Author's Notes: I just finished watching the two seasons of Oofuri a few weeks ago and I must say that I am now IN LOVE with this series. So while I was browsing pictures on the internet, I came across one with a girl!Mihashi. After a few ideas that just wouldn't stop nagging at me to put them into writing, this story was born. It's not much, but I still hope you guys enjoy it. :)

Summary: [Oneshot] Mihashi is asked (forced) to do a favor, but things get out of hand and he's left wishing that this day never happened..or is he?

Warnings: Crossdressing (I know, again. Sorry..), slight Abe/Mihashi (very slight), perhaps OOC-ness since this is my first time writing about these characters, and so much words.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ookiku Furikabutte/Oofuri/Big Windup and its characters in any way.

Boys Can't Be Cute

"There, you're finally done. You look so cute, Renren!"

Mihashi Ren had been called many things before: weirdo, crybaby, and wimp, among other things. But never really 'cute'. So he highly doubted that this..compliment..came from the heart, even if it was from his own cousin.

However, a look at the mirror told him otherwise.

There stood a pretty girl wearing a sleeveless collared dress that ended just above her knees. The dress itself was white but the collar, as well as the ribbon just below it, were black. Her long brown-blonde hair fell just below her shoulders, framing her face that was done with light makeup quite nicely.

But all of that was offset by the gaping expression on her face, for which her companion slapped her on the arm and said teasingly, "Done looking at yourself, Renren?"

Mihashi blushed and struggled on what to say. He found it hard to process that the girl he saw in the mirror was himself, and he found it even harder to process that indeed, he looked quite 'cute', as Ruri put it.

'N-no! There's no way I can really be c-cute.. R-Ruri-chan just said that since she dressed me like..like this.. Besides, I'm a boy, and boys c-can't be cute..!' he thought.

"Come on!" Ruri suddenly said, interrupting the inner workings of Mihashi's mind, and grabbed his arm, dragging him outside his room. "It's about time we meet with my friends."

At this, Mihashi visibly froze. He was going to meet with his cousin's friends. Who were girls. While he was dressed like one. What if they found out that "she" was actually a "he"? What if rumors that Mihashi Ren liked crossdressing started going around? What if his former baseball team members from Mihoshi found out about it? Heck, what if his current team mates from Nishiura heard about it? Surely they wouldn't want him to pitch for them anymore, what with his weird "hobby" (even though it's just really a one-time thing which Ruri forced upon him). Then what would happen to him? As selfish as it sounded, he really loved to pitch, and he wouldn't give up the mound for anything. But if his members kicked him out, well, there was nothing he could do anymore, right? Still, the thought of it already made him feel sad and empty.

"Look," Ruri spoke again, this time with a bit of seriousness, as she faced her cousin and looked him in the eyes. "My friends are nice people. And I'm sure they won't find out. So just relax and try to enjoy yourself, ok?"

"O-ok.." Mihashi replied after some time, though still feeling quite unsure about this whole thing.

Ruri smiled and held his hand as she led both of them outside. But before fully stepping out, she called out to Mihashi's mom who was currently in the kitchen, "Auntie, Renren and I will go out for a while!"

"Alright. Have fun! And don't stay out too late!" came her reply as she walked towards the door the two teens just went through, looking at their backs as they walked away.

As she watched their receding forms, she couldn't help but feel that something seemed off. When she finally realized what it was, her eyes widened in surprise. "R-Ren?"

"Alright," Coach Momoe said to the gathered teens in front of her. "For today's training, do as you did yesterday, except for Abe-kun, Hanai-kun, Oki-kun, and Tajima-kun."

"Eh? Why?" Tajima asked, before the other three could voice the same question.

"Mihashi-kun called in sick today. But this is a good time to practice our reserve pitchers and catcher anyway. Hanai-kun, pair up with Tajima-kun. Oki-kun, you're with Abe-kun. Let's start!" Momoe clapped her hands and the members slowly dispersed to do their respective training agenda.

Everyone started with stretching first. Sakaeguchi, who was near where Tajima was, asked the cleanup hitter, "Hey, do you think Mihashi's alright? Momokan didn't exactly say what was wrong with him."

