~Sanvi's POV~
"Did you inform Aakash about your switch?" He inquired while walking beside me.
"I think the fellow has a clue." I answered glumly, noticing a smile break out on his naturally serious face at my answer.
"I am sure you must've left one hell of a clue."
He snidely remarked as we entered the staircase to go up to the conference hall.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I stopped at my tracks, gripped by the insinuation of his words.
He knew something. And he must've inferred something from it.
Goddamn, Sanaya!
All thanks to my little outburst in the team meeting the day before.
"Oh, nothing. Just that you might be the biggest tsundere there ever is." He clicked his tongue and turned to stare at me with a smirk.
"Seriously, Rathore? Anime terminologies? Who would've thought the great Rishabh Singh Rathore is a weeb?" I smirked back, maintaining my high ground.
He turned serious all of a sudden, making me question my choice of words.
"What's wrong with being a weeb?"
I coughed, a little embarrassed.
"There's nothing wrong with it." I was rendered speechless. "Hell, I am an avid anime watcher myself!"
"Sure you are. That properly justifies my tsundere insinuation. You imbibe what you see." He laughed out loud, holding his stomach as I stared back in shock at his total 360.
"How does it possibly....what? What the heck are you even talking about?" My nostrils flared with indignation. He regained his composure before coming towards me with a soft smile.
"You are cute, Sanvi Dixit." He booped my nose as I tried to move away from him.
He grabbed my bag as I tried to turn and run away from him, thereby pulling me against his frame and entwining our palms together.
"You smell good, Dixit..." I felt a blush creep up on my cheeks at his compliment. Although I didn't dare look at him, I had an idea that he was still smiling sombrely.
I stuttered to fish out a response to that uncalled for comment.
"Well...erm. You'll be the one to notice. You see, unlike you, Rathore, most of us get out of the house after taking a decent shower." He was silent at my retort. The original Rathore would have thrown a fit over that by then.
"What is it? Lavender or Jasmine?" Came his soft response to that. He inhaled against my neck voraciously.
His reactions were totally throwing me off.
"It's just soap. Why do you care? Do you want me to gift you one?"
No response to that as well.
What the hell? What was wrong with this guy?
I felt his gaze intent over my wrist, as if checking the injury of last night.
Oh, that's why.
Pity, this Rathore was pitying me.
I felt a sharp pain in my chest thinking about the those implications. Of course, he was!
"You don't need to worry about Aakash anymore. I've already taken care of that." He whispered in my ears from behind simultaneously sending shivers down my spine.
"What did you do to him?" Was all I could shakily mutter out against his calm demeanor.
He laughed a hearty one at that. I could feel his booming laughter reverberate against my back.
"Don't worry, I didn't kill him. I just gave him a taste of his own medicine. Mind games with mind games." I was left puzzled.
What did he mean by that?
With that, he released me and began climbing the stairs leaving me to run behind him, all confused and irritated.
Why did he get to have the last word in each and every conversation we had those days?
We crossed Dhruv on our way to the hall. He sprinted in smiling widely as soon as he saw us.
"He's gonna blow. That was super wicked of you, Rishabh." He muttered with excitement and patted Rishabh on his back. I stared in confusion as the duo did a weird fist-bump thingy.
"What's happening?" I curiously chimed in as the guys giggled on their own.
"Oh, hi, Sanvi. Welcome to the team once again, I guess. Congratulations on pairing up! I knew Rishabh has his ways." Dhruv threw a suggestive smile my way, making me flustered all over again.
"Um, thanks, I guess? But what are you guys celebrating?" He shrugged and looked at Rishabh with a smirk.
"You'll see..." Rishabh gestured with his head at the hall's direction, making me nauseous thinking about all the possibilities which would have brought about all the merriment between them.
"Lessgo. Catch you later, bro." Rishabh patted Dhruv's back and grabbed my hand. I simply nodded at Dhruv with a small smile.
"Sure, Halo tonight?" Dhruv proposed to Rishabh as his eyes slithered down to our entwined hands. I immediately jerked my hand out of his grip, feeling flustered. Rishabh stole a quick glance at me and nodded.
What?
"Sure."
"See ya, buddy. Sanvi, Adios. Let's meet up one day and discuss team, alright?" He was a charming fellow. I wondered why I didn't care enough to talk to him before.
I pressed my lips together and nodded in the spirit of the discourse.
*Yeeeah, we'll meet up.* I could feel my inner self judging me throughout.
**************
To Be Continued.