"One, two, three, four..." A young blue hedgehog, Zonic, counted as he faced a wall of the playroom. As usual, he was playing a game of hide-and-seek with his five good friends: Zespio, Zector, Zamy, Zally and Zhadow, his very best friend.

"Ten!" Zonic announced across the room. "Ready or not, here I come!" He turned around and scanned his surroundings, searching for any good hiding spots where his friends could hide.

Within minutes, he had found almost all of his friends. The last one he still had to find was his very best friend, Zhadow "Zerios" the Hedgehog.

"No fair!" Zespio complained. "I was in camouflage!"
"Ah~ but you should know, Zespio my friend." Zonic spoke back. "That a good Zone Cop need to find the criminal he was assigned to find, camouflage or no camouflage."
"He got ya there, Zes." Zector mused, chuckling to himself.
"Now," Zonic said, determined, "let's find our friend, Zhadow!"

Zonic searched the entire room once more, but no matter how, he just couldn't find Zhadow. With a sigh, he accepted his defeat.
"I give up! Zhadow, you win!"
And suddenly, out of nowhere, Zonic was met with a hug from his best friend.

"Where were you?!" Zonic asked, hugging back.
"Behind you, as always!" Zhadow answered with a smirk.

"Come on, we've been over this. You're not supposed to do that!"
"Who says I can't?"
Zonic shook his head, once again defeated by his best friend.
"Fine. You win, again."
Zhadow chuckled and gave his best friend a tiny slap on the back.
"You know I will always win."

The two of them were bound to share another hug when suddenly, a loud ringing caught everyone's attention.
"That's the bell." Zally pointed out. "Time for class everybody."
As everybody waved goodbye and went to their respective classrooms, Zhadow and Zonic were left on their own in the playroom for one last minute.

"Come on, let's go." Zhadow said, turning to leave. Zonic followed because, well, they are in the same class. But before they left the playroom, Zonic gave his best friend a quick hug.

"We're going together!" He said, pouting because Zhadow seemed to be going faster than him. The black and red hedgehog chuckled a little.
"Alright, we'll go. Together this time." He said, smiling.
"And best friends stick together! Right?" Zonic asked, looking deeply into Zhadow's eyes. With a smile, Zhadow replied.
"Right."