Ardaas- For A Family

All her life, Kuhu hadn't once feared Yash's temper. At least not against herself. But this one time was different.

As she paced through the length of her room, she knew she was done for. Her bhaiya would be up any moment and no force in the world could stop him from witnessing what she didn't want him to witness.

It had all started this morning with a little incident. She winced as she thought of the 'accident'.

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MORNING 

Agni was just back after a meeting with an extremely annoying leader from the underworld and was already in a foul mood when he saw Kuhu running towards the stairs.

His heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he saw her ankle twisting and losing her balance. The very next moment, he was on his foot nearly floating up the stairs to catch her but the distance was too much.

There was no chance he could reach her in time.

Kuhu was about to fall, head first on the second stair when a hand grasped her forearm and hoisted her upward, breaking the fall.

Her heart pounded as soon as she was steady. It had been a close call.

Agni stopped five steps away, breathing heavily. It took a moment for the realization that Kuhu was safe to sink in. He had been scared out of his wits!

He looked at Kian who had kneeled down, already examining her ankle while she held the banister with all her force.

Anger blinded him as the scene replayed in his mind. The girl could have broken her neck if Kian didn't break the fall at the right moment.

He stormed up the remaining steps, and in one swift motion, grabbed her arms, turned her to face away from him, landing a swift, stinging smack to her backside.

She yelped, more out of shock than pain. Kian stood up, startled by the scene that was unraveling in front of his eyes.

Agni smacked her again, this time with more force than the last one.

That brought tears to her eyes and she tried to wriggle out of his hold. He raised his hand again.

But Kian quickly pulled her towards himself and shielded her behind him. "Stop it, Bhaiyu. Bacchi hai."

"Don't advocate for her, Kian! She really needs some sense drilled in her!" He said angrily and looked at her.

She was hiding behind Kian, clutching his t-shirt in her fists and crying loudly.

"What's all the commotion?" Yash asked, approaching them. "Why are you crying, Kuhu?"

Kuhu stepped up to him, sniffing and wiping her tears. "B-Bhaiyu hit me." She said and burst into tears again.

Yash wiped her tears. "Hush Kuhu." He said gently stroking her hair and kneeled down to her level. "What did you do?"

She buried her head in his shoulder, refusing to speak as her emotions got the better of her. The whacks might not have hurt as much but the fact that her Bhaiyu raised his hand to her, had left her heartbroken.

Agni sighed as the light throbbing in his palm faded, overtaken by the throbbing guilt tugging at his heartstrings. He immediately felt guilty for losing control.

Meanwhile, Kian was a different story altogether. When Agni had gone totally mental on Kuhu, he couldn't help but shudder at the memories of Avanti. She used to lash out at him the same way, the difference being that her 'methods' were much more painful.