Of Frogs and Pokopenians... : Sergeant Frog/Keroro Gunso : Manga : Fan Fiction : Fiction : Main

Chapter 1

Of Frogs and Pokopenians

It was just a normal day in the Hinata family household--

If you call living with three to five alien frogs bent on conquering the world living with you at any given time "normal".They came in the year 2004 in the hopes of enslaving the human race, but instead found themselves enslaved; either by procrastination, desertion, or their own vices. Especially for one certain red frog--

"Hey!"

What?

"Get on with it. No one likes backstory. You're boring."

Oh...right. Sorry.

It was a fresh spring day, with all the ambiance one would expect to hear along with it; chirping birds, buzzing insects, and the general murmur of a busy city. The sky was clear with a few wisps of clouds; it seemed a peaceful day to the naked eye.

Except for a few people.

Natsumi and her younger brother Fuyuki had just gotten home from school, backpacks laden with homework. Fuyuki was yammering on about something that had happened at school concerning a prank and several thousand live crickets. He gestured animatedly.

"Fuyuki, I'm kind of tired," she snapped, pinching the bridge of her nose as they entered their home. "Fend for yourself tonight. I'm going to take a nap."

Fuyuki stopped suddenly in the middle of his explanation of how Nishizawa, ever bi-polar, alternately ran for her life or stomped the crickets with sadistic abandon and blinked at his older sister. "Oh...alright then. Have a good sleep."

But Natsumi was already halfway up the stairs, dodging around Keroro and Tamama pummeling down them, making flying and shooting noises, arms spread. "You're going down, Tamama!" The green one shouted joyfully. "Kerokerokero!" The navy blue Tamama only cackled and replied, "Only if you can catch me first!"

She merely ignored them, knowing that yelling at them would only make them louder with their whining. She couldn't snap at Keroro to do his chores either, since they were done as far as she could tell.

Tch.

Closing the door to her thankfully idyllic room and locking it to prevent unwanted interruptions, she threw off her school uniform haphazardly and put on some pajamas, simple blue cotton pants with shining suns as a pattern, and a matching blue top that had the word 'Summer' printed on it. Finally comfortable, she threw herself unceremoniously upon her bed, sprawling bonelessly in whatever position she happened to land. She heaved a long sigh, enjoying the spring breeze through the open window.

Coincidentally, the sound of her long-suffering sigh drifted out of the window and to the crimson member of their amphibious would-be conquerors stationed just below. He was, as usual, sitting just outside his tent, ostensibly polishing his weaponry.

His eyes widened in surprise, the sound set off alarms in his head. He dropped his newly polished rifle with a clatter. With a single wordless sound, he was able to infer her stress and exhaustion. What could have caused her to make such a sound? He wondered to himself, boarding his small hovercraft hastily and floating up to her window.

When he reached her windowsill and peered in, a blush brighter than his natural color immediately stole across his features as he witnessed Natsumi at her most defenseless. She was all but a puddle as she lay face down across her bed. This only made him worry; never had he seen Natsumi so exposed. He climbed down from his craft to her sill, letting the machine idle there in case of an emergency. Like being smacked out of the window again.

"N-Natsumi?" he ventured carefully, staying close to the edge of the frame lest she decide to throw something at him.

But to his astonishment, she merely sighed again, making his heart wrench to hear it.

"Go away, Giroro," she said listlessly, not even looking up.

Although it made him swallow a lump in his throat at the fact that she knew who was talking to her just by the sound of his voice, he grit his teeth at her point blank refusal. She obviously needed the presence of another; her whole demeanor screamed it! With no deliberation, he jumped lightly into the room to land upon her bed, wobbling slightly on the soft mattress.

But he suddenly became very dizzy and lightheaded, stumbling to his hands and knees as the scent of her room overcame him: light and earthy, with just a bit of heat. He couldn't help but think it matched her namesake perfectly. Beautiful summer.

Is this what a great warrior has fallen to? What force protects her and makes her still to my advance!

The weight shifting on the bed made her raise herself up on her arms to toss a glare at him, but blinked as she saw Giroro kneeling there, panting and sweating as if suffering from some kind of attack.

