Sorry for not updating in a while! I did have everything written, I just had my computer break on me again, so I was unable to upload this. I'm really sorry! But here's the chapter.
"So how are we going to approach the pekoponians?" Giroro asked as they got closer and closer to Pekopon in their new ship.
Because of the severity of the mission they had been granted new gear. A class gear. They would finally have good pekoponian suits and a ship that served a purpose. It would land and hide itself like a house.
"They still lack their memories of us." Giroro pointed out.
"T-they could have remembered us!" Keroro fumbled. "Maybe hanging around Mois helped them regain their memories."
Kululu shook his head, because that was unlikely.
"Well, I bet Kululu has a back up drive of their memories. He's always prepared." Keroro reassured.
Dororo's face lit up in joy.
"We could...give the pekoponians back their memories temporarily while we searched for Mois. Even though she's likely on Pekopon and fine and just hanging out or chilling." Keroro suggested. "I should try to figure out how to apologize to Fuyuki. I'm sure he's even more betrayed."
"I don't have a back up of their memories." Kululu corrected. "Anything resembling a back up that could give the pekoponians back their memories was prohibited. I couldn't get one." He was silent for a moment. "We permanently wiped away their memories."
Keroro frowned. "W-well, there's still hope. Hope that they might start remembering us..." He trailed off.
Giroro didn't look like he believed him. Still there was a dash of hope on his face. "So what's our plan if we encounter the pekoponians? Pretend we don't know them? Avoid them at all cost so they don't remember us?"
Nobody looked like they liked that idea. Most of them were using Mois as an excuse to go to Pekopon after all. They scowled.
"We'll use the pekoponian suits to pretend to be normal pekoponians." Keroro paused. "Normal 'humans' I guess." He corrected with air quotes. "That way we can talk to our friends to gain information on Mois but not reveal ourselves. ...Is that legal?" Keroro glanced over at Kululu to make sure they wouldn't get in trouble with that.
Kululu was on his computer a bit preoccupied. He was currently scanning the number of planets in the universe and how that number had not decreased in any way over the past years. It was so obvious that Mois was gone. Why didn't I see it?
His worry preoccupied him.
"Kululu?" Keroro asked again. "Is it legal?"
"Oh yeah, yeah, sure." Kululu replied barely listening. "Smooch up to your pekoponian friends or whatever. The space police can't do anything about it."
Giroro beamed thinking about Natsumi.
"Might I remind you we are on an official mission though. Mois's safety should be our first priority-" Nobody listened to Kululu.
"That woman has finally become useful! After all this time!" Tamama cheered.
And most of Kululu's platoon mates agreed with that sentiment.
Immediately when the Keroro Platoon landed, they split up for their own selfish desires.
Keroro had said it was to look for Mois better, but everybody knew he was lying. And most of them except Kululu were fine with that.
Despite Mois's father thinking that they were on Pekopon for Mois, they were on the planet for their pekoponian friends.
Dororo immediately jumped off, disappearing to god knows where.
"Put on your pekoponian suit!" Keroro reminded like a mother hen knowing they could get into real trouble if the Pekoponians revealed themselves.
Pressing a button Dororo let the pekoponian suit swallow him and was no longer an invisible frog jumping off to god knows where but a pekoponian man. Everybody knew where he was going. He was going to find Koyuki somehow.
"I hope he doesn't reveal us…." Keroro trailed off. Dororo was gone though and Keroro probably couldn't beg Dororo not to talk to Koyuki. "Should we follow him? Giroro, you're also in love with a pekoponian woman do you think he could compromise things?"
Giroro didn't answer. He was instead lost in thought, putting his own pekoponian suit on. Giroro started mumbling in his own love sick daze, thinking that he was thinking to himself but everybody being able to hear him as usual.
"I wonder if Natsumi is okay...Is she married? What if she's dating Saburo? No, stop thinking that soldier. You have no right to get in the way of Natsumi's love life. But...Is she single? I'll finally look like the same species as her….Would it be wrong to approach her with romantic intentions? Would she like it?" Giroro mumbled.
"Stupid as always." Kululu mocked. "Unfortunately Giroro's lovesickness wasn't something that any of us could forget."
Keroro whacked him for the thoughts.
"I'm going to go now." Tamama smiled to the group, in his own pekoponian suit. He looked short for a human male but had the dark blue hair that was usually on his skin. He had a dark blue uniform too that was decorated with driver symbols. Somehow despite being in a suit Tamama already had a lollipop in his mouth. He probably couldn't even taste it, but he dropped it down the hatch of his mouth unnaturally.
"Where?" Keroro asked.
"Gonna check in on Momocchi. I want to make sure her and Fukki are already married." Tamama replied.
"Is Fuyuki old enough to be married yet?" Keroro asked, gasping. Had they been gone that long?
Tamama shrugged. "Probably."
Nobody stopped him as he left.
When Keroro looked behind him the only ones left were him and Kululu. Giroro had already rushed off to find Natsumi and spy on her or something to see how she was doing.
"Ku, well I guess it's just you and me looking for Mois." Kululu frowned. "Guess that makes a certain amount of sense. You were always the closest to Mois."
Keroro didn't listen to him, instead he got distracted by something he saw in the distance. His eyes sparkled. A gundam store! He noticed.
"Oh no...Don't tell me you're going to ditch for a toy store? That's even worse than ditching for your pekoponian friends-" Kululu tried to warn him.
