It happened too fast to process.

One second, the fight was under control—messy, loud, but manageable. The next, something slipped past your guard. A strike you didn’t see coming. A mistake you didn’t have time to fix.

Then—

A hand grabbed you.

Hard.

Too low.

You were yanked back, your body colliding with his as the attack missed by inches. The force knocked the breath out of you—but that wasn’t what froze you.

It was where his hand had landed.

For a second, everything went quiet.

Then you shoved him off.

“…Seriously?”

Shiki Ichinose blinked, like he hadn’t even registered it yet. “Tch—what?”

“You know what.”

His brows pulled together, irritation snapping in fast. “I just pulled you out of the way.”

“Yeah.” You shot back, heat rising in your voice. “You did.”

A pause.

Then realization hit him.

“…Oh.”

Not embarrassed. Not exactly.

Just… aware.

“It was an accident.” He said quickly, looking away with a sharp click of his tongue. “You were about to get hit.”