Chapter Text
You remember when Mt. Ebott opened.
You had been sitting on the couch next to your father. The news had reported the emergence of monsters to the surface and was covering the various celebrations/condemnations that were going on around town.
You had tensed, reflexively. It was no secret that your family had retained a long-time hatred of the long-vanished monsters. Your parents prided themselves on the fact that your ancestors had been at the forefront of the battle ages ago, defeating the "freaks" (as they called them) and sealing them underground. It was family tradition to commemorate the victory each year on the day. Other humans didn't quite take it as seriously any more.
But when the news arrived that the monsters were reemerging, you had known that shit would hit the fan.
"The damned monsters did it! They finally fucking did it!" your dad had growled, storming out of the room to find your mother. You stayed behind, entranced by the report. A newswoman was interviewing a tall, rather muscular fish monster who had one arm around a shivering yellow dinosaur. The former seemed to be punching the air. You wondered why.
That had been three years ago.
In the interim, you had finished your teaching degree, moved out of your parents house, and had found a comfortable job teaching second grade at one of Ebottville's more prestigious elementary schools. You loved your kids, you loved your coworkers, and you loved your principal. Monsters occasionally appeared in the grocery store, or at the post office, but for the most part you never saw them. Or at least, that had been the case until the staff meeting this afternoon.
"We're integrating!" the principal announces cheerfully to the 50 or so huddled teachers in the small auditorium. A murmur of confusion bubbles through the group. He clarifies:
"The D.O.E. is pushing to include monster children in mainstream classrooms. Up until now, they've mostly been taught by private tutors or homeschooled. This is a big step in the direction of progress. As the top-rated school in the county, it is our job - no, our duty - to pave the way for other schools in the area. We have four new students joining us, two in kindergarten and two in second grade. Please check your mailboxes for updated rosters."
You groan inwardly. While you don't begrudge the little weirdos their education, you can only imagine the rant you would have to listen to once your parents found out you were teaching at an integrated school.
"On a related note, we have two new staff members joining us. One new janitor, who could not be with us for this meeting and our new first grade teacher, Ms. Toriel... Uh..." he squints, shuffling through some papers. He seems to be searching for a last name.
"Just 'Miss Toriel' is quite all right," a kindly voice says in the back of the room.
Heads turn. Gracefully making her way down the aisle is a tall, fuzzy monster. Her fur is snow white and two horns protrude from her head. Dressed in a long, floral gown, she reminds you of sunshine and warmth. You also have the fleeting thought that she looks kind of like a goat.
She reaches the area in front of the gathered chairs and bows her head slightly. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I am very much looking forward to working here. I am also excited to enroll my own child here. They will be joining the second grade with one of their monster friends."
Oh, no. You teach second grade, with two other women.
"I believe they are both in the same class as well, which will be good for them."
No, no…
She turns to the principal. "Would you be so kind, Mr. Abdell, to point out my child's new teacher for me?"
No, no, no...
Principal Abdell shuffles through his notes. The rest of the meeting is breaking up and teachers are starting to shuffle out. "Sure, Miss Toriel, it's uh..."
And then he points the finger at you.
You are somewhat pleased to find out that Toriel's "child" is not a monster child at all, but a human child named Frisk. You aren't quite sure how that works but don't want to be rude and ask right away. You'll give it time, try to get to know Toriel, and then ask.
The other student who joins your class with Frisk is a little more difficult to deal with. A small, lizard-like thing full of enthusiasm, he's often up and out of his seat, interrupting lessons out of sheer excitement. The fact that he has no arms is also a problem.
During handwriting practice, you are walking up and down the aisles to check on students' progress. You stop next to Monster Kid (apparently the poor thing doesn't even have a proper name) and find him frowning down at the pencil and lined paper before him.
When you inquire as to the problem, he gives you a pointed look, and you are so embarrassed by your faux pas that you excuse him from handwriting practice for the day. On to science, then.
-
You stay late that afternoon to research how to help the little guy. As a new student, he doesn't have any official accommodation plans yet, and as a relatively new teacher, you don't know where to start when students are missing fairly standard appendages.
After hours of digging, you find several resources on helping amputees adapt to the classroom. Nothing concrete yet, but you can ask one of your mentor teachers about it tomorrow. You also consider asking Toriel, but again aren't sure if pointing out the little monster's handicap would be rude.
You're watching the printer produce the pages you found when a voice from the doorway interrupts your thoughts.
"working hard or hardly working?"
You spin to find the source of the voice. What you find in the doorway is the last thing you expect.
A skeleton.
Not thinking and completely caught off guard, you let out a small shriek. Quickly, you cover your mouth.
Calm down , you tell yourself, he's a monster. Just one of the scarier-looking ones.
The sockets of the skeleton's eyes in the doorway seem to narrow a bit at your reaction. You hastily try to cover your ass.
"I'm so sorry!" you stammer, "You just startled me. I... I didn't think anyone else was here." It is only partially a lie. Glancing at the clock on the wall, you realize it's nearing six o'clock. The truth is, you were startled to find a skeleton standing in your doorway.
The monster doesn't look like he fully believes you. The unflinching smile that seems to be plastered to his face never wavers, but his eyes, two dark caverns with tiny pinpricks of light, hold a lot of emotion.
"don't sweat it, kid. i won't."
You pause, looking at him cautiously. Was that...?
"that was a joke."
"..."
"because i'm a skeleton."
"...?"
"and we don't..."
"..."
"you know...sweat."
"I got it. "
A short and extremely awkward silence stretches between you two. The smile on his face doesn't seem to ever leave. The teeth didn't move when he talked, yet it didn't sound as though his voice was coming from behind them. Magic. He's dressed in a janitor's jumpsuit and you can make out the telltale signs of a trashcan and mop bucket behind him. This must be the new monster janitor Abdell mentioned at the meeting.
