Redrover65912: Awe. Well thank you and if you like Haruhi and Hikaru I'm sure you'll LOVE this chapter ;)
Forsaken Avenger: I personally love those little moments between Sonic and Tails :D Guess what? There's more HikaruxHaruhi in this chappie! Enjoy.
TG101:YES! Amy haters ftw XD I love Team Sonic. The end :P As for the devilish trio, what do you expect putting people like that together? Nothing but fun, that's what ;P
kassehface: Get a life woman :P And while you're at it continue with the masterpiece, would'ja? Everyone loves those two together XD
Tenten628: Your senses are sharp cause there's more to come! Who knows? Maybe something AMAZING will happen ;)
NXT4eva: That poor, little minute. Glad you love it despite the confused timing…thing XD Hmm….Well bonding with nine guys (three of which are a different species) and one girl would LOOK dirty to XD XD XD
Shadowonground: Yes. Poor, poor Tamaki. How will he ever survive? After all it's not like he's a moron or anything :P
Sotorohenge: Everyone keeps saying that :'D I see flaws in the characters but I'm just a tad strange so it's normal J Yes. I love the idea of Knuckles and Kyoya being 'buddies' (and not just 'cause they're my favourite characters :P)
Lol: You're name is so easy to remember XD I dunno, bonding might just pull through for this odd bunch. Or not. Either way you'll have to read to find out :P
Tamafanowo: Kyoya and Knuckles just plain rule. End of discussion :D
Super Shadowsonic: I'm so very glad you like it so far. Trust me more will come and I hope you enjoy it all J
The next morning, Haruhi woke from the sun shining in her face. She sighed and rubbed her eyes as she sat up in her bed. She couldn't remember getting there; all she could conjure up was the thunder, and she shuddered. Whatever happened last night was shadowed by her absolute terror.
She got out of her bed and walked toward the window that took up most of the wall.. She gazed over the ocean and watched the waves crash over each other and wash over the beach countless times. A smile came over her as she placed a hand on the window and felt the sun's warmth seep through. Today would be a good day, and she knew it. She changed clothes and practically skipped down the stairs to the dining room where everyone was already waiting for her, munching on random, expensive assorted goodies.
"Good morning, Haruhi!" Tamaki exploded joyfully as she walked in. "It's such a beautiful day! And I've decided we're all spending it together." Before the twins could protest, which everyone knew was coming, he added finally. "Whether you like it or not." He shot a glance at the red-haired duo and the blue hedgehog between them. They all seemed to pout and cross their arms simultaneously, which Haruhi found almost scary. They were too much alike.
"Tamaki, what're we all doing today?" Honey asked loudly, waving the bite of cake he had at the end of his fork.
"Well! I figured we could all spend some bonding time on the beach!" Tamaki grinned widely, his arms outstretched toward the window facing the ocean.
Haruhi rolled her eyes but the twins beat her to the punch. "Wow, boss, you think of that all by yourself?" Tamaki didn't respond. In fact, he didn't seem moved at all, his grin plastered on his face.
Kyoya stood up and patted his mouth with his napkin, then walked towards the door. "You heard him, everyone. Quality time. In the meantime..." And with that he left. Haruhi watched him go then stared out the window. She just wanted to walk along the beach today, nothing fancy. She should've known by now that 'fancy' should be considered part of her life whenever she was around the host club. She sighed and nibbled aimlessly at her fancy eggs, not noticing the hedgehog's almost worried stare out the window or the echidna leaving the room silently. Neither wanted this "get to know each other day", though they had their different reasons.
At least Honey and Tails seemed excited. As they finished their 'fancy' breakfast the duo immediately began planning the day ahead, with the average addition by Tamaki which is why by the end of breakfast the plan consisted of: frolicking in the water for the majority of the time and if any time remained, building sand castles, volleyball and exploring the nearby caverns.
"What the heck is volleyball?" Sonic asked, quirking an eye ridge.
"Some pointless sport involving a ball and net," Hikaru explained, or at least he wanted to before common sense kicked in, and he glanced at Tamaki's expression of awe at the hedgehog's question and he settled for "you'll see."
"Alright!" Tamaki pumped a fist into the air. "Let's get started gang!"
It took every ounce of self-control the twins, and Sonic, had to not make some sound of protest as Tamaki practically forced them out the door, while yelling for Kyoya and his 'red shadow' to follow them, while Haruhi followed at her own pace (at least until Tamaki's shrill demand turned on her).
"Alright!" Tamaki turned to face the group, that he had forced into a rough police line-up. "All of us are going to participate and enjoy today! We can here to bond and we're going to do just that, even if it's the last thing we do!"
"To anyone else, bonding with anthropomorphic animals would be downright unusual." Haruhi muttered, not quite under her breath. "To the Host Club it's just typical."
"Funny you should say that Haruhi considering you're the only one here who hasn't interacted with our new found friends nearly as much as the rest of us," Tamaki eyed her quizzically. "Almost as if you were...afraid."
