“Glad to hear it. Well, here we are! The infirmary! Let’s go in and say hello, shall we?” Megrez grabbed the door handle but then paused. “Oh… I suppose I should warn you. Takeru hates the infirmary. More than I do, believe it or not. But while I can withstand being in there for a bit out of necessity, all Takeru wants to do is get out as quickly as possible. When we go in, he’s going to be very cranky.”
“Oh, as if that much isn’t obvious,” Kakane retorted with a roll of his eyes. “Alright, open the door, let’s get this over with.
“Yeah, that’s probably the attitude to take with this,” Megrez agreed with a chuckle. “Here we go!”
She swung the door open with fervor, only for a cup to go soaring over her head. Serena ducked and Kakane dodged, leading to the poor terracotta shattering on a pillar. Kakane, feeling his skin prickle, slowly turned around.
That could have been my head, he thought, gaping at the shards of dried clay. That bastard. What was he thinking!? Serena was also eyeing the broken cup with a raised eyebrow. She gave Kakane a glance that said, “What is wrong with this guy?” before facing the infirmary door again.
“Go away! I told you I’m fine! I don’t need you stupid apothecary jerks fussing over me all the time! Scram!”
“Ay, Takeru, what’s the big idea!?” Megrez bellowed, barrelling into the infirmary. “I come to visit you and you respond with this!?”
“Megrez? Wha— Oh. Oh, hippocampus dung.”
Kakane and Serena peered into the infirmary. Megrez blocked most of their view but Kakane could see glimpses of Takeru resting on a white cot in between her arms. His signature ponytail was now gone as his white hair fell across his shoulders. He was also shirtless, revealing a patchwork of bandages covering his entire torso. Kakane could see why Takeru wasn’t happy; gauze wrapped around the chest that tightly was pretty uncomfortable. Yet despite sustaining a major injury, Takeru was upright and clearly somehow well enough to chuck a cup hard enough to shatter several feet away. But he didn’t look so cocky now that he was staring up at his sister, who had her hands on her hips and a presumably pissed expression on her face.
“‘Oh, hippocampus dung?’ Really!? Where’s my apology for playing Pakaʻa’s advocate, huh!? You nearly took off Sandra’s head!” Megrez scolded.
“What? What’s she doing here!? Wait, don’t tell me Rags is with her too! Why’d he come!?” Takeru asked, nearly shouting.
“Because they were concerned, jackass,” Megrez retorted. “Now, you’re going to apologize and be nice to Sandra and Harper or so Nash help me!”
“Fine, fine,” Takeru sighed. “I’m sorry for throwing a cup at you. All of you; Sandra and Harper included. And it’s not like I can do much while stuck in this gods-damned white room. Let `em in, I’ll play nice.” Takeru shifted and Kakane soon found lavender eyes glaring into his own. “You gonna come in or are you just gonna keep standing there with your mouths wide open? You look stupid like that, you know.”
“I wouldn’t be the one slinging insults if I were you,” Kakane snapped back, finally entering. “You’re not exactly in a position to be acting all high and mighty.”
“Oh, so just because you’re the one walking free you think you can go around acting smug about everything, is that right!?” Takeru snarled. “Well, just you wait! When I get back on my feet, I’ll show you—”
Megrez cleared her throat and Takeru shut up instantly. He glowered at her but wasn’t one to defy his elder sister. Megrez nodded in appreciation and pulled up three wooden stools for herself, Kakane, and Serena to sit upon. Together, they formed a circle around Takeru’s cot’s table, which hung over the bed like an arch.
“How are you feeling?” Serena asked. “You suffered quite a blow to your torso. Do your bandages need changing? Would you like any pain relief? I can heal you with more magic if you’d like.”
“Keep your damn hands off me,” Takeru barked, slapping away Serena’s wrists. “I don’t need any of your healer crap and I don’t frickin’ want it.”
“How dare you!” Kakane growled. “If you’re gonna go around hurting Sandra, you’re gonna have to deal with me and I don’t play nice. Oh, but you know that already, don’t you, Ponytail!?”
“Calm down, Harper,” Serena said quickly. “My apologies, Takeru, I was merely trying to assure that my initial healing on your wound was adequate.”
“You did plenty,” Takeru huffed, though he gave Kakane the stink eye. “Gawds, why do you healer types always have to be so annoying!? And don’t worry; I won’t lay another finger on your girlfriend, Rags.”
