Chara became friends with Alphys quickly. It was heartening to see them having common interests, which they talked about over dinner, before eagerly transitioning to a session of playing video games together. Undyne almost seemed jealous at first, but Chara softened her up by telling her that they liked her taste in posters (which depicted a massive array of weapons). Later, after Alphys had left to do one of her late night experiments, Chara asked Undyne a surprising question.

"Hey, Undyne," Chara began, "Alphys told me that you knew how to play the piano."

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Can you...teach me, too?"

A puzzled look came over Undyne's face, and it took a moment for her to respond. "Why?"

"I'm interested."

"Heh. Normally, I charge for lessons," Undyne said, grinning. "Half the kids who've tried having me as a teacher give up after their first hour!"

Chara gave Undyne a sneering smile. "So, you're a bad teacher?"

Undyne bared her teeth. "You think I'm not good enough to teach a little punk like you? YOU'RE ON! Our first lesson will be tomorrow morning!"

"Doesn't Alphys have something planned for us tomorrow?" Frisk spoke up.

About an hour ago, Alphys had mentioned that her colleagues had helped her to prepare an education curriculum for them in order to make up for the fact that they would no longer be going to Toriel's school. Their first lesson would start tomorrow, and their schooling was to take place in a specially prepared classroom within the university. They'll have private tutors, and Alphys herself would teach them the more technical subjects.

To Chara, the mere mention of school had already started to bore them. Frisk guessed that they were probably trying to find a way out of it.

"I'LL MAKE AN EXCEPTION!" Undyne yelled. "Your first class in school will be a piano lesson with me! I'll convince Alphys!"

Chara folded their arms and smiled again.

The next morning, Frisk woke up and was briefly confused as they wondered why their room looked so different. Then, they remembered that they were no longer living inside Toriel's house.

A pang of sadness struck them as they realized that they would no longer be waking up to the smell of Toriel's delicious cooking. She would no longer be there to talk to them, to teach them, to hug them, or to make them butterscotch-cinnamon pie. Alphys' cooking wasn't bad, and she would probably be a more entertaining friend for Chara, and this city was more interesting to explore, but – still – they missed Toriel dearly already. Familiarity was such a nice thing to have, and such a bad thing to lose.

It struck them, also, that they still didn't know why exactly Sans and Alphys had requested for them to come and live with them. Alphys didn't mention a thing about it last night.

Frisk leaned to their right to face Chara, who was still asleep. At a glance towards the clock in their room, they saw that it was already eight in the morning. Alphys had requested for them to be up by now so that they could have breakfast in her room. Frisk gently tapped Chara's shoulder to wake them up.

Chara opened their eyes very slowly. They seemed confused as well, and stared around the room for a few seconds. Then, they closed their eyes again and buried their face into the pillow.

"Good morning," Frisk said, smiling. "It's eight o' clock, Chara."

They didn't reply.

"Okay. I'll tell Alphys that you want to sleep more, and I'll ask her if I can bring your food to your room."

Frisk got out of bed and put on socks. Then, they took off their pyjamas to put on pants, and topped off their outfit with their blue and purple striped sweater. As they walked to the exit of their room, they heard Chara shift around in bed.

"Frisk," Chara said in a hoarse voice, "I don't feel well."

"Are you okay?" Frisk asked in response.

Chara rubbed their eyes. "No. I...think I'm sick."

Frisk walked towards them and put a hand on their forehead. It felt very warm – much warmer than their own forehead. Chara pulled up the blankets around them and curled up their legs, shrouding themselves beneath the blankets. They turned away from Frisk and opened their mouth weakly.

"I feel...awful," Chara continued. "I don't want to get out of bed right now."

"I understand," Frisk replied. "I'll tell Alphys about this, and then maybe we can get you to see a doctor."

"Isn't Alphys a doctor?"

"She's a doctor in, well, uh – other subjects."

Chara buried their face into their pillow again. Frisk decided to hurry and left the room.

