Author's note:

I've never done a crossover on this site before and it's not a form of fan fiction that I usually read. Honestly, I'm not sure how much traffic is considered good or bad for this type of work. I do hope that this story picks up more interest as time passes and more chapters are uploaded.

Chapter 2: Confidence

Kris walked towards the school in a stupor. He had slept horrendously the previous night. His thoughts kept cycling around Francine and Charlotte. All he had of them were faint, rough memories that he could barely make sense of. Yet, those memories were so precious to Kris that he could never let them go, no matter how much time had passed.

"Earth to Kris!"

He snapped alert with a start. Without realising it, he was in the hallway towards Ms Alphys's classroom. Kris turned to find his friend, Susie, leaning against a locker right next to him. He never noticed her until that moment.

"Dude, you sleep at all?" she asked. "You look spacy as."

In Susie's purple, dragon maw, she sucked on a stick of chalk like a cigarette. Someone had let slip to the rumour mill a month ago that she regularly ate chalk from the supply closet. Kris only had himself to blame for that. After a full week of angry relapse, Susie stopped caring about what people thought and no longer bothered to hide her habit.

"Who needs sleep?" Kris yawned deeply.

"Who needs breakfast, either?" Susie tilted her head back and opened her mouth. Her tongue rolled deftly around the chalk and pulled it down into the merciless reach of her fangs, like a ship into a kraken's lair. Kris fished an apple out of his backpack and handed it to Susie. She took a greedy bite from it.

"Sorry," Kris mumbled. "I forgot to reply to your message last night."

"You forgot?" Susie narrowed her gaze. "Something better got your interest?"

He considered telling Susie about Frisk. "Actually…" Suddenly, the bell rang. Kris sighed. "I'll tell you about it later."

"Yeah, yeah. You can tell me at recess after you've helped me out with Alphys's damned physics homework." Susie folded her arms behind her wild, brown mane and waltzed into the classroom. Kris threw his bag into his locker and followed her.

Kris paid attention during class about as well as usual. He had years to master the skill of operating on nothing but fumes. It helped that Susie spent the next hour flicking paper footballs at his back. Oddly, it was one of her few bad habits that Kris had actually asked Susie to continue, long after she stopped bullying him and they became friends. Susie couldn't concentrate in class if she didn't keep her hands busy, and the frequent taps from behind kept Kris from dozing too deeply.

Once the bell rang for recess, Kris and Susie made a beeline for the empty classroom near the supply closet. The path to the Dark World was closed for good. Their adventures with the Darkners were long behind them. Despite it all, this part of the school remained precious to both Kris and Susie. They threw their notebooks over the floor and sat down.

After Kris had helped Susie understand the first few questions on the assignment, he yawned wide enough to fit his fist into his mouth. "Dude, you okay?" Susie asked.

"Fine…" he muttered.

"Something keep you up all night?"

"Not really."

Susie frowned. "You said that something happened last night. That's why you didn't text me back about this stupid paper?"

"Right… That…" Kris pulled out his phone. He opened his MyShare inbox and showed it to Susie.

"What's this? Who's… Frisk?"

Kris swallowed. "My sister."

"Huh," Susie nodded simply. Then her brain caught up. "Huh?! Sister?!" She grabbed the phone for a closer inspection. "Your sister? A human sister? Did your mom adopt her or something recently?"

"Francine's my… my real sister. From my human family."

Susie switched her stare between Kris and the photo on his phone. "Hold up! If you had a sister, then why is this the first time I've heard of her?"

Kris took several deep breaths. He had to steel himself for this. "Francine and I were… separated… after our parents died. I had another sister, too. Charlotte. I… I was adopted but… I didn't get to go with either of them. I was alone ever since."

Susie's eyes grew wide. Her lips shrank into an uncertain look that was the antithesis of her strong, aloof personality. "But… aren't people supposed to adopt siblings… together?"

"You'd think so," Kris hung his head. "But that's not what happened for me."

"So, Asgore and Toriel took you away and left your sisters behind?!" Like on a dime, Susie flipped into a raging snarl. Stretched lips exposing dagger-like fangs was Susie's other extreme side. Kris didn't so much as flinch from it.

"No… This was… a different family. Another human one. It… didn't work out." Kris tensed. He still couldn't talk about that part of his life; not even to Susie, who knew more about the crap living inside his head and past than his current family did. "I wound up back at the orphanage after a year. Francine and Charlotte… They weren't there when I searched for them. Next thing I remember, my mom picked me up and brought me here."

