Disclaimer: I own nothing.
I think the one year before stuff ends around chapter 7. Sorry about that.
Special thanks to RunwithscissorsXXXbattlescars for editing.
It had all happened one year ago. That was when the travesty began.
ONE YEAR AGO
Natsumi hadn't paid attention to the news. She didn't care enough about politics and how worried the news reporters were getting.
"It's just politics." She had waved her hand, chatting casually with Fuyuki. The world leaders and governments were finally waking up to the weird things that was happening in the world - the unexplained. Basically aliens.
However, none of them believed that aliens were causing anything weird. They all blamed each other, thinking some other country had caused mysterious things to happen to them. Tensions were high and rumors spread that a war was about to start.
Natsumi knew that a lot of people kept saying that a world war would start over little things, though. She waved it off as just paranoia. Fuyuki was enraptured with interest in the television, not because he cared about politics but because of how linked to the occult it was their arguments.
"I think I'll talk about it next week in my club!" Fuyuki beamed. "Current issues should be discussed, after all."
"Momoka's the only one in your club," Natsumi reminded him.
"Momoka's enough. She's the best club member out there!" he smiled. Sure, she was the only member, but that meant less competition for best member.
Natsumi rolled her eyes. Fuyuki and Momoka were cute. She couldn't wait for the day for him to realize it.
She dismissed the news, and the panic of the rest of the world.
It wasn't a big deal. It wasn't like it would change her life or anything.
The day that the warfare started, Natsumi hadn't expected anything. Nobody had.
"Natsumi! I'm here!" Koyuki smiled, knocking on her friend's door. She carried her backpack for some late-night studying before a math test the next day. Natsumi had promised her they could have a study session.
"And I am here, too!" Dororo smiled by her side. He greeted Natsumi with a bow. "Take good care of Lady Koyuki. I will spend time with my leader and keep him from interrupting your study session," hevolunteered nicely.
"Thanks Dororo," Natsumi grinned. Dororo was probably the most honorable and nicest of the Keronians. And he truthfully understood privacy and leaving Koyuki and Natsumi to spend time together and study.
Dororo handed Koyuki a boxed dinner he had prepared for her so she could have fun at her sleepover study session.
Koyuki smiled at him and hugged him before heading off to Natsumi's room.
Natsumi scribbled on her homework, trying to focus on Koyuki and the math. Truthfully, she was quite distracted, but not by the terrible news that had been going on for the last week on most of the channels.
No, she was distracted by hot boys. Or in case one, Saburo.
I can't believe he's here in my house, right now! Natsumi knew she should be spending time with Koyuki, but she really wanted an excuse to go down into the base and see Saburo.
Sure, he wasn't technically spending time with her, he was hanging out with Kululu downstairs, but still... He was in her house!
But she had promised to hang out with Koyuki. She couldn't let herself be distracted by her crush, how he was going to spend the night there, too. How much she wanted to go see him...
"Natsumi? Do you know how to solve this problem?" Koyuki asked.
Natsumi was snapped out of her fantasies. She looked at the problem. "No. I don't." She shook her head. "M-maybe we could go ask someone else for some advice?" She hoped Koyuki took the bait and let her go see Saburo to ask for help. For him to tutor her one-on-one.
"That's a great idea, Natsumi!" Koyuki smiled. "Angol Mois's great at math!"
Natsumi frowned. She hadn't wanted Koyuki to suggest Angol Mois. She wanted to go hang out with Saburo! "Yeah... Mois." She frowned. "Maybe she's busy, though? Let's try to look in the text book for help," she decided, hoping to not add someone else into their study session. It was easier to get away and see Saburo if there were less people.
Koyuki nodded. "I guess you're right. She's probably with Keroro and Dororo, doing some invasion thing."
Natsumi nodded. She didn't need another distraction from Saburo. Also she didn't really want to do more math than necessary. Mois might have been a great tutor, but she got a little too happy and intense about tutoring. To motivate them, she'd probably break things if Natsumi or Koyuki failed a problem.
That, and Natsumi didn't know if she could deal with the headache of hearing Mois's bad idioms related to math problems.
She didn't even care that she was probably planning a bad invasion plan with Keroro.
