Akira was hungry, after a long day of training he had decided to put off eating until later so he could train for a few more hours. Much to Reo's protest, but now here he was sitting in the cafeteria enjoying alone, the food he earned through his rank.

Chicken cutlet ramen, shrimp tempura, sashimi with daikon radish, pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce, teriyaki chicken onigiri, pork gyoza and a large glass of water. Not a bad meal if he did say so himself.

Sitting down at the table, with headphones over his ears blasting music so loud it made the world around him non-existent. Akira hadn't noticed, another had entered the empty cafeteria.

"Oh hey, Akira!" Isagi called out to the teen, who unknowingly ignored him to fixate on his music and eating. But Isagi paid no mind as he walked towards him with his tray, trying to catch the curly-haired teen's attention.

"Hey Akira" the bronzed teen couldn't help but jump as he felt someone lift his headphones slightly, "Oh Isagi hello" the Team V player greeted the Team Z one with a smile, happy to see him again. "You eat too?" he asked looking towards the boy's humble tray of Natto, soup, and rice.

"Yeah, decided to eat later so I could train a bit longer" the black-haired boy explained, "Ah, sit join me por favor," Akira said gesturing to the seat next to him, which Isagi took without complaint. As the two ate in silence, Akira now with his headphones around his neck as Isagi couldn't help but eye the curly-haired boy's food in slight jealousy. Oh the things he would do for one bite.

"How was your match?" the blue-eyed teen asked looking at the bronzed teen, "Ah it was good we win 11-0 against Team Y, what bout you? how your game go?" Isagi was too stunned to speak, 11-0 this had to be some joke, the math checks out to more than one goal every ten minutes.

"11-0, oh that's great? How many goals did you score?" the black-haired boy asked curiously while also attempting to dodge the question regarding his own match, which seemed to work. "Ah me score a hat trick, that's how I got me phone back. how many goal did you score?"

"I haven't scored any...we lost our match"

"Ah, I'm sure you do good in the next game and get a goal too"

Hearing Akira's reassurance lifted Isagi's spirit as he smiled grateful for the belief the teen had in him, even though he was insecure about not having figured out his weapon and was self-conscious about his inferiority in comparison to other players, especially after the game against Team X. Baro Shoei's words at the forefront of his mind.

'you have no talent, you chump'

"Do you want some of my food? maybe it make you feel better" the curly-haired boy offered, noticing the boy beside him was still in low spirits. "I'm sick of natto" the blue-eyed teen mumbled "Are you sure?" he asked not wanting to impose himself on the bronze boy who had been nothing but kind to him. "o que é meu é seu, meu amigo" Akira said pushing the plate of shrimp tempura towards him. But before Isagi could dig into the food he had been so graciously offered, a voice behind him spoke.

"Good work today, Isagi"

"Kunigami"

"Oh, hello." Kunigami came down expecting to find Isagi alone, not together with this unfamiliar yet stunning teen. "Hello," Akira meekly greeted in response, before going back to eating. "See you found something better than natto to eat" the orange-haired teen joked. "Yeah, well Akira was kind enough to give me some of his. Hey, have you eaten yet?"

"Yeah earlier, I came down here to talk to you"

"Uh about?"

"Well I never said thank you for the other day, now I am"

"For what?"

"The pass, thank"

"You mean our game against team X? Is that it?"

"Yeah I'm a firm believer in handling things the correct way, anyway that's it so goodnight" and with that, Kunigami turned to leave but stopped when Isagi jolted up from his seat and asked him. "Hey, wait a minute I've gotta know why you play football?" the two stood in silence for a moment, as Akira silently spectated, slurping on his noddles ever so often. "That was out of the blue" Kunigami mumbled

"Oh, it's just you have lots of weapons that I don't, like your shot power and your strong frame. A player as amazing as you, sometimes I wonder what goes on in your head. Oh man what am I even talking about, I'm sorry I feel like I'm embarrassing myself, forget I asked. I'll see you later" the blue-eyed boy rambled on and on bidding the boy goodbye before going to take his seat again, but stopped when he heard the orange-haired boy's words.

"Man that's easy to answer, the reason I play is to become a superhero. When I was young I never looked up to sentai heroes, robots, pirate kings or any other fantasy characters. Instead, I idolised strikers, warriors who ran on green pitches, scoring goals, and winning games. Those players weren't works of fiction they were real-life superheroes that left me feeling inspired and full of excitement and courage. that's who I wanted to be, that's why I play."

