Aloha! Here's a new chap for you ^^ I have decided that I will try and publish a new chapter every Tuesday and Friday, so I will see if I manage to keep up the pace :) Anyway, enjoy and see y'all on Friday!

At 7:30 AM, he was already sitting in his chair, waiting for class to start. He had made sure to get up earlier than any other average student so he could claim his favorite desk, and it seemed his plan had worked pretty well. He was currently celebrating his victory with a small but pleased smile as he sat at the desk in the second row, the one by the window overlooking the school courtyard. The rest of the seats were slowly being taken by his new classmates as they made their disciplined enter, looking extremely nervous. He made sure to study their faces and analyze their behavior as it was his customs, because he knew it would prove useful one day. One thing he had learned during his years at the orphanage and at foster homes was the importance of knowing other people's personalities: that way, it would be a lot easier to gain their trust and exploit their weaknesses to his own advantage.

He soon discovered that many of his classmates knew each other from before, probably having attended middle school together, or being childhood friends. He watched as they gathered in small groups and seemed to relax, knowing there were familiar faces around. After all, friends made everything easier.

He actually had to refrain himself from sneering at the very thought: "friends. What are they good for?"

His thoughts were interrupting by the sudden appearance of a solemn-looking man around his 50's, sporting a formal suit and a metal tag on his navy blue jacket with his name on it. The students who hadn't yet claimed a seat quickly scattered to find one as the teacher kept his eyes fixed on them, speaking only when everyone had sat down.

"Stand" he commanded coolly, and watched as the boys and girls before him followed his order. None of them seemed to be able to look in his general direction, and the teacher couldn't help but smirk slightly. "You're no longer in middle school being spoiled by adults willing to turn a blind eye when you don't meet your deadlines or make spelling mistakes. Yours is a most important age, and your education is our top priority as well as a duty. You won't be resting on your laurels during the following three years. This is where your future begins to take shape, and you have an obligation to do so yourselves, so we all expect you to study hard and do your best."

He had spoken in a strong, military-like tone as his eyes slowly scanned the students standing in front of him as if they were soldiers ready to be sent to war. All of them seemed nervous and inadequate, which always gave him an immense pleasure. It was only natural that his satisfied expression dropped when his dull, black eyes met the lively, reddish-brown ones of a student who was staring right back at him, his posture polite and relaxed, bearing an expression of interest and curiosity. For the first time in his long career the man felt the need to look away, so intense was the boy's gaze, as if he could pierce right through his very soul.

"V-very well, you may sit" he continued, clearing his throat "We will start with a quick introduction."

The man introduced himself as Mr. Ikeda, their social studies teacher before instructing each student to come forward and tell everyone their name. Mr. Ikeda watched as the pupils stammered while speaking, their gaze never leaving the wooden floor of the classroom. When it was the brown-haired boy's turn to introduce himself, the teacher instinctively shifted position and felt suddenly uncomfortable. The boy confidently stepped forward and stood politely in front of his classmates, his arms crossed behind his back after he had bowed down and offered a charming smile.

"Hi everyone, my name is Goro Akechi. Nice to meet you" he said. He had spoken in a soft and polite tone, and yet confident and never faltering.

Mr. Ikeda watched as the boys stared blankly at the teenager, while the girls exchanged a few excited comments as Goro Akechi returned to his seat. The man couldn't help but feel slightly overwhelmed by the boy's personality: he looked polite, charming and confident and never before had he encountered a first year who possessed such qualities. However, there was something... unsettling about the young man.

"Well, this is going to be an interesting year" he muttered to himself as he opened the register to confirm all of the students were present.

"Who's that guy?"

"Is he a new student?"

"He's a first year student, don't you see the tag?"

"Aww, too bad!"

Goro Akechi was sitting on a bench under a cherry tree which cast a refreshing shadow over him, shielding him from the hot sun. Even though it was April, Japan had been struck by a most unusual heat wave which would last for a couple more weeks, anticipating summer.

He couldn't really complain, he thought as he finished his okonomiyaki and tried to ignore the comments made by the girls passing by. If only his life weren't so messed up, he could probably enjoy the warmth of the sun even more, or even try and talk to the people around him. He couldn't really care about making friends and listening to their complaints about the huge amount of homework they got, or how they wished they had more money to eat proper sushi, however he liked when people praised him. It made him feel…important and accepted. His face darkened at the memory of his tormented childhood, as well as his desire to be acknowledged by his biological father. But how to do it?

