I don't own Kuroko no Basuke or any of the original characters from the series. I do, however, own my OCs and this story that is a product of my sick imagination.

Lesson 1. "The beginning is the most important part of the work." - Plato

It was half-past eight and already completely dark outside, except for a dim yet warm light of street lamps. An overcast, night sky looked like it was going to rain heavily at any moment and a merciless wind was trying to encroach into his apartment through the smallest apertures. It was the middle of November and the middle of the Winter Cups' games. The other day he had lost to Kuroko's basketball. And – surprisingly – he felt kind of relieved. Finally, there was someone who could stand up to him. Someone worth challenging, making an effort. And someone who opened up his eyes. Someone who remembered him how it used to be before he had changed into a complete asshole, making him miss it… Just a little bit.

He yawned and locked his gaze onto the girl, who was sitting next to him on the couch, bent over the Math book and few sheets of paper filled with some mathematical babble he did not understand. Well, maybe if he was at least trying to listen to the girl's explanation, he would get it.

Of course, there was another side of their loss in the first round of Winter Cup. Teachers in Tōō Academy mopped their scruples up and started to repay him for his boldness, absence, and sleeping on their lessons. His being-basketball-team's-ace-shelter disappeared right away with the chance of winning games and the mathematician was the worst. He was so stoked on blocking his way to a second grade, he ordered him to pass semester test on, at least, sixty-percent level. He did not believe in miracles, though, and made the best student in class help him, but the problem was he hardly got twenty-percent last time. What's more, he simply hated Math.

"And that's why you have to carry squared x to the left side of the equation, see?", she pointed something with a pen, not even bothered to look at him. In fact, she did not look at him even once through all this time they spent in his apartment, being completely concentrated on the attempt to pour some knowledge into his empty head, ineffectively. Except that, she was ignoring him avowedly. It was annoying and made him want to tease her. "Can we proceed, Aomine-kun?"

"Uh-uh," mumbled he, still observing her closely. She was quite tall for a Japanese female, her height somewhere around 5'7''. She was skinny and had not so ample bosom (C-cup, he guessed), which was utterly disqualifying her as attractive to him. Her waist-length orange hair was wavy and loose with a ragged fringe and two side-strands twirled and tied up together at the back. She was wearing the Tōō female uniform, which consisted of black tights, dark skirt and matching blazer, V-neck ashen sweater and white shirt with a big red bow around her neck. Except for her height, there was absolutely nothing special about her. Even her first name, Rio, was plain. And on top of that, she was irritating him with her behavior. He wanted her to pay attention to him, not those stupid assignments.

"And it happens to be an empty set." The girl put down the pen. "Do you understand it now, Aomine-kun?"

Rio stretched and yawned, not bothering with covering her mouth. It was nine in the evening and she was fit to drop after the school, club classes, a short visit to a hospital, work in a restaurant and two hours of tutoring Aomine. Small tears of tiredness appeared in the corners of her eyes, so she wiped them away before looking at him when she did not get any answer, only to find Daiki's face so close to hers that their noses were almost touching.

"Not the least. Ya' see, Math is boring," stated he with a little smirk on his lips, seeing her peachy skin getting red and her eyes, which happened to be big and dark brown, almost black, opening widely. He had to admit, that they made her look cute. "I can think of a much more interesting way of spending our time here together…"

"A-aomi-mine-k-kun," she stuttered, not being able to look away. "I-I think I-I s-should be g-going ho-home."

When she tried to stand up, he grabbed her arm and leaned towards her, forcing her to lie down on the couch, bracing on elbows. She did not know what to do. She did not know what was going on. She was trembling. Her heart was pounding fast in her chest, cheeks and ears were burning with fire, she stopped breathing. And what was that strange sensation in her underbelly?

Daiki approached his face to hers again, making her lie down completely in order to find a way to escape him and – as a matter of fact – closing the last one with his hands shored up at both sides of Rio's head.

"Look, it's gonna rain in no time. Besides, ya' wanna go home now? It's already dark outside. I'll let you stay here with me."

"I-I w-will be f-fine on m-my own, s-so p-please–…"

Aomine ran his fingers through her hair and pressed his lips against hers, taking advantage of her mouth being opened as he slid his tongue inside, still looking into her eyes. At the first moment she was like frozen, only her eyes opened up a little bit wider, her face shocked and even redder than before. Then her mimics relaxed, lips moved slightly and…

He felt her hand on his cheek. The slap was so sudden and strong he recoiled, covering a red-mark with his hand. Rio took a chance and jumped off the couch, grabbing her schoolbag and running towards the door. She put on her shoes and black coat in a rush, not looking back at him even once. The door closed behind her with a loud thump.

Daiki had not moved an inch since then. He was kneeling on the couch, holding his burning cheek in his hand, his sight locked onto the door. He did not know what exactly happened a few minutes ago. He just wanted to tease her, to draw her attention to him, maybe even make her feel a little bit embarrassed but he did not plan either to kiss her or to feel anything himself, and yet…

"You're fuckin' kiddin' me." He looked down at the bulge in his pants, feeling uneasiness because of the tightness around his erection. "She's not even my type!"

Aomine unbuttoned and unzipped the part of clothing, thankful he was home alone, trying to localize his R-18 magazines under the couch. When he finally did, he opened it on the page with naked Horikita Mai and pulled down unnecessary clothes.

Of course, he had been masturbating before – in the end, he was just a teenager who was undergoing a hormonal storm, but it was his first time when he could not concentrate on the face of his well-endowed idol, having one plain orange-head in front of his navy-blue eyes.

"What the fuck is wrong with me?"