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Noelle stayed in the classroom. As a good girl, she couldn’t just leave Alphys without helping her gather and organize her papers.
Again.
Noelle helped people so often that she’d started doing it all on autopilot, never really thinking about what she was doing. Life just happened, and Noelle happened along with it. Silly? Maybe. But the less you thought about it, the easier it was to simply be.
By the time she finally left the classroom, the hallway had emptied completely. It was quiet. Peaceful. That was good… right?
Not really. When things got too quiet, Noelle could no longer simply be. Her mind filled the silence with all sorts of wrong thoughts. The shadows began to gather around her. Inside her.
Bad. Very bad.
She hurried to her locker, grabbed what she needed, and made for the exit before her thoughts could catch up with her.
She didn’t notice the person in her path until she walked straight into them.
That was strange. Everyone should have been gone by now. The front steps weren’t supposed to have any unexpected obstacles.
“Sorry!” she blurted automatically. Then her eyes focused.
“Kris! Why are you still here? Are you waiting for Ms. Toriel?”
Kris shook their head.
“Snow,” they mumbled.
It took Noelle a moment to understand. She followed their gaze and finally noticed that everything around them had been dusted with snow.
It could have been beautiful, if it weren’t already trampled by all the children who had rushed out of school.
There hadn’t been any snow that morning. Apparently, it had started while Noelle was inside, and she hadn’t even noticed.
The first snow of the year.
“Huh…?” Noelle laughed awkwardly. “That still doesn’t explain why you’re standing here if you’re not waiting for Ms. Toriel. Not that you’ve ever really cared about the first snow or anything.”
The whole conversation felt strange. Stupid, even. Her relationship with Kris had become strange a long time ago. Not quite friends. Definitely not strangers. Certainly not family.
So what were they?
The uncertainty made her feel foolish, and Kris’s unreadability certainly wasn’t helping. She had never been able to fully understand them. They weren’t exactly the kind of person who wore every emotion on their face. Though, when they wanted to, they could make themselves remarkably easy to read. If you knew what to look for.
Noelle did. Apparently, they didn’t want to be read right now.
“But you do.”
Kris said it so quietly, in that familiar mumbling voice of theirs, that for a moment Noelle thought she’d imagined it. But the way they looked at her from beneath their long bangs told her otherwise. They were waiting.
For what?
Maybe they wanted her to confirm that the first snow still mattered to her.
“Yeah, but…”
She didn’t get to finish. Kris caught her by the wrist and tugged her around the side of the school.
Why?
That was the only thought she could hold onto.
Kris had always been weird. Noelle wasn’t exactly in a position to complain, but she couldn’t help expecting some sort of catch. And yet, for some reason, she couldn’t find the strength or the desire to resist.
Where were they taking her? Her heart beat a little faster. Probably just the anticipation of an adventure.
She didn’t get much time to wonder about it. Their journey was already over. They hadn’t ended up anywhere mysterious or dangerous. Just the schoolyard on the other side of the building.
Almost disappointing.
“What is it, Kris? Why did you bring me here?”
She looked at them, trying to figure out what this was all about.
“Snow.”
“Snow?”
“Snow.”
That was it. Very Kris. They made her guess. Made her think.
“What does this snow have that we couldn’t see from the other side of the school?”
She looked around, searching for something remarkable. But there was nothing. Just snow. Not especially thick, but enough to cover every empty patch of ground in a dense white layer.
“You can go first.”
Kris nodded toward the untouched snow.
Right, untouched. That was what made this place special. No one had left their mark here yet. Which meant they could be the first.
It was silly. Childish. But somehow, it made Noelle feel strange. It wasn’t her usual excitement, or fear, or emptiness. She wasn’t even sure whether the feeling was good or bad.
What was it? Something forgotten. Something she’d only ever felt with Kris. A long time ago, when they had still been close.
She took one step. Then another, and another, and another. She didn’t have a destination in mind. She wasn’t trying to draw anything. She just walked. And somehow, that alone made her feel… different.
Her steps grew quicker. She wanted to go farther. Leave more marks.
She glanced over her shoulder. Kris had started walking too. They weren’t in any hurry. They seemed to consider every step carefully. Noelle stared.
Their footprints had formed a swear.
“…Kris!”
She burst out laughing. Of course. Very, very predictable.
And that was exactly why it was funny, wasn’t it? Because it was Kris, doing Kris things. Just like they used to.
Kris walked over to her and stopped beside her, apparently admiring their masterpiece. They looked incredibly pleased with themselves.
Noelle caught herself staring. She hadn’t seen them this close in a long time. There was never really a reason to get closer than necessary, and staring from a distance would have been weird.
(Because it’s Kris, obviously! There’s nothing weird about watching Susie like this! Susie is special! But Kris… Well. They’re just Kris!)
The trigger word set off her self-destruct sequence, and suddenly every thought in her head began turning purple.
Oh no.
This was getting dangerous. What would Susie think if she saw Noelle fooling around in the snow with Kris? She’d definitely think Noelle was being childish. She’d laugh at her. She’d probably push her into the snow!
Thump.
The sound of someone hitting the ground cut through her thoughts, as if her thoughts had materialized. But Noelle was still standing. Someone else had fallen.
She turned toward Kris, or rather, toward the spot where they’d been standing just a moment ago.
Now they were lying in the snow. A few steps away, in the one place where the snow was still perfectly clean and untouched.
“Kris! What are you doing?! You’ll get sick!”
Noelle hurried over to them. God, why was it always like this with them?
“You too.”
“…Huh?”
“The snow looks prettier from down here.”
Noelle stared at them in disbelief. They were being ridiculous. Had they forgotten they weren’t children anymore?
“Don’t you ever feel like doing something crazy?”
Kris flashed her a mischievous smile, completely conflicting with her thoughts.
Noelle froze.
Stupid. This is so stupid.
She repeated it to herself over and over.
And yet, she still took a hesitant step forward and lowered herself onto the ground beside them.
The snow wasn’t actually thick enough to cushion them much. Technically, they were just lying on the grass. That didn’t change the fact that their clothes were already getting damp, the cold slowly seeping through the fabric.
But the snow falling softly over them was beautiful in its own way.
Kris had been right.
For some reason, it was peaceful. Noelle didn’t feel like talking at all. Kris was perfect company for that kind of silence. They weren’t exactly talkative themselves. Silence. But not the kind of silence Noelle was left with when she was alone. This was a pleasant silence. As if their mere presence had chased the shadows out of every corner of her soul.
She closed her eyes. Neither of them was dressed appropriately for lying around in the snow, but it didn’t matter. She was used to the cold. It was comfortable.
Then Kris sneezed.
The sound pulled her out of her little trance.
Right.
Kris wasn’t nearly as accustomed to the cold as she was. They were going to get sick if they kept lying there.
Noelle immediately scrambled to her feet and grabbed Kris by the hand, pulling them up with her.
“Kris, we have to go back. You’re freezing! You’re definitely going to get sick! What am I supposed to tell your mom?”
She scolded them all the way home, insistently dragging them along by the hand.
Kris didn’t say a word. They only smiled softly.
Even if they did get sick… It had been worth it.
Worth it to see the old Noelle again.