Disclaimer: I don't own the character's to Keroro Gunsou.

Graduation, or as Natsumi had dubbed it, the single, most important day of her entire existence, had come and passed with very little inconvenience to him. He had attended, naturally, donning a crisp, button-up shirt that was rather unsuited for him, and a tie. As the top student in her class, she had made a small speech for the underclassmen as inspiration, and Giroro almost wished that Keroro had been there to hear it. Maybe he would have given up Gundam, if he had.

Whatever the case, she had finally finished her schooling. As soon as the ceremony had finished, Giroro had watched as a tearful Aki squeezed her daughter practically to death, while rambling on about how there was no way that she could live without her, because Fuyuki still needed a big sister to watch over him, and that their frog friends would overrun the house without her there to stop it. Just as irrationally tearful as her mother, Natsumi had claimed she never wanted to leave, at least, not until she was ready to have a family of her own.

Giroro had a very limited understanding of the Pekoponian educational system, but could gather that this graduation was very similar to finishing basic training back on Keron. Of course, no body really cried then, because everyone was too relieved to have survived. He only barely had the chance to process this, before Natsumi had moved on to him, and was smearing her wet face into his chest. Giroro had hardly cared about the shirt anyway, but he was certain Aki would not be pleased about it later. She had been the one kind enough to offer it to him for the event.

The day had passed rather smoothly. She had, at length, introduced him to her friends as her…boyfriend, a title he still was getting used to. Giroro felt almost as if it was all a long, wonderful dream that he was going to wake from, even if they had been together for several months already. In any case, apparently Natsumi had sworn to her friends that she would not get herself a boyfriend until after she finished high school. They had all teased her, and him in turn. After they had walked around campus one, last time, they had headed home.

Aki had shooed them from the kitchen, saying she was going to cook up a feast, and would call for everyone when it was ready.

This left them with free time. At her suggestion, they headed down to the shooting range in the secret base.

With her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, Aki dove her hand into the bowl of rice and water, mixing it quickly. Cooking really was relaxing for a single mother like her, who rarely had the opportunity to make dinner for her children. And it was then, that the doorbell rang. She cursed under her breath-whoever it was, they had terrible timing-before rinsing her hands off in the sink. Thankfully, Keroro was already in the living room.

"Kero-chan, would you mind finishing the rice for me?" She asked sweetly, wiping her hands off on a towel. The doorbell sounded a second time. "I'm coming!" She shouted back at it.

Keroro stood, saluting her respectfully. "Yes, Mama-dono," he answered in his usual, chipper tone, before pulling out the stool he kept nearby for easy access. Straightening her hair slightly, she made her way to the door. It was not often that they had visitors, unless it was one of Natsumi's friends. Even then, she saw no reason that any of them would come over. Most of Natsumi's friends had just graduated as well, and would be celebrating with their own families. Well, maybe it was Koyuki. Aki was sure that she did not really have any family in the area, if at all, and the Kunoichi was always welcome in her house.

But yet again, this could not be quite right. Koyuki, along with Dororo, inhabited the house right next door, and she never bothered with the doorbell, when she visited. Usually, she would pop out of the ceiling, or something like that. Well, there was only one way to solve this mystery. Aki opened the front door.

On the other side of it was the last person she could have expected. After all, she had not seen the man in almost nine years, and it had been almost five since he last sent word to anyone in the household. Of course, she supposed it was natural that he would want to congratulate Natsumi on graduating. She was, after all, his daughter.

"Haru," she uttered in surprise, "I haven't seen you in a while."

He looked tired, Aki noted to herself. He had probably hopped on a flight from Hawaii, or wherever he was living at the moment. After the divorce had been officially processed, he had disappeared almost completely, only sending word when he could be bothered to should have been impressed that he even knew the date of Natsumi's graduation.

Haru nodded his head in response, making a cursory glance around the yard. "Are you going to invite me in, or do I have to stand here all night?"

She sighed. Always right to the point. She opened the door wider for him, the only reply he needed to walk through the front gate and into the house. "I'm not going to promise that Natsumi will be really happy to see you now, after so long, but you're free to stay for dinner," she stated frankly, watching as he removed his shoes.

He followed her into the kitchen, not feeling it was necessary to say anything more. Aki sighed, shaking her head. Keroro had already finished preparing the rice, which was now steaming away in the cooker, and had moved on to cutting salad. He was being strangely helpful, for once. Perhaps it was because he wanted to keep Natsumi in a good mood by actually doing things around the house. It was unfortunate, in this case, that her daughter's spirit would be shot down, once she realized who was visiting. Knowing her daughter, Natsumi was highly likely to take out her anger on the little Keronian currently chopping lettuce before her.

