Can't promise you the world, but... (A Rohit-Shreyas Fanfiction)

Chapter 8

2022

The KKR team arrived in Pune few hours after MI's did for their first leg in IPL 2022. Owing to the COVID protocols, the whole tournament was being conducted inside Maharashtra, and a large part of the travel carried out in buses.

Rohit was pushing Samaira on the swings when KKR's bus pulled in. The captain descended first and alerted the whole building of his presence immediately.

"HELLO SAMAIRA!"

Samaira looked around in alarm and found Uncle Shreyas bearing down upon them at top speed, empty-handed.

"Hello, Uncle Shreyas," she said cautiously, before she was lifted up from the swing and thrown into the air.

Above Shreyas and Samaira's laughter, Rohit chided, "Don't be such a spoilt brat, Yas, get your stuff from the bus."

"HELLO, ROHIT BHAIYA!"

Shreyas threw out one arm to grab Rohit into the hug, too. Rohit gave him a concerned glance and caught a suspicious whiff in the air.

"Have you been--" He stopped, realizing a toddler was with them. "Sammy, can you run back to Mom for a while, I need to talk to Uncle Shreyas?"

"I want to stay, Daddy," said Samaira firmly.

"Let her stay, Rohit bhaiya," Shreyas said.

Rohit could hardly have refused the two of them shooting him stubborn looks, but Tilak appeared in the park at the precisely right moment.

"Look, Tilak bhai is waiting for you, go and see what what he wants," he told his daughter artfully. "He'll be most upset if you don't go."

Samaira gave Shreyas a squeeze around the neck and ran off to Tilak before Shreyas could protest.

"Sam--!"

"Have you been drinking in the morning, Shreyas?" Rohit cut in.

"Uh," said Shreyas, "just a little."

"It didn't seem just a little from the way you ran here without your luggage." Rohit looked up and down Shreyas and added, "Show me if you can walk in a straight line."

Shreyas tried, though he must have known he wouldn't be able to, and wasn't. Rohit caught his arm after he'd taken ten zigzaggy steps.

"What's wrong with you? It's barely past ten. Not that you should be drinking at any time of the day, but especially not in mornings, especially not just before travel and especially not in the middle of a tournament."

"I didn't realize it was already morning and time for us to travel..."

"Oh, so you were drinking all night? Who did you go with? And how did you escape the bubble?"

"I didn't go anywhere, Rohit bhaiya!" said Shreyas, getting shirty. "And I definitely didn't go with anyone."

Rohit noted the loathing in the last bit.

"Haven't you made friends in the KKR camp yet?"

"No," said Shreyas bluntly.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to."

Rohit had started to get anxious; he started leading Shreyas into the hotel, but said lightly, "What happened to the Shreyas who can make friends with anyone through a card magic trick?"

"I can still make friends with anyone through a card trick, but I don't want any in the KKR camp. It will be like accepting KKR as my team."

"Yas...KKR is your team."