[ Show-off ]
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10 years ago
"Pass the ball!" Riyo called trying to catch Aomine's attention.
They were playing a two-on-three street basketball game against some of the neighborhood kids.
Aomine, who was dribbling past the two kids that were doubling him, glanced at his best friend. She was running toward the basket. Her dark brown eyes seemed almost black the way they always did when she was concentrating.
"Tch." Aomine smirked at the boy trying to block his path right before making a ridiculous behind-the-back pass to Miyoshi.
"About time," she sighed to herself as the ball settled in her hands.
Riyo was completely unguarded and she took the shot. Nothing but net, like always. It secured their victory.
"Nice shot!" Aomine cheered for her.
She had a wide grin on her face as she ran to her best friend.
"Nice pass," she threw back while offering him her fist, which he bumped.
Later when they were gathering their things, Aomine thought it'd be funny to mess with his friend so he emptied the rest of his water bottle on Miyoshi.
She shrieked in horror as cold water trickled down her skin. She ran a little farther away from him. "BAKA!"
He was grinning at her. Riyo grabbed her own water bottle and tried to spray its contents on him but Aomine saw it coming. He was fast to evade her attack. The water splattered to the ground and so she threw the empty bottle at his head. And she never missed.
"Oi! That hurt!"
She giggled.
Riyo was late to class but she didn't really care. Her grades were top of the class regardless of whether or not she attended. There was more to learning things than listening to a lecture. By the time she entered the classroom, the lesson was already in full swing.
The teacher, a man in his mid-forties with greying hair and bad posture, leveled her with a scowl. "Miyoshi-san, late again," he said.
Riyo felt the eyes of everyone in the room on her but she refused to buckle under their scrutiny. What they thought of her was inconsequential. Well... There were exactly two exceptions to that.
To Riyo's surprise, she caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye. He usually didn't bother showing up. Now there he was, sitting next to Momoi.
"Hm."
"Keep this up and you'll fail my class for lack of attendance," the teacher warned, clearly unhappy with her.
"Hm."
A weight settled in the pit of her stomach. The only available seat in the room was in the same row as them. She would have to sit too close to the pair for her liking.
As Riyo walked past them, an inexplicable tug she couldn't ignore, even though she tried, drew her gaze to meet his. For a brief second, she saw regret pass his features. The flicker of it was gone as fast as it had appeared. So fast, she wondered if she had imagined the whole thing.
As soon as they broke eye contact, they fell back into pretending they had never known each other. Never been best friends.
7 years ago
Aomine jumped high up for an impossible-looking dunk. Riyo watched him in awe. She couldn't have been more proud of him.
"Show-off!" she teased as they bumped fists.
"Nah. I was barely trying," he retorted as they ran to take a defensive position.
They were playing a two-on-four game on the street court they'd been going to for years.
Riyo rolled her eyes at him. "Just pass the ball next time!"
He did. And they won. As per usual.
Riyo spent her time in class looking out the window and contemplating her future. She was only in school because her parents had insisted but once she graduated high school... what then?
Once the bell rang and they were excused, Riyo waited until he and Momoi left before getting up. She had no desire to run into them again. To her misfortune, however, Momoi was waiting for her in the hall.
"Don't," Riyo said in a clipped tone as she walked past her.
She had no intention of slowing down. Fortunately, Momoi didn't follow her or try to talk to her. There was no point. It was the same conversation they'd had before. And it wouldn't have ended any differently.
3 years ago
Riyo had the ball as she went for a crossover to trick her opponent. The boy fell for it and she caught an opening. Riyo passed to Aomine who dashed to the hoop and when blocked he threw a shot from behind the backboard. It was a crazy, stupid, insane, shot but he made it.
"Show-off!" Miyoshi called out to her best friend.
"Only for you!" Aomine replied with a devastating smile that made her brain short-circuit. After a dramatic pause, he burst out laughing. "I'm kidding. Jeesh! You should've seen your face!"
He was doubled over in laughter when Riyo knocked him over the head.
"Baka!"
They were playing against five kids, just the two of them. When Riyo scored another deep shot, winning them the game, Aomine jogged over and offered his fist for a bump. She delivered with a sly smile curving her lips. They were invincible.
By the time lunch rolled around, Riyo was bored out of her mind. Every day at school was always the same. She showed up, sat in class stuck in her head, ate lunch, and sat in class again.
She sighed as she moved her food around with her fork. She had no appetite and didn't feel like forcing it down. Seemingly out of nowhere, a bee flew to her plate making her discard the whole thing, and cringe at an unwanted memory.
