Abhay sat hunched in a corner of the Drawing Club's meeting room.
Around him, the members of the newly solidified Yoga-Judo Alliance celebrated their latest victory. Laughter. High-fives. Strategizing. But for Abhay, none of that mattered.
His shoulders trembled.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
"I hate you," he whispered, voice cracking as he glared at the group of Yoga and Judo seniors.
One of the seniors awkwardly patted him on the back. "Come on… no one knew you'd get voted leader."
"You had a whole alliance without telling me I was its most important target!" Abhay wailed.
From across the room, Kritagiya appeared like an emotional support gremlin, quietly sliding next to Abhay and placing a packet of tissues on his lap.
"Cry it out, boss," Kritagiya said softly. "You've earned it."
Abhay sniffled. "If someone had caught me, the whole alliance would've fallen."
Another senior tried to help. "Technically, we were hoping you'd be hard to catch because you're smart."
Abhay pointed at himself. "I was in plain sight! Some students saw me an hour ago walking through their class!"
Everyone fell silent.
"…And they didn't catch you?" someone asked.
"They thought about it," Abhay said, wiping his tears. "But dropped the idea because I looked 'too casual'."
They all laughed nervously.
Then the announcement speakers buzzed again.
"New Alliance Formed: The Archery–Boxing Alliance has officially entered the war!"
The entire room fell silent.
Judo, Yoga, Drawing Club—even Kritagiya stopped mid-tissue fold.
"Wait," Rohit said slowly. "Boxing and Archery…? They never fight."
But this wasn't just symbolic participation.
Within minutes, live footage streamed through the school's internal network showed carnage like never before.
This wasn't a war.
It was a beatdown.
Boxers, moving like trained brawlers, stormed through the 10th-B class—target of the unknown declaration—and turned desks into barricades and classmates into crash test dummies.
Archers stood at strategic points like war tacticians, guiding and alerting with pinpoint precision.
Students cried. One kid tried to escape through a window.
In the chaos, the leader of Class 10-B—Rishabh—was pinned to the ground, his shirt collar stretched as he begged for mercy.
Then, silence fell as the Boxing Club President entered.
Built like a refrigerator, wrapped in school uniform, his knuckles already bloodied, he walked up and—WHAM!—punched the floor next to Rishabh's face, the vibration alone making the poor guy pass out.
Then he leaned down and said coldly,
"If you ever flirt with my sister again, I will personally erase your bones."
He stood up, cracked his knuckles, and turned to leave.
The hallway watched in awe.
But just as he passed the stairwell, a voice echoed from behind.
"Wait."
The Boxing Club President turned. A boy stood there in shadow, hoodie up, face down.
"I'd advise you take a photo with your defeated opponent," the stranger said. "Send it to the Great Godly Sir, President of the Music Club. That's how war victories are registered."
Boxing Prez frowned. "Who the hell are you supposed to be?"
The boy looked up.
Slowly, dramatically, he pulled down his hoodie.
There stood the President of the Music Club himself, grinning ear to ear, a clipboard under one arm and a Bluetooth speaker in the other.
"Surprise, dumbbells."
The hallway froze again.
"Why were you hiding?" asked one archer.
The Music Club President shrugged. "I like drama. And honestly, who doesn't enjoy an entrance like that?"
He walked up to the unconscious Rishabh, flipped him gently onto his side like a true showman, then handed Boxing Prez a phone.
"Smile. This goes to the official records."
The President clicked a pic and uploaded it.
Moments later, the announcement system crackled again.
"Attention: Class 10-B has officially lost the war. Archery–Boxing Alliance gains their territory."
Back in the Drawing Club, Abhay wiped his face and looked up.
More war. More chaos. More twisted declarations.
And somehow, he was a leader now.
"…God save me," he whispered.
Kritagiya leaned closer. "Correction: you save you. God left school after the first period".