Forbidden Protege

Ch. 10: Charged Emotions (Part 2)

There was no crowd around Alexia. No loud pitcher, no complaining first years, no cheering and encouraging upperclassmen. All there was was the baseball field with figures clad in white and blue moving around. She ground her teeth together. Tanba had been tense all game and now at the end it was catching up with him. His pitching was failing time and again. The only reason it wasn't a runaway game was that the fielders were working overtime. Ryosuke especially seemed to have kicked Kuramochi into overdrive and the third years weren't about to let him have all the glory. Tetsu was as calm and collected as usual. Jun was loud, louder than normal, but he seemed to be doing okay despite a tense air which still swirled around him occasionally. As her hand twisted her ponytail tighter and tighter, she cursed herself for mentioning Chris earlier today. She hadn't thought it would throw them off their game so much, but maybe it had? Or maybe they were all having an off day since the other players didn't seem to be doing so well either. In any case, Tanba's pitching was a real issue right now. Maybe they should pull him? Let him rest? Or maybe they need a pinch hitter to-.

"Miya-san?" Haruichi asked quietly while resting his hand on her shoulder. She snapped back into reality and turned towards the boy.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you. What's up?" Alexia asked, trying to brush off the feelings of guilt.

"It's nothing, really. I'm sorry to interrupt your focus, but um," Haruichi said, tripping over his words slightly. "Well, doesn't that hurt?" He removed his hand from her shoulder and pointed to where Alexia's hair was twisted so much it was curling in on itself.

"Oh," Alexia exclaimed, dropping her hair. "Yeah it did, I was just so focused I didn't realize it." She gave Haruichi a sideways smile as she massaged her sore scalp.

"Is everything alright?" Haruichi asked curiously.

Alexia sighed and nodded. "Yeah, sorry. Just have a lot on my mind and this," she motioned to the game, "is doing nothing to help. I can't believe our team is struggling so much. It's like we're just falling apart right now." Alexia grimaced slightly and Haruichi nodded, silently agreeing. They watched as the fielders entered the dugout at the end of the half.

Both of them watched the bottom of the seventh inning pass by in roughly the same way. Surprisingly, Eijun was comparatively quiet. Comments were made here and there with complaints said as well, but he wasn't quite as loud or obnoxious as usual. Alexia had a sneaking suspicion that Eijun was more interested in watching the game than he let on. The game went into the top of the eight inning.

"Seido high school has announced a change in pitchers." Alexia smirked, already seeing what was going to happen. "Replacing pitcher Tanba-san is pitcher Furuya-san. Pitcher is Furuya-san."

"What?!" Eijun screeched, earning him a death glare from his two friends. The entire stadium was filled with chatter. On Yokohama's side was laughter and snide comments. A first year subbing in now? I guess their throwing the game. On Seido's side was worry. I know Furuya-kun is good, but is now the right time? Most of the other spectators were wondering about this decision. Sending in a first year now? What is he thinking? Giving a hopeful prospect experience in a lost game?

Alexia fell silent as she watched Furuya casually throw a few pitches to Miyuki. She ran her tongue over her teeth. 'Well compared to his actual pitching motion, this is more like toss,' she thought to herself. Soon enough Miyuki threw the ball back to Furuya and the umpire called the batter to the plate. Alexia narrowed her eyes as she watched the exchange.

The batter gave a once over of Furuya and turned to look smugly at Miyuki, words rolling off his tongue. Alexia would bet that he didn't see the tall and skinny Furuya as an actual threat. She caught Miyuki's head tilt and smiled as she could mentally see the smirk he gave the batter. The way the batter scoffed confirmed that a smartass comment had been given as well. Alexia waited with baited breath as Furuya pulled up into his stance and started to pitch. He stepped out and swung his arm down, delivering a fastball that met Miyuki's mitt with a deafening cracking sound.

The stadium went silent and Alexia felt a brief wave of nostalgia. She knew for a fact that not a single person in the stands or dugouts would ever forget Seido's new monster pitcher.

~

Haruichi watched as Alexia frowned, almost glaring, at the field. She hissed under her breath, "So fucking what if they're inhumanly fast? They're all god damn high balls! Are they blind?"

"Holy crap! This kid just struck out five Yokohama batters in a row!"

"He's a monster!"

"Which middle school is he from? Why haven't I heard of him before?"

"One more! Strike him out!"

The crowd was going wild. Alexia grumbled into her palm as she propped her hand on her knee. She admitted that Furuya's pitches were insanely fast and carried a lot of weight, but this was a bit extreme. One glance at the Yokohama dugout was all it took for her to read the utter bafflement and panic that Furuya had unleashed on their team. Her eyes narrowed. It was unexpected sure, but the coach was doing a poor job of reining in his batters. The batters might be overwhelmed, but the coach should be able to see that every damn pitch was a high ball. At the start of this inning, he should have told his batters not to swing at all.

"You really can't tell that he's a first year like us," Haruichi commented, turning to Eijun who was sweating bullets and growling irritably.

"Yeah you can," Alexia mumbled into her hand. Neither of the two seemed to hear her, instead their attention being drawn away by the new arrival.

"Destroying the opposing team's fighting spirit with one overawing pitch. That's the difference between you and Furuya right now," a low monotone voice spoke. Alexia turned her head and felt her eyes widen as she saw Chris standing a few steps about them. Eijun jumped from his seat, but Chris wasn't done talking.

"I've said it before. You'll never be Seido's ace pitcher as long as Furuya is on the team. You'll only ever be his relief pitcher. Or maybe another school's ace."

Alexia felt her own anger match the fire blazing in Eijun's eyes. She bit her tongue, trying to keep from spouting the venom that boiled in her gut at Chris's lack of not only tact, because he wasn't entirely wrong, but also at his complete disregard of Eijun. He was the one set to work with Eijun yet it seemed one session of catching with him had taught Alexia much more. Injured or not, she couldn't excuse his attitude.

"You're in the second string like me," Eijun started, drawing Alexia's attention away from her anger. "To have a second year replace you on the field, doesn't that bother you? You head home early every day from practice! If you're aiming for the first string, shouldn't you be working harder than anyone else?!" Alexia could feel the hurt beneath Eijun's anger. Knowing that there was a good chance Chris was leaving because of his injury, she suddenly didn't know which side to be on.

"You're the one who's given up! I don't want to be lectured by you! No matter how difficult the challenge is, I'll never become a soulless player like you!" Eijun bit out sharply. Beside her, Alexia saw Haruichi give a slight smile. Eijun's ignorant words were harsh and uncalled for, but ignorant words they were. He was speaking from his heart about what he saw. Alexia couldn't blame him for his anger. Yet she also knew how devastating injuries could be. Instead of intervening like she had planned, she kept her eyes glued on the game, watching as Furuya struck out the last batter to end the top of the ninth. The crowd went wild, giving Alexia the feeling as if their little spot was in a separate bubble, unaffected by Furuya's monstrous debut.

Chris's low voice was almost monotone, only being lined by traces of sadness, disappointment, and longing. "Given up on first string? You're an idiot but you hit the nail on the head. So don't become like me, Sawamura." With that, the older boy turned to leave, taking both Eijun's and Alexia's gazes with him.

She had to talk to him.