Ch. 12 Concert with the NYAA-EET

You were on your way home from work with the other two working NEETs, and you were on top of the world.

You were so proud that the first draft of treats you had submitted to Rinko were approved! You were elated to be able to present these to Nyaa-Chan, especially since you had labored extensively over them.

Choromatsu had been incredibly eager, and insistent, on helping you with the designs. It had taken him a bit to overcome the initial shock of your proposal though…

“Choromatsu, I have something pretty exciting to tell you!” You had told him after coming home from work, the day after your date with Karamatsu since you had forgotten the tickets in your hurry.

“What is it?” He asked, trying not to seem as curious as he had been.

You were pleased Choro had calmed down relatively around you since you had helped him with his resumes and other strategies.

“Okay, don’t.. well, it’s okay to be excited I guess! Remember when Nyaa-chan came into my shop a while back? Well we got these tickets in the mail, so do you wanna go with me?”

He froze, eyeing the tickets in disbelief, “Those… are….. V-V-V-V. I. K. tickets!!!!!!!”

You were prepared for his screech, but you still jumped a little, “Yep! I’m going to work on making some Nyaa themed pastries too for the show—“

“We… We would get to meet Nyaa-Chan!!! Go.. Go to the s-s-show, a-and…. meet Nyaa-Chan….”

“Yeah, if you want to!” You giggled.

He had turned towards you, eyes teary and mouth tight in a little ‘v’, you could never forget it.

“O-Of course I w-w-w-want to go!!!”

After that, he was constantly talking to you, and himself, about his plans for the show, what to wear, what you should wear, how meeting Nyaa-Chan would go, and how it would ‘go better than last time’. Whatever that meant.

But most of all, he had been relentless in helping you design the sweets. He was insistent that everything had to be perfect, you were almost more nervous to give him the final product than you were to show Rinko!

You chuckled as you neared your house, remembering how frustrated he became when you suggested a fish decoration (because cats like fish right?). It turns out, Totoko and Nyaa were rivals of sorts, so that would be “disrespectful” to Nyaa chan.

He had been in utter panic just thinking of the idea, so you assured him there would be absolutely no fish.

“We finally made it! I’m excited to give Choromatsu these for a proper inspection.” you chuckled as you finished reminiscing.

Ichimatsu, Todomatsu, and yourself had finally made it to the door of your home.

“You are so kind to humor him, just what I would expect from you.” Totty cooed.

“Well, I’m always up for a challenge!”

“That’s obvious….” Ichimatsu murmured.

Once you were inside, you made a beeline to the boys’ room to find Choromatsu, who was undoubtedly listening to Nyaa-Chan in a meditative state as he had been for days. Apparently, this was his ritual before concerts.

“O Great Nyaa-Chan, may you look upon me and guide me with your shining, divine light as I greet your humble Nyaa servant. May he look upon these offerings with good graces.” You said a quick prayer before entering the shrine.

“We’ve completely lost her..” Ichimatsu groaned.

“She’s in too deep into the Nyaa Abyss.. O Great Nyaa-Chan, please bring her back to us safely and Nyaa free after this trying, idiotic time is finished.” Totty mock prayed and fell into a tizzy of giggles as Ichimatsu subtly smiled.

You hadn’t heard either of them, as you had already entered the Nyaa Shrine (aka, their room), but if you had you would have laughed.

“Shrine keeper, please allow me entry to offer my blessings to the Holy Nyaa.” You tried not to giggle as you greeted Choromatsu.

“O-Oh! It’s you, is it already that time..” Choromatsu looked at his wrist for the time, but he wasn’t wearing a watch.

“Guess who approved our designs?” You dropped the charade and shyly procured the decorative bag of sweets.

“That’s wonderful, congratulations. How did they turn out though?” He peered into the bag with a critical eye, “Is this how you will present them to her?”

“No, hers are safe in my room, these are yours to inspect, m’Nyaa-Lord. May they satisy you.” You internally begged, Choromatsu had already refused several of your designs and prototypes and you were growing tired of the rejection.

“S-Stop with the weird Nyaa titles, I hope you don’t plan to do that in front of h-her..” He mumbled, “This packaging is really cute, I think she will like it.. or I hope she will.”

“Well, do YOU like it?” You asked with a smile.

He yelped, “Y-Yes!! Thank you for thinking of me.. and including me in all of this..”

You watched him as he carefully unwrapped each sweet with pink cheeks and shaking hands, he was soo cute and sweet, you couldn’t help but comply with his shenanigans.

