With a half-smirk, Ogata took a few steps towards Yuki, now standing less than an arm's length away. He was still looking at her with curiosity and cunning.

"What about Hijikata? Before you put yourself between him and Sugimoto…" now he became serious, his eyes narrowing. "Why would you do that for an old man like him?"

She arched both eyebrows at that question and tightened her eyes. He sure was curious about everything like a cat ever since he joined the group in Barato, and when Hijikata called her by her last name. Ogata was a cunning man, no wonder he was a Private Superior in the 7th Division.

"So irritating… It was just before I enlisted." Yuki replied, opening her eyes looking at the ground, remembering that day. "I was just returning a favor… Besides, he's the leader of the group." she said it like it explained everything.

"Against Sugimoto?" Ogata didn't make an effort to hide the disbelief in his voice. "Heh… if that's just confidence, I dare say it will probably kill you someday, Hagiwara…"

"And weren't you the one who asked if he needed a bodyguard? What do you think a bodyguard does?" She cut him off, cold. Hagiwara had a lot of respect for Hijikata, his history and role as a samurai of the dreaded Shinsengumi. The samurais always impressed her, she saw them as heroes.

"It's incredibly curious how you, of all people, are working as a bodyguard after all the effort you've put in to enlist and to stay in the army." Ogata said that with a mocking smile and Yuki pierced him with her eyes.

"Have you ever heard the saying: curiosity killed the cat? You..."

"You two are already awake…" Asirpa said suddenly, in a sleepy voice as he approached. Yuki mentally thanked Asirpa for her intrusion because she was about to strangle him with her bare hands. "Did something happen?"

Sugimoto came right behind the little Ainu, adjusting his rifle strap on his shoulder, watching those two carefully. Ogata, who had his back to them, just smiled a bit more at Yuki before he turned around and ran a hand to smooth his hair back.

"No, Asirpa, I just woke up and couldn't sleep anymore. So I came to wash my face." Yuki replied, smiling friendly just with her mouth, looking at Sugimoto. "Ogata woke up with the noise I accidentally made with the bushes and came to check if it wasn't one of Tsurumi's men, but you know how he likes to play with the rifle…" Yuki archerd an eyebrows, now directing the look to the smiling sniper.

Sugimoto narrowed his gaze at that answer. He obviously didn't trust Ogata, but he wasn't sure about Second Lieutenant Hagiwara as well. Sugimoto thought that those two were surely talking about something and thinking of it just made them more suspicious. However, Hagiwara was the most dangerous. His actions in the war were memorable.

Ogata just nodded, and Yuki got the impression that the bastard was enjoying the situation. She tried to keep her face as blank as ever, feeling Sugimoto's intense gaze on her.

Then they went on their way to meet with Hijikata's group at the agreed place. Along the way, the group found a small Ainu village, however, there was something strange about the leader and his men. Yuki was the first to notice that something wasn't right. It turns out that, after a few hours, they discovered that they were crooks, all fugitives from Kabato Prison, who had murdered the Ainu men, taken control of the village and taken the women and children hostage.

Which, by the way, was a very bad luck for these criminals that Yuki, Ogata, Sugimoto, Ushiyama and Asirpa were passing through and became their guests. They were like hyenas who thought they were cornering a pack of fragile sheep when, in fact, they were facing a pack of dangerous wolves.

In the end, the group of criminals was brutally massacred, including two tattooed men from Abashiri Prison. One of them was the counterfeiter they were going to look for in Kabato Prison. A fact that would complicate everyone's infiltration plan. The women and children were eventually released and the group continued their journey to the meeting point with Hijikata and the others.

"Shiraishi was captured?!" Sugimoto and Asirpa shouted at the same time, both surprised.

Everyone was reunited again. Hijikata's group was told what had happened on those separate days and then how Shiraishi had been covered up and captured by Tsurumi's men. Yuki was secretly thinking that despite he was the King of Escapes sometimes he stupidly get captured. That just complicates everything.

"By now they must have taken him to Asahikawa." Hijikata said. "And even if we think about the possibility that he might be able to escape, we don't know when that will be."

The 27th, one of the 7th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army had stationed its troops in Asahikawa to answer an urgent call to create a defensive bulwark against Imperial Russian troops in the southern region.

