The little man on the soapbox didn’t have any answers. As far as Twyla could tell all he had was a lot of anger and lungs of steel. He had been standing on his perch preaching mutant supremist nonsense for the last twenty minutes. The frenzied crowd was eating it up though. Probably, Twyla concluded, because they were scared and they were tired and they wanted to follow someone, anyone, that could maybe get them what they wanted. This man obviously wasn’t what they really needed but they didn’t care, he had pretty words and they wanted pretty words. He decidedly wasn’t what Twyla was looking for. She had been searching for answers to her questions but no one had been able to give her anything satisfactory, not yet anyway. She really didn’t know why she was even still standing there, with her back pressed uncomfortably against the rough brick of a building and her breathing room constantly invaded by other mutants. What mattered was that she was and that the crowd around her was getting more and more agitated. Soon they began calling for blood, for violence, which seemed to be the price that was required for the man on the soapbox to keep his control over the rabble. Soon he was yelling even louder than before and this time he was only echoing the calls of the crowd. A hand pulled through her brown hair covered up her brown eyed roll.

Suddenly there was a rock and it was flying through the air. It hit the window of a nearby building and from her vantage point the teenager could see the flashing lights that meant that the building had an alarm system. The police would be there soon to break up the fray like they always did. This she knew from experience. Even though it was stupid and dangerous Twyla had been to a few of these types of gatherings recently, all of them were different but they all had the same after taste. Some speakers asked for more violence than others and some preached mutant supremacy but they all ended with police and running. The rabble rousers themselves never stood up to the cops that were so far ‘beneath’ them. It was ridiculous to Twyla. How could someone talk so passionately about something and then never take a stand when the perfect opportunity to do so arose? And why on earth was the path to mutant equality paved with violence and blood? Why did it have to be that way? There were so many things the young mutant didn’t understand.

Her predication was proved true when flashing lights could be seen from the open mouth of the large alley. Officers began streaming into the opening, causing the mob to scatter like they always did. There were no martyrs or heros in this crowd. Twyla didn’t move, she didn’t even flinch, she just let herself fade into the background. Her powers were becoming increasingly handy on these little trips to the city; they were very useful for avoiding unwanted attention. It had taken twenty minutes for the little man to build the trust of the crowd and only twenty seconds for him to lose all his power. There was no one left in the alley, the cops had effectively cleared it out. Twyla waited a few moments, just to make sure the coast was clear, and then she shook off the dull brown coloring of the brick and started walking back out towards the street, her head filled with the jumble that usually followed these speeches.

Pretty words. There was nothing pretty about supremacy. Nor were there any beautiful facets of the thought that one mutant was any better than one human, when it came down to the lines of fact, data, and weighing souls. The Mansion had opinions pertaining to that... or, more correctly-stated, one of its resident greeters held opinions. Opinions he more-often-than-not kept to himself, but escaped his lips in utterances and sighs as the morning drained onwards into afternoon and the sewers that bogged New York thought.

Shin's shoulder cut a line through the bramble of a crowd gathered in, and pouring out of, an alley. Head ducked down and dodging any and all acerbic debris that cluttered the air. This included pro-mutant propaganda amongst the sublimating pressures that turned hate to political energy... perhaps 'sublimation' wasn't the word? Ugh. To be quite frank, he'd of preferred them changing a solid or gas to liquid... Why couldn't these whackos be carrying more signs of the 'End is Nigh' and less 'We're Better Than Youse'? Made one hope for the madness of a Rorschach.

"Kill them all!" Came the first diatribe from the peanut gallery.

"We're better than them!"

And the third. "They should all leave the world to us and go live on some peaceful hidden island off the coast of somewhere!!" Her voice kept the hammer at bay.

Oh, how Shin longed for the silent stacks of Full Circle. But alas, he'd have to make it through the thicket of thickness to get there. And so many mutants prickled up in protest of the occasional human interloper's commentary. What else could make one embarrassed of genetic connection?

Ah yes: Flying rocks. Everybody dies. The alarm system would mean trouble. Make it double. Team Rocket, blasting all the mutants with pepper spray and plastic bullets came to mind. Er… why’d he imagine the cops as the bad guys there? A bit of Abyss-mentality must have bled through…

And there they were. America’s heroes. Little boys in blue, coming to blow their horns. And oh look. Sheep in the meadow? Check. Cows in the corn… Shin looked around as he rushed for the cover of a nice bank of normals. They wouldn’t suspect him of being a mutant if he was peacefully coexisting with the humans, right? Right?

