Chapter 115 Did you hear the sound of the basketball?
Morishige Hiroshi once again completed a powerful dunk, sending the Meihou bench into a frenzy!
Sakuragi suddenly froze: "I... I understand."
Coach Anzai adjusted his glasses: "Oh?"
Sakuragi said:
"The big guy's positioning angle... is always 0.3 seconds faster than the gorilla's!"
Watching Rukawa Kaede get faked out by Morishige Hiroshi's feint, Sakuragi unconsciously mimicked a defensive stance:
"So that's where the center of gravity should be..."
The moment Miyagi broke through and passed the ball, Sakuragi's eyes were already locked on the passing route:
"If it were me... I would pass it to the left bottom corner!"
As predicted, the basketball flew away.
Hanon asked softly, "Did you hear the sound of the basketball?"
In the bustling stadium,
Sakuragi could hear his own heart pounding.
one time,
Two times,
...
He suddenly jumped onto the bench and roared:
"Hey! What are you bunch of idiots doing?!"
All eyes were drawn to it—
"Gorilla, your backboard got smashed to pieces!"
"You little brat! Your three-point shooting is worse than mine with my eyes closed!"
"Liangqin! Even a dog couldn't catch the ball you passed!"
"Especially you, you stinky fox!" Sakuragi pointed directly at Rukawa's nose, "Without this genius, you can't even score a point?!"
Mitsui laughed in exasperation: "What did you say, brat?!"
Veins bulged on Miyagi's forehead: "Just wait until I beat you to death!"
Akagi clenched his fists so tightly they made a loud cracking sound.
Rukawa's eyes suddenly turned cold.
The game completely went berserk:
Akagi grabbed three offensive rebounds in a row, yelling at Sakuragi after each one, "Look closely! This is a rebound!"
Mitsui hit two consecutive long-range three-pointers, and while returning to defense, he struck a pose at Sakuragi: "Kid, this is called a sharpshooter!"
Miyagi intercepted Meihou's point guard's pass and drove to the basket for a layup! Upon landing, he mimicked Sakuragi's monkey yell: "Awoooooo—!"
Rukawa Kaede suddenly raised his hand to ask for the ball.
Bang!
A powerful crossover blew past the defender.
Bang!
He finished with a powerful dunk over Morishige Hiroshi's block.
As he landed, Rukawa held up one finger at Sakuragi without turning his head:
"The first one."
Rukawa Kaede's flamboyant performance is not over yet:
Stealing the ball and launching a fast break, he jumps and dunks from the free-throw line, Sakuragi's forte!
Immediately afterwards, he used Sakuragi's signature "commoner's layup" to taunt the Meihou team members.
The match is over.
90:86
Sakuragi laughed with his hands on his hips: "Barely passing, the result of genius teaching!"
The four men surrounded Sakuragi with dark faces:
"Who's the idiot now?"
Exhausted, Morishige Hiroshi knelt on the ground, but gave his tearful teammates a sheepish grin:
"Next time...we'll definitely win!"
Sakuragi shouted from across the court, "Hey! I'm going to beat you this winter with my newly invented 'super genius tactic'!"
Morishige Hiroshi nodded seriously: "Hehe, I'll wait for you."
In the stands, the entire Sannoh Industrial team rose and left. Fukatsu Kazunari lowered his hat brim: "Interesting...pyon."
The locker room door slammed against the wall with a loud bang, and Sakuragi was the first to jump out: "That big guy is no match for me!"
Mitsui immediately grabbed him by the neck: "What's with the guy who fouled out being so arrogant! In the end, it was my game-winning three-pointer that made all the difference!"
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Miyagi jumped up and hung on the two of them: "Without my nutmeg pass, you wouldn't even be able to touch the ball!"
Akagi walked at the back with his arms crossed: "Everyone go back and practice the basics."
"Eh—!" Before his groan had even subsided, he suddenly added, "You played well today...."
Rukawa Kaede twirled the ball between his fingers and coldly retorted, "So noisy."
Everyone turned to look—
Hanon was yawning, leaning against Rukawa while holding her tactical board.
