His Favourite Book

Chapter 46 - Fighting Him

Trigger Warning: The chapter contains excessive violence and gore.

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Standing in front of two young adults, was an older adult— her countenances firm and her intentions feral. It took her a total of 7 seconds to comprehend the real-time situation. Girisha, as if having read the woman's mind, took advantage of the unplanned pause and twisted Dhruv's fingers that had clutched her arm ever so tightly. She stepped aside to let him have his moment of hissing in pain. The woman before them lowered her chin and swiped her hair away from her face. She carried the innate ability to stare right into Dhruv's soul and crush it like rock salt.

"You brothers can never behave, can you?" She concluded, taking slow steps towards Dhruv.

Dhruv didn't move an inch. He knew what was coming for him and he turned fiercer seeing that look. "You don't get to speak on this. You can never—"

"Yeah?" the lady brought out her phone and played a video, keeping her phone at his eye level, for him to not miss any second of it. The video distinctly displayed how he had patently ridiculed Girisha first and how all her reactions were entitled to be justified self-defence.

Dhruv watched the whole video and held a much-scheduled smirk throughout the duration. "You think that's stopping me?" He turned towards Girisha and within a split second grabbed her throat, pushing her to pin her against the wall.

As much as Girisha wanted to yell her lungs out, she knew that words had never had any influence on him. Both her hands kept making failed attempts to loosen his grip on her throat. Before she could make sense of her surroundings, Dhruv's left hand came in swinging and banged her head with all the might he possessed.

"STOP MOVING!" He yelled in her ears who were already playing dead against the punch. "THIS ABSOLUTE WITCH IS DYING TODAY BY MY HANDS."

That's it. That was the last straw. The lady standing there had lost all her intentions to play it safe. While Girisha was still barely managing to bring her body to senses, and Dhruv was still busy roaring in her ears, all while tightening his clasp on her throat with each passing second, he felt his hair being pulled from behind. It was her.

Gauri Purohit. With eyes determined to perform some impetuous actions, her right arm pulled his hair hard enough for him to fall back, while her left arm constantly stayed on standby.

Dhruv wasn't going to hold back. He grabbed Gauri's top and pulled it to the verge of tearing apart. "Stop meddling in my affairs. You've done enough damage already."

Gauri wasn't terrified one bit. Already anticipating his overgrown aggression, she took this time to produce a lighter from his jacket's front pocket. The heavens were on her side when she found a cigarette alongside the lighter.

Girisha was still suffering from the aftereffects of the head punch. Her right ear rang an annoying buzz, making it hardly possible for her to comprehend the situation. She tapped on her ears and her head a few times, managing to at least be conscious enough to stand up. She could hear Dhruv's screams and the sounds of people hitting each other violently. Dhruv, still full of aggression, kept coercing Gauri to stop. 'Stop what?' Girisha thought and opened her eyes. Reading the gravity of the moment, she tried seeing through her blurred vision.

She saw Dhruv's freshly bruised face, jacket half-covered in flames, and his hands full of burnt circular dents. Gauri had mercilessly shoved the sizzling cigarettes all over the back of his palm, fingers and every other part of his skin that had dared to touch her clothes and Girisha's body. Igniting the cigarettes while defending herself from his attacks, Gauri unknowingly set his jacket on fire. Or maybe knowing fully well.

The sight was not a very pleasing one to witness, even for Girisha, who was probably the foremost one to desire his absence from this world.

Gauri took a few steps back, wiping the sweat from her face. She didn't regret any of her actions. However, both Gauri and Girisha's breaths kept getting heavier as they watched Dhruv making all attempts to put out the fire. They shared a glance and locked eyes, indirectly asking each other not to worry, because they got each other's backs. Girisha had gained most of her consciousness by then. Having thought of something, she stepped back to get her hands on a potential weapon.

Finally, in haste, Dhruv took off his jacket and threw it to the ground. He dusted off the rest of his over-exhausted body and gave a death glare to Gauri. He unbuckled his belt and dashed towards her. An unfazed Gauri once again succeeded in defending herself by holding the belt before it could touch her. All her self-defence learnings from random social media handles were coming in handy and she was glad.

Dhruv's other arm again swung ahead to not miss any chance of striking her. But before his hand could reach her, he felt a strong hit on the back of his head. Standing behind him was Girisha, holding a strong metal rod. The veins on her hands and neck implied the strength with which she had hit his head. Dhruv fell on his knees, rubbing the back of his head and trying his best not to close his eyes. Grabbing the opportunity, Gauri snatched the belt from his hand. Dhruv's exhaustion took over as he felt his hands resisting his will and not trying to keep holding the belt.

"Thanks for this." She said, loud enough for him to hear, and began hitting him with his own belt. The secluded area was now filled with the whacks, followed by Dhruv's helpless groans. He couldn't use his hands for they were burnt, his head was striking with pain and now his legs were being thrashed.

After a while of releasing a good chunk of her wrath on him, Gauri stopped. Dhruv had given up and lay there, receiving all the whips, as if he knew somewhere deep down, that he deserved them. It was his ego that wasn't letting him take his guard down. His breaths were heavy and his body was dangerously close to the threshold of unconsciousness.

"Go hide in your brother's embrace while she continues to stay away from a pest like you," Gauri said with gritted teeth and a final thrash, leaving his belt on his near-unconscious body.

She saw Girisha looking at him with utmost loathing. Gauri knew the feeling. She wouldn't let anyone else on her radar, go through the same feeling ever again. She stepped over Dhruv's body to reach Girisha and gently held her wrist. The wrist that was busy clutching a metal rod with all its might, could now feel a secure embrace.

"Let's go home?" Gauri asked.

Girisha lifted her face to match Gauri's gaze. She threw the rod away and extended her palm to feel all the wounds and bruises on Gauri's face and arms. Lowering her gaze, she noticed all the places where Gauri's top was on the verge of coming off torn.

Seeing Girisha notice her, Gauri held up her jaw and gave an assuring smile. A smile that confirmed they wouldn't have to go through any of this ever again.

"He left his marks on me, I guess?" Gauri said with a feeling of an inevitable course in her tone.

Gauri's words ignited some emotions in Girisha that she was scarcely managing to hold. Soon, Girisha felt warm blood rushing to the tip of her nose and her eyes began forming tears as she went in for a hug. "I'm sorry," Girisha kept muttering in Gauri's chest. "I'm so sorry..."

"You're nowhere wrong, champ. Chin up." Gauri tightened her grip on the hug and placed a delicate kiss on Girisha's head. "Let's not hold ourselves guilty of any such incidents." A few whimpers and sniffs left Girisha's figure when Gauri again whispered, "It's okay. Everything's fine."

Girisha pulled away and turned to see the lying body of Dhruv. "Both of us have had martial arts training. And yet, his strength surpassed mine. Knowing it all, I had decided to fight him till my last breath. But I couldn't even defend myself there and had to involve you... like this... here—"

"Boys learn martial arts. Girls learn Self-defence. No?" Gauri helped Girisha halt her thoughts and pinched her nose.

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A/N: That's all for today's chapter. Do not forget to Vote and interact :)

See you in the next chapter! Happy reading <3