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: 2766
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: 29/07/13
Completed on: 29/07/13
Chapter Last Revised on: 18/08/13
Hiyori, Drunk – Turn Back the Pendulum Edition, Part I
It was Spring, and Hanami in Seireitei was unrivaled in Soul Society. Entire stretches of training fields bloomed with color, a stunning riot of gorgeous pinks and whites that took over the foliage and filled the air with the light, sweet scent of abundantly blossoming Sakura and Ume. The view was simply spectacular and beyond compare to anything that the Living Realm could offer, especially at the height of the season, and even in the evenings, the flowering cherry and plum trees were breathtaking to behold, their hauntingly delicate colors brought out by the flickering paper lanterns that lit up the training grounds, easily beguiling anyone who walked under them.
For most of the seated officers of the Gotei 13, this was a time to make merry and get legitimately drunk. Hanami season was a traditional festival that was officially recognized and observed by Seireitei as a whole, and most of the Shinigami usually took full advantage of it. During the month or so of festivities and celebrations, duties were noticeably light, and everyone's moods generally became just a little more relaxed and laidback as the spirit of the season overtook them.
Lounging in a lit pavilion overseeing a tranquil lakeside lined with blooming Sakura one particular evening were the two Taichou of the Gobantai and the Juuniibantai, Hirako Shinji and Urahara Kisuke. Delicate porcelain flasks of sake and drinking saucers along with bowls of traditional Japanese snacks of senbei, kaki no tane and nuts were spread across the stone table between the two men as they met up for yozakura, taking the opportunity to socialize and interact with likeminded comrades outside of the usual constraints of work and division related responsibilities.
"It's a pity that Yoruichi has to attend to her duties to her clan this evening," Kisuke was just commenting as he looked out at the beautiful scenery. "She would've loved to join us tonight."
Shinji took a sip of his sake and shrugged noncommittally. He was just glad to be free of the humdrum of work for the day, and the sake that Kisuke brought over was of a particularly excellent quality too, rich and fragrant, lingering delicately across his palate like a well brewed rice wine should.
"The Shihouin Clan, eh?" the long-haired man commented lazily, eyeing the other man with his usual bored yet sharp gaze. "Now that I think of it, you do seem pretty close with their princess, Kisuke."
It sounded like an idle, offhanded remark more than anything, but with the Fifth Division Captain, nothing was what it seemed, and Urahara just smiled ambiguously.
"Yoruichi and I are childhood friends," the tousled blonde responded calmly. "We know each other from way back." And that was that.
Shinji shrugged carelessly, respecting the man's boundaries as well as his need for privacy and backing off. He changed the subject obligingly. "So, how's Captain life treatin' ya? Most of the Twelfth Division seem 'ta be fallin' in line pretty well enough, from what I can see. The lil' monkey still givin' you any problems?"
Already a year had passed since Kisuke took the helm of the Juuniibantai, and for the most part, everything seemed to be running smoothly, except for a few unexpected snags and hitches here and there. Unfortunately, the Fukutaichou of his division happened to be one of the abovementioned issues that had yet to be completely sorted out. Kisuke didn't really mind though; Hiyori-san performed her duties well enough most of the time – she was just a bit temperamental and shouty sometimes. And kicky. And bitey. Not to mention punchy. But it wasn't anything that he could not handle.
"Ah, well," Kisuke took an idle sip from his saucer. "We're still working on it."
Shinji snorted. "Someone needs 'ta put a leash on the little runt; she's outta control. No offense, Kisuke, but you're terrible at it."
The other Captain just smiled. "Hiyori-san's a spirited young lady. She's a good Lieutenant to have around."
The long-haired blonde waved his hand dismissively in the air. "You might as well just call a spade a spade, Kisuke. No wonder you're getting stepped on all 'ta time-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Shinji was sent face first into his saucer of sake as the sole of a small, stocking-ed foot landed unceremoniously on the back of his head, shoving him forward into the shallow dish of alcohol. Unceremoniously using the golden-haired Captain as a springboard, the tiny flash of black somersaulted neatly and landed in front of the two higher ranked officers.
