Tatsumi awoke to the thin rays of morning light assaulting his eyes.
He inhaled, chortling on the stinging stench of cheap bleach coming from even cheaper looking curtains across the entire room. The snoring next to him dully roared, grating against his eyes. He uncurled himself, beginning to clumsily pull himself out from the sleeping bag. He felt like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, opening up his arms like one opening up its wings.
A wave of pain rolled over his lower back, drawing a soft groan and nearly tipping him over to the weapons and clothes laid out besides him.
"I'm not old enough for this kind of pain…" Tatsumi groaned through gritted teeth, while he massaged his joint. It had been worsening ever since their first night on their journey to the capital. Not to the point it became unbearable, but still enough to impede him, to slow him down that tiny bit that could make the difference when it came to a life or death struggle.
His mind already ran through several estimates of how much worse the pain will get down the line, with one day of nothing but physical exercise and exhaustion followed by another. And that same voice that ran those estimates for him told him, beckoned him to just lay back down on his sleeping bag onto the wooden floor as uncomfortable as it was, only for Tatsumi to ignore it as best he could.
The soon-to-be imperial soldier pushed through the unpleasant sensation and tugged at the window repeatedly, yet nothing happened. Tatsumi used more and more force until he was afraid he'd tear out the handle. After another strong tug, the window creaked open with a noise equal to long nails slowly scratching down a chalkboard, but fortunately this didn't wake anyone nor did that grumpy receptionist yell any complaints from the floor underneath.
But with that, a cruel dilemma revealed itself.
Ieyasu was clinging to Sayo like his beloved, old teddy bear that his parents somehow patched up for him again back in the village. He had his arms firmly secured around her waist and had buried his head in the crook of her neck. Sayo's hands rested just on top of his and, much to Tatsumi's surprise, the girl had a sleepy and peaceful smile on her face aside from her drooling slightly.
Last time he saw that smile, Sayo had just received the biggest payday of her life. She turned over and snuggled deeper into Ieyasu's chest, slinging her arms around him as well.
No matter how one was to look at this, the situation was set to become quite volatile. Waking Sayo first would be equal to waking a dragon. To say she'd scream up a storm would be an understatement. In turn, if he were to wake Ieyasu first, he might tear Sayo out of sleep purely through his sudden, clumsy movements.
And that would just lead back to square one.
Seeing them like this was hardly reconcilable with their constant bickering, so he wondered if perhaps there was more going on between these two than they've been letting on. Though if so, they probably didn't even know themselves.
Regardless of all this, he had to first figure out how to deal with the situation in front of him. Before, when they were still on the way here, he managed to gently get Ieyasu away from her, but with how tangled up they are now, it was simply not an option...He could just let the situation 'resolve' itself and ensure that he's nowhere near until the dust inevitably settles…
But then they might not arrive in time for the beginning of their military service…or not at all, if or rather when Sayo kills Ieyasu.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't…
He scratched his head, trying to make up his mind on how to avert this crisis, only to watch in horror as Sayo slowly opened her eyes and stirred, much to Tatsumi's dread. Almost out of instinct, the boy used his arms to cover himself. The crisis was already in full motion.
She retracted her arms and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, however, she could not move. The first thing that came into her view was Tatsumi shelling up, much to her initial confusion. First, she glanced at him, then back at herself, then she stared back at Tatsumi again and then down on Ieyasu, when realization struck her awake.
Her peaceful smile instantly faded and contorted into what could only be described as pure, unrestrained rage.
She growled through gritted teeth and shoved the poor boy off the bed with one fierce push. The young woman immediately got to her feet and balled up her fists into lethal cannonballs. Tatsumi could swear that steam was erupting from her ears even.
"Ieyasu!!!You filthy pig! You…" The woman roared like a dragon, fiery eyes torn wide open and blood boiling like water that threatened to burst out of a pot alongside the lid.
Tatsumi could only sigh helplessly…
After the…tumultuous…morning, the three checked out of the shabby inn, having apologized profusely for the good bit of noise they caused. The personel's hospitality wasn't exactly encouraging them to stay there for longer either way, even though their financial means allowed for little else. Hopefully the army would set them down in some barracks at least.
"Alright. Now where is this address?" Sayo asked as she gazed down on her document of approval. The papers weren't exactly helpful in figuring out where they are even expected to show up, regardless of how many times she looked back and forth through all of them.
