Just over a month had passed since his last meeting with the coach, but standing face-to-face with him once again, Rukawa's state of mind was vastly different.
He no longer felt the reckless impulsiveness that followed the match against Ryonan. Instead, he possessed a newfound composure, and his thoughts had shifted from fragmented pieces to a complete picture.
"Coach, how can the current Shohoku Team rule the nation?" Rukawa asked, cutting straight to the point in his signature style.
Anzai took a slow sip of his tea, let out a gentle chuckle, and asked, "Is ruling the nation still Rukawa-kun's goal?"
"Yes. I don't want to lose."
"Then, in Rukawa-kun's opinion, does Shohoku currently have the strength to rule the nation?"
"No." Rukawa didn't hesitate for a single second. This was the conclusion he had reached after repeatedly reviewing the game tapes of the national tournament.
Anzai expressed approval of his judgment. "That's right. The current Shohoku does not have that capability. So, in your view, what direction must Shohoku break through in order to rule the nation?"
Rukawa replied sincerely, "I don't know. Please instruct me, Coach."
Anzai poured some more tea into Rukawa's cup. Rukawa bowed in thanks, picked it up, and drank it down.
"Rukawa-kun, what do you think of Sakuragi-kun?"
The hand lowering the cup paused for a moment. The coach's wife had asked him this very question before, but back then, he hadn't had an answer.
What about now?
As a basketball player, Rukawa gave an objective assessment: "Sakuragi-kun is an athlete with exceptional basketball talent. But because he lacks experience, his full value hasn't been unleashed yet."
Anzai nodded approvingly. "Spot on. And Sakuragi-kun is precisely the direction in which Shohoku will break through."
Anzai pulled out a basketball tactics board and said to Rukawa, "Look here, Rukawa-kun, this is our basketball court. Right now, Miyagi-kun in the backcourt has grown into one of the top-tier, elite point guards in the entire country. Leaving the backcourt to him is completely fine. Now, let's look at the midcourt: although Mitsui-kun's stamina hasn't quite caught up yet, given enough time, he can become Shohoku's most solid three-point artillery tower. Finally, we have the frontcourt—which is the main battlefield for you and Sakuragi-kun. That is precisely where Shohoku's greatest breakthrough lies."
As Rukawa pedaled his bicycle home, his mind was consumed by what Anzai had told him: the key to Shohoku's breakthrough lay in the frontcourt partnership between him and Sakuragi. As long as the two of them could cooperate smoothly in battle, no offense in the entire country could rival them, and even their defense would become as impregnable as a fortress.
Teaming up with that Big Idiot. Just the thought of it gave Rukawa a slight headache, as his mind involuntarily conjured up Sakuragi's booming, boisterous, and noisy voice.
How on earth was he supposed to team up with the Big Idiot?
Rukawa racked his brains for days until he finally devised a plan of action. First of all, he had to make the Big Idiot accept the idea of being his partner.
True to his nature as a man of action, Rukawa quickly decided to start from an ideological level and brainwash the Big Idiot.
And so, he began dropping off magazines at the rehabilitation center every now and then.
At the very least, he needed the Big Idiot to understand how elite basketball players and powerful basketball teams played the game, so that he wouldn't fly off the handle and pick a fight the moment someone mentioned the word "partner."
Actually, there were times when Rukawa arrived at the rehabilitation center only to find Sakuragi inside his room. He didn't go in, fearing it might produce the opposite effect, and instead just watched from the doorway for a while.
True to form, the Big Idiot didn't disappoint him; he was earnestly flipping through the magazines.
That put Rukawa in a great mood for several days.
Yet, during all this, Rukawa completely failed to consider another matter: why on earth he felt zero resistance whatsoever toward the idea of teaming up with the Big Idiot, accepting it with such high receptivity.
Rukawa hadn't been happy for long before he heard members of the basketball team whispering that Sakuragi was in a bad state.
After squatting by the seaside and pondering for quite a while, he decided to go home, grab a basketball, and take it to the rehabilitation center.
After all, whenever he was in a bad mood as a kid, his mother would buy him a new basketball, and he would instantly cheer up.
Rukawa figured anyone who loved basketball must be just like him.
No sooner had he delivered the basketball than Rukawa received the notice to report for youth training camp.
The youth training camp was the first systematic training regimen Rukawa had ever participated in since beginning his basketball career.
The coach took promising young players for various positions summoned from all over the country, broke them up, remixed them, adjusted their positions, and taught them through daily live-action scrimmages. This gave Rukawa a whole new understanding of the sport of basketball, especially granting him an intuitive feel for the coordination between small and power forwards.
Watching tapes and matches was one thing, but stepping onto the court to play oneself was entirely another.
The accumulation of tactical experience left Rukawa somewhat excited, and he desperately wanted to share it with someone.
Yet at the youth training camp, virtually everyone was a stranger; the only familiar face was the captain of Aiwa, the team that had defeated Shohoku in the national tournament.
As for exploring how to coordinate with a power forward, Rukawa hadn't gotten much practical experience out of it either.
Because in this youth training camp teeming with national elites, not a single power forward possessed Sakuragi's unique abilities.
This was the first time Rukawa truly and intuitively felt how precious and rare Sakuragi's talent was.
