Forbidden Protege

Ch. 10: Charged Emotions (Part 4)

Practice had let out early for the day but Alexia wasn't satisfied. She crossed over to the lone pitching net in the corner of the practice arena. It was in a poorly lit corner, but she didn't care. It was away from the other players who were practicing their swings and it was a net she could pitch into. She pulled a crate of baseballs up to the pitching plate and rotated her shoulder around a few times, loosening it up.

She bent down to grab a baseball and then straightened, setting her eyes on the net and imagining a catcher sitting in front, waiting to catch her pitch. She pulled her leg up before stepping out and twisting her waist around. Her arm snapped forward and she rocked her weight forward, adding her body weight to the power of the pitch. It flew and clipped the corner of the target. A ball by far.

She clicked her tongue and picked up another ball. She went through the motion, adding her body weight at the last second to the pitch. Again, it was a ball. She repeated it. Ball. And again. Ball. She repeated the motion time and again, each result the same as the last.

She knew that her pitch lacked power, and that her speed was only average. In order to try and counteract that as much as possible, she decided to change how she threw her fastball. Normally, she would try and maintain an upright posture, allowing her to quickly react to any hit ball. The way this form left her slightly off balance made her nervous for a line drive or being able to easily track the ball, but she needed something different. She needed a new weapon. Maybe a fastball that was quicker than her normal pitch would give her that extra inch in a pinch situation. She didn't know, but it was something.

So she set about repeating the motion time and again. Eventually, she managed to get one pitch halfway close to her target. It was still a ball, but it was progress. She threw the next pitch, which was the same as the others. The following one was slightly better. The more she threw, the closer the pitch moved to her target. Only when her fingers scrapped the bottom of the bin and she realized she had emptied it of baseballs did she realize how many pitches she had thrown.

She straightened up and sighed, rotating her shoulders and feeling the muscles complaining. As she started to collect the baseballs that were spilling out from the pitching net, she failed to notice the two upperclassmen who had been watching her curiously.

"Alex-san, how long have you been here?" Torima asked, causing Alexia to snap out of her concentration.

"Hm? Oh, since practice let out," she explained, reaching down to pick up more balls.

"What exactly are you doing?" Sugawara asked.

Alexia straightened and eyed the two players up and down. They usually didn't seem to have any issues with her on the field, but this was the first time they approached her off of it. "I'm adjusting my fastball. I'm hoping to put more spin and speed on it. Sort of the opposite of a change up, I guess?" she said as she rubbed the back of her neck.

Sugawara's brows pinched together. "Aren't you just changing your form? What if you end up wrecking it?"

She shook her head. "I won't. I know what I'm doing. Although, I guess it's harder than I thought it'd be." She chuckled slightly as she looked at all the balls scattered around the net.

Torima sighed. "Well, in any case, make sure you rest properly. Dinner is ready, so hurry up." With that they both bid her farewell and Alexia watched as they disappeared out of the now empty arena. She sighed and glanced at the clock. Yeah, it was dinner time. But-.

"Just a little more," she mumbled to herself before taking a ball out of the bin and resuming her stance.

~