The Vacant Number 9 Jersey

A week later.

The morning of the practice match with Ryonan.

In front of Shohoku High School.

Everyone from the Basketball Club had already gathered there, but two people were missing: Qing Junce and Shimizu Kanon.

"That bastard is late again, just as expected." Akagi Takenori said through clenched teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.

Kogure Kiminobu hurriedly tried to calm him down. "Akagi! Calm down. It's not as if Qing Junce has only been late once or twice."

Akagi Takenori said irritably, "What are you talking about? If he's late to every game from now on, how are we supposed to continue playing?"

Kogure Kiminobu was at a loss for words for a moment.

Sakuragi Hanamichi smugly cut in, "See? I told you! We should just stop waiting for that guy with no sense of time."

"Big idiot," Rukawa Kaede said flatly from the side.

"What did you say?" Sakuragi Hanamichi shouted at Rukawa Kaede.

Ayako glanced at her watch and said helplessly, "It's already time to leave. I just didn't expect Kanon to be late with him."

Just then, Ayako's phone suddenly rang.

Ayako took out her phone. Seeing who was calling, she said, "It's Kanon."

Everyone immediately turned to look.

Ayako answered the call, and Shimizu Kanon's voice came from the other end. "I'm really sorry, Ayako. A-Ce is still asleep. I'm going to wake him up now, so you all go on ahead! I'll take him to Ryonan High School as quickly as possible."

After hanging up, Ayako repeated Shimizu Kanon's words to everyone.

Akagi Takenori became even more furious, practically itching to punch Qing Junce in the head right then and there. "Damn it, that bastard..."

Yasuda Yasuharu tried to persuade him. "Captain, it's fine. Qing Junce is always like this anyway. You should be used to it..."

Bang...

Before he could finish, Akagi Takenori knocked him flat with a punch.

Akagi Takenori held back his anger and gritted his teeth. "All right, let's go."

Meanwhile.

At Qing Junce's home.

Shimizu Kanon entered Qing Junce's bedroom, shook his body, and shouted, "A-Ce, stop sleeping! We have a game today! Get up already!"

Still bleary-eyed, Qing Junce mumbled, "Kanon, you're so annoying! Don't disturb my sleep."

Seeing that Qing Junce refused to get up no matter what, Shimizu Kanon thought for a moment. A sly glint flashed through her eyes, and a mischievous smile spread across her face. "Don't blame me if you still refuse to get up!"

With that, she walked out of the bedroom.

Before long, she returned.

This time, she was holding a cup of ice water.

A layer of white mist was visibly coating the cup.

Shimizu Kanon directly pulled back the covers and poured the water over Qing Junce's neck.

The ice water flowed down Qing Junce's neck.

In an instant, Qing Junce, who had been dead asleep, opened his eyes and shuddered violently from head to toe.

"Waaah... It's chilly... so icy... so cold..." Qing Junce shouted as he sprang out of bed, then looked resentfully at Shimizu Kanon, who was snickering nearby.

Shimizu Kanon said softly, "Who told you to refuse to get up? We're already late. Everyone has already left. If we don't hurry, today's practice match will be over before we even get there."

Sigh...

Qing Junce sighed, then stopped just as he was about to get out of bed.

He looked up at Shimizu Kanon.

Shimizu Kanon was looking at him too.

The two stared at each other.

"Hmm? Hurry up!" Shimizu Kanon urged.

Qing Junce looked at Shimizu Kanon and said, "I'm going to get dressed. Do you want to watch me?"

At that, Shimizu Kanon's pretty face flushed red. She spat lightly and turned around. "Who... who wants to watch you?!"

With that, she hurried out of the bedroom.

Watching her leave, Qing Junce had initially planned to lie back down and sleep a little longer.

But then he remembered that Shimizu Kanon would definitely cause more trouble, so he could only get up helplessly.

Before long, Qing Junce walked out of the bedroom.

Shimizu Kanon pointed at the kitchen table and said, "I've prepared breakfast. Eat quickly. We'll leave as soon as you're done."

"Ah! Got it. I'll wash my face first." Qing Junce scratched his head, then headed toward the bathroom.

Ryonan High School · Basketball Gym.

The group from Shohoku had arrived.

Ryonan's coach was Taoka Moichi, a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties. He had a stern face and wore a green short-sleeved shirt with blue casual trousers.

He walked up to Anzai Mitsuyoshi and bowed slightly. "Coach Anzai, I should have been the one to visit you, but instead I made you come all the way here. I sincerely apologize."

Ho ho ho ho...

Anzai Mitsuyoshi waved his hand with a carefree smile. "Not at all, not at all!"

