Lol: Hey, we try ;) Yes that chapter was full of falls and new hieghts, wasn't it? Well Haruhi has to be god at SOMETHING XD
Butterflysfree: I didn't realize XD Haruhi's little outburst was funny yet painfully true but some good came of it at least J
Forsaken Avenger: Isn't Kaoru always a fail? XD jk Roofs are murderous things o.o
Sotorohenge: Lobelia here for giggles, just like the real deal :D Witty lines? We do try ;)
SoBe-Yummies: Shopping only evil if you have to pay and aren't rich D: Yay! Angry tension! There's TONS of that in this story, isn't there? XD
Tenten628: Naw, the twins' are danger magnets ;) Are you trying to say Knux is violent or something? D: You'll have more giggles in this chappie, promise.
Frogs4dindin: Thank you random reader :D Much appreciated
NXT4eva: Well since Haruhi's pretty hum-drum I think we'd better keep 'em civil-ish ;)
Kooaid rage: When it comes to causing pain to two certain brothers, that's just me who likes it ;) But don't tell anyone :X
Redrover65912: Must be pretty good then since these last two chappies were long XD Hmmm…Matchmaker? Maaaaybeeee :P
Shadowonground: Did you think it wasn't going to come? XD They have to like each other SOMETIME :P Um…Rich people's dogs can transport and own every channel known to man and 3 known to worms XD
9anon: How could you ever get off Ouran or Sonic? :P And I'm glad you like it
Lapras4us: DON'T CRY! Here's the next chappie XD
Loopsogood: Man, I WISH I was a Sonic creator that'd be epic fun :D Instead I'm just paired up with an obsessive Ouran fan and making a story people seem to love XD
OuranHost00: In one day? XD I love the last two chapters and I'm sure you'll love this one ;)
The One Called ME: Here's more ;)
The Crow: I updated :D
And then some: Hello fellow Gaia person! SPREAD THE WORD XD
The Host Club (minus Haruhi, who seemed to be missing in action along with a certain blue hedgehog) all stood around Knuckles and Tails, the terror and disgust plain on their faces as the word "Lobelia" echoed around them. After a few seconds of silence, and lack of explanation, the echidna spoke up, rather annoyed.
"Are we supposed to know what that means?" Knuckles quirked an eye ridge in their direction and crossed his arms.
"It's a school," Hikaru began.
"For girls," Kaoru finished.
The two remaining Fuzzies looked at each other, puzzled, then back at the rest of the hosts, shrugging their shoulders. "Aren't all schools the same?" Tails questioned blandly.
"Not exactly," Kyoya answered. "Usually schools are co-ed, or rather, they accept both male and female students."
"But Lobelia is different." Tamaki's voice was serious, and Tails' ears flattened, not used to the sound. "They only accept girls, and what's worse! There's romance among them!" The King cried openly into his sleeve, waving a dramatic arm through the group. "What a waste it is! Such abnormality! Such-"
"Anyways," the twins interceded, "there's a club from that school that keeps trying to take Haruhi away from us, even though she's openly rejected more than once. It's getting pretty annoying, actually."
"The Zuka Club." Tamaki's voice was full of acid, but instead of the terrified reaction he expected, Tails giggled. Seeing the error of his ways- and the shocked expression that washed over The King- he covered his mouth quickly and looked to his shoes.
"What a stupid name," Knuckles blurted. "Sounds like a fungus you'd get between your toes." And for emphasis, he raised a shoe and pointed at it.
The twins chuckled from behind the fuzzy duo, but quickly shut up when the red echidna shot them a glare. They shrugged and chimed, "If only we were so lucky that Haruhi's recurring annoyance was a foot fungus." And they snorted in unison as Knuckles rolled his eyes.
"Well, that clears up where Haruhi went," Honey sighed, clinging to Mori's shoulders. "Even though it's not very good news."
"And we're still a little lost over how they got here, took Haruhi and left without us even noticing," the twins questioned as they shrugged at each other.
"So then, where'd Sonic go?" Tails' voice was soft as he clung to his namesakes and plopped on the floor.
"I'll bet he chased after those kidnappers in an attempt to rescue our poor Haruhi like the hero he is!" The King shot a fist in the air, his eyes shining. As most of the group started cracking at his claim, a hedgehog sneezed a few miles away.
