After a few moments of dead silence, the man told them to follow him. He led them all the way to the second floor, to a big room. That was a very clean and modern place. The walls were made out of crystal and they were very shiny. In front of the class, there was a big desk with glass top and golden legs, while in the back there were smaller desks with silver legs and that same, shiny, glass top. Behind the huge desk in the front, there was a holographic board showing many sketches and images.

Jia was the only one who was impressed upon seeing that. The others just walked over to the back seats and stood there, waiting. After all, that was their classroom and apparently, they were quite familiar with it. The man told the kids to sit down. He stood there, next to the big desk, watching them. He was waiting for the noises to fade so he could say a few words. Once they did, he cleared his throat and spoke:

“Alright. Now that you are all quiet, I suppose we can begin with a short introduction, since we have a new student joining us today. Jia, would you please step forward and tell us something about yourself?”

Jia’s cheeks turned red from embarrassment. She slowly stood up and walked in front of the room. She looked down. The words were mixing up in her head and she had no idea how to even begin. She didn’t want to say anything about Neko, but the thing was she barely had any ideas what to say about herself without bringing up the trauma she’s experienced a few days ago…

“Umm… My name is Jia Skay… I am 7 years old and… I love cats… I… don’t know what else to say anymore…” she muttered.

The man put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. He tried to comfort her. But deep into his eyes she could see that he was rather confused… She couldn’t tell why, but he was. And it was also bothering him; that thought… There was something about her, that was clear… But what?  

Jia’s face was all red and she was trembling. She slowly walked back to her seat. She tried to avoid looking at her classmates, but she felt as if Zack was there staring at her and it made her feel so uncomfortable… Plus, she was quite annoyed by the fact that him and Ayato just wouldn’t shut up and were continuously cursing at each other.

Then, the man moved his gaze on Zack, who got quite loud. He cleared his throat to gain his attention. Zack knew what he had to do, so he immediately jolted up and walked in front of the class, with a confident expression of a countenance. That mischievous smile of his left everyone to believe that he was always up to something.

“My name is Zack Foster, I am 10 and I can say I’m a madman. Well, I am driven to become the most powerful Devil Killer on NEON, even more powerful than Vantablack! For I am the most powerful in this whole school!” he said. Then, he laughed like a maniac.

The name Vantablack caught Jia’s attention and made her stare straight at him with her eyes wide opened. She knew many people were aware of who Vantablack was, but still, it made her think of Neko. It made her wonder what was the deal with him and the Devil Killer. After all, they had the same name, so there had to be something between them…

She kept staring even though she knew Zack was also looking at her with his eyes widened, yet with a blank expression on his face. He was blushing slightly. No one could tell if it was because he thought Jia just began to be interested in him and his ideals or because her gaze was making him feel embarrassed. Either way, the man was absolutely not interested and just wanted to finish with the introductions…

“Enough of your nonsense, Zack. Get back to your seat.” whispered the man while he patted his back. Zack gave him a cold look and grunted before walking back to his desk. He looked at Jia for a second and saw she did not seem to feel too happy. He frowned a bit, still blushing.

“Hey, Jia… I’m sorry, okay? Just please, don’t get me in trouble too…” he whispered.

Jia moved her gaze on him and flashed a smile. “It’s okay…” she responded. She saw his cheeks turn red and she couldn’t help but blush too. But she was embarrassed…

She then looked at the man in front of them and noticed he had someone in sight. Ayato, the boy with crimson hair.

“Come on, Ayato.” he said.

Ayato didn’t seem too confident. He was the opposite of Zack. He seemed afraid of having to embarrass himself in front of his enemy. (And maybe that’s why he always got roasted and lost every argument against Zack.) He walked forward with small steps, looking back at the blond girl from time to time. She was smiling, trying to encourage him. They seemed to be really close if they had so much trust in each other.

Once in front, Ayato took a deep breath before beginning.

“Hey… I am Ayato Sakamaki… I am 9 and I… I like video games…”

By looking at the chaotic way his hands were twitching, they could all tell that he was feeling very uncomfortable. He was stumbling over his words. Not knowing what to add, he slowly walked back to his seat and exhaled sharply. The blonde girl patted his back. Then, she walked forward, full of confidence. But she was different, compared to Zack. It wasn’t that confidence that reflected selfishness; It was a positive emotion.

As she reached the front of the room, she inhaled. She looked at the others, making sure they were paying attention. Then, she began:

“Hi. My name is Komori Yury, I am 9 years old and I see myself as a kind and friendly person. My goal is to become a strong hero and protect the people I love from all the demons and dangers out there.” She seemed proud of her words, but Zack saw it as if it was something of a joke. After all, Komori and Ayato were the people he seemed to love teasing, so he couldn’t miss the opportunity now, when she just gave such a speech. He laughed loudly. Komori let out a huff of frustration. But Zack had something to add about it:

“Wow, really! Very explicit presentation. You know what? You would make a nice housewife for that tomato haired loser next to you!” He sat on the desk in order to get more attention. He started imitating Komori using stupid hand signs. But as he kept leaning back and forth, he slipped from the top of the desk and fell on the floor. But shortly after, the desk did too and what happened to it was absolutely messy. The glass that served as top shattered to tiny pieces that spread all around. The noise that it made was insanely disturbing.

For a few moments, everyone was silent. Jia was holding her breath, trying to understand what just happened. She was shocked, after her day began in such chaotic manner… She felt so terrible to be there, but terrible because she didn’t even know these people well enough and they were already causing trouble…

The man watched the whole thing without being able to do anything and remained breathless for a few seconds. Then, after he felt like it was too silent, he let his anger burst and yelled desperately. His loud voice echoed through the room.

“ZACK!! For Heaven’s sake, could you do something useful and less messy for once in your life?!”

As a response, Zack scoffed. He didn’t look sorry about it. In fact, he was absolutely careless. He wanted to hit them with a “badass” reply, but he just kept it for himself since their teacher was already boiling inside. And again, he looked at Jia, whose gaze fixated him entirely and couldn’t help but blush again. Jia became curious why, but the teacher just seemed to get her attention again.

He had no idea what to say about it anymore, how to react and what to do with himself. He exhaled sharply and told them to go outside in the backyard. No one disobeyed and they slowly walked onto the hall one by one in silence. Zack threw one more glance at Jia and gestured her to go after them. Jia was about to step out along with the others, but the man put a hand on her shoulder to hold her still. She tilted her head back and looked at him. He gestured her to stay in the classroom with him for a few moments. There was something he had to say and she could see in his eyes that same expression of confusion she saw before, when she introduced herself…