Vicious || Aomine D.

Fourteen

[ I couldn't sleep ]
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"You're weak!" Aomine sneered. Amusement danced in his eyes as he looked down at Riyo.

Kise snickered from the doorway of the locker room. "Did you really think you were fun to be around? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. We let you stay because you would've done anything for us." His golden eyes took her in from head to toe and he smirked. "Maybe you'd like to prove to us you still can. I could think of a thing or two for you." His voice didn't sound like his.

"Ha, I don't think little miss prim and proper would compromise her values," Akashi added. "Though I would like to try and--"

"Careful," Midorima crooned. "Or Aomine might get jealous..."

They laughed.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't get jealous over her. She's not that important," Aomine said.

Riyo felt like the walls were caving in. She wanted to scream at them and her eyes burned with tears. But she refused to cry in front of them so she swallowed hard, focusing her attention on Aomine.

"So, that's it then? Years of friendship and you were just pretending to like me? Pretending to care?" Riyo's voice wavered on the last word and she dug her nails into her palms to keep the tears from falling. "You--

Someone was licking Riyo's hand. She woke up with a start and sprang up before she noticed Iverson tilting his head at her, watching carefully. His sandy brown fur had an imprint of the blanket he'd slept on.

It took her a solid minute to calm her breathing. She kissed the top of Iverson's head and gave him scratches. He had been smart enough to wake her from her nightmare. He had earned himself a treat or two.

"Good boy," she cooed and a small smile touched her lips. "I'll go find you some treats, and I'll be right back."

Iverson licked her cheek and she laughed.

In the hall, Riyo came across an unexpected scene. Tetsuya's baby blue hair was pointing straight up as he stood next to Kagami, both of them wearing equally shocked expressions. Opposite them stood Midorima who was sporting a similar look of horror. And next to the former Teiko shooting guard stood a black-haired boy, wearing a Shutoku uniform, she didn't recognize.

"Midorima-san?"

All four boys' attention snapped to her. Kagami looked to be somewhere between horror and hatred, Tetsuya seemed to have recovered and a stoic expression had fallen over his features. Midorima, who usually masked his emotions very well, was giving Riyo a wide-eyed look with his lips slightly parted. The fourth guy was watching her with mild curiosity and amusement.

"Miyoshi," Midorima deadpanned in response.

"Who?" the boy Riyo didn't recognize asked, flicking his gaze between her and Midorima. Although, he didn't wait for an introduction as he conjured a charming smile and sauntered over to her extending his hand, "I'm Takao Kazunari. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miyoshi..."

He waited for her to fill in the blank. "Riyo." She didn't reciprocate the smile but took his hand and shook it. His grin widened.

"How do you know Shin-chan, Riyo-chan?" he asked excitedly.

She flinched and then wavered, unsure of what to say.