Title: Lily and Thistle

Author: paws_bells

Beta-ed by: MelissaRose85

Characters/Pairing: Sarugaki Hiyori and Hirako Shinji

Type: One-shot Collection (InComplete)

Genre: Romance/Humor

Word Count: 3132

Rating: T (Contains content not suitable for children)

Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.

Summary: 'Say Please'-verse. The language of flowers. The devoted and passionate Lily. The brave and loyal Thistle. A bouquet of love. One-shot series.

Created on: 24/07/13

Completed on: 25/07/13

Chapter Last Revised on: 11/08/13


Mother Knows Best


"I really 'ppreciate this. Kirio-san," Shinji muttered as he led the way out of the Senkaimon and to the Living Realm. The large, plump woman beside him let out a loud, jovial laugh and wasted no time thumping him on the back with a meaty hand, nearly sending the Gobantai Taichou sprawling with the sheer force of her friendly tap.

"Don't mention it!" the purple-haired Shinigami boomed. "I've always wanted to see Hiyori-chan again; now's as good a time as any! My, it's been so long since I last saw her; she must've grown into a beautiful young lady by now!"

Shinji had to smirk slightly at that. "She's still an angry little chibi," he remarked as he guided the Zerobantai member in the direction of the Vizard Warehouse. Kirio glanced at the blond man beside her; the affection in his tone was very obvious to her. Now that they were in the Living World, the Fifth Division Captain seemed less detached and bored looking, a particular gleam appearing in his golden eyes as his steps seemed to quicken towards his destination. He looked like a man who was finally coming home after a long stint away.

"You've been taking very good care of my Hiyori-chan, haven't you, Hirako?" Kirio asked then, smiling.

"I try," he replied wryly. "It's a constant challenge, since she's such a brat and an utter pain in the ass."

Kirio eyed the other Captain with clear amusement in her gaze. There was no heat in his words whatsoever. "And yet you are still willing to put up with her after all these years."

"Yeah, well," the blonde acknowledged freely as he temporarily parted the barrier that Hachi had placed over the warehouse and allowed his fellow Shinigami to step through.

"She's my brat and my pain in the ass now, after all."


It was the tantalizing smell of food wafting through the warehouse that first alerted Hiyori to the fact that something weird was going on. With the sole exception of herself, none of the other remaining Vizards could cook well enough to save their lives – in the past, the chore was split between herself, Rose and Kensei – so it was definitely strange that her trained and sensitive nose could discern the mouthwatering aroma of what was definitely a traditional home cooked meal right now. Not to mention, Love, Hachi and Lisa were not in the warehouse at the moment, so the entire situation was certainly odd, to say the least.

Following the scent from the underground training area where she had been working on her Zanjutsu, the petite blonde slowly found herself walking towards the kitchen. The delicious smell of food grew even stronger as she approached, and Hiyori's nose twitched. There was a familiar yet elusive nostalgia that inundated her senses, reminding her of much happier times long ago, yet the memories flitted teasingly out of her mind's reach as she tried to remember. Her stomach growled with hunger, and there was an almost painful buildup of expectation as she drew nearer to the source of the mystery. She was walking as fast as her legs could carry her now, determined to find her answer now, urgent anticipation thrumming in her veins – who are you?

Rounding the last corner, Hiyori burst into the kitchen, and she froze almost immediately as she passed the threshold. Confusion briefly inundated her features as she stared at the unfamiliar figure standing at the stove – a large, heavyset woman with purple hair arranged in an up do, her back turned to the petite Vizard as she stirred the pot of miso soup and grilled the saba. Then, Hiyori dumbly turned her gaze to the spread of food on the table; teriyaki unagi, inari sushi, kakiage tempura, atsuyaki tamago, tonkatsu, all arranged with such delicate, precise artistry, the exquisite aroma and the familiar, beautiful presentation immediately triggering all sorts of long suppressed memories that she had kept buried deep within the recesses of her mind.

The unknown woman turned her head then, and Hiyori stared.

There was nothing remotely familiar about that face, plump and jovial, with contentedly smiling lips painted black, small swirls adorning fleshy cheeks, eyes squinted close. She looked like the female embodiment of Hotei, the Laughing Buddha, but yet, something in Hiyori's gut lurched painfully when the stranger finally spoke.

