Another week of college passed with everything that came along with it. The first exams were very slowly approaching and drama practice made more and more progress. Elena even announced when the great performance would take place. The annual celebration of the day monsters were freed from the underground was set as the day that would reveal if your days of practice payed off or if they were nothing more than a waste of time. That was still quite a few days ahead though.

Right now you were on your way to room 045, the room where the first meeting of the Neko club was supposed to take place. Asriel was quite curious what the club was about and was almost begging you to let him join but you had to decline his request. The club was exclusive to Nekos and you were pretty sure Asriel wasn't one, unless Nekos have horns and long floppy ears and are covered head to toe in fur. He was more of a goat than anything else.

You arrived at the rather barren looking door. Unlike the other clubs, that had their doors and surrounding wall brightly decorated, the door to the Neko club room still looked almost factory fresh. It didn't surprise you at all. The club was still new and in addition to that, supposed to be a secret. A brightly decorated door, plastered full with cute Neko pictures would draw in a lot of unwanted attention. Especially from the Anime club. Just thinking about that club made you shudder.

You raised your hand and knocked on the door. Immediately, you could hear shuffling coming from the inside. The door opened slightly and a pair of eyes peered through the slit.

"Name and invitation," the voice from behind asked in a growling tone.

"____," you answered as you pulled out your invitation and showed it to the mysterious stranger behind the door.

The door opened even more, revealing close to thirty other Nekos, most of them siting by a table. You stepped inside and the door was promptly closed behind you.

"____! You actually came," Felix rushed towards you the moment he realized it was actually you. "Remember anyone here?"

"Yes, I do. That one over there, with the cream colored ears. That's Chloe," you pointed at a Neko over by the window. "Say, is she still as passionate about dancing as she used to be?"

"You bet she is. Actually, I think it got even worse. It's been only a few weeks since we all joined college and she's already the captain of the dancing club," a hearty chuckle escaped Felix's throat. "She's also pretty popular. Some go as far as saying that she'll be a breakthrough when it comes to us being accepted by society. It's only a matter of time until she's world famous."

A certain sense of satisfaction began to spread through you. Should Chloe really become world famous then society would surely be able to accept other Nekos as well. At least that's what you and everyone else hoped.

"I'll let you catch up with the others, talk to you later," Felix shot you a smile before he returned to whatever he was doing before.

You continued to let your eyes wander across the surprisingly comfortable and homey room. So many familiar faces in one room, the last time you saw something like that was way back during the experimentation program. So many of your metaphorical brothers and sisters were here.

You felt how someone placed their hand on your shoulder and you turned around. Leo, a rather rough looking guy with maroon colored hair, was looking you straight in the eyes. Everyone else would be terrified by that but you knew him. It was his way of saying 'Hi'.

"Hey ____, glad to see you here. Sorry if I appeared a little rude at the door. You can never be too sure if one of those damn scientist shows up," he spoke in his usual, growling voice as he held out his hand. Most people would probably think poorly of him, thanks to the constant growl in his voice, but that too was part of who he is. He might look and sound like a wild lion but truth is he's more of a lap cat.

"Don't worry about it, I know how your brain works," you shot him a smile as you shook his hand. "So, how have things been going for you?"

"Could be better. People avoid me whenever they can but at least they don't pick on me. Unlike poor Lily. She's been getting it from all sides. Poor girl deserves better than that," Leo looked past you and over to Lily, who was sitting far in the back of the room. Her silvery hair hung over face, ears flattened against her head. "I feel sorry for her. She's been through enough already, she doesn't need a bunch of immature bullies picking on her. Just thinking about it, it makes me want to beat those bullies to a pulp."

That's the Leo you know. Kind, compassionate and a little hot headed.

"If I see anyone picking on her I'll be sure to kick there ass to the moon and back. You can trust me on that one," you looked towards Lily with a compassionate expression, shaking your head at the mere thought that there are people out there that pick on people whose life is already in shambles.

"Just make sure you don't end up killing them, OK? I know I can be scary when I get mad but that's nothing compared with when you get mad. You'd make a lion look like a sweet, innocent kitten," Leo showed himself concerned for the bullies, even though he seems to despise them just as much as you do. "I just wish she'd open up a little. She wont even talk to any one of us."

