"Hahaha…"
A group of Shohoku basketball team members walked toward the clubroom, chatting and laughing as usual. But just as they reached the door, someone noticed something strange.
"…Huh? The lock's broken?"
They blinked in confusion, staring at the mangled lock. Someone had clearly forced their way in.
Cautiously, they opened the door—only to be greeted by a very smug Sakuragi Hanamichi, standing tall in his team uniform with his hands on his hips.
"You're finally here! Took you long enough!" he said arrogantly. "This genius, Sakuragi Hanamichi, has been waiting forever!"
"Whoa… it's so clean in here…"
One of the members stepped inside, eyes wide in surprise—only for Sakuragi to shove him back out with a glare.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"Idiot! That's the floor I just cleaned! Don't you dare dirty it!"
With lightning speed, Sakuragi grabbed a spray bottle and misted the footprint the guy left. Then, crouching down, he meticulously wiped the floor until it shined like glass.
He pointed at a towel by the door. "Use that to wipe your shoes before coming in! Got it?!"
"A-Amazing… Did you clean all this by yourself?"
The question came from a bespectacled, mild-mannered upperclassman standing at the doorway. Anyone who'd watched Shohoku games before would recognize him—Kiminobu Kogure, the team's vice-captain and most dependable sixth man.
Although he didn't stand out in a team full of bold personalities and raw talent, Kogure was a solid player with a reliable mid- and long-range shot and a calm presence that held the team together.
"Y-Yeah… pretty much all me, hehe!" Sakuragi scratched the back of his head, laughing sheepishly while conveniently ignoring the fact that Oliver and the gang had done most of the work.
Kogure stepped inside, shoes polished clean, and looked around in awe.
"This is incredible! Akagi's going to love this. I've been wanting to clean this place up for ages. You've been a huge help, Sakuragi!"
"Hah! That's right, Glasses-kun! I told you, once that gorilla sees this, he'll be begging me to join the team!"
"Umm… my name isn't Glasses-kun. It's Kogure Kiminobu. I'm your senior…"
"Details, details!" Sakuragi waved it off and slapped Kogure's back with a carefree grin.
Just then, the "gorilla" himself arrived.
Akagi stepped through the doorway, and his eyes went wide the moment he saw the spotless room.
"Ooh… What is all this!?"
Every surface sparkled—from the floor to the cabinets to the chairs. Not a speck of dust remained.
Sakuragi puffed up with pride. "Yo, Akagi! Pretty nice, huh?"
Kogure turned and smiled. "Sakuragi did all this by himself! Don't you think—?"
"Oh! Great job, guys!" Akagi interrupted happily as he turned to two unrelated team members, slapping a hand on each of their shoulders. "See? I told you it wasn't impossible! Doesn't it feel amazing to have it clean?"
"…Huh?"
Sakuragi and Kogure froze.
"You should've just cleaned it like this before. Now it feels great in here!"
Akagi beamed. Meanwhile, the two confused members he had praised looked down awkwardly.
"Why do you look so shy? What, guilty for not helping?" he added, oblivious.
Sakuragi's face twitched. His hair seemed to stand on end from frustration.
"You gorilla!! You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? Trying to pick a fight with me again?!"
Akagi gave a puzzled look. "Oh? Why are you here anyway? And wearing one of our uniforms?"
"This is the basketball club," he continued, still sounding clueless. "Anyone not interested, please leave immediately."
"Wha—!"
"Oh, right!" Akagi added. "Someone tell Ayako I need a new team uniform. Someone dirtied mine—don't know who. I'll just buy another later."
"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Sakuragi screamed and tore the borrowed team uniform in half, then lunged at Akagi, grabbing his collar.
"Do you have any idea how hard I worked last night to clean this place?!"
"What's wrong, student? You have a question?" Akagi still wore that same innocent expression, driving Sakuragi even crazier.
"You're still asking me that now!?" Sakuragi fumed, fist trembling.
Just as he was about to throw a punch—
Knock knock knock.
A knock on the door stopped everything.
Everyone turned.
Standing in the doorway was a cute junior high school girl with a crossbody bag slung across her shoulder.
"Excuse me," she said sweetly. "Is this the Shohoku basketball club?"
"Sister Chika?!" Sakuragi's expression flipped instantly from rage to surprise.
Akagi used the distraction to pull free from Sakuragi's grasp.
"Oh, I'm just here on some business," Chika said pleasantly. She politely wiped her shoes on the towel by the door and stepped inside.
Then Sakuragi noticed something odd.
Through the window in the corridor behind Chika, Mito, Takamiya, and the others were frantically waving at him, gesturing like crazy with wild expressions of fear on their faces.
"…What the heck are you guys doing?" Sakuragi blinked.
Takamiya scrambled to find a whiteboard, while Mito grabbed a marker and scribbled something quickly. They held the board up against the glass.
"RUN AWAY!!"
"What…?"
Too late.
A team member casually walked up and bent down in front of Chika.
"Hey, little girl, what are you doing in the basketball club? You're still in junior high, right?"
Chika smiled cutely.
"Get out of the way, you bastard."
"…Huh?"
The guy froze. "What did you just say?"
"…Huh?" he repeated, thinking he misheard.
"I said," Chika repeated with a sweet smile, "Get. Out. Of. My. Way."
Before he could react, Chika reached into her bag and pulled out a small red spray bottle.
She sprayed it directly in the guy's face.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
The poor member collapsed, clutching his face and screaming.
"Y-Yasuda! Are you okay? What the hell?!"
"What did you just spray on him, little girl?!"
The entire basketball team fell into chaos.
Chika calmly capped the bottle, still smiling gently.
"Don't worry. That was just high-purity capsaicin. It causes intense burning if sprayed directly on skin, but the effects will wear off in about ten minutes."
She tucked the bottle away like it was no big deal and turned toward Sakuragi.
And suddenly, Sakuragi understood.
He looked past her toward the hallway window again.
Mito and the gang had solemn expressions now. They stood together, heads bowed, hands clasped as if mourning a fallen comrade.
"Sakuragi-niichan…"
Chika's voice was soft and sugary sweet.
But to Sakuragi, it sounded like the grim reaper calling his name.
"Y-Y-Yes… Sister Chika?"
Cold sweat trickled down his spine.
Chika stepped closer, her cute face tilting up toward his.
"Can I ask… why you forced my brother to clean the basketball club last night?"
Her smile remained, but the air around her felt heavy… ominous… lethal.
patreon(Jutsu_143)