"I have…no clue." Ieyasu started off strong, but conceded that even he, a man with his outstanding brains, didn't know.
"That ain't anything new from you, blockhead." She scoffed and turned her gaze to Tatsumi, who was quite frankly as stumped as they were, if the sweaty smile and the nervous chuckle coupled up didn't betray him already.
"Let's just go around and ask some people then. Someone in this city gotta know." Ieyasu offered with another carefree grin of his. "I mean, if we see any soldiers they'd have to know where it is, right? Or maybe some other people who signed up?"
Sayo paused for a moment. "Actually…that's not stupid. Perhaps some local guards will know the area. By asking them we should find out."
Tatsumi's heavy eyes tore wide open at the brief exchange, and for a few moments he stopped walking, as his mind was still trying to process what just transpired. Did they just agree on something?!
Is this the beginning of something? First they embrace each other, now they agree with each other for once?
"Yo, where you at bro? Get movin'!" The two called to him to catch up, having almost disappeared around the corner before realizing he's lagging behind.
"Sorry, I'm just stunned that you actually agree with each other." Tatsumi returned with a raised voice and quickly caught up to his friends.
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, that's just because he had a reasonable idea for once. Maybe he's got something going up there in his noggin after all." Sayo shrugged and was ready to move on, both metaphorically and literally, seeing as they still didn't have the foggiest idea as to where exactly they had to show up.
"What do ya mean 'for once'? I've always got good ideas!" Ieyasu ran in front of her and put himself in her way, arms at his sides. Strangely enough, he was almost perfectly mimicking Sayo when she was about to assert herself or berate either of the two boys. This is going way faster than it should for a relationship.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." The girl scoffed and pushed the boy aside, leaving him dumbstruck on the spot. Tatsumi could already see it coming. Over the years and especially over the past couple weeks, his sense of when these two would start bickering had sharpened considerably.
But then again, if that's all they do most of the time, it's not that difficult of a prediction, is it?
And his 'Sayo-Ieyasu-argue'-sense was ringing; almost banging away in his head, as if someone sounded an alarm when a house was on fire. So was the headache from this morning. Luckily for the boy, his friend let it go and just followed next to him.
"Hey, do you think she might know?" Tatsumi stubbed Sayo's arm and pointed towards a girl roughly around their age with long, fiery orange hair tied into a horse tail. What immediately stuck out to him was the light green and gray uniform, coupled up with a simple chest plate that he'd seen on most of the other imperial soldiers patrolling around here.
She marched through the streets at a respectable pace before she took a small break. Yet neither was she breathing hard, nor did her movements come across as labored at all. Probably her hundredth or so patrol by now. By the looks of it, she was ready to run off to somewhere else.
"Hey, excuse me. Can I have a moment?" Sayo walked up to the girl before she could slip through their fingers, holding up her draft papers. "Me and my friends here are new to the city and can't seem to get a grasp on the area. Do you happen to know where this is?" She inquired politely with a raised eyebrow and showed the other young woman the designated location on her papers.
She didn't need to do even that, though. As soon as the girl had their papers in sight she reacted immediately "Oh! You're new recruits too! How fortunate! That means we're gonna be colleagues!" She blurted out instantly with a big, fat grin.
Her gaze was utterly radiant, almost blinding like the rising sun over the Capital, and brimming with optimism that surpassed even that of his 8 year old sister whenever she got to eat chocolate.
The enthusiasm seemed to have bounced onto Ieyasu really well. He immediately stepped forward as though he had just met someone operating on the same wavelength and made an immediate connection. "Oh, really? That's cool! Would you mind walking us there?" The boy chuckled.
Since when was he a morning person anyway?
Usually, he would be dragging his feet for a good chunk of the morning, but instead he's active like he only ever would be after a hefty meal. Then again, this day could very well be seen as an exception after the vicious beating Sayo gave him back at the inn. That stuff is bound to get your adrenaline running.
The upbeat girl saluted at the boy's request, her radiant gaze not faltering for even a single moment. "It's my duty and honor to guide the righteous people of the Capital and especially my colleagues! I'd be happy to lead you to your destination!"
"Sweet!" Ieyasu exclaimed with a toothy grin and immediately followed suit. The other two just gave each other a bewildered stare before Tatsumi shrugged it off with a sweaty smile and fell in line, marching behind them.
