It was an interesting story. A scientist that wanted to play god only to have his creation backfire on him. All because of one mistake. Mr. Okami even pulled up old clips of the movie's interpretation of the horror story. From what the wolf said the author had been inspired by the creatures of legend, the Ainara. It's said they were shapeshifters or amalgamations of different animals. Though from his history class two weeks ago, there were findings a couple of years ago believing it to be proof that these creatures existed at one point. Either way, movements of the chimera of dead body parts, human, mobian, and seedrian, were slightly disturbing, to say the least.

Though the lesson did intrigue him, Sonic couldn't help but be curious about the new student. It would be hard to ignore the tingling that traveled up his back whenever he glanced in the other hedgehog's direction. It was getting quite uncomfortable though. 'I'll need to talk to Tails before I jump to any conclusions. I'm lucky to have Bio with him, though I might have to tell him when Amy's not around.' He thought as he became jittery with excitement.

It wasn't just his mark's reaction to Shadow that made him intrigued. There was something about his last name that also hit Sonic with a sense of familiarity. 'Robotnik' he had heard it before, Sonic was sure of that. 'But from where?'

"Alright, that is all for today. I hope the rest of your day will be good." Mr. Okami dismissed everyone as class reached its end.

The shuffling of papers, bags, and conversation filled the room upon the dismissal. Sonic was out of the room within a minute. Taking his time to the first floor and out of the building. Learning from the incident earlier, he was more aware of his surroundings.

At least he was aware before a hand grabs his shoulder. A shock ran up his back, though the blue hedgehog made no indication of his mark affecting him. Crimson eyes locked on emerald ones. To his surprise, the gloved hand belonged to the hedgehog responsible for Sonic's upbeat feeling.

"You're Sonic right?" Shadow asked in his velvety voice.

"Yeah, that's me." The blue hedgehog said in a cheery tone, before giving an embarrassed smile as he turns to face Shadow. "Oh..uh...Sorry about earlier."

The other shakes his head. "It's fine. I should have been paying more attention while closing the door." Despite his tone, Shadow's facial features didn't change from his scowl, like he was in some never-ending frustration and boredom.

Sonic chuckles awkwardly. "Still I should've kept an eye on my surroundings. I probably would have seen you and given you a heads-up then." He then looked at the other quizzically. "Did you need anything?"

"Yes actually. You see, my transfer was a sudden one, so I didn't have the time to tour around the school." His gaze ran across the campus grounds, seemingly hopping from building to building. "Though with the school as it is, I probably would have gotten lost anyway." He looked back at Sonic. "Could you help me find my next class?"

"Sure, which build is it in?"

"Tillandsia Cyanea, room 607."

The blue hedgehog smiles confidently. "You're in luck! I'm heading there right now. Heck, I'm a few rooms down from you." He turned his back to the striped hedgehog and began walking forward. His gloved hand motioned for the other to follow. "Just follow me."

The two hedgehogs made their way along the concrete path and down the hill. Not liking the silence, Sonic thought some small talk was needed.
"So, Shadow right?" With a nod from the other Sonic continued. "What school did you attend before coming here?"

Red eyes glanced at him as they continue to walk forward. "Thorndyke College in Station Square."

'The Human city? Neet.' Sonic thought quickly as he made it to the building. "That's pretty far from here. So how do you like it here in Mobotropolis."

"Don't know," the other shrugged. "I arrived at the hotel yesterday night, but I'll be moving into the dorm today. I do favor my previous home fondly, so we'll see."

"Well, that's good. Do you know which dorm you're booking in?" Sonic mentally crossed his fingers. 'Please be my dorm.'

"Birch Hall. Though I don't know the dorm number yet."

Emerald eyes lit up with excitement. "Great! That's the same dorm I'm in. Maybe I can help you settle in after school's done." Then he paused and looked up to the sky, suddenly remembering something crucial. "No wait, I have practice after my last class." He looked to Shadow again. "After practice, I'll help!"

