"It's not fair! It's not fair!" The shrill groans popped out of Fayzan, who was lying flat on his chest and relentlessly striking the bed surface with his fists and toes. "It's not fair! I want to fight with Nayif."

Mayank's grip tightened around the pen as a mark of the soaring annoyance in him. He raised his eyes from the diary and flung a death glare at the kid.

Fayzan turned to face the ceiling. "I am stuck here. How's that fair?"

"Do you ever keep your lips pressed together, parasite? I am trying to get some work done here."

"And I haven't had chicken or an omelet in forever. These thieves only eat grass. Yuck!"

The all-rounder rolled his eyes. "They are vegetarians. Many people in India are."

Fayzan's cheeks swelled from fury as he looked at Mayank. "What's next? You guys have chlorophyll in your body, and you produce your own food through photosynthesis?"

Mayank was clearly at a loss for words.

"Well, at least I don't have to go to school."

"Eh?"

"That's the only good thing about being here. No school. No homework."

Mayank smirked. "So you would rather be a dead worm than a learned worm."

The child frowned as he got up to sit. "Maybe. I hate going to school. My friends say I belong to a kindergarten."

The last thing Mayank wanted was for his attention to be elicited by the kid's drivel. As he tried to put his focus back into work, it was slapped down by yet another moan from Fayzan. 

"Who makes his baby brother watch class recordings on a tour? And laptops aren't meant for doing homework. They are for other important stuff... like playing games. Waseef Bhaiya is such an idiot!" Fayzan let out a sigh. "But I still miss him. I miss everyone."

"Do you ever shut up about the worms?"

"But I love them."

"For how long have you been with these creatures exactly?"

"Waseef Bhaiya has been on the team since I was a baby."

A familiar squeeze tormented Mayank's stomach for a moment. He nevertheless held himself back from putting any expression on display.

"Hey, what's in that diary?" asked Fayzan.

"Murder plans."

"Whom are you going to kill?"

"Everyone. Including you and your worms."

"And your friends?"

Mayank cast a baleful stare at the child, struggling to dissemble the traces of puzzlement on his face. "What?"

Fayzan narrowed his eyes. "You said you were going to kill everyone," he said with his finger pointed toward the diary.

The all-rounder looked away. "None of a worm's concerns."

"You love them, right?"

Mayank's cheeks stung. He detested being startled. Not wanting to murder someone—is that love? He wondered.

"C'mon," Fayzan carried on. "You miss them, don't you?"

Mayank glowered at the boy as he got a harsh grip on the pillow beside him. The odor of danger was sensed by Fayzan; he let out a short yelp and hopped off the bed with the stuffed tiger's tail in his grasp. "Run, Toby, run!" he cried before bolting toward the door.

Mayank tossed the pillow as the kid disappeared from his sight. The object landed before the feet he was least expecting to show up around his room.

Vaibhav's tall minion shot him a malevolent glare, which was tackled by Mayank's blank one. The reprobate walked in, stopping a foot away from the all-rounder.

"Now where did you pop out from?" asked Mayank with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't act like I am the stranger here," he replied in a cold voice. "And I disappear and reappear at my sweet will. It's none of your business."

"Sweet will, huh? Your cheek doesn't look very good," said Mayank, amused.

The guy slowly brushed his fingers across the blue impression on his face. "Your audacity will make you pay someday."

The all-rounder shrugged. 

"Consider yourself lucky that you decided against touching my sister."

"What?"

"The girl from that night. The one you took the necklace from. Thought I would specify, just in case you are hanging out with several."

A few marks, signifying disgust, appeared on Mayank's forehead. "Humans are irritating, and I don't approach any unless I am compelled to. But... that woman was your sister?"

The man continued to pierce him with his rough glare. "You heard me right."

"And why did your sister steal that thing from Vaibhav?"

"You talk a lot."

"I need to know this."

"The only thing you need to know is that it would be wise not to poke your nose into my business. And it would be wiser not to apprise Vaibhav of our encounter today."

Mayank smirked. "I have got better jobs to do."

No more words were exchanged. After being awarded a malicious look, Mayank was left alone in the room.

