yay, 10th chapter is up. enjoy. ^_^

Chapter 10 – Another Invention Plus Some

Giroro, the last to leave the room, was still finalizing the details of the plans that they had made during that meeting. No humans meant that there would be no distractions, which meant having a better chance at succeeding at the mission. He was just about to leave the room when Kururu called him over to where he was working. Kururu probably needed a guinea pig for a new invention. Giroro considered himself lucky that he was still alive after so many test sessions. He had gotten used to the pain that usually came with the testing, but he was still uncomfortable when he was asked to test anything that he made.

He walked over to Kururu, seeing that he was toying with some sort of gun. It was shaped like a regular pistol. It looked menacing and it was still a prototype. He wondered what the final gun would look like after all the tweaks that would be made. Whatever this soon-to-be weapon was, it looked menacing enough.

"So Giroro, I need you to test this prototype that I made while I was bored. It's supposed t–" Before Kururu could finish, Giroro interrupted him and held out a small bag full of spherical treats.

"Here. It's a bag of candy for you, I hope you like it. It's for… helping me last time."

"Uhh… thanks Giroro. That's nice of you, ku ku." He took the bag with one hand and held up his other hand up to his mouth and chuckled. Before things got awkward, Giroro asked about the new gun.

"So, what is it supposed to do?" Giroro rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Oh yes, ku ku. No matter, I'll let you find out. It'll be much more fun this way. Consider it a gift, ku ku. Don't worry. It's not dangerous." Giroro rubbed his ears too, making sure that he had heard him correctly. Did Kururu just give him a gift?

"Fine. I'll do it. But before I go, you have to promise me that you're telling the truth." Giroro wanted an honest answer from Kururu. He refused to agree with the testing unless he had Kururu's word.

"Okay, I promise it won't do anything bad, now go and test it for me, ku ku." Any remaining skepticism that he had was now gone. This was another first for Kururu. He couldn't recall a time when Kururu had made a promise. He was usually interested in himself, which made him avoid doing favors and making promises to others.

He walked out of the room, leaving Kururu to himself. He was still toying around with some other guns, which were probably the guns that they had planned to use in the invasion. Giroro turned on his anti-barrier and walked outside, looking for his first test subject. He was excited to find out what his new gun would do and looked down the streets for any potential victims. He was extremely eager to find out what this thing could do, but nobody was walking down the street, discouraging Giroro. He felt like he had become Kururu. Did he feel this way every time he invented something? He could hold his curiousity no longer and headed down the street.

After walking a little farther down the street, he found a lone couple walking by. Protected by the anti-barrier, Giroro aimed and fired the gun at the unfortunate couple. What happened next was bizarre. The couple had turned into frogs. They weren't Keronian frogs. Instead, they were Earth's local frogs. They were less cute than Keronians and much smaller. The two frogs hopped around the walkway. Their instincts had kicked in and the two frogs hopped to a nearby pond, where dragonflies and other insects could be found.

If this was some kind of joke, Giroro didn't find it funny. He immediately returned home.

He returned home and made his way to the lab and found Kururu in his usual place. He was sleeping with his head on his desk. He must've been exhausted from making all those things this morning. Giroro decided to wait for him to wake up and sat in a corner. He took out one of his guns and began to clean and polish it to pass the time.

Thirty minutes in, Giroro got bored and put his gun away. He stared at Kururu. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, even if he was hiding behind his glasses.

Another thirty minutes later, Kururu woke up with a groggy look on his face. He looked at Giroro, who had fallen asleep himself. Kururu, feeling a bit mischievous, walked over to the corporal and kicked him.

"Hey you, wake up." Giroro, who was half-asleep, stretched his arms and opened his eyes. He had awoken to the sight of Kururu, who was standing above him.

"Get up. How was the gun? Did you like it? Hope you did, ku ku." Kururu kicked Giroro again, who had tried to get back to sleep.

"Umm, yea. It was nice, thanks for making it," Giroro said. He knew he shouldn't have lied to him and immediately felt guilty.

"It's just my way of saying sorry, ku ku."

"I told you that you shouldn't worry about it anymore. Besides, she crushed me and also made Dororo cry." Giroro said with a returning painful expression on his face. It was the thought that counted.

"Okay, whatever you say," Kururu shrugged and walked back to his desk and began typing on his keyboard.

"Did you like the candy?" Giroro asked tentatively. With no knowledge of what sweets Kururu preferred, Giroro had blindly taken some random candy at the time.

"No, I would've preferred some curry, but whatever, ku ku ku." Kururu hadn't completely changed. That was a relief. He was still pretty blunt when he was asked a question. Giroro sighed, unhappy that he had not gotten the perfect gift for Kururu. He would get it right next time. Sweets were off limits and he would need to remember to get him some curry next time.

Giroro couldn't believe himself. He was making a big deal out of repaying Kururu. He would never do this for anyone, especially for a guy like Kururu, and he began searching for the reason why he had bothered to do anything at all. He didn't have feelings for the frog; he was just a friend that he had to repay. However, something about this situation was different from usual. Giroro never put this much thought into a gift for a friend. If he got a gift for someone like Keroro or Tamama, they either liked his gift or didn't. He would never try to satisfy their desires. Why wasn't this the case for Kururu?

"Giroro. Are you okay? You were staring at the wall. That's not like you at all. You're not one to be caught daydreaming, ku ku." Kururu was either completely oblivious, or he was just playing dumb.

"Nothing, I'm fine. I gotta go. I just remembered I left something at the park while I was out," Giroro replied. He got up and exited the lab. He wasn't feeling comfortable with Kururu so close to him and returned to his tent in Keroro's room.

"Giroro, you should help me with my Gundams. Tamama left earlier, and now I'm all alone," Keroro said. Coming back to his room had been a mistake. He still wouldn't be able to think with Keroro around. He left the room again and headed towards the yard to go back to the place where his tent used to be. He remembered why he had chosen this spot. It was away from Keroro so he could have peace and quiet. Recently though, he felt the need to be surrounded by his friends. The world had been cruel to him, and he needed comfort from people that would be able to put his mind at ease. He made another trip to Keroro's room and they made some Gundams together, which served as a perfect bonding opportunity. Unfortunately, there was little bonding and much disagreement, but it showed that some things never change.