"Sure."

'Nice!'

"What's the practice for?"

"Track. I do the four hundred meter dash and Hurdles." Sonic said with pride.

It was then a curious question popped into Sonic's mind. "If you don't mind me asking what made you transfer here if you liked Station Square so much?" The blue hedgehog opened the door allowing Shadow to walk in.

Red eyes faced forward again as the ebony hedgehog entered the building. Sonic followed after him. Shadow seemed to take in a deep breath. Sonic was almost concerned he annoyed the other again with his constant prodding.

"A need for change." He simply said as they made their way to the staircase.

Sonic paused, not expecting that answer out of the transfer student if any at all. He smirked putting a hop in his step to catch up with the other. "I feel that."

They continued up the stairs in silence and onto the 3rd floor. Sonic stopped at a room numbered 607.

"Well here's your stop." He smirked with his hands on his hips. He moved his head back gesturing further down the hall. "I'm a few rooms down in case you need another tour."

Shadow gave the other a nod. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks."

"No problem!" The blue hedgehog said as he skipped gleefully down the hall. He turns back and waves his hand. "See you later then!"
Shadow returned the gesture with his own wave, though not as enthusiastic as the other. They both enter their classrooms.

The cobalt hedgehog walked into his classroom with barely contained excitement. Ready to spew his morning to a certain two-tailed fox. He scanned the room to find his friend in the usual front corner of the room, along with a pink hedgehog behind him. Both are in the same school uniform. Though the pink hedgehog wore a skirt with a lime green tie to match her hair bow and the fox wore a dark blue tie. Sonic looked at the clock above the whiteboard. '10 minutes until class starts.'

Unlike high school on a college campus, the subject-based buildings are a bit of a walk away from each other. Never took longer than a 7-minute walk and the extra time was for lounging or a food stop. It means Sonic had enough time to grab the yellow-orange fox away from Amy and run to a secluded place to give Tails the rundown.
Plan set in motion, Sonic approached the two with a welcoming smile. "Hey, guys!"

The pinkette was the first to respond her smile wild with joy. "Sonic!"

She lunged at him and Sonic braced himself for the upcoming bear hug. "Oof, nice…to see...you to…Amy." He grunts. She nearly threw him off balance this time. Despite being a year younger, she was definitely stronger. 'Not stronger than Knux though.' The blue hedgehog mentally smirked.

A small chuckle could be heard behind Amy. Emerald eyes slightly narrow at the fox. 'Traitor.'

"Good morning Sonic." Noticing the other's stare, Tails stuck his tongue out at Sonic. Sonic returned the young fox's playful gesture with one of his own. Though he had to stop said gesture when Amy pulled back from her hug.

"How was your morning?" Lime eyes gaze at Sonic with excitement, her hands taking hold of his.

Sonic slips his hands out of her grip, one retreats to his head the other to his hip. "It's been a pretty eventful morning. Nearly came late and basically tackled someone. But other than that, it's been pretty good. How about you guys?"

"Boring but the weather's been nice," Amy said.

"Speak for yourself, I finished drawing some neet blueprints for some projects I've been wanting to do." Tails brought out his sketchbook full of supplies with a smile on his face.
A light bulb lit up in Sonic's head. "Actually, that reminds me, Uncle Chuck wanted me to tell you he wants you to help him with a new project."

The vulpine's deep blue eyes light up. "Really, what is it?"

The blue hedgehog brought a finger to his lips and gave the excited fox a wink. "Well, it's a secrete. I can tell you later, but if you wanna know now, we can talk in the bathroom."

The fox then looked at him quizzically, apparently, he got the inkling that something was amiss with the older boy. Nonetheless, he gave Sonic a warm smile. "Sure, lead the way!"

"Make sure to come back before class starts." Amy hallowed at the two as they made their way out of the room.

"Will do Ames." Sonic calls back.


