After hesitating for a while, Asatani still gritted his teeth and sidled up to Shirasawa. He clenched his hands, trying to keep his outstretched arm from trembling too much.
Asatani patted Shirasawa on the back, tilted his head back, and asked, "Um, sir, is there anything I can help you with?"
Shirasawa then snapped out of his daze, looked down at the shop assistant, and said urgently, "How much is this magazine? I'll buy it."
Asatani immediately lowered his head. "This one costs two hundred yen."
Shirasawa then realized that he didn't have any money with him. But after searching his pockets, he couldn't find anything.
Watching the blond-haired man pat his pockets, Asatani mustered his courage and muttered softly, "Sir, this shop... we don't offer credit." The last two words were barely audible, like a mosquito's hum.
But after Shirasawa paid and hurriedly left without even asking for change, Asatani suddenly burst out laughing.
"Sure enough, this kid was intimidated by my righteous aura. Judging from the way he ran away, I definitely taught him a lesson. When it comes to fighting bad guys, you have to stand up and not cower! That's how I should be. I want justice to spread to every corner!"
Little did he know that his act of not asking for change had led to a spiritual elevation for the shop assistant.
He was even more excited than when he discovered he had traveled through time this morning, all because of the " Basketball Weekly " magazine in his hand.
There was an article in the weekly magazine titled "National High School Interhigh League: Can the Strongest Sannoh Industrial High School Defend Their Title?", Yayoi Aida.
The article states that Sannoh Industrial High School is currently the top high school basketball team in the country, and this year they added the talented player Eiji Sawakita, making them even more formidable and perfect. It also mentions several teams that can rival Sannoh, including Kainan Team from Kanagawa Prefecture.
Upon seeing Yayoi Aida's name, Shirasawa realized that he had transmigrated into the world of " Slam Dunk "!
Upon seeing Eiji Sawakita's name, he trembled uncontrollably. "No wonder my body is so athletic and I don't look Japan at all—it's from the world of anime! Shinichi Maki, Akira Sendoh, Kaede Rukawa, Hanamichi Sakuragi... so you're all here! Playing with you guys is so awesome!"
Shirasawa laughed heartily, all his previous discomfort vanished, and from this moment on, he completely accepted Yo Aoki's body.
Looking up at the blue sky, Yo Aoki said softly, "Now I am Yo Aoki. The chance to return to China will only come after I have conquered the entire country."
After saying that, Shirasawa, who was formerly known as Bai Ze, and now Yo Aoki, clenched his fists and smiled confidently.
Yo Aoki arrived at the gate of his former school Eda Middle School, and followed his memory toward his classroom.
Along the way, all the students who saw him avoided him, afraid of making eye contact.
"I'm practically a plague," Yo Aoki naturally realized, but could only laugh helplessly. After all, he was a problem child.
After entering the classroom and sitting in his seat, Yo Aoki decided to study hard.
As a time traveler, he was confident that he could get into his desired school in the high school entrance exam.
"Should I go to Shohoku, Kainan, or Ryonan? But Shohoku is a public school, and I don't know if I can go from where I live now..."
Yo Aoki was happily imagining the future, suddenly froze because he realized he hadn't brought his schoolbag!
The bell rang, signaling the end of Yo Aoki's first day of classes.
Although he didn't bring any books, after observing for a day, he found that the junior high school curriculum and the content of China) were quite similar in some ways.
Therefore, he felt that as long as he took some time to catch up, his academic studies would definitely be fine.
Yo Aoki stretched. "Then we have the next plan: join the basketball team!"
The basketball court at Eda Middle School is located on the north side of the school. As soon as you get close, you can hear the sounds of dribbling, shouting, and cheering.
Hearing this, Yo Aoki felt a little dazed, as if he could see himself practicing tennis in the past.
Filled with anticipation and hope, he entered the basketball court.
The basketball team was playing half-court offense and defense at this moment, with both sides exchanging blows and the game being very close.
Yo Aoki carefully observed the players and found that although they were all fourteen or fifteen years old, one or two of them already had a strong basketball skill.
For example, one student with a buzz cut is incredibly fast and has amazing jumping ability, easily getting past defenders one-on-one to score. Another student, around 1.7 meters tall, has a strong overall view of the game, reads the game very well, and is the initiator of the team's tactics.
Yo Aoki was tall and had dyed his hair blonde, making him particularly eye-catching.
The moment he stepped onto the court, he became the center of attention.
Just then, a player who had been taking notes on the sidelines noticed the unexpected visitor. He immediately put down his notebook, walked up to Yo Aoki, and asked, " Aoki -kun, what brings you to the basketball gym?"
Yo Aoki smiled at the student and said, "Hello, I'd like to join the basketball team."
"Huh?" Shirota couldn't believe his ears and asked again, "What did you say?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Yo Aoki raised his voice and added, but the entire basketball court fell silent instantly.
Everyone froze on the spot, their eyes fixed on Yo Aoki.
After a while, Shirota, who was taking notes on the sidelines, finally came to his senses. He frowned and leaned over to ask, " Aoki, you're a third-year student, right?"
Yo Aoki didn't hold back and retorted directly, "Yeah, does that mean third graders can't join the basketball team?"
Shirota had some doubts. Although most of the third-year veterans had left the team, this kid was known for fighting and brawling at school and definitely had no good intentions. As the captain, he absolutely couldn't let him in.