"Sis!" Sakuragi instantly bristled, "You really did catch the fox spirit's sleepiness!"
Hanon blinked her eyes, which were filled with irritation.
"Sakuragi-kun! That's amazing!"
A girl with a ponytail was seen frantically waving a conspicuous flag.
"Yo-Yoko-kun?!" Sakuragi's ears turned bright red instantly, and he frantically tugged at his jersey.
A figure emerged from the shadows.
Xiaotian: "Yoko! Didn't you say you needed tutoring...?"
"Oh dear, Oda-kun hasn't gone back yet?" Yoko blinked. "I'm attending a special tutoring session to cheer for Shohoku."
As he spoke, he unfurled a banner with the three large characters "Sakuragi's Fate" written on it.
Miyagi whistled, and Mitsui turned away, suppressing a laugh.
Sakuragi instantly transformed into a steam train, smoke billowing from his head: "Ah... this..."
Secretly relieved, I was glad that Haruko went back first to prepare nutritious meals for them.
"Ye Zi!" Xiao Tian grabbed her wrist. "Didn't we agree..."
"Please let go." Ye Zi took a step back. "We broke up a long time ago. I'm a fan of Sakuragi-kun now."
Oda's face instantly contorted.
He stared at the national tournament badge on Sakuragi's chest, then at the cheering flag in Yoko's hand, and suddenly grabbed the basketball:
"It's all because of you...it's all because of basketball!"
call out--!
An orange whirlwind tore through the air.
Bang!!
Time suddenly slowed down.
The strands of hair that flew up when Kanon pushed Sakuragi away.
Ye Zi's mouth gaped open in terror.
The pattern of a basketball spinning under the lights.
"sister--!!!"
Sakuragi's roar!
Thump!
The basketball in Rukawa Kaede's hand fell to the ground.
"Call an ambulance!" The voice was frighteningly calm, but the fingers that caught Hana were trembling violently.
Oda slumped to the ground, muttering to himself, "I'm not... I just..."
Beep, beep, beep—
The mechanical sound of the IV drip was particularly jarring in the deathly silent ward.
Under the stark white light, Hana's face was almost the same color as the bed sheet, with only the green lines on the electrocardiogram monitor proving that life was still going on.
Sakuragi knelt before the hospital bed, his forehead pressed against the metal railing. He had been in this position for three hours, his knuckles leaving bluish-white marks on the railing.
Rukawa Kaede held Hanon's hand, the shadow cast by his bangs obscuring his eyes.
"Flower arrangement..." Miyagi had barely begun to speak when Mitsui grabbed him.
Ayako forced herself to stay alert and held up her whiteboard: "The doctor said it's just a mild concussion, and I'll be fine after two days of rest..."
"Mild?" Sakuragi's eyes were bloodshot. "Mild would cause a three-hour coma?!"
Footsteps could be heard outside the door.
Coach Anzai walked in, his eyes behind his glasses scanning the group: "Children..."
"Dad!" Sakuragi suddenly looked up, tears welling up in his red eyes, but he stubbornly refused to let them fall.
He growled like a wounded lion cub: "I'm going to kill that guy!"
Rukawa Kaede silently straightened up, and the two reached an agreement once again.
"Calm down, everyone." Coach Anzai's voice was like warm cotton, gently enveloping the restless air in the ward. "What Hanon wants to see most is you shining brightly in the national competition."
Akagi's Adam's apple bobbed violently, and he finally lowered his head heavily.
Mitsui's fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his nails digging deep into his palms.
Gongcheng leaned against the wall, the car key in his hand bent out of his hand.
Ayako, clutching her tactics notebook, spoke in a barely audible voice: "There's another match tomorrow... but with you guys in this state..."
"Fight." Rukawa Kaede suddenly spoke, his voice low and resolute.
He stared at Huayin's bloodless face and repeated, "We must fight."
Sakuragi's red hair looked like a burning flame under the stark white light.
Thump!
He slammed his head heavily onto the floor, the dull thud echoing in the hospital room: "Of course we have to fight! This is the national competition my sister risked her life for..."
