"I'm hungry." My Brother's stomach growls and he rubs it with a forlorn expression.

Our Sister giggles, her eyes sparkling with muted mischief and delight. "You're always hungry."

"Sou..." He agrees.

My Sister and I exchange amused expressions. She's not really my Sister, just like my Brother isn't actually my Brother, but they're My Brother and Sister.

We're very lucky to have found each other, especially so young. It's hard for Kamaitachi to find partners anymore. Kits aren't as common as they once were because it's too expensive to survive with three small kits to raise now days. And it's rare that three are born together.

She smiles and I know she mirrors my joy in our togetherness.

We are the Kamaitachi three, two Brothers and a Sister.

"Then why don't we do something about it?" I smile at him. "It's been a while since we... ate."

There's power in ritual, and there's power in the spilling of blood. We don't need much, not more than a few drops, to keep our energy levels up. It doesn't really hurt the ningen, they're healed and we're gone before they realise anything has happened and it's good practice for when we get older.

"But who?" My Brother asks as we look around the schoolyard. It's Noontime, and our classmates are running around on the playground, shrieking and laughing. Bundles of growing hyperactive energy.

"What about..." Our Sister grins practically glowing with not so muted mischief as she bounces up and down and points. "Him?"

My Brother and my eyebrows rise. "Him?!"

"You sure?" My Brother asks, leaning over our smaller Sister.

She just grins up at him. "Haven't you ever wondered what he'd taste like? He acts so funny, he must taste interesting too!"

She's not talking about how the blood tastes, but his own personal energies. Everyone is different. And she's right, he must taste interesting. My Brother and I nod in agreement.

"Yosh!" My Brother cheers, arms raised in the air. "I'll go first!" He's not as fast as Our Sister or I, but he's a lot bigger. He can trip an adult if he wants to.

"I'll go next!" Our Sister bubbles. She's the smallest of we three, and the fastest. She's the one that cuts. Which is really funny, because the rest of the time she's somewhat squeamish around blood.

"I'll go last!" I cheer, caught up in their enthusiasm. My job is to heal the person before we all vanish. I like healing people, putting things together like they should be. Aside from healing the small cut that Our Sister makes, all I know is some basic first aid, but eventually I'd like to become a doctor. Or maybe a scientist. But not like Agasa-hagasei, I want to be one that cures illnesses.

"Here I go!" My Brother disappears, I can't see him while I'm in human guise and standing still. Our Sister disappears with a bounce and a giggle a half a blink later, chasing after him. I grin, pull out some gauze and my small jar of salve from a pocket and follow them.

Less than a second later, I realise that we have made a huge mistake.

There's no blood in the cut that Our Sister made.

And she's being held by the back of her shirt, brown eyes wide and afraid as my Brother lays on the ground, looking dazed.

A strong hand grabs the back of my collar and with a sudden backwards jerk, I'm dually caught and stopped as well. "Erk!"

I look up into dark purple eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. Violet eyes I knew were Blue before.

It's like looking Death in the eye.

And Death is amused.

Whoops.

"Mitsuhiko-kun." I wince. "Ayumi-chan." She winces. "Genta-kun." He grimaces.

Conan-kun almost-but-not-quite-smirks at us. "I am NOT a Noontime snack."

My brother speaks up from his sprawled position. "Aw, man..."

-fin-

Kamaitachi - Sickle Weasel. Kama = Sickle, Itachi = Weasel

Fans of Ushio no Tora will prolly recognise the reference. ^__^ They're very fast, no one actually knows what they look like. If you get a mysterious cut on yourself or your clothing, its said that a Kamaitachi did it.