AN. Well… I'm finally watching KnB S3. I hadn't thought my take on Ogiwara would be so similar to cannon o-o.
Guys, I made a mistake in Ch. 3. The Living that seemed to be looking at them is black-haired not a brunet;; Srry;; m(_ _;)m
Enjoy.
Aomine's eyes leave Tetsuya, glancing down to a side. Somehow, he was unsure how he'd take the question. But he also suspected the answer.
"What do you miss of your previous life?"
Tetsuya didn't quite understand the question at first, furrowing his brow in a clear sign of confusion.
The return of his perfect poker face meant he had caught on. The silence started stretching out then, dark blue eyes returning to Tetsu's face, waiting out an answer. Meanwhile Tetsuya couldn't help but think over the past few days, in his new life as a ghost. He remembered Takao, Midorima, Kise and his eyes landed once more on Aomine.
"I…" He began, mind blank. He couldn't tell the truth to Aomine. He was sorry but there was just no way. That he missed nothing. That he was actually really grateful he had died. That he wasn't alone, unseen and uncared for anymore.
Hell, he doubted he would have even had the chance to see his parents one last time had he not died when he did.
But he couldn't tell this to Aomine.
To the man that had given him the human contact he so craved. With the male that had offered him solace despite being hurt himself. To the ghost that felt so tired of being tied down by a regret. To the teen with the eyes the color of sadness.
No, he would not insult him so.
"I would tell you but it is somewhat embarrassing."
He would not be a burden.
"Heh, now you have to tell me."
"I miss my toy dog."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I almost forgot you're like seven." Aomine drew a wide smirk on his face, as he played along. He might be denser than a brick in some aspects but… even if he hadn't noticed the long pause, the confusion and the deep concentration or the pathetic excuse of a diversion…
But really?
Out of anything he could have said…
Family, friends, house, food…
Did he truly miss nothing else?
Could he truly not think of something to lie about at least?
Aomine then stared down at the feeble ghost, eyes like steel piercing him. "Okay then," he said, letting the other know he had not been believed. "Why did you regret not staying dead?"
Tetsuya froze, feeling as if his blood was running away from his face, neck, hands —a numbing sensation spreading over him. No, this question was even worse than the last-!
"Tetsu, you said you wanted to repay me. Being honest is necessary for this to work."
The other shoe fell in and Tetsuya's entire frame startled crumbling. This put more pressure on him than what he could handle and the boy had no idea how to respond. He didn't want to hurt him. He didn't want to insult him. He didn't want to lie to him so blatantly.
"Tetsu… you don't even have to tell me everything, but you're only harming yourself if you let this sit by just like that."
The numbing feeling slowly faded, but the teen remained bowed. What else could he do? He could not lie to his face again. "I did not lie then, Aomine-kun," he started in a low, tired tone. There was a pause, "I really am very tired." He inhaled and just let the words out.
"Had I not died by accident then, in a couple months more it would certainly not have been one."
With that brutal honesty, the pale teen walked away. Aomine let him.
What else could they do?
.
In that state of mind, that was how Tetsuya bumped into Midorima. He blinked, forgetting to compose his features long enough for even the green-haired ghost to notice.
"Oi…" Midorima started, stretching out a hand but hesitating at the last moment. He was fully unsure what to do. What was this, even?
Tetsuya did not begrudge him. He was not familiar with him, and the pale ghost knew he annoyed the other to no end, so it wasn't like Midorima was obliged to give him any comfort. Neither was Aomine obliged to hear about his death wishes. That had been a low blow, Shadowboy concluded even as he managed to steady his poker face.
He shouldn't burden anyone.
"Is something the matter, Midorima-kun?"
The ghost with glasses just stared for a second, slightly lost. He looked away at last with a mumbled no, before falling back into his usual dialogue.
"What are you doing here, you annoying ghost?"
And yet, once more Tetsuya upset him by bowing softly. "Thank you, Midorima-kun."
The other frowned on instinct, confused. But Tetsuya had once more managed to compose himself. He offered a small smile. "I apologize for… being so out of it today. May I inquire once more if you would like to do something together?"
"No!" Midorima replied almost instantly, falling back into his usual annoyed diatribe. He did not like the other ghost. Why should he care about the demons that haunted him? It would be nigh ridiculous.
"Midorima-kun, may I inquire as to why?"
"May I inquire, may I inquire, don't you say anything else? You don't even sound like a sixteen year old, what is wrong with your speech?"
