Chapter 7

Abe hated December with a burning passion unequalled to anything else in the entire world. The cold air made the joints of the catcher stiffen up and become sore. But there were two dates in December that the catcher hated in particular: the 11th and the 25th.

The situation with Mihashi had gotten a bit better as well. After his concussion Abe continued his throwing regiment with Mihashi. The pitcher was his usual self and Abe carefully kept his act up around everyone. He did feel better when he was around the pitcher, especially when they were alone, but Abe kept their alone time to a minimum. It would not surprise Abe if he broke down and tried something on the pitcher.

Another surprise for Abe was Shinooka. As far as the catcher could tell she kept her promise and didn't tell anyone. The manager now made a point to join the team most days while they ate lunch. At first it was only the manager but soon after she was joined her two friends Aizawa Mai and Hikari Sakura. It was a mixed blessing for Abe; the rest of the team was happy to have their popularity growing and the added female teens soothed the rowdy baseball players. Unfortunately for Abe, Aizawa zeroed in on him and openly flirt with the catcher. At first he was annoyed with her attempts to sit on his lap and always keep in physical contact with the dark haired player. It frazzled Abe at first but soon he just ignored her antics and pretended like she was not there most of the time. The only thing he changed was his preferred seat from the periphery of the pack to the middle surrounded by his teammates. Since they all gathered around Mihashi and Tajima's desks Abe made best use of his plans to both avoid the busty teen and be closer to Mihashi.

The November winds blew in the December snows and that royally pissed Abe off. The cold weather made Abe and Mihashi cut their pitching to shorter and shorter sessions for fear of Mihashi's arm and motion. The catcher could see a noticeable increase in the speed of the pitches and he could feel the force of the ball had increased since the summer tournament. Abe no longer had to make impressive sounds to make up for Mihashi's weak pitches. On more than one occasion the duo had a scare when Mihashi complained about stiffness and pain. It was not uncommon for Abe to finish off their workout by rubbing Mihashi's shoulders and arms. Abe never attempted to give Mihashi a massage, he knew that amateurs could damage muscles if they did something wrong. Besides it took all Abe had to keep their rubdown focused only on the smaller boy's shoulders and arms.

Abe knew the week would be terrible. It was Monday the seventh of December and the beginning of the school week but he already hated it. That morning he and Mihashi were throwing when the leather on Abe's mitt finally cracked and broke making his glove useless. Abe had had this glove for a very long time and it was only natural that while being stressed in the dry and cold air that it would crack, but it juts happened at a terrible time for the catcher. Abe called off the practice for the rest of the week and had Mihashi promise that he would do the same until the catcher had another mitt to use. It as the terrible start to what Abe felt would be a terrible week culminating in his birthday.

Takaya hated his birthday. Birthday celebrations were not big in the Abe household. When he was younger it bothered Takaya that everyone else in his class celebrated their birthday and got presents and cake and the likes while he got, well, nothing except for a card from his parents. It was just how things were. As he got older it bothered him less and less that he didn't get a party like everyone else but what got to him was how everyone else got a party. In Abe's opinion it was just another day, only this one marked the day that an individual was a year older, nothing of any real significance worth celebrating. Watching everyone else around him have parties and get gifts made the catcher resent his own birthday and he did everything he could to hide the fact that it was his birthday whenever it drew near.

The day had gotten worse when at lunch Shinooka brought up what Abe feared more than almost everything: his birthday. They were all together in the year 1 class 9 classroom, the baseball team, manager, and random friends and classmates. Abe and Hanai were chatting when Shinooka remembered. "Oh Abe-kun, your birthday's on Friday right?"

A jolt of electricity surged up Abe's spine. Without a doubt the manager knew more facts about the members of the baseball club than anyone else and it was only natural that she knew all of their birthdays. It did surprise Abe that she had them all memorized.

He couldn't escape it. "Mmm," he grunted in affirmation and tried to go back to talking to Hanai like nothing had happened.

Epic failure.

"Abe-kun it's your birthday on Friday!" The banshee voice of Aizawa Mai called out inches from Abe's ear. All too late the catcher leaned away from the source of the migraine. His head rang from the shriek of the busty girl sitting uncomfortably close him. "Do you have any plans?"

This time Abe didn't have to lie to get out of a trap/date. "Yeah," he replied. "School, conditioning, homework, eat, homework, and sleep. Same thing I do every day."

"You're not celebrating your birthday?" Tajima asked.

