Vidyashree Academy
By the second week of school, Class 5 had settled back into its familiar rhythm—half noisy, half sleepy, always chaotic.
But today was different.
From the moment the bell rang, the air carried a quiet tension that didn't belong to children. Even the usual troublemakers sat straighter than normal.
Because today was DHARA Domain Selection Day.
Thin white forms lay on every desk.
Four boxes. Four paths.
Business & Management
Science
Arts
Sports
A future squeezed into four neat squares.
Nandini Ma'am walked in with her usual calm warmth—the kind that softened corners but didn't hide expectations. She adjusted her glasses, set her books down, and smiled at the class.
"All right, children. Choose carefully. Your domain will guide your activities for the year. No hurry—read fully, decide properly."
Pens clicked.
Bodies shifted.
The room grew quiet enough for paper to sound loud.
And then—
The classroom door slid open.
A girl walked in—straight spine, crisp uniform, ponytail so neat it almost defined her. Her presence was sharp but not loud.
Riya.
The new transfer.
"S-sorry, ma'am… I came late. Office ma'am sent me."
"It's okay, beta," Nandini Ma'am said gently. "Take the last seat for now. We'll shift you later."
Every single head turned.
The class watched as Riya walked in with the confidence of someone who had been first in every room she'd ever entered.
Whispers rose immediately.
"New girl, ah?"
"She topped four subjects last year."
"Ninety-five percent, dude. Last year our topper was 92 only."
Riya heard that last number.
Her chin lifted the smallest bit—not arrogance, not pride, just acknowledgment. She had lived in percentages for years.
She knew weight.
She knew expectation.
She knew how scores shaped reputations.
She didn't, however, expect to hear the next line.
"Marks are just marks though. Aryan and Sagar were still the best in third."
Riya didn't turn—but her eyes shifted.
To the two boys in the center row.
Sagar, calm and composed, doodling on his sheet as though the world couldn't move him.
Dependable. Balanced. The kind of boy teachers trusted to handle group work without drama.
Aryan, head bowed slightly, fingers pressed to his forehead like he was trying to silence a headache he'd carried for years.
Quiet. Alert.
A silence that wasn't shy—it was heavy.
Riya felt something bristle inside her.
She hated being compared before she even spoke.
And here, she was already second.
---
Nandini Ma'am began calling out domains.
"Tanish?"
"Science, ma'am."
"Savithri?"
"Arts, ma'am."
Their confidence sparked friendly applause.
Then came the question that tilted the entire room.
"Business & Management… anyone choosing this?"
A long pause.
Everyone knew this domain was a battlefield—projects, pitches, real-world logic. Not for the faint-hearted.
Then—
Aryan lifted his pen.
Quiet. Clean. Certain.
He ticked the box.
Heads shot around.
"He chose Business?"
"He should take Science! He's made for it."
"What is he doing?"
Aryan ignored the murmurs. His headache pulsed like a punishment, but his hand was steady.
He didn't look up.
He didn't explain.
He simply decided.
And then—
"I will choose Business & Management too, ma'am."
Riya's voice cut cleanly through the silence.
This time, the reaction was different.
"Of course she will."
"She's got the background. Her family runs a textiles shop."
"Ambitious girl."
Riya walked to submit her form. She could feel Aryan beside her—his stillness, his indifference.
He didn't look at her.
Didn't acknowledge her.
Didn't react.
It irritated her more than direct competition ever could.
---
Aditi leaned over Aryan's desk, checking if he'd signed properly.
A ritual she did every year.
He looked at her once.
A quiet, private smile.
Small, but real.
Aditi mirrored it—soft warmth blooming where the world rarely looked.
They spoke nothing.
They didn't need to.
Across the room, Riya saw that.
Saw something she couldn't define.
Saw the familiarity, the comfort, the ease.
Saw another reminder that she had walked into a world with its own map—one she didn't control.
Her annoyance sharpened into something clearer:
If he's the center here, then that's the spot she wants.
---
Nandini Ma'am collected the last forms and clapped lightly.
"All right, children. Domains are done. Afternoon we'll begin orientation. Be prepared."
The bell rang.
Chairs scraped back.
Students stormed out—talking, shouting, teasing.
"Business ah? God save them da…"
Riya packed slowly, watching Aryan and Sagar walk out together.
Sagar talking, Aryan silent.
One shield, one blade.
She had expected to enter this school and set the standard.
Instead, she discovered she was stepping into a space already shaped by someone else.
She wasn't fighting for marks.
She was fighting for territory.
---
Across the city — Arclight Dominion Academy
Thunder rolled across the sky, shaking windows, sharpening edges.
The atmosphere in Class 5-A was the opposite of Vidyashree Academy's chaos—
Disciplined.
Ambitious.
Elite.
Ms. Ananya Rao walked between desks with the ease of someone who had handled prodigies all her life.
"Science… good. Sports—nice. Business & Management—excellent choice."
Radhika signed her form with steady confidence.
The whispers around her were expected.
"She's taking Business? Obviously."
"She'll top again."
She ignored them—until a girl across the room lifted her hand.
"I'm choosing Business too, ma'am."
Zoya.
The only student who had ever matched her in debate speed.
Then—
Ritvik.
The boy who beat her by one question in the inter-school quiz.
Competition built itself effortlessly.
Radhika smiled.
She liked worthy opponents.
But her mind drifted—
—to someone who wasn't here.
A boy from another school.
A boy who didn't raise his voice yet silenced entire rooms.
A boy who once dismantled her argument with pure logic.
Aryan Kumar.
If he chose Business this year…
…then this year would finally have meaning.
She signed her name.
Thunder rumbled again.
---
BACK TO VIDYASHREE
Riya stepped into the corridor just as the first drop of rain hit the ground.
Aryan, ahead of her, paused for a fraction of a second—just long enough to feel the shift in the wind.
Riya saw that.
A boy who didn't look up…
…yet always sensed the change.
Her fingers tightened on her bag.
This wasn't going to be a normal year.
Not for her.
Not for him.
Not for anyone.
Somewhere deep inside the school's administrative office, an unread email blinked quietly on the screen—
subject line: DHARA: Updated Candidate Shortlist.