"Hey, guess what?"

"What?"

"No, you have to guess!"

"Alright, you got a hair cut? You got someone's phone number? You finally got over your fear of spiders?"

"No! You're so embarrassing."

"Well, what is it?"

"Look! Buttercups!"

There is a smile somewhere in the darkness, but it isn't genuine.

.

.

It was going to be one of those days.

Wednesdays were always pretty terrible, but getting out of bed was like scaling a mountain. Falling onto the floor was the only way to untangle myself from the covers. The cold floor was just enough of a motivation to get ready for school, however slowly it was done. Even if I hit three walls on my way to the kitchen.

Fox Box was already there, sitting primly on my counter. A steamy cup of hot chocolate was in front of her as she groomed herself like a cat, if a cat had two tails and was pink.

"Good morning." I slurred like a drunkard, stumbling my way to the fridge.

Fox Box snickered deviously, "Did you fall out of bed? I thought I heard an explosion somewhere. Was that your head?"

I offered a dry look, too tired to muster up a glare, "Stop raiding my chocolate, you fiend."

"You always get the best brands. Plus, dad was making something weird for breakfast." The monster yawned, revealing three rows of sharp teeth. "Your apartment complex is so quiet, it's no wonder you sleep all the time. It's peaceful compared to my family."

"You have twenty siblings." I rebuked, digging out chocolate milk and climbing up to the pantry. "Shit, I'm out of cereal."

"Did you get your allowance yet?"

I groaned and rested my head on the counter, "I don't want to talk to Fran, and she's weird. Like, motherly weird."

"Well, you are on your own." Fox Box took a long sip of her drink before hopping down. "Are you ready yet? We're going to be late at this rate."

I made another disgruntled preteen noise before making myself a to-go cup of chocolate milk and rushing out the door, Fox Box resting on my shoulder. I immediately started to regret being on the third floor, trotting down the steps with the motivation of a whale.

Upon opening the door to the building, a small garden out front rested between us and the sidewalk. Standing in the garden was a tall, purple bunny, with a straw hat sitting snuggly between her ears. She lifted her head at the sound of the door closing and smirked at the duo.

"Cutting close are we?" Fran asked, leaning on a fence.

I scowled, still too early in the morning to muster up a witty comeback. Fox Box saved me by snickering obnoxiously, "Leo made a face plant this morning. It was glorious."

"Well, it woke you up, didn't it? Oh, before I forget," The bunny reached into her trousers, pulling out a small envelope, "Your weekly pay. Go on and take it before you're late for school."

I shuffled awkwardly up to her and took it, mumbling out a thank you. Fran grinned, ruffling my hair like a freaking mom, "Don't spend it all on chocolate this time. Save some for the holidays, you know?"

I bid her farewell, practically rushing my way down the street. Fox Box was giggling, snuggling into the hood of my jacket, "She scares you."

"Anyone that acts that way freaks me out." I said honestly. "Being too nice makes me uncomfortable."

"Well, maybe they're just nice?" My monster friend licked my cheek. I reacted by flicking her in the snout.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." I scratched my head, feeling exhausted at the sight of my school in the distance. It was a red brick building with a lot of windows, like any cheesy cartoon school.

"What?" Fox Box huffed. "Did you have another dream last night? Did you remember anything?"

"I hate how perspective you are." I glowered at her grin. "Yeah, I did. It didn't give me much, and I don't feel very good about it."

"Hey, amnesia is a tough thing to work off." Fox Box's tails wrapped around my throat, and I rolled my eyes as she curled herself closer to me like a cat. "Hey, you're warm. Is that chocolate milk cold?"

"Duh."

"Ew, I can't believe you. Cold foods are disgusting."

"Is this because you were raised in Hotland and our human world is just not enough for you?" I smirked at her. "Or you just jealous I have chocolate and you don't?"

"Leo, you are the worst."

"Yup." I agreed with a content sip of my drink. "I'm the evilest in the world, and don't you forget it."

Fox Box cackled in delight.

.

.

The thing about my school is the royalty.

