Chapter 16: School Day

"Alright, bye, Sweeties! Have a good day at school!" Maddie said to Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, giving each of them a kiss on the head before they went out the front door of the house.

"Good day at school, no such thing, Mom!" Sonic scoffed jokingly, adjusting his sea blue hoodie along with his red backpack.

"We shall return once our classes are finished, Mother!" Knuckles declared, his scarf wrapped around neck snuggly.

"Yeah, we love you, Mom!" Tails smiled, waving to Maddie as they exited the driveway and onto the main sidewalk.

Normally, the three mobians would run to their school, but that morning they had decided to take it slow and enjoy themselves.

The morning air was crisp as the autumn leaves fell from the trees lining the neighborhood, coating the sidewalk in orange and brown leaves.

As they walked, Sonic shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and hunched his shoulders in an attempt to keep warm. The chilly autumn air made him shiver.

While he walked, Sonic couldn't help but smile at Tails, the little fox cub walking with an excited smile and a skip in his step, which Sonic couldn't help but find adorable.

"You excited today, buddy?" Sonic asked with a smile, affectionately ruffling Tails' bangs.

Tails giggled, lightly pushing away his big brother's hand. "Sorry." He said, smiling bashfully. "It's just, I really love Earth and all the things I get to learn about it."

"Hey, you don't have anything to be sorry about, little bro." Sonic chuckled at how cute his baby brother could be. "I'm really glad you're happy."

Tails smiled cutely at his older brother. It was only a few months ago that Tom and Maddie had enrolled the three of them into school after adopting them as their kids. Tails had been nervous the first day since there were so many other kids, but thanks to some encouragement from Sonic and Knuckles, he managed to get through it. Many of the teachers were surprised by his intelligence, even suggesting that he should be moved up a grade or two, however Tails refused as he didn't want to be separated from his brothers.

Soon enough, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles approached their school as they walked up the steps to the front doors.

"Hey, guys!"

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all turned to see four human kids heading their way. The first one had brown spikey hair and wore a red shirt with white sleeves. The second was a girl with blonde hair who wore a dress and sat in a wheelchair. The third was another girl with ginger hair and freckles while wearing reddish pink overalls over a teal shirt. And the last one was a dark-skinned boy wearing a green jacket and navy blue jeans.

"Hey, Chris!" Sonic grinned, shaking the spikey-haired boy's hand.

"Great to see you, Sonic." Chris said.

"Hi, Helen!" Tails smiled, hugging the girl in the wheelchair.

"Hi, Tails." Helen giggled, hugging the fox kit back.

"Danny, Frances, good to see you as well." Knuckles greeted, giving both of them a light power bump.

"Nice to see you too, Knucklehead." Frances remarked in a friendly manner.

"Yeah, feels like it's been forever since we've seen you guys." Danny added.

Chris, Helen, Frances, and Daniel had first met Sonic when Tom and Maddie had first enrolled him into Green Hills Elementary. Though they were initially surprised by his appearance, they all quickly became friends with him even though they didn't hang out very often. After Tails and Knuckles moved in, Sonic was quick to introduce them to his friends at school. Tails and Knuckles got along great with them in their first meeting, much to Sonic's delight, and the group had met together several times since.

"You guys ready for class today?" Chris asked.

Tails nodded happily. "Yep!"

"Let's do it!" Sonic smirked, already pushing the front doors open and walking inside.


After putting their backpacks in their lockers, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles set off to their classroom.

As they sat at their desks, their teacher, Mr. Stewart walked into the room.

"Good morning, class." Mr. Stewart smiled in a friendly manner.

"Good morning, Mr. Stewart!" Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles said along with the other kids in their class.

After attendance was done, Mr. Stewart went over to his desk, pulling out several sheets of paper. "Your grades from your quizzes on multiplication have just come back."

Mr. Stewart then went around the classroom handing the quizzes back to each of the students.

When Knuckles received his sheet, he noticed he had gotten B-minus. "Outrageous! I was sure I had answered all of these correctly!"

"Hey, man, it's no big deal. It's just math." Sonic said offhandedly just as Mr. Stewart handed him back his quiz. He looked down at his paper and saw that his grade was C-plus, causing him to frown slightly.

"Well done, Tails. Another A-plus." Mr. Stewart complimented, handing Tails back his quiz.

Tails smiled bashfully, scratching the back of his neck. "Aw, it's nothing, Mr. Stewart." He said timidly.

Sonic and Knuckles huffed slightly as they slumped back into their seats. They were proud and happy that their little brother was smart and doing well in school, but even they couldn't help but feel a smidge of jealousy towards Tails.


After sitting through class for an hour or two, lunch was finally called as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles met up with Chris, Helen, Frances, and Danny at the tables outside.

After they finished their meals, they decided to play with a frisbee Sonic had managed to sneak into the school (don't ask him how he did it though, it's a trade secret).

For the next few minutes, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Chris, Helen, Frances, and Danny ran around the schoolyard as they threw the frisbee, laughing and cheering the whole time.

"I got it!" Sonic yelled, jumping up and grabbing the frisbee. "Heads up, Tails!" He then tossed the frisbee high into the air.

