Shadowonground: Maaaaaybeeeee :P Well, yeah, they were XD And Billy Idol is, in one word, awesome ;) Update is here!

TG101: I think everyone loves him in their own way, I know I do ;) Who's gonna appear next? That's a secret ;o Wow, everyone sure loves Rock Band and Billy Idol XD

Redrover65912: Awe. Stupid funky site , ruining your review times and whatnot . Trust me, Mr. Needlemouse has plans ;) Lolz, you're really hooked on this M.M thing XD We'll see what we can do! Um...No. I don't think they ever gave a actually time o.o And MAYBE :P

Forsaken Avenger: Yay! Automatic awesome! I have never played Guitar Hero so I wouldn't know either .o. Lolz. Then you'll love the next chapter ;) WAIT NO MORE!

Lapras4us: We did actually :D It was uber fun! I dun think the characters could handle anymore near-deaths XD Will travel change it? Guess you're gonna have to read to find out :p

Lol: Nothing is better than a crossdressing woman then a crossdressing woman with an armadillo on their head :D Why does everyone think something's gonna go wrong? D: We're not THAT evil... :D

Koolaid rage: Kool-aid is nummy :D Funny, we have a habit of making random fit in well, guess that's just a gift XD Madness? Maybe, maybe ;)

Sotorohenge: Pointless characters seems to be Ouran's speciality :P But comic relief does work wonders. Brainwashed? Who did that? XD Chapters! Chapters galore!

Butterflysfree: You should :D We do have a weird updating schedule, huh? XD HEy, some Yankee-ness is good for stories. And yes, what WERE they thinking? o.o Who knows how Haruhi's gonna feel? Not us, that's for sure XD XD XD

NXT4eva: Drawing is evil! But I wanna learn so bad D: HikaruxHaruhi, the only pairing I really support in Ouran XD Rebel Yell is awesome fun on Rock Band! But it's confusing nonetheless...BARF! WE UPDATED! cha!

LoveisaDrug009: Thank you for calling the random amazing XD You have to make them act normal every now and then too even out the crazy :D

Tenten628: Hmm...Yes. Yes he is, but there's something adorable about that :D YEAH! Civil pawns! Hope? What is this HOPE you speak of? :P Seperate fic, already posted, LOOK AT THEM!

Barg'n Mark: Awe, thanks. Pull off ANYTHING? :o That's something to try :D

Landollapples: Maybe you really are a loon? :D But that's waht we aim for, giggles and...more giggles XD

SoBe-Yummies: I had no clue whatsoever you loved Honey XD Once you find that play, and want to pay, it'll be a date ;) Bouncin' Around the World? You ARE a Phineas and Ferb fan! :D :D :D

9anon: They were 2 very humourous eppies XD 101/10? I know I'm horrid at math but I think that's ABOVE great! Well, here's a part of the 'travel the world' thing for ya ;)

The Pizza Guy With a Hat: Well thank you for using our ffic to kill time :D We love you for that. Apparently we're good at the whole 'keeping them in characters no matter what' thing so it's oodles of fun making them do funny stuff. Like in this chapter!

SlothFromAnEgg: IT'S ABOUT TIME! XD Don't be lazy! We need all the reviews we can D: Thanks for the love and here's your reward!

and then some: If it's not Sonic, what is it? XD Jk, Rock Band IS a pretty awesome game ;) and we have indeed updated!

Ultimate Host: You're so kind! Here's some more! Be sure to review again!

KITTYTUMBLE: That's what we aim for! Thanks for reading!

Tamafanowo: Thank you! We'll try our best!

Lol Master II: GOOD JOB! Now you have a colourful pic by yo name! :P You did but reviews are nice :D

Mew: I wonder how many people don't know that and how many reviews that's costing us? XD Anyway, I'm so very glad you like it, we've worked hard and we only do so well with the characters because we're obsessed XD Chapter 8 is rite here!

"It was ridiculous. I mean, they weren't even real, let alone accurate."

"It was just nothing waste of time on Tamaki's part..."

From the bedroom window, Hikaru sighed as his twin plopped down on their bed and rolled on his side to face his brother's direction. It was silent for a few moments, with only the slightest breeze entering through the open window and the sounds of the night fading in and out. Somewhere downstairs, they could hear the maids cleaning and settling down for the night.

"What do you think he'll think of next?" Kaoru asked boredly, breaking the silence.

"Well, whatever it'll be, you can bet it'll be pointless and nothing but a waste of time," Hikaru grated, though his tones mimicked his brother's.

Kaoru just stared at him for a second before rolling onto his back to stare at the ceiling. At least it wasn't in a bitter mood for reasons he didn't know. Well, not entirely anyway.

Still, he risked another question.

"So, how long do you give it?"

Already knowing what he meant, Hikaru shrugged. "To it, it seems the only on who actually wants to go back is the echidna, and soon at that."

"True. Then again, look how long Kyoya said they were here last time, and what was that all for? They just came back a few years later to land on our doorstep."

Hikaru merely grunted as reply. For the first time, he wondered exactly how those three fuzzy aliens managed to get here and leave with no giant method of transportation that would send hundreds of people into a sure panic. He figured maybe that had all been explained during the performance last night and cursed himself for not paying more attention.

This time when a silence took over, Kaoru remained silent staring at the roof as if it held the answers he was looking for. He rolled over again towards the opposite wall and stayed this way until a clamour broke out downstairs a minute later. He sat up in time to see his brother turn towards the door. The twins exchanged puzzled looks and shrugged.

"What was that about?" Kaoru looked at the door and quirked an eyebrow.

"Who know-" The other twin began, turning back to the window and stopping as a powerful gust of wind suddenly burst from the window. Hikaru blinked. If his life now didn't involve giant super powered animal aliens, he would have easily been able to convince himself that something hadn't just ran past his window, several stories up, in the middle of the night. But he knew that couldn't happen now.

So, after rolling his eyes, Hikaru turned away from the window and started walking toward the bedroom door. "We've got company," he informed, opening the door.

Confused, Kaoru asked where he was going, and as a reply got another grunt, then a closed door and empty room... but not for long.

"His people skills fascinate me." Sonic's voice made Kaoru jump, and the twin whipped his head towards the window to see said hedgie shaking his head.

"Don't we get enough of you at school?" Kaoru narrowed his eyes and Sonic turned thoughtful.

"Not really," he considered. "When you think about it, you only see me during club hours and whenever I feel like dropping by."

"How did you figure out where we-" Kaoru began, only realizing how dumb the question was when Sonic answered.

"The royal blonde, no surprise."

"Oh," was all the twin had to say, and the room went silent. This being the first time the pair had been along, the cause of tension was fairly obvious.

Hating the silence, Sonic was the first to shatter it, "Well... your house if a hell of a lot bigger than your female member's." Okay, it wasn't the best conversation started, but at least it was something other than leg-less crickets.

