The Fujiwara clan, also referred to as “the Birds of Fujiwara” is an ostensibly average family in Mitakihara whose members live double lives as information brokers. While their sources are unknown, the Fujiwara clan’s network has shown to be immense, and its members are privy to information about past, present and even future that even organisations such as the Conductors and the 6th Bureau are unaware of. Nevertheless, the Birds don’t give away their information for free. If someone asks them for information that might otherwise do harm, they will assign this person an individualized “Impossible Task” to make them prove their worth. Only should the client fulfil this task, will the Birds grant them their request.
Kotori Ito
| Age | 16 |
| Occupation | Second-year high school student, information broker (trainee) |
| Likes | Mathematics, gardening, kimonos, Miho |
| Dislikes | Arguments, the 6th Bureau |
| Pastimes | Reading, studying, gardening |
| @BirdsOfFujiwara |
Kotori Ito is a second-year student at Mitakihara High and a member of Aoi’s Argent Sisterhood. Proper, polite and reserved, she often acts as the voice of reason during the Sisterhood’s many discussions, often in contrast to her best friend Miho Kawakami, and abhors conflict. Unbeknownst to her friends, however, her true allegiance lies with her family, in which she holds the title of “Fujiwara no Karasu” — although she is still an apprentice, having not yet completed her own Impossible Task.
In spite of her hatred of conflict, Kotori’s fears of the group’s fragile peace being threatened by the 6th Bureau’s attempts to control Mitakihara’s community of Puellae Magi eventually cause her to back up Miho’s plan to attack the Bureau’s Headquarters. When the raid goes awry and Miho loses her life, however, something snaps within Kotori. Stricken by grief, she offers up her Soul Gem to Aoi as a battery for Aoi’s powers. After Aoi’s fight against Anisa Nobunaga, Yui recovers Kotori’s Soul Gem and returns her soul to her dormant body, allowing Kotori to, albeit reluctantly, rejoin her family. Later, she reveals that this is not the first time she has gone without a body, as she claims to be living with a disease not even magic can cure.
Very little is known about Kotori’s abilities as a Puella Magi, only that she is more powerful than she lets on, preferring to be seen as weak and dependent on Aoi’s healing like the other members of the Sisterhood. When she goes on a rampage through the Bureau’s troops following Miho’s death, she does however show of her fighting prowess and transformation, which appears to turn her into a horrifying human-crow hybrid.
Kenji Ito
| Age | 38 |
| Occupation | Karaoke parlor manager, information broker |
| Likes | 19th century novels, jazz music, fine dining |
| Dislikes | Going outside |
| Pastimes | Reading, karaoke after closing hours |
| @BirdsOfFujiwara |
Kenji Ito is Kotori’s father and the current patriarch of the Birds of Fujiwara, known also as “Fujiwara no Sagi”. A mysterious man, who acts polite, yet distant to those he trusts, and aloof to those he does not, he tends to keep a low profile in both his public and private lives, though he does not take the responsibility he has over the vast wealth of information he possesses lightly, and has a strong moral compass.
Even though he seems detached from the goings on around him, Kenji cares deeply for his family and when Kotori gives herself up so her Soul Gem can serve as a battery for Aoi’s powers, even assigns Yui with the Impossible Task of bringing her back to him. When she does, Kenji reveals that he and his family have become the Bureau’s target, and announces that they will be disappearing for the time being.
Ayame Ito
| Age | 42 |
| Occupation | Seamstress, shopkeeper, information broker |
| Likes | Knitwear, magazines, white wine, Chinese takeout |
| Dislikes | Noisy cars, rubbish and dust lying around the store |
| Pastimes | Knitting and sewing, decorating envelopes |
| @BirdsOfFujiwara |
Ayame Ito is Kotori’s mother, Kenji’s wife and the owner of a small textiles retailer in Mitakihara Inekari district. Like her family members, she also moonlights as an information broker under the alias of “Fujiwara no Hato”. She is a childhood friend of Katsumi Sasaki, who is revealed to be both one of Ayame’s sources as well as one of her clients, and appears to be investigating into a new group of Conductors.
Rio and Riko Sato
Rio Sato and her twin sister Riko Sato are the most powerful members of the Coven of Kamihama, and are later revealed to be Kotori’s cousins and members of the Birds of Fujiwara. For more information on the Sato twins, check Other characters.
Mitakihara Original 