"We can't just sit back and wait for him to escape." Yuki said blankly, holding her chin with her fingertips, arms crossed.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Even though he is the King of Escapes, we don't know what his conditions are to be able to escape or not." Lord Nagakura observed.

"Ogata, go check this out." Ushiyama said. "You're from the 7th Division, aren't you?"

"As far as they know, I'm a deserter."

Total silence descended again. Each remembered their moments with Shiraishi, seriously. They pondered whether or not it was worth rescuing him. He's already helped so much in the cause, amusing everyone in his brief moments of stupidity. "Is that it, then? Well…" everyone thought. "At least we have a copy of his tattoo…"

They had given up going to the rescue.

"No, I want to save him." Sugimoto said suddenly, with determination.

"I can help." Yuki said, to everyone's surprise. Then, her blue eyes met Ogata's smiling black eyes. "It will be risky, but worth a try. As far as I know, only Sergeant Tsukishima knows that I defected."

In a private place where they could get some rest, the group discussed the details of the plan after Yuki's risky idea to try to rescue the King of Escapes. Second Lieutenant Hagiwara took care of the upper part of the black uniform which was well kept in the bottom of her personal things.

As she changed clothes in a more secluded spot. Her entire walk in this troubled life from her childhood, the moment she enlisted in the army and acquired a new identity, and now… months after, she decided to defect and enter this exciting gold hunt just to look for one person in particular. The more she thinks about it and everything, the more she is pulled deeper inside her mind. Traped.

When she got lost inside her own mind, in her core, Yuki found herself facing that dark cold abyss, and then the identity crisis began and her vision darkened. So many years of being beaten up, forced to defend herself, to pretend, to adapt when necessary, to take orders, to kill, kill and kill... That Second Lieutenant Hagiwara Yuki's mask became who she really is, while her old self, that weak child, without any love, abandoned and bruised, is now just an alter ego, locked inside, like everything else.

"Your confidence is impressive. Since the war, I dare say. If Tsukishima has already contacted Tsurumi about you, this plan is very likely to go wrong, you know. "

Yuki's empty, unfocused eyes widened and turned around in less than a second, closing her hand on the neck of the presence behind her. She reacted on pure instinct. Ogata gasped for air, surprised as much by that reaction as by the force. He opened his eyes wider when he saw that intense, wild gaze. It was like seeing the eyes of a wild wolf.

She blinked a few times, Ogata noticed, as his lungs gasped for air, and then he saw those pale blue eyes soften and refocus. Yuki released Ogata's neck and turned onto her back.

"Why are you here?" she asked harshly. "I'm not going to die as easily as you think if something goes wrong. No one could easily kill me. Also, Sugimoto will go along, in disguise. So just leave me alone, Ogata. Now is not a good time."

Ogata stared at Yuki's bare back in silence. There was something in her voice in those last few words that had caught his attention, especially after what just happened and after what he saw in her eyes. His black eyes roamed the length of her well-defined back, noting the few scars she had. He narrowed his eyes at the thought of how irregular those marks were for having been treated without help. All those years in the army she was by herself, treating the wounds all alone.

He also noticed the bandages used to tighten and hide her breasts under her uniform. For some reason, Ogata felt an odd and funny feeling in his belly. Ogata closed his eyes, smoothing his hair back with his hand. Silently turned his back and started walking to the exit to let her finish dressing. But before going through the door he stopped.

"No one is easily killed with me around. So once you're there, I'll also be watching you . " was all Ogata said.

He closed the door behind him, leaving Yuki with wide eyes of surprise, staring at the floor. Then she smiled.

"I am Second Lieutenant Hagiwara Yuki, from Special Division Zero." Yuki said, with a very imposing and serious posture in her high-ranking black uniform. Also, Yuki combed her hair all the way back, except for a few strands that escaped forward. "We came at the request of the guardian of Abashiri Prison, Inudou Shirosuke."

"Inudoou…" Sugimoto repeated the name, his voice muffled by the leather mask he used to hide his identity.

"And who would that be?" asked Yodogawa, looking at Sugimoto strangely.