"Hiyori-chan, I knew that sharp nose of yours would lead you here!" the lady exclaimed, a hand still holding onto a wooden spoon. "Oh dear, look at you! Have you been eating like I've always been telling you to, Hiyori-chan? You're much too skinny, child! Hasn't Hirako been feeding you properly?"

Even though the appearance was not the same, Hiyori would recognize that beloved voice anywhere.

"H-H-Hikifune…Taichou…?" she whispered, her eyes wide, trembling in shock. "Is that r-really…you?"

Kirio scooped out two bowls of miso soup and then deftly flipped the perfectly grilled mackerel onto the plate, quickly arranging the garnishing around it with expertise before she carried the tray of food to the table.

"Come, Hiyori-chan, you must be hungry. Let's eat and talk at the same time," the Zerobantai Kokuo spoke kindly, gesturing for the younger woman to join her. "I want to hear everything about your adventures in the Living Realm."

It was her. It was really her. That demeanor, that reiatsu, and even that smile, they were all dear and familiar to Hiyori, even after more than a hundred years. The petite blonde quickly found herself overwhelmed by her feelings. Shock. Disbelief. Joy. She slowly took a small step forward, her eyes glimmering with her emotions. Then, once she started moving, she could not seem to stop. She was running before she knew it, flying right towards the woman whom she had always thought of as her surrogate mother.

"Hikifune Taichou!"

Kirio just stood there and opened her arms as the younger woman ran straight into them, partially enveloped in the voluminous folds of her haori. The purple-haired female smiled sadly as she gently patted the quivering shoulders of her overwrought ex-Lieutenant as the latter clung to her like the young, scared child she used to be. "I'm sorry, Hiyori-chan," Kirio sighed at last. "The past few years must have had been hard on you, child. Perhaps, if I hadn't left-"

Hiyori pulled back slightly and shook her head, interrupting the older woman before she could finish. "Nothing woulda changed, Hikifune Taichou. The same thing would still have happened. None of us saw Aizen's betrayal comin'," the pigtailed Vizard admitted out loud for the very first time, her gaze downturned. It had taken her decades to accept that fact and to stop blaming Hikifune Taichou for her self-perceived abandonment; what had happened had been nobody's fault but that of Aizen and his crew, and now that the war was over and some form of closure had been achieved, Hiyori just wanted to get over this and get on with her life.

Nothing good ever came out of blaming others for one's own misfortune; it didn't make her feel better nor did it improve her life in any way, and she was only recently starting to let go of her resentment and feelings of betrayal towards Seireitei and the Gotei 13.

Slowly dropping her arms from her ex-superior, Hiyori took a step back to look at the rotund, kindly woman. "Hikifune Taichou, what're you doing in the Living World?"

Kirio laughed lightly at that. "You may thank Hirako for arranging this visit. He went through a lot of trouble to create this opportunity for me to meet you."

After all, the purple-haired Shinigami was part of the Royal Guard now, one of the very few elites tasked with the responsibility to protect the Soul King, his family, and the Soul King Palace, and therefore it was rare for her to be granted leave from her duties. Shinji must have pulled in a lot of favors to make this trip possible for Hikifune.

Hiyori's gaze softened in realization. Of course it would be him. "That stupid baldy…" she muttered, and Kirio smiled when she noticed the grudging affection in the girl's tone.

"So, you are finally close with Hirako now, aren't you, Hiyori-chan?" she teased. "I always knew that the two of you would end up together eventually."

Hiyori reddened at that. "Hikifune Taichou!" she protested, blushing up a storm. It seemed that the fiery tempered young woman was both unwilling and unable to resort to her usual violent outbursts when it came to her respected parental figure, and as such, both of her hands (and legs) were tied.

"Has he looked after you well over the last century?" Kirio asked. "If he hasn't, he and I are going to have words."

Hiyori thought of all the times where her significant other had saved her over the years – from herself, from her Inner Hollow, from their enemies – never too overprotective or domineering that he suffocated her spirit and smothered her growth, but also never too far away that he could not step in at a moment's notice to defend her should the need arise. It occurred to the petite blonde then that Shinji had been watching over her for a very long time. The blonde bowed her head slightly, her prickly pride (she could fight too and she did not need to be protected) and flustered denials subsiding in deference to her instinctive need for Hikifune Taichou to approve of her chosen mate.

