It had been a day like any other, until Monsters came out of Mount Fuji.
There had been legends, of course, about humans using magic to seal these Monsters into the mountain. It's just difficult to find out one day that these legends are true, not unlike seeing your umbrella sprout legs and run.
But these Monsters gave no harm; they had even cared for a Human child that had fallen into the mountain.
Just as before, after the media shock died down, Monsters and Humans began to co-exist comfortably.
(Well, except for the one that everyone had the urge to ditch. Nonetheless.)
After everything settled, the ambassador moved with their family to a new home.
Yotsuba had followed the moving van when it passed by her home. She was making chalk drawings on the street when it rumbled passed.
She wasn't on her bike and wouldn't go further than Shaggy Beard's shop, so it was okay to run after the moving van.
Luckily, for her curiosity, the van stopped only a few blocks away.
She hid behind a telephone pole as the movers and new neighbors piled out of the van.
Yotsuba's eyebrows furrowed at the strange sight.
Was that a goat? Was it a fake, like that panda at the festival walking on two feet?
The goat was wearing a full-length, purple dress with a strange emblem on it. The fur was snow white and the goat was barefooted. The goat stretched out, perhaps sore from being in the van and wearing that costume.
But from the vivid expressions on the goat's face, this might not be a fake.
The goat spotted Yotsuba and spoke.
"Hello there, little one! Are you one of the new neighbors?"
Yotsuba gripped the telephone pole. Costumes didn't talk, didn't open their mouths. Even if they had the voice of a lady, it would have the weird fuzzy noise, right?
Was this a Monster that she heard Daddy talk about?
She moved out slowly from her hiding place, and the goat breathed out an amused chuckle.
"I mean you no harm. I am Toriel."
A huge paw was offered to Yotsuba. She took it and her eyes widened at how soft it was.
"May I ask your name, little one?"
"Can't say," she replied, suspicion growing on her face. "Are you a bad guy? Are you gonna chomp me up?"
"Goodness, no. But I should talk to your parents first, should I not?"
Yotsuba nodded solemnly and pointed down the street.
"Go left and then right and meet Daddy. Mommy is next-door but she went to get souvenirs."
Toriel took her very seriously.
The tall Monster smiled and called over her shoulder.
"Frisk! Frisk, my dear, there is someone here for you to meet."
A Human kid with black hair and russet brown skin, dressed in a blue pastel shirt and shorts, stumbled out from behind a pile of boxes. They walked to Toriel quietly and looked up at her quizzically.
Toriel rested her huge paw on their head and tousled their hair.
"Frisk, I am going to meet this little one's parents."
The kid spared a glance to Yotsuba and then made some motions with their hands. It made Yotsuba tilt her head.
"She is our neighbor, dear, that is correct. Would you like to stay with her while I go?"
Frisk nodded and Toriel gave them a kiss. She headed down the street.
Frisk looked at Yotsuba and mimicked her head tilt.
"Hello," Yotsuba said tentatively.
She received a nice grin.
"What did you do with your hands? Were you doing a Hand Dance?"
Frisk shook their head and pointed at their mouth, making an "X" with their fingers.
"Oh… Can't talk?"
A nod.
"Oh… I guess the frog got stuck forever…"
She tapped her chin and extended her hand.
"I'm Yotsuba. Wanna be friends?"
Frisk nodded and took her hand.
A/N: Originally posted on Ao3 on October 13th 2016.
Remember when making friends as a kid was as easy as saying, "Hey, I like chocolate kisses, wanna be friends"?. Good times.
So I actually first played Undertale the week before I left for Japan. It was probably because the game was still fresh in my mind but I started making comparisons between Mount Ebott and Mount Fuji. Undertale's location is pretty set in an "anywhere in the world" situation and Mount Fuji, like Mount Ebott, is densely surrounded by trees and dangerous to go up alone. Mount Fuji is also a dormant volcano, and Mount Ebott might be one if Hotland is any indication. But this is from a girl who wants her very much non-canon BrOTP to work in a semi-plausible way. Everyone in this series speaks and writes Japanese, obviously. Yotsuba and Frisk are the same age here.