You guys really hate Saburo. Not that I can blame you, I'm not the biggest fan of him either and at the time I wrote this chapter summary I was even less of a fan before his fans came and were very insulted by my treatment of him.
However, for old time's sake, here is a chapter that deals with Saburo...At least a bit.
This chapter had very little chapter summary so I apologize for its randomness.
Fuyuki liked Saburo's house- decently that is. It was peaceful, and the men in white weren't even close to finding them.
Which was why he was confused when Natsumi of all people suggested leaving. "M-maybe we shouldn't be staying here." She suggested to the group. "Staying in one place...It's just like being sitting ducks."
Fuyuki noticed that her finger's were fidgeting, her face was slightly flushed. All logic showed that there were other reasons that she was suggesting this to.
Kululu raised an eyebrow. Fuyuki glanced over at him but noticed that he was probably thinking the exact same thing that he was thinking.
He's observant too. Fuyuki recalled. Of course Kululu would catch the small stutter in Natsumi's voice. He expected Kululu to point it out as well.
"I'm worried that someone in town might be able to recognize me. News reporters are probably out with the faces of the escaped patients." Giroro blurted out. "And my face is rather recognizable because of the scar."
Kululu nodded. He agreed with all of Giroro's points. He thought for a moment. "What do you suggest then? Three of us have rather recognizable faces and couldn't go with the tactic of blending in with the rest of the populace..." He pointed to himself, Giroro and Momoka, "And two of us have no concept of how the world actually works. Ku, ku, ku." He gestured over by Koyuki and Mois.
"Don't forget me!" Dororo wanted to feel included in a meaningless statistic. "I always wear a medical mask. That makes me stick out." Even though in this case it was a bad thing to stick out, he wanted to do so.
Kululu sighed. "So it's really not an option to leave. Everywhere else is more populated than this place. Ku, ku, ku."
"We could escape to another country-" Natsumi suggested, "It would take a few weeks of being on the constant run but we wouldn't have to worry about the Hinata House-"
Kululu shook his head. "They'd catch us if we tried to leave the country." After all that was what the Hinata House was afraid of. That was why they were going to give him a lobotomy. So other countries didn't get a hold of him and use him as a weapon. "Not only that but none of us have passports."
"I do." Giroro squeaked out. He wasn't native to this country anyway.
"I probably have one scanned on my phone...But it's back in the Hinata House." Angol Mois pointed out.
Everybody else shook their heads. And it would take too long to fake any passports.
Natsumi frowned. She really didn't want to feel like she owed Saburo anything for letting them stay. "You're really okay with just sitting around and being sitting ducks? We could at least try to smuggle ourselves out of the country." Sure, since she wasn't technically escaping anything she wasn't really on the run, she could leave legally, but everybody else would have issues.
They were silent for a moment. Finally Kululu spoke up. "I suppose you're rather right. If I've learned anything from my escape plans it's that staying in one place never helps. They always find you. Ku, ku, ku. We should be leaving."
Natsumi grinned broadly.
"What about the passport issue?" Keroro asked.
"I can fake some." Kululu decided. At least for me. I don't need the rest of you holding me down in some other country. Natsumi had suggested a good idea. And being in a larger group being transported over sea's wouldn't benefit him in the slightest.
So he'd just throw them all under the bus when he got to some boats. He'd make a fake passport for himself, split off with the rest of the party saying that he'd check things out and come back to them with information, and then he'd ditch. Angol Mois could possibly come with, he wasn't quite sure yet. But it would be the perfect opportunity to ditch those losers.
Then they couldn't hurt him by making it more likely that he'd get discovered.
"Where's the nearest dock though? A place that has ships that leave the country?" Keroro asked.
Saburo pulled out a map. "Should be here. My guess would is that it would take a week to travel there by bus. Weeks to travel by foot which would be safer?"
"You're coming with?" Natsumi asked. "But wouldn't it be safer for you to stay in the country?" For some reason she sounded nervous.