This was becoming more of an issue that Abe wanted. He was use to the rest of the team making their plans when it was their birthdays but he didn't want anything to do with celebrating his. "I never do," Abe said with what he hoped was prominent enough finality telling the group to drop the subject.

If they noticed it didn't show. "Why not?" Oki asked.

"Yeah," a few others said in unison.

"It's only natural to celebrate your birthday," Oki continued.

Abe covered his face with his hands. "I don't see what the big deal is. It's just another day with no real significance worth getting worked up over."

Izumi's wicked smile caught Abe's eye. The catcher knew Izumi had some trick and was feeling uneasy. His suspicions were correct. "Well if you don't have any plans then we'll throw you a birthday party."

"No," Abe refused.

Of all people Sakaeguchi took the proposal and ran with it. "We celebrated everyone else's birthdays as a team, why should you be different?"

"I'm not and I don't want a celebration."

Sakaeguchi grinned making Abe feel like he had just walked into a trap. "I'm afraid that since it's a team function it's not up to you. As a team we have to vote on it, right captain?"

To Abe's dismay Hanai nodded his head in agreement.

"All in favor?"

Everyone raised their hands; including Tajima and Mihashi who had both hands raised as well as Aizawa and Hikari had their hands in the air.

"They're not even part of the team!" Abe protested gesturing at the two rogue women.

"All opposed?" Sakaeguchi continued, ignoring Abe's protest.

Abe shot his hand straight into the air.

"Looks like the party's on." Sakaeguchi waited for the cheering to die down before continuing. "So Abe since it's your party tell us what you want to do."

Abe shot a death glare at Sakaeguchi. He had one last chance. "Alright, I propose that we allow Abe to go about his day as if nothing was going on. Agreed?" The silence that followed killed the last card Abe had to play. "Fine then; since nobody else has an idea I guess we can't do anything."

The stupid grin on Sakaeguchi's face mocked Abe relentlessly. "Alright, since Abe doesn't want to plan how about," he paused for a moment to think. "Tajima-kun, Nishihiro-kun, Shinooka-chan, Aizawa-chan, and myself will come up with a plan."

Everyone agreed.

"Great," mumbled Abe. "First my glove and now this."

Hanai picked up on the grumbling of the catcher. "What happened to your mitt?" He asked.

Mihashi snapped his head in the biggest teen's direction and said "Abe-kun…broke it." Those who were able to hear grew quiet and leaned in, trying and failing at not being conspicuous as they eavesdropped.

"Mihashi and I were throwing outside and the cold must have caused to leather to crack and break around the back of the glove. Now it won't stay on my hand correctly and there's no way I can fix it," Abe elaborated.

"Ouch man," Hanai commented. "Catcher's mitts are kinda expensive. You don't have a part time job do you?"

The desperation of the situation started to slowly sink in on him. He had managed to get Mihashi to promise not to throw until Abe got a new glove. Abe was planning on waiting until he got his New Year's gift before he bought a new glove but that would mean canceling all of the throwing practices for almost an entire month. That was way too long to go without having Mihashi be able to keep his arm in shape and if Abe was unable to throw for so long then the pitcher might just start throwing by himself and get hurt.

"If you want to borrow my spare glove I can bring it tomorrow. I won't be needing it because I'm not even using my regular." Hanai offered. "It's a pitcher's mitt so it won't be good for catching but at the very least you two can play catch."

"Mmm, thanks," Abe said. At the very least the two could still throw. Abe could even crouch down and catch if he thought his hand could handle it. As grateful as he was towards the captain having a regular fielder's mitt was not the same as having his own catcher's mitt broken in the way he wanted. But if it meant he could start up pitching as well as his alone time with his secret crush then Abe was all for it.

An arm latched around Abe's shoulders and pulled the teen dangerously close to a rather large set of breasts shaking Abe from his thoughts. "Aaabee-kun!" The voice of a perky banshee called. "What's your favorite food?"

Abe pulled his head away from Aizawa's cleavage. He made sure not to show his annoyance at her antics because that would only encourage the overly flirtatious teen and show her that her actions were getting a response. "I'm not giving you guys any help," he said; his gruff tone battling with the upbeat atmosphere.

There was no stopping the spirited female. "Alright then!" She awkwardly cheered. "We'll make it a surprise party!" The arm Abe had just shrugged off landed back on his shoulders drawing the catcher further into the girl's body until he thought that he might actually be absorbed into the teen.

