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: 4364
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: 30/07/13
Completed on: 31/07/13
Chapter Last Revised on: 21/08/13
Hiyori, Drunk – Turn Back the Pendulum Edition, Part II
The two men just stared at the small pigtailed blonde, momentarily nonplussed. Then, they exchanged brief glances with each other.
"Hiyori?" Shinji called out then, his tone slightly cautious and lacking all of its earlier levity, and she turned her head slowly to him, blinking as she did so.
"Shinji?" She rubbed her eyes with her fists in a ridiculously cute manner and shook her head tiredly. "Where's Hikifune Taichou?"
The two Captains stared at her once again.
"Hiyori," Shinji spoke again, this time with deliberate slowness. "Kirio-san is no longer here. She joined the Zero Division, remember?"
There was a long pause, and then the men were mildly horrified when tears started to fill the young girl's eyes.
"Hikifune Taichou is…gone?" she whispered almost as if to herself, even as her unbelievably wide, unblinking eyes continued to drip water in the most pitiful manner. "She…left…Hiyori behind?"
This was quickly becoming completely awkward. Neither of the men were equipped to deal with crying females, especially not this one in particular. Shinji didn't even know that she possessed the tear ducts necessary for crying until today.
"Hiyori-san," Kisuke's voice was soft. "Hikifune Taichou didn't abandon you. She entrusted you to help me take care of the Juuniibantai."
Instead of being comforted by his words, Hiyori reacted as if he had just announced that he had murdered her entire family and then set fire to the house for good measure.
"You made Hikifune Taichou go away," she accused in a whisper, and Kisuke's face fell.
"Hiyori!" Shinji snapped sharply then. She had gone too far. "You are a Fukutaichou of the Gotei 13. Be aware of your position!"
His harsh tone made her stiffen in shock, and she looked at him with huge, vulnerable eyes. Her small mouth trembled, and then the waterworks really started. The guilt at upsetting the young girl was considerably immense, and Shinji felt his insides twist – she was not supposed to cry like that, damn it.
"Shinji, you meanie!" she yelled at him, and then she jumped up from her seat, intent to run off. She didn't make it very far; her inebriated state had completely affected her hand eye coordination and motor skills, and she wobbled about unsteadily like a little drunk (pun fully intended) before tripping and nearly falling flat on her face. The long haired blonde who had so offended her tender sensibilities reached out and caught her by the arm before she could take the painful face plant, pulling her upright and to him to steady her. He fully expected her to turn around to take a swing at him in retaliation (as was the usual scope of their interaction with each other), but instead, she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and hiding her face against the side of his throat, and the way she shook against him made the rest of his earlier irritation dissipate completely. The brat was genuinely upset.
He sighed, and then he looked to her hovering, concerned Captain. "I'll take care of her, Kisuke. You better get that paperwork over 'ta Unohana ASAP."
The other blonde hesitated. "Are you sure…?"
Shinji rolled his eyes. "Tch. I've been dealin' with this little pain in the behind far longer than ya. I know what 'ta do." He raised a brow. "Or would ya like 'ta give it a go?"
Kisuke barely knew what to do with his touchy Lieutenant when she was her normal, grumpy self, let alone this weepy, overly sensitive version currently ensconced in Shinji's arms. Then, there was also the inconspicuous elephant in the room that was the utterly awkward subject of his predecessor, and Kisuke backed off.
"I owe you one, Hirako Taichou," the Juuniibantai Taichou mentioned gratefully, and the other Shinigami just lazily waved him off.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure 'ta collect one day," he retorted, and the other Captain finally excused himself after one last worried look at his sniffling subordinate. Shinji watched him leave, and when the latter was finally out of sight, he frowned down at the girl tucked against him.
"Oi." She did not respond, and so he poked her side mercilessly with a long finger. She flinched and pressed closer, hiding her face from his exasperated regard. "How much longer are ya gonna dribble all over my clothes," he demanded to know. "I never pegged ya 'ta be such a crybaby."
