It certainly was Kururu, but with a few major changes. First off was the mainly white face, and the tail. Next thing that Giroro noticed was the cat-like ears sticking up from the orange cap, and then the white and pink kimono.
"Neh... I..." Giroro began... But what words could even begin to express what he felt then? Horror? Disgust? No, it was something even stronger. Rage was pretty close.
"Who's this?" Garuru looked over to Giroro, whose mouth was hung wide open.
"She looks like your Sergeant Major," Pururu added.
"...He's such an ugly woman," Tamama whispered in awe to Keroro. "I'm going to have nightmares about this!"
"Could you say, a love based on personality, not looks?" Mois added brightly.
"That's Kururu's older sister!" Saburo interjected.
"Y-yes!" Dororo nodded in confirmation." remember her distinctly! She and Giroro-dono dated for some time back on Keron!"
"I've never heard of her," Garuru took a step forward to the yellow Keronian, who blushed and "her" hands to "her" cheeks.
"Oh, please, don't look at me like that, I'm a such a shy person!" Kururu retrieved a fan, which he hid a majority of his face with. Giroro had to hold back from either vomiting or jumping across the room to strangle Kururu, either of which he could have done easily.
"We made punch!" Keroro shouted suddenly, running to the two Garuru platoon members with the said drinks. "Infused with real Pekopon fruits! Wait until you try star fruit!"
"What's your name?" Garuru continued. "And why's the child so old? I thought she was an infant."
"Giro-chan, would you make your brother stop being so creepy, it's scaring me a bit, kiki! I just want to enjoy a little more time with my daughter and have a good time, like everyone else!"
"He certainly does look like he's having a good time," Tamama muttered to Dororo, who gave a nod.
"Come on, Mama, let's find you a seat," Kirere led Kururu over to a seat at the table, then walked back and took hold of Giroro's hand, allowing him to snap out of his daze.
"I didn't realize looks... Ran that strong in the family..." Pururu added, looking over to Kururu, who sat at the table with his fan still. "So why is she so old?"
"An invention of her Uncle's," Fuyuki interjected. "She accidentally got into it... Soucho hasn't found a way to change her back, yet!"
"Even the smartest one isn't that bright," Natsumi said with a snort. Kururu's mouth twitched a bit.
Kirere now led Giroro over to the table, where he still sat, looking a bit stunned yet, and stared up at Garuru now.
"...What?" Garuru looked down at her. "Oh, this," he held out the toy to her, then folded his arms and looked away from her after she took it. "All right, where's the cake at?"
"Why are you doing this?" Giroro hissed in a whisper from across to the table to Kururu. "What have I ever done to you that you didn't deserve in the first place?"
"Would you rather tell him it's mine, or my homely sister's, ku ku?" Kururu laughed quietly at Giroro's expression. "Trust me, he's the last one I want knowing all of our platoon's secrets, ku ku! If they knew I could do this it'd be the only project they'd have me working on!"
"So it's to save your ass, bottom line. Figures," Giroro shook his head. "I'd shoot you right now."
"But you don't shoot women?"
"But it's too crowded here to get a clear shot," Giroro answered curtly. "If you try anything funny with me I'll have you buried in the backyard by the time the night's through, Kururu."
"Kiki! Such a sense of humor, Giro-kun!"
"And don't call me that!" Giroro slammed his fists down on the table and spat at Kururu. This attracted the attention of Garuru, and Keroro gave an apologetic laugh at this.
"They've been dealing with a lot of stress!" Keroro explained.
"With her illness and all!" Tamama added.
"Illness?" Garuru repeated, looking to the young subordinate now.
Keroro gave a grave nod, and Tamama chimed in, "That's why she sounds so awful and looks so sick!"
"And why she's had such a rotten personality as of late!" Keroro added.
"Well, she's always had that, but it's been a lot worse, recently," Tamama and Keroro joined in a stiff laugh at this.
Kururu's lenses cracked a little bit, and his mouth twitched. Giroro got a chuckle out of this, but it didn't take away the tension. Kirere still looked straight over at Garuru, either ready to start crying or attack him.
"She does look really sick, in my opinion," Pururu chimed in, "If she has what I think it is, then... She must not have very much time left at all..." as she said this, she gave a wink to Keroro. Keroro gave a surprised look; it seemed as though Pururu had seen straight through them, but was willing to play along.
"Kirere-chan, you should be having fun," Dororo walked over to the child and looked down at him. "This is your party, afterall! And look at how many people showed up for you!"
"...Is Garuru Chuii going to make us leave?" Kirere glanced up to Dororo, who seemed taken aback at first.
"Not tonight he won't."
"But eventually?"
"...Nothing is forever. That's what makes things like flowers so beautiful, because you know that their beauty's impermanent. You appreciate them while they're there, much like you appreciate the people around you... And the flowers always return after a long winter. That's beautiful, too," Dororo answered, and Kirere gave a chuckle. "Eh?"
"You sound silly when you're being serious... But I kinda know what you mean... Have a good time, right?"
"S-silly? ...But, yes, that's what I mean," Dororo replied with a nod.
Kirere looked about at the group of people, and then gave a nod. Dororo was pulled out of his quiet meditative stance as she took him by the hand and pulled him along to the cake.
"Kuku! Looks like she has a date," Kururu fanned himself as he watched Kirere hand a confused but grateful Dororo a slice of cake. "...She can do better, ku kukuku!"
"Here, figured you guys might want some," Natsumi walked over to the two and placed a slice in front of either of them. "That's a really cute kimono, Kururu, where'd you find it? It looks really familiar."
