Chapter Nine: Return To The Old House

It was a week later that Keita had been released from the hospital. Most of his injuries had healed, he just had to be mindful of his arm and ribs as he returned to school. Tracey and Kazuki picked him up so he wouldn't have to take the bus.

"So, it looks like you know," Keita remarked when he saw Tracey sitting in the black car, the same one that took Kazuki to all important meetings.

Tracey nodded. "Kazuki admitted it to me that day." He refused to say the day you were attacked, and quite frankly, everyone who knew of it felt the exact same way. He helped the redhead fasten his safety belt.

"Before we go back to school, there's somewhere I want to go first," Kazuki told his driver. He leaned in close and told his driver in a soft tone.

The man nodded, knowing where he was to go. He turned the key, and the car drove off.

"Where are we going, Kazuki?" Keita questioned.

Kazuki smiled. "You'll see very soon, Keita."

The car pulled up to the front of a large house. Keita's eyes widened in realisation. "Tracey, look!"

The Watcher glanced out the window as well. "It's a beautiful house."

"You've been here before," Kazuki informed as the group climbed out of the car.

"I have?"

"The house was in a different area, but this is the same one. This is where you stayed all those years ago."

Realisation dawned on him. "This is your house?"

"Yes. I'd had it moved here so I could come here for some sanctuary...and so Keita could revisit his childhood. It looks like we can revisit yours as well."

"Those memories weren't so pleasant though..."

"I understand, but there are some pleasant ones tucked in there. It was mostly at night that you were affected by the memories of the attack. But, throughout the day, despite being injured, you would still play with us any way that you could." Kazuki pulled a key out of his pocket and walked up to the front door. He inserted the key in the hole and turned it. "I'll have a key cut for you as well, so you can visit here any time you'd like."

Keita finally noticed something. "Hey, Tracey, where's Marill?"

"She's with Mr. Umino at the moment. Over the week, she became fond of Tonosama, as did he in return, so they're having a play-date," Tracey explained.

"I never thought I'd see a cat and a mouse get along so well..."

Tracey laughed lightly. "Neither did I. The only other cat I've known well was Meowth, and Pikachu was not fond of him in the least. It didn't help that he kept trying to capture Pikachu."

Keita tried to picture a Tom and Jerry sequence.

"Of course, Pikachu would always have the upper-hand, he'd just use his electric attacks to shock Meowth, that got him to back off."

Keita laughed, only to wince slightly. Laughing with broken ribs wasn't a good idea.

"Okay, come on in, you two," Kazuki called after he'd opened the door.

The two younger teens nodded and made their way up to the door and through it.

Tracey's inspiration was struck upon seeing the inside of the building. It was too bad he hadn't brought his sketchbook. Oh well, he would come back another time and make a sketch.

"Welcome back, Tracey," Keita stated fondly. He took the Watcher's hand in his uninjured one and pulled him along. "First, you've got to see this room." He led the Watcher to a large bedroom. It was still full of toys from childhood days. "Look on that wall over there. You'll soon see what I'm talking about."

Tracey did so. He felt Keita let go of his hand, and he stepped over to the wall. He kept looking, but didn't seem to find anything, so he got down on the ground and moved the toychest aside. He found a scrawled message. Kazuki has been here was written in green paint. Keita waz hear was written in blue paint. Tracey was here was written in orange paint. It was a little messy, but he figured he must've used his left hand to write it.

"Our own secret message to the next people to come in here."

Kazuki chuckled. "First, it started with Keita writing it, and since it seemed like a fine idea, I decided to join in. Then, we encouraged you to join in the fun. You were a bit hesitant, but after we'd told you that nobody was going to be scolded, you did write something."

"We still have your notches on the wall too," Keita stated. He pointed to the doorframe where there were notches to show how much the boys had grown.

Tracey had a look. He noticed his stopped after a while, but Keita's kept going just a little further. "I understand why mine stopped where they did, but what about Keita's?"

Kazuki became serious. "Not long after you left, Keita became seriously ill."

"What?" Tracey's voice was quiet, shaken. He turned to Keita. It was hard to believe the healthy youth before him was once seriously ill.

Keita nodded. "I still don't remember much of that. But, I remember being told I had a high fever."

Kazuki shook his head sadly. "Keita was admitted into the hospital. I was worried he wasn't going to make it. That's how ill he was."

Tracey bowed his head. "I'm sorry I made you relive that. It must've been hard for you." He meant that for both of them.

"It was. But, Keita recovered. Of course, after that, he went home as his sister had settled into her home."

"Not before making our promise though," Keita added.

"Promise?" Tracey was confused.

"Come on, we'll show you." Keita took Tracey's hand again and led him out of the room, up the staircase to the attic.

Kazuki followed after them.

Kazuki pulled a painting out from behind a collection of them. He then picked something from the back of this. It was a folded piece of paper. "Here. Read this for yourself." He handed it to Tracey.

The Watcher unfolded the paper and found a note written in two different styles. It said the same thing: I promise that we will go to the same school. He smiled tenderly at that before looking up at his friends. "And you kept it."

"Of course."

"And, wasn't there something else up here?" Keita asked Kazuki.

"That's right." He stepped over to a trunk and opened it. He pulled out a photo album. "I'd kept this in here to keep it safe over time, knowing that someday, we'd be able to look at it together."

