Batting Cages.

[Deleted]

Like Saint had said, he was a good pitcher, which meant he had noticed the tip. To a pitcher, especially one just throwing fastballs, it usually meant the batter had timed the pitch and just from body language in general he could tell. Now the question was whether or not he threw another and gave her the ample opportunity to crush the ball, or would he change it up and see how she adjusted… what to do? What to do? Figuring he would be clever, “cute” even, the pillar picked up the second ball and got ready to go through his motion once again…

Buuuuut… this time he adjusted his grip on the ball. Using his long fingers to full advantage his split them to the sides more, instead of holding them over the ball like with a normal fastball. The desired, and subsequent effect, would be a slightly slower pitch by a mile an hour or two, however as the ball flew toward the plate it would start to dive sharply toward the ground. Roger Clemens was probably the best pitcher ever at throwing at splitter, but Saint’s wasn’t too shabby… he could get a good drop… his curve was still his best pitch. Still there went the ball as he finished his delivery once again.

[Mitsuki Park]

...would he do the same pitch twice...?

Well, considering the amount of speed he put into these baseballs, she assumed that he also knew how to throw decent curve balls... What if he wanted her to think that she would think that he would pitch a different one, but would actually pitch the same?

...I think too much..

Shaking off her thoughts, she took a relatively deep breath and kept her eye on the ball. She watched his figure, and watched closely once again, noticing a slight change in the way he was pitching. Her pupils narrowed - so was it a different pitch? Thing is, Mitsuki didn't know a whole lot about baseball, so what if he knew how to pitch the same kind of throw, only in a different way? Still, she watched the ball draw closer, and closer, her grip getting tighter as she prepared to swing the ball, but...

The ball went down?

Pulling back her bat, she let the ball crash into the fence. So..what kind of throw was that? Once again, she tossed both baseballs back at him.

Maybe a couple more times...

[Deleted]

Apparently that had caught her by surprise, made sense considering he hadn’t mentioned anything other that being unable to hit and “a good pitcher”. Saint was, however, starting to become quite entertained by this… something told him that Mitsuki, though she had only swung once, had a very steep learning curve. He knew eventually, no matter how much he continued to switch what he was doing she was going to crush one off him, but that wouldn’t stop his competitive side from delaying that as much as possible. Grabbing another ball, the student body president assumed his position a top the mound and stared down toward the plate and batter debating what to go with this time.

Again, he went through his delivery. What he planned this time was to get her thinking that he was going to throw something she hadn’t seen yet. Then when he threw the same four-seam fastball she would be caught of guard. Of course, that wasn’t the only thing he was relying on… his release point was a bit higher this time causing the ball to cross the plate at a higher position, about mid-to-upper chest for the captain. The only worries he had were either letting one slip and hitting her and… her crushing a liner right back at him. He didn’t have a glove and his delivery wasn’t the best for quick reactions.

[Mitsuki Park]

Swing..[/color]

Yes, Mitsuki decided to swing her bat this time, considering that she only swung once when the fast balls started comin'. Gripping her baseball bat once again, she tilted her head up and faced Saint, waiting for him to throw the ball in her direction once again. Her eyes narrowed down on the ball as it closed in closer, and closer - so far, it remained in the same position, and she half expected the ball to curve. Once within a 6 feet distance, she she shifted her right foot slightly. The ball didn't do anything fancy, but still, she held out. She would swing, but not yet, not yet.

Within a blink of an eye, Mitsuki swung her bat, her right hand releasing the grip of the bat while her left arm swung back to her side, and the ball?.. Hm, let's reply that, in slow motion. Her arms swung at a slight angle, attacking the ball a little above than normal, causing the ball to angle downwards when she smacked her bat against it. Reason why? Well, considering that his ball before went down, she thought his ball would somehow curve up, which is why she started up high. But when she realized it wasn't going any higher, she smacked her bat at an angle to at least hit the ball, and the ball ended up going downwards and out, bouncing off the ground several times while going at a decent speed in the opposite direction.

