Episode 5:
Fuyuki: A Mysterious Occult Girl Makes Her Appearance!
Part 2

"So you followed the water spout?" Mora now sat in the Hinata home, sipping some tea. Across from her was Nevula, and next to each "parent" sat their daughters. "I'd thought that'd be invisible to everyone! That's quite impressive!"

"What were you doing around here anyway, Alisa-chan?" asked Fuyuki as he took a seat at one of the shorter sides of the table. Momoka, who was in the kitchen, was red-faced and livid.

"Daddy and I found this," Alisa set on the table a stone-shaped item wrapped in a purple cloth, and undid the cloth. Both Fuyuki and Chandi's eyes shined in excitement at that which Alisa had brought.

"A crystal skull?!" Fuyuki gasped, holding it up and examining it.

"Wowww! That's a real one, too!" Chandi exclaimed. "I'll have to do a lot of catching up now to get my occult collection that cool!"

Chandi didn't catch the look from Alisa… An icy glare that could kill.

All this while Mora and Nevula chatted on pleasantly about their children, making like usual parents and bragging about their daughters.

"Mora, can we go to South America?" Chandi asked excitedly, breaking Mora's talk.

"I was thinking staying in one place might be a nice change, actually…" Mora said with a bit of thought. "There's a lot of business I could do here, it seems! Plus it'd be nice for you to go to a school with children your own age, get some roots!"

"You have a job, Mora-san?" asked Fuyuki. While this went on, Giroro was walking toward the glass doors, a fresh batch of sweet potatoes in hand to cook later that evening.

"Mm," she nodded. "I pride myself as a professional matchmaker!" All eyes were on Giroro as he tripped out of the glass door, sending his sweet potatoes flying.

"What exactly do you make matches of?" asked Alisa, and Mora scratched at her chin and laughed a little nervously.

"…I… I think I broke my pride… And some other things…" Giroro grunted, rising from the ground and dusting himself off, then picking up his fallen sweet potatoes. "Eh?! Hey, what in the hell are you doing here?!" he fumed as he noticed there was already someone seated in front of his fire; Rokiki.

"Figuring out what a soldier today does that doesn't involve wasting time," Rokiki answered bluntly. "And I won't be in the same house as a Nebulon."

"But why are you here?!"

"She said you were cooking," Rokiki answered.

"She?" Giroro repeated, and out came Kirere, hot sauce and curry powder in hand. Kirere stopped short at the look of disbelief she drew from Giroro.

"…After what I saw today, I've never seen such a poorly-run operation…" Rokiki continued. "You have children running all over the place, and Mora had an incredibly easy time breaking through your security… It makes me weep how lax the military has become."

"We make up for it in personality and perseverance," Giroro returned sharply, glaring at Rokiki. It was then that Kirere noticed something as the two sat, sharing equally tense looks.

…There were similarities, but… Kirere shook the idea out of her head and sat down next to them. It was too terrifying an idea to even consider.

"Roki!" Chandi stuck her head out of the glass door and called out to him; Kirere breathed a sigh of relief. "We're staying here tonight!" she declared.

"Great… " Rokiki grumbled.

"Why do you let her boss you around like that?" Giroro asked Rokiki, who sat in between Kirere and he, looking quite annoyed at the prospect of staying.

"Because above all things I'm a person of my word," Rokiki answered, and stood. "I made a stupid bet in a competition, and now I get to pay for it."

"Hey, where's he going?" Kirere asked her father quietly as Rokiki wandered away from the campsite.

"To get some fresh air!" Rokiki shouted back.

It was dark, lonely, and quiet at the usually lively Hinata house now. Mora had taken up bunking with Kirere for the night, while Chandi had taken the couch in the living room. But the couch was empty.

Instead, the Indian girl was on the roof of the home, looking upward at the sky and at the brilliant stars. This was blacked out by the same flapping pair of wings that had descended upon her before, and Alisa looked down at her, questioning, cold, and sizing up the girl, to see if there was any potential threat in her.

"Fuyuki's got a lot of strange friends," Chandi said with quietly with a grin to Alisa. "So are you from another planet, like your dad? Or are you like me, and from Earth?"

Alisa gave no answer, then took off in flight again.

"A lot of strange friends…" Chandi repeated quietly as she watched Alisa disappear.

