Yesterday was eventful to say the least. The other Sonic showed up out of nowhere and accused Sonic of getting him kicked off of the track team, likely out of jealousy. Sonic hardly had a clue of what was happening, but he sure knew that no one would leave without a fight. The party became an all out brawl, and honestly, the other Sonic held his own. The fight suddenly changed tune and he bolted out of there. Everyone took it as a win, but... Amy thought his silhouette moved strangely.



Out in the front yard, he keeled over while wheezing over and over. He struggled to take in breaths and struggled to breathe out. He was sobbing, clutching his chest, clearly in pain. Amy wasn't sure if it was a panic attack or if something went wrong with his body.



After a moment, she knew it was some kind of panic attack. The stuff she learned in class was for something, she guessed. She kept a respectful distance and kept her phone close just in case. When he started to calm down, she brought herself closer and watched him. He focused on her legs... He was still a total mess. She thought he was an asshole, but no one deserved to suffer, especially not alone.



She parted ways with him when he fully calmed down, giving away her handkerchief in the process. She had another one, so she wasn't too pressed... The one he had was her favorite, though.



Amy cast aside her thoughts and returned to her own dorm. Her dorm mate, Rouge, was a night owl... or, well, a bat... Okay, the point was that Rouge wasn't going to be in the common area. Honestly, she was surprised Rouge wasn't around for the party. She wondered if her other friends filled her in on what happened... Ah, well. Amy climbed into her bed and buried herself into her pillows, then she was totally out like a light.



She woke up early for... well, no reason, really. She didn't have anything to do on a Saturday other than managing her brand new club with a whopping one member: herself. She knew it was winter, but did no one seriously like gardening?



After getting ready for the day, the first thing Amy did was go check on Sonic near his dorm. Luckily, he was fine. Ugh, and he was fine... Amy never met someone so simultaneously kind and cool and handsome. She befriended him at the tail-end of their freshman year and she spent every day thinking about him since.



She wanted to get to know Sonic more to make sure her own heart was in the right place. So far, it was... Well, whenever they actually got to hang out, which wasn't that often. Not that college was for mingling specifically... She couldn't let her studies fall to the side, either. She worked hard with her classes since she didn't want to let anyone down, especially not herself!



"Hey, Ames," Sonic sighed, calling for her attention. They met up and exchanged a bit of chatter, talked about what happened the previous night. Luckily, no one left with anything more than a few bruises. But... "I know it might be hard for some to believe, but Metal isn't the type of guy to run in and try to ruin everyone's fun without a reason. He usually avoids everyone. After what happened, I looked into it some, and..." He frowned and showed me a news article on his phone.



The title said 'Dr. Robotnik's son suspected of using drugs to break records in sports'. "That sucks," I said with a frown. Sonic took his phone back and looked through other articles.



"There's a dozen of these headlines floating around. I don't even know how it spread so fast, but... There's something fishy about it. Sometimes other team members would joke about him needing to take something to catch up, but he's such a serious and consistent guy. He's the only one that made me lock in about track. Whenever I noticed him outside, he was always doing some kind of exercise. Hell, he finally beat my record before the seasons's first track meet. If he actually got kicked off, all because of these articles, then..." Sonic sighed again. "I can't say it's fair. He had the wrong idea by picking a fight, but at this point, I don't think I can take it personally."



Amy gave a softer sigh. "Look at you, being the bigger person," she said, smiling.



"Metal's such a hard guy to get to know. He's so closed off and... I mean, let's be real. He can be a jerk." Bit of an understatement. "But he cared about track a lot and kept going even when he had nothing to show for it. When we first joined the team, he was slow and clearly had some health problems. He probably wouldn't have been able to join without waving his dad's name around, but if he didn't, then no one would have seen him become the best. His improvements were hard-earned... I don't think he'd try to ruin that. I feel... bad for him. I hope he can come back."



Health problems, huh? Walking around with mechanical parts around important organs probably wasn't as much of a walk in the park as it seemed. Amy went back to a frown as she recalled how he acted outside Sonic's dorm.



"He acts weird when someone mentions his dad around him. He's always alone, too," Sonic said, scratching his head. "I hoped this season would change that. I felt like he was finally talking to me, bit by bit. Well, that's gone now, I guess..." Sonic shrugged. "He probably doesn't wanna see me right now. Maybe later I'll try to see what's up... If I can convince him I had nothing to do with him getting kicked off, I guess."



