This fic is in honour of William George Hobbs, who had lost his life, killed November 11, 1918 at 1:00 PM when the first World War had ended at 11:00PM. This is for Fredrick Walter Hayden Hobbs the second, who also fought in the war, when he was but 13, after lying about his age. This is for Anna Helene Froseler/Hobbs, who was a nurse in the World War. This is for Fredrick Walter Haden Hobbs the third, who had fought in World War II, and who had been stabbed, though survived. This is for William Reginald George Hobbs, my grandfather, who had fought in the military for a time after the war. This is for John Raymond Hobbs, who had fought in World War II. This is for Dennis Robert Henry Hobbs, who joined the army when he was 16 by forging his mothers signature, and ultimately was kicked out when his father found out, and who had tested out the H-bomb. This ones for my family, of the 42nd foot brigade, and of every man and woman who had lost their lives, or lost friends, in any war. This is for every man and woman, who has ever had to feel grief because they lost someone important to them in one of man's petty struggles, and pointless wars.
This one's for the solders.
Lest we forget.
And this note is for the assholes, who can't stand still for the minute they should during the moment of silence. This ones for the jerks who begin laughing during the moment where we bow our heads in respect for those who gave us their freedom. This is for those who can't stop laughing when a solder is giving their speech, and for the inconsiderate people who sew during the assembly: FUCK YOU!!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh
Warnings: Character death, war, language. Slight OOCness. AU.
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"Oh God, we're going to die," Jonouchi muttered, panicked. He looked around and ran his hand through his hair. "Oh God, why isn't anyone denying it?" he asked.
Everyone who was in the small hut were silent, elbows on their knee's heads bowed.
"Yugi, we're not really going to die, are we?" Jonouchi asked, rounding on the shorted boy. When he received no reply, his eyes widened. "ARE WE?" he screamed, near hysterics. Everyone looked.
"I don't know, Jonouchi," Yugi sighed. Everyone's eyes became downcast.
"Well, if little Mr. Optimistic can't say 'we won't die, don't worry' I suppose we really will die," Seto huffed, and turned away.
"Yugi!" Jonouchi hissed, grabbing Yugi by the front of his greenish uniform. "Tell us we won't die!" He screamed, shaking Yugi violently.
Yugi didn't so much as blink, his face nothing but an empty void of listlessness.
"Leave him alone Private Jonouchi," Yami sighed. Unlike the others, he wasn't seated on the bench that was attached to the wall, but was seated on the dusty ground, one knee up, and the other wrapped around it, almost like he was half way sitting cross-legged. His one arm rested on his knee, while the other hung limply at his ride, rivulets of blood flowing down the torn fabric.
Jonouchi looked at him. "But - he -" Jonouchi started, but was cut off by Yami.
"Why should you treat him like that for not lying to you? No one knows if we're going to get out of this alive. If you joined the arm, joined this war just to be a hero, then son, you joined for the wrong damn reason. There is no guarantee that any of us will make it out of here alive. Or that any of our names will be known after this." He eyed the men who were still boys. "It's too late to go back now. Now it's a game. A game of survival. We either live or don't. It's not kill or be killed. It's kill and be killed. Unless Lady Luck is on your side. And in this situation, it appears she isn't. We could be surrounded, or we might not be. There could be anywhere from one man out there, to one thousand." He looked at Jonouchi. "So put Private Mutou down. We have enough enemies out there, without turning on ourselves."
Jonouchi put Yugi down slowly, then practically collapsed near Seto, near tears. Yugi glanced at Yami, a look that at one point might have been near grateful, but now it was dead. In the past month, Yugi had had dozens of friends die, and seen thousands killed, a few of them murdered by his own gun.
When Yugi first joined the army, Yami was reluctant to recruit him. He could see the innocents in his eyes when he walked in with that girl, and knew the innocence couldn't last, and, although he knew he couldn't protect that innocents, he could try to protect the soul that innocents belonged to. That was how he had gotten shot in the arm. Protecting Yugi. In all the years he had been in the army, he had never gotten an injury more serious then a sprained ankle, when he was training in the rain one day.
