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6 more chapters left. 5 and the epilogue. Yay!
"Meow!" Miss Furbottom scratched at the door of an underground bomb shelter. The door to the base had been left open for her, and she mostly had just been looking around, looking for her owner.
What she had found wasn't her owner, but it carried a similar scent.
The door opened from the scratching. Not hiding out in the bomb shelter constantly, but sneaking out sometimes in the middle of the night, Aki peered out her door to see a cat.
She screamed and ran out, panicking. Screw mutated monsters. Animals were much scarier!
Miss Furbottom meowed in annoyance. She knew this human. Maybe she could lead her to the rest of them. But if she kept running wildly, there would be no hope.
Eventually she decided to just herd her, like cattle.
Natsumi, Fuyuki and Giroro, tiredly headed to the Nishizawa fortress. They heard a loud screaming noise in the distance.
Narrowing her eyes, Natsumi let her eyes adjust to the figure that was approaching. Soon enough, Aki was running toward them, running from what looked like had frightened the living daylights out of her.
"M-mom...?" Natsumi's jaw widened. Aki stopped running as she saw her two children.
"Fuyuki? Natsumi? What are you doing out here?" She stopped for a moment, tears forming in her eyes as she felt a sense of relief at seeing her children. Fuyuki ran into her arms. Natsumi left Giroro's side to run into her arms, as well.
The three hugged and cried, happy to see each other.
Miss Furbottom proudly sauntered by and leaped into Giroro's arms. He might have been mutated, but he was still her owner. She didn't like it much that she had found him by Natsumi, but at least she had been reunited with him, too.
"M-miss... Miss Furbottom?" Giroro asked, hearing her soft mews. He pet her head, feeling stress relieved from his body by the rhythmic motions of petting her. Memories formed throughout his life just by touching her.
His cat, and losing stress from being with her, was granting him his memories back. He smiled. "You're a wonderful cat. I wish I had a toy for you to play with," he laughed.
"H-how are you alive, Mom?" Natsumi asked, touching her Mom's face as if she couldn't be alive. She knew they had survived from the alien technology, but how had her mother survived?
"I booked it as soon as people started panicking. Found a bomb shelter, stayed in there for maybe 6 months, started sneaking out during midnight when the sun was the least intense to get supplies and then hide out again back there. Not even an apocalypse can take out your Mom!" Aki proudly stated to her children, pumping her fist. "You just have to have common sense and the mental and physical strength to survive. I knew others probably were alive, too. And I thought of you two everyday. I'm so glad you're safe." She hugged them.
Natsumi squeezed her Mom tightly. "I can't believe it," she told her mother in awe.
"Not even bombs can take you down if you're strong enough," Aki teased.
"What were you screaming about, though?" Fuyuki asked.
Aki, still shivering, pointed to the cat in Giroro's arms.
Natsumi and Fuyuki just looked at each other. Even a super Mom had to have a weakness.
Finally, all together they made it to the Nishizawa fortress. Koyuki, Saburo, and Momoka were overjoyed to see them.
"Oh yeah. We forgot to take Miss Furbottom," Saburo recalled when seeing her. "My bad."
"So... Giroro's okay now?" Koyuki asked, confused.
"My memories coming back, little by little. All I know is that I'm not going to attack you guys again. I... I'm protecting Natsumi," Giroro told them. "Cats are the best. Healers of memory," he smiled. "Aren't you, you great thing?" He told Miss Furbottom, kissing her. At least she wasn't disgusted by his new appearance. She still knew it was Giroro deep down.
"I'm so glad you found your mother, Fuyuki!" Momoka smiled. "Dad will want to do some tests on her, though, to make sure she's not leaking radiation. Same with Giroro, before they can officially join us."
Giroro and Aki both nodded, consenting to the tests.
As doctors tested Giroro, Aki, and the cat, Giroro sighed. He was still bummed out about Natsumi flinching and recoiling from his touch.
Natsumi had insisted to be in the room outside his tests, sometimes between blood draws and things she walked into the room to let him hear that she was still there.
Giroro knew what he had to do. Natsumi was a good friend, a good partner, but she clearly wasn't into him any longer. He could hear her head trying to tilt away from him to not look at him.
"I'm sorry, Natsumi. About what I told you about waiting for me to return before starting something with Saburo. You should be free to be with him," Giroro told her.
"It's fine," Natsumi told him curtly. Giroro's ears picked up her lack of emotion. He wanted to touch her hand, to support her, but he couldn't.
