Those Days Continue: Happy Mornings and Nights Spent with Everyone
After the barrier broke, the monsters of the underground chose not to rush to the surface. They kept their daily lives, their snow towns and lava rivers, their laughter echoing through the caves. Frisk lives with Toriel, going back and forth between Snowfull, Waterfall, and Hotland. The great war is over. Peace has settled in like an old friend.
One morning, Toriel wakes Frisk with a gentle voice. After a breakfast of warm pie, Frisk heads outside. A game of catch with Undyne turns into a wild
Those Days Continue: Happy Mornings and Nights Spent with Everyone - Fried Rice Toast and the Great Transparent Maze Uproar
The smell of snow felt stronger than usual.
Frisk walked along the path to Snowfall, breathing out white puffs of air. Until just a moment ago, the depths of her body had been cold. That machine's voice. That light. Even now, she felt it lingering faintly in the back of her ears.
(I won't tell anyone.)
She had decided. She didn't want to make anyone worry. That had happened because she went in alone. She wanted to see everyone with her usual face.
She took a deep breath. The cold air reached deep into her chest. Just that made her feel a little lighter.
In the distance, a wooden house came into view. It was Sans and Papyrus's house. From around the yard, she could hear lively voices.
"I won't let you regret this day!"
A powerful voice she recognized. Frisk stopped and peeked into the yard.
Standing tall with her blue-scaled arm raised high was Undyne. A fish-person body with fiery red hair. Her eyes held their usual sharp gleam. In her hands, she held a large bag of rice.
"Undyne, what are you doing?"
When Frisk called out, Undyne spun around.
"Frisk! You came at the perfect time! Today, I'm making rice balls!"
"Rice balls?"
"That's right! You squeeze the rice and make it into triangles, right? Simple stuff!"
Undyne said this with full confidence, then pulled out a frying pan. She placed it over the bonfire in the yard, opened the rice bag without hesitation, and poured the raw rice straight in with a rustling sound.
(Huh...)
Frisk was a little startled by the sight before her. The rice hadn't even been washed. No water had been added. The white grains rattled dryly on the frying pan.
"Um... Undyne. Don't you have to cook the rice first for rice balls?"
"You're naive, Frisk. If you fry it, it'll stick together and be easier to shape. I heard that from someone."
Undyne stirred the rice with a wooden spatula, her face serious. Deep wrinkles formed between her brows. Sweat was already beading on her forehead.
(Who did she hear that from...?)
Frisk hesitated, wondering whether to say something. But looking at that serious expression, she somehow felt bad about stopping her.
Just then, loud footsteps echoed.
"Undyne! I smell something wonderfully fragrant!"
A tall skeleton came running from the far side of the yard. His red scarf fluttered in the wind. His big round eyes stared intently at the frying pan.
"Papyrus, you can help. I'm making rice balls."
"Rice balls! I'll help too! Leave the heat control to me!"
Papyrus kept adding firewood to the bonfire. The flames flared up with a whoosh. The rice in the frying pan began to sizzle.
"Seasoning is important too! Let's add plenty of salt!"
"Agreed! More is better!"
The two looked at each other and nodded. Neither of them realized this wasn't how you make rice balls.
Frisk peered into the frying pan. The rice grains were gradually turning brown. Small popping sounds crackled, and a toasty aroma filled the yard.
(It smells good, but... is this really going to become rice balls?)
Even as she thought that, watching the two of them with their serious faces, she felt like she might burst out laughing.
＊
After a while, Undyne raised her voice.
"It's done! Look, Frisk!"
Undyne scooped up the contents of the frying pan with the spatula.
What was there was—not triangular rice balls.
It was a flat, golden-brown lump. The surface was crispy, and the edges were slightly burnt. The rice grains had stuck together, looking almost like a single board.
"...What is this?"
"I-it's not shaped like rice balls at all..."
The two looked at each other. Deep wrinkles creased their brows. Frisk also stared at the contents of the frying pan.
(This...)
The shape, the smell, the toastiness. No matter how you looked at it, it was—
"Hey."
A lazy voice came from behind. Frisk turned around to see a small skeleton standing there with his usual slouched shoulders. The light in his eye sockets seemed to be smiling. He had apparently dumped his hot dog stand somewhere nearby.
"Sans!"
"Yo. ...Hey, that's not rice balls. That's toast."
Sans pointed at the frying pan's contents and spoke in a tone that sounded like a yawn.
For a moment, the yard went quiet.
Then Papyrus's eyes went wide.
"W-what—! Indeed... this is toast!"
"Did we... spend two hours making toast...?!"
Frisk couldn't hold it in anymore. Laughter bubbled up from the bottom of her stomach.
"Ahaha...! I mean, you never even washed the rice...!"
"Well, yeah. And there's a ton of salt in it. Congratulations on your fragrant toast."
Sans shrugged lightly, and then even Papyrus and Undyne started laughing along.
"D-damn, it's frustrating, but it really does smell good!"
"Let's try eating it!"
