A/N: How would the story of the popular Major Baseball Manga Series turn out if the main character was a girl? Join Honda Kana(Goro) as she struggles to play her late father's beloved sport; facing gender issues and discrimination in the field. But nothing can stop a hot-blooded, baseball girl! Fem!Goro, Drama.
Oto-san=Dad(a different kind of pronunciation)/Honda Shigeharu
Okaa-san=Mom/Momoko
Otou-san=Dad/Shigeno Hideki
The first chapter/s will cover the exposition of the story, or basically up until the death of Shigeharu. After that I will be going in chronological order (Little League, Jr. High, High School/Kaido, etc), addressing all parts of Goro/Kana's story. Some parts may be abridged because I don't want to repeat the story, while new parts will be added in because of the difference in the main character's gender. Also, since I only watched the anime, I'll be following the plot line of that. I'm super excited to be writing this and I hope there will be people that are interested in this too!
Enjoy Reading!
A Baseball Girl, a Major Fanfiction by Tennisbunnyrox
Chapter 1: Oto-san's Dream!
"Okay next at bat is No. 23 Yamamoto Ken-senshu. His batting average this season has improved quite a bit this season compared to last. Now, let's if he can put some pressure on Honda Shigeharu, who has been pitching excellent in his first game so far." The camera switched its view to Shigeharu, who had a determined look on his face. Honda Kana, who was about 5 years old, sat in front of the television, bouncing happily.
"Yeah! Go, go, go Oto-san!" Kana raised her fists in the air. "Throw a strikeout! Strike~~" She chanted. It was recess, and Kana had requested permission to watch the television in the teacher's office. A kindergarten teacher noticed her and came by.
"Kana-chan, watching television for too long is not good for you. Why don't you play with your friends outside instead?" She suggested.
"Why don't you let her be?" Momoko walked over to her. "It's her father's match after all."
The woman looked surprised. "Father?" She looked at the screen. "Eh? The pitcher?"
Momoko nodded. "The great pitcher of Yokohama Blue Oceans, Honda Shigeharu-senshu." She scratched the back of her head. "Um but...I don't really know much about baseball."
"W-wow, that's kind of amazing. I didn't know that." The female teacher commented.
"Annnd strike three! Yamamoto is out! Honda-senshu shut the last player out! This comes to a-" Kana jumped up and danced excitedly. "Woo-hoo! Oto-san won!" She turned to Momoko and tugged on her pants. "Didya see that Momo-sensei? Did ya?"
"Yes, yes I did." Momoko smiled down at her. "That was a splendid pitch. Your father's amazing, Kana-chan." Kana beamed at the compliment.
"W-what are saying, Oto-san?" Kana dropped her spoon, and it met the ground with a clang. "You...won't...play baseball...anymore?"
"I'm sorry, Kana but it will take over a year to heal the torn ligament in my right arm, and by then, Yokohama Blue Oceans won't have space for Oto-san anymore." Shigeharu explained in a calm voice.
"No! You're wrong! When...when you heal it, you can play baseball again, can't you, Oto-san? Right, Oto-san?" Kana pleaded, begged for her father to answer her.
"I'm too old. If I wait until that point, they'll fire me." Shigeharu sighed. "That...that's why today I'm going to their office to resign. I'm...done with baseball."
The usually bubbly child was in shock to the point of silence. Tears welled up in her eyes until she could no longer stand it and burst out crying.
"Kana!" Shigeharu tried to comfort her, frowning. "...Kana..."
Momoko was flustered. When Kana arrived at school that day, she wasn't her usual energetic self. She sat alone, and hugged her knees. Momoko had asked her what was wrong and Kana told about her father. She felt bad for the child, and knew how much she enjoyed watching her father play baseball. Yet she still wasn't able to keep her in her sight.
"How am I supposed to explain to her dad that she's missing?" Momoko wondered outloud, sighing.
Right at that moment, Shigeharu appeared at the entrance to the kindergarten. He bowed in greeting. "Ah, hello, I'm Honda. I'm here to pick up my daughter, Honda Kana."
"Ehh? Ah, h-hello, Honda-san." She replied. "Uhm about your daughter..."
"You don't have to stay, Hoshino-san." Shigeharu said.
"B-but, if only I'd paid more attention...and talked to her about it..." Momoko had her head against her interlaced fingers, full of worry.
"Don't worry. Kana is a smart girl. She'll definitely come back." He assured her, as if he were consoling a parent who had their child go missing.
Just then, they heard a knock on the door. It was Kana, but she was asleep on the back of a man. When Shigeharu had heard of her daring attempts at begging them not to fire her father, he was shocked. He thanked the man, took Kana back inside, and said goodbye to Momoko.
Lying on the futon, Shigeharu rolled over to one side and stared at Kana. A small smile crept on his face. She was in for a surprise at the next Blue Oceans' match.
"And then Oto-san was like WHAM!" Kana mimicked his motions, swinging an invisible bat. "HOME RUNNNNN!"
"We heard this already, Kana-chan." A fellow classmate whined. Another one looked bored. "Come on, let's go play!"
"No, no, wait until you hear this! After that-" The kids had already left.
