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: 3129

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: 05/09/13

Completed on: 06/09/13

Chapter Last Revised on: 22/12/13

My Hollow versus Your Hollow - Part I

"So lemme get this straight," Shinji said as he stared at his friend as if his idea was being completely incomprehensible – which it was. "Ya wanna put our inner Hollows together."

The Gobantai Taichou sounded rather incredulous. Kisuke smiled and lazily fanned himself, casual as can be.

"Something like that, yes."

The golden-haired Shinigami/Vizard looked like he did not quite understand what the other blonde was thinking.

"Are ya crazy?" Shinji blurted out at last. "Whatever the hell for?"

The bucket hat wearing Urahara gave a mysterious shrug. "Call it a hunch," he replied. "But I think it should be interesting to see how your inner Hollows react to each other."

"They're just gonna do their best 'ta kill each other, that's how they're gonna react," the Fifth Division Captain muttered. "They're Hollows, what exactly are ya expectin' 'ta see?"

Kisuke just shrugged again. "I'm a scientist and a scholar first and foremost. I'm always curious to test out my theories and hypotheses. There's still a lot that we're unaware of regarding the psyches of inner Hollows. Studying the interactions of a known pair of inner Hollows in a controlled environment may shed some light on the mystery."

"Yeah, but in order for that 'ta possibly happen, we'd have 'ta cede complete control of our bodies over 'ta our inner Hollows," Shinji replied. Understandably, he was not thrilled by the notion.

"Not necessarily," the ex-Captain of the Twelfth Division remarked. "I designed something that should work to temporarily transfer the consciousness of both you and your inner Hollow to a neutral metaphysical plane. The mechanism is paired with its sibling device, which will simultaneously link Hiyori-san and her inner Hollow to the same plane for the exchange. Your physical bodies will remain inert and in stasis for the duration of the interaction, so there's very little risk involved, all things considered."

"What 'bout our zanpakuto spirits?" Shinji asked.

"They will be sealed for the period of time both you and your inner Hollows are on the neutral plane, to minimize the degree of potential conflict. That means your inner Hollow will not have access to Sakanade in any form whatsoever during this process."

"Hiyori and I won't be able 'ta touch our zanpakuto as well, then," Shinji pointed out, astute as ever. Kisuke nodded.

"Yes, it levels the playing field between all of you, so to speak." The tousled blonde paused, and then continued. "I'm hoping to see your inner Hollows interact in ways other than violence and murderous rage, so if need be, you and Hiyori-san may need to intervene – that's the reason why I'm transferring both of your conscious selves alongside that of your inner Hollows. You'll each have to rein in your respective alter egos if things really happen to go pear-shaped."

Shinji was starting to look incredulous again. "Are ya serious?" he uttered in disbelief. Kisuke just gave him that idiotic smiley look of his that never failed to exasperate the people around him. The Fifth Division Captain groaned out loud. "What am I askin'? Of course you're perfectly serious."

After all, Kisuke wouldn't have approached him with this if he hadn't already made all the necessary preparations (and thought out all the possible ways things could go wrong).

"If it makes you feel any better, I've been waiting for this opportunity for decades," the ex-Taichou offered in that annoying sing-songy drawl of his. "You see, it's only recently that the final condition of my experiment has been satisfied."

"Yeah? And what condition is that?" Shinji asked, starting to feel a bit disgruntled over how the other man wasn't even going to pretend that he wasn't using his friends as research fodder. Again.

"I needed a test pair who's also a bonded couple," Kisuke replied with absolute calm, even as Shinji just stared at him. "Inner Hollows are the manifestations of their hosts' souls, and they are usually viciously instinctual as a general rule of thumb. That's why I believe that they are capable of reflecting their owners' emotions and sentiments – I want to see if they are capable of displaying affection as well."

The Gobantai Taichou was simply flabbergasted. "Are ya high?" he demanded at last. "Kisuke, ya must be outta your mind."

The tousled blonde just smiled innocuously at his friend again. "I assure you that I'm perfectly lucid and in control of my thoughts. If even the top class Arrancars are capable of exhibiting affection, why not your inner Hollow? Can you imagine the ramifications if this is true, Shinji?"

