Frogs4dindin- I appreciate your love for the giggles :D They are very happy-bringing, and happy is good. Durhur, Lobelia. If you say so XD
9anon- Hehe, awesome! Thank you! I actually had to watch their episodes to make sure I was doing it right, hahhh.
Redrover65912- Little hedgie matchmaker is a wonderful idea! Wouldn't that be something?:'D UPDATING! Don't yell at ussssss o.O Teehee 3
Shadowonground- Bonding was desperately needed XD No one can really tell 'cause we share a brain. Sometimes we can't even tell. Ain't that weird? XD
SoBe-Yummies- YOUR AVATAR IS HONEY! Whoohoo! :D OHMYGOODNESS, WATCH THE MUSICAL? SO DO I :D We should go find out where they're showing it and watch it together :D!
Butterflysfree- Or just annoying XD Well, you know. Mondays. They're hectic in and of themselves. Updatinggggg! n.n
sotorohenge- That's all they're good for, agreed :D Otherwise, they're just... there. Hahh XD So much drama can be bad for the skin! o: WAIT NO MORE!
Barg'n Mark- Awe, you called us great writers :'D Thank youuuuu 3
Forsaken Avenger- You never know about those murderous roofs. They seem to just jump out at people o.O And that hosting thing just comes with practice ;D WILL IT STAY THAT WAY? Dun dun dunnnn (no one knowsss)
NXT4eva- Dahhh, working on that drawing thing XD It takes so much more time than I ever imagined just to draw them chibi-fied D: So much respect for those animation people, yesyes. And, thank you, thank you. Lobelia's pretty lolz-ful n.n
LoveisaDrug009- You should make that account and favorite it and spread the word and all that lovely stuff that goes along with all that! XD Sounds busy ._.
Kooaid rage- Twin torture? D: What has she been telling you? o.O /leftout. OHMYGOODNESS, thank you! They're irritating for the most part XD I love Kool Aid, btw ._.
Tenten628- YOU'LL FIND OUT IF'N YOU READ THIS CHAPTER. I wouldn't spoil anything :P p.s. We're seriously considering this side stories idea :D
Lapras4us- 100+ reviews is enough excuse for a party, if you ask me :'D RIGHT? People are crazy ;P Updatingggg, you're welcome XD 3
NONAME- Thanks :D!
Super Shadowsonic- The drama was giving me anxiety XD Writing all that tension gets to you ._. Hehe, 'jank'. Thank you, thank you. Watching Ouran obessively does that to you :D
TG101- OMG HI! I SECOND THAT MOTION. All other characters, ftw! Kasanoda is like Knuckles in human form, red hair/fur and everything! Kinda creepy o.O
Loopsogood- Thank youuuu! Ohmygoooodness. They're quite silly XD And, thank you very much for the love :D It's returned! 3
Lol- Sometimes I don't understand what's so appealing about Haruhi at all o.O Haha. Cream. What a waste of space XD Heeheee, 'guest star'. Like it's a talk show or something XD UPDATING! :'3
Landollapples- Awe, thank you. We try. Srsly XD YOU'D BEST KEEP READING :P
and then some- Ohyes, spreading the word would be WONDERFUL. 'Cause we need more reviews to answer X3
The Pizza Guy With a Hat- Your name made me lol. Thank you for reading it all in one day and proving you really do like it X3 Based mainly on anime, yes :3
Now there are many things that can lead to a person oversleeping. Failing to set a alarm, that feeling of dead tiredness, or just being plain, old lazy are but a few common ones and the odds of all three happening at once isn't quite as rare as some may think. In fact, the morning following the rather chaotic Monday (that would be a Tuesday) that's just what happened to Haruhi, who probably would have happily slept the day away if she hadn't been woken up by a sudden shuffling in her room.
She groaned and rolled onto her stomach, burying her head under her pillow and pulling it over her ears to muffle out the sound. Surrounded by peaceful, silence Haruhi sighed contently and went back to sleep...Or she attempted to for a few seconds before whatever was in her room decided to climb on her bed and use it as a trampoline. It sure didn't take long after that for the female to throw the pillow at her annoyance and roll over to confront it, only instead she sweat dropped in disbelief.
"You have got to be kidding me..." She now wished her pillow had been filled with something far more heavy than cotton. "The whole concept of personal space doesn't apply much to you does it?"
"What can I say? I get separation anxiety." Sonic replied, all but truthfully, with a shrug. "Besides, if you really didn't want people around you should learn to lock your windows."
Well that answers that question...Haruhi thought, rolling her eyes. Aloud, and with amazing effort to keep her voice calm, she asked "Did you follow me last night? Why are you here, and I mean besides to up your creeper status."
Sonic folded his arms and tapped his foot impatiently on her bed. "I could ask you the same thing. Do you have any idea what time it is, young lady?"
Haruhi didn't, naturally (who does when they wake up?), but a quick glance at her clock soon changed that and sent her into a spiral of shock and even more disbelief.
"How did I sleep half the day away?" She asked, more to herself than her unwanted company, snatching up her clock and staring at it as if her will alone could wind it back.
"It's only noon..." Sonic glanced at the clock to double-check. "Last time I checked that wasn't half the day...yet."
Haruhi shot him an old-fashioned look. "Half the school day, genius. More that half actually..." She corrected dully. "I wonder if there's even a point in going now..."