"I think he's fine," Tajima replied. "Momokan didn't seem particularly worried, so maybe he just caught a cold or something?"

"Ah. Maybe you're right."

"Hey! Want to come visit him after practice?" Tajima asked, sounding enthusiastic.

"Sure, so we could see how he's doing right now," Sakaeguchi said and smiled. But his smile soon slipped when he felt an almost-murderous aura not far off. Guess who that was.

Sakaeguchi almost didn't want to look, but he did anyway, and saw that the familiar black aura was emanating from their lovely catcher, Abe. He could almost hear his current train of thought, which probably ran along the lines of, 'How dare that idiot go and get himself sick? Granted, it's just a training day and not a game, but still, how dare he. When I see him, I'm gonna-' And so on and so forth. Sakaeguchi didn't really want to know what kind of painful things Abe could do to Mihashi.

However, their catcher was currently hurting someone other than their pitcher. Oki, who had been (unfortunately) assigned to be Abe's partner for the day, could only suffer in silence as Abe vented out his frustration on him, mainly by making him stretch too much. Sakaeguchi, hoping Abe would stop, asked, "A-Abe, do you want to come with us when we visit Mihashi later?"

Almost instantly, Abe looked at Sakaeguchi but said nothing, his murderous aura still clearly felt. Needless to say, his hold on Oki didn't diminish in the least. Sakaeguchi just sweatdropped and finally looked away. 'I'll take that as a yes. And I'm sorry, Oki!' he thought, feeling guilty that he couldn't help his friend be released from the pain he was currently undergoing.

'Why did I agree to this again?'

Was what Mihashi wanted to ask himself. He really wondered how Ruri managed to convince him to go along with this whole thing.

Flashback

The previous night, Mihashi had just arrived home after a day of practice. Feeling too tired, he immediately headed off to shower. Once he was done, he didn't know that a surprise was waiting for him in his room.

"Renren!" came the enthusiastic voice that greeted him once he entered his room.

"Ah. R-Ruri-chan.. What are you d-doing here..?" Mihashi asked and sat across his cousin as he began toweling his hair dry.

"Nothing much," she shrugged. "Just decided to stay for the weekend."

"O-Oh. Ok.."

"Hey, Renren. Do you have something to do tomorrow?"

"Um.. We have training tomorrow.."

"Again?" Ruri asked, almost in disbelief. "Auntie said you guys have been practicing from early morning until late at night. Don't you guys even get to rest?"

"W-Well.." Mihashi fidgeted, not quite comfortable with the tone of voice his cousin currently had. "The t-tournaments are coming up, so we want to p-prepare as much as we can.."

Ruri sighed and said, "You're right. But can't you have the day off tomorrow? It's just one day."

"W-Why?"

"I wanted you to go with me and a few friends I'll be meeting up with. I was thinking of going around the city a bit or something, because it's their first time here."

Mihashi instantly tensed. Ruri wanted him to meet her friends? But why? 'M-Maybe she thinks I d-don't have enough..friends..?' he thought, feeling miserable. It was nice that she wanted to help him, but it still meant that she didn't believe he could make friends on his own. 'Come to think of it, I d-don't really interact with the other s-students, aside from my t-team mates..' The thought made him feel worse.

"Renren..are you alright?" Ruri asked, sounding worried.

Mihashi's head shot up and he nodded enthusiastically, wanting to show her that he didn't feel bad. He did ask, however, why he needed to come with her friends.

This time, Ruri scratched her cheek and looked away as she said, "W-Well, Mom suggested that you come with us just to make sure that we wouldn't get lost or anything. And I said I'll make sure you do come with us.."

'O-oh.. That..changes things, I g-guess,' Mihashi thought. He looked at the girl in front of him and said, "O-Ok. I'll c-come with you t-tomorrow.."

"Really?" Ruri said excitedly and held Mihashi's hands in hers. "Are you sure?"

"Um.. Yes..?"

"Thank you so much, Renren!" she exclaimed and proceeded to hug the life out of her cousin.

