Headphones on, hood on hoodie up. Walking down the street to techo privately playing in his ears. The young mutant walked down the road. It wasn’t long til he ran into trouble, it wasn’t the type of neighborhood you flaunted technology that you neighbors didn’t have with out begging to get mugged at least that’s how it started it soon escalated to a musicless ride in a trunk. And a drive to the city. The big laughed the whole time. He was too cold to bother fighting back….everything was just so foggy. He pressed his back against the seat in the car. It was warmer in the trunk then it was out there. A zune was a small price to pay to get the heck away from the peekskill area. Though his pride would have hurt less if he mnaged to at least throw a punch.

After about thirty minutes of driving they would have beennowhere by now. He wondered if he were going to get killed in the middle of nowhere. Bigots. THe care idled as they set still, his ears confirmed what his mind knew. it was quiet and they wern't near civilaztion.

Outside the car. "Listen Kid, its a harsh world and unfortunately we can't look like sympathizers in town. My little sister was, is one of you I was getting you out of town, we are gonna take ya somewhere safe."

The trunk opened and the thugs now looked oddly sheepish. the one with his mp3 handed back to him and the helped lift him out of the car, his teeth chattered away and soon he was in the cab of the car. flying toward the city. it wasn't to long at all before they were pulling up to a place that looked like it belonged to someone snobby.

" this is it kid. tell em you are on your own an they will take you no questions asked, thats what I hear anyway."

With that the door was opened and he was out and on his own again. he waved as they pulled away and he felt like things were a bit convienent. But it was soooooooo cold he couldn't afford to play suspicious. hopefully they would let him stay. He couldn't help but think he was dreaming. it was all going so fast and out of control. He pushed the buzzer to the gate and waited.

Koga Looked around and then shrugged the Gate didn't open and no one said anything from the speaker perhaps he would simply go knock on the front door. He leapt to his full reach and grappled at the top of the bar sticking where his hands landed and pulled him self up. It was a sadly slow process he wasn't used to doing pull ups, the sticking to the wall was nice but it only helped so much. He released one hand and then smacked across the top of the gate and pulled himself up again he managed to swing the other leg over and he then released falling to the ground. He was in, so now here was hoping this wasn't some prank and he was going to get eaten by guard dogs. He ran as fast as he could across the vast lawn. And to the front door and knocked as loud as he could. He hoped someone would great him and save him from the possibility of Dobermans or Rottweiler.

His teeth chattered rappidly as he waited at the door and finally realised the potential problem, it was the middle of the night and it looked like no one was awake or paying enough attention to the front door and or gate...soooo cold. cold, cold, cold , COLD! he was going to start getting too sleepy if he let his body heat leave him and it was already happening as he adjusted to the cold winter night....perhaps they wouldn't mind, if he let himself in.

He started to go to turn the knob but with only the logic that a young teen can bring to the table, he thought better of going in the front door, perhaps he should snak infor tonight and back out in the morning. He kicked off his shoes and his socks and tossed them in his back pack. He then vbe gan to scal the wall and made way quickly to a window. He tried it gently after peering through and seeing no one. after this he would sneak under the bed and sleep.

THe room was a bit on the girly side and by a biit it was acctually very girlly. but He was cold enough that he put aside how dumb and creepy this was and went for it. He pushed the window up and out of the way and then shut it quietly behind himself. He dropped to the floor and scurried across the room and under the bed shoving his back pack under and into the corner. He then quickly changed his flesh to match the dark surroundings. THeis wouldn't stop his clothes from being noticed but maybe his features. He settled his breathing and basked in the toasty warmth of the room.

As he glanced aroun he noted that the room was girly becaue it obviouly belonged to a girl. He flicked away a Badtz Maru sock from his face. He didn't ned an angry penguin watching him. His eye widened to notice that there were various other pieces of clothing under the bad. his cheeks reddend deeply... was that a bra!?! He calmed his breathing and held his breathe as he heard some movement...was that in the room? What had he done? So dumb!

The school year was nearly half over, which meant that many of the teachers had warned the students that midterms would be coming shortly, so they had all better study. Katrina much preferred learning new and exciting things over trying to memorize dates and equations that she could always look up if she really needed them in real life, but was forced to know off the top of her head for one day of her life. And who really cared if she knew the capitals of all the Asian countries anyway? She certainly didn't think she'd ever need to know about Beijing, China or New Delhi, India.

All the extra studying meant a lot of extra books in her back pack and a lot of extra time spend curled up on a couch in the library pouring over books and notebooks. Studying straight from school's end to bed time. With the geography test the next day, Katrina hadn't even had time to practice oboe that afternoon. Finally, though, she was done for the night. She opened the door to her room and dropped the heavy book bag to the floor next to the bed with a loud clunk.

She had earned her sleep that night... if only she she could find her pajamas. The thirteen-year-old looked around the room poked at various clothing piles with her toe. She hadn't really had time to make certain that all her clothing ended up in the closet lately. And it wasn't really that important anyway. She had a system: clean things next to the dresser, dirty things next to the closet, can be worn more than once things went next to the bed... or sometimes under it. Which was probably what had happened to her softest silkiest nightgown.

The teen knelt next to her bed and reached underneath, trying to feel for the soft nightdress. There was a trainer bra; Kat threw it toward the closet. Next her fingers found a pair of underwear with lace on them. She knew they were clean, because she never wore the lacy ones; it sailed toward the dresser. She reached back under the bed and touched an nose.

A nose? A face? Katrina yelped and jumped backwards from the bed.

“Who's under there?!”

His breathing became a little bit harder to control. ~why? Why? Why would she immediately come and reach around under the bed.~ He squirmed a bit away but ran into his back pack and the next thing he knew the bra was in her hand *blush* and then lacy… *BLUSH* after that the hand was on his face and she yelped and jumped back.


“Who's under there?!”

He didn’t answer he refused to answer. I f he stayed quiet she might calm down…but she wouldn’t sleep would she…

A quiet embarrassed voice his still changing voice broke on the first word. “No One. Na no ones under here! Oh God! I am sooooooo sorry.”

“I’ll come out, if you want, I wont hurt you.”
He stayed still under the bed and then realized where he was, ~would she hurt him?~

“If you wont hurt me.” He stuck his hand out from under the bed, palm up in peace it mimicked the color of the carpet and the other Badtz maru sock.

The thing with the nose didn't answer right away. Katrina, still sitting somewhat, scooted as far away as she could from the bed until her back was up against the door. Why wouldn't it answer? Was it asleep? How could anything sleep through having its nose grabbed?

>>>“No One. Na no ones under here! Oh God! I am sooooooo sorry.”

The monster under her bed was now talking to her, denying his own existence, then apologizing. Katrina gulped. It wasn't a very threatening voice for a monster. More like a squeaky-just-going-through-puberty type of voice. Did monsters go through puberty, too? Did they get pimples and such, or was it the opposite for monsters- an embarrassing lack of facial blemishes to accompany their period of adolescence?

>>>“I’ll come out, if you want, I wont hurt you.... If you wont hurt me.”

Katrina gulped again and took a deep breath. “I won't hurt you if you won't hurt me,” she promised. Then she watched as a hand emerged from under the bed. It was a rather small hand, sized and shaped like a young human hand would be shaped, but its color was anything but human. It's color changed and shifted to match the colors of the carpet and socks below it, which would make it almost invisible it it were holding still.

Katrina gasped. This monster hiding under her bed reminded her of herself on the first night she had ever spent in the mansion. On that evening Stalker robots and police officers had attacked the school to round up mutants and bring them to the camps. Katrina had hidden under that very same bed and used the very same trick of making it look like she was the underside of the bed to avoid being seen by a policeman that had thought to check for mutant hideaways in small dark spaces. Luckily for her, Katrina hadn't been caught. Luckily for the color shifter under the bed, she wasn't a cop.

“You're a mutant right? Come on out Mr. Monster-under-the-bed, you're in the right place. Well, maybe not in the exact right place, but close enough.” She tried her best to sound friendly and added a smile to cover the surprise that had been the most prominent expression up to that point.

“I won't hurt you if you won't hurt me.”

“Sounds good.”

“You're a mutant right? Come on out Mr. Monster-under-the-bed, you're in the right place. Well, maybe not in the exact right place, but close enough.”

“Yeah, I am a mutant and not a monster, I promise, I know I am kind of ssscary and I change colorsss and climb on wallsss and my tongue and my eyesss aren’t human, but I’m not a monster.”

He said all of this in an apologetic ton that said more than enough that he wasn’t quite convinced himself that he wasn’t a monster. He shivered a little bit, it was warm In the room and under the bed, but he was still fighting off the chills from being outside and he really, really would like to go lay in the sun somewhere. He scooted from under the bed and dragged his back pack from behind him.

He finally, reluctantly got himself out from under the bed, He set up and looked at this girl she wasn’t bad looking at all, not in the least. He currently was colored as everything behind him was except for his cheeks which were bright pink. He couldn’t help but notice the flung undergarments again….His eyes were down cast almost immediately once more. “My name isss Ryuichi Koga, and I apologize for my terrible behavior, this wasss unacceptable, I will make it up to you, I promissse! I underssstand if you are angry with me.”

He sat there quietly wandering if he should try for the window or the door, this was amazingly embarrassing. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! What if she came in and got undressed? How could he forgive himself for such an intrusion! He thought of excuses he could make but he wouldn’t wriggle free from this not on purpose.

“I know you're not really a monster, not any more than I am. I was just teasing. Sorry. You know, I slept under that bed my first night here, too. So I guess we're kind of the same in that way. I can't climb walls, but I can turn just as invisible as you.”

She was rambling and he was shivering an awful lot. Was he still nervous or was he cold? If he had just arrived, he could still be cold from being outside. Katrina hated the cold, too. Most of the time she avoided going outside if at all possible in the winter, unless her mother dragged her to the grocery store with overly motherly statements about her need for fresh air, or some such nonsense.

“Here, use a blanket. I have lots,” she did, too. With all of the quilts, comforters, and down filled blankets she had managed to scrounge up, she had bedding over three inches thick. It was quite heavy, but gloriously warm. The only thing warmer, of course, was having a living tiger blanket.

Katrina grabbed the top layer blanket, which happened to be a colorful patchwork quilt in purples and blues with yellow stars sewn on, and slung it around the shivering color shifter's shoulders. It was cool to watch his skin turn different colors and Katrina was tempted to keep switching the color that was behind him to watch his change colors. His cheeks were giving away his location, though. And his embarrassment for that matter. What was he embarrassed about anyway?

Katrina looked around to see what the new boy was trying not to look at and realized for the first time that she was sitting on a pile of various garments, most of which were meant to be worn beneath other ones.

“Oops, sorry about all that,” Katrina scuttled to shove the most embarrassing items into the closet and leaned against it to force it to close. Her own cheeks were starting to magically change colors now. Perhaps unexpected visitors were a good incentive to keep her room a bit cleaner.

>>>“My name isss Ryuichi Koga, and I apologize for my terrible behavior, this wasss unacceptable, I will make it up to you, I promissse! I underssstand if you are angry with me.”

Having succeeded with the closet, Katrina scuttled back to her seat next to the chameleon boy, perhaps a little closer than before, now that she was relatively certain he wouldn't eat her.

“Nice to meet you, Riyoo-itchy,” Katrina made a small face, knowing she'd botched that name. “I'm Katrina. And I forgive you. You don't need to make it up or anything. Are you going to go to school here, now? 'Cause I think there is papers to fill out and stuff. My mom filled mine out for me, I think. She works in the kitchen now. Oh, are you hungry?” She was babbling again. It would be cool if he were to stay. It would be nice to have more students her own age at the school.

“I know you're not really a monster, not any more than I am. I was just teasing. Sorry. You know, I slept under that bed my first night here, too. So I guess we're kind of the same in that way. I can't climb walls, but I can turn just as invisible as you.”

“Oh, sssorry, I’m not usssually that sssensssitive, I just resscently heard that I’m a monssster in Today more than I have ever heard anyone called that, ever. You can really blend?”

“Here, use a blanket. I have lots,”

“Thanksss, very much!” He wrapped the cover around him with out shame, when the heck had he become such a pansy to the cold?...when did he start climbing walls.

“Oops, sorry about all that,”

“it’sss ok! I mean um, it isss your room, ssso, no worriesss, I am the one intruding.”

“Nice to meet you, Riyoo-itchy,”

The corners of Koga’s mouth turned up a bit as she butchered his name, but it was cute.

“I'm Katrina. And I forgive you. You don't need to make it up or anything. Are you going to go to school here, now? 'Cause I think there is papers to fill out and stuff. My mom filled mine out for me, I think. She works in the kitchen now. Oh, are you hungry?” She was babbling again. It would be cool if he were to stay. It would be nice to have more students her own age at the school.

“Nice to meet you, Katrina.” He repeated her name to make it stick in his mind, not that he thought it wouldn’t but it was a good habit. “hmmm, I already promised to make it up to you, so I will, though it sounds as if you will make that easy.” He then shook his head a bit. “ I haven’t filled out anything, I didn’t even wait for any one to answer at the gate or the door, if you had walked in a minute sooner , you would have seen me come in the window. I don’t think my mom will be filling anything out, she was one of the two freaking out. And no I don’t have much of an appetite, right now. I just want to be warm…though, there are probably rules about boys in girls rooms, or vise versa…should I leave? Will I get you in trouble? I had planned to try again in, the morning when it wasn’t so cold.” He had slowly lifted his head and somehow made eye contact during all of that. His cheeks only slightly noticeable, but once he realized and took a moment to think about it his eyes shot back to the floor and his red cheeks turned right back on.

“ So much for making a good first impression on the staff.” He smiled wearily, perhaps without all that pressure at home to get good grades, perhaps he could take a new approach. He certainly showed an aptitude for being a hoodlum tonight.

>>>“Oh, sssorry, I’m not usssually that sssensssitive, I just resscently heard that I’m a monssster in Today more than I have ever heard anyone called that, ever.”

She could empathize with that. Her father hadn't been exactly thrilled to figure out that she was a mutant.

>>>“You can really blend?”

“It's more like being see through than blending with the colors. See?” Katrina concentrated on an illusion of invisibility, that made it look like she had disappeared right out of the room for just a moment. Demonstration accomplished, she reappeared after just a few seconds.

“We could play a wicked game of hide and seek I bet.”

He was smiling now, at least a little bit. That was a good sign, even if it was smiling at her horrible pronunciation. It meant he was getting more comfortable around her. She smiled back as he repeated her name and filled her in on his efforts at entering the school. She winced when he mentioned his mother freaking out. And they call mutants freaks.

He seemed really shy. Even making eye contact seemed to embarrass him. Katrina was trying her best to make him feel comfortable and at home. She wanted him to feel welcome at the mansion. It was a nice place to live, despite its tendency to be attacked every once in awhile.

>>>“ So much for making a good first impression on the staff.”

“I can help you fill out the paperwork, if you want. But that can wait until tomorrow. It's already kind of late, and I don't know if anyone is around to get papers anyway. You can stay in here for the night, since you don't have your own room. Since you're the guest, you can sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on the floor. I have to study for awhile anyway, so if you're tired go right ahead.”

“And don't worry about the staff. You'll get a chance to make an impression tomorrow. If you want, you can even go back outside and pretend to be arriving and I'll let you in.”

She made shooing motions toward the bed, then unzipped her back pack to pull out her geography textbook. She only made a slightly disdainful face at it. It wasn't a math textbook after all.

“It's more like being see through than blending with the colors. See?”

“Wow! That wasss really cool! I wouldn’t have known you were here. Excssept for…hmmm I think I could ssstill sssenssse you.”

“We could play a wicked game of hide and seek I bet.”


“That sounds like fun, we could also have a lot of time ghosting people. If we were the trouble making sort. I haven’t really had time to look at the up side. “



“I can help you fill out the paperwork, if you want. But that can wait until tomorrow. It's already kind of late, and I don't know if anyone is around to get papers anyway. You can stay in here for the night, since you don't have your own room. Since you're the guest, you can sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on the floor. I have to study for awhile anyway, so if you're tired go right ahead.”


“I appreciate all the help. I couldn’t take your bed and leave you on the floor. You have been to kind already.”

“And don't worry about the staff. You'll get a chance to make an impression tomorrow. If you want, you can even go back outside and pretend to be arriving and I'll let you in.”


He let a light laugh slip out of his mouth. “ That was actually my previous plan before you caught me.”

“I could help you with that, if you’d like.” He stated without a glance at the book in her hand, even as he shivered and his eyes drooped a little bit more. He was in advanced classes and maintaining a four point oh, before this started. He burrowed a bit more into his quilt and his eyes were surrounded by bright yellow stars. He still hadn’t budged from his spot just yet, one, he was being a gentleman and two he was cozy.

He had to admit this was the best dumb decision he had ever made. Pretty blonde Katrina was just about had offered for him to stay in her room. *blush*

>>>“Wow! That wasss really cool! I wouldn’t have known you were here. Excssept for…hmmm I think I could ssstill sssenssse you.”

She wondered which senses. She had only tried for visual invisibility, but he might have enhanced smell or something that was helping him sense her. Or perhaps even heat sense or something.

>>>“That sounds like fun, we could also have a lot of time ghosting people. If we were the trouble making sort. I haven’t really had time to look at the up side.”

Trouble? Katrina would certainly never be caught getting into trouble. “Oh, everything has its positive and negative sides. Being a mutant isn't fun when parents get upset or human kids tease you” or when mutants get stuck in concentration camps “but its fun most of the time. Usually abilities help you do things that you never thought possible, that only you can do. It's kind of like being a superhero, except you are real.”

>>>“I appreciate all the help. I couldn’t take your bed and leave you on the floor. You have been to kind already.”

No way was she letting him sleep on the floor. He was a guest, and he would sleep on the bed even if she had to trick him into doing it. She didn't respond to that other than to raise one eyebrow. They would have to see who would be on the floor.

She laughed along with him at the parallel plan he had come up with to sneak back outside and come in through the front door in the morning. Great minds... and all that.

>>>“I could help you with that, if you’d like.”

Katrina looked from the book to Riyooitchy's drooping black eyes and back again. It might have looked like she was trying to decide if she needed help studying or not.

“Well, I've got a test tomorrow on all the countries in Asia. I have to know the capitals and rivers and where everything is. I suppose you could quiz me. Let's sit on the bed, though. It'll be more comfortable.” Katrina gave him an innocent smile.

“Oh, everything has its positive and negative sides. Being a mutant isn't fun when parents get upset or human kids tease you” “but its fun most of the time. Usually abilities help you do things that you never thought possible, that only you can do. It's kind of like being a superhero, except you are real.”

“That doesn’t seem very intelligent of the human kids, I know I never wanted to cross someone, that recently discovered physics don’t quite apply to them as they do to the rest of the world. Thats a good thing to hear, I would say you have no Idea, but I am sure you do. I think I would like to be a superhero. Make the world better” the last bt was very quietly.


“Well, I've got a test tomorrow on all the countries in Asia. I have to know the capitals and rivers and where everything is. I suppose you could quiz me. Let's sit on the bed, though. It'll be more comfortable.”

If he only knew what trap was being laid in front of him, but he simply wasn’t devious. But He took it as her relenting and letting him have the floor that night. Surely she wouldn’t have him falling asleep on the bed while she was on it. *blush*

“Of courssse, I have alwaysss preferred mnemonic devicesss. But letsss quiz you and sssee if we need to go any further. ”

He moved to a cross legged position in the middle of the bed leaving the area with the pillows for her. This bed was ridiculously comfortable and yes, cozy. But it was time to study.

“letsss ssstart with capitalsss?I will sssay the country and you can reply with the capital, sssoundsss good? A’sss firssst I sssuppossse Afghanissstan? Armenia? Azerbaijan?”

Koga stifled a yawn., as he awaited the answers, His eyes might have closed a little bit more. But they didn’t stay that way, this was a rare opportunity and his chance to help her out. He scooted a little bit toward her in an effort to keep awake. From there they would continue from Bahrain to Yemen.

>>>“That doesn’t seem very intelligent of the human kids, I know I never wanted to cross someone, that recently discovered physics don’t quite apply to them as they do to the rest of the world.

“Heh,” she couldn't help but find amusement in the idea of a bully picking on someone who could fly circles around them. Of course, once the bullies grew up, they learned to carry guns. Illusions weren't very effective against bullets. No need to mention that now, though.

>>>Thats a good thing to hear, I would say you have no Idea, but I am sure you do. I think I would like to be a superhero. Make the world better”

“Me too,” came the soft reply. If there was anything she could do to make the world a more peaceful place, she would definitely do it.

>>>“Of courssse, I have alwaysss preferred mnemonic devicesss. But letsss quiz you and sssee if we need to go any further.”

The trouble with studying off of those lists was you could always look at the answer if you didn't know. Until someone else was holding the list. At least her devious plan was working. As soon as the lizard boy fell asleep, she would steal the floor spot right out from under him, thereby leaving him the bed.

“Uhh, the capitals are... is it Kabal, Youravan, and Baka?” She was getting kind of sleepy also. She had already spent a lot of time finishing her math homework, but perhaps it had been a bad idea to save the quiz studying for the end. Her own eyes were getting droopy, too. She was sitting near her pillows, but enough to the side that there was room for another person to sit next to her and put their feet under the covers. She put her own chilly feet beneath the blankets. It was nice and cozy under the thick covers.