Chapter One: New Friends! Getting To Know You!

All of the newest freshmen sat in the hall and were waiting for the chairman to make the welcoming speech. "They say the chairman has only ever been seen by a scarce few, I doubt he's going to show up," one young man said to another.

Tracey looked around at all of the new students. "Despite special selection, there are a lot of students here..." he remarked to himself.

"Attention, everyone, the chairman would now like to speak!" a voice called from the stage as the curtain started to raise.

All everyone saw was a blue teddy bear sitting on a stool in front of the microphone. "What the?!" numerous males remarked at once.

"Everybody, I would like to welcome you to Bell Liberty. All of you are here because you received Platinum Papers, and that means that each of you has potential in any given area. Some of you are gifted in the arts, some are gifted in the physical aspects. You will be attending regular classes as your schedules have shown. However, we also have correspondence clubs for you to join and widen your experience here. All will look well on your future job applications, so I do encourage you join them. The senior students will guide you if you should find you have difficulty here. Please report student concerns to the Student Council, and those will be passed onto me if they are serious. If not, they will help you find a way to cope with the issues you're facing. Now, I say to all of you to enjoy your stay at this school, study hard, but remember to have fun as well." A childlike voice came from the bear, however the words were very mature, just like what the chairman would say. It left everyone wondering if the message was pre-recorded.

The speech was over, the freshmen left the hall and made their way to their appointed dorms.

Ito Keita was just stepping out of his room when he noticed one of the freshmen heading his way. "Ah, you must be my new neighbour!"

Tracey nodded. "Yes. My name is Tracey Sketchit, you can call me Tracey, uh...your name please?"

"Oh, my name is Ito Keita, call me Keita," he stated as he held out his hand for Tracey to shake.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Need a hand with anything?"

"Oh no, I'm fine, thanks."

"Well, if you need help, Kazuki and I will give you a hand, kay?"

"Okay. Thanks for the offer though, Keita." Tracey took out the key he was given and put it into the lock. He turned it and opened the door. He entered the room and then closed the door behind himself. He saw a mobile phone sitting on the desk. "Did the last person to stay in here leave this behind? Oh, but it's on the desk..." He picked it up and had a look. He saw a note underneath it. "What's this? This phone is to be carried around at all times in case of an emergency. All students' numbers are programmed into it for easier contact. Consider this a welcoming gift. Signed, the chairman. So, this is for me?" He opened it and laughed a little when he saw the wallpaper. Heh, so the blue teddy bear is like a trademark of this academy? Either it's because the chairman uses it to communicate with his students, or maybe that's why the chairman uses it... He decided not to ponder on it. He had a look around his room. Hmm? The bed is already made? That's funny... He heard a knock on the door. "You can enter if you want," he called.

Keita entered. "Hi, it's me." He closed the door after himself. "I hope I'm not bothering you."

"Oh, not at all. I was just noticing how different this school is from others I'd heard of."

"Ah, this school spares no expense to make it comfortable for the students. We even have a bath house here."

"A bath house?!"

"Yeah."

"So, Keita, how many years have you been here, if I may ask?"

"Oh, it's more like for about seven months. I'm an out-of-season transfer student."

"Oh, I see." He fiddled with the sleeve of his jacket. "This uniform will take me a while to get used to, especially the jacket since I hardly wear one."

"How come?"

"I'm from a tropical area where it hardly gets cold so I never really wore a jacket, even in Pallet Town."

"Pallet Town? Oh! You're the student from a distant land that I'd heard of!"

"From a distant land? Well, I suppose you could say that. Pallet Town isn't in Japan, is it? No wonder I had to teleport to the front gates. I really should thank Abra when I see it next time I'm at the lab."

"Lab? Abra? You teleported?!"

Tracey couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "I'm used to such reactions. I'm an assistant to Professor Oak and so I help around his Pokemon research lab in Pallet Town. Sometimes, wild Pokemon stop by the lab, and the wild Abra agreed to help me get here. I'm still amazed the Platinum Paper reached me in time considering how far away Pallet Town is from here."

"Pokemon?" Keita thought about them for a minute. "You should speak with Umino-sensei then. He mentioned about Pokemon in one of his biology classes, but hardly anybody really believed him because they'd never seen one for themselves. It makes me wonder if they don't believe in dinosaurs."

"Is that so?" He sat on his bed. "So, how come you received your Platinum Paper?"

"I kept wondering that myself, but I've put it down to my extremely good luck."

"Good luck?"

"Yeah. I'm no good at sports, my grades were always average, I'm not really an artist..." He sat on the chair at the desk. "What about you, Tracey?"

