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.

"Huh, yeah, must've spaced out for a few minutes there." He took a seat as casually as possible, "I'll go pick it up after classes, not like anyone is going to steal my trig notes." The easy grin he wore didn't seem to persuade Nakagawa, who cocked an eyebrow over his narrowed eyes.

"But we have trigonometry next, you'll need your notes." Much to Kaido's inner horror, Nakagawa stood up from the table and pulled him along, "Come on, we have a bit of time before the bell rings, we can make it to the gym and back."

Shit, shit, shit... what do I do?

"Naw man, it's cool. I'll be fine, I can borrow your notes! That way we don't have to worry about being late." It sounded lame, and definitely a bit shady, which only made Nakagawa suspicious. Kaido was hiding something. He never cared about showing up to class on time. And the way his darting eyes kept shooting towards the end of the building where the gym door had been left half open, made him think there was something there Kaido didn't want him to see. Or someone. Instead of trying to weasel the information out of his friend, Nakagawa squared his shoulders and stomped towards the gym, intent on discovering what was being kept from him. Kaido's incessant "Wait!" was drowned out by the sound of the door slamming open, followed by a few seconds of silence, before...

"What the hell is your problem?"

Nakagawa turned to glare at his friend, "I can see your bag from here, why didn't you pick it up the first time?"

The room was empty, the only trace that someone besides Kaido had been here were the haphazardly strewn weapons that Machi hadn't bothered to stash away. But that wasn't too out of the ordinary for the martial arts captain to pick up on. First years were always making a mess of the gym and not cleaning up after themselves anyway. Sighing with relief, Kaido jogged over to his school bag and slung it fluidly over his shoulder, this time wearing a more genuinely toothy grin. "Yeah sorry 'bout that, don't know what I was thinking."

"Maybe next time stop being a dumbass."

"Duly noted, Oh Wise-One."

True enough, they arrived to class with time to spare, and Kaido spent a majority of it rummaging through the unorganized wad of papers for his notes. He wasn't at all trying to avoid talking to Nakagawa, who was watching him closely out of the corner of his eyes.

"I don't get it Kaido, what were you so worked up about? Why didn't you want me to go to the gym?" He had a growing suspicion, and it involved the short vice-captain who had been spending extra time there lately. Swiveling in his seat, Nakagawa set his intense gaze on Kaido, who seemed to crumble under it, "Who was there, Kaido?"

Lying had never been his strong suit, and Naka knew this. But maybe he could be vague. It wasn't a lie per-se, but also kept Naka from blowing a casket. Finally retrieving his trig notes, Kaido smoothed them out on his desk slowly, choosing his words carefully. "Just a couple...coupling. It was kinda awkward actually, so I thought I'd give them some space. Didn't think you'd want to see that either." It was true. Kaido knew what would happen if Naka had seen how comfortable Machi had looked in someone else's arms, let alone Mr. Refreshing's.

"Oh....ok." He wasn't entirely convinced, but it was enough at least to keep him from asking for details. Not like it was who he was thinking it was originally; she definitely wasn't interested in being a couple with anyone. She had made that pretty clear. As if remembering the feeling of his nose breaking, Nakagawa rubbed at the bridge of it subconsciously, his frown growing by the minute.

Sensing his souring mood, Kaido quickly changed the subject to something less dangerous: trigonometry. There were still a few questions on the homework he hadn't finished and Nakagawa offered to help before the teacher arrived. They had made it through all but the final question before a loud whoop cut through their concentration.

Daichi shoved an embarrassed, but pleased looking Suga through the classroom door, a wide grin across the captain's face as he playfully slapped his friend on the back. They were too far away to hear what Daichi now congratulated Suga about, but Kaido didn't need to hear to know. And apparently neither did Naka. A loud snap brought Kaido's attention back to his friend, who had clenched his fist so tightly his pencil had broken like a twig. A dark expression appeared over his face, and Kaido groaned internally. So much for keeping Naka somewhat in the dark.

But then Kaido leaned his head back and saw the way Suga bashfully ducked under Daichi's praises, the obvious joy still evident even with his head half buried. The guy was so clearly smitten, and Kaido felt himself silently rooting for him.