It was too late. Keroro pressed a button to transform into the pekoponian suit. With a childish goofy smile, he saluted to Kululu. "I'm sorry, you wouldn't understand. It's my duty to check out that gundam store."
Although he was now a pekoponian green haired pretty boy the shallowness of the whole thing was not lost on Kululu. He could not stop him as Keroro rushed off. "Gundam here I come! I wonder how many new models were made while I was gone?" He excitedly said.
Guess it's just me. Kululu realized. He was the only one actually focused on their mission. And although usually he'd waste time being a jerk to his platoon members and shattering their expectations he knew he didn't have time to waste.
So he transformed and walked off to.
It didn't take Tamama long to find Momoka. He knew where she lived. He knew where she usually hung out.
Although there were many new landmarks and buildings built cutesy of the Nishizawa enterprises, Tamama eventually found her sighing and sitting on a park bench in an area Fuyuki was known to walk past.
Tamama's eyes watered up as he saw her. Momocchi! He smiled to himself, the pekoponian suit naturally doing all the things his body did. It was quite efficient.
Momoka didn't notice him. He wasn't Fuyuki after all, and she didn't particularly care for people who weren't Fuyuki.
Tamama approached her despite the fact that she didn't know who he was.
He could see some lights on the ground, probably from Nishizawa sniper rifles. He was approaching Momoka unprompted though.
"Stand down!" He could hear Paul's voice, someone he had always missed. "We can't just shoot civilians for approaching the mistress." He reminded. "But stand on guard in case we need to help her away from him. He could be one of those weird perfume sample guys."
Tamama giggled to himself. But he kept approaching not afraid of the Nishizawa guards hiding in the background.
Momoka still hadn't noticed him. She looked sad though.
He sat down right next to her.
Finally she noticed him, jumping a little nervously. "Um...H-hello?" She asked questioningly. Did this stranger know who she was? It was odd for anyone to approach her unprompted due to her fame.
"Hiya!" Tamama said perkily. "Are you doing all right? You looked sad."
Tamama heard rustling in the leaves. The Nishizawa guards had instantly backed off when they heard Tamama's intentions. He was just a stranger who was trying to cheer someone up who looked sad.
Momoka looked embarrassed that this stranger had caught her looking sad. "Y-yeah. I'm o-okay." She lied. She looked at Tamama for a moment. "I'm sorry, have we met before?" She asked. "I don't think I know you. Did you go to school with me?" She didn't usually try to remember people that didn't have to do with her or Fuyuki.
Tamama shook his head sadly. "You...Don't know me." He looked down at his driver badge. She doesn't recognize me. "I just wanted to make sure you were doing all right!" He reached into his pocket, "You want some candy? Candy always cheers me up."
Momoka giggled despite herself. She took the hard candy, smiling for a moment. "You're very nice to approach me despite who I am. You...Do know me, right?"
"Momocchi Nishizawa- I mean Momoka Nishizawa. It would be crazy for someone not to know you." Tamama smiled.
Momoka smiled again. "Nobody's ever called me Momocchi." She seemed to be having a bit of fun interacting with this stranger.
The happiness didn't last long though, and her smile disappeared as she started looking sad again as she looked at the people passing by and all the couples.
Tamama could see her sighing. "Do...Do you want to vent? Did...Did someone stand you up on a date?" He realized seeing that she was looking on the couples.
Momoka scooted away. "You're not being so nice to me are you because you know I'm rich?" She was skeptical about this stranger's intent. "Oh! Wait, are you one of the son's of a rival company sent to hit on me? I'm not interested." She rejected.
"I have a guy I already like." Tamama frowned. "I'm just being friendly, don't confuse it."
Momoka eased up. Guy, huh? She realized. So this stranger probably wasn't interested in her in the least bit.
She nodded for a second, deciding to let this stranger in for just a moment. The candy in her mouth just made her trust him a little more and feel like she could vent. "There's this boy I've been in love with for just forever." She admitted.
Fukki. Tamama knew who Momoka was talking about. "Yeah?" He was a little worried that something had happened. Did Fukki not propose to her yet or something? Or is she just trying to figure out how to get him to propose?
"But he barely notices me. There's...There's this other girl he's obsessed with. He only talks about her. I know he's in love with her, and it hurts. It hurts so much." Momoka's eyes watered. "I thought maybe he'd start noticing me more as time went on but all he talks about is her. She's more interesting than me. More unusual apparently." Momoka tightened her fists, trying not to let out all her fears in front of this stranger. "W-what...What am I doing wrong? Why doesn't Fuyuki ever notice me?"
Tamama gasped. Oh. He realized. They're not even together. He was so sad. He had worked so hard to let Momoka and Fuyuki keep their original relationship of being in the occult club together and having so many precious memories. And yet somehow Fuyuki had still fallen for another girl.
The sadness for Momoka faded as he felt anger at this other girl who had ruined his hard work. "You gotta eliminate your love rival, Momocchi!"
Momoka gasped. "And how do I do that? I don't want to hurt anyone. And...I c-can't just be forward and tell her that I like Fuyuki."
Tamama was surprised at Momoka's reluctance to be cutthroat. Where was the dark Momoka he had gotten to know? She seemed to just be her nice and shy self lately. "Be cutthroat! Like in the business and martial arts worlds!"
