Pairing(s): Aizawa/Shiraishi (main), Fujikawa/Saejima (side)

Other Character(s): the mighty Hiyama Mihoko

Word Count: 3406 wc

Summary: Shiraishi wants to borrow Hiyama's dress to attend her former omiai partner's wedding party and it leads Aizawa to wonder about her view of marriage. (Set in somewhere between S3 and the movie)

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Blue and its characters.

a/n: My fifth and probably the last fic to join aishiraburu/babyshazam's aishira fanfic festival. Sorry not sorry for the overflowing idea. By the way, English isn't my first language so beware of grammatical errors!

It was considerably a peaceful lunch break for Shiraishi, Hiyama, Fujikawa, Saejima, and also Aizawa. Although Shiraishi was on flight duty, after the first flight at early morning there was no more call. It was weird to see Lifesaving Department un-busy, but at the same time it felt amazing.

As usual, Shiraishi was on the same table with Hiyama, Fujikawa, and Saejima while Aizawa took a seat right behind the staff leader. They had their lunch and occasionally talked—mostly Fujikawa and Hiyama bickering with each other. Though they were noisy, but Shiraishi (and secretly, Saejima) thought they were really fun to watch.

"Ah, Hiyama-sensei," Shiraishi spoke up, "can I borrow your light blue dress on Saturday?"

Hiyama frowned, recalling about the dress Shiraishi mentioned. "Light blue dress? Oh, you mean the one with brocade that is quite large for me?"

"Right, that one. How? Can I borrow it?"

"Sure! I think that dress might fit you. But where are you going with that dress?" asked Hiyama.

"To a wedding party," Shiraishi replied. "The dress code is blue, and I simply don't have any blue dress. I don't even have any proper dress to begin with. To think that the venue itself is luxurious, there's no way I would wear some shirt from my closet."

Hiyama chuckled, acknowledging that her housemate's dress collection was beyond pathetic. Not to mention that Shiraishi had a weird taste in fashion, at least compared to herself.

Saejima butted in, "Why do I assume that the wedding party is an upscale one?"

"Of course. The groom is a pilot, and I heard that the bride is a former model."

"So you're the friend of the groom?" Fujikawa asked. "I never knew you have a pilot friend."

"Me too! How did you know this pilot friend of yours? Is he your former classmate during middle or high school?" Hiyama added.

"Ex-boyfriend?" Fujikawa added jokingly, with wriggling eyebrows and wide grin.

Saejima shot him a glare. "Do not say useless thing."

The wide grin on Fujikawa's face disappeared in an instant. "Yes, Ma'am."

Shiraishi took a sip of her mineral water before saying, "He's not exactly my ex-boyfriend, but let's say… he is my former omiai partner."

As Shiraishi went on eating, the others fell silent. Their motion stopped. Even Aizawa who hadn't said anything, only listened to the other four chitchatting, also stopped his hand that was holding chopsticks in the midair. Hiyama, Fujikawa, and Saejima blankly stared at their staff leader who kept on munching her meals, not realizing that the atmosphere had turned odd.

"…Pardon?" Hiyama broke the silence.

"What?" Shiraishi asked back.

"Former omiai partner?" Fujikawa echoed what Shiraishi said before.

Shiraishi simply nodded.

"You had an omiai partner," Hiyama stated. "When did you meet this guy?"

The staff leader frowned as she tried to recall it. "Hmm… if I'm not mistaken, it happened three years ago. Or four. Eh, I don't really remember. It's been long time ago, you see."

"Then why didn't it work between you two?" Hiyama pressed.

Shiraishi laughed. "Do you think a man like him is able to put up with a boring, workaholic, and medical book otaku like me? Part of the fault is mine though, because I couldn't make up any fun conversation between us. Not to mention, he wanted me to be a housewife. I just loved my job too much to give it up."

"Indeed you're bor—ouch!" Fujikawa wanted to respond but Saejima quickly stepped on his foot to shut him up.

Hiyama actually admitted that her housemate was so plain and boring for those who weren't close with her, but Hiyama Mihoko was the type of a friend who easily got upset when someone else, especially a stranger, hurt her best friends. She understood how loyal Shiraishi was to her job as a doctor and also as a staff leader in Lifesaving Department. That's why she was a little bit angry when Shiraishi mentioned that the pilot wanted a stay-at-home wife, like dude, Shiraishi Megumi is the synonym of Lifesaving and you can never take this job away from her!

