Disclaimer- I don't own the Power Puff Girls Z, or Geo, Meiru, Lan etc. All rights go to their official owners/creators.

"What ya doing?" A voice questioned, popping the fragile silence that had been surrounding the girls, gathered around a grave, the headstone seeming to be only a few months old.

Startled, all three scanned the trees surrounding the clearing they were standing in, and spotted its owner, a young raven haired boy of about ten, looking down at them, his forest green eyes posing the question he'd voiced only moments before.

He sat on a branch of a tree placed on the edge of the clearing. He was surrounded by beautifully coloured leaves of orange, gold and red.

His legs were wrapped in brown breeches, and his dark green tunic was slightly crumpled and frayed at the ends, showing how little the wearer cared for his attire.

The girls glanced at two other boys, sitting on different branches near their companion, looking down at the girls also, with the air of expectants, as if the answer was their complete business.

"Well? Are you going to answer him?" One asked, rather rudely, hopping from one branch to another until he landed by the first boy.

As he landed, an orange leaf came loose, and fluttered down to land on his head, almost camouflaging perfectly with the boys bright auburn hair.

He shook it off, then caught it before it fluttered down to the leaf sprinkled ground a few metres below.

The last boy nodded in agreement to his companions question, perched a branch below the other two, his blue eyes reflecting confusion at the girls quietness, who stared at the three boys, perched up in the tree like small x-mas decorations.

One seemed to come free of her surprised daze, narrowing her grass green eyes at the boys, angered at their blunt intrusion and interrogation.

"It's none of your business,' stated another of the girls, her sakura pink eyes reflecting annoyance at the nosiness of them.

The last girl didn't say anything. She just looked away towards the grave, sadness written plainly in her soft features.

"Hmm? That's not nice!" The blonde boy exclaimed, jumping gracefully down to the ground. His companions followed suit, and all three looked towards the grave, interest forming in their eyes.

"What's so important about this, anyway?" The green eyed boy questioned irritably, walking over to stand in front of the headstone.

"Don't go near there!" The raven haired girls suddenly shouted, running over to the grave and attempting to drag the him off of it.

"Hey! Let go! Kaoru!" He exclaimed, shoving her away.

Kaoru grabbed ahold again, still attempting to pull him away. "Butch…get…away from this grave!" She grunted.

"No! What's…so….important about… this stupid stone!?" Butch panted, still fighting with her.

"Hey, where's that old man anyway? The one who always follows you girls around and stuff?" The red haired boy asked, ignoring the two raven heads, as were the others, looking around and searching the trees with his deep red eyes as if half expecting him to suddenly pop out of the air at any given moment.

The girls stopped moving abruptly, looking down sadly.

Kaoru let go of Butch, letting her hands go to her sides, limply.

Butch also let go, and looked at her, confusion and written in his face, as were his companions.

"I believe your standing on him."

All six kids looked up abruptly, startled at the sudden remark.

Their stares met a pair of dark brown eyes, accompanied by a smirk.

It took Butch a moment to recover from his surprise, then process what he'd said, but when he did, he jumped off the grave like it was made of fire, staring at it for a number of seconds.

At that point, the others snapped out of their daze also, and the girls met the young man's smirk with slight frowns on their delicate faces.

"Oh, come on girls! Don't make those faces at me," he said, amusement sparkling in his eyes. "Aren't you happy to see your big brother?" He took on a look of hurt that even a toddler wouldn't've believed, holding out his arms as if expecting a hug. When none of the girls moved, he dropped his arms to his sides, adopting a smirk once again.

"You are not our big brother, Geo!" Koaru spat out angrily, crossing her arms over her chest and frowning.

"And, you're the enemy!" The pink eyed girl added, taking up annoyance at his jokey actions.

"Ahh, even you, Momoko? That hurts!" He said, touching his chest as if wounded.

"We aren't the enemy, are we boys?" Asked another young man, stepping from behind Geo to stand next to him and directing his speech to the boys.

"'Course not!" Butch answered, walking over to stand beside Geo, the others following him.

"You would say that! You're their ally!" Koaru retorted.

"No, Koaru-kun. We are allies. We signed a treaty with your clan, didn't we?" The other boy answered, passing his mud brown gaze over her.

"So? That still doesn't change the fact that you're the enemy!" Momoko retorted angrily.

"We're doing the same thing, are we not?" Questioned a voice behind the boys. Everyone turned to face an icy-blue gaze.

The girls fell silent, uncertainty surrounding them.

"Butch, Boomer, Brick! Come, we're leaving!" He ordered, then turned and left the clearing, the other boys following him quietly.

Geo gave the girls one last wave goodbye before walking away.

"Goodbye, Koaru-kun. Momoko-kun, Miyako-kun. It was a pleasure seeing you girls again. And, I'm sorry for your loss." Said the last boy, before turning and following the others.

The girls watched them leave in silence.

"Why were they here?" Miyako finally questioned, her clear blue eyes clouded with worry and suspicion.

"Let's go and find out." Momoko replied, walking away.

The others trailed behind, uneasily.

"I can't accept this!" A yell erupted through the air, as the girls approached a sakura tree, its leaves disappearing rapidly, in the wind.