Once in the boys' restroom, the blue hedgehog checked the stalls for absolute privacy. 'Can't have crappy rumors floating around.'

It's then the young fox asked the question. "Is this really about Uncle Chuck's new invention design?"

When finished dubbing the bathroom as clear Sonic turn to Tails and answered. "Well…yes and no." At the fox's confused expression Sonic continued. "See Uncle Chuck did tell me to tell you about his new project and I really wanted to tell you but…"

At this Sonic witnessed a light bulb click on in his friend's mind. Blue ears flopped down as the hedgehog's cheeks went red in embarrassment.

"And that's when you had your irregular cycle and were absent last week." Tails concluded.

"Yeah, my heat really sucks I know." The other boy mumbles. He then waves his hand dismissively, showing the fox he wanted didn't want to talk about more than he had to. "Anyway, yeah I didn't come here to talk about Uncle Chuck's inventions, but he is making a mini plane that should travel long distances faster than any regular plane."

The fox pumped his fist in the air. "Yes! I can actually use some of my new designs for this!" Sapphire blue eyes then looked to Emerald green. "So what's the other important private thing that Amy shouldn't know about?"

"My mark reacted to someone!" Sonic exclaimed excitement fizzling out of him.

"Your mark…" The fox looked at him puzzled before it changed to uncertainty. "Wait your soul mark reacted to someone?!"

"Yes!"

Tails smiled widely at him. "That's great Sonic!" Then he became a bit nervous. "But just to make sure, can I see the mark? From my research, it should've changed a different color."

Sonic unconsciously flinched at the question as horrid memories were brought to mind. Before they consumed him he mentally shook himself. 'I'm not there.' He told himself. 'It's been ten years and I'm far away from that island. Everything is fine.'

"Yeah, no problem." Sonic masked what last bit of trauma hadn't cleared his mind, hoping the fox wouldn't notice. The hedgehog turned his back to the fox and lifted the back of his shirt to reveal his soul mark.

He always found it odd as the floral design didn't seem to fit his personality. This Mark was in the shape of an infinity sign. There was a large flower in the middle with leaves and two stems protruding from the sides. These stems would curl around the middle flower in opposing directions with three small tear-shaped jewels lined in the center of the curled stems on each side. They couldn't figure out what the gems were, but from the research, the flower in the middle was an edelweiss flower. The edelweiss flower was known to be white. Sonic was pretty anxious to know if his mark actually became bright with color or remained dark.

It was when he saw a bright light flash behind him that he returned from his thoughts.

"You can turn around now."

At Tails' cue, the hedgehog turned to face him. Sonic noticed a phone in the fox's hand. 'Did he take a picture? Why isn't he saying anything? Did I just get my hopes up? Did I pull an Amy?' His thoughts raced with doubt as the fox did not indicate the status of his mark. He masked this doubt as best as he could. "So?"

"Well…" Tails allowed the silence to drag on, before flipping his phone screen to Sonic with an excited smile. The phone displayed a photo of his lower back. The leaves and stems were luscious silver. The edelweiss flower-wasn't a flower at all but a golden start in the shape of one. It had 8 multicolored marble-like orbs in the center. The gems in the stems were a deep red with a purple tint. Maybe a garnet or a ruby? The hedgehog was so mesmerized by the photo he almost didn't Tails' next words.

"Congratulations on finding your soulmate Sonic!"

As if on cue, the alarm on Sonic's phone rang signaling class was about to start. Tails pulled the stunned hedgehog out of the bathroom. He barely acknowledged Tails' comment about telling him who his soulmate was later. He didn't look at Amy when she welcomed the back. Class started before she could talk with them more. He couldn't even wrap his head around the biology lecture. Though then again that was normal.

Sonic was a bundle of emotions and thoughts in a still body. The euphoria he had been experiencing last period was diminishing with the confirmation. Was he elastic at the revelation? Yes, but confused about the matter.