“Oh, wow.. These are lovely..” He said as he looked at each one carefully.

“Oh thank Nyaa! I was so scared you wouldn’t like them!” You breathed a sigh of relief and sat next to him.

“How could I dislike them? They’re b-beautiful.” He was handling the Key Lime Tart, or as you called it, the Key LiMeow.

It was a small neon green tart with a pink crust. A simple cat decoration with Nyaa’s signature green streaks symbolized by two delicate curls of lime rind were laid on top.

You had to admit, it was pretty freaking cute.

You went to pick up the Strawberry Shortcake Petit-Four, a sweet pink icing with a strawberry shortcake inside. For decoration, it had a slice of strawberry cut into a heart on top and a green paw-print icing design.

“Thank you, Choro! Want to try them?”

“You want me to eat these?! Eat.. the same thing Nyaa-Chan will eat?” He looked at the sweet and flushed bright red.

“You deserve it, let’s share them!” You pulled out the last two sweets from the bag, a simple cookie shaped like a paw and a cat face, one in pink and the other in green.

Choro gulped audibly and nodded, but just kept staring at the tart and sweating.

You laughed, “You don’t have to, but it would make me really happy to know what you think! I love seeing people enjoy my sweets.”

“I-I want to!” He said as he went for it, taking a bite out of the tart.

You were about to hand him a fork, but you guessed it didn’t really matter.

You took a bit out of the petit-four as well, “What do you think?”

He turned to you with teary eyes, “This is incredible! I’m so happy! Nyaa-Chan will be happy too, I hope!!”

He was so energized, but then he noticed the fork, “O-Oh!! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to..”

“No biggie, here!” You swapped your treats, “Now we can try the other one.”

“B-But, t-that would be an…” He started, but you had already taken a bite out of the tart.

“I-I-I-INDIRICT K-K-K-KISS!!!!” He shrieked and covered his mouth, almost dropping the pink cake.

You almost snorted laughing at his reaction, he was so pure, so sweet!!

“I can cut off the part I bit if you don’t want to!” You offered, but he quickly shook his head and shakily took a bite of your original cake.

He was sweating like he was in a sauna in summer. You swear you even saw smoke come out of his ears, but you ignored it and broke off a piece of the cookie. Opting to enjoy the view.

“You know, we could have a direct kiss if you wanted to.” You said, half just to see his reaction and half because you were totally down to smooch the frog boy.

“W-Whaa— W-HAA—“ He croaked, dropping his pastry, which thankfully landed on the packaging so it wasn’t wasted.

“No pressure, just letting you know.” You grinned, covering up a giggle and went into the kitchen to get a bag for the leftovers.

Choromatsu just gawked.

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The next day you felt that you were finally fully prepared for the concert, you had gotten the treats approved by your two judges, you had gone over every possible scenario with Choromatsu, and frankly you were ready to just go for it!

Choromatsu, of course, had something else in mind.

“You.. You can’t really be serious about wearing that to the concert, right?” He said blankly, staring at your attire.

“What’s wrong with it? I’m trying to be casual, cute, but still professional.” You frowned, looking over your outfit, you thought you looked nice!

“No, no way! You’re not even showing your Nyaa Spirit! You probably don’t want to wear a T-shirt, since it IS business, but you could at least wear her colors or an accessory from her merchandise line.”



Now it was your turn to stare. Choromatsu was very serious about this obviously, as he was wearing a head to toe super-fan Nyaa-Chan get up.

“Okay, okay! I think I get it, I’ll go change..”

You returned wearing a light pink blouse, a white skirt, and a green purse you dug out of your closet. “How’s this?”

“That’s better… But..” He procured a headband and some glowsticks from his pockets, “Won’t you at least wear—“

“No.”

“W-Wh.. Hmmph.” He pouted and turned back into his room.

“Oops..” You thought you had hurt his feelings, but he returned a moment later.

“What about this?” He offered you a Nyaa Cat Ear headband, it even had green ribbons that resembled her hair.

“I.. Uh…” You sighed, “I guess, but I’m going to take it off before we meet her, okay?”

He smiled happily, “Okay!”

You chuckled, shaking you head lightly before putting your “ears” on.

“How do I look?”

He was about to answer when you felt someone touching your hair.

You spun around, thankfully suppressing your instinct to hit whoever was touching you as you knew it was probably a Matsu.

