Chapter 16

Some Peace

The afternoon sun shined down on Tokyo City as the afternoon bell of a middle school rang alerting the young teenagers about lunch time. Though the original Powerpuff Girls Z had left Tokyo City Middle School a long time ago it was still filled with familiar faces.

"Shou!" Kuriko shouted running pass a bunch of teens as the boy in question moved one step out of the way just as the hyperactive girl ran into the lockers. Shou rolled his eyes and smoothed his spikes down trying to keep everyone's eyes off him; but being friends with Kuriko had made it hard on his "tough guy" image. "Where is Suzu?"

"Did you really bust your face into my locker just to ask me that?" Shou sighed while helping the braided hair girl up as he noticed a bump forming on her forehead. Not as bad as his scarred cheek, but he would have an earful if it did.

"She practically ran out of Ms. Abo's class before I could even get her. Course I was talking to some friends about the new superhero show and possibly the homework for science after lunch." Kuriko mumbled starting to list off things she talked about as Shou grabbed his lunchbox and started making his way to the lunchroom with Kuriko following along. He still couldn't believe Suzu and Ken thought he had a crush on this loud mouth.

"You better have grabbed your lunch Kuriko cause I'm not giving you mine." Shou sighed knowing she could be quite forgetful at times like this.

"I don't want your lunch, Suzu would share anyways, big dummy." Kuriko said while sticking her tongue out and showed off her Hyper Blossom lunchbox to him.

"If you say so." Shou said while opening the door and scanned the lunchroom to find their white haired friend. His eyes found her sitting on top of a table in a meditation pose as some students started whispering about her. He was glad that she had jeans on today because he knew he would have to fight off a lot of her admirers for Ken since the genius already graduated from university.

"She's been doing that a lot lately." Kuriko pouted actually messing up her orange sleeves as Shou looked down at her. "She did it in class too, had to tell the teacher she wasn't asleep."

"You think she needs some help?" he asked as they made their way to the table trying to give looks to anyone daring them to laugh or comment about his friend.

"I hope so cause this is weird for her and I'm supposed to be the weird one in this friendship."

"Wow can't believe you admitted that." Shou laughed getting a blush to run across her face as she punched him.

"Shut up, just help me out ok!"

"Mm of course I am." Shou said while coming up to Suzu then poked her on the forehead. She blinked open her eyes and smiled nervously at the two.

"Hi guys, what's up?"

"We should be asking you that Ms. Grasshopper." Kuriko said while pointing at her, making Suzu quickly get off the table and sat down in a chair normally. The two friends sat down beside her and waited for her to respond to that, but she opted to get her lunch ready. "Are you guys going to the soccer game this evening? I heard Shinichi was going for his 5th win in a row!" Kuriko said with hearts in her eyes as Shou and Suzu tried to contain their laughter.

"I don't think so, I want to get in another meditation." Suzu said while playing with her broccoli.

"But Suzu! Even Ken is coming to see Jou play!" Kuriko whimpered while Shou rolled his eyes and continued to munch on his salmon.

"Speaking of which, here those two come now." Shou said while pointing his chopsticks at the top two soccer players of the school. He could already see Kuriko trying to fix her outfit as if she were trying to impress them. Shou rolled his eyes and stuffed more food into his mouth.

"Hey Shou, is your sister going to be able to see me play tonight?" Shinichi asked playing with his long ponytail as he looked down. Shou had found out his sister had taught this boy a thing or two about soccer and they had been friends since. But often his sister was busy and didn't always catch his games.

"She came last time dude, so I'm sure she's not making this one."

"I see." Shinichi pouted while the group of friends could see Jou getting a bit irritated by that.

"Why do you care about that girl coming to support you anyways? I'm the only one you need to support you in and out of game." Jou said as he crossed his arms and made Suzu smirk a little.

"The same reason you still want Ken to come to your games." Suzu said getting the boy to blush and Shinichi to smirk at him. Shou looked to Kuriko wanting to see her reaction, but again her eyes were glue to Shinichi's presence.

"T-That's different." Jou said while scratching the side of his shaved haircut and Shinichi couldn't help poke his chest making the boy blush more.

"Ooh, tell me how it's different Juju?" Shinichi asked making the much bigger soccer player turn redder than one of Kuriko's cherry tomatoes she was eating. Jou balled his fist up in front of the boy, but Shinichi was just smiling innocently making the group of friends watch; waiting for the other shoe to drop. Jou just sighed and looked away all pouty.

