Many apologies for the wait X.X School, ya know how it can be... Anyway, please, please enjoy! ^_^
Episode 18:
Chunini: Desperation! A Wicked Pop Singer's Last Resort!
Part 1:
It was almost ready, and it was beautiful, Lee thought with a smile while wiping her hands on her apron. Her tie and jacket were tossed aside, and the sleeves to her white dress shirt were rolled up. There was an ideal view of the Seoul cityscape from outside the large bay window in the living room, one that could easily be seen even from the kitchen.
The spread she had made for lunch was impressive. She dumped the noodles carefully into two bowls, and smiled contently at her work.
Not a few moments later, Lee heard a scream, and her head jerked up. She knew that scream. She reached beneath the counter, pulling out two small guns, and jumped over the island, causing the carefully prepared food to fly in all different directions.
"Miss Chu!" she called out, rushing to the back room of the condo. The door was closed, but this was barely a problem; in one swift kick Lee had blown the door from its hinges.
And in the room she found the curtains of the room drawn, darkening the place save for a bit of laplight and the glow of the laptop on the white desk. The room was mainly dedicated to Chunini, with posters and memorabilia everywhere, save for one corner, which was closed off for a recording studio.
"Miss Chu!"Lee shouted once more, and her eyes scanned around the room. And then she found her; Chunini was in her human form, dressed cutely, but her expression dark. She sat beneath the desk, her knees at her chin, and dozens of crumpled papers surrounding her feet.
"M-Miss Chu, what happened?" Lee asked quietly, bending down in front of her.
"It's awful, Lee…" Chunini sniffed, tears in her eyes. "I… I can't write!"
"Is your wrist broken? Your voice? I'll get you a doctor!"
"No! I just… Can't…" Chunini turned her face downward and gave another long moan of frustration. "Do… Do you think I'm out of touch with everyone?"
"They aren't worth it for the most part, Miss Chu," Lee reassured her, and passed her a tissue she had retrieved from her shirt pocket. Chunini took it, wiping her eyes, and looked up at Lee.
"You think with being better than so many of them I'd be able to figure out how they think, but it's so hard!"
"I understand," Lee nodded. "We could always get a few writers, or maybe come out with a Christmas album…" Lee's thoughtful expression turned to one of fear as she saw the cold, silent stare Chunini gave to these suggestions. "T-Then again, perhaps you only need a field trip of sorts…"
"A field trip?" Chunini brightened up a bit. "It's been a while since I've been out…"
"I'll have the jet prepared," Lee stood and nodded.
"No, Lee. Wait a moment," Chunini held out her hand for Lee to stop. "I have an idea… Look through my addresses—Invite some of the people I used to work with, whoever can come… And invite some of those new idiots, too."
"The ones in New York, Miss Chu?"
"No, the ones who let me freeload all of the time."
"Oh, I see…"
"Lee, you're not jealous, are you?" Chunini said with a giggle, and Lee's face reddened.
"O-Of course not. I'll see to it, Miss Chu."
"Wonderful. Offer them something they can't refuse, use your creativity for it, too, Lee. Offer them something free—The poor tend to go for that sort of thing."
"Understood. Anything else, Miss Chu?"
"…The lowlier people tend to like buffets, right?"
"I've been told so."
"Make sure you let them know there will be one of those, too, then," Chunini added. Lee nodded, and was gone.
"Eh? What's this?" Natsumi muttered as she looked at the envelope, and turned it over. Her eyes went wide as she opened it, and she gave a loud scream—One loud enough to catch Keroro off guard. The green Keronian had been mopping, and fell into the bucket of water he'd been using to mop with.
"What… What just happened?" Keroro had started to rise once more when again he was brought down to the ground—This time by Natsumi, who ran him over to get to Fuyuki.
"Nee-chan? What's wrong?" Fuyuki looked up from his video game, and Natsumi stood there shaking, the letter in her hand.
"I… I won! I can't believe I won! A random drawing, to see one of 623's radio shows! I must have entered a hundred of these!" Natsumi squealed. "Look!"
"Eh?" Fuyuki took the paper, and read it over. "This… This is the same weekend of the field trip!"
"Huh?"
"Our club was given a grant to go on a field trip to investigate some paranormal activity… I didn't think we'd be able to go, but this changes everything!"
"Right! Mama will be able to go with us since it's the same weekend!" Natsumi concluded happily.
"Mail call!" Kirere ran up, slipping on the water that had spilt. She went flying up into the air, and landed in the said bucket of water, her first. Keroro watched this, stunned, and Kirere sat up, the bucket still atop her head.
