DAY THIRTY-THREE, WORD THIRTY-THREE: SHADES OF GRAY

"…How long were you waiting there?"

Gabrielle, that girl who had walked in on me on the last training session, immediately stood up, her eyes wide. "U-um. I just got here."

I perked a brow and tilted my head slightly. "Mm-hm. Okay?"

"Err… where were you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I thought you said you were going to come back here," the girl explained.

"I… did say that, huh?"

"You did."

"Sorry."

She smiled. "Okay, you still apologize a lot. That much I remember." She stretched. "So, are you ready?"

"…For what?" I asked slowly.

"Gun practice! I brought my own." Gabrielle demonstrated by bringing out her weapon, and I had to bite back a yelp as I took a step back.

…I really shouldn't be watching as much murder investigation videos as I do. Especially murders that involve women pulling the trigger.

"I-it's fine," I stammered. "I, um… I-I think I'll um…"

"You'll what?" Gabrielle furrowed her brows. "You aren't going home already, are you?"

I glanced at Garuru, who seemed to be doing his best at trying to be patient. I grinned weakly, and then groaned and rubbed my face. "No. I'm going to practice."

"Great," the girl said with a small smile. "C'mere. I'm going to show you how to aim."

I took a deep breath and quickly accepted the gun Garuru handed to me when she had looked away. I walked over and stood awkwardly beside her. It seems she had brought her own targets with her to practice on; obviously since there were targets there and Garuru and I just got here.

"These yours?" I asked, letting my curiosity get the better of me.

"Yup," The girl nodded. "I have a few extras lying around. I thought it would help you with your practice."

I acknowledged this with a small 'thank you' and rose my hand to knead my forehead. Since it was around four something in the morning, my body was still forcing itself to wake up. Unfortunately my brain didn't think it was a good idea, because now I had something of a headache going on.

Half an hour was spent on me trying to shoot that stupid bulls-eye on the target, but to no avail. I kept missing the stupid thing. For a little bit she tried to put her arms around me again to position the gun properly, but again, I wouldn't let her.
Not that I think girls are fish or anything, but *shudders*

"Are you doing anything later today?" Gabrielle asked suddenly, almost shyly.

"Um… I'm going to school…" I said slowly, pulling the trigger to one of the targets. I missed and hit a metal something, the bullet bouncing off somewhere and making a ting! noise.

"What about after that?"

"I'm hanging out with some friends." I was a bit too embarrassed to admit that Stella had managed to convince me to go to this 'slumber party' of hers, but to preserve whatever ounce of pride that I had left, I persuaded her to have it at the park to give it the feel of a camping trip.

It would probably help the dignity of the other platoon members too, since I learned that the girls were dragging them along as well.

"Oh. That sounds f…" Gabrielle stared at me, and then blinked. "Was your hair always blond?"

I blushed heavily, and looked away. "I… um… I lost a belt."

Garuru coughed quietly behind me. Oh, haha. Laugh it up, Lieutenant.

"Aw, that's too bad," Gabrielle said sympathetically. "If it's any consolation, it looks good on you."

"Yeah, I've… um… gotten that a lot…"

I pressed the trigger one last time, and it clicked. I perked a brow at it quizzically and pulled it several more times. It kept clicking.

"You're out of ammo," Gabrielle told me, folding her arms.

"…Oops." I glanced over my shoulder to Garuru, and he simply shrugged and made some sort of gesture indicating that practice was over. What a relief. "I think I'm going to go now."

"Already?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then…" Gabrielle hooked her hands behind her back. "…Are you going to come back tomorrow at least?"

"Probably not."

She frowned slightly. "Then when will you be back?"

"I don't know. It's usually just a very random thing." I twirled my finger slightly in explanation. "It's difficult to really say when."

"Oh."

The look on her face made me feel horrible. Not sure why, but it just did. Maybe she's just a bit lonely.

"I will be back, though?" I suggested timidly.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'll, um, I'll try to be back, anyway."

Gabrielle gave me another small smile and nodded. "…Okay."

I hate school. Hate it with a passion.

I think I really only enjoy it because of the association I have there. And the teachers. When you have a literature teacher who geeks about books and gives you life advice from those books (Tess of the D'Urbervilles: "Girls, don't lick your lips around boys. They find it appealing.") , a rebellious government teacher that could easily drive past a yellow light without remorse ("My goal in life is to have a court case named after me."), or a lazy economics teacher that's too lazy to even create his own tests ("What? But that'll be too much work! You guys do it instead."), you know you're going to get some epic learning in those classrooms. The AP part might help too, though…

Oh. By the way, I remembered their names now. Dan. Dan and Nathan. It still seems as if they hadn't quite clicked very well into the whole friends thing yet, and I was still bugging them. Well, bugging Nathan, anyway. Dan was reasonably more comfortable with me. Nathan was just a bit distant. I don't know. He hasn't quite told me to go away, so it's likely I'll be sticking around with him a little more.

Since I'm probably making everyone drool on their desks at this moment, I think I'm going to move on.

Stella text messaged me about a few hours after I got back home from school and asked me if I could help set everything up for the sleep-over at the park, and I agreed, giving Garuru the option of staying so he didn't have to constantly wet himself in the dry air (it was getting hotter. There's no doubt about that). He stayed, and I promised I would be back for him when it got cooler outside.

Stepping out into the sun burned my skin.

Yes, that's how hot it is now. The tiniest trickles of sweat was already beginning to appear on my forehead when I walked toward Stella and… the lady that was talking to her.

"…so you won't be here tomorrow?"

"We'll try," Stella promised. "We're just staying the night. We'll leave before noon."

The woman nodded and sighed with relief. "Okay. Good. Just wanted to make sure." She glanced at me and then at Stella. "I'll be off now. Enjoy yourselves, and be careful, alright?"

"We will," Stella said.

"What happened?" I asked, watching the lady walked away.

"That lady's having a party here a little after noon," Stella explained. "She was planning on getting it ready at noon, and she wanted to let me know so that we didn't get in the way."

"Oh. Okay." I rubbed the back of my neck. "That'll work, I guess." I clapped my hands together and settled under the shade. "So. What do you need help on?"

"I have a whole bunch of stuff!" Stella said, showing me a wagon she had wheeled off to the side. It had a lot of pillows, blankets, bags of marshmallows, some sort of little mechanical box, a bottle… "I think I overdid it. I get so excited with slumber parties since I've never been to one before!"

"Camping trip."

"It's a slumber party, Johnny."

I groaned slightly.

She just laughed. "Just saying the truth."

"I don't know what came over me to accept this invitation."

"Coffee, remember?" Stella grinned. "Usually I wouldn't approve, but actually knowing you has proven to be my greatest asset, ha-ha!"

"Yeah, yeah. So what did you want me to do?

"Just help me set it up."

Stella had multiple blankets that she tossed across the grass, stretching them against each other to make a softer space on the area.

"Are you bringing a tent?" Stella asked.

"Um… I don't exactly have one." I smoothed down the corner of a blanket with my foot. "I'm just using a sleeping bag. It's really nice outside."

"You don't care about the bugs crawling all over you?"

"Not really." I then paused, and wondered if it was going to end well with the Lieutenant, since I… *ahem* figured out a secret he probably doesn't want anyone else to know… "Yeah, I think I'm just going to sleep outside."

Stella shrugged. "Suit yourself, then." She grabbed at her pillows and then proceeded to scatter them on the blankets. "Hey, Johnny? Do you have any stuffed animals?"

I gave her a bored look. "Why would I have any stuffed animals?"

"I kind of see as you as the type of guy to have stuffed animals." Stella laughed. "There's nothing wrong with having stuffed animals, Johnny! I have several of them myself!"

I decided not to point out that it would be illogical that I- a seventeen year old dude- would have cute fuzzy stuffed animals laying around my room.

Unless you count Garuru, but he's far from being cute or fuzzy. And he's not a stuffed animal. Something I doubted that he would be able to accomplish pretending anyway.

"Can you help me set up my tent, Johnny?"

"Huh? Oh, sure."

Ugh. I hate tents like you have no idea. It takes forever to build them and tear them back down. They're just annoying little complex creations that were designed to torture people.

New torture device: make people set up tents for a living, and then have the tents blow up in their faces so that they could set them up again from scratch.

I'm such an evil mastermind.

"I need help in here, please," Stella said, gesturing at her built up tent.

"Sure, sure," I said hastily, following in after her. She was on the floor, sweeping dirt with her hands. "Do you want me to take that for you?"

"Sure," she chirped, dropping the twigs and leaves and dust into my hands. I flung it out the door and clapped the chalky substance from my skin. The wind began to pick up, and her little shelter was beginning to sway.

"Hey, Stell?"

"Yeah?"

"You sure this tent is stable-"

It collapsed in, the cloth falling on top of us.

"…Well this is perfect."

Stella giggled. "It's fine. Let's just try to find the way ou- oof." … "…Johnny."

"Yeah?"

"…Why are you walking in the opposite direction?"

"…I forgot where the exit is?"

"…Ah."

