Kyoko Yamakawa followed the map she'd been given and easily found the baseball field. Shit, she thought to herself, the team's already practicing. She hurried the rest of the way to the field and entered the dugout, where a man was sitting with a dog in his lap.
"Excuse me," she addressed him, "but I'm here to play on the intermural baseball team. I assume you're the faculty sponser, Mr. Shiga, right?"
"Yes," Shiga looked up at her, "I am. I take it that means you're Kyoko, the new shortstop. Welcome to the team. You can go ahead and get out on the field, if you're ready."
With that, Kyoko trotted out onto the field, glove in hand. Several of the boys turned and gave her odd looks as she slowed to a walk. As she approached the only other female in sight, Momoe called for the boys to huddle up.
"Alright boys," she announced, "we've got a new player joining the team today. Go ahead," she pushed Kyoko to the middle of the group, "introduce yourself."
"Fine." Kyoko turned from Momoe to the stares of the boys. "My name is Kyoko Yamakawa, but you can call me Kyo once I get to know you. I used to play softball back in junior high because they wouldn't let me play hardball, but trust me, I can play better than a lot of boys I've already met."
"Alright then," Momoe said, "we'll cut practice short today. Instead I want all of you to try to get to know Kyoko here. If you want to practice a bit more so she can show you what she's got, that's up to you."
With that, Momoe strode off the field, leaving Kyoko surrounded by the gawking boys. The entire group stood for a moment in silence before Tajima broke the silence.
"Hey there Kyo," he said as he threw his arm around the girl, "I'm-"
"Tajima." She finished his sentence for him and ducked out from under his arm. "You've got an excellent swing, but your small build doesn't allow you to hit anything over the fence." She pointed to Abe. "And you're Abe, right? The ace catcher that can read anyone like a book?"
"Yeah, that's me." Abe shook the girl's hand as Hanai began to mutter under his breath.
"Great, another girl."
"And you must be Hanai." She pushed Abe aside to get right in Hanai's face. "The hard-hitting clean-up who's also a egotistical, stuck-up sexist."
Tajima was trying hard (and failing) to stifle a laugh as Kyoko smirked into Hanai's glaring face. After a moment, she turned and pointed straight at Mihashi.
"I'm most interested," she told him as she walked over and shook Mihashi's hand, "in you, Ren Mihashi. I've heard stories about your pitching, Mihashi. I can honestly say I'm excited to see you in action. C'mon," she gestured to him, "show me your stuff."
"Hold it," Abe shouted at her, "just a sec. I've heard some things about you, too. Kyoko Yamakawa, the softball hitter who's a good all-around player, but never gets struck out. I want to know...is it true your brain works like a computer?"
Most of the boys gasped and took a second look at the girl as she turned back to face Abe.
"No," she said with a shrug, "not really. It works more like a calculator. Ever since the first time I stepped up to bat, I've been able to tell roughly where the ball will land in my strike zone based on trajectory, arc, and the pitcher's finger positioning on the ball. Here, I'll show you." She walked over to the dugout, grabbed a helmet and bat, and stood over the plate. "Mihashi, pitch me some balls and I'll tell you where they'll land."
Mihashi glanced at Abe and the boy nodded. They took up their positions and Kyoko assumed her batting stance. She watched Mihashi as he nodded at Abe, wound up, and released the ball. She paid careful attention to his pitching hand as the ball left it. Alright, she thought, his fingers were in slider position...and the ball's a bit higher than normal. Based on the path a slider takes..."
"Slider, high and outside." She watched the ball fly past and land in Abe's glove.
"Nice," he told her, "but one time's not going to convince anyone."
"Well then," she smirked, "go ahead and throw the ball back to Mihashi."
Abe tossed the ball back, and Mihashi threw another pitch. That's a curveball...and he threw it toward the inside and middle level of the strike zone, so..."
"Curve, low and right over the plate."
Abe gave a soft whistle as he tossed Mihashi the ball.
"Fastball, high and inside."
"Curve, mid-level and outside."
"Fastball, dead center." Wait a sec, she thought with an audible gasp, that last fastball...something was odd about it. Hm...
After a few more correct predictions, most of the boys had surrounded the girl and were praising her. That's when Hanai spoke up.
"So what," he said indignantly, "knowing where the ball's going is a lot different than actually hitting it."
"Fine," she replied as she jammed the helmet back onto her head, "throw another one, Mihashi."
The timid boy took the mound as Abe squatted behind the plate. After a few moments, Mihashi let the ball go and Kyoko's mind went quickly to work. Fastball, thrown low...the angle's leaning to the outside, but it looks like it'll land on the line. (AN: She's referring to her imaginary strike zone)As the ball approached the plate, Kyoko swung and the sweet sound of the metal bat contacting the ball reached her ears. The ball flew through the air and landed just inside the outfield grass. She ignored the cheering of the boys, mostly Tajima, and looked straight at Mihashi.
"Hey," she called to him, "show me that dead center fastball again."
After Mihashi stuttered out a reply, he threw the pitch. It looks like it's a normal fastball, but something happened last time? As she began to swing, the ball seemed to hover in her vision. Kyoko let out a small gasp and paused for just a fraction of a second in her swing, barely making contact with the ball. The white sphere bounced down the third baseline and rolled to a stop outside the line. Well well, she thought, looks like Mihashi's going to make a pretty good ace. Not only is his accuracy amazing, but that fastball...it's like nothing I've ever seen before.
"Good job Mihashi." Kyoko flashed him a smile, causing him to blush before she turned to Hanai. "So, did I impress you, Hanai?"
"Hmph...I guess."
She smirked and walked past him toward the dugout as the boys began to disperse. Kyoko waited until most of them had left, purposefully stalling until Mihashi was leaving.
"Hey," she called to him as he left, "tell me something. What's up with you, Mihashi?"
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"I mean why are you so timid? With your skills, anyone else would be bragging all day, but you look like you don't even want to be up on the mound. What's wrong?"
"N-No," Mihashi replied, "it's nothing like that. I do want to be on the mound but..."
Kyoko listened to Mihashi recount the tale of his junior high pitching days. As he finished and tears started to show on the corners of his eyes, Kyoko placed her arm around his shoulders and headed back in the direction of the school, forcing Mihashi to walk with her.
"Well," she said after a moment, "are you going to answer my question or not?"
"H-huh?"
"Listen Mihashi," she said as she stopped him and stood in front of him, "while what you went through in junior high was pretty bad, you shouldn't feel so guilty about it all. Let me explain something to you." She held up her index and middle fingers. "While they may be two different positions on the field," she said as she moved her fingers together, "the pitcher and catcher act as a single unit. Part of the catcher's job is to analyze each batter's strengths and weaknesses and advise the pitcher how to best exploit those weaknesses and avoid those strengths. There's only so much a pitcher can tell about the batter from the mound, and because your catcher abandoned you, you weren't able to get that vital information and all you could do is guess about what to throw. See, Mihashi? It was the catcher's fault your team lost, not yours. Don't let anyone tell you differently, okay?
"O-okay. Thanks Kyo."
Kyo nodded and smiled at Mihashi, who was still tearing up. She turned and bid him farewell as she walked off the school grounds and back towards her house. Those assholes over at Mihoshi Academy tortured poor Mihashi his entire junior high baseball season. It's their fault he's so underconfident. Maybe, with time, I can get the boys to help me raise his own opinion of himself so he can realize that he really is a good pitcher...