The first time the sibling duo get themselves some friends is a month after they have entered the orphanage, ‘home away from home’ which safe to say, doesn’t stand up to its moto.

There is no water served with the food that their mother always made sure to give them, lest they bite into something spicy, or the chocolates that their father brought them after late nights from the office. There are no moments of the four being cuddled on their tiny bed with the little humans squished between their parents.

There are no such things as comfort or warmth here, but Mihir thinks it would be audacious to dream or demand something like this knowing fully well they are all alone in this world now, and so he doesn’t whine, neither lets his sister do that who at different intervals of time keeps asking him about their parent’s whereabouts, one he can’t find the guts to answer every time, making his sister concentrate on learning her numbers and alphabet, just like they are doing right now.

It’s then that a voice comes and distracts them from their activities, the siblings looking up as they hear a tentative, “Hi.” 

It is a pretty girl with long hair and big brown eyes who stands in front of them, her voice is too low and too gentle. To be honest, Mishti doesn’t even know if what she just said is a ‘Hi’ or something else because she couldn't hear her voice at all but looking at how her brother is standing up and responding to the greeting with his own ‘Hi’, she Mishti guesses that it is.

“My name is Ruhi, what’s yours?” the girl asks, her gaze flitting between both of them, but it is her brother who answers. “My name is Mihir, and this is my younger sister, Chutki.” He grins, petting her head while the girl in question frowns at the introduction, halting her hand where it was busy colouring the picture of Winnie the Pooh in red and yellow.

Mishti flicks her chin up, squinting her eyes at her brother before she turns her face towards the elder girl, standing up. “My name is not Chutki, that is what Bhai calls me. My name is Mishti.” She finishes, throwing a bright toothless smile towards the older girl, who returns it, and just as she’s about to ask the girl about the class she is in, two boys come and stand beside her - one a slightly taller who seems to have a kind face, and the other a bit shorter, looking the same age as Ruhi’s.

“Who are you and why are you talking to my sister?” the shorter one asks with a furrow between his brown, his one hand busy holding a packet of wafers which Mishti hasn't ever got since she has come to this place, and the other placed on his hip as his narrow eyes flit between Mihir and Mishti until it settles on the latter, deeming the other guy to be too big for his age. But what he doesn’t know is that the little girl is even feistier than the boy.

“We are not talking to your sister, she is the one who came to us and disturbed us, right, Bhai?” Mishti looks up at her brother for some support who is busy staring at the chocolate in the girl's hands because why else would he be looking at them without even blinking his eyes.

“Bhai! Bhai!!” Mishti tugs at the sleeves of her brother’s shirt until he finally gazes at her, his eyes widening slightly as he crouches in front of her. “Yes, Chutki, what were you saying? Sorry, Bhai couldn’t listen to you.” The boy says gently, pinching at his sister’s chubby cheek who giggles in return.

“Silly Bhai! I was just saying that it was her who had come to us, and not the other way round, right?” Mishti asks again and her brother nods immediately, his eyes narrowing slightly as he takes in the sight of two boys standing beside Ruhi, the younger one seems two years younger than him which makes him settle his gaze at the older.

“Hello,” he says almost defensively, but gradually starts letting his guards down as he sees the older guy giving him a small smile in return, the younger boy following his brother's footsteps and smiling at him as well albeit with a confused frown on his face.

“Hi, I’m Raghav, this is my younger sister Ruhi, which you must’ve known till now and this is her two minutes younger twin, Ranvi.” He introduces, but just like Mishti had jumped into making the correction, the shorter boy does too, with his hands on his hips and a small frown on his eyes. 

“I am not Ranvi, my name is Ranveer, and I’m not young!” He huffs and all the people including the boy’s two siblings and Mihir, chuckle at his aggressive introduction, while Mishti giggles under her hand, poking her tongue in his direction that the boy returns. 

They go on to discuss their ages to their favourite food to where they got those wafers from in this place, sharing smiles and handshakes somewhere in between.

And while Mihir is forced to retract his statement about not wanting good friends when Daya Sir asks him about it later in the day, Mishti cherishes the chocolate that Ruhi had slipped into her pocket.

Oh, Mishti has always liked Ruhi the best, and it’s for that reason that she finds herself in the aforementioned’s room, tiptoeing around it like a thief that she is.

“Ruhi!”

“Psst, Ruhi!”

“Huh?”

Ruhi flutters her eyes open, brows furrowing at the sudden intrusion to her sleep, squinting to see who’s disturbing her at – she looks out of the window at the purple hued sky – four or five in the morning.

