Match had ended.
Players were leaving. The crowd was dispersing.
Just then, Viraj heard a voice—
"Hey. Boy. Stop."
Viraj stopped. Turned.
Ranvijay was standing there. Straight. Calm.
Viraj looked at him — "What is it?"
Ranvijay came straight to the point —
"In the end, how did you catch me at that moment? I had already analyzed everything beforehand — how did you do that?"
Viraj looked at Ranvijay for a second. Then — with attitude — said:
"If you figured out that I already knew about your trap beforehand… then how did you not figure out this?"
Ranvijay's expression froze for a second.
Shock.
He didn't expect that.
Viraj had already turned — while leaving, he slowly said —
"Very soon… I'll take everything from you — your name, the praise of your name — every single thing."
Ranvijay stood there. First shock. Then —
A slight smile.
"Yeah. Sure. Why not."
~ Cut ~
SCHOOL — SPORTS ROOM
The room was dark. The screen was running.
Viraj was sitting alone — leaning forward, eyes on the screen. Senior kabaddi match footage. No notes. Just observing.
Just then the door opened —
"ARE YAAR! What are you doing here? Come on — there's a program in school today!"
Ram. Viraj's friend. He had nothing to do with kabaddi.
Viraj didn't take his eyes off the screen —
"Yeah yeah, I know. Let it be, man. There's a match here — it's more useful."
Ram walked inside — "No listen — it's not a normal program."
Now Viraj looked at him — "Then?"
"It's a camp. Kabaddi related."
Viraj — "...What?"
"Yeah."
A second of silence.
"Let's go."
Both ran.
~ Cut — 12 Years Ago ~
PAST — VIRAJ, 12 YEARS OLD
He was sitting alone at the corner of the ground.
There was dirt in his hand.
What had happened a while ago — he remembered it. There was a cricket match. He had wanted to play too.
"You'll play? You can't even lift the bat properly — you'll get out instantly."
Laughter. Then more laughter.
He was weak. That was his tag. Every time in cricket — Viraj can't play. He's too weak. Again and again. Every time.
He wanted to close his eyes —
Just then —
"Kabaddi! Kabaddi! Kabaddi!"
He opened his eyes.
On the other side of the ground, a kabaddi match had started. No uniform, no setup — just kids and a line. One raider moved forward chanting. Went in. Touched a player and came back.
So simple. So clear.
Viraj — really liked it.
He leaned forward a little.
Second raider came. Viraj watched carefully — movement, timing, direction —
"He'll go right now," he said to himself.
Raider went left.
Wrong.
Viraj pressed his lips. Fine. Then watched again.
Third raider —
"He'll stop now. Then go inside."
Raider kept moving straight. Didn't stop.
Wrong again.
But Viraj didn't get up.
He leaned in even more.
Why didn't he stop? There were more defenders on the left. So logically he should've stopped or gone right. Unless he was deliberately unpredictable? Or did I read the weight shift wrong?
Predictions were failing. Again and again.
But observation — that was correct. He could see what was happening. Right now, he just couldn't understand why.
And that gap — it wasn't permanent. It was just a matter of time.
That 12-year-old boy — who had been sitting there broken a while ago — couldn't get up for hours now.
Just kept watching.
Kept learning.
~ Cut — Camp ~
CAMP
There was sunlight on the big ground.
Players were standing in a line. Different schools. Different faces. Some nervous. Some excited.
From one side, a figure came.
He didn't walk — he moved. There was purpose in every step.
He stopped in front of the players.
Looked across the entire line —
And then —
Smiled.