I finally wrote another chapter. It's more fluff filled and will be about fluff filled relationship developments for a bit...I think...
The train ride was long, as it took the group across the country as far away from the Hinata House as possible.
Giroro noticed that a few of his comrades were falling asleep, their since of agitation fading into a new found since of freedom.
Dororo's arm was tightly wrapped around Koyuki's sleeping body as he drew her closer and she slept on his chest. Giroro didn't really know if he had gotten permission to do this, she still seemed a bit worried that he had maimed someone.
Fuyuki was nodding off over by Momoka. Keroro and Tamama were sleeping against each other, quite tuckered out.
Angol Mois wasn't even in a seat. She had somehow contorted herself in the luggage department above their heads. Every now and then her arm would drop over and Kululu would quickly shove it back into the luggage department like it was a dead body part.
Giroro didn't know if Kululu was asleep. He couldn't see through his glasses. But his arms were crossed and he looked like he was keeping focused unlike the rest of their group.
At least someone has their priorities straight. Giroro thought to himself.
He realized that without everyone awake he could finally have a chance to talk to Natsumi, be...Normal...He could start paving a way in her mind that he wasn't just a 'dangerous mental patient'.
He loved her so much. He just wanted a chance to have a normal life with her. For her to love him back.
He felt excitement bubble inside him realizing that was now an option. He was just like her, on the run.
"N-natsumi..." Giroro stuttered out in a quiet voice so Kululu wouldn't hear them if he was awake. "Thank you for coming with us..." His hand slowly drifted over to her hand.
He wanted to touch her, to feel her hand against his. But he was much too shy to do it. Would she be okay holding hands with him?
"No problem." She smiled, "You're saving my brother after all. From what you said of the 'healing room' that place was not a good place for him." She was still thinking of Fuyuki's sake.
"It's just so weird to think that we're on the outside now." Giroro trailed off, "I...I'm happy. I'm glad to be out here with you."
Maybe now they could have a life together. As soon as he started looking more normal so Natsumi didn't think of him as weird.
Natsumi grinned back at him. "Same." She noticed a bit of a frown from him. She picked up on it. "What is it? Something on your mind?"
"I..." I love you... "I'm glad I got to know you, Natsumi. Someday I hope to be a better person so you don't have to constantly worry about my anger exploding and feel like you're the only sane person in a group of mental patients."
Natsumi frowned at him. She grabbed his cheek tightly and pinched it.
"Owww-owww! Ow! What was that for?" Giroro growled and rubbed his cheek.
"I don't think you're dangerous. I've never thought people with mental illnesses were bad people or not normal. Your illnesses are either just the results of circumstances or genetics. It doesn't sound like something you should be punished for." Natsumi frowned.
"But you could be scared of me, I could pick a fight with you-" Giroro reminded. "I could have a war induced flash back and hurt someone. Isn't that the definition of dangerous?" He knew he was rambling but he didn't want Natsumi to see a false version of him. He was dangerous. "Natsumi. I've killed before."
Natsumi wasn't sure what he was talking about war, but she knew he was worried. "In different circumstances, I know I would have been sent to the Hinata House for being violent too. I'm not an idiot, I know I have a short temper and fuse. I'm just better at faking that I can function for Fuyuki's sake. So I've never seen any of you as dangerous." She reassured.
Giroro felt a little bit calmer. Did that mean he had hope with Natsumi? That she saw him as an actual person and not just a mental patient? "If...If you see me as an actual person, if you're not scared of me...Not worried I could hurt you..."
"I'm not. I know if you even try I could defend myself and if you were just being a jerk like our first meeting I'd just kick your butt." Natsumi proclaimed proudly.
"What am I to you?" Giroro asked. "What do you think of me?"
"Giroro..." Natsumi sighed, "I never knew you were the type to need reassurance that I think of you as a friend. But it's pretty cute that you're worried."
Although it wasn't the answer Giroro wanted, he could feel himself smiling. A friend. That was a start. Natsumi thinks of me as a friend! She trusts me and thinks of me as a friend! Romance was just the next step.
