At long last, things had finally managed to settle into a comfortable monotony for Clover. After a week and a half of floundering through life after his talk with his mom, he'd at last managed to settle down into a schedule. He had to say, it was a pretty good one in his opinion. Something about it just felt... Unbelievable, to be honest. Clover was aware his old life wasn't really... The best at this point, he'd been piecing together more and more of it over time, though he still wasn't close to the whole of it... Regardless of that though, Clover could tell his life down here in the Underground had already surpassed his life back up on the surface multiple times over.

So, even with its flaws, Clover was content to simply exist. Deep in his SOUL, he felt a burning drive to do... Something. He wasn't quite sure what it was for, but by this point... He wasn't sure he wanted to know. If he did know what it was... Would it ruin his life? Would it take away this new, comfortable status quo? It was a difficult question to ask, one he had been asking himself for awhile now.

If there was ever one thing that would change his life, Clover figured it would be this conflict within himself. Every day, even if he didn't want to know, it felt like he remembered just a little bit more of the reason he came to the Underground. He never really cared if he lived or died, he hadn't fallen out of any specific desire to stop living but... He never really cared about surviving either. But no, there was another reason he fell. His initial assumption of somebody in need of justice had been correct, a certain monster... But he could not remember their name.

Clover grasped at his forehead for a moment as he sat at the counter, thinking about this stuff always gave him a headache, usually pretty nasty ones at that. This headache was no different.

"You alright there Clover?" Grillby raised an eyebrow(?) at Clover as he dried off a glass.

Clover's mom was outside doing something, but that was fine. Clover was a big kid, just a few days off eleven, he'd be fine. Sans was inside too, so Martlet had been doubly reassured. Apparently she was out helping with a bit of woodworking while Clover had dinner. Clover, for his part, found it a little bit concerning just how much effort his mom was putting into stuff like this. She did know she could take time off for herself, didn't she?

"...Mhm, m'fine. Just gettin a bit of a headache."

"Should I go get your mother?"

"Nah, I'll be alright. Should let er' finish what she's doin."

Clover waved off Grillby's concerns and took another bite out of their burger. They could just eat the whole thing at once, but that kind of ruined the experience. In his first few weeks, Clover had eaten way faster... But he'd learned to take a bit of a chill pill once he'd spent a while down here. Whereas before his calm attitude had been a bit of a fear response to try and stay composed... Clover could now say for certain he'd actually managed to mellow out a bit. He'd faked it till he made it.

It was a little late, but that was fine by him. Not like Clover had much to do... Well... He supposed he would soon. Clover laid his head down on the counter and closed his eyes for a bit. School... School was... He felt very dispassionate about school.

...

"Hey Clover, I know you said you don't really like school, but why?" Kanako absentmindedly asked while drawing, it was a good thing she was preoccupied, because Clover grimaced as she asked the question.

"Like I said before, s'just... Meh. All I remember bout' school is that it sorta sucked. Well... I guess it did get me out of the house..." Clover frowned again, being out of the house was a good feeling? "So... There's that, I guess."

"Well, I don't know what school YOU went to, but the school I remember was awesome! There are tons of kids our age around, and there's..." Kanako held her crayon up as she thought for a moment. "And we learn new stuff every day!"

Clover buried his head into his own arms instead of responding.

She finally looked at Clover when he didn't respond, and scoffed at the sight of him. "Oh come on! Surely a cowboy like you isn't afraid of school!"

"M'not afraid of it, just don't like it." He grumbled back without bothering to raise his head.

"Then why are you burying your head in the sand?"

Clover roused once again and started incredulously at Kanako. "What sand?"

"You were hiding like an ostrich." Kanako smirked and twirled her crayon around.

"Was not."

"Were too!"

"No I wasn't!" Clover shouted back this time, that was a shout with feeling, more than he had meant to use... He breathed in, and then out, slowly. "Sorry."

Kanako was a little frazzled, Clover didn't usually take things quite that seriously... "Uh... Are you alright Clover?"

"M'fine."

"You don't sound fine." she booped Clover's beak with her crayon before continuing. "Really, are you alright?"