Sonic rubbed his nose absently as he glared at the girl in the seat in front of him. She had the kind of hair style and voice you'd expect to see on a guy, but her clothing said otherwise. The other two girls that sat on either side of Haruhi and the rodent were both rather girly, and Sonic's nose kept being bothered by their flowery scent.
"Oh, don't look at me like that, you strange creature," the girl across from them chided.
"What's your deal, kidnapping us like this?" Sonic snapped.
"You get used to it," Haruhi muttered, leaning over and placing her face in her palm, clearly bored.
"I sure as hell won't." Sonic shot out of his seat and zipped to the girl across from them. "I have half a mind to open the door and throw you out this car." She didn't flinch, but the two others erupted outraged screams.
"How dare you speak to Benibara that way?" the one with the longer hair snapped, but the supposed leader raised her hand.
"Oh, you silly little animal," she mused, patting Sonic's head. "You don't know who you're talking to, obviously." When Sonic just rolled his eyes, she continued, waving her arms dramatically in the limited space. "St. Lobelia Academy, second year student Benio Amakusa."
All three of the girls raised their arms and sang, "Lobelia!"
Sonic flinched and shot them all hard looks. "Seriously?" he nearly shouted, but Haruhi just shrugged.
"Second year student, Chizuru Maihara!" the girl with long hair sitting next to Haruhi announced, bowing dramatically in her seat and swaying her arms.
"Lobelia!" the trio sang again, and the hedgehog shielded his ears.
"Would you stop?" he erupted.
The girl sitting in the seat next to where the hedgehog previously sat continued on without acknowledging he said anything at all. "First year student, Hinako Tsuwabuki!"
Sonic's ears flattened, awaiting another chorus, but Benio spoke instead. "We are the members of St. Lobelia Academy White Lily League, also known as..."
"The Zuka Club!" all three girls announced proudly, raising their arms in the air, facing their two guests.
Sonic glanced at each of them in turn, waiting for more dramatics, but none came. Instead, the group stayed in place, their smiles plastered to their faces. The hedgehog blinked and shot a thumb at the girl behind him, Benio, giving Haruhi a look of complete disbelief. "These guys are serious?" Her response was nothing but a nod.
The rodent looked at each of the Zuka Club members in turne and blinked quickly. Then he burst into laughter. "Zuka? What's that supposed to be, some kinda foot fungus?" He grasped his sides and laughed openly as Benio lowered and crossed her arms.
"We wouldn't expect you to respect that any more than the other Host Club members," she mused closing her eyes. Sonic kept laughing, sitting on the floor of the limo.
"Benibara, maybe this was a mistake?" Chizuru asked, pointing at the laughing lump near their feet. "He's, well, a male." She hissed the last word like it hurt her to say it which made Sonic stop laughing abruptly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped.
"You know our plan, Chizuru," Benio replied to her fellow club member, ignoring the hedgehog. "It'll all work out pleasantly in the end." Benio smiled and looked out the window. "Our next performance will be the most successful yet."
"Of course, Benibara," both girls said, smiling.
"Well, you guys clearly are something else," Sonic stated. "So, you're taking us to your school? For what?"
"Probably to make us perform in some play they're doing." Haruhi sighed.
"You sound like you speak from experience," he replied.
"She's a natural," Benio announced, and the other girls nodded. "This beautiful maiden on the stage is the most magnificent thing I've ever witnessed." She reached for Haruhi's face and grasped it gently.
Sonic looked from Benio to Haruhi and snorted. "You sound like you're in love with her." The Zuka club leader sighed and grabbed Haruhi's hand and kissed it lightly. The hedgehog froze. "You're kidding me." Everyone here is so weird, he thought, facing the window so as not to show how awkward he really felt.
At that moment, the car came to a halt, and everyone got out to face a large building. Haruhi and Sonic followed the trio through the grounds and into a large room that only had chairs lining the walls and a large window facing the courtyard. "This is where we'll be practicing," Benio announced, waving her arms and twirling through the room.
"We? Practicing what?" Sonic asked, only slightly curious.
The Zuka Club turned to their guests and took their own dramatic poses. "Well, it is pretty clear how popular you are ever since your 'heroic' ordeal overseas, blue one," Benio began.
"And art has a nice way of making anything beautiful," Chizuru continued.
