Work Text:
Nirei might know more about Suo than anyone else in their class, but Suo’s section in his notebook still has fewer pages than almost anyone else. He had thought that becoming friends with the eye-patched boy would mean learning more about him and having more to add to his notes.
That, however, was not the case.
Ever since he became vice captain for their class along with Suo, he had barely written anything new.
He learned so much about Sakura since coming to Furin: Sakura hates vegetables, he loves going to Cafe Pothos and eating the omurice, he lives alone, wants to reach the top. Nirei could probably go on and on.
But Suo? Where does he live? Nirei doesn’t know. Any siblings? Pets? Favorite foods? The only thing Nirei knows is that Suo hates natto, but he doesn't know if Suo has any favorites.
This has been bothering Nirei for a long time. That’s why he decided to observe Suo more closely, hoping to learn even a small detail.
“Nire-kun?”
“...”
“...Nire-kun? You good?”
“Huh, wait what?”
Nirei snaps back to the moment. He’s still in their classroom, sitting by the window, while Suo sits across from him, trying to get his attention.
“You were staring at me and weren't responding.” Suo explains.
Nirei flushes instantly at that, he really wasn’t trying to, it’s just that he was thinking too hard and hadn’t realized what he had been doing.
“Oh really? Hahaha sorry, I was thinking about something…” Nirei replies, trying to sound casual.
Suo just smiles at him.
“Ah, what were you thinking about? Mind telling me? ”
There is no way Nirei is going to admit that he has been observing him for the last few days, and is getting frustrated that he’s learning nothing. Wouldn't he be weirded out and not want to hang out with him anymore?
“No, it’s really nothing serious…” Nirei lies. Looking at the look on Suo’s face, he knows he obviously doesn’t believe him, so Nirei changes the topic.
“Where’s Sakura-san?” Nirei asks as he scans the room.
“Kiryu-kun dragged him off somewhere, not sure what they’re doing. Let’s go home, I’ll walk with you.” Suo answers.
Nirei gets up from his seat happily. More time with Suo means more of a chance he can try to ask him questions. Maybe he’ll actually get something this time.
As they walk through the familiar streets, conversation goes easy for them and Nirei tries to sneak in questions every once in a while.
“My cousin came over last week and brought her dog with her. Her name is Momo, she’s very cute. Speaking of dogs, do you have any pets, Suo-san?”
Suo takes a few seconds to think, “Ahhh, not currently.. But…”
Nirei perks up, surprised that Suo might actually share something personal.
“When I was younger, I had a pet dragon, but it di-”
“Never mind! ” Nirei scowls, as he speeds up his steps. Suo still has a stupid grin on his face, one that Nirei really feels like slapping off. What was he even thinking? That Suo might be serious for once?
Suo speeds up to match his pace.
“You don’t believe me? I was being sincere right there.” Suo jokes.
“Suo-san, I don’t think even Sakura-san would fall for that..”
Suo bursts out laughing, which makes Nirei laugh as well. Suo doesn’t laugh often at all, but when he does, Nirei thinks it’s a sound super pleasant to listen to.
“Sakura-kun would be offended to hear that.”
“Unfortunately, it’s true.”
Their conversation goes back to normal, but Nirei still has the whole interaction at the back of his mind. If Suo doesn’t have any pets, why can’t he just say he doesn’t have any? Must he lie about that?
The rest of their walk home goes as usual, but when the two reach Nirei’s house, Nirei gets another idea.
What if I follow Suo? Maybe I can catch a glimpse of his house or family...
He waves goodbye to Suo like aways.
“See you tomorrow! Suo-san”
“Take care, Nire-kun!”
Instead of going inside, Nirei waits until Suo turns the corner, then quietly follows him. But by the second turn, he’s already lost Suo.
Nirei isn’t even slow as well, is it really just Suo is an incredibly fast walker? But when Suo was walking with Nirei, he never walked this fast…
Sighing with disappointment, Nirei heads back to his house.
