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vanillashusband · 1 year ago

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Moonlight Mushroom Hunting

Word count: 1845 words Fandom: K/eroro Gunso Relationship(s): Jay/Giroro A/N: yay a little fic for the prompt "moonlight" of safeshiptember! :D I actually began this oneshot forever ago as an alternate ending to ep 84 but lost steam on it and forgot about it hjghfg But I revived it for this prompt and managed to finish it!

Everyone was sitting in the living room admiring the spread of food excitedly. Keroro and the rest of the platoon had brought back wild mushrooms from their trip to the mountains earlier that day, and Jay and Natsumi had cooked a bunch of delicious dishes using the fresh matsutakes. Natsumi handed Jay a bowl of rice and soup.

"Here, Jay." She said.

"Thanks!" Jay replied cheerfully.

"Wow, that smells so good, sir!" Keroro said. Matsutakes were incredibly expensive, so having this many was a special treat, especially since they were the wild handpicked variety straight from nature. Jay sat down with everyone ready to enjoy the tasty meal they had prepared, but something stopped him. As he looked around, he realized that Giroro was missing. Jay knew Giroro was a bit of a loner, but since he went mushroom hunting with Keroro, he had expected him to be here. Maybe he had gone to grab something or was roasting sweet potatoes to go with the meal.

"How many years has it been since I had matsutakes?!" Fuyuki exclaimed happily.

"There aren't very many, so be sure to savour them," Natsumi said. Everyone said their thanks for the food before digging in and enjoying the meal.

The matsutake rice and soup were delicious. Jay never had wild foraged mushrooms before. The matsutakes taken straight from nature were robust and aromatic, with a slightly spicy taste to them. Tamama started talking about how Keroro had misled the platoon into thinking matsutake mushrooms were some horrible, dangerous beasts on Pekopon. Keroro whined when Natsumi poked fun at him for it. The group laughed lightheartedly, and the air over them was carefree. But Giroro still hadn't shown up, which weighed on Jay's mind.

"Hey, where's Giroro?" Jay spoke up. Everyone else paused mid-bite as they glanced around, seemingly noticing just then that the Corporal was not present.

"Gero!" Keroro blurted out. Keroro, Mois, and Tamama's eyes went wide as they all simultaneously realized. Kururu laughed to himself quietly. "I forgot about him…" Keroro admitted. Jay stared at Keroro with a look of disbelief.

"You… forgot him." He said. Natsumi shrugged.

"He likes camping, and he's a soldier. I'm sure he'll be fine one night alone in the mountains." She said nonchalantly.

"That's right!" Keroro agreed. Jay frowned, unimpressed. They had just been talking about how the platoon ran around for hours chasing imaginary mushroom creatures. Knowing Giroro, he would be losing his mind on that mountain trying to fight an enemy that didn't exist.

Jay sighed and put down his bowl of soup. He got up from the couch. "I don't think so. I'm going to go find him." He muttered. Natsumi let out a quiet groan.

"You're leaving right now? Seriously?" She huffed. "I'm sure he'll be fine, Jay. Can't you stay and finish dinner with us?" Natsumi urged.

"Sorry, kid. Someone's gotta look after that idiot." Jay replied with a smirk. "I won't be gone too long." He said. Natsumi pouted slightly, but she didn't raise any further objections.

Jay went outside into the backyard and pulled a small box from his pocket. He pressed the single button on the top, and two curved rods extended from it, forming a collar-like device. Jay put it around his neck, and the ends connected in the back. As soon as Jay spoke the activation command, the KLL-ETJ-00-GT armoured suit materialized on his body. After the prior incident the suit caused, Jay was hesitant to use it again. But Kururu had modified it since then, locking the berserk mode behind a special command that only Jay knew to prevent a repeat of the last time when the suit took over.

Energy wings popped out from his back, and Jay took off straight up into the sky. He went above the clouds to ensure no one saw him. He swiftly flew to the countryside. With the battle suit, Jay would be able to find Giroro and bring him back home all before his food got cold. A message came through on the communicator on Jay's arm. Kururu's distinct laugh crackled over the transmission.

"I sent you the coordinates of our last positions on the mountain before we left. Hopefully, he'll be nearby. Good luck." He said.

"Thanks, Kururu," Jay replied with a smile.

Jay followed the directions and landed gently on a dark mountain path. It was so far from the city that there was no light pollution. It would have been pitch black if not for the light of the full moon. Jay glanced around. There was evidence of a battle. The ground was scorched in some places, and there were holes from explosives. Giroro had definitely been here. Jay continued along the path, floating just above the ground, calling Giroro's name.

"Giroro! Come out, it's me, Jay! Giroro!" He shouted.

Deep in the woods, hidden in a camouflaged hole, Giroro tensely waited with his gun gripped tightly in his hand for the dreaded matsutake to make its next move. The red Keronian was drenched in sweat. He listened hard to the silence for any movement, and in his mind, every sound was that of the matsutake. But that's when a different sound pieced the stillness, one that made Giroro's heart jump from the suddenness.

"Giroro! Where are you!?" Jay called.

Jay was here!?

Giroro was worried about Jay. The matsutake was out there, and with Jay attracting attention to himself, he could get ambushed by the enemy. Giroro nearly ditched his hiding place to run to Jay's rescue, but he stopped himself.

