Ride on Time

Chapter 65

"Nika!" Shree groaned and turned to the other side when her mother called. "Nika, come lah!"
"It's Sunday..." Shree croaked.
"It's Pongal," Chandrika pointed out.
"I'll come to the kitchen later," Shree yawned, her eyes still close.
To her dismay, Chandrika turned on the light. Shree groaned and pulled her cozy comforter up to her head.
"Nika, come lah! You need to go and pick up that Japanese feller some more!"
Shree opened her eyes with a gasp and sat up. "Oh my god, I forgot!"
"Faster change," Chandrika sighed. "No time for you to bathe, just wear something nice."
"Okay..." Shree got out of bed.
Chandrika left the room and closed the door. Shree went to the mirror and took a look at herself.
She. Was. A. Mess.
Shree quickly cleaned her face with a Sakura-scented wet wipe, removing the black smudge of what used to be her bindi. Then she quickly went through her face-care routine and coated her face with powder before pulling out her small tube of liquid bindi, drawing a long straight line up the middle of her forehead.
After that, she quickly changed into a casual t-shirt and capri pants before combing her hair and rushing out of the room, still plaiting the curly locks to the side.
Shree grabbed her phone from the cabinet and turned it on. Her lock screen finally showed up but was quickly replaced by a photo of Mitsuo standing on the bridge of Ueno Park.
"Oh my god, he's calling me!!" Shree panicked.
"Pick up and talk lah!" Devi urged.
Shree gulped and answered the phone.
"Hello?" Shree greeted, hoping he wasn't angry or anything.
"Are you here yet?" Mitsuo blurted on the other end. "I'm outside and I don't see any sign of you! Where are you?"
"On the way!" Shree quickly said. "Almost there. Almost there..."
Mitsuo sighed. "For a second, I thought you completely forgot about me."
"What? Nah! I was just... obstacles, you know?" Shree quickly said, spotting her grandmother quietly scolding her to go. "Yeah, I'll be there in a jiffy. I'll be there."
"Okay..." Mitsuo sighed and hung up.
"Oh my god, it's six-twenty-five!" Shree groaned. "I told him I'll come at six-fifteen!"
"Faster go lah, then," Devi scolded again. "Go!"
Shree nodded and ran back to the cabinet to grab the Viva's keys.
Chandrika suddenly came up and stopped her. "Nah, take my car." She said, handing her the keys to the Volkswagen. "And go with Vasu."
Vasu eagerly got up and came to her. "I have to approve of him first."
Shree rolled her eyes and grabbed the keys before turning to the altar. She prayed to the gods and then looked down at the picture of her grandfather. She prayed to him too before dipping her finger into the brass container of vibuthi and rubbed it onto her forehead and throat.
And only then did she start making her way to the porch, her brother at her heels.

"How can you forget?" Vasu asked as Shree was driving down Jalan Penchala towards Sheralbon. "Only last night we all remind you."
"What to do lah, sleepy!" Shree sighed.
Vasu kept quiet, just realising something. "Akka... did you brush your teeth?"
Shree violently braked at the traffic light, a few feet past the line. It was a good thing she didn't skip it since the traffic light had a camera.
And it was right in front of the Petaling Jaya District Police Headquarters.  
"Oh my god..." Shree groaned. "I forgot! Oh no... darn..."
Vasu started laughing. "Oh my gosh! Now you have bad breath!"
Shree got an idea all of a sudden. "Behind got water ah?"
"Got," Vasu's gaze fell on the bottle of water hanging by the seat's headrest. He quickly pulled it out and handed it to her.
Shree chugged down some water and started rummaging in her bag.
"Akka, green light," Vasu pointed out.
Shree groaned and drove. She turned the hazard lights on and turned into Jalan Barat, pulling over in front of the bus stop at the side of the road.
"What you doing?" Vasu asked, seeing how she was still rummaging in her little bag.
Shree let out an exclamation and pulled out a container of breath mints. She popped a few into her mouth and placed the bag on the seat again.
"Akka, give me the bag," Vasu said.
"Why?" Shree asked, confused.
"Because your guy is gonna sit in front," Vasu said, much to Shree's surprise.
"What?!" Shree gasped. "No! Let him sit behind with you lah! You said you wanna give approval, right?"
"Yeah, but let him sit in front," Vasu urged. "Pass me the bag."
Shree sighed and handed it to him. She turned the hazard lights off and went straight to Asia Jaya.