Still...she wasn't satisfied with what she did. Picking up her bat again, she looked over at Saint, waiting for the next pitch.

[Deleted]

Hmm… at least she hit that one with some bit of oomph… though that meant she was catching on. Saint went to field the ball simply because it gave him time to go through the ‘mechanics’ of the pitch he was sure he was going to throw next. However the wind was what worried him more than anything. That breeze, if it picked up for even the slightest moment, it would wreck havoc on his pitch. Not only that but his usual delivery was anti-conductive to this very pitch… oddly that was a reason every coach he had ever had wanted him to change his delivery because they believe, though it would reduced his velocity, it would improve his break.

Taking his usual place a top the mound, with his right hand behind his back, he adjusted his fingers so that he was almost pinching the ball with his knuckles. With a deep breath he started a modified delivery with his arm immediately going out behind him as he took a short step forward before bringing his arm around to fire the ball. At the same moment almost he basically flung it with his fingers. The result was a slow moving ball that had very little to no spin and sort of drifted… floated… danced toward the plate. Of course, Saint had zero control over where it broke to and very little control over where it went in general. Basically he threw the knuckleball and hoped for the best.

[Mitsuki Park]

This is it...[/color]

Gripping her bat, she felt a light breeze pass by, and her eyes narrowed down on the ball. She knew the slightest of winds would effect how the ball would fly, because it was the same thing for metal forks, tennisballs and cell phones. Yes, she was referring to the game her brother would force her to play, where he would throw objects at her, and she would have to dodge them. Simple enough? Tch, yeah, if you knew when it was coming. It was a game to be alert at all times - they first started out with plastic spoons, then plastic forks, then metal spoons, then metal forks, eventually onto knives, phones...anything small enough that you could throw, really.

Oh...goodness. She was expecting a fast pitch, but something seemed odd. As if it were in slow motion, it just sort of...drifted. That meant Mitsuki had to pay more attention so she knows exactly when to swing her bat so it would actually hit the ball. She watched the ball draw closer, and yet again, a very light breeze picked up, making the ball sort of float a bit to Mitsuki's right, or Saint's left. No doubt that the ball would still be close enough for her bat to be able to hit it, but the breeze sort of carried the ball towards her, a little below the waist and off to the right. And then...?

CLINK!

The baseball bat smacked dead onto the ball, making it fly over head. Unfortunately, Mitsuki wasn't able to see it because it seemed she used a little too much power and pulled a muscle on her left arm when her right hand accidentally slipped from the bat, causing the bat to fly to the left with the momentum she had used. Which...resulted to Mitsuki dropping the bat not too soon after, and massage her left shoulder with her right hand. Right when the ball landed on the ground somewhere far off, Mitsuki would look up and blink, then shake her head. It seems like there was a lot more to batting than the players actually led on. Whatever.. She didn't think she broke anyones window, but that's alright.

Maybe next time.

Her head tilted up towards the sky, she would close her eyes and just take a deep breath. It felt good to not care about anything, even if it was just for a quick moment.

[Deleted]

((OoC: Couldn't get the juices flowing.))

By the sound, Saint could tell the ball had been crushed, though not as well as the person batting may have liked. He just shut his eyes for a moment while thinking back on why he had tried to throw a knuckleball… especially with how Mitsuki was catching on. Opening his eyes to see where the ball had landed off in the distance before glancing back toward the captain. She seemed to have pulled something… and thrown her bat, good thing it wasn’t at the student body president… that might have been messy. He took a deep breath and made his way off the mound figuring that they were done for the day. It would be foolish to keep going with an injury due to the risk of making things worse by aggravating it.

“You okay?”

There was a tinge of concern in Saint’s voice to due his kind nature, though not an obscene amount considering that it seemed nothing more than a strain… nothing life threatening. Making his way over to his jacket Saint grabbed his water bottle and took another sip, the pills often gave him a dry throat… especially if he did anything even remotely active. With the bottle in hand he turned back toward the captain and gestured an offer of a drink. It was the least he could considering that, in a way, he was responsible for her injury… after he did throw the ball.