"You just have to keep trying. I'm sure she'll open up once she realizes that you here to help her," you gave Leo an encouraging pat on the shoulder. He simply nodded in response and walked over to Lily.

The other Nekos seemed like they were about to play some card game and you were considering joining them, when a knock on the door caught your attention. You sight and slightly opened it. Outside stood a girl wearing the worst fake cat ears the world has ever seen.

"Can I help you?" you asked in a cold tone.

"Can I join your club?" the girl asked with anticipation.

"What club? We're just a bunch of friends studying together," you blatantly lied, something you were surprisingly good at.

"Really? I saw a bunch of other Nekos enter the room, one after the other. I'm pretty sure this is a club," she insisted on her claims.

"Fine. In that case I need your name, invitation and serial number," you made up the serial number part, not that it really mattered. She doesn't have an invitation, you were sure of it.

"Really? I'm obviously a Neko, see," she did a little spin, revealing a cheap and obviously fake clip on tail.

"Yeah, you're not getting in. Not without the required information," she might be persistent but so are you. You're not letting her in.

"I'll tell the headmistress that you're..." she tried to threaten you but found herself unable to finish her sentence.

"I'll be waiting," you simply cut her off, knowing perfectly that nothing would come out of it. While the girl simply stood there, looking deeply offended, you simply closed the door.

"Who was that?" someone you didn't recognized asked.

"Just some random girl thinking she can just walk in here," you casually answered as you shrugged your shoulders.

"What a nuisance. Anyways, I don't think we've met yet. I'm Lucky, pleasure to meet you," Lucky held out his hand as he greeted you with a smile on his face.

"I'm ____, nice to meet you too," you answered, shaking his hand.

"So you're ____? I heard about you. You must've been through a lot of shit," Lucky showed himself sympathetic to you.

"We all have," your response was rather plain and broad. You knew what he meant but you weren't the only one that lived in constant fear of abuse and murder.

Lucky sighed as he looked of to the side. "Yeah, you're right. At least we got our lives and each other. Well, some of us do."

"Alright, looks like everyone's here." Leo announced while walking over to the table. "The first official meeting of the Neko club has officially started."

Everyone assembled around the table, though no one really knew what the meeting was actually about. The invitation mentioned something about spending time with familiar faces and talking about taking action if the needs arises. That's quite vague in your opinion.

"First off, I would like to thank everyone for coming. It's been way too long since we had the chance to do something like this," Leo seemed quite happy to be surrounded by people that actually accepted each other. "I know there's probably a lot you want to talk about, but we already have a bit of an emergency at hand."

The formerly relaxed atmosphere vanished and was instantly replaced with a palpable tension. Why was there already a reason to take action? And more importantly, against who?

"I've recently discovered an article on the internet. Someone interviewed a bunch of you guys and gathered information on the various scientists involved," Leo spoke in an unusually serious tone as he shared his concerns.

"That must have been Lonnie's article. He's been asking a bunch of questions on what we remember from the experiment," Lucky answered in a rather causal way, his expression clearly unconcerned.

"That is not the issue. One of the names the article mentioned stuck out to me. Prof. Johannes von Kaiser, lead scientist and founder of the Neko experimentation program," Leo paused for a moment as he saw everyone's concerned expression. "I have reasons to believe that von Kaiser is still alive. The report listing the names of everyone that died during the experiment was missing one name. Johannes von Kaiser."

A deathly silence began to fill the room, followed by an increasingly intense aura. Johannes von Kaiser may still be alive and that could mean a lot of things, none of them were good. Everyone present seemed gravely concerned by that fact.

"What do you propose?" you asked Leo, tearing trough the veil of silence.

"We don't know where von Kaiser is currently located, should he still be alive. In case he is still alive, it stands to reason the he's nearby. If that's the case, we should be prepared for the worse. There are only few of us who possess any fighting expertise so I'd suggest traveling in groups. Always stay in contact with each other and should the need arise, notify someone who knows how to fight. And to those who can fight, try to teach the others. It's likely that von Kaiser will try to capture us and he'll probably hire people to help him," Leo sounded almost like a general giving orders. His expression remained stern but concerned.