Traces of the wicked grin evaporated from his lips in no time as Mayank discovered himself stranded amidst a jumble of thoughts. His head began to grow heavier as he desperately sought a way out. The kid's words rang in his ears while memories continued to smack him across the face. He clenched his fist as he tried to evade the sharp glare of a question.

Do I miss being on the field? Fleeing seemed rather impossible at the moment. As he ran from one, he bumped into another. What is Vaibhav trying to do with me? While continuing to pant, he adopted another route, but in vain. Do I miss them? He vigorously shook his head. Was Vaibhav a wrong decision?

Mayank grabbed his diary and hurled it across the room. The next moment, his hair was being tormented under a strong grip. Aanvik's voice played inside his mind.

"The worst place to hide is one's own mind."

"It's just the stupid worm," he muttered. "I'll get rid of him, and... and everything will be fine. But Vaibhav... He still owes me an explanation."

Mayank looked at the forsaken diary lying in the corner. A couple of seconds later, he got off the bed to retrieve his old friend.

**********

The hint of concern on Aanvik's face was difficult to miss. Shranav, who stood a couple of feet away, looked at his friend with sheer annoyance. 

"I knew this guy was trouble the day he was spying on us from behind the wall."

The captain shook his head. "For God's sake, buddy. We were kids back then. He definitely wasn't spying on us."

"Oh no, of course. He was just a forlorn little soul who was wandering in the quest for a friend."

Aanvik let his forehead rest on his right palm. 

"His face... I knew..." Shranav continued.

"Shranav! He looks like every brown guy I have ever seen in my entire life! Just because he looks like someone you've met before, it doesn't necessarily mean there's something fishy about him. And I don't understand... Why on this earth are you bringing it all up now? What has it got to do with today's event?"

"He is continuing to be a weirdo. That's it. And I saw him with Reet before the match."

"He is out of his mind. I have told you already."

Shranav's eyes grew sterner. "Are you trying to justify what Waseef did today?"

"No, I am not. It was wrong. He shouldn't have misbehaved with Reet."

"Don't you see something unusual here?" asked the batsman.

"Isn't the whole thing unusual? Waseef has never done anything like this on the field before. It doesn't go with him."

"Exactly! According to you, he looked better that day when he chased Roy away. Yes, I know he still isn't in a very good mood, but how do you explain getting mad at a youngster for literally no freaking reason? Okay, I still wouldn't have been so surprised unless—"

"Unless?"

"Remember the day Mayank pushed him down?"

Aanvik gulped down a sudden tide of emotion. "Yes."

"Did Waseef react?"

"No, but—"

Shranav raised a finger. "In fact, he was appearing to be unnaturally calm."

"I did notice the fact that he always appears to be a little too sympathetic toward Mayank."

"But you have never questioned that, have you?"

"I don't know what it has got to do with today's incident."

"Oh, it might just have a link. I'll tell you once I figure it out. But keep the link aside. Someone is apparently in the dark about what happened today."

"What?"

"His Highness, Sir Sanchit Rodriguez. Dragged Mayank to their dressing room to apologize. Lectured Nayif and me like schoolkids for the dumbest reason you can think of. Yelped the other day 'cause you were standing too close to the roof's edge or whatever. But today, he was probably sitting on his disciplined back blindfolded. Haven't heard him say a word about this 'unfortunate' incident." Shranav shrugged. "Well, who cares about that piece of crap? Just know one thing. This Waseef guy is more complicated than you think. My intuition is almost never wrong."

"You don't even know what you are talking about. Waseef loves Fayzan, and he can't get over his disappearance. That's it."

"Now that you have mentioned him," Shranav sighed before carrying on. "None of us have spoken out loud about this, but I know you feel the same."

Aanvik looked back at him with an inaudible signal to continue.

"Doesn't the boy remind you of someone?" he asked.

The captain closed his eyes. "I thought it was just me. Not that it matters anymore. It's all over now."

"Remember the day we found Mayank secretly staring at the boy? If by any chance these two are still alive and together, I bet Mayank is dying every second in his company."

"Would the kid know?"

"Sometimes, children know better."

"Yes, don't they?" Aanvik abandoned his seat and headed toward the window in gentle steps.