Tetsuya once again paused. A small wrinkle appeared on his forehead. He cast scared eyes on the other, while wondering why was he strange. How had he messed up? Why was he such-?
"Where are you from anyway?"
Tetsuya blinked. And again. But before the tsundere had time to blush and deny any sort of interest, the pale ghost answered. "I am from here."
"…Recently?"
"Pardon?" The teal-head mumbled with furrowed eyebrows at this non-sequitur. Midorima actually seemed flustered this time around but dutifully cleared his throat and explained himself.
"Did you die recently?"
"Yes." Tetsuya bobbed his head, unaware that his reaction to this sort of question had started to change. He did not cringe, nor looked scared. But unlike other, older souls, he did not look jaded nor despondent either. Midorima thought this all to be too strange, but he was entirely focused on solving the speech dilemma to mention or even acknowledge this fact.
"Yet you speak as if you were an old man."
"Pardon me?"
Midorima grunted under his breath, a bit startled by his own words. "Whatever."
"Midorima-san?"
"What is it now?"
"You have been asking me a lot of questions."
"Eh?"
"Does that mean Midorima-san is finally relaxing around me?"
"…Eh?"
"I must tell Takao-san then."
"W-wait!"
But Tetsuya was already gone.
.
Tetsuya should feel bad. The ghost thought as he hid away from a panicky Midorima. But really, how the other supposed he could be able to find Takao without his help? He really had nothing to worry about. He had to be thankful though, the glasses-wearing teen had effectively managed to up his mood by a long shot.
He still did not want to go back with Aomine just yet.
He really was one ungrateful man, Tetsuya mused. When Aomine had even done him the favor of speaking on his behalf to get Midorima to actually pay him some attention. Surely this must be just because of whatever Aomine had told the green-haired ghost.
Now he even had gotten the other ghost worried and here he was hiding.
He should do something.
Sky-colored eyes looked down at his hands in thought. He wanted to apologize to Aomine. He had tried his best not to say anything insulting but ended up saying it either way. He should get something for Midorima while he was at it. Tetsuya needed to be careful and think this through. Lest he messed up again like when he brought the shakes to Midorima.
The sixteen-year-old ghost had no clue on what he could get for either of them but a part of him was glad for this—it was the perfect excuse for not going back to Aomine immediately.
He was scared of going back if truth be told.
…But to the point. Maybe he could get some food for them? Or… uh, what did one give to cheer someone else up? Could he use that for apologizing?
Not for the first time, Tetsuya wished someone had paid him a bit of attention or gifted him anything. But this time around, he wanted to know so he could be the one to offer comfort. The thought still was bitter of something akin to regret but it was a little different for some reason.
Out of a sudden a flash of blond popped up on his mind.
Was there any chance Kise-kun would know?
"Kise-kun."
"GYAAAAAH!"
"Kise-kun calm down it's just me."
"AAH-Eh? Kurokocchi?" The blond ghost cut off his scream as soon as Tetsuya's voice registered in his mind. There was silence for a moment before a smile popped up and Kise launched himself at Tetsuya. "Kurokocchi!"
The dead model couldn't help the smile that pulled at his lips at the feel of wrapping his arms around someone else again. He had wanted Kuroko to like him and for that he'd goofed off more than usual but…
It had been so long since he had last touched someone in such a manner.
"It has been a while." The pale ghost said when no other thing occurred to him after Kise remained silent.
"That's right!" The other pulled away to stare at his face. "What's up? Do you need anything? Want me to copy something for you?"
"Eh…no, thank you very much." Tetsuya bobbed his head in confusion. "I actually wanted to ask you…"
"Wait, wait, wait, com'on, let's go take a walk!"
And stumbling and tripping and still flinching away from touch, Tetsuya was promptly dragged from the basketball court they had been in.
A lone ball rolled to a stop behind them, not casting any shadow, before dissolving into thin air.
.
"Huh? For Aominecchi?"
Tetsuya got the first inkling of a suspicion.
"Yes. I have not known him for as long as you have, so I thought you would know better than me, something he likes." Shadowboy explained himself to an awfully confused Kise. The teen had stopped walking altogether and Kuroko had stopped, hands intertwined in front of him,— his feet vanishing after a couple seconds of standing still— as he waited for him. "Would you happen to-?"
"Kurokocchi, why do you want to give something to that man?"
