In Shadows
Chapter Sixteen
Faces Old and New

Gina was only on the sidelines, but even she thought that the training camp was a difficult one.

The coach for the camp was none other than Riko's own father, who had once played basketball for Japan. It had only been a week since Seirin had arrived, but they were being pushed hard. On weekends they increased their stamina by running through the mountains, and on weekdays they worked on their individual skills. Hyuga, Izuki and Kiyoshi were all working on new individual skills to put to use in matches. Riko's father had even pulled Kuroko aside to talk to him about something. Gina had asked him what it was about later, but he'd only shaken his head. But Kuroko had looked determined and focused, so Gina guessed it couldn't be anything too bad. 

A week after they started the training camp, Gina found herself on the sidelines, watching a quick half-court match. Hyuga was practicing the new move Riko's father had taught him - a move dubbed the barrier jumper, involving a quick step back before 

"Hey, Gina!" Riko called. The coach's voice dragged Gina's attention away from the game.

Gina's head snapped up as the coach came to a stop. "What's up?" 

Riko smiled apologetically. "Do you mind popping down to the shops for a bit and buying a few sports drinks?  These lot are going to need it, and we've run out." The coach flicked a thumb over at the teamg. Even from where she could, Gina could see the beads of sweat shining on their foreheads and soaking their shirts, and hear their heavy breathing.

She recalled all too well practices like this one; she'd done training like this when she had been a part of the regional team. There would be times where where you'd feel so exhausted you'd be sure that you wouldn't be able to finish the session, but you had to keep going or the coach would only make you run extra laps or give you some other form of extra practice as a result.

Even though she loved netball, she certainly didn't miss those days. She enjoyed waking up each day knowing that she didn't have to deal with sore muscles from hard training the night before.

"Of course. More than happy to help out." And Gina was actually glad that she was doing this - the last few days, she'd mostly been standing around and watching, or offering moral support. Doing this small little errand made she felt as though she was actually doing something for the team.

"Thank you," Riko said appreciatively. She grabbed Gina's hand and turned it so her palm faced up, then placed an amount of money there. "It wouldn't be fair if I asked for you to pay for these out of your own money."

Gina pocketed the money and smiled. "Alright. I'll be back as soon as I can." With a small wave, she hurried off.

The nearest store was about a ten minute walk away. Gina placed her hands in her pockets to protect them from the biting cold. She wished she'd had the foresight to wear a scarf that day - the wind found every gap in her clothing, and she could feel the cold going down her neck. Gina increased her pace to warm herself up a little, and to get out of the cold just that little bit quicker.

When she reached the store, she could've melted on the spot. It wasn't too much warmer inside, but keeping out of the wind was a blessing. Gina allowed herself a few minutes to enjoy the warmth before she proceeded with her mission.

The sports drinks were easy enough to find. Gina pursed her lips, considering how many to buy. There were ten people to buy for, and considering how intense training was, they might want more than one. There'd be training again tomorrow, anyway, and the day after... Gina pursed her lips. Maybe four boxes will suffice, at least for now?

Her mind made up, Gina grabbed four boxes from the shelves. She grunted and shifted her hold on them. These are unexpectedly heavy... if I keep doing things like this, then I might just build up my arm muscles.

A sudden breeze of ice-cold air made Gina shiver and almost drop all the boxes she was holding. Her eyes drifted to the doors instinctively, but widened as she spotted the unmistakable purple head that appeared above the shelves. There's only one person who has that hair colour, and the height to be seen

The said person was making his way toward her, anyone, undoubtedly looking for sweets. Gina grinned and walked over. "Murasakibara-kun!" she called, smiling warmly.

The purple-haired giant turned around from his shopping to see her. "Ah, it's Gina-chin."

She chuckled. "It's been a while."

More than a while, actually; she hadn't seen him since she'd graduated from Teiko. She hadn't talked to him often, but as a member of the famed Generation of Miracles, it was impossible not to know about him. He was still absurdly tall; while Gina had accepted her tiny height by now, standing next to so one like Murasakibara made her feel as tiny and insignificant as a fly.

"Who's this, Atsushi?"

Gina looked up in the direction of the voice, a new person emerging from behind the shelf stacked with chips and bags of sweets. He was taller than Gina - then again, who wasn't? His dark hair was swept over one eye, hiding it from view. A ring on a chain hung around his neck.

Gina frowned as she eyed the chain. She was sure she'd been that before somewhere... she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"That's Gina-chin," Murasakibara introduced. "She went to Teiko as well."

