Howdy! It's been such a long time! Honestly, I was almost thinking this could be one of those stories on HIATUS, but I didn't want that haunting me since this story has already developed so far in my mind. But it's 5 months from my last chapter, and this is what I've got. It's a tad shorter than other chapters probably, or maybe not, but I wanted to end it at an interesting spot. Please, enjoy.

Disclaimer: You know Beck's not mine. I know Becks's not mine. Therefore, Beck's not mine.


Kozue did her best to come up with some fresh beats, but it was hard while she was working and there was no music besides the elevator kind. She would mumble words to herself and rehearse them line by line as she fitted a wealthy-looking woman some pumps.

"Young miss," the lady said as she walked over to a wall of shoes. "Do you have these in my size?"

Kozue carefully hopped over the boxes and shoes that the lady had asked to get to try on.

"I can go check the back, miss."

"Oh, hold on," the lady called her back and nearly made the young teen run into a rack of laces and socks. "Can I get these too?"

Kozue came over and the lady handed her the shoe. She went to the back and brought three boxes of shoes back and it quite surprised the lady.

"Here is the first shoe you asked for," she said before opening the box and placing both shoes on her feet. She did her best to memorize some lyrics while making sure she placed the right shoe on the right foot.

The lady stood up and walked over to a mirror. "What do you think of these?"

The girl tried to not stress and calm herself down so she could do her job efficiently. "I think they're a great color, miss, but personally I am not a fan of shoes with the toe of the shoe in that style."

The store owner seemed to be passing by and quickly scolded Kozue. The lady got angry. "Excuse me sir, but this young miss has been helping me this entire time. I would gladly leave this store without buying so much as single sock if customer service is not a priority of yours. I have asked her to be honest about how these shoes look because I am not interested in wearing ugly shoes."

The owner and the employee looked at the woman in awe of her. The owner soon changed his tune toward Kozue and shook her hand. "You are doing a fantastic job, uh" -he glanced at her name tag- "Kozue. Good work. I'll make sure to give you a raise."

He walked away and she was left there stunned while the lady she was helping stood there triumphantly. The still developing female looked up to the fully grown one in amazement.

"So these aren't your taste, huh?" Kozue nodded. "Then show me the next one."

"Well there wasn't your size in the color you asked for, but I found your size in another color that I thought would compliment the outfit that you're wearing today."

"Brilliant," said the lady with a bright smile.

Kozue was ringing up about eight pairs of shoes, when the customer checked her watch. "Oh shoot," she said as Kozue rang up box number four. "Can you put the rest on hold?"

The exhausted cashier looked at the shoes she already rang up, but nodded. The lady handed her a credit card and she swiped it. While the customer was signing the receipt and her checkbook, Kozue put the rest of the shoes on hold.

"I'll be back to pick them up tomorrow," the lady said before taking her bag of shoes and exiting the store.

After work, Kozue ran home in excitement. She stumbled through her front door and almost fell headfirst but managed to catch herself. "Mom! Mom!" she exclaimed as she struggled to pull off her shoes without untying the laces.

"Kozue? Kozue what's the matter?" Kyoko rushed over.

"Mom! A customer at the shoe boutique got me a raise!" she put her hands on her mother's shoulders.

"Sweetie, that's wonderful! How did that happen?"

Kozue and her mom sat down while the ecstatic teen told the whole story. "And then she told me to put the other shoes on hold so she's coming back tomorrow!"

"That's wonderful!" Kyoko hugged her daughter.

"Where are Satoshi and Takeshi?"

"Takeshi is out playing baseball and Satoshi is at the arcade. They should be home any minute now." With that said, the door opened and the two twins entered.

Kozue ran over and got both of her brothers in one big bear hug, nearly choking them. She practically blew out their ear drums when she was retelling the story about work.

The next day, Kozue told Chiba the exciting news while he accompanied her to work.

"That's great, Ko-chan!" he said as the doors opened and more passengers filed into the train. "That was certainly a great opportunity, and she's even coming back today."

The girl shrugged and said, "Yeah, but if only I met more people like her. She's really a nice person."

"Maybe you will," he replied. "One life, one meeting. Right?"

"Right." She smiled and they both got off the train at her stop. "I'm really looking forward to our joint gig next week."

"Come up with some fricky-fricky-fresh beats?" Chiba asked while making the hand motions to imitating someone scratching turntables.

