The alley had gone quiet.
Only one of Ravi's friends was still conscious, trembling as he looked around at the four bodies sprawled across the pavement.
Krishanu glanced at him once and then turned away. "You," he said simply. "Take care of them."
There was no threat in his tone — just command. The boy nodded frantically, too scared to speak.
Krishanu told jaanvi thanks to your lesson: people uses others as tools.
We turned silently. The echo of our footsteps down the narrow street dwindled into the cold night.
But PK didn't make it around the corner. He'd stopped and turned, his eyes flashing back at us. His voice was cool and hard.
"You snake," he spat, his eyes glinting at Jaanvi. "Don't you *ever* come near him again."
Jaanvi stood stock still, her friends behind her, white and frozen.
Then Krrish approached Ravi's last friend, his tone low but menacing.
"This time he prevented us from fighting," he said. "But if any one of you go near him again… we won't let up. Even if Krishanu instructs us to."
No one replied. The only thing that could be heard was the far-off barking of a stray dog and the wind blowing against old tin sheets.
Jaanvi's friends finally whispered, "Who was that guy? He beat all of them single-handedly."
Jaanvi's eyes were wide, her voice weak. "It's impossible… a month ago, he couldn't even throw a single punch."
I glanced at her for the last time and said softly,
"That's because he didn't want to."
And we just walked away.
---
Time passed.
The memory of that evening gradually disappeared, lost in the daily grind of school, classes, and general clamor. But certain silences never truly depart — they merely settle in between the laughter.
Finally, my transfer papers arrived.
It was official — I was on the move.
The evening before I departed, we met once again — me, Krishanu, PK, and Krrish — on our favorite place around the banyan tree. The sky was golden, as it was the day our exams had concluded.
We didn't say much.
We didn't have to.
There was a sort of peace in the atmosphere — the sort that only appears when you've survived turmoil as a group.
---
A week later, the final exam results were announced.
Both my name and Krishanu's sat together at the very top.
100%.
Tied again.
Just like in the beginning.
When we learned about it, both of us laughed. Not because we were proud — but because it seemed right. Like things had come full circle.
That day, while standing outside the school gates for the final time, I looked at him and said,
"Guess this is it."
He smiled weakly. "Yeah. But we'll meet again."
"Yeah," I said. "We will."
---
We didn't shake hands.
We didn't need to.
We just stood there, beneath the same sunset that had seen us come of age — from competitors, to brothers, to individuals the world had remodeled in ways we hadn't anticipated.
As the bus engine revved behind me, I turned back one final time.
Krishanu stood where I'd left him — relaxed, hands in pockets, wind ruffling his hair — looking out at the road receding into the distance.
That picture stayed with me.
Still does.
The kid I met in 3rd grade — quiet, genius, good — had turned into something completely different.
And even though I didn't realize it then, this winter was not the end.
It was just the end of the beginning.
---
Volume 2 — End
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Up-until now this story was in Mayank's POV and he was the narrator, but It will be Krishanu's POV with mayank as narrator
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