She had gone back to trying to avoid sleep again as well, careful not to wonder the halls to much and atract attention. She had gotten pretty good resistance to needing much sleep these days. Aoi had always been terrified of her own power and the damage it could very quickly do. In less then ten minutes she and her sister had destroyed several walls and desks in their school in Japan.  It had been a week or so since her trip to the danger room with Sam and the other guy whose name escaped her. It had been awhile since she had done much actual damage as well. For which she was always grateful.

    It was also quite strange to now be 4 years younger then her sister, physically anyway. It had been something her sister had been keen to tease her on and somehow they had avoided a bear fight.  Aoi had been wound up emotionally from her recent reduction in age but had decided to try and make the best of it like her Parents had told her. 

    When she had got the message to go to the new Teacher's classroom she was grateful for the break in her Day. She set down her book she had been looking over, a Text book for the next year of classes. She had always liked to get a jump start on her school work and it helped keep her focused as well. Unsure what she would actually need, she made sure to bring paper, pencil and an apple. Looking around to make sure she had everything she made the short trip from her room to the Classroom areas and quickly identified which it was. 

     Her eyes looked over the room to consider the new Teachers preferences and to where the best seating might be. The short Japanese girl was under five foot, her long silver hair braided tightly on the left side. She knew she could get away with a t-shirt and a long skirt here as the Mansion lacked the rules back home did. She took a bite out of her apple to help with her increased metabolism and food need.   "Hello. Ms Sundance, welcome to the the school. I am Aoi Mizuki"[/color] she said her mood perking back up once she was in the classroom.[/span]

The classroom was one of the larger ones, by necessity. It had room for about twenty-five or so desks in the front for lectures and regular classroom activities and had rows of lab stations in the back for more hands-on activities. Cabinets lined the walls and were filled with all manner of equipment. The chemicals and other potentially dangerous things were locked away inside a little closet in the back.

But the room still had that sterile, generic classroom quality to it. Either the previous teacher hadn’t added any personal ltouches (or even academic posters or whatever) or the place had been completely stripped and cleaned out.

It was one of the oodles of things Liz was adding to her to-do list, in order to be prepared for her first classes once the school year began. Another of her tasks, self-imposed as it was, was to meet up with some of her students first, especially the younger ones or those who might need a little extra tender loving care.

Aoi Mizuki was one of those students. Young, not quite high school age. At least not anymore. Her file said she had been affected by the mass deaging that had impacted so many members of the mutant community in NYC. Liz couldn’t even imagine what that would do to a person. But there were a lot of other things in Aoi’s file that Liz wanted to feel out for herself though. At the very least, this would help her get herself back in the mode of a mutant school.

“Hello, Aoi,” Liz said warmly, getting up from her massive desk to greet the girl. She held back several feet, well outside of the girl’s personal space, but smiled widely. “Thank you, it’s so wonderful to be back. And it’s a pleasure to meet you!” Liz stepped back and extended a hand to a couple of the student desks in the front. “Why don’t we take a seat? No sense standing the whole time.”

Liz herself pulled herself into one of the desks. “If you don’t mind, why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?”

She noticed the distance the teacher gave her and was curious about it but thought maybe it had to do with her power. But before she put to much thought into it the Womans wide smile took her in. It sounded like she had been here before which of course was possible, though Aoi did not know her.

She took one of the seats in the front making sure to stay close to where Ms Sundance would take. She certainly seemed like a friendly enough lady from what Aoi could tell. The room was still a bit dull but their was well over a month until class began anyway.

About herself? Sure she could do that. "My family is from Tokyo Japan where I grew up with my Twin sister near the water. I maintained marks that put me at the top of my class, unlike my sister who liked being a clown. Always getting us mixed up as well which she loved." she said thinking to herself what the best answer for this was. What was the right answer here she wonderd. She looked away for a moment before she went on. "Then a year ago, i mean well 5 years ago when i was 11? she said her frustration leaking to the surface before she calmed herself her fingers striking through some of the waist long sections of her hair. Her and her sister getting their powers had always been an embarrassing thing for her though her sister of course reveled in it. She decided to avoid the mention of their powers.

