Forbidden Protege

Ch. 2: Class and Field (Part 3)

Alexia took a deep breath as she swung her arms back and forth after braiding her hair. She had no idea why, but it seemed to take more arm strength to hold her arms behind her head to braid than it did to throw a pitch. She rolled her neck and cast a brief glance in the mirror. She was sporting Seido's practice uniform and her hair was pulled back out of her face. It looked weird to her to not have metal reflecting to the sides of her head. As much as she wanted to, she wasn't stupid enough to wear earrings on the baseball field. That was just asking to be stabbed with the backing or to have one ripped out.

Taking one more deep breath, she grabbed her gear and exited her room. She turned around and debated whether or not she should lock it. Had she been in a dorm in America then she most definitely would have, but here in Japan people were typically more respectful. Not to mention most of the players were too scared of being kicked off the team to try something like stealing from a fellow player.

Just as she decided not to, she heard a door click shut to her left. She looked over and saw Miyuki leaving his own room, also without locking it. He turned to walk down the stairs without glancing at her and Alexia decided it was the perfect opportunity. She walked as quickly and as silently as she could, trying to catch up to him before he made it to the stairs where it would be harder to be quiet.

She made it just arm's length away. Struggling to stay silent, she grinned wide as she jabbed her fingers into his sides sharply and exclaimed, "Gotcha'!"

Miyuki jumped at the sudden presence and pressure on his sides. "What the hell?!" He exclaimed as he whirled around to see who it was. "Miya-san! What-!" He saw the girl smiling widely just before it registered that his foot was still falling downward. His eyes went wide as he lost his balance and began to fall.

Alexia realized her mistake. As he started to fall backwards Alexia reached out and grabbed onto his arm with her right hand and gripped the railing with her left. He reacted and grabbed onto her forearm roughly but he outweighed her. They were both going down. 'Shit shit shit shit!' Alexia thought. 'I'm going to fall down the stairs on my first day and take the starting catcher with me. Just great!'

Right before Alexia lost her own footing, she felt two arms wrap around her waist and anchor her back. Once her own balance was regained, she pulled hard on Miyuki and brought him back up as well. He fell against her roughly and once again the person behind her kept them from falling. "Fuck," Alexia grunted as she felt herself be squashed between the two guys.

Miyuki quickly stood up straight, panting and still processing the near disaster. His eyes were wide as he finally registered what had just happened. "What were you thinking?! We could have both been severely injured," Miyuki scolded the girl who genuinely looked sorry.

"My bad, I misjudged how close you were to the stairs. I didn't think one step would put you over. Guess you have longer legs than I thought," Alexia apologized. Miyuki looked at the girl in confusion. What sort of apology was that? She then turned to the guy who had just saved both of them. "Thanks for that and sorry."

"Ah, your welcome," he replied. "Sorry for grabbing you so suddenly but I figured that was the better option compared to letting you fall." He nodded towards Miyuki. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am. Thanks Kimura-san," Miyuki said, returning the nod.

"You don't have to apologize for that," Alexia said. "I don't really care anyway and yeah, I'd much rather have you grab me from behind than fall down the stairs." She laughed a little and had a mischievous look in her eye as she winked.

Miyuki smirked. "Really, Miya-chan? You just met him and you're already flirting?" Kimura blushed slightly at this and Alexia decided to follow along.

"Aww, are you jealous Kazu-chan~," Alexia drew out as she smiled at him, tilting her head to the side.

Miyuki narrowed his eyes at the girl but continued smirking. "There a reason you like calling me that, Alexia?" Alexia raised her eyebrows at that. Living in America, she had gotten used to being called that, but she didn't expect anyone here to call her by her full given name. Miyuki chuckled at her reaction. "Two can play at that game."

"Anyway," Alexia said, breaking their conversation, "I don't think we've met. Miyuki-san called you Kimura-san, right?" Kimura nodded, still visibly confused by the exchange he had just seen. "Nice to meet you. Don't think too much of what I just said. I just enjoy teasing people and it just so happens that making guys embarrassed is easy and fun." Alexia smiled at him. "If I do make you too uncomfortable, though, please just tell me and I'll back off. I'm not trying to do that."

"I see," Kimura said, relaxing a little.

"And thanks again for saving our asses. I really wasn't looking forward to trying to explain that to the coach," Alexia said sheepishly. "Speaking of which, we should probably all head to practice. I get the feeling that being late wouldn't be the best idea."

"That is very true, but can I trust you not to push me down the stairs?" Miyuki asked, his usual smirk gracing his face.

Alexia rolled her eyes. "Hey, I tried to catch you."

"But you were also falling. Were you falling for me?" An arrogant look and a cocked eyebrow drew a snort out of Alexia.

"As if, Pretty Boy."

"Oh, so you think I'm pretty?"

"I guess you've got to make up for your terrible attitude somehow."

"Nice one, Kimura-san."