"Guess what I just heard!" Hanamichi Sakuragi ran onto the Shohoku Team bus and shouted excitedly to everyone.
"Tch, Big Idiot." Kaede Rukawa turned his head away disdainfully and closed his eyes to rest. He had no interest whatsoever in anything to do with Hanamichi Sakuragi.
The most interested were the two who loved a bit of entertainment, Hisashi Mitsui and Ryota Miyagi. They pulled Hanamichi Sakuragi over and asked him.
"Come on, Sakuragi, what happened? Did you just sneak off to eavesdrop on Kudo?"
"That's right! I heard a huge secret." Hanamichi Sakuragi glanced around mysteriously. Only after everyone's attention had been drawn to him did Sakuragi continue, satisfied.
"Do you know what kind of relationship Ryonan's team manager has with Kudo? They're actually boyfriend and girlfriend!"
"What?!" Hisashi Mitsui stared at Hanamichi Sakuragi in shock. "You must have misheard, Sakuragi. How could Kudo possibly be that pushy girl's boyfriend?"
"It's true! That girl even said, 'Kudo, if you really love me, transfer to Ryokufu High School for me.'"
In just one minute, what Hanamichi Sakuragi had heard had become distorted. Or rather, he had never heard all of it clearly in the first place.
If Ryota Kudo had been there, he would definitely have punched Hanamichi Sakuragi hard in the head for spreading rumors like that.
To Hanamichi Sakuragi, this was just an interesting piece of gossip, but the rest of the Shohoku Team did not see it that way.
Even the proud members of the "Problem Children Gang" had privately accepted Ryota Kudo's position as the team's cornerstone.
If Ryota Kudo really transferred, the impact on Shohoku High School would be enormous.
In an instant, the atmosphere on the bus grew heavy.
Finally, Takenori Akagi spoke up to settle everyone's nerves. "All right, stop thinking about Kudo.