Work Text:
“ Jesus... My legs are gonna fucking kill me...”
The Japanese soldier trudged against the snow, holding onto the strap of his musket, which was slung around his shoulder. He had thought he was following behind a fellow soldier, the two being sent on to patrol the forest by the base Lt. Tsurumi chose for the moment. It was stupid, but it was expected of him to go out into the cold and make sure the military was safe. It was his job to make sure everyone else would be okay. Some bullshit it is, but that's what you must do if you want to relax later.
He walked along the forest, ending up nearly deep into the woods. He noticed the other footsteps seemed strangely... absent. As if everyone else stopped walking but he kept going. Usami stood still for a moment suddenly, listening to the sounds of the forest. He then looked behind him and saw nothing but the outstretch of trees, flora and snow. There wasn't anyone behind him. Nobody in front either. His eyes widened and his head looked back and forth, then left to right frantically. Suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, Usami was completely alone; alone in the forest he was supposed to be patrolling, the path he had taken wasn't straight either. He looked up to the sky, it was only a few hours until sundown, and just an hour more after that until nightfall. He sucked in a breath, calling out to his fellow soldiers, as a first effort to get back on track.
After a few shouts, there was nothing. No callback, no whistling, nothing. Nothing but the sound of leaves rustling and small animals bustling about in the bushes and branches. He sucked in a breath, his heart pounding in his chest while he felt his body physically pulse from the anxiety. He called out again, this time trying to retrace and walk back on his steps, looking down at the snow-piled forest floor for his own, and maybe another's, footprints. However, there was no sound, no one calling back once again. Clouds towered and floated along the sky above him, slowly dropping snowflakes down onto the forest, and anything else below it; soon, everything will be powdered in snow and the sky will look grey. Usami shook his head, sighing heavily. He wasn't sure where he was going anymore, especially not when the threat of sundown was imminent. It took a few hours to get deep into the forest, it would take a few hours to come back out, accounting for one knowing where they're headed.
Golden rays spilled through the leaves and reflected onto the buried plants and snow below, while Usami was shivering and gritting his teeth. He should've paid more attention to what the hell was going on, he should've at least thought about where he was going; all he could think about were the repercussions of getting lost if he came back to base. If he wasn't attacked by the wildlife first, or god forbid, he wasn't alone in the forest. His breath was cold, and he had tried to pull his scarf up, though it was no use due to the rough path. He knew dusk would come soon, approximately 10 minutes from now, night following a few minutes after; which also means the temperature would drop, approximately by 10 degrees, accounting for the snowfall and cloudy weather throughout the day. Usami stopped to look as far as he could into the brush, looking between the trees for anything, preferably the edge of it and for any hope of getting back to base. No doubt there are already plans to come and search for him in the morning. He squinted, and then his eyes widened.
A cabin, or rather, a homelike structure appeared out in the distance, hidden among the trees. If someone was inside, he could easily kill them--that is what he was made for after all. He picked up the pace, almost running towards the shelter. He took no care to avoid the spur weeds nor the thorny bushes. All he needed, all he could focus on, for now, was getting to shelter all the while thanking God he didn't have to make one himself. Approaching the cabin, the red sky darkening to a deep purple reflected on the wood, making it appear more welcoming than what it’d usually appear to be. Usami stopped once he had approached the cabins lifted porch, breathing heavily and taking a moment to let it slow. He walked up the porch stairs, carefully looking out the window to make sure no one was home. The inside was completely dark except for the sunlight spilling in through the glass, disregarding the old curtains which were hardly drawn. Usami let out a sigh of relief, still holding onto his musket strap. He walked toward the door, cautiously pushing it open and thanking God once again that the door was completely unlocked. The air inside was stale, it smelt slightly of mothballs and lightly of gunpowder; strangely, there wasn't much visible dust. Usami stepped inside, closing the door behind him shortly after stepping inside.
