"Education"

The morning greeted Sans like a ton of bricks.

"First day of school! First day of school!"

If a ton of bricks happened to feel like three small children jumping on his bed.

"C'mon Sans wake up, wake up!" Asriel and Chara chanted as they and Frisk held hands and jumped in unison at the foot of Sans's bed, accidentally stepping on the skeleton's leg in the process. "First day of school! First day of school!"

"that's today?" the skeleton thought to himself, trying to remember the date. He was pretty sure it was a Friday but he could be wrong. "oh wait. Tori said that we need to get them into the system first before sending 'em in proper. guess that counts as a first day."

It would be simple enough. The first week of school was always shorter then the rest of the year. The kids would be out by three at most and after the weekend they'll be tackling a full morning-to-afternoon day. They had missed some of the orientation period due to obvious reasons, either because of the adoption process, hospital visits, or gaining an extra eight kids just a few days before Frisk was supposed to start. Still Sans knew that the kids were smart enough to catch up on their own.

"snnnn..." Sans turned over in his mock-sleep and snored in response. "don't wanna go to school. five more minutes. snnnn..."

"Not for you Sans, for us!" Asriel nudged his bony arm, pulling it upwards until the man was sitting upright.

Chara joined in by grabbing his other arm and slowly dragging him out of the bed. "C'mon Sans! Up, up!"

Frisk shoved Sans's pink fuzzy slippers onto his bony feet before taking him by both hands and guiding him to a standing position, signing excitedly. "School day! School day!"

The three kids looked proudly at their efforts. Only they alone were able to wake Sans up in under a minute, a feat not even the Great Papyrus had been able to do.

Their pride was immediately shattered when the skeleton fell backwards and landed on his bed in a snoring heap. A slipper dangling off a single bony foot.

Frisk sighed disappointedly before instructing the others. "Get the bucket. I'll start the hose."

/X\

Toriel turned over in her sleep and upon feeling no one lying next to her, quickly awoke. She ran a hand across the mattress and felt the depression where her husband should be. Opening bleary eyes she confirmed that he was missing. Her mind immediately went into a panic before the sounds of childish laughter followed by a strange splashing sound brought her back to reality.

Her bedside clock read that it was a few minutes until seven am and she sighed with relief. He must have been woken up by the children rushing around in preparation for the big day ahead. With that she silently got dressed and turned off the alarm when it rang a few minutes later.

As she left her room she almost tripped over the long green hose leading from the bathroom to Sans and Papyrus's room. Following it she found that it lead to Asriel, Chara and Frisk. A large green bucket was suspended high in the air with blue magic, water dripping down its sides and onto the rug. Asriel scratched his ears in confusion before Sans suddenly sprang forward and trapped all three children in a suffocating hug.

"ahh!" he mock shouted, the kids echoing him with playful shrieks as he hovered the bucket menacingly over each of their heads

Toriel laughed warmly, catching the man's attention.

"oh! mornin' Tori." He gave her a wink as the kids tried to wrestle their way out of his arms. "kids were just giving me a wake up call."

"I can certainly see that." She carefully lifted the full bucket from the air, it's blue magic dissipating once it was placed on the ground. "Just make sure they start getting ready soon. We have a long day ahead of us."

"don't you worry. years of wrestling Papyrus into school clothes have honed my child-herding abilities to perfection." He assured as Frisk managed to slip from his grasp and begin climbing up his back. "I got this."

Toriel simply smiled. "Well with you on the job, I'll go get started on breakfast. What would you like?"

"Chocolate chip pancakes!" Chara and Asriel piped up, both attempting to put Sans into a head lock. The skeleton man responded by retreating into his shirt and making himself look like a demented tortoise.

Toriel laughed, she should have expected as much. "Okay, we'll have pancakes if we have the ingredients. Let me just ask the others if they would like any." As she exited the room she heard the sound of water splashing against something but chose not to turn around and investigate.

"Nyyeeehh... Nyyeeehh..."

She did however choose to investigate the snoring coming from the next room. Her smile grew wider when she found Papyrus sprawled on top of Olive's bed in a deep sleep, a book covering his face. The little girl was tucked under his arm surrounded on all sides by stuffed animals. Tan was sleeping in the same sprawled fashion against the skeleton's side, his head resting on Papyrus's chest. Toby the dog was curled up near the skeleton's head, apparently having an eventful dream about running through a field.

"Oh dear..." She whispered to herself, trying to stifle laughter when Toby began kicking at the air (and subsequently Papyrus's noggin) in the midst of his delightful doggy dreams.

Papyrus awoke instantly, the book sliding off his head onto the dog. The dog didn't seem to be phased by this however and continued panting and kicking at the air without a care in the word.

"AHH! THE RATS ARE AT THE GATES! QUICKLY, HIDE THE CHEESE!" He shouted feverishly, waking the children. Papyrus stared around the room for a few seconds before remembering where he was. "Oh." He realised with a twinge of embarrassment, immediately perking up when he saw Toriel in the doorway. "GOOD MORNING YOUR MAJESTY! IS IT MORNING ALREADY?"

Toriel allowed a giggle to escape and confirmed. "Indeed it is Papyrus. I am hoping to make pancakes for breakfast and I was wondering if you or the children would like some."

"Yes! Yes!" Came the alert voices of Tan and Olive with not a speck of tiredness on their faces, a rare gift of youth.

Papyrus smiled even as the two children scrambled over his ribcage to get out of bed, already half-way out the door. "MAY I ASSIST YOU IN THE KITCHEN?"

"If it wouldn't be any trouble." The queen replied, ruffling Tan's wild quiff of hair as he past her. "I need to make sure that the rest of the house is awake. So you can begin preparations if you wish."

"I WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO! EVERY DAY SHOULD START WITH A HEALTHY BREAKFAST AND AT LEAST AN ENTIRE HOUR OF - RUNNING AWAY FROM YOUR SIBLING." He trailed off, making a ponderous face.

As if on cue Momoko sped barefooted past the door, half-dressed in his day clothes with his dressing gown trailing behind him like a cape. "I am not wearing them!"

Nerissa followed shortly afterwards, holding a pair of shiny black shoes in her left hand. She would have run if not for the casts protecting her legs and feet. She put one crutch in front of the other, replying in an annoyed tone. "She says we're suppose to wear our good shoes to school."

"You can not make me! They hurt my feet!" Momoko shouted back, making a sharp U-turn when he reached the end of the hall, out running the older child yet again.

"THERE SEE! THOSE TWO HAVE THE RIGHT IDEA." Papyrus looked proud, failing to notice when Momoko grabbed the good shoes and tossed them into the room in protest. "REMINDS ME OF HOW SANS USED TO DO IT, EXCEPT WITH LESS CHEATING."

Toriel's only response was to shake her head and give Nerissa an understanding pat on the shoulder. "At least I know who else is awake. I imagine Undyne woke you up early?" Nerissa nodded, deciding to abandon the task of clothing her step-sibling. "All right then. I'm making pancakes, if you or Momoko would like any I will make you both a plate." After gaining another affirmative nod, she smiled. "Alright then. Let me just wake up Jade and Sunny, and I will start breakfast preparations."

She was surprised, after the short journey to the bedroom just across the hall, that there was no one in the room. Both beds were empty, the one with the sunflower duvet left unmade. The queen pondered for a second before coming to the conclusion that the two eldest children were likely downstairs with Asgore, already dressed and ready to face the day.

After a careful decent down the stairs, her theory was proven false when she looked into the front sitting room. Sleeping away in the reclined armchair was Asgore, a heavy history book sitting on his left arm and Jade fast asleep under his right.

Feeling her heart melt, Toriel brushed the side of her husband's face with a gentle hand. Smiling widely as his eyelids fluttered awake, he answered with his own goofy grin.

"Oh! Good morning Tori. I'm afraid I was preoccupied last night. Jade had awoken and required my aid."

Toriel glanced at the girl's bandaged hand and whispered sympathetically before kissing her forehead. "Poor dear. I hope today won't be too much for her."

Asgore let out a warm hum, raising himself out of his reclined position. "No need to fear. She's as resilient as stone. I may be more worried about Frisk however."

"And why would that be?"

