"Whew…"
A cold gust of wind swept past as Sakuragi Hanamichi rubbed his palms together vigorously, trying to warm himself up.
At four in the morning—the day after the National Tournament—Kanagawa Prefecture felt especially desolate.
A moment later, a truck appeared in the distance. Sakuragi immediately turned toward the warmly lit room and shouted, "Uncle! The truck's here!"
"Alright! Everyone, let's get to work!"
"Yosh!"
Several middle-aged uncles slowly filed out of the room. The truck pulled to a stop in front of Sakuragi, and together they began unloading bundles of paper.
These were freshly printed newspapers—still warm from the press, but not yet assembled into finished copies.
This was an ordinary newspaper distribution station, and also Sakuragi's part-time job. He worked skillfully alongside the uncles, assembling stacks of newspapers in preparation for delivery.
"Huh?"
An uncle wearing glasses pointed at a photo in one of the papers and asked, "Sakuragi… is this you?"
The paper was open to the sports section. Splashed across the front page was the headline:
Shohoku Defeats Sannoh to Win the National High School Basketball Championship!
Below it was a group photo of the Shohoku High basketball team.
Sakuragi Hanamichi, Rukawa Kaede, Akagi, and Nango stood out immediately—they were simply too tall to miss.
To most of the country, Shohoku's championship win was moderately noteworthy.
It was impressive because they had defeated Sannoh Industrial, the three-time defending champions—an incredible feat in high school basketball.
But it was still just a high school tournament, and basketball wasn't the most popular sport nationwide. A prominent sports-page feature was already generous.
However, in Kanagawa Prefecture—
This was explosive news.
Despite having powerhouse schools like Kainan Affiliated High School and Shoyo High School, Kanagawa had never produced a national champion before. This victory was unprecedented.
"Hmm?" Sakuragi leaned closer to look at the photo.
That was him.
He immediately burst into laughter. "Of course it's me! The one and only genius, Sakuragi Hanamichi! Didn't I already tell you guys?"
The bespectacled uncle stared at the newspaper, then at Sakuragi, eyes wide.
"Oh my… so you really won the championship? I thought you were just bragging!"
Sakuragi's face darkened instantly. "Hmph! I, Sakuragi Hanamichi, never brag!"
"What?! Sakuragi won the championship?"
"Let me see!"
The other uncles dropped what they were doing and crowded over, grabbing newspapers to examine them closely.
"It's true!"
"Sakuragi, are you going to become a big star now?"
"Hahahaha! Almost! Almost!" Sakuragi laughed so hard it looked like his tail might wag straight into the sky.
"Ahem, ahem." He suddenly struck a dignified pose. "I'll sign autographs for you guys. They'll be worth a lot someday."
"Alright! I'll go get paper and a pen!"
One uncle rushed inside and quickly returned with writing supplies.
Sakuragi proudly took them and scribbled out several autographs, handing them out one by one.
The bespectacled uncle stared at Sakuragi's crooked signature, hesitated, then spoke gently, "Sakuragi… you really should practice your handwriting. This doesn't quite look like a big star's autograph."
Sakuragi's face flushed red. "I-I'll improve later! It'll get better with practice!"
At 9 a.m., Nango's father walked into the office carrying two large bags.
As soon as his desk mate, Mr. Kobayashi, saw him, he immediately exclaimed, "Mr. Nango! You must get your son to sign an autograph for me!"
"Heh." Father Nango smiled faintly, pulled out a box of pastries, and handed it over. "The autograph can wait. Have something to eat first—these are souvenirs from Hiroshima."
He began handing a box to each colleague. Mr. Kobayashi quickly grabbed one of the bags and helped distribute them.
A colleague who didn't know what was going on asked, "What's the occasion?"
Mr. Kobayashi grinned. "Mr. Nango brought these back from Hiroshima. His son's basketball team won the national championship! It even made today's sports front page!"
"Oh?! That's incredible!"
"Congratulations, Mr. Nango!"
"Which one in the photo is your son?"
"The second tallest in the back row."
"Oh my! He's so handsome—just like you were when you were young!"
Father Nango laughed heartily, clearly enjoying the praise.
Meanwhile, Nango had already met up with Kano and was beginning their date.
During summer vacation, he had trained at Nittaidai, then rushed to Hiroshima for the tournament. Nearly two months had flown by, and with only about ten days left before school resumed, the two made the most of their remaining time together.
Although he hadn't officially received the notice yet, Nango knew the invitation from the Japan Youth Team would arrive soon.
If this continued year after year, he wouldn't have many chances to spend time with Kano like this.
As they walked, Kano suddenly asked, "Nango… are you really coming to our school?"
Nango scratched his cheek. "Honestly, I haven't decided yet. What do you think?"
"You're asking me?" Kano sighed softly. "I don't know either."
"You don't want me to go to Ryokufu?" Nango asked curiously.
"At first, I really did," she admitted. "But didn't Sakuragi say yesterday that your goal is to win three championships? If you come to Ryokufu… you won't be able to do that, will you?"
"About that—"
Before he could finish, Kano continued anxiously, "And don't people say that absence makes the heart grow fonder? What if we're together every day and our feelings fade?"
Nango squeezed her hand gently and chuckled. "Silly girl. How could that happen?"
Kano frowned slightly. "So… are you coming?"
"I'll discuss it with my parents first," Nango said with a sigh. "For now, let's just enjoy our date."
The decision was giving him more of a headache by the minute.
After sleeping in for once and enjoying a satisfying lunch, Rukawa Kaede arrived at his familiar neighborhood court that afternoon, planning to continue his solo training.
To his surprise, the children who usually avoided him didn't run away.
Instead, they rushed over excitedly—newspapers in hand.
"Big brother! Is this you?!"
Rukawa glanced at the photo and nodded lightly. With their enthusiasm, he couldn't bring himself to act cold.
"Big brother! Please teach us how to play basketball!"
"Please!"
The children clasped their hands together, eyes shining with sincerity.
Rukawa froze, muttering under his breath, "What's going on…?"
That evening—
Nango pushed open the front door. "I'm home."
"Did you walk Kano home?" Mother Nango asked while watching a soap opera on the sofa.
"Of course."
"Good. That's how a gentleman should behave."
Nango smiled faintly and turned toward his room, but his mother picked up a letter from the table and handed it to him.
"It arrived this evening."
So fast…
Nango already knew what it was. He tore open the envelope—it was indeed an invitation from the Japan Youth Team, instructing him to report the day after tomorrow at Nittaidai in Tokyo.
Mother Nango asked curiously, "Who sent that?"
Nango raised the letter with a grin. "The country needs me."
Then he added, "Has Dad come back yet?"
"He's in his study."