His boots and gaiters still attached were near the door, and an orange glow emitted from the fireplace lit the now pitch-black living room. Usami, wrapped in his unbuttoned winter coat, sat next to the fire, his type 30 musket against the wall. After a difficult search for firewood before nightfall, he found just enough to last a few hours by some miracle. Curled up with his knees to his chest, he closed his eyes, lost in thought and worry about returning to the base, nearly drifting to sleep. He imagined Sergeant Tsukishima would scold him, worse, force him to do the gruelling chores, or worse, have it be known he was being punished. His face turned red at the thought, and he shuddered. If only. His head bobbed as he fought sleep, furrowing his brows as he was dangerously close to slumber. He then startled awake, hearing the front door creak open slowly; he immediately reached for his musket, reaching back to his rear pouch for a bullet, and slowly arming the rifle. He swallowed hard, nervously keeping his eyes dead-set on the door.
In came the head of another rifle, cautiously entering, then came a dark figure, clearly a male and who was very large. Usami gripped his hands around the rifle, biting his lower lip, keeping his breathing as quiet as possible. The dark figure cautiously stepped further in, part of him being illuminated by the fire. He noticed Usami curled up in the corner, pointing his rifle at him while standing still, clearly just as shocked as the other. The both of them sat there, unmoving for a few minutes until the tall figure spoke out.
"Кто Вы такой?" the man demanded roughly, pointing his gun directly at the man sitting in the corner. "Что Вы здесь делаешь?"
"…What? I can't understand you…" Usami's voice shook slightly. A Russian soldier, great.
“Вы японец?” The Russian soldier tilted his head slightly, squinting.
Watching Usami's distress, noticing his shaking rifle, the Russian soldier gradually lowered his rifle and sighed softly. He ensured the door was tightly closed behind him then leaned his rifle against the wall, returning his gaze to the Japanese man near the fireplace. He stepped toward him, offering out a hand. Usami fully lowered his rifle, setting it on the floor. He took the Russian man's hand into his own, taking notice of how much smaller his hand was than the other man’s; it was a little intimidating. He looked away, huffing quietly and helping himself up. The crackling of the fire filled the silent air until the Russian man spoke up; simply saying “Vasily.” The best he can, shaking Usami’s hand while they have each other's hands together.
“Oh. Your name is Vasily?” Usami blinked, awkwardly shaking his hand back. “Usami.”
Vasily nodded, muttering “Usami” back to himself, then, “Приятно познакомиться”. He motioned for Usami to sit back down, heading towards the makeshift kitchen next to the living room. The Russian man selected from the few options of jars available, taking them to the kitchen countertops, fueling the stove with a match and firewood already inside and filling a pot with water from the deep porcelain sink against the wall.
Usami then sat back down by the fire, curling his knees and holding them to his chest. He plunged himself back into his head, thinking of the different scenarios of what would happen when he would return to base, if he would go back.
Usami was gently shaken out of his thoughts, seemingly an hour or so after sinking back into his head. His gaze was met with a now hatless and coatless Vasily, crouching down at his level. He tilted his head, asking “Вы в порядке?”
Usami furrowed his brows, offering a soft smile to whatever Vasily had asked. Vasily took this as a confirmation of him being okay, at least somewhat. He stood, motioning to join him at the small dining table which was set next to the wall next to the kitchen, where two bowls of seemingly soup were already set. Usami nodded slowly, dropping his winter coat off of him, letting it fall onto the fraying rug; it was getting too warm with it on anyway. He stood, following behind Vasily to the dining table.
The two men sat across from one another. In front of both men were decently portioned-sized bowls of a reddish soup, along with cups of water for both men.
“?!... The soup broth is red... Is this usual?” Usami questioned while eyeing the soup, not particularly in a bad or rude way, just curiously.
Vasily raised a brow, simply saying “борщ.”, hoping to get the point across with just the name. It seemed to work the first time.
Usami sighed, figuring there had to be a way to understand each other eventually. Surely there was a way to communicate without words, without writing; playing charades simply wouldn't do either. The men ate in silence, Usami being the one to finish first. He looked around, biting his lower lip; maybe this was an opportunity to rant, he usually never got an opportunity to speak his mind openly, especially not when he hasn't been asked to.
“You don't mind if I just talk on... Right? You wouldn't mind?” He turned his eyes back to Vasily.