Mois, Tamama, Keroro and Dororo all sat in a room together, planning stupid invasion plan things like Natsumi had indeed predicted. Giroro and Kululu were the only members of the platoon not there, being the only smart ones who were actually paying attention to the news and preparing for the worst. They had assumed everyone else was doing their own preparations, but since Keroro only watched cartoons and Dororo watched no television at all, they had no idea whatsoever about how bad the state of the world was in.
"So for the latest plan I have a few supplies I need. I was wondering if you and Mois could go out and get them for me?" Keroro asked Tamama.
"I can get them on my own! I don't want to go with her!" Tamama complained.
"Private... I need both of you to go. Carrying these things will take two sets of arms," Keroro pointed out, handing them a grocery list. "Can you guys go to alien street and get these things?"
Tamama pouted.
"Sure thing, Uncle!" Mois smiled. She didn't have a problem working with Tamama.
"I don't want to," Tamama complained.
"I'll play video games with you if you do it," Keroro bribed.
"Fine! But you have to play with only me!" he insisted.
"Deal." Keroro smiled and shook Tamama's hand. "See you both soon!"
The two of them left the room to go shopping.
Kululu typed on his computer, looking at the satellites carefully.
"Truth be told, Saburo. I didn't invite you over just to chat and hang out," he confided.
"I figured. What do you need?" Saburo asked.
"You been keeping up with the news?" he asked. Saburo nodded. "Well, from what I've learned hacking into military files and all, it's very likely that the tensions between countries might break... Worst-case scenario, a nuclear war might start. I've made sure that even in worst-case scenario this base and everybody in it will survive, and they should be able to live... relatively forever, if I keep things going properly. Ku, ku, ku. Hopefully a war won't start, but you never know with those Pekoponians," he chuckled. Saburo raised his eyebrow, slightly insulted. "Anyway... I'd just prefer for you to stay here until we're in the clear. That way if a war does start, you'll get the same safety as the rest of us in this base."
Saburo nodded. "So you invited me over basically to ensure my safety? That's sweet," he teased.
"Shut up." Kululu turned away, slightly embarrassed. From what he knew on his cameras and satellites, everybody would be safe now. It wouldn't take that long to reach Natsumi and Fuyuki and get them to the base.
If a war did start, he was ready.
After about thirty minutes of monitoring cameras, Kululu started frantically typing.
"Damn," he swore.
"What?" Saburo asked. He squinted his eyes.
"Four bombs headed this way. Apparently over in a few other countries, bombing has already started. America couldn't take the pressure. Apparently a nuclear war has started." He swore again. He quickly switched on an intercom for the entire Hinata house. Sirens sounded. "Everybody stay in the base!" he yelled. "Being above ground might be at risk for being blown up. A nuclear war has started and four bombs are headed for this city. This is not a drill," he yelled. "Giroro, retrieve Fuyuki and Natsumi... and Koyuki? I think she's up there too."
Saburo's expression clouded with worry.
"Is it going to be okay?" he asked.
"Yeah. The base should be completely fine, as long as a bomb doesn't drop straight onto the Hinata house. Giroro's been helping me make it impenetrable. It should be fine. Ku. I just hope that my idiot Captain has been preparing for this as much as I have."
Saburo nodded. Keroro wouldn't screw this up. It was serious.
As soon as Giroro heard Kululu's warning, he immediately bolted upstairs. There was no time to waste.
He had been prepared for this. He just hoped the Hinatas were, too. "Fuyuki, go downstairs. NOW," he ordered, slamming open the boy's door.
"Huh?" Fuyuki looked startled. He was frightened by Giroro's panicked expression, so he stopped playing on his computer and hurried downstairs.
"Get into the base. Hopefully Keroro will be waiting for you," he ordered. Fuyuki ran. Giroro nodded, glad that Fuyuki had gotten to safety.
He quickly looked around the house for anyone else, running at his top speed. He grabbed his cat from outside and headed to Natsumi's room.
"Natsumi! Koyuki! You need to head to the base, now!" he told both of them.
"Why?" Natsumi groaned. Koyuki nodded, wondering why they had to stop studying.
"A bomb is headed for this city. The base is safe." He handed Koyuki his cat to hold onto and grabbed Natsumi's hand.
