Thanks for waiting! I've been busier than usual. I wanted to do Z Story a bit more than this, lol. Plus I have this Boomer x Miyako plot I just can't get rid of... I'll write a little something on that and upload that story when it's fully done...

Plus, I've been drawing the PPG, RRB, and a teeny bit of PPGZxRRBZ on the computer... It just helps my inspiration, lol.

Chapter Three

[Kaoru POV]

After we were away from the RowdyRuff Boys Z and were walking to our homes, Miyako and Momoko got curious.

"Come on, Kaoru! What was it?" asked Momoko.

"Well, okay," I said. "A few days ago--when we split up to find the RowdyRuff Boys, back when they were still young--I found Butch in an alley. He was eight then, still, so… He said 'Hi, Buttercup' and I was confused by how nice he seemed… He actually seemed like a normal eight-year-old. He gave me a buttercup--the flower--and he hugged me. That's what I can't get out of my head."

"W-what?" they both said.

"Aww!! How cute! Eight-year-old Butch had a crush on you, Kaoru!!" said Momoko. Then it was quiet for a while.

"Does that mean he likes you now?" asked Miyako.

"I don't know…" I said.

"Wait…" said Momoko. "What if… What if they only wanted to become older because they had tiny crushes on us and we were, like, five years older than them?? What if they did like us?"

"No," I said. "They were eight. They couldn't have known. Plus, they're different now. I doubt it… Maybe…? I don't know. I can't think of any reason, apart from what Momoko said."

"Do you like Butch, Kaoru?" asked Miyako.

"What? No!" I said. "He just looks better than all those idiots in our school, that's all. What about you, Miyako? Don't you like Boomer? And you, Momoko? What about Brick?"

They were both quiet. "Well, Brick is still…you know…himself. I don't know. I doubt it…" Momoko was hiding something…

"And Boomer is really… I don't know…" said Miyako.

"Well, okay, I shouldn't have asked. I mean, we barely know how they are now," I said. "But what do you think, Momoko? I mean, you're usually boy crazy. How did Brick look to you?"

"Well… Brick looked…kinda hot…" she said quietly.

I laughed. "Well, we won't like them. I know that, as of now, I still miss the eight-year-old Butch more than I like the fourteen-year-old Butch."

Momoko and Miyako laughed. They agreed, though.

Momoko and I were sleeping over at Miyako's house today, and when we headed up to Miyako's room, we couldn't help thinking about the RowdyRuff Boys Z.

"I wonder why they wanted to get older…" Momoko thought aloud. It wasn't weird because we were all doing that. That's how we knew the others were thinking about the same thing.

"I wonder why they agreed to be good…" said Miyako.

"I wonder why they have to look like that…" I muttered.

For some reason, we all snapped out of it. "Okay, we have to stop thinking about it. We have school tomorrow, and we have to pick out outfits," said Miyako.

I groaned. They were going to stuff me in a dress. "No…"

"Come on, Kaoru. We'll let you choose an outfit from what we choose," said Momoko.

Right… They were going to give me a choice of either skirts or dresses. No.

"Don't worry, Kaoru," said Miyako. "There are some really cute pants that we can give you."

I sighed. Miyako took our three outfits. I didn't get to see them because they were covered with bags. Of course they'd decide to get my outfit first.

"Look; first you have to try them each on, and then pick one. We already know what you're going to pick to wear for tomorrow, but you're still keeping them all." Momoko thrust the covered clothes at me and shoved me into the walk-in closet. Not too roughly, but enough to irritate me.

I randomly pick one and took the covering off. I picked a good one.

I put it on and looked at the mirror on the wall. Miyako's house--or better said, mansion--had closets like giant dressing rooms in clothing stores.

It was a great outfit. I admired Miyako's and Momoko's choice because it wasn't too girly, even though it had a feminine sense to it. It was like a deep green dress (that reminded me vaguely of Tinker Bell) with beige-green capri pants. I also had a light green jacket with no sleeves. However, I wore a white long-sleeved shirt underneath. I still wore my green tennis shoes.

I came out of the walk-in closet and told Miyako and Momoko, "This isn't bad for an outfit."

"Great, great!! You look great! Now the other two!!" said Momoko.

I groaned.

The other outfits weren't as good…

One was a dark green skirt with a thick black line at the bottom; it reached my knees, but it was a pencil skirt… The top was a light green tank top on top of a black, tight, t-shirt. Black converse with a green hammer--which made me laugh--finished the outfit.

The last was tight--spandex? No, but like spandex--black pants with a long-sleeved forest green shirt that billowed out a bit at the bottom. Shoes? Open-toed brown sandals.

"I hate being a Barbie," I told Miyako and Momoko.

"If you're a Barbie, at least you're super cute!" said Momoko.

"Whatever. I'm done trying on clothes. I'm wearing the first outfit to school tomorrow. The others can burn, except maybe the third… Okay, then, the second outfit can burn," I said.

"Let's talk about what we're going to do on Monday," suggested Miyako. "I think the Professor said that the RowdyRuff Boys Z were going to our school…"

Momoko and I frowned. "Ugh," I groaned as a took a pillow and smacked myself in the head with it. I lied down and kept the pillow on my face.

"Kaoru, maybe it won't be that bad," Momoko said. "I'm kind of nervous, but I know it'll be alright. They're our friends, now."

"No!" I said. "Not friends. They're our allies."

"It's the same thing, Kaoru."

"No, it's not. Friend means we hang out and are close. Allies means we fight together, not against each other."

"Oh, whatever," Momoko said.

"Anyways…" said Miyako. "Momoko, who do you like this week?"

"What?!" she said.

I snorted. "Momoko! You're boy…crazy… Who do you like now?"

She scoffed. "Well, I like Asun-senpai from school! He's so cute! But lately I haven't thought about him at all," she said.

"Well, hold on to that Asun-senpai liking. You cannot afford to like Brick," I said. "Blech."

She sighed. "I know, I know, but I think you're being a bit too harsh. I mean, they're our allies, now and they--"

"No," I interrupted. "I know they're our 'allies', but we can't afford to trust them until we know we can."

"Well, okay," she answered, but she didn't seem to like my taking the leader role in this one.

Interesting, huh? Not so much, but I'm making this up as it goes along. Why? Because I lost the plot I had for it... Yes, I'm annoyed with myself, too.

Anyways, REVIEW! :D