"The last time I tried stuff like that, it was white, and it didn't taste very good…."

Dororo laughed gently. "Yeah, well, this is extremely different, Ms. Koyuki. Look-" He took a chunk of blue cotton candy and put it in his mouth. "Mmm. Nice and sweet. Try it."

Koyuki gave him a still look for a second, still contemplating, but then cautiously followed his lead and placed it in her mouth. She gasped delightedly. "It dissolves in your mouth!" She held her cheeks like she had tasted the most incredible thing in the world. "It tasted like a thin cloud of sugar! That was amazing, D!"

Dororo laughed again. "It does, doesn't it?"

"Shh!" Koyuki immediately stopped and hid behind the cotton candy cart. She ducked and was well aware of the presence before her. Dororo considered hiding with her for a moment, but decided against it. Hey- nobody knows who I am. At least, for the while. Being human had it's benefits.

He smiled briefly, trying not to cast too much attention on Giroro and Natsumi, who both pretty much awkwardly walked by each other, trying to entertain each other as they ate their hotdogs. Based on the limited conversation Dororo heard, the couple had already ridden on over half the rides- and they were saving the best for last- the Ferris Wheel.

Dororo put another bit of cotton candy in his mouth. The Ferris Wheel. He hoped against hope that Koyuki still wouldn't want to get on it. Ever since that dark, dramatic, drastic incident….

Koyuki must've sensed her Dororo's Trauma Senses, because she immediately dragged him away. "Hey, D? Is there other stuff here that I haven't tried?"

"Oh, I don't know," Dororo said, appreciative of the distraction. "Tell me the things you haven't tried, and we'll just go from there."

"Cool!" Koyuki inspected the food stands, tapping her chin as she gazed over the variety of foods. "I've never tried that!"

Dororo frowned slightly as he looked at what she was pointing at. "I don't know what that is, either." An obese, grease-stained man in the stand was washing some knives. Dororo rang his hand up in the air. "Um, sir? Excuse me, sir? Sorry, but, um, can you tell us what that is? Please?"

"Ah, magnifique!" The man said, kissing his greasy fingers. Dororo nor Koyuki could figure out what sort of accent he had, but whatever it was, it was very thick and hard to understand what he was saying. "True artists appreciate such a sweet and tender taste!" He put the unidentifiable food item on a plate and held it out to them. "Free sample! Try, try!"

Dororo and Koyuki took it gingerly and bit into them.

"Tastes kinda like chicken," Koyuki noted. "It's good, though."

"Ahh, amusant.Everyone says that about frogs legs."

Dororo's face paled to an extremity. He dropped the meat and ran off to find a trashcan.

"….I wish he would have told us that earlier," Giroro said, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"You don't like frogs legs?" Natsumi asked, perking a brow. Not that she'd admit that it sounded truly disgusting, especially since some of the current residences of her household were frog-like aliens. But the way he reacted was somewhat similar to her own when she found out what the mysterious meat the French man had offered them. Anyway, she decided not to let it bother her. Maybe he had pet frogs or something.

"I don't find them…. appetizing, per say," Giroro muttered (Keroro and Tamama had grimaced and nearly vomited when they found out what he ate. Kururu simply laughed, which didn't help the situation any better, especially when Tamama had asked him if he had ever tried frog legs). He lagged his tongue out to get rid of the aftertaste. He did not want to develop a particular taste for cannibalism. If they were green and more froglike, he would never have considered trying it. But it looked and smelled so much like chicken…

Ignoring subject now.

"What are we up against now?" Giroro asked, tossing the napkin to the nearest trashcan.

"The Twister," Natsumi pointed. The ride was merely a long pole with swings. It didn't look as bad as The Dragon, which was as bad as it looked. Nearly gave him a heart attack. Battlefields gave him less adrenaline than that ride did…

Natsumi pulled him from his arm and his thoughts. "Let's go!"

The ride was basically a fun swing ride, pulling it's victims in the air and twirling them from a viciously tall height. Giroro found himself falling asleep midway, and only waking up when Natsumi gently flicked him on the nose.

"You aren't taking a nap, are you?" She grinned.

Giroro yawned and stretched. "Well that was relaxing."

