Forbidden Protege

Ch. 1: Moving In (Part 1)

"You asked to see me, Coach?" a brunette asked as he poked his head through the opened door to the coach's office.

"Hello, Miyuki-kun. Come on in," a woman replied. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and a few sheets of paper were in her hands. The coach was sitting on a couch next to her with his arms on his knees. Miyuki entered the room and bowed respectfully. "This won't take long. We'd just like to ask your help with something."

The boy smiled. "Sure, Rei-chan. What is it?" Rei turned to the coach who nodded.

The coach spoke. "I know that it's a little late, but we have another member who will be joining the team soon. They're moving here from America and should arrive tomorrow. I've already informed Yuki and Isashiki, but since they will have the room next to yours I'm informing you as well." Miyuki nodded in understanding. "They're entering as a second year and I hope you will help them adjust."

"Of course, Sir. What's his name?" Miyuki asked curiously. The coach nodded towards Rei who held the papers out for Miyuki to see. He took the papers and skimmed them over.

Last Name: Narumiya, First Name: Alexia, Age: 16, Desired Position: Pitcher.

Miyuki smirked. 'Another pitcher, huh? I wonder what he'll be like.' Memories of what happened recently with a certain loud mouth pitcher surfaced and he figured that at this point little could surprise him. "Look at the bottom, in the notes section," Rei told him and he complied. 'I take that back,' Miyuki corrected himself.

Notes: I am a girl.

Rei read his face and spoke up. "We have already contacted her father and he has stated that it is alright for her to live in the boys' dorms so that she is closer to the fields. He has also assured us that there will be no issues with her being on this team and is certain she can keep up with our rigorous training. She will be the first female player on this team, but," Rei smiled and pushed her glasses up, "we have been explicitly told to treat her the same as every other player. The supervisor of her old team has made it clear that she detests special treatment. So please make her feel welcome."

"Of course, Rei-chan," Miyuki confirmed. "As long as she can keep up with the team, I don't see why she shouldn't be here."

"I'm glad you understand. As I said before, she will be in the currently empty room two doors down from you. I hope there will be no issues with this arrangement." Rei eyed him closely and Miyuki began to feel uncomfortable under the coach's scrutinizing gaze.

"Of course not."

Rei smiled. "Good. You are dismissed."

Miyuki bowed and quickly left the suddenly tense atmosphere. As he hurried towards the dorms he thought about the new arrival. While it was certainly a surprise that a girl would be joining the team, Miyuki doubted that she was serious. If she had wanted to be a fielder, then maybe he would have taken it seriously, but a pitcher? Power wasn't the only way to shut down a batter, he knew that well, but it was still important. A girl would naturally be at a disadvantage. If she was coming from America, then perhaps she had played over there; Miyuki had heard that it wasn't unheard of for girls to play on boys' teams. He had also heard there were several restrictions on American players in order to protect their health. In any case, he figured that she would join, attend practice for a few days, and then decide to quit or perhaps become a manager. She likely didn't realize how intense the training was in a different country.

Once he made it to his room he grabbed a change of clothes and supplies and headed to the bathroom to wash off the sweat and dirt from practice. By this point, most of the other guys were done and eating dinner. Miyuki hurried back and threw his stuff onto his bed, deciding to put it away later, and made his way to the cafeteria just in time for dinner.

"Miyuki Kazuya!" A loud voice rang through the room and received several shouts of annoyance. The hyper active child ignored all the discontent and pointed at the object of his outburst. "Catch for-."

"No," Miyuki said abruptly, cutting the younger boy off. He sat down at the table, snickering at the other's disappointment.

"What took you so long?" A green haired boy across from Miyuki asked. He took a large bite of his rice, then turned to the still-yelling first year. "Shut up Sawamura! Some of us are trying to eat!"

"But Miyuki never agrees to catch for me!" Sawamura continued to yell. "It's not fair!"

"Eijun-san," a pink hair boy said tentatively. "Why don't you finish your meal?"

"Harucchi! It's not fair!" Eijun continued bawling.

"Anyway," Miyuki said, turning to the one across from him. "Apparently, there's going to be another member joining us. They're moving from America and will be in the room near mine so Coach asked me to help them settle in."

"Kyahaha! Coach asked you to help?" The boy laughed loudly. "Since when were you the friendly one?"

"Thank you!" Miyuki exclaimed way too happily. "He told Yuki-san and Jun-san as well, but since I'll be in the room closest, he wanted me to know, too." An idea started to bubble in his mind, slowly. "Coach said they should be arriving tomorrow. Since we have an off day I was thinking of going over and saying hello."

"Oh? That's not like you. Are you curious about who it is?" Kuramochi asked. "What's his name anyway? Do you know?"

Miyuki nodded. "Rei-chan showed me their club sign up form. Apparently, it's Narumiya Alex." Miyuki chuckled inwardly. Technically, he didn't lie. He just left off the last two letters and a small fact.

"Narumiya?" Kuramochi said thoughtfully. "I wonder if he's related to Mei."

Miyuki hummed. He hadn't thought about that. "I don't know. But if they were, wouldn't they go to Inashiro instead?"

"I guess you're right," Kuramochi agreed. "Do you know when he's coming?"

"No, but I guess we'll know when a bunch of boxes are delivered." Anticipation began to turn inside Miyuki for the surprise to come.