Ride on Time

Chapter 8

Misao smiled as she made her way home, happy with her unexpected encounter at work. It was only by chance that she was thinking about Shri and she was surprised that he should show up right at the Ryōtei she worked at, with a different name too.
It never crossed her mind that this man named Mohan could be Shri. She pictured this Mohan guy to be a middle-aged foreigner who came to refresh his eyes by being alone with a young Japanese girl who entertained him with traditional dances and music. Seeing Shri and his sister was something she didn't expect.
But something she welcomed.
Misao smiled when she remembered how Shruti said she felt like calling her Neesan. For some reason, Misao had always wanted to look like the Indian girls she had seen in movies, with warmer skin and curly hair. She thought they looked amazing like that.
But then she felt fine with her features. Her mother had told her that she was perfect more than a hundred times, but Misao never believed her. But now, she felt perfectly comfortable in her own skin and hair. After all, straight hair was always easier to manage compared to curly hair but curls still looked better in Misao's eyes for some reason.
Little did she know, curly-haired people wished they had straight hair. Well, the grass was always greener on the other side anyway.
Misao chuckled to herself then quickly looked around to see if anyone had heard her. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw little to no one around her. The only ones there were a few couples who had stood on the middle of Shirakawa Bridge to admire the beautiful moon and a few more tourists who were taking a walk there, getting excited at the idle Koi in the canals.
Misao went on her way to her home and let herself in. Kumiko was sitting in the living room, watching the late night news.
"Since when do you watch the news?!" Misao teasingly gasped as soon as she stepped in. "Hey, it might rain later, you know?"
Kumiko scowled at her roommate who casually strode past in her black and red floral kimono. Misao snorted and went straight to her room to get out of her kimono and get into the bath.
Misao decided to take a long time, satisfying herself with the relaxation it came with.
"Misao, are you done?!" Kumiko impatiently banged on the door. "You're taking forever!"
"Go away, I'm bathing," Misao called back, adding more bath salts into the tub.
Misao chuckled when she heard Kumiko grumbling as she walked away. She always loved an evening bath, washing away all the impurities she had collected during the day. She almost felt like she was being born into a new person after every bath she takes.
Misao finally got out of the bath and pulled the plug off before getting into her bathrobe. She left the bathroom and saw Kumiko waiting outside, smirking.
"You're still here?" Misao hissed, pushing her aside. "Move!"
Kumiko gave her the Akanbe taunt and ran off. Misao just rolled her eyes and went back to her room to change into pyjamas before heading over to the kitchen to have dinner. She found that Kumiko had prepared Gyūdon. Misao sighed and went to the fridge to prepare Ochazuke instead.
"Hey, want some of my Gyūdon?" Misao turned around and saw her roommate putting the beef bowl into the microwave. She just stared at Kumiko who couldn't seem to see what the reason was. And then it clicked. "Oh! Sumimasen! I forgot that you don't eat beef."
"Yes, my family always restricted beef, in case you don't remember," Misao rolled her eyes as she turned back to her steeping green tea. "Always been strict. The most I can eat is butaniku. Get that?"
"Sure, but why don't you at least try once?"
"Kumi, I respect your views so I expect you to do the same for me."
"Sorry..."
"It's fine... it's common for a Japanese person to eat beef anyway. Not everyone is a strict about it."
"I thought meat itself is restricted?"
"Not really, Kumi. Only the pure ones are vegetarian all the way. Also, I can eat meat, just not gyuniku. And not everyone have restrictions. It's just my family."
"I see... then what about Sakuraniku?"
"Rejected too."
"Oh..."
"Yeah..." Misao poured the hot green tea onto a bowl of rice before seasoning it with dried shallots. "No beef and big animals. That includes horses too, Kumi."
"Fine..." Kumiko shrugged and took her Gyūdon out of the microwave and watched as Misao mixed her bowl with chopsticks. "Sorry if I offended you, Misao..."
Misao sighed, shaking her head. "I'm not offended, Kumi. I was just annoyed... and hungry," she quickly added. "Come on. Let's eat while watching a movie."
"Tamil movie?" Kumiko smirked. "How you even understand them?"
"It's amazing even though I don't understand a word. Also, Tamil is getting quite easy to understand since you can kinda see what their trying to say based on the screenplay."
"That makes sense. Alright, come on. I'm hungry too."

Misao sat on her bed, staring at the poster of Muthu Odoru Maharaja, a Tamil movie that starred Rajinikanth. It was the first ever Tamil movie she watched and it instantly became her favourite, and a big hit in Japan too. The movie was one of the first Indian movies ever released in Japan and the biggest hit of 1998. She started hunting for more Tamil movies, mainly ones starring Rajinikanth, and somehow found a few imported original versions. Well, he was deemed Superstar for a reason, after all.
And then she looked at the poster which promoted the movie City Hunter that starred Jackie Chan. She had a good laugh when watching the movie, especially the scene in the Street Fighter arcade.
But then there was an empty spot next to that poster. She sighed and decided to try and go shopping for a new poster to fill it in.
But what movie should she get?
Misao pulled out her box of movie CDs and looked through each one, putting her favourite movies aside. She decided that she should get a poster for the Tamil version of the movie Pistha that starred the actors Karthik and Nagma that she somehow managed to get ahold of. The name of the movie actually translated to pistachio, but it was actually slang for crook or gangster. She couldn't stop laughing when watching the movie since it was a funny romance comedy where a rebellious woman was forced to marry a man who seemed very meek at first but revealed to be a criminal that just got released from jail, much her dismay but much to her father's delight.
'If I can't find the poster, I'm going to the photo studio to get one printed myself,' Misao smirked at the CD case before pushing the box of CDs back under her bed where Kumiko wouldn't see them.
Misao felt like she could only wholly enjoy watching her Indian flicks when her roommate wasn't around. She felt like Kumiko would always judge her though the latter had no such intention. After all, she had her own likes while Misao had her own. Who was she to mock Misao for watching the movies she liked?

Alright, I did some research and found that Tamil movies have been pretty hot in Japan, according to an article I read. However, I also heard that Muthu was one of the biggest hits in Japan back in 1998. So it sorta makes sense that Misao watches them too. This is especially true until now since I heard they showed Irudhi Sutru at the 2016 Tokyo Film Festival and Vikram Veda in 2017. Both movies starred Madhavan, a famous actor who only seems to look better with age. Also, this makes me super proud as an Indian, though I'm Malaysian. Like Shri, I am a Malaysian of Indian descent.

Also, as for the part where Misao refuses gyuniku, I'm not very sure. This is because in some areas of Buddhism, beef is restricted. But on the other hand, it isn't. I have a lot of Buddhist friends and some say that beef is restricted in their religion, but some says that it isn't. One of my friends even gave me a mixed answer, at first saying that it's allowed and then quickly adding that it's restricted. So I don't know which to believe so I decided to just make Misao avoid it because why not.