Bet Between Brothers

Mt. Colubo, on Dawn Island

The next morning

"You want to do that again? Did you hit your head too hard yesterday?"

"Yup! I need your help in case something serious happens, so be a good little brother and help me!"

"Who did you say is the little brother!?"

Ace tries to slam his knuckles on Jack's head but he easily moved out of the way, sticking his tongue out at Ace before running off.

"Why don't you just help him? Weren't you yappin' about how lazy Jack is and that he should get stronger?" (Dadan)

"Hmph! I'd rather catch some animals to eat than help that stupid brat with his stupid training." Ace said with his arms crossed while adapting a Tsun posture.

"If you're catching animals then bring some meat back instead of eating it alone!"

"Yadaaa. I'm a pirate, I will do what I want kusobaba!" Ace then ran off while sticking his tongue out at Dadan the same way Jack did a few seconds ago.

"This kid... calling his brother a brat when he's a brat himself."

After Breakfast

"Come on Ace~ you can hunt whatever animal that tries to eat me while I'm running around..." Said Jackson with his upper body lying flat on the table like a lazy cat.

"Still feels like a waste of time! Can't you do something else?"

If Jack could, he wouldn't be doing it. He calmed himself down because he was starting to get frustrated by Ace's constant rejection. It's not like he doesn't know how stupid it looks, but he already proved that as long as he does whatever training he learned in his dreams, it would pay off in the end.

'I have to convince him or I might get seriously hurt...'

"How about you help me for a year and I'll do whatever you want for a day?"

"That's a whole year! Also why would I need help from you? Most things I can do alone and if I can't you'll be there to help me anyway"

"Stingy..."

"That's not how you use that word and you're the one being stingy!"

"Stinky..."

"Uruse!" Ace shoutted clearly irritated by his brother's way of persuading him. He usually helps him whenever Jack asks, but right now is different because it's a matter of his brother hurting himself for something stupid and pointless.

"Why won't you help me then? I'll do this training anyway even if you're not there it's just safer with you around!"

"I'm telling you this is stupid and you aren't gaining anything but cuts and bruises!"

"You're wrong! Let's make a bet! I will do this training every day till our 7th birthday even if you don't help me but we can make a bet now!"

"A bet? What should we bet? What are we even betting on?"

"A fight! And if I win without you landing a hit on me you'll have to admit that you're wrong and tell everyone that I'm a hundred times smarter than you!"

"Huh?! Why would I agree on that! Besides I'd still have to help you in your training every day anyway!"

"Then choose something you want me to do if you win"

"Fine, if I win you will stop with this stupid training that hurts you..."

Jack didn't expect this. It turns out Ace was just worried about him, making him feel bad for acting so childish.

"Also you will wear a sign stating that you are a stupid retard and you will have to tell everybody you meet that Ace is your smart and respectable nii-chan for the rest of your life", Ace said while sporting a cocky grin.

Instantly regretting his thought, Jack turned red as a tomato.

"Fine. There's no way I'll ever lose anyway, bleh!"

6 months later

Running through the forest became easier for Jackson with every passing week. Compared to the first month, his movements were as light as a feather. Instead of half a day he can now finish his training in under an hour, around 55 mins to be precise. Considering that it's just 10km, 55 minutes might not sound impressive but to him it was a great time and an even greater improvement. Especially since he neither hit as many trees nor fell as often as he did in the beginning. The amount of cuts and bruises he would suffer daily decreased so much that some old ones even started to heal which is great since he doesn't want to get scars, even though they were never permanent and his skin always go back to being pristine and smooth.

*Bang*

A dull sound echoed from Jack's side. A sound his was terribly familiar with. From time to time some small animals like stray wild dogs would try to get a bite out of his bacon but thankfully, Ace would beat them up with a pipe he took from the house, every time they came to close to Jack. He was actually quite thankful to his brother for the past few months. Ace was a great helper who even saved his life on a few occasions. Without Ace things could have become really problematic for him.

This doesn't mean that there weren't any problems during the last few months however. 2 months ago for example Jack thought he would break his leg when he fell down a steep and rocky hill, but thankfully he survived and only got a simple sprainm. The event was a testament of his innate durability that children shouldn't have. Ace would have warned him but he was distracted with a young boar whose home they accidentally trespassed which caused it to chase Jack.

"Careful deep pit ahead!" Shouted Ace.

"I know!" Concluding his 10km run, the sweaty Jack stopped and took off the blindfold. His sweat glistening on his white skin. Jack's skin for some reason never turns dark no matter how much time he spends under the sun, making the scene nothing short of angelic when put together with his beautiful face.

'Was he supposed to be a girl but was born a boy because his older twin brother is a boy?' Ace thought looking at this scene, it was the kind of childish logic a 6yo kid who has no knowledge of dizygotic twins would come up with.

The brothers returned to the house where Jack applied some medical herbs on the new cuts and bruises. Both Ace and Jack collected them according to Magras and Dogras instructions. It helped speed up the regeneration process and lessened the chances of permanent scarring.

"Hey, do you want to go to a town today?" (Ace)

"A town? Which one?"

"Does that matter? Come on Jack, we could try and sell some of the dogs' hides we killed the last month and buy something with that money"

Jack doesn't mind tagging along since if they manage to get a good price they might be able to buy something good.

"Mhm, sure. I'll go with you"

Unfortunately, the brothers didn't know how unpleasant this trip would turn out to be.