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After his battle with Shoei, Teiko fought its way through the competition and successfully entered the semifinals.
Ryu also received generous rewards during this period.
Aside from the two matches he missed at the beginning, he participated in five matches in total.
Based on the calculation that each win earns 20,000 cat food, and each successful shot earns 100 cat food, Ryu earned a total of 123,900 cat food.
Looking at the numbers on the panel, Ryu felt refreshed and incredibly content.
As long as he didn't waste the cat food, he would eventually accumulate 500,000.
He seemed to see the "Selfless Realm" and "Asura God Path" beckoning to him.
This was unavoidable because of his wild nature.
Ryu had a hunch that he might not be able to enter the Zone.
Therefore, he had to obtain either the "Selfless Realm" or the "Asura God Path" before entering high school.
After returning home...
As usual, Ryu took a shower and went to his room to rest.
Of course, his rest consisted of grinding cat food in his dream space.
The third day after the quarterfinals.
Ryu carried Karupin into the classroom.
As soon as he entered, he saw everyone seemingly discussing something.
He listened as he got closer.
"Hey! Did you guys hear? They say our school is haunted!"
"What? How could such a thing exist?"
"It's true. It's in the basketball court. Apparently, every evening, strange noises come from inside, but there's nothing inside. It's really terrifying."
"Really?"
"It's true. Several students have heard it."
Hearing this, Ryu basically understood.
It must have been Kuroko Tetsuya who caused this commotion.
But speaking of which...
He'd only seen him once, during the test on the first day of school, and hadn't seen him since!
Should he try to contact him?
Ryu pondered.
Kuroko Tetsuya would eventually join the first team.
Even if he didn't approach him, he would still meet Aomine Daiki.
'Oh well, let nature take its course! If we meet, I'll get to know him!'
Having figured this out, Ryu returned to his seat and began to doze off during the break.
Karupin skillfully jumped onto the windowsill and curled up.
The other students were used to it.
They were all used to it because Ryu's grades were consistently first in the class.
So the teachers turned a blind eye.
A boring day passed in the blink of an eye.
After school in the afternoon, Ryu took Karupin and headed towards the basketball court.
Upon arriving at the basketball court, they ran into Momoi Satsuki on the way.
"Satsuki, what are you doing standing here?"
Upon seeing it was Ryu, Momoi Satsuki immediately ran over, opening her arms and rushing towards him.
Karupin, seeing this, quickly jumped down from Ryu's embrace.
Warmth enveloped him.
Feeling the soft body against his him, Ryu felt his blood pressure rise slightly.
"Ryu, it's so good you're here."
Huh?
Seeing Momoi Satsuki's relieved expression, Ryu forcibly suppressed the flutter in his heart and asked in confusion:
"What's wrong with you?"
Momoi Satsuki nervously asked:
"Ryu, have you heard the legend about the basketball court being haunted?"
Ryu nodded.
"Oh, you mean that? I only heard about it today."
"Ah... what should I do? What should I do? I'm too scared to go to the basketball court now."
Momoi Satsuki's frightened appearance made Ryu feel an irresistible urge to protect her.
Ryu reached out and took the other's hand gently.
"What are you afraid of with me here? Come on, I'll take you ghost hunting today!"
"I've heard of countless ghosts, but I've never seen a ghost playing basketball like this before!"
Taken by Ryu's sudden move, Momoi Satsuki's fear instantly turned into shyness.
A visible blush rose to her pretty face.
"Um... um..."
Momoi Satsuki wanted to say something, but her mind was a mess, and she stammered for a long time without getting the rest of her sentence out.
Karupin watched the two of them flaunting their affection in front of him.
It rolled its sapphire-blue vertical pupils in disdain.
Ryu, holding Momoi Satsuki's hand, arrived at the basketball court entrance.
"Satsuki, are we really going in?"
Ryu clearly felt Momoi Satsuki's grip on his hand tighten.
"Of course we're going in! Don't you want to see what that ghost looks like?"
Hearing Ryu's words, Momoi Satsuki, though a little scared, still said:
"Well... okay!"
As she spoke, she involuntarily wrapped her arms around Ryu's.
Ryu glanced sideways at Momoi Satsuki.
'Come to think of it, this girl seems a bit too enthusiastic towards me! Could it be that she's attracted to my handsome face?'
He shook his head.
Ryu forcibly banished these thoughts.
'What am I thinking? I'm still young, this isn't the time to think about these things.'
Ahem…
He coughed twice and placed his hand on the doorknob.
'I'm opening the door…'
Momoi Satsuki swallowed hard, tightening her grip on Ryu's arm.
She nodded vigorously, but her eyes remained tightly closed.
'Okay, open it! With him by my side, I'm not afraid.'
Ryu shook his head helplessly, then with a forceful pull, he opened the basketball court door.
Squeak…
Upon opening the door, he saw an empty basketball court.
'Alright, open your eyes! There's nothing here.'
Hearing Ryu's words, Momoi Satsuki slowly opened one eye.
She scanned her surroundings first, then opened both eyes.
"Huh... there's really no one here."
"Of course, how could the basketball court be haunted!"
Ryu pulled Momoi Satsuki inside.
"Anyone hasn't arrived yet, so you can practice with me for now!"
Momoi Satsuki readily agreed.
This wasn't the first time.
Simply put, Momoi Satsuki would pass the ball to Ryu.
Momoi Satsuki was also quite fascinated by the way Ryu sweated it out on the court.
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump...
Soon, the sound of basketballs hitting the floor echoed through the basketball court.
After an unknown amount of time, the basketball court door was finally pushed open.
Seeing the newcomers, Ryu greeted them.
"Oh, you're here. The seniors were slow today!"
Seeing Ryu and Momoi Satsuki, Nijimura Shuzo said:
"The second and third graders had exams today, so we're a little late."
Nijimura Shuzo glanced around the court.
"Only the two of you? Haven't Aomine and the others arrived yet?"
Momoi Satsuki explained:
"Aomine has duty today, he'll be here in a while. Akashi and Midorima are nowhere to be found."
"I see!"
Nijimura Shuzo didn't seem to care.
However, Ryu grasped the key point.
Aomine, Akashi, and Midorima had all been mentioned, but Murasakibara hadn't.
Thinking of this, Ryu suddenly remembered something.
'Is that guy lost?'
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