The sunlight streamed through her window and warmed her face. She rolled away from it for a few minutes, but when she felt the cool breeze and heard the birds chirping, she couldn't resist getting up. She had the whole day off today, and she wasn't going to waste it in bed. She reached out for her glasses, which were nestled on her pillow. Then she stretched and tied her hair up. The whole day. She had been working for a week and a half. It was time to do something fun. With a quick glance at the clock, she nodded. Only eight. She hadn't slept in too long then.
Aki Hinata pulled her door open and looked into Natsumi's room, which was right across from hers. It was empty, the bed made. She must be downstairs. Aki sniffed the air, and she could just make out a breakfast smell. But it was faint. When she walked past Fuyuki's door, his room was empty too. His straightened out blankets used to make her happier (when he was younger, he refused to make his bed, jumping on it every morning) but now she felt puzzled and a little down. Where were they? Didn't they know she had the day off? It did make her happy that they had things to do, energy to spend, friends to laugh with...but... Shrugging, she made her way downstairs. She wasn't sure about anything yet. They could still be watching TV or something.
When she reached the kitchen, she found the notes. One on the refrigerator, and one next to her teacup. She read the one on the fridge first. Natsumi's. "Gone out for soccer practice. Will have lunch with Yayoi afterwards. Love you!" She smiled faintly, proud of her daughter's social life.
When she was young, it had been harder to get friendships started. Sure, she was very charismatic now, but that didn't happen overnight. She grew up isolated in the mountains with her mother, and when she did finally manage to go to school, it was a small one. High school was when she really branched out. She made more friends and went into the city more and more, until she fell in love with it. Most of her believed that it was her looks that had helped her through it. Underneath that, Aki was strange and "different" to a lot of people. Even now, she didn't have many friends to hang out with. She worked too hard, and when she did try to make friends, she was too aggressive, or just said the wrong thing. Sometimes she cared. Sometimes she didn't. She had her mother, her children, and extraterrestrial aliens living underneath her house. What more could she want? However, if she thought about it too much, there was something else she wanted. She just couldn't put her finger on it. It had to do with companionship, someone she could still be with after the kids moved out. She also wanted something fun. Original. An adventure. Something no man in this world could give her. If she thought about it too much, it just made her antsy, so she chose move on and think about something else.
Aki moved over to the table, reading the note from Fuyuki that was pinned under her teacup. "I went out with Gunso to Nishizawa-san's place. Not sure when we'll be back. Have a relaxing day off!" She shrugged and was just about to put the note back on the table when a stray breeze from the window caught it and blew it out of her hand. When she bent to pick it up, there were smaller, rushed letters written on the back. "Fuyuki-dono left a couple of his books down in Kururu's lab. He's afraid something may happen to them, so he requests that you please retrieve them and place them back in his room. Arigato, Mama-dono!" Aki's eyebrow arched up. This was a strange request. Fuyuki never worried about lending Kururu books before. They were actually part of their own book club, and her son borrowed books from the yellow genius as well. Neither one of them were very picky about exactly what happened to them. As long as they were returned eventually. The only complaint that Fuyuki ever had was that Kururu made his pages smell strongly of curry. But he thought it was more amusing than annoying.
As for going down to Kururu's lab, Aki thought it was a good idea. Her only other plans for the day were to sit around and be bored out of her skull. Besides, she liked Kururu. The two of them were developing a close, secret relationship. She had done a number of things with him already. They had made curry together once, and since then, she hadn't gotten up the appetite to eat anyone else's. Then there was that night when she had come home, and he had appeared in her bathroom. She hadn't minded it; they had an innocent bath together. Sometimes, while she slept, she felt a warmth next to her. In the morning, her nightshirt and blanket smelled like curry. She suspected that he took naps with her. Aki didn't find it menacing, but she also never told anyone else. Kururu had a reputation to keep, and she respected that. She thought he made a formidable foe, and though he would never be hers, she admired a good anti-hero. She was a storywriter after all.