"Uhm, excuse me. Are you Akechi-san?"

Akechi's train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by a female voice calling his name. He quickly forced a polite smile on his face and pushed aside the dark memories of his past.

"Yes, it is me. How may I help you?" he answered softly, making the girl blush.

"I- uhm… everyone in my class says you're a first year living on your own. Is that true?" she asked again.

Only then did Akechi realize a small group of girls standing a few feet away by the cherry tree, apparently second years, who were staring at them in silence, an expression of expectation on their faces.

"Yes, it is true" he answered politely "But may I ask you who told you that?"

"Oh, it is just a rumor!" the girl was now blushing furiously, her voice stammering even harder at his question. "We heard some guys taking about it in the main hall during break."

"I see…" Akechi's voice trailed off as he curled his fingers into a ball and rested his chin on his fist, thinking hard. His brain was only vaguely registering someone speaking, but he wasn't really listening. He didn't know anyone in that school, nor had he talked to any students or teachers about his private life, so he was indeed curious to know how him living alone had already become the hot topic of the entire school.

"…Akechi-san, are you alright?" the girl asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Mhm? Oh yes, my apologies! I was just thinking" he chuckled softly. "Well, break is almost over. I'd better head back to class."

"You're so diligent, Akechi-san!" the girl praised while batting her long eyelashes at him. "If it doesn't cause you any trouble, is it ok if I come and speak to you again, sometime? My name is Tamiko Fujikawa."

"Not an issue at all, Fujikawa-senpai" Akechi replied with a smile.

"Oh, no need to call me senpai, Akechi-kun!" the girl insisted until he nodded and accepted to call her Tamiko-chan. Akechi was desperately trying to think of a way to escape from the group of girls who were starting to step forward and introduce themselves in an overly-excited manner, when the school bell finally rang, officially announcing lunch break was over.

"Talk to you later, Akechi-kun!" the girls waved at him, giggling excitedly and he was finally left to breathe again. He was used to having girls following him around and randomly introducing themselves because of his looks and his charming personality, and he kinda liked the popularity but at the same time he had to admit how annoying they all looked to him: all those stupid girls without a care in the world, whose biggest problem was matching the color of their shoes with the one of their school uniform. However, choosing to pander to them proved useful: he now knew that someone had somehow discovered he was living on his own and had decided to share this information with other students. It didn't really bother him that people knew about it. What really bugged him was the thought of someone purposely sticking their nose into his business and divulging information about his private life without his consent.

As he made his way back to his classroom thinking about the responsible person, a loud chime echoed throughout the otherwise quiet and deserted hallway on the third floor.

"What the…?" he muttered as he stuffed a hand in his pocket and fished out his smartphone "I thought I had put it into silent mode."

Akechi furrowed his eyebrows as he confirmed that his phone was, indeed, into silent mode. Maybe the sound came from somewhere else? Just as he was about to pocket his phone again and forget about the incident, his eyes scanned the screen once more. There was an app he didn't remember installing: the icon resembled an eye and just looking at it was unsettling.

"Where did you come from?" he said as he brought the phone nearer to take a better look. His sixth sense told him to delete the app immediately, that there was something weird about it but another side of him was simply dying to know what it was all about. "Maybe it's a virus?" he thought, as his index finger was inches away from the screen, ready to tap on it…

"Akechi-san" a voice actually made him jump, as his eyes were forced to look away from his screen and straight ahead at the person who had spoken. It was Mr. Ikeda.

"Lunch break finished long time ago. If you do not wish to be late for your next class, I suggest you put away that phone of yours and head straight back to your classroom."

"Y-yes, sir. My apologies" Akechi bowed slightly and watched the large man walk past him and disappear behind another classroom. His eyes narrowed at the teacher as soon as he was out of sight: he never liked being scolded by others, particularly bossy adults. However, he forced himself to temporarily forget about the mysterious app on his phone and return to class. He would look into it as soon as last period was over.

When the bell rang signaling the end of that school day, Akechi quickly gathered his things and walked out of the building, moving fast among the crowd of students heading back home and chatting merrily. Now that they were outside again, they could no longer rely on the school's air conditioning and were therefore left to melt in the hot sun. Akechi tried his best to enact the role of model student by pretending the heat wasn't really bothering him, but when he felt a trickle of sweat running down his back, he decided to drop the façade and took off his jacket which he stuffed in his bag. He sighed contented as a gentle breeze caressed his bare arms now that he was wearing only his white T-shirt.