"I know, right? Especially since the last one was really scary."

He rubbed his shoulders. All the rides that required Natsumi's holding on to him were packed- they had to be separated on every single one. He had trembled and turned green with jealousy when he saw her clutching on to random patrons willing to let a beautiful young girl cling to him while they screamed. And all the ones he did get to sit next to her were painfully slow and not required for embracing-on's. Talk about romantic tragedy.

More like romantic comedy.

Shut up.

"It's almost time for the fireworks," Natsumi said eagerly. "Let's hurry up and get in line for the Ferris Wheel!"

Giroro didn't bother pointing out that they hadn't ridden on all the rides yet- he knew that she was just as excited to get on together, watching the evening end with a romantic fireworks show…

"And a goodnight kiss," Keroro whispered, being barely heard through Giroro's choker. "Don't forget the goodnight kiss. You're already on phase three, Giroro- and here you must end it!"

Giroro gulped, his face deepening into a heavy red color. A kiss with Natsumi Hinata… is a dream come true!

He nearly spazzed out when the collar shocked him again. He frowned, touching it, troubled, when he heard Natsumi whine, "Oh no! We won't make it in time!"

"Huh?" Giroro redirected his attention back to the line, which, to his amazement, seemed to stretch like an extended, never ending ribbon. He was crushed. His dreams were collapsing like a burning building-

Until the firefighters arrived, that is.

As if on cue, Keroro, Tamama, and Kururu appeared on the scene, wearing Pekoponian suits (which, he had to admit, looked very unorthodox compared to how he currently looked), advertising one of Sumomo's nonexistent concerts. They played music that was obviously recorded before and urged the Pekoponians to come and listen to her live.

Over half of them ate it up, ditching the line to see this "Sumomo" person that sounded so incredible on the tapes they just heard. Kururu directed them to a certain location, telling them it was at the very, very far end of the amusement park, opposite of the Ferris Wheel. With most of the peoples gone, the line had shortened to a more reasonable amount.

Even though she had first been extremely annoyed that the stupid frogs had shown up at her date, she was relieved that they had gotten rid of the long line and decided that she would let it slide for now.

"How's your teddy bear holding up?" Giroro asked, the choker once again taking over for him.

Natsumi laughed. "He's good, thanks for asking."

He smiled back at her just as Keroro, Kururu, and Tamama were quickly packing up their supplies to avoid a very angry mob that could come back at any time. Keroro gave a subtle side glance toward Giroro and winked at him encouragingly.

Go for it.

Dororo had fought, but fought weakly, and ultimately lost.

He found himself and Koyuki waiting in line for the Ferris Wheel, just three people behind Natsumi and Giroro, rocking himself back and forth with the balls of his feet. He was at first comforted in the fact that they probably wouldn't get to go on the Ferris Wheel, what with the long line and all, until his best friends ruined the party.

Traitors, Dororo thought bitterly, feeling oncoming tears to his eyes. They're all traitors!

"C'mon, D," Koyuki said cheerfully. "It's not going to be so bad. I'll be next to you. You can hold on to me if you feel scared, okay?"
Dororo stiffened.

"Please, D?" Koyuki asked, her eyes widening with undeniably cute, childlike wonder. It immediately caught his consideration. "I've never been on a Ferris Wheel before…"

The ninja took a deep breath, moving his hands toward his hair.

"It'll be a lot of fun!" Koyuki assured him. "You'll be with me."

"Alright, alright," He finally consented, sighing. "But I'm not opening the door."

She wrinkled her nose, almost as if she heard a bad joke. "Why would I want you opening the door?"

"My bear will be right in front of us," Natsumi said, officially putting the stuffed animal on the seats in front of them. "And I'll sit next to you."

Giroro smiled at her weakly, the color coming to his cheeks again. They were actually here; now what?

Frog, this is worse than when Ms. Furbottom forced a wedding gown on Natsumi and had her stand next to me…

The doors were snapped securely; the cart was slowly starting to rise.

…And the last words before Keroro pounced were 'lips'.