"Fine you win." Jou said trying to hide the smile that was creeping on his face as the ponytailed boy cheered happily. "You better be coming too Suzu, miss seeing your face around."

"Hmm ok, just for you Jou." Suzu smiled while he nodded back and wrapped his arm around Shinichi to lead them back to their table. "Such a cute couple."

"Huh? They're a couple?" Kuriko nearly shouted making Shou laugh finally at her obliviousness.

"Huh? I thought you knew; Ken even told me you were the one to point it out to him."

"I wasn't really into reading the BL manga just the action ones." Kuriko blushed remembering she did call it a "boy crush" back in the day, but her shonen used to call it that too.

"Wow, this is why you will never get a boyfriend." Shou said while Kuriko pinched his cheeks.

"And this is why you will never get a girlfriend you slimy worm!"

"You guys are acting like a couple again." Suzu giggled making the two blush and look at her.

"At least we aren't meditating throughout school and ignoring our friends." Shou huffed making the white eyed teen grow silent. Shou could tell he stepped on some toes there and Kuriko could feel it in the air.

"Look Suzu, we want to help you, but we can't do that if you don't tell us what the problem is." Kuriko pouted while Suzu looked at the two and slowly let out a sigh.

"How do you guys deal with your sister when they're being mean, or you get angry at each other?"

"Huh?" Shou and Kuriko puzzled knowing very well Suzu didn't have a sister.

"Oh, um mom and dad were wondering if they should adopt again since um I'm sometimes lonely in the noodle shop. They aren't doing it yet, just a thought hehe." Suzu smiled nervously trying hard to keep the secret of Bass.

"Ha yeah that would be worrisome if you never had one before." Kuriko smiled making the two relax a little.

"Well, whenever me and Kaoru are mad at each other, I usually have a wrestling match so I can teach her who's boss."

"With me and Momoko, we yell at each other all the time and sometimes I just get my mother or father to come in and play the innocent card."

"Ehehe really now?" Suzu said while feeling more uneasy.

"Sometimes I blackmail her with pictures or secrets of her being with Ikuto just to get her to do what I want." Shou grinned thinking up all the blackmail he could use to get her to cooperate.

"I usually do it with her diary, she really needs to find better places to hide it." Kuriko laughed while finishing up her lunch as she saw how close the time was.

"Ah…that's interesting." Suzu said knowing Bass had and would probably do all that stuff to her since this was an unfair battle. However, once the two stopped looking so malicious, Suzu could see them actually soften.

"Though, Momoko and me spend a great deal acting out our frustration with action figures and doing each other's hair. She might get mad at me, but she always shows that she cares by protecting me and covering for me if I do something too risky."

"Yeah, I don't know what I would do if I didn't have Kaoru helping me to get stronger and having my back when things are looking bad."

"Wow." Suzu stared seeing how their whole demeanor changed and imagined them all helping each other get out of trouble. She smiled feeling an overwhelming amount of determination fill her wanting to help Bass out of this situation more. Sure, she was in ties with Takashi, but so was Suzu. If she could do it then she shouldn't give up on Bass especially if she was going to help. "Thanks, you guys, seriously."

"No problem Suzu." Shou and Kuriko said just as the bell rung for next period to begin. Though Suzu was very focus on helping her sister, it was hard to find time to actually meditate to try to connect to the dimensions she could easily communicate to with her powers. School would take up most of the day and as mentioned before teachers didn't like it when you "pretended" to meditate during a lesson.

Today, she had found little moments of peace to just try to connect like she was taught, but still felt nothing. Suzu really couldn't believe that she had gone from being the best to the worse connector all because she lost her powers. She was feeling worthless again not being able to help the Puffs Z and Ruffs Z as they did with her. She had told Ken, she would put a barrier in her mind, but she honestly hoped if she didn't Bass would come to her. It was risky and the boy would flip if he heard she didn't; but what else could she do?

"This is seriously turning into a complex situation." Suzu mumbled while laying her head on the desk just as the bell to go home was signaled. Kuriko looked at her and quickly took her into a headlock making the girl squeak.

"If you show Ken that long face, he's going to ask you about it, right?"

"You are right, Ken is getting too good at reading me." Suzu said while they both headed to their lockers.

