Disclaimer: I don't own Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z and any of its characters used in this fanfic.

Inspiration: marinav92

A/N: Did I hurt you with the previous chapter? (I hope I did because that's my job as a writer, and judging by the previous chapter's reviews, I definitely did.)

If you've been following me on Tumblr, then you'd know that I said I'd be updating Secretive Curse today, and, well, here I am with the update. According to the poll on my FanFiction profile (at this point in time), Secretive Curse is still winning. (This is good news for you guys because this means I'll be focusing on Secretive Curse until one of the other options beats it!)

Also, I kinda overshot it with this chapter. (Oops.) Instead of 5 pages, it's actually 7 pages, so you guys get to enjoy an extra 2 pages. There's also a chance that future chapters will be longer from now on and vary in length, so look forward to that!

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

CHAPTER 5:

"This is bullshit, right?"

Professor Utonium cleared his throat, and he gave Kaoru a stern look.

Kaoru smiled sheepishly. "Uh, I mean, you're pulling our leg, right?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not," Utonium replied.

Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru had arrived at Professor Utonium's house at around 5 A.M. The trio were tired, and they were reluctant to get out of their beds until Utonium told them it was an urgent emergency.

"And here I thought it was because Ken needed us to open a pickle jar or something," Kaoru muttered as she rolled her eyes.

"No, no, Ken's asleep right now," Utonium replied, and he nodded to Peach beside him. "Peach was the one who woke me up, actually."

"Anyway, was there really black light last night, Professor?" Miyako asked, an unconvinced look on her face.

Before Utonium could reply, Peach exclaimed, "There was, da wan! I felt it!"

Kaoru frowned. "Yeah, but there hasn't been any sort of activity—"

"I felt it! I felt it, da wan! I know I felt it!"

"Okay, okay, we get it! But—"

"I felt it, da wan!"

Kaoru sighed, and she noticed that Momoko had been silent the entire time. "Momoko?"

Momoko, who was deep in thought until now, ignored Kaoru as she bent down to look at Peach face to face. "Say, Peach, when exactly did you detect the black light?"

Peach blinked as he tried to remember. When he couldn't, he frowned and looked at the floor.

Miyako raised an eyebrow. "Momoko-san, I thought it was clear that it was last night."

"I know, but I'm talking specifically when," Momoko replied. "Well, Peach?"

Peach still stayed silent.

"Does the time really matter?" Kaoru asked as she raised an eyebrow.

Ignoring Kaoru, Momoko asked instead, "Have you two watched the news yet at all?"

"Of course not."

"Miyako?"

Miyako shook her head.

Momoko sighed. "There was another group murder last night."

Both girls' eyes widened as they exclaimed, "What?!"

"Yeah. I mean, black light detection and a group murder? Something tells me that this isn't just a coincidence."

"That might explain why there hasn't been much evidence," Utonium muttered.

"Wait, you know something, Professor?"

"Well, the mayor contacted me just before you girls arrived. He asked me if Peach detected anything last night. I don't know much about the case, but Momoko could be on the right track."

"Okay, so let's just hunt down wherever that black light came from," Kaoru said.

"It's not possible, da wan," Peach muttered.

The girls looked at Peach in confusion.

Peach lifted his head. "I don't detect it anymore, da wan."

"What?!" the girls exclaimed.

"I felt it one minute, and the next, the black aura was gone. Ken said maybe it was a false alarm, da wan…"

"Well, that's just great," Kaoru grumbled sarcastically.

Just then, everyone heard a vibration coming from somewhere.

Miyako smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, everyone. That's my phone." She took out her phone and saw that there was a new message.

"Anyway, does that mean we gotta wait?" Kaoru asked.

"I guess so," Momoko replied as she frowned.

"Momoko-san, Kaoru-san," Miyako said.

At once, the two looked at her.

"Takumi just texted me. He said that he and his brothers aren't going to school today."

"What?!" Momoko exclaimed.

Kaoru raised an eyebrow at this, but she stayed silent.

