DISCLAIMER: I don't own the anime/manga called: Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z and any of its characters used in this fanfic.

INSPIRED BY: marinav92

Me: And once again, I'm late on updating. Sorry about that, guys! I've been really busy lately since I'm taking college courses now. I would've updated this probably a week earlier, since I had this done probably about two weeks ago, but I never had the time to actually go and update. This was...mainly due to the fact that I was trying to adjust myself to my college classes, since they started last week. I was thinking about updating over the weekend, but I decided not to because I ended up being busy and I just recovered from getting sick. Trust me on this when I say that I feel terrible when I'm sick - and crappy, if I may add. My body was so being bipolar, I swear... Sore throat, sniffles/slight sore throat, hangover, headache, stomachache... It was just plain absurd :|

Kaoru: ...You done yet? -_-

Me: Yes, yes, I am. I NEEDED TO EXPLAIN MY REASON FOR TAKING SO LONG D:

Butch: Kaoru-chan, let's try not to delay the chapter anymore, hm? c:

Kaoru: DON'T LUMP MY NAME TOGETHER WITH THAT HONORIFIC. =_=

Butch: But you sound so cute~ c:

Me: OKAY, moving on - before Kaoru possibly ends up chasing Butch - enjoy the chapter, folks! 8D

CHAPTER 3:

"Kuro-san!"

"Please teach me this!"

"Kuro-kun!"

"Eh?! You have no right to call him that!"

"I have most of my classes with him, though, so we're obviously close!"

"What?!"

And so, the bickering among the Kuro fan girls began.

Kaoru, who had been watching and listening throughout the entire time with Momoko and Miyako, sighed at this. The three best friends were sitting at a table with their lunches before them, but they were almost already done with their food. Momoko, having a big appetite as ever, brought two lunches with her; one of them as her "main" lunch and the other as a "snack." Of course, the "snack" lunch was mainly full of sweets, but Momoko being herself, she was already almost done with it.

"I still don't get why they're obsessing over him so much," Kaoru muttered, rolling her eyes as the Kuro fan girls continued to bicker amongst themselves.

"Kaoru, he's a hot teacher intern," Momoko replied, finishing the last of her sweets. "You know as well as I do that a hot guy will always have tons of girls chasing after him, especially if he's single."

"Is he even single?" Miyako then asked, frowning slightly in thought.

"Seeing of how these girls are, most likely."

Kaoru grinned slightly. "Says the girl that used to be completely boy-crazy."

"Yeah, before Takeo-kun came into the picture!" Momoko exclaimed, slightly glaring at Kaoru with pink cheeks. "Takeo-kun is awesome, okay? He's a gentleman and—"

"I don't wanna hear it!" Kaoru suddenly yelled, covering her ears with her hands.

In response, Momoko narrowed her eyes at Kaoru.

"Now, now, you two," Miyako stated as she finished the last of her meal. "Don't start arguing."

Immediately, Momoko pouted. "Kaoru started it, though!"

Kaoru quickly uncovered her ears, frowning immensely. "Hey, I wasn't the one that was gonna drone on and on about her own boyfriend."

Once again, Momoko responded with a glare.

As Miyako began to remind them to not start arguing, the trio didn't notice that a person was approaching them. At once, the bickering of the fan girls began to cease immediately. When the trio suddenly stopped at the sound of that person clearing their voice, they turned their heads immediately to look at the source.

It was none other than Kuro.

Smiling, Kuro began, "Excuse me, ladies."

Kaoru merely raised an eyebrow at Kuro, not wanting to even respond. Her light green eyes were full of indifference as she continued to stare at the intern. She honestly didn't understand why so many girls seemed to be attracted to him. In her opinion, she found Kuro to be a bit of weird person. Instead of acting arrogant with the amount of girls following him, he, instead, completely acted it off as though it was natural and merely smiled it off. Something about that didn't make Kaoru like Kuro—at all.

Momoko, on the other hand, was staring at Kuro with a questioning look. Sure, she found the man to be attractive, which was understandable why so many girls were into him. The fact that he was so close to their age practically screamed: "Forbidden romance between teacher and student" to her. She was sure that many other girls saw it this way as well, especially since for an intern, Kuro was good-looking. But even so, something about him irked her. She didn't understand why, so she continued to stare at him in silence.

Miyako, seeing of how the other two of the trio won't respond, merely sighed softly to herself before asking politely, "Yes?"