"Skip school if you want. I was just sent to make sure you were at the club today by His Majesty who, and I quote, said 'get Haruhi here right away or we'll march right down to her house and take her pajamas and all.'" Sonic stated.
Haruhi sighed. She'd rather avoid having the Host Club come down here and starting a scene...again. "Fine..." she muttered and sat up as Sonic jumped to the floor.
"Okay. You get yourself all prettied up..." Sonic paused for thought. "Or I guess in your case it'd be handsome." He corrected earnestly.
Haruhi narrowed her eyes. "Thin ice, hedgehog." She warned and said rodent raised his hands defensively and zipped out of the room before she had even blinked, figuring it'd be best to wait in the another room.
With a tremendous amount of effort Haruhi somehow managed to lift herself out of bed and prepare for the day ahead...well, the remaining half anyway while dreading every minute of it. It never took her long to get ready, in fact it took more time for her to walk to school, so she was out in no less than fifteen minutes in uniform and all. Nevertheless, it seemed like a forever to a certain supersonic hedgehog.
"Haven't you ever heard the phrase patience is a virtue?" Haruhi asked, straightening her tie, but not really expecting an answer since the person she was asking seemed more interested in looking through her kitchen at the moment (again with the personal space issue).
The hedgehog shrugged as he pulled something out of one cabinet, sniffed it then casually put it back as he turned to Haruhi. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be..." Haruhi said with an overly dramatic sigh as the pair started for the door. It faintly occurred to Haruhi that it might be wise to eat before she left since she'd missed breakfast and lunch but found she wasn't too hungry so dismissed it as they stepped outside. The afternoon sun shone high above, sending what would have been a heat wave if there hadn't been a pleasant breeze blowing through.
"Oh crap..." Haruhi stopped halfway down the stairs and turned back to her apartment. "I forgot something." Without waiting for a sign the hedgehog had heard her or even cared, she broke into a slow run.
She didn't slow down until she reached the door and pulled it open, already seeing what she had plum forgot. Her school bag, just laying in the sitting room on the floor. Again she wondered if there was a point then decided what the heck and grabbed it. Turning back to the door her eyes passed over the shrine in the corner of the room. It was her mother's.
However, it wasn't the shrine itself that caught her eye. It was the vivid flowers on it, something she was ninety-nine percent sure hadn't been there last night and knew her father still wasn't home. Then how the...Haruhi's thought trailed off as realization set in and she blinked, partly shocked and confused.
"I will never understand this guy..." She shook her head as a grin found its way to her face and she scooped up her bag and left again.
When she finally made her way back to where Sonic was waiting, said hedgehog was tapping his foot impatiently. "You take forever, you know that?"
Haruhi decided not to honor that with a response and rolled her eyes instead. "Are we going or not?"
Sonic shrugged. "I'm not the one 'the king' is threatening to kidnap in my pajamas."
The two headed for the school, a tad bit quicker than Haruhi usually takes it considering her company was constantly rushing her and she was already immensely late. Not many words were said between them, and they made it to the school grounds without any funny business. As they rushed into the front courtyard, Haruhi glanced at her watch.
"There's only a couple hours of class left."
"Thanks for that, Miss Point Out the Obvious."
She shot a glance at the hedgehog who merely shrugged. "I was just thinking it would be pointless to go to class now."
"Then don't go." Sonic fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Seems easy enough to me."
With that said, the duo made their way to Music Room Three where they waited for the rest of the club members. Tails was already sitting in the almost empty room, snoozing on a couch, his namesakes wrapped around him like a blanket, but Knuckles was nowhere to be seen (not that it was any surprise to Haruhi). As they walked in, her attention was drawn to something else entirely. In the middle of the room, where there was usually a couple couches and a table, was an unnecessarily large television surrounded by what seemed like toy instruments. Haruhi groaned internally. Please tell me they're kidding, she pleaded silently as she dropped her bag on the floor by the door and Sonic lifted one of the plastic guitars from its stand.
"What do you think this is about?" he questioned quietly, trying not to disturb his sleeping little brother.
"It's a game," Haruhi explained, running her hand over the mock drum set that, to her own judgment, looked nothing like drums but four black plates with different colored outlines placed awkwardly on a pedestal.
"Game?" Sonic strummed the fake guitar and drew his hand away. "What kind of game needs these? This doesn't even feel like a real guitar." He wrinkled his nose and set it back down in its stand.
Haruhi nodded. "I've been to parties where people played, but I've never played myself. It's pretty popular." She eyed all the instruments carefully like they would jump up and attack her at any moment.
"Well, I wanna see what all the hubbub's about." And with that, the hedgehog pushed the power button and the screen flicked on. The screen stayed black with green letters that spelled "VIDEO" in the upper right corner, and Sonic's face was blank. "This looks like a dumb game," he muttered after a few more seconds.
"You have to turn on the console too, Sonic." Haruhi tried to stay patient, but it seemed to be getting harder and harder every day. She pressed the power button for the game console and the screen flickered again. A few logos appeared and then left the screen until it was silent again for a few seconds. Sonic looked to Haruhi who just shrugged. Neither knew what was really happening.
