So, I'm kinda surprised how fast this one came out…the first half pretty much wrote itself. I hope you guys like, and this is not the last chapter.

Once again, I don't own Oofuri, although I wish I did.

PLEASE REVIEW!!

Chapter 13

Abe froze. Had he heard Mihashi right? Did Mihashi know what he was saying? Was Mihashi simply trying to make Abe feel better? Why would Mihashi confess out of the blue like that?

"A-Abe-kun…A-Abe-kun did you hear me?" Mihashi asked.

The catcher finally broke eye contact with his friend. "Mihashi…" Abe paused after saying his friend's name. It felt good, somehow right. "Mihashi," he repeated and again savoring the sense of satisfaction and relief that seared his body. "You don't need to say unnecessary things. I already told you that what happened wasn't your fault; it was mine. Saying you love me when you don't will only make it hurt more."

"A-Abe-kun please, I-I love y-you!" The pitcher protested.

"Mihashi don't say silly things. You, you don't love me." Abe replied with a dry mirthless laugh.

"A-Abe-kun look at m-me," Mihashi whispered. "P-please."

But Abe was determined not to. He didn't want his friend to see the pain and hurt laced thick in the catcher's eyes. There was no way Mihashi could love him. Abe was the one who kept hurting the pitcher. He was the one who couldn't help his friend. Abe Takaya was the reason for Mihashi's anguish. So Mihashi had to be mistaken. Abe was supposed to be in Mihashi's shadow, always there to help and then disappear again.

With a new resolve Abe took a deep breath. He fought back the emotions clawing for release and steadied himself. "Mihashi," he nearly purred, "I'm not the one you love. I h-hurt you way too much. I'm no good for you." Abe focused his eyes on his feet. Better to look down like a fool than to have Mihashi see the tears in his eyes.

"N-no a-Abe-kun, Th-that's not true!" Mihashi exclaimed. "A-Abe-kun never hurt m-me. A-Abe-kun was always there for me."

"Mihashi I'm a terrible friend. I couldn't help you…" Abe couldn't finish his sentence. It felt so good to say his friend's name, but the reality of the situation sliced through him. Each word was like a new knife cutting into his heart. With each passing second Abe felt his throat tighten and his eyes burn.

"Damn it Abe look at me!" Mihashi yelled, startling the catcher and making him look up. Mihashi transfixed his eyes on the taller teens. "A-Abe-kun listen. Y-you are m-my savior, m-my hero. Before th-this y-year I was stuck in th-the past. Now I-I am able to m-move on with m-my life. When I-I'm around y-you I feel like I c-can do anything."

This was too much for Abe to handle. Secretly he wanted this more than anything in the world; and secretly he feared it more than anything. He loves Mihashi and Mihashi loves Abe, that part more than works out. What troubled Abe was the latter stipulation. Abe knew he needed Mihashi. The question was did Mihashi need him? Could Mihashi find the same affection with someone who didn't put the pitcher through hell? "Mihashi, I love you too, I have for a while. But I'm not right for you. All I do is yell at you. I can't even protect you from your past. You deserve better."

Mihashi reached up and cupped Abe's face with his hands. They where icy, but more importantly shaking. Abe tried to guess why; was it fear, or possibly was he just cold? "Abe Takaya," Mihashi was furious. His eyes shone with a glint of rage Abe never knew existed. Mihashi was so mad, so pissed off yet his hands where gentle, almost caressing. "Y-you are m-my teammate, y-you are m-my catcher, and most importantly y-you are m-my friend. Y-you Abe have d-done for m-me what no one else h-has. Y-you helped m-me accept m-my past."

These words seared Abe. He was convinced that he had done nothing but hurt his friend, yet here was his pitcher telling Abe that he was special, that he was loved, needed. But Abe couldn't accept this. Mihashi had too much going for him to be brought down by Abe. "Mihashi you've become a popular guy at school. You could probably get any girl you asked out."

"I-I don't want an-anybody else. Takaya, I want y-you!"

Abe's eyes grew wide. He had nothing to say to this. Mihashi was his friend, his teammate, his secret love. Abe's two sides where fighting one another. His heart wanted Mihashi more than anything. He wanted Mihashi; needed Mihashi. Yet his mind said that it couldn't be, it shouldn't be. An everlasting moment passed as Abe sat still as stone fighting with himself. Should he be selfish and take what he wanted, take what his friend was offering? Or should he be steadfast and do everything in his power never to hurt the pitcher again?