As he moved towards serenity, and a change of scenery, he caught sight of a stirring image. One of the mansion’s students was present… blending into the crowd as best her Godgiven talent allowed. Shin took refuge on a nearby street corner by a bus stop a little ways down the street, apart from the quickly-vanishing crowd. The cops did their job clearing the alleyway, and paid him no heed. He was waiting for the bus, right? Not shouting epithets and acting the part of a prophet.

Some time passed. He waited. No bus came. Still, he waited. A near-invisible blur of camouflaged brick-brown farm-girl came. He took a step back from the street corner and bumbled into her, blindly.

“Oh… uh, hey. Didn’t see you coming.” Shin muttered to thin air. Whatever he’d bumped into needed an apology, right? And from his position, facing straight down the sidewalk, brick-red camouflaged-girl wouldn’t blend in as easily as if he’d been staring at her from across the street. “Were you… just now?”

As she walked, Twyla stared at her shoes. Inside of them, she knew, were her feet and the monkey toes that everyone said all the Ashby children had. And all six of them did in fact have similar feet and very similar looking toes and that is why Twyla Ashby was so confused. If she was supposed to be so much better than her siblings then why did the all have the same feet? It didn’t make any sense. If she was so ‘advanced’ why was she the plainest of all her sisters and the dumbest? It was ridiculous to put yourself on such a pedestal. On the other side of that coin, how could she be so much less than her siblings if they all had the same feet? How were any of them better than her? Because of their genes? Because of one gene? That argument didn’t last very long in water either and Twyla was still left fishing for an ideology that fit her logic.

Who said she needed one anyway? She could coast along if she wanted to, not making life any better or any worse for herself or her kind, couldn’t she? Did she want to? Would it be easier to–“Oof.” All confusing thoughts and lofty logic were put aside for a moment as Twyla collided with something solid. Something solid that talked and had a familiar voice. “Oh… uh, hey. Didn’t see you coming.” The Solid Something said. “Most don’t.” She uttered quietly before looking up. Yep, the Solid Something did have a familiar voice because the Solid Something was familiar. “Were you… just now?” Tetsuya Shinbo, the first face of the Mansion, asked her. “Oh gosh no!” Twyla spoke hurriedly, the brick coloring returning to her legs as she got flustered.. “I was just...observing...Were you?” Her brow was wrinkled in confusion. That would be weird. Twyla didn’t get any mutant supremist vibes from the mansion greeter.

It felt foolish when she spoke her reason for being at the rally. Which it was, especially for a teenage girl without an active power. It would be interesting to see his reaction though, not that there was much she could do if he was upset or disappointed or anything like that. She found herself hoping he wouldn’t be upset, she respected him after their first encounter. But in the end what was done was done and although Twyla had learned nothing she had further cemented her beliefs regarding any supremacy issues. No one was better than anyone as far as she was concerned. Here genes didn’t make her feet superior to the feet of her siblings and they weren’t supposed to.

>>“Oh gosh no!” Twyla spoke hurriedly, the brick coloring returning to her legs as she got flustered.. “I was just...observing...Were you?”

"No." Shin stated simply. "I was just on my way to work. Saw you, though. And wondered why." This wasn't the sort of social event Shin wanted to see Twyla, or any mansion student at. Whatever the mansion stood for, pro-mutant rallies that turned towards supremacist statements, it was not. That was more the territory of darker denizens of New York. A bus approached the stop with a squeal of brakes, and Shin glanced up. His ride was here. Hrm... maybe... "If you're curious about mutant rights and mutant-human relations, you should come to work with me. Maybe we could talk?"

Shin knew for a fact Twyla would get better answers from the sources at Full Circle than in some sleazy back alley from an unknown source.