When morning came, Mihashi found out that Ruri had already sent a message to his coach using his phone saying he'll miss today's training. He didn't know what she said, but it must have been a pretty reasonable excuse because Momokan didn't ask any questions. He just hoped that his team mates wouldn't be too mad at him, especially *gulp* Abe.

He had just finished changing when Ruri walked up to him with an armful of clothes. "No, that won't work," she said.

Before he could ask what she meant, however, his shirt was already being taken off. This made him back away almost instantly, blushing madly. Cousin or not, being forced to change by a girl was still embarrassing.

"Oh. Did I forget to mention? My friends are uncomfortable around guys so you won't be coming dressed like one," came her nonchalant reply, as if there was nothing completely wrong with what she said.

'T-Then, I'll b-be dressed as..?' Unfortunately for Mihashi, he couldn't even finish that thought because Ruri took that as the opportunity to continue her plan. All the while, he could only squeak in attempts of protest, ultimately failing.

End Flashback

Oh, yes. Mihashi had just been forced to go along with this. Still, he found it highly unfair and felt quite betrayed that his cousin would actually do something like this to him. 'B-But, it's not like she d-did this just to embarrass me, r-right? She did say that her f-friends were nice people, and that I w-wouldn't get found out..' he thought.

"Renge-chan?"

Mihashi raised his head and saw that Ruri and her three friends had stopped walking ahead of him and were looking at him, worry evident in the former's eyes.

Suddenly remembering that that was his 'name' for today, he answered, "Y-Yes?"

"Are you alright?" one of them asked.

He nodded enthusiastically, at which the girls just giggled. "That's good. We thought you felt down or something."

With that, they faced ahead and continued walking and chatting. Mihashi remained following them, a nervous smile on his face as he kept looking around. He didn't notice that a pair of concerned eyes focused on him before finally looking away.

"Eh? He went out?" Tajima asked in disbelief.

Mrs. Mihashi merely nodded and continued, "Yes. He went out with his cousin, Ruri-chan, earlier. Though they didn't say where they were going."

A few looks were exchanged when the name was mentioned, but they didn't say anything. And before they could anyway, they felt a familiar dark aura resurfacing. So before Abe could wreak havoc upon finding out that his pitcher had skipped training to go off somewhere instead of being sick, they pulled him back and dragged him away, but not before thanking and saying goodbye to Mrs. Mihashi.

She waved goodbye at them, but it was only when they were completely out of sight when she thought, 'Hmm. Should I have told them that Ren wasn't..dressed as himself today?'

After that short trip to the Mihashi's, the group of eight boys (minus Oki, who didn't want to stay any longer in the presence of the pissed Abe) headed to a nearby convenience store to get Abe something that would help him cool off.

"Oi, Abe," Tajima said, as he handed the catcher a cold can of juice. "Will you just relax for a minute?"

Almost instantly, three boys held back Tajima while the other three held Abe.

"What are you guys doing?" Tajima asked.

"..I could ask the same thing," Abe said, finally talking again after a long time. His voice still sounded irritated so Hanai, Izumi, and Mizutani immediately let him go.

"Uh.. We just thought.. Never mind!" Sakaeguchi said and sweatdropped, attempting to explain themselves but ultimately failing. Since he grabbed the can of juice earlier (he thought Abe might throw it at Tajima or someone else), he returned it to its rightful owner who accepted it silently.

They all stood outside the convenience store, wordlessly drinking their own drinks. One by one, they said goodbye to each other as they headed home. In the end, there was only Abe, Sakaeguchi, and Tajima left.

"Hey," Tajima said after some time, pointing to a group of girls across the street. "Isn't that Mihashi's cousin?"

His two companions turned to look and sure enough, there was the familiar brunette girl with two pigtails whom they saw during their game with Tousei.

"You're right! It is her!" Sakaeguchi exclaimed. "But Mihashi doesn't seem to be with them though."

Tajima furrowed his eyebrows, as if thinking deeply about something, when Sakaeguchi asked him, "What's up? Are you planning to ask her where Mihashi is?"

"Nope!" was his immediate reply, his expression going back to his usual cheerful self. "Maybe he got home ahead of them or something. Anyway, I'll be heading home too. See ya!" With that, he went off.

