Chapter Text
Susie and Kris, not yet well acquainted with each other, approach the supply closet’s grey doors. “Well, here’s the closet. Too bad...” Susie slowly looks down at Kris and bares her teeth, trying to look menacing as she taunted them in a softer voice, “We were just starting to have fun.” She snickers to herself and places her hands on the closet doors, and as she pulls them open and looks inside, her expression turns to one of shock. It’s dark inside, but she can already tell it looks much bigger than just a closet, almost like a wall was knocked out between this room and the one next to it. The larger space isn’t the only thing that stills the two though; it’s the fact that tons of tiny eyes reflect the blaring ceiling lights behind them. “W-What the fuck..?” Susie is scaredstartled, but doesn’t let that stop her, only making her movements more cautious as she flicks a light on. To the surprise of both of them, the now lit room is filled with an unimaginable amountof cats.
Cats with odd patterns and coat colors come barreling out of the room and skittering about the tiled floor, going every which way trying to escape. The pair step back to allow this and watch the chaos unfolding, and unsure what to do, look back into the room as if hid some answers. The unwanted gift horse just keeps on giving as several more cats are still inside the room: some back into corners, some just innocently staring; It was a strange thought how they all got in here to begin with. A small, white cat with pink ears and some jade green cloth wrapped around it approached the two, not with fear, but with wonder, like a kitten’s. Susie was completely frozen and looking down at the thing like it was a lit bomb, but Kris just kneeled down and held out their hand, which the cat gladly started to rub on. Taking a closer look, they used their other hand to push away some fluff and reveal a pink collar with a silver tag that said ‘RALSEI’ engraved.
None of the animals seemed diseased or aggressive, so Susie eased up, but still kept her distance. That is, until a little blue and white kitten with black around its eyes came excitedly zooming out, and crashed right into her foot. It was tiny, tinier than the one with a collar, but it was so excitable and cute. Feeling a sense of pity and mild interest, she picked it up by the scruff of itsneck and held it up. It looked like it was smiling, which made the feelings Susie was having all the more confusing. Remembering she wasn’t alone right now, she decided to confide in the human beside her. “Uh... So like, should we... tell Alphys? Or, the police, or something???” Still staring down at and petting the kitten, Kris takes a moment to think of the choices at hand. They could tell someone and get them properly taken care of, but there’s so many, most might be feral and just chose here to live, who knows what the police would do with them. On the other hand, free oh shit wait, people are already coming out of their classrooms to investigate the ruckus. A golden cat with an unamused expression races by Noelle, letting her startled yelps echo through the hallway, which makes Kris smile. Still holding the kitten that’s playfully sticking out it’s tongue, Susie’s attention is drawn to a nervous looking Alphys approaching her. This makes her panic as she’s sure everyone’s gonna think she did this, and then she’ll get expelled, and-
“Kris!” Toriel’s voice rings out as she tries to get to the pair without stepping on any scrambling cats, and inadvertently saving the purple girl from any accusations. “What on Earth is happening?” Kris shrugged, scooped up Ralsei into their arms, and stood to face their mom. “Cats.” The small and simple answer made Toriel grumble and pinch the space between her eyes. “Yes, I see that, but WHY are there cats? Where did they come from?” That question popped a very unserious answer into Susie’s mind, which she couldn’t help but enact on with a grin. “I dunno. Why don’t you ask Catti?” Toriel looked at her confused before realizing the joke, and she had to try really hard to keep being stern. “Children, please...” Letting her smile fall back down, Susie earnestly shrugged, gave the kitten she was looking at a glance, and then looked back into the large closet with her other hand in her pocket. “We really don’t know uh, ma’am. Kris and I were just going to get some chalk from the supply closet, but...” Toriel looked to see what looked like an old classroom with a closet-esque corner attached to it, and took notice of the several blue and purplish cats lounging around inside. “I see...”
Having enough of watching from the sidelines, Alphys piped up and gave her input, “T-There’s so many, are they, a-all strays..?” That was something Toriel hadn’t even considered, but she would somewhat get an answer when her kid would show her the collar of the cat they were holding. “Ralsei... So he belongs to somebody...” The mention of a collar gave Susie the idea to look closer at the neck of the baby cat in her hand, seeing a big, blue, spade shaped tag with “LANCER” written on the front, and “If lost, return to Rouxles Kaard or King please.” Susie hummed momentarily before speaking up to nobody in particular. “Do any of you know a King or a... Rules, Caaard?” Toriel and Alphys looked at her confusedly as they didn’t recognize the names at all, and Kris just kept to themselves while they thought. “We know a flower king.”
Toriel gasped and looked at Kris worriedly before softly asking, “You don’t think he...” Kris looked up at their mom and shrugged. Was it likely he has a cat? No, but hey, it was possible. Torielnervously looked over at Noelle who was with Berdly, talking and looking at the odd looking cats that surrounded them and their classmates. The idea of opening the doors for now was a badidea since it’d let all the cats out, but they couldn't just stay inside forever... This situation suddenly put a lot on Toriel’s mind, a situation she couldn’t exactly ignore, so with gritted teeth she instructed Alphys to call the police, and she went into a quiet corner to call the former chief.
This left Kris and Susie alone, who were unsure what to do about all this. Realizing she was still holding it by the scruff, Susie took the kitten in her hand and put it in her pocket with it’s cute little face sticking out. “What the hell do we do now?” Kris looked at their uneasy friend and looked back at Noelle, someone they used to know very well but... things changed. It’s not like they were friends enough with anyone else to just so casually strike up a conversation with, so that’s what they did, and Susie followed.
Seeing Susie approach made Berdly go quiet, which confused Noelle until she turned around and let out another small yelp at the purple snouted person looming menacingly over her. Her nervous gaze was fixed on her emotionless face, the world around her being swept in shadows until Kris muttered a single worded greeting under their breath. This broke the deer’s concentration and made her look over at her human friend, which calmed her down a little. “Kris! I um... What... What, did you two do???” Kris shrugged their shoulders, white cat held in folded arms, and spoke in their usual hard to hear, mumbly voice. “We went to the closet, and there were cats inside. That’s it.” This explanation put puzzled looks on Noelle and Berdly’s faces, who weren’t exactly sold on the idea of a cat colony just hiding out in the school for so long unnoticed. Pushing up his glasses, Berdly looked over at Kris with a sneer and a raised eyebrow. “Sothere were just a bunch of cats in the closet. Nothing else?” Kris and Susie both nodded, which only made him more skeptical. “Oh come on, like anybody’s believing that! I’m sure this is just another dumb, elaborate prank, isn't it, Kris?” Before they could even respond, the bird turned his tirade onto the taller mischief maker, “Or maybe this was SUSIE’S doing. I could see this being because of either one of you, maybe even both!”
Noelle put her hand on Berdly shoulder to try and get him to calm down, even if she wasn’t so convinced herself. “Berdly, calm down! You can’t just go around accusing them because they’re...” Realizing how what she was about to say was very rude, she looked nervously up at Susie. Kris was used to getting into trouble and enjoyed it, and Noelle had no fears teasing them since they used to know each other so well. She didn’t really know Susie on a personal level like that though, so teasing her? Who knew how she’d react. The delinquent scoffed and bent down a little more towards Noelle’s face, lowering her voice a little and trying to be intimidating. “They’re what?” Noelle stood frozen in fear like Susie’s eyes were headlights, and the way the overhead light bounced off her barely showing, yellow scalars made her blood turn cold like she was dead meat. Trying to be brave, Berdly took her side, and gently pushed his friend back. “... Because they’re trouble.” The balls he had to stand up to her impressed her, so letting hot air breath out of her nose and onto her face, she stood back up, still slouching, but less threateningly; even spoke with less edge. “Guess so.”
At the other end of the hall, Toriel was making a phoning her eggs-husband, which she had to stare at the wall blankly to keep her composure as mellow as possible. A few rings...
Ring ring...
Ring ring...
Ring ring...
R- “Hello? Can I help you?”
