This chapter should be renamed 'the Gironatsu' chapter.

My sister moved out yesterday for the first time ever. I was there when she was born. We've been together pretty constantly, so it's been difficult adjusting. But I hope fanfiction eases that!

Anyway...I think there's about 10 chapters left?

Giroro hated that pretty boy Saburo. Sure Saburo hadn't actually done anything wrong, really he was the perfect host and perfect boyfriend to Natsumi, they laughed and giggled and looked like they had a strong rich history together, but Giroro still hated him.

He was jealous of him. Saburo was perfect. He had a big house, a lazy and reckless attitude and was a very big people person. His body was pretty well toned without the need to constantly work out and his hair was of course always perfect, his face was unscarred and unmarred and he wasn't carrying around a load of baggage like Giroro was. He also had Natsumi's heart.

"Giroro! Giroro!" Natsumi called enthusiastically. "Saburo just told the funniest joke. You have to hear it, come over here!" Natsumi pulled him over.

Despite all of it, all Giroro's boiling hatred for Saburo, he pretended that nothing was wrong. He pretended like he liked the guy. And it wasn't for anyone's sake except Natsumi's.

He really did care about her happiness. She loves him. I love her. I can't just make trouble for him if she wants to be with him. Giroro had decided.

However, it was sometimes difficult to keep his anger in check with Saburo. Giroro had always had temper issues and now he was having inferiority issues when facing the pretty boy too. He was worried that he'd wreck the small sort of team dynamic that they all had if he exploded. Worse yet he could seriously injure someone.

Kululu was the only one who had really seen how dangerous Giroro could be when he popped. Kululu may have been a psychopathic maniac jerk, but Giroro remembered the feel of maiming him. Crushing his bones and seeing his blood run against his hands. And that scared him. He had heard it had been part of Kululu's plan to get him to hurt him so he would be sent to the less secure hospital and escape, but that had fallen through.

Giroro didn't want to blow up. He didn't want to hurt Saburo. He didn't want to hurt his precious Natsumi. I won't be like her. I won't be like my mother and hurt someone I care about. I'll never lay my hand on Natsumi.

Giroro shook his head at Natsumi's offer. He loved spending time with her, but spending time with Saburo was something he could do without. "Thanks for the offer, Natsumi, but I'd thought I'd just roast some sweet potatoes in the yard instead."

"It's mined you know. Ku, ku, ku. I planted mines everywhere." Kululu told him.

"I know!" Giroro had already accidentally stepped into one in the morning. He was lucky that he was used to avoiding actual mines or else he might be dead. "I found a nice spot that I can cook potatoes anyway."

"Well then, why don't I join you?" Natsumi offered. She'd take a yam over Saburo's company any way. Her gluttony knew no bounds. "Sorry Saburo, you just can't compete over my one true love." She teased.

"No problem. Go stuff your stomach with yams or something. Just be careful and don't eat too many or else you'll get fat." He teased.

Natsumi frowned at even the insinuation that she should watch what she ate. She could eat however many yams she wanted. She didn't kiss him good-bye as she went to the yams.

Giroro smiled as Natsumi sat down beside him and the two started talking. Even if Natsumi didn't love him, every day, every minute their friendship and bond grew stronger.

Giroro truly felt there was something there and he knew with the way Natsumi smiled she believed they were friends too.

Keroro had taken over somewhat as the leader of the group, organizing events and more importantly what supplies they needed.

"We're running low on food since so many people are living in this house." He told the group. "I think someone should do a grocery shopping supply run."

Everybody groaned. Nobody wanted to risk their safety and leave to do a supply room.

"I'll-" Dororo volunteered.

"Not you! You'll spend all the money on drugs." Keroro pointed out.

Dororo did not deny that.

"Do we even have money?" Saburo asked. He wasn't loaning them any.

"I brought some. I don't know if it'll be enough though..." Momoka sighed. She took out a small wallet, with literal billions of yen. It was more than most of them would likely see in their lifetime. "I don't want us spending it to fast so I'll be the treasurer."

I don't think there's any risk of that. Everybody thought.

