H-hey Fred, it's... it's Tadashi.
Look I... I'm sorry it took so long to... to uh... call back? Only I'm not exactly calling it's... I don't know how this works. I can't...
Uh, wow, this doesn't make sense, does it?
Look I... first, thanks for all the updates, and for looking after Hiro. I... it's... superheroes? Really?
Wait, I don't mean it the way it sounds, you're all doing a great job with him. You're great.
And I... I need your help again.
Fred sat trembling on his bedroom floor, breath hitching in his chest as he stared at his phone, the forlorn and hesitant voice of a man dead three months still ringing in his ears.
He had called Tadashi up until his phone contract ended, craving the sound of his voice and the illusion of talking to him again; he had long stopped expecting Tadashi to call back.
"What... what the hell, man?"
His voice scraped out harshly and he coughed and gulped, squinting at the NUMBER UNAVAILABLE on the screen.
A line to the afterlife - or a cruel joke.
If it was the latter, Fred was going to have a lot to say to-
The phone rang; he dropped it with a childish squeak and then scrambled to retrieve it, face heating, heart pounding as he recognized the Robot Master Z ringtone he'd set for Tadashi a lifetime ago.
NUMBER UNAVAILABLE.
A deep breath, and Fred accepted the call.
"Uh... he... hello?"
Roaring static greeted him, laced with an atonal wail, and he dropped the phone again before stabbing a finger at it to end the call.
It took three tries to succeed.
Seconds later the phone chimed, the cheerful sound almost obscene, and Fred retrieved it with unsteady hands.
NEW VOICEMAIL.
"Oh boy," he muttered, leaning back against his bed. Staring at the phone failed to produce answers; after a moment of it he sighed, turning to kneel facing the bed as he set the phone on it and set it to speaker. "Okay. Here we go. Talk to me."
Sorry. Sorry. I didn't meant to scare you. Uh, that's a ridiculous thing to say, huh. But uh... listen. I... I want to talk to you. A lot. I mean... you know, I... we... but first, uh. Hiro's number is different, can you... can you give me the new one?
"Wha-? I mean sure I-" Fred halted the blurted affirmative almost as soon as he'd given it.
Hiro's phone number?
It had changed in the last week, yes, but how could Tadashi - Tadashi's ghost - not know it, pick it up from Cass or Hiro himself?
For that matter...
"Why phones?" Fred muttered aloud.
The phone rang again. This time Fred waited for the voicemail chime, and when he played it Tadashi's voice came through slow and thoughtful.
I'm not sure. Maybe because it's... you and Hiro both called me a lot. After. I could... I could always hear it, but I didn't know how to respond. I've tried, you know, poltergeist things - you know?
Fred sank back slowly on his heels, remembering one of his notes to himself falling free of its tape, sliding under a bookshelf until only the word 'Fred' was visible, and he began shivering again as blood roared in his ears, a feeling of unreality creeping over him to numb fingers and send his vision swimming.
For a moment he felt almost floating above himself, barely anchored.
The phone rang briefly and then chimed, and he jerked back to himself with a gasp.
NEW VOICEMAIL. NUMBER UNAVAILABLE.
Fred? Are you okay? I'm really sorry, I am, I didn't mean... if I'd figured this out sooner, it... okay. I'm... I'm a phone ghost, maybe because you and Hiro kept calling, and it's anchored. It gives me something to achor to I mean. That's my, uh, ghost hypothesis.
"Haunted hypothesis, you gotta alliterate man," Fred mumbled. Tadashi's voice was still coming tinnily through the phone speaker, and he leaned in closer as he listened.
I concentrated on your number, and I got through to voicemail. But Hiro's number is different from what it was, and since my number's not in service he hasn't called from his new number and I can't figure out how to get through. Aunt Cass' too. I haven't tried the others... I tried you third.
"Okay. That... makes as much sense as ghosts ever do." Fred nodded, resting his chin on crossed arms. "But still, it's kinda... you know..."
The phone rang and then chimed.
No, no, you're right. Even a superhero has to draw the line somewhere.
A pause.
Speaking of, you're not giving me credit. I never said Vampire Jubilee was silly; I said it was weird to introduce a fantasy element to what had been pretty straight pseudoscience.
Fred leaned back again, apprehension and suspicion washed away by a tide of indignance.
"Hey! And I still say that is unfair and inaccurate dude! There's been fantasy and supernatural stuff mixed into X-Men and the rest for decades!" He rocked up to his feet, hurrying to his shelves. "Hold on, hold on, there's a really good plotline from about thirty years back, you'll like this one dude, it's..."
Just for a moment the echo of Tadashi's laughter rang in his ears.
Just for a moment he knew that if he turned he'd see Tadashi sitting on the bed, half-charmed and half-amused at Fred's exuberance.
He turned, and no one was there, and numbness washed through him again and he couldn't breathe for how his chest tightened and ached.
The phone rang, and the phone chimed, and for just a moment he almost felt a hand on his shoulder, almost heard a concerned murmur.
He managed a gasping inhale, and then a sob or a laugh or both tore painfully free.
"Oh. Oh my god this is... this is real..."
The phone rang and chimed again, and again; Fred stumbled back to the bed and sat, picking the phone up and holding it to his chest as he cried.
The phone sat silent a few moments. Then it rang and chimed a fourth time, and Fred composed himself enough to play the messages.
I know I'll like it, you always pick great stuff, we'll see if I can, uh, poltergeist well enough to read it. Yeah. It's real, I'm real, I just... we can figure this out. I just gotta... I dunno, ghost better. Wait, no, don't-I'm sorry, I... I'm so... I'm really sorry, Fred. I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you, to hurt any of you...!
Fred swallowed hard as he listened to Tadashi's voice, thick with tears and desperately forlorn.
"I... I know, dude... it's just..."
He blew out a harsh breath, scrubbing his eyes with the heel of one hand.
"I... whoo, this is... this is a lot, but... uh... phone numbers. Right."
He stood, walking to his desk to retrieve a notepad. There was anticipation in the air, and he shivered, remembering similar vague sensations over past weeks as he held pen over paper.
"This is real," he muttered again, wonder and grief and apprehension mingled in his voice. "If... if there were like... cameras in here to remember things you said and get this number to bug Hiro that'd be... stupidly elaborate and also someone who can see the future, and also Heathcliff would notice."
The echo of Tadashi's laughter flickered again, disbelieving this time, and the phone rang and chimed.
Hidden camera? Are you serious right now?
"Dude. I'm like... a superhero now. One dealing with ghosts. I gotta take everything into account."
He got another soft echo of laughter for that, and smiled as he wrote down two numbers, counted slowly to sixty, and then scribbled them out as the phone rang and chimed again.
Thanks Fred. I'll, uh... call again soon. I love you."Love you too," Fred mumbled. For a moment he felt a strange pressure - almost like a kiss pressed to his forehead - and he smiled, vision blurring as he picked up his phone again.
ADD NUMBER TO CONTACTS.
TADASHI HAMADA.