You realize you've been standing there, staring like an idiot. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's nice to meet you." You step forward, extending a hand while you tell him your name.
Surprisingly warm, but bony, fingers close around yours. "i'm sans. sans the skeleton," he replies, shaking your hand rather gently. You look down at your joined hands. The hand you are shaking is a monster hand. Mom would die.
Sans looks down at your still joined hands too. "that's quite a firm grip you have there," he comments, somewhat oddly. <
Confused, you start to pull your hand back, only to find that his entire hand, from the wrist down, has come off his arm in your grasp. You let out another ridiculous shriek and drop the hand. It clatters to the floor. Instantly, you try to apologize again...
Sans just chuckles humorlessly as he bends to collect his dismembered limb. With a single motion and a soft click, he reattaches it to his wrist, then wiggles his fingers experimentally.
"that's what I thought," he says, more to himself than you.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to react like that, I was just caught off guard... I realize you were trying to be funny..."
"i wasn't trying to be funny, i just wanted to fuck with you."
You blink, starting to grow offended.
"What?"
Sans sighs, dragging a hand across the back of his skull. "look kid, i've seen that look on your face a thousand times. you don't particularly care for monsters. i get it. we're new and weird and it takes some getting used to."
"I'm not..." you start to protest, but he ignores you.
"but the real reason I came here to talk to you is because i wanted to let you know a few things. first of all, you've got two new kids i'm real close with. one's from my hometown, and one's… well, let's just say we're like family. now i don't care what your personal feelings towards monsters may be, but..."
When sans looks at you again, the lights in his eye sockets have dimmed, leaving nothing but eerie blackness.
"if you hurt those kids in any way, y o u ' r e g o n n a h a v e a b a d t i m e ."
He stands there in silence for a moment, staring you down, then turns to leave. "anyway, nice talking to ya, Teach."
You wait there a moment, stunned, then the world comes crashing back in. Your fury rises and you stomp after him to the doorway.
"Hey!" Sans turns slightly to look at you. "Listen, pal. You may think you know me, but you don't know anything. I care about all my students equally! In fact, the whole reason I'm here this late is because I was trying to help a new monster student!" You hadn't meant to blurt the last part - student confidentiality and all that - but it had suddenly become of dire importance to prove yourself to this judgmental skeleton.
"is that so?" he asks, quirking a brow bone, "and how is that, exactly?"
"Well," you say, faltering under his somewhat hostile gaze, "without naming any names... If, theoretically, a monster student had, say, no arms... I wanted to know how to help them..."
sans stares at you for a long moment. "this about MK?"
It takes you a second to process that MK is "Monster Kid". "Yeah, but... This is confidential stuff. You can't tell anyone I discussed this with you..."
Sans scoffs. "i'm pretty sure it's no secret to anyone that the kid don't have any arms..."
"Yeah... But... Still." sans is seeming to lose his coldness towards you; you decide you might as well ask.
"I mean, how do you help a kid write when he has no arms?"
Sans thinks for a minute. "pretty sure he was writing with his mouth at the school underground. maybe get him one of those chubby pencils to use?"
"His MOUTH?" you balk, "that seems terribly unsanitary! "
Sans shrugs. "he's a monster. human diseases aren't gonna have any effect on him. he was probably just too shy to tell you since it's his first day. once he grows into his magic, he should be able to write telekinetically. that's how his folks do it."
Your eyes widen. "What do you mean, 'grows into his magic'?"
Sans seems to have fully relaxed into the conversation now. "kinda like human puberty. every little monster reaches that special age where they learn their true abilities. MK will get there in a few years. in the meantime, mouth-writing it is."
Sans is quickly turning out to be a very useful resource. However, you hear the sound of the paper tray in the printer settling and glance at the pile of papers you just printed. You sigh. "Well, I guess all that research was a waste."
Sans steps past you and grabs a paper from the printer. He scans it briefly then looks at you, eyes seemingly wider than normal. "you weren't kidding, were you? you really were worried about him."
A huff escapes your throat. "Of course! My students are my students, regardless of race, gender, ability, or... species."
sans laughs and for the first time it sounds genuine. "hell, Teach. i had you all wrong."
Your smug satisfaction at his rescinding of his first impression is suddenly interrupted by a loud crash in the classroom next door.
You and sans look at each other briefly, confirming the other heard something, before wordlessly walking side by side out to the hall. Sans uses his janitor's key to unlock the door next door and the two of you slip into the dark classroom. You can hear the sound of wind and cars in the distance and you wonder if someone left a window open. sans flicks on the light.
The window isn't just open. The window is shattered.
sans curses under his breath. You spread out to look for the cause. You find a rubber band loosely coiled about a piece of paper and pick it up. Unfolding it, you read "PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE FOR CHILDREN, NOT ABOMINATIONS." You get a chill. It's something you'd hear over family dinner, but it sickens you nonetheless.
"there's a brick here," sans's voice says from a few feet away. You turn to find him kneeling in an array of shattered glass, bony fingers poking at the brick. You realize the note must have been attached to it initially. Quickly you hide the note behind your back, ashamed on behalf of humans. You don't want him to see this. You're too slow and sans sees you, though. "was there a note attached?" he asks quietly. You decide his quiet voice is the deadliest.
"You don't have to read it, it's not nice..." you protest, but he just calmly extends a hand towards you and, after a second's more hesitation, you place the now crumpled paper in his palm. He reads it in silence and you are fairly sure you hear his teeth grind together.
"Sans, I'm sorry..."
"no worries, Teach. say, you got a cell phone? we should probably call someone about this."