All afternoon, Sakuragi barely paid attention in class; his mind simply wasn't on the lessons.
His arch-rival, Rukawa Kaede, had said he would teach him how to play basketball.
Such a development was enough to fill him with a confusing mix of sorrow and joy.
Sakuragi had always kept Old Anzai's words firmly etched in his heart: observe Rukawa, study Rukawa, surpass Rukawa.
This was the primary mission and absolute goal of his high school years.
Yet, for the sake of his own pride, this tactical approach was a top-secret endeavor that could never be revealed to anyone—not even to Ryota and Mitsui Hisashi, who were especially close to him.
Therefore, Sakuragi always resorted to sneaking glances at Rukawa's performance during practices and games, memorizing his movements and mimicking them. As for figuring out a way to surpass him, that would have to wait until he could imitate him to near perfection.
Sakuragi believed that no one knew he was secretly stealing his moves.
In reality, given Sakuragi's straightforward personality and the way his eyes would fixate unblinkingly on a single person, this method of secret apprenticeship was obvious to anyone who wasn't blind.
It was just that he was too naive, assuming he was hiding it well.
Naturally, those who could tell included Rukawa himself.
After all, too many times he had stopped moving, turned around, and found a pair of sparkling eyes staring at him from every conceivable angle. If gazes possessed physical form, Rukawa felt as though he lived inside a spiderweb.
Rukawa hadn't paid much attention to this behavior from the Big Idiot.
On the contrary, during practices he would even intentionally or unintentionally repeat the same movement. Just add a bit of explanation, and it was practically on-site tutoring.
Only the Big Idiot could be so foolish as to think he was hiding it successfully.
And Rukawa couldn't be bothered to expose him.
Today, Rukawa had suddenly brought up the offer precisely to use this opportunity to bring their secret apprenticeship out into the open.
Of course, the bento made by the Big Idiot had been surprisingly delicious—truly beyond his expectations.
With someone taking care of his lunches from now on, Rukawa felt in an exceptionally good mood.
Due to some recent events at home, his meals had been completely neglected, and he had been surviving on quick bites from the school convenience store at noon, eating until his scalp tingled numbly.
God only knew what he had felt when taking that first bite of the bento Sakuragi brought today.
Feeling utterly refreshed after finishing his lunch, Sakuragi returned to the classroom, only to be met by a group of expectant gazes from the Sakuragi Legion. He thought to himself: *I'm done for.*
He had brought enough bento for three people—a normal person's portion—having agreed to share it with the Legion.
With the members of the Sakuragi Legion sticking by him so loyally through thick and thin, Sakuragi couldn't even say for sure how much of it was due to his own cooking skills.
What should he do now? Takamiya and the others had already fed their entire shares straight into Rukawa's stomach, and this was something he could never, ever admit to anyone.
With no other choice, Sakuragi had to bite the bullet, claim he was starving, and eat everything himself.
To salvage their crumbling friendship, Sakuragi promised to bring them lunch for an entire week, and only then did the group drop the matter.
Sakuragi wept inwardly, taking a moment to curse Rukawa: "Damn fox, now I won't be able to sleep in for a whole week!"
"Hahahahaha, everyone, the genius has returned!" After school, Sakuragi appeared at the gymnasium. Stepping onto the long-missed basketball court floor, he planted his hands on his hips and laughed so hard the roof practically rattled.
"Sakuragi, you're finally back?"
"That's great! Welcome back, Sakuragi."
"Hanamichi, didn't we already see each other this morning? Keep it down!"
"Sakuragi Hanamichi, looking full of energy!"
A group of people cheerfully crowded around him. Sakuragi thoroughly enjoyed basking in the spotlight, feeling wonderfully pleased with himself.
Everyone fired questions at him all at once, keeping Sakuragi happily occupied.
"Big Idiot, do you even remember how to play?" The resident expert on pouring cold water spoke up.
Everyone's heart jumped to their throats instantly: *Oh no, here we go again with these two ancestors.*
However, to everyone's utter astonishment, Sakuragi didn't fly into a rage, didn't start yelling, and didn't charge forward to brawl. Instead, in a rare display, he flashed a grin at Rukawa: "Fox, the genius is back! Your good days are over! Scared yet?"
Following the sound of Sakuragi's voice, everyone's gaze shifted in unison toward Rukawa: *Oh no, is this one going to open fire now?*
Heaven knows, Rukawa actually said quite calmly, "You'd better check how much you're worth first."
What was going on?
Where was the clash of opposing forces? Where was Shohoku's specialty, the Monkey-Fox War?
Wasn't Sakuragi's injury in his back? How was it that both of them seemed to have hurt their heads?
With that, Rukawa tossed a ball over. Sakuragi threw out his arms and scooped it up.
"What? Fox, you want a 1-on-1?"
Rukawa adjusted the elbow sleeve on his arm, expressionless: "With you right now? Who knows if your basic skills are even still there? You're not qualified to play 1-on-1 with me."
The crowd was shocked: What's wrong with Rukawa today? Is he dead set on picking a fight with Sakuragi? Every single sentence is stoking the flames. If Sakuragi can hold his temper now, it'll be a miracle.
Hearing such an obvious invitation to a fight, Sakuragi acted as if he were deaf, showing zero reaction. Instead, he said cheerfully, "You watch, you damn fox!"
With that, Sakuragi dribbled the ball a few times on the floor and suddenly accelerated toward Rukawa, moving so fast he almost left an afterimage.
Rukawa stood there stiffly like a utility pole, not even bothering to take a defensive stance, waiting for Sakuragi to charge over.