By now, the Gobantai Taichou didn't even need visual confirmation to guess just who it was that had so rudely stomped on him. Sputtering and quickly lifting his head, he wasted no time chewing out the culprit.
"Damn you, Hiyori! What 'ta hell do ya think yer doing!" a now somewhat disheveled looking Shinji yelled, his face red with agitation and dripping with sake, his normally perfectly groomed hair all mussed and his usually straight, even fringe stuck to his forehead in odd, comical angles that only added to the chaotic hilarity of the previously tranquil scene.
Faux surprise showed on the face of the Fukutaichou of the Juuniibantai "Yo, hage Shinji! I didn't see you there!" Sarugaki Hiyori mocked. "I thought I heard somebody askin' 'ta be stepped on, so I helpfully obliged!"
Shinji looked like he wanted nothing more than to reach over and strangle the cheeky little fanged brat, and Kisuke quickly interrupted before the two of them could start their usual quarrel. They mixed together about as well as oil and water, and if given the opportunity, could really get completely out of hand with their little fights and squabbles.
"Hiyori-san, were you looking for me?" the tousled blonde enquired. Hiyori turned away from taunting the other Captain to focus on her commanding officer, sobering almost immediately. She unceremoniously shoved a thick sheaf of papers right in his face.
"You forgot 'ta sign these," she told him grudgingly. "Unohana Taichou needs your signatures by tomorrow morning or the Fourth Division won't loan their medical equipment 'ta us."
Kisuke flipped through the documents; he had forgotten about these. Looking up, he spoke with chagrin. "Ah, Hiyori-san, I really appreciate your reminder, but I'm afraid I don't have any writing utensils on me right now-"
A calligraphy brush, an ink stick and an ink stone promptly bounced off of his forehead in rapid succession. The seemingly klutzy Captain barely caught everything before they clattered to the floor, and he was so inured to this behavior by now, he barely even reacted in shock to his Lieutenant's petulant treatment. "Ah, that's really thoughtful of you, Hiyori-san. Thanks."
The young girl just harrumphed and crossed her arms over her chest, sticking her nose in the air and pretending not to acknowledge his friendly gratitude. Smiling wryly, her Captain set out the paperwork on the table and prepared the writing instruments for use.
Shinji was disgusted by how passively Kisuke accepted Hiyori's brattish antics, though. He wiped his face with the sleeve of his haori and glowered at the smaller blonde. "Why are you still up, anyway?" he grumbled. "Isn't it well past your bedtime already?"
He was obviously looking for a fight, and she was more than willing to oblige him. "Shut up, baldy! I ain't a kid! Don't go treatin' me like one!" Hiyori stomped over to the long-haired blonde and wasted no time kicking him hard in the shin. He swore loudly and immediately lunged for her, but she was small and agile, and more than quick enough to evade him, taunting him all the way. A slew of undignified name calling and dubiously decorous actions promptly ensued between the two high ranking officers of the illustrious Goteijusantai.
Meanwhile, Kisuke just continued to read through the documents and blithely ignored the duo as they capered around the pavilion. He tactfully pretended not to notice how his fellow Captain's level of maturity seemed to have abruptly dropped by several orders of magnitude as the expertly skilled warrior resorted to downright juvenile techniques of hair pulling and cheek pinching, just as he turned a blind eye to his Lieutenant's completely insubordinate behavior of biting, head butting, and the completely unsportsmanlike mule kick between the legs she favored.
Hiyori wiggled free from Shinji's hold, cackling victoriously as she did so.
"Hah! Maybe you should be 'ta one 'ta go 'ta bed early, hage Shinji! Ya can't even handle a Fukutaichou; yer gettin' rusty, old man!"
"O-Old man!" Shinji sputtered in disbelief, before his golden eyes narrowed and he looked very insulted. "I'll show you 'old man,' you little-!"
The younger blonde just scowled back fearlessly and stuck out her tongue at him. That proved to be a mistake, for quick as lightning, his hand shot out and he caught hold of the small, slick muscle, his long, narrow fingers pinching her tongue securely and not allowing her to retract it back into her mouth, much to her muffled squawk of displeasure.
