Manjha A String of Complicated Relations

Is Her Secret Finally Out ?

A month went by in a similar manner. The daily routine was set in stone by then and all cadets had accepted that this was their new life. The senior cadets were not as much worked as the juniors were, but they had a responsibility to train the junior cadets.

While the theory classes had started to seem interesting to Shambhavi, the physical training was still quite hard. She had been punished twice in the month and ten rounds of the ground had taught her not to make further mistakes.

Anisha had also been punished once. That too because of Anant. Anant, on the other hand, had been punished plenty of times.

The trio had formed a very strong bond in the past month, but Shambhavi still kept her guard up around them. Anisha still had an inkling of an idea about Shambhavi's past, but Anant had none.

Anisha's past, however, was fully known to Shambhavi. The girl had been through so much. Though Shambhavi was unable to relate to Anisha's pain, she did realize that the latter had been hurt by a man in uniform as well. That alone was enough to make her blood boil and fill her with disgust for such men.

Shambhavi had once assumed that all men in uniform from the Indian Army were jerks, but this view of hers was challenged daily by her superiors. Although there were a few idiots with her batch that assumed themselves to be a superior species, both the Captains along with Major General Rathore proved it to her that not all men are jerks.

One such idiot was Shivankar Rajput, a cadet from the senior batch. He liked to tease girls continuously. Teasing is what he called it but if you would ask Shambhavi, she would call it bullying. She had had a few run-ins with him, and their conversations had almost always ended in a fight. If he would have been in her batch, she would have smacked him right across the face but, unfortunately, he was a senior.

One day at lunch, he was again at it, teasing Anisha for being a bit behind in the weapons training. Anisha was close to tears. So, Shambhavi took a deep breath, held Anisha's hand and got up to leave. They would have left the mess had they not gotten stopped by Shiv.

"Why, Cadet Vyas? Why are you leaving so early? I was just getting started. What happened? Couldn't take a bit of teasing, Cadet?" he mocked them.

He wanted to get a reaction and Shambhavi had been dealing with such men since she was a teenager, so she was used to it. On the other hand, Anisha was not.

"Well, what more can be expected of girls. You tease them a bit and they cry. But if you don't, they cry again, but for our attention." Now he had crossed a line and Shambhavi was about to shout at him when Captain Chauhan and Captain Rathore entered the mess.

Captain Rathore looked ready to rain hellfire while Captain Chauhan was as calm as he usually was.

"Any problem, Cadets?" he asked calmly.

To the seniors, he was normal, but Shambhavi could see that his fist was clenched so tight that the knuckles were turning white. The Captains had witnessed the whole thing, she deduced.

Anisha dragged Shambhavi before anything else could happen. Shambhavi and Anisha spent their lunch hour in their room with Shambhavi consoling Anisha. When it was time for their weapons training, much to their surprise, both the Captains were present on the field, not interfering with the training but silently observing.

Anisha had taken one look at Captain Advith and almost bolted back to the room but Shambhavi and Anant had kept her in place. She took another peek at him and their eyes connected. He gave her a subtle nod and that itself was enough motivation for Anisha. She excelled in that training exercise and after Anisha's turn, Captain Advith Singh Rathore left with not so rude and angry expressions on his face.

Captain Aniket Rai Chauhan, however, stayed for Shambhavi's turn, or so she thought. Even after her turn, he had stayed. She tried discreetly to look at him but was caught staring and the captain for the first time in the whole month did not give her a smile or a wink.

Later that evening, during their study session in the library, they found the Captains accompanying Anant. Captain Chauhan said a small and rude 'Excuse Me' and left faster than the Shatabdi Express.

Captain Rathore had seen Shambhavi gape a little at Captain Chauhan's retreating figure. "Don't mind him, Cadets, he is in a bad mood today," he said informing them of their silent query.

"Captain Chauhan is in a bad mood?" asked Shambhavi, a bit shockingly and a bit sarcastically.

"Yes, Cadet Vyas, he can have a bad mood from time to time. Don't worry though, he will be back to his winking self by tomorrow," replied Captain Rathore in a playful voice.

Shambhavi had flushed at Captain Rathore's remark. Anant, Anisha and the Captain were having a conversation but Shambhavi was lost in her own world. Why was Captain Chauhan so angry? What was troubling him? While his friend said he was just in a bad mood, why did it feel like he was hurt? What was he hurt by and, most importantly, why was she affected by his behavior towards her?

Captain Rathore left a few minutes later. After their study session, they had a small break. Throughout their study session, Shambhavi could not concentrate. No matter how much she tried, her mind wandered back to Captain Chauhan and that gave way to a simple fact. Why the hell did she care?

Captain Chauhan and Shambhavi had almost run into each other. Captain Chauhan was almost going to leave but decided against it. He stopped her by holding her elbow.

"Why didn't you tell me or Major Khan?" he asked, his demeanor had been calm, so if anyone were to see them it would look just like a Cadet and a Captain talking, but his eyes screamed of his infuriation.

Shambhavi's breath hitched in her throat. Was she caught? Was her secret finally out? Was this the end of her journey in IOTA?