Beyond isn't expecting to find a foot suddenly colliding with his face. Perhaps he should have expected it; he more than anyone knows exactly how violent and unpredictable anger can make a person. He's knocked flat on his back, stunned for a moment before he too begins to laugh - not because it's funny (it's not), not because it doesn't hurt (it does), but because of the sheer absurdity of it all.

He wipes at the blood trickling out of his nose with the underside of his shirtsleeve - proof that he's alive again, undeniable. A flash of memory runs through his mind - the library, Shiro. Blood all over him, wet and sticky, both his and hers.

Finally, his laughter subsides. "Which part would you like me to repeat, Johanna?"

Oops. She never told him her name, did she.