chaptered fic; piece by piece (02: fujikawa: apparent)
pairing: aizawa kosaku/shiraishi megumi
word count: 1470 words
note: Aizawa/Shiraishi in the eyes of others. Fujikawa for this one. More notes at the end.

two: Fujikawa Kazuo

I settle myself comfortably on the bar stool and prop my elbows on the counter, signalling Mary Jane for drinks, for myself and for Haruka. My girlfriend (I still feel a little spark of joy whenever I think of Haruka being my girlfriend) sits beside me, tapping out a message on her phone. Hiyama settles herself beside Haruka, reaching for a bowl of peanuts, and starts crunching on them. She shoves the bowl to Shiraishi, who shakes her head, and takes a sip of her drink instead.

It's a regular thing for us, to hang out at Mary Jane's bar after work, but it will be a rare occurrence to have all of us here together. After all, one of us will usually be on night-shift. Tonight, Aizawa is missing, as it's his turn on night duty. But it's not like that dude would have made it for sure, even if he's off for the night. He still tends to act like he's too cool for us at times.

I take my drink from Mary Jane, taking a long sip, feeling myself relaxing a little. It's been quite a hectic day at work, but then again, with Lifesaving, it always is. Stressful, busy and chaotic, but it's a world that I belong to.

The door tinkles, and our heads swerve to see Aizawa strolling in. He cast a glance at us, but instead of joining us at the bar, he heads to an empty table nearby, and sits there instead.

Typical.

"Eh, Aizawa," Shiraishi says in a surprised tone. "Aren't you on night shift today?"

He signals Mary Jane for a drink. "I was. Tachibana-sensei asked me to swap with him, so I'll be on morning shift tomorrow instead."

"Come on, Aizawa, don't be an anti-social hermit. Come over here and join us!" Hiyama gestures to the empty bar stool next to Shiraishi.

I watch his eyes flickering towards Shiraishi, and without a word, he stands up and saunters towards the bar, taking the seat next to our team leader.

"So very nice of you to not make a lady walk, Aizawa-sensei!" Mary Jane trilled as she sets down Aizawa's usual drink – vodka on rocks – in front of him. He ignores her, as usual, picking up his drink, swirling the alcohol noncommittally in the glass, before he takes a long sip.

I scoff inwardly to myself, Aizawa does everything with this rather disinterested air that actually succeeds in making him look cool. Once upon a time, I had felt intimidated by that, but I'm over it now. Years in Lifesaving has taught me that I have my own strengths, and it's okay that I won't be as good as him in terms of skill and technical knowledge.

"Aizawa-sensei, you should bring your girlfriend here sometimes, just like Fujikawa-sensei over there," Mary Jane places a bowl of nuts in front of him. Aizawa pays no attention to her, taking another drink.

"He doesn't have one," I supply helpfully, earning a jab in my ribs from Haruka. "Ouch! But it's true, he doesn't." I can see Aizawa shooting daggers at me from the other end, but I merely grin at him. I know it's childish, but I really can't help feeling smug. After all, all the coolness in the world hasn't gotten the granny's boy a girlfriend. This is one department where I am definitely winning.

Mary Jane reacted with over-dramatic horror. "You're single? A young, good-looking surgeon like you? Well, if that's the case…I'm single, too…"

Aizawa's death glare is now directed at Mary Jane, and she coughed hurriedly. "Haha, just joking…just joking…" She directs her attention to Shiraishi instead, who has started snacking on the nuts with an absent-minded air. "Actually, Aizawa-sensei, you should go out with Shiraishi-sensei!"

At that, Shiraishi splutters, nearly choking on her nuts. To most people, people that do not know him well, Aizawa remain expressionless, but the quick flash of emotion across his face does not escape me, telling me that he is slightly caught off-guard by that comment. He doesn't respond however; he merely pushes a glass of soda water towards Shiraishi.

"Mary Jane!" Shiraishi exclaims as she stops coughing, grabbing the soda water and taking a long drink.

"What?" Mary Jane is an air of complete innocence. "I'm just saying, he's single, you're single, you both work together, and have known each other for such a long time…"

"We're colleagues," Shiraishi says firmly.

"So? Is there a rule that forbids colleagues from going out with each other?"

"None whatsoever," Hiyama joins the conversation. I know the mischievous look on her face too well. "I agree with Mary Jane, you two should totally go out."

"Hiyama!" her housemate swats her on the shoulder. "Please, don't add to this discussion."

