Chapter 40: The Water Boy
The air on the Shanti Vidya Mandir field was cold and still.
Rohan Sharma, his new blue Kamrup District cap set perfectly on his head, stood at the front of his team. His laughter had died the moment he saw Raghav.
His eyes, sharp and analytical, swept over Raghav. He looked at the boy's old, faded Shanti Vidya Mandir practice whites—a stark, impoverished contrast to the new, matching kits of the district team. He looked at the pale, thin, healed arm.
Then, he looked at Raghav's eyes.
The boy who had broken his arm, the boy who had masterminded the semi-final trap, was standing here. On this field. It was an anomaly. It was... interesting.
Raghav just stood there, his kit bag at his feet. His face was a mask of calm.
His right hand, hidden from view, was a dense, aching knot of muscle. He didn't make a fist. He just let it hang, the heavy, solid feeling of his new Iron Grip a silent anchor.
