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“Where Meta? Kaabii wanna see Meta!” Kirby cried.“I already told you, Kirby, he isn't here,” Fumu replied, sighing. She had offered to volunteer as a nurse while the pink puffball was being treated after a particularly difficult demon beast battle. Since then, she had regretted her decision. Kirby just wasn't happy unless he could see the knight.“Alright, alright, I'll look for him in the castle. But if I don't come back, Kawasaki will come and give you some ramen, okay?” Kirby seemed happy with that, completely ignoring the fact that she had said it extremely loud so the other nurses could hear. With that, Fumu immediately left for the castle. She knocked on the door to Meta Knight's apartment. Normally he'd be awake by this time; after all, it was already 10 in the morning. Fumu opened the door to his quarters and walked in. The knight was nowhere to be seen, but she knew he was probably inside his bedroom reading. She carefully approached his room and crept inside the open door. He was still asleep, his body covered by his cape, mask on a nearby table. Fumu had caught him sleeping at times and he always looked half glad to see her, half embarrassed that he'd been caught without his mask. She ran to where he was facing and gently shook him. “Sir Meta Knight, Kirby wants to see you,” Fumu said. The knight's eyes opened halfway and she knew something was wrong. Often, when she walked in on him sleeping, his silver eyes shone with life and slight embarrassment. Now, those eyes lacked any kind of emotion, looking glassy and almost lifeless. Then she noticed how his skin was more gray than blue and his cheeks were a dark red instead of the usual pink. “Meta Knight, do you feel alright?” Fumu asked. She didn't notice when he shook his head, but she answered her own question when the knight sat up and began violently coughing. It was so harsh and rough that it made Fumu's throat tingle. When his coughing fit ended, he groaned and collapsed face-first onto the bed.“You must feel terrible,” Fumu frowned, patting the puffball’s back. “Don't worry, you'll feel better after you eat something. Wait, when was the last time you ate?” Without moving from his position, Meta Knight traced some words on the bed with his hand. “Three days ago?! No wonder you seem so weak… Coughing like that so often must really tire you out. I'll get you some water.” Fumu understood why the knight seemed so exhausted now. With his knaves halfway across the planet, Dedede and Escargon at a royal convention, and the Cappies not caring what happened to the masked warrior, anything could've happened and nobody would know. He must've tried to get help but with no one around, he just had to stay like that. Her mind was swirling with guilt as she filled the largest cup she could find and quickly walked back so as not to keep him waiting. She held the cup out to him and he turned on his back. Meta Knight sipped from the cup, somehow managing not to spill anything, and finished most of it before putting it on the sidetable and rolling back onto his face. “Do you want any food? I'm sure I could get you something,” Fumu offered. He didn't answer, which she took to be that either he didn't care or he didn't want anything. She decided to act on the former and ran to the kitchen, filing through the recipes in her brain that her mother had taught her. Pulling up an old recipe, she heated a pot on the stove and began to cook. Kirby stared delightedly at the bowl of ramen. He gulped and looked expectantly at the nurses to gain permission for eating the noodles. They smiled at him, waiting for the vortex of air to appear. One nodded and held on to the rail of a bed. For the pink puffball, that was the sign to begin; he opened his mouth and inhaled the entire bowl of ramen, bowl included, before spitting out the bowl into the tray and patting his stomach with his nubby paws. He grinned guiltily before remembering that Fumu hadn't returned yet. “Whewe Fumu?” he asked. To him, the most important thing was the safety of his friends.“I'm sure she'll be back soon,” a nurse replied, taking his tray. “Would you like me to call Kawasaki and have him make you some more ramen?”“Yes, poyo pwease!” Kirby could worry about Fumu later… after he had eaten some more. Meanwhile, the girl in question was stirring a pot of soup and occasionally tasting it. She knew Kirby was waiting on her, but Meta Knight looked so close to dying that she just couldn't leave him. At least, not yet. She could still hear his occasional bouts of coughing and realized how exhausted he must have been. Coughing that hard so often didn't leave much room to do anything else. Fumu turned the heat off and spooned some of it into a bowl. She carried it over to the room to find the knight leaning against the wooden backboard of the bed, silently waiting as she approached. “Here you go, Meta Knight. I'm sorry it took so long,” she said. With his mask still off, Fumu could glimpse his kind smile as he turned to the side, probably as a way to thank her. She had never seen him so grateful for a simple thing like food; it was normally Kirby who was happy over that kind of stuff. But then again, he hadn't eaten in days. She could see why anyone would be happy to have food after so long without it, and when they were so ill… Fumu slipped out of her thoughts when she felt something poke her. Meta Knight was gently pushing the bowl into her arm with the embarrassed grin she had come to associate with his being unmasked in her presence. “Let me guess, you want some more?” she said, poking fun at him.