One of the perks of his favorite bands being made up of his best friends was that PaRappa occasionally got invited to their practice sessions. The negative though, was less to do with the band but more something Katy was prone to; hyper focus. The two hour practice session consisted of Milkcan running through their set list twice… except for 'Keep Your Head Up' which Katy had run them through seven times.
"Alright girls," she sighed. "Let's take five."
Tired grunts of consent were the only reply she got.
Lammy walked towards PaRappa, who was sitting on an equipment box in the corner. She set her guitar to the side. PaRappa wordlessly slid over to give Lammy room.
"You good, Lams?" he asked as she sat down. At the same time, he reached into the cooler next to the box and handed her a bottle of water.
She mumbled a 'thanks' and held the cool bottle to the tips of her fingers.
"I t-think I'm gonna be a-able to play 'Keep Your Head Up' in my sleep," she groaned.
PaRappa snorted.
"I'll be hearing it in my sleep," he said. "She's really going hard on that one, isn't she?"
Lammy just nodded.
"Not even sure why," he mumbled. "It and 'Millennium Girl'-"
"It's 'Got To Move' now," she corrected before pausing. "Or maybe it's both? I can't keep track of Katy's name changes."
"Fair," he conceded. "Point is those songs are like your best ones. I don't think you need to run through it anymore."
She shrugged.
The two lapsed into companionable silence.
"Alright, girls," Katy called. "Let's run through 'Keep Your Head Up' one more time."
Lammy let out a silent groan and got up. Ma-san trudged back to her drum kit, mumbling under her breath.
PaRappa frowned. The whole band was tired and frustrated. If they kept going like this, each of them would come to resent their own song.
' I gotta do something, ' he thought. He tapped the equipment case underneath him. Slowly, he smirked. ' Now there's an idea. '
"Okay," Katy sighed. "From the top, Ma-san."
The mouse grumbled before starting the count.
"(One, two, one, two, thre-)"
"Mic check. One, two. P to the A to the R to-"
"Stop!" Katy cried.
She turned to notice PaRappa standing among them, a mic in his hands. It was actually his personal mic that he stashed among their equipment. She could tell because of the bundle of tape around the bottom of the mic, put there because of PaRappa's tendency to swing the mic by the cord. (Last thing he needed was the mic disconnecting mid swing and flying off.)
"What are you doing, PaRappa?" she growled.
"Ah, come on, Katy," he goaded. "I've heard this song so many times, I bet I can sing it just as good as you. Maybe better."
"What?" she hissed. "We're trying to practice."
"And too much practice does more harm than good," he said with a frown. "You've been going at this song too hard and for too long." He smirked at her. "So how bout we spice it up a bit?"
Katy knew the look in his eyes. She knew it from all those years ago, all the dumb bets the two had had over the years of their friendship. He was sending her a challenge.
' I know you're playing me, ' she thought. She crossed her arms and glared at the pup. ' Oooohhh! But it's working! '
That was the problem with their relationship being so long. They knew exactly what buttons to push to get them to go along with something. Katy was better at it than PaRappa, but PaRappa still had his moments.
"Alright," she said slowly. "What are you suggesting?"
' Hook, line and sinker, ' he thought, his smirk growing.
"Like I said," he began. "I think I can do this song better than you. And I'll prove it."
Katy stepped forward.
"Oh, you will, will you?" she challenged. "You wanna put your money where your mouth is?"
His smirk didn't diminish. "Name your terms."
"Loser buys dinner."
He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.
"Nah. I was prolly already gonna have to do that anyway."
"What?"
"(You do make dog boy buy us food pretty often,)" Ma-san said. "(Not that I'm complaining.)"
She stomped her foot.
"Fine," she growled. "You got a better idea?"
"Who, me?" he said with false innocence. He opened one eye and smiled slyly. "How about if I win, we call this practice session over?"
"That's it?" She raised a brow. "And if I win?"
"I stop bugging you at your sessions," he offered. (Neither of them heard Lammy's soft cry of 'noooooo') "And I buy Milkcan lunch for a week."
"Peace and quiet AND free food?" she said with a grin. "You're on. PaRappa vs Milkcan!"
