Hirata had already pushed himself halfway up, bracing his hands on his knees.
Gu Heng walked over and pressed a hand to his shoulder.
The force wasn't heavy.
But he had no intention of letting him go.
"Sit down."
Hirata looked up.
"The girls are arguing."
"I heard."
"Karuizawa has been pushed to the front. It could turn into a conflict."
"That's exactly why we can't send you in every time."
Hirata's fingers clenched the fabric of his pants where they rested on his knees.
His body, which had just left the tree trunk, sank back down half an inch.
Over in the girls' group, Karuizawa still stood at the edge of the crowd.
She wasn't shouting.
But after she said, "So what?" the surrounding voices abruptly fell silent. Several people who had been about to speak closed their mouths.
Kushida stood in the middle, her clipboard pressed to her chest, fingertips against its edge.
Shinohara folded her arms.
"I only said someone needs to take the lead during the night patrol. She used less energy during the day. Isn't that a fact?"
Karuizawa shifted half a step toward Shinohara.
"I used less energy during the day because I wasn't assigned heavy work."
"Wouldn't it be normal to make up for that now?"
"Make up for it?"
Karuizawa brushed aside the end of her hair, enunciating the words "at the very front" softly.
"You call taking the very front position at night making up for it?"
Shinohara's folded arms tightened.
"Then what do you want? Send someone with an injured foot? Or send Sakura?"
Sakura had been looking down.
At the sound of her name, her shoulders jerked inward.
Hirata's fingers tightened over his knee.
Gu Heng still didn't release him.
"See that?"
Hirata's hands remained braced on his knees.