The Sniping Hanyous
Baker sighed as he sat against his low wall back in town, thinking over the day that had passed by, and the events that had left him reeling. He now had a squad of seven, with, God forbid, a women in tow. He had figured that they would be excellent additions to his squad. For one thing, the two freaks that were with them seemed to make him feel… confident. In addition, he was scrambling to get every man available equipped and ready to defend this small town at the crux of six roads. He knew they were the last guard… if the Krauts got through… he didn't want to think about that, he had a job to do.
He rose, sighing once more under the burden of both his pack, and his responsibility. He walked quickly back through the small roads, being careful to stay off of the roads, since it seemed that the accurate German gunners, with there 88mm artillery, had some of the roads zeroed already. He had already picked off two spotters with a Springfield 1903 he had with him, a "present" from good ole Private Tucker. Tucker had bit it earlier in one of those surprise artillery barrages upon the town. He was walking a few feet aheaed of the rest of the squad. There was a screech of a single shell, a test shot. The gunners seemed to need to check where they were shooting now, taking a shot for their spotter to radio back if they were at an effective angle, and if not, to give them better coordinates to fire upon, with minor corrections in degrees and angles. Tucker never knew what hit him, nor would he ever, since the biggest part of him they could find was an undamaged finger, and his trusty Springfield, amazingly undamaged. He had kept it slung on his back ever since.
He growled to himself, feeling anger welling up inside him at the idiot gunner who had killed his sniper. He would need a new one, and most of his men, being football players back from their respective highschools, didn't seem to fit the bill for a high quality sniper. Tucker had been small, light, and nimble. He had had nerves of steel, never showing hesitation when the going got toughest. It really was a pity though, since that young man had only been at the front for six weeks, then the only thing his parents would get from it is a box with a finger in it, and a Purple Heart. He shook his head, looking down at the ground and giving it a rough scuff with his boot, a small pebble flying from his toe and running out into the road before him.
He watched as a Jeep flew past on the crater filled road, watching it leaping out from the bottom of a crater, taking an enormous leap across the width of what he could see, the two men inside giving a loud whoop as the Jeep landed hard, the shocks slamming the two young men out of their seats, then slamming them back down, both laughing raucously. He smiled, walking out across the road and walking down the road they had affectionately named "Baker street". However, you were not going to find any Sherlock Holmes on this small thoroughfare. You were probably more likely to see two Japanese people huddled up in one of the collapsed buildings, one in a olive green U.S. Army uniform, and the other in his same old red frilly thing that he still hadn't asked about.
Baker walked into the shell ravaged living room, a corner of it showing the scar of a shell blasting straight through it and into the next house, which was completely destroyed. His arms were folded as he looked over at the two huddled in the corner talking quietly. He interrupted their conversation with a clearing of his throat, "Ahem…"
The two turned quickly, almost fearful, looking up at him, especially the male, his eyes wide, but they suddenly returned to a more neutral expression. The male rose, snapping his heels together and pulling a crisp salute, "Sir! Pri…Private Inuyasha Repawting fow duty sir!" This made Baker smile softly, "At ease, soldier… so, how are you guys adjusting? And Kagome, did you start teaching Inu… Inuhasha the commands?" He asked, taking off his dark green helmet and took a seet next to them, giving them a warm smile.
Kagome gave him a warm smile, and a curt nod, "yeah, we are doing fine here, sir…" she said gently, looking up through a gaping hole in the roof. "So… this is what war is like, huh?" she asked, her fingers fiddling with the small leather pouch Miroku had left with them before he took his pregnant wife back through the well, with inuyasha's help. "Oh, and by the way," she added, "his name is Inuyasha."
Baker blushed softly at his correction, "Thank you, Higurashi, your correction is noted." He said, looking up at where she was, "To be honest, its been months… no… about a year since I've talked to a woman who spoke English…" he said, looking back over at her. "I kind of forgot how comforting you guys are…" he added with a smile.
She gave him a gentle smile, "No problem, it's the woman's touch, I guess." She said with a small laugh.
Baker returned the gentle laugh, "Oh, and by the way, I was coming here to tell you that I have your job for the squad," he added, unslinging his Springfield from his back.
Kagome raised an eyebrow, "and what is this job you have for me?" she asked, actually curious.
Baker gave a soft smile as he handed her the well cleaned Springfield rifle. "Well, Tucker had an unfortunate accident earlier this morning… and we are in need of a sniper, and you seem to be the one who would be the best for the job." He smiled as he watched her hands shake a bit as she held it. "yeah, Tucker took really good care of that rifle, so I expect that you will do the same."
Kagome sighed, looking down at the rifle, looking at the small notches in the beautiful wood stock. "Th… thank you, Sergeant." She stammered, looking up. Great, so she had to go from a bow to a rifle. She smiled, she was pretty accurate with a bow, she had been working on it for a while. In addition, she wouldn't have to retrieve her arrows, and she was pretty sure she could drop someone with relative ease with a rifle like this. She took a look down the sight as she raised the rifle to her shoulder, which she could support with ease now with her half demon strength. She nodded, satisfied as she opened the bolt, seeing the rifle was fully loaded already, ready for her to fire at any time.
Inuyasha was watching her with mild interest, watching her hands work their way around the rifle. He gave a content smile as he whispered to Kagome in his native tongue, "And what about me?"
Kagome nodded, looking up to the sergeant with a curious expression, "And what about Inuyasha?" she asked, tilting her head a bit, her ears barely flicking out of her hair.
He smiled as he nodded. "Well… I was planning for Inuyasha to be your spotter, pointing out targets for you and giving your flank cover, as well." He said, unslinging his Thompson and laying it before him. He then pointed to the weapon, then up at him, then mimed bringing the weapon to his shoulder and looking down the sight.
Inuyasha nodded in understanding, picking up the weapon and bringing it to his shoulder looking down the sight, pointing it at a wall and squeezing the trigger. A series of loud reports barked from the weapon, making Inuyasha yelp in surprise and drop it.
Baker gave a soft laugh as he watched this, giving a small smile as he gave him a pat on the back, looking to Kagome and saying, "I'm sure he will get used to it, were gonna need you out on the northern ramparts of town tomorrow at dawn. It seems the Germans are now within a mile of town, and are ready to advance and assault. You need to work on getting your aim steady and also try a cig, it will cool your nerves beforehand." He said, rising to his feet. "See you at sunrise." He said coolly, turning and heading slowly out the door, "Good night, ladies and gentlemen." He added as he walked out, going into the adjacent house.
The two half demons just stared at each other, Kagome dropping the rifle quickly and launching herself into her protector's arms, nuzzling into his chest gently. Inuyasha's arms wrapped around her like a thick blanket, keeping her close. They stayed like that for a few minutes, before Inuyasha realized Kagome had fallen asleep in his arms. He smiled, nuzzling her neck once and bringing her into his lap, pulling her close to him and just holding her, letting the night close in around him, ears now dulled to the distant thudding and thrum of engines just a few miles away from them.