As Aki looked at the note, she wondered. Had their cover been blown? Did Keroro and Fuyuki know about their friendship? She didn't see how anyone could. No one seemed to get close enough to Kururu to know about what sort of relationships he had. They were all too wary of him for that. That suited Aki. She didn't like to make a big deal out of things either.
So, while she ate her breakfast, drank her tea, and put her clothes on, she smiled to herself. Kururu could be very exciting. His mind was a portal to all sorts of amazing things.
Aki stood before the grinning metal caricature of Kururu's face. She put her lips next to the speaker, even if she was sure he could see her. Sometimes, he wasn't by the screens. She hoped he wasn't taking a bath. Once she had come down here when he was, and she wondered why he ignored her until Keroro later told her why. She had found herself blushing alongside a smile. Who else in the known universe bathed in a vat of curry? It was truly fascinating.
She casually wished him a good morning.
"Ohayou, Kuru-chan! May I come in?" She smiled prettily at the camera, for good measure. In about 4 seconds, the toothy door slid open. She marched in, filled with wonder. No one else in the household, even Fuyuki, ventured into the lab much. But Aki relished the dark, damp atmosphere. It filled her with chills, and she liked them. It made her think of the unknown, the impossible. It inspired her. When Keroro first moved in, she had actually been disappointed that his room had been so clean and so human. Kururu's laboratory had been more of the sort of thing she'd imagined. She took a deep sniff. Metal, chemicals, blue flame from a blowtorch, all with a heavy undertone of curry spices. Most people would not enjoy these smells. That was what made Aki "different". She let her eyes adjust to the dim glow of the blue panels. She let her ears settle on the low purring and beeping of what she liked to think of as "breathing machinery." She heard the familiar quick typing that was Kururu. He hummed to himself as he worked, and she let herself stay still for a moment, listening. His voice was low and deep. The song sounded dreary for a moment, then the notes rose higher and become eerily cheerful. She detected the words "onion" and "potatoes". It was his curry preparation song. He hummed this when he was working on something that was relatively easy. When he worked on something difficult, he never hummed, but whispered to himself, with an occasional violent shout. Aki had only seen that once, and she had known enough to stay quiet until he was finished. She was surprised that he had let her in at all that day.
She stayed still for a another moment or two. She wasn't bothered and rather enjoyed his song. His voice sounded like his curry, dark and rich. He trailed off after awhile, then, rather abruptly, said:
"Ohayou, Aki! Ku, ku!"
"Kuru-chan!" She chimed his name, then came forward and placed a hand on the back of his chair. She looked at the screen above them, trying to make sense of the figures there. It was a network of numbers mixed with symbols that she'd never seen. Kururu added more with his keys, and it was hypnotic to watch.
"More programming?" She guessed.
He made a noise that meant 'yes' and that it wasn't nearly stimulating enough for him.
"No work today, eh? About time you came home. You'll work yourself into the ground, Aki. Ku, ku!" She laughed with him.
"Maybe if that happens, you can clone me, so I can work some more."
"There's more to life than work, you know." He talked while he typed. His pace didn't slow. If anything, it quickened.
"What do you do for fun?" He asked her. Aki had to think for a moment.
"Well, I have my motorcycle."
"Meh. I noticed while I was making upgrades that the gas hardly ever runs out. Lately, you've only been driving it to work."
"Hmm. I would like to take it out and really ride it hard." She said this with such aggression that it caused her to blush. Kururu entered the wrong symbol, but like a lightening flash his finger was on the backspace key, deleting it efficiently.
"Ku, ku! That's the spirit." After more typing, he spoke again.
"You know..." His voice took on a mysterious tone. "I ride too."
"Really? Well, I don't know why that should surprise me. You can probably ride just about anything." She said, slyly.
"I can...and I have." His answer was just as sly. "We should ride together sometime. Ku, ku!"
"A race? Isn't there a racetrack down here?"