Kana pouted. She could not shake off the exhilaration from watching her dad's first game as a slugger. He's not pitching but, Oto-san always looks the coolest when playing baseball!
Running over to the playground, Kana resolved to try her best like her dad.
"Alright! I'm going to be a pro like Oto-san!" She declared, swinging across the monkey bars. Then she ran up the slide over and over again until she could reach the top, which received a few strange looks from the other elementary students.
When Kana had worked up quite a sweat and paused a few seconds to rest, a group of boys a few years older than her walked by.
"Ahaha what's this twerp doing? So stupid." A tall, lanky kid remarked. The group snickered. Kana felt her cheeks flush.
"You shut up! I'm training!" She retorted.
"Training?" The boy looked confused.
Kana puffed her chest out. "I'm gonna be a pro pitcher when I grow up!"
The boys looked at her stupefied. Then they burst out into laughter. She frowned at them.
"Why are you laughing?! Are you laughing at my dream?!"
A plump boy spoke up, clutching his stomach and snorting. "Only boys can play baseball dummy! Haha!"
"Plus, you think such a short kid like you could ever be a pro? Pfft what a bad joke." The tall boy glowered. The boys backed him with various affirmations of "yeah" and "ha that's right". Kana felt a stab in her chest and tears pricked her eyes.
"I can too!" She yelled in protest.
"You're just a girl and everyone knows girls are weaker than boys! Plus they can't play baseball!"
She wanted to scream and beat them but her dad had taught her better than that. So naturally, she said the worst insult she could think of.
"GO TO HELL!" Kana stamped off, leaving the boys giggling in laughter and mocking her.
Boys are idiots! I hate them!
"Come on, Chizu-chan, playing catch is fun~" Kana tried to convince her friends.
"Ehh...but..." The girl named Chizuru hesitated. She wanted to play with her dolls with the other girls.
"Here, just try it! Put on the glove this way..." Kana put the glove on the girl's hand and back up a good distance. "Ready, put your mitt out to catch this!" She was starting to wind up...
"Huh?" Chizuru had a bad feeling about this. Kana wound up her arms and then threw the ball. It came at Chizuru faster than anything she had seen directed towards her before, and she ducked and squealed out of fear.
"What are ya doing? You're supposed to catch it, Chizu-chan!" Chizuru threw the mitt on the ground.
"You're mean, Kana-chan! You just did that to scare me, didn't you?" She was frustrated. "How is this fun? I don't wanna play with you!" Chizuru ran back inside the school.
"W-wait, Chizu-chan-" Kana looked down in defeat. I was just trying to...invite a friend to play with me...
That weekend, Kana was at home by herself; Momoko was out with her friends, and Shigeharu was busy training for Blue Oceans' upcoming game with the Tokyo Warriors. She wanted to play catch with someone, but no one wanted to play. Her female classmates seemed to back out of her offer to play after seeing her throw. Kana even asked some boys but they rejected her offer...saying something about girls having cooties. She was confused. Why did no one want to play catch?
She went outside donned in her Blue Oceans' gear with her mitt and ball. Walking down the street, she wondered if everyone in the neighborhood wanted nothing to do with baseball.
"Oh well. Guess I'll just practicing throwing at the target." She went over to a small park with her makeshift target. As she was throwing the ball, in the house adjacent to the park, was a boy her same age, peeking out of his window to watch her. What is she doing? He thought, curiously. Kana noticed him observing her and looked up to meet his eyes. She was about to greet him when he ducked back in and quickly shut his window.
The boy then let out a breath, and pick up his game controller. He glanced over at his math workbook, and remembered his mother's words of completing the problems before she got home. He shook his head and began to play his video game. A moment later, he started to hear rocks banging against his window. He opened the window and looked down to see the same girl waving at him.
"Hey! Do you like baseball? Wanna play catch with me? I don't have anyone to play with." Kana spit out in a flurry.
"...I don't know about baseball. Plus, I don't have a weird glove like that." The boy replied with a frown. "I'm not...interested."
"That's okay! This is called a mitt and-" He shut his window. "-and I have another one at home…" Kana was dejected. What's up with the people in this neighborhood? She, however, did not want to give up. She ran back home, got another mitt and came back to his house, ringing the doorbell.
When the boy came to answer the door, Kana decided to be a bit mischievous, and hid in the bushes to jump out and scare him. He stood in the doorway looking around when she suddenly popped up, yelling, "Boo!" That had sent the poor boy stumbling back in shock.
Kana was in a fit of giggles. "Sorry, sorry. I got another mitt." She said, handing it to him. "Now you can play with me! Come on!"
"Eh, but…" He took the mitt but did not know what to say.
"I'm Honda Kana! What's your name?" She held out her hand.
"S-Sato Toshiya." Toshiya pushed up his glasses and hesitantly shook her hand.
"Then you're Toshi-kun! Come on! Let's go, go!" Kana firmly grasped Toshiya's hand and dragged him along.
~End of Chapter
Thanks for reading! Next chapter is Oto-san's death(excuse me while I sob while attempting to write this). So probably by the third chapter I'll be starting on the Little League.
TENNISBUNNYROX (ㅇㅅㅇ❀)