Still, the Shinigami Captain was skeptical, and for good reason. His inner Hollow was both mercenary and vicious, and he highly doubted that Hiyori's would be any different. Just the thought of those two together was enough to give him second thoughts about the whole thing – he could already picture a hundred and one scenarios resulting from introducing the two inner Hollows and none of them were good.

"I don't think it's gonna be that simple, Kisuke."

The bucket hat-wearing Urahara shrugged once more. "I'm aware. I've already made the necessary precautions. You and Hiyori-san are the best test pair for this - you cannot believe how exasperating it was to wait for you two to quit dallying about and finally get together."

Shinji glowered slightly at that. "Gee, I'm sorry that our complicated love lives have gotten in the way of your precious research." He was being completely sarcastic, of course. "And why just Hiyori and I? Kensei and Mashiro could make a good test pair too."

Kisuke shook his head slightly. "In terms of Hollow pairing compatibility and matchups, yours and Hiyori-san's are more complementary. Mashiro-san's Hollow is the most passive out of all of you, whereas Kensei-san's took the second longest to overcome, third if you count Ichigo. Also, Kensei-san's inner Hollow is a brute force type – he can and will overwhelm Mashiro-san's very quickly before a connection can even be made."

Shinji was quickly starting to see where Kisuke was going with this. "Hiyori's also another brute force type, but since her inner Hollow's unlikely 'ta overwhelm mine, yer experiment may see better results."

The tousled blonde nodded. "Even though Hiyori-san took the longest to conquer her inner Hollow, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The stubbornness and resilience of her inner Hollow may even prove to be an advantage in this instance, especially if she can force yours to engage it."

Shinji could not deny the ring of truth in the other man's words. His own inner Hollow was the calculating, deliberate type and was unlikely to attack immediately – at least not until it had gotten a good measure of its opponent's weaknesses first. Its intelligence made it extremely dangerous because it did not fight with just its considerable instincts and abilities like most Hollows did, but with sheer, conniving cunning as well. Out of all the Vizards, he was the second fastest to conquer his inner Hollow, but that was partly because his inner Hollow had quickly recognized his strength and backed off accordingly, seeing no point in butting its head futilely against an impenetrable fortress.

Frankly, the very notion of exposing Hiyori to his inner Hollow made him slightly nervous – there was so much that could go wrong – but Shinji recognized Kisuke's legitimate need for information when it came to this particular issue. There were only eight Vizards right now – nine, if one considered Ichigo's hybridized form – and the test pool was indeed a very small, limited one. The fine-haired blonde sighed at last, eyeing his friend narrowly as he did so.

"You're gonna owe me big for this," Shinji muttered, and Kisuke smiled in acknowledgement. "And for the record, I also think that you're putting way too much reliance on our personal compatibility with each other for this to be a purely unbiased experiment."

"I'm aware. What I've mentioned so far are only pure speculation on my part," Kisuke admitted. "I need solid data to confirm my analysis, and both you and Hiyori-san are the most viable couple to get it from right now. If my hypothesis is validated, I'll run the same test with Kensei-san and Mashiro-san as the second stage of the experiment, but until then, there's no need to risk their involvement."

Shinji looked exasperated again. "Nice to know that we're the fresh guinea pigs again," the Gobantai Taichou retorted under his breath, but with little heat. "Fine, but you're gonna have 'ta convince Hiyori though – because there's no way in hell I'm explainin' this 'ta her."

"Hiyori-san has already kindly given her consent," the ex-Captain replied with good cheer, much to the other Shinigami's stare of disbelief. "I told her that it'd be a good training exercise, and she couldn't wait to get started."

Of course. He should have known. Shinji groaned again, and then he gave his unrepentantly smiling friend an incredibly unamused, deadpan look.

"I never really had any say in this from the very beginning, did I?"

Hiyori opened her eyes to the familiar afternoon skyline of Karakura town. The pigtailed blonde snorted to herself – neutral plane, her ass. This was obviously a similar construct like the one the Gotei 13 had used during the battle with Aizen, though just the reminder of that event left a bad taste in her mouth.

Hiyori found herself hovering in midair, but that wasn't her most pressing concern. Her damn Hollow was loose somewhere and she needed to find it before it decided to go ahead and spring any unexpected surprises on her. Sharp ochre eyes quickly scanned the horizon. Hiyori extended her senses and concentrated on locating the annoying alter ego that had been plaguing her existence for over a century and counting. Her attention suddenly snapped to the large canal that ran alongside the edge of the town. There – on the concrete bridge!