Kuro continued to smile at the girls before stating, "Well, I was wondering if you girls could show me around?"

"Shouldn't you know the school by now, though?" Kaoru retorted, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Kaoru-san, no need to be so rude," Miyako whispered.

"She has a point, though," Momoko added, pondering slightly. "Why ask us to show you around?"

Kuro glanced at his fan girls out of the corner of his eye. Lowering his voice to a mere whisper so only the three girls would hear, he stated, "As much as I don't mind all of these girls around me, it's a nice change to have those that don't—"

"Annoy you nearly every single second?" Kaoru interrupted, rolling her eyes.

He smiled as his eyes glinted with amusement. A chuckle escaped from his lips before replying, "It's not because they annoy me. I was going to say that it's better for someone that's calm to show me around compared to a group of people that get easily distracted by my presence."

Kaoru blinked a couple of times, narrowing her eyes at the black haired twenty year old that looked like a delinquent. Momoko, on the other hand, just stared at Kuro, completely dumbfounded at the man. Miyako, though, simply tilted her head while smiling nervously.

"So," Kuro began, smiling still. "Could you girls show me around?"

The trio of girls each glanced at each other. Kaoru's look practically screamed at the other two that they shouldn't do it, but Miyako being, well, herself, and Momoko not seeing the problem, Kaoru's look was completely ignored as the pink-eyed redhead and the light blue-eyed blonde nodded at Kuro in response. Kaoru rolled her eyes at this, but grunted in defeat.

Kuro merely continued to smile. "Why thank you, ladies."

The three girls began to stand up and so, Kuro followed the three girls as they began to show the new teacher intern around.

Meanwhile, though, a certain spiky black haired male with dark green eyes and pale skin was not very happy about this. This, of course, was none other than Takeshi Takashi. He was staring angrily at Kuro, having his eyes narrowed dangerously at the teacher intern. In fact, he didn't like the fact that Kuro asked his girlfriend and his brothers' girlfriends to show him around. If anything, he didn't understand why Kaoru even bothered to show him around! He thought that maybe she would reject his offer, but no. Instead, she went along with it!

He continued to grimace as he watched the four figures leave the cafeteria through the other doorway, leaving him standing by the other one that was all the way across the room alone. Sighing angrily, he muttered, "I can't believe I actually have to stand back and watch my girlfriend practically get whisked away by this freaking pretty boy."

"Hey Takeshi."

Takeshi didn't even bother to turn around, since he already knew who the person was. "Yeah, Takeo?"

Lowering his voice, Takeo replied, "We got some new information." Blinking a couple of times, Takeo looked around the cafeteria while frowning. "Where's that intern?"

Takeshi scoffed darkly while grimacing. "He left with the girls."

"Please tell me that you didn't do anything."

"I haven't yet."

Takeo sighed in relief and nodded at his brother in the other direction. "Come on, then."

Takeshi frowned. "What about the girls? You know as well as I do that—"

"I know that, but right now, the three of us need to analyze this information together. Takumi and I don't like this as much as you do, but if Kaoru's with them, then everything will be all right."

Takeshi frowned, but nodded nonetheless. "Lead the way, then."

Nodding in response, Takeo then led Takeshi in the other direction without a word exchanged between the two for a while, letting their footsteps echo in the empty hallway they were heading down.

Takeshi sighed before deciding to break the silence. "All right, so where are you taking me?"

"Where else?"

Takeshi blinked as he and his brother came to a halt before the school library. Narrowing his eyes, he whispered, "You have got to be kidding me."

"Would you rather discuss it out in the open?" Takeo retorted in a low voice, raising an eyebrow. Seeing of how Takeshi didn't respond, he then added, "I thought so. Now, come on." Without letting his black haired brother respond, he walked inside the library.

Takeshi frowned and rolled his eyes before following his elder brother inside the library as well. The library at their school was probably the most obvious place ever to discuss something secretive. However, most teenagers these days prefer to go to the library to study, research, work on their school work, or even go on the computer to surf the web. Well, aside from the huge amounts of books and bookshelves in the library. In fact, the library had at least two floors full of novels ranging from fiction to nonfiction. Since the bookshelves were so huge and tall, it wasn't that hard to spread rumors.

