Chapter 6
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...Hold still right before we crash 'cause we both know how this endsmai47 2014-01-06 08:26:56
A clock ticks 'til it breaks your glass and I drown in you again...
'Cause you are the piece of me I wish I didn't need
Chasing relentlessly, still fight and I don't know why...
Clarity by Zedd'Cause you are the piece of me I wish I didn't need
Chasing relentlessly, still fight and I don't know why...
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Chapter 5. Rules Be Damned
"But why after three days?"
"Classes will be closed for the New Year and after that we'll be going to Manali."
They were now walking back to the girls' hostel wondering what they would do for the next three days. There was no way either of them could go home so they had decided to just stay in the hostel and venture through the city with Jignesh.
Until the other two came.
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He felt a headache slowly creeping, threatening to overwhelm his head as he fell down on his bed with a loud thud. In spite of the victory he ever so subtly claimed today, he felt his mood worsen with each passing thought. Ever since he had come to his room, he had been thinking and thinking.
Despite wanting to, he absolutely wouldn't go home for the New Year.
Because they would be there. She would be there.
His heart yearned to see their faces, hoping they would welcome him the way normal parents would welcome their kids after they come back from school. Instead, he knew they would immediately inquire about how long he would stay and when he would go back and after that would ensue a silent, cold dinner. A conversation clearly not on the menu, as he ate some of the finest foods in the world that would fill his stomach.
But his heart would forever remain empty.
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For some reason, he felt like he was being followed.
No, he knew he was being followed.
And he knew who was following him because they weren't doing a very good job at it.
"Stop following me, Agarwal."
"We're not following you!" "We're just going in the same direction."
"I've been going in circles for the past ten minutes and you're telling me you're going in the same direction?" he asked incredulously. "Let me guess, you've been so engrossed in your James Bond avatar that you haven't noticed, have you?" he mocked her.
"Randhir Bhai, we just want you to help us with something."
He changed his focus from Sanyukta to Jignesh and smiled at him.
"Of course, after all, you always come back to me for help, right?"
Everybody just needed him for his help. That's all they wanted from him. That was the only reason they hung around him.
"No-"
"Yes, Randhir Bhai," Jignesh confirmed, cutting Sanyukta off. He was not about to let her ruin their last hope for help.
"Actually, we have a problem."
"A very serious problem."
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'What...the hell!!??'
They were now standing outside some bare grounds a mile away from FITE.
"You called me here because you needed a player for your stupid game?"
"We'll win a prize!" The three of them shouted, their eyes sparkling with excitement.
He was so not gonna hang around these little kids.
"All right, I'm leaving." He turned around.
"No, wait," Jignesh called to him suddenly turning serious.
"We didn't know it would turn out like this, Randhir Bhai. We were just hanging out and there was a game going on and in excitement Sanyukta gave our names. We didn't know we needed five players to play, so I added your name without thinking."
Randhir turned to glare at the person responsible for the entire mess.
"Seriously?!" "First mechanical engineering and now a sports competition!" "What next, you gonna need help shopping for men's clothing?!"
"We just wanted to have fun." "It's the New Year!" she defended.
"And this is how you spend your New Year!?" "Why don't you go home and cook for your brother or something." "He deserves it."
"I don't see you in a hurry to pack your bags either," she fired back at him.
He opened his mouth to retort but found no words coming out.
He couldn't argue with that.
"And why does my bhai deserve it?" her voice broke him from thinking any further.
He couldn't help but smirk at her.
"Because he helped me become your leader."
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"Wait, if I'm the fifth player, who's the fourth?"
They all began to shift eyes and look awkwardly at each other.
"Who is it?"
"Y-"
"Oi, Randhir." "Long time no see." "I didn't think you'd show up."
'Yo Yo?' He turned around and was indeed met with Yo Yo Sher Singh and his gang.
"Oh, haan ji!" "It's me!" "Ab Kaustuki ne mujhe itne pyaar se bulaya hai toh I had to come."
He looked back and saw all three were fidgeting around, a bit angry but helpless.
Oh well, not like they had any other choice.
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"You brought your boyfriend with you too?" the lady at the stand questioned.
Randhir and Sanyukta looked at each other in disgust.
"I am not her boyfriend!"
"He's not my boyfriend!"
"Tumhara boyfriend bana kaun chahta hain?" "Sorry, I don't go for tomboys."
"And I don't go for MCPs."
"Tu-"
"Randhir bhai, chale?"
He looked up at the tall, thin guy who was very close to making it on Randhir's hit list.
He was going to make Jignesh pay for tricking him into helping them.
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Jignesh couldn't help but interrupt them from creating any more commotion. If they played like this the other team would come to know their weakness.
They would come to know...
...of the rift between the two.
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"Just do it for the game," they insisted.