"Thank you, Kero-chan. That salad is looking really good!" She exclaimed, patting the short, green alien on his froggy head. His cooking really had improved in the years he had spent in their household. It was rare when it included tentacles and legs that were still moving, like they did in his specialty-cosmic okonomiyaki. It then occurred to her that cooking dinner with an alien was not exactly the most normal of things. Almost dreading what sort of reaction her ex-husband would make, she looked back at him. His standard, serious expression was strangely missing, and he instead looked stunned.

"Thank you, Mama-dono!" Keroro crowed back, grinning up at her. She, however, was not looking at him. He followed her gaze, before his eyes landed on a Pekoponian male he had never seen before. An instinctive sense of dread washed over him, almost like when Natsumi was about to pound on him for something, only ten times worse. At least Natsumi never tried to kill him, but the feeling that he was getting from this man told him that he would.

"I suppose some introductions are in order," Aki said lightly. "Kero-chan, this is Hinata Haru. He's Natsumi and Fuyuki's father." She then turned back to the flabbergasted Haru. "Haru, this is Kero-chan, the little frog alien that lives in our basement."

Alien and Human stared at each other, neither knowing what to say. Though Keroro was not sure why, he still felt that he was somehow in danger. It seemed to him that Natsumi took more after her father than her mother, in more than just appearances. This could very well mean death for him, but he made a small, awkward bow. The members of the Hinata family were his benefactors, and it would no do to be rude.

Haru, even more bewildered by the creature's bow, did not return the gesture. "Frog…alien." He repeated, as if hearing it the first time had not been enough. "This thing is an alien?" He asked, sounding skeptical.

Aki supposed that Fuyuki should stay as peacemaker between humans and the various alien races that found themselves in her home. He had been doing such a swell job at it for the past few years, in any case. And she was doing horribly.

"Pekoponians are so funny," Keroro finally snickered to himself. "They are probably the only species left in space that still haven't made contact with other planets. Most of them have this silly idea that they are the only intelligent life in the universe. How ignorant."

Aki sighed. As much as the man frustrated the hell out of her, she could not help but to feel bad for Haru. He was much too serious to take the thought of aliens existing, never mind setting up a secret base beneath her house, lightly. What was she to do, now? Kururu would undoubtedly wipe his memories if she asked him to, but this would be problematic if Haru started to visit more regularly now. No-he was just going to have to accept that Keroro's platoon belonged, as dysfunctional as the family had become thanks to their presence.

"Kero-chan, play nice with him. He doesn't like jokes." Aki frowned, hoping that was enough.

Keroro saluted again. "Yes, Mama-dono! No more jokes!"

Haru was still trying to process the thought that it was possible for life to exist outside his planet. While the evidence stood before him, it was difficult to believe nonetheless. It would make more sense if the alien standing next to his ex-wife was a toddler with face paint on, rather than a creature from space. That had to be it. This was some elaborate prank done for his sake. Maybe this was all a hidden-camera show. Or maybe he was going insane.

Something told him this was not the case, however. Aki could not act to save her life. This must have been real.

The household peacemaker must have sensed something was amiss, much to Aki's relief, because the sound of Fuyuki shuffling about in his room could be heard from downstairs. A door opened, and he called. "Hey, Gunsou, are you busy? I thought we were going to play in the anti-gravity chamber today."

While Haru was minutely pleased to hear his son's voice again, after so many years, he had to pause. Gunsou? Was Fuyuki referring to the alien frog? That thing had a military rank?

Keroro jumped from the stool. "Mama-dono, is it okay if we go downstairs until dinner?"

Yes, she thought; it was best to get everyone out of her hair. This could all be explained to Haru in a rational manner, once she finished with what was most important. Fixing dinner for her daughter on her special day. And maybe, if he saw the base, he would understand a little easier. "I can finish here, Kero-chan," she replied with a smile. "I promised Natsumi that I would make dinner for her tonight."

He squealed excitedly, running to meet Fuyuki at the foot of the stairs. Haru was suddenly reminded of his mission in coming. He was there to see his children, and most importantly, to congratulate Natsumi on graduating. The alien part was distressing, and nothing short of disturbing, but he could deal with that later. He needed to see his daughter, and to tell her how proud he was of her for finishing school.

"Where is Natsumi?" He asked at last.

Fuyuki stuck his head into the kitchen. "Otou-san? What are you doing here?"

Haru smiled despite himself. Fuyuki had certainly grown since the last time he had seen him. He was nearly as tall as he was. "It's good to see you, Fuyuki. You've become a man, I see."

