[@Crimmy]

[b]Luke Schwarz[/b]

With a wide smile, I took her hand and shook it firmly. As expected, it was a dainty little thing that you wouldn't ever believe belonged to a grown woman with the ability to murder you in over 700 ways, but her grip was just as firm as mine. All in all, it was a good shake.

Okay, then all that was left was to make things official, right?

[b]"I suppose I've got catching up to do at the library... Oh, Sense-- Er, Ms. Cirsium, sorry... What's the period and room number?"[/b]

Close call, there.

If I was going to show up for class, I needed to know where and when I was supposed to be learning, after all.

It'd have been a horrendous start if I was late, or something. I'd done enough of that in high school, and after trying in earnest to become a properly academic-minded, driven and diligent student over the course of six months, I didn't want to blow it all away now...

I mean, if the going got tough the going got tough. I'm not a man who runs away from hardship any more.

I owed it to my mother, my sisters, my sleazy uncle, and everyone else who had helped me along the way.

And most of all, I owed it to...