"Well from what we do know of their past, Frisk's formal education was apparently quite lacking. I fear that this new school maybe a little overwhelming for them."

It was Toriel's turn to object. "Whilst I do agree that Frisk may require more attention academically, I doubt that they will find themselves falling behind. If they do, they will have enough support from home to make up for it. What with three scientists and a teacher in the family."

The king smiled and shook his head lightly, moving so not to immediately disrupt the one lying against him. "I know. I know. I'm just being a paranoid old goat. It has been so long since we've had to send our children to school and I can't help but worry for them."

"Do not worry Asgore, Mt Ebott Elementary is only a twenty minute walk from here and with our new jobs we will never be too far away." She soothed, carefully raising Jade to a standing position. "Speaking of which, I have to make sure that all of them are ready before it gets too late. The principal stressed that we admit them before the orientation period is over."

Asgore nodded in understanding before narrowing his eyes and sniffing the air. "Is something burning?"

"Hmm?" Toriel smelled the air as well before making her way into the kitchen, Jade holding her hand tiredly. "Papyrus have you- oh!"

A black pile of sludge was oozing out from under the basement door.

"...coffee..." It whispered statically, making it's way over to the counter where Sunny stood attempting to figure out the stove top. Something black had encrusted itself onto a pan and smelled like it could have once been an omelette, the smoke escaping out of the open window above the sink. Tan and Olive stood a few feet away from the chaos looking as lost as Toriel was.

The boy turned to the goopy mass as if it were the most normal thing in the world and responded. "You'll get it when I figure this out. Now how do I... do anything? Never managed to burn eggs before."

"You use the knob things to change the heat." Jade suddenly spoke up, startling both the boy and the oozing mass. "You're supposed to know what heat is the best to cook something. You might of put it on too high a heat."

"Oh..." Sunny said disappointedly, hair dishevelled and the back of his long john-styled pyjamas unbuttoned, exposing his duck-patterned undergarments to the world. "I have no idea how that works. I use to just cook 'em over coals."

Toriel sighed but kept her bright smile. "Don't worry dear. I prefer them fire cooked myself." She turned off the heat and scraped the remnants of the omelette into the garbage, giving the pan a fierce scrubbing until most of the charcoal had been rubbed off. Turning to the boy she asked. "Do we happen to have the ingredients for pancakes?"

"Uhh..." Sunny stalled, looking inside the fridge and the pantry before asking. "We got flour, milk, and eggs. And baking... so... sod-a?"

"Soda." Tan corrected, trusting his elder cousin enough to step forward.

"I know what it says. Is that all we need?"

Toriel nodded, wondering if Sunny knew how to make pancakes himself. "Yes they are. Can you make sure that the others are getting ready? I just need to get the pan clean and then I'll start frying the pancakes off."

Sunny looked surprised, somehow expecting to do the cooking himself. "Oh! Okay. C'mon you half-dressed varmints." He corralled the three other children up stairs to get ready, suddenly noticing that the back of his pyjamas was open.

Papyrus arrived shortly afterwards fully dressed and ready for the day ahead. He loudly announced to anyone who could hear him. "METTATON SAYS HE HAS A SHOW TO FILM AT THREE, SO I'LL DRIVE HIM INTO TOWN AND HELP PICK UP THE CHILDREN ON THE WAY BACK!" He sniffed the air and turned to stare at the black mass lying on the floor. "FATHER DID YOU EXPLODE SOMETHING AGAIN?"

The black mass groaned and reached one amorphous arm over the counter to retrieve the jar of instant coffee, deciding to very well make it himself.

The next few minutes were uneventful. Papyrus began mixing all the ingredients together in a large bowl, needing a few pointers to make sure he didn't put in too much or too little. Toriel finally managed to remove the last of the former omelette from the pan and began melting a healthy dollop of butter before adding the mixture. Sunny made it his task to herd the rest of the household into the kitchen, half dragging the rest of the children down from their rooms.

Gaster sat slumped in his chair, slowly regaining his solid form. He was growing bored of being cooped up in the house all day but was aware that finding work at his age would be fruitless. He at least would have Sans's and Alphys's company during the daytime and he still kept in contact with his old followers but wondered if he could branch out and maybe befriend some of their new neighbours. Or perhaps go for a lazy wander along the beach and pier. It had been a long time since he had seen the ocean.

Sans took sneaky sips from the ketchup bottle, making sure that the kids weren't attempting a coup for earlier. He had little to do today and that's how he preferred it. With the kids at school and most of the adults at work, he had a good five or six hours to himself. Whether it be holding down the fort while the others were away or fixing up lunch for anyone at home during the afternoon, he could sneak in as much slacking off as he wanted without being reprimanded too much. He laughed under his breath and wondered if "house-spouse" was his dream career.

Undyne bounced her right leg excitedly, only pausing to help tie Nerissa's hair into it's usual bun. She had been anticipating this day for a while and was absolutely ecstatic. During the kids application into Mt Ebott Elementary, she discovered that the position for assistant PE teacher was vacant. The school had gone through four PE teachers in the last five years, unable to find a coach that didn't ignore or overwork the children. She offered to fill in the position and in no less than a day later she got a call back asking if she was still available. She would train her pupils rigorously, maybe not to the degree of a royal guard but it was certainly a start.

Alphys sat next to her partner, blanket still wrapped around her like a robe. It had been hard finding work, but with support from her housemates she was able to find a tech company that were interested in producing prosthetic limbs and body parts based off the designs originally conceived for Mettaton. It was situated in Fox City, about an hour's drive from Mt Ebott. The company had been very understanding of her situation and allowed her to work from home, sending her updated blueprints and mechanical notes via email, and only needing a short in-person interview and monthly check-ins to satisfy the CEOs. She shrugged the blanket off her shoulders and wondered if she should start on her new leg designs now or after lunch.

Asgore scratched the back of his ears tiredly, a cup of tea already brewed and steaming in his hands. He had graciously accepted the part-time but none less important job of groundskeeper for both the Elementary and Middle schools in their district. He had always loved working in the sun helping flowers grow and nurturing a sort of wild propriety into the earth. However no matter what career he may seek, to many he was still King, and thus he was still approached in the matter of politics and advice in how to best adjust to such a new world. Whether it be guiding his saplings, his young, or his people, Asgore was perfectly happy with his lot as of present.

Mettaton yawned dramatically, practising elocution in the hallway mirror. He was fully charged and was keeping a close eye on his energy levels. He was a very busy robot after all, being the face and star of multiple properties, either on screen, on stage, or on hotel brochures. His fame had exploded when he reached the surface, he supposed it was because to humans he was a very "marketable" monster, unlike many which lacked skin, faces, or bodies. But he knew better than to let his popularity overshadow the fact that he was first and foremost an icon to monsters. Being defeated by Frisk had taught him that. Now he had a home and a family to retreat to when the lights and cameras became a little too bright. He smiled at his reflection and decided that he should visit Blooky after work. Maybe introduce him to his new niece.

Papyrus hummed away at the counter, enjoying the odd pops and sizzles the pancakes made as they fried on the pan. It was certainly a far cry from the bubbling made by a boiling pot of pasta. He was still looking for work. He didn't have many qualifications beyond being a guardsman and cook, and many of the jobs that did interest him seemed to be more interested in humans with degrees. He had considered applying for a job at Grillby's new bar but paled at the thought of cooking greasy food and having Sans as a frequent customer. He continued humming away and wondered if there was anywhere in town that needed a security guard.

Toriel placed a large stack of pancakes on the table, not surprised when the whole table dug in. She patted Sunny's head and gestured him to sit down and eat while she retrieved the honey from the cupboard. It had been so long since she had a home filled with life and laughter yet she embraced it as if all her mornings were so chaotic. Perhaps it was the knowledge that her home would always have at least one occupant on standby. Or knowing that even on days where she couldn't find the energy to cook or read there would always be someone willing to do one or the other. Or maybe it was because she awoke with warm bed and bright smiles no matter how down she felt. Or maybe it was because the house would fall apart without her. Any reason would do.

They all ate without silence, the general air of conversation being planned yet chaotic. Someone asking for the milk jug, a pair commenting on last nights weather, three discussing the school and who worked there, four wondering who going to do grocery shopping, and the rest complaining about how early it was. Toby the Dog yapped incessantly throughout the meal, only quieting down when the back door was opened so he could do his business and roll around in the dew-soaked grass.

