Ugh...



This was for Amy. This was for my Amy, my Rosy. I would try for her as I said. I wouldn't get into any fights, especially not with Sonic the Hedgehog. I have been in longer battles, more gruesome situations than this. I survived them. I would survive this.



I knocked on the front door of Vanilla the Rabbit's house. I borrowed one of Amy's tote bags to carry some vegetables and fruit from the garden because I preferred to cook with superior ingredients when I could. I also brought with me some unique ingredients I planned to use for the cake; Amy only deserved the best.



Nova turned slightly more purple to match my disguise, so I felt safe enough to take them along and ease potential tension. I similarly hoped their inclusion would prevent me from being violent towards others.



"You will behave, Nova. The little girl here also has chao. Make me look good," I told them as they hung on my shoulder.



Blank stare as always... But, strangely, I had the sense they understood me. I stole one of the chao for my plans a long time ago, and if they had senses and a memory similar to Nova's, I could be compromised. Nova could help smooth things over.



"Our visit is for Rosy. You love her too, right? Not as much as me, but still."



"Chao!" Nova tapped me with their nubby hands and puffed their cheeks.



The creature tried proving their superiority. "No, I love her more," I replied. I squeezed their face.



Chomp!



Their attack on my fingers did not cause me noticeable pain, but it did cause me immense aggravation. "Hey, you insolent--"



The door opened and I let go of the child. Nova curiously looked ahead as well. A tall woman opened the door: Vanilla. She was not as tall as my Neo form, but she was still a height that I considered a threat.



"Oh, hello! You must be Amy's boyfriend; it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Vanilla. Everyone is waiting for you inside!"



"Hello. Yes; my name is Kai. My chao, Nova, is also here." I gestured to Nova, whose eyes sparkled at the Rabbit.



"How wonderful meeting you both, then! You are so adorable, Nova!"



The spoiled creature predictably had a heart above their head as they heard Vanilla speak. She moved aside and allowed me to enter her home. I stayed incredibly on guard.



Vanilla's home was warm and full of memorabilia similar to Amy's, but instead of many shades of pink, there were many shades of yellow and orange. There were also a lot of flowers, though not as pretty as the ones I gave Amy. The air carried a pleasant aroma, likely from the kitchen further away. The home's layout appeared much larger than Amy's as well.



As I walked further in, I saw Belle and the Fox huddled over a large coffee table in the living room, building different contraptions. There were several... rockets, near them. Belle lifted up her head, staring at me in surprise. She pinged me as if to make sure it was me. I gave her an unamused stare.



"Oh, heya!" Tails said with a cheerful wave. Belle gave an awkward wave to me in return. I returned their gestures with a single nod and followed Vanilla to the kitchen.



"May I ask what you brought?" Vanilla asked, referring to the tote bag.



"I maintain a garden with Amy and Nova, so I brought some produce to use for cooking." I had to be nice... I thought for a brief moment. "Anything unused you're welcome to keep."



"How kind!" she beamed. Success. "Let's use your ingredients first if we can. There's nothing more special than a meal with fruits and vegetables you grew on your own!"



She was correct and I agreed with her. Vanilla was not annoying. We went down a short hallway, which took us to a large opening and an even larger kitchen. Several other adversaries were spread around the kitchen: Sonic the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, and Charmy Bee. The Rabbit's daughter, Cream, and the low-quality robot, Gemerl, were among them and accompanied by two small chao whose names I didn't find significant enough to remember. One chao was light blue and yellow and the other one was brown, both small, both weak. Nova was already far more powerful than the both of them. I instinctively patted Nova, then went to one of the counters and placed the tote bag down.



"We're all here now. Ready up, everyone!" Vanilla called. Everyone there looked at me, which made me... uneasy. Rouge passed me her predictable smirk as she leaned back against one of the counters, which made me glare back at her. My look softened towards Cream and the Bee as they approached me. "This is our special guest, Kai," Vanilla said out loud to everyone. Her vision angled down towards the younger ones. "Let's help him feel at home, okay?"



Cream nodded. "How do you do, Mr. Kai? My name is Cream, and these are my friends: Charmy, Cheese, and Chocola!" The girl politely gestured to each one she named out; the light blue chao was Cheese and the brown one-- the one I stole-- was Chocola. I kept their names in mind so I would not cause unintended trouble.



