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Suo found his grip tightening around Sakura’s arms as the younger tried to fight his way out of the hold. Kakiuchi held tight on Sakura’s legs, moving to sit on top of his calves as the boy continued to struggle.
“Let me go! Suo get off!” Sakura roared, practically growling as he pushed against the floor.
“Anzai-kun, please hurry,” Suo urged, both feeling bad for keeping Sakura face down on the ground and wanting to check on the others.
Anzai fumbled with the first aid kit as he pulled Sakura's shirt up. Suo couldn't have been more grateful to Umemiya for making it mandatory to take them on patrols following the fight with KEEL, especially after getting a good look at the scratches littering his friend’s bloodied back.
Sakura’s growls started resembling hisses as Anzai disinfected the wound, picking out bits of gravel before laying gauze over the top. To see their captain so badly injured was a rarity, but being thrown across the street by someone twice your size would usually lead to something gruesome. Suo recalled feeling his heart in his throat at the sight of Sakura’s blood smeared across the pavement, only to immediately watch Nirei be struck in the head.
A strike which only led to more blood staining the street. What a grisly fight it had been.
If it weren’t for the current situation, he would have laughed as he recalled thinking today’s patrol group was needlessly big. Nine people taking one route was exceedingly unusual, and Suo couldn't help but wonder if Hiragi had somehow foreseen that they’d run into such a large group of older boys.
What started as a group of eleven or twelve, who looked to be around nineteen - something any Furin student could handle on a good day - was suddenly closer to forty when one of them called for backup.
Backup who decided it was morally acceptable to bring improvised weapons to a fist fight. The scene was so reminiscent of the KEEL incident that the boys each felt a shiver crawl up their spines.
It had been going well until Kurita took a particularly bad hit, throwing everyone out of their groove.
Sakura, who had been handling the largest member of the opposing group, a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties and had no business going all-out against teenagers, froze at the sight, just for a moment. That moment was all it took for the older man to lift him into the air and launch him several meters away, until he disappeared behind a wall.
That led to their current situation, tucked down an alleyway while the second and third years cleaned up. Once again, it seemed as if Nirei’s forward thinking had saved them, and once again he was the most badly injured in their group.
Suo trusted Kiryu and Tsugeura to look after their blonde classmate, but that didn’t stop the goosebumps on his skin when he thought about the sheer amount of blood pouring from above the boy's hairline. Said feeling was not helped by the wailing of a siren coming too close for comfort.
It seemed Sakura was unable to unsee it too. His breathing was ragged, short huffs rattling his frame as his narrow pupils glared daggers at the asphalt beneath him.
Suo looked back to Anzai, who was finally beginning to wrap a roll of bandages around Sakura’s torso, carefully lifting the protesting boy. Suo and Kakiuchi both adjusted their hold to make it easier.
As soon as he was given the all clear, Sakura was on his feet. Suo tried to support him when he stumbled into a wall, but the two toned teen shrugged him off, laser focused on making it to the main street.
Suo followed slowly, leaving Anzai and Kakiuchi to clean up while he trailed the injured boy. Sakura had a hand pressed against his side, face pulled into a grimace as he dragged his feet.
When they finally rounded the corner, Kaji was talking with a few other second years, who were helping administer first aid, while the third years calmed down the townsfolk. Tsugeura stood alone to the side, hands clasped near his chest as he gazed off at the horizon.
“Where’s Nirei?” Sakura grunted when they reached the muscled teen, leaning on his arm for a second. Tsugeura easily offered himself as a crutch, uncharacteristically silent while doing so.
He swallowed quickly before answering, “The ambulance just took him away.”
Suo hid his own reaction, but Sakura wasn’t quite as subtle, “ambulance?”
“Yeah,” Tsugeura nodded, struggling to maintain eye contact, “Kiryu-kun went with him.”
Suo’s hands moved behind his back as he took a step closer, “how bad was it?”
“He needs stitches at least,” Kaji cut in, pulling out a new lollipop, “I only heard a little, but the paramedics didn’t seem too happy.”
Suo could see the exact moment the words registered in Sakura's head. His grade captain's eyes widened, catching the sun as he stared vacantly down the road.
The younger boy crouched down despite the pain it must have caused, hands buried in his hair as he closed himself off. Tsugeura lowered himself too, placing a careful hand on Sakura's back, but the touch didn't seem to register.
All Suo could hear from him was the repeated mumble of “I let it happen again.”