Letters Home - Correspondence 4/17
It took Hiruma two weeks before he finally had an opportunity to reply to Mamori’s letter. They had marched north for about a week, then cut east for another week only to find themselves ducking into trenches to walk their asses down along one of those hell holes to meet with the main command. Now they finally arrived at the main station, and to the answers the entire team had needed.
“Sergeant Youichi Hiruma, reporting, sir!” Hiruma saluted the Second Lieutenant. He didn’t know the man’s name, but Hiruma did know the man was a ranking officer, so messing around wasn’t going to be tolerated.
“Who’s your commanding officer?” The Second Lieutenant asked in a crisp voice.
“Master Sergeant Doburoku Sakaki, sir.” Hiruma stayed at attention.
“Why isn’t he reporting, Sergeant?” The Second Lieutenant was unamused.
“…He is suffering from a leg injury from the last battle and is unable to stand at this time, sir.” Hiruma answered truthfully. “He’s currently in the medical tent having it tended, sir.”
“And he sent you in his stead.” The Second Lieutenant looked down at Hiruma with a frown.
“Yes sir.” Hiruma met the man’s gaze firmly.
The Second Lieutenant pinched the bridge of his insanely pointy nose and sighed. “Stay here.” He ordered and walked back into the command tent. There was a lot of loud, animated conversation and the Second Lieutenant returned.
“You’re dismissed.” The Second Lieutenant told Hiruma flatly.
“Sir?” Hiruma’s eyebrows knit in confusion.
“Did you not understand your order, Sergeant?” The Second Lieutenant looked down on Hiruma in a fashion that wanted to encourage Hiruma to challenge the order for the sake of reprimanding him.
“…I will stay on standby until I am needed again.” Hiruma saluted sharply. “Sir!” He turned on heel and left, leaving a clearly displeased Second Lieutenant behind.
‘A fucking military bully, huh?’ Hiruma thought to himself, knowing better than to turn around and glare at the Second Lieutenant C. D. Lewis if his name tag was anything to go by.
Once Hiruma returned to his men the only thing he could do was shake his head to their expectant looks.
“Major Don won’t see me at this time.” Hiruma remarked simply and sat down amongst his comrades, not disguising how pissed he looked. No one said anything.
“They told me the Sergeant Major will be okay.” Munakata announced having returned from the main medical tent. “…Do we have orders?”
“Fucking no.” Hiruma answered, shutting his eyes and relaxing.
“I’m going to go to the mess hall, anyone want anything?” Kurita asked.
“Get me a cup of that black piss and some cigarettes, fucking fatty.” Hiruma told Kurita.
“…Okay.” Kurita nodded. The rest of the men decided to follow, not wanting to be around a moody Hiruma and wanting to eat in real chairs. Hiruma pulled out his previous letters and a blank sheet of paper to draft his reply on. Before he could start, he thought about all the shit that had happened the last two weeks.
Due to the lack of pain killers, Doburoku had taken to alcohol to numb the pain, both the spiritual and the physical in his case. Hiruma hadn’t liked giving the order to raid all of the alcohol stores they could get their hands on, but he did. Doburoku was well on his way to becoming an alcoholic and Hiruma didn’t have the heart to stop him.
And no one on the team had the heart to question the orders either. They all knew, at least Hiruma hoped they did, that Doburoku would be consumed by this war. All Hiruma was trying to do was ease the pain of the man’s passing.
Re-reading Mamori’s letter made him somewhat angry. He’d always been treated as an outsider by that town, always treated as this burden thrust upon them by God or something. Even his own father saw him as a nuisance. With growl, Hiruma started penning his angry letter.
Fucking Woman-
There is not one fucking person back in that fucking town that actually gives a shit whether I live or die. Not even that mother fucking bastard that sired me. Quit trying to feed me sympathetic shit. It. Pisses. Me. Off.
I don’t have time for your fucking womanly nonsense anyways, I have three new recruits to break in because my fucking superior’s too drunk to do it him-fucking-self.
Fucking war. Fucking, fucking war.
-Sgt. Y. Hiruma
Pausing, Hiruma thought back on the three newest recruits. The fucking Huh-Brothers he had called them jokingly because they all went ‘Huh?’ in sequence. Everyone else in Hiruma’s command had combat experience but them. They’d all three been very upset by the last battle and it was up to Hiruma to put them back together mentally enough to continue fighting.
“Tch.” Hiruma hissed, annoyed. Sena was the first one to come back from the mess hall and this time he brought a tray of food with him.