"Hi!" Charmy beamed, waving both of his hands. "Your coat is so cool! Vector-- he's a crocodile guy-- has a coat like that, but it's brown and also he has a hat for doing detective stuff. Oh! I'm a detective, too!"



"Uh... Thank you, and good to know," I replied. Chocola stared at me, wary. They fluttered over to me, caught my scent, and then shuddered. Uh oh. I picked up Nova and held them lower to be at the children's height before anyone caught on. "I brought my chao; this is Nova."



"Chao!" Nova squeaked back, raising their arms. Chocola had an exclamation mark above their head and Cheese fluttered over to see the commotion. I hoped Nova would do a good job distracting them.



Cream giggled excitedly. "Nice to meet you too, Nova!" she said, clapping her hands together. "Nova looks just like you, Mr. Kai!"



"They are fond of emulating me," I replied. "They haven't been around many other chao, but they are playful." I gently let go of Nova, causing them to float around and examine the other chao in turn. Chocola was still wary of me, but their attention was more on Nova. That was fine with me.



Cream offered her hand towards me. "May I guide you to the rest of the kitchen?" she asked.



... I took her hand. I heard Vanilla giggle from behind me; Cream happily walked me deeper into the kitchen while Charmy buzzed around us. As we passed each major appliance, she called them out to me and let me know how well they worked, as well as what she was allowed to mess with on her own. Sage was also a child, but she had a far less innocent air about her than this one. I just went along with Cream because I didn't want to make a mistake. We briefly stopped; Cream gestured to the other robot who stood very defensively in the line between the kitchen and the dining room. "This is Gemerl!"



"Don't worry!" Charmy interjected. "He's a good robot."



And another inferior robot, though incredibly powerful. Gemerl was staring very intently at me. After my encounter with Omega, I attempted to make my core more difficult to detect. Gemerl likely knew I wasn't a 'true' hedgehog, but he had no other information to go on. I didn't think he could piece together my identity... But I was not fond of his presence. We watched each other for a moment.



"So long as you are kind to Cream and Vanilla, I remain on standby," he said, bowing his head. He had a very monotone voice, much more primitive than mine. I did not comment, and instead, bowed my head in return.



"Oh! And there's Mr. Sonic and Ms. Rouge. They're very nice, too!" Cream waved at them as they walked over. "I'm showing Mr. Kai the kitchen," she said to them proudly.



"I wonder how good of a cook you are," purred Rouge, her gaze on me. She disgusted me. Surprisingly, the Hedgehog did not say anything; he just smiled at me. I remembered what Amy said last week about being disappointed with me... The horrible feeling I had returned.



I decided to not think about it in the moment. I returned my focus to Cream as she spoke again. "If you need any help on where to find things, you are welcome to ask me or my mother," she concluded, letting go of my hand. "Cooking together can be so much fun. I look forward to what we'll all make as a team!"



It seemed I was not escaping doing meals with others. I supposed I cooked with others before... but this was a lot of people. I didn't want them to screw anything up for Amy. I tried to hide my irritation.



Vanilla approached me again as Cream and Charmy left. She offered me a list of dish names. "We're expecting a lot of Amy's friends at the party, and they might also bring some extra friends over, so we're over-preparing some food just in case. Sonic mentioned you wanted to do more than bake the cake... Could you also prepare some of these dishes? I have two ovens and plenty of stove space, so we should be able to cook a few things at the same time. I have the recipes listed out on the counter."



I checked down the list. A lot of the recipes were food Amy was fond of, thankfully... I've even cooked some of them. But I saw the amount of servings intended for the party. This was... an incredible amount of food. Amy was more well known than I realized. Why did she have so many friends? How did she have so many friends? She hung out with me frequently enough that I didn't think she had so many connections that would appear at a birthday party. I nodded to Vanilla and returned the list to her. She pinned it on the fridge and smiled to me.



"My kitchen is your kitchen tonight. Please, use anything you need. I'll keep a close eye on everything, too." She leaned in towards me a little. "Oh, and the children will only be awake for a few more hours, but they're both very polite and wonderful helpers. Thank you for being kind to them," she said quieter to me, probably out of the children's earshot.



