Keroro Gunso

Raido and Hikiki – Unspoken Words Finally Said… de arimasu

It had been two weeks since the encounter with the Gamama Platoon. Since then, not a lot had happened. Nothing exciting took place. Although, the Keroro Platoon had become a lot closer with their outsider friends Raido and Hikiki. It was all thought that maybe the encounter with Gamama had been like a blessing in disguise, bringing the two groups of friends together to form an even stronger team. What they didn't know was that it also brought two friends closer than ever before.

It was reaching eleven o' clock at night. Hikiki could hardly keep her eyes open as Kururu showed her how to invent an airboard. She normally stood up to keep herself at attention, but she now found it difficult support her own weight. Slowly, she leaned sideways a bit as she dozed off. She rested her head on something somewhat warm. Kururu shook her gently.

"Hey, wake up," he said. Hikiki opened her eyes and noticed she had rested her head on his shoulder. He blushed a little. She stood up straight to avoid giving him the wrong idea.

"I'm sorry, Kururu-senpai," she apologized, rubbing her eyes wearily. She yawned, covering her mouth as she did so. Kururu looked up at the clock.

"It's getting late," he said, "We can continue this tomorrow."

"Okay, that sounds great," she replied, walking off wearily to head back to Masaru's. Kururu walked her to the door of his lab.

"Hey… you look tired," he said, "Maybe you should, uh… stay here for tonight? I think there's an extra room here…" Hikiki sweatdropped. It really was rare that Kururu would give out a sweet suggestion, but it felt weird to accept the offer.

"Eh… that's very polite of you, but I think I can manage to go back to Masaru-dono's house. But I appreciate your kind gesture, I hope you'll understand," she replied tentatively. Kururu seemed slightly disappointed but he just merely shrugged.

"Y-Yeah, I understand…" he replied, "I'll see you tomorrow then…" Hikiki smiled and waved back at him.

"Hey, Hiki-chan," Raido greeted her as she walked into the living room, "You ready to go?" Hikiki nodded. Raido got up quietly and gestured over at the sofa. Hikiki looked over; Giroro had fallen asleep, hugging a pillow with one arm and sucking his thumb on the free hand. On the opposite side of the couch, Keroro had dozed off resting his head on the arm of the sofa. Tamama had fallen asleep, resting his head on Keroro's lap. Hikiki smiled at the cute sight.

"They all just fell asleep like that trying to come up with invasion plans?" she asked. Raido nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, it was kind of funny to watch," he replied. He looked back at them and then at her, "We should let them sleep. We need to rest up for tomorrow too." Hikiki nodded and went with Raido out the front door.

After a long quiet walk, they reached Masaru's front yard. Raido broke the silence between them.

"Are you tired?" he asked. Since they had been walking awhile, Hikiki was fully awake.

"Not really," she replied. Raido stopped walking; Hikiki stopped too. He turned his head towards her.

"Good… I… I wanted to talk with you…" he said quietly. She blushed slightly. He led her past Masaru's house. They walked to the large valley that neighbored his yard. Raido stopped her in the middle of the valley.

Hikiki looked around the area.

"Raido… why did you bring me here?" she asked. Raido looked over at her.

"This is where I crash-landed," he replied. For some reason, it amazed Hikiki.

"Are you serious?! This is really where you landed after Gamama shot your ship down?!" she asked.

"Heh, yeah," Raido replied, "I had Kururu help me get the ship towed back to Keron a few days before you came." He sighed, "But… that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." He took her hand and sat down, "Do you want to sit?" Hikiki cocked her head.

"O-Okay…" she replied, sitting on the grass beside him. He inhaled deeply and sighed.

"I know I don't talk to you about this as much as I should… but was there ever a moment when you and the guys would ever get to talk? Not… business related but… as friends?" he asked.

"Well, yes, you've seen me talk with them. Tamama's a sweet kid-" Hikiki started.

"Not… not those guys… the other guys…" Raido said. Hikiki understood immediately.

"Oh…" she said quietly. She stopped looking at Raido and up at the sky, "A little… I remember comforting Nozizi a lot. He's grown very sensitive… well, Gamama was to blame for that. There were a few times that I asked Eddodo how he was, though he could never give me an answer. Also, the day we thought you had died, Daikiki stayed with me a lot to help keep me calm." Raido smiled slightly.