As Akira listened to Kunigami's reasoning for playing he couldn't help but agree, though he didn't just idolise any player he idolised his father. "Are you serious right now?" Isagi was unsure if his teammate was joking or not.

"Yeah, deadly. I don't care what anyone else thinks or if they laugh at me because I'm not embarrassed about my dream, and to make it come true I'm ready to fight the whole world fair and square"

"Badass, he's so cool"

"Hey, Isagi are you and your friend hungry?" Kunigami asked holding the stake he had been rewarded for scoring. "Is that stake?" the blue-eyed boy asked, salivating at the mouth as it had been so long since he had something other than natto.

"The goal bouns list is posted up there, depending on how many goals you score you can trade points for specific prizes. Like your friend over there," the orange-haired teen said looking towards the phone lying on the table next to Akira.

"You fed me the shot, it took both of us to make that goal so half of this stake belongs to you. Hey is that sashimi?" the spikey-haired teen said looking towards the abundance of food before the bronze boy. "Yeah, you can have some if you want". Akira said gently pushing the plate towards the team Z player. "There enough for three of us"

And with that the three sat and ate, Kunigami shared some of his stake with Akira while the Team V player invited them to share the food he had left, which the two visibly enjoyed. While the orange-haired and the blue-eye ball recounted their match, Akira listened as who knows maybe it would come in handy when it came time to face them.

"That pass instead of Raichi you chose me, in terms of positioning he was more open. I had someone guarding right next to me, I was wondering what made you think that was the right play."

"Well, it was sorta unconscious, you know? Like a reflex or something, even if I had ended up passing to Raichi. It wouldn't change the fact that Barou was still in front of us you could say I smelled a goal, just needed to set up your shot. Your mid-range is lethal, I would know"

"You could smell a goal? Ever think maybe that's what your weapon is? Being able to make those split-second decisions That's an impressive skill"

"That's nothing compared to Akira though, his team won 11-0 and he scored a hat trick," the black-haired boy said looking to the teen who silently ate the last of his food.

"11-0 huh? And you scored a hat trick, you must be crazy good" Kunigami said as he helped himself to some shrimp tempura, "Ah thank you" Akira blushed at the compliment, he truly didn't think much of the goals he scored, just another day of playing the beautiful game.

"Hey, Akira, who's your next match against?"

"Um, Team W?"

"Ah we haven't played them yet! But we have played Team X man that Baro guy was a piece of work!" Akira sat there and listened to Kunigami's rant about the star player of Team X, who reminded him of the guy he had bumped into the first day at Blue Lock. But he decided not to mention that, as he silently nibbled on a teriyaki chicken onigiri.

"Who you play?"

"Team Y, I think"

"Ah we just play them too"

"No way, any tips?"

"nuh uh, meu amigo you on you own"

"Hey Akira, I'm curious why do you play football" The curly-haired teen knew the question was coming, and he couldn't say he had an easy answer. "He pai was a player, retired now. That how he met me mãe who was a model, and in Brazil football is everywhere, I grew up with it. It my longest relationship honestly, I love playing, the rush, the high so good it make me never wanna come down, makes me feel like I flying on top of the world."

As the Team Z players listened intently to Akira's words they couldn't help but be in awe, his father was a former player so clearly it ran in the blood. The two couldn't help but become slightly curious about who his parents were, so they decided to ask.

"Uh, if you don't mind me asking who are your parents?"

"Miguel Ribeiro and Riku Ito"

No fucking way, the Miguel Ribeiro and Riku Ito. The hottest couple in the world, the two turned the world on its head when they announced they were dating. The general public knew they had a child, but they kept them out of the spotlight to protect them from the rabid media. And what a good job they had done, the two hadn't even recognised him even though he looked like the flawless mix of both his mother's and his father's features.

Perfect caramel skin, bright gold eyes, soft curly black hair, sharp features, even sharper canines, and a slim yet muscular build. If the perfect human did exist it would be Ito Akira, and no sain person would deny that. Still dealing with the aftermath of shock, Isagi couldn't help but grow curious now as to what the boy's playing style was like.

Miguel Ribeiro was known for being perfect, a legendary player who has played for top-flight teams all across Europe from Liverpool, Re Al, PXG, Bastard München and Ubers. Winning every trophy known to man, for club and country. He was the golden standard that everyone strived to be, the perfect striker. Neither Isagi nor Kunigami could even begin to imagine how much pressure was on Akira to be just as good as his father.

"It a lot of pressure but you know what they say, pressure makes diamonds no?"