A black ball of flowing golden hair tinged with white tips fluttering out the back and black lighting traveled across a full moon. Rikya and Ichi at the center, a daredevil smile on each of their faces. One of Rikya's fox tails uncurled from Ichi's waist.

Ichi nosedived towards the schoolhouse. Dense dark green trees encircled the place he spent everyday for the past six months.

Within those six months, he hadn't known anything about those girls that were around him. Not a single conversation. That had changed entirely. Satou was the only one he hadn't dealt with. Hopefully, she wouldn't be a fallen angel with a magical sword that kills you in one strike. Ichi prayed as the wind whipped past his body.

The day before, Rikya had Satou move out of the schoolhouse. Satou lived there even on the weekdays. As for Rikya she wasn't sure she or Ichi would survive, but, she said, if there was ever a chance to stage a fight against the worst member of the Seer Council, it would be here. Ichi thought it was weird Myon or Rikya didn't complain about going up against someone that sounded like he could swat them like a fly. Ichi realized it. Syon said that night that there were six people trapped here. That included him, Myon, Rikya, and even Satou. And Renya.

Ichi felt the chilling wind blow past him as he aimed his body for the rooftop, making out Renya's form with a glittering drawn katana out from a vast distance.

"Could Rikya have been wrong?" Ichi muttered under his breath.

His ability to smell astounded him, after training his abilities with Rikya he felt like he could smell every leaf. The wood on Myon's stock had an earthy smell. She hanging far out, as if on point. Ichi had to crane his head against the rushing wind to get a sense of where she was. A vantage point? Ichi looked over to the mountain Rikya's house was hidden in, Myon was all the way at the top. He couldn't see her, but how could she even get over here if something happened?

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Ichi felt abandoned for a second before remembering it's Myon. She had battle experience across the entire planet. She may have even fought people like the Seer's Council without breaking a sweat. Ichi chose to rely on her judgement. The other girl, Syon, who smelled like a wet paper bag, Ichi couldn't place. It was as if she were on the rooftop as well. Invisibility?

It wouldn't surprise Ichi. After all, in a few days he learned more than a few tricks himself. Tanuki, or racoon-dogs, are known for their ability to shapeshift. During that kendo fight, Ichi wanted to fly away from Myon. Turn into a bird and fly away, Ichi imagined.

And, as Myon taught him, magic is limited by the imagination. Once you believe that you can, the rest is trusting that you can. Ichi already knew he was a tanuki, and already believed that tanuki could change shapes. Despite that, he still only managed two forms. He'd work on the other three he came up with some other time. At least he got the two he wanted most.

That early morning with Myon where she cooked that lobster bisque stuck in his mind. That disapproving glare his Grandpa gave him burned into his mind like a hot coal.

"Don't talk like that to my daughter!"

If his face could talk it would sound like that to Ichi. He brought that eagle stare to mind as he saw Renya's head tilt up on the rooftop, eyeing him with interest.

"Thanks, Grandpa. Form of Eagle!"

It was easier to say it out loud. Ichi thought it was lame, but he did it anyways because it helped him get the transformation right. Ichi's body warped, the stick of balance and his clothes morphing into his body as a brown two meter wingspan spread out. Ichi's eagle head was white, and his new sharper gaze let him make out Renya's smiling face.

Ichi made circles, letting the wind carry his smaller body in a spiral to land deftly on the rooftop. Eagle Ichi stared at Renya, and cocked his head, as if asking her if she could handle this.

"You've changed," Renya laughed. "How could I possibly have predicted you'd show up as an eagle? You're amusing, if nothing else."

Her white one piece fluttered in the wind as she held her katana shining under the moon and its sheath in a backwards grip like the folded arm of a praying mantis. "Welcome, Ichi. I've been waiting."