Miyagi Ryota

The next day.

Qing Junce began another long, drowsy day of classes as usual.

By now, the teachers had gotten to know this student who was always fond of sleeping in class.

At first, they would still try to discipline him.

But after he did the same thing in every class, the teachers eventually gave up.

By contrast, Shimizu Kanon's grades were exceptionally good.

Although they had not taken any exams yet,

the teachers unanimously believed that, barring any surprises, she would rank first in the entire grade.

What the teachers could not understand was why such an excellent student spent all day with a guy who did nothing but sleep.

Several times, they had even taken Shimizu Kanon aside and advised her to stay away from Qing Junce, lest he affect her studies.

Each time, Shimizu Kanon merely giggled, neither refusing nor agreeing.

She knew exactly where Qing Junce's talent lay.

Although her childhood friend looked drowsy every day,

his grades were not as bad as one might imagine.

Besides, she felt that Qing Junce had inherited physical talent, while she had inherited intellectual talent.

The two of them complemented each other perfectly. There was nothing wrong with that.

As she thought about it, her pretty face flushed shyly.

After school that afternoon.

Qing Junce and Shimizu Kanon walked toward the basketball gym together.

"Honestly, you're late again today." Shimizu Kanon spoke with an exasperated look.

Qing Junce looked completely calm, not taking his tardiness to heart at all.

But just then, Qing Junce suddenly stopped and turned to look in a certain direction.

Shimizu Kanon had just realized that Qing Junce had stopped. Somewhat puzzled, she asked, "A-Ce... why did you stop?"

Qing Junce said, "It's them!"

Shimizu Kanon followed his gaze and saw five boys and one girl standing in a corner.

She knew four of the boys.

They were the close friends who were often with Sakuragi Hanamichi:

Mito Yohei, Takamiya Nozomi, O-Nann Yuji, and Noma Chuichiro.

As for the other boy and girl, she had never seen them before.

Shimizu Kanon asked curiously, "What are they doing? Don't tell me they're fighting?"

She had investigated them before. Sakuragi Hanamichi's friends had all been delinquents in the past, and getting into fights had been commonplace for them.

Qing Junce said nothing.

His gaze rested on the boy standing apart from the Sakuragi Army.

The boy had curly hair resembling a pineapple, and the earrings in his ears gleamed beneath the sunlight.

He was not tall, standing around 170 centimeters.

His features were not particularly handsome, but he possessed a resoluteness unlike that of other high school students.

If Qing Junce remembered correctly,

there seemed to be only one person in Shohoku with those traits: Miyagi Ryota.

"Do you know that person?" Shimizu Kanon asked curiously.

Qing Junce withdrew his gaze and replied, "No."

With that, he immediately continued toward the basketball gym.

Seeing this, Shimizu Kanon hurried after him and said, "You're lying. If you didn't know him, you wouldn't have stopped."

She continued pressing him. "Just tell me! Please?"

Qing Junce replied directly, "Why don't you investigate it yourself?"

Shimizu Kanon pouted pitifully. "But I want you to tell me now!"

Qing Junce kept his mouth shut, yawned, and continued walking.

Seeing that Qing Junce still refused to say anything, Shimizu Kanon gave a light snort, pursed her lips, and followed unhappily.

She muttered, "Fine, don't tell me. Hmph! I'll investigate it myself."

After the two of them left.

Miyagi Ryota turned his gaze in their direction.

He was not the only one. Mito Yohei of the Sakuragi Army did the same.

"That person just now should be..." Mito Yohei muttered.

"Do you know him?" Miyagi Ryota asked.

Although Qing Junce had been standing quite far away, Miyagi Ryota had still felt as though he were being watched by a beast.

That sudden tightening in his chest had been a warning of danger.

He was curious when the school had gained someone like that.

Mito Yohei did not hide anything and answered directly, "Yeah! You could say I know him. He's on the basketball team."

At that, Miyagi Ryota raised his brows and murmured, "The basketball team..."

Mito Yohei then said to Miyagi Ryota, "What happened just now was our fault. Let's just forget about it."

Miyagi Ryota looked at Mito Yohei. After a long while, he withdrew his gaze, turned around, and said, "What's your name?"

"My name is Mito Yohei. What about you?" Mito Yohei replied.

Without looking back, Miyagi Ryota answered, "My name is Miyagi Ryota."

Shohoku's basketball gym.

"Qing Junce, you guy, late again..."

A furious roar came from inside the gym.

The owner of that voice was naturally Akagi Takenori.

Everyone seemed to have grown used to hearing it.

Ever since Qing Junce had joined the team, they seemed to hear that voice every day.

Shimizu Kanon stood awkwardly to one side.