Vasily seemed to be caught off guard, shifting his eyes unsure if he was just asked or told something. He chose to just shrug instead, with complete neutrality; hopefully, that was the correct answer. Usami smiled at him, unbuttoning his uniform jacket while he spoke, almost purposefully talking faster than usual, as if he were worried in the case Vasily would understand him. He leaned against the table once his uniform jacket was off, draped on the back of the chair. His pale blue and white undershirt clung tightly to his torso as he leaned against the table, resting his chin on his hand. He smiled as he talked, mentioning his own Lieutenant, the punishment he might receive for getting lost, generally what he might consider “small talk”. Usami’s face reddened the more he talked about what might happen to him, leading him to covering his mouth and pressing his legs together, letting out a soft whimper.
Vasily didn't mind listening to Usami talk on and on-- he had a pleasant voice to listen to; the problem was that he wanted to interject to relate to him, yet he couldn't seem to understand a single sentence—a few words, sure, but nothing could be pieced together. Clearly, though, this was a passionate topic. If only he could understand what it was truly about. He nodded along as if he were pretending to be passively listening. He titled his head slightly noticing how flustered Usami was becoming, asking, “Тебе нужна помочь?”
Usami perked up, returning his attention to Vasily. “Ahh... I'm okay!” He giggled. “Maybe that's what you asked? Ahh... It's hard to think!” He buried his face in his hands, grinning to himself.
Vasily furrowed his brows, fearing something was wrong. He tapped the table with his finger to catch Usami's attention. Usami looked back up, placing his hands back down onto his lap and making a humming noise. Vasily thought for a moment, offering a thumbs up or a thumbs down, raising his brows.
“Ohh... Haha! I'm okay!” Usami offered a thumbs up, practically beaming at Vasily.
Vasily slowly nodded, looking away and pursing his lips. He supposed he was used to being quiet anyway. He looked over at the fireplace, figuring it could use some poking to stay alive. He looked at Usami, pointing over at the fireplace, saying “камин “making a poking motion and then a “us both” motion. Usami smiled wide, raising his brows as his face reddened once again.
“Aaaah? -” He breathed out, nodding regardless.
Vasily sighed as he stood up, walking over to the fireplace and kneeling, motioning for Usami to ‘come here’. Usami looked over, following over to the fireplace once Vasily had knelt down. Usami sat down across from him, leaning back against the old sofa that was placed in front of the fireplace. He pulled his knees up to his chest, watching Vasily. Vasily turned his head back to him, pointing at Usami’s bayonet and then back to himself. Usami blinked, flinching slightly once he realised what was being asked; he nodded and unsheathed his bayonet, holding onto the blade and handing the hilt side over to Vasily. Vasily smiled softly at him, turning back toward the fire and poked it a few times with the blade, moving the glowing logs and shifting the embers.
Vasily set the bayonet down on the ledge of the fireplace, making a vague motion of “fire” and “hot”. Usami slowly nodded, furrowing his brows. That's what that poking motion was, of course; what else could it have been? Vasily sat back criss-crossed, shuffling a little to sit against the couch with Usami on the floor. He looked over, slightly down at Usami, then back to the fire; staring into the flames. Usami looked down at the floor, furrowing his brows. He leaned his head gently on Vasily’s shoulder, closing his eyes and sighing. He had to figure out what to do if he could never go back. What would happen if he was lost for good; the 7th wouldn't keep looking forever, he knew that. How could he even communicate with Vasily? Pantomiming can't work for more complex thoughts. It simply won't do.
Vasily then perked up, tapping Usami on the shoulder to get him to wake back up. Usami grumbled, sitting back up and looked up at Vasily. Vasily turned back to the couch where he had set his coat along with Usami’s, digging through his coat pockets, and pulling out a few paper scraps and some sticks of charcoal. He turned back to Usami, seemingly excited. Usami raised a brow, shaking his head. Vasily nodded in protest, saying “рисовать”, holding up an index finger in way of “wait a moment”; he leaned down, placing a paper scrap on the floor and doodled a portrait of Usami onto it. Once he was finished, he held it up to Usami, shaking it slightly to suggest this is how they can communicate. Usami raised his eyebrows, once realising Vasily could draw really well, then realising this was a new way of communicating. Sure, it was less conventional and more could be lost on either of them, but it was better than guessing what was even being suggested by just their actions.
