Ayaan had always been unusually affectionate toward Aarshi, though he never allowed it to become obvious. He deliberately behaved casually around her, making jokes, acting indifferent, and treating her like just another annoying friend so nobody could ever guess what actually went on inside his head.
The truth was simple and terrifying for him—
Aarshi had unknowingly become his first crush.
And unfortunately for him, she was still the same childish, chaotic, absolutely unserious girl she had always been.
That afternoon, Momo decided that enough was enough.
"Ayaan," she called from the kitchen, "teach Aarshi some self-defense."
Ayaan immediately refused without even looking up from his phone.
"Teaching her self-defense is completely useless."
Momo frowned. "Why?"
"Because she only listens to herself. I'll explain techniques, applications, logic, survival instincts—and she'll start dancing or eating snacks in the middle of it. If she never applies anything I teach, then what's the point?"
Momo tried not to laugh.
"At least prepare her for immediate situations."
Ayaan sighed dramatically like a man forced into war against his will.
"Fine."
Then both of them shouted together—
"AARSHIIII!"
A few seconds later, Aarshi appeared in the living room wearing an oversized hoodie, holding a packet of chips, looking less like someone ready for self-defense training and more like someone preparing for a Netflix marathon.
Ayaan stretched his shoulders seriously.
"Today, I'll teach you basic self-defense."
Aarshi nodded with full dedication.
"Yes, sensei. First lesson — how to emotionally damage your opponent."
Ayaan ignored that.
"Rule number one. Stay alert."
Aarshi immediately looked around suspiciously before whispering,
"I think the fridge is watching us."
"AARSHI."
"What? I'm alert."
Ayaan inhaled deeply, already regretting every life decision that had brought him here.
"Fine. Imagine someone grabs your wrist."
He lightly held her wrist.
Aarshi gasped dramatically like a television serial heroine.
"Ahh! Villain! Leave me! I have a family!"
"You're supposed to escape, not audition for Crime Patrol."
"Oh right."
Ayaan calmly demonstrated the move.
"You twist your hand like this, step back, and pull away."
Aarshi copied him with shocking confidence—
—and somehow wrapped herself inside the curtain beside the window.
Silence filled the room.
Then came her muffled voice from inside the curtain fabric.
"I have defeated myself."
Ayaan stared at the human burrito hanging beside the window.
"How are you this talentless?"
"Natural gift."
After spending five entire minutes rescuing her from the curtain, Ayaan tried again.
"Fine. Next move. If someone grabs you from the front—"
Before he could complete the sentence, Aarshi suddenly screamed, dropped to the floor, and started rolling away like a potato escaping gravity.
Ayaan blinked slowly.
"What… are you doing?"
"Survival."
"You cannot roll away from every problem!"
"Watch me."
She rolled directly into the table leg.
"OW!"
Ayaan rubbed his forehead in exhaustion.
"You know normal people learn self-defense to protect themselves."
Aarshi sat on the floor dramatically holding her head.
"And I'm protecting myself from effort."
At that point, even Momo silently walked back into the kitchen because she knew this training session was already beyond saving.
Ayaan pulled Aarshi back onto her feet.
"Focus. Suppose an attacker comes near you."
Aarshi narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"How near?"
"Just imagine."
"No because personal space matters."
"AARSHI!"
"Okay okay."
Ayaan stepped forward to demonstrate blocking techniques.
Before he could continue, Aarshi suddenly pulled out a deodorant spray from her hoodie pocket.
Ayaan froze.
"Why do you even have that?"
"For emergency situations."
"That is NOT self-defense."
"It burns the eyes. Science."
"You cannot just perfume criminals!"
"Why not? At least they'll smell nice while committing crimes."
Ayaan looked moments away from abandoning civilization entirely.
Trying one final time, he demonstrated a fighting stance.
"Balance is important. Strong stance. Like this."
Aarshi copied him seriously for exactly two seconds—
—and then started dancing.
Ayaan stared blankly.
"…Why are you dancing?"
"You said stance."
"This is not a music video!"
"But imagine fighting while dancing. Psychological damage."
That was it.
