A white-gloved hand holding a pencil, moved up and down, tapping the pencil against the desk. The owner of that hand was currently stumped on a question in his media and law class. It was an annoying yet interesting class having to keep track of all the laws involving media and journalism. Some rules were necessary, but many seem just tedious or just idiotic to the blue hedgehog. It's good to know but if this wasn't a required course, Sonic would not have taken it.

The young mobian let out a frustrated grunt as he placed the pencil down on the desk and folded his arms. His foot tapped viciously against the wood floor. The answer just didn't come to him. It was then that his quills began to tingle.

With this, Sonic turns his head to look out the window. The orange and red hues of the sky over the tall buildings confirmed it was dusk. It was an instinct, one that's grown since he was a child. On certain days he was inclined to look at the sun's descent. To gaze at the final embers of light before it went dark and the moon's glow would blanket the sky. From raging flames to a calm silence. Such a sight put his mind at ease more than normal, allowing it to wander and explore his thoughts.

As a child, Sonic loved the dark hues of the night as it meant he could hide away in its dark corners far from those sharp judgmental eyes of that island. It was a cool blanket he was still thankful for and one he would wear again from time to time. Sonic thought it was weird at first until his father and later on his uncle explained that they feel it sometimes as well. An old trait that ran down their family line. Though it might run in other families too since Blaze has expressed she feels it as well.

Well anyway, it was another weird aspect of himself, one that offered nice distresser from his complicated homework. Sonic leans back folding his arms behind his head as he thought about other things. Green eyes moved to the desk in front of him. They wandered from the books on small shelves the desk provides to the calendar he hung on the wall. The dates were marked in various colors relating to classes and events. The level of importance was determined if it was highlighted or not. It was currently Friday the 12th of March, tomorrow he had his first track meet of the season. 'We're definitely going to win the tournament this year.' He smirks.

He looked down to next week he saw this packet was due next Tuesday. Sonic had already known this, reminding himself helped him breathe easier. The hedgehog's eyes scan the calendar further before they land on Monday the 1st. Last week. He chuckles at recalling the funny events of that day.


"What!" The blue hedgehog shouted.

Upon the bunny's surprise statement, Sonic rushed to turn on his phone and check his school email. He found at least 4 emails regarding a new roommate. One of which was a week ago and marked as read. When he was consumed in his heat.

Sonic palmed, hiding his reddening face. "Sorry Dr. B, I did see it but I…uh forgot to reply."

The bunny looked at the cobalt hedgehog with a knowing expression. "I'm aware of that." He huffed with a slight chuckle. He looked at Shadow with a raised brow. "Though I'm surprised you didn't know Shadow. It says here you requested to room with Sonic."

Sonic looked at the darker hedgehog with confusion. His red eyes narrowed as he clicked his tongue, "Rouge." He said before sighing and it was all Sonic needed to hear to know where this was going. "I was busy with work so she offered to fill out the form for me. A little warning would've been nice." He mumbled the last part as Dr. B, who should've been worried about a tampered form, laugh.

The bunny then opened the desk drawer and took out a small card with Shadow's picture on it. "Well Shadow, here's your school ID. Place this on the scanners by the door and it'll open. You can also use this for your meal plan on campus and certain restaurants off-campus."

Shadow took the card with a nod. "Thank you."

"Alright now run along, I need to finish filing some documents." Dr. B left the desk and returned to the back office while the hedgehogs said goodbye. They made their way to the room and raced up the stairs.

Sonic didn't have a chance to dwell on the situation further as he had to grab his sports gear and dash to practice. But he was more than grateful that he had cleaned the room on Sunday. It would have been degrading to have had his new roommate walk in and smell all he had done last week.


Aside from bunking with Tails in middle school, if that counts, Sonic didn't have much experience when it came to having a roommate. Well, a roommate that stayed. Early Freshman and Sophomore year he had a roommate, both just moved out within a few weeks. Either dropping out or deciding to go to other living arrangements. He didn't know which one.