Then the music started playing, the loudest music either had ever heard. It was like a guy screaming at the top of his lungs and guitar and everything else associated with rock music playing as loudly as possible. Haruhi covered her ears defensively as Sonic's ears flattened. Tails jerked awake and fell off the couch with an almost audible crash over the music as he landed on the coffee table.
"What's going on?" the fox cried over the din as he flew to the confused duo who just shook their heads. With his ears flat against his skull, the little fox cub hovered closer to the television and turned it down all the way until the screen announced it was "MUTE". The ringing in Haruhi's ears didn't fade as quickly, however.
"That was fun." Sonic grinned at Haruhi who just looked from him to the television and back again
without comment. "Sorry about waking you up, little bud." He smiled at Tails who just shrugged and flew back to his spot on the couch.
A menu appeared on the screen and Haruhi reached to turn it off, but Sonic zipped in her way. "Don't you wanna try it out before everyone else gets here?"
"No, not really," she replied truthfully. "Did you miss the part where it was mentioned that music isn't my strong point?"
"Being a stick in the mud sure seems like your strongest point." He folded his arms and quirked an eye ridge at her.
"Oh, ha ha," she fake laughed, but made no further move to the television controls. "If you want to try it out, fine. Just leave me out of it."
"You're no fun, you know that, right?" Sonic mused as Haruhi took a seat next to Tails on the couch. She decided not to acknowledge that was a reply and just watched as the little fox got back up and scurried to where Sonic was trying to figure out the controls.
Haruhi's stomach rumbled unhappily as the rest of the host club started to arrive. Not surprising, considering she hadn't eaten anything all day.
"Haruhi!" the twins shouted accusingly. "Where have you been?"
"Sleeping," she answered simply as the twins patted her head.
"Our poor little super star was so tired," Hikaru stated.
"We completely understand," Kaoru cooed as said super star rolled her eyes.
Honey announced a jolly "Good afternoon" to everyone before bounding to Tails' side, Mori at his heels as always. Kyoya walked in calmly and quietly, fishing his notebook out of his school bag, and Tamaki arrived right after him, his face clearly stressed.
"Is Haruhi here? Has anyone seen her today? She made it, right? Daddy's worried." He fretted around the room, looking for said female, muttering about how she was kidnapped and they'd have to save up for ransom money.
Seeing as how everyone was ignoring The King's little scene, the twins mused, "So, what's the plan today, boss?"
Tamaki finally looked in their direction and clearly calmed down at the sight of Haruhi safe and sound.
"In case you haven't noticed, our furry friends have found what Tamaki wants us to do today," Kyoya announced since The King was too busy fussing over Haruhi and making sure she was perfectly fine.
"Most of them, anyways," Kaoru pointed out.
"Where's the Knuckster?" Hikaru grinned at his silly nickname for the echidna.
"He'll be here eventually," Sonic stated matter-of-factly, turning his attention only momentarily from the screen. In the time if took for the host club to arrive, the hedgehog had become completely entranced by the game. He had played every instrument (guitar, bass, and drums) but had refused to sing so far saying he wanted to "save his voice".
Almost as if on cue, said topic of conversation skulked through the doors and plopped himself on the couch.
"Where have you been, hmm?" the twins prodded from behind the couch, but Knuckles ignored them which didn't bother them in the slightest.
"Now that we're all here, I feel I should announce today's activities," Tamaki began. "We all saw that horrid performance our Haruhi and fuzzy friend were put through last night, and that got me thinking."
The rest of the club braced themselves, except Sonic who had the television down to where only he could hear it and was playing diligently.
"We need to work on our musical abilities as a whole!" The King threw his arms up dramatically as everyone else relaxed slightly. "And considering I bought this while we were on vacation in Okinawa just for fun, I figure we can use it for something bigger than that now." He grinned widely, making sure everyone was listening to him. "I know they aren't real instruments, but it's an easy start, don't you agree?"
No one said much of anything, looking to where Sonic was enjoying himself, not even acknowledging there was a conversation going on. Haruhi sighed while the twins looked at each other and shrugged. Well, it beat the typical day of hosting, right? At least this way they could ignore their guests and be loud about it.
"Let's do it!" Honey exclaimed in pure excitement, zipping over to the set-up and hopping on the small stool in front of the poorly depicted drum set, scooping up the wooden sticks.
"That's the spirit!" Tamaki cheered, following the little-er blonde's lead and picking up the remaining semi-believable guitar, seeing as how Sonic had the other and was paying no mind to the others.
"Takashi! Come play with us!" Honey waved his arms wildly as Mori walked to his side, who then visibly grimaced as his dark eyes passed over the last remaining instrument.
The microphone.
If there had ever been so much dislike for a single thing before in Music Room Three it paled it comparison to the hate generated towards that little, voice-amplifying device that emitted from Mori at that very moment. The tense silence that followed informed everyone of that much and in the end it was Sonic who broke it by offering up a trade with the silent giant. By the time this had been settled and everyone given a short, simple tutourial of how the game worked, selected the first song and all that good stuff, the female guests had already started piling in with immediate praise and comments on last night's events to which the two stars just smiled and nodded at.
Once all was settled, meaning the guests were now arranged in such a way that each and every one of them had a clear view of the unnecessarily large television while the remaining Host Club members sat and waited to either go up and take their turns or hope if they remained quiet enough they'd be forgotten and wouldn't have to take part in this.
