Ride on Time

Chapter 117

Shruti brought out a tea set and sat in the living room to speak with them. For some reason, tea seemed to rate number one in her drinks list.
"So what brings you two here?" Shruti asked, ignoring the fact that there were three of them.
Vasu just frowned at his sister who smiled sheepishly. He sighed and took a sip of his tea before loudly clearing his throat.
Shruti sighed. "Madhavi is studying at the dining table."
"See, she studying, not like you," Shree snorted, smacking her brother's back before turning to Shruti. "Auntie, next week exam, this feller still playing."
"Go lah, she waiting for you only," Shruti reluctantly said, getting up. "She asked me to send you over when I told her you guys coming."
Vasu nodded and got up, following Shruti to the dining hall. Shree turned to Mitsuo, who in turn looked at her.
"So... she just sent Vasu off," Mitsuo smirked. "But I think he has a crush on that girl."
Shree nodded regretfully. "I also got ask this idiot to tell her, but he don't want. Eh, let it be lah. If he don't tell soon means, I'll tell her."
Mitsuo smirked. "Maybe I'll tell Ms Shruti about this too."
Shree shook her head and took a sip of her tea. Shruti eventually returned and sat with them again.
"I have a feeling your hunch may be right, Ms Shruti," Mitsuo reluctantly said. "I saw him again, as a reflection, on some... Mitsubishi Eterna?"
"What does it look like?" Shruti asked.
Mitsuo frowned and took his phone out to look up the old car. He found pictures that looked like the kind of car he saw in his dream and handed the phone to Shruti, who frowned intently.
"This looks like a Perdana," Shruti said, handing the phone back to him.
"Perdana!" Mitsuo gasped. "I think I read it in the article, the article about the accident! So it's... it's Shri Mohan's car?"
"I'm afraid so," Shruti sighed. "You wanna see the pictures of the actual car?"
Mitsuo and Shree quickly shook their heads.
"When it was brand new, not... when he crashed," Shruti chuckled slightly, getting up. "You should see it. Wait, let me get the album."
They watched as she made her way to one of the cabinets and returned with a few photo albums. Shruti flipped through them and stopped at a picture before handing the album to Mitsuo.
"This is it, this is the car," Mitsuo said, looking at the picture of Shri grinning beside his new car. "Is this... the car he died in?"
Shruti nodded slowly. "It is."
"Show?" Shree said, leaning to look. Mitsuo just handed it to her. "Oh, this is a Perdana."
"Yes, but it looks so much like a Mitsubishi Eterna," Mitsuo pointed. "It's quite similar..."
"That's because the old Proton Perdana was actually a remodelled Mitsubishi," Shree said. "And the current one? It's a Honda Accord."
"I knew that," Mitsuo nodded. "I've heard about a guy who remodelled a Honda to become some Malaysian car in Japan."
Shruti cleared her throat.
"So he had a Perdana and he crashed into a lorry with it." Shree quickly said before turning to the older woman.
"Yep," Shruti reluctantly nodded, trying to hide the refreshed grief she felt.
"Okay, if that's the case, then why on earth did Misao appear on a sheet of ice?" Shree pointed out.
"Because she died in December and Kyoto's frozen at the time?" Mitsuo suggested. "Even now. Coming to Malaysia was a change in scenery, half-freezing in Japan and sweating buckets here."
"Oh yeah..." Shree nodded slowly. "Darn... I never thought of that. When did she die?"
"One day before my brother did, two days before you two were born," Shruti said. "I think I've mentioned this before."
The two immediately nodded.
"Is it okay if I look through these pictures?" Mitsuo asked.
Shruti nodded, even pushing the other albums towards him. "Yes, yes. Go ahead."
He looked through the album he was holding while Shree opened another album and looked through. It was like a change in scenery, from the atmosphere of old Petaling Jaya to Japanese gardens and tatami mats.
"Is this Japan?" Shree asked, showing the album to Shruti.
"Yes, that album got all the pictures we took in Japan, even the ones that Shri took," the older woman nodded. "See lah, maybe you can find something."
Shree nodded and flipped through the pictures. She came to a photo of a geisha, standing at a bridge with her painted lips forming a warm smile. She was wearing a red kimono, her hair done in typical Geisha-shimada, but the most distinct part about her was the red ornamental hairpin hanging from the side of her head. Shree instantly knew who she was.
The reflection in her dream.
"This is Misao, right?" Shree showed the picture to Shruti.
