Flirt

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"Well aren't you just all looking fine today?" A few of the nurses tittered precariously, their bird-like giggles paying testament to their bird-like minds.

Ok… Saying bird-like minds wasn't fair. They were professional, intelligent women, after all. It was just the forced way they automatically giggled at anything he said that had, over time, lessened his opinion of "the flock of fangirls" (as he secretly called them).

Not that he really minded "the flock". They were friendly enough – definitely more friendly to him than "the non-flock". And it wasn't as if he discouraged their fawning over him…

Nope; Dr. Miroku was only a man, after all.

"Doctor, do you think you're free for dinner tonight?" one of the younger, bolder nurses ventured, her voice innocently high and provocative at the same time. She made a bit of a pouting face, obviously to guilt him over the way he had been blowing off her advances ever since the last time they had made such an engagement…

It took all his self control not to sigh. To his merit he didn't reply instantaneously, the way he wanted to. Instead, he checked his watch and frowned, feigning regret.

"Umm - no, Koharu. I um – I don't think I'll have time for that. I'm booked rather tight today – by the time I'm done, I'll just be wanting to go home to rest."

"How about I come back to your place and make you something, then?" she persisted immediately, obviously not so readily willing to admit defeat. Her pale eyes flashed with resolve.

"That's alright, Koharu. I can do that myself."

"Then perhaps you just want company?" she offered hopefully.

If anyone knew him well enough they might have noticed his frown slowly morph into a scowl. "I'm afraid I must decline the offer."

Ok, so he enjoyed the attention and the friendly working environment, he didn't necessarily enjoy the more aggressive of "the flock". When he had been a younger man he had definitely relished in it – and boy, had he broken a lot of working-relationship codes in his time working at this hospital!

He was a flirt – there was no denying that. His father, a successful businessman, had been the same way – he had treated the ladies like gold, flirting, winking, and smiling his way into their good favors. His mother had probably never been appreciative of it, of course – but, well, what's the harm in having a few 'fangirls'?

Having 'fangirls' wasn't a problem. Dating 'fangirls' was.

Too-sweet smiles, coquettish simpering, flirty batting of the eyes, veiled words. It was like catnip for men! He had been drawn in to the game so readily, so willingly –

Why he hadn't figured out the trend within the first dozen 'fangirls' he didn't know. It wasn't like he had been looking for a pattern, after all…

Nope; it wasn't like Dr. Miroku had a good stack of sexual harassment complaints in his file. A file that was a good couple of inches thick. Nope; definitely not!

Ok… maybe his file did have a few complaints…

If by "a few" you mean a lot, yeah – sure.

Oh sure, there were tons of codes and articles and books about why you shouldn't date people where you work. But hell, Miroku was young and invincible! Fresh out of med school (where, admittedly, there were a lot more men than women – and, admittedly, even if there had been lots of women, it wouldn't have mattered much either way, seeing as he had been rather consumed by his studies), the young doctor had been eager to play the field. You know; make up for lost time? He had just spent eight years in college – eight years! – and he was more than ready to start interacting with the opposite sex.

But where the hell does an intensive care doctor find the time to meet women? At the grocery store at midnight when he gets off work? Umm, the people at the grocery store at midnight are weird… (Except for him, of course!) And where was he supposed to go? A nightclub? Yeah, like they had a nightclub for doctors in their late twenties. Sure.

Thankfully (or cursedly, whichever way you choose to look at it), he hadn't lost his charm. Miroku had discovered, much to his delight, that he was quite popular with the ladies at work…

How perfect of a plan was that? He'd get to see his sweetie at work, they'd have similar working shifts, they'd even be able to talk about medical stuff…

So, bright eyed and bushy tailed, Miroku had asked out one of the 'fangirls'. How was he supposed to have anticipated that she would be so boring?

Ok, maybe boring was an unfair word to use. It wasn't as if she was a bad person or something – she had been a nice enough girl. But the way she was just so – well – yeah, boring – it just wasn't appealing to him. She had been fake – he could tell that right away. She had fawned all over him, hanging on his every word, laughing at everything he said.

At first he had thought he liked that, but the act (and the melodrama that went with it) had grown old very quickly. So, Miroku had dumped her…

And almost immediately started dating one of her peers…

Alright, alright – he knew that wasn't the best way to handle the situation! But the other girl had been so sweet – he had been sure that things would be different with that one!

Or the next one.

Or the one after that.

Before he knew it he had an entire nursing staff clutching scalpels a little too tightly when he walked past. One thing you might not know about scalpels... They're sharp. And pointy.

Ok, so Miroku might be slow, but he wasn't stupid. Realizing his mistake – and realizing that he wasn't about to find true love among his staff, he had made apologies and quietly asked for a transfer. The administration had been only too happy to oblige.

And so, he had ended up at this new hospital, with a new staff, a clean slate, and a new mantra – "Don't date the staff." But, well, Koharu had seemed like a really sweet girl – and what if she were the one? Surely dating just one nurse wasn't really breaking the rules. Just one time, right?

Ok, maybe he was stupid.

But seriously, it was a particularly bad twist of luck that the one girl he decided to break the rules for at this new hospital turned out to be super stalker. It's not like that was his fault.

His rather dark train of thought was interrupted Koharu, agitated that her simpering and big eyed looks didn't seem to be working magic like she was undoubtedly used to, 'humphed' and stomped away. Several of the other nurses looked from him, to her, and back again with querulous looks painted across their features, but Miroku just threw up his hands and feigned ignorance (an act he was going to be doing a lot more of in the coming hours, days, weeks, and perhaps even months, it seemed).

It was going to be a great day. He could feel it.