The comment section on the last chapter was so lit! I had a blast reading all of your comments. 

I wasn't feeling too well and had many things to handle, so I couldn't post sooner, but I am feeling better now, so remember to press star and comment so I know you're all excited for more. Then I'll definitely post sooner for you. 

I posted on my profile why I couldn't update, so do check my profile for updates in case there are delays.

Here's an extra long chapter! I hope you enjoy!

-- 

Anirudh looked down at the application forms with shock. 

Why was the principal upset? 

Surely, there must be a mistake. 

He had full faith in Bondita, and he had taught Batuk well over the last two months, so he could certainly do it as well. 

Then what exactly was the problem? 

"Who is he?" Surabhi whispered to Vikram, needing to know who the absolutely hot man in front of her was. 

"Batuk's brother," Vikram said, "And Bondita's Pati Babu." 

Surabhi made a face when she found out that he was Bondita's husband. 

"Seriously?" Surabhi huffed, "Why?" 

"What do you mean why?" Vikram asked, getting irritated. 

"Don't mind haan, I think she is new to this place so she must be wondering why some things happen," Mallika piped in. 

Surabhi pouted and wondered why such a hot man would marry a common school girl. Bondita was pretty, without a doubt, but she couldn't be better than her! 

"When I want something, I go after it," Surabhi muttered with gritted teeth. "Nothing stops me from making what I want mine." 

Anirudh glanced at the top application form -- Batuk's. 

As his eyes scanned the form, he read the paragraph that Batuk wrote -- it was full of spelling mistakes, and had such an arrogant tone to it. 

Anirudh felt his blood boil with anger as he glared at Batuk. 

"What is this Batuk?" Anirudh demanded, "Is this how you answer a question?"

Batuk gulped and tried to take a step back to hide behind Bondita. 

"What are you doing Batuk?" Bondita asked, her heart beating fast, because if her Pati Babu was already in this mood because of Batuk, then he wouldn't spare her either. 

"Hide me Boudi," Batuk wailed, sounding afraid. 

"Hiding won't work Batuk!" Anirudh yelled. 

Vikram was nervous as well for Batuk, and the two new girls were just watching with shock. 

Surabhi twirled her finger in her hair, looking at Anirudh with awe. What hot anger! She had never seen something like it before! 

Mallika just rolled her eyes. How had this Batuk boy committed such a grave mistake on the registration day? 

"Just because you're a zamindar, doesn't mean you're better than everyone else, do you understand?" Anirudh demanded. 

Batuk nodded from behind Bondita's shoulder. 

"Say sorry to Principal sir right now," Anirudh ordered.

Batuk looked at the angry looking principal and he said, "S - Sorry sir." 

Anirudh glanced at the principal too and with a shake of his head said, "I'm sorry as well sir. Please forgive him this time. I'll teach him how to spell better, and how to fill out a form correctly." 

It was his own fault, because yesterday instead of checking Batuk's spelling, he had gotten a little too wild with Bondita and had forgotten all about his younger brother's spelling test. 

Now, he would have to pay extra attention to Batuk. 

"And how about our school topper? Mrs. Bondita Roy Choudhary?" the principal asked sarcastically, "How does she not know how to fill out a form?" 

"Bondita?" Anirudh asked, and he nearly laughed, "No sir, you must have a misunderstanding. Bondita wouldn't fill out a form wrong." 

Bondita gulped, and she thought perhaps she should be the one to hide behind Batuk now. 

"Misunderstanding? Why don't you check it for yourself Barrister Babu," the principal asked in a sarcastic tone. 

Anirudh moved Batuk's form to the back and looked down at Bondita's form. 

What he saw there, made his eyes go wide with shock, and suddenly he felt dizzy. 

She had written 3 under sex. 

Bondita was nervously trying to take steps back, but she kept knocking herself into Batuk, who was groaning with annoyance.

"No, I'm staying behind," he said stubbornly. 

"Batukkkk," Bondita groaned. "Let me hide now!" 

"No!" Batuk refused, grabbing Bondita's arms from behind and hiding behind her still. 

Bondita huffed, and she looked up at her Pati Babu who still looked shocked. 

"T - Three..." Anirudh stammered, as he tried to make sense of why Bondita would write three under sex. 

