(AN: I have been playing with this story for a while and while I still don't think the characters are at their best, I'm thinking I'm just gonna post this anyway. Still on a mission to make this pairing fan-canon so here goes~)

It was another night at the Extreme Arcade. The DDR players were scattered about, trying the assorted Bemani games on that side of the building. But there was something different about that week; something that nobody mentioned the previous week, but that day, Emi decided to speak up and ask the following question...

"Has anybody seen Zero?"

Rage, Gus, Alice, Akira, and Yuni looked around at each other. No one gave a response, but they could tell that the general answer was "no."

"I think the last time he showed up was two weeks ago," Rage pointed out. "He didn't say anything about leaving, did he?"

Emi crossed her arms. "I hope he didn't just stop coming..."

"Oh, he'll be back," Yuni said with confidence. She glanced at Alice, who noticed her stare and focused her dark blue eyes shyly in her lap. "Still," the blonde continued, "I wonder what he's up to. He always says he's busy but I'll bet he's just making it up."

"Well, it's his loss for not coming here," Rage said. "Come on Emi." He motioned to the DDR X machine and the short haired girl followed.

"Wait a sec," Gus started, having previously noted Yuni's gesture, "Alice, don't tell me you and-"

"No, no!" she interrupted nervously. "Zero and I, um, we're like friends..."

"But that's pretty good for Zero," Yuni argued. "He's distant to everybody, but I see him hanging around you all the time when he's here. Am I right?"

"I... uh..." she muttered. "Maybe not all the time..."

Yuni smirked. "Well, it's no fun if you don't wanna talk about him. Anyway, you're sure he didn't seem different two weeks ago?"

Alice shook her head. "I think he was fine the last time he was here. And he hasn't told me anything." She paused. "But I am kind of worried about him. He never said anything about leaving the arcade for good."

"Then you should go ask him what's up."

"Huh?"

Yuni's smile hadn't faded. "You wanna know what's going on, don't you? So what's stopping you?"

Alice averted her vision. "I guess you're right. Tomorrow, I'll go see if he's home and find out what's going on..."

Gus blinked. "You know where he lives?"

Alice squeaked from embarrassment and nodded.

The following warm afternoon, Alice made her way to Zero's residence, fearful from not knowing what to expect. The unpredictable man would do anything from let her inside to yell at her when she arrived. Yet her curiosity was greater than her fear, and the girl continued to walk to the familiar building.

She rang the doorbell and waited patiently, holding her hands in front of her. She rolled back and forth on her heels as what seemed like a minute or two passed, until she heard the lock on the door click open. She straightened her posture and glanced at the man inside.

Zero stared at her blankly and blinked. "Did you need something?"

Alice found it easier to stare at his neck than his eyes. "I, well, we were wondering what happened to you. You haven't been at the arcade in a while and..."

"Oh." He rubbed his forehead and fiddled with his troublesome bangs. "I haven't been getting much sleep lately."

Worried, Alice questioned him. "Why, is something wrong?"

"It shouldn't concern you," he replied. He sounded a little dark to her, but he continued calmly. "I'll come back to the arcade, but I'm not up for it right now."

"All right," she said, pointing her fingers at each other. "Just remember to come back, okay?"

"I will."

He closed the door before she had the opportunity to say goodbye.

(Still a couple more chapters to go. Can't believe I'm writing chapters again and not so many one shots. o_o)