"I Love school and doing the best i can at it. I already started reading some of the textbooks for the coming school year just to be prepared. I am really looking forward to this year! I can also help others as needed" she said the offer at the end genuine though with a hint of a young lady who was use to being one of the smarter kids in the room. "My parents moved not to far away on business about 2 years ago...a year? I Like shopping, cartoons and animals as well she said not sure if she should continue.

"So you went to this school before? As a teacher or a student" she asked curiously. The woman looked young but with the deage thing who knew how old anyone was any more.

Elizabeth maintained her smile as she gave Aoi all of her attention. She was taking mental notes of course, but wasn’t worrying about sweating the details. Some of what the girl said Liz already knew from her file, particularly in regards to academics, and in fact there was a lot that the girl didn’t say, which was also informative.

And it was perfectly fine, too. The blonde’s smile widened more. “Well, it sounds like you’re going to make my job a little easier then,” she said. “I haven’t even started on the books yet, and I’m supposed to be teaching them!” She laughed. Of course, she’d only had the job for under a week, but still. And Liz was genuinely looking forward to having Aoi in class, even after knowing the girl for only a few minutes. So far she seemed like several students Liz had had before.

Aoi’s comments about her parent’s moving and her deaging caught the empath’s attention, but before she could do more than process it, the girl had moved on. Which was fine. She didn’t mind letting the girl have influence over the conversation. Such things built trust after all.

“I love shopping and animals, too,” she said. “I could spend all day at a mall and even longer at a zoo.” She tapped her head. “My mutation lets me know what animals are feeling. That’s why I actually came to the school in the first place. So to answer your question, I came here as a student, 15 years old actually, and going almost crazy with my powers.”

Liz let out a laugh tinged with elements of nostalgia and sorrow. Years before, she wouldn’t have been able to laugh so freely. “There I was, a hormonal teenage girl in a new school in a new city with weird new powers that let me feel everything every animal around me felt all the time.” Her smile turned whimsical. “I ate a lot of ice cream late at night, that’s for sure,” she said with a wink.

“So what are your thoughts about the school, Aoi? Anything particularly awesome, weird, boring, bad, or just plain neutral?” she queried curiously, her head titling just slightly, like an interested cat.

She laughed with Liz. She hoped to make her job quite easy at least from her end. " My sister won't open hers until the firs day" she said shaking her head slightly. To aoi it was unacceptable and something she had perhaps more then once pestered her sister about.

Her focus narrowed on the teacher as mentioned her Mutation. Know how an Animal feels, she wondered if their was more to it then that. If their was the lady might be of help. Being able to feel what Animals were seemed cool and much less trouble then her own. Though the range she mentioned could be an issue if she could not shut them out.

"You sound a bit like me, except for me it's fish and a lot of energy drinks. Was your power hard to control" she asked thinking it might have been a bit personal after she asked but by then it was a bit to late. Control was an important issue for Aoi since as far as she knew getting rid of her power was not an option. "Do the animals feel differently?" she asked curiously.

What she thought about the school itself? She considered it carefully. "Well it is really cool, they have so much in resources for the Library and even just asking some of the older residents here about things. I have learned so much. So it has been really great there. Im not sure boring could apply to a place like this but weird is well every day. I also get to sleep a bit more here which can be tough, ummm Well it is really cool their are so many mutants here. It's also really good I'm not quite as much of a danger here. " she said searching for the right answer to the question again.

"It is also nice i can spend so much time in my room. never could do that at home" she said trying to think of what else she could add into the question. The only bad part she found was they could not remove her powers. So she had tended ti isolate herself in her room as much as she could, which seemed to work out ok.