"Haruhi lives in an apartment," Kaoru said matter-of-factly. "What do you expect?"

"Not much, I guess." Sonic said with fading interest. "Still, your house even puts Chris' to shame..."

"The kid you were staying with last time," Kaoru stated more than questioned.

Sonic smirked as he sat on the windowsill, leaning against the side and swinging his legs idly above the ground in a way that was oddly Tails-like in the twin's mind. "Hardly a kid anymore, but yeah." The rodent looked at him. "You know, you two kinda remind me of him with the whole 'loner' thing. In fact, the only difference is he was less of a hard head. Sure, the guy's parents weren't around a lot, but he's still okay around people."

Kaoru narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by that?" He assured the acid was clear in his tones, and the hedgehog rolled his eyes as he stepped off the window onto the floor.

"Just what I said," Sonic stated, scanning the room before continuing. "Face it, Kaoru, you and your brother aren't exactly open hearted, ya know."

"Well, you don't know what it was like for us. No one, not even our family, could tell us apar-" He stopped abruptly and gave the hedgehog a confused look.

And Sonic stared right back. "What?"

"How... how'd you know?"

"Know what? Come on, I don't read minds." Sonic folded his arms, giving the twin a quirked eye ridge.

"You know... which twin I am?" Kaoru swung his feet off the bed and leaned in the rodent's direction. "Or was it just a lucky guess?"

Sonic feigned deep thought for a moment, tapping his chin with his finger. "If memory serves me right, you're the one that threw himself off the roof of that mall we visited, the one that wasn't almost crushed by that ceiling, and the one that's afraid of change." He smirked and shot a finger in Kaoru's direction. "I have other ways to tell, but they aren't really important. Point is, you're real good at making things worse than they really are."

Kaoru scoffed. "Or we're realistic. In case you haven't noticed, we've had a lot of near-death experiences ever since you came along." The redhead shot a glare in the hedgehog's direction, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Exactly. Near-death. In case you haven't noticed, you're both still alive and well." Sonic zipped across the room and observed, with furrowed eye ridges, a porcelain elephant vase. "Especially since my friends saved you. Both times." He turned back to Kaoru and folded his arms. "And I don't think they ever got thank yous."

The twin glowered at the rodent, but when Sonic didn't look away, he shifted his gaze to the window. It was quiet between them for a moment before Sonic sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, I don't want to make this uncomfortable-"

"Too late for that, bud," Kaoru interrupted, but Sonic continued like he didn't hear anything.

"But it looks like we'll be spending some time together, so whatever's stuck up your butt needs to scurry its way out." Kaoru shot him a look that screamed 'you're going too far', so Sonic put his hands up defensively. "Just sayin'."

The twin scoffed. "Whatever."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." The hedgehog waved his hands at Kaoru mockingly as the red head lay back down and went back to staring at the ceiling. Sonic looked to the window, considering his visit to be almost over, when the bedroom door opened and Hikaru stepped through.

"Oh, you're still here." The new arrival looked from Sonic to his brother who was scrutinizing the ceiling very hard. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Sonic and Kaoru both pointed out. They both glanced at each other, a bit irritated, and looked away quickly. "We were just talking," the hedgie clarified.

Hikaru closed the door and looked to his brother, who said nothing. "Do you know what time it is?" he questioned the intruder instead, who just shrugged.

"Night time."

The twin sweat dropped and tried to mask his agitation. "Don't you ever sleep?" He tried his best not to sound sarcastic, but it was nearly impossible.

The hedgehog thought for a second. "Sure. When I'm tired."

"If you don't mind, some of us have school in the morning," the twin hinted as he headed towards his bed where his brother already lay.

"I don't mind in the least."

There was a stretched silence as the twins stared the hedgehog down, willing him to leave, but he clearly didn't want to just yet. "I would like to have a word with you, though," he said, making Hikaru groan internally. Sure, he had some questions that'd he'd like answered, but he didn't really want to talk to Sonic.

"What?" he snapped, not giving any sign of getting back off the bed.

"Just the two of us." He paused, and Kaoru furrowed his brow, looking his way. "Oh, please," Sonic jeered when he saw the boy's expression. "We just had a mano a mano, didn't we?"

"Whatever," Kaoru muttered, turning to the face the window, putting his back to the hedgehog.

"I feel like that's the only word you know," Sonic mused as Hikaru got up reluctantly with a sigh, and the two headed for the hallway.

Kaoru decided not to honor that with a reply as the door clicked behind the odd duo. He sighed, left alone, and rolled on his back to stare at the ceiling again, reaching for a pillow above his head and clinging to it childishly. He didn't know what that thing was saying to his brother, nor did he care. He just wanted that furry menace out of his house. Or, even better, out of their lives.

He wasn't sure how long exactly they were in the hallway, but when the door opened and there was a slight gust of wind going towards the window instead of out of it, he figured their conversation was over. Sonic stood on the windowsill, waved once in the twins' direction, then jumped out with a quick "see ya".

"What was that about?" Kaoru asked while his brother trudged to the bed.

For some reason Hikaru went a little pink in the face, then replied, "Nothing. It was stupid."

Kaoru eyed him for a moment as he got ready for bed but looked back to the ceiling when he didn't clarify more. They used to tell each other everything, but he figured nothing was normal anymore. He also knew by now that only one thing ever made his brother blush. Well, one person.

Hikaru was never exactly good about talking about his feelings, especially lately. Kaoru wasn't completely blind to his brother's emotions; quite the contrary. Considering they had been practically inseparable their whole lives, it wasn't hard to believe the brothers were so in tune with each other. They were always a team, and it never occurred to them that that would ever change.

But Kaoru was no dummy. Sooner or later, Hikaru would finally come to terms with his feelings, and Kaoru knew it. Just the thought of it made him anxious. When that finally happened, then what? Their partnership would never be the same, and he would be the one to end up alone.

His heart sank at the mere thought of it.

'And you're the one that's afraid of change.' That stupid hedgehog's words rang through his head, and he scowled at the now dark ceiling. Everyone's afraid of getting the short end of the stick; when you lose your grip, that's the end.

Kaoru turned to his brother who had dozed off. How long had they been laying there? It couldn't have been that long. Maybe he was just tired. Kaoru sighed and rolled on his side to face the wall. After actually seeing Hikaru sleeping, he was suddenly very tired. But as he finally started to feel the sleep trying to figure out if Sonic just guessed or if he really knew which twin he was.


Considering the week had already been pretty chaotic (and it was only Wednesday morning), Haruhi wasn't exactly expecting any less when she woke up for school. She was eating her breakfast a little slower than usual, not in any kind of hurry, when she heard a quick knock at the door. She tried to stifle a groan as she got up from the floor and headed to open it as the impatient knock came again.

"I'm coming!" She nearly shouted as she grabbed the doorknob, already having an idea about who was behind the door. "Is this going to be a regular thing with you, Sonic?"

