Parappa, age 10

It was another unusually quiet afternoon until the school bell rang releasing a horde of students wanting to go home for the day. Or do whatever it is they chose to do once free, such as our trio of friends, Parappa who upgraded his look to a light blue shirt, dark blue pants and red shoes with some white lines along the sides, but also keeping his orange beanie as it was. And Katy had changed her attire as well to a sleeveless shirt as well as pants that both sported red and white vertical stripes! And red and blue shoes. They decided to walk off to a mini restaurant that has started becoming a typical hangout for them.

"I still cannot believe you actually ate all the offered food at that other place to earn it for free PJ." Katy says after being informed about the events the bear had undergone the day before.

"Yep. I was congratulated, given a trophy, a barebones prize and was immediately banned from the premises to prevent having to do that again."

"That explains why there's a picture of your face in front of the place saying 'don't allow this person here." Guess they thought nobody could ever do it and would always have to pay for it all" Parappa states as he shakes his head in disbelief.

"Until they met our friend here." Katy says as they both stop to stare at PJ who stands proudly with his arms extending out diagonally towards the sky.

The trio soon sit at their usual seats in the restaurant once they arrived and ordered. Not long after they also releasing a large groan of disinterest in unison. "School was the absolute worst today…"

"I know right? I feel like my brain overloaded over all the homework, BEFORE even doing the homework…" Katy slams her face into the table after saying this.

"It doesn't help that our teacher could be as lacking in interest in the class as much as we are. I mean. I thought I usually gave off the appearance of being disinterested in things, but that guy flat out doesn't wanna be here." PJ yawns as if on cue by his own words leaving Parappa to take over. "I mean to be fair it doesn't help that everyone but us rarely does anything. He doesn't see any interest so why should he be interested? Still not a valid excuse to pile on the work to us just because we actually take initiative…" PJ falls onto the table asleep once Parappa states the final word "Well at least me and Katy show initiative…"

He and Katy sigh as they wait for their ordered food to arrive so that they have something to bury their aggravation into. It was a slow day at the restaurant again, leaving the trio as almost the only patrons, were it not for the employees and older regulars that prefered sitting at the far corners of the establishment. There was nothing but silence while waiting.

Katy wanted to break the silence, and in doing so brought up a topic she almost kicked herself for bringing back up "So Parappa, anything new happen with you?..."

"Nah...my homes been real...well...slow for lack of a better word?"

"I mean...you have a reason for it ever since...well...you know…"

"...Y-Yeah…" Parappa pulls off his beanie and looks at it before sighing "She didn't deserve that fate, but...no one could stop her. It was in her blood to help. And if it weren't for her, she wouldn't have been the only one losing their life that day…" He clutches the beanie tightly as he whimpers "I just...you know...wish nobody had to lose anything at all…" he couldn't fight back tears any longer prompting Katy to pull him into a hug "N-Nonono please don't cry...n-not again…y-you're gonna get me crying…" She was to busy trying to help the pup to note she had already begun crying herself "P-Parappa please...please don't cry...please…"

It had been exactly 3 months since the catastrophic fire that had taken Mama Rappa's life away. Some time had passed, but the wound of loss was still fresh in the Rappa family hearts as if it had still just happened. A once tall and proud building that was the pride and joy of PaRappa town caught ablaze one fateful day with no understandable reason. And many people were trapped in that fire, Katy herself included when the building was offering a grand tour of the establishment. After the fire fighters deemed there was nothing more they could do thanks to how strong the fire had grown to in a short span of time, Mama Rappa refused to sit ideally by. She was the head of the department, and hearing the rest of them give up ignited something in her as she stormed in against the blockade that was holding everyone else back and ran into the burning tower of a building.

"SIR! THE BUILDING ISN'T STABLE! IT'S A DEATHWISH!" Mama Rappa kept running "SIR! MRS. RAPPA! DAMMIT…"

"What do we do?!"

"The hell can we do?!" the second in command, a short dalmation, threw his hat on the ground as he said this before turning back to the other firemen "I want everyone to spray as much water at the place as possible!"

"But-" the firemen said in unison as they were cut off.

"BUT NOTHING, WE CAN'T STOP IT BUT WE SURE AS HELL CAN SLOW IT DOWN ENOUGH TO LET HER GET THE PEOPLE OUT."

Nothing else was said as they immediately followed orders.

Mama Rappa ran to every source of the word help she could, and thanks to her amazing hearing, that was all sources. "COME ON COME ON, THIS WAY. HURRY BEFORE THE EXITS START COLLAPSING IN ON THEMSELVES!" She escorted every man, woman and child that she found, her progress was stunted however when she started coming across injured people in which she had to carry out, pressing harshly on the timer of the buildings stability, until she was sure that everyone was out.

