Letters to the Field- Correspondence 11/17
Title: Letters to the Field
Rating: T for anything Hiruma writes.
Summary: Youichi amazed the town when he actually wrote Mamori a letter, but what's this about the contents...?
Notes: Please look at the situation on the battle front, or you can look at previous correspondences.
Letters To the Field
Tenth Correpsondence
The radio had provided plenty of insight as to why Mamori had to wait so long for her letter. The cold weather was dulling the spirits and the strengths of men. It also made supplies harder to move around. Letters were considered low priority, so they didn’t get moved around as quickly as one would hope.
Mamori patiently waited for the mail to get to the soldiers. She waited even more patiently for Youichi’s reply.
Fucking Woman-
Pvt. Kobayakawa is fine and in good health.
I am fine.
Happy?
-Y. Hiruma
“Mamori, why are you crying?” Suzuna asked, startled that her friend had burst into tears.
“He’s fine.” Mamori cried. “He’s okay!”
Glancing down at her letter from Sena, Suzuna realized that Youichi lied.
Suzuna-
I’m really, really happy they let me use the lined paper in the mailing room again. I can never write neatly without lines and I don’t want you having to send my letter back to rewrite again.
It’s good to hear you are doing well. I was worried when you said you had to start helping out Mr. Hiruma with the orchards. I don’t think he’d do anything bad to you- he’s not a bad person, I’m just afraid that everyone else in town is going to say bad things about you.
I’m doing as good as I can be on this battlefield. It’s worse for Master Sergeant Doburoku. I think he might die. Sergeant Hiruma does too because he’s taken over almost all of the Master Sergeant’s duties.
…It’s been really cold lately. Sergeant Hiruma is very lucky to have mittens. Very lucky. My hands are cold all of the time now. Specialist Munakata is worried I might get frostbite because of my bad circulation. I wish they had mittens in my size….
The other day we met some really, really nice people. Did you know our enemies do things like manage orchards and raise sheep just like us? We talked for a long while and it was great fun until we had to kill them. …Yeah, we killed them. It hurt a lot and there wasn’t a choice. In war there never is a choice.
Don’t tell Mamo-sis but, the Sergeant is in a lot of trouble. I told you his arm got shot right? It’s still healing and hurting a lot. Specialist Munakata told me he had ‘nerve damage’. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I do know he’s not quick or coordinated with his left hand anymore. He doesn’t sleep well because of the pain, we can all see it- he’s got circles under his eyes.
The Sergeant, he hasn’t been eating well either. He can’t carry as much on the marches we go on because of his injury. He can’t go as far and he doesn’t have the stomach to eat as much. I think he’s lost weight, but its hard to tell. I don’t know what to do, but Mamo-sis can cheer him up somehow, right? We need him eating so he can heal.
I talked to Major Don today and asked him if it was possible to send Sergeant Hiruma home. Major Don said they can’t send someone home that’s still ‘useful’. I wish the Sergeant wasn’t the best, then he could go home….
Oh! How are the sheep doing? Did Ako have her lamb yet?
I’ll try to write you again soon,
-Sena K.
After having worked long hours next to Mr. Hiruma, Suzuna had learned the man was very educated, more so than anyone in town. He had known what nerve damage was when Suzuna asked earlier. Thankfully, Mr. Hiruma did not inquire as to why Suzuna wanted to know. But that piercing look in Mr. Hiruma’s green eyes told Suzuna that the reason he didn’t ask was that he probably already knew the answer.
Youichi had nerve damage and that meant he couldn’t control his hand properly anymore. He’d never be able to get complete control back either and here he was having the gull to lie to Mamori and tell her he was ‘fine’! Suzuna was mad, really mad. But she said nothing while she watched her friend write a quick reply.
Youichi-
Thank you for telling me how the two of you are doing, I’m so relieved!
I’m curious, who all is under your command anyways?
Lots of love,
-Mamori A.
“Go home.” Mr. Hiruma told Suzuna when he opened the door to let her in for work.
“W-what!?” Suzuna was confused.
“Your bad mood will make the fruit sad now get!” Mr. Hiruma told her gruffly.
“But it’s about your son-!” Suzuna blurted out before she could stop herself. Mr. Hiruma said nothing and beckoned her inside.
“Tell me everything.” Mr. Hiruma told her as he sat her down and served her some tea.