In a swift burst of shunpo, she easily traversed half of Karakura and quickly descended on the crossing over the waterway. Her slippered feet landed soundlessly on the ground, and her scowling gaze was fixed firmly on the shihakusho-clad back of her white-haired, bleached-skinned inner Hollow, who was currently crouched on top of the bridge's railing, bemusedly watching the water go by underneath them like it was the most fascinating thing that it had ever seen.

As usual, just looking at her inner Hollow was enough to make annoyance simmer within Hiyori. As if to purposely aggravate her, the manifestation of her alter ego was dressed in an inversed version of the standard Shinigami uniform, with a white kosode and hakama and black hakama-himo and shitagi. There was even a black clothed armband tied around its left arm, though the accompanying wooden badge was blank and showed no insignia that affiliated it to the Gotei 13. Black tabi socks and normal waraji sandals completed her inner Hollow's ensemble, and the more Hiyori stared at it, the more irritated she became.

At last, the white-haired spirit swiveled around to look at its owner. Burning ochre irises with black sclera and animalistic slitted pupils met Hiyori's narrowed gaze. Pale lips lifted in a parody of a smile, looking more like a mocking snarl than anything. It was as if the petite Vizard was looking at her mirror image, a washed out but viciously cruel version of herself – her very own inner demon. Hiyori tensed slightly even as her glare intensified.

In response, her alter ego's smirk widened to an insolent, extremely aggravating grin.

"Well, well, well," the inner Hollow purred lazily, her tone low and predatory. "So Her Royal Majesty has finally decided 'ta join 'lil ole me."

"Banshee," Hiyori snapped out, calling to the inner Hollow by its nickname. "Cut the crap. Ya wanna go? I won't ever lose 'ta ya, so get over here and get ready for an ass kickin'."

Just like Kisuke had promised, they were both currently without the advantage of Kubikiri Orochi, and even though Hiyori instinctively missed the presence of her zanpakuto, she was more than well-versed in hand-to-hand combat, and of course, so was her inner Hollow.

Banshee tilted her head slightly in a sardonic manner. Her host's posture was deceptively loose, but the hard look in her eyes said clearly that she meant business. Normally, Banshee would be more than happy to indulge the other short-tempered female, but this time was different.

"Where exactly are we, Ouhi-chan?" the inner Hollow asked with silky venom, even though she deliberately widened her eyes to portray a look of nonchalant innocence. "Not that I mind getting out of that empty space ya call a head every once in a while…but ya gotta give a lady some warnin' 'ta prepare herself for a date, ya know…?"

The poisonous honey dripping from her drawling tone was enough make Hiyori's fists curl in warning, and the urge to leap over and slug that taunting sneer off of her likeness' face was extremely tempting.

"Shut the bloody fuck up, or I'll fuck your bloody face up," Hiyori growled lowly, bristling as she did so. "Just lookin' at ya pisses me off."

The similarly pigtailed spirit stopped smiling. The look in its eerie eyes sharpened, turned deadly with hatred and animosity. Hiyori met Banshee's malicious stare without even flinching.

"Right back at ya, my dear," the inner Hollow spat with vicious vitriol. "Every time I look at ya, I'm filled with disgust at the knowledge that I'm inhabtin' such a weak and useless meat bag. It must suck wholly 'ta be ya; so stupid and utterly pathetic. Tell me; how do ya even bear livin' with the knowledge that you're such a failure, Ouhi-chan?"

That was one of her host's largest triggers, and of course Banshee was making a point to punch it, gleefully.

The expression of articulate rage that crossed Hiyori's face at the hollow's deliberately spiteful words was quite something to behold. Her face twisted in a rictus of fury, her pupils dilating with her emotions, teeth clenched and bared, lips pulled back in a ferocious snarl. But still, she barely managed to hold herself back from blindly attacking, her body tensing up even as it took every shred of common sense she possessed to convince herself not to give in to the overpowering anger that her Hollow was deliberately inciting out of her.