“If it isn't”-he paused here to cough- “too much trouble,” the knight murmured, blushing slightly. Fumu shushed him.“Of course not! Save your voice, I’ll get you some more.” She took the bowl and refilled it, taking it back to the room. When she got there, however, the Star Warrior was already asleep, a serene look on his face.“That tired, hm?” Fumu pulled a chair closer to the bed and began eating the soup. She hadn't had lunch yet, after all. Using her other hand to stroke Meta Knight's back, she watched as he relaxed under her gentle petting, a smile growing on his face. She also noticed how warm the knight's body was, and she wondered if he needed an ice pack. Then she saw the unfinished glass of water and after rummaging around for a piece of cloth, found a small towel. She dipped it into the water and slowly wiped at the puff's skin, continuing her petting with her other hand.“He likes being pet,” Fumu thought. “Strange. I guess he and Kirby aren't very different after all.” The knight's wings revealed themselves- first folding across his back as usual, then fluttering delightfully before morphing back into his cape. She didn't actually know why she felt like she had to stay; it was just something inside that compelled her to be at the knight's side until she knew for sure he was alright. Then again, why did it matter? She had the time to wait until he woke up. Ten bowls of ramen later, Kirby was finally satisfied. “Well, Kirby? How was it?” A nurse asked.“Poyo!” A grin lit up the pink puff's face. He absolutely loved ramen and was thinking about falling asleep before his mind returned to what he had been thinking before the other bowls of ramen.“Fumu! Need go castle and see fwiends!” He cried, standing up on the bed and shaking the rail.“You want to see Fumu? Well, I suppose you're well enough now. She's probably in Meta Knight's apartment,” the Cappy said, lifting Kirby out of the bed and setting him in the floor. “You never could spend a moment without her- or Meta Knight, for that matter.” Kirby knew it was true. If there was one thing he needed besides food, it was his friends. The moment the nurse had all of the pink puffball's bandages off, he raced out the clinic door and out. Skidding on the dirt path, he scrambled to his feet and darted towards the looming castle in the distance. As Fumu continued stroking the knight's back, she noticed something odd. Whenever her hand ran over a specific spot, his body would subtly tense- not enough to be seen, but enough to be felt. She brushed the cape aside and found a small, nearly flat machine attached to the blue puffball with sharp claws. It looked like it contained a virus of some sort and somehow, she knew that this was causing Meta Knight's illness. She pried the machine off the knight's body and set it on the table, wiping off the drops of blood that formed on his skin. Fumu pushed his cape back into position and was about to continue exploiting one of the blue puffball’s guilty pleasures when Kirby suddenly ran into the room. “Poyo puyo piyo,” he sang, skipping into the room. Fumu slapped her hand over his mouth as the knight stirred in his sleep.“Kirby, be quiet,” she chided. “Meta Knight's asleep!” The pink puffball wiggled out of her grasp and climbed onto the bed.“Poy?”“Kirby, no, he's sick. Stop bothering him, he needs to rest.”“Kaabii make feel better?”“Not right now. Maybe when he wakes up, you can do something for him.” An idea sparked Kirby's mind and he began shaking the other puff as hard as he could before Fumu could grab him. The knight rolled over and grabbed the pink puffball before tickling him mercilessly.“Poyo, Meta! Stop, pwease!” Kirby giggled. After a few more minutes of squealing, Meta Knight let go of his student, causing him to scamper away and hide behind the door. Fumu started walking towards the door. Her work here was done today.“I'll be leaving now, alright?” She took a step towards the door and heard the rustle of motion. She turned back and immediately wished she hadn't. Meta Knight was looking at her with a plaintive look in his eyes that begged her to stay; in some ways, it was similar to the puppy-dog face Kirby used when he wanted something. There was a touch of sadness in his gaze and she suddenly understood why. He was so used to someone checking in on him, be it Dedede, Kirby, or his knaves, even though he could be annoyed by it at times. But they acknowledged him, and to the knight, it was all that mattered. Fumu always saw a spark go off in his eyes when she or Kirby greeted him. They knew he was there… but now, as he lay on his bed, too sick and weak to get off it, no one had come in to see how he was doing or checked on him and it had hurt his feelings. It was almost like they had forgotten he existed at a time when he needed them most, and from this, he thought they no longer cared. And if Meta Knight was anything like Kirby, Fumu thought, he liked care and attention- the only difference being that the knight was less likely to try and get it, instead hiding behind the image that he was powerful and stoic. The only attention he received was if he defeated a monster or two. She made up her mind; she wouldn't leave. She stepped away from the door and closed it after Kirby hurried in. At the knight's surprised expression, she laughed; obviously, he had expected them to leave. “Don't worry, Meta Knight,” Fumu reassured, once again stroking his back. “We won't abandon you.” Kirby had run to the kitchen after Fumu told him there was food. How the pink puffball was able to consume so much food was still unknown to her, especially after she had heard that he ate ten bowls of ramen from the puff himself. Meta Knight was still under her gentle petting, almost falling asleep again.