"Yes, three," the principal said, "The question is clearly asking for her sex, instead of writing male or female, she has written three. Our school topper making such a big mistake? And Mr. Roy Choudhary, I'm sorry to say but your confidence in your wife is perhaps just overconfidence. She might be a topper in studies, but in matters of common sense and the real world, she's a failure." 

Now Anirudh got angry. 

How dare the principal call his Bondita a failure? 

"SHE'S NOT A FAILURE!" Anirudh yelled at the principal, and Bondita gulped nervously. "She made a MISTAKE! That's all!" 

Bondita slowly moved towards her Pati Babu, wondering if he would get mad at her as well when he saw her face. 

"Principal sir, Bondita can NEVER be a failure in my eyes. The whole EDUCATION SYSTEM can fail, but my Bondita can NEVER fail. That's how much faith I have in her!" Anirudh said intensely to the principal. 

Bondita felt her heart move with his words, and suddenly tears filled her eyes. The confidence that her Pati Babu had in her was truly so overwhelming. 

"If she made a mistake, then that's MY fault, it's the SYSTEM'S fault. WE didn't teach her properly. What is the education system here for? To make people only book smart?" Anirudh demanded. "If they can't apply what they learn to the real world, then what's the point? Tell me Principal sir, instead of blaming the students, shouldn't we blame ourselves for not teaching them correctly?"

Bondita felt her heart drop when her Pati Babu blamed himself for this. She couldn't take it. 

"No Pati Babu, it is my fault," she said, hanging her head down shamefully. "I wanted to teach them a lesson... I wanted them to realize that if they don't make things clear, then how will we know what they mean?"

Anirudh looked at her with shock. 

"What Bondita?" he asked, in utter shock. 

"Yes Pati Babu... that's why I wrote three..." she admitted. "How many times..." 

Before she could finish her sentence, Anirudh finally pieced it together and his face went red. 

She had written three to mark how many times they had sex?

A part of him wanted to laugh, a part of him wanted to scold her, and a part of him wanted to hide his face with embarrassment. 

What was he to do when she always put him at such crossroads?

She never failed to surprise him. 

"Bondita," he said quickly, interrupting her, and he took a deep breath, glancing at the principal, "Please forget this Principal sir. I will fix the forms. I will also teach them appropriately." 

Anirudh glanced at Batuk and pushed the forms into his hands. Batuk stumbled backwards nervously. 

"Follow me Bondita," Anirudh ordered, and started to step away from the crowd. 

Bondita nervously followed him, so that they were a good distance away from everyone else. 

Batuk, Vikram, and the two new girls watched from a distance. 

The principal just stormed off angrily. 

"Bondita, why?" Anirudh asked, shaking his head, "Why did you want to teach them a lesson on your school enrollment form?"

"You were the one who always told me to question things Pati Babu!" Bondita told him. 

"Yes Bondita, I did," he agreed, "But not like this! Did you not know what sex means?" 

Bondita furrowed her eyebrows and she responded, "Of course I knew! It's what we did yesterday, twice." 

Anirudh's face turned red at her boldness. He hissed, "Bondita, you know what I'm talking about. Don't play around anymore." 

"It means gender," she said with a pout. 

"Oh, so madame did know," Anirudh muttered sarcastically, then he said to her loudly, "Then why didn't you simply fill out your gender?"

"Because I didn't know for sure!" Bondita argued, "And how would I know what kind of sex they're talking about if they don't make it clear?" 

Anirudh took a deep breath and glanced at the group of kids who were staring at them from a distance. 

He took Bondita's hand and lead her even further away from them. He didn't want their curious gazes on them. Bondita followed him nervously as he lead her to the side of the school building. 

Nobody was here except them. 

"Bondita, sex and gender are not exactly the same," he told her softly. "Gender comes from the word genus. It's a classification. Just like species." 

"So I'm classified as a female," Bondita told him, "They could have still written gender!" 

"Bondita, sex is what you are born as," he told her. 

"I don't get it," she told him. "What's the difference?"

"Right now, you don't get it because it's not spoken of, but one day, there will be a movement in the world," he told her, suddenly seeing a dream with open eyes, as a daze reached his face. "A movement where not only you and I will know of this, but it will be commonly known." 

"Know of what?" Bondita asked, wondering if they were going to bring a revolution to something here as well. 

