CHAPTER – 1
Earth, the third planet of the Solar System, a green garden floating in the sea of stars, a shining beacon of life among cold rocks. Or, at least, that's how humanity perceived their universe. However, among the cosmos, the miracle of life had appeared many times, from far away stars to places not so distant from humanity's cradle. Swimming in dangerous water, but blind, everything humanity had built could disappear in a moment.
A metropolis had its sky covered by a veil of gray clouds. Lights of the buildings and lamps were out. No moon was visible through the clouds, but through some of its gaps, streaks of green light broke through, bringing some faint light to the city bellow. Its tall buildings tortuously rose attempting to reach those skies with curved lines, almost resembling giant gray trees. Down below, people ran desperately through the empty and strangely twisted curves, vehicles crashing around them while smoke started rising to the sky.
A young teenager, Fuyuki Hinata stood still in the middle of those streets, showing an almost unnatural calmness. His appearance in that uniform would not stand out in a crowd from among other students. There was a green blazer over a white t-shirt, red necktie and gray pants. A cold wind flew past him, blowing his dark short hair, especially a certain unruly hair strand standing up in the middle of his head. He had already seen that landscape, that scene, in many variations, uncountable times. Yes, even in the fateful day where he encountered a certain alien for the first time. Each time, it was slightly different, and this one was no different.
The city, skies, the world in front of him seemed split into three, standing directly beside each other. Sunset, daybreak and night right beside each other, under each sky there was also completely different buildings and roads, like three different worlds cut up and put side by side.
The world right in front of him, in the middle, resembled the Okutokyo that Fuyuki saw every day. A dense city, although not particularly busy, with residential blocks standing fairly close to skyscraper blocks downtown. Cars and people crossed the streets in their daily routine, seemingly ignoring the two other worlds around them.
The world to his left showed a similar visage of a busy city however, the buildings and vehicles moving there seemed alien. Several metallic towers extending past the clouds, while smaller white buildings, without windows or even visible doors, surrounded them. Above several of the buildings, and spread in engravings, there was a familiar star shaped mark. In the skies, several lights could be seen flying through the buildings, but the ground and empty streets bellow were silent.
Finally, to his right, there was the city known to him, but it lied in ruins, under a cloudy sky. The walls of the gray buildings showed damage and structural flaws, as if no one had maintained them for years, just as the roads bellow. In the center of the city, amidst the buildings, there was a gargantuan hole, going deep into the ground. Shadows of people walked alongside black flames in those ruins, seemingly wandering towards the massive fissure in the center.
"This is…"
Fuyuki suddenly saw himself facing a small humanoid shadow, reaching his knees. It had a slender body and an oversized head, resembling a classical alien image. In spite of standing right in front of him, shadows covered it, while its large round eyes shone like beacons. The figure smirked.
Fuyuki blinked and, like in a sudden scene cut, he did not see the alien silhouette before him anymore, rather than that, he saw a certain green haired girl… She stood in front of him, with a condescending smirk. Strands of dark green hair blew in front of her face, almost reaching her pitch black eyes. Her form was surrounded by a black fog, as if shadows projected onto the air itself, slowing crawling around her. From what Fuyuki could make out, she wore her standard uniform, although calling it a uniform seemed to be glorifying it too much. She sported an open short-sleeved green vest, a yellow star on her left, over a form fitting white shirt, brown short shorts, green kneepads and similarly colored socks and boots. A bright gold star on the back of her head tied her hair into a large ponytail, which moved with the wind blowing around them.
"Sergeant?! No. I don't know who you are but yo-" The green haired girl suddenly leaned forward, her nose touching Fuyuki's own. The girl grinned.
"Which path will you take?"
/
Fuyuki opened his eyes. He was sitting in class, during daytime, several students hanging around and leisurely talking with each other, while the strong sunlight illuminated the room. "It was just another one of those dreams…" Fuyuki muttered. In spite of how bizarre it was, he sighed, with a hint of disappointment. "This unmoving world stays the same…"
"Fuyuki! Fuyuki!" The face of a young girl suddenly appeared before Fuyuki, with a beaming smile. It was Momoka Nishizawa. She had let her azure hair grow a bit, tying it into a small ponytail. Although usually elegant and composed, as befitting the heir of the richest family in the world, some matters, like Fuyuki himself, easily could break that front. She sported the female version of Kishou's uniform, which looked similar but with a short gray skirt replacing the pants. In addition to that, she sported tight high white socks, tied by a black lace.
"Ah, sorry Nishizawa," Fuyuki smiled standing up, "I guess I stayed up way too late last night." Fuyuki stopped, looking through the room at the windows on his left, and the empty athletics field bellow, illuminated by the usually strong sunlight. "But, that dream felt odd."
/Encounter 01 – The Invader Keroro, Phantom Blooper/
Ages ago on a green planet far away from Earth, a small child made a promise, while looking at the stars in a clean night sky.
"One day, I'll become the leader of the army. I'll wear a real Keron Star and become a hero known through the entire planet… no, universe!" The childish voice proudly proclaiming his future came from a small green alien, wearing a signature yellow hat with two long ear flaps covering where his ears would be, were it a human. Its round eyes with a large black iris stared at the skies, while the lips on its mostly white face drew a confident smile. The child raised its green hand only to give a mock salute to the horizon beyond him while a yellow star shone on his white belly.
A little while ago, the inquisitive eyes of a mature woman with long black hair tied into a large ponytail, through her small glasses, ran all over a petite green haired girl who stood in the center of a spacious, but busy room. It was bright and clean with wooden floor tiles, a purple carpet in the middle, sound and video equipment all around the left wall, with a large blue sofa on the opposite side.
There was a picture of the cosmos and a galaxy in the center of the back wall, alongside a small white fridge with a yellow star emblem. Beside the purple front door, there was a large stand with various models, most of them Keroro's large Gunpla collection, but there were also some anime figures and other types of model kits, like racing cars and a classic Japanese castle. Yes, that was the Sergeant's Room, where a certain frog-like invader had settled some time ago, after an encounter with two young human teens two years ago.
The one standing in the center of the room resembled a girl around Fuyuki's age, and had a yellow star ribbon tying her hair into a high ponytail, while leaving untied bangs in front. She sported a short-sleeved green vest over a tight white shirt, a yellow star adorning the left side of her vest, alongside similarly form fitting khaki shorts. In addition, she wore green kneepads and boots, resembling some kind of military cosplay. Aki Hinata, the woman observing her, sported simpler attire, a lilac sleeveless shirt and brown pants, which still wrapped around her voluptuous body and all her curves.
"I can still barely believe this is really you, Kero." Aki said with a playful smile, raising a finger up to her own cheek, "You look so cute! You could even be the model for a manga's heroine!"
Keroro put her hands behind her back, smiling. "Well, sir, of course the gallant hero would become a cute heroine!"
"And where was this gallant hero?" Aki silently muttered, holding her smile. "Still, you seem to be taking this very well."
"Well, it just feels natural, sir. Like, if I had amnesia, I don't think I'd notice anything wrong with myself. Although, that's also a bit scary." She had a weak smile while saying, that, but soon put on a large grin, "Besides, if you think about it… I'm cute, great at cleaning, washing, cooking and invading! You could say I'm a model soldier and woman!"
"Hm… Well, invading part aside, wouldn't that just make you really cliche? There's nothing special about a main heroine whose only special qualities are things that generally are considered feminine anyway. Maybe I'll need to rethink using you as the model."
"I didn't ask for an editor's opinion." Keroro grumbled.
