But after hearing Yohei Mito explain what happened afterward, his temper flared again. He gave Yohei and the others a headbutt each before finally calming down.
After a whole evening of fussing around, Sakuragi still ended up at Shirasawa's house, though he had no idea what he was there for. It certainly wasn't to play basketball. He loitered outside the door for over an hour without knocking.
"Sakuragi, I thought you weren't coming." Shirasawa's voice suddenly rang out.
Sakuragi's heart tightened. The moment had finally come. None of yesterday's arrogance remained, and he looked thoroughly deflated, though his face still wore a defiant expression.
"I, Hanamichi Sakuragi, keep my word," he said, curling his lip. "What exactly do you want me to do?"
Shirasawa smiled faintly.
"Sakuragi, just hearing the word 'basketball' makes you mad right now, doesn't it?" he asked.
Sakuragi immediately frowned. Shirasawa knew yesterday's arguments alone wouldn't work. Even another beating would only make him yield outwardly, not inwardly. Yesterday had only been the beginning. He had to get Sakuragi genuinely convinced first.
"Sakuragi," Shirasawa said seriously, "you really like that girl named Yoko you confessed to yesterday, don't you?"
Hanamichi Sakuragi's face instantly flushed red.
He twisted his mouth. "Tch. What's it to you?"
"But if you really like her, are you willing to lose to that Oda she mentioned?"
The moment he heard Oda's name, Sakuragi gritted his teeth.
He had been rejected fifty times in his three years of junior high, but Yoko was the one he cared about most. So from the day she rejected him, Oda had automatically gone on his list of "mortal enemies." He could accept losing to Shirasawa. They had no real grudge, after all, and he genuinely couldn't beat him. But losing to Oda? Why should he accept that?
They hadn't even fought, and he had already lost?
Shirasawa's words hit him right where it hurt. Sakuragi's expression shifted repeatedly before he finally stiffened his neck and shouted, "Wh-who said I lost to him? I could beat him to death!"
"What's between you and Oda is already beyond something a fight can settle." Shirasawa shook his head. "Even if you beat him up, Yoko still won't like you. You'll still be a loser."
"Then what exactly are you getting at?" Sakuragi grew angrier with every word. "What would count as beating him?"
Seeing that the moment was right, Shirasawa sighed. "If you really want to win, you have to crush him completely in the field he's proudest of, the thing he's best at. Make Yoko understand that you're much better than him-that's winning. To put it plainly, basketball."
Basketball?
Sakuragi's eyes suddenly widened as he remembered Yoko's final words: "I like Oda from the basketball club." Put that way, Shirasawa seemed to have a point. Someone like Oda would probably go down in one punch, so beating him up really wouldn't be much fun. But beating him at basketball...
As he thought about it, a scene immediately took shape in Sakuragi's mind: he would thrash Oda at basketball until Oda cried for his parents, knelt in defeat, and admitted he was useless. Yoko would finally see the light, turn around, and throw herself into the arms of the true basketball genius...
Although Shirasawa couldn't see what he was imagining, the stupid grin on Sakuragi's face gave him a pretty good idea. This single-celled organism certainly lived up to his reputation.
Gradually, Sakuragi started laughing out loud. "Hahahaha-"
Shirasawa watched in exasperation and had to interrupt. "Wake up. As far as I know, Oda is the captain of Wako Junior High School's basketball team, while you... don't seem to be anything at all."
The words woke Sakuragi like a bucket of cold water. He blinked blankly and returned to reality. "Basketball? I've never played anything that boring..."
Somewhat speechless, Shirasawa could only spell it out. "You don't have many good points, but you've got a decent build. Learn basketball from me, and in less than three months, you'll have more than enough to handle someone like Oda. Besides, Sakuragi, do you know why you couldn't beat me yesterday?"
That question got straight to the point, and Sakuragi immediately turned serious. Fighting was his specialty. His physique and technique were far beyond an ordinary person's, but yesterday's fight had really made him question his life.
"We look about the same in height and build. Basketball is part of the reason I could beat you," Shirasawa continued. "Fighting and basketball actually have things in common. You have to anticipate your opponent's movements, find a weakness, then hit them hard. Basketball just lets you develop those skills faster. Get it? Whether you want to win back your pride from Oda or beat me, basketball is the only way."
Sakuragi looked at him with a hazy grasp of what he meant and fell silent. Shirasawa wasn't in a hurry either and waited quietly, figuring this genius was in the middle of a brainstorming session.
After a while, a cool breeze shot through his crotch, making him shiver. Hanamichi Sakuragi raised his head, his face full of determination.
"I get it," he declared solemnly. "As long as I get good at basketball, I can wipe out both Oda and you."
...All right, then.
Shirasawa nodded with a wry smile. Whatever Sakuragi thought, reaching the goal was what mattered. "Come see me starting tomorrow. I'll teach you during the break. Once school starts, join Shohoku's basketball team with me. Then you can deal with Oda yourself on the court."
Sakuragi's lips curved smugly, that inexplicable confidence resurfacing. "Heh heh. This little basketball game will only take a genius like me a few days to learn. Just you wait. First I'll take down Oda, then you're next."
Shirasawa gave a cold smile. "I swore that the thing I hate most is people acting cocky in front of me."
Before he had finished speaking, he drove a fist into Sakuragi's stomach, though with much less force than yesterday. Sakuragi clutched his stomach and pointed at him with his other hand, shouting, "You're despicable! A sneak attack!"
