Chapter 9
"It's not fair!" Chara exclaimed to Ms. Ivey after his and Asriel's tutor had assigned their respective homework over the weekend. "I have to write a three-page essay and solve fifteen math problems, but Asriel only has to solve six problems and read a short story."
The boys were in the room set aside for their schooling. Ms. Ivey stood at the head behind a desk, the textbooks she had gathered held in her arms as if precious cargo. She didn't sound apologetic when she replied to the human child, "You have been struggling lately, Chara."
"So your response is to make class harder for me?!" Chara argued, fury fuming in his small chest. Nothing about this made sense to him. Up until that point, he and Asriel always had the same amount of work with the same level of difficulty.
"Actually, the goal is to make your work more challenging," Ms. Ivey corrected. "You are not struggling because you do not understand the material. You are struggling because you are getting lazy. If you are to put effort into your education again, you are going to have to be challenged to keep up with your classes."
Chara's eyes burned, but he held his tongue lest he say something that would get him into trouble. It wasn't that Chara was lazy, but sometimes he didn't have any energy whatsoever to do anything. He couldn't explain it, really. There were days Chara didn't have anything he wanted to do, including things he liked doing. Not only did he not want to do them, but he didn't have the energy to do them even if he wanted to.
In a way, Chara could understand why Ms. Ivey would think he was being lazy, but making his work harder while keeping Asriel's the same did not strike Chara as the fair way to do it.
It seemed that Asriel agreed, for he told Ms. Ivey, "But giving Chara more work isn't fair! We are both taking the same classes, so we should both be putting in the same work."
"I am not judging your workload based on your classes, young prince," Ms. Ivey said, sounding so much nicer as she spoke to Asriel. "I am judging your workload based on your grades and the effort you put into your classes. You have worked hard this semester, Asriel, so I am assigning you a lighter load this week. Chara, on the other hand, has demonstrated extreme laziness and lack of interest in the material, so I am giving them more work to make up for it. You both say that this isn't fair, but truly, this is the fairest assignment I have given you both this school year."
"I don't think Mom or Dad will agree this is right," Asriel still tried to argue, not giving up. Chara almost wished Asriel would give up, but the young monster did not believe Chara when he said he didn't think Ms. Ivey liked her human pupil. As far as Asriel was concerned, nobody could dislike Chara, a judgement that was sweet but simultaneously ignorant.
"Actually," Ms. Ivey seemed pleased to say, "I have already spoken with the queen, and she agreed that Chara needs more work to break them out of their newfound lazy tendencies."
"Of course she agreed," Chara muttered too quietly for anyone to hear. It didn't escape Chara's notice that not only had Toriel been assigning Chara more chores, but she was also stricter about making sure those same chores were done by a specific time. If Chara was not finished with his tasks, even if he only had one small chore left that should have only taken two minutes, Toriel would send him to his room until dinner time. Asgore, the only adult who seemed to truly care about Chara, had tried telling Toriel that she was being too strict and "acting more like drill sergeant than a mother," but Toriel insisted that the discipline was better for Chara. It did not surprise Chara at all that this increase in schoolwork was all Toriel's idea.
Not appearing to have an argument against his own mother's words, Asriel stopped trying to argue for Chara's sake. Asriel looked at Chara and frowned, but Chara merely shrugged to indicate that he did not care. Of course, Chara cared a lot, but he decided against burdening Asriel as well. No need in both being unhappy when only one needed to suffer. Chara would rather suffer alone than do anything to ruin Asriel's happiness.
"Ms. Ivey," Chara began, using a straightforward tone, "what do you want this essay to be on?"
"She can't do that to you!" Asriel shouted as he tossed the tennis ball to Chara, who caught it as easy as breathing. The two were playing in the royal garden as they waited for dinner to be served.
"She's our tutor," Chara replied as he tossed the ball back. "She can do whatever she wants."
"I don't believe Mom told her to give you more work."
Not wanting to disagree and risk starting an argument with Asriel, Chara said, "Look, Asriel, it's fine. I'll just do whatever assignment and homework Ms. Ivey wants me to do. When she sees that I'm not lazy, she'll lighten my workload again."
"Hmm, do you really think that?"
Absolutely not. "Of course I do, Asriel."
"Still," Asriel continued as the boys kept tossing the ball back and forth, "it's not your fault you get a rain cloud over your head."
Chara furrowed his brows. He was so focused on what Asriel had said, he missed catching the ball as he questioned, "Rain cloud?"
"I don't really know what a rain cloud is," Asriel awkwardly admitted, "but I do know that's what Dad says when you get sad and unmotivated. He tells me that sometimes you get a rain cloud over your head, and I have to be patient with you and watch out for you so you're not alone as you wait for the sun to come back out."
Back facing Asriel as he went to retrieve the ball, Chara thought about what he had just heard. I guess that makes a lot of sense. I don't know if I feel like there's a rain cloud over my head, but I know I don't feel normal. Maybe Mr. Asgore is right.