The kids ate ravenously, with Asgore having to prevent some of them from inhaling their food. Chara was predictably miffed that there hadn't been any chocolate in the pantry and substituted the dark goody with an unhealthy amount of sugar. Upon seeing that their pancake was now completely white, Toriel make a note to add chocolate chips or perhaps chocolate syrup to the shopping list.

Soon as the clock ticked to eight there was a mad scramble for the door. The house didn't have a driveway or garage, being in a fairly old neighbourhood, but there was just enough space on the parking lane in front of the house for all three cars. Papyrus, Asgore, Chara, Frisk and Asriel all jumped into Papyrus's convertible. The rest of the children split into both Undyne's and Toriel's cars, just barely having enough seats for all of them. Sans, Mettaton and Alphys waved goodbye to them from the porch, smiling widely as the kids frantically waved back.

Such a hasty convoy wouldn't be norm however, as the school bus typically stopped at the end of the street and it would be fairly cumbersome in the afternoon if the adults were to be held back late. The overall journey would take less than ten minutes on the road, but Toriel was hoping that once they became more acquainted with the town itself the children would opt to walk home some days. Especially since the warm Autumn weather was far too wonderful to ignore.

Old Ebott Town's school district was fairly small. Being it's main source of education meant it carried a distinct sense of pride and for the past decade had carried a fierce rivalry with the newer, more stately schools in the North of town. It had the Elementary, Middle, and High School, and even the local community centre within a short walking distance from each other. This fact, along with it's convenient location close to the centre of town, made it fairly popular among monsters and humans alike.

They pulled up to the entrance of Mt Ebott Elementary in a timely fashion, just about missing the mad rush of cars and mini-vans pouring in from the dense suburbs in the north and east of town. After parking both Undyne's and Toriel's cars in the teacher's lot they waited for Papyrus, who was going at a deliberately slow speed so not to jostle his passengers. Only after he made it safely into the lot did they turn to approach the wide school building. It had only two stories, being made in an era before there were enough children to fill the classes, and owned a fairly large area of land which would be meticulously cared for by it's new groundskeeper (and part time king).

The principle Mrs Shrike, a short yet stern woman who had been running herself ragged accommodating all of the new families, greeted them warmly and offered to give the adults a full tour of the premises. "Class is about to start, would it be okay if we let the children join their classes from here?"

"Of course." Toriel nodded, fixing her blouse to make sure her reading glasses were still in the breast pocket. "If there's any trouble, we'll be close by." She knelt down to meet the kids at eye level, speaking to them as a group. "We won't be gone for too long. We will bring you to your classes and I'll make sure we'll be there to collect you once the school day is finished. Would that be fine?"

The children all nodded, some of them trying their best to mask their nervousness.

"We won't be too far." Asgore reassured them, giving his son a warm pat on the head. "If it becomes too much for you, you can come get us."

"And we'll take care of anyone who gives you trouble!" Undyne interjected, showing off her muscular arms to the amazement of any onlookers. After gaining a curt cough from the principle, she quickly added. "If they deserve it of course."

Frisk predictably shared third grade with Chara and Asriel, being of the same (at least on a physical level) age group as each other. Sunny was in fifth grade, mostly due to being the most mature of the children although he seemed to be having trouble organising his timetable. Jade and Nerissa were in fourth grade, sitting awkwardly in their seats for a few minutes before eventually starting conversation with the two children sitting on either side of them. Momoko had almost qualified for the third grade but ended up sharing the second with Tan due to his difficult grasp of English. Olive was the only one in first grade and put up the biggest struggle when they tried to leave her in the classroom, only calming down when Papyrus soothed her by citing that they wouldn't be too far away.

Toriel had secured the sixth grade teaching position meaning that she would unfortunately be unable to oversee her children's progress directly – at least for the year. She was surprised to learn that some of the other teachers had assistants to help tend to the students needs. Understandable seeing how class sizes had risen dramatically since monster children began attending.

"Perhaps in future we may need to split the classrooms, but at the moment we have the teaching assistants to help some of the other students catch up." The principal explained, showing Toriel her new classroom. "If you ever feel that you need one we can arrange it before the semester is over."

Toriel walked into the room in almost a daze. She ran her fingers across the heavy oak desk that would be her workstation and looked over the five by four rows of the chairs and tables that would be her class, her students. She swore she felt her voice hitch when she answered. "No thank you. I believe I can take it from here."

Principal Shrike nodded in understanding, allowing the monster queen to begin organising her new room.

Undyne and Papyrus practically shouted in excitement when they entered the tall echoing gym hall, running at least two laps around the room before barrelling through the outward-opening doors. They shouted even louder when their eyes fell upon the shared soccer and baseball pitches situated only a few metres distance from the school district proper.

The principal huffed as she tried to catch up with the fish woman and skeleton, trying her best not to wheeze. "The pitches are typically unused until teams can be chosen but are popular for informal games as well." She discreetly wiped the sweat from her brow, trying not to seem tired. "They're also used for the after-school and weekend clubs. Ms Undyne, do you think you'll be able to handle both duties for the time being? Our regular teacher is unavailable and we can post-pone try outs until he returns."

Undyne was shivering. Back in the Underground there was never enough room to play. She remembered her early childhood, her and the other children trying their bests to play football or tag inside the caverns. Trying their best not to trip over the jagged rocks or hit the hard walls or fall into the murky glowing waters. Even the royal guardsmen had to be trained inside four by four volcanic walls or out in desolate plains of Snowdin forest because their was simply not enough room and too many ways for someone to get hurt. Now she had entire acres of land for her, her students, her kids, to run and play and trip and train as they saw fit.

"Or do you wish to start try outs on Monday?"

Undyne nodded, covering her mouth to keep what ever intense emotion she was brewing at bay.

Principal Shrike noticed her reaction and silently decided that the former Captain was perfectly capable of the task. She smiled. "Okay. We'll do that. The kids are no bother at all, once they find a sport they like they'll be flying at it. Just be... cautious around the parents. This is a very sports oriented town and the parents may react badly if their team fails."

Undyne let out a dry laugh.

Papyrus followed it by saying "WHAT'S WRONG WITH LOSING EVERY SO OFTEN? AT LEAST YOU GOT TO PLAY."

Principal Shrike rounded off the tour by showing Asgore the grounds shared between the elementary and middle school. Most of it was cut green lawns but was bordered on all sides by dense shrubbery and bushes. Many trees of different species, all in different stages of growth, were lined up in spaced rows along the sides of the playground and outdoor lunch areas, each one having a small wooden plaque showing a number.

"Every Spring we plant a new tree on the premises." The human woman explained, pointing out a specific member of the cluster. "It's a little tradition that started a few decades ago when one of the school's students planted an acorn believing that an oak would spring up overnight."

"I understand that quite well. My son thought the same about flowers. He used to become so impatient at the wait that he tried commanding them to blossom." Asgore chuckled at the memory, wondering if Asriel would still do that.

He remembered that when he was young his mother would tell him stories about trees that gave fruits and nuts, and how he never believed her since the only trees he knew of were thick Snowdin pines that only gave sharp needles and tough seeds. Yet every so often a nut or fruit would tumble through cracks in the mountain and take root, accomplishing something that no scientist or woodsman could ever replicate. So it was paramount that any tree that managed to survive the dark reaches of the Underground would be taken care of until it passed away naturally.

It was a little daunting to the King when he first entered the Surface. Trees growing everywhere their roots could spread, thick shrubs covered in berries and flowers, entire forests filled with nothing but birches and oaks. Asgore had always loved nature and the idea of nurturing life into the earth made his heart leap.

"What kinds are these?" He asked suddenly, deciding not to dwell too long on his wonder. He had been reading up in the care and nurturing of many types of plants but had yet to properly identify them by sight alone. "I certainly recognise the oak and perhaps a cherry tree, but some of them I can't even find a comparison to."

The principal looked surprised for a split second before reminding herself of the circumstances. "Mostly fruit trees. We do a poll coming up to Arbor Day and the children tend to choose ones that give fruit or look nice. Last year's winner was a maple tree." She lowered her voice like what she was saying was a badly-kept secret. "I think it's because they want to harvest syrup from it when it's fully grown."

