Kaoru strummed out some notes on her guitar, enjoying the sweet melodic sounds that vibrated out. Her guitar was probably the only thing in the world that kept her sane now a days. With the boys here and the new role of guardian she had to play, she found her sanity dribbling away until she was clawing to get it back. And that wasn't even the worst of it. Constant threats of their last conversation continued to hang over her like a looming shadow. A constant reminder that something big was coming. And she might not be able to defeat it.

Another strum. Another sigh. The couch began to give way under Kaoru, allowing her body to slip through the cushions the way she used to do when her brother and dad had sandwiched her in. The thought brings another strum, a much deeper, sadder one.

Kaoru sighed and set the guitar down onto her lap, staring down at it. It was a simple, worn instrument that probably wouldn't even go for twenty bucks, but as she closed her eyes, she could picture her father; a giant, hairy version of a man, strumming away so delicately and light that one could have mistaken her own small fingers strumming the metal strings. His sweet melodies, songs he had written about her, floated through her mind as she sat back. At the times she had thought of them as stupid, even embarrassing. But now, sitting alone with only the ghosts of their presence to soothe her, those songs brought such joy and happiness to her heart that she began to feel hot tears track down her cheeks. She didn't bother to wipe them away, knowing that only more would replace them, but rather let them slide soundlessly from her eyes to her cheeks.

Kaoru didn't know how long she's been crying, but when the doorbell rang throughout her house she instantly sucked it up. Drying her tears on a stray blanket, she got up and rubbed her nose, sucking all the sadness up with one quick breath. She opened the door once she was sure she didn't look like she'd been crying for hours, only to sigh upon seeing who it was. Butch.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, resisting the urge to flinch upon hearing her watery voice. But if Butch noticed it, he didn't comment. Instead he pulled on an all famous Jojo smile and leaned against the doorway, much to her annoyance.

"Prof said I should come by and see how you're doin'" Butch said easily, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Kaoru examined his outfit; a green hoodie and a slightly worn pair of jeans, and was repulsed with herself when she thought that he didn't look bad. Her face puckered and she zapped her eyes back up to him, frowning. She felt the urge to slam the door in his face, but resisted, knowing it would do no good.

"Did he now?" She said skeptically, folding her arms. She was using her body to block the view into her house, not wanting to give Butch that he could come in.

"Yup, said, 'Butch, why don't Ys get off your lazy ass and check up on Kaoru'," He said, mimicking Professors technical speaking voice poorly. Kaoru narrowed her eyes, sliding her hand to the doorknob.

"Sure he did," she said, prepared to close the door at any moment. Butch, sending her tension, stuck his hands up in defeat.

"Alright, alright, you caught me. Bloss--err, Momoko sent me out, but I got the feeling she didn't want me to tell ya that she was concerned," Butch admitted. Kaoru stared at him for a second before moving away from the handle, also leaning on the doorway.

"Alright, well I'm fine, you can go back to being lazy now," She said, glancing at the car in her driveway. It was a crappy BMW with the black paint chipped and hood slightly bent, but it amazed her that he actually had a car.

"Actually, I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out," Butch said, glancing at the girl. Kaoru's eyes instantly snapped back to him, their green color reflecting suspicion and danger that seemed as close to the Buttercup he knew as they would get.

"With you? Alone?" She narrowed her eyes, reconsidering the option of just slamming the door in his face.

"Whoa, no need to make this weird. I know your alone and I just thought you might wanna get a smoothie or something," Butch took a step back, as if to appear less harmful. "I know I'm not first choice, but any company is better than none right?"

"Some people are better not to have in company. Especially alone. Sorry," she moved to close the door.

"That's not what the Buttercup I used to know would have said," he said, stopping her dead. He knew he was playing with fire, bringing this up, but now was as best a chance as he was gonna get.

Instead of snapping at him like he expected, he heard a quiet response, "what would she have said?"

"She probably would've called me a Perv or some other unholy name, or kicked me, but I know for sure that she would've smiled and joined me," he paused, staring at the half closed door where she barely peeked out. "So what about you? What will you say?"

Silence. That was his only reply. Fora minute it was like that, and Butch sighed, turning and heading for his car.