His son grinned back at him. "Not really. If anyone has grown up, it's Onee-chan," Fuyuki replied, taking his hand when he offered it, giving a firm shake. Haru supposed that he should have stayed a little closer to his son and daughter after the divorce, to watch them grow up. It was strange to think that the little boy he had once played with as a father would become such a responsible looking adult. Though he doubted his grades had changed.

"Is your sister at home? I was hoping to see her."

"Natsumi-dono is probably with Giroro downstairs," Keroro interrupted. Snickering, he added, "I would be glad to give you a grand tour of our base, Haru-dono."

Squinting down the sight of the rifle, she aimed, then pulled the trigger. Natsumi grunted; her aim was off, for some reason. Her shooting had greatly improved in the past few months, since she and Giroro spent so much time in the range. At first, she had only watched him as he practiced, but she was not the sort that liked to sit by idly. It still amused her when she remembered his inexplicably pleased expression at her asking to join him. The strangest things made him happy, but that was to be expected.

He was not exactly normal.

But this was all besides the point. She was distracted, and that was the only reason she had missed making a bullseye. Natsumi had this horrible feeling that something was going to happen, and that her current peace would be interrupted by some intruding force. And it was not beneath Giroro's notice. He glanced at her profile from where he stood, slightly concerned. It was not like her to miss an easy target.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" He asked her for what had to have been the third time. She smiled; Giroro had always been quick to worry over her, and while it would have annoyed her coming from anyone else, it was sweet, in his case. Natsumi pulled down her ear muff, letting it rest around her neck, shaking her head. There really was no point in denying it any longer.

She sighed, setting down the Keronian rifle she had been using. "I don't know," she muttered with a tone of uncertainty. "I just feel sort of uneasy. Like something is about to go wrong."

He understood the feeling, just as every soldier did. She was still mentally preparing herself for the battle most commonly known as adulthood. She was about to discover what life outside school was like, and it must have been terrifying. It would take a little time for her to become adjusted to her newfound freedom. Still, there was no real reason for her to be this troubled.

"Whatever happens, I'm always here for you, Natsumi."

She must have already learned this much, over the past few years, and in recent months especially. Giroro still felt it was necessary to tell her as much, however. It need not matter what happened between them, he would forever be her protector, even if what she needed protection from was herself. Natsumi grinned up at him as he approached her. "Yeah, I know," she murmured back, settling herself into his strong, warm arms when he opened them for her.

It was still hard for her to believe that he had completely given up on becoming a Keronian again. The official story ARMPIT had sent into Keron Headquarters was that he was using his perfect disguise for the invasion plan, but he had yet to show any indication of that. It was the most heartfelt gift anyone could have possibly given her, and Natsumi knew there was no way she could ever repay him for his sacrifice. He was still a soldier of the Keronian army, and that seemed to matter more than his actually being a Keronian anymore, but she still felt that it was not fair to him.

All her attempts at bringing the subject up gave her fruitless results, however, and it was clear that he was not going to budge. What did she ever do to deserve someone like him? If he had any brains, he would have given up on a girl like her a long time ago. Thankfully, he was brilliantly stupid, and she loved him for it. Natsumi blushed at the thought.

"Anyway," she huffed, "It's probably nothing. I bet Keroro did something stupid, and that's all."

He still looked concerned, but she would have none of it. She continued in a lighter tone, "Say, Giroro, didn't you tell me you got another shipment of Keronian weaponry yesterday? Why don't you bring out the new stuff already?"

Giroro could swear he felt his face burning. It was sad how easily could distract him, but at the same time, how could he refuse her when she gave him that look? She was too adorable for her own good, and he did not have the strength to resist her almighty powers. He was fairly certain that this much about her would never change, no matter how much time passed. She would always have this affect on him.

"If that's what you really want, sweetheart," he chuckled, leaning his face down to hers. She giggled, nipping at his lips playfully, before squirmed out of his hold.

"Hurry up, Gocho, or your commander will get impatient," she teased.

With that tone, however, he was in no rush to show off his shipment of new firearms just yet. Besides, her body language was clearly telling him to come closer, rather than to go away. She was trying to tempt him, and he had no self-control; she was clearly succeeding.

"You're my commanding officer now? When did that happen?" He smirked.

She gave him a saucy grin. "Giroro, don't you know that I wear the pants in this relationship?"

Still smirking, he gave her the look she had been begging for. Eyebrows raised in deliberation he stated, "Well, if that's the idea you've gotten, I guess I'll have to change your mind."

"And how do you plan on doing that, Gocho?" Natsumi questioned, crossing her arms.

