Chapter 4
Aki sat Romama on the couch, and Romama tried to hide his tears as best as possible. The rest of the platoon was up now, as well as the two member of the Garuru platoon.
"I'll get you a blanket, stay right there," Aki instructed him, and Romama nodded.
"Say, who is that guy, anyway, Sensei?" Tamama jolted as Taruru asked this, and the black tadpole tried to think up a lie, and think it up quick.
"He's um… Well, he's…."
"He's Stupid Frog's stupid nephew," Natsumi interjected, much to the surprise of all, including Keroro, who only walked in just as Natsumi said this.
"N-Natsumi-dono…" Keroro said beneath his breath. Natsumi opened one shut eye to Keroro, and gave a smirk.
"Oh! Well, it's great to meet you! You sure don't say a lot, huh? Well, that's okay, with those eyes you're expressive enough!" Taruru exclaimed.
"Don't destroy him, he actually means well," Tamama begged Romama wearily.
"And so I call to suspend project FZN for the time-being!" Keroro stood at his podium once more later on, when it was nearly night.
"Kukuku, the less work the better. It wasn't particularly interesting anyway," Kururu chuckled, and studied the black top hat in his hand. "Another one for the trash heap, kuku!" he laughed, setting the hat back down on his desk.
"Eh, Giroro?" Keroro blinked as he saw Giroro was already halfway to the door. "Where are you off to?"
Giroro cringed, and only half-formed an answer as he hurried out. He had only one more day to get to the stores. This bizarre behavior from the corporal briefly stunned the rest of the platoon, but they quickly recovered, and Keroro continued.
"Mois-dono, if you would?" Keroro smiled sweetly, and Mois nodded, pressing a button that brought down a projector screen. The Angol was already dressed of the holiday in green and white, as well as some holly in her hair.
"Gunso-san, what're we going to say if we look like we're not doing anything?" Tamama asked.
"Kuku, that it's just another ordinary day!"
"…With the quips as always, Kururu Socho. We're to declare this weekend a studying of our enemies traditions, as well as engaging ourselves in said traditions!"
"That's a pretty good bullshit, it just might work," Tamama admitted, and then switched back to his cute and lovely personality. "Gunso-san's the best!"
"Teicho-dono, if we're to do this, what are your orders?" Dororo asked.
"Eh? Dororo? When did you get here?" Keroro blinked. Dororo cringed and gave a yelp, and the sergeant continued, "Orders are for independent study! I'm going to undertake some of my own as we speak!" he then lifted up three large Gunpla boxes from beneath the podium and walked down the steps with them. They blocked most of his vision, so it was an amazement Keroro didn't take a tumble down the stairs. "Meeting adjourned!"
He then sang to himself all the up to the Hinata house, and dropped the Gunpla on the living room coffee table, right in front of Romama. The major glanced at Keroro, a bit curious and with the usual look of contempt, and Keroro wiped his forehead and leaned on the stack of boxes; it had been some work getting them up on to the living room.
"Ojiisama, I figured since we're the only family each other has on this planet, we might as well spend some time together on this holiday!"
There was something morbidly touching about it, Romama thought. He hesitated for a moment, then slowly crawled off of the couch and lifted up one of the Gunpla boxes to examine it. He then opened it, looked at one of the sheets of plastic, and took a bite of it, to see whether or not it was edible. Chewy, but still not the worst thing he had eaten.
Keroro let out a cry of horror, and a fight began between the two, which ended with Romama knocking Keroro out with a punch to the top of the head and then sitting atop his nephew for a cushion, and taking up studying one of the plastic sheets again.
"I've been here this long and barely gotten in a word with her!" Tororo looked out the glass door of the Hinata house and out at the snow bitterly, paying no heed to the fight going on behind him. "And now I find out she's here with some pretty-boy!"
"Hey, you're awful glum! And there must be something wrong with you, I've only seen you take five of your usual nine snack breaks today!" Taruru came up behind him, with his arms behind his back.
"Pupupu, if you don't want to freeze, leave me alone…"
"Hey, I've got some good news for you! I was doing some of my own research on this holiday, and I found something that could save you yet!"
