The alarm clock beeped and read 6:30. A cute little tune buzzed out from the maroon clock, its lid opening slowly. Two sky blue eyes fluttered open to the morning, a soft giggle breaking the silence of the room. "It's today," the little blue keronian whispered to himself, gripping his light green colored comforter tightly in his fingers, which trembled with excitement.
Zeroro kicked off his blanket and sheets, hopping out of his bed and twirled about the green-carpeted room. Sweet, innocent giggles echoed throughout the tadpole's gray-pink walls as he skipped about, shuffling his books into his backpack, making his bed and watering the small plant he kept in a silver pot, which sat peacefully on a white table in the center of his room. As the melody coming from the alarm clock came to an end, Zeroro closed the lid gently and skipped downstairs. He ate his breakfast quicker than the rest of his siblings, not speaking a word, only beaming silently to himself. This suppressed happiness went unnoticed by all but his mother, who watched him carefully. His unusual behavior puzzled her, but she didn't question him. In fact she was happy to see him so jubilant; she just couldn't help but wonder why he was.
"I'm leaving, Mama!" Zeroro shouted as he headed out the door. His mother caught the door as it shut, calling after her son, wet cloth from drying the dishes still in hand, "Zeroro! You're leaving early?" Her tone had a hint of worry in it. Zeroro looked back and waved happily, his eyes closing with delight. "Don't worry Mama! I just need to turn in an assignment early!" He turned and ran off, leaving his mother confused. "That sweet little boy… I hope he doesn't get himself into trouble…he's so fragile…," She mumbled to herself as she walked back into the kitchen, the large red door shutting behind her.
Making sure his mother wasn't watching him, Zeroro strayed off the path he normally took to school. "Sorry for lying, Mama!" He whispered to himself through giggles, placing one hand on the white surgeon mask that hid his smiling face. He walked quickly through the shortcut in the woods, feeling his excitement rise. He soon found himself in a run, and began to twirl about happily, humming and dancing his way through the forest. Scampering out of the trees and onto the city sidewalk, he happily pranced down to the local jewelry store that had a large, pink sign reading "MOTHER'S DAY SALE" in the window. The bell tied to the glass door rang softly as he entered, his tiny footsteps breaking the silence of the store. A clerk entered through the back door behind the rows of glass cases, all sparkling and twinkling in the light let in by the windows, that sparkle reflecting in Zeroro's happy little eyes.
"Welcome-," The clerk started, but didn't finish when he saw the little tadpole looking up at him, his tail wagging back and forth. "Oh… What brings you here, little boy? You should be going to school, shouldn't you…?" The confused clerk asked, shutting the back door behind him. Zeroro giggled and pointed to a beautiful heart-shaped diamond necklace. "I'd like to buy this please!" He said politely, pulling out his wallet from his backpack. The clerk stared in confusion at the little boy, then brought himself to laugh softly at this little tadpole's innocence. He began to explain how much the necklace cost when Zeroro placed a giant wad of cash on the counter. "This is enough, right?" He said. The clerk was shocked as he counted up the money. Checking the necklace's price and finding that it was indeed enough. Wordlessly, he gave the necklace in its case to Zeroro. "You uhm… Have a nice day..Sir…," The clerk said, still baffled by this child's purchase. "Thank you very much!" The excited blue keronian piped up. Just as he was about to leave, the clerk called out "H-hey, wait!" Zeroro turned, his innocent, kind, unblinking eyes locking with the clerk's. "Wh…Where did you get all that money..?" He asked, his shock wearing off. Zeroro laughed softly, winking at the man behind the glass counters. "I saved up my allowances." With that, he pranced off out onto the sidewalk and made his merry way to school.
Zeroro constantly checked his bag, peeking at the necklace's case and chuckling to himself. He seemed oblivious to anything but that bag all day. Unknown to Zeroro, a beady, unblinking pair of black eyes had noticed his strange behavior and was trying to figure out what was up with him today. Keroro leaned over to the little red keronian sitting in the desk next to him. "What d'ya think is up with Zeroro today?" He asked curiously, wondering if Giroro knew something he didn't. "I dunno," The sharp-eyed tadpole answered, his eyes straying over to Zeroro's happy little aura. "But he seems real happy. Maybe something good happened this morning?" Keroro took up Giroro's assumption, automatically making it his mission to figure out what had happened to make the usual shy and quiet Zeroro beam so brightly today. "I'm gonna ask him!" Keroro exclaimed confidently, hopping out of his seat, ignoring the papers on his desk that had yet to be completed. "Keroro, it could be personal, you shouldn't…" Giroro started. He rolled his eyes and sighed, knowing he would probably never get through to Keroro and that he would most likely never change. He went back to his work, shaking his head back and forth.
