He Used To Be Mine (Sonadow)

Chapter 4

Shadow's POV

I woke up fairly early the next morning and stood up from the couch I had taken over. The sun was just beginning to come up as I made my way to the kitchen, being quiet even though the other two were upstairs.

I stood in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee next to me and scrolling through my phone when Rouge walks in from the guest bedroom she had claimed. She murmured a "Good morning" and I gave her a nod of acknowledgement, not looking up.

"Is Sonic awake yet?" she asked. I glance up at her for a moment.

"Does it look like he is?" I asked, looking back at my phone. She sighed in annoyance.

"What a mood," she muttered. We stood in silence for a half an hour.

"Hey, I'm going to be joining Blaze and Cream out today. It's been a while since I've seen them," said Rouge. "I doubt you or Sonic will want to join, so just be careful. Don't be stupid."

"When have I ever?" I asked rhetorically. She giggled.

"I think I can recall a few times." I glared at her and she put her hands up in mock defense.

"Okay, okay!" she said. "On a different note, Eggman will probably strike soon again. Do you think Sonic will be able to fight him?" Her face turned serious and concerned.

"No," I replied flatly. "The best he could do would probably be run and hide with Cream and stay safe."

"But he's not weak," she muttered.

"No, but I told him he was," I said. She looked at me strangely.

"Why? A few wounds can't bring that hedgehog down, that's for sure. I don't know why you want to keep him safe," she said. "Unless…" I look at her and cross my arms.

"Unless…?" I echo. She smiles widely.

"Unless you actually like him!"

"What? You're insane…"

"Aw, admit it, Shads. You care about him," she poked my arm and I swatted her away.

"Don't call me that," I growled. "And I care about everyone else's safety as well."

"Uh huh. Sure," Rouge said doubtfully. I rolled my eyes.

"Do you actually think I care about that Faker?" She nodded. I huffed in annoyance as she continued to tease me about my "crush". I tried to ignore her the best I could.

"Well," she said finally as she stopped pestering me. "It's best that I get going. Blaze isn't one to wait for long. I'll see you later, Shadow. Tell Sonic I said 'Good morning' when he wakes up." I gave a brief nod as she turned and left.

A few minutes later, the Faker walks out and looks at me from the entrance to the kitchen.

"Well?" he asks, one hand on his hip. I push past him and beckon him to follow me without looking back.

"Follow me. I have a good place for you to train."

°  °  °

I don't know this place well, but after talking to a few others who knew Sonic longer, I realized this was a good place to start. We came a long way to find this place, so it should be worth it.

I turn to the blue hedgehog.

"Do you remember this place?" I asked. He looked around before looking at me again.

"It's… it's the Green Hill Zone…" he said quietly. "But why are we here?"

"This is your first course. You ran it before, you may be able to do it again," I explained.

"But it's been years," he said. "I forgot about more than half of this road. I didn't think it was still open…"

"Well, it is," I said. "I'll go beside you as I need to see how your progress is going…" he gave me a sideways glance and nodded once.

"Just pretend like this is your very first course all over again," I said to him. "You didn't know anything about it, and what did you do?"

"Wing it?"

I blinked at him as he shrugged. "...You beat it," I muttered. "But I guess that, too." I look out and point ahead. "If I've been told correctly, there are robots to destroy, springs and obstacles. You'll need to use your spindash a couple of times as well."

"Okay, and that's basically curling up into the fetal position while tumbling fast, right?" he asked jokingly. I look at him and sigh.

"Yes. Close enough." I look ahead. "Enough with the jokes. As far as I know, there is an end marker that had an image of you and Eggman which you have to hit to complete the course, right?"

He nodded again. "Yeah. I remember that."

"Good, then you know your basics. Are you ready?" I look at him again and he gave me his signature thumbs up with a wink and a nod. I stare at him for a moment before shaking my head a bit and looking forward again, a bit dazed and confused.

"Run," I muttered. He gave a surprised look and began running and I sped behind him. I caught up quickly. His speed had definitely decreased over time. I kept pace beside him and saw that he was beginning to run out of breath, unusual for him, but when I looked over, he had a look of determination.

I couldn't help but admire it a bit. After years of hell and pain, he's picking himself up well. He's already returning to his normal self. My quick glances quickly turned into stares, and I snapped myself out of it.

What the hell is wrong with me?

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Sonic's POV

I realized I was running out of energy the more I continued down Memory Lane, destroying the few robots left behind with rust growing and dashing underground a few times.

It was strange for me. I wanted to stop and catch my breath, but refused to. I knew Shadow had slowed down to be at a matched pace with me, giving me the realization that I had decreased in speed. I guess I'm not the fastest thing alive?

I glance over at my temporary mentor. He seemed lost in thought, muttering a few times to himself as he stared at the road ahead of him, dodging each obstacle perfectly without much thought.

To be honest, he was probably just following my lead out of the corner of his eye for that.

I look back ahead, scared of being caught staring at him for too long, making things awkward between us after we had gotten along a bit. I'd probably seem crazy if I wasn't already.

Finally, I saw the sign ahead. It was facing with my face on it already as it had been before. I hit it and it spun, a few colorful sparks coming out of it and landed on the picture of Classic Sonic instead of Robotnik.

The image was a little scratched up from age, but damn did it still look good.

Hey, cut me some slack. I'm getting myself together again. At least it not the puns… yet.

I turn to Shadow.

"That was easy!" I say, a little out of breath. "I'm gonna need something harder."

He gave me a look and nodded.

"All right. I think we can get one of the Egghead's old robot Bosses to work for a little Boss Fight," he said. I nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! Let's go," I turn and run back the way we came with Shadow following behind.

What a day.