Hiyama threw some glance towards Saejima who got the message. The flight nurse cleared her throat before speaking up, "There's nothing wrong with being workaholic and medical book otaku, but you're not as boring as you said."

Shiraishi shook her head in disagreement. "No, I know I am boring. It's not like I'm experienced in dating, too. All I talked about with him was about my job, and he was just uninterested."

The other three—four, because Aizawa was counted—fell silent once again. Shiraishi casually continued eating like nothing happened, while Fujikawa and Saejima started eating again awkwardly.

Hiyama, who sat next to Shiraishi, peered over her shoulder to see how Aizawa was doing. He seemed like spacing out, only staring at his food blankly. Seeing that, she smirked and decided to lend some hand.

"Shiraishi, you may think you're boring, but that is only applied to those who doesn't really want to understand about you as a person, or in general," she said with some mischievous smile. "I believe there's someone who values you more than you can think of. Someone who can have a deep conversation with you, and listen to your every word with full of attention."

Shiraishi tilted her head. "You think so?"

"Of course! You just need to widen your eyes and open your mind!" Hiyama exclaimed. "Right?" she turned to Fujikawa and Saejima with a knowing look.

The couple immediately got it, and Fujikawa even peered over Hiyama to get a better view of Aizawa's back. His grin returned. "That's right! Actually it's so easy to find such a man around you, for your information!"

The staff leader blinked in confusion. "Really?" she asked, earning nods from those three.

Saejima smiled. "Do you need a helping hand for your makeup and hairdo for the party? Hiyama-sensei and I can help you."

When Shiraishi looked at Hiyama for a confirmation, the obstetrician nodded vigorously with megawatt grin plastered on her face. "We'll make that pilot guy feel miserable for belittling you."

"Wait, I'm fine with that, you know…"

"It's okay, it's okay! Leave it to us!" Hiyama reassured, with Saejima nodding to that. Shiraishi felt a bit uneasy but in the end she chose to follow suit.

Meanwhile Aizawa rubbed his index and thumb together, as if he was in a deep thought.

By helping to do Shiraishi's makeup and hair, she never had an idea that Hiyama and Saejima would do that at Shohoku. Precisely in the on-call room. Both Hiyama and Saejima weren't on the flight duty, but they were on morning shift so they asked Shiraishi to come to Shohoku exactly an hour before the party started. Hiyama also asked her to wear the dress beforehand.

Soon after, Shiraishi found herself sitting on a chair in the on-call room with Hiyama applying some powder onto her face and Saejima combing her hair. Shiraishi reminded Hiyama not to make her face like Anpanman, and the latter just shushed her, while Saejima chuckled quietly seeing their antics.

The door was opened in a rather loud bang that made the three women flinched. They turned their heads to see Aizawa there, with puzzled expression on his face. While Hiyama and Saejima threw him a judgmental glare, Shiraishi was kind of uneasy because Aizawa actually saw her in a dress and unfinished makeup. So without exchanging any words, Aizawa stepped back and closed the door again.

"That was such a shock therapy," Hiyama sighed.

Saejima nodded. "Good thing that Hiyama-sensei hasn't applied the eyeliner or lipstick on Shiraishi-sensei's face yet, or the makeup would become a huge mess."

Shiraishi exhaled heavily. "Aizawa-sensei probably was going to sleep here. Wasn't he on night shift?"

"He can sleep on sofa," Hiyama shrugged dismissively. She then put the powder on the table and took the blush-on. "Oh, I forgot to ask you this, Shiraishi, but did you love your former omiai partner? Or at least, were you interested in him during the time you guys going out?"

As Hiyama started brushing Shiraishi's cheeks with the blush-on, the latter answered, "I don't know why, but I did not harbor any special feelings toward him, although he's good looking. I mean, he is the type who can easily make any women swoon, but I wonder why I didn't. Is that normal?"

"Then he's not your type, Shiraishi-sensei?" Saejima asked.

Shiraishi frowned. "I don't even have any ideal type of a man, I guess."

"Really?" Saejima wondered. "Hmm… then, what kind of man do you think might suit you?"

Hiyama glaced at Saejima, as if telling her that she just asked a great question. The nurse winked at the obstetrician who then working on Shiraishi's eyes.

"Uh… let's see…" Shiraishi paused for a while. Because Hiyama was applying eyeliner and mascara on her eye area, she shut her eyes tight while thinking. "Hmm… I guess I like a generous and decent man. A loyal one. Polite towards elderly and good with kids. Value and respect me as a woman… I guess? Ah, but those traits are too common…"

"What about the physical appearance? I mean, do you like tall, handsome, and cool, with some stand out muscles?" Hiyama pushed.

