Transmission

The inventor and the con, connected by some telephone circuits. A HotaruxNatsume story.

Disclaimer: Now, why on EARTH would I own Gakuen Alice?

Author's Note: For Ashy, because she's awesome and rocks my socks. Also for those of y'alls who like reading NatsuHotaru, like those in AoGA who are epic because they told me to post this. XD

This story's AU, where they don't have alices, but basically the events of GA have occurred without Natsume. :P If that makes any sense. This is all dialogue, and would probably be best if you read it as naturally as possible, as if reading it aloud in your head.

Pwetty please excuse my grammar mistakes, and all of that technical stuff. Oh, also the OOCness. Bewareeeeee.

10:34 pm, Japan Standard Time

The following is an exchange recorded from a payphone in Mitaka-sanchome.

X

"Hello?"

"Uh. Hey, it's me."

"...Ruka?"

"Uh, yeah. It's Ruka."

"I haven't heard from you in so long."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Listen, I got into a little accident, and I need some cash."

"What?"

"I... need cash."

"Ruka, you know I don't do that."

"I know, but... it's urgent, okay?"

"Why don't you ask Mikan for it?"

"Listen... I can only count on you. Please."

"..."

"I promise I'll pay back."

"...How much?"

"Like a hundred thousand yen."

"When do you need it by?"

"At the latest... tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Ruka, I don't know."

"C'mon. Please."

"I'll give it to you, if you tell me who you are."

"What?"

"You're not Ruka, are you?"

"..."

"Ruka would never call me."

"..."

"Who are you?"

"Shit."

"Please tell me who you are. I won't report you."

"Uh, listen, lady. Sorry. Shit. I can't- shit. Have a good day."

"Wait."

"..."

"Just stay on."

"..."

"I need... someone to talk to."

"..."

"...My name is Hotaru Imai. I am twenty three years old, and I have been on the cover of Forbes Magazine twice."

"...Why are you telling me-"

"Which of that was a lie?"

"...Listen, I'm sorry. You happy? I'm cutting off."

"Tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Which of that was a lie?"

"..."

"..."

"...You're not Hotaru Imai."

"Wrong."

"You haven't been on the cover of Forbes Magazine."

"Wrong again. I'm twenty two."

"Tck. That's unfair."

"That's how the game works, unfortunately. But don't be disheartened. I happen to be good at telling lies."

"Right. So is that how the game goes- I'm required to be interested and ask you something about your life?"

"Sure, if that's what you want. I'll tell you the story. Seems to me, though, that you wouldn't want to listen."

"The fuck- do you think you know me?"

"I know well enough that you don't enjoy company. I can tell from the tone of your voice."

"...Right. I'm just going to go now."

"...Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"..."

"..."

"...Fine. But even if I asked, you'll just lie, right?"

"What's the point of lying to someone you haven't even met?"

"..."

"..."

"...You failed to mention what happened with you and that Ruka dude."

"Ha. I left that out for a reason, actually... What do you think happened between us?"

"You two were lovers in high school. Didn't work out. As it never does. And he probably left you for that Mikan chick you were talking about."

"Uhm, no. Not exactly. We were never lovers."

"So you didn't even make it to level one?"

"Well, no. I loved him, though. But he loved Mikan. That's pretty expected, though. She's perfect."

"You got rejected?"

"...More like I didn't say anything. As successful as I may be, I don't really have an upper hand when it comes to emotional intelligence."

"You didn't say anything, and you just expected him to know?"

"Oh no. I didn't expect anything from him. I loved him from afar, because I thought that was my place in society. I never liked anyone else in my life, and I never planned on it, either. It was just a distraction. But then I saw him—the caring, sweet boy he was. But his love was reserved for someone else."

"You jealous of her?"

"God no. She's my best friend."

"That wasn't my question."

"...Well, maybe. It's hard to feel wanted when the paragon of purity and beauty herself clings onto you every waking moment."

"I guess. But that doesn't mean you're not special, right?"

"Hah, that statement I've grown tired of trying to propagate in my brain. I am nothing as a woman compared to Mikan."

"So what about your personality? You can fight with that."

"Hm. I've been conceived from birth as a financial machine. I just get profit. I get results. Fast. That's it."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Well, it's not. My parents don't care what I do, so long as I'm earning money. My brother cut all ties with me, and I even feel satisfied with money. I've got no emotions, and the notion of love is so... unfathomable. I wanted to love, and wanted to be loved. But that's just not what's out there for me. My path is so different. I... Don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"Haha. I mean, you're talking to a robot, sir."

"You scared? Of yourself? Is that it?"

"I'm not afraid of the person in the mirror. Just that someday, she'll realize that there's a world out there that will look back at her and say, 'at least you tried your best', or 'you're still special to me'. It's like a foreign tongue. She won't understand it... I won't understand it- the idea of being loved. I'll never understand it."

"I love you."

"Lies. Don't screw around."

"Alright fine. I'm crap at trying to comfort people. So yeah."

"I know. I can see that."

"Hey. Don't fuck with me. If you cross my line, I can be pretty damn belligerent."

"But I don't need your sympathy. I just need someone to listen. It's the first time that I've ever said that out loud. To anyone. It feels great."

"Well, you're welcome. I guess."

"Hey."

"Hn?"

"..."

"..."

"Your turn."

"What do you mean?"

"Your turn."

"...No."

"Why?"

"Because... I can't."

"Alright. Then give me two truths and a lie."

"..."

"...I'm waiting."

"...Okay. My name is Natsume Hyuuga; I'm twenty two, just like you. I enjoy stealing things."

"...Huh. So you don't enjoy what you do for a living?"

"How did you know?"

