The Baseball Player Who Couldn't Endure Bullying: The Story of the Boy Who Escaped School by Hiding in the Toilet

In Japonya, a young man playing on a junior high school baseball team planned to run away from school because he could no longer endure the severe physical violence and bullying within the team. This violence reached very serious levels with an incident involving "beating with a bat"; the use of the thin-ended bat among thick and thin-ended bats caused the blows to hurt even more. As a result of these beatings, the student's body developed severe swelling and marks, making it impossible for him to even sit normally. The child was also unable to explain his situation to his family; he feared that his family would likely tell him to "quit this" and discourage him from the sport. For this reason, he tried to endure these difficulties silently on his own.

As the summer vacation approached, statements such as "I'm not playing anymore" or "I'm not going to practice" became common even among the talented players on the team. The narrator also went through his own internal reckoning, saying "this is unbearable now"; however, due to his deep love for baseball, he did not want to quit the sport entirely. Therefore, he continued going to school at first and developed a strategy of returning home by fleeing right after class ended without attending practice. Unable to risk encountering an older student in the school corridors, he followed a very careful route. As soon as classes ended, he was the first person to leave the classroom, went down the stairs, and hid in the toilet on the corner of the first floor. After waiting for about thirty-forty minutes for the crowd and noise in the school to dissipate, he quietly left through the door and went home.

This escape attempt continued for about a week. Upon this, the team's teacher advisor and captain came to the child's house, asking him to return and bowing their heads in apology. It turned out that the physical violence and the extremely harsh training methods of a former graduate coach had become the subject of gossip within the school. The school administration took the situation seriously and, stating "this cannot go on like this," banned that coach from entering the school and the team. The other players were informed of the situation and persuaded; subsequently, the narrator also agreed to return to the team. However, during this process, it was observed that many talented players had left the team or transferred to other clubs.

The main reason the narrator endured despite all these difficulties was having two reliable close friends by his side. This trio, who had been playing together since elementary school, formed the core of a team that won a championship after 12 years. After moving to junior high school, one of these three friends became the centerpiece and rose to the captaincy, another accompanied him as a goalkeeper, and the narrator settled into the third spot and the stoper position. Together, they became champions in the city tournament and earned the right to participate in a broader regional tournament. The tough victories in the semi-final and final matches allowed the team to advance to the provincial competitions; however, they were eliminated in the first round of the province.

Following this success, the team was invited to a special tournament held in Yokohama, and they stayed on the historical ship Hikawa Maru during the games. In the second match, they drew with a very strong opponent and were eliminated by a drawing method applied at that time to break the tie. During this period, the narrator received a Scout offer from a company team, even though he was only a third-year junior high school student. However, he rejected this offer and chose to go to the baseball team of a commercial high school that he had dreamed of since his childhood. After that summer ended, the story entered a new phase as the three friends began their exam preparations to pursue their dreams.