PaRappa let out a clearly fake wince.
"Givin' me quite the handicap, Kat," he fully faced her, grinning. "I'm good but I ain't that good." He gestured behind him. "How do I stand a chance when you got both Slam Jam Ma-san and the beautiful Lammy?"
"(Slam Jam Ma-san? Not bad, dog boy.)" Ma-san mumbled.
Meanwhile, PaRappa and Katy were too deep in their argument to notice Lammy short circuiting.
"Bea-be-beau-bueat-"
"Fine," Katy huffed. "Me and Ma-san vs you and Lammy." She held out a hand. "Deal?"
"(Uh, you sure about that, Katy?)"
"Katy? P? I-i'm not so sure a-about this…"
PaRappa grinned and shook her hand.
"Deal."
The parameters of their challenge set, they moved away from each other.
"Best bring the heat, Kat," he taunted. "With Lammy's guitar backin' my beats, no way you can win."
"Oh, you'll eat those words, Rappa," she fired back. "With Ma-san's beats, my bass riffs, and my voice, you're about to be buried under an avalanche of rock!"
"Oh, yea-"
He would have continued, except for the fact that Lammy had finally gained enough courage to grab him by the back of the shirt and drag him aside.
"Excuse us for a second!"
"What are you doing, PaRappa!?" she whispered frantically after she'd dragged him far enough away.
"Relax, Lams," he said, with a wink. "By the end of this, we'll all be laughing."
"It sounds like you're winding her up!"
"I am," he admitted. "But this is how me and Katy have fun. Trust me. Don't even worry about it being a competition. Just play like you always do."
"A-are you sure?"
"You trust me, right Lams?"
"Yeah," she said with a sigh.
"Good. And I trust you to play like you always do."
"Leave it to Lammy," she said with an eyeroll.
He smiled.
"I always do."
"You good?" Katy asked as they walked back. "Or do you wanna back out now?"
"No way," PaRappa scoffed. "We were just discussing our winning strat."
"The time for trash talk is over," she said, readying her bass. "Either put up, or shut up."
He gave his mic a theatrical spin in response.
"With pleasure," he said, gesturing to Ma-san. "Ma-san, would you please start us off."
"(Well, this should be interesting,)" she mumbled under her breath. "(One, two. One, two, three!)"
"It was the 36th time that he broke my heart," Katy began.
"And just the 80th time that ya fell apart," PaRappa sang. "And ya knew in your heart it was gonna be rough."
"But not as painful as thiiiiiiiiiiiissssssss!" she continued. "Once, I didn't have money."
"Yeah, I've been there," PaRappa said with a wince.
"Twice, I forgot his name!"
"That's new to me, but didn't you put on your makeup wrong?"
Katy grinned sheepishly.
"My hair was a big mess," she sang.
"And so was your dress," he said with a laugh.
"Ha. Ha." She deadpanned. "I remember those night I was feeling real down."
"Ah, you know a chance would soon come around."
As Lammy played the chorus, she noticed that the competition had shifted. Katy was smiling and PaRappa was not just repeating the song but modifying it.
' He's making it fun again, ' she realized.
She glanced back to Ma-san and noticed she was grinning as well.
"Once, he asked for my number," Katy sang.
"Yeah, and twice he asked for your name."
"But I was nervous-"
"You lost your mind!" PaRappa interjected, pushing her shoulder.
"I gave him a number."
"Yeah, but it was your mom's!
"Shut up" she said through giggles. "I remember those nights I was feeling real down."
"But your chance would soon come around."
"Got to move on."
"Can you?"
"I don't know!"
"You don't know?"
"I don't know!"
"Oh, you know!"
"Got to move on but I don't think I can carry on though!"
"Yer being too dramatic," PaRappa groaned. "Don't fall apart over one guy."
"Don't fall apart over one girl, then you can say that," Katy retorted over the bridge.
"Er, well, I-i, oops."
"Couldn't go on, no, I couldn't go on."
"Yes, you can. I know you can.
"Seemed like my life was falling apart."
"Only feels like that. Get up, move on!"
"It was the 36th time that he broke my heart-"
"Thought we were up to 37," PaRappa joked.
"We're actually up to 38," Lammy called out as she strummed.
