It wasn't the first nor the last time that Giroro had given many hours of his thoughts to a certain red headed girl. It wasn't the first time nor the last time he'd forgotten to remind himself that he's a soldier and as such should act more appropriately, as he indulged into the fantasies of holding her hand, stroking her hair and sharing dinner with her. It wasn't the first nor the last time he'd finally snapped out of it hours later and slapped himself for acting like a school girl.

The Hinata family gathered in the living room along with the rest of the Platoon, where they enjoyed a game of charades after dinner. Ever since the summer days came, the household had been much merrier, with Aki taking some days off and school being out. Every day, they would indulge into a different activity, as if those days were never going to come back again once the summer was gone. It was a different kind of mood, a new kind of mood that Keroro thoroughly enjoyed, and has used as an opportunity to start the official summer holiday of Keroro Platoon. No one was sure whether such a thing was official or not, but Giroro seemed to be the only one who minded it, still being convinced the invasion should be done as soon as possible as a part of their duty. As such, he decided to skip the game evening and remained outside, wanting to remain alone with his thoughts, sitting on the stone step, and baking potatoes – characteristically, his mind and eyes had kept coming back to the red headed girl who had just successfully portrayed the meaning of "stupid frog" in body language.

It wasn't the first nor the last time that Giroro thought his sense of duty was getting in the way of him having fun. It wasn't the first nor the last time he wished he could be more relaxed and more in the mood for games like these.

It was, however, the very first time, that Natsumi Hinata had suddenly taken a certain kind of interest in his typical behavior. Their eyes had met for a fragment of a second, and Giroro immediately looked back into the yard, regretting stealing a glance of her. He span the stick with the sweet potato on it nervously in his hands, hearing the approaching footsteps.

Leaving Keroro to define whatever he was trying to define with his awkward dancing to Aki and Kururu, Natsumi had gotten up from the sofa and walked over to the step he was sitting on, slipping through the open door. She was about to call him in, Giroro deduced. He'd refuse, he further concluded.

"Don't you want to join the fun?"

Figures she'd ask that.

"No thanks. I don't prefer playing such games, at the moment."

"Oh, OK then."

Figures she'd say that.

"Then, I'll stay here and keep you company.

… He didn't figure this would happen.

Natsumi Hinata sat next to him and stared up at the starry sky, thankfully unaware of his suddenly red face and sweaty palms.

"I can see why you'd want to remain here, though. It is so hot at this time of year, and evening chill is just right."

"U-uh." Giroro confirmed clumsily. He gripped the stick tighter, as if his life depended on it. He tried to clear his head, but it was beyond him why Natsumi would leave the comfort of the game evening to join him in doing nothing. Obviously, it was getting to him to much – either that, or blood rushed too fast to his head – but he started feeling dizzy. It must've been obvious.

"Giroro, are you alright?" She sounded mildly alarmed. No wonder; in the next few seconds, Giroro realized he was dangerously close to face planting into the grass. He straightened his back and decided to lie down.

"I'm- I'm fine, I just need to lie down for a moment… must be the heat…"

"Well no wonder, who of sane mind would start a campfire in the middle of the summer?" Natsumi laughed, promptly throwing some of the nearby gravel onto the small fire and dowsing it rather quickly. Giroro didn't say anything, lying down on his back on the cold stone and turning his eyes skywards – its distance had helped his dizziness and felt more at ease. As the fire went down, he could breathe in more of the fresh air, too.

Sighing in relaxation, he wiped his forehead with his left hand and then left it lying above his head, his right arm dangling freely down and resting in the grass – it was a very uncharacteristic pose for him, but it stretched him and helped him loosen his body, something he desperately needed at the moment. He was just about to completely relax, when Natsumi sat down again – it was then that he realized she was sitting incredibly close to his hand. He stole a quick glance of her.

She was indeed sitting so close to him. Her own hand had been resting on the step, barely several centimeters away from his own. He had only then realized he had subconsciously wiped his somewhat sweaty hand on his head. Stupid, he thought. Why in the world would she grab his hand?