Momoka shook her head. "I can't do that...It's scary...And I bet you don't even know what you're talking about. You've never been in my situation!" She accused.
"I have. A long time ago I had a love rival too. She was awful. She liked to pretend she was better than me at everything and always got Mr. Sergea—I mean the guy I like's attention." Tamama broke his lolipop stick in anger.
Momoka sounded interested. "And...How did you get rid of her? How did you get the man you loved to be interested in you?"
"She moved away." Tamama lied. "So neither of us had to see her!" He said blissfully. "But...the guy I like has to talk to her now. She's in trouble or something like that. And I worry they'll fall back in love."
Momoka looked sympathetic to Tamama's plight. Her love rival couldn't move away though. Mois had nowhere else to go.
"And...Me and the guy I like never got together. I'm still working on trying to find a way to get him to like me. I messed up a bit, and my situation is a little harder than your's since I don't even know if this guy is gay. I keep trying to impress him but it keeps backfiring." Tamama admitted.
Momoka nodded. That did sound hard. I guess some people's romances are even harder than mine. She always thought she struggled so much with Fuyuki but she was pretty sure Fuyuki at least liked girls.
"Thanks for talking to me." She smiled. "Um...I never got your name."
"Tamama." Tamama replied, hoping Momoka would remember something.
Momoka smiled but remembered nothing. "It was nice to meet you."
Tamama frowned glumly.
Giroro didn't know how he was supposed to approach Natsumi. Donning his pekoponian suit he looked more normal now, slightly muscular and human like, with his belt strapped around his shoulder and spiky red hair. However he had this big scar on his face somewhat ruining his normal complexion and definitely making him stand out.
Should I greet her with roses? Giroro wondered, having no idea how to be normal whatsoever. Roses for a first impression were not a good idea.
He decided to just watch her from a distance to make sure she was okay and come in to defend her from danger if she was attacked.
Watching her on the street Giroro was caught off guard by how wonderful it was to just see Natsumi again, moving, talking and being alive. She existed and not just within a picture.
He saw her talk to someone on the street, probably a friend. She looked like she was happy, safe and having a good time.
"I have a date tomorrow night, you want to make it a double date, Natsumi?" Her friend asked.
"Nah, I gotta study." Natsumi replied. "And I don't have a boyfriend anyway." Natsumi laughed, "I've just had too much going on."
Giroro listened from a distance. Despite Natsumi's singleness she sounded like she was having a good time.
She was safe, and that was all that mattered.
He noticed his bracelet on her arm. After all this time she still had it. It melted his heart.
He turned around knowing that if he continued following her she'd notice eventually. He spotted a familiar face on the street though trying to get into a store with fish.
It was his cat!
"Ms. Furbottom!" Giroro said excitedly and picked up the cat.
The cat meowed. The cat's memories had been wiped of him too so that she didn't get lonely, but animals seemed to be smarter than humans. The cat meowed and struggled for a moment but it seemed to recognize that Giroro was something special to her.
The cat relaxed.
"I missed you lots and lots, you pretty pretty cat." Giroro snuggled up against his cat. "Did you keep Natsumi safe for me? Keep her happy?"
The cat meowed in response as if it understood what he was asking. He scratched it's chin.
He was so happy to see his cat again.
I'm glad you're happy, Natsumi. I'm sorry about this but I'm taking my cat. He thought to himself. He needed to get this cat some great food and spoil her.
He left to gather those materials and continue watching Natsumi possibly.
Koyuki was originally with Natsumi, hanging around her and clinging to her arm as she spoke about various weird ninja rituals.
Dororo found her pretty quickly watching from a rooftop. He surveyed the streets and noticed Giroro.
He waited for him to leave. I know you are my friend Giroro but you might not understand what I have to do. Koyuki and I were different than you and Natsumi we were closer- They had freakin kissed on their last day together. And Dororo had lost that all thanks to the memory erasing.
Once Giroro had left to locate fancy fish, Dororo eased up. He decided to separate Koyuki and Natsumi so that he could speak to Koyuki alone knowing that Natsumi might influence her opinion of him if she was there.
He used a ninja arte to knock down some fruits and move some rocks in a suspicious way. Natsumi of course wasn't suspicious at all.
Koyuki however instantly felt the winds change. She looked up. "Something...Is wrong..." She decided.
"Koyuki, it isn't." Natsumi frowned.
"That banana just fell from a basket! And I sense the presence of another ninja-" Koyuki spoke out loud.
Natsumi rolled her eyes, knowing they were with some of their other friends too. "Koyuki don't ninja out on me. We're socially interacting-" She tried to explain.
"I have to do battle, perhaps the city is in trouble." Koyuki jumped away before Natsumi could stop her.
Natsumi's two other friends watched the image of Koyuki simply disappear. "What...What happened?"
Natsumi sighed. "I'm not her babysitter." She crossed her arms. "I'm not following her again."
And Dororo's plan worked perfectly. Using different wind currents he relayed on Koyuki's natural training to know there was another ninja around to lure her on to a rooftop out of prying eyes.
She's kept up on her training. She's not rusty at all. Dororo smiled.
Soon he would see Koyuki again.
It didn't take Koyuki long to find him. Dororo didn't run after all and play an odd game of ninja tag with her.
Koyuki threw out a kunai knife at him. Dororo jumped out of the way.
