Sensory images flooded Silver when he approached the house. Something infantile welled up inside him, home. This was home, he felt it in his recesses. It was close to the park Da-Florence had found him at, and by extension, the Hedgehogs. He wasn't going back to those liars. He was going to find his real dad.

I'm home, he wanted to shout, but he couldn't be so sure yet. Just because that Haku-girl lived here and he felt like he knew this place didn't mean his real father was here. No, there was no guarantee of that. It might merely be just a coincidence and nothing more, but...

Hesitantly, Silver took out his contacts and approached the door, making short, flinchy movements as he reached out and knocked on the door. One knock gave off a baby's curious gurgle. Another resulted in a chorus of happy laughter.

His ears picked up movement. Someone was home, and coming to answer the door. Maybe they could answer his questions, too-

Haku did not answer the door. A black hedgehog with punkish eye-concealing hair colored with red did, and he flinched. Maybe he was intimidated by Mercury.

"Um... hello," Silver offered, trying to peer into the stranger's hidden eyes.

The stranger stood still a bit, an ear twitch, and then, "Hi...there..." The voice was quiet but sounded drenched in something...dark, like sadness or dread.

"I'm looking for a woman named Haku Furosuto," he said. "Is she home?" The door slowly creaked shut with a sharp "Wait right there." And then Silver heard heavy footsteps and doors opening again. Why was he in such a hurry to get to Haku?


"Oh, Mr. Furosuto, are you all right? What happened to your door?" Theia said as before Mr. Furosuto handed her and Hyperion a cup of tea.

"I answered the door and this strange boy asked me about Haku. He was looking for her, and I told him she didn't live here. I told him goodbye and he punched my wall demanding an address."

Hyperion stared at his tea with steel-blue eyes. Whoever that Silver on the television was must have been determined. Was he a nice kid on the inside, or full of anger and betrayal?

"You think he's after Haku, Michio?" Theia asked, her eyes drooping.

"He told me he was looking for someone she knew."

Hyperion hit the table with his teacup, "Of course he is. He's looking for his real family."

Theia said nothing but Mr. Furosuto's eyebrows pinched together. "But why would come to me asking about Haku?"

"Because the day before he came asking about Selene," Theia said, biting her fists as a silent tear streamed down her face.


When the door opened a second time, a gray hedgehog in her late twenties poked her head out. One thing that bothered him was that her right eye was tinged red with unnatural light.

"Howdy," she said, awkwardly. "You called for me?"

"Um..." Her personality seemed friendly, but- there was something off. Her right eye glittered as if she was scoping him from some unseen database. "I was wondering if you'd be able to tell me about a girl named-"

"Selene. Snow White," she said, face still smiling and happy, "come on in." She strode into the house leaving the door wide open walking into another room.

The hedgehog's hair was almost thigh length, and her ears were on the small side. Her body was an hourglass with slightly more hip to it. As Silver stepped in and closed the door, he looked around for that black hedgehog who answered the door. There was no way to tell where he was; too many opened doors blocking the hallway, and he might even be upstairs.

"Selene was my friend. She was a little freshman the first time we met," Haku said, and she sat on a barstool, spun around and hugged one knee. "But you're not here for my high school memories, are you?"

Silver gulped as the red eye glared brightly at him. Maybe she was just stalling for time. She might've called the police or something with that-

"You're here because you wanna know what nobody knows," she said, propping her pale chin on her knee. "You want to know where Snow White went before she died, right?"

"You...you mean...Selene?" Silver stuttered.

"Yeah. Black hair, white skin. A little princess. We called her Snow White. We all have nicks, here."

"We?"

"Yep. There were four of us here; me, Bolts, Stripes and Snow White. We were the Coffee House Crew, because all of us worked at a little coffee shop down the road. Me and Bolts run it now." She shifted her weight and sighed. "Gosh. It's been so long since those days."

"Fifteen years," Silver muttered.

"Well anyway, Selene ran off and came to live with Stripes around the same time I moved in with Bolts. We were a tightly packed house.

"It got even tighter when Snow White got pregnant with that baby," Haku went on, and Silver's ears perked up high. "Everyone was so excited. Especially Snow White and Stripes... and then... After the baby was born, they got into a car accident...and they both died."

"Stripes died?" Silver gasped. "Was he the dad of the baby?"

"Yeah. They both died," Haku said, looking away. But- but-! Then who- who answered the phone?!

"That's bull%#$!" Mercury spat at her, mane bristling and teeth bared. "There was no car and there was no other body! My father's alive and I'm going to find him!"


"That's bull%#$!There was no car and there was no other body! My father's alive and I'm going to find him!"

Metal Sonic and Shadow sat in a room upstairs listening to the conversation between Haku and "Mercury." Haku was streaming her sensory experiences to Metal through all her internal machinery, and then Metal relayed the info to Shadow.

"He's getting hostile. Haku's heart rate is rising," the Badnik said. "Guess Silver didn't buy that." It was a half-truth; the impact Shadow had with the steering wheel did kill him, and if he wasn't immortal he would still be dead, like Selene.

"I don't know what to tell you-" Haku's voice said, "your daddy is dead, Silver. That's why Metal and I put you in the park; we wanted-"

"You could have handed me over to the Phoenicias and I could have been with part of my real family!"

"Silver, you don't understand-"

"Silver's pacing and running his hands through his hair," Metal informed. "Looks like he's losing it."

"It's bull- all bull! If my dad is dead- then why wasn't there a second body at the scene? Why wasn't it reported and what happened to the car?"

"Haku, tell Silver you'll explain when I get home. Then you won't have to lie on your own,:" Metal instructed-

Knock Knock. Haku's ears picked up knocking at the door. "Maybe that's Metal now," she said, and went to open the door. "You sit tight, Silver."

Shadow snuck out of the room and around into the hallway to see who was at the door. With any luck, it might be the Hedgehogs looking for Silver and they could turn him over right there.

That wouldn't stop Silver from trying again. He'd ran into him, and he saw through the lie Metal had told Haku to feed him. The next time, Silver might even find him, and God knew what would happen then.

Haku opened the door, and her face paled a bit. "Tou-chan! What a surprise- and- Mr. and Mrs. Phoenicia?"

Oh God no.