In Shadows | Kuroko no Basket Fan Fiction

5. A New Opportunity

In Shadows

Chapter Five

A New Opportunity

When she returned home that night, Gina spoke to her parents about joining the track team. After a brief discussion, they said that it was fine. Gina's grades were stable, and they knew she could work hard enough to keep up with her homework.

With new resolve filling her, Gina packed her sports outfit into her bag, along with her running shoes. She hummed her herself as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

Maybe today, she'd find herself a new place to belong here in Japan.

It didn't take her too long to reach the school. She talked to those at the office about handing in her club form - they looked it over and told her they'd get the track team's captain to talk to her at lunch that day.

Gina headed back to her classroom, a skip in her step. She wasn't paying too much attention to those around her.

So, she guessed she shouldn't have been surprised when she found herself colliding with someone as a result of her inattentiveness, just as she had entered her classroom.

"Ah!" Gina exclaimed, rubbing her forehead. She looked up at the figure she had bumped into, and her eyes widened as she recognised him. "Kagami-kun!"

The tall redhead boy looked down at the tiny girl he'd just bumped into. "Sorry," he apologised instantaneously. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"No worries. I wasn't exactly being the most attentive, either." It was really inconvenient being tiny, especially when you had people Kagami and Kiyoshi's height around. She wondered if Kagami often bumped into people due to his height.

Probably not. He's observant enough. We only collided just then because we were both distracted.

Gina's eyes flicked around the classroom, paying close attention to every face there, making sure that she didn't look over one head. "Kuroko-kun's not here yet," she observed, upon affirming the phantom sixth man wasn't there.

Kagami quickly looked around the room as well to confirm what she'd just said. "He's not. Unusual for him; he's normally here by now."

A small pause.

"Do you think it was weird?" Gina asked presently, breaking the small silence between them.

Kagami frowned, confused by the question. "What?"

"That Kuroko... invited me to watch you guys practice yesterday? I hardly even know a thing about basketball, and he knows it's not my favourite sport in the world. I've only ever really paid attention to netball."

Gina shifted her weight. It was a thought that had been bugging her since Kuroko made the suggestion that she stayed to watch. She hadn't had the opportunity yet to ask him herself, but she knew that Kagami and Kuroko were good friends. Kagami must know Kuroko enough to be able to give her a plausible answer.

Kagami sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's just how he is," he informed her.

"Huh?" Gina tipped her head to the side.

"Always doing what you don't expect," the redhead elaborated. "He's kind, though, and as you've probably noticed, very observant. He often does things like that."

"Ah. I see." Gina nodded thoughtfully.

"Mind if I ask a question?" he asked.

She tipped her head. "What is it?"