Blissful Memories

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z. As for OCs, Kaarii Shiimasutou belongs to cakedecorator. Amy Armstrong is created by the following: The Cat Whispurrer, Bleedman, Josh/Super Deviation, and J8d. Luke Armstrong is owned by The Cat Whispurrer. Josh Jones belongs to Super Bash.

Memory 7: Kuriko

(Park w/ Pet Shop, October 1, 2035, Monday)

Kuriko made a detour as she walked on the way home. The elementary student yawned as she continued her walk home. Kuriko then crashed directly into a girl, making both of them crash down.

"Mou! Who was th-… Kuriko?" The girl spluttered at the last word. Kuriko stood up to see her Momoko. Kuriko stood up in alarm that it was her own sister that she bumped into.

"You know her, Momoko?" A girl with white eyes asked. A boy with jet black eyes went near Kuriko and pulled her up. Though Kuriko knew that the boy helped her, it still was scary to see his jet black eyes.

"Don't worry. My eyes have a tendency to do that to almost anyone." The boy grinned weakly as he saw the girl nervously staring at him.

"When you said your sister had orange eyes, you weren't kidding." A girl with fuchsia eyes nodded.

"You guys are Momoko's new friends?" Kuriko asked. Momoko sighed and introduced her little group.

"Ok, you know about Miyako and Kaoru here, correct?" Momoko pointed to both of them. Then she pointed at the one with Fuchsia eyes. "This one is Kaarii… The transfer student that I was about to get grounded for." Momoko said drily. Kaarii jolted.

"Hey! I didn't do anything to make you deserve grounding!" Kaarii said, shocked.

"It became a sort of joke around my home." Momoko said drily. "A joke I don't really find funny."

"I agree that it must be quite annoying…" Kaoru shrugged. "It's probably more frustrating than dad's allowance slashing threats."

Momoko continued her hesitant introductions. "This is Amy, the girl that dad hoped I wasn't in trouble about." Amy almost jumped.

'What?" Amy gasped. Her mind tried to find the reason why but she came up blank. "Hey, I didn't do anything…"

"So what about us three?" Luke said, referring to the trio of boys. "Any statement thrown around your home about us?"

"One rule I learned with Kaarii and Amy's examples: Don't mention any new friends to my parents. Chances are, I'll get grounded for a whole year." Momoko said drily. All eight of the people with her had to sweat dropp (yup, even Kuriko) at what Momoko said. Then Momoko turned and continued her small introduction. "Luke. Takaaki. Josh." Momoko pointed at each respective boy for Kuriko to notice.

"You guys work at the lab as well?" Kuriko asked.

"Those two boys have no connection to the lab, whatsoever." Kaoru pointed at Takaaki and Josh, who both sweat dropped.

"You got a cute sister, Momoko." Kaarii noted. Momoko shrugged. Amy smiled as Kuriko grinned and the two decided to play around for a bit. Miyako and Kaarii joined in while Luke and Takaaki observed the girls.

"Whoa…" Kaoru said. "I never thought your sister will make such an impact on our friends…"

"I know, right?" Momoko shrugged. Kaoru nodded. She turned to Josh and challenged every one of the group to a game of tag. Kuriko grinned.

"All right!" Kuriko nodded. "But aren't you guys a bit old for tag?"

"Who cares about age?" Amy smiled. "We're still kids at heart."

"Maybe." Luke nodded. He tapped Amy's shoulder. "Tag, you're it." Amy shot a glare at her brother as Luke ran away from Amy.

"Hey!" Amy shouted at the retreating figure of her brother. Then she rushed towards Kaarii. Kaarii made a run around the park. Amy ran at Kaarii, but Kaarii ended up slipping.

"If I could, I'd sue my shoes for the number of times I fell down…" Kaarii sighed as Amy caught up to her and tagged her.

"You can't return the tag, ok?" Amy smiled. "Chase someone else."

"I was gonna do that anyway." Kaarii grinned, standing up. She brushed her legs and made a dash for Josh. Josh tried to make a run for it, but Kaarii figured out his route and chased him. But Josh dodged every attempt by Kaarii. Josh thought of the game of tag as one of his adventures at the sites. But suddenly Kaoru jumped out of a bush nearby and tagged Josh.

"What the!" Josh fell on his bottom. "I thought Kaarii was it?"

"She ended up tagging me." Kaoru grinned. "So now you're it. See ya."

"Fine." Josh stood up. Josh chased Takaaki and tagged the older boy. Takaaki walked towards Miyako.

"Why aren't you running, Miyako-chan?" Takaaki asked.

"Why?" Miyako asked. Takaaki sighed.

"Tag. You. Are. It." Takaaki patted her shoulder and scurried away. Miyako gasped.

"We were playing tag?" Miyako asked confused. Everyone made a sort of anime fall. Miyako was confused but she touched Kuriko. "Umm… Tag?"

