Can't express how terribly sorry I am for always being such a slow updater. I'll try and finish this story soon so you wouldn't be left hanging here and there all the time... It must suck to wait, yet at the same time, school life is so suffocating and all I'm trying to do is not redo a year. I hope you'll be understanding about it. ): Still, I thank you for your patience and loyalty towards this very story. I really appreciate the support you've shown. (: Do enjoy this chapter! ^^


As I walked down the hallways of Bayview High, I pondered over who could have been the mysterious guy who actually chased Jenny and Jewels away. Maybe it was just another random customer who had witnessed the unjustice I suffered. I giggled to myself.

"Hey! Whatcha giggling to yourself about?"

I let out a shriek and quickly covered my mouth when Julie leapt up in front of me. I rolled my eyes, backhanding the silver-haired girl and placing my hands on my hips.

"Don't go scaring me like that, Julie!"

The Australian winced as she rubbed her head. "And don't go hitting me like that, Runo!"

The two of us stuck out our tongues at each other, before both bursting into fits of laughter.

"So, what were you giggling about?" Julie asked, closing the distance between us.

"Nah, I was just imagining what it would be like to have Jenny and Jewels get a taste of their own medicine," I smiled. I wasn't going to let my friends know of my job just yet. For one, Julie would go crazy just seeing my uniform.

Julie giggled. "Did something happen over the weekend?"

"Don't mention it," I rolled my eyes as the both of us started walking towards our classroom. "They were making trouble for me again. I don't even want to talk about it."

"They're just jealous of you, Runo. Plain jealous! You're prettier, smarter, nicer and more popular than her! And, you have Dan Kuso's attention!"

"And I sure ain't proud of that," I huffed. And I really meant it. Dan Kuso's affection towards me was giving me too much unncessary attention.

I sighed as Julie and I entered the classroom. As usual, it was going to be a long day again.


"Runo! You're taking so long!"

"I can't find my shoes!" I cried out in frustration, ransacking my bag. I had poured out every single content in my bag, and there was still no sight of my track shoes.

"Have you tried your locker?" Julie asked.

"I'm positive that it isn't in my locker," I answered.

"Well, check again! Maybe you remembered wrongly."

I didn't want to annoy Julie any further, knowing how impatient she was. I quickly pulled my hair into a high ponytail before following a hasty Julie to the lockers.

Before my locker, Julie pulled it open. My eyes widened in surprise.

"See? They are here!" Julie exclaimed.

In my locker was a white pair of track shoes with golden lining. Before I could process my thoughts, Julie pushed the pair of shoes into my hands.

"Go change now! Class is about to start!"

I decided that any thinking could wait till later, and hurriedly slipped into the track shoes. The thing was, I had never seen these track shoes my entire life! My track shoes weren't like these. Julie pulled me into the indoor sports hall then as soon as I was done wearing the shoes.

I could have sworn I saw Jenny and Jewels' jaws dropped as soon as they saw me. Maybe they didn't think that both our classes were having gym class at the same time? But still, was there a need for such a big reaction? Before I could tell Julie about it, gym class was beginning.

I guess all my thinking would have to wait.


"It definitely wasn't me!"

"Or me!"

"Or me!"

After school, I was walking with the girls along the hallways and discussing to them about the situation regarding my track shoes. All of them had denied accusation of being the ones who had gifted me the shoes, which was really strange. Who could have left those shoes in my lockers then? The person might think I stole it!

"But then again, where could your shoes have gone?" Alice asked. "Why would anyone take your old shoes only to give you new ones?"

Before I could answer Alice's questions, a plastic bottle lying about caught my eye.

"Who would be so irresponsible as to litter?" I frowned, picking up the bottle. I really hated litterbugs- they got on my nerves alot!

I spotted a trash bin and immediately hurried over to it. I was just about to drop the bottle in when I stopped.

"What's wrong, Runo?" The other girls walked up towards me.

"My shoes are here," I said slowly before taking out my shoes carefully. My shoes were all torn and tattered, not to mention dirty.

"Who would do something so horrible?" Alice gasped.

"I don't know..." I whispered. It was probably Dan Kuso's fault again for causing me to earn so much hatred from his fangirls. One of them probably was the cause of this. But it still didn't explain why there was another pair of shoes in my locker.


