The Voices of the Subconscious...

"I got freaked out when I heard my phone ringing. I thought for sure that we were going to get them taken away from us"

"Same here" "Are you alright, Natsuo?"

"Yeah, you've been pretty out of it ever since that alarm started going off. You scared or what?"

I simply shook my head at his words and glanced out the window "I was just wondering... If there's something else beyond the conscious that we know..."

"Beyond the conscious? Wouldn't that be the subconscious?" Chitose was interested in the human mind and ever since the field of science that developed the AMO and studied the human mind, she had grown to desire working in said field.

Hearing her give me a more or less possible answer, I glanced over at her and asked the next question "Is it possible for the subconscious mind to be able to transmit messages?"

She stared into my eyes for a bit and sighed "Sadly, that's not possible" "They've already conducted a study in regards to that and the Xeno gene can only be found in the conscious mind of the human brain. The subconscious, which is considered the deepest part of one's thoughts doesn't have the gene"

"I see..."

Out of nowhere, I felt a sudden slap on my back "You really are acting strange. Did Sumiko waving at you make you flustered or what?"

"H-Hey!"

Tetsuya let out a chuckle all the while Chitose started pouting and looked away "So? Are you going to tell her you're feelings today or what?"

"..."

"Y-You're going to confess to her, Natsuo?"

I looked over at Chitose and noticed that she seemed a bit worried about something, but I couldn't put my finger on it "I was thinking about it..."

"I say that you go for it. You have nothing to lose... Well, maybe you're dignity and a bit of a broken heart"

"Thanks for the ever so nice words, Tetsuya"

"That's what friends are for"

I let out a sigh and continued eating my lunch, as I was doing so, a voice called out to me "Natsuo?"

"Hmm?" I looked over at the voice and I couldn't help but feel like I was in a dream. It was none other then Sumiko. Her eyes stared into my own that I couldn't help but look away "W-What can I do for you, Sumiko-san?"

"I was wondering if you could help me out with grabbing some notebooks from Miss Renko's desk?"

"S-Sure, I don't mind"

"I appreciate it" She beamed me a smile and thus started on heading on over towards the door, but just when she was about to do so, a sudden sound of static ran through my ears.

Once she had left, the sound disappeared all together "What the hell was that about?" "Hey, did you guys hear that static just now?"

"Static...? No, I didn't"

"You must be imagining things. Get your mind out of the gutter and just go for it!" Tetsuya slapped my back once more and I could only stare at the both of them for a bit wondering if it was simply my mind playing tricks on me.

"I'll be back then"

With those parting words, I got up from my seat and started heading out the door. As I did so, I noticed Sumiko-san talking to some of her friends.

Once she noticed that I was there, she bowed at her friends and walked over towards me "Shall we get going?"

"Y-Yes"

She beamed me yet another smile and the both of us started making our way towards our teacher's desk in the teacher's office "I'm sorry for making you help me out while you were with your friends"

"I don't mind... I was just finished with my lunch so there's no need to apologize"

"I'm glad that's the case"

I couldn't help but blush a bit at her words and as we were continuing on walking through the long hallway, I could hear the static sound once more alongside the voice of a girl "...-Natsuo-...."

I stopped in place and looked around us, but even then, no one was around us that had called out to me "Is something wrong, Natsuo?"

"S-Sorry... I'm fine"

"I see... Make sure to head to the infirmary if you don't feel alright"

"I'll do that if I need to"

"That's good"

As we were in front of the teacher's office, I couldn't help but think back on the voice that had called out to me "Who was that...? Is it the same thing that happened when I heard that guy speak about the robbery?"

I shook my head and sighed "I must just be really tired" Once we were inside the office, we headed on over towards our teacher's desk, picked up the notebooks and started on making our way back towards the classroom.

As we were reaching the hallway point, Sumiko dropped a few books and started picking them up. I crouched down and started helping her.

"You really don't have to help me. I was a bit clumsy"

"Let me help"

"Thank you, you really are a gentleman"

"Y-Yeah..."

As we were picking them up, our hands touched one another's by accident to which I couldn't help but blush a bit. When we had finished picking them up, we continued on towards the classroom.

"How disgusting"

I stopped in place once more and seeing this, Sumiko-san walked over towards me and stared into my eyes for a bit "Are you really alright?" "How much longer is he going to waste my time stopping to see how he feels? I really am too nice for my own good"

"I recognize this voice... This is Sumiko-san's voice..." After listening at the voice for a bit more, I could immediately tell that it was her consciousness speaking those words, but since the AMO device was stopping the waves from being transmitted, there was only one other thing that it could be "This is her subconsciousness... But why am I able to hear it?"

"S-Sorry..."

"No worries" She beamed me yet another smile and when she turned around, her voice resounded once more "Why do I have to be wasting my precious smiles on a low life such as him? This is ridiculous"

"It hurts... I don't want to hear any of this..."

"But he is reliable, I can probably keep on using him to do my bidding from time to time" "He'll be like my personal slave"

"Please stop... I can't take this anymore" On the outside, I was holding in my tears of pain, but deep down, I just wanted to finish everything and go somewhere where no one would see me nor hear me.

"I really do dislike him, he always looks at me, starts blushing whenever I smile at him... It's funny as hell just seeing him think that he's going to be able to make me fall for lowly trash like him" "But I'd better continue acting so that I can keep using him as I please"

Once we were in front of the classroom, she opened up the door, we left the notebooks on the desk and just when I was about to head on over towards my desk, she called out to me "Natsuo?"

"... Yes?"

"Thank you for your help, I'm really grateful" "I'll make good use of you soon"

Hearing her inner voice speak in such a harsh tone made me flinch. This wasn't the Sumiko standing before me. The subconscious voice was her real identity and yet I never could tell until today"

"Yeah..."

I made my way over to my desk, grabbed my things and was about to exit the classroom when Chitose called out to me "What happened, Natsuo?"

"Yeah, you don't seem alright... Did she reject you or what?"

"I didn't say anything... And I don't think I will..."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"It's nothing..." I let out a sigh and forced a smile towards them "I just want to relax alone for a bit, sorry about that"

As I made my way out of the classroom with my things in hand, I glanced over one last time at where my friends were and noticed that they were staring at me. 

I knew that they were worried, but if I really could hear the subconsciousness of others... I didn't want to find out what they thought, because if I did... I wouldn't know if I could handle it...