SPOILER ALERT: This one shot contains spoilers from the show "Mobile Suit Gundam 00." If you are watching that show, or are interested in watching it, read at your own risk.
Summary: This is an extension of episode 310 of the anime – more like a drabble (a really, really, really long drabble). Due to some unforeseen and startling events, Tamama and Momoka have to live at the Hinatas' for a while, which allows Tamama to see a side of Keroro he never knew existed before. And understand much of what the platoon doesn't seem to.
Keroro Presents: It's just an anime – de arimasu
During the few months the Nishizawa Corporation fell and Momoka's fortune became history, it served more as a blessing than a tragedy. With no money to uphold Momoka's mansion or private squadron of troops, Fuyuki generously invited her and Tamama to move in at the Hinata household. (Although every single one of Momoka's troops – including her butler, Paul Moriyama, – arrived at the house before them, fully devoted to her whether they were paid or not.)
When Momoka announced their recent turn of events to Tamama, he cried out in joy right on the spot, jumping up and down. This was the perfect opportunity to move in with Keroro. He'd be able to spend more time with him, and then he'd get to know... what living with him felt like.
It wasn't like there was any other place he could sleep, staying at the Hinatas'. The base was too cold, and anywhere inside the house was considered "Pekoponian Territory" – labeled such by Corporal Giroro, mostly because Natsumi forbid them from camping out wherever they pleased. (If it weren't for Aki, Keroro wouldn't have a room at all.)
Keroro scoffed when Tamama gleefully let slip, "I've always wanted to bunk with Gunsou-san~!" and once the ruckus upstairs from all of Momoka's troops died down and the other platoon members went back to their own business, Keroro laid out the basic rules of Tamama's stay in his room. Keroro pulled out a separate sleeping bag and told Tamama he'd sleep on that – unfortunately, destroying his shred of childish hopefulness. Then he informed Tamama of when they'd wake up every morning to say good-bye to the Hinatas before school, how they'd prepare for invasion meetings, and a few of the things they needed to do to watch over the secret base. Other than that... he didn't care at all what Tamama did. There weren't any other rules for Keroro to tell Tamama, since he already visited so often for invasion meetings and to hang out with Keroro before.
It was midnight by the time they settled down to go to sleep the first night, and Tamama was too exhausted to be too excited about sleeping in the same room – preparation had needed to be made for the invasion meeting the next day, and with Momoka's troops living in the house, it had been busy. (Thankfully none of them slept in the basement or the base – as the house was "Pekoponian Territory," those places were "Keronian Territory.")
Lights switched off, in his sleeping bag, eyes closed, Tamama heard Keroro slip out of bed, – in his pajamas, nightcap on his head, – and go to the TV with a DVD box set in hand. The backlight from the screen illuminated the deep blue carpet on the floor of his room.
"Gunsou-san, what're you doing, des-ka?" Tamama mumbled, rubbing his eyes and readjusting himself in his sleeping bag to look at him.
Keroro inserted the first disk in the box set into the DVD player below his plasma screen and, hugging a pillow, sat in front of the TV. "I was going to start a new show tonight, de arimas," Keroro said to the screen.
Tamama gave a wide yawn. "At this hour, des-kaaa?"
"Yep."
Tamama laid back down on his pillow, not really caring to discuss it further. He slurred, "Okay... desuu..."
Just as Tamama's droopy eyelids slid shut, he was startled awake by the tamped melody of gunshots and explosions thundering out of the speakers of the TV. Tamama groaned, yanking his pillow over his head, trying to drown out the obnoxiously loud sound effects.
They continued for another five minutes. He couldn't take it anymore. About to Tamama Impact Keroro's TV, his bloodshot eyes fixated on the screen, until he realized that wasn't the answer. No, that would only make Keroro mad and cause a fight that'd make him get an even smaller amount of sleep, and trying to convince Keroro to turn it off would result in much the same. Tamama definitely wouldn't be getting to sleep with the thrum of intense warfare in the background, so all he could do was watch with Keroro. He regained his composure and let the breath he'd been gathering loose.
As the opening of the show began, Tamama half-inched, half-dragged himself – and his sleeping bag – like a caterpillar over beside Keroro, chin resting on his pillow. "What show is this, des-ka...?" he managed to murmur. His tired eyes focused as best as possible on the bright screen in the dark room.
"Mobile Suit Gundam 00, de arimas!" Keroro chirped excitedly, squeezing his pillow. "Ah! It's GN-001 Gundam Exia!" He pointed at the TV, awestruck.
Still chipper even though it's past midnight, Tamama thought groggily. Onscreen, he saw the classic red, white, and blue Gunpla Keroro usually fawned over. "Another anime about your Gunpla, Gunsou-san...?" he asked, yawning again, almost trailing off to sleep. More gunshots resounded from the speakers. Tamama squinted his eyes in strain. There was a different Gunpla onscreen this time; it didn't look like the ones Keroro usually built. Its limbs were more spindly, and it was performing its capabilities in front of an audience.
Then, out of nowhere, "Exia" swooped down from the sky, and with little trouble completely obliterated the first mobile suit. The audience of onlookers were terrified.
From there, stuff happened that Tamama didn't really comprehend or care about, until the end of the episode when a group of people called "Celestial Being" revealed themselves to the world on live TV who said they aimed to purge the world of all war – by fighting mobile suits with a specialized group of mobile suits called Gundams until everyone was too afraid to engage in war in fear of being destroyed.
"They declared their existence to the entire world, de arimas-ka?!" Keroro exclaimed, incredulous. He squeezed the pillow in his arms even tighter as he crawled on three limbs over to the TV to switch to the next episode.
Isn't one episode good enough for tonight? Tamama thought grumpily, but he kept it to himself. His fatigued mind ached at the thought of looking at a screen any longer. The battle explosions of the second episode woke him up again.
Three episodes (over an hour) later, Keroro decided there to be a good stopping point, and went to bed. Tamama, still in front of the TV in his sleeping bag, passed out immediately.
The invasion meeting the next day was one of those really boring ones that dragged on forever with no rhyme or reason. Everyone offered their own plans to take over Pekopon, only to be shot down by one or all of the other platoon members.
Dororo was in the middle of explaining some modified version of his takeover-by-flowers invasion – they were actually allowing Dororo to speak; that's how bored they were – when Keroro abruptly stood. "That's enough for today," he interrupted, unable to bear Dororo monologuing any longer. He stepped down from his position behind the podium at the head of the room and went to stand beside the desk-like tables the platoons members sat in, arm resting on top of one. "I'm gonna go watch Gundam 00. Tamama Nitou, you wanna come, de arimas-ka?"
Tamama hadn't even been listening to Dororo, so with half of one chip still in his mouth, he gulped it down and nodded vigorously. "Sure, desu!" He hopped out of his desk chair and followed Keroro toward the exit.
"Hold on, you guys are going to go watch a show about Gunpla?" Giroro asked, both confusion and repagination in his voice as he turned in his chair to face them.
"That's right," Keroro said, halting a few feet away from the doorway. Tamama halted too, watching both of them, as did Dororo – still in shock he'd been completely forgotten in less than ten seconds.
"Aren't those shows a little… how do I put this…?"
Keroro crossed his arms, expression going stony. "A little what?"
Giroro hesitated. "A little violent?"
Keroro blew an exaggerated raspberry, swiping the air with one arm. "Tamama can handle a couple mobile suits blowing up, de arimas," he said assuredly.
"Are you sure, de gozaru-ka?" Dororo asked – trying to get back into the conversation. "I heard there's a lot of swearing and gore too, Taichou-dono."
Keroro spread his arms widely at Dororo. "Just a little blood and swearing! It isn't that big of a deal!"
Funny, no one asked Tamama himself if he could handle it. He may be the youngest member of the platoon, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's the most innocent and immature. And even if Tamama couldn't handle the show, he'd watch it anyway. Tamama couldn't remember much of what'd happened in last night's – or should he say this morning's? – beginning three episodes, but Keroro obviously wanted Tamama to watch with him, and he'd do anything to please his beloved Sarge.
"I already watched the first three episodes last night!" Tamama said, nearly shouting over Keroro, Giroro, and Dororo's back-and-forth prattle.
Giroro's eyes widened slightly, looking at him. "R-really?"
Tamama gave a short double nod.
Giroro folded his arms over his chest. He paused a moment before practically bursting out, "Don't tell me you actually like it?!"
Keroro started furiously on Giroro, screeching, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"
Giroro waited again. "I mean... who besides you wants to watch a tacky show about mobile suits blowing up other mobile suits?"
"They're called Gundams!" Keroro heatedly corrected, chest bloated out. "And they don't just blow up stuff! There's a lot more to the storyline than that, de arimas!"
Giroro scoffed, no longer being touchy about the subject. "Oh yeah? Like what?"
"Stuff that'd take too long to explain and you wouldn't care about! Because you only care about how the battle scenes are 'tacky'!" Keroro yelled. He snatched up Tamama's arm, and pulled him somewhat roughly out the door. "C'mon; let's go."
"Kuuukukukukuuu~"
Tamama's last glimpse of the planning room were of Giroro and Dororo's stumped expressions, and Kururu's shoulders jerking with his malignant laughter as he played some sort of hyper speed matching game on his laptop.
What just happened…?
Once Keroro had dragged Tamama all the way back through the base to his room, he basically shoved Tamama into a sitting position in front of the TV. While Keroro whipped out the DVD box set of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and inserted the next disk into the DVD player, Tamama rubbed his wrist where Keroro had been clutching it so hard. Clicking on the fourth episode, Keroro plopped down next to Tamama.
As they waited for it to load, Keroro tapped his fingers impatiently against one leg. Tamama stared at him out of the corner of one eye. Was it just him, or was Keroro acting weird? Weirder than usual when it came to his Gunpla…
Neither Keroro or Tamama said a word as they marathoned the next, oh, seven episodes or so. After the second day, Tamama found himself understanding much more of the plot. Apparently "Gundams" were much faster and more durable than normal combat mobile suits, and controlled by a skilled group of people known as the "Gundam Meisters," chosen by the original founder of Celestial Being, who had died centuries ago but kept his plan to rid the world of war through anonymous connections of people. Celestial Being worked undercover and constantly had to dodge the government militaries of the three main sanctions Pekopon had been split up into at that futuristic time.
The four Gundam Meisters – main characters – were Setsuna F. Seiei, Lockon Stratus, Tieria Erde, and Allelujah Haptism.
It wasn't until episode 5 that Tamama really started paying attention. The Gundam Meister Allelujah Haptism faced off with a superhuman soldier from the new-formed Chinese alliance, the Human Reform League, (abbreviated HRL,) to take down Gundams, but neither of them were able to defeat the other due to some psychological connection between the two of them interfering. The female superhuman soldier erupted in a fit of rage, shooting randomly at the Orbital Elevator, – one of three, – detaching a section holding civilians. The Gundam Meister onboard the space elevator, Allelujah, experienced some sort of alternate ego of himself in his mind before going to help the civilians in the detached section of the elevator, which surprised the world – who hadn't expected Celestial Being to care about the lives of civilians.
Allelujah's sudden second persona was interesting to Tamama, but it wasn't dwelt on for long until later, in episode 10, when Allelujah met with the superhuman female soldier again. He was reduced, hapless, due to their psychological connection – while she remained perfectly fine, having prepared this time, – and he and his Gundam, Kyrios, were captured by the enemy. Tieria, with Gundam Virtue, went to the rescue, but not without revealing the form of one of Celestial Being's greatest secrets, – an add-on form to Virtue, – Gundam Nadleeh, which made Keroro scream, "NO! NO, NO, NO! STOP; DON'T DO IT!" standing and pointing at the TV – first thing either he or Tamama had said since Keroro dragged him back to his room. While Tieria was occupied, Allelujah's dangerous alternate ego, Hallelujah, commenced in the destruction of the transport ship holding Kyrios, allowing him to escape.
At the end of the episode, the members of Celestial Being were shown going through their own personal sadness and cravings for revenge, adding spice to the plot.
While Keroro crawled to the DVD player to switch the disk out for the next, he avoided eye contact with Tamama. "Wh-what do you think so far, de arimas-ka?"
Tamama wasn't sure he'd heard Keroro, and his question had been too vague for Tamama to answer. "Huh?"
Keroro stayed turned toward the TV. "Do you think the show is 'tacky'?"
Now Tamama understood why Keroro was acting so weird. This was a show he knew his leader adored, but Tamama had never taken an interest in it before because everyone always said how stupid and childish it was. It was quite the contrary, really. Tamama found himself moved by the tears and struggles of the characters in the show, and it was surprising to see that this serious of a show was something Keroro enjoyed. Keroro was always such a clown that it was odd knowing he watched something this serious. And in his leisure time, at that.
Tamama would have lied if he denied being fully interested in the show by this point. He definitely wanted to know more about Allelujah and his alternate personality, Hallelujah, and if Celestial Being would achieve their overall goal of eliminating war on Pekopon. "It's not tacky, Gunsou-san," Tamama alleged. "It's really deep and interesting. Honestly, I'd think that Gochou-san would rather you watch something like this than Captain Geroro, desu."
Keroro finally turned away from the TV and stared skeptically at Tamama. "Don't lie," he said.
"I'm not lying," Tamama rebutted, gaining confidence. He gave Keroro the same skeptical stare. "It's thrilling and I want to know what's going to happen next. And the conflicts of the characters are intriguing too, desu."
Keroro's hard expression quivered for a moment, until he completely broke down, tears and snot running down his face as he bowed on his knees in front of Tamama. "THANK YOU, TAMAMA-KUN!"
Tamama's face lit a bright pink, completely embarrassed by Keroro's display of reverence. "G-GUNSOU-SAN, WAIT A SEC –!"
"I'm glad you actually like it!"
Tamama stopped yelling, dumbstruck on what to say. He watched Keroro, who was bawling like a child on his hands and knees in front of him. Keroro was sobbing like that over a show. Except to Keroro, it wasn't just a show, and Tamama knew that. Probably, Keroro's obsession with Gunpla had never been accepted by anyone before. It meant so much to him...
Not too long after, the Hinatas came home from school, so Keroro went to hang out with Fuyuki for a while. But from then on, Keroro and Tamama watched Mobile Suit Gundam 00 religiously, never missing a chance to watch it.
Dead midnight that night, – when they'd already prepared for bedtime, – Keroro climbed out of his bed and inserted the next disk of "Mobile Suit Gundam 00." Tamama, being much more awake that night, inched himself in his sleeping back over next to Keroro, who was clutching his pillow again.
Tamama noticed him shivering a little, but he didn't want to be the one to suggest Keroro climb into his sleeping bag with him – well wouldn't that look familiar? Instead, after the few minutes of the eleventh episode, – which included Allelujah proposing to destroy the facility where he was "created" to the other members of Celestial Being so he could move away from his past, riveting Tamama to the screen, – Tamama almost didn't notice as another warm body slipped into the sleeping bag next to him without even asking. Of course, Tamama didn't much care that Keroro hadn't asked, but still it would have been nice to get a warning so he would at least be prepared to blush at 300 degrees Fahrenheit!
Luckily, the episode they were on helped him not focus on Keroro laying on his belly beside him – their legs and sides pressed against each other, heads resting on their arms, crossed on top of their pillows.
As Allelujah faced the facility where he had spent most of his childhood, Tamama watched, on the edge of his pillow. Allelujah's turbulent past displayed in multiple cutscenes that flew by without much explanation, filled with much screaming and death. Grappling with whether to destroy the experimentation facility, Hallelujah emerged from the back of Allelujah's mind and taunted him, called him a murderer. Allelujah snapped and allowed Hallelujah to take over, mercilessly shooting the facility until only ashes were left. Lockon, who came on the mission with Allelujah, watched, terrified.
