Prologue~

"*Alright, listen up!" Clarence yelled, watching some men continue to throw up in their boat as they trudgedcloser and closer to shore, the choppy water something that could not be helped. Thelast meals from the launching ships most likely coming up as somewent to their deaths,the back and forth of the water being the majority of the problem. "I know you thought today was a training exercise but this isthe real mission..." Gasps and murmuring started, the Second Lieutenant letting them process stayed quiet as the group whispered. Many strangers to one another were now closer friends, as beingone of the few boats that held men from the regiments of black Canadian soldiers would do that. Clarence always felt awkward, even though there was usually some genuine respect, due to the obvious appearance that the Lieutenant did not seem to conform. Clarence had a white German mother and black Canadian father, something that was not legal in Canada when they were both alive. Clarence's mother had fled Germany as a child after the first war, coming to Canada with her parents, Clarence's now deceased grandparents. Clarence's father had been memorable but died early on, having been shot on his way home from work, having been mistaken as a thief that had run in the general direction. A single mother in Canada, Clarence wondered if the woman who worked to the bone for her loved oneswas doing alright. Clarence had always wondered if it was a benefit to have a white parent or if it would have been better to be more 'obviously'black, feeling shunned out by both sides outside and within the army.

"Remember the basics! Stick to your partner! We're going against a fortified beach, there won't be much natural cover." Some men started throwing up again, the idea of dying scaring them and had no way of stopping the contents from escaping. Clarence sighed, knowing the feeling well. This wasn't the first time Clarence was forced into a battle that was against them. But, this time they had trained well and made it appear they were attacking somewhere else. The secrecy of this mission was beyond anything any one of them had been a part of before or any one could have imagined without many minds as a part of it all. "I know you're scared, some of you aren't going to make it off this beach." Clarence said quietly but truthfully, looking down to the black boots that were failing at keeping everyone's feet dry. After all, there is no point lying to a man who knows he is about to die. "But this is for something bigger than all of us. This is for all those who were killed before. All those innocent people who are losing their homes. If we don't win this, Germany may attempt to hit our homes next. We stop this advance here and push them back." Some men in the boat nodded their heads strongly in agreement, some saying a silent prayer to themselves as they ducked down.

I wonder if these men would listen to me if they knew the truth…She thought, looking ahead towards the smoke covered beach that was awaiting them all. Clarence was the name of the brother Ida never had, having been stillborn along side her 21 years ago. When the army came looking for her father, Ida had taken the conscription paper, expertly taking out her father's name and putting in another. So 'Clarence Brant', a switch of her father's names, was allowed into the army based all on the falsehood that the administrator had made a mistake in the record and was welcomed like every other man that walked through the doors.I wonder what would happen the moment they learned that Ida Clarence was forcing men to their deaths."Rifles armed!" She yelled, locking eyes with a young boy who joined only a few weeks ago, that was looking back to where they had come from instead of where they were going. He was fumbling with his rifle, the rattling of the gun catching the attention of those around him. Ida thought that someone was going to help but they were too focused on themselves. "What's your name kid?"

The boy looked up, his eyes wide. "R-Ray, sir."

"Ray, take a breath. If you can't load your rifle, you're not going to get far." She wasn't going to do it for him. He needed to learn to calm himself, she couldn't baby him because she wasn't going to get that treatment on the beach. Ida looked in the smoke covering their destinationand saw the cliff shapes coming into view. When Ida looked back, the kid was trying. He couldn't have been 17 yet, but, maybe when he signed up, the member at the table didn't care how old he really was. Many that sat at those desks and pushed pencils and paperdidn't care about the black boys they were sending off the die. They didn't look into birthdates as seriously as with the white teens trying to get in.

"30 seconds! Clear the ramp!" The guy steering the boat yelled. The man beside Ida started yelling off reminders for the men of what they were supposed to do. Just like they had trained.

"Do you got parents Ray?"

"Yes, sir. M-My mom and sister are b-back home."

"What about your father?"

"He died during the first year of the war."

I can use that to get him to calm down."Do you want your mother to have to watch the army walk up your porch steps to be told you died?"

"N-No s-sir." Ida just stared into the kid's eyes and it seemed like he relaxed a little and was able to load and ready his rifle.

"Quiet down," Ida said, the voices and noises suddenly disappearing. Ida was waiting for a signal, closing her eyes to focus on the sounds around her. The sounds of waves hitting the metal, the creaking of the packed boat making it sound like they were going under. Then, it came, the high pitched whistle. "See you on the beach!" The men in the front opened up the front of the boat and men started filing out via the ramp. Land mines were exploding all around them, full boats of men were being lost within seconds all because they were late. The lower tide was something they were purposefully trying to was expecting heavy fire, and was concerned as the men were slowly making their way out of the boats. "Move your asses!" Her commanding voice yelled, the men quickly rushing out onto European soil. For most their first, and for most their last.

Then, it seemed like random shots were being aimed at them, they were not consistent and heavy like they were expecting, making it easy for them to zigzag their way up the beach towards the town ahead of them. When they got to the seawall, that was a different story. The thick walls provided cover from the heavy fire that was on the other side, the screams of men asking to be saved. "I don't want to die!"

"Push the wall!" A voice rung out, Ida waiting a moment as someone pushed themselves in front of her and climbed over after him. It seemed like the world was silent around her, her body forcing the sounds to be muted to help her focus. Jumping over the wall after the person in front of her, Ida almost tripped over him as he fell dead in front of her. A grenade went off about 60 feet away from her, but slowed her down as she felt bits of metal lodge into her e on, Ida, move,she told herself, running so she couldgroup upwith some men taking cover behind a building. Some of the men in her boat were there, Ida giving them nods as she walked by them to see if she was the highest officer there. Inwardly, she was happy when she ran into a Captain. "Sir! What are your orders?!" They were yelling over the gun shots and grenades, explosions and screams something the two were used to by now but the newest recruits were trying to cover their ears.

"How many men from your company!?"

"15 with me sir!"

"Take these 5 of mine! Push that house there!" He used a mirror attached to a knife to point out the house that had 4 floors, one street over. "Third floor has a nest where they are taking out our guys!"

"Yes, sir!"

"After that, push further in! Keep trying to push them back!"

"Sir! Royal Rifles with me!" Ida moved back to the rear of the house facing the beach. They moved into the house and Ida lookedoverthe men she had. She knew one well, the rest she had no idea who they were, having been added days before. "We're moving to that house there! We'll move four at a time, like we practiced, you and you," she pointed to two men who weren't shaking as much, "stick with me, we'll provide cover fire!" They nodded their heads and got into position. "Start moving immediately to attack the nest. We need to get the others into town. Any problems?" When everyone stayed quiet, she took it as a no. "You four up first! Then you, and you! Move and shoot at the target when you can!" She separated the men into groups based on how they stood in the line. Ida moved up to the door they would be leaving, looking for any additionalfiring squads.

"Sir, there is one directly to our east!" One of the men she had asked to stay behind for cover first pointed out, Ida only nodding.

"Alright first four!" She waited a moment, "Cover fire!" Ida and the two men pushed out and started firing at the firing squad, making it easy for the first four to make their way across the street. They sprinted through the streetand both groups just avoided the return fire. "Next four!" Ida reloaded her Bren light machine gun, glancing at everyone around her. "Cover fire!" The three came out, finding their targets easily and watching the men run across the street.

"I hit one!" One of the men said.

"Me too!" Ida yelled. There was one or two left, unless Germans kept more men in a building firing squad than the Allies. "Last four, line up!" As they were, a group of soldiers from the beach came running up the eye sight and were being shot down. "Shit," Ida mumbled to herself, watching the men being shot down easily. "Here!" She yelled, not knowing that the others across the street were having them come over. A few men made their way into the home and Ida noticed the sniper rifle in someone's hand.

