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: 1982

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: 16/07/13

Completed on: 16/07/13

Chapter Last Revised on: 25/07/13

The Empress' New Clothes – Part I

It didn't take Lisa long to figure out the truth.

"You finally gave it up to Shinji, didn't you?" the bespectacled woman mentioned out of the blue one day.

Hiyori, who had been more than a bit irritable over the considerable summer heat, just scowled at the older female's ambiguous comment. Lounging on the couch in the warehouse in a distinctly unladylike manner, the small blonde had a sad paper fan in her hand as she tried rather ineffectually to combat the soaring temperature. "What are ya yappin' 'bout?" she demanded grumpily. She had long since forgone her trademark red jacket and was only in her thin, white tank top, perspiration slicking her skin as she attempted to find a more comfortable position to relax in on the lumpy sofa.

Turquoise eyes studied the petite girl. Lisa had been wondering about Hiyori's more languid mannerisms recently – the usually tense, edgy female was just a little less quick to lash out, a little less eager to make whoever was unfortunate enough to offend her bleed. She was still the same grouchy little turd overall, but now there was an unexpected softness to her fierce features, a slight glow to her that had not been there before. There was a womanly quality to Hiyori now, barely noticeable as it was, but undeniable all the same. As such, it was easy to put two and two together and reach the inevitable conclusion that had been a long time coming – there was only one man brave (and stupid) enough to take on Hiyori, after all, even back when they were all seated officers in the Gotei 13, more than a century ago.

"Your virginity," Lisa remarked calmly, never taking her eyes off of her josei manga as she did so. "You finally lost it to Shinji."

There was a distinct sound of someone choking in the background of the girls' conversation.

Love stood up suddenly from the loft of the warehouse, looking distinctly flustered and irritated. "I'm outta here," the large man announced before he swiftly flash stepped away, most likely intending to keep as far away from this entirely uncomfortable discussion as physically possible. He did not need to know more about the private affairs of the antagonistic couple than he already did.

Hiyori nearly fell out of the couch at Lisa's flat statement. The surprised flare of her reiatsu was proof enough that the older female had hit the nail right on the head.

"What the hell!" the pigtailed blonde yelled. Her earlier bored expression was completely wiped off of her face now, and in its place was a familiar anger accompanied by no small amount of fluster. "Who told you that!"

Lisa calmly turned the page of her manga. "Nobody. You just had that look about you."

"What look?!" Hiyori sounded horrified, her hands coming up to check her face in case she had been walking around with the words 'no longer a virgin' tattooed on her forehead.

Lisa lifted her shoulder in a casual shrug. "You know. That 'finally got laid' look. I'm going to take a guess and say that you were the one who jumped Shinji, since he won't allow himself to touch you unless you instigate it. About time you put the poor man out of his misery."

Hiyori was starting to look even more agitated in the face of the ponytailed woman's absolute serenity. "You guessed?!" the smaller woman screeched. "And how come you automatically assumed that I did it with Shinji?!"

"Oh? It's not him?" Lisa did not sound like she could care less. "You better prepare to defend your lover boy then, whoever he is. Shinji's going to be pissed."

The grass is green. The sky is blue. It's going to rain soon. The ebony-haired Vizard sounded like she was just reciting a boring fact, which it might as well be, judging by how long they had all known about their leader's affection for his short-tempered brat.

Hiyori sputtered futilely for a few seconds. Her ochre eyes narrowed, but she at last muttered very lowly. "I didn't say that it wasn't him."

Lisa finally deigned to look up from her book. The blonde was puffing out her cheeks slightly and appeared visibly embarrassed. There was a small frown furrowing her brow, but overall, there was an unexpectedly endearing quality that Hiyori possessed (if one managed to look past her outwardly offensive and prickly demeanor, that was), and Lisa could see why the current Fifth Division Captain was so taken with her.

"You do look kind of sexy nowadays, Hiyori," Lisa remarked without shame or self-consciousness, and the younger girl gaped at her incredulously.

"WHAT?! ARE YOU SHITTIN' ME?!"

"Your movements. They are looser, less edgy. There's a languid sensuality. The air around you is also softer – it attracts attention."

