CH3

Unfortunately, 7am still snuck up on everyone just the same. Miku hated the fact that despite being the youngest of her family she had to get up the earliest. She decided not to bother with breakfast since she was still bloated from her food the previous night. Just in case that backfired she packed extra food in her bento before leaving. With perfect timing, her always cheery neighbor Neru walked out looking half dead. "Would you like to walk to school together Akita?" Miku gushed her cute idol voice just to annoy the blond troll.

Neru turned to greet Miku."Shut the hell up."

"How polite. I see you're well-rested too!" Sarcasm came quite naturally with fatigue. "Anyway, what are we supposed to be doing in class today?"

"I dunno. When have I ever payed attention in class?"

"You pay enough attention to pass…" Miku said. "So I figured you might-"

"-Nope." And that was the end to that topic.

The two friends did talk about other things though. Namely the events of the previous night. There were a few giggles at the recollection of failed dancing attempts, and quite a bit of teasing about the blond's pretty-much-stalker-crush on Len.

"I bet you snuck at least ten pics."

"I only got four good ones. There was too much of a crowd for a clear shot half the time."

"I'm surprised you aren't taking out your phone to look at them right now!" said Miku, shocked that Neru actually wasn't on her phone twenty-four seven.

"I don't take it out while walking to school. I almost got in an accident for that." Neru replied flatly. "Besides-" Neru grinned as much as a girl with two-hour sleep could manage.

"I could tell that I was far from being the only one keeping my eyes on a guy last night. You looked more than ready to make some music with that DJ."

"Ah-" Miku was already turning pink at the statement. "-Neru! I had actually met him earlier that day. I wasn't just clinging onto him for no reason."

"I didn't say you weren't doing it for a reason" Neru shrugged. "That doesn't change that fact that you were on him the whole time he was on break. I. saw. that." Neru poked Miku to keep her feeling teased even after she finished speaking.

"NERU!" At this point Miku was completely embarrassed.

"It's okay!" The blond looked as though she was finally getting some energy back. "As a maiden in love, I understand your pain! Your determination despite the chances being so small!"

"C'mon! You're going to graduate before Len even becomes a first year! The only reason you got to know him was through Rin who managed to skip a grade."

"I know but…" Neru. "I...I'm gonna make it happen. Just you wait."

"And then I'm gonna make mine happen." Miku rolled her eyes.

"Don't give up hope so easily. Don't you go karaoke with Rin every week?" Neru's implied suggestion did get Miku thinking.

"Well, I could try to see him then, but that would be putting myself out there you know? He's definitely a few years older than-"

"I'm a few years older than Len…"

"But! He's probably more than three years older."

"Are you trying to convince yourself or me?" Neru raised an eyebrow that her teal-haired companion. Miku sighed.

"What I'm trying to say is we're barely above strangers, maybe polite acquaintances. What good is that to just follow him at work."

"Don't follow him. Just be seen now and then, and make sure you're looking cute when you're seen. I've been told you can gain familiarity simply from that. It's worth a shot. Especially if he's nice." Neru leaned in closer. "And I'm damn sure he makes good money too."

"Hey, hey! Being matchmaker is my job Neru."

"Then make yourself a match!" Neru huffed. This time they stopped talking completely. Miku contemplated during this silence. Could I really make it work with that kinda effort?

Meanwhile, Yuuma had just finished grocery shopping. He whistled a tune as he passed by another building. After that, he would go back to his work. Or so he thought. Mizki immediately sent him back to the store, but this time with a list of even more expensive ingredients. "We've got an even bigger commission today! The food has to be top notch. You have a good "mix" or whatever you call it?"

Yuuma nodded his head and proceeded back out. This time he would have to take his car to get the fine ingredients straight from the farmer's market. If Mizki didn't send me on all of these grocery trips I could have came up with so many more playlists. This crap is practically taking over my life. I need to get more commissions. Preferably from other people. Yuuma turned on the radio so he could tune out his mundane reality. Chances are this would take him an hour or so just for the drive. The things I do for a bargain...

It was just about one in the afternoon when he returned. Not that the shopping itself took that long, Yuuma just took a detour or two when he saw a few ads for video games he wanted to buy. In the end he only bought a few used PS3 games since he didn't have a lot cash on him. After dropping off the ingredients to the kitchen, he went to practice for his next mix. The commissioner is kinda on the older side of his life, so maybe I should throw in a few songs from the '50's and '60's to surprise him...then again, that may screw me over if I don't transition it right… He began walking home, down his usual route of crossing a street, going uphill, then downhill as his earbuds were in. Mizki always warned Yuuma that he could miss something important if he was always listening to music, but he never took that seriously until he actually was about to miss something, specifically a call from a former classmate.

"Wow, Yamaha-kun is that you?" a light tenor voice exclaimed in surprise.

"Huh?" All of the social skills he had in college, absolutely none, had surmised in this response.

"Wow, it is you. You look a bit different. Is that some kind of stage look?" Hiyama Kiyoteru inquired jokingly.

"Yes and no. I wear it casually too." Yuuma answered, raising an eyebrow. "I could say the same about you. What's with the fancy suit get-up? I though you wanted to be the singer of a rock band."

"And who said I wasn't?" Kiyoteru laughed. "I just do teaching on the side to make sure I can afford rent."

"Smart."

"I have to be. Being my kind of musician doesn't offer as fancy of a paycheck as yours,at least not consistently, I assume."