This is a moment where Dan would casually pipe "DERP!" in the background while Nathan face-palms from said pipe.

But they're not here for this moment, so that was completely useless to point out. Wee.

"I'm sorry, did I hit your head?"

"A little," Stella rubbed the spot where she ran into me. "Let's try to get out of here, okay?"

"I'm sorry."

"You already apologized. Even… though you didn't need to. C'mon, let's go." She pushed me out of her tent, and I helped her try to set it back up. Turns out two of the spikes Stella jammed into the ground that held the shelter up in the first place came loose.

"Where's Zoruru?" I asked, pressing my foot against one of the spikes into a new area of ground.

"He's at home. I told him he could wait until after I came and got him."

"Oh, cool. Me too." I got on my knees and pulled out the spike, diving my finger in to the hole in the ground to take out the rock that was blocking the spike's entrance. When I couldn't do it, I simply drove the spike into another plot of dirt.

Time skip~

Because I can.

That's how I am~

Why am I rhyming?

I poked my head inside my room, and was about to tell Garuru that it was time to go when I noticed he was actually drawing.

In the notebook I gave him.

His face had grown intense, his forehead furrowed slightly, his hand moving swiftly across the page. I almost didn't want to disturb him, but some stupid part of me didn't care and automatically moved my mouth for me.

"…Lieutenant?"

He jumped slightly and blinked calmly up to me. "…Cadet."

"…Hi."

"Hello to you."

"…Uh…?"

"I will assume that it is time to go?"

"…Uh…. Yeah."

"Very well." Garuru put the book to the side, stood up, stretched slightly, and picked up his neatly rolled up sleeping bag and tucked the sketchbook under his free arm. "…After you, Cadet."

"O-okay." I timidly stepped out into the hallway and awkwardly began the way to the stairs, hearing the tiny tip-taps of the purple Keronian behind me. "…Hey, Lieutenant?"

"Yes?"

"…Um… what were you drawing?"

"That is none of your concern, Cadet."

I blushed slightly. "Right. Sorry."

"Please stop apologizing."

"I'll try."

Halfway to the park Garuru had asked me what I was supposed to wear at a sleepover. I had replied 'pajamas or things you use to sleep'. He then looked me over and asked why I hadn't changed my normal clothes and wasn't wearing any sleepwear or carrying a sleeping bag.

….

We had to turn around and go back home.

Upon entering the park I noticed that the girls were already there, sitting down in a circle on the blankets we had tossed on the grass with either their sleeping bag or their tent pitched, talking amongst themselves.

"Hi, Johnny!" Ruby cried out, the only one noticing me come in. I waved shyly and smiled, and then suddenly losing my footing and falling flat on my face.

That got the rest of the girls' attention.

"Are you okay?" Kitty asked, getting up to help me.

"Ow. Yeah, I'm fine." I rubbed my face. I'm an idiot, so I'm accustomed to the pain.

Kitty hugged me a welcome, and I froze uncomfortably. It didn't last long, though; just about half a second, and she pulled away and encouraged me to join the group.

I still feel embarrassed at the prospect that I was having something of a 'slumber party' with a whole bunch of girls. Well. At least I wasn't alone.

"Taruru, you're eating all the popcorn!" Tororo pouted.

"But it's my favorite!" Taruru held up a piece in wonder. "The perfect popcorn."

Rita laughed and gently pushed the bucket to Tororo. "Share, Taruru."

"What's that?" Ruby prodded to me, pointing at the box I held in my hand.

"Um… cereal…" I said slowly, putting it down. I had grabbed it last minute. "I thought it could be something we could eat for breakfast or something…"

"No milk, spoons, or bowls?"

I felt my entire face flush instantly. I slapped my hand on my face. "I'm so, so, so sorry… I really wasn't thinking when I-"

Ruby giggled. "No worries. We'll eat it out of the solo cups Stella brought with her."

"Again, kudos to you for bringing everything, Stell," I said, running my fingers through my hair as I glanced at all the stuff around us. I blinked at her companion, who was sitting cross-legged beside her, looking very much like he wanted to kill someone. "…Stell?"

"Yeah?" she asked cavalierly.

"…Why is Zoruru wearing a bowtie?"

"He lost a bet," Stella said with an offhanded shrug, as if it happened everyday.

"You look so cute!" Taruru teased. He immediately was silenced when Zoruru glared at him, though.

"I think you look very handsome, Zoruru," Pururu said with a smile.
Zoruru huffed and looked away in annoyance. "Can I take it off now?"
"The deal was that you would wear it until we played the game tomorrow."

"Whoa, wait," I turned to the girls in surprise. "The game? We got another game?"

"Pu-pu! Did we forget to tell him? Yeah, we probably did," Tororo rolled his eyes slightly. "Yeah. The old man said he was sending me the simulation tomorrow morning. Since we'll all be here anyway, I figured we could just quickly go home and change and go to your house to try it out."

"…My house?"

"We'll have to leave tomorrow at noon anyway; I'm not sure Stella told you."

"….Oh, that's right." I paused. "Wait. Why at my house?"

"Because it's the only logical place at the moment," Pururu gazed at me apologetically. "Everyone here said that their parents would be home."

"How do you know my parents won't be home?"

"Will they?"

I opened my mouth, and then closed it in embarrassment. "…No."

"Oh, then, that's perfect," Pururu smiled. "You won't mind, will you?"

"N-no, I won't," I waved my hands dismissively. "I'm fine."

"Then it all works out," Taruru said, throwing a piece of popcorn and opening his mouth. It hit Zoruru on the head.

"Hey!"

"Oops." Taruru grinned.

"Let's play the games now since everyone's here!" Rita cried out suddenly, holding up an empty bottle.

"What is that for?" Garuru asked, tilting his head slightly.

"We're going to play truth or dare," Rita said with a mischievous smirk. "Here's how the game works: someone spins the bottle, and if it lands on you, then you must either answer to 'truth or dare'. For truth, someone asks you a question and you have to answer to it truthfully. For dare, well, it's kind of obvious."

"Alright," I said with a small nod, gladly taking the cup from Stella. "Thanks for the coffee."

"No problem," Stella said, unusually cheerful that I was drinking what she was absolutely against me drinking.

I took a sip and nearly spit it out. I swallowed it distastefully. "…This isn't coffee."

"Yeah it is. Decaf."

I stared at her, and then looked down at the cup. "…Great. Thank you, Stella."

"Don't mention it!"

"Blech. Coffee." Taruru stuck out his tongue. "After what happened to us the last time we had coffee, I never want to drink it again!"

Rita stared down in confusion.

"What happened when you drank coffee?"

Taruru laughed. "Long story. Tororo wanted revenge for doing something stupid, so he made coffee and turned everyone into-"

"Taruru!" the entire platoon snapped.

The girls and I only watched them quizzically. Even Garuru seemed embarrassed, and that wasn't something I saw often.

"Did something… happen?" Stella gently poked Zoruru's shoulder.

"W-we got hyper," Pururu stammered, putting a finger in the air. "Y-yes. We got hyper, and did things we regret."

Garuru's look softened. "…Yes. That's exactly what happened."

"Something tells me that didn't happen at all," Rita said, folding her arms.

Taruru smirked and shrugged.

"I'll start," Kitty said, taking the bottle from her sister. "Does anyone have a harder surface we could use?"

"We can use the cereal box?" I suggested, laying it down on the ground.

It worked well enough.

The bottle spun and slowed, landing on Pururu.

"Oh. I'm first," Pururu said.

"Yup. Truth or dare?"

"Truth," Pururu said, tugging at a bag of marshmallows and taking a fluffy cube out.

"Do you like Garuru?"

Pururu choked on her marshmallow.

Ruby gently patted her back, waiting patiently for her to recover.

"Dare," the light purple said anxiously. "C-can I change it to dare?"

"Once you picked one you can't change it."

Pururu drooped her shoulders slightly. "I-I see. Err… n-no. I don't."

"And why not?" Garuru asked.

Pururu's whole face turned red, but when she turned to him, the color on her face lessened. He was gazing at her curiously.

When she didn't answer, Garuru cupped his chin with his hand. "Am I not that good of a platoon leader?"

"I-I never said-"

"No. Honestly. In what ways could I improve?"

Pururu brightened at the chance to avert this awkward situation and immediately took it. "You're an excellent leader, Lieutenant. Really. Err, I-I meant… yes. Yes, then; I do like you."

Garuru's trouble expression disappeared. "I… see. Very well, then."

Pururu sighed with relief.

Kitty also seemed somewhat satisfied with her answer. She handed the bottle to me, and I spun it.

It landed on Taruru.

"Dare! Dare, dare!" Taruru was jumping up and down now.

"Um… okay," I glanced around, and then settled on one of the bag of marshmallows that was left unopened. "I dare you to eat all of this." I tossed him the plastic bag.

"Pfft. That all? This is easy-"

"With hot sauce dribbled all over them."

The girls grimaced.

"Where are you going to get hot sauce?" Stella asked me.

