Coming Back [Kuroko no Basket]

The Semi-Finals

"Your shoes broke?"

Nakamura let out a sigh as Kuroko nodded his head.

"We'd better let senpai know that we're going to be late then."

Kuroko pulled out his phone and was about to call Riko when he noticed Nakamura still had bandages wrapped around her foot.

"How's your ankle?"

"It's fine. Mom's just having me keep my foot wrapped as a precaution."

Kuroko gave the girl a nod as he flipped his phone open, calling Riko as Nakamura sat down on the floor and put on her shoes.

"YOUR SHOES BROKE?! WHY DO YOU ONLY OWN ONE PAIR?! MORON!"

Nakamura sweatdropped as she could hear Riko yelling over the phone despite Kuroko not putting it on speaker. Kuroko apologized and told her that he and Nakamura would be leaving now to get new shoes, so the team shouldn't wait for them.

Nakamura stood up and grabbed her bag as Kuroko ended the call. Locking the door behind them, Nakamura shoved her house keys into her bag as the two of them made their way to the shoe store Kuroko frequently went to.

"You moved your bangs."

"Yeah. It's gotten a little long, but there really isn't time to get a haircut right now."

Nakamura touched the hair clip that she had used to pin her bangs back. She thought about trimming her bangs on her own, but that was a risk she was not willing to take. So she gathered her bangs together, twisted it back, and then took a hair clip to pin it in place.

"I'm surprised you still have the hair clip though."

Kuroko remembered how he had picked out the clip with his mother when he was eight years old. His mother had suggested getting a hair accessory for the girl, saying that Nakamura was starting to grow her hair out and that she could use something like that. 

So he had spent about half an hour looking through the hair accessories section in the department store with his mother, wondering why there were so many different designs. When he had finally decided on a sakura hair clip, he stopped when another clip had caught his attention. 

The butterfly clip was a bit smaller compared to the others, but the gradient blue and purple colors made up for it. Kuroko didn't know why, but he thought that the girl would prefer that clip over the sakura one. So he picked it up and asked his mother if they could get it for Nakamura.

"It's been around eight years, hasn't it? I thought you would've tossed it out."

"I don't have many clips or barrettes to begin with, so I want to keep any that I can."

As Nakamura gave the boy a smile, they were interrupted when Kuroko's phone vibrates. Pulling out his phone and opening it, Riko had messaged Kuroko that Kagami would be joining them in shoe shopping and that they should wait for him. 

The phantom player told Nakamura that they would be waiting for Kagami as he texted the boy to meet them near the store. Reaching their destination, the two didn't have to wait long before Kagami appeared.

"Hi there."

"Good morning, Kagami-kun."

Kagami hung his head, not amused with how the day has been so far.

"How'd you destroy your shoes too?!"

"That's my line."

"Stop it, you guys. We shouldn't take too long."

Walking to the usual store Kuroko shopped at, the trio was able to find Kuroko a pair of shoes but failed to find Kagami a pair. Leaving the store, they walked around and tried to check out a few more places.