Small Differences - Chapter 1 (OLD)

	Kris had made an agreement with the soul. Kris would have the majority of control over his life, but the soul would meet its own goals. If ever in a dire situation where it was necessary, the soul would take control over Kris' body for as long as needed. According to them, they were meant for a completely different body, but something interfered and now they're stuck together. Kris had this weird feeling that the soul was meant to come into contact with him, however. Even stranger, he somehow just knew that it invaded his body a bit....early. Despite this, Kris never asked any questions regarding the hows or whys that the soul didn't already answer because it didn't really matter. He was just relieved that the soul seemed at least somewhat benevolent in nature. Even though they have only been with Kris for around a month, they already know a great deal about him, his family, and many other people in that little town. The soul used this information to Kris' advantage, preventing quite a few regrettable memories from being created. Yet....they knew something else that they weren't so willing to share. Not just yet.

All that was certain was that the soul's guidance had begun to have a small yet noticeable effect on Kris.

...

...

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*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE-*
*Click...*

	The time on Kris' phone read 6:30 AM. Kris struggles to drag himself out of bed, but ends up falling on the floor face first. The teenager lied there for a few moments before he heard his door open followed by a familiar voice. "Kris! Kris, it's time to g-- .... Ohoho my, are you alright, my child?" It was his mother, Toriel. A tall yet fluffy monster with a somewhat goat-like appearance. Kris responds with a groan and pulls himself to his feet. The towering caprine boss monster Kris had come to call 'mother' was standing in the door-frame. "I would have made you breakfast, but you're probably already full from last night's pie, hmmm?" She says with a disappointed scowl. Kris doesn't react. There were just some things that even the soul couldn't convince Kris not to do. He grabs his favorite green and yellow-striped sweater, shoes, and black pants and takes them into the bathroom. He places the clothes on the closed toilet seat and turns the shower on as he undresses from his nightwear, which was usually comprised of boxers and a t-shirt. Kris puts his hand under the water and adjusts the temperature until it's juuuuust right before stepping in. The warm water makes his stiff body loosen a bit while his hair becomes matted together as it gets in his eyes. Some soap and shampoo later, the now clean young man applies some deodorant, gets dressed, discards his dirty clothes in the nearby hamper and steps outside where his mother is waiting for him next to the car.

	It was the beginning of November. The once green leaves turned to that of a bright gold, reminiscent of the golden flower that Asgore had planted in a bottle on the cashier desk at his house. The air was getting ever so colder as the days passed by, with December arriving soon. "Kris...it is a beautiful day today, is it not?" Kris remains silent, but she continues as he opens the car door, enters the passenger seat, and buckles up. "I hope it stays this way when Asriel visits next week. But I wonder....." Kris had only just now noticed that the soul is unusually quiet today. They didn't even say 'Good morning' like they usually do. "After the excitement of university...Will he still enjoy coming home to this little town...?" Kris can only muster a mere shrug. The vehicle pulls out of the driveway. Kris' neighbors wave at them as they pass by along with the rest of the townsfolk. Kris notices the grogginess in their eyes. It was only 7:22 AM, after all.

	Toriel's car pull into the inconveniently small parking space located near the school's entrance as Kris unbuckles his seat belt. The human and his monster mother both step out and close the doors behind them. Without a word, Kris' mother takes him by the hand and leads him into the building. Kris can't help but look down at the ground in shame, even if there's nobody around to see.

	"*Looks like they all went inside already." the soul finally decides to chime in.

	Kris' mother gives him a one-sided hug. His arms slightly twitch as he almost returns the hug, but stops himself. She turns and walks towards her own destination, leaving Kris to walk to his classroom. Kris stops and feels a mixture of irritation and disgust as he catches Berdly staring right at him next to the classroom door. He has that irritating smirk in his face.

	"*Don't pay him any mind. He's not worth any trouble. Just go inside."

	Kris attempts to push past the blue bird before him without a word, but Berdly can't help himself as he actively blocks the door by leaning on it. "Still need your mom to hold your hand to school? I guess that's to be expected. You know, Kris..." The human can feel that burning feeling in his chest as his nose visibly twitches. "I'll tell you what. Just let me know if you need help tying your shoelaces, or removing the crust from your sandwiches!"

	"*I'll help you prank him later. Just ignore him for now."

	Kris decides to just force his way past him and step inside. "My offer's still open, Kris! Consider it!" he calls before Kris enters his seat in the middle of the room. Kris notices the hunched over, yellow monster in the corner, staring at her phone. Alphys. She perks up when looks up and sees the human. "O-oh! Kris, you're on time again! You're on quite a streak! T-that's good!" Kris had always hated it whenever she singled him out like that. Berdly steps in and gives Kris a smug look that he tries to ignore. "A-attention, everyone! We're doing group projects this month! So...uh...everyone pick a partner!" Kris only has a few choices that weren't completely insufferable. There's MK, but she doesn't have any arms. That could be a problem. Tem is weird, but she's alright and kinda cute in a puppy dog....kitten kind of way...? Kris stands up and walks over to Tem, but she says that she's already taken in her weird yet adorable Temmie dialect. Tem pulls out a hard-boiled egg and places it on her desk. "There's always Noelle, right? Yeah, she's cool." Kris thinks to himself.

However, before he has the opportunity to ask her to be his partner, he overhears her telling Berdly she'd be happy to be his partner. "Great." Kris mumbles under his breath. He had a niggling feeling in the back of his head that Berdly asked Noelle just to spite him. Kris knows for a fact that Jockington and Catti are always partners in anything group oriented, so that's out of the question. Snowdrake? "Meh. Pass."

	"*Hey, maybe I can be your partner, eehhhh? Eh, maybe not. I think we only count as one person..."
	A small "heh" briefly escapes Kris' lips.

	"S-so, does everyone have a partner? Kris?" Alphys' inquiry is met by a shrug and an audible exhale from the nose. "Ms. Alphys!" Noelle interjects with a look of genuine concern. "M-maybe we could make a group of three?" Berdly's face reflexively scrunches up into a cringe. "Hey! What? No! I do NOT approve of this! ABORT!!" he squawks. "What?" Noelle responds, "B-but Kris doesn't have a-" but Alphys interrupts. "Noelle, what were you saying?" "She was just saying we were FINE being alone!" screeches Berdly, somehow looking overly sure of himself and annoyed at the same time. "A-actually....I was just wanted to know if..." "Noelle, can you PLEASE SPEAK UP?"

	Suddenly, the door slams open.

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