On his way to the basketball court, Sakuragi Hanamichi was still trying to recall the plot of the anime.
He vaguely remembered that before joining the basketball team, Sakuragi Hanamichi in the anime had a one-on-one match with Akagi Takenori on the basketball court, which caused quite a stir, so much so that the basketball court was packed with people.
Sakuragi Hanamichi in the anime naturally didn't know that the gorilla in front of him was the basketball team captain, Akagi Takenori, nor did he know that Akagi Takenori was Akagi Haruko's brother. So he fought Akagi Takenori head-on with great fighting spirit.
In addition, Sakuragi Hanamichi is a complete basketball novice. He doesn't even know the most basic dribbling. He just runs around with the basketball in his arms from the start!
When he was trying to steal the ball, he used a flying tackle move, directly slamming Akagi Takenori to the ground with both legs, and then picked up the basketball.
As for the final result, it seems that Sakuragi Hanamichi used a slam dunk move.
Ah, I remember now. Sakuragi Hanamichi was being defended so badly by Akagi Takenori that he had a brilliant idea. He picked up the basketball and slammed it against the backboard. Then he flew towards the backboard, trying to catch the basketball in mid-air and dunk it!
But it seems that Takenori Akagi saw through Sakuragi Hanamichi's plan and grabbed the basketball first.
However, when Sakuragi Hanamichi's temper flared up, he was unstoppable. He grabbed the basketball from Akagi Takenori's hand in mid-air and dunked it into the basket, ball and all!
Finally, the ball went in!
Takenori Akagi also fell heavily to the ground.
That's right, that's exactly the plot in the anime!
However, at this moment, Sakuragi Hanamichi frowned.
After experiencing two fights and having Yohei Mito and others tell him Haruko Akagi's true identity, he felt that everything he encountered would be different from what happened in the anime.
At least in the anime, it wasn't Haruko Akagi who took Hanamichi Sakuragi to the basketball team to find Takenori Akagi!
At this moment, Haruko Akagi smiled sweetly and said, "Sakuragi, actually, the captain of the basketball team is my brother. I introduced you to my brother yesterday, and he thinks highly of you."
Although Sakuragi Hanamichi already knew all this, he still scratched the back of his head, pretending to be very surprised and embarrassed. "Ah! I see! I didn't expect Haruko to think so highly of me! But, but I feel that I still need to put in more effort to play basketball well. I'm still too bad right now."
The second half of the sentence wasn't a humble statement, but rather Sakuragi Hanamichi's true thoughts. After all, yesterday he was clearly aiming to dunk at the blue rim, but his head ended up hitting the backboard.
Moreover, he had absolutely no feel for the ball when dribbling.
All of this made him realize that he had to practice more and put in extraordinary effort, just like Sakuragi Hanamichi in the anime!
Although he has regained a bit of his touch after Akagi Haruko left yesterday, he probably still wouldn't be up to par if asked to perform in front of the gorilla right now.
So, he's actually feeling a bit guilty right now.
Haruko Akagi smiled and said, "Sakuragi, don't worry. I explained to your brother that you've only just started playing basketball, so it will definitely take some time. As long as you're willing to work hard, your brother will definitely agree to let you join the basketball team. And most importantly, Sakuragi, your physical qualities and amazing jumping ability are not something that ordinary people possess. You are naturally suited to playing basketball. As long as you are willing to work hard, you will definitely become an excellent basketball player."
Hearing Haruko Akagi's encouragement, Hanamichi Sakuragi said firmly, "Haruko, don't worry, I will definitely do my best."
The basketball court was already packed with people.
This includes Takenori Akagi, Kiminobu Kogure, and Kaede Rukawa.
Kogure Kiminobu was chatting with Rukawa Kaede, "Rukawa, your layup just now was really good! No wonder you're a super rookie! With you joining the basketball team, our Shohoku team will definitely have a chance to advance to the national tournament this time."
However, when faced with the praise from the basketball team's vice-captain, Rukawa Kaede simply nodded and that was it.
The scene became a bit awkward.
So much so that two teammates nearby were whispering among themselves.
"Hey, this Rukawa Kaede is a bit arrogant! Captain Kogure said so much, and he didn't even reply to a word, just nodded. And his attitude is wrong too, cold and aloof."
"It's alright. Maybe he was just nervous or not good at communicating with people."
"No way! I think he's just pretending to be cool. People these days like to act all high and mighty to make themselves seem superior. Humph, what's with the act! Kogure-senpai is the vice-captain of the basketball team, and this Rukawa Kaede doesn't even know the most basic manners."
"Hey, keep your voice down. It's not that serious. Didn't you see that Kogure-senpai didn't react at all?"
"Kogure-senpai is a nice guy. Even if he's unhappy, he won't say it. Look at Captain Akagi, he barely talks to that Rukawa Kaede."
"No way, I was paying special attention just now. Captain Akagi and Rukawa exchanged glances. Captain Akagi gave an affirmative look, and Rukawa responded in kind."
"What are you even talking about? Eye contact? I think you're just too lazy to talk! Anyway, I feel that Rukawa Kaede is too arrogant. Even if his basketball skills are good, he still makes people feel very uncomfortable."
While Rukawa's response made Kogure Kiminobu feel a little embarrassed, it wasn't enough for him to think that Rukawa was difficult to integrate into the team.
Akagi Takenori and Rukawa Kaede had a brief exchange just now, one on defense and the other on offense.
In the first wave, Takenori Akagi perfectly shut down Kaede Rukawa.
However, in the second wave, Rukawa Kaede cleverly avoided Akagi Takenori's defense and scored a layup.
Rukawa's superb basketball skills earned the recognition of Akagi Takenori.
Furthermore, Takenori Akagi had a good overall impression of Kaede Rukawa; he could sense that Rukawa was the kind of person who truly loved basketball.
Therefore, Takenori Akagi believed that Kaede Rukawa would be able to integrate into the basketball team quickly.
As for personality issues like not liking to talk, that doesn't matter, as long as I play well.
After Akagi Haruko led Sakuragi Hanamichi into the basketball court, the first thing she saw was Rukawa Kaede, and a very complicated emotion flashed in her eyes.
However, Rukawa Kaede completely ignored Akagi Haruko.
Rukawa glanced at Sakuragi Hanamichi casually, but only briefly, without paying much attention.
Haruko Akagi realized she was overthinking things. It seemed Rukawa Kaede had no intention of talking to her first, and she felt a little disappointed.
"Haruko, why aren't you leaving?"
Sakuragi Hanamichi gently reminded Akagi Haruko.
Haruko Akagi quickly composed herself, forced an awkward smile to indicate that everything was alright, and then walked towards Takenori Akagi's location.
Since entering the basketball court, Sakuragi Hanamichi had noticed Akagi Haruko's emotional changes, and he sighed inwardly, feeling a little depressed.
Rukawa Kaede clearly called you an idiot yesterday, and you still want to shamelessly go to him and explain what happened yesterday? Haruko, a person can't be so shameless! Especially since you're such a lovely woman!
Fortunately, Rukawa Kaede is genuinely not interested in women. If he were truly a scumbag, wouldn't you have been devoured by him until nothing was left?
Thank goodness I'm here! Don't worry, I'll make sure you get mine as soon as possible!
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