Author's Note: This is the partially rewritten version of Chapter 7. I decided to start adding "san" to the parents' names to emulate some more of that Japanese speech structure. I don't know if I'll go back to the previous chapters to add them in as well, but we'll see.
The next day found October extremely jittery. This is the day. October stared at the breakfast in front of her. This is the day where I get to see the result of my photos!
Hana-san gazed at the petite girl worriedly, "October, are you feeling alright?"
"Huh?" October's head shot up, "Wha?"
"Today's exhibition day," Kaidoh said suddenly without looking up from his plate.
"What exhibition day?" Kyo asked, plunking himself down onto a chair.
"Kyo!" Hana-san gasped, "What are you wearing?"
"I told you, mama!" Kyo turned towards Hana-san, exasperated, "Hello? Show and tell?"
"Don't speak to your mother that way," Saoto-san ruffled his son's hair while grabbing a piece of toast, "You know it's not polite."
Kyo huffed, "But I told her!"
October stood up from her chair abruptly, "I'm off. Thank you for the meal."
"What? But you didn't even eat anything!" Hana-san trailed off as Kaidoh got up immediately as well and went out behind October.
Saoto-san chuckled at the two figures disappearing into the doorway, "Teenagers."
October found that she couldn't concentrate at all through class. The worst part was when the teacher in English class had asked her how to spell vacuum, and she'd spelt it v-a-c-u-m-e. Why they were learning about the word "vacuum" in gr.7 English class? With the way things were looking now, she'd probably never find out.
When the bell rang, October was one of the first to rush out of the class, hastily grabbing her stuff and cramming it into her backpack.
However, when she'd actually reached the photography clubroom, October hesitated outside the door. She stood there for a while, staring at the door knob.
"October, what are you doing?" October whipped around to find one of her fellow club members staring at her quizzically.
"Oh, um, I'm just about to, uh, go in," October opened the door hurriedly and ducked inside.
"Hey, Echizen, don't you think there's something weird about Mamushi these days?" Momo said thoughtfully while rallying with Ryoma.
"No," Ryoma replied shortly, "Can you please pick up the speed, Momo-senpai? You're dragging on like an old grandma."
"Hey who are you calling an old grandma?" cried Momo indignantly. He frowned, going back to the topic he was discussing, "No, seriously. Especially today. I mean, he actually told Buchou to let him off earlier! Is that weird or what?"
Ryoma chose not to answer.
"Could it be," Momo grinned in excitement, "that Mamushi is secretly stalking someone at our school?"
All of a sudden, Eiji popped out of nowhere, "I heard the word stalk, nya!"
Ryoma felt the extreme need to throw his racket at someone, "Momo-senpai," he gritted out, "Why would Kaidoh-senpai want to stalk anyone?"
"Because!" Momo retorted before turning towards Eiji, "So, Eiji-senpai, do you think Mamushi's been acting weird lately?"
Eiji cocked his head, contemplating, "Hmm, I don't think so, nya! Maybe it's just you!"
Momo protested, pointedly ignoring his smirking kohai, "But what about today? He actually asked Buchou to leave early! Now if that's not weird then I don't know what is."
"Well, I guess that is kind of strange," Eiji began to rub his chin thoughtfully.
"Maybe he's not feeling well," Ryoma pointed out, hitting an extra hard volley.
"Doubt it," Momo returned it with equal force.
"What's this about Kaidoh not feeling well?" asked a worried Oishi as he joined his doubles partner.
"Oh, no, Oishi-senpai, you see-"
"Momo, Echizen, Eiji, Oishi, twenty laps around the court!" There was a collective groan and Ryoma glared at his senpai resentfully.
"Hai!"
The door opened, and little clusters of the photography club members streamed out. They shied away from the glaring figure in front of them and hurried away, wondering what a tennis club member was doing in front of the photography clubroom.
Lately, there seemed to be a lot of them around.
October packed up her things slowly, putting the camera into its bag. She didn't look at the pictures hung above in her little area.
Once she was done, October hefted her bag onto her shoulder and headed out the door. She was a little startled to find Kaidoh standing there, glaring at the ceiling.
"I'm sorry; did you wait for a long time?"
He began walking away, "No."
October walked beside Kaidoh in silence, staring at the ground. He glanced over at her, but said nothing.
When they reached their house, October went immediately to her room, closing the door behind her softly. Hana-san stared after the girl in worry.
"Kaoru, do you know what's wrong?" Hana-san asked, rounding in on her son. He shook his head and went upstairs as well.
"Hey mama, guess what, guess what?" Kyo skipped into the house, "I-"
"Kyo, can you go upstairs and check if October-chan's okay for me?" Hana-san interrupted.
"Huh? Why?"