Hiyori's face was even redder than before now. "I'M NOT GOIN' SOFT, DAMMIT!"

"I never said you were," Lisa countered calmly. "I just said that you looked thoroughly loved – you have that particular glow about you – and that's pretty sexy. Congrats on your newfound womanhood, Hiyori."

Lisa was as deadpan as ever, and Hiyori's mouth opened and closed in disbelief and shock. She looked like she wanted very much to say something but could not seem to find the words.

"By the way, are you attending the summer festival later, Hiyori?" the older Vizard continued to ask unflappably.

"…Maybe. Why?" the blonde replied grudgingly at last, intent on pretending that the last few minutes of their conversation had not occurred at all. She would likely go to the natsu matsuri and check things out for a bit – it wasn't as if there was anything much to do around here recently, and she was having an intense hankering for festival grub. Some yakitori and yakisoba sounded pretty good, actually.

"You should put on a furisode, then. It's been decades since you last wore a kimono."

A few hours later, a visibly irritated Hiyori was stalking down the streets of Karakura town, a fierce scowl on her face as she ignored the blatant stares of the other pedestrians.

Furisode, her ass! This was the last time she was going to listen to Lisa! She should have known that the other Vizard would take the opportunity to drag her off to one of the latter's favorite cosplay shop and dress her up like a little doll – this always happened whenever Hiyori was stupid or unlucky enough to go clothes shopping with Lisa, so she really didn't know what she was expecting this time around. She had been dragged into the establishment screaming and scratching and then been made to endure at least two hours of being a living clothes horse; she had barely escaped with her life as it was, let alone her pride.

Her dignity was left in tatters on the floor of that store alongside with her tracksuit, and now she had no choice but to put up with this incredibly bastardized version of a kimono that she had been made to put on before she managed to sufficiently distract Lisa and quickly sneak off. It was very pretty though, a delicate confection of black silk patterned by a storm of pink, white and red Sakura petals scattered throughout the fabric.

Hiyori had never quite seen a kimono like this, let alone worn one prior to today. First of all, its hem was incredibly short unlike the customary floor length versions, with an unusual flared skirt that stopped several inches above her knees, leaving the rest of her slender legs completely exposed and showing her bare feet that were encased in a pair of small, delicate zori sandals. Strangely enough, there was no need to wear a nagajuban either, though the sleeves of the silk material did resemble a traditional kofurisode somewhat, with a long sweeping length that matched the hem of the kimono perfectly when she spread out her arms. The obi was extremely lovely though, a pure bolt of wide crimson red brocade that spanned her tiny waist, overlaid by a second, narrower piece of obsidian silk, and together, they were both tied into an intricately elaborate bow of black and red at the small of her back. The decorative obijime completed the outfit, the thin, braided ebony cord looped around her middle and knotted at her side, the two red beads at the ends clinking lightly with every movement she made.

The entire ensemble, though like nothing she had ever come across before, was simply gorgeous and it made her feel extremely feminine and cute. Contrary to popular belief, Hiyori was not a complete tomboy and could appreciate adorable and beautiful things just like any other girl, and she had to admit that her current attire looked pretty sweet. As such, the blonde consoled herself with that fact, and besides, it was really not that bad. The shortness of the costume ensured an utter ease of leg movement that a formal furisode could never afford her, and the lack of heavy fabric meant that she would not overheat in this sweltering summer weather, and since she was already more or less dressed for the occasion, she might as well just continue on to the town's natsu matsuri and grab some well-deserved dinner on the way.

It did not take the pigtailed young woman very long to reach the riverbank where Karakura town's annual Summer Festival was held. Already, it was beginning to teem with people, and although the little blonde didn't usually like to be faced with such a massive tide of humanity, she was willing to make an exception this time for the sake of the delicious food that was already calling out to her with their delectable scents. With a little grin on her face, Hiyori followed her twitching nose, her earlier bad mood easing at the impending prospect of being fed.

It was only when she was standing before a stall selling mouthwatering okonomiyaki that Hiyori suddenly realized something very important.

She had not brought any money with her. Her belongings were all still with Lisa, and right now, she was completely empty handed.