The rides that they went on- the lower ones- were beginning to sink. The sky was a fiery orange as the sun too began to descend, in a much dreamier and leisurely way of it's own. The fireworks were scheduled to begin as soon as the golden sphere had disappeared and welcomed the black night to overcome the sky.

The sun was slow, but he didn't mind.

He wanted this moment to last as long as it possibly could.

"You're not scared of loud noises, are you?" Natsumi asked. "Because it's going to be really loud, especially if we're up high and close to the fireworks."

Ha, if you think they're loud close, imagine what it's like to BE a firework on more than one occasion. The very words danced at the tip of his tongue, but he decided it wise to keep it in his head.

"I'm not," Giroro reassured her. He suddenly realized that Natsumi had edged a little closer to him, a little too close to his comfort zone. He scratched his nose, contemplating the very dare that frolicked in his mind.

Maybe.

He suddenly released his arms out, almost as if he was stretching them, but then relaxed them behind Natsumi. He discreetly let his fingers wander over to her shoulders before finally dropping them there. To his surprise and delight, she let him keep his hand on that very place. She didn't even mind slightly leaning against him, resting her head on his own broad shoulder.

Giroro hoped Keroro wouldn't send him another message- Natsumi was so close that she would hear his voice coming from the choker. Thankfully, the sergeant would realize the delicate situation and not say a word. If he wasn't so stupid, Giroro would be more confident in his leader.

Dororo's body had become as still as a corpse.

Koyuki would know.

She poked him with her finger, wondering if he was either doing this on purpose to be funny or seriously traumatized on this ride. It didn't matter anyway; they were already inside it. She decided that he was just going to have to face his fear.

Which he was failing at this very moment.

"Dororo, do you like fireworks?" Koyuki asked. "'Cuz I think we're supposed to be seeing some tonight. Which is why I wanted to be on the Ferris Wheel."

Dororo's mask made it hard to tell if he was smiling or not. She sighed, hearing the calm voices chittering from the different carts of the ride.

"Dororo, why don't you play a game with me?" Koyuki suggested, flashing her familiar kitten-like smile.

"…What kind of a game?" Dororo asked softly.

Good, he's responsive.

"Twenty questions!" She replied happily. "I love playing it with Natsumi! Okay!" She thought briefly, and then came up with a word. "I'm thinking of something. Now, guess!"

"Alrighty…" Dororo took a deep breath, trying to relax. "Is it an animal?"

"No."

"Is it a person?"

"No."

Stars twinkled across the sky like scattered seashells at the beach. The Ferris Wheel continued on in a soothing flow, setting people at ease, yet at the end of their seat. Their eyes were focused on the horizon, waiting enthusiastically for the fireworks show to commence.

Meanwhile, Giroro and Natsumi swapped stories to each other, asking each other questions to probe the next thought.

Even though Giroro was careful not to mention anything too familiar or suspicious, she enjoyed them immensely- especially the ones with him and Garuru, to his embarrassment. She repeatedly asked him about his older brother, leading him from one story to another.

"What's his name?" Natsumi asked finally.

"Uhh…" Giroro didn't feel creative. "Look." He pointed. "I thought I heard a 'boom'."

"Oh! The fireworks!" Natsumi shook herself free of his hug and took a real long look at the sky. "Where?"

"Over there." He was lying, of course, but as if luck were giving him a break today, fireworks shot up across the horizon, exploding into bright bursts of color. They crackled and thundered, making him wince slightly upon memory of being a firework himself.

"Wow!" Natsumi exclaimed. "It's so beautiful!"

"Yeah…"

"Look!" Koyuki almost bounced as she jabbed her finger toward the sky. "Look!"

"I see, I see!" Dororo laughed. The games and conversations had loosened him up considerably, finally enabling him to truly enjoy the dancing lights. He sighed, leaning against his chairs. "Earth has many wonders."

"I wonder if they're gonna kiss," Koyuki mused, looking above her.

"K-Koyuki!" Dororo stammered. "I-It's rude to eavesdrop!"

I don't think I would consider that rude, seeing that it's my job and all…

"Don't encourage her!"

"Dororo, do you think I could maybe be a narrator when I grow up?"

"Koyuki, the fourth wall…."

"What fourth wall?"

Commercial Break~