Running claws through her tangled hair, Susie looked to the floor. "Holy shit… Kris… I never knew you went through all that…"

"Yeah, well… I don't like telling people about it," he murmured brusquely.

Susie nodded with a face that knew exactly what he meant. She had her demons that even Kris was still learning about. "How long has it been since you've seen them?"

"Eleven years… I was six when it happened."

"Shit…" Kris nodded. That was precisely what it felt like.

"So, what's this got to do with last night?" Susie read from the phone. "This girl found you and your other sister? You're going to see them again?"

Kris didn't answer straight away. "I was going too… But…"

"But what? Come on, Kris. This is your family we're talking about."

A shuddering sigh broke through Kris's lips. "I just don't know what to expect. It's been so long. What if I go and it's not really them? What if it is them, but they're completely different people now? What if they find out what I'm like and they want nothing to do with me anymore?"

Kris clutched his head between his knees. "God! Francine's already in college and who knows what Charlotte's done with her life! What do I have to show for myself? I'm not like Asriel! I don't have top grades! I don't have any special achievements! I just go around day by day being my same boring self! What the heck are they going to think of me?"

"Hey! Come on, dude." Kris felt Susie's hand on his shoulder. He looked up and found her lunged over their notebooks, looming over him. Susie didn't normally touch him like this, nor did her eyes look at him so softly with concern. The strip lights cast her with a halo in the mist of Kris's tearing vision.

"There's no way they're not going to see what an awesome guy you are," she said. "Don't you remember? We saved the Dark World. You and me. You defeated the Dark Knight. You stopped Ralsei and Lancer and everyone else from disappearing for good. And you saved my life more than a few times. You're a hero who protects people."

She placed her other hand atop Kris's head and gave him a firm noogie. "So, quit selling yourself short like that, you dunce!" she cackled.

"Okay! Okay! Ow! Stop!" he laughed, pushing her hands away. "Alright. I really do want to go. But I'm still nervous."

"It probably won't be that bad. I mean it's your sisters, right? I bet they want to see you so badly, they won't care if you turn out to be a bigger train wreck than Burgerpants."

Kris snorted. "I guess that's something." He stared at her for a long while. "But… do you think you'd… Do you mind… Would you mind…?"

Susie flashed him an odd look. "What? Spit it out."

Taking a breath to gather his thoughts, Kris tried again. "Would you mind coming with me? To meet my sisters?"

"You… want me to go with you?" Susie blinked, surprised.

Kris hung his head. "Honestly… I don't think I can do this by myself. I'd really appreciate it if you were there with me."

For a moment, Susie sat dumbstruck. Kris cleared his throat. "Sorry. Stupid idea. Don't worry about it."

"No, no! It's cool, man! Sure, I could tag along." Kris smiled. "Soooo, when and where are you meeting?"

At the mention of Ebott City, Susie blanched. "Um… How do you plan on getting there?" Since his mother was busy on the day and his father's pickup truck could only seat two people, the bus would probably be their only option now. Susie scratched her scalp uneasily. "That's going to be a tall order."

Kris expected her to be worried. Susie's family was dirt poor. Her mother was terribly ill, like Kris's Uncle Rudy. Unlike Noelle's family, though, Susie's barely had the money to pay for the treatments, even with her father working long hours every day. As a result, they often couldn't afford to put food on the table, let alone buy a return bus ticket across the state. It was a shame. Her folks were such kind people.

"Hey, don't worry about the fare," Kris assured her. "I'm sure my mom will be happy to cover you."

Susie's mouth twisted. She wasn't as defensive about it as she used to be, yet she still loathed taking charity. "I don't know…"

"You'd be doing me a huge favour if you come."

That tipped the balance just enough. Susie sighed. "Okay. If you really want me there that badly, I guess that's fine."

"Great. Thanks, Susie," Kris smiled. "You're the best."

Susie turned her gaze to one side. "You know it." Kris probably imagined it, but the scales across her snout seemed to turn faintly towards a shade of pink.

End note:

I'm not sure why, but I seem to hear Aaron Dismuke's voice whenever I read Kris speak in this story. Maybe it's because I've watched a lot of his recent works over the last few months and have subconsciously drawn parallels to his roles in My Hero Academia and Blood Blockade Battlefront.