"…I think it got a little wet…" she mumbled holding out a letter. She slipped off the bucket as Keroro opened the soggy letter, and stumbled off to her next destination, her head still spinning.
"Gero?" Keroro opened the dripping letter, and read it over, his face immediately breaking into a wide grin as he read it over and over again. "Gero gero ge…~"
"Gunso?" Fuyuki turned around at the sound of laughter, and Keroro was quick to hide the letter behind his back. "Is it good news?"
"Ehhh, yes! My subscription to a Gunpla collectors' magazine was extended," Keroro nodded, and then scurried away from the group. Along the way toward his secret base, he bumped into a familiar figure—Both he and Giroro dropped their letters, Giroro picking it up quickly and Keroro doing the same.
"…I have some training to do this weekend, I'll be away," Giroro said simply to Keroro, although from this tone there was something off about the statement.
"Ah, understood! Not letting skills such as yours go to waster is vital! Take your time, Giroro Goucho!" Keroro waved his hand, and waited until Giroro had gone to skip to his room and read the letter again, this time in private.
"A Gunpla Collectors' fair! With Giroro Goucho busy this weekend, one can't help but think it's fate!" Keroro chuckled happily to himself.
At this same time, Giroro stood outside of his tent, a flier in his hands, and the Keronian himself positioned so only he would be able to read its contents, "A poetry seminar… My poetry's good enough already, but… This couldn't hurt, could it? N-No, of course not!"
"Neh?" Kururu looked up from his work desk, and was face-to-face with a flier. A scrap swap meet. He tisked at this, and went back to work, disregarding the piece of paper. Kirere watched intently from a spot hidden behind some of the lab's heavy machinery.
Kururu tossed aside his screwdriver, stretched, and shuffled over to the table where he had lunch set up. There were more fliers—Taped to the rice spoon, the bowls, even the rice cooker. He looked to his left and saw fliers littering the numerous computer screens.
"Kuku! Are you trying to tell me something?"
"Dad has training this weekend, and you're the only other person who can take me!" Kirere answered, ducking out of her hiding spot.
"Why not take that Pekoponian you're so fond of?" Kururu asked as he took a seat in his chair, plate of warm curry in one hand.
"Rokiki-san said he's grounded," Kirere answered, her voice falling. "He messed up a bunch of orders…"
"Not my problem, kuku!"
"Maybe just for a day?" Kirere rushed over to him. "Everyone else is getting to go off this weekend!"
"Everyone else? Kuku, that's interesting…" Kururu thought for a few moments, and Kirere looked up at him, hopeful. "All right."
"All right!" Kirere clenched her fists happily, and ran off to pack.
"Everyone… Kuku, I wonder what's up, and who's responsible for it…" Kururu muttered to himself, and reached for his remote. He frowned as he saw it, too, bared a flier to it—And the flier had become taped to his hand. He tried to shake this tape, but was unsuccessful, only giving way to a sigh of defeat and instead focusing on his curry. There was a plate on the spoon, he only realized now, and the tape had also become stuck to his hand.
"Kuku. This could be a problem…"
"De-dah, de-dah, de-dah-dahhhh…" Keroro sang to himself as he wheeled his suitcase down the concrete of the large hotel. He'd worn his Pekoponian suit for the occasion, and smiled brightly at the cheery sunlight that enveloped the beach resort.
At this same time, other cars were starting to arrive. One held both of the Hinata children, looking shaken by the car ride they'd been forced to sit through. Along with them were Mois, Koyuki, Momoka, and Chandi. Koyuki seemed to be the only one unfazed by the car ride in the dented van, while Fuyuki fell to the ground, pale and shaking, and Natsumi leaned on a pole—Not wanting to leave the stable object. Mois looked on in silent trauma, and Chandi was angered with embarrassment.
"You call that driving, you moron!?" Momoka barked to the driver, another suit-wearing Keronian.
"I just started learning to drive manual, give me a break!" Rokiki snapped.
"I… I'm so sorry…" Chandi sighed and bowed, her head hung. "…Since your mom was busy, he was honestly the only adult available…"
"F-Fuyuki, are you okay…?" Natsumi wandered over to her brother, patting him on the shoulder.
"T-The ground… I missed it so much…." Fuyuki said shakily.
"Eh?" Natsumi lifted her head as she heard a familiar voice. "…Is that?..."
"Hrm?" Koyuki sniffed the air, "That smells like…"
"Koyuki-chan? What is it?"
