Sakuragi himself was getting a little frustrated. Just a moment ago, he had been able to run while sitting on the ball, and it had behaved so well! Why wouldn't it work now?
Only then did Shirasawa stroll over.
There were some things Sakuragi needed to puzzle out for himself first.
"You have to build a relationship with a basketball too," Shirasawa said. "Once that relationship is there, it'll listen to you."
"In basketball, though, we call that touch," Shirasawa added. "It's the feeling between your hand and the ball."
Sakuragi stared at the basketball in his hands and nodded, only half understanding.
"Touch..."
"Build a relationship..."
Shirasawa was quite pleased to see Sakuragi looking so focused. Once this guy got serious, his drive was actually pretty frightening. He just needed the right approach to get him on track.
"Well? Not as hard as you imagined, right?" Shirasawa changed tack. "How about this? Forget dribbling. Just run over holding the ball and try that dunk I did."
He paused, then added fuel to the fire. "For a genius, that should be easier than eating, right?"
Sure enough, the instant the word "genius" came up, Sakuragi's ears automatically filtered out every other piece of information.
"Hmph, you've finally recognized this genius's abilities." Sakuragi's eyes lit up. He grabbed the basketball and took his stance. "All right! I'll show you firsthand what a genius's jumping ability looks like!"
The words had barely left his mouth when he tucked the ball in one hand, sliced through the air with the other like a blade, and shot forward!
After a fierce sprint, Sakuragi drove his left foot hard into the ground one step beyond the free throw line and launched himself into the air. His explosiveness really was astonishing. Just watching him was exhilarating.
"Watch this! The genius Sakuragi's dunk!"
In midair, Sakuragi roared and swung his ball-holding arm in a full arc. He had copied the form quite convincingly.
But...
Why did the hoop seem to keep rising in his eyes?
His body had already started falling.
In desperation, Sakuragi gritted his teeth and hurled the ball at the hoop without a second thought.
Clang!
He slammed the basketball squarely onto the front of the rim. His brute strength actually deformed the ball, and the next second, it bounced straight back.
Like a bullet, the ball struck Sakuragi right in the forehead.
Thrown off balance, Sakuragi crashed awkwardly to the ground, the impact leaving tears and snot streaming down his face.
Watching from the side, Shirasawa nearly laughed himself to tears. He had expected something to go wrong. After all, Sakuragi had no idea how to control that monstrous body of his, and this was his first time even seeing a dunk. Shirasawa had thought he might hit the backboard or miss the dunk, but who knew he would manage to hit himself in the head with the ball...
The sheer spectacle rivaled someone putting so much force into a high kick that they flipped themselves over.
"Had your reality check, genius?" Shirasawa walked over and rested a hand on Sakuragi's red hair, desperately holding back his laughter.
Sakuragi raised his head in pain, snot still dangling from his nose. Those repeated setbacks had dented his inflated confidence somewhat. After all, Shirasawa had made it look so easy.
But with someone of Sakuragi's temperament, simply knocking him down wouldn't work. Both the stick and the carrot had to be applied just right.
Shirasawa sat down beside him, his tone turning serious. "Honestly, you really are talented. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to find you."
He glanced at Sakuragi and continued, "But if you want to beat Oda in a short time, you've seen for yourself... Sakuragi, you don't want to lose again, do you?"
At those words, Sakuragi froze for a moment.
A moment later, the confusion in his eyes vanished.
"The word 'failure' doesn't exist in a genius's dictionary." Sakuragi wiped his face and sprang to his feet. "Xiao Bai, let's train!"
Shirasawa spent almost his entire vacation on Sakuragi.
Yohei Mito and the others weren't idle either. To let Sakuragi focus on practicing basketball, the guys volunteered to handle logistical support-in plain terms, they took part-time jobs.
Four people had to earn enough to cover expenses for five.
Every day, the bicycle named "A-Qiu No. 1" carried them all over Kanagawa. Whenever they had time, they came to the riverside court to find Shirasawa and Sakuragi.
They had all been delinquents, so there was naturally a certain inexplicable affinity between them. After spending these days together, their initial misgivings about Shirasawa had long since disappeared.
Their world was actually very simple: if you came with ill intent, they would fight you; but if you treated them sincerely, they would never let you down.
Yohei Mito, in particular, was glad to see Sakuragi find something he could throw himself into wholeheartedly.
Sakuragi was the Sakuragi Gang's leader in name, and he really was their best fighter. But the one who truly held them together was Yohei Mito. He always cared about everyone's feelings and quietly looked after their little group.
So he soon came to feel that Shirasawa was a friend worth having, too. As Sakuragi's buddy, Yohei actually felt reassured that he was hanging around Shirasawa every day.
At least Hanamichi Sakuragi was now moving forward on a decent path.
As for the rest of them... playing basketball was out of the question. Their physical limitations were plain to see. They could worry about the future when it came.
