In his room, Kris thought in silence. The lights were off, allowing his eyes to barely make out the light green color of the walls.
Kris had a lot on his mind. First of all, he was grounded; second, he had learned quite a bit about his quirk.
After much begging, he was now allowed to continue his training alone sometimes; however, he would have to attend appointments with the quirk analyst he had met last week.
Kris thought about his status. He knew how to train his body and had spent his whole life doing it, but how would he train his mind?
No, that he knew. After all, Kris, who had no quirk, had researched a lot about the subject in the hope of being able to face quirk users in his hero career.
Quirks are like muscles: use them regularly and push them beyond their limits to strengthen them.
Status.
With a thought, his status table appeared before his eyes:
**Kris Dreemur**
Constitution: 30 (Well-trained martial artist, still very young.)
Strength: 25 (Calisthenics paid off.)
Mind: 15 → 16 (Divorced parents, emo.)
Aura: 491 → 290 points stored.
Kris was too tired to feel accomplished when he fixed the refrigerator, so he was sure it had cost 200 points to repair it.
It's expensive, but it's a fair price.
Apparently, the effort had been worth it too, considering the increase in his mind status.
Even so, Kris knew he couldn't get used to this. After all, his constitution and strength hadn't increased that week, even though he had pushed himself every day.
This increase was probably because the stat was low, and maybe he had already been close to leveling it up before.
While Kris was lost in thought, he suddenly heard his phone ring.
Moving toward the device, he saw who was calling: it was Noelle.
Kris didn't like phone calls. Usually, he had to talk to communicate anything and couldn't see the other person's face. But it was impossible to refuse that call.
Answering quickly, Kris put the phone to his ear. It had been a while since he last heard his friend's voice.
"Kris." said Noelle simply, in a calm voice.
"Noelle." replied Kris.
"How have you been?" asked the girl, hesitantly.
"Fine."
"I... I'm not really in the mood to talk right now, and I know you're not much into that either." said the girl, sadly.
"..."
"Can we meet tomorrow?" asked Noelle, after a moment of silence.
"Always. Just tell me when you're ready to see me." said Kris serenely.
"I'm glad."
"Shall I wait for you tomorrow at 3 PM at... can it be Starbucks?"
"Of course."
"Then it's set."
"I'll see you tomorrow, Noelle."
"Kris, tomorrow could you try not to touch me?"
"Of course." Kris tried hard to hide the anger he felt and not let it slip into his voice.
*Click.*
Without warning, Noelle hung up, leaving Kris in silence.
Despite everything, Kris's gaze was serene, but his body was rigid as he struggled and failed to contain the anger toward the villain who had hurt his friend.
Staring into nothing for a moment, he felt his consciousness fade as he drifted into sleep.
The next day...
In his green room, surrounded by rock posters, two beds, and two desks, Kris was getting ready.
The room had once been shared not only by him but also by his brother, Asriel, who was now studying abroad in college, leaving the space to Kris.
Kris was finishing getting ready: the same green-and-yellow striped shirt as always, dark brown baggy pants, and dress shoes.
As soon as he was done, he rushed through the house, running down the hallway and into the kitchen, where his mother was.
Waving to her as he passed, Kris didn't give her time to greet him and dashed out of the house.
Outside, he found himself in the calm neighborhood where he lived. It was 2:30 PM, but there were almost no people on the sidewalk, and even cars passing by were rare there.
Without looking at anyone or paying much attention to his surroundings, Kris kept running.
It was a 4-kilometer run to Starbucks, but for him, it wasn't particularly difficult. It took him 10 minutes, arriving at 2:40 PM.
Stopping in front of the place, he took a deep breath to catch his breath, while some people around stared at him after his mad dash there.
Looking at the entrance, he saw the same glass walls and the cozy atmosphere as always, with well-spaced wooden tables and chairs.
Upon entering, he searched for a table until he noticed a gaze fixed on him.
Turning, he met Noelle's eyes, already seated, her timid face greeting him with a wave.
Kris waved back and moved to the table, sitting down across from her.
She wore a long white dress. With her deer horns and delicate nose, Noelle looked like a snow spirit.
"Noelle." was all Kris said as he sat down.
"Hi, Kris. Did you get upset that I ignored you?" Noelle looked down as she asked.
"I was sad, but I wasn't angry." said Kris, wanting to reassure her.
"I didn't even stop to thank you." she said, still not showing her face.
"You don't need to." said Kris seriously.
"You're even speaking more than one word per sentence." the girl lifted her gaze, meeting Kris's red eyes.
The dark eyes of the deer-girl filled with tears.
"..." Kris remained silent.
"Thank you, Kris!" tears streamed down her tanned skin as Noelle thanked him.
"..." Kris had nothing to say.
Actually, he did, but he didn't know how to choose. There was much he wanted, but he didn't know if he could say it.
Thinking quickly, he decided to say what seemed most true.
"Always, Noelle. If you need me, just call me."
The girl looked at him for a moment before standing up from her chair and moving closer to him.
Taking Kris's hand, Noelle said nothing about it.
Kris also didn't mention what had happened the previous week, nor did he comment on the closeness between them.
They simply ordered something and drank, while talking about UA, their career ideas, and how to achieve them.