She had gone over this again and again with Yoruichi and Kisuke for the last year – don't give in, never give in to the baiting of an enemy, no matter how close to home their words hit. It was a struggle, especially with the red mist of wrath coating her vision, but Hiyori made herself take a slow, mental step back instead, her clenched fists shaking with the force of her ire. Easing herself back onto the balls of her feet when she had been straining visibly to jump her insufferable alter ego mere moments ago, Hiyori ground her teeth together and silently backed off.

Banshee lifted a brow, seemingly amused by the usually brash woman's unexpected show of restraint. "Oh? So Ouhi-chan has learned a few new monkey tricks?"

Hiyori twitched, and then she glared wordlessly at the Hollow as the latter gracefully leapt off the railing she was perched on and glided sinuously up to her host. The spirit proceeded to lazily circle the female Vizard like a hungry shark, her glowing, predatory eyes derisively taking in the slight figure of the blonde. Hiyori kept her back ramrod straight, her stance rigid and ready to counterattack should her dangerous alter ego suddenly decide to strike, but before their fight could begin – as it always inevitably did – the plane of existence that they were on suddenly shuddered and rippled.

The two stiffened – one with recognition, the other with instinctual tension – when they sensed the presence of something even more powerful entering the fake world that they were currently inhabiting. Hiyori tensed at the hybridized dual reiatsu signature, and then she forced herself to relax slightly. She started to smirk as she eyed her suddenly agitated alter ego.

The fine hairs at the back of Banshee's neck were standing straight up in warning – that same powerful something was approaching, and approaching fast. The inner Hollow immediately turned to her host.

"What've ya done?!" the inner Hollow screeched, not expecting this alien intrusion of what she had originally perceived as the private world of herself and her host. This was not a physical plane, and the fact that something else – another spirit – that was not Kubikiri Orochi was in her claimed realm was highly disconcerting and aggravating. This was her territory and her Empress, damn it!

Hissing viciously, Banshee immediately lost interest in engaging Hiyori and quickly scanned the horizon with sharp, animalistic eyes instead, fangs bared slightly with agitation and defensiveness. Then, she nearly missed the flash of movement coming down from the skyline and shooting straight towards her, almost too fast for her to catch.

Cat-slit pupils immediately dilated with shock at the sight of the other Hollow that had just made its appearance. It looked nothing like the human-resembling Arrancars that her host fought regularly in the Living World. This one was like her.

White-haired, white-skinned just like her, but this one was obviously male, with a long curtain of fine, silken hair that flowed down his back and sadistic grey irises with black sclera and slit pupils. Like her, he was dressed in the traditional robes of the Shinigami, only inverted in color; he had on the same white shihakusho, but also wore an additional black, flowing haori thrown over his shoulders. Dangerous, forceful power crackled from him, all but demanding her submission to him. Her eyes narrowed. He was obviously much bigger than her, lean and rangy, possessing a wide and cruel grin, and even though Banshee had never seen another inner Hollow before, she immediately recognized who it belonged to.

She growled, immediately sinking into a defensive stance. "I've seen your master before," she snapped angrily as he neared. "I cut him open from shoulder to sternum once."

Pharaoh lifted his pale lips at the smaller Hollow in a deadly, snarling smile. "I know, bitch. Have my thanks."

And then he raised his hand and released a cero right in her face. Banshee shrieked and Sonido-ed away at the last second, barely avoiding an excruciating and debilitating injury. She rolled and landed in a ready crouch on the other side of the bridge, hackles raised, her hateful, poisonous stare fixed on the other spirit.

"Don't look now," Hiyori muttered lowly from the sidelines even as she warily eyed her lover's inner Hollow – as always, the damn baldy was late again.

"But I think your date's 'bout 'ta take ya out for a real good time."

Omake – Alternate/Random Outtake #1

Kisuke smiled secretively behind his fan as he led the couple behind him to the private space at the back of the Urahara Shoten.

"Welcome to my humble abode," the tousled blonde intoned with a dramatic flourish as he ushered them into the vacant, traditional washitsu-style sitting room. Hiyori stalked past her ex-Captain as she entered and wasted no time kicking him in the back of the knee for the excessively stupid display. It was a good thing that she only got him on one leg, or he would have crumpled right onto the tatami floor along with his dignity.