They were now in her face trying to convince her into extending a hand to her beloved enemy.
She glanced at him as he was surveying the grounds.
'For the game?' she considered.
Walking up to him, she felt apprehensive before offering her hand to him.
He looked at her like she had lost her mind and she too wondered whether she was hit by something on her way.
"What?"
"If it's not too obvious, I'm trying to start anew." "Let's just focus on the game for now and forget what's between us."
"And what is between us?"
"Whatever," she chose not to linger on that. "Let's just call it a cease for now."
'Cease.' He liked the sound of that but there was no way in hell he'd call it quits now.
"I don't need to shake hands with you in order to 'focus' on the game."
He walked past her ignoring her extended hand.
"Okay," she sighed not knowing that she had been holding her breath in anticipation.
"Clearly he's not on the same page as you, Sayu."
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"What kind of game was this? He didn't even know what it was called but he could tell whatever it was, it was big considering how large the freakin' crowd was.
They looked across the court to see their opponents.
Just like them, the other team consisted of three guys and two girls. One guy caught his attention. He felt like he had seen him somewhere but couldn't remember exactly where. He was a bit bulky and muscular. The rest he didn't care about but this one he had to be careful of.
"Listen, you guys do whatever you want." "I'll take care of the guy in black." He casually informed his team.
"And as you all know, I'm very sensitive around girls so I'll take care of the guy in red, Jignesh you take the beanstalk like you and girls take on girls," Yo Yo instructed.
They all silently agreed and proceeded to their positions.
The rules were simple.
1 hit and your opponent is out.
In other words.
Knock out your opponent.
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Randhir watched his target, scrutinizing his every step as the guy walked up to the center of the court, took the ball from the referee and immediately launched into the air throwing the ball right at his face.
Randhir dodged and ran towards the person who picked up the ball.
"Jignesh, over here!"
He caught the ball and turned around, misleadingly running towards the beanstalk but aiming the ball at his intended target.
He missed.
The ball was now in their court.
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Yo Yo watched as his opponent skidded through the court with the ball in his hands. Clearly their team had other plans as he saw him make his way towards Kaustuki.
'Was he gonna attack a girl?'
Yo Yo wasn't about to wait to find out.
He ran towards Kaustuki driven by his imaginary sequence of her thanking him for saving her thus opening a new door to their love story.
Except, he came to a halt as he saw Jignesh come to her rescue, saving her from being hit.
His door slammed shut.
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Sanyukta went for the ball, giving Kaustuki and Jignesh a thumbs up for their teamwork.
As soon as she wrapped her hands around it, she shouted.
"I got it!"
Everybody stopped. Their eyes snapped in her direction.
"You're not supposed to announce it, you idiot!!" She heard Randhir shout at her.
In the corner of her eyes, she saw him dash towards her shoving opponents and allies out of the way.
A large shadow came upon her, shifting her focus towards him.
She heard someone yell at her to run but her feet were firmly planted in the ground, refusing to budge.
The guy in black grabbed her hand, his grip tightening as he lifted her up, her feet now dangling several inches off the ground. He laughed loudly as he threw her, picked up the ball, took a few steps back and aimed at her.
She turned around grabbing her head in fear.
She heard a thud but didn't feel anything.
Moments later she heard a someone whistle and yell, "FOUL!"
Opening her eyes, she scanned the court, noticing the game was back to normal.
Her eyes skipped but went back to a certain person.
In Randhir's hand was the ball.
Did he just take a hit for her?
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His heart was pounding. No, it wasn't because he was scared or because he was excited. He was angrily agitated, if that even makes sense. For some reason, he just wanted to beat the living crap out of the guy in black. He didn't even know the guy.
Maybe it was the game's effect or maybe because the guy tried to attack a girl.
"It's just a game, Randhir." "Just a bloody game," he chanted to himself.
He shoved Yo Yo's target, cleverly knocking him out in the process.
"Jignesh!"
He passed the ball to him.
"Knock your target out!"
Jignesh turned his attention to his target who was lanky just like him but tall as well.
He sprinted towards his target, surprising his team at his speed, and threw the ball, accidentally knocking out a girl instead.
"I'm okay," he heard her say as she got up and left the court.
*********************************
'I didn't know he was that fast.'
'Too bad his aim was terrible.'
Randhir looked around. There were only 2 guys and 1 girl left. He had wanted to get rid of the guys first but it looked like the girls were getting knocked out. 'They can take care of the girl,' he thought, focusing on his main target.
The guy in black.
He began to run to the other side of the court but felt somebody grab his ankle, tripping him.
He got up only to be sent back to ground as he felt someone topple over him.
"Oof!"
"Ugh!"
What...what the hell!
Breath ragged, he yelled, "Agarwal, you had to fall on my back!"
"And you had to fall under my back!"