As the two of them stayed there for a while, not speaking to each other, Sakaeguchi tried to assess how awkward the situation was, before finally deeming itself awkward enough that he too had to leave. "Well," he said. "I better get home too. I..uh..need to watch my brother. See you, Abe!" He got a nod in reply so he then went off as well.

Now alone, Abe remained where he was, his anger almost entirely gone. It must have been because he saw that Mihashi wasn't with his cousin after all. He still didn't understand why he had to lie though, to Momokan, to his team mates, even to his own mother and cousin. Well, wherever Mihashi was, Abe just hoped he didn't get into any kind of trouble.

He was about to go home as well when he shot one last glance at the group of girls they saw earlier.

'..what?'

Mihashi already wanted to get this day over with since so far, nothing seemed to be going right.

Here he was, dressed as a girl because his cousin made him, hanging out with a bunch of girls he didn't even know and couldn't even relate to (no offense meant; he just really didn't understand girls and what went through their minds), and once again, failing spectacularly at interacting with other people. 'I-Is it..m-my fault..?' he wondered. Like before, the thought didn't make him feel any better.

He had long since given up on trying to talk to any his cousin's friends, so he had resigned himself to just trailing after them as they walked, all the while looking at the ground.

After a few minutes of being too wrapped up in his own thoughts, that was when he realized that something seemed..off.

He raised his head and to his surprise, saw that no one was walking in front of him anymore. No wonder he could no longer hear in the background their chatter that had been buzzing in his ear the entire day.

He looked around frantically, trying to see if they were anywhere in sight. No luck. He must have ended up wandering off while he was lost in his own thoughts. Checking his phone, he saw that the battery was dead. Great.

Mihashi tried his best not to panic so he closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he looked around again. To his relief, he was in a familiar place; getting home would be manageable, even if it was now getting dark.

'O-ok.. I can do t-this..!' he thought, mentally encouraging himself.

However, it seemed that it was not his day, for he had barely taken a step forward when an arm suddenly shot out of the alley he was just about to pass and grabbed him. Before he could react, he was pulled into the alley, pressed close to another person (most probably a male) and said male's hand clamped over his mouth.

That was when Mihashi really panicked. Different scenarios of horrible things that could happen to him popped into his head. Kidnapping? Harassment? Slavery?

He tried to make sounds of protest and even struggled to get away from whoever it was, all the while on the verge of crying, but the guy was too strong for him. "Ssshhh!" the guy even said, but it was only when he heard footsteps and different voices that Mihashi actually stopped struggling.

"Damn it! Where did she go?" a gruff and irritated male voice from just outside the alley said.

"Are you even sure she really went here?" another voice spoke up, this time with a hint of annoyance.

"I am! I saw her go this way. Then the next thing I knew, she was gone!"

"Well that was stupid of you to lose her."

"Shut up!"

"Come on, she couldn't have gotten far off."

"Tch."

Footsteps were heard again, this time growing faint as the pair must have ran off somewhere.

Still quite distracted, Mihashi didn't realize that he had already been released by his 'captor' until he heard the guy speak again, "Are you alright?"

Surprised, Mihashi could only back away and look around frantically, a million thoughts running through his head. 'H-He saved me. But, I'm not really a g-girl.. But he still s-saved me..! I should..thank him, r-right..? W-wait, why do I feel like..I-I've heard his voice s-somewhere before..?'

"Are you alright?" the guy repeated, this time putting a hand on Mihashi's shoulder. The nervous pitcher flinched upon contact but finally looked up to meet the face of the person who helped him out, and he couldn't help but open his mouth in shock.

It was already dark, but the moon provided enough light for Mihashi to see that the person in front of him was none other than his catcher.

"A-Abe-kun..?" The moment he uttered the name, Mihashi covered his mouth in panic, wanting to undo what he just did. 'He..He's going t-to find out! About me..dressing like a g-girl.. And then..he'll tell our t-team mates..and..and then..' He couldn't bring himself to continue his train of thought as it just brought him to tears again.

By now, Mihashi was expecting Abe to make fun of him, or even get angry at him because he skipped today's practice. But he surely didn't expect the other boy to say, "W-Wait! Why are you.. What did I.. Can you please stop crying?"

