Chapter 8:
The Keronian then gave a half-hearted salute, and then yawned, "Well, I like to keep company, but not when I'm working, so if we could make this quick…"
"…She's so flippant…" Giroro muttered, noting the wave Chunini gave to the group, signaling she was done with them.
"You're so much happier-looking on stage…" Keroro added, crestfallen, his shoulders slumping. "What happens between there and here?"
"He… He says Chunini-dono's like this… Cute and unsuspecting on the outside, but with a heart that's devious," Dororo explained to the group.
"Oh, now, that's not very nice," Chunini said, mocking hurt as she took a step toward Romama and Dororo. "So what brings you here, disrupting the wonderful, otherwise excellent life I'm leading?... And how can I get you to go leave so it can get back to that?"
"Ah, a woman who gets to the point, admirable indeed!" Keroro chirped. "We were hoping that your public relation skills are just as good as your singing ability, Chunini-chan!"
"Kukuku, that wouldn't make her very useful, then…" Kururu chuckled quietly.
"We also want to know if you know where Kodada is!" Kirere chimed in.
"Kodada? Why would you—Ohhh I see," Chunini gave a long laugh, and shook her head. "You boys are all the same. Well, I don't know where she or Rokiki are, but I know where Lupapa and Fujuju are."
"Rokiki?" Keroro blinked.
"That's the first we've heard of a Rokiki," Giroro added.
Romama cringed a little bit as he suddenly felt eyes upon him, and he refused to make eye contact with any of those around him.
"You mean… He didn't…. Oh this is too GOOD! Let me get a drink, I suddenly think I need one…" she giggled and walked over to a mini fridge she had set up, and pulled out a bright orange soda from it.
"Ojisama? Who's Rokiki?" Keroro asked while Chunini got her drink.
"Chu? Are you decent?" a female voice and a knock on the door came, and all of the Keronians scrambled. Chunini only took a swig of her soda and headed for the door.
"This is the best I'm going to get after a concert," Chunini called out, and in bustled in a tiny woman, with dark hair, thick glasses, and dressed in a nondescript white shirt, black skirt, and black buttoned jacket.
"The newest figures came in from your DVD concert," the woman shut the door with her foot as continued to read off of a chart while Chunini took a seat at her vanity. "Looks as though we're slipping in sales."
"Kukuku, that's no surprise," came a voice from behind the screen, then came a growl, and the sound of a smack.
"Idiot! She'll hear you!"
"Do you have… Company?" asked the Pekoponian slowly.
"You remember the shrimp I told you about, my old Platoon leader?"
"Romama Shosa," the woman nodded.
Chunini took a sip of her drink and sank back in her chair, "Well, he showed up, and he's brought a whole bunch of friends… For some reason of another. Do you think we could get a masseuse in here later, Lee?"
"Gero?" Keroro popped his head out from underneath a pile of clothes and walked over to the two. "Chunini-chan, she knows that…?"
"Chu-san's an alien? Of course," Lee nodded. "As long as she can make sales, I'm all right with her being whatever she wants to be. Now what are your friends doing here, Chu?"
"They think I'm going to leave this tour to go on some kind of little adventure to find Romama-kun's little… Friend," Chunini stretched. "My do I have a crick in my neck!"
"I'll get right on that masseuse."
"Leave the sales figures on the vanity here, would you? Thanks, Lee," Chunini motioned, and Lee did so, leaving them be and shutting the door behind her.
"My manager," Chunini set down her soda on the vanity and picked up the chart. Romama took this opportunity to hop up onto the same chair and lift Chunini up by the shoulders, staring her down. The chart fell onto the ground, and Kururu lifted it up and began to study it, Kirere looking over his shoulder.
"He… Doesn't take kindly to your words, Chunini-dono…" Dororo explained. "Romama-dono, if I could interject, it's not polite to do that to a lady."
"I could wipe the floor with him, and then you'd be next!" Chunini snarled, causing the Keroro platoon, aside from Kururu, to jump back in fear.
"T-that isn't a woman," Giroro stuttered. "She's something completely different."
"I'm not part of that anymore, so you'll have to find someone else. I didn't like you then, I don't like you now, and I don't like any of your lackeys."
"My, they are dropping… This time next year you could be in the dollar bin with these figures. Kuuuukukuku!" came Kururu's laugh, and Chunini's expression shifted from anger to surprise, and she hopped out of Romama's grasp.
"W-what?! Where does it say that!?" she snapped, grabbing the chart from his hands. "H-how can that be? Even downloads are down… But I just played a sold out concert!"
"Kukuku!" Kururu's shoulders bounced as he gave another laugh.
Chunini was distraught. She continued to look over the chart as she took a seat on her couch, "…I need these figures back up…. I'm too pretty for local fair circuits!"
"Maybe if you came out with your own doll! I'd buy it!" Kirere chirped in.
"That'll solve it, why didn't I think of it before… Who's letting the little boy play with dolls?" Chunini deadpanned.
Tamama gave a giggle, and Kirere went pale. She then ran out of the room, crying.
