Out of the original 24, only half of them passed. Out of the 12 failures, 6 were deemed worthy of a second chance. Kazuki and a couple of others were thrown in there as well. That made for 9 names. From Squad 1, there was a single boy by the name of Kaito. Squad 2 had twins Haruto and Haruki. Squad 3 had Aito and Jiro with Kazuki as a volunteer. Kenji was the representative of Squad 4. Aoi was the volunteer from Squad 2. Akio was the final volunteer. He was from from Squad 4 like Kenji. The volunteers were in this to either pad out their records or to achieve the Switch designation. All the thresholds were the same. The tumbler were going to be spun twice in every round. Those 2 names would be a new partnership. If a member of the shakeup were drawn twice, they were removed from the pool. Once all 6 of them had 2 partners, that was it for this stage. They had a week to get to the 5 required synchronizations. Each session had a 3 day cooldown. It would be stressful. The members had 3 chances with each partner. They could decide themselves which role they took.
In the first round, Akio and Jiro were paired up. Each of them were called to stand so everybody could see them. They had to know who their partners were. Surprisingly, there was a repeat. Akio's name was pulled out once again. He was safe, but it had to be nice to get that off of his chest. He would know who to focus on going forward this week. Aito was called. He stood up so Akio could see him. Akio's ball was placed to the side so it could not longer be called. This was now the third round and it had already been surprising. Haruto was next to be picked out by the tumbler. He was one of the twins from Squad 2. His first partner would be Kaito. Haruki, the other twin was called to stand. Everyone had to wonder who would be his partner. Kazuki pumped his fist in excitement when he was called. As long as he could Bottom once for him, he would be registered as a Switch. Technically, it was mathematically possible for the 6 to be paired amongst themselves without any help from the 3 volunteers. It could happen. Although unlikely, the presence of others made it less likely to be picked.
Haruto was the second to repeat. He was done with the selections so his ball was set aside next to Akio's. Aoi was his partner. He stood up so that everyone could see him. He was the only boy to have passed the first stage in the whole squad. They already were acquainted with each other. This could be a double edged sword. It might be easier to partner up with someone you know. However, if Aoi was the only one to pass and Haruto failed, there might be a reason for that. Kenji was next. This was the first time he had been picked out. Everyone else already had a partner. He looked ready for the results. It was Kaito. They gave a slight nod to one another. Kaito's ball was taken out. Aoi the volunteer was picked out next. This would now be his second partner. This was good for him and Akio if they needed more synchronizations. If it was to be a Switch, they should hope they got partners it would be possible to grind the needed requirements. Jiro was called to be his partner. After they sat, Haruki's name was called up. Kenji was his second partner. That left Kazuki and Aito's balls in.
