Hello there. This is my first Big Windup! fanfic let alone my first MihAbe fanfic, so I'm a bit nervous to see how this will turn out. I hope you all enjoy it. This idea came to me after watching Abe get hurt and see how the two bonded as a result, so I'm just going to continue it like any fangirl would normally fantasize... Enjoy :3
Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish it, I do not own Big Windup!/ Ookiku Furikabutte or the characters. I just own the fic.
There's a surprisingly great comfort in catching Mihashi's pitches. His control is never a problem unlike when I caught for Haruna. There's that and the fact that he has no problem doing whatever I say. The others always say he does that because I bully him, but whenever I ask him about it, he always just goes on about how he couldn't pitch without me. At first, it was a nice ego boost, but now, I'm glad to have his complete and total trust in me.
I snapped the glove around the incoming ball Mihashi threw. "Nice Pitch!" I called out smiling. I stood and walked over to him. He looked nervous as usual, but this was a sort of confident nervous. He's really come a long way in the three months we've been together as a team. Sure he's still nervous all the time and still stutters when he speaks, but he's really bonded with the others, namely Tajima. We talked a bit about our game against Bijoudai-Sayama before heading over to the dugouts for the first inning. It seems like I've made some progress in communicating with Mihashi too. My father may disagree, but I couldn't care less. Mihashi looks happy even though he's nervous. I really want him to win this game so we can move on to win the championship, but I have a feeling that something will go wrong today. I had wished with all my might that nothing would happen to Mihashi.
I got my wish.
Lying on the ground holding my throbbing knee was not in my plans for today's game, granted nothing was going right anyways. Bijou always seems to be two steps ahead of me, but none of that matters now. The pain my knee gave me was nothing compared to the thought of me being hurt. I chanced a glance over to Mihashi who was frozen with a dumb expression on his face. Tajima seemed to be the only logical one and asked for a medical timeout. He asked for Mihashi's help to take me to the dugout, but ended up snapping at him to gain his attention. As they carried me to the dugout, tons of things ran through my mind. First, I wanted to apologize to Mihashi for breaking the promise I had made him. Then, I wanted to apologize to the team for causing this scene. My mind also replayed what just happened over and over again. If only I could take back time, undo what I had just done, do anything to fix the mess I had just created.
"He's sprained his knee," the nurse said snapping me out of my thoughts. She looked up at me sadly. "It must be painful, right?"
"It's not painful," I denied immediately. Mihashi changed his expression to something I couldn't understand. I looked back at the nurse, determined. "It's a sprain, right? Can you just tape it up?"
"Abe, can you stand up?" Momo asked. I glared at the floor. Of course she would ask me a question like that. I need to pull it together. This is for Mihashi. I need to be able to finish the game for him. I can do this! I stood slowly trying to put weight on my left leg, then deciding against it at the pain it caused me. I stood so that it looked like I was putting weight on both legs. "You're not putting any weight on your left leg, are you?" I looked up at her shocked. "If you're unable to stand on it, then there's not much doubt that it's a second-degree or worse. If you move around now it will surely get worse. Besides, it's too painful for you to get into a crouch, isn't it?"
"I can do it!" I said confidently. I can't sit out. Not now. Not when Mihashi needs me.
"You can't do it. You're barely standing. What are you talking about? Tajima, go put on the gear," Momo ordered Tajima who obeyed running off. I scowled at the ground and made fists at my side. She turned her attention over to Nishihiro. "Nishihiro, you're going to play left field. Mizutani will play third." Nishihiro nodded. "Get out to the outfield and join them to play catch." Nishihiro nodded and ran out. "Mihashi, you get out to the mound and play catch too." Mihashi stood still in a daze still looking at me with that expression I don't know. "Mihashi!"
Mihashi, still in a daze, started to move. I desperately reached out and grabbed his wrist, gripping it tightly. Everyone stared at me in shock, but I didn't care. I needed Mihashi. I needed him to know how sorry I was, how desperately I wanted everything to be okay. His gaze on me was the one I wanted most. I glared at the ground disappointed in myself and in the situation. I could tell he was shocked by how he tried to speak but only little noises came out. With the pain from my knee, I could tell my leg was buckling threatening to collapse on me. He must have noticed. "A-Abe... You should sit," he said softly. Though I wanted nothing more than to stand beside him, I swallowed my pride and sat back on the bench in the dugout still holding tightly to the person I wanted most in that moment. I saw him talk to Momoe for a moment, but I didn't listen. "I'll go... and get two more outs." These words should have given me some sort of comfort, but I stayed uneasy. Reluctantly, I started to let go of his arm. I still wanted him to stay with me, but I knew that was a wish that wouldn't come true today. I released him completely only to see the bruise I had left on him. I glared at the ground more for bruising the one I wanted most to comfort me at the moment. He stayed still for a moment before turning slowly and running away. I looked up and watched him run away with a longing in my eyes.
Even after the game had resumed, I watched Mihashi on the mound. He looked nervous and kept glancing over to the dug out. I felt something deep in my stomach when he glanced over only to become bitter when I realized Momoe was giving the two signs on how to pitch. I gave a bitter chuckle when my thoughts continued to swarm around Mihashi. For as much as I say he needs me and depends on me, I realized that I need him just as much. Maybe my father was right in a way. Looking back over the past three months, I never really did try to talk to Mihashi. I let my impatience get the better of me and I snapped and yelled at him most of the time. This realization caused me to glance at the mound with more longing. If this is true then... what if Mihashi doesn't really need me? What if the others are right, and he only does as I say because he's scared of me? I've been totally awful to him. What if he hates me? Thoughts like that ran through my head for the rest of the game rather than being concerned with the score or how everyone was playing. If my father knew, he would have down right laughed in my face.