Clover's beak opened almost immediately, but he mulled it over for a second instead. "I am fine, really, I am. Just... Kanako, y'know how humans don't really... Live in the Underground?"

"...Yeah? Five other humans can attest..."

Clover frowned at her.

"Sorry."

"I haven't been in the Underground for too long, most of my life was spent on the surface." Against his better judgment, Clover decided to actually divulge a bit about himself. Every other time he'd done this sort of thing it hadn't gone over all that well but... Those times were up on the surface, right...? Down here in the Underground, it'd be different, like everything else was... Right? He was... Really hoping his faith wouldn't be punished this time around.

"I mean... I thought so but like, what does it matter?" Kanako tilted her head at Clover, she'd long since set the crayon down.

"...So if I didn't go to school down here, where do you think I went to school before now?"

"...The surface."

"Correct, and well... I can't really tell you much about my time up there, but... What I do remember of it...? Well, it wasn't great." Clover left the rest unsaid.

"So school up on the surface is bad?"

"Yeah, it was for me anyway."

"Oh, sorry to hear about that." Kanako frowned. She hadn't really thought of it before, but now that she knew it was pretty easy to put two and two together.

"It's fine, life's been better down here for me. I think anyways."

"Well... School starts back up in a few weeks... About a week after your birthday I think?"

"...Was there a break recently?"

"No? There's a month long vacation every three months. It used to be nine months for a three month break, but they split it up into thirds instead."

"Oh... Huh."

"Sooo... I was wondering, if you aren't enrolled in school... Could you get enrolled?" She leaned in and asked the question innocently, that prior apologetic tone had vanished into thin air, now replaced with a more playful teasing voice. One that Clover knew well.

"I'unno. Schools down here might be different but..."

"Pleeeeease?"

"Ask me without doing that." Clover took a 180 turn and avoided eye contact at all costs.

"Aw, fine! You're no fun." She rolled her eyes. "I'd hate to go back to school all alone with my amnesia and nobody to relate to, it'd be a real shame... If only some dashing, brave-"

"You can stop, I get it." Clover grumbled.

She, did not stop. "Handsome, cowboy would come with me, alas it's simply not meant to be!" She dramatically leaned back and covered her face with her arm, faking a pout, which was OBVIOUSLY fake, because she was struggling to hold in an earth rending laugh.

Clover stared at her very fake frown, there's no way she found herself that funny. Cause Clover only found her moderately funny, and by extension he was struggling to hold in a small chuckle.

Miraculously, Kanako reigned it in and Clover followed after her by proxy. "Oh... And all the kids at school? They'll never even know of all your... Your's and uncle Starlo's grand adventures, they'll never know how amazing cowboys are!"

"Laying it on a bit thick now."

"Alright, alright, I'll stop. But... Really, will you at least consider it...?"

"...Mmm, I guess so."

"Alright! Promise you, you won't regret it!"

"I said I'll consider it, not that I'm already goin." Clover mumbled to himself. Then he cleared his throat. "Anyways, what're you drawin?"

"Oh, it's a picture of The Dunes."

"...And the mess of blue and yellow is the oasis town, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Alright, I can see it." Clover nodded. Kanako had been getting a lot better pretty quickly, maybe she just had to pick up on it again after losing her memories?

...

"...Uh, hey mom?"

Clover held Martlet's wing through a now familiar patch of Waterfall. Rain quietly poured down around the two of them as they trekked through the wetland.

"Oh, uh-yes, Clover?"

"So... Kanako's been badgerin me about this for a bit now... But, I was wonderin, would it be possible for me to go ta' school?"

Martlet blinked a bit. She'd been expecting something a bit more serious given how reluctant Clover had sounded. "...Of course it would! Jeeze, no need to be so nervous about it Clover!" Martlet smiled and squeezed Clover's hand a little tighter. "I was actually gonna talk to you about it soon, but hey, it's good that you brought it up!"

"...Oh, alright. It's just that Kanako said that school was gonna start back up a week or so after my birthday and that she didn't wanna go without me."

