Mi and You

Chapter 18

Outside Looking In

For the nth time that day, Kana wondered when it would be a good time to leave. She had arrived at the hospital at the usual time, only to find Mi's mother wailing while the nurses tended to Mi. One of them was trying, in their best English, to try and calm her down. For a minute, she thought the worst, but apparently, Mi just started bleeding. It was probably a reaction, or perhaps someone unknowingly bumped into her her, but her mom was kept wailing on and on about how "it" was happening again.

Kana immediately wanted to leave, but it seemed too callous, even for her. She had looked to Ray for guidance, but he was busy trying to calm his mother down. No thanks. Not her mom.

"Mom, you need to stop before we're thrown out. And you're probably disturbing Mi too."

"Ray's right, dear," Mi's dad spoke in a soothing voice, "Perhaps you didn't notice and bumped into her?" At least there was one sensible person in the family. "After all, Mi hasn't had any nightmares for so long. You know that she'd tell us if there was."

As soon as the word 'nightmares' was mentioned, Kana saw Ray fidget. Something was up. She tried to inch over to ask him, but before she could do so, the other two adults in the room made their way over.

"Calm down," Arisa-san told her comfortingly. "I'll talk the nurse and ask them to be more careful."

Mi's mother shook her head and crossed her arms. "No. I mean, no thank you," she said. It was amazing how much Mi looked liked her. "Tell them we're bringing Mi home. I'm not letting her stay in this terrible place any longer."

"Dear, are you sure?" Mi's dad asked, "I thought we were going to wait a few days and see. We just got here, after all."

"I said we're bringing her back and that's final. Or do none of you care about her?" Mi's mother started crying again, and everyone fussed over her.

Kana clenched her fists. She hated the sound of people crying. Mi used to cry at the drop of a hat too, but Kana had managed to stop that. It was amazing how easy it was.

"But, that's not very nice," Mi mumbled in Japanese. They were at golf, and the Mi was once again trading insults with a few of the boys. Joking, she called it.

Oh no. Kana stopped mid-swing, placed her club against the chair behind and quickly walked over. Mi's eyes were already tearing.

"Kenji, what did you guys say?" Kana murmured as soon as she was close enough.

"Nothing," Kenji whispered. "We were just joking about how we all need to put on weight. I mean, we didn't mean her, but I guess she did?"

"Baka."

Kana grabbed Mi by the arm and pulled her towards the female toilets. Thankfully, Mi hadn't started crying, although as soon as they entered the toilet, she started sniffling.

"I don't have a tissue," Kana said hastily. "And more importantly, you need to stop crying. Now. I can't stand it, and you're annoying everyone."

A tear fell. "I can't help it," Mi started to cry.

"I mean it," Kana said, holding up her hand. "If you continue crying for no good reason, I'll slap you. Got it?"

Mi's eyes widened, and she nodded.

"Good," Kana said with relief. "I'll leave you to pull yourself together, and I expect you to keep it together. This is not the way to get accepted, they'll just be too scared to talk to you, ok?"

Mi nodded.

With a sigh of relief, Kana left the toilet and went back to the guys. "Sorry about Mi-chan," she said as she approached them. "I talked with her, and she'll do her best not to cry so much."

"It's ok," Kenji shrugged, "It was partly our fault. We'll be more careful next time."

True to her word, Mi didn't cry in front of Kana after that. Once or twice, Kana saw her blink back tears, but she didn't cry. She actually felt proud of Mi, but she didn't bother telling her that. She had to have noticed from the way the guys cautiously started talking more casually with her.

Or maybe not, considering how much she still complained. Kana eyed Mi's crying mother, wondering if she could use the same strategy on her.

Thankfully, the decision was taken out of her hands.

"Mom, I think you need to go to the hotel and rest," Ray said firmly. "Aunty Alissa can bring you and dad and uncle back, and she can write the name of the hotel down. Yuu, Kana and I will go to Mi's house first to get her mail and stuff. Ok?"

Surprisingly, her mother just nodded. Together, Ray and his dad managed to shepherd her out of the room, Arisa-san and her husband following behind. Only Kana and one other guy, Yuu, she guessed, was left behind.

"So," Yuu started, "you're that friend of Mi that she keeps talking about?"

"How many people did she talk to about me?"

"Not that many!"

Yuu laughed. To be honest, he barely looked like a hafu. "Well, I don't know how many, but Mi and I are like, childhood friends. She tells me everything."

He wasn't even boasting, Kana noted to herself. To him, that was the most normal thing in the world.

"Well, it's true. Yuu's a sweetie and really easy to talk to. But I didn't say that about him."

"じゃ、そんなに仲良くだったら、なんで日本で留学してないの？[1]" Kana asked.

Yuu looked surprised. "Uh, no nihongo?" He tried.

"You don't speak Japanese? I thought your mom was Arisa-san."

"Who's Arisa-san?" Ray said, coming into the room. Kana jumped, she had not heard him. "Why are you using a "r" sound?"

"Because that's how she introduced herself," Kana said very slowly. What was with these two?

"Neither of them can speak Japanese, silly. I've told you that before!"

A spark of recognition came into Yuu's eyes. "That must be bu's real name," he exclaimed. "No wonder." He and Ray exchanged fist bumps for no apparent reason. He turned to Kana and explained, "My mom never taught my Japanese. She's sort of like Ray and Mi's mom, really, really in love with all things Western."

"But your dad looks... Asian?"

"Indonesian."

"Well," Ray cut in, "That's how uncle knew it was true love. Anyway, Kana, if we grab a taxi, can you direct the driver to Mi's home?"

Ok, now she knew Ray and Mi were related. "We're not taking a taxi," she said. "We're taking the subway, because it's not that far. Let's go." She walked out of the room, the two boys following behind. 

[1]: So, if you're such good friends, why aren't you studying in Japan? (Japanese)

Sorry for the long, long absence! I hope this chapter wasn't too much of an anti-climax! Anyway, do let me know what you think about the chapter, and don't forget to vote if you liked it!