stoplight; 0905
pairing: aishira (but we all know how slow burn those two are...)
notes: set s1e1 +more in the end
It is five past nine when they first see each other.
They're at the stoplight just three minutes from the hospital on an autumn's day, blending amongst the throng of people waiting for the cars to stop and the little flashing green man to appear.
Shiraishi glances up from her emergency notes to check the lights and decides that it's safe to go through another page of peritoneal trauma. Preparing for today, her first day at Shohoku Lifesaving Centre, was a week of compiling, re-writing, and reviewing all her notes on emergency procedures from years in med school and her previous hospital.
She cracks a smile. That was the fun part.
Unwillingly, her mind wanders to the prestigious Doctor Heli system, the expectations of her family, the pressure she put on herself. Her smile drops. Regret pools from her stomach and for a moment she feels sick.
A nudge from her right shoves her towards the person on her left, notebook dropping upon collision. Gaining back balance and snapping out of her thoughts, she bows and mutters an apology before reaching out for her fallen notes.
She doesn't notice him do the same.
Their hands meet on the binds, and their eyes meet for a second too, but she looks away out of embarrassment. Beside her, he coughs, and pushes the notebook into her hands. "Here."
She meets his eyes again, and this time she can't help but look at him. His hair is a bird's nest, fluffy and slightly curly at the ends; his skin, she notes with childish envy, is smooth and pore-less and beautiful; his eyes are dark, almost black – like dead fish eyes if she's honest, but they held a certain determination she recognised, not dissimilar to her own.
She feels her stomach ease. "Thanks." She meant it.
He holds her gaze, nods once and walks across the street in the direction of the hospital. Although she's going the exact same way, Shiraishi keeps her distance out of courtesy, and maybe something else.
It takes her nearly ten years to figure out what.
A/N: I had to get this out of my system my aishira trash compartment is overflowing
also im on holiday at the moment, which could mean i get all four chapters done before my freedom is ripped from me? yay!
anyway thanks for reading! i'm open to constructive criticism and random cry sessions about aishira! please dont hesitate please i just want someone to talk with about them more TT_TT