“Sakura-san…. Sakura-sann.. What should I doooo…” Nirei complains.
The two are sitting in Cafe Pothos having breakfast before class. Sakura doesn’t reply as he stuffs his face with his egg sandwich.
Nirei continues anyways, “ I want to know more about Suo-san, we’re such good friends, and he’s been teaching me to fight, so I really want to be closer. But sometimes, I think Suo-san doesn’t want me to know him better…”
Sakura picks up his water bottle, takes a drink and slams it back down onto the table.
“Suo this! Suo that! You said his name just about a hundred times this morning alone, and he’s not even here!!”
Nirei pouts, “but Suo-san…”
Sakura shoves his other half of the sandwich towards Nirei, “Gosh, just eat and stop talking about him. His personality is just like that, nothing against ya or anything, some people are naturally more secretive. I don’t get why you want to know so much about him anyway.”
“Because I have a crush on him.” Nirei declares casually, as he takes a bite of the sandwich Sakura gave to him.
THUMP
Nirei jumps in his seat, turning to see Sakura’s head smashed against the table in front of him.
“HUH???” Sakura yells as he stares up at him in shock.
Nirei starts sweating, nervously adding, “Is that weird or something??? I don’t know!!! I know I’m way out of his league, but I can’t control my feelings…”
“Wait- Hold on. I didn’t say it was weird or that you’re not good for him… If you like him, you like him. It’s just that….him? He’s an asshole..”
“Sakura-san, that’s not very nice.”
Sakura rolls his eyes, “Fine, but I still don’t think you have to worry about him though, he clearly likes you back too, just look at how he treats you.”
Nirei shakes his head. “Just because he’s kind to me doesn’t mean he likes me, he treats everyone that way.”
Sakura almost chokes as he gives Nirei a look of disbelief.
“He does NOT treat everyone the same way he treats you.”
Nirei is still not convinced but nods anyways, since Sakura looks like he’s two seconds away from exploding,
Nirei sits down on the steps on the stairs, wiping away his sweat. He has just finished training with Suo for the day, and he feels incredibly sweaty.
He then hears some footsteps from behind, and as he looks back, he sees Suo holding two bottles of water, handing him one.
Nirei thanks the other as Suo takes a seat beside him.
Nirei glances over at Suo, who, even after an hour of training, hasn't broken a sweat. He looks pristine and completely unfazed.
They sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes, until Suo speaks up.
“I heard from a certain someone that you want to know more about me.”
Nirei almost crushes his water bottle as Suo’s words hit him.
“SAKURA-SAN????”
He bites his bottom lip, cursing Sakura silently. Why would he go and tell Suo?
“Yea, I was talking to Sakura-kun earlier and he brought it up. “
Nirei suddenly feels his heart sink to the floor, what else did Sakura tell Suo about? His crush?
“W-why did you guys talk about me, what else did he say??”
“He told me to go talk to you so you would shut up about me.”
Nirei looks at Suo’s face for any reaction, and to his surprise, Suo is smiling.
Nirei isn’t sure if Suo knows about his feelings yet, but he doesn’t want to ask directly. Still, Suo DOES know Nirei is trying to learn more about him, so Nirei might as well be straightforward.
“Suo-san… please tell me something… anything about you. “
Unexpectedly, Suo said,
“Sure.”
Nirei blinks a few times, while Suo leans in closer to him, and whispers into his ears,
“我真的太喜欢你了，我想和你在一起。“
Nirei widens his eyes. He did not understand a word of what Suo just said, but Suo being that close to him made his heart beat so much faster.
“W-what.”
Suo grins as he stands up from the stairs. “That’s my secret, I told you already.”
Suo starts to walk away, and Nirei also gets up, following behind him.
“Hold on, that's not fair! I don’t understand what you’re saying and… Was that Chinese?? Since when do you speak Chinese?”