"But you're my girlfriend, and you're going with." Saburo pointed out. "I just can't leave you."
Natsumi looked a bit uncomfortable but reluctantly nodded. "So...We head there?"
They decided to travel by foot. That was the easiest way, and the safest. It didn't risk them being seen as much or being tracked. Bus tickets could be traced back to them after all.
They had agreed that they'd still spend money on motels though, so they didn't have to sleep outside. Some of the party gave small complaints to the amount of walking they'd have to do, mostly Fuyuki and Kululu.
Kululu surprisingly didn't notice the amount of tension between Natsumi and Saburo, or he didn't care. Instead he stuck by Saburo's side and tried to have rather intellectual conversations with him. The two seemed to be on friendly terms.
It confused Fuyuki.
I mean I'm fine with them being friends. They've always been friends...Fuyuki knew that. But there were some things he wasn't really getting about this world where his friends were brainwashed. He knew they were all aliens and he now knew that they didn't know that because of the men in white, but...Natsumi had never been dating Saburo. Sure, he could see it happening, but it had never been a thing.
Why was Kululu only telling him about aliens when he wanted something out of Fuyuki? It felt almost manipulative...And there were so many other questions Fuyuki had that were jumbled in his head. Why did Momoka seem to be acting differently towards him? What was up with the weird longing glances that Kululu was giving Mois every now and then?
And most importantly...Where was his mother? Why had Aki never been mentioned by any of his friends or Natsumi?
Where's Sai too? Why did nobody ever question that Kululu possibly hadn't tied her up. Fuyuki had noticed how his shirt had been inside-out the next time they had seen him. Why? Why would he need to do that?
Had Sai really been a mole?
There's some sort of mystery about Kululu...Something he's not telling me...Fuyuki realized. He decided to ask him about some of his questions, not to get a real answer, but just as a test, later. He'd see if Kululu was just giving him answers he wanted by trying to catch him off guard.
That later came much later than Fuyuki wanted. There was way too much walking for someone of his abilities. But eventually they came upon a motel late at night.
Momoka paid for the rooms and sighed. "Are we going to sleep in shifts with guards to make sure nobody's circled us?" She asked.
Giroro nodded. "I'll take the first shift...Natsumi, care to join me?" He asked hopefully a small smirk at his lips.
"Sure." She had a teasing, almost happy expression. Saburo didn't seem to notice. He was a normal boyfriend, and a rather good one. He didn't have a problem with his girlfriend having male friends or being close to them while he wasn't around. He trusted Natsumi.
"Thanks, babe." Saburo kissed Natsumi on the cheek and wished her a good night.
The others waved to them and headed into their beds or on the floor.
"I'm going to take a quick bath. Does anyone want to join me?" Fuyuki asked.
Momoka looked at him oddly. Was he suggesting this to her.
"I would be happy to!" Keroro gleefully said.
"I don't bathe." Kululu was pretty blunt about this fact and not ashamed of it in the least bit.
Everybody covered their noses and said 'ewww', simultaneously.
"What?" Kululu shrugged. "I've been out of the habit for years. I don't think I even remember how. Garuru was the one who gave me sponge baths in the Hinata House. Ku, ku, ku. It wasn't exactly the sort of scenario that was ideal so I haven't really seen a reason-"
"You need to bathe." Mois frowned. "I know it's hard, probably...But it's ummm...Better for everybody's sake, you could say, a duty for all?" Even she thought he probably needed to bathe.
He glanced at her and saw that she was staring at him. He looked startled and backed away. He didn't want to admit that he didn't know how but he nodded quickly just to get her to stop looking.
"Look, I guess I understand your fear of bathing, believe me I was the same way when I came to the Hinata House, I suppose the only good thing about the therapists there was that they taught me that hygiene is important," Angol Mois twirled her hair. "So I could help you if you want-" She offered.