"So who wants to shop for food and supplies?" Keroro asked again. He looked around the room. Tamama looked to the side- he knew he'd buy candy.

Koyuki looked confused, she had never been to a grocery store.

Saburo didn't want to, neither did Keroro.

"I wouldn't be able to carry any of the bags." Fuyuki admitted and laughed.
"I would be spotted way too easily. Everybody knows what I look like." Momoka pointed out.

"I don't know how to use pekoponian money." Angol Mois declared. She was clearly too delusional to go, and didn't know about society same as Koyuki.

That left Kululu, Giroro and Natsumi.

"Ku, ku, ku. I'd like to, believe me...There's a whole bunch of things I could get at the store, but I haven't walked very much in years. I doubt I'd be able to without collapsing." Kululu admitted.

"I can go." Giroro sighed. He didn't much like traffic lights but he could at least try to function normally, especially if Natsumi might go with him. He would be very happy to have some alone time with her.

"I'd love to go shopping with you." Natsumi smiled. "I feel like we've never hung out like that. Sure we talked in the Hinata house at lunch, and now we're roasting potatoes together, but shopping together...It sounds like a real hang out session." She was excited for it.

Giroro smiled. He was excited too.

Giroro had gotten to know Natsumi a lot. He listened to her talk over their lunch times, he knew about her friends, her aspirations, the weaponry that she liked, all sorts of things. But besides Giroro's interests, Natsumi was slowly realizing that she didn't know a lot about his past.

He matched her strides perfectly, walking by her side. Most people would wonder if they were dating or if they were holding hands, but Natsumi knew he was walking close to her because they needed to travel in a group in case they ran across some police.

"I won't be able to see Yayoi and Satsuki again." Natsumi slowly realized. "We ran away from them."

"I'm sorry, Natsumi." Giroro's voice actually sounded sincere. "If...if it's too much of a bother to you, you could always go back to them. I could watch after Fuyuki and you could be free to live your life."

Natsumi shook her head. "He needs family." She didn't want to sound mean since Giroro had left his brother. "And it doesn't bother me that much...I mean they were my best friends but we shared no real interests. Not like me and you."

"But they were your best friends." Giroro raised an eyebrow and pointed out.

"I'm pretty sure I have a new best friend now. I wouldn't trade them to go back to Yayoi and Satsuki." Natsumi reassured.

"...Koyuki?" Giroro was confused.

Natsumi giggled. He was sure dense. "You."

Giroro turned pink. "I consider you a great comrade as well." He was never very good at talking directly to her and paying her compliments. Related to many things to battle, but it was cute in it's own way.

He's so bad with girls. Natsumi thought to herself.

"Did you have any best friends before the Hinata House?" Natsumi asked. "Any friends you left behind?"

Giroro shook his head. "My...My mother didn't let me play with other kids when we were in our home country. She didn't want them coming to our house and she thought it would distract me. Still, every few years we'd come visit Keroro's family who remained close to both my parents. I played with Keroro a bit and he introduced me to Dororo. So I suppose both of them would be considered my old friends."

"I suppose in a way it's nice that you were able to meet up with them again in the Hinata House, huh?" Natsumi asked. She knew a little about Giroro's mother, that he didn't want to be around her. She didn't try to pry.

Giroro shook his head. "I have to wonder why all three of us ended up there. Did we just bring each other down or was there one person in the group who poisoned the other two? Since Keroro and Dororo really never did anything truly terrible to me I can only really assume I was the problem. It's just too coincidental for all three of us to end up there. Should I...I have done something more for them?" Giroro asked. "Did I ruin them?"

"I think the stupid frog thinks the same thing. That he ruined the two of you. You did nothing Giroro. You weren't even in the same country most of the time." Natsumi reassured. "You don't ruin friendships. Are you bringing this up because you're worried about me?"

Giroro looked down. He was. He was worried of hurting Natsumi.

Natsumi grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "You won't ruin me. I'm here for you."

Giroro may have had a long and complicated past- Natsumi knew that, but Natsumi had problems too. And usually she tried to hide them away for people to not see, they were gaping disgusting wounds.

