Hello Dear Readers,

I am a recent fan of Sgt. Frog and I adore the dubbed version Funimation, made so this story is set with that in mind. While watching Natsumi's birthday episode I was struck by inspiration. How on earth did Giroro get all those presents for her? And what was their significance? So I came up with a few episodes of love and laughs for two of my favorite characters.

Narrator

Thoughts.

Regular speech.

Giroro and Natsumi Present: A Horide Story.

Some of you may recall the incident of December 2 vividly, but for those of you without photographic memories let me summarize. Natsumi was surprised with a birthday party by Keroro and company. There were games, cake, and of course presents. Giroro showed up toward the end with some of the rarest, most difficult to find space gifts. This tale is about how he obtained them and why.

So without further ado, we begin our story. Like most nights at the Hinata household, Natsumi was finishing the dishes from dinner. It might have turned out to be a boring old school night except for one little factor…I'll let you figure out who that is.

Keroro burst around the corner into the kitchen clutching what looked like a tree branch with a glowing silver ball on the end of it.

"Natsumi!Defender of Pekopan and all that reside in it, I have a…" THUMP!

The Keronian sergeant tripped over his own feet and rolled to a stop with a bump. Miraculously, the object he had been clutching remained in one piece.

(We'll just call it dumb luck the thing didn't get smashed.)

"What is it frog? I'm a little busy at the moment."

"Well," Keroro's eyes were shining with delight, "Operation Afro Disco night needs a disco ball to complete the party! And since you aren't using this jeweled branch whatchamacallit we wanted to know if we could borrow it?"

Natsumi placed her latest dish back into the water and looked at the object in question. The glowing orb shone faintly in silver facets on the smooth branch. Her mind churned back to the event in which she received the object and suddenly curiosity sank its pointed teeth into her. The jeweled branch of the Horai galaxy was one of the gifts Giroro had given her for her birthday and she had never thought to ask what it was for. She had set it on the shelf in her room and…

"Wait!Did you go in my room?"

Keroro sweat-dropped, "Well, I….uh, yes?"

He trembled as Natsumi's eyes narrowed in wrath. Before the poor frog could make a dash for it she had him by his round head and was shaking him, albeit more gently than usual; at least the green twerp was asking her permission to borrow the silly thing.

"I will let you borrow the branch, as long as you bring it back; but the next time you go into my room without permission…your frogs will be picking up pieces of you for a month!"

"Ke-kero…thank you Natsumi," said Keroro as Natsumi unceremoniously dumped him on the ground. He was off and running before she could change her mind.

Her thoughts were, luckily for him, on a scarred, red Keronian with enough cold and calculating rage to destroy an army. She had gotten several gifts from the serious red warrior and she had no clue what the purpose was of any of them. Dororo and the others had been mightily impressed and now Natsumi felt the familiar bite of curiosity nipping at her consciousness.

She finished the dishes, emptied the sink, and after toweling off her hands stepped out into the cool evening light of the setting sun. She could see Giroro sitting in the light of his little campfire roasting, what she presumed was sweet potatoes.

As quietly as she could she walked through the grass toward him.

"Giroro?"

The red keronian looked up and sideways at her.

"Natsumi."

She smiled at him, "Can I ask you something?"

The Armpit platoons corporal rested his roasting stick at the fires edge and turned to face her directly.

"Sure."

Natsumi took a seat next to him, tucking her legs to her chest and leaning into the fires warmth.

"It's about that jeweled branch you got me…the one from the Horide galaxy."

Was she imagining it, or was the stalwart keronian blushing?

"Huh, you remember that do you? Well if you're just here for a story you should go ask Keroro…he's better at telling tales than I am."

Natsumi shuffled her feet a little.

"The stupid frog wasn't there when you got it for me and besides," she laughed, "I don't know if I would be able to believe a story coming from him."

Giroro closed his eyes and opened his mouth in quite possibly the most subtle smile in the world, the corners of his eyes crinkling appealingly.

"Heh…your right, I don't believe half the stuff that idiot says."

Natsumi squinted her eyes at him, "So you'll tell me then?"

The corporal opened his mouth in a breathy huff of indecisiveness.

"You could treat it like a mission debriefing."

He glanced at her skeptically and was caught in her hazel gaze. I'm officially a chump.

"Alright fine, if you really want to know, I'll give it a shot."

(And so settling back onto his block, the red Keronian began his stor…er, mission debriefing.)

"The Horai Galaxy is just beyond your own, in that direction," Giroro pointed above the Hinata home to the far western horizon beyond the last vestiges of the fallen sun," Since it was the closest I made it my first stop."

"First stop?" Natsumi questioned.

Giroro looked back at her for a moment. "Yeah…I had a list."

"You know one gift would have been enough Giroro."

The red keronian shrugged, "Different planets, different customs, on our planet the amount of gifts represents the amount of lo..ugh." Giroro seemed to choke and sizzle for a moment, sounding not unlike the fire in front of them, "ughmm….respect you have for someone else."

Natsumi smiled triumphantly, "So you respect me an awful lot, huh."

Giroro closed his eyes the corners lifting, "More than a little I suppose."

"You suppose? Five gifts is more than a little."

The red corporal didn't answer immediately.

(He's too busy hiding his blush in the opposite direction.)

In the silence, Natsumi felt slightly awkward. The quiet moments she shared with Giroro were usually quite comfortable to her and she often found herself looking forward to spending time with the red corporal after the stress of school and chores. The moment was a break from the days events that replaced her tiredness with a sense of calm refreshment. Her eyes settled on the quiet keronian, silent and serious in the firelight. It felt like forever before he spoke.

