In Shadows | Kuroko no Basket Fan Fiction

1. Faded Memories

In Shadows

Chapter One

Faded Memories

"Here!"

Amber, their centre, heard Gina's sudden call for the ball. Acting quickly, she threw the ball at a high arc through the air, in order to avoid the Goal Defence that had suddenly appeared. Gina narrowed her eyes in concentration as the ball quickly sailed through the air. Timing was everything here.

Gina jumped at the same time as her defender. The defender was taller than she was, but that wasn't really a surprise. Basically all defenders were taller than her. Heck, almost all players were taller than she was!

But Amber was skilled, particularly when it came to passing. She had made sure to lob the ball just high enough so the ball would pass over the defender's fingertips, and curve down just after. Then, it was up to Gina to pluck the ball from the air.

As expected, the ball just skimmed over the defender's hand, barely missing the skin. Gina stretched out as she reached the peak of her jump, feeling the rough surface of the ball just touch her fingers. With all her will, she pulled the ball in, and held it within her two hands.

Gina pivoted on her foot so she looked at the goal post. She breathed out, getting herself into her shooting position. Mid-range shot. This should go in.

Gina bent her knees and pushed up, the ball releasing from her hands -

"Gina!"

The voice came suddenly, effectively shocking Gina. Her eyes opened in a flash at the sudden call of her name, the image of her match disappearing as she did so.

After rubbing her eyes, Gina twisted her head around, and smiled as she spotted the owner of the voice. She raised her hand. "Saki!"

Fujioka Saki, her closest and best friend at Seirin, grinned as she ran forward. Quickly, the redhead puled her seat out and sat down behind her desk, which was behind Gina's.

Gina still thought that the arrangement of desks in Japan was a little too formal. She had lived in Australia two years ago, and back there the desks were all arranged into groups or rows where she could easily talk to all of her friends, not the single-desk seating they had in Japan. Things had felt more relaxed in Australia in comparrision to this.

Gina chuckled and pushed her glasses up her nose as she looked  at  her friend. Saki flicked her hair behind her ear, which was pulled back into a loose, messy ponytail. Curls continued to fall out of her ponytail. This happened almost every day; and resulted in Saki having to tie her hair back numerous times a day.

Every day, Gina couldn't help but reflect that, though she was a skilled cello player, Saki didn't have the appearance of classical music player at all. She was always energetic and in a hurry, a bit disorganised and flustered.

But when she started playing, it was as though she had undergone a complete transformation. She'd become lost in the music and played with passion that kept even Gina captivated, despite the fact she didn't have much interest for classical music at all. 

Fujioka Saki was most certainly a whirlwind, and you couldn't predict what she'd do next. But she was also the greatest friend Gina could have asked for when she transfered to this new school, away from her other best friend.

Saki sighed and pushed her long, bright red hair behind her, rolling her eyes a little. "Sucks having maths first period, doesn't it?"

Another notable thing about Saki: she despised maths. Gina wasn't too fond of it either, but she didn't specifically hate the subject. She just found it a bit boring.