At lunch, Shadow got a cheesesteak with fries and a bottle of Dr. Pepper. Usually, he would sit by himself, but in this case, he couldn't really see any good place to sit…that is, until his Hedgehog Sense pointed out a table where Amy was sitting all by her lonesome. He headed there, only he hadn't considered that she too had Hedgehog Sense and took notice of him for quite some time before he got to her table.

"Hey!" Amy waved at Shadow.

"Hi."

Shadow cast a brief glance at Amy before sitting down and proceeding to eat.

"Hey listen…whoever you are…I just wanted to thank you again for standing up for me during Mr. Foody's literature class. Honestly, you were the only reason I didn't lock myself in the bathroom crying all day."

Shadow shrugged. "Whatever." He took another bite of his cheesesteak.

Amy frowned. "Why are you shrugging it off like it's so insignificant? What you did was a very brave and noble thing to do!"

Shadow lowered his sandwich. "Why do you care? Everyone else in this school either doesn't care about to me or treats me like some kind of evil monster…well, everyone except Faker and his pathetic fox friend."

Amy smiled. "Look, I know you believe you're an outcast who's too cool for school, but deep down inside, I can tell you're an absolute sweetheart who would do anything for the people he cares about! Now please, tell me your name, honey!"

"Not that it matters to you, Amy, but I'm Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form."

"Shadow…what a lovely name! Nice to meet you!"

"Hmph."

"Hey, if you're shy, I totally get it! I won't force you into anything, but I want to let you know I'm here for you if you need to talk!"

Shadow stroked his chin. "You know, for a girl who was bullied for being overweight, you're awfully optimistic. That reminds me: is that salad all you're gonna eat?"

"Why not? It's healthy!"

"Not to mention it won't satisfy you. Eat some steak, for Christ's sake. And while we're at it, is that 1% milk? You could be drinking whole milk if…"

Shadow cut himself off when his Hedgehog Sense alerted him to a threatening presence coming his way:

"Welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, well! If it isn't Shadow the Hedgehog, the biggest loser in this school!"

Shadow got up from his chair. "What do you want, Scourge?"

"Oh, I just wanted to know why you chose to hang out with this fat piece of ass instead of sitting by yourself!"

Shadow clenched his fists. "What did you say about her?"

Fiona Fox – Scourge's girlfriend – chuckled. "Sorry, what Scourge meant to say was that you're too good to be hanging out with this tub of lard…not that a guy like you is ever gonna get any in the first place!"

Scourge and Fiona had a good laugh, which lit Shadow's fuse and prompted him to stomp on over to them, at which point he grabbed Scourge by the collar:

"Listen, I've warned you two time and time again: stay…the…hell…away…from…me. That goes for Amy, too. If you don't stop harassing either of us, I swear, I'll throw both of you pathetic scumbags off the roof of this school, and I'll enjoy licking your blood off the pavement. Do you hear me?"

Shadow let go of Scourge, but not without shoving him into Fiona, knocking both of them onto the floor. As soon as they recovered, they scrambled to their feet.

"Come on, Scourge, this isn't worth it!"

Scourge and Fiona hightailed it out of the lunch room, hoping not to get murdered by Shadow, who tried to return to his seat, only for Amy to gently grab his wrist.

"What?"

Amy stood up. "Shadow, you…that's the second time you stood up for me like that! THANK YOU!"

Amy gave Shadow a big hug, which caused him to gasp and blush.

"W-why are you hugging me!?"

"Because you're the sweetest, most noble guy I ever met!"

Shadow paused. "Thank you, Amy."

Amy giggled. "You're welcome!"

Shadow wrapped his arms around Amy as well. In doing so, he discovered an advantage to plus-size people: they were so soft, warm and cuddly. In fact, not only was Amy the softest, warmest, most cuddly girl he had ever hugged, but she smelled so pleasant, the equivalent of cherry blossoms on a cool spring day. Having her in his arms, not only did he completely forget about anything that had been troubling him, but for the first time since Maria's death, he actually felt loved, cared for, but most importantly, he felt welcomed, a real turning point for someone who otherwise rebelled against "the establishment" as it were. Because of this, he genuinely wanted to get to know Amy better, to let her know that even if people made fun of her for being overweight, he would always be there to comfort her, to let her know that she deserved to be loved. Overall, she was an angel to him. Unfortunately for him, while he was dwelling on how good she was being to him, he noticed that part of him had "stood up for democracy", so to speak. When he noticed that, he yelped, jumped back and blushed.

"Shadow, what's wrong?"

"I…uh…sorry, gotta go!"

Shadow grabbed the rest of his lunch and hastily wolfed it down while running out of the cafeteria, hoping that Amy would forget all about his embarrassment.

After quickly consuming his food and bolting out of the cafeteria, Shadow made tracks for the nearest bathroom and locked himself in the nearest stall, where he slumped down on the toilet and clutched his head in his hands as he broke out in a cold sweat, his face green with blush.

(What is wrong with me? It's not like me to find any girl so attractive, much less someone I just met today! I can't face her after what I just did to her out there! She probably hates me so much right now! No…get it together, Shadow! I just need to give this some time and maybe she'll forget about it. Still, how do I handle the fact that a GIRL finds me attractive? Logically, she should've feared me like everybody else, but…OK Shadow, just take a deep breath! Just because she stirred up feelings in you that you didn't know you had doesn't mean you should fear her! Just try to be nice to her and stand up for her just like you did at lunch, and everything will be fine. Right…)

After taking a few deep breaths to calm himself and coming down from his cold sweat, Shadow exited the bathroom, but in doing so, his Hedgehog Sense once again told him that someone he knew was coming his way. Nevertheless, he exited the bathroom without a care in the world.