To Abe's dismay the rest of the group agreed. What had started off as an unwanted party became a big fiasco. The only good part about the new development was that now Abe didn't have to think about the party or worry about it; everything was out of his hands. This relief was short lived, however, as the anxiety of knowing he was going to be the guest of honor at a party he didn't want to be at or have any part of planning started to grow in the catcher's chest. Fearing a mild panic attack the catcher tried to divert his thoughts to other subjects.

All of Abe's thoughts were brought back to the catcher's chest however when the arm that was resting on his shoulder departed taking with it a hand that subliminally caressed its way up his chest. Abe had not realized it was there until delicate fingers stroked Abe's nipple and lingered for a moment before moving toward his shoulder and departing. He managed to wait until the owner of said arm and hand moved over to where the other planners for the 'party of doom' were before he shuddered at the fondling. It was not that he was repulsed by what Aizawa had done; on the contrary his body was turned on. Instead he was shocked at her audacity for doing that in such a public place.

The excited feeling Abe got from what he knew would be an easy score if he were interested stuck with him and intensified as the day wore on. It surprised him little that he thought that way about Aizawa. He was a, more or less, sixteen year old guy; better said a sixteen year old hormone soup with black hair. He had done a damn good job of controlling himself since he started getting the urges of adulthood and he enjoyed the physical contact with sexual overtones. He had been starving his body of any sort of 'more than friends' contact for what felt like eons so he allowed his body to enjoy the feeling. As the teachers lectured in his last two classes of the day the teen kept his hands above his desk but instead filled his mind with images and situations that invigorated his lower head and turned his nipples to diamonds.

It never occurred to the teen how sensitive his nipples were. He discovered this just after lunch when his shirt brushed against the rubies that were studded on his chest. Electricity surged from the nubs of flesh as the soft cotton of his undershirt brushed ever so gently over his chest. The rock hard member between Abe's legs twitched and throbbed with joy at the new discovery. Abe chocked in surprise and quickly masked it with a cough. He was so turned on by the combination of the new feeling and the dirty blond haired form helping Abe mentally that he had to calm himself or else he would have a very embarrassing mess he would have to explain away.

Abe knew that he had to stop himself before he got too carried away and much to his body's dismay his mind did just that. He had successfully calmed himself down in time to be composed and together during after school activities. With the team changing in the locker room together he wanted to avoid any unnecessary 'turtle moments' as Nishihiro put it, which would be particularly hard after having perverted images a certain dirty blond pitcher running around in his head. In order to solve this Abe made sure he was one of the first ones changed, making sure to keep his head down and focused on getting out of the cramped quarters as fast as he could.

After the workout was a different story. Abe, like most of the other boys, waited until they got home to shower since their conditioning sessions lasted less than three hours. The catcher took his time after their run. The musty smell of young athletes hung think in the air of the changing room and Abe used this to his advantage. After making sure his pants were on the teen pretended to stretch his upper body while he gazed around out of the corner of his eye. The only person Abe was interested in having a relationship with out of view at the moment but that didn't stop him from looking at his other teammates in various forms of dress.

The most developed on the team was definitely Hanai. He was simply bigger than everyone else; both taller and in stature. While he didn't have a ripped or chiseled body like some of the male models the catcher had seen on television he was coming along nicely. The captain had a nicely defined core that flirted with the prospect of more to come. His arms were not bulging with muscles but the lanky frame of the right fielder was definitely filling out. Abe liked what he saw and his mind started to crave for more. With random glances Abe studied the captain. His body was almost completely hairless except for patches underneath the armpits and a small trail of fur starting just above the navel and running down under the waistline of the right fielder's pants. Abe smirked as his imagination took over for his eyes and he reduced the fifth hole batter to nothing but the black boxer briefs he typically wore.

Abe knew this was pure lust not love and took in what he could before the jock finished changing and left the room. Abe stored what he had seen in his memory for later. He would not masturbate to what he had seen; Abe was not smitten enough by any of his teammates for that to happen. Even with Mihashi he was not completely physically attracted to the pitcher. Instead it was the feelings of love and comfort that Mihashi had offered him that made Abe rip out his heart, tie a bow around it, and hand it over to the timid pitcher to keep forever.

The catcher was the last one out of the locker room and subsequently alone as he walked home. He was still a bit randy from the surprise at lunch as well as ogling his friend while he was changing. Shun was gone when Takaya got home so the catcher decided to extend his bath time ritual and enjoy himself.

