A new life

Niko was sitting peacefully on the roof of that building, trying to make sense of what had happened to him. He recalled that the boy who called him Neeraj was his friend Rishabh, but Rishabh had been his friend for a long time.

Then Niko remembered that the school he had just run away from was the same one he attended until the 8th grade. Rishabh didn't seem much younger, which meant Niko was either in the 7th or 8th grade.

When Niko thought hard, he remembered seeing three boys in the classroom, all of whom had left school in the 8th grade. This meant Niko was currently in the 7th grade, which meant it was the year 2016.

Niko thought to himself, "Alright, I understand that I've traveled seven years back in time, but what about the powers I just displayed?"

Now Niko didn't understand anything. So, he decided that the first thing he needed to do was go back to school and handle the situation he had just created.

Niko climbed down from the building and headed home, but he walked very carefully, paying attention to his pace, as he didn't want to suddenly take off at a thousand kilometers per hour and end up somewhere else.

On the way to school, Niko thought about the chaos he had caused there today. He expected a call to his home, but surprisingly, no call came. His teachers hadn't paid much attention to him, not even the one who saw him running away, and his classmates seemed to forget about it.

Niko went back to school, picked up his bag, and everything went back to normal. When he got home, everything was normal too. His mother and siblings were acting completely normal.

His brother was friendly with him, his older sister still didn't like him, and his mother took care of everyone equally. The only thing that wasn't normal was Niko. Everything felt very strange to him.

He had returned home after two years, but it was in the past. Niko's family also noticed his unusual behavior but didn't pay much attention to it, as 13-year-old Niko often did strange things.

The next day, Niko went to school. As soon as he entered the classroom, he saw a boy standing in front of some children, saying, "Who are you people? Where am I? Don't come near me," and then pretending to run away, making all the kids laugh.

Ignoring them, Niko went and sat on a bench. After a while, his friend Rishabh came into the classroom and sat next to him.

Rishabh asked Niko, "What happened to you yesterday, brother? Where did you suddenly run off to?"

Niko replied, "I don't know, man. There's been an upheaval in my life these days."

Rishabh didn't ask any more questions and just sat quietly, but something was still going on in his mind.

Some time later,

On the way home from school,

Frustrated with his boring life, Niko started reminiscing about his old life. Then he remembered Sakshi. Sakshi was with him even when everyone else had left him, and she was ready to face trouble to help him. Sakshi was the only person who understood Niko. But Niko had pushed her away because he couldn't take care of her at the time. But now, everything had changed.

Niko immediately created a duplicate of himself and left from there. With his incredible speed, he reached Lucknow from Faridabad in just a few minutes. Niko went straight to Sakshi's house. There, he turned invisible and started looking for Sakshi, but she wasn't at home.

So, Niko immediately went to her school. When they used to talk, Sakshi had told him where she studied in her childhood. Niko reached her school within seconds. After searching for a while, he found 13-year-old Sakshi playing badminton with her friends.

Seeing her, Niko's heart seemed to stop. 13-year-old Sakshi looked even more beautiful than 20-year-old Sakshi. Although 20-year-old Sakshi was very beautiful, 13-year-old Sakshi seemed more beautiful to Niko because her smile was genuine, she hadn't lost her innocence yet, and she wasn't burdened by any responsibilities or societal pressures.

All of this was reflected in her laughter. Niko had only seen her this happy when they were together, but after he pushed her away, her smile had faded, something Niko still cursed himself for. But now, after so much time, seeing her happy made Niko completely lost in her.

Niko was watching her while being invisible. He waited for the right moment until her school ended. When it was over, she started heading home. Niko followed her. This was a good opportunity to meet her.

But just as Niko was about to approach her, he suddenly stopped. For some reason, he couldn't muster the courage to go to Sakshi.

Niko thought, "If I go to her, what will I say? She won't even know me. To her, I'll just be a stranger. Even if I forget all this and go to her, I don't know if she's still the same person she was in my time or if she's completely different."

Thinking this, Niko didn't approach her. The Sakshi Niko knew was a very good person, but Niko wasn't sure about this Sakshi. He didn't know what kind of person Sakshi was seven years ago. After standing there for a while, Niko went back.

On the way back, something caught Niko's attention. He went to that thing and started staring at it. It was a poster of Superman. Seeing it reminded Niko of his childhood dream of becoming a superhero. But when he grew up, he realized it wasn't possible, so he abandoned that dream. But now that he actually had superpowers, he could become a superhero.

Niko touched the poster and said, "Now I am going to take your place. The time has come to make an old dream come true."