"Who's the rusty one now, huh?" the Gobantai Taichou gloated, ignoring her futile attempts to free herself as he turned to the other Captain. "Hey, Kisuke! See what I just caught!"
The tousled blonde raised his head and looked at the two. Shinji appeared ridiculously smug as he continued to lightly taunt his squirming catch, and Hiyori was fit to be tied as she tried to hit him only to be defeated by her own short reach and awkwardly incapacitated position.
"Hirako Taichou, I think you should let go of Hiyori-san. It will be bad if she starts crying."
"Che. Don't you know? Monkeys don't cry," Shinji retorted simply, though he released her all the same, but not before childishly wiping his slimy fingers on her shihakusho. Hiyori quickly took offense to that, and wasted no time grabbing his arm and sinking her sharp little fangs into her tormentor. Shinji yelped.
"HIYORI!"
Kisuke just sighed and continued to put his signature on the required pages. The sooner he finished this, the sooner he could get those two separated, and hopefully without too much bloodshed on either end.
Having exacted her revenge, the pigtailed blonde finally let go of the stupid baldy and backed away, spitting and sticking out her tongue in exaggerated disgust. "Yeaggh! Yew thaste howwible!"
Nursing his poor bleeding arm, Shinji glared at the little barbarian. "I do not taste horrible!"
Before either man could stop her, Hiyori grabbed a saucer from the table and immediately tossed it back in a single swallow, mistaking its clear, transparent contents for water. Not surprisingly, the potent sake burned all the way down, and the experience completely shocked the young girl, who had never taken a drink of any sort of alcohol before. Coughing from the fumes, her eyes watering and her tongue tingling from the high grade rice wine, her immediate instinct was to rid herself of the overwhelming taste as quickly as possible. The two Captains watched in surprise as she instinctively, frantically, reached for yet another filled saucer of sake, no doubt deceived by its watery appearance again in her hectic moment of need, and hurriedly poured it down her throat.
Shinji did not know whether to laugh or feel sorry for the brash girl when she realized that it wasn't water she had just drunk. Choking, her eyes bugging wide open, she gasped for air and staggered backwards, clutching at her throat as she gagged, her face reddening from her efforts to breathe through the alcoholic vapors.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" she bellowed indignantly the moment she was respiring properly again, looking so comically upset and ruffled as she did so, and the Gobantai Taichou could not help it any longer; he burst into laughter. While the man was busy laughing himself sick, Kisuke stood up and went forward to soothe his highly agitated Lieutenant.
"Ah, Hiyori-san, are you alright? You just gulped down two potent cups of sake-"
"THAT'S SAKE?! IT TASTES LIKE SHIT!" Shinji took one look at Hiyori's highly disgruntled features and snorted, his shoulders shaking as he clapped his hand to his mouth and snerked, all but crying with mirth.
"That's because this type of sake's not meant to be guzzled like that, Hiyori-san-"
Hiyori eventually noticed the stupid baldy standing behind her Captain, who was taking way too much joy in her misery, and feeling extremely embarrassed and stupid, she wasted no time jumping at the annoying male, snarling as she did so.
"STOP LAUGHING. WHAT'S SO FUNNY, YOU-"
Despite his overwhelming amusement, he was able to catch her singlehandedly as she pounced angrily on him, dodging her infuriated swing at his head and snatching her out of midair before she could launch another attack at him. Wrapping a firm arm around her middle, he easily subdued her and held her dangling on her stomach by the side of his hip, much to her increasing outrage. The sudden blood rush to her head ensured that she did not struggle too hard, even though she spat and hissed and tried rather ineffectually to hit him.
Kisuke looked rather dismayed as he went up to the other Captain, who was still smirking with unholy glee. The latter pointed with an elegant finger at the disgruntled, growly girl he was holding. "Ya missin' an angry little monkey, Kisuke?"
The Juuniibantai Taichou crouched down before his Fukutaichou and studied her reddened, aggravated features. She was starting to appear quite flushed from his point of view, and he suspected that the slight amount of sake that she had ingested was already beginning to take effect on the senses of the small female. "Hiyori-san, it seems you have never drunk alcohol before. Try to calm down a bit, alright? We don't know how good your tolerance is and being agitated is just going to further exacerbate your condition."