"We should take a break," he finally told her. "It's been a long time since we've seen each other, and... And we have a lot of time to make up for. It might be best to explore other options instead of healing a partly broken relationship." It was the hardest thing Giroro had ever had to say. He knew he had come back just for Natsumi, but she didn't owe him anything. And just being with her was much better than being mindless and just a mutated invader.
"What? But... But..." Natsumi stuttered.
"I don't want you to misinterpret. I love you," Giroro assured her. The worry in her voice faded. "But... if my love cannot be returned, I won't mind. Being partners with you is much better than being your enemy. And I'll be happy just the little bit of time together in my memories that we had." Giroro told her soothingly.
"What do you mean, can't be returned?" Natsumi asked, her voice shaking. She made no movement to get closer to him and his body, though.
"You don't have to force yourself. I can sense your physical repulsion at me. I know this new appearance is not ideal," he told her sadly. "I'm sorry."
Natsumi sighed, rubbing her head. She knew she shouldn't lie to him. "I... I still love you. Very much so, Giroro. My feelings of love are still incredibly strong. It broke my heart when you were gone and I'm so happy you're back now."
Giroro knew Natsumi was telling the truth, but there was more. He smiled at just that knowledge that she loved him.
"But... you're right that your physical appearance isn't... Well... It's terrifying, Giroro. I... I can't feel attracted to you, just your eyeless face is sending shivers up my spine," she confessed. "So... you're right that I might be experiencing a little repulsion, which isn't your fault... But..." She bit her lip, feeling horrible.
Giroro smiled. Natsumi was a honest soldier. He was glad she had the courage to tell him all this. "I'll remain your friend," he promised. "But we should separate from the romantic side of our relationship until you feel more comfortable. I don't want a one-sided relationship. You are free to pursue other options while we're on a break," he said. It hurt to do this, but he knew it was the right thing to do.
"But... But..." He could hear Natsumi shaking. "I'm scared," she confessed. "I don't want to leave you again... The last time you left you didn't return for nine months. You tried to kill me, you were so different. I don't want to separate... I don't. Please don't do this, Giroro," she begged.
Aki was listening to her daughter and Giroro's relationship troubles, trying not to butt in. She knew Giroro had a certain fondness for her daughter, but she didn't know it had been mutual during the time she was gone.
"Separation doesn't weaken love, Natsumi," Aki told her soothingly. "And neither does having a non-physical relationship with someone."
Natsumi looked up at her Mom, waiting for advice. She wanted her relationship with Giroro to be healthy, no longer rocky. But she didn't know how to do that.
"Haru and I... Your father. Were apart a lot, you know. He liked to travel. But our love for each other didn't grow weaker. In fact, we even sorted things out to have a more open relationship while the other was gone, as long as our romantic feelings stayed true to just each other. It was fine if we didn't have the attraction to each other any longer, as long as we had commitment," Aki told her.
Natsumi honestly didn't want to hear this about her Dad and Mom, but it helped hearing it, anyway. "So... separating from a romantic relationship from Giroro won't harm us in the long run?" she asked. Aki nodded.
"Then... I'll do it," she agreed. Giroro smiled.
"Good," he nodded. Natsumi seemed distressed, but she eventually left Giroro alone to continue his tests.
"So... you and Natsumi broke up because of your new appearance?" The news got to Fuyuki eventually. News spread quickly.
Giroro gritted his teeth. He didn't really want to talk to anyone about this.
"I think your new appearance is cool," Fuyuki reassured. "But... is there any chance to get back to normal? I mean... I'm sure your eyes won't be able to grow back, but get your skin back to the way it was?" he asked, wanting to know for Natsumi.
Giroro shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "Haven't looked into it. Haven't wanted to, till now. The one who might know the most about it is Kululu, but I can't just go up to him and ask about it. He and I aren't on the best terms."
Fuyuki sadly nodded. Perhaps there was no hope for his alien nieces and nephews, then. He mourned the loss of them.
Dororo was overcome with guilt with what he had done. Sending Giroro off to be with Natsumi had been a mistake. He would definitely mutate her.
It shouldn't have been about testing things. It should have been about other people's safety.
But he probably couldn't separate Giroro from them. He wouldn't let himself be separated.
Maybe... Maybe if there was a way to make Giroro leak less radiation... Maybe that would help. Dororo put his knowledge and intuition to good use.
Our mutations have mostly stabilized, but we still leak radiation. More so than the environment, which is just dead. However... I have come upon no Pekoponians that leak radiation. Pekoponians had come from this planet, and shared a closer bond with it.
Perhaps they were more immune to the environment? Although they had died from the initial bombings, perhaps they would stabilize more if somehow they were Pekoponian.