"Even the most brutal forms of testosterone taking form," Hinako said plainly, the acid clearly dripping from her words.
"So, naturally, there'd be written a wonderful musical about your feat!" Benio announced, raising her arms in the air. "And after we heard of you being so close, we just had to make sure you were in it. You'd be the star of the show, you'd have the most dramatic scenes at your feet, and of course the whole play would depend on you." Her eyes glinted as she turned to the hedgehog, but he didn't react exactly the way they expected.
"No way." He raised a hand up to them and looked away.
The Zuka Club froze and gazed at the hedgehog. "This is a very serious matter, hedgehog," Benio sneered.
"And I said no." Sonic turned to Haruhi. "Let's go."
"Oh, no you don't!" The trio pursued them, grabbing their arms. "We need you two!"
"Our old star got into a terrible accident yesterday, and we need someone who knows what they're doing!" Hinako cried.
"Odd how that always happens," Haruhi muttered, remembering the last time they'd dragged her into this madness and that same problem was what kept her from leaving.
"And who else, but the star himself?" Chizuru pleaded. "Please, this is a once in a lifetime chance!"
Sonic snorted. "You mean, until you perform it again? Why don't you just do another play? I'm sure you guys have plenty."
"Everyone's expecting this play, though! It'll be it's debut! Ever since your reappearance in America, everyone's been dying to see it! You can't expect to disappoint your fans?" Benio fell to her knees. "Your fans are your reason to move on, and if you lose your favor, what's there to live for?" Her eyes filled with tears as she shook her head. "What an empty life you'd lead."
"And you should be honored," Hinako mused. "You'd be the first male to perform in our school."
"We're that desperate," Chizuru said. "So, please."
The club members kneeled before the hedgehog, sobbing loudly. Sonic rolled his eyes. "Oh, boy," he whispered. They continued wailing until out loud he said, "Fine! Okay, fine! I'll do it! Just stop!"
The din ended abruptly, and the girls straightened up quickly. "Thank you so much, little hedgehog," Benio said smoothly, patting his head again. His irritation rose ever so slightly seeing how fast they got over their little scene. "You won't regret it."
I highly doubt that, Sonic thought bitterly as the Zuka Club started leading him through what he was supposed to do to get ready.
"You'll be in the performance too, right Haruhi?" Hinkao smiled brightly up at her.
Haruhi sighed and muttered, "Fine. Just no shenanigans like last time, or I'm outta here."
"'Shenanigans'?" Sonic asked, tipping his head to the side slightly.
"They tried something fishy and my dad got into the mess, but this doesn't sound like anything like that," she said.
"Are you two listening? If you ruin this show, we'll be very upset with you," Chizuru scolded.
And with that, the group got to rehearsing what little they had to teach the two new stars. They had to overhaul almost all of Sonic's lines, seeing as how he wouldn't try any harder than he would to kick a rock, and they gave Haruhi a role that didn't have many words but seemed to always be on stage. It hadn't even been an hour full of repeated scenes and irritation when the Host Club barged through the doors, panting loudly.
"Finally! The right room!" Tamaki shouted, and he ran to Haruhi and lifted her from the floor. "We found you, Haruhi!"
"Haruhi! When are you going to learn to turn on your phone?" the twins accused, pulling theirs out of their pockets.
"Why'd you fools follow us?" Benio nearly shouted. "Can't you see we're busy?" she yelled, tugging Haruhi from Tamaki's grasp.
"Yes, we can. Terribly sorry to bother you ladies." Kyoya smiled, pulling and Tamaki's sleeve and making him follow him to the door.
"What're you talking about, Kyoya-senpai?" the twins cried. "They took Haruhi!"
"And Sonic!" Tails interrupted.
"I know." Kyoya blunted without breaking pace until they were out the door. He pointed to the wall where a huge poster hung and everyone's gaze turned to it. "But as you can see, they have been 'kidnapped' for a bigger reason then we think."
"A musical?" Honey tilted his head in confusion as his eyes scanned the poster further before breaking into giggles. "It's based on your adventures in America, Tails!"
The two Fuzzies looked at each other, speechless, either too shocked to speak or utterly disgusted.
"Jeez, you guys really are famous..." The twins looked at the poster skeptically then shrugged. "But that doesn't explain why you dragged us out here, Kyoya-senpai."