"Don't worry about it," Taruru announced. "I always carry an emergency supply with me!"

Rita opened her mouth to comment, but then stopped and shook her head. "Really, I shouldn't be surprised by now."

Taruru dumped the entire bottle of hot sauce inside the bag and began eating it.

I expected him to make faces as he put them in his mouth but to our bewilderment, it seemed that he was actually enjoying it.

We moved on to Stella.

It ended up on me.

"Well isn't that great," I said, frowning slightly. I sighed. "I guess I'll pick dare."

"Cool! Dump out your coffee."

Much obliged. I tossed the plastic cup into one of the nearby garbage cans.

It was Zoruru's turn.

"I'm not playing," the cyborg said, turning around. "Count me out."

Garuru had a similar reaction.

Ruby spun and had it land on Rita.

"Truth or dare?"

"Or."

I hid my grin behind my hand.

"What? That isn't an option? Fine…" Rita leaned back against her arms. "I pick 'truth', then."

"Tell us something interesting about yourself," Ruby said.

"I'm 42 years old, and I was born on the 30th of February," Rita affirmed with a nod.

"But… I thought…?" I looked at her confusedly, and she laughed. "I didn't know February had another day?"

"It doesn't," Ruby said gently.

"…Oh!"

Pururu's turn. She spun it and had it land on Kitty. The latter replied, like her sister, 'truth'.

Not too sure how to play this game, she simply asked what Kitty's favorite color was.

"Red. Like blood."

Rita was the only one not staring at her sister in shock.

Kitty pushed up her glasses. "What?"

"N-nothing." I quickly looked down at the grass.

Rita's turn. The bottle wobbled over to Tororo.

"Dare, pu-pu!" Tororo answered with a grin. "I bet I can handle it."

"Okay," Rita said coolly. "I dare you to tell us about the coffee incident."

That confident smile vanished, and the rest of the platoon suddenly turned to him.

"U-uh…" Tororo bit his lower lip. "Can't we, um…"

Taruru had this wide smirk, the red hot sauce splattered all over his lips, his hands sticky with the marshmallows. "How did I know Rita was going to ask that question?"

"If we could provide you with a better story," Zoruru suddenly cut in, interrupting Tororo's shaky explanation, "Then would you forget about the whole stupid coffee incident?"

"…It depends," Stella said, raising her eyebrows. "What do you mean by 'better'?"

Zoruru looked at Taruru. "Any ideas, rookie?"

Taruru swallowed another marshmallow. "What about that one time when Garuru and Pururu almost married each other?"

For a whole minute straight, there was nothing but silence.

"….What?!"

"You are missing the entire concept, Private," Garuru growled.

"Oh, no, not that…" Pururu hid her face in embarrassment.

"You two almost married each other?" Kitty asked.

"Oh, boy. Here comes Kitty's inner shipper," Tororo said, rolling his eyes slightly. "Thanks a lot, Taruru."

Taruru shrugged. "Hey, you guys said you wanted me to come up with a better story than the coffee incident. So what'll it be, girls?" He turned to them. "It's either the coffee incident, or Garuru's and Pururu's wedding."

"I like how you just bunched me up with the girls, Taruru," I said blandly.

"Fine. Girls and Johnny."

Wow. That sounds weird.

"I don't know. It sounds interesting," I looked at Garuru.

Garuru sighed. "I suppose it is better than the coffee incident…"

"Oh, yeah. By a long shot, pu-pu~"

"Alright," Rita said decidedly. "Let's hear the wedding story, then."

"You tell it, Lieutenant," Taruru instructed, digging in his bag of sugary and spicy combined goodness.

"I have to tell it?"

"Well, unless you want me to," Taruru said placidly. "It doesn't really matter, although I wasn't there. I'll either over exaggerate the story or make things up."

Garuru took a deep breath. "Very well. I'll tell it."

The bottle tossed away for the moment, we all listened intently.

"We have received another message from Headquarters."

Garuru placed the manila folder on the middle of the table, his platoon watching him idly.

"And what is it?" Zoruru asked after a still pause.

"It's not something too easy, is it?" Tororo inquired lazily, his fingers tapping against his keyboard. "I've been wanting a challenge for a while now."

"This is a challenge," Garuru said matter-of-factly. He opened up the folder and splayed out its contents, the platoon having to near the table to get a closer look of the papers that the Lieutenant spread around them.

"Ah," Zoruru mused, "Bounty hunting again, is it?"

"Who is he?" Pururu asked quizzically, reaching out to grab a hold of the documents. She furrowed her brows and studied the pictures. "The photos are all different. Are we looking for different aliens…?"

"No," Garuru folded his arms. "They're all the same person. He has been charged with identity theft and a multitude of other felonies. He typically adopts a persona, carries on with his plan, slips away with the stolen goods and has plastic surgery to completely change the general look of his face and body. He's been proven very difficult to find, much less catch. They nickname him 'The Body Snatcher'."

"Body Snatcher?"

"Yes. Like I mentioned before, he is well-known by his identity theft. He finds a specific person, steals their identity, and proceeds to rob them of their livelihood before slinking away to oblivion."

"That good enough for you, Tororo?" Taruru asked the chubby hacker with a grin.

The youngest member simply shrugged. "Meh, it'll have to do."

"Do you have an indication as to where he might be, Lieutenant?" Pururu tilted her head slightly to their leader.

"Yes. Apparently there is an inside source stating they have suspicions as to where the Body Snatcher may be at this very moment. Though we must be very discreet; apparently another platoon Headquarters had sent completely and conspicuously crashed the felon's latest scheme, but he still managed to escape. It's very clear that now he is being extremely careful… he is as intelligent as he is daring…"

"Do you have an understanding of what he is planning on doing now?" Zoruru pressed, repeating Pururu's question.

"I do." Garuru slipped out another sheet of paper and pointed. "He is after the ambassador of Neflik, Inabuyin. Inabuyin is known as one of the most influential billionaires in the galaxy. Due to the last failed attempt to get at him, it's more than likely that he is being more cautious than before…"

"So let me get this straight," Tororo said slowly. "Does he do the plastic surgery before or after he steals the identity?"

"Both. He takes on a different form to disguise himself first, and then changes it to suit the identity that he had stolen, but only until he has had the information. He sometimes tends to kidnap the one whom he is actually stealing the identity from in the most extreme cases, and I certainly think this is one of them." Garuru cleared his throat. "We are not sure what he looks like now, or what form he is now, but there is one thing for certain." He shuffled one of the papers toward himself. "Headquarters has kept a close eye and through methods of both investigation and strategy, they believe they have found his next location." He gazed at the members standing before him, and rested his hands casually against the desk. "We'll be going undercover."

The platoon stared at him.

"Undercover?!" Taruru cried out, the first one to say anything, as usual. "That's so cool! What do we get to do?! Are we going to be FBI agents?! Or samurai?! Ice cream vendors?! This is going to be so awesome!" He pumped a fist in the air.

"Why do we need to go undercover?" Zoruru asked, folding his arms.

"We need to be discreet. Going undercover would be the best way to get close to the target without compromising our position. And like I said before… while Headquarters might have calculated his next plot, they don't know who he is exactly. That's why we need to be alert."

"What are we going to be going undercover as anyway?" Tororo frowned.

Garuru coughed politely into a closed fist. "Inabuyin is… very enthusiastic about celebrations." He looked off to the side idly. "…Weddings, in particular."

"Wait, wait, wait." Tororo held out his hands. "Where are we going, Lieutenant?"

"Diamond Rings Co. It is said that The Body Snatcher has disguised himself as a wedding planner."

"…What are we…" Zoruru blinked at him. "…Oh."

The wedding planner that they had met in the pale pink office was male, and he looked like to a Pekoponian a tall yellow bird with a long neck, round green eyes that drooped and half-closed, and a small orange beak moving swiftly as he chattered on the phone. A small, dark gray pudgy penguin-like assistant opened the door wider for the two. "He is in here. You may sit down and wait for him to get off the phone." He waddled off before they could say anything else.

Pururu took a deep breath and shared a nervous glance to Garuru before she stepped in. Garuru sat beside her on the two lone chairs that were set in front of the mahogany desk the wedding planner was currently occupying, the bird-like alien still talking animatedly on his phone.

First impressions. Pururu had gently put her hand on Garuru's, only to bring it back when he had jumped slightly in surprise.

So awkward.

Garuru turned away for a moment when the door closed behind them. He tapped on the tiny black microchip that was behind his belt. He whispered, "Can you hear everything just fine, New Recruit?"

"Yeah, we hear everything fine."

"Good. Stay quiet, please."

"I'm sorry about that!" the bird chuckled, putting the phone down. "I was just speaking to a client. Have you ever heard of a Bridezilla?" He shook his head and grinned. "I go through those all the time. Nasty little things, they are, but hey- if I wanted my special day to be spectacular and the moose-soufflé wasn't the way that I wanted it, I'd probably be a little mad too. Hello!" It seemed it was at this point when he finally noticed the frogs. He leaned back and formed a box-shape with two fingers from each hand, closing an eye to look at the two Keronians through the square he had created. "If that doesn't say picture perfect couple then I don't know what does!"