She hadn't ever been admitted to the Hinata House, but the facts were that if she didn't try desperately to not let anyone see her problems she would have been admitted. Not only had the death of her mother left terrible pain for her, but she was incredibly violent and angry.

Her violence could go off like a light switch. And the only one she really trusted to see that side of her was Giroro.

A man in the street who had his arm draped around two scantily clad girls bumped into them.

"Sorry." Giroro apologized.

The man didn't say sorry. He just laughed. "You're not very tough are you? A better man would stand strong in front of his girlfriend."

"She's not my—" Giroro retorted. He bit his tongue. He couldn't afford to get in a fight. He needed to keep his temper calm. He wouldn't hurt this idiot.

Natsumi put her hand on Giroro's arm. She knew it was hard for both of them to keep their cool. She wasn't sure how Giroro was handling it.

"Still I wouldn't like a girlfriend like that. Pigtails went out of style years ago, she looks kind of immature, doesn't she?" The man laughed.

"Take that back!" Giroro yelled knowing he shouldn't get in a fight.

"It's fine. I'm not mad." Natsumi laughed. Kululu had already pointed out about the pigtails. "Keep calm." She advised.

"You couldn't get in a fight with me even if you wanted to," The man continued trying to rile Giroro up. "I never lose fights against guys who have scars just for aesthetic. That's sooo dorky."

"Aesthetic?" Giroro reached up to his face. His scar was real! He had lost sight in one eye for goodness sake.

Natsumi now looked furious at that line. She knew Giroro had a bit of trouble seeing. She wasn't going to let her friend get picked on.

She knew she should keep Giroro calm, keep them out of trouble, but she broke. She grabbed the first thing she saw that was easy to throw- a small rock and chucked it at the guy.

"OW!" The guy screamed and rubbed his face.

"N-natsumi...Don't get angry, I'm not even bothered by it!" Giroro promised. "He's nothing compared to Kululu."

But Natsumi wasn't letting this go. "Apologize."

The man laughed, "Ah! So I see. This girl isn't your girlfriend. She's like your mother. You do look like the type who would need a mom."

"It's fine, Natsumi." Giroro continued. He wasn't going to get triggered by something as little as that. He knew Natsumi would probably be worried about him, he was the type who had deep issues involving his mother.

He didn't realize that there was one person who was also likely to get upset by that line. Need...Need a mom? Natsumi repeated the line in her head. Images flashed of Aki's crumpled body- a mother that she would never have now.

How even when Aki had been alive she wasn't around. Her father was gone, and she was alone. She didn't cry though like a normal person would do when going through a bad flash back episode, instead her fists started shaking.

She let out a low gurgle of a growl and charged at the man. The man gave a loud high pitch scream and the women with him fled.

"Get back here! I'll kill you!" Natsumi yelled. She was perhaps more violent than Giroro. Giroro realized what was happening and grabbed her from behind, pulling her into a tight hug to try desperately to calm her down.

"Natsumi, Natsumi..." Giroro repeated as she tried desperately to scratch and tear herself away from Giroro. She needed to hurt someone, something. She needed to get that guy to take it back.

She needed to hurt someone so she would feel like she had some control. Any control over her life. She just yelled instead of crying.

"Don't do this. Don't hurt anything." Giroro told her in a calm voice, "You need to keep your temper in check. One outburst...That's all they need to take you away. And you'll be locked up forever."

"Nobody's here! No cops would see me!" Natsumi growled.

"Someone would report you as a dangerous person. I will not have you going through what I went through- being locked away." Giroro tried to calm her down. "More importantly though, if you live out your anger filled fantasies you'll regret it."

"How?" Natsumi growled.

"You'll regret hurting someone for the rest of your life, as I have." He sighed. "When I ran away to Japan after I was discharged from the war, I had constant flash backs. Loud noises and lights were especially bad. But I also had flashbacks from my mother. I was crossing the street one day, the traffic lights were red...There was a lot of noise and one old lady's voice stuck out. It was nagging but it sounded so much like her's- my mother's. I...I don't know what happened...I snapped. I thought I was in the war again and she was there and I charged at her and beat her to death. That's when I was sent away to the Hinata House." Giroro told Natsumi.