That taunt did the trick, for she at last lifted her head to frown at him. She looked damned pitiful to him, her eyes red rimmed and her long lashes clumping together from the tears. Her face and nose was bright red and dripping from her upset, and he pulled an exaggerated shudder. "Good God," he muttered with utter insensitivity. "You look even more like a monkey when you cry."
Instead of incurring her wrath and rage as his deliberately offensive statement typically would, her large, watery ochre eyes filled with such accusing hurt that it effectively made Shinji feel like he had just kicked a little kitten.
This was definitely not the norm of their usual interactions with each other.
She shoved away clumsily from him then, tottering unsteadily and nearly falling flat on her backside before she quickly regained her balance and lurched off. His ears caught the utterly heart wrenching sound of a muffled sob as she turned away, and for some reason or another, it made him feel like he had just been stabbed in the gut.
Oh shit.
He was up and after her in an instant, and not surprisingly, caught up to her very quickly in her current state. He dropped an arm around her shoulder and very easily absorbed all of her struggles, making her stop and turning her around to look at him. Now she looked utterly wretched, and Shinji felt really bad for making her even more upset than she already was. "Sorry, brat," he told her gruffly. "That came out wrong; I went overboard. It's my bad."
Hiyori swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "You're a horrible person!" she cried, and he looked at her oddly for her uncharacteristically passive response. Then, she turned her face into his kosode and sobbed some more, her small hands grabbing onto the fabric as she clung onto him. He patted her head awkwardly.
"Ah, geez, you're such an emotional drunk," he muttered, but still he stood there lamely with her under the pavilion for a while and let her compose herself. "C'mon," he coaxed. "Let's walk for a bit; the fresh air might clear your head."
She shook her head. "Can't," she muttered against his uniform. "Legs feel wobbly." There was a pause as they both contemplated what to do next, and then she suddenly demanded. "I wanna piggyback."
He looked down at her like she was crazy. "HUH?!"
But her ridiculously enormous, liquidy eyes were already starting to fill with tears again, and Shinji was desperate to make her stop before she could start again.
"Alright, alright! Just quit it with the damn crying already!" Kisuke owed him big for this, the Gobantai Taichou thought disgruntledly as he strode forward and hunkered down grudgingly before the smaller female. The blonde Captain wondered if he was going to have any dignity left after this evening. Somehow, he really doubted it. Whoever has heard of a Taichou piggybacking a Fukutaichou of another division on a whim? It simply wasn't done, even though this particular Fukutaichou was just a bratty little runt. But he had upset her earlier, so clearly this was his penance to her. She climbed onto his back and snaked her arms around his neck, tucking her chin over his shoulder as she got herself comfortable, and on his end, he hooked his arms behind her knees, made sure that she was secure, and then they were off.
She was so small that she weighed next to nothing to him, but she was warm and tangible against his back, and for once in that evening, she was quiet and seemed more or less content as she relaxed slowly and laid her head against the sloping curve of his shoulder and neck. He started to walk them back to the Fifth Division Barracks; there was no way he was going to carry her like this all the way across seven other divisions to the Juuniibantai – even though most of the Gotei 13 would likely be out celebrating Hanami and getting stone drunk, the chance of running into other Shinigami, not to mention the subsequent embarrassment, was still pretty high and he really didn't want to try his luck. Hiyori was just going to stay over at the Gobantai until she either sobered up enough to return on her own or Kisuke came to pick her up, whichever came first.
They had just passed through the deserted back gates of his division when her arms tightened slightly around his neck and she snuffled into the side of his throat, the tip of her cold nose brushing against the warm skin under his well-defined jawline.
"What are ya up to now?" he asked without even breaking stride, turning down a familiar path that led to his quarters.
Hiyori sighed after drawing a deep breath.
"You smell good," she mumbled, seeming to have momentarily lost the mental filter between her thoughts and her speech.
He rolled his eyes. "Don't go around smelling people without their permission, you weird little thing," he retorted, though there was hardly any heat in his words. "You also better not be drooling on me either-"
She loosened an arm around him and reached out to touch his hair with fascination then. "You've pretty hair-"
"Yeah, yeah, tell me somethin' I don't know," he muttered. His long, flowing sheet of silky golden hair was a source of constant pride for him.