[Mitsuki Park]

With her shoulder moving in small circular motions, her eyes were elsewhere, looking over at the field for where the baseball may have landed, but spotting no white circular, palm like toy, she stopped looking and turned towards Saint. She wasn't sure what he was talking about when he asked if she was okay, but she quickly caught on to what he meant, and gave a nod signaling she was fine. While he went towards his jacket, Mitsuki would've picked up the bat and walked towards where Saint was. Their little game was over, no doubt, and when he offered a drink to her, she kindly refused by a simple shake of her head. Though, she was curious about two things: Where the ball landed, and just how he pitched so well... Yeah, it sort of poked at her sides. What would happen if it was him throwing the forks instead of her brother? As far as Mitsuki was concerned, her brother didn't know anything about throwing curve-forks...or balls.

Whatever the case, she felt this compelling power to ask. So she did.

"..how'd you learn how to pitch like that?"

[Deleted]

The pillar shrugged lightly when the captain turned down his offer for a sip from his water bottle. Of course he was quite glad when she nodded that she was fine, more so from assurance even though he already knew that it was minor. Screwing the cap back on the bottle, Saint stretched his throwing arm out a bit when Mitsuki asked him about his pitching. A wry smile crossed his features as he prepared to answer the question.

“Well… I learned in the City of God.”

Err… He had gotten used to referring to his old city by that name and should probably stop since people in Long Beach might not know that nickname.

“I mean, Rio de Janeiro. We played a lot of sports, mostly soccer since it was Brazil but also baseball and basketball… Capoeira. I played in a junior league for a couple years and it was a pretty competitive one so the coaches were teaching me all these different tricks and pitches… of course being tall for my age was helped. The rest I just picked up screwing around in pick up games with friends. Heh… I guess I got lucky with just having an inclination toward it… you know?”

Saint shrugged lightly as he finished his explanation, knowing full well that yet again he was down playing his abilities. But anyone who even observed Saint for some period of time would have picked up that he was that kind of guy… always saying he was average or decent… at best a “pretty good”. Humble? Maybe… more that he had a low self-esteem, though he hid it well.

[Mitsuki Park]

Heh, so he wasn't kidding when he said he was a "good" pitcher. She knew he must've been good but...she wasn't thinking that good. It caught her by surprise, though she didn't show it. Hm... The City of God..?- oh, Brazil. She gave a small nod, as if understanding, but truth be told, she didn't know Brazil was much of a baseball fanatic. She knew soccer was a bit sport in that country - as soccer was in almost every country. And considering that Mitsuki didn't know much about sports other than basketball and track/cross-country, she assumed the junior league was after the little league. Anywho, going back to being surprised...

Well, she should've seen it coming seeing that she didn't know much about him in the first place. For all she knew, he could be some drug dealer during the night time...which, she hoped, that he was not.

Looking up at the sky, she noticed the sun going down, and Reita - her brother - would have her head if she didn't bring his tub of ice cream home by supper. Thus, she'd have to wrap this meeting up, and return to just seeing him in the halls - if she ever did.

"It's nice seeing you again, Saint. I wish I could stay longer, but I have to go right now."

And it was true - she wanted to stay and enjoy the scenery, and try to hit more baseballs that he could throw at her, but if she wasn't at home with her brothers ice cream, she'd be dodging forks all night.

"See you around, yeah?... And leave the baseballs where they are. I'll pick them up in due time."

With a wave and a relaxed look on her face, she turned around and headed towards the grocery store, where she would have to buy Reita's mint-chocolate-chip ice cream, which he would finish in three days, and the same thing would happen all over again.

[Deleted]

Saint started to put his coat back on as Mitsuki said that she had to go. He didn’t have anything to do really but she did and that was the reason for them to part ways until next time. Placing the water bottle in one of the pockets, the pillar made sure everything was where it should be before giving a cordial nod and wave before heading off in his own direction.

“Yeah… see you around.”