Ride on Time

Chapter 20

"Thank you for coming!" Misao bowed low to them. "I'm honoured to see that you two brought your parents along after you liked your first visit here." She smiled.
The Malaysians bowed too.
"The pleasure is ours," Shridhar said as he bowed. "You're an excellent entertainer."
"Thank you, Sir," Misao smiled and bowed again. "You too, madam."
Shruti chuckled and hugged her before bowing. Misao smiled, seeing how much Shri's family actually liked her.
"Bye, Shri," Misao grinned, bowing to him at last. "It's a shame that you guys are leaving soon."
"Yeah... but we'll stay in touch, don't worry," Shri smiled. "Wanna exchange numbers and address?"
Misao quickly shook her head. "Not now. On your last day here?"
"That's the day after tomorrow," Shri frowned. "Tomorrow's our last night here."
"Oh..." Misao nodded thoughtfully. "Okay..."
Shri smiled sadly before waving at her, leaving with the rest of his family.

"She's a very nice girl, don't you think?" Suganthi said during their taxi ride. "You think she like Mohan ah?"
"Of course lah, Ma," Shruti grinned. "You saw how she talking to him, right? She only know him for like a week but look at how she gets along with him."
"Now he got Japanese ponnu already," Shridhar grinned. "Suganthi, when shall we fix the marriage?"
"Aiyo, can you all stop ah?" Shri said, aggravated. "Always thinking about stuff like this."
"Yeah lah, what else?" Suganthi grinned. "A nice girl like that just can't be found that easily. Japanese girl, some more."
Shri just sighed, resting his elbow on the door's ledge with his fingers against his forehead. His family just snickered quietly. The driver gave him an odd look, which he replied with a sheepish smile before going right back to staring at the window.

Shri sat at the dressing table again, his diary open in front of him as he wrote the day's happenings with detail. He flipped the page and continued writing the part where his family joked about planning a marriage for him and Misao. Thinking it back made him put his pen down, a frown on his face as he ran his hands through his hair.
What if it wasn't a joke? Would Shri like that?
Shri wasn't really sure... he always saw Misao as a good friend, from the day he first saw her. But he wasn't sure. He was very comfortable with her, never once feeling awkward around her and he only just noticed this. Normally, he would have a little difficulty getting along with people he meets for the first time.
But Misao is different. The moment he saw her, he instantly felt as if he would get along good with her. He felt his face heating when remembering how she had suddenly just taken his hand with no warning back when they were looking over the Shirakawa Canal two days ago. Shri looked at his shaking right hand, still in disbelief that she took his hand without hesitation.
He sighed and picked his pen up again to continue writing in his diary.

Misao smiled to herself and entered the house she shared with Kumiko.
"Kumi!" Misao called as she opened the door. "Oh Kumi!"
She looked around the house and noticed that it was dark. Kumiko clearly wasn't home yet. Misao just shrugged and went off to her room to get out of her kimono and wig for it was a really hot day. The kimono wasn't so stuffy, with no lining since it was specifically made for Summer and Spring, she didn't feel as bad. She quickly grabbed her yukata and made her way to the bathroom.
Misao ran a hot bath and stepped into the shower, washing all the oshiroi off her face and rinsing her greasy hair out. She still found it a little annoying how she had to wash her hair every day since it always seemed to clump together on hot days. She was a little surprised when Shruti told her that she only washed her hair once a week since an everyday rinse would only make her hair worse.
Misao turned the shower off and tied her hair into a topknot as she went to the bathtub. She ran her hand through the water to make sure that it was the right temperature before adding her favourite Sakura-scented bath salts. She stepped into the water and let out a soft sigh as the warmth relaxed every muscle in her body. A hot bath after a long day never disappoints.
Misao closed her eyes and started going over the day's happenings. She still found it funny how Shri and Shruti actually brought their parents to the Ryōtei. She guessed that it was just so they could meet her, judging by how eager they seemed to see her and how awkward Shri looked as he ate his food, playing with the Om of his necklace.
She chuckled when remembering how all of them besides Shruti sat cross-legged on their cushions instead of sitting in seiza like how she did. Not that she didn't understand why they were sitting like that, they were just not used to it. Some might even find it arrogant for people to cross their legs at a chabudai but they were merely just sitting in their own style, the Indian-style. She had seen many Indian movies where the characters sit like that whenever they wanted to eat or do something on the ground, men and women alike.
Misao sighed when thinking about how Shri was leaving soon and tomorrow night was their last. She wasn't sure if he meant to spend the day with her, or if he wished to use that time to get everything ready for their departure.
Will they be able to keep in touch as they promised? After all, her lifestyle was very much different from his. She was a traditional geisha entertainer who went about holding the hem of her long kimono, playing instruments and dancing in grace. Shri, on the other hand, was a writer and a businessman's son. For all she knew, he might forget her just as easily as he met her. She might not even mean anything to him.
Misao frowned and climbed out of the tub and entered the shower again for another wash before getting back into the tub for a final soak. She finally pulled the plug and climbed out, wrapping herself with the cozy bathrobe she brought, and left the bathroom.

Shri sighed and looked at the mirror, now hidden behind the towel he put there earlier. He got up, pushing the chair back under the table and took his glasses off as he went to his bed, resting it on his nightstand. For some reason, he couldn't sleep, though it was getting late.
He suddenly thought about Misao, her smile, her bubbly laugh, and how she always lent him a helping hand since the first day he met her. She even took the effort to not only guide him and Shruti to the bookstore when they were both lost, but also helped him find a goldsmith to fix his necklace.
Did she really like him? The time when she touched his hand came to mind. What if she was just being nice and that was how she was with everyone? After all, Japanese culture, though sharing similarities with Malaysian and Indian teachings, was still very much different from both. 
Shri sighed and closed his eyes, turning to his so that he doesn't get nightmares.

Translations!
-ponnu basically translates to girl or bride in this case. Sometimes parents refer to their daughter as ponnu too but the bride is also called that.

Also, there's this saying, I'm not sure if this was just Indians or Malaysians but I think it's a true fact that there's a higher chance that you get nightmares if you sleep on your back. I also heard that you are more at risk of sleep paralysis if you sleep like that. Well, I guess it's true, then?