"Uh…" Giroro swallowed nervously, gazing down emptily at the black phone in his hand. "Err… well… that is…"

"Well?" Natsumi demanded. "Why were you in Giroro's tent?"

He could feel the words Keroro wanted him to use at the tip of his tongue. He struggled not to use them, tightening his lips together anxiously.

"Rio."

The words- the ones he didn't want to use- burst out from his mouth, unwillingly. "He stole my phone from me."

Natsumi stared at him, her mouth open for a moment, but then slowly closing, more in confusion than anything else.

"…Giroro… stole your phone…?"

Giroro nodded reluctantly, his hands clutching, squeezing, threatening to break the object in two.

Natsumi then glanced at her own cell phone. Her eyes were full of bewilderment.

"Um… Okay." Natsumi said, awkwardly. "I'm… I'm sorry… that he, you know… took that phone from you…"

Giroro was surprised at the quietness (and… sadness?) in her voice. Shouldn't she be showing anger? Perhaps even irritation? Exasperation? But she wasn't displaying any of those emotions… she seemed void of it, rather. Almost….

He regarded her feebly and stood up, without bothering to slap off the remains of dirt and grass from his knees. He walked past her, paused, and then turned around as if to say something else, but stopped himself and continued on his way.

He wasn't there.

Natsumi felt her face heat up when she realized that Fuyuki was watching the whole thing from the door. She wanted to shoot him a warning look, but she ended up with simply going back inside the house and avoiding her younger brother completely.

He wasn't there, Natsumi thought, her heart heavy. And… he stole my friend's phone?

Any other time she would have been furious at that fact. Embarrassed, annoyed.

But…

He wasn't there.

If anything, she was more… dissatisfied at her friend's actions. Disappointed.

But more disappointed in the fact that her friend wasn't there. There, with her. With everyone who cared so much about him, who missed him.

Giroro, where are you…? When are you coming home?

Unknown number, 6:40 pm
dont bother w8ing 4 me. just cum ovr wen u can.

Rio, 6:42 pm
who is this

Unknown number, 6:46 pm
Saburo (:

Rio: 6:48 pm
how did u get my #

Saburo, 6:52 pm
Kururu

Saburo, 6:57 pm
u cuming ovr or wat?

Saburo, 7:00 pm
hello?

Giroro pocketed his cell phone, choosing to ignore Saburo yet again, and gazed up anxiously at the sky. Geez. What were the chances of getting caught? He should've been smarter, stealthier, but he kept forgetting how big he was compared to his previous size. Of course Natsumi would have noticed as he bumped his head against the ceiling of his tent. He was ashamed of getting caught in the first place… what would she think of him now, as both Rio and Giroro? Rio, a possible creep, a stalker? Giroro, a possible thief? Frankly, the second opinion cut him deeper. Giroro was his real identity, and he cherished that persona much more than 'Rio's'. If he could choose Natsumi's feelings about either person, he would let her believe Rio the Stalker rather than Giroro the Crook. Like he could possibly allow all the things they went through together fall to oblivion for something that he didn't do.

Sighing, he decided to let it go, if for the moment.

He always wondered why huma-…Pekoponians liked to rock themselves in such a slow, repetitive manner. It never seemed like it would appeal him.

He concluded that it was either because he had never tried it before, or because he was a Pekoponian.

He decided to go with the latter.

Giroro pushed himself off the ground and found himself swinging back and forth, feeling the wind rush against his face. He leaned back as he gripped the chains, looking down into the ground. It was embarrassing to admit he was enjoying himself, so he told himself he wouldn't. He would just enjoy it.

It wouldn't be much longer until his brother found him, or the Sergeant, or that annoying white haired pretty boy. He decided to just… relax.

He wished he could generate some guns to polish. Then he would have something productive to do.

"Rio?"

Giroro casually looked over his shoulder, and, in utter shock, forgot he was in mid air and let go of the swing handles. He fell back and landed on his head, his legs entangled on the swing as it slowed to a stop, dragging his face across the dirt.

Natsumi gasped. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm f-fine," Giroro spluttered, arms wobbling as he picked himself up. He rubbed the bump on the side of his face, but paused when he felt Natsumi's tender fingers touch his sore with utmost gentleness. He winced a little- how could he not- and blushed at the same time as she examined him, her eyes wide and caring.

"It doesn't look too bad," Natsumi said, though a bit skeptically. "But it wasn't as bad as the time I hit you with the volleyball."