"You aren't from my tribe." Koyuki hissed. "I don't recognize you." She sniffed. "And although you smell like a ninja I don't...It doesn't smell like anything I'm familiar with." She sniffed the air again trying to pinpoint it.
Dororo stood in front of her in his pekoponian suit. His clothes were naturally ninja like with all sorts of mesh in them and his ninja star as a symbol. However he didn't look familiar. He had kind light blue eyes and long hair in a ponytail and wore an odd face mask. He was clearly a ninja.
Koyuki was on guard instantly. "Is this a challenge? Are you going to try to put this city in danger? Are you after Natsumi?" She accused. "I may be in hiding but I'm still a ninja. I'll fight you with everything I have."
Dororo looked sad for a moment. She doesn't recognize me. She...She thinks I'm her enemy. He put his arms in the air signaling surrender. "I am not your enemy, Koyuki. I just wished to talk to you. That's why I lured you here."
Koyuki eased up, trusting his voice. She didn't put her kunai knife away but she stopped being in an aggressive stance. "Talk to me? ...Are you a messenger from another tribe? But… I wasn't aware there were any other ninja tribes in Japan." She looked at him. Was he even Japanese?
Dororo tried to take a step forward to be closer to her so he could talk to her. Koyuki looked defensive still.
He sighed. "You...Don't remember me, do you, Lady Koyuki?" His voice sounded so sad. This hurts more than I was prepared for. Koyuki, the one person who never forgets me, forgetting me.
Koyuki looked confused for a moment. She allowed Dororo to approach her so he was in front of her. "...Remember you?" She asked. She rubbed her head. "...Am I supposed to?" She tried to look through her head for her memories in the ninja tribe. Were there any spirits that could be this person? Any odd events?
She...Couldn't figure out. She knew his voice calmed her. His eyes looked so sad. Deep down she knew this person was not her enemy, he didn't look like he had any intention to harm her. His hair...Koyuki's eyes focused on his hair.
It reminded her of the sky. She had never told anyone this, not even Natsumi, but that color of blue made her feel so nostalgic and sad. There was something about it that made her feel lost in thought. Like it reminded her of something important. But she couldn't put her finger on what.
Dororo waited, just taking one step forward as Koyuki gazed at him. He was eventually just able to let her look deeply in his eyes.
She knew this person knew her. He had said the name 'Koyuki' after all. But who was he. "Who...Who are you?" Koyuki asked confused.
"I am your friend." Dororo replied. "You...Might not remember this but many years ago we were incredibly close. We lived together."
Koyuki was even more confused. She didn't remember this at all. I...I don't have memory problems. That's Mois. But why would she forget someone who lived with her?
Had something devastating happened? A mission that failed and she thought this person had died or something?
She just looked like her face contorted in confusion and worry. Her legs were becoming weak from this knowledge.
Dororo helped her balance, offering her a hand. Koyuki took it.
She...She didn't believe this person was lying. The color blue. She focused on his eyes and hair again. That color had always made her feel like she was forgetting someone important, her soul mate.
It must have been this person. And she wanted to trust his words. She just wasn't sure why she had forgotten.
"You must be wondering if I'm telling the truth." Dororo decided. "Thinking that I'm lying is a normal emotion...You are very trusting but...You are also skilled enough to know when to be suspicious."
Koyuki didn't think he was lying, but she nodded anyway.
"Our first meeting was something I will never forget. It was back before your clan disbanded. I was on a mission and got caught in a bear trap in your forest. I was left there for days abandoned by my friends and forgotten. I thought I would die. But then you, the light of my life came, you helped me and nursed me back to health. We were friends ever since." Dororo explained.
Koyuki looked even more confused. She thought back to her clan. For some reason she could see herself jumping through the forest, she could see a bear trap in her head. A dark figure was trapped in it and she had helped it.
But she couldn't remember words. She couldn't remember the shape of the dark figure.
Why...Why can't I remember this. I know he's not lying. I can feel the overwhelming feelings of helping this person...But...I don't remember this. Koyuki realized in horror.
There was no ninja trick that could do this.
"I joined your clan after that and learned everything I know about ninjas from you." Dororo explained. "That's why I'm a ninja."
This sounded so important but Koyuki could not remember any of this. And that scared her.
Dororo could see that she looked scared.
"Why...Why don't I remember you?" Koyuki asked. "I...I feel like there was someone who might have lived with me...Someone who was my friend, but...I don't remember you!" She almost screamed the words, more mad at herself than the stranger.
"My friends took your memories away from you." Dororo admitted. "And I'm so sorry-. Only now could I find you again and tell you-"
He saw something in the distance. Natsumi in the streets now looking for Koyuki.
"Koyuki! You didn't pick a fight with a bird who you thought was in disguise did you?" Natsumi asked. "Are you okay?"
Dororo looked slightly annoyed. "I think your friend is looking for you. I should go for now. But I will be back."
Koyuki was still spinning from confusion. "Wait!" She called. "What's your name?" She asked. "I don't want to forget it again."
"Dororo." Dororo responded. "I took the name after meeting you. You changed my life, Koyuki." Dororo smiled.
And he disappeared, jumping off.
Koyuki just stood even more confused. Once she was able to gather her thoughts she jumped down to Natsumi.
"Where were you?" Natsumi asked. "Are you okay?"
