Mostly a fill-in chapter, this. More Sonic and Shadow action in the next. This is…pretty short. Partially because of stupid writer's block and moving and selling houses and other random stuff that's too stupid to mention and should not exist in the world anyway but it does and you should go read the chapter.

Chapter 12: Problem

Sonic almost died when Knuckles got thrown off of his horse and faceplanted into the ground. Of laughter, of course.

No, no, they didn't get horses into the hotel. They went horse riding at a place near Sapporo called Mustang's Town. They all got up at around six in the morning, since the car ride getting them there would take roughly two hours. They've kind of gotten into the habits of sleeping early and waking early, so there were no hard times of waking up in the morning this time.

"Shut up before I kick your face in the ground as well," said Knuckles as he lifted his scrunched face from the dented ground and threw a burning glare at the hedgehog howling with laughter. Then, he turned towards the horse that threw him off and narrowed his eyes as he got up and dusted himself off. Pssh. Horses. Always horsing around. (A/N: I'm sorry you had to read that.)

Snickering a few feet away, Silver shook his head and waved his hand to the rest of the group as he galloped after Blaze on his ebony horse. "Blaze and I are gonna go on this route while you guys settle. See you guys later!" With that, he turned around and caught up with the cat while he did a 360, turning his horse in a circle to see the scenery around him.

Shortly after, Rouge finally climbed onto her ivory horse with its beautiful washed out blonde mane, all dressed up in clothes that is actually not extravagant for once, ready with her plain tank top and tall leather boots. She came next to Amy and nudged her with her elbow, nodding to another route with a row of flowers beside the whole road. "Me and Pinky Girl here's gonna put on some naturale perfume and do some girl-bonding. Buh-bye~" Nobody objected as they disappeared down the road, taking their own sweet time.

By this time, the only guys left were two supersonic hedgehogs, a fox that flies with his butt and an echidna without fingers… (A/N: I am not sorry.)

They shrugged and took the route right in front of them which had a shallow creak cutting the field in half, fences lining the borders to mark the route. At first, the four rode in a row next to each other, but as they went on, it became obvious that Shadow had taken the lead, Sonic second, his brother next to him, and Knuckles—of course—last, still having trouble with his horse.

"Did you know that horses can see at almost 360 degrees at one time?"

"Huh, that's cool."

"Also, they have better memories than elephants."

"...Why elephants?"

"Dunno. It must just be more complex though, because their teeth take up more space than their brain."

"Tails, why do you even know this?"

"Reading?"

"...Right."

By this time, Sonic had lost interest in the little Fun-Fact-Spilling-Machine-That's-Also-Called-Tails. Emerald orbs reflecting a dark creature against a bright blue sky ran over the red streaks and the neutral expression the creature held that masked the boredom and fascination of the nature around him, sealing off his mind full of questions and ponderings from others. It was obvious that he was thinking about something, but he wasn't giving any clues of what.

Without saying a single word over the course of time they got on the horses, Shadow had eventually taken a huge lead from the others and had gone from their sights. Sonic, finally giving in to his curiosity, muttered a "Oy, that Faker's at it again with his anti-social business. Meet you guys back at the hotel later" and took off to catch up with his counterpart.

The blue hedgehog sighed and arched his back to stretch for the time being, cracking his spine and breathing out in relief from finally relaxing after being so tense on the horse. Shadow, Shadow, Shadow...I'm gonna become your little problem.

XXX

While the hero chased down his troublesome friend, it's time to start complaining again.

"Silver, are we done?"

"Why, tired so soon?"

"No, I'd just much prefer to walk on my own feet than another four."

"Sooooo your butt hurts."

"...Is it just me or is Sonic running?"

"He's always running."

"Yeah, but with his feet."

"...Blaze, seriously?"

"Yes, are we done or not?"

"Nooo. So hey, what's one thing that you think about Sonic?-besides the fact that he runs with his feet?"

"Doesn't he have feelings for Shadow?"

"Pfft, yeah he-wait, how'd you know? I mean-why do you think so, haha...ha..."

"It was obvious enough."

"...You did not figure that out."

"Fine, you're right. You talk in your sleep loud and often enough, so."

"...Okay let's pretend you figured it out alright we can get off the horse now."