With gentle force Mihashi made up the catcher's mind for him. Softly, slowly he tilted his preoccupied friend's head down. All of this passed by Abe unnoticed. It was not until Mihashi, standing on his toes to reach, brushed his lips with Abe's. It was brief; lasting no more than a second. And it was gentle like the touch of a newborn. But it was enough to make Abe realize what he wanted and what he needed. In that fleeting second, that moment in time where nothing else mattered but the faint touch of one boy's lips Abe made a promise to his teammate, his pitcher, his friend, his lover, that he would no longer be in the shadows supporting Mihashi from afar. With everything that he was Abe promised to be side by side with Mihashi forever, united as one.

Mihashi released his friend and broke the kiss. Mihashi expected Abe to overreact, to spurt off some more nonsense about hurting Mihashi. Tentatively the pitcher looked up, expecting to see an angry or worse yet sad Abe. Instead Abe's eyes where closed and he was smiling a lopsided smile. "Mihashi," Abe cooed, "I love you. Whatever happened, happened. But whatever will happen, will happen with you."

The pitcher leaned up once more and kissed his new boyfriend. On that dark sidewalk with nothing but the stars in the sky and the dim rays of a nearby porch light illuminating the night the two kissed. Abe's lips, chapped by the cold, joined Mihashi's soothing pillows. As the kiss began to intensify Abe felt something hot and wet trace the outline of his mouth. Without thinking he parted his lips and bade Mihashi's tong entrance. Mihashi's tong was something of its own. It was silken and smooth, yet rough in all the right places. It was hot, wet, and tantalizing with the pitcher's taste. Abe let out a soft moan as the two struggled for dominance. He didn't want to lose, but there was something arousing in the thought of being dominated by the smaller, less aggressive teen.

He conceded control to Mihashi who, like Abe, was going off of pure instinct. As far as he could tell the pitcher didn't have any experience in kissing. Yet it was immaculate how one small brush of Mihashi's tong could set fire to Abe's body. It was a good burn, the kind of flame scorching with passion that ignited Abe's imagination and left his body tingling, begging for more.

The two broke the kiss, panting for air.

"Abe?" The pitcher asked once he caught his breath.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too. Now what do you say we head home. We've had an exciting night and need our sleep," Abe suggested. He turned and started walking down the sidewalk. Mihashi caught up and walked in stride with his new boyfriend. With an air of boldness Abe grasped Mihashi's hand with his and intertwined fingers with his lover's.

"Abe?" Mihashi asked, startled at his love's boldness.

"It's alright Mihashi." Abe could hear the smile on his face reflected in his voice. "Tonight, I don't care who sees. I'm with you and that's all that matters." Abe gave his boyfriend's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Abe…" Mihashi sighed and squeezed back.

"By the way, Mihashi,"

"Yeah, Abe?"

"I noticed you've stopped stuttering around me. Care to explain?"

From the corner of his eye Abe watched as Mihashi grinned a smile bigger than Tajima's on his best day. "I guess it's because I can now relax around you." Mihashi let out another content sigh. "You've seen me at my worst, and yet you still love me."

They walked in completely blissful silence until they reached Mihashi's house. "Mihashi?" Abe asked.

"Hmm?"

"I don't care if you tell your parents, they're good people and I think they'd understand. But do you think we can hold off before we tell anybody else? I don't want this to affect the team. Tajima knows; how the hell he knows is beyond me but he knows. Sakaeguchi suspects something but I don't think he knows everything yet. I just want to be careful about how we tell the team."

Mihashi was silent for a moment as he thought about it. "You're right Abe. I don't want this going around the whole school."

"Yeah," Abe agreed. "So just us for now? And your parents if you want to. They're cool I think they'd understand. But if you want to wait before you told them that would be fine too."

"Mmm…You're right Abe."

"Goodnight Mihashi," Abe said before bending down to kiss Mihashi.

"Goodnight Abe," Mihashi replied once they broke the kiss, only to counter with a hug. "Sleep well."

"You too."

Abe watched as Mihashi, blushing scarlet, walked inside. As the catcher walked home he was on top of the world. The nagging void was gone, and the catcher now felt whole. Mihashi loved him. They had kissed, and Abe had loved every minute of it. And what was best, simply icing on the cake, was that Mihashi no longer stuttered around him. How long that would remain was yet to be seen but for that one magnificent night he and his best friend had connected. No, not just friend, but love.

Love, it was a novel concept to him. Abe had read about it, seen it portrayed a thousand different times by a thousand different people, but none of those could compare to how he felt now. Simply walking with Mihashi in silence was pure paradise. Their three kisses where indescribable; the epitome of happiness, of satisfaction, of simple contentment. If he could have one thing in the afterlife it would simply be Mihashi's touch, his simple presence. Things had fallen into place for Abe, and he knew he was exactly where he wanted to be.

