"L-let g-g-go!" Bell desperately said as she tried fruitlessly to yank her arm out of the bigger mutant's hold. They'd been pestering her for days now. Mocking her uniform and hair, mocking her baking, mocking her stutter. Her stutter wasn't always present she thought in frustration. It was because she didn't know anybody and everything was just overwhelming. It was made even worse by these stupid meanie heads lashing out at her for no discernable reason at all other than the fact she was a 'girly boy'.

Fine by her. She was a girl and being called effeminate was a compliment not an insult in her book. It was just everyone whose opinion mattered to her wanted her to be a boy. A good masculine boy. Which was hilarious she thought hysterically. She liked arranging flowers for Christ's sake, not running or jumping or doing physical things that boys seemed to like to do. Granted she knew she was putting boys into a stereotype and stereotyping was bad but it honestly confused her down to her core on why she had to be a boy. Still orders were orders and she wasn't going to just up and ignore them.

She kicked out her leg and missed by a mile. Great. The grip on her arm tightened and Bell could feel the simmering anger rolling over into a boil being directed at her. Lovely. She was going to get hit and she knew it. She could feel the anger directed towards her and she cringed. Well at least she'd heal fast.

Himari was unusually grumpy compared to her normal calm and semi aloof self. The constant cold of New York was slowly starting to get to her. How in the kami were you supposed to wear nice outfits when you had to bundle up in layers just to feel some tiny semblance of comfortable. She had lived in a near tropical climate and this weather was just getting ooooold. So it was with this already grumpy condition she happened on Bell in her predicament. Affronted by bullies.

Himari hated bullies, and she realized recently she hated bullies, because her father was such a big one himself. If she could level up on the small fry, maybe one day she could confront her father and make him see reason. Until then... Three on one and the victim was clearly a more lithe individual. She may think of herself as a samurai at a times, but she was always a warrior, and warriors did what they needed to win. Like silently running just above the ground using her powers and landing a powerful hit into Bully A's kidney to get him to let go of their victim with a yell and fell to a knee clutching his side. Feeling particularly greedy and malevolent she continued on with the second one before the first hit the ground in pain.

Bully B caught a kick behind a knee as he turned flinging porcupine quills as he went down. Throwing her arm up to cover her vulnerable eyes she closed the remaining distance and ignored the irritating pain in her arm as her right elbow put his lights out. The last bullies hesitation cost him dearly as he foot caught him between the legs and a simple punch took him down as well. Bully A, not to be forgotten as he struggled to stand, got a controlled kick to the side of the head to temporarily ease his suffering.

At least she was finally warm! Plucking the quills out of her forearm she looked to Bell. "You alright?" Genuinely concerned for the individual even if her face wasn't the most emotive at the moment. She even felt less grumpy too! Too bad she couldn't punch the cold away..

That was amazing! Bell stood wide eyed as the other girl came to her rescue. She'd never seen someone her age or at least around her age fighting so beautifully. It was almost like watching a martial arts movie, except better because her arm was now free and it was real life not fantasy. The other girl could really pack a punch and didn't show the slightest bit of hesitation on making any move.

"Y-yes. T-t-thank you. Oh! L-let me help." Bell said in a flustered voice, cheeks turning bright red as she reached out. Taking Himari's hand it was only the slightest bit of pain that concentrated at her elbow. It stung but it'd heal quickly and with her blazer and coat on the other mutant girl likely wouldn't notice Bell's new wound to her lack of one. She smiled, not quite able to meet the new girl's eyes and shifted back and forth on her feet shyly. "T-they've b-been b-bothering me f-for days now. I-I've never b-been b-b-bullied b-before, the sisters at m-my old s-s-school would have p-punished anyone severely f-f-for what t-t-they've b-been doing."

Reaching into her messenger bag Bell brought out a bag. Opening it up she offered it to the other mutant girl. Inside were cookies, large soft freshly made cookies that were still slightly warm from the kitchen. She smiled again. "H-here as a t-t-thank you. My n-name is B-bell, w-what's yours?"

Her eyebrows rose a bit as Belle seemed nervous just to be talking to someone. The blush was cute and a bit endearing watching as her hand was taken and blinking as her arm felt good as new, heck they were cute. The arm wouldn't have really bothered her all that much and healed quickly, but maybe it was just as well there wouldn't be any evidence of her little fight. 

"Oh? Well they should know better. Think I have beat one of them up before.." Glancing at the people on the ground a moment before shrugging in complete indifference. "Next time I would say get a teacher or X-person. Or call me I guess." Grinning impishly at Belle before gesturing that they should probably move, preferably inside. Damned cold.

