Chapter 5:

Shadow sighed.

"We already talked about this Manic" Sonia scolded. "Eggman took away Sonic's memory so he wouldn't have to deal with the sorrow of all of our deaths"

"But we're not dead" Manic replied.

A round of groans echoed through the room and Sonia set a hand on her brother's shoulder and lead him out of the room, saying she'll explain it more to him. Shadow went to the kitchen where Rouge and Amy were talking with Sonic at the table. Sonic had a few grains of rice on his cheek along with a big, cute smile. Shadow couldn't keep himself from smiling slightly at the cuteness of the blue hedgehog, not noticing when he was called by one of the girls.

"Shadow? What are you doing over there?" Amy asked, causing the others to look at him.

"Watching how cute baby blue is over here" Rouge smirked.

Sonic looked away carefully, blushing slightly. Shadow shot a slight glare at the white bat and tried to hide his blush.

"Sonic," Shadow said, his voice slightly hoarse. "Do you want to go out to begin to spar?"

Sonic stood up, almost knocking over to table. His eyes full of sudden nervousness and excitement.

"Y'-Yes!" he said louder than necessary.

Shadow smiled at the cuteness of Sonic and began his way out of the house. Sonic bowed to the girls quickly and said his thanks before attempting to grab his bento box only to be stopped by Amy.

"Don't worry about it. I'll clean it for you so you don't have to wait till you get back home" She said kindly, smiling.

Sonic nodded and turned to follow Shadow out the door.

"He's more of a brother than a boyfriend now" Rouge suggested.

Amy nodded and set the box in the sink to wash it. Sonya was still trying to explain the situation to Manic as they walked through the main room.

"...He thought we were dead so his memory was removed but now we can't help get the old... Sonic! Hi! Are you going to train with Shadow now?" Sonya said as soon as she saw him.

Sonic nodded, obviously very naive from the fact he didn't seem bothered or curious to that of what his unknown sister was saying.

"I wanted to ask you something before I did though." Sonic said, seeming more serious and confident than before.

Sonya and Manic nodded and Sonic pointed to their necklaces.

"What are those?" he asked.

Both of the siblings seemed to freeze, not knowing what to say. Suddenly, they spoke at the same time.

"An medallion"

"An heirloom"

The two looked at each other and Sonic blinked.

"They're very pretty. Almost like magic. What kind of crystal is it?" Sonic asked.

"We're not really sure." Sonya answered before Manic could say anything.

Sonic nodded and smiled.

"My mom gave me something like that only it was in the shape of a guitar. Ivo said that I played guitar when I was younger but I haven't really played in a long time. It looks like this one is a keyboard and that one is a drum." Sonic said, looking closely at the medallions but not touching them. It seemed as if he knew what would happen if he touched it.

Sonya and Manic were shocked at first before Sonya smiled and Manic smirked, setting a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"You're pretty smart dude." Manic said. "Maybe we should start a band"

Sonic smiled and nodded before remembering he had training with Shadow and left.

When he got outside, Shadow was sitting in a tree with his arms crossed.

"Shadow?" Sonic called, looking around.

The black hedgehog opened one eye and looked down at blue with a small smirk on his face. He silently jumped down from the tree and hid. As Sonic looked around, he was oblivious of the crimson eyes watching his every move. He leaned back against the tree, its bark digging into his back, and ran his fingers over the stump. Not knowing what to do, Sonic followed the rules that Eggman had told him, just sit and wait. The old personality of the blue hero wouldn't have the patience to sit and wait but now Sonic looked up at the sky, as if not caring how long he'd have to sit there. Eventually, he began to hum to himself and played with his hands.

'This definitely isn't Sonic...' Shadow thought. 'He's different...'

After gathering his thoughts, he jumped down from the tree, thinking Sonic would get mad at him for not being there on time but the blue hedgehog didn't seem to even notice him as he spaced out.

"You ready to practice?" Shadow asked.

Sonic blinked and jumped slightly, looking at at him.

"O-Oh yes! Of course!" Sonic said brightly.

"Well I already know what we have to do first" Shadow chuckled, crossing his arms.

"Oh?"

Shadow nodded.

"We've gotta work on your attention span." Shadow explained. "I was able to catch you off guard just now despite the fact I only walked up to you. If there were someone actually trying to hide from you, you should be able to see them despite their camouflage"

Sonic nodded with a small look of determination, nodding slightly and getting serious.

"Yosh!" He said.

Shadow nodded as well and turned away.

"I'm going to actually try to sneak attack you. I want you to be able to either dodge or defend before I have the chance to strike you"

Sonic nodded again and stood ready as Shadow used his chaos control to teleport to a tree. He hid himself in the leaves and readied himself. Sonic didn't move, his look of determination not fading and his fists clenched as he stood ready. He, however, had no idea as to when or where Shadow was going to attack him.

'Gotta focus... Be prepared... Can't let Shadow down...' Sonic thought.

Shadow leaned against the tree with his arms crossed, not seeming as if he was going to move at any moment.

'Don't move... No matter what... Can't let Shadow down...'

Shadow smirked at how cute Sonic looked in his serious state. The blue hedgehog didn't move, he looked stiff as a board and he was staring out at nothing.

'Don't move... Be prepared... Don't move... Be prepared...'

After what felt like forever, Sonic's body began to relax. He let his mind wonder to what the black hedgehog was doing. He stood up straight and looked around.

"Um Shadow? It's been a long time! Are you gonna attack me?" he called.

Shadow smirked and used chaos control to appear behind the blue hedgehog, gripping his arm and throwing him into a tree. Sonic, being incredibly light and unprepared, found himself in the branches, hanging by his foot that had gotten caught in a branch. He was shocked. He hadn't even sensed the other until he was flying through the air. Shadow appeared in front of him with his arms crossed and Sonic couldn't help but blush slightly of embarrassment.

"Well at least you'll build up pain tolerance" Shadow joked.