"You, take out the two left in the squad!" Explosions continued to ring out and the ground shook. "You," she pointed to a young boy, who looked like he wasn't even 16yet. "You're coming across with us! Next four, ready?"

"Sir!"

"Cover fire!" They didn't easily make it across, two being shot and were crawling across the street to get the safety. "Take 'em out!" Suddenly a large bang echoed through the town, everyone freezing, not knowing what it was. Ida looked at the group, it was still. All shooting in their area had stopped, everyone refused to yell but the echoing of fighting in the areas around them were like small whispers. Ida took a knife and slowly put it out the door, shots quickly aiming at her hand and just missed it. A sudden bang sounded and the shooting at her stopped.

"Got 'em!" The British sniper yelled.

"Push forward!" Ida yelled, moving into the town as she was instructed. Her hearing was filled with the cries of injured men. Missing limbs and entrails out for all to see as men crawled for their lives. The route was easy to see, just get to the edge of the town and fortify before moving on. Men of all countries shooting men in German uniforms that were surrendering. She wondered why she felt a little uneasy with the sight but she thought it was best to push it down. After all, Germany was the reason they were all there. They were the reason the world was in chaos and people were dying and families torn apart.

Hours went by and everyone was regrouping, finding ammo and weapons of dead bodies, stocking up on hand grenades, and getting more water. Some, luckily, being prepared to be returned to England because of towards the officers tents, Ida saluted as she stood at the door, as she had been called. "Second Lieutenant Brant, sir."

"Stand down, I have a job for you." The Colonel waved herin, pointing at a map. "I hear you are quite the recon man."

"I have been successful in the past, sir."

"Good, I want you to take a small team, two or three others, and see what is happening outside the town."

"Do you want a recon onto Sword beach as well, sir? We were three hours late."

"Good idea, we can't move well if we aren't all at the same point. Get going, I need you back by sundown."

"Sir," she saluted, moving back to where she had come and went looking for the men that she had run into.

"Private Brodes, Private Crown! Front and centre!" The men popped up, within their separate groups of friends, and jogged up to her. "I need you two for recon. Grab something to write stuff down, light weapons. Meet back here, we leave in 10 minutes." They quickly nodded and ran off.

"Second Lieutenant," A voice said behind her, causing Ida to turn. "Going somewhere."

Ida smirked at the person in front of her. "Damn, you made it out here too." It was the one person Ida would call something close to a friend.

"At least I look better than you, Brant."

"Christ, Tick, you had it nice and cozy in the fourth wave." Ida started walking towards her small pack that she had set down, wanting to switch out the Lanchester she had used at the end of the landing.

"What are you limpin'for?" Ida crouched at her stuff, looking down to her leg, reminding her what happened.

"Shrapnel got me right over the wall."

"You should clean that up before you go into those fields. Never know what might be hiding."

"What about you? Going to cozy it up again while the rest of us haul ***?" Ida kicked off her boot and cleanedher hand and knife with her water before she went to dig out the small pieces of metal.

"Doubt it. British pricks are tryin'to get us to be their shields to move closer in." Tick, who's actual name was Patrick, was a Lieutenant with the black troops and was like every other man who entered the army. He thought they were going to be seen for their rank and service but there were still some that were not as trusting and the higher up those people were, the more obvious it was. He watched the friend he thought he knew taking bits of metal out of their calf. "You're lucky your just being sent off on recon."

"General Dempsey has a good head on his shoulders. I'd go with his decisions in this."

"Your trust is worrying." Tick leaned in and looked around before whispering, "You know these white guys couldn't give two shits about us."

"What I heard from our higher ups is that he actually listens to their side. That's all I can ask for." Ida wrapped up her leg, closing off the end of the pant leg before putting her boot back on. "See you later, Tick." Ida stood and walked towards the Commander tent, collecting the two men she picked and they quietly made their way towards enemy lines.

They sat in a lowland, just on the edge of the next town, synchronizing their watches. "Meet back in three hours." She whispered, "Questions?"

"Yeah, what are we looking for?" Brodes asked, a British man and Ida couldn't help but whack him over the head, causing Crown, a black Canadian, to smirk as he looked away to hide it.

"Were you not listening? Anything that may help. The smallest thing you see, take note of it."

"Three hours, right?" Crown confirmed. It was 5 pm now. Ida nodded and smirked before she turned and starting crawling away to the position she was taking.

Ida listened as explosions and gunfire got louder as she moved towards Oboe beach. Ida looked on in shock over the hill as she watched Sword continue to be put to a halt on the beaches. Ida could only watch and take notes when some rustling caused her to freeze. Slowly, she reached for her pistol at her hip, holding her breath to figure out where it was coming from.

"Idiotic Americans, they think they can break our wall?"Ida froze at the German words, much closer than she would have liked.

"They are weak, we weren't even prepared for this."Another laughed, stopping just on top of her.

"Don't you think it's odd that we haven't heard anything from the rest of the wall? It's unsettling."

"They don't have numbers to beat us."Ida watched as a cigarette butt was flicked beside her and she kept eye on it, watching the embers slowly brighten in the wind."Come on, we should get back before the Lieutenant has our heads."The men chuckled as they walked away, obviously thinking that everything was going to be easy going from this point on. Ida waited for what seemed like hours, wondering if they had seen her and were just waiting for her to show herself. A small smoke puff catching her attention, reminding her of the cigarette that was starting to light the grass she hid in. Taking her time, waiting for a gust a wind, she would spit on the cigarette and back up, trying to get closer to the regroup point. As she did, Ida heard another rustle in the bushes, causing her to freeze as she was partially standing up already. Ida's dark eyes looked around, locking eyes with a small child looking at her, Ida worried about the gash across his forehead. The kid was in a daze, and Ida looked him over and saw that there were gunshots riddling his body. With a sigh, Ida watched as the kid collapsed in front of her, dead.

Clenching her jaw, Ida turned herself around and continued on her way back to the regroup point. She had 10 minutes to return to the regroup and arrived there quickly, at 19:58. "Lieutenant?" A whispered voice asked, causing Ida to smile as she welcomed Crown back. "Anything good?"

"Surprisingly. You?"

"Not much really."

"Happens." She commented, rummaging into her pockets to grab the notebook. "Take this back to camp. I'll wait for Brodes."

"Sir," he took the notebook and started crawling down the hill, as Ida turned around to look for the British man. Glancing at her watch, the 20:00 time on its hands worried her. The wind was playing with her, the darkness starting to hit the French seaside, that for some, would have been comforting. It was causing her to think someone was circling around her, her ears unable to pinpoint what was going on. Five minutes after 8 pm, she started crawling off in the direction Brodes had gone off. Following the flattened grass, Ida found the man looking into the town through binoculars, seemingly unaware of what was going on.

"Having fun, Brodes?" She clapped a hand on his shoulder and pulled him with her towards the beach.

"What are you doing?!"

"Shut the **** up." She screamed in a whisper, flipping him around easily and clasping a hand over his mouth. "You were to be back ten minutes ago, get the **** back to camp." She hissed, pushing him into the ground as she started heading West to the beach. As she stood to walk quicker, something didn't feel right. It was like the earth around her was oddly weak. She paused as she crouched down, pressing into the ground with her fist.

"What is it, sir?"

"I'll look into it. Head back to the beach." Brodes moved quickly through the grass and back towards the seaside town. Taking her knife, Ida expected to struggle to get the knife to the hilt but the blade easily drove into ground. With a strong pullIda started digging, surprised once she had a hole in the ground and felt an odd breeze coming from underground. "What the hell.." Suddenly the ground started shaking and as she got up to run, the ground collapsed underneath her. Ida clawed at the dirt to try and keep herself out of the hole but her attempts and screams were useless as she fell into the darkness.

