My Lover's The Sunlight...

<SKYFALL>

"Kya hua beta?" All romance was forgotten at Aleya's scream. The little girl was red in the face, glaring at the cricketer who was nearly four times her size with cold eyes. If looks could kill, he would really being burnt by the Tapti. "How dare you hurt papa again! ShuShu bad! VERY BAD!" " 'Leya, what are you talking about? Do you speak to your elders like that?" Ishan tried soothing the upset child, but she was adamant and she targeted the other man who was dressing up. She pointed her finger at him and shouted, "He BAD! He hurt papa!" "This time, Shubman came to crouch in front of her. He could fix his hair later, but he needed answers only the child could him give him. 

"How did I hurt your papa? Batao." "Papa bleeding, You FOOL!" "Aleya," Ishan gasped and it was then the younger realised that his lower lip was actually bloody from being bitten during the kiss. "Not only that! PAPA CRY LOOKING YOUR PHOTO!" "ALEYA SHUBMAN KISHAN! If you don't stop your tantrum right now, I'll..." Ishan's outburst shocked both the children in the room. The girl started wailing unconsolably, screaming at the top of her voice. Shouting at her to stop had been a bad decision. Rishabh was barging on their door within moments, "Ishu, Shub, darwaaza khol! Aleya ro kyu rahi hai? Kya hua hai? Jaldi khol!" Well, the whole ICT was collected in front of their room seconds later, well, Pant was shouting too loudly and all this noise irritated Aleya even more, fueling her on to wail at Ariana Grande pitch. 

When the door opened, everyone rushed in. Rishabh, Jadeja, Jaspreet, Siraj and the others tried calming the little girl down, while the culprits behind the ruckus - Shubman and Ishan were isolated from the crowd and taken to the balcony to be interrogated by Virat, Rohit, SKY and KL. The two lowered their heads, waiting for the scolding to come. "Abbe ben stokes, tum log kuch bataoge ki kya hua, ya fir aise khade hi rahoge kutputlon ki tarah?" Virat asked, his hands folded across his chest. "Hum washroom mein the, tab achanak se Aleya andar aa gayi or Shubi ke upar naraaz ho gayi." Rohit interrupted whatever Ishan was about to say next, "Ek minute. Tum dono ek akeli bachchi ko room mein chhod kar bathroom mein kar kya rahe the?" The suggestive eyes from SKY and KL made the duo blush as Shubi stuttered, "Ro bhaiya, waisa kuch nahi. Mein toh bas naha raha tha. Ishu bola ki late ho jayega, isliye woh brush karne aaya tha." 

"Sirf brush kiya ya kuch aur bhi?" SKY larked. "Ha, bhau. Baat toh sahi hai, aaj kal sirf brush karne se hi lips puffy ho jaate hai. Ishan ke hont dekhkar to lag raha hai kisi kutte ne kat liya", Rahul joined. "Kutta kisko bol rahe ho bhaiya?" Shubman sounded offended. "Arre, tu itna gussa kyu ho raha hai?" Virat was enjoying the cute reactions they were getting in response, but suddenly Rohit noticed Ishan looking at the floor, eyes moist. "Ishu, bachcha, kya hua?" The other four focused their attention to Kishan too. "I am such a bad mo- parent." "Nahi, Ishu, you are not," Shubman protested. "I am, Shubi. I am. I made 'Leya cry. She was crying so badly." Ishan's hands were shaking as he rushed out of the room where Aleya had finally sniffled herself to sleep once more, tired from her outburst.

The team was left looking at each other as crystal clear drops ran down Shubman's cheeks. He stood there transfixed, broken out his thoughts when Virat hugged him. "Why, bhaiya, why? Why do I end up hurting the people I care about?" Surya rubbed his back, trying to comfort him, "This is only how a relationship works - you hurt each other, apologise and heal together." "But he is distancing himself from me and the fucking BCCI is instigating him to!" The youngest's shout was unexpected. Rohit and Virat shared a knowing glance as Rahul asked, "Tu kehna kya chahta hai?" "Aapne aaj ka news dekha na?" "Ha, you got papped while returning from Tilak's house", Rohit replied. "Yes, bhaiya. Par meine alarm band karne ke liye Ishan ka phone utha liya tha. BCCI President ka warning tha, ki woh mujhse duur rahe. Kyu? Bhaiya. Mein usko ek baar kho chuka hun. Agar phirse meine usse kho dia, toh mein ji nahi..." His words were slapped out of his mouth by Virat in a very Sharma-esque style. "Tu mera chela hone ka daava karta hai, toh bakwaas na karke, Ishu ko wapas jitne ka raasta dhundh. Saara din saala bhenchod Romeo bane phirta hai. Kabhi Krishna bhi ban ke dikha yaar. Kab tak yeh melodrama?" The crying boy laughed despite himself at his mentor's whining. "Go and comfort him. He needs you." That was all the encouragement he needed to trace Ishan. 

The team members were shaking their heads at their antics, Rishabh and Iyer staying back to look over the sleeping child. Rohit was almost out of the room when he got a call. Virat saw his best friend's demeanour change as the generally bubbly face darkened. After he hanged up, Vi asked, "Kya kua panda?" "Inn BCCI waalo ne jeena haram karke rakhkha hai." "Phirse?" "They want damage control." "Par humne kiya kya?" "Ishan bahar Aleya ke saath dikhna nahi chahiye." "Saalon ko kya yeh samajh nahi aata ki woh uske beti ki saath nahi dikhega toh kya kisi dusri aurat ke saath dikhega?" "You are not getting it, Cheeku. They want both under house arrest, even Shubman and Tilak too, if possible." "Benstokes yeh kaise possible hai?" "They have finished the commission of a housing society with a huge stadium adjacent to it with all kinds of modern facilities in some remote place in Madhya Pradesh. Now they are demanding that the cricketers stay under the radar in there for the next three years."

"Agle world cup ke liye?" "Hmm. 20 saal ho chuke hai India ko wc jeete hue. Inka dimaag kharab ho chuka hai. They want to train warriors, not players! Conditions rakhi hai ki no mobiles, no laptops, no distractions - sab ki apni family hai, apni life hai!" "Yeh khud ko sochte kya hai?" "Wahi, jo hum hai, BOSS!" The booming voices at their back forced them to turn around in the hotel corridor. "Mr. Kohli and Mr. Sharma, we would like to invite you too, to stay with out players as their mentors, guiding them with your invaluable experience." The players hated that smirk on the BCCI members faces. They were plotting, and they were plotting something disastrous, but they could not leave their dear juniors in such plight - alone to face the danger. Their families would understand, they thought as they replied in unison, "It will be our utmost pleasure sir." 

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hi, everyone. Exams khatam, for now. Tomorrow is farewell. 14 saalon ke baad school chhodne wala hun. Par koi bhi dukh nahi hai. I wanna live for myself now, and school is just too boring without real friends and friendships. 

Do you like the plot as it is going, or should I change it a bit? Comment and let me know!

Enjoy, Adiraj!