DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DEMASHITAA! POWERPUFF GIRLS Z OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS!

INSPIRED BY: marinav92

Me: I. Am. So. Freaking. Sorry. For. Taking. Two. Months. To. Update. QAQ

This chapter was supposed to be up much sooner, as I promised in the previous chapter, but life and school got in the way, so I only managed to get the rest of it today. Last week, I was trying to recover from my tiring weeks of school (especially the week before Winter Break; oh God, that was a freaking nightmare x_x), so I mainly spent my time gaming and not doing my homework. At first, I was going to do my homework on Monday, but life's plans decided to interfere so I got stuck with packing up stuff in my room for a couple of days...and my mother wants me to pack up more stuff and all, so in a way, this was my excuse for avoiding work :'D.

Well, that and I was determined to get this updated, since it's been two months, for crying out loud x'D.

Kaoru: DAMN IT, BUTCH! GET OUT!

Butch: KAORU-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAN~

Kaoru: I SAID GET OUT!

Me: ...Yeah, I'm still underground o3o;! Anyway, this chapter is about five pages long, so hopefully, that length will make up for the whole no-update-for-two-months-kind-of-thing :'D. If that won't make up for it, then...well...what happens in this chapter might ;D.

...Hopefully, I haven't gotten rusty in my writing :'D.

CHAPTER 9:

I awoke to the sound of a phone ringing, breathing heavily as I looked around the room. Glancing at the top of my drawers, I realized that it was my cell phone that was ringing.

Sighing, I picked it up and said groggily, "Hello?"

"Kaoru! Come over to the Professor's already!"

Glancing at the clock nearby, I asked, "Momoko, why the hell are you calling me at nine in the freaking morning?"

"'Cause apparently, Ken wants to talk to us about something. I don't know why, but it sounded pretty urgent in my opinion."

"And why the hell didn't he just contact me by…" My voice trailed off, since I didn't want anyone in the doorway to hear. "Well, you know what I mean."

"Well, he didn't wanna hear you screaming at him in the morning, so…yeah."

Well, that made sense. Knowing him, he'd be scared as hell once I start yelling at him.

Sighing, I replied, "Okay, fine, I'll be there soon."

"Kay!" I heard Momoko reply and with that, she hung up on me.

Closing my cell phone, I sighed softly to myself and wondered what the hell was wrong with me for dreaming about Takeshi again for the second night in a row. I mean, seriously! Second night in a row, damn it! If anything, I should go get my head checked—period.

Glancing at the clock once more, I sighed once more and muttered, "May as well head on over." With that said, I reluctantly went to go get ready.

"Alright, what the hell is so important that you guys have to call me at nine in the freaking morning?" My eye twitched slightly, waiting for an answer.

Momoko sighed and replied, "I don't know!"

"Well, couldn't they just call me about it over the damn phone?"

"Kaoru, stop yelling!"

"You're yelling, too!"

"Momoko-san, Kaoru-san, the two of you should stop arguing," I heard Miyako say and before I could say anything else, she added quickly, "Oh, Peach!"

Momoko and I then glanced over at the robotic dog that was sitting on top of the stairs. Before I could say anything to him, he shushed me before running down the stairs and towards us.

"Alright, what's so important?" I asked immediately, raising an eyebrow.

"I've been sensing black aura for the past couple of days, da wan," Peach muttered softly, but just enough for the three of us to hear.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, now that's just plain—"

"It's true, da wan! I'm not lying!"
Rolling my eyes at him, I said, "Peach, last time I checked, there was no trouble, so I don't understand how you could be sensing black aura, still."

"I sense black aura, da wan!"

"Perhaps we should go check once more," Miyako then said, looking deep in thought. "After all, it doesn't hurt to check, right?"

Momoko nodded slowly. "Miyako has a point. It shouldn't hurt to check once more, right?"

I shrugged, rolling my eyes. "Fine. The sooner we finish checking, the sooner I can get back to sleep." Before letting any of them say anything, I quickly transformed and left the house in a flash.

"There's nothing here, damn it!" I exclaimed in anger, looking around the area, which was really just a forest that Peach had led us to.

"I sensed black aura here, da wan!" Peach exclaimed back before running off.

Miyako and Momoko then ran off (since we couldn't fly over the forest because we wouldn't see anything due to the trees) after him, calling his name over and over to come back. Sighing, I ran after them as well. Before I knew it, we ended upon a clearing of trees, which, I had to admit, felt a bit weird.

