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BANDS OF black AND blue
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o9 : a completed conversation
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Well, what do you think of Ryou?"
" ... It is hard to make an accurate judgment at such an early stage."
"Psh, come on Tetsu; you don't need to sound to Tarou!" Aomine pauses to snort derisively at his compatriot's love for all things mystical and occult, "I'm asking you a pretty straightforward question: do you think Ryou'll be able to overtake me someday?"
"Ah - well," Kuroko replies with difficulty, taking a sip from his soda to stall, "It's really difficult to say at such a time, Aomine-kun."
"You're no fun!"
"..."
"C'mon," the other urges, all pats on the shoulder and other equally invasive measures, "Just give me the closest thing to a guess you have!"
"..."
"Well? Well? Well?"
"I suppose it is... a possibility. Kise Ryouta certainly has talent and dedication - Akashi-san has approved of his skills as well, so there is no doubt that he will be one of the regulars in no time. But - at some point - he will undoubtably hit someone who he cannot copy."
"Awesome!" Aomine is, as usual, far too excited at the prospect of a potential rival. "Y'know Tetsu, it's been really boring at times - to the point where I'm seriously thinking of telling the captain that I have a dentist appointment or something, just so I won't have to go to the useless practices and play with those stupid - hey! Ow!"
"That hardly hurt," Kuroko flatly replies, guilty hand still outstretched.
"What'd you hit me for?"
"Aomine-kun, just because Kise-kun is not advanced enough to truly be called 'competition' for you does not mean that you should slack off."
"But if I do mess around, Ryou'll be able to catch up with me faster!"
"Perhaps. But then - at some point - you might be behind Kise-kun as well."
"Hahahaha... Tetsu, you're really bad with jokes!" Aomine laughs, even while he's still smarting from Kuroko's uncharacteristic hit, "As if that's possible! That'd be, like, I don't know, the same as finding someone who could defeat all of us!"
"..."
"What? You're serious?"
"..."
"Okay, okay, I won't try to ditch too many practices!" he indignantly throws up his arms, because he's never been able to win an 'argument' (if the one-sided debacle can even be called that) against Kuroko. He crosses his arms, before a metaphorical lightbulb is seen to go off in his mind. "...Did the captain put you up to this?" he demands, eyes narrowed and filled with unspoken accusations.
"Why would he have any reason to?" Kuroko calmly replies.
"I hate how he treats us all like we're his damn shoji pieces."
"It is for the sake of victory," his teammate smoothly replies, the response having long been ingrained in his tongue, "That is, after all, what you want above all, isn't it, Aomine-kun?"
"Of course!" Aomine responds - and they bump fists like nothing out of the ordinary has occurred.
His mistake, he thinks - when he's lazing on Touou's rooftop and reminiscing on the glory days of yore - is to have never asked Tetsu was he wanted. But then, he remembers, the 'Aomine' of Teikou was probably always too scared to know the real answer.