Miyagi Ryota

The next day.

Qing Junce, as usual, began his long, drowsy class.

During this period, the teachers had also come to understand this student who always slept in class.

At first, they would still manage him.

But since he did this every class, the teachers eventually gave up.

On the contrary, Shimizu Kanon's academic performance was excellent.

Although no exams had been taken yet.

The teachers unanimously agreed that, if nothing unexpected happened, her grades should be first in the year.

What the teachers couldn't understand was why such a good student was always with someone who only slept.

Several times, they had spoken to Shimizu Kanon privately, telling her to stay away from Qing Junce to avoid affecting her studies.

Each time, Shimizu Kanon would just smile sweetly, neither refusing nor agreeing.

She was well aware of Qing Junce's talent.

Even though her childhood friend appeared drowsy every day.

His academic performance wasn't as bad as one might imagine.

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

The two complemented each other perfectly, and there was nothing wrong with that.

Lost in thought, a blush of shyness spread across her pretty face.

After school in the afternoon.

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

"Honestly, I'm late again today," Shimizu Kanon said with a helpless expression.

Qing Junce remained indifferent, showing no concern about being late.

Just then, Qing Junce suddenly stopped and turned his head to look in a certain direction.

Shimizu Kanon, noticing Qing Junce had stopped, asked curiously, "A-Ce... why aren't we walking anymore?"

Qing Junce replied, "It's them!"

Shimizu Kanon followed Qing Junce's gaze and saw a group of five men and one woman standing in a corner.

She recognized four of the men.

They were the close friends who were always with Sakuragi Hanamichi.

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

As for the other man and woman, she hadn't seen them before.

Shimizu Kanon asked curiously, "What are they doing? Are they fighting?"

She had investigated and knew that Sakuragi Hanamichi's friends were all delinquents in the past, and fighting was a common occurrence.

Qing Junce remained silent.

His gaze was fixed on the young man outside the Sakuragi Corps.

This young man had curly hair that resembled a pineapple, and his earring glittered in the sunlight.

He wasn't tall, about 170cm.

While his features weren't conventionally handsome, they possessed a resilience different from other high school students.

If Qing Junce remembered correctly.

In Shohoku, the only person with such characteristics was Miyagi Ryota.

"Do you know him?" Shimizu Kanon asked curiously.

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

With that, he immediately walked on towards the basketball gym.

Seeing this, Shimizu Kanon quickly followed, saying, "You're lying. If you didn't know him, you wouldn't have stopped."

She continued to press, "Just tell me! Please!"

Qing Junce directly replied, "Why don't you go find out for yourself?"

Shimizu Kanon pouted, looking pitiful, and said, "But I want you to tell me right now!"

Qing Junce closed his mouth, yawned, and continued walking forward.

Seeing that Qing Junce wouldn't say anything, Shimizu Kanon let out a soft huff, pursed her lips, and followed him unhappily.

She muttered to herself, "Fine, if you won't tell me, I'll investigate myself."

After the two left.

Miyagi Ryota's gaze shifted over.

It wasn't just him; Mito Yohei from the Sakuragi Hanamichi's gang was looking too.

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

"You know him?" Miyagi Ryota asked.

Even though Qing Junce was standing far away, he still felt like he was being cornered by a wild beast.

That feeling of his heart suddenly tightening was a danger signal.

He was curious, when did the school gain such a person?

Mito Yohei didn't hide anything and said directly, "Ah! I guess I know him! He's on the basketball team."

Hearing this, Miyagi Ryota's eyebrows rose, and he murmured, "The basketball team..."

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

Miyagi Ryota looked at Mito Yohei for a long time before retracting his gaze, turning around, and saying, "What's your name?"

Mito Yohei replied, "My name is Mito Yohei. And you?"

Miyagi Ryota answered without turning his head, "My name is Miyagi Ryota."

Shohoku Basketball Gym.

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

A roar came from inside the gym.

The owner of this voice was, of course, Akagi Takenori.

Everyone seemed accustomed to this sound.

It seemed like ever since Qing Junce joined the team, they heard this sound every day.

Shimizu Kanon stood awkwardly to the side.

Qing Junce, meanwhile, was digging in his ear, looking unconcerned. "Even if you're on time every day, I don't see you guys getting any stronger!"