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Yeah, school... School... I- I'm sorry, what-what did you just say...?"

"That Kanako didn't want to go without me?"

"N-no, sorry... Did you say... Your... Your birthday!?"

"...Yeah? What about it?"

"Oh my-" she caught herself. "Wow, uhm, I'm sorry Clover I never asked when your birthday was! I'm... Terrible I'm so sorry-"

"S'fine. Birthdays kind of suck anyways. Just a reminder of better days." Clover took a double take as he said that. Reminder of which days...? When had birthdays mattered...? Didn't they always kind of suck? But WHY did they suck, what did they have to compare to? He felt yet another headache forming...

"Wh-a reminder of better days??? Clover! Birthdays should BE better days! What day is your birthday?"

Clover could feel Martlet lightly shaking, and he himself couldn't help but be off put by it... "I... Uh... My birthday is on the twenty first..."

"Okay, twenty first, noted, locked down in my brain! Never forgetting that, can't believe I didn't even ask you-"

Martlet felt a tug on her arm. She looked down and Clover was... Shivering. Martlet immediately frowned. They'd always had these problems, they'd get scared of just... The smallest things. It always made Martlet feel awful, she had no idea how she could get Clover to just be... Comfortable. It made her sad, it made her angry that Clover had ever had experiences that made these responses his default... But most importantly... It made her concerned, more than concerned enough to act on her feelings.

"Hey-hey, it's alright Clover." Martlet set down her umbrella as they walked out of the rain. "I'm not angry with you, I'd never be angry over... I'd never be angry with you over something like this. I'm just upset with myself okay...?" She kneeled down to Clover's level, but they still looked a little bit distant... So she brought out her trump card.

Martlet pulled them in for a hug, and slowly felt their shivers die away. "...Just remember, I'll always love you, okay Clover?"

Clover's breathing slowly returned to normal. His foggy headache melted away, and he hugged Martlet back. "Okay... Thanks mom."

Martlet held them for a few more seconds, and then set them down. "Now, I'm glad you told me about your birthday! Almost missed it! I'll start saving up and uh, maybe we can do something special!"

"M'kay... Oh but uhm... What about school?"

"Don't worry about it! I'll have you legally registered by the end of the week. You'll be able to go to school right after it starts back up!" Martlet twirled around and took a step forward.

"Alright, c'mon Clover! We've gotta be home by dinner!"

...

"...Hey, Ceroba?"

Ceroba didn't come around the saloon all that often ever since Kanako had gotten better, only late at night, and never for long. Starlo had been happy to see her doing so well for herself, but he'd be lying if he said that he didn't miss her somewhat. Tonight was one of those rare nights that she had been there... And well, Starlo had been meaning to talk to her about something for awhile now.

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to talk to you, about Kanako."

"...What about her?" She took a sip of water.

"She's... I haven't really noticed anything outright wrong with her but... She's been rather... Reserved."

"Well, that's normal isn't it?" Ceroba leaned forward against the counter. "She's got amnesia like Clover does, it's only natural that she takes things slow, no?"

"...About that." Starlo took a seat next to his friend. "I told m'self that as well. At least for the first two or so weeks... I thought the same, that she was just a little bit nervous because she couldn't remember all that much... But the more that I think about it... Clover, despite all of their changes... They were more or less the same as before they had lost their memory, right?"

Ceroba hadn't spent too much time with the kid... But from what little they'd seen of them before their accident, their attitude had matched up with how they treated her daughter... "I... Suppose you're not wrong, Clover didn't seem to be all that affected by their memory loss... But, what are you trying to say?" Ceroba leaned forward a little bit more cupping the side of her head in a paw.

"Just... I'm a bit worried about her. It's unheard of for monsters to just... Come back from falling down, do you think maybe something happened to them...? Nothing too horrible but... They're just not as energetic as I remember them. She can barely get herself to play along with the Feisty Five and it's just... It worries me." Starlo frowned and pulled his hat down. "I'm worried about her."

"...Dina! A beer please."

"...Ceroba."

"I'm fine Starlo, just... I just need to think."

"This isn't really something..."

"Starlo."