Shiraishi chuckled. "I don't really know. I think physical attractiveness is a bonus. Seriously, I'm afraid that my answers about that might disappoint you. I'm just that boring, you know."

"If you're boring, that Shinkai-sensei won't invite you for a lunch, you know," Hiyama exasperatedly said. "I'm sure you don't even notice that many male doctors in Shohoku are actually chasing you."

"Eh? Who?"

Hiyama made a face. "Forget it."

The obstetrician then put on the last touch; the lipstick. Saejima was almost done doing Shiraishi's hair. She commented about how shiny and strong the staff leader's hair was, making it easy to style up. No need to wait longer, Shiraishi turned to a beautiful lady. She couldn't even believe that the one she was looking at the mirror, was her reflection.

"Good that you keep your promise to keep it simple," Shiraishi smiled widely. "Thank you Hiyama-sensei, Saejima-san!"

The other two nodded, satisfied with their works. Saejima then asked Shiraishi to pose so she could take a picture of her dressing up, which the staff leader granted as a reward.

Aizawa couldn't sleep at all despite super tired. He was already in the on-call room, but still felt uncomfortable to sleep. Right after Shiraishi, Hiyama, and Saejima got out of the room, he immediately came in only to inhale some sweet scent which he recognized it was Shiraishi's. Even after hours, the scent still lingered and it frustrated him.

When he was waiting for the three women outside, he vaguely overheard them talking. They talked about Shiraishi's ideal type of a man and Aizawa cursed himself for being unable to suppress his curiosity. She said she wasn't concerned about the physical appearance. She said she liked a decent man. Aizawa sighed. There's no way I am decent, he dejectedly thought.

In the end, Aizawa decided to go to the helipad. There weren't so many emergency calls today, so the Heli was still there in this broad daylight. But when he walked closer to the railings, his eyes caught something that made him stopped midway.

Shiraishi Megumi was there, with the dress she borrowed from Hiyama and simple but magnificent makeup. She was there, sitting on the railings with eyes staring at the sky. Her coat was in her arms, her clutch in her hands, while her high heels were put off of her feet. Even in that state, she looked pretty.

So she had done attending the party, Aizawa assumed. He rubbed his fingers together, thinking what he should do. After a few moments, he then chose to go on, closer to the staff leader.

Shiraishi noticed someone approaching and turned around to see Aizawa standing a meter away on the left. She beamed. "Hello, Aizawa-sensei," she greeted.

"Aa," Aizawa replied as he sat down on the railings. "Just got back from the party?"

Shiraishi hummed as a confirmation. "The venue is only ten minutes away from here by car. But you see, I went there by bus instead because somehow I wanted to. Turned out it was the worst decision because I had no idea that walking from the bus stop to the venue or to here with high heels would torture my feet! If only I knew, I would've worn sneakers!"

Aizawa smiled looking at the neglected high heels. He had never seen Shiraishi wearing them, maybe flat shoes but never high heels. They were actually compatible with her long legs, but Aizawa didn't want her feet to hurt any more than this.

"I heard it was your former omiai partner," Aizawa started. "You could turn down the invitation, you know. Or simply not coming."

"Well… it's not like we are on bad terms. There's no reason for me to turn it down, when I also had a free time," Shiraishi said. "He's not my first partner that got married with someone else after terminating the omiai with me, but he's the first former partner to invite me to the wedding. Of course I appreciate it."

Aizawa almost choked. Wait, what? He's not her first omiai partner? his mind asked. Within the seven—almost eight—years gap, how many times had Shiraishi involved in this omiai thing? Many questions arose in his mind that made his heartbeat increased.

"He's not your first partner?" he echoed, testing the water.

"Oh, yeah. Actually he's the second out of three," Shiraishi casually replied.

THREE?

"My late father wanted to see me getting married as his last wish, but unfortunately the first omiai failed. After the death of my father, my mother arranged the omiai with the man who just held his wedding party today. It also failed. The third one was around two years ago, and again it was to no avail. My mother finally stopped arranging omiai for me when I said I wanted to focus on my job for now."

Aizawa rubbed his fingers, not because he was in a deep thought but to compose himself after discovering something he never knew before.

