(The original chapter was called "N-n-n-negative!" However, since that was in reference to the first paragraph or so that I took out due to it being Vocaloid-related, I renamed the chapter to "Tests and Soup". "_s and _s" is my default title. You see, I have a strict policy against Honest talking about Vocaloid in this story. Just because there are Hatsune Miku games by Sega doesn't mean that Vocaloid as a whole is okay to talk about in Sonic fan fictions. And yet, Honest keeps on talking about it like everyone can understand it. So, in this version of the story, I am removing those parts.)

The day was December 19th, 2016.

Finally the bell rang and Honest raced up the stairs and down the hall towards her next class. Her heart began pumping fast. She really didn't want to encounter her senpai today. Today was going to be a good day. Encountering the green, bird-brained racer would ruin the hope Honest had. Sure she "liked" her senpai, but he was everywhere she turned, and Honest didn't appreciate melting like Mephiles every time she saw him.

She skid through the door with a horrifying screech. Honest really wanted to get through with this test so she could go home and start creating her new non-Sonic character which was still to be named. She sat down at her desk and waited for the test to be passed out. Honest would finish the test at lightning speed, not get a good grade but not care, and pick up her notebook to draw pictures of the character to be named and of her and Shadow, whom she wished was with her at the moment. He was on the other side of the room, scribbling down answers without any care as to what his grade would be. Shadow was extremely smart. Honest wished he would take his grades more seriously, but there was no convincing him to do anything he didn't already want to do.

While the drawing of the to-be-named character was just floating in the middle of nowhere, the several, small pictures of Honest and Shadow sat below it on stable ground. Honest was in a dream-like state as she drew this.

When the bell rang, Honest sprinted towards the office, where she would check herself out and travel home. Shadow followed after her silently. Honest scribbled their names into a blank on the sheet of paper at the counter and waved good-bye to the people in the office. The people there knew her well because she was always showing up to school late in the morning. In fact, her tardies were what caused her to have to take semester tests.

Shadow skated slowly down the streets with Honest being pulled along behind him. Shadow had saved money to buy Honest a pair of lavender roller skates so that she could keep up with him, but Honest wasn't very good at skating yet and kept falling down. So, Honest strapped on her skates and was pulled along by Shadow all the way home. (Yeah, we decided that if it became too much of a problem, we would take the bus. And we did later on, but not in this story.)

Eventually Honest and Shadow had reached Snow's house. Sonic had to take all eight of his tests minus the one period he had athletics, so he wouldn't be home until two o'clock. Honest and Shadow both only had to take two tests: biology and geometry. The only reason they had to take the tests was the days they missed. It wasn't like Honest and Shadow could help it when one of them was sick.

Anyway, less arguing about the public school system and more about what they would have for lunch.

"Burrito!" "Soup!" "Burrito!" "Soup!" Eventually the two of them were sitting in front of their TV, watching the newest episode of Sonic Boom and eating soup.

It seemed to Honest that arguments between the two of them have gotten a lot less common. When there were arguments, however, one of them eventually surrenders, like Honest had done just then with giving up her burrito.

The sound of shoes on sidewalk echoes through the air. The sun is blotted out by clouds and the air is cold. It is January the second. The concrete underfoot is dark with moisture. A girl is tugging a boy down a street. Cars roll past them slowly. Thunder is heard in the distance. Suddenly there is a downpour of rain. The girl and boy speed up and disappear into a nearby convenience store.

There is a man at the counter wearing a white button-up shirt and seeming to be well into his sixties or seventies. He sees the two unlikely visitors and waves. The girl waves back and asks the boy to do the same. He reluctantly lifts his hand. The man at the counter, a lone store owner, smiles back. The boy pulls the girl to the drink coolers in the back.

"I'm thirsty," says the girl. "I wish I had money."

The boy looks around. "We could steal some... no. The old man would see us."

The girl shakes her head. "And this is why I brought you along, because you'll make me laugh. Please don't."

"No, no. The man would see us." The girl just snorts. She then smashed her face into the drink cooler. "I'm still thirsty-"

"Hey." The girl and the boy turn around to see the man at the counter holding two small, golden rings. "I could buy you each something if you want."

The girl's eyes lit up. "Really?"

The boy beside her lifts his eyebrows a tiny bit. He then skates over to the counter. "I mistook you, old man. Thanks so much."

Meanwhile the girl is scanning the shelves for her drink. She chooses a fizzy green-colored soda with a picture of a mountain on front. She gets the same for the boy. When she runs up to the counter where the boy and the store owner are, the boy looks at her with a questioning glare. "Why would you think I like that kind of soda?"

"Come on! Let's be twinzies!" the girl exclaims, holding the soda bottle in front of him.

"Mph, fine."

The girl and boy leave the store now that the rain had stopped. They run along the sidewalk and eventually end up at a gravel road. They then travel down the road towards the house where they are staying.

(I did it! A whole scene without mentioning the names of the characters! :3)

(I can tell my writing was getting better just by the fact that I even attempted to do that.)