Kyoya pushed up his glasses and explained. "Just as you said, our fuzzy little friends are indeed famous. It's only natural some bigger form of media would be dedicated to their heroics and natural still that a vast number of people would enjoy seeing such a display. If we, the Host Club were to stop production by removing the main star and Haruhi, imagine how people would react."
The Host Club looked at each other, realizing he was right (they might not want to admit it, but he was). Tamaki looked from the poster to the door and back again before slamming a fist into his open palm.
"Then it's settled!" The King exclaimed with alot more difficultly then he let on. "We will allow this...production to continue, if only for the well-being of the Host Club." He shot a glare at the door and continued in bitter tones, "but, I swear, if those Zuka members lay a hand on my little girl..." He let the sentence trail off threateningly.
"We don't have to watch this thing, do we?" Knuckles asked with obvious distaste in his tones.
Tamaki turned an incredulous look on the echidna. "What a silly question! Of course, we have to! We can't trust these Lobelia girls!"
"What, you don't enjoy the fine arts?" Kyoya asked Knuckles, who looked at him and scoffed.
"Not when Sonic is involved..." The echidna said and Tails giggled. "That hog has about as much talent in 'fine arts' as he does in swimming. And the fact that this is a musical is even worse."
"Why's that?" The twins asked in unison, cocking their heads to either side.
"Well..." Tails began slowly, trying to buy time to put this next piece of information as kindly as possible. "When it comes to things like singing, Sonic's a little what you'd call...um..."
"Off-key." Knuckles blunted and the fox nodded slightly as the twins chuckled.
"But he's not that bad...when he puts his mind to it." Tails tried to defend without lying completely (harder than it seems).
"With a little quaff." Knuckles muttered, under his breath.
"So let me get this straight..." Hikaru began. "The hedgehog can't sing..."
"And Haruhi's acting is robotic..." Kaoru continued.
"Plus, the fact Haruhi's failed every music class she's ever taken and these two are doing a musical together with a bunch of wacky feminist?" The twins looked at each other as a silence took over the group. By the end of it, huge grins had taken over the twins' faces as they chimed, "we want front row seats!" and ran off to claim their goal.
"So, the female can't act..." Knuckles was obviously amused with this fact as he looked at the poster with an ever-so-slight smirk. Was it just him, or was there the makings of a flop at work here? "You sure are a talented bunch, aren't you?"
"There's no time for your petty sarcasm now, Knuckles!" Tamaki snapped, grabbing the echidna's wrist and proceeding to drag him down the path to the main theatre. "We must get as up close to this...production as we can just in case my little girl or your blue pal need an emergency break-out!"
"Sonic's not my pal!" The echidna growled, quite tired of having to repeat this every other day to this blonde, and soon disappeared with The King.
"But the play doesn't start for two more hours..." Honey blinked after them from Mori's shoulders.
"Guess they get points for commitment..." Tails shrugged. "Should we follow them?"
Kyoya considered this. "It would be the smart thing to do."
"We're not going to, are we?" The fox knew the answer already.
"Can we eat cake instead?" Honey asked hopefully.
"I suppose we could, just until the play officially starts." Kyoya figured and the tiny blonde cheered as the group left in the opposite direction.
Meanwhile, inside the rehearsal studio, the five people occupying the large room just stared at the door in silence, wondering what the seemingly pointless interruption was all about.
"Well, they were a lot of help." Sonic quipped, shaking his head.
"Why do those fools insist on interrupting us every chance they get?" Benio sighed overdramatically and glanced at the clock out of the corner of her eye. "Time is limited-" she grabbed Haruhi's arm "-come with me, maiden. We must fit you in costume and prepare you for the night ahead!"
"Great..." Haruhi forced a smile.
Benio turned to her fellow club members. "Hinako, Chizuru, you take our little hedgehog and assist the others with set up, understood?"
"Yes, Benibara!" Both girls saluted and scooped up said blue creature, ignoring the profane verbal protests, and bolted out of the room in a puff of smoke.
For the next hour and a half, St. Lobelia Academy would be in a state of last minute preparation. Anything from stage set-up to costume preparation was taking place and threw the school into the typical chaos that came with opening night of a highly coveted performance. Already, the theatre was brimming with students, adults and other ranges of people (including the Host Club) excited for the night's promised performance.
