I was walking home, being very self conscious about the fact that I was female. I thanked Kazuma silently for making me take all those useless Karate and Tae Kwon Do lessons—that didn’t seem so useless now.

A rustle behind my back.

I whirl around. No one there but a few leaves swirling in the wind, rasping the pavement with their dry surfaces.
I turn back, and keep walking. I had this really unnerving feeling someone was watching me. I gulped, aware of how stupid I looked. I gripped my books tighter to my chest.
Suddenly, something heavy landed behind me, and I spun around with a loud ululation.

“YAAAHH!”

And I jumped onto the figure, only to be caught by my wrists and held firmly into place.
“Slow down there! It’s just me!”
I found myself looking into a pair of familiar azure orbs.
“Christ, Ryuuki, you scared the crap out of me,” I said, relieved it was only him. I bent down to gather my textbooks, and he helped.
“You look cute when you’re scared.”

That earned him an earnest smack upside the head.