"Giroro? Are you okay?" came the nervous inquiry, Natsumi shifting around to reach out to him.

He lightly batted her hand away; for her to touch him right now might be disastrous. "Don't touch me," he growled, though he hated to say it. He'd give anything for her to touch him like that, but if it was anything less than a true loving touch, he would resist.

Much as he didn't want to.

"I am fine," he muttered, pulling himself up into a sitting position and composing himself with as much military bearing as he could muster. "But I do not know about you, Natsumi." He gave her a searching look. "What enemy has befallen you? You look like hell."

"It's none of your business!" she snapped; Giroro noticed with some relief that her shields were once again back up. She faced away from the crimson frog in a huff. "I just had a bad day at school, that's all."

"No one could utter such a sound of complete defeat by merely having a bad day at school," he growled, pacing round to confront her, staring at her intently. Natsumi fidgeted, avoiding his gaze, clear indication that she was lying. "You're not telling me everything," he stated bluntly, crossing his arms. "I'll not leave this room until you have told me!"

Her head snapped up to level a Natsumi-brand glare at him, one which Giroro easily returned in kind. The sparks were palpable between them as they fought a silent battle of wills.

I will win this, Natsumi, he mused. Despite everything else, I could never tire of looking into your eyes. Such a warm, rich reddish brown..like the color of a smoldering fire. This bent in his thoughts continued until he was more or less ogling her.

What could he gain by this? Natsumi wondered, doubt entering her features as several minutes passed. He's never done anything wrong to me before--well, not directly, anyway. He's the first one to actually be interested in hearing about my day, too.

More art by Maria
What could he gain by this? Natsumi wondered, doubt entering her features as several minutes passed. He's never done anything wrong to me before--well, not directly, anyway. He's the first one to actually be interested in hearing about my day, too.

Finally, Natsumi lowered her eyes away from that impassive stare, admitting defeat. Giroro's eyes glinted in triumph, but said nothing, lest she decide to do something drastic.

"It's nothing, Giroro." she began, folding her hands into her lap and leveling a tired gaze at him. "School, chores, striving to be the best you can... sometimes you just get tired."

Giroro looked down and closed his eyes. "I do not believe I am hearing this from you," he stated. When he looked at her again, he could have melted steel. "The Natsumi I know doesn't give up so easily!"

Natsumi glared, slapping her hands down on the bed in front of her, making the red frog jump a few inches and land ungracefully on his bottom, his arms supporting him. "I am NOT giving up!" she fumed, leaning in until her eyes were glaring directly into his, the pupils in the frog's eyes constricting in sudden fear. "I'm just...stressed out, that's all. Mama's always away, Fuyuki's too caught up in his occult...everyone at school is intimidated by me. There's no one I can really talk to." She leaned back to look down into her lap, sudden anger dissipating.

The red frog blinked a little, confused. "But you are talking to me."

She opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out was a choked sound. It was true! He was hanging on her every word, and just by being himself, brought her out of her previous funk. "Giroro," she said, a smile coming to her thankful face.

Giroro sat up, hmphing, even as he blushed a little. "I am here when you need me," he said slowly, voice low in embarrassment. "I do not wish to see my--I mean, you give up for some trifle like school."

It happened faster than even his years of military training could predict. The next thing he knew, he was being held against something soft and warm, two lithe arms encircling his much smaller body. He choked on a gasp, his mind immediately in overdrive as her scent suddenly permeated his senses, his entire body flushing brightly. "Thank you, Giroro," came the whisper against his head as her chin pillowed upon it.

It was heaven--but it was all too much--

The blood from his nose immediately flowed like a faucet, soaking her front.

People across the neighborhood paused in their daily lives, looking around in curiosity as a horrified scream filtered over everything else.

The idling hovercraft did nothing to aid being thrown out the window except to add something else to crash into as he hurtled toward the ground and crashed into his tent home. As he laid there soaked in his own blood amongst the rubble and the damaged hovercraft spiraled slowly down to earth, he grinned. I may have lost this battle, Natsumi...

But I will definitely win the war.