Chapter Text
PaRappa stood outside the building, hair covering his face. He didn't feel like being spotted by anyone, especially his used-to-be fans. He had to admit though, he was getting concerned for Rammy. She still hadn't shown up, even though there was a while to go before the show started. Just when his concern was about to spike, the lamb herself walked up to him. He looked over, waving at her. "Hey! You had me concerned, I thought you weren't gonna show up at all!" Rammy sighed, leaning on the wall next to him. "Eh, sorry. Had trouble getting here." PaRappa looked over. "...Wanna talk about it." Rammy responded in the most dead-pan way ever. "No." He shrugged. "Well, let's talk about something else. Like why you wanted me here." Rammy looked over, shrugging. "I felt like sitting next to you during the concert. Feel like I should, especially after earlier." She thought back to it a bit. "Man, I don't think I've ever been that- caring to anyone. Ever. And it's towards PaRappa of all people. Why? What kind of person did I turn into overnight to- care for him so much?" He looked over. "Ah, yeah. That...still gotta thank you for that, I needed it. Really." Rammy felt her face heat up a bit, nodding. "Yeah yeah, whatevs...By the way, can you see well? You've got that whole- hair in your face thing." PaRappa shrugged. "Well- no, not really.." She tried to move his hair out of his face. "Well, fix that then." He re-covered his face, shaking his head. "No way, I ain't doing that!" Rammy huffed. "Well then, don't you have a beanie or whatever? Put that on so it doesn't irritate you." He looked down, shuffling his feet a bit. "Uhhm...I kinda...threw it away." She looked at him, utterly confused. "What? Why? I thought you hated taking it off to begin with, and you just- threw it away?" He spoke up. "L-Listen I just- I didn't feel like I-...I'm sorry." He seemed so genuinely guilty. Rammy looked at him, before hugging him again. "It's...fine, I guess. Just- don't do that with more things aight?" He blushed a bit, before nodding. "...Well- uh, let's go in." Rammy let go, nodding. The duo made their way inside the building, prepared for the show.
The two entered the building, PaRappa still hiding his face. "Alright, over here." Rammy made her way over to the stage, with PaRappa trying to follow, only for him to trip and land on his face. She turned around and sighed, walking back to him. "Do I need to stick around with you everywhere?" She helped him up, holding his hand this time. "Over here." She made her way back over to the seats. Luckily, although the place was nearly sold out, she still found two seats next to each other, where she set PaRappa down, following after soon. She looked over to the dog, once again trying to get his hair out of his face. "Come on, you wanna see your friends right? Get that hair out of your eyes." He quickly pushed her hand away. "No, I'm keeping myself hidden!" She looked at him, perplexed. "...Hidden?" He looked down. "...I-I really don't wanna show my face here...I can practically imagine it now. Everyone laughing at the fallen rapper, watching his friends perform, seething with jealousy." Rammy forced his hair out of the way. "Listen, if anyone was gonna laugh at you, it was gonna be me. You can afford to have your face be shown." PaRappa tried to speak up, reaching for his hair. "Bu-" Rammy immediately shushed him, placing a hand over his mouth. "Listen, just- no. No one is gonna care about this, alright?" She gently rubbed his head. "You can afford to show your face here. And if people laugh, I'll singlehandedly kick everyones ass here, got it.?" PaRappa looked at her for a moment, before slowly nodding. "Alright.." She rubbed his head more. "There you go." She let her mind wander again. "Do I really like PaRappa this much?? That seems stupid, horrible..." She let her mind drift back to her memories with the pup "...reasonable. I only have good times with the guy. I guess it'd make sense if I cared for him more than the norm..."
The lights overhead turned off, with a spotlight shining onto the stage, showing off Katy, Lammy, and Ma-San. The crowd applauded to the trio, along with them waving out to them proudly. Katy seemed to search in the crowd, before looking at Rammy. All she did was give her a wave, with PaRappa doing the same. Katy stepped up to the microphone, speaking up to the crowd. "I'm so glad all of you came here to watch us play tonight! Especially to a special two here in the crowd right now!" The crowd looked amongst themselves, talking. Katy broke them up. "Now now, don't worry about it, after all you've got a show to see!" The crowd erupted into to cheers, ecstatic to hear MilkCan play. Ma-San clacked her drumsticks together, getting a beat going for the band. Eventually, they started playing, the crowd keeping silent as their performance rocked the entire building. PaRappa was silently watching, his eyes basically as bright as the sun itself. Rammy was leaning back in her seat, arms crossed. "Enjoying it so far?" He gave her an ecstatic nod. "Yeah, of course I am!"
