Chapter 7:
"And then my heart goes boom, boom, boom…" Kirere sang as she continued to work on the mecha with Kururu. The yellow Keronian looked up from his side of the mecha's foot and gave a laugh.
"Neh. What's that you're singing? And so poorly, kukuku!" Kururu paused his work and Kirere unplugged one of the earbuds from her headphones, connecting it to Kururu's.
"It's Chu! She's great!" Kirere explained as Kururu listened.
"Kukuku! She sounds like she's singing in a tin can…" Kururu muttered, unplugging it and resuming his work. Kirere gave a frown and begrudgingly returned to her work as well.
"Hehe, looks like you've got a helper today, Kururu," Saburo laughed as he walked in on the two. "Hey, Kire-chan, why aren't you helping your human buddy today?"
"Saburo! Eh, Haruki? He's out of town dodging some bill collectors," Kirere explained cheerily.
"Kukuku, what wonderful company you keep…" Kururu laughed.
"What're you doing here so early?" Kirere set aside her wrench and walked over to Saburo, and he gave his trademark casual grin and laugh.
"Well, I'm going to a concert tonight, I wasn't sure if Kururu wanted to come or not," Saburo answered, removing a ticket from his jacket pocket and handing it for Kirere to inspect. "I don't know if you've heard of her… She's a Korean artist who just came out with her first Japanese album. She's going to be a big hit from what I understand…. She already does some commercials for candy."
Kirere gave a gasp, and bounced over to Kururu, "I'll give you what's in my hug jar if I can go, too! Pleaseeee can I go? Please, please, please?!"
"Eh?" Kururu looked over the ticket in her hand, "..What's it worth to you?"
"Kirere?!" Giroro slid into the work area, gun already drawn. "I thought I heard you scream!"
"I-I did, but…. Can I go to a concert?!" Kirere quickly got over the puzzlement of Giroro's quick presence and went into begging mode. "It's tonight!"
"Eh? What?" Giroro blinked, and now Kirere passed him the tickets. One night only, Chu in concert… The tickets were pink with pink and white hearts and stars. "K-Kirere, I'm not sure if this is—"
"Hey, I was going to ask Natsumi-san if she wanted to go, too. You wouldn't happen to know where she is, would you?" Saburo interjected, and Giroro paused a moment.
"…I'll go…" he sighed in defeat, shutting his eyes.
"Aya!"
"Y-yes, sorry!" Aya squeaked, and attempted the pirouette again. And yet again, she fell flat on the floor. "Owww…."
Romama shook his head as he watched the teacher storm over to Aya, looking incredibly annoyed with the girl, more so than usual.
"We're two months away from one of the biggest performances in the year, and you're still having trouble with the simplest things… I… I just don't know what to tell you, Aya," the teacher ended in a sigh, and shook her head. "You want parts in our programs, and yet you're surprised when you don't get any. It's because of performances like that."
"I'm trying, really… I…"
"Well, try to not try so much. Try to do," the teacher then clapped her hands together. "Class dismissed for today!"
Romama continued to eat the orange he held in his hand as the students shuffled out, then the teacher, leaving only Aya there to practice.
Romama stood, and looked in the mirror once, and gave an affirming nod; he was nearly ready to hop down and reveal himself to Aya when something stopped him—The radio he had on in the background, something was very familiar… He rushed over, and turned up the song.
That voice…
"And that was Chu, an up-and-coming artist who happens to be performing here tonight!" the announcer explained as the song ended. "She's going to be playing—"
Romama didn't stay to hear the rest, or to show himself to Aya. Rather he was quickly gone from the dance studio attic, headed to the one place he knew would help him.
"Ah, all in attendance, I now call this meeting dealing with Pekoponian invasion strategies to order!" Keroro chirped as he banged a gavel and then smiled out at the over-enthusiast or conversely tired and annoyed faces. "I like to call this operation invade Pekopon through the mislabeling of UPC codes! Tonight we put phase one into action, which involves us—Yes, Giroro Gocho?"