"He has," she admitted very quietly at last, her cheeks pink.

"He's a good man, then?" Kirio pressed.

Hiyori nodded slowly.

"He is," she whispered, feeling uncharacteristically shy as a maiden now.

Kirio's gaze softened. Hiyori-chan was really all grown up now, if she was capable of showing such a tender expression.

"Are you happy with him, Hiyori-chan?"

This time, Hiyori could not even speak, but just silently nodded her head once more. Kirio smiled.

"Then, I think you should hold tightly on to Hirako and not let go, ne?"

Hiyori was not even responding anymore, just staring mutely at the floor, her face burning at the discussion of this entirely uncomfortable topic. Her respected mother figure chuckled softly.

"Ara, our meal is getting cold. Let's continue our talk over dinner, shall we?"

Hiyori was only too glad for the change in topic. Heading over to the table with the older woman in tow, they both took their seats. Kirio beamed at the much smaller blonde and immediately received a tiny little smile in return. Her ex-Fukutaichou was still so cute after all this time, and the purple-haired Shinigami could still remember when the former had first come to her as a very small child, and she had helped put up the young girl's fluffy blonde hair in two absolutely adorable pigtails, a style that the young woman still faithfully kept to even now.

"Ah, Hiyori-chan, have you considered wearing your hair down? You've grown into such a pretty young woman, and I think that you'll look utterly lovely in all sorts of hairstyles…"


It was nearing midnight when Shinji finally sensed Kirio's departure from the Living Realm. He had been lingering over at Urahara's, and the flare of reiatsu the other Shinigami had emitted in order to open the Senkaimon alerted him that her visit with Hiyori had finally drawn to an end. The Fifth Division Captain bid his own farewells to Urahara and slowly made his way back to the Vizard Warehouse.

Hiyori could be one of two things right now; either extremely happy or extremely upset, and as the one who had made the decision to bring Kirio to the Living Realm to meet her, Shinji felt obligated to check in on his lover. Hiyori had always regarded Kirio highly; the latter was the the only woman in the entirety of Soul Society and the Living World that the petite blonde would show utmost respect. A part of him had been tempted to stay behind to see Hiyori's reaction to the meeting, but he had chosen to let the two catch up in private in the end. Kirio had always had a way with Hiyori after all, and he doubted the two women would need him around at all.

Easing his way quietly through Hachi's barrier, he slipped into the warehouse that had been his home for decades and spread out his senses to locate his brat. It didn't take him very long to find her. Her spiritual pressure buzzed dully against his consciousness, shaky, unstable, and it gave away her presence very easily.

Damn. So she was upset, after all.

Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to spring Kirio on her like this. She didn't usually take well to surprises as a rule of thumb, but he had mistakenly assumed that she would make an exception this time for her beloved mother figure. Shinji found Hiyori in her bedroom, curled in a quiet little ball on her bed, her back facing him. He slipped the door shut behind him and slowly approached. She did not seem to register his presence, and he sat down on the edge of the mattress, then reached out to rest his hand on top of her head. She finally reacted then, rolling over slowly to look at him. Her eyes were bright, but she stared at him steadily.

"Hey," he greeted softly, lightly running his fingers through her hair as he did so. There was no point in beating around the bush, and so he continued. "How are ya feelin'?"

She didn't answer him. Instead, she grabbed his hand and pulled him into bed with her, and once he was lying down beside her, she climbed on top of him and collapsed into the circle of his arms as easily and as blithely as though she had always belonged there. Her hands came up to clutch onto his white haori even as she curled into him like a needy little child, and she tucked her face into the side of his neck as she drank in his presence. If he was surprised by her action, he was not protesting it in any way. Shinji did not mind holding her; he immediately wrapped his arms around her smaller frame, pulling her close against his lean, rangy form and letting her take refuge in his reassuring strength. He stroked her back slowly and she started to shake, still completely silent, and he stiffened when he felt a deluge of liquid warmth drench his neck.

Shit. Shit. She was crying. Hiyori didn't cry, never cried, wasn't supposed to cry. Shinji's heart sank.

"Hiyori- brat," the blonde man spoke, his voice tight with distress. He felt like he had just been punched right in the gut, and his heart quietly ached for her. "Don't cry-"

He shifted slightly as if to look at her, but she tightened her hold on him and refused to let him even move his head.