Soul marks are possible when two individuals have completely opposite energy signatures. The yin to the other's yan if you will. There are different names for this energy. Humans like to call it mana, Seedrians call it ki or chi, and mobians call it Chaos energy. This energy is defined as either the energy in one's body that allows one to perform a supernatural feat or the energy of the soul. Hence the term soul marks.

Normally a soul mark appeared when a pair come across each other. These chaos signatures finally intercept and merge. Both parties would feel it and be drawn to find the other. Once the first contact is made they are connected and that bond grows over time. Heck, he heard that pairs can anticipate each other's thoughts at times.

His situation was different. He knew that.

"Alright, now that concludes our first half of the lecture!" Mrs. Zorro announced bringing the hedgehog out of his thoughts. "Now for this part, you can choose to take notes, however, the lecture for the rest of the class will not be on a test." Using her computer, the human instructor then took the presentation off the board to replace it with another slideshow. The cover slide read 'A Quick Discussion on Soul Mates.'

'Well, that's convenient.' Sonic thought, not sure if he should feel amazed or weirded out by the coincidence.

"Now I know you guys were taught this in high school but it can't hurt to have a refresher. Besides all the science, health, or body-related classes were told to do this as well, and I just want to get this out of the way." She then smiled at the class. "Before we start what do you guys remember about soul mates?"

Well, he wasn't surprised to see that Amy was the first to answer, being the romantic she was. "A soulmate is someone who is the opposite of you and when you come together you become complete. Upon first contact with each other the mark representing your bond forms. The soul mark."

"Very good Ms. Rose. Though just to elaborate just because you are soulmates doesn't mean you should have a romantic, you can have a platonic relationship as well. If you did want a romantic relationship what should you be mindful of?"

A couple of hands sprung up and a random student was picked. He was a bear mobian with brown fur and a fluffy creme muzzle. "Well, imprints, but mostly heats."

Mrs. Zorro smiled. "What about imprints and heats?"

"When you are soulmates the pheromones from your heats will affect each other more so than if it wasn't your soulmate. But if you place a familial imprint on your soulmate when you both want a platonic relationship, your heat will no longer affect each other. It would be as if they were part of each other's immediate family, like say siblings." The bear explains, he thought for a moment before continuing. "If you want to have a romantic relationship then a partner imprint is placed. It won't affect your heats but it will 'shout out' to others that you are taken. A claiming mark does affect heat but that's when you're married. Familial Imprints, Partner Imprints, and Claiming marks can apply to non-soulmates but on a lesser scale."

The teacher nods at her student. "Aside from that in a romantic relationship you are 30% more likely to get pregnant than if you were to have your heat with someone who is not your soulmate. Just because you are with someone who isn't your soulmate, don't think nothing won't happen. You can still contract diseases and still get pregnant. And if you and your soulmate are the same genders, you will get pregnant. It wouldn't be until you spend your first heat with your same-sex soulmate and new sex organs are formed, but it still happens. So all and all if it's your soulmate you will get pregnant. If it's not your soulmate, you still have a chance of pregnancy if it's with the opposite sex. So unless any of you want a child while in college, don't be reckless, make sure you make wise decisions and .use some form of protection while you're at it."

Sonic had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. He appreciated the reminder, but they weren't horny teenagers anymore and at least half of the students had some common sense. 'Then again this lecture is probably for morons like Scourge. It's too bad he isn't taking any science of health classes this semester.' The blue hedgehog momentarily thought of his green-furred teammate before returning to the lecture.

The professor clicks on the presentation opening slide one. The title of the slide read 'A different kind of Soulmate' with it a picture of a tattoo-like marking. A marking that was brown and dead, much like his own mark was only mere hours ago. The cobalt hedgehog had an inkling of what today's topic will be and he didn't know whether to thank Chaos for this oddly specific coincidence or curse him. Sonic didn't miss the concerned look his younger brother gave him. The yellow fox seemed to notice where this lecture was headed. Despite their earlier conversation Tails knew the older mobian would still be uncomfortable with this topic. Sonic gave the other a confident smile, though with the frown on the younger's white muzzle the hedgehog knew Tails didn't buy it.