Lady Luck did smile upon him. Of course, he didn't tell Yugi that. Yugi seemed to feel guilty easily, that much he could tell in the short two months he had known him. He didn't want Yugi to feel guilty in a situation like this.
Suddenly he heard clapping. He looked up to see Bakura clapping mockingly. Everyone in the shack looked at him.
"Good job, General," he said sarcastically. "You really boosted their moral."
Yami glared at him. "Lieutenant Bakura," he growled. "Be quiet!"
Bakura looked at him, amused. "I suppose that means you have a plan to see just how many people we're surrounded by, and how to get rid of them.
Yami looked at him suspiciously. Bakura had been jealous of him ever since he had beaten him to the general title. "What are you getting at?" Yami asked.
"Well, if you're not going to listen to others, that means you have a fool proof plan to get us out of here alive, doesn't it?"
Yami sighed. "What's your idea, Lieutenant?"
This just served to make the others more nervous. If their General, who was by far the best strategist here, didn't know of a way out, who did?
"Oh, I don't have one, I was just saying..."
Yami stood up suddenly, his arm swinging painfully, yet he didn't even wince. "Do not play with me Bakura! I don't have the time nor the patience to deal with your games!" Yami yelled viciously.
Everyone was scared of Yami when he got like this, including Bakura, though he failed to show it. Everyone in the shack was suddenly much more alert and alive, with the exception of Jonouchi, who had stopped freaking out the moment Yami had risen his voice.
Bakura managed to keep the amused expression on his face, but when he spoke, everyone with the exception of the fuming Yami, noticed that his voice was quieter. "I was simply going to request asking Private Kaiba. He is smart after all."
Seto straightened up nearly immediately.
Yami hesitated. Seto was all about power, and they had neither the man power, nor the fire power, to go through with one of his plans. But... Bakura already brought it up. He didn't need a mutiny on his hands as well as the war.
"Do you have any ideas Private Kaiba?" Yami asked reluctantly.
"Why don't we all charge out at once, and take as many down as possible."
Seto might have been smart, but he knew nothing of military matters, apparently.
There were, however some scattered cheers for the boys, but mostly the more violent ones or panicked ones, like Jonouchi and Honda, while the more pacifist ones didn't say anything.
"That would work," Yami started. He could tell by Bakura's face he was thinking along the same lines he was.
Bakura looked at him with a look of pure disgust on his face.
Yami sighed. "I'm waiting for you to finish."
A look of pure glee crossed Bakura's face. "If you want to send us all to our premature burial's with doing minimal damage to the enemy," Bakura snapped.
Yami closed his eyes, and bowed his head. He blocked out all the other noises. Of Bakura telling Seto what a moron he was, and how that was such a crappy idea. All that was there was him, and his thoughts.
He thought of a chess game he had had just before he joined the army nearly a decade ago.
He was with his big brother, playing a game of chess. He had just lost, and he couldn't figure it out. His brothers words rang loudly in his ears.
"Sometimes you need to make a sacrifice to win. Just like I sacrificed my Queen to take out your King just now. Sometimes, the biggest sacrifice are what win the battle, which ultimatly wins the war."
Yami played again. This time, he had won.
"A sacrifice," Yami said quietly, interrupting the arguing that was going on. Although his voice was scarcely above a whisper, everyone in the shack heard it, and fell silent.
"What did you say, General?" Malik asked.
"I said we need a sacrifice," Yami said, barely louder then he was before. He had wanted to avoid this. He had wanted to get out without any casualties.
"What do you mean?" Ryou asked quietly.
"I mean, we need someone to get out there, with the grenades. They'll throw as many as they can, to take out as many as they can. Hopefully, that will be enough for the rest of us to get to a vehicle. Then everyone can drive back to base, stock up on supplies, and report the casualties," Yami explained.
Immediately everyone in the shack was in an uproar on who should go. No one wanted to be the one to go.
"SHUT UP!!" Yami screamed, and immediately everything went silent. "I'll be the one to decide, now be quiet, and do something constructive or something while I decide. Get some sleep, you'll be needing it."
Everyone sat, but scarcely anyone slept, besides the few people who had been in the army for more then the 2 months the majority of these people had been in.
