Chapter 2 - When Hiyama Mihoko enters the picture...

Author's Note: Now we deal with the awkwardness and the eternally damning question; "What the hell do we do now?"

Kosaku suppressed the groan that was threatening to turn into a growl. He could see his clothes – their clothes making a trail from the living room couch to the foot of the bed. He firmly slammed down the memory that was trying to resurface – her small seeking hands gliding over his skin, burning him where they touched. Breath in tandem with his, hips - Concentrate!

Megumi chose that moment to sit up, clutching her head. Her usually immaculate hair was in disarray, half-hiding her face. A moment later she looked at him dazedly and her face scrunched in confusion. "Aizawa…?" She whispered unsteadily, trying to focus; "… What are you doing here…?"

He felt words were not necessary. He simply looked at her, and then looked at the discarded clothing. Megumi followed his line of vision and her fair complexion turned white, and then red. "Oh… oh no." She peeked under the covers and came up looking absolutely distressed. But her brain must be working better than his right now because she clutched his arm in a death grip and urgently whispered; "I was drunk. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Aizawa. Just… pretend it never happened." She was bordering on hysterical now. "I'm sorry. This isn't supposed to… oh this is a disaster…!"

"Calm down," he was surprised he sounded calm. He was surprised he felt calm. "I'll leave now."

"Yes." She had her head in her hands. He stared at her for a moment, feeling at a loss. He was out of his depth, beyond the scope of anything he had ever experienced. He wanted to say something but what?

Megumi suddenly jerked up at the sound of the doorbell. They were frozen for a second, unable to decide what to do. The doorbell rang again and Megumi whirled on him. "Hurry and shower!" She whispered urgently. "It's probably the maintenance guy. I'll pass your clothes in a bit." She reached out and grabbed the bathrobe that was hanging on a hook by the bed and put in on. He waited until she had left the room before picking up his boxers and jeans and headed to the bathroom.

Megumi hurried to the door and peeked through the peekhole. Imagine her horror when she saw who it was.

Hiyama Mihoko!

She was at a loss. Open? Don't open?

"Shiraishi, open up!"

She squeezed her eyes and cautiously opened the door a crack. "Hiyama!" She forced herself to be cheerful. "Why are you here?"

"I left my gloves here last night and I wanted to pick them up. Are you okay? You look like you drank one too many." Mihoko frowned at the disaster that was Megumi.

"Fine. I'm fine. I'm just a little frazzled. I woke up late," She laughed nervously and Mihoko's eyes narrowed. "Don't lie to me, girl. You had the mother of hangovers once and still came to work on time. What's the – " Her eyes fell on something on the floor behind Megumi and they widened in shock. "Isn't that…!?"

Megumi looked over her shoulder and realized that Mihoko had seen Kosaku's jacket – and recognized it.

Oh The Horror.

Taking advantage of Megumi's temporary distraction, Mihoko pushed opened the door and hurried in, her jaw dropping at the clothes on the floor. Megumi's. And Kosaku's. She stood there in mute shock, slowly taking in everything and coming to the conclusion Megumi knew she would.

Mihoko slowly turned to a distressed Megumi. "Did he…" She gestured arbitrarily; "I mean did you guys…"

The bathroom door opened and Kosaku strode out. It probably would not have been as damaging if he were fully clothed, but a shirtless, freshly-showered Kosaku put Mihoko's brain on short-circuit mode.

He stopped when he saw the two girls gaping – well Mihoko was gaping; Megumi had picked up his clothes and rushed to him. "Here." She handed them without meeting his gaze. "Do you… um… want coffee?" She asked hesitantly. He shook his head in the negative and gave Mihoko his usual impassive 'good morning' and closed the door, making Mihoko turn her attention back to Megumi. "I can't believe it." She finally breathed. "I can't believe it."

"Don't. It didn't happen." Megumi said miserably.

"It didn't?"

"Well it did, but I don't – "

"Look here," Mihoko grabbed Megumi's shoulders and took a deep breath to calm herself. "I'm gonna guess this – you drank too much and somehow – I don't know how – you got Aizawa into bed with you."

Megumi's petrified expression might as well had been a 'yes'. "How did you - ?"

"Girl, you're crazy when you're drunk," Mihoko said wryly and sighed. "Well I'll just stay here until he leaves, okay? Will that help?"

Megumi's shining eyes was more thanks than Mihoko needed.

Kosaku emerged a few minutes later, looking as he always did. Megumi followed him to the door and he left without another word. Mihoko would have laughed if it were anyone else, but this was Kosaku. Kosaku, the stonefaced neurologist actually fell to the temptations of the flesh… well. Strange things do happen afterall.

Megumi returned to the couch and sank down on it. "I'm so embarrassed…!"

Mihoko eyed her critically. "What's there to be embarrassed? We're adults, not teenagers. He's in Neurosurgery and you're in Lifesaving. So you're feeling awkward now, no big deal. Just stay out of his sight for a while and things will be fine."

"…Will they?" Megumi massaged her temples. "You know how Aizawa is – He's probably mad at me for taking advantage of him!"

"Hey," Hiyama folded her arms across her chest; "The only person I can think of who can 'take advantage' of him is his grandma. I doubt he'd let a simple drunken girl coerce him into having sex." She leaned forward with a wicked gleam. "So how was it?"

Megumi frowned. "How was… what!? No! I mean… I don't remember. I just remember telling him about my father… and I cried… and… " She reddened. "I kissed him, I think. He must have tried to pull back but… well… well… the next thing I remember is waking up next to him."

Mihoko chuckled. "I hear Aizawa being a gentleman and being a man in the same sentence? That guy's not as cold as I thought."

"Hiyama, it's not funny!" Megumi floundered and Mihoko stared at her thoughtfully before getting up. She puttered around for a bit before pouncing on a pair of gloves behind the magazine rack. "Gotcha! Well, I'll be off now. And here's something Shiraishi – we know Aizawa well. He's never done anything he didn't want to do and nobody can tell him what to do either. So you may have been drunk, but he was sober. He knew what he was doing. If he chose to keep you company last night, it wasn't your fault. " She paused at the door. "Are you coming to work?"

"Yes." Megumi said half-heartedly. "I… don't tell anyone, please?"

"Not even Fujikawa?" Mihoko's eyes twinkled. Megumi shot her a dark look. "Especially Fujikawa."