Asgore had to laugh, not too put off by the idea himself. "If I find any evidence of syrup theft I'll be sure to let you know."

Principal Shrike finally allowed a laugh to escape. These people were exactly what this school needed.

/X\

Frisk tapped their fingers on the desk excitedly. They still couldn't believe it, their first day of school! It wasn't like Frisk had never been to a new school, far from it, but rather it was the first day of school with their new family.

"Family." Frisk giggled to themselves, the tapping becoming the tiniest bit faster. They had a family.

"You ready Frisk?" Chara signed, taking up the seat next to them. They had slowly but surely picked up sign language from their many timelines around Frisk and was being taught well enough by Gaster that they could speak freely with their sibling.

"Siblings." Frisk giggled again, feeling all warm inside. They could say that they were someone's sibling. "I'm fine. Excited."

"I think we have a lady teacher." Asriel signed over the chatter of the classroom, the teacher having not yet arrived despite it being a few minutes into the school day. "Mom says she's very nice."

"Mom and Dad." Frisk couldn't stop the third giggle from escaping. A Mom and a Dad. And two Uncles. And two Aunts. And a few assorted Cousins. And a Grampa. Frisk wasn't exactly sure where Sans fit into the equation, whether a third Uncle or a second Dad, but a Him also. Deciding to answer their brother ("Brother" the giggling wouldn't go away.), Frisk signed back. "I hope so. Back in my old school the teacher ignored me."

"Who could ignore you?" Chara signed dramatically, dragging out the hand gestures. "You're the most interesting person in the room."

"You're a Prince and Princev."

"And you're the Angel of the Underground." Asriel argued with a smile, subconsciously mimicking Frisk's desk tapping. "And our kingdom's ambassador."

"Ambassador isn't a very fun job..." Frisk admitted, stalling the last gesture. "They expect me to talk with my mouth."

"Good thing Sans was there." Chara commented, replacing "S-a-n-s" with the word "nothing" for the sake of convenience. Most of their family members had a short nickname so they didn't have to spell out their names letter by letter. "How did you think you do?"

"Good?" Frisk wavered both their hands and answer. Honestly they hadn't a clue for politics, what nine-year old does? But it seemed that a small precocious child pleading to the masses won congress over. In the end the government were half-negotiated half-sweet talked into signing the many many bills that would allow monsters to (but not limited to); own property, hold jobs, educate and be educated, and to quarantine the Mountain as both a hazard and a historical sight. And that was just the first week. "Confusing."

"It gets easier the more you do it." Asriel reassured, giving them an encouraging smile. "Mom is really good at speaking to other politicians and Dad is good at rallying people together. With them at your side, you're unstoppable."

Frisk nodded, still feeling a little unsure of themselves.

The classroom door opened suddenly, revealing a tall woman with blonde hair tied tightly into a bun. She wore a pink pinstriped blouse and a dark pencil skirt, a gold bracelet and watch, and two diamond rings worn proudly on her left hand. A pair of thin frame reading glasses sat on the bridge of her button nose, a pair of bright green eyes looking through them.

She started the class by announcing. "Mrs Colt is out sick today, so I will be substituting for today's class." She said with little emotion, writing her name (of which it was Mrs Evans) on the board alongside what appeared to be a schedule for the day. It was a simple skill assessment, a run down of how much the class knew and what they should be working on.

"The first thing we should start on is English." Mrs Evans began, reading over the plan set forward by the absent teacher. "Mrs Colt mentioned that you moved onto tongue twisters and I want to finish that up before lunch is over."

Frisk winced a bit. Due to obvious reasons, they weren't exactly able to say any tongue twisters. But who knows, maybe the teacher would accept an non-verbal answer.

Going around the class alphabetically, the teacher told them to recite "Seven silly sausages sizzling."

As each student sang out the short yet difficult phrase, Frisk couldn't help but notice that Mrs Evans tended to pass over certain children, particularly ones with heavy accents or ones who had failed to finish the sentence in less than a few seconds. Finally when she got to Asriel, she unexpectedly cut him off just as he got the hang of it. The monster prince looked stunned at this action, especially since his previous teachers (a job filled in by many a Core scientist or his Mother) had always been patient with him.

"Now Miss Chara." Mrs Evans began, mispronouncing both the child's name and pronoun. "Seven silly sausages sizzling."

"It's pronounce Mx." Chara smiled sickeningly wide. Not in politeness or cheer but for the same reason a crocodile bares it's teeth before deciding to strike. "Seven silly sausages sizzling on the stove. So many singed sausages for supper."

Mrs Evans looked more annoyed than impressed by the child's display and moved onto the next seat – Frisk's.

"Miss Frisk. Seven silly sausages sizzling."

They would have forgiven the woman if it had been a slip of the tongue, but with how she deliberately ignored the pronoun on both theirs and Chara's records, Frisk frowned. It had been easy to argue for non-binary genders/pronouns to be considered legitimate, mainly because many monsters didn't have genders and those who did didn't put much stock into them. Frisk and Chara were able to nudge the letter on their records into the "NB" category with little resistance.

Still Frisk supposed that the inclusion of an extra few pronouns on the charter was confusing for the substitute teacher, so they began.

"Seven." They held up the appropriate amount of fingers and before they could finish "Sausage", the woman interrupted them.

"Young lady." She rolled her tongue in emphasis, her tone sounding rather harsh "This is a tongue twister, not charades."

"They don't talk." Asriel explained, hand pressed against his cheek. He hoped that it was a simple mistake as he was sure Mom had stressed that Frisk was non-verbal. "They only use sign language. We can translate if you need us to."

Mrs Evans gave the other child the stink-eye and pursed her lips into a sneer. "No thank you. I'll just wait until Frisk decides not to be a rebel and actually do her work."

The royal children's eyes widened. This woman either had rocks for brains or a stone for a heart, or possibly both as even the Principal knew about Frisk's condition in advance.

Chara giggled dangerously. "Let us rephrase that. Frisk can't talk. They're non-verbal."

The teacher made the bold move of staring at either side of Frisk's head, obviously checking for hearing aids or headphones. "She certainly seems to able to hear. Maybe if she stops slapping her hands like that, she'd have the energy to say something."

Frisk's subconscious tapping stopped when the woman's glare bore down on them, making them feel like they were caught doing something bad, something wrong, something freakish. The child fidgeted, nervousness and anxiety building up as the seconds ticked away. They looked over to Chara and Asriel, both shaking their heads in a silent "No. You don't have to."

Before they could feel their breath catch in their throat, the boy next to them announced abruptly. "Mom, I don't think they're gonna talk. Seven silly sausages sizzling." His prominent baby teeth giving him a noticeable lisp.

Mrs Evans's mood brightened immediately, turning her attention to the child who bore a remarkable similarity to herself and beamed at him. "Of course sweetie! It's almost lunch so we'll just drop it for now."

She quickly moved on, completely ignoring the Dreemurr children as she moved onto the next child.

Frisk signed "Thanks." to the boy, glad to have wriggled out of such an uncomfortable situation.

The boy stared at them before admitting in a quiet voice. "I have no idea what you said... but you're welcome. I'm Jack."

Frisk smiled at the boy and when Jack smiled back, decided that maybe this school wouldn't be so bad.

/X\

Around the same time in a different room, Sunny was holding his head between his hands, staring blankly at an equally blank sheet of paper. He looked around, growing ever more nervous as everyone else seemed to understand it ten-fold more than he did.

It felt so strange.

He had been taught in the same room, by the same teacher, in a class of twelve his entire life. He only went for four hours (five if it was Winter at most) before being sent back out to do fieldwork – because everyone knew a young man having work was far better than giving him an education. Now he was in a new school, with a new teacher, in a class of at least twenty-five, and he was expected to stay until the bell said so – work be damned. He kept scratching the arm of his newly washed dress shirt, still expecting to feel sunburn or blisters from where the fibres of his old cowhide vest chafed deep enough to warrant blood.

The teacher was a dowdy brunette woman who silently gave every student a quiz sheet before sitting at her desk and not so secretly looking at things on her phone and her computer. Sunny supposed that it was better than his old teachers who taught drunk but she could have at least introduced herself or even pretended to be the smallest bit involved with her class.