Damn. Now what do I do?

***

"Oh my god you cannot be serious?"

"Less complaining, more jogging."

Suga whined loudly, his feet dragging along the pavement. If he had known working out with Machi meant waking up at 7am on a Saturday to go for a seven mile run, he might've just conceded beforehand. But he had kept his complaints to himself (mostly), and figured the pain would be over soon. Then he could happily gloat while Machi bought the ice cream. They were nearing the sixth mile when Suga began thinking of which flavor he would get, strawberry or cookie dough, when he noticed the route Machi was leading them on wasn't back towards his house, where they had started, but towards Karasuno. Somehow barely out of breath, Machi looked over her shoulder at Suga, an evil grin on her face, "You didn't think that little jog was all, did you?" When his only response was a bug-eyed silence, Machi's grin grew wider, "I'll take that as a yes."

A hour and a half later, Suga could barely manage to lift his head up from where he lay on the floor of the Karasuno gym. Covered in sweat and muscles screaming, he hadn't so much conceded as just dropped to the floor in the middle of the twentieth burpee and lay there like a starfish. Yet if giving up now meant never having to do another godforsaken burpee, he would happily dole out a few hundred yen for ice cream. The only consolation was watching the somehow still energetic Machi as she took a victory lap around the gym to the theme from Rocky and screaming about free food. With a mixture of awe and exasperation, Suga made the monumental effort to roll to sitting so he could watch her more clearly. Despite the grueling regimen , Machi barely looked tired at all; if anything there was a new sparkle in her eyes. With her victory lap finished, she happily bounced over to Suga and offered him a hand. "All tuckered out?"

"How are you not?" He accepted her outstretched hand and she quickly pulled him to his feet, "I'm starting to think you're secretly Wonder Woman, that is the only explanation."

"Nope." She hummed, popping the 'p'. They walked, or hobbled in Suga's case, slowly towards the edge of the mats, where Machi had left the cold waters she had packed. "Just used to a lot worse. This was actually a lighter day for me so I'm pretty jazzed about that." Before he could ask what that meant, she was tossing him a water and the change of clothes she had told him to bring. "Hurry up and get ready, the ice cream parlor should be open soon, and there's no way I'm passing up on a free snack."

***

"How can anyone like butter pecan ice cream, it's like the grandma of ice cream flavors."

"Hey, it's not that bad!" Machi brandished her spoon at Suga in what was supposed to be an accusatory manner, but just looked cute. "It's really popular in the US and this is the only place that sells it." The tiny, American style ice cream parlor Machi had dragged him to was complete with red and white stripped vinyl booth seating and a jukebox in the corner playing classic tunes. They sat at one of the only open booths near the counter, enjoying their sweet treats; Suga settled on strawberry and Machi had chosen a large scoop of the delicious, but elusive, butter pecan. With her affinity for green tea, Suga was almost certain that would be her choice; as always, she surprised him. Pouting now, Machi continued her defense of her flavor opinions, "Have you even tried butter pecan, Suga, or are you just assuming it's for old people? Because it's damn delicious."

Her words took a moment to register because Suga was now focused on the fact that she had offered him her bowl of half-eaten ice cream, as if demanding he take a bite and prove her point. Visibly flustered, and trying not to overthink it too much, Suga reached over the table and took the tiniest spoonful. Like a child, Machi wiggled in her seat in anticipation, "Well...how is it?!"

Suga let the ice cream melt slowly as he contemplated his answer. The flavor was delicate, almost vanilla-like, with the subtle nutty taste that complimented it perfectly. "It's...not bad." He mumbled when finally able to speak. Who was he kidding, it was delicious, and somehow reminded him of how her hair smelled: a subtle, intoxicating sweetness. He reached out again to take a bigger scoop, "I think I need a second opinion."

"Hey!" But she didn't move fast enough to pull the bowl back towards her and Suga took a larger bite than expected. "You thief! Just because I know good taste doesn't mean you can profit off of that." As if to prove a point, Machi started shoveling spoonfuls of the ice cream into her mouth, leaving less of the sugary delicacy for him to steal.

