Author's note: hiiiiii! So.. this is my first fic story. i made up some stuffs here and there, okay.. maybe a lot of stuffs. let me know how you find it! :D Also, I kinda changed Akashi's and Ogiwara's height slightly to make them fit more into the character(Ogiwara is a couple of cm shorter than Akashi) Each chapter is likely to undergo revision at some point, to correct the spelling or shape the characters better. I hope you like it! ^^
Months passed since the last time that he had touched a basketball, let alone enter a court. After working his soul up, Ogiwara had been able to gain an academic scholarship at the filthily prestigious Rakuzan High school. The worrisome state of his parents and big sister, along with the constant naggings of his brother-in-law led to this result. Hoping for the start of a better phase in his life, Ogiwara took a deep breath and made his first step inside the gigantic premises of the school.
His attention was immediately swooned by the richness of the place. The water fountain in front of the colossal buildings at the entry was breathtaking. The whole place looked like some exquisite campus found in foreign lands. Not one piece of trash was visible, and cherry blossoms graced the school yard with a fresh breath of spring. If his high school life would be at least one fraction as beautiful as the view laid before him, he would not have to worry at all about his youthful days spent here. After breathing in the feast of a splendid view, he slowly proceeded to the gym for the entrance ceremony.
Ever since he got his acceptance letter, Ogiwara knew that sooner or later he would have to face one of the generation of miracles in Rakuzan High. After all, he had been admitted to one of the three Kings. He had been mentally preparing himself, and secretly prayed that it would be Aomine, Kise or the purple giant, whom, thanks to Kuroko, he knew were not so brilliant intellectually to be in the same class as him. However, as expected, fate had something else in store for him.
The moment his eyes fell on the redhead on stage, he cringed. Flashes of painful memories began swooning around his eyes as he started to lose focus on the speech given by the person he least wanted to see. Akashi Seijuro. He still remembered vividly the treatment he had been given on the finals between Teikou and Meikou. His love for basketball had been tainted by the petty play and the words of the former captain of MiraGen. The depression that came afterwards, only his family knew. Ogiwara was immensely thankful to his family for putting up with him and pulling him out of this self-depreciating state he had indulged in. No one spoke about basketball seriously in front of him at home since that infamous match. Even his brother-in-law, Takuo Sato, who was the assistant coach of the basketball club in Rakuzan, managed to keep this topic away from his ears. It was from this gratitude that he followed their request of transferring to a new middle school and moving to Kyoto with his sister and brother-in-law.
The memories of his family time and the doting care he got since he moved to Kyoto helped him regain his calm, and thankfully, the speech by the heterochromatic student was almost over. He did not have to witness his victory-obsessed attitude on stage. Ogiwara let his eyes travel around until it fell on the assistant coach. He couldn't help but chuckle as he noticed Takuo-san struggling to keep the bored expression away from his face. The most surprising thing that he learned since he moved here was the impatience and never-ending appetite of Takuo-san. Takuo Sato was an over-excited puppy disguised in a grown man's body, and to top it all, his cheerfulness was over the top. It sometimes grew on the people around him, like in his own case.
The entrance ceremony was finally over and everyone was heading towards their respective classes. Being an achiever, Ogiwara was placed in Class 1-A, among the best students of this year's batch, and he knew very well that Akashi Seijuro, being the winning freak he was, will probably be there too. Crossing his fingers and biting his tongue, he entered the room and gave threw a swooping glance around. He sincerely prayed that Akashi would not remember him and leave him alone. The redhead was sitting in the first row, catching the attention of everyone in the room and yet giving off an aura that demanded no disturbance. There was only one window seat left. Rushing, he made his way to the window while avoiding to look at the redhead. His presence went unnoticed by the said person, who did not even bother to raise his head from the book he was reading as Ogiwara passed besides him to get to his seat.
After making himself comfortable, he began to look around and started to let down his guard. One thing for sure, there was many weirdo in his class. It was only the first day and yet a good handful of students were already plunging their nose in textbooks and notes. Sneakily, he threw a quick glance in front of him. Akashi was indulged in a book, a novel probably, and let around him an air of aristocracy and supremacy. Ogiwara noticed the slight blush with which the girls looked at the Akashi heir and the whispers that flew around the class concerning the quiet redhead.
"hey, did you hear it? Akashi-sama has already started to work in his father's company as a-"
"I heard that he came out first in the national exams- "
"he's been selected as the new basketball captain even though he's a first year! How amazing- "
"did you know that he's the captain of the Generation of Miracles- "
Ogiwara instantly frowned as soon as he heard those words. The Generation of Miracles. A wave of painful discomfort hit him. He cut himself away from the flying words in the room and shifted his gaze outside. Thankfully, the homeroom teacher came and a round of introduction soon followed. Akashi was the first one to introduce himself. He was curt and short with it, leaving the teacher dumbfounded for some instant before she regained her composure and proceeded.