By the end of the episode, Tamama shivered with the emotional display he'd just seen onscreen. Allelujah fighting with Hallelujah. Trying to decide which was the right decision to make: Destroy the facility and leave his past behind, or save everyone inside, the children and the horrid scientists, and try to bring them to justice?
Allelujah, unable to decide, had overturned the choice to Hallelujah, and Hallelujah had taken the easy way out.
That was something Tamama understood all too well.
The next episode, episode 13, had the same effect on Keroro that the previous episode had had on Tamama. Sestuna F. Seiei, the Meister of Gundam Exia, – the Gundam Keroro frequently fawned over, – also encountered a blast from the past. One of the pilots of the HRL's mobile suits happened to be the same man who made Setsuna into a child soldier many years back, told him to kill his family, Ali al-Saachez. Being a child, Setsuna had thought there was no other way, manipulated by Ali, and carried out Ali's despicable orders.
Now, Setsuna plotted revenge against Ali, but the lifelong karma didn't stab Ali in the back just yet. Having rescued the kidnapped leader of a peaceful organization, Setsuna decided to deliver him back to the royal palace of his country in his Gundam, unarmed, so they wouldn't be attacked. It was risky and made the entire world – and Keroro – squirm in their seats, but the militaries of the world allowed the Gundam to go that time, having done the world a service rather than cause more turmoil.
"How did the HRL not attack him?!" Keroro kept asking.
Tamama could tell there was something else Keroro was more interested in, and now Tamama was too. It was Setsuna's traumatic past.
A typical day at Tamama's new home consisted of a mix of the following: eating snacks, lounging around while Keroro built his Gunpla, watching anime (preferably Mobile Suit Gundam 00), reading manga, getting caught up in some dispute involving Giroro or Kururu, being pounded by Natsumi for some dumb reason, and at the end of the day, once they'd watched their share of Gundam 00, whispering "oyasumi'nasai" to Keroro.
Season 1 ended in a way that made Keroro and Tamama unsure of how it could continue, but season 2 proved to be just as entertaining.
That first night when they'd started watching the show together, Keroro had been wide awake, but after a while Tamama figured Keroro had been faking his alertness. A few times while watching late at night, he found Keroro had fallen asleep next to him, and paused the show so he wouldn't miss any. Tamama never mentioned to Keroro that he'd fallen asleep, knowing it'd make him embarrassed and he would deny it, so Tamama pretended that they'd left off on the episode Keroro had fallen asleep at. Keroro would seem confused for a moment, knowing he'd watched some of the episode before, though he went along with it.
Allelujah was taken into the custody of the HRL's prison complex after the huge battle that broke out at the end of season 1, – after the death of Lockon Stratus and apparent non-death of Setsuna, Tieria, and Allelujah, – who was aided in his escape by Setsuna and a new member of Celestial Being to replace Lockon. During his escape, he met the female superhuman soldier whom he had a connection with before, and she told him her name: Marie Parfacy.
Later, Marie and Allelujah realized they knew each other in the experimental facility they grew up in, the one Hallelujah had destroyed. In a mobile suit battle, Marie and Allelujah ended up stranded on an island in the middle of the ocean all alone, with no weapons.
Allelujah vowed he wouldn't hurt Marie, still having feelings for her from back then, but she didn't believe him. After some fighting and accepting her past, Marie admitted to having feelings for him too, and they stayed on the island talking about what had happened since they saw each other until the Lockon replacement arrived to assist them – commenting he should have given them more time, seeing them wrapped in each other's arms.
Tamama didn't know if Keroro felt him trembling, but he was. To Tamama, it was like something out of a dream, – Allelujah and Marie knowing each other when they were little, except never really speaking because Marie was trapped in a cryotank, frozen in time, while Allelujah roamed around the lab, – only communicating with each other in their minds. And all this time later, they met each other, and fell in love.
