"Game over the final score is five four, Team Red win"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

It was official the Reds had won, so why did Akira not feel the fiery joy of victory? It was a bitter-sweet win, on one side he was glad they could finally advance to the last stage of the second selection. On the other hand, to do it the bronzed teen had to fight his way through people he considered friends, leaving him with a sickening feeling in the bowels of his stomach. But he tried his best not to let it ruin the joy of his fellow teammates.

"Vamos lá, vitória difícil, mas mesmo assim uma vitória," Akira said as he hugged Aryu who was basking in the glam afterglow of their victory, "Who we pick?" the curly-haired boy reminded his teammates who seemed to have forgotten that they needed to pick an opposition player to steal "Almost forgot, I wonder if he'll let us choose like last time" The glam teen wondered, as it was no secret that during the last pick, Rin wasn't the most vocal about who they should take.

"Hold on, I want in on this. We should pick-" Bachira was cut off just as he was about to state his case for who they should steal, "Shut up, I'm deciding" Rin's voice was harsh and rock solid. Leaving no room for debate, he was choosing and they would have to go along with it. "Rin, meu amigo?" Akira asked silently very worried about how this was going to play out.

"And no objections allowed, the final play of the game I was totally unable to read it. I haven't felt defeat like this since I came here, not until that moment. So now there's one more person I need to crush, damn it all. I won't let you sink back down, come along Isagi Yoichi. I'll become the best in the world, and when I do you are gonna have a front-row seat."

With that, Team Red started walking towards the winner's gate, with Akira and Bachira lingering on the pitch as their new teammate had yet to move from his spot on the floor. "Hey Isagi let's go" and with that the dual-coloured teen also headed for the tunnel, "Sim, vamos meu amigo" With that Isagi stood and walked over to the golden-eyed teen. Stopping before looking back to his now former teammates, before saying.

"right coming. Hey guys, I'm sorry. We nearly made it happen, and came this close to beating the top three. That last goal was nothing but chance, we weren't steamrolled like last time-" But before the blue-eyed boy could console them any further he was cut off by Chigiri "That craps the last thing we want to hear, Rin selected you over the rest of us. Nothing was going to change that, so just shut up and get going"

"You got that right, if I have to look at your face any longer I'll end up killing you. Do yourself a favour donkey, and go!" Barou echoed his teammate's sentiment with Nagi also chiming in "Yeah man, after all, you were always the main character on this team and were paying the price for being the supporting cast. It's plain and simple, but I swear next time we meet you're finished. Well crawl our way to the top without you"

It was clear the three were angry about losing but Isagi didn't take it to heart as all he responded with was, "You three better catch up, so we'll meet again" and walked into the tunnel leaving the White Trio and Akira. "Come to rub it in?" Nagi asked his friend through hooded eyes, "No...good game, Estou ansioso para jogar com você novamente. It was fun." With that said the bronzed teen joined the rest of his teammates in the winner's tunnel, leaving the defeated on the pitch.

"We had them, damn it!"

"It's not over not by a long shot!"

"Yeah, we'll show him"

"Isagi, bem-vindo to the team!" Akira said as he welcomed his new teammate, "Oh thank you" Isagi said face flushed slightly. "I'll be honest with you, " The blue-eyed teen turned to look at Aryu "My first choice would have been Chigiri Hyoma. And yet that back heel shot you made was glam, so you're welcome here Isagi Yoichi"

"Much appreciated," the blue-eyed teen thanked as he let the others walk ahead while he walked in stride with Akira and Bachira. "Funny, huh? You promised that you would steal me or Akira back, but the opposite happened," the yellow-eyed teen joked. "Yeah, sorry about that. That was kind of lame of me." Isagi apologised, silently upset he couldn't fulfil his promise.

"Nah, you're fine. Being separated helped, it meant I had to figure out how to fight on my own. Up until now, I was afraid of playing football on my own, always hoping you would save me from that fate. It's clear going solo helped me grow, I've learned the only person who can save me is me. I believed in that and forged ahead, and at the end of the journey, I found you right then I knew we had surpassed Rin. I owe you a huge thanks, I've learned I don't need you beside me every minute. Which makes being with you even more fun than before, you better be sure to keep up with me or I'll have to leave you behind." Bachira laughed.

"Since when did you get so cocky," The blue-eyed teen asked, the new version of his friend seeing different. How, he had no idea but he looked forward to finding out. "amigo, since forever I'm sure" Akira answered Isagi's question with a laugh, "Anyway it's nice to be playing with you," Bachira said offering a high five which Isagi gladly took "Same here."

"Hiya! Fell for it!" The dual-coloured teen said missing his hand and delivering a smack to his forehead, much to the blue-eyed boy's dismay. "You jerk!" However, Isagi wasn't too upset about it as he turned his attention to something far more important. "Hey Rin, tell me something...how did I lose to you again? What am I missing what do I need to defeat you" The blue-eyed boy hoped to find the answers he was looking for but all he was met with was more confusion.

"Even a chimp could answer that, it was luck" Rin said simply, "Wait just a second, that doesn't explain what happened back there. I want something concrete, how else am I supposed to get stronger?" Isagi yelled not happy with the answers he received, there has to be more it can't just be luck.

