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: 3315

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: 07/09/13

Completed on: 11/09/13

Chapter Last Revised on: 16/01/14

My Hollow versus Your Hollow, Part II

When Shinji arrived on the scene a second later, Hiyori quickly greeted him with a smack upside the head.

"You're late, damn hage," she muttered as she frowned at the other blonde. "And why are ya in that shitty uniform like yer Hollow?"

The only thing different between the two was that Shinji had shorter hair with that stupid lopsided fringe, and his Captain haori and shihakusho were of the correct color and design.

Shinji looked exasperated. "Next time I'll keep in mind 'ta take my time and change into somethin' more stylish and appealin' before I rush over 'ta save yer ass."

Now, Hiyori was indignant. "I don't need ya 'ta save me from anythin', dumbass!" She looked like she was going to hit him again, but then she changed her mind at the last moment and turned her attention back to the two inner Hollows a small ways ahead of them instead. The two spirits were engaged in battle, completely ignoring their hosts and staring down each other, currently stuck in a deadlock, reiatsu flaring in challenge as they glared dangerously at each other. Banshee took extra care to keep away from the larger male though; he was both fast and strong, and she was instinctively wary of him.

Hiyori, too, was eying the baldy's alter ego with great interest. She had never seen the inner Hollow of anyone else before, didn't even knew that it was possible to actually do so until now, and therefore the experience was rather fascinating to her. Of course, the malevolent spirit that plagued her lover looked exactly like him, but its demeanor was so dissimilar it was almost his exact opposite. The devious, deranged grin, the narrow, bloodthirsty stare, the coldly maniacal, unstable air that surrounded it; no, it was nothing like Shinji at all, but the fact that it wore his face and moved just like he did – that same loose limbed, deceptively elegant yet lethal gait – made her feel extremely disconcerted and out of sorts.

"Shit, yer Hollow's creepy as hell," Hiyori commented in conclusion, and beside her, Shinji grunted, looking equally disgruntled as he surveyed the two Hollows before them.

"Like yers is any better," he retorted in return, carefully studying her inner alter ego at the same time. Despite the immaculate white kosode and hakama that it wore, Hiyori's Hollow counterpart still managed to give off a rather feral and extremely chaotic air. Like all Hollows, it possessed a wild, predatory nature that was impossible to hide, and that edgy, animalistic demeanor and hard, stubborn glint in those fierce eyes made it extremely dangerous even though it shared the same relatively petite size of its host.

So this was the Hollow that Hiyori had tenaciously battled and fought tooth and nail to conquer.

Shinji glanced warily at Pharaoh next. His Hollow was a certified sociopath – calculating, deliberate and highly manipulative – and it simply hated to lose. There was an instinctive need within Hollows to establish a hierarchy of power amongst themselves, and it seemed to apply for inner Hollows as well, judging by the way his alter ego appeared rather intently fixated on the smaller female spirit on the opposite end of the bridge at the moment. However, if the latter was anything like Hiyori, then there was no way in hell that it would surrender easily to the larger Hollow.

This was not going to end well.

"This is a really bad idea," Shinji muttered at last, mentally swearing at Kisuke even as he did so. Then, he wondered if injuries incurred to the inner Hollows in this plane of existence would be translated over to their hosts' physical bodies as well. The mental swearing aimed at a certain irresponsible shopkeeper/scientist increased in fervor. "C'mon, we need 'ta stop them from fightin'."

Hiyori glanced at him. "Why?" she asked. "I wanna see them fight. Should be good 'ta watch. That's the whole point of this exercise, isn't it?"

Shinji gave his petite lover a mildly disturbed look. "No, it's not. Kisuke wanted 'ta see if they can get along with each other, not let them kill each other. Our job is 'ta make sure that doesn't happen."

The pigtailed blonde perked up with interest then. "So we get 'ta fight each other's inner Hollow?"

She sounded way too enthusiastic for his peace of mind. "No. It means that ya get 'ta control your own Hollow, and I'll control mine." The thought of Hiyori fighting Pharaoh was enough to make him break out in a cold sweat. His brat was strong, but she was also brash and incredibly hotheaded, and prone to rising to the taunting of her opponents. Simply put, his inner Hollow would figure out her weakness in an instant and eat her alive.

Hiyori scowled. "Why can't I fight yer Hollow?" she demanded to know, starting to look mulish and annoyed. "Ya don't think that I can do it, do ya? Ya have no faith in my abilities."

