Heart of Metal

Chapter 1: Broken Heart & Memories

Did fate have it in for her? Was there some sort of deity looking over the world that made sure she would never succeed? Or was her luck simply the worst out of everyone in Tokyo City?

She simply wasn't sure anymore. She always seemed to recover from it, but inside, every rejection cut like a jagged knife.

Momoko Akatsutsumi sighed, watching the sun set over Tokyo bay from the roof of Professor Utonium's laboratory. Her love life just never seemed to work out, no matter how hard she tried to make it work. Though, she wondered if it would ever work out with her double life as both Momoko, and as Blossom of the Powerpuff Girls Z.

There had been so many attempts with so many boys, and one frog, but she didn't really count that. Miracle Fighting Ace was stupid, now that she looked back at it. After all, he was, what, in his mid twenties, while Momoko was still in her teens.

Sakamoto was...an experience to say the least. Looking back, she knew the only real reason she had been, 'in love,' with Sakamoto was because he liked her. Since most boys turned her down at first, her heart leapt at the chance of someone actually having feelings for her. Even one so...objectionable.

And then there was the frog prince...she was still attempting to forget about that, and so she tried not to think about it too often.

And then there were just so many of the other boys, the ones where she just went up into their faces and essentially said, "I love you!" and their response was a plain, "No," and that was the end of that.

Maybe it's better this way, she thought, after all, with my life as Blossom, I don't even know how many boys would want to stay with me that long.

Popping out a small box of Toppo, Momoko quietly ate a few pieces, and though the taste filling her mouth was eccentric, she just couldn't find the joy to fully enjoy it, which was rare for her.

Eventually, she decided that it was pretty late, and just as she was about to head back inside, she heard footsteps behind her, and a moment later, her two best friends sat down beside her.

"Momoko," asked the always cheery Miyako Gotokuji, "what's wrong?"

"And don't try telling us there's nothing wrong," forcefully added the always...well, forceful Kaoru Matsubara, "cause we'll know right off!"

Momoko let out a sigh, but smiled a bit anyways. Though the three girls didn't get along sometimes, they were connected, and not just by the superpowers they shared. There was a part of her deep inside that wished she could call them her sisters.

"Well..." she began, feeling a bit out of place all of a sudden, "it's just that... I'm feeling a little down about how I'm always turned down."

"You?" Kaoru questioned. Momoko nodded. "But you usually handle rejection so...well, you handle it at least."

"Why are you suddenly so upset about it?" queried Miyako.

"I'm not sure... Maybe whatever's been keeping me going has finally started to run out." She let out yet another exasperated sigh. "I just don't know..."

"Well, don't fret," Miyako encouraged, "I'm sure you'll find the right man for you some day."

"Easy for you to say, you have Takaaki," Momoko countered. Miyako's face took on a faint red hue, and she looked away, a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah, Miyako found someone and you haven't, so what?" Kaoru argued. "Maybe he'll appear like some kind of superhero or something, protecting you from harm!" Kaoru was attempting to cheer up, and it seemed to work when Momoko let out a giggle.

"What is it?" Miyako questioned. Momoko ceased her giggling, a smile now on her face that didn't seem to fade.

"It's just that it's ironic that since we're PPGZ, I have to wait for someone to protect me for once."

The realization of the pure irony of the comment made all three girls burst into laughter. The fit of laughter ended in the three girls lying on their backs, gasping for air.

Picking herself up, and attempting to stifle any leftover laughter she had, Momoko thanked her two friends.

"Ah, it was nothing," Kaoru said, "but if you really want to make it up to us... You'll give me some of that Toppo." She smiled devilishly, while Momoko stood silent for a moment. Then, she raced away from the two back into the lab, clutching her Toppo to her body like it was her lifeline.

Or course, Kaoru quickly jumped up in pursuit, screaming after her friend to hand over the small bread sticks filled with chocolate.

Miyako couldn't help but giggle at the antics of her friends, and she followed them back into the lab, ready to head home, as the sun had now disappeared over the distant mountains.

Later that night, as Momoko lay in her bed, thinking about the events of the day, she suddenly remembered the idea Kaory brought up, the idea that her true love would come to save her from harm.

Suddenly, she found herself remembering a long forgotten event from around a year and a half ago to two years, before she had met Miyako or Kaoru, and before she had ever dreamed of being in the PPGZ.

