Nikolai grumbled to himself as he peered out the window.

"Morning equals school. Guess I've been to hell and back already." The thirteen year old goat monster got dressed and shuffled down the stairs to be greeted by his mother, Toriel.

"Hello, my child. You are up early." She mentioned.

"Is that so?" Niko asked sarcastically.

His mother handed him a piece of toast, and Niko sat down at the table.

"Hey, mom, can I take the bus today?" Niko asked.

"Why?" His mother replied.

"Kids at school have been teasing me for gettin' out of the car with you." Niko said, the toast he was eating muffling his speech.

"Alright." His mother reluctantly agreed.

Niko glanced over at the time, and stood up.

"Almost time to go." He said, hoisting his backpack up over his shoulder.

"Buh-bye, mom!" Niko shouted from the front door, and walked out.

He walked for a while before getting to a bus stop. There, was his best friend Cin Italics.

"Hey Cin! Or should I say…" Niko trailed off.

"Niko, no." Cin groaned.

"Cin-derella?" Niko questioned.

"Niko, who ruined your sense of humor? Your mom or Uncle Sans?" Cin asked. She was face palming now.

"Well, it was your dad who originally called you that." Niko taunted.

"Well, the song "Metal Crusher" wouldn't just be referring to my dad and Frisk if you keep talkin' like that." Cin joked.

Suddenly, a sputtering bus pulled up. Niko and Cin walked on, and appropriately, sat together.

They conferred about a show they both like, until a teenager, about 15 or 16, sat next to the two. He decided to prevoke Cin, as she was a… popular target.

"Hey, what's up with your face?" He asked, pointing to the plate of metal below her right eye.

"W-what?" Cin stuttered. Whenever she was spoke to by a stranger, she was nervous and outspoken.

The boy reached over and flicked the plate, a soft clanking sound emitting from it.

"Aren't you the Skele-freak?" The teen taunted.

"U-um, well," Cin started. "My, uh, dad is a sk-skeleton, and, uh, my other d-dad is-"

She was cut off by the bully.

"So your parents are gay?! Ha! This is gold! You're such a freak!" The bully taunted.

"HEY, GUYS, THE SKELE-FREAK'S PARENTS ARE GAY!" The shout rang out across the bus.

It was silent.

For a moment.

At least half of the bus rang out in laughter, taunting Cin, and drawing bright orange tears from her eyes.

Niko, however, was absolutely finished.

"STOP IT!"

His roar left the bus completely silent. He stood up, a blue spark jumping into his hand, igniting into a blue fireball.

He stepped across the aisle towards the bully.

"You should be EXTREMELY glad that this doesn't ignite anything or do much damage." He growled in a low tone, gesturing towards the fireball in his hand. "If it did-"

He paused.

"You'd be going up in flames."

He threw the fireball to the ground, stomping on it to put out it's flame, and sat back down.

The bus was completely silent, save for the murmuring of Cin and Niko.

"Does this happen every morning?" He quietly asked Cin, who was shaking.

"Y-yeah" She choked out.

Niko decided to give one final comment to the bullies.

"You all should be ashamed of yourselves. You guys are the real monsters that walk the earth." Niko said in his normal voice.

The bus had arrived at the school, and all of the children filed off the bus.

"Hey, uh, Cin," Niko started as they walked towards the building. "Um, how about I walked to your classes with you? J-just so that doesn't happen again, I mean." Niko stuttered, blushing lightly. He honestly did not want her to get the wrong message.

"Sure! And, I gotta admit, as terrifying as you were on the bus, that was AWESOME!" Cin exclaimed.

Niko rubbed the back of his neck. "It was really nothing. Honestly." He said.

Cin peered at the top of Niko's head. "Hey, did you realize your horns got bigger?"

"What?" Niko ran his hand over the top of his head. The two small stumps usually there were replaced with slightly bigger ones.

"Oh. You're right." Niko said.

They walked into the school together.

"The reason this chemical reaction happens is blah with the yada yada…"

Niko was doing everything but paying attention in class. Currently, he was drawing on the whiteboard his teacher had given him.

"Nikolai?" The teacher called on the student. Niko's head snapped up.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"What is the reason the reaction between these two chemicals happen?" The teacher asked.

"Umm… forty-two?" He replied, already knowing his answer was wrong.

Luckily, nobody had any time to react, as the bell rang.

"Remember, your homework is page 26!" The teacher called out from behind the rushing students.

Niko remembered that he had study hall next, with Cin. He walked over to the class Cin was waiting at.

"You ready for study hall? Aka the class where nothing is quiet?" Niko teased his friend.

"Yeah, No. Why would I ever be ready for no silence?" Cin said. They were making their way towards the classroom.

Niko's phone buzzed from his pocket. He got a text from his mom.

'Niko, I have to stay after school today, and Frisk will be at a party. Please stay with Mettaton and Cin until I come pick you up.'

Niko replied back.

''Kay, mom, I'll let Cin know'

He looked over at Cin. "Hey, I'm gonna have to hang at your place until my mom gets home from work." Niko told his friend.

"Okay." Cin replied. They were at the door of the study hall already.

The class was as rowdy as usual. Paper airplanes flying everywhere, chatter ringing through the room, and spitballs dotting the ceilings as well as the back of children's heads.

"Ah, home sweet home." Niko joked.

Niko and Cin sat in the seats right next to each other, and talked about random things.

"Hey, I realized, if there's fire on the Sun, does that mean that there's air?

I mean-" Niko was, of course,

cut off.

"Hey, furry!" Niko blushed at the mention of his "pet name" used by bullies.

"Turn around, will 'ya?" Niko sighed and turned around.

There, was an older boy, about 14. He seemed young, but boy, was he buff.

"You talking to your Skele-freak girlfriend over there, furry?" Ouch. There were those names again.

"Can you please stop?" Niko asked.

"Why? It's so fun! You monsters shouldn't be in this world, not even in a school."

Niko turned back around, slid down his chair,and bended his head back so he could see the bully upside down.

"By just looking at you, it should be the other way around."

This sent the bully over the top. He punched Niko square in his left eye. Niko's head hit the back of the chair. He quickly sat up and cursed, holding his eye.

"Ah, crap! My damn eye!" Niko said while stumbling up from his chair and to the teacher. Cin walked after him.

"Um, uh, hey, Mrs. Reynolds? C-can I go to the nurse's office? I just kinda got punched in the eye." Niko said, rather nonchalantly.

Soon enough, Niko was being driven to Mettaton's house, with Cin next to him.

"Niko, how did this happen?" Mettaton asked him.

"Well, there was some bully who said monsters shouldn't walk the Earth, 'an then I said it should be the other way around, and then he punched me!" Niko ranted.

The car slowed down to a stop as they pulled up in front of a house. Niko jumped out along with Cin and Mettaton, and walked in.

Niko and Cin were hanging out in Cin's room, Niko holding an icepack over his left eye. Cin was sorting through some movies they could watch.

"Cinny, we've watched all those already." Niko said.

"Did you seriously just call me Cinny?" Cin asked him.

Niko pulled out his phone and started typing on it. A buzz came from Cin's pocket. She pulled out her phone. She had gotten a text from Niko.

'get rekt m8'

Cin couldn't help but laugh.

(A/N: Heya, guys! Welcome to the first chapter of Here and Now! I hope this isn't to long, because in my standards it's pretty short, but then again, I am a power reader. But, I hope you guys liked it!

-Coolio)