Third Person's POV

Naina walked inside the mess after her morning drill, and saw Major Nair sitting alone at one of the tables, eating his breakfast.

'This is the perfect time to start my mission against this big-headed chauvinistic pompous man,' she thought and quickly walked to the table where he was seated.

Reaching there, she started speaking.

"I am sorry for arguing with you yesterday, Sir. I have realized I was wrong, and I hope you will forgive me," she said, trying to bring as much remorse in her face as she could manage.

Nair smiled victoriously at Naina. "It's good that you have understood, Cadet. Soon you will also agree there is no place for girls in the army. I can already see you being thrown out of this academy."

'We will see about that,' Naina thought on the inside, but on the outside, she nodded at Nair. "I hope you will guide me, Sir, so I can at least graduate from KMA."

"I will try, Cadet, but you see girls are so weak that they don't do well in the military academy. If only you girls were half as good as boys," Nair said wistfully and Naina fisted her hands to curb her annoyance.

"Umm, Sir, I think you have dropped something under the table," Naina said, pointing on the floor, and Nair started looking for what he dropped.

Seeing the chance, Naina quickly took out the powder from her pocket and put it in his juice.

"Cadet Singh, there is nothing here under the table," Nair shouted at her.

"Oh, I am sorry, Sir. I must have been mistaken. After all, I am a girl, and I am hungry too. So, I will go and eat something." Naina hastily walked away from there to get her breakfast, not knowing that Rajveer, who was seated two tables behind Nair, had observed the whole interaction.

'What are you up to, Cadet Singh?' Rajveer wondered.

If it were any other faculty member, he would have done something. But because it was Nair, he felt that the slimeball deserved whatever Naina has planned for him.

It will be fun to watch too.

Gosh, it has been a long time since he has had any fun in life.

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The whole KMA, including Rajveer and Naina, gathered in front of Major Nair's quarter when they heard him screaming.

"What do you think, Captain? Why is Major Nair screaming this way?" Shalini asked Rajveer, and he smiled at her.

Dr. Shalini Singhal was one of his colleagues in one of his previous missions, and he had formed a good friendship with her during that time.

She is a jolly person but has one bad habit. She loves gossips. There is nothing that can pass by without her knowing about it.

"Oh, I do not know, Doc. I hope it's nothing serious," Rajveer told her the half-truth.

He knows this is the result of that powder which Cadet Naina Singh had mixed in Nair's drink.

He hopes it is nothing too serious because if it is, he will have to report about it, and he does not want to do that.

He does not know why, but he feels protective towards that cadet. She looks strong and cheerful from the outside, but there is a certain sad aura around her that attracts him toward her.

Rajveer jolted out of her thoughts when he heard someone speak.

"I just hope it gets over quickly so that we can return to do our work," Lolita said Rajveer and Shalini when she reached where they were standing outside Nair's quarter.

Rajveer shook his head, hearing Lolita. She still has not changed.

Subedar Lolita Sen was one of his teachers when he was a cadet here, and she was as strict and direct then as she is now. Although she has a good heart, she does not ever tolerate indiscipline or tardiness, no matter who it is.

He was about to knock the quarter's door but stopped when he saw Brigadier Chandok wakking toward them.

Everyone quietened as Brigadier reachec there.

"All the cadets return to your classes now. Only faculty members may remain here," Brigadier ordered sternly.

When all the students walked away from there, only Brigadier Chandok, Captain Rajveer, Dr. Shalini, Subedar Suri, and Subedar Lolita remained outside the quarter.

Brigadier then turned and knocked on Nair's door.

"Major Nair, open the door now," Brigadier ordered, and the door opened after a couple of minutes.

Rajveer went inside the room, along with Brigadier and other faculty members, and almost laughed, seeing Nair's condition.

He quickly covered his laugh with a cough.

Nair was standing in the middle of the room, scratching his whole body. His hands and his face were red with scratch marks over them.

"Major Nair, what happened?" Brigadier asked Nair, to which Nair replied, "I do not know, Sir. I came to my room after having my breakfast, and suddenly this itching started. I have been scratching for an hour, but it just does not stop."

"Maybe you got an allergy from something you ate during the breakfast," Dr. Shalini suggested, and everyone except Rajveer agreed with that.

Rajveer knew this was because of the powder that Naina had mixed in Nair's juice, but he also wondered what her goal might be in doing this with Nair.

But whatever her goal was, it was fun seeing this slimeball in trouble.

So, he decided to sit back and see where all this will lead to.

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Rajveer was walking towards the class when he collided with Naina.

"I am sorry, Sir. I did not see you coming," Naina apologized.

"It's ok, Cadet Singh," Rajveer replied, frowning at her as she seemed somewhat lost.

"Are you ok, Cadet?" He asked.

"Yes. I am fine, Sir," Naina replied, hesitantly looking at Rajveer.

"By the way, what had happened to Major Nair? I heard he had severe rashes?" Naina asked him, trying to sound casual.

She wanted to know if Nair was ok.

Yes, she wants to punish him, but she does not want him to get seriously harmed or injured.

"Oh, he is fine now. Dr. Shalini said he got an allergy from the breakfast he ate, but I am not sure if that is the reason behind his condition," Rajveer told her, wanting to see her reaction.

Naina immediately stiffened, hearing him. "What do you mean, Sir?"

"I think it is because of the powder," he said, pausing to get her reaction, and was satisfied by her shocked reaction. "I mean talcum powder, Cadet Singh. You know they mix so many chemicals in cosmetics nowadays. It could be a reaction from that."

Rajveer was having so much fun teasing Naina.

He does not know why, but he feels so different around this girl.

