ficlet; 016: in the dark
pairing: aizawa kosaku/shiraishi megumi
word count: 1649 words
note: hahaha omg this is so random and weird and I don't even know what is wrong with my brain…more notes at the end!
Shiraishi stepped off the elevator as it dinged, and an involuntary shiver ran through her as she headed down the hallway. She disliked the basement of the hospital, because it was dim, dank and it smelt musty most of the time. Thankfully, she didn't need to be in the basement very often, but because of a huge leak in Emergency's stock room, the team was forced to replenish their supplies from one of the hospital's stock rooms in the basement for time being.
She swiped her staff tag at the door, and entered the dark room, fingers groping along the wall for the light switch, as she felt her heartbeat picking up just a little. She didn't like the dark; had never liked it, and she breathed a sigh of relief as light flooded into the room. Consulting her scribbled list, Shiraishi squinted at all the signs and labels on the shelves, picking up supplies and dropping into her cardboard box.
As she moved further into the room, the lights in the room flickered. She froze, glancing nervously at the light above her head, and then she shook her head a little, and began hunting for the last item – IV lines - on her list. She found them soon enough, and hefting the box in her arms, she turned towards the door. It was at that moment that the lights blinked again; once, twice, and then they turned off completely.
Shiraishi gave a surprised shriek as the room plunged into darkness. Placing her box on the floor, she took out her phone, only to see the battery bar blinking red, and then her phone switched itself off. She fumbled in her pocket for her penlight, before remembering that she had lent it to Hiyama before coming down. She swallowed hard, and forced herself to calm down by counting backwards. The door was just in front, as long as she kept walking, she would get there.
Lifting her box again, Shiraishi waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness so she could at least minimally orientate herself. She started walking, her heart thudding wildly, trying to clamp down her panic. She had only taken two steps when she heard a banging sound behind her, and she immediately froze, knowing very well that she was the only person in the room. Another sound was her, and a sense of eeriness enveloped her. She didn't know whether it was her imagination, but suddenly, she felt a waft of cold air rushing through the room, along with a strange whistling sound.
No, Shiraishi didn't exactly believe in ghosts, but given the situation and given her fear of the dark, it was enough to freak her out. But she refused to sit in that room and wait for the light to come back on, so Shiraishi gritted her teeth, gathered all the wits she had, and continued her straight trek towards the door, trying to block out all sounds, including the sound of her own thundering heart.
She made it to the door eventually, and with a rush of relief, she pulled it open, only to walk smack into something. Terrified, Shraishi screamed, her nerves finally giving out on her fully, dropping her box as she stumbled backwards.
"Shiraishi!" A very familiar voice pierced her terror-addled brain. "Shiraishi, it's me."
"Aizawa," she gasped, surging forward and practically collapsing against his chest, her fingers gripping the sleeves of his scrubs. "Don't scare me like that!"
"Scared you?" His tone was sardonic. "You were the one that walked right into me and started screaming."
"But why were you wandering down here in the darkness?"
"I wasn't 'wandering around in the darkness'," Aizawa retorted. "I had my penlight switched on, before you knocked into me, made me drop my penlight, and then you stepped on it."
She was barely listening to him, as she glanced around the dark hallway. "Why aren't the emergency lights coming on?" She mumbled to herself.
"It probably wasn't a power supply problem, but the problem of the lights themselves," he surmised logically.
"But why would every single bulb just go…off, and at the same time?" Shiraishi asked nervously.
"Shiraishi, I'm not an electrician," Aizawa said dryly. "In any case, let's just head back upstairs towards the civilisation of lights, shall we?"
She nodded quickly, and as he took a step towards where the elevator was, she realised she was still plastered against him. Cheeks reddening, she jumped backwards, releasing her hold on his sleeves. "Sorry," she muttered.
He said nothing, taking his phone and tapping on the flashlight function. Immediately, the hallway was bathed in faint light and Shiraishi drew a deep breath of relief. Bending down, she quickly picked up all the scattered supplies, throwing all of it into the box.
"I'll take that," Aizawa handed her his phone before taking the box from her. As they turned away from the door, Shiraishi directing the light towards the direction of the elevator, a loud clatter sounded all of a sudden, from within the supplies room, and they both jolted. Before they could react, another loud clatter was heard from the other end of the hallway. Shiraishi paled, swivelling around, phone in hand, but the light revealed only an empty hallway. Swallowing, she inadvertently grabbed the hem of Aizawa's scrubs as she moved closer to him.
