Thank you for your comments Snow Wolf, jozs001 (t'was short, I know :( When I was writing it, I was like "If I add a bit more to it, it will take me longer to publish and it's already been X-amount of days since my last update and I don't want to leave it any longer and I wish I could write faster and angst angst angst :( " No, seriously, that was what was going through my head. But I'm glad you still enjoyed it :) ), Malsyn, ZanyAnimeGirl, Rainbowkittyblossomwings (There's Giroro and there's Natsumi, so GiroNatsu is really just inevitable xD And Angol Mois...when you mentioned her, my reaction was basically this : "...Shit, I forgot Angol Mois. O.o" But she is scheduled to arrive! N-now that you've reminded me about her...^^" ), Latios381 and 44454469!
On with the joy that befalls our heroes. Please review like you lovely people do
-=X=X=X=-
Natsumi stood in front of the door to Giroro's quarters...which also happened to be her quarters. She couldn't stop herself from groaning in dismay every time she that fact crossed her mind. It was not so much that she would has to share with an alien- or even an alien that was currently invading her home! It was the fact that she had to share with someone she had so passionately wanted dead that she tried shooting him in the back of the head with his own gun.
A first impression like that was bound to incur awkward situations. She could smack her head against the wall and the go to that medic one and pretend to have a concussion and then have to sleep in the Infirmary for 'observation'...but she didn't like the sound of that. And the frogs might catch on to her ploy after a while since, according to Saburo, "They weren't a stupid as they looked". She'd just have to grin and bear it...if she could manage a grin at this point, she could manage anything.
She knocked on the metal door and heard a faint "Come in" in that deep voice. Bracing herself for the worst, which could have been anything from a laser gun in her face to an incredibly awkward conversation, she entered his quarters...ugh, 'their' quarters.
He was at his desk, leaning over a dissembled weapon of sorts. He seemed surprised when he saw her, maybe even a little flustered...? Hah- she was probably just imagining that. Soldiers like him don't get flustered. "Wh-what are you doing here?"
"I've finished all my chores for today so...I guess I just have to stay in my quarters...Which are apparently in here."
"Um, right, yeah...Well, this is awkward, but," he got up from his desk with a start, and went over to an unassuming sliding door in the far corner of the room "...this is your room...Sorry."
Frowning with confusion and a horrible sense of foreboding, Natsumi marched over to it and quickly slid open the door, revealing her room. If it could even be called that. It was a closet; a closet. "This is a closet. This is a small closet with a futon on the floor!" she yelled, absolutely livid that these dumb-ass amphibians expected her to sleep in a closet that had a futon on the floor.
"It- It wasn't my idea!" Giroro yelped, visibly startled by her outburst and probably a little worried that he was going to be punched again.
"Is there anywhere else I could sleep?" she demanded. Something in her gut clenched just after she said that; it sounded almost as if she was pleading with the frog, reaffirming the fact that she was now enslaved to their race. And that just made her insides turn to lead and her blood boil.
"You could ask Kururu if he could set one up for you," Giroro grimaced, "but I don't think you would want to risk asking him for any favours..."
According to Saburo, Kururu was an 'interesting guy', but from the very brief exchange she had with the yellow toad when she had to clean the bathroom in his lab, 'interesting' was more like 'irrationally perverse in every sense of the phrase'. Suddenly, a massive wave of exhaustion hit her...maybe it was the day's worth of chores, or the present situation itself, or it could even have been the ever powerful grief sneaking up on her but right now, Natsumi just needed to curl up and sleep.
"...Whatever," she grumbled quietly. Saying anything else would just seem weird to her. "It's fine" made it sound like she was actually okay with being forced to sleep in a closet by a race of aliens who had enslaved her and probably killed her family. And she was certainly not going to say "Thank you". They would not be able to torture that out of her.
She entered her 'room' and slid the door shut as brutally as she could behind her. She didn't expect to hear a muffled "Uh...Goodnight, then," from the soldier on the other side, and scolded herself when she replied stupidly with "Sleep tight..."
