Ride on Time

Chapter 107

"Nika!" Mitsuo called after them as he ran, his hands full. "Vasu! Wait up!"
Vasu was about to stop but Shree started pushing him towards the lift lobby. Mitsuo eventually caught up, breathless.
"Nika, please, I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Mitsuo apologised, panting. "I had so much on my mind."
Shree turned to him, tears streaming out of her eyes. "So, you only cancelled because of that nightmare and not because of me?"
Mitsuo shook his head. "Nika, no. You were also in that dream. I didn't only want to know of my connection with Shri Mohan, I also wanted to know what it was with you too."
Shree let out a loud sniff, more like a snort, and turned away hide it as she rubbed a hand under nose.
"Nika, to tell you the truth, I've never been more comfortable with any girl than I have with you," Mitsuo added. "I feel like I've known you for a very long time, but I just didn't say it, afraid that I might creep you out in some way."
Shree turned to him, shaking his head. "I felt the same way too. No matter how much I've tried to resist, it didn't work."
"So the feeling was mutual," Mitsuo said with a small smile. He took the small paperback copy of Murder on the Orient Express that he got earlier and handed it to her. "Here, I got this for you when I was at the Shri Mall just now. I remembered how you said you wanted to read this book, but had no idea where to buy it and got it for you as soon as I saw it."
Shree took the book and stared at it, tears pouring out of her eyes like miniature waterfalls. To Mitsuo's surprise, she suddenly threw her arms around him.
"You actually thought about me?" Shree sobbed, squeezing Mitsuo. "But what is this new thing about you being that Shri Mohan feller and me being that Misao lady? Suddenly she telling like this."
"I have no clue either," Mitsuo admitted, patting her back. "But what Ms. Shruti is saying does kinda add up, especially since that dream was so... real."
"I never seen that girl before also, how she come in my dream also don't know," Shree added. "Like this means we really reborn ah? Were we really Shri Mohan and Misao? Now here as Mitsuo and Shreenika?"
"I don't know," Mitsuo sighed. "It's a really big claim, one that might even seem bogus. But I guess it all points to it?"
Vasu watched the entire thing, amused as he crunched on a pack of corn chips. "Oh my god..."
To his surprise, Mitsuo pulled him in too. "Get over here."
Vasu was surprised, but still hugged back.
"Don't cry, Nika," Mitsuo comforted. "I'm staying now, right?"
"In Sheralbon?" Shree sniffed.
"Where else?" Mitsuo chuckled. "Other hotels don't have you for a Zumba instructor, right?"
"But it's expensive!" Shree blurted out.
"Yeah? And I'm loaded after that bestseller, Nika," Mitsuo smirked. "I don't mind."
Vasu wanted to say 'come live with us' but realised that it wasn't a very good idea.
They finally pulled away from the group hug and pressed the lift button to go down. An elevator rapidly ascended and to their surprise, out came Wang.
"Uncle!" Vasu called cheerfully. "Hi."
"You all ah... what y'all doing here?" Wang asked, giving them a nod.
"Simply came to speak to Shruti Auntie," Vasu grinned. "Anyway, I heard your son is a Grape driver?"
"Eh, how you know?" Wang asked in surprise.
Shree grinned. "Uncle, this is PJ. We know everything."
They waved at him and entered the lift together, grinning.
"Seriously, it still weird seeing this feller running around here," Vasu scowled. "Deepavali and Chinese New Year not enough ah?"
Mitsuo nodded. "Maybe you guys should consider getting a restraining order."
"I'll ask my neighbour how it's done later," Shree grinned. "He policeman, what."
Mitsuo frowned slightly as he remembered something. Shree's policeman neighbour was none other than Sufyan. And Sufyan was Shri's best friend since high school. If what Shruti had said about the reincarnation thing was correct, Sufyan might know a thing or two.
He wasn't sure if he should tell Shree about it and decided to just sneak behind her. It might be hard since she literally lives next door. Mitsuo decided to just give it a shot, but not now and nowhere today.
"If you guys are the Shri Mohan feller and Misao lady, then who am I?" Vasu piped up suddenly. "Did that Misao lady have a brother too?"
Mitsuo shook his head. "I don't think so. Her mother mentioned that she and her husband adopted another girl after her death. And she's a little older than us."
Shree shuddered. "For some reason I'm really hoping this past-life thing of us being Misao and Shri Mohan isn't true. It just doesn't sit right..."