He longed for something so beautiful and romantic. With the person right beside him. But, like Marie and Allelujah, they weren't supposed to mix. Keroro was Tamama's commander; Tamama was his subordinate. Marie and Allelujah were enemies on opposite forces. Although, when Lockon II had come down to assist them, Marie decided she'd become a part of Celestial Being, barely reluctant. Because being with Allelujah was all that mattered. It nearly moved Tamama to tears, but he blinked them back. And as Keroro climbed out of their sleeping bag to switch to the next episode, Tamama swore he saw Keroro tearing up too. But he didn't say anything.
Setsuna faced off with Ali al-Saachez a few more times before the end of the series, which Tamama feared as it came upon them. Fully engrossed in the show, Keroro never noticed how Tamama would suddenly scoot closer or how their legs would tangle together in the snug sleeping bag. Aside from that, there was something Tamama felt while they watched the episodes – and he was sure Keroro felt it too. Both with bated breath, they were fully focused on the happenings of the show and the progression of the plot. They watched with their own opinions, yes, but also with an energy and emotional connection between any viewer of the same show…
There was one more event in the show that elicited such a reaction out of Keroro, Tamama wasn't sure what he could do to comfort him.
Marie Parfacy had been asked by her commander if she wanted to be adopted by him, since the two had had such a strong bond during their services. She'd been thinking it over when she and Allelujah had been stranded and confessed their feelings for each other. Now on the opposite side, Marie's commander didn't understand when he saw her fighting alongside the Gundams, but even so, he protected her in a long battle, and ended up getting himself killed. Marie, realizing what happened, hurried to his aid but was far from getting there in time. Her would-be stepfather and commander was able to tell her how happy he was for her and her new partner, Allelujah, before his mobile suit blew up, resulting in his death.
Keroro began wailing so violently that Tamama didn't know what to do. He tried wrapping an arm around Keroro's shoulders in their sleeping bag, but Keroro only continued to wail. "THAT'S SO SAD! WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO UNFAIR?!"
And Tamama finally understood. Just like Keroro's father, the Demon Sergeant, Marie's commander risked everything to keep her safe, just as Keroro's father did to make sure no one found out about their failed invasion. From what Tamama knew about the Demon Sergeant, and the few times he'd come to Pekopon for a visit, Tamama didn't particularly like Keroro's father, but he had to give the man credit. If it weren't for him, Tamama wouldn't be with Keroro that moment. They would have been separated a long time ago.
People like Giroro and Dororo always made fun of Keroro for liking these shows, but now Tamama saw it was so much more than a show. It was Keroro's life, reflected back at him, communicating with him. As Allelujah reflected and communicated with Tamama.
Once Momoka's troops departed to get day jobs and earned back her fortune, Tamama would go home. Back to his spacious, empty bed, and things would return to normal. The old schedule of chores would go back to being Fuyuki, Natsumi, Keroro, repeat. Tamama would get to eat whatever sweets he wanted, whenever he wanted. He'd have to go back to the mansion when Momoka said. He would only have an excuse to be with Keroro when there was an invasion meeting, or using his "bored" excuse – which actually wasn't too far off most of the time.
But that was better than not knowing or having this time with Keroro at all. Tamama considered himself one of the luckiest in the universe for being chosen to join the Keroro Platoon. There was still much Tamama wanted to watch with Keroro – so he could learn more about him. But for the time they'd had, watching one of the favorite shows of his precious Mister Sergeant, – knowing so much without ever exchanging one word, – that was priceless.
This one shot felt so weird to write. Most of it was just a summary on the show I had it center around, Mobile Suit Gundam 00. (Yes, I have watched it, and I would highly recommend doing so. I started it, thinking it would be all hokey and cheesy, – because GUNDAMS?! MOBILE SUITS?! no way it could be serious and heartbreaking, haha! – but it was quite amazing, honestly. I don't know why people make fun of Keroro for being obsessed with Gunpla.)
Oh, and just so yah know, it's gonna be another little while before I write the story about Tamama's past. I still have to plan stuff, and I've decided to still (try to) update this story once a month even once I start it. Because I literally cannot bear staying away from this story for long. Like whoa. It's weird.
I hope this chapter wasn't too boring... Please, please, please be sure to tell meh whatcha think~! Thanks fer da read~!