"-pretty like a princess," she finished sleepily, briefly rubbing her heated cheek against those cool, golden strands, then patting them with her fingers with haphazard affection.
Shinji paused at that, his eye twitching. "You're startin' 'ta piss me off, brat," he grumbled, before he got moving again. How low he had fallen, to be reduced to the rough equivalent of a pack mule. "And that little paw of yours had better be clean."
Her only response was to nuzzle even closer to him, instinctively drawn to his heat, and then she just rested her cheek tiredly on his shoulder. He turned his head to glance briefly at her and his eyes widened imperceptibly; he was not expecting her face to be so close to his, so much so that it completely filled his field of vision. Her catlike ochre eyes were soft and drowsy, and they glowed slightly under the moonlight as she watched him lazily, passively. There was an oddly attractive quality in the way she looked right then that grabbed his attention and refused to let go – her freckled cheeks were lightly smudged pink from the alcohol, a heavy lidded, sleepy look on her face, the dense, light blonde lashes framing her eyes that seemed impossibly long, the cherry red of her small, soft mouth–
Quite abruptly, Shinji was reminded of the fact that Hiyori was not a child anymore, that resting on his back was not the angry, hyperactive little monkey he had always imagined her to be, but, rather, a girl who was teetering on the cusp of womanhood.
And that girl was projecting such languid contentment and uncharacteristic trust right now, her guard lowered and her usually prickly personality momentarily subdued by her inebriation. She looked so much softer and sweetly vulnerable at that moment, and he could not help but stare at her, partly in bafflement and partly in disbelief, but mostly in shock over the unavoidable realization that she was actually rather cute and unexpectedly charming in her own grumpy, onerous way – and that he found it kind of appealing.
She blinked slowly at him then, and it snapped him out of his obvious bewilderment. The sheer proximity to her did not help matters any, and Shinji immediately did the first thing that came to mind.
He let go of her.
Not expecting to be put down so rudely and abruptly, Hiyori promptly landed on her backside on the floor. Since she was a short little thing and he had quite the height advantage, it was a considerable fall down and she yelped when her bottom hit the ground rather jarringly.
"What the hell was that?!" The visibly disturbed and horrified man demanded unceremoniously, looking rather rattled as he turned around and pointed accusingly down at her.
Hiyori was not amused. "You dropped me!" she yelled back at him. "That hurts!"
"That's not what I'm talking about! Why were you looking at me like that?!"
The younger pigtailed blonde rubbed at her poor, bruised tailbone and frowned, genuinely confused. "Like what?" she questioned.
"Like you were-" Shinji broke off then, both unable and unwilling to elaborate further. He looked at her closely once more, and the sudden tension in his gut eased slightly when he realized that she did not seem half as beguiling or as attractive as he had clearly found her to be earlier. Perhaps he had just imagined the whole thing in the first place; he had consumed quite a bit of sake earlier, after all; yes, the whole incident must have just been the alcohol talking. That was some damn potent sake that Kisuke had brought over, if it had nearly convinced him that he actually found the little brat adorable and entrancing, even if only for the briefest of moments. That was all kinds of scary and it nearly gave him a minor heart attack.
Shinji pointed at Hiyori once more. "Just for the record, I have no interest whatsoever in angry, flat chested chibi," he blurted out snappishly. "And also, you're a hundred years too young for me to even-"
He cut himself off again, and was immediately irritated at himself for spouting nonsense. Hiyori was looking at him like she did not understand a word he was saying, and Shinji was starting to feel more than a little foolish for overreacting; she was still the same annoying little monkey he had always known – only his perception of her was slowly changing. Of course she would not know what had agitated him so, and besides, she was still drunk and was not in complete possession of her faculties.