"Sleep tight? The hell is wrong with you, girl...?"
-=X=X=X=-
Fuyuki had been trying to catch Momoka alone since the day they found the alien. He had acted...'unreasonably' was probably a polite way to put it...But he knew he had upset her and he needed to apologise properly. He got the feeling she had been avoiding him since that day when he tried to disintegrate that alien with the Kero Ball. They didn't eat meals together anymore, she tried to avoid his eyes whenever they were in the same room, and every time he approached her to talk, her face went bright red and she would mumble something about having to do a job for Katazuchi or the soldiers before hurrying away.
He had to apologise to her. Say sorry for frightening her, prove to her that the vengeance-hungry side of him wasn't all of him...and maybe get her to understand why he did it. She had lost people too...A lot more than Fuyuki had lost, by his guessing. Their friendship was all they really had now in the Sanctum, thanks to those invaders. And he was starting to miss her saying "Good morning" and "Good night" to him every day.
Thankfully, he had finally been able to talk to her just a few minutes before lights out, sitting on her bed.
"Hey, uh...C-can we talk?" he asked quietly, a little conscious of everyone else in the vicinity. He could end up very publically embarrassed if this went badly. Momoka turned bright red the moment she looked at him, then diverted her gaze down to her feet quickly and nodded. He sat down beside her, wondering how exactly he was going to go about this.
"Nishizawa-san, you know about the day we found the...y'know," he bowed his head slightly, as if the gesture would help put across his meaning. She nodded again but still didn't look up at him. "Well, what I did...H-how I acted, that was...wrong. I-I'm sorry. I really am." He leaned towards her and spoke quieter, "Please don't still be mad at me. You're...You're really all I have left of my old life."
Then she looked right at him, wide eyed in surprise. "I...I thought you were the one mad at me...?" she mumbled back, quietly.
He sighed with...relief, maybe? Or realization as to why she had been avoiding him? "I guess I was kinda mad at you, but I'm not anymore. You stopped me from doing something really stupid and...terrible...and I can see that now. So...I guess I should actually be thanking you, huh?"
Momoka shook her head, "I-it was n-nothing..."
"So, am...Am I forgiven?" He gave her a little hopeful smile. "Are we good?"
She smiled back at him, cheeks turning even pinker. "We're good."
"Great," he exhaled, relieved. Then the pit of his stomach knotted as he knew what he was going to say next. But it had to be said and she had to be made to understand otherwise...
"But, listen, Nishizawa-san...I am grateful you stopped me making that mistake with T-...y'know. But you do know why I was going to, right? B-because of my sister?" She nodded again, solemnly this time. He licked his lips nervous and kept talking, "Well...I know that one did kill her, a-and it would have been wrong for me to, uh, sh-shoot him, but...If I ever find the one that did kill her," he looked her dead in the eye, "I will kill him, Nishizawa-san. I need you to promise that you won't stop me, because nothing can stop me from avenging her...You understand where I'm coming from, right? You've lost people too." He felt a pang of guilt for bringing that up when her face paled. "...Can you promise me, Nishizawa-san?"
A silent pause passed. She nibbled on her bottom lip, deep in thought. "You definitely know which one of the aliens k-...killed her?" she asked.
Fuyuki nodded, grimly. "Yeah, it's a green one with a star on its stomach. Katazuchi-san knows which one it is too."
"S-so you wouldn't hurt any of the other aliens- just that one?"
Fuyuki frowned. "If I get cornered by one of them, or if I see someone else in trouble, then of course I'm going to fight back. But, if you mean if that's the only one I'm going to take revenge on, then yeah..." 'Take revenge' sounded utterly ridiculous the moment it came out of his mouth. The whole concept of it was still pretty fresh to him, even though it felt like the dark desire had been a part of him for a very long time.
She was quiet for another moment. "Alright, I...I promise."
