(A.N./

I'm really, really, really sorry that this chapter is late! It's the holiday season this time of year, so I'm a bit busy. I'll try to release chapters more efficiently, and work on them over time from now on. Again, I'm really sorry!

Al-right! Finally!

We're in the double digits!

Chapter Ten has come!

So I went into some research while writing PcB, and I'm not sure if the Blue Knight can teleport or not. I looked up a couple clips, and he seems to fly off-screen most of the time. I'm going on the basis that he does NOT teleport. If someone can give me good and honest proof that he can or can't, that would be amazing! Thank you, and here's your chapter!)

---

Pudding whined loudly as they sloshed through the ankle-deep water on the top story of the mansion.

"This feels gross, na do da!" she moaned, rubbing her eye drowsily, "I want to go back to bed, na do da!" Lettuce put an arm around the small girl's shoulder as a mother would do. She smiled at her weakly and said,

"I know, Pudding-chan. We all do." Pudding looked positively miserable; the lack of sleep had taken a heavy blow to her usual positive attitude. Lettuce pitied her, but she was significantly tired herself.

Zakuro suddenly turned a corner and motioned for the procession to follow her. They took the staircase that led to the attic of the mansion, climbing up into the fetid smell and the aisles of dusty, cramped furniture. Ichigo moaned from the Blue Knight's arms and sneezed. The Blue Knight felt her forehead with his palm. The corners of his mouth turned down slightly as he murmured,

"She's burning up." Zakuro looked, concerned, from the Blue Knight, to Ichigo, to the rest of the Mews. Her eyes, however, fell on Minto, who was staring blankly to the other side of the room. Zakuro narrowed her eyes and suddenly lunged forward, pinning Minto to the opposite wall. All eyes turned to her as she held Minto there and growled,

"Who are you? What did Taruto-?"

Her voice stopped mid-sentence, though, and she released Minto from the wall. Her eyes shone a scarlet red before fading back into their usual purple. She blinked and said in a droning voice,

"Sorry. She is fine." Minto scrambled to her feet and blinked once or twice before turning to the others,

"What were you saying, again?" The Blue Knight narrowed his eyes at Zakuro, who held the same blank stare that Minto had previously possessed. He shifted his eyes to Ichigo and declared,

"We had best get going on slowing the water. The sooner we clean up here, the sooner Ichigo can get help, and the sooner we can all get a good night's sleep." The whole room seemed to sigh in relief after hearing the precious word: sleep.

The Blue Knight ushered the Mews, one by one, down the stairs to the second level. Finally, Zakuro stepped down the stairs last, and exchanged a blank, empty look with the Blue Knight. He narrowed his eyes slightly and followed after her down the stairs. He would be keeping a close eye on her.

Once the allies had all gathered at the top of the stairs, the Blue Knight announced,

"As much as I hate to say this, we must split up to be efficient on the housework. I will be with Zakuro, draining the water, while the rest of you can work on the upstairs faucets and pipes. Am I clear?"

The rest of the Mews nodded, but Pudding saluted to the Blue Knight, her face hardening into a very rare serious one. She seemed to enjoy being in her own world of being a military commander in the navy forces. However, she was the first one down the hall as soon as a sound had uttered the Blue Knight's lips,

"Le-" he stopped and smiled lightly to himself as he saw Pudding splash her way through the halls, spraying water on either side of her path.

"Let's go," he finished, nodding to Zakuro. Minto and Lettuce split off from them and went in the opposite direction that Pudding was going.

The Blue Knight stepped down the stairs to where the water level was. He instructed,

"Zakuro, could you please open a teleport hole right here?" He pointed to a spot approximately in the middle of the lake of water. Zakuro obediently struck her weapon down into the water and let it sink before pulling it upwards, opening a slit in the water. The water gushed around on the top like a vortex, and swirled into the hole.

The Blue Knight applauded her,

"Well done, Zakuro. Keep that up." Zakuro turned to him and nodded. Her eyes fell on Ichigo, however. Her hand stretched out to touch Ichigo's loosely dangling one while she kept the vortex going. The Blue Knight saw her and jumped back,

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," he said, a slight edge to his voice. Zakuro pulled her whip out of the water, stopping the flow of water. She lunged forward at the Blue Knight and, before he could react, caught hold of Ichigo's hand, giving it a tight squeeze. The Blue Knight pulled her hand off Ichigo, and watched as Ichigo's eyes flashed bright crimson before turning pink again. He grimaced and looked at Zakuro, who staggered back a few steps, holding her head.

