Wonderland

~Bury Your Flames: Part ll~

Meeting up with Kira Atkinson twice a day was not a pleasure, but Sebastian could not deny that he was curious to see what Kira had in store for him.

Both curious and a little anxious.

However, both his curiosity and apprehension faded when he saw the huntress waiting for him with two fighting sticks in hand. Maybe this time he wouldn't get his ass kicked again.

As soon as he was near enough, Kira threw one of the sticks at him, which he caught with ease. If there was one thing he was good at, it was stick fighting.

"As fun as this is going to be, I doubt that any creature I'll come across at my test is going to be using a fighting stick." He said with a cheesy grin, only to have Kira, surprisingly, return his smile.

"It's adorable that you think this is going to be fun."

Before he even had the chance to reply, she made her first move, swinging her stick through the air. Sebastian may not have been as fast as her, but he was quick to block the first hit.

"I should warn you, I'm pretty good at this." Sebastian said proudly, to which Kira responded with an "aw." It was obvious she didn't believe him.

He took a step back and immediately stormed towards her. This move, however, was unsuccessful, as Kira dogged it. She then quickly slammed the stick into his stomach. She would have given him another whack, but this time he had anticipated it and blocked it.

"Not bad." Kira shrugged. "For a pussy."

Sebastian was quick to prove her wrong and attacked again, surprising even himself when he got a blow past her defense and hit her leg, hard enough for her to wince just a bit.

"See? Fun." He said proudly, going back into a fighting stance. "Bring it on, princess."

With a look of pure fury in her eyes, Kira launched at him with no hesitation and fought him with no mercy this time. She did this, of course, because now her pride was at stake. It was clear that she was not going to hold back. No, she now had to make him pay for showing her up.

On and on they went, attacking, ducking, blocking, and whacking. Kira was indeed a force to be reckoned with. Swift, but graceful in all of her moves. Sebastian; however, struck back just as fiercely. It was hard to keep up with her, but he had trained with his brothers for years prior, and fighting sticks just happened to be their weapons of choice.

Minutes passed, sticks swung, and only the sound of the sticks banging up against each other was heard, until Kira spoke.

 "You're usually such an earful. Why so quiet?" She asked, trying to distract him.

"I'm sorry, but I don't usually start up small talk with people I'm fighting with. Sebastian replied sarcastically, blocking another hit.

"In a fight, your opponent will try to distract you, perhaps by talking, but you still have to remain focused." Kira spoke.

That was a lesson that neither his brother nor his brothers taught. Usually, they wouldn't talk at all during training. It was all about actions. Now, he tried his best to tune Kira out, but there she was, finally asking him about himself. He couldn't resist and found himself replying, " Do you really think that things will go back to how they if I pass my test?"

Kira sighed loudly and blocked his next move easily. She could see that he was getting distracted.

"I never should have asked." She muttered, but he ignored her.

"Maybe not entirely the same, since the situation with my father is already compromised, but maybe with others. Maybe they'll stop looking at me like a traitorous bastard."

She sighed again, not sure of what to say. Why was he even telling her all these things? She had only asked why he was so quiet to ruin his focus, not because she actually wanted to know. And worst of all, he was now distracting her. Why would she even care if he had problems in his own stupid life? He would eat a flower or something later and everything would be back to sunshine and rainbows.

"And as if that isn't enough, my father has forbade me from coming back home," He continued. "After, of course, he told me how much of a disappointment I am. And what about my mother? My sister? I cant leave them alone with him!"

Was he really still going? Kira realized that her simple question may have just unleashed a large. overemotional beast.

"I can't believe that not killing is actually perceived as a crime!"

She was trying her hardest to block out all of Sebastian's whining, but just couldn't. It was getting harder for her to block his hits, but Sebastian appeared completely focused. It was almost as if he fought back effortlessly as he rambled on. She had to admit, that was impressive. Without her even noticing, he put his whole weight into his next hit and managed to knock Kira off of her feet, much to both of their surprises.

She watched Sebastian from the ground, her head spinning from the sudden impact. The sound of his laughter ringing across the empty field only infuriated Kira more.

"I was right." He said between laughs. "This really was fun!"

That bastard!  She thought. He had been distracting her this whole time, and she had actually listened to all his family crap. Rapidly, she got up and grabbed her stick again, and whacked Sebastian right across the face with it.

"Son of a-" He cried in pain, holding his face.

There. She felt better now.

"Remember what I told you, comrade." Kira said, now amused. "Never let your guard down."

The fact that she hit him hard enough to leave a mark made her feel even better. She extended her hand to help him up, but he refused it, out of vanity, of course, and pushed himself back up on his feet. She couldn't blame him. That was something she would do too.

"I think that's enough training for today." Kira declared, grabbing both sticks from the ground. She had to admit, this whole fight was quite tiring. "Go home, princess."

She was about to just turn around and walk away, with no other exchange of words, but decided against it.

"For what it's worth," She said as gently as she could, " your father sounds like a douche."

Sebastian stared at her for a few seconds, unable to come up with something to say. When he did finally think of some words, she was already gone, leaving him with nothing but the sight of her figure fading in the distance.

For Kira, those few words were the closest she would come to sympathy, but it was exactly what Sebastian needed to hear in that moment. To know that, maybe, not everyone hated him.