Sudo's Trouble

Sudo did not actually throw that punch.

At least, not on the surface.

Hirata stepped between them, and two others came up beside him to smooth things over. In the end, that burst of anger was reduced to a few ugly insults and forcibly dispersed.

But everyone could see it.

It was not over.

It just had not exploded yet.

By the time everyone sat back down, the atmosphere in the classroom was already different from ten minutes ago.

The restless excitement of receiving one hundred thousand points was still there.

But something more concrete had been added to it.

Trouble.

And trouble with a name.

Ken Sudou.

Gu Heng did not go to him right away.

He went to Hirata first.

"Thanks for earlier."

Hirata turned around. When he saw Gu Heng, he froze for a moment before smiling.

"I didn't really do much. I just didn't want things to get too tense on the first day."

"That was already a big help."

The smile on Hirata's face faded slightly.

Not because there was anything wrong with Gu Heng's tone.

It was because Gu Heng's words did not sound like casual politeness. They sounded more like he was seriously assessing Hirata's value.

"Do you always talk like that?" Hirata asked.

"Like what?"

"Like you're putting a value on everything."

Gu Heng did not deny it.

"More or less."

Hirata looked at him, as if considering whether this person was difficult to get along with.

In the end, he took half a step back first.

"So, what did you come to talk to me about?"

"I want to ask you something." Gu Heng got straight to the point. "If Sudo had really hit someone just now, whose side would you have taken?"

The smile on Hirata's face faded a little more.

It was not a friendly question.

It was even a little sharp.

"I wouldn't take sides," he said. "I'd just make him stop first."

"And then?"

"Then I'd find a way to keep things from getting worse."

"In other words, you care more about keeping things from blowing up."

Hirata frowned slightly.

"You could put it that way."

"What if things have already blown up?"

"Gu Heng," Hirata said, still gentle in tone as he looked at him, "what exactly are you trying to say?"

Gu Heng did not beat around the bush.

"I'm saying that someone like Sudo can't be dealt with by breaking up one fight."

Hirata fell silent.

Because he knew it was true.

If there had not been so many people around, and if everyone had not still been somewhat cautious on their first day, Sudo might not have stopped.

"So?"

"So, do you want to make our first deal?"

Hirata visibly froze.

A deal.

Coming from Gu Heng, that word somehow did not feel surprising.

"What kind of deal?"

"You help me keep the class steady, and I'll help you keep Sudo in line."

This time, Hirata did not answer immediately.

He was thinking seriously.

Gu Heng did not rush him.

Because he knew this was where someone like Hirata was most useful.

He would not explode first like Sudo, nor would he put on an act first like Kushida.

He would genuinely listen, then make a judgment.

A few seconds later, Hirata spoke.

"Why me?"

"Because you're the only one in the class right now who can step forward and get people to listen to you for a few words," Gu Heng said. "And you know it yourself. Class D can't hold together on goodwill alone in its current state."

Hirata did not argue.

That was the second truth.

The first was that someone like Sudo would cause trouble again sooner or later.

The second was that Class D's current atmosphere could not withstand many more incidents like this.

"How are you planning to keep Sudo in line?"

"Save him once first."

"Save him?"

"Yes." Gu Heng glanced toward the back row. "Reasoning won't work on someone like him. He has to learn who can actually solve his problems before he'll listen even a little."

Hirata's expression shifted slightly.

"You already know what trouble he'll run into?"

"More or less."

"What trouble?"

"It's not time to say yet."

Hirata gave a wry smile.

"You really have a strange way of working with people."

"Strange or not, it'll probably work."

"Probably?"

"Over seventy percent."

Hirata finally let out an amused laugh.

"You even calculate things like that?"

"What else would I do?"

Gu Heng said it so matter-of-factly that it left Hirata unsure how to respond.

Looking at him, Hirata suddenly understood a little why Horikita found Gu Heng irritating yet could not help listening to him.

Though the way he spoke was unpleasant, every word he said seemed aimed at getting results.

"Fine." Hirata nodded. "I can hear you out first."

"Not hear me out," Gu Heng corrected. "Do it."

"You really aren't polite at all."

"Politeness is pointless," Gu Heng said. "If you agree, then starting today, tell me who in the class is most likely to break down emotionally, who is most easily swayed by others, and who is close to Sudo."

"And what about you?"

"I'll tell you who to stabilize first and who doesn't need attention."

Hirata was quiet for two seconds before suddenly asking:

"Gu Heng, do you want to help Class D, or do you just want to control Class D?"

It was an incisive question.

More incisive than most.

Gu Heng looked up at him but did not answer immediately.

A breeze blew in through the half-open windows from the corridor, breaking up the conversation from the back of the classroom into scattered fragments.

He knew that what someone like Hirata cared about most was never the result itself.

He cared whether this person was worth trusting.

Or rather, whether he was worth investing his own small measure of influence in.

"I want to win."

Gu Heng finally spoke.

"But I can't win on my own."

Hirata looked at him.

"So?"

"So I need someone who won't let the class fall apart easily," Gu Heng said. "And you need someone who starts solving problems before they truly get out of hand."

"That's the deal."

Hirata said nothing.

But there was far less hesitation on his face than before.

Because while that answer was still not gentle, it was more honest than he had expected.

Gu Heng had not said pretty things like "for everyone" or "for the honor of the class."

He said he wanted to win.

And that he could not win alone.

That made him more credible than pretty words ever could.

"Okay." Hirata let out a soft breath. "Then I'll agree for now."

