There was nothing more to be done about their issue until tomorrow at the earliest when they would receive scan results. Continuing to worry about something that they couldn't do anything about would not be productive and only stress them more.

As such, Frisk decided to do their homework after coming back from the doctor's office. It would distract them and it was something they would have to do anyway.

Whilst Frisk was initially not particularly talented in school due to their lack of a proper education during their younger years, they had been catching up to the others at a relatively good speed now. Chara however, as Toriel had long wanted to be a teacher, had to follow a strict curriculum during their time underground and thus were quite significantly ahead of Frisk when it came to studies.

Because of this, they were sometimes frustrated when Frisk spent a long time figuring out something that they considered child's play. Chara helped Frisk sometimes, but only rarely gave away answers as they considered it barely different from cheating, instead they just tried to lead Frisk in the right direction so that they could find on their own.

Frisk however did not have any issues finding their answers today. When the young human read a question, their subconscious appeared to know how to answer it almost immediatley, sometimes using methods that Frisk felt like they didn't even know that they knew how to use. Yet, they just sort of did, without even thinking.

Not that they could complain of course ! They had finished their work in a lot less time than usual and didn't even need to ask Chara for help once.

Completing yo-

'Completing your homework fills you with determination' Frisk thought before Chara even had the chance to actually finish their line. The first human was slightly frustrated of not having gotten the chance to do much to help them with anything recently aside from some generic advice about sickness which didn't even amount to anything so far. Could they not even narrate anymore without being this predictable ? As much of a selfish thought as this was, they missed a little when their advice literally saved Frisk's life on regular occasions in their initial adventure underground.

'Its fine' Frisk reassured them, having heard their thought despite Chara's attempt to keep it to themself. 'There's nothing selfish about wanting to help people. Quite the opposite.' They smiled.

'Just your mere presence is useful, you know ?' Frisk continued. 'Just having someone that understands me by my side at all times helps so much more than someone that explains maths problem.' They winked aiming at nothing in particular, the important part was just for Chara to feel them winking.

Thank you. Perha-

Before Chara could finish their sentence, another spike of pain tore through Frisk's head. However, this one was different. Chara had felt the previous spikes through the link they shared with Frisk, perceiving their pain. But this time, Chara felt a pain of their own as well. They were not certain how that could be, but Chara themself was suffering too.

Worse, they could both feel not only their own pain but also that of the other as well, which made the experience twice as bad.

Frisk vainly tried to hold their head with their hands but it had no effect on what they suffered through. The sharp burn that ravaged their mind refused to weaken and made them worry their head would explode. They picked up a couple pillows and shoved them against their mouth so that they could scream without alerting Toriel with the noise.

Frisk ! Chara managed to articulate a thought in spite of the pain.

It had been ten seconds now and their agony showed no sign of slowing down. Unable to hold it back any longer, tears began to form around Frisk's eyes. What was this torture ?

Chara attempted to squeeze their consciousnesses closer together to calm them down but it felt like that barely had any effect at all.

The only time Frisk could think of where they had felt more pain than this was when Flowey burned them alive after having taken the six human souls. The majority of Frisk's deaths had not been as horrible as what they were feeling right now. Although that was actually not saying all that much. As Frisk knew from experience, death itself was surprisingly peaceful and painless. It was the process of dying that one should really be afraid of.

The tears began wetting the pillow that their face was still pressed against as the screams turned into sobs.

The acute pain finally began slowly wearing off, Frisk felt their muscles contract and let go a few times without them intending to do so but without Chara willing it either. They were more like some sorts of spasms. Their arms and legs were trembling and their rapid heartbeat slowed down a little at last.

Frisk continued to lay there for a bit longer, breathing in and out before removing the pillows from their face when they were certain it was over.

Frisk ? Are you alright ?

'Do i look alright to you ?' They let out with a slightly angry sounding tone. 'No ! What the heck was that ?' It wasn't frequent for Frisk to act this way but given what they'd just been through it was understandable. To be honest, Chara was a bit weirded out by the fact that what they had both just said would have felt more natural coming from the other than from themself. Almost like they had just switched their lines.

