Chapter 5:
"Wow! Look at all of this stuff! It's a little primitive, but there's so much of it!" Kirere gasped at the rows and rows of shiny tools. She looked at it like most other girls her age would look at a toy aisle.
"W-we really should be paying more attention to the mission, Kirere-chan!" Dororo chided gently, and the ninja yelped as Kirere turned around to him, a bow saw in her hands.
"Hey, buddy, watch your kid!" shouted one of the clerks. "This isn't a theme park!"
"I'm just babysitting her, really," Dororo answered in a weak tone. "K-Kiere-chan, put the sharp objects down, your... Fathers... Wouldn't like it."
The clerk glanced over to the young girl at the mention of "fathers", and then looked to Dororo, who placed a hand behind his head and gave what appeared to be a feigned smile from beneath the mask. The clerk shook his head and returned to work.
"Come on, let's see what they're buying," Dororo pulled her away from the tools gently and led her out of the tool department, much to Kirere's chagrin.
"Looks like there's more people outside than in here..." Kirere noted as she and Dororo headed to the front glass doors. He looked up and noted that there indeed were a lot of people across the street from the department store. In fact, there was a line going out the bookstore doors.
"The bookstore? It's always good to improve literacy," Dororo nodded sagely.
"Wonder what they're waiting for... Hey, there's a lot of people buying books, so we should check that out!"
"Well, I-Hrm? Fuyuki-dono? Momoka-dono?" Dororo recognized the two faces in the line, close to the front glass doors. "Perhaps we should go check it out."
Kirere nodded and ran out, dodging traffic the entire way while Dororo only looked onward, horrified. Kururu must have fed her something with sugar that morning. Coupled with the excitement of the "field trip" her excitement was understandable, but unnerving all the same.
"Kururu Soucho?" Fuyuki gasped as Kirere stopped in front of them, Dororo quickly catching up.
"No, not this time!" Kirere grinned, and Fuyuki's eyes grew as he placed the voice.
"Kirere-chan?"
'What the hell are these morons doing here!? I hope this is it for them!' Momoka thought to herself, but instead said. "Ehehe, what brings you out today?"
"We're-"
"Fuyuki-dono?!" the familiar scratchy, cheery voice; Momoka clenched her fists, and the vein on her forehead grew. All of them were there, from the depressed blue one to the creepy yellow one. Damn it to hell, her date was shot.
"Gunso! I didn't know you all were coming to the book signing, too!" Fuyuki said with a cheerful grin.
"Eh? Book signing?" Keroro wondered aloud, peering over the crowd on his tiptoes. He still couldn't get a good look at the table where the signing took place, however.
"Mm! Nicolas Kezanstav is here, in person!"
"I'm afraid I'm not familiar," Keroro admitted flatly.
"That's because it would require reading something without pictures. Kezanstav? That's not local," Giroro muttered.
"Well, he's not," Fuyuki answered. "He actually moved here a few years ago... He lives in Osaka, now, but he's doing a country-wide booking signing, and is here today!"
"It sounds like you're very excited to meet him, Fuyuki-dono!"
"He's the author of one of my favorite series on the occult, ever!" Fuyuki held up the book, which showed a cover of a rabid-looking yeti on it, with its claws outstretched and ready to kill while a group of peasants was in the background, looking terrified.
"...Kukuku! Looks pretty cheesy to me," Kururu admitted.
"Well, maybe this is something we could learn from. This heat, and yet people are waiting out in a line this long for one Pekoponian! He must have something worthwhile!"
"A yarn to spin," Giroro said underneath his breath. "...How pointless."
But they waited there, and their time came. At this point Tamama and Kirere had gotten bored, and were playing a game of "I spy"in the bookstore.
"I spy... Something... Orange and still acts like a boy, even if she looks like a girl!" Tamama called.
"And I spy something that's black, short, and annoying!" Kirere snapped back.
"Knock it off," Giroro snapped, putting an immediate halt to their game. "Keroro, aren't you worried that he'll see something's amiss when we get up there?" Giroro whispered to Keroro after the two silenced. Keroro merely looked over to Giroro and laughed.
"Relax, Red Dharuma!" Keroro waved his hand flippantly. "I've seen these conspiracy theorists before! They're critical if something seems too simple!"
"Kuku! So you're saying we'll just look like a bunch of weirdos?"
"No different from most of this crowd," Giroro folded his arms, and looked back at the mass of geeks behind them. He noted a few typical otaku types whispering and pointing to Kirere, followed by a small laugh. "HEY! You two! Knock it off! I know exactly what you're doing, and I don't like it! I was your age, once, too!"