Finally, Ogiwara's turn arrived. With a wide grin and a hand behind his head, he raised up and introduced himself, secretly scrutinizing the redhead's back when he said his name and from where he came. When he saw not even a slight reaction from the said boy, he felt a sense a relief sweep through him as he slumped back on his chair. The teacher was pleased with his attitude, and he even managed to catch the attention of some girls who were now blushing while peeking at him.
But most importantly, from the lack of response and interest, Akashi did not seem to remember him.
Ogiwara felt like dancing the Macarena at this new found information.
Ogiwara did not join any club after transferring to a new middle school in his final year but chose to polish his knowledge, and according to him, he deserved some golden award for doing it so well. Now that he was in high school, Rakuzan High had a lot to offer to him as extracurricular. Basketball, or any other sports, were out of question for him. He did not want to go through harsh trainings, especially since he lost much of his muscle mass, and at any cost did not want to compete with others with the current policy of this school. "Accomplishment in both letters and arms." This motto suited the Akashi heir uncannily well, but felt like a bitter pill in his mouth.
As soon as the bell rang for lunch, Ogiwara closed his notebook and stretched out his arms and legs on his seat. Only a few days had passed but he could already tell that the competition was going to be fierce in the academics here, and he had to make a lot of efforts to ensure his place as a scholarship student. While he was gathering his stuffs, some students approached him.
"Ogiwara-san! What club do you plan to join?~" asked one of the girls, Tamako-san if he recalled properly, while leaning on his table.
"Ehhhh—" Ogiwara sheepishly smiled while trying to think of something, "I'm kinda lazy to move, so I'll probably join the library committee club or something like that… What clubs are you planning to join?" He enquired, trying to keep the conversation alive.
"Oh! We thought you were going to join a sports club.." she mumbled, looking a bit disappointed. Ogiwara frowned slightly at this remark. He saw no reason why people should think of him as the athletic type.
" Ahh—we're going to join the cooking club. The home economics department is unbelievably well-resourced here! We're going to have so much fun" replied the girl cheekily, with her two friends nodding in agreement.
After some casual talk, Ogiwara set out for the cafeteria for some food. Even though there was a lot of place for him to sit, the canteen was packed with people trying to get their food in time. It was going to be tough to shop for food here every day. After struggling for fifteen minutes, he was finally able to buy a sandwich. Pleased with his hard work, he pulled the packaging out and started to dig in before settling for a seat in a corner. The noisy bustle of the cafeteria soothed the tensed form that he had been in class. Soon enough, he finished his lunch and made his way out while avoiding a particular unpleasant redhead.
On his way back to class, he met Takuo in the hallway.
"Shige-kun, clean yourself up" he said while pointing at the crumbs that were on his clothes and face. Hastily, Ogiwara brushed them away.
"Takuo-sensei," he started, laying a lot of emphasis on the word sensei with a mischievous grin, "thank you for telling me."
"Aiiiish, it feels so weird when you call me sensei. I feel like an old man," he frowned.
" I can't help it, since you're a teacher and an old man with a noisy wife," he said teasingly while sneaking away quickly. Takuo, feigning an angry face, was glad to see the kid joking around.
"Yaaaaaaaaa- " Ogiwara heard him yell behind me as he quickened his pace away.
As he was turning around to flash Takuo a cheeky grin, he bumped into someone. Hard. Like a log.
"Sorry! " he started apologizing loud and quick as he turned to face the person in front of him. He instantly froze when his eyes met with a pair of ruby red and flaming orange irises looking down at him with a slight frown. He could feel his eyes widening upon the dreadful sight in front of him. Akashi was looking down on him. Akashi was slightly longer than him, and yet he felt so little when faced with those eyes. He needed to get away. He did not want to feel the sense of lowliness again. He quickly bowed and walked away, in order to avoid getting in trouble for running in the corridors. He kept walking away without any sense of direction.
Ogiwara needed to get his feelings sorted. Since he was in the same class with Akashi, he knew that occasional meetings like that are bound to occur. He could not possibly avoid him every time, and in order to make sure that he goes unnoticed, he'd better behave like other students around the heir. While pacing around the compound, Ogiwara promised to himself to try his best not to get disoriented by the fearful redhead. Refreshed and yet tired after walking so much, he went to class pleased with himself and relieved to find the person in question nowhere near. During class and class breaks, he discreetly observed how the mass interacted with the Akashi heir. Scrunching up his nose, he decided that he would rather run away from this snobby brat every time instead of treating him like some goddamn royalty.