He coughed once before slowly saying to Yo Aoki, "I'm Shirota, the captain of the basketball team. I can't approve your application."
Yo Aoki didn't press the matter further and said directly, "Then find the coach, I'll talk to him."
But just then, a calm voice came from the sidelines. "I approve of his joining."
Shirota was stunned on the spot. Yo Aoki also turned around and saw a middle-aged man in sportswear coming in from outside the stadium. His hair was slicked back and shiny, clearly covered in styling gel.
He walked over to Yo Aoki, waved to interrupt Shirota who was about to speak, then crossed his arms and stared at the court without looking at Yo Aoki, saying to himself, "You can join, but you must abide by the basketball team's rules and follow my instructions. If you can't, you're out."
Yo Aoki nodded. "No problem."
"Then come to training tomorrow." After saying that, the middle-aged man walked onto the court. Yo Aoki smiled, turned around, and left the basketball court.
After Yo Aoki left, Shirota hurriedly said to the coach, "Coach, why did you let someone like that join the team?"
The coach smoothed his slicked-back hair, snorted, and said, " Yo Aoki from Class 4, Grade 3, relies on his family's wealth to fight at school. He's a black sheep in the teachers' eyes. I'm going to bring him into the team and teach him a lesson."
On his way home, Yo Aoki touched his blond hair, determined to dye it back to black and get it cut short.
At the hair salon, he looked in the mirror, dyed his blond hair black, and cut it into a buzz cut. He grinned and said, "This is how you should look when playing basketball."
As he left the hair salon, he took off his earrings without even blinking, and threw them away with a flick of his wrist.
When he got home, Ryoko Aoki saw him and exclaimed, " Yo, you got a haircut?!"
She quickly called out to Mamoru Aoki, "Honey! Come quick, Yo's got a haircut!"
Mamoru Aoki stared at him for a while, paused, and then snorted, "This is how the eldest son of the Aoki family should be. What's the big deal?"
Ryo Aoki winked and leaned close to Yo Aoki, whispering, "Big brother, you've finally changed your ways."
Yo Aoki was completely confused. "What did I change about?"
"It's about your hair, of course! Dad said if you keep your blond hair any longer, he'll kick you out!"
Yo Aoki shrugged, too lazy to argue.
The next day, Yo Aoki walked out of the school gate with a buzz cut, and was pointed at and whispered about by his classmates. He finally waited until school was over and went straight to the basketball court.
In the basketball gym of Eda Middle School, the team members were all surprised to see him, and even the coach from yesterday was stunned for a moment.
The coach snapped out of his daze, smoothed his greasy hair, and said to Yo Aoki, "I'm Hisaishi, your coach. Because of your special circumstances, I've arranged special training for you. We'll start with this today."
He pointed to the scoreboard in the corner, Yo Aoki looked over. It was an old-fashioned scoreboard.
And so, Yo Aoki became a member of the Eda Middle School basketball team. His training consisted of managing the scoreboard, being a cheerleader, and undergoing grueling physical training specially arranged for him by Hisaishi.
That day, after finishing a set of 50-meter frog jumps, Yo Aoki wiped his sweat, rested for a while, and then squatted down to do the next set of frog jumps.
He's been with the team for a week now, and besides having him manage the scoreboard, Hisaishi has been giving him nothing but high-intensity training exercises like frog jumps, shuttle runs, and sprints.
No one thought he could last a day, but Yo Aoki did last a week.
Although the coach wanted to teach him a lesson and the team members wanted to see him make a fool of himself, they were all speechless when they saw his appearance. Even Shirota, who had opposed his joining the team in the first place, had the thought, "Is this guy serious?"
In fact, most people would avoid these training sessions, but Yo Aoki couldn't be happier. He thought about it and realized that what he needed most right now wasn't his ball skills, but his physical condition.
He was a transmigrator, his soul inhabiting a stranger's body. He needed time to adapt, especially to strenuous sports like basketball. If he wasn't familiar with his body, he could easily get injured. Therefore, high-intensity physical training was the shortcut for him to adapt to his body as quickly as possible.
Shirota shouted to his teammates who were sprawled on the ground, "That's it for training."
"I'm exhausted! We can finally leave!" The teammates' complaints rose and fell.
Seeing everyone's unsteady steps, Shirota felt a pang of jealousy.
Eda Basketball Team takes a different approach than other teams. While other teams rely on third-year students to lead the team and second-year students to play supporting roles, Eda does the opposite, with all second-year students being starters.
After all, there weren't many good players among the third-year students, so Coach Hisaishi decided to let the second-year students start directly, to hone their skills in advance, hoping to improve their performance next year.
The remaining third-year players either lacked talent, were sensible enough to quit, or simply retired to focus on preparing for their exams.
In the end, Shirota remained on the team. It wasn't because he played well, but because he was quick-witted, good at statistics, and could manage the team's training and organize the data. Coach Hisaishi specifically kept him on.
Shirota turned and looked at the other end of the court, and sure enough, there was still one player who hadn't left— Yo Aoki was making back-and-forth runs.
He simply couldn't understand why Yo Aoki would give it his all when he knew he had no chance to play.
Shirota leaned closer, looking at Yo Aoki's panting, and asked, " Aoki- kun, even if you train until you die, Hisaishi won't let you play."