"Bring me back no later than eight," a voice said, turning Butch around. Kaoru stepped out, jacket slung over her arm and beanie on her head.

"What, no smile?" He teased, smiling himself. She didn't respond, just shuffling past him towards the car. Butch sighed but, not wanting to waste his current luck, turned away and headed after her with the same smile plastered on his face.

Kaoru found it ironic how happy he seemed, especially when she asked where they were going.

"It's a secret," he sang, sending shivers up her back. He sensed her suspicion and discomfort, but did nothing to ease it as they made their way down and out of Townsville. Kaoru stiffened as she saw the goodbye sign that lay just outside Townsville and turned sharply on Butch.

"I thought you said we were getting smoothies. What the hell are you doing Jojo?" And in an act of blind anger, she reached for the wheel, jolting the car harshly to the right and barely missing a car. Only Butch's desperate scream and the loud honk of the minivan they had barely missed brought her about. Butch had stopped the car, skidded halfway between lanes and earning angry shouts from other vehicles, but his eyes were only on her. For a minute they sit in deadly silence, staring at each other while their chests rise and fall harshly to the sounds of their thrashing hearts. Another few screams and Butch snapped out of it, backing up the car before entering back on the correct road.

Silence filled the air between them, and when Kaoru had finally caught her breath, Butch spoke.

"It's really hard to help you when all you do is cause danger. You know, from what I recall, isn't that what the powerPuff girls are supposed to be stopping from happening? Accidents like that one? You're lucky no one got hurt," he spoke quietly, but the anger was as clear as if he'd been yelling. The apology Kaoru formed died in an instant, replaced with her own chastity.

"Well what happened to getting a smoothie? You can't expect me to just hop into a car alone with my enemy who isn't telling me where we're going," she fought back fiercely, but the dead look on Butch's eyes told her that he had already won this battle.

"No, you're right. I wouldn't expect that of you," he agreed quietly, "but I'm not your enemy, Kaoru."

"Is your name Butch Jojo? Then you will always be my enemy," she growled, but the words were filled with empty anger that meant nothing, and he knew that better than anybody.

Butch sighed, half closing his eyes to expose his tiredness of the subject, but Kaoru was firm. Finally he nodded his head and took such a sudden turn that Kaoru gave a yelp of fright. He u-turned into the other side of the street and zoomed back the way they had came from, back towards Townsville.

"Where are we going?" Kaoru snapped, all the hair on her arms standing up from the shock. This time, however, Butch did answer. And it chilled her stomach.

"Home," he said and sped down towards the glinting lights of Townsville. Five minutes later he pushed the BMW into Kaoru's driveway and turned to look at her.

"I believe this is your stop," the words were meant to be funny, but his tone was dead. Kaoru didn't move, still stuck to her seat with the shock of Butch's change in tactics. "What? Do you want me to take you sight seeing as well?"

"That was a bit overreacted," Kaoru said, having nothing else to say. Butch stared at her incredulously.

"Oh, I was overreacting? I'm sorry, would you have preferred it if I tried to crash into some poor woman's car instead?" He sighed, rubbing his temples. "I knew this wasn't going to work. You're not the same anymore." Kaoru flinched at the harshness of his words, but ignored it.

"Why did you try this if you knew it'd fail," Kaoru asked curiously, all the anger gone. Butch dropped his hands and stared at her, and for the first time she saw even the slightest bit of sadness in his stone cold eyes. A crack in the sidewalk, but beneath it was gold.

"I want the old Buttercup back," he whispered, and Kaoru saw his hand twitch as if he wanted to touch her face, but he restrained. Suddenly, as if realizing he had revealed something, the crack was sealed back up and Butch pulled on a cheesy smile. "But it just seems as if I'll have to work a bit harder on that. See you tomorrow, Kao," he laughed as I stepped out of the car and I watched in stunned silence as he drove off, disappearing from view.

I couldn't catch my breath as I fumbled into my house and calloused on the couch. All the days events, the stress and anger, rolled out onto her cheeks as she stared at the ceiling, silently crying. The sincerity and despair, though brief, in Butch's eyes opened up a new part of her mind.

What if she couldn't be Buttercup anymore?