He did. Mihashi didn't understand why either. It must have been because he was used to following what Abe said, or perhaps because he heard a hint of panic in the other's voice? Either way, it looked like the other boy had something more to say.

"Look," Abe said, looking away. "I..don't know why you know me, or why you reacted like that upon seeing my face, but it's getting late now so you better get home."

'I-Is this..for real?' Mihashi thought, not quite believing what he was hearing. 'Abe-kun..didn't recognize me..at all..?' In his glee, he immediately straightened up, bowed and said goodbye, and was about to head off when he was grabbed yet again, this time by the arm.

Mihashi stopped in his tracks and turned around warily, panicking all over again. Thoughts of Abe suddenly already knowing who he was surfaced in his mind, but he tried to shake that away. He gave a nervous smile and attempted to look NOT frightened as he asked what was the problem. The answer he received was the least he expected.

Both of them were now walking together, with Abe leading a little, his bike beside him. Mihashi refused to talk, thinking that doing so would probably give Abe more clues about his identity, and he didn't want that, so he settled for looking at the ground as he trailed a little after his team mate. He never let the distance grow though, since it was because of his absent-mindedness as he followed Ruri and her friends that got him in this predicament in the first place. Thankfully, Abe didn't seem to be in a talking mood either.

Mihashi replayed in his mind what the brunette said just earlier:

"Are you an idiot?" Abe near-shouted, making the other boy flinch yet again. Abe continued, this time in a somewhat gentler tone, "You heard those guys from earlier. They're looking for you and whatever it is they want to do with you, I'm sure it's not gonna be pretty. So there's no way you're gonna go home alone."

And thus they ended up like this. Mihashi found it odd though, that Abe would go so far for a "girl" he didn't really know. But then again, he didn't really know how Abe was with girls; the only girl he saw the catcher interact with was Shino'oka (Momokan didn't count) and he was pretty..polite to her. However, somehow, he just couldn't see him acting like this towards her. Then why..?

'M-Maybe..Abe-kun..actually has..a s-soft spot for girls..that he d-doesn't..want to let us know..?' Mihashi thought.

While he was busy trying to understand his team mate's behavior towards girls, he didn't realize that Abe had already stopped walking until he bumped into the other boy's back.

"Ah! I..I'm..sorry..!" Mihashi exclaimed and bowed.

"It's alright," Abe replied. "We're here anyway."

Mihashi straightened up and saw that they were already in front of his house. He didn't know what time it was but it seemed that his mom was still up, seeing as the lights were on. He hoped Ruri had arrived home too, and that she didn't experience the same thing as him.

He was about to thank Abe when he suddenly froze in realization.

..when did he mention where he lived? Heck, he didn't even give his false name for today! Then that meant that.. 'A-Abe-kun..knows..it's m-me..!1!' he thought in horror and almost wanted to faint at the idea.

He did faint, though it was only for a few short seconds, and Abe helped him steady himself.

"Oi, are you alright?" Abe asked, sounding worried.

Upon hearing the catcher's voice, Mihashi tensed and released himself from the other boy's hold on him, panicking once again. Despite the numerous thoughts in his head, more often than not, his tongue would fail him, and this was one of those times. Because really, one of his team mates just caught him dressing as a girl! What could be more embarrassing than that? And what on earth could he possibly say to not further humiliate himself?

Mihashi only stopped fidgeting and looking around nervously when Abe put a hand on his shoulder. And even then, the pitcher had a horrified and nervous look on his face as he stared at the brunette.

"Hey," Abe said calmly. "Calm down, alright? I don't plan on telling the others about anything that happened today, if that's what you're worried about."

Mihashi breathed a sigh of relief at this, but still felt agitated. The members were one thing, but what about Abe himself?

To Mihashi's surprise, this time Abe was looking away, and was he blushing? He even sounded quite hesitant when he said, "W-Well, it's not my place to pry, so I won't ask questions about your..um..interests."

This time, it was Mihashi's turn to blush. He wanted to correct Abe and say that he was just forced by his cousin, but the other boy continued, this time looking at him again, "Just don't ever go out alone dressed like that again, okay? If it can't be helped, I'll..come along..or something, if you want.." Cue Abe blushing and looking away, again.