"I wasn't a part of the basketball club though, just an acquaintance," Gina laughed. She stuck out her hand as best she could while holding the two boxes. "Tsukino Gina. Nice to meet you."

The boy smiled and returned the gesture. "Himuro Tatsuya." He inclined his head at the boxes. "Those look heavy. Do you need any help?"

"I'm fine, thanks. It's actually not that bad." Gina smiled, but the top box slipped as she adjusted her hold. She yelped, watching it fall, but Himuro quickly grabbed it for her.

"You sure about that?" he asked, a wry smile on his lips.

Gina chuckled. "Okay. A little help would be nice."

"No problem." He took the top half of the pile from her. When he spotted the logo on her shirt, a strange look came across his eyes. "You go to Seirin?"

"Yeah." Gina shifted her grip on the two boxes as they made their way to the counter. A frown crossed her face. "Why'd you ask?"

"How's Taiga going?"

"Taiga?" Gina pursed her lips, caught off guard. She didn't call anyone on her team by their first names except Riko, so the sudden use of the name had her momentarily stumped. Gina quickly thought back to her team, murmuring her friend's names to herself.

When she realised just who it was, Gina just about slapped herself - or, she would've if she hadn't been carrying two boxes full of sports drinks.

"You - you mean Kagami?" she spluttered. Her eyes remained wide. "How'd you know him?"

They must be on pretty good terms if he calls Kagami by his first name, Gina thought as she eyed the boy before her. But why hasn't Kagami mentioned Himuro before?

"We both lived in America for some time," Himuro commented. "You could have called us brothers."

They were that close? Gina blinked as the information sank in. How come I haven't heard of him before now? And he... he sounds so offhand about it, like it doesn't matter. But why would he talk like that if he and Kagami were so close?

"Well, he's training hard," she said cautiously, dumping the two boxes on the counter, Himuro following suit. The cashier pulled one toward him and scanned it. "He hasn't slacked off one day." She considered telling the raven-haired boy that Kagami was in America, but decided against it.

Himuro opened his mouth to reply, big before he could get a word out Murasakibara called, "Muro-chin, can we go now?"

Gina looked over to where the purple-haired boy stood and choked. If she still had the boxes in her hands, she was sure that she would've dropped them.

Murasakibara carried two plastic bags - both of them filled to the brim with sweets and chips, to the point where they were almost overflowing.

Murasakibara had been known at Teiko for his abnormally large appetite and love for sweets. Gina had never understood how he managed to eat almost all day and not remotely get close to full. When she'd seen him at school, he'd seemed to always have some sort of sweet in his hands. 

How does he even manage to eat that much? And how can he continue to be such a good athlete when he only eats junk and sugar all day? And how does he not gain weight? Gina would've loved to snack on chocolate all day, but knew that she'd soon regret it. She grumbled, putting it all down to Murasakibara's ridiculous height. He must need a lot of energy in order to grow that tall.

The extensive amount of basketball practice might have something to do with that, as well...

"Sure, Atsushi." Himuro turned and sent one last smile Gina's way. "I guess I'll see you later, Gina-san."

"You too." Gina grinned. "Maybe we'll meet up at the Winter Cup."

"I hope so," he hummed, and followed his giant friend outside of the shop. Gina couldn't help but chuckle as she saw Murasakibara had to bend down to pass through the door. That would be annoying.

Well, that was one of the few advantages of being short: you could fit through a lot of tight spaces.

The cashier passed the drinks back to her, all in bags. Gina took them and breathed out, her muscles already straining under the weight.

I should've gotten Himuro to stick around, she thought with a grunt. I think my arms are going drop off miles before I reached the gym.

*          *          *

Fortunately for Gina, she'd passed a bus service that headed in the direction of the gym. It had been a huge relief to sit down and let her arms rest. If I keep doing this, then my arms are definitely going to be stronger by the end.

When Gina arrived back at the Aida sport's gym, the boxes of heavily sugared drinks in her hands, the team had just finished their training and were performing their cool-down exercises.

"I've got drinks, everyone!" she called, placing them on a table Riko must have set up. She opened each of the boxes and placed each drink on the table for easier access.

"Ah, thank you, Gina!" came the echoing cry from the team. Gina chuckled and stepped back, grabbing two cans of drinks herself as the others approached to grab their own drink.

