[GENERAL] Shadow/Knuckles
Deep underground lay a massive facility used as a base of operations by agents directly under the World Government. The lighting inside was uniformly cold, enough to rob anyone of all sense of day and night.
Shadow walked silently through the sterile corridors, all white and gray.
The only sounds were the low hum of the ventilation system and the distant workings of machinery. Even so, there was a little more lightness in Shadow’s step than before.
—Shadow himself was still not used to that change.
After finishing a mission, he was lightly rotating one arm to loosen up when he rounded a corner and heard the approaching click of heels.
“Well, look who it is. Been a while.”
A light voice effortlessly transformed the gray atmosphere around him.
Rouge stood there with her usual easy smile, dressed in a tight-fitting suit cut daringly low at the chest, an information terminal in one hand.
“Rouge.”
Shadow stopped and raised his chin slightly as he looked at her.
“How are you doing?”
Her casual question carried the faintest trace of concern, and Shadow knew it.
“About the same as you.”
Shadow was mildly surprised by how much softer his own voice sounded than he had expected. Rouge blinked once, then the corner of her mouth lifted.
“I see. Then I don’t have to worry.”
She gave him a quick wink and walked past.
The click of her heels began to recede—
Then, after only a few steps, it stopped.
“…Hey, Shadow.”
At the voice behind him, Shadow stopped and turned around.
“You seem awfully relaxed. Something change?”
Her emerald eyes held equal parts amusement and curiosity.
A change of heart…
Shadow lowered his eyes for only a moment.
The last time he had seen Rouge was before everything that had happened with Knuckles—back when he had given none of the emotions inside him so much as a name, or even a shape.
He thought back to the person he had been then.
He had believed in nothing. Wanted no one. Orders and missions had been the only things barely keeping him tethered to this world.
The sterile corridor suddenly seemed strangely cold. A faint chill ran across his back.
Compared to who I was then… perhaps I really am standing somewhere very different now.
What came to mind was a floating island far above the clouds.
A red Echidna standing proudly with his arms folded before a great Emerald.
Every time Shadow remembered him, something deep inside his chest grew faintly warm.
…But.
None of that should have had anything to do with the woman standing before him.
Shadow composed his expression and gave a small shrug.
“Get caught up in enough trouble, and eventually your nerves go numb. You end up like this.
You should know that as well as I do.”
“Oh? I’ve always been like this.”
Rouge laughed and rested a finger against her chin, looking thoughtful for just a moment.
But she did not press him any further. Instead, she gave a small wave.
“Well, all right. I won’t pry.
Not for now.”
With that, she finally walked away for real.
Her back disappeared around the corner.
Shadow remained where he was for a while, waiting for the beating of his heart to settle.
Relaxed, huh… If that’s how I look, then perhaps I am.
Compared to who he had once been, he certainly had changed.
And Shadow knew very well now who stood at the center of that change.
But he still had no intention of speaking that name—or the feelings attached to it—in front of anyone.
During the break before his next mission, Shadow was in the refresh room on the second basement level.
White walls. A cheap sofa. A vending machine in one corner, along with a small kitchenette. It was a bland little room, but good enough for clearing his head between missions.
Shadow took a single sip from the paper cup of water in his hand, then lowered his gaze to the table.
The history of the Echidna tribe… the Master Emerald… and then—his duty.
Everything inevitably connected in his mind.
The island Knuckles protected. Knuckles’ feelings.
I want to know more.
If he was going to stand by Knuckles’ side, then at the very least, he wanted to understand the weight of what Knuckles carried.
As those thoughts drifted through his mind—
The click of heels and the sweet scent of perfume entered the room.
“Mind if I join you?”
It was Rouge.
She was carrying two cups of hot coffee. Without waiting for an answer, she placed one of them in front of Shadow.
“Maybe I should take a guess after all.”
“…At what?”
The aroma rising from the cup eased some of the tension from Shadow’s shoulders.
Rouge took a seat and crossed her legs.
She sat deliberately near the edge of the chair rather than settling deep into it. She knew perfectly well how to sit in a way that made the elegant lines of her legs look even longer.
“You made a friend you really click with. Or maybe… a lover?”
Shadow’s fingers froze above the cup.
He looked up.
Rouge was peering into his face with an amused smile.
“Thought so.”
She raised her own cup to her lips. Her red lipstick left a faint mark along the rim of the paper cup.
