Sunday morning.
Jinguji Takeshi got up early in the morning. As usual, he simply washed up, changed into sportswear, wrapped a sweat towel around his hand, and went out for a morning run.
At nearly half past six, Jinguji Budou turned around and ran towards Hatabe Park. He had not forgotten the appointment with Sakuragi Hanamichi yesterday, and planned to go to Hatabe Park in advance to wait for him.
To be honest, Jinguji was more or less nervous on the way to the park. He didn't know whether Sakuragi Hanamichi, whom he had only met twice, would come. In Takefusa's opinion, what Sakuragi Hanamichi said yesterday about wanting to become an athlete like Takefusa was mostly just talk.
It is just a yearning that a young and ignorant boy subconsciously develops after seeing the glory of a senior. Such yearning can often last for a very short time. Many people may forget yesterday's bold words after sleeping.
Qibian Park is a small park in the city, covering a very small area. There is a basketball court in the park, but the facilities of this basketball court are really average. There are no lines on the ground, and the ground is made of cement, not even glue. There are no benches for people to rest beside the court.
Therefore, this court is not popular, and no one comes here to practice in the morning. The reason why Jinguji Budou chose this place is simply because this park is close to where he met Sakuragi Hanamichi. Hanamichi's home should be near this park.
When Takeshi Jinguji ran to the park entrance, it was exactly around six forty. Yesterday, Takeshi and Sakuragi Hanamichi came out of the noodle shop after eating a bowl of noodles at around seven o'clock, and the agreed time was also that time.
Looking at the deserted space in front of the park entrance, Wudao felt somewhat lost.
"It seems that it is impossible for that guy to arrive early and wait for me to come."
Wu Dao quickly put aside the feeling of loss. It was still early and the agreed time had not yet arrived.
It had been some time since Wudao's morning run, so he decided to take a good rest. He walked to the park entrance, sat under the shade of a tree, and closed his eyes to rest.
The morning breeze felt a little cool on my sweaty skin, and it was indescribably comfortable.
Before he knew it, Takeshi Jinguji fell asleep, and his light snoring blended with the chirping of cicadas in the trees.
After an unknown amount of time, Wudao suddenly felt someone shaking his body. He woke up slowly and saw a large black face appear in front of him.
"Budou, why are you sleeping here? Wake up, Budou." Akagi Takenori shook Budou's arm and shouted with concern. When Budou Jinguji opened his eyes, he suddenly saw this familiar black face, and his face was full of confusion.
Confusedly turning his head to look at the surrounding environment, Wudao came back to his senses, looked at Akagi, and asked in confusion: "Why are you here?"
"Me? My home is nearby! My sister and I were jogging in the morning and passed by here and saw you sitting here."
"I also wanted to ask you, why are you here?!"
Akagi Takenori slightly turned aside, pointed at Akagi Haruko who was standing not far behind him, and said to Wudao. Akagi Takenori looked at Wudao's face while speaking, and saw that Wudao did not look sick, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Takenori Akagi was wearing a red T-shirt, black sweatpants, running shoes, and a basketball tucked into his right waist, looking like a sporty boy.
Behind him, Akagi Haruko was also wearing a light-colored sportswear, with her hair tied into a ponytail and a pink headband. The brother and sister seemed to have been running for a while, and Akagi Haruko's face was covered with crystal sweat, looking youthful and beautiful.
At this time, she was curiously looking at Jinguji Budou who was sitting on the ground. Akagi Haruko had seen Jinguji Budou before, and she had also watched several games of Xiangbei High School, and knew that Jinguji Budou was a teammate of Akagi Takenori. But what Akagi Haruko was curious about was why Jinguji Budou was sitting here.
"I am waiting for someone."
"I thought I'd take a rest, so I fell asleep."
"You are..." Wudao scratched his hair, stood up silently, and saw that Akagi Takenori had a basketball tucked between his waist. He pointed at the ball and looked at Akagi with a questioning look.
"It's just dribbling practice."
"Although we have made it to the semi-finals, it is far from time to slack off."
Akagi Takenori patted the basketball, then took the ball in his hand and spoke to Wudao.
Wudao nodded silently. It can be seen that Akagi Takenori's love for basketball is real. People who can integrate basketball training into their daily lives always have no problem with their attitude, and often such people are likely to play well.
It’s hard to say how talented Akagi is, but as long as he can maintain this training attitude, there will be no problem for him to get into a better university through basketball.
Just as Wudao was about to continue chatting with Akagi, a loud shout suddenly came from a distance.
"Hey! Big brother!"
The familiar voice startled Wu Dao, who was about to talk to Akagi, and then turned his head to look across the street. At this time, on the road, Sakuragi Hanamichi ran towards Wu Dao quickly when he saw that there were no vehicles on the road.
