At that time, my understanding of death was still very vague.

That year, I didn't seem to be in school yet, my grandfather, who was in good health, died in a car accident, and my grandmother, who had been bedridden, died not long after.

I remember the day my grandmother was cremated, my father was dumbfounded, with a blank face, until I asked him that question:

"Dad, where did Grandma go? Did you go to another world to find my grandfather? ”

"Yes, Daisuke," said my mother as she crouched down and stroked the top of my head before my father could speak, "and they went to heaven to continue their lives......

"No......," interrupted my father suddenly, "your grandmother is dead, just like your grandfather, and we will never see them again!" There is no such thing as a kingdom of heaven, and those are all lies! ”

"Husband, how can you say these things in front of your children!" Mother cried out.

Then the father cried. After seeing such a father, my brother and I also cried. It dawned on me that my father was also a child, and that he had lost his parents forever.

Sooner or later, people will die, and will I lose my parents like this one day? Just thinking about it sends me into a state of panic.

After that day, my father devoted himself to work. He wanted to forget the pain caused by the death of his grandparents through high-intensity work.

In the eyes of others, my father may be a workaholic who doesn't even care about his family. But in my opinion, he just cherishes the bond with his original family very much, and maybe that bond is deeper than the current family's bond......

***

When exactly did the decision to aim for professional baseball begin? Is that day? That moment? Or was it that moment? Whenever I think about it, I think of my father.

According to his mother, his father also liked baseball when he was in school, but he soon realized that he did not have this talent, so he decisively gave up the idea of playing ball and devoted himself to his studies, so he became a prosecutor.

My mother works in the immigration department, which means that she is a civil servant like my father. That's why my mother also wanted me to become a civil servant in the future. But I can feel that my father has always been in front of me about what I would be like if I had played baseball. So when I was in the fourth grade of elementary school, I signed up for a nearby Little League team. When I was in elementary school, playing baseball didn't involve much energy, so my mother didn't object much at that time.

A year later, I realized that I had mastered the basics, but I still couldn't be the main player of the team. When I was in sixth grade, I was just a fringe mainstay, and I ended up playing two games off the bench.

Those geniuses are really good, they learn everything faster than me, and it is only natural that they will become the main force before me.

"Daisuke, do you like baseball?" Once, my father asked me.

"Love ......"

"Then let's continue playing baseball after middle school."

"But...... But I don't have that talent at all, and I'm slow to learn anything......"

"Daisuke, there are very few geniuses in this world, and they can indeed easily do a lot of things that we can't do with all our might...... Therefore, those of us who are talented can only concentrate and try to do one thing well. One day, we too will be the ones who will not lose to them. ”

I still remember my father's words. But there were other things I had to worry about at the time.

"Husband, you let Daisuke play baseball, what will he do when he studies in the future?" The mother questioned the father.

"When the child is older, he has the right to go his own way." Father said.

"But what if he gets hurt like the earth?"

Yes, my mother didn't like baseball that much. I have an older brother who is ten years older than me, and his name is Earth. Before going to high school, he had never played baseball, and he didn't seem to have participated in other sports clubs, but after high school, he suddenly proposed to join the baseball club to play baseball, and his parents agreed to this request just to let him exercise and exercise, but in a training because of the irregular sliding action, resulting in a fracture of the right calf, and later suffered a medical accident during the operation, he was disabled, and now he can only use a wheelchair.

But Brother Earth didn't care about this matter.

"Daisuke, if you really like baseball, go ahead and don't worry too much about my feelings. I only blame myself for this injury and I want to be handsome because I am not good at learning, as long as you protect yourself, don't be too strong, and my mother won't say anything. ”

Still, at that time, I was probably just trying to play baseball, and I didn't seem to think about when I would play or whether I wanted to go on the professional baseball path.

***

I went to Hamamushu Middle School, and although I could play hard ball with a young youth baseball player after I entered junior high school, I decided to join the school's baseball club because I was used to playing soft ball. It's just that I never imagined that because of one person, I would only stay in this baseball club for two weeks and then quit.

This person is Li Yuan Yan Chao, a grade older than me. Because this surname is really rare, and where it survives, it quickly aroused my alarm.

"Daisuke, have you ever heard of the surname Li Yuan?" I remembered what my father seemed to have mentioned earlier.

"Li Yuan? It's like I've heard it somewhere......"

"Lee Won-ryu is now a member of the Diet," said his father, "and it is said that this man has a very bad character, and he has dealings with people in the white and black fields, and his ambitions are not small, and I heard that he seems to have plans to run for prime minister, so I am now investigating whether this person's financial resources are clean......

"That's right, but why did you mention this person all of a sudden?"

"Actually, when I investigated here, I found that this Li Yuan Congressman has a son who is also studying at Hamamuzhou Middle School. If you run into this person at school, try to avoid contact with him, in case the investigation doesn't progress, and the old fox notices it......"

"I see, I'll keep an eye on him."

But I never thought that this senior Li Yuan was not only in the same school as me, but also in the baseball club now. My father seemed to be completely a burden to him, but I wanted to find out. My first contact with him was terrible.

"Are all the new first-year players here?"

When I was almost two weeks into the department, Li Yuan suddenly called us first-graders. At this time, he was not in the third grade, not even the vice-captain, so we were surprised.

"Senior, Nan-sangami hasn't come yet...... "Nan is in the same class as me, so I specially prompted.

"Nanshiyi classmate? Don't worry about that half-シナ, I've never treated him as a member of the department......"

(To be continued)