I found it strange why Suzuki even cares about Hinako at all, but thinking about it now, he never did touch her, and he went out of his way to meet up with the "pervert" in the park and kick him in the head. Also, they tried to hide their real activities from her. Utsubo would probably never care, so it had to be Suzuki having the voice of compassion between them.
It did seem like he would sacrifice her though, but not if it were meaningless like how their plan failed, and Akira showed how futile it was to improvise.