Without another word, Chara retrieved the ball, and the boys resumed a silent game of catch. Chara found that he tended to feel better when he spent time in the garden, and it was a good thing Asgore didn't mind the children playing in what was also his throne room. Until this rain cloud decided to go away, Chara would have to push himself to keep living life as before lest he get in even more trouble for being lazy.
"Time for dinner!" Merla called from the entrance to the throne room.
"Finally!" Asriel exclaimed as he tossed the ball to Chara one final time for the night. "I'm starving!"
Chara caught the ball and slowly followed behind the near-sprinting Asriel. He watched as Merla smiled and ruffled the fur on Asriel's head as he ran past. When she turned her attention to Chara and frowned, Chara pretended to not notice the change in demeanor.
"Be on your best behavior tonight!" Merla called as Asriel and Chara made their way to the dining room. "Your parents have guests. Do not make embarrassments out of yourselves."
"We won't!" Asriel exclaimed as he turned the sharp corner. Chara said nothing in response. The warning was more for Chara than Asriel.
Upon arrival in the dining room, Chara saw that the guest tonight was Renart. By his side was another fox monster, this one as tall as Chara and Asriel. Speaking of his brother, Chara noticed that Asriel stood frozen in the doorway, his expression that of someone who forgot to clean his room before his parents came home.
"There you two are!" Asgore exclaimed as he approached from behind his children and smacked both of them on the shoulder. "You two remember Mr. Renart, right? Well, your mother and I ran into him while we were making our rounds earlier. He's visiting New Home for a few days, and he brought his grandson, Leroy!"
Not having to force the smile onto his face, Chara greeted, "Hi again, Mr. Renart. What are you doing in New Home?"
"Chara," Toriel softly scolded as she walked in from the kitchen, a pot of what smelt to be mashed potatoes in her paws, "don't speak so brashly."
"Oh. I'm . . . I am sorry." Toriel nodded her approval, but Renart waved as if Chara had said nothing rude.
"It's okay, child," Renart said. "I am in town to visit friends, your parents being some of them, of course. I brought my grandson Leroy along, too. He's about your age."
"Greetings, Leroy," Chara said, nodding slightly to the younger fox monster.
"Nice to see you again, Roy," Asriel said, voice thick with forced politeness.
Before Chara could raise a brow at Asriel's tone, Renart asked, "Oh, you two met before?"
"We did, back when he was in Home some months ago," Leroy answered. To Chara, "And you can call me Roy."
"Good, we all know each other!" Asgore pushed the children further into the dining room. "Let's get ourselves seated so we can eat!"
Asriel had spent all of dinner wanting to throw up. On the surface, Roy acted politely enough and paid Asriel little mind. Yet Asriel knew better. As much as he acted like it, Roy was not his friend. If only Asriel could get Chara to see what Asriel saw. After dinner, Toriel suggested that the boys take Roy to play with them as the adults talked. Asriel, not wanting to agree, hesitated to respond. This led Chara to be the one to accept bringing Roy with them. Chara did not know what he was getting them into when he promised the adults to let Roy go with Asriel and him. It scared Asriel to think what Roy would do to show his true colors to Chara.
"And this is where Asriel and I hang out most of the time," was what Chara told Roy as they entered the throne room, ending the semi-tour of the castle Chara gave as they walked from the dining room to the throne room.
"So," Roy said, his hungry eyes surveying the most important room in the palace, "the throne room is also the royal garden?"
"Yep. I mean, yes, it is," Chara replied. "Mr. Asgore really likes plants. I thought it was kind of weird at first, but to Mr. Asgore, having a garden in the room in which he spends a lot of time makes the most sense. Now that Asriel and I spend so much time here, I agree with him."
Roy walked around the throne room, pretending to be looking at the garden. Asriel wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. It wasn't like Asriel to pick a fight, even if with someone he knew was waiting to pick a fight with him.
Finally, Asriel couldn't take it anymore. Marching up to Roy, Asriel asked, "What are you up to?"
Shocked, Chara could only question, "Asriel?"
"What are you talking about?" was how Roy answered. "I'm not up to anything."
"Uh-huh." Asriel crossed his arms. "You might have Mom and Dad and Chara fooled, but I know what you are: a big bully!"
"Look, if you're talking about what happened in Home," Roy began, but Asriel did not let him finish.
"You're a mean kid, and I'm not going to let you hurt Chara!" Asriel said, raising his voice to almost a shout.
"Asriel, calm down," Chara said, placing a hand on Asriel's arm. "He hasn't said or done anything bad. Can we just pretend that whatever happened didn't happen until—"
"No, Chara!" Asriel snapped, jerking his arm away from his brother. "You don't know him like I do. He is not your friend."
"Hey, I get if you don't want to be friends!" Roy snapped, showing his pointy canines. "But I don't think you get to tell the human what kind of a person I am without first letting me explain."
Asriel looked Roy directly in the eyes as he said, "There is nothing to explain. You're a bully, and that's that."
"Hey, cut it out," Chara said, trying to wedge his way between the monsters. "There is no need for a shouting match. Perhaps if all of us took just a moment to calm down—"
"I was perfectly calm until he showed up," Asriel said, not understanding why Chara was trying to be on Roy's side. If Chara knew just the kind of bully Roy was, he would not be trying to defend him.
