"Dad, do you know a person with a surname called Wolfenstrike?" Summer asked as she sat down at the table for breakfast. Winter had arranged to meet her at the gym at five after school so as to avoid attention, like some sort of criminal mastermind.

Glenn cocked his head blankly at her. "Eh? Who?" Summer sighed, tucking into her breakfast of cereal that her father had prepared for her.

"I figured you wouldn't know." she said.

Glenn watched her for a moment. "Is there something big happening at school?" He finally asked. Summer shook her head.

"It's just that, on the first day of school, two new transfer students came into my class. They're... brothers. One of them sits beside me, called Winter Wolfenstrike." She confessed, feeling the blood rise to her cheeks as she thought about charming Winter and that smile of his.

She shook her head to clear that thought away. He is definitely not charming. No, his charms will never work on me. All I want is to beat him, not.... FALL for him.

Glenn wore a surprised look on his face. "A boy? Sitting next to you?" He repeated faintly. Summer nodded. Her father was silent, then he suddenly grinned, enthusiasm gleaming in his eyes. "Why, that's just great! Is he strong? What's his element? Did you get along with him? This is your chance, dear, to finally have a love life! He is handsome isn't he? His name sounds cool." Glenn blabbered on, oblivious to Summer's blushing face.

"Well, he is quite handsome, for starters. He's the most popular boy in class, always surrounded by fangirls. Ugh. And he's... he's a double-type. He has a Special Power. He... he beat me in battle." Summer said, her voice growing softer as she recalled that humiliating battle.

Glenn just stood there dumbly with his jaws hanging. "A double-type? A Special Power? What crap is that?" He spluttered, scratching his head. Then he beamed. "Oh well, all the better. Your future boyfriend should be a strong person so that he can assist you in times of need."

Summer choked on her cereal. "Future WHAT?!" She exclaimed in shock, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. Glenn chuckled.

"Boyfriend, dear! This Winter boy sounds like as if he's your rival, since he beat you. But you know," he said, winking. "Hatred can sometimes turn to love,"

Glenn settled in his seat, sighing. "I remember that when I was still in my Academy years, your mother and I weren't that close. We were rivals, for that matter. Always constantly fighting to see who was better." he whispered forlornly. Summer nodded unenthusiastically as she finished her cereal.

"Dad, I gotta go. School's about to start." she said, standing up. Glenn blinked and smiled, nodding. Just as Summer was leaving the house, Glenn called out,