Ayaan finally lost patience.
"Fine. Attack me then."
Aarshi's eyes sparkled mischievously.
"You sure?"
"Yes."
She immediately threw a cushion directly at his face and ran.
Ayaan caught the cushion in pure disbelief.
"That's cheating!"
"SELF-DEFENSE HAS NO RULES!"
She sprinted around the sofa laughing like a cartoon villain while Ayaan chased her threatening to cancel the entire training forever.
Two minutes later—
Ayaan was exhausted.
Aarshi was peacefully hiding behind the dining table eating chips again.
Breathing heavily, Ayaan pointed at her dramatically.
"You learned absolutely nothing today."
Aarshi proudly raised one chip into the air.
"No. I learned one thing."
"What?"
"If danger comes…"
She stuffed the chip into her mouth heroically.
"…run faster than the danger."
Ayaan finally snapped.
"MOMOOOOOO!"
Momo walked out from the kitchen and immediately understood the situation just by looking at Ayaan's exhausted face.
Calmly, she said,
"Both of you, go rest for some time."
Aarshi instantly nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh yeahhh finally. I'm actually exhausted."
This time Ayaan's face went completely blank.
Speechless.
Because somehow SHE was exhausted?
He was the one mentally tortured for the last forty minutes.
He looked at Momo in disbelief.
"I'm done. I'm going to my room."
Momo simply nodded like a tired mother watching two kindergarten children fight.
Meanwhile, Aarshi casually walked into the kitchen, returned with juice and chocolates, and started eating immediately.
Momo sighed.
"At least keep a gap between consuming those two things."
Aarshi nodded seriously—
—and continued eating both together anyway.
By lunchtime, Ayaan finally came downstairs again.
The moment he entered the living room, he saw both Momo and Aarshi sitting comfortably on the sofa drinking juice and eating chips together like two retired aunties gossiping at a wedding.
Without saying a single word, Ayaan silently picked up two bottles of juice from the table and walked straight back upstairs.
Neither of them cared.
He didn't come back downstairs again until evening.
Inside his room, Ayaan was busy playing eSports with his friends. The match was intense, but his friends were far more interested in teasing him.
Most of the time, they kept asking about Aarshi.
"Where's Aarshi?"
"Did she survive self-defense training?"
"Is she still attacking people with cushions?"
Ayaan got irritated immediately because he knew exactly what they were trying to do.
They were teasing him.
And he hated how obvious he became whenever Aarshi's name was mentioned.
Finally he snapped.
"CAN YOU ALL STOP TALKING ABOUT HER FOR FIVE MINUTES?"
The entire voice chat went silent.
After winning the match, they all stayed on conference call casually talking while Ayaan searched through his bag for something.
At that exact moment—
the door suddenly opened.
Aarshi peeked inside with complete innocence and asked in a childish voice,
"Wanna have some chocolate shake?"
Unfortunately for Ayaan—
his iPad was on speaker.
Every single friend heard her voice.
And immediately all of them shouted together—
"AARSHIII! We were waiting for you!"
Aarshi looked genuinely shocked for a second.
Still, she casually waved toward the iPad.
"Hello."
Then she turned toward Ayaan again.
"Come downstairs. Momo made chilled iced chocolate smoothies for you."
Ayaan looked at her suspiciously.
"Did you drink it?"
"Absolutely yes. And it's the best thing you'll ever taste."
Ayaan narrowed his eyes.
"You loved it that much? Then you can have my share too."
Aarshi immediately shook her head.
"No thanks. I already had three glasses. I'm full."
The entire call exploded with laughter.
Someone nearly choked.
Another friend said, "THREE GLASSES?!"
Ayaan closed his eyes in defeat.
"Okay. I'm coming downstairs."
Satisfied, Aarshi left the room.
The moment the door closed—
his friends started screaming dramatically on the call.
"OHHHHH AYAANNNN!"
"BRO IS IN LOVEEE!"
"SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING TO LOVESTORY SPEEDRUN!"
Ayaan grabbed his pillow and threw it directly at the wall.
Unfortunately for him—
their laughter only became louder.