Ride on Time

Chapter 98

"So you're planning to ponteng," Mitsuo snorted, using his newly-found Malay word.
"Yeah!" Vasu grinned. "And how did you know that word?"
"You guys were using it a lot the other day so I looked it up myself to find out," Mitsuo proudly said.
"Yeah, and a broken phone is a very good reason to ponteng tomorrow, Akka," Vasu reasoned. "Besides, I need time to de-stress after what happened today. It was humiliating!"
Shree sighed. "Can lah, can lah. Sunday itself you plan already. Tomorrow got nothing, right?"
"Nope," Vasu shook his head.
"Can lah," Shree chuckled. "You tell Mom later, okay?"
"Can, can," Vasu smirked. Then groaned, leaning to his side. "Very bad lah, this Musa..."
"Tell me about it," Shree sighed. "That Madhavi one how?"
"She also not yet finish," Vasu shrugged. "He never tell anything also, stupid feller. Then how to do the assignment?"
"You should really get this guy reported," Mitsuo chimed in. "He doesn't sound like a very good teacher."
"He shouldn't be one at all," Vasu muttered. "I hoped they change teacher in second semester, see-see same face coming. His handwriting is so ugly on the board, speaks in monotone, and doesn't even care if we pass or fail. What makes it worse is he never uses the front door, slips in through the back and sits at the back row. Most of the time, we won't even know if he entered the class."
"Chill lah," Shree chuckled.
"Yeah lah, Akka," Vasu sighed. "Not only he doesn't even do a good job, he also giving me this sneering gaze as he projected my assignment for everyone to see. It was as if he was mocking... mocking me for pestering him to check my work."
"I feel for you, Vasu, I really do," Mitsuo sympathised. "All I can say is try to get some help for your assignment and get it done. Then you can throw it in his face with that same sneering look."
Vasu imagined that, a smile forming on his lips. "That does sound nice."
"Later you sit and do, I'll help you," Shree added.
Vasu groaned. "Don't want lah. I wanna relax today. Must do presentation also it seems."
"That one when?" Shree asked.
"Who knows," Vasu shrugged. "I think next week."
"Better get it done," Shree said.
"Good luck for it!" Mitsuo cheerfully said.

Shree drove directly to PJ State and parked in front of the phone shop. "Give your phone," she asked her brother.
Vasu took the phone out of its case and handed it to his sister. Shree took it and got out of the car, making her way into the shop. He suddenly leaned forward between the two front seats, startling Mitsuo.
"Mitsuo! Any plans for Valentine's Day?" Vasu asked, grinning. "It's in two weeks?"
"I'm leaving this Thursday, Vasu," Mitsuo regretfully said. "I won't be in Malaysia for that long."
"Darn, sorry I forgot," Vasu quickly apologised. "Anyway, what did the two of you do today?"
Mitsuo excitedly started telling him about the day's adventures, how they went to Le Theodore, messed with Jonathan, the kopitiam, how the two of them walked home, got taufufah—
"Wait, you guys ate taufufah without me?!" Vasu gasped. "How could you?!"
"It's at home, we gave it to Obaasan before leaving," Mitsuo said before going on about how they ate said taufufah in Taman Jaya, then coming straight to pick him up. "So yeah, that's about it."
"You guys haven't had lunch yet?" Vasu asked.
"Not yet," Mitsuo shook his head.
Vasu scooted a little more to the front. "Drop me home after this and go for lunch. I don't wanna disturb your date."
'Date?' Mitsuo thought to himself, confused.
But before he could comprehend, Shree got into the car. "Okay, he said it will take a few hours but can finish before six. While that, we go and have lunch ah. Okay?"
"I'm okay with that, yeah," Mitsuo nodded. "Though I'm not very hungry."
Vasu poked his sister's shoulder. "Akka, leave me at home first. You guys go."
"Uh..." Shree uttered, not really sure if she should abandon her brother.
Mitsuo quickly shook his head. "Vasu, no. You're coming with us. You had a bad day at school and you must be hungry. It's not fair that we have fun without you when you're bummed out." He turned to Shree. "Nika, let Vasu come with us."
Shree grinned, placing her hands on the steering wheel. "Okay!"