Dororo tried to remember Giroro's smell. Did it carry a Keronian signature, despite being mutated? The answer was yes.
If he's Pekoponian, he might leak less radiation. Dororo headed to the old Hinata house and tried to sniff out a certain gun. He knew only one device that could turn Keronians, or even animals, into Pekoponians.
Finally, in the ashes of Giroro's old tent, he found the All Things Are Livinggun. Upon examination, it had a month's worth of juice.
He bit his lip. A part of him wanted it for himself. He wanted the chance to be able to see Koyuki, if this truthfully would help them not leak radiation. But he knew Giroro loved Natsumi so much that he would pose a risk for her if he didn't have it.
Dororo sighed, and began sniffing Giroro out.
He broke the ground and tore through the concrete of Giroro's floor under his bed of his new room.
"Dororo?" Giroro heard, looking around when he heard Dororo's breathing. Dororo tossed him the raygun.
"Try it," Dororo told him. "I want to see if you still smell like radiation. If so, you could pose a threat to the Pekoponians."
Giroro nodded and shot himself, knowing the gun all too well. Soon enough, he was a blond Pekoponian man, naked and on the ground. He still had his large rabbit-like ears on the top of his head and the slits at the back of his knees, but they could easily be covered.
Dororo sniffed. "You're not mutating anymore. As I suspected... Pekoponians are more resistant to mutation. Most likely, they just die from radiation. Since you're already mutated, though, you're not at risk. And you shouldn't be leaking radiation now," said Dororo.
"Th-thank you... I don't know what to say." Giroro was grateful.
"Nothing. Don't tell anyone I was here," Dororo requested.
Giroro nodded. Dororo liked his secrecy.
On second thought, Dororo spoke up. "Kiss Natsumi like you want to. This way you won't kill her now, my friend."
"Why give this chance to me, though? Don't you want to see Koyuki?" Giroro asked.
"Koyuki and I never had that sort of relationship, unlike you and Natsumi did," Dororo reminded him. Giroro nodded.
He hoped Natsumi would like this new appearance more.
After getting clothes and asking for two glass eyes for his face, he went to see Natsumi.
"G-Giroro?" She recognized the rabbit ears. But she wasn't sure why he was a blond Pekoponian man.
He handed her the All Things Are Living gun. "I found this," he lied. "It can turn me Pekoponian. Apparently that will put you at less of a risk from getting hurt from my radiation."
"Really?" Natsumi asked.
A few doctors came up, to confirm if this was true or not. Earlier, they had noticed that he was still leaking radiation and hadn't wanted to interact with him, for risk of their health. They took a blood sample and tested it.
"He's right. Being in a human form is more healthier for us, and actually a lot more for him. He no longer requires as much water, actually." They agreed with Giroro's conclusion. Giroro grinned.
"The gun has only a month of juice, but if it's a month I can spend safely with you, I'm happy," he spoke.
"You don't have to do this. I don't love you less for your mutations," Natsumi insisted. Giroro nodded.
"But do you like this appearance more? I don't hear you flinching," he pointed out as he grabbed her hand. His skin was no longer as coarse, and was more humanoid.
Natsumi smiled a little bit. "I... I do," she admitted. "Your rabbit ears are kind of cute too."
"Good." Giroro smiled. "I want to be able to kiss you... And not have you flinch."
Natsumi smiled. "I think that can be arranged at the moment." She leaned forward and kissed him, able to stomach his appearance much better. He couldn't feel her at all, but he loved just the emotional feeling of being with her. Natsumi smiled against the kiss, pulling away after a minute, her mood much happier after being closer with Giroro.
The doctors felt awkward about watching them and left quickly.
"It's been nine months, Giroro. Do... Do you want to maybe rekindle our relationship? Make love again?" Natsumi whispered to him.
"Um... I can't feel anything," Giroro admitted sadly. Natsumi pulled away, disappointed. "But I'd love to just for the emotional feeling of being with you... Please, let's do that."
Natsumi nodded. She just wanted to be in Giroro's arms in the moment.
She pulled him into her room, and although Giroro couldn't feel anything at all, he could still hear a lot, and just the emotional feeling of being with her made him feel a whole lot better.
Natsumi had a pretty fun time.
And soon enough, they were just in each others arms, cuddling, mutually deciding to end their separation.
So originally there was going to be a smut scene at the end of the chapter. But I was lazy and I just made it a few lines. I am sorry. If you are an intense Gironatsu shipper and are desperate for Gironatsu smut and review asking for it, I might go back and edit the chapter to include a smut scene.
But sadly I am too lazy at the moment.
Please review!