Aki winked at the flustered green haired girl. "Although maybe a generic heroine, you'd make a great daughter-in-a-law."
"Ge-gero?!" Keroro blushed, "Yo-you aren't serious, right?!"
"What do you think, Fuyuki?" Aki glanced at the door of Keroro's room, which had been slightly opened but instantly closed upon her comment. "Ah, youth!" Aki giggled, "When I look at you these days, Keroro, I see a young girl inside and outside. Although I guess things would just get complicated if something started between you two. Are you really staying like this for a while?" The older woman wondered.
"According to Sergeant Major Kururu, there was some unexpected side-effect, and she still hasn't figured out how to fix it. It might take a long time."
"So, our new heroine will stay for a while, eh?"
"Sir, yes, sir!" Keroro's eyes dodged Aki's own, looking at the floor, "Besides, sometimes I feel I could just stay like this…"
Some time had passed since that conversation and Keroro, still looking like a human girl, stood inside her room again, dressed in white shorts and a long sleeved green turtleneck. She raised her fist triumphantly, mimicking the alien child from many years ago, her eyes shinning while she looked at her own image in the mirror. "Well, it doesn't really matter. Either way, soon Pekopon will be mine!"
Even though many things had changed recently, sergeant Keroro's room remained mostly the same. Beside the sofa, there were two additions to the room – a light blue closet built into the wall. It remained open, showing various clothing, many green. On the opposite side of the same wall, there was a large full body mirror fixed onto it, where Keroro stood, looking at herself. She saluted her own reflection with a confident smile.
/
The school day had come and gone. Fuyuki stood in a grassy field in front of the main school building's entrance, which consisted of four glass sliding doors, on top of a small raised section of paved ground. "Join the Occult Club!" bold blue letters were on the forefront, with a shot of a galaxy in the background, with various famous objects floating in front of it, like Egyptian and Mayan pyramids, the Stonehenge and Moai statues. There were various bright and bold posters similar to it all around, advertising clubs focused on various other activities, like soccer, theater or music.
"Once again, it seems like none of the new students are interested in joining the club…" He lamented, "Nishizawa's bodyguard group is a bit eccentric, but this is no reason for that." He reminisced how the guards surrounded Momoka when they attempted to advertise the club before classes, leading to a very awkward promotion.
Fuyuki glanced at a nearby tree. Hidden inside the foliage, there was a security guard, clad in their dark uniforms under full combat vest, his face covered by a gray glass. "Eh?" The guard remained frozen, but somehow Fuyuki stared at him, without saying anything. His hands shivered, and he lost his balance, hitting the ground bellow almost immediately, just to run away in panic afterwards.
Meanwhile, gray clouds covered the skies above them, soon followed by a few drops of water. Fuyuki, stood still, briefly looking at the precipitation. "It's been like this fairly often in the last few days." Fuyuki thought to himself, before dismissing it and going inside the school building, towards the clubroom.
If it were not for the name written on the black board, and the plate on the entrance door, the Occult Club's room would seem just like an abandoned school lab. Of course, Momoka was the only other member, and they did not do much there, so Fuyuki had never gotten himself to modify the clubroom much. Aside from Fuyuki himself, at that time, there were two girls there.
"I've finished distributing the Occult Club pamphlets like you asked." Nishizawa put both hands together in front of her, speaking with a smile. However, her eyebrow twitched, as she attempted to hide a furious voice crying inside her. "PAUL! I can't believe it! ALL this time you had been sabotaging the Occult Club! You complete idiot! If Fuyuki even suspected something, he'd hate me forever! Of course, I enjoyed keeping this place just for the two of us… but you almost ruined EVERYTHING!"
"Sorry for bothering you." Fuyuki smiled, "but, I don't want to see this Occult Club disappearing after we leave Kishou. If we had some new members, then maybe I could even…"
"Even…?" Momoka looked curiously at him.
"Well," Fuyuki scratched the back of his hair, "We can't really talk about that kind of thing here, but you should know what I mea-". Time stopped for a moment. Somehow, while thinking about the future, the three cities from his dream flew back into his mind, flashing in front of his eyes.
"Fuyuki?" Momoka politely wondered, looking puzzled at his eyes, which seemed to focus on a far away place.
"Ah, it's nothing, Nishizawa!"
The other student in the clubroom observed both from one of the tables with her large black eyes. She lacked her usual spark, just looking bored, resting her cheek against one of her right hand. Her hair was similarly dark, tied into two small pigtails, although with some longer hair strands free on the sides of her face. She knew perfectly well the secret Momoka and Fuyuki were talking about, of course.
Even though she currently looked identical to a human girl, she was another alien from the distant Gamma Galaxy. Some time had passed since that incident, and they had gotten used to their current situation. In Tamama's case, she had started living with the Nishizawa as an official guest and disciple of Ouka Nishizawa, Momoka's mother, and one of the strongest humans in the world. She had also started going to school alongside Momoka, although it was not something she considered particularly fun. "No friends, no fun, no nothing. I hate this." Tamama muttered.
For one reason or another, the other classmates had soon overlooked her arrival and she saw herself mostly alone in school, not fitting into any groups. Of course, in the beginning, she really did not expect this situation would last so long in the first place, so she had not cared about making friends there. Still, that brought back some bad old memories from her actual childhood back in Keron…
"Tamae, come on, smile!"
"Oh, yes, there's this 'thing'." Tamama muttered, looking annoyed at the boy standing in front of her, Juunishiro Akahoshi. He was one of students of the 3B class, who apparently had been Fuyuki's classmate since the first year in Kishou, although they were never close friends. He looked around the same age as Hinata, and had scruffy black hair. He was not particularly tall, but had an athletic, even if thin, build. His eyes carried a strong determination, although his intent was not particularly admirable in Tamama's eyes…
"Akahoshi. You're from the athletics club, and you've got no intention of joining us, right?" Fuyuki smiled, but spoke in an oddly cold tone. "So, just go back there."
"Eh?" The boy blinked, alongside the two girls, who stared curiously at Fuyuki. However, one moment later the odd smile seemed to disappear, while Fuyuki pushed him out of the room, "Alright, stop bothering our club members!"
"See you later, Tamae!" Juunishiro said with a large grin, seemingly ignoring how Fuyuki pushed him through the doorway.
"You aren't a club member either." Momoka said, staring annoyed at Tamama while crossing her arms. "At this point, if you want to join it's fine, but you're just occupying space right now!"
Tamama smiled embarrassedly, while scratching the back of her head, "I'm not really sure…" Conveniently, a cheery theme song started ringing, and she picked up a mobile phone from her blazer, dodging the question. "Hi, it's Tamama!" She said with a smile, while turning her back to Momoka.
"Right now?! It's fine! I'm going!"
/
A beautiful high school student with long hair and straight bangs stood at the exit of a large Japanese academy. She sported a black blazer with a blue bowtie, alongside a blue skirt, her slender arms held together in front of herself, while her bright blue eyes looked expectantly at the one standing in front of her. It was a teenage boy around her own age, wearing the male version of her uniform, which replaced the blue skirt with similarly colored pants and the bowtie for a necktie. He had certain unruly short hair, without bangs, and his dark eyes looked hesitantly at the girl in front of him, in spite of being taller than her.
"You're Shimotsuki's friend, right? I'm… Akira Kitajima, from the drama club."
Standing from a fair distance, near a bench in front of the imposing school building, three other girls observed the scene with interest. One of them, Satsuki Shiwasu, with short brown hair, barely reaching her shoulders, wearing her school blazer open, had her arms crossed, while smirking playfully. "Eh… Who'd guess that our alien friend would quickly rise to become a school idol?"
