"I quit, I quit!!"
Sakuragi was panting heavily, and Oliver beside him was also drenched in sweat. He slumped on the ground, gulping down water.
It was now half past ten in the morning, two hours after the graduation ceremony had ended. In a bid to improve their physical fitness, Oliver and Sakuragi—who was driven by the desire to impress girls—had come to the playground to begin training.
Oliver followed a traditional routine: shuttle runs, frog jumps, push-ups, and the like. Sakuragi, meanwhile, was hunched over in a half-squat position, struggling to dribble a basketball.
After two exhausting hours, Sakuragi could no longer endure. He threw the basketball aside and waved his hands in defeat.
"What's wrong?" Oliver asked.
"You're seriously asking that?!"
Sakuragi pointed angrily at Oliver. "You said we were going to practice basketball. Why am I just dribbling over and over?!"
"That is basketball," Oliver replied calmly. "Dribbling is fundamental. If you can't dribble, how can you play at all?"
"Don't be ridiculous! This genius can dribble just fine!"
"Is that so?" Oliver smirked, walked about fifteen meters away, then tossed the ball to Sakuragi. "Show me. Dribble toward me."
"Easy," Sakuragi scoffed. He slapped the ball a few times and began to run.
Bang!
The ball slipped from his hand and bounced off in a random direction.
"..."
"..."
They stared at each other in silence.
"See? Still needs work," Oliver said with a shrug. "You can't even dribble by yourself."
"That was a fluke!" Sakuragi protested, picking up the ball again. "Let me try again! I was too hasty. This time I'll go slower."
Slap. Slap. Slap...
He began to shuffle forward, carefully patting the ball.
"Well? I'm still holding the ball, right?!"
"You're practically crawling," Oliver muttered. At Sakuragi's snail pace, there was no way he could lose control of the ball. Oliver stepped up, extended his arm, and casually intercepted it.
"Too slow," he said. "Any half-decent defender would steal that."
"This kind of training doesn't suit me!" Sakuragi snapped. "I'm more of a slam dunk kind of guy!"
He mimicked a dramatic dunk, leaping into the air and slamming an invisible ball.
Oliver sighed. "You need to dribble to get to the hoop in the first place. If you can't even do that, how are you going to dunk?"
"I'll figure that out later!"
Frustrated, Oliver had to admit he understood why Akagi often lost his temper with Sakuragi in the anime. Training him was a nightmare.
Still, two hours was a lot, even for someone as stubborn as Sakuragi. It was time for a break.
"Let's rest," Oliver said. "You're enrolling in Shohoku High, right?"
"Yeah. How did you know?"
"Just a guess. It's the closest school around."
After tossing his empty water bottle in the bin, Oliver turned to Sakuragi. "We've got nothing else going on. Wanna go check out Shohoku now? Might as well get familiar with the place."
"Sure," Sakuragi said. Anything was better than more dribbling drills.
The two gathered their things and called Mito and the others. Together, they strolled toward Shohoku High School.
Sakuragi's gang, while not particularly accomplished, had the perk of always being available. Except for Mito, who occasionally worked part-time, the others spent their time lounging in game arcades or snack shops.
Shohoku High wasn't far—only a couple of blocks from Wako Junior High. In no time, the group arrived at the school gate.
Red brick walls, whitewashed buildings, and a giant cherry blossom tree greeted them—an exact match for the iconic school from Slam Dunk.
Oliver was momentarily overwhelmed with emotion. To walk into a scene from an anime he loved—this was surreal.
"You okay, bean sprout?" Sakuragi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm fine," Oliver replied, stepping forward and touching the school gate with reverence. To think I'm really here. To think I'll get to play with the characters I grew up watching...
If his old friends from back home could see him now, they'd lose their minds.
"Is he alright...?" Mito muttered.
Just then, a gentle female voice called out.
"Excuse me, do you like basketball?"
Everyone turned around.
A girl with shoulder-length hair, large bright eyes, and a pristine school uniform stood behind them.
"So cute!!"
Sakuragi and his gang blushed in unison.
The girl stepped closer, looking up at Sakuragi. "Do you like basketball?"
"Me?" Sakuragi asked, pointing to himself. His face reddened.
Whoa! This girl... she's totally my type!
"Of course I do! I'm a basketball genius!"
He gave his signature thumbs-up and goofy grin. His gang groaned collectively.
Shameless! He can't even dribble, and he's claiming to be a genius?!
"Wow, I knew it!" the girl beamed and circled him, lightly pinching his arms and legs.
"You're so tall, and your muscles are well-developed! You'll be great at basketball!"
?!?
Sakuragi short-circuited.
Touched by a cute girl?! Checked out by a cute girl?!
"Y-Yeah! I'm a natural! A born basketball player!!"
"Awesome!" the girl clapped. "My name is Akagi Haruko. What's your name?"
"Sakuragi Hanamichi..."
His voice was stiff. Meanwhile, Oliver, who had been standing a little ways off, turned his head in shock.
"Akagi Haruko??"
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