-I am so sorry it took so long please forgive me *sobs*-

Aliens front and center for your monster titles.

Giroro- Ganrougel

Keroro- Kurse

Kururu- Krueger

Tamama- Taiki

Dororo- Aldmora

Mois- Molioke

Ganrougel strode down empty streets on his four hooves. Garuru followed silently with his hands in his coat pockets. Natsumi watched the sky dim into a soft deep blue as she sat on Ganrougel's back. She shivered in the evening breeze as she thought about the day.

"Do you... want me to still call you Ganrougel?" Natsumi muttered her question, breaking the silence. "I mean we know your real name now so..."

Ganrougel glanced back at her for a moment before looking ahead again. "I'm not really sure but I think I like Ganrougel better. I don't really feel like Giroro anymore. I remember what it felt like, all those good moments. To have goals and family, friends even; but it feels like some character in my head and not a real person. To the world Giroro is dead, so maybe it should stay like that."

Natsumi gently ran her hand over his back as if to comfort him. She stayed quiet for the rest of the walk home. Once they walked through the front gate they could see Kurse nailing some boards to cover the hole in the wall. Natsumi nodded to him with a smile before heading inside. Aki and Fuyuki were sitting on the couch, next to Fuyuki a young girl his age sipped from a cup of tea.

"Hey sis. This is Momoka." Fuyuki smiled weakly as he gestured to the blue haired girl who nodded. "She's offered to take care of... things. Since it would be very hard to explain to the police and mortician."

Natsumi looked to Momoka and bowed. "Thank you so much."

"I understand there aren't many people who would believe what actually happened and I can't begin to imagine what I would do in your situation." Momoka explained.

"Who do you have with you hun?" Aki asked, looking to the centaur and human guests.

"This is Garuru, Ganrougel's older brother and this is just Ganrougel in another form." Natsumi explained.

"What?!" Kurse cried out as he leaned through the wall's opening. He groaned and angrily floated up to Ganrougel. "Oh come on! I just made a deal with Lady Aki to help with house chores so I can haunt this place freely and you come in scuffing up the floors with four hooves. Two was dangerous enough thank you very much!"

"I'm not sorry for you." Ganrougel scoffed at Kurse.

Aki laughed. "Don't worry about the floors sweetie. I'll get a heavy duty polish that will protect it more since we have some unusual guests every day now. So who wants sandwiches for dinner? I don't think there's much time to actually cook something." She stood up and headed towards the kitchen.

Natsumi pulled out her phone. "I should probably try to message Koyuki and Molioke that I found you. Except I don't know how to get Molioke or if she even has a phone." She sighed realizing part of her problem.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Krueger already knows that I've been located and if he knows she most likely does too." Ganrougel explained. Natsumi smiled and nodded before stepping aside in the hall to call Koyuki.

"So you're Ganrougel's brother?" Fuyuki gestured to the couch welcoming Garuru to take a seat.

"Yes." Garuru nodded and accepted the couch offer.

"How did it feel... to find out he was still here in the world, as he is?" Fuyuki tried to ask without accidentally insulting anyone since he didn't know how Garuru would react to talking about his brother as a monster.

Garuru thought for a moment with a heavy breath. "You're worried about you're father?" Fuyuki was surprised but quickly looked guilty. "Your sister explained what happened today."

"I know it isn't the worst thing in the world to become. Kurse and the others have been good friends to me but... my dad was just starting to see the good in them and I don't know what it would do to him if he did have to come back like that." Fuyuki griped the pants on his knees, struggling to hold back tears in front of everyone. "What if I didn't do enough to stop that? What if he's still upset with Natsumi and me about keeping them secret? What if he still feels like he has to fight that bull guy?! That's why you came back isn't it? You still had to take care of that guy." Fuyuki turned his sore eyes to Ganrougel.

"Fuyuki." Momoka whispered and looked sadly into her cup of tea.

Ganrougel calmly approached Fuyuki and ruffled Fuyuki's hair with his strong fingers. Fuyuki held his breath, surprised by the action. "Calm down kid. You saw him become the star and once that happens he's up there for good until his next lifetime. I didn't let Molioke take me, that's why I'm still here. Your father accepted it."

"Really?" Fuyuki looked up hopefully.

"Yeah buddy." Kurse smiled wide. "Molioke doesn't fail to keep those souls safe. Even if she did forget to come get me. Although by the time she did, I was enjoying the new generations toys and hobbies, I wanted to stay anyway so I can't be mad at her for that."

"The point is none of this can haunt him anymore." Ganrougel sighed. "He'll become someone new and live a whole new life with a different story. There's a very big chance he won't even meet anyone supernatural."

Fuyuki's shoulder shook as he allowed himself to cry. He wore a big goofy grin. "Thank you... thank you guys so much. I feel so much better knowing that."

Everyone around him smiled in return.

