"I'm home!"
The patriarch of the Kuwabara family had a loud, booming voice that echoed throughout the entire house. Kuwabara's mother swore that Kuwabara would one day have a voice just like his father, but Kuwabara wasn't sure how that was going to happen.
Kuwabara started to slink out of his room to greet his father, but as he got to the hallway, he hesitated.
No, he thought. I haven't done anything to be ashamed of. I lost to Urameshi again, but Dad always says that a man isn't a failure if he loses; he's a failure if he stops trying. I haven't stopped. I will defeat Urameshi if it's the last thing I do!
So Kuwabara squared his shoulders and raised his head proudly, swollen nose and all, and marched into the living room where the rest of his family was waiting.
His dad took one look at him, and frowned. "Come here, Kazuma."
Kuwabara walked over and stood in front of his father. Craning his head back to look in his face, Kuwabara said, "Welcome home, Dad."
His father leaned down until he was at Kuwabara's eye level, which forced the man to bend nearly double. He studied Kuwabara's nose and said, "Huh, I hope the other boy looked worse."
Kuwabara's mother slapped the back of his head. "Dear!"
His father rubbed his head where she'd hit him. "What, you want Kazuma to come out on the worse end of a fight?"
"I didn't get in a fight," Kuwabara said.
His dad looked down at him. "What happened then?"
"I tripped in a race," Kuwabara announced firmly.
There was a moment of silence; then his dad started laughing.
This is why I didn't want Dad to know. Him and Shizuru are just alike.
Word Count-295
Don't worry, Yusuke will be back in the next chapter.