"So you're joining the army too…" Sayo stated the obvious in between the cheerful banter the other girl had with Ieyasu. For some reason, these two got along pretty well, given the fact that they were complete strangers to each other.
Was he really just into her cheery persona, or was he actually interested in law enforcement techniques?
And for even stranger reasons, it drove Sayo absolutely mad. To the point that she was constantly glancing at Ieyasu. And if that already wasn't enough of a giveaway, her quiet grunting and the occasional balled fist certainly was.
If they were going to be colleagues with 'orange hair' then they should definitely try to get to know her. And who knows? If the first impression was anything to go by, the girl was nice and helpful, like any good soldier should be towards the people. Not like the grumpy sacks of shit coming to collect the taxes each month.
"Yeah, I was in the reserve before, but now I'm joining the force for real! My parents are in the army too!" The girl mentioned with a prideful smile across her cheeks. "And…and my grandparents have been and their parents…and…" Her breathing was getting faster and faster as the prideful grin grew more and more radiant on her face.
The sheer excitement raging inside of her as her head was filled with thoughts of her family legacy was clear to anyone, and so was her inability to clearly communicate exactly what she was thinking.
"Alright, we got it by now. It runs in your family." Sayo cut her off before her head exploded from excitement and took a look at her surroundings. "And where exactly is the place you are leading us?"
Almost as though someone flipped a switch inside the girl's head, she instantly snapped back to more… manageable… levels of excitement. "Oh, you just missed the barracks by a few streets! It's not far from here." She answered and pointed in the rough direction of where they were supposed to report.
"Nice! It's just way too easy to get lost in this place. Good thing, we bumped into ya then!" Ieyasu snickered.
"Don't fear, citizens! I know this city like the back of my hand. You just need to go down this street, then turn left. Walk straight, turn right on the second alley. Then you only need to go straight and you'll be there. You know what? I'll just walk you there!" The soldier exclaimed, again, with the same unbridled energy and enthusiasm.
"And, uh… how was it like being in the reserve? We saw you in gear and all, so we thought you were a guard or something." Tatsumi inquired as they were almost jogging towards the barracks. It couldn't have been terrible, if the girl's demeanor was anything to go by.
"Oh, it was truly amazing! Especially all the camaraderie and friendship you'll forge during and after all the training sessions and deployments…but enough of that. It's our solemn duty to protect the law-abiding citizens of this beautiful city." She responded with this sweet grin that prefaced another one of her bursts of excitement.
"Great! Have ya already beat up some big bads in this city? What 'bout them Night Raid thugs?" Ieyasu jumped in, slightly shoving the other boy to the side.
Suddenly a sharp cry howled through the streets. Two men ganged up on another underfed man. Beat him down and scoured his rags for anything of value.
"You got till next week. You hear me, bum? End of the week!" One of them yelled at the whimpering victim. Kicked him in the gut for good measure. Casually strolled off with his buddy even. Just like all the other citizens.
"We gotta catch them crooks!" Ieyasu shouted.
"Don't worry, I've got this under control. Just head to the barracks. These depraved criminals will receive their just punishment!" Her face twitched into a violent smile and exhaled a drawn out breath akin to a starving predator. It was so small and brief it might have been just for a split second before she ran off.
"We should let her handle this. She's allowed to do that." Sayo reminded both of her friends and put her arms in front of the boys. "Besides, we need to go. We can't be late."
"Alright…" Tatsumi sighed and turned away only after he took several slow steps backwards. "Did you guys just see that too?"
"Yeah! It all happened so fast! These thugs just hosed and mugged him! What the hell!" Ieyasu almost shouted through the otherwise fashionably calm streets.
"No, not that…Didn't you see everyone just walk by?" The other boy spoke slowly with wide eyes.
"Yes, now that you mention it…Maybe they were afraid." Sayo returned his bewildered stare with hers.
"If they pulled that crap at home, at least half the village woulda been up in arms!" The younger of the two boys threw up his arms as they headed to their destination.
"Sure, but this isn't the village anymore. What are you gonna steal from poor peasants anyway?" She shook her head.
"True. But we often took homeless people in. It was nice seeing 'em become part of the community."
"Before you hurt someone, you could just ask nicely if you are in need. Everyone deserves some kindness."
The corners of Sayo's mouth raised to form a tender smile.
Houses to their flanks disappeared, when a huge building came into view.
"Should be it, right?" Tatsumi presumed.
"As per Seryu's directions at least." Sayo replied.