Vanilla's words did not annoy me, but the air was full of everyone's chatter and laughter as they talked about whatever was on their minds. I was unable to tune anything out.



I took a deep breath, which strangely relaxed me. I needed to start on the cake first, since it would take the longest to bake-- actually, two cakes. I would do a larger cake for the crowd, and a much smaller cake for Amy specifically. Both would be superb quality and she was welcome to have either... but I wanted one unique for her. Cream pointed out the cabinet with pans when she showed me around, so I shuffled out a large cake pan and a smaller, rounder one.



"Here you go, Mr. Kai!" Cream pushed a large bag of sugar onto the counter beside me while I fished for ingredients in the tote bag.



"This, too!" Charmy buzzed over and dropped a bag of flour beside the sugar. After another brief moment, Cream also placed a carton of eggs nearby. "Wh--oops!" Charmy fumbled a carton of milk beside me-- "Hah! Got it." He successfully caught it, luckily not spilling anything. He slowly placed the carton down as if he didn't have a battle with it beforehand, giving a bashful grin.



This was going to be a long night...



Since there were six of us cooking in the kitchen, we split up into small 'teams'. Vanilla began kneading some dough for a recipe while I started my work on a ridiculous amount of cake batter. Cream and Charmy hovered around the Rabbit for a while, which meant the Bat and Hedgehog were hovering around me instead.



I cracked some eggs into a mixing bowl when I felt an awful stare. "You seem to know how to use those hands," Rouge said with hooded eyes. "What else do you use them for?"



"Silence yourself."



"Mm. Keep your secrets, loverboy." She grinned and watched me.



I glared at her. "Make yourself useful." I pushed the large pan over to her. "Grease the pan with butter-- please."



"Sure thing, hon." She slid the pan over to Sonic, who rolled his eyes. For once, I did not blame him. I focused on measuring other ingredients instead to prepare the batter.



"Heh, you get comfortable around people faster than even I do, Rouge," Sonic said, performing my task in Rouge's stead.



"What can I say?" She playfully shrugged at Sonic, then turned back towards me. "There's something about you, Kai," she said, grinning at me. I hated her and wished she would go do something else. "It's been a while since there's been some new blood in this cute little city. I was starting to get bored until you showed up."



"You'll stay bored. I have nothing to offer you."



"You say that, but I'm thoroughly entertained right now." She let out a dramatic sigh and rested against the counter again. "You brought that chao, right? What's their name again?" She gestured halfheartedly with her hand.



"Nova."



Rouge suddenly laughed. I stopped what I was doing and glared at her. "What?" I hissed back.



"Nothing, nothing!" she said, covering her mouth as she kept giggling. "It's a girl thing."



I did not understand. By the Hedgehog's stare, he did not understand either. I continued preparing the batter.



Nova must've heard their name since they fluttered back over to us. They perched on my head, catching the attention of both the Bat and the Hedgehog. Nova gasped, then left my head, flying to Sonic.



A heart was above their head as they stared at the Hedgehog. Traitor.



"Hey, little buddy! Nice to meetcha." Sonic eagerly petted them. The insolent creature cooed back. Nova was not getting any snacks.



I quickly glanced behind me to see the other two chao; neither of them paid attention to me that much. That was a relief for me.



As I got into the rhythm of my creation process, I was better able to tune the rest of the commotion out. To not be perceived in a noticeably negative light from the others, I occasionally gave Rouge and Sonic something to do, but they preoccupied themselves with their own conversations more than conversations with me. I preferred it that way.



Surely they couldn't ruin the process of slicing and dicing vegetables, so I got them to do that after putting the first cake layer in the oven-- or rather, Rouge stood around while Sonic was the one actually helping me. I was shocked to think I preferred his presence in the kitchen over the Bat. I focused on the small cake batter afterwards, which was similar to my previous shortcake recipe. I added some ingredients that would pleasantly surprise Amy and improve the cake. Vanilla wanted some of the extra vegetables they chopped, so we shared. The kitchen was busy at a pace I could tolerate.



I didn't start getting annoyed until the dishes were prepared enough to be tasted. I tasted the sauce for one of the dishes, which caused the Bat to try it as well without my permission.