Giroro put down the hand he had raised, "I… I'm afraid I can't join you for this mission, Keroro…. I have other duties to attend to tonight."
"He's going to a concert!" Kirere chimed in, and Giroro outwardly flinched. "We're going to go see Chu!"
"That girl who sells those star and heart-shaped candies on TV?" Tamama wondered aloud, Giroro's face growing hot red as he felt the surprised stares upon him.
"Gero, well, I'm not one to get in the way of family activities… I suppose we could put off this strategy for another day," Keroro turned away from them with a grin on his face and his hands behind his back.
"Fool! You're just glad to have an excuse not to invade!" Giroro snapped. "We'll carry out the invasion plan in the morning, no later than that!"
"Unless you have some girl scout meeting to play den mother for, gero gero gero!" Keroro chuckled, and the shots began, all originating from Giroro's gun. Keroro gave an agonized yell as he flew in the explosions.
He landed right on top of Romama, who remained there a moment on the ground, then after a few moments of quietly assessing the situation, stood, holding onto Keroro's head with a near deathgrip.
"Ojiisama, how, how nice of you to join us!" Keroro squeaked.
"Eh?" Dororo stood from his seat. "What's that, Romama-dono? You think that another one of you platoon is really that close?!"
"What'd he say, Dororo?" Giroro asked, glancing over to the ninja.
"Romama-dono says he might have found another of his platoon on his own, and she's in our presence," Dororo explained, and Kirere immediately began to look about, expecting the Keronian to hop out at any moment.
"Not that literally, kukuku!" Kururu laughed at Kirere's searching.
"Maybe she'll want to go to the concert, too, if we find her in time!" Kirere exclaimed with excitement.
"Giroro Goucho's going to go see a girly concert tonight," Keroro explained, still in Romama's grasp. Romama let go of Keroro, tossing him forward a bit, and Dororo continued.
"He promises his allegiance in the next invasion strategy if we help locate her," Dororo continued.
"Heh! He didn't help our last one, even if it was a foolish endeavor," Giroro snorted, folding his arms and turning away from Romama.
"He wants to remind you that he came out to save you and Mahihi-dono, Giroro-kun," said Dororo, and Giroro growled.
"Bastard's pulling that card? What a dirty game!" Giroro whispered to himself.
"How did you find out about her, anyway, Ojiisama?" asked Keroro.
"He heard her on the radio. He said her voice is unmistakable," Dororo explained. "And he says she's playing here tonight."
"That's got to be Chu, then!" Kirere gasped. "Cool! Romama-kun knows someone famous!"
"Kukuku, good, he can tell her himself that she's talentless," Kururu laughed.
"Are you for certain that it's her? Your pendant didn't go off again this time," Giroro said critically, but Romama nodded.
"Someone with as much power at this Chu person has must have influence with Pekoponians… If she truly is a Keronian she could tell us her secrets to wooing mass Pekopon audiences!" Keroro explained, followed by a hearty laugh. "This has worked out more perfectly than I could have anticipated, gero, gero, gero!"
"So does this mean I'm going too? Kukuku!" Kururu asked.
"Don't think I'm not watching you," Natsumi glared down at Keroro as they walked into the stadium, the Keronians wearing their invisibility shields. "You better not try anything funny, Stupid Frog!"
"Natsumi-dono, we're simply trying to get a better feel for Pekoponian culture by engaging in one of Pekopon's favorite pastimes, aside from baseball and building Gunpla!"
"I've never been to a concert this big before!" Koyuki gasped happily, leaning down a bit to talk to Natsumi.
"Hehe, I haven't either," Fuyuki answered, feeling a bit out of place among the throngs of girls. He was the only boy as far as he could see; even Saburo had bailed out last minute, having some emergency come up, something relating to work or a hobby or something…
"It's going to start soon!" Kirere gasped excitedly, smiling widely at Romama. "Do you think we could get her autograph?"