"Hey Shaddy!"

Shadow turned around and saw Rouge the Bat standing behind him.

"Oh, hi Rouge."

Rouge put her hand on her hip. "So, I see you have a new girlfriend! That's hot!"

Shadow crossed his arms. "If you're referring to Amy, there's nothing between us."

"Is there? Because I saw the way she hugged you after you stood up to Scourge and Fiona, and I could tell there were sparks flying between you two, hon."

"Look, Rouge, I like Amy, but…"

"You like Amy?" Rouge giggled. "Then ask her out, silly!"

"But it's not that simple! I…"

"You what? Don't make excuses! If you see something you like, better go for it!"

Shadow sighed. "All right, if you're that insistent…I'll ask her."

"Good boy!"

Rouge ruffled the quills on top of Shadow's head, causing him to let out an annoyed "hmph".

"Well, I gotta go to my next class now. Buh-bye!"

Rouge gave a flirty wave to Shadow before strutting away.

After school, Shadow headed on out of the school building as usual, but once again, his Hedgehog Sense tingled as…

"Shadow! Shadow!"

Shadow turned around as Amy was hurrying towards him, displaying surprising speed for someone as fat as her.

"Oh…um…hi…Amy. Listen, about what happened at lunch…"

Amy smiled. "Shadow, I'm not mad at you for getting an erection because of me! OK, not gonna lie, I was seriously weirded out by it, but still, knowing that you consider me so attractive makes me feel that much better about myself!"

Shadow smiled nervously. "Oh…I'm glad. Listen…Amy…may I please walk back home with you?"

Amy smiled. "Of course! I'd love that!"

And so, Shadow and Amy walked back to Amy's apartment.

"So tell me about yourself, Shadow: How long have you been living in Hancock City?"

"All my life. And you…what brought you to this city?"

"Well, my daddy got a new job recently, so we moved here from Central City."

Shadow nodded. "Fascinating. What does your father do for work?"

"Oh, he's a hotshot financial advisor."

"So why the hell is he living in Harwood of all places?"

"Oh, he works remotely quite a bit, plus he not only thinks it's cheaper here, but less crowded."

Shadow nodded. "I see."

"So what about your daddy? What does he do?"

"He's not technically my biological father, but he's a prominent scientist."

Amy dropped her jaw. "OH MY DAMN CHERRY BLOSSOMS!* That is so cool! May I ask what kind of scientist?"

"He does a bit of chemistry and biology. He researches rare diseases, hoping to find cures."

"Wow! How noble of him! So tell me, handsome, what's such a famous scientist like him doing in a place like this?"

"It's closer to where he works."

"OK, I get it! By the way, what do you like to do in your spare time?"

"I like to play video games, listen to heavy metal and watch extremely violent movies and TV shows. Oh, and I practice meditation."

"Ooh, nice! I didn't think you were into spiritual practices!"

"It helps calm me down and repair my shattered nerves. Believe me, I don't want to get angry at anybody because I feel depressed afterwards. The only reason I didn't feel depressed was because you were kind enough to give me a hug."

Amy smiled and put a hand on Shadow's shoulder. "You don't have to be angry all the time. Don't get me wrong, you were justified in getting angry at Scourge and Fiona, but not everything's as bad as you make it out to be."

Shadow shrugged. "Well, if you're any indication, I guess not."

Amy giggled. "Awww, you give me too much credit!"

Amy came to a halt. By this time, they were in the East Trenton neighborhood.

"Oh, this is my building! Thanks for walking me home, Shadow!"

Shadow gave a curt nod. "You're welcome."

Amy gave Shadow a quick hug before heading inside.

Shadow headed back to his own apartment, which was a couple of blocks away in the Morgana Park neighborhood. After coming inside, he was greeted by his adopted grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik.

"Welcome home, Shadow! Tell me, did you have any moments today where you were proud of yourself?"

"Actually, that was what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh? Well, then pull up a chair and let's talk about it!"

Shadow and Gerald sat down on the dining room table.

"Gerald, we got a new girl in our school today, and people made fun of her for being fat, which made me angry, so not only did I yell at people to shut up, but I almost beat up another guy for bullying her. What really hurt, though, was this girl likes me now and I don't know how to respond to it!" Shadow shook his head.

"While I can't say I approve of your angry outburst or your usage of force, I am indeed proud of you for standing up against bullies to defend someone less fortunate than you. Also, it's normal to be frightened of new social situations. If she truly likes you, then why not get to know her better? You did promise Maria that you would give others a chance to be happy, did you not?"

Shadow paused. While Amy did make him absolutely weak from sheer attraction, something that worried him, the promise that he made to Maria meant a lot to him, so there was only one logical answer:

"All right…I'll do my best."

Gerald smiled. "Splendid! I do wish you the best of luck with her!"

"Thank you."

Nothing notable happened with Shadow the rest of the day. After finishing his homework, he read one of his favorite Executioner novels while rocking out to his favorite metal tunes. When it came to heavy metal, Shadow preferred NWOBHM, speed metal, thrash metal, death metal and black metal. However, as heavy as it got, he simply couldn't get Amy out of his mind, and it caused him a bit of agony, mainly because he still wasn't used to the idea of liking anybody or anyone liking him. By the time he fell asleep, he was still thinking about her.

*Again, the phrase "OH MY DAMN CHERRY BLOSSOMS!" is a registered trademark of KagamiPINKAgreste, used with permission.

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