Good People and Reality

When Ichinose came looking for Gu Heng, Class D had just finished a quick reorganization after the first round.

The water had been redistributed.

Yukimura had gone over the route once.

Hirata was still calming several people who clutched their backpack straps without letting go, their voices lowered.

Gu Heng swept his gaze over Ichinose and the Class B students behind her, who had not followed too closely, then nodded.

"Over there."

The two stopped beneath the shadow of trees, sheltered from the wind.

They were not far away.

But it was just enough to avoid the people still busy nearby.

Ichinose looked at him for two seconds before speaking.

"That move just now was impressive."

It was praise.

But Gu Heng did not go along with it.

"Usually, praise is followed by a turn," he said.

Ichinose's lashes paused slightly. Her fingertips touched her backpack strap, and only then did the faint smile at her lips slowly emerge.

"You really make it hard for people to skip the foreplay," she said. "Fine, I'll get straight to it."

"I think what you did just now was too cold."

Gu Heng did not stop twisting the cap on his bottle.

"What was cold about it?"

"You knew those people from Class C wanted nothing more than to provoke Sudo into exploding." Ichinose looked at him. "But you still put him in the position where he was easiest to provoke."

"And you knew that if they kept blocking the way, they'd waste their stamina in the first half."

"You deliberately made them waste it."

Gu Heng tightened the cap another half-turn.

"Yes," he admitted outright. "I did it deliberately."

Ichinose pressed her lips together lightly.

"That's why I said you were too cold."

"If it was only to win the first round, was that really necessary?"

Gu Heng did not answer immediately.

Ichinose did not press him. She simply tucked her hanging hair behind her ear.

"It was necessary," Gu Heng finally answered.

"Why?"

"Because I'm not playing a game with Class C where it's fine if we lose this round." Gu Heng's tone was level. "Class D has a weaker foundation than yours. Stamina, discipline, execution, supply reserves—we're worse in all of them."

"If we have to rely on a head-on clash even to take the first round, then later on, it won't just mean having a little less of an advantage."

"The whole stretch will collapse."

Ichinose did not immediately argue.

She tilted her head slightly toward Class D, then turned back.

She only looked at Gu Heng and added softly:

"But you put Sudo in there too."

"What if he couldn't hold back?"

"Then it means the more than twenty days before this were all for nothing," Gu Heng said.

A strand of the hair Ichinose had tucked behind her ear slipped loose.

Her fingertips rose halfway, then slowly returned to her backpack strap.

"I mean it," Gu Heng said as he looked at her. "I protected him, took him in, and let the rules bite him not so he could keep exploding the same way the moment he got outside."

"If he couldn't hold back today, then it wouldn't be Class C winning."

"It would mean Class D still hadn't grown up."

The wind brushed gently past them.

Ichinose held her backpack strap and fell silent for several seconds.

"But when all is said and done, you still put him in the position most likely to provoke a reaction."

"Yes." Gu Heng nodded. "Because that's where he needs to stand most right now."

Ichinose's brow furrowed slightly.

"See?" she said quietly. "This is what I don't like about you."

"You turn people into functions too easily."

Gu Heng did not argue right away.

He tightened the cap another half-turn.

"I just acknowledge that it's there first."

Ichinose fell completely silent.

The smile on her face slowly faded a little.

Her fingers tightened lightly on the backpack strap, then loosened.

"Then let me say something you probably won't like either." Ichinose lifted her eyes to him. "Sooner or later, this way of thinking will trap you too."

"When that time comes, you might not be able to tell whether they're truly following you or just afraid to stop."

Gu Heng did not reply at once.

He lowered his head and brushed the sand from the edge of his shoe, only looking up half a second later.

When Ichinose saw that he did not speak, her voice softened instead.

"I'm not saying you were definitely wrong just now," she said. "It's just that you always choose the method that costs you the least."

"Living like that all the time is exhausting."

After listening, Gu Heng slowly ran his thumb around the edge of the bottle cap, and only then did the corner of his mouth lift briefly.

That smile lasted only an instant before he flattened it again.

"The way you talk is just like the impression your class gives people."

"What do you mean?"