This was not an argument that he wanted to get into (it never got anywhere and he never won no matter what he said), and so, in typical male fashion, Shinji quickly and tactfully changed the subject.

"Look. They've started already," he abruptly pointed out.

Thankfully for him, his tactic worked brilliantly. Hiyori must have been half bloodhound in her previous life, for even though she was obviously aggravated with him, her attention immediately snapped over to their inner Hollows, and sure enough the latter duo was already engaged in battle.

Pharaoh lunged forward suddenly, aiming right at the smaller female Hollow, his arm pulled back in a quick, serpentine strike, his movements so rapid that he was a blur. Banshee rolled out of the way before he could make contact, leaping nimbly away and landing in a sideways skidding crouch, her burning cat-slit eyes narrowing with growing rage. His attack landed on the floor and completely shattered the surface with a small explosion and shockwave, sending bits of mortar and concrete flying all over the place – if she had let him hit her instead, his entire arm would have gone right through her chest and out her back, taking her internal organs and spinal cord with it.

The larger, predatory male did not even pause in his assault; adjusting his stance subtly, he pushed forward relentlessly and pressed her again, trying to catch her with his increasingly quick and complicated attack sequences. There was no time for Banshee to prepare any counter to his movements as she just focused all of her strength on evading him – her opponent was stronger and faster, and he clearly held all the advantage here.

But she was more agile and nimble, and the smaller female was relying purely on her reflexes and instincts to remain in this pretty much one-sided fight. Her anger at the other Hollow was mounting though, her reiatsu rising with her fury – she was just minding her own business when this shithead came out of nowhere and started challenging her. Even worse was the fact that he was obviously winning, exerting his superiority over her, and forcing her to submit. She was resisting with all of her might however, and he seemed merely amused by her efforts, much to her increasing agitation.

"Weak 'lil bitch," the long-haired Hollow purred even as she successfully fended off another one of his quick jabs. Cold grey eyes narrowed with sardonic glee. "I'm gonna enjoy evisceratin' ya."

Banshee flipped her lid. Within the blink of an eye, the smaller Hollow suddenly stopped retreating. In quick succession, she dodged under a blow from the larger male and abruptly came up close, using the advantage of her petite size to great effect in the tight quarters. Lithe and quick as a cat, she leapt in and locked her arms and legs firmly around her opponent's torso, holding him in place as effectively as thick chains wound tightly around him. Her mouth opened, lips curled back, bared in a ferocious, soundless snarl.

The white visage of the momentarily trapped Hollow glowed an eerie red. Black slit pupils dilated with realization at the impending danger. Dense, lean muscles tensed in instinctual defensiveness, but it was too late.

Banshee quickly released the crimson cero from her mouth, and the compact but incredibly concentrated burst of destructive energy exploded right in his face. It held enough power to behead a herd of Menos Grandes, and it would be enough to take even a Hollow as strong as him down, especially at such close proximity.

The pigtailed, white-haired hollow released her target and dropped silently to the floor, her mouth still smoking slightly from her abrupt attack. Her eyes were cold and viciously vindictive, shining with victory as she waited for the smoke around him to clear. Had she managed to take off his entire head? There was no way that he could have survived that unscathed—

"That actually hurt."

Banshee froze at the hard drawl that came from the dissipating smoke. A ferocious, ivory bone mask stared back at her, resembling the namesake of its owner, slowly crumbling into dust now that it had fulfilled its purpose of shielding its master, revealing the face of the dangerous, coldly grinning Hollow. A thin trickle of black blood flowed down from his temple, and grey irises were stark with anger.

The smaller pigtailed spirit instinctively took a step back, but before she could go far, his arm snapped out and caught her by the throat, abruptly halting her retreat. Long, hard fingers wrapped around her slender neck, fingers digging into her skin. Banshee choked and gagged, hands coming up to claw ineffectually at the wrist of the strong male that was singlehandedly lifting her up, suspending her in midair. She writhed furiously to be let loose, but his hold on her was absolute and she could not break free. Desperate, she quickly opened her mouth to fire off another cero, but he simply squeezed harder, animalistic, predatory eyes locked coolly with her hunted, increasingly frantic ones, looking on with sheer, murderous pleasure as he slowly but surely crushed her windpipe in his hands.

