Ride on Time

Chapter 108

"Straight? Why?" Shree asked, confused. "It's nearer for us if we take 222, Mitsu."
"Go straight means will come out in Jalan Timur," Vasu added. "Near AmCorp."
"Come on, I want to explore a bit," Mitsuo quickly said. "Please?"
Shree shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
So she skipped the Jalan P.P. Narayanan exit and drove past it. Mitsuo looked intently at the highway around him and frowned.
"You know, other than the modern buildings, this place looks exactly like the one in my nightmare this morning," Mitsuo said. "Where does this road lead to?"
"If go further, it leads to KL," Shree said. "This is where he died?"
Mitsuo nodded, pointing at the side of the highway. "Over there, I think. This building was still here but the colour was different."
"When did that feller die ah?" Vasu asked.
"One day before our birthday," Shree stated. "I think this building was abandoned at the time."
Mitsuo nodded slowly, observing his surroundings. "It looked exactly like this place. What if it really was here?"
"Ask that Shruti lah," Vasu suggested. "She might know."
"Yes," Mitsuo nodded, taking his phone out as Shree drove. "Or I can look him up."
It wasn't that hard since Shri was still famous as a writer, even at the time. There was even a picture of the burnt up Proton Perdana right at the spot they just passed.
"I... I was right," Mitsuo gulped. "He did die there."
"Congratulations, you have proven that you were indeed Shri Mohan in your past life," Vasu smirked, popping between the front seats.
Mitsuo looked traumatised. "I have?"
"Mitsu, no one knows," Shree pointed out as she drove. "I may or may not be Misao in my past life too."
"If she is then it's Density for the two of you," Vasu grinned. "I mean, destiny."
Shree groaned. "Great lah, he shipping us again..."
"Come again?" Mitsuo said.
"Nothing, he's just saying that it might be destiny if I really am Misao, and if you're Shri Mohan, we're meant to be."
Mitsuo frowned for a moment. "Actually, now that I think about it, how did we become friends in the first place? Because you read my book?"
"I know, we became friends very easily, didn't we?" Shree chuckled, changing to the left lane to exit to Jalan Timur. "But I think it's because of that train harassment incident."
"Stupid lah," Vasu spat. "You should've smacked him, Mitsuo."
"I felt like it, but I didn't wanna get myself in trouble in a foreign country," Mitsuo admitted. "But I still stood up for Nika, didn't I?"
"Thanks, literally no one did until you came in," Shree sighed.
"That's why I always do if I see it happening," Mitsuo smiled.
The car pulled into Jalan Sultan when Vasu suddenly spoke.
"Can we get a drink? I'm thirsty."
Shree frowned and nodded. "I'm hungry. Want me to stop at Petronas?"
"Can?" Vasu shrugged.
Shree pulled into the petrol station when it came and for some reason, Mitsuo insisted on paying, even following Shree into the convenience store.
"Mitsu, why?" Shree protested as they left the shop.
"Come on, consider it an apology for making you guys wait at KLIA without a reason," Mitsuo simply said. "Besides, you did get me that nice bouquet."
Shree chuckled. "I'm glad you liked them. Bouquets are more expensive than I thought!"
They got into the car and handed the bag of stuff to the back. Vasu immediately cracked open the soda and started chugging.
"Nice and cold," Vasu sighed as he closed the bottle. "Anyway, where to now?"
"Home lah," Shree pointed out. "Where you wanna go?"
"I dunno, you said hungry?" Vasu pointed out. "I also hungry."
Shree sighed, seeing where this was going. "Fine. Where you wanna go?"
"Amjat? I feel like eating Roti Canai," Vasu said.
"Ooo!" Mitsuo's eyes shined. "I think I can squeeze in a second breakfast too."
Shree sighed and drove straight to the Mamak shop in PJ State.

Mitsuo was elated, completely forgetting about his cancelled trip back to Japan. He was still sad that he won't get to celebrate Setsubun, but where's the fun in celebrating alone? He wished that he could take Shree's family with him to celebrate since they were more comely with him than his own family.
The hotel management managed to give him his room back, fully cleaned with the fresh scent of lavender on everything. Mitsuo leapt onto the bed and decided to give them a video call to see what they were doing. After all, he deserved an explanation for being ditched on Setsubun of all days.
"Mitsu!" Akiko greeted cheerfully as soon as she saw her son's face on screen. "Are you back at home?"
Mitsuo shook his head. "Nope. Since when do we have white sheets at home?"
"Oh, you have a point," Akiko agreed. "You're still in Malaysia?"
"Yeah, well, I figured I'd be celebrating alone, anyway so I decided to stay," Mitsuo shrugged. "Where's the fun in that, amirite?"
Hiroshi appeared behind his wife. "Well, can't say the same for us."
Mitsuo nodded. "Well, at least I considered coming home before Setsubun unlike someone else who's celebrating away from home. Seriously, you guys are chasing away spirits from where? The hotel room?"
"Actually, we're going to the Osu Kannon Temple," Hiroshi said. "Nice, right?"
Mitsuo nodded. "Sounds exciting. When are you guys even going home?"
"Next week," Akiko said. "But we're not sure."
Mitsuo sighed. "Just be safe, don't eat junk food. Remember Disneyland?"
His parents looked sheepish. The whole family had made their way to Chiba to celebrate Christmas and Mitsuo's birthday in Disneyland. Well, Mitsuo did most of the celebrating since his parents had eaten something that went very wrong the night before, having them spend their time at the toilets instead of enjoying their trip in Disneyland.
"Yeah, we're paying better attention to what we're eating now," Hiroshi finally said. "We're actually making our own food since there's a nice little kitchen here, with a stove and oven."
"That sounds good," Mitsuo admitted. "There's a microwave in my room too and a tea maker. But I'm still eating out for the most part since... it's Malaysia. I don't wanna miss out on food."
"That must be fun, exploring food," Akiko nodded. "But make sure you don't end up like our Disneyland episode."
"Don't worry, I found some medicine at the petrol station downstairs. So far, I only got to use it once."
"That's great," Hiroshi nodded. "Make sure you don't have to use it again."
"Hopefully," Mitsuo said. "Anyway, I need to buy dinner. I'll call soon. Bye!"
Mitsuo hung up and decided to order food online instead. He felt lazy to go out now, especially after the very eventful day he had, with the flight cancellation, Shruti's revelation, then Shree's, then finding out that his nightmare was indeed accurate, then spending time at Shree's place, and only now getting to rest.