Natsumi held her breath for a moment before slowly letting it back out. She held her phone in her hands, having just finished her call, and leaned against the wall of the hallway. On the other side of the wall she could hear the mood lightening up and everyone chuckling at bad jokes and getting to know each other more. She knew no one would need her anytime too soon so she took the moment to herself. To let things hit and let herself hurt. To know her dad was gone again and this time there wasn't any way he could come back. She tried to tell herself that with everything she knew now he couldn't be haunted by the bull or memories of his family anymore but it still hurt too much. She even feared the guilt of the last secret she kept from him.

Natsumi yelped and jumped from the wall when she heard a knock on the front door. She sighed and carefully opened the door just enough to peek outside. Satsuki and Yayoi were on the other side and eagerly leaned closer. "Natsumi! Where were you?"

"You like disappeared and none of the teachers knew where you were." Yayoi clasped her hands together. "We brought your bag for you too, even Koyuki's."

"We thought we would come by and see how bad your headache was and we saw the damage to your house. What happened?" Satsuki sternly inquired.

"Oh, yeah..." Natsumi started in a low voice. She glanced towards the hole in her house and hoped Kurse and Ganrougel weren't visible. "A lot... happened today."

"What's wrong?" Yayoi asked. Her voice was heavy with fear and concern.

"My dad," Natsumi felt her throat lock up once more that day but this time it burnt. Like she was about to speak forbidden words. "He-he was attacked and..."

"Oh Natsumi." Satsuki and Yayoi hushed her as they hugged her. "Do you need us to stay?"

"Yeah we'll help anyway we can." Yayoi whispered.

Natsumi shook her head and pulled away. She wiped a tear from her cheek and tried to steady her breath. "There's already a lot of people inside and I don't want to break in front of everybody. Thank you though."

"It's no problem but if you do need us call us ok?" Satsuki calmly reminded.

"Natsumi, what's going on?" Ganrougel spoke up from behind Natsumi, keeping his legs hidden behind her as he glanced over the girls.

"These are my friends from school." Natsumi swallowed her sadness quickly and spoke easily.

"You must be Red. Natsumi's talked about you." Satsuki spoke up in her usual bold tone. Yayoi glanced between Natsumi and Ganrougel, picking up on Natsumi's sudden change. "You're a lot more buff than I pictured. Blonde hair is cool though."

"Oh, thanks." Ganrougel wasn't sure how to react.

"It's good to know Natsumi has someone to be here for her even when we couldn't." Yayoi stated with a bright smile.

"We'll see ya later then. Take care k?" Satsuki waved with a gentle smile leaving the school bags on the step. Natsumi waved back as she watched her friends leave.

After bringing in the bags and closing the door, she playfully punched Ganrougel's arm. "Holy crap! What if they saw your centaur legs?!"

Ganrougel frowned. "Why were you out here crying all alone?"

Natsumi flinched. She glanced away and fidgeted slightly, shifting her weight between her feet. "I didn't want to bother anyone. I could hear everyone laughing and... and I gotta be strong for Fuyuki right? So..."

"You've been through a lot today. I know you still had a lot to work through with him." Ganrougel stated. "Everyone won't see it as a weakness. They don't want you to suffer alone. Even your school friends made sure you had someone to support you."

"Like you can talk, you ran away earlier too." Natsumi muttered.

"Because I'm guilty." Ganrougel clenched his fists. His nails dug into his palms.

"I told you it's not your fault got it?!" Natsumi barked.

"I don't want him having the chance to hurt you or your family. He's only going to come after me again and again." Ganrougel growled softly and closed his eyes.

"If you thought you shouldn't be here why did you come back so easily?" Natsumi looked up to him.

"Because your eyes asked me to. I could see it." Ganrougel turned his sad look to her. Natsumi felt her heart stiffen under his gaze. She held her breath as if it were the only thing holding her up under the weight of emotions. "And I couldn't stand to think about you running around looking for me, out in the open and free for him to take and destroy."

Natsumi swallowed the lump in her throat and wrapped her arms tightly around Ganrougel. She whispered her words as a few tears trailed down her cheeks and onto Ganrougel's skin. "Thank you. I'm sorry I ran around without thinking about him coming after me. I was just so worried about you. After what he said, and you suddenly disappeared I just... couldn't stop thinking about what you were going through."

Ganrougel sighed and rested a hand on her back. "I didn't want to make you worried either. I just wanted you safe."

Natsumi took a deep breath. "Speaking of guilt, I think there's something I should do."

"Do you want my help?" Ganrougel asked.

"No, I think I can do it." Natsumi wiped her cheeks and forced a smile. "You should catch up with your brother. I'm sure he missed you so much."

"Ok, you know where I am if you need me." Ganrougel hugged her quickly and watched her walk off before her courage faltered.

Natsumi forced a smile to everyone in the living room as she sped through and stepped into the kitchen. As soon as she spotted Aki she froze. "H-hey mom."

"Hey sweetie. Did you want something specific on your sandwich?" Aki walked around the kitchen, talking over her shoulder, as she grabbed ingredients and building big plates of easy to build sandwiches.

"Actually...can I talk to you? Privately, maybe outside?" Natsumi felt her face pale as she acknowledged herself walking right into a corner.

"Huh?" Aki paused her preparations and turned completely to Natsumi. She gave a small smile and spoke softly. "Sure thing hun."