Friends

Surya Raj Purohit, a person of fewer words belonged to a highly pristine Royal family of Jodhpur, India. Now although the country was ruled by the government, their Royal status and influence were still with them and hence every person of the household was incredibly proud and poised.

Surya was also groomed like this from his younger days which shaped his personality as a very sophisticated person.

His entire friend circle knew about how unpredictable the "Prince" as they liked to call him was. He would help the poor and needy with a smile but secretly he would also get many innocent people arrested and thrashed if they said anything bad about him or the people he cared about.

Needless to say, he was extremely Bi-Polar but he would always treat his friends and family with extreme respect. An example of it would be how his family decided about his future bride when he turned 21 last year and he immediately broke up with his then-girlfriend and without any questions accepted the alliance.

The girl his family chose was also from a royal family and since the caste system was still very prevalent in their state, it was indeed from their caste.

His would-be-bride was like any other simple girl with many dreams but living with her conservative family, she was brought up with a very strict upbringing such as she was not allowed to have a boyfriend, she wasn't allowed to stay out of the house after 7 and many other restrictions and hence her only pass time, or escape from reality that she found was through Animes, Kdramas, etc.

When her alliance with Surya was announced, she was very nervous but as they started meeting and opening up to each other, she slowly and slowly pictured him as her prince charming and accepted him wholeheartedly.

On the other hand, Surya was also trying to fall in love with her as he knew that since their families have decided, nothing can be changed and this is how things are supposed to be.

Ragini, his would-be-bride would always talk about different animes and kdramas which at first really confused Surya as he was a scholar who used to look down on such things. But in order to understand his fiancee, with whom he has to spend all his life, he swallowed his pride as the topper of the college and finally googled about manga since he disliked watching "stupid tv cartoons" as he likes to call it and would rather read.

He didn't want to ask her about the manga he should read, instead, he thought that he will first read a manga and then bring it in their casual talk and surprise her.

So now he was sitting on a recliner near his window and reading chapters of "Black Clover" which he found to be "Best Manga of Fall 2018".

"How unrefined and Bizzare," Said Surya with a tone full of disgust.

He disliked the main Protagonist "Asta" as soon as he started reading the story.

Surya's casual dislike for peasants was already there in his superiority complex but seeing the protagonist shout unnecessarily and take decisions without thinking it through was his biggest letdown as even Surya never blatantly took actions against people who rubbed him the wrong way, instead he would give them a polite smile, see what kind of influence they have and then rain his terror from the hands of police, their boss, etc.

Everyone in his family and friends knew about his Bi-Polar or dare they say Psychotic behavior but they were okay with it since when it came to them, he was always selfless.

But now, reading such a character which had no etiquette to speak of and no plan of action in his mind, he was really pissed.

The only thing which was keeping him going was the thought of impressing his fiancee and with that, he again delved into the manga.

So after reading over 9000 plotholes, stupid decisions made on impulse, and reckless fights that can get the main characters killed, he shut his laptop down and exhaled.

"Let's just bathe and sleep. I shall talk about this manga with her tomorrow on our date." thought Surya as he got up from his recliner and went to his bathroom.

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The next morning a commotion in the RajPurohit villa woke Surya up from his slumber.

He quickly got out of his bed and dashed downstairs where the shouting was coming from.

"Ma'am, I don't give a rat's arse about your connections and wealth. We have evidence against Surya RajPurohit. He not only bribed and threatened many government officials with his power, but he also killed a person."

Saying the entire Royal family was shocked would be an understatement as all the blood drained from their faces.

What!? Surya? Killed!!?

Surya came at the door by then and looking at his arrival, his mother quickly went to his side and asked

"What are they saying, child!? You didn't do anything right?"

Looking at his mother and then at the Commissioner who personally came to arrest him, Surya didn't reply and made his way out of the villa while motioning the Commissioner to follow.

"Hukum, we know that you killed a man who was harassing your friend and covered it up as an accident but as it turns out, the friend that you tried to save was in cahoots with that same man and was trying to frame you for assault. But she never thought that you would directly go and kill the perpetrator. She is traumatized by this and has confessed to everything from trying to frame you for getting her crush arrested to witnessing you running over her friend.

At first, we were going to simply call you and settle this matter in silence but then many of your friends turned up with lawyers and told everything you did up until now in an official statement. They said that they were disappointed in you after knowing that you killed a man and said that they don't want anything on their conscience while hiding your wrongdoings.

This case blew up so very fast that before we could even call you, the new Commissioner himself took the case under him."

Explained the Inspecter who was following Surya to the police car.

Surya, on the other hand, didn't care about any of it. What he was most shocked about was the fact that his close friends betrayed him.

His entire belief system shook as he learned that he wasn't able to understand his friends, that his friends for whom he could do anything suddenly turned on him like this!

Conscience? What a Joke! He thought as his blood pressure decreased and he fainted from the shock.

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Asta was doing his exercise under the skeleton of the "Rumoured" Devil which was slain by the "Rumoured" First Magic emperor when suddenly the luster in his eyes faded away and he slumped on the ground face first.

After who knows how long, suddenly Asta opened his eyes in Panic.

There was confusion, shock, horror and disbelief written all over his face and after a long time staying like a statue, he finally fell back on the ground.

"I must be hallucinating. This must be a dream. I remember losing consciousness in front of my villa while the commissioner came to arrest me. I must be inside a hospital and this is all a bad lucid dream from the medicines or the IV."

Said Asta while he was sweating all over.

"I just cannot accept this. A Japanese comic suddenly is a real-world and an Indian has transmigrated into it. Is this some kind of a sick practical joke? I am in the body of the most annoying character in history? Really? This can't be happening with me. Many people are waiting for me in the real world. Ragini, mother, father…..I can get out of the murder mess really easily and my frien..."

As Asta reached the word "friend" in his blabbering, a small trickle of tear slid down his left eye.

His friends. His friends who were with him since his childhood. For whom he could do anything...those friends.

"Where did I went wrong? It's not like I killed a gentleman. I just killed a scum of the earth who only knew how to eve-tease and harass random women walking down the streets and they all turn up on me? Conscience they said? Really? Our 17 years of friendship didn't mean anything to them?"

Asta's, or more appropriately Surya's mind which was in Asta's body was now a total mess.

It wasn't even his first murder on earth. He had killed before and covered it up before, either for his personal grudge, business gain, or simply because he killed accidentally.

According to his Psychiatrist, he wasn't a Bi-Polar like everyone thought, he was a borderline sociopath.

And Now this Royal Sociopath was apparently inside the body of Asta.

"I still don't believe this though. I should just sleep and I will definitely wake up in the hospital of my world."

Voiced Surya as all the fatigue from Asta's workout finally got the best of him and he fainted from stress.