Kuwabara paced in his bedroom. He hadn't been sure where to go when skipping school, so he'd gone back home. Now that he was there, he couldn't relax at all. Every noise made him jump, afraid it was the sound of his father coming back.
Dad said he wasn't coming home until late tonight.
The thought didn't help. Finally, Kuwabara decided to distract himself by playing video games. He went to the living room and quickly became absorbed in his favorite game, so much so he almost didn't hear his dad's car pull in the driveway.
"Shoot!" Kuwabara said, and jumped forward to turn off the TV. Quickly he ran down the hall and hid in his closet, hoping that his dad wouldn't realize he was there.
Why is he back? I thought he was going to be gone all day.
Straining his ears, Kuwabara heard the front door open, and then silence. Kuwabara held his breath, trying to hear what was going on over the sound of his pounding heart.
Kuwabara nearly screamed when his closet door yanked open; he hadn't heard his father enter the room. Mr. Kuwabara glared down at him.
"Why are you home?" he asked in a quiet voice that let Kuwabara know he was in for it.
Kuwabara cringed; there was no point in trying to hide the truth. "Urameshi dared me to skip."
His dad was quiet a moment. "Come on."
Kuwabara followed, not daring to ask where they were going. "Get in the car, Kazuma."
He climbed in the car, and they pulled out the drive. "Since I can't trust you to get to school on your own, I'm going to be taking you there from now on."
Kuwabara sank low in his seat; he'd have preferred any punishment to those words.
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