Catching Butterflies
Pairing: Sesshomaru/ Kagome
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and related characters.
A/N: I wrote this about a year ago when I was obsessed with this pairing and recently rediscovered the joys of it and so, I decided to post it! It's sort of random—okay, very random, and pointless fluff but…everyone needs a little fluff!
-0-Catching Butteflies-0-
She knew that it was something he would never do with her, but she could not help but wonder if perhaps, he might like to try it.
A bright blue butterfly flew by in her peripheral vision, and she turned her matching blue eyes to stare at it, take in the way it fluttered its wings as it so daintily crossed the meadow. She smiled happily, seeing it as her next target. Moving as quietly as she could, she made her way through the tall grass, feeling it tickling her legs as she eyed up her target, watched which direction it fluttered to. As the blue butterfly landed on a red flower, she pounced, her small hands encasing it lightly as it fluttered and beat frantically in her grasp.
Smiling to herself, Kelsey stood back up from the crouch she had fallen into and opened a part of her hand to take a look at her prey. The blue butterfly was still trying to crawl its way out, but it had settled down some, perhaps realizing that she had no real intention to harm it.
"Oh Sesshomaru-sama, look at this one!" she called happily, turning back to glance at her less than enthusiastic companion. Lord Sesshomaru of the Western lands merely cocked an eyebrow at her from his position under the oak tree, clearly not taking any interest to her 'sport'.
"I saw it" he blandly replied, before looking away again. She shot him a light scowl as she released the blue butterfly, watched it flutter away unharmed on the breeze.
"You could at least show some enthusiasm," she huffed, searching the meadow full of flowers for another butterfly. There were so many that she did not know where to look, stunned by the variety of colors. Yellow and black butterflies, white butterflies, black ones…She even saw some light pink ones.
They all fluttered around her lazily, a rainbow spread out for her, easy to catch within her grasp.
She saw a beautiful golden colored one land not too far from her and began the process of sneaking up on it again. Just as she was about to reach out and snatch the beautiful insect, Sesshomaru let out a rather loud snort, causing her target to flutter away up in the air and out of her grasp.
Scowling, she turned to frown at him, and was not amused by the smirk she saw on his face. "What? Why'd you do that?" she snapped, and his eyes twinkled. "You looked like Rin," he stated, and she glared at him. "So? What's so wrong with being a little girl?"
"The fact that you are not," he smoothly replied, "To waste your time chasing butterflies…"
"I don't just chase them, I capture them too! I just let them go…And who cares how I spend my time? You certainly don't, that's for sure!"
"No, I do not, but I'd much rather be elsewhere then watching you humiliate yourself with such childish inclinations."
That had hurt. Kagome tried to cover it up by scowling even more, intensifying her glare. It didn't matter if he didn't want to be here with her; she didn't want to be with him either…So she told herself, at least.
"Well then, you can just leave!" she huffed, "I don't need you out here reprimanding me and insulting me on everything I do!"
But to her annoyance and perplexion, the demonic prince did not move from his spot under the tree and just continued to lounge, eyeing her blankly.
"Hn," he relied nonchalantly, "I am too comfortable to move." She could do no more than roll her eyes in aggravation.
"Well then, would you kindly mind shutting up? I want to catch more butterflies."
"Superfluous," he sighed, "such a superfluous thing to do…"
"Hey, I said no commentary!" she demanded, turning back to face the meadow full of butterflies.
She could feel his eyes on her back as she looked for new prey, and shifted uncomfortably. What the hell was he staring at? He must be trying to intimidate her into stopping…
She grit her teeth in anger; the bastard…Well, she would not let him win! She'd hunt down the best butterflies in the meadow just to show him up, and perhaps throw one in his face….
"Well?" his arrogant voice snapped her out of her ponderings, "Aren't you going to continue your childish affair?"
"Affair?" she repeated angrily, "How can such a childish thing be called that?"
"So you admit that what you are doing is childish?"
"So what if I do? Oh, and guess what else? I don't care!"
"You are strange and naïve."
"Hey!" she snapped, throwing him a glare over her shoulder, "I thought you promised to keep quiet!"
She saw him raise an elegant silver brow and marveled at how he did that so well. "I never promised a thing," he replied coolly, keeping his eyes on hers.
"Yes, but you still said you'd be quiet! And insulting me is not being quiet!"
"That is not a promise," he calmly stated in response. "I never remember using the words 'I promise'."
She growled low in her throat at the amused smirk he was giving her, and wished nothing more than to go over and erase it maybe slap it off his face. Or maybe kiss it off…Like that would ever happen!
She turned back around to face the meadow before her thoughts could get anymore dangerous and tried to ignore the way her cheeks burned in a blush.
