It was 5:30 in the morning. The sky hadn't fully brightened yet.
The streets were quiet, broken only by the occasional sputtering of a newspaper delivery motorcycle passing by.
The doors of Shohoku's gym were suddenly pushed open.
"Ha… ha…"
Hanamichi Sakuragi stood at center court. The pair of Jordans on his feet were already slightly misshapen from overuse.
He gripped the basketball tightly in his hands. His red hair was a complete mess—like a bird's nest—and heavy dark circles hung under his eyes.
Yet his eyes shone with an almost frightening intensity, as if he'd just taken a shot of adrenaline.
He couldn't sleep.
He simply couldn't.
The moment he closed his eyes, that dunk from yesterday replayed in his mind.
The vibration from his fingertips, shooting up his arm and straight into his skull—it was so exhilarating it made his scalp tingle.
"Hey… Hanamichi…"
Behind him, Yohei Mito stood wrapped in his jacket, hunched over like a dying man, his face screaming I want to disappear.
"Bro… it's only five-thirty…"
Yohei let out a massive yawn, tears welling at the corners of his eyes from sheer exhaustion.
He thought they'd finally get to sleep in after beating Shoyo—but before dawn, this guy had dragged him straight out of bed and sprinted all the way to school.
"Yohei!"
"You couldn't sleep either because you were too excited, right?!"
Sakuragi completely ignored his friend's misery, dribbling the ball loudly—bang, bang, bang—the echoes reverberating through the empty gym, making Yohei's head throb.
"That dunk yesterday… that feeling…"
Sakuragi stared at his right hand, opening and closing his fingers as if reliving the sensation.
"It was like… like the whole world's spotlight was shining on me!"
"Haruko must've been watching too! Right there in the front row!"
At the thought, a suspicious blush instantly spread across Sakuragi's face.
His grin stretched ear to ear as he let out a creepily lovestruck laugh.
"Hehehe… Haruko… hehe…"
Yohei rolled his eyes, resting his chin on his hand as his head bobbed like he might fall asleep at any second.
"Yeah, yeah. The whole world was watching you."
"Now hurry up and practice. After that, you're buying me a deluxe breakfast."
Sakuragi took a deep breath. His grin vanished instantly.
He stepped onto the free-throw line, clutching the ball. His aura changed.
In his mind, Shoyo's towering green wall rose once more.
Hanagata's long arms. Takano's blocks. Those suffocating heights that once overwhelmed him—
Now they were nothing but background scenery.
Again!
He took a running start.
His knees bent slightly—his entire body coiled like a spring compressed to its absolute limit.
His calves tightened explosively.
"HYAH!!"
With a shout, Sakuragi launched straight into the air!
The jump was clean. Explosive. Astonishingly high.
Yohei, who had been half-asleep, was startled awake by the shout and instinctively looked up.
The next second, all traces of sleep vanished. His eyes widened in shock.
In his vision, Sakuragi's body stretched like a fully drawn bow, his red hair streaming backward in midair.
That hang time…
It defied logic.
"BANG!!!"
A one-handed tomahawk dunk!
The basketball was smashed viciously through the hoop. The rim let out a metallic groan, trembling violently.
Sakuragi landed with a heavy thud.
Yohei stood frozen, mouth agape, still propping his chin with his hand.
If yesterday's performance had been fueled by adrenaline…
Then what about now?
No crowd. No defenders. Early morning silence.
And yet, Hanamichi Sakuragi could still pull off a dunk of that level with ease.
This guy…
He'd evolved.
"Ha…"
Sakuragi exhaled, then spun around sharply. His eyes shone like searchlights.
"Yohei!"
"Was I… insanely cool yesterday or what?!"
He rushed over in a few strides, wearing the eager expression of a kid begging for praise.
"I mean… aside from the fouls and getting ejected…"
Sakuragi scratched his head, unusually shy.
"Was I… actually good?"
Yohei looked at him.
That red-haired delinquent who used to do nothing but fight—and had been rejected by girls fifty times—
Now stood beneath the hoop, radiating a presence you couldn't ignore.
Yohei smiled, stood up, and punched Sakuragi firmly in the chest.
"Are you deaf?"
"Those cheers after the game yesterday—didn't you hear them?"
"They weren't for Rukawa."
"They weren't for Gorilla either."
"They were for you."
"For Shohoku's savior—Hanamichi Sakuragi."
Sakuragi froze.
A few seconds later, his shoulders began to tremble violently.
"Ku… ku ku…"
He suddenly threw his head back, hands on his hips, laughter bursting out as if it could blow the roof off.
"WAHAHAHAHA!!"
"That's right!!"
"I knew it!! My genius can't be hidden forever!!"
"So those mere mortals have finally discovered my brilliance?!"
"WAHAHAHA! Tremble before me, mortals!!"
"Shut up, you idiot! You're too loud!"
The gym doors swung open again as a towering figure entered with a roar.
Takenori Akagi strode in, face dark, veins bulging on his forehead, a sports bag slung over his shoulder.
Behind him followed a petite figure.
"Everyone's here so early…"
Haruko Akagi peeked out from behind him, dressed neatly in her school uniform, holding a lunchbox, her smile warm and gentle.
"G-Gorilla?!"
"A-And Haruko?!"
Sakuragi's laughter cut off instantly, like a duck getting its throat grabbed.
He snapped to attention, frantically smoothing his messy hair, trying to salvage some dignity that didn't exist.
"What are you yelling about this early in the morning?"
Akagi stepped onto the court, his sharp gaze sweeping over Sakuragi.
"Practicing at the last minute because you're afraid of setting a record for five consecutive ejections in the finals?"
His words were harsh, but there was a faint trace of approval hidden in his eyes.
This kid might be an idiot—
But that drive of his… was undeniable.
"S-Shut up!"
Sakuragi's face turned red. "This genius won't get ejected! That was the ref targeting me yesterday!"
"Um… Sakuragi-kun."
Haruko jogged over shyly, her eyes sparkling like they held stars.
"I actually have something to show you."
"W-What is it?"
Sakuragi's heart skipped a beat.
Could it be…
A love letter?!
Or… a confession?!
His palms grew sweaty, his breathing quickened—his mind had already skipped ahead to marriage and kids.
Haruko carefully pulled out a neatly folded newspaper from her arms—Kanagawa Sports Daily.
"Look!"
"Sakuragi-kun, you made the front page!"
She unfolded the paper and held it out to him, her voice filled with excitement.
Sakuragi blinked.
A newspaper?
He looked down in confusion—and in the next second, his eyes nearly popped out.
The front page had no clutter of text.
At the top, in bold, oversized letters:
[Shoyo Defeated!]
Below it—
A massive photograph taking up half the page.
The angle was perfect, captured from beneath the backboard.
In the image, the red-haired #10 of Shohoku soared high in the air, throwing down a one-handed dunk.
Below him, Hanagata Toru and Takano were falling backward in disarray, faces filled with shock.
That raw, violent beauty...
That king-like dominance...
Even in black-and-white print, it couldn't be contained.
Sakuragi's hands began to tremble. He nearly pressed his face against the paper, as if trying to smell the ink.
"Th-this is…?"