And so, a bizarre scene unfolded on the rooftop.
**Lin Bei** lay flat, fast asleep.
Right beside him squatted a red-haired delinquent boy, hands clasped in a seal, eyes squeezed shut.
At the same time, he muttered under his breath: "I am a stone… I am a stone…"
Five minutes later.
The rooftop door creaked open again.
**Akagi Haruko** walked up carrying a bento box.
"Sakuragi-kun? Lin Bei-kun?"
"Sakuragi-kun… are you constipated?" Haruko stared at the scene in wide-eyed surprise.
**Sakuragi**'s face was indeed twisted in agony—red from holding his breath, forehead veins throbbing.
"Waaah! Haruko-chan!"
"No, no, no!"
"This is training!"
"Master Lin Bei is teaching me the secret techniques of basketball!"
**Sakuragi** instantly broke his "meditation," snapping to attention with a flustered salute.
"Master?"
Haruko blinked her big eyes and glanced at **Lin Bei**, who was still pretending to sleep.
**Lin Bei** rolled over, turning his back to them, and waved lazily.
"Don't listen to him. He's just constipated."
…
Afternoon, basketball gym.
**Akagi Takenori** stood at the front of the team, expression grave.
"Next week, we're heading to Ryōnan High School for a practice match."
The announcement landed like a stone in still water.
"Ryōnan? The team that reached the semifinals last year?"
"I heard their Sendō is insanely strong…"
The first-years whispered among themselves.
**Akagi** cleared his throat and pulled out a roster sheet.
"This practice game is mainly to build team chemistry."
"I'll announce the lineup now."
"Akagi Takenori, Kogure Kiminobu, Yasuda Yasuharu, Shiozaki Tetsuji, Tsunoda Satoru…"
He paused at that point.
His gaze flicked to **Lin Bei**—who was leaning against the wall at the very back, yawning—and then to **Sakuragi**, who was staring at him with sparkling, expectant eyes.
"Rukawa Kaede."
"Here." **Rukawa** replied coolly.
"And… **Lin Bei**."
"Here…" **Lin Bei** raised his hand half-heartedly.
The list ended.
Three seconds of dead silence.
"What about me?!"
"Gorilla! Where's this genius's name?!"
"Why are that fox and the sleepyhead on the list, but not me?!"
**Sakuragi Hanamichi** burst out of formation, pointed at his own nose, face turning liver-red with fury.
"You're a beginner!"
"You don't even know the rules yet. You think it's not embarrassing to put you out there?" A prominent "井" vein popped on **Akagi**'s forehead.
"Damn it! I've been doing special secret training!"
"I've mastered eye-killing and Instant Movement!"
**Sakuragi** refused to back down; he even looked ready to grab **Akagi** by the collar.
"Bam!"
**Akagi** delivered a merciless knuckle to the top of his head.
**Sakuragi** clutched his skull, tears in his eyes, and spun toward **Lin Bei**.
"Master!"
"You judge! This is unfair!"
**Lin Bei** sighed.
Troublesome.
If he didn't placate this single-celled idiot soon, there'd be no peace for his fishing.
He walked over and patted **Sakuragi** on the shoulder.
"Hanamichi, you've got it all wrong."
"Huh?"
"Think about it—do truly powerful weapons get shown off casually?"
**Lin Bei** lowered his voice, adopting a mysterious tone. "Real trump cards only appear at the most critical moment."
"The captain is treating you as a 『secret weapon』."
"Secret… weapon?"
**Sakuragi** froze, repeating the words slowly.
"Exactly."
**Lin Bei** pointed at **Rukawa Kaede**. "Rukawa Kaede is a conventional weapon—expendable, used to wear down the enemy's stamina."
"But you? You're the finisher. The decisive blow."
"What if we put you out early and Ryōnan gets so scared they forfeit?"
The logic was full of holes.
But in **Sakuragi Hanamichi**'s simple mind, it formed a perfect, beautiful closed loop.
His expression shifted: rage → shock → pure ecstasy.
Finally, he planted hands on hips, threw his head back, and laughed triumphantly:
"Gahahaha! So that's how it is!
"The gorilla actually has good judgment after all!"
"I'm the secret weapon! Secret weapon!!"
**Akagi**'s mouth twitched as he shot **Lin Bei** a look: "You… don't you feel any guilt lying to an idiot like that?"
**Lin Bei** shrugged. "Captain, this is called tactical psychological counseling."
"Enough. Training starts now!"
**Akagi** bellowed, "**Lin Bei**, step forward!"
**Lin Bei**'s heart skipped.
"Captain, I'm not feeling well today… stomachache… aunt flo—"
"Cut the excuses."
**Akagi** tossed him the ball. "I saw your offense yesterday—it's got scoring power, I'll give you that."
"But basketball isn't just scoring."
"Show me your defense."
**Akagi** planted himself under the basket, back turned, ready to post up.
"Come guard me."
The gym went dead quiet.
**Akagi Takenori**: 197 cm, 90+ kg, a literal humanoid gorilla.
**Lin Bei**: 188 cm, noticeably slimmer.
This was like a bicycle trying to tackle a truck.
"Captain… if you injure me, does that count as a work-related injury?" **Lin Bei** approached with a bitter smile.
"Less talk. Come on!"
**Akagi** gripped the ball and slammed backward with ferocious force.
**Lin Bei** felt like he was pushing against a moving wall.
"Too heavy…"
He couldn't hold the post-up at all.
**Akagi** spun, ready to leap for a dunk.
At that exact moment—
A faint blue spark flashed through **Lin Bei**'s dead-fish eyes.
[Passive Skill: Misdirection (Kuroko Tetsuya) activated]
**Akagi** was mid-jump when his hands suddenly felt empty.
Where's the ball?
He spun around in shock.
**Lin Bei** was somehow already behind him.
He casually held the orange ball, about to pass it off.
"Kogure-senpai, can you hold this for me? He died again."
Silence.
Absolute, deathly silence.
**Rukawa Kaede**'s pupils contracted sharply.
Even he hadn't clearly seen how **Lin Bei** got around.
It was as if… he vanished into thin air, then reappeared.
**Akagi** landed hard, staring at his empty hands in disbelief.
"You… when did you…"
"Right when you turned."
"Captain, your movements are too exaggerated—full of openings."
"And you only had eyes for the basket. You didn't see me at all."
"So since you weren't looking at me… I took your ball." **Lin Bei** rubbed his aching chest.
The words weren't particularly hurtful, but they were extremely insulting.
**Akagi** took a deep breath and looked at the lazy boy in front of him.
For the first time, a strange premonition rose in his chest.
This year's Shohoku…
Might actually be able to shake up the entire Kanagawa prefecture.
"Very good."
**Akagi** said in a low voice, "**Lin Bei**, you're on the bench for the Ryōnan game."
"Yes!" **Lin Bei** pumped his fist in quiet celebration.
"But—" **Akagi** continued, "if things go badly, you're subbing in immediately."
"And if we lose…"
**Akagi** cracked his knuckles with an ominous click.
"You'll be mopping the gym floor with Sakuragi until graduation."
**Lin Bei**'s smile froze solid on his face.
"That's court bullying, right? Definitely?"
He wailed inwardly.
For the sake of his monthly allowance… for the sake of never mopping floors…
It looked like he wouldn't be able to sleep through the entire Ryōnan trip.
Sendō Akira…
The broom-head's figure floated into **Lin Bei**'s mind.
"I hope it's at least a little interesting."
"Otherwise… I might actually fall asleep."