In Little Sister, Fujiwara no Mitsuko is the thirteen year old fourth daughter of a powerful noble of the Fujiwara clan. Her carefully proscribed life (wearing layers of kimonos, writing poetry, and hiding behind protective screens as a lady of her rank should) is torn asunder when their home is raided and burned by warrior-monks. As the family flees the city, her oldest sister Amaiko's new husband is killed, and Amaiko falls into a catatonic state. Believing that the only way she can help her beloved sister is to go after Amaiko's lost soul, which is seeking her husband's soul, Mitsuko must journey to the netherworld. She is assisted by a tengu, a shape-shifting demon named Goranu, whom she meets when she and Amaiko take shelter in a little shrine. There, she prays to the kami (spirit) of the shrine for help and promises to repair the shrine and see that it is not forgotten. Goranu appears to be the answer to her prayers as he takes her to the Dragon King, to Lord Emma-O (Judge of the Dead), and even to the Land of the Ancestors in her quest to save her sister's soul. Goranu is a mischievous, humorously appealing character, who can be a man or a black-feathered bird-like creature. As he assists Mitsuko, he helps her to find her own courage and abilities and to ultimately reunite her family. The story is told in the first person, in a voice appropriate to Mitsuko's age and background.

Nice.... novel, like the part of story when tengu can be frenz with human, n finally fall in love with mitsuko, well not ending with happy like a fairytale story, yet it's so human n GREAT!!!