"You are an arrogant bastard, you know that?"
"Yes," came his monotone reply, and she rolled her eyes again. Only Sesshomaru could agree to such a comment…It almost made her want to smile… until he continued. "But you are a childish bitch, so we are even."
"I am not childish!" she whirled back around to glare at him, her hands falling to her hips in her classic angry pose. "I just like to catch butterflies!"
"A child's sport," he declared, "With no ultimate goal."
"Does everything have to be so serious to you? Do you always have to have an 'ultimate goal'? Why don't you just do something pressure-free that doesn't result in 'power'?"
"It is not in my nature or position to do so," he responded rigidly, looking away from her back out across the meadow.
Kagome felt her anger start to evaporate as she stared at his blank expression, his eyes looking so cold and withdrawn as he stared out across the sunny meadow. She could not even imagine what it would have been like, to be told throughout life to be so rigid, so removed…
Like the butterflies she liked to hold in her hands, she wanted to set him free.
"So? No one's here to stop you, and no one's around but me, and what do I care? I'd love the company!"
He did not respond, or even look over at her. But Kagome was not ready to admit defeat. "Oh come on, live a little! Jeez, how far is that pole up your ass anyway?" She stifled a giggle as he shot her a glare from the corner of his eye. He might not understand the futuristic expression, but Sesshomaru could certainly recognize an insult when he heard it.
"I assure you, miko, this Sesshomaru has nothing of the like inside of him."
"Oh I know; it's just an expression! It means that you're way to serious for your own good, and you need to enjoy yourself, at least a little. Come on, it's a beautiful day, Inuyasha and the others aren't around, and there are so many butterflies…"
"I will never lower myself in such a way. Catching worthless insects is demeaning."
"No it's not, and butterflies aren't worthless! They add color and beauty to the world!" she exclaimed, gesturing to the assortment of butterflies in the distance.
"Yes, useless beauty. They are mindless creatures who flutter around incessantly before they are consumed by a higher being."
"There you go again, being so morbid!" she sighed, "it's not about thinking of things like that, it's about looking at them now and appreciating them! Seeing the beauty they're showing you."
"What beauty? I see only meaningless insects preparing to die."
"Oh come on!" she sighed, crumpling in defeat, "Do you honestly have to be so morbid? I bet you're only saying such things because you know you can't do it!"
His eyes narrowed. "Do what?"
"Catch butterflies…" She replied, and at seeing his narrowed eyes, his tightened expression, a plan began to form in her mind; a devilish one at that.
Just like his little brother who he still could not get along with, Sesshomaru could never resist a challenge, no matter how small, and with the proper goading…
"Yes, I bet you can't catch any butterflies, none at all," she stated, and resisted a grin as he growled low in his throat.
"This Sesshomaru can easily catch such pathetic insects, miko. You do not know what you speak of."
"Oh yeah? Well then, prove it. Or are you just going to back down again and save yourself the embarrassment? That would be the better idea."
She bit back a giggle at the threatening growl that he emitted, taking a step back as he stood from his spot beneath the tree to pin her with a glare. "You speak of things you do not know" he bit out coldly.
She smiled in a way that she knew would infuriate him. "Oh, but I do know! Why else would you be afraid to catch butterflies with me?"
"I am not afraid, human; I find it to be—"
"Yes, yes I know, 'demeaning and pointless'," she waved the words off, "Well, I can equally say that just sitting there watching me is just as pointless! Come on, exercise with me!"
"Woman, I do not need exercise, I am—"
"Yes, I know that too, you're all powerful! Yet not powerful enough to catch a simple worthless butterfly it seems…" She goaded one final time, and knew she had won by the narrowing of his eyes.
She backed up as he approached her in the meadow, his eyes blazing into her own as she grinned as sweetly as she could at him. He stopped a foot away from her in the center of the meadow, surrounded by butterflies and scowling. She watched as he reached up and, without even looking away from her, caught a butterfly fluttering by in one blurred movement.
"There," he stated, opening his hand to expose the injured but still living butterfly, "You can cease your insults now, wench."
But she wasn't listening to him, her wide eyes directed on the insect fluttering weakly in his hand with one of its glorious golden wings shredded.
"Sesshomaru, what did you do!" she gasped, giving him an accusing look that he merely raised a brow at.
"I caught it, as you told me to," he replied nonchalantly and she glared at him.
"I didn't mean catch it like that! The poor thing can't fly any more now!"
"Why should I care?" he stated, and she narrowed her eyes angrily.
"How can you even say that? It's an innocent creature!" she exclaimed. She huffed when he did not respond but just stared at her with his typical blank expression.