"Thank you." He took her hand that was lying on the bed and held it, showing his appreciation. "You're a good friend." The way Momoka turned red so suddenly reminded him videos of erupting volcanoes. "Oh, um, here; for you." He pulled out a candy bar from his pocket. One of the last of his supply he took from the candy store... "If apologising doesn't work; bribe them with candy," Natsumi had once joked.
"Th-Thank you," Momoka said, taking it from him, still blushing. She was quiet for another long while before she asked, "Fuyuki-kun, do you...if I could see Tama-chan?"
"Doubt it; he's being questioned by Katazuchi-san. Why would you want to see that alien, anyways?" he sneered. He didn't mean to sneer; he just made that face automatically whenever the idea of being nice to a creature like that passed his mind.
"I'm just, I don't know, concerned about him. I-I think he's just a child, judging from the first time I met him...Do you think Katazuchi-san would let me see him? Just for a little while?"
"Don't know. You'd have to ask him." He got up at sat on his adjacent bed. This was starting to put him in a bad mood.
Momoka looked downcast and mumbled quietly, "I hope Tama-chan's okay..."
"And stop putting '-chan' on the end of its name!" he snapped. It was an alien invader. How could she seriously not see that? How could she put '-chan' on its name, like it was a person?
He got into the sheets and pulled them over his head, waiting for the lights to shut off and for him to drift to sleep. He had grief-ridden nightmares bothering him already, and now he had to try to sleep in a bad mood. Fantastic.
-=X=X=X=-
"Giroro, can I speak with you?"
Natsumi groaned, rubbing her closed eyelids. "I'd just fallen asleep...Stupid frogs couldn't be any louder if they tried..." She shifted her body, trying to get comfy but inevitably knocked the top of her head against the wall, thanks to the closet's teeny tiny size. "Ow," she hissed under her breath. She could lay down easy enough, but if she wanted to stretch out to her full height, the soles of her feet and the top of her head would press against the walls. At least the futon was comfy. She snuggled into the heavy quilt cover and tried to get to sleep again, only for the two frogs on the other side of the door to keep on yammering.
"It's late, Garuru, what is it?" That voice was Giroro's. He sounded exhausted.
"I have planned how to deal with that Pekoponian."
Natsumi's eyes snapped open and her blood ran cold. This sounded very, very bad. Saburo hadn't done anything to annoy them, so it was only her they could be talking about. And after the stunt she pulled...
"...Go on?" Giroro sounded kind of...tentative.
"We cannot let Headquarters know that she attempted sabotage, but we must also alert them to the possibility that the brainwa- resistance-breaking, rather, could be ineffective. My plan is that we wipe her memory and send her back to the Holding Depo Ship she came from, telling the higher-ups that she was doing an exceedingly bad job and when doing chores in Sergeant Major Kururu's laboratory, she accidently ingested a serum which causes selective amnesia."
"W-we send her back?" Giroro repeated, shocked.
But it wasn't the going back part that bother Natsumi. "He's going to...wipe my memory?"
"How...How much of her memory will she lose?" Giroro asked, as if on her behalf.
"Everything, effectively. She will retain enough that her day-to-day life is not affected, for example she will still recongise locations and objects, but she will not know her name, her actions aboard this ship, or her life previous to our invasion."
She wanted to scream. She wanted to burst out of that tiny closet and beat them or plead with them. But she was frozen to the spot. They couldn't...They just couldn't make her forget! Memorise were all she had left- she'd already lost her family, and now they were going to take away her knowledge of their existence?
"We...can't do that Garuru. Th-that's just...too cruel."
"...The question of cruelty has never been brought up ever before by you, Giroro. Besides, this is likely the least cruel thing to do. She will not grieve for a life she does not remember, and this way she is at peace with Keronians ruling her planet, as that is what she has only ever known."
"It is not the least cruel thing. Not by a long shot. I...I think we should just keep her here. She's not going to act out again like that..."
The frog was...arguing for her. He didn't want her memories taken away...It sounded like he didn't want her taken away! What the hell was going on? This...Giroro was an invader, one she punched in the face- hell, one she tried to kill! But here he was defending her...
