Hizashi No Kage

  Chapter - 10

  All the spectators were either stunned or making a lot of noise. But on the faces of Manjula, Ramya, and Zavier, there were clear signs of worry.

  Ramya spoke first: “I’ll go to the medical room and bring a healer.”

  “Hurry up—he could collapse any moment,” Manjula said.

  In his usual serious tone, Zavier remarked, “This boy is really crazy.”

  Akash was just approaching Bob when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his body—right near his heart. The pain was so intense that he immediately fainted and collapsed.

  When Akash opened his eyes, he found a healer from the medical room, Tara Ma’am, healing him. Bob was standing nearby too.

  Later, Akash learned that he had unknowingly entered **mana overflow**. That’s why it happened. Bob also told him that if Ramya hadn’t brought Tara Ma’am at the right time, Akash wouldn’t have survived.

  *(Extra info: Mana overflow occurs when, despite having very little mana left, a user forcibly tries to cast powerful magic from their body. Not everyone can do this—it requires extremely strong physical and mental power.)*

  Losing a duel was considered a huge disgrace for anyone. Some people even took their own lives after losing a duel.

  The effect this defeat had on Rocky was that, from that day onward, he stopped bullying anyone. Instead, he joined the Disciplinary Committee and began working for the welfare of the students.

  Akash had to spend two full days in the medical room. Because of this, he fell even further behind in his studies. He was already worried that he lagged behind the other kids in many ways, and now he was even more behind.

  He didn’t have any friend in the Knight class who could help him either.

  Anyway, as soon as he was discharged from the medical room, Akash went straight to the Mage Students’ building—not to meet Bob, but to thank Ramya.

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  Ramya was on her way to the hostel for some work when she ran into Akash on the path. Akash thanked her two or three times and asked if there was anything he could do for her in return.

  Ramya was holding three or four thick books. She handed them to Akash and said, “I’m heading to the hostel right now. Come with me carrying these books.”

  Akash quietly followed Ramya.

  Akash couldn’t enter the girls’ hostel, so he stopped outside. Ramya went inside with the books.

  Just then, a dog came running from the girls’ hostel garden and stopped near Akash. At first Akash got scared, thinking it might bite him, but the dog started jumping around him happily. It looked very excited.

  Something clicked in Akash’s mind—“Hira!” He jumped up with joy and hugged Hira tightly.

  At that moment, Manjula also arrived, looking for Hira.

  She was in casual home (hostel) clothes, not her uniform.

  Seeing her in those clothes, Akash felt a little shy. She looked even more beautiful to him than usual—more beautiful than ever.

  “Hira, why are you so happy, huh?” Manjula said. Her tone was quite informal too.

  Akash remembered their first meeting.

  “Hira never goes to anyone except me and Ramya. How did he come to you?” Manjula was surprised because it was truly the first time Hira was playing with someone other than her and Ramya.

  In his mind, Akash thought irritably: *Because, forgetful girl, everyone except you remembers me.*

  But Manjula quickly took Hira and left. She had no interest in talking to Akash.

  Just then Ramya came back too. Now she had to return to the hostel. Akash walked along with her.

  On the way, Akash casually joked, “Ramya, did Manjula hit her head or something? Is that why all the memories that included me got wiped out?”

  Ramya stopped dead in her tracks. Her face became stiff.

  Seeing her reaction, Akash realized he had accidentally hit upon something true—something he shouldn’t have.

  Taking a long, deep breath, Ramya began speaking slowly: “Listen, don’t ever mention this to anyone. Very few people know about it. Even not everyone in the Windheart family knows. Not even Zavier.

  When Didi was 13 years old, she fell down the stairs. She was badly injured. All the other injuries healed, but some parts of her memory were lost forever! And no elixir could fix that memory loss.

  There were gaps in her memory. For some time it was very difficult for all of us, but slowly everything got better. We created new memories with Di.”

  *(Not everything got better. The memories that included me were erased, Akash thought to himself.)*

  “You must not tell this to anyone—and especially never mention it in front of Di, not even by mistake. The priest who healed her told us that if we forcefully try to bring back her old memories, the consequences could be terrible. Do you understand? Promise me you won’t tell anyone. Promise.”

  Ramya extended her hand. Akash placed his hand on hers and promised he wouldn’t tell anyone.

  But then another question came to his mind.

  “Ramya, I was just guessing. You could have brushed it off, and I would have believed you. Why did you tell me the whole thing?” Akash asked.

  “Because I need one more promise from you,” Ramya said. “Promise me that you will never do anything or say anything in front of Di that might remind her of that incident from 8 years ago. Promise me that you will stay away from Di.”

  Akash felt as if he had been punched, but he still gave the promise.

  Ramya left.

  Akash stood there feeling empty.

  But then a thought immediately came to his mind: *If Manjula’s memory hadn’t been lost, she would definitely have remembered me. Yes, definitely remembered me—and then she would have treated me properly too. She didn’t forget me on purpose; those memories were simply erased.*

  Now he didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad about this realization.

  ---

  Ramya had hidden one thing from Akash. One reason she extracted such a promise from him was that **Akash himself was the person who could bring back Manjula’s memories**. And if Manjula’s memories returned, she would surely break her engagement with Zavier—because the boy Manjula had liked even before Zavier was none other than Akash. And if the engagement broke, it would definitely create a rift between the Windheart and Flameheart families.