There was Ichimatsu, red faced and blissfully petting your hair as if you were a cat. You had accidentally startled him though, and his eyes widened as he snatched his hand back.

“Aw, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you! You like the ears, huh?” You giggled, you should have known.

“…….Mn…” He grunted, and quickly walked into his room.

“Alrighty then, ready to go?” You turned to Choro, who was nervously studying your headband to make sure Ichimatsu didn’t damage it.

“Yeah, let’s go!” He said, after double checking his bags and yours to ensure you had everything.

“Oh, let’s take our, uh, head attire off before we go though, we wouldn’t want them to fly off!” You said walking out the door.

“Why would they fly off?…” He asked following you.

As you headed towards Totoko’s garage he realized what you meant.

“W-We’re going on that?!” he stammered.

“Well, we don’t have to, but I figured it would be the fasted, and I wouldn’t want the sweets to get crushed accidentally on the train.”

He thought it over for a moment and then nodded, “I-I guess you’re right..”

He tucked both of your headbands into his pockets, that robe was spacious! You secured your packages in your bags on the bike, then you tossed him a helmet.

“Don’t worry, I have a brush so if you get helmet hair you won’t have to see Nyaa-Chan like that!” You winked at him and started the bike after putting on your own helmet.

It took him several moments to compose himself, but eventually with some reassurance about the safety and your experience, he climbed on the back.

“Let me know when you’re ready.” You told him.

He nodded, “You can go!”

“Um, if you don’t hold on you might fall off though..” He hadn’t yet put his hands on your waist.

“H-Hold on? To what?…” He squeaked out, holding his hands up.

“To me, what else??” You looked at him, “Are you okay with that? I just don’t want you to fall off..”

“Y-Yes!! I can, I can do that!” He nodded so hard you thought the helmet may fly off.

You waited.

You waited soms more.

Finally you turned around, “Do you want to just take the train, sweetheart?”

“N-NOO!! I can do this!! Totty did it.. Shittymatsu did.. I-I can DEFINITELY do this!” He stammered, blushing hard and squeezing his eyes shut. He thrust his arms out and rigidly held your sides.

Well, that’s better than nothing.

“You’ll be alright, I promise! Let me know if you feel uncomfortable.” You assured him and he nodded.

With that, you headed to the venue.

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As you locked up your bike, Choromatsu was brimming with excitement, you didn’t think he could have possibly been more excited than he had been this past week, but he was proving you wrong.

Choromatsu seemed to be flourishing in this environment. At home he seemed terribly anxious about the show, running through what felt like a thousand scenarios that may or may not happen based on his choices and coming up with a proper ‘game plan’. However, he seemed totally in his element now that you were there.

You noticed several people recognized him as you approached the line, but they were eyeing you, probably wondering if you were with him or just walking by. Their quizzical looks amused you, and you had half a mind to reach out for Choromatsu’s hand just to get a rise out of them.

However, he seemed to have read your mind and quickly crossed his arms and trotted towards the line with you following close behind.

He began chatting freely with his friends in line, failing to introduce you. Your feelings were a bit hurt, but you understood that he was just excited.

As you approached the beginning of the line, you procured the V.I.K. tickets and showed them to the guards.

He subtly pulled you out of line, as Choromatsu was loudly chatting up his friends, and asked, “Do you need anything from us? Please let us know at anytime during the show if you need assistance. After the show, please make your way to the bouncers near the stage and show them your ticket.”

“Actually, could you please take this bag backstage? I would like to discuss somethings with Miss Nyaa-Chan after the show, they are quite fragile so please be careful.”

“Yes ma’am, we will of course have to check the contents, but we will be incredibly delicate I can assure you.”

You handed over the parcel and made your way back to Choromatsu. You happened to hear someone ask if you were with him, to which he scoffed and replied, “Of course not, you know I am still devoted as Nyaa-Chan as you all!”

All of his friends seemed relieved, and continued chatting.

You felt yourself deflate a bit, you supposed competing with an Idol would be hard. Well, who knows, maybe Nyaa-Chan would want to get in on it. You chuckled dryly trying to imagine Choromatsu’s reaction to that.

You entered the venue and Choromatsu went back into the nervous, over-the-moon excited state he had been in all week. He grabbed your wrist and made a bee-line straight to the front of the stage.

Nyaa-Chan’s music was fine, you did enjoy it, but what you really enjoyed was looking at Choromatsu’s bubbling excitement throughout the show. Anyone could tell that this is his true passion. You were a little jealous, but on the other hand he was just soo cute screaming his sweet head off and singing his little heart out.

