#sakaeguchi

*

After dinner the boys relocated to the living room for video games. The four guests took turns being the odd man out, making sure Abe got to play the entire time if he wanted to. After a little while the cake was brought in and they lit the candles to sing, applauding when the catcher eliminated all sixteen flames in one breath.

“What’d you wish for?” Sakaeguchi asked.

“He’s not supposed to tell you,” Hanai countered. “It won’t come true if he does.”

“I don’t really believe in that stuff anyway,” Abe said, taking the corner slice offered to him by Tajima. He glanced at Mihashi when he felt eyes on him. “What?”

“N-Nothing,” Mihashi replied, stammering as he always did. Their communication had gotten slightly better in the last half year, but not enough for him to be fully confident speaking to the catcher yet. “Just…h-happy birthday, Abe.”

Abe paused, nodded. “Thanks.” He continued to watch the pitcher as he took his first bite, inviting the others to dig into their slices as well. What’s up with him? He’s always pretty anxious but this seems different, somehow. I hope he didn’t stress out about getting me something. Maybe I should have told the guys not to bother. But would that have actually helped, or just made it worse for him? I never know with that guy.

His suspicions were confirmed when – once they were finished with the cake – Hanai, Sakaeguchi, and Mihashi all hurried back into the foyer to grab the presents they’d brought with them and hidden until this moment.

Hanai got him a baseball movie. Sakaeguchi gave him the first three volumes of a manga he’d been meaning to read since he found out about it in August. He thanked each of them, but when he turned to Mihashi, the pitcher suddenly seemed near tears.

“What’s wrong?” Abe asked, trying to keep his voice gentle. One thing he’d learned about his friend over the last half year was that softer tones helped to calm him down when he was high-strung.

“I…I didn’t…I’m worried you won’t…” Mihashi shifted uncomfortably, trying to keep it together. “My present…”

Even without Tajima’s usual translations, Abe could tell what was upsetting him. It was exactly as he’d feared. The poor guy had stressed himself out trying to find something to give him, and now he didn’t feel like it was good enough. “Whatever it is, I’m sure I’ll like it. I’m grateful you got anything for me at all. You didn’t have to.”

Mihashi hesitated, then slid a small, rectangular wrapped package across the table to him and waited. Abe opened it up within a few seconds, surprised to see five pieces of rainbow lace sour candy inside. “What?” he exclaimed, glancing at the nervous pitcher. “Did you know these are my favorite? Or was it just a lucky guess?”

“S-Sakaeguchi told me you l-liked them,” Mihashi replied. “But I…I didn’t know they were your favorite.”

“Yeah, dude.” Abe smiled, opening up one of the wrappers and taking a bite of the sweet and sour treat to enunciate his point. Mostly for Mihashi’s sake, but he really did love them. “These are great. Thank you.”

Mihashi’s eyes lit up, seeming relieved. Tajima nudged him with a wink, and they went back to playing games and nibbling on cake for a couple more hours until it was nearly time for bed.

As the others gathered their coats and shoes and prepared to leave, Abe thanked them again for coming over and for the gifts, and they all wished him well one last time before filing outside.

Hanai, Sakaeguchi, and Tajima made it out the door just fine, but before Mihashi could follow them, Tajima turned around and stopped him. “Nuh-uh, Mihashi. You have one more thing for Abe, don’t you?”

Mihashi froze, looking panicked all of a sudden. Tajima grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around to face the catcher, who stood just inside the door, watching with confusion and concern. Abe tried to smooth things over by saying, “It’s all right, the candy was enough…” But before he could finish the thought, he saw Tajima waving at him from over Mihashi’s head, over exaggerating wrapping his arms together in a way that clearly meant “hug.”

Surprised, Abe glanced back at Mihashi, who stood shivering in the doorway, not looking at him. Mihashi wants to give me a hug? What for? Because it’s my birthday? The catcher looked back at Tajima, then at Mihashi again, then stepped over the threshold into the cold December night to fold his arms around his pitcher, despite feeling a little awkward about it.

He was even more surprised when Mihashi immediately relaxed, hugging him back with more fervor than he was expecting. Abe saw Tajima beaming at them and couldn’t decide if this hug was because they were truly becoming friends after all this time, or if it meant something more that he didn’t know about. Either way, he wasn’t going to be the first to pull back.

“Thanks for the candy, Mihashi,” he said quietly. “It really is my favorite. I don’t get to have it much, so it means a lot that I got some today.”

“Y-You’re welcome,” Mihashi stammered, then released him, looking up at him with rosy cheeks and bright eyes. “Thanks for being my friend, Abe. Happy birthday.”

Abe’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. In the meantime, Mihashi turned and hurried down the steps to catch up with the others, and all four of them waved before disappearing from sight.

Abe remained rooted to the spot in the cold, watching his breath puff out in front of him. He still couldn’t form words, even after he regained his senses enough to go back inside and close the door.