"Of course he is! You two are a match made in heaven, and I was the cupid to help move things along." Kuriko chuckled while Suzu giggled to herself halfway disagreeing but didn't state it to her best friend. It was best to let her think that.

"Just like how you and Shou are going to be my job?" Suzu giggled more seeing the blush run across her face as they made their way to the front gate.

"No way! He's too rough to be my boyfriend!"

"I don't know you seem like the type to like it rough."

"Suzu!" Kuriko blushed shaking her giggling friend while Shou and Ken looked at them from their spot at the gate. "Shou, you have poisoned Suzu's mind with your filthy boy brain!"

"Huh?! Girl, Suzu was a freak before and I'm quite sure it's cause she hangs out with our sisters and that gang, not me."

"It's true," Ken chuckled with a blush on his face looking at his girlfriend who was faking innocence. "besides Shou is one of the softies who enjoys poetry."

"Poetry?" the girls questioned seeing Shou quickly growl at him and took hold of the lab nerd's jacket.

"Ken, you promise you wouldn't say anything." Shou hissed while Ken felt a bead of sweat come down his face.

"Sorry it slipped." Ken whispered just as the girls pulled Shou off Ken and looked at him with a devilish smile.

"Shou, do you write poetry?" they said while Shou quickly got out of their grip.

"N-No! I wrestle and pick fights."

"This wouldn't be your poetry book, would it?" Kuriko asked while holding up a worn out booklet with rude stickers on it. Shou looked through his bag and found that the zipper was undone and looked at the devil with circle braided horns.

"How did you?"

"Told you my sister can't hide her diary from me." Kuriko smirked making the group look at her with a little fear. "Now let's read."

"Don't you dare!" Shou said while running after the girl who was holding his notebook hoping to read some of his work.

"Should we stop them?" Suzu asked watching the two bob and weave through students as they made their way to the soccer field.

"I don't think it would be a good idea." Ken sighed following them by taking Suzu's hand.

"Stop reading it!"

"Na-aaah!" Kuriko started nearly tripping on one of the soccer balls, but Shou caught her by the hand and pulled her away from the ground. "Hehe thanks."

"You're welcome, now gimme!" Shou said while taking the booklet back.

"Oh, this is sweet." Ken said making the two look at their position and quickly pull away.

"Shut up!" they both blushed making their way to the stands.

"Were the poems good?" Suzu whispered as the boys tried to get good seats.

"Yeah, surprisingly they were soft."

"Hehe guess he's boyfriend material after all." Suzu said while making Kuriko stop in her tracks and blush out of embarrassment and a bit of anger.

"Ken! Suzu has been meditating and acting gloomy in school for weeks now!"

"Kuriko!" Suzu shouted turning her head to see Ken giving a look that she knew meant she was in trouble. The group of teenagers made their way into the seats just as the game was getting ready to go. Suzu played with her fingers seeing Ken wave to Jou making her think the game could distract him from talking about the comment Kuriko made.

"We will talk about it at the lab." Ken whispered making her fears worsen as she tried to enjoy the game. Luckily, the enthusiasm of the crowd and players made that quite easy for Suzu as she felt a cloud lift off her head. She really was missing out on a lot of things by focusing on the bad. She would definitely have to work on that once she figured out this situation.

"Bye you two, lovebirds!" Kuriko shouted out as they made their way to the gate to go their separate ways.

"Same to you two, Kuriko!" Suzu shouted out making her take hold of Ken's hand as she heard the complaints of her best friends. Suzu stopped running after the yells got further way as she felt Ken squeeze her hand. She looked at him and she could tell he hadn't forgotten about what they were going to talk about. She honestly had to look away from the stare knowing very well it might be a tough conversation.

"Come on, Suzu." Ken said while taking the lead this time then squeezed her hand gently. It calmed her nerves a bit that he was still being kind with her, and her heart was still feeling happy as the day they first met. It was a silent walk to the hilltop as Suzu greeted the Professor and Peach on their way in.

"There are snacks in the main living room you two."

"Thanks papa." Ken smiled making Suzu look shocked to hear him not even say Professor. He was getting better at just saying either papa or professor at the right times. As they entered the room, she could tell that none of the Ruffs Z or Puffs Z had been here since all the snacks were neat and the TV was still off. Suzu hoped that if she got a snack, it would lighten the mood, but as she let go of Ken's hand it felt like things got heavy. "Suz—"

"Your dad always has the best snacks for us." Suzu laughed stuffing a cracker into her mouth.

