"My Ultimate Lifeform" (Shadow x Reader) ~ [Book 1]

Chapter 7: What's Up, Lovebirds?

*Your* (Y/N)'s POV

I woke up in the shed a few hours later, the faint light of dawn shining in my eyes from the window. My body felt heavy and disoriented, and I was exhausted of all the work we've been taking part in... really shadow? I got up from my bed, and started to get ready.

I went into the shower, contemplating the conversation we had last night. As I took a shower, my thoughts drifted back to Shadow.

With a sigh, I pushed myself off the ground and rummaged through another one of Shadow's black shirts. I pulled out another one of Shadow's boring black shirts, the fabric soft but unremarkable, a depressing reminder of his presence. 

The shirt hung loosely on me, its weight a comfort and a burden all at once. It didn't fit.. but I could make use of it. The size of the shirt was a bit small... but comforting. I mean, this belonged to a hedgehog, right?? 

His voice echoed in my mind, calling me "Princess".. I felt affection and desire for him to call me that again... But I knew it was stupid. Maybe he actually did think I was someone else for a while and called me that by mistake.

Once I was done, I walked downstairs to see Shadow was already awake, waiting for me on the couch.

Shadow was wearing no pants as usual, and he was frowning... as usual. I took a seat next to him and I started the conversation first... as usual to see if he had anything to discuss.

"So.... got any ideas?" I threw finger guns at him and stared into his big, bright red eyes. It was painful to stare at him before, but now it's just kind of... alluring. I like it.

Shadow frowned, ignoring my gestures and crossing his arms, "We should be evacuating this place now, it's not safe. Since we took Eggman's chaos emerald that was powering his lab, he's gonna be on the lookout." 

I took a hold of his hand, and smiled at him,"-We'll be alright, shady! I assume that Eggman wasn't even there when we infiltrated his lab, so how would he know? He probably has another base or something." 

Shadow grimaced, "Never call me that again. Eggman may have more labs or secret bases, but we can never be for sure. We can never be too safe, (Y/N)."

I got up from my seat, and stood in front of him, "Alright, shady... but you got any ideas where other the chaos emeralds are at?" 

Shadow groaned at the nickname but smiled briefly after, quickly turning his delightful expression into a frown. "If anything happens, we need to have contingencies. We'll find them whenever we can, if possible. There might be chaos energy around here."

I nodded my head and we both got ready to leave the shed. Shadow told me right after that I'll need to work on harnessing my 'magic fingers' and work on detecting chaos energy. We had to look for a new place to stay, since Shadow said it wasn't safe, so we walked over to this hotel that was nearby the shed. 

I stumbled upon the receptionist and Shadow did all of the work... I had no idea what he was doing. I was already tired from all the work we've been doing, so I barely took notice of what's going on, but Shadow was paying for us since I was broke. 

"W-what are" The lady who was working as the receptionist almost screamed, but Shadow held a gun up her head and stared at her aggressively.

"Our appearances are none of your business." Shadow lowered his gun and started to bring his money out.. how can hedgehogs have money?

"We'd like to get a room for two, miss." I grinned at her and waved my hand in a comforting gesture, smiling at the lady just to make a good impression.

"Ooh, I see. A couple staying the night?" The receptionist smiled at how we were holding hands, but I quickly let go and blushed in embarrassment. We both looked away from each other and rolled our eyes, so she quickly apologized after.

So once Shadow was done paying, the lady gave him the keys to our room and told us it was on the fifth floor. She waved at us and grinned at me for some reason... I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue at her. 

We walked over to the stairs and he put me in his arms bridal style and carried me up the stairs... I have no idea why. Once we reached the fifth floor, Shadow ran with me in his arms and put me down at the door.

Shadow opened the door and we entered the hotel room. It was small, but satisfactory and it was sufficient to dwell in. There was one bedroom, one kitchen and a living room. I had no idea what to do, but I quickly ran to the bed in exhaustion and sat down.

Shadow smirked at how fast and tired I was, but he stayed in the living room and just sat down on the couch just like he did in the shed. It looked like he was contemplating things.. maybe his future?

After an hour later, I got off my bed and walked over to the living room. Shadow was still sitting there, crossing his arms and sighing constantly. I sat down next to him, and took a glance at his eyes.

"Shadow.. can I ask you something?" I smiled and took his hand, putting it on top of mine. 

"What is it?" Shadow turned to me, and we stared directly into each other's eyes.

"About Maria?" I frowned and put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him about the situation.

"Oh..." Shadow looked away and shed a tear from his eye at the sudden mention, and stared at the ground in thought. "Maria.." It's like the name damaged his throat or something... "You really want to know?" Shadow sighed and turned to stared directly into my eyes again.

"Yeah.... just tell me. I promise, I'll listen all the way. I just want to know why whenever you mention her, it's like the world stops. Tell me." I hugged him tight, and rested in his chest fur, and we both felt each other's presence for a while, but we let go just to keep the platonic feeling.

Shadow started to talk for a while about who Maria was, and I started to cry a little about how depressing the situation was. How Shadow was made to cure Maria of her incurable disease, and how Maria sacrificed herself for him. But.. he mentioned someone else in the story.

Some girl named... (Y/N)? She had the same name as me, and Shadow said she looked directly like me for some reason. But that wasn't possible... 

"Shadow... this girl sounds oddly familiar." I scratched my head and contemplated of how my mom told me I was a princess over at that castle place prior. 

"Wait.. (Y/N)'s mom... she... looks like.. your mom?" Shadow growled in confusion and held his head in his hands, trying to process the similarities.

"So, since this girl evacuated the Ark because of Maria sacrificing herself for both of you, and she went back to earth like how you were evacuated by Maria and sent to earth.. And we are both on earth..." I shrugged and suddenly, Shadow pulled me into a hug, and I couldn't refuse.

"(Y/N)... you really are back! Do you.. remember?" Shadow grinned and pulled out of the embrace for a second, staring directly into my eyes.

"I..I think I do... but how?"

A sudden knock came from the door. (???) approached the door slowly, peering through the peephole, his breath catching in his throat.

"Anyone there? I don't have all day, you know." (???) continued to knock on the door, trying to get an answer. Shadow groaned and got up from his seat, and I followed him, taking his hand while he briefly opening the door.

The hedgehog in front of us laughed at spotting our intimacy even know we were JUST holding hands. He was holding a flower in his hand, and it was a shade of lavender.

"What's up, Lovebirds?"