Chapter 2:
"Hrm..." Garuru looked at the two photos, and studied them for a long while. One was of Giroro, the other of a pink Keronian he had known was in their neighborhood on Keron. She didn't seem quite right, either. He tossed this photo aside, and picked up another from the "to go through" stack.
Finding out exactly who the mother of his niece was was becoming a bit of a morbid hobby of his. Hopefully he would be able to squeeze it out of her over the weekend and allow his mind to rest.
Pururu knocked on the door and poked her head in, "We're almost there, did you have any other orders?"
Garuru set the photos down on the table and rose, "Check once more to make sure everything sharp is out of reach. I'll go down to greet them."
"I really don't need a sweater, Giroro-san," Kirere grumbled as he tossed it in her suitcase. He didn't seem to pay attention to her, and instead pulled open another dresser drawer, frantic to make sure that she did indeed have everything she needed.
"Those spaceships get cold," was his only answer as he picked up a notebook, covered in stickers, and stopped, studying its cover.
"DON'T open that!" she jumped off of the bed and pried it out of his hands. She placed it right on top of the suitcase and then shut the suitcase, sitting atop it with her arms folded.
"Ku kuku! So you have your own secrets..." Kururu chuckled as he walked in on the two and remained in the open doorway. "Just like your father, kuku!"
"Here, take this," Giroro said after a moment's thought, and passed her a large hunting knife. She only looked at him with disbelief, and his voice faltered. "The blade's too small, isn't it?"
"I have everything I need!" she snapped, pulling the suitcase off of the bed and meeting her eyes with his.
"Kukuku! A few stubborn ones we have here," Kururu took a few steps forward and looked over to Giroro.
"What do you want, anyway? You don't seem like the type to help with this," Giroro gave Kururu a critical look, and Kururu only gave another chuckle.
"I'm not helping, that's not in my character, kukuku!" Kururu answered, and turned to Kirere. "Give me that bracelet of yours for a second. Kuku, don't give me that look, I already know what's in it."
She frowned and flushed at this, and passed the bracelet off to Kururu, who stuck what looked like a small red button on it.
"It's to clear Senpai's nerves," Kururu answered as she took the bracelet back and fixed it onto her wrist.
"That's really sweet of you, what's it do?" Kirere asked as she poked at it.
"Tch! I don't do sweet!" Kururu huffed. "And that doesn't matter. It won't hurt you in any way."
"You don't do sweet?" Giroro reiterated, glancing to Kururu.
"I could go back and give it an electric shock if you're not happy," Kururu answered.
"Why's there another stupid spaceship outside!?" came Natsumi's bellow from outside the room.
"Ku ku! Your ride's here," Kururu laughed, following both the excited Kirere and anxious Giroro outside.
"Now remember what we talked about," Giroro began as they headed to the backyard.
"No telling them my other dad's a pasty jerk," Kirere answered. "Got it. And no going into detail about anything we do here. Ojisan!"
"U-uncle?!" Giroro choked as she ran over to Garuru.
"She'll have a good weekend learning how a real platoon functions," Garuru answered as she stood beside him. Giroro grit his teeth at this, and Garuru only continued. "She's in good hands."
"Shame he can't take her the full week," Kururu muttered.
"IDIOT!" Giroro came down on Kururu's head with his fist as Garuru transported back up to the ship with Kirere. He then looked back up, and saw Kirere waving down to him, and he only gave a nod.
"Pupupu! So he's bringing a kid on board?" Tororo leaned forward and took another bite of his pizza as he watched from his screen. "...This ought to be some fun for me!"
"This is our base of operations," Garuru had taken one of her bags and was leading her down a long hall. Kirere looked about in every direction, never having been on such a clean-looking, uniform ship before. "I'd prefer it if you didn't touch anything without first asking. You'll be staying with Chief Medic Pururu for the time."
"...This place is shiny," she muttered. Garuru was a bit amused by this, and nodded.
"Oh! This must be Kirere-chan!" Taruru turned the corner and gave an enthusiastic grin. "Aw, you're adorable!"
"Chief Mechanic Kirere," she answered flatly as he bent down and patted her head.
"Ah! Sensei told me about you! You're full of energy in potential, but you haven't harnessed any of it! You only seem to excel in mechanics, and, and..." Garuru's silent glare spoke on levels to Taruru. "...I'm going to go check the ship's stats."