“Fumu, you understand you don't have to stay here…” the knight whispered, half-asleep.“I have the time. Besides, you clearly need the support, being so ill,” she replied, lifting her hand. He seemed more alert now that the petting had stopped and she decided to show him the machine.“When you were asleep earlier, I found this on your back,” Fumu told him, holding up the small contraption. Meta Knight took it in his glove and observed it carefully.“The release mechanism on this is fascinating… I may take it apart in my spare time,” the knight noted, “though it may be better to crush it. As for its contents, it seems to hold a strain of a virus only deadly to my species, which I share with Kirby… Best to keep it away from him until we find out exactly what it is.”“That's good to know. At the very least, he'll know not to touch it. In the meantime, are you feeling any better? If you're hungry, I think there's more food in the kitchen if Kirby hasn't finished it yet.”“That'd be nice… and I do feel better, thank you. However, could I grab it myself? I do not wish to rely on you too much…”“I really don't mind! You deserve to rest after putting up with this- by yourself, might I add- for so long.”“I didn't do a very good job, did I? I was so weak…”“At least you were able to survive it! You said this virus was deadly to your species, so the fact that you're alive is a good thing.”“But I was helpless… and you know I probably wouldn't have survived if it weren't for you…”“Listen, Meta Knight. You don't have to be strong all the time. Personally, I don't care whether you're strong or weak because you'll still be the same puffball knight you've always been. Sure, you won't be able to fight or defend us if you were weak, but you're our friend and nothing will ever change that.” The blue puff was at a loss for words as he felt a blush creeping onto his face. No one had ever thought of him as anything more than a guardian. To most, he wasn't even remotely close to a friend and what friends he had were all dead. Fumu merely grinned at him and ran off to the kitchen for the soup. She knew the knight was perfectly capable of doing it on his own, but he was her friend and she couldn't just leave him to fend for himself. When she got to the kitchen, though, Kirby had already polished off the remains of her cooking. Meta Knight sat up on the bed. Fumu was taking an awfully long time with whatever it was she was doing and he was becoming bored. Having taken apart the weird machine earlier and finding that Escargon, the king’s right-hand snail, had engineered it, he had tossed it out the window. Just having it out of his sights already made him feel a lot better than he had been before. He grit his teeth and pushed strength into his legs as he carefully jumped off the bed. When he landed, his feet gave out from lack of use and he crashed to the ground. The knight sighed and grabbed the edge of his bed, pulling himself up. Dragging his hand across the wall for support, the blue puffball slowly walked out of his room into the kitchen.“Meta!” Kirby laughed, jumping on the blue puff excitedly. Both puffballs tumbled to the ground and hit the floor with a thump.“Kirby, don't do that,” Fumu scolded, picking him up. “Sir Meta Knight? Ah, Kirby, you knocked him unconscious. I told you not to do that, you know he's ill right now.” Fumu carried the knight to the couch and laid him down on it as the pink puff bounced up beside her. She quickly ran to the fridge and found an ice pack for the blue puff's fever and whatever injury he would have. After placing the ice on The unconscious puff, Kirby poked him expectantly, waiting to be grabbed and tickled again.“Urrrgh…” The blue puffball groaned and opened his eyes. “Fumu, are you there?”“Meta Knight! You’re awake, are you okay?” she asked worriedly. “Do I need to check you out?”“I don’t think so… on the other hand, maybe… my head hurts…” Kirby hopped onto the couch and lightly shook the knight, who groaned in pain. Fumu was equal parts worried for the blue puff’s wellbeing and angry for Kirby bothering him yet again. She grabbed the pink puffball, dragged him away from the blue puffball, and shut him inside a closet, ignoring his cries to be let out. Then she gently checked Meta Knight over; he seemed fine except for a large bruise where he'd hit his head on the floor and according to him, a headache. Relieved that it wasn't anything worse, Fumu helped him sit up and to his dismay, touched his injury.“Please don't… you're making me dizzy…” the knight murmured, eyes closed and swaying slightly from side to side.“Poor little puffball,” she giggled. “It must really hurt. Do you want to go to your bed?”