"It sounds like you're telling people not to make things too hard," Gu Heng said. "But really, you're reminding them that hard doesn't mean right."

The tension in Ichinose's eyes loosened slightly, and this time her smile was softer than before.

"It's good that you understand."

"Then let me return the favor." Gu Heng looked at her. "You're too used to believing that if you show goodwill first, a lot of things can be discussed more easily."

"But Class D can't afford that."

Ichinose frowned lightly.

"You think everyone is too eager to take advantage."

"It's not what I think," Gu Heng said. "Someone already did exactly that just now."

As soon as he said that, Ichinose fell silent again.

She glanced down at her terminal, then quickly looked back up.

"So you don't naturally enjoy doing this," she suddenly asked.

Gu Heng's hand stopped on the bottle cap.

"What?"

"Putting everyone into a role first," Ichinose said. "You don't do it because you think it looks cool."

Gu Heng looked at Ichinose. The words that had been about to leave his mouth stalled in his throat, and he twisted the cap back half a turn.

"Of course it isn't cool," Gu Heng said. "It's just that sometimes, it costs less than being naive."

Ichinose let out a soft breath.

"Fine." The corner of her lips loosened slightly. "I still don't agree with a lot of what you do."

"But I'll admit one thing."

"What?"

Ichinose looked toward the Class D group in the distance.

Hirata was still helping a girl switch to a lighter bag. Sudo sat beside them, his brows pressed low, the back of his hand against a water bottle, yet he did not push away the water handed to him.

"You didn't push out the weakest group," she said.

"So all I can say is that you're too cold."

"I can't say you're bad."

After hearing that, Gu Heng pressed a finger into the water bottle. The bottle dented slightly, then slowly sprang back.

"You're more perceptive than I thought," he said.

"Is that a compliment?"

"It counts." Gu Heng nodded. "Though you're too idealistic."

"And you're too realistic," Ichinose replied with a smile.

"Even."

Gu Heng was the first to turn away slightly, and the forced curve at his lips faded.

Ichinose swallowed back whatever she had been about to say and merely turned the water bottle gently in her palm.

Neither of them took another step closer.

"Oh, right." Ichinose's fingertips paused on the bottle, and her voice lowered again. "Class C won't only be watching Sudo from here on."

"I know."

"And Class A." She looked at Gu Heng. "After what you did today, Class A has seen it too."

Gu Heng's grip around the bottle tightened, and the cap pressed lightly into his palm.

"So you came to warn me?"

"Not really a warning." A faint smile appeared in Ichinose's eyes. "Think of it as kindness."

"Then I'm even less willing to accept it for free."

"See?" Ichinose laughed helplessly. "There you go again."

Gu Heng turned his gaze away. The words in his throat went unspoken, pressed down by a quiet breath.

But just then, someone in the distance suddenly walked toward them.

His pace was unhurried.

And his smile was far from shallow.

Hashimoto.

He stopped a short distance from them, nodded first to Ichinose, then turned to Gu Heng.

"Gu, excuse me."

"Something?"

"I'm here to deliver a message for someone." Hashimoto smiled. "Sakayanagi said that what you did today was more valuable than she expected."

Gu Heng said nothing.

Hashimoto was in no hurry and continued at an unhurried pace:

"If you're willing to talk, Class A's route preferences for the next day, supply windows, and assessment of the target zones are all open to negotiation."

"And."

His smile deepened.

"You can name your own price first."

Ichinose was quiet beside him for half a second.

Then she sighed softly.

"See?" she said in a low voice. "I knew it would turn into this."

Gu Heng held the water bottle without responding to Hashimoto.

His gaze rested for two seconds on Hashimoto's still-raised smile before shifting elsewhere.

Hashimoto did not press him. He merely rested his fingers lightly on his backpack strap and remained outside the same distance as before.

Ichinose's fingers loosened from her backpack strap, then gripped it again.

Gu Heng lowered his eyes to the water bottle in his hand.

The small dent he had squeezed into it slowly sprang back, only for him to press it in again.

"Name my price?" he finally said.

His voice was kept flat.

"Then tell her to set the table first."