Anirudh gripped her shoulders gently and he looked her squarely in the eyes as he said, "Gender is what one identifies as Bondita. Sex is what one is born as." 

"Identifies?" she asked cluelessly. 

"Yes Bondita. There are some who feel more feminine, despite being born a male, and there are some who feel more masculine despite being born a female," Anirudh explained. 

"Like Hijras?" Bondita asked. 

"Yes, like that," Anirudh explained softly. "There are many reasons for one to be a Hijra. One is that they are developed from birth differently, and cannot identify as a male or a female due to their reproductive organs. Another reason is that as they grow up, the levels of estrogen and testosterone in their body are balanced differently. Women have more estrogen in their body than men, while men have more testosterone. If our bodies aren't following this, then we feel like we are either more masculine or more feminine, despite being born as another sex." 

Bondita looked at her Pati Babu with shock. 

How much she didn't know about this world! 

"So my sex can be male Bondita, but my gender can be female," Anirudh explained to her softly.

"So Roopa is a female in gender, but a male in sex?" Bondita asked him curiously, but in a sweet tone. 

Anirudh laughed and he said, "Yes, Roopa is." 

"But Pati Babu, I don't like how people classify us like this, into just males and females. Don't we have varying degrees of both sides inside us?" Bondita asked, "For example, if I look at you, I have felt such feminine energy from you Pati Babu. You've always scolded me, and it feels like a man doing that, but the moments you hug me, the moments you love me and show me compassion, it feels so feminine. So raw." 

Anirudh smiled at her and he said, "Bondita, we all have masculine and feminine energy inside of us. And you're right, it's never so black and white. We aren't restricted by genders. Some days, we might feel more masculine, and other days we might feel more feminine." 

"For me, you're not only a man Pati Babu," she added on softly, "I've felt motherly love from you. You're everything." 

Anirudh just smiled at her, and he murmured, "Bondita, a man and a woman both created this body, right? So is it possible that we will be just male or just female? In fact, everyone from conception starts off leaning towards female, but then they develop into a male. In biology, there's the XX chromosome, which denotes a female sex. XY determines a male sex. In the beginning, the embryo for both males and females start off at the same state, in a female state. After a point of determination, is when the embryo becomes a male. But he starts off as leaning towards a female at a biological level." 

 "Wow!" Bondita said, mind-blown by all of these facts. 

Of course, the one thought she had was to go to Batuk and tease him that he started off as a female! He would be so annoyed at her, and the idea of torturing him with this knowledge was making her inwardly giggle already. 

"Yes, Bondita. We all started off in a female state, then we turned into males after determination," he confirmed. "In fact, the y chromosome for a male, is very tiny compared to the XX of a female. This is why it doesn't make sense to me when people say that someone should 'man up' or behave like a 'man'... how can they look down on women, when they themselves started off in a female state?"

As always, her Pati Babu made her overwhelmed with pride. His thoughts, the way he saw life, the way he lived life was magical. 

His footsteps were the ones that she not only wanted to follow, but she wanted to bow down and kiss them every step of the way. 

"So I was wrong," Bondita said with a heavy sigh. "Gender and sex are different!" 

"You were wrong, but also right," Anirudh told her, "Because society right now doesn't understand that gender and sex are different. They don't get it yet. But one day they will. We will ensure it." 

Bondita looked at him with a soft smile. 

"Pati Babu, you aren't mad at me?" she asked him. 

"Why would I be? You just didn't know," he told her softly. 

She stepped back and rested her back against the school building. 

"My Shikshak Babu has taught me yet another lesson today," she told him happily, "But... where do you learn all of these things?" 

Anirudh chuckled and took a step towards her, cupping her cheeks gently in his hands. 

"I used to research a lot. Even now, you see me with a book all the time Bondita. It's because I love learning," he told her, "You should learn about everything Bondita. You shouldn't just stay limited in your knowledge base. Just because you're studying to be a barrister, doesn't mean that you can't study anything else! You should know things from every subject! There's always something new to learn Bondita." 

"Pati Babu!" Bondita said, as if a lightbulb went off in her head. 

"Yes Bondita?" he asked with a smile. 

"Bhagvaan Ardhanarishwara, the form of Shiva and Shakti merged together!" Bondita told him, her eyes wide.

Anirudh smiled at her. 

