I'm distracted myself, staring around, half hoping Takeru will show up, and half berating myself, knowing how wrong, stupid, and dangerous that is.

Which is why I don't notice another student until we literally bump into one another, which would be no big deal on any normal day, but today it throws off my precarious balance, twists my wounded leg too far, and drops me straight to the floor.

"Ah! Excusez-moi!" It takes a moment not to immediately heft myself to my feet using my cables. Talk about outing myself. I'd probably call down all kinds of wrath if I did that. My cables are not entirely unlike Takeru's cables, and I know it.

Instead I still, slightly dazed on the floor, willing myself to get up by more conventional means.