Forbidden Protege

Ch. 11: Getting Serious (Part 2)

"That's the premise of the project. I'll now tell you who each of you will be working with," the teacher said as she shuffled some papers on her desk. "To start, Miyuki-san, Kuramochi-san, as the two baseball players in class, you two will be working together. Next will be..."

Alexia sighed as she listened to the teacher name off the groups. Of course. This was a typical way that her teachers had protested her being a player. Vaguely, she heard that she had been partnered with two other girls.

The teacher tapped her papers. "Any questions?" Alexia ran her tongue over her teeth. At least it was the English teacher who disliked her, so she knew that there was no way that she would fail the class. Her eyes wandered over to Kuramochi, who was subtly glaring at the teacher. They then drug over to Miyuki. Who was staring at her over his shoulder. "In that case, I'll..."

"Excuse me," Alexia spoke up, raising her hand. "Wouldn't it make sense if I was partnered with Miyuki-san and Mochi-kun? I am on the baseball team."

The teacher frowned as she looked through her papers. "Ah, right. I forgot. Well, I don't want the groups to be unbalanced."

"If I switch groups, there will still be one group with three people and one with two." Miyuki's eye caught a smile that matched his smirk. "And if you're worried about skill level, I'm fluent in English. Whichever group I am a part of will be at an advantage."

The teacher hesitated. Miyuki lifted his own hand and added, "Working with us would also be more practical for Miya-chan since the baseball team is all on the same schedule."

"Perhaps, but both you and Kuramochi-san live in the baseball dorms," the teacher stated, irritation leaking into her voice.

"So do I," Alexia stated calmly with a smile. Just as she expected, the whispers started up almost immediately, but it was worth it to see the moment of surprise and horror cross the teacher's face.

Her face switched to a glare before settling into resignation. "Very well, you may work with them. You may all use the remainder of class to start on the assignment. Please keep the volume to a minimum." At that, everyone dispersed into their groups and Kuramochi made his way over to Miyuki and Alexia, still scowling.

"Before you say anything, it's fixed now," Alexia said as he pulled a chair up to the side of her desk. Miyuki turned around to sit at the front of her desk.

"I'm starting to get the feeling that people being jerks to you is normal," Kuramochi grumbled.

She shrugged. "Welcome to my life."

"It's not right, though," he cried in a hushed tone.

Alexia sighed and leaned forward on her elbows. "Let me clear things up for you two now. Some people love that I play baseball, some hate it. Comments, glares, underhanded insults, those just come with the territory. Believe me, I hate it, but there's nothing I can do about that. I can deal with the minor things. As long as it doesn't get too nasty or turn physical, I can take it." Both of the boys stared at her blankly for a few moments. "Believe me, punching them won't help."

Kuramochi quirked an eyebrow. "Well, have you tried it?"

"Yes." Silence.

"Kyahahaha! You mean you actually tried it before?!" Kuramochi burst out at full volume. After a scolding from the teacher, he turned back to her. "Are you actually serious?"

Alexia smirked. "You saw that guy's nose when we all went shopping. Ask Haruichi if you doubt me."

Miyuki let out a low whistle and Kuramochi muttered a hushed, 'Damn'. Miyuki leaned back in his seat. "So I guess I'm lucky that I didn't call you 'Narumiya-chan' a couple years ago, then."