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: 2523
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: 17/07/13
Chapter Last Revised on: 27/07/13
The Empress' New Clothes – Part II
Hirako Shinji was having an absolutely boring day so far.
As always, life in Seireitei passed with excruciating slowness; it seemed like everyone lived out their long lifespans like Galapagos tortoises, and looked just about as interesting as they did so. It had been good to return as the head of his original division and see the other Captains and friends whom he had lost contact with a century or so ago, but after the initial homecoming period was over, it was quite apparent that the entire lot of them in the Court of Pure Souls had hardly changed at all – a century was nothing to the lives of beings who could easily live for thousands of years, and, like it was before his exile, the pace of living here was unbearably lazy and sluggish.
To Shinji, who had grown to love the accelerated, colorful world in the Living Realm, this was the hardest thing to get used to again. It felt like he was going backwards in time, and not surprisingly, Shinji was not interested in living life like some outdated dinosaur – even though he rightfully belonged with the lot of them in the first place. Boring. It was utterly, mind numbingly boring.
His Lieutenant, Hinamori Momo, was of the very proper and straight-laced sort. She was very eager to please and took everything too seriously at the same time, though that was good since she tended to take care of most of the day-to-day issues of their Division with swift deftness and efficiency, and usually without too much interference on his part. Old Man Yamamoto, Unohana, Ukitake and Kyouraku were still the same from back in the day when they were all Captains. Yoruichi's replacement, Soi Feng, was something of a stiff with no sense of humor whatsoever. Ditto the Captains of the Rokubantai, Nanabantai and Juubantai. The current Kenpachi was as bloodthirsty as the last one he remembered, and Urahara's replacement, Kurotsuchi, was still a creepy little shit, only he was higher up the food chain now. Even Rose and Kensei had lost some of their levity as they focused their attentions on running their respective divisions, and really, he had no one to argue with or annoy in between his time spent managing the Gobantai, which usually involved long hours spent in his office reviewing paperwork and revamping the division's organizational structure to suit his operational style, accompanied by the occasional spar with his seated officers to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the men and women who now worked under his command.
All in all, life in Seireitei after the war was pretty dull and peaceful, which was why he visited the Living World whenever he could. It wasn't difficult to secure permission from the Old Man; unrestricted passage to and from the Living World for the four Vizards was part of the conditions that he had set for all of them when they were all recalled to retake their posts amongst the Gotei 13. Officially, this was to keep track of the remaining Shinigami/Hollow hybrids in Karakura town and also to maintain a formal line of communication with the other exiled Death Gods living in the area. Unofficially, there wasn't much the Old Man could do to stop them from sneaking between the realms if they really wanted to, and besides, this granted request was but a tiny recompense owed to them for the injustice that they had been dealt over a hundred years ago.
So right now, after an earlier three hour long (and entirely tedious) Captains' Meeting in the First Division, Shinji was walking away from the Urahara Shoten with the former Captain of the Twelfth Division in tow, his arms folded in front of his chest and his hands tucked into the voluminous sleeves of his Captain haori, an entirely apathetic look on his face as he made small talk with Kisuke and lazily collected information from the other blonde regarding any unusual happenings occurring in Karakura. The informal surveillance assignment was a small enough price to pay in exchange for the right to come and go as he pleased between the dead and living realms, and besides, it was always good to keep abreast of matters in Karakura, since nasty events had a bad habit of occurring around a certain Kurosaki Ichigo with alarming frequency and regularity.
Speaking of which, the orange-haired Substitute Shinigami and his Quincy friend were walking a few paces ahead of the two men, having seemingly run into the latter duo by coincidence a short while ago. The pair of humans were dressed in summer yukata and, after some subtle ribbing from both Shinji and Kisuke, eventually revealed that they were on their way to meet their friends to attend the local natsu matsuri together, and since the two older souls had no particular destination in mind, they ended up tagging along as well.
The festival was in full swing by the time they neared the riverbanks of Karakura town, with a colorful, noisy deluge of humanity that Kisuke gamely took in stride and that Shinji seemed to appreciate. For once, both men did not look out of place at all with their traditional outfits, and were therefore largely ignored by the throngs of revelers and matsuri visitors as they slowly made their way through the stalls. The younger males, though, were already scowling and frowning respectively, visibly uncomfortable and not pleased to have to brave the overwhelming crowds.
It was then, though, that Ichigo's bored regard caught sight of something both horribly familiar and astoundingly shocking at the same time. Swiveling his head sharply to take a better look at what he had just seen, the orange-haired teenager came to an abrupt stop even as his jaw unhinged. Uryuu nearly ran into his friend – Ichigo had halted abruptly without any warning at all.
"Kurosaki, do you not know how to walk properly?" he snapped, looking distinctly irritated. "What's wrong with you now?"