A reward? That was new! Peeking inside the bag she plucked out a cookie and nommed on it. "Thanks! My name is Himari. Nice to meet you. Too bad it wasn't under better circumstances." Smiling kindly before shivering a bit she moved towards the mansion figuring that was that. Cutie saved, reward given, quest complete. She wasn't really great at making friends or hanging out even if she wanted too. Especially adorable bakers that were probably intimidated by her.

"I-I d-didn't want t-t-to impose. It's only m-my second w-week h-here." Bell admitted softly. She'd just been so confused over the bullies to begin with never having experienced it before, well outside her family. Her biological father was a mean bastard that nobody had liked. She had once strived for his love but now she just wished that the FBI could just catch him and put him away. Maybe then she'd be out of witness protection. Bell was terrible at lying and it was hysterical that everyone thought she could just be a boy when she was so clearly meant to be a girl.

"I-it's a p-pleasure t-to meet you t-too H-himari." The girl blushed and fidgeted some more. She didn't know how to people very well. She was much better suited to talking with animals and plants and other various non people objects. People were complicated and overwhelming. Though Himari was nice to feel, she was calm unlike half of the Mansion. Would it be alright to spend more time with her savior? Himari didn't seem to mind her presence.

Trotting next to Himari Bell smiled a friendly shy smile. "Y-y-you w-were really c-cool and p-pretty. A v-valiant w-warrior. D-d-do you w-want t-to be m-my f-f-friend? Y-you feel v-very k-kind." Bell rambled as she walked unsure of how to put the mute button on her mouth with such a pretty person so near. She knew she was babbling but she couldn't stop herself, she was lonely and Himari had saved her and offered her kindness. It wasn't such a stretch to want to be friends with the martial artist.

In a strange twisted way Himari could understand that logic. She hadn't wanted to make any waves for months when she first arrived, exempting beating bullies into a pulp. "You shouldn't worry about that it is their job after all. You wouldn't worry about a firefighter stopping a fire would you?" She mused aloud trying to give the person a boost of confidence in dealing with the new problem herself.   

She thought that was that and blinked in mild surprise as the voice was next to her and keeping up. Taking care to slow her otherwise determined stride so they could keep up easily. Cool and pretty? Valiant? Whoah! It was rare anyone heaped so much praise on her. It was nice and gave her a warm fuzzy feeling in her stomach. It was also impossible to contain the small burst of scarlet on her face. 

"Huh? Uh.. s-sure. I feel kind?" There was a lot to unpack there. She hadn't mentally prepared herself enough for peopling dang it! her whole goal was to get to class and take a nap all bundled up in her clothes next to a heater, not making cute friends! She rarely thought of herself as pretty! Cute maybe.. not pretty. "Your pret- cute too." Himari trying to think of a positive neutral thing to say as she wasn't sure exactly if Bell was a boy or a girl. Not that it mattered much to her personally. She didn't want to offend her new friend. Her normally calm emotions awash with tint of embarrassment and flattery.

"N-no I g-guess I w-wouldn't." That was a really neat way of putting it. Bullies were fires that needed to be put out and teachers were firefighters. Bell could be on board with that. It made her feel like less of a snitch, which in and of itself had a lot of bad connotations for her. When she had been Seamus snitches were bad and had to be punished, people died because they snitched. It was uncomfortable to her to remember she was only able to live the life she had now because her Uncle Finn no, her dad, he was her dad now. But anyway it was only because he had been a snitch to the FBI. Life was better, she was loved dearly instead of despised, she could pursue most of her passions.

"Yes. I-I'm an e-empath and y-you f-feel nice. Like a s-s-sunny s-spring day." Bell admitted smiling in Himari's direction but not quite meeting her eyes. Eye contact was scary and she avoided it with strangers as much as possible. Though Himari wasn't a stranger now, she was a friend. But Bell felt too nervous to look her in the eye yet.

Had she said something wrong? Bell had only spoken the truth from Bell's perspective, Himari was pretty, cool, and valiant. But Himari felt embarrassed and...happy? It was a new form of happy that Bell hadn't focused on before. It wasn't her place to ask about it though and it did fall under good emotions so there shouldn't be too much of a problem. Flushing bright red at the compliment Bell nervously played with the hem of her blazer. She didn't receive many comments on her appearance most of the time and when she did catch someone's eye it was usually because she was being 'metrosexual' in the bad sense of the word.

