Chapter 88: The Other Teams
A few days later.
Blue Lock Third Selection Dormitory.
On a screen mounted on one side of the room, the second mission of the Third Selection was displayed in bold letters: ENGLISH STUDY.
"Sun-day, Mon-day, Choos-day, Wed... Wait..."
Bachira: (#`O′)
Bachira was struggling hard with the pronunciation. 'Wednesday' was proving to be a formidable opponent for him.
"Wed-ness-day?"
Bachira turned to Rin, confused.
Veins popped on Rin's forehead. "You idiot. Did you even graduate middle school? Except for 'Sunday,' you got every single one wrong."
"Hey, hey, Kira. For the self-introduction, do I have to say..."
"My name is..."
"Can I just say 'I am...'?"
Even Isagi was curiously asking Kira for advice.
Kira had black lines dropping down his face.
"Rin, bite your tongue lightly... Th... Th-ues..."
"Is that how you pronounce 'TH'?"
Aryu was also hopeless at speaking.
Seeing this, Kira immediately grabbed his music player and slipped on his headphones to block out the English noise filling the room.
"Ah, Kira's ignoring us..."
"Rin, we can only rely on you now."
"Teach us, come on. Th-ues, Toos, Rues... right?"
Rin covered his ears in irritation. He didn't want to deal with any of them.
Seeing this, Bachira folded a paper airplane and threw it straight at Rin.
"I Can Fly-day!!!" Bachira shouted excitedly.
The paper airplane hit Rin squarely in the face.
Rin stood up, furious. He slammed the book in his hand onto the table, ready to beat Bachira up.
Kira saw this and quickly grabbed Rin to hold him back.
Rin gritted his teeth. "Who the hell wants to play these games with you academic failures?"
"How many more days do we have to live like this?"
Bachira playfully covered his head with his hands.
"I'm sow-ry, sow-ry, sow-ry..." he chanted repeatedly.
Kira shook his head helplessly while restraining Rin.
For the past few days, per Ego's request, the five of them had been practicing English every single day.
Ding-dong-ding-dong...
"The Second Selection has concluded!"
An announcement came through the room's speakers.
"The list of players advancing to the Third Selection is now finalized."
"It's over?"
Aryu reacted to the announcement, realization dawning on him. The selection was finally done.
Bachira looked excited. "Perfect timing. I was sick of studying anyway."
Kira retorted internally: You just didn't want to study from the start, did you?
The announcement continued.
"Please change into your numbered bibs and uniforms immediately and gather in the Central Connection Room."
"Furthermore, seven teams, totaling thirty-five players, have advanced."
"You will enter in the order you cleared the selection."
Hearing this, everyone quickly changed clothes and set out. Kira and the others had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
"Seven teams... seems like a lot of people got cut. Wonder if they studied English?" Bachira asked while stretching in the hallway.
"Yeah. I wonder if they made it..." Isagi worried silently.
Kira opened his mouth but said nothing. He knew that in the original story, Kunigami had been temporarily eliminated at this stage.
"First, please welcome the first team to advance."
The speaker announced.
The five of them followed Kira out of the tunnel.
"Wow, so spacious. We're the first ones here."
Bachira looked around the massive room.
"Kira, who do you think made it through?" Bachira blinked, expecting an answer.
"Hard to say. But they won't be weaklings," Kira answered vaguely.
Isagi felt a knot of anxiety in his chest. "Right. Only those who fought their way through hell could make it here."
"Next, please welcome the second team."
Creak.
The large doors on the other side of the room opened.
Five pairs of eyes focused instantly.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Footsteps echoed from the tunnel. Everyone held their breath in curiosity. Who would the second team be?
Five figures gradually became clear.
"It's them!" Bachira shouted excitedly.
Leading the pack was the white-haired Nagi.
Following closely behind were Chigiri, Barou, Reo, and Aoshi Tokimitsu.
Kira paused slightly. There's a change.
But they were all familiar faces.
"Yo." Nagi waved a lazy greeting. "Long time no see, Kira."
"Fake King. I'm here." Barou looked down at Kira with his usual arrogant glare.
"Feels like it's been a million years, guys." Chigiri looked emotional.
Reo didn't show much reaction and didn't initiate a greeting.
Tokimitsu spoke nervously and shyly. "Top 3... do you still remember me?"
"Hello! Oh, Reo is here too!" Bachira greeted everyone happily.
"So you guys made it after all..." Aryu still remembered these opponents they had clashed with.
"Great... that's great." Isagi was incoherent with excitement.
"Hey, hey, Yoichi Isagi. What's with that face? You look relieved," Nagi teased.
"Did you think we wouldn't come?"
"Eh? No, no, not at all..." Isagi waved his hands frantically.
"You little guard dog for the Fake King. Acting all high and mighty? Pretty arrogant, aren't you?" Barou was annoyed. Even a small fry like Isagi wasn't taking him seriously now.
"Treating us like side characters..."
With that, Chigiri turned his head to look at Kira.
"Long time no see."
Kira couldn't help but smile. "Long time no see, Chigiri."
Chigiri was probably the person in all of Blue Lock who understood his playstyle best. Kira was genuinely happy to see him again.
Meanwhile, Isagi had been picked up by Barou like a chick.
"No... I mean I'm happy to see you guys. Basically, I'm just happy..."
"Can't be bothered with you."
Nagi ignored Isagi and walked up to Kira. "Kira, I'm here to beat you."
"I won't let my football career end until I defeat you..."
Reo looked at Kira with complex eyes but remained silent. Ever since they played against Kira, Nagi wouldn't shut up about him.
"I'm going to crush you too. My grudge with the Top 3 isn't settled yet." Barou dropped Isagi and crowded in.
"Sure. We'll fight again someday." Kira smiled, agreeing readily.
"Next, please welcome the next team."
The speaker sounded again. The chatter in the room stopped instantly.
Buzz.
The doors opened.
The third team filed in.
"Zantetsu!!!" Bachira happily spotted a familiar face among a group of strangers.
The other four were unknown to most of the group.
But Kira knew them.
Tabito Karasu, Kenyu Yukimiya, Eita Otoya, Jin Kiyora.
Zantetsu looked at Nagi and Reo with a hint of resentment.
"Sorry, Zantetsu. Back then, I..." Nagi looked apologetic.
"Don't apologize. If apologies were useful, the police would be useful." Zantetsu spouted nonsense with a straight face.
It turned out that after Nagi, Chigiri, and Barou had been sent back to the previous stage, they encountered Reo, Zantetsu, and Nijiro Nanase.
After the 3v3 match ended, Reo's team lost, and Nagi's team chose Reo.
Later, Zantetsu and Nanase Nijiro managed to scrape together four people. But they went up against Karasu Tabito's team, and Zantetsu was stolen.
Zantetsu's wandering journey through the selection was finally over.
As Zantetsu recounted his hardships, everyone felt a mix of emotions. Reo's confusion was cleared up—he had been wondering why Zantetsu's teammates had changed again.
The other four didn't seem interested in interacting with Kira's group and found a corner to stand in.
"Next, please welcome the fourth team."
Chigiri stared at the tunnel, his eyes filled with worry.
Kira knew who he was worried about.
Kunigami, will you come?
Kira couldn't help but ask himself the same question.
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A/n: Place your bets. Do you think Kunigami will show up?
Hand over all of your Power Stones!!
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