PLEASE READ: It has come to my attention that some of you may recognize this story from my old account, s u p e r x r h e a. Unfortunately, I can no longer log back in that account but have decided to edit and finish a few stories that I've started, specifically CYSTIC. I'm very excited to come back out with this story, but I've decided to change many things about my old story. I was fairly young when I thought about writing it, and now that I'm older, I decided to put a darker tone to my writing. You can all read my rough version of CYSTIC on my old account, but be warned. Do not skip any chapters due to the fact that I changed more than a few things.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the PPG franchise.

Summary: It was so hard to breathe. Everywhere I went, it fell apart. Everything I touched, it shattered. I'm choking in this world I've created.

i. façade

It was funny. When she was younger, she loved looking over her neighborhood through her window. She loved to see the bustling view of her neighbours do their daily activities, the cars driving by, slowing for children to cross the street or to get out of it. Years have passed and the red headed girl found herself soon suffocated by the world. The vibrancy in her pink eyes disappeared with age, as if the world robbed her of her innocence and replaced it with a darker reality.

Blossom sighed lightly. It was as if everything around her has slowly started to get a little harder. At least for her. Blossom was itching to talk to her sisters about this strange feeling bubbling in her chest. She couldn't place a finger on what was harder, on what had changed or if anything had changed. But deep down in her heart, she knew she couldn't talk to either one of her sisters. It wasn't that she didn't trust them, but it was the sheer expectation that she had it all together. Blossom the strong one. Blossom the rational one. Blossom the leader. All of these titles were forced on her shoulders at such a young age, it would be hard to express any insecurity she felt.

She was the glue that kept the team together. She was the one who kept her sisters sane. Defeating a multitude of monsters means possibly taking a life away and no matter how heroic the task, a murder has still taken place.

The day Blossom and her sisters found out what they were actually doing shocked them. Yes, they were saving millions of people. Yes, they were defending the people of their little town. Yes, they were doing so much good.

But their doing good was also doing bad.

Blossom would never forget those late nights staring at the bedroom ceiling, just waiting to hush Bubble's tears and to wake Buttercup up from unimaginable nightmares. It took a few months for the girls to absorb that what they were doing was better than evil and it took even longer for them to heal that emotional discovery, but they managed to do it just fine.

At least that's what Blossom hoped for.

It dawned on Blossom that not only was she to hold the title of the 'Leader' to the townspeople, but as a 'Protector' to her sisters. How can she admit to her sisters she was starting to feel the strain of being a superhero? How would they react? Maybe a little disconcerted. And she wouldn't allow that to happen.

She vowed on her life.

'I wonder when the days of "saving the town" changed to "defeating the monster', Blossom thought to herself, surveying the clouds in the sky. It was hard to pinpoint the exact time when the terms started to change for the girls. She wondered if everyone had catered to their innocent childhood and stopped when they started to see how much they've started to grow.

It didn't seem so long ago when the townspeople referred to the girls as sweet angels. Even they started to notice the changes in their physical appearance to suit their individual personalities. Even though each girl had molded into their skin as gorgeous, confident and strong women, they had their specific flare.

Buttercup had grown to be a rugged girl, always resorting to foul language (something both Blossom and Bubbles loathed but tolerated) and boyish mannerisms. To many people, Buttercup was very much 'one of the guys' and many people accepted her as such. Of course, this didn't mean she abandoned all traces of being feminine. There are times when Buttercup had to resort to wearing anything remotely girly in accordance to her status as a hero during town celebrations. Even then, she oozed displeasure and annoyance in being forced to wear something uncomfortable and so unlike her.

Bubbles, who was and still the princess of the trio had filled in the role of young woman fairly nice. Dresses, skirts, rompers, anything to justify that she is and always be a girly-girl at heart. Bubbles had graduated from her pigtails and developed more with lightly curled tresses, tight ponytails with the tail poofy with curls. She was often the trend setter and also a role model for younger girls. Her taste in clothing never wandered the realms of being trashy. Even if it did, Blossom was sure to clean out her closet and completely destroy any offending clothing she deemed.

Blossom was still the same bookworm she was years ago. She was always thirsty for knowledge, loved verbal arguments and had an impossible competitive streak hidden in the guise of a quiet model student. Blossom was neither as tomboyish nor girly as her sisters, but represented the balance of the two. Blossom was often clean cut whenever she went out to public. Since she often wanted to be taken seriously, she often rejected teen-clothing. Pencil skirts, reaching as low as her knee and buttoned up t-shirts. Often times, her sisters joked her as a dressy art teacher, but Blossom paid them no mind. It wasn't too much of a fashion statement, but it was her style and she loved that.

With society the way it is, as a girl, Blossom was no stranger to dirty comments made towards her and her sisters' way. Even as a superhero, Blossom knew she had to be careful - and she warned her sisters about it too.

'Just because we have superpowers, it doesn't mean we're impervious to just about everything. We're still vulnerable to a lot of things that people don't know. Make sure you don't let anyone know that. You never know who could use that against us.'