After being fitted for her 'Yankee-style' costume, as Tamaki would probably call it, and managing to sneak away from Benio's...well, craziness is really the only word to describe it, Haruhi stepped outside to escape the insanity, if only for a moment.
Why is it with each passing day her life became more and more insane?
Haruhi sighed. Well at least the insanity was fun right?
"I guess it could be worse..." She figured aloud.
"What could be worse?" Haruhi didn't have to look to see whose voice rose from above her, perched on a tree branch. After all, she never seemed to be able to go outside at night without him showing up.
Instead, she just continued, "my life. Then again, I suppose I could be three feet tall and have a knack of showing up where I'm not wanted."
"Hey, I can't help the fact I'm vertically challenged. It's hereditary for us hedgehogs. Plus, I was out here first." Sonic defended, then looked over the branch he was lying on to get a better view of Haruhi. "Nice outfit."
Haruhi narrowed her eyes. "Was that supposed to be sarcastic?"
"No." The hedgehog shrugged. "Just be glad you look better than most of the girls here, and I'm starting to seriously wonder if they're all really girls. Not to name any names but Benio's definitely one of the if-y ones."
Haruhi let out a short laugh, she had thought the same thing a while back. "Yeah, well if my dad saw this he'd probably have a fit."
"He protective?"
"I guess. Plus he likes Lobelia just as much as you and the rest of the Host Club."
"Why?"
Haruhi shot a glance at the hedgehog. "Are you writing a book? I find it a little weird you always ask questions but never answer any of ours."
Sonic cocked his head, confused. "What questions? I don't remember you asking me anything I wouldn't answer. Knuckles, maybe, but not me." Seeing the awkward look that came over the female's face, he added, "if you don't believe me, ask me anything. Promise I'll answer honestly."
"Alright..." Haruhi said slowly, trying to think of something relatively common people ask each other. Usually she'd just decline a request like this, she wasn't too concerned with asking questions, but the Host Club had been with these guys for more than a month and knew next to nothing about them. Frankly, she was curious. "How old are you guys?" Was the first question that came to her mind.
"Me? I just turned sixteen." Sonic thought for a second. "Knux is a year older than me and Tails is nine."
Haruhi shook her head. Now that was probably the weirdest thing she had heard all day, that stubborn echidna and Honey being the same age was unreal. They were polar opposites, and anyone who didn't see that was in definite need of help.
"Wait a minute..." Haruhi ran through the info again and visibly twitched as she looked at Sonic. "That means...you're older than me..."
"Guess that means we found the baby and the sitter then, huh?" The hedgehog smirked. "Next question."
Haruhi frowned in thought, this question thing was harder than it seemed. Remembering the hedgehog's early fascination, she decided to go with, "What about your parents? Do you still live with them or what?"
At first, Haruhi thought she may have already gone overboard when the hedgehog turned from her and a silence ensued where the only sound was the muffled commotion of the guests here to see the musical that would began in just a few minutes. Haruhi was just about to switch questions when the hedgehog spoke, still not facing her.
"More or less…" Sonic's tones were noticeably duller than before and Haruhi suddenly felt a little unnerved. "True be told I was just reunited with them not too long ago and things have been a bit…Rocky. It's bad enough we've been through hell and back but after finding them and realizing my dad's been changed for life boarders on insufferable. I mean, I spent years trying to save people, most of them I didn't even know half the time, but when it came to my own family I came up short. Makes me wonder if they wish they'd never had a kid but who knows? Maybe I'm just overeacting."
Haruhi raked her brain, trying to find something to say but in the end only, "oh," came out.
Sonic stood up on the tree limb and stretched upwards, doing his best to muffle a yawn. "But there's not point in living in the past, right?" In one swift movement, the hedgehog leapt of the tree, completed two full summersaults, then landed squarely on his feet with his typical cocky grin. "After all, anyone who doesn't want me is downright crazy."
Haruhi rolled her eyes. He got over that way too fast," She thought as a cringe-worthy voice rose up behind the duo.
"There you are!" Chizuru exclaimed, barging up to them in her own costume. "What are you doing out here? We're going to begin in five minutes!" She shot a glare at Sonic. "You especially need to be there!" Without waiting for a explanation, the Zuka Club member hooked her arms with the two cast members and lead them back into the building and backstage.