Night had been on for a while when Abe finally arrived home nearly skipping in his jubilance. Shun was in the kitchen as Takaya entered. The younger brother adjusted his face into a perplexed scowl as he took in the look on his brother's face. "Hey Taka what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing Shun-chan. There's nothing wrong."

Shun raised an eyebrow. His older brother never called him Shun-chan. "Ok then, care to explain that stupid smile on your face?"

It was then that Takaya realized he was still smiling. "Sorry, but do I need a reason to smile?" Takaya shot back.

"It's just strange. You were so down this morning. So why are you so happy now?"

Takaya smirked. "Shun, you wouldn't understand."

"I'm not dumb you know. I am your little brother," Shun commented.

Takaya's smirk blossomed into a full fledged smile. "Then you really are dumb."

"No I'm not!" Shun protested.

"Shun, I'm smiling because I'm so stupid. It took me four months to realize what I had in my hands."

The eyebrows of the younger brother creased together. "Taka, are you feeling alright?"

The taller brother let his smile touch his eyes. "I'm being cryptic for a reason, little bro. But yes, I'm finally feeling good." Takaya left his little brother to ponder over his enigmatic statements. The rest of the house was dark, telling Takaya that his parents had already gone to bed. He decided to follow suit and headed upstairs to his room.

Laying on his bed, Abe reflected on the day's events. He was much too excited for sleep to envelope his mind so he let it wander. He replayed the conversation with Sakaeguchi in his head, scoffing to the darkness at his frustrated reactions to the second baseman's wisdom. All of the planning he did during the party was all for naught, but it worked out for the better.

As Abe thought about his plans he couldn't help but recollect Mihashi. He studied the pitcher with gruesome intensity as the night progressed, letting the pitcher's every twitch dance through the catcher's head as the analytical teen dissected every possible meaning for the movement. Abe could not have known it at the time, but studying the aftermath he realized with delight that he and the pitcher where sharing the same thoughts.

Then there was Mihashi himself. To think that Mihashi, the meek fickle scared timid mouse of a man, had the sort of transient strength to enable him to, if only in the passion of the moment, stand up and confess to his love when Abe himself was wavering, and had feared for his sanity by settling on a one-sided love painfully guised as friendship. The origin of that strength was a mystery to the catcher. Never had Mihashi shown anything of the sort, and yet the impossible did happen. The pitcher was so full of surprises.

The darkness had given Abe an empty canvas. On it he pictured Mihashi simply standing looking back at the catcher. Abe reached out a hand and stroked where Mihashi's head would be, tenderly smoothing out the messy spikes in the pitcher's hair. From there his hand snaked around his lover's cheek and down to his chin. With a careful thumb Abe softly stroked the pitcher's supple lips, recalling in perfect clarity the shape and feel of every contour and crevasse. As he progressed he imagined the pitcher leaning in for a kiss and in response parted his lips for Mihashi's tong. He could still taste the pitcher. The wonderful essence that was Mihashi lingered in the steely eyed teen's mind. Abe moaned as he recreated Mihashi's curious tong as it probed every crevice and cavern of Abe's mouth, reigniting the flames that time let lapse.

With a happily hardening mound in his navy blue boxers the elder of the two Abe brothers fell into a sound sleep.

Christmas at the Abe residence was a laid back affair. Takaya, still suffering from the aftereffects of both his fantasizing before falling asleep and his provocative dreams that night, slid on a pair of black sweatpants to cover the his excitement. He made a few final adjustments to his aroused member to hide its conspicuousness before heading downstairs to join his family for a small brunch.

Once the family finished eating, Takaya's father asked Shun to distribute the presents. Each took turn opening their gifts. The steely eyed Takaya looked on in pleasure as his dad unwrapped Takaya's gift, a large assortment of his favorite chocolates, Shun's gift, the latest season of his favorite sitcom, and his wife's present of an autographed baseball jersey signed by Washington's Ichiro Suzuki she had won in an epic e-bay battle. His mom was overjoyed by her eldest son's gift of an envelope containing a coupon for a free trip to a massage parlor, Shun's gift of rather lengthy cookbook filled with year around holiday recipes, and the showstopper for the day was her husband's gift of authentic pear earrings set in gold. The cry of exultation stemming from Shun as he shred apart the paper concealing the missing chapters in his favorite manga series gave Takaya a warm hearted sense of unshakable happiness. The youngest Abe was just as pleased with his parent's gift of a duo video/mp3 player. Takaya's own haul of new batting gloves from his little brother to replace his old ratty gloves which had their own peculiar odor and a new video/mp3 player to match his brother's did not hurt his spirits either.