"I suppose it's because I'm good at art and a great researcher-slash-observer. I don't mean to boast about that though."

"Have you met Iwai-san? Oh...right, you've just settled in. Then, while I wait for Kazuki, I'll show you around the school. I'm sure Iwai-san would be willing to welcome you to the art club. He's the president."

"I see. Then I'll bring my portfolio." He opened his backpack and pulled out two sketchbooks.

"Can I have a look?"

"Sure. Here." He handed one to Keita.

Keita opened it and had a close look at every sketch. "Wow, you are an excellent artist!"

"No, that's not true..."

Keita smiled widely. "Don't belittle yourself, these are fantastic!"

"Then, thank you for saying so."

Both Keita and Tracey were on their way to the art building, but to get there they had to pass the tennis courts. Keita spotted a friend of his and waved to him. He was thankful Naruse Yukihiko had stopped hitting on him when word of him dating Endo Kazuki was flying through the school courtesy of Nakajima Hideaki and Taki Shunsuke.

Yukihiko saw Keita and waved back. He noticed Tracey with Keita and smiled to himself. "Okay, everyone, take five!" he called to all in the club, including the Ozawa twins Wataru and Kakeru. He then set down his racket and left the court to head towards his friend. "Keita!"

Keita smiled widely. "Naruse-san! Don't you have practice right now?"

"Oh, I called a break which everyone really deserved."

Tracey's eyes widened. "Does that mean you are the captain of the tennis club?"

Yukihiko nodded in response. "You're rather observational." He then threw his arms around the unsuspecting watcher. "I like that, Honey!"

Tracey blinked in surprise and let out a shout when the words sank in. "H-Honey?!"

Yukihiko nodded. "Right. I just decided you are my Honey." He pulled back from the embrace and gazed into Tracey's wide, alarmed eyes with his own lust-slanted soul windows. "You know, I could just eat you up right here and now..." he whispered enticingly.

Tracey's cheeks reddened deeply. "Keita, shouldn't we be going now?"

Keita nodded. "Sorry, Naruse-san, but I'm actually taking Tracey to show his portfolio to Iwai-san."

"Honey, you're an artist?!" Yukihiko exclaimed in surprise.

"Um...not really, my sketches just helped me in my Pokemon watching."

"Ah, so you are the student from a distant land!"

"Yes. In future, please don't call me Honey, my name is Tracey Sketchit."

"I'm Naruse Yukihiko."

"Anyway, we should be going now, Naruse-san. See ya! Say hi to Wataru and Kakeru for me please," Keita spoke up.

Yukihiko nodded. "Sure thing, Keita. See ya!" As they were walking off, he realised something. "Honey, don't I get a goodbye kiss?!"

Keita sweatdropped, he'd undergone the same thing when he first arrived. He noticed Tracey faltered in his steps. "Don't worry, Naruse-san is harmless. A while back when I first came here he insisted I was his Honey, this is until just recently."

"What can I do to get him to stop calling me Honey? It makes me feel uncomfortable. I mean, he didn't even know my name before he insisted on giving me that petname," Tracey sighed.

"Well, in my case, it only stopped after it became official that Kazuki and I are going out with each other."

"Do you mean to say that you and Kazuki are involved with each other?" He saw Keita nod and smiled. "Congratulations, Keita."

"Thanks very much." He halted in his tracks. "Oh shoot, I just remembered Iwai-san will be watching Shinomiya-san in an archery tournament that's off-campus!"

Tracey chuckled lightly. "That's alright. How long do you have before you have to meet up with Kazuki? I was wondering if you could show me around the school."

"Not long, I'm afraid. I know, you can come with us. We're not going on a date, just walking around the school." His eyes widened and he hurriedly grabbed Tracey's wrist. "Watch out!" he exclaimed as he pulled him closer to himself. Unfortunately, the sudden pull had caused Tracey to trip and they both fell to the ground.

"Keita? Yoohoo, Keita!"

Keita opened his eyes slowly and sat up. "Sh-Shunsuke?"

The fanged boy nodded. "I didn't see you there. Are you alright? What about your friend?"

"Huh?" He turned to his side and saw Tracey was slowly sitting up. "Sorry about that, are you alright, Tracey?"

Tracey nodded. "That was nothing compared to what I went through on my journeys," he commented with a chuckle to reassure Keita that he truly was alright.

Shunsuke sighed in relief. "I'm glad I didn't run you two down, and I'm even more glad you're alright."

Tracey then turned to Shunsuke. "Oh, are you one of Keita's friends?"

"Yep! I'm Taki Shunsuke, call me Shunsuke."