"W-wait... What?" Natsumi's voice shook as Giroro practically dragged her to the base. She was so confused by what was happening.
But soon enough Koyuki, the cat, and she were safe.
Keroro was waiting for both of them, along with Fuyuki and Dororo. The doors locked behind them now that everybody was there.
Suddenly, everything shook. Natsumi kept Giroro's and her hands tightly together and covered her ears.
"Wh-what is going on?" she asked, terrified.
"I... I have no idea," Keroro admitted.
"Nuclear warfare has just started on the planet. Haven't any of you been paying attention to the news?" Giroro asked as things continued shaking. "Everybody outside this base might be exploding right now, for all we know."
"I... I sent Mois and Tamama out there, though!" Keroro yelled out, falling to the ground from the shaking. A second bomb had obviously landed. He tried to struggle toward the exit, but Dororo held him back.
"If we open it up now, we don't know if radiation will come in here," Dororo told him quietly. "We can only hope they're strong enough to find shelter and will come back on their own. Don't worry. Tamama is strong. He's in our platoon, after all."
Keroro nodded, his lip quivering. It had been an hour ago that they had left. He hoped that they came back soon.
"I'm good with dealing with bombs. Don't worry, all of you will be safe," Giroro promised.
Natsumi just felt confusion and fear. She didn't want to show how frightened she was, but with every shake, she felt her world changing.
She just sat there with everyone as every hour they felt like it was over and tried to get up, the shaking started again.
Giroro tried to keep them all calm, but they knew Kululu was the one with the cold hard facts of what the situation was.
They waited desperaretly for Saburo and him to come out of the lab.
It was midnight when Kululu came out of the lab. "I have bad news," he spoke.
"Can I go upstairs yet? Please?" Natsumi asked. She... She needed to recover from this. This was just an obstacle. Things would be back to normal soon.
"Wh-what's the news?" Keroro asked.
"Satellites are down. All means of communication to the outside world are dead, too. Including interplanetary ones," he reported. "I was able to see some cameras of the outside before they went out, though... Seeing what's happened throughout the world."
Saburo looked grim. His was was pale and he seemed nauseous.
"It bad?" Giroro asked.
"Yeah. Nuclear warfare has officially started on Pekopon. Everybody left is just fighting... The air is toxic up there. Unbreathable. Filled with radiation and things like that. The safest place at the moment is this base," he said.
"How... How did this happen?" Natsumi was so confused. So the news had been right?
"So... if we don't breathe, does that mean we can go upstairs?" Koyuki asked. She was prepared. Dororo shook his head.
"That... is not how it works. If the radiation so much as touches your skin, I doubt you'll survive. Ku, ku, ku," Kululu told her. Koyuki looked glum. "No worries. The base is well-stocked for this emergency. You'll all be safe, thanks to mine - mostly mine, and I guess to a lesser extent, Giroro's - efforts."
Giroro glared.
"Th-the people..." Saburo shuddered. "We saw them on the cameras... They just burned and melted. It's likely there aren't many survivors," he said, telling them the worse and more graphic part of the news.
Now everybody paled.
"Th-that... That can't be true!" Natsumi's eyes widened. She couldn't believe this. Her mother had been out there at work! Her friends... Yayoi and Satsuki. Her grandmother... They all lived happy, normal lives.
"I'm... I'm sorry, Natsumi," Giroro apologized. Keroro seemed to be shakily breathing, still trying to process what had happened and calm himself to take command of the situation. Dororo nodded, sorry for her loss.
"The facts are clear. Pekopon is pretty much dead. The apocalypse has happened, or is happening, something I'm sure Mois would be very jealous of. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu laughed, for a moment seeing the lighthearted side of the situation. "But really, I tested the air with a tube in my lab. The atmosphere in inhospitable. Most likely, everybody is dead except for all of us."
Natsumi couldn't hide it any longer. A picture of her mother flashed through her head and she started sobbing.
"M-Mom was out there..." Fuyuki realized, seeing Natsumi cry. He started sobbing, too.
Keroro patted his hand, but there was nothing he could do.
This was the new life they all had. There was nothing they could do about it.
I feel like this is the first time I have featured Saburo and Koyuki more than Angol Mois. That probably won't last very long considering how much I love her.
Please review!