Chapter 3: Reunion
On the 23rd of the month, Kris felt queasy. The long and bumpy bus ride had little to do with it. For the two hours it took to cross through forests and open fields, Kris couldn't stop thinking about Francine and Charlotte.
'Frisk and Chara,' he reminded himself. If those were the names that they had chosen for themselves now, he should use them when they meet. After so many years apart, the last thing Kris wanted was to give either of his siblings a reason to dislike him. That was one among many of the worries making his stomach lurch.
Beside him, Susie buried her nose in a comic book. Kris had brought it for the journey but couldn't focus in his condition, so he gave it to her instead. Up front, Kris's father, Asgore, took up two seats with his giant build. His large, caprine horns ground against the bus's ceiling. Kris heard the faint, tinny whine from Asgore's earphones as he listened to an audiobook.
Compared to Hometown, a mere country dwelling, Ebott City was immense. Its towers stood taller than Kris could see through the window. Its highways ran wider than the river near his family's house. Kris felt like he was cast adrift in the ocean. He might as well be an ant for how huge everything around him was.
After Kris, Susie, and his father stepped off the bus, they caught a train for another fifteen minutes. The college had its own station. Dozens of people disembarked the train at once, all funnelling in one direction. Kris held onto his father's arm as they walked, lest either of them disappeared in the crowd suffocating him.
Outside, Ebott City College looked like its own town. Tall buildings stood in every direction. Cars drove along narrow roads as students crossed between them, regardless of any safety rules. Asgore led them past bookstores and offices under the guidance of a campus map.
Frisk asked them to meet at the coffee shop near the Tobias Vulpine Building. The area was filled with hundreds of people. Humans and monsters milled about in every direction. One of Kris's other worries was standing out too much. So far, nobody spared them as much as a passing glance.
"This seems to be the right place," Asgore nodded. "Now, I'll be off to find Asriel. We'll meet back here after his class finishes." He engulfed Kris in one of his strong, plush goat-monster hugs. "Good luck! I'll see you very soon."
When his father left, Kris sidled close to Susie without conscious thought. He was beyond grateful she was here with him. He felt close to throwing up. Susie paced on the spot, casting a glance around and whistled.
"This place is something else. Think either of us could end up here?" Susie then laughed. "Yeah, right. As if I could get in with my grades."
"Y-yeah," Kris chuckled anxiously. "Me neither. What are the chances?"
He opened his phone and studied Frisk's photo again. It was five minutes past the meeting time. Were they too late? Did something happen to Frisk and Chara? Kris scoured the crowd for their faces. It was like being sucked into a Locate Larry book, in which the stakes were personal and impossibly high.
Across the yard, two human girls stood together. Their heads moved left to right as though searching for something as well. A pale-faced girl in a ripped denim jacket caught Kris's stare. She pulled sharply on the other girl's arm, pointing to him. Both looked straight at Kris. The girl in the blue sweater clasped her hands to her mouth. Slowly, they walked towards him.
Kris froze in place. His every nerve jittered inside of him. His breath locked inside his chest. He could not tear his eyes away from Frisk. She and Chara stopped just short of him, both just as awestruck and shaken as he. Chara held onto Frisk's shoulder.
"Kris…?" Frisk lowered her hands from her face. Her voice trembled in almost a whisper.
Kris's throat became tight. "Franny…? Charla…?" He hadn't breathed those names in years. They shook him to his core.
Bursting into tears, Frisk threw herself into Kris. Her arms crushed him as her face buried into his neck. Chara held them both at once. She rested her forehead against Kris's. "God… That hair makes you look like a girl," she sobbed.
Kris cried with them. Eleven years… Eleven years since he had last seen his beloved sisters. Eleven years since he last held either of them. Now, they were finally here. He could finally touch them again. He could finally speak to them again.
"I've missed you so much," he wailed.
"We missed you, too," Frisk bawled. She kissed his cheek, squeezing him tighter. Chara didn't say anything further. She simply held Kris like a vice, choking on her own tears.
How long had they cried together? Kris didn't know. When his eyes and throat were too raw for more, he released his hold on his sisters. They each dried their faces, smiling and laughing at last. Frisk then took notice of Susie, who had stood to one side the entire time, appearing awkward and out of place.
"You must be Susie," Frisk said. She offered her hand. "It's so lovely to you meet you."
Susie shook it tentatively. "Yeah… Same. So… you're Kris's sisters?"
"That's right. I'm Frisk and this is Chara."
Chara gave a miniscule wave. "Hey…" she said without making eye contact.
Susie glanced at her tattered outfit. "Cool threads," she grinned.
Chara noted Susie's own worn jeans. "Thanks."
Inside the coffeeshop, Frisk had reserved a table. There was an uncomfortable silence as they waited for their drinks. No one seemed sure about how to proceed. If Kris was being honest, he never spent any time thinking of what to say past this point.
