Barrage of Voices

As I made my way towards the rooftop, I glanced around the area and luckily there was no one near the area. I let out a sigh of relief, picked open the door and glanced around the the rooftop in case someone was thinking the same thing as myself.

Seeing as how they're was no one to be seen, I closed the door behind me and simply decided to lay down on the shade that was available.

I didn't want to worry Tetsuya or Chitose any more then I already had by making the mood sour. I gently slapped my cheeks and sighed "Why is this happening to me now? Why am I being able to hear the voices of others?"

Nothing was wrong, everything was working and happening as it should be and since scientists were studying the human mind day in and day out, it was only logical that they would bump into this new phenomenon that could bypass the AMO device.

"Is this only happening to me...?"

As the thought lingered in my mind, I let out a sigh and simply focused on the bright blue sky above. As I did so, I couldn't help but start remembering the words that Sumiko had transmitted to me unconsciously.

Hearing her real thoughts was more then enough to make me feel sick to my stomach. This was one of the reasons as to why the government and scientists around the globe decided to create the AMO device... 

Everything could be transmitted to others, even the most harshest of things could immediately be transmitted to the person in question which in turn, would cause conflict... It even came to the point where they would kill each other.

For that reason, the AMO device became a drastic addition to our daily lives and in turn made it so that we could turn back to the time when the Xeno gene was nowhere to be seen.

I let out a sigh and as I did so, I heard the door to the rooftop open up. I sat up and glanced over to see Chitose looking around the rooftop. When her eyes met mine, she ran over to me and kneeled down.

"Are you really alright, Natsuo?"

"Y-Yeah... I'm fine. I just needed to think about something for a bit alone"

"I see..."

She looked up to me and started blushing a bit "Y-You really made me worry"

"Sorry about that... But I really needed to be alone to get my thought's together"

"Was it something that Sumiko-san said?"

Hearing her say those words, I couldn't help but say that it was, but I knew that that wasn't the case. She hadn't told me... She simply thought about it "No, it was nothing like that"

"Then what?"

Chitose was determined. Determined to find out what was wrong and I couldn't blame her. I too, would be desperate to help out my friends if I knew they weren't all right.

"The thing is..." I bit my tongue and stopped speaking "I can't drag her into this whole thing. I don't even know what it is"

Before I could say anything, I felt her hand grab mine and upon looking into her eyes, I noticed that she was serious about the whole situation.

"Please...Tell me"

In that moment, the sound of static once more blocked out the sound for a second and once it disappeared, a voice started speaking up "You always make me worry, Natsuo... Why won't you look at me the way you look at Sumiko?"

"It's happening again... Why am I now hearing her thoughts? Can't I catch a break?"

"I just feel like I've been a bit tired since I've been hearing voices in my head"

"Voices? Is you're AMO device working?"

"It is. I've already checked it a few times today"

"I see... What are these voices saying?"

"..." I knew that I could trust her, but at the same time, I was afraid. Would she believe me? Would she stay quiet about it? Would she stray away from me knowing about this condition that I've been experiencing?

The thought's crossed my mind and it ate away at me "It hurts... I can't take it" But after looking at the expression Chitose was making, I knew that I couldn't make her keep worrying about me anymore.

"I need you to promise me to not say anything to anyone. The only ones who can know are you and me"

"N-Not even Tetsuya?"

"I'd rather not tell him..." It wasn't that I didn't trust Tetsuya. I simply wanted less people to know about it in case whatever was happening to me wasn't something others could do.

"Do you promise me not to say a word to this to anyone?"

I stared into her eyes and after a few seconds, she nodded at my words "I promise you that I won't"

Hearing her say that, I felt a sense of relief wash over me, but even then, I hoped that there would be some way that I could determine that she was saying the truth.

"I won't say this to anyone. If Natsuo's relying on me, I can't betray him"

Hearing her thoughts was more then enough to assure me that she wouldn't betray me "The thing is... I've been hearing people's thoughts even though the AMO device is working?"

"W-What?"

"I passed by a man who was thinking about a robbery and killing many people... Then I heard the true thought's of Sumiko... I don't know why or how, but I'm hearing them"

"Is that why you asked me about the subconscious?"

"Yeah... I thought that the subconscious is able to transport thoughts as well"

"I see..." She stared into my eyes for a bit and then started blushing a bit "D-Does that mean that you heard my thoughts?!"

"Yeah, I did..."

"...!" She quickly stood up with her face bright red and started making her way towards the door "I-I-I'll see you in class"

"Chitose?!"

Before I could stop her, she headed out of the roof and I was simply left there wondering what had happened. Once it was time for me to start making my way back to class, I exited the rooftop and as I made my way down the hallways the static once more appeared and before I knew it, I was hearing everyone's voices.

"I want to get the hell out of here..." "I want to go and get some girls" "Why are all men so disgusting?" "I've got to be some sense into that guy who bumped into me this morning..." "I hate my teachers, he's always been a buzzkill ever since the start of the school year"

Wherever I walked, I could only hear the voices drowning my entire consciousness and before I knew it, I couldn't even hear my own thoughts. I made haste to my classroom and once I was inside, I glanced over at Chitose and when she noticed that our eyes interlocked, she immediately looked away and her thoughts floated into my mind "Now I'm all self-conscious! I-I wonder if he's hearing my thoughts right now..." 

"Sorry... I am" I scratched my cheek and after waiting for a bit the bell signaling the continuation of class went off. The rest of the school day passed by without any troubles at all and once it was time for me to start making my way home, Sumiko called out to me "Natsuo"

I stopped in place and glanced back "Yes?"

"Do you mind helping me with some things that the teacher asked me to do? It's a bit too much for me"

Hearing her use the sweet tone with me was more then enough to make me remember how she was criticizing me in the back of her mind. I wanted to leave. I didn't want to start hearing any more thoughts. I simply wanted to relax "S-Sorry... I can't"

"I see... That's a shame" She beamed me a smile and as I was making my way towards the door a voice spoke up "How dare he reject me! He's nothing more then a lowly mongrel" Hearing those words, I stopped in place and glanced back.

She beamed me a smile and I couldn't help but wonder how one person could be hiding such dark thoughts behind such a beautiful smile. I bowed, exited the classroom and immediately headed home without stopping.

All the while I did so, I could hear the voices from the people around me start flooding my thoughts once more. It was too much to handle. At times, I could feel a headache wash over me.

My brain wasn't capable of handling so many thoughts in one moment. Even though I couldn't handle it, I kept moving forward until I arrived at my home without any more problems at all.

I threw myself onto my bed without even bothering changing out of my clothes and simply sighed "I just want to take a break and relax..." And thus... I fell asleep without any more voices barraging my consciousness.