The afternoon was hazy and wet, and Asahi had an itch in her dainty ivory paws to pull a prank on a sibling or two. She had spent the better part of the morning finding it fun to balance on a length of wood while it balanced on a rounded rock. Which had given her a great idea of how to introduce the idea to her siblings!

She pulled the rounded rock around to a section of the path in the bamboo maze. She took a few minutes to perfectly place the rock in a stream that ran under a few of the boards in the path. Settling it into the creek bed so when the board was replaced on top it looked natural and even! Now the fun begins! If one of her siblings steps on this board in particular they'll get a wet foot and find out they can balance on the board!

Asahi bounded along the paths between the Bamboo as if her tail were on fire. She darted over the paths looking for one of them there! Jiro! She skidded to a halt over the path, ever the ungraceful of the Hattori eleven.
"Jiro!" Asahi sputtered, a half level above a whisper, "Come, come!" Her face was plastered with mischievous delight. The little golden girl urged of her more stoic siblings, would he be curious enough to follow? As she raced back through the bamboo she found Seiko! With a giggle, she lightly bumped into her sibling and said again in her whisper voice, "Come!" And bounded down the maze. She came upon her prank and leaped over the special balancing plank and kept going, but stopped as she rounded a corner and peered around it to watch the mischief unfold.

Speech

Given the nature of their huge family, it was not at all a surprise to be pulled in various directions by their siblings. It'd be more surprising if they were left completely alone, to be honest. But Asahi was one of their quieter siblings, so hearing a summons to follow them was a little bit perplexing. Not enough to make Seiko really pause long at all, but they found their brows furrowing tightly as they turned and headed after their sister through the bamboo. Herajika, Seiko's antlered cat friend who had only recently been given a name, scrambled after them. Moving through the rows of bamboo came naturally to them, which was no surprise given their upbringing here. The feline had gotten used to these lands too, and the tabby moved easily through the rows of bamboo, easily slinking between the tightly-clustered sections to follow Seiko. Distracted by following after Asahi, which was proving hard given how quickly she'd bounded ahead, Seiko didn't quite notice something different - the board balanced carefully over the rock - even though it was out of place. Stepping on the board made them wobble, and then slide slightly to the side, paw slipping into the stream. It happened quickly enough that they were flustered, abruptly jerking back and shaking off their wet paw. Who'd left that there?! It didn't even strike them that it had been placed intentionally. The board came back up, balanced perfectly again as Seiko grumbled a little bit and glanced around, searching for where Asahi had gone.

Jiro is lounging idly in a small corner of the bamboo when Asahi goes running through. His cat, unnamed for now, is perched upon him, grooming himself to perfection when the little golden and ivory sister careens to a dust and pebble spraying stop. A sputtering cough leaves Jiro quickly as his cat zooms out of the way to hide in the shadows of the bamboo. Asahi's whispering urgency gives him no choice or time to question the issue. Instead, Jiro finds himself hefting himself up onto his paws, giving a quick shake of his coat, and off he goes to follow his sister.

Racing through the bamboo as if there's a fire, his brow furrows too when Seiko is roped into the group. A look is cast over to his other sibling as they dutifully follow Asahi along the corridors. Though he and Seiko are larger than Asahi, they had trouble keeping up. Their sister is quick to pull ahead of them, leaping over a stream that divides the path ahead of them. As she zooms up to the corner, Jiro is not far behind Seiko as they approach the stream. Noticing the boards placed neatly over the water, he doesn't waste time thinking of why they weren't there the day before.

Stepping forward onto the board beside Seiko, Jiro's own paw slips into the icy water. A disgruntled noise of surprise leaves him as he tries to balance, wobbling back and forth on the wood. Looking up from the predicament, he see the small form of Asahi ahead of them, waiting at the corner. Had she planned this little joke? "Come back here, punk!" Jiro shouts out after Asahi, a grin on his dark muzzle.

Hiding behind the corner of the bamboo she watched expectantly for her little prank to succeed. Would they be surprised and find the fun in it or would they be mad?

Her siblings weren't far behind her! Asahi watched in silent glee while Seiko walked over the board first and got a wet paw! Then Jiro found out how it worked! She spun in a tight circle with a giggle, as he called out to her. She dashed toward them then dashed back behind the bamboo. Uncertain what she wanted to do next and too excited to think straight.

After a moment she slunk her way back toward them, a mischievous smile plastered still on her lips. Her tail tucked submissively under her but still wiggling with delight. Did they think it was fun?