"BLOSSOM! HURRY UP!"

Blossom chuckled. For once, Buttercup was the one rushing her. It was usually Bubbles who called her out. She really shouldn't get lost in her thoughts, thoughts like those are full with too many problems that she shouldn't think about.

They were all here, happy, healthy and together.

Pulling the latch, Blossom pulled the window open. It was a habit. If she was ever the one to be behind her sisters, she would always sneak outside to prove to her sisters that she was waiting on them and not the other way around.

Soon after, her sisters came through the front door.

"Tch. Were you waiting there this whole time?"

"Naturally."

Blossom turned to her sisters, it was a habit to make sure her sisters were wearing the appropriate dress wear. Buttercup wore her favorite pair of camouflage pants and a black tank-top. She would never admit it out loud, but out of the three, Buttercup was the one who made her clothes.

'They make everything look too damn girly and if I buy any boy clothes, there's none that would actually fit me.' Buttercup was always quick to make excuses for her love of sewing. Blossom knew it calmed her and was the only thing she was proud of that was labeled "girly".

Bubbles was always the one that Blossom had to keep tabs on. Bubbles was sweet and she loved everything cute, but sometimes, cute was sometimes a little daring. Today, her outfit consisted of a strapless jean romper.

"You have a cardigan for that?" Blossom questioned, her eyebrow cocked.

"Of course!" Bubbles giggled and pulled out a blue cardigan from her tote bag.

"Well, since everything is good. Let's head out." Blossom said, floating as high as the lowest branch of the tree in their front yard.

"I hate first block. It's always the same thing, over and over again. Mr. Goodboy always seems to stare at the girl students more than he teaches," Buttercup muttered.

Mr. Goodboy was a new teacher at Green Nest High School. He's known to be quite attractive, but has this nasty reputation around the female students that he oversteps his boundaries a little more than he should. Of course, he knew better than to touch any of the Powerpuff Girls. Blossom was sure he'd fear for his life if he touched any of the sisters. Buttercup would go mad with rage.

Green Nest High is just the same as any other high school: extra-curricular activities, teachers to love and hate, unnecessary gossip, and the list could go on. Every so often, there would be rumours of scandals scattering throughout the school, but none of them were serious enough to bring the staff involved. After all, with Blossom as head of the Disciplinary Committee, everyone knew well when to drop it.

"Has he made a move on you or any girls since you've confronted him?" There was a time that Mr. Goodboy wasn't careful with Buttercup and she unleashed a barrage of fury on him, he was rendered incapable to teach for a few days. Pray tell, Buttercup never laid a hand on him, but the sheer hate in her eyes was enough to send him running. Since then, he's kept up a good record in front of the green-eyed monster.

"Bastard wouldn't dare. I'd fuck him up real good this time around," Buttercup scoffed.

"Language Buttercup," Bubbles wiggled her forefinger and shook her head.

"Well, good thing he's learnt his lesson," Blossom said laughing. It was always refreshing to see Bubbles take the motherly role from Blossom. It's like seeing a little girl dress up in overly-sized clothes and shoes trying to be 'mommy'.

Once at school, Blossom bid her farewells to her sisters. She wouldn't be seeing them until the very end of the day. The school board thought that it would be slightly unfair to the other students if the trio were to stay together and create their schedules so they wouldn't run into each other throughout the day. They had also made it a rule and a contract with the Utoniums that while in school and enrolled in physical activities, the girls will never use their superpowers or exert more than the average person.

'It's to maintain the level of equality of all our students, you do understand…" the principal said.

The Utoniums understood of course but the girls had no way of actually restraining their powers that required motivation and passion on their own. For the first few years of school, they had to shy away from physical activities to avoid any misdemeanors in their contract. Buttercup was the only one who was severely suffering the drawbacks of not being able to compete.

Seeing his green eyed daughter upset over not being able to compete, Professor Utonium designed casual accessories that drew back their abilities as powerpuffs and rendered them completely normal.

For Buttercup, it was a jade ring on her thumb. For Bubbles, it was a charm bracelet of her favorite things on her wrist. And for Blossom, it was a simple heart necklace. He had presented the inventions to the principal and the girls were now free to join any physicals they were deprived from.

Not many people were aware of the inventions made for the girls, so it was natural that even when the principal said it was okay that the girls be enrolled in physical activities, coaches and teachers were a little skeptical of letting them join. However, after the struggle to compete with the veteran athletes, the girls slowly won over the trust of their coaches and thus allowed Buttercup to join any sport she could.

"Blossom? Blossom!" A voice called out to her.

Blossom turned to the sound of her name. Her old elementary teacher, Ms. Keene walked hurriedly towards her. It was funny, even after years of being under her care, Blossom found it to be a blessing that some parts of her innocent childhood was still clinging on to the present.

"Yes Ms. Keene?"

"Blossom, I have an emergency and I was wondering if you can watch my freshman class for a little bit. As head of the Disciplinary Committee, you also hold the authority to temporarily monitor a class while it is in session if the students have been provided with an outline of the lesson, right?" Ms. Keene said hurriedly.

