Chapter 26 Helpful
"Yes, Sakuragi, I believe in you!"
Looking at the red-haired boy in front of her, Haruko smiled and said, "With your help and hard work, Shohoku will definitely achieve its goal of dominating the nation this year!"
Sakuragi felt an overwhelming surge of excitement.
No one but his sister could give him such affirmation and trust, and this feeling instantly filled him with energy, hahaha!
Sakuragi kept touching the back of his head, trying to hide his wildly beating heart. "It's nothing, I'm a member of Shohoku too~ It's only natural~!"
Haruko said happily, "You know what, Sakuragi? My brother keeps talking about you at home lately. He says you've improved a lot! You bring surprises to the team every day!"
My brother can see that even geniuses put in their best effort! Ever since the Ryonan practice match, Sakuragi has become incredibly hardworking, improving almost every day and always surprising everyone.
Sakuragi's eyes widened. The gorilla who always cursed at him was actually praising him to others. "Eh, gorilla... did you really say that, bro?"
Haruko nodded frantically, responding with utmost seriousness, "Yes, yes! Big brother said you're amazing! Anyway~ keep up the good work, Sakuragi~"
What the hell! This gorilla actually values itself this much?
It felt like when his strict father gave him a piece of candy when he was a child, making him instantly happy and grinning from ear to ear!
"Alright! This genius will continue to work hard! Lead the Shohoku team to dominate the nation!"
The little red-haired monkey suddenly became super excited, and its loud voice almost shook the roof of the entire basketball court off!
All the members of Shohoku High School looked at Sakuragi, wondering why he had acted strangely again.
Akagi saw his beloved little sister staring at a monkey with a smile, and his fist inexplicably itched to punch it. So, he walked over step by step and delivered a blow to the monkey's head: "Idiot! It's not your place to lead the Shohoku team!"
"Aww~! You wretched gorilla!" The red-haired monkey crouched down, burying its head in its hands and whimpering, muttering under its breath, "Fine, seeing how hypocritical you are, this genius has decided to forgive you..."
Akagi:……
Hanon couldn't help but feel ashamed. Although he hadn't managed to win over his wife, he was certainly good at annoying his brother-in-law.
Kanon looked at Haruko again, oh ho—
He was making a fuss, and she was laughing.
Kanon nudged Rukawa Kaede next to her with her elbow, suppressing her excitement, and whispered, "Rukawa...don't you think Hanamichi and Haruko are a good match?"
Her voice, warm and inviting, reached his ears, making his sensitive earlobes tingle with heat, and an indescribable sensation exploded from his nerve endings.
Rukawa Kaede gazed at her, his dark eyes gleaming in the sunlight streaming through the window.
After a moment, he finally spoke, "Hmm."
Hanon glanced sideways, meeting the narrow, aloof fox-like eyes, and the other person whispered again, "A good match."
The voice was so magnetic it made my ears tingle.
For some reason, the way he said those two words resonated deeply with me.
Rukawa Kaede stared directly at her without any attempt to hide his gaze.
For a moment, she felt that Rukawa Kaede's eyes could only see her.
This unique sense of cherishing is truly captivating.
Haruko: "Kane-neechan, Ayako-neechan, are you going shopping tomorrow too?"
Ayako: "Oh, it's not shopping. We're going to buy things for the basketball team's training."
What? Basketball team training gear?
Mitsui, in a very professional manner, picked up a ball from the basketball cart to set a screen, while listening carefully.
Haruko: "Sakuragi wants to buy sneakers too, shall we go together? That way Sakuragi can help carry the equipment into the car."
Ayako quickly waved her hand in refusal: "No way! You two can go buy your favorite basketball shoes, have a cup of coffee, and enjoy your precious weekend! We've already found other helpers."
Who would be so blind as to disturb such a romantic and sweet date with Hua Qing?
Sakuragi scratched his head: "My sister has already made plans with Yohei and the others."
On Sunday, the original plan was for him and the Sakuragi Army to first play some pachinko, and then accompany Kanon and the others on their shopping trip.
But now he has a date with Haruko, so he has to stand them up, hehehe…
Hearing this, Mitsui couldn't help but chime in, "Well, how can we ask others for help with the basketball gym task? Let's have our senior accompany you."
The entire Shohoku team stared in disbelief at Mitsui, never expecting him to have such strong team spirit.
Sakuragi casually said, "Little San, your stamina and strength are not as good as my sister's, so don't push yourself."
Mitsui retorted angrily, "You bastard! You're insulting me! I'm a man, and I told you not to call me 'mistress' again!"
Ayako said with slight disdain, "You're right, senpai, don't make things worse."
"You guys have gone too far!" Mitsui was furious, "How incredibly disrespectful to your seniors!"
Seeing Mitsui's pitiful, almost tearful expression and his offensive manner, Kanon and Ayako immediately raised their hands in surrender, bowed, and apologized: "Yes, yes, we're sorry, senpai."