Everyone from both Shohoku and Ryonan looked astonished at the sight.

The first-year students could not help asking, "Our coach seems pretty amazing, doesn't he?"

Ayako took the opportunity to educate everyone. "Of course. Our coach was once a truly remarkable figure."

Akagi Takenori walked up to Taoka Moichi and shook his hand. "I'm Akagi Takenori, captain of the Shohoku Basketball Club. Please take care of me."

"Hello, Akagi. You're too polite." After exchanging pleasantries, Taoka Moichi continued, "I hear Uozumi from our team has always had one goal—to defeat you. Akagi, you'll have to go easy on him!"

"I'm Uozumi, captain of the Ryonan Basketball Club. Please take care of me." Behind Akagi Takenori, Ryonan's captain, Uozumi, said this to Anzai Mitsuyoshi.

Uozumi's full name was Uozumi Jun. He stood over two meters tall and had a build similar to Akagi Takenori's. Simply standing there, he gave off an invisible pressure.

Akagi Takenori and Uozumi both turned to look at each other.

The two faced one another from a distance.

It was as if two bolts of lightning shot from their eyes and clashed in midair.

At the same time, invisible auras began spreading from their bodies, pressing toward each other.

The Shohoku and Ryonan players nearby were all shaken by the two captains' imposing presence and could not help swallowing.

After a long while, Akagi Takenori and Uozumi finally retracted their auras.

Soon, Shohoku and Ryonan began their pre-game preparations.

The Shohoku group gathered in their locker room.

Everyone stood in a row, waiting for Coach Anzai to speak.

Coach Anzai held the roster in his hand and said to everyone, "We'll begin handing out the uniforms."

Everyone immediately stood up straight, hoping they would be assigned a uniform.

Coach Anzai swept his gaze across the group, then began announcing the assignments.

"Center, Akagi, number 4."

"Shooting Guard, Yasuda, number 6."

"Point Guard, Shiozaki, number 8."

"Small Forward, Kogure, number 5."

Whenever someone was announced, Ayako, standing nearby, handed them the corresponding numbered uniform.

Sakuragi Hanamichi, who had been watching all along, was practically drooling with envy.

He stared at the uniforms being handed to everyone, his eyes shining.

Next, Coach Anzai said, "Power Forward, Rukawa Kaede, number 10."

Hearing this, Sakuragi Hanamichi, who had always been at odds with Rukawa Kaede, could not hold himself back.

He glared furiously at Rukawa Kaede in the corner and cursed inwardly, Damn it, that stinky fox got his uniform before me.

Although he was extremely unwilling, he said nothing. He forcibly suppressed his dissatisfaction and waited for Coach Anzai to continue.

Coach Anzai then said, "Lastly..."

Hearing that it was the last assignment, Sakuragi Hanamichi's heart immediately leaped into his throat.

He stared fixedly at Coach Anzai, anticipating his own name coming from the man's mouth.

He silently chanted in his heart, Sakuragi... Sakuragi... Sakuragi...

Soon, Coach Anzai continued, "Qing Junce, number 11."

Boom...

It was as if a bolt of thunder had struck Sakuragi Hanamichi's mind.

His entire body was instantly shrouded in shadow, his mind filled with the thought of why his name had not been called.

He came to his senses and immediately went to Coach Anzai, grabbing his chubby chin as he said, "Old Man, why am I not a starter? Why don't I have a jersey? Even Rukawa Kaede and that late bastard who hasn't arrived have one. Why don't I? What's going on?"

"Idiot, stop that right now!" Akagi Takenori immediately stopped him. "You big idiot, you only started playing basketball a day or two ago. How could you possibly become a starter so easily?"

Sakuragi Hanamichi argued, "You lied to me! Didn't you say that whoever controls the rebounds controls the entire world?"

At that, Akagi Takenori's already-dark complexion grew even darker. He scolded, "Idiot, I said whoever controls the game. Besides, even if you're not a starter, you'll still have plenty of chances to play."

"It's just being a substitute anyway." Sakuragi Hanamichi refused to listen at all.

The entire locker room instantly descended into chaos because of Sakuragi Hanamichi.

Even the Ryonan players outside the door were completely bewildered, with no idea what was happening inside.

In the end, Coach Anzai managed to calm Sakuragi Hanamichi down by mentioning a secret weapon.

At the same time, after pestering him relentlessly, Sakuragi Hanamichi successfully obtained Rukawa Kaede's number 10 jersey.

Just like in the original story, Rukawa Kaede was naturally changed to number 11.

One thing worth mentioning was that the number 11 jersey originally assigned to Qing Junce had now been changed to the vacant Number 9 Jersey.