Natsumi started going limp at Giroro's story. "I...I had no idea, Giroro." She had no idea that he had killed before. That he had an outburst like that. She wasn't scared of him, his story was more a 'what she could go through.'

He had saved her. She would have killed that man. She felt nauseous at herself. If she hadn't had Giroro there talking her through it, relating to her, she would have killed someone.

"Are you feeling better?" Giroro asked, seeing that Natsumi wasn't yelling.

"Y-yeah...I'm not angry anymore...More sad than anything." More scared especially.

Giroro started relaxing his grip and letting her go.

"Don't." Natsumi ordered. "Can we just stay like this for a moment? I...I want to be held."

Giroro obliged. He knew she needed comfort and was probably scared. He had gone through all the same emotions before. "I'm here. You don't have to deal with it alone."

Natsumi was so glad to have Giroro in her life.

They finally got to the small market and shopping district. They got most of the things on the list, except curry. Natsumi wasn't sure why that was on the list.

Natsumi had always felt close to Giroro, but she was slowly realizing how comfortable she felt around him. How deep her relationship really was, it was passionate, it was comforting, it lit some sort of fire in her heart.

She had never noticed how attentive he was to her, how caring he was before. But he did so much for her, be it protect Fuyuki with all his well being, or help reach some groceries for her. He would say stuff like 'of course I'm here for you, I'm your friend', but the protective way Giroro looked at her made Natsumi feel slightly differently.

She liked being around Giroro, and slowly she felt her hand reaching over and grabbing his. He'd blush a bit but keep his body a respectful distance away from hers despite the fact that they were holding hands.

She has a boyfriend. Giroro reminded himself. She's not interested.

But he was wrong, the more Natsumi was around him, the more Natsumi thought about him throughout the day, the more drawn she felt herself. She was interested. Stop that! Natsumi slapped her cheeks as she realized she was looking at him again. Giroro wasn't bad to look at.

She had gotten used to him looking at her, gazing at her. She had started wanting it. Saburo's your boyfriend. He's a great boyfriend. He let all your friends and brother stay at his place just to help you! Natsumi reminded herself.

She knew Saburo was her boyfriend, but there were facts she had to face someday that they had no common interests. He was simply her first love, nothing more, and likely he wouldn't be her last love.

But now was not the time to be looking and thinking of another boy with all that Saburo had sacrificed. She should not be thinking about Giroro. I keep telling myself that, but why is it that I so desperately want his attention then? Natsumi wondered. She was getting impatient. He hadn't asked her if she needed something or made a joke about Keroro in a while.

"Are there any spices you need to make more sweet potatoes?" Natsumi asked, squeezing closer to Giroro, a bit too close for comfort. Augh, my voice and body sound desperate! Like I'm flirting with him or something. She was, but she didn't feel the need to tell herself that.

Giroro jumped back a little bit in surprise at how close she was. Her chest was practically pressed up against his arm and she was pouting. "W-we have all the spices we need." You're the best spice, Natsumi. Augh! I'm the worst!

Natsumi frowned. He was stuttering a bit. She needed to back off. She didn't need to wreck two of her relationships, the relationship she had with Giroro and Saburo.

They eventually finished getting groceries.

"It's 10 miles on foot back to Saburo's place. We have to walk across the one big street, but it should be a boring hike back." Natsumi sighed. "Yay." More time to think about why she suddenly wanted Giroro's attention.

She realized it wasn't exactly suddenly. She had always liked him being around and his attention. Now was really the first time she noticed how much she needed him by her side. He was someone she trusted more than anything.

Giroro nodded. "I can carry you if you get tired." He offered. He kind of wanted to impress her and be better than Saburo.

Natsumi smiled a bit. "I'll hold you up to that offer if I do get tired, but don't think you can out walk me!" She retorted. "Maybe you'll be the one to collapse and I'll be the one carrying you." She was way too competitive. Saburo had always been unsupportive of that side of her, but Giroro...He was competitive to, and she always won against him. She kicked his butt.

