DAY TEN, WORD TEN: OPPORTUNITIES

We met one stormy night!

That movie was incredible.

Anyway, going back on the subject of storms… it was stormy today. Nice and cloudy again, dark too.

And it was Friday.

Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Frida-

No, no, NO. Bad Johnny, bad.

"Do you think anyone will come, Lieutenant?" I asked, pulling out my umbrella from the closet.

Garuru seemed just as equally troubled. "I… hope so…" He glanced over at me. "If you'd like, I could go on my own."

"I'll be fine," I told him. "It was a bit warm on my way home from school. I think I'll be alright. Thanks for your concern though, Lieutenant."

Garuru frowned slightly. "I just don't want you to blame me for getting you sick."

"I won't," I promised. "Now c'mon. I'm sure a little rain wouldn't stop them from bringing everyone together."

Thank goodness I was right. Would a young teenage boy have been found shot dead in the afternoon hours that lonely, rainy Friday?

Not today!

"Hi!" Rita chirped cheerfully, under the large cover that overshadowed the picnic tables at the park. "We were almost afraid you weren't going to show up!"

"Same here," I said with a small smile. I nodded to the older sister. "Hi, Kitty."

"Hi," She replied sweetly.

I looked around. "It doesn't look like Ruby's here yet. Or Stella."

"They'll come here soon," Kitty said hopefully. "I'm sure of it."

"Hiya again, Lieutenant!" Taruru saluted. Tororo acknowledged his superior with a simple nod before returning to his laptop, somehow managing to avoid wetting it with the rain and all.

"Hey, Lieutenant?" Tororo called out, drumming his fingers against the table. "We have a problem."

Garuru perked a brow, clearly not wanting to hear anything negative or anything of the sort. "Yes?"

"Our spaceship? Uh, your spaceship?" Tororo quickly added, clearing his throat slightly.

"…Yes?"

"Well, it's… uh… it's a little…"

Taruru decided to speak up. "It's gone!"

"I said tactfully!" Tororo snapped, his face reddening when Garuru's pupils visibly widened from behind his visor. "Bad, bad Taruru! You fail! F! F IN TACT!"

"Won't be the first bad grade," Taruru whistled. Rita rolled her eyes slightly.

"The ship is gone," Garuru repeated, his tone heavy with disbelief. "How can this be?"

"I d'no," Taruru shrugged. "You know how it landed somewhere? It was just gone.

"I suspect the vipers."

We all turned to the raspy voice belonging to the cybernetic ninja as he entered under the protection of the hooded table, Stella trailing close behind him.

"Hi," Stella said shyly, waving to the two girls. "I'm Stella." She gestured to me. "I go to school with him."

"Really?" Rita asked, shifting the once suspenseful, dramatic conversation to something extremely random. "What grade are you guys in?"

Before I could interject, she chimed, "Seniors in high school. It's actually our last semester."

The sisters turned to me incredulously. "How old are-?!"

"As I was saying," Zoruru interrupted, no doubt irritated that he was being ignored. "I suspect the vipers have something to do with our missing ship. Actually, our crash, our seperation, just the fact that we just so happened to land on a dry-heated area. It can't be a coincidence; I refuse to believe it."

"Maybe assuming the vipers is a bit of a stretch," Tororo said, making a face. "I mean, sure we've gotten into more than our fair share of battles with them, but still. It's not like there's any clear evidence that they attacked us."

"Ooooh," Taruru puckered out his lips and gave him a savvy grin. "You're just saying that 'cuz of that mistletoe incident back at sector seven-"

"TH-THAT WAS ONE TIME!" Tororo sputtered, his cheeks turning into a dark red color.

"…What happened at sector seven?" I asked slowly, my stupid curiosity getting the better of me once again.

Tororo was silent as Taruru, Zoruru, and even Garuru said pointedly, "Don't ask."

Ahh... the painstakingly cruel curiosity… it was killing me.

"Hi!"

"Hello, platoon!"

"Ruby," I welcomed with a grin. "Hey!"

"Pururu!" Taruru saluted. "Hiya! It's nice seeing you again!"

"It's been a while," Pururu said with a small smile, mirroring his greeting.

