Coming Back [Kuroko no Basket]

Seirin's Culture Festival Part 3

Finally being able to take a break from their booth, Hyuuga and Riko tried to meet up with the other club members so they could visit the cafe together. Trying to gather everyone, they were able to get Mitobe, Koganei, and Tsuchida, but Izuki wasn't able to take his break yet so he told them that he would meet them at the cafe. Visiting Furihata, Fukuda, and Kawahara's food stands first, everyone grabbed a bite before they all headed over to the cafe. As they were welcomed in, they were surprised by the theme of the cafe.

One side of the wall had two bookcases that had shelves full of books enclosed by two doors while the other side had china on display. The cafe was set up so nothing could block the sunlight coming through the windows, giving the room a soft glow. There were small cardboard cutouts of things related to England placed around the classroom and all the servers were dressed in tuxedos and dresses, speaking politely as if the customers were their master.

Butlers and maids?!

As they were shown to their seat and sat down, Kuroko and Kagami spotted their senpais and had gone over to talk to them, welcoming them to their cafe. Just as Hyuuga asked where Nakamura was, she emerged from the kitchen, bringing an iced tea and a slice of lemon pie over to a table. All the guys blushed when they saw her in the outfit.

She's a maid?!

Then they noticed she wasn't wearing glasses and had her hair done differently.

This is dangerous. She's too cute!

They blushed and felt their heart pound even more when they saw her giving a smile to a customer, which didn't go unnoticed by Riko. Walking into the cafe, Izuki was confused to witness Riko smack everyone with her paper fan, however knew it was better not to ask about it. Greeting the members and taking his seat, he immediately noticed Nakamura and blushed, seeing what she was wearing. Of course, Riko didn't miss it so she pulled out her paper fan one more time.

Hearing someone be smacked, Nakamura turned around to see the entire team holding their heads while Riko stood with her paper fan, clearly upset by something. Going over to their table, she greeted everyone, asking Riko what happened. Riko waved her hand, saying it was nothing and complimented the girl on her new look. She blushed and scratched her cheek, still feeling shy about her new appearance. The members felt their heart skip a beat again seeing a girl wear a maid outfit blush in front of them.

So innocent!

"You do look nice Nakamura-san. We were surprised when we saw you."

"Thank you Izuki-senpai. We had two girls be absent from today so our class president asked if I would fill in as a waitress. I agreed but I guess she thought I could change my appearance a little."

"She was right. You should be confident with this new look! You look great!"

"Thank you Kiyoshi-senpai but I'm not sure about this. Wearing contacts is kind of annoying."

As the members continued to compliment Nakamura on her new look, Ito cut them off when she asked Nakamura if she could help in the kitchen for a second. Excusing herself from the group, she left the table to go assist her class president. Meanwhile, the second years kept their gaze on her as she walked away from them, not having the most innocent thoughts. Gripping her paper fan once more, Riko gave them an innocent smile as she told everyone to clench their teeth.

~Time Skip~

As everyone had to get back to their own classrooms, the basketball club tried to leave, but as expected, nine people leaving at once did cause a little traffic. It only got more difficult when they weren't the only group of people who wanted to leave at the moment. Kuroko and Kagami walked over to help keep people from coming in so the people who wanted to leave could, however the amount of people in the cafe somehow increased. Noticing the problem wasn't being solved, Ito walked up to the door and tried to control the crowd.

Standing off to the side, Nakamura stayed near the president in case she needed help controlling everyone. Seeing everyone push each other, she watched as someone took a step back, only to shove the class president backwards. The girl lost her balance and bumped into the bookshelf before falling onto her bottom. Trying to walk over to her president to check if she was okay, Nakamura saw the bookshelf shaking, realizing the girl was going to get caught underneath it. She panicked and pushed her way through the crowd, dashing over to the girl.

"Ito-san!"

Nakamura threw herself over the class president, making sure to cover the girl's head. Shutting her eyes, she braced herself as she felt a few books fall on her before she heard the case doors be slammed shut, followed by complete silence. As Nakamura struggled to look up, she saw Izuki and Hyuuga holding the bookcase up with their shoulders while Kuroko had his hands over both the case doors, keeping it shut. Trying to put it back in it's original position, the three boys struggled to push the bookcase upright, the books weighing far heavier than they thought. Rushing over to help, Mitobe and Kiyoshi helped the boys push the bookcase back to its original position, making sure it was steady before stepping away. Meanwhile Riko made her way over to the girls, checking to see if they had any injuries. 

"Are you guys okay?! Oh my god Nakamura-san where are you hurt?!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

"No you're not! You're crying."

The team looked at Nakamura, worried when they heard Riko say she was crying.

"It's just because of my contact, I'm fine. Only a few books fell on me. Ito-san, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks to you Nakamura-san. I'm so sorry you got hurt instead of me."

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

As she waved her hand at the class president's apology, Riko grabbed her left arm when she noticed the blood.

"You're bleeding Nakamura-san!"

"Huh? Oh... I guess the edges of the books must have cut my arm."

"You need to treat it Nakamura-san. Let's go to the nurse's office."

"Wait Tetsuya you can't bring me. We still have the cafe to run. It's not a serious injury so there's no reason to close it. You and Ito-san need to stay here."

"But someone should help you treat your wound. Our senpais have to get back to their booths soon so they can't."

"Oh, I can help her then. I took my break later than everyone else so I still have time."

"You wouldn't mind Izuki?"

"Yeah it's fine. It's not a problem."

"Sorry about this senpai."

"No need to apologize Nakamura-san. Anyways, you got lucky. You only cut your left arm. There was a guy who cut his entire left side but he's all right now."

"Izuki, shut up."

As Kuroko helped Nakamura up, Riko helped Ito up before the two girls turned to face the customers, bowing their head to apologize for the commotion. Telling the group one last time that she was fine, she thanked the boys for their help and for saving her from having a concussion. Exiting the classroom, she walked alongside Izuki through the hallway as they headed towards the nurse's office together.