Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

The lunch break bell had just rung.

Sakuragi was stuffing fried noodles and bread he bought from the convenience store into his mouth, his cheeks puffed out like a hamster's.

"Sakuragi".

Yohei pulled out a chair next to him and sat down, holding a can of drink in his hand, his arm draped over the back of the chair, his expression casual, but his eyes were serious.

"Hmm?" Sakuragi mumbled a response with his mouth full of bread.

"Are you really sure about this?" Yohei asked. "About joining the basketball club."

Sakuragi swallowed the bread in his mouth, snatched the drink from Yohei's hand, and took a swig.

"Absolutely!"

His voice was filled with an undeniable excitement, "The teacher said I'm a genius!"

"genius……"

A sarcastic voice drifted over from the side.

Takamiya Nozomi's round face peeked out from Sakuragi's left, her eyes narrowing into slits with a smile: "You're a genius who misses all three shots, aren't you?"

Sakuragi's smile froze for a moment.

Another head popped up on the right, Oonan Yuji, adding insult to injury: "A genius of walking."

"And there are also geniuses who lost the game."

Chuichiro Noma appeared from directly behind Sakuragi and delivered the final blow with a grin.

Three consecutive strikes, each a critical hit.

The air was silent for half a second.

A vein slowly bulged on Sakuragi's temple.

He slowly turned his head, the murderous intent in his eyes like a cold wind blowing in through a crack in a door in winter.

Takamiya, Okusu, and Noma felt the chill almost simultaneously, and their smiles froze at the same time.

"I have to go now," Gao Gong said, turning and running away.

"I forgot my comics," Da Nan grabbed the book and dashed towards the door.

"I'm going to the bathroom!" Noma dashed out of the classroom.

The three people disappeared down the corridor, moving as fast as if they had been launched by a spring.

"You run pretty fast." Sakuragi snorted and pulled another bread out of the paper bag.

Yohei looked in the direction the three had fled, shook his head with a smile, and then turned his gaze back to Sakuragi.

"Seriously," Yohei's tone calmed down, his voice just loud enough for the two of them to hear, "Are you really sure? Don't let it all just fizzle out in a moment of passion."

Sakuragi paused for a moment while biting into his bread.

Yohei didn't continue speaking, but just looked at him quietly.

As the smartest member of Sakuragi's gang, Yohei knew many things that even Sakuragi himself might not have realized.

For example, Sakuragi Hanamichi.

Tall, red-haired, never loses a fight, loud voice, short temper, laughs like a fool, seems to care about nothing.

But it's not.

Yohei knew that Sakuragi had become an orphan after his father had a heart attack. No one cared about him, no one praised him, and no one told him "what you can do" or "what you are suited to do."

He was like a weed that no one cared for, growing desperately, growing tall and strong, but with hollow roots.

That kind of emptiness cannot be filled by eating any amount of food.

That's why he confessed his feelings to girls again and again. Behind the gymnasium, at the classroom door, on his way home from school—thirty-four times, but not once was it truly because he liked any of the girls.

He just wanted to grasp onto something to fill the emptiness in his heart.

I want to be affirmed by someone, accepted by someone, and have someone say "okay" to me.

Yohei, who was precocious, always saw things very clearly.

"This time is different."

Sakuragi's voice pulled Yohei back from his thoughts.

He stuffed the rest of the bread into his mouth, his cheeks puffed out, and spoke as he chewed, his voice muffled but his eyes serious.

"I've thought it through." He swallowed hard, brushed the crumbs off his hands, and said, "I've thought it through seriously."

"Oh?" Yohei raised one eyebrow.

"My teachers all say I'm a genius."

As Sakuragi said this, the corners of his mouth started to turn upwards again, "If you train hard, you can become the ace of the basketball team. Then..."

His expression began to change.

His grin widened, his eyes narrowed, and a very... subtle expression appeared on his face.

"That arrogant Xiao Tian is my lackey."

As Sakuragi spoke, his gaze began to wander, his focus drifting to some corner of the classroom.

His lips curled up higher and higher, his cheeks flushed slightly, and a low "hehehe" sound came from his throat.

Yohei stared at his increasingly contorted face and remained silent for two seconds.

Then he understood.

That look, that smile, that "hehehe" sound—it was exactly the same expression Sakuragi had before he confessed to a girl.

No, it's even more sleazy than that.

This guy isn't thinking about being the ace of the basketball team at all.

He probably thought that after becoming the ace, he would replace Oda's position and be surrounded by girls.

Yohei's lips twitched.

He took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

So all that talk about "seriously considering it" was just bullshit.

This guy's liking for basketball is a lie; he really wants to attract girls' attention.

"Alright then." Yohei stood up, pushed the chair back to its original position, and patted non-existent dust off his pants. "You'll see when you get there. I hope you're not just a flash in the pan!"

He didn't say anything more.

Some paths you only discover for yourself. No matter how much I say now, this guy won't listen.

Sakuragi was still chuckling to himself, completely unaware that Yohei had already stood up.

Yohei glanced down at him and couldn't help but sigh.

Forget it. Hanging out with the basketball team is better than spending all my time idly fighting.

Sakuragi didn't listen to a single word of the afternoon classes.

He sat in the last row, his hand supporting his chin, his eyes fixed on the blackboard, but in his mind was a complete movie: himself wearing a basketball team jersey, dominating the court, the whole stadium cheering, the girls screaming, and Oda Ryusei handing him towels and water, with a "Thank you for your hard work, Sakuragi-sama" expression on his face.

As he thought about it, he chuckled to himself.

The students in the front row turned around and glanced at him, their eyes saying, "Is this guy crazy?"

Sakuragi didn't notice at all.

In the movie, he's surrounded by a group of girls, holding a bunch of love letters, his brow furrowed in distress.

"Sakuragi-kun."

The teacher's chalk flew precisely over and hit him right on the forehead.

"Ouch!"

"What are you laughing at? We're in class!"

Sakuragi rubbed his forehead, and the students around him let out a low chuckle.

He glared around at everyone, then sat down obediently.

But three seconds later, his gaze began to wander again.

Finally, school was over.

The moment the bell rang, Sakuragi sprang up from his seat with a "whoosh," his chair sliding back half a meter and scraping the floor with a piercing sound.

"Let's go!" Sakuragi strode over, his face full of eagerness.

"We're not joining the basketball club," Takamiya said. "Let's go play pachinko instead."

"Some other time," Da Nan tilted her head. "Let's go see how this guy makes a fool of himself first."

Yangping chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, you can fight anytime, but watching the fun isn't always an option."

The four people followed behind Sakuragi, like four satellites orbiting a star.

They walked through the corridor, down the stairs, and across the playground.

The basketball court is getting closer.

Sakuragi and the others stopped at the entrance of the school gymnasium.