one-shot; stuck on you
pairing: aizawa kosaku/shiraishi megumi
word count: 2844 words
note: y'all want clichés, y'all get clichés. Behold the elevator trope. Too mild to be M-rated but warning for…uhhh..descriptive kissing?

It was another late night as usual. Shiraishi yawned, stretching a little to loosen the crick at her neck, as she pressed the down button, and waited for the elevator. She had just finished checking on her patient, and was heading to the Lifesaving department to clock out. She was looking forward to going home, it had been a tiring day.

The elevator pinged, and the doors opened, to reveal Aizawa inside. Stony-faced as usual, he nodded at her as she murmured a greeting. "Aizawa-sensei."

The doors closed, and as usual, they stood on the opposite sides of the elevator. They had a particular snippy argument in the morning over Aizawa's harshness towards Yokomine, and she was still not feeling very charitable towards the neurosurgeon. They rode in silence, until the elevator pinged again, and in strolled Shinkai.

His face broke into a smile when he saw Shiraishi, moving to stand beside her. "Shiraishi-sensei, good evening." His eyes then gave Aizawa a cursory flick. "Aizawa."

Aizawa didn't acknowledge him with anything more than a small nod, as he stared into the space, over Shinkai's shoulder. Shinkai shrugged, and turned to Shiraishi. "Are you on night shift today?"

"Ah, no, Shinkai-sensei. I'm about to go home, actually. Aizawa-sensei is the one on night shift today for Lifesaving," Shiraishi answered.

"Eh, that's too bad. I was about to suggest getting a coffee together later tonight, if you're on night shift, for us to rejuvenate ourselves," he said. "I can't interest Aizawa into having coffee with me, unfortunately."

A scowl came over Aizawa's face as Shiraishi laughed politely. "Well, unfortunately not tonight."

"Another night, then. Surely there will be a time where we will be on night shift together. And remember, you still owe me a lunch date." The elevator stopped at the floor to Neurosurgery, and with a wink, Shinkai walked off.

The doors closed again, and Shiraishi shrugged. "Huh."

Aizawa's scowl deepened. "Please don't ask me what I think that was all about." he said, his tone snappy.

She turned to stare at him, a bit taken aback by his tone. "What?" She knew he didn't like Shinkai, but that seemed a bit unnecessary. And besides, what did it have to do with her?

He drew in a deep, impatient-sounding breath. "Nothing."

Shitaishi scruntinised him for three seconds, her brow wrinkled, but then she turned away. He was in one of his moods, and she wasn't exactly feeling her sunniest either. The elevator continued descending in silence. Suddenly, it gave an almighty jerk, and halted into a shuddering stop. At the same time, the lights went off.

"What the…" Shiraishi lost her balance as the elevator shook and plunged into darkness, slipping and falling over. "Ouch!"

"Shiraishi, are you all right?" She looked towards the direction of Aizawa's voice, towards where she knew he was standing.

"Uhh…I think so…" Groping about, she tried to get her bearings around her as she attempted to stand up. At that moment, she felt a firm hand on her upper arm, gripping her tightly, and another arm around her shoulders. As he helped to pull her to a standing position, a searing pain shot through her ankle. She winced, and nearly tumbled over again, but his arms supporting her stopped that from happening.

The elevator was still in total darkness, as she looked around a little frantically. She had never really been good with the whole darkness thing…okay, fine, so she was kind of scared of the dark. Just a little. And this was getting to be really uncomfortable.

"When is the emergency light coming on?" she muttered under her breath. She knew that the hospital's emergency generator would have come on, but that would mainly serve the important departments, such as ICU and so on. The elevator they were on was a normal staff elevator, which meant power restoration to them would be at the bottom of the list, but at the very least, the emergency light should have flickered on. She needed that, because she could feel her heartbeat picking up, and it was getting just a little harder to breathe normally.

"Shiraishi, calm down."

"What do you mean, calm down? I'm calm!" She immediately retorted.

"I can hear you breathing very heavily, and it's erratic," he said, matter-of-factly.

"I'm fine, I'm just…shocked," she said lamely. He made a scoffing sound, and she glared towards his direction, about to make a sharp retort until she realised that she could not see him, could not see anything.

She swallowed hard, and shut her eyes tightly, and started counting back from a hundred. That had always been her trick, trying to synchronise her breathing with her counting, and that had always worked. He sensed it, her fear and her anxiety, and his hand moved from her shoulder to her back, running up and down in a reassuring and calming manner.

"You're okay," he said steadily. "Breathe slowly. Inhale, exhale."

She wanted to snap at him, and tell him not to be patronising. She knew how to deal with this, she had dealt with it for years, but she held back, knowing very well that her panic was clouding her judgment. Aizawa was only trying to help, and he wasn't being the least bit condescending.

So she did just that, she slowed down her counting, and her breathing, and took slow, even breaths, telling herself that she was fine, there was nothing to be afraid of.