They knocked on Alphys' door, and Undyne answered. A smell of eggs and toast wafted out from behind her, and they could see Alphys standing at the kitchen counter, cooking.

"Hey, Frisk!" Undyne said. "Come on in. Where's Chara?"

"They're sick," Frisk responded, causing Undyne's smile to fade. Alphys turned to look at them.

"Oh. Th-that's not good! Let's get a d-doctor to check on them, okay?"

"Right."

Alphys made the call while Frisk sat down to have breakfast. It was surprisingly delicious. Not as homely or as well-prepared as Toriel's cooking (which was to be expected – kitchen stoves didn't really compare to the perfection of heating achievable with fire magic), but, compared to the meagre provisions that they had to eat every morning when they had spent their days journeying, it was rather good. They finished their glass of orange juice in time for the doctor, a cow monster, to arrive.

After checking Chara's symptoms, the doctor concluded that they had the flu. He prescribed some Ibuprofen and suggested for Chara to drink lots of water and get lots of sleep.

This was somewhat relieving for Frisk. The words 'Chara got sick' didn't exactly carry any positive connotations, given what had happened the last time Chara became extremely ill. Of course, they wanted Chara to feel better, but they had gotten the vague feeling that it could've turned out to be much, much worse.

Chara's sickness meant, of course, that classes were cancelled for them.

"Go to your own classes," Chara said to Frisk once the doctor had left. Their voice was weak, and they looked like they were barely maintaining consciousness.

"I'd rather stay with you," Frisk replied softly. "To, you know, make sure I can report on how you're feeling."

Despite being sick, Chara was able to muster up an annoyed expression.

"Don't worry about me," they said. "I just need to sleep."

"But, Chara..."

"You're going to catch my flu if you stay in my room all day," Chara continued, frowning now. They leaned over in bed to rest on their left side. "I don't want you to get sick, Frisk."

"I'll be fine."

"Get Asriel to watch over me," Chara said. "It's not like he has anything else to do today."

That was actually a surprisingly good idea. Frisk nodded and complied, bringing Asriel's flower pot beside Chara's bed. When Asriel saw Chara, sick and lying in bed, he made a shocked expression.

"Oh, no! CHARA! Are you-"

"No, Asriel. I'm not going to die this time." Chara tried to smile. "It's just a stupid flu. Frisk won't leave me alone, so I told them to get you to watch me today."

"...A fl-flu. Oh," Asriel responded. He still had a concerned look on his face. "I was worried that you were, well..."

Chara closed their eyes and sighed. They looked like they were too tired to continue talking, but, after resting for a moment, they started to speak again.

"It's okay, Asriel. I'm not so stupid anymore. Trust me, I'll be fine."

Asriel nodded his flower head. "Okay. I trust you."

Chara opened one eye to stare at Frisk.

"What are you still doing here?" Chara said, an ounce of strength returning to their voice. "It's nine, Frisk. Shouldn't you get over to your classes?"

Frisk lowered their eyes, looking quite somber. "I just...I want to stay by your side, Chara."

"Ugh."

Chara raised their head slightly. "You care too much about me, Frisk. I'm going to be fine – I promise. You want to learn, right? So, get out. Go to your classes and do your learning already."

Frisk stood up at last. "All right. I guess Asriel's good enough."

"Yes, he is."

"If you really want me to, then I'll go."

"Yes, I want you to."

A chauffeur (a cat monster) brought Frisk and Alphys to the university, which was a fifteen minutes' drive away. It was the first time that Frisk had seen a university before, and though their mind was still plagued with worries about Chara, they couldn't help but feel a tinge of excitement as they walked onto campus.

This was, according to Alphys, the largest and most prestigious human university in the country. There were over a hundred thousand students, and a recent initiative had been made to immediately start accepting monsters into its classes and programs, regardless of their financial capabilities. It was, therefore, also one of the most diverse educational institutions in the world.

