Ardaas- For A Family

Kuhu's hairstyle in the chapter is heavily inspired by Anna-Kat. 👆🏼

EVENING

Kian stepped on the first floor with a huff. There were times like these when he felt that he wasn't the dumbest one in the house.

His baby sister had a few more loose screws. After the morning's incident, he had expected her to stay out of trouble for at least an eternity but here, she was inviting it with open arms.

Without bothering to knock, he barged in the room like a miffed puppy and looked around only to find her sticking to a mirror. After nearly banging his head on the adjacent wall, he walked up to her with a honey-dripping voice.

"Mirror, Mirror on the wall," he started in a fake accent. "Who's the dumbest of all?" 

Kuhu looked at him with a frown. "What?"

"What?" he asked incredulously. "What? Dimaag mall me chodkar aa gayi? Have you seen the time? Everyone's waiting for you at the table!"

Kuhu clicked her tongue and crossed her arms over her chest. "I can't come." she whined.

"Then let me rephrase, Bhaiya's waiting for you at the table." he said calmly. "Yaha karo ya maro ka option nahi hai...khao ya acche se khao ka option hai!"

She rolled her eyes and said, "Go big b! I ain't coming down."

At this moment, he had given up on the sarcastic approach. "Kuhu, kyun nahi aana aapko neeche? Are you still mad at bhaiyu?"

She shook her head. "I guess... he's mad at me now."

He frowned. "Why? Is it because what happened in the morning? He's already forgiven you, Kuhu."

She again shook her head. "He's super mad now!"

"He's not." Kian protested. "Aur subah, he got scared. That's why he...lashed out at you."

Kuhu was about to say something but Kian cut her off.

"It's not how you see it, Kuhu. Sometimes, love has different ways of expression. Just because he hit you, it doesn't mean he loves you any less! It's just that he's too scared of losing you."

MORNING

"Don't you have work today?" Kian asked as he dribbled the ball.

Yash's movement were stealth and quick as a leopard. He took the ball from him in the blink of an eye leaving him perplexed.

"Woah! That was cool." he couldn't help but exclaim.

"I know." he replied with not an ounce of modesty, making Kian roll his eyes. Neither of his brothers had learnt their lessons on humility!

The ball hit the square, dropping perfectly in the basket. Kian clapped.

"Good shot."

"Bad defense." Yash berated, catching the ball which was about to hit the ground and abruptly threw it in his direction.

Kian caught it perfectly. "Hey! I wasn't ready."

"Good reflex." he nodded at him. "In a game like this, you need to be on guard at all times. You never know when your teammate thinks it's the right moment to pass the ball. And when you don't know, your opponent scores."

"Kay!" he said, slightly rolling his eyes. Yash narrowed his eyes at him.

Taking the distraction as the perfect opportunity, he threw the ball, trying to score. Yash's reflexes kicked in and using his height as an added advantage, he stopped the ball at once.