Said hedgehog smirked. "Only if you want it to be, buttercup." He let himself inside, and Haruhi returned to her food, ready and set to ignore him. "I see you learned your lesson with the windows," Sonic pointed out after a short silence, grabbing an apple from her fruit bowl on the kitchen counter and making his way to the other room where Haruhi sat.

"I'm a fast learner," she answered curtly, munching on her egg.

"If you say so," the rodent retorted, but he didn't notice, while biting into his apple, the death glare Haruhi shot his way.

"What are you doing here? I don't need a wake up call every morning." She didn't mean to make it sound rude, but she really didn't seem to be able to hold back when it came to Sonic.

The hedgehog chuckled softly. "Believe it or not, His Majesty actually figured out how to use that emerald we gave you guys and told me to get to his house at unholy hours of the morning claiming it was an emergency. I get there, and he babbled on and on about how important your education is, and he never wants you to miss a day of school again." He shrugged. "Figured since he's royalty and everything, disregarding his wishes wouldn't be safe for my well being." He took another huge bite from his apple and chewed quickly.

By the time the story was finished, Haruhi was rinsing off her breakfast dishes (she would wash them later), and she sighed. "Tamaki-senpai is such a drama queen." She headed for her room to get ready and announced before she closed the door, "I'm almost ready. You can go tell him I'm on my way."

Sonic scoffed. "I'm no a messenger boy. It takes precious energy running from house to... mansion and back again." He finished off his snack and tossed the core into the trashcan in the kitchen. "Besides, he told me to keep on eye on you. He doesn't want anything happening to his wittle girl."

The female rolled her eyes as she made her way out of her room and to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Sonic tapped his foot impatiently, arms crossed and waiting by the front door, clearly ready to go. The tapping continued until Haruhi was finished, and when she finally came out of the bathroom after fighting cavities, Sonic noted, "You take so long."

"It's a girl thing," she retorted and shrugged, reaching for her shoes and slipping them on.

"Well, then do me a favor and make like man so we can split."

"Do you ever not have an answer for something?" Haruhi grated as she followed the hedgie out the door, closing it behind her.

"Never," was the simple reply she got as the two of them fell in step and a silence.

As they continued to walk, Haruhi looked around and noticed for the first time that the pair was the center of at least half a dozen stares from the people hearty enough to be up in the early hours. Feeling far less than a little comfortable, the female faced forward and did her best to ignore the eyes. Having noticed around the same time as Haruhi, Sonic laced his hands behind his head and tsked softly.

"A guy just can't get a break," Haruhi heard him mutter, not entirely under his breath.

"I don't see why they admire you so much anyway..." Haruhi said, hushed and in an aside tone, not entirely wanting to fire up a new conversation but figuring it was better than trying to ignore the none-too-subtle glances they were getting.

"Hey, neither do I." The hedgie shrugged. "Like I already said, I don't save people and whatnot for the fame."

"They why do you?" She tried to make it sound better than it did in her mind.

"I dunno." He shrugged again. "Maybe because it's the right thing. Maybe because no one else will." Sonic paused just long enough to look up at Haruhi. "I mean, just for example's sake, let's say I happen to speed by a burning building, heard people inside, stopped and noticed there was an ever-so-convenient lake nearby. Chances are if it were someone else, they'd point it out and leave on their merry way, expecting them to put two-and-two together."

"Ri-ight..." Haruhi said slowly. "It would be common sense, so what's your point?"

The hedgehog smirked and faced forward. "My point is, if it were me, I'd notice, point it out, and still risk life or death trying to save them because everyone else is standing around like they've got half a brain."

"They're probably just in shock that you showed up," Haruhi stated simply. "You are a hero, apparently." She muttered the last word with dripping sarcasm. "And what do you think they're going to be more focused on? The fact that you hesitated for a nano second or that you saved all those people? Or that you're just crazy?" she added just because it was fair to point out.

"I prefer psychotic," Sonic said pointively. "Has a better ring to it."

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Either way, there's something wrong with you."

Sonic stopped walking abruptly and without thinking, Haruhi followed suit, looking back as the hedgie quirked an eye ridge.

"And here I was just thinking the same about you and your little humdrum life," he stated with a grin.

Haruhi let out a short laugh. "Please. My life's been anything but 'humdrum' lately."

"Let me guess," Sonic folded his arms. "That all started when me and my friends dropping in, right?"

"Well, our near-death experiences have skyrocketed since you got here," Haruhi stated matter-of-factly.

"So? What part of near don't you people understand? Or is it not obvious that the dysfunctional twins are breathing and well?" All this apparently asked to the sky, Sonic sighed heavily.

Haruhi just stared at him for a second before shaking her head. "You've been around Tamaki-senpai too much. You're starting to act like him."

"Wow." For a second, the hedgie's tone was so astonished, Haruhi was expecting a full-blown "moment" from the rodent until that cocky grin of his appeared. "That's the worst thing anyone's ever said to me."

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Haruhi muttered and went back to walking.

"Because, for whatever reasons, people love me," Sonic said, zipping to her side.

"Love and idolizing someone aren't the same thing."

"Shows how much you know." Sonic shrugged. "You really are dense. I don't understand why everyone's ga-ga over you."

Haruhi gritted her teeth and, without parting them, said, "And I don't understand why they'love'you. Can we stop talking in circles?"

"If you insist." Haruhi was about to relax until Sonic added, "But I do have one more thing to say."

With some amazing amount of self-control, Haruhi managed to keep her voice calm as she asked, "What?"

"Look at the time."

Baffled for a second, Haruhi eyed the rodent before reaching into her pocket for her phone and flipping it open with rocky grace. She felt something in her wither and die upon seeing, once again, she was running late. Snapping her mobile device closed with far more force than necessary, Haruhi shot a glare at Sonic.

"Don't blame me," the hedgehog defended. "We've already been through the fact you're slow and female."

"How am I going to get to school in three minutes?"

Once the question was out of her mouth, Haruhi realized how dumb it was and, judging by the expression on Sonic's face, what the response was bound to be from the speedy rodent. Haruhi shook her head wildly; she didn't care how late she was, there was no way she was getting dragged around at breakneck speeds through the town.

"Too bad for you; if you're late again, it'll be me who has to deal with hysteric royalty." Sonic gestured to himself. "So I'm taking you to school, one way or another."

The female was just about to retort, with no small amount of venom mind you, when her feet abruptly left the ground and she found herself bridal-style in the rodent's arms. Too shocked, and unadmittedly terrified to do much else but hang on for dear life, Haruhi closed her eyes, feeling the blackness of her own lids would be better than whatever objects be flying around and could make themselves at home in her cornea.

She heard her newfound transportation laugh. "Don't worry," he said in tones twenty times calmer than how the female was feeling. "If you just count to ten, it'll be over in a flash."