"SIR! COME ON LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE, THE PLACE IS GONNA FALL."

As she was about to do so, she heard one more cry for help. The voice this cry belonged to was one she had grown to know in the past four years. "K-Katy?..." She wasted no time and ran back in.

"SIR! NO THE BUILDING WON'T HOLD!"

Mama Rappa couldn't hear him, she couldn't hear anything. She blocked out all sounds except the last person still trapped in the building.

"KATY! KATY WHERE ARE YOU?!" she panicked when she ceased hearing the cries. "KATY!"

Katy was crying to herself in a small corner void of flames, although that achievement wasn't really holding out as the fire was causing the building to break in on itself, resulting in her corner being blockaded away from the exit, which was also sealed off by a pile of smoking rubble. She didn't wanna believe she was done for, so she cried out for help. She kept crying out, but no one came. The smoke was starting to get to her as she started coughing, to a point she couldn't cry out the word help anymore. No one was coming to save her and the thought alone caused her to bawl her last moments away. Until she heard someone shouting her name. "KATY WHERE ARE YOU?!" the voice was familiar. "M-Mrs. Rappa?..." she soon heard another yell "KATY!" cementing her assumption. It was Parappa's mother, and she was trying to help her, but Katy couldn't muster out a word. She tried and tried until she heard one more yell "PLEASE WHERE ARE YOU" this specific yell was close, real close. This got Katy to finally belt out "MRS. RAPPA! HELP PLEASE!..."

There was silence, Katy couldn't do anything anymore except wonder if she heard her. The silence was forcefully broken by Mama Rappa bursting open the blockaded door while also knocking away the rubble preventing Katy from moving. "I found you!" Katy had no reply, she could only cough and cry with her eyes shut. She was paralyzed by the smoke and fear "I gotta get you out here…" She managed to get to her with near little interruption from the fire, and immediately took of her own gask mask and placed it on her. Now getting back out was her final obstacle.

"Come on...there's gotta be a clear path to the exit that hasn't collapsed in on itself…" She looked and looked while holding Katy in her arms like a cradled baby. "I gotta believe, I gotta believe…" But there were no clear paths, so she decided to take one that was stable enough to use. "This one! " The path she found was almost a perfect path, except the part of the floor that was separating where Mama Rappa stood and the way down to the exit was split by a large hole leading to a burning abyss..

"I gotta believe…" with that said she took a running start backwards then performed a huge leap of faith towards the other side, and managed to land the jump. "Perfect!..." She headed down the stairs that started to fall apart behind her. "Nononononono...not yet...I'm so close…" she out runs the avalanche of destruction only to see her luck run out, the way to the exit was slowly collapsing. "I can make it!..." She ran towards the exit that started closing itself off more and more, to a point where even she knew she wouldn't make it. "No...nono... " She looked at the girl crying in her arms "But she can…" she took off her big fire jacket and wrapped it around her before shouting "HEY PUDDLE!"

Chief Puddle was caught dumbfounded that his boss was still alive, and ran near the the entrance to see if he could do anything to assist her escape, only to end up catching Katy, who was thrown to him through the closing entrance by Mama Rappa. "SIIIIIIIIIR!" She only smiled at him with a single tear escaping her eye along her face "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" the building finally gave way and fell atop itself. Prompting Puddle to book it.

The now promoted against his will dalmation turns to look at the still collapsing heap, what was once a proud site for PaRappa town, was now nothing more than a ashen grave to one of said towns bravest."...No…"

"Chief Puddle?..." the other firemen lined around him.

"...Get this girl to some help...she inhaled to much of the smoke…"

"R-Right!" Another female firefighter picked up Katy and ran to the nearest medics.

"Status report."

"Everyone who was accounted for in the building is out...minus her sir." Puddle looked towards where the ambulances were before the other firefighter spoke up again "She saved everyone…"

"Yes...she did didn't she?"

While Katy was being carried off, she weakly managed to open her eyes and look towards where the building used to be, quickly squeaking out. "I'm sorry...i'm sorry…i'm so so sorry…"

Parappa stopped crying when started feeling more water on his face than he was crying out, quickly after hearing Katy cry the same phrase out over and over "I'm sorry…i'm so so sorry...it should've been me...it should've been…i'm so sorry…"

Parappa recalls the day Chief Puddle and Katy, who was wrapped in his moms uniform, appeared in front of his house to tell his family the news. It hurt and he cried to nearly no end, but even still, she cried more than him and his family combined. She felt the pain more because of guilt, the guilt that it was most likely thanks to her that she couldn't have made it out alright. She just cried the same to words over and over. "I'm so sorry…" And "It should've been me…"

All this prompted her staying with the Rappa family for about a month by request of her parents and Papa Rappa. It was until she was fully ok from the shock of the events that took place, but now it seemed she still needed the help.