Without even looking at him, Shirasawa turned and walked away, leaving only a single remark. "One tomorrow afternoon. Riverside court, Sakuragi."
Hanamichi Sakuragi straightened, his expression normal. That punch barely tickled him. He watched Shirasawa's retreating figure and snorted.
"Interesting guy."
Elsewhere, the national high school basketball tournament had just ended.
Yet what Hanamichi Sakuragi didn't know was that, elsewhere, the national high school basketball tournament had just ended.
Eiji Sawakita, a first-year player at Sannoh Industrial High School, had dazzled on the national stage, taking on four or five opposing players single-handedly on several occasions. He helped Sannoh Industrial High School bring home the national championship trophy for the third consecutive year.
Even Kainan, which had dominated Kanagawa for sixteen years, suffered a crushing defeat to Sannoh by over thirty points in the semifinals. At this national tournament, Sannoh Industrial High School displayed its strength beyond any doubt, clearly a cut above the other high school teams across the nation.
That lit a fire under every team. Starting this break, they all busied themselves scouting new players, hoping to challenge Sannoh Industrial High School again next year.
Eiji Sawakita's name thus spread throughout the nation, making him a target many players hoped to surpass. Kaede Rukawa was one of them.
On an outdoor basketball court, Kaede Rukawa executed a fluid sequence of moves past an opponent, took two steps, leaped, and slammed the ball through the hoop.
The basket support shook with it. Ever since losing the final, he had increased his training load. Shirasawa had long since become an imagined opponent in his mind, and the less he could gauge his abilities, the more uneasy he felt. Now Eiji Sawakita had joined the list.
Kaede Rukawa raised a hand and wiped the sweat from his face.
The figures of Shirasawa and Sawakita seemed to flicker before his eyes.
"To be number one in the nation, I have to take you down first," he murmured. "Just you wait."
One in the afternoon, at the riverside court.
Hanamichi Sakuragi arrived on time, still wearing his Wako Junior High School uniform. Anyone who didn't know better might have thought he loved his school, but in truth, he barely owned any clothes apart from his uniform.
Shirasawa knew about Sakuragi's family circumstances. It wasn't just Sakuragi; Yohei Mito and his other buddies were all short on money too. They often took odd jobs together to earn their own living expenses, and unscrupulous bosses were always cheating them.
That was why Shirasawa had deliberately picked out a tracksuit from the pile of clothes Sanae had bought and brought it along. He and Sakuragi had similar builds, so sizing wasn't a concern.
Sakuragi stood on no ceremony and changed into it on the spot.
After changing, he even had the nerve to mutter, "This color... doesn't really suit this genius's taste."
After a brief warm-up, Hanamichi Sakuragi's special basketball training officially began.
Shirasawa was so eager to train Sakuragi partly because he had promised to help him beat Oda, and partly because he himself urgently needed to farm assists.
Under the normal course of events, Shohoku's first game would be a practice match against Ryonan. That would be a good opportunity for Shirasawa to improve his abilities. But Ryota Miyagi and Hisashi Mitsui hadn't returned to the team yet, and Kaede Rukawa had unexpectedly left too. Farming assists with Takenori Akagi alone wouldn't be easy. That made Sakuragi's development especially crucial.
However things changed, the fundamentals remained the same. For a complete beginner like Sakuragi, everything had to start with the basics. Stationary dribbling, for instance-at the very least, he first had to learn that basketballs were bounced with your hands.
Shirasawa gave a simple demonstration, then shoved the ball into Sakuragi's hands.
Sakuragi looked reluctant, but started practicing anyway.
To give him his due, Hanamichi Sakuragi really did have extraordinary talent. Before long, he found a rhythm with the ball. Even with his eyes wandering all over the place, he somehow never lost it. In less than an hour, even his dribbling on the move was starting to look decent.
"This is way too boring..." Sakuragi muttered. "Just as I thought, basketball is as easy as eating for a genius like me."
Shirasawa couldn't be bothered to explain much. Without being taken down a peg, this guy's ego would reach the sky.
With a quick dart, Shirasawa stole the ball straight from Sakuragi. Then he lowered his body and accelerated toward the hoop.
After the final, Shirasawa had put all the ability points he earned into his weakness, ball handling. His overall ball-handling ability was now 70. Although that wasn't particularly high, he could already manage comfortably with no one interfering.
Gathering the ball and taking two steps, Shirasawa exploded off the ground!
His natural athleticism of 85 was already outstanding. His body stretched out in the air as he drew the ball back in one hand, his whole frame arching like a drawn bow.
A tomahawk dunk hammered the ball through the hoop!
The dunk was crisp, clean, and full of power, leaving Sakuragi gaping beside him. For the first time, he had a vague realization: basketball could actually look this cool?
After landing, Shirasawa tossed the ball back to Sakuragi and lifted his chin, signaling him to try too.
Hanamichi Sakuragi caught the basketball, his eyes shining. Shirasawa was about his height, and from what he had just seen, their jumping ability seemed pretty evenly matched too. If he could pull off that move, wouldn't beating Oda be a piece of cake?
"All right! Let me show you this genius's true ability!"
Whoosh!
Copying what he had seen, Hanamichi Sakuragi bent down with the ball and charged toward the hoop.
But after only a few dribbles, the basketball struck his foot with a bang and rolled away.
Sakuragi's face twitched, and he scratched his head awkwardly. "An... accident..."
He retrieved the ball, backed up, and tried again.
The result was exactly the same.