And with the way she trusted him, it wasn't that far away...He knew that they were two halves of the same whole. They were very much alike and drawn to each other. And for once he knew his feelings weren't one-sided.
There was hope that she'd feel the same draw to him as he did to her.
The train eventually reached their destination and everybody got off. Natsumi lead them to a country side house.
The roads were dirt but there was a shopping center and town 30 minutes away walking distances.
"I've already told the guy who owns this place about you, and that you've escaped from the Hinata House. You're lucky he's so easy-going about disobeying the law and happy to help Fuyuki." Natsumi smiled.
Fuyuki looked up. "I know him?" He was confused.
"Yeah! He was our upper classmen a while back. I talked about him all the time!" Natsumi frowned. "He was living in an apartment by our school at the time, but his family lives up here. They're on vacation to America so he has the house to himself for at least a year."
"Rich people." Momoka muttered.
"I don't know actually. He barely talks about his family. I've never met them. He says they're nice but I can just assume they don't exist." Natsumi shrugged. "He's super excited to help me out with something I care so deeply about though.
She rung a door bell outside a huge house. Nobody knew if it belonged to a rich person because it did seem rather old. Perhaps it was just a family manor passed down from generation after generation with various touch-ups to keep it in tact.
The door opened and a white haired boy a little older than Natsumi walked out. It was hard to tell if he was a college student or a high school student.
"Hey, Natsumi! I was wondering when you'd arrive." He smiled.
"Did you get the rooms ready?" Natsumi asked.
"No." He shook his head, "I didn't really want to clean them. They can choose their rooms themselves and pack up my stuff." He implied that his house was something of a pig sty.
Fuyuki's face finally had a moment of realization on who this was- "Saburo!" He was surprised to see him.
He frowned for a moment though. Was it really a good idea to escape the men in white by hiding away with Saburo? He had always suspected that Saburo had been part of the men in black.
"Hey Fuyuki." Saburo waved. "Don't worry, Natsumi's told me the whole story about your illness. I haven't seen you for a while. I'm really sorry about all that's happened."
"This a friend of your's, Natsumi?" Koyuki asked curiously.
"He's my boyfriend." Natsumi grinned. "We've been together for what...A year now?"
Saburo nodded.
Giroro's heart shattered. He just froze in place. Boyfriend...? Natsumi has a boyfriend? One that will love and support her so much that he's even offered to help us...?
So it really was hopeless for him and Natsumi. He shouldn't have even thought he had a smidgen of hope. He could never compete with mister normal childhood, perfectly sane, supportive, pretty boy.
Saburo was suddenly a name he very much hated.
"So he's offered to help us just because he thinks it's cool to break the law? Ku, ku, ku." Kululu asked, glancing at Giroro and mentally laughing at his suffering.
Ku. At least the girl who likes me is obviously hopelessly in love with me. No other boys in her life. Kululu thought to himself as Angol Mois hung on Keroro's arm behind him.
He had no idea how screwed he was.
"Pretty much." Saburo shrugged. "Have a problem with that?"
"On the contrary. I think it's quite cool." Kululu admitted.
Saburo stuck out his hand. "Name's Saburo. I have a feeling that we'll get along pretty nicely."
"Oddly I have that feeling too. Ku, ku, ku. I'm Kululu Jaune...Maybe you've heard reports about me in school and the famed super genius child that committed a terrorist act killing hundreds..." Kululu bragged.
"I don't pay attention in school." Saburo told him.
"Neither did I!" Kululu tried to relate.
There was this weird bonding thing going on. And everybody except Fuyuki was uncomfortable by it.
"Saburo and the sergeant Major are sure weird friends, huh?" Fuyuki laughed nervously.
"I'm beginning to question your sister's taste in men..." Keroro trailed off. He stuck his head into the house and saw a lot of Gundam models everywhere. "Never mind! Natsumi's taste in men is glorious! If you weren't dating this guy, boy would I be all over him just for his collection."
"I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult...? His collection of toys is the thing I like least..." Natsumi sighed.
Tamama screamed. Why did Keroro never pay attention to him? Either it was that woman that was his competition and now this pretty boy who collected Gundam? Life sure had a way of messing with him.