"If there's not, I'll make one."
"That would be...so great. I can't remember the last time I opened throttle like that." Kururu made a coughing sound.
"I'll get on that right away, then."
"But Kururu. You and your...motorcycle. They would be so..."
"Eh?"
"So small. Are you sure you'd stand a chance against me?"
"Ah, Aki. Lovely Aki. You just wait and see. Some of the fastest things in the galaxy are small. I'll show you what I mean. Sooner rather than later. Ku..." His voice trailed off and he continued typing. After awhile, Aki felt out of place.
"Well, uh..."
"Yes?"
"I got this weird message from Kero-chan." Kururu's fingers hovered over the keyboard. He looked over his shoulder at her.
"Ku?" The sound was a cross between his normal "ku" and his "eh?".
"Wanna read it?" She fluttered it at him, and his little yellow hand grasped the paper. Before she could even straighten up fully, he had already read it.
"This is a bit sneaky for Taicho. I don't think it's about any books."
"That's what I was thinking too. I wonder if they've caught on to us." She winked at him suggestively and was delighted to see a drop of sweat break out on his forehead. He hopped out of his chair and walked over to a massive bookshelf. He took down an armful of books.
"But...we could play their little game. Just for the hell of it. Ku, ku!" Aki bent over and took the books from him. Her shirt was partway open, and she almost engulfed Kururu with her breasts. He made a strangled sound, even after she pulled away. He was sweating a little more freely now. She pretended not to notice. In her mind, she told herself that it would probably be better to leave. He seemed extremely uncomfortable at the moment, and she didn't want to strain their friendship. He was also busy with his programming. Even if he had acted bored. She turned around with the books in one hand.
"Well..." she said over her shoulder. Kururu was still standing there, taking short breaths. "I guess I better..." When she thought about going back upstairs a heavy feeling took hold of her. There was nothing to do, nowhere to go. She wanted to do something outrageous today. Something nobody else had done before. But all she had to look forward to was another cup of tea and some goofy show on TV. She bit back a sigh.
"Hey." Kururu's voice startled her. She turned around.
"Do you wanna-" He was cut off by a sharp beep from his console.
"Eh. Hold that thought." He jumped back up into the chair and checked a messaging system. He whispered the message to himself, then read it again.
"Damn. Looks like I have to go somewhere and straighten this up." Aki was beside him in a moment, scanning the message. She checked herself.
"Oh. I hope that wasn't a secret or anything."
"Nah. If it were a secret it would be in code. Doesn't matter anyway. Just someone's mistake. I have to go deal with it." Aki's spirits sank a little bit more. She smiled faintly.
"I understand." She almost turned around again when she felt his damp hand. It grasped her wrist.
"Wait a second. I could use you. Ku, ku!" It didn't even occur to her to be offended.
"Really?"
"Oh yes. See, I work with some pretty shady people."
"Don't you get in trouble for that? Being in the military and all?"
"I would, wouldn't I? But our military is a bit slack. They don't really care. Most of them hate me so much, they just let me do whatever I want. Ku, ku, ku!"
"I see. You little rebel." She winked at him. He smiled, his mouth vertical.
"Yes. They would love to discharge me, but I would be much more dangerous if I wasn't military." Aki got a shiver, but it wasn't from fear.
"So the plan is, I need you for protection. I'm going to be doing some serious hacking, and someone needs to watch my back. Usually it's Giroro, but he's been on his own mission for a week now. Dororo has protected me a couple of times, but he's not into it. He doesn't like dirty dealings." As he talked, he walked around the lab, making preparations. He threw various things in a little pack, and Aki caught a glimpse of what looked like a gold bracelet. Her curiosity kicked up a notch.
"Well, I'm definitely game. I had nothing to do today anyway."
"Ku, ku..." He put a few more things in the bag, then shrugged into the straps.
"Good. You could do some real damage. But you may need a lesson in control, Aki. For now, we'll start with the armory."