"Oh, shoot." Kuriko sighed. "Alright, Momoko's turn… Hey, where is Momoko?" All eight of them looked around for their missing friend.

"Where'd she go?" Luke asked. Kuriko stared at the scene. Where did she go?

(Akatsutsumi Residence)

"I'm back." Kuriko jumped into her apartment. She looked around for Momoko, but she didn't see her.

"You're a bit slower than usual today…" Hachizou noted. "Uncannily, Momoko was faster."

"You mean Momoko's back here?" Kuriko asked.

"She arrived a full 2 hours ago." Hachizou shrugged.

"So… Momoko-sis went home early… Why?" Kuriko asked. Somehow, she felt guilty.

"Who knows, with your sister?" Hachizou sighed. "She's been pretty distant lately."

"…" Kuriko sighed. She walked towards the table and ate her dinner.

"Momoko… Would you like some dinner?" Kakiko called her eldest daughter.

"…" No voice was heard from inside the room.

"…" Kuriko sighed.

"So how was your day?" Hachizou asked the younger daughter.

"I had a lot of fun with Momoko's friends." Kuriko smiled. But each word brought a pang of guilt. Kuriko gobbled her meal and rushed to Momoko's room.

"Umm… Momoko-sis?" Kuriko asked. "I think I'm supposed to sleep with you tonight…" The lock clicked open, and Kuriko entered the room. Momoko lay on her bed, as though she was fast asleep. But Kuriko can tell that she was faking it. She must have stood up at some point and opened the door. Kuriko laid next to her sister and for once, neither of them even said as much as a word of disagreement with each other. Kuriko felt uncomfortable, not because of the space or her position, but the atmosphere that surrounded her. Kuriko succumbed to sleep while feeling tense.

(School, October 2, 2035, Tuesday)

"… Umm, Momoko?" Miyako approached Momoko.

"What is it?" Momoko asked.

"Where did you go yesterday?" Miyako asked. Kaoru and Kaarii joined the two.

"Home." Momoko shrugged.

"You just missed a fun time playing tag." Kaoru shrugged. Momoko shrugged in response as the teacher entered the room, starting homeroom.

(October 4, 2035, Thursday)

"Where's Momoko?" Josh asked impatiently. The group of eight was seated at the park, waiting for Momoko, but she is showing no sign of showing up. "Wasn't she supposed to be with you three? This has been going for the past few days."

"…" Kaarii sighed. "She said "Go ahead." She doesn't want to join us, I guess…"

"Why?" Luke asked. "She hasn't joined us since Monday…"

"… Who knows?" Kaoru said indifferently. "It just feels weird that we're without Momoko…"

"She is technically the leader of this little group." Luke laughed. Kuriko felt a surge of guilt twang in her heart as she remembered the events last month.

"The leader of the girls, maybe." Kaarii nodded. Then she turned to Kuriko "Kuriko-chan, is something the matter?"

"… Momoko and I have a sort of fight…" Kuriko sighed.

"Is it your usual "Blossom Bashing" fights?" Kaoru asked, acting as though she was only mildly interested.

"Blossom Bashing?" Kaarii asked. She tried to understand what that means. "Do you mean that they're disagreeing about Blossom?"

"Kuriko here seems to hate Blossom with a passion." Kaoru yawned. Kaarii sweat dropped at the irony of Blossom being Momoko.

"… I don't really hate Blossom…" Kuriko sighed. "It's just that… she seems… to be not serious about what she does."

"Believe me, if there's something I know about Blossom," Kaoru shrugged. "It's that she is always serious about her job, which is protecting the city. It's Bubbles and Buttercup that doesn't care much for it."

"What do you mean by that?" Kuriko asked.

"Hey, part time worker at the lab here." Kaoru grinned. "I just know."

"What other problems do you have at home?" Luke asked.

"You heard what Momoko-neesan said last Monday, right?" Kuriko confirmed.

"I can hardly forget about that." Kaarii sweat dropped.

"… Neither can I." Amy sighed.

"The grounded joke is kinda getting old, but it's obvious that…" Kuriko hesitated to continue her sentence.

"… she isn't trusted in her own household." Luke finished the sentence for her.

"That's horrible." Amy grimaced.

"Humans are fickle people." Miyako sighed. "As soon as they find a fault, they find it difficult to trust you. It's natural."

"You said almost the exact same thing to her." Kaoru chuckled. Kaarii had no clue if it would help her piecing of Bani's life, but she still linked it in her Bani Mind Map.

"Who's her?" Kuriko asked.

"… Blossom." Miyako said. "Last June." Kaarii sighed in relief. Bani was Blossom Last June, so her mind mapping was correct.

"Oh… The time when she was a coward…" Kuriko said.

"BANI WAS NOT A COWARD!" Kaoru snarled. Everyone almost jumped out of their skins. Did Kaoru just become menacing?