"I did buy it though, so that counts for something, right?"

"Not when you only paid because you lost a bet." If the seriousness of her tone didn't keep him from stealing more, the fact that Machi had already finished off the last of her ice cream made it impossible to anyway. So instead, he placed his own bowl in between them as a peace offering, which she happily accepted without pretense. In fact, the rest of the crowded shop had seemed to disappear, leaving only this moment together, alone. Not that Suga was complaining. He was growing to savor these few precious times spent in just her company; partly because he didn't have to worry about her attention being drawn elsewhere, but also because it meant she was more likely to let her guard down and show her true colors. And unlike the muted personality she liked to express to the world, she was so much more vibrant than he could have imagined when she was around people she liked. It was almost like she was the bright shining light in the stormy gray sea, slowly guiding him home.

Leaving the last dollop of ice cream for him, Machi rested her elbows on the table and comfortably placed her chin in her hands, "You know, if you like it so much, which I don't know how you couldn't because it's the best, you can get your own next time, because I'm not sharing again."

"Next time, huh?" Suga hadn't meant it to sound so flirtatious, but the very idea of spending more time with Machi like this made his heart skip several beats and he could feel his hopes rising. Part of him knew if anyone had seen them today, both happily sharing food and chatting comfortably, it would be mistaken for a date. Nothing would have made him happier of course, but not if she didn't reciprocate. This, today, wasn't a date, no matter how much he wished it could be, but the way she had grinned and stared back at him with her mossy-gray eyes all afternoon made him hope that maybe, it could be, one day. This overwhelmingly happy thought was what made Suga add in a more playful manner, "You planning on taking me out for ice cream more often?"

As if on cue, Machi's stomach did several backflips and her mind began working on overdrive. Was he really implying what she thought he was, and if so, how did she respond? She'd be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it; how nice it would be to go on a real date with Suga. In fact, Machi had thought about it more than once, and every time it had made butterflies dance around in her stomach. But it would just be cruel to get his hopes up; to let him think anything could come from going on a date with her besides disappointment. Right?

"Uh, I mean, sure." She stumbled a bit over her words and twirled a finger around a strand of hair anxiously, "I mean, I didn't mean it would have to be just us! We could ask Daichi and the others if they wanted to join too." Damn, she could feel her face burning the more she spoke. "And besides, this was just payback for losing the bet!" Her voice had risen steadily until it broke off in an awkward squeak and she slowly covered her eyes in embarrassment.

He watched her squirm for a few moments, smirking at how cute it was before offering any comfort, "Don't worry Machi, I know what you meant. I lost the bet fair and square." When she visibly started to relax and peeked an eye from between her fingers, Suga used the moment to tease her once again, poking at her face that instantly flushed once more, "Though, I gotta say, you're pretty cute when your so flustered."

If possible, Machi's face burned even brighter as she swatted his hand away. "Shut up, I am not." But they were both smiling softly now, lost in the time this moment offered them before reality reared it ugly head and ruined everything, as it always seems to do.

***

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"That depends, you gonna tease me again?" They had finally left the ice cream parlor and were sitting at the park near Machi's house. The afternoon sun was beginning to fade slowly through the trees, leaving a soft pink and orange glow in the sky. What was supposed to be only a few hours had turned into the whole day without either noticing. Machi hopped onto the wooden fence and swung her feet leisurely as she stared up at the clouds, looking for familiar shapes.

Taking a seat next to her, Suga followed her gaze upwards. He had been thinking of a way to bring it up all day, not wanting to ruin the good mood they had but also too curious to leave it alone. "No I won't, I promise. Even though that was all in good fun." When she shoved his shoulder lightheartedly but didn't offer any commentary, Suga continued. "You mentioned earlier that you were used to a lot worse than the workout today, and it made me wonder what you meant." His muscles still ached from this morning, and he couldn't comprehend how anyone could manage much more without breaking.

Unfazed, Machi shrugged, "I normally double up on that regimen. Dad wants me to make the Olympic team this time, so I gotta be ready." She said it so matter-of-factly, like it was the most normal thing in the world and not a weight she'd been carrying around for years. But it was such a change from her earlier behavior that it made Suga worry. It wasn't so long ago that she was crying in his arms because she had lost a single tournament, now he had to listen as Machi told him how her father drilled her every day until her muscles felt like jello. All so she could go to the Olympics and continue the Harada legacy of gold medalists.

"Isn't that a bit, harsh though? That's a lot to force on you." Her eyes were still staring up at the sky, but now were unfocused and glassy.

"Probably. But I'm pretty used to it by now, so it's no big deal. I've always wanted to go to the Olympics, and if this is the way I get there, then it's fine." She flexed an arm mockingly, "No pain, no gain right?"

But that response didn't sit well with Suga, who could feel a mixture of worry and anger forming in the pit of his stomach. She was in pain? "Still, seems kinda rough of your parents to expect so much from you. You'd think they'd cut you some slack every now and again." At least, that's what he figured a reasonable parent would do, but Machi's parents didn't seem to be reasonable at all.

Something he said must have finally struck a bit of a chord because she gripped at the fence post a little tighter and dropped her head. "Yeah, well, if she cared she'd probably still be around to tell the old man to lay off, but that ship sailed."

Shit.

"Oh..." Shit, how did he mess that up so quickly, but more importantly, how did he fix it? The more he tried to backtrack, the fewer words he seemed to remember. "Oh....uh, I'm sorry Machi, I mean...." Now it was his turn to hide behind his hands and she was the one poking at him.

"Don't freak out, it's fine. Not like you knew." She sounded a bit off, like her teasing was forced. "The hag decided she didn't want a family anymore and left. But even if she had stuck around I don't think she would have said anything anyway. Dad's rule is law when it comes to 'my future as an Olympian.'"

They both were silent for a bit, neither quite sure what to say next. The hum of insects filled the air as the day slowly turned to evening, a slight chill settling upon the two as they sat in the quiet. Finally breaking the silence, Machi cleared her throat. "Really, it's not a big deal. So stop with the pitying look." Caught red-handed, Suga had been glancing at her out of the sides of his eye, but thought he had hidden the look that he couldn't bring himself to call pity. "I don't want someone in my life if they don't feel like sticking around anyway."

Finally finding more than two words to string together, Suga spoke towards the now inky sky, "Remember when you asked me why I cared about getting to know you?" A few spots of light were blinking to life on the blank canvas of the evening. Machi thought back to a similar night, when Suga walked her home and she had abruptly asked that silly question: "why do you care so much about being my friend." Truthfully, Machi had almost forgotten about it, although the emotions from that day were still clear as day. Suga's simple response had left her feeling vulnerable, but also seen as a person beyond the persona she exhibited for the first time.

"I told you I thought you looked lonely behind that tough girl facade. But now I think I want to add another reason." He couldn't make up for the crappy parents life seemed to have dealt her, nor for the gaping hole their love was supposed to fill, but he could damn well try. Embarrassment and teasing aside, Suga grasped Machi's hand that was closest to him and squeezed tightly. "I'm going to prove to you that you are worthy of the love you haven't received."

Somewhere in the middle of his sentence, they had both turned to stare at each other. Suga's eyes shined brightly in the streetlights, the sincerity they expressed was enough to make Machi pause to consider he wasn't just saying those things to be nice. He meant every word, and she suddenly felt her throat closing up as she pushed back the mixed wave of emotions. Her own mother didn't care about her enough to stick around, and her father cared more for her achievements than his actual daughter. But this third year high school student she had only just met had time and time again shown her more kindness than anyone, except maybe Tadashi. And it felt nice, to feel wanted for the first time in what seemed like forever.

"That's a bit sappy don't you think? Might give me a cavity if you aren't careful." But she squeezed his hand so tightly, Suga knew they were empty words, only meant to lighten the mood and change the subject. Lacing their fingers together in a way that felt all too natural for both of them, Suga played along, but still made sure she knew he was genuine.

"That's probably just from the ice cream."