Sunny felt someone nudge him and he turned to see a kid his age, pearly white teeth with poorly concealed pock marks, leaning over his desk to ask.

"What's the answer to number six?" The boy asked dully, looking far more bored than confused. His bleach blonde hair was combed into a harsh mock-mullet and glistened with some sort of oil. The top of his worksheet had the name Hunter on it in big blocky letters but Sunny wasn't sure if it was his first or last name.

"Don't know." He admitted, tearing his gaze away from the other's paper. It had something to do with numbers but the instructions weren't really all that clear. Instead of an actual minus or a plus it rambled into three sentences of complete nonsense. "Trying to find the numbers."

The boy looked somehow even more bored, rolling his blue-green eyes before turning and apparently getting the answer from the person on his other side.

Sunny started all but scribbling into the answer boxes, completely winging it. If he failed he could at least say he tried.

Another nudge. Same kid.

"What's number eight?"

Sunny felt his face pucker in annoyance before answering. "Don't know, still on it."

The kid grunted and tapped the shoulder of the girl in front of him, sated for at least a few more minutes. Sunny shamefully put down the overheard answer, hoping that he could at least turn in something passable. Was the teacher even bothering to check in case anyone was cheating?

The clock's ticking sounded so much louder than it should be. Sunny tapped the pencil against his thumb and middle finger, trying to breathe easy and at least finish the damn page before the bell rang. "Hunter" just continued to either lean over and write answers off of somebody else or bother them into giving him the answer.

The third nudge was the hardest, practically shoving the smaller boy out of his seat.

"What's number eleven?" Hunter asked with a frustrated tone in his voice. Like somehow Sunny not having all the answers was some kind of personal affront to him.

Sunny's hand clenched around his pencil. He started breathing in deeper, remembering what his second-eldest brother used to say whenever he got into trouble with the other kids in town. "Don't get mad kid. He's just like those rich white boys who never learnt how to wipe their own asses. He's gotta learn reality on his own."

"Hey." The kid shoved again, looking more upset at other for ignoring him. "When I ask you a question you should at least answer you pinto." He sneered the last word, jabbing his finger at the other boy's face.

"Alright tear into 'em." Sunny turned to the taller boy and said quite loudly. "You know you could get your work done faster if you stopped stealing it from everyone else."

He did not expect to hear a low snicker radiate throughout the class, unsure if he had said something of great wit or stupidity. It was here that he noticed that every other student's gaze was fixated on him, and that the teacher had finally tore herself away from her phone long enough to notice something was happening.

She strolled up to the two boys and asked dully. "Alright, what's going on?"

"I was trying to help him with the questions Miss!" Hunter exclaimed, taking upon the role of victim. "And he just kept blowing me off!"

"Young man, you should listen to someone when they're trying to help you." The teacher scolded the smaller boy, wagging her finger at him. "Especially when you scribble all over the page like that."

Sunny's eyes darted to his sheet, each answer box covered in crossed out sentences and equations to the point they ran off the page. He couldn't help but bark at her. "That's not what happened! He's the one muscling answers from everyone else!"

None of the children, not even the ones Hunter had bothered earlier said a thing.

"Detention during lunch." The teacher announced with a stiff tone, turning to sit back at her desk. "Maybe it will teach you something about lying about your betters."

Sunny felt his blood boil a bit. He huffed and tried to not look at Hunter's shit-eating grin less he be tempted to slap it clean off.

"Don't worry brother. One day he'll swim and drown." He heard his second-oldest (God it had been so long, he didn't even remember his name) brother advise, only vaguely remembering the thick twang in his voice. "Just learn to float."

Sunny continued scribbling his answers, not even bothering to respond when the nudges continued.

/X\

In another room across the hall, Jade and Nerissa sat beside each other, the taller girl leaning far back into her wheelchair boredly as the day ticked towards lunchtime.

The teacher was a balding middle-aged man with a frayed jacket, writing up the lesson plan as he rambled on about history and literature and how Shakespeare influenced written and verbal language. The class had been equally disorganised, with at least three students falling asleep during the lesson and many more not bothering to write down notes on what the teacher (Mr Carver) was rambling on about.

Nerissa simply wrote down a few bullet points. She's heard this song and dance at least a hundred times before. Moving around a lot meant she had attended quite a few schools in her day, and without fail the teachers would start every English lesson with a spiel on 17th century literature – if only to ignore her questions on Dumas.

Jade, on the contrary, was writing everything down like her life depended on it. The last time she had been to school was over a hundred years ago and back then her class had been taught in a 10x10 clapboard schoolhouse by a fifteen year old who hadn't even finished her own education. All this talk of Shakespeare, Melville, and Dickens was completely new to her and it was both trilling and terrifying to try and catch up with all of it.

By the end of the lesson Mr Carver was winded and sweating from his brow, looking like he had just run a marathon. "And what can we uh... take from Shakespeare's influence in literature as whole?" He asked the class, gaining disinterested stares and groans. His face and hands fell in defeat, looking positively hurt by the lack of an initial response.

Jade's hand shot up just as another girl's did, answering enthusiastically. "He revitalised the tragedy genre and introduced many aspects of the English language."

The teacher's eyes widened and he stumbled over his words, not expecting an actual answer. "Oh! Uh... yes! Thank you Miss Dreemurr."

Jade smiled wide, ignoring how the girl in front of her gave her a spiteful glare.

Mr Carver left for a few minutes for an "air break" but the cigarettes in his pocket told a different story, leaving the class to their own devices for the rest of the lesson. Predictably the class fell into organised chaos and everyone busied themselves by talking with other classmates or hurling balled up fists of paper at each other.

Nerissa had resumed talking with the student next to her – a type of rose monster with petals for hair and leaves for clothes – and went into an energetic conversation about dancing and the arts.

"I hope there's a dance class..." The rose monster (Basile their name was) mused dreamily, brushing petal-like hair away from their green face. "My family are from Waterfall and we never had anything like that."

"I've been to ballet since I was a babe." Nerissa informed them, unsure whether she would brag or curse her experience. "It's kinda hard but it's real fun once you get used to it." She subconsciously ran her hands across her knees, feeling the rough outline of her casts.

Basile looked at the human girl's legs and hummed in thought. "Hmm. Might be. Then again I'd also like to check out the art club. I hear they do a really cool art history projects."

"Yeah that might be better for me. 'Specially considering the obvious." Nerissa agreed, not wanting to think to much about her legs and how they kept aching whenever she moved them now. She had always been a dance kid and not being able to participate in some form of it made her feel uncomfortable.

Coughing awkwardly she turned to Jade, who had been editing her hastily written notes, and asked. "What extra classes do you think would be worth going to?"

Jade looked up from her notes and answered. "There's a book club I want to try out. You know, read a book and discuss it with others. I think that would be nice. I haven't read a lot of the ones Mr Carver talks about so it'll be fun."

The girl in front of Jade snorted. She had long brown hair with strips of blonde running through it and bright blue eyes. She laughed in a haughty manner. "No body actually reads anything in there!"

"Oh..." Jade deflated slightly, actually hoping that the club would be worth going to. "I was just looking for a nice elective to do. A reading club would have been nice."

The other girl pulled a plastic compact and tube of gloss from her bag and began applying it while saying. "It's good though! We get to do anything we want!" She made a popping sound with her lips and replaced the gloss with glittery nail varnish. "We talk about music, give each other makeovers, and you know... chill!"

Jade still felt disappointed and made her opinion known. "Seems odd that you would apply for a club built on reading and not do so."

The girl stared at her like she was crazy and replied in a condescending tone. "And who'd even want to read those old man books?"

"I would."

"God you have no sense of fun do you?" The girl sighed and put away her makeup, looking at Jade with a critical stare. "You could look nice if you put a little makeup on. A little blush and eyeliner maybe."

"No thank you. I like my face as it is." Jade protested, feeling a little uncomfortable. Back in her day, women wore makeup mainly to hide pock marks and to attract men. And she certainly had no need for that. Still she figured it was any person's choice whether to wear makeup for any reason, be it for cosmetics or for personal image.