“Ruhi,” the voice comes again and when she conjures the ability of her brain and body to coordinate, it is to find Mishti leaning over her, her face too close and eyes too magnified. The view startles up to say the least.

“Mishti?” she croaks out, throat still dry from the all-night dehydration.

“Yup, it’s me. Your Mihir’s lovely sister.” The girl chuckles and Ruhi gasps, sitting up, all remnants of sleep vanishing away from her eyes.

“Shut up.” She hisses but the girl simply winks at her.

“Why did you wake me up so soon? Is something wrong? Are you ok?” Ruhi asks, concern taking over her shock, her eyes flitting over the younger’s features who coos at her in reply.

“Aww, I swear I’ll be getting the best Bhabhi in the world.” Mishti prompts throwing herself at her while Ruhi’s left stunned, wide-eyed and red-cheeked before she gains back her composure and hits at the girl’s back, huffing.

She pries herself away from Mishti and frowns.

“What?” Mishti pouts and Ruhi narrows her eyes. “Tell me what you want. I give you five seconds.” She crosses her arms across her chest, glaring at the girl kneeling beside her.

“Well…” Mishti trails off, smiling nervously. “The thing is that I want to do our last mission but knowing my brother, he would probably choose you because I couldn’t complete yesterday’s task. But I love cooking, that job is made just for me!” Mishti reveals excitedly, sighing belatedly.

“Hmm, so that’s what’s troubling you.” Ruhi wonders out loud, nodding. “So, what do you want me to do? You want me to talk him into sending you instead of me?”

“No, I want you to handle him when he goes berserk after not finding me in this house in the morning because I’ll be going there right now.”

“Mishti, no!”

“Mishti, yes. Please!! I know he won’t send me otherwise.” Mishti gives her future sister-in-law the best puppy eyes she can make which thankfully has the desired effect. At least somewhat.

“That’s not a good idea, Mishti, you and I both know it.”

"I know but we don't have any other option."

"We can always think of something else."

“But –”

“But ok, I’ll try to calm him down if such a situation occurs.” Ruhi finishes sighing, a small furrow between her brows still visible.

“Although for that you’ll have to tell me the truth.” 

The words make a frown crawl up Mishti’s temple.

“What truth?” she wonders and Ruhi purses her lips. 

“The truth of why you didn’t complete yesterday’s task because I know it wasn't because of presence of any dashcam, and why you so badly want to do this mission and go to that house, because one thing I know for sure is that whatever it is, it has something to do with that man. Isn't it?”

Mishti is left gaping at the accurate deduction of all the incidents and is left with no option but to nod, gaze downwards and embarrassed.

“Hey,” Ruhi nudges her shoulder but Mishti doesn’t look up. 

“Mishti, love, come on now, you’re making me feel bad. It’s ok if you’re not comfortable telling me about it. I don’t want to know. Just remember that if you ever find yourself at sea, you can come find me. I’ll be there.” Ruhi whispers gently, brushing away the tresses off hair off her face. “Ok?”

Mishti finally looks up at that and tries to give her a small smile. “I’ll tell you everything once this all is over. It’s-it’s just a thing of the past and –”

“Shhh, it’s ok. Just tell me whenever you are ready.”

Mishti nods, exhaling out a tired breath and looking at the girl in front of her once again, biting her lower lip.

“What else?” As usual, Ruhi reads her mind and asks further.

“Um…do you…by any chance have the address of that house. Bhai might’ve shared it with you.” 

Ruhi sighs as if expecting the question but gives her the address without further ado.

“Here,” she hands her a business card that looks way different from the card that she had held in her hands all those years ago, though the address is still the same. Mishti has to forcefully bring herself out of the memories that flood her mind and focus in the present dimension.

Ruhi hands her another package which probably consists of the uniform, and holds her hand while she's at it.

“Mishti,” she calls out, her voice suddenly very low, “I know that I’m giving you all this and letting you go without anyone knowing but if it gets too difficult or you’re unable to complete the task, please come back. Like I had said yesterday, no task or freedom is more important for us than each other’s well-being. We’re our only family after all, right?” 

It’s safe to say that those words make Mishti as emotional as their speaker and she nods in her shoulder as she hugs her once again.

“I’ll take care, but you also remember one thing.” She says pulling back, a cheeky smile growing on her face.

“What?”

“That I love you more than bhai loves you. Ok, bye!”

“Mishti!!”