His voice suddenly choked, and he turned his face away, "We have to include hers too..."
Coach Anzai's glasses flashed with a glint of light: "Very good. Now, everyone except the caregivers can go back and rest."
Ayako: "I'll stay and take care of Oto."
Rukawa Kaede didn't look up, but silently pulled up a chair and sat down by the hospital bed, showing his attitude through his actions.
"Hey! You stinky fox—" Sakuragi was about to explode.
Coach Anzai gently pressed Sakuragi's shoulder: "Rukawa, stay here. Sakuragi, go back and rest."
He turned to the others and said, "Meet at the gymnasium at seven o'clock tomorrow morning."
After the lights in the ward were dimmed, Rukawa Kaede sat by the bedside, like an ice sculpture.
He stared at the steadily dripping medicine droplets in the IV tubing, counting them:
One drop.
Two drops.
Three drops.
03:27.
The moonlight cast jagged shadows under Rukawa Kaede's eyelashes.
His pupils followed the green light of the electrocardiogram monitor.
Contracting regularly.
04:13.
The IV tubing was swaying slightly.
Rukawa Kaede's right hand gripped the armrest of the seat tightly.
His left hand steadily held the IV bottle upright.
05:00.
As the first rays of dawn pierce the darkness...
Rukawa Kaede reached out and covered Kanon's eyes.
He wanted to touch Hana's face.
Her fingertips trembled in mid-air for three seconds before she finally just gently pressed down the corner of the blanket.
06:40.
The shadow cast by Rukawa Kaede as he leaned over completely enveloped Hanon's pale face, her lips stopping a centimeter from her forehead.
"wait for me."
The moment the ward door closed, he kicked the red-haired ball curled up against the wall.
When Sakuragi looked up, the bloodshot veins in the whites of his eyes formed a net.
Rukawa threw a bottle of chilled Pocari Sweat at him, hitting his knee. "Idiot, let's go."
07:00
"Where is the patient in bed 401?!"
The nurse's screams echoed down the corridor.
The on-duty doctor stared at the EEG chart: "06:40 All vital signs returned to zero..."
The nurse covered her mouth: "That boy in the number 11 jersey... he also left at 6:40..."
During the pre-match warm-up, the Shohoku players looked like a group of puppets.
There was no Sakuragi's signature monkey-like roar, no Mitsui and Miyagi's bickering, and even Akagi's reprimand was reduced to a single word: "Practice."
Rukawa's shooting was as mechanical as a factory assembly line, with every ball hitting the same spot on the rim.
"Is Shohoku scared out of their wits?" The Daiei Academy team members chuckled, mimicking their stiff movements.
Whispers from the audience:
[I heard their coach was hit by a basketball and ended up in the ICU...]
[Uozumi frowned: Something's not right.]
[Sendoh was distracted, his fingertips unconsciously twirling the elastic band on his wrist.]
The starting whistle of the game was like flipping a switch.
Rukawa Kaede dunks past five players (7:0)
Sakuragi grabbed seven consecutive offensive rebounds (21:5).
Mitsui hit all five of his three-pointers cleanly into the net (35:9).
Miyagi's steal and fast break brought Coach Daiei to his knees (42:22).
But the scoreboard's celebratory atmosphere contrasted sharply with the deathly silence on Shohoku's bench:
Sakuragi remained silent, like a rock.
Akagi stared blankly at the passageway.
Mitsui wrote "Hana" on the tactics board.
Rukawa Kaede lowered his head to adjust his wristband, his eyelashes casting shadows under his eyes.
When the final score was 89-54, the Shohoku players rushed off the court without even finishing their bows.
At the hospital.
Sakuragi's roar startled the entire floor: "Doctor! Where's the patient?!"
The nurse on duty said nervously, "The beds were empty when we handed over the early shift..."
Ayako's eyes widened: "How is this possible..."
The Xiangbei team was completely bewildered.
Rukawa looked up, his lifeless gaze meeting Sakuragi's.
Sakuragi couldn't utter a single word.
Could it be that my sister... has left again?
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