Shimmering Fireflies

Cicada

It was beautiful sunny day, and they had planned another tranquil picnic. They were going to the middle of the forest to enjoy the blooming sakura trees. Once arrived, they ate in silence until Kiba started a casual conversation with Hinata. Mizuiro was only half-paying attention, lost in her thoughts. She tilted her head back to enjoy the scenery and watched beautiful flowers falling in the wind. They made her think of the small sakura tree they once had in front of their home. She had good memories associated with it, like finding her first moth chrysalis on its trunk when she was little. Her eyelids widened slowly when she realized a flying cicada went resting on the tree she was looking at.

"I wanted to capture some later."

This calm, low voice came from Shino, who didn't want to interrupt the other conversation going on.

"To study them." He added.

Mizuiro felt like she was being dragged out from her own head and brought back to reality. She understood what her friend had just said, although, she didn't know how to answer. She simply smiled, being mildly embarrassed about it.

"You want to go bug chasing again uh?" said Kiba, who had stopped his own conversation to point this out. "I knew your bag was too big to contain only food!"

"Yes." His friend simply stated.

"I suppose I did well bringing some of Akamaru's toys then. I wouldn't want to just sit there doing nothing while waiting for you two to catch bugs."

Mizuiro's eyes squinted softly in Kiba's direction. Was he implying she'd go with Shino? She was really tempted to, but never would have imposed her presence during his research.

"Bugs are really interesting, Kiba." Indicated Shino. "It's your loss if you're not coming with us."

Another person was implied again. It was driving her crazy not to know for sure if they were talking about her or their teammate.

"I can play with you and Akamaru." Finally declared Hinata with a smile. "It's ok if they come back later for dessert. We don't have a schedule or anything."

Mizuiro's doubts were now cleared, but she felt dumb to have missed Shino's hints. He really was a subtle guy. She looked in his direction, pointing herself doubtfully.

"You wanted me to come with you?"

"If you'd like," he answered.

"For once, he's not the only one interested in catching bugs." Added Kiba, shrugging.

Mizuiro gently smiled in Shino's direction and nodded, happy to try this new activity. She had observed bugs many time, but never captured any. It's not like she had never tried, but her mother was too reluctant about bugs for her to bring them back home anyway.

Shino got up slowly and pulled two small terrariums out of his bag. He gave one to Mizuiro and began walking into the forest, Kiba reacting with a half-mocking sigh. She quickly followed him, Hinata waving at her with a smile. She waved back, feeling almost bad to leave half of their small group behind. Curiously enough, it looked like it wasn't the first time Shino did that. Mizuiro followed him until he encountered another cicada on a tree. He stopped and approached it with care, bending his knees just a bit, ready to capture it. Carefully but swiftly, he got the cicada in his terrarium. He delicately gave it to Mizuiro, got a small book out of his pocket and opened it to a page about cicadas.

"Can you see its stomach?" He started, pointing a picture in his book. "That's how you can tell if it's a male or a female. Why? Because only males can make that sound we hear during summer. Females don't have this kind of exoskeleton. Only the males can sing."

She looked under the terrarium, lifting it up slowly over her head. The cicada started to jump everywhere in it. She looked at it for a while, realizing it wouldn't calm itself very soon. Mizuiro gave the cicada back to Shino and went near the tree it was previously on. She took a piece of bark and saw sap dripping from the tree. Then, she recovered some with the bark and came back to Shino. He carefully opened the lid and let Mizuiro put the bark in the bottom of the tank. A few seconds later, the cicada was calmly eating the sap.

For a moment, they both observed the insect in silence through the terrarium. Once, Mizuiro's eyes drifted away from it to observe Shino. He seemed so invested in his passion that it made her smile. It was nice knowing someone else shared her interest. When she realized they were pretty close to each other, she immediately took a step back, blushing. She didn't want to enter his personal space.

"Hum...so this one is a male?" she asked.

"Yes."

After studying their subject for a while, they released it, looking for another species of cicada that would pique their interest. Spending time doing something she liked with someone made all the difference in the world.