"Don't say that…" Katy stopped. "My mom didn't save you only to have you like this you know?"

"I know but-"

"But nothing, you told me, you could hear it in her voice that she was dead set on finding you, and by that logic, equally so on getting you out. Could there have been another way? Maybe...I know I wouldn't want it either way…" Katy immediately speaks up "E-Either way? But shouldn't your mom matter more?!"

"Don't get me wrong, I wanted my mom to come out alive...but not at the cost of losing a good friend in the progress…" Parappa places the beanie back on his head "In some ways, these past four years feel like you're more like Katy Rappa than Katy Kat...heh...our parents became just as fast of friends as us. And mom really grew to liking ya, probably because of how well you got along with me like PJ had...heh...and when the news came to us...you cried as if it was your own mom you lost you know?" Parappa pulled out a handkerchief and began wiping his and her tears away. "My mom was always overprotective, that's why she became a firefighter, to protect the town...treating everyone of its citizens as her own kids, but no one garnered that protection more than five special people in her heart. Me, Pinto, Dad, PJ." he finishes off wiping her tears away "And you! I guess it took me a bit to realize that myself...but can you blame me? Sadness of loss kinda got to me...eheh…"

"You have every right to be sad though…"

"I did. But mom wouldn't have wanted that. I think that's what dad realized before me, but he's still quiet...I guess because of me and Pinto. But I think he should've just handled it head on."

"Ok…" She looked down at the table before uttering more words out "Hey...I think I might need another long sleepover at your place again..."

"Not my place discuss since i'm not an adult, but you know my answer is sure! Take as long as you need! Not just a month! I'll just have to spread the word to my dad, but that should be quick and simple!"

"Thanks…~"

"Of course! And hey with you around again, maybe it'll be easier helping Pinto move on as well! You help her ease into things as much as my mom did!"

"Of course!...I'd be glad to."

"Alrighty now here's order number 18 for table….four!"

PJ wakes back up after hearing that, alerting the waiter "Over here!" he then looks towards the other two once the food is left at their table "What happened to you two? Someone cut onions while I was asleep?" Both just sigh and roll their eyes playfully at PJ "Hey PJ, how about a sleepover at my house tonight?"

"This is outta the blue, normally you're not one to ask as your dad is afraid i'd leave the fridge empty."

"Luckily I can vouch that you'd bring your own food, and be mostly asleep to even trudge to our fridge!"

"When would I ever be to deep asleep to do that." Both him and Katy eye him "Actually, yes I would be too sleepy to do that." He looks at his food "Sheesh what happened while I was asleep." and begins chowing down.

Parappa age 14

It was another boring slow day at the high school, much to the dismay of the students, until…

"And that concludes our lecture on blah and blah, turn to the next chapter when we can discuss whatever's there-" the teacher is cut off by a knock at his door "Oh is it finally my resignation request being announced?!" He opens the door immediately and is caught talking with the person on the other side.

"Man I still can't believe our luck...getting him as our HIGH SCHOOL teach as well…" Parappa just groans as he throws his head back over his chair.

"And he's even less intent on being here then back in grade school, you'd think he'd liven up a bit after leaving what was the apparent source of his dilemma!" Katy stretches out in her chair before continuing "Honestly it'd be great if he did resign, but I don't like the thought him just getting off so easily for it! He made us suffer why shouldn't he…"

"I'd agree but i'm usually asleep to even care about him."

"We'd join you, but me and Parappa even try and close our eyes for a second and he calls us out for it…"

The three of them just sigh, and immediately after the teacher returns back into the class sighing as well before announcing to the class "Alright everyone, starting today we have a new student. I'd like to introduce you all to Miss Sunny Funny." The girl being introduced a small shy girl with a yellow daisy flower for a face, with big pink petals and small pointy red petals. She had green shoes and wore a big dress with horizontal red and blue stripes.

Everyone started saying their own hello's to Sunny and slowly it reached the main trio "Sup. I'm PJ." PJ stated as he waved. "Hiiiiii!~ Names Katy and hello to you!~" Katy nearly shouted from glee at having a new face to freshen up the class. Once it got to Parappa however "H-H...W-Wazz...Y-Yo-..." He struggled to say even one form of hello to the new girl as his face started heating up.