Shinji quickly decided that he must have been more tired than he thought, if he was letting himself be so bothered by such obviously outlandish notions. It had been a long day, after all, and it was also getting quite late. The mild buzz he got from the alcohol earlier was also started to fade, leaving behind an increasing weariness that was encouraging him to seek his bed instead. The Gobantai Taichou barely refrained from the urge to rub his temples and sigh. He crouched down before Hiyori instead, and then extended a hand towards the still frowning girl.
"C'mon, Hiyori. S'getting late. Let's get ya settled in one of 'ta bunks for 'ta night."
Not surprisingly, the pigtailed blonde jerked away from him, refusing his offer to help her up. "No! You're just gonna drop me again, aren't you?" she accused, looking at him distrustfully with large, wary eyes. "You're so mean, Shinji! I didn't do anything to you!"
Well, that made him feel vaguely guilty, and he could not refute her charge; it was true that he had dropped her for seemingly no good reason from her point of view, and since there was no way in hell he was going to explain to her just why he had been startled into doing so in the first place, there was no choice but to placate her.
"Sorry. It's my fault; I got distracted and wasn't payin' attention. Now, c'mon, it's way past your bedtime."
She glowered at him. "I'm not a kid anymore! Stop treating me like one!"
Yes, he was indeed beginning to notice that, however reluctant he was to acknowledge it. He did not show his chagrin, though. "Really?" he deadpanned flatly instead. "I can't tell the difference at all; what with the way you're acting so much like one right now."
Then, before she could react, he reached out, snagged her by the back of her uniform and lifted her like she was just a fluffy little kitten. Hiyori immediately protested, yowling and flailing, but Shinji simply stood up and carried her along very nonchalantly. "I should have just done this in the first place," he commented to himself as he continued to make his way towards the living quarters of his Division, holding the smaller blonde at arm's length to keep himself from kicked or scratched. "Would have saved myself all sorts of unnecessary grief."
It didn't take Hiyori long to resign herself to the new, utterly humiliating form of transport, aware that there was nothing that she could do to stop the stronger male. It was fortunate that they did not meet any Shinigami along the way, though the moment he finally set her down in front of the residential building of the Gobantai, she immediately kicked him in the shin in retaliation and then wasted no time scrambling up to the roof on the second floor with a flash of shunpo and no small amount of innate agility, acting every bit like a disgruntled feline whose sensibilities had just been thoroughly offended.
Shinji swore loudly as pain shot up his ankle. "Hiyori!" he yelled. "I thought you said that you couldn't walk, you little brat!"
"Shinji, you idiot!" she shouted back down at him as she clambered clumsily up and over the roof. "Leave me alone!"
He was very tempted to do just that. It would be nobody's fault but her own if she fell from up there, but he had made a promise to Kisuke to watch the annoying little runt, and even though she was moving well enough, she didn't seem all too steady on her feet still, and so cursing under his breath, he took after her. She hadn't gone far, and he found her sitting at the furthest edge of the tiled roof, her back turned to him, hugging her knees to her chest and hunching into a little ball as she stared out sulkily at the expansive grounds below. They were looking over the training fields filled with blooming Sakura, the breathtaking riot of white and pink petals now kissed by the moonlight, the scenery of the silent, flowering trees an ethereal, glowing sight.
Against that magnificent backdrop, she seemed utterly small and lonely, and his irritation faded away. He couldn't quite find it within himself to yell at her when she looked like that. He ended up going up to her and taking a seat beside her instead, his long legs hanging casually off the edge of the roof, though she ignored him completely when he did so.
"I swear 'ta god; you're such a complete and utter pain," he muttered exasperatedly after a while.
She refused to say a word to him but turned away instead, though not before he glimpsed of the hurt glint in her eyes. Her shoulders were also starting to quiver, and obviously he had somehow trod on her tender feelings again. Dealing with this intoxicated, overly sensitive version of Hiyori hurt his head and was also messing up his perception of her, and Shinji was getting very exasperated and impatient with the entire situation. Not to mention, he was also tired and he wanted nothing more than to head straight to bed and completely banish from his mind everything that had happened tonight.
Resigned to his fate, the golden-haired Taichou grudgingly reached out, wrapped an arm around his companion's waist and hauled her reluctantly onto his lap. She struggled, of course, not expecting him to suddenly seize her like that.