"Hiyori, don't kick him like that," her lover chided as he, too, swept into the room, dressed in his Captain uniform. "We still need him 'ta explain what's goin' on."

The pigtailed blonde just huffed and plopped herself on one of the zabuton cushions by the low table in the center of the room. "Shut up, baldy," she grumbled snappishly, her already short temper strung even tauter from the stifling summer heat. "I'll give ya the boot next; don't think that I won't."

Shinji looked exasperated by her (very possible) threat, but he still went up to her and settled on the seat right beside her, his movements a lot more fluid and graceful than her abrupt ones. Hiyori scowled at him disgruntledly for sticking so close, and then she deliberately scooted to the next cushion over so that his body heat wouldn't radiate over to her and make her feel even warmer than she already was.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, brat," he muttered at her juvenile antics.

"Stay away," she warned him grumpily. The walk over here from the Vizard Warehouse had already overheated her; the temperature outside was that atrociously high. Hiyori didn't even know why she was still wearing her jacket, and so she started to unzip herself out of it, only barely registering the fact that she only had on a sports bra under it today. Shrugging mentally to herself, the petite blonde continued to divest herself of the thick material of her outerwear like it was no big deal – though Shinji promptly took exception to her action.

Reaching over quickly, he grabbed her by the lapels of her jacket and swiftly zipped her back up again, all the way to her neck. "What on earth do ya think you're doin'?" he asked in a slight demand. Hiyori was not pleased with his bossiness, and she tried to smack his hand away only to be caught and hauled back to his side where he could personally keep her from her mischief. The smaller blonde hissed and bristled like an offended feline.

"Damn hage!" she spat out warningly, her temper starting to flare. "Yer gonna get hit if ya don't let go right now!"

"I think I'll take my chances," he told her, looking rather irritated himself. "And don't just take off yer clothes anywhere ya please!"

Hiyori didn't even bother to reply anymore. True to her word, she promptly sank her foott right into his face and tried to kick him away from her. They quickly ended up tussling on the floor, and Kisuke eyed the quarrelsome couple with no small amount of amusement – after more than one century, they still fought like cats and dogs. He dearly hoped that their unusual relationship would not affect the results of his experiment.

He coughed slightly to distract the pair. "Excuse me, you two, may I have your attention please?"

Not surprisingly, he was completely ignored as Hiyori pounced on her partner and started to pull at his hair next. Shinji let out a distinctly annoyed growl and he quickly had his hands full trying to subdue the little hellion who was also his lover. At last, he managed to pin her down, much to her futile struggles of anger.

"Behave yourself, brat, or yer gonna earn yerself a spankin'!"

"Go 'ta hell, shithead!" The pigtailed spitfire promptly reared around and bit him. Shinji swore.

"Hiyori!"

::tsuzuku::

Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:

So here's the new arc! This is a (tentative) double shot series, and as always, I hope some of you had enjoyed reading it. I don't think I have ever seen anything like this done before in our small little ShiYori community, but here is my take on what could possible happen if the inner Hollows of our favorite couple ever got to meet one another. (Sheer pandemonium, obviously.)

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There's not much information regarding Shinji and Hiyori's inner Hollows, so I have to admit that I made up quite a few things on my own over here. For one, Pharaoh and Banshee are my personally coined monikers for the Shiyori!inner Hollow pair, and they were named for the unique formations of their masks, and also the different ways in which they both fire off their cero i.e. Shinji with a regal stance and through a resolute closed fist just like how a pharaoh clutches his scepter and stave, and Hiyori through a furious, rage filled scream, like a banshee, or at least that's how I'm interpreting their style.

Also, their physical appearances (hairstyles, attires, etc.) are that of their hosts' when the latter were still Shinigami, only (quite obviously) inverted in colors, since the inner Hollows were technically 'born' during that period of their lives when they were still in the Gotei 13.

Hope that makes sense.

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The term 'Ouhi' refers to Empress in Japanese. Despite the antagonistic relationship between the Hiyori and her inner Hollow, Banshee does recognize the fact that she has been defeated by her host, and that the latter is at the very center of her existence.

Of course, that does not mean they don't hate each other to the core, though.

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Also, psst... the omake has nothing to do with the chapter this time (it's actually a rejected draft, but I thought I'd share since it worked out pretty well as an outtake), FYI.

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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