Another club member was about to ask a question, when another knock on the door captured everyone's attention.

"I'll get it," you sighed as you stood up. There was a vague idea of who might be interrupting your assembly.

"____, are you sure," Leo began but was cut off by a dismissive hand motion from you.

"Don't worry. I think I know who it is," you proceeded to the door, opening it slightly. It was exactly how you expected it to be.

"Here, this is a hand written letter from Ms. Dreemurr. It allows me to join your club, whether you like it or not," it was the same girl from earlier, handing you a letter with a mocking expression.

You simply took the letter and began reading trough it. It simply stated that this student is allowed to join the club and participate in the associated club activities, signed by Toriel.

"Hold on one second, OK? I just need to check something," you politely told her to stay patient.

"Ugh, what is it now? Isn't that letter prove enough? Just let me in already!" the girl began to grow irritated, especially after you simply closed the door again.

"That girl again?" Lucky asked, looking just as annoyed you were.

"Yeah, said she had a letter from Toriel that allows her to join. I'll just double check that real quick," you answered as you pulled out your phone.

"How can you check that?" Lucky seemed surprised but you didn't answer since you were busy typing on your phone.

Hey Asriel, I need your help with something real quick.

Sure, what is it?

You snapped a picture of the supposed letter and send it to Asriel

Some girl claims this letter was written by Toriel. Can you confirm?

There was a moment of silence. Asriel was probably comparing the handwriting of the letter to his mother's.

Nope, that's not mom's hand and the signature is a very poor fake. Also, mom uses actual letter paper with the family crest on it. This one's simple writing paper, like students use for their notes.

Thanks.

You placed your phone back in your pocked and opened the door again, shoving the letter directly in the girls face. "Nice try but the latter is forged."

"Excuse me? This is an official letter by the headmistress herself," she insisted on the validity of her letter.

"I share a room with her son. I texted him and he confirmed that your letter is, in fact, forged," you looked at her with a dead serious expression. "Now, how about you go back to wherever you came from and we'll forget about this. Alternatively, I could tell Toriel about how you tried to forge her signature."

Caught red-handed, the girl finally decided to leave. Hopefully for good.

You closed the door again, and were faced with a small army of Nekos staring at you.

"Hold on, you're sharing a room with prince Asriel?" Chloe, out of all people, asked you in disbelief.

"Yeah, I am," you replied as you sat down by the table again.

"That's so cool. What's it like living with him?" Chloe seemed quite interested in your life with Asriel.

"It's alright though he can be a bit of a pain every now and then," you leaned back in your chair as you gave them your answer.

"Didn't expect you to be this close already," Lucky jumped in, chuckling at, in his eyes, clever response.

"You and Asriel would get along perfectly. He's making jokes like that all the time," you sighed in disbelief as you shook your head slightly.

"Enough about that. We have a potential emergency at our hand," Leo growled in a stern tone, trying to get everyone's attention back on topic.

"What else is there to talk about? Stay in groups, stay in contact and call for help if some tries to do some shady business," someone, whose name you didn't know yet, said.

"Hmph, fine," Leo seemed rather displeased. There were things he though were worth mentioning but it seemed as if most club members weren't interested. "At least make sure you exchange numbers, maybe even create a group chat. And no word to your roommates unless their directly involved. What we talk about here is confidential, we don't need anyone else snooping around."

With that out of the way, most Nekos began to get up from their seat and move to somewhere else in the room. The formerly tense atmosphere began to vanish and soon everyone was talking about all sorts of things. Some introduced themselves to one another while others were catching up on things.

"So, how have things been going for you?" Felix asked, as he sat down next to you.

"Things started out a little rough, but everything's looking alright now," you casually replied. "How about you?"

"Things could be better, could be worse. I'm quite happy with how things look right now," he seemed content with his current situation. "Say, I've heard you actually attacked your social worker. Is there anything to that rumor?"

"Yeah, I did attack my previous social worker. He had it coming though. He's been treating me like I'm some sort of worthless animal. That guy even had the audacity to pull my tail. I kinda snapped and attacked him. Court ruled I acted in self defense, so I got off scot-free," you explained what the truth behind the rumor was.

