Guarded (Sugawara x OC)

Chapter 23

"Well, well, well, look who it is." Tanaka's voice carried all the way from the other side of the court, the smugness in his tone ringing like a bell. "It's Suga. Suga and Machi."

"Together." Nishinoya matched Tanaka's tone with glee.

"Suga with Machi. His girlfriend."

"Look Tanaka, they're holding hands. Suga and Machi. Holding hands, because they're dating."

"Ok guys, give it a rest, before she kills you." Daichi murmured to the two troublesome second years, directing their gaze across the court where the aforementioned couple was standing together. Machi had walked with Suga to the gym to watch the first few matches before her own practice began, but now was emanating a murderous intent towards Tanaka and Nishinoya, their heckling very clearly overheard. Nishinoya gulped loudly and almost screamed when Machi started off towards them, hellfire in her eyes.

"Hey," A soft hand on her wrist and quiet voice in her ear pulled her back, "don't worry about them, we knew it was bound to happen." To be honest, his teammate's teasing was a bit annoying to him too, especially since he already got an earful from all of them when he hadn't returned from his and Machi's date until the early hours of the morning. Even if they were good natured in their intentions, it was starting to grate at his nerves too.

"Oh come on Suga," Machi curled into him, but not without sending daggers across the court to the round of 'oooohhhs' that could be heard, "Can I just scare them a little bit, they'll shut up after that." She had barely even had time to fully let the news sink in before having to deal with the ridicule, and it pissed her off more than she thought. Could she not enjoy being Suga's girlfriend for even a few hours before becoming the butt of everyone's jokes? Luckily she at least got a bit of reprieve from her own team; the only one who knew so far was Kaido and that was only because he had caught her sneaking back into the building just as the sun was rising. But the worst he had done was jump around in a circle, clapping his hands like a maniac. None of the outright mockery that Tanaka and Nishinoya now whispered towards her.

"I think you did already." Suga whispered with a laugh. And true enough, Tanaka and Nishinoya both had disappeared into the utility closet in order to avoid her, leaving only Daichi and his smug silence. Seeing Machi was still clearly thinking about confronting them, Suga let his hand trail softly along the small of her back, hoping to try and soothe her growing, albeit well-placed, frustration, "If they keep it up I'll talk to them after practice. They may be a pain in the ass but we definitely need them on the team."

Only somewhat mollified, Machi gave a harumph and returned her attention to Suga. "Fine. But remind them to keep their mouths shut if they show up to the gym later. Otherwise I really will kill them." That would be just what she needed; one of the two pinheads spilling the beans to the wrong person.

Suga's eyes softened as he laughed, thinking how cute she looked when she was pouting, "Deal. I can't guarantee they won't follow me there, but they'll be as quiet as a church mouse."

A whistle blew from the other side of the gym, breaking their sweet moment together. Fukurodani had finally arrived for the practice match and had begun warmup drills. Seeing the rest of his team following suite, Suga gave Machi's hand another squeeze before leaning forward for a quick but tender kiss. "Make sure you cheer extra loud, even if we lose, alright?"

Previous annoyance forgotten, Machi hummed to keep from smiling too much. "Always."

***

"Aw, did we miss the start? Told you we should have gotten here earlier Naka."

"Well if someone didn't take so long messing with their hair, maybe we would have been here on time."