For Sleeping (Crossed Out) Working Hard, I Bought a Store!

"Huff... huff..."

A familiar sound of breathing.

A familiar posture.

Even the rhythm of that chest rising and falling with each breath looked so familiar.

Hanamichi Sakuragi's eyebrow twitched.

A premonition welled up inside him.

He strode over and yanked off the towel.

"Who the hell is sleeping here in broad daylight?!"

The towel came off.

It revealed a sleepy face wearing headphones.

Those dead-fish eyes opened slightly, filled with annoyance at being disturbed.

"You're so loud..."

"Who is it..."

Lin Bei rubbed his eyes and saw the enlarged red-haired face in front of him.

"Uh..."

"Sakuragi?"

Lin Bei froze for a moment, then spotted Haruko beside him.

"Haruko?"

"What are you two doing here?"

"Master?!"

"Lin Bei?!"

Sakuragi and Haruko cried out in unison.

They were so loud they nearly blew the ceiling off.

"How are you here?!" Sakuragi pointed at Lin Bei, his finger trembling.

Lin Bei yawned, sat up, and slowly put on his other shoe.

"Oh, I came to buy shoes too."

"Buy shoes?"

Sakuragi looked at the luxurious store, then at the manager who was treating Lin Bei with utmost respect.

"But he said you were the owner..."

"Yeah."

Lin Bei picked up a bottle of iced cola from beside him, took a sip, and said as if it were perfectly natural:

"I only wanted to buy a pair of shoes."

"But I got too sleepy while trying them on and wanted to take a nap."

"The clerk said I couldn't sleep here."

"I thought it was too much trouble, and I couldn't be bothered to change locations."

"So I bought the store."

Of course, he would never say that he had bought the store because he wanted to work hard...

So it would be more convenient to change shoes in the future.

Silence.

Dead silence.

The manager wiped cold sweat from his brow, frantically complaining to himself: I don't understand the world of rich people!

Haruko's mouth fell open as she stared blankly at Lin Bei.

Hanamichi Sakuragi, meanwhile, had completely turned to stone.

Because he wanted to sleep...

So he bought the store?!

What kind of reason was that?!

Was that even something a human being would do?!

"Damn it!!"

"Is this the ugly face of the rich?!"

"I want to be that willful too!" Sakuragi wailed, clutching his head.

Lin Bei's head started throbbing from the noise.

He stood up and rolled his ankle.

"Alright, quit howling."

He glanced at the Jordan 6s on Sakuragi's feet, then at the pitiful thirty yen on the counter.

He roughly understood what had happened.

"You want these shoes?"

Lin Bei pointed at Sakuragi's feet.

Sakuragi instantly stopped crying and nodded furiously.

"I do! I dream about them!"

"But that four-eyed manager won't sell them to me!"

The manager looked aggrieved at the side. "Boss, he wants to buy them with thirty yen..."

Lin Bei waved his hand, cutting him off.

He walked over to Sakuragi and patted him on the shoulder.

"Sakuragi."

"How's your master usually treated you?"

"Uh..."

Sakuragi thought about it. "Other than always stealing my lunch, pretty well?"

"..." Lin Bei's mouth twitched.

"Listen."

"These shoes are yours."

"Really?!" Sakuragi's eyes instantly turned into searchlights.

Lin Bei pointed at every shoe in the store.

"Not just this pair."

"From now on, I've got all your shoes covered."

"Every time you wear out a pair through training, I'll give you another."

"If you wear out ten pairs, I'll give you ten pairs."

"Consider it... compensation for your hard work."

Sakuragi froze.

Compensation for hard work?

To let Shohoku win the national championship.

To turn you into a rebounding monster and a defensive wall.

This little investment is an absolute bargain. Lin Bei silently added to himself.

Lin Bei had calculated the account very clearly.

But Hanamichi Sakuragi clearly had not thought that far.

He had only heard one thing: he could take whatever shoes he wanted!

"Wahahaha!"

"Master! You're so cool!"

"I knew you'd been won over by this genius's charm!"

Sakuragi threw his arms around Lin Bei, giving him that suffocating bear hug again.

"Let go... I'm dying..."

Lin Bei rolled his eyes, feeling as though his ribs were about to snap.

Haruko stood nearby, watching the scene with a gentle smile on her face.

"Lin Bei may look lazy."

"But he actually cares a lot about Sakuragi."

"Is this friendship between boys?"

"It's so nice."

Ten minutes later.

Hanamichi Sakuragi walked out of the shoe store in his brand-new Jordan 6s.

With every step, he looked down to make sure there was no dust on the ground that might dirty his new shoes.

"Haruko! Look!"

"These shoes really do suit a genius!"

Sakuragi spun around in front of Haruko.

"Yes, they look very handsome." Haruko smiled and nodded.

Just then, Lin Bei pushed open the door and came out as well.

He was carrying a bag of burgers he had just sent a clerk to buy.

"Let's go home."

Lin Bei opened the car door, and the black sports car let out a low roar.

"Get in. I'll give you two a ride."

"Whoa! A sports car!"

Sakuragi's eyes lit up, and he was about to rush over.

Then he suddenly remembered something.

He stopped and looked at Haruko.

Then he looked at the sports car, which only had two seats.

If he took the car...

Wouldn't that mean he couldn't walk home with Haruko?

The sports car was cool, sure.

But...

"No need, Master!"

Sakuragi waved grandly.

"A genius must measure the earth with his own feet!"

"I'll train all the way home in my new shoes!"

Lin Bei raised an eyebrow.

He glanced at Haruko beside him and immediately understood.

"Alright."

"Then take your time 'training.'"

"I'm going home to sleep first."

Vroom—!

The sports car sped away in a cloud of dust.

Leaving Sakuragi and Haruko standing by the roadside.

The setting sun stretched their shadows long behind them.

"Um... Sakuragi."

Haruko clasped her hands behind her back, leaning forward slightly as she looked at him.

"Since you bought new shoes."

"Would you like to do morning practice together tomorrow?"

"I'll come cheer you on."

Morning practice?

Together?

Cheer him on?

Those three words combined.

Dealt Hanamichi Sakuragi ten thousand times more damage than those shoes had.

Sakuragi felt his very soul trembling.

He took a deep breath and, facing the sunset, let out the most resolute roar of his life:

"YES!!!!"

"I'll definitely be there!!!"

"Even if knives fall from the sky, I'll be there!!!"

Seeing Sakuragi so fired up.

Haruko's eyes curved into crescents as she smiled.

"Then it's settled."

"See you tomorrow, Sakuragi."

"See you tomorrow, Haruko!"

He watched Haruko's receding figure.

Hanamichi Sakuragi lowered his head and looked at the new shoes on his feet.

He clenched his fists tightly.

"That guy, Master..."

"He could be really annoying sometimes."

"But this time..."

"Thanks, Master."

He said silently to himself.

Then—

"Wahahaha! I'm a genius!"

"Conquer the nation! Starting with morning practice tomorrow!"

Like a madman, Hanamichi Sakuragi

took off running down the street beneath the setting sun in his new shoes.

At that moment,

that red-haired boy seemed to have truly fallen in love with basketball.

Or rather,

he had fallen in love with that youth filled with basketball, Haruko, and those strange teammates.