Somehow, Haruhi managed a nod and tried desperately to calm down as she let the first of ten digits flood her head.


"Two minutes left."

Hikaru glanced at his brother shortly, who shrugged carelessly, before looking at the empty desk between them and sighing. "If she's late again, the teacher's gonna flip." He looked then to the empty desk standing in the front. The teacher had stepped out a few minutes ago but was due back any second.

Where are you? The twin looked back to the desk next to him and frowned slightly.

As if in a form of a crude response, and one the entire class could have gone without, what felt like a small hurricane abruptly swept the room one way, then suddenly switched directions and disappeared as quickly as it came.

Puzzled, the class broke out in murmurs as the twins looked at each other through narrowed eyes and shook their heads. A second later, Haruhi walked through the door as the bell wailed its morning song and sat down with a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan.

The twins blinked, confused. "What was that all about?" the asked in typical unison.

"It's nothing. Forget it," was the female's blunted response as the teacher returned and class began.

Unconvinced, but knowing they could press the matter further later, the twins let it go and did their best to focus on school. Haruhi did the same, or tried anyway. It didn't take a rocket scientist to tell her mind was on something else other than the words pouring out of her teacher's mouth. Something like the fact her so-called "ten-second count" only reached four... and a half. Or the fact she'd be traveling around the world in a matter of possible days with her crazy club and a trio of aliens, none of whom got along swimmingly. How the ten of them were going to survive this one was far beyond her.

Still... something inside her was actually looking forward to it, though "it" was more the world than anything else. When it came to unavoidable drama, she could pass.

As so the day drew on, the early-in-the-week sluggishness that always came and seemingly disappeared and, come lunchtime, the Ouran Hugh students were as full of energy as they were rich (with Haruhi being the exception, like always). Naturally, to no one's surprise, Tamaki was among that energetic crowd (one could even say he was the "king") and currently strodding around Music Room 3 while splurging his typical lines of love and beauty that none of the other people in the room were listening to, preferring to eat rather than rant. Though that didn't stop a bit of small talk among the club member that bothered to show up and the five that weren't being ignored.

"So where do you think we should look first, Tails?" Honey's question came almost immediately after the fox had told him what had to be done in order for the Fuzzies to return home.

Tails' expression turned thoughtful before he replied, "Well, I think our best bet would be to retrace our steps from the last time after looking around here." The fox looked to Knuckles for approval, and the echidna nodded curtly.

"You mean to the U.S.?" Honey's eyes practically overtook his face in excitement.

Tails nodded. "There's actually a high chance we'll find one there, but even if we don't, I'm sure we can get help from the last family we stayed with."

"And in that case, we'll be back home in next to no time," Knuckles clarified, obviously favoring this method.

"Are they really that smart?" The time Honey's question was answered by Kyoya, sitting at a table occupied only by himself and Knuckles.

"The Thorndyke family has made tremendous strides in the fields of science and machine engineering over the last few years," Kyoya explained. "While the family also has relatives in media and other major corporations, both the oldest and youngest are world renowned scientists."

A second after Kyoya has finished, Tamaki let out a delighted squeal and cupped his face with his hands as he squired excitedly.

"I love Lindsey Fair!" he declared, nearly glowing with adoration while prancing around.

Looking for an answer to the King's crazy antics (or at least this most recent development), everyone glanced at Tails.

"Chris' mom," the fox replied. "She's a famous movie actress."

A silent "oh" came from the remaining club members in understanding.

"Not just an actress!" Tamaki exclaimed. "She's an absolute goddess! The way she handles her emotions on screen is at the peak of every self-respecting actor's envy! It's one of my life's goals to meet her in person!" A spark flared in the King's eyes as he clenched a fist.

"Are all your other life goals as stupid as that one?" Knuckles questioned dryly.

Tamaki's face went profoundly shocked before he asked, "Why are you always so cruel?" He whined with puppy dog eyes. "Don't you have any dreams?"

The echidna scoffed and folded his arms squarely. "As of now, it's to get back home, back to where I belong. Then to never get dragged into one of Sonic's crackpot adventures again."

"Though the latter is highly unlikely," Kyoya mused and got a side-glare from Knuckles.

"What about you, Tails?" Honey looked at the fox expectantly. "What do you want to do when you're older?"

Tails shrugged. "I guess I never really thought about it. I'm pretty good with machines and mechanics, but besides using them to stop Eggman, I can't really think of another way to use them yet."

"You'll find something," Honey assured happily. "I know you will!" The little blonde laughed and Mori just grunted in agreement as the fox smiled back.

"So, tell us, Tails," Tamaki began with a strong air of curiosity. "How exactly did you meet our heroic little hedgie?"

It didn't take his mechanically smart brain to see that everyone else in the room had been wondering this same thing for a while, so Tails relented and told them about how his young discovery of a plane on a beach lead to something the little fox never imagined in all his young four-year-old life. Even though he kept to the short version, and minded past a few of the more emotional details, but the time his story ended, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang.

Haruhi, who had spent lunch in the classroom with her boxed lunch, was reading when the rest of the class started pouring in. The twins meandered in about a second before the late bell rang and made their way to their seats.

"Hey, Haruhi," they chimed as they both sat down. "How was your lunch?"

"Fine. Leftovers are always a treat," she replied blandly, not looking up from her book. "Where'd you guys go off to?" she questioned, finally glancing their ways. "You're hardly ever almost late."

"We had a meeting with our blue member," Hikaru muttered, staring blankly at the front of the room pretending to pay attention to the teacher.

"It was nothing, really," Kaoru nearly whispered. "All we really talked about was how fancy the school food is and stuff." He shrugged nonchalantly, but didn't look her way.

Haruhi expected Hikaru to say something else, but he was scribbling aimlessly in the notebook on his desk. She thought nothing of it when there was no more input and started the class work, but Hikaru glanced her way one last time, wanting to say something, but not finding it in him to let it out. The rest of the day was a blur to him, his mind on things other than school, like the talk he and Sonic had the night before. Every time it crossed his mind, his face grew a little hot. He couldn't help it, and it drove him nearly mad.

"Y'know, if you don't go after what you like, someone else might get it first," Sonic had said to him last night. Why did that bother him so much? And how come every time he thought of it, Haruhi came to mind?

"What are you talking about?" he'd rebutted.

"You know what I'm talking about," Sonic pressed, quirking an eye ridge his way. "Or, better yet, who."

That was when Hikaru first went pink, but he tried to play it off. He scoffed. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I?" the hedgehog rebuffed, arms folded.

Hikaru felt he didn't need to reply to that and avoided the rodent's gaze.

A small silence engulfed them until Sonic finally sighed. "Well, you're completely hopeless."

The red head tsked. "You don't even know me."