"Luck can't be boiled down to some coincidental factor, it's the hidden elements that favour those who choose to act on their desires. And if that's beyond your understanding, you have no right to live in the world of victory and defeat" The blue-eyed teen looked to retort the Itoshi's statement but before the pair could argue any further, Ego intervened over the loudspeaker.

"Hello again, my diamonds in the rough. My congratulations on passing the second selection, yes what exactly is luck? Quite the distasteful topic don't you think? Please proceed through the next door, I have a reward for you~" With that the door before them opened, leading them into a room full of computer screens.

"Since you passed the second selection, I'll break down the real nature of luck and how it applies to football." Ego's words confused the group as none of them knew what he was getting at, "The real nature? It all comes down to coincidence doesn't it?" Isagi said as if the answer was obvious which didn't seem to sit right with Ego.

"Sure if you were an average Joe on the losing side, I imagine that's how your tiny brain would prefer to bin the facts," the bowl head man said simply "What!?" The blue-eyed teen yelled, unhappy at the comparison made.

"Shut up and listen, let me ask you a question. Have you ever in life been shat on by a pigeon, I think you'll agree it's the worse. But afterwards, you realise something, see the grounds covered in bird shit and when you look up there are a bunch of pigeons above you. Can you really call it bad luck when you could have avoided the shit, simply by taking note of your surroundings a bit sooner?" The group stood dumbfounded as they listened to Ego's rant, all of their reactions were varied but all of them were just as confused.

"que porra esse cara está falando?"

"It's luck, what's with your muk idea"

"I still have no idea where you're going with this," Isagi said as they listened to another scenario with accompanied graphics, that left the group just as confused as before. "Luck doesn't exist just anywhere, it only comes to those who place themselves in its path. It's the same on the football field, think of those ninety minutes of play as a series of inevitability and coincidences. Think back, turning zero into one, boosting reproducibility, and inventing a formula specific to your weapon. Every one of the lessons you have learned during your stay here at Blue Lock has been about increasing the inevitability of scoring goals. Though that inevitability will eventually collide with your opponents, this results in a coincidence which then becomes ground zero for Luck"

With that being said the screen flashed with the footage of the last play of the game, where Bachira took on Team White alone. "As we can see in the following scene, here we have the moment number sixteen dribbled through ready to shoot. These five players decelerated and stopped running altogether, number fifteen anticipated him breaking free, but everyone else made the snap judgement to watch the shot or nearly everybody. Number three didn't slow down, he accelerated towards his opponent he realised the pass was never going to happen and fifteen would try to block the shot. Recognising the opportunity present, he knew that the attempt would fail."

"Okay, back up a minute. Supposing that is true, no one was able to predict where the ball would land. It could have easily landed anywhere on the field" Isagi argued once more, making a very valid point. But Ego once again set the record straight for all of them.

"Exactly, but you're talking about the possibility of you gaining possession of it. Let's pretend that number three, instead decided to decelerate like everyone else. The ball might still have fallen in his direction, but if he had gotten possession in that area the other team's defence would have swamped him before he could shoot. In short not a good spot, for a striker. So what did he end up doing? He sped up and relocated himself, somewhere he could take aim at the goal. Number three found a spot where he could draw the winning number, then waited for his luck." Ego's words left everyone stunned, to say the least, as all of them looked at Akira amazed at what he had accomplished.

"So you saying Akira, stood on the bird shit bullseye, which increased his chances at recovering the ball," Aryu said amazed at the analytic insight Ego had just provided all of them, staying silent as they allowed the glasses man to continue explaining to them what the hell had happened.

"Naturally there was a possibility, the ball could have gone to an opponent if that had happened he would have easily been countered and lost possession. End of the story the other team would have won. That's how close and intense of a game it was, without a doubt the determining factor in that game was luck. Doesn't matter if it was on your side though, if you stood by doing nothing the opportunity was wasted. What else were you expecting? You must hone your mind to respond to those coincidences, otherwise the opportunity will vanish before you know how to react. Learn to seize that chance by improving yourself, so when it comes around you can figure out where it might fall and be there waiting for it. Do you know what they say about the goddess of fortune? She only smiles down on those who favour her, football is overflowing with lucky coincidences are you going to learn how to spot them? Or cry when you overlook the signs in front of you? You'll always be second-rate if you don't know how to harness chance. Once you've done all you can, hold your head up high accept the outcome of the coincidences and edge them into your mind. Give everything you have in a fight, that's the only way luck will find you"

"For real you both knew this already, Akira Rin?" Isagi asked looking to the pair, wanting confirmation that they knew what they were doing.

"sim, claro"

"Of course, but not everything this four-eyed jerk said is true. See had Akira chosen any other position, the ball would have missed him. It wasn't an opening he controlled or created, the coincidence was like a falling feather. You created it and it happened to fall to him, he defeated you simply through sheer luck. That's all, in order to grow as a player I have to accept that fact. My punishment is knowing how I won." Rin corrected, showing that he and Akira had what the blue-eyed teen lacked. The ability to accept fate.

"Moving on as I said your team managed to pass the second selection, by now you should have learned the principle behind creating a chemical reaction. Next up we have the third selection and as promised you'll be participating in a training camp with the world's top players, You'll begin your next match in twenty-four hours. A five aside game, your team vs the world five. You're not diamonds, you're froggies in a cage, and it's time for you to learn about the outside world." With that Ego was gone, and the now complete Red Team were left with a picture of their next opponents.