Ride on Time

Chapter 46

Yamashina Ward, Kyoto, later that day.
"So how much sales has your new book got?" Akiko Tadao asked her son, cupping her hands around her mug of warm tea. "I read the one you gave me."
Mitsuo smiled proudly, setting his ceramic mug on the coffee table. "It's a bestseller. It's gonna get published internationally too. Hopefully, it goes well."
"Surely it will," Hiroshi grinned, running his fingers through his hair as he sat himself down beside him. "You published it in English too, it's definitely gonna hit the US market."
"I don't think it'll go that far, Dad," Mitsuo's face turned a little pink from the compliment. He picked up his cup of tea again to take a sip before continuing. "But if it does, I couldn't be more proud." He shrugged, smirking.
"I finished reading your book," Akiko grinned. "It's very interesting, with an incredible choice of words."
"Thanks, Mom," Mitsuo chuckled. "The ebook sales are going good too. Also, it's thanks to you guys that I'm good in both English and Japanese. I wouldn't have been able to be this proficient if it wasn't for your enforcing it."
Hiroshi smiled. "Well, we had a hard time learning English and we knew that you'd need to if you plan on working in an international company, you'd need to be able to speak in English very well too." He smirked. "But we didn't expect you to become a writer like this."
Mitsuo remembered something and got up, going over to his rucksack. "Oh, I almost forgot."
"What is it?" Hiroshi asked.
Mitsuo opened his rucksack and pulled out the three books he bought from Emiko. "I picked these up before my flight. I was lucky to have been able to get all three, especially since two of them weren't released in Japan."
"How?" Akiko asked, taking the book that her son handed to her. "This is the same writer as The Collision of Two Worlds, right?"
"Yep," Mitsuo grinned. "Apparently, the writer had a girlfriend here, so he sent her a copy of each of his books."
He left out the part where she fell off the Shirakawa Bridge.
"Oh wow... but how did you get her to give them to you?" Hiroshi asked.
Mitsuo gulped, fiddling with his manji pendant as he tried to think of a way to get out of it. "Uh... I think she forgot about them. Her mother found these books and sold them to me. It seemed like she was... sneaking behind her since she even sold them to me for cheap. But I paid double since these are the only copies in all of Japan!"
Akiko chuckled and opened the book. The name Hara Misao was written on the first page neatly in both katakana and romaji.
"This must've been her name, then," Akiko remarked, turning the book towards her son.
"Yeah, her mom's name was Hara something too," Mitsuo admitted, letting go of his chain. "So yeah, the book wasn't stolen."
"Well, better write your name since people might think it still belongs to Hara-san and might try returning it to her," Hiroshi chuckled. "By the way, what are the books about?"
"I haven't read them yet, Dad," Mitsuo said, retrieving the books. "I only picked them up a few hours before my flight."
"I heard this one, the one about Two Worlds, actually takes place in Japan," Mrs. Tadao said. "I heard the writer was inspired to write it after visiting Gion. This Misao girl might've been a geisha there."
"I heard it's a really good story," Hiroshi nodded. "They translated it into Japanese too. I've been trying to get you a copy since way back, but it's just so rare..."
"I know, right?" Mitsuo was glad at the change in topic. "I tried really hard to look for it but couldn't. As soon as I saw these online, I grabbed all three. The lady lived in Tokyo too, it wasn't a chance that I could miss. They were all in good condition too, except this one." He held up Mystical Mist. "Looks like it had some water damage. So wrinkled."
"She must've been reading it during lunch, and then spilled her drink all over it by accident," Akiko snorted. "Must've been a clumsy one."
"Yeah, totally," Mitsuo grinned, stuffing the books into his bag.

The Tadaos sat down to eat their dinner of shabu-shabu.
"Eat well, I'm sure you missed home food," Akiko grinned, passing bowls and chopsticks around. "Take as much as you want, there's more in the kitchen."
Mitsuo smiled and helped his parents put strips of meat and tofu into the pot. "Thanks. What's the plan for tomorrow?"
"Shopping," Akiko said as she added some seasonings into the pot. "We need to get some stuff for Christmas. What should we do?"
Hiroshi shrugged, smirking as he put in veggies. "I dunno, ask the birthday boy."
Mitsuo groaned. "Dad, seriously?"
"What do you want for your birthday?" Akiko asked.
"I'm not sure," Mitsuo shrugged. "I got myself a gift already."
"Yeah, but it isn't from us," Hiroshi grinned. "Tell us, what do you want?"
"I'm not sure... I'm okay with anything," Mitsuo shrugged, grinning. "I'll be happy even if you only give me a small bar of chocolate."
Akiko chuckled. "Tell you what, I'll make some roasted chicken for you. Dad's helping me make some gyoza. What else do you want?"
"Can I have mochi?" Mitsuo smirked. "Red bean flavoured?"
Hiroshi gasped. "Now that you mention it, we forgot to get mochigome for the ozoni!"
"Yeah, we need to go shopping, we're out of all kinds of stuff, including mochigome, of course," Akiko chuckled, placing eggs into the pot before closing it. "Wanna come with us, Mitsu?"
Mitsuo shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Goodnight, Mitsu," Akiko smiled and patted her son's back. "Glad you could make it back before Christmas."
Mitsuo smiled. "Same here, Mom. I'm glad the interview finished early."
Hiroshi gave him a clap on the back. "I hope you become the best writer in the world."
Mitsuo smiled nervously. "Thanks."
His mother laughed. "I'll make you some mochi for Christmas, okay?"
Mitsuo bade them Goodnight and went to his room.
It was just as he left it, neat and tidy with all his things in order. Mitsuo was glad to be home.
He sighed and sat down on his bed. His new books sat on his nightstand, arranged in a neat stack of three. Mitsuo frowned and picked up the first one, Signs of the Past.
He couldn't help but think, these books were handled by the same person who wrote it and his sweetheart, both tragically dying, only to end up in his hands now. Mitsuo put it back onto the bedside table and pressed his hands together, closing his eyes as he arranged the ten fingers of his hands to align with each other.
And then, he prayed. He prayed for Misao to be at peace and for her tragic death to be righteously avenged one day. He prayed for the author too, whose heartbreak may have been the cause of his accident.
Mitsuo opened his eyes, put his glasses away, and went to bed after turning the lights out.

A woman looked at the date and leaned back in her seat with a sigh.
Twenty-four years...
It's been more than two decades but she still can't fully get over whatever happened the same date twenty-four years earlier.
"Shri..." she murmured, closing her eyes with a sigh.