"G-Giroro Goucho,"Keroro pulled back Giroro, who had gone into defense mode, and looked ready to beat up the nerds at the drop of a hat.
"Next," came a voice in smooth yet accented Japanese. Fuyuki’s smile grew, and he walked up with Momoka, his book in hand.
"Woah, a real foreigner!" Kirere gasped as she noticed the author's blond hair and blue eyes. "And not on TV!"
"It's rude to stare," Giroro reminded her sternly.
"I wonder if he keeps his shoes on when he's in his house," Kirere wondered aloud.
"I wouldn't stand for that in my house!" Keroro answered with a frown at the thought of someone stomping into a clean house with muddy shoes.
"Ah, this was a fun one to write," said the author as he gave a nod and flipped through the pages of Fuyuki's book. "Looks like you've read it a great deal."
"Five times," Fuyuki answered, still awestruck at talking to the author. "It's one of the best in your series yet!"
"My. It was worth the time translating it if you've gotten that much use out of it then," Kezanstav laughed gently.
Giroro took this time to study the author with a critical eye. An older man, probably in his late thirties, early forties... A brown suit that made one think of a college professor... Short, blond hair, and blue eyes looking out from beneath square-framed glasses. He had an overall at-ease look about him, and smelt like tobacco... There was something about him that sent up an alarm for Giroro, however. He just couldn't place his finger on what it was...
"Hey, baby, nice uniform!" whistled a passing-by customer.
"Thank you! Your shirt's pretty cool, too!" Kirere shouted back.
"Wha-What?! Get back here! Lolicon pervs!" Giroro shouted, and now Kururu gripped onto Giroro's other arm in order to restrain the corporal.
"I didn't even know Goucho knew a word like Lolicon," Tamama admitted.
"Hehe, quite a colorful cast of friends you have there," Kezanstav admitted as he passed Fuyuki his book back, and then went to signing Momoka's. "Well, I moved to Japan in hopes of seeing the unusual, anyway. I'm happy to report that since I've come here I've gotten quite a bit of it."
"Well, I wish I could say the same, Kezanstav Sensei," Fuyuki said with a bit of embarrassment. "My life's pretty boring, probably nowhere near as exciting as yours!"
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Youth is full of adventures. And for the young lady," the author shut the book and passed it back to Momoka. "You kids have a good day with your... Friends. And remember to keep your eyes out for the unusual! Even an instant can be life changing."
"Can do," Fuyuki gave a bow. "Thank you again, Kezanstav Sensei!"
Kezanstav gave a nod in return, and Fuyuki walked out, still clutching the book with excitement.
"Keroro," Giroro had calmed down now, and fell back from the group with the Sergeant. "...That guy..."
"What a weird name..." Keroro said with disbelief.
"No! I mean..."
"Yes," Dororo stopped and turned to them. "I felt it, too."
"I'll be glad when he goes back to whenever he's from," Giroro grumbled. "That guy gave me the creeps."
"And I'm sure you've scared a few people with your appearance at first, too, Goucho!" Keroro laughed flippantly.
"W-what's THAT mean?!" Giroro snarled.
"W-well, you're not the most personable-looking," Keroro admitted with a weak laugh.
"Hey!" Kirere turned around and waved to them. "Are you guys about done?!"
"Y-yes. Coming," Giroro resumed walking, as did Dororo. Keroro looked back at the bookstore once more, and then he followed the rest of the group, back to the Hinata residence.
It was much later in the evening when Momoka finally left, having listened to Fuyuki's energetic retelling of his meeting with Kezanstav, first to Natsumi, and then to Aki.
Giroro retreated to his tent, Dororo went home to Koyuki, Tamama went home with Momoka, and Keroro stole away to his room as soon as he finished his chores.
Mois was upstairs with Keroro, leaving only one person for Kirere to bother. Kururu drew the short straw again that night.
"If you're going to stare, you could be helpful at least," Kururu announced as he felt her presence. "Grab a wrench."
"What're you working on?"
"The less you know, the better, kukuku!" was Kururu's reply. Kirere gave a sigh but did as she was told, and began to tighten some of the washers on the large motorcycle-looking machine.
"...There was a boy on the ship a lot like you," Kirere said as she went to work. "When I was with Garuru Ojisan? He laughed a lot, and he liked computers."
"I didn't ask about your trip, and yet you're telling me."
"He wasn't as nice as you, though," she added.
