The moment both girls entered the academy campus-

their energies immediately went in completely opposite directions.

Santosh practically forgot exhaustion existed.

Meanwhile Karishma looked one inconvenience away from collapsing emotionally.

The academy campus looked massive.

Tall buildings.

Training grounds.

Students dragging luggage everywhere.

Some seniors walked past confidently in uniforms while staff members handled registrations continuously near the entrance block.

Karishma quietly moved toward the registration office first.

Practical kaam pehle.

Emotions baad mein.

Meanwhile-

Santosh's attention had already shifted somewhere else completely.

Near the entrance wall-

large golden boards displayed names and photos of decorated officers.

Martyrs.

Award winners.

Bravery medal recipients.

Santosh slowly walked closer.

And then-

her eyes found one particular name.

For a second-

all her usual chaos disappeared quietly.

A tiny smile appeared on her face automatically.

Warm one.

Proud one.

Her fingers softly touched the metal name plate.

Because right there-

among all those officers-

was her father's name.

Recently honored.

Recently awarded.

Santosh stared at it silently for few moments.

Then very softly under her breath-

Santosh: "Dekha papa... hum bhi aa gaye."

Meanwhile-

inside the registration office-

Karishma had already completed paperwork somehow.

Signatures.

Verification.

ID checks.

Temporary schedules.

Room allocation.

The lady finally handed her one key.

Staff: "Room 2218."

Karishma nodded tiredly before dragging luggage again.

At almost the same time-

Santosh also collected her room key without properly listening to anything the staff explained.

Because obviously.

Why would she?

Now both girls unknowingly started heading toward the same room from completely different directions.

Karishma used stairs.

Because room first floor pe hi tha.

Santosh used lift.

Because walking apparently existed only for emergencies.

Few minutes later-

both reached the same corridor from opposite sides.

And stopped outside the same room.

2218.

Complete silence.

Karishma blinked once.

Then slowly-

Karishma: "Amma... tum?"

Santosh looked equally shocked for two seconds.

Then suddenly smiled brightly showing full teeth.

Santosh: "Bilkul."

The smile was so unnecessarily proud that Karishma physically rolled her eyes.

Karishma: "Don't tell me tumhara room bhi 2218 hai."

Santosh casually checked one pocket.

Then another.

Then jacket pocket.

Then froze.

Santosh: "Hawww."

A pause.

Santosh: "Chabi toh niche bhul aaye."

Karishma stared at her.

Long silence.

Karishma: "Toh tumhe pata kaise ki first floor pe aana hai?"

Santosh immediately pointed randomly behind herself.

Santosh: "Wo niche staff ne bola tha."

Then proudly-

Santosh: "First floor."

Karishma closed her eyes slowly.

Deep breath.

Controlling anger.

Meanwhile Santosh casually dropped one heavy bag beside herself without looking properly.

THUD.

Directly on Karishma's foot.

Karishma: "AAHHH-"

Santosh instantly gasped.

Santosh: "SORRY SORRY SORRY."

She immediately tried lifting the bag again while Karishma stood there silently questioning destiny.

Karishma: "Topa level insaan ho tum."

Santosh nodded proudly like compliment mila ho.

Then suddenly-

Santosh: "Ruko abhi aayi."

And immediately ran toward lift again.

Karishma stood there stunned.

Few seconds later-

she finally used her own key, opened the room and entered inside dragging luggage.

The room was actually decent.

Two beds.

Two study tables.

Balcony side window.

Cupboards.

Minimal setup.

Karishma had barely kept her bags down when-

after almost twenty minutes-

Santosh finally returned.

Breathing dramatically like Everest chadh ke aayi ho.

Karishma looked at her in disbelief.

Karishma: "Pure bees minute laga diye?"

A pause.

Karishma: "Sirf first floor se niche jaake upar aane mein?"

Santosh immediately defended herself.

Santosh: "Lift 20th floor pe thi!"

Then emotionally-

Santosh: "Hum kya karte?"

Karishma: "Training lene aayi ho ya retirement pe?"

Santosh ignored insult completely.

Santosh: "Wo sab chhodo."

Then proudly-

Santosh: "Chabi bag mein daal di thi maine."

Karishma froze.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

Karishma: "Matlab..."

Santosh nodded innocently.

Santosh: "2218 hai mera room number."

Karishma immediately held her forehead.

Karishma: "Satyanash."

Meanwhile Santosh still stood outside dramatically.

Santosh: "Aao bahar."

Karishma: "Kyu?"

Santosh: "Mai properly kholungi room."

Karishma stared at her lifelessly.

Then at the already open door.

Then back at her.

Karishma: "Aur acche se kaise kholte hai door?"

Santosh proudly folded arms.

Santosh: "Tum aao toh batati hu."

At this point-

Karishma genuinely wanted universe to explode.

Still-

she stepped outside again and locked the room.

Meanwhile Santosh stood confidently like secret military operation chal raha ho.