Garuru had to bite his tongue to keep from correcting him, and Pururu gave the wedding planner a broken smile.

"Oh, oh, oh! I apologize profusely." The wedding planner smiled. He stood up and stretched an arm to Garuru, who slowly and hesitantly accepted it. "I am Stanger. I shall be your wedding planner for this fantastic occasion. I'm very pleased to say that I'm getting very good vibes from you two, and that doesn't happen all the often. And! If I may also add, I am never, ever wrong. So! Who will I be helping in the bringing together of holy matrimony and special bonding of two people?"

"I am Garuru, and this is Ch… Pururu," Garuru said, choosing his words carefully. "We would like to be… married."

"I figured," Stanger said with an enthusiastic laugh. He sat down. "Let's get down to business, then. Do you have a particular theme in mind?"

"A-ah…" Pururu bit her lip and glanced at Garuru again. "N… nothing too big… something… simple?"

"Simple… I like it! I'm thinking eggshell blues and whites… a hint of light yellow…" Stanger nodded to himself and wrote something down on a little notepad. "Good, good! We'll get into detail on that a little later, then. When were you two thinking about holding the wedding?"

"What is the soonest date you have?" Pururu inquired quietly.

"Soonest? As in, several months, soonest?"

"We mean days," Garuru said, folding his arms uncomfortably.

"…Ah. A little eager for the wedding night, aren't we?"

Garuru couldn't help but glare a little, and Pururu covered her reddened face in humiliation. This was a little too much for both of them.

"I couldn't help it!" Stanger said with a humble laugh. "That's what I always say to my clients who are planning a fast wedding. What happens in Vegas, eh?"

"I don't know what that means," Garuru said dryly.

"We're eloping," Pururu said, putting her hands down. She smiled weakly. "E-eloping, b-because our, err, our parents don't approve of this relationship…"

"How romantic! I agree immensely." Stanger nodded again and scribbled on the paper. "Now! The closest date I have is in five days. Since you two are eloping, I'll take it isn't going to be big? Works well for my schedule. How many were you planning on inviting, anyway?"

"Ten at the most," Garuru replied.

"Mmhm. Alright. So your family won't be there, I assume?" Stanger 'tsk'ed'. "Such a shame. I do hate it when that happens."

Garuru shuffled slightly in his seat. His father would never, ever let it go, burdening him with a never-ending line of jokes and teases.

…It would be fun to see his brother's reactions, though…

"Moving on. So we more or less have the theme tucked under our belt; what about the traditional aspect of the wedding you two were thinking about?"

"Oh," Pururu put a finger to her lips. "Basically a traditional Keronian wedding, right, Garuru?"

"Agreed."

"Good," Stanger murmured. "Mm. Unfortunately this is the first time I've ever actually planned a traditional Keronian wedding, so it would be much appreciated if you told me what it was about."

Garuru and Pururu exchanged a knowing glance.

"We will," Garuru said smoothly, redirecting his sight to the wedding planner.

"Now. Do you have a priest in mind?"

"A… priest?"

"To marry you, of course."

Garuru hesitated on this, and then replied, "Yes. Yes we do. Our priest's name is Zoruru."

"I'm a WHAT?!"

Pururu began coughing loudly as Garuru embarrassedly covered his chest area with a hand.

"Oh dear." Stanger stood back up and walked over to the tub of water at the corner of the room, pulling out a paper cup and dripping the liquid inside it.

"Zoruru," Garuru growled quietly. "Please be quiet."

"We duct taped his mouth. S'all good."

"Here you go, my dear."

"O-oh. Thank you." Pururu accepted the cup from Stanger and drank it, peering at the purple Keronian anxiously.

"I have most of the things I need here," Stanger said. "Yes. Write me a list of the people you do choose to invite so that I may send them invitations. Or have you send the invitations, if you prefer. It must be done soon, correct?"

"Correct."

"Well done!" Stanger ushered them out the door. He handed Pururu a slip of paper. "Petey will show you outside. I promise this wedding will be your most memorable and momentous occasion of your lives."

Garuru opened his mouth to suggest something, but by then Stanger already closed the door on them.

"…Does he seem suspicious to you, Lieutenant?" Pururu asked quietly, looking around to make sure no one was spying on them.

"It's too early to tell, but if he really was a wedding planner, then I would have assumed he would have at least known what a traditional Keronian wedding was," Garuru said with a grunt. "It's not one of the rarer traditions in this galaxy."

"Maybe he's new?" Pururu suggested, glancing at the sheet that Stanger had given her.

"Perhaps. Like I said before, it's too early to tell."

The penguin waddled up to them and blinked up at them. "Right this way." The followed close behind him.

"Yay a wedding!" Taruru jumped up and down. "I've never been to a wedding before! This is going to be so epic! And it's the Lieutenant's and Chief Medic's too!"

"It's not real," Zoruru said irritably, folding his arms. "It's solely for the use of going undercover."

"Yeah, yeah," Taruru puckered his lips out. "You're just mad because you hafta be the priest." He snickered, and then said in a monotonous tone, "Pururu. Do you Garuru to be your lawfully wedded hus-?"

"Don't make me execute the murder I've been long planning since I met you. Because you're really pushing it right now."

"I wonder if I get to take part in the wedding," Taruru mused suddenly, deciding it would probably be best not to get brutally mutilated.

"Probably not, pu!" Tororo smirked. "You'd probably compromise our position."

"I won't!" Taruru pouted.

Garuru sighed. "We'll see, Private."

"Did you guys find out who it might be" Tororo inquired, chewing on the straw of his soda can.

"No, unfortunately," the purple Keronian said regrettably. "However, we still have much time. Chief Medic."

"Y-yes sir?" Pururu quickly turned to him.

"Let's try to make it conspicuous that we're inviting Inabuyin," Garuru told her. "The more people hear of it, the more likely the perpetuator will make himself better known."

"But how will we invite one of the most influential billionaires in the galaxy?" Tororo asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"Simple," Garuru bent down to pick up a stray piece of paper from off the ground. He gazed at it quizzically and turned it over, eyes softening slightly when he realized it was the form that Stanger had given Pururu. "I know him."

"…You do?" Zoruru perked a brow dubiously.

"I do. Before I became a Lieutenant, I was in another platoon; I was commissioned near his home. One thing led to another, and I became acquainted with him. He's very pleasant… and like I mentioned before, he enjoys taking part in celebrations. I'm sure if I invited him to a wedding he would come."

"What's that?" Taruru swiped the paper from Garuru's hands and examined it. "A schedule?"

"Yes," Garuru said, folding his arms. "The wedding is to take part in several days."

"Awkward." Taruru grinned widely. "Ooh~! You guys are going to dance rehearsal, too?"

"What?" Pururu and Garuru asked simultaneously.

"That's what it says here," Taruru laughed, pointing to something in the piece of paper. "The Lieutenant dancing! This is gonna be fun to watch!"

"I am… not partaking in that activity," Garuru said seriously.

"You will if you wanna build up the impression that you two are getting married, pu~" Tororo giggled mischievously, no doubt also finding this unfortunate circumstance amusing. "If you two are really the lovey-dovey couple that has run away from family to elope, it's pretty clear that you'd do anything for your fiancée, Lieutenant."

Garuru simply growled and turned away, mildly annoyed.

"You also get to pick out your wedding dress, Pururu!" Taruru pointed out, holding the paper up. "Lucky!"

"How is she lucky?" Zoruru asked dryly. "Have you ever wanted to wear a wedding dress before?"

Taruru stared at him, his cheeks sucked in. Zoruru began to say another snarky comment when the former suddenly cried out, "I HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT!"

Zoruru's teasing smirk disappeared. "Oh."

Taruru snapped his fingers like some sassy woman waiting in line at the grocery store. "Don't be looking at me like that. It was my dream ever since I was a wee tadpole!"

"I thought you said you had the right to remain silent?!"

"Oh yeah, I did, didn't I?" Taruru stopped talking and pondered on the mysteries of life for no reason in particular.

Tororo had gotten bored early in the conversation and was playing around in his laptop. "Hey, Scraps? I have a question."

"Sure," Zoruru said hastily, turning to the tadpole.

Tororo was frowning slightly. "Uh… what do you do in your wedding night?"

Pururu, Garuru, and Zoruru stared at him blankly.

"…You don't ask things like that," Pururu said, her cheeks flaring up.

"You really… you really don't," Zoruru insisted, eye flickering to the opposite side.

"Pu! Why not?" Tororo demanded. "You know I'll just look it up anyway."

"I've been wondering about that too," Taruru said suddenly, looking up at the ceiling. "For some reason the Lieutenant started looking all nervous when you brought it up-"

"You just…" The adults glanced at each other, and then again looked away.

"It's a surprise," Pururu said, finally settling on a simpler explanation. "That's why we can't tell you. You'll… find out when you get married."

"Aww… but that won't be for like, another long time!" Taruru puffed out his cheeks. "…Unless I get Chiroro to marry me. Maybe then I'll find out?"