"If you tried to make your band become famous-"

"-I'm not into that kind of life." The young teacher interrupted. "As fun as performing is, I think I make a bigger impact on my students." He said while holding his hand to his chest.

"Gee, someone loves their job..." Yuuma glanced away from the overwhelming nerd aura his friend was giving off.

"Hey, you wanna catch up over a couple of drinks tonight?"

Yuuma nodded.

"Oh wait, I have papers to grade...heh, maybe having my students not know will make them try harder?"

"Now you're just cruel." Yuuma said, earning a laugh from his former colleague.

"You know what-" Kiyoteru put down his suitcase and took out his phone. "Here. Let's exchange numbers really quick before you head off."

"Sure."

Though his meeting with Hiyama was brief, Yuuma did feel somewhat uplifted by the encounter. There was a little bit more vigor in his walk now. He was back at Mizki's office before he even realized. She expressed her gratitude and then told him to rest and get prepared for the commission. This was only the beginning of a trance-like routine to Yuuma. The older crowd was a little harder to please than the teenagers he entertain the previous night, but he won them over in the end. Not that he actually cared, not this particular night. This would be the first form of legitimate "hanging out" he had done since he graduated, there was no way he would miss it. His sister's women's' intuition must surely have kicked in because she let him leave without so much as a second glance. Thus, Yuuma drove off to address from Hiyama's text message. It was another, rather ordinary bar, which is most likely why the prices were more reasonable. Kiyoteru ordered two beers and nudged Yuuma.

"Only for the first drink."

"I figured." Yuuma said before taking a swig at his drink.

"So what's it been like since you got your job?" Kiyoteru asked.

"Sleep-wise, pretty suckish. Most of my commissions are from ten 'till like two. Got off early today for once."

"That bothers you? I always considered you to be a night owl."

"If it were possible I'd sleep all day" "That sounds like you too actually." Kiyoteru laughed. "Well?"

"Well?" Yuuma looked at his senior. You're gonna tell me about your job now right?"

"Duh! I love it! highschoolers, aside from the ones that try to act smart, are a lot more respectful than grade-school kids. I'd say my morning class has to be amongst the fun bunch."

"What makes them so fun?"

"Well, the fact that they are terrible at hiding when they don't sleep, and they always come up with creative ways to tell me they don't know."

"Smart kids you've got then."

"Maybe street-wise, but otherwise" Kiyoteru finished his glass. "They better keep studying—REFILL!" He shouted much louder than necessary, causing the bartender to get annoyed. "Don't worry we're always like this." With this, Kiyoteru took off his glasses, finally looking like the student Yuuma remembered meeting his freshman year.

"I've even been working on memorizing ALL of their names. In that way I still study everyday."

"You think you've got it yet?"

"I bet you 3000 yen that I can say the names for my first class even after two more drinks."

"That's a suckers bet." Yuuma laughed.

"I've gotten a lot better at holding down my alcohol since college THANK YOU!"

"A little loud much..."

"Sorry, teacher voice." Kiyoteru picked up his glass and held out two bills. "So are we doing this or naw?"

"I'm just waiting for you to fail." Yuuma immediately placed his money on the table and in turn received Kiyoteru's phone, already set to an array of pictures. "That should be my class roster for 2-D" The brown-haired man chugged down some bourbon this time, and then cleared his throat. The two men locked eyes, and Kiyoteru began:

"Aoki Lapis, Megpoid Gumi, Kamui Gakuko, Utatane Piko, Ia Aria, Yuzuki Yukari, Sakine Meito, Shion Kuraito, Akita Naru, Namine Ritsu, Kasane Teto, Utaune Uta, Momone Momo, Hatsune Miku, Megurine Lulu, and-"

Huh? Small world. Yuuma smiled as he looked at the picture of the teal-haired girl. Kiyoteru's claiming of Yuuma's 3000 yen was enough to make the pink-haired man realized he zoned out.

"I don't make bets that I'm gonna lose, y'know!" Kiyoteru said, pocketing the cash. Yuuma could not think of a smart comment and just simply handed the phone back.

"Eh? You didn't look pass Hatsune-san? There were about seven more students after her."

"By then I figured you were gonna win anyway, plus you need the extra cash." Yuuma said. "What school do you teach at anyway?"

"Crypton's Academy, for aspiring vocalists. It's literally the one that you passed by when we met earlier today? You remember it right?"

"...no...That was a school?" Yuuma's eyes widened. I really should pay more attention to my surroundings...

"Maybe that's a sign that you should pay more attention as you walk. Try taking out those headphones more often." His friend suggested.

The two men stayed at the bar for about two hours, talking about the other people they knew back when they were university students. Most of them seemed to be doing well, aside from Gakupo. Kiyoteru got up. "I've gotta head out. At this rate I'll only have two hours of sleep. Not that I've functioned on worse." He laughed, putting his glasses back on. "You don't plan on driving yourself back do you?"

"No, I'm walking. My apartment is only two blocks away."

"I'll drop you off then." Yuuma offered. "I didn't drink as much as you anyway."

"Lead the way Yamaha!"

After saying a brief goodbye, Yuuma drove off and back to his own home. Mizki seemed to still be filing away some papers as he entered. She smiled at him as he passed by, but otherwise said nothing. Tired as ever, Yuuma barely undressed before collapsing on his bed.