He leaned in again, briefly kissing her. It was like she was putty in his hands, because within moments, her teasing stopped, and she wrapped her arms about his neck to pull him closer. "I'm taking my pants back," he whispered into her lips.

She hummed in amusement. "As if they were yours to begin with."

Giroro realized she was probably right about that, but he was hardly about to tell her.

Natsumi then saw, from over his shoulder, who had just seen the entire scene unfold from the bases' main hall above their heads. She froze in horror.

At first, Haru had thought that this so-called base was just a nicely decorated room. Much to his horror, another one of those frog aliens-this time, a black, tadpole variation of the first-was sitting at a chabudai with a bowl of rice crackers. It annoyed him slightly that more than one of these creatures had made themselves quite at home, but he was also aware he had no right to feel this way. Aki was no longer his wife, and he had no say in how she chose to raise Fuyuki and Natsumi, since she had full custody.

The black tadpole seemed to ignore the green one however, and was now staring at him. Haru was not the sort of man to turn down a challenge, no matter who it was coming from, and met his gaze with a steady stare. "Gunsou-san," he said at last to the green frog alien, "Why is there a weird looking Pekoponian in your room?"

Haru momentarily wondered how he would be introduced by the one who had been repetitively called Gunsou, but in the end, it was his son who spoke first. "Tamama, this is my father. He came to visit Onee-chan."

The black tadpole eased his stare, smiling innocently. "Na-chi is still with Gocho-senpai in the base," he replied with a high pitched voice. "I wouldn't bother them though, if they went to the range. Na-chi might use you for moving-target practice again," his deceptively sweet tone then darkened. "How dare that Pekoponian woman harm my wonderful Gunsou-san? She will pay!"

Fuyuki sighed, shaking his head. "Gunsou, we're going up ahead," he said, heading towards a miniature refrigerator towards the back of the room. Haru was hesitant to enter any further, but his son seemed to be perfectly relaxed in this environment. They could not have been too dangerous, then. For some reason, though, he felt uneasy, hearing his daughter's name being put together with this Giroro person, whom he supposed Tamama had been referring to as Gocho-senpai. It was safe to assume that he was another one of those frog aliens.

Natsumi had always showed signs of being a very logical minded person, even as a child, and had a good sense to know what was hazardous, and what was safe. She had always been smart, so surely whatever she was doing with this Giroro had nothing to do with something as dangerous as firing weapons with live ammunition. He shuddered at the thought of his little girl, and a loaded battle rifle in her hands. It was more agitating to think about than the fact his son seemed to get along rather well with these aliens.

Reluctantly, Haru followed his son into the miniature refrigerator, an action that was, to his rational mind, impossible, until he realized that it was more like a portal than anything. It made sense that these aliens would have advanced technology, when compared to what was on earth, but it seemed silly when thinking that this had been created by frogs.

He then stood in a long hallway, a conveyor belt in the floor moving him forward. Fuyuki was blathering on about how this secret base was really just a few hundred feet below the Hinata household, and how the genius of the alien group, which had yet to be mentioned, was planning on remodeling the entire place, since by their standards, they were using old technology. Haru, however, was still trying to grasp onto the idea that aliens were real. And on Earth, no less.

Then, he had to question why they were there at all. Out of all the science fiction films he had seen over the years, aliens had never really played the part of the good guy. Most of the time, they wanted to just kill people for no good reason. And while movies were never completely true, surely there had to be some reason for this pattern.

At last, he found his voice, after passing what Fuyuki called the Gundam Display Room. "What are these aliens here for, anyway?"

At this, his son looked uncomfortable. Had he assumed correctly? They really must have been up to no good.

"Well," he said tentatively, "Gunsou and his platoon were really sent here to invade Earth, or Pekopon, as they call it."

Before Haru could form a response to this, or before Fuyuki could even continue to explain, a rather unnerving chuckling could be heard from up ahead. On the conveyer moving in the opposite direction of theirs, stood another frog, this one a bright yellow color. "You would have thought that a well-trained platoon like ours, with our advanced weaponry and intellect would have been able to invade a a backwater planet like Pekopon a long time ago," he snickered, stepping over to the conveyer belt on which they stood. "Of course, it's really easy to blame it on our incompetent leader, since all of his plans are half-assed and ridiculous."

Fuyuki exhaled softly, giving Haru the impression that this was how the frog usual spoke. "That's not very nice, Kururu."

Kururu then glanced at the man standing next to Fuyuki, and snickered. "Of course it wasn't nice. It wasn't meant to be," he answered haughtily, before moving on. "I see you've brought yet another Pekoponian into our base, not that I really care. He's a little older than the usual subjects though…" he trailed off into another bout of dark laughter. "It's been a really long time since I was able to make unnecessarily long and painful experiments on anyone, but something tells me he wouldn't have the endurance to last."

