The distance between the homes of Rukawa and Sakuragi was neither too close nor too far.
Usually, however, Sakuragi would detour toward Yohei’s neighborhood, pick up the members of the Sakuragi Legion one by one along the way, and head to the train station in a noisy, boisterous group. Taking this route to school meant he would never run into Rukawa, who rode his bicycle.
Sometimes, when he overslept and ran late, even knowing Yohei and the others definitely wouldn't wait and had already left, he still habitually took his usual route.
Today, however, was the first time since their very first rooftop meeting that the two of them were standing on a major street, staring at each other with wide eyes.
Pointing directly at the bridge of Rukawa’s nose, Sakuragi lashed out loudly, as if venting all the frustration of his arduous journey onto Rukawa: "Damn Fox! Why are you stalking me?! Just waiting for this moment to make a fool of me, huh?"
Rukawa, completely out of the loop, blinked, having no idea what "this moment" referred to.
In this world, there were very few people who could calmly fire back when faced with the towering rage of the notorious delinquent Sakuragi Hanamichi.
The young man standing before him—who had just stopped his bicycle and bent down to pick up a pitiful, dented cup—was one of them.
"Big Idiot, what is there about you worth stalking?"
Sakuragi attributed Rukawa Kaede’s condescending act of helping him pick up all the items that had spilled onto the ground to a guilty conscience.
Of course that was it! If his bag hadn't torn and sent his things scattering everywhere, there was no way his genius self would have detected the stealthy Rukawa tailing him so quickly.
So, to cover up his guilty conscience, the fox had reluctantly lent a hand.
Right, it had to be that.
Thus, Sakuragi began bossing Rukawa around with complete righteousness.
Rukawa, who had left school early due to personal matters, suddenly and inexplicably found himself treated as labor by Sakuragi, who even commandeered his pink bicycle.
Sakuragi stuffed the scattered items into the front basket of the bicycle, placed the heavy luggage directly on the backseat, and—treating Rukawa like a hired carriage driver—ordered him to haul the belongings all the way back to his house.
This was undoubtedly the first time Rukawa had laid eyes on the exterior of Sakuragi's home.
It was an ordinary, small detached house, seemingly poorly maintained; the tiny front yard was completely empty, devoid of flowers, or even grass.
Had it been anyone else, Rukawa wouldn't even have spared them a glance.
Yet, when it came to anything concerning the Big Idiot, he seemed habitually inclined to take a closer look and investigate.
As for actually letting him inside, however, that was entirely out of the question.
Rukawa had already prepared a mental script: the moment the Big Idiot invited him in, he would fire back with this or that sarcastic remark.
To his surprise, once all the items were piled by the doorway, the Big Idiot put his hands on his hips and said loftily, "Since you helped lug my stuff back, Fox, this genius is magnanimous and won't hold your stalking against you. Get lost."
Having the words right on the tip of his tongue rendered useless because the other party refused to play by the rules left Rukawa extremely displeased.
No matter the circumstance, not letting Sakuragi have things his own way had already become a habitual mindset for Rukawa.
Let him leave? Hmph! He refused to go!
Raising his eyes, Rukawa looked straight at Sakuragi: "I worked so hard to help you move, and you're just telling me to leave like this? Doesn't quite fit the rules of hospitality, does it?" With that, he lifted a foot, fully intending to stride right into the house.
Now it was Sakuragi's turn to panic. He scrambled to block the door, adopting a posture that practically screamed, "Unless you beat me to a pulp, you're not taking a single step inside!" He stammered, "Y-y-you, nobody invited you, how can you just walk in on your own!"
Rukawa stopped in his tracks and glared at Sakuragi: "What shameful secret do you have in there?"
Sakuragi stuttered so badly he almost bit his tongue: "St-st-stinky, stinky fox! Your house is the shameful one!" In a flash of inspiration, Sakuragi suddenly thought of a countermeasure. "You know how it is, I've been away from home for a long time, and the place hasn't been cleaned inside. I can't invite anyone in right now."
Finishing that sentence, Sakuragi mentally gave himself a massive thumbs-up, thinking, *I really am a genius!*
"Fox, if you insist on coming in, you'll have to help me clean up. My back just healed from its injury, and I can't do heavy labor yet."
This was the first time Rukawa had ever seen Sakuragi Hanamichi actively show weakness. He froze, momentarily at a loss for how to retort.
Amid their standoff, Rukawa finally remembered why he had left school early in the first place.
So he decided not to waste any more time sparring with Sakuragi.
Under Sakuragi's smug, self-satisfied gaze, Rukawa simply mounted his bike and rode away.
Much later, by a strange twist of fate, Sakuragi found out what Rukawa had been doing that day, and it left him with an ache in his heart that took ages to fade.
Eventually, when Rukawa couldn't find Sakuragi anywhere, he finally dug him out from behind the courtyard fountain, where the red-headed boy was squatting with his arms wrapped around his knees. Rukawa pressed that red head against his chest, the vibration resonating through his torso as he said, "Big Idiot, I wasn't all that sad back then. What are you doing acting like this now?"
Instead of lifting his head, the red-headed boy simply pressed harder against Rukawa's chest, his hands gripping Rukawa's clothes while his shoulders shuddered with silent sobs.
As for the fact that this shirt of Rukawa's was completely ruined in the end, Sakuragi, of course, remained blissfully unaware.
Returning to the autumn of their first year of high school.
Sakuragi returned to his long-abandoned home to find the house neat, clean, and fresh—it was obvious someone had cleaned it in advance.
And apart from the Sakuragi Legion, there was no one else who would have done it.
In high spirits, Sakuragi began unpacking his luggage. He was a deeply home-loving person and had never been away from home for this long since he was a child.
Even though he was living entirely alone now, when his father had first passed away and his grandparents wanted to take him to Hokkaido, he had refused.
This was the place where he had lived since birth, and he couldn't bear to leave.
Thanks to Sakuragi's formidable survival skills, he had managed quite well over the past two years.
Sakuragi knelt before his father's framed portrait, pressing his palms together: "Old man, I haven't been home for so many days, you must have been worried, right? I picked up a bit of an injury during the tournament, but I've recovered now. The doctor says I'll be able to play basketball normally just like before, which is just fantastic! Just you wait and watch your genius son conquer the basketball court!"
Unpacking down to the last items, Sakuragi looked at the stack of basketball magazines and let out a breath.
Earlier, his desperate attempts to block Rukawa from entering wasn't just about avoiding a close relationship with someone he didn't get along with; a small part of him had also worried that if Rukawa saw this stack of magazines, he might ask for them back.
Mitsui had told him during his hospital visit that these translated magazines were very hard to buy domestically, let alone having such a complete run of dates.
So, even after learning that these books had been brought by Rukawa, Sakuragi had only felt awkward for the first two days before letting go of his grudge, refusing to take out his hatred for the fox on these innocent books, and even worrying that Rukawa might come to take them back after he was discharged.
As soon as the Sakuragi Legion was released from school by their teachers, they hurried over to Sakuragi's house.
"Hanamichi, how did you manage to get back all by yourself?"
"Talk about rotten luck, walking out of the parlor playing pachinko yesterday only to run right into a teacher—there wasn't even time to run."
"We had all the celebration banners and firecrackers ready to welcome Hanamichi out of the hospital, and none of them got used. So frustrating!"
"Hanamichi, you've already finished unpacking?"
Wearing an apron, Sakuragi poked his head out from the kitchen and asked, "How did you guys know I was home?"
Yohei walked into the kitchen: "As soon as the teacher let us go, we called the sanitarium, and they said you left right after lunch. We calculated the time, and figured you should have made it home by now."
Sakuragi smiled brightly: "A genius's movements are always swift!"
Yohei smiled as well: "Right, right, genius Sakuragi is the fastest."
Takamiya strolled in, looking around left and right: "Hanamichi, did you make enough food for all of us?"
"Of course I did, I even prepared sukiyaki."
"Whoa! Long live Hanamichi!"
After dinner, Noma took charge of cleaning up, Okusu and Takamiya washed the dishes, and Yohei stayed with Sakuragi to see if anything needed help.
"Hanamichi, you have so much luggage. How did you manage to bring it back? We originally planned on needing all four of us to carry it."
Sakuragi gave a guilty, sheepish chuckle: "I just brought it back like this, don't underestimate me!"
"Well, Hanamichi really is capable now!"
"Hahahaha, do you even need to ask?"
Yohei sat cross-legged on the tatami mat: "So, can you go to school tomorrow?"
Sakuragi was tidying up the wardrobe, getting his school uniform ready while taking out his athletic gear.
"Yeah, the injury is completely healed. I'll go back to club activities as usual after school." He gently touched the Shohoku No. 10 jersey hanging in the closet, feeling a sense of surreal detachment. "Yohei, do you think that because I've been away from training for so long, I'll regress back to when I didn't know how to play at all?"
Yohei propped his arms behind him: "I don't know much about basketball, but no matter the sport, if you go too long without practicing, it's bound to have an effect."
Pressing his forehead against the closet door, Sakuragi looked a little aggrieved.
Yohei continued: "However, our Hanamichi is a genius who completed twenty thousand shots in five days. What's there to fear about a little setback? We'll just work hard and practice our way back, won't we?"
Hearing those words, Sakuragi was like a deflated balloon suddenly pumped full of air. He lifted his head energetically, placed both hands on his hips, and let out a hearty laugh: "That's right, I'm a genius! If I've regressed, I'll just practice twice as hard. One day, I'll still be able to beat that fox!"
Early the next morning, Sakuragi put on his school uniform and strutted with his signature genius gait, returning to school in high spirits.
Just like that morning right after the Shoyo match, Sakuragi ran into members of the basketball team at the school gates, even bumping into Takenori Akagi and Kogure Kiminobu, who had already retired from the club.
Everyone offered a tumultuous welcome to the sudden appearance of Sakuragi. Miyagi got so excited he almost slapped him hard on the back, fortunately saved when Mitsui reached out and grabbed him with quick-eyed reflexes.
"Hanamichi, it is so great that you're back!"
"Hahahaha, Ryota, Mitsui, you guys must have missed me like crazy, right? How could the Shohoku Basketball Team possibly survive without a genius like me?!"
Just as Sakuragi was blooming with delight, he caught sight of Rukawa riding his bicycle through the school gates, looking thoroughly sleep-allergic.