"R-right."

"Can you please do me this favor. I know that class is going to start in a few minutes, but I only need fifteen minutes to do this errand and I couldn't find any teachers to watch my class and knowing the freshman class, they have no mercy." Ms. Keene babbled, her words hastened.

Blossom could see the desperation in her eyes and even though her duty as Head of the Disciplinary Committee is a privilege to behold, there were many things she needed to do before chaperoning a class. Like getting permission from her teachers to miss a certain amount of time from their class and getting the time lost from class pardoned by the principal.

But Ms. Keene… she looked so desperate…

"You can count on me Ms. Keene. It's only fifteen minutes, right?" Blossom beamed, giving her signature smile. It was only for fifteen minutes. What harm would that do?

"Oh thanks a bunch Blossom!" Ms. Keene said.

"I've already left them their assignment. All you really have to do is to watch them and make sure that they are quiet and working. As long as they're working and getting something done, it means that you being there isn't a distraction."

Blossom nodded, keeping a crisp and orderly list of the beefy instructions Ms. Keene had left her. "Freshman" were the ones who never really gave her much trouble, but they talked a little too much for comfort.

And once Blossom took a step into class, she was greeted with a chattering class.

"So like…"

"No way!"

"Brent totally asked Dana out when he's supposed to be dating Louise!"

"…tryouts are coming up. Did you get your physical?"

So on and so forth.

Feeling a migraine, Blossom unclasped her heart necklace and placed it on Ms. Keene's desk.

"Fooo….." Blossom breathed out, a chilling air and silence filling the class.

"Who the hell is that?"

"More like, what the hell happened!"

"Shuddup! I recognize her…"

"No duh dipshit… She's the Head of the Disciplinary Committee!"

"Crap."

"Now that I finally have your attention, Ms. Keene has taken a momentarily leave and will be back to teach class. She's informed me that she's already distributed today's lesson out in your textbooks. I expect that you all know what to do – otherwise…" Blossom drifted off. She tapped the desk lightly, whipping out a detention pad halfway used up.

"As some of you know, I'm the Head of the Disciplinary Committee, a Committee created by Student Conservation Association. We have all rights to distribute detention, Wednesday detention and refer students to the principal for in school suspension and out of school suspension. Even though I am still a student, I am known to be strict with the school and student code and will not hesitate to distribute punishment when needed."

Blossom surveyed the class, some were flabbergasted, others were annoyed and the rest were quiet.

"Please listen to the school announcements and continue with your work." Blossom ended with a wave of her hand, taking her place at Ms. Keene's desk.

And to her surprise, the class complied with her wishes. She figured there'd be one brat out of the bunch who'd go against her word.

'Don't piss her off…she's also a Powerpuff!'

Minutes ticked on and on. Blossom had brought one of her textbooks for the class she was supposed to attend to and read ahead to the chapter they were on. It was a good thing too, because Ms. Keene's fifteen minutes had dragged on to be forty-five minutes.

Blossom heard muffled steps outside in the hallway and since she hadn't put on her necklace, she listened carefully for any indication it could be Ms. Keene. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but Blossom was itching to get to class. No doubt, she was going to get in trouble. Fifteen minutes would be okay, but she was nearing to a little than half the class.

'C'mon Ms. Keene…hurry up!' Blossom thought to herself.

Luckily, it was Ms. Keen who walked through the door, looking slightly disheveled.

"Sorry Blossom. I rushed here as fast as I could. Go ahead to first period."

Blossom nodded, gathered her belongings and calmly walked out of class. However, as soon as she hit the hallway, she darted to class, a pink afterglow in her wake. She normally wouldn't resort to these things (there was never a reason for in the past) but it was an emergency. Even if she was late, she didn't need to miss another minute. She stood outside her class's door, hearing nothing but the chorus of pencil on paper.

She knocked.

Her teacher glanced at the door, her expression never changing as she opened the door for Blossom. A lump formed in her throat and she found it a little harder to breathe. They stood out in the doorway, enough for the class to hear them both.

"Why are you late to class, Blossom?" Her teacher's beady black eyes bore through Blossom and she couldn't help but avert her eyes.

"I was chaperoning a class for Ms. Keene."

"Oh? And so you have the jurisdiction to chaperone her class without my permission to miss my class?"

'Oh no..'

"Due to circumstances, Ms. Keene wasn't able to…"

"And that gives her the greater authority for you to miss my class so you can cover her irresponsible acts? Just because of 'circumstances'?"

"A – no.."

"Meaning that gives her the right to pull you out of my lesson so she can go off and gallivant to do something other than her job, correct?"

Blossom hung her head. She knew she couldn't win. Out of all her teachers, her first period teacher was the strictest and hardest to deal with. Even if Blossom was the top student in the school, that didn't matter to her teacher.

"That's what I thought. Wednesday detention for you next week. You will be marked absent for today and I will also inform the principal of your actions. Go to your seat and turn to page 371."

Blossom trudged into class, feeling the eyes of her classmates on her and the heat of embarrassment fill her up.