Little Savior

Seeing Lakshya angrily glaring at him, Advik quickly ran off to his class. That’s when the former turned to Aditi with a determined look in his eyes. The little girl already had a gut feeling of what to expect, so she said, pouting cutely, “ I know you’re going to scold me. But what do you think I should have done? He was going to insult my friend! And even if I only have a handful of them, I love them a lot. Besides, someone had to intervene, na! If you hadn’t been busy playing with your phone, I wouldn’t have to manage!But no! you found your phone more important….”

“My God Aditi! Kitna bolti ho tum( you speak so much)! Here I was about to tell you to get your first aid done, and you are scolding me? Great! And yes, for your kind information, I wasn’t “playing” with my phone, as you said. I was recording everything so that we can show it to the Principal.” Lakshya shook the phone in front of the two kids with a smile.

The moment little Aditi stepped into the medical room, she was engulfed in an extremely familiar hug. Poking her head out of the embrace, she spoke with a pout, “ Di, are you angry with me? I…I was only helping Shubh. I am sowwy.” Just as she spoke those words, Jagruti sighed deeply, then said,” Chhutki, bachha, I can never be angry with you, you know na? I’m just worried. You are our little princess, remember? If anything were to happen to you, what would I tell Maa, Baba and Bhai?” Her sister quickly replied, “ Arey! What will happen to me, huh? I am The Jagruti Roy Choudhury’s sister! I am the strongest!” All of them laughed upon hearing her.

That’s when Lakshya spoke up. Turning to Agastya, he said, “Bhai, that Advik tried to hurt Shubh as well. That’s why Aditi had to intervene. We have to inform the Principal about it. I have the whole thing recorded as proof.”

One sentence from his brother, and Agastya was fuming in anger. He exclaimed, “ How dare he! He tried to hurt my Shubh! Agastya Kapoor's brother!! I won’t spare him!” Shubh quickly hugged his brother and said, “ Relax Bhaiyaa, I’m fine, see! But yes, what that bully did was absolutely wrong. We bros need to teach him a lesson, right Diti?” Aditi, who was still in her sister’s tight embrace, nodded her head vehemently.

The five of them literally marched to the Principal's office. They narrated the lunch room incident and also showed the video. The Principal was shocked to see such a young boy bullying his juniors. She promised them that she will take immediate action.

By the end of the day, Advik’s parents were called and he was sent back home, with a 3-day suspension card in his hand. But before leaving, he went to Jagruti and Lakshya's class and said in front of everyone, “ Lakshya Kapoor, right? You’ll soon know what it means to get me suspended, for sure.” Turning to Jagruti, he gave a sickening smile and said, “ Bye Jagruti! Keep protecting your friends…. as long as you can.” and then he was gone. The teachers were shocked to see that a mere 11-year-old boy could be like this. What a generation!

During dispersal, the five of them assembled at the school choir, and Jagruti told Lakshya, “ Thank you so much, buddy. Diti is my doll, and I can not, for the love of God, imagine if something happened to her. Thank you for protecting her from that weirdo.” Lakshya gave a genuine smile and said, “ Well, I didn’t have to, actually. It was Aditi who initially went all “dabangg” to help Shubh. That’s when I had to intervene. She should be the one to be thanked.” He then went up to the savior in question and, while pulling her cheeks lightly, he said softly, in a mere whisper, “ Thank you, little angel. You are the best!” Being the youngest, Aditi had always been pampered and got sweet nicknames by her parents and her siblings. But this was the first time when someone outside this circle had given her such a cute name. As a result, she blushed unknowingly and replied in a soft voice, “ Thank you, Lakshya. You are no less.” And then the five of them went to their respective homes.

“You know Di, I’m so happy I met the Kapoor brothers. They are so good, tai na? (right?)” asked an excited Aditi. Before her sister could reply, came an overjoyed voice, “ Barbie doll! Princess! Look who’s here!” Hearing the voice, the two sisters looked up to find their father looking at them lovingly. They ran quickly to him, and Harsh Roy Choudhury took his darlings in a tight embrace, not wanting to let go.

Seeing the three, Avantika couldn’t help but give a teary smile. She waited for the three for a while, watching them with a satisfied expression. Walking into the kitchen, she spoke in a loud voice, “ If you miss these two so much, where’s the need to stay away? They keep pestering me all the time: ‘When will Baba come? When will Bhai come?’ Your dear son is busy with his studies, fine. But you shouldn’t stay away for so long. I can’t manage these two drama queens on my own….” Turning around, she found her husband standing at the entrance of the kitchen, with a knowing smile, shaking his head. She gave him a confused look, “ What? What’s with this mysterious smile, hmm?” Harsh strolled up to her and replied, “ You could have said that you missed me, Jaan. Why blame my innocent sweethearts?”

Avantika looked at him with her eyes wide open, like a dear caught in headlights. She vehemently shook her head and said, “ I didn’t miss you! I…I missed seeing my kids happy! Yes! I missed my family together!” To which, Harsh only smiled a bit more. He knew his wife all too well. Even after 16 years of their marriage, she was still the same.

The two lovebirds were busy in their own world, when a series of squeals followed by loud laughter was heard. Walking back to the hall, they found their only son tickling his Cutie pie as she squealed, while his Cherry, Jagruti was quickly capturing the moments. Avantika looked at Harsh with surprise, whispering, “ He’s here?” To which Harsh only blinked with a smile.

When he got tired of tickling her, he pulled her cheeks and said, “ Whew! Being home feels too good! By the way Cherry, who are these Kapoor brothers? How do you know them? Are they nice?” Jagruti sat down beside her Bhai and replied with a smile, “ Don’t worry, Bhai. Before you get more into your hashtag protective brother mode, let me tell you, they are really sweet. Agastya, the eldest one, is my senior. His younger brother Lakshya is my classmate, while the youngest one, Shubh, is your cutie pie’s classmate.” Hearing her, he sighed and said,” Fine. But trust me, if those guys ever trouble my lifelines, they’ll know who’s Soham Roy Choudhury.”

Hearing him, the two sisters quickly hugged their brother, who stayed in a hostel in Nainital for his studies, while their parents smiled watching them.