The people Mihashi was actually capable of striking up a normal conversation with without having to force himself - at least without having to force himself much - were few and far between, and mostly remained within the family. Even going by those standards it would be wrong to say that Abe was treated the same as everyone else when it came to conversing. He was maybe just a bit more scared of saying something that would upset the catcher than when talking to, say, Tajima or Hamada. Abe-kun had accepted him. Abe-kun needed him. Abe-kun gave him directions. And that was why he didn’t want to let him down.
Of course there was no way he could have anticipated that his own worries just ended up making Abe confused and maybe a slightly bit jealous seeing the pitcher fool around with other people but immediately tense up when he was around.
Mihashi’s face did however light up a great deal when the Catcher’s tone of speaking changed to a normal one, the one he had been hearing more and more lately whether or not the other was conscious of it. The realisations that ‘Abe-kun isn’t angry with me’ and ‘Abe-kun wants my cucumber’ floated around in his mind as he nodded eagerly in response, squatted down on the spot without a word and with stiff and mechanic movements searched through his bag. Finally finding what he searched for, Mihashi unwrapped the cucumber and presented it to his Catcher.
Abe watched as Mihashi walked around and searched his bag with awkward little movements. Was everything about that guy weird? It seemed like it. The catcher just couldn't understand what went through his head. It some times seemed like he had some real worries, but they just turned out to be something ridiculous like 'are you going to quit being a catcher' or 'are you going back to Haruna'. Why would Abe do either of those things and how do they get inside the other's head in the first place?
It was like he wanted Abe gone. But, the catcher knew that wasn't the case. Mihashi was more like terrified of his catcher leaving, though that irritated Abe too. Didn't he say multiple times that he wasn't going anywhere? Well, he broke his promise about not getting hurt, but as long as he was healthy and well, he was going to be Mihashi's catcher.
Mihashi came back and showed Abe his cucumber. The catcher gulped, and reached for it. "Thanks..." He took the vegetable and nodded to the pitcher, grateful. "It looks delicious." He said, though a bit quieter than he would for a meal. He took a bite and his eyes lite up. "This is the best cucumber I've ever had!" He turned to the other quickly in excitement.