The auditorium was filled with chatter as the three of them barged in through the backstage door.
"Oh, there you are, maiden. I was beginning to think you had run off," Benio nearly sobbed, wrapping her arms around Haruhi. All she could do in response was roll her eyes. She'd been doing that a lot lately.
"Remember your entrances," Chizuru mused, pampering Haruhi with any last minute adjustments she noticed.
"And don't you dare forget your lines." Hinako glared at Sonic who merely shrugged. The hedgehog knew his lines well enough. He didn't say much in the play to begin with since the Zuka club "dumbed down" his script "for his own good". They all rushed him to the second floor where he would be put in a harness for the opening scene.
Suddenly the lights grew dim and the audience fell into silence simultaneously. "All right, everyone," Benio stage whispered. "Here we go! Make me proud!"
Haruhi watched from the right stage entrance as a narrator explained vaguely what the story was about. She could see the Host Club sitting in their front row seats, nearly shaking from excitement. Or maybe the twins were already laughing. Haruhi sighed and folded her arms, waiting for her cue and wishing the night would end soon.
As Sonic descended from the top floor there was loud applause, and the hedgehog waved tentatively. There was a blue cloth that was supposed to be water from a pool fluttering beneath him as the girls at each end made it wave through the air, dancing along with it. He landed with a satisfying plop and the girls made a huge splash, rushing towards him and throwing the cloth in the air then hurrying off stage. Haruhi was supposed to let him struggle in the cloth for a while as he said a couple lines that pertained of "Oh no, I can't swim!" or "Whatever shall I do?" as some music started to play.
Just as Haruhi was about to take her entrance, Benio presumably egged her on stage with a shove, making her trip and fall flat on her face in front of the audience. There was laughter throughout the auditorium, but Haruhi just stood up and dusted herself off, then walked nonchalantly (and robotically-her fists clenched tight and her knees locked-as far as anyone else could tell) to her co-actor's side. "Are you ready for this?" she whispered.
"Please. Singing's one of my past-times. If we were actually singing anyways," Sonic muttered back, as he removed the cloth from one of his quills. Loudly, he stated, "Thank you ever so much, my new friend. I'm Sonic, Sonic the hedgehog."
The music swelled as Haruhi said her line. "Hi! I'm! Chris!" And that was all. She said each word as its own sentence, ignoring the front row's groans. The two began to sing, but the music was so loud, no one could really hear them.
"Just three words, and she still can't say them right," Hikaru muttered to his brother, covering his mouth to shelter his laughter.
"It was just three words last time, remember? 'My. Lord. Frederick.'" He numbered each word with his finger, and they snickered together.
"The Zuka Club sure can pick them," they mused as Tamaki shushed them loudly.
"They made my little girl dress as a boy?" The King sobbed, his hands covering his face, but failing to shield his eyes like he was watching a bad scary movie.
"What difference does that make?" Hikaru whispered audibly.
"Yeah, we make her do that every day!" Kaoru finished, but Tamaki shot his hand in their faces, silently telling them to be quiet. The crossed their arms defiantly, looking just like Knuckles who was sitting next to Tails on the other side of Honey.
The echidna was glaring at the stage, wondering how the hell he got caught up in the mayhem of actually watching this trash. He tried closing his eyes and falling asleep, but the lights on stage flashed brightly and refused him such luxuries.
"This better be over soon," he growled, but Tails just shrugged.
"I kinda want to see how they portray you and me," the fox chimed. Knuckles rolled his eyes and resumed glaring at the stage.
The first song ended abruptly with Haruhi and Sonic pretty much in the same position they were in when the scene started. They got to their feet stiffly and walked off stage, hand in hand, saying, "We'll be the best of friends forever."
The auditorium filled with applause as the lights dimmed, but the Host Club sat unmoving.
"This is interesting," Kyoya said with no enthusiasm, pushing up his glasses, but before anyone could respond, the lights shot up again.
The rest of the play continued with the same wave of extravagance. Benio played Haruhi's (Chris') father, and Chizuru played the mother who was supposedly a very famous actress. There were a whole bunch more little colorful creatures the Host Club knew next to nothing about, and seeing them on stage erupted a lot of questions.
"Who's that rabbit thing? And that weird blue thing that only says one word?" Hikaru questioned to the remaining two Fuzzies.
