Ride on Time

Chapter 17

"Is this a theatre?" Shri asked when Misao took him to the Minamiza Kabuki Theatre. "Are we gonna watch a movie?"
"Even better," Misao smirked. "We're watching a live kabuki performance!"
"What?!" Shri exclaimed in surprise. "No way!"
Misao chuckled. "Yes way. Also, come on. Let's get tickets. There's a performance starting soon."
The performance soon started and Shri watched in awe as the it began. There were a cast of actors and a band of musicians playing various tradition drums like taiko and tsuzumi, the shamisen, and even a few types of gongs. The drummers, a whole group of them, even added vocals to enhance the effect of the performance.
It all reminded him of the Chinese opera performances that he went to watch once during the Hungry Ghost Festival. The Chinese community in his town would set up a stage near the town market and the performance will be held with or without an audience. It is believed to keep the ghosts entertained and that's why the show must go on no matter what since the front row is said to always be occupied by the dead.
But this performance seemed different and a little cheery, though it was still a little scary, and not with the intention of entertaining ghosts for the Hungry Ghost Festival.
Which was in a few days...
"Misao, I have a question," Shri whispered. "Why do they make scary faces like that?"
"Because that mean stare is said to scare away evil spirits," Misao explained.
Shri nodded, impressed. Many of the audience were tourists, like himself, and some locals. Everyone seemed to enjoy the performance just as well.
When the end came, all of the actors and musicians stepped forward and bowed deeply before the curtains were drawn. Some of the audiences stood up and bowed too, including Misao and Shri.