"Goodness, what do you think she was doing wearing mens clothes?" A female with a British accent asked, Ida's vision blurry as she tried to look at where she was.

"It's odd, isn't it?" Another asked.

"I've never seen a woman with…" The voice now close to her, causing Ida's eyes to fully adjust and flinch when she saw two woman completely over her. "Dear, thank goodness you're awake." A dark haired, blue eyed woman smiled, not seeming to notice Ida's worry. "We thought you would never wake up."

"Where am I?" Ida asked with hesitation, looking at her wrists and ankles and was surprised that she wasn't cuffed to the bed.

"Oh, you're from the colonies." The younger blonde woman with blue eyes said, excitement on her face.

"You're in York, dear." The older woman said, giving a gentle smile.

"Y-York? In England?" Ida couldn't process everything. York had been bombed a few years before D-Day. The two women in front of her didn't seem concerned at all.

"Have you never been?" The younger woman said, her enthusiasm making it very uncomfortable for Ida.

"Catherine, why don't you see if the cook can make our guest a meal?" The older one said, smilingas the girl bounded out of the room. "Sorry, she was quite excited because she thinks you are a new friend."

"H-How did I get here?"

"I think I should be asking you that. But, I want to start with your name."

"My name?"

"Yes, my dear girl, surely you have one."

"I-Ida."

"Well, Ida, my name is Holly. You're at my family's estate."

"Where did you find me?"

"In our garden." Holly took in the confused and worried expression that Ida wore. "Why were you wearing men's clothes? It gave my son quite the shock when he was helping me undress you."

"I…I have my reasons."

"We all have secrets Miss Ida, no need to be embarrassed by that." Ida took a second and looked at what the woman wore as she moved to a wardrobe and couldn't help but comment.

"That is a very old style of dress, if you don't mind me saying."

"Old?" The woman said in surprise. "Well, I guess the colonies are advancing differently than we are in the homeland, but this type of dress is still in style."

"R-Really?"

"Yes. Why don't you change into this and I'll show you to the main dining hall. My husband has many questions for you."

Ida worriedly looked at Holly and could only nod, her survival instincts telling her to listen to the kind woman. She thought she should take in the kindness while she was able to get it. It took some time for Ida to figure out how to put the dress on, Holly having to come in and help her put the pieces in the right position. "It's not going to fit perfectly. We'll just do with what we can." She smiled, Ida wondering why she was being so nice to her.

With close steps behind Holly, Ida was surprised at the expanse of the large home, wondering why there were not army men running around. Many large estates close to the channel were becoming information centres for the army. They walked down a large main staircase, coming to the first floor from the second, and came into a room holding many book shelves, some chairs, and a welcoming fireplace.

"Take a seat." A deep voice said, Ida flinching at the bluntness and strictness of the man that sat in a chair facing the door she had entered.

"Darling, remember what we talked about." Holly said, looking to her husband. Ida looked to her and noticed that a small boy, Catherine, and another woman dressed in a maid uniform hiding behind the main staircase they had just walked down.

"I know. Close the door behind you, Holly." The man held a surprisingly gentle smile as his eyes looked to their new houseguest, who hesitantly walked in. "Please, sit here." The man pointed to a two seater couch, a small plate of food on the table in front of it. Nervously, Ida looked around as she sat down, wondering if this was all fake so the military could get information from her. "Now, you're from one of the colonies correct?"

"Y-Yes."

"Which one?" His voice was somewhat annoyed.

"Canada, sir."

"Upper Canada? You are a long way from home." Ida just sat in her place, unsure of what to say and thought it unwise to correct him. "You don't seem to remember how you got here." He said with interest.

"I don't, sir. Last thing I remember was being in France."

"F-France?" The man said, surprised. Ida looked at the man in confusion, wondering why that was such a shocking statement. He quickly cleared his throat and continued with his investigation. "I am more curious about the things you had with you." He stood and brought over a box,placingit on the table in front of Ida. "I'm surprised a woman was carrying such an array of weapons." Ida swallowed, tightening the muscles in her jaw and neck. The box loomed in front of her like Pandora's box."You colonists are advancing quite well." He commented, narrowing his eyes as he tried to figure out the look on the girl's face.

"Why are you drawing this out?" Ida finally said, pushing down her nervous and showing the confidence she had on the battlefield.

"I'm just trying to understand why a woman fitted with weapons I have never seen before, dressed in mens clothing, hair cut short, was unconscious in my garden."

"You're not going to involve the military?"

"Why would I involve the military in something so small? They are busy fighting France, I can deal with this myself."What the **** is going on?"I understandyour typewant more rights but you are not so important that I can't deal with this myself."

Tensions were always tight when it came to a black person, especially a woman, speaking about her right to speak her mind. However, that wasn't going to stop her. "I won't have you speak to me like that."

"Really?" The man said, seemingly amused.

"You don't know anything about me. For all you know, I could be a cold-hearted killer." Her tone was serious.

"Are you?" The man kept an unwavering tone, as if he wasn't fooled by the comment at all.

Ida paused for a second, thinking of all the things she had seen and done. "I think not." The man hummed, thinking over what she said. There was a silence as the two sat in the room, Ida ignoring the food that was most likelymeant to comfort her, continued to sit in front of her. He reached into the box, pulling out Ida's dog tags that belonged to someone who never existed.

"Clarence Brant, who is that?"

"He's a nobody."

"Fine, if you refuse to say anything, I'll treat you how you seem to want to be treated." Ida had somehow reached the man's last nerve, slamming the dog tags onto the table and stormed out. He returned with a main who escorted Ida to a room in the attic.

For weeks, Ida was awoken at crazy hours and was interrogated in futile attempts. The training she had had once joining the military was much worse than what the man could do. There was nothing threatening, if anything, it was allowing her to continue her training. The man was surprised with her fighting form and ability to learn and time went on, Ida was getting more freedom. Holly had asked her husband, Lord Milton, claiming the girl they found was confused and could not remember her past correctly. Lord Milton knew that was not the case, that Ida was hiding something but as the girl showed she was not intending to hurt anyone in the household, he agreed. It was the first day Ida was given more freedom, coming down for breakfast with Holly, their guest hesitating to walk in when she saw Catherine and the son, Henry, sitting at the table. Ida sat beside Lord Milton, quietly eating until she saw the paper that he tossed into the empty space on the table. She ignored it at first, not thinking much of it but later thought that she would be able to figure out more of what was going on. "Lord Milton, would it be alright if I read that?" Ida asked, glancing at the paper that lied in front of her.

"Do what you like."

"Thank you." She smiled, taking one last bite of food and excusing herself with Holly as they made their way to the patio area of the garden. Taking the paper with her, Holly could only laugh.

"I'm happy that you seem to be welcoming your freedom."

"I want to take advantage of it while I have it." Ida said honestly, thinking it may not last forever.

"You think it will be taken away from you?"

"I don't know." Ida waited for Holly to sit and followed the action. Holly opened the book she carried with her and Ida took that as a chance to start looking at the newspaper. Ida immediately became confused. Drawings of sports teams instead of pictures, no news of the war efforts against Nazi Germany. It confused her. Returning to the front page, she noticed an article about Queen Victoria. "Victoria?" She whispered to herself.

"Apparently India is giving her quite the hard time. Wanting to be independent like the Yanks did." Holly chuckled, turning back to her book. It was then that Ida looked at the date of the paper. September 25th, went silent the entire day as she carried the paper with her, moving to her new room on the second floor and opened the paperfor the hundredth time. She tried to scrap off the date to find 1944 underneath but her sweaty hands only removed the ink. A strong knock came from the door, causing Ida to jump off the bed as the door opened and hide the paper behind her back.

