Eternal Flame

Chapter 5: Dan & Kai!

"You've always been better than me..." Dan thought as he glared at Kai, reminiscing to their past.

~

"No matter how hard I worked or how hard I tried at something, Kai would always be there to be better at it than me."

A younger Dan Kuso burst through the front doors of his home with Kai in tow. They spotted their parents sitting by the living room and Dan immediately sprinted towards them.

"Check it out, mom, dad!" Dan exclaimed, taking out a sheet of paper from his backpack and shoving it in their faces, "All that stupid reading actually paid off!"

Mrs. Kuso took the sheet and looked at it along with her husband, both smiling in delight at what they saw.

"Wow, Dan! An 88!? Good job, son." Mr. Kuso, Shinjiro, congratulated, ruffling Dan's hair and Dan laughed happily.

"I think this might be deserving of some Loin Tips." Mrs. Kuso, Miyoko, suggested with a proud smile.

"Wait, really!? Like, for real!?" Dan asked excitedly at the prospect of his favorite meal and Miyoko nodded, "Heck Yeah!"

Another paper sheet was handed to Shinjiro and he noticed that it was Kai handing it to him with her eyes glued to the floor and a nervous blush on her face.

"I-I got my results too..." Kai muttered quietly.

Shinjiro took the sheet with a smile and looked at him, widening his eyes and beam at what he saw.

"Oh, wow! A freaking 100!?" Shinjiro exclaimed in surprise, "Kai you got a perfect score!".

Miyoko widened her eyes with a gasp, "You really got a perfect score, Kai?"

Kai nervously nodded while anxiously rubbing her arm and Shinjiro got up, giving her a hug.

"Good job, Kai! I'm so proud of you!" Shinjiro told her.

"This is really great. Good job, Kai." Miyoko congratulated.

"T-Thank you..." Kai muttered, blushing in embarrassment from all the attention she was getting.

"H-Hey!? What about me!? I got a good score too!" Dan exclaimed.

"And we're very proud of you for that, Dan." Miyoko said to him with a smile, "But you know Kai is in a higher grade so her work is much harder to get a good score on."

"Much less a perfect one! Ooh, boy, the guys at the office are gonna love this for sure!" Shinjiro said as he looked at Kai's sheet, "We should put this up on the fridge."

"Great idea, honey!" Miyoko said with a cheerful laugh.

They both ran off to the kitchen whilst giggling like two schoolgirls, leaving Kai and Dan in the living room in silence. Unfortunately, their parent's sudden rush had created a gust of wind that blew Dan's test sheet to the floor.

Kai picked up Dan's paper and held it out to him with a small smile, "U-Uh...good job on the score, Dan. I know how hard you worked for it-"

"Forget it." Dan cut her off, smacking the paper out of her hands and giving her a glare, "And forget you!"

With that shout, Dan ran off to his room. She heard him run up the stairs and slam his door shut, leaving her alone.

"...sorry." Kai muttered with a disheartened frown.

"It didn't matter what I did, she'd always be there to just do it better!"

A starting pistol was fired in the air and multiple students dived into a large pool. They all swam through the chlorine water at their top speeds to reach the other side. Dan being one of them, managed to reach the end and he let out a gasp as he shot out of the water.