"Shinji, what are you doing-!" she burst out in protest only for him to grab the back of her head with his hand and brusquely smoosh her face into the side of his neck. He went about the task as gently as a disgruntled rhinoceros and she squawked when her poor nose bumped hard against the ridge of his clavicle.
"Quiet, Hiyori," he snapped, and she was so utterly stumped by his incomprehensible action that she actually stilled and fell silent like he had instructed her to. Pressed so closely to him like she was, she could only see in her direct line of vision the long, elegant column of his throat and the slight protrusion of the Adam's apple that proclaimed him male. It was impossible to ignore his physical strength now that she was confronted by it in such a blatant way; his arm around her middle felt like a band of steel and his chest was just as unyielding. The differences between their bodies were both alarming and intriguing at the same time, and his musky, earthy scent surrounded her and filled her nose. He felt utterly solid and was also very warm, and he fascinated her enough that she was briefly content to stay put and stop fighting him.
"You better appreciate what comes next, brat, because I don't do this for just anyone," he grumbled. "So stop your sniveling already."
Then, before she could take offense to his gruff command, he opened his mouth and started to sing.
"Sakura sakura
Noyama mo sato mo"
The hair at the back of her neck slowly stood up as the deep, steady resonance of his voice vibrated from his chest and went straight through hers, a low, smooth tenor that flowed soothingly to her ears and quickly spread warmth through her insides, causing her to promptly forget about her earlier upset as her senses immediately attuned themselves to him and the sound of his voice. Stunned, her breath caught in her throat.
"Mi-watasu kagiri
Kasumi ka kumo ka"
It didn't take her long to realize that he was singing a traditional folksong that was rather popular amongst the districts of Rukongai, a song that celebrated the season of Spring, a song of Hanami. Her catlike eyes slowly turned wide, but her body went instinctively lax against his. She had never heard him sing before, but his voice was utterly comforting, and it made her feel cozy and protected.
"Asahi ni niou
Sakura sakura
Hana zakari"
She wanted to see what he looked like when he was singing, so she curiously turned her face towards his in an attempt to view his profile. She failed, for he refused to even let her lift her head from its place against the side of his neck. His narrow but long-fingered hand was still cradling the back of her head, and with gentle but firm pressure, he kept her nestled against the crook of his shoulder, her nose pressed against his collarbone as he looked straight ahead at the grounds below them and continued the song without even missing a beat.
"Sakura sakura
Yayoi no sora wa"
There was really nothing overtly special about the quality of his voice. His vocal chords were not specifically trained for singing, but the sound he produced was strong and lulling at the same time, and it soothed her like nothing had ever before. There was no hesitation in his song; he was not shy or self-conscious about his voice, and that calm, steady confidence showed in his lyrical adaptation of the traditional tune. It relaxed her, and she further settled into his hold.
"Mi-watasu kagiri
Kasumi ka kumo ka"
A deep seated sense of contentment slowly crept over her, and with it came a lazy drowsiness that calmed her even further. Her head rested against his shoulder, her ear pressed against his chest. The comforting reverberation of his quiet singing voice made her sigh softly, and she sleepily rubbed her cheek against the fabric of his kosode, going limp as she leaned further into him, her eyelids slowly slipping, going half-mast. There was a mesmerizing quality in the way he sang to her, and she was being completely sedated and brought under by him at the same time.
"Nioi zo izuru
Izaya izaya
Mini yukan"
The song came to an end at last, but he continued to carry the tune, humming it lazily like a lullaby, and her small hands slowly fisted into his uniform, as if directly absorbing this cherished feeling of safety and warmth from him. She was no longer resisting him, and his hand slowly shifted from a restraining hold against her head to a looser, relaxed grasp, absently stroking her hair instead, his touch further soothing her as she sank further into slumber.