Haruhi rolled her eyes.
"That's no where near the reason," she shook her head, sounding boreder than ever. "We were just graced with the presence of a two-tailed fox, a hot-tempered..."
"Echidna." Knuckles filled in shortly.
"Echidna, and a blue hedgehog who runs on some limitless power supply, just a few weeks ago. To tell you the truth I'm not sure what to think of that, let alone how to act."
"Friendly might be an option," Hikaru suggested, and not so much sarcastically as a true fact. Last night's events still weren't entirely pushed to the back of his mind, and a part of him was hoping a certain hedgehog was good at keeping secrets.
Speaking of the spiny rodent, where was he?
"Wait a sec'!" Having realized the 'rodent's' absence just as Hikaru did. Tamaki looked around (even going as far as to spin in a complete circle), seeing no sign of the hedgehog h asked, "where'd Sonic go?"
Seen only to Honey, Knuckles and Tails looked at each other in the way of two people quite aware of the missing party's location in addition to the reason behind it.
It didn't matter much because the sudden rustle of the palm tree behind them soon informed everyone to the hedgehog's location.
"Sonic!" Tamaki's less-than-happy tones informed the small rebel he was endangering the 'bonding time' the club's leader had planned on.
"Hm?" Judging from the response Tamaki got the hedgehog wasn't going to be inclined to move anytime soon.
"Get down here and enjoy this time with us!" Tamaki demanded looking very much like he'd climb the tree's trunk and haul the rebel down himself.
"Yeah!" The twins agreed in unison, though they had identical, mischievous smiles pasted on their faces. "Get down here and suffer like the rest of us!"
"No thanks, " Sonic laid back, lacing his hands behind his head. "I'll just stay up here, catch some rays, swimming's never really been my thing to tell you the truth."
"Oh no you don't," Knuckles scowled up at the hedgehog (unfortunately the gesture was lost in the leaves). "You wanted to stay with these humans therefore you're going to damn well participate in every one of their pathetic bonding attempts."
"And I suppose you're going to make me, right Knucklehead?" Sonic said in a way that said it wasn't going to happen in a million years.
"Damn straight." Sonic heard him mutter and rolled over just enough to see the echidna pull back his fist, clearly aiming for the tree's defenseless trunk.
"Hey, wait!" Sonic snapped, and was surprised when Knuckles actually did (only to fix the hedgehog with a "give-me-a-good-reason-why-I-shouldn't-break-this-tree-like-a-toothpick" look). "Because, um..." Sonic thought for a quick moment. "Because acting on an angry impulse is something only a puggle would do."
The resulting laughter and coos of the Host Club told the hedgehog that wasn't the brightest thing to say.
"What's a puggle?" Honey asked, moving his head to one side.
"A baby." Tails explained briefly only to have Kyoya elaborate with, "a baby echidna."
"Hey, he said it, not me." Sonic raised his hands defensively as Knuckles shot him a killing glare.
"You're going to pay for that one, Maurice." The echidna spoke the last word so smoothly and with such a sly grin that Sonic would have enjoyed nothing more than slicing him in half by the simple means of spin dash.
"Okay, that was a low blow," Sonic grated.
Knuckles shrugged.
"True. So is this." Without stopping this time, the echidna drew his fist back and smashed the trunk into bits with no real amount of effort.
The hedgehog gave a yelp as he landed in the sand with a thud, the tree seemingly disintigrating around him. Knuckles raised an eye ridge as he crossed his arms. "Get of your ass," he nearly growled as Tamaki gave a look of absolute disbelief.
"Now, Knuckles," he started, trying to sound more mature then everyone knew was possible. "That is not what today is about. We're supposed to be nice to each other!"
"That was Knucklehead being 'nice,'" Sonic stated. "He didn't even try." He stood up and dusted his fur, avoiding everyone's gaze. Knuckles stood in the sun, arms crossed tightly as he stared out towards the ocean.
"It's true," Tails interrupted. "He could've done more damage to that tree then turning it to twigs." He picked one up off the ground by Sonic's feet and looked at it thoughtfully. "We've seen him do worst to cliffsides." The little fox said this like he was explaining the weather to someone incompetent. The majority of the club gave Knuckles worried glances. Personally, Haruhi couldn't believe the little echidna to do anything like what he just did to a cliff, but she also didn't want to find out the truth firsthand.
"Well, now that we're all on the beach, let's begin the bonding!" Tamaki raised his hands into the air and ran towards Knuckles who turned, confused to Tamaki's approaching figure. The blonde burst of energy grabbed his fist and continued galloping to the water. Haruhi furrowed her brow. Did Tamaki have short-term memory loss? Or maybe he was just an idiot.