As soon as the bell buzzed to announce the end of the school day, students began rushing to their respective club activities or home. For Ogiwara, he could take the time of his life gathering his stuffs. After all, even though Takuo-san was the assistant coach, he had nothing great to do with the club activities during this time of the year. The head coach had taken up the task of welcoming the newcomers, leaving him free to do what he wanted after school hours. Ogiwara and Takuo planned on returning home together.
As he passed through the now empty corridors, he felt a sweet, pleasant smell tingling his nose. Being the dog that he was, he automatically steered in the direction of the smell and was greeted with a cozy view of the students working together in the kitchen. The pleasant smell was the work of the cooking club. The majority of them were cute girls with their giggles and small talks filling the room. There was a few boys around too, and the fact that they were surrounded with girls and food made their face radiate with bliss and ecstasy. Ah! The youthful days of a high school student.
Ogiwara had found the perfect club to join.
Delighted was not a strong enough word to describe how his sister felt when Ogiwara announced that he was going to join the cooking club at school. Takuo Shiori was in the heavens, all thanks to the amazing decision his little brother had taken. She was brimming with pride and relief throughout dinner, and her husband had no problem with the idea of having another chef in the house. Ogiwara knew that his sister had a tough time satiating the enormous appetite of her husband, and since he had been in their care for so long, he thought that this decision could really help them as he would be able to give a helping hand to his sister in the kitchen. He could also avoid that horrible mess of buying food at the school canteen. Needless to mention he would have the time of his life learning stuffs from pretty girls in the school kitchen. It's a win-win situation everywhere.
He was the only boy in class 1-A to join the cooking club, and this was enough to create a little wave of whispers and blushes when he walked through crowds in school. Thankfully, he did not get picked up for his choice, since Rakuzan had some pretty tight policies concerning bullying and ragging. Yet, he could feel the envious stares of some boys as girls kept coming to meet him in class to share recipes. He didn't mind the attention at all; in fact, he was welcoming it after being constantly avoided in his last middle school as an awkward transfer student who lost terribly to the MiraGen. He could easily blend in and enjoy the student life in Rakuzan, even though some students were pretty stuck-up. He made a lot of friends in the club and got along with almost everyone in his class.
He still could not stand a certain Akashi Seijuro.
Weeks started flowing by as Ogiwara became accustomed with the Rakuzan's pace of work. Things started getting livelier for him since he joined the club's activities. Even though he was an amateur, he was able to quickly digest the information on recipes and whisk out splendid dishes. He was loving his new found hobby of cooking and the lovely girls found in his club, and bragged about his food and cakes on every single occasion presented to him. The first semester was nearing an end, and Akashi was fully engrossed in his own matters, making it easier for the chestnut-haired boy to avoid him. Ogiwara had no interest in socializing with the snobby heir, unlike everyone in the class.
Rakuzan High started to show its true expectations as the recipes they got to make became fancier and more complex. Ogiwara was a little late compared to the rest of his club mates today, but it did not really matter since he enjoyed making the chocolate profiteroles. He ended up making a slightly more than he predicted, and thus had taken extra time in filling the puffs delicately with vanilla cream. After arranging the cream puffs like on his tray, which he would no longer be able to cover with the larger amount of food on it, he poured some chocolate cream on top of them to make a cascade-like effect. The end result made his mouth water, and the sweet smell of vanilla and chocolate did not make things any easier.
He squeezed the remaining vanilla cream in his mouth and washed the utensils he used. After cleaning around, he noticed that it was already dusk. There was no way on earth he would carry that fancy dessert on the subway home. Left with no other choice, he took his tray with the mountain chocolate cream puffs in hand and bag on shoulders and headed to the staff room, hoping that Takuo would be slacking there.
Of course, his bad luck shone as he was told that the teacher was in first string's gym. Ogiwara knew that it was practice time. He had the option of waiting around with his tray in hand or heading to the office and rush Takuo-san home. He contemplated on waiting outside, but the warm temperature threatened to melt the vanilla cream and ruin the fancy thing he spent hours to prepare.
Reluctantly, he began to approach the gym. He could hear the faint noise of the students practicing their game inside. Bracing up, he slowly pushed open the door and peeked inside. Everyone was engrossed in their practice game, and his lovely brother-in-law was nowhere in sight. Great. He must be in the P.E office. This meant that he had to either get someone to call Takuo-san or walk to the P.E office. Ogiwara would rather walk on fire to Hell rather than drag those people's attention on him. Sending a quick prayer to god so that he could be left unnoticed, he started heading towards the office while maintaining the furthest distance possible from the game.