Now Takeshi, unlike his elder brother Takeo and his younger brother Takumi, didn't really like the library that much. This was due to the fact that he was kicked out multiple times by the librarian for being so "loud." (He blames Kaoru for this, since their arguments and bickering would eventually lead to the two getting kicked out.) So overall, he basically was detested by the librarian. Well, perhaps not detested, but disliked, compared to his other brothers.

When Takeshi walked past the librarian, he received a glare and a look that basically said: "I'm watching you." Takeshi, of course, rolled his eyes at this and continued to walk on by and up the stairs, still following Takeo.

After reaching the top of the steps, Takeshi narrowed his eyes at his elder brother. "Out of all of the places you had to choose…"

"Hey, it's your fault for being on bad terms with the librarian," Takeo retorted as he went down an aisle of bookshelves.

Takeshi frowned, but continued to follow him nonetheless. "For the record, it's Kaoru's fault for screaming and yelling inside a library."

"And for the record, it's your fault for bothering her to the point of where she's screaming and yelling."

Takeshi scoffed. "I don't just bother her."

"I'm pretty sure flirting with her and going to the extent of trying to touch her private areas count as bothering her," Takeo replied dryly.

"It's not if she secretly enjoys it," Takeshi retorted under his breath. "Smart ass."

"Heard that."

Takeshi scoffed once more, rolling his eyes. Eventually, the two were before a table in the corner of the top floor of the library. Takeshi raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't bother to make a comment about it. Sitting at one of the chairs was none other than his youngest brother out of the Takashi brothers, Takumi Takashi.

Seeing his brothers approach the table, Takumi's blank face broke out into a grin. "It's about time you two showed up."

"Whatever," Takeshi replied, rolling his eyes once more. "Can we get straight to the point here, so I can make sure that stupid teacher intern isn't trying to make a move on Kaoru?"

Takeo then narrowed his eyes at his black haired brother.

Takeshi raised his hands up in defense as he went to go sit down across from Takumi. "All right, I get it. I'll shut up."

Sighing, Takeo then pulled a chair that was next to Takumi to the other end of the table, so he'd be facing his two younger brothers. "All right, then. Let's get straight to the point: Kuro isn't to be trusted."

"Of course he isn't. He was—"

Takeo cut him off with a glare.

Takeshi frowned, but closed his mouth anyway.

"Anyway," Takumi began, not wanting either of his brothers to start arguing. Lowering his voice, Takumi continued on, "The murderer hasn't been confirmed."

"You mean the deaths?" Takeshi asked, raising an eyebrow.

Takumi nodded. "From what I've gathered, the murderer couldn't have done it out of revenge whatsoever. The bodies were practically covered entirely in blood and were ruined to the point of where only they could only identify the faces of the teens. And it turns out that player I told you about this morning ended up having a hole in his stomach. But you know what I find the most puzzling of all?"

Both Takeshi and Takeo raised an eyebrow at him.

Takumi sighed. "Remember when I told you guys about the teenagers that died were all friends?"

His elder brothers nodded.

"Well," Takumi began, frowning. "It turns out that only four of them were close friends."

"Then who's the fifth one?" Takeo asked.

"Probably some stalker fan girl of that player," Takeshi replied, rolling his eyes.

"Actually, that's not the case," Takumi stated calmly. "The fifth one was actually a male, if you remember from the news. From what I gathered, the boy had feelings for one of the player's fan girls—his number one fan girl, to be exact. Since she has feelings for him only, the boy was probably only there to try to report the player and his friends somehow, if they were doing anything illegal. So, what I'm assuming is that he witnessed them getting killed by this unknown murderer and he somehow got caught."

"Great; the only witness ends up being dead," Takeshi commented dryly, rolling his eyes while frowning.

"Well, it was either that or he got caught first before the quartet of friends got killed."

"That's nice to know and all, but did you get any information whatsoever on the murderer?" Takeo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Unfortunately, no," Takumi replied, frowning before sighing. "It's as though he killed them and disappeared without a trace."

"All right, I'll try looking into it, then."

"Which reminds me," Takeshi began, looking at his elder brother. "What'd you dig up on Kuro?"

"Not much," Takeo replied before sighing. "He's a teacher intern at our school and this is his first internship. He currently doesn't have a job nor has he ever had one. His parents are pretty much unknown, so any hopes on trying to track down his family tree has gone down the drain. As for his record, well, it's pretty much clean."

"Pretty boy delinquent is someone that's clean?" Takeshi asked, frowning. "I don't buy that."

"Neither do I, unless he's simply just wearing the part for his own amusement," Takumi added.