"Hey, what are ya up to?" Ieyasu suddenly shouted, hurriedly confronting two gruff, middle-aged men. Another man in torn rags curled up at their feet, bruises and blood visible all across his body.
The two men standing over him had identical red sashes around their waists. One had a black tattoo on his face, the other had his hair tied into a small bun. They both reeked of fish.
"Got a problem?" 'Tattoo' hissed.
"Hey! Leave him alone!" Tatsumi demanded and rushed to Ieyasu's side..
"Or what?" He chuckled with a scornful smirk. "Ya gon' chase me with yer pitchfork and torch, ya peasant?" He put special emphasis on 'peasant' with this condescending tone. The thug sized the young man up and stared him down. "It seems ya simpletons ain't got the foggiest idea how things work 'round here, so I'll give ya a pass this once. Now scram before I change my mind."
Tatsumi's teeth ground forcefully.
"You're lucky we aren't in the army yet. Otherwise we'd have beaten both of you scumbags up." The other boy threatened.
'Man bun' just spat at Sayo's feet.
Ieyasu shoved the man, only for the girl to pull him back.
"What's going on here?" A deep, manly voice inquired. He wore about the same uniform as Seryu, so at least he had to be military.
"Thank goodness you arrived. These men were about to attack us. They also assaulted this man over there." Sayo reported with an artificially distressed tone in her voice.
No reaction. The soldier solely glanced at their sashes and sighed. Didn't even bother to check on the victim whining in pain. "Don't you have to ruin somebody else's day?"
Both of the thugs just laughed and casually strolled off.
"Excuse me…sir. But isn't it your job to go after these crooks?" Tatsumi asked his gaze not breaking from the pair.
"They're just some riff-raff as far as I'm concerned. If you don't have anything to add, I'll grab breakfast. No? Excellent. Have a nice day." The man just walked off. The trio just looked at each other, even more displaced than the first time they witnessed a mugging. Their silence couldn't scream the truth any louder, even if they tried.
"Just some riff-raff…" Tatsumi muttered under his breath.
They entered a sizable, open yard right when a unit of predominantly men clad in armor came jogging past them from the opposite direction. Their chanting was as steady and synchronized as their gallop.
In the same moment, they also came across a familiar sight.
"Oh, you're back already." Ieyasu pointed out with a grin. "How did it go with the crooks? Did they get what they deserved?"
"Indeed. They received their just punishment. Once more the law abiding citizens of this wonderful nation have been given justice." For some reason her smile was even more radiant than when they met her. And it didn't fade in the slightest either. Must have done a really good job then. Unlike others here…
"Hey…that's it, I presume?" Sayo stared at Seryu with a raised eyebrow and took a step back upon closer study of the sizable brick building. "And what's your name, if I may ask."
Its gray surface was smudged with black spots and had countless holes in it, where some of the bricks peeked out from like sore thumbs. There were barely any windows either. Even in that, the other surrounding smaller buildings presented uniformity.
"You presume correctly. This is gonna be our new home. And my name is Seryu Ubiquitous." She answered, her unshaken smile being the only thing even somewhat piercing through the bleakness of the place. "I'll show you around real quick and get you set up, so you won't be late."
"Like there's gonna be much to show…" The other girl mumbled and rolled her eyes. Granted, compared to what they've seen of the Capital, this place didn't look like much, considering how run down it seemed. Strangely enough, the facade or the lack thereof had something similar to the villages.
"Huh?" Seryu stopped at the entrance and turned around upon Sayo's comment.
"Ah, nothing." Sayo waved off with a dismissive hand and gave her a reassuring smile.
Not long after making their way inside, they joined up with other recruits and sent off to officially begin the training. Seryu was quick to take charge of the group, already having the general know-how, sparing them the clueless fumbling around with no idea on what to do and where to go.
After they dumped their belongings in the lockers and got changed into uniforms, Seryu showed them part of the training grounds and the collective sleeping place, where they also had to line up for roll call with around 30 or so other recruits.
Suddenly, a slim, gruff, middle-aged man in a green uniform prowled through the door.
Probably had a terrible morning just going off by how incensed he kicked in the door. Daggers posed as eyes. He paced back and forth like a predator stalking its prey, every step of his boots equal to a lion's roar. Tatsumi froze in place the second he was in his sights.
The man's posture was straight and stiff as a board. One fist behind his back, the other locked and loaded, patiently waiting. The wrinkles below his eyes only added to the unforgiving, vicious ire and scorn radiating from his cleanly shaven visage.
