In Shadows | Kuroko no Basket Fan Fiction

27. Unbroken

In Shadows
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Unbroken

Gina drummed her fingers against her leg as she and Kuroko arrived at the stadium. They'd met up with everyone else at the entrance and were 

As they walked, Gina felt her stomach twist in knots. She bit her lip. Partly it was nerves, but she could tell that it was something else as well.

Damn. When was the last time I ate? She'd only had a light lunch. She wasn't very hungry, but if she left it for much longer she knew it would only grow more uncomfortable.

"Hey, I'm going to grab myself something quickly to eat," she said. Her stomach rumbled lightly, and she clutched it with an embarrassed flush. "I'm a bit peckish."

Riko checked her watch. "Okay," she agreed. "We've only got about ten minutes until our game, so be quick about it."

"Right." Gina nodded and sped off back to the entrance, where she'd spotted a few vending machines. Ever since the Touou match, she'd started bringing money, just in case.

Upon reaching the machines, Gina paused to consider her options. She ended up buying chocolate bars - they probably wouldn't be able to keep her stomach from growling for too long, but she didn't have time to run and buy anything more substantial. She wasn't going to complain about eating chocolate, either. 

As she waited for her chocolate to fall from the vending machine, she glanced around the area around her. She was about to look back when she noticed someone familiar. Her eyes widened.

"Huh? Himuro-kun?" she called.

The raven-haired boy turned. "Ah, Gina-san," he greeted. "How are you?"

"I'm well enough," she responded brightly, grinning. "I hope you're ready to lose today."

He chuckled. "That won't happen, unfortunately."

Her food fell with a clutter, and she reached down to grab it. "Kagami's fired up about the match," she commented absently. She then froze, locking her jaw. Shoot. She'd forgotten what Kuroko had told her about their relationship. Hesitantly, she peeked over the frames of her glasses. She noticed that he wasn't wearing the ring around his neck like Kagami did.

Himuro didn't show any obvious reaction, but she did notice that his eyes hardened a little. "Is he? I'm glad."

Gina bit her lip. "Hey, Himuro-kun..."

"I'm sorry, Gina-san," he said. "My team's waiting for me."

With that, he turned abruptly and walked off, no doubt to Yosen's locker room.

Gina watched him go, her heart deflating. He really doesn't want to be brothers with Kagami anymore, does he? S

I can't focus on that now. I've got five minutes to get back to Seirin's locker room before we head out on court. 

She had told herself no more distractions as she ran back toward the locker rooms, but as she passed by the stands a familiar voice yelled out, "Gina!"

Gina froze in her tracks, her mouth falling to the ground. If there was one person she had never expected to be at any sort of sporting event... 

"Saki?" she cried. Sure enough, her brunette friend was approaching. "I thought..."

"My concert's over, and I don't need to practice so much anymore," Saki cut over, shrugging. "Now I'm free, I'm coming to cheer you all on! I can expect you'll have a great game."

Gina wanted to launch at Saki and hug her. Instead, she laughed. "What are you saying, Saki? Of course it will be! We're against one of the Generation of Miracles today..." Murasakibara, she thought, chewing the inside of her cheek. The most naturally talented of the Miracles - and by far the tallest, too. "It's guaranteed to be a hard contested game," she hummed.