"...You know, this is kinda reminding me of the first time we met." Rammy leaned back more, her chair going up. PaRappa looked to her. "Eh?" She glanced over. "You know, MilkCan concert, you being all cheery, me being this." PaRappa thought back. "Oh yeah, I remember now! But, why did ya bring it up?" Rammy took a second, before sighing. "I just- felt like it was important. I dunno how to explain it...I just...Y'know I've been- struggling with things ever since I met you again." He looked over, concerned. "Really? Like what?" She huffed out. "...Well- shit about you." He sat up, looking concerned. "A-Am I doing something wrong? Do I irritate you? I'm sorry if I d-" Rammy cut him off. "No, no. None of that shit. It's the fucken opposite." He widened his eyes a bit, stepping forward. "Shit shit shit, good going Rammy- you fucking idiot." She stammered out, trying to think of the words. "L-Listen, just- you uh- shit- g-gimme a bit..." PaRappa stared at her, growing more concerned, before she breathed in. "I'll explain after the show, alright?" He looked at her, before sitting down. "Alright, if you say so..." Rammy followed after, looking over at the band playing. She gently leaned on PaRappa, which felt a bit uncomfortable for her physically due to how tall she was, but mentally she loved it. "...Rammy- are you okay?" She quickly blurted out something. "Shutup-" He looked at her for a bit, before smiling, leaning on her as well.
The show was over with, with the crowd letting out deafening cheers. MilkCan was waving out to the crowd proudly, while also looking up at PaRappa and Rammy, their smiles growing after seeing the pups joyed expression. Katy walked up to the microphone. "Alright! Thank you all for coming here tonight! Hope you enjoyed having your socks rocked off!" The crowd cheered as the spotlight turned off. The lights overhead turned on, showing the stage was surprisingly empty already. Rammy stood up, her face a bit flushed from leaning against PaRappa. The pup had gotten up as well, the hair falling in front of his face again. "Oops." Rammy turned towards him, snickering. "Here, I'll lead ya." She grabbed his hand again, more gently than last time. They made their way out of the building, being greeted by Katy, who seemed just as-if not more-happy as PaRappa. "I saw your face up there! I knew this would work!" PaRappa smiled, Rammy brushing the hair out of his face. "Yep! Thanks guys." Lammy smiled warmly at him. "We did what we had to!" Rammy put a hand on her hip. "A-hem." The group looked to her. "Oh, right. Good work on getting PaRappa!" Rammy nodded. PaRappa smiled, heading off. "Well, I'll see you guys later someday!" Rammy looked over to the leaving dog. "I'm going with him." She ran out after him. Katy looked at the two, folding her arms. "Hm, I didn't know she had the hots for him."
PaRappa was walking down the streets in the dead of night, all alone. He was blowing the hair out of his face. "Man, I regret throwing that thing away now..." He turned around, hearing running. "Oh, Rammy!" She ran up to his side, looking at him. "Hey, I figured I should walk with ya on the way home." He looked at her, before smiling. "Alright, sure!" The two kept walking down, Rammy again holding PaRappas hand, it seemed like it was common now. Not that she was complaining, she'd finally come to terms with it, she liked his company. "You feeling good now?" He nodded. "Mhm! I feel loads better." She felt a genuine smile on her face as she looked at the dog. "That's good..." She slowly rubbed his hand as they walked down. "...So, you know what I said about uh, you doing the opposite of uh, making me annoyed?" He looked up, brushing the hair from his face. "Yeah?" She looked away from him, blushing a bit. "....Shit shit- I still have no idea how to explain it..." PaRappa got close to her, scratching his chin. "Well, if you can't explain it then- uh...try it other ways?" She looked at him. "That's the stupidest thing I heard of." Her eyes crossed over a clothing store, looking at it closely. "....and now, it's the smartest thing. Wait here." She ran inside, leaving PaRappa alone.
Rammy wandered back out, holding something behind her back. "Hey PaRappa. Sorry for that, but I chose to take your advice." He looked up, confused. "What do you mean?" She kneeled down. "Wellll, you know how you threw away your old beanie?" He stood there, the gears turning in his head, before he gasped. "...Did you really?" She nodded, pulling out a blue beanie from behind her. "It's not the same color but, whatever." He stared at the beanie, smiling. She held her hand out more. "Well, you gonna take it?" Without a second thought, he took the beanie from her hands, donning it and hiding his hair. "...I love it!" She smiled, giving him a hug. "Good. Means you have an idea of what I think of you." He felt his face heat up, returning the hug. The two eventually found their way back to PaRappas home. "Well, see ya later Rammy!" The pup made his way down. "See ya PaRappa. Oh and, one thing." She walked up to him, him turning around. "Yeah?" She picked him up, giving him a peck on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow." She quickly set him down, running away absolutely flushed. PaRappa stood there, completely red-faced. Eventually, he finally walked back, rubbing the spot she kissed. He tucked himself into bed, staring up at the ceiling. "...See you tomorrow, Rammy..."
The future looked uncertain, but it looked bright nonetheless.