Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

When Sakuragi walked out of the tunnel with his teammates, Yanai Yuri spotted him immediately.

He stood on the sidelines, completely stunned, as if he had been blinded by the stadium lights. His mouth was slightly open, and his eyes scanned from left to right and from right to left.

Then he heard the howling of the four people in the stands, looked up, and scanned them.

Their eyes met.

Yanai clearly saw that he froze, his gaze fixed on her, unable to look away.

The four members of Sakuragi's gang next to her were waving and yelling wildly, but he didn't pay attention to any of them.

Yanai found it very interesting.

Kato raised an eyebrow, as if to say, "You know him?" Yanai didn't respond, but turned around and smiled at the red-haired man.

Then he raised his right hand and waved at him.

"Sakuragi-kun, do your best!"

The sound wasn't loud, mostly drowned out by the noise in the stadium, but she saw his ears twitch.

Like a big dog that hears its owner calling it, its ears react before its brain.

Sakuragi Hanamichi felt a surge of heat rise from the bottom of his heart, rushing up his veins, to the top of his head, to his fingertips, and to his toes.

Every pore on my body opened up, and every bone felt like it had been wound up again.

Her face flushed instantly, burning all the way up her neck, and even her forehead was steaming.

Then Sakuragi smiled very brightly.

That smile, as Takamiya Nozomi later described it, was "like a chrysanthemum that had been wilted by the sun and then soaked in water."

His mouth stretched from ear to ear, his eyes narrowed into slits, and his whole face was scrunched up, making him look both silly and radiant.

He raised his right hand high and waved vigorously at the beautiful figure in the stands.

"I will win—!!!"

His voice was so loud that half the people in the venue turned around and looked at him.

In the stands, Gao Gong's hand froze in mid-air.

His mouth was agape, his eyes were wide open, and his jaw almost dropped to the ground.

He watched as Sakuragi waved in their direction—no, not at "them," but at "her."

That smile, that expression, that roar of "I will win!"—he had never seen Sakuragi act like that towards any other girl.

What was it like when Sakuragi confessed his feelings?

He rushed up to the person, stood ramrod straight, his face flushed red, and shouted, "I like you, please go out with me!" Then he was rejected, and he turned and walked away.

The whole process took no more than thirty seconds, as neat and efficient as completing a task.

But this is different now.

Takamiya slowly turned his head to look at Oonan. Oonan also turned his head to look at Noma. Noma turned his head to look at Yohei.

The four people looked at each other, and each of them had the same four words written on their faces: What's going on?

"They know each other?" Gao Gong's voice changed, becoming shrill as if someone had stepped on his toes.

"Not only do we know each other," Da Nan said, squinting as he observed Sakuragi's face, which was beaming like a chrysanthemum, "our relationship is quite special."

Noma stroked his beard and said in a detective-like tone, "No wonder he wouldn't tell me anything before. He was hiding it all; turns out he's a super beautiful girl."

Yohei didn't speak. His gaze flickered between Sakuragi and the tall girl next to him, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips.

This girl must be the one who made Sakuragi sit in the classroom, chin in hand, grinning like an idiot for the entire break!

This girl seemed somewhat familiar, as if I had seen her somewhere before.

Kato Rena sat next to Yanai and watched the entire "exchange of glances" from beginning to end.

When Yanai shouted encouragement, Kato raised an eyebrow. This was the first time in the two years Kato had followed Yanai that Yanai had taken the initiative to greet a boy.

Then she saw the red-haired boy's reaction. He blushed, grinned broadly, and shouted so loudly that the whole audience could hear him.

That reaction wasn't feigned; it was genuine, pure, and heartfelt joy.

Kato had seen too many guys try to act cool, profound, or indifferent in front of Yanai, only to eventually break down completely. But this red-haired guy was different. He didn't pretend at all. If he was happy, he was happy; if he blushed, he blushed; if he smiled like a chrysanthemum, he smiled like a chrysanthemum.

Kato's curious gaze swept over Sakuragi from head to toe.

