Guarded (Sugawara x OC)

Chapter 26

Kaido offered his popcorn with a sympathetic smile, taking a few strands of licorice in return. "Definitely won't be an easy day, did you notice she ditched the crutches?"

In between sending an anxious paragraph of text to Tsukki, Tadashi lifted his head to answer, the amount of stress in his voice making it an octave higher than normal, "She left them in the car. Said she didn't want anyone to think she was an easy target." Unlike the past tournaments, the Olympic Qualifiers would be entirely composed of short sparring matches. The injury would put Machi at a disadvantage, which wasn't something she exactly wanted her competitors to know about. It would just paint a target on her back. Without the crutches, the only thing that might have given her away was the extra amount of stretching and warm up kicks she seemed to be doing, and the knee pad that Suga was almost positive she had hidden under her uniform.

But for someone with a torn ligament, Suga had to admit Machi was moving around quite well. As always, she was one of the first to arrive on the mats for warmup, only the slightest of limps noticeable. And the more she moved, the less obvious it became. He was starting to think she might even stand a chance of doing well, and leaned over to Daichi to ask his opinion when Kaido swore loudly and Tadashi dropped his phone.

"Fuuuuck. I didn't think he'd show up."

Fashionably late, Reo marched onto the mats like he owned them, quickly crossing their expanse to offer firm handshakes to a large group of what looked like judges in the opposite corner. They exchanged pleasantries and Reo even smiled briefly when one pointed in the direction of his daughter, but his smile didn't reach his eyes. Those remained a cold icy blue as they followed Machi around the ring, his dissatisfaction only obvious to Suga and the others. Of course Reo had expected Machi to still be here; they may not always see eye to eye all the time, but he knew his daughter well enough to know she wouldn't let anything stand in the way of this moment. Although at this point, his expectations for Machi to actually advance were slim to none; not since she abandoned their training regimen in favor of the coddling everyone now freely gave her. He had spotted the two biggest culprits sitting together in the stands (obviously there to cheer for Machi), and made sure to send them an icy glare from across the arena to make his presence known. Tadashi crumpled under the pressure like a dry leaf in the summer sun, but Suga stared back with an equally cool expression that made Reo growl quietly. If Machi lost today it wouldn't be because of him, but would be the direct influence of boys like that third year.

If Machi was aware of her father's presence, she hid it extremely well. She kept a nonchalant poker face for the entire first three matches, barely even glancing his way when she won each round almost entirely without using her right leg to strike. Unimpressed, Reo stood in the same corner for each match, arms crossed and barely blinking like a formidable, judgmental statue. Whereas the Machi fan club in the stands was an animated mess of emotions. The stress snacks had been depleted by the fourth round, when she had been forced to score a point with a jump kick, landing on a very wobbly right knee. That moment of hesitation when she landed had been enough for her opponent to counter and sweep her feet out from under her, effectively tying the score. Grimacing as the final seconds ticked down, Machi knew she needed to move faster, to throw more combination techniques. Which would mean relying on her right foot for at least one or two strikes. And so she bit back the whimper of pain and countered with a complicated twirl of kicks, landing her right foot on the side of her opponent's head with enough force to knock them both down. Machi had won the match and advanced to the final round, but instead of feeling a weightlessness from joy and elation, Machi only felt a numbing sense of dread, interspersed with shooting pain as she now visibly limped off the mats.

"I'll be right back." Out of snacks, Suga had resorted to chewing his fingernails halfway through the last round. He didn't like seeing the obvious pain Machi was in; she may have hidden it well enough up until now, but it was starting to show more. With a ten minute break before the final match, he couldn't sit and watch any more. His eyes followed Machi off the mats and towards the side doors. Now that her back was turned to the arena and her father, Suga was certain the shadow that fell across her face wasn't a trick of the light.