The Teams Take the Court

His words had barely faded when he caught a figure appearing beside him from the corner of his eye. Turning around, he saw Sakuragi Hanamichi.

Sakuragi stood directly in front of Akagi, leaning forward slightly, his face so close that they could practically feel each other's breath.

With his dead-fish eyes wide open, he stared unblinkingly into Akagi's eyes, his gaze filled with undisguised seriousness.

Akagi frowned. Facing Sakuragi Hanamichi's sudden close-range scrutiny, he was full of confusion. What was this brat up to now?

The next moment, Sakuragi Hanamichi suddenly leaned in front of Akagi, pointed at his eyes, and grinned like a monkey that had discovered a secret.

"You have dark circles under your eyes! Hehe, I get it. You must be so nervous that you couldn't sleep, right?"

Akagi's face instantly flushed red, as if Sakuragi had hit the mark. Yet he stubbornly refused to admit it, slapped Sakuragi's hand away, and roared, "You're the one with dark circles!"

Sakuragi Hanamichi curled his lip, puffed out his chest, and proudly lifted his chin. "This genius, Sakuragi Hanamichi, stayed up until dawn studying a plan to defeat Ryonan so I could avenge my past humiliation!"

"Idiot!"

Akagi shot back mercilessly. "With the way you are, what kind of plan could you possibly have?"

While the two argued, Kogure Kiminobu noticed the faint darkness beneath Akagi's eyes and could not help asking, "Akagi, don't tell me you were too nervous to sleep too?"

"I woke up at four this morning!"

"Hmph, you people are really useless!"

A voice carrying a hint of disdain suddenly came from the corner.

Mitsui Hisashi leaned against a locker with one hand in his pocket, a faint, ambiguous smile curling his lips.

"It's only little Ryonan, yet they've got you panicking like this. I'd