"This is funny, coming all the way to Malaysia from Japan only to eat Japanese food," Mitsuo chuckled as he sat in a Japanese Restaurant in AmCorp Mall. "Let's see, what shall we have?"
"I don't understand half of what's on the menu," Vasu remarked, scrunching his face up slightly. "And none of them looks appetising. Not spicy..."
"I think you should take the yakisoba," Shree suggested. "It's like mee goreng. Right, Mitsu?"
"That's fried noodles, right?" Mitsuo asked, earning a nod from the Malaysian siblings. "Yeah, yakisoba is burnt soba, cooked soba."
Vasu shrugged. "Sounds good. I'll take that."
"I think I'll take the soba set," Shree added. "What about you, Mitsu?"
"I'm not really hungry," Mitsuo quickly said, shaking his head.
"Come on, just order something," Shree pointed out. "You're leaving in two days, and this is Malaysia. The food heaven!"
Mitsuo shrugged and decided to go for some tori karaage which came in a set. They told everything to the Chinese woman who seemed more like the owner than a waitress.
"I think it's a family-run business," Shree remarked. "The guy behind the counter might be the husband."
Mitsuo turned to see the cashier who seemed just as much like the owner of the shop than the lady. "Yeah, you're right." He nodded as he turned back to Shree.
The walls of the shop was filled with posters of Japanese paintings and bands, even sumo pictures and a miniature framed kimono. A shelf was put up near the counter, displaying geisha dolls and even Ichimatsu dolls.
"Isn't that the doll where the hair grows after a few years or something?" Vasu piped up.
"Where?" Shree looked around to find said doll.
"There," Vasu nodded towards the counter. "Behind the counter."
"That's an Ichimatsu doll," Mitsuo explained. "And no, the hair technically doesn't grow."
"Then why does it appear longer after a few years?" Vasu asked.
Shree rolled her eyes. "You got see the doll in real life meh?"
"No," Vasu shook his head.
"No no, he's right, the hair does grow," Mitsuo chuckled. "But not because of ghosts or spirits, but because the glue used to fasten the hair under the doll's scalp loosens. The hair is usually bunched up, so a portion of it slips out, thus looking like the doll grew hair over time."
"Hah! So I was right!" Vasu grinned. "See? And you thought I was mocking the doll for being haunted."
Shree sighed. "Fine. You clever boy, okay?"
"Yeah!" Vasu smirked, folding his arms on the table. He looked around the posters around him. "Recognise any of the posters?"
"I see Tatsuro," Shree shrugged, nodding towards the poster promoting the Ride on Time album of Tatsuro Yamashita standing on a beach at sunset. "And I see the 1986 Omega Tribe. Oh! First Light!"
"I see Wink," Mitsuo spotted the album poster for Twin Memories. "And I see BaBe. Akimoto Kaoru, Yagami Junko's Full Moon, Request by Takeuchi Mariya, Flyday Chinatown."
Vasu nodded slowly. "I don't recognise none of it. But I can identify one thing."
"What?" Shree asked.
Vasu pointed to a poster of four big shirtless and smiling men. "That is sumo!"
Shree snorted. "Very clever identification."
Vasu grinned but it was evident that he was still stressed by whatever happened at school, bringing up the fact that the teacher was a horrible person every now and again.
"I actually felt like punching him then and there but managed to get ahold of myself," Vasu sighed. "Why did I get such a teacher?"
"Relax lah," Shree tried to comfort him. "Don't worry about that idiot."
"You guys should report him," Mitsuo added. "He doesn't sound like he's fit to be a teacher."
Vasu scoffed. "He gets the most failures every year but for some reason, no one's touching him. Even the higher ups."
"I think he's one of the founders," Shree shrugged. "Don't know lah, but he very slippery. And VERY annoying. I have no clue why the rest loves him. For me, the only thing he deserves is a knuckle sandwich!"
"And a nice stomping in the face," Vasu added with a smile. "Ah... how I wish I can do that..."
What made it worse was they both said it in such dreamy voices, making Mitsuo slightly scared of them. Shree noticed his reaction and chuckled.
"Don't worry, Mitsuo, we only live those fantasies in our minds," she said. "We don't wanna end up behind bars now, do we?"
Vasu frowned. "It would actually be worth it."
"Vasu!" Shree groaned, giving him a sharp nudge.
Vasu grinned. "I simply tell lah, why lah."
Their green tea arrived in ceramic cups but not the food.
"What's taking them so long? I'm hungry!" Vasu grumbled in a low voice.
"Sabar..." Shree motioned him to wait. "The food must be freshly prepared, right? Some more we order soup."
"But I order mee goreng," Vasu pointed out. "Where got soup?"
"No need to goreng the soba ah?" Shree argued.
"How long only will take?" Vasu countered.
Mitsuo chuckled at their sibling squabble. He had always wanted a sibling, it didn't matter if it was a sister or brother. He silently sipped his green tea as he watched.

I dedicate this chapter to my phone which broke the same day. It is also the same day I found my cute little Teddy Bear phone case protects and absorbs damage only at the back of the phone, leaving the screen completely unprotected. So yeah. I changed my phone case lol. Date: 31st January, 2023.

-sabar means patience.