"(Yeah, it's 38,)" Ma-san said joining in.
"YOEW!" Katy yelled.
Lammy and Ma-san played the next part of the song.
Katy frowned and started singing again.
"I remember way back," she began. "When my life was laid back."
"That was the life huh," PaRappa continued. "No obligations."
"Or responsibilities!"
"Yeah, yeah, we didn't have to work," PaRappa said with a nod.
"Didn't have no chores."
"Lucky you."
"Only thing I had in mind was looking good each day."
"Wake up, rock the look, go to bed. Good life," he rapped.
"Then my life was rolling,"
"We grew up. It sucks."
"Had to work each morning."
"Grow up, get a job, that's life."
"'Pay the bills' and 'walk the dog'-"
PaRappa did a double take.
"Wait, dog?"
"-became the daily life."
"Wait, Katy, you don't mean me, right?" he asked as Katy held the note. "Katy? Katy!"
"But the more you suffer, you feel better when its over, that's for sure" Katy and Lammy sang.
A barrage of drumbeats from Ma-san brought them back to the chorus.
"And so when pain comes along, just go with the flow," she sang loudly. "Don't turn your back to your problems. Just give it a go."
"Just keep moving on," PaRappa added. "And remember these words,"
"You just gotta believe!" Katy belted out.
"It was the 36th time that she broke my heart," PaRappa sang.
"It was the 80th time that I'd fallen apart," Lammy picked up.
"(I knew in my heart it was gonna be rough,) Ma-san joined in.
"But not as painful as this!" Katy finished.
"When pain comes along, just go with the flow," she sang as loud as she could. "Don't turn your back on your problems, just give it a go! Your troubles in life will eventually serve you as a drop of spice in your life.
"You gotta believe!" PaRappa yelled.
"Just leave it to me!" Lammy said.
"(Try and keep calm)" Ma-san added. (And finally-)"
"KEEP YOUR HEAD UP!" Katy yelled.
The song ended. The only sound was Katy's hard breathing. She gathered herself and turned to PaRappa with a pout.
"You," she began.
"Yeeeeessssss?" he drawled out, swinging his mic with a smug look.
"You!" She said again. She covered her mouth as giggles began to form in her throat. She closed her eyes. Despite her efforts, she soon doubled over as laughter escaped her. PaRappa laughed with her, soon joined by Lammy and Ma-san.
"I-" Katy gasped out as her laughter settled. "I hate when you do that."
"What?" he asked through his chuckles. "Convince you you're being stupid?"
"Yes!" She wiped away her laughter induced tears and smiled at him softly. "Thanks PaRappa. I needed that."
He smiled back and held out a fist. "Always got your back, sis."
She fist-bumped him.
"(Soooo…)" Ma-san said after a moment. "(Who won?)"
The two glanced at the drummer and then back to each other.
"Draw?" he asked.
She nodded. "It's a draw."
"(Uhgg! Lame!)" Ma-san groaned. "(That was some of my best drumming!)"
"And if you play like that at our next show we'll knock everyone's socks off," Katy said.
"Feel better, Katy?" Lammy asked.
"Yeah," she said with a nod. "Sorry girls. Think I convinced myself something was wrong with the song when there was nothing wrong."
"It's fine," Lammy assured. "I've had that feeling before."
"(Just don't let it happen again.)"
"Thanks, girls," she said. "I think it's time we wrapped this up."
The three agreed and all four started to pack up.
"You should totally perform that with us at our next show, PaRappa," Katy gushed. "That's gotta be the best version of 'Keep Your Head Up' we could make."
"Maybe," he said as he helped Ma-san pack up her kit. "But I think we could all use a break from that song."
"Er, right," she agreed with a sheepish smile.
The four got everything packed up and loaded quickly.
"You guys wanna get some food?" PaRappa asked as he settled into the driver's seat of the loaded van.
"Yes! Please!" Lammy begged. "I'm starving!"
"(I could definitely eat.)"
"I think that's a unanimous response," Katy giggled. "Oh, PaRappa can you spot… me…"
She trailed off as PaRappa smirked at her.
She crossed her arms and pouted.
"Shut up," she grumbled.