"Wait! Kirere! You don't look like a boy!" Giroro shouted, running out after her.
"K-Kiere-chan's a girl, Chunini-chan," Keroro muttered flatly.
"What am I going to do!?" Chunini was back to worrying about the figures on her chart.
"Get a less generic sound would be a good start," Kururu suggested.
"Gen-generic!? I'm generic?!" Chunini's eyes grew wide and worried.
"Well, I haven't heard much, but it isn't much different from what I've heard before from other singers, come to think of it…" Keroro admitted, and Kururu gave another laugh. "If she has falling sales like this, she might not have the secret to success after all…"
"I'm not a has-been!" Chunini shouted, her mood shifting yet again.
"She's become even more vain since I last left her…" Dororo sighed, voicing for Romama.
"Kuku, there are a few things you could do to take care of that…" Kururu turned his back to Chunini, "Being a former pop idol myself."
"W-what, you?!" Chunini pointed to Kururu shakily, and he only turned around and gave a large grin.
"It's scary, but true, Chunini-chan," Keroro answered with a nod. "When Kururu Socho puts effort into something, he's usually successful. The only reason he didn't become more successful is he walked away from it."
"Except with our supersoldier," Tamama muttered in an aside.
"So… How would you get these figures up… Kuru-kun?" Chunini finished, scooting up beside Kururu with the chart in hand.
"Kukuku! You're not my type," Kururu answered.
"You have a type?" Tamama and Keroro wondered aloud in unison.
"Tch," Kururu began. "If you really want to increase sales figures, the secret is to—"
"Yes, yes? What is it?"
"Help us find Kodada-san for Ojiisama! And then you have the Keroro Platoon's promise that you'll know all the secrets to increasing sales!" Keroro answered, hopping in front of Chunini with his eyes closed smugly. When he opened them, he came to a start, and backed away a step. "Such a scary look… What a true diva…"
Indeed Chunini did look terrifying, although after a moment her looks relaxed, and she turned away, flipping the ribbons on her head covering, "Fine. I don't know where Kodada is, but I know where Lupapa and Fujuju are living, I can take you to one of them. But I'm not doing this out of charity, charity I reserve for publicity events. I'll get Lee to schedule a plane for Brazil."
"Brazil!?" Dororo, Tamama, and Keroro shouted aloud. Romama, too, looked surprised at this.
"That's where Lupapa's living… And the plane's for me, you commoners find your own transportation. Now if you don't mind, I'm tired, so… See yourselves out…"
"…Right then…" Keroro answered, his shoulders slumped. "Even my conscience is warning me against her… When my conscience is warning, that's a sign of big trouble."
"She's so cold! I looked in her eyes and saw nothing!" Tamama added gravely as they left the dressing room. "It was like a void of wickedness!"
"What role did she play in your platoon exactly, Ojiisama?" Keroro ventured to ask Romama, who looked more stern than usual.
"She was our best combat warrior…" Dororo explained. "A hand-to-hand and energy combat expert. Her powers are all in her voice… And it's not wise to get on her bad side, Romama-dono says."
"T-that was her good side?! Her temper, it reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it…"
"Stupid Frog!" Natsumi growled. "Kirere's crying and I know you had something to do with it!"
"Ah, that's where! Natsumi-dono! N-NATSUMI DONO?!" Keroro yelped as Natsumi lifted him up by the head and stared him down. Most of the crowd was gone, except for the Keronians' Pekoponian friends and Lee, who was on a cell phone, working out deals even as she stood here. "I had no part in Kirere-chan's tears!"
"Gunso-san really didn't, Na-chii! It was Chunini-chan saying Kii-chi looked like a boy!" Tamama answered frantically as Keroro wriggled in Natsumi's grasp. Natsumi dropped Keroro to the ground like she was dropping a basketball, and the sergeant balled his fists and hopped back up.
"Just because someone's crying doesn't make it my fault!" Keroro snapped.
"Where is Kirere-dono, Natsumi-dono?" Dororo asked.
"She left with Giroro," Natsumi folded her arms and leered down at the Keronians. "You all better not be planning anything evil…"
"Us? Evil? Why, Natsumi-dono, first you accuse me of making a child cry, now you accuse me of plotting a clever yet devious scheme? For shame you'd think so low of me!"
"I don't put anything past you," Natsumi muttered, and turned away from them. "We're going home now!"
"She'll rue the day she ever crossed us, now that I have family on my side," Keroro grinned evilly, and folded his hands.
"Stupid Frog, it's your day for dishes, and they're still not done!" Natsumi called out the following day after she returned home from school.
"Nee-chan, it looks like Gunso hasn't done any of his chores…" Fuyuki said as he looked about the house after he removed his shoes.
There then came a knock on the door, and Natsumi heaved a sigh, "He probably locked himself out of the house taking out trash, and—You?"
"Suzuyama-san?" Fuyuki wondered aloud as Haruki stood there, still in his work uniform.
"You guys haven't seen Kirere around, have you? We were supposed to go down to a neighboring junkyard, but she never showed up. Just sent me a note saying she was going to Brazil."