"Ida," Lord Milton came in with an older and overweight man wearing a smart suit. "This is Sir John Rutherford Alcock." Ida curtsied and looked to see the man bowing to her.

"Lord Milton has told me of your talents with weapons and language. I have a proposition for you." Ida looked curiously to the man that had hesitantly took her in and he looked at her with a serious look. It was like he was telling her she had no choice but to take it. She had almost forgotten the moment the Milton hunting dog stopped its advance onto a hare in the yard because she had yelled at it in German. She hadn't known that it was initially trained in the language and learned English after. Ida's family dogs were always trained it German and it just came out when the Milton boy was unable to stop him.

"A proposition?"

"Have you heard of our conquests to take Japan?"

Ida knit her brow, "Y-Yes, I had noticed it in the paper today."

"Good." And that was it, the conversation was over as the men explained what she was to she thought, she wasn't given much of a choice with this propositions*.

-*Year 1863-

The members of the Roshigumi confidently walked into the red-light district, after all, who wouldn't when they were just taken in by the Aizu clan. They now had funds and Imperial Court recognition to help them become well known men in the city. With Serizawa-san leading, the young Captains and members that joined along were surprised with the women walking around. Mainly Heisuke and Ryunosuke, as they hadn't seen anything like this before in Edo. They were welcomed openly in Shimbara, the owner having known of their leaders work before coming to Kyoto. If anything, it was a frightened welcome rather than a warm one that most would receive. The geisha and maiko were excited to be able to serve the young men that followed in, very different from the older drunk ronin that were usually their customers. As the group followed the owner to their room, Heisuke bumped into someone as he walked in, causing Souji and Ryunosuke to look at the person. Heisuke glanced over the see hisbrunette friendhad pulled out his sword and was pointing it at the person he had bumped into.

"Sorry, are you alright?"It was a woman's voice, a dialect that Heisuke wasn't able to pinpoint. When he looked up, he understood why Souji had pulled his sword. The woman was a foreigner, with curly hair tied up into a ponytail, her eyes as dark as the moonless night sky. She was straightening up from a bow, looking down at Heisuke because she was a little taller than him. The woman seem undeterred by the katana that was pointed at her neck, the three men that were left behind by their group noticing a blade on her right hip as well. The western men ahead of her looked on worriedly, while a Japanese man rushed towards the small group.

"She's not used to the narrower paths yet." The man said, causing Ryunosuke to look at Souji and nudge him.

"Come on, Okita-kun. Stop."

"He's not going to attack her, is he?"The western men continued to say, not having any idea what was being spoken.

"I-It's alright," Heisuke finally said, noticing that the girl in front of him had no intent on fighting him. He was too confused about the whole thing that he continued to stand their.

"Oi, oi. You can't pull a sword on my customers!" The owner yelled, getting everyone's attention as he returned to the hallway. Finally, Souji said his mind.

"What are westerners doing in Shimbara?"

"We are trading art goods to members of the Aizu." The woman replied, bugging Souji all the more. "Surely, that won't be any problem."

"Souji, we can't mess this up." Heisuke quickly said, Souji even had to admit it was a weird circumstance but they were just recognized by that vary group.

"Fine, fine. You know I wouldn't have actually done it." He said, sheathing his sword.

"Yea, well she didn't." Ryunosuke said, turning to the girl to see her bowing to them.

"Enjoy your evening." With that, the girl and the owner that came to her help caught up with their group, entering a room at the end of the hall. Ida looked around the room to see that the man that had come to her aid was sweating. "Is something wrong?"

"Were you not scared?" The man asked.

"Yes, but I've learned it's best to pretend you are not." She paused for a moment, noticing that the man was incredibly shaken. "Who were those men?"

"The Roshigumi. Nothing but ronintaking over the city." The westerners called the man over tostart the art transactions as Ida stood off on the side to think about what just happened.

The three males that were slowed entered their group's party room, getting curious looks from Harada and Shinpachi. "What was the hold up?" Shinpachi questioned.

"Nothing." Heisuke smiled. "Just ran into a server in the hall." Harada and Shinpachi saw through it, knowing something happened out there that Serizawa would have gotten angry about and possible have caused a scene.

Soon the party for the Roshigumi started, drinks being poured and food served, everyone quietly enjoying themselves. That was, until Souji decided that he would make it obvious that he was watching Serizawa.

"Hey Okita," the deep voice said, "you've got an odd sense of taste to stare at a man after coming to the red-light district."

Everyone worriedly looked to Souji, noticing the glare he was giving the burly man. "Not really, I have no interest in places like this."

"Huh? Then what did you come here for?"

"I thought I might catch an opportunity to cut you down if I came along." He smirked, causing Serizawa to let out a boisterous laugh.

"Cut me down? By some brat like you?" Another laugh left his lips, "What a great joke!" It took him a moment to calm down and it was only irritating Souji more. "Your death threats mean absolutely nothing to me. Although I can't say the same for Hijikata."

"What? Hijikata-san?"

"When he glared at me at the Honjou Inn, I actually felt a shiver go through me for a second. Compared to him, your threats are just childish prater."

Serizawa knew he was playing at Souji's pride, and he was easily taking the bait. "If you like, I'd be willing to seriously have at you-"

"Souji," Saito quietly said, not looking up from his meal. He knew Souji was doing something that may bite him later and needed to stop him quickly.

"There is a man who has killed more than one or two people." Serizawa commented. Souji was surprised to hear this and looked to his friend. "He is far more imposing than you." The older man grinned, irritating Souji even more. Things slightly defused over some time and Ryunosuke excused himself soon after, walking out to the hall and looking into the night.

He hadn't noticed it at first but the girl Heisuke had run intowas also outside, leaning against the railing just outside the room she had entered. Ryunosuke was surprised at how relaxed she looked in the uniform she was wearing, the fitting clothing easily showing she wasn't a male. When she glanced to look his way, Ryunosuke quickly looked to his right, luckily seeing a young maiko and geisha walking towards him. He bowed to them and stared as they entered the room he was taking a break from. The male turned back and saw that the girl in the other hall was talking to a western man looking much older than her, seemingly unaware of how odd it is that she was there. Not long after, a male yelled causing the three outside to look towards the room Ryunosuke was supposed to be in. Rushing in, he saw Serizawa standing and the young maiko that caught his eye was staring up at him. Angry.

"Do you know who you are talking to?!" Serizawa asked, his voice deep and forced. "How dare a lowly maiko speak to me in such a manner?!"

"I merely said precisely what I thought!"

Ryunosuke looked at the thrown food as Serizawa was in disbelief. "Do you have any idea who I am!?" Ryunosuke quickly glanced to his right to see that the western girl and the local man that stood up for her earlier was coming toward them. The girl's face determined to find out what was going on. The western man she was talking to, standing in disbelief as he watched his accomplices come towards the large party room.

"You are a powerful samurai, are you not? Then please do not take advantage of your money and rank to act with such arrogance!"

"Say what?!"

"Serizawa-han, please forgive her!" One of the older women beside her said, seeing their customer getting outraged.

"She is still but a child." The other quickly said. "Kosuzu-chan, hurry and apologize!"

Ryunosuke could feel people looking in behind him but refused to look away.

"No, there is nothing wrong with what I said." The young maiko said stubbornly. Serizawa, in a fit of rage, threw a sake cup at the young girl, hitting her in the face. Ryunosuke rushing in, seeing his 'master' start to raise a hand at the young girl.

