Akira couldn't sleep. Snuggled between Reo and Nagi, he stared at the ceiling for what felt like forever. He was too full of energy, too alert making sleep impossible to find in that moment. 

So he decided to take a walk around the facility to burn off some energy, slipping out of the grip of the two boys who invaded his personal space in their sleep and slinking out of the room. The boy silently crept through the halls, careful not to make any noise until he found himself standing at the entrance of the pitch, which seemed to be far from empty.

Akira didn't know why but something compelled him to stay and listen to the two teen's conversation "I guess it's because there's a monster inside of me..." the one with blonde under lights said, and the curly-haired teen didn't know if he should be more interested or concerned and it seemed the other teen agreed with him unknowingly. 

"A monster? I'm not following" Akira recognised Isagi Yoichi, the teen from the presentation who came in with Ryosuke Kira. Now leaning against the entrance the bronze teen listened to what else the teen had to say before making his presence known. 

"Whenever I play football, it comes out and talks to me telling me to score goals or weave about more. But this time it's different, my monster said to me 'Pass it to Isagi. There's a monster inside him too.'"

Akira was now weirded out beyond belief, as his attempt to make himself tired had fallen flat his brain now rattling as it tried to come up with an explanation as to what 'monster' the dule-coloured teen was talking about. The curly-haired teen watched from the side as they fought over the ball, moving in a push-and-pull type dance which was mesmerising to watch.

"Are you for real?"

"When I'm on the pitch I listen to its voice that's all there is to it. Can't you hear it, the monster's voice? Messi, Christiano Ronaldo, Noel Noa, all of the most amazing players have monsters inside them. It must be what proves you are really a striker, well that's what I believe. You know what, I'm glad I came here Isagi because I got to meet you."

"olá?" 

Bachira Meguru and Isagi Yoichi both turned at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, looking to see a teen who could only be described as an angel in the flesh. "Mind if me join, can't sleep" to which Bachira eagerly jumped at the chance, bounding over to the unfamiliar face, completely forgetting about the conversation.

"Sure cutie, what's your name? Don't think I've seen you around before" Bachira asked as he took a closer look at the taller boy, "Ah I'm Ito Akira, Team V nice to meet you" the curly-haired boy muttered shyly eyes straying away from making any contact, which only enticed the dual haired teen to tease him further.

"Don't be shy cutie, my name's Bachira Meguru and that's Isagi Yoichi of Team Z and of course, you can join!" The yellow-eyed teen introduced himself and his teammate to the Team V player. "Team V, huh?" Isagi mumbled as the blue-eyed teen had yet to meet any other players from another team, so this was a first.

Isagi had more questions he wanted to prod the boy with, what's your rank? are you also better than me? but he decided against it as the three began to tackle the ball of one another. However, the Team Z players found out the hard way that it was difficult to keep the ball away from Ito Akira, and impossible to take the ball from him.

"Damn it, how are you so good" Isagi yelled in frustration at another failed attempt to take the ball, to which the curly-haired boy merely shrugged "me practised a lot back in Brazil"

"Wait you are from Brazil?"

"Yes and no, was born in Japan raised in Brazil and come back here a few months ago. Which why my Japanese not good."'

That explains it he was raised in the birthplace of football, so of course he gonna be good' Eyeing up Akira, the blue-eyed boy couldn't help but feel a twinge of something tug at his heart. What it was, he wasn't sure, but he sure as hell wanted to find out.

"Brazil huh? Don't you miss it" Bachira's question seemed to sadden the teen, as he felt very much homesick even though he had been in Japan for months now. "Yeah, I do. But that no mean I no like Japan, Japan like home for me too with Reo and Nagi" In that moment both Team Z players couldn't help but feel slightly jealous at the way Akira spoke about these 'Reo and Nagi' characters, acting as if they had hung the moon and the stars. Even though they would never admit it aloud.

"Well why don't we help take your mind off it" And with that, Bachira stole the ball from an unsuspecting Akira, who laughed as he immediately jumped to win it back. 'keep him forever' the monster said as the dual-haired boy's heart soared at the sound of the bronzed teen's laugh. 'maybe I will' Bachira thought agreeing with his monster whole heartdly. 