"I sense black aura, da wan," I heard Peach mutter softly as he got behind the three of us. "And it's getting closer…"

Narrowing my eyes at a set of bushes and trees before us, I waited for some sort of movement to appear, but after waiting for a while, nothing happened. Raising an eyebrow at Peach, I asked, "Peach?"

Peach blinked a couple of times and muttered something, but none of us could hear anything. Just as I was about to ask him to repeat what he just said, rustling was heard from the bushes, which made me whip my head back towards them.

"Stop hiding like a coward and face us!" I yelled immediately.

Instead of getting a verbal response, the sound of rustling then started getting further and further away. Just as I raised up my hammer to pound the ground, Miyako stopped me immediately before telling me that I could damage the environment around here. Sighing, I knew she was right and just ran off towards the rustling that seemed to get further and further away by the second.

Eventually, I ended up near a large lake and as I was looking around, Miyako, Momoko, and Peach had already caught up. While Miyako and Momoko were pausing to catch their breath, Peach started wandering around near the lake, turning his head around every now and then.

Quickly, I growled, "Peach…"

Immediately, Peach flinched and exclaimed, "I really did sense black aura, da wan!"

Narrowing my eyes at him, I spat, "No one's here, you know!"

"I don't know what happened, but all I know is that I really did sense black aura, da wan!" He then slightly hesitated, shifting his gaze from me to Miyako and to Momoko. Sighing, he said softly, "But it's gone now, da wan…"

I blinked a couple of times before exclaiming, "What?"

"How can that be?" I heard Miyako mutter softly. "It was before us just a moment ago…"

"It's gone, da wan! I don't know how, but it's gone now, da wan! I can't sense it anywhere, da wan!"

Momoko sighed and said, "Well, we can't do anything about it now, so we may as well just head back to the lab." After a pause, she added, "Wait for me, my wonderful manga!" Before Miyako and I could say anything, Momoko already flew off towards the direction that we headed from earlier.

Miyako sighed, shaking her head while smiling and picked up Peach in her arms. Turning around, she looked at me and asked, "Aren't you going to head back with us, Kaoru?"

I shook my head. "I'll head back later. For now, I'm just gonna take a look around."

Miyako nodded before flying off and joining with Momoko.

Sighing, I muttered, "Besides, even if I did head back, that asshole might end up on my doorstep again." And knowing Mom, she'll try to get me to go on a date with him…again, I added silently.

Looking around, I just saw that it was the same old scenery of nature: Trees, bushes, lake, flowers—need I go on? Nonetheless, I eventually looked around until I saw a silhouette of some sort off into the distance, just past a couple of trees. Squinting my eyes, I decided to follow after the person. After all, who would do something here in the woods? Sounds pretty fishy, in my opinion. (Well, I have a legitimate excuse for being here, so there's no reason to be suspicious of me.)

Eventually, I came closer to the silhouette, hiding behind the trees. I was still in my Powerpuff Girls Z outfit, though, just in case. The silhouette eventually became more clear when I realized who it was.

"Takeshi?" I whispered out loud. Immediately, I covered my mouth and hid behind the tree, sliding my back down against its trunk.

"Who's there?" He called out while I still had my hand over my mouth.

Crap, crap, crap! Not good! As I continued to curse silently, I heard rustling once more before silence followed pursuit. Reluctantly, I uncovered my mouth and stood back up, taking a peek behind the tree only to find that he was no longer there. At this, I raised my eyebrow before I felt a presence behind me.

"Why are you here, Buttercup?"

Flinching, I turned around to find Takeshi, smirking at me, for some reason. I was honestly expecting him to look pissed off, but…him smirking? That I didn't expect.

I frowned at him, regaining my posture before saying, "I'm here to check the place out; that's all." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why are you here?"

"I have my reasons," he replied, smirking still.

At this, I raised an eyebrow at him before seeing a glint of mischievous appear in his eyes. My eyes widen slightly before I frowned at him, stating, "At any rate, you shouldn't be here."

He raised an eyebrow back, smirking still. "Oh? Why not?"

"It's dangerous; that's why." Lame excuse, I know, but I honestly want him to leave already.

Blinking a couple of times, he muttered something to himself—something that I couldn't hear.

Raising an eyebrow at him, I asked, "What did you say?"

"Nothing. Just…something I remembered; that's all," he replied, smirking once more and I could've sworn that his eyes suddenly flashed some kind of emotion… I don't know what it was, but it was creeping me out by the minute.