The yeller was a girl of about 13, her face red in anger. She was punching the poor tree in frustration, causing even more leaves to fall to the ground. Her green eyes burned with anger, and her reddish-pink hair fell everywhere.

"What's wrong?" Miyako asked uncertainly, directing her speech to a brown haired girl next to her.

"Well… Obaasan did something… unfavourable. And it sorta, ticked Misora off…" She answered uncomfortably.

"What'd she do?" Kaoru questioned Misora, making sure not to be too close, in case Misora decided to hit something again.

Misora stopped, and looked at her, seeming to get even redder.

"M-marriage arrangement!" She exclaimed, pounding the tree even harder.

Momoko looked over to another girl, question glistening in her eyes. "Airisu-senpai… what exactly is she talking about?"

Airisu closed her forest green eyes and sighed in annoyance. "She's trying to say that Obaasan agreed to a marriage arrangement with the Jojo-clan. Basically, Meiru and Lan-san, Geo-san and Misora, and myself and Chaud-san are engaged…" As she spoke, Misora began hitting the poor tree at full speed, going red as she did so, but wether from embarrassment or anger, no one could really tell. Meiru also happened to go red, which wasn't missed by Miyako, causing her to smile slightly.

Kaoru stepped forward, and attempted to stop her from damaging both her hands and the tree further.

Eventually, Misora did stop, looking away and blushing.

"When?" Miyako asked.

"When we turn 18… apparently." Mieru answered, going slightly redder.

Listening to their conversation, Misora went considerably red, trying to look away even further.

Everyone looked at her, confused. Then a light bulb went off in both Miyako and Meiru's heads, and they looked at her, grinning knowingly.

"Misora, you wouldn't happen to, oh I don't know, 'like' Geo-san, would you?" Meiru asked cheekily, earning a beetroot red Misora, which only created more grinning faces around her.

"W-what? O-of course not!" Misora stuttered, looking down uncomfortably.

Their grins widened, and her blush deepened.

"Anyway," Momoko started, looking away from Misora and addressing Airisu, the others followed suit, earning a thankful sigh from Misora. "Why did she arrange a marriage with you guys?"

"Probably to strengthen the bonds between our two clans," Airisu speculated, taking on a look of deep thought. "I wouldn't be surprised if she formed an arrangement with you girls when you turn 13."

At those words, Kaoru sweat dropped, turning pale and looking like she'd just been told the world would end.

"Wait, wait, wait! She wouldn't do that, right?!" She exclaimed frantically, looking around desperately.

A cheeky grin formed on Misora's face, who had looked up and recovered from her blushing fit a few moments before.

"She might. And, I think she might betroth you to, hmm, Butch, maybe." Her grin widened as she watched Kaoru's face go paler, as if she might faint.

"…" She didn't say anything, just stare down, sulking slightly.

The others could just hear her whisper: "I'm doomed….doomed!"

Momoko looked over to Airisu, a look of pity upon her face. "Isn't….isn't Chaud-san a little… hard to handle?"

Airisu sighed, "Yes, he's pretty cold…" Was all she said as she looked up to the sky.

The sun was sinking to the horizon, the sky going the colour of the leaves upon the autumn trees.

"…"

"Well, enough moping around! We need to honour Obasan's wishes, right? Plus, it's for the good of the clan!" Meiru suddenly exclaimed, stretching and smiling at everyone. "And, maybe it won't be so bad."

Airisu nodded, smiling slightly.

"You're just happy that you got paired with Lan, aren't you, Meiru~?" Misora said sneakily, grinning at the strawberry red face her words produced from Meiru, before standing up straight again and sighing. "Fair enough. Plus, I still have time to get outta this, don't I?"

She then looked down at Koaru, who was still sulking, patting her head and saying soothingly: "don't worry, Kaoru. Things haven't been decided yet. So, your still free."

Her words caused Kaoru to look up, and a small smile to spread across her no longer pale face. "…Yeah..."

A shrill tinkling noise pierced the afternoon air, causing all six girls to look up abruptly.

A grumble sounded from Misora's stomach, causing her to blush slightly.

"Come on, it's time for dinner." Airisu said, smiling as she walked away with the others following.

Three figures stood around a grave in a clearing, the moon soaking the area in silver light.

"So, you died, huh?"

"That's weird. He was always taking care of the girls, but now he's gone, they seem a little…"

"Lost? Yeah, I think so too."

"How'd he die again? Brick?"

"Oni attack… I think."

"Huh? Would've thought he could've taken at least one."

"I heard he was becoming sick."

"Maybe that's why."

"Hey, Boomer, where'd you hear that, anyway?"

"Lan told me."

"Oh…"

"C'mon, Butch, Boomer. They'll be looking for us."

"Kay!"

"Ok!"

The three boys walked off into the forest, turning their backs on the clearing and oblivious to the smiling figure standing next to the grave, slightly transparent in the moonlight.

"It's good to see you boys doing so well. Take care, won't you?" He whispered, proceeding in being engulfed by the shadows.

Hope you liked this chapter! Big thanks to Attari Fuse for reminding me this story even exists. :P

Please review~