Three men entered the burning lodge. There were two older gentlemen: a shorter, bald one; and a taller one, who had long, silver hair and beard; and beside them, a man with a cold, sharp gaze.
After the conflict in the city of Barato, they were finally going to get another one of the tattooed skins. However, someone had been quicker in achieving this goal than them. And exactly that man was sitting in front of them, cross-legged, smug and full of himself. He had obviously been waiting for them, holding a rifle with the good arm that hadn't been shot.
"Look, that wasn't so hard!" He said, pointing at the folded skin on his head, smiling rather proudly and boldly. His pure black eyes looked at the three in a way that made it very clear that he was making fun of them, just not with words.
"Huh, you're really skillful," the shorter man, Nagakura Shinpachi, observed with a somber tone. "We considered burning down the lodge to force Mrs. Hidoro to reveal where she hid the skin, but we thought it was too risky. After all, if we made the slightest mistake, the skin would be burned with the lodge. But I believe that this did not stop you from acting."
The taller gentleman, Hijikata Toshizou, took one step ahead and observed the man in navy imperial Japanese uniform carefully.
"You could have killed me just as easily as you killed the horse," the gentleman continued, "What exactly is what you want?
The cunning smile only grew wider on the man's face. He took the skin off his head and leaned his forehead against the wood of his Arisaka Type 30 rifle. "I only came to Barato because I heard the rumor about the tattooed skin, but when I saw you in front of the barber shop... Well, I am a subordinate of an excellent intelligence officer, so I recognized you right away, Sir... Or should I rather say, Hijikata Toshizou?"
The younger man, who had stayed beside his mentors, stepped forward at the mention of his mentor's name. He faced the soldier with a sharp gaze, his left hand resting cautiously on the handle of the katana he carried. Imposing himself over the seated man.
There was something about that person, about his physiognomy, that was familiar to Ogata, as if he had seen him before. Those cold, pale blue eyes and coal-colored hair were…familiar. And then it hit him, and he smiled as he realized who it was.
"And what are your intentions, Superior Private... Ogata Hyakunosuke?" The blue-eyed man asked him.
The young man was secretly surprised yet relieved to see Ogata again. He had to disguise his intentions, but he didn't expect to see Ogata there because the last time he saw the Superior Private, he laid in a hospital bed.
"Would you by any chance like to hire a skilled bodyguard?" Ogata asked Hijikata directly.
"So, to sum up, all the tattooed skins we got are... Mine, Ienaga's, Hijikata's... There are also the two butter paper copies we made, and finally Ogata Hyakunosuke's skin he got in Barato. That makes six in total," Ushiyama counted, better known as Ushiyama the Undefeated, as he fed the bedridden Ienaga.
Hijikata and his allies had returned to recover after the conflicts and recent events. Ienaga was still very weak and therefore needed to rest the most. After all, it wasn't every day that someone was able to survive the collapse of an entire hotel on them after a huge explosion.
The group, which consisted of Hijakata, Nagakura, Ushiyama, Ienaga and Ogata, were in the living room of a typical Japanese residence.
They were discussing the true intentions of Nopperabou, an Abashiri prisoner who before his arrest had hidden a large amount of gold that had been stolen from the indigenous Ainu people somewhere in Japan..
The location of the gold was still an enigma, but Nopperabou had mapped out the exact spot where he hid it in the skin of 24 other inmates, volunteers of his escape plan. It was like a puzzle, a clever but sick one. This was because he knew that the greed-possessed inmates would kill each other to get the skins in order to get their hands on the gold first.. A real, intriguing, bloody and deadly treasure hunt began.
Ogata analytically shared his reasoning that Nopperabou was actually a Russian partisan who stole the gold from the Ainu people and intended to escape back to make use of the gold for the Russian cause. In addition, Ogata further commented that it was hard to believe that the detainee had acted alone, and therefore must have had allies to help him. One of his allies should therefore also be a partisan acting and living as an Ainu...
At this moment, the young man from the other day arrived after having gone to collect information. He was wearing black leather boots and black pants with a gray button-down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to above the elbows and a brown vest on top. A katana with a blue and white handle hung from his hip and he wore his long, black hair in a ponytail, with some loose hairs falling across his forehead, resembling young Hijikata's style very closely.
"Oh, Hagiwara-san, you're back," Hijikata said in his deep aged voice, "did you get anything?
Ogata narrowed his eyes.
With the formality and respect of a subordinate before his superior, Hagiwara Yuki bowed toward the old shinsengumi.
"Yes, Hijikata-sama. Tsurumi and his men were last seen heading towards Yubari," he replied, returning to his upright posture, "it's a small town not far from here."