"Okay," I said, standing on the table because, frankly, it made me feel taller. "So we all know each other? ….Yeah, probably not. Alright, pay attention everyone, because I probably won't repeat it again. That's Rita, her sister Kitty, my classmate Stella, and Ruby, the race track girl. And I'm Johnny, not that you would really need to know?"

"Really?" Taruru asked, raising his brows. "I thought your name was Mandark!"

"…What?"

"You sure your name's not Mandark?"

"…I'm… I'm pretty surethat my name's Johnny."

"Really? 'Cuz you look more like a Mandark."

From the corner of my eye I saw Rita face palm while her sister chuckled at her side.

"I'm Johnny," I repeated, giving him a dry, short laugh.

He shrugged. "Whatever floats your rubber duck."

"Why do we keep going off track here?" Zoruru fumed. "Did we forget what was important?"

"Would you mind filling me in?" Pururu asked, her face apologetic. "I'm sorry, but I just got here, and I have no idea what's going on."
Zoruru's face somewhat softened as he folded his arms and unraveled the prior moment's incidents. She listened with strict, professional professionalism.

…Redundancy…

Garuru was by Tororo as the latter explained everything in as much detail as he possibly could concerning the ship, and Taruru nodded vaguely, his eyes glazed over as they stared at the rain.

The girls were attempting small talk. They were all pretty shy, until Stella mentioned some sort of anime. That's when their eyes lit up, and their small chatter blossomed into an actual conversation, eventually moving it to something randomer and randomer…

…Wait, is that even a word…?

I sat down on the table, my legs resting against the seats, feeling that my height was no longer an issue, nor my all too forced leadership stance (someone had to do it… might as well be me). I didn't bother trying to push myself into their chitter chatter, instead letting my mind wander, erasing my surroundings and muting my world, a bad, bad habit that refused to die hard.

Five frogs from outer space. And I thought making handmade stars for the yearbook was special.

Each of them were so different from each other. Honestly, I think it's a miracle they could get along at all, especially after noting how apparently traumatizing one of the Keronians were.

…I guess thinking about it… maybe it's because of their different personalities that they were able to work so well together.

Maybe.

As rude as I know prying into someone else's life is, I can't help but be painfully interested. After they find their ship and leave… when am I ever going to get an opportunity like this one? Answer? Probably never. Lightening never strikes the same place twice.

I don't know how I'm going to do this, but… I managed to make Garuru open up to me, even if it is just a little. Maybe some how I could make the others open up to me to, or have the girls living with them open up to me.

Maybe.

"Johnny? Johnny? Hello~?"

I jumped slightly. "H-huh?"

"Didn't you hear us?" Rita teased, "Or were you daydreaming?"

"Guilty as charged," I said with a weak grin. "Hehe. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Ruby said, waving her hand slightly. "But you could repay us by answering a few questions for us."

"Fair enough, I guess," I shrugged. "What do you want to ask?"

"How old are you?"

I stared at them, at the four girls who gazed at me with peculiar interest. My mouth twitched slightly, my lips suddenly feeling dry. "W…W-what?"

"You promised," Kitty said softly, smiling.

I sagged my shoulders. "I'm seventeen."

Stella laughed. "I told you!"

"You're so short though!" Rita giggled. "I don't think I ever would have guessed!

"Now for the next question." …I swear Ruby's eyes just literally gleamed. "What's your height?"

…No one needed to tell me that my face had probably risen to about a hundred degrees, the color visibly showing. "U-uh…"

They watched me, their lips stretching to eager, awaiting grins.

"I'm…" My voice lowered to a muffled mumble.

"What? We can't hear you."

"I'm… Muamhfjmf…."

"What?"

"I'm 4'11, okay?!" I snapped, blushing even heavier when I realized that my outburst was a little too forceful. "S-sorry."

"…Wow," Stella said, bringing her hand to her lips, obviously trying to bite back a smirk.

"You're 4'11?" Ruby asked incredulously.

"I'm still growing!" I protested.

"…Don't you stop growing when you're, like, eighteen?"

"I drink a lot of coffee," I folded my arms and pouted slightly. "I regret nothing."

Tororo spoke up from the background, "…Isn't that an urban legend-?"