"Just watch," Tails whispered.
They all did for a couple more lines.
"What about that pink thing that keeps clinging to Sonic? And what's with the hammer?" Kaoru asked.
"Just watch."
It was silent in the group for a few more minutes until Tails' and Knuckles' characters became part of the show. No one could wrap their heads around it, considering Sonic was the only one that was normal sized when it came to them. Everyone chuckled when they saw Knuckles' character start singing about how he was tougher than leather and how he'd rather flex his muscles, but the echidna showed no reaction.
The play continued on with no problems (except Haruhi's lack of acting skills and the fact that no one could hear her or Sonic actually sing). There was a character that seemed almost human, Dr. Eggman, that kept trying to "destroy Sonic", but whatever questions the Host Club bombarded Tails with, his only response was "Just watch."
The club gathered the fact that the Fuzzies were bent on finding the Chaos Emeralds, but everyone kept getting in the way, especially Dr. Eggman and some bat thing that kept teasing the Knuckles character. There was also some weird guy, apparently the Chris character's uncle, that kept trying to race Sonic even though he always lost. It was almost comical, and they actually did laugh through some parts, and as the end grew nearer they were all very wrapped into the story.
"I wonder how they'll do the Chaos monster," Tails whispered to Knuckles, but he just scoffed.
As the performance continued with no issues (considering Haruhi didn't have a lot of lines; she was just on stage a lot), the closing scene started with what seemed like no worries. All Haruhi had to do was stand to the side and gasp whenever Sonic jumped in the air. And after that was all over, there'd be one last song. That didn't seem too hard, did it?
The backdrop of the stage showed the American city in ruins, and there was "water" everywhere as Sonic walked to center stage and announced, "Here comes the Chaos creature!" and pointed boredly to the opposite side of the stage from where he came. Haruhi saw him try to stifle a yawn as a giant tarp with the Chaos monster painted on it zipped into the room from the rafters above. The tarp waved dramatically and Sonic eyed it skeptically. It didn't really look like that, but okay, he thought. Some of this play is totally jank. "All right, Chaos, your destroying days are over," he yelled at it.
He started backed up a few paces, trying to get a bit of a running start. Don't do anything to rip it, just pretend, he told himself, and he rolled his eyes. Yeah, like that was going to be easy. He couldn't control what his quills tore or not. He took off, his first jump ending successfully, no rips in sight. He smiled, then suddenly remembered his line. "Oh, yeah. Uh, take that, you monster!" He pointed at it lamely as it continued to flutter in the mock wind from a fan backstage. As his finished saying his line, a painted rock fell from above landing in front of him. Oh, yeah. I remember this. He picked one of them up and announced, "The Chaos monster has drained all the Emeralds of there power. Whatever shall I do?"
"If you have all the Emeralds, you can defeat the monster!" the Tails character announced. "Here, I found one."
Haruhi walked on stage, tripped again, then scurried over to Sonic. "Sonic," was all she said. The rest of the cast emerged from back stage and handed Sonic a painted rock. He struggled to hold them all as Haruhi announced, "Oh. Look. They're. Getting. Their. Power. Back." She struggled with each word like she forgot what they meant.
With a flash, a light from above shone on Sonic. "Oh, uh," he stammered. "Chaos control! I think!" There was scattered laughter from the audience, as he prepped himself for another jump.
The characters for Knuckles and Tails went on about how caring and friendship was what this was all about when Sonic jumped in the air again and tore through the air to the tarp. He heard a loud rip and he cursed to himself internally as the tarp came crashing down. The audience gasped as the set nearly fell apart, but the cast continued to their song about friendship and teamwork without any pause. Something hard knocked Sonic in the head, and he tumbled to the floor along with the destroyed tarp.
The final song ended, and the whole cast was on stage holding a dramatic pose (except for Haruhi who was just standing center stage next to where Sonic was supposed to be). The theater filled with applause, including Tamaki who rose to his feet. "How brave our little hedgie friend is!" he sobbed.
Next to The King, the twins rolled over their seats in a fit of laughter as Tails and Knuckles exchanged blank looks while Honey cheered enthusiastically and Kyoya and Mori showed no real emotion that could be read clearly. No surprise there.
It took at least another ten minutes for the crowd to settle and another twenty for it to thin to the point where only the Host Club and a few unnamed others were left in the theatre, along with the cast now spread throughout the stage.