"Please. It's rather obvious. Haha."

"Well, yeah."

"Why do you even do it, then?"

"..."

"...If you don't want to say, don't. I'm not forcing anything."

"..."

"..."

"...This is actually the first time that I tried to swindle money. I just needed the money for sustenance. I took up law enforcement in college, and just three months ago I finally landed my first job at the city police."

"And then?"

"..."

"...Then what happened, Hyuuga?"

"...October 29th, this year. I was patrolling. And... I was at the Mitsukoshi department store in Mitaka."

"Wait. Is this about the shootings? I read that in the newspaper about a month ago."

"Yeah, well, then you know. Anyways, before I knew it, there were gunshots from all directions- people screaming, and bodies dropping."

"Were you scared?"

"I wasn't scared as much as I was infuriated. The bastard didn't even think once before shooting- just about his own fucked-up wants. People were fucking dying. And I..."

"..."

"Didn't do anything. Couldn't do anything."

"And then what happened?"

"I lost my job, naturally. I fell to the point of poverty, sulking in my own self-pity. But I wasn't going to let myself go entirely until I had avenged all of those in the shootings. So I bought a gun, and then proceeded to track him down. Spent all of my savings doing that, actually. I found him the night I got a hold of my gun."

"Then what did you do?"

"I destroyed him."

"And?"

"And then I destroyed the me who destroyed him."

"So who are you now?"

"I don't know. A fake. A phony. Natsume Hyuuga. I don't know."

"..."

"..."

"After the...killing, I let go. Something snapped in me. I didn't care anymore what the fuck I did. But..."

"But?"

"But I wanted to get out there. Meet new people, live a new life. I wanted to know that I was forgiven by all of those people in the department store for all of that crap, but I don't know. The fact that I killed the guy who did it doesn't mean shit. They're still dead. They're still dead because of me."

"I don't think you're a phony. And for the record, I think it's rather absurd that you, alone, have to take responsibility for their deaths. You were there to protect them, yes. You failed to do so, yes. But what could anyone expect from a novice in the career? You did the best you could."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Tell me, Hyuuga. What do you want the most in your life, right now? Money?"

"...I don't know. I wanted to feel the community that lurked the air; I didn't want to be isolated for once in my life. I was looking for light, someone out there who would take me for what I am. I don't know- something."

"I think you're fine. The way you are. So at least you have one person, right?"

"...Stop fucking around."

"It's true. This time, it's true. You're broken, imperfect and twisted, but you're fine. You beat yourself up over issues you couldn't control. But you gave it your all. So what's to regret, then?"

"...I don't know."

"You deserve to commend yourself, officer."

"..."

"...Go. Commend yourself. Be glad for the person you are."

"...Okay... Thank you."

"...Haha, why are you so serious?"

"Huh. I don't know. I just- I never told anybody that. Not even myself."

"...Thanks for telling me."

"Well, it's easier when you don't know the person on the other side."

"True."

"..."

"Just a question. Why are you talking to me?"

"Oh right. Ha. That."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sick. I have been for a while."

"Sick, as in...?"

"Sick, as in dying. Sick, as in breast cancer."

"What?"

"Yeah. I've undergone chemotherapy, and I'm wearing an ugly looking wig of a head of hair that looks akin to a bird's nest. But anyways, it doesn't matter. I'll be dying in a few years, anyways."

"What? What? Fuck!"

"It's fine, Hyuuga."

"No wait. There's got to be something. Drink carrot juice or something. Eat something. You invent, right? You created something to-"

"No. And even if I did, I wouldn't use it."

"...Why?"

"Because I feel it. Death, that is. He's coming for me, and I am inviting him. It's been too long since I've had a break from this. I want to be human again. Death would make me-"

"The fuck are you talking about? Shit. There's no good reason to succumb to death like that."

"Hyuuga. Don't."

"You..."

"Hyuuga."

"..."

"Just."

"..."

"Don't."

"No. I don't want to lose someone else."

"Haha, you don't even know me."

"I know damn well that you don't deserve to die."

"Yeah, well. That's for me to decide."

"Fuck. Please."

"There's nothing you can do about it, and neither can I. I'm just glad I got all of that stuff off my chest. And I'm glad I would be able to say I didn't die without any companions."

"Imai. I haven't told any of that shit to anyone before. Shit. Don't leave me. I've got no one else."

"..."

"..."

"Hyuuga, stop. I don't want to live."

"But I-"

"Don't make me. Don't make me. Please."

"Imai, maybe you don't know what love is. Maybe I don't either. But maybe that's it. You know? Maybe we're here- on this day, at this very hour- to find out."

"..."

"I don't mean to fuck around. I mean to be friends. You're exactly what I need."

"..."

"I'm exactly what you need."

"..."

"Shit. Imai?"

"..."

"Imai?"

END OF CALL

11:23 pm, Japan Standard Time

The following is an exchange recorded from a payphone in Mitaka-sanchome.

X

"Hello."

"Imai?"

"I guess this is the right number, then."

"..."

"...Do you still need the hundred thousand?"

"Listen, you don't have to-"

"Do you know the Mitaka General Hospital?"

"Yeah."

"Come collect it."

"...Okay."

"And Hyuuga?"

"Yeah?"

"..."

"..."

"Could you bring me some carrot juice?"

"..."

"..."

"...Okay."

END OF CALL

Author's Note: Because sometimes, you don't need to spell everything out loud for the story to be told. I'll leave the portion between the two calls up to your imagination. What happened to Hotaru within that time is entirely up to you, lovelies. ;) Bleh. I know this sucks compared to everything, but I wanted to write something HotaruxNatsume friendship/could-be-interpreted-as-romance.