Sakuragi Hanamichi came in front of Takeshi and was about to say something when he suddenly noticed Akagi Haruko standing next to Akagi Takenori. His handsome face suddenly turned red. Although he was standing in front of Takeshi, he just stared at Akagi Haruko and opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.
Being stared at by Sakuragi Hanamichi, Akagi Haruko was not shy at all, and she did not notice anything strange about Sakuragi Hanamichi. After seeing Sakuragi Hanamichi, she walked up to him in a familiar manner, compared his height, and with surprise on her pretty face, she exclaimed:
“It’s so high!”
Then, he pinched Sakuragi Hanamichi's arm without paying attention to anyone around. Haruko was surprised by his strong arms. When Haruko pinched his arm, Sakuragi Hanamichi stood straight, no longer looking at Haruko, but looking forward, like a soldier being inspected by his leader. The weather was good in the morning, and Sakuragi Hanamichi probably didn't do any strenuous exercise, but at this moment, sweat was pouring down his face.
"The muscles are also very strong." Akagi Haruko let go of Sakuragi Hanamichi's arm, turned her head to look at Akagi Takenori, and asked curiously:
"Brother, is this person also on your basketball team?!"
"I've never heard you mention such an outstanding player?!"
Akagi frowned slightly, shook his head, and then looked at Jinguji Takeshi. He just clearly heard this red-haired bad boy calling Jinguji Takeshi "big brother".
Akagi Takenori knew that Takeshi was the only son in the family, and he had no younger brothers. Moreover, the title of "big brother" made Akagi feel uncomfortable. Moreover, the way Sakuragi Hanamichi looked at his sister just now reminded him of his childhood friend Aota Ryuhiko, which made Akagi very unhappy.
Combined with Sakuragi Hanamichi's bad boy attire, Akagi's impression of Sakuragi Hanamichi became very bad.
"Hey, Takeru, who is this guy?!" Akagi was in a bad mood, and even had a hint of anger in his voice when he spoke to Takeru.
"Haha, Sakuragi Hanamichi from Wako Junior High School."
"He's a very good boy who wants to be an athlete. He came to me for training today."
Wu Dao noticed Akagi's mood, but he didn't care. He smiled and introduced Akagi Takenori to him. As for why Akagi Takenori had a slight hostility towards Sakuragi Hanamichi, whom he met for the first time, Wu Dao could understand it. Anyone who saw a young man dressed like a second-rate person staring at his sister on the street would be angry.
If you look at Akagi secretly, you can't say anything, but staring at him is really rude.
While Wudao was speaking, he patted Sakuragi Hanamichi on the shoulder. Sakuragi Hanamichi, with a stiff body, did not even look at Akagi Takenori. He turned around mechanically to face Haruko and introduced himself:
"Hello... hello!"
"I'm... Sakuragi... Hanamichi."
“Please... please... please...”
Wudao looked at the stuttering Sakuragi Hanamichi in silence, and Akagi Takenori also looked at Sakuragi with a dark face, and his expression became increasingly unfriendly.
"Please give me more advice!"
"My name is Akagi Haruko, and I'm from No. 4 Middle School!"
Akagi Haruko took over Sakuragi Hanamichi's words and even took the initiative to shake hands with him. At the same time, Akagi Haruko introduced her brother to Sakuragi. Facing Akagi Takenori's unfriendly eyes, Sakuragi Hanamichi greeted him without thinking.
"Budo-senpai said you were going to be an athlete?! Are you good at basketball too?!"
Haruko Akagi's love for basketball is no less than anyone else's. Just now, she just heard Wudao mention "athlete" and directly linked Sakuragi Hanamichi with basketball.
"Basketball... Basketball?!" But Sakuragi Hanamichi didn't know anything about basketball. He didn't even know what basketball was. However, in front of Akagi Haruko, Sakuragi Hanamichi still responded:
"Ah! Yes! Yes, basketball."
"I'm looking for Brother Budo just to become a basketball player!"
Jinguji Takeshi narrowed his eyes and glanced at Sakuragi Hanamichi, then silently glanced at Akagi Haruko, and had an idea in mind. He didn't expect that he would meet Akagi Takenori and his sister when he made an appointment with Sakuragi today.
Originally, Wudao just planned that if Sakuragi Hanamichi was interested in sports, he would take Sakuragi to exercise. He didn't say how much improvement Sakuragi could make, he just wanted Sakuragi Hanamichi to be interested in and familiar with sports, and to develop some physical talents.