Shinji sat on the edge of the roof with Hiyori curled on his lap, and he continued to lull her with the sound of his voice as he quietly appreciated the short-lived beauty of the cherry blossoms that lined the training fields below. It was tranquil and peaceful for once, and by the time he finally let the song fade, his little burden was already fast asleep. He looked down at her slumbering so trustingly against him for a while, and then he maneuvered her carefully until her head was resting against the cradle of his bicep, exposing her face to the soft moonlight. Her surprisingly delicate features were serene in sleep, lacking her usual aggressive cockiness and rather off putting ferocity, and this time around, it did not shock him as much to once again discern the faint promise of her maturing beauty; it was something that he had always known subconsciously after all, if he had to be perfectly honest, only he had never felt the need to acknowledge it – until now.
With exquisite gentleness, the Fifth Division Captain tucked his charge back against his chest and then just as carefully shielded her sleeping face behind his haori. He sighed and looked out to the beautiful moonlit night.
"You're gonna be a really troublesome brat soon, aren't ya, Hiyori?"
Omake
Kisuke was smiling with relief when he went to the Fifth Division Barracks to retrieve his Lieutenant an hour later.
"Thank you for your help, Hirako Taichou," the scientist sounded appreciative and grateful as he stood outside the personal quarters of his fellow Captain.
"Yeah, yeah. You owe me big." Shinji appeared at the door with a sleeping Hiyori in his arms and he wasted no time handing her back to the care of her commanding officer.
Kisuke awkwardly accepted the burden of the young girl.
"She fell asleep slightly less than an hour ago," the other Captain remarked casually. "Will probably be out like a light 'till tomorrow mornin'."
"Aa, alright. I'll put her to bed as soon as we get back to the barracks," Kisuke promised. Then, he asked. "Did anything untoward happen?"
Shinji paused at that. "Nah, nothin' happened," the long-haired blonde replied at last. "She tired herself out and fell asleep in the end. And Kisuke…"
The man's slightly ominous tone towards the end caught Kisuke's attention.
"Yes?"
The Gobantai Taichou scowled. "Whatever the brat says happened when she wakes up is not true. Are we perfectly clear?"
Kisuke barely refrained from the urge to lift his brow at the other Captain's comment. "But Hirako Taichou, when you put it like that-"
"Nothing. Happened." Shinji snapped. "And we'll never speak of this evening ever again."
And that was that.
"…Of course, Hirako Taichou," Kisuke responded politely at last, inwardly amused by the man's stubborn insistence. "I'll make sure to keep that in mind."
And when Hiyori woke up the next morning, nursing a terrible headache and in a viciously horrendous mood, she remembered nothing at all from the night before.
"I don't know! Nothin' happened!" Hiyori snapped when Kisuke enquired curiously, much to his increasing intrigue.
So, what really happened?
It was a question that would remain unanswered for the next one hundred years, at least until the next time Hiyori-san accidentally got drunk and Kisuke recalled that bemusing event again.
"So, Shinji," the Urahara enquired lightly the next time he saw the reinstated Shinigami Captain. "I'm really curious; what actually happened between you and Hiyori-san during yozakura that time in Seireitei?"
It took Shinji a while to figure out what Kisuke was asking about. The man quickly flushed and sputtered.
"I already told ya; nothin' happened! What kinda pervert do ya take me for! She was only barely legal back then!"
Kisuke arched a brow, still lightly teasing the visibly flustered male.
"Ah, so you did notice her even back then. How scandalous."
Shinji was completely red now, and his mouth just opened and closed like a fish as he floundered about for a reply. Kisuke snapped his fan shut and smiled knowingly at his old friend before he strolled away.
"Don't worry, Shinji, I'll keep your little secret."
"Damn you, Kisuke! Get your ass back here!"
::owari::
Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:
So, around one hundred years ago, we have Shinji, who's kind of confused about what to make of Hiyori and clearly in the first stage of denial, haha. I feel a bit sorry for him to be caught in that sort of predicament, but at the same time, it was really fun to write this chapter, so I was pretty much enjoying his dilemma a little too much.