"Kururu, please don't probe him. Okaa-chan would kill me if I let that happen."

He cackled again. "I wasn't planning on probing him," Kururu assured him, to no effect. "You should know that style is way too stereotypical for someone like me; I like to do things much more horrible and inhumane than a simple probing procedure."

Haru frowned down at the mischievous frog that was much more evil than he appeared (being so original that he did not even use a basic technique like probing), before stating flatly, "If anyone here thinks I'm just going to roll over and let aliens experiment on me, they're wrong. I'm only here to see my daughter."

Fuyuki did not feel particularly comfortable with the eery gleam coming from Kururu's glasses.

"That must make you the biological father of Hinata Natsumi and Fuyuki," he chuckled. "Now I want to carry tests out on you even more. The Nyororo I keep in storage for when I'm feeling especially cruel usually does not like anything below ninety percent water, but he might be convinced to swallow you…I've always wondered how Pekoponians react to being turned into jerky, but I haven't had someone to test it out on yet."

There was a loud shout from behind them, and they turned to see Keroro running to catch up. "Kururu-soucho!" He called frantically, "I forbid you from torturing Haru-dono, as your commander!"

The yellow frog shrugged indifferently, clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth. "That hasn't ever stopped me before, Taichou," he snickered, "And technically, I still outrank you."

"Yes, but Mama-dono came down to the basement and swore that she would revoke all curry-bath rights if you did something 'weird, and, or unnatural' to Haru-dono! I think she was serious!"

Kururu sighed, looking only slightly disappointed. It was a heavy threat indeed, even if it was empty. No one could keep him away from curry, not even Aki. He gave her points for trying though. He whipped out his remote, chuckling again to himself. Though Haru did not know these aliens quite as well as his son, he could tell by his laughter that this Kururu was getting a sick sense of pleasure out of the situation.

"Very well, Hinata Haru," he said at last, pressing a button on his remote to speed up the conveyer, "You want to see Natsumi? Here you go."

With his current restrictions, the most evil thing he could do was probably give the man what he wanted. Hinata Haru was just another unwanted variable to be added to the equation, but his presence would not slow down their invasion plans more than they already had been. Perhaps, though, seeing his daughter act affectionate with an adult male, or better yet, see her skillfully operate Keronian firearms, would give him a good scare. And there was no way Aki could punish him for giving Haru what he asked for. Still, Kururu did not like the sight of him.

With another push of a button, the conveyer belt stopped, and they were given a front row view of the shooting range Giroro had built when the base had first been created. Just as Kururu had suspected, Haru was frozen in horror at seeing Natsumi with a rifle in her grasp, and equipped with nearly impeccable aim. She was probably better than a lot of the men on the Tokyo police force, but apparently, it was still not up to par for her, because she lowered the weapon in disappointment.

"Her aim is terribly off," Kururu sneered almost to himself. "Most of the time, she can do virtually just as well as Giroro, and he his aim is second only to his brother, Garuru, in the entire Keronian military force, but she missed her target by almost a full centimeter."

So then, the man that he saw his daughter with was Giroro? He had been expecting another one of those frog aliens, so he was slightly relieved. That is, until he saw the tall, redheaded man hold her in his arms. And until he saw her kiss him. He was damn certain that his daughter was too young to be dating full-grown men, even if she had just graduated.

There was going to be hell to pay, of this he was already determined. He may not have always been there for her, but he saw a problem, and he was going to fix it.

For the longest time, Natsumi could only stare. At length, Giroro realized something was amiss, and turned to see where she was staring. He was not sure what he had been expecting, but it had certainly not been a Pekoponian male, watching their every move with a disgusted expression on his face. At worst, he would have thought it was Kururu, being his usual, creepy self. Well, he was there too, but he seemed to be beneath Natsumi's notice. After all, he was not the one that was out of place.

She then wrenched herself out of his hold, and stepped forward. "Oi, stupid frogs, what the fuck do you think you're doing, bringing that asshole here?" She shouted, before yelling at her brother, "Fuyuki, you should have known better than letting him into the house!"

To say Haru was surprised by her version of a greeting was an understatement. His sweet, innocent little girl had a sailor's mouth. So, not only did she act like a soldier, but she talked like one too. He was only left to think this was all thanks to the man who stood beside her.

"Okaa-chan was the one to let him in," Fuyuki called back down at her in defense. "I was upstairs, reading an article on the connections between ancient religions and alien visitations."