No, the queen of England isn't the principal or anything like that. But, monsters swarming my town thanks to Mt. Ebott being on a few miles away. The media swarms this place with awe struck eyes at the town. The king and his majestic garden, the queen who teaches our class, and the prince who is in said class, and the ambassador of monsters. Who is a human.

There is a story behind all this, I just know it.

So it really isn't any surprise to walk to school and play flee-the-obvious-cameraman. It's actually become a pretty good sport among the school. Whoever gets caught owes someone else lunch, or something else mundane.

I knew the back into the school like the palm of my hand. The media hardly goes there because of the queen, or Miss Torial, and her righteous will to burn anyone harassing her kids. It was truly a sight to behold when she got pissed.

"Hey, look." Fox Box chirped, pointing her snout down the hallway packed with students, "There's Snow Drake."

I managed my way through the morning crowd, stumbling up to the monster in question. Snow Drake was a bit taller than the rest of us, with his big wings and even bigger head, but he made due with his snarky personality.

"Oh, good morning." He wished, closing his locker. "I didn't think you'd be early."

I raised an eyebrow, "So you thought I'd be late?"

"I didn't think you'd show up at all, lazy."

Fox Box laughed and I cracked a grin, "C'mon, bird brain. Let's get to class before the good seats are taken."

We made it in good time, taking our usual seats by the window, with Snow Drake in front and Fox Box behind me. Though I knew the minute we had free time she'd be on my shoulder chatting away. Snow Drake turned in his seat to peer at me.

"Did Whimsun make it?" He asked.

I took a sip of my chocolate milk, disappointed that it was almost empty, "No. You know how they is when it's a busy day. They won't show up till lunch."

I heard a snort from behind me, conveying how much Fox Box thought of meek little Whimsun. I didn't particularly care about the finicky monster, but Snow Drake liked them. I at least tolerated their presence, even if they treated me like a disease.

"Oh, alright." He huffed. "The teachers coming, so it doesn't matter now."

I heard Fox Box hum the death march from Star Wars and elegantly coughed on my drink, holding back a grin that'd surely get me in trouble. The door opened and we stood to greet Miss Torial as she made her way to the front of the room. Miss Torial isn't really that bad of a monster. She's nice, motherly (eugh), and understanding. She also loves puns enough to give out free passes on homework, if you can make her laugh. All in all, much better than some of the other teachers around here.

She's a queen too. That's cool.

"Alright, class." The goat like monster nearly touched the ceiling with how tall she was. "Today we're finishing up Romeo and Juliet. Get out your books please and turn to page 67."

Class went as usual, with students getting called on to read. I was starting to nod off halfway through the reading, my eyes drifting to the window where Mt. Ebott stood. It was a nice blue day out, with no wind. It seemed like a nice day for a picnic just to sleep the day away. I sighed wistfully.

Well. I might as well pass this class and get it over with.

"I'll read the next passage." I raised my hand lazily.

The strange thing with Miss Torial, well, regarding me. It's hard to explain. She smiles the same with everyone else. She answers my questions like everyone else. But sometimes I get a strange feeling. Fox Box always said I'm bad at reading people, and says Miss Torial looks at me strangely sometimes. At first I thought it was because she wasn't used to unmotivated humans. Or maybe I was just a really weird kid. In any case, she didn't treat me different, but it felt like she did. It was strange.

I stood up, lifting my book with me and finding the passage they left off on. Oh, cool, it was the part where they kill each other. I smothered a yawn and-

"I want to do it instead, please!"

I blinked and looked around. Everyone else was staring weirdly at-Oh. Asriel. The prince, the son of Miss Torial. He was pretty tall, almost as tall as Snow Drake. His horns were growing in too, on top of his white little head. He didn't have much of a backbone though. I labeled him as crybaby when I first met him, he ran away in tears.

"Alright." Miss Torial nodded. I shrugged and sat down, deciding if fate wanted me to be lazy then by damn I'll allow it. Asriel nodded to himself and finished the passage, a slight tremble in his shoulders. We all collectively sighed when the lunch bell rang. Miss Torial gave us an amused look.

"Alright, class, I'll be back in twenty. The cafeteria is down the hall, but you may stay if you brought your own food."