Safe to say it was odd having a new roommate. The dorm room was a single, meaning two students could live in one room. There was a window to the outside, one bed on each side of the window. Shadow took the left side of the room while Sonic took the right. Their arrangements were pretty similar. Sonic had a nightstand and bins under the bed where his clothes, food, and cleaning supplies were. His desk was at the foot of the bed and his closet was against the wall behind him. On the far left of the room was the door that led to a kitchenette and small living space. On the right of the kitchenette was the bathroom and shower, and on the left was the door to the 4th-floor hallway. Sonic was lucky enough to be assigned the handicap room which resulted in a bigger bathroom than other rooms in the building.

'Speaking of which, a shower sounds really good about now. I could use a break from sitting.' The blue hedgehog thought as he stood from his chair. He grabbed his towel and shower bag from his closet and made his way into the bathroom. His wandering thoughts continued as he took off his uniform and turned on the water.

However, even with the handicap, the room was on the smaller side of things so moving around each other proved challenging. There were many times when the two hedgehogs tripped over each other, especially in the mornings and evenings. It didn't help that they had the same schedule with different classes. They were getting the hang of it though.

Roommate-wise, Shadow was the same as when Sonic met him on Monday. A little bit of indifference here, a little bit of rightful smugness there, and a tiny little bit of caring and competitiveness at the very end. Though surprisingly, Shadow was also very punctual and studious. So far he nagged the blue hedgehog once or twice about procrastinating too much or not being on time. Which is true, but he already got enough of that from Tails.

There was one thing that did concern the blue hedgehog. Shadow's health. Over the few days they've been roommates Sonic's noticed the other would at times have less coloration in his fur or hold his head for a moment before taking the iron pills. And though Shadow said it wasn't a big deal, still Sonic couldn't help but feel uneasy and worry about it. He'd even done some research and asked Rouge if Shadow had anemia, which she confirmed though seemed surprised that he asked. Well, it's been happening so often why wouldn't he ask?

'If I ever have the time it would be good to cook something. Some healthy fold would be good for both of us. Chaos knows I should be more conservative in my meal plan anyway.'

Aside from that, what Sonic enjoyed the most was when they dashed off to class together. And oh how exhilarating those races were.

Just zig-zagging to the different school buildings throughout the day. Wind crashing and merging with his fur. It's been a while since he felt this alive while running. So far it was Sonic's 7 wins to Shadow's 8 wins and 1 tie. Though if anyone asks, Sonic won that tie.

Overall the blue hedgehog was enjoying his experience with a roommate. The one thing that was nagging Sonic was the word soulmate that discretely hung over his blue-quilled head. Curiously poking and flicking the back of his mind. And with all the sensations he felt on his lower back in the past week there was no doubt that his mark was reacting to the striped hedgehog and only him. The only issue was that Sonic wanted to be sure.

He wanted concrete proof and not just a feeling. It's probably the only time he doesn't trust his instincts. And the only concrete proof he can get was to try to see if the other had the same mark. But he couldn't just go up to the other and say, "Hey can I see your soul mark?" as that's considered very rude and inappropriate. Plus it's weird to ask that of a new friend.

And so led the past 2 days of the blue hedgehog sneaking glances at the other hedgehog's lower back. Looking for any sign that the other would have a mark just as similar as his own. Though that proved to be in vain as Shadow seemed just as efficient in covering his lower back as Sonic was. From tucking in his uniform to that one time when he walked out of the bathroom with just a towel. In his search for the mark, he couldn't help his emerald scanning up and down the darker hedgehog's physique.

The dark sleek fur. The well-toned muscles in his back and arms. It made Sonic wonder who would win in an arm-wrestling match between Shadow and Knuckles. Sonic would eye the red stripes along his outer elbow which disappeared under those unique gloves. And at night when they were in their nightclothes, Sonic would catch the sight of a large tuff of white fur on Shadow's chest. It was definitely smaller than Silver's tuff, which was more like a bush, but appeared to be fluffy and not poofy like the grey hedgehog's. At those times the blue hedgehog was inclined to ask the other if he could touch it…which brought all sorts of alarm bells in Sonic's head as he kept his mouth closed and refocused his eyes on whatever he was doing at the time.