Honey cheered, riding on Mori's shoulders, who ran into the water after the first two, Tails right above them, his namesakes spinning in a blur. Kyoya stayed where he was, showing no intention of moving, which was expected, no on wanted his notebook to get wet, for fear of the consequences. The twins chased Sonic to another tree. When the blue menace refused to come down of his own accord, the duo took to shaking the tree with no remorse, yelling at him all the while about how they were doing it for his own good.
Haruhi shook her head and sat in the shade, figuring no one would notice her absence from the chaos. She watched as Sonic fell (on his head, no doubt) and the twins appeared on both his sides, rising him from the elbows so his feet couldn't reach the ground. He flung his feet uselessly in the air as they all made their way to the water, the twins laughing triumphantly.
"No, really! Guys!" She heard Sonic cry when they made it to the water's edge, but nothing could stop the two brothers from tossing him in the commotion of Tamaki trying to keep Knuckles in the water.
Much like the effect of a row of dominos, the hedgehog slammed into Knuckles and the resulting momentum sent the echidna crashing into Tamaki, who slipped into Mori who unintentionally dropped Honey on Tails as the whole group fell over with a splash.
On the shore, safe from the soggy dog pile, Haruhi couldn't help but laugh as the group managed to stand up with no small amount of effort. Finding this event equally as hilarious, the twins busted into hysterics until the group managed to pull themselves ashore.
"Glad to see you're finally enjoying yourselves..." Knuckles said with dripping sarcasm as he attempted to sluice water off himself. "I sure hope it was worth giving your hedgehog buddy a heart attack."
To respond to the puzzled looks aimed his way, the echidna pointed to said hedgehog currently latched on to a more puzzled Mori (though he didn't show it), who was beginning to lose feeling in his leg.
"Whoa..." The twins looked at each other then turned back. "What's wrong with him?"
Knuckles folded his arms and resisted the urge to blurt out some never-ending list of the hedgehog's faults.
"Well let's stop and consider the fact that Sonic's a chronic hydrophobe for a second," the echidna said in the same tones. "What do you think is wrong?"
"Is he going to be okay?" Honey asked doubtfully, poking Sonic's arm (one of the four limbs wrapped around Mori's leg in a death grip) and found the hedgehog a complete brain-lock.
"He'll be okay..." Tails assured. "Once we snap him out of it, anyway..."
In truth this was often easier said then done, as both Knuckles and Tails knew too well, and it seemed to get more and more difficult every time it happened. Why it happened neither of them were quite sure of and had never bother to find out (or rather, they'd mention it and Sonic would downright ignore it).
"And how are we supposed to do that exactly?" Kaoru asked, tilting his head to one side.
"Anyone know the location of the nearest crowbar?" Knuckles raised an eye ridge.
"I don't think he would move even if we tried to pry him off..." Tamaki stated, eyeing the hedgehog's grip.
"Actually I was think more along the lines of hitting him with it," Knuckles informed then shook his head. "But you're probably right..."
"Maybe if we threw a glass of water in his face..." Hikaru suggested in such tones that no one could tell if he was serious or not.
"Don't cha think he's had enough water?" Tails questioned with a hint of annoyance. "Maybe we should just-"
The fox cut off as Mori abruptly reached down to rip the brain dead annoyance off his limb, that didn't so much as make a sound, lift him up by the scruff of his neck and raised him to eye level. Before anyone could protest, the silent giant drew his hand back and hit the hedgehog once across the face, not particularly hard but more than enough to be felt.
And it worked!
Sonic blinked once as Mori lowered him to his feet.
"I could have done that!" Knuckles exclaimed, looking accusingly at Mori, who just shrugged.
"We know you could've." Tamaki said, rather sourly as he rubbed his ear and made a mental note to not stand near the echidna during his 'angry time.'
"You just wanted to be picky and do it with a crowbar," Tails added slyly.
"Why didn't you tell us you didn't like the water?" Kaoru asked Sonic who shot him an incredulous look.
"What part of 'swimming not my thing' or 'no, really guys' didn't you understand?" The hedgehog said crossing his arms and ignoring the slight trepidation of his body.
The twins looked at each other.
"But that could have meant anything," they shrugged and Sonic rolled his eyes.
"Forget it." He held up a hand to mimic their shrug, then turned to Tamaki. "I can stay out of the water now, right?"
"Of course!" Tamaki made it sound like he didn't even need to ask. "I don't want you dying in some hydrophobic shock before the real fun starts! But you still have to stay were I can see you."
"Fine by me." Sonic said before zipping over to the same shady spot where Haruhi sat and laying down in the sand, hands behind his head and eyes closed, completely ignoring the female.
Haruhi shot the alien creature a quick glance, then went to mimicking his indifference, looking towards where everyone else was making their way back to the water. She smiled when she saw Tamaki yelling at Knuckles, the echidna's arms crossed, to get in.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when Sonic said her name. He didn't sound mad, which made her feel ridiculous, being scared by that. He sounded bored, if anything.
"Uh, yeah?" She replied without looking at him.
"Why are you here?" He kept his eyes closed, still reclined beside her.