"Eh?" Tetsuya faltered at the emotion he caught in normally carefree brown eyes, fading as soon as it appeared. He looked down, troubled. Was it wrong to want to give Aomine something as ways of apologizing? "Kise-kun, I apologize, I don't really know…"
Kise cut him again by raising his hands in front of him as if to stop him. "Ah, no, never mind! I'm sorry for saying that!" The model said with a nervous smile, confusion making his brow furrow at the way the other had seemed so put out by such small words. Baby-blue eyes stared at him with a glimmer of hope and Kise sighed. "Okay, well, he's not someone that wants for much… I suppose he wouldn't refuse food though."
"Would you know of something he fancies in particular?"
"Ummm…. Hamburgers?" The older soul cocked his head in confusion. But as a thought struck, his face cleared of emotion. "Wait, I actually know this one. Home-made food."
"Ah, really? Thank you very much, Kise-kun!" Tetsuya smiled as he bowed his thanks.
"He likes stupid stuff. Like whole lemons soaked in honey. Or sandwiches of pure mayo. Or omelets with pills sticking out of them. Or eggs burnt to a crisp. Or…" Kise's had continued to talk after the polite ghost had said his goodbye and ran away just like the novice he was.
Kise's smile slipped off as memories rushed back in. The stray ghost hovered in place, tired all of a sudden. "He's such an idiot… We're all really just fucking idiots." He let his head loll back, unseeing eyes staring up at the sky. A mocking smile tugged at his lips. "Pathetic. Every single one of us."
With that said, the blond statue waited just like that, until he could see the sun right above him. Then, like a bowstring snapping, his body jerked into a run for a few steps before he vanished on the spot.
It was midday after all.
.
Ingredients rolled to a stop on the counter, with one of the eggs vanishing once it hit the wall. Tetsuya stared at it with a sigh before focusing on getting the cabinet to open. He was in Seirin again, having thought long and hard of a good place to cook in, and after wandering aimlessly he had concluded he might as well use a school's cooking club's facilities while the students were in class.
The ghost missed the saucepan, his hand going through the thing instead, and he had to concentrate a lot to turn on the stove, but there was not much problem overall. That was, until the oil was not heating up despite it being several minutes with high flame.
Tetsuya frowned at the saucepan, seeing the heat emanating from the thing, yet the oil refused to acknowledge this fact. Getting mad, the ghost grabbed the handle —after several, even more irritating failed attempts— planning on doing it all over again when, in a second, the liquid starting sizzling.
Confused but relieved, Tetsuya left the pan once more and prepared to get the vegetables, but the instant he let go, the oil started cooling down.
As the cooking oil's sizzle descended into silence, the ghost's expression was so blank, emotions could slide right off his face.
Still expressionless, Tetsuya instead chopped the vegetables and made sure he had the eggs within reaching distance. Then he grabbed the handle again. The oil started coming back to life again.
Tetsuya sighed. Being a ghost sometimes was so weird.
.
Oddly enough, Midorima caught sight of him before Tetsuya even opened his mouth. Curiously enough, the first words to escape his lips were,
"You didn't go to Takao, did you?" The green-haired teen demanded just before his cheeks tinted pink for the smallest moment. "Well, not like what you had to say to him was accurate anyway."
But Tetsuya wasn't paying attention to the rambling ghost, instead he was unpacking the bento he had made for Midorima. He made sure Aomine's was still safely tucked away inside the half-dissolving backpack he had gotten for himself, before presenting Midorima's portion to the baffled man.
"What is-?"
"I am so very sorry, Midorima-kun, for having pestered you nonstop." Tetsuya bowed softly, hands still outstretched. His heart skipped a beat when he felt the packet being taken out of his hands and when he raised his head he saw a confused Midorima staring at the present.
"What is this?"
"As an apology I have cooked you some egg omelets. I hope it's to your liking." Tetsuya dutifully answered, blood pounding in his ears when the grumpy ghost arched an eyebrow but started examining the gift with curiosity.
"Why?"
Similarly disconcerted eyes stared at each other for a while. Tetsuya feels lost, unsure if he should repeat himself but Midorima was no longer paying attention to him, silently opening the boxed lunch. He stared at the contents, a bit at a loss for some reason. Midorima quickly jerked his head up to meet his gaze again, a startled air about him.
"You can leave."
"Eh?" Tetsuya whispered, confused and lost and worried. Had he not liked it?
Now, the older ghost narrowed his eyes as if irritated. "I accepted your… apology. Now leave before you annoy me again."
