On the next day, the uncle and a few other relatives held a small funeral for mom. I could hear crying and sobbing sounds through the walls of my room. I couldn't say that I have recovered from yesterday's events and losing mom. I wasn't certain why her death had such a huge impact on me. I accept that I had grown closer to her or maybe when I was reincarnated into this human body the lingering feelings of the original Asura towards the mother had an impact on me too. But I was sure about one thing, that I have decided to pass this test. It was the purpose that led to my reincarnation in the first place. The goddess probably included the mother in my journey as a means to motivate me towards my goal.

Knock Knock.

"Asura, are you alright? Open the door." It was the uncle who was worried about me, as I hadn't come out of my room since dawn.

I could hear the relatives whisper things like, "How disrespectful of him to not attend his own mother's funeral?" and "What a tragedy has fallen upon him, to lose both his parents at such a young age? Maybe it was too much for him to take."

In reality, it was neither of these situations. I was busy unwrapping the plastic cover off the newly bought books and figuring out where to begin. I couldn't afford to waste time anymore. I hadn't even started studying yet and already a vast portion had been already taught. I was weeks behind college's pace and months behind other students. I don't even know where to begin. Should I start with the topic that will be taught next or should I start from the beginning? All these thoughts overwhelmed me. As if it wasn't enough, frequent interruptions by the relatives and various funeral rituals demolished my will.

It was past 5 pm. Almost everyone had left. The uncle too departed after making sure I had all the necessities. He offered to become my guardian and take me in at his house but I turned his proposal down. The insurance money was sufficient enough to cover the college fees and my living expenses for at least 2 years.

I headed towards my room to continue my struggle of where to begin when the doorbell rang. Is it another relative? But this late? I was too tired to endure another relative I didn't care about.

"Sorry, the funeral has ended." I said as I furiously opened the door.

"Funeral? Asura, what are you talking about?" replied a fruity familiar voice.

I couldn't hide my astonishment at their appearance. Feelings of weakness started to overwhelm me. The betrayal of all my expectations. I was visited by four of my classmates.

Maanvi stood in the front with Rahul standing next to her. Aishwarya stood behind them and averted her eyes as soon as they met mine. Karthik further back with his hands in his pocket whistling.

"Nothing." I replied to Rahul. I didn't want them to feel sorry for me as humans tend to when someone loses a person close to them. I don't need their sympathy.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked immediately to direct the conversation away from the topic of the funeral.

"Aishwarya explained everything to us about what happened and how she was feeling guilty that you got suspended and took all the blame. So she suggested that we help you study the syllabus covered during your absence." replied Maanvi with a smile and turned to Aishwarya for confirmation.

"I… I had only suggested giving him notes, visiting him was your idea." Aishwarya was startled when she realized that the conversation had shifted towards her.

I can't imagine Aishwarya coming with something as bold as a house visit. This surprise must have been Maanvi's proposal.

"What is he doing here?" I asked as I pointed with my eyes towards Karthik who was goofing around in the back with no interest in the conversation. I could understand Rahul tagging along with these two but I can't visualize Karthik volunteering to join in this visit of helping me.

"Do you have a problem with me weakling?" Karthik said with a sneering grin on his face. I wondered how long I would have to suffer from the humiliation of that one defeat.

"I invited him." Maanvi spoke up, "He is partially responsible for your bad reputation at college and even though he attended all the lectures, he was sleeping in most of them. So this study session will benefit him too." How kind and mature a 16-year-old can be? She pays attention to everyone around her and genuinely cares about them.

"How much longer will you make us talk on the doorstep? Guests are considered equal to gods in our culture. Let's go inside!" Rahul barged inside and others followed him inside the house.

I wanted to avoid participating in any situation involving so many people. It will only turn out to be a waste of time, which is something I absolutely cannot afford to do. But I don't have any excuse and I can not tell them about mom passing away, it will only make things worse.

"What is this smell?" asked Aishwarya.

The door of the room in which the funeral happened was open revealing my mom's photo on the wall with a garland around it and the burning incense. I darted across the living room and shut the bedroom door close and stood in front of it with my back against it. They all looked at me with skeptical eyes and raised eyebrows.

"What are you doing? Don't tell me you are into voodoo stuff?" Rahul asked.

"I am sure he was doing something perverted in there." added Aishwarya with a disgusted look on her face.

"It's nothing like that. The room is just messy right now. Why don't we all sit in my room?" Their guesses were absurd and preposterous but I kept silent, not to attract any more attention.

When I returned with snacks and drinks that I had bought for the doctor, they had already settled down in my room. Maanvi and Karthik sat down on the floor while Aishwarya perched herself on the edge of the bed refusing to sit on the floor. Rahul sauntered throughout my room, investigating and scrutinizing my stuff, trying to figure out my hobbies. Karthik stretched, with his back against the wall he closed his eyes and a second later he was already napping. I sat down with them.

Maanvi pulled out textbooks and multiple notebooks from her bag. She had a separate notebook for each topic and all of them seemed to be already filled up with notes.

"Let's begin." Maanvi said with a beaming smile on her face.

"Which topic should we study first?" asked Rahul.

"I think we should begin with Vector. The Chapter Motion in a plane was completed today in college and it carries a lot of marks, making it an important topic." inferred Aishwarya.

I was completely unfamiliar with the chapter and the terms they used.

"Ahh... I didn't bring my textbook." Rahul scooched closer to me, "Asura, let's share your textbook." This is bad.

"Karthik… Karthik, wake up!" Maanvi tried to wake Karthik up, but her shouting was to no avail.

Slap. She gave him a light slap on his face, waking him up. She might be the only one who could pull such a stunt off successfully and get away with it.

"Ok, let's start studying," announced Maanvi.

I sat quietly without doing anything. There was a minute of silence. I looked around and all of their eyes were once again locked onto me.

"What are you doing stupid? Open your textbook." chided Aishwarya.

I was in a pinch. Maanvi had two textbooks open in front of her. I couldn't see Aishwarya's textbook on the bed from below. I randomly picked up a book and while flipping through its pages I took a glance at the index. The words Vector or motion in a plane were nowhere to be found. I had lost all hope. All that awaited this demon king was humiliation by these teenage humans. But then my eyes fell upon the words 'motion'. I was relieved. But the feeling of stares focused on me didn't recede. Instead, it only got stronger.

"Asura…" I looked up at Aishwarya's face. Her face wore an expression which I had never seen before. It was neither anger nor disgust, it was pity.

"That's a Zoology textbook and the topic you have opened is the motion of sperm inside Uterus."