Requested by Seru-chan

Title:Deal with the Devil (Part 1 of 3)

Pairing:KululuXDororo

Warnings:Minor language

Summary:Nothing seemed to ever change for Dororo. Every day he was ignored by the people he called friends so why even bother to show up? Two weeks have gone by and he hasn't heard a peep from them. That is until he hears a knock, at night, in the middle of a storm.

Dororo sighed and set down his tea kettle. The rain didn't sound like it would let up any time soon which meant Koyuki would probably stay at the Hinata's house tonight. Under his mask his mouth turned down into a frown. She'd be spending time with her friends and having fun, something he wish he could be doing. The only thing keeping him from doing that would be Keroro's tendencies to ignore him. No matter how hard he tried his friend could barely remember he was there. A week ago he had decided he would stop showing up to the base altogether. He secretly hoped someone would notice and they would come get him, but so far nothing. Dororo's eyes stung with tears and he swallowed thickly.

A light tapping noise broke him out of his thoughts. He weakly wiped away some tears and looked around trying to figure out what it was. The tapping noise started again, louder this time. Dororo made his way to his door and stood in front of it. Was someone knocking? "Of course not," he muttered to himself, "no one's at the door."

"Tch, I'm not a no one," answered a voice that he recognized to be Kululu.

"Kululu?! What are you doing here?" asked the surprised ninja. "It's storming outside!"

"Is it really? Well, I had no idea," scowled Kululu, sarcasm dripping off his words. "No wonder I'm soaked and cold."

Dororo started in surprise and opened the door. He apologized to the other and stood aside so the yellow Keronian could come in. "Do you want a towel or something?" He asked when he noticed the water rolling off the other. He didn't wait for him to reply and already moved to grab one.

"Ku, thanks," Kululu muttered. He grabbed the towel without a word and began to dry himself. An uncomfortable silence fell between the two. Dororo stood awkwardly, wondering privately why the Sergeant Major was here.

"S-So-"

"Tea. Now before it gets cold," Kululu instructed as he plopped down at the table. He stared expectantly at Dororo and drummed his fingers against the table.

Dororo picked up the tea kettle and poured out a glass for himself and his visitor. He sat down opposite the other and slid the drink across the table. "It's a new kind of tea Koyuki bought for me. I haven't tried it yet so I don't know what to expect."

Kululu showed no signs that he had heard him and picked up his glass. "You've been gone," he stated simply, sipping at the hot beverage. "There have been no signs of you entering the Hinata's household or the base. Why is that?"

The ninja nearly choked on his tea and coughed. "What are you talking about? I have been there," he replied hoping he sounded offended and hurt. "How can you say that, Souchou?"

"Cut the crap," Kululu sneered. "Unlike the others I am not an idiot. Do you honestly think I didn't set up sensors to monitor your entrances?" He scoffed. "You haven't been there in a fortnight. I was beginning to think you killed yourself trying to make a giant fuck you star or whatever the hell it is you do with your magic bullshit." To say the Sergeant Major was angry would be an understatement. A purple aura seemed to hover around the yellow Keronian and Dororo shivered.

Dororo was confused as to why Kululu seemed to be so upset. He had done this before, the disappearing without a word, but no one had cared. Then again, he hadn't been gone for two weeks before. Did this mean the hacker cared for him? No, it couldn't mean that. The other hadn't shown any interest in him after their initial meeting. After that it had always seemed that the other would just look right through him, like he wasn't even there. "Why do you care?" A shift in Kululu's posture alerted the ninja that he was treading on dangerous ground. Kululu's shoulders were now hunched and his whole body seemed tense. It was as if something had turned him into stone. "You've never cared before," Dororo continued. His voice gained confidence and he set down his tea. "You always look right through me! You never pay any attention to me and rarely talk to me. How dare you waltz into my home yelling, trying to make me look bad!"

It was now Kululu's turn to be confused as the ninja continued to yell abuse at him. He hadn't expected this outcome. He thought Dororo would simply burst into tears are shrink in to himself or something. Something that would make himself feel power over putting his platoon mate in that position. Instead all he felt was amusement. "Ku..kuku..kuuukuku~" he laughed, nearly doubling over. Oh, oh this was too much! His sides were starting to ache from laughing so much.

Any confidence the blue Keronian may have felt escaped him, like air being let out of a balloon. "Why are you laughing?" He asked. That wasn't the reaction he expected. Then again, with Kululu it should have been.

Recovering from his laughing fit, Kululu answered, "Because of you, Senpai. If you acted that way all the time, kuku, people would actually believe you're a deadly assassin." Kululu smirked at the other and sipped at his tea. "It was also kind of cute," he added defiantly as if daring Dororo to disagree.

To say Dororo was shocked by his admittance would be an understatement. The poor ninja was unresponsive, a regular fish out of water. If it weren't for the piece of cloth across the bottom half of his face Kululu would have been able to see his mouth opening and closing with no words escaping. As it was the hacker could only see the shifts in the fabric which set him off again.

Dororo could only watch in confusion. Something was wrong with the sergeant major, wrong in a way that wasn't normal for him. That was the only possible explanation. Blue eyes narrowed, examining the shaking Keronian, and searching for any sign of, well, anything. It took some time before Kululu calmed down enough, again, to notice.

When he did a huge smirk spread across his face and he leaned across the table. "Like what you see, Senpai~?" He practically cooed. "It could all be yours on one condition~"

It was strange how that one sentence changed the ninja. One second he was spluttering, turning slightly purple from blushing so much, and the next, after that one uttered statement, he was calm, cool, and collected. In fact, he felt emboldened by the words. "What condition is that?"

"Come back to base and stay with me."

There was a hidden agenda here. There had to be. This was Kululu for frogssake! The double-crossing, mischief-managing Yellow Devil! Surely he couldn't mean what he was implying. If there was any implication there. All he had to say was 'no'. 'No, he wouldn't be tied down to the monster.' It was decided. He would deny Kululu's request and go back when he was good and ready consequences be damned! Dororo straightened in his chair displaying his confidence and uttered one single word.

"Deal."