He adjusted his black hat with the Empire's squared, red-white Coat of Arms on it and spoke up in a deep voice that gave off the impression of barely held back aggression. "I am Sergeant Goutetsu, your senior drill instructor and the man tasked with overseeing your basic training. You'll only speak when spoken to, do as you're told and work as you're taught. From now on, the first and last word coming out of your filthy faceholes will be 'sir'. Have you losers understood that?" His hoarse voice bellowed through the entire room.
"Sir, yes, sir!" The uniforms called back in unison.
The Sergeant stood still for a moment, letting everyone clearly see the displaced look on his face. "What was that supposed to be!? This isn't a daycare, and I'm not some little village girl here to listen to your whining and babysit your sorry asses, I'm here to make them into weapons! That was pathetic. Again!"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
The drill instructor began yet another march through the room, set for another tirade. "You are going to defend our beloved nation with your lives against any kind of scum dim-witted enough to stand against the Empire, its interests and its people. That's why I will drag you boneheads all the way out of whatever boondocks you've creeped out of and whip you into shape." There was a split moment between the barrages of insults fired. Like the roaring echoes of hailing cannon fire.
"But until that day, as far as I'm concerned, you are no better than filthy animals reveling in your own shit. Now you still got the chance to run home to squeeze yourselves back into your mothers' assholes and waste away in whatever fucking meaningless existence you had previously, or I am going to eat you alive. Have you losers understood that?"
Their directive must have been to go scorched earth against even the tiniest shred of self-esteem or even pride the recruits had. Landslide victory on that front.
It was sort of a miracle to Tatsumi that Ieyasu hadn't returned fire against the instructor yet. Maybe even Ieyasu might have caught on that opening his ever so humble mouth now would be equal to a suicide mission. Most likely, though, he was just way too scared to actually do any of that.
And even if his friend did talk back, Tatsumi couldn't blame him. As if anyone in here wanted to stay pinned and be bombarded with vicious insults all day long. For all the green recruit knew, this could have been a test to see who actually had the guts to stand up to this terror of a sergeant.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Everyone would have failed that test. Miserably.
"Bullshit, I can't hear anything." Again, he demanded more fervor in the collective shrieking for his approval.
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Like your enemies, I am merciless. Because I am your enemy. The more you hate me, the more you will learn. I don't play favorites, I despise all of you equally, be it peasants, women, westerners. In doing that, it easily becomes clear who's fit enough to go on soldiering and who's a waste of oxygen. Have you filthy animals understood that?" The drill instructor vowed right as he marched past Sayo, voice utterly devoid of feigned compassion.
He shot her a menacing glare for a moment that lasted uncomfortably long. It was like watching a wolf plotting as to which sheep he should corner and kill. He'd surely return to rip her apart in particular at some point. Seek and destroy. At this point, it became clear that there was no preferable option when it came to attitude. Perfect stoicism will paint as big of a target on your back as shitting your pants would.
"Sir, yes, sir."
"My deceased grandma has more bite than you. I should dig up all the grannies to do your job. Bet they would be a hundred times the soldiers you sorry wimps are ever gonna be."
"Sir, yes, sir!"
The drill instructor executed the first strike. He charged towards Tatsumi like a bull and got into his face, only a few millimeters separating them.
"Why did you join my beloved corps?"
Tatsumi instantly recoiled at the horrendous breath breaching his nostrils. His eyes were frantically glancing past the man who stared bloody holes into his soul.
"Sir, to help out my village, sir."
"We've got ourselves another peasant here then. Just know that I demand more from your dense monkey-brain than growing rice and running fields up and down."
"Sir, yes, sir."
"To help out your pathetic, little boondocks, you will have to kill scum like yourself. Are you prepared to kill?"
The question the drill sergeant bellowed at Tatsumi echoed through the small room like a cannon shot.
"Will I witness the day you open your filthy face hole? I asked you a question, retard!"
"S-Sir, yes, sir!"
"Show me the face of a killer!"
"Aaaaahhhh!!!" Tatsumi screamed with whatever his lungs would give him. However, he just had to shut his eyes as he screeched for his life. The drill instructor didn't even bat an eye.
"You don't scare me at all, peasant. You're the most pitiful pile of shite I've ever seen. Practice that. Your ass is on my list. " The sergeant marched off and trained his undivided ire on Ieyasu. "And what's your excuse?" He scoffed.
