NOTE: Woo! Another updated chapter! :D At this point, we're starting to get in more serious chapters and also towards the end of the story. Fear not though, we've still got at least five chapters or so...*tries to count them out* Oh well. There's still a bit that needs to happen. ^_^

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE LAME CHAPTER TITLE BEHIND THE NUMBER! :P

Chapter 9. Magic vs. Science

"I'm home!"

"Hello son," Hiroaki called out to his son from the table. He was reviewing some important papers from the T.V. station, while Nancy was cleaning up the remains of their dinner. Matt walked into the room, little party favor in hand, and went to his father.

"Did you have fun at the party?" Nancy asked. Hiroaki picked up his son and sat him on his lap.

"Yes it was fun," Matt nodded. "Tai threw up in Sora's hat!"

"What?" Matt's parents both echoed.

"Yeah!" Matt giggled. "It was funny to see the look on her face."

"Why did he throw up in her hat?" Nancy gasped.

"Well, Tai was feeling kind of sick and I couldn't find anything where he could throw up in. I saw Sora's hat lying on the table, and told him. He just took it and threw up!"

"Oh dear," Nancy sighed. "What did she say after?

"We don't know," Matt shrugged. "After she put it on and screamed, we ran out of the park and went home. It was funny to hear a witch's scream."

"Matt, I've told you," Nancy sighed as Hiroaki chuckled. "Sora is not a witch."

"But she is mommy!" Matt argued. "She's not a nice girl!"

"Why do you say that?" Hiroaki questioned. "Was she mean to you?"

"Well…no," the young blonde muttered. "But she said something that made me sad."

"What did she tell you?"

"…She told me that she likes Tai."

"Sometimes little girls just end up liking little boys son," Hiroaki explained.

"But this is different," Matt shook his head. "Because…Tai is my knight and…I love him…" Hiroaki blinked in surprise.

"You…like Tai?" he asked slowly.

"No…I love him." A heavy silence lingered in the air for a long while.

"Matt, why don't you go tell your brother that it's time to get ready for bed?" Nancy suggested. Matt nodded, hopped off of his father's lap and went to go get himself ready for bed. Hiroaki looked over at his wife. Just as he had thought, she had a terrified expression on her face.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," she smiled. She went back to finishing up the last few dishes and Hiroaki decided to take a short break and check on Matt and T.K's bed time progress. The older brother was teaching the younger one how to squeeze tooth paste out of the tube and successfully place the paste on the tooth brush. He smiled at his two sons as they started brushing before returning to the kitchen area. His wife had her back to him and was talking quietly on the phone. As he got closer, he started catching a few words that his wife was saying.

"How much did you say it costs?" she asked quietly in the phone. A slight pause. "Well, that's quite a bit for…Yes. Yes, I understand the consequence. I do want to ask one thing though…will this school really help?" It wasn't making sense to the older man, until she said the next sentence. "Will it make my son stop thinking he's gay?" Hiroaki didn't really like what he was hearing. He extended his hand and pressed on the button to end the call, long and hard. "I just…hello? Hello?" She turned and jumped at the sight of her husband standing next to the phone.

"Hiro," she gasped and placed the phone back. "You…startled me."

"Who was that?" he growled.

"Um…it was nothing."

"Don't lie to me Nancy. Who did you call?"

"I mean it Hiro, it really was nothing."

"Then why did I startle you?"

"Because you crept up on me while I was making a phone call."

"It wouldn't have been a big deal if was something you didn't mind sharing with me. Now who was it?"

"…It was just a private school that was wondering if they could enlist Matt in their program."

"What was the name?" She didn't reply. "Nancy."

"…it's called North Oak."

"North Oak?" Nancy nodded and Hiroaki could feel his anger starting to rise. "You mean that school that claims to help 'troubled' boys?"

"Well they said they don't just help troubled boys…"

"Nancy! How could you even consider sending our son to a school like that? Do you know what sort of things could go on in there? He could get hurt!"

"I don't believe that."

"What?"

"I said: 'I don't believe that!' I've heard from other people that their system is quite safe and that the boys that go in there come out completely changed!"

"Well good for them, but our son doesn't need to be changed!"

"Yes he does Hiro!"

"Why? Just because you're scared that you might really have a gay son?"

"No! That's not it!"

"Then why would you want to send him there?"