Usami held his hand out to be given a piece of paper and charcoal, and adjusted himself to lay stomach down on the floor, doodling a picture of Lt. Tsurumi, and then another doodle of Vasily; the drawings weren't... good, per se, but they were legible as being drawings of someone. Vasily followed Usami in also lying on his stomach, his legs resting under the couch while Usamis legs were propped up against it. Usami showed Vasily the picture of Tsurumi, then motioned to give him the drawing of himself, and gave his doodle of Vasily to Vasily. He motioned with one hand holding his own portrait and the other holding Tsurumi’s, them together, and then he motioned with his portrait him wandering off towards Vasily’s portrait. Usami thought for a moment, then tried motioning a sort of sadness to his own portrait, waving the piece of paper towards himself holding the Tsurumi portrait; hopefully, that got the point across. Vasily lay there, furrowing his brows. He didn't really get it, sure, he understood now that Usami was completely lost, and he needed to get back to whoever that moustached man was, but... He couldn't understand what else he was trying to convey. Vasily nodded slowly, visibly confused. Usami groaned, dropping both pieces of paper, feeling frustrated already; he sighed, staring at the paper on the floor. Vasily had a look of concern on his face, gently patting Usamis shoulder, getting his attention, putting up a thumbs up, softly saying “все будет хорошо.” Vasily then picked up Usami’s portrait, putting it with his own, motioning both of them. He then “walked” both of them over to Tsurumi's portrait on the floor, then dropped Usami's portrait back down with Tsurumi. Usami’s eyes widened, smiling slightly.
“You’d... Take me back? Oh-” He realised Vasily wouldn't understand and stopped himself.
He smiled wide at Vasily, nodding and grinned down at the pictures. Vasily smiled softly back at him, resting his head down on his arms. Usami moved his picture and Tsurumi’s as close as they can be together, he smiled down at the drawings, kicking his feet excitedly. Vasily watched him, half-lidded; Usami’s mannerisms were quite endearing, sometimes a bit off-putting, but that could be brushed off. He really wanted to see if he was a good shot, just like himself, but it was far too dark out by now. Vasily looked past Usami, out the window behind the couch; it was difficult to tell if it was snowing, however there were small glints of white reflecting off of the warm glow from inside. If it were a heavy snowfall overnight, that would make it more difficult to go out and hunt. He looked back at Usami, staring.
“Ahh... I'm so excited now. Really, I am! I'm so excited. What time is it?” Usami perked up slightly, tapping his wrist to ask for the time again.
Vasily blinked, slightly pulling his sleeve up to glance at his wristwatch, realising he couldn't actually say the numbers, he used his hands to tell the time “21:10”. Usami nodded, rolling over onto his back, resting his legs up on the couch now. The crackle of the fire filled the air, Usami placed his hands on his chest, prodding at the buttons on his undershirt. He turned his head to look over at Vasily, poking him gently with his free hand; he motioned to them both, then made a sleep motion by putting both of his hands together as a “pillow” and pretend slept. He raised his eyebrows, waiting for a yes or no. Vasily thought for a moment, wondering if Usami was asking to sleep, or if they were sleeping together-- he slowly nodded, unsure if he was supposed to be saying yes anyway. Usami nodded back, shuffling himself closer to Vasily. He understood then, and then had an idea, shuffling out away from the couch and sitting up, grabbing his coat that was rested on the couch, and draped it over Usami, offering it as a blanket. Usami smiled, pulling his legs down from the couch and curling himself up on his side under Vasily’s heavy coat; Vasily lay back down next to Usami, laying on his back now, wrapping one arm around Usami—feeling a slight twinge in his stomach. Usami adjusted his head, using Vasily’s arm as a pillow.
Usami looked up at him, pointed at the window and then put up a thumbs up saying, “Goodnight.” Vasily’s eyes widened slightly, smiling gently, replied, “Спокойной ночи, маленький кролик.”