Haruhi sighed. "You know why. Tamaki wants us to bon-"
"No, stupid." Sonic opened one eye and looked her way. "Here with...all these morons." He nodded his head toward the water where the club was splashing each other childishly. "You seem like you'd be smarter than that. And you're a girl. I mean, I enjoy cross-dressing as much as the next guy, but really?" He returned closing his eyes and assumed his sleeping position.
Haruhi looked from the hedgehog to her fellow club members and back again. Her answer wouldn't come quickly; sometimes she didn't know why she put herself through their madness. But then she would remember how much fun she would have, just sitting around and laughing with the guys, all the crazy adventures she'd been through with them, how she felt like they were, well, almost family.
It just felt right to say.
"That so?" Sonic raised his eye-ridges, but his eyes remained closed. "That's the only reason, is it?"
Haruhi gave his figure a confused look. "Well, yeah. They're all like brothers to me, and being an only child, I kinda like that."
Sonic scoffed. "Brothers?" He shook his head and muttered something she couldn't hear, then added, audibly, "You think someone smart as you wouldn't be so damn blind."
Haruhi glared at him. She was used to being called dense but this guy was just...infuriating.
"What about you, Mr. Genius? Agreeing to come to the beach where water scares the hell outta you." She couldn't help but tsk in his direction and look away, fuming. It was silent between them for a while, and the only sounds were Honey's giggling and water splashing.
Haruhi was just cooling off when the hedgehog spoke. "You want the truth?" he asked, almost mockingly.
"Naw. Lie to me." She turned to his direction, and saw his brow furrowed, gazing toward the water. He scoffed softly, a small smile on his lips.
"You should've heard that cub going on about it. Couldn't let the little guy down, could I?" He gave her a look of total sincerity, the smile genuine. Maybe Haruhi had this guy pegged all wrong.
She looked away, a little conflicted. "Oh," she muttered as she hugged her knees. She suddenly wanted to get up and walk around, even more than she did earlier.
It was quiet again, and Haruhi watched the little fox cub lift Honey into the air again, laughing openingly, zooming between everyone, and finally landing with a large splash. She smiled, seeing the two laugh together.
When she glanced back at the hedgehog, she couldn't tell if he was sleeping or just faking it. She found that a good excuse to keep her thoughts to herself.
Maybe these guys weren't so weird and different after all.
Still, Haruhi felt some ting of unnerve but she just assumed it came from not having any animals growing up (let alone ones that could talk), though she had wanted a cat when she was younger. She didn't know why exactly, she just found them to be adorable especially their ears.
Thinking back, she remembered how she first thought Sonic and the others were cats and felt a small grin spread on her face. She couldn't have been more wrong...At least when it can to Knuckles and Tails. Taking a second look she told herself she hadn't been too off with Sonic.
Before she realized what it was, a sudden urge to flick the hedgehog's ears took over her. In fact, the only thing that held her back was that she didn't want to wake him up, if he really was sleeping. Still, urge outweighed manners and she slowly inched over to the 'sleeping' mammal. He didn't move, didn't even twitch, as her hand drew ever closer.
Maybe he really is asleep...Haruhi thought, though it wasn't a surprise since sleeping, eating and running seemed to be all the hedgehog did. She paused briefly the figured what the heck and poked her nearest target, drawing back as it flicked back reflectively.
Still, Sonic did nothing, making Haruhi wonder if he had died or something but dismissed it because she could never be so lucky.
"Haruhi!" Tamaki's over excited shouting of her name made said female jump and take a deep breath to slow her pulse.
"What?" She called back in far less friendly tones.
Tamaki held up a white ball and waved it around wildly. "Come play with us! Stop being a lump!"
Haruhi groaned. While she didn't mind sports all that much it was a completely different story when the Host Club got into it. When that happened, the boys put slaughter to shame. It happened every time and Haruhi was willing to jump onto any chance she could find to avoid it.
She was just opening her mouth to shout some poor excuse when the twins appeared in front of her ad lifted her to her feet with ease.
"We're not letting you talk your way out of this one!" They chimed together dragging her towards the rest of the group, ignoring her protests.
"Alright!" Tamaki cheered, grabbing Haruhi from the twins. "Haruhi's on my team."
"Hey!" The twins glared at him and snatched her back. "We don't think so!"
For the next couple of minutes Haruhi would experience just what it felt like to be a rope in a game of tug-a-war between equally determined sides. She swore her arms would have popped off if Kyoya hadn't intervened.
"Perhaps the three of you should cooperate on a single team." Kyoya suggested.
"Cooperate?" Hikaru spoke the word as if it were taboo. "Forget it. There's no way we're going to be able to work with 'The King.'"
"But you shall cooperate with me," Kyoya said daringly. "Along with Honey and Mori."
"Wait..." Tamaki paused to register this. "Then you mean..."
"That's right." Knuckles cut in, flexing his arms pointingly. "It's us against you seven."
