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Nirei cupped his trembling, cold-pricked hands around his mouth and nose, blowing streams of warm air into his palms before rubbing them together. The crisp autumn breeze swept through the openings in his sleeves and the slackened loop of his scarf, cueing shivers to dance across his skin like the reddish-brown leaves tumbling end over end on the roadside. He tucked his hands beneath his armpits and pinched the ends of his sleeves shut with a bitter groan.
Summer had come and gone from Makochi, replacing the sticky heat with a refreshing albeit biting coolness. Ordinarily, he would have transitioned to his winter uniform already but with Fūrin’s uniforms requiring tailoring for the appropriate insignia at the collar - it’d be a few days before his was done. Nirei sighed miserably, rubbing his palms up and down his arms until a hand bearing a black glove appeared at the corner of his vision.
“Here, Nire-kun,” a gentle voice prompted and Nirei lifted his eyes to meet the gaze of his fellow vice captain before quickly looking down at the offering.
“A-Are you sure, Suo-san?” Nirei asked, wincing internally at his stammer and the amusement briefly twinkling in Suo’s eye.
“Don’t worry,” Suo said, lifting his other hand which was clothed in a matching black glove. He gave his fingers a teasing wiggle before reaching out to take one of Nirei’s hands. Carefully, Suo helped slide the glove onto Nirei’s fingers, adjusting the sheaths so that the digits could fit easily within before he rolled the slits down the length of Nirei's wrist. Nirei marveled at how quickly his hand warmed. Suo’s hands were larger in comparison to his, a fact Nirei would keep to himself and within the binding of his notebook, but the glove’s woolen sheaths didn’t sag or cling to his fingers at all.
Suo withdrew his hand after fussing with the slit until it closed taut around Nirei's wrist, and the warmth from his hand lingered on Nirei's skin as he flexed his fingers with a small smile.
“Besides, there are other ways to keep our hands warm between one pair of gloves.”
Nirei glanced up at him, and inclined his head. “Is there?”
“Yes,” Suo insisted kindly, his eye crescented as he smiled from ear to ear. “Shall I show you?”
Past experience with Suo’s lessons never lent well in Nirei’s opinion. Not only did he have a hard time with knowing just what was going through his mentor and friend’s head, the fluidity and impracticality of his teachings made it hard to analyze what would come next. But that didn’t mean he had no reason to trust Suo at all. He thought about it for a beat longer, watching the curve of Suo’s smile soften and the sliver of a brown iris kindly regard him from beneath a shuttered gaze. His heart flipped in his chest as he looked away, reminding himself not to close his eyes (a lesson that’d been drilled into his ceaselessly).
“Alright.”
From the corner of his eye, he noticed Suo’s face brighten as he shifted forward with his hand outstretched. “Like this,” being the last words he heard his vice captain speak before his entire world went up in sensation. Deft, slender fingers traced along the back of his hand leaving warm ghosting impressions in their wake as they twisted around to skim the palm of his hand. Nirei swallowed hard, looking down with wide eyes as they wove skillfully between the spaces of his fingers like a threading needle, sealing his palm to Suo’s.
It was so warm, and embarrassing.
“Suo-san…” Nirei muttered, fighting to keep his voice from cracking under the burning heat in his face. Beside him, Suo happily rolled his fingers with a pleased look on his face as he hummed acknowledgingly. The sound sent hints of warmth trickling into the pit of Nirei’s stomach, turning what irritation he felt into fond exasperation.
“If you wanted to hold my hand, you only had to say so!” He hissed, closing his fingers around Suo’s hand to stop him from moving.
Though instead of deterring him as he thought it might, the look on Suo’s face turned from surprised to joyous. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said as he pulled at their joined hands, sending Nirei barreling face first into his body.
Nirei flailed, catching himself with a tight grip on Suo’s uniform jacket and his nose shy of his collar. An arm wrapped around Nirei’s waist, pushing him in closer to where his shoes dragged against the ground in his desperate attempt to keep his footing. But with Suo supporting him, he hadn’t been in danger of falling as much as he thought he would be.
“Do you feel better now?” Suo asked, his breath a soft puff of warm air against Nirei’s ear.
Nirei shut his eyes tight, willing his shoulders to cease their trembling. If he lied to himself that it was only because of the cold, maybe he could save a little face. “Yeah,” he muttered, “Thanks.”.
When they parted, Nirei knew his face was flushed but Suo graciously refrained from mentioning it. Their bare hands remained linked as they walked on, though Nirei wasn’t sure if it was because Suo wanted to make good on his promise to keep him warm or if he didn’t want to let go at all. Distantly, Nirei reminded himself that he could’ve let go at any time but that fact felt less important as time went on.
“Suo-san,” Nirei eventually said, listening for the acknowledging hum before he continued, “don’t try this with Sakura-san, he won’t be able to take it.”
Suo hummed as though he were giving it thought. “If he’s flustered enough, he’ll keep us both warm, don’t you think?” He asked, tipping his head toward Nirei with a curl to his smile, bespeaking mischief.
“Suo-san…” Nirei sighed.