A/N: Hello, everyone!! Today I need Kisshu, Ichigo, Pudding, Taruto, and Pai. These are the main characters that I need for this chapter.

Pudding: Hooray, na no da!! Taru-Taru and I get to have a chapter together!!

Taruto: Pudding! Don't make it sound so romantic!

Kisshu: Well it is kind of cute.

Taruto: You jerk!!

Ichigo: -hits him on the top of the head- Don't be so mean to him.

Tsukiko: So much drama in here.

Pai: Along with comedy.

Tsukiko: Oh well. I do NOT own TMM or the songs or the movies that I use in my stories. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and please keep them coming. They are very appreciated. Thank you and please enjoy!!

Ch. 4: Next Target: Pudding

Flashback…

"Kisshu!! Get off her!!"

Kisshu releases Mint's neck and looks up. Pai and Taruto are coming towards him and Pai throws a bolt of electricity at him. Before he got hit, Kisshu jumps off from Mint's unconscious body. But he hardly missed it. The bolt of lightning just barely missed his foot and it was cut. Kisshu winced in pain from the lightning as he lands on the ground feet away from Mint's body. Both Taruto and Pai arrived by her side and Taruto stands in front of her to protect her as Pai kneels down besides her.

Pai presses his fingers against her throat and gasps in surprise. He notes, "She's alive!" Taruto turns to look at him in surprise of hear that.

"And she wouldn't be if you let me finish."

Taruto and Pai look at Kisshu in shock that he said that. He's sitting down, analyzing his cut foot. Some drops of blood land on the ground. "How terrible, Pai," Kisshu notes. "You hurt me." Then he bends down to it and licks the wound and the blood. When he backed away after licking it, it stopped bleeding. Taruto and Pai's eyes stare in amazement as Kisshu licked his lips. "I liked her blood better. Mine tastes incomplete. Hers taste just like blueberries." When he looked back at both Pai and Taruto, he grinned evilly with his red eyes looking right through them. "I think I'll take my leave now. Sure I didn't have as much blood as I did a few nights before, but it's better than nothing and I obtained my answer."

Okay, that was confusing.

Taruto asks, "Hold on! You're not going anywhere until you tell us what it is you're looking for!"

But Kisshu just waved. "Why not ask your friend?" Both Taruto and Pai look at him confused, until it looked like Kisshu has a sudden, terrible headache. "Augh!!" he screams in pain. He grips his head in his hands and he winces even more in pain. Taruto and Pai just watched, not knowing what's going on or what to do. Seconds later, Kisshu quiet down. "That smell…" Taruto and Pai gasp again. Kisshu looks up and he pleads, "Please tell me that's not Mint's scent!" When Taruto and Pai saw his eyes, they weren't red anymore to show the hungry beast. They were the same golden amber eyes that Taruto and Pai know.

"Kisshu, you're back!" Taruto exclaims.

But Kisshu doesn't look at him. All he sees is the body behind Taruto and besides Pai. He stands up straight, his eyes wide in shock. He sees Mint unconscious body and how pale she looks. It didn't take long for him to touch his mouth and he feels something wet. He pulls his hand back and he sees the small traces of Mint's blood that still remained on his face. He takes a whiff of her blood and pulls it back as if it has the most horrible stench in the world. Now he looks horrified. "I-I killed her, d-didn't I?" he asks, his voice shaky in fear.

Pai tries to tell him, "Kisshu, she's still alive!"

But Kisshu looks like he didn't hear him. "Oh god," he breathes out. He starts panting, showing his panic of what he did. He holds his head again as memories of his hunt tonight play in his head. "I chased her, I cut her, and I smelled her blood. Then I…" He didn't say anymore as he remembers, pinning her down to the ground and biting her neck. "She can't help me then…" Kisshu mumbles. Taruto and Pai look at him in surprise as Kisshu mumbles, "If I can't even stop myself when I attacked a Mew Mew, then she can't help me. She has to stay away. She has to stay away."

Taruto yells, "Kisshu!! Wait!" But he didn't listen. A second later, Kisshu teleported away. "Kisshu!!"