"Serizawa-san, what are you doing!? Cut it out!"

"You're in my way!" He kicked his 'dog' back and realized he had a new target. This is when the other Captains stepped in to calm the situation. The maiko and the two geisha walked by the people at the door and bowed as they left, the two that had arrived first not realizing a crowd was gathering behind them. Serizawa looked to the door to see the western girl standing there, not realizing the man beside her was with her. "What are you looking at, filth of a *****."

"I'm the filth?" she quickly said defending herself. "Last I checked, I wasn't harassing women for speaking their minds." The ease of their language coming from her mouth threw Serizawa off for a moment but quickly narrowed his eyes on the sword attached to her body.

"A woman, with a sword? Get her out of my sight!"

"Ida-sama, please let's leave this." The man beside her whispered, not wanting those around them to get in a fury as well. "They have it under control."

"'Sama'?" A thin man asked, Ida not liking the way he was looking at her.

"She is a guest of my Lord," the man with her quickly said. "She is of status in England."

"But not here." Serizawa said, taking steps towards the intruder and was surprised that she didn't back away.

"Serizawa-san, they're leaving." A tall man with brown hair said, glancing behind him as he got in-between his commander and the girl. "I'm sure they were concerned about the girls, since they screamed."

"Ida, get moving!"A British voice yelled, causing Ida to glance behind her to see that the artists she was protecting looked concerned.

"Run back to your master, dog." Serizawa chuckled. Ida smirked.

"Let's hope yours keeps his lead on you too long." With that she turned away, her smirk now a full smile. As she made her way to the room she was assigned, a pair of men froze when they saw her. With a sincere smile she bowed and went to rejoin her party.

"Was that…" Kondou started asking Hijikata, confused at what they saw.

"We can worry about it later. Let's deal with one thing at a time."

Ida watched as the men gathered their things, their translator frantically trying to keep up as they talked with a local artist, walking towards the door."Damn, I forgot something in the room."One said, causing Ida to sigh as she shock her head.

"I'll get it, you all stick together with the escorts. I'll meet you back at the inn."Ida knew this was going to who can't hold their drinks shouldn't drink at all…she thought, explaining the situation to the person at the front and he agreed to allow her in with the servers cleaning up the room. As she did, she could hear yelling coming from the room where she had encountered the samurai, curious to know what was going on.

"It wouldn't have gotten this carried away if that's all you did!" The voice was obviously angry, Ida not recognizing it as one of the men she had run into. The server gave her the item she was looking for and smiled as she took it. Instead of leaving, she took a seat on the railing and listened in. However, it seemed whatever conversation they were going to have stopped there, and Ida watched as the man she confronted walked away, not even noticing her. Leaning in a little, she was able to see the two men she saw as she was leaving, the longer haired male obviously more frustrated by this than the other. Suddenly she heard, "This makes us no different than those rogue samurai!"

Poor guy,she thought, sighing as she stood to leave. "Oi, oi, foreigner, get out of here." A man said to her, causing her to turn to see a small group of men step back as they see she is a woman. However, the one at the front of the group smirked. "I always wanted to sleep with a foreign girl. I heard they are wild in bed." He smirked, taking a few confident steps towards her.

"Why are they always so obnoxious?"Ida asked herself out loud, sighing as she watched him reach for her. "I'll kill you if you touch me." She threatened, pulling out a pistol and pointing it at the man's forehead.

"You bitch!" The men were confused, unsure if it was an empty threat or not. Souji, Kondou, and Hijikata watched in surprise as the ronin decided to run off, having left their katanas and kodachi in their room. Returning the pistol to its place inside her coat, Ida glanced to her side a little to see that three men were curiously looking at her but not willingly getting closer. She couldn't help but giggle before walking off, to meet up with the group that she was travelling with. Kondou and Hijikata talked to one another about the two quick encounters, Souji being silent about it, finding the discussion and Kondou's intrigue, concerning.

The next day, Hijikata and Kondou met with Sannan to speak aboutwhat had happened at Shimbara, trying to figure out what to do to stop Serizawa from possibly ruining their name more. Kondou couldn't help but bring up the girl they saw. "She pushed off those ronin with one threat. It was quite interesting to see." Kondou wanted to learn more about the girl they saw, his childlike curiosity making it sound like he was taking the foreigners side.

"Ronin are not real men," Hijikata said.

"Toudou-kun mentioned running into an armed girl at Shimbara yesterday." Sannan said, a curious look on his face. "I wonder if it is the same one?"

"Heisuke did?" Kondou questioned, Sannan nodded. "Did he seem concerned?"

"He mentioned that Okita-kun had pulled his blade onto her and she didn't flinch."

"Really?" Hijikata asked, shocked.

"That's enough to be worried about," Kondou said to himself, knowing Souji's urge to kill was very easy to sense. The other two agreed, only all the more curious how to deal with this new possible threat.

A few days went by and Ida had noticed that the men that had started the fight with the maiko were all around Kyoto. She found it interesting as she stood beside one of them and they did not seem to notice her, even when she spoke.I guess they may have been focused on what I was wearing that night…she laughed. One morning, Ida awoke before the sun, glancing to her right to see that Ninja (pronounced Nin-ya) was fast asleep."I thought you agreed to protect me,"she laughed, patting his head and watching his eyes slowly open. His tail wagged in excitement, the face of his owner awake making him realize there were lots of things possibly happening that day."Ready to get up?"His small whimpersounded like he was agreeing, Ida laughing as she stood and got dressed, looking at herself over and over to make sure the simple kimono was on properly. It had taken her almost a week of practice to be able to put it on herself correctly, but she was always worried that something was wrong. The two started walking around the compound, the girl knowing well that she would be worrying the British politicians she travelled with."I need a day to myself,"she said, glancing down at her companion."That would be nice, wouldn't it boy?"Ninja gave a strong bark and Ida could only giggle."You're right."

The day went on and Ida found the opportunity to leave the compound she lived in, without an escort."Ninja will do a better job of protecting me than any of these arrogant pricks."Iba said to Sir Alcock. The Belgian Malinois walked proudly at her heel, waiting for any command. Lord Milton had acquired the dog at the request of his daughter and soon it was terrorizing the house because she was not training it. Ida stepped in, worried they would put him down, saying that she would be able to train it and take care of it.

"My men could bethe escort."

"That was who I was talking about."

"You little -"Immediately Ninja started growling, causing the man to step back."Lucky for you that the beast was trained by you. I wouldn't hesitate to sick it on you, put you in line."

Ida left the compound with a sense of relief. She hated being in Japan, she missed her old life. Even though it was still somewhat limited, she missed her old freedom in Canada.

Kyoto residents looked on in worry at the sight for the dark foreigner with the dog, having never seen that type of dog before and was wondering if the girl was able to control it. However, Ida had no interests in their stares, she was used to it. Instead, when she noticed the young long haired brunette from Shimbara that she had run into, she decided to follow him through the city. She was able to blend in well, her height the only thing she had to worry about of all things. The natural bustle of the city at this time provided the natural cover, similar to what she would look for when fighting. Within the hour, she followed the boy deep into a large , I don't think I know how to get out of here…she thought, though committed and knew she should be able to pull off the 'lost foreigner' card without much issue. Ida admired the large estate, thinking it looked like it was broken up similar to how a landlord in Canada would break up property. Areas that the landlord was using and areas that the tenants used. Coming to a gate, Ida looked at the yard in awe, the large trees and landscape layout very different to what she had gotten used to.

"Oi, who are you!?"A voice yelled behind her, causing Ninja to turn and start to growl, protecting his owner, while she backed up a bit. Ida turned to see that it was two men who had watched her pull a pistol on some ronin, the man with them wearing glasses looking at her curiously.