Koyuki just stared. My memories were taken from me. She repeated. Should she tell Natsumi? Would...Natsumi remember this person that she lived with? Or...Had this person been taken from her after she met Natsumi?
She was about to say something but stopped herself. Would...Natsumi believe me? She wondered. Natsumi didn't know about Koyuki's attachment to the sky and the color blue.
Natsumi had enough memory loss on her plate. After all Natsumi was still desperately trying to help Mois make a life for herself, and that girl didn't have any memories at all. Koyuki apparently was only missing memories of one person.
Mois's memory loss weighs on her. Koyuki reminded herself. Natsumi felt bad about it. She wondered if it was her fault for not waking her sooner. She felt desperate to help Mois find her family but could not. And Fuyuki's whole obsession over Mois's memory loss just made the situation worse for Natsumi.
If Koyuki said she was having memory issues it might stress Natsumi out. Or worse Fuyuki might become obsessed with it and Natsumi would have to protect another friend from her brother.
So she decided to keep her rendezvous with Dororo a secret. "I'm fine." Koyuki lied. "I just got in a fight with another bird."
Natsumi sighed and pointed to her face to gesture for Koyuki to take off her ninja mask.
"Birds are not ninjas in disguise." Natsumi lectured. "Look if you want to blend into society you can't jump off at every new breeze. They aren't ninjas."
Koyuki nodded. "Okay!"
But this time it had been a ninja. A ninja she didn't even remember.
She felt horrible.
Kululu tried to figure out where he should start looking for Mois. The Hinata House seems an obvious place to start. She had been there probably last, and he could try to sneak in and see if there were any signs of when she was last there, or if she had been there in the last few years.
As he walked through the streets in his new pekoponian suit trying not to make trouble, he got momentarily distracted by a giant billboard sign advertising face cream.
"New cleansing face cream! Be as soft and beautiful as me." The billboard advertised with a giant picture of Saburo caressing his own cheek.
"Ku, ku, ku." Kululu let out a little bit of laughter. Saburo was obviously some sort of celebrity now. He wasn't sure if he was an entertainer or an actor. But the giant billboard was pretty funny.
At least he's leading an interesting life. The drama of famous life doesn't sound boring. Kululu decided.
It made him a little happy that Saburo was doing all right. And although he hadn't happened upon him in person it was nice to be able to see his friend's face in giant billboard form.
There was a moment of doubt in Kululu, and selfish desire telling him to find his friend and check up on him but he shook his head throwing that thought out. I'm here for Mois. Not Saburo. Mois could be dead or in serious trouble.
Saburo's biggest problem was if lunch was boring likely.
And although Kululu missed him he couldn't waste time on social visits unlike his other platoon mates.
He quickly hurried his pace, eventually getting to where the Hinata House was located. To his displeasure the lights seemed on meaning the place wasn't deserted and he couldn't sneak in.
Probably not Aki. She's probably at work like normal. And Natsumi might be old enough to move out now...So then...who's inside? Kululu wondered.
He hoped they hadn't moved. He approached the door and decided to ring the doorbell to find out.
Waiting for a second the door eventually opened, revealing Fuyuki, in shorts and a t-shirt. "Hello!" He smiled for a second until he saw Kululu. His smile instantly dropped.
Crap. Does he recognize me? Fuyuki is one of the most perceptive pekoponians, along with Saburo. It would be just my luck to run into him first. Kululu took a step backwards.
He then looked down at himself. He was dressed in a weird lab coat, had a huge t-shirt on with a spiral sign and was not dressed the most normally. His pekoponian suit had big headphones on and large round glasses, and he had long yellow messy hair.
He instantly realized what expression Fuyuki was giving him. It was an expression he was very used to.
Oh. He's just weirded out by my appearance. That's normal. Even in a pekoponian suit Kululu still looked weird. Pekoponian suits did try to make their keronian counterparts look like them after all. Even Pururu looked somewhat out of place.
"...Um...I'm sorry, I don't think I know you. You...Aren't one of sis's friends, are you?" Fuyuki asked. "Nah...She lives in a dorm..And her friends usually have better fashion senses..." He covered his mouth looking ashamed that he said that out loud. "I mean! Uhhh I was talking about that guy! That one! Not you!" He pointed off on the street.
Kululu inwardly laughed at how embarrassed Fuyuki was getting at social interaction. If he had more time he would play with Fuyuki pretending that Fuyuki had just forgotten his name and making him feel anxious. After I find Mois I can do that. Kululu reminded himself. "Actually we've never met." Kululu replied smoothly.
"Oh! Thank god. I thought I had forgotten someone's name and was desperately trying to figure out where I met you." Fuyuki looked relieved. "Wait, if we never met why are you here? ….Are you here to sell something?" He asked suspiciously.
"Actually I'm looking for a friend of mine." Kululu answered truthfully. "It's unlikely you've met but she was spotted in this area a few years ago. Um...Do you need a description or picture or something of her?" Kululu asked.
Fuyuki looked worried. "Are you part of the police? Oh no...Is there a missing person?" His eyes widened. "I don't think you'll find them here. Maybe aliens abducted them."
Kululu rolled his eyes. "Picture it is." He whipped out his phone. Thinking for a moment he wondered briefly if he should show a picture of Mois in her angolian form or pekoponian facade. If I show the pekoponian form he might think I'm looking for Asami. He should have seen Asami on the street a few times.
