Chapter Four: Reliving The Past
It has been at least a month since Tracey had first arrived at Bell Liberty. He'd met most of Keita's friends, however he was always wondering about Nakajima-san as Keita called him. He switched off his lamp and sighed. The next day wasn't going to be easy to deal with. Keita, Kazuki and the others were going to the beach, and because it had been planned a few months before, he wasn't able to join them. He kept assuring Keita and Kazuki he'd be alright. The truth was though that already he was dreading the feeling of loneliness he thought he'd never have to experience again. It's too quiet... He decided to try to sleep, he didn't mind the silence when he slept.
"It's a shame Tracey can't join us..." Keita whispered to Kazuki.
The taller boy nodded. "But, it can't really be helped, none of us had really counted on making a new friend before the trip."
"I know."
"I don't think he's alright though, no matter how much he keeps telling us he is."
"Despite us leaving throughout the day and coming back at night, something is bothering him about it."
Tracey sat up quickly, head spinning after the nightmare he'd had. He decided to have a drink of water before he tried to sleep again. He climbed out of his bed, being cautious not to disturb Marill and headed into the bathroom. He grabbed the glass he used when rinsing out his mouth after brushing his teeth and filled it with water before drinking it down. That wasn't a nightmare, was it? I need to calm down, it's not like I'm being abandoned, I'm just not going on the trip to the beach. Keita and Kazuki will be back by dinner time, we can have dinner together. I'm not alone anymore, so why is it that my sleep is being plagued with demons of the past? He had one more glass of water before climbing back into bed. I'm not alone anymore, I'll be alright...
The next morning, Marill snuggled up closer to Tracey before he woke. She knew he was feeling troubled, and it wasn't because of the trip his friends were taking either, it was another reason altogether. Despite that though, she knew he didn't ever want to be alone on that certain day.
Tracey opened his eyes, sat up and yawned. "Good morning, Marill, did you sleep well?"
Marill nodded before snuggling up to him even closer. "Marill ma..."
"You know it's that day too, huh?" Tracey was holding Marill as he got out of bed and stepped out onto the balcony to try to allow the beautiful view outside his room try to soothe him. It didn't work. "I wish Keita and Kazuki didn't have to go anywhere today, it's just too quiet, just like that day."
Marill nodded. She nuzzled her trainer affectionately.
"It has been a few years, but it doesn't feel like it..." He stepped inside his room and checked the time. "It's already eleven in the morning?"
"Marill ma rill rill marill..." You weren't sleeping well last night so I didn't want to disturb you this morning...
"Thank you, Marill. Come on, let's go for a walk around the campus, the different surroundings might help."
Marill nodded.
Keita sat on his towel, he was thinking about why Tracey was feeling so troubled and yet didn't tell them. He felt something cold touch his shoulder and looked up to see Kazuki.
"I thought you might be thirsty."
"Thanks, Kazuki."
Kazuki handed Keita his drink and sat beside him. "Normally you're having the most fun on the beach, what's the matter?"
"I'm just feeling a bit worried, that's all."
"About Tracey?"
"Yeah. Something has been bothering him lately."
"When I was looking up his reports, I'd noticed something. He'd been orphaned from the age of ten years old."
"What?"
"There weren't any details, but he lost his father when he was five years old, and his mother when he was ten years old. He had no other family on record."
"That's awful..."
He found the computer lab. "I may as well go through Mr. Umino's reports since I have time." He entered the room and selected a computer. He sat down and took out the disk. He inserted the disk into the drive and waited for it to load up. He heard a sound outside. "Seems it's raining today..."
Umino-sensei was still in the school and as he walked past the computer lab, he noticed someone was present. "Tracey?"
Thankfully he'd heard another voice. He turned towards the owner of the voice. "Mr. Umino..."
"Where is everyone?"
"They're at the beach, but I suppose they'll be coming back very soon."
"I guess. How come you're not with them?"
"I wasn't invited."
"Okay. I'll see you soon, Tracey."
"Mr. Umino...could you please stay? If it's not a bother..."
"Okay, I can stay for a while. Is something wrong?"
"I just don't want to be alone today..."
The teacher sat beside him. "You're not alone, you have Marill."
"I know, but..."
"Has something happened?"
"It was just Marill, Venonat and myself on this day six years ago. The house was too silent. I can't stand silence on this day."
"What happened? You can tell me..."
They were on the bus back to the school. "Looks like we'll have to re-schedule the trip. Sorry, everyone!" Tetsuya called to everyone on the bus.
"Don't apologise, Ou-sama, when you planned this trip you had no idea it would rain," Keita replied.
"You know, you've been quite out of it today, Keita. What's bugging you?"
"I'm just worried, that's all."
"About what?"