Also, I hope that the poor guy doesn't come off as vaguely creepy or pedophilic to some of you readers – Shinji's just starting to notice that Hiyori's maybe/sort of/kind of cute and appealing; he obviously doesn't have any other intentions beyond that realization. I think that's perfectly normal; even I walk past girls down the street sometimes and mentally acknowledge to myself that some of them are pretty cute – it doesn't really mean that I want to run right up to them to grope and molest them.
…FYI, I'm female, by the way, not that gender really matters in this sort of things.
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Just to make things clear, Shinji and Hiyori's romantic relationship only really started to develop decades (more or less) after this event, and by then, Hiyori's clearly older, and has grown into a matured young woman capable of making her own decisions and doing whatever she wants.
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I judge Hiyori's physical age in the Turn Back the Pendulum (TBTP) arc to be roughly around 14 to 15 years old, a teenage girl teetering on the edge of womanhood. She just happens to look very young, and her naturally small stature makes her appear even younger. The youthful appearance thing is actually quite common around here in Asia, especially for girls. Most of us are pretty scrawny and small sized/underdeveloped at that age, and are therefore usually perceived to be even younger than our actual age. Believe it or not, this misunderstanding sometimes persists even when we are already in our twenties.
The reason why I'm implying in the omake that Hiyori was barely legal (a century ago) is because the age of consent in Japan ranges from 13 to 18 years old, depending on the jurisdiction and the prefecture you happen to be in. I kid you not. Yes, it's pretty confusing, and, apparently, I think it's also perfectly legal to engage in sexual relations with these minors (still below the age of 18 but above the apparent age of consent) as long as they are not being paid for it (i.e. not doing it for prostitution). So there you go.
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As for the piggyback scene, I really couldn't help myself but write it down after seeing so many adorable and pretty fanarts of TBTP!Shinji carrying TBTP!Hiyori on his back. I hope I did the scene justice – it's one of my more favorite parts in this chapter, I have to admit.
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…and yes, Shinji's hair is pretty like a princess. A Japanese Court Princess of the Heian period, to be precise – even the hairstyle is rather similar, in my opinion.
Just for the record, Shinji is not amused by the comparison.
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I hope that after this installment you readers can understand why I 'randomly' chose 'Sakura Sakura' to be their song in Chapter 9. Shinji sang it to Hiyori first, a hundred years ago, during Hanami, the season of Spring – the season of Sakura.
I was tempted to pick out some random Jazz song to use at first, but technically, Jazz wasn't even invented yet back then, so the timeline was a bit iffy. Not to mention, early Jazz songs were all in English, and Seireitei has a rather traditional Japanese theme to it, so in the end, 'Sakura Sakura' just sort of fit better all around.
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Another thing to mention is Hiyori's personality changes when intoxicated. For those who are curious, her level of childish/girlish petulance (or dere dere-ness) increases in direct proportion to the amount of alcohol she consumes. So, yes, there's a very distinct possibility that she may sink to incomprehensible levels of childishness if completely and utterly tanked. (I'm actually kinda tempted to write a chapter of drunk!childlike!Hiyori, but that may just be a bit too much crack for this fic, which is already pretty crackish on its own, ahaha.)
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New arc next chapter! We will be returning back to present 'Lily and Thistle'-verse, if that even makes any sense.
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Last but not least, a really warm word of thanks and appreciation to all of my kind reviewers. I admit that I was pretty worried about my characterization of the Bleach characters since I'm still new to writing for this fandom and this couple in particular, and am therefore still feeling my way around them. That's one of the main reasons why I was asking for feedback as well – you guys, do let me know if the characterization feels too 'over the top,' so as to speak.
Of course, I will also be incorporating my own personal spin to the characters according to how I perceive them (and since this is also a romance fic, there will obviously be more romantic aspects compared to the typically shounen-geared canon-verse), but sometimes I fear I may get too enthusiastic with my shipping feels and will require to be checked back every once in a while, so take note, readers!
Also, of course, it's always nice to have one's work validated, so come say hi to me if you enjoyed the chapter! I'm always open to ShiYori discussions – this fandom is kind of small and quiet, and I'm always having trouble finding likeminded individuals to appreciate our mutual interests (read: fangirl) with.
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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