He decided to scroll through his Mois pictures and show Fuyuki a picture of the angolian Mois that didn't show her destroying a planet.
"Please tell me if you've seen her." Kululu asked honestly.
Fuyuki looked at the picture and his eyebrows raised in shock, instantly recognizing Mois.
"Oh, umm...The cape and hat things aren't floating, it's just wiring. It's important in the costume business." Kululu badly lied realizing how alien Mois's outfit looked.
Fuyuki looked at him knowing for sure that wasn't a lie. This person knows Mois. He has pictures of her. And instead of thinking the logical thing like she had a friend worried about her Fuyuki thought the illogical "You're an alien!" He accused almost instantly. This person must have abducted her! She must have escaped and that's how she lost her memories.
Kululu took a step back. Crap! He figured me out already? How was Fuyuki so observant? How had Kululu given himself away?
Kululu was not aware Fuyuki was just desperate for anything to be aliens.
Panicking that he had given away the whole mission and would be arrested by the space police, Kululu did the thing which made him look worse and turned around and ran. "Ack!"
Fuyuki watched him go as the man continued to display suspicious behavior. Knew it. The stranger disappeared quickly but Fuyuki's eyes sparkled. He finally had proof about aliens and something to prove to Mois that she had been abducted.
Sis is not going to believe this! Fuyuki's eyes sparkled.
Kululu tried to calm down and figure a way out of the fact that Fuyuki apparently knew he was an alien.
A different thought occurred to him though as he tried to figure things out. He recognized Mois. He realized. There was a moment of recognition on his face.
Did that mean Mois was okay? That Fuyuki had encountered her?
Was Kululu closer to Mois than he thought?
The worry and panic started fading. Mois might be okay. He had a key to getting to her. Fuyuki knew of her.
He had recognized that Kululu was an alien after all from him asking about Mois.
Maybe Keroro was right...Kululu was reluctant to admit. Maybe Mois is the key to the pekoponians memories. Fuyuki seemed to immediately recognize me as an alien after all.
He put that thought to the back of his head. Since Fuyuki had known of her he now had to locate her. Unfortunately Fuyuki likely didn't trust him and thought he was suspicious. That meant that he couldn't try to wrangle information out of him.
I guess I'll have to gather information out of the other Hinata sibling. Kululu decided. Natsumi wasn't as smart. Maybe she wouldn't recognize him as an alien. That at least would be true if Giroro hadn't yet blown his cover by being over the top and weird.
He devised a plan to find Natsumi and approach her, trying to figure out how to make his request for Mois information less suspicious.
Natsumi sat at a table outside on campus, studying some math that was giving her some great difficulty. She had had a long day with people asking her about her love life, Koyuki getting in a fight with a bird and just so many other things. The day had been too weird for her. Not enough normal.
As she looked across her at the other side of the table she tried to remind herself that Mois was normal and it wasn't her fault the circumstances that she had been dealt.
Mois looked over Natsumi's math correcting it when it looked like it had problems.
I'm glad she seems to have base math knowledge. Was she a mathematician before she lost her memories? Natsumi wondered.
She was glad she had helped convince Mois to come with her in college. She constantly spouted the mantra that the past didn't matter it was what you did with the future. Mois however had spent so long feeling lost that she hadn't fully started with her life. She had tried to take a few jobs to pay for rent to Aki, but she hadn't done any college to decide what she wanted to do with her life.
Natsumi had constantly tried to talk her into coming to college with her and moving into a dorm. Mois had been reluctant saying that she didn't know if she was the age for college and didn't know if she had any of the knowledge to complete entry exams.
Natsumi said nobody was too old for college. And eventually her prodding had worked on Mois and Mois had come to her college, taken the tests and gotten accepted.
I'm so glad I was able to help her. Natsumi smiled. She wanted to continue helping Mois feel like she belonged and be happy with her new life.
"Hey Mois?" Natsumi asked absentmindidly, "Have you...Had any dates recently? I mean...Have you met any nice guys?" Interacting with people other than her, Fuyuki, Koyuki and Momoka would probably help Mois feel more normal and like she actually had a future. And although she didn't appreciate her friends efforts to set her up, she knew it might help Mois.
"Hmm...I mean I've met lots of guys in my new classes." Mois admitted, "But I don't know if I classify them as 'nice.'. I mean they seemed kind, but..."
"You aren't attracted to them?" Natsumi finished.
Mois nodded. "And although I'm talking to a lot more people more often, you know the only people I'm really close to are you and Fuyuki!" Mois smiled. "You're the only ones who know the truth...That I'm nobody."
Natsumi put her hand on Mois's hand. "You are someone. You're my friend. It doesn't matter that you don't have a family."
"Or a name." Mois finished. "You gave me my name. I...I don't know anything about me." It still obviously bothered her.
Natsumi was sympathetic, but she wanted to shake Mois out of that mindset. "Lots of people are sure to like you and not care that you don't have a background. Let me find a cute guy to set you up with. I know it will help."
Before Mois could agree, Natsumi's phone buzzed. She picked it up.
"Sis! Sis! I finally did it! I finally found someone connected to aliens!" Fuyuki was on the phone.
Natsumi sighed and rubbed her head. "Fuyuki...I'm with Mois right now. Please don't tell me you've been hassling random people and asking them who abducted Mois? You know that bothers her."
