Chasing Butterflies (Open)

[Deleted]

So this was America. Aerina glanced up at the sky and shielded her eyes from a sun that didn't look much different than the sun she was used to back home. That's because it was the same sun. The same sky. The same planet, the same world. And yet, everything was just so different. There was less city for one. Mumbai was a very bustling city with loads and loads of people and building. For two, the weather here was significantly cooler then the sweltering heat they had, especially in the summers. Aerina had spent so little time outside of the city, so she didn't know much of what the rural areas were like even in her own state. So everything about living in a small town filled with so much wilderness surrounding them was new to Aerina.

And well...that was okay! Aerina loved nature! Well...most of it, there were still some things she couldn't stand, but for the most part, Aerina enjoyed being outside when she could. Out and in the grass and feeling the breeze on her face and blowing over her bare shoulders. The fifteen year old girl had opted out of wearing a sari today, seeing as it was only her first day, and so was casually walking the ground of Hammel in a mere white tank-top and denim capris that still very much fit like highwater jeans on the absurdly short girl. Her hair was pulled back in a braid with small stray threads of her bangs wisping down around the frame of her face. In the center of her forehead just barely above and between her eyebrows was a small red dot, applied just how her mother taught her.

Movement caught her eye and Aerina knelt down in the grass to get a better look at the butterfly that had landed there. It wasn't a monarch, but was still just as pretty. And didn't seem afraid of her at all. No, of course it wouldn't. They seemed to be attracted to the girl for some reason. It must have been because of her meta-power, which she still didn't entirely understand. But either way, this was a good opportunity to make a new friend! "Hello~" she cooed at the pretty insect. "How are you?" Aerina held out her finger to the butterfly and it crawled on. Sooo cuuuuute~! She loved these little creatures! Aerina giggled, holding her new friend close to her face.

"Ah!" she cried shortly. It took off from her finger and Aerina followed the butterfly with her eyes. Then she started following with her legs as well, keeping her head arched back so she wouldn't lose sight of it. Little did she know that she was following right into someone. "Ooof!" she grunted softly and then fell back on her bum in the grass, dazed from the impact. Whoopsie!

[Kimi Tachibana]

Kimi was enjoying the nice weather. Not very hot, not very cold, and burning was not as much of a problem, thankfully. As long as her ability didn't decide to go on the fritz and activate without her wanting it to, she would be fine. Of course, she would be safer if she had worn more coverage, and she was tempted to run back inside and change into something more soft and big and covering, but she wanted to wear a skirt today and feel pretty. Today was a good day.

There were a few other people around, but Kimi remained by herself and in her head, contemplating things. She didn't give herself much spare time to just relax, and even when she tried, like right now, she did end up thinking about her studies and club activities and... well, it didn't become a time for relaxing, but a time for brainstorming, which she didn't mind one bit. Sometimes she sat, sometimes she looked up at the clouds, sometimes she checked her phone, her calendar and diary on it, double checking she had done all her studying and homework and extra work before going back to her 'relaxing'.

It was when she was considering a sweet looking flower on the ground that she felt the force of a human behind her, shocking her back into the world, as she squeaked and stumbled forward, landing almost flat on her face. She gave a small pout as she slowly knelt and brushed herself off, checking herself for any pain. Her face hurt a bit...

She glanced back at the culprit. Well... it didn't seem to be on purpose. They were on the ground too. Unless they liked sitting on the ground after pushing someone over. Kimi turned around and frowned softly when she stood, noticing a grass stain on her skirt and tights. How would that come out... never mind. She looked at the other girl and tried to think of something to say, but ended up just awkwardly stood there, hands folded, looking down at her with a tilted head and a slightly furrowed brow. She hoped the girl was okay.

[Deleted]

While the fall wasn’t very far, given that Aerina was no taller than a thimble, it was still dizzying and made her feel like those butterflies she was chasing had settled in her stomach instead. It took her a moment to re-orient herself and determine exactly what happened. Then it took her another moment to realize that with her fall, she had accidentally take out someone else with her! Another girl, it looked like. A pretty asian girl(was she Japanese, she wondered?) who seemed to be just as itty bitty as Aerina was.

Aerina blinked over at the other girl a few times before realizing that she was being totally and completely rude! Especially after having just knocked her over! “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to push you down!” she asserted quickly, and getting herself to her feet just as quickly. Aerina brushed off her knees, letting her curly hair fall over her shoulder, then looked up at the girl with a smile. She wasn’t saying anything, but that was okay. “I’m Aerina,” she said, deciding that an introduction was in order. “I promise, I don’t do that very often. Only sometimes.” When she wasn’t looking where she was going. Aerina straightened herself out, giggling to herself. “Are you all right? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” She didn’t notice the stain on the girl’s clothes. She didn’t notice the stain on her own capris. Those weren’t things she would worry about right now, though she’d probably have a hell of a time trying to get it out later.