There was however one problem that persisted to be of annoyance to the catcher. Now that he and Mihashi where officially yet secretly together Takaya felt like he should give the pitcher a gift. The thing was Abe had no idea what to give his friend. The pitcher's two interests, baseball followed closely by food, where of no help. Takaya couldn't afford anything practical as far as baseball was concerned, although as far as Takaya knew the pitcher didn't need any new equipment; and on the food aspect the pitcher's habits where also of no help. Instead of favoring one food over another Mihashi's viciously omnivorous palate consumed every edible morsel with blatant disregard for any sort of discrimination between dishes. So Abe was out of choices.

With the family obligation over for the day, Takaya retreated to his room. The question about what to get Mihashi still ate at him. Once he was safely in his bedroom Takaya plopped down on his bed and shot a quick mail to Mihashi. "Merry Christmas," he wrote, "I love you."

Mihashi's reply sent the steely eyed teen into orbit. "I love you too Abe. Merry Christmas." It was simple, relaxed, and from Takaya could remember from the night before completely sincere. Blood seared in Takaya's cheeks as he internalized the message.

At four his mobile rang again. This time it was a call from Sakaeguchi. "Merry Christmas man, what's up?" Abe answered.

"Merry Christmas Abe," Sakaeguchi greeted, "are you free tonight?"

"Yeah," Abe replied. "We already did our Christmas thing. What's going on?"

"I just wanted to see if you wanted to grab some dinner with us."

Abe thought about it. He really wanted to spend at least some of the day with Mihashi, but he didn't want to say no to his friend either. "Who all's gonna be there?"

There was poorly hidden smile in the second basemen's voice, and Abe knew the reason why. "It's just Tajima, me, Mihashi, Oki, and Hikari-chan. Everyone else is either out of touch or doing family stuff."

So Mihashi would be there. Abe let out an exhale of pleasure that the second baseman interpreted poorly. "If you haven't patched things up with Mihashi you don't have to come; I'll make something up for you."

"No it's alright," Abe protested. "We talked yesterday after the party and worked everything out. We're back on…I guess you could call it good terms."

"I see, that's good. We're meeting at the CD shop at five thirty. I'll see ya then." With that the second baseman hung up.

Abe laid down on his bed. He still had an hour and a half before he was supposed to meet the truncated group. An hour and a half of either sitting in his room doing nothing productive or an hour and a half downstairs with his family feeling uncomfortable, the choice was up to Abe. Instead he made up a third choice. "I'm going." He wrote in a mail to the pitcher."Meet me early at the store. I have a present for you."

With his message sent, Abe decided to get to work on his gift. Carefully he cut out a heart out of red construction paper. With a sharpie he wrote his love's name in the center of the cutout. On the back he taped a piece of paper with a poem of his own creation. It was a hasty gift made spur-of-the-moment but Abe was proud of his efforts.

At quarter to five Abe got ready. He selected some of his nicer casual clothes and spent ample time making sure everything was in order. At five flat he methodically tucked his gift inside the pocket of his sweatshirt and set out.

Mihashi was leaning against the wall of the CD store when Abe approached. "Hey Mihashi," he greeted his friend and love, "I hope you haven't been waiting long."

The smile on the pitcher's face warmed Abe's heart. "No Abe. I just got here a minute ago."

Abe danced internally as Mihashi spoke. Not once did the pitcher stutter or stammer. Once he calmed himself down Abe set his gaze on Mihashi's abnormally deep eyes. The catcher felt the familiar feeling of being sucked into the orbs' depths. This out-of-body trip gave Abe the inspiration he needed for his plan of attack. "Mihashi, I wanted to get you something for Christmas but I couldn't think of anything special."

"Abe you don't have to get me anything."

"Well, I do have a gift for you. It's nothing spectacular or expensive but I hope you like it." Abe paused, waiting for Mihashi's inevitable response.

"What is it?"

The catcher closed the gap between the two. Sneaking his hand into his pocket, Abe carefully withdrew the red heart and presented it to the smaller teen. He watched as Mihashi accepted the symbol before eyeing the front of the gift quizzically. "It's my heart," Abe explained, "and it knows only your name."

Mihashi's eyes bulged. His hands tightened around the effigy, holding the simple paper securely as if it where the real thing. Upon flipping it to the reverse, he found the poem Abe had left for his love:

My heart held

in your hands, tenderly

beating for

eternity.

The steely eyed teen waited as the pitcher read the poem to himself. "I, I never knew you where so…so…"

"Corny? Lame?" Abe suggested.

Mihashi's eyes sparkled, shining with a spectral light that twinkled through the tears that where billowing up. "I was gonna say p-perfect."