"Don't look," she snapped gruffly against the side of his throat, her voice weak and stuffy from her tears, but there was still a familiar irritable sharpness there, though perhaps more subdued right now. "Don't fuckin' look at me right now, dammit. Look away."

She was still such a proud and prickly little thing even at this moment, but somehow, her familiar demeanor reassured him. Sighing inwardly, he turned his gaze to the ceiling but continued to hold her close, pressing her against him and rubbing her back in soothing motions. She slowly relaxed into his hold once more, her head on his shoulder, her fists unclenching against his haori, her tears falling silently like raindrops on his skin. She was very quiet when she cried, her shoulders trembling from her near silent sobs, and he had to strain his ears to catch the periodic hitch in her breathing, the tiny little sniffles she made as her nose tried to clear the congestion caused from her upset.

Every wheezing little noise she emitted tugged at his heartstrings in a very uncomfortable way. Shinji very quickly decided that he did not like this feeling at all.

"This was a really bad idea, huh?" he uttered after a while, self-deprecation in his tone. He was still lying flat on his back, his eyes fixed ahead of him, but she suddenly sat up, knocked aside his arm and roughly wiped away the remnants of her tears with the back of her hand. Her eyes were red rimmed from her earlier bout of crying but there was no trace of sadness to be found in those haunting ochre depths.

"…I never thought I'd see Hikifune Taichou again," she told him at last, slowly, her voice slightly hoarse. There was stark honesty in her words though, and so he listened. "The last one hundred years…I missed her- I missed her so damn much," Hiyori whispered tremulously with the sheer intensity of her emotions. She looked at him and swallowed hard. "But…you, you l-let m-me s-see her again, Shinji. I-I-" She could not speak further, for her tears started to flow again and she had to clap her hands over her face to hide them.

The stiff tension in his gut eased when he realized the reason why she was crying. He really did sigh out loud this time, tugging her back down to lie back beside him as he did so.

"Ya know, I never pegged ya 'ta be the type 'ta be so emotional," he drawled drolly, only for her to start bristling defensively, instinctively offended by his statement. He ignored her and just pulled her close. "It's okay 'ta cry when you're happy, stupid."

"D-Don't c-call me stupid, s-stupid!" she snapped back at him, but the quiver in her voice told him that she had taken heed of his words. He did not look at her as she pressed her face into his shoulder, respecting her need not to appear weak in front of him, instead just lifting a narrow, long fingered hand to slowly stroke through her hair as she wet his haori with her overwhelming emotions. It was a testament of his love for her that he refrained from remarking over all the unsightly snot and bodily fluids that she was smearing on his clothes, and when her tears finally abated, he simply turned his head and kissed her forehead.

"Feel better now?" he asked.

Her cheeks warmed, and she nodded slightly.

"…Shin-ji," she spoke huskily, hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"…T-Thanks," she mumbled, her gaze downturned as she avoided looking at him. She sounded so uncharacteristically shy and embarrassed, and this side of her was simply adorable. She was such an exasperating little tsundere, and he was completely charmed by her. His gaze warmed with affection.

"You're welcome, brat."


::owari::


Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:

I got inspired to write this shot from a rather cute fanart depicting Hiyori and Hikifune. I believe that Hiyori still respects and loves her ex-Taichou very much even after all these years, since she has always regarded the older woman as her esteemed mother figure when she was growing up. Shinji's little surprise had completely shaken her, not that she could be blamed.

…I'd be pretty emotional too if I was suddenly able to meet my mother whom I had never expected to see after more than a hundred years (mostly because we'd both be dead by then, but still).

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Headcanon: thanks to Hikifune's influence, Hiyori is a superbly good cook. She also possesses an acutely sensitive palate and a very sharp sense of smell to go with too, and her natural abilities make her an extremely gifted individual in the culinary arts. In fact, despite her tomboyish appearance and demeanor, she's the best at cooking out of the entire Vizards and could also probably trump a good portion of Karakura town and Seireitei while she's at it as well, though this is a pretty well-kept secret since cooking isn't really Hiyori's burning passion and she would only do it for the people she cares deeply for.

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Last but not least, thanks for reading!

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Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic!

-paws