Giroro grinned at the memory.

"So," Natsumi breathed, backing away from him. "What are you doing here, all by yourself?"

"Um, you know." Giroro cast a humiliated glance at the swing that was still rocking back and forth slightly. "…Chilling."

"I didn't think you liked swinging."

"Yeah, well, it's, uh, relaxing. Gives me something to do."

Natsumi shyly looked at the swing next to his. Her face turned red as she timidly took one of the chains. "Mind… m-mind if I join you?"

"No. No, not at all." Giroro blinked, finding his cheeks grow even warmer than before.

As if they felt like an invitation was needed, they stood there, awkwardly, staring at the ground. A few seconds passed until Giroro walked toward his own swing and settled on it. Natsumi, grateful for his taking the initiative, climbed onto hers. It wasn't long until they began their fluid, to and fro motion, kicking their feet until they were soaring into the air, then falling back gracefully.

It was a nice feeling, to be able to go so high up and have the confidence that the swing will catch you when you fell.

If only love had that kind of confidence.

Giroro turned his head a bit, watching Natsumi for just a few seconds. Her eyes had a blank look in them, as if her mind was somewhere else, wandering aimlessly in her thoughts.

Giroro sighed and wondered if he should play it safe- call off the relationship, or tell her he's… the little red frog that lives outside her home in the little red tent.

It drove him absolutely crazy.

How the heck would she react?

There was a weird burst of courage that enabled him to dig his heels into the sand, shooting small puffs of sand in the air, stopping the swing from continuing that constant movement. Natsumi noticed his break, and slowed hers to a steady stop instead of ending it so suddenly.

She turned to him expectantly. "What's up?"

"Natsumi, um, I…" Giroro bit his lower lip and looked down.

"…What?"

Where was that burst of courage? Was it even real?

His hands felt warm and damp with sweat. He rubbed them nervously on his pants, unsure of what else to say.

"Rio?"

"What are you doing here?" He cringed at the ferocity-maybe even rudeness-of the question. "I-I meant, you know… why are you here? I-I mean…"

"I get it," Natsumi said with a small smile. "I just… needed to think." She frowned slightly, squeezing the handles. "…I'm sorry, Rio, but… it doesn't sound like Giroro to steal your cell phone. It was probably one of the other stupid frogs…"

Giroro was startled at her sudden fury. And when he looked at her, he almost screamed. It seemed like she just burst into flames.

"N-Natsumi…?"

"Huh? O-oh, sorry." Natsumi cooled down immensely, and seemed rather ashamed of her random burst of energy. She sighed as she leaned her head against the chains, her pink hair swirling around them. "…I'm sorry, I'm okay now," She mumbled. "It's just… I'm really confused right now."

"Is it… something you want to talk about?" Giroro asked softly, leaning a little closer to her side.

"I'll tell you about it when I'm sure what's going on. I don't want you to worry too much about it."

"Hmm."

Giroro's pocket vibrated. He gave Natsumi an apologetic look as he pulled his cell phone out, flipping it open and examining it carefully.

Saburo, 7:23 pm
u ok dude?

Giroro scowled irritably as he shoved his phone back into his jeans pocket.

"Who was that?"

"A very aggravating mother."

Natsumi giggled. "Is it really?"

"No. Just some annoying f-" Giroro stopped himself from saying it, and then resumed, correcting himself, "…acquaintance of mine text messaging me."

"Oh." Natsumi leaned back against the swing. "It's nice now, isn't it?"

"Yeah… it is."

He felt his phone heat up and buzz again. He growled.

"Yo, Natsumi?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna have to go now. My friend's-" He mentally slapped himself. "-waiting for me and he might have a heart attack if I don't get there soon."

"Alright," Natsumi said. "Go ahead. I'm just gonna stay here and… swing myself."

Giroro smiled, unwilling to comply to his annoying "room-mate", and headed off to his house.

About halfway there, he began to regret giving into Saburo. He didn't even like the guy, and he left Natsumi all to her lonesome…

It wasn't until Giroro looked at his cell phone when he exploded into a wild string of curses (which, of course, had to be censored and cut out of the show).

Saburo, 7:30 pm
Kukukukukuku.

"Dororo?"

Koyuki gently poked the pale blue frog. She would have assumed he was mediating, but after so many hours, she was wondering otherwise.

"No, not the cauliflower…" Dororo muttered, his head suddenly drooping slightly at her touch. "Yes, I'm a natural blue..."