 But before the three could go any further with their game of dribbling a voice spoke over the loudspeaker. "The results of the fitness test have been assessed, all player's please return to your rooms and confirm your latest ranking"

For some reason, Akira felt a sense of dread wash over him, what if he had done poorly and dropped ranks? His mind swirled with the thought of a disappointing score, as he wouldn't just be letting himself down but Reo and Nagi too. 'it'll be fine' the teen reassured himself banishing all his negative thoughts and trying to think on the bright side.

Looking at the team Z players, Akira smiled as he bid the two goodbye before jogging off back to his room. Not noticing how the pair's eyes were glued to him till he disappeared through the exit, the walk back was rather peaceful. The moment the dormitory door opened, he found himself flung into the embrace of a worried Reo.

"Where have you been Akira? I was worried sick when I woke up and you weren't there!"

"desculpe Reo, me no tired so I go walk"

"That was irresponsible Akira, we were all worried" 

Turning to see Zantetsu and Nagi approach them, Akira was quickly pulled from the embrace of Reo and thrown into the embrace of the white-haired teen who slumped onto the bronzed-haired boy nuzzling his head in the nook of his neck. "I wanna cuddle"

"No, now Nagi later" Akira deadpanned huffing at the teen who was practically on top of him, so fixated on trying to get him off he hadn't noticed Reo sniffing him. "Were you with someone else when you went for your walk?" the Mikage boy asked 'I can smell someone else on you, and it's not me I would never wear such a cheap cologne' his mind flashed with all of the worst-case scenarios, and Akira's words did little to soothe those thought's.

"Ah, I make amigos!" the curly-haired boy said looking rather pleased with himself as he thought back to the two teens he met on the pitch. Reo tried to dissimulate his anger and fain interest in the boy's new mystery friends, but that was becoming rather difficult. 

While he wasn't angry at the golden-eyed teen, no he was angry at these nobodies who thought they could swoop in and steal Akira from him. Akira was far too pure for them, a heart of gold like his couldn't be trusted in the grubby palms of anyone. This is why the Mikage boy made sure to keep the curly-haired teen so close, to protect him from those who didn't deserve to bask in his radiant light. These new 'friends' included.

Nagi too noticed the lingering smell of another, though he took more proactive ways of removing the presence of another outside of sulking. By smothering himself on Akira hoping to mark him in a similar a dog would mark its mate, so people would back off. 

And while Zantetsu too was worried for his teammate, opposing the idea of him walking off in the middle of the night. Finding the idea of him interacting with other teams inappropriate, what if they manipulate him into spilling team secrets? what if he likes them more than him? Those were concerns that he would never voice aloud, as he trusted Akira and two the idea of confessing like that would be rather embarrassing. 

But the trio could all agree on one thing when they face the players in question, they were going to destroy them.Before the three could act on their dark impulses any further, or plot the demise of the poor souls who thought it was a good idea to get in between them and Akira, the numbers on the side of their clothes altered. Signalling that the results of the fitness test were in.

Akira was now 215 and still the highest in his room with Zantetsu in second, Reo in third, and Nagi in fourth. While the others in the room complained about how low their rankings still were, until...

"Well well hello there my precious diamonds in the rough enjoying life at Blue Lock? I certainly hope so." Ego's words were followed by the complaints from many in the room, as while they sure were better off than the team's beneath them but their accommodations were far from five-star.

"Your environment is crummy because it matches you idiot's crummy football skills. Let's talk a little bit more about blue lock." With that, the screen flashed with a graphic explaining more about the prison they found themselves in.

"Within this facility, there are a total of 25 teams from B to Z split into five groups within five buildings. By the way, each team lost one person after that game of tag, so there are 275 players left. Your rank decides your team, ranks 1 through 11 are Team B, and ranks 12 through 22 are Team C and so on. Since you are V you are the highest-ranked team in building 5 but still lower than the other 20 here in Blue Lock."

'Best team in building five huh? That means Bachira and Isagi are in the worst' Akira thought as he listened intently to what the bowl cut man was saying, the thought made him rather sad as it was most likely that they were going to be sent home sooner rather than later. But who know's maybe they would pull through by some miracle, the curly-haired boy could only hope. 

"The higher-ranked players will receive gourmet food and get to train in better facilities, while you are here the top football player is king. If you want the perks then you have to win, now that you know the rules it's time for us to begin the first selection." And with that, the entirety of Room V took a seat as they prepared for the first selection.