"Sir, excuse for what, sir?"
The drill sergeant raised his voice. "I am asking the questions here, blockhead. May I say something as well now?" He barked with clenched up fists.
"Sir, yes, sir."
"Why, thank you. Next time grown folks talk, close your mouth. Have your parents ever had sentient offspring?"
"Sir, yes, sir."
"I'm sure they're sorry, hence they're offering you as cannon fodder. You look so fucking retarded, you couldn't even hold a sword if someone shoved it up your ass. What's your plan if you somehow happen to survive my training?"
It was kind of impressive how effortlessly he eviscerated their self-esteem, rattling off one vicious, pride-hurling insult after another.
"Sir, I want to become General, sir."
He just had to get that one out into the world…
Just when he thought Ieyasu might have had a grasp on the concept of humility, he proclaimed something as ill-advised and stupid as this. Tatsumi shut his eyes for a moment.
To his surprise the drill instructor seemed as though he'd crack a smile. Probably because he found what he just heard from that no-name country bumpkin so utterly ridiculous and at the same time audacious that he couldn't help himself.
How Ieyasu managed to squeeze this one through his face hole with such a level of unwavering certainty is beyond Tatsumi's ability to reason, and seemingly it was the same for the Sergeant.
He stared at the boy in silence for a moment, likely considering how he would like to tear him down a notch.
"So you think you're special, huh?"
"Sir, I'm stronger than the rest, sir."
"If your highness is so mighty, then you surely wouldn't mind giving me 50 push-ups for every lowly recruit in this room." A scornful smirk dared the ambitious novice to back up that humble mouth.
Confidence quickly eroded from the boy's face, replaced by drops of sweat trickling down his forehead. "S-Sir, on second thought, I'm not special, sir."
"If you can't be arsed to do a few puny push-ups for your comrades, you're gonna do even less for your country! You ain't never gonna be General, you lazy piece of human waste! You're not even gonna be Captain! Keep it up, and you're gonna end up a reject! Let me put that into 'idiot speak' for you: You're not special, peasant scum! You're just as pathetic a loser as everybody else in here and every other dirty peasant that came here before you, thinking they're tough shit for scaring off some hungry, flea-ridden mutts!"
"Sir, I will prove you wrong, sir!"
"I'll remember that, General blockhead. Your ass is on my list." The drill instructor sneered and moved on to his next exercise of verbal destruction.
He stomped towards Sayo. Immediately tore the beautiful white flower out of her hair. He trampled on it for good measure.
"You missed the brothels." Goutetsu scoffed. Sayo did not directly respond to being called a whore. Yet, she noticeably pouted, and her right eye trembled in anger ever so slightly.
And that was already enough of a response to this terror of a drill instructor.
Goutetsu was even cracking another smile. Of the sardonic kind, of course. "What? Nothing to say? I ain't paying you to play honorguard."
"Sir, no, sir!"
He marched forward, until only a hair separated him and Sayo. Like Tatsumi she almost recoiled from the sergeant's horrendous breath, eyes watering. "I'll have you know I don't tolerate bad weeds in my corps. Bad weeds ought to be ripped out and tossed where they belong. Am I understood, Bad weeds?" He lowered his hoarse voice to a menacing whisper in her ear. And this threatening stare. Goutetsu didn't break it for even a single moment.
Like a bloodhound eyeballing his next piece of meat.
"Sir, yes, sir."
"If I ever catch you not pulling your weight, your sole responsibility here is gonna be boosting my men's morale! They're gonna have your ass for free! I've got you in my sights!" The drill instructor yelled, before he moved onto his next victim.
Goutetsu gazed down at the next recruit in front of him. "What the fuck is that? Since when do we recruit toddlers?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow. In all fairness, the undersized, slim recruit still appeared to be a boy instead of a young adult unlike the rest of the uniforms.
Whoever gave clearance for military service to this boy deserved to be fired.
Yet, he probably begged to be enlisted because, just like Tatsumi and his friends, there was more at stake than his own life.
An entire family depended on it. An entire village depended on it.
The boy was shaking ever so slightly with widened eyes, paralyzed by dread, shrinking even lower under the drill instructor's scornful supervision. This was really like watching a lamb getting slaughtered, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
"I think I gotta correct myself. YOU are the most pitiful pile of shite I've ever seen. See 'Peasant'? You can't even excel at that! How tall are you even, midget?"