"It's a worthless creature with no feelings."
"You don't know it doesn't have any feelings!" she scolded, reaching out to tentatively pluck it out of his hands, ignoring his growl.
"I can't believe you injured it!" she scowled, and they glared at one another.
"It's pathetic," he stated matter of factly, his eyes hard.
"It's beautiful!" she snarled back, "and you didn't have to hurt it—"
"But I did," he stated, "and you can't save it. You might as well just let me end its life."
Some part of her knew that he was right; the butterfly was barely moving in her hand now, having given up on ever trying flying again. It sat in her hand facing her, almost as though it were staring up at her with its large, bulging dark eyes.
It seemed to be pleading with her to spare it, and she wanted nothing more than to obey. She could not let its life be ended so suddenly; it was far too innocent and lovely for that. There had to be hope for it and if there wasn't…
"No, it'll be fine," she firmly stated, and the butterfly stirred faintly in her palm. "It has a chance you know, however slim that chance is. Maybe it'll be fine…
She looked up and met his eyes, noticing that they were the same golden color as the butterfly's wings. "We have to give it a chance."
Sesshomaru stared at her for a long second, silently, his gaze flickering from the butterfly to her face, her pleading eyes… When he spoke again his voice held a softness to it that took her by surprise. "And what if it dies?" he asked.
"It won't, it's…It's strong, have a little faith in it."
"It appears to have given up to me."
"It'll get better; we just have to let it go. It thinks it's going to die now, that's why it's given up."
He studied her a moment longer, those golden eyes sweeping all across her face. She did not know what he was looking for, or even what he saw; inside her emotions were in a surprising uproar, and she did not wish to admit why. It could be because he was staring so intently at her, or it could be the sympathy she felt for the injured insect in her hand. His eyes were the same color as its wings…
Somehow she knew what it was really about. It was not just about this small, meager butterfly—it was much bigger, much greater. It was about her own heart. So many saw her as defenseless, weak, so many saw her as worthless as this little butterfly, deserving to be crushed, its 'pitiful' life ended. Would Sesshomaru feel the same way? Did he look at her and see more than a human? Did he think of her existence as meaningless?
"You really have hope for it," he stated, and there was a question in his voice. She could not read the expression in his eyes. She simply nodded; after all, she was still alive survived, even though her heart had been broken, even though this era was not where she really belonged. Why couldn't this lovely, yet oh so fragile, creature get what she had? It could have a chance…
He stared at her for another second, his golden eyes oddly bright in his pale, handsome face. She could not know what he was thinking, could not interpret his emotions. But all she could do was watch him, and wait, and hope.
When his hand reached out to grab hers, to cover the butterfly with his own large appendage, she froze, her eyes widening. She met his eyes for a second, amazed, and was still unable to read them. But gods were they intense, burning into her practically with such…such…
She looked back down at their hands, at the frail butterfly between them, the only thing separating them. She could feel the heat of his hand, noticed how dainty and utterly human her hand looked compared to his large clawed one.
But even so, with the differences between them, something seemed so right, and they seemed to fit so perfectly that…
That the butterfly, by some miracle, began to flutter its wings, beating them back against his palm. It had gotten hope again, and somehow, by some miracle perhaps, it was ready to fly.
When she turned her face back up to him, a smile on her lips, she barely held back a gasp at the expression she saw on his normally stoic face. It seemed impossible to say that Sesshomaru was smiling, but it was damn close. His lips were stretched in the tiniest of smiles, and his eyes seemed so entirely bright… Her breath caught, and she forgot all about the butterfly resting so gently in her hands.
"I believe you are right, Kagome," he muttered, reaching down to take the butterfly, with surprising tenderness, into his own hand. It was the first time he would ever say her name.
She watched, her eyes sparkling and her smile growing, as he raised his hand and released the frail yellow butterfly into the winds, and they both watched, smiling, as it fluttered away with no trouble out of sight.
"I believe you are right Kagome, it did have a chance…" He looked back at her, smiling radiantly up at him, and his eyes seemed to glow. "Perhaps it isn't so pathetic after all."
-0-
Some days I want to flutter away
Far away, up to the sky
Where the ravens fly
Where the clouds drift by in another day
And there is freedom, unbound
Freedom, unwound
Like the flap of a butterflies wings
Moving across the setting sky
So little, so bright in my eye
A speck of happiness
A flower to land on
A world passed by
Oh to be a butterfly
Fly on by me
Fly on to me
Little butterfly
Become who you want to be
Become me
Little butterfly
All I want to be
Tasting the sweet nectar of life
So sweet it can be bitter
---? I don't remember this source! If anyone wants to look it up, feel free! Seriously, what is this from?!