Keita and Tracey stepped over to where Kazuki stood...or rather, where Kazuki was sitting. They sat beside him, one on each side.

Kazuki opened the album, and there was a picture of three boys. One had light brown hair, one had red hair and one had black hair. They were all looking at each other while smiling, even the black-haired boy who wore his right arm in a plaster cast. "You were finally recovering from your injuries, Tracey. My mother insisted on taking a photo of all three of us. You weren't so eager at the time, but you sat still long enough for her to get this one."

Tracey chuckled. "I was camera shy as a child, wasn't I?"

"Yes. It was near impossible to get any photos of you." Kazuki turned the page to show the same three boys running around the yard. "But, as long as you didn't know about the picture being taken, it was easy."

Keita breathed out a chuckle, it hurt to laugh too much. "Is that photo in there?"

Kazuki nodded. "Of course it is." He turned the page, knowing that picture was the one Keita was talking about.

Tracey laughed as he saw it. It looked like they were playing Wedding. Tracey was the minister, Kazuki the groom and Keita the bride. Kazuki had given Keita a kiss on the forehead. "I remember that day. Keita told me that one day, he hoped he really would get married to his Kazu-nii."

"Well, it can happen for real in the future," Kazuki stated as he gazed lovingly at Keita.

Tracey smiled. He could still see just how much they loved each other. He could remember each time the two of them were together, they'd always look at each other in a certain way. Their feelings may have been platonic at that time, but there was something special between them. "You two are still the picture perfect couple," he whispered. It was moments like these he wished he had his sketchbook.

Keita blushed lightly. "You're just teasing again, aren't you?"

"No, I really mean it. There has always been that special bond between both of you, even before your feelings became romantic. Even during the days you were just friends, it was clear to anyone who cared to notice, that you two were always meant to be together. I'm really glad you became a couple."

"Thank you, Tracey," Kazuki replied as he turned to face the Watcher.

Keita nodded. "Yeah, thanks, Trace."

Kazuki turned the page, and there was more dress-up play. The boys did have to take it easy until Tracey had recovered after all. "Do you remember this day?"

Tracey looked at the photo. "No, I can't say that I do."

"After you were deemed well enough to get out of bed, Keita suggested we play Knights. The three of us went through the house with our cardboard tubing swords and rescued cookies from the cookie jar."

Tracey laughed while Keita tried to keep his laughter contained enough to not cause pain. "I remember now! Boy, the three of us were quite ill that evening."

Keita nodded. "By rescuing the cookies, we had to eat them, but there were too many."

"We all got scolded for doing what we did, but Mother still looked after all three of us that night. I think that was the only night following your attack that you didn't wake in a fright," Kazuki commented.

"To make sure she could look after all of us, she had us sleep in the same bed, didn't she?"

The tallest boy nodded. "She did. It was definitely much easier." He turned the page. "Oh, and I see she took the opportunity to get a photo of us while we slept." The photo had all three boys in a state of slumber. Tracey was on the right side of the bed so he could have his broken arm propped up by a pillow. Keita was in the middle, and Kazuki was on the left side. Tracey and Keita were holding hands while Kazuki was embracing Keita. "It looks like we were all meant to be together."

The younger teens turned to Kazuki. "What do you mean?" they asked in unison.

"Just look at this picture. You can tell there is a lot of trust between all three of us. We were meant to be friends."

"Hey, Kazuki, do you think all three of us were meant to be more than friends?" Keita whispered as he continued looking at the picture.

Tracey heard Keita's query. "I wouldn't want to intrude on your relationship..."

"You wouldn't."

Kazuki nodded. "Keita's right."

The three of them continued gazing at the picture of them slumbering, contemplating on whether they should take a chance in discovering their feelings, or leave things as they are. They hoped the picture would help them find their answer.

Keita/Tracey: HAMU-HAMU HEAVEN!

Chibified-hamster Tracey was strolling through the Bell Liberty forest, and was surprised to see Keita, still in his chibified-hamster form was sitting alone. "Keita-hamu!"

Keita turned to Tracey. "Hi, Tracey-hamu! Still looking for that perfect thing to sketch-hamu?"

"Yep, still on the search-hamu. How come you're alone-hamu?"

"Chairman-hamu is at a meeting. I've been waiting here for you-hamu."

"Chairman-hamu?"

"He put on the tie before he left, so he's Chairman-hamu."

"Oh, okay-hamu. So, what did you want to do-hamu?"

"I want to help you find that perfect thing to sketch-hamu!"

"Thank you-hamu! I'd appreciate the help-hamu!"

"So, how have your efforts gone so far-hamu?"

Tracey started telling of everything that had happened after he'd begun his search, not surprised to see Keita was sweatdropping more intensely with each one.

"That sounds very weird-hamu..."

"I hope things don't become weirder-hamu..."

"They will-hamu. You've already seen weird-hamu."

Tracey was sighing as he again tapped that same blackboard with that same baton.

Keita jumped up in front of the blackboard. "After realising the depth of our bond, Tracey-hamu is finding himself thinking of just how deeply he feels for Kazuki-hamu and myself-hamu. Next time in Newest Student At BL Gakuen: Working Out My Feelings. I hope you can have fun as you read more-hamu!"