Oranges
Main character(s): Kagami Taiga and Ogiwara Shigehiro
Rating: T
Warnings: light shounen-ai and bromance. Non-living Kagami. Barely hinted Aomine/Ogiwara and barely hinted Kagami/Ogiwara.
Summary: au middle school. Kagami is the ghost in Ogiwara's attic. Wanting to still play basketball, Kagami teaches Ogiwara how to jump. In the end, Kagami teaches Ogiwara more than to just jump, he teaches him how to live through hardships.
Disclaimer: Uh? The term fanfiction should explain everything.
/
It was old, very old. The house that is. It was old and the floors squeaked whenever someone stepped on them. The house was also cold, very cold. Even when the heater was on full blast and accompanied by the fire place in the middle of summer, the house was still frizzing. Especially the attic.
The attic was always cold and it smelt strongly of oranges even when the female Ogiwaras placed candles in there. Which is exactly what Ogiwara Shigehiro was doing. After having endured another lecture from his mother, Ogiwara was sent to place candles in the 'haunted' attic. Of course, Ogiwara protested, which is why he was stuck on 'attic duty' for the rest of his foreseeable middle school career.
Throwing the door to the attic wide open, Ogiwara coughed as the dust around him became unsettled.
"I thought they said that they cleaned up here" he mumbled to himself as he looked around at the antics that came with the house. Noticing a framed photograph in the far corner of the room, Ogiwara stepped closer to the photo and noticed a place to put the candles next to it.
Putting the jar in front of the photo, Ogiwara clapped his hands loudly and bowed his head. Praying for the dead to rest in peace and not scare him, Ogiwara's eyes snapped open as he felt a sturdy hand on his back.
Letting out a loud screech, Ogiwara crawled backwards quickly as he pointed his finger at the floating figure in front of him.
"Who are you?!" he asked loudly, voice breaking into a pitch only pre-teen males could reach.
The figure's feet touched the ground and Ogiwara felt his own feet get ten times colder. Raising a hand in a universal peace sign, the figure walked closer to Ogiwara.
"I still have a lot to do!" Ogiwara shouted in panic as the figure crept closer, "I'm sorry for trespassing or whatever!" Ogiwara backed into a corner, "please don't kill me!" he screamed in terror and closed his eyes as the figure stretched a hand out to the pre-teen.
Ogiwara continued to scream as he felt a cold hand ruffle his hair. And he continued and continued until he noticed the loud laughter coming from in front of him.
Opening an eye, Ogiwara squinted at the laughing figure. The figure was obviously male going by the deep voice and lack of boobs. He had weird eyebrows and red hair styled a similar way Ogiwara had his. And he was older than Ogiwara. Not so old, but defiantly in his late teens, and honestly the only way Ogiwara knew that the guy across from him wasn't human was because of the slightly unearthly glow he had around from him. All together, the teen across from Ogiwara was both beautiful and handsome.
"Thank you" a gruff voice spoke, amusement tinted in the chuckles before and after the statement.
Blushing a bright color, Ogiwara spluttered at the older male. "I said that out loud!?" he questioned and immediately beat himself mentally for saying something unnecessary again.
The older male just smiled. "You're funny" he grinned before his eyes widen in shock. "I'm Kagami Taiga!" the older male's hand left Ogiwara's hair, "what is your name?"
"Ogiwara Shigehiro" he spoke, dazed at the smile Kagami was giving him.
"Well then Shigehiro, why are you screaming so loudly?" Kagami stood up before offering Ogiwara a hand.
Taking the hand, Ogiwara tried not to be intimidated about the size difference between the two.
"Shigehiro?" Kagami waved a hand curiously in front of Ogiwara's face.
Snapping out of his daze, Ogiwara blushed again as he stuttered his apologizes.
"It's okay!" Kagami laughed before turning back to a wooden chest, "do you happen to play basketball?" Kagami asked as he opened the chest to reveal an old dusty basketball.
Ogiwara's eyes went wide before a smile graced his face.
"I love basketball!" the two males spoke in unison before laughing together.
Trailing off his laughter, Kagami coughed into his hands as he looked down at Ogiwara. "Would you like to play against me?"
Ogiwara instinctively knew he shouldn't be nodding to play a game against a ghost he doesn't know, but basketball idiots rarely thought things through.
/
Kagami taught Ogiwara everything. From jumping to layups to right of postponement, Kagami may have died young but his basketball lived through Ogiwara. Which is why, when watching Teiko vs. Kamata West match, Kagami gained a fearsome face.
Leaving the stadium, Ogiwara was continuously disturbed out by the pure predictor face on Kagami.
"What is with you?" he had asked, "why are you so happy?"
Kagami merely gave Ogiwara a shark like grin. "They don't enjoy basketball" he replied.
Ogiwara flinched, because he too saw the uninterested looks upon the regulars of Teiko's faces. "I know" he whispered low, only intended for himself and Kagami to hear.
Kagami laughed loudly, and for a moment Ogiwara wondered why other people couldn't see or hear the rowdy male.
"We're going to make them" Kagami placed his hands on his hips and stuck out his chest.
Ogiwara frowned, "we're going to make them? What are we going to make them?" he asked as he loaded the bus with his fellow teammates.
