Vicious || Aomine D.

Twenty-Eight

[ You know you won't get it back, right? ]
_____

The Winter Cup preliminaries had begun. And Seirin was doing really well. Their hard work at practices was starting to pay off game by game. However, the next one would be tough... Seirin's next game was against Shutoku and Midorima.

Riyo had been helping out where she could: working out strategies with Riko, teaching Kagami her shooting form, and fetching them water and supplies at practices. She'd even tried baking them 'energy-boosting' cookies once and brought them to practice. The boys had tried to look like they enjoyed them but when Riyo had tasted one herself, she'd almost gagged... Apparently, 'energy-boosting' also meant inedible. She'd thrown the rest of the cookies out and stayed away from the kitchen since then. Letting Kagami deal with the intricacies of modern cuisine was a much better idea.

Iverson's wagging tail caught Riyo's attention. She followed his line of sight to the person approaching them, Aomine. A small smile touched her lips. It had been too long since they'd actually spent some time together.

Aomine held a basketball under one arm, his black hoodie unzipped, revealing a dark blue t-shirt underneath. His answering smile grew into a wide grin that lit up his features when his gaze landed on Iverson, who in turn started barking. Her heart fluttered at Aomine's reaction.

Riyo dropped the leash and let Iverson run to him. Aomine squatted down, placing the basketball on the ground, and let Iverson lick his face and lift his front paws to his lap while giving him all the pets he'd missed out on for the past few months.

"I know, I missed you too boy," Aomine assured, using his baby voice.

It had been a long time since Riyo had seen Iverson get so excited. It made her relax after spending the morning fretting about what it would be like to see Aomine again after...

"Have you been good to our girl?" Aomine cooed.

Our girl.

Riyo felt a warmth bloom in her chest as she watched the two. She didn't know if he'd let the words slip out by accident, or if they were completely meaningless to begin with but her heart still skipped a beat. Whenever he was around, the damn organ seemed reluctant to work properly.

Iverson barked in response before licking Aomine's cheek and nudging him with his snout.

"Yeah, you have."

They went on for a little while until Iverson began to run out of steam.

"I think he might miss you even more than I do," Riyo said and then mentally kicked herself for letting the words out. She hadn't meant to admit it so readily...

Aomine looked up at her, a smirk curving his lips. "You miss me?"

She shrugged. Too late to deny it. "A little bit." She used her thumb and forefinger to emphasize how little.

Aomine rose to his full height, picking up Iverson's leash. "Well, I'm right here."

It was a dare if she'd ever heard one. He was taunting her.

"Oh?" She raised a brow but didn't move.

"Now that you have me, what do you wanna do, Riyo-chan?"

She bit her lower lip, suddenly painfully aware of the distance between them. Aomine's eyes followed the movement. She took a step closer. "What if I want to kiss you?"

"I promise I won't bite."

When they were inches away from each other, Riyo placed a hand on his chest and felt his heartbeat quicken under her palm.