In all honesty, Sonic debated going to the bathroom so he wouldn't have to hear the lecture. But something told him not to. Maybe it was his stubborn nature or how he didn't want to worry anyone but he glued himself to the chair. A tiny part of him hoped at the very least this lecture will have something new. Something about himself that he hasn't researched yet. Sonic taps his finger in anticipation of his own hopeful mind and anxiety-stricken heart.

Mrs. Zorro spoke. "Now I'm not sure if any of you know of this but there have been instances of a person born with a soul mark." A murmur spread through the classroom, much of which was disbelief. "Now now I know it's hard to believe but there have been cases all over the globe on this phenomenon. Lucky for you guys research on these quote-on-quote birthmarks have amped up over the last 40 year! So we know way more than before." She thought for a moment before asking. "Does anyone want to guess why these birthmarks happen?"

There was hesitancy in the air and no one seemed willing to come forth. The human sighed but decided to explain it herself rather than select a random student. "Well from what we've gathered over the years those with birthmarks are born with a broken bond. Throughout history, there have been superstitions of bad omens or curses revolving around those born with marks." Sonic bit his lip at that tib bit of information, it brought up some welcomed memories. He stops upon her next statement. "But that is not the case."

She then moves to the next slide which showed a picture of two stick figures with labels A and B above them. 'Character A' was female and 'Character B' was male they appeared to bump into each other. "In simple terms, birthmarks are those with the exact same chaos signature to a deceased pair. The pattern that has appeared within birthmarks is such."

She points to the picture. "Say A and B meet for the first time and find out they are soulmates. They get to know each other over time and establish a romantic or platonic relationship. Keep in mind that the younger A and B are the more likely a birthmark will appear." She clicks the keyboard again and changes slides once more. This time it showed A crying and B with x's over his eyes, a clear sign that he died. "Say within a year or two, B dies. Whether from an accident, sickness, or he was killed B involuntarily left A alone in the world. With this broken bond A's mark discovers signaling a broken bond. If she wishes to close the empty bond, which most do, her mark will become brown. They don't have to be brown though."

She moves to the next slide. At the top read '10 years later' with a stick figure child labeled C. It shows C growing up and A and C bumping into each other. A looking much older. "Many years later a child is born with the same mark as A and with the same chaos signature as B. Despite both C and A sharing the same mark, they aren't connected. The bond will remain broken until C and A meet up which will color the marks once more. C will feel the bond, however, A closed off the bond so she would notice the new connection until she open the bond again." This made the hedgehog stop tapping his finger.

He'd forgotten about that. 'Could that be the reason Shadow didn't react as I did? It didn't seem like he felt what I was feeling, or was just he good at acting? You would usually feel the bond immediately, right?' Sonic began to bounce his knee.

'Was my mark even reacting to Shadow? …Was it reacting to someone else?'

'No, it flared up when I looked at him, more so when he touched my shoulder. It has to be him.' He bounced his knee faster. 'So Shadow might have closed the bond. But other things don't make sense. His age for one.' By all means, Sonic was glad his soulmate wasn't as old as his uncle, but it didn't fit the pattern. Birthmarks were usually decades younger than their soulmate. 'But Shadow looked to be my age or maybe two years older than me.' It was weird.

"Now that we've covered this," She then went to the next slide of the projected slideshow. "This is a small documentary regarding one such event. Here you'll witness one of the newer case studies." She played the video on the slide.

Sonic was expecting one of the studies he, Tails, and his uncle looked at. But it was different. The opening scene showed 2 human babies in a maternity ward. From the soft pink blankets, they were girls. Cute and precious.

