With the sun setting, we stand in the park, Ashwin and his opponent facing each other and we are on the side

"Show them who is stronger haha"

"Teach that fool a good lesson haha"

Those two guys are cheering for their leader, The leader raises his hand gesturing for them to stop

Looking straight at Ashwin he smirked "I have been doing judo since the age of 5 and I am the strongest in my age group, you should accept your defeat before it's too late" With his words the other two guys started laughing again

"Please go easy on me" Ashwin looking down and scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, making these guys laugh even louder

He is not Ashwin, he will win I am sure of that but why is being like that, saying weak words, doing things that make no sense, being cowardly in front of these guys and straight up agreeing with them when they made jokes about his parents and family, I don't get it he acts like he is okay but he is not

" 'Go easy on me' he says this guy is funny"

"Coward so you were acting all high and mighty hiding behind Aditi huh "

They are saying things, but Ashwin is staying silent with a faint smile plastered on his face

"We shouldn't waste any more time and get started I have a lot of more important things to do" Smirking the leader gets in the position to fight and so does Ashwin

"Aditi?"

Before they could start I got in front of Ashwin stopping him "Are you really sure about this?" I can't shake this uneasy feeling about him, he feels distant to me and I don't think it's really okay

"Of course" he answered with a smile getting back in his stance

Stepping back I braced myself to intervene if something got wrong, but I hoped it doesn't get to that

One of the two guys started the match and the leader rushed towards Ashwin and kicked aiming at Ashwin's head but Ashwin ducked and using the opening he struck the stomach of his opponent making him stumble back before falling down on the ground the opponent gets up grabbing his stomach Ashwin rushed to his opponent grabbing his head and striking it with his knees

The opponent bent back and fell to the ground, nose bleeding, writhing in pain

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I stepped forward to stop them but then Ashwin suddenly strikes the chest with his legs

Aaaaaaaaaaaa

Letting out the painful scream, the boy's eyes are closing

"ASHWIN!"

He was preparing for another attack but I stopped him and pulled him back

"What have you done?" In panic, I asked but he only gave me a clueless look

Ignoring him I looked towards the other two guys, they were standing stunned with fear in their eyes

"You guys go and find an adult and tell them to call an ambulance immediately"

With my shout, they snapped back, nodded and rushed outside the park in panic

"Why are you acting so panicked I held back a lot, he is fine" he said unconcerned about the situation as he walked towards the laying boy, but I stopped him in his tracks

Looking at the boy barely trying to keep his eyes open, hand on his chest, groaning

"Held back?, you are saying you held back just look at him" my voice cracked with anger seething out, Trying to stay calm I looked him in his eyes " You are saying he is fine, does he look fine to you, what if he seriously get injured and has to be hospitalized, what would you do then"

Making a questioning face he laughed "Why are you so angry just because I beat him a little" Brushing it off like nothing he just smiled

"ASHWIN!" I unknowingly shouted grabbing his shirt and glaring at him "Are you even aware of what you just did"

"I..." He went silent, clueless

"Why are you silent answer me?" I pulled him closer in anger

"I don't get why are you so angry?, as I said I held back a lot and kept everything under control," he answered and pulled himself back freeing himself from me in annoyance"Why are you making me the bad guy, they are the one who insulted me, my parents, my family, I can't just let them go without doing anything" answering like it's obvious he brushed his shirt as if there's dust on it

"Under control? You are saying that everything is under your control, and it's okay for this guy to go through this pain because they insulted your family? There are a lot of other ways you can deal with that, then why?, why would you do something like this why didn't you come talk to me if you were really angry, there are also our friends we all together could have helped you, what about Miss Sanvi and Grandma why didn't you tell them about this they would have reported it to school" the words flowed out of me, tears falling from my eyes I couldn't stop myself, I couldn't stop him either, I am angry with myself as much as I am with Ashwin, that anger is painful as it all flows out of my mouth, but Ashwin stayed silent and looking straight at me unmoving, he looked down, his bangs covering his eyes "you won" he said in low voice "What?" I got closer to him to hear what he has to say

"You won't understand even if I tell you, no one will understand me and what have I gone through" he looked at me like he was looking at a child, no he looked older, more distant, "I see" That's all I could say as I moved back feebly, turning around helping the boy

“Even after everything I did to get closer to you, and when I really thought that I finally reached you, you went far away when uncle and aunt died, you might be right, I might never understand you, I love my parents and couldn't imagine living without them, I might never understand what you have gone through" helping the boy stand up and supporting him with my shoulder I glanced back "I am sorry" my voice cracked, not with anger but pain

"You know Ashwin you were always like a hero to me and I always felt safe around you, but now... I am scared of the you I don't know about" I left the park with my dried tears and defeated self