Hmmm. It's very interesting how Shiraishi is stealing a glance at Aizawa, and looking quite flustered. Might there really be something going on there? This reminds me of a long-standing bet I made with Hiyama nearly seven years ago. The bet was made after they got drunk at Mary Jane's. Both Hiyama and I thought they would get together, but when days dragged into weeks and turned into months, I became less convinced. There is a time-frame for these things, after all.

So I betted that they will never get together (they'd missed the boat), whilst Hiyama betted otherwise. We never decided on an end date for the bet, however, so I guess that's still going on.

"You match up very well with Aizawa-sensei, Shiraishi-sensei. You're pretty, he's handsome, you're both smart, you're both doctors, it's a match made in heaven!" Mary Jane is relentless. I'm enjoying the show, watching Shiraishi grow redder and redder, while Aizawa is basically trying very hard to maintain his impassive, stoic, I'm-too-cool-for-this face, and gradually failing. He's drinking a bit faster now, and I notice that he is trying very hard not to look at Shiraishi directly.

Oh, this is fun, even if I'm going to lose the bet.

"Mary Jane, really. Stop it. You're making Aizawa uncomfortable," Shiraishi, trying to look indifferent, shooting a sideway glance at the doctor beside her.

"Shiraishi-sensei, you're not getting any younger…"

"Well…well, neither is Hiyama seeing anyone!" Shiraishi exclaims with sudden inspiration, desperate to redirect the attention.

"Who says I am not seeing anyone?" Hiyama says offhandedly, crunching on some nuts.

"Wait a minute, you are?!" Now, this I can't help poking my nose into. She has kept it very quiet. Hiyama shrugs and gives a half-smile, but doesn't elaborate more.

"Well, if Aizawa is not your type, I think you should consider Shinkai-sensei. Hasn't he been asking you for lunch?"

Shiraishi looks a little sheepish, brushing back her hair. "Ah, yes, but I'm not really…"

"Go for it, Shiraishi!" Hiyama nudges her shoulder, and Haruka nods beside me. Yes, Shiraishi should go out with Shinkai, and then I'll win the bet. I'm surprised that Hiyama is sabotaging herself, but hey, I'm not about to complain.

"Do you people not have anything more constructive to talk about?" Ah, the silent one finally speaks. He looks over at us, an annoyed expression on his face. "You sound like high-schoolers."

"Oh, is somebody jealous of Shinkai-sensei?" I interject gleefully.

Aizawa's face twitches as he sets his jaw, turning away and throwing back his drink in one gulp.

Whoa. Now that is telling, even for me. I know I can be dense, but I am not that dense. He clearly is feeling something. Aizawa pushes himself up, putting down his empty glass. "I'm going home. I have the early shift tomorrow."

Hiyama and I both snicker, even Haruka is hiding a smile. He's plainly trying to remove himself from the scene before he incriminates himself further. I have to admit, seeing the Ice King out of his comfort zone is very satisfying.

He turns to Shiraishi. "Do you want to leave with me? I believe you have the early shift, too."

"Ah yes, I do have the early shift tomorrow." Shiraishi hops off the bar stool, grabbing her bag. "Well, see you all tomorrow," she says quickly, clearly relieved to be leaving. Aizawa tilts his head at us in an act of acknowledgement, and they both leave the bar.

All of us stare after their retreating backs. None of us miss the fact that Aizawa has his hand resting lightly on Shiraishi's lower back, steering her through the door as it closes behind them.

"Well," Hiyama smirks as she toys with her glass. "You lose. Pay up, Fujikawa."

"It's not over yet," I shoot back. "That doesn't count."

She shrugs. "It's just a matter of time."

Truth be told, I do agree with her. It's a matter of time. And it's also a matter of time before I wave goodbye to fifty thousand yen.

Damnit.

A/N: Sketched out the plot (however little of it, haha) of this during a very long, very boring meeting that I do not need to sit in on (but was forced to), haha. I don't think I quite got Fujikawa's voice in here, but I tried my best. I don't think I want to go out of order with the Awesome Fivesome, so Saejima will be next. That will be after I come back from China. Already dreading the connection problems I will have there due to the Great Firewall of China...

As usual, reviews, comments, criticisms and suggestions are very very welcome. Thanks for reading!

Extra note: I uploaded an old Kurosagi/Code Blue crossover fic I wrote nine years ago. Click on the "Crossover" tab on the top right hand corner to find it. Set your filters to include M, please :) (caution: mature content)