"She really left in a hurry, didn't she?" Natsumi yawned as she walked out that morning, tying her hair into its usual pigtails. "You'd think she'd taken lessons from the Bill Dodger on how to sneak out like that in the middle of the night!"

"Mora-san and Rokiki-san are both gone, too," Fuyuki said as he stood in the kitchen, still in the middle of eating his breakfast.

"The fewer pushy Pekoponians, the better, I say!" Keroro said with an affirming nod as he took a stand beside Fuyuki, broom already in one hand and dressed in full cleaning regalia.

"That's not really nice, Gunso…" Fuyuki said in admonishment, and Keroro only huffed.

"I might actually have to agree with Stupid Frog on this one, Fuyuki… You drag home way too many weird things... Including Stupid Frog and his stupid friends."

"N-Now wait just a minute, Natsumi-dono! I thought we were on the same team!"

"With you? Yeah, right! Now out of the way, I need to get ready for school. Unlike you, I know what a productive day's like."

"Your words cut me, Natsumi-dono… They really cut me…"

"Just make sure you finish up your work before you go wasting your time!" Natsumi called out as she rushed up the stairs. Keroro waited, listening, until he saw the Hinata children rush out, and he pulled off his bandanna and wiped his forehead.

"Looking busy can be tiring work…" he said to himself, and hurried back to his room. "It took forever, but I managed to save just enough…"

He pulled out from beneath his bed a few bills, then felt an icy presence just as he finished counting them.

"…I hope that's towards the invasion fund… Or perhaps reinforcements in security, after yesterday's fiasco…" Giroro said darkly.

"Oh! Giroro Goucho! I was just going to drop off some money I owed Ojiisama at his work!" Keroro said with a nervous chuckle as he spun around, hiding the money behind his back.

"I was just wanting some fresh air… How about I tag along with you?" Giroro asked calmly.

"I… I'm not really sure it's safe leaving the base unguard—" but Keroro was greeted with a high-powered gun to the forehead, and gulped. "Then again, you do look a little flushed from yesterday!"

"I'm glad we came to some sort of agreement," Giroro lowered his gun, and Keroro gave a groan of disappointment at having been caught.

"A new day, and I already feel better about it…" Momoka sniffed the fresh air and smiled serenely. "Oh, Fuyuki-kun! Over here!"

"Oh, Nishizawa-san!" Fuyuki called back. Already his sister was walking next to Koyuki, who was practically hugging Natsumi, and Momoka rushed over to Fuyuki, and began the walk beside him.

"I'm glad we could run into one another like this…" Momoka began quietly.

"Me, too, actually!" Fuyuki exclaimed, and Momoka gasped in delight. This quickly turned to heartbreak as he followed it up with, "We still haven't talked about how to get more members into the occult club!"

"O…. Oh…"

"I was thinking we could start with posters, and then…" Fuyuki continued off, but Momoka's mind trailed off into a million directions as he went on.

About this time, Giroro and Keroro were coming close to Romama's dance studio. At this same time, Keroro was suffering his own heartbreak, thinking of the deluxe Gunpla that had come exclusive to only a few local hobby shops in the city, their closest one being one of the handful.

"Excuse me!" an alien floated past them at breakneck speed, causing both to nearly fall on the ground.

"I wonder what that was all about…." Keroro muttered.

"That idiot could get a fine for going that fast!" Giroro grumbled, and then they were at Romama's dance studio.

"O… Ojiisama…" Keroro looked down at the floor, a few shades paler than usual. Romama stopped his class in the middle of their routine and wandered over to them.

"…Did someone die?" he ventured to ask.

"I came to return the money I borrowed from you last month…" Keroro held out the crumpled bills to a puzzled Romama.

"Money?" Romama repeated.

"You don't remember, but you loaned it to me…" Keroro said monotonously. "…Please take it before parting becomes even more soul-crushing…"

"…Um, thank you…" Romama said as he flipped through the bills. "I… I really let you borrow this much!?"

"…Please go back to being mute Ojiisama for a moment…"

Romama tucked away the money in his black shirt and was about to say something, but his facial expression turned to one of shock as he looked past Keroro and Giroro. Both Keronians turned around, and were also shocked at what they saw setting up shop.

