Forbidden Protege

Ch. 7: Play Ball (Part 3)

"Throw it to third!" Alexia yelled as the left fielder grabbed the ball. He pulled up and threw it to third. As it came in, Alexia ground her teeth. The throw was chest high and even though the third baseman caught it, no way in hell was he going to be able to make the tag. The runner slid in safe and Alexia exhaled as she caught the ball.

The third baseman made no move to apologize and neither did the left fielder. She didn't expect them too, but it still grated on her nerves. The team was almost silent with Haruichi and Ono being the only two to yell at her encouragingly as her pitches were hit. Her anxiety was spiking and she was struggling to keep it down. Her team in America would be chattering away right now, either encouraging or scolding her. Either way, the team's silence weighed on her and only served to make the crowd and opponents voices louder.

"Ha! I knew that first batter was just a fluke! No way could she keep that pitching up!" The other's team's couch loudly exclaimed, gathering his team's moral. Alexia had struck out the first batter but the second had gotten on base by hitting her cutter. The third was out with a flyball to second which Haruichi caught and the fourth had just hit a double off of her fastball. Alexia was almost feeling sick.

The crowd was jeering her and she heard several voices telling her to get off the mound and to stop underestimating baseball. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her heartrate, but to no avail. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this worked up over a game and that only made her anxiety ten times worse.

"Don't mind, Miya-san! Just focus on the batter! We're here to back you up!" Haruichi called out to her, seeing her distress. Ono was silent. He hadn't missed a pitch since the first batter, but Alexia's control was suffering. It was going off course and her breaking pitches weren't cutting as sharply as they had before. He didn't know what was wrong, but he knew she was nervous. He turned to the umpire and called for time.

As he made his way up to the mound, he tried to think of what to tell her. She was glaring at the ground with her lips drawn into a tight line. The usual spark was gone from her eyes and she didn't have the same creepy look that she usually had while observing from the dugout. Not seeing the unsettling look unsettled him more. "Hey, don't mind that," he said hesitantly. "Let's focus on fastballs and get this batter out. We can regroup in the dugout later."

Alexia shook her head harshly. She raised her gaze to his eyes and hardened her glare. "I'm not running from the batter. I'm trying something out here, so just bear with me."

"What?" Ono asked, drawing his brows together.

Alexia exhaled. "Haruichi-san, come here," she called turning to the surprised boy. He jogged up to the mound, completely baffled. Once he approached, Alexia threw her arm around his shoulder, catching him off guard and causing him to blush profusely. Before he could stutter out his confusion, Alexia spoke.

"I owe you both an apology. Ono-san, I should have seen this coming and practiced with you more last night. I had the same catcher for five years so I took it for granted that my pitches could be caught," Alexia said, nodding to him. She continued speaking before he could reply. "And Haruichi-san, you've been great at encouraging me, but I suck ass right now so forget it. For the rest of the game, try channeling some of Ryosuke-san and just criticize the hell out of my plays. Nitpick to your heart's content." She shook his shoulders and grinned at him. "Hell, get the other players to yell at me. The more the better, just whatever you do, don't stay silent."

Both of the boys gaped at her, expecting anything but what she had said. Alexia removed her arm from around Haruichi and lightly punched Ono's chest. "And I'll say sorry to you again now. I've almost adjusted my pitches so just hang on until the end of this inning please. And whatever you do, do not call passively. If we're going to get hit, then let's go down flaming." She smiled at him and while he still didn't see her usual look, she seemed to be calm.

He nodded at her. "Alright. I'll try to call pitches you like. Just one more out."

Haruichi, now recovered from her sudden attack, smiled. "Yeah, let's do this."

Alexia smiled at both of the boys are they made their way back to their regular positions. Her anxiety was still swirling in her gut, but talking with her teammates and being physically close to them had helped calm her down slightly. She exhaled again. She had to adjust soon, before the coach pulled her for good. She didn't dare glance towards the dugout, resolving to deal with them later, after she got the last out.

The batter walked up to the box, smirking to himself. Alexia recognized him from earlier in the game. He could hit breaking balls, but he wasn't very good against inside pitches. She had already shown her cutter and shootball to the team and the changeup wouldn't be very useful here, but she still had one more hidden up her sleeve. Ono knew too, and he called for it. Alexia took her stance, looking towards the batter on third. He inched forward taking a huge lead. The third baseman was at the base, but after his showing earlier Alexia hesitated. She bit her tongue, scolding herself. She was already having trouble with her pitches, she wouldn't abandon her baseball any further.

She glanced back to homeplate before stepping off the pitcher's plate and throwing the ball swiftly to third. The baseman startled but caught the ball and lowered his mitt in front of the base. The runner had become cocky and didn't react in time. Out.

The crowd clapped but lacked the energy from the previous innings. Her teams encouragement was also subdued and the dugout was quiet as well. As they made their way back, Ono and Haruichi fell in beside her.

"That was unexpected, but good job," Ono said, offering her a small smile and a nod.

"It was a bit slow, though," Haruichi said, his lips quirking up into a small smirk. Alexia chuckled and gave him a lopsided smile. However, as they approached the dugout, the coach's look weighed heavily on her. Before he could speak, Alexia bowed quickly.

"I'm sorry. That poor showing was unacceptable. I'll make sure to do better in the next inning," she said, raising her head again. As she met the coach's eyes behind his shades, she could tell he was upset.

"Why did you throw to third?" he asked, his voice even and cold.

Alexia kept his gaze as she responded. "I know it was risky, based on the previous plays, but that's my baseball. I trust my teammates to pull through."

The silence in the dugout was deafening and she could feel countless eyes on her. She twitched her hand nervously and brought it up to run over her braided hair. The coach was silent for a minute before replying.

"And your baseball is more important than the team?"

"No, but it isn't less important. Baseball isn't a sport you can win by yourself. If you can't trust your team, then why are you a part of it?" Alexia held her breath. He wouldn't be the first coach she pissed off by telling her view on baseball. She almost found it ironic that coaches didn't like how much faith she held in her teammates.

Kataoka was silent for another minute and Alexia saw his mind working. Finally, his lips twitched up for just a second. "You're lucky that worked out well."

Alexia gave him a nervous smile. "I know." With that, she entered the dugout and turned to her team. "I'm sorry I put a lot of pressure on you guys. I'll try to do better from here on out, but please, don't stay silent." Every turned to watch her, trying to decipher the meaning in her words.

"You want us to praise you when you're not doing well?" Kawashima asked, glowering at her.

Alexia shook her head. "Not in the slightest. I'll tell you all what I told Haruichi-san: just keep talking. Criticize my plays to hell and back if you want, just don't stay silent. It's throwing me off." She paused to rub the back of her neck. "My teammates in America were so fucking loud, it's weird not hearing you guys talk." Glances and looks were exchanged and Alexia only hoped that they took her words well. She moved to grab a cup of water before returning to the front of the dugout to watch how the team did batting.