Ryota Kudo did not put in any extra practice after the game that day. The match against Kainan had already been exhausting enough.
In fact, even now, waves of pain still coursed through Ryota Kudo's chest.
Back in the locker room, Ryota Kudo had taken off his shirt to check. Sure enough, his chest was covered in bruises. Shinichi Maki was no easy opponent.
Once he got home, Ryota Kudo showered and got ready to rest. Recovering his strength was what mattered most now.
Yet he had barely been lying in bed for long when the old landline downstairs rang. It was probably his clingy mother calling again.
Somewhat helpless, Ryota Kudo could only obediently head downstairs to answer it. He had no way of dealing with his mother.
He had tried not answering her calls before, only for the phone to keep ringing, with another call coming every five minutes on average.
Thinking about it afterward, Ryota Kudo's mother was a full-time homemaker. She did not have to go to work and had all the time in the world to outlast him.
The moment he picked up, his mother's excited voice came through. "Ryota! You looked so handsome on the court today! Mom's so proud of you!"
That left Ryota Kudo a little bewildered. He asked curiously, "How did you know, Mom? Aren't you supposed to be in Tokyo? How did you see me on the court?"
"I'm still in Tokyo. Sorry, Ryota, your dad's sick, so I have to stay here and take care of him.
"But my best friend's daughter is in Kanagawa right now. She watched your game in person and said you looked especially handsome today!
..."
After that, the floodgates opened, and she simply would not stop talking.
Ryota Kudo did not even get a chance to get a word in. All he could do was hold the phone and listen in silence.
Only once his mother had talked to her heart's content did Ryota Kudo quickly hang up.
Aside from all the empty praise about how outstanding and handsome Ryota Kudo was, his mother had also wanted him to look after her best friend's daughter.
If he was too tired and had no time today, he could keep her company tomorrow instead. He just needed to meet her once.
Ryota Kudo did not understand why his mother insisted that he meet that girl, who was seven years apart from him in age. Surely she was not already thinking of setting him up on a blind date.
Ryota Kudo did have some memories of this girl named Shizuka Kudo.
Not just in the world of Slam Dunk-there had also been a girl named Shizuka Kudo in Japan in his previous life. She was a classic Showa-era beauty and quite famous.
Ryota Kudo did not know whether they merely shared a name or were actually the same person. He decided he might as well take this opportunity to meet her.
With that thought in mind, and being a decisive man of action, Ryota Kudo immediately took out his pager and sent a message using the contact information his mother had given him.
[Hello, Shizuka. This is Ryota Kudo. Welcome to Kanagawa. Are you free right now? How about I treat you to a meal?]
Ryota Kudo soon received a reply. Shizuka Kudo had agreed and sent him the location of her hotel.
It was four in the afternoon. Ryota Kudo had originally planned to sleep for a while before going out for dinner, but now he changed his mind and decided to leave immediately.
At this point, Ryota Kudo placed romance second. Basketball came first.
Without making any special effort to dress up, Ryota Kudo simply changed into a casual outfit and headed out.
Still, with Ryota Kudo's extraordinary good looks, he turned nearly every passerby's head even dressed like this. His charm was on par with Kenji Fujima's.
The hotel location Shizuka Kudo had sent was some distance from Shohoku High School, near Ryonan High School. Ryota Kudo would have to take the train to get there.
Once aboard, Ryota Kudo stood in the carriage and could sense quite a few girls around him whispering about him.
That was perfectly normal, though. By now, no high school student in Kanagawa who followed basketball failed to recognize Ryota Kudo.
Ryota Kudo gave the girls a friendly smile. To his surprise, a few bold ones actually came straight over to strike up a conversation.
He had to admit that Japanese students were really bold, but these girls were rather average-looking.
Before learning how to apply makeup, Japanese girls really were not as good-looking as Chinese girls.
It was simply that makeup was more widespread among Japanese girls, with many developing an interest in it as early as elementary or middle school.
By high school and college, none of them went out without makeup, which had given rise to the rumor that all Japanese girls were beautiful.
In any case, after living in Japan for more than a decade, Ryota Kudo felt that most of the girls around him were quite ordinary.
In particular, most of them were bowlegged. They thought it was cute, but Ryota Kudo really could not appreciate it.
So, after politely turning the girls down, Ryota Kudo got off the train when he reached his stop.
He had not walked far when he spotted a group of tall figures approaching him.
They were wearing Ryonan uniforms. These were members of Ryonan's basketball team, fresh from their game. Their match had started a little later than Shohoku's, so they had only just finished.
Ryota Kudo was on fairly good terms with the Ryonan basketball team, so he went over to them.
"Uozumi, congratulations on beating Takezato High School."
"Not at all. We should be congratulating Shohoku. You beat Kainan High School, after all!"
Looking at Ryota Kudo in front of him, even someone as straightforward as Jun Uozumi faintly radiated a fighting spirit.
That was only natural. The top two teams in Kanagawa would advance to the National Tournament, and Takezato was essentially just making up the numbers. The real competition was between Shohoku, Ryonan, and Kainan.
It was difficult to remain calm in front of a rival.
Ryonan's team manager, Hikoichi Aida, instead ran up to Ryota Kudo with an excited expression.
"You were incredible today, Kudo! You kept Shinichi Maki in check for the entire game!
"My sister was planning to interview you today, but her bald boss called her back to work overtime. She was complaining to me about it for ages just now."
As Ryonan Team's manager, gathering information on their opponents was his most important task. Naturally, Hikoichi Aida had watched the entire Shohoku-Kainan game in person.
After chatting with the Ryonan Team players for a while, Ryota Kudo continued on his way. He could tell they all had a lot weighing on their minds.
Even though they had beaten Takezato High School by a huge margin that day, the Ryonan players looked as though they had lost.
That was because Shohoku's "upset" victory over Kainan that day had made the situation in Kanagawa Prefecture even more precarious.
But none of that mattered to Ryota Kudo, because he had only one thought now: to make it out of Kanagawa undefeated.
Following the address Shizuka Kudo had provided, Ryota Kudo found the hotel.
It looked extremely luxurious, especially for Kanagawa in 1993. One glance was enough to tell that it was expensive.
Although Ryota Kudo's family was wealthy, they did not spend extravagantly. At the very least, he had never stayed in such a luxurious hotel.
It seemed this steely Shizuka Kudo was very rich.
Pushing open the hotel door and walking inside, Ryota Kudo saw two young women standing in the lobby.
One was around 160 centimeters tall, with stunning looks and flowing, classically styled long hair. Looking at her was a delight.
This beautiful young woman naturally drew attention, but it was the woman standing beside her who surprised Ryota Kudo more.
She had short hair and fairly delicate features, but her face alone made it clear that she was a very forceful woman.
Moreover, this short-haired woman had been staring fixedly at Ryota Kudo ever since he entered. Now she strode toward him.
"Hello, Kudo. I'm Eri Fujisawa, the basketball team manager at Ryokufu High School. Why don't you transfer to Ryokufu?"
Before you continue