Frisk, the instigator for everything thus far, told Kris how she was adopted a few months after Chara. The people who took her in had been caring parents. She enrolled at the college before the semester and met her boyfriend through class.
"He said he'll stop by a little later," Frisk said. "He really wanted to meet you, Kris."
Chara's story was far removed from their sister's, unfortunately. The parents she ended up with had been strict. They pushed her to study hard in school and when she failed to meet their expectations, they scolded her tirelessly. One day Chara reached her breaking point. She walked out from home and returned to the orphanage. There, she demanded the caretakers tell her where her siblings were. When they refused, Chara threatened them with a pocketknife. She spent two months in a juvenile detention centre.
Afterwards, Chara spent the next few years flitting between juvie and various shelters. During that time, she made friends with monster kids from a local gang. She joined up shortly after. The gang didn't get involved in anything too radical, as most of its members were monsters. The worst they usually did was make noise at late hours and inconvenience the local community, through incident more often than by any intent. Still, they gave Chara food, cash, and a home she felt she belonged in. Then she and Frisk ran into each other by sheer chance.
"Anyway," Chara mumbled. "Enough about me. What ended up happening to you?"
Kris took a long sip from his hot chocolate. It bought him time to steel himself and prepare his words. He skipped the year spent with his first new family entirely. Kris told the others how a family of monsters took him in, and that he grew up in a town without knowing any other humans. It wasn't terrible, he reassured them. Kris did admit to feeling lonely a lot until he and Susie became friends.
"My brother's studying here, too," he said when he decided to broach the subject of Asriel. "Maybe you've seen him, Frisk. His name is…"
"Oh, hang on!" Frisk leaped out of her chair, facing the door. "My boyfriend just got here. I'll go fetch him."
She raced over faster than Kris could blink. He turned around in his seat. Frisk stopped in front of a tall guy standing in the entrance. Kris froze.
'Oh my god…'
Frisk stood on her toes and pecked her boyfriend on his furry, white lips. It was Asriel. And their father was standing right behind him. Frisk grabbed Asriel's hand and led them both to the table. Asriel watched her with a big grin on his face. Then it fell when he discovered Kris gaping in front of him.
"Kris?!" Asriel yelped.
"Azzy?!"
Frisk became confused. "You two know each other?" Nobody could answer her.
"Ohhh myyyy go-o-od!" Susie burst out laughing. "Du-u-u-de! Kris! Ohmygod! I can't believe it!" She pounded her fist against the table, drawing the attention of the entire café. "Kris! Are you seeing this? Your brother is dating your sister!"
Susie screamed, nearly falling out of her chair. Kris, Asriel, and Frisk all looked at one another, utterly stunned. At last, Frisk spoke. "Wait… Azzy… Does this mean… this whole time… my brother's been…?"
"So," Asriel stammered, "the Kris you've been looking for… and the Kris I know…?"
"Oh my god, Asriel!" Frisk shrieked. "I have been searching for Kris for over a month! Why did you not tell me he was living with you?!"
"How was I supposed to know? What were the chances?"
"I look just like him! How could you not even guess?!"
Asriel looked between her and Kris. He threw his head into his hands when he realised his mistake. "Oh my GOOOOOD! I'm an IDIOOOOT!"
By then, Chara and Susie were both in hysterics. Kris and Asgore tried not to laugh, as well, but were failing miserably. "Didn't you ever see Asriel listed as a mutual friend on MyShare?" Chara cackled.
Frisk and Asriel only wailed in answer.
Once everyone calmed down and it became clear that the spectacle wasn't what they first thought it was, many of the other patrons quickly lost interest. A few curious stares lingered on their table, however, as Frisk and Asriel took their seats next to each other.
"Okay…" Frisk breathed. "I've finally reunited with my little brother after eleven years apart, and it turns out he's my boyfriend's adopted sibling. This is what's actually happened to me?"
"Oh my god," Susie wiped a tear away. "Best shit I've ever seen. Totally worth coming here."
"I'm sooooo sooooorrrrrrrryyyyyyy!" Asriel moaned into his arms. Asgore patted him on the back.
"There, there, son. No harm done. But golly… That was a surprise." He then remembered his manners and held his hand out to Frisk and Chara in turn. "Howdy! I'm Asgore. I'm sure you've guessed where I fit in all this?"
"It's nice to finally meet you, Mr Dreemurr," Frisk said listlessly.
As his means of redemption, Asriel bought them all cake from the dessert cabinet. Kris then finished his story, having little left to say. His brother, however, had more to offer in Kris's stead. Frisk became delighted to hear that he played piano and wrote stories online. Kris flushed red with embarrassment, really not wanting to talk about his Overfable fan fiction in front of everyone. He steered the conversation towards his music as best as he could.
