Scene shifts to Aryan.
Just then, Meena's call comes through.
"Are you coming home or not?!"
"I don't feel like it," Aryan mutters.
Aditya grabs the phone from Meena and says firmly, "Get home right now. I have something important to tell you."
"Fine, I'm coming," Aryan sighs.
He turns to Rohan. "Something urgent came up at home. I've gotta go."
"Alright," Rohan replies.
Rohan thinks to himself, "Fine, I'll head home too."
He steps out of the room. Just then the doctor intercepts him and asks, "Where's your friend?"
"He already left for home," Rohan answers.
"That little cheat!" the doctor snaps angrily. "He told me he'd transferred the money, but not a single rupee has reached my account. Now you're going to pay the bill!"
"How much was it?" Rohan asks.
"Five thousand," the doctor replies.
"What?!" Rohan's jaw drops. "Can you wait just a little?"
"No," the doctor says flatly. "But there's one condition: you'll clean the entire hospital until the money arrives from your family."
"What the—?!" Rohan yells, then slumps in defeat. "Fine…"
Meanwhile, Aryan sits in a rickshaw, staring out the window and thinking to himself,
"Why the hell should I blow five thousand rupees on a friend? Only idiots throw that kind of money at their buddies."
Aditya, Meena, and Grandma are sitting together in the living room. Just then, the doorbell rings. Meena rushes to open it. Aryan is standing there.
"What's this super-important thing you had to tell me?" Aryan asks Meena.
"Get inside first," Aditya calls out.
Aryan steps in and drops onto the sofa.
"Aditya brought gifts for us!" Meena blurts out, practically bouncing with excitement.
"I don't want any gift," Aryan says carelessly, slouching deeper into the sofa.
Aditya stays calm and speaks, "Fine, if you don't want it, no problem. Actually, the reason I called you here is this: the Raksha Company I work for just informed me that the Awakening Exam is tomorrow. They've given me permission to bring my brother and sister to take the test at Raksha Company."
"What?! The exam is free?" Meena asks, eyes wide.
"Yes," Aditya nods.
He continues, "Actually, I was planning to take only Meena—"
"What's the point?" Aryan cuts in lazily. "The government Awakening Exam is free anyway, right?"
"You're right," Aditya admits. "But Raksha Company is India's most powerful organization; they have the highest number of awakened hunters in the country. The real advantage is that your chances of awakening successfully jump by 25%. This opportunity is normally reserved only for VIPs or people the company personally invites."
Aryan smirks. "You're not a VIP. So why did they personally invite you?"
Aditya just smiles. "They did."
Meena's eyes sparkle with joy. She throws her arms around Aditya and squeals, "This is the best gift I've ever gotten!"
Aditya laughs, hugging her back. "I'm not that big a gift."
Grandma speaks up softly, "Take Aryan too."
"Of course I will," Aditya says, grinning. "I was just messing with him."
"What time do we have to reach the company tomorrow?" Aryan asks.
"Eight sharp," Aditya replies.
"Will you take Rohan too?" Aryan asks.
"Fine, bring him along," Aditya says.
Aryan dials Rohan's number.
At that exact moment, Rohan is still at the hospital, angrily mopping the floor with a bucket beside him. He picks up the call and snaps, "You have no idea what kind of hell you've put me through—"
"Forget all that crap," Aryan says. "Just listen. Be ready tomorrow morning at 8. We're going to Raksha Company."
"What?! Is Meena coming too?" Rohan asks, suddenly shy.
"Yeah, and Aditya as well," Aryan replies.
"Cool, see you in the morning," Rohan says quickly and hangs up.
Aryan stares at the phone and thinks, "What the hell is going on in this guy's head?"
Meena says softly, "Grandma wasn't feeling well today, so I cooked dinner myself."
"I already ate outside. I'm not hungry," Aryan replies flatly.
Meena's face falls a little.
Aditya raises an eyebrow. "Come on, Aryan. Be honest. Is it really that you're not hungry… or something else?"
Aryan thinks to himself, "I'm starving! Whatever little I ate earlier got knocked right out of me when that monster smashed us. My stomach's completely empty!"
Aditya pulls out his phone, quietly transfers five hundred rupees to Aryan's account, and adds a message:
"Just eat, idiot."
Aryan sees the notification, his eyes light up, and he instantly turns to Meena with a big grin.
"I was totally kidding! I'm starving!"
Grandma just sits there in her chair, smiling quietly to herself.
Aryan is fast asleep in his room, sprawled comfortably on the bed. Suddenly, his phone alarm blares. The screen shows 8:00 AM.
Hearing the noise, Aditya walks into the room and says, "Get up, Aryan! You'll be late for the exam!"