Aside from Fuyuki's going on about the occult club, his company had been enough for Momoka's day to be made.

"…I forgot my pencil… Excuse me, do you have one?" there was a tap on her back and Momoka searched through her bag and retrieved one, snapping it in half with her thumb as she turned and made eye contact with the person in the seat behind her.

"You?!" both shouted at once.

"What… What're you doing here?!" Momoka growled. "Are you some kind of creepy stalker?!"

"I didn't think I'd be in your class, honest!" Chandi replied in surprise.

"Why are you trying to ruin my life?" she snarled quietly.

"Chandi-san?" Momoka spun back around, switching back into sweet Momoka mode in the process.

"O-Oh, Fuyuki-kun! I didn't see you there!" Momoka said with a nervous chuckle, although inside still she was boiling with rage.

"Do you think she's in a gang?" asked one student to another as they glanced at the strange-looking girl behind Momoka.

"Mora-san's setting up a store here, too?" Keroro said to himself as he looked up at the fresh neon blue sign with Giroro.

"How tacky…" Giroro said with a snort. "What sort of people need a stranger to help them find someone, anyway?"

"You're too old-fashioned romantic for your own good, Giroro Goucho…" Keroro said flatly to his friend.

"And that should go back there, and—Please don't drop the—Oh! It's you two, from yesterday! Hinata Fuyuki's friends!" Mora stopped her rushing around and landed down on the ground, standing in front of the two. "Did you come by for advice? I'm afraid we're not open yet…."

"Uhhh no, no, nothing like that!" Keroro waved his hands out and laughed. "We were just surprised to see you here, Mora-san!"

"Hehe, well, I did say we were thinking about setting roots here!" Mora reminded them.

"Don't tell me Rokiki's working here, too…" Giroro started, and Mora's smile faded.

"I haven't seen Rokiki-kun… I offered him a job here, but he got angry and stormed off, saying he'd find his own job, not charity…. He's got too much pride for his own good, I think…"

"I know how that is…" Keroro said sagely.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Giroro snapped. The corporal was taken aback as the police, who had been rushing down the aisle while they spoke, had him pinned to a wall.

"Is this him, ponyon?" asked Ponyon, and an old, mustached, slug-like alien in glasses and classic bartender wear slowly made his way to the front and adjusted his glasses.

"What the hell's the meaning of this!?" Giroro snapped, struggling against the robots that held him pinned.

"Giroro, don't struggle, we'll never get you a good lawyer they tack on resisting arrest!" Keroro cried.

"But I didn't do anything!" Giroro snapped.
The bartender-looking alien looked over Giroro for a moment, then shook his head. "No…. This one was covered in tattoos… Probably Space Yakuza…"

"There won't be any gang activity on my watch, ponyon! Is there any chance he might've gone back to your bar, ponyon?"

"….Well…. There may be…. Or he may be at another one…. I know a ramen stand that sells… Sake…"

Ponyon then sped off, the robots let go of Giroro, sending him falling to the ground, and the bartender slunk behind the police slowly.

"A red Keronian… With tattoos? Oh, no!" Mora gasped, and then followed the police, also rushing past the bartender.

"Ugh!" Giroro slipped back in the shoulder that had been displaced by the sudden blow, and rubbed the aching joint. "Keroro, you don't mean…"

"What's this about some Keronian acting up?" Romama wandered over to them, implying he also had fallen victim to the police by the sore shoulder he was rubbing.

"They think it could be Rokiki, Ojiisama…" Keroro explained, and Romama shot his head back.

"That's impossible, he'd never get that drunk…"

"What the HELL does someone have to do around here to get a job with a little bloodshed?!" came a bellow from down the way, and all three looked to one another, then rushed toward the voice.

All through the day, Momoka had suffered in silence… Through the introduction of the new transfer student, through the classes, through lunch, in which Chandi had disappeared for a time, until it was time for club… Then there she was again, right in the middle of Momoka's Fuyuki alone time.

"Eep!" Momoka slipped immediately upon entering the door, and both of the other teenagers rose up.

"Nishizawa-san, are you all right?" Fuyuki asked, and Momoka nodded, easing herself back up gently and hobbling to her seat.

"I think it could be twisted… I might need an ice pack…" she answered.

