A/N: Hello, lovelies! This chapter has a lot of angst and Natsumi tears. I apologize if any of the male characters are OOC, I don't usually write them.

Disclaimer: I don't own SGT. Frog or any of the characters. I just own the human names of our favorite frogs!


Chapter 2:

It was midnight, and everybody in the house was fast asleep besides Keroro, Kululu, and Mois, who had called an emergency platoon meeting in the base. One by one, platoon members slowly began to file into the meeting room, dreary eyed and tired, as they had just been awoken from sleep.
Keroro looked solemn, eyes slightly downcast as Mois was crying and shaking. Even Kululu, who would atleast be smiling, looked serious, his mouth drawn into a tight line across his face. As each took their seats, Keroro stood at the head of the table, donning an uncharacteristically straight face.
"What's wrong?" Tamama asked, tilting his head at his beloved Sergeant.
Instead of Keroro, Kululu spoke.
"The Keronian Military Council has decided to withdraw from Pekopon because we haven't completed the invasion. I have been informed that all five of us are being appointed to punishment, for insubordination." he said, folding his hands. Giroro stood up, thoroughly shocked, "What kind of punishment?" he asked. Kululu swallowed thickly and looked up, glasses glinting as he spoke. He paused for effect.
"Exile."
A collective gasp escaped the mouths of the other platoon members. Keroro, who hadn't been informed of their impending punishment, hugged himself tightly.
"Well, is there anything we can do about it?" Tamama asked as he temper rose, clenching and unclenching his fists to keep himself calm. Keroro, looked up at him with teary eyes, "No." he said weakly.
Giroro slammed his hands down on the table, snapping his head up to look at Kululu with an unwavering stare. Tears prickled his eyes.
"Kululu! Is there any way that you could whip up a device that could hide our tracks? Anything?" he begged, he couldn't leave, not now, he had so much left to do. As the words left his mouth, Kululu gave him a brittle smile, "I'll work on it." he said, then left to his lab.
"And I'll go find the Kero Ball, Tamama, come with me." Keroro said, waving Tamama along, who followed obediently at his heels.

Later, at 5 AM, where the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon, the platoon stood in the control room. Keroro had just finished laying out their extensive plan. Laid out before them is a series of ID cards and paperwork. Sitting in Kululu's hand was a red button, he paid attention to none other than that.
"This button will transfer all of our belongings and the base into the Kero Ball. Then, we can safely begin again, leaving no trace we ever existed but the memories of those we loved. For their safety and ours, we cannot under any circumstances mention anything about our old lives." Kululu said. He flipped the button open and for the first time that night, let out his signature laugh.
"I press!" he chimed, slamming his hand down on to the button.

"How'd you unpack everything so quickly?" Fuyuki asked as he sat down on the couch in their new neighbors' home. Keagan grinned at him, "With a lot of willpower and good ol' Tommy!" he said, pointing to Thomas beside him, who looked up and grinned in response. Keagan smiled right back at him, oblivious to whatever feelings Thomas seemed to harbor for him. Fuyuki laughed as he was reminded of how Tamama and the Sergeant used to act.

"You really don't have to make us dinner, Natsumi, there's no need!" he heard Gabe argue with his sister. He glanced over the couch to watch, a small laugh escaping his lips.

"It's fine! I already brought over the ingredients, it's too late now." she replied nonchalantly as she began chopping up carrots for their dinner. Gabe huffed and reached over to wrestle the knife out of her hands.
"Honestly, this is unnecessary. We're grown men! We can take care of ourselves, you know!" he barked. Natsumi stomped on his foot, and pulled the knife back out of his grasp.
"Who cares! It's courteous! Just accept it!" she cried, glaring at him and stomping on his foot.
"Ok, fine! Do what you want!" he shouted, limping over to the couch.
"Fine! Go sit down, you bonehead!" she huffed and turned back towards the vegetables.
Gabe then sat down on the couch on Keagan's other side, slightly crabby about the fact he lost the argument, "She's too stubborn." he said to Fuyuki, who laughed in response.
"Yeah, sis has always been like that. Anyway, what's she making?" he asked with a broad smile. Gabe looked up and over the couch, "Beef stew. She said she was planning on making it anyway and had the stuff at home." he shrugged his shoulders.