Aomine ran after a frog he'd spotted hopping in the grass. It was big and slimy. To help him catch it, Riyo cornered the creature from the opposite direction. Her best friend leaped after it, landing halfway face first on the ground but by some miracle catching the frog regardless.
Riyo giggled at how ridiculous he looked spitting grass from his mouth, half of his face covered in streaks of mud. His smile didn't falter, though and his eyes shone with what she could only assume was an evil scheme in the making.
Less than a minute later their pink-haired friend had a poor, innocent frog on top of her head. Momoi had been sitting peacefully, leaning against a tree until Aomine had placed the frog on her. At the completion of his wicked mission, he bumped Riyo's fist with a delighted look on his face.
Then Momoi started crying and guilt twisted Riyo's gut. She felt terrible for helping Aomine catch the creature. Kneeling beside her friend she lifted the frog off her and onto the grass, urging it to hop along.
"It's gone now," Riyo told Momoi softly.
Momoi was still sniffling when the girls heard a loud yelp. Their heads turned in an instant to see Aomine get stung by a bee. He shrieked and tried to swat at it in horror. It was too late.
"And he got what he deserved," Riyo added. "See? Karma is real."
She patted Momoi's head. A small smile tugged at the pink-haired girls lips.
Ridiculous, Riyo thought as she shook her head at the memory. She couldn't believe how silly they'd all been. Grabbing her bag she made her way to the next class.
She was the first one in and chose a seat in the corner, in the back of the class, far away from everyone. Her stomach grumbled but she ignored it. She'd eat when she got home.
Riyo didn't lift her gaze from her desk when students began piling in. Especially not, when she felt his presence. Even without seeing him, she could always feel his presence whenever he entered the room. Maybe it was everyone else's reactions to him or maybe it was the fact that they'd grown up together but whatever it was, she found it unbearable.
Fortunately, her former friends sat on the opposite side of the room so she could pretend they weren't even there. Pretending that they didn't exist was the easiest way for her to move on. If she allowed herself to steal glances at them she'd get lost in the past and never move forward.
8 years ago
Aomine and Miyoshi were sitting side by side by a cherry blossom tree. She'd dragged him there because she'd wanted to see the trees in full bloom. Aomine wasn't at all happy with being forced to watch trees, though even he had to admit it was kind of pretty.
"What do you think we're gonna be when we grow up?" Riyo asked.
"Eh?"
"Do you think we'll still be friends?"
He tilted his head to look at her. There was a deep frown on his face. "Of course. We'll always be friends." The conviction in his voice threw her off.
How could he be so sure?
"Promise?"
He nodded before extending his pinky at her with a slight tug of his lips. "Pinky promise."
She interlocked their pinkies and flashed him a brilliant smile. Aomine could never be talked into pinky promising anything. He'd always thought it was stupid. So for him to initiate it meant he must've been serious.
After they let go they bumped fists.
Riyo walked the long distance home after school while listening to music and studying the sidewalk. As long as she had headphones on and her gaze glued to the ground no one would attempt to talk to her. She found it the most effective way to avoid any unnecessary interactions.
At home, she was eagerly greeted by her dog, Iverson. His coat was mostly sandy brown apart from his black ears and patches of white that came with his old age.
"Hey, boy." She scratched the dog behind his ear and let him lick her hand. "I missed you too."
Riyo made her way to her room quietly responding to the 'hi's and 'hello's from her family members but ignoring the questions about her day. There was nothing to tell.
Ivar trailed behind her and she let him into her room before shutting the door. Riyo plopped onto her bed and the dog jumped onto her lap. They curled up on the bed.
When Ivar whimpered miserably, she whispered to him, "I know. I miss him too."
It didn't take long for her to fall asleep and in her dreams, she was still little, playing basketball with her best friend in the whole wide world.
In her dreams, she was still happy.
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[ AN ]
Hi there!
I hope you enjoy the story. I don't own KnB but I do own the OCs and the plot. This fanfic revolves around Aomine Daiki and Miyoshi Riyo but Kagami may or may not also be involved...
The cover picture is by Logan Weaver and downloaded from Unsplash.
As a side note, I really appreciate all views, votes, and comments you might leave, they always make my day.
For future reference, any wishes for what you might wanna read (oneshots/fanfics) and who you want starring in the stories are most welcome!
Anyhow... I hope you have a good day!
x Jen
PS. I know I've been MIA for a long time and that I left things very much unresolved previously. I've been on the fence about whether or not to repost this at all but I do want to post this story. With that being said, I am doing a readthrough and editing, and posting chapters along the way, and then hopefully continuing with the story. This is a story I really do want to finish.