"Beautiful, polite, elegant, feminine, athletic, smart… It's hard to believe that she was some kind of alien frog until recently." Another one of the girls, Yayoi Shimotsuki smiled, hiding her hands behind herself. She had long dark hair and her bangs tied to the left by a small hairpin. She also sported black tight high socks, seemingly much more concerned about her appearance than the friend beside her.
"Somehow, the frog became a princess." Satsuki teased, hitting the other girl that stood next to them with her elbow.
The third girl had long dark hair tied into a large ponytail by a big blue ribbon. She sported the same uniform as the others, but also had a blue scarf wrapped around her neck and shoulders, tied with a yellow pin that resembled a pointy shuriken. She held a feline smile while watching the scene, although her sharp eyes seemed to be looking far away.
"Heh! Missing Natsumi?" Satsuki teased.
"Of course." Koyuki nodded. "I wish we were all together here again."
"When Natsumi comes back, I'll complain about her hiding all that stuff about aliens from us for such a long time!" Satsuki crossed her arms and exclaimed with a smile.
"Then, again, I didn't even realize that Koyuki was a real ninja, even though she didn't hide it at all." Yayoi's softer voice complemented, before going in an unrelated trail. "Ninjas, aliens… I wonder if there are vampires out there too?"
"Well, I'd bet on ghosts at least!" Satsuki followed with a smirk
/
An athletic girl ran through an open grassy field surrounded by trees. The wind blew the longer strands of short red hair from the girl's face, while her fierce grayish eyes looked ahead. Her mouth drew a confident smirk, baring fangs like a predator. There was a yellow skull hairpin tying longer bangs to the left of her face. On that same side, there was also a scar crossing through her face, right by her left eye. She sported black fitness shorts with reds stripes on the sides, alongside a similar colored sleeveless top, leaving her fit waist exposed. A few other people passed by through the same location, although most walked through a paved road distant from her track. That was Okutokyo Park.
Her body drenched in sweat, she stopped near a wooden bench, holding onto it while breathing heavily. Looking at a clock on her pulse, she grinned, "New record!" She mused, before looking at her palm with heavy eyelids, "For this body anyway…"
Suddenly, a cold white towel hit from behind her, wrapping itself around her shoulders. "This is…"
"Training rigorously like usual, Giroro?" Behind her, there was a teenager with a confident smirk. He looked a couple of years older than the redhead, his sharp eyes observing her with interest, while his mouth drew a smirk. In spite of his clear youth and health, he had unkempt gray hair under his black knit cap. He sported an orange short-sleeved shirt over a long sleeved black shirt, and similarly colored baggy pants. There was an emblem resembling two open angelic wings pictured on the left of his shirt.
"Saburo?" The redhead looking at him with some annoyance, while wiping the sweat off her face, "Did you come to tease me or something?"
"I was just passing by this park… and maybe this world too." Mutsumi smiled, looking at the trees surrounding them, his hands hidden in his pants' pockets. "So, how do feel about it? Running under this sun like everyone else? Without needing to hide or disguise yourself?"
"Huh? That's…" Giroro stopped for a second, raising an eyebrow, "It feels nice, I guess. But it's just another distraction."
"For your invasion?"
"Of course! Our goal hasn't changed at all. We'll conquer Pekopon for the glory of Keron!"
"Glory of Keron…eh? Why do your bosses even want to conquer this planet?" After an uncomfortable silence, Saburo continued. "You don't know that, right?" He smirked, while Giroro looked annoyed at him.
"That's- That's irrelevant to me! We need to do it before one of our enemies takes the planet. That's everything we need to know."
"Well, I'll be watching the little party you're planning for later." Saburo smirked at the annoyed redhead.
"Little party?" Giroro muttered, looking annoyed at him while frustrated with her situation. "It's true that we've failed again and again, but don't think you'll get away with considering us jokes." She thought, gritting her teeth.
/
A few blocks from Kishou, a figure in a green jacket and brown shorts stood in the middle of a street, her green hair blowing in the wind, while a perverse smile drawn by her soft lips. Her deep black eyes glimmered like a star.
"Stupid Pekoponians," Keroro thought, while a large maleficent smirk was drawn by her soft face, "Going in your pointless daily routines, while being unable to see the threat standing right in front of yourselves. Unable to notice the terror standing right before you!" She thought to herself while puffing her chest forward, "Gero! Gero! Gero! But, of course, foolish humans never would be able to look past this guise that I'm wearing right now!"
With her right hand, she held a strange stone mask. It had large blank black eyes, defined lips and nose, with small fangs coming from its closed mouth. On its forehead, there was a yellow jewel shaped like a five-pointed star similar to the emblem that she carried on her chest.
"It's almost time to start, right, Miss Sergeant?" Tamama looked excitedly at the platoon's commander. Rather than the school uniform, she sported her usual platoon uniform - black shorts and long sleeved black jacket over an oversized white shirt, her emblem, a green and yellow arrow stamped on the left side of her jacket, over her breast area. She crossed her arms, glancing sideways at the green haired girl behind her, while smirking. "I hope you won't make a fool of yourself again, useless leader!"
Giroro stood next to Tamama, holding a confident grin. She sported her uniform, a short-sleeved red vest, over a white shirt, and black shorts, alongside a gray belt strapped from her left shoulder to right hip. Red kneepads and boots completed her uniform. Although she had a more serious demeanor than the others, her outfit still resembled some party costume. That time rather than her usual scowl, she had an aggressive grin, barely hold her excitement – a direct strike! "It's the most obvious strategy! And after so long, it's finally time!"
A blond girl observed the others from afar, holding onto a vehicle that resembled a metallic wheel-less bike, which seemingly floated on the hair. Her reddish eyes looked at them from behind her glasses, holding a dark smirk on an otherwise cute face. Strands of her long blond hair wrapped themselves in circles above her shoulders, while an orange bucket cap, with her signature yellow spiral emblem covered her hair. Her outfit resembled the uniforms of the others, although with a yellow vest, and orange shorts. Her white undershirt was a white triangular top, barely reaching her belly button. Kururu smirked, looking at a small panel on the vehicle that she rode. A red line crossed continuously a dark round screen, showing a small variation up and down in its way. "Ku, ku, ku… I wonder how they'll react..." Sergeat Major Kururu grinned.
Her bike module was part of a larger vehicle, docking with it through its back. Above the bike, there was a large spherical and yellow metallic face, with round white eyes marked with a spiral pattern. Two mechanical arms came from the sides of the central module, ending in large gray claws, while two horizontal yellow shields were on the sides of the bike-like part. A faint rainbow colored aura surrounded the entire vehicle – it was an anti-barrier, keeping the floating machine and its pilot unnoticed by the people walking through the streets bellow. "Alrighty boss, everything's ready!" Kururu shouted, "If you fail I'll just reset things like usual."
"That won't be necessary this time, Sergeant Major!" Keroro nodded with a confident smirk and soon looked at a group of people in front of her, suddenly extending her left arm and opening the palm of her hand.
"I'm Sergeant Keroro, leader of the Space Invasion Army Special Tactics Platoon of the
58th planet of the Gamma Galaxy, - Keroro Platoon!" She shouted loudly finally catching the eyes of the people passing by her. Due to the timing, the crowd was mostly young girls in while sailor uniforms, boys in black pants and jacket, alongside girls and boys in blazers and pants or skirts. A few older men and women in suits also were there. The younger ones stopped and curiously glanced at her, the girls immediately starting gossips among themselves, while several older males stopped to examine the odd, but distinctly attractive girl's features. Most adults just gave an extended look before going on in their routines. At least for a moment.