After his bath Abe settled into his traditional evening routine of homework, a brief dinner, and then sleep. This routine was rather elongated than normal as thoughts of Hanai and Mihashi ran through his head. While doing his homework Abe kept picturing Mihashi but only a little more grown up with the body Hanai currently had; taller with more mature features and more definition in his body. The catcher mentally recreated his pitcher as a lean, sculpted, and rather hot senior lying on a bench in the locker room with his Nishiura baseball jersey unbuttoned and nonchalantly open exposing a set of pecs and abs touched by the gods.

The world crushed around Abe when he woke up. Today would easily be one of the worst days of his life; although there have been a few days that stuck out over the past few months that were strong contenders for that title. The eleventh of December was always a day of dread for the catcher. Now with the surprise party his friends were throwing the catcher had driven him into a state of both distress and anxiety. He was worried at what was in store for him. It crossed his mind that nothing really could be too bad; a little embarrassing and he could probably catch grief about that for a while but all in all it couldn't be too bad.

Abe prayed.

And for good measure he prayed again.

Only Shun was home when Takaya finally made it down stairs. "Happy birthday bro," the younger Abe said with more enthusiasm than their parents normally would. Takaya was thankful that Shun shared his feelings about birthdays.

"Thanks." Takaya smiled reflexively but changed it into a grin for good measure.

Shun had a grin of his own but there was a hint of something sinister at work. Takaya didn't like it. "By the way," Shun said, "have fun tonight and try not to make a fool of yourself. It's gonna be fun."

Takaya's eyes narrowed on his brother and his eyes pressed into a thin line. There was definitely a problem here. "What's going on? What do you know who told you?" Takaya hissed.

The grin never left Shun's face, even as he spoke. "All I can tell you is that you are going to have fun, and…" Shun trailed off with his face pursed into concentration. "Oh yeah; that and I was told to warn you. She said to tell you that 'if he tries to fight then we'll drag him.'"

"Aw man," Takaya looked at his little brother. It would be pointless to kill the messenger but it looked to Takaya that Shun was on their side. "Did she tell you her name?"

Shun nodded. "It was two of them, actually. The girl spoke but she was also talking to a guy in the background."

"Shun what was their names?"

"Does it matter?"

"It would let me know how severe their threat is," Takaya groaned.

"Um, I think they were Tajima-san and Aizawa-san."

Another groan rang through Takaya's lips. It would figure that these two would make the threats. They were probably enjoying putting him through this.

"Bro don't worry about it. Just follow along and soon it'll be over," Shun tried to consol his brother. It was a half hearted attempt but Takaya was thankful that there was at least half a heart involved.

Takaya pursed his lips. He did not like what was going to happen; Takaya was no onmyouji but he had enough foresight to recognize the terror of the coming party. 'At least Mihashi will be there,' Takaya reasoned to himself. He knew that while the party was going to be a form of hell that hell would be bearable if Mihashi was there.

Morning practice went surprisingly well. The team ran together in the halls and after a few birthday jibes directed at Abe all talk related to aging quickly died. Even throughout the day Abe's birthday was never mentioned, at least in front of the person in question. It seemed that the importance of the date was lost on everyone outside of the baseball club and they had kept it a secret. 'Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.'

The onslaught at lunch went better than Abe expected as well. Only a few people who were not on the baseball team wished their happiness on the dark haired teen for the special day. Even Aizawa kept it tame giving the catcher a very chesty hug before retreating with the others who were planning the party leaving the rest of the group to themselves. Abe was grateful for the normalcy of the day; even if the true horrors were still to come.

The only real surprise of lunch came at the end. As Aizawa leaned in and smashed her cleavage on the back of Abe's head before giving him a hug she said, "I spoke to your brother, Abe-kun. He sounds cute how old is he?"

Abe muttered under his breath before answering. "He's fourteen, just under two years younger than me."

Aizawa let out a squeal of delight. "Ooo! You should introduce me. I bet he's as cute as you are!"

As Aizawa left with Shinooka and some of the others Abe turned to the group at large. He was not really upset, per say, but he put up the front. It would be easier to get answers if there was menace to his threats. "Alright," he commanded, pressing his lips together into a frown at each pause. "Who gave her my phone number?"

Immediately Tajima raised his hand. "I did!" He called out.