"And do try to bring that Winter lad back home! I'd like to meet him!"

~~~

Summer entered the classroom and once again saw Winter's table being swarmed with not only girls this time but boys as well. Winter looked quite overwhelmed.

He spotted Summer heading towards her table and gave her a desperate look. "Summer, mind helping me out here? These people are going to drive me nuts someday." he called, waving his hand to attract her attention. Summer huffed and went up to the large mob, all bombarding Winter with questions.

"Could you all go away? Leave our tables in peace." she snapped at the crowd. Beatriix turned to her with a scowl.

"Who're you to order us around? " she sneered, then laughed. Some other people echoed her.

"I'm not. You're blocking my way. Get out of my sight before I report all of you," Summer threatened, fixing the mob with a furious glare. "To Mdm Justifer for disturbing other students,"

The crowd then slowly dispersed, some students, mostly girls, gossiping about her. But she didn't care.

"You owe me one." Summer said, sitting down in her seat with an annoyed huff. Winter smiled.

"Well, you can consider that owe paid, since I'm training you later."

"That doesn't count," she spluttered awkwardly, still not believing that a nerd like Winter was training her. Winter smiled, his eyes laughing with amusement. Mdm Justifer came in and saw that Winter's table was not surrounded by girls for once. Feeling in a good mood, she started the day with a merry whistle and got down to work.

School passed hours later, and Summer found herself in the local private training gym, alone. It was a weekday. People preferred to go there during the afternoon. She grumbled, glancing at the wall clock as she tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for Winter to arrive. He was fifteen minutes late.

Then Winter burst into the gym, out of breath. He saw her still there and smiled tiredly. "What took you so long?" Summer snapped, annoyed. Winter scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed.

"Sorry. I got caught up in a family matter," he explained hesitantly. Summer huffed and crossed her arms, waiting.

Winter stared blankly at her. "What are you doing?" He asked, puzzled.

"Waiting for you to teach me dimwit! Is your brain the size of a pea?" Summer snapped. Winter laughed awkwardly.

"Oh, oh yeah. So, um, take out your sword. I, uh, need to see how you attack." He said nervously.

Summer ill-temperedly unsheathed her sword and swung at him. "Whoa! What are you doing? Do you want to kill me?!" He gasped, quickly dodging the move. A mischievous plot formed in Summer's mind. She smiled sweetly.

"Well, you told me to attack. So I'm attacking. You're the nearest target, after all." she said, blinking innocently. Winter groaned.

"You have got to be- Whoa stop it! Stop, stop!" He yelled as Summer slashed at him, chasing him around the gym.

Fifteen minutes later, Winter was on the ground with Summer on top of him. Though more like sitting on him. "Ok... You win, you caught me. Get off me now please? You're heavy." he panted, shifting under her. Summer smacked him.

"That's not what you tell a lady." she retorted.

"Ok ok. Now, please?" He gasped. Summer flashed him a smirk and got up. Winter relaxed on the ground in exhaustion. "Never thought that would happen," he huffed, sitting up. He glanced at her. "Not too bad, I suppose. If you like to keep swinging that sword of yours, your swing will have to improve."

He stood up and took hold of her hands, guiding them up in a swing. "A little higher, and a little faster." Winter said. Summer said nothing. She stared at Winter, stunned. He was touching her. Coldness, an icy chill, seeped into her.

She let out a shriek and dropped her sword, moving away from Winter. He was too cold. The chill ran deep into her bones and she pulled her jacket tighter around her. Winter looked confused. "Summer, are you alright? What's wrong?"

"Stay. Away. From. Me." she hissed out through gritted teeth as she tried to warm her frozen hands. Winter blinked and his face fell. He hung his head, sighing.

"Oh. Huh. I should've known this was going to be quite useless." he muttered, turning away and scratching the back of his head.

Summer then realised that what she had said had been rude. "I-I mean... Just don't touch me. You can still teach me without touching me, right?" She stammered. Winter turned, an eyebrow raised in puzzlement.

"Why not?" He asked, shaking his head. Summer found that she couldn't answer to that. If she told him that he was too cold for her liking, it might sound strange.

Unlike most fire types, Summer was unusually sensitive to the cold. She couldn't sleep with the air-conditioner on. On the rare occasions when she did, she had to wear triple-layered clothing. Summer shivered.

Winter saw it, and his expression became one of concern. "Are you... Are you cold because of me?" He whispered. Summer hesitated, then nodded slowly. Winter sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I knew it. Well, I suppose I could still teach you without... that..." He mumbled thoughtfully. Summer heaved a sigh of relief.

Winter pointed at her dropped sword. "Pick it up. Like I showed you just now, you have to swing your sword higher and faster." He instructed. Summer nodded.

Winter made an ice dummy for her to slash. "Go on," he said encouragingly. The dummy moved, turning its head to face her. Summer picked her sword up. "I set this dummy to be at average speed. So if you want to break it, you'll have to be faster than it," he enlightened.

Summer gripped her sword tightly just as the dummy raised the axe it was holding. Hollow, sightless eyes the colour of ice met her ruby ones. She shivered again, wondering why Winter even liked ice when it was so terrifying.

Then the dummy launched itself at her, hurtling towards her at surprising speed. She blocked its attack, feeling the cold swamp her. Her arms became slack and she crashed onto the ground.

"Don't let the cold distract you Summer. It is your weakness, and the only way to overcome it is to be accustomed to it." Winter advised as Summer stood up shakily, her breaths becoming shuddery as the cold threatened to make her sick.

"W-what a-about you...?" She said, teeth chattering. She could see that Winter was trying to focus on something as well as talk to her. He's purposely making it cold.

Winter smiled grimly, a strained smile. "My father used to put me near the incinerator back at home as punishment for not doing well in certain things. I was like you a long time ago, vulnerable to the heat," he said.

So he had a father who taught him well. Wonder why Dad can't be like that, instead of being obsessed with me making friends... Summer thought. It was only then she noticed that the dummy was right in front of her. Raising its axe, it prepared to deal the finishing blow.

Desperation took over Summer's mind and she blindly swung at the dummy, closing her eyes, waiting for the axe.

It didn't come. Summer opened an eye a crack and saw a whole mess of ice in front of her, turning into fine, frozen powder. She collapsed onto the ground, breathing hard, her heart thumping wildly against her chest. Winter approached her, his expression unreadable.

"That was a good swing. It was high and fast. You beheaded the dummy as well as sliced it in half, did you know?" He said, smiling warmly. The temperature returned to normal room temperature, and Summer felt the energy returning to her.

She was trembling as she stood up, not believing what had happened. She had done it. She had completed her first training session. Winter was staring at her, his gaze worried. "You're not that cold anymore, are you? Your face is pale, and your lips are blue." He said, reaching out, then hesitated and pulled his arm back.

Summer shook her head. "I'm fine..." she assured, sheathing her flamesword. Winter smiled, letting out a sigh of relief.

"That's good. You've trained enough today. I'll... I'll see you tomorrow at the same time?" He said nervously, staring at Summer hopefully.

Summer was unsure whether to accept. Her bones were aching from the cold experience. She wasn't sure if she could take anymore of it. But Winter managed to survive being stuck near an incinerator when he was still a child. And children are much weaker compared to teens...

He's still right. The cold is my enemy. I hate it, it hates me. So the only way to overcome this weakness of mine is to accept it. I have to embrace my own fears.

"I'll see you tomorrow." she mumbled tiredly. Winter looked like he was about to burst with happiness.

"Okay. You go on ahead. I have to clean up this mess here," he said, pointing at the ice powder. Summer nodded, gazing into his eyes. He gazed back, a half-smile hovering on his lips.

"Bye Winter." Summer finally said, turning, tearing her eyes away from him. Winter nodded and bent down, beginning to sweep up the powder with his hands.

Sighing, Summer left the gym, not aware that silver eyes were watching her, somewhere close by.