The two seemed very sincere, suggesting they had engaged in deep self-reflection.
With that thought, Mitsui instantly snapped back to his cheerful self, straightened his back, and said, "In that case, for the sake of the team, I'll have to go through the trouble of accompanying you. After all, I'm happy to help others, and besides, I need to set a good example for you juniors!"
Everyone: ...
Ayako and Kanon saw two words in each other's eyes: heartbroken.
This delicate young master is so weak and helpless that he can't lift a finger. Going shopping might also require taking care of his emotions, which is really a headache.
Her clothes were gently tugged, and Huayin turned her head to look. A cool and beautiful face was very close to hers. The boy, who didn't like to speak first, actually gave her face and spoke first:
"I'll go too."
Hanon was somewhat surprised and asked in confusion, "Huh? You have time on Sunday?"
Rukawa Kaede said expressionlessly, "Yes."
The onlookers exchanged bewildered glances, staring at Rukawa Kaede with utter confusion—what was going on? Had they misheard?
After all, this cold-blooded training machine never wastes time or energy on anything or anyone.
Ayako asked curiously, "By the way, Rukawa, what do you do on Sundays?"
Rukawa Kaede succinctly stated: "Practice, sleep."
Everyone: ...
An expected answer. As Shohoku's ace, everyone naturally can't help but imagine his private life.
At the same time, I can't help but admire Rukawa Kaede! The difference between mortals and gods is not on the field, but off the field.
His passion and focus on basketball surpasses that of anyone else. His self-discipline is as unbreakable as a rock, shining brightly within the team and injecting boundless energy into it.
Hanon asked curiously, "Why did you suddenly decide to go shopping with us?"
Rukawa Kaede's expression was indifferent, and his voice was flat: "I'm happy to help others."
Sensing that the other person was subtly criticizing him, Mitsui gritted his teeth and said, "You little brat!"
Huayin:……
This doesn't fit the image of Kanagawa's coolest guy at all. He would be better off using this time to shoot a few more balls.
Hanon said directly, "Why don't you just continue practicing and sleep this weekend?"
"No." Rukawa Kaede stared into her eyes, just staring, his voice icy cold. "Why can he, but I can't?"
Hanon knew that the fox was unhappy, absolutely unhappy!
Okay, the two of them are at odds. Either neither of them goes, or both of them have to go.
Kanon finally succumbed to Rukawa Kaede's penetrating gaze, "Okay, let's go together."
In an instant, the fox immediately put away his icy expression, replacing it with a completely expressionless face, and gave a monotonous "hmm".
Miyagi blushed and grinned, "Aya, I want to help too~"
Kanon and Ayako looked at each other.
I could have had a happy weekend, but now I have to bring three problem children along.
Ayako turned to look at Miyagi and said helplessly, "Ryota, why did you have to join in the fun? You're such a headache~"
Gongcheng scratched his head and grinned foolishly: "Moving things is a job that should be done by us boys, how can we let girls do it!"
Ayako glanced at Miyagi again, and she had to admit that Miyagi was really overflowing with boyfriend charm at this moment!
...
The next day, Hana hurriedly weaved through the endless stream of people, heading straight for the agreed-upon location.
In the distance, I saw a tall, handsome man who looked ridiculously good, with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, seemingly resting.
The wind ruffled the stray hairs on his forehead, and the sunlight illuminated his handsome profile, which still retained a hint of youthful innocence.
On the bustling commercial street, pedestrians slowed down, their eyes glued to the handsome young man who seemed to have stepped out of a painting.
Hanon ran over and said apologetically, "Hi, Rukawa, I'm sorry I'm late. Where are they?"
Rukawa Kaede heard her speak, took off his headphones, raised his eyelids wearily, and said calmly, "They go first, I'll wait for you."
Hua Yin smiled, with a hint of shyness and apology: "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. I just happened to get stuck in traffic."
Seeing the girl's smiling eyes, Rukawa Kaede replied without much emotion, "It's okay."
Hua Yin stared at him for a moment. The boy not only wasn't angry, but seemed to be a little happy.
Hanon said in a good mood, "Then let's hurry over there. Maybe they've already prepared everything, so you'll have more time to practice."
Rukawa Kaede replied casually, "Mm."
The two walked into the sporting goods store side by side. The clerk greeted them warmly with a bow and said, "Welcome to our store, two wonderful guests!"
"Oto-chan, over here!"
Ayako waved her hand: "We've almost finished preparing everything else. The pre-ordered items can be brought back to the basketball court if there are no problems after inspection."
The three were surprised: "Custom-made??"
The store clearly has everything you need!
"Well, since the store is out of stock of certain essential items, we have to ask the boss to make special orders."
In the 1990s, basketball was not popular in Japan and could not compare with football and baseball, so Japan did not introduce any advanced training equipment.
To meet the equipment needs of the Shohoku team players during training, they had to seek help from a sports equipment store for custom-made equipment.
Mitsui: "What is this?"
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