"It's a little tight on me. Kuku, I'll return it at the end of the night," Kururu answered as he picked up his fork.
Natsumi's eyebrow twitched a bit as she placed where she'd seen it before; it was her first kimono from when she was just a child, "...You're so dead..." she muttered, the smile not leaving her face. Kururu said nothing, but gave a chuckle and took a bite of the cake.
Giroro took a bite of his slice of cake, and chewed it a few times... Even for someone who wasn't a cake fan it tasted off... Then came the spicy aftertaste; it was like someone had added hot coals to the batter. He reached over to his drink, and downed the entire glass in one chug.
Similar reactions were spreading throughout the room. Even Garuru coughed once or twice and set the cake back down on the table. Keroro ran about looking for a drink, eventually finding a pitcher of punch and holding onto it for dear life.
"Kikikikikiki!" Kururu took another bite of his cake and his eerie grin grew a bit.
"Who the hell's idea of a joke is this?" Tamama growled, tossing his slice into the trash. "What bastard would ruin something as sacred as a cake?"
"Kikiki!" Kururu chuckled from his corner.
"Why'd you throw it away?" Kirere asked through a mouthful of the hot cake. "I would've finished it for you!"
"Kuku, she likes spicy foods, so I added an extra ingredient to the batter," Kururu explained to the enraged Giroro. "Kururu's extra spicy spice curry cake, kuku!"
"C-curry cake?" Giroro shouted in disbelief.
"Kuku! I have the recipe saved if you want to make it for my birthday, Senpai."
"You'll be lucky to see morning if you keep this up, much less your next birthday," Giroro growled in a low tone.
"Kuku! Maybe I should give Kirere-chan my gift, if that's how it is."
"If it's alive or has sharp teeth..."
"Kuku, what do you take me for? Anyone can make a little girl cry, there's no challenge in ruining something on them. That's why you're so much fun, Senpai, even after all this time!" Kururu pulled out a box from beneath the table and stood, walking over to Kirere, who had finished her second slice while the guests had switched to non-curry snacks.
"Open this one last!" he instructed her quietly, followed by a laugh. Kirere nodded, and set it down on the table with the other presents.
"I've got the camera working!" Fuyuki called out to Natsumi.
"Finally," Natsumi rolled her eyes and gave a sigh. "Okay, Kirere-cha, let's see what you got. Here, this one's from... Momoka-chan... .It's a little heavy..."
Kirere took the package, immediately falling to the ground with it the moment she took it from Natsumi's hands. Giroro rushed and helped her back up, and she unwrapped the beautiful paper and then opened the package.
"I got my first Hermes tea set at her age, so I thought it'd be a nice tradition to pass on," Momoka explained as Kirere examined the ornate white porcelain tea pot.
"...Hehe, that's Nishizawa-san for you," Fuyuki said with a nervous laugh.
"All I got her was a sweater," Natsumi added, feeling a bit humbled at the gift.
"Here's mine, Kii-chi!" Tamama called out, passing her his package now. She opened it, and pulled out a pair of boxing gloves. He gave her a determined grin, and she returned this, albeit briefly. This very Giroro-like look chilled Tamama a bit.
"T-this one's mine," Giroro held out a rectangular box to the young girl. "I didn't know exactly what to get, so..."
Kirere had finished opening the box, which hadn't even been wrapped, and pulled out what looked to be an oversized wrench.
"It's... Well, there's a manual in there..." Giroro looked a bit embarrassed as she studied the gift. "It's a weapon... A newer model..."
He wasn't prepared for the hug that followed, and his face grew redder at this gesture. He looked over to Garuru, but the purple Keronian remained blank-faced as always.
"This is from Dororo and me!" Koyuki held out a potted plant to the girl, who looked a bit puzzled.
"It's a bonsai, it's to promote peace and harmony in one's being, and best of all, it helps the environment by producing oxygen," Dororo explained with a nod.
Looking at the plant, Giroro knew the thing wouldn't last a month in Kirere's hands. He actually felt a bit sorry for it as it sat there while Kirere continued to open her gifts. Then again, it was from Dororo, so she would at least attempt to keep it alive. She now opened Pururu's gift, a tasteful wooden music box. As Kirere opened it to play the tune, Dororo became outwardly disturbed.
"A... That tune..." Dororo muttered.
"He's in his corner, Gunso," Tamama sighed as indeed Dororo's trauma switch snapped on, and he fled to his corner of solitude.
"K-keep opening your gifts... He'll be fine," Giroro instructed, turning the concerned young girl's head back toward the boxes.
"Kukuku, it's her party and she's the first one passed out!" Kururu chuckled as he saw the young girl leaning against Dororo, who looked a bit uncomfortable with the setup but remained calm and polite all the same. She had opened most of her gifts, but Kururu's still lay in her lap yet, only half-opened.
"Giroro," Garuru called from the doorway. "A moment."
Giroro set down his drink and stood, and many of the other party goers, who had settled into having a good time even after the cake incident, watched the two walk out of the room.
Giroro followed Garuru out of the Hinatas' house and into the backyard, where Giroro's tent stood. Garuru waited a moment, then began to speak. He only got a breath in when a loud crashing sound, like a close moving train or a hurricane, screeched through the night's sky.
"Get down!" Garuru shouted, and before Giroro could even begin to ask both he and Garuru fell to the ground. The dirt was kicked up all around them, Giroro's tent was crushed, as was the neighboring fence and the Hinatas' fence, and the ground continued to shake even after the ship's landing.