"I'll bath with Fuyuki." Kululu quickly grabbed Fuyuki's arm, doing anything to get away from a bath with Angol Mois. His face was rather red, but Angol Mois nodded.
She smiled a little, as if in the back of her head she knew he'd agree to bath with Fuyuki if she used that bit of leverage on him.
Wait a minute! She played me! Kululu realized. He was a bit impressed.
Fuyuki smiled. He had actually wanted some time with Kululu alone anyway. "Me and Kululu will go after the rest of you then? I bet he doesn't want anyone else around."
"I wouldn't mind Giroro. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu grinned wickedly.
"Why?" Giroro asked.
"My headphones are wires. Likely I could electrocute you. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu mocked.
Giroro paled. He shook his head. It would be just Kululu and Fuyuki.
With the knowledge that Kululu could electrocute him, Fuyuki kept Kululu's head out of the water as he sat him down.
He had a lot of questions, a lot of tests.
"I bet you wanted to be alone with me to talk about aliens or something, huh?" Kululu could read him easier than Fuyuki could read anyone else. "Ku, ku, ku. Ask desperately how to get your friend's memories back?"
Fuyuki bit his lip. So Kululu knew what he wanted to talk about. All his questions. No. I don't need to know about aliens this time. I want to know if Kululu's been manipulating me and doesn't actually believe any of the things he's told me. Fuyuki was distracted by Kululu's body a bit though- scars were over his torso and chest.
"Checking me out? You're a bit young for me. Ku, ku, ku." Kululu mocked. "I'm not into younger people like Giroro or Keroro."
Fuyuki didn't blush by the accusation, he just shook his head and corrected him. "Why do you have so many scars?"
Kululu splashed water over himself as if to cover himself. "There was once a place I went to that was worse than the Hinata House when it came to experimentation..."
"Dissecting aliens?" Fuyuki's face paled.
"The experiments were so grotesque that I heard patients actually died there." Kululu explained. "I, of course, wasn't something they could afford to lose. I was hidden away on a floor similar to the fourth floor...But they still experimented on me. And it was much worse than any 'fun with science' the hinata house put me through. The scars you see are just what didn't heal on the outside."
Fuyuki paled. "What happened to that place?" A worse institution than the Hinata House? He couldn't believe it.
"Someone found out about the inhumanity. There were a lot of lawsuits against it. I was transferred during the time of the lawsuits to the Hinata House. Heard the place shut down officially a bit after that. Wouldn't be surprised if every patient besides me had been gassed or something." Kululu shrugged. "Don't know if someone took over the institution after it was shut down. It might have been reopened by now with new guidelines. Hopefully not. It was an awful place. Ku, ku, ku."
"What was it called?" Fuyuki asked.
"Keron." Kululu whispered the name as if it would call the people from that institution into the bathroom.
Fuyuki turned white. That's...That's a planet...Don't tell me they stole another name? Not only that...But that was the place Angol Mois had said she had been.
Fuyuki tried to sweep it out of his mind. He needed to change the subject. "Can I ask you about something else? I've noticed that there are some things that even I'm confused about in my memories about our group. Since you have all your memories I want some explanations." Fuyuki tried to talk Kululu up, even though really he thought Kululu didn't have any of his memories.
Kululu nodded, allowing him to ask questions.
"I don't remember my sister dating Saburo. Sure, she liked him, but they were never dating." Fuyuki told him.
Kululu waved his hand. "Well, the answer to that is obvious. They must have started dating while you were in the Hinata House. That's why you didn't hear about it."
Fuyuki frowned. That made too much sense.
"Momoka's not acting the same as she was in my memories...She was more stutter, acting like she sought out my attention more...What's up with her sudden change?" Fuyuki asked.
"Ku, ku, ku. Are you absolutely certain she was like that? You know, I heard that...some people over observe other people's actions and make themselves believe they have some sort of crush on them because they themselves have a crush on that person. Sounds like Momoka was never like that and you just wanted her to act like that." Kululu talked all high and mighty even though he had made the same mistake.