After the talk with the girls, I left for work immediately. It was still a busy day even though it had been a couple of days since the opening.

"Runo, darling, you'll be in charge of arranging the orders today. Just tell the chef how many of each dish you need, and then you can sort out for the respective tables later," Aunt Rikka beamed, patting her hands on her dress before hurrying downstairs.

I headed over to the counters where the chefs were to place the food, and began to collect the orders. It was a rather simple and straight-forward job. I simply arranged a row of trays and placed number stands on them, while waiting for the chefs to prepare the food.

"Runo, could you help me here for a bit?" Another waitress asked from the corner of the cafe.

I nodded my head in response, moving over to help. Turns out, the waitress needed help in getting a few more chairs from the store, as well as a chair for infants.

When I was finally done, I returned to my duty. At the speed of light - well, almost, I quickly arranged the food and the waiters began to serve.

"I didn't order this!"

I blinked and turned to table number 9, where a man seemed confused. I turned to the stack of orders, checking it. There was no mistake in the orders. I shrugged it off. Maybe the man was just a little confused.

Another waiter came up to me, holding her tray up towards me.

"Runo, table number 6 said that this wasn't their order."

I took the memo for table number 6, checking it with the waiter. What was written on the paper was indeed the correct orders.

Both of us exchanged puzzled looks, while a few more waiters came up to us. I raised my hand.

"Let me guess, wrong orders?"

The waiters all nodded their heads worriedly.

I took the stack of memo and handed it to them, asking them to check the orders. We were all bewildered to find out that the orders were all correct, yet almost every customer had said they were wrong.

"Young lady, you're in charge of the orders?" One of the customers came up to me with a rather maddened look.

"Yes, ma'am. We're currently looking into the situation so please just-"

"I'm reporting this to your boss. Such horrible service to have mixed up everyone's orders!" The woman was clearly outraged and was just about to storm out before a muscular arm stretched out before her.

"Ma'am, table number 17, am I right? I am certain this is your order."

Both the woman and I looked up in surprise, only to see Dan Kuso holding up a tray. The brunette was actually wearing a waiter's uniform!

"Please, allow me to escort you to your seat," Dan smiled politely and gestured towards the woman's table. While the woman left, Dan turned to me, handing me a stack of memos.

"These are the real orders. Jenny and Jewels actually swapped them. Go prepare them right now," Dan whispered before following the woman.

Jenny and Jewels? But I hadn't seen them at all! I frowned, but quickly reminded myself to arrange the orders instead. The orders were all soon corrected and every customer seemed pleased once more.

"Runo, I heard quite a bit of commotion."

I turned around to see Aunt Rikka, whose blue eyes reflected quite a bit of shock.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Rikka. A few of my schoolmates played a prank on me, and things got a little messed up," I lowered my head guiltily.

"It's alright, dear," Aunt Rikka smiled, patting my head. "By the way, I have a staff who is late. Any idea if he's here yet?"

"Don't tell me you mean Dan Kuso?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Close enough. It's Daniel Kuso, to be precise," Aunt Rikka laughed. "Well then, be sure to manage those orders carefully now. I hope I won't be receiving any more complaints, sweetheart."

I nodded my head as Aunt Rikka went downstairs once more. Aunt Rikka was always just so forgiving and sweet, it was hard not to adore her.

That aside, I began to wonder why Dan Kuso was even working in this restaurant in the first place. It couldn't have been for me- after all, I hadn't told anyone else that I was working here. Was it a pure coincidence? Then again, how did Dan know that Jenny and Jewels had messed up the orders? There were so many questions that I just had to ask.

Dan came up to me, handing me a memo.

"Snap out of that daze now," Dan pinched my nose. I winced in pain, twitching my nose.

"Why are you here?" I asked while rubbing my nose.

Dan shrugged. "I could use a little money."

Before I could ask anything else, Dan walked away. I couldn't help but feel like he was hiding something from me.

Nah... Maybe it was just my thinking.


Whoa... Not sure if you were expecting Dan to be Runo's savior in such a sticky situation. Hm, just what could his motive be - purely for money? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't? Either way, who could have been so horrible to Runo all this time? Actually, who else? Stay tuned to the next chapter! My apologies though, the earliest could be next week, or even in a month. I do promise you that I will finish this story, and as soon as I do, the new story will be up. Thanks for your patience! (: