"We burned half of it," Ryouma corrected. "And I turned his insides to pudding." He forced a smile. "Really nasty pudding." The corner of his mouth twitched up a little more. "Even worse'n the stuff they'd serve for lunch at the Academy..."

Katsuko's nose wrinkled in half-amused disgust; her grip loosened, and her hands dropped away. He caught them just before she turned back. "Katsuko. Thanks. Again, I guess. I owe you more'n I thought."

She looked bemused. "Well," he explained, "you did pretty much kiss me back to life. And nearly kill me doing it, by the way. Set a pretty high standard for first kisses. I gotta admit, I'm looking forward to the next one."