Alphys gave Frisk a quick tour of the campus, showing them all of the different faculties' buildings and hangouts. There were over three cafeterias on campus, along with a myriad of smaller eateries, and a park was also situated in the middle of the university. This was the park, Frisk realized, that they had passed yesterday by bus. That meant a good portion of the city's roads crossed directly through campus, which must be convenient for the students who lived further away.

The inside of the park was full of gardens, fountains, and statues. Several of the student dormitories and one of the cafeterias were built on the edge of the park so that the people inside could have a good view out the window. At this time of year, however, most of the trees and flowers were dead, so there wasn't much to see.

"I d-didn't plan much for you to do t-today, fortunately," Alphys said. "So, I guess, y-you can explore and do whatever you want. I'll be h-hosting a lecture at one of the sciences buildings in an hour, s-so you can come and listen if you want."

"Which building is it?"

Alphys pointed to a tall building across the park.

"Th-that one," she replied. "It's the physics b-building, in case you need to know."

"Okay," Frisk said, nodding.

They went immediately to the library first, fascinated at the thought of being able to read all the books inside. Back when they lived with Toriel, all they had had was the school library, which contained a comparatively pitiful selection of books.

Quickly enough, they stockpiled a pile of books from the library's history, sociology, and anthropology sections, intending on furthering their reading into social studies. A couple of passing students gave them odd looks, as if wondering what a child was doing reading such thick textbooks. Frisk ignored them, grabbed a snack from the nearby cafeteria (some fries), and sat down to begin reading.

The history books engrossed them enough that two hours flew by, and they realized that they had just missed Alphys' lecture. (This was okay. She was probably giving a lecture on university level physics, which was too complicated a subject for Frisk to listen to at the moment. They did have an interest in science, but they'd probably have to do a lot of prior reading before they could understand what was going on) They gave Alphys a quick call to let her know about their current whereabouts.

In the afternoon, Alphys arrived to picked them up.

"Want to check out these books for me?" Frisk asked, giving Alphys a wide grin.

"Oh, err, s-sure!" Alphys replied, pulling out her faculty member card. "Wow, Frisk. I d-didn't know that you liked ancient human history so much."

"It's fascinating!"

"W-would you like to know about what I'm teaching?"

Frisk rubbed their hair and smiled again. "Umm, maybe later, when I can understand all of it?"

"O-okay."

As in the morning, the cat monster chauffeur arrived to pick them up. When Frisk got back to the laboratory, they went quickly to their room to check up on Chara. To their surprise, they found Undyne there, sitting on a chair by Chara's side.

"Oh, hey, Frisk," Undyne said, flashing a smile at them. "Chara's doing all right. You don't need to worry too much about them."

"...Did Chara tell that to you?"

"Yeah, they did, but they're sleeping right now." Undyne stood up and walked towards them. "Just let them rest."

"...What else did Chara tell you?"

"NOTHING!" Undyne exclaimed, before quickly leaving the room.

Frisk sat down by the window and opened up the book that they had checked out to continue reading it.

Later, Alphys arrived with their dinner. For Frisk, she had made ramen with soy sauce, and, for Chara, she brought a bowl containing just the broth (chicken and vegetable soup).

"Thank you," Frisk said. Alphys nodded, smiled shyly, and left.

Chara had opened their eyes again. However, they looked too weak to even move, so Frisk moved a chair to sit beside them. They brought the bowl of soup along in their hands.

"Oh, damn it, Frisk," Chara said, their voice even weaker than it had been in the morning. "You're not going to be feeding me now, are you?"

"...How else are you going to eat?"

Chara tried to move their hand, but as soon as they had lifted it above their head, they tucked it away into the blanket again.

"...Fine."

Frisk filled their spoon with some soup and lifted it towards Chara's mouth. Chara opened their mouth and drank the soup slowly, closing their eyes again as they swallowed. They made an expression of disgust.

