It's rather refreshing to be struck with inspiration, sit down to write it, and actually finish in one sitting. Well, two, since I was briefly interrupted by my mother.
I don't own YuYu Hakusho.
It was a beautiful night last night, as I was walking home. A little chilly, but otherwise perfect. I started day-dreaming and the words of this fic. started coming to my mind, planning the whole thing out... I was so deep in la-la land, that I tripped over a crack in the sidewalk.
The only thing it was missing was the fireflies. Which was too bad, I had the strongest urge to run around my backyard and catch some.
So, I hope you enjoy "Human Firefly". Please review.
A perfect night is one in the height of summer, the temperature cooler than it was during the day, but yet not too cold, the air completely still or the slightest breeze rippling through the luscious, fresh leaves, the grass soft and full and covered with dew. The stars and moon shine brightly, the only light in the world, not blotted out by streetlamps and house lights. There is total darkness, and yet everything can be easily seen, and everything takes on a mystical beauty bathed in the silver light of the night sky.
But of course, this perfection could not be complete without the fireflies.
Fireflies are mysterious, elusive creatures, heavily sought after, but incredibly difficult to catch. They flit around delicately in the air, unseen, completely invisible to their would-be captors, until they decide to light up; their tail ends glow with a beautiful green light, the sharp, trained eyes of firefly-hunting children lock onto them, and then there is no escape.
Younger children enjoy chasing the fireflies more than trying to catch them; the younger a child is, the more attuned they are to nature. And younger children instinctively know that the fireflies are something that is not to be caged, but to be left free. They enjoy the thrill of the hunt, the thrill of the chase, all the while knowing that their work will not come to fruit. They let the fireflies fly free, time and time again.
Then these children grow older, and they begin that arrogant stage, the stage where they demand that everything in nature bend to their will. This is the age that children begin hunting and capturing the fireflies. Some children are crueler than others; some catch them to keep, not caring whether or not they die, others feel remorse when they see the suffering they've brought to these creatures, and after a period set them free.
I was the second kind of child. I would catch them in a net, and carefully scoop them into my glass jar, working to make sure none of my previous catches escaped in the brief period that the lid was removed. I would keep them for a while; they were very pretty to look at. But eventually I would have to let them go. I knew that something so beautiful was meant to be free to fly wherever it pleased, to bring its beauty to others who appreciated it as much as I did.
A creature of nature, so beautiful, so fragile, could not survive in a captive lifestyle.
- -
"Up," I commanded coldly.
The delicate redheaded male glared at me with all the malice he could muster, but he did as he was told.
I looked him over. When I had set a trap for the fox demon, this was certainly not what had I expected to get.
I had heard that the great fox demon Youko Kurama was still alive. All of the stories of him told of his long, beautiful, silky silver hair, the color of moonlight. They told of his icy cold golden eyes. They told of his sneer, dangerous but sexy, his beautiful kitsune ears, and his long claw-like fingernails.
Never, not once, had I heard of him being an effeminate redheaded human.
Not to say that what I'd caught wasn't beautiful; it just wasn't what I'd expected.
So far I had held him here for a few days, not quite sure what to do with him. I wasn't even sure what I would have done if I had caught the fox demon the legends told of, so I had absolutely no clue what to do with this one. I had just been overcome with an urge to catch him, to catch the fox demon, on some beautiful moonlit night; it was the same urge and the same kind of night that used to drive me to catch fireflies.
He had seemed so resilient when I had first locked him in this room, despite his delicate body. He'd seemed tough, strong, determined. But now, after a few days of captivity, he seemed to be… drooping. Wilting. It was as though his strength was draining away from him with each passing day.
I glanced over at the table near the bed where he'd been lying. I'd brought him food; I didn't want him to starve, that was not my intention at all. But, just like every other tray I'd brought him, it hadn't been touched.
As I wondered if the reason he wasn't eating was because I simply didn't know what he ate, or if it was some sort of escape attempt, my eyes drifted back over to him. For the first time, my gaze locked onto his, and I got a good look at what color his eyes were.
I drew my breath sharply, holding back a gasp.
I was looking into two beautiful orbs of an otherworldly color, a bright green so magnificent, so beautiful, so mysterious and magical, that they belonged to only one being in nature.
Fireflies.
But they were not the bright fluorescent green of a healthy firefly; they were the slowly darkening, flickering green of a firefly that needed to be freed. And then I recognized the signs. When I'd set my trap for the fox demon, I'd unwittingly caught a human firefly.
I knew what needed to be done. I couldn't keep him captive here forever. Captivity alone would kill him.
I had to set him free.
- -
My brother was cruel when it came to catching the elusive night creatures. He trapped them straight in his container, not caring if he caught one of their legs between the jar and lid, not caring if a escaping bug was crushed in half, not caring if they suffocated due to a lack of oxygen, as he never put air holes in any of his containers.
He wanted the fireflies only to say that he caught them, to prove that he was in control of nature.
I caught fireflies, and I would look at them for a while. To think that I had such beautiful and fascinating creatures all to myself, to look at when I pleased. But they would never eat the grass I gave them, and after a few days, they would begin to droop and look unhealthy. And then I would set them free.
Soon, it became nearly impossible for my brother to catch any; they never came near him. But it became ten times easier for me; they all gravitated toward me. They knew I would keep them for a few days, and then I would let them go.
- -
I unlocked the shackles I had placed around his wrists and ankles, and I sighed. I'd miss being able to look at him; he was so pretty, a pleasant, easy sight to the eyes. But I knew that if he was going to survive, I couldn't keep him locked up here.
He stared at me blankly.
"Go on, go," I muttered, dismissively waving my hand toward the open door behind me. "I'm setting you free."
"Why?" he whispered. It was the first time I'd heard his voice. His voice was weak, hoarse, from not giving it much use in the past few days.
"Because I know that being locked up here will kill you. I can see it in your eyes, and in the way you hold yourself. In the few days that you've been here, already your spirit has started to die."
He smiled slightly, the healthy green glow already beginning to return to his eyes.
- -
There was something else that fireflies taught me, a second thing they taught only to those who heeded their first lesson, set them free.
The less you cared about keeping something against its will, the more likely it was to come to you.
- -
I wake up to the sound of deep, even, rhythmic breathing beside me. So he's still asleep.
I turn slightly, onto my side, and look at him. He's on his side as well, and he looks even more beautiful asleep. I smile, still not believing how incredibly lucky I am.
I wrap my arms around him, pulling myself closer against him, but he sleeps right on through it. I rest my head on his shoulder, holding my human firefly close.
My human firefly, free to fly wherever he wants, and yet chooses to stay with me.
- Kuramastrass -