His Favourite Book

Chapter 8 - Revenge

[In front of Kush's House]

Kush was sad throughout the ride. Before letting him enter the building, Aashna wanted to have a conversation with him.

<Don't study today, okay? Rest well.> She signed.

<But I have to. I do not understand many things. I asked my teacher, but I do not understand her sometimes. That is why I was going to your house.> He looked down again.

Aashna knew why this was a problem. It had only been a year since he received his hearing aids. There were a lot of words he didn't understand. He was also way behind other students when it came to the syllabus. The teachers were already trying to teach a kid like him, but they could not always put in extra effort. They bore their limits. Even if he wanted to understand a particular word, there were limited people he could approach, rarely those were his school teachers. There might have been a lot of other facets involved, unknown to Aashna, in making Kush upset to the extent that he was no longer capable of giving any strong reactions, even to his physical injuries.

Aashna carefully held Kush's face by his jaw to make him look up at her. She started signing, <I want you to understand this. You are not at fault for not being able to hear. No one else has the right to hurt you in any way, physically or mentally, just because you lack something. If you are hurt, say it. Let your despair be known, always. Let them know that they have hurt you and that they are wrong for it. Let them apologise for mistreating you, instead of them apologising just for the sake of it. Do not just forgive others because you could not save yourself. Forgive them only when you feel that their apology is genuine. You are not the bother in society. It is the society that lacks in accommodating people like you. You are very young now. While you are growing up, whenever you feel like you need this reassurance again, come to me. I will always be here to repeat this for however many times you want me to. Clear?>

Abeer kept looking at Aashna's fluency in sign language, while Kartik went in the car to receive a call. Kush looked at Abeer and signed a <Thank you> before running away into his building. Aashna came up to Abeer and said, "He said 'thank you' to you for saving and helping him."

"Oh, okay. By the way, what did you narrate to him for so long? If you don't mind telling..."

She looked at him for a split second. "Something I should've said to myself long back but couldn't." She replied briefly and sat in the car before him.

Kartik was talking to Muskan. He said, "Okay. We'll be there soon," and hung up the call. Turning to Aashna, he said, "Muskan is waiting for us at the University," and drove off after receiving an affirmative hum from Aashna.

On the way, Abeer was hesitating to say something. Finally building up the courage, he said, "Do you think it was the same biker that almost hit you that day?"

Aashna agreed but before she could say anything, she heard Kartik asking, "It wasn't the first time that this happened?"

Aashna replied, "Yes but I hadn't expected them to be this dangerous."

"It seems like the whole neighbourhood knows about those bikers. Yesterday everyone stayed home and even after I called the ambulance, very few were willing to help. They even refused to file a complaint. I don't know Kush much, but I think he will be scared for a long time... He was shivering all this while..." Abeer added.

"This will just fuel their confidence in getting away with such crimes. I don't know who backs them up, but if this goes on, they will continue to induce submissiveness into people's minds." Kartik was worried. Aashna lived there alone after all.

The same was true with Abeer. "But what could we possibly do?"

Aashna snapped, "Oh you bet I'm gonna grab hold of that biker and shove enough fear into his Amygdala for him to stay home for decades to come." She had anger filling her eyes. She wasn't letting them slide after hurting someone so badly. Injuries could be recovered from. But what about fear? Of a kid that too? She was determined to show them their place for not caring about others' lives.

Kartik and Abeer locked eyes through the rearview mirror. Kartik knew very well that Aashna could cut open the person's skull. Abeer, on the other hand, had no idea what she was capable of, which was even scarier.

They dropped Abeer at his university and left for theirs. Muskan was already waiting for them in their class. She was sitting there with a plastered right hand.

"MUSKAN?? Oh my god, what... happened... how? When?!" Aashna was more than surprised; and concerned. Muskan was fine just the previous day and here she was, sitting there with a fractured hand.

"Chill, chill. I'll tell you. But first tell me, how's Kush now?"

"He's home. Better now. He'll recover soon."

Kartik came in a little later after parking his car. "MUSKA-"

"Shut up." He was about to repeat Aashna's reaction when Muskan interrupted him. He closed his mouth. "Yesterday you both went running off somewhere. I was calling you from behind but I guess the noise from the Student's Hall was too loud for my voice to reach you both. Of course, I ran behind you but then we heard a loud sound of something falling from inside the Hall. Someone was trapped under a lot of fallen bricks. As we helped him get up, I fell hard on bricks and now this. It's not much. I'll recover in a month maximum."

"But now how will you manage your work and studies?" Aashna asked.

"Let's see. I still don't have a roommate at the hostel. Maybe I'll ask someone to shift-"

"Come live with me for some time. Girisha isn't here anyway so you can."

- X - X - X - X - X -

Returning home, Aashna told her about the bikers. While Muskan was emptying her bags to settle down, Aashna took a long nap to compensate a little for all the all-nighters she had been pulling. By the time she woke up, Kartik was already there, arranging dinner with Muskan. Aashna freshened up and started helping them. They had a filling dinner and decided to sit on the terrace for some fresh air.

"The food was too good. I ate so much my god!" Muskan said while sitting on a bench on the terrace.

"All thanks to Your sincere Majesty," Kartik said, passing her a mouth freshener while bowing like a prince.

"Oh sure sure. Kartik coming all the way here with food... full gentlemanly behaviour and all, huh?" Aashna said with a little chuckle.

"Aah only if you knew how much of a gentleman I am-"

"WOOOHOOOOOOOHOOOO YEEAHHEEHHHHE" Someone shouted from the road below.

All three of them rushed to see who it was. Bikers. Again. Driving through the roads.

Aashna turned and ran, on her way, picking up a long piece of badly cut wood. It was full of nails embedded in it. Before Kartik and Muskan could process anything, she was already on her way down.

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A/N: That 'Woohoo, Yeahee' looks so weird in text, help T~T

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