Butterflies [Drabble]
Title: Butterflies
Author: Ani
Genre: Angst
Rating: G
Pairings: Yamajima, hinted!Okajima, brief!Chiitaro b/c I'm biased
Summary: One has changed, one has not.
Disclaimer: I don't own JE
When Yamada Ryosuke was five years old, his kindergarten class went on a field trip to a greenhouse. There, they learned about botany and insects, which he has mostly forgotten by now. But the one thing that stuck in his mind wasn’t the plant life; it was the fluttering yellow butterfly he had seen going from one flower to the next.
Pollinating, the nice lady had explained to him. They flew around, drinking nectar and carrying pollen from one flower to flower in order to help them grow.
Enthusiastically, his teacher continued the lesson, going further to explain how a butterfly originated from a little caterpillar that cocooned itself before emerging as a beautiful papiliondea.
Years later, when the memory of that field trip had faded until only a vague impression of the butterfly remained, Yamada Ryosuke met Nakajima Yuuto. The moment their eyes met, the image of a playful puppy burst into Yamada’s mind. Simultaneously, his stomach seem to flutter, much like the wings on a butterfly he’d once watched as a little boy, fascinated by the way they kept opening and closing.
Yuuto smiled at him, took his hand, and pulled him into the crowd of boys practicing their dance moves, chattering the whole way about everything and nothing. Time flew by for him, and suddenly, he found himself always, always having Yuuto by his side. It became his habit to turned to his right and find the taller boy ready with a smile which always seemed to dissolve all his problems.
With a sudden start, he realized one day that Yuuto was nowhere to be seen. Terrified, panicking, he looked around and found the taller boy talking earnestly to Keito about something. As though feeling his gaze on him, Yuuto stopped and turned around, meeting his eye.
Like always, the butterflies began to flutter, this time worse than ever before. Giving him a quick smile, Yuuto turned back to Keito to wrap up their conversation, as Yamada watched, nervously biting his lower lip and wondering, wondering, When did Yuuto become so close to Keito?
At long last, Yuuto waved ‘bye’ to Keito and bounded over to him. “Hi, Yama-chan, what’s up?”
“How do you always know what I’m thinking?” Yamada asked, stalling for now.
“Well, your face is just like an open book for me,” Yuuto explained with a simple shrug. That was Yuuto; just took things as they came and never really questioned them. “But I can’t tell what you’re worried about. Did Chinen make another love confession to you?”
Yamada impatiently blew out a sigh. “He needs to stop doing that. Ryutaro hates me enough as it is. I found a fake cockroach in my shoe the other day. Keito convinced me to tell Yabu about it and put a stop to those two.”
“Really? That’s good.” Quickly, Yamada glanced at Yuuto’s face, but the taller boy’s expression wasn’t giving anything away. “But you know, Chii just wants Ryutaro’s attention. And I think it's cute how jealous Ryutaro gets.”
"Chinen has alternatives. He doesn’t have to pretend to be in love with me when he obviously knows I don't feel the same.” Gulping, Yamada looked over at Yuuto to see if the younger boy picked up the hint.
“Well, we could all just be wrong and he really is in love with you,” Yuuto suggested. Evidently he hadn’t got Yamada’s hint. “In which case I feel really bad for Ryutaro.”
“What about you?” The butterflies fluttered restlessly as Yamada threw caution to the winds. “Are you in love?”
Yuuto looked surprised and startled. For several seconds, he just stared back at Yamada, trying to recover. “Yama-chan, is that what you’ve been worried about?” he finally asked, laughing a bit. “I’m not in love, but I promise, you’ll be the first to know when I am.”
A dead weight dropped on his shoulders. So all his hopes and dreams were crushed in one simple sentence. Yuuto didn’t notice his sudden change of mood and continued, “What are best friends for, after all?”
“But I don’t want to be best friends! I want to be more than that!” Yamada wanted to scream, but as he tried to speak, the words died in his mouth, and he could only nod silently. The butterflies in his stomach had stilled, their wings fluttering weakly now.
The first time he met Yuuto, he got butterflies from the nervousness and anxiety. Later, the butterflies fluttered for a different reason, and a long while passed before he realized what. That day, after he asked Yuuto if he was in love, the butterflies fell sick and their wings trembled weakly.
Subtly and gradually, his feelings for Yuuto had changed since the first day they met. But, with those words, “what are best friends for, after all?”, and spoken without a single trace of malice, Yamada knew, Yuuto’s feelings for him were still the same ones he had the day the met. Yamada had changed, but Yuuto had not.
A/N: I discovered this last night while looking at old, unfinished fics. To my surprise, I liked it and it made sense.
