In Shadows | Kuroko no Basket Fan Fiction

29. In the Open

In Shadows
Chapter Twenty-Nine
In the Open

When Gina woke up the next morning, she didn't expect to be phoned by Kuroko so early on in the day, and to ask her to join him on a shopping trip above all things. When she asked why he wanted to go shopping he said simply, "My shoes broke."

After confirming that he didn't have another pair, Gina readily agreed to go. Now she thought about it, she was surprised that Kuroko hadn't destroyed his shoes earlier. He'd been putting in a lot of extra effort and training over the past few months to improve his game. No wonder he was in due for a new pair of shoes – his last pair must have endured a lot.

When she met up with Kuroko, he informed her that somehow, Kagami had managed to destroy his shoes at the exact same time as him. Gina shook her head in marvel. How did they manage to synch up so often?

After a quick bus ride to the shops, they met Kagami, who was not impressed by the turn of events. He said he wanted to get the day over as quickly as possible.

But fate seemed to have other ideas. Kuroko was able to get shoes in the first shop they went to, but the shop didn't stock a size that fit Kagami's enormous feet.

And neither did the next shop. 

Or the one after that. 

They went in and out of shops, and Gina found herself stifling laughter as Kagami grew more and more unimpressed the more

"None of the places have my size..." Seirin's power forward grumbled when they left the fifth shop that day.

"Kagami-kun, your feet are needlessly big," Kuroko said blankly. A laugh escaped Gina's lips but, not wanting to worsen Kagami's mood even more, she hastily turned it into a cough. She couldn't stop her lips from spreading out into a wide smile, though.

"What's with the needlessly bit?" Kagami shot back. He looked up and spotted the store beside them; fortunately another shoe store. "There's another shop here. I'm going to go ask."

When he re-emerged five minutes later, he still didn't have any shoes in his possession.

"Fine..." Kuroko pulled out his phone and started to type in a number. "Let me ask. She's very reliable at times like this."

Gina didn't even need to hear a name to know that he was talking about Momoi.

Kuroko and Momoi quickly arranged a meeting place – by a nearby basketball court, unsurprisingly. It wouldn't take too long for them to walk there; at the most, it would take ten minutes.

When they arrived, Momoi was just turning up, dragging Aomine after her.

"Tetsu-kun!" Momoi greeted enthusiastically, pulling Kuroko into one of her usual tight hugs. Gina winced, guilt surging through her. She still has no idea. I need to tell her soon.

"Sorry for calling so suddenly," Kuroko said once he was released, and able to breathe again. Gina wasn't sure Momoi knew how strong she was when she gave hugs.

Momoi shook her head, still smiling brightly. "No, not at all! More like I'm really happy!"

"It's nice that you'll help me look for shoes," Kagami said. "But why are you here?" he demanded, rounding on Aomine.

Aomine shrugged. "That's what I want to know."

"Dai-chan has lots, so he'll give you a pair!" Momoi informed them. There was a twinkle in her eye.

"What?" Aomine spluttered, glaring at her. "I didn't say that!"

"You wear the same 29.5 cm size, right?" Momoi continued cheerily, as though she hadn't heard Aomine.