The train ride back home was much worse, though: even if the trains were equipped with air conditioners, the packed car he ended up in generated an unbearable amount of heat, and he was soon left to sweat again and almost gasping for air. Akechi was extremely relieved when he managed to get off the train once his stop was announced, and began walking back to his flat. When he opened the door, he was welcomed with the all too familiar smell of dust, as well as the sight of large boxes decorating every inch of the apartment. He would really need to start cleaning up soon if he didn't want to die suffocated, and left a note to himself on the fridge in the small kitchen to remind himself to commence "Operation: New Life!" as he liked to call it.

Akechi headed to his room, careful not to stumble on any of the boxes scattered around and dropped his bag, before opening the window and landing on his bed. He thought about taking a shower and freshen up but then he remembered that most of the towels and clothes needed to be washed, and he had run out of shower gel. Living on his own definitely sucked sometimes.

As a wave of boredom and laziness hit him, Akechi closed his eyelids and simply enjoyed the breeze coming in from the window. But wasn't there something he was supposed to do?

"The app!" he exclaimed, snapping his eyes open and jumping on his feet. He immediately opened the bag and retrieved his jacket, searching in its pockets to find his phone.

Ignoring the usual message from his guardians who asked him if he was done unpacking, Akechi returned to the main screen. He could indeed see the eye staring back at him, as if inviting him to tap on it. It was almost mesmerizing, and the boy could swear he had heard some kind of voice whispering his name.

"Am I hallucinating or something?" he frowned as he shook his head. "Must be the heat…"

G o ro… i…

"What the hell?" the teenager almost dropped his phone as the voice sounded louder. He turned to look around his room, trying to locate the source of the sound but couldn't see anything. He focused his attention once more on the eye. Was it just an optical illusion or was the eye pulsating?

"Here goes nothing" he said firmly as he finally tapped on the icon.

Whatever Akechi was expecting to happen definitely wasn't this, leaving him wide-eyed and shocked. The boy watched as the world around him melted away and took new shape into a place he had never seen before: the square walls of his bedroom turned into a circular shape and the wooden floor shifted into cold stone. The window disappeared as he failed to realize in time that sturdy bars were forming from the ground, trapping him inside what looked like a prison cell. Akechi quickly shot forward, grabbing the cold bars and shaking the prison door in a feeble attempt to open it, but to no avail. Only then did he realize his clothes had changed too: his school uniform turned into an inmate one, with black and white stripes.

"S-someone… let me out of here!" he shouted as loud as he could.

"Lower your voice in the presence of our Master, Inmate!"

A girlish voice, sounding firm and assertive, silenced him. Akechi looked down and noticed two girls dressed as police officers staring back at him gravely.

"Who are you? What the hell is going on here?" he asked confused.

"Shut up, Inmate!" one of the girls hit the prison bars with her baton so forcefully despite her tiny physique that the noise echoed throughout the mysterious room for several seconds.

"Now, now Caroline, where are your manners?"

A deep, mocking voice spoke next, forcing the girl to stand straight and tear her gaze away from Akechi.

"My apologies, Master" she said.

When the two girls finally stepped out of his line of sight, a new figure emerged: Akechi could say it was some kind of…man, he guessed? However, his face was unlike any he had ever seen, with a long nose, a horrible grin and crazed eyes boring right into his.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room" he said in an uncommonly deep voice.

The man paused as if waiting for him to say something, but Akechi was way too confused to speak.

"My name is Igor, and together with Caroline and Justine I will guide you to the path to your rehabilitation" he continued when he realized Akechi was not going to say anything.

"Rehabilitation?" the boy finally asked in a low tone, possibly more confused than before.

"It seems your life has been…unjust up to this point. I have therefore chosen you to reform the rotten society you live in" Igor nodded.

"What are you talking about?" Akechi frowned as he instinctively took a step forward. Walking seemed rather difficult, however, and he turned around only to discover his foot had been chained to a large metal ball.

"Show respect for our Master, Inmate!" the girl named Caroline yelled venomously.