"And Takeo didn't bother to tell me this?" Momoko muttered in disbelief.

"Maybe they're too sick?" Kaoru suggested. "We can visit them later."

"Actually," Miyako said, and once she caught the two's attention, she continued, "Takumi says that they've fallen ill. That's why they can't come."

"Okay, they're totally skipping."

"Takeo would never skip!" Momoko retorted.

"Momoko, I get that he's your boyfriend, but—"

"Wait just a minute!" Utonium exclaimed, and everyone looked at him. "Boyfriend? Since when did you start dating, Momoko?!" He paused. "Wait, Miyako, you didn't refer to this so-called Takumi with an honorific!"

Momoko looked away sheepishly as Miyako blushed.

Kaoru sighed. "Yes, Professor, they got boyfriends."

"Kaoru has a boyfriend, too!" Momoko exclaimed.

"Hey!"

"What?!" Utonium yelled.

At once, Kaoru began to stammer, so she tried to whistle inconspicuously.

"Now, wait just a minute! Who are these boys?! And—"

"Oh!" Momoko interrupted. "Look at the time, girls! We better get going!"

"Huh?" Kaoru asked. "Uh, right! Later, Professor!"

"Good-bye, Professor!" Miyako exclaimed.

Without another word, the three girls left a shocked Utonium and a puzzled Peach behind. As soon as they exited the house, the girls could hear Utonium's shocked screams.

When the girls arrived at the next intersection (after they ran as fast as they could), they each stopped to catch their breath.

Kaoru was the first to finish catching her breath, and she narrowed her eyes at Momoko. "Nice going."

Momoko narrowed her eyes back. "I wasn't the one who blurted out that I have a boyfriend now, was I?"

Kaoru scoffed as she turned her head away.

Just then, the street light changed from red to green, and the girls crossed the street.

"Hey, Miyako, did Takumi say anything else?" Kaoru asked.

Miyako shook her head. "I haven't texted him back yet."

"Oh, I just thought of something!" Momoko exclaimed.

Miyako and Kaoru looked at her in confusion.

Momoko's face then dropped. "Oh, wait, never mind. That's not possible."

Miyako blinked in confusion. "Momoko-san, what is it?"

"Well, I thought we could visit the boys before we head off to school to see how they are, but…" Momoko sighed. "Takeo never told me where he lived. I showed him my place, but I've never seen his."

"Takumi also never told me where he lived…"

Kaoru blinked. "I know where they live."

Momoko's eyes then lit up. "Then, hurry up and show us the way!"

"Hey, hey, I only went there once—"

"Kaoru-san, please?" Miyako asked as she pouted.

Kaoru groaned. "Fine, fine."

"You moron."

"I said I'm sorry!"

Takeo groaned.

"Relaaaaaaaaax," Takeshi interrupted his brothers. After chewing and swallowing a piece of the toast in his hand, he said, "It's not like they know where we live."

Takeo gave him a deadpanned look as Takeshi bit off a large piece.

Takeshi blinked, and as the piece of toast was in his mouth, he asked in a muffled voice, "What?"

"You showed Buttercup where we lived, you dolt," Takeo hissed as he glared at him.

Takeshi finally chewed and swallowed the piece. "Yeah, but that place wasn't where we actually lived. We just borrowed the place from that snobby Shirogane girl—"

"That's exactly my point."

After Takeshi drank from his cup of orange juice, he blinked.

Takumi gave a blank stare. "I'm lost."

Takeo groaned. "How do you think the girls will react when they find out that we don't live there?"

Takeshi blinked again. "Oh."

"And it's because of Boomer that the girls might go to that place."

"I said I was sorry!" Takumi exclaimed.

Takeo groaned.

"Well, you never know! Maybe the girls won't plan to come over—"

"I know Blossom well enough that she'll plan to come over."

"But maybe—"

Takeo cut him off with a hard glare, and Takumi closed his mouth.

"So, what's the plan?" Takeshi asked after downing the entire glass of orange juice. "I mean, that Shirogane girl's father probably rented the place to some family already."