Sonic sighed in embarrassment at the memories. He applied soap to his fur and used the scrub brush to thoroughly clean any dirt from it. Moving from his arms to his torso, and finally to his legs. Keeping his mind from recalling any other embarrassments from the past couple of days as he scrubs them away.

He hadn't been this curious about someone since Sally Acorn during middle school. Well before they dated. A forlorn smile appeared on Sonic's face as the memory popped up. He sighed as he moved to wash his head quills.

Despite Sonic wishing this sudden attraction was due to his mark, he knew full well that wasn't the case. The mark, the chaos bond between him and Shadow, only brings about attraction in proximity. Meaning he's aware of where Shadow is and how close he was and was drawn to be closer to him. Though maybe it's because Shadow hasn't opened his side of the bond, as Sonic hasn't been able to sense the other outside of the room. Or at least the distance between his bed and the door to the hallway.

Meaning the added interest was all on him.

The hedgehog bit his lip. 'I find him interesting, so what? Shadow is just a good-looking dude with stunning red eyes and a bit of edge to him. Who wouldn't find him curious? It doesn't mean anything.' The blue hedgehog then rolled his eyes, careful to not get soap in them as he was washing it off. "Now if Rouge would stop those off-handed remarks, I would actually believe that." He groaned.

The bat found a new hobby in making vulgar remarks while with him. Particularly about him and her cousin since that comment on Monday. She usually didn't make such comments when Shadow wasn't around. 'Especially last week since Shadow was pretty pissed by that resident form stunt she pulled on him.' Needless to say, her slide smiles at Sonic's flustered face were getting more annoying the longer it continued.

Speaking of Rouge, she and Shadow are out this evening. From what Shadow said it had been a while since they last hung out together and she was introducing him to her boss. He's transferring from one branch of the book company they work at, to the nearby branch due to his move. Shadow said wouldn't be back until 9 pm. Which was fine with Sonic as he need to finish up his assignments. He'd finished some of the assignments earlier but man he needs to start picking up the pace on his assignments in general. Though the darker hedgehog's presence had been considerably distracting. Especially with that herbal zesty scent that Sonic's become more aware of.

Once all the bubbles were off and his fur felt clean, Sonic turned off the water and grabbed his towel which was on the sink. He had to be a bit careful not to poke a hole in it with his quills and made sure to relax them before drying off. He steps out of the shower drying his feet using the bathroom mat. It felt good to be refreshed.

'Ah! The answer's E!' And though he had a lot on his mind, the break helped him remember the answer to the question he was stuck on. It brought his mood up as he could just move past that frustrating question and finally get the assignment over with and call it a night.

He rummages through his shower bag for his dryer to further deplete the remaining water in his fur. In doing so, Sonic notices that there were no pajamas on the sink or the rail near the shower. His phone and uniform were still on the toilet lid. "Shit, I forgot to grab them." He states in realization. Sonic checked his phone to see that it was 8:07. 'I could walk out quickly grab my PJs and come back.' He plans and goes through with it.

The young mobian slowly opens the door, peeking his head out just to see if Shadow came back early while he was in the shower. When he didn't hear or see any shade of black fur in the kitchen nor in the room he made his move. Sonic swiftly tip-toed into the bedroom and to his bed. He opened the dresser drawer to grab the first pair of pajamas and underwear he saw. It was a short sleeve red button-up with matching red shorts, both had white trims. The weather had gotten warmer these past couple of days. Closing the drawer he turns back to the open bedroom door.

So focused on his task to get his clothes, Sonic failed to notice any sound of the dorm room door opening and someone walking in. At least until he was almost out the door when striped fur entered his peripheral and blocks his way out of the bedroom.

He didn't have enough time to realize the situation until he bumped his nose into the other's shoulder. "Oof."

"Hmm?"

