Ravi's heart hadn't stopped racing since he stepped onto the college campus.
Everything was the same—and yet so different.
The peeling posters on the bulletin board, the echo of laughter from the cafeteria, the cool shade of the banyan tree near the entrance where students always lingered before class—all exactly how he remembered.
Except this time… he wasn't the same.
Every face he passed brought a mix of nostalgia and guilt. He caught glimpses of people he'd teased, mocked, or ignored. They didn't look at him with hate—not yet. But he saw the innocence in their expressions, the untouched timeline where he hadn't hurt them yet.
It was both comforting and terrifying.
He clutched the strap of his backpack tighter, trying to breathe through the whirlwind of emotions.
He was back. Truly back.
And with this second chance, he had no excuse to repeat the darkness.
---
The first lecture was a haze.
Not because it was boring or difficult, but because Ravi couldn't stop his eyes from wandering. He watched his classmates not as a student, but like someone watching ghosts—ghosts of what had been.
He saw Payal—bright, cheerful, with her hair tied up in a red ribbon. He remembered the day he tricked her into thinking he liked her, only to humiliate her in front of his friends.
She smiled at someone near her and scribbled notes, unaware of the painful memory she carried in Ravi's heart.
Then there was Arjun, the guy he once beat up just for standing up to him during a class argument.
So many names. So many scars.
And then...
Rohit.
Ravi saw him through the classroom window during the lunch break. Sitting alone at the edge of the garden, quietly eating his lunch, a book open beside him.
A lump formed in Ravi's throat.
He's still kind. Still quiet. Still the same.
Rohit didn't deserve what Ravi did to him in their last life.
Ravi remembered everything—the cruel rumors he spread, the constant public humiliation, the physical bullying, and finally… the unforgivable.
Ravi had dated Rohit's mother.
Not because he loved her.
But because he knew how much it would crush Rohit.
He manipulated her, toyed with her heart, then abandoned her—leading to a spiral of pain and eventual tragedy.
Her death wasn't just a tragedy.
It was a murder of the soul.
And in the final moments of Ravi's first life, it was Rohit who stood over him—bloodied, crying, but resolute—as the car burned and life slipped from Ravi's grasp.
"I hate you," Rohit had whispered. "I'll never forgive you."
Those words had haunted Ravi every night.
But now… now he had a chance.
---
He waited until the library was quiet, until the aisles emptied and the weight of the afternoon silence pressed gently on the room.
He spotted Rohit sitting alone by a window, flipping through a book.
The sunlight slanted across the floor, casting long, golden beams.
Ravi took a shaky breath and stepped closer.
His heart thundered.
His palms were sweaty.
But he was ready.
Or so he thought.
"Rohit…" he whispered.
Rohit looked up, blinking. He didn't recognize Ravi immediately—not with the softer face, not with the gentler eyes.
Ravi opened his mouth to speak—to apologize, to beg.
But before he could utter a word—
A cold wind swept through the aisle.
Time… stopped.
Literally.
The pages of books froze mid-flutter. A pen falling from a desk hovered in midair. Dust motes glittered, suspended like stars.
Ravi's breath caught.
Then—
A hand gently closed over his mouth from behind.
Strong. Warm. Divine.
> "Not yet."
The voice was deep, echoing in a place beyond the ears—in the soul itself.
> "This is not the time, Ravi."
Ravi's eyes widened as he felt the immense pressure—the aura of something far beyond human.
He turned his head slightly, and there, sitting calmly on the edge of his study table, was a figure.
Tall. Regal. Radiating power like a living star.
Draped in robes of deep black and glowing blue, his horns adorned with black diamonds that shimmered with raw magic, and eyes that held galaxies—Dragon God Nithin.
The same being who had offered him the second chance.
Nithin looked down at Ravi with eyes that were kind, yet unwavering.
> "You will get your moment," he said, his voice a melodic rumble. "But redemption isn't earned through apologies whispered too soon. It is forged—day by day—through action."
He rose from the table in a fluid motion, wings of divine light briefly flaring behind him.
> "Do not seek forgiveness with your mouth, Ravi. Seek it with your soul."
Then—with a shimmer—Nithin vanished.
Time snapped back.
The pen fell. A bird chirped. And Rohit looked up, blinking, as if waking from a daze.
Ravi stood there—still, silent.
He slowly closed his mouth, feeling the warmth where the god's hand had touched him.
He met Rohit's eyes.
And smiled.
Not with smugness. Not with manipulation.
But with peace.
"Hey," Ravi said casually, taking the seat beside him. "That's a good book. I read it before… long ago."
Rohit blinked, confused.
Ravi pulled out his own book and began flipping pages. Calm. Quiet. Not forcing anything.
Because he finally understood—
Words didn't matter yet.
Actions did.
---
The day ended slowly. Ravi walked home under a twilight sky, his mind spinning.
He hadn't said sorry.
But for the first time… he didn't feel hopeless.
The path to redemption had begun.
And from somewhere, watching quietly, the Dragon God smiled.