"Working hard on it. It's kinda hard without a computer or at least a pen and paper to write down anything. Anyway, have you and the guys done any talking yet?"

Chiba's good mood turned a bit bittersweet at the thought of the rest of Beck. "A little. I mean, I talk to Taira every couple of days about the weather and stuff."

"The weather?" she asked. "That's... something at least. It's all about baby steps."

"Well, here's your work. If you've got time, call me later. We're not gonna be separate acts. This is a collaboration!"

"Gotcha!" she shouted at him playfully as he retreated to the station, walking backwards to look at her. "At least watch where you're walking!"

Kozue was waiting expectantly at her shift for the kind lady from yesterday. She was full of so much excitement that she could hardly bear it. It made the all the concentration on lyrics and beats pushed to the furthest part of her mind. Her current distraction made her on edge and caused her to be a little snippy with customers seeking out her help. So much so that she almost snapped at one like one of those tiny but vicious dogs that live in bags carried by their owners.

It was just about time to close up the boutique, but Kozue kept on her toes in case the lady from yesterday just happened to return. Timing did not seem to be on Kozue's side as she and her co-workers locked up the store. Not a wealthy lady in site on the walk to the station.

Through the dark night on the train ride home, Kozue had tried to get her mind off the lady from the previous day and how much of a disappointment it was that she didn't show up. The young teen looked out the window and looked at all the blurring lights coming from the streets and houses.

Stepping off the train and onto the platform, Kozue could feel by a rush of air that autumn was soon approaching, which meant that winter wasn't that far away. Kozue looked up at the sky. Her hopes of seeing a even just a star were in vain as the sky she slept under was polluted with light. It was just one more disappointment before going home.

It was quite late by the time Kozue got home; seeing as she was in no rush to bring bad news. As quietly as she could, she picked up her cord phone and she sat outside in the hallway with it. Sighing, the poor girl dialed the only person whose number she knew; Chiba.

This late night phone call wasn't used for things pertaining to their collaboration. Most of the conversation consisted of cheering each other up, but Chiba's lucky chance to become closer with Kozue was shortly put to an end.

"I have to go now," she whispered. "I know we'd be keep talking if I knew this five-minute chat wasn't going to make the phone bill go through the roof."

"You want me to come over?" Chiba said this in a very serious and rushed manner. The young male was willing and ready to sprint to her apartment in his home clothes. At the beginning of the conversation he was lying down on his bed, but now he was sitting straight up and ready to jump out of his window- he was on the first story- just to go and console his object of affection.

There was a giggle that came from her end of the line. "I wouldn't want to keep you from sleep," she said although she actually would've cherished Chiba's company. "Speaking of sleep, I've gotta catch a few Z's since I have work in an hour."

"Alright. Night, Ko-chan."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow. Sweet dreams."

After the call ended, Chiba was burning up from head to toe.

Oh my gosh. HAHAHAHA YEAH!! The girl I like just told me "Sweet dreams" over the phone!! It's like a dream come true!! Chiba thought while he rolled around a squealed into his pillow. His raucous caused his brother to shout at him through the walls.

Kozue wouldn't have work at the shoe boutique for the next couple of days so there was no way of knowing whether or not the lady return while she was away. It was also a kind of relief to not expect to see the wealthy lady at a different job.

It was Sunday now and Kozue was at work at the cosplay cafe. She was getting ready in the back of the shop when one of her coworkers told her that someone was waiting for her at the front of the cafe.

Kozue looked around the busy streets for some familiar faces, but the only faces she could see were curious ones that stared at her in her maid's outfit.

"Hey."

The voice was nearby and Kozue wheeled around to see Taira. Out of surprise, she literally jumped, but since she was wearing heels she stumbled backwards and fell on her bottom.

Kozue brushed the dirt off of her hands and her clothes. Taira took a quick moment to cherish the "moe" moment. He quickly went to help her up before any more otaku-folk took pictures of his unfortunate friend.

"Are you all right?" Taira asked once Kozue was well on her feet.

"Yeah, ha-ha," she laughed. "That was so embarrassing. Um, what did you come here for?"

"Uh..." The bass guitarist seemed to have forgotten why he was visiting so he made something up on the spot. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out to lunch together. I have something to tell you."

Kozue's eyes widened in disbelief and said, "Yeah! I mean, sure. That's sounds cool. I get off around two o'clock. Okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be back around then."

