Crime and Punishment

For the past few months, Takeshi had been plagued by migraines. His Baba had told him that they were likely because of his horns, which were becoming very apparent that they were different from his siblings’. Instead of growing straight up and branching like those of a deer, they had thickened and grown back toward the back of his head, resembling that of a ram’s. They were long enough to begin curling under his ear and weighed him down, forcing his neck muscles to thicken and pressure to form at the base of his skull. This, Kiyo explained, was the source of the awful, head splitting aches that left him bedridden for hours in a dark, secluded area of the Palace away from his more rambunctious siblings.

He hated it, to say the least. Not only was he different because he couldn’t speak like the other pups and adults, but now he had freakish horns and an ailment that left him practically blind some days. Because of this, he’d missed a lot of the growth that the other Abraxas kiddos had. Everything had been going great beforehand, he’d been getting special training by Sirius, he’d been getting great marks by his father and grandmother in their Japanese lessons. Everything had been looking up. Now, he felt like he was in a rut.

Luckily, as his neck muscles had strengthened and grown used to the weight that bore down on his head, his migraines had begun to abate. Instead of being nearly every day, they’d gone to being a few times a week, then every other week, and now he’d gone a full 3 weeks without the awful sickness plaguing him. He felt like a new boy! Until, that is, his aunt called for them with disappointment in her voice. A frown tipped at the corners of his dark lips, the white dots at his brows pulling together in concern. Were they in trouble? He took off at a jog in the direction of the call, revelling in the feeling of his paws on the earth and the wind in his fur. But, he expression remained stoic and, as he arrived, he gave a bow of respect to the Omikuji before settling himself next to his sister. He gave a gentle nudge to her shoulder to try and release some tension he saw her holding, his glowing red gaze offering support. They’d bear whatever it was together as they always did.