With a skill otherwise known only to her brother Nate, Shin’s reply made Twyla’s stomach clench in guilt. "I was just on my way to work. Saw you, though. And wondered why." It was the tone, or more the lack of one that reminded her of her older brother. Nate had a way of making you feel guilty without actually using a disappointed tone; with him it was always the offhanded comments that cut deeper than any of the angry and direct words of her older sisters. Twyla’s eyes lowered automatically and her mouth opened slightly in preparation for a pathetic teenage excuse. She didn’t give one though and let her mouth close instead around her bottom lip in a bite. Nate she probably would have argued with, but that was because Nate was only two years her senior and he didn’t know much better than she did. This man was older than Nate by a year or two and he just so happened not to be her brother. Twyla remained silent and watched as a bus pulled up to the curb.

She saw it coming but she still jumped with the whoosh of air and the creak that announced that the bus door was open. "If you're curious about mutant rights and mutant-human relations, you should come to work with me. Maybe we could talk?" This startled her almost as much as the door. The part of her that was still embarrassed about being caught in such bad circumstances wanted to say ‘no’ and get as far away from her guilt as possible but the ever practical part of her brain argued those emotions down. She wanted to get as many sides of the issue as possible, right? Obviously his view was different from the one expressed by the people she had been most recently studying so it made sense that they should talk, right? She should glean as much information from as many sources as possible and then find the bits that made the most sense to her, right? Right. Logic beat emotion, and not for the first time, inside of Twyla’s young head. “That’s probably a good idea.” The words sheepishly exited her lips and hung in the air for a moment while she waited to see if this was their bus or not.

>>“That’s probably a good idea.” The words sheepishly exited her lips and hung in the air for a moment while she waited to see if this was their bus or not.

Shin nodded, quiet. He climbed onto the bus, and paid for two, then glanced back to Twyla. "Hop in, then."

She'd looked so crestfallen earlier. He'd seen this sort of thing time and again with mansion students. Rocked by viewpoints from all sides, they were like a submarine amidst the tides of war. And information? They were drowning in it. Some was good. Some was bad. But only by the single spot of sight allowed by the periscope could they see above the water. It only made sense so many mutant children didn't know what to make of the many bickering opinions held by the people around them. The few people Shin had talked to at the mansion had seemed so confused. He'd sent them to Raina the guidance counselor now and then. Other times, he'd offered words of encouragement and support. He'd done his best to give them an opinion from a fair and balanced vantage point, shared the occasional book with them...

And now Twyla was adrift. He'd do his best to bring good sources to her SONAR attention.

Shin brushed past a mohawked couple in the aisle and took a seat three rows back from the driver, by the window. He motioned for Twyla to join him, then glanced distantly towards the city outside.

The bus began to move.

"So tell me. What questions do you have?"

Twyla followed Shin onto the bus and muttered a quiet “Thank you.” when he paid for her way. She followed him to a pair of seats a few rows behind the driver and followed his example when he sat down. It was then that Twyla noticed that she had done a lot of following in her life. She followed her siblings around when she was little, followed her friends to parties she knew she shouldn’t be at, followed her fear when it told her to run away from home, and now she was following Shin around like a lost puppy. How far would she let someone lead her? That was too deep a thought tangent for her at the moment–one big thing at a time, she reminded herself. When the bus pulled away from the curb, Twyla swayed with its motions. She felt like a buoy, in more ways than one.

A couple with mohawks took the seats ahead of them. For a moment Twyla didn’t notice that her companion was speaking, instead she sat staring transfixed at the pink spikes that the girl ahead of her had coming from her head. As if by its own accord a hand went up to her own brown hair that needed trimming. Pink? The focused part of her brain brought the hand down and opened her mouth so she could reply to the question directed at her. She had many questions and they were all written down...somewhere. A few moments of rummaging in the front pocket of her jeans yielded nothing but a murmured “Sorry.” and pink cheeks. An awkward half stand in her seat allowed her to search her back pockets, which proved to be more fruitful when her fingers closed around a crumpled piece of paper.

The paper was carefully smoothed out in her lap and was revealed to be a notebook page full of half sentences, crossed out phrases, and many questions–some of them highlighted in neon pink. The pink in her cheeks intensified and she sent Shin an embarrassed half smile. “Usually it’s lists.” She scanned the page and then decided on her first question. This was something she had been wondering about for a very long time and it was one of her most important questions. No one had been able to answer it thus far, it was time to find out if anyone could. “Why are humans and mutants so different?” She didn’t elaborate on it, there was no embellishment, it was a simple question that was infinite in its implications. It was also, and she knew this, very unfair to ask anyone. She glanced at Shin's face to see if she could find an answer there before he spoke.

