Ishqana Dil

Part 21

[I apologise for this update. It came out so weird...]

"Hi, Jazzipedia," she mumbled as she hugged her little sister from behind and rested her head against the girl's shoulder.

Jazz stiffened slightly. She didn't really appreciate PDA, but as she started to relax, Amaya smiled. "Hi, Amu. How are you now?"

"Better," she looked at Chiklu. "And how are you two?"

"Better than you," Jazz replied cheekily, earning a poke in the ribs from Amaya while Chiklu laughed. "Aaj tum Mantu ki help karne nahin gayi?"

Amaya straightened herself, trying not to feel sad. "Nahin... He told me to rest..."

"Hmm," Jazz approved. "I thought so. Did you take your medicines?" She looked at her sister's guilty expression and sighed. "God, Amu! How can you be so careless? Apna khayaal khud rakhna seekho." She got up and went to get the medicines. Amaya stuck her tongue out, making Chiklu laugh again. She scooted next to him.

"Oh, Mister! Don't laugh too much," she grinned, pulling his ear lightly. "Did you have any tests this week?"

"No, no tests for now."

She raised her brow at him in mock surprise. "Lucky you!" Just then, Jazz was back to stuff a spoonful of the bitter syrup in her mouth before stomping off, back to the kitchen. Amaya swallowed it with a grimace. "Bleurgh! This is disgusting! Chalo, I'll leave you two to study now."

She accidentally knocked off a few things on the floor as she stood up and immediately bent to pick them up. Along with Chiklu's notebooks, she found a story book. It looked quite old but well-kept, and interestingly, it had fallen open on the first page, revealing a wobbly, childish scrawl that made her smile. She lifted it to see what was written.

'This book belongs to Abhimanyu Shrivastav.'

Snapping the book shut, Amaya frowned. "Yeh yahaan pe bhi aagaya?"

"Huh?" Chiklu looked up from his work. "Did you say something?"

She shook her head. "Where did you get this from?" she asked curiously, waving the book at him.

"Bhaiyya ne padhne ko kaha hai."

Amaya placed the stack of notebooks back where they were and dragged herself back to her room. Really, who was this Abhimanyu Shrivastav?

***

She did not realise she had fallen asleep but ruckus downstairs jolted her up. There was a stiffness in her neck from having slept in an awkward position in the chair. She got up drowsily and went downstairs, rubbing the strain away, then froze at the sight before her.

Rudra was holding her elder sister by the wrist as he practically pulled her inside the house. Rachi Di was doing everything in her power to release herself from his grip, her chest heaving. As soon as he released her, she sent her hand flying to his cheek, shocking Amaya. The slap resounded in the whole house. Sneha tore out of her room, Kaushalya from the kitchen to her adored son.

Rachita was glowering at Rudra with blind rage. "Agli baar mujhe haath bhi lagaaya tumne, toh haath kaat doongi main tumhaara! Remember that!" Kaushalya glared back at Rachita. She tried to retort in defense of her son but Rachita's wide, angry eyes turned onto her and she raised a finger to shut her up. "Aur aap beech mein na hi bolein, toh achha hoga!"

Scared, Amaya rushed at her sister's side and placed a hand on her arm. She exhaled with gratefulness when Rachita did not shake her off or snap at her too. "Rachi Di, please. Clam down. What happened? Why are you so angry?"