"You got a big heart, Sonic," she softly replied. She didn't think talking about Metal's panic attack would do anyone any favors. She hated to admit she was kinda curious about him, though. If Sonic didn't think he would do anything shady with sports, maybe he really was wrongfully thrown off the team... Who did Metal have to rely on? What would've happened if he was by himself last night? Of course, that wasn't specifically her problem, either. At least no one got too hurt.



Amy thought she'd blow off some steam and do something a bit productive before slinking into her desk chair and spending hours playing games in her room. After meeting Sonic, she went to the campus's recreation center to work out a bit. She didn't feel the need to go often, but she liked to stay active. Tennis helped out, too!



She got there, changed into some workout clothes, then did some warm-up stretches. "Ugh, I should've brought some music," she mumbled under her breath. The recreation center itself was modern, clean, and huge; it had tons of workout machines and space for exercise. After her stretches, her heart was set on the area with some punching bags. Hopefully at least one was free, because man did she need to whale on something.



She wrapped some bandages around her knuckles as she made her way towards the punching bags. Luckily, the place was fairly empty except for some guy going crazy in the back. She guessed he had to blow off some steam, too.



There were quite a few punching bags available, so she chose one that had a decent distance from the other person. She took some controlled breaths, then began her own training. Sometimes she imagined fighting sweet desserts that were way too bad for her, while other times she imagined any person that particularly pissed her off. She imagined a professor of hers who definitely shouldn't have continued to teach. He was so passive aggressive! What was his deal?!



Amy's ears twitched. She heard wheezing. It... sounded familiar. She kept at her punching bag to not seem too suspicious all while turning her head to confirm her own suspicions.



The other Sonic was there... Or, uh, Metal, as Sonic called him. He collapsed on the floor some feet away from his punching bag, taking a minute to catch his breath. He didn't seem to be going through any sort of episode or anything, so the wheezing was more a common thing, she guessed. He drank some water from a water canister, then poured some of it on his face. He sighed and shook the water off, then let his back press against the wall.



Amy glanced down at his hands. He had bandages just like she did, but he completely wore his down; his knuckles were practically shredded and raw. When he went quiet, what was left was a completely solemn expression. He shuffled his phone out of his pants pocket and went through it for a brief moment. His gaze traveled up and met Amy's; his eyes shot wide open.



Oops, maybe she was staring. She stopped using the punching bag to give an awkward wave his way.



He instantly turned his head away and launched himself off the floor. He hastily grabbed his water bottle and left the room.



Amy raised a brow. She supposed his reaction wasn't the most surprising.



... Oh, he dropped his phone. Amy walked over and picked it up, then ran out of the room. He was at the other end of the hallway, about to turn the corner. "Hey!" she called.



He bolted.



"What the--" Amy took off after him. "You left something!"



He either didn't hear her or he desperately avoided her. Amy tried to catch up to him, but-- shit, he was so fast! The hall he went down had a cut-off. Amy ran the other direction, hoping to get him that way.



Hah! She managed to get in front of him. "Stop!" she called, holding her arms out.



Metal turned his heels and bolted in the other direction. Amy growled in frustration as she took off after him.



"Just stop for like two seconds! Geez!"



He ran into another room. Amy quickly approached, then stopped. Men's locker room. She clicked her tongue and crossed her arms.



...



"A men's locker room doesn't scare me!" she yelled from the doorway.



She groaned to herself. Was she really going to run in? She hoped she wouldn't see anything particularly, uh, unwanted... Fine! She braced herself, then ran into the locker room while keeping her focus on anything vaguely hedgehog shaped.



What-- he was climbing out a window positioned above the lockers! She jumped for him, but he escaped her reach just in time.



"Ugh!!!" Amy stomped her feet.



She ran back out of the locker room and made her way to the entrance. He had to be out in the open, so it wouldn't be hard to find him at all.



... Maybe. Ugh! Why was he so slippery?! It wasn't like he blended in with the environment! He was blue, for crying out loud!



Amy looked around to see where he possibly went... He was nowhere. She sighed, then looked at his phone. She didn't want to snoop, but... She had no other way of figuring out where his dorm was. Hopefully there was a note somewhere.



She turned on the screen... Locked with a number code. Hmm.



...! He was receiving a call. Someone named Belle? Her icon looked like an orange mouse girl with a big, round nose. If Amy answered the call, she wouldn't have to deal with a code and snoop through his phone...



Amy answered the call.



"Met, I know you hate when I call, but... A-are you alright?" A kind, feminine voice was on the other end.