The camera feed was older looking than today's cameras. Then the person behind the camera and someone else took hold of the younglings' hands and presented them to the camera. Both hands showed the same mark. It appeared to be a clock with two knives as its 'hands'. Each knife had a red 'X' on it. They were interesting marks and no one but Chaos would know what they truly meant. How lucky they were to be born in the same hospital.

What came after brought the class to frown. About 3 months later one of the girls and their family went on a trip. Only for their plane to crash due to a storm. No survivors.

About 3 years later a male mobian crocodile hatched in the same hospital. One of the staff recognized the mark even in its dead state. With permission, they took pictures and contacted The Department of Soul Mark Research and Development for documentation of this rare incident.

They brought the newborn and the 3-year-old together a few months later. The marks came back to life instantly.

Sonic smiled at that, and so did most of the class. The document continued to show the pair growing up to be in their teens. They interviewed the pair, the date showing it took place a few months ago.

"Nikaido, do you remember how you felt before you met Kaiman," The reporter asked the human girl, she was 17 now.

The young blond nodded. "Yeah, it wasn't good. I never felt full, even when I ate. I remember looking at my mark and thinking 'why is my mark not at bright as my parents?' And maybe my mark had to do with my emptiness. So I decided to ignore the mark, I didn't feel empty anymore." She shakes her head. "But I didn't feel full either."

Then she looked at the 15-year-old mobian croc, who was on his phone next to her. He seemed bored during the interview. She smiled and then frowned. "When I first met Kaiman even though my mark colored I didn't feel anything. I didn't even notice until I went home that my mark was bright. I asked my parents why it happened and they told me everything." Her eyes started to water as she sniffled. "I didn't open the link until I was 11 and I always felt bad for not accepting Kaiman sooner." The young girl began to cry.

Alerted to the cries the croc looked up to the girl finally entering the conversation. "Nikaido what's wrong?" He said alarmed, then looked at the reporter. "Hey! What did you do to Nikaido?"

The girl suddenly hugged the croc, surprising him. "I'm okay Kaiman, I'm just really glad to be your partner!" She laughed and the Croc blushes a bit.
The video soon concluded with a summary of the findings and the teacher brought everyone's attention to her.

"As you saw in this newer case study, this is how those born with marks work. However, even among the born marks this situation is rare. Normally they aren't so close in age, though it seems Chaos has given this pair great luck." She then smiles at the class. "Now we are almost out of time but I do hope you guys archive this information. Have an amazing day!" She exclaims, signaling the end of class. Students stood from their desks making their way out.

Mrs. Zorro called the class. "Oh! And make sure to read chapter 8 in the textbook as there will be a quiz!"

The blue hedgehog didn't groan with the rest of the class. As he put his books away, his thoughts raced with renewed vigor. The video had solidified some theories on his situation, now whether or not they applied to Shadow was a different question altogether. He still had some doubts about the other hedgehog being his soulmate. Sonic decided not to tell the ebony hedgehog anything until he was certain the other was his soulmate.

Sonic tossed his bag over his shoulder and walked cheerfully toward the two-tailed fox and pink hedgehog waiting for him by the door. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Amy shrugged, "It's fine, now let's go grab some lunch." She then eyed the blue hedgehog with a look that sent a nervous shiver down Sonic's spine. "Maybe you can make up for all the dates you missed."

A groan slipped from Sonic's lips. "Amy for the last time we aren't dating." He loved Amy, he really did, but it was more familial love than romance. Nothing more than that. She had gotten better, way better than when they first met. Although stuff like this did pop up every once in a while.

She pouted then stuck her tongue at him. "Then for all the hangouts, you missed mister."

Sonic paused. Tails laughed. "She's got yah there.'' The fox walked out the door and the two hedgehogs follow.

The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes. "Fine, but we'll have to eat on campus. I'm running low on off-campus money."