Ogata stood up from where he was sitting and stretched his arms and back, which he needed after sitting for a long period of time. Hijikata stood up from his chair behind the shoji door and approached Yuki, putting his hand on his shoulder.
"Very well, Hagiwara-san. We shall be leaving soon."
Yuki made a respectful gesture with his head before her mentor walked away. There was a gleam of pride in his eyes, like the ones a student who received a compliment from his teacher would.
"Well, well, well…" Ogata said, his arms crossed, smiling debauchery from the side. "Second Lieutenant Hagiwara Yuki. Out of all places, I would have never thought I would see you here. Especially within Hijikata's gang. Are you his doormat now?"
"Deserting has made you bold, Ogata," Yuki said, smiling slightly from the corner of his mouth, his gaze cold as he faced the other man. "It's none of your business."
Yuki looked at the surgery's scars on Ogata's jaw for a mere second with soft eyes. He inhaled deep and exhaled slowly at the memory of finding Ogata almost dead. He almost got killed by someone and Yuki wanted to know who had done that. Ogata wrote in the snow the word 'immortal'. Yuki got furious with that.
"What about you? Did defecting make you ambitious, or was it ambition that made you leave the army? If you're here, you're after the gold too," Ogata mocked.
"Ah, you're still a meddler. Your qualities are as amazing as ever, Ogata," Yuki replied gruffly, arching an eyebrow. "But I should've expected that though. You may not have been so fond of talking too much but always knew the right thing to ask."
Ogata smiled at that compliment.
"How did you join Hijikata's group? If Tsurumi had known where the old man was, I'm sure Hijikata would be dead or in prison by now, but instead, here you are."
Ogata really was a smart man and always so perceptive which depending on the situation could be an advantage or something really annoying.
"Does that really matter now? It was just a coincidence our path crossed." Yuki looked annoyed.
That was a lie, Yuki did know where to find Hijikata. It was after the Otaru incident when Hijikata went to find Ushiyama at a brothel. Yuki knew what Ushiyama looked like because of Usami's report from Abashiri, so when he left the army he heard about a unique man wearing black suit and tie walking Otaru's streets, he knew exactly who it was.
Yuki just needed to wait outside the brothel that Ushiyama was in. He was waiting for Hijikata and asked to join his group because Yuki needed to find someone important to him. There was a hard fight, Yuki didn't expect that, but Hijikata was a hell of a fighter with a sword. At the end, Hijikata recognized Yuki's fighting abilities and permitted him to join them.
"Yes, that matters because I think you're lying," Ogata said, so smugly Yuki rolled his eyes.
"No, I'm not" Yuki was lying. "I left the army and here I am. What do you want me to say then?"
"You know, I'm just very intrigued by seeing you here. Second Lieutenant Hagiwara Yuki, a deserter, such an intriguing thing" Ogata teased, slit his eyes at Yuki. "You were always so close and so loyal to First Lieutenant Tsurumi that it is really hard for me to believe you could betray him and be here on your own. Did he send you here to catch me? That's why you are here?"
Ogata reached his hand to catch his rifle. Yuki raised his hands up to show he wouldn't do anything to him. Considering Yuki's fighting abilities, that didn't convince Ogata at all.
"No, believe it or not, I am here on my own," Yuki said seriously now. It's quite the opposite you think. I don't want Tsurumi to catch you, Ogata, not before I can talk to him… Yuki thought.
Ogata said nothing but still stared at Yuki with his serious but yet usual blank face.
"Oh, come on, Ogata. We both know that if I was really here for that reason, to catch you, I'd already have done that. So stop being so annoying with the questions. Chill."
Ogata just stared at Yuki and said nothing, then took his hand from the rifle. As much as he hated to admit it, that was true. He didn't see Yuki in the battle of Barato but if Yuki knew he was there this whole time, surely Yuki could have killed him more easily than when he had Nagakura in his aim before.
"And what about you? Are you after the gold too?" Yuki asked, changing that subject.
They stared at each other for a few seconds. There was something in Yuki's gaze that Ogata could not distinguish. It was something far into those cold blue eyes and therefore too difficult to define. There was a strange familiarity at the bottom of that intense gaze that bothered him for some unknown reason.
"Heh…" Yuki laughed sarcastically at the silence. "All right, get ready then. It will be you and me acting in Yubari. Time is precious."
Yuki turned his back suddenly, walking away, leaving a now serious Ogata behind.
Something puzzled the sniper, and he didn't know what. Yuki, in return, felt an inexplicable anxiety at seeing him again.
"Hijikata-sama sees a use for your skills and I have a job to do" he said, walking away. "Just don't get in my way, Ogata."
Ogata just gave a slight, interested smile.