In Shadows | Kuroko no Basket Fan Fiction

10. Old Acquaintances

In Shadows

Chapter Ten

Old Acquaintances

Gina's finger ran over the numerous titles in the school library, her eyes taking in each name as she waited for one to grab her interest.

Lunch plans had been shattered when Saki was called to a quick lunchtime meeting to discuss her solo performance for her upcoming concert. Left alone, Gina had decided to come to the library for lunchtime and try to find herself some new reading material.

Gina loved the library; loved the way the books crammed the shelves, how she spotted books whichever way she looked. Reading had always been one of her favourite past times since she was a child. Her bookshelf at home was just about overflowing. Her parents often joked that, if they ever were to get an extension to their house, they'd get a library just to compensate for her large number of books. She found that she had been reading a lot more when she came back to Japan, to give her something to do.

Gina paused, her finger hovering over a certain title. She pulled the title off from the shelf and flipped it over to the back, her eyes scanning the blurb. A soft smile spread across her face. This definitely appears to be an interesting read.

"Gina."

The voice came out of nowhere. Gina's eyes flicked over to the source of the voice and saw Kuroko standing there, as though he had materialised out of thin air, and was himself looking at the selection of books the school had to offer.

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Ah! Kuroko!" she screamed, shattering the silence of the library. She was so shocked that she dropped the book in her hand.

Her loud voice caused several students nearby to glare in her direction, and many quietly told her to keep quiet. Gina flinched as the passing head of the library sent a glare her way. Hey, it's not my fault! You try having the phantom sixth man appear out of nowhere! It's scary, you know.

Gina looked glanced down at the floor as the librarian passed, and bent down to collect the book that she had dropped. After a quick inspection, she was relieved the find she hadn't caused any damage to it; there were no corners folded or anything of the sort.

Once she was sure she wasn't about to be kicked out, she glanced back up at Kuroko. "You need to stop appearing like that," she gasped, her voice barely above a whisper.

The blue-haired boy turned and looked at the books before him. "You like reading?"

He hadn't responded - or even reacted - to her earlier comment, but Gina let the frustration slide as the mention of books were brought up. Books... she just loved reading, and immersing herself in the world written in the words of the pages.

"Yeah," she murnured. "Reading and listening to music... I've almost finished my current book, and I don't have the money to spare to go and buy another, so I thought I'd come here instead." She glanced his way. "You like reading, don't you, Kuroko?"

Now she thought of it... she had often run into Kuroko while he was carrying a book, or had his nose buried in one.

"I do." He looked away from the numerous titles on the shelf and glanced her way. "What sort of books do you like, Gina?"

Gina hummed, her mind flashing back to the numerous books she had read over the years, and the numerous ones she had called her favourites at simultaneous times. "This conversation may take a while..."

"There is plenty of time."

Gina looked across at him, a small smile slowly speading across her face. "Okay," she agreed.