Tails looked back at him with amused frustration. "Don't tell me you're wasting it on chilly dogs again."

Sonic winced. "Not this time I swear." At Amy and Tails' scrutinizing glares Sonic nervously continues. "At least not all of it, I have been trying to eat healthier."

"Yeah yeah, you said that last year." Tails commented and Amy nodded at the statement.

The blue hedgehog glared at the two in front of him, then huffed and looked elsewhere. He realized they were nearing room 607, Shadow's class. From what he remembered this was an advanced biology class. 'He must be pretty good to be in that class.'

A streak of black crossed his vision as a certain ebony hedgehog made his way out of the classroom. He turned to the staircase and before Sonic could stop himself he yelled. "Hey, Shadow!" The blue hedgehog will admit he was a bit too excited calling out to the other, he'll blame the sudden flare-up his mark gave him for that.

Amy gave him a slightly surprised look while Tails analyzed him, perhaps already connecting the dots. The other hedgehog's ear twitched and he turned around as the group caught up to him. "Hello, Sonic."

Sonic gave the other a warm smile. "So, how was class?"

"It was fine, it might be easier to catch up than I first thought it would be." He said with what was now the usual scowl.

"Well, that's good."

"Ahem."

Sonic looked to the yellow fox then chuckled at the other's folded ears and frown. "Sorry, buddy." His eyes trailed back to Shadow then gestured to his friends. "Shadow, this is Amy Rose and Myles Prowler but we call him Tails. They're my friends."

"Cough cough, girlfriend, cough cough," Amy said cheekily as she pretends to cough in her gloved fist.

Sonic followed her childishness with his own. "Cough cough, no your not, cough cough."

She glared at him and smiled. "Oh really?"

He glared right back. "Yes really."

"Anyway," Tails interrupted bringing the two out of their playful banter. He stuck his hand out to the darker hedgehog. "It's a pleasure you Shadow, uh?"

"Robotnik, Shadow Robotnik." Shadow stated as he took the fox's hand and shook it.

"Robotnik." Tails repeated with a smile before Sonic saw shock envelope the younger mobian's features. "Robotnik! As in Rouge's cousin?!"

"Cousin?" Sonic and Amy questioned at the same time.

Shadow rubbed at his ear, he seemed slightly irradiated at the fox's shout. "You know Rouge Robotnik?"

Amy's face lit up as she recalled something. "Right she said you would be attending classes this week."

Sonic raised an eyebrow at her. "She did? When?"

"It was last week, oh but you weren't there," Amy answered.

Sonic rubbed his quills. "I see." 'We that explains why his last name was so familiar.'

"We were actually on our way to get some food. If you don't have another class soon, do you want to join us?" Tails suddenly asked.

Shadow blinked a few times seemingly just as surprised as Sonic and Amy by the invitation. The blue hedgehog gave the fox a pointed look and the other returned it with a knowing smile. Sonic could almost read the other's thoughts and couldn't help but blush. 'I want to know what type of person my future brother-in-law is.' Tails' deep blue eyes seem to say.

Shadow took a few moments to think about the fox's offer. "Sure."

"Great! How about we go to the Redwood Cafeteria." The fox said as he made his way to the stairs.

Sonic walked towards the fox. "Hey, what about the Silverbell Cafeteria?" Sonic complained.

"No, because I know you'll order a dozen chilly dogs there." Tails swiftly stated.

Sonic went to say something to refute Tails' claim but stopped in defeat. "Yeah, you're right." Then he gives the other a mischievous smirk. "But that's if you don't catch me first!" He then proceeds to dash down the stairs.

"Oh no, you don't!" The fox runs after the hedgehog with a smile on his face.

Shadow looked quizzically at where the two had previously been, then at the pink hedgehog next to him. She just shrugs, "Boys," was all she said as she jogs to the stairs. For a moment the ebony hedgehog wonders if he was right to accept the invitation. He resolves to follow the trio before he loses them.