Ride on Time

Chapter 130

Everyone were just sitting around, each having a screen of their own, when Shree let out a gasp.
"Why lah?" Chandrika asked, concerned at her sudden shocked expression. "What happened?"
"It's Mitsuo..." Shree said, looking up from her phone both with both worry and amusement. "He went and ate the Pan Mee from Old Town, went and buy the extra spicy some more."
"Then?" Devi smirked.
"With all the spicy paste in the pack, even the dry flakes..." Shree added, then snorted at her phone. "And he sent me a selfie."
She showed it to the rest. It was a picture of Mitsuo with a sweaty and teary face yet still bearing a cheerful smile as he held up his thumb. It was funny, but it did seem painful since they knew how spicy that Pan Mee really was.
"He put all the paste?" Chandrika asked in surprise. "Eh, why you never tell him lah? He would've at least got the standard dry flakes, right?"
Shree shrugged. "I did tell him. This feller only went and ask for spicy, I think. See? People, if something too spicy, they avoid. This feller will eat some more even after finding out that it's terrible spicy."
"Tell him to be careful," Devi added. "Stomach can have problem if too spicy."
"Nah," Shree snorted. "If like that means, we how?"
Devi shook her head. "It's different for him, he's not used to it. Too much spicy food might not agree with him."
"Well, I tried to warn him, but he doesn't seem to mind," Shree shrugged. "The guy actually wants it at this point."
Devi shrugged too and turned the channel to the news, somehow juggling the eight o'clock news with the Tamil serial that came at the same time.

Mitsuo sighed as he counted the pages of the day's entry in his diary, eight pages in total. It was a very eventful day, a mixture of both sweet and bitter moments. Well, there was only one bitter moment where he had lunged at Siddharth for whatever reason that he didn't actually know about, but at least he managed to go to the temple and had tasty Pan Mee.
He let out a loud burp as he wiped down the glass nib of his pen, making him stop short in surprise. The burning taste of the spicy Pan Mee was refreshed for a moment but nothing else came up. Mitsuo quietly put his pen away and went to bed after drinking some water to wash it down.
Due to the day's events, he fell asleep within seconds.

***

A dining table stood in the middle of an otherwise dark and empty space, surprisingly bright and illuminated. Mitsuo heard the sound of typing, the unmistakable sound of keys being typed, word after word, but somehow still sounded different. It was louder, each press of a key booming with loud mechanical clicks.
As Mitsuo neared the table, he spotted someone sitting at it with what looked like an electronic typewriter but with no wire attached whatsoever. He recognised Shri as the one typing on it, a slight frown on his face as he did. Mitsuo jumped back a little when the other man looked up at him, now wearing a small smile.
"Have a seat," Shri said, nodding towards the chair in front of him.
Mitsuo sat down without a word and stared as Shri casually went on typing out his story on the piece of paper in front of him.
"Don't beat yourself up for getting mad at my brother," Shri remarked, only briefly looking up before going right back to his story. "He deserved it."
"I- I really don't know what came over me, can you explain it?" Mitsuo blurted out.
Shri paused from his typing and looked at him. He shrugged slightly before speaking. "He was your brother in the past, but I guess he's always been mine."
"Was he a good brother?" Mitsuo couldn't help but ask. "Because... what I saw suggested otherwise."
Shri snorted slightly as he leaned forward. "He was hardly a brother at all. We've had some good memories, yes, but... he's still an idiot."
Mitsuo gulped before asking. "Was I really... you in the past?"
Shri just smirked in response to that question. "How is your new book going?" He asked instead.
"I haven't really started on it yet..." Mitsuo admitted. "You should know how I feel now, if you're really a part of me."
"I am... and I do know that a long break from writing might also affect your writing style," Shri shrugged, precisely positioning his fingers on the keyboard for easy typing. "You should start soon."
"I'm still writing out my findings, and I also write in my diary every night," Mitsuo pointed out. "And I also read a lot of books. Your books. That's hardly a break, don't you think?"
"My books..." Shri smiled, almost to himself. "What do you think of them?"
"It feels as if I know them," Mitsuo said. "I have the same interest in reading them as I am reading my books. Which I enjoy."
Shri nodded but didn't reply, merely sparing him a glance as he typed away. Mitsuo touched the paper that had unrolled from the platen, catching a glimpse of a few paragraphs already written. Shri swatted his hand away, shaking his head as his hand flew back to hover over the typewriter.
"You know I don't like it when someone reads my drafts before it's complete," Shri stated. "You out of all people should understand this."
"Sorry..." Mitsuo bowed slightly and leaned back in his seat. "So anyway... who killed you? Were you even killed at all?"
Shri stopped typing and looked up with a serious expression, leaning forward on his arms. "What are the odds of a giant lorry appearing in the wrong lane in the middle of the Federal Highway, only to come right my way? Do you think that's something common?"
"No?" Mitsuo uttered.
Shri pointed a hand at him in agreement. "See? That's exactly what I'm thinking. Someone was out to get me, someone I don't even know, and they actually succeeded." He grinned at him just the slightest. "But not entirely."
"Maybe it was your brother," Mitsuo suggested. "After all, he was jealous of you..."
Shri frowned but shook his head. "He is shrewd, but he's too dumb. Mitsuo, didn't Shruti tell you of the story of how he tried to dry varnish faster by putting powder on it? What part of that sounds like a smart idea?" He shook his head again. "He's too stupid to come up with a masterminded plot, I don't think it's him."
"I'm sorry, but your brother seems like a very annoying person."
"He is..." Shri couldn't help but agree.
"But do you have any suspicion at who might've gotten you killed?"
Shri frowned, but shrugged as he shook his head. "Don't know. I got a call from Misao's roommate saying she was found dead. I was rushing to KLIA when that lorry suddenly appeared in front of me. You know about that, don't you?"
"The explanation to my unconventional fear of seeing lorries while driving," Mitsuo remarked. "It must've been painful, to know that the love of your life had died."
Shri nodded slowly, the slightest of smiles on his face. "I wasn't there to protect her, but you're here for her now and I don't want us to repeat the same mistake that we made before." He looked at Mitsuo in the eyes, adjusting his glasses. "Find out who did this, for both of us, and don't leave Nika's side. Ever."