And, now on to one of the IMPORTANT things that happen elsewhere… I'm glad I've finally got into the swing of writing!
Aki's eyes drooped, but she shook her head to keep herself awake. One of her subordinates walked over.
"Miss Hinata, you've been here for days. We've almost finished up, anyway. Go home. I'm sure your kids are missing you. And you look like you're about to pass out," he said, and Aki nodded. It had been too long since she'd been home…
She packed up the things she needed to take home with her, put them into her backpack, and walked outside. She hopped onto her motorcycle, and with a zoom she was off. She got home relatively quickly, and she was home just in time for dinner.
As she walked through the front gate and up the sidewalk, she heard, vaguely muffled through the door, "Act natural! Mom's home!" It was Natsumi's voice, and she sounded excited about something. Aki's head throbbed. They'd BETTER not have brought home ANOTHER stupid animal again!
"What's going on?" she asked as she walked through the front door. Natsumi and Fuyuki were blocking the hallway, and she heard some scuffling and whispers in the kitchen. So the frogs were in on it, then. Aki sighed.
"Nothing much. I made some dinner, if you're hungry. Its beef stew!" Natsumi said. Fuyuki seemed to be barely containing his glee.
Maybe it wasn't an animal, then. They would hardly be excited for her to see an animal they were trying to hide. A welcome home party? It was possible, but she doubted it. Then what could it be?
Cautiously, Aki made her way into the kitchen. All the frogs were at the table, which was strange in and of itself. They didn't usually all gather for meals. Then she looked harder, and sat down hard on the ground.
"But…" she said, mentally checking off the frogs as she stared into each face. Keroro, Tamama, Giroro, Kululu, Dororo… and Keroro, Tamama, Giroro, Kululu, and Dororo again! What was going on?
"Mom, let me introduce them!" Fuyuki said, grinning. "This is Kerora, Tamomi, Gertrude, Kulala, and Doriri. They're the Platoon's clones! Cool, huh?" Aki's eyes lit up, just as Fuyuki, and therefore clone Fuyuki, knew they would. Aki stood up and walked over to closer inspect the girls, who were slightly uncomfortable with meeting a new Pekoponian.
"This is just the added flare we needed to keep our story running! This is just perfect!" she exclaimed, picking up Tamomi and squeezing her. Being Tamomi, she squeezed right back. The rest of the team looked on in silent shock. That was not the reaction they were expecting. The platoon, however, was used to Aki by now, so they took no notice.
"So, I mostly just have one question," Aki said.
"Where exactly is Fuyuki?"
Kululu and Kulala's glasses shattered, and the Fuyuki clone paled visibly.
"Um, right here, mom," he said, hoping she just hadn't noticed him, somehow.
"No, the real one!"