Chained together

Chapter 12

Arinas POV:
The 20th of December was the day we could all finally breathe. Being done with exams and all that was left were a few projects before winter break. Now I'm sat in my room, contemplating what to buy as a present for Mirais upcoming birthday. Just like Nate, Mirai didn't ask for presents on her birthday. But unlike him, she didn't really mind or say that shell pay back. And to be honest, the thought of a bunch of her relatives being here probably made her nervous. I sighed, plopping my face onto the giant teddy bear.

What would cheer her up then?

Suddenly, an epiphany landed in my head, "Food!"

I practically ran downstairs to Mirais mom, who was sat in the living room, her laptop on the table, "I have an idea!"

"What?", she asked, looking up at me with furrowed eyebrows.

"For Mirais birthday present!", I shouted again, propping myself on the couch.

She chuckled, "Okay what is so exciting, show me."

"Well first, Ill need permission to make the cake this year.", I said, raising my head proudly.

"Alone?"

"Yup!", I answered, nodding vigorously, as I moved to sit on the couch.

"Are you sure?"

I sighed, slouching in my seat."Okay, fine, maybe i'll need a tiny bit of help. But either way I'm decorating it."

"Okay, okay. But we have to decide on a flavor together, you know that Mirai has a nut allergy. Plus my mother also has an allergy as well and-"

"I get it auntie! You choose a flavor and ill go make something else in the meantime."

Rushing back to my room, almost tripping on the stairs, I opened the door and then desk draws to see if I had any paper for a birthday card.

Mirais POV:
Christmas is probably the only time family from outside the country came to visit us. But to be honest, I barely even remember my cousins half the time or even enough Japanese to properly talk with them. On my dads side, its a bit better since they're all english, but my moms side of the family expect me to be great at Japanese. My cousins know english, but my grandparents and even some of my aunts and uncles don't. So its a frustrating situation when you want to bond with your family, but just don't have the same lifestyle to reminiscent over.

And I guess seeing them less and less over the years made me forget that fact.

After greeting the guests and receiving a few presents, we all sat or stood in the living room, everyone warming up and starting to talk amongst each other. The conversations were varied, half of which I couldn't fully understand.

(This next part I used various google translations, so I cant promise that it's accurate Japanese)

"みらい ちゃん 学校はどう?"(Mirai, how is school going?), my grandmother on my mothers side asked and thankfully I could comprehend the question.

"良いです, お婆さん.(Its good, grandmother.)"

"私たち みらいちゃん は日本語がとても上手になりました"(Oh my, our Mirai has gotten so good at Japanese.)

A tight smile showed on my face as we exchanged a few more words, my grandmother looking very satisfied that she could talk to me in her family's language. But I was struggling, something that thankfully they didnt seem to notice. Excusing myself, I walked to the kitchen, letting out a breath. I grumbled to myself, before walking into the kitchen. Arina was leaning over the counter, hair tied in a bun and face squished in concentration.