Mitsuo couldn't help but agree. "It makes me question my identity." He sighed. "But for some reason, I don't think he died on accident. It seemed like he wanted me to find out about something, even telling me not to go."
"So you saying you only stayed because that feller told lah?" Shree said, much to his dismay.
"Not just that, I didn't feel like leaving you too," Mitsuo quickly admitted. "I had to force myself to pack yesterday. That's why I took a walk around. And then met with that Jonathan feller."
The were surprised when he used the Malaysian expression.
"Did you just say 'feller'?" Vasu asked in surprise.
"You guys are influencing me..." Mitsuo shrugged, grinning.
The lift finally arrived at the ground floor and the three of them got out. Though Shree had been crying, she had cheered up considerably after the conversation.
"You wanna go anywhere before going to Sheralbon?" Shree asked Mitsuo as they made their way to the parking lot. "I need to go home and get read for work. It starts in two hours."
"Oh yeah, and I have to check in..." Mitsuo added. "Do you think they'll let me?"
"Check-out time itself not yet, let alone check-in," Vasu pointed out. "They won't let you in."
"Where can like that?" Shree chuckled. "Never mind, you just hang around in the hotel lobby or whatever first, afterwards you check in."
"Akka, it's nine-thirty, check-in time is at three," Vasu pointed out. "Until then, what only you want him to do?"
Shree frowned. "Oh yeah ah..." she thought for a moment before turning back to Mitsuo. "How about you come to our house?"
"What do you want me to do there?" Mitsuo asked. "I don't wanna bother Obaasan..."
"Just talk to her, you seem to get along well with older people," Shree pointed out. "Besides, she's more excited to meet you than me."
Mitsuo frowned and shrugged. "Sure. I can spend a few hours at your place."
"Great, and I need to get to work, Vasu will be sitting at home only," Shree chuckled, pointing at her brother as she took her keys out. "So you can hang around with him."
Mitsuo gave the younger man a light tap on the shoulder. "You didn't go to school today too? Oi! You ponteng yesterday too!"
"Gosh, hearing that word from you sounds really funny," Vasu chuckled. "But yeah, I'm stuck going to school tomorrow."
"He got exam in less than two weeks and look at how he's running about here," Shree gave him a smack on the shoulder. "He hasn't even touched his books!"
"Chill, I've got it covered," Vasu grinned but it quickly faltered. "Not for Business, though. Darn, that Musang feller."
"Go study!" Mitsuo scolded as he got into the car. "Is this a resit test?"
"Yes..." the siblings sighed.
"It's like the teachers actually prepare us to repeat rather than pass it with the first shot," Shree groaned. "I had to retake two tests too."
"Is it that hard?" Mitsuo said in surprise.
"Teachers like this Musang itself enough, what, for everyone to fail," Vasu remarked. "You know, our class always get a hundred percent fails? He gets the most fails and least passes."
Mitsuo shook his head in surprise. "I'd like to meet this guy."
"For what?" Shree shorted. "Oh, you'll regret ever seeing such a person. He's always got this sneering look in his eyes, as if he's the smartest in the world, when he really... isn't. I mean, maybe he's smart in Business Studies, but he's not a very good teacher."
"I hate him!" Vasu spat. "Have to see that feller's face tomorrow."
"Never mind lah, Friday, what," Shree pointed out, starting the car. "Can come back early."
Just as they got into the car, it had started drizzling.
"It's raining!" Mitsuo said in surprise, looking at the drops on the windshield. "But it's so hot!"
"Hujan panas," Vasu shrugged.
"What's that mean?" Mitsuo questioned.
"Hot rain," Shree chuckled as she pulled out of the building. "Means raining when it's hot."
They exited into the Damansara-Puchong Expressway before turning left into the Federal Highway and started making their way back to Old Town. Shree would have to take another exit near Jalan P. P. Narayanan so that she could drive back to Old Town.
All of a sudden, Mitsuo spoke.
"Nika, can you drive straight instead?"

Also, the Jalan P. P. Narayanan and Jalan 222 are both names of the same place. The original name is actually Jalan 222, full name Jalan 51A/222, but was dubbed Jalan P. P. Narayanan out of respect for the late unionist of the same name only in the early 2000s. Many locals still call it Jalan 222, and even the street signs read both names.
Also, about how easy it is to fail STPM... it is actually one of the hardest examinations in the world. So yeah, the term STPM itself demands respect whenever someone says they had endured it. It's internationally recognised and is equivalent to A-Levels.