They needed to find the rest of the group. Hijikata and the others had seen them on the stolen airship and followed them on horseback. As the airship wasn't something you could lose sight of, they were able to more or less calculate the place where it had crashed. Ogata checked their surroundings using his binoculars, making sure that they weren't being followed.

Sugimoto sat on the floor, the upper part of his olive green kimono removed so that Asirpa could take a look at the bullet wound Koito had given him. "Oh, Sugimoto!" She said, seeing that he hadn't stopped bleeding. "Your bleeding won't stop until we extract the bullet and treat the wound."

Nearby, Yuki was standing next to Ogata, her arms crossed trying to look like everything was in order, like she hadn't just been shot below the left side of her ribcage. The spot burned and hurt from the inside, and Yuki felt weaker and weaker the longer she left it unattended, yet she remained unwilling of medical didn't like that…She didn't allow herself to show weakness.

"If we don't hurry, they'll catch up with us." Ogata warned, referring to Tsurumi's men. He glanced over in Yuki's direction, his face passive.

"You need to help Hagiwara too," Sugimoto told Asirpa while looking at an already very pale Yuki, the effects of blood loss taking a toll on her. "He was shot too. You're a tough guy just like me, huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that… But I'm fine."

"You surely don't look fine. It almost looks like you could fall over at any moment now!" Shiraishi commented worriedly. "You don't have to play tough."

"I'm not playing tough," Yuki snapped at him and scowled at Sugimoto for revealing her status to the others, squeezing the wound with her hand. She was trying to act tough indeed.

Ogata looked at her, but in the inside, he was surprised at how she still managed to stand even after losing that much blood, perhaps even more than Sugimoto. Was it her pride that kept her standing? But what caught his attention the most was the fact that she still wore the imposing black Second Lieutenant uniform. Seeing her dressed like that not only brought back memories of the past, but it also made Ogata feel something he still didn't understand. Something that has bothered him sometimes.

However, Yuki just didn't want to look "weak". She always tried to stand her ground no matter what condition she was in, like she couldn't show the tiniest bit of weakness, ever. She can't be weak. She has to stand strong for him. No. No, she has to be strong like she has always done since she joined the army. Yuki looked at Ogata.

"I found some retannoya. It's what we call the sneeze plant," Asirpa said, crushing them to make medicine. "If you crush them and put them on the wounds, it will help stop the bleeding."

After being done with Sugimoto's injuries, Asirpa approached Yuki to tend to her wound. Ogata just watched the scene silently, then went back to checking his surroundings with his binoculars.

"What?" Yuki asked, looking at the girl, then raised her hands, taking a few steps away, very clearly not fond of the idea of having her wound checked now, in the open, and surrounded by people that didn't know her true identity. "Oh, no no…" She protested. "The bullet went through. And, like I said, I'm fine. I can handle it." She tried to convince the Ainu girl, who very obviously didn't like her help being denied, even if apologetically.

"Like hell you're fine. Are you crazy?" Sugimoto said, looking at her, surprised. "You look very pale, Hagiwara. I'm impressed you haven't passed out yet."

"Then let me take care of my wound myself," Yuki said in a way Asirpa knew that she wouldn't be able to insist any further. "I always take care of my wounds myself," Yuki reassured.

"Are you ashamed of something, Hagiwara?" Asirpa asked, stepping closer to the older woman. "Do you have any scars you feel embarrassed of? Well, you don't need to be! Sugimoto is full of them and I've seen them all, so why don't you let me help you? " She tried to convince her way to help the group member.

Yuki backed away even further with each step Asirpa took towards her until the woman's back met Ogata's. She felt her body electrify in the shock against him. That one, simple touch was enough for her to feel how Ogata was stronger than he seemed under his navy uniform. She felt her face flush red with that thought. "What do you mean with you've seen all his scars?" Yuki asked and then looked at Sugimoto and choked with raised eyebrows.

"Why are you looking at me with that look?" Sugimoto asked, perplexed.

"You won't be able to move properly until you get the medicine applied, Hagiwara-chan!" Shiraishi showed concern. "Better let Asirpa-chan help you with-..."

"They found us!" Ogata suddenly warned. Yuki was strangely relieved the soldiers had found them, that way Asirpa would forget about her for now. However, these news were still everything but good. "Fast! We have no alternative but to cross Daisetsuzan!" Ogata commanded the group to move.

