Slam Dunk: Sakuragi learned from Kawamura Eiki's experience

The lunch break bell had rung for a while.

In the last row by the window, a tuft of red hair was lying on the table.

Sakuragi Hanamichi was fast asleep.

His arms were crossed on the table, his face buried in his arms, only half of his forehead and a tuft of red hair showing. His mouth was slightly open, his breathing was low and even, and occasionally he would let out a muffled murmur.

"...Watch me dunk...hehe..."

There was a tiny, glistening thing at the corner of his mouth.

The sunlight streaming through the window shone on his back, warming the fabric of his school uniform. A breeze blew in, causing the corner of a page in his textbook on the desk to turn slightly, but he didn't wake up.

These past few days, he's gone straight to the basketball club after school and practices for three or four hours straight.

In addition to the basic basketball exercises taught to him by Coach Takeda, he also set a goal for himself to shoot 1,000 hoops every day, based on his memories from his dream.

After the first day of training, he couldn't even lift his arms, and his chopsticks were shaking when he ate.

The next day was even worse; my fingers were swollen all over, and it was difficult to even hold a pen.

But he gritted his teeth and persevered, and even he himself didn't know why he was pushing himself so hard.

But whenever I'm so tired that I want to collapse, that line from Mr. Takeda pops into my head.

"Sakuragi, you're a fucking genius."

But more often, it's that "self" that he dreams of, that Kawata Eiki's unwillingness to accept defeat. In his dreams, he has trained very hard and given it his all, but because of his height, he can only sit on the bench and come on as a substitute during garbage time.

Besides, I'm a genius, how can I give up halfway?

This perseverance even amazed Mr. Takeda.

He has taught sports for so many years and has seen talented people and people who are willing to work hard, but he has seen people who are both talented and hardworking.

This is the first time I've seen someone like Sakuragi, who came from a delinquent background, still work hard and practice basketball seriously.

After practicing basketball every day, Sakuragi would work at a convenience store until 11 p.m., and then catch up on sleep during class the next day. But as soon as the school bell rang, he would be the first to rush into the basketball court.

Even Oda Ryūsei had to admit defeat.

After practice that day, as Oda was packing up, he glanced at Sakuragi, who was still practicing 1000 shots a day, and couldn't help but say to his teammate next to him, "This guy... he's actually serious."

He originally thought Sakuragi was just a flash in the pan.

They're just delinquents; they play ball for a couple of days on a whim, then get bored and stop coming. This kind of thing has happened before at Wako Middle School.

But this red-haired guy hasn't missed a single day since joining the basketball team.

Moreover, the speed of progress is frighteningly fast.

Xiao Tian didn't say it, but he was starting to get a little worried. If things continued like this, his position as the ace of the basketball team might be in jeopardy.

However, at this moment, Sakuragi Hanamichi was lying on his desk dreaming.

In his dream, he was standing in that huge stadium again, the lights were dazzling, the stands were full of people, and the shouts made his ears ring.

He was wearing a jersey, running around the court, the ball slapping against his hands, and the defender on the opposite side was knocked to the ground by his crossover.

He jumped up and slammed the ball into the basket with one hand.

The basketball hoop was shaking, and the audience was screaming.

The moment he landed, a group of girls screamed and rushed over to surround him...

"Smack."

A hand patted his shoulder.

My dream is shattered.

"Ugh..." Sakuragi groggily raised his head, his eyelids feeling as heavy as lead. His vision blurred for a second, then slowly focused.

A familiar face loomed close in front of me.

Yohei Mito sat facing away from him in the chair, his arms draped over the back of the chair, his chin resting on his arms, tilting his head to look at him.

There were three other people standing nearby, forming a trio, lined up like three crooked telephone poles.

"What..." Sakuragi's voice was hoarse as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"Why are you asking us?" Yohei laughed and sat up straight. "You're drooling all over the table."

Sakuragi looked down and saw a small water stain on the table. He wiped it with his sleeve expressionlessly, then looked up, his eyes still bloodshot from just waking up.

"Yohei, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing serious." Yohei shifted his position, rocking back in his chair. "I just wanted to ask you, are you really sure you want to join the basketball team?"

Sakuragi was stunned for a moment.

Yohei looked into his eyes, his tone was not harsh, but his question was very serious.

"You're the kind of person who only has a three-minute attention span for everything you do."

Takamiya and the other two nodded vigorously.

"I thought you wouldn't last more than a few days in the basketball team before heading home," Yohei said with a smile. "I didn't expect you to actually stick it out."

The unspoken part was... and he doesn't really hang out with them anymore.

After school, the five of us would either go to play pachinko, go to the arcade, wander around the streets, or get into fights with delinquents.

Now, Sakuragi goes straight to the basketball court after school every day.

"Sakuragi, you haven't been playing with us for the past few days." Takamiya came over, looking aggrieved.

"Exactly." Da Nan nodded in agreement. "Is basketball really that fun? Is it as fun as playing pachinko?"

Noma squatted on the chair next to him, hugging his knees, and asked with a grin, "By the way, how's your basketball practice going? Can you make any more shots? Still not traveling?"

The three of them had that teasing, mischievous look on their faces, their eyes shining as they waited to see Sakuragi's reaction.

Sakuragi turned and glared at them.

The three men reflexively took a half step back, still haunted by the memory of being headbutted a few days ago.

Sakuragi just snorted, then turned to look at Yohei, his expression suddenly becoming serious.

"Teacher Takeda said I'm a genius." As he said this, the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up slightly. "He said I learn very quickly and encouraged me to keep up the good work."

Yohei raised an eyebrow.

He also mentioned the upcoming county tournament qualifiers in June.

Sakuragi's voice carried a solemnity he himself was unaware of: "I can officially play in the game as a team member."

The noise in the classroom seemed to be separated by a layer.

Yohei looked at Sakuragi's face.

The lewd, dreamy expression on his face was gone, as was the boastful bravado that came with making grand promises. He was simply speaking very seriously about something.

Yohei was silent for a few seconds, then he smiled.

"Then practice hard." He reached out and patted Sakuragi's shoulder, the pat not hard, but it was very sincere.

He didn't say anything more.

But he was already certain in his heart that this single-minded guy had finally found what he wanted to do.

It wasn't a fight, a confession, or just joining in the fun. It was basketball, something they'd never even considered.

Takamiya opened his mouth as if to say something, but Yohei silenced him with a look.

"Let's go." Yohei stood up, straightened the chair, and said, "Let him continue sleeping."

"Huh? They're leaving already?" Takamiya looked bewildered. "We just arrived."

"Let him rest!"

The four of them turned and walked out. Takamiya took two steps and then looked back. Sakuragi had already buried his face in his arms again, and his breathing quickly became deep and even.

A gust of wind blew in through the window, and another page of the textbook on the table turned.