Before I knew it, the team had started running back into the dugout. I glanced at the scoreboard and saw that they scared again. I had started unwrapping the bandage holding the ice pack on my knee when Mihashi stopped in front of me, a nervous expression on his face. We started at each other, him panting from the work. "I-I got hit," he said bringing my attention back to the game.
"Yeah," I started. He looked at the ground sadly. "There's nothing you can do about having given up runs. The game isn't over yet. Don't let your guard down just because you're done with defense." He seemed to relax and nodded. Hanai called the team over to get ready for offense. Mihashi glanced back at me before walking away slowly. He must be thinking about something too.
Through the inning, I couldn't help but watch Mihashi. Even when he wasn't batting, I still watched him. My uneasiness returned and I tried to think of a way to make everything okay. I could never think of anything though. This injury would set me back for a while. Momoe said it would take three weeks to a month. I'm not going to sit around here leaving Mihashi by himself for that long! Two weeks is long enough for me to recover. I'll work really hard towards recovering to get back to Mihashi quickly. I'll do anything to achieve that again.
I was snapped back into the game when everyone started chanting Nishihiro's name. I looked to the batting box. There stood Nishihiro nervously with two outs stacked up against him. Seeing the desperation, I joined in the cheers. Nishihiro seemed to gain some confidence by the cheers everyone was giving him, but he unfortunately struck out still. Everyone was crushed. Nishihiro sank to his knees crying with a few people on the team tried to cheer him up. Everyone lined up for the after game 'good match' exchange. Shino'oka gave me crutches to use. I growled at seeming weak but used them to get me to at least out of the dug out. Mihashi came up to me looking sad. We stared at each other in silence. "A-Abe... Your leg." I looked down at my knee. When I looked back at Mihashi, he had started crying. "We... lost." I stared at him sadly. The way he looked, his tears, the sadness in his eyes, the flush on his face from running, everything made me want to do something to comfort him. I wanted with everything I had to hug him. So hug him I did. It was a bit clumsy since I had only used one arm because of the crutches, but it seemed to get my message across. I held him closer to me as he cried into my shoulder. It was that moment that I realized how much I need Mihashi.
It was weird, stepping onto the familiar red clay wet from last night's dew once again. I breathed in a big gulp of air to feel the nostalgia sweeping over me. Though it had only been a short two weeks, those weeks didn't feel short to me at all. No matter how much I wanted to practice or even see Mihashi practice, I held strong to my promise and rested to come back faster. I even had my parents take me to physical therapy last week. I worked hard over these past two weeks, and now was finally time to show the result. Just yesterday, my therapist cleared me to play, but warned me not to do anything reckless again. I smiled as I walked farther onto the field. I had arrived early just for the sake of memories. The pitcher's mound called out to me. I slowly wandered over to the mound and stared over to the batter's box. So this is what Mihashi sees every day. It's amazing. I wonder what it's like... Without even realizing it, I had dropped my belongings and started doing a windup without a ball. A bright yet slightly annoying voice stopped me.
"Abe! You're back!" Tajima shouted running over to me full speed with his arms spread out. He wore that same childish grin he always did. I stopped the windup to face him as he stopped in front of me. "So are you completely recovered now? You can play again?"
"Yup, I can play," I said smugly. Tajima sighed in relief.
"Good, being both catcher and clean-up batter sucked. It was way too much pressure for me. Glad to see you're back," Tajima smiled clapping his hand on my back. I winced at the force used but otherwise didn't say anything. Tajima then ran off to the dug out to get ready for practice. I sighed and grabbed my bag again heading to the dug out. I heard my name being called more and I merely waved in the direction. One voice however caught my attention.
"A-Abe, y-you're back!" Mihashi stuttered nervously. I turned to face him. He had that nervous smile on his face and he was twiddling his fingers. I couldn't tell if he was happy to see me or if he was nervous about it.
"Yeah, I'm back. Are you ready for practice? I hope you've been taking care of yourself over these past two weeks. I don't want to find that you've been slacking off," I joked. Mihashi stiffened and his face paled. He nodded nervously and hurried into the dug out. I stared after him. Did I say something to cause that? Shaking it off, I went to the dug out and started getting ready for practice with the others only this time, I was a bit more distracted. Worried about Mihashi's reaction to me, I had started watching him unconsciously. I really only noticed I was staring when I saw him take off his shirt. I blushed and looked away only to growl. Why should it matter if I see him with his shirt off? We're all guys here and it's nothing new, so why is it only bothering me now? I changed and turned to Mihashi. "Hey, we're just going to take it easy today and play some catch today okay?" Mihashi nodded nervously his face also a bit more flushed than usual. I wonder what's going on...
So how was it? This is only the first chapter and it seemed to drag on at parts. I hope you guys think better of it. I wanted this chapter so show Abe starting to realize the complications he puts into his relationship with Mihashi. I promise the next chapters will be so much better so please stick with me! This was kind of difficult for me since Abe is so analytic to write for. Please review and let me know what you thought. See you next chapter!