Th emergency light came on as she counted to sixty-one, bathing the elevator car in a dim, lukewarm yellow light. Relief flooded through her and her heartbeat returned to its normal state. It wasn't the greatest improvement, but at least they were not standing in pitch-black darkness anymore. She felt herself breathe a lot easier as her eyes adjusted to the weak light, and then she realised how close Aizawa was to her.

He was still holding her firmly, his hand still rubbing her back, her shoulder brushing against him. Suddenly very aware of his closeness, she shifted a little, coughing, and his grip on her upper arm loosened. His other arm dropped off her back, as she supported herself against the wall of the elevator.

Seeing that she managed to steady herself, Aizawa reached out, and punched the emergency intercom button. He waited, and it crackled on a few seconds later.

"Yes?"

"This is Aizawa, and I'm in elevator eight-two-oh-three at Shohoku University Hospital. We're trapped in here. Can you please send help?"

"There's a major power outage in the area. All premises are affected. We'll try our best to reinstate the hospital's full power supply. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long. If the elevator remains unmoving after twenty minutes, please report back to me."

Aizawa frowned at the intercom, tapping his fingers irritably on the panel of the elevator as the intercom clicked off. He turned to Shiraishi, and lifted his shoulder in a shrug.

"Twenty minutes."

"I heard," she responded, bracing one hand against the wall for balance as she leaned down. Slipping off her sneaker, she ran her hand over her right ankle and massaged it, grimacing. She had probably aggravated the old injury from the Heli accident. Aizawa watched her, and without a word, he crouched down, holding her ankle in one hand, and took off her sock. She squeaked in surprise, but he barely noticed, as he turned her foot, his hand pressing on her ankle, examining it with his lips slightly pursed.

"It doesn't look too serious. You probably need some ice on it, and then you need an ankle guard for a few days." He picked up her sock and slipped it back on, and as if it was the most natural gesture in the world, he picked up her sneaker, and put it back on for her, too. "You should probably change your shift on the Heli, too. I can take your shift for you."

A flush rose up Shiraishi's cheeks as he double-laced her sneaker. "Did you get Fujikawa or anyone from orthopaedics to look at your leg after the accident with the Heli?" He asked, straightening himself.

"No, there was too much to do after that, with the patients, and Haitani-sensei…" her voice trailed off at the look on his face. "Anyway, I was pretty sure my leg was fine, and I was right," she added defensively.

"Typical," he murmured, leaning against the elevator wall opposite to her. "Always putting yourself last."

Shiraishi moved to face him, so that her back was against the elevator wall, giving her more support, so she could take some weight off her injured ankle. She sighed, taking out her phone and unlocked it to look at the time. "Fifteen more minutes," she murmured.

"Hn."

Silence descended upon them, silence which was not necessarily uncomfortable, but it was just a little awkward, given that things were strained between them since this morning, and he had just put on her shoe for her like he was Prince Charming to her Cinderella or something. She shook her head, chuckling a little to herself. She must going crazy, to have thoughts like that.

After all, Aizawa was the opposite of charming.

"What is it?" he asked, looking at her, his arms folded in his usual stance.

"Nothing!" she said immediately. God forbid she should ever tell him about the thought that just crossed her mind.

Another five seconds of silence passed.

Shiraishi huffed a little. She was hardly a chatterbox but this was a bit ridiculous - given that they had known each other for over nine years, and they worked in the same department - that they could not engage themselves in some sort of conversation when trapped together in the elevator. On the other hand, she found herself worrying about Lifesaving. Would it be okay with one of its night shift doctors missing?

"I can hear you thinking," he said evenly. "Are you worried about Lifesaving having no one while I'm trapped in here? Don't worry. Tachibana-sensei is on night shift as well, and so is Natori."

She allowed herself a small smile at that. They might be bad at holding conversations sometimes, like now (well, it was more of his fault), but evidently, they did know each other very well, all the time. "Ah," she nodded, and said nothing else.

Shiraishi shifted her position again, testing her ankle. She flinched a little as she moved it, but the pain had dulled into a throb instead of the sharp pain from earlier.

He had moved forward, one hand outstretched as she tested her ankle, as if he was afraid she would fall over again. "Does it still hurt?"

"A little, it's not as bad as just now," she told him, resting her right foot gingerly on the floor.

Another few seconds ticked past, and Shiraishi looked at her phone again, and sighed. "If the power had gone out a minute earlier, Shinkai-sensei would be trapped in here with us, too," she mused out loud.

At that, Aizawa crossed his arms, his face darkening. "What? Do you want him to be in here, or something?"

She stared at him, confused. "No…I was just thinking out loud. That's all."

He said nothing, but she saw his jaw tightening. He really doesn't like Shinkai-sensei, she thought. Sure, she understood that they were rivals, but this level of hostility from Aizawa seemed albeit too personal, somehow. "Why do you dislike Shinkai-sensei so much?"