"Yes, Shri took that when they first met," Shruti chuckled. "I used to make fun of him since he actually did all of that behind my back. Maybe I was sort of protective of him, but then Misao turned out to be a great person."
Shree flipped further and found a picture of two geisha women performing on stage. One was playing a shamisen and the other was playing a tsuzumi. Shree instantly knew which was Misao.
"She plays the tsuzumi?" Shree asked.
"Geishas usually play lots of traditional instruments, I'm sure the tsuzumi is just one among many," Mitsuo piped up, looking at the picture.
"I spoke to her roommate after Shri passed away, and she told me that Misao was carrying an entire bag full of instruments," Shruti informed, a frown forming on her face. "In that bag was also Shri's book. It was Mystical Mist."
"You bought the books that belonged to Misao, didn't you..." Shree said. "Was Mystical Mist among them?"
Mitsuo nodded, chills running down his spine. "Yes... it was... it had water damage. I thought maybe she spilled water all over it, but now that I realise it... the book went down with her."
"Nah, it didn't," Shruti comforted. "Kumiko-san said she found the book on the bridge while Misao was found... under it..."
"B-Bridge?" Shree gulped. She quickly flipped the album to the first picture of Misao that Shri took and held it up, her hands shaking. "It's... it's not this bridge, right?"
Shruti looked at the picture, her face changing. "It's... she fell off that same bridge. She passed that place every day and turns out, that's where she would be on her last too."
Shree dropped the album in shock, her hands trembling. "Does this bridge have low red railings, surrounded by a river with beautiful trees?"
"That's the one," Shruti nodded.
"Where is it?" Mitsuo asked, taking the album to stare at the picture. "This looks like... Gion! Shirakawa Bridge?"
Shree gulped. "I have seen this place before. A guy... he... he was dragging me towards the low railing, I think he was trying to push me. But then this guy came up and shoved him aside. I ran to hug him, and he told me that he was here for me now, or something like that."
Mitsuo gulped. "What if... Misao was murdered. Her mother said she spoke to her before it happened. She suspects that Misao was killed too. Maybe she didn't show any signs of being suicidal, she said she wasn't the type to do something like that."
"It might be a mother's instinct," Shruti suggested. "Kumiko suggested that it may have been because of the blizzard since the railings were low and the snow was quite extreme that night. But that may be right." She turned to Shree. "Who was that man who tried to push you?"
"I couldn't see his face, but he seemed like a creep," Shree said. "I'm not sure who he is, or what he looked like. The other guy, the one who saved me, felt like... Mitsuo..."
Mitsuo, for some reason, felt proud of this.
"Maybe he was the one who killed Misao," Shruti nodded slowly. "Anyway, look through those pictures, you might find some clues. There's isn't much of Misao in there but just look."
Mitsuo flipped through the pictures in one of the albums. He suddenly came to a picture of Shri, grinning beside a young Sufyan.
"Is this Mr Sufyan?" Mitsuo asked in surprise.
Shruti looked at the picture in surprise and nodded. "Yes, that's Sufyan. It was taken when he went to his house for Raya the year before. How did you know him?"
Mitsuo snorted. "He's Nika's neighbour. I spoke to him a few times."
"He got go to his house and drink syrup all," Shree added in an annoyed tone.
Mitsuo grinned sheepishly and went on flipping through the pictures. He suddenly came to a picture of a group of men having a discussion. Shri could be seen, but as a member of the background, frowning at what seemed to be a grinning young Shruti. The place seemed like a tatami room decked out with chabudai and zabuton chairs, something which wasn't uncommon for Mitsuo to see.
"Is this when you went to Japan?" Mitsuo asked, holding up the picture.
"Yep," Shruti chuckled when she remembered that day. "Shri and I were at the back. This one's during my father's meeting." She pointed to Shridhar in the picture, who seemed to be just as engrossed in the conversation as the rest of the Japanese men. "That's him."
Mitsuo stared at the picture, scanning the faces of each of the men. To his surprise, one of them even seemed familiar.
"Hey, that looks like my friend's dad!" Mitsuo snorted. "Ms Shruti, was there anyone named Hitohira there?"
Shruti nodded slowly. "All of them were from Hitohira Tech, the company we collaborated with at the time. Why?"
"That's my friend's dad," Mitsuo chuckled, pointing to a young Japanese man seated a few seats from Shridhar. "She went to high school with me, we still keep in touch."
"Small world, isn't it?" Shruti smiled slightly.
The others couldn't help but agree.