"Silence, you!"

"…What is the typical height for a Pekoponian male?" Garuru asked slowly, bruising my ego even more upon realizing that the whole platoon had stopped short of their conversation to listen to this humiliating one.

"Like, 5'10?" Tororo answered for me, pointing to his computer when I gave him a quizzical look.

My face burned as I covered it with my fists.

"Don't worry, there's still hope for you," Pururu said sweetly, gently patting my pants leg. She paused at a thought, and then turned her head upwards toward me. "…When's your eighteenth birthday anyway?"

I sighed, arguing that I had absolutely nothing to lose. "August 3rd."

Everyone stared at me.

"You're doomed," Taruru quipped.

"The next meeting will be next Friday!" Rita announced, looking at her watch, counting down the seconds in which she, her sister, Taruru and Tororo would have to leave.

"I can make it at Friday."

"Me too."

"Same,

" I had said. "What about at 3:00 in the afternoon?"

"Sounds like a plan."

They all left to their homes, the clouds giving the sky a darkened appearance that seemed to make it look like it was later than it was really. No surprise they wanted to go to their homes; there are a lot of weirdoes when it gets late…

Didn't need the umbrella. I let it hang from my arm as Garuru and I walked back home.

"So you didn't think I was that short, huh?" I asked moodily to my Keronian companion, my face still a rosy, pink color.

"I don't pay attention to that," Garuru said, "As I said before, to me, all you Pekoponians look the same."

I nodded absentmindedly. "Okay." I kicked at a small puddle in front of me. "What were you guys talking about anyway?"

Garuru gave me a side glance before he sighed. "I suppose it's nothing I should be too concerned about. Our ship is missing. I highly doubt we'll be able to retrieve it, especially seeing that most of our technology was aboard the ship when it disappeared. Tororo had tried hacking into it, but it seems that the battery is dead. We may need to start a new one from scratch-"

"Whoa, wait," I looked down at him. "You might have to make a new one-?"

"That's precisely what I said," Garuru said gruffly.

"Are you going to need help?"

Garuru shrugged one shoulder. "It's not necessary, but it would be much appreciated."

"I'll help out," I said after a short pause. "Sure. I'd love to help. And I was talking to the others, too; we all want to help you guys get back home."

Garuru twisted his mouth before parting his lips slightly. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but whatever it was, he held it back against his more or less better judgment.

"What-?"

"Would you like to share your story now?"

I was a tad startled by his sudden interest; it's not something he did everyday. He usually kept to himself and failed to remind me of our daily promise to share things with each other.

Maybe he's finally accepting this invaluable time to share a befriending bond…

…Or he probably wanted to use it as a distraction.

Yeah, that's got to be it.

"Okay, let's see," I thought about it. "Once upon a time, there was a bear that smelled something delicious from a cabin. He followed the scent and, lo and behold! It was soup!"

"I believe this story is reversed," Garuru said dryly.

"No, no, it's right," I said, putting my hands in my pockets. "So the bear sees the soup, and decides it's so delicious, so he reaches inside the window and wraps his arms around it. The pot was on the stove, though, so it was really, really hot. The bear screamed in pain and yanked the pot out. However, he was really ticked off at the fact that the pot had burned him, so he squeezed the pot tighter against him. Surprise, surprise, it burned him even more. Throughout the day, the bear continued to seek revenge, dragging the pot while squeezing it against his chest, but only inflicting pain in himself." I slipped my hands out and clapped them together. "Moral of the story? Just let it go."

"…Mmhm," Garuru mumbled, folding his arms. "I honestly don't know what to say to that…"

"Just go, Lieutenant."

It was a different story this time- and it surprised me.

It didn't focus on his platoon, but rather, his younger days with his brother Giroro.

Giroro, according to Garuru, was red, with slanted black eyes. At the time when he was a child, he was smaller and had that trademark white face with a big yellow skull on his belly (Garuru told me he looked somewhat similar when he was younger too; imagining the Lieutenant as an innocent child was too much, though… because I couldn't imagine it).

Anyway, it had started on a warm summer day.

…Garuru had a cold.