Then something fantastic happened.

Giroro didn't know what she had done. Stretched herself, adjusted her position, Natsumi did something and for a moment he could hear her skirt ruffling against the stone as she did whatever she had done – but when Natsumi once again settled her hands on stone, her pinky and her ring finger… two of her delicate fingers had somehow, somehow, somehow ended up in his outstretched hand. Lying on his palm. This wouldn't be weird if Natsumi had realized her mistake right away and pulled her hand away. Giroro knew well how sensitive Pekoponians were to touch, how specific touches were reserved for specific persons; it was a social norm – and from what he's learned, this was definitely not the kind of touch a Pekoponian would share with a friend.

Instead, Natsumi had remained at ease. Giroro all but went mad wondering how in the world did she not notice where she put her hand when a fantastic thought went through his head, an improbable, crazy, hopeful thought. Maybe she had an idea. Maybe she figured.

Maybe she knew.

He couldn't help but steal another glance of her face, as terrified as he was of the fact she might notice it. But she didn't. She looked at the distant stars with a sparkle in her eyes and… the smile. Blissful, mysterious, happy, divine, cute smile that he had never seen before, the kind of smile she had never graced him with. Was it his current position that messed with perception? Was it dizziness? Was it the summer air? Was it simply him?

Why, Natsumi, why are you smiling like that? It can't be because of me. It ISN'T me. What is it?

Giroro was staring, he realized, so he looked at the sky instead. Minutes. Not seconds, full-fledged, 60-seconds-each long minutes passed as the two simply sat there, Natsumi's fingers in his trembling hand. It was, as he was staring into the sky, that Giroro started gathering courage. He swallowed once, twice, ten times, who knew how many times to heal his dry throat. He breathed in quietly and deeply and still felt redness in his cheeks. His tried to remain cool but he started to sweat even more profusely. He tried to relax, but his horribly tense back hurt against the cold stone step.

And it was in that horrible, terrifying, decisive moment where he nearly cried out of concern, where he felt never happier and never more horror-struck in his entire life, that he, at the same time, decided to damn it all and decided he simply couldn't put his hope into something that wasn't going to happen – and his hand bent and his fingertips lightly, lightly touched at her hand.

He remembered every detail of the lightest touch he had ever given. He remembered his index touching the nail of her ring finger. He remembered the next two of his fingers gently touching at her joints. He remembered his pinkie accidentally caressing her own. It was light. Light. It was just several finger, touching awkwardly, weirdly, slightly coated in sweat on his part, still and stuck for reasons Giroro couldn't comprehend.

His hand was shaking. He wanted to say something, and he didn't know what. He wanted to know what was going on, but hated to ruin the beauty of it, selfish as it felt. At that moment, his duty as a soldier was the last thing that could cross his mind. All that was left were questions, hopes, fragments of courage and utter and complete confusion.

Why did this happen? How did it come to this? What should I do? What is she doing? Can I…? Oh, would you… would you, please? Natsumi… Natsumi, would you please tell me… tell me if it's alright, if it's OK, I only need you to tell me, to confirm… could I ever… am I allowed to… to simply, and only… without the oddity… without any ties, without any obligations… would you let me…

Can I love you?

Her fingers slid out of his hand. It wasn't harsh or fast nor rushed. It was gentle and normal and, Giroro was shy to admit, pleasantly ticklish. He heard her feet tapping on the stone beneath him and he finally remembered how to see. He sat up swiftly and gave Natsumi a bewildered look she didn't quite caught onto.

"Oh, mum is calling me!" Giroro didn't remember hearing Aki's voice; no surprise there, for the sound of it had been buried underneath the sounds of questions in his head. Natsumi got up. She shot him her regular, dazzling smile. "Thank you for company, Giroro."

And just like that, she was gone. Leaving the poor Keronian wondering, leaving him to reevaluate everything he thought he knew and leaving him to figure out just what kind of summer this was going to be.