Sans woke up, stiff and annoyed. He didn't get much sleep, but he could deal. He couldn't exactly fault Mina for it, she just couldn't sleep and was curious about him. She was still a kid and naturally curious. Currently, he sat in the dining room with a cup of coffee.

"Sans?"

"Oh, morning Kota."

"You're putting ketchup in your tea."

Sans looked down, and he was, in fact, squirting ketchup into his cup.

"Nice."

After a quick few stirs, Sans chugged the ketchup-y drink, mortifying the young boy. Sans laughed and dug into a bowl of blueberry oatmeal. The reheated berries popped, so when mixed, turning the oatmeal bright blue. Sans added in cinnamon and honey.

"Sans!"

"Hey Mina. Were you able to get any sleep last night?"

"Yeah, um... Sorry about bugging ya."

"Eh, don't sweat it. Water under the bridge."

Sans patted her shoulder and yawned.

"Hello Kittens~"

Mandalay stood in front of the table as Sans started dozing.

"Aww, still sleepy."

"Sorry, his quirk needs a lot of energy."

"Don't worry, I'm aware sweetie. If you won't mind, carry him outside so we can begin your training."

"Okay! Upsy-daisy."

Mina hoisted Sans onto her back. He may have been unnaturally light, but he was still taller than her, so it was a little awkward. Sans was stirred awake, but enjoyed the free ride outside.

"Okay, so Pinky. Your quirk allows you to create acid. You can also control the viscosity of said acid, correct?"

"Yup!"

"And Gaster -"

"Sans, please."

Sans was used to his classmates calling him by his father's name, but he didn't want to hear it from adults. It felt weirder.

"Alright. Sans, your quirk allows you to summon "Gaster Blasters" and teleport, did I get that right?"

"Sorta. Yeah I can summon my blasters, and it's not teleportation. It's just a shortcut. I bend the space between two places, and travel through the void to get to where I want. I can only take a shortcut to somewhere I've already been, so I can't go somewhere like Spain or Russia."

"Hmm. Alright. Pinky, I'm sending you to Tiger and Ragdoll. She's over by the mountain. Sans, you'll be with me."

Sans slid off Mina's back and followed Mandalay into the forest. Pixie-Bob was already standing there making small cats out of mud.

"Alright, I want you to make a blaster, as large as you can."

"Sure."

Sans summoned a ninety meter blaster, scaring the wits out of the two pro-heroes.

"O-okay! Now, make as many of those as you can."

Sans made two more ninety meter ones before he felt his magic giving up. Causing the blasters to vanish.

"Okay. How many Gaster Blasters can you make, without worrying about sizes?"

"Taking size out of the equation, I can make over five hundred twenty foot blasters. If we're talking really tiny blasters, say only...two feet... Maybe over six thousand."

"Okay, it's relatively clear we don't need to train that part of your quirk. Does distance matter with your shortcuts?"

"Nope, as long as I've been there at least once before, and have a clear image in my head, I can go wherever I please."

"Is there a duration?"

"Hmm...I think I can do, maybe ten shortcuts back to back before needing more energy."

"Great! That's something we can work with. What about close combat? There will be times where you can't rely on your quirk."

"Well, Miss Mandalay, see these massive muscles? I am the strongest one in my whole class."

Sans's words were very sarcasm heavy, drawing a smirk out of Mandalay and a snicker from Pixie.

"Tibia, honest with ya, I'm pretty weak. I am a master at dodging however. Never been beat in a snowball fight yet."

"Alright, we'll get Tiger to help you with weight training tomorrow. For today, we'll work on your shortcuts."

<~>

Sans was exhausted and starving. His magic had been stretched to its limits. He had to walk all over the forest, the houses, and the mountains; and that was the easy part! Sans had to use shortcuts to go all over the damn place without eating or sleeping. After his twenty-first short cut, he was flat on his back on the mountain, struggling to stay awake. Everytime he fell asleep, Mandalay added a weighted bracelet to his wrists and ankles. He had three bracelets on each.

"Good job Sans. Can you do one last shortcut back to the house, or do we need to send Tiger to get you?"

Sans found Mandalay's telepath quirk to be interesting, but startling at times.

"Hah, I can try another shortcut to the main house, but I might end up somewhere unexpected."

"Well then, it's a good thing you're interning with Japan's best search and rescue crew."

"Don't I know it. Okay, make room, I'm going to try to shortcut in front of the door."

Sans stood up and started walking. There was the short passage through the void, and...he was back at his house. On the kitchen table. In the Pussycat "Kitten's Uniform" Ragdoll made them. With Natsumi cuddling Ichika from behind while Ichika made Pancakes for dinner.

(Sans's "Kitten's Uniform" is made by nonbinary_individual and is up top)

"Sans?"