"Are we really going to cross the mountains?" Shiraishi asked, not amused.

"And what do you suggest? Stay and be skinned alive?" Yuki asked. "Oh, wait, that would happen only to you…" Shiraishi glared at her offendedly.

They rushed up the Daisetsuzan, which quite literally means "great snowy mountains". Suddenly, a strong wind so cold as if it were the middle of winter started to blow. It looked like it was about to rain, Yuki noticed while looking up at the dark gray clouds over them.

But suddenly, Shiraishi started acting…odd. He was already a weird man weird by himself, but now, his face was flushed and he was smiling in a silly way, as if he were drunk. This confused the woman even more. There was no way he had had the opportunity to drink while hiking up the mountain terrain. There was something weird about the place altogether, or simply the low temperature was starting to affect him somehow.

"We need to find a place to protect ourselves from this wind!" Ogata warned. "Or we'll die of hypothermia!" He had to scream in order to be heard.

They were in a practically deserted part of the mountains, there was just a little snow that covered the ground and even though the idea of digging a hole into the soil to shield themselves from the freezing cold wind was a good one, the idea resulted to be fruitless. The ground was too hard to even try to remove the upper layer. So there was nowhere to go and nowhere to hide, until Asirpa spotted a group of deer.

"Sugimoto! Shoot the yuks!" Asirpa pointed at the animals. "We need at least three of them!"

Yuki, so weakened now that she needed to lean on Ogata's back, suddenly shot up. One shot was enough to kill two deer at once.

"Wow, two with one shot." Sugimoto commented, a little salty maybe. Ogata then shot again and killed another deer. Asirpa rushed to open them up and remove the viscera and organs, including the skin in order to create an improvised shelter out of the yuk's corpse. But then, out of the blue, Shiraishi took off his clothes and got all naked and started dancing. Sugimoto's face said it all. Aw, shit.

"I'll get Shiraishi!" Sugimoto ran after him. "He's delirious from hypothermia!"

"He was possessed by pawci kamuy!" Asirpa shouted after Sugimoto.

"He doesn't seem to be the type to be successful with women…" Yuki observed, raising her eyebrow while Ogata stood beside her, witnessing all that without making a comment, like he usually did. The sight wasn't really commentable anyway, it was basically Sugimoto trying to catch up a naked and dancing Shiraishi. It almost looked like both of the supposedly adult men were playing an all not so convenient game of tag. The sight was embarrassing, to say the least.

After rescuing Shiraishi from the delirium and forcefully placing him inside one of the deers, Sugimoto and Asirpa got into another deer's fur while Yuki and Ogata shared the remaining one.

Yuki had her back pressed against Ogata's chest, both of them so close because of how little space the pelt offered. She could even feel his steady, calm breath on the back of her neck, that made her shiver unwillingly. Her body was even weaker now from the draining adrenaline that had kept her alert during their escape, the pain radiated through her body like a wildfire, but she kept quiet regardless of how much she was suffering.

Ogata had had a faraway look while the mission to get back Shiraishi took place. Once Sugimoto's and Hagiwara's cover was blown by Koito, the situation hadn't been favorable for them. That's why he was surprised to see the woman jump forward without any hesitation and face Koito, knowing his combat skills, while wounded.

The way she had seemed to enjoy it. Her sick smile. He remembered, as he watched from afar, how terrified Colonel Yodogawa had been after she had whispered something to his ear before she almost strangled him to death. This woman really intrigued him in an inexplicable way.

"That wretched Koito…" Yuki complained with a voice of contained anger. "If I hadn't moved, I would really be in a lot of trouble right now."

As if the amount of blood you've lost wasn't trouble enough… Ogata thought.

Yuki tried to move her arms to try to unbutton her uniform, but she couldn't. The space wasn't enough and the pain it caused her to apply the medicine, even if she had to do that as soon as possible if she wanted to stop the bleeding. If she didn't act quickly, she would die for sure.

Ogata sensed her difficulty. His head rested on his arm, but then, after listening to her having a difficult time in silence, he took her hands and pushed them away. This took Yuki by surprise. Ogata unbuttoned the Second Lieutenant's black coat and did the same with the shirt beneath.

Out of reflex, Yuki grabbed Ogata's hands, her heart raced. "Do you want help me or do you want to die?" She asked, confronting the man over her.