"Really? Some kind of a weapon?"
"Better!" Taruru answered excitedly, and pulled out what looked like a small sprig of green leaves with white berries from behind his back.
"….And you outrank me…"
"No, listen, this stuff is just what you need! Look, you hang it up here, like this, right?" Taruru held it above his head.
"And it eats the competition!"
"No, not quite. You stand under it with the person you like, and you're supposed to kiss them if you stand underneath it!" Taruru mimicked this, leaning inward and looking a bit like a fish as he did so.
"Hey, Aki, I finished with the—Woah!" Haruki jumped back at the sight and nearly dropped the ladder under his arm. Romama was staring at a plastic sheet, beating it gently against the table, and using Keroro as his own personal throne, and Taruru and Tororo looked… Haruki didn't even entertain the thought. He hurried out of the home, calling out, "See you for Christmas Eve!"
"Huh… Wonder what got into him!" Taruru wondered aloud. "…These Pekoponians Sensei's lined up with get stranger and stranger!"
"Wowwww!" Kirere gasped and hopped up to get a better look in the shop window. "Look at all of the toys! They're so shiny!"
They weren't average toys, either, Garuru noted… What she was staring at so longingly were sets of power tools.
"Come on, you'll slip on that…" Garuru lifted her down from the ledge and she gave a moan.
"Maybe for my birthday then…" she said with a tone of hope in her voice. She yawned and then gave a shiver, and Garuru didn't miss this. He instructed her to sit on the nearest park bench, and he took a seat next to her. They both had on their cloaking devices, allowing them to watch the Pekoponians go about their business being none the wiser to the two aliens. Kirere shoved her hands in her jacket pockets for warmth, and buried herself deeper in the numerous jackets Giroro had made her put on before she left the house.
"Does Keron get like this around winter?" she asked, and Garuru thought for a moment.
"No, never this cold," he answered, and then it was silent between them for a little while longer.
"It's pretty though, huh? I mean this snow, it's nice..."
"Yes… I suppose it is…" he thought of the weather as more of an annoyance, but didn't voice this.
"Would my dad have liked it when he was little?"
"Probably…I'm not sure."
"You two were a lot closer when he was younger too, huh?"
"I suppose so, yes…"
"Do you miss that sometimes?" Garuru's head snapped in her direction, and she gasped. "S-sorry, I didn't mean…"
"It's all right," Garuru answered. "I've just never thought about that. Our relationship's changed, but we're still brothers. Nothing can take away that. I'll always look after family, just like yours will look after you…. It's getting close to your bedtime, isn't it?"
"N-no…"
"I can spot when someone isn't telling the truth…."
"Well… My legs hurt, I don't want to walk anymore."
Garuru nodded and lifted her up onto his back wordlessly, all while Kirere began to feel heavy and sleepy. She had drifted into a small snore by the time they reached home.
When Romama woke up the following morning, it was to the flash of a camera. His eyes darted open, and he looked straight across; Keroro's face, mere inches from his own. Then over to the group standing above him; Kururu was there with a camera, snapping pictures. Aki was also there, as was Natsumi and Fuyuki.
"Sorry, you were both too cute to wake up, so we just moved you both from the floor to the couch!" Aki answered, clasping her hands together apologetically.
Romama indeed was on the couch beside his nephew, a blanket draped over both to them.
"…Char…" Keroro murmured, and grabbed onto Romama by the waist, pinning the Keronian back to the couch while Romama squirmed to get out of Keroro's grasp.
"Oh!" Aki gasped and looked at her cell phone. "I'll be late if I don't leave now! I'll try to be home soon, if I'm not, save me some dinner!"
"All right, Mama, have a good time at work!" Natsumi called out.
"Bye, Mama!" Fuyuki added. At this point Romama managed to wriggle out of Keroro's grasp and took off running; tonight was the dance recital, he had to be there for Aya.
"That was a little weird, huh, Nee-chan?" Fuyuki asked with an unsure laugh.
"I'm starting to think the weirdness is genetic," Natsumi deadpanned.
"Have you guys seen my Dad around?" Kirere walked into the house, having been nearly run over by Romama in the process. "He hasn't been in his tent at all this morning, and I had to feed Neko!"