"Parappa you're embarrassing her!..." Katy whispered to the stuttering dog who only stuttered more.

"I think you should take a better look at Parappa himself." PJ whispered to Katy "Huh?..." Upon closer inspection she could see fumes leaving his head due to how overheated he was, his face could be mistaken for a tomato! The gears in Katy's head started turning as immediately after she struggled to hold back a large squeal of glee.

"This is Parappa, and he says Yo! He'd say it himself, but he's just really exhausted and overheated. I blame the beanie for the latter but hey what can you do am I right?" The girl starts giggling, earning a goofy smile from Parappa's face.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you!"

The teacher then asks Sunny to tell the class more about herself to which she hesitantly obliged to. "O-Ok...um…"

As she began, Parappa dreamily listened to every word she had to say while Katy and PJ whispered amongst themselves.

"Are you SEEING this?!~"

"It'd be hard not to."

"This is the cutest thing ever!"

"The adorable daisy or the dog fawning over her?"

"Well both, but mostly Parappa!" Before PJ could add on, the lunch bell rung prompting everyone, including the teacher to book it. Leaving the four by themselves. Parappa immediately tried to speak up "I-I k-ken s-sow were l-lunch. I-izzz..." None of it was understood by the flower. "He means to say he'll be happy to show you the lunchroom! We'll join you shortly! Me and PJ gotta do something first!" Sunny nodded and looked towards Parappa "I accept your kind offer! Thank you Parappa~"

"N-No p-p-problem!" and with that, they're both off leaving Katy and PJ alone.

PJ spoke up beating Katy to the punch "You sure it's ok helping him?"

"Of course it is! Cuz look at what that whole scene was! I mean-"

"I was referring to you. Don't you also have a crush on Parappa?"

"I-I…have no idea what you're talking about."

"I may be asleep almost always, but that doesn't mean i'm not perceptive of what's around me."

"I-Is it that obvious?"

"Now it is."

"WHAT!" She fell for his word play. "So you didn't know?"

"I mean I felt something from you towards him, but wasn't sure if it was just my imagination. So I decided to ask now. Gotta say that was easy." Katy could only muster a low growl as her face grew pink.

"But now that i'm clearly certain. Again I ask. You sure it's ok helping him?"

"Of course! I mean, yes...I do admit having feelings for him, but I...don't really see myself having much of a chance-" PJ cuts her off

"Not when you hand over your crush to the nearest girl he goes gaga for-" Katy cuts him off

"NOT WHAT I MEAN...It's just...I feel Parappa doesn't see me in that light...I think he sees me as more of a sister…"

"Now that you mention it...you do have a point. But can you blame him? With how you two grew up starting 8 years ago? I don't think even I could see you as anything other than siblings…"

"See what I mean…"

"Bah, he's just dense."

"True, but...the fact still remains."

"He's in love with the new girl." They both say in unison.

"So I wanna help him out...feeling the unrequited love isn't fun. So if I can help a friend of mine who's in love! So be it! That's what i'll do."

"I have a bad feeling those very words are gonna bite you in the butt eventually…" PJ gets up "Come on let's get to the lunch room."

Parappa age 15

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAH, I'M GONNA BE LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE" Parappa was running as fast as his legs could take him "First my bike goes missing, and now im about to miss my promise with Katy and Sunny to go shopping!" As he's running he's stopped after hearing his name "Parappa."

"Huh? Oh PJ! What's up?"

"About time you arrived to play basketball."

"Come again."

"You promised." He stares at Parappa with what could be qualified as serious for his standards "Remember?"

After abit of blank staring Parappa mutters "I remember….AHHHHHHHHH!"

"Yo PJ what's with the yelling?" says a male dog wearing a red shirt with white stripes by the neck and end of the sleeves, purple pants and blue and black shoes.

"AAHHHH- who's that?"

"This is my buddy Matt, I met him a while back at Club fun once we discussed our mutual fondness of basketball."

"Nice to meet ya, I'm Matt Major!" he holds out his hand to which Parappa shakes after abit of thought processing.

"Parappa Rappa…PJ how long have you known him?"

"About two or three years?"

"And you didn't bother introducing him sooner? A new friend is always great man!"

"You never asked."

"I-...whatever. Um...I uh...actually...have to do something el-"

"Parappa! There you are!" Katy calls out to him causing Parappa to squeak out a silent "oh no…"

"Parappa we've been looking for you! Aren't you ready to go to the garage sale?" Sunny stated.

"Parappa can't go to the garage sale with you girls, because Parappa promised to play basketball with me."

"It this true Parappa?" Parappa could hear the disappointment in Katy's voice.