"That was great," Shri remarked as he ate his berry-flavoured ice cream. "Kinda reminds me of the Hungry Ghost Festival, but turns out that it's the exact opposite. Maybe I'll bring my family to watch it tomorrow."
Misao chuckled and ate some of her chocolate ice cream. "I'm sure they'll like that, especially your sister."
"Oh yeah, she will..." Shri smirked. "By the way... do you celebrate the Hungry Ghost Festival?"
"We celebrate the Ghost Festival, not sure about the hungry part," Misao shrugged. "Is it the same thing?"
"Yeah," Shri nodded. "Just that we call it Hungry Ghost in Malaysia because the ghosts roam around hungrily, searching for food."
"That's interesting," Misao chuckled. "I actually thought of since but it's true."
"Do you guys burn paper money for ancestors like the Chinese do?" Shri asked.
"Chinese people burn money for ancestors?" Misao asked in surprise. "How rich are they?!"
"No, not real money, joss money," Shri snorted. "So I guess you guys don't..."
"No, we just give offerings to the dead," Misao explained. "But I don't usually do that since my mother thinks our ancestors will be lost if the offerings are given in more than one place at the same time. So she's taking care of that. Oh! By the way, you should watch the Bon Odori dance performance they do to welcome the ghosts. It's on the seventeenth, two days away."
"W-Welcome the ghosts?" Shri gulped. "In Malaysia, it's more like entertaining them. You guys welcome the ghosts? That's really friendly."
"It's a form of honouring them too," Misao chuckled and decided to change the subject. "How's Shruti?"
"Oh, she's fine," Shri sighed, remembering how she tugged at his suspenders' strap only that morning. "Still creating mischief around the house. Anyway, where's your family? I thought that Japanese people are like us Malaysians, live with their parents even after they grow up?"
"Yes, but I moved here to become a geisha," Misao explained. "I'm actually from Tokyo, where my family still lives. I visit them every chance I get."
Shri nodded. "Ah... I see..."
Misao decided to pry a little on his life too. "Which part of Malaysia are you actually from?"
"Uh... KL," Shri said. "That's short for Kuala Lumpur. It's the capital city of Malaysia, much like Tokyo is."
"Oh..." Misao nodded, licking a bit of her ice cream. "What's it like there?"
Shri chuckled, shrugging. "I dunno... life goes on? It's a city, there's stuff going on, I don't know what else to say..."
"Huh..." Misao simply uttered before biting into a part of her cone.
"But it isn't as stressful as it is here, I guess," Shri added. "I'm not very sure, just heard my father talking about it since he's been communicating with Hitohira-san. I think Hitohira isn't only his work ally, but a good friend as well."
"Oh, okay," Misao said, eating the last of her ice cream cone. "But they always conduct meetings at my Ryōtei, though. Regular customers there."
"So I've seen," Shri admitted. "My father actually used their name to get in that day."
"Wait, what?" Misao said in surprise. "Why use their name?"
"Because Hitohira-san referred him to your Ryōtei's management?" Shri pointed out. "They booked it together. That's how we managed to have the meeting there. So I used my father's name and I got in that day."
"Oh..." Misao nodded. "Wow, you used a lot of links."
"Yeah, I know..." Shri nodded, finishing his ice cream too. "Anyway, where did you say we should go next?"
"You wanna visit the local shrine?" Misao asked, dusting her fingers off. "The Yasaka Jinja?"
"Does it have anything to do with the Yasakani?" Shri smirked, his gaze falling on the magatama around Misao's neck.
"No," Misao chuckled. "It's a shrine. Come on!"
Misao then led him to the shrine. Shri couldn't help but admire the architecture and traditional structure of the building as he respectfully prayed as Misao did before leaving the shrine. She then led him to Maruyama Park to admire the landscape, sitting on a bench together.
"You know, if you had come here last month instead, you would've seen the Gion Matsuri?" Misao remarked, looking at the shrine from a distance. "The festival is grand, takes place the whole month of July."
"Gosh, why didn't we come here earlier?" Shri sighed. "Never mind, I'll come again next year. We can celebrate together. What's the festival about?"
"It is celebrated in hopes of purifying us and pacifying disease-causing entities," Misao explained. "It's the biggest festival in all of Japan."
"Oh..." Shri nodded. "How is it celebrated?"
Misao sighed and told him the whole history of the festival, from the start till the finish.
"The shrine is the centre point of it," Misao explained. "This year's one was the best."
"What happened?" Shri asked, still curious. "What makes this year's the best?"
"Because I was finally close enough to the Yasaka Jinja to see what's going on," Misao smiled. "Trust me, the festival just gets better every year."
Shri sighed. Now he was sorry he hadn't come a month before.
"Anyway, is there anywhere else you wanna go?" Misao asked, admiring the orange sun in the sky.
"Uh... actually no thanks," Shri admitted. "How about we just have a stroll along the park?"
"Sure," Misao shrugged and got up.
They walked alongside each other, admiring the beautiful park as they did. Misao stopped to admire the weeping cherry blossom tree that looked it's best in the spring. Not that it didn't look good now, with its refreshingly green leaves gently wavering under the setting sun.
"I'm gonna get a picture of this," Shri said, whipping his camera out to snap a shot. "Now I'll have photos to refer to for my book!"
Misao started laughing. "Can I have a copy of this book once you've finished?"
Shri smiled. "Of course. Hey, once I get back, maybe I'll send you one of the books I've already written."
"You've written books before?" Misao gasped. "Well, how many?"
"Oh, plenty," Shri easily boasted. "Just that they haven't been published yet."
"Oh..." Misao easily understood. "Okay... then how many books have you published?"
"Just two," Shri shrugged. "One is a funny mystery story, the other is... why don't you just read them yourself? I'll send you a copy of each once I get back."
"Okay," Misao chuckled. "I'll be looking forward to reading your book."
"I'll send you copies of those and the one that would take place here," Shri smiled. "I hope you like my writing style, though."
"Oh, I'm sure I will," Misao grinned. "A book written with the personality and language proficiency of yours will certainly be worth reading."
Shri looked at her in surprise. "That is the best thing someone has ever said to me."
"No one complimented your books before?" Misao said in surprise.
"Oh yeah, there're lots," Shri shrugged, looking down the pavement before letting out a sigh. "But it's mostly just Shruti laughing at some of the scenes in my books but telling me that it was good. I don't really think so, though..."
"Well, I guess there's only one way for me to find out, right?" Misao chuckled. "Come on, I think we better go. It's getting dark already."
Shri nodded and followed her out of the park.