“Consider this coffee a little parting gift. Welcome to the world of ‘love and peace.’”
“Love… and peace.”
Shadow gave a small laugh.
It was not an attempt to evade the subject, but a wry laugh that came very close to expressing how he truly felt.
“Love… If you put it simply, then perhaps that is what it is.
But peace? I’m not so sure about that.”
“Oh?”
Rouge rested an elbow on the table and propped her cheek against one hand, watching Shadow with interest.
“If there is something in your heart you want to protect, then you need to be prepared for what comes with it. That is a long way from peace.”
Shadow continued, choosing his words carefully.
“It was probably easier when I could keep my heart closed to everything in front of me. But… I have no desire to go back to who I was then.”
Shadow already knew what it felt like now.
The relief of knowing someone was safe.
The way his breath caught at someone else’s suffering.
Rouge narrowed her eyes slightly, as though imagining something.
“Is protecting it really that difficult for you?”
“It probably will be.”
Shadow admitted it without hesitation. He traced the rim of the cup with one finger and lowered his eyes.
“Even so, I will accomplish it. I’ve already decided that.”
“…But?”
At her gentle prompting, the corner of Shadow’s mouth twisted slightly.
“…But I don’t know whether he actually wants that from me. Perhaps I’m only interfering where I’m not wanted. Sometimes I wonder if I’m the troublesome one disturbing the peace around him.”
“…He?”
At that single word, something flickered faintly in Rouge’s eyes.
She quietly drew in a breath, let it out, and looked directly at Shadow.
“What you’re carrying… is it friendship? Or something more?”
Her question was gentle.
Not an interrogation. More like a confirmation.
Shadow gave the slightest shrug.
“I don’t know. What should I call this feeling?”
Rouge gave a small smile.
It was a little different from the teasing smile she had worn before—somehow gentler.
“If it doesn’t have a name yet, that’s fine too. Just take care of it and let it grow.”
“…Is that how it works?”
“That’s how it works.”
She finished her coffee and stood up.
“I should get going. I’ve got another briefing.”
Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly made a small sound.
“Oh, right. I completely forgot I left that red Echidna locked up.”
Those words were more than enough to wipe every thought from Shadow’s mind.
“—!!”
The coffee he had just brought to his mouth came spraying right back out.
“W-whoa!?”
Rouge jumped back.
Shadow coughed violently, his eyes wide.
“You—captured Knuckles?”
All attempts at discretion or euphemism vanished. The words came out raw.
“What are you planning? If you intend to drag him into something strange—I won’t allow it!”
Rouge stared at him, then hurriedly waved both hands.
“Hey, hey, calm down! He’s fine. Nobody captured anyone!”
Shadow’s shoulders were heaving.
Rouge and Knuckles had a long history between them over the Master Emerald.
Recently, they had reconciled and moved beyond the old roles of jewel thief and Guardian, forming a strangely comfortable friendship—or at least, that was what Shadow had thought.
I let my guard down because I thought they’d completely made peace.
If Knuckles had gotten dragged into some new mess while Shadow was occupied with missions—
“Well…”
Rouge knitted her brows, looking a little troubled as she tried to explain.
“You were involved too, remember? There were a few things I wanted to ask him about what happened with Regina, so I invited him here and left him waiting in one of the reception rooms.”
“A reception room…?”
“I gave him tea and cookies and sat him down on a nice, soft sofa.
So yes, he’s stuck in there, but I’m certainly not making him suffer.”
It had probably been meant as a joke.
Shadow did not find it funny in the slightest.
“………”
“I just happened to double-book myself with another assignment. And now I’ve got to head right back over there in a minute.”
Rouge had barely finished speaking when something seemed to snap inside Shadow’s head.
“So…”
Rouge studied Shadow’s face.
Her intelligent emerald eyes missed none of his agitation.
“So… you’re Knuckles’ knight, then?”
The words struck precisely where it hurt.
For a moment, Shadow’s mind went completely blank.
A knight…? Me?
Shadow had deliberately avoided putting a name to the person at the center of his heart. It had been his way of keeping himself composed.
As long as he referred to him only as “he,” it was easier to deceive himself.
But now, Rouge had clearly spoken the red Echidna’s name aloud.
There was no hiding it anymore.
Shadow could feel the heat rushing to his face. Even the tips of his ears began to burn.
She found out. …She knows everything.