Natsumi growled in frustration. He had an alibi, to be certain, but that did not mean she felt any less angry at her brother for daring to bring their father into the base. Fuyuki did not have the same, bad relationship she had with their father, though, so he could never understand. He had been very young at the time of the divorce, and had less memories of time spent with the failure of a father that stood above her then. She did remember things more, though.

More than the times he had taken her to toy stores, or to the beach, however, she remembered the promises he had failed to keep. It was bad enough to have disappeared, but to have claimed to return soon was a horrible thing for him to do. She had waited for him to visit, to show that he cared. In time, she had gotten to the point where he was just a distant memory. And memories should really stay in the past, because though she had grow to forget, that did not mean she was any less furious with him. Especially now that he had shown up on her special day.

How was she supposed to celebrate, when her least favorite person on the planet had finally shown his face?

Giroro really could not think back to a time when she had looked more ferocious. Her expression was more spine-tingling than when she had tortured Kururu with him, or even when she had faced off his older brother for the sake of Pekopon a few years back. And that had been terrifying. He would not thought her capable of looking more scary than she had then, if he were not staring at her with his own two eyes.

He was not sure if he should be proud of her frightening glare, or pity the Pekoponian at which it was fixated. She looked almost as if she were going to kill him. In the end, he had to know, "Natsumi, who exactly is that man?"

"He's my good-for-nothing father that decided to disappear off the face of the planet when Mama divorced him. I haven't seen him in years, and now he thinks he can just come back, and everything will be fine," she growled, her eyes then dropping to where she had set down the Keronian rifle she had been using for target practice. "He has no right to come here though, and I'm going to send that bastard home."

Haru composed himself enough to shout down, "Natsumi, get up here right this instant. You're in trouble."

It was almost as if he were falling in love with her all over again. With that beautiful scowl he adored so much on her face, she had snatched up the Keronian rifle, and stormed to the elevator that would bring them back to the main hall. Trying not to drool too much, he had thrown his own weapon over his shoulder, following her up to where her father was. All in all, she looked like a warrior about the enter into battle, and he had promised that he would stick with her through anything. Even if it meant losing the opportunity to gain her father's approval.

It seemed that she did not have very solid relationships with all her family as well. There was no denying that it was probably difficult on her, but Giroro could at least sympathize. He and his brother were not as close as they could have been, and he had not seen his own parents in several years. His mother still struck a certain brand of terror in him, just as she had when he was a child, and his father was hardly any better. In the end, it was safer to stay on Pekopon.

Giroro had never really considered Natsumi's father. It had always been a topic they had avoided. She obviously had never wanted to say anything, and he had not wanted to bring up something she would consider painful. Giroro had always assumed that her father was dead, and that he had never been home for this reason. Apparently, he had been wrong, though, so there must have been something else keeping the man away. Well, when he thought of it, Aki was just as capable as her daughter at being violent, especially when displeased.

She sighed as the elevator rose, taking his hand and giving a light squeeze. "Don't pay attention to anything he says," she said quietly. "His being here changes nothing, no matter what he thinks. He no longer has any authority over me." The doors hissed open, and she took a confident step forward, releasing his hand, and boldly glaring right into her father's eyes.

Yes, Giroro decided that he should feel proud of her. She just kept becoming more and more amazing every time something happened. He stepped from the elevator as well, crossing his arms, and inwardly pleased that he was taller than her father. It would not have mattered either way, but it somehow amused him.

Haru, however, was still displeased. Natsumi was not all that surprised. It was the first time she had seen him in nine years, and he was going to scold her for something right off the bat. She braced herself for whatever he was going to say, already planning her own, witty retorts. As she had already told Giroro, her father had no authority over her anymore. She may not have been considered a legal adult yet, but she had been treated as one by her mother since the divorce, and it had really made her into the person she was.

She did not blame her mother at all, but this did not change the fact that her childhood had been cut rather short. Taking care of her younger brother had become her priority, while her mother had needed to work to support them, and she could not deny it, it had been hard on her sometimes...Natsumi supposed she should be thankful that Keroro and his platoon had showed up. Though they had made their fair share of trouble, their presence had certainly been comforting, in ways she had not originally anticipated. Not that she was ever going to tell them that. She did not want that idiotic, green frog to get mushy on her.

At last, Haru sighed. "Would you kindly explain to me why exactly you are down here, shooting guns with some man?"

Natsumi was automatically defensive. She knew that tone very well, and she was not going to let it get to her again. "I really don't have to tell you anything. You aren't anything to me."

"That isn't very nice, Onee-chan," Fuyuki muttered, stuffing his hands into his pockets. His sister ignored him, however.

"I am still your father, whether you like it or not, young lady. I will not tolerate this sort of behavior out of you."