"I'm nice? I'm losing my touch, kukuku."
"He was kinda a jerk. I think I might've thrown a monitor at his face... I blacked out afterwards, though. I don't know, it was all a blur, but it must've been me. I feel really bad about it... I mean, he was mean, but I don't think he deserved that."
"...Kuuuukukuku!" this was a sincere laugh from Kururu, much to Kirere's surprise. This concerned her enough to where she stopped working and stood up, watching Kururu have his laugh. "Kukuku! That deserves a treat."
"But I feel really bad about it..."
"You shouldn't, kukuku!" Kururu was still finding a bit of amusement in this. "There's got to be something you want."
"How about a hu-"
"Neh! You have a hug jar," Kururu grumbled, and indeed she did. Whenever she managed to raise 2 000 yen, this would equal into a allowing her brief physical contact with Kururu. Fortunately for the scientist she had only managed to raise 800 yen so far. "Name something that doesn't require psychological torment on my part, kukuku!"
"Something I want?" Kirere returned to work, and thought for a few moments. "Anything, right?"
"If you say a kiss on the forehead this deal is off, kuku," Kururu chuckled. Tororo took a heavy computer part to the face. This was too great. He would be laughing for days.
"All right. I know what I want!" she announced with a happy grin.
"Kuku, you must get that enthusiasm from Giroro Senpai. I was never this hyper at your age."
"Yeah, but you were sure creepy."
"Kuuukuku! I like to keep an image going. So what is it you want? It must be big if you're smiling like that."
The following day, Kururu found himself miserable in the maze of junk that surrounded him from every side. It was like a graveyard to technology his kind had used before he was even born. Before his grandparents had even been a thought, more than likely. Kirere, meanwhile, was having a grand time looking through the junkyard, picking up pieces, some that were nearly as big as she was.
"Come on! You said you'd help!" she grunted as she walked past him, dropping a small fan along the way. Kururu picked up the fan and reluctantly followed her over to whatever it was she was working on.
"So, guess what it is!" she took a step back after dropping the heavy car part to the ground, and Kururu looked over the machine silently for a few moments, studying it.
"A mess," he answered curtly.
"Funny," she sighed, hopping up on top of the hood of it. "I'm reassembling one of these cars!"
"...How... Ambitious?" Kururu passed her up the fan and glanced in, studying the engine. "...So this is how you choose to waste your time, kukuku."
"Pass me those," she stood up after taking the fan and pointed behind her, to some sparkplugs. Kururu did just that with a sigh, trudging along the entire way. "Hrm... Nah, these are all rotted. Watch this, I'm gonna go look for some better ones of... These things!"
"Take your time," Kururu stretched and yawned, and leaned against a nearby stack of junk. It didn't take long for the large pile to tumble right atop of him, trapping him.
Kirere, meanwhile, hopped into car after car in hopes of finding a good-enough set of spark plugs. She finally became aware of what looked like a small, rundown building right at the front gate. There were a few old vending machines and plastic chairs outside of it, as well as a small TV atop an empty rusted oil drum.
The building itself was large enough to fit a few cars, and from the open metal garage doors Kirere could see that was exactly what it was used for. She could see even from her distance that, sure enough, on the ground there was a set of sparkplugs. She made sure her invisibility was on before creeping into the garage.
The garage itself was a mess. Whoever the owner was would've probably faired well with Tororo, she surmised as she inched closer to the sacred car part. She yelped and fell back, however, when a pair of heavy workboots came out of seemingly nowhere, and a Pekoponian attached to them.
He was a mid-sized Pekoponian, in a blue jumpsuit and grease-stained white gloves. His hair was sloppy, a red bandanna covering most of it, and his face was young, but tired-looking.
"Stupid bill collector!" he gave a rough kick to the back tire of the car and almost immediately gave a yell of pain. He hopped up and down, clutching onto his foot, and Kirere rolled under the car in order to prevent being spotted. Now the sparkplugs were much further from her, she noticed with a heavy frown.
"I'll show 'um... It won't be funny when I'm towing their car, that's for sure!" he snapped, and Kirere heard a clicking noise.
'All these Pekoponians are nuts!' Kirere thought to herself, all while reaching for the sparkplugs. Then there was a sudden scent, one that sent Kirere into a sneezing fit. This caught the attention of the mechanic, who leaned down, cigarette still dangling from his mouth. Their eyes met for a moment, and he jumped back against the closest wall, screaming. Kirere joined in his screaming in a matter of moments.