(Potentially one-shot collection, but here's all I got for now. I just felt like they couldn't jump into a relationship fresh out of Street Master Mode without connecting, so they're starting slow.)

It was hot in that arcade. Then again, if you played DDR, it was always hot regardless.

Zero shook his hair, having just finished Healing Vision. An easy final song, at his level. They had placed a fan by the machine, and his goal was to get a round's worth of relief from its breeze while defeating Rage's scores on the other side. After he was victorious and walked off the machine, the humid atmosphere was unavoidable.

Well, unless he stepped outside. As Emi and Yuni pushed their way onto the machine, he stealthily stepped behind the machine, where he made a calm break to the exit.

–

The October night air was warm but breezy enough to keep Zero cool. He leaned against the wall next to the entrance and let the wind dry his skin until he was cold enough to put on his fur jacket again.

As he adjusted the jacket in place, he couldn't help but notice Alice had been sitting on the other side of the door, having traded her sleeveless red vest for a white, full-length sleeve jacket. How hadn't he seen her before? And how had she not noticed him, either...?

She rested her elbows on her knees, crossing her arms and holding onto her sleeves lightly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, too curious to ignore her.

"Huh? Oh, when did you get out here?" she stuttered. "I guess I really spaced out..."

Come to think of it, he hadn't seen her in the arcade very long that evening. How long had she been out there?

"You didn't answer my earlier question."

She mumbled. "There's a lot on my mind; that's all." She looked back at the ground.

He had one chance to leave her alone. He had a certain window of time to go back inside without offending her.

"You're thinking of a lot, but act as if it's not much," he clarified skeptically.

"It's not like that. There isn't much you can do, I mean."

The window was quickly closing.

"I wouldn't know if you don't tell me."

He closed the window himself without realizing it.

"I got... a letter."

A letter? A little old fashioned, wasn't it...?

"You see, I always write to my family in Hong Kong. My grandparents can't travel much, so that's how I prefer to keep in touch with them. Still, I wish I could go back once in a while." She paused. "I still miss them. Even after all this time."

Zero stepped next to her and slid down in a sitting position. "Time doesn't erase that sort of thing."

She looked a little happy to see him there. "Do you really want to stay out here?"

He rolled his eyes. "I was never much of a video gamer, anyway. I came out because it was getting hot in there." To be honest, he preferred silence over listening to someone ramble... but Alice had more depth than he pegged her for. "What made this letter different?" he sort of demanded.

"They said my grandpa got sick."

He was a little sorry for asking...

"They said it's not serious, and I don't have to worry about him or anything. At least, I don't think I do." She huddled a little. "But what if I'm gone for so long that something does happen do him? Or my grandma? How much am I missing by being away from home?"

Zero didn't know how to answer her. He wasn't particularly attached to his family and found it hard to relate to her predicament.

"You have the money to visit them, don't you?" he asked. "You're a singer, after all."

"It's not that simple," she argued. "I have to keep up my work. If I take a trip there, all my music work has to stop until I get back." She frowned. "It took a lot just to get follow Yuni and the others to this city. And if I ask to move back home, I might never see those guys again."

"You followed Yuni here?"

Alice nodded. "Rage went to America almost a year ago. Emi wanted to go after him, so she found a college she could study at. Yuni was her best friend and she decided to go with Emi. They told me all about it before they left, and Disco found a place to live in the same city as Emi's college and Yuni's mansion. He didn't want the other dancers left out, so he invited me, too." She smiled. "After I first left home, I couldn't stand being away. But thanks to my friends, I was able to enjoy my time in Japan. And... that year, I was scared to lose everybody.

"And that's also why I don't want to tell them about what's going on," she added. "Emi tries so hard to make people happy, and I don't want her to think I'm not happy."

He smirked. "So, because I haven't done anything nice to you, you're willing to tell all of this to me?"

"N-no! I mean," she fidgeted, even though he was sort of right. "... I guess I talked really long, didn't I?"

Zero shrugged. Alice wasn't sure how to interpret that...

"Thanks... for listening."

"It wasn't much effort," he responded.

She smiled. "But... it means a lot to me."