He kept his face turned away from her as he answered. "No special reason. He's my rival. I don't see a necessity to be nice to my rivals. It is what it is, a competition."

She shrugged. "You saw me as a rival. You never treated me like that."

Aizawa's posture stiffened visibly, as he turned to her. "Because you were different. You are different."

She blinked. "What?"

He shook his head a little, and then shot her a glance. "Why do you care anyway? Do you like him?"

"I don't know enough about him to like him," she said, her tone matter-of-fact.

He snorted. "Well, go have lunch with him and find out," he countered, his tone heavy with sarcasm.

It was Shiraishi's turn to frown, her eyebrows drawn together as she looked at Aizawa, who was obviously fuming, but for no reason whatsoever, as far as she could see. If the mere mention of Shinkai could send him into a state, he definitely had some growing up to do.

"What's the matter with you, anyway?" She was more than just a little fed-up.

He turned away, running a hand through his hair, muttering under his breath. "You are what's the matter with me." She thought she heard him said that, but she must had misheard.

"Eh?"

He faced her again, and took a step towards her. His eyes were dark and stormy, and suddenly, she felt unnerved. Reflexively, she edged backwards, pressing her back into the wall of the elevator, and then he was just in front of her, looking at her as if he could see right through her. He lowered his head towards her, his hands flattened against the elevator wall on either side of her head.

Wait, what is he…surely he's not going to…the rest of her thoughts were cut off as he proceeded to do exactly just that.

His mouth was on hers, heated and commanding, as his hands drifted downwards to her shoulders. He shifted his head, melding his lips against hers as he kissed her, almost aggressively. There wasn't a single coherent thought in her head at that moment. Well, except the one thought that was screaming at her to kiss him back.

So she did.

She responded, moving her lips against his, her fingers clenching at the front of his scrubs, and he made a sound, low in his throat. He swiped his tongue along her bottom lip, asking, demanding, and she obliged him, allowing their tongues to intertwine as he ventured further into her mouth. He somehow tasted like coffee and rain, and he felt like fire, and her mind was beginning to haze over.

His hands had glided down her upper arms, and he was now gripping her hips as he pulled her closer to him, never lifting his mouth from hers. Not that she wanted him to do that, as she tugged lightly on his bottom lip with her teeth, and probed deeper into his mouth. Boldly, she swept her tongue over his, trying to gain dominance.

She heard another sound of approval from him, as his fingers dug into her hips. He allowed her the control, and she took it. Her own arms had moved to entwine themselves around his back, as she pressed up against his chest. Their kisses were still hungry, passionate, with no sign of slowing down, like they couldn't get enough of each other. It all was lips, tongues and teeth, and he was starting to feel like a drug that she could potentially overdose on.

Suddenly, the lights snapped back on, flooding the elevator car with harsh, glaring light, and the elevator started moving slowly.

They pulled apart, breathing heavily, arms still around each other, as they stared at each other. Shiraishi was still trying to get her brain to work properly, because, what the actual hell was that? At the same time, she couldn't believe that Aizawa had kissed her.

Her kissing him back, that she could kind of believe.

He was looking at her, the look in his eyes not quite decipherable, and she asked the first question that came into her mind. "Why did you do that?"

The right corner of his mouth lifted slightly, as his fingers trailed a lazy circle on her hip. "Because…you're interesting."

Before she could react, the elevator pinged, and grinded to a stop. He pulled away from her just before the doors opened, to reveal a mostly empty hallway. He stepped out first, and turned back to her. Frankly, Shiraishi was still feeling very disorientated. She knew what he meant by interesting now, she would have to be a total idiot not to know, but did that mean it was since that day…?

"Come," he said. "We need to get your ankle iced."

Oh, her ankle. Funny how she didn't notice any pain when…things were happening. But she was feeling it now, a throbbing, achy feeling, as she took a step. He slid his arm around her shoulders, supporting her, and she balanced herself by putting her arm around his waist, as she limped out. They walked towards emergency together, not saying anything, and it was as if what had happened had not happened.

She wasn't quite sure she wanted that to stay in the past, though. And if she knew him well, and she thought she did, fairly, she had a feeling he felt the same way. She cleared her throat, and tightened her grip around his waist.

"Aizawa?"

He looked down at her. "What is it?"

"You're interesting, too."

Shiraishi could've sworn she saw Aizawa smile.

A/N: I told myself I'll write an elevator thing, so here it is, with all the most cliché scenarios ever, from getting hurt/anxious and getting comforted to some squabbling and then to making out! I think it's a bit everywhere. But I had fun writing this so I hope you would enjoy reading it.

I have two pieces of writing to go before the finale...and then someone told me if I make it to the coming Tuesday, it's two weeks of consecutive daily writing for Aizawa/Shiraishi. Damnit. She just has to get my competitive streak going.

Reviews, comments, suggestions and criticisms, as always, are loved and appreciated and act as fuel for me to write!