Mois grimaced when she realized Fuyuki was on the phone. I know he's trying to be helpful...Fuyuki thought he was the only one dedicated to the mystery of Mois, but it just embarrassed her more.
"I would have called her but she doesn't have a phone." Fuyuki reminded. "And I didn't hassle anyone. A strange guy came to our house asking about Mois and when I said he was an alien he ran in a panic. It's proof!"
Natsumi just sighed. She didn't even dignify that with a response. Honestly this guy probably was just weirded out by Fuyuki. She hung up embarrassed by her little brother.
Mois looked like she didn't want to ask why Fuyuki had called.
"Someone from one of your classes tried to visit looking for you and Fuyuki scared him away." Natsumi explained. "He would have called you to apologize but he couldn't get a hold of you." Natsumi greatly exaggerated the situation.
"He screamed about aliens again, didn't he?" Mois asked.
Natsumi nodded.
Mois frowned for a second at Natsumi's explanation. None of my new classmates or even my teachers have my address though. She tried not to think about it.
"Hey, Mois?" Natsumi asked. "You...Had a phone before, didn't you? We found you with a cell phone. So...What happened to it? You don't carry it around anymore or use it and I don't think you got a new one. Did you trash it despite it being one of the only items you had?"
Natsumi had never asked, she had thought it was a sensitive subject, but now she was curious and hoping Mois could talk about it.
"Oh!" Mois tried to smile politely. "I got mugged two years ago and lost it!" She said dopely.
Natsumi's jaw dropped. "You got mugged? ...And you didn't tell anyone?"
"I didn't want anyone to worry." Mois replied kindly. "Humans sure are awful, aren't they?" She said as an after thought.
Natsumi felt so bad. She hadn't even noticed that Mois had ever gotten mugged! "Did...Did you get hurt?"
"Only a little!" Mois reassured. "I didn't have to go to the doctor or anything, don't worry!" She reassured.
She was stretching the truth a tad bit. She had gotten fairly hurt but she hadn't gone to the doctor because that was when she realized there was something hugely wrong with her, because her blood wasn't red. It made her feel different, embarrassed, wondering if she had some sort of monstrous organs and she had just been too afraid to go.
Natsumi didn't look like she believed her and just looked more and more worried. Why didn't she tell me? I thought we were friends. She knew why Mois didn't tell her despite her hurt. It was because Mois didn't want to depend on her too much. Natsumi was already helping her so much and she felt bad about that.
"I'm sorry you lost your phone." Natsumi apologized. "...Did anyone ever try to contact you? You know during your time with it?"
Mois's face flashed a moment of fear. It was very visible. "...No." It was an obvious lie. "No, nobody ever sent me any messages."
Natsumi held her hand and didn't press her on it.
Someone did contact me. Mois knew she had lied. But nobody from my past. It had been an unknown number contacting her daily. Talking about her smile, the color of her hair or nostalgicly talking about the first time they saw her. At first Mois had thought it was a wrong number until the texter mentioned her hair color.
She didn't know why she hadn't blocked the number. Maybe the good mornings and good nights made her think someone was thinking of her. Maybe she was trying to figure out where this person had seen her in passing.
All she knew is she didn't know them and hadn't known them before. She dubbed this strange texter 'Mr. Stalker'. Because all of the messages sounded like they were obsessed with her.
The stalker had even proclaimed his love once!
She had never told Natsumi because she knew Natsumi would try to catch this stalker and beat him up. She hadn't wanted to worry her.
...And I don't know if I hate this person. Sure, they're weird and they don't know me but...Mois remembered once if they had asked her if they were good. And she wanted to believe that this person wasn't a bad person.
Maybe they were just lonely like her.
But once her phone had been lost to her those messages had stopped.
Kululu eventually found Natsumi's campus. He tried walking onto it looking for the girl with pink hair who just stood out.
He eventually saw her in the distance and approached her. Okay, it's a little less weird to look so poorly dressed on a college campus. She shouldn't accuse me of being an alien. I've edited pictures of Mois to not have things floating so I can ask her without seeming suspicious. He had a plan.
Before he could finish getting to her he noticed the girl she was sitting across and talking to.
The girl was smiling and gabbing, trying to explain something mathematic with her hands.
Kululu recognized her face and voice instantly. And although her clothes were unusual and pekoponian, he knew who she was.
"Mois!" He could actually hear emotion and relief welling in his voice. He gave a broad smile, it less being a twisted grin and more actual relief. She's okay!
He didn't care any about Natsumi being there. He just walked straight up to Mois.
Mois blushed when he said her name with such overwhelming happiness and emotion. She didn't recognize this guy but maybe he had been in one of her classes. I should recognize him though. He's pretty cute! She smiled to herself.
He abruptly grabbed her arm. He pulled her up to look at him as if he was looking for any sign of injury.
"Hey! Hey don't just grab her like that!" Natsumi yelled, seeing the stranger manhandle Mois as his gaze seemed to look up and down.
"Um…." Mois blushed, "Uhh..." She tried to struggle a little out of the stranger's grasp.
"You should have said something if you were fine!" Kululu was still absolutely relieved to see her in one piece since he had wondered if she was dead or not. "Not like I was worried about you, of course I knew you just got distracted and lost track of time..." He paused and looked at her confused face. "Okay, I was a little worried about you, I admit it." He blushed a little bit. "Happy now?"