“Takeru,” Megrez warned.
“Right, sorry, sorry.” Takeru rolled his eyes. “Well, I suppose since you’re here, I guess I should make the best of it. Dad’s not gonna be here for a while since he has to hold council. Ay, why don’t we play a little game?”
“A… Game?” Serena questioned.
Takeru grinned and opened a drawer on the dresser by his bedside. He took out several strange geometric pieces, about the size of large grapes. When Kakane peered at them closely, they were pale and pasty white, similar to Serena’s, Megrez’s, and Takeru’s hair. They were made of bone. On the blocks were lines varying in quantity on each side.
“These are animal bone dice,” Takeru explained. “This one’s six-sided, this one’s ten-sided, and this one’s twenty-sided. The lines represent a number. See, this six-sided dice is numbered one through six, for every face on the die.”
“Okay, so what are we supposed to do with them?” Kakane asked.
“The game’s called i kanakolu. Each turn, we roll all three dice; this goes on for four turns. At the end of all the turns, we compare results and the one who rolled the closest to thirty wins the game. If someone rolls exactly thirty at any point in the game, they automatically win. People like to spice it up by placing bets on their rolls. So? Wanna play?” He rattled the dice in his hand, as if to goad everyone in the room, as he smirked.
“We’re not gambling,” Megrez chided with a huff.
“What? Oh, come on, Sis! Don’t be a spoon in the poi!” Takeru whined.
“We. Are not. Gambling!” Megrez reiterated. Takeru rolled his eyes.
“Fine. But we can still play.”
“I’ll go first,” Kakane volunteered. Takeru handed him the dice and he threw them onto the table. “Six, two, and twenty, so twenty-eight in total. That’s pretty good.” Kakane returned Takeru’s smirk and was met with a scowl.
“My turn.” Takeru snatched the dice from Kakane. “C’mon, gods, gimme some luck!” The dice clattered onto the table and revealed a five, one, and two. An eight in total. “Damn, that sucks!”
“Hand `em here, Brother.” Megrez took the dice from Takeru and rolled. “That’s a six, eight, and eleven! Twenty-five, ha ha!” Finally, Serena was given the dice.
“Four, ten, and eleven. Twenty-five. The same as Princess Megrez.”
“Are you kidding me!? How was I the only one not to roll in the twenties!? This is hippocampus dung!” Takeru seethed. “Whatever. My next rolls will be better! I’ll win this, just watch me!”
Three turns later, Takeru was sulking into his pillow.
“Twenty… Twenty… Why did my last roll have to be a twenty!?” he groaned. “Actually,” He sat up, a fire blazing in his eyes, “how did I roll all the worst numbers in this game!? I didn’t roll above a twenty! For Nash’s sake, Rags got the winning roll in his first turn! How is that fair!?”
“Luck’s never fair, little brother,” Megrez cackled. “Too bad for you, I guess.”
“Yeah. Gods, what a whiner you are, getting this worked up over a simple game,” Kakane snickered. “You’ve got nobody to blame for your shitty luck other than yourself, Ponytail.”
“One more round,” Takeru demanded. “You’re gonna be eating those words, Rags!”
“Having fun in here?” The door opened, revealing Kenshin, Kai, and Mira.
“Dad!” Takeru perked up immediately. “Dad, you won’t believe it! Harper rolled a twenty-eight on his first turn in his first-ever game of i kanakolu and I didn’t get above a twenty! It’s like Nash has predetermined my fate to be in the darkest depths of Murimuria! Oh, yeah, how’s your leg?”
“My leg is fine, thank you; Sandra and the other apothecaries did an excellent job of patching me up. But as for your game, I’m not surprised. Your luck has been historically terrible, son,” Kenshin chuckled. “You may always beat Kai at surfing competitions but hasn’t he won every game of i kanakolu to date?”
“It’s true,” Mira confirmed. She turned to Serena and whispered so everyone could hear, “I swear Kai's cheating somehow but no one can prove it! It’s so frustrating! Only Megrez has done worse than Takeru!”
“Once,” the princess griped. “It was one time, one game! I haven’t rolled all three’s ever since! Seriously, when are you going to let me live this down!?”
“Never,” Mira teased with an evil grin.