[Kimi Tachibana]

Kimi waited a couple moments for the other girl to interact with her. She had dealt with her fair share of stiff moments from lack of ability to communicate, so she could be patient. She was hoping for an apology though, as she thought about her now mucky clothes. What a shame... oh, words! She looked up again with a soft expression, giving the other girl a gentle smile, "It's okay." She said quietly, watching the other girl get up and finding they were almost the same height. That was new to Kimi - she usually had to do a lot of looking up. She giggled softly at how Aerina tried to cover for her accident, biting her lip and shaking her head a small amount at the questions, "I'm fine. Accidents happen, hm?" She expression remained reservedly friendly, "I'm Kimi. It's nice to meet you, although this is not how I would usually expect to meet a person." She joked lightly, tilting her head a bit.

"You have lovely hair." Kimi complimented passively, before looking around, "What was it that got you excited then, Aerina?" She wasn't spiteful towards the girl about the accident, because that was exactly what it was - an accident. And Kimi didn't know what else to say. Conversation wasn't always her forte, and this time was no different. She had always been better at listening than speaking for long amounts of time.

[Deleted]

Oh, good! The girl didn’t seem upset at Aerina bumping into her so carelessly. That made Aerina smile all the brighter at the short haired girl. Actually, she looked to be in quite a good mood, as she was giggling at Aerina’s ramblings. Oh, she hoped she wasn’t being annoying with that, but if she was, then wouldn’t she just say so? Either way, the girl seemed nice. Aerina nodded, then smiled. “It’s nice to meet you as well, Kimi!” That was a cute name, and suited the girl’s meek demeanor. Aerina laughed sheepishly. “Yes, I don’t usually meet people by crashing into them. Typically I meet people face-to-face and with a handshake, but I thought that was too normal a thing for me to do today.” Aerina smiled to show her joke. “So I thought, why not change it up a bit this time?” She dipped her head into a girlish giggle.

Aerina beamed out a smile at the compliments. “Thank you. It’s such a pain though. It never wants to cooperate.” Not to denounce the compliment or anything, but it was true. She turned her head in the direction Kimi was looking, then smiled again, putting her finger to her lips. “Watch,” she whispered.

Aerina turned and stepped back to stand beside the other short girl, then held out her arm, finger outstretched. She wan’t very good at this yet, so wasn’t 100% that it would work, but her worries were soon put to rest when a butterfly of beautiful black and orange colors fluttered out from the grass and landed upon her finger. “I was chasing this little guy.” So pretty~

[Kimi Tachibana]

Despite her timid personality, Kimi was able to take a joke, unless it was pointed at her spitefully. This wasn’t spiteful, so why would she be mad? The only things she could be upset about were her clothes and the shock, but her clothes would clean and she would recover. She wasn’t bold enough to tell someone to stop doing something she didn’t like either, but she could walk away. It was what she had legs for. She smiled back. Aerina seemed delightful. She laughed softly at the joke, just about understanding, “Why not.” She repeated gently. Yes, she had decided, Aerina was a lovely person.

Kimi nodded seriously, not understanding at first, “Is that your power? Your hair has a mind of its own?” She would feel silly once it was explained. As Aerina signalled, Kimi fell silent again. It wasn’t like she wasn’t used to being quiet, so she watched in awe. Wow… “Kirei...” She said in a whisper, before looking at Aerina and visibly cringing at her lack of English, “Sorry, um… he is beautiful.” Her accent was still rather strong, but she was comprehensible, hopefully. “I understand why you were distracted.”

The Japanese girl pulled out her phone to check the time, before looking at Aerina, “Are you busy? I still have time to talk before I go back in to study.” Learning was very important to her. She liked feeling smart.

[Deleted]

Yes, why not? It was always fun to do something different, even when it was unintentional. After all, today’s unintentional difference caused the two of them to meet, so it couldn’t have been a bad thing! Aerina was already thinking that Kimi was just a darling doll, so sweet she may as well be made of candy.

Aerina’s eyes sparked up at the joke - at least she thought it was a joke - and beamed out a smile. “That would be both amazing and terrible if that were true!” she gleed. “On the one hand, it would be hair that thinks for itself. But on the other, it could have a horrible personality and always want to make you look terrible.” Taking having a bad hair day to a whole new level. Fortunately, that wasn’t Aerina’s power, as would soon be demonstrated by the butterfly whisperer. Aerina was grinning ear to ear at the perfect little creature sitting on her finger, wishing she could coddle it tightly in her arms(which she wouldn’t because that would result in crushing the poor thing). The Indian girl looked up at the short haired girl and tilted her head at the lack of English followed by her correction in a heavy accent. “Yes,” she agreed pleasantly. “They are very distracting.”

At the offer, Aerina shook her head. “No, I have time. Too much of it for the moment.” Aerina laughed, scratching the side of her face. “I don’t have classes to think about until the new semester starts, so whenever you need to go, just let me know when. I will probably forget.” Because if there’s one thing Aerina knew how to do, it was talk and chatter, especially with people who seemed as cool as Kimi did.