"Hrm, I haven't seen him either, come to think of it," Natsumi murmured.
"Kuku! That reminds me, I have things to do…" Kururu tossed aside his camera and skulked back to the door to his lab. Keroro began to kick and mutter in his sleep.
"Hehe, looks like he's dreaming, Nee-chan!"
"Natsumi-dono… Destroy… Natsumi-dono…" Keroro muttered. "Take over… Pekopon… Dororo Heichi, when did you get here? Why are you wearing mittens, and on your feet, for that matter?"
"Looks like it's time to wake him up," Natsumi added. Kirere quickly backed out of the scene, just in time to miss the yelling that ensued. She gave a yelp as she bumped her back against someone else's after scooting all the way into the kitchen, and this bump caused Tororo to drop a few of the snacks on the top of the pile he'd attained while in the kitchen.
"Hey, watch it, you—Eh!?" Tororo halted as he saw who he was talking to exactly, and Kirere scratched the back of her head and laughed apologetically.
"Sorry, I just try to get out of their fights as soon as possible! Oh, hey! You're good with computers, right?"
"…Pupupu! Not to brag, but I'm the best…"
"Great! You can help me then!" she pulled him along, and all of the snacks fell out of Tororo's hands as he went along with this. Taruru, from his covert spot in one of the cabinets, stepped out and clenched his fist.
"Yeah! He's got this!"
"Got what, exactly?" Taruru yelped as Garuru folded his arms and one pupil came into view, staring right at Taruru.
"E-eh? Oh, nothing, Sir! Nothing!"
"Here, I can put back all of the pieces, but I can't get the computer itself to work," Kirere passed Tororo the same metal sphere she had shown Garuru previously, and the Keronian hacker studied it for a moment, until Kirere reached over and pressed a button, causing the ball to open up into a series of still-conjoined ribs. The computer was now visible, and Tororo took a small screwdriver and began to open it up to reveal the harddrive.
"Pupupu, that's the problem, you need a new hard drive! You put a fried one in here, what a rookie mistake. You can even see it's literally burnt!" Tororo laughed, and pulled out the hard drive from it.
"Well sorry," Kirere snorted, and Tororo only realized his tone after this cold exchange. "Huh?" her mood went back to its usual cheeriness as she found something laying on the ground. "A top hat? Here? But why…."
"It should work now, after a charge," Tororo placed in a new hard drive and then screwed back on the cover.
"I've got an idea what we can do until then," Kirere announced.
"Huh?" Tororo stared down at the top hat, and Kirere laughed and ran out, carrying the hat with her.
"I've failed as a parent… And with Natsumi, as well… I'm the top soldier in Keron! But if I really were that, wouldn't we have Pekopon conquered by now? Maybe I'm not even that…" Giroro resigned himself to his tent later on in that night; shopping had been a nightmare, and the even bigger nightmare was he hadn't been able to find either item.
He removed his scarf and sat down on the floor of his tent, and gave a weary sigh as Neko rubbed up against him for support. "I'm sorry, but please, not now… They'll both be so disappointed."
"Hey, Red! You home!?" came probably the last voice aside from Keroro that Giroro wanted to hear right now. Haruki stuck his head into the tent a moment later, and gave a smile. "I'm a little big for you to invite in, but I wanted to drop off something for you while I was here."
"Whatever it is, Pekoponian, I don't want it," Giroro snapped, laying down and turning his back to Haruki.
"In case you do, I'll leave it here. Hey, it wasn't easy to find, so at least look at it, all right? I went to a lot of trouble!" Haruki shoved a box into the tent, and Giroro gave a huff, only standing and poking at the box after he was sure Haruki was gone. It wasn't ticking, so that was a good sign…
Giroro cautiously opened the box, and had to stifle a gasp at what he found. He quickly rushed to his stack of ads to compare, and indeed it was the music box from the ad. "The bill-dodger…. He… I… I have to wrap this!"
It was only when he nearly fell over himself to find his wrapping paper that he noticed the other box, a flat rectangular one. There was a note on it, in handwriting that was too perfect not too be his older brother's.