However, God must be playing a prank to him for such a disastrous thing to happen. As soon as he heard the shout "watch out!" from one of the players, he registered the basket ball approaching him and his cakes. No way in Hell would some flying shits ruin this fancy masterpiece he was carrying. Out of pure reflex, panic and rage, he scowled and punched the flying ball away from him and his beloved profiteroles. No one, or thing, gets between him and his food.
The ball went flew back to the court, which was far from where he was standing, and Ogiwara immediately looked at the punching hand as he felt a sharp pain in his wrist. He did punch hard without thinking much and his poor hand was starting to face the painful aftermath of his stupid action. He wanted the earth to open up and swallow him up as he lifted his head and noticed that every body's attention was on him. Now, he had a throbbing wrist and the unwanted attention of everyone. Ogiwara was annoyed. Hopefully, upon hearing the shout of the blessed player who noticed the ball flying towards his cake, both the coach and his assistant came out of the office to take part in the few seconds of awkward silence that followed after the punch.
"Woahhhhh! That was cool," exclaimed one of the players while grinning. Mibuchi Reo. Ogiwara instantly recognized the uncrowned king. Mibuchi started to approach him when he heard another uncrowned king.
"He does not have much muscles, not impressive," Nebuya Eikichi disagreed with Mibuchi with a low grunt. Mibuchi stopped in his track and turned to the player.
"But he was able to avoid getting hit by hitting it first! That was cool, he has a fast reflex," he argued back with a small pout while heading back to the court.
"Everybody! Carry on with your practice," the coach shouted, causing everyone to resume their game. Ogiwara felt grateful to the coach for diverting their attention back to where it was supposed to be, away from him. He had tensed up pretty much from the glares that he was receiving, especially from a certain heterochromatic pair of eyes.
"Shigehiro! Are you alright?" Takuo-san ran towards the said boy and started to inspect his hand. "It is swelling up," he registered.
Ogiwara tore his gaze away from the sight of the two bickering idiots on the court and looked at Takuo. "It's not that bad. I'll put some ice on it later. Before anything else," Ogiwara started and looked at his brother-in-law seriously, "I'm returning home with you cause there's no way I'm taking the subway with this elaborate dessert in my hand," he said while gesturing at the display on his tray. "How long will you take?" Ogiwara was getting impatient.
Takuo-san was captivated by the sheer beauty that was laid on the tray in front of his eyes. Without thinking, he took one of the puffs and shoved it in his mouth instead of answering the teen who was questioning him. He closed his eyes to savor the exquisite taste that quickly filled his mouth. Ogiwara, on the other hand, was furious. He had had this painfully awkward situation with the basketball team in the gym. Heck! He touched, no, he punched a basketball after so long, and was completely hanging on the loose with his patience. He was already annoyed with what had happened and wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible, but this stupid excuse of a brother-in-law he had would rather eat his handmade profiteroles without asking for his permission, before he had a taste of them himself(except for the vanilla cream which he would grade as 110/100). Ogiwara did not even had the time to react when Takuo-san went for a second serving. That was it. The last drop that spilled the cup.
"Listen to me, you idio-" Ogiwara started yelling when he was cut off. Without noticing so himself, he grabbed the attention of everyone in the gym again. Takuo had already entered another world, and could not care less about his surroundings when he interrupted the tantrum that his brother-in-law was about to throw.
"Those cream puffs are heavenly. Are you God?" Takuo asked with a serious yet approving face while going for a third one.
Poof! No one would have ever guessed that Ogiwara was fuming in rage a few seconds ago. He threw a skeptical look at Takuo and was now curious of his own work. He was hell-bent on having these for dessert with everyone else after dinner but this simple praise made him too curious to resist. He wanted to have a taste but the pain in his wrist warned him of the risks of using his right hand. Left with no other choice, he quietly asked his brother-in-law to feed him one.
Everyone watched with utmost disbelief as the raging brunette turned into a cinnamon roll after having a taste of his own food. Food can do amazing things to people. Ogiwara was contented with his life. He was proud of himself and he was almost teary when he realized that he would not be able to make such good food for some time because of the swollen wrist. Everyone was back to what they were doing previously when Takuo-san asked for the coach's permission to head home early using Ogiwara's swollen wrist as an excuse, which he was actually worried about. Completely unaware of the questioning glares that were thrown to him by a certain redhead, Ogiwara left the premises.
A/N: I hope you liked the story so far! Rate and review?