Still half-asleep, Aryan mumbles groggily, "I'll come… I'll come if I have to."
Aditya kicks Aryan hard. Aryan tumbles off the bed and lands on the floor with a thud, but he still doesn't get up.
Aditya snaps in frustration, "Fine! I'm taking Meena with me. If you want to come, come on your own!"
Aryan just stays sprawled on the floor, still fast asleep, completely unbothered.
The alarm blares again. This time the phone screen shows 10:00 AM.
Aryan jolts awake, grabs the phone, and realizes how late it is. He scrambles off the bed in a panic, rushes to the bathroom, quickly changes into a black full-sleeve shirt and jeans, runs a hand through his hair in front of the mirror to fix it, then throws open the door and dashes out.
Just then Grandma appears and says gently, "At least have breakfast first."
"I'm not eating," Aryan says. "I'm already super late. By the way, where are Aditya and Meena?"
"They left a long time ago," Grandma replies gently. "We tried waking you, but you just wouldn't get up."
"I'm going right now!" Aryan declares. He quickly touches Grandma's feet for blessings, then rushes out of the house.
Aryan starts looking around for his bicycle, but then it hits him: "My bike got completely wrecked in yesterday's monster attack!"
He thinks frantically, "How the hell am I going to get there fast now?"
Just then, the roar of a motorcycle engine echoes from outside. Aryan rushes out of the house and sees Rohan sitting on a bike, waiting for him. Rohan waves him over with a quick gesture.
Aryan sprints over to Rohan and says, panting, "You overslept too, huh?"
Rohan shakes his head. "Nah, I've been standing here for half an hour already!"
Aryan grins. "You're my real friend—waiting this long for me. Aditya didn't even bother to wait a second!"
Aryan hops onto the back of Rohan's bike.
"Gun it—full speed!" Aryan shouts. "We've gotta get there fast!"
Rohan hesitates. "Meena says we should always ride slowly so there's no chance of an accident."
Aryan smirks. "Did Meena say that… or was it your mom?"
"Just shut up and floor it, or I'll take the handlebars myself!"
"No way, I'm driving!" Rohan snaps back. "Watch this—full speed ahead!"
Rohan guns the throttle, and the bike roars forward at top speed. But barely a few seconds later, it sputters and dies completely.
"Now what the hell happened?!" Aryan yells in frustration. "The bike's probably broken. Your dad used to ride this thing, and now you're on it. How old is this relic anyway? I've told you a hundred times—buy a new one already!"
"I can't buy a new one," Rohan says quietly. "This bike was my dad's. It's a keepsake."
"Then keep it on display at home!" Aryan snaps. "Why drag it out on the road?"
"Whenever I ride it, I feel like Dad's right here with me," Rohan replies softly. "It makes me happy."
"Your happiness is about to cost me my exam!" Aryan shouts. "If I end up late because of this, I swear I'll smash your bike into pieces!"
Rohan falls silent for a moment, then points ahead.
"You see that truck up there? This road goes straight to Raksha Company. Climb onto it and ride on the roof!"
"Are you out of your mind?!" Aryan snaps.
But then he grins, sprints forward, leaps onto the back of the moving truck, and pulls himself up onto the roof.
He sits there gripping the edges tightly and thinks to himself,
"Please don't let anyone spot me!"
The truck lurches forward and picks up speed, but after just a short distance, it slams to a halt.
"Why the hell did this truck stop now?" Aryan mutters under his breath. He peers over the edge and sees the road ahead completely choked with a massive traffic jam.
He leans down toward the driver's window and shouts, "Hey! How long is this traffic going to last?"
The driver looks up, spots Aryan perched on the roof, and jumps in fright. "Who the hell are you?!"
"Answer my question first!" Aryan snaps.
"One or two hours," the driver replies, still staring up in shock.
"What?!" Aryan yells in frustration. He leaps off the truck roof, lands on the ground with a thud, and shouts at the driver, "My name's Aryan. I'm already super late—I'm outta here!"
The driver just sits there, frozen in disbelief, mouth hanging open.
Aryan backs away slowly, crouching like he's about to sprint, thinking to himself, "This is my only way out now."
He takes off at full speed, legs pumping.
After running a short distance, he spots an empty rickshaw up ahead. He rushes over to the driver and pants, "Take me to Raksha Company! Charge whatever you want—just go fast!"
The rickshaw driver calmly points ahead and says, "Look in front of you!"
Aryan looks straight ahead. There it stands—the massive, gleaming headquarters of Raksha Company, towering right in front of him.
He thinks to himself,
"My speed really is something! Looks like all that training with Uncle Nad really paid off."