The story so far: 

~ Bunny lives in her hometown swallowed by seawater. To escape to the City, her cousin Ira has been arranged to be married to Dhir who lives in the City.

~ Bunny helps her cousin Ira escape from her own wedding, by planning a 'kidnapping'.

*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*

****2.Bunny****

It was Ira who'd named her Bunny.

When she was about seven, she had the most outrageously big, buck-teeth. Ira had called her 'Bunny' one day during a fight, and the name had stuck even after she'd had her teeth corrected years later. It also didn't help that it sounded similar to her name.

Though starting as an insult, Ira had, over the years, used it lovingly, and the entire family had picked it up; living in a big family meant the habits rubbing off on other members.

Ila-Banhi Rao now sat in the central-quadrangle waiting for her parents to return from the Police Station. She sat on a chair beside her maternal grandmother on a step; each of them wore knee-high rain boots. Bunny held her grandmother's hand in hers as she still cried, worrying over her 'kidnapped' granddaughter, and at the prospect of leaving.

Ishn had taken his hover-motorcycle on which he'd arrived at the wedding-building and gone after the hover-van. He'd not been able to catch them - the hover-motorcycle being slower than the van. After the initial shock wore off, her parents, along with Ira's, had gone to the Police Station to register a complaint.

Bunny had assumed that with Ira gone, Dhir's family would put off taking them to the City. But they'd done no such thing and had offered them residence in the City immediately, and to add to that, Dhir was personally following-up with the case. Bunny had wanted to, awfully, tell her family and Dhir's that Ira wasn't going to be found. That she'd run away.

****

When Bunny had found out about Ira and Anshu, she'd been surprised. Not that Ira had liked a girl, but that she'd actually found someone who loved her back the same. Bunny knew Ira didn't like boys for a long time.

Perhaps her whole family had known, for they weren't surprised when Ira declared that she had a girlfriend. But that didn't stop them from trying to marry her off to a man. They'd initially been alright with the relationship because they'd assumed nothing would come out of it. But, when Ira had declared that she wanted to marry Anshu, who was four years older than herself, the family had lost its sanity. By then, they'd already agreed to marry Ira off to Dhir Aithal. Dhir was the son of an old colleague of Ira's mother's cousin, who lived in the City.

When Ira had refused, they'd convinced her that she must marry Dhir, since he was their only way out to the City. Ishn was still studying in college like Ira, and Bunny was still in school; it would take a while for any of the three to get a job in the City, and they would surely have lost their house by then. Ira had felt guilty about her family's situation; one day, they would lose their home to the sea and would have nowhere else to go. She was the oldest grandchild; it was on her. So, she'd agreed.

"Sometimes, I wish I hadn't met Anshu," she'd told Bunny one day. "But, the moment I look at her, everything else fades away."

Bunny had contacted Anshu and made a plan so that Ira could escape with her. Ira had not agreed to it in the beginning, worrying that Bunny might be forced into the marriage in her place, but Bunny had convinced her of it. She would deal with the consequences – they might not force her into the marriage since Dhir was ten years older than Bunny. She may escape, just yet.

Several kidnappings were happening lately, so Anshu and Ninong had come up with that plan – stage a kidnapping. It was brilliant since the siblings wouldn't directly be incriminated – they'd be at the wedding when Ira was 'kidnapped', and Ira would not be seen as someone who ran away on her wedding day. The poor girl was kidnapped, they would say.

****

"Ila," her grandmother said, bringing her out of her thoughts. "They're here, child."

Bunny helped her grandmother stand, as her parents came through the front door, all set to leave. They'd sent most of their belongings to the City with Ishn, who'd gone ahead of them along with the Aithals. Ira's parents would travel every week, back to their ancestral home to take care of the kidnapping case proceedings. Bunny felt guilty, the thought of them making that journey back, every week, was sad. But, she'd be along with them, travelling for her Talwar and Bharathanatyam classes.

"I hate leaving," her grandmother whispered, still crying, as they walked to the hover-transport they'd booked to the Train Station.

"So, do I, Ajji. So do I," Bunny whispered back.

****

The City was humongous.

And crowded – both with humans and the humanoid-bots that carried out the mundaneness of City life.

Bunny hissed as she walked past the thousands of early morning commuters; she was angry as it is that she had to attend a new school in the middle of the year. She'd wanted to travel the world – not leave her ancestral house forever.

Standing in front of the new school, it was obvious to Bunny that this wasn't going to be a good day. Her dour mood was steadily plummeting deeper into the gloom. The school-building was ostentatious – it was a school, wasn't it?