“Yes…” She took the knight's arm and began leading him towards his room. The knight could barely walk straight and Fumu had to make sure he didn't bump into anything. Along the way, Meta Knight heard Kirby's wild cries to be let out of the closet and tugged at her arm. Fumu didn't let him at first, scared that the knight was going to hit something, but as soon as she was sure he was fine, she let go of his arm. The blue puffball opened the door only to find Kirby ready to pounce on him; he braced himself, expecting impact. When the pink puffball saw who it was, he didn't pounce and instead gently hugged the elder Star Warrior. “Well, at least Sir Meta Knight didn't get tackled this time,” Fumu thought happily. “Another crisis averted.” Kirby had stopped talking to Fumu; instead, the pink puffball locked himself in Meta Knight’s room along with the knight himself, so she was left in the living room of the apartment with absolutely no way to get to the two puffballs. She listened to the laughing and talking inside sadly and as much as she loathed to admit it, with a hint of jealousy as well. She should’ve been in that room having fun with the other two. Then again, it was mostly her fault. She should never have locked Kirby in that closet, and of course Meta Knight had to be the one to get him out. Kirby probably loved the knight like a father now, having saved him from the dark, scary closet where one of his friends had just abandoned him for the sake of another. Knowing that trying to eavesdrop on whatever they were doing inside wouldn’t do her much good, she opened the door out to the castle hallways only to slam into something and go reeling right back in. “Fumu, where’s Meta Knight?” Sword asked menacingly.“He-” Fumu stuttered. “Kirby-”“Kirby is here as well? If you or Kirby have done anything to harm Lord Meta Knight,” Blade added, “we will not hesitate to do the same to you.” Fumu glanced around the room. There was nothing around she could use as a weapon and even if there was one, she didn’t have the skill to possibly take on two people that had been trained by one of the best swordsmen in the galaxy. Looking around the room quicker now, apprehension growing inside her, she couldn’t do anything else but yell, “Meta Knight! Help!” Meta Knight turned his head towards the door at the sound. He slid off his bed and tugged at the locked door before pulling out Galaxia and slashing it to pieces. He could always get a new door later. As soon as he stepped outside, Kirby came running up to him with his mask and with a big smile, presented it to him. “Meta head feel better?” Kirby asked.“Fine, little one,” the knight chuckled, patting the pink puff’s head. “But I do appreciate your concern.”Meta Knight took his mask and snapped it on, running into the living room with Kirby. There, Fumu was slowly backing away from his two knaves, who both seemed extremely angry. Neither noticed the two puffballs waiting near the hallway and at the moment, it seemed that nothing could grab their attention. Are they really that deep into their anger? Meta Knight thought. He tried slashing in front of him, careful not to hit Kirby or anything else. At the sound of his sword slash, the duo turned towards him; once their gazes met, obvious relief radiated from their bodies.“Sir, you’re alright!” Sword exclaimed. He rushed forward, causing the knight to quickly step back in annoyance. Meta Knight could see Fumu relax from where she was; after calming herself a little more, she forlornly looked his way before slipping out of the open door. Though he knew she was leaving because of Kirby, the knight could not suppress a feeling of guilt. He’d probably have to apologize later and if he could, drag Kirby along with him. It was his fault, after all. But his mind was brought to a current fact at hand, one that had never crossed his mind before. “I always thought I knew everything,” Meta Knight thought. “I guess what they say is true. You never stop learning.” For that day, he had learned one very important fact- his friends were there for him just as much as he was for them. Kirby curled up on the bed. Though it was a small bed, there was enough space for both him and Meta Knight to sleep on it. “Kirby? I thought you were going to be with Fumu and her family as you usually are,” the knight said.“No. Fumu put Kaabii in cwoset and Meta take out of cwoset,” the pink puffball explained. “Beside, Meta sick and Kaabii wanna make suwe you okay.” Realizing that Kirby wasn’t going anywhere, the blue puffball sighed and climbed onto the bed with the younger puff. Though it wasn’t very late at night yet, Sword and Blade had insisted the two stay on the bed while they went and prepared something, completely ignoring the knight’s argument that he’d been there for the past 4 days. Kirby slid under the covers, making Meta Knight wonder why until the pink puffball re-emerged and grabbed his mask, taking it with him under the blankets. The knight dove into the blankets in an effort to get his mask back, starting a chase on the bed. The two knaves opened the door with something in their hands just as the two puffballs fell off the bed, tangled up in a ball of cloth.“Sir, what are you doing?” Sword asked. “And why are you both on the floor?”