"Brazil?!" both Hinata children gasped, and Haruki looked at Fuyuki, then Natsumi.
"Eh….? Wait, she's really in Brazil?! That wasn't a joke?!" Haruki yelped.
"So that's where Stupid Frog went!" Natsumi clenched her fist. "He left for another continent so I won't be able to follow him and stop whatever he's working on! Fuyuki, this could be trouble."
"Nee-chan, I don't think something that sneaky is Gunso's style…"
"I wouldn't put anything past him!" Natsumi answered. "And I'm here…. If there was only some way that—Eh?"
"Woah!" Haruki crouched down as there was a heavy gust of wind, and a helicopter touched down moments later, and out hopped Momoka Nishizawa.
"I haven't seen Tama-chan anywhere today! He wasn't even at breakfast!"
"That's because he and everyone went off to Brazil, Nishizawa-san," Fuyuki explained. "And Nee-chan's a little upset that she can't see what Gunso's up to."
"That shouldn't be a problem," Momoka smiled brightly. "We can take one of my private jets if you wanted."
"Good thinking, I can stay and guard the fort while you're gone," Haruki nodded.
"No way, you're coming too, bill dodger!" Natsumi answered sternly.
"What?! I've got a junkyard to run!"
"Someone needs to keep an eye on you, too," Natsumi answered, glaring at Haruki. "I don't want my mother here alone with you around!"
"Listen, I'm not going to be bossed around by some kid!" Haruki snapped. He attempted to return the glare with Natsumi, but only sighed in defeat a moment later. "…I'll go pack my bags… I need to find friends who aren't crazy, aliens, or kids!"
"…Why's Ojiisan have a water bottle attached to his head?" Kirere asked Giroro as the Keroro Platoon and two members of the Romama Platoon sat in a long, white boat in the middle of a long, deep river known as the Amazon, in the middle of the rainforest of the same name.
"It's to make sure he doesn't turn into the Keroro from "back then"," Giroro answered as he continued to paddle down the river. "The humidity here would be too much for him.
"Yes, who knows what damage he could inflict upon the fragile ecosystem here," Dororo nodded sagely as he, too paddled along. Kirere looked back at Keroro worriedly; the sergeant looked like a vegetable, staring blankly with a hollow look upon his face. Chunini sat in the back of the pontoon boat, holding onto a blue parasol and looking out through a pair of sunglasses as they journeyed down the river.
"I don't think it's much further now!" Chunini called out, and Giroro gnashed his teeth together.
"Giroro-dono, are you all right?" Dororo asked.
"Just thinking of reasons not to throw her overboard," Giroro answered.
"Oh, Kirere-chan, come here!" Chunini waved to the young girl, and Kirere stopped paddling, and glanced at Chunini. "I won't bite. Come on, sit down. Good girl. I think we got off onto the wrong foot."
"You thought I was a boy," Kirere said gravely.
"That too," Chunini answered flippantly. "Anyway, I was thinking maybe to make it up to you I could give you a little sisterly advice, seeing as how you don't really seem to have a strong female role model around here."
"Well, I have Natsumi-san and Mama-san back home," Kirere answered. "They're Pekoponian, but I'm more Pekoponian than human anyway!"
"That's adorable," Chunini answered with a smug grin, and leaned forward a bit. "You know, you remind me a little bit of my younger sister, the more I look at you…"
"Your younger sister? I want one of those! What was her name?!" Kirere asked excitedly.
"Well, it's—"
Romama stopped rowing abruptly, bringing all, including Chunini, to a halt.
"What? What's the matter?" Giroro asked, looking back at Romama. He was not the only one who gave a yell of surprise moments later when an arrow shot out at them, landing just inches from Keroro's feet.
"Ehhh? Pretty…" muttered the braindead sergeant.
"Gunso-san!" Tamama gasped, and dropped his oar. Then there came another arrow, but this time Dororo held up his oar, and it landed in the paddle, instead of Romama's head, where it had been headed.
"Looks like things are getting serious now," Chunini sighed and folded her parasol, then stood. She pressed on the charm on her choker, and out came a pair of pink angel pack wings.
"Someone get him to safety!" Giroro called out, motioning to Keroro. Romama nodded and took up his oar once more, and Tamama did the same.
"I'll see what's causing this, Giroro-dono. Stay and take care of everyone!" Dororo called out, hopping off of the boat and onto the land while Chunini floated up to get a better look from the sky.
Dororo unsheathed his sword just in time, and managed to split straight through another arrow that flew his way. He continued to follow the trail, although it seemed the farther her went, the farther the archer went. Then the arrows stopped, and Dororo was left in the loud silence of the rainforest, only the chirping of insects and birds around him.
"Assassin magic!" he called out, and then he looked about, having a better view of the forest and everything moving in it at this point. He was able to see the creature coming at him with a long pole just moments before it would have impacted with his skull, and he rolled out of the way, keeping his sword out and using the sheath as a guard.
"A Keronian woman?!" Dororo gasped to himself as the purple female Keronian stared him down from the other side of the pole, her green eyes letting him know that she was far from happy to see him.