"Ah--No, I'm--I--Ah--" The sound continued despite time and space freezing around Ippo. He had looked up and he knew he shouldn't have. This was a girl; he knew the rules, but pain, even a dull throbbing, muddled the brain. His common brown eyes locked with her pretty green and he was done for. Like a victim of Medusa, he was rendered completely helpless with one stare.

But once those big eyes moved away from him, the young man could breathe again. He lowered his flushing face and hoped it was simply too dark in this hallway for her to have seen his embarrassment--well, the last of his embarrassment.

"N-No, I'm--It's fine. I thought..." Could he really tell this girl he thought she had been a monster? It was like insulting an angel, and Ippo was pretty sure that came back to bite you in the ass like bad karma.

"Must have been a trick of the light," he corrected with a shaky laugh. One hand moved down to his ankle to look for any signs of swelling. Thankfully it was nothing worse than a light sprain, but man did they still hurt! Now would have been a great time to roll out the ol' athletic tape, but the chances a girl just happened to keep some in her pocket were slim to none.

Well, that had been an anti-climactic way to end his night.