Title: mathematically speaking
Fandom: Rise of the Guardians
Characters: Bunnymund, Tooth and the other Guardians
Genre: General/Romance
Warnings: Highschool AU. Author is not a fluent english speaker.

A song for this chapter: Abacus by Fionn Regan

02. to count - to name or list (the units of a group or collection) one by one in order to determine a total; number; to recite numerals in ascending order up to and including; to include in a reckoning; take account of.

cooties

The landscape changes slowly from a big city to the countryside, buildings slowly passing by and transforming into trees and old wooden fences, the washed white paint chipping and decaying like his mood. A pair of big green eyes stared intently outside the car's windows, boredom striking and a lazy yawn held back on his mouth.

The five-year-old boy already missed Sidney. Greatly. And that's not even a word he liked to use even though he was proud to know it already.

"Mom, are we there yet?" He whined while counting the great pine trees that were passing by. Sixty-three, sixty-four, sixty-five…

"Aster, dear…" His mother started, clearly jet-lagged and tired from the fourteen-hour flight. "You have been asking the same thing since we left our home in Australia." The woman looked quite exasperated to her husband in a silent plea for help. Green eyes stared back at her as if saying: don't look at me I'm driving here.

"But it's taking too long!" Indeed it was, a fourteen-hour flight plus two hours on the road stuck inside a car. He would bet his entire sticker collection that they could go to Greenland by feet with all that time. Little Aster hated the United States already; all of his friends were back in Australia, Billy, Ted, Chase… And not to mention all rest of the Bunnymund family. Why did they have to move just because of his dad's job? Couldn't he keep inside an office back in Australia? They didn't have to move for that…

"We are almost there son, I promise." His father said not really taking his eyes from the road ahead. "You'll like the new house, it's bigger! And we will have a backyard too."

"Okay." The little boy settled with that answer. When his father promised something – usually - he kept it. "But I loved our old house." He pouted, thinking about the beach and the sea and that weird chirping noise the seagulls made while flying. He missed it. Greatly. Here the weather was cold and the sky was the wrong shade of gray instead of the bright blue he was used to. There was no salty smell in the air, no waves, no sand to play with. It was as boring as it was unfair.

"It's okay, dear." His mother had a small smile on her lips. "We'll be back to visit the rest of the family on the holidays."

Aster was silent at that. The holidays? They were in May yet and he could barely count how many days it would take until they reach December. And he knew that they wouldn't go back every holiday too because he heard his parent's saying so before they left. He hated the United States; he hated his father's stupid job.

"Look, we are here." His father said while stopping the car. The boy looked outside and saw a white house and the moving truck already taking their things out. "Let's get out now, shall we?

Stepping outside the car was a relief, Aster never though he would feel so good just feeling the ground underneath his feet. His parents started to talk with the moving crew and he guessed he was free to take a look around. Their new home was big, bigger that he expected, and there were other big houses around too. The white paint was a bit worn out and he could already see his mother wanting to choose another color for it, but their garden was great and he would be able to play outside everyday. It was enough to make him smile for a bit.

"Hi!" The cheerful voice startled him for a second. Looking to his side Aster saw a little girl that was probably his age, pink skirt, yellow ribbon tied to her hair and all those girly things that made his tongue stick out. The boy kept a safe distance from her. Ew, cooties.

"Hi." He greeted while looking at the glittery fairy wings she was wearing and trying to figure out why she was wearing so many colors at the same time. Green, pink, blue and lots of glitter and sparkles, it made him remember the unicorns his cousin Becca had on her room.

"Are you our new neighbor?" She asked tilting her head a bit to the side and waving the star tipped wand she was carrying around. "Your eyes are pretty."

"I think so." The little boy answered after thinking for a second or two. "Thanks." No one had ever said that to him; well no one besides his aunts, and that didn't really count since everyone on his father's side had green eyes. "Your eyes are pretty too."

They were purple like the wings of a butterfly he had saw once all the way back in Sidney. It sort of made him remember home.

"Thank you!" She giggled a bit. "You talk funny, why do you talk funny?" And by funny he really had no idea of what she was talking about.

"You are the one that talks funny." The words on her voice sounded different, just plain weird compared to the people in Australia.

The little girl was about to retort when a pair of voices called.

"Tooth! Come here greet our new neighbors!"

"Aster! Come here honey!"

"Yes Mom!" They said in unison, looking surprised at each other before running towards their parents, laughter singing and dancing around the air.

Maybe the United States wasn't so bad after all.

Author's Notes: Yeah, girls have cooties. Except the nice girls, those don't have cooties at all. (snickers loudly)

Sorry for the late update, college's been (still is) killing me. I'l try to post another chapter or two within the few days, can't promise anything though... Rainbow snowcone week is coming on tumblr and I want to participate but ugh, college.