Human AU.

Alan was being bored to death by the pitch for synthetic platelets when he first caught sight of her. She was sitting in the corner, trying to take up as little room as a possible and failing miserably. She scribbled frantically; Alan could hear the pen working from where he was sitting at the head of the table. Presumably, the other members of the board closer to her side of the room were deafened by it.

Alan tapped the tip of his lips with his finger.

Alan gave a noncommittal answer to the startup—the only answer he ever gave—and took a stroll down to HR. He chatted nicely, asked about Kimi's dogs, and found that the new hire's name was Michiru.

Who worked for Shirou.

Alan's interest only increased.

…

"Allow me," Alan said.

Michiru, who had been struggling with the wallet in her back pocket, stared at him like he had grown a second head. Mortified, maybe. "Oh, no—"

"No, no," Alan said, handing the cashier a sleek credit card, "I insist."

She flashed him a grateful smile, and hovered while he ordered his own drink. He took his black. Then, he stood by her while she devoured a muffin and drank her whip cream concoction.

"Thank you again," she was saying. "I feel like whenever I get up to cashiers, I suddenly can't use my hands. My wallet gets stuck, or I spill coins everywhere, it's a mess." She sucked down more coffee.

"It was my pleasure," he assured her. "Besides, I think I've seen you around."

She gaped at him; he could see the gears turning inside her head and waited for her to reach the conclusion. "Oh, my gosh, you're Alan! I saw you in the board meeting!"

Alan smiled. "And I saw you. Michiru, right?"

"Right! I've heard a lot about you from everyone." She used her straw to fish out more whip cream from the bottom of the cup. It was distracting, watching her bring it up to her mouth.

"Hopefully nothing too bad." Alan laughed and watched her scramble.

"Er—no!"

"No?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Well," she said, deciding on an answer, "you and Shirou have different—views of things." Oh, very diplomatic. Well done.

Alan took a sip of his coffee, eyes bright. "Well, hopefully he doesn't badmouth me too much. I was quite enjoying buying you coffee; I would hate for him to think I have ulterior motives. But!" He checked his sleek watch. "I do have to get going. It was nice talking to you, Michiru."

…

Alan was reviewing the proposed ten-year-plan when Shirou burst in. Alan—who had been expecting this but who had hoped it would come later in the day, maybe after lunch—set aside the portfolio, steepled his fingers, and turned his attention over to Shirou.

"You rejected their proposal?" he growled.

Already so dramatic! "Good morning to you, Shirou."

Shirou stopped in front of his desk, seething. "That could—"

"I know, I know," Alan said. "But, unfortunately, they're going to need to give me a better product before I buy them out."

"You mean you turn all your resources into stealing their science? They could make the same thing if you had bought them out, gave them the—"

"If they couldn't give me a finished product, why couldn't I take the idea and make a much-improved product?" Alan gave a little shrug. "Seems like common sense to me."

Shirou was simmering, rage building up pressure. Maybe his head would pop off, Alan entertained. Shirou ground out: "You're wasting lives by not working with what they already offered."

"Or maybe I'm saving them by not giving them defective platelets." He really did have to read that proposal. "What does your little secretary-spy think?"

Alan had caught Shirou off balance. "She isn't either," he snapped.

Alan held up one finger. "I saw her during the proposal the other day, scribbling as fast as she could." He held up a second finger. "She's too perky to be in grad school. What would you be doing with an undergrad that wasn't a secretary?"

Shirou wasn't put off for long. "You're deflecting."

"I prefer to call it: agreeing to disagree." Alan smiled.

…

Alan waited a week to visit the coffee shop again. He had missed buying Michiru the coffee this time, but he only had to stand up straight and wonder over to the straws and spoons before she caught sight of him.

"Mr. Sylvasta!" she called, waving him down like he couldn't see her bright jacket from the street outside.

He grabbed a spoon and walked over to her. "Michiru," he purred. He presented her with the spoon, which she took and used to polish off the rest of the whipped cream. "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you! I don't get to see very much of you up on that top floor." The spoon was more distracting than the straw. He watched her eat. He wondered, if he licked her, her skin would be sweet, too.

"Well, I wouldn't want to distract you from your work," Alan said without missing a beat. "I'm sure Shirou keeps you plenty busy."

"Oh, not really. A lot of it is procedural reviews, looking over proposals from R-and-D—"

"So," he said, "an awful lot of paperwork?"

Michiru laughed. "It's not bad." She said this earnestly, and Alan could see why Shirou would hire her. A little rough around the edges, but—"It's important, you know? All my classes, they talk a lot about science, but I didn't really even think about the ethics behind the science."

"The classic 'can we, should we' conundrum?"

Michiru tapped the spoon against her teeth, observing him for a brief second. Alan almost found himself flustered under her gaze. Oh, Shirou, you naughty dog, that whole innocence act. Michiru continued: "Yeah something like that."

"And what was your major?" Alan asked.

"Biology with a focus in bioinformatics," she rattled off.

"Another STEM kid," Alan sighed. "Here I am with my business degree—" Alan's phone beeped. He checked it. Damn. "Well, Michiru, I'm afraid I have to run off again on you." He fished out a business car and wrote his personal cell phone number—one of them—on the back of it. "Feel free to call me if you feel like you haven't seen enough of me."

She blushed, stammered. Alan grinned.

Idk what this is. May continue in this AU.