"A lot of familiar smells," Koyuki turned to Natsumi. "…Bleach… Gun Powder… Fresh-baked cookies… Watermelons… The forest… Motor oil… And… And… Curry!"
"Curry?" Natsumi and Fuyuki repeated. Natsumi grabbed Fuyuki, and rushed him into the hotel lobby.
They both stopped, having already walked into a meeting of a group of stunned Keronians, all in Pekoponian suits. This included Romama, who looked away sourly. Kururu laughed as they stood in a circle, all holding their respective sheets of paper.
"I got told there was a cake baking competition here! Who the hell is responsible for this?!" Tamama seethed.
"I… I was suckered into sitting through a timeshare seminar…" Dororo admitted, a bit embarrassed. "They were giving away trips as a prize…"
"It looks like we were all tricked into coming here…" Giroro muttered, and turned his head, falling back a bit as he saw Natsumi and Fuyuki standing there.
"N-Natsumi!?" he squeaked.
"It looks like Natchii and Fuuki were tricked, too," Tamama added.
"Stupid Frog?! What're you doing here?!" Natsumi stormed over to them, and gripped onto Keroro by the sides of the helmet. "What are you up to?!"
"N-Nothing, I promise, I promise!" Keroro flailed his hands wildly.
"Someone tricked us into this," Romama grit his teeth, and clenched his fists.
"How did they get you here, anyway, Romama-san?" Kirere asked.
"I… I was told there was a fundraiser to help sick animals," Romama answered, flushing lightly.
"Ojiisama's ever-noble," Keroro mumbled, Natsumi still holding onto the sides of his hat. She let go of these, and sighed with disgust and rage.
"This hotel looks pretty quiet aside from us…" Tamama noticed, looking around. All turned their heads at the sound of a throat clearing, and there stood a butler, standing beside an open wooden door.
"If you would this way, please. The staff will see to your bags," he explained, and they followed in, the group a mixture of confused and angered. The rest of the group from outside joined by this time, and they were surprised to see the large dining room empty aside
"Hi!" Rokiki snapped his head over at the familiar voice, and groaned; they weren't alone, afterall. Mora sat at one of the tables, already drinking a large brightly colored. "I… Don't think this is a dating seminar…."
"I hope not," Rokiki rolled his eyes and grumbled.
"Lee-san!" Fuyuki gasped as Lee walked out from the kitchen, still barking orders. As soon as she felt eyes upon her, she turned to them, straightened out her suit, and cleared her throat.
"…That means… Oh, no…" Natsumi groaned.
"Could you say brought by false pretenses by a great deceiver?" Mois chimed in with a nervous chuckle.
"It's good you all could make it," Lee nodded, stepping toward them and passing out sheets of paper. "Everything you need to know about the resort. Please, help yourselves to the buffet, Miss Chu will be out shortly. We've bought out the hotel for the weekend, so there will be no other visitors aside from the staff, who are under strict orders to keep the upmost secrecy of your existence, or face punishment from myself."
No one approached the buffet until the waiters began to remove the lids.
"Kiichi! Lookit all of the cakes!" Tamama gasped, his eyes wide.
"Curry… Szechuan chicken… Sushi with real wasabi! They have everything! Come on!"
"Yeah!" Tamama giggled, and both rushed to the buffet.
"Children…" Rokiki snorted.
"I'm… Going to test out of the salad bar, for the sake of everyone's safety…" Romama cleared his throat, and slowly made his way over to the vegetarian portion of the buffet.
"Tell me you have a bar," Rokiki mumbled.
"This is a dry hotel," Lee replied.
"I'll be in the car," he answered, and turned around, only to have Mora grab him by the back of the Pekoponian suit.
The Pekoponian suits laid in storage in a corner while the Keronians and Pekoponians both sat to eat in the dining hall, plates stacked high with food.
"So no one else has shown yet?" Chunini asked Lee as they both walked out into the dining hall.
"I was unable to attain an yes or no from Lupapa Goucho. Mahihi Chui gave it a maybe, and Fujuju Soucho is on his way, but was delayed due to weather," Lee answered.
"What about Kodada?" Chunini asked, and both she and Lee stopped.
"I wasn't able to track her down, either, Miss Chu," Lee reassured her, and Chunini smiled and nodded with relief.
"I'd hate to think she'd turn down an invitation from her only sister!" Chunini chuckled. A worried expression washed over Lee's face for a moment, but this was gone as Chunini took a seat at a table with Fuyuki, Keroro, Tamama, and Momoka. Lee pushed in Chunini's seat and stood behind her chair.