Shit. Shiiiiit.

The little blonde wanted to swear at her bad luck. She was very close to throwing a full on temper tantrum. The Vizard's warehouse was located at the other end of town and she was hungry and wanted food, stat! Hiyori was wondering what she could do now, eyeing the food stall (and the food she could not eat) with an angry, distinctly forlorn air when along swaggered over a pair of human teenage boys.

"Hey there, cutie pie," they leered at the petite girl with the sweet, freckled face and the innocently sexy appearance. "Are you here alone? Wanna hang out with us?"

Hiyori's immediate instinct was to snarl at the pair of dipshits for interrupting her and maybe beat them up violently while she was at it, but then she promptly backtracked her thoughts and saw opportunity instead. Considering the somewhat good looking youths standing cockily before her, it didn't take Hiyori long to realize that the two doofuses here were probably god's answer to her prayers.

Hmm, this could work…

Cackling inwardly at her sudden change in fortune, the ex-Shinigami turned to her victims and deliberately widened her eyes, making the expressive ochre depths glisten ever so slightly. She slowly moistened her pink lips with the tip of her tongue, and watched as the two boys immediately focused on her, almost as if mesmerized. A shy, trembling smile quickly had them infatuated, and a soft, maidenly blush closed the transaction.

Hook, line and sinker.

"You really wanna play with me?" she asked with a deliberately breathless, sweet, girlish lilt. The boys flushed and nodded. "Really?"

Another series of quick nods.

Hiyori smiled slowly, her catlike eyes sharpening slightly with predatory intent.

"Alright then."

::tsuzuku::

Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:

This is the first part of three shots. The second and third will be coming up shortly!

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Yes, so the other Vizards found out. It's not really surprising, since they are a pretty close knit group and are bound to realize such things sooner or later. Also, since most of them are at least experts in zanjutsu and the art of fighting, it makes sense that they will pay more attention to things like body language and sense that some things are different now.

Also, I'm not sure how much this pertains to real life, but according to some shoujo mangas, women who have had sex or are no longer virgins (as a result from having aforementioned sex) suddenly become more sexy and unconsciously sensual in their demeanors to the people around them, and if that was true, then I figured that out of that lot of them, Lisa would surely pick up on it right away, so there you go.

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About the cosplay shop, well, we all know that Lisa's an otaku – there's no such thing as an otaku with no interest whatsoever in cosplay. Besides, she's always dressed in a sailor fuku herself, so it shouldn't be that farfetched to imagine that there's a shop she goes to for all of her otaku needs, ahaha.

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Hiyori is such a little hellion, but I do believe that she, too, has her girly side, or at least, she will not hesitate to make use of said girly side in order to get her way.

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Natsu Matsuri translates to Japan's summer festivals, held all over the country during the summer season. There are usually souvenir booths, food and game stalls aplenty during the duration of the festival. Okonomiyaki, Yakitori, and Yakisoba are some of the common street foods sold.

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Some of the Japanese terms used in this chapter to explain Hiyori's outfit:

According to Wikipedia, a furisode (振袖?, lit. swinging sleeves) is a style of kimono distinguishable by its long sleeves, which range in length from 85 centimeters for a kofurisode (小振袖) to 114 centimeters for an ōfurisode (大振袖) and are the most formal style of kimono worn by unmarried women in Japan.

A nagajuban is an under robe worn beneath the kimono to keep the kimono clean by preventing contact with the wearer's skin.

The obi is the sash worn with the kimono, and the obijime is a tasseled, decorative string that is tied around the obi.

Last but not least, the zori are traditional Japanese slippers that resemble flip flops. The more modern versions (which are what Hiyori is wearing) are usually made of vinyl materials and have sloped platform soles.

There are actually a lot more parts and pieces to a traditional, formal kimono, but since what Hiyori is wearing is not exactly a proper kimono, I skipped out on a lot of things. Visit Wikipedia and read it out if you are genuinely interested; they are pretty informative on the subject of kimonos over there.

If anybody is interested in a picture of the dress that had inspired Hiyori's outfit, let me know and I will put a link up in the next chapter.

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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