Takeo frowned as he began to think.

"I could text Bubbles to not come over?" Takumi asked.

Takeo gave no response, whereas Takeshi shrugged.

"Just try it, man," Takeshi said. "It might work."

"Brick?" Takumi asked.

Takeo gave no response once more.

"Just do it, Boomer," Takeshi said after he rolled his eyes. "He's 'deep in thought' again."

Takumi nodded and began to text Miyako.

Takeshi walked over to Takeo, and he started snapping his fingers in front of Takeo's face. "Hey, hey, snap out of it—"

Takeo slapped Takeshi's hands away, and he glared at Takeshi. "I was in the middle of thinking."

"Yeah, but you always leave us out of your freaking ideas, man."

"I sent the text!" Takumi exclaimed, and after a few seconds, his face dropped. "Uh-oh."

"What is it?"

"The girls are already at the door."

Takeshi blinked, and he frowned. "Well, we're screwed."

"No, not yet," Takeo said.

His brothers blinked at him.

Takeshi raised an eyebrow. "Dude, didn't you hear Boomer?" He paused. "Wait, you got an idea, and you're leaving us out of it again, aren't you?"

"Just follow me," Takeo hissed. "And get those things, Butch."

Takeshi's eyes widened. "Wait—"

Takeo then left the house, and Takumi ran after Takeo.

Takeshi threw his arms up in exasperation. Afterward, he complied and followed.

"Is this house really it?" Miyako asked.

"It sure is," Kaoru replied before she paused and added, "I think."

"Kaoru, you told us you knew!" Momoko exclaimed.

"Hey, it's been a year since I lasted visited their place, all right? Besides, you didn't listen to me in the first place when I said I wasn't sure about where they lived."

"Well, either way, we're here," Miyako said before Momoko could retort to Kaoru. "I texted Takumi earlier that we'd be coming over, and he just replied, but…I suppose the boys are really ill…"

"Really?" Momoko asked in a concerned tone.

Miyako nodded. "Takumi told me not to visit because what they have seems to be contagious, and he doesn't want me catching it."

"We dragged our asses here, so we may as well see how they're doing," Kaoru said as she rolled her eyes. Without hesitation, Kaoru strolled to the door and rang the doorbell. A long ding dong could be heard, but as Momoko and Miyako strolled to the door together, Kaoru frowned. "No one's answering."

"Maybe they're that ill, after all. Perhaps we should head back later today?"

"Oh, no, I'm not leaving until I see how Takeo-kun's doing!" Momoko exclaimed as she rang the doorbell again.

Kaoru blinked. "Weren't you just worried about him just now?"

"Yes, but if he's sick, he could've texted me to at least let me know!"

"Seriously, that's what you're angry about?" Kaoru deadpanned.

"Of course! The fact that he hid his sickness from me"—Momoko rang the doorbell again—"is aggravating! I'm his girlfriend! I care about his well-being, for crying out loud! He probably pushed himself to his limit again and got sick because of it!"

Momoko began to furiously ring the doorbell again and again.

"Wow, I'd hate to be him right now," Kaoru muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Just then, the door opened to reveal Takeo, who looked drained and devoid of any sort of emotion.

"Oh, dude, you look terrible," Kaoru said bluntly.

"Kaoru-san!" Miyako scolded.

"It's about you opened the door, mister!" Momoko exclaimed as she narrowed her eyes at him. "You and I have some talking to do!"

Takeo cleared his throat, and he tried to talk, but he began to cough.

Momoko's eyes softened. "Takeo—"

"I'm fine," Takeo said in a raspy voice.

"Uh-huh," Kaoru said sarcastically.

Takeo rolled his eyes. "Why are you three here?"

"Miyako said your brother texted her that you three were sick."

"How about I make some soup for you?" Momoko then asked. "It'll help with that throat of yours—"

"Look, we don't want you girls to catch whatever we have, so please just leave," Takeo interrupted before coughing.

"But—"

"Momoko, please," Takeo implored.

Momoko frowned.