He couldn't stand it, lying in bed and coughing into dozens of handkerchiefs at a time, requesting silly things from his impatient mother, forcing himself to go to sleep even though he didn't feel like it… It was just downright horrible.

Worst of all, as much as he liked his little brother, Giroro was being annoying.

In a sweet way, though, because I could relate. He doted on his older sibling and repeatedly woke him up from his naps to ask if he needed anything. Once he even hopped on his bed to ask if he needed anything. Every five frogging minutes Giroro would fly in his room.

Garuru could've snapped, "Bug off, Giroro!" If his voice didn't hurt his throat so much.

But the times come when enough is enough.

"Giroro," Garuru croaked weakly, gesturing his younger brother toward him.

"Yeah, big bro?" Giroro asked eagerly.

"I…" He stopped to cough. "I need you to find me something…"

"What?"

"You know the Star Petals that are outside?"

Star Petals were common in their planet; colorful flowers that were found in the gardens of their homes. They were, true to their name, shaped in the form of a star, with only five pointed petals splayed out from the golden center.

Giroro's eyes grew large. "Yeah, yeah?"

"I want you to get me one."

"Sure!" Giroro said, saluting to him. "I'll get your one right now."

That was a nice twelve minutes before the little Keronian came back.

"Did I do good?" Giroro panted, bringing out before him the large petaled specimen of a flower.

Garuru coughed again, into his pillow. He made something of a pitiful face. "..Well…"

"What?" Giroro's excited face softened into a worried one. "Did I do something wrong?"

"There was actually one other thing," Garuru said, feigning a sly look. "I actually wanted a Star Petal with…" He shook his head and looked away. "No, you know what? I don't think you could do it…"

"No, tell me!"

"You sure you could handle it?"

"Yeah, I can!"

"I don't know…"

"Tell me bro, tell me!"

Garuru bit his lower lip. "Well… I actually wanted a Star Petal with six petals, instead of five."

Giroro's eyes grew as wide as dinner platters. "Six petals?! That's like…" He counted his fingers in disbelief. "One more than it usually has!"

"Yeah, I know," Garuru sighed dramatically, resting the back of his hand against his own forehead. "I knew you couldn't do it, but I understand…"

"I said I'm gonna do it!" Giroro said, though his voice faltered slightly. He saluted once more and turned, running out as fast as he could begin the mission.

Unbeknownst to Giroro, the sick sibling just sent him in a wild snipe hunt.

Six petals.

Garuru knew it was downright impossible to find a flower like that, but hey. As long as it would keep the little tadpole occupied.

Hours of meaningful rest later, Garuru awoke to a familiar sobbing noise. He mumbled irritably and turned, suddenly startled by the younger Keronian that was sniffling in defeat.

"I couldn't find it," Giroro whimpered. "I'm sorry, bro." He wept into his curled up hands. "I even asked Zeroro and Keroro to help, but they gave up. I got lost trying to find it in the woods…"

"It doesn't exist."

This startled him. "What?"

"I said," Garuru coughed. "It doesn't exist."

Giroro stared at him, and then at the floor. He sniffed and wiped his eye with his arm. Garuru actually felt kind of bad watching him. He was actually about to apologize when-

"…WHAT?!"

The next thing Garuru knew, he was barricaded with a rain of fiery, tiny, and totally ineffective fists.

"YOU JERK!" Giroro cried out, punching his brother pitifully. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG I'VE BEEN TRYING TO LOOK FOR THAT STUPID FLOWER?!"

Giroro at the time was typically very serene and cool headed, so seeing him lose to his anger really amused the purple Keronian. Garuru stretched. "About four hours? Yeah. It was absolutely wonderful."

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

"The moral of the story?" Garuru concluded, as I just watched him in complete and utter dubiousness. "Being ill can do the oddest things to you."

"…Yeah, I'm sure that was the reason why you were such a horrible child, Lieutenant."

"Familiarity, Cadet." Though this time, he said it more with a smile.

...56 reviews? Seriously? This story isn't even that good XD Wow.
I know reviews aren't everything but seriously. Wow.

Thanks for everyone who's reading this mess. I hope you're actually enjoying it.

Lol, Garuru. Since their histories are so vague, I can come up with the most delicious stories. Viva la resistance!