Forbidden Protege

Ch. 2: Class and Field (Part 7)

"I see you don't have your earrings in," a voice said from above Alexia. She straightened from putting her stuff in her bag and smirked at Ryosuke.

"Despite what you may think of me, I'm not stupid," she said back matter-of-factly. "By the way, that was some excellent fielding and batting. You have great reflexes and judgement. Not to mention I can tell you've put considerable effort into building muscle, Ryosuke-san."

"So you've been checking me out?" Ryosuke asked, his voice teasing.

Alexia laughed and swung her bag onto her shoulder. "Well, I won't deny that you're certainly easy on the eyes, but I was talking more about your batting. I know I can hit any pitch thrown to me but hitting it as far as you can consistently is a bit more of a challenge."

"So you do admit that you find me attractive?" Ryosuke asked, raising his eyebrows and his voice a bit. That certainly was not the sort of response he had been expecting. Alexia tilted her head towards him and wore a sideways smile.

"Maybe~."

"So what about the rest of the team?" Ryosuke asked as Jun, Tetsu, and Tanba approached.

"What are you guys talking about?" Jun asked as he strode up to them, a bat in one hand and his bag in the other.

"Is it something about the team?" Tetsu asked curiously.

Ryosuke's smirk seemed to widen and Alexia saw the perfect opportunity to have some fun. "Between the four of us, who would you prefer?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Jun asked, entirely confused by this point.

Alexia titled her head to the side, scanning over each of them. "Overall, or same parameters as we were just talking about?"

"Same as we just discussed."

"What were you talking about?!" Jun asked, his voice rising with frustration.

"Tetsu-san," Alexia said definitively. Ryosuke raised an eyebrow and Alexia understood his silent question. She chuckled lightly and held her hands up. "What can I say? I prefer the classics: tall, dark, and handsome." She looked back over to Tetsu who now had a light blush. "Well, as long as they aren't too tall. I hate craning my neck back and looking up at someone is fucking annoying."

"You can say that again," Ryosuke agreed.

"Didn't think of that. Sorry, Ryosuke-san. If it's any consolation, I know I'm not the only one who prefers shorter guys," Alexia said. As soon as she noticed the shift in his attitude, however, she realized her mistake. "And if it's any consolation to that, the first baseman on my team in America was tiny. Five feet so... about 153 centimeters." She gulped, waiting for his reaction.

"Nice save." She breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Would either of you care to explain what exactly you were talking about? And about what you said about Tetsu-san," Tanba said carefully. Alexia shifted her attention away from Ryosuke and to the three other third-years. Tetsu still had a very faint blush, Jun was red and apparently quiet from shock, and Tanba looked utterly confused. Alexia couldn't help but laugh at the trio.

"O-Oi!" Jun yelled. "It's not funny! Explain yourself this instant!" He pointed accusingly at Alexia as she struggled to regain her composure. Ryosuke chuckled beside her and decided to throw more fuel onto the fire.

"What is there to explain? You heard it yourself; out of the four of us, Naru-chan thinks that Tetsu-san is the best looking."

"But- But that's... Why the hell were you two talking... What the hell?!" Jun managed to stutter out eventually. Alexia decided to spare him before he popped a blood vessel.