Fuyuki frowned. Hypocrite. You thought Mois liked you! His explanation made a lot of sense though...So much sense that Fuyuki was blushing.
"...Nobody's mentioned my mother...It's like they don't remember her. Not even Natsumi's mentioned Aki." Fuyuki finally whispered out.
Kululu smiled. He had read Fuyuki's file. He knew Fuyuki's delusions had started because of Aki. Because he didn't want to face her death. "She's probably fine. Just off visiting her husband or something."
Fuyuki looked at Kululu for a moment. He had given himself away. If Aki was off doing anything it was working. His father was gone.
He doesn't know Mom at all. He's just saying what he wants me to hear!
He had two more questions though. Two more questions that would assure himself that Kululu just was giving him answers he wanted to hear.
"I don't remember you ever giving Mois such longing glances before...Is that something that the men in white wiped from my memories?" Fuyuki asked bluntly.
Kululu sputtered. He didn't have an answer for that one. "That's never happened." He just had a flat out lie.
Fuyuki frowned. Kululu wasn't even trying with that answer.
He asked his final question. "Kululu...What really happened to Sai Uru? I know there's no memory alteration there..."
Kululu smiled broadly. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Fuyuki didn't answer. He could already suspect.
Kululu had lied to him and used him. And somewhere inside his mind he had a malicious plot. One that Fuyuki hoped would best benefit the rest of his friends, and him.
Was Kululu on their side or his own? Fuyuki didn't yet know.
Giroro and Natsumi barely did any actual standing guard. Instead they made out privately. A secret affair sort of relationship was very risky and something they were making the best of while the secret was still a secret.
However because of this and the lights turned off and everybody sleeping in a room next door, they didn't notice the door creak open and a deranged robber sneak past.
The robber looked at the two people making out and crept past them to the bedrooms. He looked around for money and finally saw Momoka sleeping with a purse.
"I'm done with my bath." Fuyuki opened the door and announced. Everybody was sleeping rather soundly except Saburo who was waiting for his turn with the bath. He hadn't checked on Natsumi in the room next door though.
Saburo was drifting off but he woke up from the sound of Fuyuki's voice. "Fuyuki!"
"Stop!" The robber yelled.
Everybody woke up when they realized somebody knew was in the room. Fuyuki still had a towel around himself but he didn't stop himself as he ran over to Momoka realizing that the robber was targeting her.
"Fuyuki! Don't do anything dangerous!" Momoka tried to warn him.
"Move and you die!" The robber pulled out a gun. Nobody knew where he had gotten the gun.
They all sucked in their breath.
"Why...Why didn't Giroro and Natsumi realize this guy broke in?" Keroro was flabbergasted at their incompetence.
Saburo wasn't moving. He was just waiting for his moment to strike. He just needed to be quiet...Patient...
Fuyuki didn't listen to the robber's advice. He wouldn't let Momoka be hurt. He moved in front of her and Momoka hid behind his shoulder's.
Fuyuki's so cool...Momoka realized and blushed.
"If you want to get through her you'll have to go through me." Fuyuki tried to be cool even though he was scared. He was only in a towel.
"Gladly." The robber laughed. "I don't care if your group does look like the people on the government wanted posters. I suppose after I kill this boy I'll turn you all in for the reward..."
He raised his gun. The shot fired.
"FUYUKI!" It wasn't Keroro who saved Fuyuki from almost certain death. It wasn't even Momoka.
It was Saburo. Saburo used his chance and sprung forward without thinking, taking the bullet for Fuyuki. It blasted through his torso and he collapsed on Fuyuki, coating him bloody red.
"S-saburo...Saburo...Why?" Fuyuki asked.
"Because you're my girlfriend's brother..." Saburo smiled. "I wouldn't be a very good boyfriend if I didn't help you."