As the encore ended, you gingerly took his hand and weaved your way through the crowd to the backstage entrance, as instructed.

He jerked in surprise at the contact and looked around anxiously. As soon as you broke through the crowd he squirmed out of your grip.

“Alright, you ready for this?” You asked, still a little nervous about his potential behavior in front of his beloved idol.

All he could do was nod, you didn’t blame him.

You both entered the waiting room to see your package on a table surrounded by DO NOT ENTER tape, you could see that the body guard you had spoken to earlier was serious.

After retrieving your package you were about to offer Choromatsu a pep talk, but you were ushered to go into a different room. Judging by the paw print on the door, you could only assume who it would be.

Of course, you were greeted by a peppy Nyaa-Chan, you had no idea how after that show.

“Oh, I’m so glad mew could make it tonight!” Nyaa-Chan smiled happily, she was sitting in a lavish dressing room with about 200 bouquets and parcels from fans.

Suddenly, your offering felt meager. You hadn’t expected to get cold feet after all of this.

As you were frozen in insecurity for a moment, Nyaa noticed Choromatsu next to you, who was sweating profusely and bright red.

“Mew is this? I was expecting.. The other woman.” Nyaa said, surprised but still in a sing-song tone.

“Oh, this is Choromatsu my.. Uh, he’s your biggest fan, maybe you remember the autograph?”

Before he could answer, she exclaimed, “Oh yes! I do rememfur, I believe we met one befur as well..” For a moment her expression faltered, “I’m sorry your time got cut short that time, but I will say I have nefur had an experience like that one befur!” Then she laughed dryly, “I’m happy to see it’s only you here and not your twin!”

Choromatsu looked like he was about to wet himself, and you weren’t sure in what way.

“Y-You.. Y-Y-Y-You, N-Nyaa-Chan, r-remember….” he gestured to himself.

She giggled lighter this time, “Well, it was certainly meowmerable!”

You thought he was going to pass out. It was so cute.

“T-T-Thank y-y-y-you….”

“We both really enjoyed the show, you were great!” You jumped in so he wouldn’t start crying, he looked at you with a grateful expression.

“Thank mew both soo meowch!” She beamed brightly, then noticed your bag. “What is that? Is it fur me?”

Ah, you totally forgot about that. You were still unsure if you should give it to her or not.

Choromatsu seemed to notice, “S-She’s a great c-c-cook.” His voice kept cracking, “S-She’s been working r-really hard…”

That was just about all he could muster, but you were grateful.

“My mentor and I were thinking you may be interested in trying more of our selection and seeing our work!” You began to unpack the sweets on a nearby table and explain the qualities of each one.

You were really engaged in your work, not looking at Choromatsu or Nyaa-Chan, but a shrill shriek broke your focus.

Of course, it was Choromatsu.

You spun around to see a sheet-white Choromatsu screaming wide-eyed at a crying Nyaa-Chan.

It didn’t take long for someone to bust in and accuse Choromatsu of something, but Nyaa-Chan waved them away just as fast.

“Are you okay??” You asked the both of them, relieved that Choromatsu was actually innocent.

Choromatsu squeaked and nodded vigorously while looking over at Nyaa-Chan who was admiring your sweets with tears in her eyes.

“Are these really all fur me?” She asked, looking at you.

“W-Well, of course they are.. I thought that would be obvious by looking at them.” You stumbled, trying to lighten the mood, “I mean, who else would neon cat sweets be fur?”

She smiled happily and wiped her eyes, “I’m so sorry for that, I-I.. Thank you.. This just means so much to me, ___”

Then she did something that surprised you, she called you by your gang name in high school.

“W-What did you say?” You asked, shocked.

Nyaa-Chan gingerly took a sweet, nibbling on it while avoiding your gaze.

“I’m sorry, but do I know you?..” You felt guilty for not remembering her, especially if she was one of your girls, but you knew that none of them had pink hair like that.

Choromatsu of course was gaping so widely his jaw was practically on the floor.

Nyaa-Chan picked up a different pastry and tried that one. Then she took a big breath, then handed you a photograph that was face-down on the table.

You flipped it over and both you and Choromatsu studied it, “Well, this is definitely me..”

The picture was from a high school track meet at a sport’s festival. It showed a group of girls from your class, you included, right after you all won the meet.