She raised the mask, "Tan-tan-tan-tan! Cosmic Bizarre Mask!" Her lips drew a grin. "This mask is an ancient artifact from the extinct Ishian civilization and now it'll bring about the end of mankind's rule over this Pekopon!" The odd invader announced while suddenly putting on the mask on her face. What seemed to be mere curiosity of the crowd around her soon became real terror when a burst of yellow light came from the jewel on her forehead.
"Hah! Hah! Hah! Ha- I mean, Gero! Gero! Gero! Gero!" Her voice acquired a supernatural echo, while the yellow light started shinning from every point of her body. The shinning sun above the skies suddenly disappeared behind gray clouds and the peaceful afternoon became like a frightful night.
Fuyuki returned from school around that same time, walking through Okutokyo's streets while heading home. About two years ago, his entire world turned upside down when he met a certain frog-like alien. From there, it was as if the world's curtains had opened before him. During the time since then, he had met even more aliens, monsters, and, well, people too, of course.
Unlike most people who would see the incoming gray clouds as a bad sign, he just smiled at them. Ever since his childhood, he enjoyed the rain. He was weak, but forced to participate in school sports, and the expectations that came from his other family members' prowess really did not help. He even used to pray, hoping rain ruined those school events. As he grew older though, after meeting Keroro, Giroro and the others, he changed. Even if he was still weak, he had faced those challenges. However, watching a cloud covering the skies, alongside the colder wind blowing through his face still brought a smile to him.
"Wha-What's that?" A sudden cry echoed in the strangely silent streets. A male high school student shouted, grabbing the hand of a female classmate standing in surprise next to him and attempting to run. However, a yellow light suddenly shot up in the sky, twirling through the road like a snake and engulfing both. Similar streams fell all around the nearby blocks, like a brief lightshow.
A last streak flew above the streets, spiraling through the air as it rushed towards a lone student left there. Fuyuki saw the light heading to himself with mild surprise, calmly putting his hands into bag he had been carrying, pulling out a black spherical object, with several white buttons around it and a single thin antenna with a smaller red ball on its top. He held his left hand forward, holding the object, and pressed a button on the back of the sphere with his right hand. A circular whirlwind blew around him, while the yellow light just ran into it and broke into several small sparkles, falling harmlessly on the street.
"What's that thing supposed to be?" Fuyuki looked curiously, raising an eyebrow while glancing at the faint smoke coming from the points of the road hit by that light. The sound of heavy steps hit Fuyuki's ears. He raised his head just to see some people, men and women, boys and girls, approaching from a nearby corner. However, it did not stop there, more and more steps, more and more people seemed to appear around him. Students, adults, even older people, all sorts somehow were slowly surrounding him. They walked slowly, with malevolent grins on their faces. Taking a closer look at them, their skin generally seemed rather pale and they bared fangs on their wide grins.
"Vampires? Hm… Maybe zombies or ghouls?" In spite of the exotic situation, Fuyuki's eyes were alive, almost glowing.
"A Zombie apocalypse!" Yayoi shouted from a nearby corner, her eyes shining while looking at the crowd. Satsuki just silently glared at her friend.
"Everyone is technically still alive. There's also a strong presence further back." Koyuki muttered.
"Is the commander behind this?" Dororo muttered.
"So, you don't know anything about them?" Fuyuki noticed the girls, approaching them with a curious look on his eyes.
"It's not surprising that Keroro wouldn't tell me anything about such an operation." Dororo muttered, attempting to keep a calm tone with her voice, although her twitching eyebrow betrayed her.
"Satsuki, Yayoi, stand back!" Koyuki smirked while Dororo replied with a soft smile. After the two girls took a few steps back, both disappeared in a blur, reappearing shortly afterwards ready for battle. Koyuki sported a dark blue sailor blouse and skirt, similar to the old school uniform she used to sport. The short sleeved shirt had a white ribbon under the collar, and although loose, left part of her waist exposed. Her lighter azure scarf with the star pin still wrapped around her shoulders and neck. Meanwhile, Dororo returned with her long dark hair now tied into a low ponytail, a gray cloth mask covering her face, alongside light blue shorts and vest, over white wraps covering her chest. Light arm guards protected their forearms and lower legs, tied by old looking ropes. A simple gray scabbard rested on Koyuki's back while she wielded a short wakizashi sword. Meanwhile, Dororo's back carried two scabbards, while she held two longer katana at once, standing straight while both touched the pavement.
"We'll open the way to their leader, lord Fuyuki." Dororo declared.
"Hm… Don't hurt them too much, alright?" Fuyuki suggested
"Don't worry about it!" Koyuki smiled like a tiger ready to bite its prey before disappearing into a blur alongside Dororo. Moments later, they reappeared like blurs in front of the crowd of ghouls, each one of their slashes launching them into the air, smashing against nearby walls and glass stands of close stores.
"Well, I hope they'll be fine afterwards." The boy had a worried smile. He opened the suitcase that he carried from school, picking a black ball inside it. It resembled a plastic toy for small children, with a few large round white buttons around its surface, alongside a thin antenna ending in a smaller red sphere. However, in spite of its appearance, it was a high tech weapon from the Keronian Army, that Fuyuki had confiscated from Keroro some time ago – the Keroball.
Dororo moved the hilt of one of her swords to strike the stomach of a teenage girl in black clothes, but, in spite of moving like a blur, the girl answered her strike, punching into it. The impact created a shockwave that broke through the asphalt bellow them and sent the nearby crowd flying. After a momentary blindness, she recognized her opponent. "Tamama?"
"Heh. It's not Lady Tamama anymore?" The black haired girl grinned. Disappearing from sight only to reappear behind Dororo, swiftly kicking away the katana that she held with her other hand.
"She's so fast!" Dororo turned around in surprise, leaping back, only to see Tamama rushing through the air, almost reaching her before she had even reached the ground.
"Tamama Impact!" She shouted with a confident smile, opening her mouth as beam of light busted forth, quickly expanding and completely covering the blue ninja. An explosion ignited inside the beam while her opponent disappeared. "Got ya!" Tamama landed on the ground, turning to look confidently at the smoke. However, moments later, a charred plastic chair fell on the ground.
"Substitution Jutsu? That's so cliche." Tamama whined, crossing her arms while once again looking behind herself, only to see Dororo standing there, holding a single katana.
"You've improved, Tamama." Dororo muttered, sweating worriedly while Tamama held a confident smirk.
"Heh, heh! I'm Ouka's disciple now! I had my paradise destroyed and went through hell! But I stand now by my own power! Meanwhile, you seem to be getting way too used to this comfy life. Maybe I've surpassed you already, veteran." Tamama held a confident smirk, while a dark light surrounded her body. "Private 2nd class… Number 1 assassin… Just like our original forms… That's all distant past, right? Soon I'll be the strongest one that there is!"
"Dororo!" Koyuki landed next to her friend, looking worriedly at their opponent.
A red streak flew past them exploding right in front of Tamama, only to reveal a large black ball about to crush her. The ball resembled an adult Keronian's face, with black skin and a small white area under its mouth. Its two eyes were round, glaring seemingly angrily at the girl bellow them. A light blue hat stood on top of its head while it spun towards her. A moment later, the ball crashed on the ground, seemingly crushing Tamama and destroying the streets around them.
"It worked!" Fuyuki exclaimed, standing alongside the two girls while holding the Keroball.
