Guarded (Sugawara x OC)

Chapter 3

The morning came all too soon and Machi found herself quickly trying to silence her blaring alarm only to accidentally knock her phone to the floor instead. Groaning as she now actually had to get out of bed, the grumpy riser pulled herself out of the warmth of her blankets, grabbed her still buzzing phone off the floor and silenced her alarm. Bleary eyed and sporting a magnificent bush of bed head she shuffled to the bathroom across the hall to start getting ready for the day.

At first she just stood in front of the mirror blinking at the bright fluorescent lights, but when her vision finally focused, so did her mind. Ah, she remembered now. Yesterday her father had socked her in the face and the residual mark was guaranteed to help her keep last year's bestowed title as "The Scary Fighter Bitch" alive. And here she thought this year might be different.

This time as she got ready for the day, brushing her teeth, combing her hair into a simple ponytail and changing into her uniform, Machi decided to skip the concealer. It didn't help at all with Tadashi yesterday, so might as well leave it in all its purple and green glory. Let everyone think she was some crazy badass who picked fights all the time. Saved her the trouble of people trying to talk to her.

Grabbing her school bag from the desk by her bed, Machi slung it over her shoulder and cautiously made her way downstairs, unsure if her father was awake yet. It was technically his day off from the studio and he would normally sleep in, but something told her today would be different.

She was right.

Reo stood in the kitchen slowly stirring a cup of coffee when his daughter crept into the room. Neither one spoke at first as Machi made her way to the fridge to grab ingredients to make a quick bento. She was halfway through prepping her lunch when he finally broke the silence, making her jump and drop the rice ball she was forming.

"It's five months until the National Qualifiers, and you will make it count." He never looked up from his coffee mug, he didn't need to in order to get his point across. They were going to work hard, just like every day, but this year would be different. She wasn't defending her old title because she would be turning 16 before the tournament, meaning she'd be facing a whole new ring of opponents. Which meant going up against a new champion, one whose fighting style she wouldn't be familiar with. She'd be at a disadvantage from the start.

"I know." Machi's voice came out steady, a determination in her eyes that matched her father's when he had competed. As much as she disliked his training methods and absolutely hated the constant aching pain she always seemed to be in afterwards, he was the best for a reason. And Machi loved the sport too much to settle for anything less. He was the best chance she had at winning, and she wasn't about to give it up. Champions didn't feel pain after all, or so she'd been told.

"Good. You have regular training with club after school today I assume, so we'll resume our training tomorrow morning." Not waiting for a response Reo grabbed his coffee and left without a backward glance.

Finishing her bento box in silence, Machi tucked it away in her bag, grabbed an apple to eat on her walk and quietly left for school. It was a bit earlier than she would normally leave, but she figured the detour to pick up Tadashi would add a few extra minutes to the morning walk. But she didn't have to worry because as soon as she closed the door there he was waiting for her at the gate, a grumpy looking Tsukki slouched next to him.

"Good morning Machi-Chan!" Tadashi  greeted, his smile brighter than the morning sunlight. "We thought we'd meet you here since it's closer to school!" His excitement did not seem to translate to Tsukki, who looked like he would have much preferred to still be sleeping, but Machi fed off of her cousin's enthusiasm happily.

"That was kind of you Tadashi, I hope you weren't waiting too long."

"Ten minutes." Tsukki grumbled, "Now that you're here let's go, I'm tired of waiting around." Tsukki lead the way and quickly placed his headphones over his ears to drown out the chipper conversation that was bound to happen. Machi chuckled at him, but turned to chat with Tadashi instead of trying to poke the bear's temper so early in the morning. "At least you're in a good mood Tadashi, could it be that someone is looking forward to their first day of high school?"