Amy took a deep breath. "... Heyyy, I know this is weird and sorry for totally breaching privacy like this, BUT the guy you're calling dropped his phone and got away before I could give it back to him." She sighed: "Do you know where his dorm is so I can hand it back to him there? Like, maybe I'll be able to slip it under his door or something."



"O-oh...! Um... That's no good... You're returning the phone, then? Thank you." The person on the other end, presumably Belle, let out a soft sigh. "He lives in the Ivo building. Room 308, I think?"



"Thank you! Sorry again. I hope you two can talk."



"Do you, um... know him?" Belle asked.



Amy began making her way to Metal's dorm building. "I only know him from watching track meets, sorry. My name's Amy... You're Belle?"



"Yeah, I'm his younger sister." She sighed again. "I don't know what you're aware of, but... Thank you for helping him out."



"Don't worry about it at all. If I get to talk to him, I'll let him know to call you back!"



"Th-thanks. Is there anything else you need?" asked Belle.



Amy hummed a bit in thought. "No, I think I got it. Have a good one, Belle!"



"Bye, Amy. It was nice to meet you."



Amy hung up the phone, smiling a little. Considering how crotchety Metal was, she was surprised his sister sounded so nice.



Amy entered the Ivo building through a side door that a student temporarily propped open. From there, Amy navigated to some stairs and went up a few flights. She hummed to herself, trying to figure out where the room was. She went down one of the hallways-- ah-ha!



Metal had a key to his door, having just got there. Unlike last time, he carried a bag with all his athletic stuff. He must've circled around to get his things when Amy lost track of him.



He noticed her stare, then lifted his head to meet her gaze once more. He totally froze in place.



"You dropped your phone," Amy sighed as she stepped closer. She held the phone out for him. "That's why I was chasing you! If you listened to me, you would've known!"



Metal averted his eyes, then hesitantly took the phone from her hand.



"Why'd you run from me like that, anyway?" she asked.



He unlocked his door and-- click!-- just as quickly disappeared through it.



Amy sighed. "Great answer," she grumbled under her breath.



The door cracked open. Metal stuck his arm out, holding a white and pink handkerchief covered in a heart pattern... It was the same one Amy gave him!



"Oh, you wanna give it back?" Amy asked. She reached for it, then pulled her hand back. "... Um, for full transparency, I found out about your room because I asked your sister. She called when I was trying to find you."



"... Sage?" Wow, so he did talk. He sounded way less intimidating than before.



"No, her name was Belle."



He didn't respond that time. He moved his hand a little, reminding her to take the handkerchief. Amy gently took it... It was soft and totally clean. He cleaned it that fast?



"Thank you," Amy replied. He took his arm back, though the door was still cracked open. "Um, hey--" Something compelled her to say something else for a very brief moment... Doubt crept in before she could act on her impulse. "Nevermind... I'll go."



She walked down the hall and felt a stare at the back of her head. She didn't turn around... As soon as she went past a corner, she heard a faraway door click itself closed.



Amy couldn't believe she almost invited him somewhere. Though he acted as skittish as a tiny animal, she had to remember that he was still pretty aggressive and he never even apologized. She wouldn't forget how he knocked the flyer out of her hand when she invited him to a student event before!



She maybe understood why Sonic felt a little bad for him, though. There must've been a lot going through his head. At least he gave her favorite handkerchief back. Smelled nice, too.



Ugh... Ugh! Fine! She went back to grab her stuff from the recreation center, then returned to Metal's dorm. She brought out a different flyer she made to tack onto different boards around campus. Not that he'd go anyway. She slipped it under his door, then left.



There was plenty of time to kill until her club meeting later in the afternoon. She hoped her friends changed their minds on joining... She texted Sonic first since he was big about saving nature.



Nope. He didn't even answer, not that she was surprised... Knuckles sounded interested, but he got wrapped up in Sonic's shenanigans to the point that he probably wouldn't show.



She tried one of her closest friends, Big, but his group always went out to the lake on the weekends. She understood and was happy he even considered it.



Rouge was a no, especially since she firmly believed in doing nothing productive on the weekends. Shadow was just as annoying to contact as Sonic. Omega seemed a little too interested in a 'catching other things on fire' way. She decided to not invite him.



Tangle and Jewel were in different clubs, Whisper was... somewhere. Amy had to accept that everyone she knew just wouldn't show. She hoped her flyers would inspire other random students. She'd start up her club anyway and treat it as if it were full.