“…Youichi got shot during the battle with Team Naga.” Suzuna explained. “His left arm and there was nerve damage.”
Mr. Hiruma said nothing and only nodded.
“…He wrote Mamori a letter and told her he was ‘fine’! But he’s not fine at all-!” Suzuna wailed. She hated it when her friend was being lied to-!
“Calm down miss,” Mr. Hiruma told her gently, “you don’t know Youichi as well as I. He’s not being mean.”
“What?” Suzuna stopped and stared at him.
“…Youichi is a Sergeant and leader. His job in that army is to be a strong controlling tower on which everyone under his command can lean and depend on. If he is hurt, then his entire company will suffer.” Mr. Hiruma explained. “He said he was fine because he has to be ‘fine’.”
“But he’s still lying-!” Suzuna muttered.
“-Yes, he is. Lying to Mamori, his men, and most importantly, himself.” Mr. Hiruma clarified.
“Himself?” Suzuna blinked.
“His injury is bad and he will carry both it and its scars for the rest of his life. When you have an injury like that, even if it is healing, you don’t want to accept it. You want to be fine and be able to go back to the way you were before you got the injury.” Mr. Hiruma didn’t say who he was talking about, but he was talking from personal experience about this.
“Oh.” Suzuna felt guilty for accusing the man now.
“Besides, he did tell Mamori how he thought he was doing. I think that’s an improvement.” Mr. Hiruma smiled. “And I bet she was very happy to hear that.”
“She was crying because she was so happy.” Suzuna confessed.
“There you go then, Youichi was only trying to return some of the care she’s been giving him.” Mr. Hiruma smiled. “Now get.”
“What?”
“You’re still too moody to work in my orchard today, now get and go write your own young man. I’m sure he would not like getting his letter late any more than Mamori did.” Mr. Hiruma proceeded to shoo her out of his house.
As he watched Suzuna leave, Mr. Hiruma turned back to his house and his orchards. It was high time he gave his son a little more help….
_=_=_=_=_
No one explicitly mentioned it, but I’m sure some of you readers out there were a bit more curious about the Suzuna-Sena stuff that was happening. So this chapter gets to feature one of Sena’s letters. Also we get to hear a bit from Yuuya that helps set up the next chapter. I hope you like!
Rating: T for anything Hiruma writes.
Summary: Youichi amazed the town when he actually wrote Mamori a letter, but what's this about the contents...?
Notes: Please look at the situation on the battle front, or you can look at previous correspondences.
Letters To the Field
Tenth Correpsondence
The radio had provided plenty of insight as to why Mamori had to wait so long for her letter. The cold weather was dulling the spirits and the strengths of men. It also made supplies harder to move around. Letters were considered low priority, so they didn’t get moved around as quickly as one would hope.
Mamori patiently waited for the mail to get to the soldiers. She waited even more patiently for Youichi’s reply.
Fucking Woman-
Pvt. Kobayakawa is fine and in good health.
I am fine.
Happy?
-Y. Hiruma
“Mamori, why are you crying?” Suzuna asked, startled that her friend had burst into tears.
“He’s fine.” Mamori cried. “He’s okay!”
Glancing down at her letter from Sena, Suzuna realized that Youichi lied.
Suzuna-
I’m really, really happy they let me use the lined paper in the mailing room again. I can never write neatly without lines and I don’t want you having to send my letter back to rewrite again.
It’s good to hear you are doing well. I was worried when you said you had to start helping out Mr. Hiruma with the orchards. I don’t think he’d do anything bad to you- he’s not a bad person, I’m just afraid that everyone else in town is going to say bad things about you.
I’m doing as good as I can be on this battlefield. It’s worse for Master Sergeant Doburoku. I think he might die. Sergeant Hiruma does too because he’s taken over almost all of the Master Sergeant’s duties.
…It’s been really cold lately. Sergeant Hiruma is very lucky to have mittens. Very lucky. My hands are cold all of the time now. Specialist Munakata is worried I might get frostbite because of my bad circulation. I wish they had mittens in my size….
The other day we met some really, really nice people. Did you know our enemies do things like manage orchards and raise sheep just like us? We talked for a long while and it was great fun until we had to kill them. …Yeah, we killed them. It hurt a lot and there wasn’t a choice. In war there never is a choice.