An intake of air. Shin turned his focus away from the mellow reflection of himself on the glass, towards Twyla. Why was it never the easy questions that came first?

"To think that mutants and humans are so different... is a tough question. It expects the person being asked the question to consider so many things. Like why mutants and humans are so much the same." The bus rattled over a bump. Shin clasped his hands on the black knees of his jeans, and shared a thought. "In genetics, a mutation is 'a change in the chromosomes or genes of a cell which may affect the structure and development of the resultant offspring.' One study I'll use as an example involved flies. The scientists bred flies and bred flies and bred flies, looking for a mutation among the countless generations. Eventually, they found a fly with eyes of a different color. That was a mutation." Someone behind him coughed. Shin's face scrunched and he leaned forwards, deep in thought as he continued. "It wasn't spewing fire or climbing walls or any of that. I can't explain what it is that influences who becomes a mutant, or when... there are too many variables. Like parentage. My parents weren't mutants, nor were my aunt and uncle, yet both me and my cousin Kokoro are..."

"In genetics, it is stated that mutations can be passed from one generation to the next, and that most mutations occur in junk DNA and have no discernible effects on the survivability of an organism... but in humans, it's more complicated. Because mutants arise where, for a long time, there were none. And their individual mutations are varied and different. More and more, people these days forget it's as simple as a chromosomal change... and as complicated as the hidden link in some strand of DNA deep down in every person's cells, that brings about that polarizing title. 'Human' or 'mutant'. Beyond that single hidden value, we aren't that different... really. We still feel pain, most of us still bleed." His face looked slightly pained, considering all the different facets of the question. "I suppose, we're really all the same on the human level. The only people putting us on different pages are those who fear... or feel superiority... Did you know that at one point in time, some scientists made up research to show that Africans were a different, or lesser, species than White English males and females? And Hitler used demonizing propaganda to destroy the characters of whichever groups he was hating on? ... I guess it's the same for humans here. They demonize mutants out of fear for what's different, or because it makes it easier to hate that which they don't understand... or maybe ignorance, or maybe jealousy... but it's the same type of thing."

He looked Twyla in the eye. "And mutants try and do it right back." He shook his head. "They feel like, if the word 'mutant' gives humans power over them, the reverse could also be true, so they tout their subtle, or blaring, differences as superiority, and call humans inferior, or weak. They think that just because they might bend buildings with magnetic powers, or shoot beams of cabbage from their eyes, they're better. They could very well be worse than the human fireman who saves people every day, or the soldier who puts his life on the line in defending his friends, his family, and his country. To them, it's a defense mechanism or a mental problem or a superiority complex or..." A break in his sentence. Shin looked out the window distantly. "So many things... and it isn't just hateful people who do it. It's more complicated. One cannot truly demonize others for lack of understanding. Ignorance, maybe. Yeah. But if they don't get it... humans (and I include mutants in this definition) are similar in that they both get scared. And they both might choose any of the previously-mentioned methods to justify their fear... and even the ones dearest to you can misunderstand. It's amazing... how a parent can disown their own kid just because... just because he can control razor-sharp barriers with his mind..." Shin's voice fell.

His head lowered. Hands clenched pant-leg. He bit his lip. He would not cry.

A moment after she finished her question Twyla almost apologized for it but the truth was, she wasn’t sorry. The urge came from habit, from not wanting to make waves with anyone. If she was being honest with herself at that moment she was feeling hopeful and slightly guilty for asking such an immense question--but that wasn’t the same as being sorry. She was searching for answers, and the only way she’d get them was by asking her questions. Shin turned away from the window and faced her before he began to speak. And then it was answers she got. Or was it just one multi-faced answer? Either way, it was more than she had had a moment ago.

When he began speaking something stirred up some distant biology class notes and she followed what he was saying by piecing the information he gave together with her random remeberings. At the mention of mutations being passed on through offspring Twyla realized how little must be known about these particular human mutations. Out of six children, she was the only mutant, as far as she knew. (She was also the only one with her father’s brown hair but she didn’t think that the two were linked.) This went against basic genetics, making the concept very complicated. Past the obvious mutant gifts it didn’t seem like there was anything that scientifically separated humans from mutants. They were all technically human, like the flies were all just flies, some just were more ‘average’ than others. She was following this; it made a lot more sense than some of the other theories she had heard.

