A family thing

Chapter 26 Number one

Yoichi walked through the door and was met with the stare of three people. 
"So, at last we meet again.", he declared and glared at Rin. A twitch mark appeared on his face. 
'Oh, looks like the little boy is annoyed~, that's gonna be amusing.', Yoichi thought as he looked at the reaction. The monitor switched on. 
"Hey there. Diamonds in the rough.", the voice of the one and only Ego came. "The second selection's third stage starts here. It's a 3v3 team battle. The third stage is a mini-game styled battle with the 3 you teamed up with just now. Both teams will have Blue Lock man as their goal keeper and the team that scores 5 goals first wins. And that winning team will pick one member from the losing team and steal him for your own, forming a 4-man-team." 
"Dude... this is gonna be very dramatical...", Yoichi muttered. 
"Huh...? It's just like that... uh...", Bachira stated. 
"Red rover.", Nagi finished his sentence. 
"And by rising up in the stages, you'll increase the number of teammates by one each time.", Ego continued. "The team that creates a team out of 5 and reaches the 5th stage will have cleared the 2nd selection." 
"Nice-", the raven haired commented. 
"But.", Ego said. "The losing team will have to go back to the previous stage thus they'll end up as a team of two. And the moment you lose a 2v2 match, the person who's not chosen in the end... The one who becomes the last player will..."
A dramatical pause. 
"...drop out.", Ego explained. "This is where you rob each others rivals. The true form of the second selection is a rivalry battle. Thus you're free to pick whoever you want as your opponents. The match will be made only if both parties agree to it." 
"I see...", Bachira said. "So there're still other teams of 3 who will come here later." 
"Seems so.", Nagi added. 
'So it's not like we have to fight against them right away or anything... how lame...', Yoichi thought. 'That was the reason I built a team as fast as I could in the first place... BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH, what a BORING system!!!!' 
"Since we steal someone by winning, it might be good to fight against those teams who have members we'd want to get.", Nagi thought out loud. 
"Exactly. The key to clear this stage is picking your allies.", the four eyes on the screen said. "And to represent that, new Blue Lock rankings are being announced. I assure you, there's no fake this time. Your rankings will be in the order in which you cleared the first stage." 
The number five appeared on Yoichi's left shoulder. Bachira had the number 16 while Nagi made it to rank 7. 
"And of course, your ranks will once again be updated based on the results you show in matches.", Ego continued. "You standing here are already thos who can change 0 to 1 on the field. This will be a survival battle where you clash those 1s mix them and heighten them to their limits. Those who grasp the chemical reaction between egos, will be strikers who claim the next ticket. Do anything to WIN."
With that, the monitor shut down. 
"Oh man. So from here it'll be a fight to rob each other's friends and rivals... That's fucked up... but on the other hand... no it's messed up...", Yoichi murmered. 
"Some brutal rules again.", Bachira agreed. 
"So in other words... win and gather 5 to win.", Nagi concluded. 
"That's it. For now there's no hurry to choose an opponent.", Bachira muttered. "What will we do, Kageyama?" 
Yoichi looked at the three players in the room. One, two, three were their numbers. 
"What should I do...", the number 3 mumbled. "What should I do... Ah... I don't want to do this... if we lose, I definitely won't be chosen... If I lose the next one too... ahhhh, I won't be chosen that time either for sure... and I'll end up alone..." 
Tokimitsu Aoshi was the name Yoichi could make out from the shoulder batch. 
"If we do this, we should go against ranks 4, 5 and 6 right?", the guy with the long hair asked. "That'd be the most stylish and even if we win against those potatoes over there... I will not look beautiful at all." 
"Shut the fuck up. I want to just win quickly and go forward.", Rin said. "You guys are here to just meet the number too." 
Disagreement inside his team broke out. Aryu was very offended by him ignoring his opinion. 
"Don't misunderstand. Us three... only happened to team up because you were the first to show up.", Rin said. "To me you're all just stepping stones. You guys and this blue lock as well. If you keep winning you'll get into Japan's U20 team. I'm here to just take advantage of that system. It's all so that I can become Japan's representative and to overcome my brother. To crush Itoshi fucking Sae. That is what my football is all about." 
"Well... yeah... but who would want to play with a grumpy asshole like you?", Yoichi shot back. He felt disrespected because of that last statement. 
"Now listen up, cunt.", Yoichi put up his tuff voice. "Just because that one is on your badge, doesn't mean you can call me your stepping stone. You little piece of shit." 
"What did you just call me?", Rin became angry too and was about to slit Yoichi's throat. 
"A FUCKING CUNT, DO YOU WANT ME TO REPEAT MYSELF AGAIN?!", the raven haired said and stared at the green haired without losing composure. "Or are you deaf on both of your fucking ears." 
"You motherfucker.", Rin said and could only be barely held back by his teammates. 
"You know what? Fuck this shit.", Yoichi said and could also be barely held back by Bachira. Nagi was too weak anyway. 
"Why don't you and me meet at that fucking pitch and then I'm gonna put this foot...", the raven haired pointed to his foot. "Up your fucking ass, hitting that nonexisting spot of yours." 
"Oh, yeah?", Rin accepted the challenge. "Why don't you come here to try me?" 
"Come here to make me try you!!", Yoichi snapped back. 
"Alright, let's do this shit then!", Rin growled and walked to the request buttons for a match. Yoichi followed and pressed the one meant for him. He was still holding eye contact with the taller male. 
"Match making completed.", came from the announcement speakers.