What was not funny to them however was that once again they had been completely unable to do anything to help Frisk. They just watched them suffer. It mattered little if Chara had been impacted by it too, fact was that they had done nothing but to make it all even worse as Frisk had to face their pain as well.

They couldn't help but to wonder again wether they were doing Frisk more harm than good. They barely had any use for their help anymore. Not for homework, not for drawing, not for anything. Whenever Chara wanted to give advice, it was either pointless or Frisk somehow was able to guess what they were going to say just before they did so. It was like they knew everything that Chara knew how to do.

...

The more they thought about it, the more terrifyingly accurate they realised this was.

Frisk had kept magically gaining skills in domains where Chara was supposed to be better than them like they had been reading their mind. But, that couldn't be right. They knew Frisk hadn't been doing that just now with the homework, they had made made particularly sure of that so that Frisk wouldn't cheat.

Then again, they had both felt the subconscious barrier between the two of them had been getting thinner recently. They had more difficulties controlling wether to allow to other to read their thoughts and Chara couldn't project themself anymore. The connection between them felt like it was stronger and didn't let them have as much independence from each other within Frisk's mind.

Could that explain how Frisk had been completing their sentences ? Or gained skills with drawing or maths ? Let alone drawing in the same style as them ! Was it possible that they were now intertwined enough for Frisk to extract knowledge or skills that belonged to Chara or follow the first human's subconscious trains of thoughts without even realising it themself ?

Not just that too... Now that they were thinking about it, these days Frisk had been...

They had been acting a lot like... like them ?

A series of events flashed through Chara's thoughts. Liking golden flowers, filling glasses all the way up, wanting to eat chocolate or to try to watch anime, acting impatient or even their way to address Toriel... Frisk recently had been doing and saying things that felt a lot like themself.

Were they overthinking this ? Given how close they both were, it was normal they'd been rubbing off on each other, right ? But... not this much either. It had just been over two weeks since they met !

Yet all of those puzzle pieces fit together so disturbingly well that they wondered if what was really going on with Frisk all this time was that they-

Frisk and Chara felt a chill run down their common spine when the latter had a scaring thought.

The hands.

Chara had been right handed before they died and became de facto left handed after reincarnating due to the fact that Frisk was.

Did Frisk get the ability to use their right hand as a dominant hand as well because of them ?

That would certainly explain everything but... It'd mean that their connection was deepening not just mentally but physically too. Which would be pretty worrying...

'You've... been acting a bit more like me, too' Frisk added to Chara's previous thoughts. They felt heavy drops of sweat pearling down from them, unable to tell wether they were getting anxious about was Chara was thinking or if they were just hot again.

Have i ?

'You have attempted flirting with me as a joke yesterday. You usually do not like it when i do that with people. That was a bit surprising. Also you been completing my thoughts a couple times as well.'

Chara paused a little before being forced to acknowledge that Frisk had a point. They did feel like Frisk had been acting like them more so than the other way around but perhaps that was simply because they were given more chances to show it as they actually had a body. If such a thing really was happening, it probably made sense it wouldn't go just one way.

'Come on Chara. Don't look so down !' Frisk tried cheering them up. 'Even if that was true, i wouldn't mind much to be getting even closer to you.' They didn't say it, but Frisk also thought that gaining new abilities out of nowhere had been pretty cool so far.

That is... not the part i am worried about. Frisk, when did we start acting this way ?

"I don't know exactly" Frisk actually responded out loud this time. Not via thoughts. "A couple days ? What does that have to do with anything ?" They wondered.

Frisk suddenly felt Chara getting very worried. More so even than before.

...When did this inexplicable "sickness" of yours start ?

They didn't answer. But they both knew what the answer was. Those two events had been practically simultaneous.

Suddenly, Frisk didn't feel so calm about this whole ordeal anymore.

'Do you think... ?' They didn't dare spell it out but they didn't need to for their headmate to get the question.

It certainly sounds plausible. What has been happening to you might be my fault.

'Will you stop blaming yourself already ? We're not even sure this is happening and even if it was, it'd be going both ways so you wouldn't be to blame. It'd be us both. What do i need to tell you to make you understand that you're my best friend ?' Frisk refused to let Chara see themself as responsible for this hypothetical issue. 'I would rather go through that thing from earlier again a dozen times than to lose you' They added to make sure Chara wouldn't doubt their importance again.