The urge to apologize re-surged when she saw the look that her question had put on her answerer’s face. Twyla resisted the urge and let him continue speaking. A few nods accompanied his example of Whites dehumanizing Africans–this stirred up history class notes. Her teacher had explained that it was easier to treat other people harshly and terribly if you didn’t think of them as people. There was less guilt if you couldn’t link yourself to what you were terrorizing. ‘Regular’ people could hate mutants because they didn’t let themselves see the bond that existed between them. They didn’t have to understand, so long as mutants were different.

Suddenly, his hazel eyes met her brown eyes and she could tell that his next words would be important."And mutants try and do it right back." They did. The rally that morning proved it. It was this statement that lighted sparks in her brain. The proverbial lightbulb went off above her head and Twyla Ashby had her epiphany. There were no victims in this situation. Or maybe everyone was a victim. There was no ‘good’ side or ‘bad’ side, a concept that Twyla had been struggling with--mutants and humans were the same in their reactions to each other. They were the same in their hatred and misunderstandings. They were the same. They were the barriers driven between each other and it would take work on both sides to tear them down. Twyla’s mind began whirring with this realization.

Shin turned away from her and looked out the window. His next words reiterated the conclusion that she had come to only seconds before. They were the same in their reactions to each other. It was everyone who was the victim. “...It's amazing... how a parent can disown their own kid just because... just because he can control razor-sharp barriers with his mind..." The voice that had been strong throughout the whole speech now fell and the speaker lowered his head and bit his lip. Twyla had seen this pose many times before, mostly in the reflection of train car windows. Shin was trying not to cry. Her stomach clenched in guilt and sadness. It wasn’t fair how some families could deal with their children’s mutations and others could not. Twyla had been one of the lucky ones; her mother wasn’t telling the neighbors but she was still talking to her daughter. A hand reached out in hesitant comfort. “I’m so sorry.” She said as she lightly patted his shoulder a few times. The words were in different context than she usually used them–the apology was sincere but it didn’t make the situation any different.

Shin looked at the hand, then his eyes rose to meet Twyla's. "Me too." He wished it could be simpler. Wished he could explain it all to her. But his own parents were part of the picture, his own parents... and..."I'm sorry the world couldn't be a better place..." The bus paused. The car next to them on the street was playing obnoxious loud rap music. Shin tuned it out. "I recently... came out... to my own parents. About being a mutant. I thought 'Hey, if my little cousin can do it without any repercussions, why can't I? Right?' But I was wrong..." His shoulders rose, then sagged in a sigh. He looked up at her, a hint of hope glinting in the corner of his eye. "It's okay. Nothing for you to worry about... just a little down about it is all. But my sister, Sasami, said she'd talk to them, and..." Shin shrugged. "If they accept me, they accept me. If they don't, they don't. All I can ask of them is to see the bigger picture. It isn't as if I died and some demon took up shop in my heart. I'm still their son."

With a squeal, tires started rolling again. Shin bumped forward, nearly hitting his head on the back of the seat in front of him. He slid back, straightening his back. It felt... strange, confessing it to someone. Good? Perhaps... he hoped he wasn't being a Debbi Downer about it all. It wasn’t her fault these things happened, and here he was, pouring out his soul. She wanted information, right?

Her cup overfloweth.

Shin shook his head to clear it. "Anyways... were there any other questions on that list of yours for me?" He leaned backwards and tilted his head, trying to sneak a peak.

The hesitant hand made it’s way back to it’s place next to its twin in her lap. Her stomach clenched again as he spoke. His story made her feel terrible and she searched for words to give him something...anything to make him feel a little better. This, she soon found, she was not good at. She didn’t have the life experience to give him a super-duper-response that would give him waves of comfort and understanding but she made an attempt after a few moments of careful thought. “The world might not be at an awesome place right now but that doesn’t mean that it can’t ever get better, right? And at least you told your parents, right? You gave them the option to decide for themselves and they didn’t respond how you wanted them to but anything can change, right?” She wasn’t exactly sure if that was the reply she was going for, but it was the reply that came out and it’s not like she could really take it back, right? At least she got the tone right, it was softly cheery and conveyed a sense of optimism. Hopefully he’d get the idea, right?