They talked for hours. Kris hardly noticed the time fly. He was simply happy to be here, with his father, his brother, his missing sisters, and his best friend. If only his mother were here, it would be perfect. Then it wouldn't be perfect for much longer, Kris considered, when Toriel inevitably chided Asgore as soon as he spoke too casually towards her. Nah, Kris decided. This was perfect enough.
When Asgore checked his watch, the spell was broken. "Hmm… We'll need to head back for the bus."
Frisk's face fell. Chara looked away. "Oh…" Kris said, his soul starting to fracture.
"Thank you for bringing Kris, Mr Dreemurr," Frisk replied with a sad smile. "It means so much to us to get to see him again."
"I assure you that it means just as much to me to meet Kris's human family." A happy gleam shone through Asgore's eyes. "I have an idea! How would you both like to come visit us sometime? I'm sure that Toriel and I can work something out if you'd like to stay a while."
"I'd love that!" Frisk beamed. "What do you think, Chara?"
Chara fiddled with her fork. "Sounds good to me…"
Kris felt his spirits launch as Asgore gave his sisters his phone number. When they stood to leave, Frisk clutched Kris tightly against her, as if trying to imprint as much of herself into him as she could. In comparison, Chara's embrace felt more reserved. Her fist pounded his back three times before she released him. Kris smiled. He never recalled how different Francine and Charlotte were when they were kids. When Asriel hugged him next, and Kris felt his soft coat underneath his green sweater, he came close to crying. He had three siblings now, just like he had always dreamed.
The train ride back to the bus station was a sad trip. When he was sure that no one was looking at him, Kris wiped the tears from his face. They alighted at the terminal. Asgore left to buy a magazine from the kiosk before the bus arrived. It was then just Kris, Susie, and a bunch of other people with suitcases waiting in the shelter.
"So, how you doing?" Susie asked.
"Fine, thanks." For once, that wasn't an automatic response made to be polite. Kris found that he meant it.
Susie nodded. "Your sisters were pretty cool. Weird how Frisk and Asriel were all… you know."
"Yeah…"
"Like, not bad weird," she leaped in to add. "Just… you know… The way it worked out like that?
"I get what you mean."
"Do you think Chara owns a motorbike?" Susie quickly switched topics. "She looked like she owns a motorbike."
Possibly. Kris smirked. "You could always ask."
"Eh, maybe next time."
A silence took hold. Kris swallowed. "Hey, Susie? Thanks for coming with. It… really helped."
She smiled. "Anytime, dude."
"No, really… I was so nervous on the way here. I really don't think I could have made it through the whole way if it were just my dad and me."
Susie placed a hand on his shoulder. Then she pulled Kris towards her. He felt her arms slip around him. Her firm, yet warm chest pressed against his face. "Uh…? Susie?"
"Come on. You got me in a hugging mood, you dork," she chuckled. "Seriously. I'm glad I could help."
Smiling, Kris put his arms around Susie's middle. She was leaner than her layers of clothing suggested. For someone who didn't do well in school, Susie smelt oddly like a classroom. It was probably the chalk-eating habit, Kris reasoned. Still, it relaxed him.
Frisk swiped her access card across the scanner. The device beeped, unlocking the door to her dorm room. Asriel followed close behind, flicking on the light switch as Frisk tossed her bag against the wall. She flopped facedown onto her bed.
"That was… eventful," Asriel hazarded to state.
"I'm so mad that Kris was living with you this whole time and I never knew about it," Frisk moaned. She rolled onto her back and let the mattress's sweet softness take her away.
"I'm sorry," Asriel sulked. He collapsed into her desk chair and hung his head into his hands. "I'm such a dummy. I should have realised it sooner."
"It's okay," she relented. "I'm madder that it took so long to find Kris than I am at you. I can't believe it. It's been eleven years and I finally found him and Chara again. I never thought this day would happen."
"I'm so happy for you," Asriel smiled. "And like my dad said: anytime you or Chara want to see Kris, you just come visit Hometown. It'd be awesome to have you both there."
Frisk smiled as well. "I'm really looking forward to that."
"So…" Asriel fumbled for a few moments. "Kris and me being brothers… Does that… bother you at all?"
"Should it?"
"Well, no, but… If he's your brother… And he's my brother… Then…?"
Frisk curled into a ball, pupils darting away from him. "Well… It's not like you're suddenly my brother now, right? We can still be… dating, right? It's not weird or anything."
"Sure! Sure!" Asriel exclaimed. "I mean there was nothing to think about when we started going out. So, this shouldn't be any different."
"Well… good."
"Good," he agreed.
A pause lingered between them before they both burst out laughing. It was so weird. Though neither of them cared. Frisk smiled as she opened her arms. Asriel settled down across the bed and snuggled her.
"I had a great day today, Azzy."
"I'm glad." He kissed her forehead. "I love you."
Frisk closed her eyes, heading on her way to doze. "Love you, too."