Inside the car, the atmosphere was... somewhat strange.
As a two-door, four-seat sports car, the rear seats were nothing short of a disaster for two basketball players standing nearly six feet and six-foot-three.
Maki Shinichi had no choice but to sit with his legs slightly spread apart.
His imposing face remained calm and composed, but the faint twitch at the corner of his eye betrayed just how uncomfortable he really was.
Compared to him, Kiyota Nobunaga looked like a country bumpkin visiting a grand city for the first time.
He squirmed nonstop in the back seat.
One moment he was stroking the leather upholstery.
The next, he was tapping on the windows.
Then he leaned forward to inspect the dashboard and instrument panel.
He looked exactly like an overexcited monkey suffering from hyperactivity.
"Wow! This quality! This craftsmanship!"
Kiyota clicked his tongue repeatedly, his face full of envy.
"How much did this car cost?"
"Juro, does your family own a bank or something?"
"Or are you secretly the illegitimate son of some giant conglomerate?"
In the front passenger seat, Sakuragi Hanamichi had reclined his chair into a full-blown couch-potato position.
Arms crossed over his chest, he wore an unbearably smug expression.
Hearing Kiyota's amazement, he snorted and raised his chin proudly.
"What a bumpkin."
"Keep your hands to yourself."
"If you break something, selling you wouldn't even cover the repairs."
Kiyota exploded instantly.
"It's not even your car!"
"What are you acting so proud for?!"
"You're just borrowing someone else's prestige!"
Sakuragi grinned, revealing a dazzling row of white teeth.
He reached out and patted Makino Juro's shoulder as if they were lifelong brothers.
"Hmph!"
"What's my master's is mine!"
"That's called master and disciple working as one!"
"Unstoppable!"
"Understand, mortal?"
Makino Juro drove with one hand on the steering wheel, eyes fixed on the road.
The corner of his mouth curled upward in amusement.
"Sakuragi."
"It's not impossible for me to give you this car."
"Really?!"
Sakuragi's eyes instantly transformed into searchlights.
Their brightness rivaled the GT-R's headlights.
"As long as you completely master the Zone."
"The keys are yours."
"Deal!"
Sakuragi nearly launched himself through the sunroof in excitement.
"Did you hear that, wild monkey?!"
"This genius is about to become the owner of the God of War's chariot!"
"When that day comes, you'll be eating my exhaust fumes!"
Kiyota ground his teeth in frustration.
Unfortunately, he had no comeback.
All he could do was mutter sourly under his breath.
"Tch... Typical nouveau riche behavior..."
"What's so special about it..."
The GT-R sped along the highway.
Outside the windows, scenery flashed past in a blur, melting into streaks of color.
Maki had wanted to ask Makino Juro about the Zone.
But seeing that he was driving, he held back.
Instead, he painfully adjusted his sitting position, trying to look less like a sardine stuffed into a can.
Then he glanced at Sakuragi in the front seat.
"Oh, right."
"How's Akagi's foot injury?"
Though they were rivals, Maki held genuine respect for Akagi Takenori.
He had seen the severity of the ankle injury with his own eyes.
If it wasn't treated properly, it could easily affect the player's future career.
Sakuragi was busy fiddling with the car's audio controls.
Without looking up, he answered casually.
"The Gorilla?"
"He's in America."
"Juro found him some kind of doctor from the Orlando Magic."
"Or maybe the team's medical staff?"
"Anyway, it sounded really impressive."
Scratching his head, Sakuragi continued:
"He called yesterday and said he's almost fully recovered."
"Right now he's learning some kind of 'Butt Divine Art' from a huge black guy."
"Butt... Divine Art?"
Maki blinked.
Clearly, he couldn't keep up with Sakuragi's bizarre train of thought.
Still, hearing that Akagi was fine allowed him to relax.
"That's an amazingly fast recovery."
Kiyota couldn't help but cut in.
His trademark punchable grin had returned.
"Well, he is an unevolved gorilla."
"Recovery like that is basically animal-level."
"It's completely unfair."
The air inside the car froze for exactly one-tenth of a second.
Sakuragi's hand stopped midair.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
He turned his head.
The look in his eyes suggested he wanted to devour Kiyota alive.
"Wild monkey..."
His voice squeezed through clenched teeth.
"Who exactly are you calling an unevolved gorilla?"
"Akagi, obviously!"
Kiyota replied without the slightest fear.
"Isn't that what he is?"
"He's practically a textbook example!"
"You bastard!"
Sakuragi roared.
"The Gorilla may look like a gorilla, but he's our gorilla!"
"Only this genius is allowed to call him that!"
"You wild monkey don't have the right!"
Grabbing the seatback, he twisted around and shouted at the rear seat.
"Hah?!"
"What did you just say, red-haired monkey?!"
Kiyota immediately fired back.
"Aren't you a monkey too?!"
"A red-haired one at that!"
"Your entire Shohoku team is basically a wildlife preserve!"
"What did you say?!"
"You wanna fight?!"
"Bring it on!"
"In a cramped space like this, my agility is unbeatable!"
Separated only by the seatback, the two started clawing at each other.
Like a pair of cats trapped in a cage.
The interior instantly descended into chaos.
"Don't fight in my car."
Makino Juro spoke calmly.
His voice wasn't loud.
But it carried a chilling edge.
The next second...
He jerked the steering wheel and slammed the accelerator to the floor.
SCREEEECH!!
The GT-R's tires screamed across the highway.
The entire car suddenly slid sideways, violently cutting into another lane.
It looked less like a lane change...
And more like a deadly waltz performed on the edge of disaster.
The massive centrifugal force instantly hurled the two combatants against the doors.
"WAAAAAHHHH!!"
Kiyota's face flattened against the window like a pancake.
Sakuragi wasn't much better.
THUNK!
His head slammed into the roof lining.
Pain immediately made him bare his teeth.
"Behaving now?"
Juro casually straightened the wheel.
The GT-R returned to perfect stability.
As though that heart-stopping drift had never happened.
The two troublemakers instantly sat upright.
Well-behaved as a pair of quails.
Neither even dared breathe loudly.
"We'll behave..."
"We'll behave..."
Maki clung desperately to the roof handle.
His face had turned slightly pale.
His stomach churned violently.
Looking at Makino Juro's one-handed driving posture, he couldn't help feeling a chill.
This guy wasn't just wild on the basketball court.
He was a complete lunatic behind the wheel too.
Was he planning to send them straight to the Western Paradise?
To ease the awkward silence, Maki cleared his throat and forcibly changed the subject.
"What about Coach Anzai?"
"I heard he was hospitalized."
"How is he doing?"
Maki had always held immense respect for Anzai Mitsuyoshi.
The former national player once known as the "White-Haired Devil."
"He's fine now."
This time, it was Juro who answered.
His eyes remained fixed on the straight road ahead.
A trace of relief flashed through them.
"The old man's tougher than he looks."
"The doctors said it was mostly exhaustion and emotional stress."
"He's already back home recovering."
"Every day, Madam Anzai watches him take his medicine."
"Honestly, he's probably suffering more than he did in the hospital."
Makino Juro chuckled softly.
His fingers tapped lightly against the steering wheel in a relaxed rhythm.
"But collapsing this time wasn't entirely a bad thing."
"It served as a wake-up call."
"The National Tournament is on a completely different level from the prefectural tournament."
The moment those words were spoken, Sakuragi sprang back to life.
"Don't worry!"
he shouted at full volume.
"This genius already made a promise with the old man!"
END OF CHAPTER
The King Of Slacking Off - MrBehringer's Secret
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