In Shadows | Kuroko no Basket Fan Fiction

21. Gathering of Miracles

In Shadows
Chapter Twenty-One
Gathering of Miracles

Another week passed, and soon the month was over, and Gina woke up on the morning of the Winter Cup.

Excitement shot down her spine and she leapt out of breath, dashing around with a grin on her face. Yes, today they were against Touou, and yeah, it just happened to be the team that Aomine and Momoi attended: Aomine with his prodigal skill and Momoi with her precognitive defence. They were a formidable team,

But still, today was the first time she'd be on the bench with the team. It was the time where she'd see the results of everyone's training. They'd all been working extraordinarily hard, mastering their own unique skills and improving their other ones. Gina wanted to see that hard work pay off.

Of course, she knew that Seirin weren't the only ones who had been working hard. All teams in the Winter Cup would have been training hard. There would be no such thing as an easy match. The thought kind of excited her. Matches were always at their most interesting when you didn't know how they'd turn out.

Soon she was ready, dressed in her uniform with a pale blue jumper pulled over her uniform. She grabbed a few slices of toast on her way out and called goodbye to her parents, ready to meet Kuroko so they could head to the stadium together, as they'd agreed last night.

It was only a short walk to his house. There was a slightly awkward moment at the front door when she met his mother, who had no idea who she was. It took a bit of quick explaining before she was allowed inside, and told that Kuroko hadn't yet woken up. With a small roll of her eyes she made her way to his room, and came to a stop outside his door.

"Kuroko! Wake up!" she called from the other side of the door, knocking on the wooden surface as she did so. "Today's the Winter Cup!"

His reply was muffled, and borderline a groan. "Gina..." 

"Are you decent? You've got five seconds to warn me before I enter."

Five seconds passed and there was no response, and Gina gave him a few extra seconds just to be sure. She couldn't even begin to imagine how awkward that would be.

"Morning!" she sang, dancing her way over to Kuroko's bed. He was curled up in a ball under the covers. Gina had originally wanted to rip the covers off but, seeing him like that, she decided against it with much reluctance. "Get up! You're going to beat Aomine today!"

Kuroko blinked a bleary eye open. "I'm getting up," he said, through something that was half a yawn and half a laugh.

Gina chuckled and offered her hand, and helped Kuroko out of bed. His bed hair was as messy as always, sticking up all over the place. She absently reached up to smooth it down, like she had done back at the hotel. Kuroko's hair was very soft, and she found her eyes being drawn to his own. The two of them were so close that Gina could feel his breath on her cheek.

Realising just how little distance there was between them and she was looking directly into his eyes, Gina froze, her hand dropping back to her side. She could already feel the embarrassed flush building up within her.

"I'll have Nigou enter the room if you take too long," she blurted, her cheeks turning pink out of embarrassment. She was already making her way out of his room. "I'll leave so you can get dressed. Then it's on to the Winter Cup!"

Gina darted out of his room and shut the door. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, breathing in a number of deep breaths to calm herself down. Good job Gina. It isn't even nine o'clock in the morning and you've highly embarrassed yourself. This must be some sort of new record for you.