End of Flashback

"Pai!" Taruto calls. "Do you have results on Kisshu's blood yet?"

Pai's hands press every key on his alien computer in his ship as he looks up at the giant screen before him. "Yes," he answers. Several different screens show up; one of them shows blood DNA and another shows different cells infesting the blood cells. "From the blood we were able to obtain from when I cut his foot, I've learned something…bad."

"Bad?" Taruto asks, a bit confused from his choice of words. "As in, what kind of 'bad'?"

"As in, if we don't return Kisshu by the next full moon, he will forever be a blood-sucking monster."

"The full moon? But that's in three days!!"

"Exactly."

XxX

"Can we have the check?!"

"Coming!!"

"This isn't my order."

"Please excuse me!"

After fixing the mess up, Ichigo growls. She turns around to the corner of the café and yells, "Mint! Get off your lazy butt and help!!" But when she turns around, she doesn't see Mint. Mint's table is empty. After seeing that she's not here, Ichigo's eyes soften in remembrance of why that table looks so lonely. Hearing her, the other mew mews stopped working and they look at Ichigo, only to see the same lonely table. All of their hearts shun at the sight of that empty table.

Usually at the café, things would be crazy a lot more than today. Pudding doing her crazy acrobatic tricks, Lettuce tripping over nothing and spilling tea and cake everywhere, Zakuro being cold to everyone, Mint drinking tea while everyone works, and Ichigo going back and forth while yelling at Mint to start helping instead of drinking tea. But Mint isn't here. The memory of her in the hospital, completely pale and covered in bruises appears in everyone's minds.

But the memory of her looking like that isn't the only thing that has left anyone's mind. The fact that Kisshu was the one who put Mint in that hospital bed affected them just as much. And to think that all of that only happened yesterday. The wound caused by the truth of it is still fresh and it still burns. From what they learned on the radio and the news, Mint is the only living survivor. Everyone else that was a victim is dead and Kisshu was the cause. Sure it's only been a day, but Mint is still unconscious so the media won't know who the killer is until she wakes up. Hopefully, the other mews and the other aliens can fix that problem, otherwise who knows what she'll say when she's only half conscious!

"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you home?" Ichigo asks.

Pudding continues to smile as cheerful as she can as she tells her 'sister', "I'll be fine, na no da!"

The day is coming to an end, the café is closed, and the sun is only half an hour away from setting. Time to go home and Ichigo just asked Pudding if she should walk her home since things are still pretty dangerous. Zakuro decided to take Lettuce home by her car so they'll be home in no time. Ichigo and Pudding have to walk.

Pudding gets into a karate pose and declares, "If worst comes to worst, I will fight and run as fast as I can, na no da!!" Then she does a karate kick and Ichigo only sweat drops at Pudding's childish behavior. "Besides," Pudding starts, standing up straight, "it's still light out, na no da! The sun doesn't set for a while, na no da."

"Alright then," Ichigo says, giving in. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Right, Ichigo onee-chan!!" Pudding solutes to Ichigo before turning around and begins skipping in the opposite direction of her friend. Ichigo just watches her go before smiling and turning around to walk home.

Minutes pass and Pudding is still skipping home. Giggling to herself and trying to hum a happy tune to distract herself from the darkness that comes out at night. The sun just barely touches the mountain to set when she suddenly hears moaning.

"Uh?"

Pudding stops skipping and gets quiet to listen. She hears moaning from her right side. When she looks to the right, she see a crowd of trees, a few bushes in front of them, and Kisshu leaning on one of the trees. He doesn't see her as he's leaning his back on the tree and holding his chest together. From what Pudding can see, he's sweating and he appears to be wincing in great pain.

"Kisshu onii-chan!!" she calls, seeing him.

He stops moaning after he heard that and his head snaps up. He looks at her and his golden amber eyes widen like he's seeing the ghost of Christmas past. "Pudding?" he asks, just in case.

She nods. "Yes, it's me na no da."

He takes steps back. "Get away!" he tells her. "Get away from here before the sun sets!" He takes even more steps back.