"Let's get this party started!" Sonic pumped a fist in the air as he tossed the mic up and caught it in one swift movement as the first song began with no small amount of excitement from the female guests.
This is going to be a loooong day...Haruhi slumped slightly in her chair, trying to ignore the hunger tugging at her stomach and the hey, ho let's go that served as the song's start.
As the day drew on, however, she found that time passed rather quickly while either watching or playing, the latter she was forced to do just before the day's end with The Fuzzies on all instruments and her left with the dreaded microphone, singing a song involving some girl not going outside and preferring to stay in a locked room listening to her music (an idea that didn't seem half bad to the female at that time).
When that song had ended, the guest had finished swooning over Haruhi and telling obvious lies about how her voice was "like an angel", it was onto the next song with Kaoru taking over the mic with extreme protest, Knuckles taking over the bass with extreme protest, Haruhi taking the guitar with extreme inward protest and Sonic being the only one who seemed glad to play.
"You'd better have a good grip on those things, hedgehog," Haruhi felt it was just safe to say and was pretty sure she wasn't the only one who pieced the rodent's hyperactive tendencies and the fact he was now on the instrument requiring the most action.
Sonic just rolled his eyes with his typical grin. "Don't sweat it, princess, there's nothin' to this."
Haruhi felt her eye twitch as she heard the guest coo (since most of them thought 'he' looked just like on) and her fellow club members snicker at her newly appointed nickname and did her best not to offer some stinging retort (though a mental note was made to do such later) as the song started. Now it could've been her imagination but Haruhi could have sworn the songs they were playing were getting weirder and, dare she say, a lot more amusing, this latest one having to do a guy singing about some girl with a brain that was rotten and insane or at least that's all Haruhi could make of it while trying not to miss her colourful scrolling notes.
Much to her surprise she was almost disappointed when it was announced the club would be closing in five minutes, still hunger overpowered her would-be sorrow and she wished the day would just end.
"Is something wrong, Haru-chan?" Honey questioned, looking at the female worriedly through his big eyes.
"Nothing's wrong," Haruhi smiled in reassurance. "I just missed breakfast-"
"-And lunch." Hikaru remarked, apparently to the ceiling panels.
Haruhi ignored him and continued. "So I'm just a little hungry, okay?"
"Well we can all take care of that later." Sonic said in bored tones, taking the guitar from Knuckles, not that he cared in the slightest. "After one last song picked by your's truely-" Before anyone could blink the blue rodent had snatched the mic from Kaoru, who blinked at his empty hand, and held it out to the other twin who stared at it blankly."-And you're gonna sing it, pal."
"You're kidding..." Hikaru sweatdropped, knowing full-well the hedgehog was serious.
"Hey, if s-" Sonic gestured to Haruhi, who shot him a warning look, caught himself and cleared his throat. "He can do it, so can you. Probably even better," he added not quite under his breath.
"I don't even know what song we're doing," the twin said, making sure the distain was clear in his voice not that it did much since it took all of half a nano second for the hedgehog to select it.
"Problem solved." Sonic stated simply and Hikaru groaned as his brother smirked from the silly little drum set.
"You can take over." Haruhi didn't so much as give her instrument to Tails as she did force him to take it before sitting down. She could see where this last song was going and knew she didn't what to be a part of the madness that was about to unfold.
"I hate you, just so you know." Hikaru told Sonic who feigned astonishment.
"I had no idea you cared so much," the hedgehog laughed and shook his head. "Would it make you feel better if we spilt the song?"
If one was going to go by the audience's reaction to this idea, the answer would be a solid yes. So as it turned out, most reluctantly and against the better of his judgment, Hikaru agreed to the terms giving the rodent the chorus of the song and all the other high parts the twin would be too lazy to sing.
"How are you going to manage to play and sing?" Kaoru wanted to know.
"And on the hardest difficulty with guitar no less?" Hikaru added, eyeing the rodent at his side and almost at eye-level (with the aid of one of the many fancy chairs scattered around the room).
"Nothing but raw talent and multi-tasking." Sonic replied.
"You do realize multi-tasking is doing two things half-assed, right?" Knuckles said with far more logic than Sonic cared about or was willing to reply to with anything more than rolling his eyes.
"Enough dilly-daddle already. Let's do this before someone dies from mal-nutrition." Sonic shot a look at Haruhi, who just turned her attention to the TV as the only thing standing between her and a meal began with ten little words: last night a little dancer came dancin' to my door.
Everyone played with the same enthusiasm they'd been giving it the whole time. Sonic's face was serious as his fingers clicked the faux guitar's buttons ferociously, hitting every single one perfectly. Kaoru, who had picked the easiest level, was tapping the drum set in rhythm but was missing the orange pedal quite a few times, either because he wasn't paying attention or he just didn't care. Haruhi figured it was the latter. Tails was sitting on the couch upside down next to Haruhi, his feet dangling in the air and his head hanging over the cushion as he played the single note over and over, his tongue sticking out in concentration.
Hikaru sang the verses just fine, considering all he had to do was talk, but when the chorus came, he shoved the microphone in Sonic's face who sang with as much gusto has said little hedgehog could muster, never missing a note. When the guitar solo came around there was no singing, and Hikaru, leaning against the couch's armrest that Haruhi was sitting next to, held the microphone from the cord, swinging it aimlessly.