This hypothetical situation of yours appears disturbingly likely. If this partial blending of our subconscious and your sickness really are actually one and the same problem, those spikes of pain risk to continue happening more frequently in the future.

Frisk was not pleased at the idea that for all they knew, the next spike could fire any second. Besides, if such a thing happened again while they were with Toriel, how could they explain to her what was going on without causing her to panic ?

But more so, if this was indeed what Frisk's problem came from, then how on Earth could it possibly be fixed ? How could that condition be healed ? As far as they knew, what they and Chara had was unique. If the issue came from the link they shared, then they were practically patient zero for a whole new medical issue that had never been seen before. That did not sound very promising for recovery.

What about mom ?

'Mom ?' Frisk wondered.

If this is correct, she cannot know what is really happening. Chara affirmed.

'What about the scan ?" Frisk wondered. They hadn't considered this before, but there might be a chance that it could reveal something that would compromise the secret of Chara's existence if their link did cause the sickness.

Frisk felt afraid. Or to be exact, they felt the fear that Chara radiated from within them.

Nonono... This cannot happen. I cannot. I am not ready. Not like this. They cannot know about me. The first human began to panic a little at the thought of possibly risking to have to reveal themself in the near future.

Frisk attempted to press their consciousnesses closer as Chara had earlier, but that didn't work either. After a moment, they realised that the reason why this wasn't having effect anymore was because their consciousnesses were already pressed particularly close at all times now. They could no longer provide each other with this symbolic affectionate gesture. Their condition had just taken away from them the main thing that always helped them comforting each other whenever they needed it.

Sadly, they had little time to mourn this loss as they had to try and calm down Chara. It was alright. It was very unlikely that this would occur and even if it did, nothing bad would happen. If anything the Dreemurrs would cry tears of joy if they learned Chara still lived on in their own way. Chara wouldn't risk messing anything up. No matter what, happened, they would be okay. No matter wether others knew about them or not.

Frisk let Chara take control of their body for a few minutes so that they could breathe in and out on their own will which would help them relax.

'Do you feel better ?' They asked when Chara returned their limbs to them.

I... I think i'll manage. Chara didn't sound very confident.

'I think you will, too' Frisk added.

The pair was strangely silent for the rest of the day. Toriel noticed that her child looked troubled by something, but didn't question it further as she assumed it was simply about their illness. One thing that she didn't prevent herself from pointing out however was how much they ate for dinner today. Not so long ago Frisk didn't feel very hungry, but now they were eating as much as two children in one.

The boss monster only got a nervous smile in response when she said that to Frisk.

A few hours later, Frisk asked their friend a question before going to bed. 'Chara ? Can i tell you about something ?'

You're scared. Chara stated before Frisk could even begin. About what's happening to us.

Frisk quietly nodded. As much as they wished otherwise, the more they thought about it, the more obvious it became to them that Chara had to be right. The signs were everywhere and there was no alternative explanation. How could they ever get back to normal if no one knew what was truly going on with them ? And if they didn't do so soon, how much further would they risk to intertwine ? Not that they minded sharing their headspace with Chara of course, but they had to admit that not knowing how much more their connection could intensify in the coming days was a bit scary considering that the side effects so far had already been pretty bad for Frisk.

They knew that nothing bad could happen to them. That no matter what they could still LOAD even if the worst took place, but yet they still had this unexplainable feeling, this intuition that something terrible was taking place.

A feeling of dread hungs over you... But you stay determined. Chara narrated while Frisk washed away the sweat on their forehead with a towel in the bathroom.

As they were just near the mirror, Chara would have taken the occasion to remind Frisk that once again, it was still them. But given the current situation, they decided that this wouldn't be very appropriate of them this time around. So they would pass on it today.

They didn't need cheesy lines to cheer themselves up. They were virtually immortal physically speaking, and mentally, they would always have each other. Closer than two people could ever dream to be.

There was no such thing as being "too close" to each other mentally, was there ?