"But that was just a fake reason," Shiraishi murmured. "They agreed on the omiai based on my physical appearance. They said I'm pretty. But later they found out that my personality isn't as pretty as my face is. All I care about is only Lifesaving. My inability to lighten up the mood during our meetings gradually took its toll and they had had enough of me talking about lifesaving. That's why they decided to end the omiai with me. Well, no hard feelings because a part of me knew it would end up like that."

The neurosurgeon listened to every word Shiraishi said and made sure nothing was missed. He looked up to the sky, watching the clouds moving in slow pace but his mind wasn't focused on that.

"Why didn't you decline the omiai offers in the first place, then?" he asked.

Shiraishi smiled. "Somehow, I want to get married. The thought of living with someone else for the rest of my life sounds not bad at all, in my opinion. I want to know how it feels like to love and put up with the same person for a long time. When I met the omiai partners, I don't know why, but I suddenly disliked the idea of talking about my private life. Call it biased, but the moment they were disappointed that I was this workaholic, I felt uncomfortable to tell them more about myself."

Aizawa had a pretty nice idea that the ones who knew about Shiraishi and whom she felt at ease when telling about herself were her colleagues—Hiyama, Fujikawa, Saejima, and of course himself. Shiraishi was a timid girl, so she didn't really befriend with other people. Only the ones who witnessed her growing up from the unassertive doctor to the capable staff leader that had the special place in her heart.

"Did you regret it?" Aizawa asked. "That none of your omiai arrangements worked."

"No, I did not. But I am disappointed," Shiraishi admitted. "I'm disappointed that I couldn't make my mother happy. I couldn't grant my late father's last wish. But if I think more about it, actually I saved my omiai partners' life. They would never be happy and content if they spent their life with me. I even doubt myself, whether I could get myself a husband in the future. I'm not getting any younger, but I still love my job more than men."

A sudden thought crossed Aizawa's mind. What was his standing in Shiraishi's life? Was he a mere colleague, or a reminder for her to go back to the right track? And… does she see me as a man?

As her comrade, Aizawa knew that although Shiraishi was transparent about her feelings, but sometimes he couldn't get the way her mind worked. At some point, he had a feeling that Shiraishi might like him too. But there were times when he also thought it was only his imagination. She was kind to other people, including him, and this kindness often created some misconceptions. Many men thought she was interested in them, but if they really understood her, they would know that she acted generously in general, not only to a particular person.

"I used to think that marriage is such a trivial thing in this world," Aizawa stated, gaining full attention from Shiraishi. "Why would one get married if they also have a risk to separate? Why would one want to get married in the first place? Is it to be happy? Are they happy only when they get married? And the list of skeptical questions regarding marriage goes on."

Shiraishi understood why Aizawa said such things. He was born in a considerably dysfunctional family, where his mother committed suicide and his father left him at such a young age. She understood very well that his view about marriage was based on what happened to his parents. But she was grateful that Aizawa Kinue raised him so well. Although she still disagreed with his way of speaking to the fellows, but his cruel mouth was his defense mechanism. She understood that Aizawa wouldn't let anyone else to hurt him than he already was. That's why she didn't say anything to argue with him.

Aizawa then added, "But similar to you, I also want to know how it feels to face everything with someone dear to me for the rest of my life. When I saw how Fujikawa supported Saejima during the miscarriage incident, I thought it was not bad to share the burden and bear with it, together with a life partner."

It was surprising for Shiraishi that Aizawa had a good thought about marriage. But rather than showing him her surprised look, she preferred showing him a wide smile as an acknowledgement.

"You're right," that was all she could say at the moment.

From a distance, Aizawa and Shiraishi could see the Heli pilots running to the vehicle and soon they started the engine. Not long after that, they heard the sound of fast stomping feet. They were Tachibana, Natori, and Yukimura. So there was an emergency call in need of Doctor Heli.

The two doctors sitting on railings watched as the Heli took off to the scene. They kept on staring at it until the flying vehicle disappeared from their sight. When they weren't on duty, it was nice to watch the others flying. They still felt the same adrenaline rush as when they were the one flying.

"Shiraishi," Aizawa called.

Shiraishi turned her head to look at Aizawa. "Yes?"

"I never think of you as a boring woman. Instead, I respect you because you can achieve your dreams with your own hands. You fly with your own wings," he said. "One day you'll see that there's somebody who thinks of you as the best marriage partner. He would be more than willing to fly with you."

That statement brought smile to her lips. "Really?"

Aizawa nodded.

"Thank you, I'm glad hearing that."

That's me, Aizawa wanted to say, but he would let her find it out by herself.