For Better or For Worse
Chapter 10
The months that followed were painful for Dororo. He was accepted back into the platoon, even given some personal space in the base, most notably his indoor garden. Yet he was still forgotten on a regular basis, and worst of all, it seemed that Giroro had developed feelings for the red-headed Pekoponian, Natsumi. Although Dororo swore he'd never forgive Giroro for abusing him emotionally, accidentally or not, he still loved him and was insanely jealous of the teenage girl.
Koyuki, the Pekoponian he had befriended and now lived with, considered Natsumi her best friend. Currently, she and Dororo were sat opposite each other at the hearth, going over the day's events.
"I went over to see Natsumi-san again today" Koyuki smiled in that childlike manner of hers. Dororo did not reply, just stared into his mug.
"Giroro hung out with us too, for a while"
Dororo's grip on the mug tightened.
"He was mainly just chatting to Natsumi-san. He did ask about you once, though. He wanted to know how you were doing. Then, he offered to take Natsumi-san home and-"
"ENOUGH!"
Koyuki stared at Dororo, who was gripping his mug so tightly that his knuckles had gone white, and were shaking.
"J… just… no more…" He whispered, before shakily setting down his mug and slowly making his way out of the hut where they lived. Koyuki wondered what it was she said that upset him.
Dororo sat on the roof. He was meditating in an attempt to push all thoughts of Giroro and Natsumi out of his head, but failing miserably.
Eventually, he decided to pay Keroro a visit. He hadn't really had a proper chance to catch up with him since their stay on the Keronian mother ship.
Once he got to Keroro's room, he wasn't particularly surprised to find him building Gundam models. He leapt from the ceiling, startling his leader for a second.
"Hello there, Dororo! Excuse me while I just stick on this last part… there we go!" Keroro smiled before taking the completed model and placing on his display shelf to let it dry.
"Taicho-dono… this room is a mess…" Dororo murmured, having had a proper look at the room.
"Ah… it is a bit…" Keroro said with a grimace, which slowly turned into a cheeky smile.
"Hey, Dororo-kun… I have a good idea…" He said cryptically before making his way to his wardrobe, from which he pulled out a pink and green Lolita dress.
"No… you can't be serious… we're too old for this…" Said Dororo, but he couldn't help grinning at the inside joke.
"Come on, it'll be fun! When was the last time we did anything together anyway?" Keroro grinned, pulling out the black dress that belonged to Dororo - which he had scavenged from the assassin's bag on arrival to Pekopon – and chucking it to him.
"Oh, Keroro-kun? Yes, I remember him, we were cross-dressing buddies" Dororo said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He complied though, and awkwardly slipped inside the dress.
Keroro just chuckled and got out his hoover.
"What can I say, other than 'I want to break free'?" He laughed. He was promptly bludgeoned in the back of the head by a feather duster.
Giroro stomped his way out of the base towards Keroro's room. He, Tamama and Kururu had been waiting half an hour in the meeting room, waiting for Keroro to turn up to a meeting HE scheduled. He growled as he yanked open the fridge door to the room.
"Keroro! Get your lazy butt in that meeting room right now…" Giroro trailed off the second he saw Dororo, dressed in a very short black Lolita dress, wiping something off the floor with a cloth. He didn't even notice that Keroro was there, in almost exactly the same situation. He just stared at Dororo, who stared in shock and embarrassment back at him.
Giroro felt blood trickling from his nose.
"D-Dororo…" He whispered.
Dororo quickly left the room in a puff of smoke, leaving only the cloth behind him.
"What do you want, Giroro?" Keroro ask in mild annoyance at the interruption, not seeming to bothered that Giroro had found out he and Dororo's little secret.
"N…nothing…" He replied, backing away into the fridge.
"Tch… what's HIS problem?" Keroro mumbled as he got back to dusting.
Dororo quickly locked himself in he and Koyuki's hut and sat in a corner, holding the fabric of his dress as a comfort blanket.
"G…G…G…Giroro saw me… in a dress…" he mumbled, his face so red you would think it was his natural skin colour.
"He... he was looking at me like… like he still liked me…" He whispered before frantically shaking his head and laying it in his hands.
"N-no! He… he was just being perverse… he doesn't care about me at all… just like everyone else…"
Dororo's damaged conscience only saw things from a pessimistic, glass-half-empty perspective. He retreated further into the hut and curled up into a ball, burying his face in the dress to muffle his cries.
Giroro had since retreated to his tent, where he sat, fingering the clasp on his belt in deep thought. We couldn't believe what he had just seen… Giroro had only ever had one even REMOTELY sexual fantasy… and that was pretty much it.
He slid the photo of the two of them as tadpoles from under his pillow, and stared at the little Zeroro in disbelief.
"Was that really the boy I've grown up with my whole life?" Giroro whispered to himself, before lying down and staring at the roof of his tent.