Ride on Time

Chapter 131

Shree woke up from her slumber and yawned loudly, stretching her arms back as she sat on her bed. She slouched for a moment, her still eyes droopy from sleep, and swept her gaze around the room.
She spotted Vasu still fast asleep and shifted her gaze over to the wall clock that read that it was seven. Shree let out a groan as she rolled out of bed and got onto her feet before making her way over to him.
"Vasu. Vasu, wake up," Shree called as she pulled at his arm. To her dismay, her younger brother merely moaned before withdrawing his arm and turning to face the wall instead. Shree groaned and smacked his backside. "Idiot! Wake up lah! You got exam today some more!"
Vasu groaned and turned to her. "What's the time?"
"Seven o'clock," Shree said, turning to look at the clock before turning back to him. "What time is your exam?"
Vasu gasped as he sat up. "Seven ah?! Why you never wake me up?!"
"I itself just only woke up," Shree sighed. "Go lah, go and bathe. Eight o'clock, right, your exam?"
Vasu nodded and got out of bed. "Yes... and no one woke me."
The two of them made their way to the living room and realised that the house was still dark. The Arteon was missing in the porch and the bathroom light was on, with the sound of water flowing into the bucket heard.
"Awah in the toilet, I think," Vasu said. "I think I'll brush teeth first."
Shree nodded and followed him to the kitchen to get her toothbrush before making her way over to the other bathroom.

Mitsuo decided to make his way over to the food court near Shree's house, saving a lot of money on transport by taking the Free Bus and walking the rest of the way. He was used to walking, after all, and he also needed a way to burn off all the calories he was eating. Not that he wasn't already visiting the gym...
The Indian stall was open so Mitsuo got himself some thosai this time and told Shree to not get any breakfast since he was coming over with some. He then made his way over to her house after buying some soybean milk and taufufah.
The red Viva was parked in the porch and Sufyan's car was missing. Mitsuo figured that he must've already left for work and tapped on Shree's gate since the doorbell was long broken.
The girl immediately popped out, wearing a smile as she came over with the keys.
"I got us breakfast," Mitsuo grinned as he held up the bag he was holding. "And some Taufufah." He lifted his other hand that held the other bag.
"Thank you," Shree chuckled as she pulled the gate open. "Come in."
"So it's Vasu's exam today?" Mitsuo said as he stepped in. "I hope he does well. This exam sounds important."
Shree nodded. "It is. Anyway, what did you buy?"
"Thosai," Mitsuo said. "From that shop in the food court."
"Okay, that lady's curry is nice," Shree chuckled as she led him in. "What's your plan for lunch?"
"I haven't decided yet, any recommendations?" Mitsuo asked. He bowed when he spotted Devi seated on her favourite armchair as she watched the morning talk show. "Good morning, Obaasan."
"Good morning, good morning," Devi nodded, giving him a smile. "Today, Vasu got exam. Valentine's Day, some more, and he got exam."
Mitsuo's eyes widened in surprise, inwardly panicking since he hadn't really gotten Shree anything. Then again, it was the Japanese custom where the woman was the one to buy her man chocolates on that day and he would return the gesture with flowers and gifts a month later on White Day.
"Shoot... and I totally forgot..." Shree smirked at her grandmother. "Anyway, when can we have a gift session?"
'Gift session?' Mitsuo thought to himself in surprise. 'Does that include me or nah?'
He quickly got his answer when Shree smiled and turned to look at him. "You wanna come later? We might go to Basileaf and have a nice dinner."
"But... Vasu has an exam tomorrow as well, right?" Mitsuo pointed out.
"Yeah lah, but cannot eat also ah?" Devi piped up. "We not gonna sit in the restaurant that long also, what."
Mitsuo nodded. "Good point. What time does his exam end?"
"Ten o'clock," Shree sighed. "Aiyo... I hope he do good lah, that feller."
"Don't worry, I'm sure Vasu knows what he's doing," Mitsuo comforted her, but frowned slightly a second later. "I hope..."
"See, even you're not sure," Shree groaned. "That feller forgot today got exam lah, overslept too."
"Poor guy," Mitsuo chuckled. "Should we wait for him to come home before eating or should we just eat?"
"Your wish lah," Devi simply said. "Now what time?" She turned to the clock and noticed that it was just a few minutes past nine-thirty. "Can wait for him also."
"Oh yeah, it's already nine-thirty," Mitsuo nodded. "I think we can wait."

Vasu got into the car and heaved a sigh of relief.
"So how was your exam?" Shree asked as she made a u-turn to go back.
"It wasn't that bad," Vasu said. "The essay was okay, but the subjective questions were quite hard. The objective wasn't all that bad."
"Okay, lah," Devi added. "What test you have tomorrow?"
"Perniagaan," Vasu sighed. "That one only. I have to study lah, the Musang feller never do any extra class for it also." He just realised that he forgot to greet Mitsuo. "Oh, and hi, Mitsuo."
"Yeah, hi," Mitsuo greeted back. "You better study for this test, it sounds difficult."
"It is, gonna be very difficult," Vasu sighed. "Anywho, what's the plan for today? It's still Valentine's Day."
"Mitsuo bought thosai," Devi informed. "For breakfast."
"Okay, so that's the first on the list," Vasu nodded. "What else?"
"That one, later we discuss," Shree smirked.
"Another thing," Mitsuo raised a finger. "Vasu, can I have a word with you later?"
"For what?" Vasu asked, puzzled.
"I'll tell you later," Mitsuo said again.
Vasu shrugged and took his phone out.

"What is it that you wanted to tell me?" Vasu asked when he met with Mitsuo alone in the kitchen.
"It's Valentine's Day," Mitsuo groaned. "I totally forgot about it."
"You mean... you didn't plan anything for Akka?"
Mitsuo nodded regretfully. "I don't know what to get her!"
Vasu frowned slightly before looking at him. "I heard that in Japan, they give chocolates to their Valentine. How about get her some nice chocolates?"
"Yeah, but..." Mitsuo sighed. "Vasu, in Japan we have two Valentine's Day. One is today, and the other is exactly one month from now, called White Day."
"Okay...?" Vasu nodded slowly. "So what's the difference?"
"The difference is... today, the lady would get chocolates for her man while on White Day, he would get her flowers or something like that. But of course, it doesn't actually matter since everyone goes on dates."
Vasu nodded. "How about, we see if she got you anything, and if she doesn't, you get her chocolates and leave her to panic. How's that?"
Mitsuo looked at him in surprise. "Then what do I do if she did get me something?"
"Then you buta lah," Vasu shrugged.
"Did you just call me a pig?"
Vasu shook his head in surprise. "What? No! Buta means something else in... Manglish."
Mitsuo scratched his head. "Then what does it mean?"
"It means that you'll be... you'll... be left with nothing to do?" Vasu still didn't know how to explain. "I honestly don't know how to tell you, but it doesn't mean that I'm calling you a pig. Why would you think that?"
"Have you heard of a Butadon or butaniku?"
"I think Akka has mentioned something like that," Vasu nodded. "I think it's... food?"
"Yeah, it's pork," Mitsuo pointed out.
Vasu nodded in surprise. "Well... two languages, two meanings."
Mitsuo nodded and quickly changed the subject when he spotted Shree coming in with her plate.