"Ze-ro-ro-kun!" Keroro sung in his usual tune-like greeting. "You're happy today!" Zeroro blinked and smiled under his mask. Though it hid his smile, it couldn't hide the tint of pink that colored his cheeks. 'He noticed me…' he thought in the back of his mind. 'it is a good day today!' thought the flattered Zeroro. His friends usually wouldn't notice him even if he was sitting right next to them; he usually had to be the one who piped up a greeting first. "Oh, Hi, Keroro-kun! Yes, I am rather happy today. I bought a present for my mother this morning for mother's day. I know she's going to love it." Zeroro said the last sentence through excited little giggles. "Oh," Was all Keroro said in response. He was, in the back of his head, hoping for something juicier than that. He pouted. "So…what is it?" He asked, still a little curious. Zeroro held on finger up in front of his mouth. "It's a secret." He turned back to his work, beaming brighter than before. Keroro's confused pout was interrupted by the teacher yelling at him to sit down.
When the school bell rang for dismissal, Zeroro hurried and gathered his things together, rushing out the door. "There he goes..," Keroro mumbled to Giroro. The red tadpole pulled his bag onto his shoulders and said "Quit being so nosy." Keroro pouted again. "Jeez…" He piped up, "So, Giroro-kun! You wanna come over and play games at my house tonight? I'll ask Mom if you can sleep-over, too!" He said cheerfully, suddenly reverting back to his usual fun-loving self. Giroro nodded. "Nii-chan said he would pick me up from school today, so I'll ask him if I can go with you." The two made their way out to the front gates of the school. Giroro looked around and saw his older brother, Garuru, making his way up the sidewalk, holding two large grocery bags. "It looks like Nii-chan went grocery shopping for Mom on his way home. I'll have to help him." Keroro stuck his tongue out. "Aw, man... Oh well. See ya later, Giroro-kun!" He said, waving as he ran off toward his house. Giroro waved and called back "I'll see if I can come over later, though!"
Garuru, the teenage purple Keronian approached his younger brother and said "Giroro. Are you ready to go?" Giroro nodded, taking one of the large brown bags out of his brother's arms. Startled by how heavy it was he stumbled a bit; it hadn't looked heavy at all when Garuru carried it. Giroro's sharp eyes grew even sharper with determination as he heaved the bag up where he could securely carry it, and then strode off towards their house. Garuru only chuckled at his kid brother's headstrong drive to impress him.
Soon, Giroro's hold on the bag slipped and it fell from his fingers. "Shoot." He said, staring down at the bag. "Are you sure you've got that?" Garuru asked, reaching for the bag, its contents spilling out slightly. "Yeah. You worry about your bag, this is my job," Giroro insisted, scooping up the bag again quickly and shuffling back down the sidewalk. The two brothers passed an alley created by two of the towering dice-houses of the keronian city. Giroro glanced down it and saw from his peripheral vision three or four figures. Bigger ones seemed to be towering over a small one. He did a double take when he realized that the smaller one was cowering, shaking. The tiny one seemed afraid of the three older keronians who were nearly three times the his size; The little one was being bullied. Or worse.
"Nii-chan...! Look…!" Giroro pointed, struggling to hold the paper bag with one arm. The elder of the brothers stopped and turned to see his brother inching toward the tadpole and the bullies. "Giroro…," Garuru felt the tension his younger brother felt; both of them wanted to put a stop to the injustice going on before them, but Garuru wasn't sure that'd be the safest action for his little brother. Before he even had a chance to object, however, Giroro had dropped the paper bag and was running down the alley; He had taken off when he realized that he knew who the little tadpole being bullied at the end of it was.
Two sky blue eyes squinted through tears, a shaky whine unheard under the loud laughter echoing off the alley walls. "Please go away..!" The little blue keronian squeaked, gripping his salmon colored backpack tightly in his fingers, which trembled in fear.