Author's Comment: Wow. I only posted up my first chapter for a fortnight and BOOM I get two reviews! I am teh happy. Thank you all for bothering to read my Mary-Sue like fiction (though I will try my best to steer my character way off the path of DOOM), and here are a few notes:

As KiriharaAkaya has been so kind as to point out to me, there were several mistakes that I have made in my (omg) first chapter. First of all, the Kaidoh family actually has names. But since I already fell in love with the name Hana (doesn't it sound like such a nice, mom-type person?), I didn't want to change the names that I already made up for this lovely family. However I do apologize to all those that are extremely irked by these kinds of… Offences. Feel free to click the back button and save yourself anymore trouble.

I also kind of mixed up the English and Japanese honorifics regarding the Kaidoh parents. I'm sorry for that (it was due to my laziness) and I'll try to stick to the Japanese ones more now.

Right and I changed the title from "October's Tale" to "October!". I'm not sure why, but I thought it sounded cooler. xD

Anyway. Now that these things have been cleared, on to the next chapter!


October put her last set of clothes inside the closet and sighed, plopping down on the bed. She surveyed the room she was in, ignoring the big suitcase that took up almost all the space she had.

It was a small, sparsely furnished room, just like her own bedroom in America. She sniffed the air slightly. The air smelt different, though. It had a musty, warm smell, as if it had only been recently cleaned. Her old room was cold and crisp, she recalled. Suddenly, October was struck by a moment of homesickness. The feeling of belonging flashed back to her, as she remembered all those times when she opened the door and found herself finally at home in her own room. She gripped the bed sheet tightly and told herself to get over it.

Looking around the room again, October came to the conclusion that she liked this new room. Though foreign and slightly cramped, the smallness of the it comforted her. It felt safe, like a little world to her self.

Her thoughts were once again interrupted by two soft knocks to the door.

"Come in," she said, recollecting herself and hastily pushing the suitcase below her bed.

The door opened to reveal a smiling Hana as she guided herself into the room, "I see you've finished unpacking already. Lunch is all set, so come down whenever you like."

October stood up quickly and nodded, still feeling a little lost at the presence of the foreign language.

"Oh, and school has already started, which you probably know. But I can still bring you to the afternoon classes if you'd like. Unless you're feeling too tired for today?"

October realized that was her cue to speak, "Umm, ok. I'll go. Today."

Hana grinned, "Don't worry, they won't be too scary. Now come, I'll give you your uniform after lunch."

It was after lunch already and October found herself once again sitting in the Kaidohs' small, black car as Hana drove, humming to the song playing on the radio. After a while Hana felt obliged to speak to her silent companion.

"So, I see that you're going to be in first year, hmm? That means you're twelve, right? Well, will you look at that! You're one year younger than Kaoru and one year older than Kyo! What a coincidence!"

October wasn't sure why that was such a coincidence, but she nodded all the same. It's always better to be polite, as she had learnt a long time ago. The car stopped abruptly, and Hana smiled encouragingly, "Alright, here we are. Seishun Gakuen. Do you want to wait a moment while I park the car? I can walk you to the office."

October shook her head, though her shaking legs and stomach spasms were screaming at her to say yes. She cursed her fear-born politeness and tried to smile, "Umm, I'll be okay. Thank you."

"Are you sure?" Hana frowned, her brows etched together in deep concern. October nodded in confirmation, hoping fervently that her smile wasn't wavering as much as she thought it was.

"Well, alright then, if you need anything, just call my cell phone number," Hana said, a little unsure, as she wrote down her number on a piece of paper. Handing it over to October, she repeated, "Remember, just call my number if you have any trouble, okay? I'll be here right away."

October nodded again, taking the piece of paper. Then, after watching the black car drive away and finally disappear down the street, she turned slowly back towards the school gate.

Her stomach involuntarily clenched again. "So… Big," She murmured, staring at the school in front of her. Then, shaking her head, she took a deep breath and headed towards the entrance of the school.


Ryoma stared out of the window in boredom as the teacher droned on about something or the other. History classes were boring. He didn't understand why some of his senpais liked it so much. It was just about people buying stuff, cheating each other, and then killing each other because they were cheated. He sighed, watching the birds chirp happily outside. The Kanto tournament was coming up.

The class became louder suddenly, and murmurs and excited whispers were heard all around him. Ryoma turned around slightly and eyed his classmates. He must've missed something. Oh well.

The door opened abruptly to reveal one of the school secretaries and a small girl standing at the doorway. Ryoma blinked, and then let the usual passive look return to his face. He wondered if she played tennis.

"Class, this is Chen October-kun. Chen-kun, please introduce yourself to the class."

The girl looked startled, as if suddenly realizing where she was and what was expected of her.

"Umm," October looked tentatively at the rest of the class and gulped. Why are there so many students here in one class? She cleared her throat nervously, and started, "Umm, hi."

No response.

"Umm, I'm Oct-" she corrected herself hastily, "I mean, Chen October."

"So… Yeah. Nice to meet you," she glanced at the teacher helplessly.

The teacher cleared his throat. "What do you like to do? Where did you come from?" he asked helpfully.

"I like to…" the girl trailed off, then started abruptly again, "I'm from America. Nice to meet you." She bowed quickly then turned to look at the teacher again.

The teacher sighed inwardly, "Do any of you have any questions for Chen-kun?"

A hand rose. "Hai, Satoshi?"

A boy with a monkey-like face asked, "Why's your name October?"

October looked a bit taken back, "Umm, sorry?"

The boy puffed out his chest importantly, "If you have any questions about anything, I, Horio with three months of middle school experience, will be happy to help you. And if there's anything else, Echizen here came from America himself. He'll be able to translate for you! And-"

"Thank you, Satoshi-kun." The teacher cut in hastily, "Chen-kun, you may go to your seat now. Behind Echizen-kun."

When the girl hesitated, the teacher pointed to said boy and repeated in an encouraging voice, "That's Echizen-kun. You're right behind him."

October quickly rushed over to her seat, wishing that she hadn't made such a fool out of herself in front of her whole class. It's just that, well, whenever she tried to explain her hobby to other people, she always earned strange looks from the others. After a while, she realized that she was a little embarrassed to speak to others about it.

She wasn't sure why that Satoshi person had asked the reason for her name, but she suspected that it was only a chance for him to speak out during class.

Taking out her history textbook, October sighed. This was going to be a long year.


Author's comment: I'm sorry for this super boring chapter! I promise, the next one will be much more exciting. Really! Please review and tell me what you think! Flames are accepted but will be discarded without much attention. Sorry peeps.