Shin knew something was up as soon as he saw the crowd swarming around the convenience store. Well, then again, even a fool would be able to tell that. Shin knew that whatever was going on, his friends were most definitely in on it. Granted, it was Valentine's Day, but there was no way in hell this many people would all be trying to buy gifts from a 7-Eleven of all places.

He didn't even try to park his bike out front due to the sheer size of the crowd, instead opting to park his bike at another store just a few kilometers down and walk the rest of the way. Even despite that, he still had a hard time simply entering the store, having to push his way through the line and yell over the bustling noise that he actually worked there for a solid minute or so until he finally managed to slip inside.

What greeted him when he finally entered was Nao and Mishima seated at a table in the middle of the store, each with a line of people in front of them seemingly buying stuff. He wasn't necessarily sure what due to his focus being on the large banner hanging above them advertising Samurai Yaiba's special Valentine's Day Concert. "What in the...?"

As soon as the person in front of Nao stepped away with some random merch in their hands and a big smile on their face, the college student noticed Shin- and somehow, the smile on her face grew even brighter. "Hi, Shin! Happy Valentine's Day!"

"Ah, so the man of the hour has finally made his appearance!" Mishima grinned widely, taking the money handed to him and in turn giving a pair of tickets to the girls in front of him. "Welcome! Have you come to buy tickets to the show?"

Shin quickly looked down at his uniform. "Does it look like I've come to see a show? What are you guys even doing in here anyways?! How did you get permission to set up concessions here?!" With each question he asked he could feel his patience slowly starting to dwindle.

"Are you perhaps questioning my connections yet again?" Mishima lifted his chin up, an ominous glint shining in his glasses. "I thought we've been over this, Shin-"

"No no no no no." Shin shook his head fervently as he made his way to the counter. "I literally just walked into the store, we are not about to get into this 7-Eleven CEO business again. Not now, not ever."

"Well, it wasn't as if we were told we weren't allowed," Nao interjected. "After all, people are buying the snacks through the actual store itself, so you guys are actually making money from this too!"

"She's right about that," Majima piped up from his spot behind the counter, scooting over so that Shin could join him. "Speaking of snacks, the shelves need to be restocked at the rate we're going. You wanna work at the register or do you wanna restock? I don't mind either way."

Shin spared a glance at the window next to him. The crowd of people outside didn't look as if it were going away anytime soon- yet having to lug around a bunch of heavy boxes sounded just as appealing as having to deal with a sudden influx of customers- not at all pleasant, not even in the slightest. "I'll just stay here at the register."

"Alright." Majima nodded, slipping away from the counter and heading toward the back room to get to work restocking.

As soon as he made his leave, a sudden static noise filled the store. "What the...?" Shin mumbled, his teal eyes glancing all around as he tried to find out where the noise was coming from.

"Is this thing workin'?" The voice that boomed through the store was Reko's voice, definitely, but where in the world was it coming from? Although he could hear the crowd's muffled hollering from through the store's walls, Reko's voice sounded as if she were actually in the store.

Nao gasped in surprise. "Ah, so it really does work!"

"What works?" Shin was still looking around the store. Had they perhaps planted speakers all around the store?tore?

"Earlier this week, Miss Kanna was nice enough to not only figure out that the security cameras have microphones with audio that goes both ways, but she also figured out how to work the machine to freely manipulate what audio it can play! She's such a smart young lady!"

Oh, so that's what the Rick Roll from Hell was all about? Figuring out whether or not the cameras had microphones that could be used? Did they really have to go as far as to nearly render him unconscious, though? Shin frowned, still salty over how three children managed to defeat him so easily- but before he could say anything, there was more noise coming fron the speakers.

"We're good?" Reko asked. "Great!"

"Ooh, I think it's starting!" Nao's eyes lit up in excitement as she handed some merch to the last customer in her line. She immediately took some of the tickets from Mishima's pile, gesturing to the line to split up and start coming to her as well. "I'm so excited!" She exclaimed, wasting no time in getting to work helping sell the remaining tickets.

^w^

"How's everybody doin' today?!" Reko yelled out, to which the crowd replied with an outrageously loud shout. "Hope you're all ready for this concert!" Her brown eyes darted around the audience before her, a wide smile on her face. "You guys already know me! Though, you might not recognize me without my usual bright hair, I'm still the same old RECO!"

Reko had never been on stage with her real hair until now- she usually wore a wig to match their neon motif. Today's performance was going to be just a tad bit different. Nothing too special, really, aside from the fact that her life would most certainly change depending on how well it went. Needless to say, what her fans thought of her normal appearance was the last thing on her mind; but judging by the way they all chanted her name as loud as possible, they most certainly didn't hate her natural look.

"First up, on the bass, we've got STRONGHOLD!!!"

Stronghold waltzed onto the stage, sticking out his tongue as he played a quick riff on his bass, making the crowd go mad.

"On the keyboard, we've got URSHEEN!"

Ursheen made her entrance much more gracefully than her other band members, her long skirt making it look as if she floated to the keyboard, emitting a chorus of cheers from the crowd.

"And on the drums, we've got... uh? Hey, dipass, what the hell is your name again?!" Reko whipped her head behind her.

"Hey!" Alice whined, shaking his fist at Reko as he made his way on stage. "How come they get a cool introduction and I don't?!"

"Maybe 'cuz they're cool and you're not?!" Reko grinned wildly, turning back to the crowd. "Give it up for... uh... GONBEE!"

"What kind of logic is that?!" Alice cried out, affronted. To add insult to injury, the entire crowd proceeded to boo him as loud as they could. "You guys are so mean to me...!"

The crowd's boos quickly started changing into something else; At first, it was nothing more than an indecipherable jargon, but as their combined yells grew more and more intense with each time they repeated themselves, the words they were chanting quickly revealed themselves to be the initials "L.A.G."

"What are you guys yelling about now?! L.A.G?!" Alice asked. "What does LAG stand for?!" He

Reko grinned cheekily as she turned to face the crowd. "All together now!" Reko clapped her hands together, inhaling deeply before howling out alongside the crowd. "LESBIANS! AGAINST! GONBEE!"

"WHAT THE HELL?!?!" Alice shrieked. "YOU GUYS ARE BULLIES!!!"

^w^

The audience's shouts could be heard from the convenience store. "Who the hell is Gonbee?" Shin asked.

"I'm Gonbee in your mother later tonight!" Mishima answered with no hesitation whatsoever, grinning wildly as he leaned back in his seat. Thanks to the help from Nao, they were able to sell all of the tickets in a timely manner.

"NO!" Shin slammed his hand down on the counter, eliciting a laugh from the art teacher. "We're not doing this again, either!"

Nao chuckled alongside her professor. "Gonbee is just Alice's stage name." She answered, organizing some of the merch they still had left over.

"Oh, that's Alice?" Shin hummed in thought. "I'm a little weary to ask, but what did he do to the lesbians to make them hate him so much?"

Mishima brought his hand to his chin in contemplation. "I'm not so sure." He admitted after a few moments of silence. "Perhaps he didn't do anything wrong, and everyone insulting him is just part of their shtick. Kind of like how we all bully you."

"What a lovely example." Was that why Alice tended to be nicer to him than the others? Out of sympathy?

"Why, thank you!" Mishima pulled his hand away from his chin and his glasses. "I just wanted to make sure that you understood what I meant."

Shin didn't have the time to respond, as around a second later, Reko's singing was now blaring throughout the entire store. The mic was able to pick up the accompanying instruments as well, playing a beat so catchy that Shin found himself nodding along to it. "You know, sometimes I forget that Reko's famous." He admitted. "It's been so long since I've heard her singing."

"Miss Reko isn't famous for nothing," Mishima reminded him.

"Isn't she wonderful?" Nao asked with an ecstatic tone, swaying happily along to the song's beat. "I can't believe we get to hear her perform in person!"

Mishima hummed. "You know, you're more than welcome to actually go see her."

"Huh?" Nao blinked in surprise, turning to face Mishima. "No, I can't just leave you here alone."

The professor shook his head, a polite smile taking up his features. "I can take care of it myself, Miss Nao. I see how happy you are just by listening to her over a speaker. I think you deserve to be able to listen to her at the venue just like everyone else." When Nao didn't say anything, too shocked to come up with a reply, Mishima merely patted her on her shoulder, grabbing one of the wristbands off of the table and holding it out to his former student. "If I were you, I'd get going now before you miss the performance in its entirety."

After a moment or so, Nao nodded her head, a passionate smile lighting up her face. "Thank you so much, professor!" She took the wristband from him with eager hands, slipping it on her wrist as she rose from her seat and made a beeline for the door. "Bye, professor! Bye, Shin! Bye, Majima!" She called out, exiting the store before either of them could reply.

With a brisk pace, Nao hurried over to the venue, not wanting to waste another second. The journey to the venue wasn't long at all- in less than a minute she was already there; the true problem was the fact that she was all the way in the back, being forced to crane her neck just to see Reko, and even then not getting a very good view of the singer.

With no other options available to her, Nao had no choice but to force her way into a better spot, having to push some people enough so that she could slip by but not enough to hurt, muttering "excuse me," and apologizing over and over. Around the time Samurai Yaiba's first song ended, she was now in the middle of the crowd. It was a much better view than she had at the back, with the perfect amount of space between the heads of the people before her that permitted her to see Reko in all her glory. More than content, Nao decided that this would be a good place to stay.

^w^

"Y'all having fun?!" Reko asked her crowd, to which they shouted "YES!" in near perfect unison. "Good!" Samurai Yaiba had performed a decent amount of songs by this point in time, and it was starting to get late. "Since we're almost out of time, how about we change things up a little?!" She asked, grabbing her water bottle from off of the stool next to her and taking a swig, listening as the crowd cheered in excitement.

Nao had loved every second of the performance so far. Her bandmates played their instruments incredibly- combined with Reko's lovely voice, it was truly a sight to behold. She couldn't believe how lucky she was that she could call such a talented person her friend, even despite the fact that they had known one another for almost a year. Now wasn't the time to worry about that, though, she thought to herself as she cheered alongside the crowd.

"In honor of Valentine's day, how about all you single ladies put your hands up?!" Setting her water bottle down on the floor, Reko waved her arm up into the air, watching with glee as a good amount of the audience (Nao included) put their hands up into the air. "Hell yeah!!!"

"What about all the single men?!" Alice yelled.

"This is why the lesbians are against you, dammit!" Reko lowered her outstretched hand and held it toward Alice, curling up all of her fingers except a certain one. "I don't give a shit about men and neither do they, so shut up!"

Huffing in indignation, Alice whipped his head around to his fellow bandmate. "Are you hearing this slander, Stronghold?!"

"I don't give a shit about ANYONE, yo!" Stronghold howled, holding up the rocker symbol. "We're all gonna burn to death in 50 years anyways!" Banging his head as he played another quick riff on his bass, the crowd hollered in agreement. "YEAH!"

"A-Are you serious?! Ursheen, what about you?!" Alice turned his head to his other bandmate, looking at her with a pleading gaze.

Ursheen merely smiled. "I shall refrain from commenting on this matter."

"DAMMIT!" Alice whined.

Nao pressed her hand against her lips, howling out in laughter at their antics. One of the best things about being in a crowd of this size was that she could be as loud as she wanted and no one would hear her.

"Alright, alright, enough of that." Reko took a seat on her stool, taking off her guitar from over her shoulder and leaning it carefully against the stool she was seated on. "I actually have a special song prepared just for tonight," The crowd howled in delight, with Nao waving her fist about as she cheered alongside the others. "Y'all single ladies better find another single lady nearby and get dancing! If not, then I'll ban you from my future performances for being too mid and boring!" Reko stuck her tongue out at her audience, quickly flipping them off for good measure before she leaned toward the mic, grabbing onto the stand and pulling out the microphone with ease.

Counting off a measure for her bandmates as she leaned back in her seat, the rhythm they played was smooth and rather slow, with an uplifting rhythm and rather flowery words that served as a stark contrast to all the intense punk rock music they were playing earlier. The people in the audience started intermingling with one another as they swayed and danced to the new song; with the only exception being Nao, standing frozen in her spot with her eyes glued to Reko in a silent awe. The words coming from her mouth combined with the flow of the instruments had to have been one of the most beautiful sounds the art student had ever heard.

She wasn't sure how long she had stood there, mesmerized, but something deep within her stirred her to move closer to the stage. It was far easier this time around, considering how everyone was moving around. Her eyes never left Reko as she weaved through the crowds, and before she knew it, she had weasled her way directly into the front of the stage's center.

As soon as Nao arrived at the front, the song had transitioned into an instrumental, with Reko pulling the mic away from her face as she ran a hand through her hair.  Watching with pure adoration as the singer's eyes darted all over the stadium, Nao reached her hands out toward her friend. "Reko!!!" She called out in hopes that she'd look her way.

By a stroke of luck (or perhaps the singer could actually hear her despite how loud her bandmates were playing), Reko's brown eyes flickered over to where Nao was standing. "Nao!" A brilliant smile lit up her face as she rose from the stool she was sitting on. The spotlights shining on her followed her each step as she approached the edge of the stage. "The hell're you doing all the way down there?!" She asked, kneeling on one knee and reaching her hand out to the art student. "Get your ass up here!"

Reko was truly a sight to behold, one that Nao would admire all day if she could. With her breath hitching in her throat and her heart pounding madly in her chest, she reached her hand out even further, grabbing onto Reko's hand and giving it a tight squeeze.

With the help of Nao pressing her arm against the stage and pulling herself up, Reko managed to lift her onto the stage with minimal effort, laughing heartily as she helped Nao rise to her feet. "I thought I told you to get movin'!" Reko chided with a playful lilt in her tone. Still holding onto her hand, she spun Nao and pulled her so that her back was flush against her torso. "What's the matter, couldn't find a partner?" She whispered, her lips faintly brushing against Nao's earlobe. Reko pulled Nao away from her, sending her twirling and only letting go of her hand at the last possible moment.

Nao giggled as she twirled a few strides away from Reko, nearly losing her footing along the way and having to hold her hands out in order to regain balance and stop herself. "I was hoping you'd be my partner," She looked at Reko from over her shoulder, smiling widely at her friend and shooting a wink her way.

"Funny you should say that," Reko sighed softly as she approached the mic stand, taking the mic still in her hand and setting it back up in its proper place. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you, Nao."

The odd statement elicited a hum of confusion from Nao, her hands falling back to her side as she eyed Reko with curiosity. She paid no mind to the way the music being played in the background grew quieter.

Making sure the microphone was set up properly, she turned away from the crowd to face Nao, her confident expression warping into something that looked more uncertain than anything. "I'm no good with this kind of shit, so I'm just gonna get straight to the point." Taking a stride towards Nao, Reko gently took hold of her hand, running her thumbs over her knuckles absentmindedly. "You mean a lot to me, Nao. I can't put it into words, so that's why I wrote this song. I originally wrote it as a thank you; we've only known each other for- what, around a year?- yet you've helped me in so many ways. As I was writing this song, at first I thought I was just grateful to have you as such a good friend. But the more I started to think about you, the more I realized that what I felt wasn't as simple as just gratitude. And then, somewhere along the line, I finally figured out that I think I'm in love with you. So, uh, you wanna be my girlfriend?"

Nao's free hand flung to her mouth as she let out a sudden gasp at Reko's declaration. Was that really how she felt about her? That sensation of her heart pounding erratically in her chest was back in full swing, color rushing to her face and painting her cheeks a brilliant shade of pink. She tried to squeak out her answer, only to find the words had been caught in her throat. Instead, she nodded her head wildly, clenching her eyes shut as she felt tears start to well up in her eyes.

"Uh, is that a yes...?" Reko asked, a sheepish smile on her face as she let out a nervous chuckle.

Still unable to muster out a verbal response, Nao practically threw herself at Reko, grabbing the back of the singer's head with her free hand and pulling her in for a kiss. It wasn't the best one, given how their teeth accidentally clashed together due to how hard Nao pulled her in, but Reko was more than happy to reciprocate the gesture, wrapping her arm around Nao's waist and pulling her in closer.

The croup erupted into a cacophony of all sorts of yells and cheers, the specifics of what exactly they were shouting falling upon deaf ears. Stronghold was probably yelling the loudest- something along the lines of Reko and Nao being his two favorite lesbians to ever exist. Ursheen was clapping politely at the scene before her, and Alice was bawling his eyes out.

After what felt like forever, Reko finally pulled away from her girlfriend (God, the fact that she could call Nao her girlfriend was so liberating; it made her feel as if she could do anything.), wearing the biggest smile that anyone had ever seen on her. Still holding on tightly to Nao's waist, she turned towards the microphone, letting go of Nao's hand in favor of snatching the mic from its stand. "Everybody! Meet my girlfriend, Nao!" She howled victoriously, holding up the microphone to the art student. "Y'all better be nice to her!"

"Hi!" Nao waved ecstatically to the crowd, her cheeks still a bright shade of pink as she leaned her head against her girlfriend's shoulder.

As the crowd created yet another ruckus for the umpteenth time that night, Reko lowered her chin against Nao's head, planting a soft kiss atop her hair. "You have no clue how happy I am," She mumbled.

Nao shook her head. "No, I think I know. Because I'm just as happy as you are."

Words: ~3.8k

Author's Note: OH MY GOD THE VDAY SPECIAL IS FINALLY OUT! A LITTLE LATE BUT I THINK ITS SO WORTH IT! Ik this is a fic about bullying Shin but I love Naoreko so much, you know I had to do it to em. THIS CHAPTER'S EXTRA LONG TOO, I REALLY HOPE YOU ENJOY IT :D

ALSO BIG SHOUT OUT TO Dogemon9000 FOR MAKING THIS INCREDIBLE CG, YALL BETTER HIT UP THEIR INSTAGRAM PAGE AND GIVE THEM A FAT KISS ON THE LIPS FOR ME!