The girl pouted and stomped her foot lightly. "C'mon! I can bring you to the club on Monday. Give you a toner and concealer." She unexpectedly grabbed the length of hair sitting on Jade's shoulders. "Definitely get rid of this ratty braid."

Jade slapped the girl's hand away, feeling violated. "Please do not touch my hair." She commanded, using every bit of willpower to hold back her anger.

The girl made a noise as if she had been scandalised and complained. "It's just hair! I don't see what's so special about yours! 'Sides..." She trailed off, an impish sneer on her face. "It looks dirty."

Jade felt that insult pierce right through her. She ran her finger through her wiry hair, feeling the insult right down to her core. It was always the default for some people. That she was unclean, or that she smelled of harsh spices, or that her skin could only be that dark because she was dirty.

"I bet it smells."

"She's perfectly fine." Nerissa butted in, a dangerous scowl on her face. "Maybe you're all ditzy from all the bleach going to your brain but the only dirty thing I'm seeing is that shit coming out of your mouth."

The girl looked shocked, whether from the insult or the unexpected swearing, and simply stayed quiet until Mr Carver returned a minute later.

"SIR!" She exclaimed shooting up her hand like she had the answers to the universe. "Nerissa swore at me!"

"Not now Dakota..." Mr Carver groaned, slumping back into his chair, the faint of smell of tobacco smoke following him. "I can't prove that she swore."

"BUT SIRRRR!" She whined in a pitch more suited to a canine, her face growing red.

Surrounding children covered their ears as this girl continued to whine and scream. Her makeup not surviving the onslaught.

"Do you think she does this every class?" Jade signed to Nerissa and Basile, trying to protect both ears.

"Only when someone doesn't agree with her." Basile signed back, sepals stretching to cover their head. "So everyday."

As Dakota began kicking her desk, Mr Carver leaned back in his seat and sighed, realising that he had just opened the gates of hell and he would have to beg on his hands and knees so the girl's parents didn't jump down his throat.

/X\

Momoko sat in his seat chewing on the end of his pencil.

"Now can anyone tell me what the word "cyclone" means?" The teacher asked the class, a million dollar smile spread across his face.

Mr David was a teacher who still acted like he was fresh from the academy and seemed to be both delighted and annoyed to be teaching second grade. He had spent most of the lesson dipping his toes into how much the kids knew and from where he was now; he had vastly overestimated the knowledge and attention span of seven to eight year olds. The class was in a whirlwind of talking, movement and the occasional paper ball fight, none of them wanting to answer the same questions over and over.

"A system of winds rotating inwards to an area of low pressure." Momoko mumbled to himself, drawing on the edges of his notepad. Tan sat beside him, barely able to keep still as he was so excited just to be there.

"No one?" Mr David offered, looking around the loud classroom with a non-threatening smile. He made a quick note and determined. "Okay, so not that one."

"What are you drawing?" Tan asked, looking over at Momoko's notes. "Looks cool."

The younger boy instinctively moved to cover his drawing, panicking before realising who'd asked. His drawings were of particularly nothing. Maybe one or two were of fish and lizards but most were of the usual fare. He finished drawing sunglasses on the moon and answered. "Things."

"Oh. Okay!" Tan smiled, any answer would have been satisfying for him. "Have fun." He returned to his daydreaming, looking happy just to be awake and moving.

Momoko appreciated that he didn't press the issue. He was a good friend like that. Most people who saw Momoko drawing bothered him incessantly, often until they made him draw them something. Didn't matter if it were an adult or another child, apparently the novelty of a child who enjoyed drawing attracted a lot of attention. He began a rough sketch of two figures and tried to see if he had a red pencil.

"Can anyone tell me what "tempest" means?" Mr David asked, looking far more annoyed than he did at the start of the lesson. So he decided to single out a student to answer. "Tan!"

"Yes!"

"Tempest."

"1981. Atari."

Mr David got a strained look on his face and he asked again. "Define tempest."

"Um..." Tan stumbled to remember the actual meaning of the word. "Windy?"

"Close enough!" Mr David clapped his hands together in emphasis before moving onto a new word from his thesaurus. He asked the class again. "Define "turbulence"."

Most of the class put their hands up, giving the teacher a little relief. As he seemed to be getting into a good rhythm, Momoko turned his attention back to his drawings. Until he felt someone poking his side. He turned to see a small girl about his age leering over his arm to look at his notepad.

"What are you drawing?" She asked, sitting on her knees and letting her brown hair fall onto his desk.

Momoko tried to cover his drawing but the girl pulled at his arm until he gave up and showed her. "It is me and my moms." He felt like shoving it at her but knew better since shoving things at people tended to make them not like you.

"Why is that lady a fish?"

"She just is."

"Why is that one a lizard?"

"She just is."

"Where's the daddy?"

"There is none. Just moms." Momoko felt annoyed more than an eight year old should be. He supposed this would have been acceptable from a four year old but this girl kept asking questions like she didn't know when to stop.

"Why isn't there a daddy?"

"Never was one."

"That's sad. Make one." The girl tried tossing the drawing back at him. The piece of paper fluttered helplessly onto the ground and Momoko picked it up before it could be stepped on.

"No. There is no dad because they are my moms." He explained, straightening out the drawing with care. "And I have no dad."

"That's so sad!" The girl looked close to crying, her eyes puffy and red for no discernible reason.

"No it is not."

"It is! My mommy says kids with no daddies grow up to be rug pushers and criminals!" She said with infallible confidence only known to children. "And my Auntie Linda says kids with no daddies are baste-ers or something."

Momoko gave her a scowl and returned to his drawing, not wanting to put up with her nonsense.

"Momo!" Mr David suddenly asked, making the boy jump. "Define "upset"."

"T-to make someone angry or sad. Or move something." The boy answered shakily, hiding his drawing under his arms.

Mr David didn't reply to confirm his answer. Instead he stood ramrod stiff, looking down at Momoko's desk. Slowly he asked. "Momo. What's under your arms?"

"Nothing."

"It's a drawing sir!" The girl exclaimed, grabbing the drawing from underneath him and holding high above her head like it was damning evidence. "He drew two moms but no daddies!"

Mr David clenched his fist and breathed in deeply, trying not to blow a fuse. He had been slaving away to his class all week only to be met with a little kid who did nothing but draw while he was teaching. "Thank you Nevaeh." Taking the drawing from the girl he began. "Now children I hope you know that drawing in the middle of class is forbidden because Momo here sure didn't."

The class nodded. Most of them looked towards Momoko with pity on their faces. Tan looked around quizzically, trying to find what was suddenly so interesting.

"Momo. I'm not sure what they teach you in China or whatever, but here we don't draw when our teachers are talking." Mr David held the drawing roughly before beginning. "Define "disobedient"."

"N-not following orders." Momoko answered, his voice and body shaking.

"Lazy."

"Unwilling to work."

"Stupid."

"Lacking knowledge or thought."

"And what do all these have in common?" He asked with that million dollar smile. "You." He rumpled up the drawing and tossed it into the trash bin. He looked victorious as the class had quieted down and he continued his lesson, million dollar smile regained. "Now class, who can tell me the definition of "blizzard"?"

Momoko look down at his desk, not want to look up at his teacher less his blood boil. Tan wanted to comfort him and maybe pat him on the back but he knew Momoko was someone who preferred to stew away at his anger instead of looking for support. With this in mind Tan stood up from his seat and walked over to the trash bin.

Mr David noticed immediately and barked. "Tan! What are you doing out of your seat?"

Tan said nothing and picked up the discarded drawing, carefully straightening it out before walking back to his seat and placing it on Momoko's desk.

Momoko stared blankly at the other boy. Tan was still smiling wide like what he did wasn't a great show of defiance.

Mr David was about to say something. Maybe shout. Maybe curse. Maybe explode. Maybe say that he saw the error of his ways. Either way the bell drowned him out and the children spilled from the classroom like a flood, dragging both "trouble" children with them.

"Why did you do that? We are going to get in trouble when we get back." Momoko asked the younger boy, clutching the drawing close to his chest.

"I don't like bullies." Tan said, taking Momoko by the hand and walking them towards the lunch area. "I don't care how big they are."