"No, you aren't my father. You're just the man Mama had kids with. A real father is actually involved with his child's upbringing." She snapped.

Beneath her notice, Fuyuki took Keroro and Kururu away, by force. He did not have the same feelings as his sister, but he still felt like it was intruding to watch them fight. It was not any business of Keroro or Kururu's either, and he was under the impression that Natsumi would have wanted to face their father on her own. Well, not completely alone. Though Fuyuki still felt slightly weirded out by the fact that her sister was dating Giroro, he knew that if anyone, he had the right to stay by her side. Something about their relationship, and more specifically, how they interacted together when they thought they were alone, told him that they were probably going to be together for the long haul.

As strange as this was, Fuyuki honestly wished them happiness. As long as they stopped making out in the kitchen so often.

Fuyuki knew, after all, that the corporal had cared for his sister for a very long time, since he had done such a bad job hiding it. He had always been there to protect Natsumi when she was not strong enough to do so herself, and this could easily turn into a situation that she could not handle. As tough as she liked to pretend she was, Natsumi was still a girl, and she could be just as emotional as anyone else. Sometimes, everyone seemed to forget this.

"Natsumi, you know I had my reasons for leaving." Haru said quietly. "I admit, I should I have tried to keep better contact with you and your brother, but that is no excuse for how you are acting. You should have a little more respect."

"I give respect to people who deserve it," Natsumi replied shortly. "You just happen to be someone who doesn't."

Haru slowly exhaled. This was not what he had intended, when deciding to visit his children again. He had not really known what to expect from Natsumi or Fuyuki, but he certainly had not anticipated anything to cause him worry. Like weird, alien relations. He wondered just what Aki had been thinking in allowing any of this-she was usually not the sort of woman to go for such nonsense.

Giroro was not exactly sure what he should do. In fact, he felt slightly awkward, standing next to her as she continued to chew the man's ear off. He had always intended to meet her father one day, but this was not how he had visualized it at all. Of course, he could not blame Natsumi in the least. Though his father could be something of a sadist when it came to teaching either him or his older brother a lesson, he had never completely ignored him. As a child, he would have probably preferred being ignored, but in retrospect, it was all the pressure his father had put on his shoulders to succeed that had made him who he was.

At last, he sighed. This needed to stop, before one of them took it too far, and Natsumi found herself in an even worse relationship with her father. At least he understood where she got that serious side from…since her mother had never shown that sort of characteristic before. Well, whatever the case, there were only a few things that could stop Natsumi when she was in this sort of mood. In this case, he supposed he should use a more mellow tactic than usual, since he was fairly certain it would only make matters worse if he started kissing her out of the blue.

"Natsumi, as much as I hate to interrupt this, It might be best if we go back upstairs. You never know what Kururu might do with tapes full of you yelling at your father."

Haru was slightly surprised by Natsumi's response to this-and forgot to be angry with the man for butting in. She seemed to shudder, as if remembering something horrible. "And the sad thing is, even if we did torture him half to death again, he would enjoy it like the demented creep that he is," she grumbled, before letting out a deep breath. The chances of Kururu broadcasting her in downtown Tokyo again were rather slim, and she was certain Giroro was aware of this as well. Which could only mean that he had another reason to stop her.

She managed to smile up at her shooting partner and boyfriend, before subtly winking. She would withdraw this time, since he insisted. If her father tried to question her again, or even made an attempt to dig into her personal life, she would not give up so easily though.

Giroro chuckled quietly. "Yes, I think you're right. As much fun as it would be to torment Kururu again, it wouldn't do any good."

He was just glad that she was going along with him. She pretended to be only vaguely aware that Haru was following them out of the underground headquarters, but one glance, and Giroro knew. She was seething. Maybe later, when things settled down again into the usual, peaceful lull, he would ask her more specifically why her relationship with her father had gone sour.

Aki huffed, before putting on a brittle smile for Haru's sake. Some small part of her did still pity him, especially after she had seen him leaving the secret base behind Giroro and Natsumi, who were acting even more flirtatious than usual, undoubtedly because of their unwanted company.

Since it was graduation, Koyuki had been invited over for dinner as well; with no living family around, as far as anyone knew, Aki could hardly allow the girl to spend the evening alone. Naturally, with her came Dororo, and because she sincerely believed in the old adage, the more, the merrier, she had asked Momoka and Tamama over as well. Of course, Paul had to come along now too, since he but rarely left the young lady's side. Considering that Keroro, Mois, and even Kururu had ventured upstairs to join in the fun, the party was much larger than what she was able to fit at the kitchen table, so it was moved into a tatami room where she had set up a lowered table.