As cool as a cat, Taira strided out of the cafe, which was good because Kozue turned as red as a tomato from embarrassment. While she seated some customers, she mentally applauded herself on a good job on acting casual.

Meanwhile a couple stores over, Taira was sipping some soda he had just bought from a vending machine. The sight of his friend fallen over, in a very elaborate maid's outfit, her cat ears fallen forward over her eyes, and the overall embarrassed look on her face kept running through his mind. Any other thought was quickly pushed aside by the one of Kozue. It was as if the memory itself was saying "I'm more important than anything else you could otherwise be thinking" and for the most part it was.

His mind was still fuzzy when he got a call on his phone. "Hello?"

"Hey man." It was Chiba. Taira knew how much Chiba thought only the best of Kozue, although Chiba never actually admitted to anyone that he liked Kozue. "What's up?"

"...Wha-?" Taira was still panicking. He felt that Chiba knew Taira just visited Kozue. Chiba probably had a radar or something that told him when a guy gets too close to Kozue.

"I said, 'What's up?' Taira," he replied.

"Oh. 'What's up?' Nothing really. Just walking around." Taira sipped his drink. It had become lukewarm in the few minutes he held it.

"Are you alright man? You sound like you just ran from the cops or something?"

Without thinking much, Taira wiped his forehead of sweat and also spilled his drink down his shirt. "Oh god. I- I don't think I'm feeling too well. I think this heat is getting to me." It was the middle of autumn, there was barely any heat. Chiba could hear a bunch of teenage girls laughing in the background. "I'll call you back later, Chiba. I'll let you know if I feel any better."

After he hung up, Taira rushed home, where he could take a hot shower to get rid of the sticky and gross soda. He still didn't remember why he went to go see Kozue.

It was nearing the end of Kozue's shift when of course, something surprising happened.

A co-worker came running in and quickly looked for Kozue. "Oh my god! I need a really big favor Kozue-chan!"

Kozue's co-worker looked to be out of breath and in a big hurry. It must have been urgent because Kozue's shoulders were gripped so tightly, she thought her shoulders were going to be dislocated.

"What is it?"

"My mom's in labor! I'm gonna have a baby brother! Can you PLEASE cover my shift?!" Her co-worker seemed to need this favor so badly that she got into the deepest bow with her nose actually touching the floor.

Kozue quickly picked her up by the arm and said, "Yeah! No problem. I'll take care of it. The baby needs his big sister to welcome him into the world."

"Thank you so much Kozue-chan!" she said before giving Kozue a big hug and then running back out the door. With that said, Kozue got back to work and completely forgot about Taira.

After tightening her apron, the little cosplay maid brought out a cake with anime figurines on top for a customer in a reserved birthday area. A few of the other girls came out and brought candles.

It was ordinary to have planned birthdays at that kind of place, yet still Kozue was still pretty embarrassed to sing and do a sort of cheer. That of course, was her "moe" point.

"Yui-chan-"

"Kozue-chan-"

"-and Mayu-chan-"

The three of them introduces each other individually before saying in unison, "and the three of us maids would love to wish go-shuujin-sama a happy birthday!!" ("go-shuujin-sama" = master)

Everyone in the cafe clapped and Kozue went to greet in other customers.

She had just asked a group of people how many people were in their party when she saw a familiar blonde head behind the small crowd. "Excuse me a moment," she said with a kind of panic as she tried to walk around them, but ended up walking right into the glass door.

Taira, who was just on the other side of the door, saw the whole thing. He decided her "moe"-ness was at its highest in the cafe. And still, Taira had yet to remember what he came to that place for.

"Oh Taira!" her voice was apologetic. "I'm so sorry! One of my co-workers asked me to cover her shift and I just couldn't say no! I'm so sorry I forgot about-"

Taira raised his hand in an effort to stop her. "No, it's okay. If you don't mind, I wouldn't mind eating for a moment."

Her guilt seemed to dissolve immediately as a weird enthusiasm took over. "Well order anything you like! It'll be on the house!"

Before she happily shuffled back inside, Taira grabbed her hand. He did not expect what happened next. Nothing in his life had ever prepared him for something like that.


How was it? Was it good enough for 5 months? I don't know when I'll get started on the next chapter, but constant bugging with loving appreciation, would be a real jump start. If it wasn't for my friend JesiBearxx, I might've not finished up this chapter. Well, until next time!