"Wait, na no da!" she calls, running to him. His eyes widen more of her actions and her calling. As she gets closer, she sees on opening between two bushes and runs for that. But when she passes the bushes, they had thorns sticking out and her arm gets cut. "Ouch!" she yells, looking at her arm. What she sees is a cut right below the elbow and blood is spilling out. When Kisshu sees that blood, his eyes got as big as entrée plates. It didn't take long for him to smell it's sweet scent.

Ba-dum

Ba-dum, ba-dum

Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum

"Aaaugh!!" he cries out, holding his head and collapsing to his knees.

Pudding turns her attention from her arm to him. "Kisshu onii-chan!"

His body begins to shake and he starts panting. He was able to say between breathes, "Step…back…" His words stun her for a moment, until he makes more noises. Then she runs to him.

"Just hold on, na no da!" she tells him, kneeling in front of him. "Let me call for help, na no da!" Then she tries to reach for her phone that's in her left pocket but before she could stick her hand in it, Kisshu's hand grasps her wrist and harshly pulls it away. She looks up at him in surprise, only to meet his blood red eyes.

"Gotcha."

Pudding stands where she is, stunned by his sudden change in behavior and terrified of those hungry red eyes. The hand that Kisshu grasps is the one with the cut. His eyes look down at the cut and then he lifts the arm up harshly to look at it. He leans closer to it and takes a long whiff of it.

"Hmmm," he sighs in content. "It's not the one I need to worry about but it is delicious." When his eyes look back at her, Pudding winces in fear. He has a wide smile on as he tells her, "Bad news for you, sweet heart. Dinner time." He opens his mouth and Pudding sees his two long, sharp fangs, waiting to pierce her skin and drain her of her blood.

"Get off her!!"

By the time Kisshu reacted, a bolt of lightning was flying at him. Instantly, Kisshu let go of Pudding and jumped away before he was hit again and Pudding was left to cover herself when the lightning hit the ground.

"Pudding!" she hears Taruto call. She opens her eyes and she sees Taruto kneeled down in front of her. "Are you alright?" She nods and turns around to look for Kisshu, only to see him several feet away on all fours in the middle of the walk way. Pai is standing before both Pudding and Taruto in a protective matter. What Pudding also notices about Pai and Taruto is that they are wearing their old battle uniforms she remembers from three years ago. The only addition is that they are bigger to fit their older bodies.

Kisshu doesn't look insulted for being interrupted. He only smirks and greets, "Hello, Pai. Hello, Taruto. I know I'm early but I couldn't resist her sweet blood." Taruto growls at that.

He stands up, much to Pudding's surprise, and he yells, "You stay away from her, Kisshu!"

"Maybe if you both join me, I'll leave the rest of the mews alone," he tells them. Pai and Taruto look at him curiously as Kisshu adds in the details. "If you both give into the monster deep inside of you that you so unwillingly sealed away, I'll leave the girls alone. Simple as that."

Taruto yells, "Heck no!!"

"Even if we did join you, you wouldn't leave the mew mews alone," Pai explains.

Kisshu lost his smirk for a moment. Then he chuckles and says, "You're right. I won't."

"Kisshu, this all has to stop now!" Taruto screams, getting a bit irritated. "Try to control that vampire side! You did it before!"

"Yes, but Kisshu didn't seal it up good, didn't he?" Taruto and Pai stare at him blankly as the grin on Kisshu's face widens. "Why do you think I was able to come out so easily after that one accident? It's because your friend sealed me up too early. Maybe if he took as long as you two, he might have but he can't now! My thirst has grown to such an extent that I can hardly control it myself! It burns. Every time I don't quench it, it burns and the pain is unbearable. Hell! I might go on a killing spree if I don't drink enough blood!"

Seeing that he's gathering information, Pai asks, "When you attacked Mint, you said that you 'obtained' your answer. What is it that you're looking for?"