"Suzu, we have to ta—"

"Gosh that game was good." Suzu said while taking a seat on the couch about to reach for the remote, but Ken's hand covering hers stopped it.

"Suzu…please."

"I can't stop Ken. I just can't give up on her!" Suzu said starting to tear up as Ken took a seat next to her. "I know everyone's trying to solve the problem, but it's my fault!"

"It is not your fault."

"Ken, don't you dare say it's not my fault!" Suzu shouted actually moving her hand away from him. "Sure, I could blame my father or great however long grandpa for this, but any of us could have stopped it! We were so bloodthirsty, so stupid to give ourselves up to some demon and now it's haunting us!"

"That's why I'm scared for you, Suzu…and the teams." Ken said softly. "You know yesterday they took the white light offer on bonding with them just like you did. I really feel like all of this is my fault since I couldn't stop myself from being the hero and didn't think about future consequences for anyone involved."

"They bonded with them?" Suzu asked while he nodded making tears run down his face. How could Suzu not notice that Ken was blaming himself for all of this too. Though she genuinely believed that those white lights wouldn't hurt them it could sound like a bad deal to an outsider. Suzu quickly wiped Ken's eyes and hugged him trying to calm his crying down. "I'm sorry Ken, I forgot how much this affected you too. We just keep pulling each other into sticky situations, huh?"

"Heh, I guess you are right." Ken chuckled starting to wipe Suzu's tears away too. "Again, I don't want to stop you Suzu, but I can't let you carry all the weight on yourself. It was my fault just as much as you say it is yours."

"I promise I will do better on that."

"Is all the sad talk over with da wan?" Peach asked startling the two as they looked to the robot dog. He had heard the yelling from Suzu and wanted to make sure everything was ok.

"Yes Peach, it's over with." Suzu smiled while hugging the dog who jumped into her arms happily. Ken watched them with a smile then an idea popped into his head.

"Suzu?"

"Yes?"

"Why don't you try meditating with Peach since he was touched by the white light before? I could also serve as a grounder, so you won't lose yourself in whatever you are trying to find."

"Hmm that does sound like a good idea, but only if you are ok with it Peach." Suzu stared looking at the animal in her lap.

"Of course wan!" Peach barked quite happy to be helping out in this. He felt like his usefulness was starting to decrease as the superheroes started to evolve; but he did not.

"Ok let's try it." Suzu said while getting into a lotus position and placed Peach in the middle of her lap. She let out a few calming breaths as Ken took a hold of her hands.

"Remember I'm right here with you and will be ready to pull you out of it."

"Me too wan!"

"Thank you both." Suzu said giving them both pecks on the cheek then finally closed her eyes. She took deep breaths, focusing on Peach in her lap and what she wanted to find in the dimensions of her mind. She had a connection to it all before and she was going to get it again. Suzu wanted to help not just for her sake anymore, but for Ken's as well. "Come on, let go of my thoughts and problems." she thought slowly making her mind go blank.

Ken watched over his girlfriend and friend closely seeing Peach was starting to copy Suzu's movements. Slowly, Ken found himself stunned to see Peach starting to glow white then quickly form all around them. "How…" Ken kept his mouth closed, not wanting to throw off their work as he held onto her hands a little tighter. He knew that only people touched by the white or black light could see these auras, but he was sure this was what he was seeing. Was it his connection to these two or was it just a trick of the light? Either way he knew he was going to have to report this to his father.

Within Suzu's mindset, she was delighted to see portals of all types and sizes like when she was little. Dark would definitely be proud of her. Suzu was surprised to see Peach in her arms as the dog seem to glow white which made her wonder if she could see auras again in this state. With a shake of her head and Peach within her arms, she made her way over to a portal that looked like a clock. It was the Dimension of Time and the best way she was going to find out about Bass. "Excuse me?"

"What do you seek Bell?" the dimension echoed making a shiver go down her back at being called Bell.

"I was wondering if you could show me anything at all about my half sister Bass." Suzu said feeling the dimension chime in thought. She knew it might be risky since the dimension itself did not like people messing with time but asking to see something was usually passable. "Please! I want to help her and if I had anything on her, I could…I could save her."

