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As they were walking, Suo was quiet. As he brought up the rear he couldn’t help but watch Nirei. Which was how he was the first to notice a shady figure sneaking up an alleyway, eyes dead set on the strap of his messenger bag.
Suo was closing the distance between him, Nirei, and the thief on instinct. He planned to knock the thief away from Nirei to ensure their hands stayed off of Nirei, but as he ran he saw Nirei’s head snap towards him. The shorter boy's eyes went wide and suddenly Nirei wasn’t in front of him anymore.
Suo’s foot caught on Nirei's body which he didn’t expect to suddenly be so far below him. But his training kicked in and he took the fall in stride, rolling straight into the thief like a bowling ball knocking down pins. He landed on his feet, but the attacker did not. The thief laid there, stunned, until Suo gave them a quick swat with his shoe and they were out.
Suo pushed himself up to stand and looked up at everyone. Kiryu, Tsugeura, Anzai, and the others were all staring at him and the unconscious thief on the ground. But Sakura and Suo’s attention was on Nirei, who was curled up on the ground in his roly poly position.
“You alright, Nirei?” Suo asked softly, tilting his head.
Nirei uncovered his head and looked up. He immediately looked away, refusing to meet Suo’s gaze as he got to his feet, denying Kiryu’s offered hand. “Yeah- yeah, I’m alright! Sorry about that—”
Suo frowned. Nirei laughed off something about high nerves as Sakura stalked over, grabbed the thief by the scruff of their jacket, and tossed them deeper into the deserted alleyway.
As they continued walking, Suo was quiet. As he brought up the rear he couldn’t help but watch Nirei, and notice how tense his shoulders were. He couldn’t quite get the fear in Nirei’s eyes when Suo had dashed towards him out of his head. And the fact that he knew Nirei had roly poly-d because of him.
But Suo supposed he deserved it.