"W-would you l-like to g-go to the k-k-kitchen? W-we can have t-t-tea with c-cookies." Bell offered as they made it to the Mansion doors. She didn't want to part from her new friend but classes would start in the next half hour and so there was little time to socialize. Tea would be perfect to go with the cookies, she had brought her tea collection from home and had it hidden away in a far corner of the kitchen.

Himari was genuinely glad she could help Bell with their dilemma. She wished she could take credit, but using the wisdom her grandfather taught her and passing it along to others just seemed appropriate. Where and when she could understand it that was. He had taught her a motherlode of information, not surprising given his advanced age, some of which didn't seem clear until she experienced just such a thing or felt a certain way. Then she understood. Some kids wailed at being told 'you'll understand when you get older' but she trusted in her sofu's advice. She missed him terribly.

Empath? Pausing in her fast walk a moment to glance over at Bell. Faintly surprised for a moment before dismissing it. Well trained humans could tell how people were feeling from a glance. Bell just had an advantage and Himari felt she was a pretty open book as it was so the alarm faded quickly and she shrugged and smiled again to take the compliment as it was intended, even if no one had said those exact words before.. it was pleasing to hear them.

"Thank you.. I think. Could use a sunny spring day right about now. The weather here is not what I am used too." A little psychosomatic shiver given at her words. she was really quite bundled, a turtleneck visible under the jacket. The fact her sister approved of the outfit was probably a good indication of how awful it was. 

"I think the first warm sunny day we get I am ditching school and finding somewhere to bask in the sun, naked." The soft growl to her words clearly meant to scorn the weather and not any sort of flirting or self aggrandizement. 

Hearing the question she stepped through the doors and shook the chill out a bit before answering, "The kitchen is my favorite indoor place in the school I think, tied with the gym maybe. Tea with cookies would be great!" Giggling a bit at her own enthusiasm and smiling over at Bell as they turned for the kitchen. "Have you been at the school long? I feel like I would remember your face." Not menting she also had a habit of sleeping in class. It was entirely possible they were in the same class and she hadn't even noticed!

Bell tried not to shrink away when she felt Himari's alarm. She couldn't help being an empath. But the alarm faded into acceptance and Bell felt relieved she still had a new female friend! Bell didn't have many friends at any given time, always an outcast, always hiding something from others. She couldn't find it in her to open up before coming here to strangers because being a mutant was so controversial. Especially a trans girl with mutant abilities. She didn't relish the thought of being bullied any more than she already had been for being 'a big homo'. Which was terribly wrong since Bell liked all genders and non genders equally. What mattered was what was inside a person's heart not their appearance.

"O-oh? W-where are y-you f-from?" Bell asked curiously. One never knew where anyone was from when it came to the Mansion having recruited students from all over the world. It would be a pleasant change to know she wasn't the only newcomer to New York City.

"I-if t-the s-s-staff asks I-I k-know n-nothing." Following the rules was one of Bell's strong suits and it was the best she could offer to her new friend. She'd cover for her if the staff asked but who'd ask her about Himari? Still she wouldn't take away her semi promise now because that would be a bad move in the friendship arena.

Bell took off her coat and draped it over her arm once she got inside. The Mansion was nice and toasty warm compared to the bitter cold outside. "W-would y-you like c-coconut c-caramel c-chai? It's c-coconut c-chai with a t-teaspoon of c-caramel and s-some m-milk." Bell explained as she walked beside Himari down the hall towards the kitchen. Which was rapidly becoming one of Bell's favorite haunts, even if they did lack some useful kitchen tools that teens usually didn't think about. Like a good cast iron skillet. That was rapidly becoming one of the most wanted items on Bell's list of shopping.

"I-I've only b-been h-here f-for t-two w-weeks."

It was in Himari's fox nature to tease, especially with people she knew. So when asked she mock gasped, "You mean you can't tell where I am from?" Giggling a bit before shrugging. "From Japan, the second to last big island to the south. Much warmer their on average." Trying to explain away her apparent dislike of the cold.

"Don't worry about it, I ditch from time to time. You just tell them truth, I will." She was accepting of the consequences of her actions, perhaps a strange take for a 'rebel.' She just didn't go, because there were other things she wanted to do instead.

"Coconut caramel chai? Sounds delicious thank you." Walking alongside Bell at a steady pace. "So a real newbie. Hopefully it hasn't been all warding of bullying and you are enjoying it to some degree?" She asked kindly as they walked into the kitchen. A boy that was eating a sandwich turning and seeing bell first, then seeing Himari blinked and rand out the other door of the kitchen. Himari pretended not to notice and was rather neutral about the whole situation.