Saburo led them into his house.
They all had to share rooms except Saburo since he had his own room.
"Momoka, how about we room together." Natsumi suggested, giggling. She wanted to know if Momoka was future Fuyuki girlfriend material.
Everybody started splitting off into small groups- Dororo and Koyuki now that they could both choose their room mates, Fuyuki and Keroro were perfectly happy to be in a group, leaving Angol Mois, Tamama, Kululu and Giroro to figure out who roomed with who amongst each other.
Giroro was in such a bad mood that he didn't want to take up an active role in deciding a room mate. "Any one but him." He growled at Kululu.
"Ku, ku, ku. That's fine. I didn't want a room mate any way. I could take, Mois or something-" Kululu heard himself suggest.
"Actually I kind of want to be with Keroro. Maybe I should suggest something to him..." Angol Mois trailed off.
Kululu frowned and glanced behind his shoulder at Keroro. Why Keroro? Oh wait... I get it...It's probably awkward for her to sleep in a room with me because she has a crush on me. She might have been afraid that their relationship would progress far too quickly for either of their comfort.
Kululu wanted to reassure her, After all, I know she's hopelessly in love with me, but I'm terrified of her. I don't think I could survive a relationship with her. Much less that he wasn't experienced in real relationships, only using people to his own benefit.
He had to focus on other things too. Like keeping the group from being discovered. Keeping himself safe. Dating Mois would put to much on his plate. Not that that discouraged him, he sort of still liked the idea- it appealed to him. There was something in his gut that was getting all fluttery from the premise of having Mois's affection in not a platonic sense and having her lips on his-
He shook his head and refocused her attention to making sure she was his room mate instead of the gassy Tamama or Giroro who would maim him.
"I think he's rooming with Fuyuki. Look, I'm trying to do you a favor so you don't have to room with either of them-" Kululu reassured her.
"I would be fine with rooming with Angol Mois!" Giroro finally chimed in. That would be much better than Tamama or Kululu. He knew of Tamama's farting problem from Dororo.
"I wouldn't. I want Keroro's man meat too." Tamama hissed.
Kululu had never heard the term 'man meat' before. He and Giroro just looked at each other in stunned silence.
"I don't want to offend you, Kululu. I mean I really value you as a friend, but I'm not yet comfortable..." Angol Mois tried to talk to him.
"With me? Ku, ku, ku. I never expected you to be afraid of me. I can understand that." Kululu was a little hurt and shocked. She had always seemed to appear like she wasn't afraid.
"With sleeping in the same room alone with men." Angol Mois finished. "Unless it's Keroro. I trust him to do whatever he wants. I care about him very deeply."
She waved Keroro over. "Can I share a room with you?" She asked.
"No! Choose me instead of her!" Tamama cried.
"Dude, I'm already going to share a room with my original room mate, Fuyuki. Although I'm not going to discourage fighting over me." Keroro slow walked away.
Kululu was confused. But finally the gears in his head started turning. Ah, she's worried something sexual might happen. I suppose that makes sense, a lot of people in the Hinata House came there from different traumas and I don't know much about hers. "I'm really flattered that you think we'd do something like that, but I assure you I just think of you as a friend." Kululu tried to reassure.
He was planning to reject her short-term anyway.
Giroro, Mois and Tamama all looked at him rather confused.
"What do you mean think of me as just a friend?" Angol Mois asked.
"What do you mean 'friend?" Giroro asked again.
"Sounds like you were thinking some naughty things. Why did you reject her when she never suggested anything?" Tamama asked suspiciously.
"Obviously to reassure her, are you idiots?" Kululu pointed out. He decided not to go into detail of what Angol Mois was implying. "And I mean just that, I know you really want to pursue a relationship with me, Mois, but..." He looked awkwardly at Tamama and Giroro who were around them. He didn't really want to talk to her in front of them, "We should really be focusing on our escape for now instead of romantic feelings."
Angol Mois just looked so confused. She glanced at Giroro and Tamama for a translation.
"I think he thinks you're in love with him. I didn't know he was as delusional as Fuyuki." Giroro was snickering a bit.