"Very wise," Garuru answered, and led the young girl to Pururu's room. "Are you all right?"
"...I can do more than work on machines, I'm good at puzzles, too!" Kirere shouted. "I'm really good at them! I even beat Kururu Soucho at chess once! And he never lets me win anything!"
"...It's good someone knows how to put him in his place," was Garuru's only comment as he stopped in front of Pururu's door. She opened it and smiled, looking down at the little girl cheerfully.
"I'm sure you're going to have a great time here," Pururu took the bag for Garuru, and Kirere returned the friendly smile.
"Pupupu! We'll see," Tororo was already at work in his own room. "Why's that brat bunking with Pururu, anyway? Hrm... No matter, pu pu...Good at puzzles? I might actually have some use for this one!"
"Giroro, this isn't like you... I would've thought you'd be gone by now, too," Natsumi took a seat with him on the open porch of her grandmother's home and smiled. Giroro was leaned back against on of the doorways, his arms folded across his chest and his expression anxious. "...She'll be fine, you know. She's learned from living with you idiots how to take care of herself."
"I know she does, it's just..."
"You miss her. I never thought I'd see you so worried over a girl, of all things, Giroro!" Natsumi laughed. "It just doesn't seem like you."
She didn't know that side of him, then, he thought with a tinge of heartache. He remained there, looking out to the forest. Keroro had gone off hiking with Fuyuki, while Tamama was off to do some training. He should have been training as well, he knew, but his mind kept trailing off, wondering exactly how she was doing.
"So then Keroro-kun realized that the shell still had something living in it, and... And... Well, he, Dororo-kun, and Giroro-kun were all in the hospital for a few days," Pururu finished with a laugh as she sat on the floor, Kirere across from her.
"That's so neat, Giroro-san would never let me do something like that on my own!"
"You call him Giroro-san? Why not Dad, or Papa?" Pururu tilted her head to one side, and noted Kirere's expression. "I... I'm sorry, Kirere-chan. Did I say...?"
"Nah, I guess I just don't know how to start," Kirere admitted. "...I'd sound weird, and I'm afraid he'd be a little mad about it."
"Not the Giroro-kun I know," Pururu shook her head. "He's only tough on the outside."
"Yeah! That's him!" Kirere nodded. "...So... Why don't he and Ojisan get along anymore?"
"Well... I don't know if that's my story to tell. I don't know all the facts either, actually," Pururu admitted. "Maybe Giroro-kun will let you know someday... I don't think he'd get mad, he's not the type."
"He gets mad and Kero-san a lot."
"He gets frustrated by him," Pururu corrected her. "That goes really far back."
"Pururu-san. Is Kirere in there?" Garuru's knock came on the door, and Pururu rose, taking Kirere's hand.
"We'll talk more later. It's good to have a little girl company every once in a while," Pururu opened the door, and Kirere walked out, Garuru looking down at her with his usual sober expression.
"I figured... You'd want something to eat," Garuru said with a bit of hesitation, as if trying to think of the words. She lit up at this and followed him down to the ship's kitchen, where Tororo was in the food storage, his hands already full of snacks.
"What do you think you're doing? I gave you a job to complete!" Garuru said in a snap to the young Keronian.
"Yeesh, I'm not a machine, I have to eat! I'm getting back right now," Tororo said with a sigh, and looked over his pile of food to Kirere. He wasn't sure why, but just looking at her filled him with... Extreme hatred. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about her just annoyed him. "So who's the new kid?"
"Kirere. And this here, Kirere, this is our youngest recruit, Tororo," Garuru answered, turning to the young girl. "You two aren't that far apart in age, really."
"Maybe we could play a little later," Kirere said with a smile.
"Pupupu!" Tororo got a laugh out of this. "I've got an actual job, thanks." He would have continued, but the glare Garuru gave him signaled for him to stop, at least until Garuru was out of range, "Pupupu... Maybe later."
Kirere had a certain feeling of uneasiness as she sat while Garuru rummaged through the refrigerator. They were nice, aside from Tororo, who seemed to hate her for no reason, and Taruru, who she thought was a bit weird. They weren/t the Keroro platoon, however. She missed them, she realized. She even missed Tamama snidely remarking how much she looked like a little boy or caused the team nothing but trouble. He only did it to keep up their competitive spirit.
It struck her as Garuru laid the plate of food down in front of her; she was homesick already.