It was a light bump, though it didn't make his nose hurt any less. He rubbed the lower bridge of his nose with his ungloved peach hand, attempting to minimize the sting. He froze when a certain deep velvety voice made itself known.

"Sonic?"

His eyes went wide as he glances straight into a deep red. And the blue hedgehog just wanted to scream as his face began to erupt in flames. Aside from the clothes in his hands, he was completely naked. No gloves. No socks. As nude as a clean newborn. All in front of the one mobian he didn't want to be exposed to.

He smiles warily. "Huh, hey Shadow your oddly early."

The heavy dorm room door finally slams shut.


It was 7:48 when they walked out of the book store. The meeting was quicker than expected though it didn't quell Shadow's thoughts about the situation. The trail on his opponents had gone cold as there was little activity to trace them or understand what their next move was. What was good is that there were a few potential candidates for guardians in the school. But from what Shadow had seen Sonic and Knuckles had a higher chance of bonding than the others. They just need to explain the situation and present their respective seniors, the emeralds, to them. Only when they glow in both young mobians' presence will Shadow be 100% sure. They would need to either bring the emeralds to the two or vice versa. Both ideas were tricky as it was likely that their opponents would be waiting for an opportunity to steal the emeralds or capture the potential mobians. Like they tried to do before.

Shadow's eyes look to Rouge as she closes the bookstore door. Recalling the events that happen when she was younger. Shadow shook himself. 'The main issue now is whether those two want to be a part of this. They will eventually be involved with this sooner or later but we should give them a choice. Let's just hope the emeralds we have are theirs.'

"Ready to go Jefe?" Rouge's voice brings the dark hedgehog from his thoughts.

"Yes."

"Great, now let's get back to Red and Blue." She states as she strolls along the sidewalk, Shadow a few steps behind. The sidewalk thankfully wasn't that crowded. The evening sky was beautiful, especially since the sun began to set. It was a 15-minute walk back to the dorms, an easy warm-up for the both of them. Though the ebony hedgehog felt that Rouge wanted to discuss the meeting, so they were taking the journey back slow.

Rouge was the first to begin the conversation. "How'd you like the boss?"

'Code it is then.' "He was welcoming, though I believe his organizational skills could improve." He words his message.

She starts skipping with a flap of her wings. "Oh come on he did the best, especially with the low staff."

"Well, shouldn't we hire more staff then?"

She waves a finger. "You know not many people would want to work at a book store."

"Yet so many work at the rival company." He mumbles. "You know if Blue and Red would be interested?"

"I feel like they would. But if they don't, I have a feeling the district manager would be very insistent that they be hired."

He huffs. "Indeed."

A few minutes went by before Rouge stops skipping and starts a normal stride. "How has your condition been, by the way?"

Shadow's ears perked at that as he raised an eyebrow. "Condition?"

The bat glances back at him. "Your anemia."

'The pills?' "Ah. My condition is normal for the most part."

Her ears seem to quirk at his statement as she tilts her head. "'most part'?"

"There have been a few hiccups in the past couple of days."

Her stride slowed down. "Any idea as to why those 'hiccups' happen?"

'"No, I still trying to figure it out."

She was now next to him. "Have you talked with the doctor?"

"No I-!" Shadow's eyes went wide as he was suddenly pulled to the right and into an alley by the bat. They didn't go too far in the alley before she practically throw him against the wall. "Rouge-?"

She slams a hand against the wall right next to his head. Her eyes narrowed with anger. "Don't 'Rouge' me. Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

He folded his arms as he looked at her crystal blue eyes with confusion. "Didn't I tell you now?"

"Yeah, but do you know how I found out before you told me?" When she didn't get a response she continued. "It was mostly Sonic, but Amy and Tails texted me about it as you seem to be taking a noticeable amount of pills at lunch. Even more so at the dorms."

Shadow clicked his tongue. "You didn't ask until now and I can handle a small relapse like this, it's happened before."

Rouge shakes her head. "Yeah for a day, when we experience intense physical or emotional stress. But at least I can control it better." She paused as her eyes began to soften. "It usually doesn't last or reoccur this long. And those pills are supposed to last for twelve hours at least. How many pills do you even have left?"