The door opened and Giroro and Natsumi finally came in having heard the shot.
"What the hell is going on?" Giroro asked. He hadn't yet straightened his jacket. Natsumi's hair was ruffled.
The secret was out. It was very apparent that they had been making out.
Horror flashed on Saburo's face, just as he died. The last memories he made was the fact that he died for his girlfriend who had just been cheating on him.
Everybody was just in silence as Saburo stopped breathing. Natsumi let out a cry.
Apparently nobody remembered the robber was still there, except Kululu.
"Guys, there's still an armed robber here...With a gun..." He pointed out. He tried to do anything with his headphones. He didn't want to die. "Damn! There's water in them! Getting water in your ears sucks! Ku, ku, ku..." He was gritting his teeth. He didn't want Saburo's death to be in vain. He actually liked him.
The robber laughed. "Everybody on your knees, or I shoot towel boy next!" He pointed to Fuyuki.
Everybody went on their knees slowly. Everybody except Giroro. He had seen guns before, dealt with them.
He wasn't going to let these soldiers die. His party members. He walked forward. "Your hand is shaking...This is your first time with a gun..." He realized.
"I'll shoot!" The robber told him. "I just killed one of you. Do you think I care if you get shot?"
"It takes about 15 bullets to get me to collapse. You have five left it seems. So take your chances." Giroro's voice was filled with confidence.
It unsettled the robber. "D-don't hurt me..."
Giroro came closer.
"Close your eyes, Fuyuki, Natsumi, probably Momoka too."
Momoka did as she was told. Natsumi did not look away.
Giroro slid on the ground and kicked the man in the shins. The man faltered and Giroro grabbed his gun before putting it at his head and firing it.
It was an expert maneuver, it was clear that he had real experience.
And by the end there were two dead bodies on the ground. The unnamed robber, and Saburo.
Keroro just looked green. Really green.
"We have to go." Kululu said coldly. "Before we're discovered. The police are sure to be here." He had to think of himself. Nobody else.
"You...You killed someone, Giroro...Just cuz he killed someone doesn't mean he should have died...Don't you ever read comic books?" Keroro sniffled.
"S-saburo..." Natsumi sniffled, putting her hand on his shirt.
"He...He died because you two were making out, didn't he?" Koyuki realized. "His...His death is kind of on you." She liked both Giroro and Natsumi, but it was the truth. A harsh truth.
"They were doing a little more than making out by the looks of it. Ku, ku, ku. But yeah. Good guards my ass. You killed him with your fling. He wouldn't have even put his life in danger if not for his pathetic ideals of love." Kululu shrugged. That's why he didn't believe in that sort of stuff.
Dying for a girl who didn't even like you. What a sad way to have it go.
Natsumi never liked seeing death, but as everybody looked at her she realized how true it was.
It was like Aki all over again. Except...Saburo was her fault. She fainted. She just couldn't deal with the memories of Aki...And the knowledge of what had happened to Saburo.
Fuyuki's hands were coated in blood and soon enough he had passed out too. Saburo...One of their friends...Gone forever.
Maybe he should have stayed in the Hinata House. Maybe he had made the wrong choices under Kululu's manipulative words.
Maybe it was his fault, not Natsumi's.
The chapter was running a bit long so they'll deal with the repercussions of losing Saburo later. Hopefully I'll remember to have everybody's thoughts on the matter instead of just Kululu, Fuyuki's, Natsumi's and Keroro's.
I wanted to name the robber Billybobjoe. His name is now BillybobJoe and his superhero name is Robber man.
Saburo lasted...A total of three chapters. Now I do not have to deal with him. Whoo-hoo! Sorry, Saburo. I know you're a main character too.
But really, I have written several stories that focus on Saburo a bit more as apologies for my treatment of Saburo. So it is nice to be able to kill him once again. Sorry, it's just in my blood.
Please review.