Tetsuya nodded his head, gaze blank even as his stomach churned painfully. "Yes…I see. If you excuse me."
He entirely missed the way slender fingers trembled.
.
"Tetsu."
The palest ghost turned around, startled to having been found out by Aomine even though he had not been in direct eyesight. He was even more startled by the open mouthed expression on the other, as if pained. His mouth dried up. He had really screwed up with him hadn't he?
"Aomine-kun. I'm sorry." He choked out with a bow, he then extended the remaining lunch box towards the other with his head still down. "I must apologize, for being so insensitive and I really…"
Don't abandon me.
His hands started to tremble when the lunch was not being taken, but he held it together. He was already starting to feel numb in the upper part of his body when he jumped when heavy, warm hands landed on his shoulders.
"Stop it, you idiot." It was the tired tone of his voice what made Tetsuya lift his head. "Don't apologize….what even is it what you think you did? I asked you something and you answered. Nothing more. So relax already, it's gonna get awkward if not."
Tetsuya rose from his bow, uncertain as to what he could be referring to, fumbling with the boxed lunch he still had.
"And give me that before you drop it." Aomine muttered, never forgetting that Tetsuya had offered it to him, gently taking the pack from shaky hands. He looked away when baby-blue eyes lightened in hope, embarrassed, but when neither added anything else, the silence started to stretch. Before it could get even more awkward, he inspected the gift. "By the way, what is- oh food! Is it egg omelet? It's has been a while, where did you get it-!" The dark-skinned teen's face glowed with good humor, but then he turned to a bemused Tetsuya. "But hang on a second, you actually cooked this? Why? And how the heck did you manage?"
Tetsuya hesitated. "How did I manage what?"
"Y'know, making food."
"Well, by copying it. As you taught me."
"Oh, it was already prepared. Yeah, I figured." Aomine said with a grin. He paused at Tetsuya's face. "What?"
"I- well, actually. I just copied the ingredients and prepared it myself."
"…Wait, you did?"
"Yes."
"Holy fuck..."
"What is the matter Aomine?"
"I… no, nothing, just that it's fucking hard to do that. The only one who does that is Murasakibara… It's too much of a hassle and heating things is a pain in the ass."
"Who is Murasakibara-san?"
Aomine stiffened and looked away. "Sorry, no one. Must have heard me wrong."
Kuroko opened his mouth to continue pestering him, but seemed to think again and simply nodded in his direction. "Yes, perhaps."
There was silence for a while before the dark-skinned male remembered he still had the lunch in his hands. He hesitated briefly at the familiar object before opening it –mouth watering at the smell—and started eating it, with slow care. He held the chopsticks almost shyly as he meticulously ingested every single gram of food. No one said a word.
Aomine mumbled his thanks as he set the empty box down, the chopsticks neatly placed on top. For a single breath, Aomine's frame seemed to crumble – but when Tetsuya blinked, the teen was upright, staring at him.
"Thank you. It was surprisingly delicious." He said in an almost whisper – so so uncharacteristic of him. "It had been such a long time since I had had…"
"I am glad you liked it." Tetsuya said to fill in the silence, the pressure on his chest easing just the smallest bit. "I must say it was difficult."
"It is. Congrats on unlocking the new ghost ability. Not really sure if it's useful, but, heh, you have it anyway… Tetsuya?"
The boy jolted in place at the way of calling. "Y-yes."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to go through that. That you thought that. I know just how much life can suck. But you were honest with me, so, uh, thanks."
The ghost of a memory, of a usually cheerful pink-haired girl crying her heart out, hating her life crossed his mind – just as always. He had been there. He had comforted her. And then he had gone and died and left her all alone with her sorrows.
Much as this kid apparently had been his entire life.
Aomine shut the part of his mind that whispered that he was just replacing faces—he was using a substitute—as he raised his fist, at his eye-level. He smiled sadly.
"I'm here now." He repeated.
"I'll be here with you. You're not alone… Tetsuya." Not Satsuki. Not anymore. Never more.
A pale, hesitant hand rose to meet his. It lightly pressed against Aomine's knuckles as lightly as the hope shone in teal eyes.
Teal was not supposed to be the color of solitude after all.
.
AN. Questions, questions, questions. Angst, angst, angst. Bros being bros. Sorry I only included one question of yours, had actually planned on having Aomine bothering Tetsuya some more but he bailed sooner than I expected.
Ah, well.
How did you like it? What do you think of this new ghost ability?
And woops, there goes Kise again. Wonder where to.