"Anyways... were there any other questions on that list of yours for me?" He asked a moment after the bus jerked them around and he shook his head. An attempt was made to peak at her notebook page and she didn’t bother to cover it up with the hands in her lap. If he could decipher her chicken scratch penmanship then he deserved the peak. Not that most people could read her writing, but if he did then he would still have to make sense of the half finished thoughts scrawled all over the page.“Well...That was my biggest question...” She scanned the page again. There were a few questions there that he had answered with his first answer and now all that was left was to find the questions that he could answer and get those answers. Quickly a question that was circled in several highlighter colors and had the name ‘Koga’ written next to it was found and brought to her lips. “What are the X-men?”

Ever since Koga had mentioned the group to Twyla her first afternoon at the Mansion the girl had been curious. Shin worked at the Mansion, so she figured that he would know more about this group that Koga spoke so highly of than she did. She hadn’t yet had the time in her mutant rights research to really get any real information on the X-men. She had gotten distracted and really freaked out by all the newspaper articles about violent crimes mutants had committed against humans that she had found. This led her to stop using Google as her main source, which in turn led her to getting her information first hand, yadda yadda yadda, and now she was on a bus getting information from a safer firsthand source that couldn’t show her scary pictures of dead cops. Actually, if you wanted to get technical, he probably could...She seriously hoped that her companion was not the type to carry those types of things around with him.

>>"The world might not be at an awesome place right now but that doesn’t mean that it can’t ever get better, right? And at least you told your parents, right? You gave them the option to decide for themselves and they didn’t respond how you wanted them to but anything can change, right?”

Shin didn't say anything at first. It wasn't that she was wrong. The fact was, it didn't matter much what his parents, or any other parents thought... not really, no. Unease squirmed in his stomach at the thought. It didn't matter... he still had his job. He was still working at making the world a better place for mutants. Shin had given them the truth, and it was a start, but it'd be up to them what they did with it. He couldn't spend his time worrying about their decision.

Shin's voice cracked ever-so-slightly as he replied. "Y-yeah. I guess so... change" It wasn't as if he'd considered the situation hopeless. Not really. No. His right eye twinged as he repeated the thought. "There's always the possibility for change..." It's what he was hoping for. But anyways.

The bus ride rattled on.

Chicken scratch. Even with his best screwed up eyes, all Shin could make heads or tails of were squiggly lines and a name. Ko...ga? What was Koga's name doing on her list? Wasn't Koga with Kat?

>>“Well...That was my biggest question...”

And if that wasn't it, why was Koga on the list? Insane theories shook the angst from Shin's mind. And then...

>>“What are the X-men?”

That.

Shin gulped. "Sorry, what?" He was taken aback. Why did she know about them? It wasn't like the teachers and students around the mansion went around blabbing about secret identities and crime-fighting teams... this wasn't like the Danger Room. It was a bit more dangerous for students to consider that... then again... he had heard about them himself. It wasn't the most 'Cloak and Dagger' ordeal digging up dirt. Shin cleared his throat and spoke low. "The X-men are a group of like-minded mutant individuals who wish to protect others, and preserve a peaceful ideal between mutants and humans... of which I happen to be a member." His voice dropped on the last part. "Just who told you about the X-men?"

Twyla nodded. Of course there was possibility for change. That’s how things worked. Maybe not always people...but then again she had changed from the girl she was back home, hadn’t she?

Oops. Big. Fat. Oops. Asking about the X-men was apparently a bad plan based on Shin's reaction. Twyla's face tinged a bit pink but she didn't say anything, just waited to see if he would answer the question or pretend like she hadn't asked it. It's not like she could take it back, so no use crying over spilt milk and all that. She wasn't sure if she was in trouble or not, but he answered her question in a low voice that she had to lean in closer to hear. His reply was the fancy version of what Koga had told her and she was left without much more information. Except the little tidbit about the speaker being a member, that was news. Still left a bit wanting, Twyla nevertheless made the executive decision not to pursue the subject further so as not to cause some kind of tizzy. Maybe she’d just have to do her own research on the subject of this illusive group called the X-men. Oh well, she tried.