"I-I-I-I-I-I"

"And our promise?" Sunny says staring at him with an expression that would annihilate his heart if he kept looking.

"And OUR promise Parappa?" PJ adds on.

"Parappa!"

"Parappa."

"Parappa…"

"Urk…" Parappa was on the cusp of fainting.

"Garage Sale!"

"Basketball." Both PJ and Katy kept repeating the same thing to Parappa.

"Which promise do I keep!..." He was about to fall over then and there, were it not for a hand grabbing him, preventing his little meltdown from finishing as the hand's owner speaks up.

"You keep the basketball one."

"Huh?" everyone turns towards the voice only to see a fox girl with purple hair wearing a white jacket with a red P on one of the flaps at the bottom. A green skirt and an orange undershirt and and orange pants under the skirt finished off with blue shoes. "After all the game of basketball already began, but I don't see these two at their garage sale. Soooo in all real fairness, he should stay and play ball."

"Who the heck are you?..." Katy states towards the new girl.

"I should be asking you that! By the by, that's some get up you got there. Certainly eye catching, but probably not for the reason you're aiming for."

"W-What...well what's up with your outfit!"

"The P stands for Paula! Paula Fox, otherwise known as Initial P!

The trio of boys simply say hello, as Sunny tilts her head, all four of them however, are quickly alerted to Katy who has noticeably grown quite peeved and would've gotten worse if it weren't for Sunny scooping her up and running off "Come on we gotta get to the garage sale!"

"H-Hey put me down Sunny!"

"There they go." PJ announces as Parappa sighs from guilt.

"Well then like I said, the game is on! Come on let's play!"

"W-Whoa hey!" Matt fumbles as the ball is snatched from his hands.

"Don't feel bad Parappa, i'm sure this will all blow over and we might even look back on today and laugh."

"Yeah…"

Parappa looks up towards the sky in awe of today's current events.

And time passes by in the blink of an eye.

"It's hard to believe that's how our first day meeting you two went." Parappa states while at a table with his other friends.

"Especially with how Paula and Katy got off on the wrong foot." PJ says lazily.

"Well it did blow over. And I can't think of better friends now!" Matt adds on.

"I still feel the rivalry in the air from time to time though." As parappa states this he gets conked on the head by the two girls. "OW...I'm sorry!..."

Everyone at the table laughs.

"Our circle of friends keeps growing...I wonder who else we'll befriend…" Both Parappa and Katy say this in unison, however unaware of that fact as they both whispered it to not be heard by the rest.

Katy, age 15

"Harumph...get something to help ease your mind off your crush with Parappa...it'll start affecting you in the looooong run… that PJ...what does he know…" Katy strums her bass guitar in the shape of her head. "Gah...still no good…"

Katy was alone in the music room, the students were allowed to use it as long as they cleaned up after themselves, the school didn't bother with theft as none of their instruments were worth stealing...or using for that matter. So students usually brought their own instruments.

"No matter how many times I tune it...it still doesn't sound right...or maybe i'm just not playing it right?..." suddenly the door opens "Oh! Hey Katy!" Parappa announces happily.

"Oh hey, what brings you here?"

"Just wanted go try my hand at rapping again, ever since the whole concert caused by the birds in my hat. I think I have a real knack for it ya know?" He wasn't wrong, he had some good pipes for singing no matter the type of singing, at least she thought so. He sang only when he was at home because of self conscious thoughts and from what she heard it was really great! "So I brought Boxy Boy to lay down some tunes and my microphone to...well you know the rest!"

"Oh! Lemme get out of your way then."

"No need, i'll just use one of the side rooms, they're soundproofed from the inside so I won't annoy anyone incase i'm just fooling myself over this whole rap thing. Course I can still hear from the otherside."

"You kidding? Your voice is great, if anything you should worry that someone doesn't sneak in to listen to you better!"

"You mean that?"

"Of course! I know I would if I heard you!"

"Haha thanks Katy. Well if you need me, don't be a stranger!" He walks into one of the side rooms and closes the door.

"Ok now back to my bass-" she is stopped by hearing the sound of a door opening again "Oh did something come up Para-" She stares at a female orange sheep with red hair and two little horns sticking out, a red shirt with a weird flower like white icon on it along with dark blue pants and light blue shoes "ppa?"

"O-Oh! I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't know the r-room was o-occupied...I-I'll l-leave-"

"Nononono! It's all good! We can share this room! Or you can use one of the side rooms if ya like! I don't mind at all!"