Takeo sighed. "Look, I'll text you later."

And without another word, Takeo closed the door. Takeo then listened intently to the other side as the girls debated on leaving.

"Come on, leave, leave, leave, damn it," Takeo muttered.

"I don't know about this," he heard Momoko say.

Kaoru sighed in exasperation. "We can visit them after school again, if it'll make you feel better."

Miyako then gasped. "Perhaps we can go grocery shopping for them!"

"Great idea, Miyako!" he heard Momoko exclaim.

Takeo groaned softly as he heard the girls walk away. He had done his best to fake his supposed sickness, but apparently, it wasn't enough to make the girls stay away from the house. It was already bad enough that he was back in town, and Takeo knew that he had to focus every single minute on finding and isolating him away from the public eye. He knew that it was only then that the four of them could finally settle the score.

However, he couldn't do that now because the girls planned to come over again.

"Now what?" Takeo muttered to himself. He had his suspicions that the ominous aura in the city was due to him, but Takeo could never confirm them until last night, when he finally confronted Takeo and his brothers.

It was times like these that he desperately tried to remember the visions he had from that guy when they made physical contact with each other. However, he only managed to get a fragment of his memories—something that closely resembled to their confrontation from back then. Unfortunately, Takeo wasn't sure if that was what he saw because he caught only a glimpse of it for a few seconds.

After all, the next thing he knew, he was kicked out of his visions and forced to face reality once again. However, at least now he knew that it was definitely the same guy.

Out of the corner of his eye, Takeo saw Takumi juggling three balls, and he glared at his blond brother. "Boomer."

Takumi frowned, but then he grinned and stopped juggling—only for the balls to start floating in the air.

"Boomer."

Takumi frowned again as the balls levitated slowly back into his hands. "Okay, fine, jeez. Ruining my fun…"

"Where's Butch?"

"He's raiding the fridge."

Takeo growled, and he stomped to the kitchen to find Takeshi going through the fridge. "Butch!"

Takeshi turned his head around as the fridge door shut, and in his hands was a bag of apples, oranges, and grapes. "Uh, yeah?"

"I said not to touch anything."

"But, we're wearing gloves—"

"Don't. Touch. Anything."

"Dude, I'm still hungry—"

Takeo growled.

"Okay, okay, jeez, fine," Takeshi said as he put the fruit back in the fridge.

"Last thing we need is leaving our DNA all over this place."

"I doubt the police will go that far, man," Takeshi replied as he shut the door to the fridge. "They'll just label this as some house break in or whatever."

"Are the newlyweds still knocked out?"

"Yeah, they're in the closet."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, man, you can ask Boomer."

As if on cue, Takumi came into the kitchen.

"Boomer, are they still knocked out?" Takeo demanded.

Takumi blinked and nodded. "I don't think they'll wake up for another couple of hours. It looks like they just came back from their honeymoon, anyway, so they're probably really tired. Why?"

"The girls plan to come back."

At this, Takumi looked down at the floor in guilt as Takeshi whistled.

"They're sure freaking persistent," Takeshi said.

"They're the Powerpuffs," Takeo snapped. "What do you expect?"

"I don't know, man. Maybe for them to back off 'cause, you know, we're supposedly sick?"

"Well, sorry for not coming up with a better excuse," Takumi retorted as he frowned. "You try coming up with one that's legitimate enough to say to Bubbles."

Before Takumi could say anything else, Takeo held up a hand to stop him and said, "Boomer, we'll deal with the girls later when they come back. Right now, we need to deal with that guy as soon as possible. Otherwise, it's only to get worse from here."

"I guess that means he's behind the murders?" Takeshi asked.

Takeo gave him a deadpanned look. "Who else would go to that extent to kill someone?"

"There's us—"

"Other than us."

Takeshi frowned. "You got a point there. So, what's the plan now?"

"We get rid of him first."

Takumi frowned. "I thought we were getting rid of him with…" His voice trailed off.

"Boomer, you better not be—"

"I'm not! I remember the plan." Takumi paused and repeated in a louder, confident voice, "I remember the plan."

