Shohoku vs. Shoyo

Prefectural Gymnasium.

A heatwave rolled through the packed arena.

Today was the fifth day of the Kanagawa Prefectural qualifiers, and the crucial battle that would determine the final four.

The stands, capable of holding thousands, were packed to the brim. Even the aisles were crammed with standing spectators.

The air was thick with the mingled scent of sweat and popcorn—a smell called "fierce battle."

The qualifying teams from the A, B, C, and D divisions would determine the final four today.

In Kanagawa, only the two teams that reached the finals could earn tickets to the IH, the national tournament.

Last year, those two tickets had been firmly held by the "King," Hainan Affiliated High School, and Shoyo High School.

"Shoyo! Shoyo! Shoyo!"

"Shoyo! Shoyo! Shoyo!"

The perfectly synchronized chants swept through the venue like a tsunami, making the gymnasium dome hum.

One side of the stands had been completely claimed by a sea of green.

That was Shoyo High School's cheering section.

Hundreds of students in neatly pressed uniforms held plastic megaphones in their hands.

Under the cheer captain's command, they unleashed rhythmic, deafening roars.

It did not feel like they were watching a basketball game.

It felt more like some kind of religious ritual, or an army marching off to war.

Compared to them, Shohoku's section was so shabby it brought tears to the eyes.

Other than a few scattered family members and students, there were only the lonely figures of Sakuragi's Gang.

"Whoa... th-this is way too crazy, isn't it?"

Takamiya Nozomu's chips fell from his hand in fright as he stared blankly at the green formation across from them.

"Is this the presence of a seeded team?"

Yuji Ookusu swallowed.

Even if the few of them shouted themselves hoarse, their voices would instantly be drowned out by the opposing waves of sound.

"They're practically like a professional team..."

"Playing in this atmosphere, the pressure alone would be enough to make your legs go weak." Mito Yohei could not help sighing, his brows faintly furrowed.

Haruko sat beside them, clutching the hem of her clothes tightly in both hands, her little face pale.

"Big Brother... Sakuragi... everyone..."

As she watched that green tide that seemed capable of swallowing everything, her heart filled with worry.

Backstage, Shohoku's locker room.

The cheers outside still came through the heavy walls clearly, like muffled peals of thunder.

The air seemed frozen.

Takenori Akagi sat on the bench with his arms folded and his eyes closed.

Though he tried his best to remain calm.

His twitching eyelids and the fine beads of sweat on his forehead still betrayed the tension in his heart.

This was his final year.

And Shohoku's strongest year.

If they lost here, everything would be over.

"Crash—"

The restroom door was suddenly shoved open.

Hisashi Mitsui walked out pale-faced, flicking droplets of water from his hands as he went.

"That makes five times already, right, Mitsui?"

Ryota Miyagi sat on the floor, rapidly spinning a basketball between his hands. The ball whirled over his fingertips, making a whooshing sound.

"Shut up!"

"I just... drank too much milk this morning. It's a little diuretic, that's all."

Mitsui shot him a glare, desperately trying to save face.

"Is that so?"

Miyagi curled his lip, though his own legs were trembling without his noticing.

Even delinquents who fought every day could not help having their hearts race when faced with a momentous occasion that would decide their fate.

However.

Amid this atmosphere stretched so taut it was about to snap, there were two extremely discordant notes.

On a bench in the corner.

Kaede Rukawa wore headphones and slept soundly against the wall, with a snot bubble at the tip of his nose growing and shrinking.

And across from him.

Lin Bei was even more outrageous.

He had pushed several chairs together and lay sprawled across them.

A towel covered his face, while his chest rose and fell steadily.

"Snore... snore..."

There was even the faint sound of snoring.

Kiminobu Kogure looked at the two "sleep gods" and helplessly adjusted his glasses.

With a wry smile, he said, "I really envy those two and their nerves of steel... They can actually sleep at a time like this."

"Is this what they call... genius?" Yasuharu Yasuda wore a look of worship.

"All right! Get up!"

Akagi abruptly opened his eyes, stood up, and shattered the silence with an angry roar.

"It's time!"

"We're heading onto the court!"

Lin Bei flinched at the shout.

Still half-asleep, he pulled the towel from his face, revealing a pair of bleary, dead-fish eyes.

"Ah... Gorilla, why are you yelling so loudly..."

Lin Bei yawned and stretched, his bones crackling all over.

"Is it finally starting?"

"Let's get this over with and call it a day."

"Now entering the court—Shohoku High School!"

As the announcer's voice rang out.

Shohoku's players filed out through the tunnel.

For a brief instant, the previously noisy gymnasium broke into a muddle of chatter.

"Shohoku? That team full of delinquents?"

"I heard they knocked someone unconscious in their first game?"

"Tch, they just got lucky. They're finished against Shoyo."

Doubts, jeers, and discussion came flooding in from every direction.

Hanamichi Sakuragi walked in the middle of the team, and as he listened to those grating voices, the veins on his forehead throbbed.

"Those bastard spectators..."

He was just about to explode.

When a familiar shout suddenly came from a corner of the stands.

"Hey!! Hanamichi!!"

Mito Yohei leaned over the railing, cupping his hands around his mouth as he shouted with all his might:

"Don't foul out again with five fouls today!!"

"If you get kicked out like an idiot again, we're not treating you to ramen!!"

"Hahaha! King of getting benched! Do your best!" Takamiya Nozomu and Yuji Ookusu joined in the heckling.

The entire arena immediately erupted in laughter.

Hanamichi Sakuragi's face instantly turned liver-red, crimson with rage.

"Yohei!! You bastards!!"

"This genius definitely won't foul out today!! Definitely!!"

Sakuragi waved his fists at the stands and roared.

Just then, a crisp, pleasant voice cut through the noise.

"Sakuragi! Good luck!!"

Sakuragi suddenly froze.

Following the voice, he saw Haruko Akagi standing in the stands, waving her arm with all her strength, her face blooming with a radiant smile.

"I'm rooting for you! Rebound King Sakuragi!"

Hanamichi Sakuragi, who had just been like a raging bull, instantly melted.

The fierce look on his face turned into a lovestruck, foolish grin.

His face reddened like a ripe tomato, and his whole body twisted like a pretzel.

"Ha... Haruko..."

"She called me Rebound King... Hehehe..."

Just as Shohoku was still putting on this farce.

An even more astonishing wave of cheers suddenly erupted from the other side of the gymnasium.

"Shoyo! Shoyo! Shoyo!"

Amid those earthshaking cheers, Shoyo High School's players ran onto the court.

In that instant, Shohoku's players' pupils all narrowed slightly.

Tall.

Too tall.