Koyuki giggled. She was right; he was asleep.

She picked him up delicately, holding him against her chest. He cuddled her, perhaps imagining, dreaming, or assuming she was his mother. She walked over to his bed and put him down, but to her surprise, he held on to the cloth of her shirt. Smiling gently, she lay down next to him, cautious not to wake him up.

Koyuki watched him sleep, sighing in a what she thought was cute kind of way, as he mumbled and twitched at his dreams. She carefully touched his cheek with the back of her fingers, and frowned when she realized that his face suddenly turned warm.

I hope he's not getting sick…

"K-Koyuki…" He murmured.

She smiled a little. Is he dreaming about me?

"K-Koyuki…" He fidgeted slightly, and just neared her body a little more. "K-Koyuki… I… I love…"

She stared at him incredulously, curiously, wondering what he could possibly say.

"I… I love… shoes."

"You love shoes?" Koyuki repeated in a whisper, giving him a funny look.

I didn't think frogs even wore shoes…

"I WILL KILL YOU SO HARD YOU WILL DIE TO DEATH!"

"Ku-ku-ku-ku~ it isn't my fault you're so gullible, Corporal."

"What's going on?" Saburo asked, appearing from a portal on the wall with two bags of groceries. To his mild surprise, Giroro was strangling Kururu, who both was laughing and turning purple as he was slowly losing the oxygen needed to breathe. "…What did you do this time?"

"It was a-ku*cough*ku- joke. I didn't think he would honestly buy it."

"Rio… can you please let him go?"

Giroro let out a dog-like snarl and dropped the sergeant major without being considerate enough to watch how high he let him go. Kururu fell unceremoniously on his backside.

"So how was your day?" Saburo asked politely, setting the bags on the table.

Giroro shrugged, glaring at Kururu, who smirked in response.

"I brought something for all of us to eat," Saburo said, smiling at them. "I was pretty low on groceries anyway, so…"

"What did you get?"

"Curry."

Giroro recoiled and curled his lip, and Saburo laughed.

"I'm kidding! Well, kind of. I brought curry for Kururu. We could have sandwiches if you want."

Anything's better than that sickening slime. "Sandwiches sound good to me. What kind?"

"Ham, turkey, cheese…" Saburo listed the items and he brought them out of the bag. "Mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato… Apples and peanut butter for dessert, if you want."

Giroro perked an eyebrow. "Why not just draw out your meal?"

|"I thought it would be a nice change," Saburo said, with that pretty boy grin that made Giroro want to wretch with disgust and envy.

"Yeah, yeah," Giroro muttered, not wanting to seem like a jerk but not able to will himself to be nice to this guy. "Just tell me what to do and I promise I won't screw up."

"Well," Kururu began, walking toward the table and pulling himself up to a chair, "First you get a bowl of eggs, and then you put the crawfish inside it-"

SMACK.

"….Now, 'Rio', why did you have to slap me like that?"

"I didn't slap you- I high-five'd your face."

When Dororo woke up, he stopped himself from shrieking so he wouldn't wake her up.

Why was she lying next to him?

But more importantly, WHY WAS HE CLINGING ON TO HER SHIRT?

He released it, horrified, and inched away from Koyuki's sleeping form. He then sat up and hugged his knees, absolutely confused.

He used to sleep comfortably next to her before. Why was he freaking out about it now?

Why was he touching her shirt?

Why didn't his mom buy him that puppy for Christmas?

Why was he asking all these questions?

No seriously, they're giving me a headache.

He tried to remind himself that all these conflicting emotions were an unfortunate side effect from the Animal Animalizer. Wasn't there a way of finding out whether or not these feelings were real? There had to be…

Dororo found his eyes drifting down to Koyuki's lips. Maybe… No! He immediately shook his head rapidly, as if anyone else had dared to mention the thought that had slid into his mind.

No, no, NO! There HAS to be another way!

He gazed down at his bracelet and saw his reflection through the shiny metal. He was mortified to see his cheeks had gone completely red, shown quite visibly against his pale blue skin.

Or maybe it's the sunburn.

This relaxed him considerably. Yeah. It has got to be the sunburn…

Denial is the clincher~ Although to be fair, he's been in denial for the past couple of chapters…

I do NOT love Koyuki! …That way.

Dororo poked at his cheeks stubbornly. It's the side effect.

Whatever you say, lover boy.