"Hey Ma. Do we have any more snacks, or ketchup, or anything to replenish my magic?"

"There are some brownies in the fridge. Take the whole tray back with you to share."

"Thanks Mom."

Sans was a little hesitant to continue calling them Ma and Mom, but they didn't reject it, so Sans was embracing it wholeheartedly. After snacking on two brownies, he successfully managed a shortcut back to the main building, but he wasn't on the ground. He was on the roof.

"Sans! There you are! When Ragdoll couldn't find you the Pussycats left the Beasts Forest!"

Mina was so happy Sans wasn't trapped anywhere or really hurt. She quickly sent a text to Tiger that Sans was back and stuck on the roof.

"So where'd you end up?"

"Back home, strangely. Here, Ma made some brownies."

Sans lowered the brownies on a very off balanced blaster.

"Can't you get down using a blaster?"

"Nope, my ma-ENERGY is totally gone right now. I'm gonna take a quick nap."

"Alright. I'll wake up when they get here."

Mina smirked behind her hand. Sans was incredibly cute in his uniform. Thankfully she was spared the oversized cat hands, having the need for her hands to be uncovered. She loved her outfit nonetheless. It looked like Sans's, but instead of blue it was varying shades of pink and white and instead of the bones in the pattern on his skirt, she had flowers.

"Ashido!"

Mandalay waved at her. Sans shot awake with his left eye glowing bright yellow in panic.

"I wasn't sleeping!"

"Sans, chill, your trainings over for the day."

"Oh, good. In that case."

Sans flopped backwards, sleeping like a log. Mina started laughing at Mandalay's dumbfounded expression and helped Tiger get him down.

"I was planning to have you two cook your dinner for tonight, but Sans is unconscious."

"Not if you keep talking. Tb.F, everytime I hear you talk when I sleep, I think of those damn bracelets."

Sans laid on the ground, unable to find the strength to move his arms.

"Well, you're up now, so you can still make your own food. Good night Kittens~"

The Pussycats disappeared into the house leaving Sans and Mina outside.

"Mina, can you help me? I can't move."

Mina laughed and slipped the bracelets off his wrists and ankles. Sans slowly walked into the building and all but collapsed on the bench.

"What's the game plan Sans?"

"I don't know. You want spaghetti? Pie? That's all I can do."

"Sounds good to me!"

"Heh, okay. Just, give me a sec."

Sans slowly got to his feet, and shakily walked into the kitchen. Sans boiled the noodles and mixed in the sauce. It wasn't anything special, but it was something. Toriel was a great teacher and taught him how to make a really good homemade spaghetti during one of the resets, but he didn't have the time to do so right now.

"Here ya go."

Sans plated himself and Mina and sat down.

"It's kinda plain, but this was last minute. I'll make a really good one tomorrow."

"Alright!"

Sans ate his pasta, remembering what Toriel would say. She would say, "Great first try Sans! Are you sure you never cooked before? Next time try adding in a bay leaf and a touch of sugar to balance out the sauce's bitterness."

"Sans?"

"Huh? What?"

"Sans, are you okay? You haven't touched your food."

"Oh, heh. Just a little nostalgic."

"About?"

"My old friend Toriel. She's Asriel's mom. She's actually the one who taught me to make this, though she would've done some things differently."

"She sounds nice."

"You don't know the half of it. We would tell each other bad jokes through a door constantly."

"Why through a door?"

"Why, for knock knock jokes, of course."

Sans winked at her and took a big bite of the pasta.

"Eh, it could use some more spices and a little more, thyme, on the stove."

Sans snickered and almost dropped his fork a few times. Mina took care of their dishes when they were done eating. When she came back to the table she saw Sans wiping his eyes.

"Sans?"

"Hey Mina."

She could see his eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Sans, are you okay?"

"Just a little homesick."

"Do you miss your dad and friends back home?"

"Yeah. I...Before coming to Japan, I never left my hometown. I grew up there, born and raised around everyone there. Asriel and Papyrus joined me here eventually, but I never spent this much time away from my Dad. I miss him."

"Can't you take a shortcut there? Say hi, catch up and come back?"

"No. I tried. Several times. I'm not able to go back. I should be grateful to have Paps and Azzy here."

While he spoke, the tears welled up and threatened to leave. Mina felt her heart go out to him. There wasn't anything she could do except hug him and rub his back.

"You'll see them again Sans. I promise."

Sans smiled and hugged Mina back, nestling his face into her shoulder.

"You shouldn't make a promise you can't keep."

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This chapter is once again dedicated to nonbinary_individual for the AMAZING art they made. Please go show them some love by checking out their art book.

On a separate note, please ask the characters some questions on the new QnA. It really makes me giddy when I see so many people curious, or simply wanting to say hi. I'm just a bug sucker for comments I guess, lol.