"Is that wise?" Tamaki asked in panic, knowing full-well a certain echidna would want revenge for being forced to enjoy himself. "I don't want to die so young!"
"I think it sounds fun!" Honey practically jumped into the air to give his input.
"Then it's decided," Kyoya confirmed, pushing up his glasses with the tip of his pen. "The Host Club verses our new found friends."
"They're going to murder me..." Tamaki muttered from his emo corner.
"Hey Sonic!" Tails shouted to his adoptive big brother, who was next to him before the fox had even blinked.
"What's up?" The hedgehog said, in his same perky tones that made Haruhi wonder if she hadn't imagined his acerbic attitude before.
"We're going to play volleyball!" Honey explained. "Wanna play?"
Sonic thought for a second, a debate clear on his face.
"It's us against Ootori's bunch." Knuckles pointed out, obviously amused with the idea.
"We'll, when you put it like that," Sonic cocked his head to one side, feigning a deep thought, before breaking into a grin that threatened to split his face in two. "Let's do it!"
Honey cheered excitedly until Sonic asked, "So...What is volleyball?"
"Oh, right," Hikaru started.
"You don't really know," Kaoru finished. They patted the hedgehog's head, and he zipped out of the way, his face a bit irritated.
"It's just this," the two chimed as they rushed to the net, each on separate sides. Kaoru served, and his brother ran up to the net, jumped and spiked it with no mercy.
"Easy." They grinned at Sonic's understanding of their weak explanation. He seemed to think very intently for a minute the suddenly pounded a fist into his open palm.
"Alright, let's give this a shot!" They all bounded to their sides of the net, everyone agreeing on 3-on-3 games. The first three up against The Fuzzies were the twins and Tamaki. Kaoru served again, and before it even made it over the net, it seemed to whip in the opposite direction in midair and hit Tamaki straight in the face.
The twins burst into laughter as Tamaki stayed in place, his face red and imprinted with volleyball lines.
"What was that?" Tamaki shouted, handling his face, tears shining in his eyes but not spilling over.
"What was what?" Sonic called back innocently. "It made it over the net, didn't it?"
"I think he grasped the concept quite nicely, don't you?" Kaoru uttered, holding his sides, but his brother couldn't reply as he fell to the sand on his back, not even making any sounds, his face plastered with laughter.
Tamaki whirled in their direction still red faced. "It's not funny, guys!" he nearly whimpered, then cowered in his little corner of woe. "I knew this would happen..."
Haruhi rolled her eyes. If they weren't being ridiculously competitive, they were usually just ridiculous.
"I suppose Tamaki finds himself unable to play any longer," Kyoya stated. " Haruhi, you go fill in."
"No, wait!" Haruhi protested as the twins scooped her up, something they seemed to be doing a lot to people lately, and brought her to the net area. "Why do I have to go?"
"Because I said so." Was Kyoya's blunt response and Haruhi groaned, looking at her newly appointed opponents.
She felt something in her die upon seeing their determined looks.
"You can do it, Haru-chan!" Honey's enthusiastic cheering did little to ease the female.
"Thanks..." Haruhi replied in tones ten times less ecstatic. "But, in case you haven't noticed, it's their turn to serve."
"If you're worried about us hitting you, don't sweat it." Sonic assured, tossing the ball the air and catching it idlely as he shot a pointing look at the twins who shot each other with oh, snap looks.
"Pounding on us won't change anything!" Hikaru defended.
Sonic shrugged. "True. But it'll make me feel oh-so-happy."
"You guys are screwed." Haruhi stated, a small grin tugging at her mouth.
"Thanks for the support..." The twins muttered then braced themselves as the hedgehog casually threw the ball in the air and served it with far more force than needed. It was only luck that allowed Kaoru to return it with half the force, and hurting his hand in the process.
This time it was Knuckles who hit the ball back, nearly taking off Hikaru's head and earning The Fuzzies yet another point.
Yeah...I'm going to die, Haruhi thought eyeing the ball stuck in the ground.
And she nearly did to. How many times? She had lost count by the time the games had ended and it became to dark to see clearly (well for the Host Club anyway). The club's slaughter had continued even after all the member had gone against the violent trio all at once, forcing them to accept their failure like men (except Haruhi, who is in fact a women).
Like most people who had just played a rigorous, back-breaking sport (and lost) for hours at a time, everyone was absolutely starved but, because no one was up to the challenge of cooking for a group larger than one (and the fact there was no maids) everyone fended for themselves but still ended up eating together at the large dining table by some magical force of...magic
Too bad that same magic couldn't save them from being involuntary witnesses to a certain hedgehog's unusual, and downright disgusting, choice of eats. While Knuckles and Tails were quite used to the hedgehog's ferocity when it came to his consumption of chili dogs, though it still took them back somewhat, the Host Club had never seen such a display of 'revolting eatery' as Tamaki put it.