Kisshu took another moment of silence. He looked like he was debating whether to tell them or not. He decides to do it anyway. "I'm looking for the owner of my blood- the one who can completely stop my thirst." All three of them stare at him in surprise. Kisshu smirks again. "Don't get me wrong. It's not that I want to stop killing everyone. I want to continue killing people because I can enjoy it but to do that, I need to kill the one who can stop me and I need to do that right after I smell his or her blood. If I take too long soon after I discover that person, then I won't be able to resist. I will drink from that person and I will cease to exist." Then he closes his eyes and takes a whiff of the air. "That girl, Pudding, doesn't have the blood I need. But she'll make a good meal. Her blood is pure, just like her spirit if I remember correctly." Pudding flinched from that as Taruto begins to growl, furiously.

Then Taruto's hands begin to glow blue. A big blast forms and he carries it over his shoulder. "You leave her out of this!!" he screams, throwing the blast at Kisshu as if he's throwing a base ball.

The blast went towards Kisshu at full speed and soon…

Boom

When Ichigo heard that, she sharply turns around and she sees a funnel of smoke rising the sun setting sky. It didn't take long for her mind to think of the worst.

'That's where Pudding should be. Oh no!'

She turns around and she begins to run to the funnel of smoke.

Meanwhile, the spot where Taruto threw his blast, there is a black explosion mark on the ground. Kisshu was able to jump away just in time and he's several feet away from the explosion. He looks at the marks and then whistles from the sight of it. "Amazing," he comments. "You were just willing to kill your friend. Very despicable, Taruto."

But Taruto yells, "The one talking is not my friend! He's an imposter!"

"But I share the same body as him, don't I?" Kisshu asks. "So who will be the first to die then? Your friend or your girlfriend?"

Taruto got angry again. "I told you!!" he screamed. Pai and Taruto look at him, shocked by the depth of his voice and the rise of his anger. "LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS!!!" Then he charges at him.

"Taruto!" Pai calls, to get him to stop but Taruto doesn't listen to him.

Kisshu smirks even more as Taruto gets closer. Then Pudding screams, "Stop, Taru-Taru!" He still didn't stop.

Right when he was going to punch Kisshu, Kisshu jumps in the air to dodge it. Taruto looks up in the air and Kisshu has something in his hand. He throws it at Taruto and he didn't have time to dodge it. He covered himself as it hit him. Then it explodes on his body, releasing a lot of blood. When nothing really hurt him and Taruto felt the wet feeling of the blood on his body, he lowers his arms and looks at his body to see the blood. He gasps in shock as Kisshu lands on the ground, grinning. Pudding gasps, horrified as Pai covers his mouth with his arm warmer in front of his nose to block the smell of the blood. As Taruto stares at the blood on his body, he begins to shake.

Kisshu notes, "I've been waiting for the chance to use that blood balloon?" Pai and Pudding look at him in surprise of hearing that. So what he threw was a water balloon but it was filled with blood instead! "If you two won't come with me by choice, then I'll take you back by force. It's no fun drinking the living blood out of humans by myself."

"What did you say?" Pai asks.

But there are other matters at hand now. Taruto stares at the blood on his arm and he can feel it dripping down his head and his skin. He can smell it too. Its sweet bitter smell is burning through his nostrils and it's causing his mouth to drool. His heart rate is pumping hard and fast. He's breathing through his mouth, already imaging the taste of the blood if he took a lick. He risked it. His hand has some blood on it and he raises it up to his mouth, slowly. Kisshu's eyes gleam with success as Pai's widen in caution.

"Taruto! Fight it!" he screams but to Taruto, he doesn't exist. The only thing that did is the blood on his hand.

Taruto raises the hand to his mouth and he closes his eyes as he licks the blood off. The moment that the blood hit his tongue, his body stops shaking and he lets out a moan in pleasure. Its taste let out an electric shock through his body, awakening every nerve in his body. He licks the blood clean off his hand and lets out a contented sigh.

"It's good," he comments. When he opens his eyes, they're red. Just like Kisshu's. "It's been too long."