“Kirby took my mask and I tried to get it back,” the blue puffball explained, his voice muffled from where he was inside the blanket. “Lucky I didn’t hit my head again… now, as my knaves, I’m ordering you to help me get out! It's hot in here, and that's likely“A task easier said than done, sir.” Nevertheless, they put what they were carrying on the sidetable and tried to untangle the two puffballs. Kirby was still holding onto the mask despite both his paws stuck in the cloth; as soon as the knight got one arm free, he wrestled it out of the pink puffball’s grasp and clipped it on. It didn’t stay very long, though. After a few more pulls, Kirby leapt out of the sheets. He ran up to Meta Knight, who was still tangled in the blankets, and slowly unclipped the mask from his face. Maybe he’d visit tomorrow. Kirby wasn’t the kind of person- or puffball- to hold a grudge against anyone, especially her. Fumu shook her head, not wanting anything about Kirby to fall into her mind. She was definitely thinking about this too much. Now she understood what Meta Knight meant about overthinking a situation. It wasn’t even that bad, for Nova’s sake! Kirby didn’t always stay at her house; he sometimes went somewhere else, or… “I should stop now,” she sighed. She stood up and walked towards the library in the sunset, not knowing what else to do. Her parents were on another planet as Dedede’s ambassadors and Bun was at summer camp, which didn’t let out for another month. She also had nothing to do; the apartment was clean and Dedede wasn’t around to cause any chaos. But what Meta Knight had said about the machine intrigued her. A virus deadly only to puffballs… her step quickened and she strode into the library with a purpose. What virus could possibly only be deadly to one and only one species? Fumu decided to answer that question as she roamed the library. Once a pile of books had gathered on a desk, she sat down and began to read. “I can’t help but feel like we’re tangling him even more,” Blade announced, standing up in frustration. They had been trying to untangle the blue puffball for at least twenty minutes and he still wasn’t free. Even Kirby had put the knight's mask down and tried helping, but no matter what they did, Meta Knight still lay hopelessly tangled in the blankets. He had actually fallen asleep in his awkward position, oblivious to all that was happening around him.“Wait, maybe if we…” Sword reached his hand into the blanket and tried to pull something from the bottom, but in doing so, his armor snagged a fold of it and yanked it suddenly. The ball unraveled in an instant, dumping the sleeping puffball onto the ground and waking him up. The blue puff yawned, a cute sound that was so innocent and high-pitched it almost revealed his true puffball nature. He stretched before dragging himself into a sitting position and rubbing his eyes with his glove. “I see you finally got me out,” Meta Knight said, yawning again. “It took you a while.”“You weren’t helping, sir. You know, if you were awake, we would’ve gotten you out a lot faster,” Blade smirked. “Either way, you’re free now and I think the food we brought is cold… Sorry, would you mind waiting a little longer while we reheat this?” As they left the room, Kirby tentatively approached the knight and returned his mask, even clipping it on for him. Before the blue puffball could do anything about him, the pink puff pushed himself into the knight’s body, waiting to be tickled. No one was there, and besides, who would care now? Meta Knight held Kirby immobile and tickled the pink puff mercilessly, his squeals echoing through the apartment. Fumu closed the last book and got off the chair to put it back in the shelf. There hadn't been much information on viruses in the first place, as the king did not really care for his well-being, but she had unearthed enough information to hopefully be of enough benefit to Meta Knight. The Waddle Dees were just about to close up the library, so she hurried out the door before the doors closed and escaped into the hallway. She started walking back to her penthouse and for once, she hated that she had to pass the knight's room. Hearing Kirby's excited squeals of laughter made her almost sick to her stomach, only reminding her of the glorious night they were supposed to be having. There had been plans that she and Kirby had made together; there was going to be popcorn, movies, juice, and games. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have a sleepover without her parents or her brother and she had gone and ruined it. Some friend she was. But she had to tell Meta Knight; he needed to know. “Kirby, I'm going for a walk in the hallways; this room is becoming too cramped all of a sudden. Tell no one where I've gone,” Meta Knight commanded. The pink puffball nodded in agreement as the knight spread his wings and leapt out the window.“Sir, the food's ready,” Sword said, opening the door with a plate of food. “Wait, where'd he go? Kirby, where did Sir Meta Knight go?” Kirby shook his head, eyeing the food hungrily from his spot on the bed, stubby paws crossed as much as he could.“Kirby, if you answer this question, you'll get food,” Blade offered, holding the plate out. “Just tell us where Meta Knight is.”“Can't tell,” Kirby replied, turning away from the two. “Meta say to keep as a secwet.”