The day beforehand…

'Dear Aiko-sama, you must know why we have yet to join you on your most admirably brave and honorable quest. You see, Aoiyuri-chan thought she knew a shortcut and after about two hours of following her, we landed right back at Boss' hideout, but we're getting very close now. I know it seems silly to send a letter when we'll be seeing you in about a day and a half, but Noburu can fly really fast, so I know he'll reach you in less than a day, and I just really think that you should know what's taking so long. Plus, Katsu-san recently had one of his tantrums and he won't be normal by the time we arrive, so brace yourself. We'll see you soon, Aiko-sama! -Akakiku'

"There! All done!" the girl rolled up the letter and tied a silvery braid that was entwined from a victim's hair around it. She turned to the little, undersized hawk. "Here you go, Noburu. Be hasty with your mission," she whispered softly as she fit the letter into the pack on Noburu's back.

The girl watched the little hawk shake a few times to get comfortable before saying, "Noburu, we should change your appearance in case someone intercepts you. Being wanted in many villages does not leave room for the luxury of carelessness," She pulled a transformation tag from her pouch and smoothed it onto Noburu's chest. She quickly activated it and the hawk turned into a tawny owl. Noburu nodded in acknowledgement and took to the air. When he was about 20 feet into the air, his whole body suddenly expanded more than 10 times its own size. Then, with the flick of his tail feathers, he disappeared from sight. Akakiku looked admiringly at the scene but was startled when a sudden deep and irritated voice edged in.

"And away flies the little featherbrain, leaving a hopeful little suck-up. Why must you always try to get on Aiko-sama's good side? That's already proved to be useless, seeing as she doesn't treat you any different."

"Well if you're so sure it doesn't work, then why do you guys always get mad at me for it?" she challenged.

"Because, you know as well as I do that Aiko-sama can change her whole attitude and perspective in a split-second. At any day and time, she could just decide that she actually cares about which subordinate is the most valuable. At that point, she would choose you. The rest of us would be left out," the voice said.

"And your well-being is my concern?" she retorted.

"As a matter of a fact, it is. If you get treated special by Aiko-sama, you know what that means?" the voice pried, "Lots and lots of visits from your embittered servants—that's how we'll turn out—who will eventually decide to kill you," the voice sniggered.

"Nicely thought out, however, it's highly unlikely that your smart prediction will come true, even if she does have a change of mind like that," she retorted.

Akakiku turned to face Osamu, the wielder of the deep voice, and an extremely intelligent man. He pushed the squarish glasses further up the bridge of his nose. He hopped from the dark shaded tree limb to the one Akakiku stood on that had a small hole of light shining from an opening in the trees through which Noburu took off. He landed right in front of her. He crouched down so that his face would be level with hers. Their faces were only a couple inches apart, enough for Akakiku to smell the scent of apples on his breath as he spoke. "Don't dig yourself into a ditch of 'impression' you can't get out off."

He leaned a little closer and kissed her soft cheek. She blushed and Osamu turned to take off and check on Katsu. Akakiku stood quietly, thinking of how warm and sensitive his whisper was. She had loved him for so long, even though they fought. And still, he only kissed her on the cheek. He knew, but for some reason would go no farther than a gentle kiss on the cheek. A loud, smacking noise and a puff of smoke surrounded her as she transformed into her red bunny form and took leaping bounds from tree limb to tree limb to join Osamu in checking on Katsu.

Meanwhile, the encaged and enraged Katsu thrashed about, swiping at the metal bars and yelling as his fists came away bloody and throbbing. His eyes bulged in madness and frustration. The tall Osamu appeared next to the cage and sat down calmly. "Hush now. I'll sing you a song, but first you must calm down," he explained.

Katsu, acting very much like a dog, sat down in his cage and calmed down some. No living creature could resist Osamu's wondrous gift of voice. He began to sing a beautiful song about little children running around on a sunny day, playing and laughing. Katsu settled in a ball in his doggish way and slept. Osamu stood up and when he turned around, a red rabbit about the size of dog was waiting. The red rabbit transformed back with the smacking noise and smoke and walked closer to look at Katsu snoring in the cage. She plopped onto the dirt. "It puzzles me still. What was it that caused Katsu to go into his frenzy?" she puzzled.

"The answer is still unclear, but doesn't it seem really weird how he acts like a dog in the aftermath of it all?" Osamu muttered, then he chuckled.

"Not really. He transforms into a wolf, just like Aiko-sama," Akakiku answered, "maybe it's just a thing with the jutsu's "tiny details", as Boss likes to say."

They both laughed. It was kind of a joke between them all. Whenever something strange happened to them, the Boss would always blame it on the tiny details of the justsu performed to give them their animal transforming abilities.

"Perhaps, that could be true."

Once again startled by a sudden voice from behind, Akakiku jumped. She turned around on her bottom and stared angrily up in the tree at her sister, Aoiyuri. Aoiyuri, a lot like herself, had yellowish-brown hair with blue eyes. They both dressed in simple little dresses, Akakiku in a red one, Aoiyuri in a blue one, to match both of their names. Also to match their names, Akakiku wore a tattoo of a red chrysanthemum on her right upper arm, and Aoiyuri wore one of a blue lily on her left upper arm. They were identical twins but they were total opposites. Akakiku was the cute one and Aoiyuri was the tomboy.

"Why do you people always have to sneak up behind me? It's weird and all mysterious-like," Akakiku complained.

"You are such a poor, little baby," Aoiyuri's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"At least I don't prefer to eat beetles over real food," Akakiku taunted.

"Ah, go bite a carrot!" her sister snapped in reply.

"Ladies! Ladies! Just shut up or Katsu's gonna wake up!" Osamu whispered sharply.

Aoiyuri hopped down from the tree and strode over to the caged Katsu. "Don't you think we should get going, now?"

"Actually, yes, I do believe it's time we started going now." Osamu replied. He slapped out a thick rope like a lasso and tied it tightly around the cage. Then he took the other end of the long rope and secured it around his waist. With all of his strength, he smoothly lifted the cage with the grown man inside so he wouldn't disturb him, and hoisted it onto his back in an awkward sort of way. "Alright, I've got him. Now, let's go."

The girls nodded. Akakiku leapt to her feet and they all disappeared, running through the trees. Little did they know, a very unhappy captain was coming to meet them.