"A-Are you sure? I-I don't w-wanna be a bother to a-anyone…" Katy could feel the insecurities seeping from the lamb and it was rather upsetting that she didn't have more confidence in herself. "Yessssssssss!" She grabs her and pulls her into the room. "It's all good-...uh…"

"L-Lammy…" is all the girl squeaks up.

"Well hello Lammy! My name's Katy! It's great to meet you!" She notices the guitar on her back and gasps "You play guitar?!~"

"U-Um….I guess you can call it that…"

"That's great! How long have you been playing?"

"W-Well...not really...publically or a-anything like that...usually just at home. I-I don't think anyone would like t-to hear my playing… B-But yeah...been playing f-for as long as I can remember…had to s-stop though b-because neighbors kept g-giving a noise c-complaint...and well t-that's why i'm here..."

Katy mutters something under her breath as to not be heard "Wow it's like a female version of Parappa when it comes to music…" she then adds on "I'm sure you play amazingly Lammy! You shouldn't really worry over that!"

"I-I don't know...t-that's kinda hard for m-me…"

"Hm...how about playing abit with me!"

"O-Oh um...A-Are you sure that's a g-good idea?..."

"Of course!...oh but wait I still need to figure up what's up with my bass…"

"Oh?...mind if I h-help?"

"Sure!" She hands her bass over to Lammy who then starts to tune it and test it at the same time trying to get a good feel, until she finally strums it and gets the results she was looking for "T-There we go…!"

"Wow...I would've never found out what it was I needed to fix up. Thanks!"

"Oh i-it's no biggie...here y-you go!.." The shy lamb hands Katy her bass back, to which she takes back and begins strumming it "Hm...how come it's not sounding like how you played it just now?"

"O-Oh um...a-are you...holding i-in some...rather b-big emotions? T-That can affect how one p-plays an instrument!..." Lammy clutches her guitar rather tightly as she says this.

"How so?"

"Well there's an old saying that music is a way to vent out emotions, and holding them in instead can detriment the music you're trying to create."

"Huh…" Her gaze, drifts over to Parappa's room "How about that…" she strums her bass for abit then turns back to Lammy "Hey Lammy, wanna start no-" She's interrupted as the door slams open causing the two of them to jump in fear. They both turn to the source, but only see a stack of drum parts.

"H-Hello?" Lammy meekly speaks up only to get a reply that she couldn't understand "I-I'm sorry w-what?"

The stack of parts drop to the floor ("I SAID I'M RIGHT HERE!") shouts a small mouse wearing a cocktail dress from behind the mess.

"E-Eep..!" Lammy rushes behind Katy who simply says "Hey wait...I know that language! The nice Sir at the pharmacy speaks it!"

("OF COURSE HE SPEAKS IT, THAT'S MY FATHER!") the stick of dynamite lodged in the female mouse's head ignites. "Riiiight! I should've put two and two together! It makes sense since you speak like him and look like him!"

("WELL DUH I'M HIS- wait are you actually understanding me?...") the dynamite stops sparking as her mouth is left wide open.

("Of course I can! After I heard him talking like that I wanted to learn the language! He's a nice guy, but most of the time people don't understand him...more people should at least try to branch out for the people in our town!") Katy states in the girls language only serving to stun her even further as she starts to cry in place "W-Whoawhoahwhoa d-did I say something wrong or offensive? I-I'm sorry! I-I uh-" She's interrupted by having the small girl body tackle her in a big hug ("No no you said everything perfectly...it's just...you're the first to actually do such a thing. My dad says to adjust and try to learn the language everyone speaks already, but that's easier said than done...learning to understand what you all say was one thing...but speaking it is a whole different story. No one bothered to speak our language...")

"Well it's like a friend of mine once told me. A little kindness never hurt nobody! So I did what I thought everyone should do!" the small mouse hops off of Katy and wipes her face clean ("Well thank you for that! It's a really nice gesture that I wish everyone would've done! And I thank your friend for that as well!") she goes back to her drum parts ("Names Mar by the way, but you and the shaking lamb can call me Ma-san!")

"What a lovely name- shaking lamb?" Katy turns around to see Lammy huddled in the corner "L-Lammy you ok?!"

"Y-Yeah just...k-kinda t-terrified…"

"Don't be! She's actually a really nice person! Her names Ma-san!" she turns towards Ma-san "I'm Katy Kat! And she's Lammy!"

"H-Hi M-Ma-san!..." Lammy mutters out.

("Not much of a spine on her is there?") Katy puts her hands on her hips "Ma-san!"

("What? It's true isn't it? You can see it yourself!") Katy just sighs at Ma-sans words prompting Lammy to ask what she said.