“I’m glad that you’ve settled in well then,” Liz said warmly. She adjusted her position in the desk so she could be angled more towards Aoi. “I used to restrict myself to the campus, but even then there were always things going one and fun to be had. Or empty places just to get away.” Like the library. Few exploits happened in the library and it was usually safe from the more rambunctious students.

Was her power hard to control back then? Oh, if Liz only had the time to tell all the stories. “Oh it was absolutely dreadful,” she said wryly. “You wouldn’t believe the meltdowns I had, when everything I felt was blasted out to every animal around me and then reflected back at me.” She tossed her hair a little.

“Animals do feel differently,” she said as she leaned back. “And they feel things differently. And every animal is different. Some are simple, some are complex, some are alien.” Liz leaned forward and put her elbows on her desktop. She angled her head as she looked at the girl. “You know a little of what I mean, don’t you?”

Their certainly was always something going on here. In a school like this, Aoi thought it almost had to be. She two liked finding empty places or near empty to be in as it lowerd her chance to hurt others if the bear came out. It took her a moment to consider who Ms Sundance might want the same.

Aoi looked at her Teacher with sympathy. She had no way to understand or comprehend how much all those animals must have added up to but Aoi had, had a few melt downs over the years herself. Aoi new the bear came out when she was upset and her anger had lead to more then one issue.

As Liz confirmed what Aoi had thought. Aoi's mind grouped them in bunches like predators, herbivores and cute things. She was still considering Liz's words when Liz leaned forward and she could not help but look away a bit embarrassed which a moment later was replaced with a bit of fear. "You mean like how i feel the Polar bear's mind and instincts? Hunger, Rage and confidence?" she replied before taking a short breathe.

"It's why I'm here Ma'am. My sister got a Bear that eats berries and will go to bed for three months and i got the one who thinks chicken and people are roughly the same thing" Well both Aoi and her twin were dangerous, Aoi's sister both like to antagonize Aoi and her form was much easier to talk down or distract. "We just had a stupid fight and then we were bears breaking threw walls and knocking people aside. She sliced open my back and was about to kill me before she regained control. I was drowning in the Polar Bears rage and it's need to be the top predator, confidence it would win and that food was all around me" she said visibly shuddering as she said the last words.

Elizabeth’s expression kept changing as the girl spoke. She described the animal’s mind, striking cords in Liz that had nothing to do with the ambient background noise of emotions from the estate’s wildlife. Not even that the little surge of unusually concentrated feelings that kept appearing at the back of her mind.

Horror, sympathy, and commiseration flashed across Liz’ face and she bit her lip. Aoi’s experiences as a polar bear sounded deeply traumatic, compounded by having a sister who...didn’t share those experiences.

Liz had never dealt with a bear’s mind before, either empathically or from possession. She didn’t personally know that rage the girl described, but she’d felt the feral rage in other forms before. Dogs, falcons, lizards, squirrels. She remembered how seductive and overwhelming it could be. And the aftermath when the feelings ended.

Sorrow dominated her face and her eyes softened. “Hey, hey, it’s okay,” she said soothingly, “It’s all over now. And that’s what we’re here for, right? To make sure that kind of thing doesn’t happen again.” She forced a smile. Let’s try to redirect this. “I’m sure there have been some great moments too.” Because even the most curse-like of mutations Liz had ever encountered still usually had some great perks.

"Was it hard to over come your powers' difficulties? she asked interested. It was why she was here after all. Liz was right and their were many powerful mutants who lived here and Mama T. She was safe here. Liz's words got her to focus and get out of her own head. She put the poor thoughts behind her for now. That was what was important she was around people who could stop her.

"Well Um I do try to avoid using the power. I once met a good friend of mine because of it. She could turn into these Zombie dinosaur things and i accidentally walked into her outside in the afternoon. I got scared and went bear and we lost control, totally the Mansion Kitchen. We did scare a lot of people and we did get in trouble but we made a friendship from it" she said it had taken some fishing but she had unburied what she could. "Oh yea and i sometimes change in my sleep to. So a month or two ago, i came to and this lady is screaming as im chasing the zebra and well the hair to" she said running her fingers through a few strands, realizing some of that had likely been happier for her.