In the silence that formed from the two teens completely lost in each other's eyes the whole world became redundant. Everything that mattered to Abe was in Mihashi's perpetually affectionate gaze. "I love you," Mihashi whispered.

Before the catcher could reply Mihashi reached up and ensnared the taller teen's mouth in a lip lock. The two once again struggled for dominance and once again Abe decided to defer control to the smaller teen who, after winning command of his lover's mouth, wrapped a possessive hand around the small of Abe's back.

The couple kissed on the corner in front of the CD shop for all of the world to see. But before long they had to break their passionate exchange for some much needed air. "Ha! Hanai owes me five bucks!" Tajima exclaimed, causing the pitcher-catcher duo to spring apart. On the other side of the street from where the lovers were stood Tajima accompanied by Oki, Sakaeguchi, and Hikari; all of whom where smirking rather sheepishly at Tajima's interrupting the pair's moment.

Abe felt Mihashi start to shake as he recognized their teammates. Instinctively, he wrapped his arm securely around Mihashi's shoulders and pulled the smaller teen into a tight one armed hug. "Hey guys," Abe greeted his teammates.

"So this is what you meant when you said you worked it out," Sakaeguchi concluded, right on target.

"A-about time," Oki added, audibly unsure of whether or not he should say anything.

"It's alright, they're our friends," Abe whispered after giving the shaking pitcher a reassuring squeeze. The catcher adjusted his own astonished look of shock into a composed smile and confronted his friends. "So you guys had a bet on us?" He inquired, the threat of retaliation thinly veiled in his voice. Abe had no intention of doing any harm to his teammates, he was too happy to hear their acceptance. But it was fun having at least Tajima believe that the threat had some substance.

"How long have you two been going out?" The third baseman asked, oblivious to subtleties in the catcher's voice.

"Since yesterday, right?" Sakaeguchi answered for the couple. "That would make it still December, which mean Izumi and Suyama split the pot. And to think if only they had waited one more week it would've been mine."

"At least you had a shot," Oki chimed in. "I had October. I could have sworn I had it all wrapped up after the whole concussion thing."

Irritation became the prevalent emotion on Abe's face, beating out bemusement and rage. "Who, who all was involved in the little bet?" He asked.

"All of us," Tajima answered nonchalantly.

Abe's face blanched in chagrin. Had they been that obvious?

"That's not fair," Hikari exclaimed. "You didn't tell me and Mai-chan!"

"Well Shinooka-chan was in on it, she could have told you too. She had February, probably hoping for Valentine's Day to spur those two on."

The anger in Abe subsided. He'd find some other way to get back at the team for making Mihashi and his personal lives their affair. "Either way, under penalty of death I'm going to swear you guys to secrecy. Alright?" Everyone instantly responded with a clear 'yes' including a very reluctant Tajima. "Now, can we get something to eat? I'm starving and I know that Mihashi is too."

The pack of six unanimously decided on Furikawa's to eat. On the way, another question occurred to Abe. "Hey Tajima, what did you mean Hanai owed you five bucks? I thought it was a pool bet."

The third baseman's answering laugh had a very conspicuous amount of evil mixed with mirth. "The two of us had a side bet. He bet that you'd be the Seme and Mihashi would be the Uke. Looks like he was wrong but I'm surprised as well." Abe glared at the smaller teen, which completely ignored the warning. "So Mihashi what's Abe like in the sack? He's gruff and mean but I bet when you two are alone he's all mushy and girly and stuff, right?"

"Tajima I swear to god I'm going to kill you," Abe growled as he turned threateningly toward the smallest teen.

"Kidding kidding," Tajima said quickly, trying to stifle any physical harm that he might have incurred. "It was a joke."

"I'll get you two. Sooner or later I will, you can bet on it," Abe chided, allowing some of his pent up anger to tint his voice.

"Yeah yeah, us meddling kids I get it," the smallest teen retorted.

Oki, Tajima, Sakaeguchi, and Hikari joked and jibed at the pair on the way to the Furikawa's while Abe held Mihashi closer, angry that his friends had bet on his and Mihashi's relationship yet overjoyed that the couple was accepted by this portion of the group. It was not a consensus, but it was a healthy start.

Post Script: Alrighty…I just wanna say that when I planned this story in the beginning it was an AbeMiha, but now it's kinda evolved into a MihaAbe, though it could still go the other way. This would have been up about a week sooner but I couldn't think of a good, cheesy poem to include.

And for those who read the new chapter that just came out (Chap 21 translated by Nice Pitching!), was it just me or was it pretty much implied AbeMiha?

PLEASE REVIEW!!