"Oh!" Angol Mois gasped. She didn't know Kululu thought that.
Kululu felt a little awkward but he rolled his eyes. "It's because she does like me. Look, you might not know this but I met with Mois before in the Hinata House. We had this weird tea therapy that was set up by Garuru. And it become quite apparent that she had feelings for me..."
"How?" Mois asked curiously.
"The romance books. What kind of normal person reads someone such sappy terrible things that melts their brain away? And then all the, ugh, looking at me you did! Not to be rude to you or anything but your feelings were very obvious." Kululu pointed out.
Giroro couldn't hold back his laughter.
Kululu didn't understand why Giroro was laughing.
Angol Mois was blushing.
Knew I hit it right on the nose. She's obviously embarrassed. He didn't know it was for his sake. He didn't know that it was quite clear now that he was the one who liked her and was just having this idea that she had a crush on him.
"Well, I feel a tiny bit better." Giroro snorted.
"Umm...Uhhh, Kululu...I hate to say this, but you're wrong. You might have gotten the wrong idea...I'm actually in love with someone else." Angol Mois told him.
Kululu was shocked for a moment. Someone else? But I didn't think she had someone else in her life! She had made it quite clear how important she valued Kululu. He thought she had actually meant it.
"I'm in love with Keroro."
"H-him? But he's an idiot!" Was all the words Kululu could say in shock. He hadn't even wanted Keroro to come along, but now he had this weird hatred for the guy that he couldn't quite pin why he had it.
"Any way I think I'll just share a room with Tamama... How long did you think I was in love with you? You really should have brought it up sooner so I could clear up the misunderstanding—" She scolded.
"Only a few days." Kululu lied. He was feeling like an idiot.
"But I thought you said you didn't feel comfortable sharing a room with guys." Giroro pointed out.
Angol Mois latched her arms around Tamama's reluctant ones. Maybe she knew in the back of her mind that Tamama was gay and she felt safe around him. "I don't know! Something feels safe about Tamama. Maybe it's that...He's...What's the word...?"
"Atrocious?" Kululu offered.
"No...Um...Happy...? No, gay! That's it!" Angol Mois smiled.
Tamama narrowed his eyes. So she knew and she was still trying to steal his man! "How long have you known?"
"A week maybe." She shrugged. "But I'm sure you and Dororo will make a great couple." She was still dense.
Tamama screamed for Giroro and Kululu's help. But the rooms were already decided, even if Giroro and Kululu didn't want to share.
Surprisingly Giroro and Kululu didn't aggravate each other that night. Instead they were awfully quiet, in a rather gloomy mood.
"Ummm...I didn't know you could have feelings, but...I know what it feels like to be rejected..." Giroro tried to relate, "To know that you won't ever be good enough." Maybe Kululu wasn't as scary as he had last seen.
"Stop trying to relate to me. I don't want your pity. I'm nothing like you. I'm not pathetic and lovesick. It was just a slip up. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu hissed. "And I can't wait to see you suffer as you see your beloved Natsumi be with a better guy."
Giroro no longer wanted to help Kululu. He could sort through his own problems for all he cared. "I was just giving you what I owed you. You did help me escape. Without you I would have seen my mother."
I made you have the need to escape. Kululu felt superior.
"I can't believe my brother...My brother must have given the Hinata House her contact info. He betrayed me." Giroro hissed.
"Don't want your sob story. I'm not too attached to the whole idea of kinship with ones parents or family. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu mocked.
"What? Did you kill yours?" Giroro asked.
"My Mom. Dad happened to get away from the house before I could nab him. It's a pity. My siblings are still out there...Somewhere...They don't really visit nor do I hear about them. Too bad for them." He shrugged.
"Lucky that you killed your Mom. I wish I could." Giroro hissed.
"Want me to tell you about it?" Kululu actually looked at Giroro for once like he didn't need an air of superiority.
"Sure." Giroro smiled.
And the two went to bed, not bonding over their trouble with girls but over hearing stories about dead mothers.
25 chapters and only now does Saburo make an appearance. Yep.
Please review.