Kuwabara skipped into his house after school. For the past several weeks, his father had been teaching him how to fight properly. He'd said that if Kuwabara was going to have a rival then he needed to know how to put up a decent fight. So Kuwabara had lessons every day after school.
"Welcome home," his mom said as he and Shizuru took their shoes off by the door.
Kuwabara's happiness damped just a little when he saw his mom's frown. He knew she didn't approve of him learning how to fight. Why she disapproved Kuwabara didn't understand, but he'd heard her arguing with his dad about it at night when he was supposed to be asleep.
"Shizuru, go start on your homework," their mom said. "Kazuma, I want to speak with you."
Shizuru went down the hall to her room, and Kuwabara followed his mom to the living room where she sat on the couch. She patted the cushion beside her. "Sit."
Kuwabara sat beside her. "Is something wrong?"
His mom looked at him with a strange expression on her face. "No, sweetheart, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to ask you something."
Kuwabara relaxed. At least he wasn't in trouble. "Okay."
"Why do you want to learn how to fight?" she asked.
Kuwabara considered this, sensing his answer was somehow very important. He knew he wanted to defeat Urameshi, but Kuwabara didn't think that answer was good enough for his mom. But what other reason was there for him to fight?
"I don't know," he finally said.
His mom smiled and ruffled his hair. "When you figure it out, I want you to tell me."
"Yes ma'am," Kuwabara said.
"Go do your homework," she said.
Kuwabara left, but all he could think about was the question she had asked.
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