Aomine Daiki Template in Slam Dunk

Sakuragi Hanamichi was also stunned by what he saw, immediately dropping his playful expression and standing frozen in place.

Up on the second floor of the gym, the Sakuragi gang, who had arrived at some point, also witnessed the scene.

They were all wide-eyed, mouths agape.

As everyone stood in shock, Aoi Kunisaku turned to Rukawa Kaede and asked, "Want to keep going?"

Rukawa Kaede snapped back to reality. Although there was still a hint of reluctance in his eyes, his fighting spirit burned even more intensely.

He wasn't going to give up so easily.

He was about to speak when suddenly a voice reached everyone's ears.

"It seems everyone's here."

Everyone turned to see Coach Anzai standing by the court at some point.

Coach Anzai still wore his gentle smile, his chubby hand rubbing his round chin.

The basketball team greeted him in unison: "Coach Anzai."

At that moment, Sakuragi Hanamichi stepped up to Coach Anzai, casually grabbing his chubby chin with one hand while pressing on his round belly with the other. He said, "Old man, you're finally here. Take a look at Rukawa Kaede and that Aoi Kunisaku. They're hogging the practice court, battling it out. You need to control them! How can we allow such people on the team? Right, old man? Just kick them off the team! The team only needs a genius like me!"

Thud...

A heavy punch landed on Sakuragi Hanamichi's head, cutting off his words.

Akagi Takenori, with an angry look on his face, withdrew his hand and respectfully said to Coach Anzai, "Sorry, Coach. I'll punish him properly."

"Heh, heh, heh..." Coach Anzai laughed and waved his hand. "It's fine, it's fine, Akagi. No need."

Akagi Takenori respectfully nodded. "Yes."

Coach Anzai then spoke again. "I'm here to tell you that I've arranged a practice match for you."

Upon hearing about the practice match, everyone in the gym focused immediately and quietly listened.

Coach Anzai continued, "The opponent for the practice match is Ryonan High School."

The atmosphere in the gym fell silent for a moment.

After the brief silence, a loud exclamation followed.

"What? Ryonan High School?" The second and third-year students of the basketball team exclaimed in unison.

Kogure Kuniyuki spoke in shock, "Why Ryonan? Do we really stand a chance?"

"Ryonan?" Ayako said, surprised. "This is going to be a tough one."

At this moment, first-year student, Kuwata Toki, asked curiously, "Why is everyone so surprised? Is Ryonan High School that strong?"

Kogure Kuniyuki explained, "Ryonan High School was in the top four in last year's prefectural tournament."

Upon hearing this, the first-year students were also taken aback.

"Alright, everyone, gather up," Akagi Takenori called out loudly.

Once everyone was assembled, Coach Anzai spoke. "Before the practice match, you all should practice first. Akagi, I'll leave it to you."

"Yes," Akagi Takenori responded.

...

After practice, Aoi Kunisaku and Shimizu Kanon left together.

"Ah..." Aoi Kunisaku yawned, looking as lethargic as ever, completely unrecognizable as someone who had just finished a rigorous practice session.

Shimizu Kanon, seeing his appearance, helplessly asked, "Saku-chan, how do you feel?"

"What do you mean 'how do I feel'?" Aoi Kunisaku lazily responded, confused.

Shimizu Kanon explained, "I mean from the one-on-one against Rukawa Kaede! You must've taken it seriously, right?"

Rukawa Kaede's strength wasn't weak, but today he had been completely dominated by Aoi Kunisaku.

If Aoi Kunisaku hadn't taken it seriously, he wouldn't have made facing Rukawa Kaede look so effortless.

Aoi Kunisaku didn't argue, simply replying, "I was just a little serious! That guy's still too weak for me to get fully serious. And..."

Aoi Kunisaku paused for a moment, then continued, "You know my situation. Even if I'm a little serious, it's only serious in the usual sense."

Hearing this, Shimizu Kanon smiled sweetly.

Thinking about her childhood friend's unique style of play...

That unpredictable, unbeatable style always made her heart race with both fear and excitement.

Shimizu Kanon asked, "Will you be playing in the practice match?"

Aoi Kunisaku replied indifferently, "I don't know. Let's see! It's just a practice match. It doesn't really matter if I play or not!"

"Eh?! If you act like this, people will have opinions," Shimizu Kanon urged.

Aoi Kunisaku shrugged and said, "It doesn't matter."

"Honestly," Shimizu Kanon sighed, shaking her head.

As they were talking and walking out of the school, a young boy passed by them and stopped.

The boy was about 165 cm tall, with a hairdo resembling a flat brush. His uniform was similar to Shohoku's, but on the left side of his chest, the word "Ryonan" was written.

His appearance wasn't anything special; he had a simple, honest look.

What stood out, however, was that he was holding a pen and a notebook, as if recording something.

The notebook had the boy's name on the cover, "Aida Hikoichi."

He turned to glance at the retreating figures of Aoi Kunisaku and Shimizu Kanon, mumbling to himself, "Strange, I think I just heard Rukawa Kaede's name. Was that my imagination?"

Shaking his head, the boy turned back and continued walking toward the Shohoku campus.

Over the next week, the members of the Shohoku basketball team trained diligently under Akagi Takenori's guidance.

The first-year students successfully completed their training every day.

For people like Aoi Kunisaku, Rukawa Kaede, and Sakuragi Hanamichi, whose physical abilities were beyond the norm, this wasn't an issue at all.

This made Akagi Takenori feel proud.

However, there was one thing that troubled him: Aoi Kunisaku's tendency to be late.

Ever since Aoi Kunisaku joined the basketball team, he hadn't shown up on time even once.

This left Akagi Takenori both frustrated and fond of him.

Several times, he had wanted to give Aoi Kunisaku a proper lesson for his lack of time management.

But fortunately, Kogure Kuniyuki, the nice guy, had always stopped him.

He also worried about accidentally angering Aoi Kunisaku. If Aoi Kunisaku left the team, it would be a huge loss for Shohoku.

As for Shimizu Kanon, she was much easier to deal with.

She got along well with everyone on the team.

First of all, her stunning beauty had completely captivated everyone.

Moreover, her experience playing basketball with Aoi Kunisaku from a young age gave her a unique insight when observing people's physical attributes.

When she presented everyone's data, everyone, including Coach Anzai, was stunned.

She had compiled details on each player's habits, things to improve, and possible development routes.

Everyone, wide-eyed, could only gasp in awe as they saw the information.

They even found that Coach Anzai's data was included.

However, unlike the others, his data focused on health-related matters.

After seeing all of this, Shimizu Kanon completely won everyone over.

With that, she had firmly secured her position as Shohoku's basketball team manager.

She and Ayako divided their tasks clearly—one handled the internal matters, the other handled the external.

The two of them supported and complemented each other, becoming Shohoku's "double-flower managers."