Guarded (Sugawara x OC)

Chapter 7

"Would you stop staring at me like that Daichi, it's getting annoying."

But Daichi's shit-eating grin only grew as he watched his friend complain. The two were whispering in the back of class, the 'study hour' they were supposed to use to finish their math assignment had quickly diverged into 'gossip hour' when their teacher wasn't watching. "How can you sit there and pretend like nothing happened? Asahi and I were there, we saw the whole thing."

Suga groaned at Daichi's persistence. "You're clearly overthinking it." He rested his chin against his hand and tried to focus on completing the difficult math equation. "I said 'Good morning' and she said 'Good morning' back. Not exactly the big, heartfelt confession you're making it out to be."

Ever the optimist, Daichi didn't relent. "Did you or did you not call her by her first name? And did she not respond by calling you 'Suga'? That's not nothing buddy, that's progress." Not to mention both he and Asahi had noticed the way Suga seemed to light up like a kid in a candy store at the sight of the second year. It also didn't escape his gaze to see the almost imperceptible smile that had appeared on Machi's face. Having only ever seen her scowling, Daichi had to do a double take to make sure he had seen correctly. But when her expression didn't falter, Daichi couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face too. His best friend had a crush (no matter how much he denied it), and it seemed like the feelings were mutual.

"We're friends! You call me 'Suga' too, so what's the big deal? I'm not expecting you to confess your undying love for me." Scribbling a few answers into his notebook he gave Daichi a frustrated glare out of the corner of his eye.

"The big deal is you have a thing for Machi and the sooner you admit it, the sooner I can stop bugging you about it! And the sooner you can ask her out." Daichi prodded, now poking Suga in the face with the butt of his pencil, which only made Suga swat his hand away angrily. Despite their low voices, the sound of Machi's name caught the attention of one of their classmates seated in the next row. Nakagawa turned his head to the right to better listen to Suga's response. He recognized the other teen now as the guy who waited around for Machi after practice last week. The guy who had stolen her attention away. He hadn't thought much of it then, but now he felt his heart squeeze anxiously.

Suga pushed his notebook away, finally giving up trying to complete the assignment, and ran a hand through his hair. He hadn't wanted to admit it at first, but now he was starting to think Daichi was right. He couldn't dismiss the skip of his heart every time they passed in the hallways, or the way he seemed to forget how to breathe when she would say his name. He liked Machi. A lot. But was it too soon? He'd barely had a chance to get to know her, how would she feel is she found out? If she knew just how much time he spent thinking about her, would she still want to be friends?

Sighing in defeat he rested his forehead against his desk making Daichi smirk victoriously. "Can we just drop it? I don't think she's even used to the idea of us being friends yet, I don't want to scare her off..."

Daichi gave him a supportive pat on the back and tried to hide the pride in his voice for guessing right about his friend's true feelings. "Don't worry man, we'll help you 'woo' her." Leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed behind his head, Daichi thought back to this morning, and seeing that smile on Machi's face. "And who knows, she might already feel the same way, you just gotta make a move."

Having heard enough, Nakagawa returned his focus to his assignment only to see he had subconsciously stabbed his pen through the paper, much like how his heart felt at the moment. Sugawara was a popular guy; he was kind, an athlete, and Nakagawa had heard enough girls in his class fawning over the guy to know a lot of them found him attractive. It was possible Machi might actually reciprocate Sugawara's feelings, and the very thought made him see red. Trying his best to drown out the two volleyball players who were now discussing ways to help Suga impress Machi, Nakagawa began making plans of his own. He had missed his chance last week, but he wasn't about to make that mistake again.