#honfuru

Masamune had already come to the conclusion that Furuya Satoru, the awesome pitcher, didn’t really exist.

He still remembers the first time he’d heard about him. It was in his second year of middle school, after a match easily won by his team.

He wouldn’t have paid much attention to the other guys’ talks, except that, apart from commenting about his poor attitude (nothing new there), they started talking about this other guy, this Furuya Satoru from Tomakoma middle school, who could, apparently, pitch faster than him.

Even though at that time he wouldn’t have admitted it to himself, that statement piqued his interest. He was used to hearing people admiring and, at the same time, fearing his pitching, so finding out there was another boy around his age and in the same area who could do the same if not better, gave him a strange feeling that was a mix of happiness and annoyance.

His research gave little to no results. He had heard from those guys that time that they hadn’t seen Furuya playing for a while now, but Masamune couldn’t believe someone that was supposed to be that great could disappear without leaving traces. No articles about him, no mentions in Tomakoma’s matches. Moreover, he had to put up with Renji’s annoying teasing about his supposed crush on the Furuya guy.

In his last year in middle school, Masamune got his chance to watch a Tomakoma’s match (it was pure coincidence, no matter what Renji would imply). No signs of Furuya, not even asking some of the 1st years cheering for their teammates on the bleachers was of any use. The whole team was there, they assured, except for some gloomy senpai who usually spent his training time pitching alone against a wall. Masamune easily dismissed that piece of information. If not even the team’s members knew him, then he had to resign himself to the idea that Furuya Satoru didn’t in fact exist. At that time, those players must have been mistaken, mixing some other guy’s name or mistook the team’s name or perhaps the player’s pitching wasn’t really that great.

After joining Komadai, he had become even more convinced there wasn’t indeed such a player. Even Inashiro’s Narumiya Mei, honored by the press with the overly pretentious title of Prince of the Capital couldn’t match Masamune in terms of pitching’s speed. Not like he cared about getting to know the other teams’ Aces, but journalists are persistent about their annoying questions and they especially loved comparisons, so he was doomed to remember a few names.

Renji manages to convince him to go watching Fall’s Jingu Tournament on their second year of high school. Komadai had won Summer Koshien and had all the intention to conquer Spring too. They might get the chance to play against the winner, this is Renji’s reason to watch the match. But there is also a bit of curiosity involved. The finalists are neither Inashiro nor any other renowed Koshien participant. Masamune had watched the match with a bored expression, vaguely minding the plays, until a voice announces a change of pitcher on Seidou’s part. The Ace comes out to close the game. Masamune hears the name but still can’t believe it. Unconsciously he holds his breath. Then the first pitch. Of course on the bleacher Masamune can’t hear the loud noise the ball makes against the mitt, but he doesn’t need to. He already knows it too well. He already knows him too well. It’s him. Furuya Satoru.