"She says she's very happy to meet you!"

("I didn't say that!") Ma-san drops her drum set pieces again and runs back towards the two.

"And that you're quite pretty!"

("Nor that!")

"And she would find it nice to be your friend!"

("ALRIGHT I APOLOGIZE. Just stop putting words in my mouth…")

"U-Um...i'm...g-gonna choose to believe all that until I learn to understand Ma-san so she can tell me what she said herself. But I w-wouldn't mind being her friend…" Lammy bends over and smiles at Ma-san who just huffs out while looking away with a small aggravated blush "Thenk yu!" the exchange in words earns a long "Awwwww!" from Katy.

"Hey Ma-san, so I see you play the drums!" Katy looks towards what Ma-san brought.

("Gee what tipped ya off?" Yes I play and i'm decent to my knowledge!")

"Why just decent?"

Ma-san sighs ("Because I have a habit of...bringing the house down…")

"But that's good!

("I mean literally...")

"O-Oh...less good…Actually no still good! It just mean you got some arms! A true drummer needs that! Not to mention no one can dare pick on you unless they wanna get pummeled into the dirt!"

("I don't need a pity party…")

"I'm serious! No quality is a bad quality when it comes to music!" Both Lammy and Ma-san were about to say the same thing until Katy cuts them off "I'm serious! What makes you both believe otherwise?"

"Experience…" Is all they both say.

"Oh…" Katy strums her bass once more trying to bounce off the negative vibes, to no avail until she decides to say one more thing. "Well Lammy what I was gonna say was if you wanted to try playing together now? And with Ma-san here it's sure to sound even better as a group of three! So how about it?" Both pondered for abit at her request.

"I don't o-object I g-guess…"

("Sure I guess, that way I won't be immediately blamed in case the place comes a crashing down!")

"Great! Let me help ya set up Ma-san!" in a quick zoom, she picks up and builds up Ma-san's drum set.

("You were just waiting for me to agree and say yes the second you noticed my drums weren't you?")

"Maybeeeeeee!~" She winks playfully.

("Well less work for me! So thanks I guess.") She pulls up a seat and hops onto it ("Well whaddya both waiting for? We gonna play or what?") Katy simply nods and Lammy fumbles trying to properly hold her guitar. Once all three are ready, Ma-sans dynamite reignites ("Then enough gabbing! Let's play!")

"I-I'm having second thoughts about this…" Lammy states.

"Relax Lammy! It's all in good fun for now! If we keep playing we'll eventually get a good enough groove even when we aren't playing together!" as she states this she see's lammy take a deep breath once the guitar is properly in her grasp "Yeah, you're right. Guess I kinda overlooked that point." Katy didn't seem to notice the great change in Lammy's demeanor and neither did Ma-san who simply shouted ("I SAID ENOUGH YAPPING! MORE ROCKING!") to which the other two gave a nod and began playing.

The sound was truly a spectacle to behold, the school day may have been done, but the others who were hanging around with friends could hear. Not just them but the other teachers could as well. But the trio took no notice, they were to busy having fun. But eventually their jam session came to an end when they deemed it was enough.

"YEAHHHH! That all sounded way amazing!" Katy said jumping with joy.

("Gotta admit! You girls can keep a tune!")

"It was amazing! I dunno what I was all worried about!" Lammy says with an honest confident smile.

Ma-san hops over to Katy and whispered, well whisper in her capabilities ("To tell ya the truth. I kinda decided to tone down my drumming in tune to your beats as to not break anything. And I didn't expect that to actually work!")

Katy was shocked, but whispered back "What!...B-But that's what I did listening to your beat…"

("But I thought I was following your beat…") They both gaze at each other confused over who's lead they took while playing. Their attention is immediately caught by Lammy who is strumming her guitar, creating a lovely melody causing the two girls to silently say "Ooooohhhh…"

"Lammy! You really are something on that guitar!"

"Am I? Huh, I guess so." She keeps playing "I don't usually see it myself to be fair."

Ma-san and Katy were left dumbstruck at how Lammy was acting now, she was a complete and utter parallel from how she was moments prior.

("You sure this is the same chick? No one grows a spine in that short amount of time! What did she get replaced by an evil doppelganger from hell?!")

"Ma-san! Evil doppelgangers from hell don't exist! Where'd you learn that?"

("One of the magazines I read showed one of my favorite actors talk about it!")

"Oh god, I know who you mean...Has it occured to you that maybe the guy was, ya know?" she rotates her eyes in circles as she spins her finger at the side of her head.

("Ok yeah he's had one to many breakdowns but I feel as if he was serious with that!")