"Oh, you're that girl…" The man wearing yellow said, his face much friendlier than the others, which Ida was surprised she was getting.

"Ninja, platz."She commanded her companion, the men curious when it immediately reacted to what she said. "Sorry, he is trained to react like that." Ida bowed, smiling genuinely. "I don't believe I've had the honour of formally meeting you." She looked at the three men and saw their confusion easily. "My name is Ida-"

"What are you doing here?" The man with violet eyes and long dark haired barked, Ida curiously raising a brow at the harsh tone.

"I think I am free to wander as I please. I don't see any problem here." She glanced down at Ninja to see he was more hovering than laying down, causing her to say the command again to have him relax.

"It's strange for a Westerner to be walking about this area of Kyoto," the man with glasses said, Ida noticing his voice was quite calm, as if he was trying to tell his friend to do so as well. "I think I speak for all of us when we say it makes us suspicious."

Ida chuckled a little, remembering the first time someone was 'suspicious' of her in her life. She was sitting in a park and some boys started telling her to leave.'We don't want you dirtying the play set.'They had barked, causing her to go home crying.

"You think this is funny!?" The long haired male yelled again, causing Ninja to growl and Ida did not stop it.

"Toshi…" Kondou tried to urge him to calm down.

"No, you're trespassing! We will force you to leave if-"

Suddenly, the owner of the estate walked around the corner, causing Hijikata to quiet down and watched as he looked surprised at the foreigner. However, nothing could have prepared him for the interaction he saw. "My, my, Ida-chan, what are you doing in these parts of Kyoto?" He happily said, walking up to the woman who calmed her dog and talked casually with the older man.

"I was just wandering," she bowed as she shyly smiled. "before I ran into these men. I didn't know you had guards on your property."

"No, I am leasing them space. They actually work for the Aizu," he quickly corrected, looking to the three samurai that were beyond shocked. "Ida-chan introduced me to an incredible European painter." He told the men, pulling the girl along with her to introduce them. "Ida-chan, this is Kondou-san." Ida's dark eyes widened as she looked from the estate owner to the man he pointed to, seeing Kondou nervously smiling and unsure how to react.

"And this is Hijikata-san and Sannan-san," Kondou added, pointing to the two men that flanked him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Ida bowed. She glanced down to see Ninja wandering up to the men and quickly corrected him."Ninja, sitz"and the dog came up to her and sat at her heel. "You are just as the Aizu representative said, Kondou-san."

"You've met the Aizu?" Hijikata said, no longer able to process these crazy things.

"Yes. I think I will be seeing you all much more soon." She smiled, noticing that the sun appeared to be going down. "I don't mean to be rude but I should get going." Ida said her goodbyes, the estate owner begging her to visit again, and the girl left with her companion right beside her.

The next morning, Hijikata, Kondou, and Sannan were confused. The letter seemed to come out of no where. Kondou took it as a sign of their hard work to win the Aizu's favour but Hijikata and Sannan were skeptical. "Why didn't they ask this before when they initially took us in?"

"Things like this take time to organize." Sannan pointed out. "The Lieutenant General probably had some other priorities first." Hijikata didn't want to seem unhappy about the event but it just seemed odd. The girl they keep running into. Serizawa's continuing antics. He was worried that this was a calm before a bigger storm.

Ida was in the courtyard at the compound, curiously watching one of the residents practicing his swordsmanship. In uniform, she glanced down at the sword at her hip and wondered if she should see if her sword had any chance against the Japanese metal. "What are you looking at, girl?" The man asked, causing the girl to flinch as she thought she was well hidden.

"S-sorry, I was just admiring your skills." She said honestly as she stepped forward, Ninja in tow. "Japanese fighting styles are very different than European sword fighting."

"It's superior," the man said, pointing to the girl with the blade, the sun hitting the blade, almost blinding her.

"Both blades have their pros and cons, one is not firmly stronger over the other."

The man seemed annoyed by what she said and started yelling at her. "There is no comparison!" Ida gave him a confused look and it just bothered him more. "It's about respecting the old ways! Respecting the work that goes into that samurai way!"

"Is everything alright?" A voice asked, causing both to look over to her left to see that the man in charge of translating and the British art merchant. Ida didn't realize it but her hand was on her sabre and in a defensive stance with Ninja growling and prepared to strike.

"Ida, what's going on?"The British man asked confused.

"It's nothing," Ida said, standing tall and walking away, telling Ninja to follow. For some reason, what the man said bothered her. She wondered if her sword really did have a disadvantage, but then remembered what Sir Alcock had told her.

"We are here to gain their trust. Do what you need to do, even if you have to sleep with one of them."Coming up with the best way to get a hold of a katana and kodachi, getting ready to put this plan into action*.

*Aizu Military Headquarters, carrying along with them their sparring swords for the demonstration. Everyone could feel Kondou's excitement, he had been dreaming of this day for some time. As they entered the large headquarters, something caught their eye. The woman most of them had met was standing with herdog at her side, speaking with the man Serizawa had initially approached about their organization being taken in andfunded by the Aizu. The man noticed them and happily greeted them as he stepped towards them, however all eyes were staring at the girl who slowly lagged behind. In silence she bowed to them, the dog stopping at her heel and sitting as she did. "I did not know you were inviting pigs to this demonstration." Serizawa had a deadly tone in his voice and Kondou was about to step in to calm him down. But, the girl spoke up first.

"I am simply here as an escort."

"Don't be silly, Ida-chan, you have become quite popular during your time here. You are as much as a guest as those you travel with." The Aizu man happily said, surprising the Roshigumi. "I should introduce you, this is our newly acquired police force, the Roshigumi. Serizawa-san, Kondou-san, and Niimi-san are the commanders." He pointed out the men and Ida bowed to each.

"I have had the honour to meet Serizawa-san and Kondou-san already." Ida smiled. "I am excited to see your demonstration today. I don't get to see much of the skills of the samurai due to my travels."

Serizawa was getting irritated, the smirk she wore when she looked at him told him she was just playing nice. "You have some nerve, rat."

"Serizawa-san, I ask you to watch your tone." The Aizu representative said.

"No, it's fine, Hiroshi-san. I understand his distaste to my presence." Ida glanced at everyone behind him and smiled at two tall men, one with red hair and another with brown hair that were more curious than weary. "We were here waiting for you..." Ida said, looking around, looking to the man beside her to remind him of what they were meant to do.

"Ah, yes," Hiroshi said, getting back on track, "We'll show you to where the demonstration will be held." He turned to start walking with Ida but noticed someone he knew further back in the group and asked Ida to lead the way. Ida walked silently, Ninja looking up and whining at her every once in a while to see why she was so quiet.

"It's nothing, Ninja, don't worry about it."This peaked Harada's interest and he spoke up.

"Is that your pet?"

"Pet? I wouldn't really call him that." Ida glanced behind her to see the red head moving forward more. She smiled as she looked down at Ninja who was trotting beside her. "He's my friend. We have each other backs and we've trusted each other through everything we've been through so far."

"Shouldn't you say that about the people you fight with?" Serizawa chuckled.

"Men have flickering loyalties. The minute they notice the men they trusted are no longer winning they jump sides. I don't have to worry about that with Ninja."

"My, my, Ida-chan, speaking politics to our guests?" Hiroshi laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

"Sorry," Ida chuckled. "Sometimes it can't be helped." Ninja barked at her, stopping as he looked forward, Ida and everyone with her seeing Sir Alcock with some other western men. She narrowed her eyes as she knelt down to her companion."You've made your point, Ninja, give it a rest."

"Come, I'll introduce you to the Lieutenant General." Hiroshi cleared his throat. Ida stood, watching the men walking into the area designated and prepared for the demonstration. Surprisingly, the redhead that asked about Ninja stopped for a moment.