Romama paid no mind to her, he instead kept his sights on the stage in front of them. The lights went out, and then came on the stage lights, followed by backup dancers, and finally, the songstress herself.
Chu was tiny, with blue hair tied in two buns high atop either side of her head. Her eyes were a peculiar shade of orange, and the frilly skirt and top she wore were yellow and white. She had on pink choker on her neck, and on the side of the choker a pink and red star symbol. She showed a lot of energy as soon as she hopped out, and continued to sing a cheery song about spending the summer on the beach with friends, followed by one about a cute boy.
'I miss the day when the only songs were those of the battlefield…' Giroro thought to himself, feeling a bit sick at the overly-cute spectacle. He managed to block out a majority of the show, thinking back to his days as a great Keronian warrior, and before he knew it, Chu was walking off stage, signaling the end of the concert. Romama took this opportunity to bolt from his group and to the backstage.
"Wait, Ojiisama!" Keroro took off for Romama, and the others of the platoon soon afterward, leaving only the Pekoponians there in the crowd.
"Stupid Frog, where're you going!?" Natsumi shouted out, but this was drowned out by the cheering of the still excited audience.
"Ojiisama!" Keroro called out as they wandered behind stage now, being careful to avoid the Pekoponians rushing back and forth. Kirere was nearly trampled, but Dororo quickly reached over and pulled her away from the traffic of heavy boots.
"Are you all right, Kirere-dono?" he asked, and she only nodded, a bit flustered.
"Ojiisama!" Keroro called out in a sing-song tone, "Where are you?!"
"You really expect him to answer you," Giroro snorted. "Idiot…"
"Gunso-san, I found him!" Tamama called out, pointing to a dressing room door. "I saw him run in here!"
"Ah, perfect!" Keroro opened the dressing room door and pranced in without another thought. There came a high pitched scream, from a woman. Giroro, who was in the doorway, went deep crimson, and Keroro opened his eyes in surprise, and began to back out. Not soon enough, however. The hairbrush Chu sent flying hit him square in the middle of the face, and it left a red mark in the center of the sergeant's face.
"That'll teach you not to forget knocking, you creep!" Chu snapped. The cheery exterior was gone, and instead there stood a sour-faced yet gorgeous woman in a yellow bathrobe. She relaxed a bit and leaned back against the vanity, her features reverting to much more calm. "Really, Roma-kun, you should've told me you had friends coming… Still silent, eh?"
"He's always like that, he lost his voice," Tamama chimed in.
"Thank goodness for small miracles," Chu muttered, and watched as Kururu and Dororo now walked in, and she then disappeared behind a changing screen. Kirere took this opportunity to hop up on the vanity mirror, and began to look about at the various makeups with awe. She outscretched her hand to reach from some blush, but Giroro quickly caught wind of this.
"Don't even think about it," Giroro said sternly, and Kirere sighed and sat on the seat of the vanity in defeat.
"What was the big idea doing that!?" Keroro had regained himself, and shook a fist in anger, the hairbrush clutched in his other hand. He soon stopped, however, as she tossed her bathrobe out from behind the screen. An uneasy air filled the room, affecting all but Kirere, who only watched, puzzled, at the embarrassed looks.
"…No one's really been around a lot of girls, huh?" she concluded after a period of silence, and there was a collective flinch, except for Kururu, who merely gave a laugh.
"Well, that's no shocker," Chu snorted, now emerging from behind the screen. Keroro placed his hands over his eyes at first, but then, after hearing Chu give a small laugh, he peeked through his fingers, and then removed them, and studied the yellow female Keronian, whose color matched that of an egg yolk. Her eyes were almond-shaped, and bright orange, and her hat was sky blue, with ears sticking up and buns formed on either side. From the buns there hung orange ribbons, and there was a pink choker about her neck.
"You… You're a sergeant, too…" Keroro muttered, pointing at the star on the Keronian Chu's stomach. A red star, and within it a pink one.