“Aw, you can’t even tell us a little? At least the rough idea of where he might be? Look at this yummy food, all for you~”“No.” With that final answer, Kirby opened his mouth and inhaled what food Sword and Blade were holding. Patting his stomach contentedly, the pink puffball sat down on the edge of the bed with a grin on his face, his feet swinging happily. The knaves first looked at Kirby, then at each other’s plates, before moving back to the junior Star Warrior.“Well, it looks like we’re going to have to make more food… let’s go, Blade.” Fumu literally had nothing to do, which explained why she was wandering the halls. The only people in the castle other than everyone in Meta Knight’s room were the Waddle Dees, and the Dees weren’t exactly the best company. Sure, they could follow you around and they loved it when she pet them, but they couldn’t talk and that in itself made for a major drawback. Sighing, she looked out over the dark landscape and proceeded to walk around some more. Shifting her hands in her pockets, Fumu could hear a rush of flowing air… and then something slammed into her chest very hard. She fell to the ground with the force of it and whatever it was fell right on top of her. What was on her felt strangely like metal. “Ow… Sir Meta Knight, is that you?” Fumu asked, trying to ignore the weight on her. The blue puffball sat up and jumped off her body, allowing her to get up.“So sorry, Fumu. I was only out flying,” the knight apologized. Fumu stared at him for a long while, not knowing why. Then her eyes widened as a thought hit her- he was no longer with Kirby. Her fury, jealousy, and grief bubbled up in her throat, and she burst.“Finally mustered up the courage to leave Kirby for once? I was wondering when it would happen!” The Star Warrior was taken aback and, as part of his cautious nature, took a step backward.“Fumu, I-”“Can’t believe you’d just ignore me like this! We’ve always been friends, so why can’t you treat me like one? You’re supposed to have rules of chivalry and all that!”“But you-”“I was going to get him out eventually, you know. But no, you had to go and save him like the courageous puffball you are! Now he sticks to you like glue! I wish your species didn’t bond so easily!”“Fumu, wait. Stop talking for just one second. What in the Gamble Galaxy are you trying to say?”“I wish you and Kirby never arrived!” The knight’s eyes widened in surprise, briefly flickering white, then hardened; he retreated into an aggressive stance, as if ready to fight.“Then so be it.” The blue puffball spread his wings and with a powerful flap, took off across the hallway in the direction he came from. The air blowing into her face snapped her out of her anger and she ran a few steps after the winged puff.“Wait, Meta Knight, come back!” Fumu stopped running, gasping for air from her ranting, and instead watched the knight quickly disappear down the hallways with tears in her eyes. She didn't remember slumping to the floor of the hallways, but she did remember the tears slowly sliding down her face. She waited until the blue puff had entirely disappeared from view until she did anything.“Sir Meta Knight, no… that wasn’t even what I wanted to say to you… Meta Knight…” Meta Knight tilted his head to gaze at the window and fluttered upwards, soaring into the room and carefully landing on the bed. Kirby squeezed him affectionately when he landed and noted how the knight seemed slightly off as if something had happened that upset him. “Meta?” The pink puffball looked at the Star Warrior worriedly, waiting for an answer. Meta Knight looked away and refused to do so, even going as far as hovering near the ceiling in an effort to keep Kirby away. But the more the knight tried to avoid him, the more the pink puffball wanted to know what was going on. Eventually, after a few hops from the bed, he was able to cling onto the winged puff’s feet and drag him down.“Fine, I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone else,” Meta Knight sighed defeatedly. “I bumped into Fumu earlier. I apologized as I should've, and truth be told, she yelled at me just a bit too harshly. It… isn't much.” Still, Kirby could see the knight trembling, trying to keep the tears in. When the pink puffball lifted his mask and smiled comfortingly, the blue puff broke down, burying his face in the pillows to conceal his sobs. Kirby started to slowly pet him as he had seen Fumu do before and before long, the other puff had fallen asleep. Fumu stopped under the knight's window. If she jumped, she could probably reach it, but at what cost? There was only one way to find out; she jumped as high as she could and her fingers gripped the edge of the window. Scrabbling her feet against the wall, her hold increased until she was able to tumble into Meta Knight's room. When she picked herself off the carpet, she found that the puff was alone on the bed, likely sleeping. Even Kirby was nowhere to be seen, and ever since the knight had saved him, the pink puffball refused to let him out of his sights. Fumu didn't think he was pretending to be dead, because after a few moments, he rolled over in his bed. She sighed in relief and gently shook him not unlike Kirby had been doing before. He rolled towards the edge and sat near it, beginning to swing his feet, looking down at the floor. “Um, Meta Knight, I'm sorry for earlier,” Fumu said. “You know I didn't mean it. I love having you and Kirby around.” The knight nodded, but his gaze never left the floor. It hurt her to see the blue puffball this way, sad and alone, hurt by what he had considered one of his friends.