This all made it very awkward for Haru, she was certain, since he never had been the most sociable of people. It did not help that Kururu had only recently developed a disguise suit that matched what was used by A-ranked platoons, and had decided to appear upstairs as an attractive blond man with a sly, crooked smile. He seemed content in making sarcastic comments and hogging almost all of her attention while Haru sat nearby, staring into a mug of tea.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as the ever socially awkward Dororo attempted to start a conversation with him-neither of them had accomplished talking with the rest of the party. As soon as Haru deducted that he was speaking with a ninja frog, it was as if a fuse had shorted, and Aki watched him abruptly stand and leave the room. She briefly pitied Dororo, who looked as if his trauma-switch had been flipped at the fact that yet another person did not want to converse with him. She was going to have to tell him later that she still thought he made a brilliant sort of manga character.

At the moment, however, it was in her best interests to follow Haru out into the backyard. Aki at first did not know what to say, until she uttered at last, "They have grown up a lot in the past few years."

He simply nodded, seemingly still trying to grasp how far away his children had drifted away from him. Finally, he muttered, "She hates me."

Aki could say nothing that would make him feel better. It was true that Natsumi really had little love for her father, and to say otherwise would just give him empty hope. "She had to grow up very quickly because you chose not to be a father. Fuyuki had a hard time too, I know, but not anything like what she went through. If Keroro's platoon had never showed up, I don't think they would have turned out so well," she said with a small smile on her face. She was not trying to be cruel, Haru knew, but truthful.

"Those aliens…how long exactly have they been here?"

She laughed, before telling him in the most serious tone she could muster, "You better learn to get along with Kero-chan and the others, if you ever want to have any sort of relationship with your daughter. There is a very good chance that she will one day marry one of them, no matter how much it pains me to think of my children leaving the nest."

He scoffed. "What, is she not going to stay with that redhead man?"

Aki giggled, knowing this knowledge would shock the poor man. "Haru, Giro-chan used to be like the rest of his platoon. He gave up being a little, red frog for Natsumi."

Just as she had originally intended once speaking with a distraught, human Giroro, she had gone to Kururu to insist on his turning him back into a Keronian. Kururu had agreed with little pleasure, but according to him, Giroro ended up turning down the offer to return to his original form. Natsumi truly was a lucky girl, and though she was not ready for her daughter to marry, or start a family of her own, or anything of that nature…Aki was well aware of the likelihood that one day, Giroro would gather the courage to ask for her hand. Natsumi would accept his offer, and Aki was happy for them both. Considering the experience she already had, Natsumi would make a great mother…

"My daughter…is going to marry a frog." Haru could not begin to comprehend why she would want this. He swallowed thickly at the idea of his future in-laws being a family of aliens. It was a very bizarre image, and he still did not like it at all, but Aki was right about one thing. If he wanted to be closer to Natsumi again, he was going to have to at least pretend to get along with the frogs. In the back of his mind, some part was still screaming that he should be reporting this to some government agency, but he managed to suppress it.

"There really is no avoiding this, is there?" He sighed at last. Haru closed his eyes in thought. He supposed that he should not have been so surprised by the existence of these aliens. It would not have made much sense if humans were the only intelligence in the vast universe, and in his younger years, he had been a strong believer in the existence of aliens. Never had he imagined he would meet any, and he had grown up since those days.

He glanced back into the house-Natsumi and her boyfriend had escaped everyone else, and were entering the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of juice out of the refrigerator, and two cups. He could not read their lips, but it was obvious by her countenance that Natsumi was distressed, and Haru was under the impression that was his fault. Though the mere notion horrified him, Haru was reminded of his younger self, when he had first met Aki. Yes, their relationship together had ended in a disastrous, messy divorce, but he could not force his daughter to leave that alien…man when it would only break her heart. Besides, she was smarter than he had been at her age, smart enough to learn from the mistakes from her parents.

He could not help but to smile, despite everything that had happened in the past few hours. As much as it had shocked him, Natsumi was very clearly happy with that man…or whatever he was. Giroro had at least been able to stay by the girl's side in the past few years, when he had not been there for her.

There really was no point in fighting his daughter about Giroro, but he was not about to lose two children to an alien race of frogs. At length, he grunted, "Fuyuki is dating someone human, right?"

AN: I know I promised this a very long time ago...I have no real excuse for taking so long to post this, besides the fact that I just moved to another state. This really did not turn out exactly as I had originally imagined it (these characters really have minds of their own), and part of me is hesitant to even publish it, but I think I've been putting it off for too long. Whatever the case, I hope you guys enjoyed the sequel to Alien Communications.

As always, feedback is appreciated. :)