Watching the eyes of the fishes in the aquarium, I recollect the image of 'the head's face. Apart from the ugly scar across his face, he had the looks of a movie actor. And even his eyes looked beautiful as I thought earlier, they seemed as if they are painted just like the eye of this fish before me.
Without an eyelid and near to none movement in their eyeballs, fish's eyes look like they are pasted to their bodies, it was the same with 'the head's eye. Throughout our conversation, his right eye didn't have any movement.
Thinking about it now, it felt strange looking at his eyes. His left eye was the real deal, it was terrifying on a different scale, but his right eye felt hollow, lifeless, as if it didn't had the ligh-
"Your mom said it. You love fishes more than humans" a familiar rough voice interrupted me from my thoughts. The voice I heard not so long ago and the voice that made me piss in my pants.
I turned back. 'The head' was looking at me, more correctly, at the aquarium behind me. I immediately nodded, saying, "Yes sir". He didn't bother to look at me and walked to my side. With his hand touching the aquarium glass, his left eye followed the fishes scattering away from his hand while his right eye been static all the time.
Watching the fishes swim in fear, he started saying, "Your parents love you a lot. They talk about you all day; they go on bragging about how you get good grades, how they didn't teach you how to eat but you eat on your own, and how you wear your shoes without their help, etcetera, etcetera. It feels irritating listening to them all day," he paused for a moment and let out a annoyed sigh.
A while later he continued, "Few years ago, the King ordered me to establish this lab. Soon, I asked your parents for help and they helped. Without a question, they diligently followed all my orders, even put up with Kings' demands, and most importantly, they bore with all the humiliation from other nobles."
He turned to me, "But two years ago, out of nowhere, your mom said she wants an aquarium in the lab. She kept going on and on about how she can't find inspiration for her work because of lack of fishes… I gave up arguing with her and gave her the funds to buy one, but she didn't buy one, instead, your parents took turns in working overnights and built this masterpiece."
He paused for a moment and asked, "Hit the glass with all the strength you got, kid," without a question asked, I clenched my fists and hit the glass with all my might. To my surprise, nothing happened.
Only the fishes closer to the glass scattered, but there was not even a single ripple inside the water.
While I was busy thinking it was because of my lack of strength, 'the head' continued, "It's not because you lack the strength, kid." He turned to the glass, "This is the same glass we use for the Palace's windows and even inside the palace's walls. The strongest material man ever made."
He again turned to me and with the finest smile his face is capable to make, he continued, "Now, tell me kid, why do you think your parents invented this for some worthless fishes?"
I couldn't understand it and I could feel the gears in my mind turning rapidly to find the answer, but before I could process something or anything, he continued, "It's because when your mom sees them, you come to her mind."
Everything clicked to me at once, and my heart felt heavy as if a dam opened. And before I could speak, a hand pulled me to the huge glass wall from before.
"…jin…Ajin… wake up Ajin" the words interrupted my experience with Indra's life and brought me back to the real world.
"How can you sleep that loud in such short span?" it was Akash who commented that.
I immediately studied my surroundings. It was a wide room, filled with tables surrounded by students and I can see a door in the distant. Through it, I can see pans, vessels, stove and also smell a delicious aroma escaping from it.
Delicious aroma? Kitchen?... Shit! This is our branch canteen. I immediately noticed the dials on my watch. It was fifteen minutes past the class starting time.
I quickly stood, making Rishi exclaim, "Wow!" and Akash complain in disgust, "That's nasty."
Taken aback by their reactions, I asked, "What?" and they both gestured me to touch my cheek.
Touching my cheek, I could sense something wet and sticky. It didn't take me much time to figure the identity of the strange liquid on my face. Immediately, I took Akash's hankie that was staying on the table for some reason and wiped the drool on my face.
Ignoring his complain, I threw it on him and began wearing my bag to leave to the class. But Rishi stopped me, saying, "Ma'am saw you. Not just ma'am, all the other students, sirs, in fact the whole canteen kept turning looking at us listening to your loud snores. It was embarrassing!!… anyway, ma'am said she will give you a twenty minutes grace time, 'only for today.' And she added, "Take care of him", while leaving with a smile."
Akash immediately complained loudly, "I envy you. I completely envy you. How can every lecturer, HOD and even principal be fond of you. Every time they say, Ajin can take care of it, Ajin can do that, ask Ajin, tell Ajin, that Ajin, this Ajin… yes, I decided."
Rishi asked, "What you decided?"
"Next year, I will run for the college presidency. Then whole college will look at me like they do towards Ajin"
"Don't do that. You will regret it."
"Regret? Me? Why?"
"You will get only 2 votes."
After a deep thinking Akash replied in low sad voice, near-to crying voice, "Yes, no one will vote for me." The he hugged, Rishi and continued, "I might've been bad with you at times, but I always knew, you are my true friend…. Thanks for saying you will vote for me, thanks a lot. I will remember it till the end of my life."
Rishi forcibly pulled him away, "Are you nuts. Why would I vote for you?"
Akash face expression went a tangent, from sad to shock and then curious, "Then whose vote is the second one?"
"It would be Ajin's. You dumb." Rishi answer as a matter-of-factly.
Immediately Akash turned to me, his eyes glowing bright and his hands stretched forward to hug me. I was already scanning my surroundings to escape from his embrace, but before I could show off my footwork, Akash dropped his hands and said, "Never mind."
As I was dumbstruck watching the turn of events, it struck me, "We are being late to the class." I thought it aloud, louder than I meant to, making the whole canteen turn towards us.
Rishi looked at his watch and began picking his and Akash's bags, meanwhile I walked ahead of them and soon both followed me.
…
A few feet from the door, I can see the board hanging from the ceiling displaying our class name. I was relaxed realizing I'm almost there. Just a step more and I would be standing in front of the door.
Then, a hand on my shoulder forcibly stopped me. The pressure from the hand was different from others, it was more like, the hand wants to push me to the ground. I resisted it and the hand pushed in more, with enough force to leave a mark on my skin under the shirt.
I turned back slowly, carefully, letting my lips to curl back into their usual smile and my eyes look warm as if I didn't feel anything from the pressure the hand was putting on me.
The face that greeted me goes by the name Salman. One of the few I hate in our college. And what do I hate about him, it's everything, his whole existence is irritating. I imagined smashing his face more than once.
However, I greet him with a wide warm smile, "Ho, Salman! Do you want to tag with us to the class?"
He knows, I hate him, and the proof for that is his smile, a confident arrogant smile, "Nope, I'm not attending the class."
"Then, do you need me for anything else?"
"Did you complete the assignment, the d-d, what was the subject name again, whatever, it had deadline today?"
"DSEM assignment?" he nodded, "I did it, I even uploaded all the answers in our class chat group. Just copy the answers onto the papers and you are done."
"Wow, that's great then," he said, half surprised, half-arrogant and he immediately took a turn and disappeared from the corridor without a trace.
"What you are doing Ajin, come in," our ma'am's voice made me come back to my senses.
Rishi and Akash were already sitting in their seats. Immediately, I walked in and sat in my bench. An empty bench in the last row, neither the backbench nor the front bench, exactly the middle bench in a row of seven benches. And a window on the side. The perfect ideal place for a student.
….