Qing Junce merely picked at his ear, looking unconcerned, and said, "You're all punctual every day, but I haven't seen you get much stronger."

"What did you say? You bastard..." The veins on Akagi Takenori's forehead bulged. Embarrassed and furious, he clenched both fists, wishing he could punch Qing Junce into the ground.

Kogure Kiminobu hurried over to calm him down. "All right, all right! Akagi, this isn't the first time Qing Junce has been late. As long as he comes to practice, isn't that enough?"

Akagi said irritably, "You indulge him too much, Kogure."

Kogure Kiminobu was suffering inside as well. He thought, There's nothing I can do about it! Who told him to be so incredible at basketball? He's our trump card for conquering the nation.

Akagi Takenori also knew how important Qing Junce was.

He merely wanted to vent a little and reinforce his authority as captain.

Besides, although he did not want to admit it, he had to acknowledge Qing Junce's talent.

For someone with such talent to be so lazy and careless every day was simply too wasteful.

He had always thought that if Qing Junce trained on time, perhaps his strength would improve even further.

Then, his dream of conquering the nation would have a greater chance of coming true.

Shimizu Kanon came over to Ayako's side. Suddenly, she seemed to remember something and exclaimed, "I remember now!"

Ayako blinked her large eyes curiously. "What is it, Kanon? What did you remember?"

Shimizu Kanon explained, "A-Ce and I ran into someone just now. I saw him when I was looking through the team members' information. I think his name was Miyagi Ryota."

"You mean Miyagi? You actually ran into him? Looks like his injury must have healed." Ayako spoke.

While investigating the information, Shimizu Kanon had also learned a little about Miyagi Ryota's history.

She began, "Ayako-senpai, that Miyagi Ryota..."

Ayako seemed to understand what she meant and sighed. "That guy really is a headache, but he's extremely reliable on the court!"

"Is that so?" Shimizu Kanon recalled Miyagi Ryota's height and found it truly difficult to describe.

Ayako spoke again. "Since you ran into him, that means he'll be back soon. When he returns, I'll have to trouble you with making him a training plan."

"Oh, all right." Shimizu Kanon nodded.

Shimizu Kanon was not the kind of person who only recognized talent.

As long as someone had potential that could be developed, she would gladly teach them.

The next day.

Someone both familiar and unfamiliar to Qing Junce and Shimizu Kanon arrived at Shohoku's basketball gym.

It was none other than Miyagi Ryota.

The moment he entered, he said, "I'm back."

The second- and third-year students all greeted him one after another when they saw him.

Only the first-year students grew nervous at Miyagi Ryota's fierce expression.

"Th-that's Miyagi?"

"He looks really scary!"

"If we make him unhappy, will he beat us up?"

When Sakuragi Hanamichi saw that it was Miyagi Ryota, he cursed angrily, "You're that sneak-attacking bastard! This is the Basketball Club, not somewhere you can come!"

Miyagi Ryota was also somewhat surprised. Looking at Sakuragi Hanamichi, he said, "So you're here too!"

He looked Sakuragi Hanamichi up and down before saying, "Don't tell me you're also on the Basketball Club? How could Akagi possibly allow someone like you in?"

"What did you say?" Sakuragi Hanamichi immediately turned red with rage.

Not only had this guy ambushed and beaten him outside, he was now standing here making sarcastic remarks.

Miyagi Ryota ignored Sakuragi Hanamichi and instead swept his gaze around the gym. Then he said, "I heard that while I was gone, you defeated Ryonan."

Kogure Kiminobu picked up the conversation. "That's right! It was all thanks to Qing Junce. Otherwise, we might have lost terribly."

"Qing Junce..." Miyagi Ryota murmured. Remembering the person he had noticed the day before, he thought, Could it be him?

At that moment, Kogure Kiminobu said, "Now that you've rejoined the team, we're even stronger. I'm becoming more and more confident. This year, we'll definitely make it to the National Tournament."

"That Qing-something guy is really as strong as you say?" Miyagi Ryota still sounded somewhat doubtful.

Kogure Kiminobu chuckled and explained, "That's... difficult to explain in a few words. In any case, you'll understand once you meet him."

Just then, Sakuragi Hanamichi came over to Miyagi Ryota with a basketball.

The two stared at each other.

Miyagi Ryota said, "What? You want to fight?"

Sakuragi Hanamichi did not answer directly. Instead, he began rapidly switching the basketball between his legs. He moved so quickly that afterimages were visible.

As he spun the ball, he said, "I'm the hope of this team."

Miyagi Ryota nearly choked on his breath when he heard that.

He looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi and said solemnly, "You want to compete with me and see who's stronger?"