|| 𝐈𝐂𝐓 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 ||

A brotherhood to cherish(Chat)

The idea for this little fic came from a comment by bhavikasimple. Hope you all like it.

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Yuvi was mindlessly swiping through the gallery in his phone. The main thing he was thinking that the WhatsApp group of their team, the old one, was very quiet from a few days. No one was sending anything, neither was Mahi coming online so that he could fight with him. And to think about it, it's been a while since he had fought with his best friend.

While thinking all of this, Yuvi stumbled upon an album in his phone titled "Yuvi and Cheeku". He had no idea that there was such an album in his phone or more specifically, had forgotten about the existence of that album. 

Nevertheless, he opened that album and scrolled through its contents. Memories, so many memories started flooding Yuvi's mind. The memories of a chubby cute 19 year old Cheeku, introduced to them in the Sri Lanka tour. The kid was a ball of energy, a rookie, with the passion enough for ten people wanting to play cricket. Thee who looked at him with a star struck gaze when he first saw him and the others.

Yuvi still remembers Virat's embarrassed face when he fell for his and Munaf's prank. Though, it was the first and the last time he could be pranked by him, because soon he and Cheeku became the ultimate pranking pair, thick as thieves, pranking everyone around and making Mahi pull his hairs out. Yuvi thought of all those moments he lived with his team, especially his youngee, very fondly. 

Who will say back then that this chubby kid will go on to become the tall, dependable, straight-backed captain of the Indian Cricket Team? Who will say that this kid will become the pillar of the team, scoring centuries and taking the team to glory? The aggressive player on field and off the field he was anything but aggressive. A complete goof ball, that what he was and he still is, moulding himself into whatever role his team wanted him to be. Who thought that this starry eyed kid will one day have his own hoard of kids?

Yuvi still remembers the time of his cancer in his chain of thoughts. He still remembers the time he dreaded to tell the truth to Cheeku, he knew that, that kid will surely have a breakdown. And he did, but after that Cheeku became a source of mental support for him. He remembered how Cheeku used to call everyday asking about him and his health.

After he won the battle with cancer, Yuvi was very sceptical of his career ahead. It was Virat, Mahi and Dada, who urged him to not leave cricket. At last, he had a beautiful run at the domestic level and made a comeback to the national side. 

Virat had just become the captain then, and Yuvi got to know from some sources that the captain had fought to include him in the team. He had reconfirmed the same with Mahi, because Virat never did anything without asking Mahi. 

Mahi, not being able to lie, told him that Virat was very adamant on bring him on, and he did fight for him.  Yuvi was overwhelmed, he didn't know whether he would be able to keep the kid's faith in him. 

Yuvi still remembers the conversation he had with Cheeku before the game. Virat had come up to him before the team went to the ground and said, "I trust you, Yuvi Paa", in the most sincere voice ever. Yuvi couldn't say anything back, he just hugged his kid, and said a "Thank you" which hid a meaning, "I'll never let you down".

The 150 at Cuttack came more as a relief to Yuvi. As he had raised his bat to acknowledge his team, he saw Cheeku smiling ear to ear, and his eyes brighter than the brightest star. "I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT", Cheeku's eyes seemed to be screaming at him. Yuvi smiled his trademark smile as he hugged Mahi at the non striker's. 

Yuvi suddenly realised that most of his fondest memories are intertwined with Virat and Mahi. He stared at the picture on his phone a picture of Cheeku side hugging him and the both were laughing. Suddenly Yuvi got an evil idea. He opened the WhatsApp group he thought was very quiet and sent the photo there. He knew the moment some people see that photo, they will erupt like volcanoes.