In answer, the Substitute Shinigami just pointed towards the utterly bewildering sight that had caught his attention in the first place. His eyes were not playing tricks on him, were they? "What the hell…? …Is that…Hiyori?" he blurted out loudly, incredulity coloring his tone, squinting slightly at he did so and scowling even more than usual. "And what is she…?"
Hearing that name was enough to catch Shinji's attention, and breaking off the conversation with Kisuke, the Fifth Division Captain lifted his head and glanced swiftly in the direction that Ichigo was gesturing, along with everyone else in the group.
It took him slightly longer than usual to pick out the woman in question from amongst the crowds, not only because she had masked her reiatsu, but also because he almost did not recognize her at first sight. It took a second look before he finally registered that the petite blonde whom he was currently staring at was one and the same Sarugaki Hiyori – his brat.
He was not the only one gawking in surprise.
The small group of Shinigami, Vizards and Quincy were visibly taken aback for a few short seconds. Not surprisingly, Urahara and Ishida were amongst the first to recover from the unusual sight. The bucket hat wearing blonde looked vaguely amused then. "Oh my," the man murmured, unfurling his fan with a graceful snap of his wrist to hide his chuckle as he did so. "Hiyori-san sure is looking prettier and cuter these days."
Shinji, still gaping, was too astonished to muster a reply.
Ichigo scowled. "She looks like a girl," the orange-haired teen announced almost accusingly then, as if he had been deliberately misled into thinking otherwise all this while, much to Uryuu's slight snort of derision.
"Newsflash, moron. Sarugaki-san is a girl."
If even the usually oblivious Ichigo could discern that fact, then it was obvious that Hiyori was looking very different today.
"No, she isn't," Ichigo muttered. "She's a monkey, a chibi gorilla!"
But there was clearly nothing remotely apelike about the girl right now, as they could all attest. They were still a fair distance away from the small female in question, and the overwhelming number of people around them ensured that their presence had not been detected by her yet. Besides, the short blonde appeared quite distracted by her two unknown male companions, and as they watched, she was bestowing upon the aforementioned dumbstruck boys an absolutely adorable little fanged grin and an expectantly innocent flutter of her large, heavily lashed eyes even as she pointed to a nearby food stall and said something to them.
A good three quarters of the men in the group were not even aware that she was capable of making such cute, impish expressions. Somehow, it was not entirely surprising that those besotted boys whom she was with were immediately scrambling to fulfill her every wish, and Uryuu blinked when he abruptly realized what was going on.
"She's…manipulating them so that they'll buy her food," he commented in disbelief. And damn if it wasn't working like a charm, judging by the way those two were all but competing with each other to feed her.
Ichigo face-palmed. Trust Hiyori to break out her feminine wiles for something like this! Really, he should have known!
"What the hell is she wearing?" Shinji suddenly thundered then, finally regaining his senses. The usually bored looking blonde also appeared particularly murderous as he surveyed the scene before him with suddenly sharp eyes, and Kisuke side-eyed the flustered Shinigami Captain with something akin to curious amusement before realization quickly occurred.
Huh. So that was how it was.
Uryuu answered on the behalf of the Fifth Division Taichou, pushing the bridge of his slipping glasses firmly back onto the ridge of his nose as he did so.
"It's a Wa Lolita Kimono dress, I believe, designed in the style of a Kofurisode. Notice the long, sweeping sleeves? The Sakura petals motif of the material is astoundingly exquisite as well, as is the intricate lace detail on the skirt itself-"
"Enough, Ishida," Ichigo interrupted before the Quincy could really warm up to his favorite topic. "I think the rest of us all stopped listening after you mentioned that Hiyori is in a dress. Voluntarily."
Uryuu frowned slightly at that. "Why not? Sarugaki-san looks amazing in this ensemble, and she also clearly knows how to present herself to her best advantage."
Shinji twitched at that. The brat was, perhaps, a little too good at presenting herself to the unsuspecting male masses (and rather immodestly, to boot). Her dress was much too short for his taste and left a good amount of her lean, slender legs bare. Her small feet were encased in delicate zori sandals that drew attention to her surprisingly dainty ankles and the smooth arch of her milky calves. The elaborate obi was tightly cinched at her midriff, emphasizing her exquisitely narrow waist and slight, feminine figure, quickly proving without a doubt that, despite her small stature, she was clearly all woman. She looked like a beautiful little doll, and even her usual fluffy, pigtailed hairstyle added to her charm, an innocently sexy appeal that attracted all sorts of masculine attention.