"S… stay away from Chiroro!" Tororo waved an agitated fist at him.

"Did I say Chiroro? I meant Karara." The light blue Keronian blinked at him. "Hey, wait. Why'd you get all defensive all of a sudden-?"

"I didn't get defensive!"

"Uh, yeah you did. You're doing it right now, too-"

"I am not!"

The argument suddenly erupted into a random burst of boyish play, the younger tadpole jumping on the blue frog and tackling him to the ground.

The adults watched them idly for a moment, and then resumed further planning of the pretend wedding, glad that that awkward question was pushed away for the meanwhile.

"Why do I have to be the priest?" Zoruru planted his hands on waist. "I thought I wasn't going to be involved in this whole scheme at all because I was too conspicuous-looking; wasn't that the reason why I couldn't be the groom in the first place?"

"There is one traditional Keronian custom that isn't practiced anymore," Garuru said, catching the paper Taruru had thrown in the air when Tororo had delivered something called a 'Pizza Punch' to the chest. "And it's that one of the priests are completely covered in cloth, not to be viewed by everyone."

"…Oh."

"Precisely. If the Body Snatcher makes a threatening appearance on the scene, you will be there with us."

Zoruru nodded. "I see. Good thinking, Lieutenant."

"Thank you."

Taruru had a black eye. "Are you excited about getting married, Lieutenant?"

"It's not real," Garuru said strictly. "This is primarily for the mission."

"Mmhm," Taruru grinned at Pururu. "I know for a fact you should be happy, though."

"It's for the mission, Taruru," Pururu repeated, shaking her head slightly.

The next morning, Garuru and Pururu went back to the same building, quietly walking through the hallways and following the penguin was waddling them to their next location.

"Catering, seating arrangements, floral arrangements, wedding cake, decorations…" Pururu murmured to the Lieutenant as she read the contents of the page, "…I didn't think planning a wedding would be so extravagant, L…Garuru."

"Anything for love, right?" Petey squeaked from in front of them.

Garuru fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Yes. I suppose so."

"You know," Petey said as he turned around, walking backward so that he could face them, "even though Stanger claims that you two are the perfect match and all that mush, you don't exactly speak 'couple' to me. It almost seems like… you're pulling some sort of act."

"N-no!" Pururu stammered. "I-it's not! W-we're just, um… we're just nervous. W-we've never done this before, and it's, erm…"

"Ooooh. I understand. Pre-wedding jitters." Petey winced slightly and glanced at Garuru. "I'm sorry to say so but often that is not a good sign." He looked at Garuru as he gestured to the female Keronian, who was hiding her face in embarrassment again. "If I were you, I think I'd show a little more affection to her. Don't you think?"

"…I suppose…"

"Good! Here is your room." The penguin shoved them inside and closed the door.

Nobody was with them. They took this opportunity to loosen up, because they doubted they were going to be doing so anytime soon.

"…I'm not good at this," Garuru said blandly.

"You're doing your best!" Pururu said encouragingly. "That's what really counts."

"I should maybe have had the Private be the groom instead," Garuru muttered. He sighed and shook his head. "He would probably have done a better job."

"You're doing your best," Pururu repeated.

"I suppose I'll have to be more affectionate to you if we want to appear to be a genuine couple," Garuru then paused for a moment. "…How do you do that?"

"Try holding her hand."

Garuru looked down at his belt in mild annoyance.

"That… isn't actually a bad idea, Lieutenant," Pururu said timidly. She blushed heavily when he gazed up at her. "A-and if you let me hold your arm sometimes… I don't know, I'm just guessing…" She rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment.

"…Very well." Garuru placed a hand on his hip. "And what else do couples do?"

"You're very new to all this, aren't you, Lieutenant?"

"Please just answer the question."

"Well," Taruru's voice began, "when you guys sit down, put an arm around her shoulders. And Pururu can kinda lean against you. Gives the impression that you two are really close and don't mind in getting in each other's personal space. And even though I can't imagine the Lieutenant doing this, maybe give each other a peck on the cheek once or twice. You don't have to do it, but if you're really trying to sell them into believing this 'relationship' is real, then I say go for it."

Zoruru's voice came on: "For someone who hasn't exactly been in a relationship himself, you sure know quite a bit about this romance thing, Taruru."

"Hey. Karara has pulled me into a lot of stuff. You tend to learn a thing or two from her."

"So! How are we from our lovely couple?"

Garuru and Pururu immediately spun around to face the bird-like alien, who was gladly stepping inside the room.

"Unfortunately, since this is a very closely planned wedding, our schedule may be a little rushed," Stanger said, somewhat sympathetically. "Really. Typically I would give couples a few months to relax without feeling that unnecessary rush but since you're planning on having your wedding in a few days, we may have to resort to that. You won't mind, will you?"

"No." Garuru took a step closer to Pururu and awkwardly took her hand. "We don't."

That little gesture brightened up Stanger a bit. "Very good! I'll take it that you looked at the schedule that I handed you yesterday?"

"Yes," Pururu nodded. She glanced at Garuru, and then gazed back over to him. "Err… what would you like to accomplish now?"

"I'm not sure if you noticed, but-" Stanger pointed at some of the objects on the paper. "-some of the things on the list are highlighted; that means that I will solely work on it. I just need you to answer some questions of mine to ensure that my vision is similar to your vision of your wedding. Whereas the ones that aren't highlighted are things you can do on your own."

"Like the fittings for the tuxedoes and the wedding gown?" Pururu inquired, reading out loud some of the items.

"Oh! That reminds me." Stanger clapped his hands together. "Do you have anyone in mind for the ring bearer, best man, the one who will carry the bride over to the chapel…?"

"We… don't exactly have anyone for the third position," Pururu said slowly.

"Oh, that's right," Stanger looked at her sympathetically. "Yes, I see. I forget that that position is typically reserved for fathers…"

It was more like they didn't have anyone period to fill that role.

"I have a little brother who will play the ring bearer," Pururu said. "Err… and… Garuru has a friend who will be more than happy to be the best man… right… honey?" The last word sounded a little forced, but with a sweet smile, it went unnoticed.

"Yes." Garuru gave her a look that said, 'who?'. Pururu didn't answer and simply turned back to Stanger.

"Thank you very much for doing all of this on such short notice."

"Think nothing of it," Stanger said, gently pinching her cheek. "It's only my job, after all."

Again, Garuru gave Pururu a cautionary glance, but she honestly didn't seem too bothered by it.

They spent several hours discussing what kind of food should be served at the reception, and what kind of decorations should use to represent the 'couple'. Garuru was, admittedly, bored of having to go through all the procedures. He just wanted to catch the guy already, lock him up for his crimes. Going undercover was never one of his favorite things to when he went on missions; he'd rather just quickly get it done and move on to the next mission instead of playing dress up and pretending to be someone he wasn't.

Especially if it involved having to act like he was marrying one of his platoon members.

To Garuru's surprise, Pururu was well able to keep up, seriously considering the options she was given and coming up with brilliant ideas for the celebration. It seemed that she already had a view of the wedding herself, come to think of it.

When they had left the office Garuru pointed it out. Pururu blushed heavily.

"When I was little, I would play wedding and pretend I was the bride," she replied, looking away. "The funny thing is, I think I had more fun planning it out then actually walking down the aisle."

"Ah, I remember now," Garuru nodded. "You did invite me to a wedding before, but I had target practice that afternoon, so I couldn't attend."

"Do you now?" Pururu laughed. "It was such a long time ago."

"Yes, and unless I recall incorrectly, you made Giroro play along with you."

"I did! He was the ring bearer, I think. I made him wear one of my dad's old bowties." Pururu's eyes glittered at the memory. "Keroro was the priest, and Dororo was the flower girl."

Garuru smirked and gave her a side look. "And who did you marry?"

Pururu coughed.

"Come now, Chief Medic. You don't have to be embarrassed." He gestured toward his belt. "I turned off the microphone when we were speaking to Stanger."

"…Oh. Why was that?"

"You seemed perfectly capable of doing everything on your own. And besides; there is an emergency switch activated on this. If it was urgent, New Recruit would know how to turn it on." Garuru gazed at her expectantly.

Pururu took a deep breath. "…I married my teddy bear." She giggled nervously. "I was actually hoping you would be the groom."

Garuru watched her amusedly. "Oh really?"

"Yes. It was a childish crush. Nothing too big." She cleared her throat nervously.

Garuru had a small playful smile. "I see. Very well." He looked away. "Back to the matter at hand. You had mentioned a 'ring bearer' and a 'best man'."

"Yes, I did."

"Who exactly did you have in mind?"

"Tororo as the ring bearer, and Taruru as the best man."

"…Ah."

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"No… I suppose not-"

A small group of wedding planners walked by, talking placidly with each other. Garuru rose his voice slightly.

"Yes, we will be inviting Inabuyin. And he will definitely be there, to our wedding."

