Vicious || Aomine D.

Seven

Riyo smiled. She had expected him to want to talk about them. And it was delightfully familiar to be around Tetsu who still had no intentions of beating around the bush. He had always been one to skip the empty pleasantries and small talk whenever he could.

"I didn't think they'd care." Riyo shrugged.

It was a lie. She knew that at least Momoi would care. Yet, the idea of talking to them about leaving and saying her goodbyes had been more than Riyo could bear. For all intense purposes, her obligation to update them about her life had ended the day of the championship game.

"Momoi-san called a few days after you moved. She was worried about you."

"Mmh," she hummed while kicking a small rock out of her way with the tip of her shoe. It toppled over to the grass narrowly missing a patch of white flowers lit up by the warm rays of the sun. "I didn't mean for Suki-chan to get caught in the middle."

"What happened between you and Aomine-kun? One day you were sharing jokes and passing secret notes in class, the next you couldn't even look at each other." It was a relief to see he wasn't scowling or frowning. He wasn't overly concerned and there wasn't a hint of pity in his eyes. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he added.

"No, it's fine." Riyo waved it off. Maybe Tetsu would understand because he lived through the same thing. "When he became a 'Miracle'," she made quotation marks with her fingers, "he slowly pulled away from me and the third championship game was the match that lit up and burnt our friendship to the ground."

Kuroko winced. The Kiseki no Sedai had trampled on his promise and his friendship too. It wasn't exactly a pleasant memory for him either. Riyo went on to explain what had been said and done in the locker room after the match. The way the basketball prodigies had declared her undeserving of their time and efforts still tore at her. At the very core of who she was. Rejection was one thing but building friendships that were so easily discarded was another. They had gotten close enough to know her, to see her, and deemed her unworthy.

"I was just so mad at them for making a joke out of something that was so important to you," Riyo explained, her voice strained. "It was awful."

"You didn't have to confront them for me."

"I know. But they deserved it. For them, it wasn't enough to win, they had to humiliate the opposing team... I wanted to knock them down a peg or two." She gave a sad smile. "I failed."

"You tried. I don't think they would've listened to anyone," Kuroko said, and he was right. The Kiseki no Sedai had been on a high of adrenaline and arrogance, incapable of being anything other than ruthless. Riyo had been daring enough to stand in their way and had paid the price.

"I'm guessing you're on a mission to do the same?" she asked.

Kuroko gave a curt nod.

"I hope you do better than I did."

"Me too."

Riyo chuckled at Tetsu's bluntness. Someone else might've been offended but Riyo found his company soothing. She'd known him long enough to find solace in his presence.

"For what it's worth, I don't think Aomine meant what he said. He let his temper get the better of him," Kuroko said.

"I thought so too. But he wouldn't talk to me for months. It's like I stopped existing to him."

A small silence passed between them as they walked past a park and watched a bunch of kids race to the biggest tree. Their faces lit up with that joy that was typical only to children. It made Riyo miss her family.

"I think you should talk to him." Now that, caught Riyo off-guard.

"I did. He came to my house for dinner and chased after me when I left to take Ivar out. He said he's sorry but I don't know..."

"It wasn't enough."

"Right." Riyo nervously ran her fingers through her hair. "You think I should've forgiven him, don't you?"

Tetsu let out a small sigh. "I don't know."

"I miss him," she admitted quietly.

"I know."

The pair walked around the park talking about Interhigh and Kuroko's desire to defeat the Generation of Miracles. It was his mission. He wanted to prove that a strong, united team would defeat a group of freakishly talented individuals day in and day out. That playing together was more fulfilling than playing alone. The flicker of resentment in his eyes spoke volumes about the anger he had never unleashed on his former teammates.

The two also reminisced about the good old days before the five prodigies had changed. They shared some good memories of playing basketball, going to the movies, hanging out at the park, and getting popsicles. Apart from basketball, their go-to had been to meet up at Momoi's and just spend time with each other. They'd played stupid games (like truth or dare), watched movies (and basketball games), cooked or ordered food, and just talked and messed with one another.

For the next few days, Riyo spent most of her time with Kagami, Kuroko, and the Seirin team. She watched all of their practices and hung out with them whenever she got the chance. She had been tired of pushing everyone away. Besides, they'd all been nothing but ice to her. Riyo had even played a few rounds of one-on-one with Kagami when he'd still had some energy to burn off after the practice.

***

Kagami had grown close with the girl who'd been thrust into his life and his apartment. Miyoshi Riyo had turned out to be nothing like what he had expected. She had a dog for crying out loud! Moreover, he hadn't expected her to be so closed off and comfortable spending time alone. It had taken weeks for her to start spending more time with him and Kuroko who had known her a lot longer than Kagami had. Getting her to hang out with the basketball team had been a huge step. Izuki had even made her laugh! She didn't laugh often but when she did it made Kagami feel a little lighter.

He was still worried about her, though. She hadn't joined any clubs or committees and at home, she usually disappeared into her room with Iverson before Kagami had the chance to talk to her. He'd noticed the brave face she put on for Kuroko but he could see that she was sad. Her aura was always kind of woeful. What worried Kagami the most, though, was her eating. The girl barely ate! He didn't think he'd seen her finish an entire meal by herself even once. Not once! And it had been weeks!

Thinking about the way Aomine had destroyed their friendship, always made Kagami angry. He was furious at the Kiseki no Sedai ace for hurting her, for being cruel. She deserved so much better. All Kagami wanted to do was erase that pain for her, make her forget she ever knew Aomine, but to his dismay, he couldn't. He could, however, do his best to make her smile and laugh, and eat, which was what he devoted his time to whenever he was around her. He wanted to see her happy but even if he couldn't ease her misery... 

One thing was certain, he would defeat Aomine, no matter the cost.

_____

[ AN ]

Uh oh, Kagami's getting pretty worked up. You better watch your back, Aomine.

Hope you have a nice day!

x Jen