Abe focused his glair onto the smiling third baseman. His pressed frown started to waver under the good spirits of the group.

"We had to make sure that you wouldn't skip out on us. Strictly," Tajima finished as Abe fought to continue his glare-frown combination.

The excitement in Tajima's eyes and voice was starting to become too powerful to fend off and finally Abe broke the face. "You don't have to worry about that," Abe said to his friend. "I figure it'll be a good way to kill a few hours and who knows, I might just have some fun."

"Don't worry you will," Nishihiro said. Abe heard the restrained excitement in the genius's voice and cringed at what he had in store.

"Don't worry Abe; you'll have fun. It's nothing too extravagant; but you should have seen what Aizawa-chan wanted to do," Tajima chimed in. "She wanted us all to go to the new indoor water park that opened last march on the other side of town; but we all thought that that would be a little too much. Strictly."

"Yeah," Nishihiro continued, "it was hard enough convincing you that things would be fine and low-key, but if you knew that we were going to be doing something like that then you would never have agreed."

Abe nodded his head in agreement. He knew that it would have made Aizawa's day to see Abe in a bathing suit; and he knew that she would have worn the smallest bikini she could find and would have tried to attach her chest to any part of Abe she could in her ill begotten attempt at swaying his mind.

As Abe turned to leave the year 1 class 9 classroom he was caught by Sakaeguchi. "Abe, we're meeting an hour after practice for dinner at Furikawa's. Don't be late."

The catcher nodded his head and promptly left the room. He let the anxiety and excitement flow in his mind and body as the day finished up. Even when he was at practice he interpreted the smiles of his teammates with evil undertones; like they were plotting something much more evil and devastating than a simply party. They were going to meat at Furikawa's after all. There simply was not enough space in the small homey ramen shop to cause a major ruckus that would cause Abe any real disdain. Hopefully.

All too soon Abe found himself on his way home with only an hour to get ready for whatever monstrous hurtle lay before him. As much as he wanted to just say screw it and skip the party he knew that this action would draw the festivities to his house.

Grudgingly he trod off to the CD shop and Furikawa's ramen shop.

Oddly enough Abe didn't run into anyone on his way to the small restaurant. As he got nearer it became odder until finally he was creeping along with his head on a swivel looking for anyone from the team.

But alas, nobody was in sight.

Abe had his back to the restaurant as he pushed open the door. He was five minutes late and knew that he had to see someone relatively soon. Most of the team was punctual and even then there would still be stragglers like Mihashi poking around late.

"Happy birthday Abe!"

Abe hit his head on the door frame as he jumped in surprise. Once his eyes refocused after the pain subsided Abe's heart collapsed. The ramen shop was decorated with streamers from one end to the other in colors fit for a six year olds birthday. Thankfully the paper streamers were the extent of the physical decoration, aside from a few in the crowd wearing party hats.

The shock was much worse than the actual decoration and as the catcher became accustom to the new décor he started to appreciate the simplicity of the place. Even the cake laying on the table that was surrounded by the party guests was not as bad. It was obviously homemade and shaped like home plate; something Abe found kind of cute.

"Th-thanks guys." The shock was still evident in Abe's voice.

Abe took two more steps into the building and regretted it. He anticipated the group flowing around the table to wish them their best for his birthday but what he didn't expect was Aizawa's speed. She simply flew around the table and tackled him into a very busty yet nonetheless bone-crushing hug. The force of the impact was so much that it knocked the pair of them back into the wall where they glanced off and toppled to the floor; female on top of male, the former's arms wrapped tightly around that latter's body.

Laughter echoed around the room and from Abe's perspective it was kinda funny, but in no way desirable.

After an extra tight squeeze the wraith that haunted Abe disentwined her limbs from his frail body and peeled herself off of him. The catcher simply laid on the ground still dazed after the attack.

Two sets of arms reached down and dragged the black haired teen onto his feet. Once his senses came back to him Abe registered Hamada on his left and Hanai on his right still holding onto the catcher making sure he wouldn't crumple back down.

More laughter.

"Thanks guys," Abe muttered to each of the pillars supporting him in turn.

Then, feeling the strength returning to his legs, Abe turned to the group as a whole. "Thank you, everyone, for this. I've never been one for birthdays and at first I was kinda scared about what I was going to find. But this is nice."

It was not entirely true, but it wasn't a lie either. If Abe had to choose a place he liked to be more than pretty much anywhere besides a baseball field, it would have to be Furikawa's. It was quite the perfect setting for his first actual birthday party.