Momoko was twelve back then, and it was her first day of middle school.

Shy as shy could be, she asked nobody for help getting to classes, though she wasn't exactly sure where to go for her first class.

As the first bell rang for the day, signaling every student to attend their classes, Momoko was left with no other choice but to ask for help.

Though, it was easier said than done. As a clear new student, most of the older classmen simply ignored her requests for directions and went on with their business.

Eventually, she tapped the shoulder of one of the last few students remaining, hoping that he would be able to give her correct directions.

However, when the boy turned around, Momoko wished she hadn't even had the idea of asking for help.

The minute Momoko laid eyes on the boy, she could tell he was trouble. The black muscle shirt complete with skull and crossbones sent a bad enough message, and the dirty, square-ish face practically screamed, "I'm a bully!"

Backing up into the nearby lockers, Momoko attempted to stutter out an apology and then get out of there as fast as she could, but the boy spoke up before she could.

"Aw, is the little birdie lost?" he teased. "Well, little freshmeat, I'm afraid this isn't the best time to get lost. It's the new year, and I'm still wishing for more sun n' fun. And that," he glared at Momoko and cracked his knuckles, "makes me angry."

At this point, Momoko was so frightened that she could barely do anything, with the sole exception of shake and bring tears to her eyes. Unfortunately, this boy was the type of bully who would beat up anyone who annoyed him, and even those who just happened across him, regardless of their gender.

"What do you say, boys?" he asked his friends who had crowded around poor, helpless Momoko. "Hows about we teach the little birdie who's king of the school?"
All of his friends, who were dressed in a similar fashion, laughed evilly, and it was then the boy introduced himself.

"The name's Dan Sasaki. Don't worry, with this beating," he thrust his fist into his open palm to emphasize his point, "you won't ever forget the name."

With this, Dan drew his fist back, and Momoko closed her eyes, wishing that she had done horribly in the last grade so she didn't have to go through this torture.

"Oi! You! Leave her alone!"

A sudden outburst from another person caused Dan and his gang to turn around, and face another student. A boy who appeared to be just as old as Dan, maybe older, possibly in one of the upper classes, maybe sixth or seventh grade.

He had short, black hair that was messily laid across his scalp, his bangs lengthy enough to cover his forehead, but not quite long enough to reach his eyebrows.

His eyes were both a compliment and a contrast to his hair, being a dark blue. He wore a plain brown t-shirt, and a blue zip-up hoodie, which was unzipped, presumably to show off his shirt. A simple pair of black jeans and red sneakers completed the outfit.

While Momoko wasn't big on fashion, she still kept up with some of the trends, and from the way this boy looked, he either didn't follow the trends at all, didn't care about them, or purposely went against them. His outfit just screamed independence. Or tackiness. Or possibly both.

Dan eyed the boy, then chuckled. "Well, well. If it isn't the old stick in the mud. Or should I say, the stick OUT in the mud!"

At the joke about the boy's clear independence, Dan and his group of three friends went into a fit of laughter. However, they were joined by a fifth laugh.
That of the boy who had just been made fun of.

As his laughter died down, a bit after the laughter of the other children had, he smiled at Dan.

"Man, that was a good one I'll admit. Didn't think you even had the brainpower to make a joke that funny, Dan," he said.

At this, Dan's face scrunched up in anger. But before he had a chance to retort, the boy spoke again, this time with a more serious expression.

"Leave the girl alone, Dan. I thought you were the kind who only picked on guys, not innocent girls."

Dan lost his anger, at least on his face, and pointed to a now slightly less frightened, and also confused Momoko. "But she's new here, I was just giving her a little welcome present." He chuckled, almost maniacally.

At this, the boy walked up to the group, and stood in between Dan and Momoko, effectively shielding the latter from the former.

"Only the lowliest of cowards picks on girls, let alone beats them up," the boy accused. "Go pick on someone your own size."

This was the last straw for Dan. Raising his fist back, he said a bit too loudly, "Fine! Then you can have her welcome present!"

With that, he landed a hard punch right into the face of the heroic young boy.

The boy stumbled back wards away from the group a bit, and grasped a hand to his face, looking down at the ground.

Then, he raised his head to look directly at Dan. The look in his eyes said that he was angry, but that he also knew better than to fight back.

Noticing a small dribble of blood emerging from his mouth, the boy wiped it away with the back of his hand. He then walked back over to the group, re-assuming his position in front of Momoko, who, at the sight of blood, was now very close to tears.

