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The late afternoon sun filtered through Mihashi’s fingers as he raised his hand to shield his eyes. He stood for a moment, catching his breath, and shivered as he felt a drop of sweat slide down the curve of his back. One more pitch. He raised his eyes to see his catcher. Abe was poised at the mound, mitt lowered as he waited for Mihashi to get in position. One more pitch for the day. Abe raised his mitt when they made eye contact and sent him a sign. Mihashi nodded without hesitation and started his windup, savoring the familiar pull of his muscles and the leather in his palm shifting against hardened skin. All in the same breath he let the ball fly, hitting surely in Abe’s mitt. The sound was almost lost under Momo’s call for a break and his teammates cheers, but it still managed to reach him. Abe sent him a grin along with a ‘Nice pitching!’. Mihashi let out a large huff of air before he was dragged to the dugout by excited teammates.
Two rice balls and a mini water fight later and Mihashi found himself looking around. There were only a few minutes until break was over and the team was cleaning up after themselves, some wringing out their wet shirts. There was one member who was missing, however. Mihashi looked around the dugout and the field, even asked if Tajima had seen where their catcher has gone. He hadn’t.
Mihashi dipped his head around the corner of the building, expression twisted in an odd mixture of determination and nerves, when he finally found who he was looking for. Abe was sprawled out on his back, laying in the bit of grass that was still inside the fence with his arms under his head. His eyes were closed against the sun that peeked through the sparse leaves, but he looked otherwise content to soak in the warmth. Mihashi almost didn’t approach him. He didn’t want to bother Abe as he was so peaceful. Before he could turn around, Abe opened his eyes, looked towards him and waved him over. With only a second’s hesitation, Mihashi joined him, sitting to his side and playing with the bottle in his hands. They sat like that for a beat and a half, Mihashi unsure of what he should say.
“How much longer do we have?” Abe broke the silence with an almost soft voice.
“Not- Not too long. Only a few minutes, I think.”
Abe hummed at that and didn’t say anything further, choosing instead to close his eyes and take advantage of his sliver of relaxation. Before Mihashi could lose his nerve, he placed the bottle he had brought on Abe’s chest, trying to balance it. Abe startled a bit as he looked down, but he took the bottle in his hands before giving Mihashi a questioning look.
Mihashi flushed. “It’s. I noticed you weren’t there,” He motioned in the direction of the dugout, “And I wanted to make sure you had some.” He pointed to the bottle. “It’s water.”
Abe stared for a second before huffing in amusement and using his other hand to pick up another bottle that was lying on the other side of his body. He wiggled it in front of Mihashi.
“I grabbed some before I came here,”
Mihashi felt silly. Of course, Abe of all people would make sure he had water to drink. He felt his shoulders sag the slightest amount and he looked away.
“But, thank you. I’m almost out and It’s pretty hot out.”
Mihashi moved his eyes back to look at Abe. He was leaning ever so slightly towards Mihashi, and his hand was back behind his head. The sun played across his skin as he moved his other hand to rest on top of Mihashi’s which was playing with strands of grass at his side. His hand was warm. As Mihashi shyly threaded their fingers together he let his eyes slowly wander back up to Abe’s face. He was smiling, lazily, with one eye open. The sunshine seemed to warm its way through Mihashi’s chest as he gazed at Abe, and he returned the smile.