Everyone moved to the covered corridor surrounding the courtyard.
The moonlight was deathly pale.
The wind swept through the bamboo grove, making the leaves rustle ominously.
It practically came with its own horror-movie BGM.
"Ahem."
Sakuragi cleared his throat.
He shone his flashlight upward from beneath his chin, making himself look exactly like a red-haired demon straight out of hell.
"The innkeeper told me…"
"Halfway up the mountain behind the inn, there's an abandoned shrine called the Headless Shrine."
His voice dropped into a low, sinister whisper.
"H-Headless?"
Haruko's face instantly went pale.
Like a frightened rabbit, she shrank behind Ayako.
"That's right."
Sakuragi was very pleased with the effect.
He continued his story...
Or rather, his increasingly creative fabrication.
"Legend has it that during the Sengoku period, a samurai was beheaded here."
"But he never realized that he had died."
"Every night when the moon is full, the headless samurai wanders the mountain path with his sword in hand, stopping travelers and asking them the same question…"
Sakuragi suddenly stopped.
His eyes locked onto the darkness behind Haruko.
His pupils shrank dramatically.
"W-What does he ask?" Takamiya wondered, the potato chips in his hand suddenly forgotten.
Sakuragi abruptly leaned toward everyone.
Then screamed:
"HE ASKS—HAVE YOU SEEN MY HEAD?!"
"KYAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Haruko let out a shriek and immediately threw herself into Ayako's arms, trembling from head to toe.
"You idiot, Hanamichi!"
"You scared Haruko!"
Ayako comforted Haruko while glaring viciously at Sakuragi.
Sakuragi had originally been extremely proud of himself.
But the moment he saw Haruko trembling in fear, he panicked.
"Eh? Haruko-san?"
"Uh... that was just a joke!"
"There aren't really any ghosts!"
"Wahahaha! This genius was only kidding!"
But fear was like a seed.
Once planted...
It could take root and grow wildly inside the human mind.
"Really...?"
"It was just a joke?"
Juro, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.
He leaned casually against one of the pillars, idly flipping a coin between his fingers.
His eyes drifted toward the pitch-black forest behind the inn.
A meaningful smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"But just now…"
"I think I really did see a will-o'-the-wisp floating halfway up the mountain."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Everyone's heads slowly turned toward the mountain.
The forest stood there in complete darkness.
It looked like a gigantic open mouth...
Waiting for its prey to walk inside.
"D-Don't scare people!"
"Mitsui glared at Juro.
"You're definitely evil when you get cut open, aren't you?"
"Whether I'm trying to scare you or not…"
"Why don't you go find out for yourselves?"
Makino Juro shrugged, completely unconcerned.
"Since this is Shohoku's training camp, courage is part of strength too, right?"
"If you're afraid of a little darkness like this, how are you supposed to conquer the nation?"
"What happens when we're playing an away game and the crowd boos you a few times?"
"Are you going to wet your pants?"
That was a fatal blow.
He had just elevated a ridiculous ghost story into a matter of team honor and masculine pride.
"W-Who's afraid?!"
Akagi stepped forward.
As captain, there was absolutely no way he could show weakness.
Even if, deep down, he was actually the one most terrified of ghosts and supernatural nonsense.
"We're going!"
"Shohoku's Courage Test officially begins now!"
"YEAH!"
The four members of the Sakuragi Army suddenly jumped with excitement.
Yohei Mito smiled brightly.
But there was something decidedly sinister hidden behind that smile.
"If this is a competition, we're going to need judges."
"The four of us aren't participating."
"We'll wait for everyone at the finish line—the shrine—and take pictures to commemorate everyone's heroic achievements."
"Pictures?"
Miyagi looked suspiciously at them.
"What are you taking pictures of in the middle of the night?"
"Obviously, we're recording everyone's heroic moments!"
"This is going to be a precious memory of our youth!"
"Don't worry."
"We'll make sure to capture everyone's most... authentic side."
Yuji Ohkusu patted the camera hanging against his chest.
Sakuragi looked at his friends.
After years of friendship, he immediately understood the meaning behind the look in Yohei's eyes.
Leave it to us.
We'll make sure to scare the hell out of them.
"Good! Then it's settled!"
"Two people per team!"
"We'll draw lots to decide the teams!"