"I DO NOT LOVE KOYUKI!"

"Dororo?"

Dororo twitched, and he turned to smile nervously, apologetically, to his ninja friend, who was suddenly forced from sleep. She rubbed her eyes, gazing at his wearily.

"D..? What's wrong..? I heard you screaming…"

"Oh, nothing…" Dororo muttered, pressing two fingers together. "Just… arguing with the narrator…" He paused, and turned to stare at her in horrification. "You didn't… hear what I just said… did you?"

Koyuki shook her head and yawned. "Nope. Can't say I remember. Why? Was it important? We aren't being attacked or anything, are we?"

"N-no…." Dororo stammered. "N-nothing of the sort…"

"Oh. Then…" She yawned again. "I'm going back to sleep, okay?"

"O-okay…" Dororo stopped, and then called out, timidly, "K-Koyuki?"

"Yeah?"

"D-do you mind…" He voice wavered a bit, but then he continued it, anxious to get it over with, "d-do you mind kissing me?"

Koyuki's eyes stretched a little. "What?"

"I-I meant on the forehead. M-my mom used to… give me good night kisses before I… w-went to bed."

"Oh! Of course!" Koyuki smiled and walked back over to him.

If my feelings are real, then it won't make any difference whether or not she-

As her lips brushed against his face, he felt his cheeks burn feverishly, absolutely on fire. His heart pounded with such ferocity he was afraid it would force it's way out of his chest. And he felt… happy. More than happy. It was this sort of happiness he couldn't describe...

"Th-thank you…" Dororo stuttered, touching the spot that she kissed him as she backed away from him.

"No problem!" Koyuki said sweetly. "I'm going to bed now. Nighty-night, D!"

"Night…" Dororo said, almost dreamily. Suddenly, it hit him. Painfully.

Holy *beepshoesbeep*. I'm in love with Koyuki.

Ha! I win. You owe me a dollar.

"Hello?"

"Who's this…? ….Giroro?"

"Garuru."

"Hi! When…. when are you gonna visit yer lonely ol' pa of yers? Hic."

"…You're drunk, aren't you?"

"Not even-hic-close!"

"You're drunk."

"I-am-not.…hic."

"…Well, then, I'll just call you later when you're sober-"

"OF COURSE NOT. Hic. Tell meh whatchu need. I'll wrrrrrrrite it down."

There was glass shattering noise in the background, a slurred curse, and mumbles as to where the 'darn'd piece a' paper went'. More walking around and slamming into random objects noises, and finally another voice- Keroro's dad, of course- shouting that it's under the sofa. No, no, the other sofa. The one that's shaped like the telly-vishion.

"O-kay, I'm be-eack."

"…Are you sure-"

"Poseetive! Hic."

"…I am… not sure…."

"TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT, BOY. Hic."

"…Two fishing rods."

"Fishin' rods, okay, okay. Hic. Iz that all?"

"…Yes."

"Okie then~ 'F ya say so~"

The two remained quiet for a moment.

"…..How'z the Platoon?"

"My Platoon?"

"Ya."

"They're above average, as usual."

"That'z good. And how'z ya'z goin' with th' girl?"

"…Pururu?"

"Yeah, that'z th' one."

"….What about her?"

"Aw, ya know…."

"….No, unfortunately, I don't think I understand what you're saying."

"I think ya know what I mean."

"No, I do not-"

More background noise- some sort of horse braying, Keroro's mom begging the Demon Sergeant not to ruin the- CRASH- ….good china.

The receiver clicked off without either Keronian bothering to say goodbye.

Garuru grunted, staring at his device with utter disbelief. "And that is why I will never drink alcohol."

Author's Note:….Guess who's sick? *sniff* At least I could stay home today to write you this chapter!

So anyway... The last part was more or less of a filler. I'm…. not sure if Giroro's dad can drink alcohol (I meant, like Giroro, who passes out at a single drop). But I'm basing my observations of episode 143 of the anime. He looks drunk…. And he's not passed out, so…

…Yeah. I'm sorry. I was craving another "Drunk Dude" scene XD I really hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. After all, 24 is literally my favorite number.

...And my failed attempt at romance. I'm sorry for that... XD (There's a reason why I only stick to comedy!)

ALSO! I'm so sorry about all this useless information, but... is anyone interested in being my Beta Reader? I know this story isn't that good, so I'd like someone to help me edit it to make it better... if anyone's interested, although I doubt it...