"May I ask if this is the only reason you want to help me? Because you did not do anything wrong for standing up against them even if it resulted differently. You already apologised so is there a need to go this far? You won't be gaining anything from this." Koushik stared at her face with a questioning look.
'Why?' Olivia lowered her eyes and thought about that incident.
It was the time when she was still acting as Ankita.
One night Mr Chakraborty was having a painful headache. Besides Ankita, there was only the servant who worked at their house. Her mother had gone out for a business trip. Her father had applied balms but they were not working and his headache was increasing by the minute. Ankita was young so she would be quicker on her feet than the servant who was in his mid-fifties. Having no choice Ankita went out to buy medicine from the local drug store leaving her father in the servant's care.
It was past midnight and the streets were mostly empty. The drugstore was a little away from their house so Ankita had to run all the way. Moreover, the pharmacist took a lot of time to find the medicine. Thus Ankita had to race faster on her way back.
To make it faster she took a shortcut route through an alley. It was then that she saw that horrifying scene.
Several drunk hooligans were beating a pregnant dog. They were kicking her mercilessly while the poor creature screamed in pain. As the area was marked with under-construction buildings and the residential area was a bit away from there nobody heard the dog's screams.
That instant, rage flashed past Ankita's eyes. It was the same sharp overbearing look that Olivia possessed.
Olivia clenched her fists. Although her face was devoid of any expression her eyes had a murderous look. Her jaw was taut and her chest heaved up and down slowly. Her eyes were focused on the men like a gun of a sniper. From her clenched fist, two fingers stretched out. Something gleamed between her long fingers. The flash was tiny but the source was a thin, small yet deadly sharp blade enough to kill in one strike. Olivia slowly lifted her hand and posed her fingers in an arc to strike when she stopped midway.
A tall boy darted towards the men screaming with a brick in his hand "Hey you monsters get away from her."
With that, he started hitting the drunkards blindly. As the brick was small it did not inflict any severe injuries but the hits were painful enough for them to be distracted. Moreover, they were drunk to the point of oblivion so they also could not defend themselves properly. Still, they had an advantage of number and decided to attack that boy.
One of them landed a punch in his stomach which caused the boy to double over in pain. That man wanted to hit him again but missed because of his tipsy steps. Another man punched him in the jaw. The boy staggered clutching his stomach in one hand and jaw in the other hand. Now that all of their attention was focused on the boy they decided to gang up and attack him. But just then another series of screams rose.
Two other boys ran over grabbing two iron rods they found near the leftover construction materials. They started hitting the men with all their might. The five men howled in pain crouching on the ground trying to cover themselves with their hands.
The boys were not strong enough to deal any serious blow to the big men but they still rendered them defenseless with their persistent attacks. The men barely escaped on all fours.
Meanwhile, the boy who was cornered previously recovered from the blows he received and was tending to the dog.
Seeing the dog was in safe hands Olivia sighed in relief and returned to her character. She quickly went home and gave the medicine to the servant and darted out with a first-aid box, some food, water and a towel.
When Ankita reached there the three boys were huddled around the crying dog and were trying to calm her down. As she was recently attacked by some humans she was desperately trying to claw at these three humans thinking they were also her enemies. As such none of them were able to get close to her.
"Move aside," Ankita said breathing heavily.
She then crouched down and put everything before the dog letting her take a sniff. She also placed her hand near the goods so that the dog could sniff her hand too.
At first, the dog growled and snapped her teeth at Ankita. Her dirt-covered swollen belly rose and fell as she panted. There was also a little blood but fortunately, it was not much. When she sniffed Ankita's hand she looked at the latter's face and whimpered. She wagged her tail with difficulty and stuck out her tongue licking Ankita's fingertips.
Ankita patiently waited until the dog recognised her. A relieved look flashed past Olivia's eyes before turning to Ankita's panicked gaze.
Ankita then slowly patted the dog's head and cleaned her off with water and antiseptic lotion. Then she wiped her body gently with extremely careful movements with the help of the boys and fed her some food and water.
After a while when the dog seemed better, they wrapped her in the towel and gently carried her to their neighbourhood.
Olivia no doubt tracked those men back after the dog was safeguarded. She broke each of their legs, the one that they used to kick the dog and made sure they remained crippled for several years. She especially took special care of the man who kicked the dog harder and broke both his legs. As a bonus gift, she also dislocated the hands of the two men who hit Koushik for interrupting them in beating the dog.
Since that day the three of them especially Koushik took care of the dog along with Ankita till she gave birth properly. Although Koushik and the others could not join every time because of their manager's warning about infection from stray animals they still sneaked out every chance they got. Over time the dog also became friendly with the three boys.
Olivia raised her eyes again as this memory crossed her mind.
'Because I owe you and I'm grateful to you. And... also Ankita... '
When Koushik met her eyes he felt a sudden rare wave of gentleness from the otherwise cold and emotionless eyes. But before he could detect it properly they vanished. He frowned in confusion as he contemplated whether he imagined it all.
He was lost in thought about Olivia's sudden reaction to his question when he heard her speak.
"Yes, that's the only reason."
Koushik nodded in understanding albeit confused.