When training ended that day, Rukawa was out for a walk. A promotional banner hung beside the training ground, apparently advertising local tourism.
There was a rough map printed on the banner. Rukawa glanced at it as he walked past, then came to a halt.
He blinked, looked at the clock on the wall, and did a quick mental calculation in his head.
Without a second thought, he immediately started warming up, and once he finished, he bolted toward the beach without the slightest hesitation.
He had no idea that this training ground was only a few kilometers away from the Big Idiot's rehabilitation center.
In Rukawa's mind, Sakuragi had already been assigned the role of "partner." Regardless of the other guy's attitude or whether he agreed to it, Rukawa had made up his mind.
All of this was for the sake of ruling the nation. That was what Rukawa thought as he ran across the sand.
Yet, why was he running over there? Rukawa himself didn't know.
He just wanted to go, so he went.
As the sun dipped toward the horizon, Rukawa ran onto the beach outside the rehabilitation center.
His shoes were crammed with sand, making a squeaking, grating sound with every step that felt thoroughly uncomfortable.
Just as Rukawa was wondering where the entrance to the rehabilitation center was, a patch of fiery red suddenly swam into view.
Rukawa's eyes widened. He sprinted toward that blaze of red and came to a stop a short distance away.
This was the first time the two of them were seeing each other face-to-face since the Sannoh match.
Rukawa stood there, gasping heavily for breath, while Sakuragi sat on the sand with his legs splayed out, holding two sheets of letter paper and wearing an expression of utter astonishment.
Rukawa had a lot of things he wanted to say to Sakuragi: for instance, that the two of them were going to become partners and coordinate on the court; for instance, that if the current Shohoku wanted to break through, they had no choice but to take the path of a duo partnership; for instance, that he had learned a great deal at the youth training camp.
The sea wind was too strong, blowing straight down Rukawa's throat, and combined with his ragged breathing from the run, he couldn't speak a single word.
In his desperation, Rukawa thought of the team jacket he was wearing. With a *swish*, he ripped it open to reveal the emblem of the youth training camp gear underneath.
Big Idiot, see that? This is national-level training, you better believe me.
Unfortunately, Rukawa had no idea that at that exact moment, Sakuragi simply wanted to beat him to a pulp.
From that day on, Rukawa ran that loop every single day.
The coach assumed he was building up his stamina, praised him highly, and even showed leniency when he occasionally arrived late.
Yet, until the youth training camp came to an end, Rukawa never got around to discussing with Sakuragi what they would do once they returned to the team.
*Well, I suppose I can just wait until his rehabilitation treatment is finished,* Rukawa thought silently to himself.
Leaving school early to head home and skipping club practice was because something had happened at Rukawa's house—and it wasn't anything good.
His spirits were somewhat low at the time.
Yet when a pile of items came tumbling down the slope toward him, he raised his head to see the Big Idiot's panicked face looking down from above, and Rukawa's downcast mood vanished instantly.
In a surprisingly good mood, he took the initiative to help Sakuragi pick up his things, and even went so far as to "conveniently" help him carry them home—a completely out-of-character move for Rukawa, who usually walked with his gaze fixed straight ahead, ignoring everything and everyone. It was a true rarity.
He even felt a playful impulse at Sakuragi's front door, trying to force his way inside simply for the sake of seeing the Big Idiot throw a flustered fit.
On his walk home, Rukawa thought: The Big Idiot really is a strange guy.
Because of this groundwork, and because Rukawa had mentally fenced off Sakuragi and drawn him into his world as a "partner," whenever Sakuragi ruffled his eyelashes to wake him up on the rooftop, or accidentally hit him in the nose with an erratic dribble inside the gymnasium, Rukawa didn't get angry at all.
Instead, because of these incidents, he added basic training to Sakuragi's "tutoring" regimen.
Rukawa had a very clear grasp of his own position, so he patiently guided Sakuragi through the videotapes he had brought back from the youth training camp, viewing them in meticulous detail.
When he had witnessed firsthand at the youth training camp how formidable the combat power of complete strangers could become once they began cooperating, Rukawa had gone straight to the coach to demand the tapes.
If he hadn't relentlessly pestered him three times a day, he might not have managed to secure the tapes so smoothly.
*Big Idiot, wake up already. Come back to the court as my partner. Let's lead the Shohoku Team to rule the nation together.*
The fact that Sakuragi had suddenly reverted to a beginner's state made Rukawa feel that he had a long and arduous road ahead of him.
Yet, Rukawa never once entertained the thought of giving up on Sakuragi.
Instead, he made it crystal clear to Sakuragi: We are going to become partners, and we will win matches through coordination if we want to achieve the goal of ruling the nation.
That night, Rukawa—who usually slept like a rock—had a dream, for the first time in memory.
In the dream, someone seemed to be brushing against his eyelashes.
He wanted to open his eyes to see who it was, but he simply couldn't; all he could see through the hazy blur was a burst of red light.
Then, someone stroked his hair, patting his head over and over again like a child petting a cat.
Rukawa reached out to grab that person, but no matter what, he couldn't catch them.
Next, he heard someone whisper right beside his ear in a breathy voice: "Fox~~~~~"
When Rukawa woke up, he stared in a daze at the wet patch on his trousers.