain as well as the coldness of the cloth. He looked at Sicheng whose eyes laid somewhere else,"I wish I could understand you."

Sicheng squeezed the cloth over the cement before submerging it back in the water and repeating,"Why can't you come with us to escape? You gain nothing by staying here and enduring beatings by your superiors. We could find you clothes and disguise you. I could teach you Chinese and we'll be able to communicate without a book."

Yuta softly twirled a small section of Sicheng's hair between his index and thumb,"Your hair is thin."

Sicheng looked up at the boy, his eyes traveling from Yuta's hand back to his eyes. Yuta slid his hand down to where his palm no longer touched and only his fingertips rested under the latter's chin.

They both gazed at each other in silence til Yuta began to slowly bend down and Sicheng pushed himself up. Yuta softly pressed his lips against Sicheng's own.

They both pulled away, allowing Sicheng's face to warm up as he continued washing Yuta's wounds.

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