She groaned and massaged her forehead, muttering,

"I feel weird…" The Blue Knight's frown deepened as he explained,

"The aliens seemed to have released a parasite on us that possesses us. You had just been infected, but now it's in Ichigo." Zakuro seemed taken aback as she looked from her hands, to the Blue Knight, to Ichigo. Ichigo stirred and shifted in the Blue Knight's arms before standing up, pushing the Blue Knight away from herself. She rubbed her eyes,

"I am tired. Can I go somewhere else?" The Blue Knight and Zakuro stared at her, odd expressions on their faces. The Blue Knight spoke,

"No, stay here." Ichigo seemed to ignore him as she traveled down one side of the hallway, remarkably fast for her physical health. The Blue Knight exhaled in frustration under his breath before turning to Zakuro,

"Keep the water drainage coming; I'll handle Ichigo." Zakuro nodded, and the Blue Knight took off after Ichigo. Her flew up next to her and tried to grab her arm in an attempt of self-sacrifice, but she jerked away before he could, and continued her sprint down the hall. She reached the end and turned into the room to her left. The Blue Knight turned into the same room to follow and heard,

"Ichigo-chan, na do da! Pudding was worried about you, na do da!" He rushed into the room, but didn't make it in time before he saw Ichigo press her hand to Pudding's forehead. The Blue Knight quickly dashed over and pulled Ichigo from Pudding. It was a futile attempt, though, because Pudding's eyes flashed the scarlet red before returning to their normal color. He felt Ichigo slump in his grip, and he lifted her up again. He looked into Pudding's blank-staring eyes as she spoke to him,

"Go back to what you were doing." The Blue Knight narrowed his eyes slightly,

"You usually say 'na do da' at the end of your sentences, am I wrong?" Pudding kept the silence for a few seconds before shaking her head and smiling at him,

"Yup, na do da!" The Blue Knight walked over to the bed in the room and set Ichigo down on it gently. He turned to Pudding,

"Hold on a moment, Pudding-chan." Pudding nodded brightly as the Blue Knight walked out of the room.

"Ichigo should be safe, since she's already been infected…" he murmured to himself. Besides, he just had to get Minto or Lettuce to watch Ichigo while he was away with Zakuro. He wouldn't be away for long.

Halfway down the hall, he called,

"Lettuce-san!"

A few seconds later, Lettuce came running out of one of the rooms at the other side of the hall. She stopped in front of the Blue Knight.

"Yes?" she inquired. The Blue Knight pointed to the room behind him,

"I need you to come with me to where Ichigo is. I just need you to watch over her while I'm away. Can you do that?" He decided that it was best not to scare Lettuce with the news about the parasite, considering Lettuce didn't exactly have the strongest composure of the Mews. Lettuce nodded, keeping her head bowed,

"Y-yes, I think so." The Blue Knight smiled and put a hand on her shoulder,

"Thank you very much; please come with me."

He led her down the hallway to the door and pushed it open. He stopped, though, when he saw that there was no one inside. Lettuce looked suspiciously from the Blue Knight, to the empty room, and back to the Blue Knight. The Blue Knight shook his head and started,

"U-um, well, go back to what you were doing. I was mistaken." Lettuce looked worriedly to him, begging,

"Please, you're hiding something! Tell me, please, what's going on?!" The Blue Knight just shook his head,

"No, Lettuce, just go back, please." Lettuce gave one last panicked look around the empty room before heading back to the room she was previously in, no doubt going to consult Minto about the situation.

---

Taruto flew above the roads leading to the flooded mansion. He eyed the cars as they went by, searching for the blue Mew's family members. The task wasn't entirely done as part of a mission. He was mostly searching cars because he was just plain bored.

Suddenly, after about fifteen minutes of idle scanning, his eyes locked on a young woman driving a long, black car. He flew a little closer to see that she closely resembled Minto.

That must be her mother… he thought to himself.

He flew far ahead of the car until he reached the mansion. Looking back, he examined the road the car was traveling on and smirked to himself.

...Estimated arrival time: Ten minutes…

---