"I'm Tracey Sketchit. It's a pleasure to meet you, Shunsuke."

"I'm really sorry for tripping you over, Tracey, it's just I saw Shunsuke was coming and so I pulled you out of the way, a little too quickly," Keita stated softly.

"I'm alright, Keita, no harm done. It's perfectly alright."

"Anyway, I saw Kazuki earlier, he was on his way to the dorms, but then I saw him talking with Yukihiko," Shunsuke stated. "Where were you headed?"

"The art building to find Iwai-san," Keita replied.

"KEITA!!"

All three youths turned to face yet another youth who looked to be the same age as them. Keita's eyes widened and he hurriedly got to his feet before running to the one who'd called him. "KAZUKI!!"

Tracey and Shunsuke watched as Keita and Kazuki met in an embrace. "They're good together, aren't they?" Shunsuke remarked as he was leaning on his bike's handlebars.

Tracey got to his feet and nodded. "They really do look picture perfect."

Keita held Kazuki's hand and they both walked over to their friends. "Kazuki, I'd like you to meet Tracey Sketchit, he's staying in the other room next to mine. Tracey, this is Endo Kazuki."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Tracey. You may call me Kazuki," Kazuki stated as he reached out his hand.

Tracey shook hands with his fellow student. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Kazuki. Keita told me that you're both an official couple. Congratulations."

"Thank you. I'd heard that Naruse-san has started to call you his new Honey, is that really so?"

"Unfortunately yes."

Shunsuke pouted. Everybody becomes his Honey except the one who actually does hold those feelings for him, what the hell is up with that?!

"Shunsuke?"

"Oh, nothing, just realised I need to get going, I have more deliveries to make. See ya guys later!" He turned his bike around and pedalled off at the speed of light.

"Deliveries?"

"Shunsuke makes deliveries around the campus in exchange for meal tickets," Kazuki explained.

"I see." He thought about Shunsuke's expression and recalled he'd seen it before numerous times. "I think Shunsuke was showing signs of jealousy before he left."

"Jealousy? How come?" Keita queried.

"Well, his expression...no, his whole mood changed after Kazuki brought up that I am Yukihiko's...Honey..." He sighed at the reminder. "Do you suppose Shunsuke has feelings for Yukihiko?"

"I think you're right, Tracey. Not once has he been dubbed as Naruse-san's official Honey, let alone his real boyfriend, so he must feel pretty hurt that despite him feeling that way, he's never really noticed," Kazuki commented in response.

"Wow, you are great at observation..." Keita breathed in awe.

Tracey chuckled shyly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh no, I'm not that great..."

Kazuki had to agree with Keita. He knew he'd made a good decision when he'd selected Tracey to enter the school.

Keita/Tracey: HAMU-HAMU HEAVEN!!

Tracey in his chibified hamster form was carrying a tiny sketchbook and pencil as he strolled through Bell Liberty Forest when he'd come across an endearing sight.

Keita and Kazuki, also in their chibified hamster forms, were sitting on a log with their paws linked and watching some butterflies perform their mating dances.

"Keita-hamu, Kazuki-hamu, what are you doing-hamu?"

The two lovers turned to face the other hamster. "Hi, Tracey-hamu!" Keita exclaimed happily. "We're watching butterflies perform mating dances-hamu!"

Kazuki nodded and held Keita closer. "It really is a spectacular sight-hamu. How about you, Tracey-hamu?"

"I'm trying to find the perfect thing to sketch-hamu." His face fell into a disappointed expression. "But, I can't seem to find anything special-hamu..."

"Aww, that's too bad-hamu..." Keita sighed. "I know-hamu! You can sketch us watching the butterflies dance-hamu!"

"Okay-hamu!" Tracey stepped around the log, cautious not to disturb the butterflies. He waited until Keita and Kazuki had turned around and noticed they had strange expressions on their faces. "What's wrong-hamu?" He turned to where they were pointing and sweatdropped at the sight of Shunsuke, also in chibified hamster form, dressed up like a butterfly and trying to mimic the mating dance with little success. I wanted to sketch something special-hamu...not something scary-hamu...

Tracey was now standing in front of a giant blackboard and repeatedly tapping the title of the next episode with a baton as Keita and Kazuki jumped in front of it.

"The day is far from over, and Tracey-hamu still has yet to meet everyone else-hamu," Keita commented.

"On top of that, a plan is formulated to help two people who really need it-hamu," Kazuki added.

"Next time in Newest Student At BL Gakuen: Love Should Go To The One It's Meant For!"

"Hopefully others can share our same happiness-hamu!" As Kazuki said that, he pulled Keita into a hug and a heart formed above them.