"This is Sugimoto, one of the guards at Abashiri Prison." Yuki responded promptly. "Inudou sent him as his representative. It seems like five years ago, a violent prisoner named Ienaga ripped his face off with his teeth. The sight without this mask is not pleasant, I might say."

"Inudoooo…"

Yodogawa was uncomfortable at Sugimoto's terrifying gaze from behind the mask, disgusted by the mental image of the skin being bitten off.

"I see… So, Hagiwara-dono, tell me, what is Inudou's request? This is rather unusual, I must say." Yodogawa's words made Yuki slightly close her eyes and Sugimoto sweat under his leather mask.

"We came to escort Shiraishi Yoshitake back to the prison." This left the Colonel surprised and suddenly tense. "He got the information that this prisoner had been captured by the 7th Division and is being held here."

One of the men who was with the Colonel Lieutenant went out to call and let Tsurumi know what was happening immediately for Yuki's displeasure and concern.

"And why would Inudou ask a non-divisional soldier like you to make this escort? This is the jurisdiction of the 7th Division, it is our soldiers who must carry out the escort. I'm quite aware of your reputation, Lone Wolf, but I see no reason why Inudou should make this request of you, with all due respect, sir."

Sugimoto tensed and looked towards Yuki who seemed to be calm. There was something about Yuki's aura that was starting to make the Colonel uneasy and apprehensive. He was almost frightened, Sugimoto could see.

"Hagiwara-dono, understand that I can't do anything."

Yuki was a rank below Yodogawa, but that didn't matter as she approached the Colonel, bending down so her face was close enough to speak the man's ear. Her aura was intense and suffocating for the Lieutenant Colonel. Sugimoto watched that very carefully.

"Shiraishi has already managed to escape from the 7th Division other times." Yuki's voice was sharp. "Inudou knows that this prisoner, under my watch, would never be able to escape... Tell me... Could you escape with both legs and arms broken, Lieutenant Colonel?"

Sugimoto's eyes widened at the same time as the Lieutenant Colonel who was now trying hard not to look so terrified. Yuki pulled away and Yodogawa saw behind him an aura like that of a fierce and terrifying wolf, with those intensely cold blue eyes.

"That's what I thought…" Yuki smirked with just her lips. "You wouldn't want to get in the way of national interests, would you, Lieutenant Colonel Yodogawa? How do you think people would think if they knew how easy it is for a criminal to constantly escape the hands of the army and also the dreaded and famous Abashiri Prison?" her eyes was intensily frightening "So where is Shiraishi?"

In a tree, not far from the base where Yuki and Sugimoto were, Ogata watched what was happening through his binoculars. His mouth curved into a smile as he watched Yuki from afar, in his Second Lieutenant posture, wearing that imposing black uniform. Seeing her that way made that funny feeling torment him again. Also… The image of his younger brother Yuusaku, who was also Second Lieutenant, came to his mind just for a second.

Then Ogata remembered something he had forgotten. When he had met Hagiwara Yuki, before the siege of Port Arthur, on hills 174 and 203, which Yuki's combat skills were in demand in the field, having also been called to assist in training his battalion for freshman and First Class soldiers. He met her in the halls when Yuki was leaving the General Hanazawa office on her first day after being requested to pass sometime on the 7th.

Then he spotted something that would certainly be an inconvenience. So they sent for him... Now we're in trouble." he thought with a now worried face.

"What's going on?" asked a confused Shiraishi.

Soon he understood when he recognized Yuki, even if he was reasonably different because of the uniform and the slicked-back hair. The scars on her face were quite distinct, though. He looked at the masked man beside her and, judging by his clothes, realized it must be Sugimoto.

"Excellent. Inudou-dono will be pleased to hear of your collaboration, Yodogawa-san." Yuki said, staring at Shiraishi.

That's when the door opened again and a tall soldier in a khaki uniform, dark skin, neatly styled blue-black hair and rather odd eyebrows appeared. Yuki showed surprise, but promptly disguised it, narrowing her eyes at the newly arrived man.

Yodogawa, as surprised as they were, addressed the soldier who had arrived. The First Lieutenant Tsurumi's pet.

"What is it, Second Lieutenant Koito?"

Yuki's face darkened. Sugimoto was suddenly worried. Shiraishi didn't understand anything that was happening. Outside, Ogata watched with some concern through his binoculars.