Momoko kept feeling himself shake. With tears threatening to stream from his eyes he tucked the drawing into his coat pocket, not wanting to risk losing it again.

/X\

It was now lunch time for the first graders.

And Olive hadn't stopped crying since they'd left.

Not a tantrum or continuous wailing, but more like soft hiccups and sniffs that were often too quiet to hear. The other children looked concerned at first but mostly ignored her since she hadn't bothered talking to anyone.

Olive was used to this. Olive knew no one cared.

Now it was lunch time and instead of going out to the eating area like the other grades, the first graders stayed inside their classroom, throwing their boxes of snacks and goodies all over their shared tables. The teacher and the teacher's aide made sure to patrol the room for litterers and mess makers.

Olive opened up her lunch box to find a small tupperware container of spaghetti and meatballs, a leftover pancake folded in it's own compartment alongside a box of apple juice. A sticky note was pressed onto the inner lid.

ENJOY YOUR MIDDAY FEASTINGS

-The Great Papyrus

Olive bit into the pancake like it was sandpaper even though she knew it tasted great because Papyrus had made it and everything he made tasted nice (at least to her). But she hadn't seen him or Ton-ton since this morning and what if they'd forgotten her? What if they decided that they didn't like her and that there were better kids? What if they got hurt and wouldn't come back? What if they didn't come back at all?

The teacher's aide (a kind soft woman named Gloria) was the first to notice that something was wrong with the girl. She walked up to her slowly before sitting close by and asking. "Are you all right sweetie?"

Olive burst into tears. Half chewed pancake choking her as she breathed in sharply, making her cries even harsher.

Miss Gloria swooped in and began patting the girl's back, trying to soothe her. "There there sweetie. It's all right, Just tell me what's wrong and I can fix it."

"Want Pap- hic!" Olive attempted to say "Papyrus" but was unable to finish when she was cut off by another sharp hiccup. "Want hic Ton-ton. Hic!"

Miss Gloria got this sympathetic look on her face before taking Olive by the hand and walking to the front of the classroom. She whispered something to the teacher (Mrs Yates) before leaving the class with Olive in tow.

The hallway was packed to the brim with students going to the canteen and outside eating areas. Olive felt crushed by the sheer amount of people rushing past and closing in on her. She whimpered with her face pressed against Miss Gloria's leg until they reached a room off to the side of the reception area. It looked like an interview room and the walls blocked out most sound from the outside. The woman smiled and gestured to her to sit down on the chair across from a teacher's desk.

Miss Gloria looked through the registry before finding the number she was looking for. She knew exactly what kids like Olive needed in times like this.

On the other side of town, Papyrus's phone rang.

He answered happily, having just spent the last few hours or so having a nice slow drive around the neighbourhood. The breeze was so nice and the sun so warm, he couldn't pass it up.

"HELLO! THIS IS PAPYRUS SPEAKING."

The woman on the other end seemed taken aback by his volume and replied. "Oh! Yes, Mr Gaster right?"

"INDEED!" He confirmed, deciding to park at the side of his street in case he became distracted from driving and he had no intentions of becoming a bad driver any time soon. "HOW MAY I ASSIST YOU?"

"I'm Gloria Walker, I'm the teacher's aide for your child's class." She explained, waiting for a response. "I tried contacting Mr Mettaton but he seems to be unavailable."

"WHICH CHILD?"

"Olive. She's in first grade?"

"OH!" Papyrus exclaimed, realising who she was talking about. "YES INDEED! HOW IS SHE DOING? IS SHE HURT?" He asked the last part with a tone of urgency. She was still healing and it wasn't a stretch to worry about the bandages coming loose or the pain flaring up.

Miss Gloria soothed him by explaining. "No she's fine. Physically at the very least." She lowered her voice to a whisper and confided. "I think she may be having a bit of separation anxiety."

Papyrus nodded even though he knew that she couldn't see him. "OH MY! I REMEMBER WHEN I HAD THAT! I FELT TERRIBLE WHENEVER MY BROTHER LEFT FOR WORK. KICKING UP A STORM AND EVERYTHING."

"Then you understand how Olive is feeling." Miss Gloria was secretly glad that Papyrus understood what was happening as most parents who addressed the issue either didn't care or began hovering over their child at all times – not remedying the issue at all. "It's a little unorthodox but my experience tells me a phone call between parent and child helps elevate a lot of stress. Would it be okay if I pass you onto her?"

"OF COURSE!"

"Olive, sweetie it's for you." Miss Gloria passed the phone to the girl, saying it in a way like she didn't know who was on the other line.

Olive, who for most of the call had been staring off into space, took the receiver and said nervously. "Bueno?"

"HELLO OLIVE!"

The girl gasped and blurted out. "Hello Papa!"

If the car hadn't been parked Papyrus would have surely crashed it. He wheezed, trying to hide the sheer shock of the answer. "A-ARE YOU DOING WELL? YOUR TEACHER SAID THAT YOU WERE FEELING A LITTLE DOWN."

"I'm okay!" She reassured, sounding a millions times better already. "Where's Ton-Ton?"

"HMM?" Papyrus wondered for a second before remembering. "OH! METTATON HAD TO LEAVE EARLY FOR SOME SORT OF MEETING ABOUT HIS HOTEL. I THINK HE TURNED HIS PHONE OFF SO IT WOULDN'T INTERRUPT ANYONE." He paused for a second, knowing deep down that if he were to stop the conversation now she'd leave the phone call still upset and anxious. "ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE ALRIGHT OLIVE? FIRST DAYS ARE ALWAYS STRESSFUL. BUT I KNOW THAT YOU ARE STRONGER THAN MINT!"

Olive giggled. "Mint?"

"IT IS THE STRONGEST FLAVOUR." Papyrus felt something die inside of him when he made that silly joke. Perhaps Sans was right. Maybe he was turning into a horrid pun making skeleton. But all of that meant nothing when he heard hysterical laughter on the other side of the call. "ARE YOU STILL THERE?"

"Si!"

"OH THANK GOODNESS, I THOUGHT I SCARED YOU OFF." He wiped his brow, pretending that he hadn't been worried. "I KNOW SCHOOL CAN BE A LITTLE SCARY BUT IT CAN ALSO BE FUN! I MEAN LOOK AT MYSELF AND METTATON, DO YOU THINK PERFECTION IS ATTAINED BY NATURE ALONE?"

"No...?" Olive answered carefully. She knew that Ton-ton and Papyrus were perfect. They always have been.

"OF COURSE IT IS! BUT PERFECTION IS A FICKLE FRIEND AND WE NEED KNOWLEDGE TO FUEL SAID PERFECTION. AFTER ALL, IF THERE WAS NO KNOWLEDGE, IS IT TRULY PERFECTION?" He preened before steering the conversation elsewhere. "AND YOU ARE PERFECT. BUT REMEMBER, IF YOU'RE FEELING LONELY OR SAD, THERE IS NO HARM IN SAYING SO. CALL AND I WILL ANSWER IN A HEARTBEAT. WOULD YOU LIKE THAT?"

"Si!" Olive agreed, overjoyed that Papyrus thought of her so dearly. She decided to end the call by saying. "Love you Papa."

The skeleton's heart melted and he replied back. "I... I LOVE YOU TOO TINY HUMAN."

"Bye bye!" She passed the phone back to Miss Gloria and sat happily in her chair, her feet swinging wildly back and forth in sheer joy.

"DID I... did I do good?" Papyrus asked the teacher in the quietest voice possible, sounding particularly nervous.

Miss Gloria, who due to the skeleton's volume, had heard everything and confirmed with a beaming smile. "Yes you did. Better than you even realise."

"Wowie..." Papyrus whispered, his soul feeling abnormally light yet heavy. "That's maybe too good then. I'LL TRY BETTER NEXT TIME!"

Miss Gloria laughed, wondering how this skeleton had so much love to give.

/X\

Toriel's teaspoon clinked against the bottom of her cup as she stirred in the sugar.

Today had gone more smoothly than she could have ever imagined.

Her class had been apprehensive of course, most having never seen a monster up close before, but they quickly settled in when it became clear that the "scary monster" was simply a kind-hearted old lady who liked teaching. The students were as students should be, loud and rebellious, but they also showed a significant interest in monster history in general.