"Whoa… Are you saying this Bani is Blossom?" Luke asked.

"Did we say that?" Miyako smiled. Takaaki sweat dropped.

"Just who is this Bani?" Kuriko asked. "Momoko mentioned her last month…"

"… She's a topic we'd rather not discuss, Kuriko-chan." Miyako shrugged.

"Maybe we'll understand everything if you discuss it." Takaaki ventured.

"Haha… we'd gone off topic long enough." Kaoru interrupted. "Back on topic… You two also have a sort of sibling rivalry, correct?"

"Momoko once made a metaphor about that…" Kuriko sighed. "She said that ever since last July, the two of us were on a balance scale…"

"... Which basically means…" Kaarii put her logic to the test. "That you are always on the higher end… The favorable end, in other words."

"Why?" Kuriko asked.

"It's simple, Kuriko. You're younger. Naturally, younger means lighter." Luke sighed. "You're more innocent in people's eyes. And because Momoko is older, she's expected to carry the heavy burden of upholding responsibility."

"… As though her heart is not heavy enough as it is." Kaoru grumbled. The others sharply turned in her direction.

"What did you say?" Amy asked, worried.

"I said, Kuriko should say sorry to Momoko." Kaoru covered up for herself.

"… Why does Kuriko-chan need to say sorry to Momoko?" Miyako asked.

"I guess she's not guilty, is she?" Kaoru sighed.

"… I guess I'm partly guilty as well…" Kuriko sighed. "I was the one who told of Momoko's visits to the lab, resulting in her grounded sentence. I was the one who complained about her having new friends, leading to the stupid joke of grounding her again. She has every right to be angry at me… And now, I'm insisting I hang out with you guys… Which means…"

"Don't think into it too far." Luke laughed. "Just say sorry. Momoko's bound to understand."

"Right, Luke-niisan." Kuriko grinned. Kuriko ran from the group and headed straight home.

"… Boy… If I didn't know better," Josh's mouth twitched. "I'd say she ran as fast as a bullet."

"Hehe…" Kaarii grinned. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Just who is Bani?" Amy asked Kaoru and Miyako.

"… She's not open for discussion." Kaoru said shortly. Kaarii sighed. The other four looked at each other confused.

"Forget about it." Miyako smiled. "I'm going home too."

"Me too." Kaoru yawned. The two immediately ran away from the five.

"Sometimes, I hate it when they do that." Kaarii sighed. "They'll tell us when they need to, I guess."

"Right." Luke sighed. "Well, it is getting late."

"See you tomorrow, everyone!" Amy waved her hand as she and her brother walked home.

(Akatsutsumi Residence)

Akatsutsumi Momoko was doing her homework when Kuriko suddenly interrupted her concentration.

"Ummm… sis?" Kuriko shook her sister. "I… I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Momoko asked. She put down her pen and looked at her sister. Her face was void of emotions.

"… That… Everything." Kuriko rushed to her sister and hugged her. Momoko almost tumbled out of her chair in surprise.

"Whoa, Kuriko…" Momoko's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry for the times I fought with you, I insulted you, I disrespected you… I'm so sorry!" Kuriko sobbed.

"… You're supposed to be sleeping with Mom and Dad tonight…" Momoko told Kuriko.

"For now, sis… I'm sleeping with you, kay?" Kuriko grinned. Momoko laughed and hugged Kuriko back. Momoko's homework was left on her table, forgotten till tomorrow morning.

Chapter End

Lunar: Hooray for Momoko and Kuriko!

Miyako: What a touching chapter, Lunar.

Kaoru: So what's next chapter, Lunar? I think you've used up quite enough heartwarming moments.

Lunar: This story is about Friendship, Kaoru. It's supposed to be filled with heartwarming moments. Ok, up next is Memory 8: Transformation.

Momoko: Sounds to me that someone's gonna be turning into Powerpuffs soon.

Lunar: And it will be one chapter that Mojo will be similar to the original Mojo! Part 2 Start!

All three Original PPGZ: Eh? Part 2?

(Mojo Hideout)

"My latest creation!" Mojo laughed maniacally.

"Hello… Mom." A boy with a Mohawk grinned evilly as he laughed. Brick stood in the corner, glaring daggers at the new boy, while Boomer and Butch jumped up and down in happiness.

"Welcome, Bosco." Butch extended his hand.

"Thank you… Aniki." Bosco grinned.

Real Chapter End

Lunar: Review, please. Just no arsonists. Anonymous Review well received, except when they're not.

Momoko: Did you NEED to put the Mojo Hideout event AFTER the commentaries?

Lunar: But I didn't want to ruin the mood… So I improvised. ^^ Here you go, cakedecorator. Actually, Bosco was in the plot to begin with. I just gave round red herrings to fool people. That is my preferred way of doing things after all. Give around false hints with the genuine ones, and you get a major surprise.