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For most of Windbreaker up until this latest manga arc, Suo has been a significant character because of his role as interpreter. When other people don’t understand Sakura, Suo translates for him in a way that they can comprehend. This is shown as early as his first appearance when his (deliberate) actions towards Sakura in the Furin classroom help ease the tension between Sakura and his classmates. Looking at how they act when Sakura first enters the room versus a few minutes later is like a night and day difference, and it’s all thanks to Suo lightheartedly introducing Sakura to the class.

He also helps interpret what other people are saying to Sakura. In most major emotional scenes in the story, Suo is usually there to easily summarize the main points to Sakura in a way that is easy for him to internalize and recall. It’s significant that Suo is often the one to bookend the emotional monologues of other characters to Sakura, and that Sakura seems to finally grapple with it properly once Suo gives that explanation

Overall, throughout most of the narrative, Sakura is largely able to grow and develop the communication skills he didn’t have before because he had Suo to act as his interpreter. But, despite his attempts to remain a passive participant, Suo isn’t an unbiased translator. The reason he is so good at being Sakura’s interpreter is because he shares Sakura’s language and is thus also a “foreigner.” This makes itself known during what is arguably Suo’s most significant early scene besides his introduction: his fight with Kanuma.

Up until this point in the story, Sakura has been suspicious and dismissive of Suo. Although he can tell that Suo is strong, he doesn’t try engaging with him significantly despite Suo placing himself in his orbit. In the moments that he does, it is with the legitimate belief that Suo may want to antagonize him.

But, when Suo tells Sakura that he was inspired by Sakura and wants to give it his all right before the Kanuma fight, Sakura immediately changes. He asks Nirei questions about Suo, he focuses on Suo’s battle, and he eventually tells Suo that he wants to have a proper battle with him, which in this series essentially means that he wants to learn more about him and get closer to him. And, though Suo characteristically deflects and doesn’t engage Sakura, the event is enough to convince Sakura to accept Suo into his budding group. He drops his suspicions, and takes Suo’s antics as playful rather than dangerous.

It’s such a significant early turning point for them that it’s the clearest memory Sakura has of Suo when the memories wash over him after learning about what he did to Nirei during the latest arc. And it’s because it’s one of the few times (and the first time) we see beyond the passive mask Suo wears.

Before that moment, Suo was just acting as an interpreter. A bridge between the class and Sakura. But, in that moment, Sakura and the audience see the human, the boy, that lives under that smile. A boy who was amazed by his new classmate and friend. A boy who was so angry that someone was mistreating others that he humiliated them in front of everyone. And he did it in a way that, whether consciously or unconsciously, was in a language that Sakura could understand. He can understand wanting to pummel a smug bastard into the ground. Sakura saw that “nasty” personality and was relieved and intrigued.

Their similar languages and thinking is also why Sakura often takes Suo’s explanations without question while Nirei is more likely to push back. Nirei’s unique perspective to the trio means that he is often the one to challenge their viewpoint the most.

Though Sakura now knew there was more to Suo, he both didn’t feel the need to push deeper or even had the tools to do so. But, as the story has progressed, he’s been slowly gaining the ability to properly communicate with people on his own, which is why Suo’s arc has occurred at just the right time.

Suo leaving Furin means that Sakura looses the training wheels that he has had up until this point. He now has to use the skills he has learned on his own, and he has done really well so far. Despite the hurt he felt after Suo’s departure, he took the time to listen to Nirei’s perspective and decided to make the effort to try to find Suo. And, when everyone was struggling to find him, he also took the initiative to ask everyone including Endo. These are all things that Sakura would not have done at the start of the series, which shows just how far he’s come.