"Let's go!"
...
Ten minutes later.
At the entrance to the mountain trail.
A simple torii gate stood beneath the night sky, its sacred shimenawa rope swaying in the wind.
The stone steps were covered in moss.
Dense cedar trees lined both sides of the path, blocking out almost every trace of moonlight.
It looked exactly like the kind of location a horror movie director would dream of.
The Sakuragi Army had already slipped away.
They carried several large bags.
Inside were pale masks and bottles of red paint.
"Hehehe…"
Takamiya grinned obscenely as he applied ghostly white makeup to his face.
"If Rukawa pisses himself from fear later, we've got to get a close-up!"
"The exact moment that expressionless face completely breaks down…"
"That picture could be worth a fortune!"
"And don't forget the Gorilla."
Noma put on a long-haired female ghost wig and smeared ketchup around the corners of his mouth.
"Tonight, we're going to teach him the harsh realities of society!"
Yohei Mito adjusted the settings on his DSLR.
The camera lens flashed coldly in the darkness.
"Don't take things too far."
"It wouldn't be good if we actually gave someone a heart attack."
Despite saying that, he pulled out a container of dry ice for creating smoke.
"But…"
"Since this is courage training, a little extra stimulation shouldn't hurt, right?"
"After all, we're doing this to improve Shohoku's 'mental strength.'"
The four exchanged glances.
Their conspiratorial teamwork had reached its absolute peak.
At the foot of the mountain, the teams were decided.
Team One: Takenori Akagi & Kiminobu Kogure
The most reliable team...
And probably the most boring.
Akagi held a flashlight in front of him, his expression so serious that he looked like he was patrolling the streets.
"Akagi, relax."
"It's just a game."
Kogure adjusted his glasses and followed behind him with an awkward smile.
"Hmph."
"No matter what it is, we give it everything we've got!"
The beam of Akagi's flashlight trembled like a Parkinson's patient.
Team Two: Ryota Miyagi & Hisashi Mitsui
This team was an absolute disaster.
Both of them were terrified of ghosts.
Neither of them was willing to admit it.
"Hey, Ryota."
"You go first."
"What?!"
"You're the senior!"
"You should go first and protect me!"
"Don't you know you're supposed to respect your elders?!"
"Quit whining!"
"A point guard is supposed to lead the way!"
"A shooting guard should be the one charging into battle!"
The two shoved each other back and forth.
They entered the forest while looking over their shoulders every few steps.
Every time they heard the slightest rustle...
They immediately grabbed onto each other.
Team Three: Kaede Rukawa & Makino Juro
This team had the strangest atmosphere of all.
Rukawa wore his headphones with both hands buried in his pockets, seemingly completely indifferent to the darkness around him.
Makino Juro, meanwhile, looked as though he had come here specifically to watch a comedy show.
He even pulled a packet of sunflower seeds from his pocket.
Crack.
Crack.
The sound of him eating sunflower seeds echoed through the silent mountain path.
It was absurdly out of place.
"Hey, Fox."
"If you see a female ghost later, remember not to hit her in the face."
"She'll be a valuable experimental specimen."
"Idiot."
"There are no ghosts."
Rukawa coldly spat out the words.
But the hand hidden inside his pocket had quietly clenched into a fist.
And the headphones in his ears weren't even playing music.
Team Four: Hanamichi Sakuragi, Haruko Akagi & Ayako
Originally, the rules called for two people per team.
But Haruko was so frightened that she absolutely refused to let go of Ayako.
And Sakuragi shamelessly insisted on teaming up with Haruko.
Thus...
A bizarre three-person team was born.
"Haruko-san!"
"Don't worry!"
"With this genius here, not a single demon or ghost will dare come near you!"
"My Iron Head Technique can send even monsters flying!"
Sakuragi marched at the front, pounding his chest so hard it echoed through the forest.
"R-Really?"
Haruko clung tightly to Ayako's arm, her voice trembling.
"Of course!"
Sakuragi turned around and flashed what he believed was his most handsome smile.
Under the ghostly white light of the flashlight, however...
He looked even scarier than an actual ghost.
"I am the future King of Basketball!"
"Any pathetic ghost will have to run away the moment it sees me!"
END OF CHAPTER
The King Of Slacking Off - MrBehringer's Secret
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