Natsumi immediately jumped onto the table and karate chopped Kululu's arm off of Mois.
He shook it but was only in minimum pain thanks to it just being a pekoponian suit. It was connected to his nerves to feel sensation but luckily he had a high pain tolerance. "Ow."
"Grabbing a girl is creepy." Natsumi scolded and protectively grabbed Mois letting her get behind her. "Do you know her? Wait, is this some guy who saw you have some sort of injury?" Natsumi asked Mois.
Mois tried to look at Kululu to figure out who he was. Maybe one of the police officers involved in the case to find out who I was? She didn't really remember their faces and he sounded genuinely worried about her.
Kululu scoffed, because he knew Natsumi didn't know him. "Relax, I'm not doing anything wrong. Mois's fine with it. So you should probably just leave us alone so we can have a private conversation." Kululu suggested.
Natsumi didn't look like she was willing to do that at all. She raised her fists as if she would attack Kululu if he got closer.
At that very moment, Fuyuki ran towards them, huffing because he didn't like running. He was heavily breathing.
"Natsumi! You hung up on me so I came to talk about the strange guy that came by the house who was most definitely an alien!" Fuyuki huffed.
Natsumi groaned.
Fuyuki pulled himself up and gasped. "Wait! It was that guy!" He pointed at Kululu. "This is the alien who was looking for Mois!"
Kululu paled.
"He's not an alien." Natsumi said quickly dismissing her brother's crazy claims and being as idiotic as Kululu hoped she'd be. "...Looking for Mois, huh?" She glanced at Mois. Coming up to Mois and grabbing her...Going to my house to look for her...This guy is no alien, but he is a stalker. This is seriously creepy. She glared directly at Kululu.
Kululu glanced at Mois desperately waiting for her to defend that he wasn't some stalker or creep and they did know each other.
Mois didn't meet his gaze. "I...I've never met this guy in my life." Mois admitted to Natsumi. She then looked directly at Kululu. "I'm sorry, you might have the wrong person!" She apologized. "Are you looking for a different Mois?" She asked trying to be helpful.
Kululu stared in shock as Mois looked directly at him. She...Didn't recognize him? Didn't know him? It...It must be the pekoponian suit! He told himself. He did look fairly Kululu like, and she should have recognized him but maybe she was hugely dense.
"I'm Kululu." He just said simply, waiting for her to know him. He tried to walk a little forward but Natsumi prevented him from getting any closer to Mois, glaring at him.
Mois stared at him again in confusion for a moment. She looked thoughtful. "I'm sorry! Don't know that name. Did...I wait on you once in the maid cafe I worked at? Because if I said I would see you again soon it was just for the job!" She tried to tell him.
Kululu just stared in horror as Mois gave a cheerful and honest answer. She doesn't know me? ...She doesn't remember me?
Natsumi pulled Mois away. "Let's leave this creep. He's being weird, Mois." She told her. "And Fuyuki if you say one more thing about this stalker being an alien or something I'm going to scream."
Fuyuki looked glum.
And Kululu couldn't say anything in response as Natsumi dragged Mois away. He just stared knowing he should move but for some reason feeling too frozen to.
It had hurt more than he thought to have Mois, his Mois say she didn't know him.
Why doesn't she know me? Kululu wondered.
She looked more normal than usual. More human in her new clothes. She even had slightly longer hair and looked a little taller. And even though she said he might have the wrong person Kululu knew Mois well enough to know that he didn't.
Could...She be experiencing the same memory loss that the pekoponians experienced? Kululu wondered as he sat down to mull the situation over.
But how? How had Mois experienced this?
And then he remembered that when they were leaving Pekopon they had wiped the entire Hinata House's memories. They had been in a rush and weren't thinking and he had wiped all organism's memories in the Hinata House.
Mois...I...I don't know where she was at that time. But since she knew less of the situation than we did it was likely she hadn't left the Hinata House at that point. Kululu realized.
He had never told her they planned to wipe the whole house's memories. He had forgotten and thought that Keroro would have caught her up on stuff.
Did...Did we...We wipe Mois's memories of all alien life? Kululu asked himself in horror. What would that be like, wiping an alien's memories of all alien related stuff?
Wouldn't...She forget everything? Not even knowing who she was?
She's not a pekoponian. She's nothing like them. Kululu recalled. They had some base biological differences, for one thing her time was much different. She didn't age, her physical appearance represented what she wanted. She would only have been taller if she thought she was aging and made herself taller.
She was trying to be a human. She was trying to be a pekoponian. But Kululu could bet she didn't feel like one despite the lies. She probably felt wrong.
I've...I've trapped Mois in her worst nightmare. Living life as a pekoponian, the thing she's been tasked to destroy. Kululu realized in horror.
His platoon had put Mois in a nightmare. She was in trouble and couldn't even ask for help. He had done this and hadn't known.
He just sat there, frozen in horror and having no idea how to even fix the situation. Removing someone important from someone's mind was easy because you usually got fake memories. But removing someone's entire mind?
That was torture. That was devastating.
And that was what Mois was living through.
Sorry I had to cover what other people were doing and some of their friendships before Mois got to her stuff. I apologize on behalf of Keroro who I made do only gundam related things.
In this fic I would really like to focus on how Mois is not human and is very alien, since the show doesn't tend to really focus on that. I'd like to explore that.
Anyway please review