"Ouch, sorry to hear that," Felix, being the way he is, remained concerned. Some things never seem to change. "Hey, I've been wondering if..."

"Hey ____," Chloe decided to jump in on the conversation, promptly cutting off Felix mid sentence. "Are you really living with the prince?"

"Yeah, I do. Why?" you asked her, fearing for another series of stupid questions.

"Does he have his own luxury dorm? Better beds? Room service?" she began to ask, what was probably the silliest set of questions you've heard yet.

"Nope. He's living in the same type of room as everyone else," your rather boring answer seem to have disappointed her. "Why do you ask? As far as I know boys and girls aren't allowed to share rooms."

"Just curious. Out of everyone here you probably had it the worst. I think you deserve some comfort after all that happened," she said in a worried tone.

"Stop it with this hierarchy nonsense. We've all been trough hell. Saying one had it worse than the other and therefore deserves more will only end up dividing us," you scolded her, infuriated by the notion of some sort

'victim hierarchy.'

"I... you're right. You, Felix, everyone else. We're all family, the only family we'll ever have. We should stick together," Chloe seemed almost ashamed by her initial suggestion but now looked at you with newfound resolve.

"Now THAT'S what I want to hear," Leo walked up from behind her, giving Chloe a friendly pat on her back. "As long as we stick together, nothing can stop us. And if something tries, then we'll show what a clowder of angry Nekos can do."

"A clowder of Nekos? We're more of pride, if you ask me," you joked, drawing a chuckle out of Leo.

"Alright everyone, can I have your attention for just another moment?" Leo called out to everyone in the room, drawing their attention. "Before we end this meeting and go back to our dorms, there's one thing I'd like to tell all of you. We are a family so if everyone has troubles, no matter how small, tell us and we'll do our best to help you out. We stick together no matter what, come hell or high water."

With those final words from Leo, everyone returned to their dorm in high spirits, knowing full well that they have people to rely on. You too were about to leave but Leo pulled you aside.

"Can I have a few words with you? Don't worry, nothing too serious," he seemed deeply concerned, though you could understand why. Given the current situation, you might come face to face with your tormentor at some point.

"I need your help. We don't know where von Kaiser is but we need to be prepared in case he shows up with some new, demented plan. So, I'd like to ask you to help me train the others. Teach them what you were taught back during the project. If more of us know how to defend themselves we'll be much safer."

"Sure, I'll help you," you happily agreed, seeing the urgency behind Leo's request. He had a point. If more of you know about self defense, the less likely it will be someone gets captured or worse, should von Kaiser make a move.

"Thanks, I knew I could count on you," Leo seemed relieved that you agreed to help him, his formerly tense expression easing visibly. "And before I forget. Remember when I said that everything we talked about in the club is confidential? Seeing that you and Asriel seem to get along quite well with each other, you may tell him about what's going on. He might be able to help us, or at least pull some strings for us. But only do so if it's absolutely necessary, everything else would draw in unwanted attention."

"Got it, see you around," you gave Leo a firm handshake.

"See ya," he said his goodbyes and you returned to your dorm, where Asriel was already waiting.

"And, what was it like seeing everyone again? Talked about anything special? Any activities or other things planed?" he immediately began bombarding you with questions.

"It was nice seeing some familiar faces though we still have a lot to catch up to," you answered with a content smile.

"So, what did you talk about? I'm would love to know what you were talking about," Asriel tried to get more information out of you, which was nothing new.

"Sorry but I'm not allowed to tell you, at least not under current circumstances," you responded, denying his request for answers.

"Oh, is it a surprise for me? When can you tell me?" he was getting quite excited, almost like a child on Christmas eve.

"Let's just hope it never gets to a point where I have to," you replied in a more serious and concerned manner, hoping it would stall Asriel's curiosity.

"Oh, OK then," he dropped the topic, looking disappointed.

Johannes von Kaiser may be still alive. That adds another thing to, what seemed like an ever growing list of troubles. It also gave you even more responsibilities. You hoped that von Kaiser was actually dead and if not, that he at least wouldn't plan something crazy. The last thing you need is the same insane scientist continuing where he left off.