Pururu gently wrapped her arms around Garuru's and smiled apologetically to the gang that had now quieted and was giving them odd stares. She pressed her face against him in hopes of further muffling her voice so that only he could hear her.

"I'm sorry to say, but, um… Lieutenant-"

"I'm not a very good actor."

"You're not…"

The next few days were surprisingly busy. Pururu was gone more often, being the one with a better grasp of the pretend wedding. Garuru was in charge of writing all the invitations (very, very few people would be invited) and sending them off, wondering vaguely if they would be reached in time before the actual ceremony.
Inabuyin responded right away, only too gleeful to attend, happy that his friend finally found someone in his all too dull, boring, miserable, melancholy, distressful, bachelor work-oriented life.

Garuru thought it best not to correct him.

"I found my wedding dress~!"

Garuru jumped, surprised, as Pururu wrapped her arms around him from behind. He blinked. "…Chief Medic? We are at the ship now."

"O-oh." It must've then hit her that they were allowed to be themselves again, free from acting like the sweet runaway couple about to get married. She blushed heavily and backed away. "I-I apologize, Lieutenant. Um. The… excitement has been… getting to me."

"I would appreciate it if you concentrated on the actual mission on hand, instead of the wedding ceremony, Chief Medic. I would also appreciate it if you remembered this is merely a disguise to preserve our true identities as a Keronian platoon."

Pururu's face got redder, something he didn't think was possible. She bowed. "Y-yes sir."

"Did you find anything?"

"Actually, I did," Pururu sat next to Garuru. "The receptionist there has been eyeing me a lot lately… .He's very kind, but sometimes I get the impression he may be up to something…"

"Good. Anyone else?"

"No," Pururu admitted. "They all seem like genuine people. A little too enthusiastic about weddings that aren't their own, but… sweet… you know?"

"I believe that that is what they want you to think," Garuru said, gently waving a pen at her. "But I agree. We are only looking for one person, but it also seems the whole community is earnestly intent on creating a ceremony worthy for about-to-be-married-couples. They are very kind. I believe Stanger is a good suspect to investigate further, however- I just have my suspicions on him…"

"I still don't believe so," Pururu said. "I just have this feeling…" She looked at the clock. "Lieutenant. Speaking of which, Stanger wants us to go meet him in a few minutes."

Garuru nodded. "This will be a good opportunity to keep a close eye on him."

"No."

Stanger frowned. "I didn't think you would be stubborn about this, Garuru."

The instructor beside them was impatiently folding her arms and looking at her watch. She tapped her foot. "We don't have time for your manly pride, you know. Some of us have places we'd rather be."

"L-... Garuru." Pururu sighed.

Petey, the penguin assistant, shook his head. "This marriage isn't going to last long."

"Please?"

Garuru took a deep breath and awkwardly reached for her, taking her hand in his and putting the other on her hip. She nervously put hers on his shoulder.

"Get closer."

They only did so by a small foot step.

Stanger rolled his eyes to the ceiling and walked toward them, pushing them to the point where their chests were touching.

"Honestly!" Stanger said, "You two act like you've never been this close before!"

He had no idea.

(Garuru refused to further explicate how that evening went, much to the girls' disappointment. Pururu was only too glad to let him skip that particular part).

"TUXEDOES ARE SO FRESH! I've always wanted to say that!"

"Please hold still…"

The tailor had a few needles in his mouth, trying to sew the suit on Taruru. Tororo was bored and complaining about how his legs were getting tired from standing up too long. The tailor working on his commented that they've only been at it for about two minutes.

Garuru shook his head. Something suddenly poked his arm, and he cringed slightly.

"Sorry," the seamstress working on his said, smiling at him. "Your species are just not ones that we're used to actually crafting for. But it's a real challenge, you know?"

Garuru nodded absently.

"I met the bride."

"Did you, now."

"Yes. I'm actually surprised in her choice of dress. She is, honestly, the only one who chose a gown that wasn't too flashy- or at least, from what I've seen from other brides who come looking for dresses. Such lovely shades of gray…" The seamstress pulled her needle from his coat. "You do know what that means don't you?"

"No, I don't."

"Mm. You'll figure it out when you see her." She snipped a piece of thread with her teeth. "Let me just say you are very lucky, sir."

Garuru sighed. It seemed he just wasn't going to get enough of this. "Thank you."

"This is called a monkey suit, Lieutenant!" Taruru said, jumping out of nowhere. "Isn't this awesome!?"

"…Your pants are falling off," the seamstress said flatly.

"Oh, really? That's a shame." Taruru had to walk back to the angry tailor, pulling up his pants on the way there.

Garuru face palmed, realizing that this Keronian was going to be his best man.

"Lieutenant, what's your favorite flavor?"

Back at the ship, Garuru looked up at Pururu. She had been writing down some more suspects who she felt needed to be looked into. Glancing at it even briefly he could tell that Stanger was still not on her list despite the fact that he had made it clear that he was still very suspicious of that wedding planner.

Actually, she had been spending an awful lot of time with him…

Garuru felt a little irritated at that for some odd reason.

He shook himself out of it. "What?"

"I said, what's your favorite flavor? In regards to cake, I mean…"

He realized where this was going and kneaded his forehead. "…Chief Medic…"

"It's just a question, Lieutenant," Pururu said soothingly.

"I would appreciate it if we-"

"I know," Pururu smiled at him gently. "I realize that. But it doesn't hurt to take the cake with us to celebrate our capture of the Body Snatcher."

Garuru gave her a look.

She was armed with her own. "Please?"

He set his elbows on the table and let out a breath. "I can't help but feel you're too excited about this whole ordeal, Chief Medic."

Pururu embarrassedly played with one of the flaps of her hat. "I apologize."

Garuru stared at her for a moment, propping his arms up and folding his fingers in on each other.

"…Chocolate."

"What?"

"I like chocolate."

Pururu beamed. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I appreciate it."

She did something neither of them expected.

She kissed him on the cheek.

There was something of a very, very awkward stillness that wavered between them after that.

"O-oh." Garuru watched silently as Pururu's face completely darkened in redness. "I-I'm so sorry! I-it just…"

"It's… fine," the leader said, going back to his work. "Just don't do it again."

("I saw that," Taruru grinned. "I saw alllll of it. I had several pictures of it, actually." "Do you really?" "I did, but then the Lieutenant found them and burned all of them. I should've kept copies but I didn't…")

Garuru knocked on the door and waited outside patiently. A few loose ends had to be fixed in time for the 'wedding' the day after, and he had to attend another boring meeting. This time, the wedding planner had promised, it would be his last one.

He could hear heavy breaths on the other side, anxious, stammering mutterings. He curiously knocked on it again.

A female voice this ti…

…Pururu?

He turned the knob, but it wouldn't budge.

There was a shriek.

"Pururu!" Garuru materialized a gun and shot it at the knob, blasting it off, and kicking the door open.

The whole room was in disarray.

There were ropes lying in a messy heap below them, and…

Garuru's eyes widened, and suddenly dulled with anger.

Pururu had her back to Stanger, who was right behind her, practically pinning her against his desk. Her hands were bound behind her with some of the ropes, her eyes covered with a thick black cloth.

"Get. Off. Of her." He could feel several guns materialize around him. "NOW."

"I-it isn't what it looks like!" Stanger stuttered, holding his hands up. "P-please believe me! Really, it isn't!"

"What happened?"

"We were tied up," Stanger said hastily. "We were t-tied up and blindfolded! I just m-managed to escape!"

"I can't see anything, Lieutenant…" Pururu said quietly.

Garuru immediately ran over, his gun still positioned to Stanger, and tried to untie her with one hand. Little success.

"You might need two, Garuru," Stanger said patiently.

"…Fine." Garuru let her go and then cocked the gun to him, keeping the nozzle toward his direction. "Untie her for me, then."

"You aren't even going to-"

"Untie her for me."

Stanger furrowed his brows suspiciously but said nothing else. He quietly did as he was told and removed the blindfold and the ropes from her.

"What happened?" Garuru asked her.

"I-I don't know," Pururu said, shaken. "I-I honestly don't know… One moment I was with Stanger, the next, we're both knocked to the ground and bound. We were here a while before Stanger managed to set himself free."

"You yelled. Why?"

"I didn't know he did," Pururu looked at the bird alien. "He was quiet. When he touched me, I thought he was our attacker." Her face became flushed. "It seems I was mistaken."

Garuru disintegrated the gun and gently took Pururu's hand, inspecting her wrists. They were slightly discolored from the ropes, but other then that, it seemed that she had suffered no wounds.

"How long ago did this happen?" Garuru finally inquired.

"Just twenty minutes before you came here," Stanger said nervously. "Like Pururu said, we were waiting for you and were going over a few things when suddenly somebody just… attacked us. It was strange."

Garuru couldn't believe this. "Let's go, Pururu."

"Yes. It seems we have faced enough excitement for today," Stanger said wearily, eyeing him.

"Indeed," Garuru growled.

The three said no other words when Garuru and Pururu left the room.

"Lieutenant, he was tied up too," Pururu protested.

