84. Something black and furry

Ritutandra took him to a secluded spot near the forest.

"Are we allowed to come here?" Bikram asked as he looked at the growing number of trees around them.

"I am and I can also bring another person along provided I stay with them at all times," Ritutandra said.

"Oh, wow." Bikram nodded, amazed by the greenery around them as well as her privilege.

After walking along the edge of the forest for a while, Ritutandra found a nice secluded spot for them to sit. From there, they could see the school buildings and students playing in the field. They ate their lunch while she started explaining his queries one by one.

As he listened to her, Bikram realised that there were a lot more things to consider than he originally thought, and started having more questions. But the fear of bothering her too much made him hold back. However, the way Ritu clarified each of his doubts in the simplest way without missing any detail while patiently waiting for him to figure out what he wanted to know, led him to gradually ease up and start speaking more openly. The question answer session slowly changed to a discussion. As they shared their outlooks, they found that they had quite a few similar opinions. While talking about different views, Bikram leaned more towards practical references than theoretical knowledge unlike Ritutandra. Having seen her practical prowes and now her theoretical knowledge, he was spellbound.

During their conversation, Bikram felt so enthusiastic that he forgo his caution of maintaining an image and simply became immersed in the moment where instead of a celebrity, he was just a young man geeking out about his passion. At the end of their discussion, he learnt many new things which in general were very basic, but if taken into consideration and properly utilised, could drastically change the entire presentation.

"Thank you very much for your insights VC." Bikram smiled at her with a little bow.

She waved her hand and continued to eat.

"Arey, Bikram you look so cheerful. What's the occasion?" Koushik asked him as they headed for their dorm after school.

"I had a one-on-one learning session with the VC and believe believe me when I say it, she's such a talented and knowledgeable person! Like, I just talked to her for half an hour and I can't even list the number of things I learnt! Maybe that's what you call a music genius!" he said with evident admiration in his face.

Rishi hugged his friend's shoulder and said, "Woah, woah. Is that a smile I see? Damn, how long has it been since I've seen you like that! You stopped smiling outside ever since you got that calm and composed persona assigned. Tch. The company is ruining your sweetie pie side."

It was about midnight when Rishi woke up hearing some noise — a low growling sound. It was especially clear since their rooms were on the ground floor and his faced the forest. Initially, he thought it was his imagination but then the sound came closer. Rishi went out to see if anyone else had heard and woke up too. But the hallway was empty. A few seconds later, he heard it again. Scowling, he went out to check. As he stood at the verandah, the lights lit up. He craned his neck to see if there was something hiding behind the trees but nothing could be seen. When he heard the noise for the fifth time, he came out of the building.

There was a rustle in the nearby bush. Rishi turned around sharply and flashed the light on his watch towards the thicket. Something big and black leapt towards him.

"Aaah!! " he jumped back with a start, blocking his face with his hands.

He was about to fall on the ground hard when a pair of hands caught him and saved his coccyx from fracturing.

"Careful." a soft, hurried voice sounded from behind.

Rishi turned around and flashed light on the person who saved him. It was a boy around his age. He had a frown on his face and was looking at him with worried eyes. The direct light in his face caused him to squint.

"Hey, stand up. How long am I going to hold you?"

Rishi jolted from his reverie, hearing his mellow voice.

Standing up, he said, slightly embarrassed, "Uh, thanks for catching me."

The boy nodded and said, "What on earth were you doing here in the dead of the night?"

Now, Rishi got a full view of his saviour. The boy was a few inches taller than him and had a slim build. He was standing there wearing a pair of white shorts and a hoodie with his hands tucked in the pockets. His hair was tied in a ponytail as little strands fell over his thick eyebrows that were unevenly raised, awaiting the answer to his question.

'Am I in a fairly tale? Tumbling over danger, then saved by a handsome man.' he thought, peeking at his face.

Even though he was always around two very beautiful young men like Koushik and Bikram, he never managed to stop himself from simping over fine specimen like the one before.

"Hello?" The boy waved before his face.

Realising that he was checking him out without replying, Rishi coughed into his fist and said, averting his eyes, "I heard some strange noises. So I came here to check."

"Are you an idiot? You came here at this time of the day, all alone, when you heard a clearly suspicious noise?" the boy said, dumbfounded.

"So real life horror movie protagonists do exist, I see."

Rishi looked down, embarrassed by his foolish action.

"Wait a minute." He looked up with a jerk of his head.

"How can you lecture me when you're also roaming outside in the middle of the night?" He questioned him back indignantly with tightly knitted brows and hands on his hips.

The boy laughed, "Trying to save face, are we?"

Flustered from getting caught, Rishi looked away.

"The power in my room suddenly went out. One of my juniors and friend stays here. I came to get the management's contact info from him." The boy straightened up and answered.

"Who are you trying to fool? Don't you have a phone?" Rishi said pointing to his watch.

"If only that silly kid picked up his phone, I did not have to run around at this hour." he laughed again.

Rishi gulped. As someone who really liked hearing people laugh, he felt particularly enchanted by the laughter of this person.

"Ahem. Anyways. Since you came for the management's contact info and I seem to have it, you don't need to make a ruckus and wake the others up. Come with me. It's saved on my Board." Rishi said, pointing to his room.

"Who was the one causing a ruckus by screaming? Pinning the blame on others now, huh?" the boy said with an amazed look.

Rishi huffed angrily and said, "Are you coming or not? Keep talking if you're not. Anyways. I was about to find out the source of the noise if it wasn't for you."

"Speaking of, what was that black thing that rushed at me? It was warm and fluffy"

"What black thing? I didn't see anything except you suddenly screaming and tumbling back." The boy shrugged.