He felt his face twitch!
"Get off me!" he shouted, pushing her off.
"Ouch, you brute!"
She couldn't believe this was the guy who saved her from getting hit.
He noticed her lip and immediately frowned.
"You're bleeding," he casually pointed out.
"I am?"
He pointed at her lip.
Her big, brown irises looked up at him as she wiped off the blood pretending it didn't hurt. His frown turned into a scowl as soon as he noticed bruise marks on her wrist.
"Are you okay?" he asked upon noticing her misty eyes.
"Are you okay?" "After all, a girl just tripped you," she mocked, embarrassed for showing such weakness in a silly game.
"Really?" "I thought that was the wind," he replied coolly.
She rolled her eyes as they stood up and surveyed the grounds. The ball was with the other team now and they were passing between themselves aiming for Kaustuki and Jignesh.
He noticed his target move for Jignesh.
"Oi", she heard him say.
"Go help your friend."
She smirked.
"Don't need you to tell me."
He watched her run, his eyes following her, as the ball flew towards Kaustuki.
She grabbed Kaustuki's outstretched arm, doing a complete 180 just in time to dodge the ball.
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Randhir turned towards his target. They were still 5 to 3 and they were all now covered in dirt and sweat.
He saw Jignesh pick up the rolling ball from the ground.
Deciding to put an end to this never ending game, he chased after Jignesh.
He had a plan but he needed a decoy.
Sprinting towards Jignesh and the guy in black, he yelled for Yo Yo, barely hearing his response among the crowd's cheers.
But he could see from the corner of his eyes that he was following him.
When Yo Yo caught up to him, he whispered.
"He's running after Jignesh." "Grab him."
"Ok."
And in a few seconds, there was a collision.
Randhir was in between Jignesh and the guy, who was being choked by Yo Yo.
Randhir saw the guy reach for Jignesh's arm.
'Oh no, you don't!'
He stretched his arm, pulling it back.
"THE CLOSEST YOU CAN EVER GET TO MY TEAM...
He had a flash of a certain person about to get struck...
...a flash of her bleeding lip...
...a flash of her bruised hand...
...a flash of her teary eyes...
He fired his arm, releasing his pent up anger,
...IS OUT OF THE GAME!!!"
and effectively knocking the wind out of the guy.
The ball fell, rolling towards the referee. He whistled.
"FOUL!"
"You two," he pointed at Randhir and Yo Yo.
"Unsportsmanlike conduct!" "Out!"
*********************************
They were now 3 to 2 with the game heading late in the evening and Randhir and Yo Yo watching them from the benches.
He saw the gangly guy make his way, like he was about to push someone over. He was surprised that Jignesh hadn't knock him out yet.
And was it just him, or did it look like this scrawny guy was heading for another scrawny girl who happened to be a feisty engineer, and whose lip, he noticed, was still bleeding?
Was he allowed to call Jignesh and tell him that there was somebody ready to pummel Agarwal into the ground or would he be ousted for cheating?
He released a breath he didn't know he had been holding when suddenly, Kaustuki knocked out the man with a swift hit to the head.
He turned towards Yo Yo.
"You know what's funny?"
"Your face."
Randhir looked at Yo Yo and smirked.
"Better than yours, dude." " But can you believe that we're the ones out and those little weaklings are the ones still in the game."
"Hell no!" "Who would've thought!" He heard Yo Yo throw an angry fit at being disqualified while Randhir slowly drifted in his own thoughts.
As he sat among the crowd watching the people whom he considered his acquaintances/classmates/general annoyances run around like fools, tossing the ball back and forth, he could see that they were having fun. And he couldn't deny that he was too, because for the first time he didn't care about the score. He didn't care about the prize. He didn't care about winning. He was just enjoying himself.
How much that had to do with a certain vivacious, fiery engineer, he didn't care to dwell on.
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It was now sundown and they were heading back to FITE.
"I need a neck massage!," he heard Jignesh grumble.
"I can give you one and then Sanyukta can give me one!" he heard Kaustuki suggest and Agarwal agree.
Jignesh looked down at her, "Really?"
Kaustuki looked up at him, "Yeah!"
"I too demand a massage from all of you!," he heard Yo Yo shout at his gang.
"Don't worry Yo Yo, aisa massage denge ki you'll forget you were disqualified today," one of his friends replied.
"Teri toh!-,"
He heard them all break into laughter as Yo Yo tackled his friend to the ground.
'There was always something that he wanted. Friends that he could rely on. Moments that he would never forget. A place that he could go back to. A warm place. A place where everyone laughs and smile. For a moment, he thought this was the place. These were the people he felt like being with. He was having fun. He was feeling something he hadn't felt for years.'
'He felt content.'
However, if he had known what awaited him the next day, he would have never felt that way.
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