"He could've done that," Takeo responded, frowning.

"So what now?" Takeshi asked, grimacing. "We have no leads whatsoever. We had a witness, but that obviously went down the drain since he's dead. And as for that intern, he's pretty much clean. I don't buy that at all. A guy like him should have at least something on his record."

"Just because it isn't recorded doesn't mean that he's still isn't suspicious," Takeo retorted, narrowing his eyes at his black haired brother.

Both of his brothers looked at him in confusion.

Sighing, Takeo stated, "Look, I just haven't found enough information on him yet. I need more time."

"And while you continue to do that, he's off possibly flirting with our girlfriends," Takeshi retorted coldly.

"Which is why we had you keep an eye on him," Takeshi replied, narrowing his eyes once more. "You should be trying to look for information while you do so as well."

"Yeah, but from a distance."

"Then try getting a little closer to him," Takumi suggested. "They say to keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer."

Takeo nodded. "Indeed. So we'll leave that up to you."

Takeshi sighed heavily. "All right, but if he makes a move on any of the girls, especially Kaoru—"

"You can't hurt him, you know."

"Can I at least threaten him?"

"No."

Takeshi groaned. "Then, what can I do?!"

"Only interfere when necessary."

"So if he's flirting with my girl, I have to stand back and watch."

Takeo then began to stand up and merely shrugged before giving his brother a lazy grin. "Like I said, only interfere when necessary."

Takeshi couldn't help but smirk slightly. "Why didn't you just say that from the start, then?"

Takeo's grin quickly disappeared. "Takeshi, look, I know that you're protective of Kaoru—and believe me, you know that Takumi and I feel the same way about our girls—but learn to use your brain. Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment." Just as he was about to walk away, Takeo then added, "Oh, and be careful around Kuro. Don't trust the guy."

Scoffing, Takeshi replied, "Knew that already. Never trusted him from the start."

Takumi, though, simply nodded in response.

Having a solemn look on his face, Takeo then walked away, leaving his two brothers in silence.

Takeshi then frowned. "Figured that he'd say something like that."

"He has a point," Takumi stated, getting up.

"Oh, come on, I don't need a lecture from you," Takeshi retorted, narrowing his eyes at Takumi.

"I'm not going to lecture you, but I am going to say that you should be careful around Kuro," Takumi stated.

"Takeo said that already."

"Yes, but he has a good reason for saying that. Knowing Takeo, he's probably hiding something again."

"Something important, most likely."

Takumi nodded. "If I find anything else, I'll be sure to tell you guys after school." Without letting his older brother respond, he then left him alone at the table.

Takeshi, sighing heavily, then slowly stood up before looking at the clock, seeing that there were five minutes left before lunch would end. Heading over to the railing of the second floor, he watched his elder brother, Takeo, walk out of the library. Frowning, he muttered to himself, "Just what are you thinking about, Takeo?"

"So, tell me, girls," Kuro began as the four of them continued down the hallway.

They had just walked up a pair of stairs with Miyako mainly showing Kuro around. Momoko, of course, pointed out some things, such as the library and certain teachers' classrooms. Kaoru, on the other hand, was completely silent and practically glaring at anyone that they passed by. The lunch period was about three minutes away from ending. Right now, Miyako and Momoko were showing him the classrooms of where he had to go on his schedule.

"Yes?" Miyako responded politely.

Momoko, who didn't hear what Kuro just said, simply continued on, "To put it bluntly, the rooms are organized by hundreds. You know, rooms between one hundred and two hundred are on the first floor, those between two hundred and under three hundred are on the second floor—"

"I think he gets the point, Momoko," Kaoru interrupted, narrowing her eyes at her orange haired friend as a sign to tell her to be quiet already.

Momoko responded with a slight pout.

Kuro continued to smile as his walking quickly halted. "I was wondering if—"

As if on cue, the bell suddenly rang.

"Well, would you look at that?" Kaoru began, not even bothering to hide her grin. "It's time to head to class!" Without letting Kuro reply, she quickly grabbed Miyako and Momoko's wrists before dashing off to their next class.

Kuro, who was staring at this scene, was completely dumbfounded before breaking out into a grin. As he turned around and headed back down the stairs to his next class, he said to himself, "Who knew this school had such interesting people?" His grin grew even more while he continued to walk down the stairs. "Looks like this school will definitely entertain me for quite a while."