Under the blazing sun, Hanamichi Sakuragi was still sweating buckets on the court.
He dribbled as he raced all over the court. His speed on the move and his ball control were worlds apart from before.
Aside from the fundamentals, what Shirasawa taught him most was catching passes-both the movements and the awareness involved.
Securely catching a pass was the link connecting offensive players on the court, and it was inseparable from their feel for the ball. The follow-up move after the catch was scoring.
This was precisely what Shirasawa most wanted Sakuragi to master: how to catch the ball securely, and which way to catch it in different positions and situations. It was far too important.
After these past days, their initial misgivings about Shirasawa had long since disappeared.
Shirasawa often threw Sakuragi fast, awkward passes to help him adjust as quickly as possible. After catching the ball, there was really only one final step-putting it in the hoop. That way, the genius could easily add two points to his stat line.
Yet that very act of "putting the ball in the hoop" frustrated Shirasawa so much he wanted to pull out a knife. His own shooting wasn't particularly accurate yet either, and his midrange and long-range shots were mostly down to luck, but shooting right under the basket was different, wasn't it? With Sakuragi's height and reach, he ought to be able to put it in with nobody contesting him.
Yet Hanamichi Sakuragi's hands were impossibly stiff, without the slightest softness to their touch. After days of practice, he could only manage a shooting percentage of around thirty percent under the basket with nobody guarding him. Shirasawa had no solution beyond making him keep practicing hard. After all, everyone had their specialty. Shooting was probably the genius Sakuragi's weakest area in basketball.
Toward evening, Sanae made a special trip to bring everyone dinner. The boxed meals looked quite refined. After thanking her, the guys began wolfing them down. By now, they were long used to Sanae showing up.
The first time was always the most stunning. When Sanae first appeared before them, with those looks and that figure... the guys had nearly bled themselves dry through their noses. Meanwhile, the first time Sanae watched Sakuragi train, her eye as a basketball media professional immediately spotted his potential.
What surprised her even more, though, was that Shirasawa was actually taking the initiative to develop a player! He seemed like a completely different person. Had basketball suddenly clicked for him? Whatever the case, it was a good thing. Once the high school league began, she believed Shirasawa would amaze everyone, perhaps even becoming a rising star in high school basketball. She secretly resolved that when the time came, she would use every resource available to support him.
After everyone finished dinner, Shirasawa called Sakuragi onto the court again.
"Sakuragi," Shirasawa said, "I'm teaching you a new move today."
Hanamichi Sakuragi immediately edged closer.
"Aren't you always saying training is boring?" Shirasawa smiled. "Today's move is guaranteed to blow the whole court away."
Hanamichi Sakuragi's eyes instantly lit up, his face brimming with smug delight. Showing off was in his nature, and "blow the whole court away" was exactly what he wanted to hear. Wouldn't that make him the center of everyone's attention?
"Tell me, tell me!" he shouted impatiently. "This genius learns faster than anyone! I've been craving a new move! Hahahaha!"
Shirasawa looked around, his gaze sweeping over everyone present before finally settling on Sanae.
Of course, that wasn't because she was wearing a fitted dress today, with rather eye-catching curves... The main reason was that Shirasawa thought Sanae was probably the only one among them who could help him perform this move. At least she could understand instructions.
"Sanae," Shirasawa said, "throw me an alley-oop."
Sanae's lips parted slightly in surprise. She knew Shirasawa was quite athletic, but she had never heard that he could dunk. Still, since he had said so, he should be able to do it. Just how many secrets was this guy hiding?
Without asking any more questions, she picked up the basketball, walked to a spot near the hoop, and nodded at Shirasawa.
Sakuragi and the others watched in complete bewilderment, with no idea what an "alley-oop" was. Did an explosive move actually require a girl to be there?
Shirasawa suddenly took off, charging straight toward the basket.
Sanae concentrated fully. Although she had never thrown an alley-oop pass and rarely even touched a basketball, she had plenty of theoretical knowledge and experience watching the game, along with an inexplicable rapport with Shirasawa. Picking her moment, she pushed the ball upward with both hands.
The basketball flew toward a point above and to the right of the hoop.
At the same time, Shirasawa planted his foot and jumped.
Sanae realized her pass was a little off target, and her heart tightened, only for her to see Shirasawa continue rising through the air, reaching out with one hand to gather the basketball securely.
His body stretched out fully.
Then-
The rim gave a dull bang.
Shirasawa completed the alley-oop, hammering the ball through the hoop with one arm! The force was tremendous, and the sight was stunning.
Sanae couldn't help letting out a soft cry. She marveled at the powerful alley-oop, but was even more surprised that Shirasawa's athleticism had reached such a level-for that instant, he looked as if he were flying.
Sakuragi and the others gaped even wider, their faces almost distorted with shock.