"The other kids are not all as well behaved and smart like me though, but I think the others will like you to. You seem pretty nice so only the delinquents should have an issue" she said having a few names in mind. She never quite understood it but some kids did not care about their school work at all.

Aoi was something, all right. One moment she’s detailing the downfalls and problems of her mutation, the next it seemed like she was interviewing Liz for a report, and then right to talking about her classmates in an almost-rude and nonchalant manner. Liz had to blink a bit. This girl seemed like she was either very well put together, very good at suppressing and denying, or just so accustomed to her life that she gave none of it a second though.

Wow.

“Yes, it was pretty hard,” Liz said in answer to the girl’s question. “But I wouldn’t say I’ve overcome them. Probably never will. I had to do a lot of growing up though and learn a lot about how to be emotionally mature.” She had never really thought of it back as a teen, but she’d been more a mess than she’d realized. Lot of perfectly sound reasons, but still.

And….zombie dinosaur-shifting lady? Liz smiled. “Ha ha, that sounds like someone I knew, Amber Thirsis,” she said fondly. A wave of nostalgia hit her. She hadn’t thought of Amber in years, although it was hard to forget a person like that. “And that sounds very much like how I first met her, too. Except it was at a park and there was a creepy guy with giant worm-things.” Elizabeth’s face clearly reflected the disgust she still felt at the memory of those things.

“Well thank you for the compliment,” Liz said, her smile changing a bit from nostalgic joy to adult bemusement. “I look forward to having you in class, as well. And perhaps you can provide a good example for these other...delinquents.” Liz let out a small chuckle.

Aoi's disappointment at Liz admitting she had not overcome the issues with her Mutation made Aoi worry and it displayed on her face without her realizing it. The idea her teacher had not obtained full control was shocking as Aoi was use to assuming her teachers near flawless and also because it left Aoi wondering if she would need to worry about accidentally eating people the rest of her life.

"It was yes! I liked her because she was nice but also because she could control me if needed and keep others safe or the other way....but no one knows where she went..." she said dissipointed by the fact Amber was no longer there and that Amber was nowhere to be found. She knew Amber had mutation issues as well as light issues. "I have thought of finding and asking her sister but....Aura is very scary" Aoi said a shiver going through her.

"I can do that. she said switching to a more knowing thin smile. She felt she was good at it anyway. Aoi had never quite learned her Opinion on who was delinquent was different then others. Still she was rarely in trouble for non mutation issues. Though she felt at fault for those issues as well. "Other then the Bear i can be very good at that. " she said though she kept her happyness.

Liz didn’t know that Amber had a sister, much less who this scary Aura was. But Aoi’s description of Amber almost as a buffer reminded Liz so much of herself. Instead of zombie dinosaurs, she’d had a gryphon. “I’m sure she’ll return eventually,” Liz found herself saying. “She probably got immersed in a new form again, but she’s vanished and returned before.” It felt like the right thing to say, even if Liz had no way of knowing if it was true. One had to hope, right?

And Liz hadn’t missed that look on Aoi’s face, although she didn't know just what she’d said to have caused it. The empath was taking mental notes though. So far everything that troubled the girl seemed to be related to her mutation, that of a spontaneous bear shift. It was something Liz was going to have to take a lot of time to figure out how to work with, or if that was even what was actually going on there.

And there was the bear again. Still at odds with how Aoi behaved. Liz had taken a couple of psychology classes, but she was by no means an expert. She just had her experience of dealing with people and animals to fall back on. There was something deep there, but Liz had no idea how to unpack it. She decided to try to nudge the conversation in a different direction.

“So tell me a little about the other students here,” she said, crossing her legs and leaning back in her desk. “Any surprises or special cases I should know about?” She winked at the girl and grinned. “Anything I should be warned about?”