"This is the kind of music my dad would listen to," Haruhi said, out of nowhere. Her stomach grumbled impatiently, and she covered it, trying to muffle the sound. The guitar music kept playing as loudly as ever (so no one would've noticed anyways), and it sounded like some sort of laser from an old movie.
"Your dad has interesting taste," Hikaru replied with only the tiniest sliver of interest if any at all, grabbing the microphone correctly, prepping to continue singing. As he read the words scroll across the screen, he felt his face get a tiny bit hot. This is a love song? he thought angrily, remembering the he (along with the rest of the hosts) profusely disagreed to singing any of those in front of customers. It was just bad business. No one wanted any of the girls to get the wrong idea, thinking the song was sung for them and fights breaking out. Cat fights, no less.
Hey, it could happen. And it was always best to avoid such scenes at any cost.
But it was too late now. The words scrolled on, and Hikaru read them, willing the song to go faster. I'd sell my soul for you, babe. He glanced at Haruhi quickly, remembering her face in Okinawa when the chandelier was plummeting straight for her. For money to burn, for you. He remembered how much everyone had teased her about being a commoner. I'd give you all, and have none babe. The twin refused to even think anymore about anything and thrust the microphone in Sonic's direction. Just-a just-a just-a just-a to have you here by me.
The song ended with a final chorus, and all the girls cheered excitedly.
"Oh, Hikaru's such a good singer!" and "Why didn't you guys ever play a real love song?" echoed around the room as the girls chattered amongst themselves and their favorite hosts. Hikaru watched as Haruhi nearly ran to the table that was nearly overflowing with cakes and started devouring the first thing she got her hands on.
"Are you all right, Haruhi?" one of her guests asked, picking up a tea cup and stirring it so the spoon made a light tink noise against the cup.
Haruhi swallowed her mouthful of cake with a bit of difficulty before answering. "I'm fine." She smiled, a bit of frosting on the corner of her mouth, then she took another bite. "Juss hunnree," she tried to utter through the cake.
The girl giggled as she took a napkin from the table and wiped the frosting from Haruhi's face. Another girl behind her muttered something about how she wanted to do that.
"Maybe you should eat something other than cake." The twins appeared behind Haruhi, a sandwich in Hikaru's hand. He forced it in her hands (even though she did take it easily) then shot his hands away quickly, though Haruhi was too hungry to notice as she stuffed almost half the sandwich in her mouth. The twins laughed. "Slow down, or you'll choke!" they chimed on their way to their customers.
All the guests only ate a little bit and left, considering the club was already finished, but Haruhi was still munching away as the last one left. Tamaki was watching her with a worried expression. "Haven't you had enough, Haruhi?" he questioned when she picked up another piece of strawberry cake. Even Honey, with Tails sitting next to him, looked concerned, watching her eat with his cake waiting patiently in front of him to be eaten.
"Haru-chan, you've had a lot of cake," he managed.
"Too much cake isn't good, no matter how tasty it is," Tails contributed. "Believe me, I know."
"Would you guys quit worrying?" she rebutted between bites. "I haven't eaten anything all day."
"That's what we're worried about," the twins gave her the same bothered expression, pushing their own cake away. Kaoru glanced at his brother who was still looking Haruhi's way, so of course Hikaru was the first to notice the female turn a slight shade of green after she placed her latest cake plate on the table.
"What'd we tell you?" Hikaru scolded as Tamaki scurried to his "daughter's" side.
"Haruhi!" the king fretted as Sonic snorted, trying to hold back a laugh at the sight of said girl's face. "Don't you worry! Daddy's got you!" He lifted Haruhi off her feet, which didn't help her stomach very much at all, and rushed to the door. "Quick! Where's the nearest bathroom?" he shouted as he ran down the hallway, every step making Haruhi's stomach a tad bit more uncomfortable.
The rest of the host club remained in the music room, watching their King sprint out the door and the wrong way.
"You'd expect him to know where the bathrooms were by now," Hikaru mocked.
"I don't expect much from him at all," Sonic countered, and everyone made a sound of humor/agreement, except Knuckles who snorted unappealingly. "Something on your mind, Knucklehead?" Sonic asked from the couch, where he was getting ready to play the game drums on solo.
"Just thinking how much he reminds me of you. Running off with no plan and no idea where you're going."
"Hey, now. I have a plan sometimes," Sonic stated weakly.
Knuckles rolled his purple eyes and made his way to the door. "I'm guessing since I'm done with this 'hosting' crap for today, I can go now." And without any approval, he walked out.
It was quiet in the room for a minute except for Sonic banging the toy drums much harder than was necessary and the light tink of silverware against plates as Honey and Tails enjoyed what was left of the cake.
"So what's Knuckie's story?" Kaoru asked, if only to break the silence.
"He doesn't seem very fond of company," Hikaru said blandly.
"Can't really blame the dude," Sonic called from his game. "Where we're from, he's almost always alone, guarding his magic rock." The song he was playing ended, and he zipped to the table where the twins were sitting. "I try to be there as often as I can and brighten up his day, y'know?" he said, reaching for a sandwich and chewing it quickly.
"'Magic rock'?" the twins asked.
"Yeah, the Master Emerald!" Tails announced over his unfinished cake. "It's like the Chaos Emerald we gave you guys, only bigger. A lot bigger!" He emphasized this by stretching his arms out as wide as they could go, nearly falling out of his seat and making Honey giggle.