"I'll be right back!" Fuyuki called out, rushing out of the room before Momoka could squeak out another word of protest. The wrong one had gone…

"…Mora pulled that once, too…"

"What… What would make you say that?" Momoka asked innocently.

"I don't like your boyfriend like that, you don't have to worry…"

"Why not?!" Momoka stood and pounded on the desk. "Fuyuki-kun's… The best! What's there not to see!?"

Chandi brought up her bag onto the desk and pulled out a folder, revealing a glossy photo of what looked to be some sort of actor.

"He's one of the top adventure actors out there… I carry it everywhere, I even have copies, and a smaller one for my wallet."

"Really? Do you have a shrine, too?" Momoka then read Chandi's expression, and sat back. "…Forget I said anything…"

"I don't compete for love, only for more important things," Chandi continued. "Like longest continuous jump-roping! I've been able to beat my own record five times!"

"So… You're not after Fuyuki-kun…"

"Only his title as one of the best occultists around. You have my word as his main competition!" Chandi replied, and Momoka gave a sigh of relief. While she did this, she kept her hands beneath the table; this was switching off the emergency reinforcements that she had set in place, just in case things hadn't gone so well.

"This new threat has been dropped to the threat level yellow for the time being!" Paul called out to the command center on the other end of the transmitter, seeing the flashing beckon showing Momoka's action.

"Hrm?" Fuyuki returned with the ice pack, and stopped; the change in the atmosphere was obvious as he stepped in, and both the girls were now talking to themselves, and of all things, even being pleasant to one another.

"You call this alcohol?!" Rokiki threw the bottle against the wall and stumbled out of the Ramen stand.

"Stop him!" cried the vendor. "He's gone through all of our stock, and he's scaring away customers!"

Giroro and Romama went to hold back Rokiki, each grabbing one of his arms, but he broke out of their hold, and staggered in front of them, looking lazily at both.

"I don't understand it… Even you can get a job here, I get turned down by… By everyone!" Rokiki muttered, pointing at Romama. "Or did you cheat your way to that, too?!"

Romama started for the red Keronian, but Giroro held him back.

"Rokiki-kun, this isn't you…" Mora broke through to him, floating in front of the tottering ex-captain. "Come back, we'll get you some hot tea and forget about all of this…"

"How do you keep a job as a matchmaker when you can't even get a date…?" Rokiki picked up another bottle and downed it. "You're all failures…. I didn't fight a war to raise lazy… Cheating… Failures!"

Rokiki didn't get another word in before he was blown back against the Ramen stand by a large blast of water. Mora hovered over him, and the last thing Rokiki saw before he blacked out was her glare.

The first thing he saw when he woke up was a set of red laser bars. He was laid out on a jail cot, and he could barely stand as he slid off of the bed and adjusted his headdress.

"…And that should be it," Romama passed the last bill to the warden, who nodded and went back to the cell with a set of keys in hand.

"All of my Gunpla money…. To bail out some deviant…" Keroro said grimly as he trudged behind them.

"Gunpla money?" Giroro repeated as he looked at Keroro through the corner of his eye.

"Gero!" Keroro yelped sharply, having been caught.

"Please leave me here… I don't want to have the shame of being bailed out by the matchmaker and ballet teacher…" Rokiki said quietly as the warden unlocked the bars, and they vanished. The warden led him through to the front desk and out of the jail, and Rokiki stopped as soon as they were out.

"Rokiki-kun? Are you all right?" Mora turned to him, and batted him on the shoulder. "…It's all right, you can look somewhere else for a job! You'll find someone, I know it!"

"If Kirere-chan can find a niche, anyone can!" Keroro reassured him. Giroro answered this with a hand pressing into Keroro's windpipe.

"…Well, thank you for the bail…" Rokiki said humbly. "Yet again I get reminded how much the world's changed since I woke up…."

Romama and the others watched as Rokiki slowly walked away from them, looking like an old and beaten dog.

"He doesn't have a place yet, like everyone else seems to have gotten…" Mora explained silently. Romama, after thinking a few moments, walked over to Rokiki, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I think I have an idea…" said the young Major.

"I… I really don't think this is going to work out….I know I gave you another shot, but… P-Please don't come back… To this side of town…" Haruki begged the man in front of him, who continued to laugh all through his firing.