"How's everyone liking the food? A lot of these are Lee's recipes, you know!"
"Lee-san, you cook?" Fuyuki looked up at her, and Lee nodded.
"It's just a hobby," Lee reassured them.
"You don't seem like the type to have hobbies, really…" Keroro admitted. "Still, this is really good, Lee-dono!"
"Well, there's more where that came from!" Chunini said happily as she hopped away from them. "Just have a good time, all right!? Tee-hee!" she followed this up with a giggle and a wink, and was now at the table where Kururu, Kirere, Mois, and Romama sat.
"…I always get this cold feeling when she does that…" Keroro admitted.
"Are we sure this isn't poison?" Tamama asked gravely, poking at his food.
"Kururu Soucho said it wasn't, so… Who can be for certain?" Keroro admitted, staring down at his own plate, then up at the laughing scientist.
"I can't believe you actually fell for such an idiotic scheme…" Rokiki grumbled. He and Mora sat at their own table, and Mora looked apologetic, her hands clasped together.
"Eh?" Rokiki nearly fell out of his seat as he turned and saw that Chunini had snuck up on them, and was scribbling away on a notepad. "W-What the hell are you doing over here?!"
"Oh, don't mind me! I just thought you two looked really cute together is all!" Chunini explained, and hopped off once more, to another table.
"Cute. Heh. What would that thing know about cute?" Rokiki grumbled, taking a sip of his drink and staring disdainfully at the punch. "It's just not the same!"
Lee wandered into the hotel room, and saw Chunini asleep at her desk, notes from her booklet spread all about her. Lee frowned as she came closer, and saw the pieces of paper filled with crossed out lists, as well as various little doodles, all rude and directed at her visitors.
"Miss Chu…." Lee sighed, lifting up one of the note pages and sighing.
Chunini yawned and stretched, and looked up at Lee tiredly, "Ni? Oh, Lee! I… I must have fallen asleep!"
"No ideas yet, Miss Chu?"
"I… I'll think of something, have faith in me, Lee!" Chunini replied, hopping up in her chair and forcing a smile. "What are they doing now?"
"They're in a lobby… Telling ghost stories, I believe," Lee answered.
"Ghost stories? That sounds amusing," Chunini sighed with boredom, and slid out of her chair, taking her notepad with her.
"Do you still think they'll have something to offer you, Miss Chu?"
"They will, Lee. I haven't been wrong about this yet. I was taught by not only the best singer there ever was, but the best songwriter. And she told me when in doubt, go to your audience for inspiration."
Chunini left the room, and Lee was standing there by herself. After a few moments and making sure she was alone, Lee relaxed a bit and pulled out her PDA. Scanning through it, she checked through the list of people Chunini had invited… Everyone was checked off as coming, save for one.
Kodada.
Lee frowned, gave a small sigh, and placed the PDA back into her pocket, and walked the same path Chunini just had.
"And then, the… Um… The haunted lantern… No, it must've been a pair of sandals…" Natsumi thought to herself, the flashlight still beneath her chin serving as some of the only light in the darkened room.
"…This many summers, and she's still no good at it…" Keroro sighed.
"Eh? Chunini-dono?" Dororo said with surprise as Chunini took a seat cross legged-with the others. "What are you doing here?"
"Just enjoying the show!" Chunini answered, taking a few more notes on her notepad and smiling.
"Here, Fuyuki, you try!" Natsumi sighed, passing the flashlight off to her brother.
"Kuku, she didn't even finish her story…" Kururu turned to Giroro, who had been sitting next to him, and saw the corporal cowered behind one of the cushions that had been on a lobby couch.
"S-Shut up!" Giroro snapped back shakily.
"All right…" Fuyuki cleared his throat, and bowed his head a few moments to prep, raising it again, now with a shadowed look on his face. "It was a dark night… The only sound was a clap of thunder, the only light a flash of lightening…"
All eyes went to the room's large windows at the sound of thunder, followed by a white flash of lightening. Giroro gave a scream.
"…He's gotten even better at this…" Keroro said with awe.
"In a room, just like this one…" Fuyuki spoke quietly, extending one hand. "There was said to be a ghost of a woman, with show-white skin, and glowing red eyes…"
Kirere slid a bit closer to Mois, who in turn held on to the young girl.
There was another flash of lightening, and all screamed now, save for Fuyuki.
"Huh? I didn't even say anything…" he muttered, and looked to where Natsumi shakily pointed. Another flash of light, and there she was. The snow white woman with the red eyes.
"…What?" she asked plainly. All gave another scream, and began to rush for the doors.