Vicious || Aomine D.

Thirty-One

[ Weren't you on your way ]
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Riyo's stomach twisted as she noticed the elbow aimed at Hyuuga's face. Kirisaki Daiichi had been playing a dirty game from the get-go as Kagami had predicted, and they'd been trying to injure Seirin players whenever the ref wasn't looking. It was working. Seirin boys were all banged up and bruised. Kagami's jumps had been stopped more than once by a guy stepping on his foot.

At the last second, Kiyoshi intervened, blocking the hit. Riyo let out a breath of relief but she still had an uneasy feeling in her stomach. What were they going to do? At this rate even if Seirin won, they'd have no one left to play in the Winter Cup.

Kirisaki's strategy of using the ref's blind spots or having a player cover his line of sight to play dirty was making Riyo's anger boil over. She wanted nothing more than to march onto that court and shake the players while yelling at them. As if telling them what they were doing was wrong and despicable and that they didn't deserve to play at all since they didn't know how to respect the game would've made a difference. Kirisaki players wouldn't give a damn about her opinion.

The unfairness of the situation tore at Riyo. She wanted to help, wanted to be there for her guys, for her team. But there was nothing she could do. Kagami lifted his fist to hit one of the Kirisaki players. Oh no. If Kagami punched him, he'd be kicked out of the game and banned from the tournament. Riyo's heart raced. Don't do it. The fury burning behind Kagami's eyes matched her own but if he let it control his actions now, it could end his entire career. Just in time, Kuroko grabbed Kagami's ankle, making Kagami fall flat on his face.

Tensions were riding too high. Everyone was on edge.

"Moron..." Aida muttered, rubbing her temple.

"Tetsu-kun saved us," Riyo said, offering a relieved smile even though her nerves were still gnawing at her.

There was a lot left of the game.

"Kagami-kun needs to get his temper in check," Aida said, barely noticing Riyo.

The coach's full attention was on the boys and Kagami who was bowing to the rest of his team in apology.

Good. He knows he messed up.

Hopefully, that could be enough to calm him down. If not, we'd have Kuroko trip him again since that seemed to reset his anger. Though, maybe that should only be reserved for extreme cases. Otherwise, he might end up with unwanted brain damage that could affect his game.

Aida called a time-out. As soon as the players had sat down on the bench, Aida hit Kagami over the head and went off on him.

"What were you thinking?" Riyo asked once Aida had said her piece. "The team needs you. You can't just--"

"I know, I know! Coach already said it all," he grumbled, glaring at Hanamiya.

Hanamiya's wicked smirk sent a shiver down Riyo's spine. He was up to something.

Riyo shifted her attention back to the redhead sitting in front of her. She smacked both her hands to his cheeks so that his face was squeezed between her palms like a pancake. "You're gonna go out there and play the game the way you always do. Don't let him rile you up with his dirty tricks. I know you got this. You all do. Playing at your pace and playing the game the way you've practiced, that's what you're best at. Don't let them drag you down with their dirty tricks. You're better than them, so prove it. Win. And do it your way, not theirs."