“Mamo-sis would have wanted you to eat.” Sena pointed out. Hiruma eyed the food and sealed up and stamped his letter.
“Strawberries?” Hiruma stared, amazed to see fresh fruit.
“From a local farm I was told.” Sena explained. “The farmer had to be evacuated, so he traded all of his produce in exchange for safety. They wouldn’t issue them to privates, but they were willing to give me some for a Sergeant that just had to deal with the Second Lieutenant.” The last sentence was said with a chuckle.
“Looks like he’s an infamous prick then….” Hiruma muttered with a dry laugh. He picked up a strawberry and munched on it, savoring the fresh, tartness of the fruit. He handed one to Sena and the Private happily munched it down.
“It fell on the ground.” Hiruma remarked.
“Of course sir.” Sena smiled back. He then paused looking a little nervous about something.
“You’re dismissed to go write your fucking girl.” Hiruma waved Sena away. Sena smiled.
“Thank you sir.” And with that he left.
The few days were spent doing errands for people of higher rank. Hiruma was annoyed about that, but couldn’t do a damn thing about it. It was war, there was no rest for the non-injured. Several times Hiruma’s men would stay around him and pretend to be busy doing things for Hiruma so that they could actually have a small breather.
One evening the Second Lieutenant Clifford D. Lewis (a man known for bullying those of lower rank) was on the prowl. He found himself walking right into the tent of one Sergeant Youichi Hiruma, who had been sleeping.
“Sergeant!” Clifford barked, taking great pleasure in having woken the other man up.
“Sir!” Hiruma was out of his bed and saluting. He’d always been a light sleeper, he’d been awake and ready the moment Clifford had pulled the tent flap back. Clifford frowned, not liking how quick Hiruma had been to get to his feet.
“You are to report to the main tent immediately.” Clifford told Hiruma with a smug grin.
“Yes sir!” Hiruma, having been clever, had gone to bed in a clean uniform. He put on his boots and unwrinkled the outside of his uniform the best he could and followed Clifford with a smile.
Clifford had been hoping to wake up Hiruma and drag him to the tent in his boxers, but the idiotic Sergeant had been ready and expecting that.
‘He really did mean he was on ‘stand-by’ the bastard.’ Clifford didn’t like Hiruma. Something about the other man rubbed him the wrong way. They arrived at the main tent and Hiruma came in and saluted sharply.
“Sergeant Youichi Hiruma, correct?” Don, an enormous man, asked from behind his desk of maps, battle plans, and random paperwork. He was currently looking through some of the paperwork.
“Sir, yes sir!” Hiruma dropped his salute and stood at attention.
“I heard you wanted an explanation about the incident with Company 921.” Don didn’t sound pleased by this. He tiredly glanced over the paperwork and looked Hiruma up and down.
“Master Sergeant Sakaki made the official inquiry, sir.” Hiruma explained. “As he is on medical orders at this time, I have come in his stead, sir.”
“Ah, yes he did.” Don found the bit of paperwork. “I suppose your team is owed a bit of an explanation….”
Hiruma said nothing and waited.
“Company 921 had been… misexecuting orders for a while now. I decided to put them on a cooperative mission with Company 021 because of your feats and loyalty. From what I can see they disserted, slaughtered the town they were to be hiding in and then tried to kill your men.” Don told Hiruma simply. “Is there anything else your Master Sergeant wondered?”
“The Master Sergeant wanted to know what our next set of orders were, sir.” Hiruma admitted.
“Be useful until your wounded are healed up.” Don told Hiruma. “Dismissed.”
“Sir!” Hiruma saluted and left the tent.
Hiruma marched back to his tent, his boots heavy. They’d been sent in to eliminate Company 921 under the assumption there had been a cooperative mission about to happen. Or they had been sent to be eliminated by Company 921, it didn’t matter. That’s what Don hadn’t said but what he had meant, and he had known Hiruma would have picked up on that.
Sena had come in while Hiruma was away and left behind a clean, white envelope on Hiruma’s cot. Hiruma smiled and opened it up, reading the letter.
Youichi-
If you didn’t always seek out the worst in people you would realize how many people in this town do care about you. Because I care about you and I’m worrying about you and your welfare.
A few soldiers came through town today, they were heading home. And they were a mess! One man had to be carried because he didn’t have legs anymore! I keep on getting nightmares about you and Sena coming home like that…. It’s horrible.
Please, please tell me how you are doing physically! And be honest, it’s not much of me to ask.
And your superior is drinking!? Why didn’t you tell me that when you were home!?
Lots of love,
Mamori A.