However, the appearance of Akagi Haruko made Wudao change his mind. It seemed that, maybe, Sakuragi Hanamichi, who met Akagi Haruko in advance, could get in touch with basketball earlier
"Become a basketball player?! Sakuragi-san, I think with your physical condition, you can do it." Akagi Haruko looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi with some envy. Suddenly, her mind recalled the heroic figure of Rukawa Kaede when he played basketball. After reacting, Haruko's pretty face turned slightly red and she felt a little shy.
Sakuragi thought that Haruko was admiring him, so he perked up and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! That's right, I will become a basketball player!"
Wudao looked at Sakuragi Hanamichi's happy expression and also smiled happily.
Becoming a basketball player? That’s what you said!
"Sakuragi Hanamichi is still a beginner in basketball, but he has great talent and will definitely become a strong player in the future."
"Akagi, our Xiangbei team is indeed quite strong right now. We have already beaten Shoyo at this stage, so the subsequent games will not be a problem."
"But if we want to impact the national team and maintain our Xiangbei's fighting power, excellent newcomers are indispensable."
"To put it bluntly, the student source conditions of our Xiangbei are far inferior to those of schools like Hainan and Xiangyang."
"I want to discover talented people who can join our Xiangbei in the future and help us Xiangbei dominate the country."
Wu Dao patted Sakuragi Hanamichi's shoulder while speaking. Although Sakuragi Hanamichi was a little naive and would make many stupid mistakes, he was still very reliable sometimes. Hearing Wu Dao say this, Sakuragi Hanamichi also responded: "Yeah, yeah!"
"I will help Xiangbei dominate the country!"
Even though Sakuragi Hanamichi doesn't know what basketball is now, and doesn't know what the Kainan Shoyo mentioned by Wudao is, this does not prevent him from shouting the slogan "Dominate the country" in front of Akagi Haruko.
"It's great to be simple!" Wudao secretly sighed in his heart, and then patted Sakuragi's shoulder vigorously, and said while the iron was hot: "Let's go, Sakuragi, let's train."
Wudao glanced at the basketball in Akagi Takenori's hand, and then said with a smile: "Akagi, come along, it's just right, let me show you this guy's talent."
“This guy is really talented.”
Wudao said with a smile. Hearing Wudao's confident words, Akagi Takenori couldn't help but become curious. Jinguji Wudao has always been a very demanding person. Even he said that he was very talented. Akagi also wanted to see how talented Sakuragi Hanamichi was.
"Okay, okay!" Akagi Haruko was obviously very curious about Sakuragi Hanamichi. She also wanted to see what kind of performance Sakuragi Hanamichi could have with such physical condition.
At this time, Sakuragi Hanamichi was immersed in the wonderful scene of meeting Akagi Haruko, and did not realize that Jinguji Budou had already labeled him as a "Shohoku High School player" with just a few words.
Takeshi Jinguji took Sakuragi Hanamichi, Akagi and Haruko into the park. Soon, the four of them arrived at the small playground in the park.
Although the facilities of this park stadium are simple, it has a backboard and a basket, which is enough for Sakuragi Hanamichi today.
After arriving at the court, Wu Dao silently took the basketball from Akagi Takenori, patted it casually, and said to Sakuragi Hanamichi: "Hanmichi, do you see the ball in my hand?"
“This is basketball.”
"You take this ball and put this ball into the basket."
“Like this.”
As he spoke, Jinguji Takeshi quickly came to the basket with the ball, then suddenly jumped up and dunked the ball with one hand, slamming it into the basket.
"Wow... so awesome!" Although it was not the first time that Akagi Haruko had seen a slam dunk, she was still quite shocked to see Jinguji Budou's slam dunk from a close distance. Jinguji Budou did not use his full strength for the slam dunk this time, and the height of his jump was only moderate. However, even so, the impact of the slam dunk was still very strong.
Sakuragi Hanamichi was a little dazed when he saw Jinguji Budou's slam dunk. He also heard Haruko mutter "how amazing" with his sharp ears, and the blood in his body began to boil.
He also wanted to get praise from Haruko Akagi!
"It's very simple, you just have to jump up and put the ball in, jump with all your strength and slam the ball into the basket."
"Nothing is easier than basketball!"
Jinguji Takeshi laughed and threw the ball to Sakuragi Hanamichi, narrowing his eyes slightly.
How to make Sakuragi Hanamichi like basketball and be willing to work hard for it? It's very simple, as long as Akagi Haruko praises him. After the initial period, the charm of basketball will naturally attract Sakuragi Hanamichi.
The reason why Sakuragi Hanamichi was asked to dunk was to let him feel the thrill of dunking and then receive praise from Akagi Haruko. These two things are enough to make Sakuragi Hanamichi unforgettable for a lifetime.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...