Karishma: "Amma kholo room."

Santosh suddenly froze again.

Santosh: "Oh ha..."

A pause.

Santosh: "Bag mein hai."

Karishma: "TOH NIKALO."

Now problem ye tha-

Santosh ke paas teen bags the.

One sling bag.

One trolley.

One backpack.

Aur obviously-

madam ko yaad nahi tha key kis mein hai.

Santosh immediately handed trolley toward Karishma.

Santosh: "Isme dhundo."

Then pointing toward herself-

Santosh: "Tab tak mai sling bag check karti hu."

Karishma took one dangerously deep breath.

Because in all this chaos-

her own room key bhi andar reh gayi thi.

She slowly sat on floor beside trolley and opened it.

And then-

the horror began.

First item.

Ring light.

Karishma blinked.

Second item.

Giant soft toy.

Third item.

Cat food packets.

Fourth item.

One fake decorative plant.

Fifth item.

Thick mythology book.

Sixth item.

Mosquito racket bat.

Seventh item.

Random steel dabba.

Eighth item.

Three packets of instant noodles.

Ninth item.

Tiny speaker.

Karishma stared blankly into trolley.

Complete silence.

Karishma: "Kapde kaha hai?"

She slowly looked upward.

Meanwhile nearby-

Santosh had opened sling bag and was peacefully removing banana, apple and biscuits from inside.

Still no key.

Then finally-

she opened backpack dramatically.

And from inside-

instead of books-

a chopping board came out.

Karishma's soul genuinely left body for few seconds.

Karishma: "Tum normal insan ki tarah kapde carry nahi karti?"

Santosh casually replied-

Santosh: "Nahi."

Then proudly-

Santosh: "Kapde yaha shopping karenge."

That was it.

Karishma slowly picked mosquito racket from trolley.

Pure violence in eyes.

Santosh sensed danger instantly.

And right at perfect timing-

one academy worker appeared near corridor.

Worker: "Madam?"

Both girls turned.

The worker held up one key.

Worker: "Ye lift ke paas gira hua tha."

Then checking paper-

Worker: "Room 2218?"

Santosh immediately jumped excitedly.

Santosh: "HAAN!"

Then dramatically-

Santosh: "Thank you thank you thank you."

Meanwhile beside her-

Karishma angrily squeezed the soft toy in her hand.

"Pucchuk."

Tiny squeaky sound echoed through corridor.

Santosh quickly unlocked the room dramatically before bowing sideways.

Santosh: "Aaiye."

Then proudly spreading hand-

Santosh: "Aapka swagat hai humare ghar mein."

Karishma threw the soft toy directly at her face and entered inside angrily.

Completely red from irritation now.

Meanwhile Santosh looked around destroyed luggage situation peacefully.

Santosh: "Yaar saman bikhar gaya."

Then naturally-

Santosh: "Saaf toh kar dete."

That sentence almost restarted war.

Karishma immediately slammed the washroom door loudly.

THADAAK.

Even Santosh got scared.

From inside-

Karishma shouted:

Karishma: "Khud pack karo. Jab ho jaye tab batana."

Outside-

complete silence for few seconds.

Then softly-

very softly-

Santosh opened Pinterest on her phone.

Santosh: "Waise aesthetic room setup kar sakte hai..."

A pause.

Then excitedly whispering to herself-

Santosh: "Pinterest pe bohot cute ideas save kiye hai maine."

. . .

Few hours later-

their room had slowly started looking less like disaster zone and slightly more like a room humans could survive in.

Well-

mostly because Santosh had forcefully decided the room needed "positive aesthetic vibes."

Meanwhile Karishma quietly folded her clothes properly inside the cupboard.

Unlike Santosh's side-

which already looked like one stationery shop, one café, and one random Amazon cart exploded together.

Tiny fake plants.

LED lights.

Polaroid clips.

One duck-shaped lamp for absolutely no reason.

And somehow-

a fake banana hanging near the study table.

Karishma looked at it once.

Then decided questioning reality was waste of energy.

Silently she opened her bag and carefully placed one small family album near her desk.

The moment her fingers touched the cover-

her expression softened slightly.

Just for a second.

Then she quietly looked away again.

. . .

After finishing unpacking-

both girls went downstairs for dinner.

The food was...

alive.

Which honestly felt enough at this point.

Santosh somehow complained about all four dishes while simultaneously eating double quantity.

And Karishma honestly looked too tired to even react anymore.

By the time they returned to room-

both were mentally and physically exhausted.

Karishma grabbed her night clothes quietly.

Karishma: "Hum fresh hoke aate hai."

Santosh was sitting cross-legged on bed searching:

«"Pinterest aesthetic hostel room ideas under budget."»

Without even looking up-

Santosh: "Hmm."

. . .

Inside the washroom-

Karishma washed her face tiredly before looking toward the basin.

And immediately froze.

Around fifteen different creams and tubes were lying there randomly.