The kids seemed rich. Yes, they wore uniforms, but it was in the way they walked, the way they'd accessorized the uniforms, the transports they arrived in. Bunny had taken the public Levi-bus. She cursed the Aithal family for being too generous. She hated the pretentiousness of the super-rich; and now, she had to wade through it for the next year-and-half, until she could get into a college of her choosing.

Bunny met the Principal, who assigned a snobbish girl to take her to her class. The girl barely looked Bunny in the eye; she wore real-gold accessories in her hair, which reached her shoulders, and she had folded her skirt so that it reached above her knees. The girl led her through the corridors that faced an open central-quadrangle, much like in her ancestral home. It made Bunny miss the place. They lived in an apartment in the City; airy and spacious, though it was, it never matched her ancestral home.

The girl didn't say much to Bunny as she directed her into the classroom of 11 'A'. She left Bunny stranded at the cusp of the classroom, unable to find an empty seat to sink herself into and disappear. A few girls and boys stared at her, and others with a glance turned away to the matters of their friends. Yet others hadn't lifted their heads from their books.

Bunny shifted her weight from leg to leg, growing more unsettled by the second, until she saw a girl from one of the last benches waving wildly at her. Bunny marched to the back of the room and took the seat beside the girl who'd waved at her.

"Hi," the girl said, smiling. She had a pixie cut, and her black hair was dyed with streaks of the pink of strawberries. Her eyes were rimmed with dark kohl.

The more Bunny observed the city kids, the more she was astonished that the authorities allowed them to do as they wanted. Or perhaps, it was that way in this particular school – money let discipline slide. In her old school, if she as much let her hair untied, they would instantly send an email to her parents regarding her lack of regard for cleanliness and good appearance.

"Hi," Bunny whispered with a nod.

"You're the new kid," pixie-girl said. "Our class-teacher informed us about you."

Oh great! She thought. That's the last thing she needed – an announcement of her arrival.

"Don't worry," pixie-girl said, seeing Bunny's cringe, "half these kids aren't paying attention," she winked. "I'm Raaga,"

"Ila-Banhi," Bunny introduced herself, removing her backpack.

Raaga had the most unusual eyes – honey that radiated into burnt caramel. Bunny had never seen eyes like that before, especially living where she did – everyone had the same brown eyes the only exception being medium or dark brown. As she straightened herself, she caught a boy seated in one of the first benches staring at her. She smiled to be friendly, to make it less awkward, but he didn't smile – he smirked and turned ahead.

Bunny squished her nose in disgust, and Raaga said, "Don't mind him. He's the popular one, though he sits on the first bench. A snob,"

"Pretty much like everyone here," Bunny said before she could stop herself, and as Raaga blinked, she added, "Not you,"

Raaga laughed, making the girl who had dropped Bunny to class turn around along with other girls, who seemed to make up her posse. The girl sneered at Bunny and Raaga, and commented, "Village girls," eliciting laughs from her posse.

Bunny rolled her eyes and caught Raaga doing the same. Bunny smiled. Maybe all of them weren't the same; Raaga appeared nice enough.

But, it was still the beginning, after all.

****

Weeks passed, confirming to Bunny that Raaga was indeed nice and that the popular girl of the class – Aakhya – was a monster in human form. Also, that Aakhya had a major crush on Garg, the popular guy, who had stared at Bunny on the first day. Garg often kept to himself, except for the occasional stare at Bunny between classes that had Raaga teasing her, despite her hatred for it.

Aakhya tormented Bunny during breaks. It had started with the occasional, "Village girl," taunts, and graduated to pulling her hair, drawing on her white uniform shirt with sketch pens (Damini Rao was furious when Bunny went home with black sketch marks on her white shirt – they were hard to remove), pouring water on her, pushing her down the stairs, pushing her lunch off desks, and much more. Raaga shouted at Aakhya and her clique, but Bunny prevented more furious outbursts. Raaga had dragged Bunny to the class-teacher to complain who'd given her a non-committal nod and assurance. But the torments continued, and Bunny didn't tell her parents. They had enough to worry as it is with the new city, Ira's absence, and Ishn's studies, too.

Between the trips back to her hometown for Talwar and Bharathanatyam classes, and Police visits with her Aunt and Uncle, Bunny was exhausted. Added to all this, torture at school from Aakhya, drained her. She also had to prepare to leave for the international training-tour. She'd applied for the leave at School, and prayed that it would be approved. In any case, she'd decided she was going – approved leave or not. They could handle the consequences on their own; she was going.

Over the days, she'd discovered that Raaga was amazing at studies and was an exceptional programmer, not to mention that she'd received several scholarships for higher education and that she was already a member of the Ethical Hacking Association. She had already introduced Raaga to her parents, Ishn, Uncle and Aunt, and Dhir, who often visited to accompany them on their hometown visits.