"Why are you still this concerned over hiding that you are a woman? I already know about that and you're not in the army anymore, so I guess it doesn't make really matter anymore, or does it?" He said with his usual toneless, yet teasing voice.

Yuki didn't have an answer to that question, she didn't even know herself. She had never thought about it actually. She had been afraid for so long that she would be discovered, always being hypervigilant and protective of her secret, it had come to the point that it was as if this- this mask had become her face, almost replacing who she was before. She never stopped to think that she was free to be whoever she was and it shocked her. But who was she now? She released Ogata's hands slowly, and her gaze turned blank. Ogata seemed to understand her reaction and lifted the corner of his mouth.

He slid his hand carefully to her back, trying to reach the bullet exit in her back to apply the medicine, and then in front, right below the bandage she used to disguise her breasts. Ogata smiled when he felt her shiver from his touch on her skin. Her skin was soft under his rough fingers. He felt the healed skin of some scars as well.

Yuki's gaze refocused in that moment. No one had ever touched her like that in a long time. The way Ogata's fingers ran over her skin left a good sensation and in a strange way, she craved it. Ogata, as soon as he felt her muscles stiffen from the sudden anxiety, took his hand away from Yuki, only helping her later to button her shirt and coat. He stared at her for a second.

"What? Do you want me to thank you?" She repeated his words with a mocking smile. He, of course, understood that this was a comeback using his own words against him and grinned.

"It wouldn't be good for us to carry dead weight." he said with disdain, his half smile present again. "It's not like that wound troubled you against Koito back in the airship. That's why you didn't beat up his pretty face like you said, was it?"

"You're really annoying…"

Yuki felt the wound tingle as the medicine was starting to set in and she relaxed. When Ogata went back at his spot beside her, not a word was spoken for a while. Yuki felt his body heat. It was so comforting. She thought to herself.

The realization that she was this close to him shot through her head, causing her a strong feeling of butterflies in her belly, but a discomfort in her chest too. Besides, it was him after all… Ogata, who was so close. He always caused all these sensations in her. She had had all those confusing sensations and emotions since she'd first seen him. She felt her heart speed up again.

Yuki remembered the first time she saw him. She was only 15 years old and was already disguised as a boy, she was training in martial arts with Tsurumi when Ogata and Usami arrived to talk something with moment their eyes first met she felt an inexplicable magnetism. Something so complicated to define because it was so abstract and so new to her. A trace of familiarity. An attraction. Since then, every time she'd seen him, she'd felt the same intriguing sensation and unsettling anxiety.

That memory made her soften her gaze and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, pushing those thoughts away and trying to calm her heart down. Meanwhile, Ogata closed the distance of his face to the back of Yuki's head, taking the opportunity and sniffing the so foreign smell of her, with the curiosity of a cat.

"Back in the war…"She began, breaking the silence. "It would have been better to have had more soldiers like you, Ogata… More snipers. It would have saved us from losing so many lives on that damn hill" she trailed off in thought,"I've always wanted to tell you this, but I've never had the opportunity or… the courage to do so."

This took him by surprise, causing him to at her profile back away a little. No one had ever agreed with him on that and said it out loud, even if it was a little late now. This also made him realize another thing: she must know more about him than he realized.

In the corridors of the army, when he saw Second Lieutenant Hagiwara, he- or rather she, he corrected himself, was always alone and he thought he was as lonely, alone standing person like himself, avoiding the company of others like Ogata avoided the other soldiers, especially his younger brother it was because of this and because of his apparent attitude that earned him the nickname Wild Cat.

However, unlike then, he now knew the reason why Yuki always avoided others: so they wouldn't find out she was a woman. Furthermore, he wondered how Yuki had been aware of this? It was the same opinion he had. What else would she know then? Doubt made him narrow his gaze in curiosity.

"They were wasting your talents not just as a sniper, but also as a tactician" she continued, opening her eyes. "General Hanazawa made a bad decision that cost the lives of thousands… I went to talk to him to ask permission to let me go inside the Russian's trenches for me to kill as many russians as I could, but he thought it was crazy and stupid and didn't accept it. So I disobeyed. I had to try what I did back in the battle of Yalu River. I worked hard to achieve what I had in mind, even though it was risky, so that our men wouldn't die in such numbers... Unlike me, the other superiors feared losing their rank if they didn't oblige to Hanazawa's rules…and also didn't have someone in the front lines that they cared deeply about…"

Hearing the General's name made Ogata's face grim. Meanwhile, Yuki remembered the anxiety and helplessness she felt every time she came back alive, with everyone cheering excited at their victories and her maneuvers that gave them the victories in the first place. She looked for Ogata's face in the crowd every time she came back to see if he was alive too feeling relief whenever she saw that he had survived yet another battle.