The female Hollow's struggles began to weaken. Her eyes started to roll into the back of her head, showing even more of the blacks of her sclera. He was going to kill her.

Shinji had seen enough. Hiyori's inner Hollow looked exactly like her, and as much as he held no affection for the spirit, it disturbed him significantly to watch his own likeness deliberately choking the life out of his lover's doppelganger. Glancing askance at Hiyori to gauge her reaction to what she was seeing, the Shinigami Captain was unsurprised to see her looking rather fascinated and agitated at the same time.

Hiyori was starting to get rather pissed off in fact, grinding her teeth and clenching her fists, but the reason for her anger was not what one would expect. Before Shinji could stop her, the short blonde suddenly shot forward towards the pair of Hollows locked in combat in a swift burst of shunpo, summoning her own horned masked over her face at the same time and launching a blindingly fast kick into the unprotected side of his Hollow.

The larger spirit was forced to drop his prey to avoid the bone crushing attack even as her mistress came forth relentlessly once more and followed up on her initial feint with a high velocity spin kick that caught him right across the face and quickly sent him flying. Hiyori landed in a low crouch, her eyes burning as she glared fiercely at the baldy's inner Hollow. A small ways to her right, Banshee was on her hands and knees on the ground, heaving as she struggled to breathe through the pain of a partially crushed larynx.

Ochre met ochre.

"I don't need yer help," the female Hollow hissed hoarsely, nothing but anger in her fierce, belligerent tone. "This is my fight. Stay outta this, Ouhi."

"I don't give a shit," Hiyori snapped back, at the same time pulling her mask to the side of her head to reveal her scowling features. "Yer embarrassin' me. What the hell was that? How can ya lose 'ta the baldy's Hollow so easily?! And who says I'm helpin' ya? If ya aren't good enough 'ta fight, then move yer useless ass aside and lemme show ya how it's done."

Banshee bristled with increasing fury as she stood up and stalked over to her host stiff legged. She glared at the equally petite blonde. "Back. Off. He's mine," she hissed.

Hiyori just scoffed, and then she stared challengingly at her alter ego. "Read my lips: I. Don't. Give. A. Shit. Ya should have fought harder, then. It's my turn now – he's mine now," Hiyori taunted. "So you back off."

The white-skinned Hollow growled and looked dangerously close to attacking her Vizard counterpart. The mocking smile on the blonde's freckled face welcomed her to try. For a brief moment, it was as if both females had forgotten that they were currently in the middle of a fight with another Hollow, and standing at the edge of the bridge, now bleeding sluggishly from the side of his mouth and his temple as a result from suffering the headshots of the two women, Pharaoh cocked his head in psychotic bemusement as he watched them quarrel over who got to battle him.

Shinji was not amused. Really, he didn't know what he expected – he should have known that something like this would happen.

"Enough," the Gobantai Taichou snapped harshly then, coming up to stand beside his spirit counterpart, flaring his reiatsu warningly to force the latter to stand down. "There will be no more fightin'. Hiyori, control your Hollow now."

"Ah, Helios, my Sun God," Pharaoh purred mockingly with exaggerated disappointment even though his glowing grey eyes were flat and mercenary. "Ya always have 'ta ruin my fun."

Shinji simply side-eyed the leering visage of his alter ego. He trusted the Hollow way less than he could throw him, and he never, never failed to keep an eye on the predatory, unhinged being that shared his existence. That constant vigilance was what ensured his inner Hollow's compliance, however reluctant, even though it was always watching, biding its time, waiting for the moment when Shinji would slip up.

Pharaoh also very quickly recognized the identity of the pigtailed blonde. "I see how it is…" He jerked his thumb almost playfully towards the latter's inner Hollow, whilst looking amusedly at Shinji at the same time. "So she's the bitch of yer bitch, Helios."

With one careless sentence, he immediately incurred the wrath of a pair of indignant females.

"The only bitch here is ya, ya shitty Hollow," Hiyori snapped back, bristling with affront. Suddenly, she had the most intense urge to pummel the baldy's inner Hollow. If she thought that Shinji was annoying, then his Hollow counterpart was infinitely worse. The female Vizard was literally itching to lay the smack down on the insolent, long-haired spirit, and her inner Hollow growled, echoing her sentiments.