"Shiraishi," his voice was calm, but there was a slight edge to it. "Let's just go."
She was only too glad to do so, as she practically ran towards the elevator, Aizawa behind her. They were two metres from the elevator when the light from Aizawa's phone shut off. She pressed the power button repeatedly, but the phone screen remained blank, the phone unresponsive. Once again, Shiraishi found herself nearly hyperventilating as she felt the pitch black darkness enveloping them.
"Aizawa," she said, her voice tinged with panic as she grabbed him, fingers tightening around his upper arm.
"It's okay. I'm here. Just breathe," she heard his voice commanding her as she felt his arms around her shoulders, strong and sturdy. A banging sound echoed, and she squeaked in barely disguised horror as she covered her face with her hands. "Walk straight ahead, we're nearly at the elevator."
She half-ran and half-stumbled ahead, steadied by Aizawa's arms around her, and it seemed like an eternity before they both reached the elevator, whose doors opened promptly, welcoming them into the lit elevator car. As the doors closed, Shiraishi felt her knees weakening in relief, as she slumped against the wall, breathing heavily.
He watched her quietly for a few seconds, and then he put his hands on her shoulders, looking straight at her. "Are you okay?"
"I think," she said shakily. "I…just really don't like the dark. And the sounds…" her voice trailed off. She was spooked by whatever that had transpired down there, the sounds, and the random eclipsing of all available forms of lighting was really strange, but standing in front of sensible, stoic Aizawa, her thoughts of the supernatural just seemed really ridiculous. "But…what happened back there?" She couldn't help, but wonder out loud.
Aizawa shrugged, and just as he was about to say something, a beeping sound was heard, emitting from his phone that Shiraishi was still clutching. They both looked at the phone, which had seemingly come to life on its own accord, as she was absolutely certain that she did not touch the power button.
Shiraishi shuddered, almost involuntarily, as she shoved the phone into Aizawa's hands, who barely glanced at it before dropping it into his pocket. "You're fine now," he said calmly, patting her once before his hands dropped from her shoulders.
They rode in silence, and as Shiraishi's heartbeat returned to normal, a question popped into her mind. "What were you doing down there, anyway?"
"Looking for you," he said, studying his fingernail as he answered her.
"Eh?"
"Hiyama said you went to the basement for supplies. And I know you hated the basement, so I thought I'd go help you, so you could get out of there quicker." He shot her a sideways glance. "Just as well I was there, if not, you'd be a bigger mess than you are now," he said, matter-of-factly.
"I'm not…" she began, and then she stopped herself. There was no use trying to say otherwise. "Thank you," she said instead.
Aizawa tilted his head in acknowledgement and leaned back, his shoulder touching hers, and Shirashi felt comforted, and safe.
The elevator doors opened, and Aizawa stepped out, flashlight in hand and a new penlight in his pocket. There was no need for it however, as the lights had come back on. His gaze drifted towards the floor.
He recalled dropping the box of supplies, in his haste to calm Shiraishi. The last he remembered, they should be scattered all over the floor. But the box sat innocuously on the floor, all the supplies were contained within it; and as he picked it up, he saw that the items were stacked and categorised neatly.
He frowned. It kind of didn't make sense that someone would pack up the supplies, and just leave them on the floor. Additionally, they had left the basement less than five minute ago, there wasn't enough time for the whoever it was to appear, clean up the mess, and then vanish.
Unless it wasn't a person…and as that thought entered his mind, he felt a draft of cold air, blowing past him, disappearing as quickly as it came.
Aizawa shook his head, as if to clear it. His imagination was simply running away with him. He quickly picked up the box, and headed back into the elevator. As the door closed, he thought he heard laughter, but just as immediately, he thought he must had imagined it.
After all, there was no such thing as ghosts.
A/N: Okay, two things. I was challenged to write a Halloween fic for Aizawa/Shiraishi ie ghosts but I suck so much at anything ghostly because I am scared of ghosts. So thinking back to my last ficlet, I gained inspiration from my sister, who actually legitimately did have a scary moment in the hospital basement where she was stranded in the darkness with a phone that just died on her, except that no one saved her, but the lights came on after a minute.
So this ficlet was born, and even thought it was 1000 words, I'm putting it here because I don't know how to write a summary for this as a one-shot, hahaha.
Happy (early) Halloween, everyone, and Imma immensely grateful if you leave me a comment/review after you read this weird piece!
I promise to be less weird in the next one.