Realizing that my back was against the tree, I cursed silently before stating, "And that something is?"

"Well, we met before, didn't we? Last time, you were doing something like this and I spotted you easily."

I frowned. "So?"

"There's a difference between this time and the previous time," he replied. Once he saw that I was raising an eyebrow, he continued, "Which is none other than the fact that we're the only two people here."

Narrowing my eyes, I hissed, "What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"You really don't remember me, dear Buttercup?" He asked, smirking still as he placed his arm above my head (curse his height!), leaning on it for support while looking down at me. Of course, this unfortunately meant that he had me cornered against the tree.

I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to recall. Sure, this dude was Takeshi, but that didn't deny the fact that his dark green eyes was somehow familiar to me. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure it out, so I merely frowned at him while glaring.

"So, I'm assuming that you don't remember me, then?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me while still smirking.

"You're the dude that I met last time."

Rolling his eyes, he stated, "Obviously. But what I meant, dear Buttercup"—he smirked, seeing of how that I was narrowing my eyes at him—"is if we met some time back in the past."

"I think not," I spat at him, frowning. As I started to push him away, I stated, "Now if you'll excuse me—"

He quickly gripped my shoulders, keeping me pinned against the tree.

"What the hell?" I shouted, glaring at Takeshi in the process.

Smirking, he stated, "Maybe this should remind you…" Before I could ask him what in the world he was talking about, I felt his right hand travel down from my shoulder to my arm to my waist. He paused temporarily at that spot before raising an eyebrow at me. "Remember now, dear Buttercup?"

I started trying to push him away, but for some reason, he didn't move, which didn't make sense. I was transformed as Buttercup, for crying out loud, so he should've flown away or something while I pushed him. Or at least budge a little bit so I could escape! But for some reason…Takeshi didn't budge—at all. Realizing this, I began to panic slightly, trying to figure out what the hell was going on right now. None of this made any sense, for crying out loud.

When he saw that I made no response except glaring at him, he smirked and let his right hand move further down slowly, stopping at my skirt. Feeling his hand touch my skin, I flinched and stopped pushing him away.

"Remember now?" He asked, smirking still.

Glaring at him, I quickly slapped his hand away before hissing, "I oughta kick your freaking ass for doing that!"

He sighed as he shook his head, completely ignoring my threat just now.

Just as I was about to punch him with my left hand, he quickly caught it with his right hand. At this, my eyes widen. Now this really didn't make any sense at all. Narrowing my eyes at him, I hissed, "This could be considered sexual harassment, you know."

He completely ignored what I said and stated, "Still don't remember?" Pausing, he then added, "Well, maybe this hint should help… Remember the time of when there were three boys running amok in the city, causing mayhem everywhere, even though they were just pranks?"

I froze immediately as I continued to listen to him, not even realizing that my eyes had gotten wide.

Smirking, he continued, "And here's another hint: Remember of when you and the other Powerpuff Girls Z had to blow a kiss towards them when they received new powers from Him? Remember now, dear Buttercup?"

Of course. I should've known.

The dark green eyes.

The black hair.

The pale skin.

The way he was touching my skirt earlier… Of course, he was trying to flip it!

"Oh, so you remember now, hm?" He asked, smirking still.

Takeshi.

Butch.

Takeshi's Butch.

Blinking a couple of times, I realized then that meant the other two boys that Miyako and Momoko went out on dates with—they were Brick and Boomer!

I instantly snapped out of my thoughts when I realized that something was touching my thigh. (This is one of the reasons why I hate wearing skirts…)

Quickly, I slapped his hand away before hissing, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Well, I would've done this to you last time we met, but considering of how witnesses were practically everywhere, I couldn't," he replied before smirking and added, "So, I've decided to taken advantage of this situation."

He started leaning in before I pushed his face away with one of my hands. It was then I realized that one of his arms was around my waist while the other was on my thigh again. Before I could yell at him, though, a thought occurred to me. The Rowdyruff Boys Z were younger than us, so the dude before me couldn't be Butch. Butch should be around thirteen right now, not seventeen or eighteen, for crying out loud!

Unfortunately, it was then I realized that something was on my neck. When I snapped out of my trance once more, I saw that Takeshi's (er, Butch's) mouth was on my neck, kissing it softly while the hand that was on my thigh was squeezing it. At this, I immediately pushed him away and thankfully, this time, it was a success.