"It's nice to hear that he hasn't lost his sensitive side," he said.

"Well… what about you? After we were separated four years ago, what did you do? What happened to your other Platoon?" Hikiki asked. Raido leaned back to lay on the grass.

"I didn't stay with them long…" he replied, "I don't even remember their names. I stayed with them for about ten minutes and then I left. They were jerks anyway though; they all only cared about themselves. It was like a whole Platoon of Kururus." Hikiki chuckled but stopped herself.

"Kururu isn't a bad person, Raido… He's just… misunderstood," she replied. Raido thought that over.

"You're right. I'm sorry… I shouldn't talk about our friends like that…" he said, then looking at Hikiki nervously, "He IS just a friend right?" Hikiki chuckled and lay down next to him.

"He's just an acquaintance, don't you worry…" she said, and then she blushed and looked over at him.

"Why…? You sounded really concerned…" she said. Raido blushed.

"Uh… no reason… I'm just making sure that you're safe," he replied nervously.

"That's awfully sweet of you," Hikiki said with a smile. They both fell very quiet. Hikiki felt that if she were to ever tell Raido how she really felt that the time was now. The problem could be described in one word: how?

She sat up quietly and pondered over a way to tell him. It didn't take long to figure it out. She took a deep breath and spoke.

"It didn't seem like very long ago," she started, "There was once a tadpole. She had no friends to call her own; her life was hard. One day, she met someone who was like an angel. He was everything she had ever hoped for and they became friends. For awhile, it was like he was a good luck charm; he helped the girl find friends and laughter – happiness. Before long, the girl began to feel differently towards him. He was no longer the child that she grew up with. He was the man she, now a young woman, began to fall for. One day, all so suddenly, he vanished from her life. She was trapped by a demon. Her life began to fall apart again; her friends began to fade away and her happiness was completely gone. The girl had never realized how much she had needed the angel. Before it was over, she escaped the demon and found the angel. It was just like before – he helped her feel happiness again, he helped her find new friends. There finally came a time when she could no longer hide her feelings from him. So, she confessed her love to him…"

Hikiki's heart pounded like a drum and her face burned like it was being scorched by a flame. She could hardly find the courage to look at Raido's face. She turned her head to face him slowly, awaiting his response. He gazed at her quietly. Though it was dark, she could see him blushing. He finally smiled and sat up.

"I guess it's up to the angel to finish the story… huh…?" he asked. Hikiki smiled. He took her hand into his and sat closer to her, looking into her eyes. He finished off what she had started,

"The angel smiled at the girl. He was filled with more joy than he had felt in years. He looked at the girl, and she looked back at him, and he told her that he had felt the same way for so long. He also said that even he couldn't have brought up enough courage to say it first. That maybe… she was his angel."

"Oh, Raido-kun…" Hikiki cooed, wrapping her arms around him. She felt his arms wrap around her tightly and his lips press against her cheek tenderly. She felt herself grin. Quietly, Hikiki could hear Raido very faintly whisper a resonance to her, though he did not chant his own name, he spoke hers. She smiled and resonated his name back to him…

(Insert resonance of Raido and Hikiki that shapes into a heart that doesn't show up here but it does on dA. FAIL)

As they grew quiet again, Hikiki looked back at Raido and smiled. He smiled back at her. He helped her to her feet and hugged her again. As they started to pull away, they looked at each other quietly. They leaned forward again and kissed. After a solid ten-second lip-lock, they finally parted, blushing severely.

"Heh… I-I guess we should head back to Masaru's then, huh…?" Raido stammered with a bashful smile. Hikiki had almost completely forgotten about how late it was.

"Uh… right," she said shyly. They walked back to Masaru's house hand-in-hand. They got inside quietly, careful not to wake up Masaru or his grandmother. Raido walked Hikiki to her room.

"I'll see you in the morning, okay, Hiki-chan?" he asked sweetly. She smiled.

"Okay," she replied, "Good night, Raido-kun." They both kissed each other on the cheek before parting ways for the night.