Opening the rest of the envelope, Hiruma was mortified that the bit of coffee he had been expecting was gone.
“What the hell!?” Hiruma swore and wrote a response right away.
“Sergeant Youichi Hiruma, reporting, sir!” Hiruma saluted the Second Lieutenant. He didn’t know the man’s name, but Hiruma did know the man was a ranking officer, so messing around wasn’t going to be tolerated.
“Who’s your commanding officer?” The Second Lieutenant asked in a crisp voice.
“Master Sergeant Doburoku Sakaki, sir.” Hiruma stayed at attention.
“Why isn’t he reporting, Sergeant?” The Second Lieutenant was unamused.
“…He is suffering from a leg injury from the last battle and is unable to stand at this time, sir.” Hiruma answered truthfully. “He’s currently in the medical tent having it tended, sir.”
“And he sent you in his stead.” The Second Lieutenant looked down at Hiruma with a frown.
“Yes sir.” Hiruma met the man’s gaze firmly.
The Second Lieutenant pinched the bridge of his insanely pointy nose and sighed. “Stay here.” He ordered and walked back into the command tent. There was a lot of loud, animated conversation and the Second Lieutenant returned.
“You’re dismissed.” The Second Lieutenant told Hiruma flatly.
“Sir?” Hiruma’s eyebrows knit in confusion.
“Did you not understand your order, Sergeant?” The Second Lieutenant looked down on Hiruma in a fashion that wanted to encourage Hiruma to challenge the order for the sake of reprimanding him.
“…I will stay on standby until I am needed again.” Hiruma saluted sharply. “Sir!” He turned on heel and left, leaving a clearly displeased Second Lieutenant behind.
‘A fucking military bully, huh?’ Hiruma thought to himself, knowing better than to turn around and glare at the Second Lieutenant C. D. Lewis if his name tag was anything to go by.
Once Hiruma returned to his men the only thing he could do was shake his head to their expectant looks.
“Major Don won’t see me at this time.” Hiruma remarked simply and sat down amongst his comrades, not disguising how pissed he looked. No one said anything.
“They told me the Sergeant Major will be okay.” Munakata announced having returned from the main medical tent. “…Do we have orders?”
“Fucking no.” Hiruma answered, shutting his eyes and relaxing.
“I’m going to go to the mess hall, anyone want anything?” Kurita asked.
“Get me a cup of that black piss and some cigarettes, fucking fatty.” Hiruma told Kurita.
“…Okay.” Kurita nodded. The rest of the men decided to follow, not wanting to be around a moody Hiruma and wanting to eat in real chairs. Hiruma pulled out his previous letters and a blank sheet of paper to draft his reply on. Before he could start, he thought about all the shit that had happened the last two weeks.
Due to the lack of pain killers, Doburoku had taken to alcohol to numb the pain, both the spiritual and the physical in his case. Hiruma hadn’t liked giving the order to raid all of the alcohol stores they could get their hands on, but he did. Doburoku was well on his way to becoming an alcoholic and Hiruma didn’t have the heart to stop him.
And no one on the team had the heart to question the orders either. They all knew, at least Hiruma hoped they did, that Doburoku would be consumed by this war. All Hiruma was trying to do was ease the pain of the man’s passing.
Re-reading Mamori’s letter made him somewhat angry. He’d always been treated as an outsider by that town, always treated as this burden thrust upon them by God or something. Even his own father saw him as a nuisance. With growl, Hiruma started penning his angry letter.
Fucking Woman-
There is not one fucking person back in that fucking town that actually gives a shit whether I live or die. Not even that mother fucking bastard that sired me. Quit trying to feed me sympathetic shit. It. Pisses. Me. Off.
I don’t have time for your fucking womanly nonsense anyways, I have three new recruits to break in because my fucking superior’s too drunk to do it him-fucking-self.
Fucking war. Fucking, fucking war.
-Sgt. Y. Hiruma
Pausing, Hiruma thought back on the three newest recruits. The fucking Huh-Brothers he had called them jokingly because they all went ‘Huh?’ in sequence. Everyone else in Hiruma’s command had combat experience but them. They’d all three been very upset by the last battle and it was up to Hiruma to put them back together mentally enough to continue fighting.
“Tch.” Hiruma hissed, annoyed. Sena was the first one to come back from the mess hall and this time he brought a tray of food with him.
“Mamo-sis would have wanted you to eat.” Sena pointed out. Hiruma eyed the food and sealed up and stamped his letter.
“Strawberries?” Hiruma stared, amazed to see fresh fruit.