"She wasn't hurt by that." Dororo mentioned. Almost in answer to her words, the sphere exploded. However, Tamama's form soon emerged from the smoke, holding a vicious grin.
"No one goes past here." Tamama said while closing her hands into fits and moving her right left forward, getting into a fighting stance.
"I'll be Tamama's opponent. Koyuki, go ahead with Fuyuki."
"Don't think I'll let anyone pass!" The private glared at the assassin, leaping through the hair only to vanish. Seemingly, without moving at all, Dororo also disappeared. Impact waves raged all around the now empty streets, roaring and breaking the asphalt and near buildings. In the middle of it all, Fuyuki and Koyuki started running past the fallen bodies and the two fighters.
Leaving the ghouls and explosions behind, after a brief moment of peace, soon they saw themselves in front of another crowd of ghouls.
"I'll take care of them." Koyuki stood in front of Fuyuki and raised her blade. However, soon a blast echoed through the oddly silent streets. Koyuki barely turned around in time to see a flash of light hitting her shoulder, launching her to the side.
"Don't worry, it was just a tranquilizer." Giroro stood on top of a nearby two stores building, baring her fangs while smirking. She held two weapons, which resembled sub-machineguns, but with odd metallic balls covering where their muzzle should be.
"Well, now that the big threat is out… It's your time, Fuyuki!" The boy raised the Keroball towards the girl, about to press a button. However, before he could do it, the sound of various loud engines reached their ears. Noticing that Giroro's eyes opened in surprise, Fuyuki quickly searched for the source too, looking upwards at the skies.
Various black jets quickly flew over them. One of them, larger and slower than the others, took a turn on the skies above, while many small black spots started dropping from it. "The Nishizawa Peach Group Special Forces, eh?" Giroro smiled. "It doesn't look like Baio is among them. I can beat the trash easily, and they also have to deal with the ghouls too."
"Koyuki Ninpou – Hell Frontier!" With one of her arms still limp, Koyuki smashed a kunai against the pavement. Layers upon layers of a quickly forming ice emerged and covered the area around it. Fuyuki took a few steps back when the ice exploded, becoming crystals that flew and knocked down the approaching ghouls around them.
"Go now Fuyuki!" Koyuki yelled. Fuyuki silently nodded to her, hesitating for a second before starting to run.
"You're still up? I guess I should have used something stronger." Giroro raised an eyebrow, while crossing her arms, still holding her two weapons. "Not like it'll change much." She smirked while pointing her left weapon to Koyuki. The kunoichi disappeared into a blur. However, Giroro subtly moved her gun to the side and fired. A nearby wall exploded, and Koyuki came back crashing onto the ground, barely managing to stop her fall by rolling. "You can't win." Giroro grinned. Her aim fell on Koyuki again, while she was about to press the trigger.
"Stop right there!" A young male voiced cried out from behind her. Her hands shook slightly, while she quickly turned around. On that roof, there was a small room leading to the building's interior, and one of the Nishizawa bodyguards had landed right beside it, a parachute lying behind him. He was covered from head to toe - Gray clothing, bullet proof vest, gloves and a helmet with an opaque glass in front, holding a pistol on his hands, aiming at her.
"Don't tell you're… Yoshiokadaira?" The redhead inquired raising an eyebrow. Her opponent, stopped for a moment, lifting the glass from his helmet, with a worried smile.
"H-hi. According to Mr. Moriyama, your Anti-Barrier apparently will protect you from a weapon like this… That's correct, right?"
"Eh?" Giroro's face was tinted red, while her dark eyes looked in annoyance at him, "Why are you asking something like that? I'm your enemy!"
"Even if you say so, it's kind of hard to point a gun at a young girl like this."
The redhead sighed, looking sideways. "Yes, that's right. Don't worry about it."
"That makes things easier." Masayoshi said with a confident smile.
"Come, then, Earth soldier!" Rushing ahead, Giroro could feel a hot wind blowing by her side as her opponent fired and missed.
"A duel for the fate of the planet! The proud spirit of elite soldiers clashing!" The redhead's eyes shone while she pressed the trigger of her weapons. Without even having a chance to dodge, the streaks of light hit the floor around him, covering the area in a blinding yellow light. A black blur flew out of the building, alongside his cries of pain.
"That was kind of disappointing." Giroro muttered, looking at the thick gray smoke that remained on the building's top, "I guess I can't expect much from him compared to Natsu-"
With a loud battle cry, Yoshiokadaira jumped from inside the smoke, holding two gray grenades. Giroro just looked in surprise for a moment, while both grenades had their pins pushed and rolled on the floor, releasing a thick smoke.
"Are you kidding?!" Giroro yelled while turning around, holding her weapons ready to fire, only to realize that she had lost track of him. She leaped backwards, quickly firing to both sides. The yellow streaks pushed away the smoke that covered the area. However, before she could even turn around, Masayoshi stumbled through the smoke, crying out while falling over her.
One moment later, Giroro saw herself hugged by her opponent, while somehow he was the one lying on the floor, scratched up and a little burnt. "Sorry, I guess I can't fight against you like this, after all."
"Eh? He took the fall for me…?" After a few moments of confusion, her face became red like a tomato. "We're so close… and his arms are holding me… I can feel his breathing… and… and…"
"What am I even doing?!" Giroro screamed inside her own head, recovering her composure. She rolled away from him, kneeling on the floor while folding her legs. She glanced sideways. "Hm… thanks, but…"
"I shouldn't help an enemy?" He stood up, throwing off the dirty from his clothes while smiling, "I guess… somehow, it's kind of hard to think of you as one."
Giroro's eyes trembled a bit. "Recently every time I see him I end up feeling like this… This is all your fault Keroro!"
In the streets bellow, the other Nishizawa bodyguards fired against the ghouls, who just stood up again. Even Old men and young girls showed a resistance much above a normal human. Their eye shone with a red light as they rushed towards the guards, grabbing the ones that could not escape in time and bit them. Soon, the Nishizawa forces themselves just became more ghouls, as red lights appeared behind their opaque visors.
However, Koyuki still leaped through the streets kicking them down, throwing multiple kunai that exploded into blasts of ice. The ice spread onto some of them and blasted others. However, even her started to tire, breathing heavily and sweating. "I won't be able to hold on like this for much longer…" She thought, blocking the swinging hands of two nearby ghouls with her blades, leaping away from them once again. However, they were seemingly everywhere. With no other options, she landed almost in the middle of a crowd of ghouls.
"Hattori Ninpou – Full Moon Bloom!"
As the unfamiliar female voice echoed around her, a strong wind blew around Koyuki, spiraling to build a circular wall. Around her, she could faintly see the shine of a blade, burning with a white aura, slashing around all ghouls, with enough force to throw the entire crowd surrounding her into the air, some flying through nearby windows and breaking through glasses in storefronts.
"Are you okay?" An unfamiliar presence appeared standing in front of Koyuki. It was a teenage girl, although clearly more mature than Koyuki herself. She had long dark hair that covered her back, bangs swaying to the left of her face and longer strands of hair on the sides of her face, reaching about her shoulders. She looked at Koyuki with curious and youthful green eyes. She wore what resembled a white high school uniform, with blazer and mini-skirt in the same colors, alongside a black shirt underneath, tied with a green necktie. She was taller than Koyuki, and, in spite of her uniform, her body had very mature curves, with a slim frame, but large breasts and hips. The school emblem on her uniform showed a gold circular shuriken. On her back, there were two gray scabbards and she held two wakizashi blades similar to Koyuki's own, although their circular hilts had luxurious gold patterns. Contrasting with most of her outfit, her hand showed fingerless cloth gloves
"A kunoichi?!" Koyuki blinked in surprise, although also relieved.