Of course, you were in the middle. You were one of the best athletes at your school. There were a few of your girls standing next to you, you all looked so happy. Then there were a few other girls on the sidelines of the picture who were unlucky enough to be in your team. You remembered that they were happy to win using your strength, but still wanted to avoid you at all costs.

There was one girl though, she was always so quiet, and looked so plain even in the photo it was unfortunately easy to look over her. She was standing closer to you than the other girls, but still looked uncomfortable to some degree.

“Reika?!” You looked at her in utter surprise.

She audibly gasped and held her face in her hands, new tears forming in her eyes, “Y-You.. Remember me?...”

“I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you before, you look so different now, wow! Like, seriously, wow!” You went in to give her a hug, but Choromatsu stopped you.

“T-That is NOT regulated behavior for idol-fan interactions!!” He screeched.

“Oh Choromatsu, come on, she’s an old friend of mine!” You grumbled a bit, thinking those rules were a bit stuffy anyways.

“He is right.. I’m an idol now, there’s certain things I can’t do anymore..” She murmured shyly.

You thought back to when she hugged you in the bakery, “Did you get in trouble for before, in the bakery?”

She nodded, “Well, not quite, but I was reminded of my contract..”

“Well that’s bullshit, you should be able to do what you want to!” You growled, “You want this though, don’t you?”

Nyaa laughed lightly, “You haven’t changed at all, I can tell.. You would go through so much trouble for me again if I asked.. But don’t worry, I’m happy doing this.”

She turned to Choromatsu, “My fans are so important to me, you all have given me so much. Thank you for reminding me of that.”

Then she turned back to you, “You were the first person.. To give me any confidence.. At that track meet..” She took the photo back from you, gently, as if it was a treasure, “You were the only one who believed I could do it, you went out of your way to help me practice.. You actually believed in me when no one else did.. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there fur mew when mew needed it..”

You had no idea something that was so small to you meant so much to her, you were touched. “Nyaa-Chan, er, I mean Reika? I’m glad I could help you, but you helped me too at the meet! We wouldn’t have won without you, and it was nice to be around someone who wasn’t afraid or disgusted by me.. Even if you weren’t interested in joining.” You winked at her, remembering your offer. “So really, you were there for me, just in a different way!”

“I wanted to become Nyaa-Chan so that people could see me and believe in me like mew did then.. I wanted to help and inspire people like mew, and I really do want to keep doing that. Meeting people like Choromatsu really inspires me to keep doing my best. All my fans boost my confidence and give me the strength to keep going, and I want to do the same fur them!” She smiled widely, looking at you and Choromatsu.

“Y-You do, of c-course, you do that for us!! Y-You’re amazing N-Nyaa-Chan.. We, um and I, w-will always s-s-support you!!!” Choromatsu stammered out, he was really holding his own in front of his idol and you were impressed.

Nyaa-Chan extended her hands towards his to hold and shake them in thanks. You thought he might die. Then she turned to you.

“Please tell your mentor that these sweets were delicious, and that I will be in contact fur future orders.. Thank mew for coming to see me and fur making me these delicious treats. I really wanted to thank you for everything, I’m so happy I was finally able to. I couldn’t believe it when we ran into each other!” She handed you a card with her contact information. “Let me know if you want to come see me again, I would love to have mew both in the audience as my V.I.K.s again!”

After saying your goodbyes, both you and Choromatsu stumbled out of the venue, a little confused about what had happened, but also feeling at peace. You didn’t look at each other until you made it to your bike.

“Thanks for being here with me, I think I understand you a little better now. I really did have a fun time, and.. I needed your support in there, so thanks for that. You did great!”

Choromatsu flushed a bit, “T-Thanks..”

“I can’t wait for our next date, I’m sure you are the type that will want to plan everything out, but let me know if you want me to do it!” You said cheerfully unlocking your bike.

“W-What?” His voice went up an octave and cracked.

You stood up and straddled the bike, “What, what? I mean, if you don’t want to--”

“T-This was a D-D-DA-DATE?!” His shrill voice attracted the attention of other passerbys and he was grinning from ear to ear while simultaneously looking constipated.

“Well, I certainly thought so, but it doesn’t have to--”

That had apparently broke Choromatsu, he screamed, something that sounded like a battle cry, and smushed his tightly closed lips against yours. Then before you could register, he jumped on the back clung to you, and screamed directly into your ear, “DRIVE!!!!”

You reared your head back and laughed, but obliged and began the drive home.