Goutetsu was correct. He was their enemy.
"Sir, I-i don't know, sir…" Of course 'midget' had to have a somewhat high pitch in his voice.
"What do you even know, you retarded dwarf?" Goutetsu instantly fired back. The stuttering and stammering of the young recruit didn't help his case one bit.
A weakness their instructor would certainly exploit.
"I might have a job as a magazine rack for you or is that an order too tall for you?"
Tatsumi could swear Ieyasu just bit his lip to hold in a laugh.
"S-sir, no, sir!" The boy squeaked, still unable to look his superior into his scornful eyes.
"You're such a tiny pile of shite, I can't even use you as a meat shield. Our enemy might mistake you for a cockroach, if you're lucky. But know that I don't tolerate retarded dwarves like you in my beloved corps!" The drill instructor screamed at the small recruit, his spit landing on him like missiles.
Goutetsu rounded up a few more recruits, degrading them and humiliating them to his heart's content. As soon as the roll call was wrapped up, the recruits went through their first exercise:
'The daily march'.
They were jogging through the training grounds at a hellish pace, while Goutetsu was chanting the national anthem. Tatsumi was at the rear of the unit, with Sayo and Ieyasu in front of him.
Sayo was already breathing a bit harder, slowing down a bit after a while. Her eyes opened wide again, when she could feel a hand on her back gently pushing her. It was Ieyasu. Usually, she would be motivated to run ahead as far as she could. But for now she was fine with accepting his help.
The only one who was noticeably lagging behind was 'retarded dwarf' or whatever insult the sergeant called him. The poor boy wasn't even far off the rest. How was he supposed to keep up with young adults anyway? Hell, even actual adults.
He was panting hard as a horse. His eyes almost rolled into the back of his head. Legs quivered.
Tatsumi tried his best to look straight ahead, chanting the national hymn after Goutetsu like a monkey. He almost choked on his own vomit as he forced his legs to make one more step. Of course this all had to be done under the scorn of the sun, more merciless than even their drill instructor.
But at this point, the young man decided to fall back and lend a hand to his comrade.
No man will get left behind.
Sayo was slowing down as well. Eyes forced shut, sweat raining down her forehead, chest heaving rapidly.
She was done for. Running on willpower alone, just like Tatsumi.
And the woman dreaded the consequences of that if her hectic, stuttered breathing was anything to go by.
"Come on…you…almost made it…" Tatsumi exhaled in between strained breaths, dragging along the younger recruit with every step on this endless path of thorns. The field of his vision became increasingly smaller and blurry. A black veil offering to envelop him ever so gently.
By now it had been the sixth time, Tatsumi's free hand suddenly rushed to cover his mouth, now the seventh time he forced himself not to vomit. This day was going to be a living hell for them.
Almost all of the recruits were breathing hard by the time the first ones finished the 'daily march'. They were going to do this every single day. Great…
"And I thought I could already add both of you wimps to the body count! Did you really have to drag the midget's sorry ass bridal style all the way here?" Goutetsu inquired with the same effortless viciousness in his tone. The man wasn't even exhausted… Was he even human? Because 'humane' wasn't exactly how he came off.
The two recruits stumbled and fell in front of him. Seeing this, the drill instructor shrilled and flailed his arms through the air as if to slap the remaining bit of life out of them. There was only muffled noise on Tatsumi's end. The young man laid in a pool of his own sweat. Feet ached as if impaled by smoldering hot nails and legs at the verge of breaking.
In the middle of the sergeant's rant, Tatsumi's hearing somewhat returned. "...and unless you don't radically improve, I'll let both of you maggots dig your own graves before I kill you!"
He forced himself back on his feet, vision blurring several times. 'Peasant' reached his hand out to his younger comrade, who was still lying on the ground like a corpse. Goutetsu swatted his hand away. "He has to stand up for himself. If we have to drag him through enemy territory, he's gonna get everyone else killed."
And indeed, the boy stood up slowly after a few more moments. His head was weaving and bobbing, eyes still half shut as he hobbled behind Tatsumi.
"Alright, ladies. You may take a breather. I'll round you up later for the next exercise in three hours. Am I understood?"
"Sir, yes, sir."
