The infirmary was too white.
The kind of white that made your skin feel thin.
A quiet hum filled the air — maybe a fan, maybe a scream stuck in someone's throat.
Ryu blinked slowly.
Everything was blurry... then shapes formed.
Kabir.
Avi.
A nurse adjusting bandages.
Pain throbbed at the side of her head — dull, but heavy.
"Ryu?" Kabir leaned in, eyes soft but worried.
She winced. "What... happened?"
Avi came closer. "You were hit. On the ground. A football. Hard."
She frowned. "I remember... someone throwing it. The laugh. That's all."
Her voice dropped. "I don't remember falling."
Kabir and Avi shared a glance.
"You passed out," Kabir said gently.
"I did?"
He nodded.
She looked away. "I thought I just... dodged it."
A beat of silence passed.
She wasn't lying.
She really didn't remember the worst part.
The door swung open — Arjun Joshi stormed in, his eyes scanning the room like he was ready to burn it down.
The moment he saw her, his face softened. "Ryu..."
"I'm okay," she said quickly, even though she wasn't.
"No, you're not," he said, kneeling beside her bed. "Tell me who did this."
"I don't know." Her voice cracked. "I remember the ball... not after."
Kabir finally spoke.
"She was targeted. Not an accident."
Avi added, "The rest of the boys ran. But one didn't."
Arjun's expression darkened. "Who?"
Kabir's jaw tensed. "Reyan."
[Outside – Backstairs: Reyan]
He sat on the cracked back staircase, hands on his knees, staring into nothing.
Everything played back in slow motion — the push, the ball, the blood, the frozen moment when he did nothing.
He wanted to believe he hadn't meant for it to happen.
But that excuse was running out.
He flinched when the door slammed open beside him.
Arjun.
The fury in his eyes was electric.
"You stood there while she bled," Arjun hissed.
"I didn't touch her."
"But you didn't stop them," Arjun said, stepping in. "And that makes you worse."
Reyan didn't argue.
Didn't defend.
He just sat there.
Like someone trying to drown without struggling.
[Infirmary]
Ryu turned her head toward Kabir.
"Did Reyan..." She hesitated. "Was he part of it?"
Kabir's voice was a whisper. "He didn't throw the ball. But he was there."
Ryu swallowed hard.
She touched her temple gently, eyes clouded.
Why was he always watching her?
And why did her body react with fear before her mind even knew what was happening?
Maybe forgetting the pain was her brain's way of protecting her.
But what about the silence that followed?
📖 END OF CHAPTER 7
👉 Why did Ryu forget the fall?
👉 Will Reyan ever say the truth?
👉 And is this the beginning of something darker in Section C?