"My name is Harada Sanosuke," he smiled.

"Ida," she smiled back.

"I've never seen a relationship with an animal like the one you have. It's quite interesting."

"I don't think it any different as a relationship with a person." Ida said, glancing at Ninja who appeared to be hoping to let out of his heel."Fine, aus."She laughed and the dog started jumping around. "You have to keep working at it. Giving and taking when appropriate."

Before the redhead could reply, a brunette popped his head out with an annoying tone "Sano, come on."

"Yea, yea. You're sticking around right?" Harada asked the girl.

"Of course." She smiled, letting them walk in without her.

"You're getting awfully friendly, Sano." Shinpachi commented, raising an eyebrow.

"No need to look into it. I was just curious." Sano chuckled, standing to attention with the rest of his comrades.

"Lieutenant General, thank you for the opportunity to demonstrate our skills to you and your command." Kondou bowed, the men behind him following quickly. "I promise you will not be disappointed."

"Thank you for agreeing to come on such short notice." The man smiled. "We have some artists from England that were interested in painting our samurai so I had seen it as a great opportunity." That caused everyone to understand why there were foreigners in the audience. "However, it seems we are missing someone." The general said curiously. "Hiroshi, Ida was with you. Where did she run off to?"

Hiroshi was quiet for a moment, unsure of where she had gone. Then Sano spoke up, "My Lord, I believe she is letting her companion get out some energy."

"Ahh, right. Well, she should arrive by the time we are ready to start." He smiled. Everyone started moving to their seats and the Roshigumi captains went off to one side, Heisuke and Hijikata setting up for the first match. Silently, Ida slipped in with Ninja, smiling in apology to the General as she stood at attention, facing Heisuke's back.

"May the game…begin!" Ida watched with curiosity as the pair, each confident in their own ways, fought to impress their new lord. Ida had to keep in a small laugh as the young boy had a bruise forming on his face already by the end of the match, with Hijikata making his way to a seat beside Kondou. The next two to come out looked like an obvious win to Ida, the brunette was taller and looked to be in better shape. But then Ida noticed something that was not in the first pair, the indigo haired man was standing in a left-handed stance. From the time she had been in Japan, she had never seen a left-handed they force right-handed fighting onto people here?It would be a significant disadvantage for the brunette if that was the case, as he would not have had the practice like he would with right-handed opponents. At first, they seemed equally matched, but then out of no where, the slighter fighter displayed movement that Ida had never seen before. She knew it was impressive when everyone but the Roshigumi were shocked about it. Then, finally, the last pair came out, the General not missing the smirk that Ida gave the younger male as she stood behind the opponent. As they began fighting, Ida saw something, the younger male she had run into at Shimbara had a very different stance than the others she had seen. Raising an arm as the training blade rested on it, Ida watched in awe at the strike that the opponent missed. It was a flamboyant strike but she knew it wasn't conventional.

"I must say, Kondou-san, you fighters are impressive." The general said, a smile on his face.

"Ah, thank you, sir." He bowed, Hijikata following along.

"I would like to see how this foreigner fights." Serizawa said, catching the attention of everyone, including the captains that were off hiding. Ida glanced at him, her face straight and showing no emotion.

"Careful what you wish for, Serizawa-san." Hiroshi chuckled, everyone looking at the girl stare the burly samurai down with an unreadable look. Her black eyes daring him to push to her to agree.

"Does she carry around that sword for decoration or can she actually use it?" Niimi said, the men around him looked worried. He was starting to cross a line.

"Ida," the Lieutenant General called her, "Do you have your training sword close by?"

"No, sir, it is back at the compound."

"She is more than welcome to use ours." Kondou said, nervously smiling at the girl that was walking up to them.

"Or,"an English voice said, causing everyone to look to see Sir Alcock stepping forward, pushing past the captains who had just fought."Ida can show you her general fighting skills along with her control of that animal."He said, Ida glaring at him and the translator speaking to see what the group thought.

"Why not?" The General said happily, Ida looking down to Ninja who was looking at her, confused about what was going on. "Ida-chan, if you don't mind?"

"Of course," she sighed, bowing before getting someone's attention as she walked away. "Can you get the training stuff and reward bag for him?" She asked him, "It's just on the other side of the tent there." The second Ninja heard training, he started jumping around like a child. Ida smiled and totally forgot the people she was around. Calling Ninja away from the border, she askedhim to stay, bark and growl to set the standard for what Ida was looking for. It was helping her figure out what she could try doing. However, the men sitting thought it was part of the demonstration and thought it was interesting how to dog immediately knew what she was looking for. "Okay, I think we are good to go." Ida said, tossing Ninja a piece of meat and grabbing the harness.

"Go? What do you mean?" Hijikata questioned, leaning forward.

"As in start the demonstration. I just wanted to get him ready for it." Ida said, her eyes not leaving the buckles that she needed to do up. Taking the long lead and clipping it to the back of the harness, Ida looked up remembering she had no one to be the decoy. "I'll need someone's help." She looked to the group, seeing the men look at her worried. "It's fine, you might just end up with a bruise." They saw she was being honest but still did not come forward because she was not saying what would happen.

"Fine," Serizawa stepped forward, intrigued.

"Thank you, sir." She bowed and walked with him to the other end of the arena. She asked him to confirm the arm he would rather use and started to explain with simple and, purposefully, vague instructions."All I need you to do is to stand here, this arm with the padding out front," she said as she slide it on. "Keep this part over your hand, that's important, and hit the padding with this." She produced a stick, that looked like it had been frayed, from behind her. "Is that alright?"

"Yes."

Ida smiled as she walked back to an eager Ninja and looked behind her, "Oh, and try to be as menacing as , Pass Auf,"she commanded the dog, the animal immediately standing and keeping his gaze on the target in front of him. "When you are ready, Serizawa-san!" It took him a moment but he started yelling and hitting his arm like she had asked him."Ninja, Gib Laut,"immediately the dog started barking, echoing in the open arena and causing everyone to flinch the first time."Voraus,"Ida said, causing the dog to start trying to get to Serizawa. "Keep the arm high," she ordered the samurai, smirking when he saw a flash of realization hit him."Ninja, voraus,"she encouraged the dog again, the barks getting faster and more violent."Fass!"Ida let the harness go and Ninja went charging towards Serizawa, Ida following slowly behind. When Ninja bit hard onto the sleeve, the force pushed Serizawa on his back."Gut, Ninja, gut."Ida encouraged as she got closer, the crowd surprised as the dog shook Serizawa's arm like it was trying to tear it apart. "Slide your arm out," Serizawa didn't need to be told twice and quickly did, Ninja looking like a puppy with his first toy as he happily trotted away with his prize.

"It took out Serizawa-san…" someone commented in disbelief. Ida was ignoring them and congratulating Ninja with food. "It has so much power."

"Has it ever attacked you, Ida-chan?"

"Never."

"Not even on accident?"

"Never. He knows we protect each other. If he attacked me, it would mean he wouldn't get to go to the mountains or rivers anymore." Ida laughed, patting Ninja on the head as he looked for her to do more."Not yet buddy, later."She spoke to him.

"So the mutt can fight but what about its owner?" Serizawa said, seeming to have gotten over his shock.

"I have it all organized."Sir Alcock said, stepping forward with a mix of English and Japanese men with wooden weapons.

"That's not a very fair fight." Sannan whispered as he stood with the rest of the Roshigumi captains. They watched as Ida got Ninja to lay down off to the side and to stay in place. She turned to some of the men at the curtain to ask them to get some water for him as well until they returned to the compound. Returning to the group Ida looked confused as she noticed no one had an extra training sword.