Pink tube.

Blue tube.

Green tube.

One golden.

One tube literally glittering.

Karishma frowned.

Karishma (in mind): "Ye ladki skincare karti hai ya chemical experiments?"

Without thinking much-

she randomly picked one tube.

Opened it.

Applied little on face.

Silence.

Two seconds later-

Karishma blinked.

Then blinked again.

And suddenly-

Karishma: "AHHHH-"

Her entire face started burning aggressively.

Karishma immediately started hopping around the washroom like possessed squirrel.

Karishma: "AMMAAAAAA-"

The washroom door burst open dramatically.

Karishma came outside holding her cheeks.

Karishma: "SANTOSH YE KYA HAI?!"

Santosh looked up casually from phone.

Then saw Karishma dancing around the room in pain.

And immediately sat straight.

Santosh: "Arrey kya hua?!"

Karishma: "HUMARA CHEHRA JAL RAHA HAI!"

Santosh quickly grabbed the tube from her hand.

Read the label.

And the next second-

she collapsed backward laughing.

Santosh: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-"

Karishma looked emotionally betrayed.

Santosh somehow managed speaking between laughter.

Santosh: "Ye VOLINI hai!"

Karishma froze.

Santosh laughing harder now-

Santosh: "Face pe pain relief cream kisne lagaya?!"

Karishma: "HUME KYA PATA THA!"

At this point her eyes had literally watered.

Santosh finally controlled herself somehow and dragged her toward sink.

Santosh: "Paani se wash karo jaldi!"

For next two minutes-

Karishma aggressively washed face while Santosh stood beside her laughing every seven seconds again.

Finally after washing properly-

Karishma walked outside and collapsed dramatically on bed.

Completely done with life.

Karishma: "Rahu Ketu tum he ho humari zindagi mein."

Santosh instantly gasped.

Santosh: "HAWW."

Then offendedly folding arms-

Santosh: "Meri kya galti?"

Karishma immediately sat up.

Karishma: "Aise cream basin ke paas kaun rakhta hai?!"

Santosh defended herself instantly.

Santosh: "Toh puch leti!"

Then dramatically pointing toward washroom-

Santosh: "Waha 100 tube padhe the! Tumne random uthake muh pe chipka liya!"

Karishma opened mouth to argue-

then stopped herself.

Because honestly-

emotionally wo already unstable thi.

Aur abhi agar ladayi start hui-

tho ya toh murder hota ya room toot ta.

So instead-

she inhaled deeply.

Controlled anger.

And quietly laid back again.

Few seconds passed.

Then tired voice came-

Karishma: "Brush karna hai."

A pause.

Karishma suspiciously narrowed eyes.

Karishma: "Toothpaste konsa hai?"

Santosh was still busy scrolling room decor photos.

Without properly seeing-

she randomly picked one tube beside herself and handed it over.

Santosh: "Ye wala."

Karishma stared at it suspiciously.

Then went inside again.

. . .

Few seconds later-

brush karte waqt-

Karishma froze.

Weird taste.

Very weird taste.

Like toothpaste and death mixed together.

Her eyebrows slowly frowned.

Confusion.

Concern.

Fear.

Very slowly-

she looked toward the tube.

Read label.

And saw-

ITCHGUARD.

Complete silence.

One second later-

BHAAAM.

Washroom door opened aggressively.

Karishma walked outside looking absolutely homicidal.

Toothbrush in one hand.

Tube in another.

Karishma: "SANTOSHHHHH."

Santosh looked up innocently.

Karishma pointed tube toward her like courtroom evidence.

Karishma: "YE TOOTHPASTE HAI?!"

Santosh leaned forward.

Looked carefully.

Silence.

Then-

Santosh: "...oh."

Karishma stared.

Santosh slowly started moving backward on bed.

Santosh: "Galti se de diya."

Karishma looked one second away from Crime Patrol episode.

In pure rage-

she threw toothbrush toward nearby bucket.

THAAK.

The loud sound scared Santosh so badly that all the aesthetic printed photos in her hand flew dramatically everywhere.

Santosh: "AREYYY!"

Karishma: "TUM NORMAL INSAN KI TARAH SAMAN CARRY NHI KARTI?!"

Santosh instantly defended herself.

Santosh: "Arrey tumhare daant mein kiddhe honge toh mar jayenge na!"

And unfortunately-

she accidentally burst out laughing again.

Worst possible decision.

Karishma slowly picked up nearby pillow.

Santosh saw it.

And survival instincts activated instantly.

Santosh: "RUKO-"

Too late.

Karishma launched pillow directly toward her.

Santosh screamed dramatically and jumped from bed.

Then for next five minutes-

entire hostel corridor heard only-

Santosh: "BACHAAOOO-"

Karishma: "AAJ HUM CHHODNE WALE NHI HAI!"
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✍️ - 2061 Words

That's it for today's chapter! ✨
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