Gu Heng nodded.

Their first deal was made.

It was not a big one.

But it was enough.

"I have a question for you too," Hirata suddenly said.

"Ask."

"Why did you set your sights on Sudo?"

Gu Heng followed his gaze.

In the back row, Sudo had already sat back down. He was still muttering curses, but his movements were more restrained than before.

Not because he was scared.

It was the first day, and he had not fully let loose yet.

"Because he's the most typical kind of person."

"What kind?"

"The kind who doesn't think rules can do anything to him," Gu Heng said. "When someone like that hits a wall, they usually aren't the only ones who get hurt."

Hirata looked thoughtful.

"So you're afraid he'll drag down the whole class?"

"No." Gu Heng looked at him, his tone flat. "I'm certain he'll drag down the whole class."

Hirata's gaze froze.

This was no longer concern.

It was a judgment.

"You're that sure?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because someone like him was already barely holding himself back on the first day."

The moment Gu Heng finished speaking, another curse suddenly erupted from the back of the classroom.

"What the hell are you looking at?"

Sudo abruptly turned his head and glared at a boy diagonally behind him who had just looked away.

The boy had merely sneaked a glance at him, but after being caught on the spot, his expression did not look very good either.

"So what if I looked?"

"What the fuck kind of look was that?"

People nearby began trying to calm them down again.

Hirata instinctively wanted to go over.

Gu Heng reached out and stopped him.

"Wait."

"If we don't go over there, they're going to start making a scene again."

"This time is different."

"How is it different?"

Gu Heng narrowed his eyes.

He had been watching just now.

That boy had not been deliberately provoking him.

He was simply afraid.

Afraid that someone with Sudo's temper would really cause trouble for the class someday, so he could not help glancing at him a few extra times.

And what Sudo could not stand most was that look in people's eyes—the look that said, "You all think I'm going to cause trouble."

This was not an ordinary argument.

Sudo had already begun clashing with the entire class's subconscious assumptions.

"If you go over now, you'll only suppress it for this minute," Gu Heng said quietly. "You won't suppress what comes after."

Hirata stopped in his tracks.

"Then what should we do?"

"Let everyone see clearly where the problem really lies first."

"You mean we should leave it alone?"

"Not leave it alone," Gu Heng said. "Just don't treat him like a one-time emotional problem."

Hirata fell silent at once.

He was smart.

At least smart enough to understand.

If they saw Sudo's problem as merely "having a bad temper," they would only be putting out fires again and again.

But if this was a structural problem...

Then they would need a different approach.

At the front of the classroom, Horikita had somehow begun watching as well.

She had clearly noticed the interaction between Gu Heng and Hirata.

And she had also noticed that Gu Heng had not immediately gone to deal with Sudo.

Her brows were furrowed, as though she still did not agree.

But this time, she did not rush over first.

Gu Heng noticed and quietly made a mental note of it.

Good.

Though Horikita was still unconvinced, she had already begun waiting to see what he would do next.

The argument in the back was eventually subdued after Hirata went over.

But this time, Gu Heng did not follow.

He simply remained seated, watching Hirata step into the crowd, watching Sudo reluctantly turn his head away, and watching the people nearby breathe sighs of relief while the thought in their eyes—This guy really is trouble—grew increasingly solid.

Then he lowered his head and drew a line beside Sudo's name on the page.

Not to cross it out.

To mark it.

Top priority.

"Are you really planning to save him?"

At some point, Horikita had come to stand beside his desk.

Gu Heng looked up.

"Didn't you hear everything?"

"I'm just confirming."

"Confirming what?"

"Whether you've gone insane." Horikita looked at him. "Someone like him—you should cut him loose early, yet you want to pull him back instead?"

"You want to cut him loose?"

"At least I wouldn't actively throw myself at trouble like you."

Gu Heng leaned back in his chair and looked at her.

"What do you think Class D lacks most?"

Horikita frowned.

"Discipline."

"Not just that."

"Academic ability."

"Not just that either."

Horikita was getting a little irritated.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that what Class D lacks most right now isn't one less problem." Gu Heng looked at her. "It's one less obvious person who is worth saving."

Horikita froze.

"Sudo counts too?"

"Of course he doesn't right now," Gu Heng said. "That's why we need to make him count."

"What makes you think you can do that?"

"I'm not sure," Gu Heng said calmly. "But I am sure that if we don't even try to lend a hand to someone like him, Class D will only become more and more like a pile of rotten sand that could scatter at any moment."

Horikita said nothing more.

Because she suddenly realized that Gu Heng wanted to protect Sudo not out of sympathy.

Nor out of passion.

He was trying to find Class D its first real stone, one that could hold firm against the wind.

It was a very practical idea.

And a very dangerous one.

Yet for the moment, she could not find a better path.

Gu Heng did not explain further.

He turned to a fresh page, his gaze passing over Horikita's shoulder and settling on the classroom door.

Sudo was still cursing under his breath. Hirata stood beside him, trying to persuade him, while Kushida had already gone over with a smile to smooth things out, as though the faint smell of gunpowder from earlier had nothing to do with her.

And Ayanokoji sat by the window without even lifting his head.

As if none of it interested him.

But Gu Heng knew that people like that often saw the clearest.

He withdrew his gaze and arranged his immediate priorities in his mind.

First, stabilize Hirata.

Second, keep an eye on Sudo.

Third, do not let Kushida realize too early that he had already seen through her.

This was Class D's first true opening move.

And the trouble had only just begun.