The four of them bit into the golden-brown lump of rice together. It had a crispy crunch, and the saltiness was strong. Not bad. Actually, it was pretty good.
"...This is delicious."
"Surprisingly, yeah."
As they chatted, laughter continued to fill the yard.
＊
After they'd laughed for a while, Papyrus puffed out his chest and pointed to the far side of the yard.
"Now then, it seems the time has come to unveil my new creation!"
"New creation?"
"Behold!"
Papyrus led them to a large frame built on the snow. Several pillars stood upright, and between them, panels that faintly reflected light had been fitted. If you didn't look closely, it almost seemed like nothing was there at all.
"This is my masterpiece—the Invisible Maze! A high-level puzzle made of walls as clear as glass!"
"That's amazing, Papyrus. ...But aren't the walls a little too invisible?"
"That's the point! It's because you can't see them that the tension builds! Allow me to demonstrate!"
Papyrus stepped confidently into the maze entrance.
His first few steps were dignified. But—
Bonk.
"...Ngh?!"
Papyrus's nose bumped into an invisible wall. He staggered and stepped back.
"W-what, there's a wall over here too!"
He moved right. Bonk. He moved left. Bonk.
Papyrus stumbled around with both hands stretched out in front of him. The sound of his bony head tapping against the transparent panels echoed through the quiet snowy yard.
"T-this is strange... I designed this maze myself, you know? Why can't I find the exit!"
Frisk covered her mouth without thinking. She was desperately trying to hold back laughter.
(It's so transparent that even Papyrus himself is lost...)
Apparently unable to watch any longer, Undyne rolled up her sleeves and stepped forward.
"Papyrus, hold on! I'm coming to help!"
Undyne charged into the maze.
Third step.
Thunk.
"...A wall?!"
"Undyne, that's a wall over there!"
"Which way, this way?!"
"No, that's a wall too!"
The two of them scrambled around inside the maze. They pressed their hands against invisible walls, bumped into them, moved in another direction—and seemed to be going around in circles in the same spot.
"...Hey, aren't you two just going around in circles near the entrance?"
Frisk watched them from outside the maze. Every time Papyrus and Undyne's large bodies hit an invisible wall, they wobbled. It was like watching puppets thrashing around inside an invisible box.
"Hey."
Sans came and stood beside Frisk. The light in his eye sockets narrowed mischievously.
"Want me to do something funny?"
Sans pointed deliberately in the wrong direction from outside the maze.
"Hey, Papyrus. Over there. The exit's over there."
"Really?!"
Papyrus headed in the direction Sans pointed. Bonk.
"...Nwaah! Another wall!"
"Ah, my bad, my bad. Maybe it was the other way."
"Sans, you're definitely doing that on purpose...!"
Frisk laughed so hard tears came out. Her stomach hurt. The sound of the two hitting walls, combined with Sans's deadpan voice, created an indescribable hilarity.
"This way, Undyne! I sense a path over here!"
"Got it, let's go!"
Bonk. This time, they both hit the same wall at the same time. Two large bodies toppled over backward in unison.
"Ahaha...! What is that, you two are in perfect sync...!"
Frisk crouched down on the snow, clutching her stomach and laughing. Sans was shaking with laughter beside her too.
"Honestly... I haven't laughed this hard in a long time."
＊
In the end, it took quite a while for Papyrus and Undyne to get out of the maze. Finally, they held hands and advanced one step at a time, checking for walls, until they tumbled out onto the snow from the entrance—no, from some other spot they happened to find.
Their bodies were completely white with snow and frost.
"...Phew. That was advanced training!"
Papyrus brushed off the snow and puffed out his chest. His voice was a little hoarse.
"That's right! We were training to stay calm in dangerous situations!"
Undyne also puffed out her chest, not to be outdone. Her cheeks were slightly red.
Frisk and Sans looked at them and couldn't hold back their laughter again.
"Advanced training, huh."
"Well, at least you didn't break your nose bones."
"Th-they're not broken, right...?"
Papyrus frantically touched the tip of his nose. Seeing that, Frisk burst out laughing again.
＊
The sky was gradually turning orange. Four long shadows stretched across the snow.
They gathered by the bonfire and all bit into the burnt toast. The crispy crunching sound echoed through the quiet twilight.
"This is a failed creation, yet somehow it's the kind of taste that makes you want more."
"I agree! Let's research how to make proper rice ball shapes next time!"
"Research is fine, but wash the rice first."
Frisk nibbled on the edge of the toast and looked at everyone's faces. Papyrus's proud face. Undyne's frustrated but satisfied face. Sans's lazy, yet somehow happy face.
(Today was messy and fun, too.)
Thinking that, the depths of her chest felt gently warm.
The lingering echo of that heavy sound from earlier felt a little farther away now.
(I really won't tell anyone about that.)
Frisk murmured quietly in her heart. The smell of burnt rice and everyone's laughter. That alone was enough for today.
The bonfire crackled softly. The sound of four people's laughter lingered on the snow for a while.
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