Author's notes: Based on this prompt: Person A is Person B's guardian angel. As kids, they used to look out for each other and be best friends, but only B could see them and feel them. As B grows older, they believe A really was just a stupid imaginary friend and A is so upset, because they've been watching over B. One night A starts appearing in B's dreams in tears, pleading them to please believe in them again, but B doesn't believe it, saying to them "I don't believe in fairy tales." Cut to a few years later, B's junior year of high school is getting rough, whether it's mental issues, losing friends, home life, etc. As B's trying to study and breaks down, they feel a hand on their shoulder and look up to see Person A, wings and all, whispering "Am I still an imaginary friend now?" (otpprompts)

You can check it out in my tumblr: emrysblu

Am I Real Enough For You?

"Why am I the only one who can see you?" Kagami Taiga, five-years-old, asks as he chews on the ear of his stuffed rabbit. He turns big eyes towards the light haired angel beside him.

Kuroko Tetsuya looked like a kid but his age was measured differently in angel years. The time in heaven passes differently from earth and it couldn't be measured in years, not exactly. And angels grew not on time, but based on their experiences and skills. Still, if humans were able to see him, Kuroko physically looked like he and Kagami were close in age.

The young angel hums and leans against Kagami. Though he was light, Kagami still squirms and pushes him away to lean against the wall instead. When the baby angel did so, the red head pushes his stuffed rabbit on Kuroko's side and then sprawls over his two most favourite playmates. Kuroko didn't mind, it was warm.

"Why?" Kagami pouts up close, eyebrows scrunched together and Kuroko blinks at him.

"Light," Kuroko tilts his head. "You're my light, Shirogane-san told me."

"Light?" Kagami repeats, eyes wide. "Like the sun?"

Kuroko thinks about that and then speaks, "Brighter than the sun I think? You're special," the angel says quietly, "That's why you can see me. You believe in me and it makes you special. Shirogane-san says our special people are our light."

"Okay," Kagami flops on the smaller kid, snuggling closer. Then he asks in a muffled voice, "Does that make you my light?"

"I'm your shadow," Kuroko corrects, not caring that Kagami was basically smothering him, he was an angel after all. He could take it if it meant he was always warm like this. "I'll always be beside you and I'll protect you and I'll help you be what you want to be."

"I want to be a NBA player like the one on t.v." Kagami yawns, eyes closing. "Or… or a fireman."

"Okay," Kuroko snuggles in closer, "whatever you want to be."

Kagami mumbles and turns sleepy red eyes at the other, "Tell me a story?"

"A fairy tale?" Kagami nods at his side, "What about?"

"About you, about angels…" Kagami grumbles sleepily.

"Okay," Kuroko thinks and then says, "Have you heard the story…"

Kagami closes his eyes.

"…about an angel who…"

He falls asleep.

"-gami! Kagami!"

Thee redhead flinches and looks up at the first year trio from his basketball team. They had his desk surrounded and were looking at him in various degrees of worry.

"You almost slept through lunch," Kawahara explains his reason for waking him up, "You okay?"

The red head pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to wake himself up, "Yeah, just couldn't sleep well last night."

Furihata frowns at him, "Why? We don't have any games coming up and from what I saw at training camp, you can sleep anywhere."

"Weird dreams." Kagami shakes his head and stretches his arms.

"Nightmares?"

"Nah, just stuff," Kagami vaguely explains, before he gets up and yawns again. "I'll go buy something from the cafeteria before the bell rings."

"You have ten minutes!" Fukuda yells after him. Kagami waves at them in thanks as he makes his way out of the classroom.

Kagami-kun.

The redhead turns abruptly, eyes wide, but the halls were basically deserted since classes were about to start. Kagami shakes his head and slaps his face a bit to wake up. He keeps walking feeling uncertain.

It would've been more worrisome if he'd seen something. If he did see something then he was halfway to being crazy.

After all, Kuroko was nothing more than a child's imaginary friend.

"I'm getting worried. He's ten, shouldn't he have moved on from having imaginary friends?" Kagami hears his mother argue with his father out in the living room.

"You're thinking of booking another appointment, aren't you?"

"There're some good therapists in New York." Kagami's mother insists, "I don't want my son to grow up crazy."

His father sighs, "He's not crazy, he's just a kid. He'll grow out of it. You're traumatizing him with all these visits to the doctor."

"That's easy for you to say when you're rarely home and you don't have to pretend with him!"

Their voices were getting louder and Kagami crawls under his bed, covering his ears.

"Kagami-kun," Came a soft voice from beside him. Kagami sniffles, too sad to be surprised.

"Kuroko, I don't want to go to the doctor again." Kagami whispers.

Kuroko doesn't say anything, blue eyes sad.

"They keep telling me you're not real. They said you're imaginary, that you're all in my head." Kagami continues, eyes locked on the floor.

Kuroko shakes his head, he seems almost luminous in the dark. He was like Kagami's own personal nightlight. "You know that's not true. Remember how I helped protect you from that dog? I'm real."