"Point is," Sonic continued after swallowing the last of his sandwich, "the guy doesn't know how to have fun."
"Did someone say 'fun'?" a dark voice murmured from a black door that no one seemed to have noticed before.
"Was that door always there?" Tails questioned, pointing at it with his fork.
"The Black Magic Club knows how to have fun," the voice continued, a cat puppet sticking out of the dark space between the doors moving its little arms animatedly. "Curses, voodoo, we've got it all." A shrouded figure appeared after the cat puppet and froze right in front of the door.
"Is this guy for real?" Sonic asked, jabbing a thumb in the cloaked guy's direction.
"Nekozawa senpai is very for real," the twins chimed, turning away, their interest fading fast.
"It can't be," Nekozawa nearly whispered. "My family has always said it was true, but I never thought I'd be able to see it for myself." He took a step towards Sonic who looked behind him then turned back around. "You talking about me?" said hedgehog asked, pointing at his nose.
"The legendary talking cat, Hana-Neko," Nekozawa announced, kneeling before Sonic. "My family honors you, great one."
It was silent in the room for a few moments until the twins snorted simultaneously.
"Seems we have an identity crisis on our hands," Kyoya stated from his seat across the room.
"Trust me, you'll have way more than a little crisis on your hands if I get mistaken for a cat one more time," Sonic muttered, but not entirely to himself seeing as how Tails giggled at his comment.
"Though you have to admit you could fit the profile," the twins' insisted, which only made the hedgehog turn narrowed green eyes in their direction that said 'you're not helping'.
Turning back, Sonic looked at the hooded figure before him and rolled his eyes. "Listen guy, you got this all wrong. I'm not-"
"So nobel," Nekozawa practically awed (obviously not hearing what the 'great one' just said), looking up with the kind of adoration the hedgehog was only used to seeing in a certain young fox and that was just downright creepy seeing in a stranger. "I see now why my family has bestowed you in our highest honour."
"But I'm not a-" Sonic tried to begin again.
"Me and Belzenath are blessed to be in your presence, Hana-Neko." Before Sonic could ask who the hell that was (or recall the name enough to pronounce it correctly) a small hand puppet was withdraw in the obvious shape of a cat and forced to bow before the very much bemused hedgie. There was a silence for obvious reasons and Sonic looked at the twins with an expression asking his earlier question, receiving a pair of nods and shrugs as response.
"You need serious bed rest." The hedgehog blunted so earnestly that the remaining Host Club members couldn't help but laugh.
"And with that true fact said..." Hikaru began.
"I think it's time for this." Kaoru finished with a mischievous grin, pulling out a small flashlight from who-knows-where which sent Nekozawa into a frantic frenzy of blabber before the hooded figure took to just disappearing from the room and leaving an obvious silence behind him.
"Does-" Tails began.
"Yep." Honey replied with a nod. "Nekozawa-senpai comes by alot but never really stays long. He wears a cloak because he doesn't like strong light but I think he's great." The blonde smiled as the rest of the club just shrugged.
"What exactly goes on in that Dark Magic Club anyway?" Sonic wanted to know.
"Black Magic," Kaoru corrected.
"And no one really knows..." Hikaru shook his head and the matter was dropped and forgotten as the Club began clean up, a task like so many others had been made easier and faster since the arrival of the newest hosts.
They were done in a matter of single digit minutes and when Tamaki and Haruhi didn't return it was decided the club would find go and them themselves, well minus Sonic and Tails who'd rather avoid the "not-nearly-as-spectacular-rendition-of-old-faithful" (as it was so cleverly put). So with final goodnights, reluctant but there nonetheless, the two groups parted ways for the night.
"So...is it just me or are they actually starting to like us?" Sonic asked with a smirk once the door was shut behind the search party.
"Honey already liked us, Sonic." Tails pointed out. "And I think Mori and Tamaki do too, it's just a little hard to tell with the others..." The fox drifted off thoughtfully. "Mostly with the twins though..."
"They're just difficult," the hedgehog stated simply. "Personally I think they're just too used to relying on each other but that's just me."
Tails watched as his older brother spread out on one of the couches, hands laced behind his head. The fox tilted his head slightly before whirling his namesakes and landing practically on top of the hedgehog in an effort to get undivided attention.
"Sonic?" Tails began quizzically. "Sonic, you like them right?"
The hedgehog let out a short laugh. "Tails, when have I not liked someone?" Sonic paused before adding. "Who hasn't tried to kill me or every other living thing on the planet."
Tails thought for a second before realizing he was right. Despite what some might think, Sonic wasn't quick to criticize and pretty much considered any and everyone an ally unless it was otherwise stated by the individual themselves. That would explain most of the hedgehog's friends and acquaintances, Tails figured as another question crept into his head.
"How are we going to get back?"
"Same way as always, I guess."
"But we only have two of the emeralds, how are we going to find the rest without the Tornado?"
"We'll manage somehow." Sonic winked. "We always do.." he frowned and laughed nervously. "Though I'm in hurry. I have a feeling I'll be in huge trouble when we get back this time..."
Tails giggled, knowing exactly what the hedgehog was thinking. "Sally's gonna be pretty mad, huh?"
"Try furious, lil' bro." Sonic shook his head. "I'll never get that girl..."
