Forbidden Protege

Ch. 2: Class and Field (Part 1)

Miyuki adjusted his tie and checked over his school uniform in the mirror. He swiped some stray strands of his hair back out of his face and then turned to grab his school bag. His roommate Kimura had already left for class and Miyuki was about to leave himself. He tugged on his shoes and pushed open his door. As he turned around and locked it, his eyes lingered on room 206 at the end of the hallway. He hadn't seen Alexia at morning practice but vaguely remembered her saying that she had today off of practice so she could settle in. Miyuki hadn't really paid much attention to Alexia yesterday, as he was just trying to be polite for the coach's sake, but he had been surprised at how easily she seemed to have blended into the team. Sawamura and Kuramochi had taken to her easily and Kawakami and Haruichi also seemed to like her. She was certainly an interesting person, but Miyuki was more curious about how she was as a pitcher.

Last night at dinner he had found out that, because of the fact that there were two years of junior high and four of high school in America and because the starting dates were different, Alexia would be repeating the first half of her third year in high school. This meant that she had already been competing on a high school field for two and a half years, but because she was moving to the country the high school baseball association said that they would count one of those years as a junior high year and, since she was not officially in the club for her half year, that would not be counted towards her total attendance either. This would qualify her to play for her two years at this school. But it also meant that she had just as much high school experience as a third-year player.

Miyuki walked down towards her dorm and raised his fist to knock on the door. He waited but heard no response. He tested the doorknob and found that it was locked. Apparently, Alexia had already left for class. Miyuki turned and made his own way towards the school building. It made sense she was already gone. After all, if he didn't hurry, he'd be late.

~

Kuramochi set his stuff down at his desk and looked at the clock. It was five minutes until class started and he had just made it on time. Sparing a glance over to an empty desk near the window, he smirked. He sat down and started to shuffle through his bag to pull out his history homework. A shadow fell over his desk.

"U-umm, excuse me, Kuramochi," a light voice spoke up. Kuramochi lifted his head to look at the girl. She had one hand tucked behind her back and was twirling the other through her chestnut hair.

"What is it?" Kuramochi asked, feeling a light blush creep in. 'This girl is kinda cute. What was her name again?' he thought to himself. Usually, the only time girls came up to talk to him was when he was with a certain unbearable catcher.

"Well, it's just that Miyuki-senpai isn't here yet and class is about to start. I was wondering if he got hurt during practice," the girl asked shyly. She shifted her weight from foot to foot.

Kuramochi felt his blush disappear and irritation stirred in his gut. He should have seen this coming. It was always about Miyuki with girls. If he was even a little late to class, girls would worry over him as if he had caught a cold. As if he was sick... So what if he was sick? Kuramochi suppressed a smile and tried to seem serious. "He's probably cleaning the puke off of him from morning practice, but he's fine."

"Puke? Is he sick?" the girl asked, becoming more worried.

"Nah, he just started randomly vomiting during practice. He got it all over himself and he looked horrible, like some sort of monster," Kuramochi continued, motioning to his front. "Like, he was covered covered. It was so gross and-."

"I think that's enough of that," Miyuki cut in. He smacked Kuramochi on the head with a book and received a laugh in return. Miyuki turned to the now horrified girl and smiled. "Ignore him, he's just joking around. I'm fine and I didn't throw up."

"O-oh. I'm glad to hear that, Miyuki-senpai," she said, now smiling coyly. "I'm also glad you're not late."

"Thanks, but we should both probably take our seats," Miyuki said. The girl nodded eagerly and hurried back to her seat, but not before glaring at Kuramochi who just 'humphed'. "Do I have to start worrying about what you're saying about me now," Miyuki asked smirking at his teammate.

"Serves you right, you bastard," Kuramochi grumbled, upset that his little act got discovered. "Go sit down. The teacher will be here soon." Miyuki chuckled to himself and he headed to his desk and set his stuff down just as the teacher made his way into the classroom.

"Hello, Class. Good morning to you all. Before we start, I have an announcement to make," the history teacher started off. He pushed his thick frames up higher on his face and folded his hands behind his back. "We have a new student who will be joining us. She has just moved to Tokyo from America so I expect you all to be kind and to help her adjust." Miyuki perked up a bit. A new student from America? What were the chances? Kuramochi had thought the same thing and the two of them unwittingly glanced at each other. They quickly looked back at the teacher, deciding to forget about their exchange.

The history teacher turned to the open door and nodded. Kuramochi leaned forward slightly in his seat, deciding that he already knew who it had to be. And he was right. Alexia walked through the doorway, sporting the school's female uniform. Kuramochi snickered a bit to himself as he saw that she was still wearing her earrings, despite it being completely against the rules. 'Of course she'd still wear them,' he thought. Alexia was walking straight and confident, not at all unsure like most students would be. Miyuki chuckled a bit to himself, also noticing her earrings. If her pitching was half as daring as her personality, he was excited to see it.

The teacher visibly faltered a little, noticing her earrings himself along with most of the class. Whispers started up, people asking why she was wearing them, if she knew it was against the rules, or if she was some type of delinquent. Alexia stood with her shoulders back and she wore a light smile, either not hearing or not caring about the whispers. She glanced towards the teacher and cocked an eyebrow, waiting for some sort of cue. He cleared his throat. "Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"

Alexia nodded before turning back to and scanning the class. She held her gaze over Miyuki and Kuramochi a little longer. 'Hey, not bad luck to have these two in class,' she thought to herself. She had been hoping to not have too many issues with her classmates and having these two was better than she was expecting. "My name is Narumiya Alexia and I've just moved back to Tokyo after living in America for five years. I don't like going by my full surname but anything else is fine. I'm looking forward to this school year." Alexia gave a slight bow before turning back to look at the teacher.

He coughed again. "We are pleased to meet you, Alexia-san. You can take a seat in the back, behind Miyuki-san." He waved a hand towards the brunette in question and Alexia chuckled a bit. Apparently, this school wasn't going to let her get away from him. They were both on the baseball team and she had discovered the previous night that his room was near her's. Now they'd be sitting near each other in class. She thanked the teacher and made her way to her new seat. Sliding in, she heard the guy chuckle.

"What are the odds?" He asked, casting a glance behind him.

"Apparently better than we thought."

Miyuki turned back towards the front and began digging out his history homework at the teacher's request. Alexia began arranging her stuff on her desk and settled in to pay attention to class. Neither of them spoke to the other as they both focused on the class.