"Weird. Your brother said something like that too." Sonic eyed Hikaru for a second before closing his eyes and lacing his fingers behind his head. "Well, I guess it's not that weird. Just think about what I said, okay?" He stifled a yawn as he headed back for the twins' bedroom. "I kinda figured you'd be the type who'd lose it if you didn't get what you want."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hikaru asked, exasperated. As much as he just wanted to go to bed, the hedgehog had the tendency to press his buttons.

Sonic shrugged. "Exactly what I said. I'm not one to speak cryptically. Takes too much effort."

The twin sighed, trying his best to let it go as the hedgehog bid a quick farewell and zipped through his door and out the window.

Oddly enough, he couldn't get Haruhi out of his head ever since... Even more than usual. But the topic hadn't even been brought up at lunch. In fact, the hedgie was acting as if neither of the previous night's conversations happened, and the twins couldn't tell if this irritated them or was a relief. Hikaru also couldn't figure why the blue menace even wanted to spend lunch with them, but he quickly stopped trying to figure out why he ever did anything he did.

When the final bell finally rang, he couldn't believe he'd spent any time in class at all, considering he didn't listen to anything the teacher said. He'd get notes from Kaoru or...

Nah, he felt it best no to bother Haruhi for something like that.

"Hikaru, where are you going?" Haruhi's voice destroyed his train of thought, and he stopped mid-step.

"What?" he asked dumbly, turning around to face her and his brother who was headed in the opposite direction.

"We have a club meeting today," Haruhi explained.

"Yeah, just like every day," Kaoru added.

"Where's your head?" the female questioned, turning back around and making her way through the crowded hallway.

Hikaru caught up quickly, and the three arrived at Music Room 3 without zero distractions and just as many words.

Nearly every other club member was waiting patiently in their usual spots: Honey and Tails were enjoying cake (thought, recently Haruhi had noticed that Tails never even came close to finishing his second piece) with Mori sitting with them; Knuckles and Kyoya were sitting at a table near the far corner of the room with Kyoya typing and Knuckles' arms folded, shooting a hard glare at the opposite wall; and Sonic was lounging on a couch by the window, his feet propped up on the arm rest.

The twins made it to their own little table near the door and quickly went to staring out the window boredly. Haruhi was just about to go sit down (on a couch not currently inhabited by a hedgehog) when Tamaki bounded in the room, his arms full of what looked like pamphlets. Clearly not paying attention to anything but his own personal excitement, the King ran straight into Haruhi, the papers practically exploding out of his arms. The twins laughed but arrived at their side not a moment later.

"Haruhi! Oh, I'm so sorry! Please forgive Daddy!" Tamaki nearly sobbed while he stumbled off of her and landed on his bottom on a pile of shiny paper. "I couldn't see where I was going!"

Haruhi sighed. She was pretty much used to things like this happening. "It's fine. Don't worry about it, senpai," she muttered as Hikaru helped her up, avoiding looking her in the face. The red heads were still snorting slightly to each other until Kaoru noticed what Tamaki was so eager to show everyone. He picked up one of the pamphlets and showed it to his brother.

"Boss, what are you doing with vacation pamphlets to America?" they asked in unison.

Tamaki stood up and regained composure quickly, ready to talk. "Well, since we're all going to America during our next break, I thought we should all see what we're going to do there!"

Honey cheered. "Yay! Vacation in America! I've always wanted to go there! Right, Takashi?"

Mori nodded, wiping some icing off Honey's chin. The little blonde smiled triumphantly up at his cousin.

Sonic sat up immediately, then zipped to the King's side. "Vacation?" he and Knuckles shouted. They shot each other a quick glare before turning their irritation over to the cause. "You think we're going there just for fun?" Knuckles snapped. "This is important! The Chaos Emeralds might be there. We're going to look for them. That's. All." He pounded a fist on the table, with much self control, apparently, since it didn't shatter into a billion pieces.

Tamaki looked forlorn. Sonic raised a hand defensively to the echidna who just scoffed and started glaring at Tamaki. "I just wanna be clear," the hedgehog explained. "We're not going there just for fun. I'm sure fun might make its way in there since that's all that ever happens when we travel with you guys, but there is a more important matter at hand. Right?"

The King's face shined as he nodded his head vigorously. Haruhi, who had picked up a pamphlet to an American amusement park, just sighed. She wanted just one break all year from the Host Club, and it was finally sinking in that she would be with them almost constantly for a very long time. She groaned internally.

Knuckles, however, groaned out loud. "You're kidding me," he nearly shouted. "I am not spending a whole week stuck to that idiot's hip!" He pointed at Tamaki who wasn't really listening to the echidna's banter. He was more focused on explaining the wonders of travel to Haruhi, since she'd never left Japan before. She wasn't really keen on listening to him talk though, and she was trying to decipher the pamphlet in her hand, considering it was all in English.

"Regardless," Kyoya voiced from beside the angry mole, "you are a host, Knuckles, and we're going as a club, so I don't see how you have any other choice."

Knuckles grumbled to himself as the club meeting commenced, his arms folded tightly.

The twins and Haruhi found seats, preparing for the King's words. Tamaki acted like he had a speech prepared for the meeting (and he probably did). "I hope you're all ready for this next school break!" he announced proudly.

"Question, boss," Hikaru interrupted. "Where did you get these?" He held up one of the pamphlets, this one for a water park. It stayed straight for a second, then dropped forward sadly.

"Seriously," his brother added. "And in English, no less." Kaoru studied the one in his hands. He couldn't figure what it was for, but there was a mountain on the front.

"It doesn't matter where I got them, you idiots!" the King said, and the twins shrugged. "As I was saying-"

"Tails said we should start off where they were last time!" Honey announced from his table, and the fox nodded slightly.

"But, wait," Kaoru noted.

"You guys were already there," Hikaru clarified. "Remember, back when we were in Okinawa? You nearly gave Tamaki senpai an ulcer from the stress of not knowing where you were."

"Why did you look for these gems then?" they questioned simultaneously, shooting a look at all three fuzzies.

"Emeralds," the fuzzy trio corrected.

"And we just popped in to say hi." Sonic shrugged. "And that wasn't easy, in case you forgot."

Knuckles scoffed again, but Sonic ignored him. "So with you guys there too, we won't be too noticed."

"Yeah, you'll just look like kids on vacation," Tails said.

"So, are we just supposed to stuff you in our luggage?" Haruhi joked, looking through another pamphlet boredly. No one really noticed as Tamaki sulked into his little sad corner, muttering about how no one listened to him.

"Don't be silly, Haruhi," Kyoya rebuffed. "They're club members too. They'll get the same treatment we do."

"I want Tails to sit next to me on the plane!" Honey shouted, hugging the fox's neck.

"Do we have to take a plane?" Sonic asked with mild distaste. "Being inside those things drives me crazy."

"Why? You can't honestly tell us you're afraid of heights," Haruhi remarked blandly, looking up from her current readings to glance at the hedgie.