Ear twitching, Roy snarled, "So, you think you're right about everyone and everything, little prince? I hope you don't plan on living a long life, because I would sooner eat ashes than have you as my king!"
Before Asriel could think to react to Roy's words, Chara, who had been trying to be peacemaker, turned to face Roy full on as he questioned, "Is that a threat? Are you threatening my brother?"
"So what if I was?" With that said, Roy gave Chara a shove so hard Chara stumbled backwards, crashed into Asriel, and the two fell backwards to the ground. Standing over them, Roy added, "If you two are the future between humans and monsters, then we got a really sad future ahead of us. What can a wimpy monster and a pathetic human do for us except ruin everything?"
It was as if everything happened in slow motion, but at the same time, it was as if everything happened way too fast. Chara was back on his feet in a matter of seconds and pushed Roy to the ground. Then Chara dropped down so that he was sitting on Roy with both of his knees by Roy's sides. Asriel heard the impact before he saw what happened. With a closed fist, Chara struck Roy in the face.
Then everything stopped. With Chara's back facing Asriel, the young monster could not see why Chara had stopped after just one hit. He wanted to know why Chara didn't keep going to give Roy what he deserved. Roy was the first to recover. Just as quickly as Chara knocked Roy down, Roy had thrown Chara down and now sat on top of him. Then he started slapping Chara with his palms. The fox monster was speaking threats as he attacked Chara, his words spoken so quickly Asriel only picked up on a few of them at a time.
Listening to Chara's whimpers as he did nothing to fight off Roy, Asriel cried out for Roy to stop. The monster did not stop. It was just as Asriel was about to jump to his feet and tackled Roy that the adults ran into the throne room.
Asgore, Toriel, and Renart all gasped in shock. Rushing in, Asgore came up to Roy and picked him up by the scruff of his neck. Roy barely seemed to process this, as he kept furiously swiping at Chara even though the human was no longer in reach.
Eyes immediately returning to Chara, Asriel had to bite back a gasp of horror. He crawled to Chara's side to help his brother sit up. Blood gushed from Chara's nose.
"What happened?!" Toriel demanded, voice raised to almost a horrified screech.
"Roy started it!" Asriel shouted, pointing at the monster who was now starting to realize that he could no longer attack Chara while being in Asgore's grasp.
"What? NO!" Roy yelled. "I didn't do nothing!"
"The blood coming from my child begs to differ," Asgore stated calmly, the anger laced in his words he tried to keep steady.
"Leroy, we talked about this!" Renart hissed as he walked up to his held in midair grandson. "You can't just go around attacking other people."
"What happened?" Toriel demanded again.
Speaking up quickly to be first to reply, Asriel said, "Roy pushed Chara over and began attacking him."
Asgore looked down at his son. "Was that all? What happened before Roy pushed Chara over?"
"We were arguing," Asriel admitted. "Chara tried to get in the way, and—"
"Forget how it started!" Toriel cut in as she knelt beside Chara and helped him to his feet. "We'll separate the children for now and come back to this when my child is not bleeding all over themself."
"That will not be necessary," Renart replied, glaring at his grandson. "You and I are going to have a very long talk, young man. Just wait until your mother hears about this."
Roy's expression dropped. "What? No! That's not fair!"
"You should have thought of that before attacking another child." To Asgore, "If you don't mind carrying my grandson outside so we may talk."
Asgore looked down at Chara, who was being healed by Toriel. Then he looked at Asriel, and the father and son duo maintained eye contact for a brief moment. "Stay put," he ordered his son as he and Renart walked out of the garden, Roy still being held in Asgore's tight grip.
After the three had left, Asriel quickly moved to sit beside Chara and asked, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Chara answered, his eyes wearily locked onto Toriel as she searched for any other injuries.
"Roy just attacked you?" Toriel asked, sounding as if she didn't quite believe what had happened despite the evidence in Chara's cuts and bruises. "Asriel and Roy were arguing, and Roy attacked you for getting in the middle of it?"
Before Chara could answer, Asriel exclaimed, "That's what happened! Roy was mean to me when we visited Home shortly before I found Chara. I know it was only a matter of time before he would be mean to Chara, too."
Toriel huffed and began to mutter to herself. "I do not understand how someone as polite as Renart has a grandson as rude and violent as that little boy. Must have been Leroy's deadbeat of a father who instilled such behavior in the child. I cannot think of any other explanation."
When she was satisfied with Chara's state, Toriel looked at the boys and said, "Please, remain in your room as we figure out how to proceed. Your father and I had invited Renart and Leroy to stay with us while they were in New Home, but I doubt we can keep the offer after what happened. It would be best if you two played in your rooms until we can decide what would be the best action to take."
"Yes, Mom." Asriel turned his attention to Chara, who had been eerily quiet throughout this whole ordeal. Reaching out and taking Chara's hand, Asriel gently tugged his brother along. As if sleepwalking, Chara silently followed Asriel as he led him to their bedroom downstairs.