They arrived at the Sheralbon Hotel's pickup/drop-off point and spotted Mitsuo turning to go back into the lobby.
"Is that him?" Vasu asked.
"Yeah..." Shree stopped the car. "That's him."
She honked, making Mitsuo turn around and look. He seemed confused so she rolled down the passenger side window and waved at him. Mitsuo relaxed as soon as he recognised her.
"Come in," Shree beckoned. "At the front."
Mitsuo bowed and got in beside her.
"Sorry, I'm late," Shree sheepishly stated. "We had to do some... preparations."
Vasu snorted to himself. 'Like waking up?'
Mitsuo didn't hear the soft snickers behind him because of the loud retro music blasting from the speakers.
"I thought you weren't coming..." Mitsuo sighed. "You're twenty minutes late..."
"Sorry about that..." Shree chuckled, going down the ramp to enter the highway. "Anyway, we haven't started so you're right on time."
"So!" Mitsuo almost jumped out of his skin when Vasu popped in beside him. "What was your name again?"
"Tadao Mitsuo," Mitsuo nodded slightly.
Shree snorted. "Mitsuo, this is Vasu. My small brother."
"Hey, I'm bigger than you," Vasu frowned at her.
Shree sighed and took the exit to Jalan Timur. "Fine. Younger brother."
"That's more like it."
Mitsuo bowed slightly. "Nice to meet you, Vasu-san."
"San?" Vasu snorted, impressed. "Oh wow..."
"Yeah, Mitsuo," Shree smirked and stopped at the traffic light. "No need to add honourifics for him."
"How old are you?" Vasu asked Mitsuo, ignoring his sister.
"Uh... twenty-four?" Mitsuo said. "I'll actually be twenty-five this year, but my birthday was in December."
"Oh?" Vasu was surprised. "December what?"
"Christmas."
Shree gasped and turned to her equally surprised brother, then panned to Mitsuo.
"Yeah, I know right?" Mitsuo nodded understandingly. "Most people give me two gifts in one because of that."
"Mitsuo, can you tell me what time were you born?" Shree asked.
"Why?" Mitsuo asked, confused.
"Morning or night?" Vasu piped up.
"Umm... morning?" the siblings heaved a sigh of relief when he said that. "Why? Is there something wrong?"
"Nothing," Shree quickly said. "Can you guess when my birthday is?"
Mitsuo shrugged. "No clue."
"Same as you, same year too," Vasu smirked. "She just turned twenty-four Last Christmas too."
"Really?" Mitsuo gasped excitedly. "So we're birthday twins!"
"No..." Shree rolled her eyes. "Also, I was born close to midnight. So you're still older than me."
"Good thing too," Vasu smirked. "Remember what Awah always say?"
"Vasu, please," Shree groaned.
"What did who say?" Mitsuo asked, confused.
Vasu cleared his throat. "She would say, 'if the boy is born even a second after the girl, he would be her thambi,' a.k.a younger brother.'"
Mitsuo frowned, processing this statement. "Wouldn't that mean that a younger woman will be considered his little sister as well?"
There was silence at this.
"I never thought about that, but you're right," Shree nodded. "What is with this theory anyway?"
"I don't know, but I think it's going on everywhere," Mitsuo said. "In Japan too, I think. Also, can I ask who's Awah?"
"Our grandmother," the siblings said together.
"Oh... okay..." Mitsuo nodded.
Shree smiled to herself and turned the signal light on to turn into an intersection.

As for the statement that Shree and Vasu's grandmother said, I don't know the answer to it since I never asked my grandma for it. And yes, I can't ask my grandma about it anymore, but she'll probably say:
"It's like that. It's always like that."
Also, I have the same answer about it as Mitsuo. I asked my mom about and turns out, she was wondering the same thing too.
Go figure.