"You are a prisoner of society, but with a strong will to fight for Justice. So may I suggest you do so" Igor continued as if nothing had happened.

"I… have no idea what you're babbling about" Akechi was starting to feel really uncomfortable now, as the man's unsettling eyes never looked away from him. It felt like that…person could see right through him, read all of his secrets and recall all of his darkest memories…

"You will understand very soon. I do hope you will enjoy my gift to you" he snickered, while the two girls turned once more to look at him.

"It is time you return to your real world, Inmate. Master has great plans for you" the girl named Justine said, in a much softer voice. She snapped her fingers and Akechi's eyelids suddenly felt heavy. When he reopened his eyes, he found himself lying in bed in his own bedroom.

"Was that… a dream?" he muttered as he sat up.

A sharp pain shooting from his left ankle distracted him as he bent down to lift the hems of his pants, revealing what looked like a mark left by some sort of cuffs. And then he remembered how he was chained to a metal ball in that weird prison cell. So it had been no dream! It had happened for real!

Akechi grabbed his phone and unlocked it: the same creepy eyeball was still lingering onto his phone screen, a dark aura surrounding it. That was no dream, no ordinary app and definitely not a virus: how could one play tricks with his head, anyway? He could always blame the heat wave, but the marks on his ankle were real, and so was the pain.

"Justice, huh?"

It took a lot of self-control for Akechi to concentrate in class and pay attention to what the teachers were saying. He couldn't stop thinking about the weird world he had been dragged into when he had tapped on the eyeball. Furthermore, his looks and the fact that he was already living on his own were attracting more and more people, who would simply approach him during breaks to exchange some words. But was it just his imagination, or were people walking past him lowering their voice while looking at him? Some were staring at him with a look of concern, others with what seemed like pity?

"Good day, Akechi-kun!"

Tamiko Fujikawa was smiling broadly at him and he returned the smile, despite the obvious annoyance he was feeling for having been interrupted while thinking.

"Good day to you too, Tamiko-chan. How are you?" he said.

Feeling suddenly bold, the girl sat down on the wooden bench beside him and began talking about how tough school already was for her. Akechi was just pretending to be interested, occasionally nodding or giving her an encouraging smile whenever she paused. He was waiting for the right moment to ask her…

"…But everyone was really impressed when they heard that you're already living on your own at such a young age. You're so brave, Akechi-kun!"

"About that" he interrupted in the softest tone he could muster "Are you really sure you don't know who spread this information?"

Tamiko looked away, blushing slightly and bit her lower lip. She obviously knew something, but was unsure whether to tell him the truth or not.

Akechi got a bit closer, taking her hand into his. He got the desired effect when the girl jerked in surprise and turned to look at him again.

"You can trust me" he whispered.

Tamiko remained silent for a few moments as if hypnotized by him, but then nodded firmly and spoke.

"I'm sorry I lied to you, Akechi-kun! Ikeda-sensei told us. He is very close to the principal and he can basically dig up anything he likes about students' backgrounds and personal lives. You wouldn't be the first person he's done this to."

"Tell me more" he encouraged her, his interest piqued.

"W-well… Ikeda-sensei used to be an army official before and has always been obsessed with discipline. If the rumors are true, I know he always makes sure to have enough information about his students to select the ones he considers 'worthy' of receiving particular attention so they can become someone important after school. I also heard he uses the same information to blackmail the students he doesn't really like."

Akechi listened intently to Tamiko's revelation, rage boiling inside him. So Ikeda was just another one of those crappy adults who exploited their position of power to do whatever they pleased…

e.

The word resonated in his head, spoken by an invisible voice and he remembered. He remembered the conversation he'd had with the strange man in that mysterious place, the Velvet Room.

That man, Igor, had said something about his own justice. Maybe he could tell him more? Maybe he could help him put a stop to Ikeda's abuse and even get his revenge on his father?

"There's… something more, though" the girl looked down, an expression of infinite sadness on her face "He also told us that you… that you are an orphan who never met his father, and your mother suicided when you were still a baby. Is it true, Akechi-kun? It's horrible…"

"It is true, but you don't need to worry about it. I am alright" Akechi smiled tenderly at her, though he was seconds away from crushing something, anything in his line of sight. "Thanks for sharing this with me, Tamiko-chan" Akechi continued as he stood up to return to his classroom "I promise I won't confront Mr. Ikeda."

At least, not yet.