Disclaimer: does not own

Note: Look, a linear storyline! Could it be Bialy has changed her ways?

Lol no, but this fic does indeed follow on from the last. One and only time, chaps. Also, trying for a short A/N this time to make up for rambling like a madwoman last time.

I like Aizawa. But apparently I am horrible at thinking of ways to write about him. Idea for this goes to Sonar, who suggested something about Aizawa being not mean to Matsuda. Thank you.

x

Good Morning, Sunshine

Prompt: 49. Sleep

Matsuda had fallen asleep.

Aizawa rolled his eyes and nudged the drooling detective's leg with his foot. "Wake up, Matsuda, you come here to work, remember?"

"Mmph?" Matsuda mumbled something else incoherently, rubbing his eyes with one hand and fumbling for coffee with the other. Sighing, Aizawa rose to fetch him some.

Aizawa had been surprised - no, try shocked - when he saw the determination and dedication with which Matsuda had attacked every new case they'd had. He'd work late, with Aizawa sometimes coming in in the morning to find him slumped at his desk, and Matsuda would walk around for the rest of the say with the ink of photocopied pages down his cheek. He had expected the younger man to be his usual distracted self - if not more so, given what had happened barely a month before.

Matsuda was still inept. No, maybe that was a bit harsh. Matsuda tried hard and he'd had a lot of successes, if Aizawa really thought about it. He wasn't as smart, as efficient or as resourceful as the other members of the group, but…but he was honest. You knew where you stood with Touta Matsuda. And he always gave his best to whatever task Aizawa assigned him to.

But he was beginning to wonder if Matsuda's sudden zealous approach to his job belied something else. He had not referred to Kira as Light, or Light as Kira, even once since his death at Yellow Box. Aizawa had the feeling that Matsuda was separating them, compartmentalising in a way that couldn't be good for him.

He had been too hard on Matsuda recently.

Full coffee mug in hand, he returned to Matsuda's desk. The man was staring at the ceiling, blinking, and looking like he was trying to clear his head. "I guess I fell asleep here again, sorry," he said sheepishly, as Aizawa handed him the coffee. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it. You want to get some breakfast?"

If Matsuda was surprised by Aizawa's change in attitude from when he had left him, he didn't show it. He picked up his coat, downed his coffee (Aizawa consciously bit back a sarcastic comment when Matsuda complained about how hot it was) and followed the new Chief of Detectives out of the building.

They ate pancakes in relative silence, Matsuda still waking up and Aizawa's mind on a hundred other things. When they were finished, Aizawa picked up the bill.

"You sure?" Matsuda asked uncertainly. "I can pay…"

"No, it's alright. I've got this one. You have the words "grocery store" printed on your left cheek, by the way."

"I - what? Again?" Matsuda picked up a spoon and tried to check his reflection, trying to turn it upside down to get a better look.

Aizawa laughed and pulled the spoon out of his grip, dropping it on the table and steering him out the door.

"Come on, Ide and Mogi will be in soon. And I make a habit of not being late."

It was the closest Aizawa would come to insulting Matsuda for a good few days.