"And I'll never get her stupid obsession with you," an all-too-familiar, non-happy-sounding voice erupted from the doorway.
"Boy, you're back early," Sonic said, not getting up to look at Knuckles, who made a point not to look at the hedgehog as he strodded heavily over to the other, unoccupied couch in the room. "And judging by your sunny disposition I'll go out on a limb here and take it that you didn't find what you were looking for."
"Can it." The echidna snapped, shooting a glare at the pair. "You should be looking too since, once again, us being here is because of your stupidity and suicidal thrill-seeking."
"Who said I didn't?" Sonic asked in fair calmer tones. "At least now it's clear none of the emeralds are on this little island, right? So we just search somewhere else, no problem."
"Somewhere else?" Knuckles repeated with clear acid. "They could be anywhere on this whole damn planet!"
"Just like last time." Sonic reminded. "What a coincidence."
"Last time we weren't forced to stay in one place and occupy a bunch of wealthy brats." Knuckles grated.
Sonic and Tails looked at each other blankly. "Maybe you weren't, Knucklehead but it doesn't matter 'cause we got back anyway, didn't we?"
"I never said say we didn't," Knuckles sighed heavily. "I'd just love to know how we're going to manage to search the world while still keeping our so-called 'debt' handled."
"Re-lax. We'll find a way." Sonic waved a hand, as if trying to wave away the matter as well. "Besides something tells me our other members would love to travel the world."
With that said, Music Room Three fell into silence as the fuzzy portion of the Host Club settled for the night. Meanwhile outside the human majority, having already found the missing duo and now walking out of the building, there was anything but silence.
"Now promise Daddy you'll go home and eat something healthy," Tamaki was saying, or rather pleading in his hysterical fatherly way which so far was only succeeding in making Haruhi very irritated.
"For the tenth time, I will." The female stated stonily. "I don't exactly plan to relive the last few minutes of my life, thank you."
"Though it did make good entertainment," the twins figured, cocking their heads to either sides.
Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Please, I think we'd already had plenty of that today," she shot a furtive look at Tamaki, who remained oblivious to what she meant. "Why is each day more insane than the last?"
"I thought today was fun, Haru-chan!" Honey inputted, twirling in a full circle to show his enthusiasm as they continued to walk. "Everything's gotten a lot more fun since we met Tails, hasn't it?"
As a response, the little blonde got a long, drawn out silence from all the other members, except Tamaki (and such was expected from Mori).
Surprisingly, this silence was broken by Kyoya's small smirk. "You do realize," he began slyly. "Adoration is usually suffered in the deepest silence, no doubt?"
"You do realize," the twins replied, "That such large words would throw some of us off." They glanced Tamaki's way, but he wasn't paying much attention, still explaining to the air about how much he, and only he, respected afore mentioned fuzzies.
Kyoya chuckled as he pushed his glasses up his nose with his middle finger causing them to gleam in what little light was coming from the setting sun. "Simply put, they're probably going to be sticking around for a while."
"I sure hope so!" Honey nearly shouted, climbing up Mori's shoulders. "It wouldn't be nearly as fun anymore if they actually left! Isn't that right, Takashi?"
Mori grunted in reply, letting the little blonde sit himself on the silent giant's shoulders without the slightest falter in his steps.
The Host Club members all went their separate ways and made it home as the sun continued to set. Haruhi announced her arrival as she opened her front door and started kicking off her shoes.
"Hey, Princess!" The unexpected voice made Haruhi nearly jump out of her skin as the door shut behind her. Please tell me I imagined that, she thought to herself, trying to ounce up the courage to look in the other room.
"Haruhi! We have a visitor!" Ranka pretty much sang when his daughter didn't reply right away. "He's quite the character, if I do say so myself." Haruhi groaned, plopping her bag on the floor and dragging her feet to the next room. Sure enough, Sonic the hedgehog was sitting cross-legged in front of her coffee table.
"Haruhi, this is Sonic." Ranka introduced them by waving a hand from his daughter to the hedgehog.
"About time you got here," he said as she sat across from her dad. "You are so slow, you know that right?"
"Only because you remind me all the time," Haruhi muttered as she poured herself a cup of tea. Even after sleeping in so late, she was tired.
"Sounds like you two are already well acquainted," Ranka mused, sipping his tea. "But I guess that's expected since you two are in the same club at school." A gleam seemed to shoot across his eyes as he glanced Haruhi's way.
The female sipped her tea, buying time. Her dad was always so sensitive when he learned she was "keeping secrets." "It all happened pretty fast, dad. I was going to tell you eventually."
Sonic scoffed. "We've been here for months, and you haven't told your dad? Glad to find out how much you care, buttercup." Haruhi shot a glare his way, but he just shrugged his shoulders.
"Months, you say?" Ranka placed his cup on the table gingerly, seemingly lost in thought. He shot up quickly, looking at his watch. "Oh my, I'm going to be late! You kids behave now! Have a nice night, Haruhi! Don't stay up too late!" And with that, he shot out the door, leaving the two behind.
"What're you doing here?" Haruhi nearly snapped when the door clicked shut.
"I'm just paying my respects." He shrugged again, uncrossing his legs and stretching them under the table and leaning back on his palms. "And to ask him a favor. Your dad's a pretty chill guy."
"A favor? Like what?"