Tails giggled, using his namesakes to fly up and catch the frisbee. "Over to you, Chris!" He said, tossing the frisbee down to the boy.

Chris caught the frisbee. "Knuckles! Go long!" He threw the frisbee at the red echidna.

"Power bump!" Knuckles yelled, his fist crackling with red chaos energy as he punched the frisbee, sending it flying into a tree and leaving it embedded in the bark.

Frances ran over to the tree, grabbing the frisbee and pulling out of the tree. "Catch, Danny!" She yelled, throwing the frisbee.

Danny ran long across the field, catching the frisbee. "Heads up, Helen!" He said, throwing the frisbee.

Helen pushed her wheelchair to go as fast it could before reaching up and just barely catching the frisbee. "Back to you, Sonic!"

Sonic zipped over and grabbed the frisbee, laughing as he tossed the frisbee over to Tails again, continuing the cycle.


After lunch was over, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles headed back inside with their friends to resume class.

Several hours later, the final bell rang as Mr. Stewart dismissed his class after assigning the homework.

"Finally." Sonic groaned, slumping against his locker. "I thought today would never end."

"Aw, c'mon, Sonic. Today wasn't that bad." Tails smiled, placing hand on his older brother's shoulder while adjusting his yellow backpack.

"Says you, Mr. Smarty-pants." Sonic smirked, pulling Tails into a headlock and giving him an affectionate noogie.

"Hey! Ha, ha! Lemme go! Sooonic!" Tails laughed cutely as he struggled to get out of his big brother's hold. "We don't even wear pants!"

Sonic paused in his nooging, allowing Tails to pull himself free while giggling breathlessly. "Huh, yeah, we don't. Does that mean we're naked?"

"That's why we have fur, silly." Tails smiled slyly, nudging his older brother with his elbow.

Sonic cackled, covering his face with his gloved hand. "Oh, god!" He exclaimed while Tails laughed. "I have no idea how this conversation took such a drastic turn!"

Tails giggled adorably. "I don't know how either!"

"What are you two babbling about?" Knuckles questioned sternly, looming over his younger brothers with folded arms.

Sonic and Tails wilted under their eldest brother's gaze.

"Nothing." Sonic said quickly.

"Nothing at all." Tails added.

"Zip."

"Zilch"

"Nada."

"Diddly-squat."

Knuckles stared at his brothers before he let out a hearty laugh, much to Sonic and Tails' surprise. "Relax, brothers! I was simply messing with you."

Sonic and Tails breathed a sigh of relief before Tails half-heartedly punched Knuckles in the arm.

"You jerk, Knuckles!" Tails said, even though he was smiling.

"Yeah, not cool, man." Sonic grinned, leaning on the echidna's shoulder. "Now c'mon! Let's get home before Dad comes to pick us up and embarrass us." He then got into a running stance. "Race ya!" He then zipped out the door in a blue blur.

"Hey! Wait up!" Tails giggling, spinning his tails and propelling himself into the air as he and Knuckles zipped after their brother in a blur of yellow and red.

Tails and Knuckles quickly caught up to Sonic as they raced down the street, the three brothers laughing and cheering the whole time before they finally reached home.

Slowing down, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles decided to call it a tie as they walked up the steps towards the front door where they found Unit resting by the front porch.

"Hey, Unit!" Tails smiled, picking up the former Robotnik drone and hugging him affectionately.

Unit's single red optic blinked to life. "Greetings, Master Tails. And welcome home, Sonic and Knuckles. Would you like me to alert Mister and Missus Wachowski of your arrival."

"That's fine, Unit. We'll just let ourselves in." Sonic politely declined the drone's offer as he fished the house key out from under the doormat.

Unlocking the door, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Unit entered the house where Tom and Maddie were waiting for them.

"Hey, guys!" Tom smiled, kneeling down and hugging Sonic and Tails while ruffling Knuckles' head.

"Hi, Dad!" Tails smiled, hugging his adoptive father back.

"Dad, c'mon! Do we have to hug you every time we come home from school?" Sonic whined, but still hugged his father back with gusto. "It's embarrassing!"

"Well, hey, I'm your father. It's my job to embarrass you." Tom joked, earning a giggle from Tails as he released them.

"Hi, boys!" Maddie smiled, giving Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles each a kiss on the forehead. "Hey, dinner's almost ready. Do you guys want potatoes or carrots on your plate?"

"Oh, can I have some potatoes?" Sonic raised his hand.

"I'll have some carrots, please." Tails politely requested.

"I am a simple man. I would like both, Mother." Knuckles stated.

"If you do not mind, I would like to aid Missus Wachowski in her objective." Unit requested, floating above the three mobians.

Maddie nodded. "Of course, Unit. Just be careful, okay?"

"Affirmative." Unit replied, flying over to Maddie as they entered the kitchen.

From then on, the Wachowski family had dinner at the table, with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles telling their parents all the details of how they're day at school was while eating their meals.

Once dinner was finished, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles immediately began on their homework, with Sonic and Knuckles usually going to Tails if they couldn't figure out an answer to the question they were stuck on. Tails was more than happy to help his older brothers as he quickly finished his own homework.

After their homework had been completed, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles gathered on the couch with their parents and Unit to watch a movie to end the day.

Just you're average school day with the Wachowski family.