Kraant

Chapter 2

"It was because Anupriya is dead." Shubman's voice carried a solemn tone, underlaced with a layer of sadness.

But despite that Ishan couldn't help himself but ask, "Are you kidding with me, cause you better know I will tear your ar-"

"I joke about a lot of serious things, but never 'people are dead' type serious, ok. I draw a line there." Shubman didn't let Ishan complete his threat, but he was right. They both joke about really serious things. Like really. But they know their boundaries. So, what if Shubman is indeed telling the truth?

"Umm, Ishan are you okay? You are kinda turning pale there." Shubman eyed him uneasily, like any given moment Ishan's legs were going to give up and Shubman would have to catch him.

"Yeah, a- no, that's a lot to process." Ishan wanted to lie at first, but he knew his facade of calmness was very fragile, so instead he decided to be truthful. "But really Anu di?"

"Haven't you seen it?" Mayank asked, he and Abhishek had stopped their conversation, or they had finally arrived to a conclusion. (They did, with both of them being equally cute.)

"It was all over the news today. Apparently, the killer had some really twisted killing methods. Bastard, cut her tongue off." Abhishek said while putting his arm over Mayank's shoulder protectively.

The image of this morning's TV news sprang up to his mind. The young Museum Curator who was killed. Who's name Ishan didn't had enough patience to learn. Who's tongue was brutally cut off. Was none other than Anu du?

Everything made sense now. That's why, Shubman didn't respond to his texts and calls yesterday. Cause he was busy dealing with the murder investigation involving his neighbour and sister's friend. That must have been the emergency that prompted Krunal bhaiya to be called in late at night.

"The police presence in the neighborhood was overwhelming last night, lingering even after all the necessary information was collected and we were allowed to return to our houses. I could not get an ounce of sleep." Shubman sighed, exhaustion palpable in his voice.

Now, if Ishan looked at Shubman carefully or even carelessly, he could easily spot the dark circles adorning his face. How did he not notice it?

Considering the fact that he didn't took a glance properly at Shubman till now, it didn't require a genius to decipher.

"I also have something important to disc-", this time it was Shubman who was interrupted by none other than their dreaded Mathematics teacher, Gautam Gambhir. He was the strictest teacher not only in his department of Maths, but in the entire school.

"Good morning, students," he greeted, punctuating his words with a loud noise as he dumped a load of paperwork onto his desk from a distance. His actions were intended to command attention, although unnecessary, given his thundering voice and intimidating glare, which could make even a stray cat take notice.

And everyone knows how lazy cats are.

"I will tell you guys later." Shubman whispered, his vocal cords as low as a spy on a mission.

All the students shuffled back to their seats quickly. Not wanting to provide the teacher another reason to give the entire class detention at the expanse of a single student.

"At the last test, none of you managed to score even average marks despite having 3 days to prepare for it." (Ishan had to bite into his wrist to self restrain himself to not shout his much better than average score.)

"So, I prepared the perfect procedure which will help you to improve your grades." A sinister smile graced his face.

"There will be no warnings given for preparation from now on, you will only be told on the spot for the surprise test. Since, none of you have any care for your studies, you have forced this on yourselves." He sighed, like he was actually feeling bad for having to do this to them, but everyone knew better.