"I'm the one who should be surprised! There was some odd stealth aura around here, but I felt your presence. What exactly is happening here?"
"Hm… It's hard to explain. Something like an alien invasion, I guess? But it's not really that dangerous. More like, heated sparring or something?" Koyuki put up her usual feline smile, while scratching the back of her head. "Anyway, I'm Koyuki Azumaya, from the former Shinobi Village! I've heard about Hattori style before, but I didn't really pay much attention to boring classes, so…"
"Shinobi Village?" The older girl's eyes opened in surprise for a moment, but she soon smiled, "I visited it a couple of times, but didn't spend much time there… Anyway, I'm Kasumi Hattori from the Hidden Shinobi Academy! Although I guess that doesn't matter much anymore…"
"Shinobi Academy?! You mean those ninja that trained hidden in the middle of the normal world?!"
Kasumi smiled with nostalgic eyes. "Not like it matters anymore though. When the government disbanded the Ministry, they also forced the closing of the academy." Her smile disappeared, while she glared at her fists, "Ninja shouldn't exist anymore after all. All those years of training to be a shinobi for them, and that's how we were rewarded."
Koyuki shared her nostalgia, looking at the gray clouds above them, "The entire village disbanded in a single night back then." She turned to face the taller girl, her smile having returned, "Still, the past is the past! Let's stop these guys!"
"Alright!" The older girl nodded, raising both of her blades. Both stood with their backs to each other, while looking at the hordes of ghouls that already stood all around them.
On a nearby street, a giant boxing glove punched through a crowd of ghouls, sending them flying onto walls and into nearby stores, while opening the way forward. Fuyuki held the Keroball, while a long coil spring connected the glove to it. Pressing another button, the glove and spring immediately retracted, somehow disappearing into the spherical object. He ran forward while the path was clean, soon meeting a familiar person.
"Ah, come on, lord Fuyuki!" The green haired girl appeared among another crowd, which seemed to open way to her while she held a hand covering half of her face, a single shinning scarlet eye visible alongside a wide smirk. Her skin was paler than before, and her mouth bared the same fangs shown by the nearby crowd. Rather than the uniform she sported just earlier, she somehow was dressed in some kind of mix of a European noble's suit and a schoolgirl uniform. She sported a long sleeved silk white shirt under a sleeveless, bottomed up, brown vest, with a white cravat hugging her neck. A dark green cape, reaching over her shoulders, flapped behind her, with high collars attached to it. In addition, there was a short frilly white skirt and brown boots with long burgundy colored socks, reaching her tights. Taking everything together, she had vaguely resembled a noble… or a vampire.
"Time for the boss fight?" Fuyuki said with a smile, which just seemed to annoy the green haired girl standing in front of him.
"Hey, lord Fuyuki, you're completely surrounded. By ghouls! Can't you see that this operation is serious?!"
"Well," Fuyuki smiled, "you always end up failing, right?"
The green haired girl's eyebrow twitched. "This isn't a joke!" Keroro stomped the road, pouting.
"Besides, well, I enjoy this too, I guess." Fuyuki muttered to himself while scratching the back of his hair.
"Damn it! Take this seriously!" The green haired girl yelled while stomping on the street again. "My servants get this boorish human!" She grit he teeth, showing her vampire fangs, while pointing at Fuyuki and glaring with a blazing stare. However, before the pallid ghouls could even take a step forward, a blur fell from the skies like a meteor. A cloud of dust covered them, and with strong impacts, they all rocketed through the city, alongside the gray dust that covered the area.
When the dust cleared, Momoka Nishizawa stood alone in the center of the damaged street, glaring at Keroro. Rather than her school uniform, she sported a purple sleeveless Chinese dress, a modified qipao. It had a high cut, with the front and back flaps barely reaching her knees, giving her legs, with black biker shorts visible under the dress. A black peach emblem adorned her chest, two large metallic bracelets attached to her white gloves, small pink boots covered her feet and she sported two ox horns, with the hairballs covered by a white cloth.
"So, now it's your turn!" Momoka smirked and raised her arm, pointing at the green haired girl standing in front of her. However, "Stop! Stop!" A meek voice inside her cried out. "Maybe it'd actually be better to lose to her?"
"What are you talking about?!" Angry thoughts replied.
"If you hurt Keroro, Fuyuki will protect her! And he might even get angry at us!"
"Isn't he trying to stop her already?!"
"That's why we need to just stand aside and let him settle this as our majestic prince!"
"No, we should help him beat up that stupid alien!"
"Aren't you hearing me at all?! That'd be foolish-" Momoka's internal argument came to an abrupt halt when she felt a coldness around her neck, which quickly spread to her entire body, while she started feeling numb. Going back to reality, she noticed the green haired vampire hugging her, her fangs digging into her neck, drops of blood dripping through it. Rather than showing surprise or anger, Momoka's eyes became heavy and lifeless, while Keroro released her.
The green haired vampire quickly cleaned the blood from her mouth with a rough swipe of her hand, smiling with an out of place innocence. "I hadn't attempted to make any actual vampire yet, so I thought about trying it once."
"I'm not sure what I should even say to that." Fuyuki muttered.
"Well, actually, there's also something else." Keroro scratched the back of her head, with an embarrassed smile. Momoka's eyes open, now colored red, while she opened her mouth, showing fangs like the ones that Keroro had obtained.
"Master Keroro." Momoka muttered to Fuyuki's surprise.
"Pretty neat, right?" Keroro said with a grin.
"Huh… Sergeant, why are you picking on Nishizawa?" Fuyuki wondered, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know what you're talking about, lord Fuyuki!" The green haired girl said with a smile, hiding her hands on her back.
"If you're jealous about school time why don't you just come to school too?"
"School? No! No! No!" Keroro nodded negatively with fury, swinging her long green hair. "Besides, I'm not jealous!"
"Anyway," Keroro raised her arm to the skies, suddenly lowering it to point at Fuyuki. "Play time is over, Pekoponian! Lady Momoka, stop him!"
"Understood, master Keroro." The blue haired girl leaped through the air towards Fuyuki, however, he pressed a button in the Keroball and vanished with a startling buzzing, while she landed on an empty street.
"Gero!?" The alien, and now vampire, sergeant was surprised for a moment, but soon smirked. "You can't escape!" She said, looking at Fuyuki, who stood on the ceiling of a nearby house. "Now, let's finish this!" Her red eyes shone while she stared at the boy standing on the house "Space Zipper StinGYAAARHHHGGHGH!"
"Eh?" Fuyuki raised an eyebrow when the green haired girl suddenly fell on the ground, gasping her own neck, seemingly even unable to speak. Shinning red lines emerged around her body and clothes, almost as if she was being split apart from inside. "Oh, of course." Fuyuki muttered right before taking a step forward. However, he stopped himself when he noticed just how tall of a jump he needed to make it from there. Momoka's red eyes glared at him while she leap again. However, pressing the button on the Keroball, Fuyuki vanished once more, reappearing next to the fallen Keroro.
"Well, let's clean this up." Fuyuki sighed while holding onto the Keroball with both hands. Fuyuki had learned through the two years he held onto it, that what mattered the most was his will while using it- the Keroball could read the mind of its user and realize their thoughts, almost like a wish granting device. Of course, emotion, will and imagination were necessary to use it correctly. "Everyone… back to normal…" With his eyes closed, he pressed a button on top of the Keroball, the red antenna lighted up, and soon the light expanded, covering the two teens, the crowd around them, and soon the entire street, rising to the sky as a column of light.