"Just who told you about the X-men?" Uh-oh, moral dilemma alert. Still not sure if she had crossed some invisible line in the sand, Twyla struggled for a moment with whether or not she should reveal her source. She didn't want to get Koga in trouble, but at the same time...Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. And just for good measure...crap. Twyla looked down at her lap for a moment, as if the correct answer was hidden in the weave of her jeans. "A boy at school..." Please tell me I'm not getting him in trouble. "His name's Koga."

"Thought so."

That was it. No reprimands, no yelling. Just a simple reply.

Then, came the not-so-simple.

"Let me start over with the description..." She seemed a bit terrified, like his reaction had told her she'd done something wrong. Which she hadn't. "I sometimes make things sound a bit more drastic than they are. The X-men is a group that many members of the mansion are in." His voice was a touch louder now, as if proud. "There's me, and Sam, and Ghost, and Raina, and... recently, we had tryouts for the team." He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably, as if he were nagged by an itch. "Some students from the mansion applied. It was a pretty good turnout. There were even trolleys. ... Let me start over." He'd strayed. "The X-men is a group concerned with preserving the peace between humans and mutants. Protecting the balance, y'know, like Captain Planet? Or Smoky the Bear? OK. They're organized in teams, and whenever something bad happens that threatens the balance, they go out and do what they can to help either side. They try to be heroic about it. And idealistic. And we all train so that we may best help our fellow Man. What Koga was likely talking about was this team of do-gooder Adventurers... anyone at the mansion can join, of course. It's just that you have to be at least 15... or 17, if you want to become full-fledged... "

"Koga is... a friend of mine. Ant too young to join currently. Probably what he mentioned. Don't worry, if you're worrying that you mentioned him mentioning it, or ratted him out... Like I said, it isn't a big deal. Now, onto the 'why'. Why do you ask?"

Because if she was considering joining, Shin could totally set her up.

"Thought so." Twyla waited for the hammer to drop...and then it didn’t. Then came the hesitant relief that she hadn’t made a ginormous blunder in her innocent question. Ever since Koga had mentioned it, Twyla had been honestly curious, considering she hadn’t encountered such an idea for a group before. Not that she had been looking very hard for anything of the same nature until lately. When she had first discovered her powers Twyla had been content with slinking around on the outskirts of society– keeping her head down and trying desperately to hide the fact that she was a mutant. Somewhere around the time that she had started reconstructing ties with her family something had clicked in her brain. If she wanted to live her life she had to stop slinking and hold her head up. What that entailed she still wasn’t totally sure but the feeling was strong and it had made her restless. Restless enough to explore different mind sets and ways of thinking in order to find something that fit closely with her own. Her restless mind was now focused on what Shin was saying.

She nodded when he said things that matched what Koga had said. Mansion residents being a part of the X-men was one of those facts. Twyla hadn’t personally met any of the people that he mentioned besides himself but she was pretty sure she had heard their names around the school. The tryouts bit she understood until: “...There were even trolleys...” Trolleys? What did trolleys have to do with mutant rights? That random thought was pushed out of the way when more important information about Captain Planet and Smokey the Bear began flooding through her ears. Information that sounded refreshing to someone who had just spent her morning listening to information from other sources with less wholesome ideals. She was nodding again but it was a movement that signified that she was processing what he was telling her and it made sense to her. A small laugh escaped her lips when he described what he assumed Koga had told her. The gist of it matched perfectly with the sense that Koga had given her of the group. Koga had also told her about the age restrictions and had seemed excited when she told him she was seventeen.

He knew Koga? That made sense, especially since he had pretty much nailed Koga’s interpretation of things. He reassured her that it wasn’t a big deal that Koga told her and full relief took the place of the hesitant. “...Now, onto the 'why'. Why do you ask?" Without really thinking, Twyla launched into a mixture of the full and abridged versions of an answer. “Well, I’d heard about them from Koga, like I said earlier and–I don’t know. I guess it sounded strange to me, not because human and mutant cooperation is totally ridiculous or anything, but because I had never heard of anyone openly working for that. For a while I was...wandering around and I would hear all these groups screaming for mutant rights and for anti-mutant causes. Most of the loud voices scream for violence...I don’t like those ideas. Lately I guess I’ve been feeling like–I don’t know, like I should be doing something instead of watching things happen that I don’t necessarily agree with. I was asking to see if maybe the X-men represented something I could do something for.” Her face was vaguely pink by the end of her ramble and she shrugged in an uncomfortable way. It was weird to say some of those things out loud.