Then, in the very next moment, the blood drained from his face.
Rouge is going to tease me. No—more importantly… what if this causes trouble for Knuckles?
If Rouge knew about this, and if she told Knuckles—or worse, teased him about it—how would Knuckles feel?
Shadow could let these feelings grow as much as they wanted inside his own heart.
But the one thing he did not want was to do anything that might disturb Knuckles’ heart.
A chill ran down Shadow’s spine. This time, goosebumps spread across his entire back.
Watching his agitation, Rouge let out a quiet breath and spoke again in a calm voice.
“Knuckles is sitting on a soft sofa with tea and cookies.”
Her tone was soothing, meant to settle him down.
“Should I bring him some cake too?… Sir Knight?”
Only the last two words carried a hint of amusement.
Shadow looked up sharply.
Rouge continued as though it were nothing.
“I told you, he’s fine.”
That he’s fine seemed to carry all kinds of meanings.
Rouge might tease from time to time, but she would never do something that would hurt a friend.
That was simply her way.
Shadow lowered his head slightly and spoke in a quiet voice.
“…He likes fruit.”
“Fruit?”
“He likes sweet things well enough. But rather than something intensely sweet with a lot of sugar, he prefers something with a gentler sweetness.”
The strangely specific information slipped out before Shadow could stop himself, and he almost felt exasperated with himself.
After a brief pause, Rouge gave a soft laugh.
“Okay. I’ll bring him some nice fruit pastries.”
“…Please do.”
That was all Shadow could manage.
Rouge turned on her heel, then looked back from the doorway.
“Shadow.”
“What?”
“About that ‘love and peace’ thing I mentioned earlier. I’m sure your love will reach him—whatever form it takes.”
Without waiting for an answer, she left the room.
The door closed, and silence returned.
Shadow leaned back against his chair and let out a deep breath.
“…Knuckles’ knight. Me.”
A self-deprecating little laugh escaped him in the empty room.
Shadow had known Rouge for a long time.
For someone who seemed to spend all her time chasing jewels, she had a surprisingly strong sense of principle.
She wouldn’t toy with Knuckles in any way that would truly hurt him.
If anything—
Knuckles was sitting on a soft sofa, with tea and cookies, and now fruit pastries on the way.
Even in a sterile underground facility that suited him so poorly, if he was having even a slightly comfortable time, that was enough.
Still, Shadow’s own blunder weighed heavily on his shoulders.
He had spoken Knuckles’ name aloud.
A “third party”—Rouge—now knew the shape of his feelings.
There was no taking that back.
Shadow stood and drained the rest of his cup in one swallow.
The coffee, already beginning to cool, ran down his throat.
“Love and peace, huh.”
Rouge’s words returned to him.
—Welcome to the world of “love and peace.”
My love…
The warmth that filled his chest when he thought of someone.
The dangerous feeling that, for that person, he would not hesitate to be hurt or sullied.
If the desire to protect someone can be called love, then there is no doubt that Knuckles is the one who awakened it within me.
And then—
Peace.
Perhaps all I ever do is disturb his peace.
As the Ultimate Life Form, and as an agent, Shadow was always accompanied by the somber shadow of battle and chaos.
The closer he came to Knuckles, the more he risked drawing him into all kinds of danger.
Shadow remembered that day after rescuing him from Regina—
the lonely Guardian asleep behind one of the altar’s stone pillars, tormented by nightmares.
Crying in his sleep, calling out the names of his friends.
And yet, Knuckles had risen again.
He still stood before the Master Emerald with his arms folded, welcoming Shadow with the same smile as always.
You’re not weak. Again and again, you forgive me, accept me… and wait for me on that island.
Then—what can I give you in return?
What Knuckles wanted was surely a quiet, ordinary life with the Master Emerald and his friends.
Time as the Guardian on an island above the clouds—quiet and peaceful, with only the capricious wind for conversation.
I want to give that peace back to your heart.
Even if peace was the word furthest removed from Shadow himself.
Beneath the sterile light of the underground facility, Shadow gently closed his eyes.
He remembered the clear wind blowing across Angel Island.
The rustling trees. The stillness of the altar.
And the red figure standing there.
Shadow drew in a deep breath.
Then he opened his eyes and began walking toward the door.
“…I’ll come see you again. I’ll return to your island—to protect your peace.”
The words, meant for no one but himself, dissolved into the quiet air of the underground facility.