Her face scrunched up and she recoiled. "What is this? Did you get this recipe from the dollar store?"



I tightened my grip on the wooden spoon in my hand so hard that it creaked. "Do you want to repeat that?" I asked, clenching my teeth.



"Use more expensive ingredients, honey, this is not good." She clicked her tongue and took a step back. "All that work for that?"



"Rouge," Sonic sighed.



I squinted. "You try it," I said to Sonic, gesturing to the pan.



Sonic's face brightened as he tried the sauce. "Tastes great, really fresh! It actually makes me think of Amy's cooking," he said. I took the compliment, but did not want to focus on the fact that he also consumed some of Amy's food.



I turned around and gestured the children over. They both curiously stepped over to me. "Children. Try this." I offered them the pan as well.



"Oooh...! This tastes amazing, Mr. Kai! You're a great cook like Mother!" Cream exclaimed.



Charmy's eyes sparkled. "Mmm... The flavor is... explodey! I like it!" He reached for more; I moved the pan away before he could get an additional sample, making him let out a whine.



"You have been outvoted, Bat," I sneered. "My cooking is excellent and your taste is awful."



"My taste is exquisite," she huffed, one of her hands on her chest. "It's to be expected my preferences are a level above. I suppose your cooking is acceptable for the charmingly quaint Amy Rose~"



"You will not speak of her that way," I growled.



"I said charmingly," she emphasized, flailing her hand in dismissal. "Down, boy."



I dropped the pan on the stove top and turned to her fully, my fists clenched. She grinned at me.



...



She was baiting me. She knew speaking badly of my food and referring to me like a pet would anger me. I turned away from her and carefully stirred the sauce in the pan. I made a silent pledge to ignore her the rest of the evening.



"Come on, Rouge, we're all friends here," I overheard Sonic say to the Bat.



"I'm just having a bit of fun~"



She was having too much fun, but it no longer mattered since I was no longer going to acknowledge her. There were still many dishes to cook. As Vanilla finished each dish, she drew a line through the name on the list she showed me earlier. My own contributions allowed more names to be crossed off... Eventually, there were only a handful of things to make.



Charmy was the first to leave the kitchen, having to return to his other allies. Cream left afterwards with the inferior robot and the two chao following her. Both cakes finished baking and needed to cool down fully before they could be covered in frosting and decorated, shifting my attention to the remaining dishes. Nova, no longer with anyone to play with, rested on my head.



Belle walked into the kitchen with the Fox at her side. Tails threw his arms out: "We're finished with the fireworks!"



Fireworks?



"Heyyy, nice!" Sonic walked over to them and began chatting with Tails, while Belle went over to me. I watched over the stove and tried to not pay attention to anything else.



She slightly nudged me. "Everything going okay?" she asked.



"Yes, everything's fine. I can control myself," I said with a bit of a stare.



"I know...! I was surprised to see you here, though."



"I will not turn down the opportunity to make something excellent for Amy." I was ignoring the fact that I initially did decline the same opportunity.



Belle gave me one of those empathetic smiles. "I'm happy to see you getting along with everybody. So, you'll be at the birthday party, too?"



"Yes, though it sounds like it'll have too many people. I will probably only be there for a short time."



She frowned once hearing my reply. "You never know... Maybe you'll have a good time."



We'd see about that. The party was for Amy, anyway. She wanted time with her friends, while before and after she would be with me. She would also be happy to know I made plenty of the food.



"I'm headin' out for the night. Seeya!" Tails waved at everyone, then went off.



Belle sighed a little. "I should probably go, too. Will you be alright?"



"I'm fine, and yes. Goodbye."



"I'm sure you'll have a good time with Amy! Let me know if you need anything, okay?" Belle waved at me, then smiled to everyone. She took her leave as well. Rouge quickly approached me with a grin I hated. "So the little marionette knows, huh?"



"Mind your own business, Bat."



"I'm sad I wasn't the first! I thought we had a stronger connection than that." She giggled. I went back to ignoring her.



Four of us remained in the kitchen; Sonic helped Vanilla instead, leaving me to basically cook on my own since Rouge did nothing. She occasionally tasted what I had out to criticize it, but I was successful in ignoring her. Her complaints didn't stop her from eating anything, though.