Author: Ani
Genre: Angst
Rating: G
Pairings: Yamajima, hinted!Okajima, brief!Chiitaro b/c I'm biased
Summary: One has changed, one has not.
Disclaimer: I don't own JE
When Yamada Ryosuke was five years old, his kindergarten class went on a field trip to a greenhouse. There, they learned about botany and insects, which he has mostly forgotten by now. But the one thing that stuck in his mind wasn’t the plant life; it was the fluttering yellow butterfly he had seen going from one flower to the next.
Pollinating, the nice lady had explained to him. They flew around, drinking nectar and carrying pollen from one flower to flower in order to help them grow.
Enthusiastically, his teacher continued the lesson, going further to explain how a butterfly originated from a little caterpillar that cocooned itself before emerging as a beautiful papiliondea.
Years later, when the memory of that field trip had faded until only a vague impression of the butterfly remained, Yamada Ryosuke met Nakajima Yuuto. The moment their eyes met, the image of a playful puppy burst into Yamada’s mind. Simultaneously, his stomach seem to flutter, much like the wings on a butterfly he’d once watched as a little boy, fascinated by the way they kept opening and closing.
Yuuto smiled at him, took his hand, and pulled him into the crowd of boys practicing their dance moves, chattering the whole way about everything and nothing. Time flew by for him, and suddenly, he found himself always, always having Yuuto by his side. It became his habit to turned to his right and find the taller boy ready with a smile which always seemed to dissolve all his problems.
With a sudden start, he realized one day that Yuuto was nowhere to be seen. Terrified, panicking, he looked around and found the taller boy talking earnestly to Keito about something. As though feeling his gaze on him, Yuuto stopped and turned around, meeting his eye.
Like always, the butterflies began to flutter, this time worse than ever before. Giving him a quick smile, Yuuto turned back to Keito to wrap up their conversation, as Yamada watched, nervously biting his lower lip and wondering, wondering, When did Yuuto become so close to Keito?
At long last, Yuuto waved ‘bye’ to Keito and bounded over to him. “Hi, Yama-chan, what’s up?”
“How do you always know what I’m thinking?” Yamada asked, stalling for now.
“Well, your face is just like an open book for me,” Yuuto explained with a simple shrug. That was Yuuto; just took things as they came and never really questioned them. “But I can’t tell what you’re worried about. Did Chinen make another love confession to you?”
Yamada impatiently blew out a sigh. “He needs to stop doing that. Ryutaro hates me enough as it is. I found a fake cockroach in my shoe the other day. Keito convinced me to tell Yabu about it and put a stop to those two.”
“Really? That’s good.” Quickly, Yamada glanced at Yuuto’s face, but the taller boy’s expression wasn’t giving anything away. “But you know, Chii just wants Ryutaro’s attention. And I think it's cute how jealous Ryutaro gets.”
"Chinen has alternatives. He doesn’t have to pretend to be in love with me when he obviously knows I don't feel the same.” Gulping, Yamada looked over at Yuuto to see if the younger boy picked up the hint.
“Well, we could all just be wrong and he really is in love with you,” Yuuto suggested. Evidently he hadn’t got Yamada’s hint. “In which case I feel really bad for Ryutaro.”
“What about you?” The butterflies fluttered restlessly as Yamada threw caution to the winds. “Are you in love?”
Yuuto looked surprised and startled. For several seconds, he just stared back at Yamada, trying to recover. “Yama-chan, is that what you’ve been worried about?” he finally asked, laughing a bit. “I’m not in love, but I promise, you’ll be the first to know when I am.”
A dead weight dropped on his shoulders. So all his hopes and dreams were crushed in one simple sentence. Yuuto didn’t notice his sudden change of mood and continued, “What are best friends for, after all?”
“But I don’t want to be best friends! I want to be more than that!” Yamada wanted to scream, but as he tried to speak, the words died in his mouth, and he could only nod silently. The butterflies in his stomach had stilled, their wings fluttering weakly now.
The first time he met Yuuto, he got butterflies from the nervousness and anxiety. Later, the butterflies fluttered for a different reason, and a long while passed before he realized what. That day, after he asked Yuuto if he was in love, the butterflies fell sick and their wings trembled weakly.
Subtly and gradually, his feelings for Yuuto had changed since the first day they met. But, with those words, “what are best friends for, after all?”, and spoken without a single trace of malice, Yamada knew, Yuuto’s feelings for him were still the same ones he had the day the met. Yamada had changed, but Yuuto had not.
A/N: I discovered this last night while looking at old, unfinished fics. To my surprise, I liked it and it made sense.