However, there was one person she stopped from approaching the table like everyone else. "Kuroko!" she called. The blue-haired boy looked her way, just as Gina tossed him one of the drinks - the flavour she knew he liked, for her told her before. He fumbled with it a little before it caught it in both hands. When he did, he sent an appreciative smile her way. "Thank you."

"It's no problem." Gina ambled over to him, opening the cap of her own bottle as she did so. She gulped down a small mouthful, blueberry flavour exploding over her tastebuds. She sighed and wiped a hand across her mouth before sending a grin Kuroko's way. "You won't believe who I ran into at the shops!" she exclaimed.

Kuroko tipped his head slightly to the side, awaiting her answer. 

"Murasakibara-kun! I hadn't been expecting to see him there..." Gina pursed her lips together, noticing the lack of reaction from Kuroko. "You've seen him recently, haven't you?"

He nodded. "Yes. We played street ball weeks ago; he was there."

Oh, really? That seemed unusual to Gina. Murasakibara was generally lazy and only exercised if he had to practice or walk to the sweet store.

Well, if Murasakibara, was there, then there's a chance he might've been as well...

"Was a certain Himuro Tatsuya there, too?" Gina asked her blue-haired friend quietly.

Kuroko blinked a little as she mentioned Himuro's name - Gina assumed he hadn't expected that she know him - but he nodded. "Yes. You ran into him as well?"

Gina nodded quickly. "He mentioned something about him and Kagami being brothers."

Kuroko frowned. "It's not that simple."

He quickly explained what they had learned at the street ball game: Himuro and Kagami had run into each other for the first time since Kagami had left America. Apparently Kagami had no idea that Himuro had come back to Japan, and Himuro hadn't let him know. Himuro had taught Kagami basketball, and when they were older they'd played basketball against each other, their strength equal to the other's and resulting in them winning the same number of games. But they'd had a sort of falling out, and they'd promised that after their next game, they wouldn't call themselves brothers anymore.

By the end of the story, Gina was frowning. "I see. It's unfortunate he feels that way." She tried to imagine almost on the point of breaking her friendship apart with Saki. Or Amber, her closest friend back in Australia. She pushed the thoughts instantly from her mind. It wasn't something that she liked thinking about. 

A small silence fell upon them. Gina sighed and took another quick sip of her drink. She found herself wishing she'd chosen another flavour.

"How are you finding training camp?" Kuroko asked suddenly.

Huh? Gina frowned, a little confused for a moment - she wasn't participating in the training camp. But she caught the gist of what he meant after a while and she smiled. "It's great. I love hanging out with you guys." A light blush dusted her cheeks and she looked down, looking up at Kuroko through her eyelashes. "Thanks for suggesting the manager position to me, Kuroko," she murmured. "It's only been a week, but I feel like I belong. I haven't felt like this since I moved from Australia."

He chuckled at her fluster. "If I hadn't, someone else might have. But I'm glad you're happy."

"Still..." Gina averted her eyes. "You thought of me. You were looking out for me." Her cheeks heated up another few degrees as she whispered, "Thank you, Kuroko Tetsuya."

"You're welcome. By the way, I'm enjoying the book you allowed me to borrow. It's intriguing."

Gina's eyes lit up. "Really?" she gasped. The book she had lent to Kuroko was one of her absolute favourites; she'd almost been afraid to hand it over, scared that he might not see just why she loved it or just not enjoy it himself. She started babbling out of her relief and excitement. "I was so worried that you mightn't like it, because then I'd feel as though I'd been wasting your time -"

"Gina." Kuroko caught her babble off with one of his smiles. Gina's stomach performed a somersault; she loved it when he smiled. "Don't worry. I really am enjoying it."

Gina froze, unable to speak for a moment. Then she laughed, a smile on her face. "That's a relief. You'll have to send me text when you've finished, telling me what you think. Hang on... you don't have my number, do you? Here, I'll give it to you."

Gina pulled her pen and notepad from her pocket - something she'd started doing since she became manager. She quickly scrawled her number out and handed it to Kuroko. He, in turn, gave her his number, and they agreed to call soon. 

The simple exchange suddenly made Gina feel a lot closer to the blue-haired boy. And, when they walked back home together that night, they talked the entire way about the silliest of things, but Gina couldn't think of anything she'd rather have been doing at that moment.

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just putting it out there that i love himuro tatsuya, he's such a bae <3 so gina and kuroko are continuing to grow closer! any thoughts about what will happen later on? i'm interested to hear your thoughts!!