Everything but the cakes were done. Vanilla let out a satisfied sigh. "That went so much smoother with help! We're pretty much done, so I'll go check on Cream and leave you three to finish up. Have a good night!" she beamed, leaving the kitchen.



"Mm, I did enough work for the night, so I'll leave you two to kiss and make up. Buh-bye!" Rouge began walking off.



"You did literally nothing!" I yelled.



"Byeeee!" Rouge said, farther away. Insufferable. I focused on icing the cake.



I actually forgot Sonic was still there. I was alerted to his presence when he let out a sigh. "I'll head out too. Thanks for helpin' us, Kai. You good finishing this yourself?"



"Yes. Goodbye."



Sonic rubbed Nova on the head, who ended up settling on one of the counters after everything was put away. He made his leave...



... Ugh...



"Wait," I said against my better judgment. He turned around and looked at me, curious. I took a deep breath. "... You assisted me well."



Sonic chuckled, a sound I hated, but had to tolerate for the moment. "It's no problem at all!"



"... Also... I was too cold towards you. It's true I h--dislike you, but I shouldn't have said it."



He lifted one of his brows and smiled. "Is that an apology?" he asked.



I averted my eyes. "Yes." I recalled my conversation with Amy and continued: "I was out of line."



"I appreciate it. Don't sweat it, Kai." He placed his hands on his hips and smiled at me. I stopped looking at him and resumed my work on the cake. "Maybe we can start fresh?"



"Start... fresh?"



"Yeah, like, redo our meeting for the first time and go from there."



I hated his kind of sentimentality. He was so eager to forget and forgive and move on because none of it mattered to him. No matter what, I wouldn't forget. For my own good, though, I had to move on. "If it's helpful," I said.



He extended his arm to me and offered a handshake from the corner of my eye. I looked at him again, then stared at his hand.



...



I shook his hand.



"Nice to meet you, Kai!" beamed the Hedgehog.



I nodded at him. He seemed pleased enough with my response. I wiped my hand against my coat when he looked away from me. I continued my work on the cake, causing him to watch me for a brief moment. He gave a more cheerful sigh.



"I'm glad I asked you to help out. Is cooking a big hobby of yours?"



"A more recent one. I learned from Amy."



"Hah, I was right to think of her cooking, then! I'm sure she'll love everything you made," he said. He was talking to me more, so I wished we did not 'start fresh'. My time here was almost complete. I did my best to stay in control before the night was over. "Well, I'll leave you to it, Kai. Have a good night; I'll see you tomorrow!" He waved at me, then thankfully left me alone.



"Goodbye," I said again.



I was alone in the kitchen, and finally, I felt like I could focus normally. I took my time decorating both cakes, then placed them in what little room there was left in the fridge. By the time I was done, it was very late at night. I picked up the tote bag, which was empty except for some of the spices I brought for the cake. I picked up Nova afterwards, then silently left the house.



There was no incident... I didn't think either of the chao would be of concern to me and Gemerl wasn't around for very long. Rouge was incredibly annoying, but she didn't reveal me to anyone, proving Amy's words about her. The Hedgehog was... the Hedgehog. I survived.



I didn't feel like going back to the old base, so Nova was going to spend the night at Amy's. I made the long walk to her house, somewhat frustrated I couldn't just fly there. I looked up at the sky, clear and glittering with stars. The moon wasn't out.



I unlocked Amy's front door with my key, then went inside, locking the door behind me. Amy was asleep on the couch, her arms wrapped around the large chao plush she received at the amusement park. A blanket was over her lower half, the TV screen illuminating her and the area around her. I quietly put everything away and settled Nova onto one of the armchairs.



I returned to my true form and leaned down to watch Amy. She was incredibly beautiful... I felt relief even just getting to see her. I had trouble deciding on whether I wanted to pick her up or not.



After a moment, I carefully scooped her into my arms, then went to her bedroom. I put her under the covers and watched her for a while more... Then I joined her. I didn't want to think about anything for a while... I just wanted to hold her and listen to her breathing.



I turned my eyes off and focused on how she felt in my arms. She adjusted with a soft grunt, then turned towards me fully, clinging her arms around me. I rubbed my head to hers and enjoyed our closeness.



I hoped she would like my plans for her birthday.