He's quite tall, probably over 1.8 meters, half a head taller than Yanai. He has broad shoulders and thick arms; you can see the outline of his muscles under his T-shirt—he's quite muscular.

As for his looks... he has regular features, but he wouldn't be considered a handsome guy.

It's just that his bright red pompadour is too eye-catching. Combined with his delinquent-boy vibe, nine out of ten people would give him a wide berth if he walked down the street.

What could it be about a guy like that could interest a high-class young lady like Yuri Yanai?

Kato couldn't understand it. But she knew one thing: Yanai had specifically dragged her to watch a basketball game. All of this was probably because of this red-haired guy, who wasn't even there to watch his own school's game.

"Sakuragi! Come over and warm up!" Coach Takeda shouted from the field.

Sakuragi finally snapped out of his daze. He glanced one last time at the stands, then turned and ran back to the court.

During warm-up, he was at least three times more excited than usual.

During his usual warm-up, he would just run around casually, stretch, and shoot some hoops.

Today was different; it was as if he had springs in his legs, running around with long, light steps.

Oda watched him from the side, frowning, with an expression that said, "This guy took the wrong medicine today."

In the stands, the four members of Sakuragi's team had completely shifted their attention from the court to Yanai.

Takamiya was the first to lose his temper. He moved closer to Yanai, his face beaming with that "I'm so curious, tell me now" kind of smile:

"Um... how did you and Sakuragi meet?"

Yanai glanced at him, a slight smile playing on her lips, but said nothing.

"Yeah, yeah," Da Nan chimed in, "How come Sakuragi, that blockhead, knows a beauty like you? How come none of us knew?"

"He's very tight-lipped," Noma added. "He won't tell us anything when we ask him, and he just gets angry with us."

The three of them chatted away, one after another, like three bees buzzing around a flowerpot.

Yanai turned her gaze back to the court, watching the red figure frantically dunking under the basket. A faint smile played on her lips, but she didn't utter a single word.

Kato, watching this scene from the side, almost burst out laughing.

This young lady was doing it on purpose; the more mysterious she was, the more curious these four people became. She enjoyed this "guess what" feeling.

"She won't tell."

Kato replied on behalf of Yanai, his tone carrying an air of certainty that "asking is pointless."

The three people from Gao Gong looked at each other, their curiosity piqued but too embarrassed to ask any further questions.

Yohei didn't say a word from beginning to end, just leaned back in his chair with a faint smile on his lips.

Actually, there was no need to ask. He had already guessed about 70-80% of it from Sakuragi's reaction.

On the field, warm-up is over.

The whistle blew three times, and the players walked back to the bench from the field. Sakuragi walked at the very back, his eyes still glancing at the stands.

Coach Takeda squatted in front of the substitutes' bench, holding a tactical board with several circles drawn on it with a marker. The players formed a semicircle, bending over and supporting themselves on their knees.

Takeda gave his final instructions.

"On offense, get the ball inside. Oda and Sakuragi, you two handle things under the basket. Don't shoot wildly from outside, pass it inside."

He tapped the tactical board twice.

"On defense, man-to-man defense. Box out for rebounds and don't leave any open rebounds in the backcourt."

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over every face.

"That's all. Go on stage."

Simple, direct, and without any fluff.

Explaining tactics too much won't make the players remember them; just get to the point. Get the ball inside and focus on defense. They've been practicing this for a month; there's no need to go into detail.

Xiaotian stood up, clapped his hands, and said, "Let's go!"

The players filed onto the court. Sakuragi walked in the middle, glancing down at his white sneakers, the laces tied tightly. Then he looked up, his gaze sweeping across the court, across half-court, and landing on the opposite basket.

In the stands, Yuri Yanai's gaze fell on the back of the person wearing the white number 15 jersey.

The red hair shone brightly under the lights.

The referee walked to the center circle, holding an orange ball. The two center forwards stood on either side of him, knees slightly bent, arms raised, their eyes fixed on the ball.

Sakuragi stood in the center circle, opposite the center of Momiji Junior High, who was half a head shorter and had narrower shoulders.

The man looked up at Sakuragi's red pompadour and his Adam's apple bobbed.

The match is about to begin.