With those words, Mihashi suddenly forgot what he wanted to say. Yes, Abe completely misunderstood the situation. But even though he just saw his team mate crossdressing, he didn't judge or make fun of Mihashi at all. In fact, he even seemed concerned about him, and that made Mihashi both happy and embarrassed; he still wasn't quite used to someone looking out for him like this after all.

"A-Abe-kun.." he said, this time the nervousness slowly leaving his voice. The brunette turned to look, albeit a little slowly, as if he was hesitating. Mihashi continued and smiled, "Th-Thank you..!"

If Abe's cheeks were blushing earlier, this time his entire face became red, and he had to turn his back to hide his face. "D-Don't do that, idiot!" he exclaimed, his voice muffled by his hand on his face.

"D-D-Do what..?" Mihashi asked, his panic starting anew. What did he do now to offend his team mate?

"That..that face..while dressed..like that.."

"..oh. It looks..w-weird on me, d-doesn't it?" Mihashi suddenly wondered why he sounded a little..sad..when he said that. Wasn't it a good thing that this get-up didn't suit him? He was a boy after all! Besides, it wasn't like Abe was going to..

"..n-no. You look..pretty c-cute, actually.."

..compliment him or anything.

Wait. WHAT?

Mihashi's eyes snapped up to look at the other boy whose gaze was still averted. What could he possibly reply to that?

'Thank you'?

'Ok'?

'Riiiiight'?

'What on earth are you talking about; I'm a guy for God's sake'?

'You should try it too, Abe-kun'?

Because of the many responses his brain suddenly came up with (from which he still didn't know which to respond with), Mihashi's mind 'short-circuited' and he suddenly felt faint. The last thing he saw were those averted eyes which now looked at him with worry and slight panic before darkness took over.

When Mihashi opened his eyes, he felt the familiar presence of his bed beneath him. For a moment there, he wondered if everything had been a dream. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how the person saw it), the person by his bed made him think otherwise.

"Renren!" came his female cousin's familiar voice, followed by a vicious hug from her, effectively cutting off his air supply.

"R-Ruri..chan..c-can't..breathe..!" he managed to say in between the choking noises he made. He was released, to his relief, but before he could get another word out, he was attacked again, though this time verbally.

He didn't really understand half of what she said to him, though he did hear her asking what happened to him, where he went, why he suddenly disappeared, and so on and so forth. But all of that were pushed to the back of his mind when she brought up Abe. When he asked where the brunette was, she answered that he left after helping bring Mihashi to his room. The nervous boy said a small, "Oh.. Ok.." and proceeded to avoid his cousin's questioning stare at him.

"I'm sorry for today, Renren," Ruri said, after a short silence between them. This surprised Mihashi but before he could ask why, she continued, "I thought I'd make today a fun day for you, but I just ended up dressing you up in clothes you didn't want and you even got separated from us. I guess the only thing I can be thankful for is that you didn't get into any harm.."

(At this point, Mihashi made up his mind that he wouldn't mention those two guys who apparently had been following him for some time.)

"So.. Sorry again.." she said, her head down.

"I-It's..alright.." Mihashi replied, making Ruri raise her head to look at him, as if she didn't believe his words. He couldn't believe them at first either; it was as if someone else was speaking in his voice. "I..had fun today..too.."

It was only when he remembered the hand that saved him, the walk home, the promise of silence, the offer to come with him if he needed a companion, the embarrassment, the compliment, and most of all, the worried eyes focused on him, that he finally believed his own words. Looking back on just this morning, who would have thought that so many things would happen to him today? But yeah, despite how weird of a roller coaster ride today had been, Mihashi could still say that he enjoyed himself.

And it was all thanks to one person.

Author's Notes: /headdesk Yes, it was a pretty lame way to end the story. I'm sorry.. I swear this whole thing sounded much better when it was still in my head. TT^TT

Err. Not sure if I'll write another fic for this series any time soon since I'm quite content with just reading awesome works by awesome people and would not want to taint the fandom with my sucky writing. ._.

Still, please review? Feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you to all who read this! ^^