Hi, peepz! It's pretty cold today, no? I'm here today to present you another fic! And it's not what I had in mind earlier. Hmm… I was really into submitting the chapter-al one but there's this idea that kept bothering me hours ago (which was to submit something I wrote from before). This is a part of the trilogy I made in July. Well, here it is… Enjoy!

WARNING: Cliché up ahead.

Oh, and I'll have to thank everyone who reviewed in my last stories. I wasn't able to thanks you guys properly… so… Arigato gozaimass!

Firefly.

Natsume likes fireflies… but that was before. He hates them now.

"Natsume! We're going to catch fireflies tonight, do you want to come?" Mikan asked him happily as she tucks her net into her knapsack, but of course, how would a one-meter net fit into a one foot bag? Natsume smirks, "Heh. Why would I be willing to join something that came out of your empty head?" Mikan snaps, glaring at him as her fangs grew (like a dog). "I'm not an empty head, y-you sore jerk! And besides, you like catching bugs, don't you?! Ruka told me so!" Natsume shuts his eyes, shutting also, his ears from the world.

Yes. Just say everything you want.

Stomping, Mikan storms off out of the room, bringing with her – the grudge on Natsume.

He liked fireflies, because they're beautiful. They glow in the dark like little light bulbs. The wonders of it just make him smile every time. He remembers; every night, maybe during spring, he and Ruka collect many different bugs. A flashlight, two bug nets, and small jars – these are the things that they ever need as they set off into the grass, the meadow, and the woods.

The two of them were children back then; they're free, nothing to worry about. "They collect, they stare at it, and then they free them. Ruka is just kind-hearted that he insists on letting them go. "They're not supposed to be bottled," Ruka said once, "They won't be happy if you just keep them."

One night, they made a discovery. Ruka had pulled him into the grassy part of a nearby forest, a marvellous sight welcomes him. There were glittering gold specks flying all over the place! They were small but there are lots of them! Natsume and Ruka laughed as they chased those objects. Ruka even earned a wound on one of his knees when he fell.

They caught just around thirty, and kept them in the largest jar they have (cookie jar?) and covered it with a thin piece of cloth. Lying down on the grass, flat on their stomachs, they had ignored the twinkling stars above and observed the fireflies instead. "They're wonderful, ne?" said Ruka as he places a finger on its surface.

Natsume held his breath; it is only now that he noticed – he's been staring at Ruka's face. He averts his gaze then, as a tinge of pink crawls up his cheeks. Ruka yawns, "But even if they're beautiful, even if I want to keep them as much, I have to release them so they can always glow like this." He fell asleep, his finger: still pointing at the glass. Natsume wasn't wishing for anything, but to stare at this angel's face must be once in a lifetime.

He took the jar into his hands, and set the fireflies free.

And even if they're here in this academy, bug-catching isn't far from their reach. So why does Natsume hate fireflies when he and his best friend have special memories along it?

Because Ruka died.

Seeing fireflies just reminds him of what it was before when Ruka's still here. It's just painful like that: You smile, reminiscing small moments. You frown, what was it like before? You cry, you just realized, once again, that he's not… here anymore.

Natsume stands from his seat, heaving a sigh of loneliness as he walks back to his room.

Ruka is dead, yet the fireflies… they always seem to bring him alive in his choking thoughts – but no matter how beautiful they are, they'll always be the ugliest creatures in Natsume's eyes.

Yes, that's it. -sigh- why am I even expecting? Stupid.