She had already been compared with Raaga by her mother, who wished Bunny could pay half the attention to her school-work as Raaga did. Raaga seemed terribly disturbed by Ira's kidnapping, and Bunny had considered way too many times if she could tell her the truth. Not now, she'd told herself many times.

Bodhi curled up on her lap, purring. Damini and Asha had wanted, desperately, for Bunny to leave him in their town. They'd even suggested to Bunny to give him up to Noor. But, never in a million years would she give him up to anyone. Bodhi had come to Bunny one evening when he was still a kitten. She'd searched all neighbouring streets for a sign of his mother, or litter. But not finding either, she'd taken him back home. It was meant to be for a few days before she found him a forever-home, but she'd grown fond of him. Bunny had kept him in the end, drawing dissent from her mother and aunt. Surprisingly, her father had supported her, and she'd won the fight.

Bunny submitted her science assignment online, hating that weekends raced past her occupied with homework, and her phone beeped a notification, an email from the Talwar Academy. It read,

'Dear Ms. Ila-Banhi Rao,

Due to certain discrepancies followed by complaints regarding the marks scored during the competition, we had to re-evaluate the results and make a decision.

We regret to inform you that, according to the new evaluation, you do not meet the necessary standards to qualify for the International Talwar Training-Tour.

You have been removed from the Tour list following this decision, and are requested to attend regular training at the Academy.

We hope you try again next year.

All the best for future trials.

Regards,

The Talwar Academy.'

Bunny's heart raced. No! She thought. This isn't possible! There is foul play!

She received a call from her Trainer at the Academy, Atul, who was also shocked by the news. He told her that Smitha, her competitor, and fellow trainee, had received the position in her place. But the problem was that – Smitha was terrible. Bunny was a million times better skilled than her.

Bunny called Raaga and put in a request – hack into the results and check the scores before the re-evaluation, and also after it. Though, not comfortable ("It's not ethical!"), she'd agreed to help Bunny.

Despite her father's requests to not travel without her Aunt or Uncle ('There are still kidnappings going on! We don't want to lose you too!'), Bunny left for her hometown. Ishn accompanied her, even though she wanted to be alone. But, better Ishn than an adult.

Raaga was efficient – by the time Bunny and Ishn had reached her little sea-side town, the girl had sent her screenshots of all the results from before and after the re-evaluation. Bunny's doubts about the foul play were true. Bunny was better skilled, but Smitha had money. Again, it came down to money, always to money.

Glad that she'd worn her knee-high rain boots, Bunny ran to her Academy, followed by a much slower Ishn. The water receded inside the Academy, and she barged in – a session for the winners was being conducted. She caught sight of her Trainer, Atul, talking to Smitha.

As she neared them, Smitha looked at her with a smirk, "Oh! I'm sorry, Ila. There was a re-evaluation. I," her fake apology was cut short by Bunny's punch.

"How dare you?!" Bunny yelled at the girl, as Smitha fell to the ground, dramatically. Bunny straddled the girl on the cold floor and landed another punch breaking her nose before Atul could lift her off of her.

"Bunny!" she heard Ishn's voice from behind her. "Bunny, no!"

"Ila-Banhi!" Atul shouted. "Get a grip on yourself," he dragged her back and placed her in Ishn's arms as he went to check on Smitha's clearly fractured nose. The girl's face was covered in blood.

For the life of her, the girl couldn't defend herself, how had she won a National level competition? By way of money, of course.

"She bribed them!" Bunny yelled, pointing at the girl. "She paid them off! I won the Competition fair and square! I have the results, I have proof!"

Atul stood and turned to her. "Ila, I'm sorry," He walked to her and took her aside after other students came to help Smitha. "Listen, Ila, there's nothing you or I can do, now."

"I have proof, coach,"

"Something she can use money to dispose of, again," Atul warned her. "We are powerless, Ila. Let her go this year – it means you can next year."

Bunny heaved in anger. "It's not fair!" she yelled and tried to go to the girl to hit her again. "It's what I deserve!"

Atul stopped her by holding onto her tightly. "Stop this!"

Bunny burst into tears. Smitha walked to her, supported by Raksh, her hand on her nose.

"Money is paramount, poor girl," she said, words distorted by her broken nose. "I go this year, and nothing can stop me. Of course, I paid them off; try paying them more than I did. Oh right," she mocked her, "you can't."

Bunny reached for her, but Atul barred her.

"Enough, Ila. You're already in trouble for punching her." Atul warned.

"She started this!" Bunny screamed, her throat hurting. "It's her fault!"

"But, she didn't hit you," Atul told her. "For this, you'll be getting a minimum three-month suspension."

"It's not fair, this is wrong. This is so wrong,"

"I'm sorry, Ila."

*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*

A/N: 

How did you find Bunny, so far?