Forbidden Protege

Ch. 4: Friend and Foe (Part 4)

"One more! Come on!" Alexia yelled from the mound. She pounded her mitt with her fist and felt a small smile creep in as the third-year at the plate glared at her. He threw the ball up and hit it to her right. She pushed off as the ball skipped in the dirt and dove for it. She snagged it in her mitt and quickly threw it to the first year manager on the side who fumbled the catch. Alexia opened her mouth to encourage the manager when she saw another ball flying her way.

'Son of a bitch. He didn't give me any time,' Alexia cursed in her head. She sprinted a few steps to the left, her gaze locked onto the ball. It was going to skim the dirt perpendicular to where she was. Diving to the side wouldn't work, she'd have to move forward; backwards was too slow. Her lips curled upwards as she took a larger step and then pushed off at a 45 degree angle. She reached her mitt out and managed to snag the ball in the tip of her mitt. She brought her right leg forward and up to her chest, barely managing to get it under her to keep her upright. Jumping up using only that leg, she spun in the air and threw it to the manager again who yelped in surprise.

Alexia glanced over at the third-year. He made no move to hit her another ball so she turned to face the redhead manager. "Sorry about that. Didn't mean to scare you," Alexia called, raising her hand in an apologetic way.

"D-don't worry about it. I'm fine," the girl replied back with a smile. She held her hands up and waved them. Alexia nodded and watched as a ball was hit to the shortstop. It was fielded well and thrown back to the same manager who caught it in her mitt. Alexia turned to the shortstop and nodded encouragingly at him with a smile. His face remained neutral but he nodded in return.

"Narumiya! Coach wants to see you at Field A's dugout!" Alexia turned and saw a second-year standing behind the manager, waving at her.

She raised her hand in acknowledgement. "Alright!" She ran off the mound, careful not to interfere with the practice and another second-string pitcher took her place. "Good luck," she said as she passed him.

"I don't need luck," he said curtly, glaring at her. His jaw was set and Alexia mentally rolled her eyes. She made her way off the field and jogged over to where the coach was standing with Rei and another player who wore catcher's gear.

"You asked to see me, Coach?" Alexia asked as she stopped in front of them.

Coach gave her a short nod and then motioned to the boy next to him. "This is Ono Hiroshi. He's a catcher on the second-string team. I would like you to make a battery with him to practice. During Golden week we have several practice games scheduled and I would like to see you perform during them."

The boy took the end of the coach's speech as his cue. He stepped forward and extended a hand to her. "It's nice to properly meet you, Alex-san. I look forward to working with you," he said warmly.

Alexia took his hand in a firm handshake. "Nice to meet you, too, Ono-san. Please take good care of me."

Ono nodded at her and then pointed towards the bullpen. "Why don't we go and have you pitch some, that way I can get a feel for your pitches before the games?"

"Sounds good to me. I've been dying to pitch," Alexia said, smiling.

Ono turned to the coach and Rei, bowing. "Excuse us, then." He straightened and then left, Alexia following close behind.

Ono looked over at her as they walked. "I'll have you throw a bit to make sure your shoulder is fine first. Then we can have you pitch." Alexia nodded in agreement and the two of them entered the bullpen. At the moment, the other pitchers were busy with other practice so the bullpen was empty. Ono made his way to behind the plate, tossing his mask down next to him. Alexia stood about half way between the plate and the pitcher's plate and threw to him.

Ono caught her toss and threw it back. Alexia took one step back and threw again. They repeated this procedure until Alexia was back at the pitcher's plate. Ono didn't say anything, but was impressed at this. Her arm was already warm from practice, but it was a good idea to increase the length of the throw like she had. He also noticed at she always threw precisely to his mitt and that every throw seemed cleanly cut and precise. As he threw the ball back to her he called out, "Alright, I think we can start pitching now."

Alexia nodded. "What kind of pitch do you want me to start with?"

"Let's start with some fastballs. Give me one right down the middle," he said as he held his mitt out in front of him. Alexia nodded and assumed her pitching stance. She stepped back with her left leg and then repositioned her right. She brought her arms into her chest as she lifted her left leg, twisting her waist around. Then, it one fluid movement, she stepped out towards the plate and brought her arm over her shoulder. As she twisted her waist, she snapped her elbow down, sending the ball flying towards the plate.

Ono's eyes went wide. The ball flew suddenly and swiftly at him, almost appearing halfway to the plate. He didn't have to move at all, though, as the ball flew directly into his outstretched mitt. He caught it with a satisfying thud and smiled. "Good pitch. You have good control," he praised her as he threw the ball back.

"Thanks," Alexia said as she caught the ball. She tossed it up in the air. "I don't have much power, nor will I ever, really, so I had to find other ways to outplay the stronger guys. My selling point is my precision control," Alexia explained as she smiled. She knew that she couldn't count on overpowering a batter and she prided herself on not needing to. "Doesn't matter how hard you can hit if you can't make contact." Her lips curved up into a smirk and Ono smiled in return. She was right, after all.

"I don't know how that played out for you in America, but we have a lot of talented contact-hitters on this team," Ono warned as he crouched back down.

"I know. I've already got my eye on the brothers," Alexia said, taking her stance again.

"Another fastball, this time high and inside."

"As you wish." Alexia pulled her arm back and sent another pitch directly into Ono's mitt. Afterwards, he asked for her to paint all of the corners and she complied. Ono shook his head as he stood up and threw the ball back to Alexia. "What is it?"

"Nothing. Just thinking that your control really is impressive. Do you know any breaking balls?" he asked, curious if her control extended to other pitches.

"Yeah, I do," Alexia nodded. "I can throw a cutter, shootball, sinker, and change up."

Ono blinked at her, not quite believing his ears. "What?"

Alexia chuckled lightly, understanding his disbelief. "Remember, I've already played in high school for two years. And excellent control alone isn't going to completely make up for a lack of power."

"Alright, then. Let's start with a cutter," Ono said, skepticism not going unnoticed by Alexia. He crouched down and Alexia took her stance, adjusting her grip on the ball. She pitched the ball, using the exact same stance as with her fastball, and it flew directly towards Ono's mitt. At the last second, however, it broke sharply and traced the imaginary chest of a left-handed batter. Ono's eye widened in shock and the ball collided with the net behind him. It was sharp.

"Sorry," Alexia called, raising her hand to apologize. "That wasn't as sharp as I had wanted."

Ono didn't say anything. He couldn't. That was an excellent pitch and that fact that Alexia wasn't satisfied sent a shiver down his spine. What sort of standard did she hold herself to?