"Tell me, Sonic. Are those thermonuclear heart attacks the only things you eat?" Knuckles said with distaste from across the hedgehog . Unlike his blue counterpart the echidna was quite content with his healthy little apple.
"Actually, no." Sonic informed after finishing his latest bite. "Chocolate, milkshakes, fries and fruit are on the list too."
"No cake?" Honey questioned around a mouthful of said sweet.
"Naw. Not too big on it." The hedgehog shook his head. "'S alright sometimes, I guess."
"I love cake!" Honey exclaimed happily waving a forkful of white cream in the air. "I think it's great!"
"Even after it gave you a cavity?" Kaoru raised an eyebrow.
"Of course!" Honey beamed and took another bite.
Then something amazing happened. Mori spoke.
"Don't forget to brush your teeth." And that was all. Those six words were enough to cast a short, shocked silence over the group.
"Speaking of hygiene, it's Wednesday right?" Sonic asked, got a somewhat awkward nod from Hikaru, then looked expectantly at Tails, whose ears had noticeably flattened.
"Aw...but Sonic-" Tails began.
"Don't 'aw, but Sonic' me." Sonic cut across with more authority than the Host Club had heard from him before. "Wednesday is bath night Tails, has been for practically four years."
"Exactly," Tails agreed, though there was something more than agreement in his blue eyes. "It's an old tradition. We need a new one!"
Sonic folded his arms, amused. " Nice try, kiddo. Now get in that tub and I don't want to see you again until all that sea water's washed off."
The fox fidgeted, pulling at he tips of his namesakes. "But I dun wanna go down there alone..."
"Tails, nothing's going to eat you down there," Sonic assured, gesturing to Knuckles. "Knucklehead's right here."
"For the record I have no intentions of devouring the kid." The echidna defended, boredly.
Still, the fox remained unconvinced and in the end Sonic had followed him (still insisting nothing was going to eat the cub).
As the two of them left the dining room, the crowd at the table grew awkwardly quiet. Knuckles munched on his apple, acting like he didn't notice the sudden tension, even though all eyes were on him.
"So..." Kaoru broke the silence, running his fork through his failure at making lasagna.
"Sonic and Tails are really close," Hikaru finished flatly, showing no real care at the matter at all.
"I love Tails!" Honey shouted excitedly as he took a huge bite of cake.
Knuckles eyed him, still chewing on his apple. No one said anything until the echidna swallowed and nearly growled, "How old are you, anyways? I thought this was a 'high school' club, whatever that means." He shrugged. "I gathered it wasn't for toddlers." He shot a glare at Honey who pouted at his cake.
"Honey-sempai is actually 17, Knuckles," Kyoya stated. The red creature scoffed.
"That doesn't mean much if he doesn't look or act the part."
Everyone glanced at Honey quickly. The way he acted never really bothered any of them before. He was just...Honey.
"Don't you think that's a it harsh?" Tamaki interjected. He pointed an accusing finger at Knuckles. "You act like a grumpy old grandpa, but you couldn't be that old." The echidna's purple eyes pierced Tamaki's and the King froze, slowly lowering his finger from Knuckles' face.
"How old are you?" Hikaru pointed his fork at Knuckles, feeling much better armed than Tamaki's bare finger.
The one in question leaned back in his chair, dropping his apple core on the table, and crossed his arms. "Old enough." He closed his eyes, closing the matter. The twins glanced at Kyoya, expecting some explanation but none came. They shrugged at each other and were about to resume eating when there was an insanely loud scream and an eruption from the doors. Sonic appeared with a gust of wind, his face clearly terrified. Tails was clinging to his torso, his eyes shut tightly.
"There's something coming after us!" Sonic shouted, zooming to the far side of the room.
"A monster!" Tails screamed.
"It tried to eat us..." the hedgehog whispered. At that moment the doors burst open, and Tamaki's Labrador bounded to the petrified duo. She barked excitedly and tried to tackle them, but Sonic shot away.
"Oh, no," Haruhi muttered.
"She probably thinks you're a chew toy," Kaoru informed Sonic, who had taken refuge behind him (just as Tails had done to the hedgehog).
"How can you say that like it's no big deal?" Sonic snapped at him then flinched as the dog barked. "That...That thing tried to kill us!"
The thing in question let out a joyous sound before bounding after her new-found objects of amusement. This time, instead of running across the room, Sonic shot straight up and landed squarely on the chandelier, invertly taking Tails with him seeing as how the cub had grabbed onto him in his own panic.
Robbed of access to her toys the Labrador whined and sat directly under the giant light.
"Get lost!" Sonic shouted down at her after a few moments had passed without the lab faltering.
All he got in response was another bark and a smirk from Tamaki, who like everyone else was enjoying the scene.
"You're just loving this, aren't you?" Sonic narrowed his eyes, glaring at the group.
"Any amount of your pain or distress is worth watching," Knuckles stated with a grin.
