I jumped because he freaked out. I did not expect him to react quite so strongly. He reacted so strongly that I nearly fell backwards. I guess that we both freaked each other out because we both hurriedly left the area. I raced away as fast as I could and hid behind a tree, peering out to see if he was still there. So he was a Sohma after all. I had noticed his snake tongue before he covered his mouth. The strange thing was that instead of coming after me and handing me over to the head of the family, he just ran away.
"Sorry I scared you sir," I called out and cautiously walked back towards the spot that I saw him when I noticed that he left his painting. "I was just enjoying the view and...Hey! You left your painting."
I decided to give him his painting back. At least he had not turned me in, so it was the least I could do. I had no guarantee that he was not on the phone with the head of the family but I figured that I would take the risk this time. As soon as I found what I believed was his house, I placed the painting near the door and raced off before he saw me. From then on, I kept up a brisk walk to get as far away as possible.