"And to think that everyone thought you were just a killing machine, Second Lieutenant Hagiwara… I couldn't have ever imagined that you were the type to worry about strategy or other people's lives,"he said teasingly, his voice low. Yuki grimaced, which he was delighted to see.

"Talented people like us are the ones who should be at the top," she said coldly, thinking of the army. First Lieutenant Tsurumi has always been very appreciative of me and my abilities... Yuki thought. She was saying that she recognized him and his abilities, Ogata mused. "Unfortunately, the army doesn't care about talent or actual leadership, they have and will always care more about the nobility and family origins rather than having the people suited occupying the ranks."

"You don't have a drop of noble blood and yet you are a Second Lieutenant" He stated, only now realizing this information as well. "It's a patent above me. If they care more about the nobility, as you just said, then how did you come to become a Second Lieutenant?"

He saw again that darkness from before inside those pale blue eyes and in the smile that played on her lips. Such a familiar darkness…

"I like to think it was because they were afraid of me, like a wild wolf that knew how to show their teeth. The one who would serve as a leader and cause enough inspiration in the fellow, simple dogs for the sled to be pulled. But they couldn't rank me higher, because they feared that the wild wolf, deep down, had the desire to be the alpha…" She smiled even wider, remembering all her missions and orders fulfilled and how the colonels and generals looked at her with suspicion and hostility when they saw her, probably just jealous of her victories .

Yuki pressed her hands against her chest, trying to warm herself up, blood loss causing a bigger difficulty to stay warm. She leaned further against Ogata's chest. This made him look at the now even less-existing space between the two.

"I was the inspiration for bloodlust and I was the one cleared the way, even if it was just a little, while Yuusaku-dono was the inspiration the men needed for courage and virtue, the one who was worthy to carry the flag of our nation," she continued, her voice low and weak, almost whispering.

Ogata said nothing, only staring at her while she talked. "Equal patents and functions, but contrary to each other. Yuusaku was bright like the sunlight; while I was like the darkness of the night. In the end, for them, it was just a matter of summoning me anywhere that was necessary to do the dirty work and follow their orders."

She chuckled low at that last remark. Her eyelids felt heavy, her instinct being to close them and fall asleep. It had been only a matter of time before Yuki lost the battle against the exhaustion that the blood loss and the more than action-filled day had caused. Ogata noticed this and remembered the icy touch of her hands. It was impressive how much resistance she was able to put up.

"Ogata... you could have been my... buddy, you know, your skills and mine... '' she said, her eyes narrowed. "They didn't let… when I asked them to…"

"You asked them for me to be part of Division Zero." It was a statement, his voice deep. It was not a question he was asking. He stared off into space. He imagined Division Zero with them, two broken people. Two people who had something missing inside them that made room for that darkness. Two assassins. No remorse in their consciences. A division of those not blessed at birth. Ogata smirked at the idea. Even so, she had considered him. This felt wrong to him. For the first time, he felt like he had been seriously and genuinely considered as something else than a chess piece, but rather a person you played alongside with. Someone with respect, honor and dignity. But why did knowing about this cause him so much unease? And what was this anxiety he began to feel? He'd never felt it before and he dreaded these new emotions.

Wait…emotions?

"Thank you, Ogata, for your help…" She struggled to lift and turn her head to look him in the eye. He his chin to look back at that word of thanks he didn't expect. Someone was thanking him for something he's done. "Also… for being there… watching…"

Yuki finally closed her eyes, her body not capable of staying awake for a moment longer. They had to wait for the storm's raging to be over, or at least lessened, before they could leave the cozy inside of the yuk. He didn't mind Yuki searching for warmth in his body, but if they really wanted to share body heat, they would have to get even closer. And so, he put his arm over her side, snuggling closer to her. And at one point, he fell asleep while listening to the wind blowing outside, threatening to take the little shelter they had with it.