Kisshu smiles evilly in victory as Pai stares at the young alien shock of losing him. Pudding however, has tears in her eyes. 'No!' she thinks. 'Taru-Taru is…turning into a vampire. He's going to hurt people, kill people, and…leave. He's going to leave!' Then she stands up and runs. Kisshu and Pai, noticing her, look at her, startled as she runs to Taruto. She then hugs him from behind and screams, "Don't leave me, Taru-Taru!!" Taruto's eyes widen when he feels her arms around him. She grips on to him tighter. "Please, na no da," she pleads with tears already running down her cheeks. "Control it, na no da!! I don't want to lose you, na no da. Because we're buds, remember, na no da? Please…don't leave me, na no da."

"That smell…" he whispers. Pudding's eyes shoot open and he grabs her hand. Before she could do anything, he lifts her hand up and he bites it. She winces in the sudden pain of his fangs and she can feel him sucking on her blood. Pai tenses up as Kisshu looks even more excited with his success.

But before anyone can do anything, Taruto stops himself first.

"Pudding?!" he asks, releasing her hand. He sharply turns around to her and she looks up at him. Pai looks amazed as Kisshu looks shocked. Pudding..is his blood, the only blood that can control his thirst.

When Pudding looks up at Taruto's face, she doesn't see a monster or the eyes belonging to a monster. She sees his golden eyes, the eyes that belong to her friend. She couldn't control herself. More tears rise up to her eyes and they cloud her vision. She couldn't control her sudden burst of relief. "Taru-Taru!!" she screams, jumping on to him. He takes steps back in surprise as she cringes to him and cries. "Waaaaaaahhhh!! Taru-Taru!! I was so scared, na no da!"

He looks down at her, his eyes softening when he sees her tears. He hugs her back, holding her close and safe. "I'm sorry I worried you, Pudding," he tells her, softly. "I'm not going anywhere." Seeing this, Pai lets out a sigh of relief. But Kisshu growls in frustration and anger.

Suddenly, he charges at both of them. "You're both dead!!" he yells. Taruto and Pudding look up at him, seeing him ready to attack with a raised claw. Taruto holds Pudding closer, ready to protect her as Ichigo comes in after turning at one corner. She sees Kisshu ready to attack both a blood drenched Taruto and scared Pudding. She didn't need to know the details of what happened. She only cared about what is happening as soon as she got there.

"KISSHU!!!" she screams.

When he heard her voice screaming his name, he stopped. He stopped running, his claw still up in the air, and his face a sudden blank. Taruto, Pai, and Pudding turned behind to see Ichigo panting and sweating from running as fast as she could to get here. Kisshu slowly lowered his claw and look at her as well. He sees her warm dark red eyes staring only at him. When he sees her and her worried expression, his red eyes disappeared and returned to golden amber. His fangs returned to normal size and his voice sounds soft.

"I-Ichigo?" he asks.

Taruto, Pai, and Pudding look back at him and they see him back to normal. Kisshu then stands up straight and looks around. "What was I…"

Ichigo's eyes look tender, just like her voice. "Oh Kisshu."

As he looks around, he sees the explosion mark and he remembers how Taruto attacked him with that and why he did that. Then when he looks at Taruto and Pudding, he remembers how he threw a balloon full of blood at Taruto and nearly turned him into a blood-sucking monster like him. He even remembers Pudding's tears as she pleaded Taruto not to go. He holds his head from the memories and his eyes are wide and shaking. "I…"

Step, step

Step, step

He looks up and he sees Ichigo walking towards him. He got scared real fast. "Stay away from me!" he yells. Ichigo stops and tenses from his words.

Still she gathers enough courage to yell, "No! You asked me for my help and I want to help you, Kisshu!"

"I may have asked for it but I don't want it!!"

Ichigo's eyes widen in confusion as he stares at her in pain. He tells her softly, "I don't want you involve. I can't control myself and I can't bare it if you got hurt. I don't…I don't…I don't want to ruin your happiness." He looks away from her and she stares at him in surprise and pity.

"Kisshu," she calls again, taking another step closer. But he takes a step back.

"Just leave me alone or I will kill you!" he cautions. Before she could say anything else, the air around him begins to ripple. He's leaving and Ichigo got scared real fast.

"Kisshu!!"

But by the time she called for him, reached for him, he was already gone. She stood there, reaching for the empty space in front of her.