"I. Hate. You." Sonic growled, separating each word so it was more acerbic than the one before.
"And I can live with that." The echidna shrugged then abruptly froze when he met eyes with Tamaki's dog.
There was a long, challenging silence.
Then she bolted. Straight for the echidna.
Knuckles swore in some unheard language and leapt onto the back of his chair, leaping full three feet into the air, just as his pursuer closed in, and glided smoothly to the opposite wall where he promptly stuck with the help of his namesakes.
"He can fly?" The twins were awed which, to Haruhi, made no sense since they didn't seem all that excited when Tails had debuted this same ability.
"Glide." Knuckles corrected shortly as he quickly climbed up and out of the dog's reach, barely making it before the canine nabbed his tail.
From the top of the chandelier, Sonic laughed. "See? That's what you get for making fun of me Knucklehead!"
The echidna didn't offer a reply as much as a profane gesture known in any world.
"Oh, yeah." Sonic rolled his eyes. "That was real mature."
"Trust me, it was better than using words while your little sidekick's around." Knuckles said earnestly.
"If you have something to say, say it to my face." Sonic challenged.
Naturally, Knuckles took this challenge. Half-turning, he pushed himself off the wall and glided on a beeline to the chandelier, on which he landed just on the other side of Tails (in between the two combatants). The sudden shift in weight made the massive light dip on the echidna's side, which made Sonic's end rise and throw the hedgehog off-balance. In the battle of gravity verses stumbling hedgehog, gravity would effortlessly take the win and send its opponent crashing into the table below.
While it wasn't the intended motive of the echidna, it was still equally as effective.
"Ow." Sonic muttered, sitting up and rubbing his head (because he always seems to land on it) then glared up at Knuckles.
Haruhi sighed. She had tried to ignore the chaos that had erupted around the room, then moved directly above her head, but that would soon be impossible.
"Here we go again..." The twins shook their heads right before Sonic shot back into the air directly at Knuckles.
"Things were going so well too!" Tamaki whined. "Why do those two hate each other so much?"
"Maybe-" Kaoru was interrupted by a loud, foreboding crack from the ceiling.
All at once, everyone craned their heads back just in time to see a shower of white plaster from the chandelier's fixing fall loose from the roof. Another loud crack snapped Hikaru back to reality. His eyes darted from the threatening chandelier to Haruhi's position.
"Haruhi, move!" Panic. Real panic filled the twin's voice.
Brought back, Haruhi turned to leave but at that second the cord holding the light snapped.
Before he knew what he was doing, Hikaru leapt over the table and tackled Haruhi, grabbing her and rolling the two of them away from the deafening crash. It was total chaos. Antoinette was barking from what seemed like miles away, and Sonic was cursing profusely. Hikaru's head was pounding, but all his effort was bent on trying not to crush Haruhi under his weight and whatever was threatening to crack his back in two. As the rubble settled and the only sound was that damn dog's barking, Hikaru felt his mind begin to haze. Haruhi's eyes were closed, and the twin could see a little blood glisten on her forehead.
Damn, damn, damn, he shouted to himself. Stay with it, stupid. He shut his eyes tightly and grimaced as a stabbing pain shot through his neck.
"Haruhi!"
"Hikaru! Oh sh-"
"Dear God! What the hell!?"
Everyone's voices overlapped, drawing the boy's attention.
"Guys!" He managed to utter. "Guys, over here! Hurry!"
"Hikaru!" His brother's voice seemed ready to crack. "Thank God! Where's Haruhi? Are you guys okay? Where are you?"
"Haruhi! Don't fret! Daddy's coming to get you!" Hikaru managed to roll his eyes as he heard Tamaki move some ruble that sounded too far away. There was the sound of broken glass and the King cried out.
Hikaru's limbs were shaking as his mind grew even fuzzier. The weight on his back seemed to get heavier with every second that passed. As he felt he couldn't take anymore, going to give up, the weight seemed to magically disappear. Instead of being able to finally relax, his limbs locked up and he toppled, unmoving on Haruhi.
"Hikaru!" Kaoru flew to his brother's side, flipping him on his back. His twin's face seemed pained, his eyes closed uncomfortably. "C'mon, Bro, wake up," he demanded.
"Haruhi!" Tamaki sobbed and fell to his knees beside her still figure. "Daddy's little angel! Everything will be alright!" He cradled her head gingerly, and Kaoru saw Kyoya emerge with one of his family's famous First-Aid kits.
Haruhi's large eyes fluttered open and she shuffled to sit up slowly, her hand shooting to her head. "Ow..." She glanced at her head, shining fingertips smeared with blood, and whispered "oh, hell."
Honey burst into tears and cried, "Haruhi! You're okay, aren't you?" He fell into her lap, squeezing her waist. Haruhi patted his head absently.
"What happened?" she wondered aloud. She noticed Knuckles and Sonic kneeling over Tails, the hedgehog wiping away at the fox's fur. Tails sneezed as the dust puffed from his chest.