"Thirty. Which is more than enough."

"If you're taking three or four a day it's not. Any side effects?" At the shake of his head, she pushed off the wall and sighed. "I'm just glad you haven't become mad yet."

Red eyes soften as they gazed at the bat in front of her. Shadow placed a hand on her shoulder. "I won't and I don't want to have you see that again."

For a second there was a glint in her eye. "Then…let's figure this out. Unless you want to up the medicine dosage and go through those tests and experiments from the doctor and the organization. Wasting days and not getting closer to your goal."

'I feel for her trap.' He smiled as he placed a hand over his eye. He sighs. "Fine, you win. Now how do you say we figure out why my relapses are happening?"

She places her hands on her hips in triumph. "Well since you are not presently experiencing extreme stress- as evidence of your non-glowy eyes and that everyone in the school is alive…then there's a likely chance an external problem is causing this."

He struggles to not outright laugh. "No shit."

"Language, you bastard." She said with a warm smile. "Well anyway, since it's an outside issue let's backtrack your situation. Did you, over the past few days, have any bouts of extreme emotion?"

Shadow rolls his eyes. "No."

"Did your mind feel foggy, as if someone was attempting to control you?"

"No, I'm resistant to that kind of method."

She shrugs. "I know, can still happen though. Was someone bleeding profusely near you?"

"No one was fighting with weapons and we're not in war, so no."

"Then, was there perhaps an enticing scent or perhaps Sangre Seductora?"

"Unless someone went into heat and or cut themselves, no. There were no acutely alluring scents nearby. They've either been pleasant or unpleasant."

She pauses her questions as she places a hand on her chin in thought. It was a few minutes of silence before a light bulb practically went off above her head. "That's it!" She turns to him. "You once told me that 'thirst' grows when near potential mates of interest or your soulmate. Right?"

Shadow nods. "The thirst, as long as you don't become a Drowned like me, is usually a way to find your significant other." A glint shines in those red eyes as he smiles cheekily. "You should know this well with how smitten you are with Knuckles."

Rouge's eyes went wide as her cheeks flushed a bit. She punches him in the arm. "Hey, we're talking about you here not me!"

A toothy grin grew on Shadow's face. "Not my fault you're easy to read when it comes to him. I bet you're already dating him and didn't bother to tell me."

"Shut up." He chuckles as she pouts. "Anyway, to get to my point. Have you perhaps developed feelings for someone? Maybe you have feelings and don't realize it?" The raised brow she got told her everything.

"Okay, okay." She nods in before she froze and looked at him nervously. His heart began to beat as his stomach dropped. He had a feeling he wouldn't be pleased with where this conversation was going.

Rouge cleared her throat. "Then, is there any chance that maybe you, could have possibly, unknowingly encountered your…soulmate?"

The hedgehog grits his teeth hard as a surge of emotions from a distant past swirls and whirls like a black hole in his gut. Even without a mirror, he could feel that his eyes were glowing a menacing red while the pressure of his chaos energy grew dense with his emotions. He could sense the unease of the younger mobian in front of him. Shadow took a shaky breath letting the emotions submerge back into the locked spaces of his heart. "…No that's not possible. He was killed before I became a guardian."

She took a tentative step forward as she spoke in a low voice. "I know, I know. But I remember a lecture last Tuesday in my anatomy class, my professor told us about birthmarks. I even did some research on my own to see if it was true." She waited until she saw that he was still listening to continue. "They are people who are born with marks, though these marks are brown they match the equally dull mark of the person who survived the loss of a mate." She places her hand on his, attempting to quell him.

He looks at her warm eyes and shakes his head. "No, that's still impossible. Even if it is, why now after all these centuries?"

"I don't know, but the quickest way to know is to check your mark to see if it's colored again." She glances to the side before her gaze returned to him. "Would you like me to check?"

Would he even like to know? 'No, cause that means he had dragged another one into fires of his life. I'm barely accepting the fact that my hermana was this involved. But if it is true I'd need to know.' "Not today."