No. It couldn't be Jay. His voice sounded close, but Giroro couldn't hear any footsteps.

The matsutake was somehow imitating the voice of his beloved to lure him out of hiding.

Matsutake… it may be an enemy, but Giroro commended its skill.

"Ugh, Giroro, come out! It's time to go home!" Jay yelled. Giroro steeled himself as shafts of light filtered through the leaves at the top of his spider hole. It was right beside him.

Giroro leapt from his hole in the ground and brandished his gun to put an end to the matsutake that had been stalking him, to put an end to their game, and emerge victorious. But he wavered as he came face to face with Jay.

Jay screamed in fright and whipped around, instinctively kicking Giroro in the face with all his strength. The small red Keronian went flying and collided with a tree trunk. He fell to the ground. It was definitely Jay. Giroro would know that kick anywhere. Once the momentary scare wore off, Jay panicked.

"Oh my god! Giroro!" He exclaimed in worry. Jay ran to Giroro's side and scooped up his small form into his arms. Giroro looked terrible. He was sweaty, dirty, covered in bandages, and his cheeks were gaunt. He looked like he spent 3 months on the mountain rather than 6 hours. And Jay kicking him in the face definitely didn't help him either.

"What happened to you?! Are you ok?" Jay asked in concern.

"You have to get away. The matsutake is… out there." Giroro grunted. Jay stared at the red Keronian for a moment and then let out a tired sigh. He had been right.

"Giroro. Keroro was wrong about the matsutake. It's just a mushroom, not a monster or an enemy." Jay explained. Giroro blinked in confusion and sat up, staring blankly at Jay.

"It… wasn't real?" He mumbled. Jay shook his head.

"Nope." He answered simply. Jay stood up and began looking around through the leaf litter for something. "Here, look." He said, gesturing Giroro to come closer. Jay crouched by the trunk of a tree, and Giroro approached cautiously, still holding onto his knife just in case. The clouds parted, allowing the moonlight to shine down through the yellowing leaves. Growing at the base of the tree were a couple of sizable mushrooms.

"These are matsutake mushrooms, or they're also called pine mushrooms." Jay said.

"That's what I've been fighting this whole time?" Giroro said in disbelief.

"Yeah." Jay nodded. Hot anger washed through Giroro like a wave. "I should have known! Keroro, that idiot!!" He shouted, angrily stomping his foot in the dirt. Jay stifled a laugh.

"Hey, he didn't know either." He reasoned. Jay straightened up and offered his hand to Giroro. "C'mon, let's go home." He prompted.

Giroro held onto Jay's shoulder as he flew them back to Inner Tokyo. The wind whipped past them. Giroro couldn't help but steal glances at Jay from the corner of his eye. Jay's soft features were washed in pale light under the glow of the moon.

"Thanks… for coming back for me." Giroro said quietly. Jay smiled, but kept his eyes locked forward.

"Of course. I couldn't just let you lose your mind on that mountain by yourself." He replied with a small chuckle.

"When I get back, I'm going to smack Keroro for all this. Especially for leaving me behind." Giroro grumbled. Jay laughed again, filling Giroro with a warm fuzzy feeling, despite the cold wind.

They touched down in the backyard of the Hinata household. Jay took off the KLL-ETJ-00-GT collar, and the suit disappeared in a flash, leaving him in his regular clothes. Jay knocked on the sliding glass door and entered the living room with Giroro.

"We're back!" Jay called. Natsumi and Fuyuki were on the couch watching TV. Natsumi turned around with a frown. "There you are. You've been gone for an hour!" She said. "Everyone left already." Natsumi pouted.

"Sorry, sorry." Jay apologized sheepishly. "I found Giroro, though." He said, nodding to the small frog alien.

Giroro and Natsumi regarded the other with a flat look. "Natsumi." The red Keronian greeted.

"Giroro." Natsumi muttered. Jay blinked.

"Um, we saved your food, Jay!" Fuyuki cut it to break the sudden tension.

"Thanks, kid." Jay smiled.

Giroro sat at the kitchen table while Jay warmed up the leftovers. He wasn't sure why he was hanging around inside. He should be going down to the base to give Keroro a piece of his mind, but still, he stayed. Listening to gently clinking tableware and Jay shuffling around in the kitchen. Then a delicious aroma caught Giroro's attention.

Jay placed two bowls in front of Giroro. One filled with rice and the other with a clear soup. Both contained fragrant mushrooms, like the ones Jay showed him on the mountain.

"Here. I saved some for you." Jay said softly. "It'll warm you right up." He smiled. Jay sat in the seat next to Giroro and began to eat the rest of his meal. Giroro picked up the spoon and began to quietly eat the soup. The matsutake soup had a subtle spiciness. It was sweet and savory all at once, reminding him of autumn, very refreshing and pleasant. Especially since he hadn't eaten anything is hours. Even if the matsutake hadn't been the formidable enemy he thought it was, Giroro still got a little satisfaction from eating the meal made from it. In a sense, he had been victorious.

#bug dad writes #team pink lemon aid 【♡】#safeshiptember #safeshiptember2023 #Self ship #self ship art #self shipping #self shipping community #self insert #self insert community #self ship fic

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