She was everything that he had always known she could be but was none too keen to share with the rest of the world, and Shinji could not believe that it had come to this, but right now, he would gladly buy her all the shapeless, hideous looking tracksuits she favored as long as she promised never to wear such provocative outfits again, at least not without him around to chase away overly interested parties. Shinji was still having trouble trying to reconcile this cutely manipulative, mischievously sensual young woman to the fiery little hellion he had claimed as his own, and the fact that there were two males (albeit weak human boys whom she was obviously just toying with) hovering over her with obviously impure intent did nothing to improve his agitation.
"I agree, Hiyori-san is becoming quite the lovely young lady," Urahara remarked innocuously as he casually fanned the flames of the fuming blonde beside him. "Her spirited personality is rather enchanting; some men prefer their women feisty, you know."
"She looks like jailbait," Shinji snapped then, looking particularly furious when one of those boys had the nerve to touch her arm – and she was allowing it. "Excuse me," the Gobantai Taichou bit out then. "I suddenly remember that I have something very important to take care of."
Without another word, the usually laidback blonde tersely disappeared from their midst, leaving behind a terribly entertained Urahara and two visibly baffled teens.
"Oi, Urahara, where's Shinji going in such a hurry?" Ichigo questioned.
There was an abrupt exclamation carrying over from the distance then, and the trio immediately turned to check out the commotion.
"Sarugaki-san is gone too," Uryuu remarked, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Her companions are still there, though." The two boys looked utterly bewildered, as if the girl that they had been with mere seconds ago had literally been snatched out of midair.
Ichigo's brow furrowed. "What's the hell's going on?" he scowled, not appreciating the fact that the damn Urahara shopkeeper was keeping secrets from him again.
Kisuke brought his fan closer to his face. It was too bad that Yoruichi was not here to see this; she would be very interested to know the events that had transpired today. "Ah, there's nothing to worry about. Like I just said, some men prefer their women feisty."
Surprisingly enough, the Substitute Shinigami and his Quincy eventually caught on to his meaning, judging by the gob smacked looks on their faces.
"You mean Shinji and monkey Hiyori are…" Ichigo trailed off, looking slightly confused. His brown eyes suddenly widened. "Shinji's a lolicon?!"
Urahara's gray eyes gleamed with mirth at the orange-haired teenager's visibly disturbed expression. "For the good of your wellbeing, Ichigo, I hope you never say that in front of either Shinji-san or Hiyori-san. For your information, Hiyori-san may look deceptively small in size, but I assure you that she's a fully grown young adult capable of making her own decisions when it comes to the matter of her personal relationships."
"But she's tiny! Even my baby sisters are bigger than her!" Ichigo protested.
"Again, Ichigo, for your own good, I hope that you will be smart enough not to say such things to Hiyori-san, or she may just demonstrate to you her proficiency in physical combat despite her slight build."
Ichigo, having witnessed on multiple occasions the hot-tempered woman's 'love taps' towards the Fifth Division Captain, was definitely not keen to be on the receiving end of such treatment. He already took enough beatings from Rukia as it was.
"I don't understand what Shinji is thinking," Ichigo remarked then. "The midget monkey's so short and violent! Whatever does he sees in her?"
Ishida and Urahara paused and looked at the other teen with varying degrees of skepticism. The Quincy dryly replied for both himself and the blonde ex-Shinigami.
"I don't think that you are in any position to point fingers here, Kurosaki."
"What?!"
::tsuzuku::
Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:
Second part of three shots. The last one will be up as soon as I get it back from my beta!
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Um yeah, very slight mention of IchiRuki at the end. There will be hints of side pairings every once in a while in this fic, but since I don't intend to put a lot of focus on those, I don't think this should be a big issue. Still, just putting it out here as a heads up to you guys.
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FYI, Wa Lolita is a pretty popular Lolita fashion style in Japan. The outfits are usually modified versions of kimonos or hakamas with a Lolita skirt twist. There are some very lovely costumes that can be found on Google Image Search for those who would like to see what they look like. I have also taken the liberty of including a link on my profile page (under the 'Extras' heading) to the particular costume that inspired Hiyori's outfit for this miniseries. Feel free to have a look if you are curious enough!
I think that Hiyori, with her small build, would look absolutely adorable in such an outfit, which was what spurred me to write this in the first place, ahaha.
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Hiyori's official height is 133 cm, and that means she's shorter than even Ichigo's sisters, Yuzu and Karin, who stand at 137 cm and 136 cm respectively. Yes, she's absolutely tiny, but I still stand firmly by my belief that she's a full grown young adult. If both Akon and Ichimaru Gin can grow from little midgets to apparent adulthood in the span of a century, then it stands to reason that Hiyori has matured similarly as well – she just happens to have a very petite build, that's all.
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Last but not least, thanks for reading! I'm really glad that there are fellow fans out there reading and favoriting this humble little fic. This fandom is so quiet that I often feel like I'm talking to myself here, haha. ShiYori FTW!
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Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic!
-paws