Naina understood then that Captain Rajveer knew it was all her doing and wondered why he did not tell Brigadier or anyone else about this.

She wanted to ask him but thought better of it. What if he changed his mind and decided to punish her?

"Umm, Sir, I am getting late for my class. I should go," she said, to which Rajveer replied, "Yes, Cadet. You should hurry since it is my class for which you are getting late."

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Naina

I entered the library, lost in my thoughts.

My only purpose behind joining KMA is to prove Naveen's innocence, but I do not know where to start. I do not have any clue to decide which way I should go that would lead me to evidence of my brother's innocence.

I feel like Captain Rajveer is the one person in the academy who can tell me about Naveen's case, but I am not sure if I can trust him.

After the other night, I am sure he does not consider Naveen as his friend anymore, and I do not know what he would do if he finds out I am Naveen's sister.

What if he went to Brigadier and revealed my identity to him? I will be expelled from the academy.

'No. I cannot risk that. I cannot let Captain Rajveer know my real identity.'

Thinking that, I walked out of the library, checking out the book I needed for my assignment, and went toward the mess to have dinner.

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Third Person's POV

Once at the mess, Naina took her dinner and went to the table where Pooja was seated with the other cadets.

"Oi, missed call. Where was your signal jammed? I searched for your network everywhere, but on not finding you, I came here alone to recharge my battery," Pooja started talking to Naina in her unique cellphone language.

Before Naina could say anything, Pooja started again, not letting her speak.

"By the way, meet these guys, he is Yudi, short for Yadhuvansh Sahani, he is Ali Baig, he is Aalekh Sharma, and he is Amardeep Huda. They are our batch mates," Pooja introduced Naina to the boys.

"Pooja, Naina already knows me. We have spoken before," Huda told Pooja, and Naina rolled her eyes. She so does not need his attention right now.

"Yes, Pooja, he was deluded, and I properly gave him the medicine. Didn't I, Huda?" Naina fired back at him, and everyone at the table laughed except Aalekh.

Naina observed the other three guys quietly.

Yudi had a child-like face, open and honest. He had a carefree attitude and a contagious smile.

Ali had a more serious face. The one you would see in those rule-abiding people who are brought up with profound values and norms.

And then there was Aalekh. He had this sullen expression on his face and a hint of sadness in his eyes that Naina could identify. After all, she had also been through so much in the last four years.

"You did the right thing showing this blockhead the mirror," Aalekh told her quietly, and Naina was surprised by his language.

Yudi saw Naina's reaction and explained to her. "Naina, Aalekh is sent here by a judge. He had committed a crime and is sent here to reform."

"Oh, ok," Naina replied simply.

"Don't you want to know what crime he committed? For ages now, we have been asking him, but he does not tell us," Huda complained.

"It is his secret, Huda. If he does not want to share, we cannot force him to. Sometimes we need to understand someone's silence too," Naina replied.

That statement made Aalekh look up at Naina.

He has never met someone who could understand his silence. He has met many people in his life, some looked at him with disgust, and some looked at him with pity but never has someone looked at him with understanding.

The moment he looked at Naina's face, he could see both innocence and maturity, rare to find in people nowadays.

"Naina is right, Huda. We have asked him, and he has refused to tell us. Now it will be better not to interfere," Ali told Huda, and Huda just rolled his eyes at him.

Naina finished her dinner and stood up to leave.

"Goodnight, guys. I will see you tomorrow in class," she said. "Are you coming, Pooja?"

"Yes, my battery has recharged, and now I want to go on sleep mode. Let us go, Naina. Goodnight, everyone," Pooja said to the boys, and both girls went to their room.

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Rajveer

Leaving my room after the lights out, I headed straight toward Brigadier Chandok's office.

I had been distracted by Naina last night, and I cannot afford to lose any more time.

The faster I find out about the spy, the closer I will get in my mission to protect the country and prove Naveen's innocence.

My intuition tells me Naveen's case is somehow related to this spy because four years ago Naveen was posted at KMA for the same duty I am posted here this time.

Reaching Brigadier's office, I entered inside, using the key I had gotten by tricking an orderly.

I then directly walked toward the drawer where I know Brigadier keeps all the forms containing information about every cadet and every faculty member.

Opening the drawer, I smiled in relief as I saw all the documents I needed neatly placed there.

Once I retrieved those forms, I walked towards the photocopy machine and started making a copy of all the forms.

After finishing that, I quickly walked out of the office and headed toward my quarter but not before returning the key to its original place so no one would know about me breaking into the Brigadier's office.

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Entering my quarter, I sat on the couch in my living room and started going through the forms.

I began with cadets' forms first and searched for anything which looked suspicious.

I was halfway through when I found Cadet Naina Singh's form.

As expected, her address in the form is Mumbai's address, but I know now it is false.

Taking out my phone, I clicked a picture of Naina's form and forwarded it to Lieutenant Roshan Chaubey, who has been assigned to assist me in this mission.

After that, I called Chaubey, telling him to confirm Naina Singh's address.

I am almost sure now that she is not a spy, but I still want to know why she has joined KMA. Is it really to become an army officer or if she has any ulterior motive?

Hanging up the phone with Chaubey, I kept my phone on the table in front of me and continued looking through cadets' forms.

Not finding anything else in cadets' forms, I started looking through the faculty members' forms.

All the others were already in the academy, but one faculty member was still left to arrive.

I frowned as I looked through that faculty member's form who is supposed to arrive in KMA soon. She is a psychiatrist and would be conducting regular classes and sessions with the cadets.

"Dr. Ritu Mishra," I whispered, and I do not know why, but the name sounded familiar to me.

It felt as if I have heard her name before but could not remember when and where I have heard it.