"Has this atmosphere made you go soft, Giroro? Or just short-sighted?" It sounded like that Garuru one was sneering now.
"N-neither! It's just...She shouldn't be made to leave, not after everything she's been through, and certainly shouldn't have her memory wiped! We can't do that to her."
"Are you joking, Giroro? Why are you- Oh."
"Wh-what?"
"So that's it."
"Wha...What's it? The hell are you talking about?"
Natsumi concentrated desperately to calm her shaky breathing and pounding heart so she could hear what has happening. She heard a frog's footsteps- assumedly Garuru's- leave the room. Then she heard Giroro exhale deeply. "...The hell was he talking about?"
What the hell was he talking about? What the hell made this red alien defend her like that? Never mind the way this guy tried to keep her and her memories intact so desperately, but did it actually work? That Garuru one sounded totally unconvinced...and totally determined to get her off his ship. If she tried to confront Giroro about it now, she would make it obvious that she had been eavesdropping, which soldiers probably didn't take too kindly to. If she waited, acted as though everything was normal and hoped the situation would go away if she just silently went about her chores, then sooner or later Garuru might sneak up behind her with a vial of selective amnesia serum and get it over with. It was all too much for her. Natsumi pulled the quilt over her head, curling up into a ball.
"Mom would know what to do right now. Fuyuki probably would too," she thought, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "I know that there's no way to know for sure if you're gone, and in...in Heaven, but I just feel it. They weren't at the Holding Ship, and everyone else there was with their families. Oh God...I already miss you so much- all I have left of you guys are my memories...How am I supposed to cope without those?"
She bit her lip, trying desperately fighting back sobs. She couldn't break down now...could she? What was stopping her? She didn't have anyone to be strong for, not like before. Sniffles and choked sobs gradually changed from silent to barely audible and she still bit her knuckle to stifle the worst of them. But she supposed they were audible enough...She heard a 'Huh?' from the other side of the door and then footsteps coming closer.
"Natsumi...? Are you...are you okay in there?"
She didn't answer. If she did, nothing more than a sob would come out. And then she heard the closet door slide open. "Na...tsumi, y-you're...crying?" She curled up tighter, hugging her arms around her, silently begging him to go away. He had done enough by defending her for no reason...now what; did he want to comfort her? He didn't seem the type to laugh at the pitiful human being bawling her eyes out. "Natsumi, what's wrong? Why are you...?" She untangled herself from her quilt, sitting up in the futon. She might as well tell him something to make him leave her alone...the truth was as good as anything. Well, the partial truth.
She tried to look at him but her eyes were blinded by tears, no matter how much she wiped away. "I..." Her voice was almost lost between her whimperings "My f-family...Th-they're gone, and I m-miss them..."
"Your family...?" He said it as if it had only just struck his mind. If she weren't caught in the whirlpool of her grief so much, she might have gotten angry at him. But...it wasn't his entire fault, was it? All the blame for the state of her planet didn't fall squarely on him...He probably never even crossed paths with her mom or her brother when all that chaos in the city was going on, after she'd been captured.
Unexpectedly and inexplicably, the soldier knelt down beside her. "Tell me about them...Your family, I mean. It might make you feel better."
Natsumi sniffled. The idea of telling someone about them actually sounded nice. "There was my mom...and my little brother, Fuyuki. He was only a couple years younger than me, and he had most of mom's features, li-like her hair and eyes. He was smart too, just like her..."
She just...talked. For what seemed like hours, she just kept talking about Fuyuki, her mom, their house, even about her mom's motorcycle, for a little bit. And Giroro just knelt there and listened, all the way through. He asked a question now and then. It was as if...As if he cared.
A large chunk of the night passed while she spoke and he listened. Her tears eventually subsided, leaving her only with hiccups. He was right; it did make her feel better. At some point, she stopped talking, too sleepy to continue and he said that they should try to get some sleep. She slid her door closed from the inside and he went to his own bed...But just after he dozed off and just before she went to sleep again, Natsumi opened her door a fraction and took one last glimpse of that red frog.
