Sonic & the Ninja's Daughter

Bonus Chapter - Shadows

"I know I promised that I wouldn't cause trouble like that to worry you, but in that situation I didn't think I had any other choice." Emia explained, looking down at her grazed knees that were half-exposed under her knee-length leggings as she sat on the hospital bed while her uncle wrapped white bandages around her bruised arm. "I wasn't the best fighter and that monster took advantage of me. Had Sonic not been there to save me, I...I don't think I would have been able to make it out of there..."

"I see," Mijiyo replied, remaining focused on his work. "Well, either way I'm glad you're alright..."

"Uncle." To this he finally looked up at her. "Sonic has saved my life on two different occasions," she explained. "Six years ago, you were the one who saved the life of my brother and my life too. Later, that very same life was saved by Speed-o'-Sound Sonic, who has now saved it again today."

Her uncle smiled. "Ah. Yes, I think I get the picture, Emia," he said softly, placing a hand on his niece's wrist. "You're trying to tell me just how amazing and strong this Sonic fellow is, am I right?"

She nodded twice, a light blush dusting over her cheeks before her uncle lifted up her chin. At that moment, she was reminded of the last moments before the skyscraper exploded, the feeling of Sonic's warm fingers underneath her chin.

She felt herself awkwardly blush for a moment and tried to look down before she felt Sonic's hand lift her chin up, and she saw the soft smile on his face. The moment she felt his warmth, she was somewhat calm and brave enough to look at his face again. A strange feeling started rising inside of her as she captured every feature.

She couldn't understand why she felt the way she did; that sort of thing had never happened to her before. There was just no way she could be falling for a ninja, a man she had only known for a short while; they were only friends. However, the way she felt at that one moment before the monster attack seemed to tell her otherwise. She just didn't know her own emotions anymore, and she didn't know why she was even experiencing these weird and new emotions.

"Hey, Emia. Mind if I ask you something?" her uncle asked her, bringing her back to the hospital room she was in.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Well, it's about this Sonic friend of yours," he explained, sitting down on the hospital bed next to her. "Given what you've told me about him, it seems to me that you know something that the rest of the family doesn't. Just be honest with me about this. Who is he, Emia?"

The question completely caught her off guard. How could she even answer that? She didn't want to tell her family the truth because she was afraid that she may end up hurting Sonic's trust. But even so, it was likely Sonic also knew that he wouldn't go unnoticed forever. She exhaled a deep sigh. 'I'm sorry, Sonic. I have to do this.'

And so despite her hesitance to do so, under the condition that no one else – not even their family - was to know about it, she told her uncle everything, not hiding anything from him, from the night when Sonic saved her from the trio of thugs and about how he revealed his identity as a ninja. She also included how she and Sonic were the ones who took down the Demon level monster and what he had asked her after it was defeated.

"Hm. I see," her uncle, fixing his glasses. "But you said nothing about your past to him?"

She shook her head. "All he knows is that my mother is dead. That's about it. Just please, don't tell anyone about what I've told you. I don't want to cause Sonic any more trouble!"

"Relax, dear. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to." Mijiyo said softly with a smile. "The question is now, what are you going to do now?"

She looked directly into her uncle's eyes after momentarily closing her eyes and answered confidently, "Tell him everything."

. . .

Later that night, somewhere in the abandoned area...

"Say, did you hear? A Demon Level monster was defeated in Z-City today."

"Demon?"

"That's right, and the one responsible for defeating it was none other than her, his daughter, with the help of one of our own."

"Who might that be?"

"The last survivor of the Final 44."

"That's impossible! Why would he help her?"

"No, no, it's true. I happened to be watching the show from a distance. She's not as weak as she was all those years ago. It seems that the ninja's daughter is getting stronger."

"Interesting. Well, you're willing to believe what they call the 'rumor mill', she killed that Demon monster with her father's own kunai, too..."

"Rumors are just rumors. The main point of it is that the girl is still alive, and it's likely that the Final 44's sole survivor has sided with her. If this is the case, then the question is, what do we do now?"

"Do we attack?"

"No, I doubt that would be wise. We don't know if he is aware of the girl's past."

"Ha! Please. I highly doubt that he even knows who her father is yet! But if he does find out, then we should move. Him siding with her could be a bit of a problem for us."

"Oh, don't you worry about that. We of the Golden 37 will take things from here. The rest of you lay low for now. Leave everything to us. When the time comes, we'll know what to do."

Meanwhile...

Sonic sat under the square window at his hideout, propping one arm on his knee as moon rays gave light to the floor around him. His obsidian hair was down, cascading down his back and shoulders. He had white bandages wrapped around his forehead and left bicep, and was wearing nothing but a pair of black jeans and a baggy tank top. The memories of the monster attack were still whizzing through his mind, especially the aftermath, when she told him that she wasn't a ninja.

"Emia. Are you a ninja, too?"

"N-no. Sonic, what are you talking about?"

"Wait, you're...you're not a ninja?"

He played with a kunai with one hand. It was hers – the one she had used on that snowy night against those thugs – and he had lost track of how long he had been looking at it. 'A girl that isn't a ninja but uses kunai. How does that make any sense...?'

If Emia wasn't a ninja, then maybe it was a member of her family who she took after, but it certainly wasn't her aunt. It couldn't be her uncle, because he was a doctor, and definitely not her cousin Rin either. That only left one other option: her parents. But in the end, he really didn't know. With a sigh, he stood up and leaned on the window pane, gazing out at the abandoned area.

It was strange, though: the more time he spent with Emia, the more interesting and peculiar she became to him. He could sense something special about her the night they first met, and for some reason, he could feel as if he slowly getting closer to finding out what that special thing was. Not only that, but during that monster attack, he felt this need to protect her, but he wasn't sure whether it was because of instinct or because of something else. Something so much more. Raising the kunai in front of him, the tip of it glistened in the moonlight. A small smile played on his lips before his grey eyes gazed up at the crescent moon. At that very moment, he quietly spoke the words he really wanted to say the night he first met Emia.

"Emia. I want to know everything about you."