"You are worthy of my respect Natsumi Hinata." And my love…

Her heart tugged a little at his words, as if sensing the something implied hanging in the air between them.

"But if you want to hear the story you should probably stop distracting me…"

Of course, he would ruin his praise with something like that.

"Tsk, fine…carry on debriefing soldier."

The soldier continued.

"The Galaxy is named for the jeweled branches of its Horide trees, their light is said to reflect in more colors than a diamond. All you have to do is point a strong light at them and they multiply it by tens of thousands of rays. The captains of the first starships sought them for their ability to light up the darkest parts of space. The stars they reside on are so bright…"

Giroro stopped mid-explanation and shrugged, "…anyway, they're really shiny."

Natsumi chuckled, "Can't describe pretty things, eh?"

"Nothing pretty about Horide trees, if you don't know about the black Grimes."

Natsumi's smile fell, "Black Grimes?"

"They're the monsters that guard the Horide trees. The planet Horai is bright like your sun. The Horide trees multiply its light and you can't see the Grimes coming until they're practically on top of you."

Natsumi could suddenly see the bandages that covered Giroro's battered body as he stood exhausted and battle-worn in the doorway.

"Were they the ones that hurt you?"

He shrugged nonchalantly.

"I knew about them in advance and I was prepared, but I suppose one might have bitten my arm."

She recalled that both of his arms had been bandaged.

He turned his gaze to the fire and sighed.

"Tsk, I haven't talked this much in ages."

Natsumi tilted her head thoughtfully, "Well, yeah…does it bug you?"

The red corporal of destruction looked up at her, "A little, I can't discuss battle tactics with my greatest opponent."

"Well, do you consider me as anything else?"

"Maybe."

His reply seemed so loaded. She had never much considered the red Keronians carefully guarded emotions. Hell, she hadn't been sure he had any. Until the past months and the realization that Giroro, like some humans she knew, just wasn't so good at the emotional stuff, unless it was the extremes of them anyway.

"Do you consider me a partner? A friend?"

He closed his eyes again, focusing on some hidden emotion and crushing it.

Squish…

(That was Giroro obliterating his sudden heart surge. Apparently, keronian hearts squish.)

"I…How about I just finish the debriefing?"

Natsumi rocked back on her heels, dissatisfied with his answer. He's avoiding the question again.

"I once told you I'd never have thought I'd become friends with any alien…but, out of all the frogs, "she grinned at him, "you're the one I share the most in common with."

Giroro just stared at her open-mouthed. Natsumi?

She shrugged it off like it was no big deal turning her eyes to the sky in the direction of the Horai galaxy.

"Heh, We share a lot in common, right down to our stubbornness level," She leveled her gaze at him, "So, are you my partner, soldier?"

Squelch…

(That was Giroro crushing his desire to melt into a happy puddle of mush.)

Her subtle fire, determination, and the straightforwardness of her statement, I didn't fall in love with the wrong person.

His reply was a little raspy, "Tsk…I suppose."

"Good, partners share information that could save their lives."

She had him and she knew it. For once, Giroro didn't mind being put in a tight spot conversationally.

"Well, not much to it anyway. The Grimes are easy to fight if you have the right gear. Namely a good set of goggles dark enough to protect your eyes from the light. Grimes are black as hell, so against that light with the goggles on they are easy to see. Speed was essential to the mission. I was in and out pretty quickly."

Natsumi glanced over at him, "That's it? You...Corporal blazing guns didn't kill a single Grime?

Giroro shrugged, "I told you it was a quick mission, there was more I had to do."

"More?"

He turned to face her, eyes glimmering blue-gray turned ruddy by the firelight.

"Ye-ah…anyway that's the story of the jeweled Horide branch."

"But Giroro…why did you get the branch for me in the first place?"

The silence seemed to stretch this time. Giroro couldn't seem to make eye contact with her and his response, when it eventually came, was forcibly bland.

"For defense of course, I thought you could use it to blind your enemies."

(What? Did you really expect him to state the fact he thinks her smile is brighter than a thousand Horide trees?)

The statement seemed to have a profound impact on Natsumi as she went extremely pale.

"Oh Crap!"

Giroro was caught off guard as his partner then rocketed to her feet and spun toward the house in a whirlwind of pink hair.

"Natsumi!"

"Gah! I'm sorry Giroro….I…uh…I gotta make sure that dumb toad hasn't blinded himself and everyone else with the Horai ball!"

"What?"

But she was already gone slamming the door to the kitchen with a bang.

Giroro turned to his dying fire and his thoroughly burnt dinner.

Maybe the Sergeant knew better than to use a Horide branch and its gleaming ball for disco night, but judging from the hideous wailing emanating from below ground…apparently not.

(So is Natsumi still curious about the cranky corporal? Are Keroro and the others still able to see past their noses? Will Giroro ever confess his love? And will the author actually manage to get everyone in character? Find out next time in Giroro and Natusmi present: Flaming Fire Mouse Morbidity.)

And Dear Readers, this ends the beginning of our tale. Shall I continue this story? Or are my efforts in fanfiction comparable to Keroro's takeover of Earth? Let me know =)

All flames, however, will be laughed at and promptly destroyed by Tamama's CRAZY RAGE BREATH! Just as soon as he can see…

If it pleases you, Review!