"Besides," Kaoru began pointingly, "the only other way to get to someplace else from here is by boat or ferry."

"And considering that water scares the hell out of you, plus how well our last ferry trip went, I think taking air transportation would be a lot less dramatic," Hikaru finished with a grin.

To this, the hedgehog didn't so much as reply as he did laugh sheepishly and drop the matter. He'd rather not remember that last event.

"So, when do you think we'll be leaving?" Tails questioned somehow through Honey's hold on him.

"Well, our next school vacation is less than two weeks away," Kyoya announced. "Given its considerable length, we should have more than enough time to accomplish our little goal."

"It's not little," Knuckles stated bluntly, but his remark was lost in the excited cheer from Honey and the chatter that broke out amongst the other members about their soon-to-be traveling plans. Rolling his eyes, the echidna crossed his arms and resumed staring at the opposite wall with narrowed eyes.

If he had to go, then so be it; it didn't mean he had to enjoy himself.

Thos last two weeks before the club's overseas travel passed in a blur, as much as some wished it hadn't. It was almost creepy how fast that abandoned music room dissolved into a busy airport to a first-class coach miles above ground level, traveling through the dusk lights of reds, purples and oranges without a problem to speak of. The passengers of this coach (which looked more like an extravagant dining hall with added extras as paid for by the Hosts), well most of them had been none-to-keen about waking up in the twilight hours, as instructed to by His Majesty, just to get a plane that would be there all the same a couple hours later and had been even less unhappy when said blonde came knocking on their doors in hours of the morning they hadn't even known existed. As a result of that, nearly half the weary, and grumpy, club members had fallen asleep within seconds of settling in their seats before the plane had even started moving and would remain that way until nearly half the flight was over.

In fact, only a few of the member who had found themselves to be rather active once awake, or were barely hanging onto their wakefulness, exchanged a few hushed words during the flight's early minutes.

"Aren't you all excited?" Tamaki was practically squirming in his seat from excitement and with far more energy than anyone else at the moment. "Within only a few hours, we'll be in a brand new country on a brand new adventure!"

"Let's just hope this 'adventure' isn't as costly as our last," Kyoya said without looking up from his notebook where he would make a note here and there.

Form his own seat next to his snoozing brother, Hikaru scoffed. "Have you forgotten who we're traveling with?" he waved a hand in the Fuzzies' direction, where the three of them (plus Honey, who had followed through with sitting next to the fox cub) were fast asleep on one of the couches on the other side of the coach. "Let's face it, those three are danger magnets."

"Hikaru has a point," Haruhi agreed after a failed attempt to stop an oncoming yawn. "Since those three came along, it's obvious the club has suffered more than benefited, not to mention the fact my life's gotten that much more annoying," she added under her breath.

"Why must you two always be so negative?" Tamaki fussed, eyeing the two with deep disappointment. "You just need to give them a chance! Not everyone gets a chance to meet such unique characters, and you guys act like you want nothing more than to push them away! If you keep that up, you might just miss something mind-boggling!"

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Please. My mind's been boggled enough. The sooner we manage to get them home, the better."

Tamaki grimaced as if her words had been a spoken curse on mankind. "Haru-hi!" he whined. "Don't be so cruel! Don't act like you don't love our fuzzy members at all! Even you can't say they haven't grown on you!"

Truth be told, she could very well say that, but whether it would be completely honest of not was a different matter. As much as she hated to admit it, they did have certain traits that had grown on her (this she would never say aloud), and that was almost enough to outweigh the fact they were annoying magnets to danger.

"Even if we have grown to be less irritated by them," Hikaru began, he tones not making it clear if her was any less irritated by the Fuzzies now than when they had first appeared, "I still don't understand why they grew to us, of all people."

Kyoya smirked he typical small smirk and looked at the eldest twin from the top of his notebook. "What's not to understand? Then again, how much could you understand about out new members when you won't let bygones be bygones and continue to linger on their past mistakes?"

"They dropped a ceiling on us," Hikaru said flatly. "Last time I checked, that wasn't the friendliest thing to do."

"Also an accident last time I checked," Kyoya countered in even tones. "Nonetheless, we are all alive and well, yet you still despise them for what never happened." Seeing the twin falter, Kyoya continued with his point. "As Tamaki said, keep that up, and you're bound to miss something. If you were to, as they say, walk in their shoes, you'd find that though they may seem careless and silly, their lives aren't nearly as simple as you may think and that they don't necessarily mean to cause so many problems."

Tamaki nodded in complete agreement. "Exactly. All you need to do is take time to bond with them and talk."

"I think I've had enough talking," Hikaru muttered and turned to look at their blue member as their conversation from two weeks ago managed to creep back into his head. Like all those times before, the older twin felt that familiar warmth on his face as his mind found some way to bring Haruhi to mind. He hated that. Had it been that obvious their first night in Okinawa during the storm that he had been worried about her? Obvious enough that someone like Sonic had been able to tell within seconds and had pretty much told him he was in denial?

Inwardly, the twin shook his head. He was thinking about this too much, way too much, and it was too early in the day for such heavy thinking. Plus, he was getting tired all over again. Looking back at the others, he found that Haruhi had taken a step ahead of him and was snoozing quietly compared to the group on the couch (since two of the tree Fuzzies had a little snoring problem), and that Tamaki and Kyoya were chatting about things he didn't care about. With a heavy sigh the twin settled into his seat until he was almost comfortable and fell asleep within seconds.

When he awoke, and it wasn't so much natural as it was forced, he found that everyone else was already awake and doing what they could to kill time. On one side of the coach, Honey and Tails, under the watchful eyes of Mori, were surrounded by paper and every colour crayon you could imagine, each of them focused intently on their doodles, one of a cake and the other of something the twin couldn't recognize. On the other side of the plane, everyone else was gathered around the large dining table where multiple dishes with food scraps had been pushed to one side to make way for a world map that took up nearly the whole table top. After a quick thought, Hikaru figured he wasn't hungry and walked to the larger group.

"Mornin', beautiful," Sonic greeted him from his place atop the table with a short wave.

The twin gave back a half-hearted wave and made his way to his brother's side before asking what was going on.

"We're trying to figure out where we'll be looking for these emeralds besides America," Kaoru replied, sounding more bored than anything as the hedgie pointed to a section of green on the map. "Right now, we're just marking where they went to find them last time."

Hikaru looked at the map and mentally groaned at how many little red X's had been made. "How many of these things are there?" he asked, not sure if he wanted an answer of not.

"Seven," Sonic and Knuckles answered in unison, glaring at each other right after.

"And how many do we have now?" Hikaru questioned.

"Two." Sonic beat Knuckles to it. "We were lucky enough to have been transported with one, and Knux found another during one of his late night adventures."

"Which means there's five left," Tamaki pointed out, impressing everyone with his ability to do simple math.

