NO MORE TEARS LEFT TO CRY

The room was dark. The only source of light was coming from the lamp post placed on the corner of the table. On the table there were some old books, pens, a piece of paper and most importantly there was old baseball mitt which looked worn out and a baseball ball. The ball was also very old and looked like it had been used many times.

There was a boy who sat on the chair near the table. Only his face could be seen from that small source of light in that dark room. He had brown hair and wore spectacles. If looked carefully, one could see the sadness, loneliness and tears dripping in that eyes through the spectacles. The boy was looking at the photo in his hand and crying sadly without making any sound.

He still clearly remembered the first day he met the love of his life. Before meeting him, his life had always been dull. There was not any colour in his life. He was a genius baseball player and played as a catcher. He didn't have any entertaining things to do in his life except for baseball. His only goal was to surpass all the baseball catchers and catch the pitch of the best pitchers. Following his dreams, he joined Seido Highschool which was one of baseball powerhouse.

His first year at his high school was normal. He made many new friends but still couldn't fulfil his lonely existence. He always felt like something was missing. But his life changed when he was in the second year. After the final exams of the first year ended, all of the baseball players stayed back at the school to practice instead of going home. It was during that time, he made the boy who was full of life and passion unlike him.

The boy had brown hair, and his special feature was those golden-brown eyes which were full of passion for baseball. The boy was also going to be enrolled in Seido high and was a baseball player. He was scouted by one of their coach. Those eyes moved his heart. The boy had come to see their practice session and later the coach also allowed him to enter the field to play. To his surprise, the boy played as a pitcher. He was pleased that he got the chance to pitch that boy's first pitch in his high school.

The way that boy looked while he was pitching was full of concentration. His heart trembled seeing those eyes. The 'paa' sound that came from his mitt while catching that boy's pitch made his heart flutter. It was like he finally heard the sound coming from the surrounding and the sky. His colourless life was starting to fade away slowly. He felt like he should know that boy. He felt like he became a catcher just to catch that boy's pitch. He took off his safety helmet and walked towards that boy to introduce himself.

He stood in front of that boy and extended his right arm for a handshake and said, "Hi! I am Kazuya Miyuki, second year."

The boy smiled widely and said, "I am Sawamura Eijun, first year. Nice to meet you, senpai."

Yes, that was their first encounter. After meeting and knowing Sawamura, Miyuki started to feel everything he had never felt before. Happiness, joy, satisfaction and jealousy. They became a battery and always played together. Every day the more they spent time together, the closer they got. Miyuki experienced the joy of winning the game and the sadness of losing the game together with Sawamura. They both had the same dream, to be the best catcher and the best pitcher. In Miyuki's third year, he became the team captain and also confessed his feelings to Sawamura. Luckily his feelings were also reciprocated.

Their high school days were the best time of their life. Their relationship was also soon known by their teammates. Everyone were shocked at first but later blessed them. Although there were some people accepting, most of people were against it and cursed them. But they didn't mind those haters and played baseball in all their high school years. After their high school, both of them came out to their family as they were already deep in love and had realized they were perfect for each other hoping to get their parents blessing. But unfortunately, both of their parents were against their relationship and directly disowned them scolding they humiliated their parents. They were sad but soon recovered. Until they both were strong together, they could face the world.

But soon they realized it was all their naive thinking. After they were thrown out from their family, they joined the best baseball clubs to further their career to become their baseball players professionally. Their starting career was very good. They were both talented players and easily caught the eyes of many baseball fans. They became the most popular players. Many other players weren't satisfied because of them. They were feeling jealous and envy but could do nothing. They were protected and praised by the club and the fans.

One day suddenly, their photos of kissing intimately were published in the social platform. They were both shocked and were afraid. They had already realized what it would happen if they exposed their relationship. They would be hated by everyone or would even be not allowed to play baseball. Many of their fans turned anti-fans. They were being cursed by everyone everywhere. But still they endured it together. As long as they had each other's support and baseball, they would be fine. When the whole world was against them, they were still together. Both of them were dealing with mental pressure thinking fans would be okay until they played their best. Miyuki wasn't so pressured. What the world said, it didn't matter to him. He never had any concerns about the world. But Sawamura wasn't doing well and he was only Miyuki's concern. Because of the mental pressure, Sawamura was starting to take anti-anxiety pills. He was starting to get depressed. He tried to do his best by playing the games well so that fans would be satisfied and didn't talk about their relationship.

But that all came to end when they lost the final match against another club. Sawamura was ill the day before so, he couldn't pitch well which caused them to lose the final match. After that, it was the worst nightmare that Miyuki and Sawamura had never imagined before. The angry fans started to roar in anger inside the stadium and threw cans, bottles and all the stuffs towards them especially towards Sawamura. The whole audiences were in rage and cursing them loudly.

"Fags!!"

"If you can't play then don't play, you damn homo!!"

"Disgusting!!"

"Disgraceful thing!!"

"Never pitch again, you fag."

"Just die!"

Miyuki was embracing Sawamura tightly to avoid those stuffs from hitting him. After that, the securities came to rescue them. Sawamura was really devastated. His eyes were devoid of any emotions. He was feeling responsible for their team's loss and Miyuki said it wasn't his fault. It didn't end there. Even his all social media accounts were full of curses wishing him to die. Everyone was demanding to leave both of them from the team.

Besides their relationship, baseball was everything for Sawamura. The coach said Sawamura to take a break for sometimes until the public opinion about him got less. Sawamura really fell in depression after that. Because of him, Miyuki would be affected too. Miyuki wanted to be with Sawamura but he had to leave for the game in the next city. If he didn't go then they would shout even more at them. He decided he would take Sawamura for a long vacation after this game to free his mind. He met Sawamura before leaving for the game. Who knew it would be the last time Miyuki would see Sawamura smiling at him.

Miyuki started to cry loudly looking at the photo on his hand.

"It was their fault. It was all their fault otherwise Sawamura wouldn't have left me alone. I am alone again. I asked nothing from this world. I only wanted Sawamura and wanted to spend my whole life together happily with him even if it meant to quit baseball. I wanted nothing except him. Why? Why did they take him away?"

This cruel world stole Sawamura from him. Miyuki had nothing left. What did it mean to play the baseball without Sawamura? They were the ultimate battery. What would the catcher do without his pitcher? He had nothing in this world. Even baseball felt a burden to him. It was the baseball that stole Sawamura from him.

The photo on his hand was already wet from his tears. He was feeling angry, angry with Sawamura for leaving him alone, angry with this world and angry at himself. He was helpless. His world used to revolve around Sawamura since he first met him. Now that his world was gone, what would he do? He was just staring at the photo intensely thinking something.

Next day, Miyuki's apartment was full of police and ambulance. There was a phone call saying the person in the apartment number 103 had committed suicide. When the police had arrived, they found the body hanging on the ceiling's fan. When they put the body down, they saw a photo clutched tightly in the body's hand. When they looked at the photo, they were stunned. They realized the person who had committed suicide was one of the emerging baseball player. They all felt emotional after seeing that photo.

It was the photo of two high school boys in their baseball uniforms. They were putting arms on each other's shoulders and smiling. The photo was full of happiness and warmth.

They searched the whole room in suspect of the murder but found nothing. There wasn't even a suicide note. Later they found something on the table. It was a piece of the newspaper and the reason for Miyuki's suicide. There was a large bold black headline on the top of the newspaper which was published a week ago.

"NEW ACE PITCHER SAWAMURA EIJUN COMMITTED SUICIDE BY HANGING ON THE CEILING'S FAN IN HIS APARTMENT"