A warm smirk grew on her face. "Okay." To anyone else, Shadow's answer would've been seen as cowardly. But Rouge understood the possible thoughts he was having right now. And that for many years the other's heart had been dragged through the mud, battered, bruised, and stabbed with spears. All of which seemed to never heal correctly. He wasn't ready now, but he didn't totally blow it off either. It was the best she would get out of him.

Shadow shook himself once more to clear his thoughts. "We'll tell Blue and Red tomorrow after Blue's meet." Rouge looked at him quizzically. "On Sunday, I'll have a chat with the doctor. If nothing appears abnormal with the medicine or me, we'll try your idea."

"Got it." The bat then grabbed his arm to lead him out of the alley. The last few minutes to the dorms were spent in silence, but Rouge never let his arm go until she had to go back to her dorm.

Shadow took the elevator up, for the moment he didn't want to think about anything. And so he left his mind blank as he stepped out into the hall. His eyes went dim as he only allowed himself to be aware of their surroundings and nothing more. He reaches his dorm room and uses his school ID to enter. He walks past the kitchenette and was about to take a step into the shared bedroom when something blue bumped into him. "Hmm?"

Red eyes retrained themselves to the blue form in front of him. Blinking a few times as his mind fills with thought again as he registers who was in front of him. "Sonic?"

He sees the other stiffen, blue quills slightly flexed as green eyes met his. Sonic's eyes were a bit too wide, his muzzle a little too red, and was his fur wet? He also seemed to not be wearing a shirt, but that wasn't out of the norm as many mobians off-campus went out in only gloves and shoes.

The blue hedgehog smiles warily. "Huh, hey Shadow your oddly early."

The heavy dorm room door finally slams shut.

"Yes, well meeting the new boss went quicker than expected…" 'His…hands.' It's then Shadow realizes Sonic's hands were a fuzzy peach and not gloved. Which was weird as mobians never take off their gloves unless they were in the bathroom or wanted to be intimate. It was a sign of vulnerability and trust for a mobian to have no gloves in front of someone. Noticing a pattern, Shadow glances down to find Sonic was completely naked with only a set of clothes in one hand. Sonic seemed to have noticed the striped hedgehog's gaze as when Shadow looked back up the blue hedgehog was a beet red.

"Sonic, why are you naked?"

That simple question seemed to make the other squirm as he looked to the side and his ears folded down. "I…uh…went to shower but forgot my clothes." Sonic's voice was unsteady as he answered. At that moment a pleasant scent entered the darker hedgehog's nose. It wasn't sweet like fruit or candy, it was briny. A piquant sea breeze that hid under the scent of soap.

Even if Shadow wanted to look away he couldn't. His eyes were glued to the nervous display in front of him. He breathes ever so harder with every intake of the other's scent. The beating of his heart seemed to match the pattern of Sonic's. There was a warm pressure in his gut that trumped the black hole he had locked away. It spread throughout his body causing a tingling sensation all over.

He had been in similar situations before in his long life. Even once with Rouge during an uncomfortable phase of hers. Though she purposefully dropped her towel. It was the first and last time she'd try it with him. Even she didn't cause this reaction. This magnetic feeling was lust. A lust for blood? Lust for more than blood? Shadow didn't know. And that flushed muzzle and neck of Sonic's weren't helping in the slightest in distinguishing Shadow's addictingly twisted desires.

Alluring. Sonic was alluring and his speeding heart called like a siren's song. His mouth waters as his teeth ache. It went as far as his fangs lengthening as those green eyes look back up at him. There was an urge. An urge to step forward, to grab Sonic and pin him to the wall. To lean down at that flushed blue neck of his and just take a bite. Would the other kick and fight back? Would he try to reason with him, perhaps beg him to stop? Or would Sonic just stand there and let Shadow do as he pleased? He doubted the last scenario but the ebony hedgehog was all too enticed by the ideas as he took a daring step forward.