Finally he picked up, she started to space out a little and let the static of her mind take hold. No longer, she cleared her throat, and prepared for this conversation. “Asgore? We found a cat, and... Do you-” Asgore excitedly cut her off, voice frantic and ecstatic at that soothing sound he loved. “Tori? Well it’s great to hear from you again! How’s Asriel and Kris? Or how about yourself? Everything goin’ o-” “Asgore.” Toriel simply cut him off, firm and plainly. She was here on business, and made sure he knew that. When he didn’t speak up again, she moved things along, this time more stone faced and cold. “We found a cat. Does it belong to you? Or, do you know of a, Rules Caaard?”
On the other end, Asgore looked around his dark, barebones room, particularly at the multicolored flower arrangement he was preparing. “... A, Rules? No, I don’t know that name... But, I do own a cat, yes. Why do you ask?” She raised her eyebrows. Since when did he have a cat? That was interesting, so she kept talking. “I see... Does your cat have a collar?” “Well, no... It probably should haha, but no... no, it’s just a stray that likes me and visits me quite often.” Toriel couldn’t help the unimpressed scoff she gave, but she then paused at a realization, the realization that the owner of any of these cats is still unknown. She said her thanks quickly and hung up, leaving Asgore in the dark about everything that was going on, not like he needed to know that is.
Toriel rejoined the group of students who seemed to be awkwardly standing around each other. She didn’t really pick up on this, instead tending to the more pressing matter at hand and letting the others in on it. “Well, it seems that the ‘Flower King’ is Not the King in question on the collar, so who it truly is, I am unaware.” Everyone looked at Toriel with some despondence since the one step further they had only kept them in the dark. An idea suddenly popped in Noelle’s head, so she excitedly brought it up. “Maybe my mom knows who Rules is? Um, M-Miss Toriel, may I get out my phone so I can..?” Even though this odd situation was kind of a free for all on school rules, Toriel smiled and nodded her head at the prodigy's manners. “Yes, you may.” Noelle happily took out her phone, it was a blue flip phone bedazzled with white rhinestones in the shape of a big snowflake on the front, a dangling charm of a character from Dragon Blazers. Staring fondly at the cats slowly calming down, she dialed her mom, put the phone up to her ear, and heard a few quick rings before that cold voice came through.
“Hello?”
“Hi mom! Ummm, random question?? Faha, but... do you know or have any records of aaa...”
Even though it scared her, Noelle quickly approached Susie, grabbed the kitten from her pocket, and checked out it’s tag, which shocked Susie at how bold her focus made her. Man, she really did not have her edge today, huh?”
“... R-O-U-X-L-E-S, um, K-A-A-R-D... yeah.”
Carol hummed, seeing if that name could jingle any bells. Alas, she was like a parent who did not believe in the Polar Express.
“Hold on.”
She spoke quickly and could be heard looking through a filing cabinet, and Noelle just stood there awkwardly balling her free hand into a fist and gently hitting it against her side while she eagerly awaited. Eventually, she got a thawed, earnest reply.
“I don’t have anything with that name. Where did you find it?”
“Ohh, um, it wasmjust... i-in a book I found! So uh, I was curious if maaybe, it was, checked out by someone who lived here???”
The lie got looks from everyone in her vicinity, and Carol hummed, not fully convinced, but not bothered enough to dig deeper into her daughter's secrets, for now.
“I see... Well, let me know if you have any luck. Goodbye.”
“Oh, b-by-”
Before Noelle could even get a goodbye in, she was cut off. She sighed and pocketed her phone, and that reaction gave everyone the answer they expected. “Nothing... How odd.” Toriel put a paw to the side of her face and looked off into the distance, trying to think of anyone else they could call for leads. The teens were doing the same, but all were coming up with nothing, but lucky for them, a temporary solution would be coming as Alphys came back and told the group the police were on their way.
Before things could get too quiet, Berdly asked if this meant their school projects would be delayed. Not expecting a question like this, Alphys tapped her claws together nervously. “I, well um, n-normally I'd say no, but... I d-don't think, class can... continue normally, today...” Noelle and Berdly silently cheered to themselves, Kris had no reaction, and Susie just huffed with that same unfeeling look. “Cool.”