Don’t tell Mamo-sis but, the Sergeant is in a lot of trouble. I told you his arm got shot right? It’s still healing and hurting a lot. Specialist Munakata told me he had ‘nerve damage’. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I do know he’s not quick or coordinated with his left hand anymore. He doesn’t sleep well because of the pain, we can all see it- he’s got circles under his eyes.
The Sergeant, he hasn’t been eating well either. He can’t carry as much on the marches we go on because of his injury. He can’t go as far and he doesn’t have the stomach to eat as much. I think he’s lost weight, but its hard to tell. I don’t know what to do, but Mamo-sis can cheer him up somehow, right? We need him eating so he can heal.
I talked to Major Don today and asked him if it was possible to send Sergeant Hiruma home. Major Don said they can’t send someone home that’s still ‘useful’. I wish the Sergeant wasn’t the best, then he could go home….
Oh! How are the sheep doing? Did Ako have her lamb yet?
I’ll try to write you again soon,
-Sena K.
After having worked long hours next to Mr. Hiruma, Suzuna had learned the man was very educated, more so than anyone in town. He had known what nerve damage was when Suzuna asked earlier. Thankfully, Mr. Hiruma did not inquire as to why Suzuna wanted to know. But that piercing look in Mr. Hiruma’s green eyes told Suzuna that the reason he didn’t ask was that he probably already knew the answer.
Youichi had nerve damage and that meant he couldn’t control his hand properly anymore. He’d never be able to get complete control back either and here he was having the gull to lie to Mamori and tell her he was ‘fine’! Suzuna was mad, really mad. But she said nothing while she watched her friend write a quick reply.
Youichi-
Thank you for telling me how the two of you are doing, I’m so relieved!
I’m curious, who all is under your command anyways?
Lots of love,
-Mamori A.
“Go home.” Mr. Hiruma told Suzuna when he opened the door to let her in for work.
“W-what!?” Suzuna was confused.
“Your bad mood will make the fruit sad now get!” Mr. Hiruma told her gruffly.
“But it’s about your son-!” Suzuna blurted out before she could stop herself. Mr. Hiruma said nothing and beckoned her inside.
“Tell me everything.” Mr. Hiruma told her as he sat her down and served her some tea.
“…Youichi got shot during the battle with Team Naga.” Suzuna explained. “His left arm and there was nerve damage.”
Mr. Hiruma said nothing and only nodded.
“…He wrote Mamori a letter and told her he was ‘fine’! But he’s not fine at all-!” Suzuna wailed. She hated it when her friend was being lied to-!
“Calm down miss,” Mr. Hiruma told her gently, “you don’t know Youichi as well as I. He’s not being mean.”
“What?” Suzuna stopped and stared at him.
“…Youichi is a Sergeant and leader. His job in that army is to be a strong controlling tower on which everyone under his command can lean and depend on. If he is hurt, then his entire company will suffer.” Mr. Hiruma explained. “He said he was fine because he has to be ‘fine’.”
“But he’s still lying-!” Suzuna muttered.
“-Yes, he is. Lying to Mamori, his men, and most importantly, himself.” Mr. Hiruma clarified.
“Himself?” Suzuna blinked.
“His injury is bad and he will carry both it and its scars for the rest of his life. When you have an injury like that, even if it is healing, you don’t want to accept it. You want to be fine and be able to go back to the way you were before you got the injury.” Mr. Hiruma didn’t say who he was talking about, but he was talking from personal experience about this.
“Oh.” Suzuna felt guilty for accusing the man now.
“Besides, he did tell Mamori how he thought he was doing. I think that’s an improvement.” Mr. Hiruma smiled. “And I bet she was very happy to hear that.”
“She was crying because she was so happy.” Suzuna confessed.
“There you go then, Youichi was only trying to return some of the care she’s been giving him.” Mr. Hiruma smiled. “Now get.”
“What?”
“You’re still too moody to work in my orchard today, now get and go write your own young man. I’m sure he would not like getting his letter late any more than Mamori did.” Mr. Hiruma proceeded to shoo her out of his house.
As he watched Suzuna leave, Mr. Hiruma turned back to his house and his orchards. It was high time he gave his son a little more help….
_=_=_=_=_
No one explicitly mentioned it, but I’m sure some of you readers out there were a bit more curious about the Suzuna-Sena stuff that was happening. So this chapter gets to feature one of Sena’s letters. Also we get to hear a bit from Yuuya that helps set up the next chapter. I hope you like!