chaptered fic; piece by piece (01: hiyama: obvious)
pairing: aizawa kosaku/shiraishi megumi
word count: 1675 words
note: Aizawa/Shiraishi in the eyes of others. First up, Hiyama. More notes at the end.
one: Hiyama Mihoko
My peaceful hour of solitude for lunch is ruined.
Those two barrel in, so engrossed in squabbling that they don't even notice that I am in the office. Granted, I am sitting on the couch that is mostly hidden due to the huge filing cabinet, but still.
Shiraishi is storming around the office, hands full of files, an annoyed expression on her face. "There are ways to put certain things across more eloquently, surely with all your experience, you are well aware of that. Do you have to persist on putting them down?"
Aizawa is close behind her, slinging his stethoscope across his neck. His face is as annoyed as hers, but when he speaks, his tone is bland. "Are we having this discussion again? Aren't you bored?"
I pinch the bridge of my nose, groaning inwardly as I stir my cup noodles. I don't know about Shiraishi, but I am definitely bored. It's been about two weeks since Aizawa returned to Lifesaving, and they have the same repetitive argument approximately about three times a day.
The thing is, I can see things from both their perspectives. Aizawa is following the Kuroda-sensei way somewhat - brash, curt and unforgiving, but at the end of it, he genuinely wants the Fellows to grow and develop themselves. Shiraishi, probably remembering how she felt at the receiving end of Kuroda-sensei's harsh and extreme criticism, is trying to adopt a kinder manner, considerate of the Fellows' fears and doubts stemming from the lack of experience.
Personally, I advocate more for Aizawa's style. The three Fellows are completely hopeless. I was certainly not that despairing when I was a trainee. Heck, even Fujikawa was about three times more competent than this bunch.
But that being said, this has been going on for far too long. I can recite this play by play, Shiraishi would start ranting about how Aizawa is destroying their confidence, and Aizawa would start sneering at her for being too soft, and not fully playing her role of a staff leader and a mentor.
Sure enough, it begins.
"How many times do you want to make Yokomine cry?" Shiraishi dumps her files onto her table, pulling her laptop to her in an angry, brash manner.
Aizawa scoffs, grabbing a clipboard from his table, clicking his pen, and begins writing quickly. "She's not cut out for this if she keeps crying at the drop of a hat."
"Aizawa! You called her an idiot!"
"It's not my fault that she is one," his tone is one of maddening calm, and I know this is just going to set my normally docile housemate off. He probably knows it, too.
She threw her hands up in an exasperated gesture. "I thought you were listening to me when we had that talk a while ago. Evidently no, I guess I was just talking to a wall."
An edge has crept into the tone of his voice, as he tosses aside his clipboard, and leans towards her, his palms pressed on his table. "They're not going to learn if you keep on babying them, and taking over when they started looking flustered."
I think I heard these exact same words last yesterday, in the emergency room. This is such a weird feeling of Groundhog Day. Oh no, does that mean I'm going to be trapped in this vortex of hearing these two repeat themselves for days to come? Oh God, please, no. I don't care what I promised Mitsui-sensei, I will get out of here before I lose my sanity.
I slide down further on the staff couch, swallowing another mouthful of noodles. My phone sitting on my table, way out of reach, unfortunately. If not, I can just plug in some music and block these two out.
Shiraishi moves into my view, as she stuffs some files into a nearby cabinet. "I happen to call that being a good mentor."
Aizawa snorts, moving to stand beside her as he slips his files into the cabinet. "You would."
Hmmm. He is standing very close to her, I notice. Closer than necessary. And she's not moving away either. Their shoulders are nearly touching as their eyes continue throwing daggers at each other.
"What is that supposed to mean!?"
He crosses his arms, and leaned against the cabinet. "I thought I've already said it. It means that you're too lenient on them."
"Arghhh!" Shiraishi tugs at her ponytail in frustration. "You know, I give up, I really do. Asking you to have compassion for them is like asking for it to snow in July."
"Do you not know me, but at all? You're the one who asked me to come back, remember? Do you seriously expect me to baby them?" He said edgily, throwing her a glare.
Uh oh. Aizawa doesn't usually showcase any of his feelings – happiness, anger, frustration, sadness, whatever that constitutes him to be able have an expression – but he's definitely looking rather pissed off now. I carefully and quietly set down my noodles, looking over my shoulder. I see an expression of something flitting past his face as he looks at her, but it is gone too quickly because I can really read what it was.