"What did you say? You punk..." Akagi Takenori's veins bulged on his forehead. He was both ashamed and angry, clenching his fists, wishing he could punch Qing Junce to the ground.

Kogure Kiminobu quickly stepped in to mediate. "Alright, alright! Akagi, it's not the first time Qing Junce has been late. It's good enough that he's here for practice!"

Akagi said irritably, "You're too lenient with him, Kogure."

Kogure Kiminobu also felt bitter, thinking, There's nothing I can do! Who told him he's so good at playing? He's our trump card for competing nationwide.

Akagi Takenori also knew the importance of this.

He just wanted to vent and solidify his authority as captain.

Also, though he didn't want to admit it, he had to acknowledge Qing Junce's talent.

It was such a waste for someone with such talent to be so lazy every day.

He kept thinking that if Qing Junce could train on time, perhaps his skills would become even stronger.

Then, the chances of his dream of dominating the nation would be greater.

Shimizu Kanon walked over to Ayako. Suddenly, she seemed to remember something and exclaimed, "I remember!"

Ayako, standing beside her, blinked her big eyes and asked curiously, "What is it, Kanon? What do you remember?"

Shimizu Kanon explained, "A-Ce and I just met someone. I saw him when I was looking through the team member profiles. I think his name was Miyagi Ryota."

"Miyagi, you say! You actually ran into him? It looks like his injury must have healed," Ayako said.

When Shimizu Kanon was researching the profiles, she had learned a little about Miyagi Ryota's past.

She hesitantly asked, "Senior Ayako, that Miyagi Ryota..."

Ayako seemed to understand what she meant and sighed, "That guy is indeed a handful, but he's also very reliable on the court!"

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

Ayako then said, "Since you met him, it means he'll be back soon. I'll have to trouble you to create a training plan for him then."

"Oh! Okay," Shimizu Kanon replied.

Shimizu Kanon wasn't someone who only focused on talent.

As long as a person had potential that could be developed, she would spare no effort in teaching them.

The next day.

A person who was both familiar and unfamiliar to Qing Junce and Shimizu Kanon arrived at the Shohoku Basketball Gym.

The visitor was none other than Miyagi Ryota.

As soon as he entered, he announced, "I'm back."

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

The first-year students, seeing Miyagi Ryota's fierce expression, felt a bit intimidated.

"Is... is that Miyagi?"

"He looks so scary!"

"If we upset him, will we get beaten up?"

Upon seeing Miyagi Ryota, Sakuragi Hanamichi angrily cursed, "You sneaky bastard! This is the Basketball Club, not a place for you to be."

Miyagi Ryota was also a bit surprised, looking at Sakuragi Hanamichi and saying, "So you're here too!"

He sized Sakuragi Hanamichi up and down, then added, "Don't tell me you're also part of the Basketball Club? How could Akagi-senpai possibly let someone like you join?"

"What did you say?" Sakuragi Hanamichi immediately flushed red.

Not only had he been sneak-attacked and beaten by this guy outside earlier, but now he was spouting nonsense here.

Miyagi Ryota ignored Sakuragi Hanamichi and scanned the gym before saying, "I heard you guys defeated Ryonan while I was away."

Kogure Kiminobu chimed in, "Yes! Thanks to Qing Junce, otherwise we might have lost badly."

"Qing Junce..." Miyagi Ryota murmured, recalling the person he'd noticed yesterday. Could it be him? he thought to himself.

At this moment, Kogure Kiminobu spoke up, "Now that you're back, our team is even stronger. I'm getting more and more confident that we can make it to the national tournament this year."

"That Qing guy, is he really as strong as you say?" Miyagi Ryota asked, still somewhat skeptical.

Kogure Kiminobu chuckled and explained, "Well... it's hard to explain in a moment. In short, you'll know when you meet him."

Just then, Sakuragi Hanamichi approached Miyagi Ryota, holding a basketball.

The two stared each other down.

Miyagi Ryota asked, "What? Wanna fight?"

Sakuragi Hanamichi didn't answer directly. Instead, he began to rapidly switch the basketball between his legs, his movements so swift they left afterimages.

While dribbling, he declared, "I am the team's hope."

Hearing this, Miyagi Ryota almost choked.

He looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi with a solemn expression and said, "Do you want to settle this with me?"