Chapter 160: Calm before the storm

"John! You're up, huh?" Taro gave out a really nervous chuckle.

"Why wouldn't I be?" John asked, with a bizarre look on his face. "So, why were you talking about me?" He asked.

"We were not talking about you! There's a student named John in the second grade. We were talking about how playful he is." Taro spouted out lies as if it was nothing.

"I see. I thought you were talking about me. Continue talking then." John said as he walked away.

Once John was at a considerable distance from them, they could finally heave a breath of relief.

"For a person who spoke about how this place is too small, you sure talked loud enough for John to hear." Kunjan spoke.

"Hey! He did not hear it all, did he now? So, don't put the blame on me!" Taro cried.

"Whatever, dude! Just don't speak of him when he's home like this." Kunjan warned.

"I know. I'll keep that in mind." Taro replied.

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The school that day was really boring for Taro. He was already engrossed in the magical world of equipment building that normie stuff like teaching didn't excite anymore.

"You look so bored, you know that?" Abhirami pouted upon seeing Taro's listless expression.

"I know. I'm bored. Yup. Too bored. Ha… How are you doing?" He asked.

"I was doing fine in the morning, but your listlessness affected me and now I'm bored as well." She replied.

"Is there something you wanna do?" Taro asked.

"What do you mean?" Abhirami looked kinda confused.

"I mean, is there something you really wanna do. Like, for real?" Taro asked. However, it was too vague for Abhirami.

"Are you talking about my goals?" Abhirami asked.

"Hmm… I guess you can say it that way." Taro nodded his head along.

"Well, well… What made you curious about my goals?" She asked.

"Nothing much. I just felt like asking something to you and so I did." Taro replied.

"Ha.. I'm gonna talk about my goals before you change the meaning of your sentence to anything else." Abhirami sighed. "I'd like to become an astrologer." She replied.

"The one with the hand signs and stuff?" He asked.

"Shoot! I meant astronomer! Or at least, an astrophysicist. I wanna see some stars and shit." Abhirami replied.

"Oh, really? That's a nice wish to have." Taro smiled.

Seeing Taro smile, Abhirami continued speaking about her dreams. "If possible, I'd like to be a rapper, a beatboxer and a professional wrestler." She spoke.

"Hmm, the first two one seem like they might go hand in hand, but the third one seems too random. How come you choose it?" Taro asked.

"Well, I don't know. Wrestling seems cool. And I can't resist cool stuff. It's just that. I don't think I'll be able to be one, but I can dream, right?" Abhirami laughed.

"One day…" Taro spoke before stopping himself.

"Huh?"

"One day, if I invite you to see the stars up close, will you come with me?" He asked.

"Oh, my! Are you asking me out on a date right now?" Abhirami chuckled.

"Not really. Okay, don't think of me in that scenario. What if some random person invites you to see the stars up close?" He asked.

"I'll politely decline." She answered.

"Why?"

"Do you think I'm crazy or what? Going with some random man just because he promised me to show the stars… I'm an adult with a fully functional brain, you see? Ain't gonna go with some random man." She scoffed.

"Then what about me?" He asked.

"Hmm?"

"What if that random person was me?" He asked again.

"I wouldn't waste a heart to be with you on that journey." She replied with a bright smile on her face.

"Easy there, tiger. I'm still an unknown person. You don't know a lot of these secrets that I've been hiding. Don't trust me so easily." Taro spoke.

"Well, if I can't trust in you, I can't trust in most of the people near me. Like, you saved my life multiple times, dude! I trust you with all my heart." Abhirami continued on with her smile.

"Is that so? But something about you still worries me." Taro sighed like an old man.

"Well, we can work it ALL out in due time." She tried winking, but ultimately failed. So a weird closing of eyes is all that he saw.

"Ha, what a weird girl!" Taro sighed as he saw her move away, while even more teachers glared darts at him.

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The day ended up as another 'way too normal' day. It should've been a fun day, but it wasn't. Every time Taro got to enjoy a 'way too normal' day, he always ended up in an immense problem the very next day. And hence, rather than enjoying it, he was worried about the next day's shenanigans.

"How was your day?" Thankappan asked once they got in the Holy Land.

"... Way too normal." Taro replied.

"Oh, no!" It wasn't just Thankappan who exclaimed, the rest did so as well.

Initially, when such a thing happened, the aliens and Thankappan were quite keen on calling it a mere coincidence.

However, as time went by, the coincidences were too much and the superstition action turned into something that the Holy Land inmates fear as the calm before the storm.

And hence, the gang came into the living room to discuss it.

"So, what do you think it'll be? Any ideas?" Thankappan asked.

"Guys! Maybe this one is a false alarm. It might not happen." Taro replied.

"Nah, man! It'll happen. I guarantee it. The events directly preceding it might even start today… who knows?" Thankappan sounded extremely worried.

"Calm down, people! It might not-" Before Taro could say anything more, he was interrupted.

"This is not a discussion about whether it will happen. It's just a simple preparation. Even though nothing happens, we'll feel a bit more secure then." Thankappan explained his side. "So, what are our-" Someone rang the doorbell in the midst.

At first, the lads paid little attention for obvious reasons. But it seemed like they had no choice.

"It seems like we have no time to even build up a decent plan." Thankappan spoke as sweat beads rolled down his forehead.

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