An ungloved hand found its way onto his shoulder. "Shadow, you okay?" The blue hedgehog's ears were perked up in attention to the other.

Shadow blinked a few times. 'What was I…?' The dark hedgehog broke out of his trance as he covered his mouth and nose with a hand and turned his head to the side. He took a few shaky breaths as he let out a slow and muffled 'I'm fine' to the other. He steps back and turns his body to allow more room in the doorway. Careful not to inhale any more of Sonic's scent.

"I just need to take my medicine." His red eyes meet those emerald eyes again, this time soft with concern and confusion. "You should just go back to the bathroom and put on those nightclothes."

It was Sonics turn to blink, but when he was reminded of his predicament he looked around the doorway frantically. "Uh, right! I'll be back soon." He took a few hasty steps to the bathroom door. "If you need anything, let me know." He quickly said before swiftly entering the bathroom, and closing the door.

As soon as the door closed both hedgehogs collapsed. Sonic slid down the door as Shadow hunched over.

The striped hedgehog tightly gripped the door frame, his hand still over his mouth as his fangs continued to length to their full size. He felt like he had run all around the country multiple times with how heavy he was breathing. It took so much in him to not take Sonic's neck right then and there, even more so at Sonic's last comment. He was trembling and bit his hand hard to not do just that. The pain helped clear his mind but drinking his own blood never satisfied his thirst. He released his hand and placed it in the pocket of his uniform pants. Retrieving the medicine bottle that was there. He popped a pill in his mouth and like always it dissolved. But it wasn't satisfying as it had been previously. 'Just suck it up. Don't give in to it anymore and just deal with it.' He focused on himself, blocking out any external sounds and scents. Isolating his senses from the world.

He was then reminded of all the times he needed to take the pills, how every scenario had one consistency. Whether it was something he did or said Sonic was the one who initiated his relapses. 'Perhaps Rouge's theory wasn't all nonsense. But which of the two scenarios was it?' After two weeks of getting to know the buoyant hedgehog, so Shadow did have a level of fondness for Sonic. But he was fond of Amy, Tails, and despite his protective instincts with Rouge, he was even growing fond of Knuckles. The four grew on him but that didn't mean he had a childish crush on each of them.

'What is Sonic to me then? A Sangre Seductora? Developing affection? Or is he my new Soulmate?' Shadow shook his head vigorously. 'No, I shouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. Let's wait for the doctor's results on Sunday. In the meantime, I should just take the medicine morning and night to try to prevent situations like earlier from happening.' A determined look appeared on his still flushed face. "It's my job to protect everyone walking on this earth."

Three figures came to mind, ones' he missed more than anyone else. A sorrowful smile pressed itself on his muzzle. "Isn't that right Linnaeus, Maria, Gerald."


Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Sonic was panicking. 'What just happened?' He was naked in front of Shadow, trying but failing to hide his apprehensive demeanor, his mark was flaring like crazy, and he was 50% Shadow did not need to take his iron pills.

He recalled the look that Shadow gave him.

That time the other's silence was deafening, Sonic felt like he needed to do something. Move, talk, something! It was then that he smelled something. It was the citrus scent he grew to recognize as Shadow's. But something was off. It was stronger, zestier than before.

So inclined by the scent, Sonic looked back up and met Shadow's half-lidded eyes looking at him. The pupils in his eyes were thin slits and his tan muzzle was flushed with a small smile on his face. The smile grew wide slowly, it gave Sonic an unpleasant tingle down his spine. If it weren't for those eyes and smile. the blue hedgehog would've thought the other had a fever. It was a look he didn't know the meaning behind but as soon as he saw it, Sonic felt like his heart dropped. As is it gave one last beat before it stopped. 'What's wrong with him?' He had thought. And when Shadow took that one step forward, something felt off and wrong. Like the ebony hedgehog shouldn't do whatever he was going to do.

And so he stopped it. But something still didn't feel right. 'Why is that?' Other than that, there was something else on his mind. Something he didn't think of until he replayed the memories. 'Was Shadow's eyes glowing?'