Ride on Time

Chapter 93

Shree washed her face and went through her skin care routine once again before applying a light coat of baby powder and drawing a long black line up her forehead. She also changed into a more comfortable pair of pyjamas before leaving the room. 
As usual, her grandmother was still watching Tamil soap operas with exaggerated background music. But she still sat to watch, nibbling on the bar of chocolate and sipping on the soda that Vasu bought.
"I thought that feller died already?" Shree asked, seeing a character run around though she had seen him have a funeral in the same drama twenty episodes ago.
"He didn't die, now he came back already," Devi explained.
Shree was confused. "How...?"
"Don't know lah, I also now only watching, right?"
Shree shrugged and decided to go to the dining hall instead to write in her diary.

***

Shree sat in a train, the surroundings fuzzy and her focus seemed to only be on a man that sat beside her. She was happily chatting with him, even giggling at his jokes though she couldn't really understand them. They were just so funny.
All of a sudden, a man touched her arm, his hand running across her back which felt oddly bare. Shree swatted his hand away but the man continued to touch her, this time her knee.
The man she had been talking to suddenly asked her to get up and slid to her spot, motioning for her to sit on his seat. Shree gladly sat down and for some reason, Shruti was beside her.

Shree woke up with a start and realised that she was back in the master bedroom at home. The dream felt so real that she actually thought she had really been in a train, wondering how she had gotten home so fast.
But of course, she realised that it was all a dream and rolled out of bed. She could see her grandmother's mattress neatly rolled up and stacked at the side in the dark while the other beds in the room stood empty too. Shree staggered out of the room and was surprised to see Vasu sulkily having breakfast at the coffee table.
"You actually going school today ah?" Shree asked in surprise. "Oh wow..."
Vasu swallowed his mouthful of bread and turned to her. "What to do? I simply only tell I wanna ponteng, your face like that means how?"
Shree sighed. "Come on, that wasn't because of you."
"Yeah, but I still have to go to school," Vasu said, turning back to his breakfast. "Must ask about the stupid assignment and collect pictures from that Farhana idiot."
"Oh..." Shree relaxed, smirking even. "Good luck."
"Wanna ask about assignment only lah, not presentation," Vasu reminded.
"Yeah lah, but that Musa, what," Shree pointed out.
Vasu nodded regretfully. "Crazy feller lah, that Musa. More like Musang."
Shree burst into laughter. "Oh yeah! Does his class still have the most failures?"
Vasu nodded. "Yep. I have no idea why they not giving us different teacher."
Shree chuckled and made her way to the bathroom instead.

***

Mitsuo sat at a vanity table, writing in his diary about this and that. Whatever he wrote made perfect sense though he couldn't read a word of it. The fountain pen in his hand went on and on, writing word after word in thick black ink.
He suddenly looked up at the mirror but found that it had been covered with a white cloth, like a towel. He turned back to the book in front of him and went on writing, finishing at the end of the page with a scrawl and a full-stop.
Mitsuo closed the pen and put it away into a black case, the polished matte silver giving off a shine as he closed the cover. He got up and pulled the cloth off the mirror before sitting back down. Mitsuo didn't in the least feel surprised to see a face very much different from his staring back at him, one with olive skin and a beard, even gold hoop earrings pierced into both earlobes. But a pair of glasses still rested on the bridge of his nose as always, though thin-framed and squared instead of his usual thicker-framed elliptical lenses. 

Mitsuo jumped out of bed and ran to the dresser to take a look at himself in the mirror.
Well, he was still him and his ears were still unpierced. Mitsuo heaved a sigh of relief and fell back onto his bed, unsure with whatever that was going on.
All he wanted was a vacation and information for his new book. But what he's getting are nightmares. He gathered information for a new book, but even a word of said book hasn't been typed out yet.
Mitsuo got up and went to the balcony on his right. He pulled back the thick curtains, making light flood into the room like a waterfall. Mitsuo was surprised, he thought it was still night!
The time told him that it was eight o'clock. Mitsuo yawned and decided to get ready to go down for breakfast. He put his glasses on and turned his phone on, coming face to face with a message from his mother.
Morning Mitsu
Will you be back before setsubun?
Mitsuo gasped. SETSUBUN! How could he have forgotten a very important festival like that?!
His hands shook when he looked up the date for the festival, which fell in four days, on Friday, the 3rd of February. Mitsuo then opened his calendar to see when he booked a return ticket to Kansai International Airport. To his relief, he will be back on the 2nd of February, a day before Setsubun.
Wait... he was leaving in three days? Mitsuo was surprised at this info himself, but then remembered that it was all part of the plan and that he did intend to come home before Setsubun.
Mitsuo sighed and replied to his mother before placing his phone beside him on the bed, his hand still on it. He flinched when it suddenly vibrated and brought it up to his face again and saw another message from his mother.
Oh...
Well... we're gonna celebrate here in Nagoya
You wanna be here for it?
Mitsuo rolled his eyes. They were actually leaving him to celebrate alone? He evidently planned his trip properly, even ending it right before Setsubun so that he could celebrate with them. But this is what they were doing?
Mitsuo replied to the texts, saying he would just celebrate alone, maybe going to Gion to watch the Maiko perform the ritual of throwing purifying toasted soybeans that eliminate bad luck and keep demons away. Maybe he could even get a new hiiragi iwashi to replace the one he got last year. After all, the talisman is said to bring good luck for only a year.
Of course, it would feel strange to celebrate alone without his parents, but did he have a choice?
Mitsuo didn't see one so he decided to just grin and bear it.
But how would he tell Shree about this? That he was leaving in three days and just found out about it even though he planned ahead? Who was he kidding?
Mitsuo sighed and just started getting ready to go down for the hotel's breakfast. It was one of his last mornings in the luxurious Sheralbon Hotel, anyway.