The recruits collectively headed back into the barracks for a shower and the vast majority of them, Tatsumi and company included, rested in their beds. They didn't sleep, at the very least he didn't but it was enough to just lay down and close his eyes. He picked up a bit of tired chatter here and there but it remained mostly quiet on his front. Later…
"Crawl fast, you maggots!"
The recruits were made to crawl through the dirt, underneath countless low hoops, on their hands and knees with a sword on their back.
"Would you fucking believe it…Seems like there is something you're actually good at! Looks like you're not entirely hopeless after all. You could become a tunnel rat!"
"Sir, thank you, sir." 'Retarded dwarf' returned and kept dragging himself through the course.
"Unlike other maggots in here! Bad weeds!!! You're so fucking slow, you might as well keep lying down and let General blockhead shove his empty skull up your ass! He might even come out smarter!"
Sayo let out a strained and desperate sigh at that. She dragged herself through the mud slightly faster than before.
The woman pushed through dirt and searing pain in her knees and elbows like everybody else. In the meantime Goutetsu barked at other recruits until he finally called it quits. Every recruit was utterly depleted by the end of it.
"Alright, ladies. Training's done for today. Get your sweaty ass faces into the showers, but don't drop the soap, especially you Bad weeds." The drill instructor commanded and dismissed his recruits.
He just had to get in one more, did he?
They had not performed any worse than most of the recruits, even. If anything, they had outperformed other recruits… Occasionally...
Perhaps their conditioning could be attributed to their lives in the village in comparison to life in the Capital. Living off the land in the wilderness gives you something of a head start. Hopefully that would distinguish them positively. So far, their superior only abused it as a fancy excuse to mock them over it.
Solely the cold water running out of the shabby showers bothered to make noise. Not even the girls spoke much to Ieyasu's bewilderment. Some dropped by the canteen afterwards. But at this point, the three just wanted to jump into bed and sleep for the rest of the year. And it was just the end of January.
Tatsumi slumped down on the bed behind him. Flaming blisters, bruises and scratches adorned his entire body.
"I have them all over." Sayo whimpered and raised her left leg. "We get to do that every single day…Amazing…" She added with a helpless sigh and collapsed into bed. It wasn't comfortable, but a major step-up to sleeping on the floor.
As far as Sayo was concerned, this day was hell for her too. Every day would look like this from now on. A living hell.
And they could hardly complain. Everyone was given the same cruel treatment here.
They just had to hang in, persist and emerge stronger.
At first, working the fields was unbearable for them too, until it turned into nothing more than a trivial chore. Hopefully this would be roughly the same.
Then they would run through 'the daily march' as if it was nothing, then their whole basic training and ultimately the paygrades of the military hierarchy.
"I still can't believe it…He just let them bounce." Tatsumi spoke with his hands behind the back of his head.
"Yeah! Like what the hell? As a soldier, I'm an ally of the people. They depend on me to do what I'm supposed to do. Not stuff my belly on government dime, while they are getting mugged. In front of the barracks for crying out loud!" Ieyasu raised his voice and sat back up again.
His commentary turned a few heads, only for them to ignore it again.
"At least we managed to help the poor man." Sayo mentioned.
"Yeah…I just wonder…did we just catch a bad day or does this sort of crime happen more often in this city." Tatsumi questioned. The brief exchange he had with the tatted up thug would rather suggest the latter.
"Who knows? I doubt that it's an everyday occurrence though. Otherwise the Capital would look it. From miles away." She shrugged and closed her eyes.
"We can't let it come to that. It's our duty to get those crooks off the streets. Them and these Night Raid terrorists." Ieyasu declared almost solemnly before the recruits were assembled exactly at 9 o'clock, like they had been previously for roll call.
"Until tomorrow, ladies." On Goutetsu's command, everyone went to sleep. He switched off the light and with it every form of pesky noise in the room.
A/N: Next chapter "Kill the rivalry"
Alright, I'm back with another chapter. It took way longer than it should have, but I had university hell to deal with, a divorce, chronic migraine attacks and more family drama. As always I will credit my ghostwriters who made this chapter readable.
Omega6047#6005
The Long Stapler#9409
hax#2523
Nighthawk#8725
Thank them for the chapter. I can't guarantee that chapter 3 will come out anytime soon given how my life looks at the moment. I will try, but no promises. I will get to chapter 3 when I have more time. If you have any suggestions for how the story could go from here, I will hear you out and consider them if they are good. Otherwise, please drop a like and a follow or kudos for those on Ao3. Until next time.^^