“You're okay, right? I… you… just please say something, Meta Knight. So I can have proof you forgive me.” He didn't answer, instead turning away from her ever so slightly. She slid closer to him and he turned more. With his back turned to her, the knight sighed, eyes a swirling gray.“Just leave, Fumu.” Without thinking, her arms reached for the blue puffball, ready to hug him, because she had learned from Kirby that hugs made everything better. Just as her arms got within reach, Meta Knight turned around sharply, threw himself into the pillows, and used the impact to bounce off the bed. He landed on his masked face, but he quickly drew himself up and dashed out the door.“Sir! Where are you going?” Sword and Blade yelled in unison as he burst out of the hallways. Kirby, who was on the couch, chased after him, Fumu not too far behind. But Meta Knight kept going, paying no heed to his friends. The knight had opened his wings by now and was now gliding through the hallways. For once, he just wanted to be alone, away from the people who were trying to take care of him. Yes, he knew they had good intentions, but so many people worried for a blue puffball made him wonder why. Surely he couldn’t be that important to them. Slowing to a walk now, the knight found himself surrounded by a pack of Waddle Dees, all holding spears. His hand instinctively reached for Galaxia, but then slapped himself as he remembered that he left it in his room. Meta Knight grabbed a spear from a nearby Waddle Dee and twirled it around before fending off the Dees with it. He had barely gotten anywhere before one of them knocked his weapon out of his hand and splintered it. The knight tried fighting back with his fists, but the Dees not only outnumbered him, but they also had weapons too. Not only that, but he had already forgotten every fighting move the GSA had taught him in his quest to remove them from his mind. That decision now had a high price to pay. Every movement the masked puff made was followed by stabs and scratches and before long, he collapsed to the floor. Then one of them rammed his left arm with the dull end of the spear, hard enough to possibly crack bone. The Dees left, satisfied with their work; Meta Knight tried to drag himself up and winced when his many injuries made his body convulse with pain. His arm especially put up too much discomfort. The knight decided to stay there, as he doubted he could move at all in his current state. And just in case anyone happened to walk by, he morphed his wings back into a cape to cover some of his injuries. His tiredness finally caught up to him and he passed out on the tiles. Fumu ran wildly through the maze of halls in Castle Dedede. This was all her fault, and she knew it. Meta Knight would never have fled if she hadn’t said what she did. All she had wanted was some quality time with her friends, but it seemed that now, she didn’t have any. Having pushed the two puffballs away earlier and not having the passion to play with the other Cappy children, she was alone. The knight had often told her about his times of being truly alone; she guessed that this was what he had felt like, if not worse. Caught up in her thoughts, she slipped in a puddle and skidded hard on the tiles. When she turned back, she found that it was a puddle of blood and there was a body in the middle, half-soaked in it. “Oh no… Meta Knight! Meta Knight, wake up! Open your eyes! Do something!!” Fumu shouted, shaking his limp body. His mask was gouged and cracked, his cape almost red with blood. Suddenly she noticed how injured the knight was. A myriad of scratches, many leaking blood, crossed his body and his left arm appeared broken. By shaking him, Fumu had made some of the scratches reopen. Perhaps she was doing more harm than Kirby was… She picked the blue puffball up and started rushing to his room, tears in her eyes.“Meta Knight, I won't let you die like this! I just hope I'm not too late…” The door was locked when Fumu arrived. Panicking, she tugged on the door and when it didn't open, she sat down beside it. Her clothes were blood-stained from the injured puff; thinking that she could wash her clothes after she got back to the apartment, she used a corner of it to slowly clean the knight's body. The doorknob rattled and Kirby stepped out, looking around to see who could've possibly knocked. Upon seeing Meta Knight's battered and bloodied body, he darted out, snatched the body from Fumu, and ran back inside. When she dashed inside the room, Sword and Blade were huddled around the blue puffball. “Fumu, we hate to ask for your help, but unfortunately, neither of us know first aid,” Sword said. “Could you possibly help?”