She made her way to the campus's greenhouse. Thanks to her club, she was permitted to access the storage shed and take the needed tools out for gardening: proper gloves, watering cans, rakes, all that good stuff. She grabbed supplies for herself for a few others on the off-chance anyone would show.



She went to the back and brought out some plants she was watching over to make way for the springtime. When the weather would start to warm up a bit, she'd begin planting them in designated places around campuses. She smiled at the planter before her; one of the flowers started to bud.



Oh...! Someone entered the greenhouse too. She hoped it was one of her--



It was her turn to stare in shock. Metal was there, holding the same flyer Amy slipped under his door. He glanced at the paper, looked around. He bit his bottom lip, his brows furrowed. He eventually noticed Amy and their gazes locked. Predictably, he looked away just as fast.



Amy picked off her gardening gloves as he approached her. She could still hardly believe that, of everyone she spoke to, Metal was the one who showed up.



When he was close enough, he offered the flyer. Amy's eyes dipped down to the paper.



"You dropped this," he said.



"What--" Amy blinked. "There's no way you think I dropped this."



"It was under my door. I figured you had to pass by again and dropped it."



Amy gawked in disbelief. "I... No," she said, sighing. "I put it under your door on purpose."



"... Why?" For once, he met her gaze and didn't falter.



Great question. "To tell you the truth, man, I don't know. It was a feeling I had in the moment." Amy frowned a little. "There's a lot of fresh air to grab from the gardening club. And, like, everyone gets to benefit from our efforts to make the campus prettier... students, faculty, and wildlife alike." She shrugged. "I think anyone can enjoy gardening. So..."



Metal retrieved the paper again to re-read the flyer. Amy had never felt such heavy silence in her life. He glanced around the greenhouse again. "... Where are the other members?"



"It's just me," she said, holding her arms out.



"You must be doing something wrong, then."



"H-hey!!" she snapped. "I didn't do anything wrong! It's just..." she groaned. "I made the club a bit too late. Everyone's already in clubs or they don't care. Then it's winter, and people don't exactly think of gardening in winter, even though there's a ton to do during this time. It's year-long! Nature is year-long!" she yelled.



"... What do you do?" he asked. Was he actually interested in the club?



Amy didn't think too hard about why he asked, but she was happy to answer him. "Lots of stuff. There's a small section of campus with soil plots that we're allowed to use for growing flowers, veggies, fruit. There's some limitations because of the campus's soil and of course what we're allowed to plant. Aside from the soil plots, we've also been cleared to plant all around the campus and its buildings, so long as we take care of them. It's a lot of responsibility, but it's fun, and you never know... Even a single flower is packed with meaning. It could change the course of someone's day."



He didn't reply, but he watched her and quietly listened.



Amy huffed at herself as she got caught up in her own thoughts. "Wow, I didn't even explain the other stuff. There's some physical labor involved! It takes perseverance to plant and replant, move soil, rip out weeds, and more that's not necessarily popping in my head right now... And it takes just as much care to not harm any of the plants!" She sighed. "Despite it being something that benefits the community, the club is not cleared for community service credits. Another reason no one cares, probably... I'd move club hours to another day, but weekdays are so busy."



Oops. She realized she'd been talking for quite a while.



"... Is there anything specific you want to know?" she asked.



His eyes slightly widened, and then he refused to make eye contact again. When they first interacted, he was so confidently mean. What happened? Was it because of the panic attack? The person before her might as well have been someone else. He took in a breath like he was about to speak, but nothing came out.



"... I mean, regardless, if it's something you actually wanna do and you're not gonna be an ass, you're welcome to join," Amy continued. "... I always hang out here for a little bit in case anyone shows up. After about half an hour, I go out to the soil plots on the west side of campus and then check on the other plants around campus. Well, not that I've planted much yet."



He folded the paper in his hands and slightly fidgeted with it. He stared off into the distance, not exactly focusing on anything. Amy could tell he was battling some conflicted thoughts. Maybe he actually did want to join? She was surprised how she actually wanted him to... Getting some extra help sounded nice. She hoped someone else could learn to appreciate the beauty of flowers like she did.



The silence went on for long enough. Amy slightly tilted her head as she watched his hands. "... There's no join date. If you still need to think about it, you can always visit again. My email's on the flyer too if you want to reach out for anything else."



It was like she said the magic words. He very briefly looked at her, then he turned away. He left the greenhouse. This time, Amy didn't chase him... And he walked instead of running like a million miles an hour. She sighed to herself.



Damn. She thought it would happen.