The baseball team, Hamada, Shinooka, and a few other classmates that became close to the group were all around Abe wishing him their best now that the catcher had regained his balance.

It surprised Abe that Mihashi hung to the back and didn't make eye contact. What surprised him even more was when Mihashi tried to copy what Hanai had done and give Abe a one-armed guy hug. In the perfect example of an awkward situation everyone looked on as Mihashi tried to be casual and only made things worse. Abe was red-faced and had to give the crowd of onlookers his patented death-glare to keep them from laughing. To be honest Abe didn't know what drove the blond to hug him instead of pat him on the back like most of the others but he was glad Mihashi decided to go this way. The only thing Abe wished was that everyone else wasn't there so that Abe could do more than give his friend a quick squeeze back.

All too soon Mihashi slinked away just as red as Abe. Shinooka also gave Abe a hug and ditto with Tajima, although the third baseman pulled off the guy hug with more grace than Mihashi.

Much to Abe's pleasure there were no party games, no weird little clowns, and nothing out of the ordinary. If he were to subtract the cake and the streamers this could have been just another normal Friday night at Furikawa's. Everyone ordered different types of ramen for dinner and when that was all done they cut the cake and everyone, including the owner, had a piece. It pleased Abe to see that she was talking and chatting to the group.

Abe was sitting at one of the tables talking lazily to Mihashi and Izumi. The atmosphere in the shop was starting to quiet down from the initial birthday extravaganza. That all changed, however, when Aizawa practically screamed "Abe-kun!" in Abe's ear stunning him long enough for her to slither one arm around his neck pulling his head rather forcefully into her chest. "Here's your gift!" She squealed.

"Aizawa-chan I…I…" Abe tried to stammer out 'I can't breathe' but the last part took him by surprise. "Gift?" he exclaimed. "You guys shouldn't have; I mean we're friends and all but you don't need to spend any money on me."

"We all chipped in," Hanai called from another table. "So it wasn't much."

"Hurry up and open it!" Tajima hollered from next to Hanai.

The group murmured in support of the idea and Abe looked at the package. He had no idea what it could be.

Abe ripped the paper off the top revealing an old shoe box. "Aw, you got me a new pair of shoes," Abe joked.

"No!" Mihashi exclaimed. A few of the people closest to Mihashi looked at him quizzically, Abe included. Mihashi turned a florescent shade of scarlet and finished by saying in a very quiet voice "i-it's inside the b-box."

Abe didn't bother to correct the pitcher, he knew it would be better not to draw attention to Mihashi's misinterpretation of Abe's joke. Instead he pried the lid off the box only to discover a black mass of leather. Abe looked at it in disbelief. He pulled it out and examined it carefully in his hands; shock, awe, and gratitude carved in stone all over his face.

"I…this…you…" Abe started stuttering. There was no way.

"Breathe," Sakaeguchi called him from across the table.

It would be a good idea if he could but the combination of surprise at getting a new and expensive catcher's glove for his birthday and Aizawa's arm closing off half of Abe's windpipe made Sakaeguchi's remark but a dream.

After a few very long moments Abe regained himself. "Wow, thank you everyone. This is perfect. I can't believe you did this for me."

"It was Mihashi's idea," Izumi said nonchalantly. "He told us you broke your glove playing catch with him. That one was pretty old anyway and Mihashi went through all the trouble collecting from the team. Of course we were more than happy to chip in."

Before he could stop himself, and he wouldn't have even if he could; Abe reached out and latched his arm around Mihashi. In one big movement he sucked the pitcher into another hug. "Thanks," he said. Abe would have said more but he dared not. A tear had already escaped down his cheek and he was afraid that if he spoke any more his emotions would overwhelm him. Instead he sufficed his desires by holding Mihashi close as long as he dared before giving one more squeeze and letting go.

The quickness and strength of Abe's hug made Aizawa loose her grip on Abe and he slid out of her hug as he hugged Mihashi. Once the guy hug had ended Aizawa slid her arms around Abe and thrust herself forward onto him, hoping for a thank you hug like Mihashi got. Abe knew what she was after and acted like he didn't. This proved to be a bad move because after a few moments of his inaction Aizawa pulled the black haired teen so deep into her chest that Abe felt the back of his head part her breasts like Moses parted the red sea.

