Wonderland

~Home For The Holidays: Part I~

Sebastian had braced himself for pure rage. He was sure that Kira was going to make him pay dearly for ditching her at the fence the other day, and he was prepared to have more than a few punches thrown his way. However, to his surprise, none of that happened. He met her at the same place, near the fence, and just like last time, she was late. When she showed up, he expected her to scold him, but instead saw the oddest sight.

Plastered across Kira Atkinson's face was a big, bright smile.

"Someone's in a good mood." He acknowledged, hoping this mood would last.

"Why wouldn't I be?" She grinned at him. "Christmas is coming!"

Christmas. He had completely forgotten about it. For Sebastian, Christmas was not a time of joy. Christmas, for him, meant having to stay in the same room with his father and older brothers, pretending to be a picture perfect family for the sake of his mother and little sister. Every year, they failed. As much as he tried ignoring his father's constant remarks and his brother's brutal teasing, he couldn't. Every Christmas meal ended with a fight. It ended with his little sister, Evelyn, hiding in her room, and his mother sobbing into her pillow, distraught because she couldn't have a functional family, or at least one normal meal. Before moving out of his parent's house, every meal was a Christmas meal. Endless fighting, screaming, and crying. Sebastian cringed at the thought of the extra screaming he would endure when his father found out he had six months to train and pass his test, or the King would be putting him to death.

"Judging from the look on your face, I take it you're not a fan of the holidays?" Kira remarked, taking off her cloak.

"And you are?" Sebastian inquired skeptically.

She shrugged. "I always was."

That was odd. The woman who had beaten him up and did nothing but yell at him, was a holly jolly Christmas freak. He expected Kira to keep going on about her marvelous past Christmases and plans for this upcoming one, but instead, the huntress remained silent, tying her raven hair into a messy ponytail.

"Come on, let's go." Kira said. "If I start running with you, maybe you'll stop complaining and won't ditch me this time." She smirked.

Maybe she was happy about Christmas, was she certainly wasn't going to let him forget what he did the other day. Not wanting to push his luck by questioning her, he sighed and followed her. They ran side by side in a heavy silence. Kira kept her gaze straight, not once glancing in Sebastian's direction. She slowly picked up the pace, making Sebastian's already strained breath grow more and more erratic. He wanted to stop and catch his breathe but he'd be damned if Kira-

His train of thought was broken when he hit the ground with a loud thump. Only this time it wasn't because of the slippery ice on the ground. Kira had tripped him.

"Keep up!" She said cheerfully, running in place and looking down at him.

"What the hell was that for?" He spat angrily, picking himself up from the ground.

"What was what for?" Kira questioned innocently.

"You tripped me! Why did you trip me?" He pressed again.

Instead of answering, she kept jogging ahead, beckoning for him to follow. With a sigh, he followed after his trainer. For a few minutes, they ran side by side in complete silence once again. It had nearly been two miles when Sebastian hit the snow again. This time, also because of Kira.

"You seriously have to pull yourself together. The ground isn't that slippery." She remarked, trying hard to hide her grin.

"You tripped me again!" He yelled, struggling to get up again.

"No, I didn't." She aid simply. "Come on, another mile. And try to to trip this time."

Sebastian groaned, biting back the colorful words he so desperately wanted to say. This time, he tried to keep a decent distance between himself and Kira. The ran the next mile with no incidents, but just as they reached their beginning place, Kira caught up with Sebastian and bumped his shoulder hard enough to send him flying into a pile of snow. She burst out laughing.

"So I suppose this is payback for ditching you yesterday?" He sighed, getting up and shaking the snow from his clothes and hair.

"Be thankful. I could have done worse." She said, smiling. "Now, come on. I want you to do two more miles by yourself."

For what seemed to be the hundredth time, Sebastian sighed and bit a sarcastic comment back and began running. The full half of his glass was that his wounds didn't hurt as much as they had during previous lessons and the running was much easier than the training he had received from his father. The empty half as that now his feet and back hurt from the constant tripping and falling.

Maybe the real test, the real challenge, was simply to complete training with Kira Atkinson.

As Sebastian ran, he found himself getting lost inside his own head. The only thing he could think of right now was his family. If he told his father about the whipping and the test, he was sure that his father would hate him even more than he already did. If his father disowned him or something, he would never see his mother or sister again. And they were they only reason he hadn't left the rest of his wretched family years ago.

Sebastian's Christmas was going to be anything but merry, apparently.

He finally finished his two miles and returned to his initial point, but there was no sign of Kira. He looked around, and, in spite of himself, chuckled. It seemed that it was now the huntress' turn to ditch him.

A/N

I'm really feeling Christmas in July ??