"How many do you think we'll find in the U.S.?" Kaoru asked.

"No less than three," Knuckles said solidly. "The Chaos Emeralds have a habit of returning to places they've already been every time they're forced to scatter."

Kyoya adjusted his glasses before asking, "Are you sure about that? Seems a bit too easy."

Knuckles folded his arms and shook his head. "Trust me, after all the times Sonic's lost them, I'm sure that's what happened. Not that I care, it just means finding them again-" the echidna shot the hedgie a look defined as unkind, "-will be twice as fast this time around."

"More like three times as fast without Eggman butting in every other day," Sonic said, not really making it sound good or bad.

"How come he didn't get transported like you guys this time?" Honey asked, raising his voice just enough so it could clear the gap between the groups.

Not like it mattered since it was Tails who answered him. "Because this time the incident was more, uh, isolated." The fox looked at his adopted older brother, who laughed sheepishly.

"But that's not important," the hedgie pointed out. "What's important is that we have a game plan, and we'll be out of your hosting lives before you know it."

On that cheerful not, well cheerful depending on who you were, the club members dispersed and went off to do their own things which ranged from anything to aimlessly flipping through pre-pay movies to participating in an intense game of charades, then a vain and oddly humorous attempt to do both. It was pretty easy to forget one was on a plane when the interior provided as much entertainment as a standard arcade. Plus, when the flight attendants roll out a nifty buffet on a long silver cart instead of just a complementary bag of salted peanuts, chances are minds get set on a hearty dinner instead of flight. Naturally, the Host Club was no exception to this obvious law and stuffed themselves in a way that was extremely similar to the way people would eat at a Thanksgiving dinner. After that it was no wonder that when the flight attendants returned a half hour later and placed a smaller (but in no way less extravagant) lay out of desserts in front of them, the club members just eyed it with sore but inept temptation. Even Honey had hesitated before taking a piece of strawberry cake.

"Why'd they give us so much food?" Haruhi wondered aloud, her eyes passing over the sweet selection, but her stomach telling her it was unwise to try to fit even one more crumb inside it.

"For real." Sonic looked out at the spread as if it would answer the female's question. "What a waste."

"What is half of this stuff, anyway?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow in question from next to the hedgie and picked up what he assumed was a type of pie tin, though it looked like it was nothing more than pure cream.

"Most of it looks questionable," Kaoru didn't bother with a closer examination like his brother, but shot the same look at the dishes.

"Questionable?" Tamaki echoed in shock, his eyes full of adoring little sparkles as he looked at the array of sweets. "It's a work of art! And as such a magnificent display should be preserved!"

"So, in other words, you're full," Haruhi said dully, and the King sweatdropped.

"If no one's going to eat it, what're we gonna do with it?" Honey asked around a mouthful of cake and fork.

"Just leave it," Knuckles said like it was common sense, as he stood up from the table. "I'm sure the stewards have no problem cleaning up after you since it's their job."

"Actually, I have a better idea," Sonic said slowly, a sly look creeping into his green eyes.

"What?" Hikaru asked.

Big mistake. It was a mistake for three reasons. One, the twin should have learned by now to never ask the hedgie a question with that look in his eyes. Two, he realized too late what the other thing you could do with food besides eating it was. Three... he still had that damn pie in his hand. While the twin had no intention of actually eating the pie, or even bringing it close to his face, the hedgehog to his right had a whole other plan.

Splat!

Ah, the sound of a pie in the face. A sound not often heard by the Host Club but nonetheless enough to make over half of them howl with laughter at the eldest twin's face, or what they could see anyway. For a moment, Hikaru steamed, but his anger soon disappeared when the conversation he had had with Kyoya and Tamaki resurfaced in his mind.

'You're bound to miss something mind-boggling.'

Mentally, the twin smirked. He didn't know about the whole "boggling" business, but what he did know was that he wanted to hit a certain blue hedgehog with a literally sweet form of revenge.

So he did.

Or at least, he tried. He soon found that hitting a small target with incredible speed with a pie kin to the one taking refuge on his own face was, well, impossible. Missing its first, and only planned, target the pie continued to soar through the air, but don't worry. It found another target.

Splat!

Poor, little, unexpecting Haruhi.

Tamaki gasped loudly. "Hikaru! Apologize at once!" But no one seemed to hear him over Sonic's laughter. He was standing not two feet from Haruhi's seat, grasping his sides.

The female shot him and the pie-faced twin identical glares before picking up a personal-sized chocolate cake with fancy (and way too much) frosting. "You're gonna get it," she nearly growled, gaining momentum for her cake toss.

But instead of tossing it in the culprit's direction, she took a last second turn and smashed the cake in Sonic's face, who only allowed it because he was still laughing. Haruhi gave a triumphant "Ha" before wiping pie off her face with a finger and sticking it in her mouth. Now it was the twins' turn to laugh as Sonic just stood there, contemplating that he actually was a victim of a food fight. He blinked quickly a couple times before grabbing the nearest dessert plate (this one seemed to be a fruit tart) and hurling it at the cleaner of the twins, a smirk on his chocolaty face. "Whoops. Sorry, it slipped," he explained, shrugging his shoulders.

Hikaru's laugh became louder as Kaoru scowled at the hedgehog, who seemed preoccupied with licking his chops. He turned to his brother, but it was obvious his eyes were shut under all the pie. Seeing his other half laugh so genuinely after such a long while of grumpiness, he felt a smile creep on his face.

"Hey, this stuff ain't half bad," Sonic announced as Tamaki shouted at everyone that it was very unbecoming of a host to toss food around.

The twins met eyes and reached for a dessert in front of them. They motioned that Haruhi and Sonic should to the same, only the latter gave in much quicker.

"Lighten up!" they all shouted, tossing their sugary delicacies at the Host Club King. It was like an explosion of expensive goodies as they all made contact with his head. The first year trio and blue speed demon burst with laughter as Tamaki's face was clearly shocked under all the frosting and sweetness. His manner of disbelief remained on his face until it slowly became replaced with anger.

Which he shot at the twins.

"You idiots!" he shouted, the fury clearly shooting from the blonde's ears.

"Us?" the brothers mused, reaching for napkins and attempting to wipe their faces clean.

Before anything else was said, another pie flew through the coach and struck Tamaki in the back of his head with another satisfying splat.

"Whoops," Sonic nearly sang. "It slipped!" He shrugged, trying to appear innocent.

The King didn't have time to respond, considering a half-eaten piece of cake hit Sonic in the side of the face a second later. Everyone turned their attention to the perpetrator to find Tails stifling his laughter behind his hands.

"Gotcha!" the fox wailed triumphantly, then exploded with giggles. That was cut short by another piece of cake (this one clearly much more... eaten) striking him in the face and Honey's giggles.

At this point, more than half the Host Club was smeared with sweetness, and even more were laughing uncontrollably.