Most of the room stifled laughs behind their hands. None of them knew Abe's secret but it dawned on almost all of them after weeks of seeing the way he reacted around the rather crazy Aizawa that Abe was not interested in her despite her best efforts.

Abe pulled back from the chasm that was the female's chest and gulped for air. "Um, thank you Aizawa-chan," he said to the brunette girl. "But you don't need to hug me that tight." Abe was now unnerved and it showed in his voice.

"But I just wanted you to know how happy I am that you liked our gift," she retorted.

"I love the gift, I really do and I'm more than grateful that everyone chipped in to buy it for me and especially for Mihashi who had the idea and put the whole thing together." Abe stopped to draw a breath. He didn't mean to go off into a rant but Aizawa was reeling and now would be the time for Abe to put his foot down. "Thank you so much," he repeated, "but you don't have to get so touchy-feely all the time."

"But I-" she started.

Abe cut her off. "There's nothing wrong with just saying hi instead of tackling me to the ground. Even I need my space sometimes."

Oki might as well have been wearing blue tights and a red cape because when he spoke up he became Abe's superman, but Abe wished he would have chosen a different topic. "So Abe," he said, "what is your family doing for today?"

This made Abe shift in his chair. "Oh, um, well," he stuttered, "nothing really. Both my parents are working like usual. We don't really celebrate the whole birthday thing."

"That stinks," Oki said in a carefree voice. It sounded to Abe like he was trying to draw attention away from the depressing comment.

After three hours the group was ready to move on and Furikawa's was ready to start closing up shop. From the ramen shop the group walked the short distance to the nearby karaoke place and continued the party there. Everyone laughed and joked as they sang and then mocked each other for either their song selection or their voice or both. Abe was surprised, however, at how good Mizutani's singing voice was. Abe attributed it to the fact the idiot left was always listening to music and was bound to sing along sometime.

The hours slipped by and soon the latter hours of the night made an appearance. Despite it being Friday night the group was still tired from the early morning practice and the week in general. They all called it a night and went their separate ways at the customary spot in front of the CD store.

The day in general pleased Abe immensely. The party had been much tamer than he had been expecting. That added to the good feeling but what topped it off was the gift the team, but Abe contributed mostly to Mihashi, got him. It was the perfect gift at the perfect time. The only bad thing was that now Abe wanted to thank Mihashi in some way but couldn't fathom any sort of ideas. A simple "thank you" would never be sufficient for something as amazing as what the blond pitcher gave him.

"Someone's happy," Shun commented after seeing the large grin stretching the corner of his brother's mouth to its limits.

Abe chuckled a little before answering his brother. "My teammates are the greatest. They not only threw me a more or less surprise birthday party, but they also got me a brand new catcher's mitt."

Shun's eyes widened large. He knew how expensive catcher's mitts were. "Wow, they must really like you."

"Mihashi put it together," Takaya explained. "He went around to everyone and collected money. I can only imagine how much time he put into it; not to mention his own money." The thought hadn't really occurred to Takaya until he spoke it. He wondered how much money Mihashi actually put in and hoped it was not a lot, but either way Takaya was obligated to thank the pitcher in some way.

"Takaya!" His mother called.

"Yeah?" He bellowed back before walking towards the sound of his mother in the living room.

His mother and father were lounging on the couch watching TV. "What do you need?" He asked. The pleasantness in his otherwise cool voice made his father lift an eyebrow.

"Good day?" He asked.

The grin reappeared on Takaya's face. "Some of the guys from the team and friends from class threw me a surprise birthday party and got me a new catcher's mitt."

His mom and dad looked at each other, the faint lines of surprise appearing on their face. "Sounds like some friends," his father replied.

"So what did you need, mom?"

The female Abe shifted in her seat, sitting a bit more upright. "As you know your uncle and aunt are out of town. They asked us to keep an eye on the place and take care of things while they're away and we're supposed to get a lot of snow tonight. Since you have a day off tomorrow could you go over there and shovel their driveway? Unless I'm mistaken they said something about making it worth your while."

Takaya thought for a moment before he answered. By the sound of things it looked like they had asked for him specifically. The only possible reason Takaya could figure out was because they had something for him that they wanted to give him all along, so they might as well get some work out of it. It didn't matter, though, because Takaya would have done it regardless. "Sure," he said. At the very least it would get him out of the house.

After he bade his parents goodnight Takaya retreated to his bedroom and after a few quick adjustments to his new glove decided that it was time he went to bed.