"Another fabulous performance, everyone!" Benio was walking up and down the stage, praising individuals here and there as they slowly began the clean up (bound to be that much longer thanks to the tarp incident), stopping at Haruhi and Sonic, who now had a headache to add to his irritation. "And it was all thanks to you two!"
"Thanks..." They both said with far more annoyance than excitement. They tried to make it as obvious as they could that they wanted nothing more but to get out of the female infested school. Naturally, Benio didn't get the hint and instead lifted Haruhi's face to her own in that way of pure adoration her creepy dramatic-self possessed.
"Won't you reconsider our offer and forsake that loathsome Host Club?" Benio soothed, inching ever closer. "So much more can come to you here, my dear maiden, then with those men."
Before Haruhi could offer her same response to this suggestion, Tamaki's none-too-happy voice rang out behind them.
"Get your creepy hands off my little girl!" The King exclaimed, grabbing Haruhi from Benio with the force of a very determined wanna-be father and moving her to the opposite side of him. "You can't have her!"
Benio just scoffed. "Think what you must, Tamaki. One day Haruhi will realize her true happiness lies in Lobelia and shall abandon your petty club for one of greater stature."
"We'll see about that!" Tamaki clenched a fist as Benio retrieved Haruhi's hand and kissed it gently.
"I will have you one day, maiden." The Zuka member vowed, shooting a furtive look at The Host Club who looked at each other (the Fuzzies having noticeable looks of confusion and disgust glued to their faces at the scene) before the twins ran over, scooped up Haruhi, shouted "Time to go!" and did just that leaving a trail of dust, soon followed by the rest of the club.
"You can put me down now, guys." Haruhi said irritably, once they stepped outside and the twins reluctantly obeyed but stayed at her sides.
"Well, today certainly has been eventful..." Knuckles stated flatly, sounding absolutely bored as he looked at the night sky.
"Tell me about it," Sonic muffled another yawn. "I've had enough of crazy females for today. I'm bushed."
"I don't know if I can make it through school tomorrow..." Haruhi sighed, realizing how tired she really was for the first time. This really had been one of the longest days of her life and she just wanted to crawl into bed and stop it.
"Then I suppose we'd better depart for the night." Kyoya suggested. "Shall I call you a car, Haruhi?"
Said female shook her head. "My house isn't too far from here. I think I can manage. Alone." She shot upon seeing the looks that came over the twins' and Tamaki's faces and they slumped their shoulders in rejection.
"Try not to get kidnapped again, eh?" Sonic looked at Haruhi, who just rolled her eyes but smirked nonetheless as she turned on her heel and strodded down the path to her house, giving a half-hearted wave.
Haruhi half expected to see either the twins or Tamaki following her on the journey home and was frankly surprised when she reached the door with no unwanted guest at her heels.
"There you are!" Her father exclaimed with overly dramatic relief from the kitchen when she opened the door and stepped inside. "Where have you been? It's late!"
Haruhi tried to stifle a yawn as she walked into the kitchen to see her dad (in costume, no less) washing dishes from the meal she missed that evening. "I'm sorry, I just got held up is all. Don't you have work tonight?" She glanced at the clock quizzically.
"What kind of father would I be if I went to work without knowing where my little girl was?" Ranka gasped and drew Haruhi into a loving hug. "What if something were to happened?"
"Nothing's going to happen, Dad." Haruhi assured tiredly. "I was with the club, you know they won't let anything happen to me...Any of them." She added not quite under her breath.
Ranka pulled away and held his daughter at arm's length by the shoulders, eying her suspiciously with a grin. "Why do I think you're hiding something from me, Haruhi? You seem awfully chipper lately. I think you have a dirty little secret."
Haruhi shook her head. "It's hardly a secret anymore, trust me. Don't worry," she said when her father's face went puzzled "you'll find out soon enough. I can pretty much promise that."
With that said, she said good night to her parental (now very curious) and went to bed. It was, after all, only a Monday and if the rest of the week were to continue like this she knew she would need her rest.
HEY LOOK! A short-ish chapter XD WITH CIVILNESS! :o Hee hee, since I've been replying to reviews this WHOLE story I think I'll let the other wonderful authour answer next chappie ;) DO READ AND REVIEW, or flame :P