Princess Nine:

Kisaragi Girls Season Two

Chapter Two: The Blaze Ball

"No way…"

The girls stood stunned as the ball nearly ripped through the fence. They watched as Sano walked off into the distance. Just then, Ryo came running to the field.

"Hey guys, what's going on?"

She looked at all their faces.

"Hey, is something wrong?"

Seira started out. "Yeah, that guy Sano Ryonosuke was just here."

"He was? What for?"

"Beats me, but that's his ball jammed in the fence…"

Ryo looked to where Seira was pointing. She was surprised. Not even her Lightning Ball was that powerful. She thought he might have an advantage on her pitches since he would have a bigger build, so at least she didn't believe it was impossible. Izumi shook her head.

"No time to get distracted!"

The girls went and finished their practice. After the practice was over, then went to begin classes for the day. Meanwhile, Sano was sitting quietly in class. He seemed totally different from when he was in front of the cameras. He kept to himself and didn't talk to anyone. As the ball went off to end class, he went to the baseball field for the first practice with his team.

As he was heading to the field, he crossed paths with Izumi, and they stopped in front of each other.

"You're, Ryonosuke-san, right?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks for catching that foul ball, something bad could've happened if you weren't there…"

"Nothing special…"

Sano put his hand on Izumi's shoulder and put his face near her ear.

"Good luck with that team of yours…"

Sano then walked by her and Izumi turned around only to see him walking off. Sano had arrived at the Kisaragi field where his teammates were already practicing. Hiroki looked up to see him standing on the hill.

"Hey! You're late for practice! Hurry up!"

Sano shrugged and turned around to go to the locker room and changed.

"What's his problem?"

Hiroki thought. Sano eventually changed into his attire and walked to the field. He arrived and talk to the coach.

"So, what position do you think you can play for us?"

"Whichever."

The coach was surprised. Any position, anything. That's what he heard.

"Well, we need to run some batting practice, would you mind pitching?"

"Not at all."

By this time, media and students gathered by the Kisaragi field to see the special student from North America that everyone was talking about. Sano already had developed a set of groupies in his short arrival. He stepped up to the mound. He began throwing balls at each and every hitter to warm up. Finally, Hiroki came up to the plate. He was confident as usual.

"I won't take it easy on you, just because you're new!"

"Hiroki Takasugi, the MVP of the Koshien Tournament."

Sano threw his first pitch and Hiroki launched it out of the park. There were awes and gasps from the sheer power of the hit. As expected for Hiroki Takasugi, they all thought. A second pitch was thrown and the same result. The girls team had already arrived on the scene and began to watch.

"Hey! That's Hiroki, and Sano's the pitcher!"

Hiroki noticed them.

"Oh, hey Miss Ganmo! Come and see me hit more homeruns?"

Hiroki laughed and Ryo smiled. Seira spoke. "I still don't see what's so special about the guy." Izumi was watching closely, the ball he threw back was like nothing she had ever seen. The crowd surrounding the field was at its peak, it was ridiculous, since this was only a practice. But, they all watched intently as if this pitch was going to decide the tournament. Sano examined Hiroki closely. He gripped the baseball and began his wind up. Izumi noticed something and spoke.

"Hey, wait, there's something different…"

Sano held his knee high and the delivery of his pitch came from a 45 degree angle rather than the over the top 90 degree he was using up and until this pitch. He released the ball with an insane amount of force, so insane that it seemed in had an aura of fire around it. No one knew about it, except for Sano, it was his "Blaze Ball." But the pitch was heading for the strike zone, at the last minute it swerved inside.

"What the..?"

The 170 km/h pitch came in and hit Hiroki in the head with some much force it ripped the helmet off his head, and it hit the helmet with a sickening thud. They all watched in disbelief until Hiroki collapsed to the ground. Sano was still in his follow through as Hiroki collapsed. In total shock and disbelief, the girls ran down to the field with Ryo leading the way. Ryo went down by his side and wrapped her arms behind his head.

"Hiroki…Hiroki! Are you alright? Please say something…!"

There was no response. Ryo began to tear. The girls turned and faced Sano. Seira who didn't approve of Sano from the start spoke.

"WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? THIS WAS ONLY A PRACTICE AND YOU GO OFF AND SERIOUSLY INJURE SOMEONE? WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU? DON'T THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE BECAUSE YOU'RE FROM NORTH AMERICA!"

The rest of the team joined in with Seira.

"How terrible…!"

"He's the worst…"

Izumi motioned for them to be quiet. At this point, everyone had their eyes on the commotion on the field. She noticed the incredible speed Sano had thrown the last pitch. She walked to about two feet of him.

"Why did you hit him…?"

There was no reply.

"ANSWER ME!"

"It slipped…"

Sano began to walk off the field.

"HEY! Don't you even care? He's your teammate!"

"Let the rest of the team do the job…I just got here."

Then he left the scene.

"Who does he think he is?"

At this point, they went to all attend to Hiroki. They took him to the hospital to get him checked on. Ryo was worried, he had never been so badly hurt before. She feared for the worst. The doctor came through the door.

"Doctor! Is he alright?"

"Yes, he'll be fine. He just suffered a minor concussion. He'll need to stay here for 3 days."

They were a little relieved.

"This is all because of him…that Sano Ryonosuke!"

Izumi was trying to think things through as they sat in the waiting room of the hospital.

"It might have just been an accident…"

"Izumi! How can you say that?"

"He said it slipped. I noticed he threw the ball significantly faster than the other pitches. It's not impossible."

"Still…! Hiroki is in the hospital because of him! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Of course it does! But, how unfair is it if we cast Sano out already!"

They were silent. They girls had numerous thought in their heads. "Who is this guy, What is his background?" Things that just kept them wondering. They knew Hiroki would recover so they decided they would go home for the night and Ryo would stay behind.

"Don't overexert yourself, Ryo…"

"Thanks, Izumi…"

Izumi began to walk home. As she was walking she heard a lot noise, like numerous plates was smashed at one time. Then she heard someone shouting.

"GET OUT! GET OUT! YOU'RE RUINING THIS FAMILY!"

She looked to where the commotion was coming from. The door to the house opened and someone came out. She examined closer. She gasped and held her hand to her mouth. Sano had stepped out of the house and he was bleeding from his left arm.

"Hmph."

Sano walked off in the opposite direction.

"What? What's the meaning of this?"

End Chapter Two