Dad found this while cleaning. Think she might like it.
No signature. It didn't need one. "This is…" Giroro couldn't finish. "…This is one of those Pekoponian Christmas miracles, isn't it…?"
"What?!" Aya yelped from behind stage. Romama had managed to make it just in time to the theater, and he stood on the lighting scaffolding to get a good look of the scene. "He—He couldn't have gotten sick!"
"I'm sorry, Aya, but you know the bug that's been going around," the dancer instructor answered. "I really am sorry, but there's no one else who knows the routine like he did. Our last stand in ill as well. We'll… Just have to cut it from the program."
"M-maybe it could be a solo?"
"Aya… I'm very sorry…" the dance instructor patted her on the shoulder and then left Aya there, her head drooped and her eyes close to tears as she stood in the middle of the bustle.
But there was someone else who knew the routine, Romama thought, his eyes widening at this realization. He'd never tried it, but…
Aya wiped her eyes and pushed her way past the other dancers down the narrow stage corridor, but she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. It was warm, and she gasped, startled at the yellow eyes of the young boy who stopped her. He wasn't much older than her, but he was taller. His hair was sloppy, and a light shade of blue, and he was pale. He was also dressed up in the costume of her partner, save for the red bandanna he had wrapped around one wrist.
"You… They found someone to fill in?! Are you one of the understudies?" Aya wiped her eyes, and the boy nodded. "What's you name?"
He then pointed to his throat, and Aya caught on after a moment, "You lost your voice from that bug that's going around! Sensei, Sensei! He's here, the last stand in! He doesn't have his voice, but he's here!" she pulled along the boy, and the teacher looked him over critically for a few moments, with such eyes that even he shook a bit.
"…..It looks as though he did…." she murmured. "All right then, Aya… Go get ready again, you're on in a few."
Aya nodded and then ran off, laughing, leaving Romama with the teacher.
"I don't know what you're trying to pull…" said the teacher. "But if you end up embarrassing me and her, you'll have hell to pay."
That particular Pekoponian would never stop terrifying him, Romama thought as she left him.
Soon enough it was their time to go on, and Aya looked over at her dance partner once more nervously before she first entered the stage. Romama nodded to her, signaling that it would be all right as she looked back over her shoulder for a split second to him. The human-form Keronian major entered soon afterward, and then they began to dance as a duo. It was after he kept her from falling the first time that Aya knew something was familiar about him.
After the dance routine ended, the curtain fell, and Aya wiped her forehead, thoroughly drained. Romama took a few steps away from her as some of the other dancers rushed to praise her, and by the time Aya was able to get past him to thank him, he had vanished, and one of the back doors to the theater was wide open.
"I didn't even get his name…" she said quietly. "But... Thank you... Whoever you were..."
"Anddd then we should use coal for eyes, but since we don't have any of that around here, we'll use some chocolate candy!" Kirere announced as she stuck them on the snowman's face. He was already dressed in an old, long scarf she'd managed to scare up, as well as a few large buttons from an old jacket she'd found. She'd raided the vegetable bin for a carrot for the nose, and the arms were made out of old twigs. And it had taken a little bit of creativity, but she and Tororo had eventually opted to use more chocolates to form the smile.
"This is such a primitive form of entertainment, I'm surprised Pekoponians don't just throw rocks around for fun," Tororo grumbled.
"Now he's almost done!" Kirere picked up the hat and smiled. Tororo flinched; on the side of the hat… There was that weird plant Taruru had mentioned to him! He nervously started to lean inward, but not before being taken by surprise by Kirere, who hopped back up on the stool and went to place it on the snowman's head.
"There's this one Pekopon song where they talk about the snowman coming to life!" Kirere added as she placed it on his head.
"Well that's a childish—" Tororo stopped and Kirere gave a scream as the snowman began to fidget, knocking her off of her stepladder. Tororo lifted her back up, and then both scrambled as the snowman took a lunge forward and gave a growl, baring fangs made of sharpened ice. "I thought that was a story!" he shouted as they both backed away from the monster.
"M-Me, too!" Kirere answered in a shriek, "Dad, Papa! Help!"