"Because they were asking if we wanted to enlist Matt into that school!" Hiroaki inhaled deeply and exhaled through his nose. Every night it seemed like it was the same thing. Nancy was overly protective and worried about her son's well-being when there really was no need of that. She was always worrying about them getting a terrible sickness, or getting kidnapped in the middle of the night. There was no room for going with the flow in her mind.

"You're so full of it."

"Excuse me?"

"You want everything to be absolutely perfect and you can't accept anything that isn't."

"That's not true!"

"Then why is it such a big deal whether Matt is gay or not?"

"Because what if something happened to him? Like, if someone beats him up for being gay?"

"He's only a child! You shouldn't be worrying about these sort of things yet!" Nancy stared at her husband, long and hard. Tears were threatening to fall down her face, but she kept her ground.

"You don't know what it's like going out there and interviewing the family of a homosexual victim," she whispered. "Seeing the pain in their eyes and the sorrow in their homes. They always say that they wish there was something they could do to bring their child back. I don't want that to happen to us, Hiro. I don't want us wishing there was something we could do to bring Matt or T.K. back." Hiroaki looked at his wife, slightly regretting what he said earlier.

"I understand where you're coming from Nancy," he sighed. "I really do…But the way you want to handle this situation…it's not right."

"What should we do then?" Hiroaki thought for a moment.

"Let him grow up as a normal child," he finally said. "Once he gets older, it'll be his decision on whether he wants to be open about his sexuality or not."

"And what if some gang beats him up?" his wife slightly challenged. "Then what?"

"We just explain to him that this is all part of growing up."

"Getting beaten up is not part of growing up, Hiro. Unless you live in a really rough neighborhood, in which case we don't."

"Nancy, Matt can deal with it."

"No he can't."

"Nancy—"

"Matt is very sensitive! You didn't see how upset he was the day he told me Tai didn't want to play with him."

"I'm sure he'll get over it."

"I can't believe how insensitive you are being with this!"

"It's really not a big deal Nancy!"

"The possibility that your son may die isn't a big deal?"

"We already went through a scare like this before! So why should we treat this any differently?" They stared at each other. Nancy slowly shook her head and move to the couch and sat down. Hiroaki, realizing that he had just opened a painful wound, sighed and went to his wife. "I'm sorry Nancy. I…" She shook her head again and tried to hide the silent tears that were starting to fall. He watched her for a moment, then sat next to her. "You know…it still hurts and scares me too. How close we come to almost losing T.K…I remember how he was so small. And his illness just made everything so much harder…his little body couldn't keep up…"

"We spent three months in the hospital," Nancy whispered. "To make sure our son would live…I don't want to go through that again Hiro."

"I don't either," he murmured. "But what can we do?" The couple sat in silence, trying to figure out any, if at all, possible solution to their present predicament.

"I've heard that if someone chooses to be homosexual," Nancy started. "It's because they went through something traumatic in their life…Maybe, something happened to Matt that we don't know about. We could take him to some counseling or something."

"I don't think anything has happened to Matt," Hiro shook his head. "And I also don't believe homosexuality is a choice. It's something that is in your DNA."

"That sounds ridiculous," Nancy said.

"It's not ridiculous, it's science."

"So because some scientist says that it's true you're going to automatically believe that's the reason for all cases like that?"

"Is there any reason why I shouldn't?"

"Yes, because science can be wrong sometimes!"

"Name one time that it was wrong!"

"Well I can't think of any right now, but I'm sure there has—"

"Ah-ha! You can't think of any because there hasn't been any! Just admit that you're wrong!" Nancy and Hiroaki stared at each other.

"Maybe I am wrong," Nancy muttered. "But I also don't believe that you are completely right. And I also don't think it's right that you are willing to let our son go through this pain. If there is some way we can help him or prevent it, I say we try." Her husband narrowed his eyes slightly at her.

"You do anything like sending him to that school Nancy," Hiroaki growled warningly. "And I'll make sure that your life is hell." Hiroaki turned and left to their bedroom, hearing the small gasp from his wife, but not caring enough to look back.

...Pretty sure this chapter could have gone a lot better...but I suck at arguing, so it'd be logical if their argument was slightly off at times. -_- As for the last bit, I tried making Hiro a little jerk-ish so that people wouldn't be so angry at Nancy...don't be hating on either of them either way. :(

In other news, it would be great if you left me a review on what you thought about this chapter. :)

Until next time..."DON'T! STOP! BELIEVING!"