Surprisingly enough, Hiyori actually quieted down obediently. She also stopped struggling and instead just hung limply in Shinji's hold. She was still frowning somewhat though, obviously discontented with her current situation, but she was giving in grudgingly enough, and so the Fifth Division Captain set her back down on her feet.
"Are you feeling okay, Hiyori-san?" her commanding officer enquired with concern, and she slowly looked at him. Her cheeks were flushed and her pupils looked slightly dilated, but she seemed completely lucid even though she had fallen strangely silent. Kisuke was torn between wanting to make sure that his subordinate was alright and the pressing need to finish up the paperwork – they really needed that equipment tomorrow – when Shinji intervened.
"Finish your work, Kisuke," the long-haired man said, mild amusement still lacing his lazy tone. "I'll watch the brat for ya."
They both waited for an explosion from the abovementioned brat, and were both slightly taken aback when she didn't even made a peep. A bit concerned, Kisuke quickly went back to the rest of his documents, intent on getting them done as quickly as possible. Shinji just eyed the girl, and then he slowly herded her to a seat. Surprisingly enough, she put up no protest whatsoever and just sat quietly on the stone chair, her gaze lowered as she glowered at her folded hands on her lap.
Shinji poured some sake into one of the abandoned saucers and took a sip from it, studying the unusually still and silent girl before him. What a weird little thing, he thought. She was also evidently so easily inebriated that it would be funny if it wasn't so alarming. "So you're a quiet drunk, eh?" he commented idly by way of small talk, though she did not even look up at him. "I thought that you'd be one of those crazy little firecrackers for sure, but you're just kinda…boring, aren't ya?"
"Hirako Taichou," Kisuke sighed from his side of the table. "Please don't tease Hiyori-san too much."
Shinji rolled his eyes. "Geez, you're like a mother hen, Kisuke. And how many times must I tell you to dispense with the formalities?"
Kisuke had to smile at that. "More often than I can count, Hirako Taichou." The tousled blonde proceeded to put his signature on the last approval form after reading through it swiftly, and then he gathered up the paperwork and went over to his Lieutenant.
"Hiyori-san? Come on, I'll take you back to Twelfth Division Barracks first." He reached out as if to grasp her arm, but she flinched back sharply from him, looking at him with huge, distrustful eyes.
"Who are you?" she demanded suddenly.
::tsuzuku::
Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:
Yup, Bleach's Turn Back the Pendulum arc is hands down my favorite arc in the series, and I especially adore Hiyori and Shinji's chemistry; if you can't see it, then you really need to open your eyes wider, haha. Anyway, I hope that I have managed to capture some of their amazing dynamics with each other – I really had a lot of fun writing this chapter.
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According to Wikipedia:
Hanami (花見?, lit. "flower viewing") is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers, "flower" in this case almost always meaning cherry blossoms ("sakura") or (less often) plum blossoms ("ume"). From the end of March to early May, sakura bloom all over Japan, and around the first of February on the island of Okinawa.
Hanami at night is called yozakura (夜桜?, literally night sakura).
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Just for reference's purpose, the events in this chapter (and the next) happened approximately one year after Kisuke became the Juuniibantai Taichou – hence he is still not very close with Hiyori yet.
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Another thing: I do understand that the ShiYori fandom is very small, so I'm not exactly expecting a lot from the readers, but please, if you can, do help me to further improve on my writing. I really adore this obscure pairing very much, but I'm also still in the process of learning how to write (it's always a constant struggle/progression), so any comments and helpful criticisms from the readers are always, always appreciated. Tell me what you like, what you don't like, or if you can't do so, then even a simple word of encouragement will do. Trust me; it will make my day to know that all the effort that I have put in writing the chapter has been at least acknowledged by someone.
I'm setting personal time aside and writing for the love of ShiYori, but you know, if I can't gain any insights that can help me improve on my writing, then I really don't see much point in continuously sharing my work on this website.
Reviews are food for the author's soul; feed me!
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And as always, 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