"Miss how long were monsters underground?"

"How old is the king?"

"What happened down there afterwards?"

"Did any monsters managed to stay on the surface?"

Toriel had laughed, flustered at how interested the whole class seemed to be. She had promised to answer their questions after lunch in compensation for learning about wordplay and language construction.

Perhaps she should speak to Principal Shrike about devoting an entire class to the subject.

"What is this I hear of my little Dakota becoming distressed?" Mrs Bouquet asked in a shrill tone, dunking her tea bag in for barely a second before tossing it away. "Floyd I thought you said that you would take care of her."

Mr Carver downed his third cup of coffee and shook his head. "Wasn't anything too serious Diana, just a little in class argument."

Mrs Bouquet looked somehow angrier at this response and barked back. "And you let her get so upset! Seriously Floyd do you even care that she might be traumatised by the whole ordeal?"

Mr Carver took an empathic sip from his empty mug. Deciding not to grace that question with an answer.

The female teacher continued, turning her attention back to Mr David and Mrs Evans who were already talking up a storm. "I had a real problem student today you know."

"Of course you did..." Mr Carver muttered, turning on the coffee machine.

"I'm serious! You know your boy Hunter, Linda?"

Mrs Evans's eyes widened and she gasped. "Don't tell me something happened to him?"

"Something did!" Mrs Bouquet replied, clutching her mug like her story was the most scandalous in town. "He was helping this smaller boy, bless his heart, who couldn't for the life or money figure out the maths quiz. But the boy kept ignoring him and suddenly got very angry with him!"

"I hope you punished him at least!"

"I did! I did! I gave him in lunch detention. I would have given him the weekend but I thought that might be too harsh for the first week back." Mrs Bouquet took a sip from her cup and mumbled. "Think I'm going soft."

Mrs Evans crossed her arms and suggested matter of factly. "Hmm. Doesn't seem to be that good a punishment. Maybe after lunch you have him clean the chalk board and erasers?"

"An oldie but it still works!" Mrs Bouquet and Mrs Evans giggled, clinking their cups together.

Toriel continued enjoying her tea and lunch in peace. The first grade teacher and her aide sat next to her on the couch, both eating their own packed lunches and ignoring the gossip going around the group of teachers. Undyne and Asgore weren't there as they wouldn't properly begin teaching until Monday, though Undyne did do a couple more laps around the football field before leaving.

Mr David decided to interject with his own story. "I had a real show in class today. Two, right, two students kept disobeying me today. One was some spaz who couldn't keep still for a damn second, and the other was basket-case who was spending the whole lesson drawing!"

"Drawing!" Mrs Evans and Mrs Bouquet gasped scandalously, egging him on. "What did you do then?"

Mr David preened under the attention, swishing back his hair like he was describing a terrific feat. "Well I told them both off and threw the drawings into the trash. I thought that would be enough to get the message across."

"They'll certainly think twice about drawing during class again, that's for sure." Mrs Bouquet commented, nodding with the rest. She turned to the couch and asked. "Gloria, didn't you have a little trouble earlier?"

Gloria waved her hand dismissively. "Oh no! No trouble at all. Just one of the new children missing their parents. I let them have a short phone call and they just lit up afterwards."

Toriel smiled. At least she knew someone had the students best interests in mind. She could tolerate a little water cooler chatter but the way these people went on and on about the tiniest infractions rubbed her the wrong way. Still, teaching could be a very stressful job and she supposed that they were merely expressing it through gossip.

Mrs Evans made a face like she had eaten a lemon. "You really shouldn't bend to their whims so easily Gloria. Why, if I had a nickel for every time a student asked to call their parents or to leave class for no good reason, I'd have a new car."

The group of teachers let out a loud dry chuckle like she had said something unfathomably witty. It was eerily similar to how laughter sounds in the background of a television show.

"And that's not the worst of it! No!" She continued, adding another packet of sweetener to her tea. "I had to sub third today because Mrs Colt had to go to hospital or whatever, and this little girl was just so rude!"

"What happened?" Mrs Bouquet asked, begging for more.

"She suddenly wouldn't speak to me at all! No words, no sounds, not even peep. She kept trying to "sign" at me but I knew she wasn't deaf or an invalid or anything so I tried waiting for her to speak. Eventually I cut my losses and moved on. Not about to ruin my day over some special snowflake." She looked for confirmation that her story was equally bad.

Toriel slammed her hand onto the coffee table. The whole room turned to stare at her.

The Queen breathed deeply before confirming. "Was this child's name Frisk?"

Linda's eyes darted around, looking for an explanation. She answered. "Yes?"

"May I ask, what is their last name?"

"Dree... murr." Linda's confused look fell in one of horror as she connected the dots between "Frisk Dreemurr" and the new "Mrs Dreemurr". She paused before scoffing very loudly. "Oh please! You can't expect me to believe she's your daughter! I mean, look at the family difference!"

Toriel drew in a sharp breath and said in her most icy cold voice. "They are my child. They can not speak, they only use sign language. Nor are they female. They are simply they. I thought if you cared any bit for your work, you would have seen the obvious notes in their files. Either way, I fear I may have to report you to Principal Shrike for mistreating a disabled child."

The room was instantly silent. Mrs Linda Evans stood still in the middle of the room, struck cold by the tone in the monster woman's voice. Before she could call her bluff, the bell rang and the teachers all filtered out into the halls, hoping that the second half of the day would be shorter than the first.

Toriel left the teacher's lounge with a bitter taste in her mouth. She knew now that she didn't care much for Mrs Evans and was glad that she wouldn't have to put up with her anymore than she had to.

At least she hoped.

/X\

The rest of the day went smoothly enough.

The Dreemurr children were surprised when Mrs Evans simply passed over them during a lesson on similes, unknowing that the teacher was still shaken from a royal talking to.

Sunny still served lunch detention but he didn't have to clean any chalkboards or erasers. Getting a fat 7/100 on the quiz and having his paper pinned on the wall next to the highest score in the class – Hunter Evans – was punishment enough. He spent the last half hour or so of class drawing a donkey's behind on the false 100/100.

Jade continued being a model student to Mr Carver, who was delighted to have someone actually interested in what he was saying for once. Every so often the girl in front of Jade would shoot her a look of disgust, immediately followed by Nerissa making a rude hand gesture and giving the girl a look that just dared her to say something.

Tan and Momoko were both made to stand in the corner for the rest of the class. Momoko found it not much of a punishment, but Tan kept twitching and fidgeting the longer he had to stand with his face to the wall. The girl (Nevaeh) who had blabbed about the drawing tried to say sorry for earlier but was met with silence on both sides.

Olive spent the rest of the day feeling much better but still missing everyone.

Toriel taught her class on basic monster history, gaining gasps and looks of wonder as she told the tale of how monsters came to be trapped within Mt Ebott. She left class that day feeling very pleased with herself, but worried about her children and how they faired in their own classes.

When the bell rang out the end of the long school day, they all regrouped at the entrance of school, feeling exhausted and drained. Papyrus pulled up in his convertible, holding out his arms so Tan and Olive could leap into them. Toriel almost doubled over with laughter when the force of the two children knocked the skeleton clean off his feet. Undyne rejoined them looking like she had just jogged the whole way to and from home, and likely did as her car was still in the parking lot where she had left it that morning..

With that they made their quick journey home, opening the door only to be greeted by multiple voices saying:

"Welcome home! How was your day?"

Just as everyone was settling down for the day, Sans noticed that he had a notification on Undernet.

He opened it and it said.

"Parent Teachers Association looking for new members.

Meetings held at Mt Ebott Elementary between one and three o'clock every Saturday.

Refreshments Welcomed.

Note: You have to be living in the Mount Ebott area to join."

Sans turned his phone off and went to greet Tori and the kids.

He was pretty sure that PTA meetings weren't his cup of tea.

Notes: Finally all the kids are in school, but is it what it's cracked up to be? There's a little bit of ableist language used by some characters, but please know that I do not condone the use of such language in polite society. I had fun writing the character motivations and little things like that. A lot of Frisk's habits are based on my own and the stuff with the other kids in class are based on my own experiences as a trans autistic kid. Please leave a review or comment and hopefully I'll update as quickly as possible. :D