Before anyone could reply, Yukio burst into the room and raised his gun. Two reports rang out, and the stranger stumbled forward, dropping to his knees before falling prone on the floor.

"Yukio! What are you doing?" Rin demanded, flinching at the corpse lying before him. His younger brother calmly holstered his gun and pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Don't be fooled - this is a demon that infiltrated the school a short while ago. It merely appeared human."

"But we just watched him kill a demon!"

Now Yukio was confused, "What?"

Konekomaru gave a start as Shiemi knelt beside the prone figure, clutching Nii-chan in her hands.

"Moriyama-san, what are you doing? He might be dangerous!"

"Isn't he also..kind of...dead?" Shima chuckled nervously, edging away as if the man might suddenly come back to life and slash them all to bits. Shiemi sniffled a bit, but kept her shoulders straight.

"Even if he was a demon, he saved us from that monster. So that means he was nice...right? Shouldn't we try to save him?"

"It's no use - no one could survive two bullets to the skull like that," Bon grunted, but suddenly Nii-chan was squeaking and hopping up and down in Shiemi's hands.

"What is it, Nii-chan?"

"No way," Shima muttered, creeping further away. The gouging bite marks and other injuries had vanished, leaving behind smooth, unscarred skin. Everyone gasped and stepped back as the stranger sat up with a groan, scowling at the little green man floating in front of him.

"What the heck is that thing?"

"Nii!" the greenman squeaked before jumping onto Shiemi's head to hide. Shiemi clapped her hands in delight, "You're alive!"

"Yeah, whatever," the stranger grunted, scratching the back of his head as if he had been bitten by two mosquitoes rather than shot. Without the slightest quiver of his hands, Yukio rapidly reloaded and trained his gun on the stranger. Rin shoved the weapon away, "Calm down! He helped us, shouldn't we give him a chance?"

"He's a demon - you saw with your own eyes. Only a demon can heal like that," Yukio gave him a meaningful look, but Rin wasn't about to back down.

"He just killed the demon, I think he's on our side!"

Both of the brothers were so caught up arguing neither noticed when the man stood and began talking.

Logan didn't understand Japanese, but he followed the gist of the conversation. Four-eyes wanted him dead, and the kid with the tail didn't. He thought perhaps he could have a say in the matter.

"Look, I don't know what you're saying, but -"

"They think you're a demon," a quiet, sharp voice interrupted. He looked to his right to see a petite girl with purple hair glaring at him suspiciously, clutching two squares of paper in her white-knuckled fists.

"So are you?"

A demon? These people really were crazy. He began to rub his head, wondering how he had gotten caught up in all this. He just wanted to find Yukio and get out of here.

"A demon, huh? Sorry to disappoint - I'm just a human."

The kid with the piercings and streaked hair crossed his arms skeptically, "A human doesn't instantaneously heal from gunshot wounds - or have claws, for that matter."

"Oh, but they have tails? I'm a mutant, same as him."

He didn't understand why they were all so suspicious - it was like they had never heard of a mutant before. He knew they must have - if they hadn't seen it on the news, there was one standing right beside them! But the mutant kid simply gawked, eyes wide. With an annoyed sigh, Logan stood and began brushing debris off his coat.

"I only stuck around to find out what that thing was, but if you're not going to tell me I'll be on my way. I've got better things to do."

"You can't -" the Four-eyes began, but Logan's hands were faster. In the blink of an eye he had ripped the gun from the kid's hands and sliced into three neat pieces.

"I'll do whatever I want."

In a flash the kid had swiped Logan's feet from beneath him, flipping him onto his back and pressing an arm to his throat.

"I can't allow you to leave."

"I don't have time for this!" he threw the kid off and stormed out of the room, kicking splintered boards and bricks out of the way. As much as all this disturbed him- the monster, the weird kids with swords and guns and little green creatures - he couldn't get involved, not that anyone wanted him here anyway. He wasn't keen on biting any more bullets, and he still had to find Yukio.

"Oi! Wait!"

He turned to see the mutant kid running after him, eyes shining eagerly. With a long-suffering sigh, Logan stopped.

"What do you want?"

"You said you're human, but you healed...and your claws...are you really like me?"

Despite his annoyance, Logan felt a pang of sympathy. He didn't know this kid's story, but apparently this kid had never met another mutant. Growing up different than everyone else, not understanding why he was like that...was that even possible? In this modern age where mutants had been universally accepted as citizens with rights like any other person? But looking into the kid's eyes, Logan saw a lonely despair he recognized whenever he looked in a mirror.

"Yeah, kid. I'm like you," he looked back and saw Four-eyes approaching with a grim expression.

"But tell your hot-shot friend to back off or next time it won't just be his gun."

The kid laughed, "That's my brother Yukio. He's a little too serious for his own good."

"Brothers, huh? I wouldn't have guessed." But Logan knew more than anyone just how different two brothers could be.

Yukio adjusted his glasses, "I'm appropriately cautious. Thank you for disposing of that demon, but we still need to hold you for questioning."

"Who needs to question me? You're just a kid!"

"That would be me. Mr. Okumura, good job. But I think you can leave your gun where it is. This man poses no threat to us."

Logan wasn't even surprised when the man in the extravagant clown costume appeared from thin air, bowing low and doffing his ridiculous top hat.

"My name is Mephisto Pheles, and I'm the principal of this school."

"Nice to meet ya. Could you show me the way out of this madhouse?"

"All in good time, Wolverine."