"Perverted asshole!" I yelled, pulling my skirt down as I started to back away from him and the tree I was pinned against.

He smirked before chuckling softly, which merely caused me to glare at him. "Oh, well. We can always continue tonight, so I can wait until then."

My face paled slightly and I asked softly, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I know who you are," he replied, smirking still.

"Of course, you do. I'm Buttercup!"

"I meant your secret identity."

I flinched slightly and spat, "I have no secret identity. I'm—"

"Kaoru Matsubara," he interrupted and I felt all of the color drain from my face for a second. He smirked and stated, "Told you I knew."

How the hell does he know? This…This doesn't make any sense, damn it!

Narrowing my eyes, trying my best to ignore what he said, I immediately stated, "And you—you can't possibly be Butch."

"Yes, yes, because of the age difference and all, I know," he said, waving his hand around at me before grinning. "Well, too bad for you that I am Butch, just like of how you are Kaoru Matsubara."

"I-I—"

"Remember that night?"

I blinked a couple of times at him. "What night?"

"The second night of when I came around to your house. Do you remember?"

I blinked a couple of times, realizing that I was right! Those weren't dreams at all! They were real! Wait, then that meant…he stole my first kiss and…and…

I could feel my face burn up suddenly, recalling that night.

Chuckling, he stated, "Remember when I was looking through your closet?"

"Why the hell were you doing that anyway?" I spat angrily before adding, "And how the hell do you keep on getting in?"

Ignoring me, he continued, "Well, I found that the very belt you're wearing right now"—he quickly pointed to my Powerpuff Girls Z belt—"is none other than the very one that Buttercup of the Powerpuff Girls Z wears."

Glaring at him, I yelled, "And what the hell does me being Buttercup have to do with anything, Takeshi?"

"Takeshi's just my alias, you know," he replied before adding, "Nonetheless, remember when I told you I had feelings back then for a girl? The reason why I even went out with Himeko in the first place?"

He started taking a step towards me and every time he did that, I took a step backward. It's not that I was a wimp, but because of the fact that since he's older than me now, that meant that he was stronger than me, considering of how he didn't budge one inch earlier when I tried pushing him away. To put it bluntly, if he grabs any body part of mine, I have little hope of escaping. There was the fact that I could just fly away, but then there's other factors I had to account for. If he had gotten stronger, then that probably meant he had possibly gained other powers too and I definitely don't wanna find out, especially if they're gonna put me in a situation that's just leave me vulnerable and weak.

Glancing back, I realized that he was trying to corner me against a tree again, so I just stood my ground, letting him come closer and closer. On the inside, I was panicking honestly, but I kept my composure while glaring at him. Finally, he stood before me, just about a foot away.

"You know who the girl is, Kaoru?" He asked, putting emphasis on my name. Smirking, he added, "Do you?" Seeing of how I made no response, he lifted up my chin, his lips dangerously close to mine. "She's you."

My eyes widen and just as he was about to lean in (for a kiss, probably), I immediately slapped him—hard. A red mark was apparent on his cheek and before he could regain his composure, I immediately flew up and away from him, hoping that he wouldn't follow after me.

Me: ...So did the ButchxKaoru-ness make up for it? 8D

*door slams down*

Me: o_o

Kaoru: =_=

Me: O_O *starts running away*

Kaoru: DAMN YOU! =A=

Me: WHAT DID I DO? QAQ I'M INNOCENT!

Kaoru: LIAR. IF YOU WERE INNOCENT, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE ADDED IN THOSE SCENES!

Me: WOMAN, I'M A BUTCHxKAORU FANGIRL. AND I WAS IN MY BUTCHxKAORU FANGIRL MOOD. AND I'VE BEEN HAVING A LACK OF BUTCHxKAORU-NESS FOR THE PAST TWO MONTHS! =A=

Kaoru: YOU DIDN'T NEED TO -

Me: YES, YES, I DID. IT'S PART OF THE FREAKING PLOTLINE OF THIS FANFIC =3=. BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTCH!

Butch: *pops in*

Kaoru: ...Oh, crap.

Butch: 8D KAORU-CHAN.

Kaoru: O_O *starts running away from him*

Me: *runs out of the room and locks the two inside of that room* HAHA 8D! DEJIKO IS TRIUMPHANT. IN YOUR FACE, KAORU 8l.

Kaoru: =A= *glaring at me as she's running away from Butch*

Me: Well, anyway, now that that's out of the way, hope you enjoyed the chapter 8D! Review please~ c: