Twyla was starting to get sweaty after unpacking all of her belongings and rearranging her new room so she put her messy brown hair up in a hasty ponytail that was full of bumps and barely hanging on. Before she had decided to unpack she had changed into athletic shorts and a tee shirt. She was very shy but she never really worried about the kinds of clothes she wore. Twyla was comfortable enough with her body and her looks that she didn’t feel the need to ‘dress up’ all the time like some of the girls she knew. The grungy outfit and bad hair were practical and cool and that was her main concern even if she should probably have felt uncomfortable not looking her best in a school full of people she didn’t know.

It had been about an hour and a half since Twyla’s meeting with Tetsuya Shinbo and she was finally done fixing her room up. It was nice to actually have a room, especially a room that she could call her own. Her first order of business had been to plug in her alarm clock and find a suitable radio station. She had settled on an oldies station that had been playing a lot of 80s pop. Twyla generally liked all types of music but she had been in a Madonna mood. The teen was about to fix her ponytail in the mirror above her dresser when she suddenly stopped to listen to the song that had just come on. ‘We are young, heartache to heartache we stand...’ The unmistakable voice of Pat Benatar told her through the tiny alarm clock speakers.

‘No promises, no demands...’ There is only one reasonable reaction when ‘Love is a Battlefield’ plays on the radio, or on your i-pod, or at a wedding dance, or anywhere in general. This involves throwing any inhibitions aside and lip syncing (really singing if you’re REALLY into Pat Benatar ) all of the lyrics you know while simultaneously dancing as wildly as your personality allows you to. Twyla gave the reasonable response. Her round brush instantly became a microphone into which she lip synced with all her might and her freshly made bed became the dance floor. By the time Pat sang: ‘We are young, heartache to heartache we stand...’ the second time Twyla had realized that dancing on a bed isn’t a particularly good idea so she moved her dance floor to the real floor of her bedroom. She knew parts of the dance from the video from an afternoon spent in one of her friends from dance team’s basement learning random 80s dance moves for a new routine. Twyla did parts of the dance that she knew but mostly flipped her hair around and jumped in place. The hair flipping eventually caused her already precarious hair tie to go flying and this left her brown hair unbrushed and tangled and free to whip around. This made her laugh and as she got into the song her moves became more and more wild and her bare feet made loud thuds as they slapped the wood flooring.

What she failed to realize was that her door, which she had opened due to heat about fifteen minutes prior, was halfway open. Which would give any passerby a decent view into her room and what she was doing in it. Normally she would have noticed such a possibly embarrassing detail. A personality like Twyla’s that fears the judgement of others so much does not leave doors ajar when it wants to let loose. It especially detests open doors in new and unfamiliar places. Alas, such is the power 80s pop...

Koga was walking down the Second floor hall he had for whatever reason decided to carry around his tooth brush today. He was scrubbing lightly at his teeth as he wandered down the hall. It was quiet mostly, well quiet for the mansion. He walked down the hall and came to a stop as he couldn’t help himself from glancing into a room that had an open door…it used to be empty. So, The occupant was fairly new, new and dancing around lip Syncing into a hairbrush with enough enthusiasm that made him stare. She was performing the song. She didn’t just like or enjoy the song, She loved it! She danced around like a wild person…now to a young man, a young woman dancing can be many things, namely visually stunning. He was stuck right where he was hand raised to his mouth, brush held in place, eyes a bit wider than usual in surprise, a bit of embarrassment on his cheeks. He watched as her hair whipped and came undone and her hair cascaded down and his mouth gaped a bit more at the effect.

How bold did you have to be to dance around in a brand new place with your door open with out a care in the world? His initially shy in first encounters self was a bit envious. He finally caught him self staring and attempted to move his feet away from where they were and down the hall, he would come back and introduce himself later, but had he caught himself being rude too late? ...during all of this he had probably neglected to mention that he was currently standing firmly on the ceiling and his hair was standing on end falling for gravity's pull where his body had not.

‘We are strong, no one can tell us we’re wrong...’ The song was almost over and Twyla was a bit out of breath. Her movements had gotten slower and as she finished a turn her eyes happened to glance in the direction of the open-ish door. Oh man. She thought, the color draining from her face. That’s a GREAT first impression. Creeping slowly, as if that would make her less noticeable, she made her way to the door in a half dance half walk. Slowly her head made it’s way out the door and she turned her head to survey the hallway slowly. She let out the breath she’d been holding as she noted that there was indeed no one walking in the hallway that had seen her impromptu performance.

Twyla was about to sneak back in her room and be thankful for her good fortune when a bit of movement above her caught her eye. She quickly glanced up and was not mentally prepared for what she saw. A boy was seemingly hanging from the ceiling above her doorframe by his feet. Looking for all the world like he would have been if he was on the floor. Well, besides the pull of gravity on his hair and clothes. It was the hair that had caught Twyla’s attention. She let out a small “meep” before her knees gave out and she clutched the door handle for support.

Cheeks flushed she tried to repair the situation. “Y..you scared me. Uh...did you see any of that?” She nodded her head towards her room to signify her random display. “Um, sorry.” She had caught her breath and gotten her legs back in order except for the slightly annoying habit they had of going camouflage every time she got flustered. Without looking down Twyla knew that they’d be matching the carpeting and the doorframe. “Oh, and hello by the way.” Her voice was quiet and Twyla was still a bit out of sorts. Her body was still in a rush from the dancing and these new intense emotions were adding more endorphins to her system, making it hard to focus.

At the sound of the alarmed meep Koga tensed as if he had been caught with his hand in a cookie jar before dinner. He turned back toward her with embarrassment, who watched someone while they were dancing around singing, he should find someone to teach him manners…he was not doing to well as far as being the gentleman that he truly was.

“Y..you scared me. Uh...did you see any of that?”

His hand flashed away from his mouth pulling the tooth brush away and…up toward his waist. “I’m Ssssorry, I didn’t mean too. I jussst new that, that wassss an empty room the other day sssso I was curiousss to see who moved in. “ His cheeks flared red. “ I yessss, ssssaw ssssome of that.” He smiled lightly and then his eyes went wide as she perfected her surroundings with absolute detail. He took a step back and released his feet and twisted so that he landed in a crouch in front of her. He stood even as the sting of his landing went through his feet, carpeted floor was hardly like the gym mats.

“Um, sorry.”


“ no no, that issss sssspectacular! I can blend, but you copy it perfectly and fast.” He held his hand up toward her leg at a respectful distance, where his skin held the color all the little details of the carpet and the carved form of the door frame were washed away.

“You’re good!”

“Oh, and hello by the way.”

“Hi, I’m Ryuichi Koga, They call me Koga around here for the most part.” He dropped his hand shyly leaving the carpet and framing coloring there. “I ummmmmm…. How do you like it here ssso far? Anything I can help with? Or get you?” he fumbled for words as he started to get a bit more embarrassed. His pitch black eyes glanced toward the floor, as he realized that she was a good half a foot taller than him.

“I’m Ssssorry, I didn’t mean to. I jussst knew that, that wassss an empty room the other day sssso I was curiousss to see who moved in.” The boy apologized and by this point they were both hues of red.“ I yessss, ssssaw ssssome of that.” He continued. And he saw you. Great. Hi, I’m Twyla I’m really strange. Nice to meet you by the way. Twyla was angry at herself for looking like an idiot so soon after moving to her new school. “It’s no big, don’t worry about it. I’d be curious too...Most people don’t dance around their rooms and leave their doors open to boot.” A small laugh escaped her lips. Twyla’s cheeks were still red, but what was new? She was used to being embarrassed.

The boy jumped down from the ceiling and landed in front of her in a crouch. “No no, that issss sssspectacular! I can blend, but you copy it perfectly and fast. You’re good!” He complimented her, which only made her flush deepen. “I think sometimes I’d rather be able to walk on walls.” She replied. When she saw that his hand had picked up the coloring of the hallway she added “I guess I’m fast but I don’t have control like that, or any other talents.” Upon further inspection the boy was very short and his eyes appeared to be all pupil. He’s just a little guy. He’s kinda like a little lizard. She decided. The typical female affinity for anything smaller than regular size was kicking in.


“Hi, I’m Ryuichi Koga, They call me Koga around here for the most part. I ummmmmm…. How do you like it here ssso far? Anything I can help with? Or get you?” His hand was still colored when he dropped it to his side. He seems as on edge as I feel. The thought almost made Twyla start laughing. It seemed silly to her that they were both so embarrassed. Suddenly she felt the urge to repair the situation. In a calmer voice she replied: “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Koga. I’m Twyla and I just moved in this morning, actually. It seems like a very nice school.” She looked around at the hallway. “Very swank.” Swank seemed to be the word of the day. “Thanks for the offer but I think I’ve got everything under control. I could have used the help about forty five minutes ago when I was trying to move that heavy bed.” She let herself relax enough to laugh a bit. The bed in question had caused her some grief but after a lot of elbow grease the teen had moved it to it’s new spot under her window. Looking down she noted that her legs had decided to drop the camouflage and were their usual fair coloring.

“It’s no big, don’t worry about it. I’d be curious too...Most people don’t dance around their rooms and leave their doors open to boot.” He looked relieved that she was ok with it, he still felt a bit guilty.


“I think sometimes I’d rather be able to walk on walls.” “I guess I’m fast but I don’t have control like that, or any other talents.”

“ with that kind of ssskill you’d never have to, besidessss if you are living here you will have plenty of chance to practice and ssssometimesss, you find out that you can do more sssstuff. it issssn’t all that uncommon.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Koga. I’m Twyla and I just moved in this morning, actually. It seems like a very nice school.” “Very swank.”

“Nice to meet you too Twyla.” Hooray she didn’t have an S name! “ and yeah they definitely don’t sssspare dough on keeping ussss comfy, the classssessss are interessssting to most are free form and have a different style then public schools.”

“Thanks for the offer but I think I’ve got everything under control. I could have used the help about forty five minutes ago when I was trying to move that heavy bed.”

“Oh. Well next time if you need help look around in the hall and grab the firssst perssson you sssee. People are amazing around here, It’s like everyone knows what is like to be out there in new york with the average person being merely rude is a plus. Ssso in here it ssseemsss like everyone goes the extra mile In here to have a cohessssive community.” He grinned. “ Ummmm I’m on the third floor at the left end of the boyssss….guyssss ssside of the hall.”

He then just kind of stood there not sure what to do…she didn’t need help, she didn’t sound like she wanted anything to eat or drink…..ummmmm, what exactly was it you did to not stand awkwardly in front of a girl?

“With that kind of ssskill you’d never have to, besidessss if you are living here you will have plenty of chance to practice and ssssometimesss, you find out that you can do more sssstuff. it issssn’t all that uncommon.” Koga replied to her comment about her powers. “I really need the practice.” She looked down at her pale legs that had only a few moments ago been the same color as the carpeting. “Really really really need to practice.” Twyla had decided soon after she discovered her powers that they were more of a defense mechanism than anything. Sometimes she went totally camouflaged if she was under emotional strain and it was hard to look normal until she was calm again. They’d be a lot easier for her to hide if she had more control.

His advice about pulling someone out of the hall to help her made her imagine herself doing what he suggested. Her cheeks almost flushed at the though of walking up to some stranger and asking for help. “I’m glad it’s a good atmosphere in here, the people I’ve met so far have been very nice, all two of you.” There was the small laugh again. He told her where his room was and she nodded as he spoke. “Alright, I’ll come looking for you if I ever want an audience again, maybe you could sell tickets.” She smiled as she said this a small, quiet smile like her voice and her laugh. Was that a weird comment? She wondered to herself. I bet he already thinks I’m weird. The self-doubt was creeping back into her head now that most of the endorphins had worn off.

The self doubt came in as the tide of conversation went out. For the first time Twyla noted that Koga was holding a toothbrush. It’s not very nice of me to keep someone, I bet he was on his way back to his room and now he’s annoyed that I’ve kept him here, gabbing away. It’s nice to talk to a student here though...The girl mentally berated herself for not noticing it earlier. “Sorry if I’ve kept you from somewhere.” She apologized her cheeks becoming pink with her assumed bothersomeness.

~~“I really need the practice.” “Really really really need to practice.”

He shrugged. “ If you do I am sssure you will find sssome cool ssstuff you can do, if that isss what you can do untrained.”

~~“I’m glad it’s a good atmosphere in here, the people I’ve met so far have been very nice, all two of you.”

He nodded amiably. “ It wasss definitely a relief for me, that first day I wasss all sssortsss of worried that I would have to go and be a hermit sssomewhere to not be ssstared at. But less than a hour and I knew things would be ok here.

~~“Alright, I’ll come looking for you if I ever want an audience again, maybe you could sell tickets.”

“okie dok, itsss a deal.” He typically kept his tongue in control and in his mouth but the slender forked thing stuck on for a second upon the word ‘it’sss’. “ Do you sssing? I wasn’t sssure asss the radio ssseemed to be a bit louder.

~~“Sorry if I’ve kept you from somewhere.”

“nope, you haven’t.” He was trying to figure out what gave her that idea and then remembered his toothbrush. “Oh, ummm no, I am actually jussst a it ocd about a few thingsss.” Try a lot of things like any thing that could be organized and then hygiene…he had made massive successions concerning going barefoot. “ I brusssh my teeth sssometimes while I have nothing better to do.” He shrugged mildly embarrassed but she seemed to be getting nervous a bout something so he didn’t mind looking a bit silly. Cleaning your teeth obsessively wasn’t the worst habit to have…in fact it was probably the lamest bad habit known to man.

“If you do I am sssure you will find sssome cool ssstuff you can do, if that isss what you can do untrained.” He replied to her comment about needing practice. She paused for a moment to think how best to reply. “It’s not really me though. Does that make sense? Some of the time I have control over myself and what I look like but if I get embarrassed or scared or anything intense like that I start going camouflage it’s like a defense mechanism, you know? Don’t be too impressed, I’m nothing special I just get scared easy.” Twyla shrugged as if to brush off her powers.

It was a relief to hear that things at the new school had been easy for another person. Twyla was glad to hear that Koga had gotten comfortable so soon after he had arrived. She told him he could sell tickets to her next ‘performance’ and he replied: “Okie dok, itsss a deal.” For a second the teen thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. It looked like Koga had a forked tongue, like a snake. It would explain the lisp she decided. For some reason she wasn’t surprised, it seemed like something like that would suit him. “Do you sssing? I wasn’t sssure asss the radio ssseemed to be a bit louder.” He asked her after a moment. She felt her cheeks flush at the very idea of being caught singing somewhere. “Oh no.” She replied hurriedly. “I’m a TERRIBLE singer. I don’t sing very often. It was Pat Benatar so I HAD to turn it up. I don’t know if that makes sense....” She trailed off and shrugged.

The toothbrush apparently didn’t mean that he had places to go. He explained to her that he was a bit OCD and brushing his teeth was something he did when he had the spare time. Noting that he looked a bit embarrassed she said: “‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’ and all that right?” Not that Twyla was one to promote being clean. Five dollars said that her room would have things thrown about it by the end of the day and on while she was busy being a runaway her personal hygiene standards had become incredibly low–although that was more from necessity than choice.

~~“It’s not really me though. Does that make sense? Some of the time I have control over myself and what I look like but if I get embarrassed or scared or anything intense like that I start going camouflage it’s like a defense mechanism, you know? Don’t be too impressed, I’m nothing special I just get scared easy.”

“I underssstand all too well, my cheeksss ssstill blusssh through my chameleon ssskin, but my point isss that you are High definition where I am ssstill running in…. whatever it wasss before high def. and that is from instinct. You’ll get better at it, I’m sssure of it.” Koga nodded as if it was decided.

~~“Oh no.” “I’m a TERRIBLE singer. I don’t sing very often. It was Pat Benatar so I HAD to turn it up. I don’t know if that makes sense....”

“I’m not sssure I believe you about being a TERRIBLE sssinger.” He quipped “ Hey, if it isss musssic you love then you ssshould turn it up, that isss all that needs to make sssenssse. Ssshe sssingsss hit me with your bessst ssshot too right?” 80’s wasn’t quite his cup of tea, but he loved music thoroughly so he tried to know what he could about the world of music.

~~ ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’ and all that right?”

Koga grinned and forced himself not to make a comment about her thinking he was Godlike. “hmmmm, I’m not much for church.” He shrugged. “but I do try to do the right thing.” He was working hard to play off the fact that he was walking around letting one of his Ocd’s show… he hadn’t even realized it… honestly who walks around the ceiling brushing their teeth.

"I underssstand all too well, my cheeksss ssstill blusssh through my chameleon ssskin, but my point isss that you are High definition where I am ssstill running in…. whatever it wasss before high def. and that is from instinct. You’ll get better at it, I’m sssure of it.” The boy said in way of reply to her comment about her powers and her instincts. He nodded after he was finished, giving Twyla the vibe that there was no point in arguing. By way of reply she nodded like he did and shrugged a bit. One of them had to be right, and they wouldn’t find out anytime soon in any case.

He didn’t believe her when she said that she was a terrible singer. “Well, you’ll probably never find out the kind of god-awful racket I can conjure so there’s no way to prove it to you that I’m no good when it comes to singing.” ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot’ began playing in Twyla’s head and it was all she could do to not bop to the beat in her head. “Yep, she sings ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot’ and ‘Hell is for Children’ and ‘Heartbreaker’ and...” Realizing that she was babbling she let herself trail off. “I like Pat Benatar, obviously.” She added lamely, the familiar flush creeping up her cheeks.

He grinned at the proverb. “Hmmmm, I’m not much for church.” He shrugged. “But I do try to do the right thing.” She shrugged too. “I was just saying, there’s nothing wrong with being clean, not most of the time at least...” This thought needed some pondering...There had to be SOME instance where being clean could land you in hot water. “Unless of course you were trying to hide in dirt somehwere...and I guess it’d be hard to be a secret agent on a pirate ship if you had really nice teeth. I mean-” Eeeep, weirdness detected. Deploy the Blush. Stop where you are, back up, and let Damage Control take over from here. “Sorry, random thoughts.” She blinked a few times, still in a bit of shock that she had shown one of her stranger sides to well...a stranger. “Anyway, since I’m talking to a student, I might as well ask you: what kinds of things do the kids do for fun around here or is there any sort of activities besides school that I could get involved in?” Lame excuse for ignoring what just happened, but maybe they could move on with little to no embarrassment to the Twyla party.

~~ “Well, you’ll probably never find out the kind of god-awful racket I can conjure so there’s no way to prove it to you that I’m no good when it comes to singing “Yep, she sings ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot’ and ‘Hell is for Children’ and ‘Heartbreaker’ and...” Realizing that she was babbling she let herself trail off. “I like Pat Benatar, obviously.”

“I can’t sing. And you should like what you want. I like it that you do, too many people sssimply follow along with the top ten or twenty of whatever the radio ssstationsss are telling usss to like. Itsss kind of sssickening, don’t get me wrong they come up with sssome good ssstuff sssometimesss, I like the fact that you are finding what you like and enjoying it. You know how many students here even know there are more then three composers?” …”not many.”


~~“I was just saying, there’s nothing wrong with being clean, not most of the time at least...” “Unless of course you were trying to hide in dirt somehwere...and I guess it’d be hard to be a secret agent on a pirate ship if you had really nice teeth. I mean-” “Sorry, random thoughts.”

“all I’ve got isss mud wressstling…though I sssuppossse it’d ssstill be good to be the cleaner perssson…probably mean you were winning.” He winced at the fact that mud wrestling was more than a bit gender insensitive…if he was going to be representing the xmen he had to work on his PR.

~~“Anyway, since I’m talking to a student, I might as well ask you: what kinds of things do the kids do for fun around here or is there any sort of activities besides school that I could get involved in”

“dependsss on how old you are, there is all sssortsss of ssschoolish extra curicularsss…then there isss the volunteer ssservice. And then if you are at least sssixteen, you could try to be an xmen trainee…I WILL be an xmen sssomeday. but I have a year to go for I can join up...I'm already training to train though.”He finished proudly. He actually had a dream about being a giant lizard man with an x communicator…he had mixed feelings about that.

Koga told her that he couldn’t sing and she shrugged. Then he went on to talk about her taste in music, composers and not following the popular trends. To be honest, Twyla liked most of what played in the top 20 and she felt guilty with Koga’s words. Although she COULD name a few composers. “I like all different kinds of stuff.” She muttered lamely in an attempt to admit to him that she could be a total sheep sometimes.

Twyla laughed at the mud wrestling comment. And nodded in agreement with what the boy was saying. When she took a moment to think about it her laughter became a bit more uncomfortable as she realized the implications of what he could be saying. Oh well, could be worse, right? His argument made sense and at least he wasn’t making fun of her for HER comments on the subject of cleanliness. There were worse comments to be made, she was sure.

He answered her question about extra activities with: “dependsss on how old you are, there is all sssortsss of ssschoolish extra curicularsss…then there isss the volunteer ssservice. And then if you are at least sssixteen, you could try to be an xmen trainee…I WILL be an xmen sssomeday. but I have a year to go for I can join up...I'm already training to train though.” He sounded proud about the last bit, about becoming an X-man someday. Twyla wasn’t totally sure of what and X-men trainee or an X-man was but the rest of his answer made sense. “Oh, okay....You said ‘volunteer service’ is there like a community service requirement here?” At her old school she had needed 6o hours of community service to graduate, she wondered if this school had a similar policy. “So you’re fifteen then?....Koga, what’s and X-man. I know I’ve heard that name before but I have no idea what it means.” Her face flushed, obviously she was missing out on some crucial information and it made her feel silly.

~~“I like all different kinds of stuff.”

Koga picked up on the fact that she indeed probably paid attention to what the most popular new batch of songs was and felt a little bit tactless… “ I mean there isss nothing wrong with liking any music, even the top twenty, ssso long asss you actually like it and not just caussse they play it a thousssand timesss….”

~~“Oh, okay....You said ‘volunteer service’ is there like a community service requirement here?”

“nope, no requirement that I know of…I jussst know the ssschool is big on providing a good image of mutantsss, to compare against sssome of the bad rap that other’sss are giving usss.”

~~“So you’re fifteen then?....Koga, what’s and X-man. I know I’ve heard that name before but I have no idea what it means.”

“Yup, got half a year to go and then I can ssstart working to pull my weight with the X-men. Oh, I bet they have sssome newsss film or sssomething around here sssomewhere. Actually, we’d probably be better off with youtube, if you don’t have a pc or one ssset up we can go to my room and check sssome videosss. Really though they are a group of people out to make the world better with their abilities, a lot of them double asss our teachersss and ssstaff. Sssometimes we get the day off becaussse they havee to ressspond to sssome emergency.

“how old are you?”

It seemed like Koga understood her mumbled cop-out. It’s not that Twyla necessarily liked ALL the songs on the top 20 but she usually knew most of them. She understood that most pop was meaningless and shallow and most of the time she only listened to the top 20 when she was in the mood for easy things to dance to. She really listened to singer-songwriters, especially female ones. Twyla’s personality was a bit quirky at times but it didn’t fit in with the loud-dirty-bright-crazy lyrics of mainstream pop. “Overplayed songs area a drag.” She replied.

Twyla nodded her head when Koga explained the volunteer things. Trying to make a personal difference by doing good works. An interesting concept. She’d have to mull it over when she got the chance. The idea appealed to her nature. She liked the idea of quietly doing something to make a difference for mutants without marching the streets carrying a sign in an angry mob like in the mutant rights rallies she’d seen on TV. “Hmm...” Was all she replied as her thoughts wandered.

It seemed like Koga looked forward to being able to become and X-man. This was an even more interesting concept and the spark in her brain clicked and she realized she had heard the name a few times before in relation to what Koga was describing. Mutant rights were a subject that her meanderings in her mind had barely brushed on. When she got the chance she’d have to find her side in this mess of ideologies. “Thanks, I knew I’ve heard that name before.” She replied first, with a smile. “I think I’ll do some research on my own when I get the chance.” He asked her how old she was and she almost replied sixteen but then she remembered her last birthday. She had been sitting in a train station in Boston when she had realized that it was 12:01 a.m. on December 24rd. Her seventeenth birthday had gone by totally unnoticed. “I’m seventeen.” After an awkward pause in which her face fell and her stomach clenched she replied to his question.