"Because I don't know what's wrong, but she doesn't seem to be feeling very well," Hana-san stared into her son's eyes, "So can you do that for mama?"
Kyo nodded slowly, eyes wide, "Sure, mama. Do I go now?"
"Yes, dearie, but if she doesn't want to talk, don't bother her, okay?"
Kyo nodded again solemnly, "Okay."
October dropped her schoolbag on the ground and sank into her bed. She covered her face with her hand and stared at the little cracks in the ceiling through her fingers. They quivered.
October turned abruptly to her side, closing her eyes. You should've known. You should've known already.
If only she hadn't gotten her hopes up.
Everyone shifted from one person's exhibit to the next. October swallowed, feeling the rush of excitement and nervousness curling at the pit of her stomach. The other club members stared at her exhibit of photos.
There was silence.
October looked from one face to another. Why weren't anyone saying anything?
Finally, the club leader cleared his throat, "Chen-san, you do know what we're trying to do in this club, right?"
October stared at him, the feeling in her stomach clenching into a familiar sense of fear. "What do you mean?" she whispered.
He sighed, "Look, why don't we just," he paused abruptly, "We'll just overlook it this time. But this," the club leader gestured at the pictures, "please don't do it again next time."
"I-I don't understand," she faltered at the glare of one of the club members.
"Are you making fun of us? Are these photos some kind of a sick joke?" The club member turned and hissed at October, "Just because you're a visiting student doesn't make you better than us. We take this seriously, unlike you. So stop messing around and leave!"
"Kobayashi!" the club president spoke, "This kind of behaviour is unacceptable. We give each other constructive criticism; we don't tear each other down. Leave the room and come back when your head is cleared."
Kobayashi stared at the leader incredulously, "How can you say that? She's just screwing with us! She-"
"Kobayashi," there was a hard edge to his voice, "Enough."
Kobayashi gave October hateful glare and, whispering quietly, "Nobody wants you here, freak," stalked out of the room.
A series of knocks jerked October out of her thoughts. She sat up, "Come in."
Kyo's head poked through the doorway, and was slowly followed by the rest of his body, "October?"
October smiled slightly at the worried look on the boy's face. Sometimes she felt like the age gap between her and Kyo seemed to be more than just one year. Kyo was the light of the family, the youngest, the goofy child, something to bring respite into everyone's daily concerns.
"Yes, what is it?" October motioned for Kyo to sit down.
He sat down beside her, all seriousness, "October. Are you okay?"
October was surprised, "Yes. Why?"
"You don't really look okay."
Suddenly, October was hit by the urge to cry. Here it was, this boy that she'd known for little more than a week, and he was worried about her. "Don't fret. I'll get over it soon."
Kyo nodded, "Alright then. I'll see you at dinner."
"Oh, um, Kyo," the boy looked back at her, "I probably won't be down for dinner," she attempted to smile, "I'm not feeling very hungry."
He nodded again, and was gone.
October buried her head in the pillow and felt the dam inside her crumpling.
Get over it get over it get over it get over it. She repeated to herself mentally, but as the words sounded in her head the tears continue to spill out.
October groaned.
You are such a loser.
Knock, knock. October lifted her head tiredly, "Come in."
It was Kaidoh, holding a tray of food. October turned away quickly, knowing how terrible she looked at the moment. Kaidoh set the tray down on her desk and stood there, as if waiting for something.
"Thank you, Kaidoh-senpai," October said quietly, her back still turned towards him. He didn't leave.
October wanted to squirm as silence filled the room. Why is he still here? She wanted desperately to ask him to leave, but decided against it. She was still feeling drained after her little crying session just now.
After a couple more minutes of silence, October spoke abruptly, "What would you do if you tried really hard for something, but then found out that you completely screwed up and everyone hates you for it?"
There were a few more minutes of silence. October didn't notice the pair of eyes staring intently at her.
Finally, Kaidoh answered, "I'd try harder."
October blinked.
"If I messed up I'd try harder to make up for it."
October turned around slowly to find Kaidoh looking at an unseen object outside the window. Moonlight splashed gently onto his features, adding shadows to where there were none before. October shivered. This didn't feel like the Kaidoh-senpai that she'd come to know in the last few weeks. It was someone else, someone with a kind of eerie gentleness unfamiliar to her. Or maybe he was always like that, but she just didn't notice.
Kaidoh stood up abruptly, snapping October out of her trance. He glanced towards her, and finding her staring at him in open fascination, hastened his steps out of the room. He fought to keep the heat from spreading over his face.
October stared at the door, still feeling a little unreal, as if what just happened was all a dream. A foreign feeling rose up inside her.
It felt warm, very warm.
October picked herself up from the bed, and began to eat.
Author's Note: Thanks folks for reading. Please leave a review and let me know what your favourite part was and what I can improve on :)
