Ryuuichi Kanaka

* Current
* Former

**Ryuuichi Kanaka** (香中 龍一, *Kanaka Ryūichi*) is a 3rd-year, point guard, and playmaker of Yami-uma Tech.

## Appearance

He has a forward-slanted scar going from his left eyebrow to his forehead. The hair on the sides and back of his head is cut thin, almost like a fade, up to the end of his forehead. He has no bangs, and his hair is parted on the left, directly above the lowest point of his scar. He also has a prominent pair of slanted grooves running from near the bridge of his nose down to his cheeks, and another pair on the left and right ends of his forehead. 2 years ago the thick part of his hair was a little longer, stretching just a little below the fade, and even giving him some bangs over his right eye, reaching down to his eyebrows.

## History

He enrolled at Yami-Uma Technical and joined their basketball club as a first-year high school student 2 years ago with Shou Shiroiwa, Kaoru Noro, and Koike Noboru. Despite the many talented members in the club, most of them were unable to get sports referrals due to poor grades and thus stayed in Yami-uma. This behavior, along with the fact that there were no coaches, managers, or even a teacher in charge of the club, meant that most club members simply slacked off, and most of the facilities were used for delinquent activities. Koike, however, practiced religiously, even disregarding the noise and lack of space due to the rowdiness of their seniors, and his constant training often guilt-tripped and annoyed the seniors. Ryuuichi initially thought of Koike's and his persistent training as weird, however he later learns that Koike will have to work in his father's business after High School, making his years in Yami tech the last time he can casually play competitive basketball. Ryuuichi admires Koike's persistence and even defends him after an altercation with the seniors, which lead to the temporary dissolution of the club and the scar on his forehead. Thankfully, the incident also stopped the seniors' from interfering with their practice sessions (which if things were left unchanged, they would not have been able to practice basketball until they were 3rd-years) giving the team 2 years of extra training, which was a major factor in polishing the 3rd years' techniques and strengths. 2 years later Ryuuichi would encounter Shishido, and after seeing his strength, offers him a place to go all-out in the no-charge zone in exchange of joining their club.

## Plot

### Inter High

#### ⠀⠀Yami-uma vs Wadou

He was a key player during the match as he and Shishido managed to score a combined total of 70 points. He also managed to use his 3rd eye and completely freeze Wadou's point guard with his reading.
#### ⠀⠀Yami-uma vs Ōsen

He was one of the key defenders, managing to not just stop Raimu's offense, but also preventing him from linking up with any of the other players by predicting his pass courses with his third eye, effectively killing one of the key passers of Ōsen. Even when Raimu got past him, Kanaka's fadeaways still mostly went unblocked, making him a key asset to Yami High's offense as well.
## Skills

### Fadeaway

He does a strong dribble, almost like a drive, before stepping back and doing the fadeaway, leaving the defense a beat behind.

### Third-Eye

He combines his good vision with his predictions to read where even the players behind him will go, and he uses this info to read the opponent's pass, shoot, and drive courses. Due to the accuracy of his readings, players whose tactics he has grasped are left unable to move and decide unless they get the help of a strong team mate, or if they have superior speed and reflexes to Ryuuichi.

## Trivia

The 龍 (*Ryuu*) in Ryuuichi means dragon, which fits the animal-theme of Yami-uma tech.