Sakuragi rapidly dribbled the ball toward Rukawa. According to his plan, he intended to blow past Rukawa at high speed, rush to the basket behind him, and leap from the free-throw line for a slam dunk.
It was truly a flawless strategy.
Dreams are beautiful; reality is ice-cold.
When Sakuragi had dribbled to within three steps of Rukawa, the ball inexplicably bounced off his own foot, its trajectory changing drastically.
Right before everyone's eyes, the basketball rebounded off Sakuragi's foot and flew straight toward Rukawa's face.
Sakuragi was startled out of his wits and quickly thrust out a hand to swat at the ball, altering its course.
As luck would have it, seeing the ball hurtling right at him, Rukawa instinctively ducked to the side—just in time to intercept the path of Sakuragi's swatted ball.
*Bang!* The basketball struck Rukawa square in the face with absolute precision.
The gymnasium fell instantly silent, save for the sound of the basketball bouncing on the floor.
*Done for. We are so done for.*
Sakuragi was nearly scared out of his mind.
Fearless as he was, looking at Rukawa's expressionless face after taking the hit sent a chill running straight down his spine.
The Sakuragi Legion, who had been watching Sakuragi's practice from the gym entrance, collapsed onto the floor laughing once again.
"Hahahahaha, I knew it! Whenever Hanamichi comes back, there's always a good show to watch. Hahahaha..."
Just like that, less than three minutes after returning to the court following his recovery, Sakuragi forced an early end to the session because Rukawa's nose had been smashed and was bleeding.
Like a timid newlywed bride, he trailed apprehensively behind Rukawa toward the infirmary, carrying the medical kit Haruko had shoved into his hands.
Ordinarily, both of them were veterans of numerous "battlefields"; getting bruised or bleeding from a scuffle was nothing out of the ordinary.
Besides, Sakuragi himself had once bashed someone's head open and left them bleeding, without even bothering to ask about them afterward. And Rukawa, even when his head was wrapped in multiple layers of bandages, had never once thought of seeking retaliation.
Today's dynamic—where one person acted utterly entitled and arrogant while the other was terrified and cowering—felt genuinely bizarre to outsiders.
Yet Ayako and Haruko, the two managers, hadn't even thought to step forward to help Rukawa stop the bleeding, because Rukawa's aura was truly a bit terrifying.
With blood still dripping from his nose, he shot a glare at Sakuragi, who stood there helpless with his face twitching, and Sakuragi simply dropped his head and followed along.
Inside the infirmary, following Rukawa's instructions, Sakuragi stood obediently to the side, pressing an ice pack to Rukawa's forehead.
"You still want a 1-on-1 when you've even forgotten how to dribble? You'd better pick up your basic skills again first," Rukawa said suddenly after a long silence.
He was pinching the bridge of his nose to stem the bleeding, and his words still carried a nasal twinge.
Sakuragi's face flushed slightly, but he still put up a stubborn front: "Who—who said I forgot how to dribble? I—I just wasn't paying attention for a second. Just wait until next time, I can definitely..."
"Big Idiot, you've only been playing basketball for four months total, and because of your injury, the time you've spent resting is almost equal to the time you've spent playing. Even professional players need time to recover their form after an injury—how could you possibly be an exception?" Rukawa said, staring straight ahead.
Sakuragi's face turned even redder.
He couldn't stand being looked down upon, especially by Rukawa Kaede, the one person he was dead set on defeating.
"If your skills have regressed, just admit it. Work hard to build them back up. There's no shame in that." While it should have sounded somewhat comforting, coming out in Rukawa's icy tone, it sounded entirely like mockery.
Sure enough, Sakuragi leaped to his feet, pointed the hand holding the ice pack right at Rukawa's nose, and stammered angrily, "Y—y—you, who are you calling shameful!"
He was just starting to work up some momentum when his gaze landed on the freshly dried bloodstain just outside Rukawa's nose, and his bluster deflated instantly. Dejected, he shuffled back over and obediently reapplied the ice pack.
Rukawa's eyebrows twitched slightly, but he said nothing more.
Unable to bear the strange silence any longer, Sakuragi blurted out, "Hey, Fox, do you think I can get my skills back?"
"Of course, as long as you put in the work."
"Alright then, I'll work hard on my basics. And don't you dare go back on what you just said."
"Naturally not."
Sakuragi stood still, feeling restless all over. He hooked a chair over with his foot and sat down.
Once seated, he raised his gaze to find himself face-to-face with Rukawa.
At that moment, Sakuragi noticed that condensation from the melting ice pack had formed water droplets, which were trickling down the Fox's forehead and onto the tip of his nose.
Driven by an inexplicable impulse, Sakuragi reached out with his other hand and gently wiped the tip of Rukawa's nose, clearing away the droplet.
In the next second, both of them froze.
*Oh no. Oh no, no, no. What am I doing? What did I just do? Is there something wrong with my brain? Why did I just wipe his nose? Is the Fox going to misunderstand?*
Sakuragi's entire body stiffened. His heart hammered wildly in his chest, his mind raced in a chaotic blur, and even his face flushed bright red.
To his absolute shock, Rukawa didn't react at all.
Sakuragi let out a sigh of relief: *As expected, the Fox's reactions are just plain slow.*
Stepping out of the infirmary on their way back to the gymnasium, Rukawa suddenly remarked, "Big Idiot, you injured your back, right? Did you hurt your head along with it? Why are you pulling stunts like that? And next time, watch out—I'll beat you to a pulp."
With that, Rukawa pushed open the gym door and walked inside, leaving Sakuragi shouting wildly behind him: "Damn Fox, your head's the one that's injured! Who are you planning to beat to a pulp? Weak-ass Fox, let's settle this with a real match and see who beats who!"