"So, what's America like? I've never been!" Fuyuki asked, interested. Keagan and Gabe shared an anxious glance, internally arguing about who would answer. But, Thomas answered excitedly.
"It's nice! Where I used to live, it was super busy! Like Tokyo!" he chimed. Fuyuki tilted his head, "Really? Where'd you used to live?" he asked curiously. Thomas opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by two different voices speaking at once.

"New York!"
"California!"

Fuyuki tilted his head. To cover up their obvious mistake, Keagan laughed nervously, "W-We were all penpals! And then we decided to move here! All 5 of us always have had the same dream: to open up shop in Tokyo!" he said quickly, looking at both Gabe and Thomas, who replied with a soft 'yeah' and 'mhm'.

The 7 of them gathered around the table, ready to eat. Daniel took a deep breath, about compliment the smell when Thomas cut him off,
"It smells great!"
Daniel sulked as he sat down, murmuring his sad praise. Natsumi laughed and glanced around the table, "Thank you." she said, sitting down as she set the last bowl down onto the table, "Dig in!"
Immediately, everybody began to eat. She looked around the table before also beginning her meal. Despite how the 5 reminded her of the dumb frogs that once used to eat her dinners; despite how similar they all were to them, her heart still had a dull ache. She had thought she was hurting for Fuyuki and the loss of his friends, but it was a little more than that. She felt abandoned, almost. Nothing could replace those 5 and their antics. She glanced up and blinked back tears as Gabe and Keagan bickered over absolutely nothing and Kyle laughed like a maniac. She shook her head, looking at Fuyuki's smiling face.

She mourned silently, eyes downcast as she ate her meal. When there was a lull in the conversation, she looked up, noticing everybody was looking at her. She touched her face. She was crying.
"Sis, are you-...?" Fuyuki began to ask, touching her arm. She pulled away and stood up, "I have homework to do." she said, cutting him off. She picked up her bowl and walked over to the sink to wash it as quickly as possible before hauling ass out of there. Fuyuki looked at everybody's confused faces and shrugged. Gabe stood up and followed her after dumping his bowl.

Natsumi slammed the door to her bedroom with a loud huff. That was so embarrassing. Crying like that, in front of her new neighbors. What do they think of her now? They probably thought she was a freak. She wiped her eyes and went over to her desk, so she could busy her mind with homework or an unfinished poem or something. As she sat down, she noticed the keychain that she had found earlier that day. She picked it up, holding it in her small palm. She turned it over in her hand, running her thumb over the details in the cartoon skull.
Suddenly, she was ambushed by a wave of emotion. This wasn't what she needed right now. But, to no avail, the tears that had threatened to spill down her cheeks did as they pleased, rolling down her face in torrents. She let out a bitter sob, holding the keychain to her chest tightly.
She inhaled deeply, trying to reclaim her remaining dignity. But nothing worked; she couldn't stop crying.

Slowly, she stood, wiping her eyes and letting out a few hiccups. She slid open the door to her veranda with shaky hands and stepped out into the crisp evening air. She opened up her palm and looked down at the keychain in her hand, and then out into the distance. She glanced behind her as the door was slid open and shut. Gabe stepped up next to her, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"They sent me out here to check on you." he said, looking down at her. She wiped her eyes again and took a deep breath, "Why not Fuyuki?"
"He felt if he came, it'd only bother you." Gabe replied, looking out into the night. Natsumi looked down, "But at least he understands." she murmured under her breath. Gabe looked back down at her, "What was that?"
"Nothing." she replied, sniffling slightly. Gabe hesitantly patted her shoulder, "Look, whatever's going on, you can come to us, you know?" he said, "We're kind of friends now. Even if I fight you over stupid shit like dinner." he laughed nervously. Natsumi smiled, "Thanks." she said. Gabe nodded his head,
"No problem. Just come back, okay? It's funner with you. Plus, I can't deal with the whole peanut gallery. You're the only sane one." he said. Natsumi laughed softly, "Okay, be there in a bit."
He nodded and left, shutting the door behind him and proceeding back to his house.

When he left, Natsumi sighed, wiping the last of her tears from her eyes. She looked out into the night and smiled softly, before walking back to where her new friends are.


A/N: Dramaaaaa...~ Also, will we find out where Mois went? Who knows.

OK! So, I plan on making this about 20 chapters long? It depends on my schedule and how my outline is going. Thank you for reading! Please leave a review for me to read and/or PM me with any ideas you have for this fanfic for inspiration! See you soon!