"Pay" Kagami's eyes gained a terrifying look that had Ogiwara shuddering, "I can tell where their playing style is going to lead them" he floated next to Ogiwara, "if they are so bored then let's make them un-bored".
Ogiwara snorted, "is un-bored even a word?"
"Silence" Kagami growled, "we are going to have to increase your training" he grinned, "suggest a beach camp to your coach" with that Kagami sat down into the empty seat next to Ogiwara and started to think.
Ogiwara just fished out his phone and sent Kuroko a text.
/
The game would have gone differently if Kuroko was there, heck, if would have gone differently if the generation of miracles practiced passing the ball and team play. But they didn't, so when the buzzer rang only silence could be heard as the audience gazed at the court in a dazed amazement.
Even his teammates were silent as they processed who had won the match. It wasn't until a teammate had slapped his sweaty back that Ogiwara had snapped out of his adrenaline rush.
"We won" Mochida breathed heavily as he started to smile.
"We won!" his teammates cheered and the crowd started to cheer along with them. Their opponents just gazed at Ogiwara in amazement.
Mochida swung Ogiwara's arm over his shoulder as Ogiwara continued to pant.
"It's hard to tell who the winner is" Mochida smiled as the teams were called to line up.
Ogiwara couldn't even smile or lift his head up as Meiko was announced the winner of the match.
A Teiko player approached the two, "is he okay?" the dark skinned player asked as he looked Ogiwara up and down in amazement and hope.
Ogiwara was only able to lift his head slowly in order to not get a head rush.
"That was fun" Ogiwara grinned at the teen called 'Aomine'.
Aomine blushed lightly before opening his mouth to speak. "Yeah it was" Aomine's smile was both sadness and happiness in one.
Ogiwara nodded his head and slowly closed his eyes.
"Hey!" Mochida's voice gained a hysterical edge to it, "don't pass out on me!" his fusing got the attention of the other players.
"Is Shigehiro okay?" a teammate asked as he brought a towel to his face.
"Ogiwara-kun" a voice suddenly spoke from the left of Mochida.
Mochida would have jumped back if not for the dead weight he was holding. "Kuroko?" he asked suspiciously as he looked at the small male.
Ogiwara tried to lift his head up and open his eyes. "Hey" he grinned at his childhood friend.
Kuroko smiled at Ogiwara before frowning.
"What are you doing?" Kuroko asked as Ogiwara pulled away from Mochida to hold out a hand.
Giving Kuroko a thumbs up, Ogiwara began to sway on his feet as his vision went dark.
The last hang on his mind wasn't anything related to basketball, his teammates, or the teams victory over Teiko. No, the last thing on Ogiwara's mind was 'where did Kagami go?'
/
Kagami was gone. Missing, disappeared. And Ogiwara looked everywhere for the ghost. He tried the attic, Maji Burger, school, the basketball court, the playground, Ogiwara even went and checked the stadium where his last match of junior high was held.
Panicking and distressed, Ogiwara went to the only person that would know where Kagami had went; the estranged retiree Alexandra. But even she wouldn't tell Ogiwara anything useful.
So here Ogiwara was on a nice Saturday morning, sitting on a bench near the basketball court. It want fair, Kagami couldn't have moved on like Alex suggested, because Kagami would have said goodbye. Kagami always stressed the importance of saying goodbye. He wouldn't just preach it, but Kagami would lead by example. Everything he did was by example. So-
"Excuse me" Ogiwara looked up at a familiar face, "would you like to play a game?" an older teen gestured to the basketball court behind him.
Ogiwara wanted to say no, but a voice (sounding suspiciously like Kagami) told him to play. To continue to play and spread the joys of basketball.
Smiling at the pretty teen, Ogiwara nodded his head and introduced himself. The teen merely smiled.
"I know already" he said and Ogiwara felt like he and the older boy knew each other, "Taiga told me" Ogiwara's eyes went wide.
"Kagami?" he asked, excited to have lead on where Kagami went, "where is he? Do you-" the teen pressed a finger against Ogiwara's lips.
"He wanted to say goodbye" the teen told him, "but the heavens wait for no one" the teen looked said before forcing a smile upon his lips.
Ogiwara felt devastated. He knew that Kagami died and was a ghost, but he always thought that Kagami would still be around when he died.
The older male gave a small sigh, "I am taiga's older brother, Tatsuya" he introduced himself as he gently ruffled Ogiwara's hair in a move that Ogiwara was all too familiar with.
Ogiwara bit his lip and fought back the tears in his eyes. Kagami once told Ogiwara about how he died, and about the family he had left behind.
"Would you like to play a game?" Tatsuya asked once more and Ogiwara could only see the face of a ghost. This time Ogiwara broke down into tears as he cradled the necklace Kagami had left him.
"I don't want to play anymore"
/
A/N:
This is inspired by my BGF for always listening to my fangirl rants. Up next is the GOM and Kagami. The reason why this is tilted 'oranges' is because of the old wives tale that you can tell that a ghost is around by cool air and the smell of oranges, it wasn't until halfway through this I noticed that Ogiwara's hair is also orange.
Another sad-ish ending. At least Ogiwara was able to defeat Teiko….. I own up to all mistakes. Up next is either GOM/Kagami or Kasamatsu, Takao, and Kagami.