Leaving Nango and Kano behind, Haruko walked toward the far end of the court.
At the far side of the gym, Rukawa Kaede and Sakuragi Hanamichi had each occupied half of the court, quietly practicing their shots.
Rukawa Kaede stood beyond the three-point line, repeatedly entering a triple-threat stance with the ball. Then he suddenly stepped forward to the free-throw line and stopped abruptly, releasing a smooth fadeaway jumper.
This was part of Rukawa's daily routine. Even though he had long mastered these movements, he still practiced them tirelessly every single day.
Rukawa Kaede had always been completely devoted to basketball.
Haruko smiled faintly before turning her gaze toward Sakuragi in the distance.
"Bang!"
Sakuragi first tossed the ball against the backboard, grabbed his own rebound, and then either shot immediately or turned for another attempt.
Clearly, he was practicing his offensive techniques near the basket.
After watching him for a while, Haruko's eyes gradually lost focus as she stared at Sakuragi absentmindedly.
"Hey! You're secretly watching Sakuragi again!"
Kano suddenly appeared behind Haruko and shook her shoulders vigorously.
"Ah!" Haruko jumped in fright. She quickly turned around and covered Kano's mouth with her hand.
"No way! Kano, don't talk nonsense!"
"Mmmph!" Kano broke free and protested.
"How is that nonsense? Weren't you just watching Sakuragi?"
"..."
The innocent Haruko didn't even know how to deny it.
Kano smiled slyly and quickly changed the subject.
"Hehe, little Haruko! When Nango and I were talking just now, why were you so shy?"
Haruko was still blushing from the previous topic.
"It wouldn't be proper for me to stand there while you two were chatting."
Kano waved her hand dismissively.
"What's the big deal? We weren't talking about anything secret."
Then she suddenly asked,
"By the way, do you want to go on a date with us?"
Haruko was completely caught off guard. Her eyes widened in shock.
After a long moment, she finally replied,
"I'm not going to be a third wheel."
"It's fine," Kano said confidently, giving a thumbs-up.
"You can invite Sakuragi along."
"W-what?!"
Haruko's face turned even redder.
"Miss Kano, what are you talking about? The basketball team has so many things to do! Training is already exhausting! How could we have time to go out and play?"
Kano immediately pouted, looking pitiful.
"You're calling me 'Miss Kano' now? That sounds so distant."
Haruko panicked and quickly apologized.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that, it's just—"
Kano suddenly returned to her cheerful self.
"Then I'll take that as a yes! You go ask Sakuragi, okay?"
"Eh?! I—I—"
Haruko's mind was completely scrambled.
"You don't want to ask? Fine, then I'll have Nango ask him."
Kano didn't give her any time to protest.
"So it's settled! I'll tell you the details later!"
With that, she hummed happily and skipped away toward Nango.
Haruko could only stand there helplessly.
She had clearly been tricked.
She was no match for Kano.
"Huh?" Nango looked confused.
"When did you start playing matchmaker?"
"Phooey! Who's playing matchmaker?"
Kano pushed him forward impatiently.
"Just go already!"
"Alright, alright, I got it."
Nango sighed, picked up a basketball, and walked over to Sakuragi's half of the court.
Casually, he asked,
"How many shots have you made?"
Sakuragi paused and thought.
"One hundred and fifty… wait, how many was it again? Ah! It's you! Now I forgot!"
Nango shook his head helplessly.
"This idiot is hopeless…"
"Well, it doesn't matter if you missed a few. For the last fifty shots, I'll play defense."
"I won't go easy on you!" Sakuragi declared confidently.
"Heh."
Nango rotated his shoulder and replied,
"Good. I won't go easy either. Come on."
With Nango acting as the defender, Sakuragi tossed the ball into his hands. When the ball was returned, the duel began.
Sakuragi started feinting left and right.
But Nango didn't fall for it.
To him, Sakuragi's movements still looked stiff—more like rehearsed actions rather than reactions to actual defense.
Seeing that Nango remained unmoved, Sakuragi tried two consecutive pump fakes.
Nango still didn't react. Instead, he stepped forward and applied pressure with his chest.
Forced into a corner, Sakuragi dribbled to escape.
Nango shook his finger.
"You can't always rely on dribbling to escape. Think about Hanagata yesterday. When the team needs you, even if you can't score, you still have to attack the basket. And this is only practice."
"Alright, let's start again."
"Okay."
Sakuragi turned around and tossed the ball up again.
Nango also dropped back into his defensive stance.
This time, Sakuragi attacked in the same way.
Nango again applied strong defensive pressure.
At that moment, Sakuragi suddenly turned, preparing to force a fadeaway shot.
But the moment he spun around, Nango quickly swiped the ball away.
"When you turn, protect the ball properly. Don't expose it like that."
Nango demonstrated with the ball as he spoke.
Sakuragi nodded repeatedly beside him.
After two rounds of practice, Nango felt the timing was right.
"By the way… are you free this weekend? Want to go to the amusement park? Kano invited Haruko."
"Really?!"
The moment he heard Haruko's name, Sakuragi nearly threw the basketball out of his hands.
"Of course it's real. Why would I lie to you? Want to go?"
"Of course! When?"
If Sakuragi had a tail, Nango felt certain it would be wagging furiously right now.
"This weekend. I'll tell you the exact time later. Now keep practicing."
"Okay!"
The thought of going to the amusement park with Haruko instantly lifted Sakuragi's spirits.
Even his movements suddenly became sharper.
He grabbed the ball and began feinting left and right again.
This time, however, his movements were much quicker, making Nango hesitate for a brief moment.
Opportunity!
Sakuragi seized the chance and jumped for a shot without hesitation.
Nango reacted a split second too late.
The ball swished through the net.
"Yes! Forty-nine more shots!"
Scoring against Nango instantly filled Sakuragi with motivation.
Nango licked his lips and thought to himself:
This guy is ridiculously easy to read…
He's basically a puppy.
During a short break in practice, Kano secretly winked at Nango, asking how things went.
Nango nodded helplessly, indicating everything had been handled.
Kano immediately gave him a satisfied thumbs-up before running off to find Haruko again.
Haruko's face quickly turned red once more.
"Achoo!"
Elsewhere, Akagi suddenly sneezed.
He rubbed his nose suspiciously.
"That's strange…"
Kogure handed him a tissue.
"Did you catch a cold?"
"I don't think so," Akagi replied slowly. "But I feel like someone might be plotting something against me."
Kogure laughed.
"How could that be? Who would possibly be plotting against you right now?"
Akagi wasn't sure either.
Still, the uneasy feeling lingered in his mind.
"Could it be Uozumi… or Mitsui?"