"Who was tied up?" Tororo asked lazily, his fingers typing against the keyboard.

"Stanger."

"The guy Lieutenant says is the Body Snatcher?"

"He is not the Body Snatcher," Pururu turned to Garuru. "Really! The feathers on his wrists were flat down! Didn't you notice?"

He actually hadn't. At the moment he was too furious at the fact that somebody had tried to hurt one of his platoon members.

"It doesn't make sense," Garuru said coldly. "He was the only one there with you. The door was locked from the inside. And at the moment, he is our prime suspect."

Pururu didn't answer. She looked down.

"Chief Medic-"

"What are we going to do about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Garuru suddenly remembered again, and he sighed. "We're still going to have to go through with it."

Taruru had walked in the moment that sentence started. "I bet it's the penguin."

Pururu and Garuru turned to look at him.

"What?"

"I have my bet on the penguin," Taruru puckered out his lips. "There just seems to be something about that penguin. Something... Penguiny."

Garuru looked back at the manila folder that was lying on the table, casually flipping through it.

"Hey, Lieutenant?" Taruru sat lazily on one of the chairs. "I have a question."

"We have already stated that the wedding night is a surprise, Private."

"No, no, not that," he shook his head. "I wanted to know if you were going to kiss Pururu."

Apparently Zoruru had been listening in on the conversation too, because at Taruru's inquiry he fell from the ceiling and landed with a loud, clanky thud! on the floor.

"Aw, Scraps! Not again!" Tororo complained. He summoned a wrench out of nowhere and got up to inspect the cyborg. Zoruru irritably pushed him away.

"D-don't be coming up with weird ideas, rookie," Zoruru scowled to Taruru. He glanced at Garuru and seemed to do a double take when the Lieutenant looked a bit unsure himself.

"I don't know," Garuru said slowly. "All I'm aware of is the fact that this is merely a ceremony and nothing else; if Pururu and I were to be legally bound by marriage, we would need to sign several forms." He coughed. "If the ceremony does last long enough before we find out who the culprit is, then… yes."

Zoruru seemed stared at him blankly. "…Oh."

"Jealous, Zoruru~?" Taruru teased.

Zoruru shoved the blue frog to the ground and stepped on his face.

Garuru couldn't sleep that night. He ended up just walking around, up and down the hallways, checking in frequently on the rooms of his platoon members, especially Pururu's, just to make sure they were there in their beds.

The purple frog couldn't help but think he knows. The Body Snatcher knows who the latest bride and groom really are, and that unnerved him quite a bit. He didn't want to think about what might have happened if he had arrived there earlier and gotten captured as well or decided not to come at all with the thought that Pururu could handle it.

The perpetuator might have simply wanted to subdue them, but the Body Snatcher has had quite a number of disappearances in his records regarding the real identities he had stolen from. Sometimes those people were left broke, other times… gone. To this day nobody knows what he has done with his victims.

He felt a little stupid about it, too, because he knew all of this and yet he still let a lone member travel by herself to the agency with the one whom he had suspected of everyone to be the criminal.

Those thoughts swiveled erratically in his head, screaming noisily as they kept him awake.

He didn't even want to think about the ludicrous wedding. Of all things this should not be the thing he should be worried about. But it still bothered him… it must have been from lack of sleep, because he didn't let the anxiety of the fake wedding trouble him until after several hours of walking around. Is this how grooms usually felt like on the day before their ceremony? If that was the case, he swore to himself to never have anything to do with them. Stay single forever, stay at an apartment, yell at the kids that graffitied his walls and have lots of cats… invite Giroro over and have a blast shooting gigantic sweet potato monsters… raise a space llama farm…

It was probably at this point he ran into the wall.

"Garuru?"

There was a still pause.

"…Lieutenant. I apologize. I'm getting too comfortable with you."

Garuru gazed over his shoulder and saw Pururu pad toward him, her eyes large and concerned in the dim light.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm tired."

"Then why aren't you asleep in bed right now?"

"I can't." Garuru sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I have a lot on my mind right now."

Pururu quietly took his hand and pulled him over to some of the chairs that were conveniently a few feet away, making him sit down. She settled right beside him.

"Lieutenant?"

"Yes, Chief Medic?"

"Don't worry about us. We can handle ourselves."

Garuru had the urge to point out what his brain had been currently pulsing painfully on, and that was the fact that she herself had just gotten victimized. That same urge was restrained by the warm consolation from the simple words of the Chief Medic, and the gentle touch of her hand against his.

"Really. We can handle it. You can trust us, can't you?"

Garuru held his breath slightly, releasing it in a small gust.

"Very well."

"I'm going to make you some warm milk," Pururu assured him. "I'll put some medicine in it too so it'll help you sleep." She patted his hand and stood up, going over to the kitchen to do what she had said.

When she had come back with the small mug in hand, Garuru had fallen asleep with his head against his arms on the table.

Whatever experience drove him to staying away from coffee was not as strong as waking up with a desire to sleep more.

The whole platoon had to wake up for the rehearsal in the morning. Pururu's plan was to originally soothingly pull everyone out of their bed but Garuru was (extra) grumpy that morning. Whoever stayed on their mattress was yanked from their feet to the floor, the blankets and pillows topped over their heads and peeking out only to catch the sight of an irritated Lieutenant stomping out of their room.

Garuru had about three cups of coffee that morning, and apparently was still going at it.

He didn't talk to Stanger at the rehearsal, nor did Stanger attempt any talk with him, which was unusual in Pururu's opinion. The bird was typically very social and was always curious about the lives of this new to-be-wed couple, but at the time, he wasn't.

He didn't even tease them about 'the wedding night'.

He talked to Pururu but would walk away when Garuru came up to them.

Pururu confronted Garuru.

"Did something happen?"

"…Yesterday."

"Did you… say something to him?"

Garuru grunted and took a sip from his coffee mug. "The last time I spoke to him was at that room, in that incident."

"Stanger said that the Poyon was going to try to get to the bottom of it." Pururu gazed around the small arena where their wedding was going to take place. "I… hope it's not too conspicuous if I told them about the undercover work and invited to this…?"

"No. Perfect, in fact. It saves us…" Garuru silenced himself and took another drink from his cup.

Stanger had approached them. He turned only to Pururu. "Hi! We're going to start now."

"Okay," Pururu looked at Garuru and held his hand, a small action that was beginning to feel oddly familiar then. "Let's go."

Everyone didn't have to actually dress up for this small practice routine, but Zoruru had no choice in the matter. Heavily clothed in the traditional garments of the Uewuk priest, he stood at the end, having to be guided by Tororo because he couldn't see a frogging thing.

They had to do the rehearsal several times, because each time in the middle Stanger would notice something wrong. Taruru was standing in the wrong place, Tororo accidentally stepping on the 'priest's' foot, a doughnut falling from the ceiling somewhere…

Stanger seemed more than a little stressed about everything. From time to time he would interrupt the rehearsal or make it pause while he ran off and fiddled with some decoration that seemed like it was in total disrepair to him when in reality it was just fine, or argue with another assistant to fix the flowers that didn't go with the color scheme of the original plan of the wedding.

Garuru just wanted it to be over with.

Petey nodded and wrote some things down in his clipboard. "This marriage isn't going to last long."

Stanger shook his head at his assistants lack of encouragement. "You're thinking too negatively, Petey."

"But it's only the truth… you know that."

"I am never wrong."

"Can we stop now? I'm hungry!" Tororo cried out.

"Fine, fine," Stanger said, nibbling at the end of his pen. "You may find some refreshment. I need to go hyperventilate somewhere."

The time had finally come. Took about four thousand tries, but the 'actual' wedding had finally begun.

With only a collection of the entire crew from the wedding planner's organization (they didn't want to miss a single possible culprit), the officers, and of course Inabuyin, the small hall began to play the wedding march.

Garuru stood at the end of the aisle, eyes scrutinizing the crowd of people- Inabuyin and Stanger in particular.

The poor man had no idea what he was in for.

Taruru nudged him with an elbow, and Garuru irritably glanced at him. The light blue frog's eyes flickered over to the opposite direction of the aisle, cocking his head slightly.

Garuru had assumed that he was talking about a suspect, but when he had turned to see what Taruru was gesturing at, he was… a little awestruck.

Pururu looked very lovely, wearing the dress with different shades of gray. It was just as the seamstress had said- plain, but it still made her look… very, very lovely.

Garuru experienced a strange sensation that moment- his heart beat just a little faster.

("I think he was blushing, too," Taruru said with a grin. The girls were smiling at him. "…What?" Garuru asked, blinking at them confusedly. He looked up at me. "Did… I do something wrong?" "...I... don't know, Lieutenant..." I replied. Pururu simply shook her head. "He had a cold the next day. Don't be making assumptions.")

They weren't allowed to speak at all. He simply took a quiet step out of the way and let her in with him.

Zoruru, as much as he sounded like he just wanted to get out of there, assumed his role as the priest and began the ceremonial speech that Garuru had no interest in at the moment.