"Hmm your heart has changed young Bell…I am willing to show you a few things."

"Thank you!" she cried holding Peach tighter to her as the dimension opened up a looking glass that was showing a flashback.

A girl with shoulder length hair and black eyes was currently creating an illusion of lights as she chanted something Suzu had never heard before. She looked quite happy making the lights dance in a show that was for herself then a door slammed open. The lights quickly turned to dust as the little girl looked to the drunk woman who seemed to be dressed in robes of silk and carried a white staff. The girl quickly took cover as an enchantment was thrown to the wall causing a fire to break loose. "Mama stop!"

"Completely worthless." the woman mumbled breaking a few jars that littered the countertops showing their contacts of spices and plants unknown to Suzu. She watched the spellcaster throw spells around as the child tried hard to bob and weave out of the line of fire. When a blast actually landed on her side, the woman finally stopped and knelt down on the floor. "We are completely worthless to Him."

"I'm sorry mama, I can do better." the girl cried crawling over to comfort her mama who quickly pulled the young Bass' hair with no mercy.

"Stop being so stupid Bass! It is over, that demon has replaced us with a new baby girl and wife!" the lady cried tossing the crying child aside and got up with little to no care about the whine the girl let out. "Don't even talk to me until this place is cleaned up."

"How could a mother be so cruel?" Suzu said watching her sister practically peel herself off the floor and do as the woman ask. She had never understood why a mother could be so cold toward something they gave life to; but again, she guessed that's why Bass hated her. It was confirmed in the next flashback as the looking glass glossed over to show a much older Bass.

The girl whose hair was now down to her upper back, had just opened a portal to a place Suzu recognized immediately. It was the house she grew up in with her mom and dad. From what Suzu could tell, Bass was scarred up her legs and had a huge bump on her forehead. And from the hard breathing it must have happened recently making Suzu even more sick to her stomach. "I just need to find dad; he can calm her down…he will fix everything."

Bass made her way through the bushes and found herself outside a window covered in demonic symbols to keep anyone from entering without permission. Suzu was surprised to see Bass easily read them and quickly destroy them with no problem at all. It was impressive and kind of scary. As Bass was about to open the window the laughter of a little girl with white hair made her stop in her tracks. She watched as a clawed figured picked up the child as he tickled her and made the girl call for her mother.

Suzu froze remembering this was her third birthday as she watched her parents give her bracelets that she still wore to this day. They still magically adjusted to her size, but she could tell the look on Bass' face made that gift look like a betrayal. Bass chanted a spell making a portal open up behind her leaving the happy family alone.

"Oh Bass, I'm sorry you could have shown yourself. I promise I wouldn't have been mad, and my parents would have welcomed you." Suzu said, but she knew she was talking to the past, and nothing was going to change it. Another shine over the looking glass showed a more current looking Bass who looked frightening covered in blood and holding spells within her hand. Suzu could also see a black powder surrounding her as she heard a bloodcurdling scream ring out from the mother that hurt her probably for many years.

"Thou has't done well. I didn't expect thee to killeth thy mother like that."

"It had to be done." Bass said, but Suzu could see the tears threaten to come out. "And now to never let myself feel again." Bass began chanting a spell that Suzu still couldn't understand but seeing her heart glow then a symbol of a cage surrounding it was clear. Her eyes looked soulless and darker as they were now making Suzu realized that Bass had enchanted herself to never feel attach to anyone again.

"That's it!" Suzu shouted making Ken freak out a bit noticing that the white glow had vanished and both of them were out of their trance.

"What's it?"

"Peach? Where you able to file all that?" Suzu grinned watching the robot tilt his head back and forth then nod just as excitedly too. "Yes! Ken, we got a lot of work cut out for us."

"Heh, I'm all yours." Ken smiled feeling Suzu squeeze his hands happily as she started listing all the things they would need.

M.B.: Ah yes, feels like things are a lot smoother and the 3rd POV rocks. Been reading my old fanfic and boy did the switching POV get a bit confusing at times. What a time to be in the fanfic scene of the 2010s haha.

Anyways, felt like I wasn't doing much with Peach and throughout writing this chapter I was able to find a purpose for him even if his white light doesn't react to him like the PPGZ and RRBZ. Got to love how everything works out. Well see you next time, review and…wait and see :P