/
The sounds of battle had stopped. Koyuki and the ninja she had just met, Kasumi stood on the now silent street, many unconscious people lying on the around her. The older kunoichi, placed her hand over the neck of a man in a business suit, fallen her to her, soon smiling. "They're really alive, and their presence seems to have gone back to normal too."
"Like I said, they're always like this. Fuyuki probably stopped them, everyone should be fine." Koyuki's face suddenly appeared in front of Kasumi's making the older girl take a step back in surprise.
"Could you give me your number? I wish my friends could have met you." The Hattori heir said, looking distraught once more.
"Huh? Did you lose contact with them? I mean, I don't know where the people from the Shinobi Village are nowadays either, but wouldn't it be easier for you? You already lived in the big city."
"It was part of the measures to disband the Ninja Ministry. Different ninja clans couldn't continue with close ties, otherwise it might be thought that we were going against the government's ord-." The Hattori heir immediately stopped, glancing to a nearby corner, where a girl with long dark hair and similarly colored school uniform stood.
Dororo look at the two kunoichi with a smile, "You have noticed my presence? You're good. And you're here as well, Koyuki?"
"Another shinobi?" Kasumi raised an eyebrow. The girl's presence seemed similar to a ninja's, but also somewhat different, like an exotic foreign scent.
"Who's the princess over there?" The taller ninja jumped to Koyuki's side, attempting to hide behind the smaller girl while whispering curiously.
"Eh? Princess?"
"Eh, that's the kind of feeling that her presence gives, somehow. Like a ninja princess or something."
"Princess is a bit..." Dororo said with a smile, while slowly walking towards them.
"Dororo! This is Kasumi Hattori, from the Shinobi Academy!" Koyuki said with her feline smile, while the older girl just remained in silence.
"Hattori… Shinobi Academy?!" Dororo's blue eyes bulged in surprise, while she lost her composure, "Heir of the Hattori clan?! I'm sorry, princess, I've been impolite!" She immediately bowed to the new girl, although the other girl seemed embarrassed by her compliments.
"No-no! I'm not a princess! You're the one!"
"What's up with these two?" Koyuki raised an eyebrow, smiling halfheartedly at them.
"Shinobi are shadows, deep shadows. Shinobi are flames, crimson flames." Mutsumi recited those words to no one in particular while standing inside a nearby convenience store, browsing through a magazine rack while his eyes glances at the girls outside. "Disappearing into the shadows. Fading like flames. The human world can be rather cruel."
"The king comes from Egypt." Those words were on the center of magazine cover that Saburo picked up. There was a man wearing a black business suit and undershirt, with olive skin, and slicked back white hair. Although maybe silver were a better description for its color. In spite of the hair color, his hard cheekbones, chin and nose, he did not seem old.
"So, you're here? Didn't even participate in the game this time…" The blond girl in a yellow uniform stood in the front door, raising an eyebrow. "What are you looking at?" She asked, while crossing her arms and leaning on a nearby stall.
"Lulu, do you know why the Keron army wants to conquer Pekopon?"
"You're implying that you know? That's rather amusing coming from a Pekoponian." Kururu grinned, "Earth has no special resources that can't be found anywhere. Humanity is a primitive civilization with apparently no special talents or technologies."
"But yet you added an 'apparently' there."
"Dark Race. Supernatural creatures with abilities comparable to advanced alien tribes, and yet seemingly biological impossibilities in this world. There's also the development of several clans among Pekoponians that far surpass their general standing as a race, like the ninja."
Saburo smirked throwing the magazine that he had been holding to the girl, who stumbled around in order to hold it. Her cheeks became rosy, for a brief moment, but she quickly grinned at the taller boy standing right in front of her. "What's this?"
She looked at the cover. When her red eyes met the man's own fierce yellow eyes, which seemed strangely shadowed by the lightning in the picture, she felt a chill running through her body. However, she soon held a dark smirk.
"That man's face is oddly unsettling, right?" Saburo looked at the skies outside for a moment, while Kururu looked at him with a grin.
"You know, people used to say the same about me." With a mischievous smile, the spectacled girl stood beside him, hands on her back. "Not like I cared, of course."
Without saying anything, Saburo placed his hand on her cheek, caressing it while smiling. Kururu's eyes enlarged for a moment, but soon closed. She showed an uncharacteristically soft smile, while her cheeks lightly blushed. "You've always preferred to play your own beat, but that doesn't mean you enjoyed the world rejecting it."
Kururu opened her eyes and smirked in answer to Mutsumi's words. "Do you really have such a naïve idea about me?"
"Rather than that, I'd just say… I believe in you." Mutsumi said with a wink.
Kururu grinned, "What's that? I'm not one of your fangirls."
/
Keroro's body felt numb and her eyelids heavy, like she had been sleeping for days and still had not rested enough, but, noticing that the pain had vanished, she attempted to open her eyes again. Her skin had a more livid color, and her eyes were dark again, all traces of vampirism had vanished from her. She initially saw herself amidst a blurry light, but soon could make out the sofa where she laid, a large television before her, a small table, another sofa, and Fuyuki sitting on the floor and reading a book right beside her. Rather than the school uniform, he sported white pants and a long sleeved blue shirt, with a darker strip through the center, "Lord… Fuyuki…"
"Sergeant!" Fuyuki dropped the dark book he had been reading and stood up, turning around to hold the girl's slender hands together. "Come on! Don't do something stupid like that again!"
"Alright. I'll call it a draw this time." The green haired girl replied with a soft smile.
"Draw?" Fuyuki raised an eyebrow playfully, "Can't you admit defeat?"
Keroro stood up, crossing her arms, while looking at the boy with confident shinning eyes, "Gero, gero! I was just playing around, lord Fuyuki. If I went serious, there's no way you could stop me without lady Natsumi around!" There was an obvious reason her last operation would not work, herself. After the accident, any attempts to modify her body again resulted in a counter reaction that could kill her quickly. She had thought that becoming a vampire would not be a big enough change to trigger that effect, but she was obviously wrong.
"Another failure…" Standing by the sliding glass doors that led to the house's yard, there was another young teenager scowling. She grit her teeth in annoyance, while she continued to stare at the other girl.
"The most useless person around here has no right to complain."
"What are you saying?!" Baring her fangs in anger, Giroro stared at her commander, who just smirked back.
"I didn't see you around after Momoka's crew arrived. Getting taken out by those useless grunts? How pathetic!"
"That's…!" Giroro's cheeks became rosy while she attempted to answer, only to turn away in frustration. She looked at her own slim human hands. "We crossed half of the universe, only to end up like this."
"Forget I said anything," The redhead sighed, "I'll prepare dinner." Giroro walked past them, talking without even looking towards them.
"Thanks, Corporal." Fuyuki smiled in relief, although Keroro glanced at him in annoyance.
"Corporal… It's kind of annoying." She muttered under her breath.
Fuyuki stood up, "Sergeant, I need to finish some pamphlets for tomorrow, so I'm going to my room."
"Tomorrow?" The green haired girl leaned her head to the left, looking at him curiously, "What are you going to do tomorrow?"
"This is my last year in junior high. Soon, I'll be graduating and starting high school. If I can't get new club members, there won't be another chance. Besides, it'd be nice if the Kishou Occult Club could continue even after I leave." Fuyuki had a sad smile on his face. In spite of his words, it seemed like he had already accepted the fate of his club…
Keroro moved forward, her face almost touching Fuyuki's own. "That just shows you're too good for them!" The boy blinked, staring at her in surprise. For a moment, he could see that ominous dream once again, when the Keroro there moved in a similar way. In spite of his oddly empty face, the green haired girl kept confident eyes, "How many Occult Clubs through all of Pekopon have met an actual alien?"
"Sergeant…"
She stood up, saluting Fuyuki while smirking, "Even if Pekopon ignores you lord Fuyuki, I acknowledge you!"
Fuyuki could not help but smile in answer to her enthusiasm. "You're right, sergeant." With a bright face, he stood up, "When we take something for granted we end up forgetting about it. Still, I'd like to pass on everything I've seen. And, of course, I'd like to see more."
"More what?" The green haired girl looking at him puzzled.
"The things that exist in the shadows of the world! I'm sure there's a lot we don't know yet! There must be a lot of new things I can still see!" Fuyuki spoke with beaming eyes. "You know," Fuyuki looked away picking up a book on the nearby table. The cover showed a large humanoid frog holding a wand above its head. "For a while, I even started wondering if things like aliens, monsters and ghosts really existed. I read a lot about them, but I guess I couldn't call myself a believer, even if I really wanted to see them. But, that day we met…"
"Your dream came true thanks to me!" The green haired girl said with a smug smile.
"Hm… Fuyuki…" An annoyed voice suddenly echoed through the room. An ethereal visage appeared standing between Fuyuki and Keroro, making both take a surprised step back, "I was here even before that… but no one noticed me… And you didn't even care to research about ghosts… In fact, I remember you specifically dismissed them out of everything…" It was a slender translucent girl dressed in traditional Japanese clothes. Her eyes looked darkly at the two teens next to her. "Don't forget me again."
She wore a pink kimono, with extremely long dark hair, that reached her legs, cut in straight bangs. Her body was mostly visible, although the lower one looked at her, the more transparent she seemed to be, to the point of her ankle and feet being mostly imperceptible, with the kimono seemingly fading out into nothingness. After a while, her face eased. Her pout was actually rather cute, although the two blue flames floating next to her made her presence rather startling.
After recovering from the surprise, Fuyuki scratched the back of his head, proceeding quickly to bow, "I had completely forgotten about you." He thought for a moment. Yes, she was a ghost, and one that he had already seen before. Yet, somehow, it was hard to keep her in mind… "Was every ghost like that?" Fuyuki briefly wondered. "Actually, do you know any other ghost?"
"Eh?" Omiyo hesitated but, after quickly pondering, just smiled "Yes, but, it's complicated… Either way, don't forget me again." The ghost faded out of sight with a frustrated shout.
"Forget about her, eh?" Something bothered Fuyuki, as if he was forgetting something else at that very moment… "Sergeant, I'm going up to my room now. I still need to prepare for tomorrow."
The green haired girl answered with a salute and a wink. "Good night, lord Fuyuki!" After Fuyuki went up the stairs, Keroro smirked deviously, hands on her waist.
"Corporal Giroro! I've just gotten a great idea for an operation tomorrow!"
The redhead stepped just outside of the kitchen, wearing a pink apron over her uniform, while scowling at Keroro without any enthusiasm. "I can already tell that it's going to be a stupid plan… but count me in."
/
Unlike some other parts of his life, Fuyuki's room still was the same. It was fairly neat and tidy, at least superficially. The only source of light seemed to be a laptop computer on a wooden desk and rolling chair, located on the left of the room. In spite of the poor illumination, there was a large window visible on the back, closed curtains covering it, alongside a single bed next to the opposite wall, and two timber bookstands opposite to the window, right next his bedroom's entrance door. Fuyuki sit in front of his desk, a laptop computer's screen was the main source of light there.
Soon, water could be heard hitting the grass and ceiling outside of his room. Fuyuki blinked, looking at the curtain, illuminated by a lightning bolt somewhere in the distant horizon. "It suddenly started raining like this? Well," Fuyuki looked at the corner of the screen, noticing the time. "It's almost midnight… I didn't even notice time passing." He yawned, pushing himself away from the desk. "Still, I've already finished everything I had to do tonight. Tomorrow will be the actual problem." Fuyuki stood up and turned away from the computer screen, but a voice soon brought him to a halt.
"Fuyuki Hinata."
"Huh?" The teenager turned around, looking at the screen of his laptop. The monitor only showed noise, like an old television. "Another invasion plan?" His eyes observed the image with interest. In what initially seemed to be a trick of his eyes, the noise started slowly taking humanoid shape, flowing in such a way that a person's silhouette seemed to be visible there. Shortly afterwards, the image darkened, resembling a human silhouette. Fuyuki blinked, and, when he opened his eyes again, he saw himself standing in the middle of a thick gray mist, barely making out that he was standing on a street, with buildings around him.
He heard raindrops falling and soon felt them hitting his skin. Gray skies and clouds were around him, towering over the city. It was not night anymore somehow. Standing in front of the now drenched teen, there was someone else, partially covered by the fog… Yet, after the initial moment, he could easily identify that person.
His head faced down, the bangs of his short dark hair falling over his eyes. He wore a closed black jacket and jeans, with long dark blue sleeves and a similarly colored hood covering his face. Yet, in spite of the fog, the bangs and the shadow covering his face, Fuyuki instantly recognized him. "You're… myself?"
"I hate it. I hate to be alone." Fuyuki heard his own voice echoing through the rainy city.
"If I can't run, why should others run? If everyone leaves me alone, why should the others be together?!" The other teen raised his face, and, although surrounded by what seemed like a cloud of smoke, or a dark fog, he was unmistakably was identical to Fuyuki. Besides one detail, his eyes seemed strangely empty and alien, with dark irises without pupils.
Fuyuki looked at him, recognition reflected in his somber expression. "Are you… a Doppelganger?"
"I am you." The other Fuyuki answered with a smirk.
"So, a doppelganger?!" Fuyuki yelled excitedly running right next to the other boy, "or maybe a Fetch…?" He said glancing sideways at him, while holding his chin, "That term is not used as often but it's applicable too!"
The other Fuyuki remained in silence, glaring at the excited teenager in front of him. Suddenly, the fog swirled around Fuyuki, creating a completely opaque wall around him. He only could see the gray clouds around himself. However, before panic could even set in, they disappeared.
Fuyuki opened his eyes, looking at a dark ceiling. He was lying on his bed, the lights of his room off, and seemingly no rain outside or inside. "Was that a dream?" Fuyuki muttered while opening and closing his right hand. Soon, his eyelids became heavy again and he closed his eyes.
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/Chapter's notes/
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The first chapter of the continuation of my old KeroGirls fanfiction is finally out! In the previous story, I tried to leave things open and avoid touching on elements that could receive different canon answers later, but this time I'm going towards an ending for everything, giving my own explanations and takes on several characters and elements of the setting.
Like with KeroGirls, I'll post images (in my profile) for the characters featured in each chapter. There'll be quite a few for this chapter though, so it might take a few days.
Juunishiro Akahoshi is an original character, although he is based on one of Fuyuki's nameless classmates from the anime. The design is a boy with spiked hair who teases Fuyuki in the first sport's festival episode and reappears later as Fuyuki's classmate in the 2nd season. He is also one of the runners in the second sports festival episode from the 2nd season and makes a few other random appearances as Fuyuki's classmate, like looking with surprise while Alisa separates from Nebula in Fuyuki's class. His first name "Juunishiro" is a reference to his chair's position (12), based on the numbers from episode 261. I wanted to add a character who does not really have any knowledge or connection to all the alien and occult elements.