Duran-kun and Kiyo-chan's Omake Theater
(featuring the Munakata family pet)
The morning sun was just beginning to filter through the leaves of the trees, the last of dawn's silver-gray fading from the sky in favor of daytime's brilliant blue. It looked like it was going to be an absolutely splendid spring day.
From their dark coloration and scavenging habits, crows have gotten a reputation as birds of ill omen, stalkers of the night along with owls and bats and other creatures that humans weren't entirely comfortable with. For his part, the exceptionally large (bigger, indeed, than a raven) crow did look like he could do with tucking his head under his wing and napping until sundown. Or at least to dip his beak into a steaming mug of strong coffee.
Still, Yatagarasu decided, it was time to get up. He twitched his single claw, which was a little tight from keeping him secure on his perch all night, fluffed out his wings, then extended his neck and gave a long, luxurious stretch. He felt a little better, though he was still bleary from a lack of sleep. Ordinarily he resented terms like "birdbrain" or "featherwit," but in this case they accurately reflected his groggy awareness.
He was not doing this for the fun of it, or even for the perceived lifestyle benefits of "early to bed, early to rise." No, he had a more selfish motivation, rooted in a different pithy proverb: "the early bird gets the worm."
And sure enough, he realized with some amazement, there was a big, juicy worm right there in front of him! He yawned once, flapped experimentally to make sure he was awake enough to fly, and dove, snapping the worm up in his beak and launching into the air again.
"Aaaaaugh!" Shiho screamed. Being woken up by having one of her ponytails nearly yanked out of her skull wasn't exactly a peaceful experience, and it hurt like heck besides. "Let go!" she wailed, swatting reflexively at what was pulling and chasing a startled Yatagarusu away from his intended prey. "You stupid bird, what were you doing?"
Yatagarusu flapped back to his perch and gave an abashed caw.
"Aw, geez, I've really got to get a new hairstyle!"