"Good. Look, the girls don't know anything about him, so it might be best to get rid of him first before the girls. Knowing them, they're probably trying to hunt down who's behind the murders—besides the police, that is."

Takeshi raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Meanwhile, Takumi blinked in confusion. "Wait, why?"

"They've most likely detected the black aura already," Takeo replied.

"How?"

"You used your vision on Blossom, didn't you?" Takeshi accused as he narrowed his eyes.

Takeo narrowed his eyes back. "Yes, I did. The girls have some dog named Peach that detects black light whenever it appears."

"Guess that explains why they always showed up at the scene of trouble back then."

Takeo grunted. "Anyway, it most likely detected our aura last night."

"So, does this mean we need to go back on the down low?" Takumi asked.

"No, if we do that, we'll never catch the guy, and we can't handle him and the girls at the same time, so we need to get rid of him first before he kills more people." Takeo then hesitated, which was rare for his brothers to witness.

"Dude, what are you thinking about?" Takeshi asked.

"Is it a new plan or something?" Takumi then asked.

Takeo shook his head. "No, it's just that if we're not careful, he might target the girls. The guy most likely knows by now that we're together with them."

Takeshi frowned. "Wait, isn't that a good thing?"

Takeo narrowed his eyes. "Do you want to see the girls brutally murdered? Do you want to see the girls' bodies like those dead bodies from last night?"

"Aren't we getting rid of them, though? So, isn't this one of those 'kill two birds with one stone' situations?"

Takeo glared at Takeshi. "We are not having him get rid of the girls for us."

Takeshi frowned. "I was just asking. Jeez. I know that we'll be the ones to get rid of the girls. Besides, it's not like I want that guy to get his hands on Buttercup, anyway."

A moment of silence passed until Takumi finally asked, "How about having the girls get rid of that guy instead?"

"I thought about that, and it wouldn't work," Takeo replied.

"Why not?"

"He's on our level, Boomer. Only we can possibly defeat him."

"But, they have superpowers—"

"They're still human, and their powers aren't enough to stop him, anyway." Takeo paused. "Besides, I doubt the girls can go to the extent of killing someone."

Takumi frowned, but he knew that Takeo had a point.

"So, what do we do now?" Takeshi asked as he frowned.

"Track down where he lives," Takeo replied. "If we do that, we can at least isolate him from the public eye, and we don't have to worry about others finding out about our identities."

"Wait, wouldn't that take a while?" Takumi asked as he blinked. "And the girls will be here after school."

"I'm well aware of that, Boomer, so you'll be staying behind."

"What?!"

Takeo narrowed his eyes. "We need someone to keep a watch on those newlyweds in case they wake back up before the girls arrive."

"Why can't Butch do it?" Takumi exclaimed before he pointed a finger at Takeshi, who blinked nonchalantly. "He's the one who had that hidden stash of chloroform in his room!"

Takeo frowned, and he looked at Takeshi.

Takeshi shrugged. "It's fine with me, man. I brought cans of sleeping gas, anyway, in case they wake back up."

"See?!" Takumi exclaimed as he frowned.

Takeo let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, but don't touch anything, Butch."

Takeshi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

"That includes eating anything from the fridge."

Takeshi groaned.

"I mean it. We need those newlyweds to think that us breaking in was just a dream. Last thing we need is a police inspection in this damn house that'll point at us as the suspects."

Takeshi groaned again.

Takeo rolled his eyes. "Let's go, Boomer."

Without another word, Takeo and Takumi left the house, leaving behind Takeshi in the kitchen.

Takeshi began to think about what Takeo brought up about that guy targeting the girls. At once, he scowled when he started imagining that guy going after Kaoru.

Kaoru was fun to mess with, play around with, and screw around with, and her reactions were always priceless. When he thought about the amount of fun he'd have with her after he and his brothers get rid of that guy, excitement and adrenaline began to bubble inside of his chest.

After all, Kaoru was his toy only, and Takeshi refused to let that guy have any piece of her.