Kagami closes his eyes, "But if you are, then why can't anybody else see you?"

"Because you're special," Kuroko explains, eyes sincere. "You're my light."

Kagami doesn't look at him, he turns instead to look at his closed door where his parents were still arguing. "Or maybe I'm crazy."

"Kagami-ku-"

The redhead starts to tremble, he really wanted his stuffed rabbit back but his mother told him he was too old to sleep with stuffed animals, just like how she told him he was too old to have imaginary friends. Because, maybe that was what Kuroko was all along... Not an angel like he said, but an imaginary friend, something Kagami made up in his mind because he didn't have any friends back then.

"Don't think about that right now," Kuroko tells him, a sad smile on his face. "Let's play instead or we can tell stories. I can tell you that fairy tale again, you know the one about the angel who-"

"Kuroko," The tone in Kagami's voice stops Kuroko's words. The angel could feel heavy dread weighing on his chest. "Maybe mom's right." Kuroko's breath hitches and he starts to shake his head. "Maybe I just made you up because I didn't have any friends. But I have a friend now. I'm not lonely, I have mom and dad and- and I even have a few friends now…" Kagami stutters as he breathes, "Kuroko, I don't think you're real."

And when Kagami turns his head towards Kuroko, to see what he thought…

It was dark and no one was there.

"What did we tell you, Tetsuya?" Kuroko straightens in his perch. He was standing by Kagami's window, looking down at the boy hidden beneath his bed and crying because he thought his parents was right. Kagami was crying because he thought Kuroko wasn't real.

"Akashi-kun," Kuroko murmurs quietly, "Now is not the time for your lectures."

Akashi ignores him, as he usually did these days, ever since Sanada replaced Shirogane as their Guide Angel. "We warned you that playing with humans would only hurt you."

"It's not his fault." Kuroko says firmly, "Believing in me was hurting him, it's only natural that he doubts."

"You don't have to make excuses for humanity, they're below us. We may be ordained to protect them but it's not necessary to interact with them. It'll be for your best interest if you distance yourself from this child, Tetsuya." Akashi proclaims in an imperious tone. "Let him continue to believe that you are a mere figment of his imagination."

With that, Akashi's presence vanishes from behind him and Kuroko is left alone to watch over Kagami as he always has.

"Watch out!" Kagami snaps out of his thoughts and turns just in time to see bright headlights and hear a loud honking noise. He closes his eyes on instinct, bracing for impact.

Then…

Then… nothing.

"Taiga," Kagami grumbles and opens his eyes. He squints at the bright light and turns his head to see Himuro frowning by his bedside.

"Tatsuya…?"

Himuro sighs in relief, "Thank God, I'm so glad you're okay."

"What… happened?" Kagami asks, trying to sit up. HImuro grabs him a glass of water and hands it to him when he finally manages to right himself.

"There was a drunk driver who ran the red light. You and your friends were crossing the street when it just came out of nowhere." Himuro explains. Kagami snaps his attention towards the Yousen player, eyes wide.

"What? Are Furi and the others okay?"

"They're fine, not even a scratch." He assures him, "The car was heading your way and thankfully, you don't seem injured. Just a few scratches, not even a bump on your head. But you lost consciousness, so they called me. I came as soon as I could." Himuro says an upset look on his face.

Kagami sighs in relief, "All I remember was something bright and a loud beeping noise. I remember I froze…"

Himuro nodded seriously, "Your friends in Seirin were really worried for you, they thought for sure…" He shook his head, "Anyway they don't remember it clearly, probably from the shock, but the next thing they knew you were by the side of the road, unconscious. You weren't injured much, so they thought: maybe you were able to jump away."

"Yeah… maybe." Kagami agrees absently, a frown on his face. Somehow that didn't sound right.

Kuroko's hands were clenched into fists, unable to take his eyes away from Kagami sitting up on the hospital bed. This wasn't the first time he'd saved Kagami from something. It wasn't the first time he interfered before the redhead could become gravely injured. He'd lost count how many times he'd protected Kagami, always watching over him, keeping him safe. But he knew this wasn't the last time Kagami would be in danger. He tried to imagine it, he could see his future laid out in front of him if he continued as he was: invisible in Kagami's eyes, always watching over him.

Kagami would grow old and Kuroko would remain unchanged. He truly believed deep in his heart that one day, Kagami would be able to see him again.

But that might take some time and maybe, when they meet again, it would be too late.

Kuroko watches silently as Himuro leaves the room and Kagami lies back down, eyes open and turned towards the window where Kuroko stood. It was unnerving to see Kagami's gaze go through him.

Kagami closes his eyes, drifting off to sleep. Kuroko comes closer to his bedside and places a hand over the redhead's forehead. He imagines Kagami could see him now and that his touch was the reason the other relaxed further into sleep.

"Kagami-kun," Kuroko whispers, "Do you remember the story I used to tell you when we were younger?"

Kagami didn't say anything but Kuroko told him anyway.

Kagami was dreaming. He knew he was, because the person in front of him was Kuroko, his imaginary angel friend. He was amazed by his own imagination, the Kuroko in his memories was a child and he had never been able to picture Kuroko as a grown up, but for some reason he could see it perfectly in his dreams.

The angel was dressed in some sort of chlemys-type of clothing, colored white and light blue. His wings weren't visible, just that there was some sort of bright light on his back making him look hazy in Kagami's dreamscape. His light blue hair was longer, his face had matured, but his eyes were sad.

"Kagami-kun," Kuroko says and even his tone was sad. "I'm glad you're okay."

Kagami jumps, "How did you- oh, right, you're in my head. Of course you'd know."

At those words, Kuroko frowns, "I know because I was there. I saved you."

"Right, of course you did." Kagami plays along, looking away.

"I'm real." Kuroko says.

"You're not." Kagami sighs and crosses his arms, "You're not real. You're something I made up when I was a kid. A story I told myself when I didn't have any friends. You're a fairy tale and I don't believe in fairy tales."

Kuroko looks at him, face carefully blank but his eyes remained sad. He took a step forward and Kagami took a step back. The angel reaches out and brushes Kagami's bangs to the side.

"Even fairy tales are based on reality." Kuroko says instead, "One day, you'll see I'm right. For now, all you have to know is that I'm with you and I'm watching over you like I promised."

Kagami stands firm in his belief, "But you're not real."

"But I am." Kuroko says and he doesn't explain further, doesn't try to defend himself or give proof of his words. Instead he says, "You'll see."

Kagami shakes his head but Kuroko merely drops his hands to take Kagami's into his, "Do you remember that story I used to tell you a lot when we were kids?"

"You told me a lot of things," Kagami says, resigned, "I don't remember most of them."

"It's okay," Kuroko says, eyes tender. "I'll remind you."

The angel smiles.

Kagami wakes up.

"I'm glad you're okay." Furi whispers to him during their Japanese history class together. "We really thought you were done for."

"I don't really remember much," Kagami admits, "It's all just a blur."

"Furihata, Kagami! Face front!" The two athletes straightened automatically as their names were called.

"Right! Sorry!" Furihata apologizes, looking down at his book in embarrassment. Kagami grumbles a half-hearted apology before he turns to the window, getting lost in his thoughts again.

"Hey, we're heading out for lunch," Fukuda pats him on the back, "Wanna come with?"

Kagami just hums distractedly. The first year trio exchange looks before they reluctantly left Kagami to his brooding.

I'll remind you. The words rings clear in his head despite it all being nothing but a dream and Kagami huffs, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Angel my ass," He grumbles. "He's not real, just some stupid imaginary fri- ow!" Something sharp, like someone elbow poked him on his side. Kagami jumps and startles, turning bewildered eyes at-

"Am I still an imaginary friend, now?"

Kagami chokes, taking in startled breaths, because this was- he was-

It was Kuroko. It was Kuroko in their Seirin school uniform and he looked like how he did in the dream. Sad blue eyes, light blue hair, an impassive expression on his face.

"You-" Kagami tries to speak, "I… I'm definitely crazy, aren't I?"

Kuroko's expression gave nothing away but his eyes seem to be glaring at Kagami anyway. Then he raises his hand and pokes Kagami's eyes with two fingers.

"ARGH!"

"You're an idiot." Kuroko says as Kagami covers his eyes, groaning exaggeratedly in pain. He turns towards the front where the teacher was packing up his things. "Sensei."

"Wah!" The teacher jumps in surprise, "Oh, Kuroko-san, it's you. Wait, did you just come in now?"

"No, I've been in class the whole time." Kuroko says patiently and Kagami finally looks up.

"Wait, sensei, you-" Can see him? Kagami wanted to ask.

The teacher gives Kagami an unimpressed look. "If you were paying attention earlier Kagami-san, you'd know that I told the class we were getting a transfer student named Kuroko Tetsuya." He closes his bag with a snap, "Stop sleeping during class or you're getting detention." He said before leaving the classroom.

Kagami turns wide eyes at Kuroko who just looks back at him. "Are you really…?" Kagami asks hesitantly.

"Real? Your teacher can see me. Am I real enough yet?" Kuroko answers quietly.

"But you're an-"

"An angel? I was." He verifies, eyes still locked with the redhead's. It was making Kagami blush and he looks away first.

Then he realizes what Kuroko said, "Wait, was?"

Kuroko smiles sadly and says, "There's this story-"

Kagami looks startled and then he glares, "This again?"

Kuroko continues, "Do you remember it?"

The redhead shakes his head, "Just that it's about an angel." He mumbles and then he jumps in surprise when Kuroko leans in.

"Then let me remind you…" Kuroko says, blue eyes intent and Kagami blushes in surprise. "Because now, that story is my story too."

Have you heard of the story

About an angel

Who fell from heaven

For the one he loved?

Author's notes: Thanks for reading until the end!