Pharaoh looked at the petite blonde and licked his pale lips. He appeared dangerously interested in Hiyori, mostly in part due to Shinji's personal relationship with the feisty young woman. "Hey, Helios," the black haori-clad Hollow drawled deliberately once more. "Lemme play with her. She must be real fun, right? Such a delicate 'lil body – her hot, red blood must taste damn sweet. I'd promise not 'ta break her, but ya know how I get excited sometimes…"

Shinji's eyes narrowed, but before he could do – or say – anything, a flash of white quickly slammed into the long-haired Hollow, with enough force to send him falling backwards and knocking him to the floor.

It was Hiyori's Hollow, and she was furious.

"Shut yer damn mouth," Banshee hissed lividly. "That's my Empress you're talkin' shit 'bout. She's mine. Lay one hand on her and I'll tear ya open from neck 'ta groin."

Her ferocity was absolute, and the white-haired female Hollow looked fit to be tied. This time, it was her hands clamped firmly around his neck, small but strong fingers digging into the flesh of hierro hardened skin, threatening to rip his throat right out of him. Savage ochre met with coldly amused grey. However, the larger male was utterly relaxed and unthreatened despite his disadvantageous position.

"Ya will tear me open?" he purred slowly even as he raised his hands and closed them over her wrists. "A 'lil weaklin' like ya?"

He kept applying pressure until she was forced to release him in the end. Then, still holding her immobile, he very easily and swiftly reversed their positions, throwing her down suddenly and straddling the smaller female. She was the one pinned under him now, faster than she could even react, and it quickly occurred to her that this was his trap all along. She swore and struggled to be free, still refusing to submit to the stronger male. He brought his face close to hers, and she glared venomously at him, unafraid.

"Yer audacity amuses me," the male inner Hollow declared at last with a wide, leering grin. "I wonder…do ya play as well as yer Empress, 'lil bitch?"

"I'll kill ya," the smaller Hollow howled dangerously.

"I kill ya, ya kill me – that makes it more fun, doesn't it?" he remarked with a low, dangerous chuckle, and Shinji's eyes suddenly widened at his alter ego's abnormally…mild behavior.

Shit. Kisuke was right. Whether his Hollow was actively aware of it or not, he was being very tolerant of the other spirit, when usually he would have wasted no time brutally annihilating the weaker female.

Hiyori sidled up to him then, squinting at the two locked hollows even as she scowled. "Are they gonna fight or not?" she demanded to know, still having not caught on to what was going on yet. The petite blonde looked like she was going to wade right in to kick off the free for all, but Shinji grabbed her before she could actually do so.

"The purpose of this is 'ta verify if they can establish a connection, not for them 'ta kill each other," he reminded her once again. "They're communicatin' – sort of – so just leave them be."

Hiyori frowned at him.

"My hollow's pinned under your hollow," she pointed out grumpily, as if it personally offended her. "What kinda communication is that?"

Shinji shook his head. "He's not attackin' her anymore – I'll consider that a success. He was probably demanding submission from her earlier – ya know how Hollows are, they need 'ta establish a peckin' order."

Hiyori appeared even more ruffled then. "Are ya tellin' me that yer hollow is dominatin' my hollow?" She was definitely not happy to hear that notion at all. "Why must yer hollow be the one 'ta dominate? Why can't my hollow dominate?"

Shinji could hardly believe that they were having this ridiculous discussion. His masculine instincts were also telling him that it had 'DANGER: MINEFIELD' warning signs plastered all over it, and that he should proceed with extreme caution.

"I'm not havin' this conversation with ya," he muttered flatly at last, looking at her exasperatedly as he did so. "Ya know exactly how these things work, so stop tryin' 'ta pick a fight."

Hiyori huffed, irritated at being called out so unceremoniously by the baldy. A glance at the deadlocked spirits showed that Banshee was firmly and completely trapped by Pharaoh, and even though the smaller female was still trying to fight him, he was simply not giving an inch. It was obvious just which of the two was controlling the situation, much to Hiyori's disgruntlement.

"I still think that my hollow should dominate," she grumbled at last.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, brat. Just give it a rest already."

Omake

"And that's what happened," Shinji relayed to Kisuke after they finally exited the artificial plane of existence and returned back to their own bodies an hour later. "Basically, they fought for dominance the entire while."

"Hmm," the bucket hat-wearing Urahara hummed in response, his shadowed eyes thoughtful as he processed the information that had been given to him. "They were fighting, but not very aggressively, you say?"