He didn't reply right away, looking around the room. "It's funny how the club room is bigger than your whole apartment, don't you think?"
Haruhi felt a wave of irritation wash through her. "Not everyone that goes to Ouran is rich, y'know."
"Yeah, you're not. That's about it."
"What's your point?" She took another sip of her tea, only to find her cup was empty. She reached for the teapot, and the hedgehog replied.
"No point, really. Just saying. I'm kind of used to 'richness,' especially considering everyone else I know here," he said to the ceiling. "You're different, is all."
Haruhi blew on her tea. "What was that favor you were talking about?"
"Oh, right." Sonic sat up and crossed his legs again. "I didn't give him all the gory details, but I was just letting him know that the club's gonna be going on some trips in the near future."
Haruhi hesitated, expecting him to clarify further. When he didn't, she added, "Trips? Like what? Where are we going?"
Sonic grasped his shoes and leaned back, stretching his arms. "You remember that emerald I gave you guys, and how we told you there were more?" Haruhi nodded, not exactly sure where this was going. "Well, we sort of... lost most of them."
A pause.
"... And?" Haruhi pushed.
"And... they could be anywhere in the world. Seriously." Sonic gave her a second to absorb that. "And since we kinda need them to get back home, we were thinking you guys wouldn't mind helping us find them."
For a minute, the only thought Haruhi had was the fuzzy trio leaving in that weird flash of ceiling light from back in Okinawa and never coming back. She couldn't tell if she was happy or sad about it. Her emotions seemed jumbled.
"I guess... During school breaks, right?"
"Of course. We wouldn't want to interrupt your learning schedule." From his tone, Haruhi couldn't really tell if he was seriously or not.
"Anywhere in the world?" She pondered on this for a moment. "But... I don't have a passport."
"And there's the favor. Shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Sounds like you have it all planned out, so I don't see what the problem is." She got up and started cleaning the table off, picking up the teapot and taking all the dishes to the kitchen. She was rinsing them out when she felt a breeze that announced Sonic's arrival at her side.
He reached for a rag and a cup that she'd just washed before he spoke. "I'll go out on a limb here and say this isn't usually the kind of thing you'd agree to." He dried the cup and placed it on the counter, waiting for her to finish the next one.
"I wouldn't say it's something I'd jump at. Especially not with the Host Club." She scrubbed the dishes in her hand with the sponge and rinsed them clean, handing them off to Sonic. "But I figure even if I said no, they'd drag me along anyways."
The dishes clacked quietly as Sonic placed them on the counter. "Why fight it, yeah?"
"Pretty much."
"Seems like you're pretty used to their craziness, though."
Haruhi put the sponge in its designated place on the sink, turned the water off and reached for Sonic's rag to dry her hands. "As used to it as I'm ever gonna be."
With that, Haruhi returned to the other room with her guest at her heels. A part of her wanted to just turn around and tell him to beat it so she could go to bed, but her wiser part reminded her about the rodent's knack for doing only what he wanted, and she just sighed.
"Are you going to be staying here all night?" is what she asked instead, not bothering to mask the distaste in her voice.
"Hell no," the hedgehog scoffed. "I've got better things to do than hang with you all night." He winked to show he wasn't serious. "Besides, I thought I'd pay the Tweedles a visit in a sec'."
It took Haruhi more time than she'd admit to figure out who he meant by that, and she briefly wondered if Sonic even remembered the club members' real names, then figured it didn't really matter, so long as he didn't get too carried away with nicknames... And that was bordering.
"Are you making it your goal to annoy every club member before the night's out?" Haruhi didn't really expect an answer, so it didn't surprise her when she only got a shrug, and a silence filled the room. It lasted for about two minutes before Haruhi shattered it with a question just for her sanity's sake.
"How long will it take to gather up all of these gems? If only an estimate." She added the last part when the hedgehog didn't reply straight away, his face thoughtful.
"Dunno," he shrugged. "Last time we were here we found them quick enough the first time, but they were pretty close to where we landed."
"The first time?" Haruhi echoed, taking care to put curiosity in her tones.
Sonic nodded. "We had to of found them like three times before we went home."
Haruhi felt her eye twitch. Could she handle that? She barely wanted to travel the entire world once let alone again and again. Just thinking about it made her tired, and the fact she'd be stuck with the Fuzzies didn't help. At least entertainment would be a given, right?
"At least finding them this time will be a piece of cake with the doctor outta the way," Sonic figured, then shot a glance out the window. "Seeing as how it's getting late, I think I'll split and, uh, 'annoy' someone else."
"You have fun with that," Haruhi shook her head, knowing full well how that visit would go.
With last farewells said for the night, and hopefully for a while to come, Haruhi though flatly, Sonic left in a trailing blue streak and gust of wind. Haruhi watched as this streak faded into the night before looking up at a Hunter's Moon that had snuck into the sky without her realizing. Her mind wandered back to the night when their new club members had made their blinding appearance and all the times that followed as Honey's claim of how things would be less eventful once things went back to normal replayed in her head over and over again.
With a heavy sigh, the female went back inside and closed the door.
So ends chapter 7, my goodness we're getting far, ain't we? A big thanks to those of you who reviewed! We love you all! And to those of you who just favourite this story: Don't be shy! REVIEW! It shows you care and support us :P Until next time!