Giroro laughed. That was a challenge he'd take.

The one street was actually rather busy. There were a lot of cars for someplace that was supposed to be in the boonies.

The traffic light turned red signifying not to walk. A light blared. For some reason this confused Giroro and he walked forward.

Because of the blindness in his left eye he couldn't see the giant van coming from one direction. It was going pretty fast.

"Giroro!" Natsumi dropped her shopping bag, not caring about it compared to Giroro's safety. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back as the van ran past.

"W-whoa!" Some of his groceries and supplies had fallen out too. "I...I did not see that..." He didn't seem that shaken up over almost dying. It was nothing compared to the front lines.

"G-giroro..." Natsumi was shaken up though. He could have been run over. "You could have died!"

He shrugged. "I've seen worse. I guess I should let you lead the way, huh? Sorry for being distracted." He apologized.

Before Natsumi could stop herself, she was crying. I can't lose someone again. Not someone I care about so much...Not to the road...Not like Aki. Aki had been pulverized in a crash too.

And that's when it hit her. She cared about Giroro. Giroro was someone she loved that it would break her if she lost him the same way she lost her mother.

"Natsumi...Natsumi..." Giroro tried to bend down as she crouched and cried. "I'm here...It's fine. I'm okay." He reassured.

Natsumi couldn't stop herself. She needed to make sure he was okay. She pulled him down in a tight kiss.

Giroro was shocked for a moment, before she pushed him off.

"I'm s-sorry...I'm so sorry...Oh my god..." She covered her mouth blushing, "It's just...I can't lose someone I love again from a road...I can't do that..." She just shook her head. "Oh no, I kissed you...Oh gods am I sorry..."

She couldn't finish her apologies, because Giroro was putting his arms around her waist and pulling her into another kiss. She dropped the rest of her bags as she let him kiss her, putting her arms around his neck and pulling him tighter.

She was no longer crying. Kissing Giroro felt amazing. And even better when he had clearly initiated it.

"You like me? You love me?" Giroro asked in between kisses, the smile across his face very apparent.

"Uh-huh..." Natsumi was in a daze. Kissing someone had never felt so right, so invigorating. This was nothing like kissing Saburo, this was just a fiery ball of passion, she didn't even care about the groceries at their feet, she just wanted to keep exploring his body and mouth.

Giroro just smiled. "I love you so much, Natsumi. You have no idea how long I have...I'm so happy."

She continued kissing him to shut him up. But a tiny part of her felt guilty. What about Saburo? You're cheating on him! Natsumi reminded herself.

Kissing Giroro felt so right though, it made her eyes close, her hands tighten around his hair and a desire to just fling Giroro into the nearest forest bush reside inside of her. She loved it.

I'll break it off with Saburo later. She promised herself.

Later? Rather than sooner? Natsumi felt worried.

Giroro could tell she was getting less into it. He pulled back and helped her pick up groceries. "S-something wrong?" He asked.

"Saburo." She said one word.

Giroro nodded. "You...You going to break it off?" He tried not to sound hopeful.

"I'm going to!" Natsumi reassured, "I'm just worried...He sacrificed so much for us, for me...Just so my brother could be safe. If I told him I was leaving him, for well you...Would he be mad? Would he call the authorities and turn us in? I don't know if I can put Fuyuki's safety at stake..."

"You can tell him when you're ready." Giroro decided. He didn't care as long as Natsumi was his. "That might take a while, but our relationship...Can remain a secret if you wish."

She hugged him. "Thank you."

She didn't know how she had started up a secret affair with Giroro and she did feel bad for both Saburo and Giroro, but it was for the best.

She needed to help Fuyuki. Even if it was putting her comfort at stake.

She loved Giroro, but she needed to take a little time to get ready to break it off with Giroro. Was that still wrong? Was...That still cheating?

Natsumi knew deep down it was. Even if she didn't love Saburo she shouldn't have cheated on him. She felt bad.

But that didn't mean she'd stop.

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