"He's worried about Tracey. For some reason, we're certain something has been bothering Tracey for the last couple of days," Kazuki replied.
"Tracey is troubled because of his mother," Takuto suddenly stated causing all else to turn to him. "I found a sketch he'd made when he was a child, it was back when he was only ten years old. Some areas seemed to have gone hard, and there was some writing on it."
"Do you mean that today is..." Keita trailed off.
"It has been six years today..." Tracey finished telling the teacher.
"That's so sad, Tracey, I'm sorry that had to happen."
"Thank you."
Tracey was sitting in his room, holding Marill close when his door suddenly burst open. He jumped in surprise. "Keita...Kazuki..."
"Why didn't you tell us what was wrong? We could've stayed with you..." Keita stated as he tried to catch his breath.
"Because you were going on a trip to the beach, I didn't want to spoil it for you, nor did I want to make you miss out."
"Iwai-san told us why you've been feeling troubled lately, your portfolio included one of your sketches you'd dedicated to your mother," Kazuki explained.
Tracey nodded. "I see. I didn't realise that was in there..."
Keita caught his breath and sat on the bed beside Tracey. "You could've told us, we're your friends. If you didn't want to be alone today, we could've found a way to make sure you wouldn't be, even if we had to somehow convince Ou-sama to allow you to come."
"Thank you."
"It is on these days that you wouldn't want to be alone, but why is it specifically this day you prefer having company?" Kazuki asked as he too sat on the bed.
"Because the silence and solitude reminds me of that day. It was just Marill, Venonat and myself that day. We stepped into the house and it was silent, completely silent. Mom wasn't there and wasn't going to come back." He shut his eyes tight. "I knew she was going to, I insisted on staying with her...but she told me she'd be alright..."
"Tracey..." Keita rested a hand on Tracey's back.
"I knew she wasn't doing well after my father passed on, but she insisted that I go on my first journey, that she'd be alright. But, when I returned, it was already too late."
Kazuki frowned sadly. "Did she...?"
He nodded as one single tear slipped from between his eyelids. "I had a bad feeling that she...I didn't know what it was, but it was horrible...that day I returned, the house was so silent..."
"We can't even begin to imagine the pain you're feeling right now, or even back then. It's no wonder you don't want to be alone."
He felt arms wrap around his shoulders. "Kazuki...Keita..."
"We won't leave you alone, Tracey, we won't," Keita whispered softly.
Sometime later, Tracey had calmed. Both Keita and Kazuki released their comforting embraces. "It's dinnertime, we should go to the cafeteria now. You haven't had anything to eat today, have you, Tracey?" Kazuki asked.
"No, I missed both breakfast and lunch."
"That's not good. Come on, let's go to the cafeteria, the largest table has been reserved for all of us to sit at."
"The largest table?"
"Everyone else will be joining us. You'll finally get to meet Nakajima-san," Keita stated.
The three of them got to their feet. Tracey picked up Marill and carried her.
Keita/Tracey: HAMU-HAMU HEAVEN!
Tracey met up with Takuto who was talking with Kouji. "Hello-hamu!"
"Ah, Tracey-hamu, I just finished going through your portfolio-hamu," Takuto, also in chibified hamster form, stated softly.
Tracey waited expectantly for a comment.
"Your artwork is excellent-hamu. It is much better than mine-hamu."
"Oh no, I'm certain yours is better-hamu," Tracey stated as he blushed lightly.
Takuto handed him a sketch he'd done using charcoal. "Are you certain-hamu?"
Tracey had a look. "This is excellent-hamu! The flowers are so lifelike-hamu!"
"It's very kind of you to say so-hamu..." Takuto was also blushing lightly. "But your artwork is still better than mine-hamu. Your sketches made it seem as if the Pokemon would come to life before my very own eyes-hamu."
"It's very kind of you to say-hamu. But yours is definitely better-hamu."
Kouji felt the need to speak up. He too was in chibified hamster form. "Actually, both of you are excellent-hamu."
Both Tracey and Takuto turned to Kouji. "Kouji-hamu, you praise me too much-hamu..." Takuto stated.
"Thank you for the compliment, but I don't deserve it-hamu..." Tracey added.
"You're much too kind-hamu..."
Kouji blinked in surprise. I should've just kept quiet-hamu...
Tracey stood in front of a blackboard, his cheeks rosy red after receiving compliments on his sketches. He was once again tapping the title.
Kouji and Takuto stood in front of it. "Tracey-hamu's real reason for being invited to enroll in BL Gakuen is more complex than just because of his great observation and art skills-hamu," Kouji stated.
"What could be the real reason for his selection-hamu?" Takuto added.
"Next time in Newest Student At BL Gakuen: Secrets Revealed."
"Even I have no choice but to read this-hamu..."