It was all a blur, his main motivation listening to the crowd behind him. Poyon yawned. Inabuyin playing with a piece of paper someone had given to him a few minutes before the music started, Stanger watching the two Keronians carefully.

"…Garuru?"

The Lieutenant blinked out of it and stared at the entirely covered-up Zoruru.

"Yes?"

"Will you take Pururu to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Garuru could tell that it had killed him from embarrassment to say every single word, and that Taruru and Tororo were never going to let him live it down.

The purple Keronian forgot the words.

"Garu-?"

"….Yes?"

Their was a small wave of laughter behind him. It took all his will power not to hit himself with the palm of his hand.

"Uh… great," Zoruru said, improvising slightly. "You may now… kiss the bride?"

Kiss the bride?

….Oh, that's right.

Pururu's face was thinly concealed with a pretty white veil, held on by a small tiara that sat on her head. He cautiously and unsurely reached out and pulled it away from her face, dropping it over and around her head.

She was looking nervous now, biting her lower lip.

He just stood there for a moment, not sure what to do. Uneasily touching her cheek, he neared her face.

"Excuse me… excuse me, sorry…"

Garuru backed away from her and looked out toward the on-lookers.

Inabuyin was hastily standing up and carefully making his way through the audience to leave. Stanger was watching the wealthy alien walk away, and immediately after he chased after him.

Garuru dashed off after them, not bothering to explain to the gasping crowd. Zoruru tore off the garments and followed after Garuru, Taruru, Pururu, and Tororo, who was still, funny enough, carrying the rings with him.

"Stanger!" Garuru snapped.

Stanger glanced over his shoulder, glared, and turned a corner, losing contact from the platoon for a while. Garuru stopped at the edge and panted slightly, gazing at the three different hallways. They could just barely hear the distant pitter-patter of the footsteps from a ways off.

"We're going to have to split up," Garuru muttered.

"I'll go with you," Pururu said, taking off the veil and tossing it to the side.

"Very well." Garuru looked at the others. "Zoruru, take Tororo with you. Taruru, you'll have to be on your own. Please be careful."

"Roger!"

Garuru and Pururu had chosen the right hallway. They could hear the heavy breaths emitted from the bird-like creature that had stormed out of the hall room after Inabuyin.

Where did he go, anyway?

Garuru assumed that Inabuyin was lured out somehow, and Stanger was right at his heel.

Fortunately they would be caught.

"Gyah! Let go of me!"

"Freeze!"

Garuru and Pururu stopped, their chests rising and falling slightly, at the bird that was now holding a gun.

…At Petey the Penguin.

The pessimistic assistant was currently holding a weapon at Inabuyin's neck, the blade sharp at its tip.

The penguin shook its head. "I should have known you three had some part with the coppers. Pfft. I should have been more careful."

|"You should have," Stanger said with a grin. "In the name of the IAR, you're under arrest!"

"Oh? And how will that be when I have this?" Petey mockingly waved the knife on top of the poor guy's head.

Stanger swallowed nervously, clicking the gun carefully.

Garuru materialized a rifle.

"If I were you, I'd let him go," Garuru said chillingly. "Or else I'll shoot. And I never miss."

"MYUAHAHAHAHA! YOU WILL NEVER GET ME!" He ducked his head behind Inabuyin. "IF YOU TRY TO SHOOT ME YOU'LL HAVE TO SHOOT HIM FIRST!"

"Please don't shoot me!" Inabuyin whined. "I'm too pretty to die!"

Garuru gave him a look, putting his gun down slightly. "That was inappropriate."

"Yeah, I know. But I've always wanted to say that."

"Move your head, please."

"Will do~"

A bullet rang in the air, and the penguin was no more.

….Nah, Garuru just shot him with a tranquilizer. Stabilized him for a while.

Garuru blew the smoke off his nozzle and disintegrated its matter.

Pururu ran over to check on Petey, making sure he wasn't too dead or anything.

The purple frog walked over to Stanger and folded his arms. "Intergalactic Agency of Reconnaissance, mm?"

"It's a hobby," Stanger said with a humble shrug.

"Is this your going undercover too?"

"Nah. I'm actually a wedding planner, if you didn't get from my freaking out earlier and all."

Garuru shook his head, unable to believe what just happened. "I will have to apologize for my behavior, then. I had assumed that you were the Body Snatcher."

"I had assumed you were in cahoots with the Body Snatcher," Stanger admitted. "But I've got to hand it to you. Using your wedding to try to lure this guy over here to catch a bad guy…"

Inabuyin snapped his attention to Garuru. "What?!"

"It wasn't real," Pururu said embarrassedly. "I'm sorry."

"It wasn't?" Stanger and Inabuyin repeated.

"No. We were going undercover," Garuru revealed, folding his arms. "We felt it would be only necessary to in order to be discreet."

"Wow. Nice plan," Stanger said with a nod.

"Y-… you used me as some sort of decoy?" Inabuyin blinked at him, aghast. "Please tell me you're joking?"

Garuru glanced at Pururu, who smiled weakly.

"I COULD HAVE GOTTEN KILLED!"

"It's payback for the mistletoe incident in sector seven," Garuru pointed out. "You owe me."

Inabuyin's shoulders drooped. "Yeah, okay, I guess we're even now."

"Oh, not quite."

"It was one time, Garuru!"

"You are under arrest!" Poyon said to the comatose penguin, coming out of nowhere. "For identity theft, kidnapping, arson, attempted murder on more than multiple occasions, and stealing kittens out of old people's homes, you will be put away for a very, very long time!"

"They were gon' die anyway…" Petey mumbled in his sleep.

Poyon shook her head. "Disgusting." She turned to Garuru, Pururu, and Stanger. "Good work, officers! I'll take this garbage back with me."

"Thank you," Pururu said, relieved. She brushed the dirt off her dress and frowned slightly. "I'm going to have to give this back to you now, right?"

Stanger shrugged. "We don't have lots of Keronians come across our wedding planning industry. You can have it."

"R-really?"

"Oh, yeah. I don't think we could get anyone to wear a dress as small as yours."

Pururu beamed at Garuru, who couldn't help but slightly smile back. He resumed his usual apathetic expression and glanced up at Stanger when the bird cleared his throat to direct his attention to him.

"So. Here's my card."

Garuru looked at it curiously. "What is this for?"

"When you decide to change your mind and come back and marry her for real."

Pururu blushed heavily again.

"That's not going to happen," Garuru said dryly, handing it back to him.

"You keep it. Just in case, you know?" Stanger winked at the two of them. "Let's go eat some wedding cake. I'm starving."

"So the 'inside information' was Stanger…" I said, remembering what Garuru had noted in the beginning.

"Yes. Had I known he was an agent of the IAR, it would have definitely made things a lot simpler for us," Garuru sighed. "Less time planning the wedding and more time looking for the suspect."

"And it was the penguin all along," Taruru said with a nod. "I told you."

"I thought you guys were going to get married for real," Ruby said to Pururu, hugging her pillow. Kitty nodded, agreeing.

Pururu provided a weak laugh. "No. Far from that, actually…"

Zoruru huffed slightly. "I don't think I would have been able to live with it. And I can't imagine the Lieutenant being that much of a family guy, either."

"Do you think they would have had a baby?" Taruru asked, his face lighting up at the idea. "I like babies!"

Zoruru grimaced at him.

The idea! Garuru as a dad? Ha. That'll be the day…

"Hey Johnny?"

"Yeah, Ru-" A pillow collided with my face.

"Pu-pu-pu-pu!" Tororo pointed at me, grabbing his stomach and falling on the ground.

I stared at the racetrack girl in awe. She picked up another pillow and grinned.

"Ruby…" I said slowly, holding my hands up. "I don't hit gi-" It smacked me against the face again.

"Is this going to be one of those things where everyone picks on one guy?" Taruru giggled. "Because I think I have a feeling who the guy is going to be."

I pushed the pillow away from me. "I said I don't hit gi-"

Stella smacked me with one the back of the head. I looked over my shoulder. "Are you trying to provoke me?"

"Maybe~" Stella giggled. Before I could say another word, she dropped it on my face.

"Okay, that's it!" I snatched the pillow she had thrown at me. She let out a shriek and ran off.

"PILLOW FIGHT!" Taruru yelled, grabbing a random pillow and throwing it to Rita.

"Hey!"

"It's a pillow war, Lieutenant," Zoruru said blandly. "Oof!" Stella had thrown a pillow at him, for, you know- good will.

"Yes. I know that." Garuru casually moved his head out of the way of an oncoming pillow. "I'm going to sleep."

I felt bad about not updating anything for over a week.

Again, I swear the length of this thing was completely unprecedented. Or unpredicted. IT WAS UNPLANNED. Well, the story was planned, which is what contributed to the stupid length...

I'm so sorry if it felt rushed. I'll fix it when I have the time...

And I'm sorry for the complete lack of Zoruru, Taruru, and Tororo. I promise future chapters will involve them more. Ugh.

Well. The only good news is that the next chapter won't take that long, because it's a simulation, and it's already written~

But I hope you enjoyed.