Yami looked from each of his charges to the next.
Seto, icy Seto. He had just recently joined the army, yet so far there was no change in him that Yami could see. He had joined the army emotionless, and that's how he still was. During the month of training they had together, Yami learned nothing about Seto, which was something that rarely happened.
It wasn't until recently that he discovered that he had a little brother. Seto had nearly died, a grenade landing not to far from him. The only reason he was saved in fact, was that another recruit named Hanasaki had jumped on the grenade, and taken the full impact himself, Seto having only minor burns.
He had broken down, fell crying on his knees. He yelled about not wanting to die, that he couldn't die. That Mokuba had no one, they only had each other. He whimpered that Mokuba couldn't survive without his big brother there, alive.
Yami sighed. He couldn't send Seto out there. He couldn't send him to his death. He needed Mokuba, and Mokuba needed him.
His eyes moved to Jonouchi. Jonouchi used to be so cheerful, during the training. He was always talking about his little sister, and how he had joined the army to pay for some sort of eye surgery for her.
He couldn't send Jonouchi either. Because of his sister. He remembered hearing that Jonouchi's mother had died in childbirth, so both he and his sister Shizuka were stuck with their drunken, abusive father. He couldn't send Jonouchi out there. He couldn't leave Shizuka there with no one to protect her from her father, without the money Jonouchi was getting for being in the army.
His eyes moved to Bakura, who was sleeping. As much as he hated the solder, he was a good one. Somehow, his sadistic attitude brightened up the other solders. Back when they still could, when the war wasn't as dangerous, he'd take them out drinking after every won battle. He couldn't do that anymore, but, as much as Yami hated to admit it, Bakura did take off a lot of the weight that weighed down on them. He was like a child in a candy shop when he was killing.
Plus, he had a wife. He had a new little daughter, only a year old...
On to Ryou, who looked creepily like Bakura. He had the same innocents as Yugi, only slightly darker. He was a bright boy, and if he got out of the army alive, he would have a bright future. Plus, he was so young. Yami knew that he had lied about his age to join the army. Many of them had.
In fact, Yami himself had lied about his age. He was only 23 now, and tomorrow, he would be in the army for exactly 10 years. He smiled slightly. His father had disowned him when he had found out what Yami had done, though his older brother secretly sent him bread and letters, without their father knowing.
Honda was beside Ryou. Honda. The one who signed up for the army, his little niece in his arms.
The one whose sister cried when she was seeing him off to the training camp when Yami had gone to pick him up. The one whose niece gave him a pink rose, which he had dried and left hanging above his bed at the training camp.
Honda. The one who was always talking about how he would marry this girl, Ribbon, every chance he got.
Beside him was Otogi. The one who had made games for them all to play when they were feeling down. He was another reason they all hadn't gone mad. When he drove, everyone was scared they were going to die, but in the fun way. Everyone loved having him drive when they were bored. He had a girl friend....
Malik. He had changed a lot. He use to be a sadistic bastard, not unlike Bakura himself. He thought he could handle the world. But, apparently his fathers murder wasn't enough to prepare him for the carnage that he had to face in war times.
He had a sister, and someone who he called a brother, though once he had admitted to Yami that it wasn't truly his brother. He had so much to live for. He was school president before he had come here. Another one who had lied about his age.
Finally there was Yugi. Not-so-innocent anymore Yugi. The one who was going to propose to his girlfriend, Anzu, when he got home. He had already brought the ring. The one who Yami would die to protect.
And that's when it hit him.
He couldn't send anyone out. He cared for them all too much. For the past two months, he had heard secrets from each of them, with the exception of Seto. He had ate with them, slept with them, the had scarcely been apart. He mourned with them as each of their comrades had been killed. He and Bakura had been together the past seven years. Bakura joined when he was 18, the age he was legally allowed too. Now he was 25, two years older then Yami, but with 3 years less military experience.
And, though they hated each other, they knew each other more then anyone else. Bakura knew more about Yami then Yami did himself sometimes, and vice versa. They were best friends, yet worst enemies.
"I've made my decision," Yami said quietly. Yet, Bakura still woke up, something in the tone of his voice.
