In another life

01

"Kaaya! See, I bought you a new pencil instead of the one I borrowed from you." Gaavy said proudly, showing the new Apsara pencil that he bought from the stationary shop outside. Since the boy borrowed her drawing pencil during the biology practical in the lab and failed to give it back.

After they reached their classroom, she asked him about her pencil, since she had to attend her art lesson, and he appeared to have misplaced it somewhere. She glared at him and sighed as she made her way to the exit with her art supplies.

That was the last period before school ends, and since that day was Saturday, the last period was mostly given for doing club activities. Students were found scattered around the school, and Kaaya went to her art teacher, who was assigning the other art club members their work.

Gaavy had been a football player since middle school, so it's no wonder he joined the sports club. Sports club usually don't have a lot of stuff to do since it's all about collecting the equipment and putting it back in the storeroom, and that was mostly done by the leader of that club, which is Gaavy.

Since the new academic year has just started, captains have not been decided yet. A ceremony will be held later when they'll call out the selected students and give away their respective batches.

As Kaaya was the leader of her art club, she was assigned some paper work by her teacher. She took a seat under a tree just opposite the playground. Fifteen minutes into the period, she was checking her papers. Someone was calling for her, and she turned behind to see who it was. That's when Gaavy popped up, showing her the new pencil.

"You should probably thank me for buying you a new pencil. The one you gave me was just half the size as compared to the new one." She snorted, "No thanks. Keep it for yourself." She rolled her eyes at him after forcing a fake smile. He grinned, expecting this from her, as they were always at each other's throats. "Just kidding. Take it, I need to go." He pulled my hand and placed the pencil, running off to the playground.

She shakes her head as she breaks into a smile, looking at him running clumsily, trying to imitate the way she ran in the 500-meter race. Sooner or later, the bell rang, indicating the end of school. Usually, the students rush out of the classroom as soon as school ends, but that is not the case on Saturdays. Literally everyone loves Saturday, as there are co-curricular activities for the first two periods right after the prayer.

The leaders of each club were asked to stay back to attend the council meeting. Kaaya headed to the student council room after handing over the papers. "Captains are decided and will be announced on Saturday during the first two periods." The PE teacher announced it with a smile.

"Is it fine to be a club leader as well as a captain, ma'am?" A student raised her hands, clearing the doubt that was going through every student's mind. "As of now, there is no problem with that. We'll talk about it briefly if we have any issues in the future. Okay, then art club representatives, please stay back. You'll be on duty for the next week."

All the other students rushed out of the room, including Kaaya's best friends, as they had to go since their parents must be waiting, leaving the PE teacher, Kaya, and Gaavy. Handing over the attendance register to Kaaya, the teacher turned around to get the sports room key from Gaavy. "Do your best! and good job! Go home soon." The teacher says as she walks away.

The whole school was silent since everyone must have gone home. Both Gaavy and Kaaya headed to the bicycle stand after packing their bags. "Thank you so much for this Kaya!" Gaavy smiles after Kaaya hands him the notes she made for herself. Since the boy had to take care of the arrangements for the upcoming ceremony, he had been missing classes.

Kaaya smiled. "Keep it safe. Don't lose it." She says so, and he nods, still grinning. "Then, shall we get going?" He nodded his head, and they made their way out of the campus. Their school was built in the middle of the countryside, and you could only see fields around them. Well, it had a great view despite the isolation. Walking for a while in silence, surrounded by fields, they reached the intersection, and they both had to part ways. "It seems like it's going to rain." He spoke.

She nods. "It's getting darker." She says. The sky looked dark due to the predicted rainfall later this day. There were a few light rays coming from the back of dark clouds, indicating that the sun hasn't climbed down yet. Obviously, it was just around 4 p.m." Alright," he says, gaining the attention of the girl who was busy admiring the sky. "See you tomorrow; I'll bring this to you right before the first class. Bye!" He gleamed at her.

"Bye! Get home safe." She has this habit of saying, "Get home safe," to everybody, so she didn't feel any different. But at the deepest bottom of her heart, she wished he had said those words to her.

They both got on their bicycles, and she watched him ride away from her. Gaavy has been Kaaya's crush since middle school, but even until the last year of high school, she still couldn't find the strength to tell him how she really felt. She never actually made it obvious that she liked him. No one would have guessed unless she told them. She was good at hiding it.

He was someone who would talk to every girl that way. "Nice guy," huh. Suddenly, she heard someone's voice behind her. "Why is he so dense?" An unfamiliar male voice spoke.

She turned her head in his direction, and to her surprise, she saw a man standing on a hoverboard with his hands in the pockets of his pants. His wavy long hair was tied into a ponytail, and he was wearing a shiny outfit like a leather jacket and pants. His eyes were following Gaavy. It didn't take the stranger long to realize she was staring at him. Both were surprised when their eyes met.

He was surprised because he could see her. She was surprised because of his amber-colored eyes, which felt so surreal. It was like fire was burning inside it. All the people that she had ever seen only had black or brown eyes. His eyes had some letters written on them, but she couldn't read them as there was quite a distance between them. She felt somewhat familiar when she clearly saw his face, as if he resembled someone she had seen.

In the blink of an eye, the hoverboard he was standing on vanished, and he landed on the floor. "Can you see me?" He asked, walking towards her.

He didn't even need an answer because the moment he noticed her step back from him, he already knew Kaaya could see him.

"How can you see me? I have my invisibility spell; you aren't supposed to see me." Confusion was plastered all over his face, but he remained silent out of shock. "I'm sure you can hear me."

"W-who the heck are you? Jeez, you are scaring me, dude! I-I won't tell anyone." That was all she could muster to say before turning her back on him to attempt to ride away, but out of nowhere, he suddenly appeared in front of her at a much closer distance.

"You're not supposed to know about my powers. Don't worry, I'll erase your memories." He said, his index finger inches away from her forehead. Erase her memories? For real?

Kaaya hurriedly moved back and turned her bicycle in the direction Gaavy went. Again, he appeared with a nastier expression. "Oh, for god's sake, stop running. It'll only take a few seconds." She dropped her bicycle and tried to flee, but before she could move anymore, his index finger touched her forehead, and a bright light appeared, driving them apart and causing them to collide on the hard pavement.

They exchanged glances for a brief moment, he with a puzzled expression on his face, and she shook her head to ensure she didn't lose her memories.

Suddenly, both of them heard a high frequency sound which made both of them to bring their hands to cover their ears. Since it was so high, it caused so much damage to their ears, the sound was followed by an ear-splitting voice stating -

"Sudās, you violated the rules by allowing a human to see your actual form and powers; therefore, I shall temporarily take your ability to time travel and teleport. Reflect on your mistakes and learn from them."

Their eyes once again met and they asked each other the question they'd been itching to ask.

"Who the heck are you?" "Who in the hell are you?"

Sudās - refers to a person who travels through different Prabanjam in search of information for their , run errands, and find a reality to call illam.

Prabanjam – Universe that is handled by different higher-ups to maintain co-existence between all the 14 lokas.

Illam – A place that you could call home.