"Yes Bondita, even in our roots, what we just talked about is there. In fact, there is so much depth to everything we practice, but nowadays nobody understands it and so they have messed up the meanings behind everything," he told her, nodding his head, "One level of Ardhanarishwara also depicts that every being has male and female principles. That we all have both masculine and feminine energies, and in balance, we can become both male and female. This is not only for humans, but for every species of animals." 

Bondita looked at him with awe.

"I'm proud of you Bondita, for understanding this, and not believing in the black and white concept that society has ingrained in us -- that our sex by birth, is who we truly are. I'm very proud of you for being open to understanding that this is not always the case, that there is more to learn," he told her softly. 

Bondita grinned and she said, "Then may I get a reward?"

He looked at her with surprise and he asked, "A reward?" 

She closed her eyes and puckered her lips, hoping that he would kiss her. 

"Bondita," Anirudh said, his cheeks turning a faint pink. "Right here?" 

She opened her eyes again and said, "Please Pati Babu! Just one kiss!" 

Anirudh leaned towards her ear, and she melted against the school building.

"Bondita, first you tell me, why did you write three times?" he murmured into her ear, referring to her answer to the sex column of the form. 

"Then do you want to make it four?" she asked him breathlessly. 

He couldn't believe it! His Bondita was really something else. His heart fluttered, and he whispered, "Do you want the world to know about our sexual relationship?" 

"Is a husband and a wife having sex really a secret?" she whispered, wrapping her arms around him, as his lips brushed over her earlobe. 

"No missy, but the problem is, if they think we only made love three times, they'll think I'm not interested in my beautiful wife," he whispered into her ear. 

Bondita's heart fluttered and she moved her hand to clutch his shirt. 

"We have to go to the hospital," he whispered, as his hands gripped her waist. 

"It won't take long," she said, half-moaning already as he moved his face back and looked into her eyes. "And we should go after Manika Didi's family members leave anyways. It's better we go later!" 

"You want to make love here? At the side of your school?" he asked, raising his eyebrow. 

She nodded breathlessly. 

"Your fantasy is way over limit today," he told her. 

"Nobody will come here, Pati Babu pleaseeeee," she begged. 

He leaned towards her and gently kissed her lips. She wrapped her hands around the nape of his neck, refusing to let him go. 

He kissed her deeply for a moment, and then broke the kiss, shaking his head. 

"No way Bondita, I'm not risking it at your school. You have to be a barrister babu. If they see all of this and get you rusticated?" Anirudh asked, sounding concerned. 

"They'll expel me for loving my own husband?" she huffed. "This school needs a bigger lesson!" 

"Bondita," Anirudh warned, "No more lessons to the school. After you become a barrister, you can do whatever you want. Not now." 

Bondita pouted and she said, "You always say that! After I become a barrister, I can have kids, I can teach lessons to people, I can do what I want! Everything is after I become a barrister!" 

Anirudh cupped her cheeks in his hands lovingly and he asked, "Didn't I give you what you want Bondita? Do you still want more?" 

She looked at him with a pout for a second, and then shook her head. 

"No Pati Babu," she said, and smiled. "You've really given me everything, and I am content." 

He smiled at her and he said, "And you've given me everything Bondita." 

He reached down to her hands and brought them both up to his lips, kissing the backs of them softly. Her heart fluttered again. 

"But I am still wet..." she told him bluntly, and bit down on her lip. 

"Tonight," he told her softly, "I promise." 

"You're hard too," she teased, because she could feel him against her body. 

He just chuckled and he asked, "What can I do when I don't want to leave your side for even a second?" 

She blushed and she said, "Then let's go Pati Babu. Let's do what we need to do, and then we can spend the rest of the day together, alone." 

Anirudh laughed and she pushed past him to go, when he grabbed her hand and pulled her back, trapping her against the school building again. 

"After one more kiss," he told her softly, and she gasped with happiness, as his lips approached hers. 

-- 

Precap: 

After some passionate moments at the side of the school building, Anirudh meets Surabhi and Mallika, and then Anirudh, Bondita and Vikram go to meet Manika at the hospital. 

-- 

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and were able to learn a thing or two. 

Also, happy 200 chapters all! It's been a wonderful, wonderful journey. We got here in just five months, and I'm so grateful to you all for this. 

Do leave your comments and press the star, so I know that you're enjoying it and want more. 

I love all of you so much!