She trotted out, half the class following along. I dramatically collapsed onto my desk, groaning about nothing. Fox Box laughing and jumped on my shoulder, looking every bit like she owned it, "What was the all about, huh? Asriel acted weird."

I didn't really want to think about it, because I had a hunch the royal family was a bit nuts, "Meh."

"Heh." I heard Snow Drake turn in his seat, "Let me guess, you forgot to pack a lunch and you forgot to ask Fran for money."

"Fran caught us on the way out." Fox Box answered for me, "We didn't pack lunch, though."

"We're stealing your food." I announced into my desk. "And then after school, can we have a picnic? That'd be awesome."

"Will you get your own food?" Snow Drake asked dryly.

I laughed with Fox Box. Snow Drake had apparently stopped by the bake sale this morning. We munched on our donuts contently. I absolutely loved spider batter, or whatever they made it with, it tasted fantastic.

"Hey." Fox Box spoke up, her tail tapping against my cheek. I gave her a look. "Look, over there."

We all turned and blinked. At the doorway was a police officer, talking with someone behind the door. It didn't seem serious, just a casual conversation. I shrugged and stuffed another donut in my mouth, glancing outside mournfully. Just a few more hours.

The intercom came on with a whiny screech, "Students, please return to your classroom immediately. Lunch will be postponed until further notice. Please return to your classrooms immediately, your teachers will instruct you from there."

Instant chatter broke out, curious murmurs spreading over the class. I tilted my head when the police officer disappeared outside, students starting to file in slowly, looking around in confusion.

"Any ideas?" Fox Box asked.

I shrugged, "Could just be a drill."

"At this time though?"

I didn't have an answer to that. Snow Drake ruffled his feathers in agitation, probably because Whimsun wasn't here yet. I wouldn't be surprised if they had skipped school altogether. Miss Torial arrived soon after with the rest of the class, giving the speakers in our room an annoyed look.

"It seems." She began icily. "That the headmaster has an announcement to make. Please be on your best behavior, children."

It turned out to be another announcement we already knew about. He came on the speakers and told us about the anti-peace act group lead by some Italian dude that's known for leaving his victims in less than flattering positions when the police officers find their bodies. It was gruesome, it was further in the city, and our headmaster liked to panic at the vey slightest sign of trouble.

Miss Torial sighed. I nodded in sympathy. He was such a loser.

"Students," The headmaster went on, "Please start leaving in pairs in the forcible future. While there is, uh, no need to panic. I mean, I'm not panicking, but, it's all good! We'll all be safe!"

It abruptly cut out. Miss Torial slumped a little at her desk before addressing us, "While these miserable people are dangerous, it will not be a problem to you, children. We are too far from the city to be harmed. You may continue as normal."

The class breathed relief. I kind of rolled my eyes at that, annoyed the group of human and monster anti-rights group was being the news. They were just crying for attention, killing everyone and blaming the monsters. It was gross.

"What a day." Fox Box snickered. "You'd think he'd get the point. That group is so far away and out of our hair, it'd be a miracle if we even got a news article about it."

"Yeah." I gazed out the window longingly. "A miracle."

.

.

"Hey, what's those crystals anyway?"

"Oh, those? I dunno. They look pretty, though."

"Do you ever wonder what real stars look like?"

" . . . All the time."

" . . ."

"But, hey, you can tell me all about them! What are they like?"

"Crystals. They're like crystals."

"Huh. Sounds kind of lame? I like it! Let's go see them together, Chara!"

". . . Alright."

The smell of buttercups has never been so ominous.

A/N

1. First and foremost, I'd like to apologize if 'Chara' being female offends anyone. I've kept Frisk unidentified, and I tried to write this with 'Chara' as well, but as an amateur writer it just didn't work out. I know I'm going to get a comment about 'you shouldn't write it then' but that's just it. I really do want to write this.

2. This AU is called 'reincarnation' but I couldn't find any other word to describe Leo's situation, but more details will come up in later chapters. This is set after the True Pacifist ending.

3. WARNING: There will be swearing and blood later on. It is Chara we're talking about, after all.

4. Fox Box is in fact an OC, since I couldn't find a monster with the personality like Fox Box. Snow Drake came a close second, the sassy diva.

5. Enjoy!