I think I may have a fair idea, truth be told.
Shiraishi has one hand on her hip as she glowers at him. "I expect you to have some empathy for them. You were once a trainee, too."
"On the contrary, as a trainee, I was focused, and I took the opportunities to learn, instead of hiding behind the senior doctors every chance I get."
Well, that much is true. He was the one who basically lopped off the arm of a nineteen-year-old kid on site within weeks of arriving at Shohoku. Not the right thing to say, Shiraishi, I think, my eyes trained on my housemate, shaking my head slightly. He might had been a trainee, but he certainly was never nervous or lacking in confidence.
At least, not outwardly.
"Not everyone is like you."
"Maybe they should be, then perhaps Lifesaving would be less of a mess than what it is right now."
Shiraishi's voice goes dangerously quiet. "What are you trying to imply?"
I can see Aizawa's shoulders growing more rigid as he eyes her. "I'm not trying to imply anything. You're the staff leader. Lifesaving is not going to any less chaotic if you don't allow them to take the actual responsibilities. You know that."
She takes a step closer to him, arms folded across her chest as she stares up at him unflinchingly. "I am trying to do my job. And it doesn't help if you keep tearing down their confidence."
He stares down at her, equally unflinchingly. "I intend to push them to be the best they can be. And this will be my way of doing it. If you're so unhappy with it, I'll gladly transfer back to Neurosurgery."
The heat radiating off these two can start a bonfire; from their rigid body language, from the way they are glaring at each other. I sigh quietly, retreating further into my sanctuary of the couch. These two are so obvious. Too obvious.
I can't understand why they don't see it, why they don't realise it. I thought they are supposed to be super smart; honor-student Shiraishi and the scarily brainy – I snicker to myself at this pun - Aizawa. They're both book smart and technically smart, but so dense when it comes to the matters of the heart.
Or maybe they are intentionally choosing to be dense, because I really don't think anyone can be that oblivious to their feelings. Not even Fujikawa is that clueless, right?
I heard my housemate speak, and I immediately tune my attention back in.
"Fine," she says shortly. "You do what you need to do. I won't comment anymore. It's futile, anyway. So, whatever," she mutters, turning away from him.
"Shiraishi…" he sighs, and grabs her upper arm. "I'm just saying that you have to let go, and trust them to do it. I'm not saying that you're not a good leader and mentor. Because you are."
Whoa, back up. Is that a compliment coming from Aizawa Kosaku?
"Well, you could've fooled me. I certainly did think that you are of opinion I am completely hopeless as a team leader," she mumbles, looking downwards.
"You know I'll never think that of you," he says clearly, his hand still encircling her upper arm, as she raises her eyes to his.
They're looking at each other now, and I swear, I can literally feel the air crackling with sexual tension. I am not here for this. I don't want to potentially ruin Shiraishi's love life, but I am certainly not subjecting myself to some intense make-out session between these two, or worse.
I clear my throat loudly and stand up, yawning loudly and stretching myself. "Wow, that was an invigorating nap. Hi, you two."
I have to hide my smirk as they jump apart, as if they had been electrocuted. Shiraishi's face is flushed, as her gaze flit around the room, looking at anything and anyone but him. Aizawa, to his credit, just look stony faced as usual as his eyes flicker towards me.
"I'll get the patient notes typed up for you before I leave for the day," he says abruptly to Shiraishi, and then he turns and leaves the office.
It's just Shiraishi and me now, and I am so tempted to tease her about what had happened just now, but unfortunately, since I was supposed to be napping, I couldn't do it.
I reach for my phone and slip it into my pocket, grabbing my stethoscope at the same time. "I'm going into the emergency room. Coming?"
"Sure," she mutters, tucking her own stethoscope into her pocket. I smile to myself as she follows me. It's going to happen someday, him and her, I'm sure of it.
And when it does, I will be collecting the winnings of my bet with Fujikawa.
A/N: I think I officially classify as obsessed beyond belief with regards to Aizawa/Shiraishi. Anyway, I had this idea to write about them and their interaction through the eyes of the people around them, just in short ficlets of 1000+ words (or less). Hiyama as Shiraishi's BFF, naturally, is the first one.
Next up would probably be Fujikawa, but if the inspiration for Saejima hits, I might go with her first.
Would love to know what y'all think. As usual, reviews, comments, criticisms and suggestions are extremely welcomed.
Let's hope for some positive action in Episode 7 later!