“It's for Meta Knight, of course I'll do it,” she retorted, taking the knight back. “Just give me a little time.” He already looked much better, and all she had done was clean all the blood off him. His armor lay off to the side, sunk in the water, but the puff was floating on the surface with Fumu making sure he wasn’t sinking and drowning. Luckily, most of the scratches weren't very deep, though some needed immediate attention. She drained the bathtub and picked Meta Knight up, inspecting the deepest of them with concern. She carefully stroked them with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball and placed bandages on them, gladly noting that none of them were infected. There was nothing she could do about his arm though… with a sigh, she carried the knight back to the couch and laid him down in front of his knaves. Blade was holding a tiny sling, Kirby hanging off his shoulders. “We figured his arm was broken from the weird way it was dangling,” he explained. “Sword and I threw it together while you were treating Sir Meta Knight's injuries.” Fumu grinned at the prospect of the knight having such an awkward thing on him as she took the blue puff’s arm and gently bent it to fit the sling. It fit perfectly, with the added benefit of making him look somewhat cuter than usual, even without his mask. His eyes fluttered open weakly as he tried to sit up on the couch; it was a while before he realized one of his arms was bound. “I… what? Where am I? Sword? Blade? Fumu, Kirby?” Meta Knight said in confusion. All he remembered was bleeding out on the tiles and thinking he was going to die from the terrible beating he had taken from the Waddle Dees.“You're in your apartment, sir,” Sword noted. “And you may want to be careful with your arm.” The knight looked over at it and seemed startled to find a cloth stretching over his body. He tried moving it and winced when a burst of pain assaulted his nerves.“Needless to say, I am grateful for your help,” Meta Knight replied, “and if anyone needs me, I'll be in my room.” Watching the blue puff unsteadily walk towards his room, Fumu wanted so much to help him, seeing as he was injured practically everywhere. The agony of each step must’ve been terrible. But she stayed where she was, hoping he'd be able to make it by himself. She answered that question when she heard a door close with a click. The sling was more than awkward, as it limited his motion and held his arm bent at all times. Meta Knight was only grateful that it wasn't his sword arm, or it would've been even worse. He did have to admit, however, that it was quite comfortable and fit snugly, even if it made him uncomfortably warm and slightly itchy. Not that he could scratch it anyways; his skin was much too soft to do any real good and his sword could cut him even more than he already was. He could take it off if he wanted… but was that really such a good decision? If his arm was broken like he suspected it was, it would do him more harm than good to take it off, even if he didn’t use it to fight. With a sigh, the knight decided to leave it be and look out of the window at the landscape. He couldn’t even leave if he wanted to, as the window took both of his arms to open and the front door was too heavily guarded by his knaves. The door to his room gently opened and he turned back to see Fumu standing in the doorway, closing the door again. She took a tentative step towards him; the blue puffball moved closer to her and motioned for her to sit on the bed. “Sir Meta Knight? May I talk with you? I wish to tell you something if you’ve put aside our differences for now,” Fumu said, sitting where the knight had gestured to earlier.“Child, when you’re my age, those differences no longer matter. Petty problems do not change the fact that we’re all just people destined to live on the same planet,” Meta Knight chuckled, offering one of his rare grins.“So you forgive me?”“More or less. There is nothing to be gained by not forgiving you.” Fumu leaned to the side and hugged him, making sure to avoid the puff’s broken arm. The knight let out an undignified squeak before grudgingly relaxing in her grip.“Aw, you’re so sweet, Meta Knight! Too bad I can’t say the same for myself…”“You made a mistake, Fumu. We all do, and it happens to the best of us. The only difference is that some people learn from them and some do not. Now, what was it you were going to tell me?” “I finally found something about that virus you mentioned,” Fumu said. “I did some research on deadly puffball viruses in the library, and I think I’ve found the one. It’s called-”“Fumu, you did this all for me?” Meta Knight asked. “You really didn’t need to…”“Well, I did, and you might need to know about this in the future. You do say that knowledge is power.”“I suppose so… go ahead.”“Anyways, it’s called Crepundus Puffarium and it causes a very complicated disease called the Starsoul Drain. We caught your case early.”“We did?”“The disease progresses in phases. The one you were in was the first one, and it can be easily treated like any normal sickness.” She remembered how pitiful the blue puffball was when she first found him. He had been coughing so hard and so often that he could barely sleep (or so she thought), thus causing his terrible condition. If she hadn’t walked in when she did…“So what are the others? The phases, I mean.”“My apologies, Sir Meta Knight. After that, it’s a terribly high fever, and then it gets to the point where you’re so hot you feel cold. About an hour later, you fall into a coma and die. Normally, the death gate starts after the point where you feel cold, and each stage is subsequently harder to treat.”“If that is the case, I owe you my life. However, in order for that promise to be functional, you must promise me something back.”“What?”“ Never call me ‘poor little puffball’ ever again. It is embarrassing, not to mention unfit for someone of my status.”“Alright… little puffy puff.” Meta Knight sighed as Fumu fought to keep from bursting with laughter.“You are impossible, Fumu. Purely impossible.”