Everyone in the room exchanged nervous glances. None of them wanted to be the one to go out there, but then Yugi stepped up.
"So have I," he said. "I'll go."
Everyone starred at him, Yami's jaw nearly on the ground, before he regained his composer.
"No you aren't Private Mutou," he said authoritatively.
"I won't let you send out one of my friends," Yugi retorted.
"And I won't let you get yourself killed," Yami growled.
"So it's okay to let someone else die?" Yugi shot back.
"No!" Yami yelled, "I don't mean that! I mean..." he ran his good hand through his hair, and spun around. "Listen, you go out there, and we'll all die. You've got to have the worst throwing arm in here."
Yugi blushed.
"As I was saying, I've made my decision."
He picked up the bag of grenades, and looked at everyone. "Why did you join the army?"
He got mixed answers, but it was Bakura who gave him the answer he was looking for.
"Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori." He answered.
Yami looked at the rest. "Whose heard it before?" he asked.
All of them answered that they had. "Did it have anything to do with why you chose to enter the war. Even a little?"
Each of them nodded.
"Don't believe that lie."
Then he walked out of the shack, everyone was surprised. They watched him through a crack in the door. He ran out, pulling the pins from grenades with his teeth, and throwing them wherever he heard the click of a riffle.
The deafening noise of explosions filled each of their ears. He threw the grenades all around the shack, not one having to use his left arm.
He stood in the plain for a moment, listening. He didn't hear anything. He turned around and grinned widely at them, the waved to them with his good arm.
They almost opened the door when someone walked into the clearing from the bushes. An enemy.
"YAMI!!! LOOK OUT!!" Bakura screamed as loud as he could. Yami looked at him questionably.
"He must be deafened from the explosions," Yugi explained solemnly.
"Stay here!" Bakura yelled, as he flung open the door and ran towards Yami. Yami looked at him, puzzled again, before seeing Bakura's gestures and face.
He spun around, but not quite quick enough to move aside when the rifle fired. Bakura skidded to a stop, and fell onto his behind, unable to move, and Yami fell to the ground, a ribbon of blood gushing from his body.
The bloodied enemy, burned and cut badly from the explosion, fell to the ground, dead also. He couldn't stay alive any longer then avenge his destroyed comrades.
Bakura crawled slowly over the Yami, while the others exited the shack, and stood outside of it, taking off their army caps and holding them over their chests.
Yami turned his head to Bakura slowly, his eyes looking blind. "Bakura?" He asked. Bakura nodded.
He smiled. "I guess you're general now. That's what you wanted, wasn't it? Treat 'em well...General Bakura."
Bakura couldn't stop the single tear that fell from his eye, as Yami's body gave one last shudder, and fell limp.
"Yami. What to say about Yami?" Bakura asked. "What is there really, to say about the man who you've hated for seven long years, until in the last few moment's of life, you learned you cared for him?"
Bakura stood on a podium, in front of a large crowd of solders.
"He, he really didn't tell me, or anyone, about his life before he became a solder. All I knew was that he was 23, and today he would've been in the army for a decade. Thirteen is pretty young to dedicate yourself to killing, and to surviving. He was sixteen when I joined the army, myself. On the days the family could come visit, no one ever came for him, and when we could go home, he never left the base. I guess that's pretty sad." Bakura looked out at everyone, and stayed silent. "It's weird, I've probably known him the longest out of anyone here, and I have less to say about him then the people he's only known for two months." He fought back his tears.
"I - he was a good friend... or rival... whatever you want to call him. I'll miss him." He looked down for a moment, and then looked back up. "Just before he died. He told us to not believe the lie Dulce et decorum est, pro patrai mori. I guess he didn't agree with it. How many people joined the army because of that one sentence? How many people are going to die, because of one damn sentence? How many people are going to be mutilate? Washed away with a hose because we can't fucking pick them up? Because of ONE FUCKING SENTENCE?" Bakura asked growing angry. Then he walked away.
Dulce et decorum est, pro partai mori. It is just and right to die for your country.
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I hope you people liked it, I put a lot of work into that. Please review. Tell me what you liked, and what you didn't.