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Mihashi hunches in the corner of the dugout, knees hugged to his chest. He rocks himself back and forth, a vacant expression on his sweaty face. Abe has seen this sort of behaviour before, but it doesn’t make it any less disturbing.
His pitcher trembles, eyes too wide, and his shoulders heave with ragged breaths. And as proof just how well he knows Mihashi and his neuroses, Abe knows exactly what triggered this behaviour in his boyfriend.
A batter on the other team hit a home run with one of Mihashi’s pitches, and he visibly slumped as he stood on the mound, knees sagging and arms hanging by his sides. As the stands roared and the other team moved even further ahead in points, Mihashi looked like he was going to cry. And after they caught the next batter out, Mihashi hurtled straight into the dugout and has been like this ever since.
Seeing him like this is pitiful, and part of Abe wants to grab him by his shoulders and shake him. He would have done that a few months ago, but not anymore. He knows that, as much as Mihashi frustrates him at times like this, getting mad makes him worse. And so Abe knows to suppress his irritation and try and help his pitcher out, for the sake of the team and to stop his boyfriend looking so terrified.
Abe, well used to what’s wrong with Mihashi by now, studies him, and works it out. This looks like some kind of panic attack.
And so even though this doesn’t come naturally to him, Abe sits beside his boyfriend and tries to calm him down. He rubs Mihashi’s back and calls him Ren, and when Mihashi slumps against him, he knows his presence must help in some way.