The Fifth Division Captain snorted. "I can't gauge for other Hollows, but I don't think that ours will ever be doing anything 'non-aggressively.'" There was a pause before he continued again, more grudgingly. "Pharaoh seemed pretty entertained by the entire experiment though – and I believe that he finds Hiyori's Banshee amusing. They barely paid any attention to us throughout."

Kisuke looked interested at that.

"So he was fascinated by her?"

"More like he was playing with her – he tested her for a bit, deemed her acceptable for whatever reason only he knew, and then he was toying with her, needling and deliberately provoking her like a cat would a captured mouse."

"And what was the response of Hiyori-san's Hollow?"

Shinji was exasperated. "It's her Hollow, what do ya think? She'd happily rip him in two if he gave her the opportunity 'ta do so."

Kisuke smiled then, snapping his fan shut. "Excellent! So they're indeed capable of bonding, after all!"

The fine-haired blonde looked incredulously at his friend. "Were ya even listenin' 'ta me at all, Kisuke?"

"Yes, of course, I did!" the ex-Twelfth Division Captain sing-songed. "Mutually antagonistic relationship, right? Does that not perfectly describe yourself and Hiyori-san? I don't see why your Hollows would interact any differently."

Shinji just stared at the other man for a good, long while. Then, at last, he muttered. "Just because I'm unable 'ta refute yer observation does not in any way mean that I agree with ya."

If anything, Kisuke just appeared rather amused. "Well, thanks to you both, I've new data to work with now. Give me a week to process what I have, and then we'll try this again."

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait," Shinji immediately held up his hand. "What do ya mean by 'again?' Ya want us 'ta do this one more time?"

To say that the Gobantai Taichou was not enthusiastic would be an understatement.

Kisuke nodded innocuously. "More than once, in fact. The purpose of the experiment is to see if we can foster a bond between the two inner Hollows of a paired couple. Of course they're going to have to interact often in order for that to happen. I'm thinking of putting you lot in different scenarios to see what happens next."

Shinji was starting to groan. "Damn it, Kisuke. You're really enjoying this, aren't ya?" he muttered disgruntledly. "Good luck convincing Hiyori 'ta take part for the next one. She's already pissed at me thanks 'ta this."

"Oh? What happened?" the tousled blonde enquired curiously

The Shinigami/Vizard hybrid appeared exasperated by the reminder. "She's pretty sore over the fact that my hollow trounced hers soundly, so she's not speakin' 'ta me right now. I keep tellin' her that it's hardly my fault that my Hollow is kickin' hers around and 'ta not take it personally, but ya know how she is."

"I assume that she wasn't all that amused when you pointed out that she was always kicking you around as well?" Kisuke enquired with a perfectly straight face. Shinji glowered at him.

"Ya know, ya don't sound all that grateful for someone whose bein' done a favor," the Fifth Division Captain commented rather sourly then.

"Ah, my bad. I haven't thanked you yet? In that case, thanks for taking one for the team for the sake of research. You know what they say; one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind – or in this case, soul kind."

"…Next time, I'll just point Hiyori yer way, and you'll see how small her steps are, especially when they're walkin' all over yer face."

"…I'm sorry. Please don't do that."

Omake – Alternate/Random Outtake #2

Hiyori gaped. "What the hell's he doin'?" she asked sharply then, and Shinji looked over to the two hollows once again. Pharaoh had brought his face nearer to the tensed, stiffened form of the caught Banshee, his head slowly lowering to her vulnerable, exposed neck in a parody of a lover, and then he paused, his mouth hovering mere millimeters from her white skin. Shinji's eyes narrowed slightly with bafflement as well – was he sniffing her?!

The pigtailed blonde beside him squawked suddenly.

"He's lickin' her!" Hiyori sounded disbelieving. "What on earth does yer Hollow think he's doin'? Hage Shinji, make him stop!"

The Fifth Division Captain was also rather surprised by his alter ego's abrupt turnabout in behavior, and it was becoming pretty obvious to him what was going on by now. That was…quick.

It was also really strange to see the usually cold, murderous being behaving with such obvious, intent lust. And the female whom he had pinned under him was reluctantly submitting to him, grudgingly conceding to his overwhelming strength and power even as she was completely stiff and wary, anger and distrust warring with unwilling attraction and interest.