"Ahahahahaha!" was Kogoro's only answer. "GO!" then, within moments, he had on his helmet, and rushed out the front door of the garage. "GO!"

Haruki was left speechless. Kirere was still washing her face off in the tub sink, which was blackened with soot. Haruki, too, had been covered with soot, telltale signs of the explosion that had just occurred.

"I'm just glad Fujuju-san wasn't here for this…" Kirere said to herself as she finished washing off.

"This is going to take all week to clean up… And I don't know how he got this to explode, there wasn't anything that would've blown up!" Haruki scratched the back of his head and looked down at the engine, puzzled. "I give up… I know I said I'd like another pair of hands, but it's not worth all of this trouble! I don't know how to hire aliens!"

The bell rang, signifying visitors, and Haruki came to attention and ducked into the back room. Kirere went to switch on her invisibility, but stopped as she saw who it was. Romama, still in ballet gear, Keroro and Giroro, Mora, and Rokiki.

"…Did I do something really bad?" she asked, hopping off of the stool Haruki had set up for her.

"…I… I need a job…" Rokiki said to the young girl, the sound of his pride choking to death as he stood in front of her.

"Are they gone?!" Haruki called out.

"It's okay! Actually, this is great!" Kirere turned to the door, and Haruki walked out, and looked down at the Keronians.

"He's looking for a job!" Kirere exclaimed, and Haruki went back into the back room. They heard some rustling from there, and Keroro walked over and looked in. Haruki was leaned against a wall, holding his head and shaking it, all while mumbling to himself. The Pekoponian then walked out, having regained his composure.

"…Kiddo, he… He tried to kill us all… Not too long ago, actually…" Haruki answered calmly.

"I'm a hard worker," Rokiki continued. "I don't know a lot about these things, but I can learn…"

"Are you any good with paperwork?" Haruki asked.

"I did have a job in offices for a time," Rokiki answered.

"It's my turn to pick a new employee, anyway!" Kirere exclaimed, and Haruki sighed, finding himself defeated.

"He's your responsibility… But you can't work in a skirt… I don't let her and if it's you it's weirder."

"….All right…" Rokiki answered with a nod, having to contemplate this for a moment.

"Hehe, I think I can take care of that!" Mora said with a smile. "I actually made you something, Rokiki-kun…."

"Someone make this nightmare leave…" Rokiki muttered, and Mora drug him to the back.

When she had pulled him back out, it finally struck the rest of them the similarities between Rokiki and another red Keronian.

"What?" both Rokiki and Giroro asked in unison. Rokiki's uniform was gone, the hat having been replaced by a more modern black helmet, much like Keroro and Giroro's.

"…This is only for work, understand…" Rokiki said, his arms folded. It was clear he felt uncomfortable in this new outfit.

Kirere looked up at Haruki with a grateful smile, and he tried to return this, but it was clear he was ill at ease.

The sun was setting, and three schoolchildren walked back from club as it did so.

"We might even double our members if we use these, Chandi-san!" Fuyuki exclaimed, looking at the posters they had made during their time in club. She nodded then stopped in the middle of the sidewalk

"This is my stop," she held up her hand to wave. "You guys can make the rest of the walk back on your own. I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Bye, Chandi-san!" Fuyuki called back. As he had his back turned to her, Chandi winked and smiled at Momoka. Momoka answered this with her own smile, and continued walking with Fuyuki during the sunset.

"What're you wearing?" Chandi laughed as she walked in and saw Rokiki at the low table. He returned this with a glare, and Mora stuck her head out of the kitchen.

"Dinner will be right up! I'm making Japanese tonight!"

"I can wait for it," Rokiki answered, and Chandi took a seat neat to him.

"You smell like engine oil…" Chandi added as she sniffed the air.

"Well, some of us actually have to go out and work for a living."

There was a small "boom" noise from the kitchen, jolting both, and Mora stuck her head out again, "Actually, let's order pizza tonight…"

"Extra green peppers on mine!" Chandi called out, hurrying for the phone.

"If there's anything close to a vegetable on mine there's going to be hell!" Rokiki exclaimed.

"This really was the best place to stop and settle down in…" Mora said happily to herself as she went to cleaning the kitchen.