"Ugh. I can't smell anything."

"Just drink, Chara."

Frisk gave them a couple more spoonfuls of soup. Then, Chara opened their eyes and stared at them. They still looked extremely weak and uncomfortable. However, after a while, a look of relief began to appear over Chara's face. Frisk continued feeding them, and it seemed to work in making them feel better. Slowly, a smile started to spread across Chara's lips.

When Frisk put the spoon at their mouth next, Chara lifted up their head this time to drink. They turned to look at Frisk, and they made a slight grin.

"Y-you know, Frisk. Back then, when I lived with...Asriel, and his family, I used to get sick a lot, too." They gulped as Asriel's face reappeared on the nearby flower. "Sick normally, I mean."

"Dad said you weren't very healthy," Asriel whispered. "That's why you were able to convince them so easily when you came up with your plan."

"I know." Chara's smile faded. "Well, it was mom that fed me whenever I couldn't get out of bed. And...even Asriel, sometimes, too."

"Sometimes? You mean all the time!" Asriel said. "Remember that time when you begged me to stay by your side and give you chocolate, but I refused, because chocolate wasn't good for you when you're sick?"

"...Yeah," Chara replied after staying silent for a few seconds.

Frisk dipped their spoon into the bowl again. It was about half finished. They were glad that Chara was well enough to eat at least a little.

"And, that time when you ate something bad, and you couldn't stop vomiting, and mom and I had to help to clean your bed sheets?"

A look of embarrassment came over Chara's face. "Uh...right."

"And, that other time, when you got strep throat, and you couldn't even swallow anything – Mom and I literally had to force you to eat food after you went two days without touching any!"

"Y-yeah, Asriel. I remember."

"And, remember when you had the pox, and none of the monster doctors even wanted to touch you?"

"..."

"But, you know, none of that mattered in the end," Asriel said, lowering their voice to a whisper. "When you...decided to go through with your plan, Chara, nothing we did could ever help you. I think, both mom and I knew, deep down, that this was it...this was going to be your final sickness. And, then, I just wanted to, I just wanted-"

Frisk didn't know how to describe it, but it looked like Asriel was on the verge of tears. A flower couldn't cry, however, so he was making an expression that just looked like a very deep sadness. For a moment, Frisk felt like they could almost cry, too.

Chara's eyes didn't move. They simply stared at Frisk, before finally turning their eyes to Asriel. A second later, they opened their mouth.

"...I don't expect you to ever forgive me, Asriel."

Asriel stared back blankly.

"What are you saying, Chara? I already forgive you! I don't care what you did back then, as long as you're alive right now!"

"...I suppose, what I meant-" Chara moved up their hand to cover their face "-was that I don't ever expect to forgive myself."

Frisk moved their spoon to Chara's mouth. "Don't cover your face," they said simply. "Here. Have another drink."

To Frisk's surprise, when Chara moved their hand away, they were already crying.

"I don't, I mean – the two of you," Chara said in a choked voice. "You're both, both so nice to me. Even after all the things I've done, you, you still care about me, you still want to have me, you still want me to get better, you-"

"Just drink, Chara," Frisk said.

Chara shook their head. "Frisk. Asriel. I don't know what to say to you two. I don't know how I can express my gratitude for you. I, I..."

"Please, Chara. We're your friends. We just want you to feel better," Asriel said.

Frisk nodded.

"You two..."

"There, there," Frisk sat, patting Chara on the forehead. They didn't want Chara to feel so emotional, especially when they needed their energy to get better.

"Frisk-"

They moved the spoon in front of Chara's mouth again. Finally, Chara took a sip.

"When you're sick, I'll take care of you," Frisk said, leaning towards Chara and smiling. "No matter what. Everything else comes after you get better."

Chara blinked, and a few tears fell from their eyes. They sniffed.

"...Thank you. Thank you so much," they whispered.

Author's note: Incidentally, I'm sick too. Fluff makes it all better!