"You're fine," Kyoya stated, wiping her forehead with a cloth, not as tenderly as Sonic was to Tails. "Just a little cut. Might need some stitches." He stuck a bandage to her head, then patted it. "Guess you got lucky." And with that he turned to the twins. Kaoru looked immensely stressed.
"He'll be okay, right?" he managed.
"Of course," Kyoya replied. He checked Hikaru's arms, wiping his palms calmly. "He's just a little tired now." He got up and went to tend on the cub, who seemed to be snoring now. Knuckles was standing by the window, ignoring the scene again.
Haruhi rubbed her head, Tamaki and Honey still sobbing all over her. Mori lifted Hikaru off the floor and carried him out of the room.
"You all right, Haruhi?" Kaoru smiled slightly, still kneeling on the rubble.
She nodded -a bad move- and winced, "Yeah...yeah, I think so."
Kaoru nodded and got up. "Well, I'll be needing to...yeah..." and he followed Mori and his brother out of the room.
There was a silence as they left the room (except for the cub's snoring). For what seemed like years no one dared to break it either. In the end, Tamaki sighed.
"I think..." He began quietly, then cleared his throat and began again. "I think it would be best if everyone retired for the night..."
"Agreed." Kyoya said, finished with the snoozing cub. "We can deal with these affairs later." Then he left.
"C'mon Haruhi," Tamaki gingerly lifted the female to her feet and lead her out of the room with Honey padding along at her heels.
"You still want to hang around these humans?" Knuckles asked after another silence, not taking his eyes off the window. His purple eyes seemed to glow in the moon light.
"What do you have against them?" Sonic turned his attention away from Tails to look at the echidna whose face had twitched slightly.
"They're a bunch of idiots." Was the expected response.
"I'm not denying that," Sonic said, leaping on top of a pile of rubble, balancing on one large chunk of plaster. "But are they really all that different from us?"
Knuckles scoffed. "Not from you and your sidekick."
The hedgehog clicked his tongue in that typical smug way of his.
"So..." Sonic began slowly as if Knuckles was partly deaf. "You hate all of them and think they're not worth your time, is that it?"
"Precisely." Knuckles blunted, though there was a touch of something else in his tones.
"Oh really?" The hedgehog hopped off the rubble and landed next to the echidna. "If that's the truth then why did you save Hikaru and Haruhi?"
As a response, Knuckles remained silent and Sonic simply sighed. The echidna could curse and complain as much as he wanted about staying with humans, even Sonic could see he had developed a soft spot for them.
"So what do we do now?" Knuckles' question caught the hedgehog off guard for a second.
Sonic shrugged. "Not sure. But I think it's clear we need to get lost for a while." His eyes scanned the room, looking like a small twister has just passed through.
"And go where exactly?"
"Oh...I have a place in mind."
"And how are we going to get there?"
"What is this? A questionnaire?" Sonic rolled his eyes as he withdrew a large, blue emerald.
Knuckles' eye twitched. "You don't mean..."
"Oh yeah." Sonic grinned, destroying the echidna's hopes as easily as the roof had crumbled. "We're traveling Chaos Control."
Knuckles groaned. This night couldn't get any worse...
"Tails," Sonic bent down and nudged the cub who mumbled a protest sleepily. "C'mon, lil' bro, get up."
The fox yawned and his eyes opened slowly.
"You alright?" Sonic asked.
"M' head hurts..." Tails mumbled, rubbing his head in question, then caught sight of the emerald in his brother's hand. "What's goin' on?"
"We're leaving." Sonic replied and only realized he probably should have elaborated when the cub's expression became one of downfall.
"B-but why?" Tails' ears flattened. "I don't wanna-"
"Not forever. Just until things around here cool down." Sonic cut in and the fox noticeably relaxed. "Frankly I think it'd be better if we weren't around to cause trouble."
"Where we gonna go?" Tails wanted to know.
Sonic casually tossed the emerald into the air. "I hear Station Square's nice this time of year."
"You're not serious!" Knuckles turned on Sonic and saw the hedgehog was quite serious indeed. "What happened to keeping a low profile?"
"We're not going to cause a scene, just drop in, see what's up then come right back. Easy." Sonic explained.
"You do realize it's been practically a year on Mobius since we've last been here, right?" Knuckles said. "Who knows how long that's been here?"
"What's a quick peek gonna hurt?" Sonic lifted Tails to his feet, grabbing his arm in one hand and hooking Knuckles' in the other, grasping the emerald tightly. "There and back, no sweat."
A light flared inside the emerald, expanded until it engulfed both gem and trio, the room, then abruptly vanished leaving the room empty and clean of debri.
Wowzers what a long chapter XD So much drama in 21 pages should be outlawed. Anywho I hope y'all enjoyed that and feel free to give your input via reviews ;)
P.S. Special thanks to Judasfm for some inspiration ;)