"Fine fine, but my point still stands, this is the same Lammy!"

("I don't see it…") Lammy sets her guitar down to rest her fingers, then immediately notices the duo staring at her "O-Oh! I-Is there something o-on my face?!..."

("Now I see it.")

"Huh...would you look at that."

"L-Look at what?"

"Hm...Lammy what'd you think about our little play session?"

"O-Oh it was n-nice! Good to hear you two play so w-well!...I wish I was a-as good…" Katy's thought was cemented, Lammy was completely different when she had her guitar in hand.

"But Lammy! All three of us were great! Especially you!" Ma-san nods along Katy's encouragement.

"I-I-"

"She's right ya know." All three of the girls turn towards the new voice "Parappa! How long you've been standing there?"

"A few minutes, I was gonna applaud and tell you guys how amazing you sounded! But as I entered room, I could tell you were busy amongst yourselves so I decided to keep quiet until I found the right time." All three girls had their own separate reaction.

"O-Oh...eheh…" Katy bashfully scratches the back of her head.

("Who's the mutt?") Ma-san says turning towards Katy.

"A-A...E-Eh..M-Mee...urk…" Lammy had quite possibly the biggest reaction to noticing Parappa. Said reaction was one Katy could recall seeing a year ago, but couldn't figure out exactly what it was, causing her to subconsciously want to squeal with glee without a reason as to why, but she caught herself quickly.

"I'm serious though! I was starting to get into a rut as to what beat to start something with! Then I hear your amazing jam and suddenly inspiration struck! I actually have a basis to start my singing with right as I was gonna call it quits! You three were just that good!" Parappa puts a powered off Boxy Boy on his shoulder and walks towards the exit, but then turns around "You girls should form a band! You already have great chemistry together! It'd be great seeing how far you three go! I'd immediately be your first and biggest fan. Heck I already am now!" Parappa grabs the doorknob "And I can tell you easily that I'm not the only one." He opens the door, showing everyone who actually stayed at the school, lined up by it cheering and chanting for an encore. "See what I mean?~" Parappa walks out and closes the door to prevent the girls from being overwhelmed by the mob of fans.

The girls just stand there with their jaws dropped, Katy couldn't hold her excitement back any further "EEEEE-" Ma-san immediately stops her.

("No")

"No?.."

("Just cuz we got some people going gaga over the music we made, doesn't mean that everyone would enjoy it! I refuse to take the mutt's word as gospel. Who was he anyway?")

"He's the close friend of mine that taught me to branch out with kindness! His name's Parappa and we've been friends for quite some time. Enough time to know he's not lying. And if him or the crowd don't convince you. How about us? You clearly enjoyed what we played as did we! If you won't make the band to see how many fans we can make, then how about just for us to see how far our fun can take us! Right Lammy?" Lammy was still transfixed over Parappa's intrusion and sudden exit until Katy snapped her fingers "U-Uh...right!...W-Wait...what's right?..." Katy restated what she just said to the lamb.

"I-I dunno...Maybe Ma-san has a point?..."

("Now that's sound logic.")

"Come on girls...not even as just a friend attempt?..." She then looks to the floor "A-Aren't we friends?..."

Though they did just meet, they did enjoy one another's company. With an uneasy gulp from Lammy and heavy annoyed huff from Ma-san they both spoke up.

("Ok…")

"O-Ok…"

"Yay! You girls are not gonna regret this!" She pulls them both in for a group hug, catching them both off guard, then gasps "We need a band name!"

"O-Oh!...u-um…"

("Don't look at me!")

"Hm...MilkCan!"

Lammy and Ma-san look at Katy with pure confusion "MilkCan?"

"Yeah! I think that's a perfect name! It's an odd but an interesting and compelling band name! Just like us!"

"O-Odd…"

("Compelling…")

"O-Oh I uh...mean that...well if you don't…we can just pick a new name! I mean heh, I was just pulling at stri-"

"I like it..."

("Me to!")

"You do?!" Katy began beaming with pure joy as the both nod "Then it's settled! From this point on we're officially known as the band MilkCan! We're gonna need loads of practice! And group meetup jam sessions! Costumes! And a lot of other stuff! Ooooooh! But first we need something to commemorate today!" She pulls out her camera "And I have just the thing!"

"W-Whoa I r-rather not…" Lammy says nervously shying away.

("Yeah i'm with boneless on this one…photos aren't my thing...") Ma-san also backs away.

"Oh come here you two!" She wraps her arms around the two of them, bringing them close enough for her to take the picture.

The picture is framed in each of the girls rooms titled in red, orange and blue letters, We Are MilkCan!