“From a local farm I was told.” Sena explained. “The farmer had to be evacuated, so he traded all of his produce in exchange for safety. They wouldn’t issue them to privates, but they were willing to give me some for a Sergeant that just had to deal with the Second Lieutenant.” The last sentence was said with a chuckle.
“Looks like he’s an infamous prick then….” Hiruma muttered with a dry laugh. He picked up a strawberry and munched on it, savoring the fresh, tartness of the fruit. He handed one to Sena and the Private happily munched it down.
“It fell on the ground.” Hiruma remarked.
“Of course sir.” Sena smiled back. He then paused looking a little nervous about something.
“You’re dismissed to go write your fucking girl.” Hiruma waved Sena away. Sena smiled.
“Thank you sir.” And with that he left.
The few days were spent doing errands for people of higher rank. Hiruma was annoyed about that, but couldn’t do a damn thing about it. It was war, there was no rest for the non-injured. Several times Hiruma’s men would stay around him and pretend to be busy doing things for Hiruma so that they could actually have a small breather.
One evening the Second Lieutenant Clifford D. Lewis (a man known for bullying those of lower rank) was on the prowl. He found himself walking right into the tent of one Sergeant Youichi Hiruma, who had been sleeping.
“Sergeant!” Clifford barked, taking great pleasure in having woken the other man up.
“Sir!” Hiruma was out of his bed and saluting. He’d always been a light sleeper, he’d been awake and ready the moment Clifford had pulled the tent flap back. Clifford frowned, not liking how quick Hiruma had been to get to his feet.
“You are to report to the main tent immediately.” Clifford told Hiruma with a smug grin.
“Yes sir!” Hiruma, having been clever, had gone to bed in a clean uniform. He put on his boots and unwrinkled the outside of his uniform the best he could and followed Clifford with a smile.
Clifford had been hoping to wake up Hiruma and drag him to the tent in his boxers, but the idiotic Sergeant had been ready and expecting that.
‘He really did mean he was on ‘stand-by’ the bastard.’ Clifford didn’t like Hiruma. Something about the other man rubbed him the wrong way. They arrived at the main tent and Hiruma came in and saluted sharply.
“Sergeant Youichi Hiruma, correct?” Don, an enormous man, asked from behind his desk of maps, battle plans, and random paperwork. He was currently looking through some of the paperwork.
“Sir, yes sir!” Hiruma dropped his salute and stood at attention.
“I heard you wanted an explanation about the incident with Company 921.” Don didn’t sound pleased by this. He tiredly glanced over the paperwork and looked Hiruma up and down.
“Master Sergeant Sakaki made the official inquiry, sir.” Hiruma explained. “As he is on medical orders at this time, I have come in his stead, sir.”
“Ah, yes he did.” Don found the bit of paperwork. “I suppose your team is owed a bit of an explanation….”
Hiruma said nothing and waited.
“Company 921 had been… misexecuting orders for a while now. I decided to put them on a cooperative mission with Company 021 because of your feats and loyalty. From what I can see they disserted, slaughtered the town they were to be hiding in and then tried to kill your men.” Don told Hiruma simply. “Is there anything else your Master Sergeant wondered?”
“The Master Sergeant wanted to know what our next set of orders were, sir.” Hiruma admitted.
“Be useful until your wounded are healed up.” Don told Hiruma. “Dismissed.”
“Sir!” Hiruma saluted and left the tent.
Hiruma marched back to his tent, his boots heavy. They’d been sent in to eliminate Company 921 under the assumption there had been a cooperative mission about to happen. Or they had been sent to be eliminated by Company 921, it didn’t matter. That’s what Don hadn’t said but what he had meant, and he had known Hiruma would have picked up on that.
Sena had come in while Hiruma was away and left behind a clean, white envelope on Hiruma’s cot. Hiruma smiled and opened it up, reading the letter.
Youichi-
If you didn’t always seek out the worst in people you would realize how many people in this town do care about you. Because I care about you and I’m worrying about you and your welfare.
A few soldiers came through town today, they were heading home. And they were a mess! One man had to be carried because he didn’t have legs anymore! I keep on getting nightmares about you and Sena coming home like that…. It’s horrible.
Please, please tell me how you are doing physically! And be honest, it’s not much of me to ask.
And your superior is drinking!? Why didn’t you tell me that when you were home!?
Lots of love,
Mamori A.
Opening the rest of the envelope, Hiruma was mortified that the bit of coffee he had been expecting was gone.
“What the hell!?” Hiruma swore and wrote a response right away.