Looking at the results for the squad, Kazuki could get a good picture of where everyone stood. Minato was at the top with 8 successful synchronizations. All of them were as a Bottom. Eiji was next with a record of 7-1. Since he was already going to be accepted as a Top, he decided to switch roles to see how far he could get as a Bottom pilot. He had to split from Minato to do that. The first person he went to was Jiro. It was a failure on Jiro's part. Next up on his list was Ryuga. That was a big success. He stuck with him for a second week. He was one more synchronization as a Bottom away from becoming a Switch. After that was a drop off. The member in the third spot on the list was Kazuki himself. 5-3 was a pretty solid record. Right behind him was Ryuga. His record was 5-3. Ryuga had Topped him once and Eiji twice. He Bottomed 1 time for him as well. Ryuga was in a critical position. He had just 2 more attempts to breech the 5 synchronization threshold. It would be better to focus on Topping going forward. Alternatively, it could work if he could entrust himself to another strong Top.
It was Aito in fifth place on the board. His record was 3-5. Ryuga and Aito simply did not mesh well when it came to Synchronization for whatever reason. That had cost him the first 3 failures. Pairing with Jiro was no better for him. For his latest 3 attempts, he was with Kazuki twice and Minato once as a Top. It was not that he was that good as a Top when paired with the demanding leader. Minato really was just an amazing Bottom. It made sense. The slacker really was the weakest link of their squad. By the time he realized that he needed to actually work hard, it was much too late in the game. Jiro's record was 2-6. That was abysmal. It was impossible for him to get to the required 5. It would not be the end though. After the 10 weeks there was going to be a partner shake up. There were 24 boys on base. It was known that there was a chance some boys would not make it to 5. The cut off for the shakeup was only 3 total successes out of the 10 attempts. Those with 2 or less synchronizations would be cut from the Pilot Program. Out of desperation, he took the advice of the instructors.
He decided to Bottom. He chose Kazuki because he had been his original partner and Kazuki was on a winning streak when it came to Topping. Further details of the big shakeup was to be announced after the 10th attempts for everyone on base had been concluded. Before he could even worry about what that would entail, Jiro needed to get 1 more successful synchronization on his record. Kazuki was not really keen on partnering with him further because of his own goals. Jiro was the weak link and a dead weight. Kazuki liked him more than Minato and Eiji. But that was not enough to be loyal to him. The first few weeks were rough. If it was Ryuga in that position, he would drop everything and put him in the best position possible. Still, Kazuki could respect how he lived as a free spirit. Dying his hair blond took a lot of guts. Especially when Kazuki's red hair was a constant source of derision here. If he was in a different position on base, he could see them becoming friends with enough time. "Do you want to eat in the mess hall together!? I think there is a baseball game on tonight!"