She nodded Liz was right on that Amber had a habit of disappearing and returning but it still did not make it easier. She hoped she was safe somewhere and very much hoped no Mutant terrorist had gotten to her. Amber was quite visible with her eyes and chalk white skin. Still she made herself keep on the side of hope. "You are likely right, Amber was...is strong and she told me once she lived in the amazon for months on her own i think?" she said scrunching up her node as she thought, recalling Amber saying that but it was hard to recall, like the conversation had been on other people.

She asked about the other students and Aoi felt a bit embarrassed that she had said that. "Well Evelyn likely wont attend and Himari is nice enough but not devoted to school and one could say that of the little i know of the Skunk girl...i don't recall her name shes new. Lenna i know little about but are we counting the de aged? I mean i'm here but i was a student anyway.....and kalos is nice though shes always scared"she said getting distracted on that. Maybe it matters on how much of their memory they retained? She mentioned others as well and mostly evaluated each by the grades they got.

How a teacher controlled such various mutants and personality's, Aoi never knew. Aoi brightened up talking about school related stuff however. "The student body changes a lot though as Like Amber some kids just stop coming without notice and some arrive at random times. "Grades aside, so many kids here have seen some nasty things in their past, i'm glad my parents did not care about having a pair of mutant girls.

Liz was starting to think that Aoi had a file system for life. If she wasn’t looking directly at the girl and able to tell that she wasn’t glancing at a phone or notepad or anything she would’ve been the girl was reading an analysis to her. All those names and descriptions just poured from the girl.

Liz recognized several of the names or quick descriptions from rosters and papers and such that she’d been given, but she couldn’t actually remember much about any of them. That was one reason why she was wanting to meet with some of the students before classes actually began, to get a jumpstart on getting to know them.

“Looks like I’m in for interesting times,” she remarked, hoping for a humorous wry tone. She expressly tried not thinking about the old Chinese curse about living in interesting times. It almost seemed that Aoi was telling her that all of the other students were terrible students, potential problems, or just difficult. Liz was starting to get the idea that Aoi had a particular…view of other students. She suppressed a grin.

“You’re right, students here can face so many challenges that aren’t common anywhere else,” Liz nodded. Although a bad home life, bullying, and prejudices were unfortunately fairly universal phenomena. Aoi seemed to have been spared those things, though. Good.

“I’m glad as well,” she said with a bright smile. “My parents...didn’t exactly treat me any differently, but we all just mutually agreed that it didn’t exist. It was easy to do until a secondary mutation happened.” Animal feelings were not things you could just ignore, it turned out.

Liz stared off into space and memory lane for a brief moment before snapping her attention back to Aoi. “So what was it like in Japan? I’ve never been there myself.”

She smiled a bit mischievously. "I watch people, i like to see how people act before i approach them" she said which was in part how she had picked up on the personality's of her fellow class mates. Aoi had a very good memory as well though not photographic anyway like Evalyns power seemed to grant her.

Pretending it did not exist or at least the ability to do that seemed like heaven to Aoi. Still it sounded like that had not been an option for Liz very long at all. She could only imagine based of what liz had told her already. She was glad they had not treated her differently but part of her started to wonder if that might have somehow been worse.

She was pleased when Liz asked about her homeland and brightened right up. "Well before i cam here i was studying to make sure i got into a good high school and could pass the entrance exam to do so. We had uniforms and the school had rules on what you could do while wearing it in public, like against chewing gum or reading well walking. she started to explain. "We rode trains or used public transport to go most places. It was pretty crowded where i was as well. Oh and we take our shoes off at the door when we go inside as not to track in dirt. You can get almost anything from a vending machine to there. We have Sakura trees which are a really pretty shade of pink. Their are arcades there to some of which even have DDR machines outside to attract customers." she said trying to give a broad section of life.

"I do miss it a lot but it is easier now that my family lives in the US. Everything is just so much bigger and spread out here, My room for example is almost twice as big as my one back home. Much more fish there as well" she said trying to think what else her teacher might wish to know.