Hiyori gasped in outrage, looking rather disturbed and chagrinned, when she belatedly noticed the subtle change of tension in the air. "WHERE IS HE PUTTING HIS HAND?!" she bellowed right in Shinji's ear, much to his wince of discomfort. "WHAT KINDA FIGHT IS THIS?!"

Shinji turned to the fuming and agitated woman and just stared at her in mild disbelief. Apparently, Hiyori was still under the false impression (thanks to Kisuke) that this was some sort of combat related training exercise. "What kind of fight do ya think this is?" he asked archly, and she started to flush when she finally realized where all this was heading.

"No way," the smaller blonde mumbled at last in shock. It was quite obvious that Hiyori had not considered this possibility at all. "Th-They can-?"

"I'd imagine so," he replied, sounding remarkably calm, all things considered. "They're our doppelgangers – they certainly have all the working parts for it." The Fifth Division Captain retorted, briefly eyeing their interlocked Hollows once more before concluding. "…And I also happen 'ta think that this much is already enough – there should be sufficient new data to work on, won't ya agree, Kisuke?"

There was a short pause, and then:

"Shinji's right," A familiar, lighthearted voice quipped from beside them. "Today's experiment has indeed given me a few new things to consider."

The couple turned to see the floating head of Urahara Kisuke slowly materializing from thin air, complete with bucket hat and all. He was also smiling with indecent cheeriness at them. Hiyori nearly yelled in surprise and had to restrain the urge to punt the head of her ex-Captain as far away from her as possible.

"WHAT THE HELL, KISUKE," the petite blonde screeched instead, and Shinji just gave the tousled blonde a mildly dirty look for indulging in his favorite cheap thrill of deliberately doing things just to make his friends jump and squirm.

"I was wonderin' when you were gonna show yourself, ya damn voyeur," the fine-haired blonde muttered, completely unsurprised that the Urahara had also projected his consciousness onto this artificial plane as well, at least partially, judging by the fact that only his disembodied head was present. "Congrats. Your hypothesis appears 'ta be supported by what we're seein' so far; they seem capable of bonding. Ya have yer analysis, and that should hold ya attention for a while at least – so we should stop here for now. Neither Hiyori nor I am prepared 'ta see any further 'affectionate' bonding between our inner Hollows yet."

True enough, the young woman in question looked utterly stumped by the possibility. "What affectionate bonding?" she demanded then, slowly and finally cottoning on to the fact that something was not right here. She also seemed to finally register Kisuke's words. "This is another stupid experiment of yers?! Ya said that this was a trainin' exercise!"

"It is a training exercise, Hiyori-san," Kisuke defended then. "It trains your inner Hollows to get along better with each other. Training, see?"

Hiyori looked like she really wanted to kick in Kisuke's stupid floating head then, but her lover caught her before she could go ahead and do so. When she turned on him with a ferocious glare, he merely replied. "We still need him 'ta get outa here, brat, so control your temper for now."

Hiyori reluctantly simmered down, but then the ex-Twelfth Division Captain just had to add fuel to the fire.

"Are you sure you don't want to stick around and observe what might happen next?" he enquired innocuously. "After all, even though Hollows are sterile by nature, they can certainly mate and experience the sensations that come with it, though they can't produce any offspring."

Hiyori was gaping in shock by now, it having not occurred to her that something like this could happen. Her stymied gaze caught Shinji's then, and the latter raised his hands in the universal 'don't shoot, I'm unarmed' sign when he saw the increasingly indignant light in her catlike ochre eyes.

"Don't look at me like that. I'd no idea 'bout this either. …S'not as if I wanna see our Hollows gettin' it on, ya know."

::owari::

Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:

So, this is the second part of the Hollow!arc, and as always, I hope you readers have enjoyed reading it. Also, if the ending seems pretty abrupt – well, this isn't the end, to be honest – it's more like a prelude. Anyway, I still have plans to further explore this particular plot, but that will come later, so just keep that in mind for now.

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Shinji's inner Hollow refers to him as Helios, the Sun God. There's actually a reason for this. In ancient times, Egyptian pharaohs would worship the Sun God above all the other deities, and I thought it would be fitting for Pharaoh to address his host as such, since technically, Shinji is his entire world, his god.

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FYI, only the first omake is related to main story plot of this arc, whereas the second bonus alternate omake is the same as the one from the previous chapter – simply a discarded draft that worked pretty well as an outtake (I think).

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New arc next chapter!

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Last but not least, thanks for reading!

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Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic!

-paws