Reviews are appreciated.

May 13, 2006: I revised it, with advice from AoKo-san. Though I'm not sure that it would make this fic better. But I sure hope so.

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice doesn't belong to me. It is owned by the great mangaka Higuchi Tachibana.

A/N: Just a little songfic. The song is entitled 'Somewhat Damaged'. Don't know if people would actually review this. I mean, few people enjoy reading angst fics. I think. Oh well. Drop a note or two, anyway. XD

Fiction Rated: T (Contains content not suitable for children i.e., violence, minor coarse language, etc.) I repeat, rated T.

Summary: Natsume couldn't take the anger he's feeling, anymore. After years of it being locked up and buried at the very bottom of his chest, he finally lets it out, not holding back.

Characters involved (majorly or partially): Natsume (of course!), Persona (mentioned), Natsume's mom and dad (mentioned), Her (Who do ya think? mentioned)

Cages

He thought he could trust him. He thought that he could guide him in his life within the academy. But he was wrong. Dead wrong. He just used him for the academy's own selfish needs. He was nothing but a puppet, whose life was meaningless to them. Only his alice mattered to them. To be used to eradicate all of its enemies. To hurt or kill, it doesn't matter.

So impressed with all you do

Tried so hard to be like you

Flew too high and burnt the wing

Lost my faith in everything

Trust, he tested it in his vocabulary. It felt foreign and unfamiliar in his mind. I could never trust anyone fully again. I am so naïve, mentally beating himself up.

Lick around divine debris

Taste the wealth of hate in me

Shedding skin succumb defeat

This machine is obsolete

Feel my wrath, his mind screamed. He delivered a punishing blow to the trees and they immediately vanished into thin air, ashes mixing with the air. He wanted to burn everything down. Everything. Like they think he did years ago to a town, when he was still very young.

Made the choice to go away

Drink the fountain of decay

Tear a hole exquisite red

Fuck the rest and stab it dead

He wanted to run away. Far, far away. Far away from this fucking academy and it's evil schemes. His knees gave way and he pounded the ground with his fist, his strength astonishing. The ground quaked beneath his very feet and the noise was heard all throughout the academy. Few people were awakened but shook it off as a figment of their imagination.

He felt like a caged animal. An animal.. caged for years and whipped every now and then. They will all pay, he vowed silently.

Broken bruised forgotten sore

Too fucked up to care anymore

Poisoned to my rotten core

Too fucked up to care anymore

His hands balled into fists at his sides and he began punching the trunk of a huge oak tree, not caring about the pain he felt. He felt the warm liquid stream down his arms.

This pain is nothing compared to what I'm feeling right now, he thought, almost wildly. This continued on what seemed like hours and he finally collapsed, exhausted.

He needed a place to relax. A calm and serene place. His sixth sense led him to a very familiar tree. A sakura tree, to be exact. He knelt at the base of the tree, which he considered as his haven and rested his forehead on the trunk. This is the place he goes to when he felt fed up with the world and all its cunning.

Unconsciously, his tears began to fall again.

I blame them, he thought with hatred. He felt as if his heart was about to be ripped into two. Why the fuck did they have to bring me into this world? If they didn't, I wouldn't experience all of these now.

To make it worse, they gave me an alice.. An alice I don't even want, he roared in his mind. I hate them! I hate them! Fucking burn in fucking hell, he cursed, out of control.

In the back off the side far away is a place where I hide where I stay

Tried to stay tried to ask I needed to all alone by myself where were you?

How could I ever think it's funny how everything that swore it wouldn't change is different now just like you

Would always say we'll make it through then my head fell apart

And where were you?

How could I ever think it's funny how everything you swore would never change is different now like you said you and me make it through

Didn't quite fall apart

Where the fuck were you?

Where were you, huh Mother? Father? Where the fuck were you? He felt his anger growing stronger and stronger until he couldn't take it anymore.

He almost flew out of the grounds of the academy, the lethal barrier not having an effect on him.

He settled in the secluded part of a certain forest. He breathed hard. Inhaling and exhaling sharply. He wanted to see destruction. Destruction to reflect what he was feeling inside.

And destroy something, he did. He didn't want the academy to think that he was really capable of murdering by his flame, so his fists were used to annihilate everything it went contact with.

He did this until he can no more.

He sank to his knees and stayed like that for a few moments. His shoulders quaked almost uncontrollably and he felt tears threatening to come out again.

After what seemed like countless hours of agony, he finally gave in. He cried like he never did before. Cried like a child, separated from his mommy and daddy.

He mourned for his non-existent childhood. He didn't get a chance to taste what most children would experience at that young age. He didn't play in the streets like a normal child. He didn't have meaningless fights with other kids about toys or who was the best superhero.

He had.. nothing. Nothing at all.

If the world was upside down, he probably would have his parents by his side and possess no alice. He wouldn't be used as a murdering machine and he would have a normal childhood, growing up in a normal way.

He gave a scornful laugh. But he guessed that it just wasn't his fate at all. The one thing that kept him going was the thing he held on tightly. A wish.

He wished to be loved. To be loved by someone, without judging him, without looking at him in contempt. Someone who could see his very soul.. the true him.

He longed to have her arms around him. He wanted her hands on him.. Stroking his hair, talking to him in a soothing voice, telling him everything would be alright. For once, he wanted to let his guard down, his defenses which he built around him through the years.

At his young age, he felt weary of almost everything. His life, the academy, the foul work he was forced to do and the teachers he could never ever trust.

The only thing that gave him consolation was the fact that the academy brought her closer to him. Every aspect of her fascinated him. Even though she can be quite ditzy and annoying, she radiated with pure kindness and determination. Such things gave him the strength to accept life and try to face it with a purpose.

He wanted her by his side. If he could have her.. Then everything would be alright..

A/N: Okay.. I think it sucked. Reviews, please! This is my first angst fic so I don't know if it's any good. Constructive criticism is welcomed! Useless flaming.. No thanks! XD

May 13, 2006 Post Notes: A big thank you to AoKo-san again! Oh yeah, I kept calling Mikan 'her' to keep the somberness of the fic. Did it work or did it work? Hahaha! Please press the 'go' button below and submit a review! Even a one-liner!

I accept constructive criticisms and useless flaming + annoying reviewing (Hmmm) won't be entertained.