"..."

"Trust me, I'm fine, really, I am. I've never been more fine before. Ever since... Can... Can I be honest with you for a moment here?"

"O'course, always."

"I was in a really bad place just a few weeks ago... When Clover came through..."

Starlo nodded for Ceroba to continue after she had paused for a few seconds.

"I... I had planned to use their SOUL to revive Kanako."

"W-wha...? Y-you don't mean..."

"That's exactly what I mean. I was going to kill Clover."

Starlo's mouth hung open, out of all the things he had expected to hear tonight, that was not one of them.

"C-Ceroba..."

"It's horrible, I know it is. Especially with the way Martlet and Clover bonded... I... I was in a really bad place, I wasn't thinking straight. I'd never go through with it now but I... I feel it necessary to tell you." She almost stopped multiple times mid sentence, but somehow found the strength to power through anyways.

He didn't respond, he wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"And now... Despite what I had planned to do... It's as if the entire world just... Fell into my lap. Almost everything I could ask for practically handed itself over to me. My daughter is recovering, my husband's legacy is being completed..."

Dina eyed the two of them curiously, but she knew better then to eavesdrop on topics like this. She set down the bottle and walked away.

"...But... You didn't do any of that, did you...?"

"No. Of course not." Ceroba peered into the bottle.

"So then... Why're you telling me about that...?"

"...Because you deserved to know." Ceroba sighed. "And to let you know... I really am in a far better place now. My eyes have been opened. I know you always worried about me drinking, even if you never said anything about it... But trust me, I really am alright." Ceroba finally took a sip.

"Alright... Ain't like you're the one that almost killed the kid." Starlo sighed and leaned forwards just like Ceroba. "Guess we're both a pair of screw ups, huh?"

"Guess so."

"It feels a bit awkward to just drop the topic but... Really, do you think something's wrong with Kanako...?"

Ceroba sighed and took another sip. "I've taken a few looks at her SOUL, and nothing's wrong... She's not showing any physical symptoms of something being wrong either... But... I can't lie, like you said she's... Been more reserved." Ceroba considered letting Starlo know about Chujin's work before he died, or at least, some of it... But now wasn't really the time... Or the place. But for her part, Ceroba had looked into it. She'd noticed something wrong a while back but... Nothing came up in any tests, the only real issue was just Kanako being a bit quieter sometimes, maybe not being as enthusiastic about certain activities... Surely nothing that bad, right?

Right... So... Why couldn't Ceroba shake the gut feeling that something was...

Wrong?

...

Martlet had been doing some extra work recently... Why? BECAUSE HER KIDS BIRTHDAY WAS COMING UP!

Far from being lethargic, Martlet figured this was the most energy she had put into her work... Just about ever! Heck, she'd even considered picking up a side job! Who would've ever thought it? Martlet, straight C student, always in the back of class, showing work ethic!? Inconceivable! She even considered writing to her parents about it, but realized half way through the creation of the letter that talking about the reason why she was suddenly doing so well for herself would be a bit of a... Spoiler.

Anyways! Even as she hammered away, Martlet was thinking. Despite saving up all this extra G in the past few days, commission work, extra puzzles, more hours, she wasn't quite sure about what sort of gift she should get for Clover. Funny to think that she'd been doing all of this cause of the single nugget of information she'd been given.

Phones were a new thing in the Underground... Sort of, anyways. It was more accurate to say that phones were getting a tech upgrade recently. She could get him one of those... But they were like... Super expensive... Maybe she could get something else?

Once she finished hammering in that said nail, Martlet had another realization. Clover's friends didn't even know their birthday was coming up, did they?

She'd have a lot of planning to do in these next few days... She needed to get Clover legally registered for school, she needed to organize a birthday party, she needed to get her kid a gift, she needed to do a lot... But... Despite all of that stuff that needed doing... Martlet's heart had never felt so full before, her SOUL never so filled with purpose... So... Even with the task ahead of her, Martlet couldn't stop smiling throughout all of her work.

Despite everything that had happened in these past few weeks... The close calls, the lies, the fights, she felt happy.

She felt content.