Shadow's P.O.V

Sonic took one of my inhibitor rings and is cleaning it in the bathroom, but it's been 10 minutes already. Where is he? What's taking so long? I see green chaos energy starting to leak from my palm. Oh no...

Sonic's P.O.V

I can't get this blood of the bracelet. Jeez, does this kid have slime for blood or something? I hear something break in the other room. That's where I left Reuben... I turn off the sink and put down the sponge and bracelet to see Reuben standing in the middle of the room, without his ice pack, mind you, which is STILL IMPORTANT for his health, and he has a green aura emanating from his hand. 

I immediately recognized his chaos signature. It's chaos energy! Why does this kid have chaos energy? Why's it so strong?! I rush back to the bathroom and scrape the blood off the bracelet with my claws. An inhibitor ring! I knew they looked familiar! 

I rush back to Reuben, crouching down in front of him, securing the inhibitor ring on his wrist. The chaos energy starts to fade as he stares at me in shock. "I-I'm sorry..." He apologizes. He seems very innocent. I started to put the pieces together... chest fur, multi-colored quills, inhibitor rings, oddly shaped shoes, and the ruby eyes... "Shadow..?" I ask, his eyes widened. 

'Reuben' looks down at the ground, an embarrassed blush on his face, and tears forming in his eyes. "Shadow, is that... you?" I ask, extremely baffled. The kid just starts to cry and he hugs me. "I-I don't know what happened!" He sobs. So, this was Shadow. Why's he crying? 

I hug him and pat his back. "Hey, hey, it's ok, Shad... ... ... ...Why'd you lie?" "I-I was embarrassed about being seen by you- by anyone!" He continues to sob while I make the 'sh' sound to calm him down. "What happened to you..? And your quill color?" He sniffed. "Dumb kids beat me... and I used the dye in your cabinets... in the bathroom... I'm sorry..." 

He continues to sob. Jeez, what do I do? "Hey, hey, you have nothing to be sorry for... how 'bout we clean that dye outta your fur, ok, bud?" He wipes his tears and nods. I picked him up, and to my surprise, he didn't hit me or tell me to put him down, he just accepted it. I place him in the empty tub. I put shampoo and baking soda in his quills and on his fur. 

I then walk into the kitchen. Vitamin C... the first thing I can think of is orange juice, so I grab that. I walk back to the tub where Shadow is and pour some orange juice on him, while scrubbing with a towel. I'm gonna need to go and buy orange juice after this... 

I pour some vinegar rinse on Shadow and help him scrub a bit more. Then I turn the shower on, making sure the water is warm and then I make sure the water is getting poured on Shadow. I help him scrub his quills while he scrubs his arms, legs, and tiny little tush. Hehe, 'tush'...

--

After a while, we finally managed to get the dye out of his fur and clean him up. He's sitting on the couch, next to me, shivering in a towel. I try to bring him closer, but he just moves away every time. We sit in an awkward silence before Shadow breaks it with a question. "Are you gonna kick me out now?"

My eyes widened. "What? Why would I do that?" Shadow seems hesitant to answer, but he does end up answering my question without looking in my direction. "...Because I'm your rival. And you hate me." My expression softens. "Shadow, I could never hate you. Sure, we're rivals, but I don't hate you. Hate's a strong word, y'know? But... how'd this happen to you? Why're you a kid?" 

Shadow's ears lower in shame. "You know you can tell me, right?" I don't get a response. "Please, Shadow. I only wanna help you." Shadow sighs. "I can't remember what happened... I was panicking too much. And I was crying because..." "Because..?" 

I don't want to push him into telling me, but I also wanna make him feel better at the same time. "Because... ugh, I was embarrassed you figured it out so quickly, and I was panicking because of my chaos, and I was overwhelmed, so I-" "Started crying?" I finished for him. He nods. He hides his face in his knees. 

There's silence once again, but after a long moment, I ask him a question. "Why'd ya keep saying sorry?" He picks his head up. "Huh?" "You kept apologizing after I figured out it was you... what for?" "I'm sorry for not telling you, I'm sorry for crying so much because it's so out of character for me, I'm sorry for wasting your time, there's so many things I can say 'sorry' for." I pick up Shadow and place him in my lap. He looked at me like I was crazy. 

I hug him. "You don't have to apologize, Shadow..." I realized something. "Wait, didn't you call me 'mister' earlier?" "Yeah..? I was pretending to be a respectful child, so what?" "That means you can address me with something other than 'Faker'!" I laugh and he rolls his eyes. "Oh, shut up." "Make me, Mini Shadz." Shadow glares at me. "Don't. You. Dare." "Oh, I dare, Mini Shadz." Shadow growls and pounces on me. I push him down by his head, since it's pretty easy now.

Made by "AtticusKotch" on Furaffinity.net.

Shadow's P.O.V

I can't believe this. I can't even fight my rival properly. Every time I tried to jump up and fight him, he pushed me down by my head. Eventually, I stop and give up. I'm panting at this point. "You... you..." "Won. And it was easy this time." I pant a bit more. "Y-You're a jerk..." 

He chuckles and sits back down on the couch. I sit on the other side of the couch, pouting and crossing my arms. "Aw, c'mon! I couldn't resist, Shadz! And, you know you look adorable when you pout, right?" My face turns bright red and I turn away from him. 

After a few moments I hear Sonic sigh. I feel him place his hand on my shoulder and I turn back to look at him, my blush fading away. "Shadow, I will help you get back to normal. And that's a promise." I've never seen him so serious... He puts his pinkie out in front of me. I look at him shocked and then nervously curl my pinkie around his. "I promise I'll find a way to fix this."

I hope you do, Sonic... I hope you do.