"Her task," the translator started saying, "it to take them all out starting without a weapon."

"What?" Everyone asked.

"It's survival of the fittest," Serizawa said.

"But still…" Kondou started, even Hijikata agreed she had a slim chance of winning. Ida sighed as she started removing her weapons that were hiding throughout her uniform. Four daggers and two pistols were placed to the side. "Why not go against Toshi?" Kondou quickly said. "A traditional samurai vs a traditional European?" Kondou glanced past Hijikata, knowing that he wanted nothing to do with it. Everyone waited for the Lieutenant General to answer and he thought about it closely.

"Please, Hijikata-san. If you don't mind."

"Not at all, sir." The male bowed as he came into the arena, Ida seeing Sir Alcock gritting his teeth as his plan had gone to waste. He had probably wanted the opportunity to see her get beaten down, possibly to show the native fighters would think her weak. Despite this he stuck around, wanting to see what would happen. After all, having been brought up as a child with slaves in the home, this sight used to be something regular for him. It had been entertainment.

"I'm afraid I won't be much of a match for you," Ida said, taking a training weapon from one of the men.

"Are you asking me to go easy on you?"

"Of course not."

"Ready?" The referee asked, Hijikata nodding and Ida hesitated before doing it herself. "Start!"

Hijikata tapped her sword with his and pushed back, Ida remembering his start to his match, he had waited for his opponent to strike first. Everyone could see her gears turning and took note that she was holding the weapon with one hand, with her left hand.

"You're thinking too much," Hijikata said, bringing the sword to his side like he had done he trying to help me?Ida took a breath and relaxed a little, but she didn't know what to do. Observing him, she noticed her opponent shift his weight onto his back 's going to push he did, with a strong step forward and striking from above. Ida gripped the sword with both hands and blocked the strike, sliding out of the way to try and get a hit in. She aimed for his side but he easily blocked it, allowing Hijikata to easily move to another over head strike. Ida almost missed the block and didn't expect the forward ****** towards her face that she had to duck to evade. Ida attempted to copy Hijikata's forward ****** but he moved out of the way and the two regrouped as they stood, facing one another again. Ida set herself into her back leg, this time starting the attack with an attempt at Hijikata's side, which he blocked. The skilled sword wrapped around her, causing her to drive her sword between the small space. Pushing his sword away, Ida tried to move out of the way. Something felt off and she instinctively tried to protect her back but a pain rung through her spine.

"Hit!" She hissed as she hunched over, eying Hijikata waiting for her to stand again.I have a long way to go…Ida thought. Surprisingly, when she got to her feet, her opponent had an impressed look on his face and gave a steady bow. Ida followed, after all, she was nowhere near the skill he had. The styles were quite different but there was some overlap. But her European skills with a Japanese sword showed her flaws. Even more surprising to her, some of the Aizu and Roshigumi were impressed and wanted to speak with her more but she excused herself quickly.

"I need to feed Ninja." She said, calling him as she picked up her things and disappeared behind the curtain.

Darkness fell over the Lieutenant General Headquarters, the Roshigumi having been invited by the Aizu to attend a dinner in celebration of their skills and officially welcome them. Everyone was speaking about how excited they were in the collaboration of the new force with the Aizu, surprised that they were once just a small dojo in Edo. A few made comments about Ida, a combination of 'oddly beautiful for a Blackwoman' and 'scary like they had heard from the western tales.' Kondou slightly frowned, thinking that the girl should have just been judged by her skills. "What's wrong Kondou-san?" Hijikata asked. "You look concerned."

"I just feel bad for that girl, is all."

"She's a westerner. It's natural that people won't trust her." Before Kondou could say anything else, Hijikata continued. "I know you like to give people the benefit of the doubt, Kondou-san. But, we both know what these foreigners are like. We have to be careful."

Kondou gave a sad smile before nodding, "I guess your right." They were happily drinking like the rest of the group, and it was around this time that Ida was walking around the compound to try and tire herself out. As she walked towards the building the Roshigumi was in, Ida came across a small stream that reminded her of her parents. Ninja immediately started playing in the water, causing her to giggle as she watched.

There was a lullaby her mom used to sing her, one that came from her dad's side of the family. After slavery was abolished in the colonies, it was common for the men to get jobsworking on the whaling and fishing boats. Even before they were shipped from their homes in Africa, the stories told of the great acts men had done on the ocean to provide for their families. When the men returned, they always spoke of a song that was sung by sirens to try and get their ships close to the shores. Ida didn't really think about the song before, but in the moment she couldn't help herself but hum the song. She hadn't felt this home sick ever since she strangely arrived in England. But now, Ida was trying to navigate through unchartered land, in a time and place she never truly understood.

Hijikata and Saito, deciding that they needed some fresh air, walked onto the porch of the building. Getting away from the noise and bustle of the drinkers. The two froze, noticing the girl and the noisy room they had just left was silencing the song she sang. They took quiet steps towards her, and soon they were able to hear her perfectly.

Upon one summer's morning

I carelessly did stray

Down by the Walls of Whapping

where I met a sailor gay

Conversing with a young lass, who seemed to be in pain,

saying 'William, when you go i fear,you'llne'rbe seen again'

His hair it does in ringlets hang

his eyes as black as sloes,

may happiness attend him

wherever he may go

From Tower Hill to Blackwall, Iwill wander weap and moan,

all for my Jolly Sailor bold, until he does return

My father is a merchant

the truth Iwill now tell

and in great London City

in opulence doth well

Hisfortune does exceed 300,000 pounds in gold

and he frowns upon his daughter because she loves a sailor bold

Come all you pretty fair maids,

whoever you may be

who love a Jolly Sailor bold that ploughs the raging sea

While up aloft in storm or gale

From me his absence mourn,

and firmly pray arrive the day

he home will safe return

My name it is Maria, a merchant's daughter fair,

and Ihave left my parents and three thousand pounds a year

My heart is pierced by Cupid,

I disdain all glittering gold,

there is nothing that can console me, but my Jolly Sailor Bold.

"It's a shame she is not Japanese," Saito commented, sighing as he turned to walk back into the hall. Hijikata thought about the statement for a moment, realizing that he had thought the same thing, not considering that he could possibly make an exception. However, still curious, he started walking over to the girl, finding the Lieutenant General had already gotten there and had asked her about the song.

"The maids used to sing that song," Ida lied, looking over at Ninja as he happily yipped at a small fish.

"At your parents home?"

"N-No, sir, at the home of Lord Milton. The patron of Sir Alcock."

"Then what of your parents?" Hijikata watched with incredible interest, the Lieutenant glancing tohim when he asked the question but doing nothing to make his presence known.

"I don't know. I haven't seen them in some time." Her voice was sad, something that threw off both men. Hijikata stepped forward, his steps on the gravel causing Ida to look behind her and bow to the man.

"Hijikata-san, I must commend you again for your great performance today."

"Thank you, sir." Hijikata said, bowing before looking to Ida to see she was different from when he had first seen her. Much more docile and seemed to be defensive instead of willing to attack.

"I am honoured to have sparred with someone of your skill." Ida said, bowing again, her voice quiet. "It's an experience I don't think I will be able to have again." She stood tall and smiled, Hijikata not able to hold in the small one that showed on his face.

"You're very different, than the foreigners I have met in the past." He said, unable to hide his curiosity.

"Have you ever met a black woman from the colonies?"

"N-No, I haven't."

Ida smirked, a small laugh leaving her lips. "That's probably why. Excuse me, I should be going." Ida bowed before calling Ninja. Neither man could comment about anything that was said and she walked to her lodgings for the night, having some new thoughts about everything going on*.