"Well," Hikaru began, after he finally caught his breath, "it'd be a shame-"

"-to let the rest of this go to waste," his brother finished, a gleam shooting through their eyes.

Sonic caught on quickly, lifting a dessert in each hand, mimicking the twins. In one fluid motion, the three of them chose a target and fired. And so, all hell broke loose, if you will. Nearly everyone (give or take a grumpy red rodent and a guy with glasses) grabbed the nearest plate and flung it aimlessly, laughing as loud as they could (well, except for Mori, too; he'd been a target and had pie crust hanging off his nose, contemplating whether to retaliate or not).

They had finally gotten through more than half the selection when a flight attendant walked in the caked cabin. "Excuse me-" She froze where she stood, and the rest of the room followed suit, some still bearing arms. They all turned to the oddly clean lady who had taken to eyeing the room with some disdain.

Tamaki cleared his throat and dropped the cake he was holding (it landed on Sonic's head since he was using the King as shield for some time), and he said, "Yes?"

"Um..." The flight attendant blinked a few times then continued, "We'll be landing in a few minutes, so if you'd like to wash up, I could bring you some hot towels..."

"That'd be lovely, thank you," the King proclaimed, wiping his sticky hands on his shirt, which didn't do much at all, actually. "And a change of clothes for everyone, if you will!" He smiled dazzlingly, and the girl bowed slightly before scurrying out of the cabin.

"Well, that was fun," Sonic pointed out, then shook himself in that cute animal way of his to try to flick the sugary goodness out of his fuzz- "try" being the prominent word. When he noticed it didn't really work, he just shrugged and licked some frosting off his glove.

"I'd say it was simply a waste," Kyoya interjected. He'd managed to avoid the flying desserts in a far corner of the cabin. "Those were costly."

"Oh, please," Haruhi scoffed. "That's like nothing to you." She'd already tried wiping her face, but figured she'd just wash up in the restroom when her clothes arrived.

"Not nothing." Kyoya scribbled in his notebook for a moment before snapping it shut and clicking his pen. "Neither will be the price for clean up. I suppose I could charge the one responsible..."

All attention was shot towards Sonic who blinked a few times before realizing he had started it. He raised his hands defensively. "Hey, now. No need to do that, specks."

"Let's just get ready for landing, everyone," Tamaki butted in. "We'll worry about the room later." He reached for Sonic and squeezed him tightly. "Our little furry friend here was just trying to get us to act like a family, right?" There were tears in his eyes as his continued. "You're so thoughtful!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just put me down now, 'kay?" The hedgie was attempting to push the King away, but Tamaki was never one to take a hint.

At that moment, a handful of flight attendants entered the room, two of them presenting fresh clothes for everyone (even clean gloves for the dirty fuzzies), and the rest bearing hot towels for the Hosts to clean their hands and faces.

"You can wash up completely in the restrooms," one of them said with a smile. "Females' on the right, males' on the left. There's clean towels and everything."

The club gave scattered thank yous and wiped their faces and hands with the steaming washcloths, then made their ways to the restrooms the flight attendant had mentioned. Since Haruhi was the only girl, she had the whole bathroom to herself, and she could honestly say it was overwhelming (though, she was kind of used to such things).

First of all, it was huge. It was also very shiny. The female could practically see her reflection on the tiled floor. There were three stalls in the far corner, each with dark, wooden doors with silver handles. The sinks lined the wall with the stalls, fancy towels hanging between them, and a large mirror with a fancy, intricate frame hung on the wall across from them.

Just when she though it seemed too fancy for her tastes, she noticed a door on the other side of the sinks. Since it was clear glass, it was easy for her to realize it led to showers. Well, technically it was a small room with several showerheads, but Haruhi gathered rich people wouldn't shower in groups, and it was meant for one person.

She shook her head. "Rich people..." she muttered. "All this for a plane." She turned around, ready to completely forget the idea of a shower until she saw her reflection in the mirror.

Even thought she'd wiped her face, there were still patches of frosting scattered across her cheeks and forehead. Her hair was sticking up at ridiculous angles, and she realized she'd have to wash it when she tried to run her hand through it. She sighed. First time for everything, right? Not everyone could say they've showered on a plane. Or that the possibility was even available to them. And with that, she placed her clothes on the available counter under the mirrors and took her airline shower.

About half an hour later, the male portion of the Host Club were tapping their toes in the now clean (well, in the process of being clean) cabin, waiting for Haruhi.

Tamaki was fretting, as usual. "What if she slipped and hit her head? What if she drowned?"

"You're overreacting, boss," the twins said, leaning on a wall, their expressions clearly bored.

"Yeah, she's just female and slow. It's a conversation we have often." Sonic had his head to the side, trying to get water out of his ear. The sink had sprayed him with more force than he felt necessary.

"Maybe we should check on her!" And with that idea planted in his brain, His Majesty headed for the girls' bathroom. Before anyone could blink, Sonic appeared before him.

"You won't be wanting to do that. Believe me. Girls are very touchy about their alone time."

"Actually-" Hikaru said.

"-He might," Kaoru finished, and the brothers snickered.

"It's only natural for a daddy to want to make sure his daughter's safe!" Tamaki defended, jabbing a finger in the twins' faces.

The red heads shrugged. "Sure, boss."

When Haruhi did enter the cabin, all eyes were on her. She looked a little confused, considering she was wearing a cute little mini skirt opposed to her usual shorts and an actual girly top opposed to a t-shirt. "My dad repacked my bags again," she muttered, tugging at her collar.

"Go, dad!" The twins grinned at each other and gave a mirrored thumbs up.

"Haru-chan! You look so cute!" Honey nearly shouted as he bounded to her and jumped into her arms.

"My little darling's so adorable..." Tamaki cried to himself.

"I hafta agree, you clean up nicely." Sonic paused. "I guess you could say 'girl' up."

Haruhi patted Honey's head without really noticing what she was doing. "Er... thanks."

"In case you've all forgotten, America's right outside," Kyoya said from his seat.

"Of course!" Tamaki emphasized his excitement by pounding his fist in his palm. "A new adventure, everyone! Let's go!" And with that, he rushed to the exit, grabbing Haruhi by the wrist on his way.

"'New adventure'?" Knuckles grunted.

"Don't be such a buzz kill, Knucklehead. Learn to have a little fun!" Sonic slapped the echidna's back, with probably more force than was necessary, and rushed away.

The red mole's irritation rose, but let it drop. He'd get him back, he assured himself. That being so, he stepped off the plane, prepping himself for this "adventure".

Holy cow, that was lenghty, wasn't it? But I guess that can be your reward for waiting so long for a new chapter XD BTW! We (meaning me and Kassehface) made a seperate fic that's gonna soon be filled with short stories from this fic! You should read and review that too! REVIEW FOR THIS CHAPTER! You don't even need an account all you poeple out there who I KNOW read this! ;) Just click review!