"Like I said, pick on someone your own size," the boy repeated. Dan chuckled evilly again.

"Well, if that's how you want it, there's more where that came from!" And he raised his hand again to deliver another blow.

"What's going on here?"

The shout startled the six students, and all their heads turned to see Ms. Keane, arguably the teacher who hated fighting the most.

Dan stood there stupidly for a moment, and just as he was about to either sputter out some sort of lie, or run away, the unnamed boy spoke up first.

"It's nothing Keane-sensei," he assured, "just a little misunderstanding," he looked at Dan with a smile on his face, "right, Dan?" He extended his hand as a clear invitation for Dan to shake his hand with his own.

Begrudgingly, and everyone except Ms. Keane could see that, Dan extended his own hand and shook the boy's.

"Yep," he said, trying his best to sound like he had just resolved some sort of argument, "just a misunderstanding."

"Oh, I see," Ms Keane said, losing her fear that something terrible had occurred. "Well, you better be getting to classes then, you're all pretty late."

At this, there was a small voice that spoke up.

"Um... I'm not sure where to go..."

It was Momoko, who worked her way out of the group of older boys and stood in front on Ms. Keane, who smiled down on the new student.

"Well then, how about I take you to the office and we sort out where you need to go?"

At this, the young Momoko looked up form her gaze at the floor, and happily smiled up at Ms. Keane.

But as Ms. Keane walked away, Momoko stayed back for a moment. She turned to the boy who had saved her and bowed respectfully.

"Th-thank you for helping me," she said, her shyness getting the better of her on her first word.

"Don't mention it," the boy replied.

"If you don't mind," Momoko requested, "I'd like to know your name, please." She smiled this time, her shyness all but gone, and the boy did the same.

Putting his hands behind his head, he said, "Name's Sadato Takahashi. And you are...?"

"Momoko Akatsutsumi. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Just then, Ms. Keane called for Momoko, and hurriedly, she excused herself to Sadato, and ran after the teacher.

Momoko remembered that since she was only twelve at the time, she had not yet developed her love for cute boys back then. In fact, she had honestly forgotten about Sadato not too long after the incident.

She questioned herself as to why she had forgotten about such an event for such a long time, when she remembered the answer.

After the incident, Sadato had practically disappeared. She had searched for him the next few days of her first day, but all that the teachers told her was that he didn't go to the school anymore. Momoko sighed, not for the first time that day. Where did he go?

Looking up at the clock in her room, and seeing how much time she had spent simply reminiscing on the past, Momoko finally decided to think about it another time, and drifted off into sleep, filled with dreams of cute boys, snacks of all kinds, and defeating plenty of villains heroically as Blossom.

However, unknown to the sleeping PPGZ member, at the same time that she had achieved her dream by acquiring the powers from the white light on that fateful day...

A certain blue-eyed boy had also gained powers.

But from the light of the opposite color.

Welp... I wonder how many people are actually going to read this. Probably not a lot, considering the fandom for this show is...limited.

Anyways, yeah, I just started a PPGZ fic. ...Part of me still can't believe I'm actually doing this. But, I feel that the show deserves much respect as an epic anime (the Japanese dub, not the HORRIBLE English dub), and I feel that by adding some seriousness and romance, it'll make it that much better.

A few notes though: One, don't expect that many of those Japanese honorific things that come after a name (kun, chan, san), because they just confuse me to no end. Two, the story is set in the Japanese dub world, where it's Tokyo and not New Townsville (ENGlISH DUB!), and the girls actually have normal names when they aren't transformed (EEEENNGLII- Oh, you get the point). Three, don't expect the RRBZ to end up with the PPGZ, since I honestly prefer MiyakoxTakkaki, I'm not sure Kaoru would really end up with anyone, and Momo- Oops... Almost spoiled stuffs... Hehehe... ^^

I hope that the few people who read this can find it enjoyable. Also... If anyone has an idea for a title better than the one I have now, please tell me in your review, which I implore you to leave when you're done reading. "Heart of Metal," isn't bad, it's just...kinda bland. I've had some good ideas, but I'd love to know what you guys think!

Alight, I've rambled on enough. Thanks for reading, and remember to review, favorite/add to alerts, and spread the word. Thanks! See you all in Chapter 2, which is already partway done. ^^