She set her heavy backpack on the floor next to a chair and leaned the bamboo art case next to it after slinging it off her back as well. Following suit she shrugged off her clearly second hand jacket and draped it over a chair before taking a seat. Setting the cookies on the table and waiting for Bell to produce this strange tea.

"You know your way around the kitchen already?" Amused at watching Bell easily find what was needed to make the tea.

"N-no a-am I s-supposed t-to?" Bell asked clearly confused and alarmed that she might have stepped into a landmine without even knowing it. Except Himari didn't seem mad, in fact she was....oh great.. Bell turned red in embarrassment and she covered her eyes with her hand. This is what she got for talking without checking Himari's emotions first. "I-I'm f-from M-middlebury I-Indiana." She offered up hand still over her eyes.

It was a lie. A lie she hated to tell but understood the necessity of. Patrick Murphy was a well connected very evil man, who knew what he was planning to do to get revenge on his brother for giving up the family to the feds. Bell knew she was the only true weakness her uncle...no dad, had. If her biological father found her again who knew what she'd endure.

"O-okay. Y-you very b-brave t-to o-own your a-actions." Bell smiled at Himari.

"I-I n-neither love n-nor h-hate i-it yet. I-I'm j-just g-getting used t-to n-not having t-to lie." Another lie though this one held a grain of truth. Bell wasn't displeased to be at the Mansion if it'd help her get her powers under control she simply missed her dad fiercely. He'd been the only constant in her life that had been pleasant. To be away from that love and security was rough, but she'd manage it. She had to otherwise her life would be a small little box where no one could reach her.

It would be a sad life. A life of regret, fear, and denying God his plan for her. He had a plan, she was sure of it, and it was to help people but how exactly was the question. She'd heal what she could, comfort when she could, and do her best to be a good person to others and herself. It was simply her situation was hard.

"Y-yes. I-I love c-cooking." Her hands were steady as she began to make the promised tea. She'd even gone to her hidden stash of loose leaf tea to select the perfect chai to go with the chocolate fake samoas she had in her cookie bag. While the electric kettle heated she poured the tea into a strainer and closed the lid tightly. Next she went to the fridge and got out half and half (because if she was making tea for her new friend it was going to be decadent) and her homemade caramel. She was graceful as she began to steep the tea and prepare the mugs with the half and half and caramel. The kitchen was her domain. She was queen here and she knew exactly what to do and how to do it. "I want to own a bakery or cafe." She said her nervous stutter disappearing in the wake of her focus on tea. "I want to make people happy with my food."

"Never heard of it, but most of America is a mystery to me." She admitted readily and smirked as Bell hid their face. Kitsune genes made it darn near impossible for her to at least cordially tease nice people. She couldn't completely suppress her heritage as much as she wanted to at times. 

Himari didn't think it was all that brave to own up to ditching class to pursue her own interests. Between her grandfather and through the Japanese version of middle school she had all the book learning she felt she need to make it through life. School often felt like a prison meant to hold her in and keep her trapped, much like her situation in New York as it was. Maybe she would take a whole week off once the weather was nice and find the nearest forest to frolic in. The call of nature was hard to resist at times. Something that she was sure her father knew when he exiled her to a city of concrete and steel.

"Sort of similar to my own situation it sounds like. Only I am here to avoid living a lie.  Does that make me a living truth?"  She was mixed about it all. A subtle anger at having to deal with constant pressure of her father trying to break her. spirit in every conceivable way and some inconceivable.  Just as complicated was her pride and self assurance that she herself had never broke and a bit guilty that her sister had gotten herself wrapped up in this most recent scheme. Exiles for all intents and purposes. She shrugged it off mentally and physically and refocused her attention on her attractive new friend. 

"It is good to find something passionate about, I know where the pots, pans, and knives are at, oh and fridge. That is about the extent of my kitchen knowledge." Giggling a bit, fine cuisine really wasn't in her price range or skill level. Well sushi maybe, but only because it involved using sharp knives to make correctly portioned slices. Grandfather was a fan and made her 'cook' often. A bakery? Didn't she know someone else who wanted a bakery? She couldn't remember offhand. "Helping others is an admirable goal and says a lot about your character." Bell was turning out to be an interesting person. She almost felt a tinge of jealousy that she wasn't nearly as altruistic in her ideals. Most of her focus was on self improvement and trying to be the best version of herself she could be. "I guess you could say I enjoy improving myself. I exercise quite a bit. Train quite a bit." She always felt so awkward talking about herself.