Guarded (Sugawara x OC)

Chapter 15

The index scale of pain is a ruthless bitch.

It starts out manageable enough. An insect bite, paper cut, even a sprained ankle, no problem; rub some dirt on it, suck it up cupcake. Move on. But then things seem to escalate from there with exponential force, and the pain is a lot harder to ignore. A broken bone will fucking hurt at the time sure, and probably will for a few months, but it's the pains that linger much longer that are the worst. The ones that don't quite ever fully heal, and fester in the shadows until something, or someone, makes them reappear with the same intensity as when they first happened. A broken heart for example.

And when some people experience this amount of pain, they don't always make the wisest decisions. Jealousy is the best friend of pain after all. And those two besties can cause some serious damage when they team up.

Which is why Kaido was never more thankful that he left his best friend behind in the cafeteria when he went to retrieve his school bag from where he stashed it under the gym bleachers, and happened upon two people he knew would have caused the poor captain some major 'Nom flashbacks.

They looked quite cozy, snuggled together like two peas in a pod, one leaning against the forgotten punching bag in an almost causal fashion, holding the girl in his arms like she was the most precious cargo in the world. Confusion was Kaido's first reaction; who cuddles in a gym? The floor isn't comfortable, and there's no blankets or pillows to make a fort. Not exactly ideal. But then shock settled in when he realized the girl was in fact someone he knew, and she was crying. Kaido couldn't remember ever seeing Machi teary-eyed let alone the full out blubbering he was now witnessing, her muffled sobs echoing quietly in the large expanse of the gym.

Curiosity of course gnawed at him. What had led to this awkward, yet admittedly adorable, expression of affection? And from someone who seemed to pride herself on her rigid emotional defenses? The more he pondered, the more Kaido wanted nothing more than to burst through the doors and find out for himself, even if it meant an embarrassingly uneasy encounter. But Kaido couldn't seem to bring himself to interrupt, and instead turned on his heel and bounced back down the hallway. Shrugging his hands behind his head, the forgetful third year was surprised at how happy he felt for Machi. While Naka would definitely disagree with him, Kaido didn't mind that Suga guy so much; he seemed pretty chill actually. And from the looks of things, was much better at caring for Machi than he or Naka ever would be. Maybe it was the hopeless romantic in him, but Kaido was glad; both that she had found a connection with someone, and also that a certain jealous hothead hadn't been around to see it. He'd just ruin the moment.

"Did you find it?"

Kaido had wandered his way back to the cafeteria strictly on muscle memory, as his mind had been far too preoccupied thinking of ways he could help Machi and her 'budding romance' while still remaining a good friend to Naka. But now that he was standing in front of his disgruntled looking friend, he realized he had completely forgotten to retrieve his bag. "Damn. I forgot."

Nakagawa scoffed at the blank look on Kaido's face, "Seriously? What did you get lost or something? Or did you get distracted again?"

Shit.

He couldn't tell him, the guy would flip. Ever since their "date" went horribly wrong, Kaido had noticed Naka had more of an attitude than normal. He was grumpier, and complained more. Now whenever the two studied together, Kaido would have to sit through at least a half an hour of Naka's jealousy fueled rants about Mr. Refreshing and the evil plot he had to steal Machi away. Normally, Kaido was patient enough to listen and offer a sympathetic "That's rough, buddy", every once in a while, but he knew if Naka found out about what he had just witnessed, there wouldn't be any more angry rants. There would probably be fists thrown.